AN: I am so, SO, sorry! I did warn you that May would be a busy month, but I honestly didn't think it would be that busy. I would like to thank you all for being so patient. You all seemed to get really into the last chapter! And I'd like to give a huge thank you to all of my followers, because we managed to break 1,000! Also, I should have another outtake up sometime either today or tomorrow. Major thanks to reviewers: lilmisadiva, CosmykAngel, peruvianprincess, BlazeStryker, TLJ110166, Majerus, Jmw, Firenze Fox, geetac, B00kw0rm92, therogueslytherin, Spring Raine, Narnia and Harry Potter 4 EVER, Penny is wise, serialkeller, Guest, Books are air, magitech, MariusDarkwolf, elmoryakhan, To the TARDIS, 09113664593c, and Kairan1979. I promise I shall do my best to respond more to reviews this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise.
Harry awoke to a loud pounding noise, and for a moment, he thought he was back in the cupboard under the stairs at Privet Drive. But then he realized that this bed was much comfier than his old cot, and he surmised that he was still at the Leaky Cauldron. Who was it rapping on the door, anyway?
BANG…BANG…BANG…
"Alright, I'm coming!" He called, almost falling out of bed in his haste to answer the door. He jammed his glasses on his face and stumbled down the hall.
"Harry!" Lavender shrieked, throwing her arms around him.
"What are you doing out here?" He blurted out, surprised. "The sun's not even up yet."
"I set my alarm half an hour early so I could come see you before my last day at the agency," Lavender explained, adjusting the strap on her messenger bag. "I'm gonna come by afterwards, too, just so all of us can be together again. Oh, it's gonna be the best day ever!" She squealed, hugging herself.
Harry had forgotten just how excitable Lavender could be. He grinned and moved aside to let her come in.
"Oh, no, I really can't! I'll see you later though. Sorry I have to cut the visit so short. I honestly thought I had more time. But, you can't rush beauty," She finished with a long, suffering sigh as she patted her elaborately coiffed hair.
"Er, yeah," Harry stammered when she turned towards him expectantly.
"And Harry? Dean said he'd probably come here for breakfast, so keep an eye out!" With one last bone crushing hug, Lavender danced away beaming.
Harry shook his head bemusedly, wondering if he'd ever get used to her.
Two hours later, Dean Thomas walked into the Leaky Cauldron with his mother and step-father. Hary sprang up from his barstool and dashed over to greet them.
"Harry!" Dean called cheerfully, fishing for something in his back pocket. "Check this out!"
Harry unfolded a piece of sketch paper to discover a near exact drawing of the Dursleys desperately tugging at Aunt Marge's leg as her head hit the ceiling. "It's perfect!"
Dean smiled, obviously pleased.
Dean's step-father cleared his throat.
"Oh, um, Harry, this is Mum and Aaron. Mum, Aaron, this is Harry Potter," Dean introduced them.
Harry gulped in fear, but maintained his composure. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas."
Dean started shaking his head frantically as his mother stiffened.
Dean's step-father spoke up quickly. "That's actually Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. Thomas is Dean's father's name," He explained, smiling tightly.
Harry felt his face heat up. "Oh…oh, I didn't know-"
"It's fine, dear," Mrs. Taylor waved her hand. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Well, Dean, we really should be going, I don't want to leave your brothers and sisters at home for too long." The Taylors hurriedly excused themselves and left.
"I'm really sorry," Harry apologized.
"It's okay. I probably should've warned you about that. Mum doesn't like talking about my Dad a whole lot." Dean didn't appear too bothered by it.
"I didn't know you had siblings," Harry said, trying to change the subject.
"Technically, they're my half-siblings. They can be really annoying sometimes." Dean shuffled his feet for a moment, looking around the Leaky. "Hey, what do they have for breakfast here?"
"Um, pretty much everything, I guess. I would stay away from most of the meat though. I heard Tom saying it's too expensive to buy the real stuff," Harry muttered.
The pair was about to head towards a booth when they heard a shout from behind them. Harry turned, blinded by a bright, familiar flash. "Hello, Colin."
"Hi Harry, hi Dean! How was your summer? Mine was great, I got a new camera and everything. My dad said I had to be really careful with it, so I'm not gonna ever take it outside, ever!" Colin seemed ready to bounce off the walls in his excitement.
"That does sound great," Dean agreed, blinking frantically.
"Colin, don't you think you have enough pictures of us by now?" Harry pointed out gently.
Colin shook his head vigorously. "You guys aren't the same anymore. You look a little bit older, so I had to get a picture to document the change."
"Document it?" Harry repeated, frowning.
"Er, yeah. Hey, did you guys see that the Weasleys are back? Ron's waiting out by Florean Fortescue's to surprise you!" He told them eagerly.
"It's not really a surprise if you give it away," Dean sighed.
"Oh." Colin drooped. "I forgot about that."
"It's okay," Harry reassured him. "C'mon Dean, let's go get some ice cream for breakfast!"
"Awesome!" Dean cheered.
True to Colin's word, Ron was waiting impatiently outside the ice cream parlor with Percy, the twins, and Hermione. Percy and Hermione were in a heated debate over a Divination textbook, while the twins appeared to be putting something in Ron's ice cream when he wasn't looking.
"Harry!" Ron stood and waved his arms around wildly. "Dean! Over here!"
Harry held in his laughter and walked briskly towards them. "Hermione, what are you doing here so early?"
"I came to visit you, of course! The others should all be coming by later in the day." Hermione looked anxious about something, bouncing her leg up and down underneath the table.
"What is it?" Harry asked, concerned.
"Nothing, nothing!" She exclaimed shrilly. "It's just that…oh, Harry, you didn't really blow up your aunt, did you?"
Harry felt his face go red. "It was an accident!"
"I'm sure it was," She said quickly. "I don't think I've ever heard of accidental magic happening so late though."
"What I'm more worried about is why the ministry just let it go," Percy spoke up. "True, it was accidental magic, but they usually send some sort of warning. Did you get any post right afterwards?"
"Well, I didn't exactly stick around," Harry confessed. "I just hopped on the Knight Bus and came here."
"Wicked!" The twins chorused.
"Blimey Harry, how did you do it?" Ron asked incredulously.
Harry shrugged, feeling embarrassed.
"But they didn't do anything?" Percy said again. "Not a single thing? Not even a warning?"
"Merlin, Percy, d'you want Harry to get in trouble?" Fred elbowed him.
"It's not that, I'm just trying to understand it. It doesn't make any sense." Percy frowned in thought.
"Maybe they have bigger things to worry about," Dean mentioned, nodding towards a wanted poster nearby. The photo of a laughing Sirius Black gave Harry an ominous feeling in his stomach. There was something about his eyes that didn't sit well with him….
The table fell silent at the idea.
"D'you think they'll catch him?" Ron asked.
"Of course they will," Percy sniffed. "I have complete faith in the Ministry." Harry couldn't help but think that Percy didn't look nearly as confident as he sounded.
Hermione cleared her throat. "Well, I don't know about you, but I need to go shopping for my school supplies. So, if you'll excuse me…"
"I need to go, too," Ron muttered, standing up.
"So do I," Dean agreed.
Harry went with them, trying to shake off the foreboding thought that Sirius Black could be watching him at this very moment.
Ron had already gotten his new wand, and he bragged about it Dean, Harry, and everyone else in Diagon Alley every chance he got.
"Fourteen inches," He said loudly to the bookseller at Flourish and Blotts.
"Made of willow, y'know," He told a man outside the apothecary.
"Contains a unicorn tail-hair," He told the witch at the Magical Menagerie.
The group had gone to the Magical Menagerie because Hermione wanted to get an owl, and Ron thought Scabbers looked a little sick. Harry stood at the counter with Ron as the witch examined the rat, as Hermione dragged Dean along to look for a pet.
"How old is he?" The witch asked, not paying attention.
Ron shoved his wand back in his pocket, looking disgruntled. "I dunno, really old. He used to be my older brother's."
"And what powers does he have?" She inquired politely, picking up Scabbers and squeezing him lightly, causing him to sneeze. "He's really been through the mill, hasn't he?"
Ron's ears turned pink. "He was like that when Percy gave it to me."
"I'm surprised he's lived this long," She admitted. "An ordinary garden rat like that can't be expected to live more than three years." Her expression was one of pitying, before brightening. "However, if you want one of these…"
Ron turned to look at a bunch of glossy black rats, all of which began doing extreme tricks. "Show-offs," He murmured.
Her expression soured again. "If you don't want a new one, you can always use this tonic. No guarantees though," She sneered, smacking her gum.
"I guess," He replied glumly. "How much—OUCH!"
A large, fluffy, orange ball of fur flew at Scabbers, clawing Ron in the process as Hermione and Dean hurried towards them.
"NO, CROOKSHANKS!" The witch bellowed. "I'm so sorry about him," She apologized to Ron, scooping up the beast. "He's absolutely terrible-"
"Well, I think he's adorable!" Hermione interrupted hotly.
All three boys and the shopkeeper turned to stare at her as Crookshanks began to purr loudly.
"In fact," Hermione continued, taking the cat out of the witch's arms. "I think I'll take him."
Ron let out a half snort, half whimper noise. "You're going to buy that monster?"
"He's not a monster," Hermione admonished Ron. "He's gorgeous! How much do you want for him?"
The witch looked flustered. "He's been here for so long, I guess…maybe five galleons? I'll throw in some extras, too, if you take him today."
Hermione's eyes lit up. "Oh, of course. Dean, Harry, do you think you guys could carry my bags to the Leaky? My arms are a little full." She began to pet Crookshanks, cooing at him as Ron clutched Scabbers and the rat tonic close to his chest.
Dean struggled to pick up three of the bags. "Geez, Hermione, what have you got in here?"
"Oh, just the books for my classes," She said, bouncing Crookshanks slightly.
"How many classes are you taking?" Harry wondered, heaving up the other three bags.
"Well, there's the usual ones, and then Care of Magical Creatures and Divination with you guys, and Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies-"
"Muggle Studies?" Ron echoed. "You're muggleborn, what do you wanna take that class for?"
"It'd be so fascinating to see Muggles from a wizard's point of view!" She gushed. "And of course, Professor Burbage is teaching it…"
"That would make it better, I guess," Ron admitted grudgingly.
"Um, hey guys," Dean spoke up, glancing towards a clock. "We should probably be getting back to the Leaky by now, right?"
Hermione's eyes went wide. "Oh, you're right. We're almost late!"
"Late for what?" Harry asked.
"Erm, nothing," Ron told him. "But we should probably get going before we miss lunch!"
Back at the Leaky, Harry found all of his friends, bar Lavender, were waiting to surprise him. After numerous hugs, jokes, and meals, the kids were able to settle down into different tables. Oliver had just begun wondering why he had chosen to sit with Percy and Penny, who were busy sucking each other's faces off, when Katie sat across from him. Cormac and Leann, who had been sticking close to her side for most of the afternoon, quickly followed.
"Hey Oliver!" Katie greeted enthusiastically. "How was training camp?"
"It was…different from what I thought it would be," Oliver admitted, struggling to find a way to hide the terrible experience he'd had. He didn't want to lie to his friends, but he didn't want them to discover that Puddlemere United wasn't all he'd built it up to be either.
"Did you make any friends?" She inquired politely.
He squirmed in his seat. "We were all pretty focused on the game, so I didn't get a whole lot of chances to really talk to them." Now that was an outright lie.
"Did you learn any new plays?" Cormac asked eagerly.
Oliver straightened. "Oh yeah, loads." And with that, the two launched into a discussion of the best tactics to use as a Keeper, with Katie contributing occasionally.
Penny and Percy finally separated upon hearing voices. Penny patted her hair and smoothed out her shirt before glancing around the Leaky.
"Oh, hi, Leann, right?" She smiled at the girl on the other side of Katie.
"Yeah. And you're Penelope, right?" She asked shyly.
"That's right. You can call me Penny if you want. You'll be seeing a lot more of me this year," She said, gesturing to her Head Girl badge.
"Congratulations," Leann said, picking at a thread on her shirt.
"Thank you. Oliver, are you still talking about training camp?" She said exasperatedly.
"No, no, just the plays," He corrected her.
"Oh, my mistake." She rolled her eyes.
"It's a common one to make," He lied.
"Oh really?"
"Okay, actually it's not, but you get the point." He grinned at her.
She sighed. "Then how was training camp? If it was different from what you expected, then what happened?"
"You actually heard me while you were snogging Percy?" He asked incredulously.
Percy turned red and began to shine his Head Boy badge.
"I can multi-task." Penny folded her arms over her chest. "But don't try to change the subject. How was it?"
He shrugged. "I told you, it was different."
"Different how?" Percy intervened.
"I just…I mean, I dunno. I always thought the camp was gonna be perfect, because everything about Puddlemere is perfect, but it just wasn't, that's all." He tugged at his collar.
Percy leaned back in his chair, studying his best friend. "If you were wrong about the training camp, what if you're wrong about the rest of Puddlemere?"
The table fell silent. Leann glanced up from her lap, feeling sympathy for the older boy.
"Nothing can be perfect, but I'm sure it'll come close," She told him.
He nodded, looking unconvinced. "You're probably right. Anyway, back to the plays…"
"So, I heard you and the twins had an eventful experience at your house this summer," Angelina said teasingly.
"Don't remind me," Lee groaned. "Whenever Mum makes me babysit Chloe, I end up getting wrangled into a pretty princess tea party."
"You have to sit through that every time?" George asked, horrified.
Lee nodded grimly. "You have no idea how annoying she can be when she doesn't get her way, so it's easier just to agree."
"And the bedtime story?" Fred asked, afraid of the answer.
"Yup. It's always the same one."
All three boys shuddered.
"It couldn't have been that bad," Alicia said logically.
Lee turned to her. "Would you like to come over some time and pretend you can understand what Mr. Snuggles is saying? For three hours?"
"How did you guys receive the honor of looking after her anyway?" Angelina wanted to know.
Lee winced. "I asked Mum if Fred and George could come over at the very beginning of summer, before they left for Egypt. Only problem is, she doesn't like having people over. So, she said they could come over as long as we did her a favor. And I may have agreed without stopping to find out what this favor was," He ended sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
The girls began to laugh, but the twins shot him poisonous looks.
"We are never going over-"
"-to your house again!" They declared firmly.
"It wasn't so bad," Lee argued. "After she fell asleep, we got to do whatever we wanted!"
"That reminds me, how did that moo-vie end?" Fred asked.
"Yeah, do they get together, or does he end up marrying for money?" George added.
Angelina choked on her pumpkin juice. "You guys watched a chick flick?"
Lee slouched in his chair. "Maybe."
"So the Ministry really didn't do anything about it?" Parvati asked, bewildered. "That's just not like that them."
"I thought it might be because of Black," Dean mentioned, eyes downcast.
"It could be," Seamus mused.
"What if-" Neville spoke up, clearing his throat. "What if it's because he's Harry Potter? What if they're showing favoritism towards him because he's The-Boy-Who-Lived?"
Harry's hands instantly went up to flatten his fringe over his scar.
"You don't think the Ministry would actually do something like that, do you?" Hermione whispered, cupping her hands around her mug. "Isn't that illegal?"
Seamus shrugged. "They're the Ministry. They can do whatever they want, without anyone stopping them. They are the law."
"I could be wrong," Neville said hurriedly, a bit worried at how serious his opinion was being taken. "I've been wrong before. It's just a possibility."
Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I heard someone say that Black was Voldemort's-"
The others all flinched.
Harry paused, irritated. "Voldemort's right hand man. Maybe it has something to do with that."
Hermione nodded. "You mean because you defeated You-Know-Who, Black might be looking for you. Good thinking."
"Dad acted really weird when we got your letter," Ron realized suddenly, speaking for the first time. "When he found out the Ministry didn't do anything to you, and Percy started questioning it, he acted all afraid and stuff. I dunno, it might not mean anything." The tips of Ron's ears began to turn pink again as he studied the ground.
"No, it makes sense." Hermione waved her hands around excitedly.
"It does?" Ron said, astonished.
"Yes, of course. People at the Ministry must know what Sirius Black is after. And if he's after you, Harry, then Mr. Weasley probably knows about it."
"But wouldn't he tell Harry about it?" Parvati murmured quietly.
"Not if someone didn't want him to," Dean whispered, nodding towards the corner of the pub, where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were having a hushed argument.
Watching them gave Harry an odd feeling. He turned around instinctively, greeted by the cackling insanity that was Sirius Black. Was this man truly after Harry? All because of the destruction of Voldemort? Harry hadn't had anything to do with that. He sensed it had to be something else. It made a cold feeling crawl up his spine as he met the picture's eyes.
That evening, when most of Harry's friends had left, and he was alone in his room again, he heard raised voices coming from below. He crept downstairs, all the while being conscious that it wasn't right to eavesdrop. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should hear what was going on.
"…makes no sense not to tell him…" He heard Mr. Weasley saying.
Harry felt his eyes grow wide. They must be discussing Sirius Black!
"Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and-"
"Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" said Mrs. Weasley shrilly. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's happy not knowing!"
Except Harry already did know. And the truth did terrify him, but there would be no taking it back. He didn't hear the rest of their argument. He spent it wondering what was going to happen to him. Would Sirius Black truly be caught? Or would Harry have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, wary until the day he died? Worse, would Harry be killed by Sirius Black?
Harry could hear them coming up the steps, and he hurriedly raced back to his room, flopping face down on his bed. He hardly dared to breathe until he knew Mr. and Mrs. Weasley pass by his room. He wondered if they had decided to tell him. What difference did it make, he thought unhappily. Sirius Black would find him eventually, whether he knew it or not.
Harry caught himself swiftly. What was he thinking? Harry shouldn't be afraid of this man. True, Black had killed thirteen people with one curse. But they most likely hadn't known what was going on. Maybe Black had just caught them off guard. Well, he, Harry would not be caught off guard. He had already faced Voldemort three times and emerged victorious.
And maybe one of those wins wasn't his own, but at least Harry could say he was tough to kill. He couldn't let Black get to him. Harry had to stay on top of it. He had to be able to face Black with a clear head. He had to make sure that no matter what happened, Harry would not be killed by Sirius Black.
"I'm not going to be murdered," Harry said determinedly.
"That's the spirit, dear," said his mirror sleepily.
Reply to reviewer Jmw:
It's not really so much that the Patils mistreat their daughters, but rather that they're very tough and demanding. Some people think that the only way to produce the best results is to demand them, and the Patils fall into that category. And someone's very into Parvati/Harry, aren't they?
I've always envisioned Puddlemere as the type of team that wouldn't care what you act like, as long as you're a good player. That's not to say the team won't get in trouble, just that they definitely won't be fired.
Third year just might be longer than second year, so you'll get your wish. I love hearing all of your ideas. Thanks for reviewing!