Chapter 7: Recollection

"I'm really sorry about that, Sirius," Harry said.

"It's not your fault," Sirius replied. "It wasn't hers, either. But I know I've seen her somewhere before."

"Maybe you're just mistaking her for someone that looks like her… someone you knew."

"I don't think so, Harry," Sirius said firmly. "It was her I saw."

They were silent. Sirius picked up the stack of parchment Harry had given him and began leafing through it. Harry picked up a book from Sirius' bookshelf.

"I see her," Sirius said abruptly.

"Huh?" Harry asked, looking up from his book.

"I… I don't know who it is, but… I see someone. I remember a girl… a young woman, actually…"

"What does she look like?" Harry prompted.

"She's pretty… and smart and funny… and she knew just how to make me laugh."

"Sirius?" Harry asked slowly. "How did you know that?"

"I… don't know," Sirius admitted. "I just… knew."

"Sirius, you remembered! On your own!" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess I did." He smiled. A smile like a young child finally writing his name, like a teenager backing the car out of the driveway correctly for the first time, like someone who had just gotten accepted to their dream college. He smiled.

Harry was back at Hogwarts. Visiting Sirius seemed to be just what he needed. His grades were improving; slowly, but improving nonetheless… for almost a week. After that time period, his grades plummeted dramatically again. He developed dark circles under his eyes.

"Adrienne," he said one day during Potions, "thanks so much for coming with me to visit Sirius."

"No problem," she lied.

"I need to go again," Harry said.

"Hmm," she said, not looking up.

"Please."

Adrienne looked up. "Sorry, Harry. I'm not going again. You're on your own."

Ron, Hermione and Harry sat in awkward silence, eating breakfast Sunday morning. An awkward silence hung in the air between them.

"So, Harry," Hermione said after a while, "I heard you visited Sirius."

Harry spat out his food. "Wh- How?"

Hermione shrugged. "Word travels."

"Does anyone else know?" Harry demanded.

"Naw, mate, chill. It's just us," Ron assured him. "Breathe."

"Um… so did it go well?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"Yeah, it was okay. He said he remembered a girl, but he couldn't remember her name."

"Well… it's a start… right?" Things were obviously awkward between the two of them. Harry shrugged.

After a few more moments of silence, Hermione got up. "Well, I've got to go. See you, Harry."

Harry said nothing.

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione was saying, "Is it true that Sirius is at St. Mungo's right now?"

"I'm afraid so, Miss Granger," came the reply.

"And you couldn't do anything about it?"

"I could not, Miss Granger. I am not the Minister."

"Um… could I go there this weekend, sir? Since I've finished my testing early and all," she added hastily. "It's a break for me, and my grades aren't suffering…"

"On the contrary," Dumbledore chuckled. "I must admit, I did not let your friend Mr. Potter on this journey—"

"I wouldn't have to see Sirius," Hermione said quickly.

"I was going to say, Miss Granger, that you may. On the condition that no other students accompany you. I will send Hagrid with you. Three hours, Miss Granger, and that is all. This Sunday you may go, and no sooner."

"Thank you, sir," Hermione said, and rushed out of the office.

Adrienne, Harry wrote, then paused.

I have told you that I am going to visit Sirius. I'm going tomorrow. I know you didn't want to come again, but I was wondering if you'd cover for me. In Potions, would you just tell Snape I'm sick?

Harry looked at it for a while. He sighed. That's as good as it's going to get. He scrawled Harry at the bottom and watched Hedwig take off with the letter.

She was back faster than lightning.

Adrienne looked down at the paper before her. She read the note quickly, then crumpled it up in despair. No Harry… why do you have to do this?

Quick as a flash, she wrote:

That's fine.

She gave the tiny piece of parchment to the owl and went back to her bed and lay there, crying. She wondered why Harry was doing this to her; at the same time she knew he didn't know better.

I can't keep living like this. Someone has to know. I'm going to end up hurting Harry… the only person who's ever talked to me.

A/N: Ehh, I'm not really sure what else to write in this chapter. I know it's short, and sorry. I've got an idea of what's to come in Chapter 8.

So leave me a review! Sorry this took so long!

OutofAzkaban

butterfly-angel123- Thanks for the positive comment!

code112358132134- What did you figure out? Tell tell! (In an email, of course.) Haha yes, good question—why did you wait to read it?

roxygurl25- Yeah, you know pretty much everything in this story.

forestofgreenjello- Nice name change. :P Please don't read the prequel, because I don't like it. There's a note in my bio about it… I'll give you the thumbs up once I've fixed it (probably this summer….?). Did I ever say Sirius would recover? Mwahaha. Thanks for the support!

potts- I'm so glad you caught that! I think you were the only one! Go tell others! What's wrong with the rest of you? Just kidding. Thanks for being so observant! And you'll find that all out… in the end.