...It seems every chapter now is going to be a fight against self-indulgence.

Warnings: It's shounen-ai, slash, yaoi, gay. Harry is dating Tom. Sirius is dating Remus. So on and so forth.

Notes: (X) is pov change and or time jump

Chapter 11: The Fight

"Thanks again, Arabella," Lupin said. "Without your testimony, we wouldn't have won."

"Pft! Those reports you gathered were more than enough, but you're quite welcome," she said, her cheeks turning pink as she stepped into the old phone booth. Lupin followed her in and gave Harry a questioning look when he didn't join them.

"I don't think there'll be enough room…. " Mrs. Figg wasn't big by any means, but Harry and Lupin had barely fit on the ride down. Adding his neighbor to the mix just wasn't going to work.

"It extends from this side," Lupin said. "The charm doesn't work if you enter from above in case Muggles try to use the phone."

"Oh." He stepped in and sure enough, the inside stretched out to hold all three of them comfortably.

'Why isn't it charmed to expand if needed after you put the code in?'

'Because most of the people working at the ministry are idiots.'

Harry snickered. He couldn't disagree. The door closed behind him; the elevator giving a slight shake. He removed his badge from his shirt and saw Lupin doing the same before he gave the badge a look of disgust and crushed it in his hand. Once again, the strength Lupin showed surprised Harry. He'd doubted Lupin could have opened a jar before the trial.

"Just do everyone a favor and teach this boy! Can get rid of a Dementor but doesn't even know what a Gytrash is!"

"It never occurred to any of us that Harry would come across one. Gytrash aren't taught until sixth year and they aren't exactly common," Lupin explained. He dropped the smashed-up badge into his pocket, "But I'll teach him the basics before he goes back to school."

"Good," she muttered.

"Thanks for testifying for me," Harry said. He didn't believe his trial would have gone nearly as well without it, papers or not.

Mrs. Figg gave him a side glance. "You did absolutely nothing wrong. You were attacked. Hell, you went out of your way to protect that blubbering whale. You're not a bad kid," she said. "Much better behaved and smarter than that useless troll of a child you live with." The elevator shuddered, all three of them putting their hands against the walls to keep themselves steady. "I never meant to bore you to death every time I watched you, you know. But if that family of yours even suspected you enjoyed being at my house, they would have forbidden you to ever come over again. And I couldn't risk having someone else babysit you. You understand, right?"

She was giving Harry a pleading look she didn't need to. She'd just helped save him from a horrible fate of being banned from using any kind of magic ever again. It made up for every time she'd made Harry sit on her couch and forced him to look at the photos of every cat she'd ever owned. He was fine with the questionable pieces of cake she'd given him. Enduring those with a smile had helped prepare him to eat Hagrid's cooking while still looking delighted.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, offering her a smile. "I understand. Thank you." After all, it was the Dursleys' goal in life to make him as miserable as possible. If he'd smiled even once while he'd been at Mrs. Figg's house, they'd have somehow smelt it on him and the only time he'd of been able to see her after that would have been through a house window. Besides, he hadn't known it, but she was and had been a direct line of communication to Dumbledore since he'd arrived at the Dursleys. It was nice to know he'd never actually been alone. If something horrible had ever happened, Mrs. Figg would have alerted someone to come help.

"If you ever need a good Kneazle or any special kind of cat, just ask," she said. "I'm quite well known around breeding circles."

"I'll keep that in mind." Crookshanks was the only reference Harry had to a Kneazle. Hermione's cat was only half but remarkably smart. He'd helped Sirius track down his parents' traitor. It might be nice to have two around, but Harry didn't think he could care for two pets. Not right now, anyway.

Light began to filter in from above them and soon enough the buildings and road from outside came into view.

The phone booth gave a final shudder and came to a stop

They stepped out of the red decrepit phone booth, the scent of water washing over them, small drops of rain falling at random. If the dreary sky and wind were of any indication, it would be storming soon and Harry would be outside to experience it because he was free.

Free. He was absolutely free. One hundred percent, no chance at getting ambushed by someone from the Ministry of Magic, no posters on every street declaring him a criminal. He had beaten the odds, thanks to the hard work and collaboration of his friends, and now he could stop worrying about getting kicked out of school or having his wand broken in half. He was officially a fifth-year student. He would get to go back to Hogwarts and be in the same classes as his friends. Harry could stop worrying.

For now, anyway.

"Stay out of trouble," Mrs. Figg called out to them. She went right, turned right again when she was at the corner, and then was out of sight.

"Well," Lupin said, looking more like himself. "We should probably get those burgers before it starts pouring."

"Yeah," Harry said, grinning.

They went left from the phone booth and then crossed the street. It amazed Harry at how many people were rushing past them or into buildings. They weren't just walking, but in cars, buses, taxis, and a few were riding bikes. There were just so many of them. They didn't amount to what he'd seen in the entrance hall of the Ministry, but close enough.

"Is this your first time in a city," Lupin asked.

"That obvious," Harry asked. Some of the buildings were so large they blocked out his view of the sky.

"You've never really gotten to experience either worlds. I wish he never would have traded places," he muttered.

Harry did too. If anyone would have kept his parents' secret, it would have been Sirius or Lupin. His godfather had made a mistake, though. It wasn't like Sirius had purposely gotten his parents killed. That it happened at all probably still haunted his godfather, and he would probably never forgive himself for it. Harry hoped he would eventually, because he didn't blame Sirius at all. That damn rat and Voldemort. They were the ones who needed to pay.

The drizzle turned into a light rain as they made their way through numerous streets and turned onto a busier street. Both sides of the street had large storefronts, one after another. The corner shop was a clothing store, six mannequins dressed up in fall outfits. The store had positioned them into poses to show everyone just how brilliant friends they all were by enjoying a picnic together.

Must be nice to have a normal life, he thought bitterly. He gave the shop one last harsh glare before catching up with Lupin.

Lupin had stopped at the next storefront. It was long with two divided windows, a set of double doors, followed by two more divided windows. The sign and actual structure were all black with golden accents. The first window had kitchen wares in it, the second had small knickknacks. The doors were tinted, so Harry couldn't see in. The third window contained a display of jewelry, and the last one had smaller bedroom items. Lupin was staring at the last window.

"I was told the other day if we were going to be stuck in such a filthy, run-down, hell hole, we'd be gutting every single room until it was no longer the same place," he said, a half-smile on his face.

Harry nodded as he looked over the items in the window. A dark wood bedside table stood displayed with a decorative lamp on top, a book resting next to the lamp's base.

"It's up to the owner, right?"

"Yes. I just never thought I'd be helping redecorate a house. I always thought if anywhere, it'd be a small flat with access to an exceptionally strong basement." Harry couldn't tell if Lupin was joking or not.

They moved the kitchen upstairs so Lupin could use the basement; he realized. He'd thought it was odd that the Order had spent the first few days at number twelve moving an entire room to the first floor. Now that he understood, he realized just how much Sirius must care for Lupin.

"Harry?"

He turned at the sound of Lupin's voice.

"Yeah?"

"The clouds are getting darker. We can explore more when it's not going to storm."

They hurried past the other two storefronts, only getting glimpses of their merchandise. One sold antiques, another one large furniture. They crossed the street fast, passed a deli, and then turned into the next door.

(X)

"We're back," Lupin called out. "Come here Harry, you looked like a drowned rat." Harry laughed as Lupin pulled out his wand and tapped his shirt. His clothes, body, and hair dried instantly. Lupin repeated the spell on himself. "Next time we can Appearate at the diner if you want."

"I preferred the two buses, the subway, and a taxi," he grinned. As soon as they'd gotten their food, the rain had picked up. Lucky for them, there'd been a bus stop at the end of the street the dinner was on. They'd taken a second bus because the first one didn't drop people off at the subway. When they got off the subway, Lupin had been worried they were being followed. They'd grabbed a taxi instead of going straight home, letting the driver take them to a store four blocks away from number twelve. They'd ended up walking those four blocks back in the rain.

Harry had never been so happy to get rained on. He'd been able to stretch his legs, get some fresh air, even if that fresh air contained flying water droplets. He'd gotten to see more of the city and enjoy more time with Lupin. They didn't talk about the secrets of the universe, or anything related to the Wizarding World. Instead, they had joked around about nothing in particular as if they were just two normal people out buying burgers for lunch.

"Are the burgers safe?" There was no way the box hadn't gotten wet at some point during their trek through the rain.

"Enzo knows how to keep his food fresh," Lupin assured him. "Most witches and wizards in the food business do." He held up the small box that had somehow remained dry despite the weather.

They took their shoes off and made their way into the kitchen where it seemed everyone left in number twelve for the day had gathered. Sirius was pacing back and forth, only stopping when he saw the kitchen door swing open. Hermione and Ginny looked up from the table where they'd been examining their hands spread out before them. Ron glanced at Harry, while Fred and George looked like they wanted to climb over the table and shake him.

"Well," Sirius demanded, rushing towards them, his body tense.

"Sirius, I sent word that he was cleared hours ago," Lupin said. "I wouldn't have made you wait this whole time."

"Did anyone see a letter," Sirius demanded. Everyone shook their heads. "We've been waiting, panicked that you had both gotten arrested! No one had said anything, but…" He pulled both Lupin and Harry into a tight hug. "Next time send five letters!"

"I'm hoping there won't be a next time," Lupin said, his words more of a gasp.

"So, he's cleared of everything," Hermione asked.

"Yes," Lupin said.

"That's wonderful," Hermione said, beaming.

"Thanks for keeping your promise," Ginny said, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks.

Sirius released Lupin and pulled Harry into an even tighter hug. "Thank Merlin. Not that it would have mattered. You could have lived here with me if they'd expelled you," he whispered. "I would have made sure you learned everything you needed to know to fight Voldemort."

"Thanks," Harry said. While the idea of staying with Sirius wasn't a bad one, and he was sure his godfather could teach him a lot, he knew he needed to go back to Hogwarts. He didn't think Sirius had thought his statement through. Not only was Harry not of age, but he was also pretty sure the Ministry would have kept a close eye on him so he couldn't use magic if his wand had been confiscated. He was happy that his godfather was at least trying to look out for him though. "Maybe you can still teach me some stuff before the school term starts?"

Sirius finally let him go. He looked so happy and proud of Harry. "Sure." A wave of emotion swept across Sirius's face. "Where are those victory burgers," he asked, turning away from his godson. Lupin held up the small box he'd been protecting since they'd left the restaurant. Sirius snatched it from him. "Didn't have any problems, did you?"

"Besides having to promise Enzo we'd come back so his wife could meet Harry? No," Lupin said. He gave a slight wave of his wand, plates flying out of the cabinet. Each plate glided across the room and landed in front of an occupied chair on the table.

Sirius let out a loud laugh. He sat the box down on the table and tapped it with his wand. The box grew three times its original size; the sides unfolding like a blooming flower. Inside sat eight burgers and eight small bags of chips. Steam rose from all the food as if it'd just come off the grill. Sirius began dropping burgers and a bag of chips onto each plate.

"We're so glad you were cleared," Hermione said. She managed to get next to Harry and seemed to have decided it was her turn to hug him. Before he could protest, Ginny came up from his other side and hugged him as well.

'Aren't you popular," the shadow said, its tone cold.

'It's not like I'm enjoying this,' Harry shot back. His idea of celebrating was not to stand all day in the kitchen and let everyone take turns hugging him. The same feeling he'd had when he first arrived began to fill him. He didn't mind Sirius and Lupin hanging all over him, but once his friends started joining in, it became awkward. He was finding out fast that his tolerance for physical contact from others was quite limited.

CRACK!

The girls and Ron screamed, light filling the kitchen from outside the window, followed quickly by an onslaught of rain. The trees in the backyard visible from the kitchen window swayed wildly, their leaves hardly able to remain on their branches. Within seconds the storm sped up, only hazy dark smudges visible behind the speeding streaks of rain.

"Looks like we got home just in time," Lupin laughed.

"No kidding," Harry said. Had they stopped for any reason on their way home, they really would have drowned.

"You two going to hog him all day," Fred asked looking at Hermione and Ginny. Harry wanted to know that himself because if this kept up, he was going to shove both girls onto the floor.

"We want to congratulate him too," George said.

"We knew Ginny liked Harry, but you too Hermione?" Fred let out a dramatic sigh.

The girls released Harry, both looking embarrassed and glaring at the twins. The twins grinned at them as the girls made their way back to their seats.

"Come on, sit down," Fred said.

Harry sat down across from Fred and George; glad they'd been nice enough to save him. Everyone was already walking a very thin thread, and he didn't think telling Hermione or Ginny to let go, or pushing them onto the floor, would have kept the situation civil.

"So how was it," George asked.

"Give us all the gritty details," Fred added.

"Yeah, what happened in there," Sirius asked. "I bet Fudge about died when they voted you innocent."

Harry spent the rest of his lunchtime recounting the entire tale of his hearing. He left out the parts about how sick he'd gotten from Appearating, the twins would have never let him live it down, and the shadow. Everyone listened attentively, and Lupin had to magically reheat their burgers more than once during his story. When he finished, the smiles everyone had been wearing when he'd started soured once Harry brought up Percy. The twins, however, looked positively delighted.

"Serves that tosser right," Fred said.

"Wish you'd taken pictures," George said.

"He didn't even acknowledge me," Harry said. "I couldn't believe he was even there. I mean with Mrs. Weasley being…" He couldn't get himself to finish. If he'd had a choice, he would have asked for the Ministry to change the date of the hearing. Knowing Fudge, he probably would have turned Harry's request down and accused Harry of trying to flee the country.

"I don't think anyone's told him yet," Fred said. "Or rather, I don't think he's opened any of the letters dad has sent."

"He probably wouldn't even believe mum's gone unless Fudge told him anyway," George snorted.

"What happened anyway," Harry asked. He'd never been one of Percy's favorite people, but he'd tolerated Harry in the sense that he was Ron's friend and a fellow Gryffindor. That Percy had decided he no longer knew Harry had been an odd feeling.

The Weasley children exchanged dark looks.

"So, that git, and I'm being nice," Fred started. "He chose Fudge over our family."

"And it wouldn't have been so bad, but he's so far up Fudge's arse, he insulted both mum and dad. Said they were crazy to listen to Dumbledore, and that you were a liar looking for attention," George said. "To sum the fight up."

"Also said dad was a disgrace," Fred said, his anger rising. "They almost got into a fistfight."

'Yeah, because I just love attention,' he said. It was one thing for Percy not to believe Harry. Most of the students at Hogwarts decided he was a liar more than half of the time anyway, but to not believe Dumbledore? To consider his own parents a disgrace? All because Fudge was spreading lies and Percy had been dumb enough to believe them.

'You seem to enjoy my attention.'

Shock set in as soon as he realized he'd mentally spoke with the shadow instead of merely thinking the words. He tried to come up with a response, but instead, he remained quiet his face burning. He needed to be more careful when he was talking to the shadow and other people.

"Mum went to London to try and talk with him," Ron said. "But he wouldn't listen."

"Oh…" The situation was a lot worse than Harry had thought. How could Percy believe Fudge over his family? He'd always been a jerk, but this seemed extreme even for him. And what had he gained from disowning them? Maybe a high-paying job, but from what Harry had seen, Percy was Fudge's slave. "I knew he was always…" He tried to think of the right word.

"A power-hungry tosser," Fred suggested.

"A troll's bog," George said.

"He actually cornered dad at work and told him to stay away," Fred said, angrily.

"And don't forget how he left mum in tears when he moved out," Ron mumbled.

The twins were clenching their fists now while Ginny and Ron's face had turned burgundy.

Harry couldn't blame them for being angry. Mrs. Weasley had died before being able to reconcile with Percy. Their older brother had caused their mum a great deal of pain without thinking twice that he might never see her again. It was exactly for this reason that people needed to know that Voldemort was back. If Percy had known that he might never see his mother again, would he have had such a row with them? No if Fudge would just tell everyone the truth, there wouldn't have been anything for them to fight about.

"I'm not going to talk to him even if he does come to mum's funeral," Ginny said, both her voice and expression defiant. "In fact, I hope he doesn't come at all. He doesn't deserve to."

"Yeah," Ron said in agreement. "He doesn't care about mum or dad. Why should we invite him?"

"You don't exactly invite people to a funeral," Lupin said, uneasily.

"We should send a box of Puking Pastilles to his desk without the antidote," Fred muttered.

Sirius choked on the bite of burger he'd just taken, laughing.

The other Weasley children nodded.

"What are Puking Pastilles," Harry asked.

Fred looked at Harry, at George, and then they both looked at Harry, the grins returning to their faces.

"Let's finish eating and we'll show you," Fred said.

TAP TAP TAP TAPTAPTAP!

Everyone turned to the kitchen window. A large school owl was hitting the glass frantically with its beak. Lupin dashed over to the kitchen door and opened it. The owl zoomed in, along with a curtain of rain and what Harry thought might be small pieces of hail. Lupin closed the door, the poor owl standing on the floor in a daze, water dripping off its feather and pooling around its feet.

"Why did they send an owl," Lupin muttered. He knelt next to the owl and dried it off with his wand.

"I'll go grab some owl treats," Sirius said, walking over to a cabinet.

The owl gave an appreciative hoot and hopped onto the back of a kitchen chair. It held its leg out to show off the package attached to it proudly for everyone to see. Lupin removed the large envelope and opened it while Sirius dropped a handful of the owl treats onto the table. The owl's eyes lit up, and it dived into them.

"School lists," Lupin said. He passed each of them out.

Harry had barely gotten the seal off his when he heard Hermione's all too familiar scream.

"LOOK!" She was holding up a Prefect badge so everyone could see. "I'm a prefect!"

"Congratulations," Lupin said. He finished wiping up the water the owl had brought in and looked at the badge Hermione was holding up. It was red and gold with a lion in the background and a large P set in the center.

"I have to let mum and dad know!" She grabbed her school letter and ran out of the kitchen.

"Mental," Ron muttered.

"Who else would they choose to be a prefect," Harry asked. Out of everyone in their year, the only one who came to mind was Hermione.

"Yeah, guess you're right." Ron broke the seal off his envelope and went silent. His mouth became a thin line.

"What," Harry asked.

"You get kicked out," Fred asked.

"Maybe they had to kick someone out, so they chucked Ron out instead of Harry," George grinned.

"N, no. I…" Ron dug his hand into the envelope and removed the prefect badge from within.

"That's gotta be a mistake," Fred said. He was eyeing the badge wearily.

"Who could Dumbledore possibly mistake for Ron," George asked.

"Is there a letter in there confirming you're a prefect," Fred asked.

Ron pulled his letter out and sure enough, there were two pieces of parchment folded together.

Fred and George both whistled.

"Maybe Dumbledore has gone senile," Fred said.

"Should I write dad," Ron asked. He sounded dazed, numb even.

"Yeah," Fred said. "He could use some good news."

Ron nodded and left the kitchen with his letter and badge.

Harry wasn't sure how to take this news himself. The choosing of prefects had been the last thing on his mind with the trial, his necklace, and the Gytrash scratch. But when he thought about it, he'd expected Hermione to get one. There wasn't a single female student who could compare to her in their year. She had perfect grades; she tried hard; she studied, and for the most part, followed the rules. She was an exemplary student. But Ron?

How could Dumbledore choose Ron over him? Not that he wanted the position.

Stop it, he scolded himself. He didn't want to admit it, but Ron deserved the position. His friend needed something to be happy about, he needed some recognition. Harry had sworn last year if Ron's named had gotten pulled from the goblet that he would have supported him no matter what. Who wanted to be in charge of scolding younger students or making sure no one was breaking curfew, anyway? Who wanted that kind of responsibility or attention? He'd experienced both, more than he'd ever wanted since he'd somehow become Voldemort's target.

But now, with both of his friends becoming prefects, he felt like he'd lost both of them.

They'd been told about the Order and number twelve before him and they'd kept that information from him, and now they were prefects. Was Dumbledore awarding them for keeping Harry in the dark over the summer? Had they proven themselves trustworthy to the headmaster? Whatever the reason, he felt like his friends were drifting away. Almost like Dumbledore was going out of his way to keep them separated. Maybe they'd be safer that way….

"We're going to get everything set up," George said. He waved his wand, his empty plate shooting into the sink. A shattering sound followed, making him wince and laugh. "Meet us in our room." He made a run for it before Lupin said anything.

Lupin sighed.

"Wanna come, Ginny," Fred asked.

"Sure."

Fred pulled out his wand, saw the look on Lupin's face, and carried his and Ginny's plates to the sink carefully. He set them down so nicely they didn't even make a sound when he let them go.

"Thank you," Lupin said, looking amused.

Fred gave him a quick salute. "I wonder if we could get a box past the Ministry's security," Fred said as he and Ginny left the kitchen.

'You don't need a badge,' the shadow said, his voice gentle. 'It would just cause problems if you had to go out and patrol every evening.'

'I know, but Ron?'

'I admit, the Daily Prophet may have been right in their comments about Dumbledore having gone mad, but I still believe this is for the better.'

'Yeah.'

"I bet he chose those two thinking they'd keep Harry out of trouble," Sirius said laughing. He waved his wand over the sink, no doubt fixing George's plate. Another swish had water shooting out of the sink's faucet. "You'd think Dumbledore would have learned his lesson with you." He grinned at Lupin, his back to the sink.

"What do you mean," Harry asked. He hoped the sink knew when to stop because he could already see bubbles peaking up from the sink's ridge.

"Dumbledore made the strange choice of choosing me to be a prefect my fifth year," Lupin said. "We came to the conclusion that the only reason Dumbledore would ever give me such a role would be as a last-ditch effort to get James and Sirius under control." He sat down at the table with a mug in his hands.

"Didn't work," Sirius said. "Actually, it did work, just not for Dumbledore," he locked eyes with Lupin.

Somehow hearing that Lupin was the only one who'd gotten a badge made him feel a tad better. From what Harry had heard about his father and Sirius's school years, he'd have picked Lupin too.

"Don't remind me," Lupin said. He smiled looking down at his mug before he dropped his elbows onto the table, his head resting in his hands. His body began to shake.

"Go ahead and go upstairs, Harry," Sirius said. He sat down next to Lupin and started rubbing his back.

Harry turned and almost bolted from the kitchen. Why was he so stupid and selfish? Yes, he wanted and deserved to know about his parents, but not at the cost of Lupin and Sirius's happiness. He would have to find out about them some other way.

He climbed the steps two at a time. With the stomping of his feet and the distance between him and the kitchen, he was able to avoid hearing Lupin cry. He made it to the first-floor landing and stopped at his bedroom door when he saw Ron walking out.

"Going to join us," Harry asked.

"Huh?" He was still wearing the dazed look he'd had when he'd left the kitchen.

"Fred and George are going to show me these Puking Pastilles," Harry said.

"Oh. No." He started towards the stairs, Pigwidgeon on his shoulder.

"You can't possibly be thinking of sending pig out in this storm," Harry said. As annoying as the bird was, Harry didn't want to see it killed. Surely even Ron could see how stupid a move it would be to send his owl out right now.

Ron stopped halfway towards the stairs and turned back to Harry with a look of pure spite on his face. He walked back to Harry, his face growing redder the closer he got.

"Do you think I'm stupid," he demanded.

"No," Harry blurted. That had taken a fast turn. "I just—"

"You might have everyone else fooled, but I know what I saw. That ghost that was in our room, it was real," he said, pointing a finger at Harry.

"What?" They seemed to be having two very different conversations.

"Why'd you do it," he asked, his voice cracking. He dropped his hand to his side. "I thought we were friends."

"Ron, I'm not, Dumbledore—"

"DUMBLEDORE WOULD NEVER TELL YOU TO KILL MY MUM!"

Harry took a step back so Ron's face didn't touch his. Then he had to do a double-take as the words Ron had just shouted sunk in.

"What!? I'd never—"

"Didn't like mum's rules? Or her telling Sirius off? Thought you shouldn't be the only one with dead parents!?" His entire body was shaking now.

"I DIDN'T KILL YOUR MOTHER!" How could Ron even think such a thing?

"IF YOU'D TOLD EVERYONE THE TRUTH ABOUT THAT GHOST, THEY COULD HAVE STOPPED IT AND MUM WOULD STILL BE ALIVE!"

He shoved Harry towards the opposite wall. Harry glared at him, his fist clenching. Ron did the same and charged Harry.

The shadow was in front of Harry, its hand palm up held out towards Ron. The redhead didn't even have time to react. He flew through the air, Pigwidgeon abandoning him. Ron's back slammed into the wall with a loud, disgusting crack. Harry watched in horror as Ron fell to the floor, his head thudding against the hard wood. Pig started hooting like crazy and flew off down the stairs.

"RON!" He ran past the shadow and dropped beside him. He tried shaking him, but Ron didn't respond. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

'I'm not taking any risks this time,' the shadow said.

"He didn't do anything!"

'He was going to hit you,' he said simply. 'I don't care how much you like this idiot. No one will harm you.'

"Are you kidding me!? Ron would never hurt me!"

'He just tried to hit you.'

"Yeah, maybe he'd have hit me, but he'd never do anything that deserved anything like this!" Harry put his hand under Ron's nose, his heart slowing a hint when he felt hot breath.

'He's unconscious,' the shadow said. 'It's not like I killed him.'

He turned towards the shadow hardly able to contain his anger.

"What about Mrs. Weasley?"

'Are you actually going to believe this idiot?' He sounded surprised.

"Did you kill Mrs. Weasley," he demanded.

'So, after everything I've done for you, you're going to choose him.' He stared at Harry.

"Just answer my question!"

'No.' Without another word, the shadow evaporated.

'If you—'. "Argh!" Harry doubled over, his own words assaulting him inside his mind. He felt something pop and suddenly there were people around him. Lupin had grabbed Ron already and was running into the bedroom with him. The other Weasley children followed. Hermione glanced at Harry before dashing into the room herself.

"Harry!"

Harry blinked at his godfather. Sirius was shaking him hard, a look of terror on his face. All of Harry's senses came rushing back to him at once. He could hear the yelling in the bedroom, could feel the floor beneath him, hear the rain hitting the windows.

"I'm so sorry," he groaned. Once again he found himself in Sirius's embrace. His godfather was so warm.

"What happened," he asked soothingly.

"The shadow…" Anger ripped through him and he pulled back just enough to start fumbling with the necklace underneath his shirt. He pulled it off and threw it as hard as he could. It hit the wall, ricocheted onto the floor, and flew down the steps, landing somewhere with a loud thud.

"Why would it go after Ron?"

"Because he tried to hit me," Harry said. That still didn't justify the shadow trying to kill his best friend. To his horror, he was already looking towards the steps. "Dumbledore needs to take the necklace."

"He's okay," Lupin said, walking out of the room. He shut the door. "Angry, but awake. He said you sent a ghost after him." He raised an eyebrow at Harry.

"No! He...Ron thinks the shadow killed Mrs. Weasley. He said it was my fault she died. He tried to hit me, and the shadow did something and threw him against the wall."

Lupin crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Did it?"

"I, I don't know... I asked him and he got mad and left." The all too familiar loneliness was already beginning to invade his mind. "You need to send it back to Dumbledore."

"As much as we'd like to, Dumbledore made it very clear that wasn't an option," Lupin said. He followed Harry's line of sight and went to the edge of the steps. Sighing he knelt and picked the necklace up from wherever it had landed.

"Why not!?" He couldn't keep this thing around. It had attacked Ron, had attacked himself. As much as he wanted it, he knew it had to go.

"I wanted that thing out of number twelve the second it hurt you, but Dumbledore said if the necklace was too far from you right now, it could drive you mad," Sirius said, his annoyance evident.

"You don't have to wear it," Lupin said, approaching Harry. "But it can't leave number twelve."

"I don't want it near Ron," Harry said.

"Well, Ron doesn't want to be near you or the necklace right now." He stopped in front of Harry. "I thought it best if we move you to another room. You can lock the necklace up in your truck or somewhere else in there."

"I'd rather smash it."

"Unfortunately, that's not an option. We have an empty room on the second floor. Brand new since we've been adding rooms to accommodate all the members. You can stay there until school starts."

That's not what Harry wanted to hear. He wanted the necklace out of number twelve before he succumbed to its beckoning call again. He knew it would happen and it wouldn't take long. The sway the necklace held over him was too powerful. But if Dumbledore was right and destroying it would drive him mad, he didn't exactly have a choice.

"Okay…"

(TBC)

And finished. Yay.