Chapter 2

Harry lay in the Gryffindor dorm room he shared with Ron. The room he used to share with Ron.

His hopeless eyes gazed at the plain ceiling above him, thinking. Constantly blaming himself for Ron's death, his self-esteem began to plummet dangerously low. Wallowing in self hatred, Harry failed to notice Sirius slip into the room. It was only the weight on his bed that made Harry realize that someone had entered.

Gazing into his godson's eyes, Sirius saw and recognized all of the emotions that were flooding through this young man's brain. Having experienced the exact same self loathing when James and Lily had died, Sirius knew exactly how despairing the feeling was. It was heartbreaking to him, to know that he failed someone who had placed their life in his hands yet deep down Sirius knew it wasn't really his fault. Over time he came to realize, that he had blamed himself only as a distraction from his dreadful grief.

Taking his godson's small pale hands within his own, forced Harry to look up and meet Sirius' loving gaze. "Harry, it's not your fault", was all Sirius said, waiting for Harry to speak. As if bursting, Harry released all of the pent up emotions-"but it is my fault! I dragged them all to the department of ministries for no reason! I threw them into a death trap! If I hadn't fallen for that stupid trap, Ron would still be alive!" Harry cried out, looking close to his breaking point.
"Harry, listen. First of all, you did not drag them there for any old reason. You thought I was trapped there and using your irrational Gryffindor mind, you rushed in there trying to save me. You didn't drag them there either. They knew what was happening when they agreed to go and they took that risk."
Harry tried to interrupt at this point but Sirius cut him off and continued. "We can all say 'what if' Harry, but it doesn't make anything any better. I drove myself crazy in Azkaban, asking myself 'what if' at every scenario in my life. It didn't help me whatsoever; however, when I pulled myself together and told myself that what was happening now, was happening and nothing I could do to change that, my life began to get back on track . You can tell yourself 'what if' Harry but it's not going to help. You can pretend that Ron isn't dead or that everything is a dream, and I wish it was. But the thing is Harry, is that it's not."
Hearing the truth come from his godfather's mouth was eye opening. Without meaning it to, a single tear dripped down Harry's face. Making up his mind, Harry decided he wasn't going to push away that burning fire that had resided within him ever since that curse had struck. He was going to fight it. Harry buried his head into his godfather's chest and let his tears flow and extinguish the fire that had stopped him from living.

He wasn't sure how much time, had passed, but after what felt like years, Harry eventually felt strong enough to retract his head from Sirius' lap. He was well aware that had it been any other person who he had broken down with, he would have been extremely ashamed and embarrassed. But over the past couple years, Sirius had changed from a slightly unreliable uncle figure, into a loving and caring, dare he say it, fatherly figure. He didn't know how much he had missed having a stable adult in his life, who he could tell his problems too, without being afraid of the burden it would put on them.

Sirius knew that that crying fit had done Harry good. God knows when the last time his godson had allowed himself to be a child was. Seeing Harry cry into his lap for the past ten minutes had only strengthened his resolve to always be there for him. He knew there was nobody else that James would rather have to replace him as a fatherly figure than himself. He couldn't bear to think what would have happened had he died at that battle. He shuddered as he remembered the blaze of green light that had missed him by barely a hair. He had been rather reckless lately, but Sirius now knew that indulging in a bit of fun was not worth the grief Harry would go through if he got caught by the ministry.

Together, Harry and Sirius made their way down the stairs into the Gryffindor common room. It was almost completely empty bar one fifth year girl. Hermione was curled up in one of the armchairs staring at the blazing fire, her eyes fixated on one particular piece of charcoal that kept on flying up in the air as it burned. As soon as Harry hit the bottom of the stairs, Hermione turned around and stared at Harry with his ruffled hair, and large, sparkling emerald green eyes. Barely a second passed before Harry found himself enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. His shoulder quickly became wet as he realized Hermione had been sobbing into his shoulder. Before Harry could speak, Sirius quickly cut in, aware that someone could walk in at any time. "Harry, Hermione listen up quickly. Dumbledore has given permission for you two to use the floo system to visit Grimmauld place whenever you want to come and talk to me, providing you don't abuse it and miss too many lessons" Sirius winked at the last bit and got a small weak distracted smile from Harry, as he was engrossed in stroking Hermione's hair as she nestled into his shoulder. Satisfied that he had gotten his message across, Sirius pulled a pouch of floo powder from his pocket and then placed it above the fireplace, in a small crack in the wall that was covered by a large Quidditch poster. Taking a small pinch of it, he turned around and gave both the teens a quick hug before clearly saying "12 Grimmauld Place" and vanishing in a puff of green smoke.

As the majority of the school were at dinner and Dumbledore was still absent from the school, probably trying to talk some sense into Fudge, Harry and Hermione felt confident that nobody would walk in. The large window was open, and a sudden breeze filtered into the cozy common room pushing Harry and Hermione to kneel in front of the blazing fire. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a while, both just thinking what their life would hold on from this point. It was about 20 minutes before Hermione broke the silence. "Ron and I were always arguing, but I never realized how much I would miss him-until he was gone. I feel like I should have spent more time with him, appreciated him more. But Harry, while we are grieving, think about his family. This war is just starting, and they have already lost a son. How many more children are they going to have to sacrifice for the peace of our world? How many more families are going to be ripped apart, just because some old madman wants to rule the world?" Hermione's voice was breaking as she cried out what was in her heart. Just as she finished she burst into tears and grabbed Harry's hand. "I know you want to do this alone Harry, and you have more than enough reason to hate Voldemort and want to end him. But please Harry, let me in. I need to do it with you. The inequality and suffering our world has gone through is enough. It needs to end and apparently you are able to do it. But you don't need to do it alone. Heck, where did the prophecy say you have to do it alone!" Still talking through her tears, she fell quiet as Harry pulled her closer. "Okay" Harry said quietly.
For Hermione, that was all that needed to be said as they lay in each other's arm, eventually drifting off into a deep sleep that they both needed. For the first time in weeks, Harry slept with no stupid premonitions, with the knowledge that he was safe in Hermione's arm.

A/N Yeppp it's going to be Harry and Hermione in case you haven't guessed. Thank you so much if you reviewed on the last chapter as I love reading what you think about my writing. If you liked this chapter
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