The Mediator : Harry Potter
Ghostly Magick

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(A/N: the horizontal dividers won't work. no w00t.

so, after months of NON-UPDATINGNESS, i'm back. with chapter three. yes. nothing happened at ALL in the first like, two chapters, but whatever. hopefully this chapter will make people happy. i took like, the last week and a bit to write it, since my beta refused to beta any faster... oh well. she's worth every minute - the most amazing beta ever! love you, jamc(B/N: IT'S NOT MY FAULT. IT'S ALL HER FAULT. I SWEAR. She could just write faster and learn that it helps if you don't bug the beta when said beta is betaing.) don't you DARE pin the blame on me. i DO write faster. i finished this thing three days ago. and you took like, a whole two days to edit it. and then you argue over every little thing i write. like - why isn't this here? and why does it say this many "insert time period here" and not this many? (IT'S HER FAULT. SHE WRITES THE THING. She doesn't understand that most betas take a week or more to finish a chapter, too. I mean, it's not like I have REAL LIFE to bother me or anything, oh no. SHE'S still on frigging HOLIDAY.) hey, don't take it out on me. i was at an educational camp for three weeks, and in europe with no internet connection for a further twenty days. that's over a month, you know. forty days, almost. and anyway, you procrastinate every moment of the day. you need something useful to do. (Do NOT. Keep in mind that I have SCHOOL, and HOMEWORK, and a MAJOR PROJECT that YOU do NOT have to DO.) Well. I still have to pack and do summer reading for next year. 174 pages of history. so HAH. you don't have to do so much. and I have to study for SATIIs this year, too. loser.

anyway, hopefully, my beta and i have figured out the plot line for this... i should write it down somewhere, but i've a general idea... if all goes well it'll be pretty... uh... long, and adventurous. if i remember to update at all. haha. i'm sorry, again.

that said, on with the chapter... after months of waiting, i present to you, chapter three!)

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Chapter Three - Losses and Loneliness

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When they finally reached the top of the stairs, Harry dragged the suitcase over to a room on the left. Suze curiously peered into the opened door on the right, looking at the cluttered room full of broken toys and dusty books.

Wow, looks like a little kid stays in here, she thought. Wonder who else lives in this house...

As she looked around Dudley's room, Harry, leaning against his door frame, suddenly realized something and mentally kicked himself.

How am I supposed to know whether she's a Death Eater or not? Harry fumed, now watching Suze with caution. His hand itched for the wand in his pocket.

But I'm not sure whether or not she is… Maybe she's just a Muggle… And she does speak with an accent… Does Voldemort have followers outside Britain? Harry shook his head. He couldn't afford to ponder whether he was right or wrong – if this girl was a Death Eater, he had ignorantly let her inside the house and put himself in danger. He needed his wand, now.

Strengthening his resolve, he slowly reached into his pocket. But just as his fingers closed around his wand, Suze turned around.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Harry clutching something in his pocket.

"What do you have in there?" Suze asked, eyes on his pocket.

Harry hesitated. If she really was a Death Eater, wouldn't she have pulled her wand on him already?

"Oh, my God. Is that a gun?" Suze started backing away towards the stairs. The fear was now evident in her eyes – she could deal with knives and supernatural ghosts, but a gun was something she couldn't protect herself from.

Shit! I was stupid enough to let this guy help me inside the house. Now there's no one around! She quickly scanned the hallway. She had nowhere else to go but downstairs, but Harry – if that was his real name – looked like he would be able to catch up to her and fire before she even got down the stairs.

While Suze looked around for a way of escape, Harry visibly relaxed – unless she was a Death Eater who actually took Muggle Studies, which was highly unlikely seeing as how they regarded Mudbloods and Muggles with contempt, Suze was a Muggle.

"No, it's nothing," Harry said, taking his hand out of his pocket.

Suze started, but when she saw that he had nothing in his hand, she hesitated. Now she was the one who was alert and wary. She made a quick decision.

With a yell, she rushed him, slamming him into a wall. A surprised Harry had no time to think until he felt something in his pocket. He jerked for her hand, but she had darted out of the way.

A very confused Suze was staring at the stick in her hand.

"You were holding a stick?"

Harry thought quickly, panicking.

"That's my uh, pet stick, uh, Sirius," he muttered quickly, grabbing it. Harry thought it was odd that he would think of Sirius's name when he was in such a situation. He brushed it off, and Suze made no protest as the lanky boy stuffed the stick back into his trouser pocket.

"Right," Suze replied, still extremely confused and watching Harry with a look that clearly said 'uh… weirdo.'

"Um… that's Dudley's room." Harry pointed towards the doorway Suze had been regarding only a few moments ago, trying to divert attention from his 'pet stick'. "Want a tour?"

"Er… later, maybe," she replied as they dragged her duffel bag into what she supposed was Harry's room. "Just… don't show me his room."

Harry grinned despite his embarrassment before he let go of the bag, placing it next to the bed. Suze took his lead before straightening and looking around the room.

A small, cluttered bedroom met her eyes. She could tell it was a boy's bedroom – it looked about the same style as her brothers' – and very, very messy. A closed wooden trunk sat at the end of his unmade bed, and his door – when opened – gave just enough space to put a closet by that wall. A chest of drawers stood in front of the windows facing the door, a drawer half-opened so that Suze saw a peek of some boxers, and a desk with unusual-looking books haphazardly all across it and on the floor. Harry stood in the middle of the mess, blushing and looking a little embarrassed.

"Sorry. Didn't think we were expecting anybody," he mumbled, shoving the drawer and closet door closed and cleaning up the mess on his desk.

Suze gave a nervous smile. He let all his supplies tumble into his trunk before slamming it closed and turning around. As a second thought, he remade his bed, albeit a little hurriedly.

He ran his hand through his hair before asking, "Um… want to sit down?" He gestured toward his bed. Suze made her way over and he sat down next to her.

An awkward silence ensued while they studied each other.

"What are you –" Harry started.

"What did you –" Suze said at the same time.

They both flushed and looked away.

"You can start first," they both chorused before they chuckled.

"Nah, you go first," Suze said.

"All right," Harry said, looking much more comfortable than he had five seconds ago. "Well, what are you doing here anyway?" he asked curiously. Why would anyone want to come here, of all places? Her accent was American, as far as he could tell, and that made her appearance at his house even more puzzling. Suze's face fell.

"Oh," she said softly. "That."

She sighed and stared off into the distance for a moment. Harry sat patiently, watching her face as she thought about the death of her family. Quietly, she fought back the tears that threatened fall.

Suze felt hopeless. For a month she had lain around - barely eating, barely sleeping, seeing no one. She hadn't known what to do. Some selfish part of her wanted her family to have become ghosts. It was the first time in her life she had wanted anything from her peculiar 'gift'. But as the days dragged by, it was apparent that none of her family had been left behind. The tears that refused to come the last week finally came - she spent the night crying in her temporary bed at the Mission, the pillow muffling the noise of her sobs. A few weeks later, here she was, with no close family left and in a city she had never been to before, in a stranger's house. With no one.

Harry watched as Suze battled her emotions, her face bent to look at the floor so he could only see half her face. Even then, he could see her face contort into different images of strong emotions – pain, sadness, regret, loneliness, and, most prominently, guilt – and he ran his hand through his hair, feeling guilty himself for making her go through… whatever it was she was going through.

"You know," he said softly, hesitating, "You don't have to tell me. I was just wondering why you just randomly showed up on my doorstep, is all. But if you don't want to tell me," he added quickly, seeing her eyes water slightly, "It's fine by me. Just promise me you're not a random axe killer who's decided to trick me into letting her into the house."

At this last remark, Suze looked up from the floor, and two pairs of emerald eyes caught one another. She gave a startled laugh before she turned around to sit on his bed, cross-legged, and looked him straight in the eye, a faint smile on her lips, as she said, "I promise you, Harry, that I am not an ax killer who's tricked you into letting her inside your house, let alone your room, with no one around."

Harry's eyes widened, and he flushed, coughing before Suze realized what she had just said. She blushed and looked down at the floor before finally mumbling, "Family problems."

"Family problems?" Harry looked at her sympathetically, but he was also more confused than ever.

"Yeah… They said I should stay with a relative and shipped me off here." Harry's eyebrows shot up.

"Well," he said, pausing, "I don't know how to tell you this, but I don't think anyone here knew that you were coming. And I don't think it's ever been mentioned that we have relatives in America… That's where you're from, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded, but now her eyes reflected confusion as well. "But if you're not my relative, then why –"

"YOU!"

Suze and Harry whipped their heads around to look at the doorway, shocked. The voice had been terribly angry, and Suze's heart quickened. She was about to spring up from the bed when she noticed the humongous shadow that was blocking the doorway. She blinked and slowly looked up into the angry eyes of an extremely obese man. He seemed to have squished himself into a suit – Suze was surprised the seams didn't look like they were bursting, but then again, the suit could as well have been tailor-made – and a bushy mustache completely covered his upper lip. He looked as if he was about to explode, as well – his face was completely red, dawning on purple. He looked extremely menacing. And he was glaring rather furiously at the two of them.

Suze opened her mouth to say something, and the fat man's face changed expressions so violently in a matter of seconds that she was shocked into silence before he even barked, "Shut your bloody mouth!"

Suze's eyes narrowed and she stood up, trembling and angry. She hadn't even said one word to this man and he was telling her to shut up?

How dare he? Suze raged in her mind as her green eyes flashed.

To her satisfaction, she saw that the fat man had recoiled a little bit, afraid of her anger before he straightened, though still trembling slightly – from anger or fear, Suze couldn't guess.

"Dad," she heard a familiar, phlegmy voice whine, "she's the one he brought in without permission!"

Straining to see behind the humongous man standing before her, she caught a glimpse of blond hair sitting on an egg-shaped head, and thought, Dudley the elephant.

"Hello, Uncle Vernon," Harry said from the bed. The initial surprise had worn off, and his face was a mask of well-practiced nonchalance.

His uncle? Suze wondered. That's too bad.

Vernon's face turned a deep shade of purple.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to have your… freakish friends in my house?"

"Well, seeing as I never did have anyone over before, I don't think I remember you ever mentioning anything along those lines."

If it was possible, Vernon turned more purple than before.

"What about that redheaded lot a few years ago, hm? I don't suppose you remember that?"

"They were only here for a few seconds," Harry said coolly, standing up and taking a place beside Suze. "And I was gone for the rest of the summer anyway. This is different, though," Harry said, waving an arm at Suze's suitcase and bag as an explanation.

Uncle Vernon looked at the suitcase and then at Harry, looking fit to burst when Suze interrupted.

"Excuse me, uh, Uncle Vernon," she said, putting all her charm into it. His head whipped around, and Suze winced at the livid look upon his face. "I'm Suze Si – Ackerman. Suze Ackerman."

Harry blinked. He was sure he caught Suze changing her last name. He didn't interrupt though, as she continued her explanation.

"I'm having family problems back home in the States, and I was sent here to stay for a while with relatives."

Uncle Vernon looked at Suze up and down, disbelief on his face.

"Who do you think you are?" he roared. "We have no relatives in America! You're probably just someone off the streets! Another one of those freaks that he -" here he pointed an accusatory finger at Harry "- knows from that freak school of his! If you're trying to trick me into giving you a place to stay –"

"She is not a freak."

Uncle Vernon stopped and glared at Harry.

"And neither am I, for that matter," he added.

"Don't lie to me, boy," Vernon growled. "Who else would you know?"

Suze heard some snickering and looked behind Vernon. Dudley looked like he was having a great time watching – or hearing, at least; Suze didn't know how he could see from behind the (other) fat guy – Harry getting in trouble.

Despicable, she thought.

"Well, in truth, Uncle Vernon…" Harry paused and grinned at Dudley, "I've never seen her before today."

Dudley's eyes widened.

"You lied to me!" he cried in outrage. Suze thought it sounded more like a whine than the yell of an enraged teen.

Uncle Vernon ignored his son – at least, that's what Suze thought Dudley was, what with the familiar trait of being extremely overweight in both of them – and looked at Suze. If it was possible, he looked like he was extremely angry, afraid, and alarmed, all at the same time.

Wow, three 'A's, Suze thought.

"Are you mad?" Vernon cried. "You can't just bring anyone in here –"

"What's going on?" demanded a new voice, decidedly feminine – 'feminine', in this case, being higher-pitched and rather shrill.

"He brought in someone from the street, mum!" Suze heard Dudley whine, and there was a silence.

Suddenly there was an almighty shriek and Vernon was torn from his place in the doorway. Suze and Harry were now faced with a horse-like woman, eyes wide – the same fear present in her eyes as in Vernon's – and looking like she was about to tear someone's head off very soon.

For a few moments, the woman leaned against the door frame, heaving, as she stared at both green-eyed teens. Slowly, she raised an arm to point at Suze.

"Wh-who is she?" the woman finally got out, looking at Harry.

"This is Suze Ackerman, Aunt Petunia," Harry replied. "She showed up on our doorstep just now."

"You brought someone you don't know into my house?" Aunt Petunia looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Her husband hurriedly grabbed her arm and brought her into the hallway and out of sight of the two teens awkwardly standing in Harry's room. Suddenly, she fought out of Vernon's grasp and ignored her son's pathetic whining, rushing back to the doorway.

"Are you mad?" she shrieked, echoing Vernon. "After all I've done for you? Do you think it was easy for me to agree to that – that – that old, wrinkly freak to let you stay here? Now you're bringing people off the streets into my house! She's probably a call girl, a slut who wants nothing but money, just like your mother!"

Suze gasped indignantly and opened her mouth to say something, but Harry started first, his eyes flashing dangerously and his mouth hardening.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother or Dumbledore that way ever again!" Harry roared. The furious look in Petunia's eyes dimmed, and was replaced by fear. She shrank back against her husband and son, who were both trying scramble and hide behind her. That plan completely failed, seeing that Petunia was extremely skinny – the sides of Dudley's and Vernon's bodies were showing clearly on either side of Petunia.

"Dumbledore has shown me more kindness in six years than any of you have for my whole life! He was extremely noble and a great man! And I know my mother was a kind, compassionate, and brave woman! She was not a slut, and she is not a greedy, selfish bitch, because she is nothing like you!"

The only sound in the deafening silence was Harry's harsh breathing, glaring at his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Suze had kept silent, wisely suppressing her urge to say something at the moment, as she would usually do in a situation like this.

"Suze." Harry's voice, so quiet compared to his outburst only seconds ago, scared Suze. "Get your suitcase. We're leaving."

Harry opened the trunk at the foot of his bed.

"You go on first. You can manage, right?" he asked quietly as she started to drag her stuff back downstairs.

"Yeah."

Suze disappeared downstairs, and Harry stiffly turned around, facing his room. His uncle, aunt, and cousin watched fearfully as he continued to ignore them.

Slowly and deliberately, he drew his wand from his pocket. Vernon's eyes grew wide and his face turned different shades of red again; Petunia couldn't help but give a gasp of fear while her son squealed and tried to hide behind his parents.

Harry waved his wand and said, "Accio!" Everything flew from every corner of the room towards him – he directed it all towards his trunk, silently thanking Mrs. Weasley for teaching him a packing charm the last time he had stayed over at the Weasleys'.

When everything in his room was left bare, he turned around. The Dursleys were long gone by now. Dragging his trunk out of the room, he shot a contemptuous look down the hall which they unfortunately could not see, deliberately letting his trunk thump down the stairs. He knew that doing that might ruin the steps of the stairs, but it annoyed his aunt to no end, so he might as well.

Suze was anxiously waiting for him on the front step. Biting her lip, she smiled as he approached, relieved that Harry seemed to have calmed down. The dark, dangerous look on his face that had appeared at the mention of his mother and this Dumbledore person. Suddenly, a thought struck her - didn't Harry refer to this Dumbledore and his mother in the past tense? That must mean...

She was jerked out of her thoughts when she realized Harry had asked a question.

"Sorry, what?" she asked, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Where are you going to go?" A confused look was replied to with a sigh.

"I can't really bring you with me. You flew over here to stay with my aunt and uncle, although I think they truly doubt that you're a relative of any kind." Suze scowled.

"Well, I'm not going to stay here," she said, turning around abruptly and grabbing her suitcase and her duffel bag. "If there's nowhere else for me to go, then I'm just going to have to check in at a hotel."

Harry quickly caught up with her when she set off down the street.

"Here, let me call a taxi for you," he said, stopping her. "I know a rather good hotel back downtown. I'm not going to leave you on the street, you know." Suze smiled gratefully. Here she was, stranded in a foreign country, with only the company of a young man she'd never met who had a pet stick and green eyes. He was nice, even if he seemed a little crazy. But even that odd company was going to be gone quite soon.

I really shouldn't be talking who's crazy or not. She smiled, remembering her mediating abilities.

Suze sighed and looked down at her bags as the silence lasted and Harry looked up and down the road for any sign of a taxi. Soon she was going to be alone again. That would only remind her of her loss and her sadness. She had nothing, nobody here - she was nobody here. Harry would probably forget he'd ever met her - they'd go their separate paths, their separate lives. Somehow, Suze didn't want to forget Harry - she missed people treating her normally and not as a delicate figurine that would shatter into a million pieces if you so much as touched it. The way Harry treated her was refreshing after such a prolonged period of misery - she had almost forgotten why was here at all during her stop at number four, Privet Drive.

Another dead end, she thought bitterly, chewing on her lip. Since her family's... departure, she had developed an unseemly habit of chewing her lower lip - she had gnawed so much that her skin was peeling and sometimes even bled when she thought of a particularly horrible memory. Even now, she could taste a bit of blood on her tongue as she played with the tattered threads of her sweater sleeves.

Suddenly, Harry started waving his hand up and down. The black taxi pulled up next to them and Harry helped Suze stuff her luggage into the trunk before turning to the driver.

"Antoinette Hotel, please." The driver gave Harry a curt nod. Harry straightened and turned to look at Suze.

She was a mess. Even though she had tried hard not to let her emotions show on her face, Harry recognized the habit instantly and knew exactly how she felt. He had done the same thing ever since he started Hogwarts, not wanting everyone to know how his relatives treated him. He hesitated, feeling awkward, before spontaneously giving Suze a hug.

Surprised, Suze didn't react for a second. But suddenly, she wrapped her arms around him, and buried her head in his shoulder. Now Harry was the one who was surprised, but he didn't move when he felt a bit of wetness through his shirt.

It was the most comfortable Suze had been for a long time. Father Dominic and Jesse hadn't hugged her much in the last month - they had sensed that she needed time alone to mourn. Jesse had kissed her on the cheek just before she left, but this gesture of kindness that Harry had shown her, even if she was a complete stranger to him, was the most caring she had received since the sickly green memories of her family's deaths.

It was a few more seconds before she had composed herself and stood up straight. Except for her too-bright eyes, no one would be able to tell that she had been crying - she had been like that since forever. Crying was something she refused to let anyone see her do - her overly stubborn chin shivered a little in an attempt to hold back, and then stayed still.

"Thanks," she whispered before turning and getting into the taxi.

Harry watched her leave, unmoving as the tail lights disappeared. For a while he stayed there, a cool breeze blowing through the neighborhood as his eyes questioned the emptiness that surrounded him. He was a lone figure on the street, and he stood there, waiting for the answers that did not come. The darkness seemed to be waiting, too, as the streetlamps flickered on and Harry's green eyes looked into the distance.

.x.

A Lumos and a Knight Bus ride later found Harry and his trunk at the side of a familiar rundown square. Blinking and looking at his surroundings, he picked up his trunk and started forward. He had finally arrived on Grimmauld Place.

He casually crossed the road and sidled up to number twelve, trying not to look suspicious. Looking around surreptitiously, although he was probably already within the boundaries of the Fidelius Charm, he knocked on the door.

He stood there for quite a while, lost in his own thoughts. Then he realised the door hadn't opened yet, and no one seemed to be coming. He could have smacked himself, embarassed although no one was watching. 12 Grimmauld Place was a big house; how could they hear someone knocking?

Feeling extremely stupid, he found the doorbell and rang it. Half a second later, he figured that that had not been a good idea. Mrs Black's shrill screeching and yelling reached his ears and only got louder when the door opened.

"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks said cheerfully despite the racket, stepping aside when she saw who it was, letting a half-relieved Harry inside. He regarded the young woman curiously. Tonks now sported bright red hair and blue eyes; a rather surprising combination. Her red locks were sheared off into a short boyish cut that ended just at the top of her ears. The weariness in her eyes did not escape Harry's attention - Dumbledore's death had been hard on everybody in the Order as well as the rest of the magical world.

Tonks turned away from Harry, her cheerful face replaced by a scowl. She strode over to the still-screaming portrait and yanked the curtains closed around it unceremoniously, not bothering to yell at Mrs Black to shut up.

"Hello, Tonks," replied Harry, dragging his trunk inside with some difficulty, glad that the screeching had stopped. "I don't suppose I could get a key to here anytime soon, could I?"

Tonks laughed as she turned back towards him. "You don't need a key, Harry. You can just walk straight in. This place is guarded by the Fidelius, remember? And we've already changed the Secret-Keeper, so the door's always unlocked."

"Oh," said Harry, turning slightly pink. "Right." And here I was, waiting for someone to open the door for me when I could have just walked in...

"You planning on staying over?" she asked, closing the door behind him and eying his trunk.

"Yeah, I moved out. I couldn't stand being there with them any longer."

Tonks didn't need to be told who they were. She nodded sympathetically.

"I'm glad I'm rid of them - and I hope for good." Harry's expression seemed to darken for a moment, and he sighed. "I guess I'm just going to hide out here for a while."

As Tonks levitated his trunk up the stairs, Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity - here he was again at the Order's headquarters, with Tonks to help him with his things as he disappeared from Privet Drive midsummer.

Floating the last of Harry's meagre belongings upstairs, Tonks showed him to a room on the second floor and left, but not before Harry thanked her profusely. Standing in the doorway, he could see that it wasn't the room he and Ron had shared during their stay here two summers ago.

A four-poster bed hugged the corner furthest from the door. An antique desk and chair lay abandoned next to a wall; a lamp sat on the table, poised with a regal air as only expensive lamps could do. Except for the curtains, rug, and a few paintings on the walls, the room was quite bare. The only thing that caught Harry's eye was a book that lay open on the desk.

He walked up to the book, peering at what was on the page. With a rush, he saw four familiar faces. Unlike usual wizarding photos, the people in this one did not move - it was a shot of a moment in time. The background looked like it was on the edge of a lake - if Harry wasn't mistaken, the lake at Hogwarts. A young man with messy, jet-black hair who looked remarkably like Harry had his arms around a redheaded woman. A blond man, his hair falling a little into his tired eyes, was standing next to them, and another with longish hair as black as the first boy's stood next to him. A glimpse of a round face and blond hair peeked out from over the tops of their heads. Everyone was laughing, looking into the camera with widely grinning faces.

James Potter, Lily Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.

With a start, Harry realised he was standing in Sirius's old room. Emotion from the memories of two summers ago caught in his throat, making it hard to breathe. Running his fingers over the photograph, his chest tightened. In this photo, they all looked carefree, teens with bright futures ahead. None of them would know what would happen in the years after their graduation - evil, betrayal, death. He fingered the leather jacket he had been wearing, tearing his eyes away and looking around with overly bright green eyes, an echo of Suze's when she left. The jacket had been Sirius's, and Harry wore it almost everywhere he went.

It's not fair, he thought bitterly. Everything always happens to me - always happens to people around me. Sometimes I wish I could just disappear and take everything with me... but then everyone would have to depend on Neville, and where would everyone be? Harry sighed. It wasn't that he disliked his fellow Gryffindor - it was more of the fact that if Neville was the Boy Who Lived, Voldemort probably would have risen to power six years ago. Neville was a nice person and all, just... not the most excellent of wizards.

Harry didn't know how long he stood there, staring at the photograph. Pushing these thoughts away from him, he turned to thank Tonks again before remembering that she had left already. How long had he been standing there? If anyone had seen him, he must have looked like a right berk.

Wanting to get away from the memories, Harry grabbed his wand, looking up and down the staircase before making his way downstairs. Near the bottom he heard hushed voices and sounds of people hurrying back and forth. He turned the corner and saw Tonks conferring with a few of the Order's people, including Kingsley Shacklebolt and a few others he didn't recognise. He felt someone's hand on his shoulder and turned around to see a familiar face.

"Hello, Harry," Lupin said, smiling at him. His familiar, tired smile graced his lips, although his eyes, like Tonks, were filled with more weariness than they usually held. The gray flecks that had been in his hair since the first time Harry had met him seemed to have multiplied and become more obvious now, and lines that weren't there before had appeared on his face. He looked so much older than Harry remembered. "Tonks said you were here. How are you?"

"All right, I suppose," Harry replied, looking back at the the group of people who seemed to be preparing to leave. "What's happening?"

"There's been another attack on the Muggles." The rumbling voice came from Mad-Eye Moody, who had made his way over to Harry and Lupin during their conversation. Nodding to Harry as a greeting, he added, "Death Eaters."

"Where?"

"In Surrey. We're going to clean up the mess. I sent a few of the Order over there to deal with it when we first heard of the attack. They've just sent a Patronus saying it's all cleared now. Looks like the dirty dogs were looking for some fun and happened to choose a Muggle hotel. Frightened all the Muggles in the street, they did, and a few more passers-by were hit. We're going to have to Obliviate the lot of them." Moody seemed to like this prospect, but Harry wasn't paying attention.

"Hotel? Did you say a hotel in Surrey?" Harry didn't know why, but something heavy seemed to have settled in his stomach.

"Yep. Some little hotel in Kingston-upon-Thames. Goes by the name Antoinette Hotel, I think."

Harry's heart stopped.

Suze.

.x.

(A/N: review please?

i'll try to update soon, if you're all very, very good. that means reviewing a little. but yeah. haha. when i've figure out what i want to happen to little Suze here, i will update. if jamc betas it within a week, that is... )