Disclaimer: I do not own anything even distantly related to Harry Potter. I do not own his cousins, his second uncles (twice removed) or even his godfather's gerbil (only by marriage). I do wish I owned Harry however. winks suggestively coughs Right, anyway, bye now! Oh yeah, have a chapter…

Chapter Six

Recap

Harry woke but did not lift his lids. He remembered being in the void for what seemed like a long time. Had Voldemort killed him again? But there was something strange. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't want to open his eyes to find out, fearing it to be another new method of torture that Voldemort had concocted. But then he realized what it was. He was warm and comfortable. Curiosity roused him. At first, he thought that he was back in the hospital wing at Hogwarts with the white curtain drawn around him for some peace and solitude. Then he realized that it wasn't a curtain surrounding him, but a whitewashed wall. It wasn't even at a close proximity. Frightened but interested, Harry threw the covers off his frail body and stood up. He was shocked to find that he was wearing hospital robes. There was a white door to his right and he walked toward it and put his hand on the handle, but didn't turn and push. He was afraid that it might all be a trick of Voldemort's. He could now recall the events of last night and his last memory was of the five Death Eaters cursing him. In all likelihood, he was back in their presence. Come on, Harry, he told himself. Don't be a coward. Face him. And so, fortifying his courage, he turned the knob, pushed, and followed the door out.

The doctors said that Harry was getting better, but Hermione couldn't help her nervousness. It had been thirty-four days since Sirius had brought Harry in. As far as the nurses and doctors were letting on, Harry hadn't regained consciousness in all that time. Hermione still remembered her horror at seeing how thin and battered Harry's body was. They had been allowed a few visits since Harry's sudden appearance, and he did look better but it was a far cry from being anything close to healthy. Hermione surveyed her company with anxious eyes. Ron looked tired and disheveled, having gotten little sleep out of his need to be there when Harry awoke. Hermione knew that she looked little better, for the same reason. Dumbledore looked rumpled and less professional and prepared than he had always done. Since the Christmas holidays were over, he had to spend most of his time at Hogwarts but he came whenever he got a spare minute. Sirius was the worst of the lot. For about the first eleven days, Sirius had gotten by on little more than perhaps an hour of sleep a day. Then his body had run out of energy to keep him going and he had sprawled out on a bench and fell immediately into a deep sleep, looking dead, for the whole world to see, in a hospital. But after about two to five hours he had forced himself awake and repeated the whole cycle.

It just so happened that all were awake and there with most of the Weasley family when the door opened. At first no one thought anything of it because doctors and nurses were constantly entering and exiting but, at the same instant, everyone seemed to realize that not a soul had entered the room for hours that day. Eyes swiveled to the yawning door and the bony figure that stared out from within. Harry looked them all over in blatant astonishment and when his eyes met Hermione's he whispered in a hardly audible voice, "Am I dreaming again?" Hermione could not help the happy grin that split her face as she shook her head. "Hermione?" She nodded. "Ron?" He went through each in turn, as if not believing his eyes and each person dipped their head in reply. "Professor Dumbledore? Fred? George? Percy? Ginny? Arthur Weasley? Molly Weasley?" He stopped dead when he saw the last remaining person. "S- S- Sirius?" he stuttered, backing up and gripping the door with white knuckles. "You're dead. I saw you die. You vanished beyond the veil." He let go of the door and backed up to the bed, muttering in desperate sobs of grief. "It is a dream. None of them are real. It's just a result of Voldemort's ultimatum. You don't want them to die, just like you didn't want Sirius to die. It's what you were thinking about when you passed out. You're going to wake up dangling from those chains to Voldemort coming in and demanding an answer. He'll probably even have some new method to sway you in his direction." He sat down on the bed and let his head fall into his hands and cried in despair, "None of them are real!"

Sirius walked into the room and sat down next to Harry. "Harry," he whispered kindly. Harry looked up at him with frightened eyes, the eyes of a broken man fearing that this wonderful life was a dream. "Harry, it's me. I did die. But I wouldn't allow myself to be swept so far from your reach and I fought. I fought to get back to you and now I have. It's alright." And then Hermione did something that was even against her own will. She walked into the room and kissed Harry lightly on the forehead. Then she walked out of the room and closed the door.

"It's their time, now," she said.

Harry stared incredulously at Sirius. Sirius knew what Harry was thinking. Sirius had died. And yet, here he was, sitting on the bed next to Harry, telling him that he had died, but that he had come back from the grave.

"All right," Harry said, straightening up and shining eyes full of mirth at his godfather. "All right, Sirius. I'll listen to you, and I'll tell you whatever you want me to say. But I'll just make one thing clear to you, okay? I know that you're either a dream or that you're just a glamour, since Sirius is dead and you can't take some Polyjuice, or you're something conjured up by Voldemort to make me suffer more, convince me to help him in his 'grand scheme.' 'Cause Sirius died more than seven years ago. But I'll humor you." And he folded his skeletal arms across his chest and regarded Sirius with his piercing green eyes.

Sirius cleared his throat. He understood what Harry was doing and why. He had lived just under a third of his life in an existence of terror where every day was filled with torture, pain, and suffering. He was trying to protect himself more by forcing himself to believe that he was dreaming a wonderful dream where he had escaped or that he was still in Voldemort's keeping and under a new method of interrogation. Even though Sirius knew all of this, it didn't make it any easier for him to talk to someone who didn't think he was real. "Harry," he began, "Harry, I know what you're doing. I'm real. What can I do to prove this to you? If you make me tell you something that happened between the two of us, then you'll just think that it's from your memory and I'm saying it in your dream. If you want me to tell you something about your dad, then, if it's a good thing about him, you'll just convince yourself that you want him to have been like that. And if I tell you something bad, you'll just think that it's a result of the time you saw Snape's memory. I can't think of anything to tell you, Harry, but it's too painful to have you not believing me when I tell you that it's me, and I'm here, and I'm real." He stopped, exasperated. "What can I do to prove it to you?"

Harry's eyes had softened during Sirius's onslaught. Quietly, he began. "That night at the Ministry, when you fell behind the veil, did you really die?"

"Well, I don't know. I guess that I kind of did, in a way. I mean I wasn't alive. I was being pulled along, like in a river, but then it was kind of like vertigo just sort of hit me. I stopped moving, or I guess I did. There was nothing to tell me that I had stopped, but I knew I had. I could see a little pinprick off in the distance. I guess that's what they call the white light. Anyways, I just sort of stopped, even though the tug of the water that wasn't really there told me I had to go. But all of these whispers gradually came up, even though there was no one there. I can never remember what they said, but they were there the whole time sighing at me. And I slowly started moving back the way I had come. It took me about four years to do it and to fight the call of the grave, but I did it. Sometimes, I would lose my hold and slip back the way I was being pulled and the whispers would stop. They would start again when I got to where I was when I started slipping. But I got here. I came back." Sirius stopped when he looked at Harry who had a far off look, as if remembering something. He coughed lightly and said, "So when you died, you heard things?" he said skeptically.

"Well, not until I stopped. When I first fell through, you were calling for me. And then you yelled. It was horrible. Almost like death magnified the sound of it. It was like being hit by a hammer. When you shouted, 'she killed Sirius' it just sort of throbbed through my whole body like my heart was a huge drum and it just circulated the entire sensation. And then I was swept away."

Harry was shaking his head. "You don't know what it's like to be hit by a hammer," he muttered, and before Sirius could react to that, he had rushed on. "How could you know that I said that? You were dead, not there." His head fell back and he gazed up at the ceiling. "I don't know what to think. I want it to be you. I want you to be alive. But that hope just seems so unattainable, especially for me."

Sirius patted him gently on the shoulder. "If it helps, have you ever had a dream where someone just displayed as much logic as I did?"

Harry laughed, and a true smile crossed his face. "When Hermione was in it, yes. But even then it had some weird twist that made the whole thing too bizarre." Sirius joined Harry's deep chuckle with one of his own.

"Is it okay to come in now?" Hermione said from the door. "I heard my name and then you started laughing. I hope no slight has been made on my honor," she said sarcastically with a smile. And then she, and the rest of the members from the hallway flooded into the room.

Harry was receiving a torrent of questions from everyone around him and couldn't help but let a half smile cross his face at all of the indistinguishable inquiries being made to him. He tried to answer at least some, but as soon as he began to answer the person, they and everyone else would come up with ten more. Finally, Dumbledore called for order.

"I think, Harry," he said gently, "that the most pressing question, and the one which we all desperately want to know the answer to, is where have you been and what has happened to you?"

Harry took a deep, steadying breath. The one question that he didn't want to think about and answer was the one first asked. He looked down. "Where should I start?" he whispered.

"Why didn't you come to Diagon Alley with Hermione and me?" Ron blurted out.

"I was going to, but the Dursleys wouldn't take me, and I never got any response to any letters I wrote asking people to come get me."

"I never got one," Ron and Hermione said simultaneously.

Harry smiled grimly with suppressed mirth. "That's the conclusion that I came to after about a week with Voldemort." And then, before he could go on, Dumbledore interjected again.

"I believe that you should start with your sixteenth birthday, Harry, for that is when this whole ordeal began, I believe," he said kindly.

Harry nodded. "I remember waking up from a dream about Voldemort. I didn't know what it was about, I only remembered that he was furious at the beginning but he was kind of happy, in a murderous way, at the end. Since Sirius died, I hadn't slept well at all, and the only thing that I could anticipate with contentedness was my birthday when I would hear from all of you and when I went back to Hogwarts. Then I looked over at my window and saw all the mail. It was the happiest I had been in a long time. I couldn't believe that it was my birthday. Later that day, I went down to breakfast and there was a weird telephone call for Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. I never did find out what it was.

"Then, before I knew it, it was September 1st. I was really surprised that the Dursleys didn't grumble or balk at taking me. When we got there, they wouldn't let me out of the car. Then five Death Eaters appeared. Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Nott, Avery, and Dolohov. When Lestrange pulled me out onto my head they gave Uncle Vernon 50,000 pounds." He smiled a bit smugly. "Didn't know I was worth that much. Well, they tried to put me under the Imperious Curse, but I wouldn't let them. Then I ran." He stopped all of a sudden, realization dawning on his face. "Wait," he said urgently. "Did Hedwig ever get to you?" he asked fearfully.

Dumbledore reassured him. "She made it to us, though she was wounded. She was quite insistent on finding you. She is now in Sirius's care."

Harry looked shyly over at his godfather. "Thanks," he mumbled, and then hurriedly carried on. "I sent Hedwig to Hogwarts to get help from you guys. Then four of them, 'cause I had thrown Nott's wand into the middle of the street, four Apparated into the alley I was in. Malfoy sent Dolohov after Hedwig and the remaining three all put me under the Crustacious Curse. Then I blacked out.

"When I woke up, I didn't know where I was. I was thinking about what had happened when Voldemort came in. That day started a seven-year-long nightmare that I never thought I'd wake up from. The first day he put me under Crucio so many times, I didn't even remember my own name when the day was over. Every day I underwent some of the most painful things that he could think of. After about a week, I think, I was about to get some hundred lashings from the whip when he came in again. He was so fuming mad," Harry said with a laugh. "Of course, he did almost choke me to death, but I thought it was pretty funny, afterwards. I had gotten both worlds out looking for me. Now he had to hide me from, not only the whole wizarding world, but also pesky Muggles who didn't know when to stop. He gave the guy beating me orders to 'give me extra for good measure' 'cause he wanted to hear my screams all the way to his rooms, wherever those were. Then he told the guy to pull out my right back molar on the top and give it to him along with my glasses." Harry stopped, running his tongue over the now healed gap. All the other teeth Voldemort had put back in so he could pull them out again later. Voldemort was particularly fond of pulling teeth and Harry only had thirty-two after all. Well, thirty-one. That was the only tooth he had missing.

Hermione gasped suddenly. "The skeleton!" she cried in abrupt insight. When no one seemed to follow that statement, except maybe for Dumbledore, she sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you remember?" she demanded. "Harry's skeleton! It only had one unbroken tooth! In the back right on the top! Voldemort set us up so he wouldn't have to worry about people looking for Harry anymore!" Harry watched as the same awareness that had hit Hermione washed over the rest of them.

"About a year later, he told me that all of you had stopped looking for me, convinced that I was dead. He said that the only way to identify a body after it had been horribly burned was the pulp in the teeth and that he had made sure that the traitor's body was charred to ashes and my tooth was the only whole one left attached." He shuddered. "That was the same day that he brought the dementors in." Nearly everyone gasped. They knew firsthand what dementors did to him. "I really don't know what else to call it," Harry admitted, "but I guess I developed a type of resistance to them. Bit by bit, I didn't feel them as much and they didn't have the same effect on me. By the end it just got to the point where I only felt like I'd never be happy again and only heard a very faint screaming, as if from a far-off whisper. After Voldemort learned that my tortures didn't have the same effect on me when dementors had the power over me, he sent them away while I was under torment and brought them back when he was through. After they came in, all of my tortures are a blur. I only remember what he did to me, but not in what specific order. I actually don't think I remember everything, though. Do you want me to tell you?" he asked anxiously with raised eyebrows. "It's not very pleasant," he cautioned.

There was a pause while everyone thought it over, glancing around to see their company's decision. Finally everyone was giving a resolute nod with grimly set faces. Harry sighed and then furrowed his brow. "Fine. Apart from Crucio and the flogging, he favored using Muggle tactics. I'm sure that he pulled every one of my teeth at least three times." He saw Hermione's hand fly to her mouth and she gave a sympathetic moan. "He put them all back so he could pull them again. The only one I'm missing is the back right on the top. He used a blowtorch against my feet, hands, ears, and other sensitive parts. I don't remember how may times he slit my wrists or my throat. Almost all of my bones have been shattered when he decided to try his luck with a hammer. He managed to get hold of a hypodermic syringe and injected me with the foulest things." Harry suddenly let out a laugh that was more like a bark. "I remember one time after he had pulled one of my back teeth. He asked me what the prophecy contained. I gave him a message that I spelled out backwards. I'm actually surprised at how long it took them to decode it. Almost a week. It was so funny seeing him swallow it."

Ron had a curious look on his face. "What did you tell him?" he asked.

R… E… S… I… W… E… C… A… P… S… E… H… T… E… C… A… P… S… Y… D… O… B… O… N… E… C… A… P… S… H… T… I… W… E… C… A… P… S… D…L… R…O… W… R… E… D… N… U… E… C… A… P… S… E… H… T… E… C… A… P… S… O… T… E… C… A… P… S… T… I… E… C… A… P… S… G… N… I… K… A… T… E… C… A… P… S… L… L… I… T… S… E… C… A… P… S… M… E… H… P… O… R… T… S… O… P… A… I… E… C… A… P… S… A… M… M… O… C… right here E… M…O… T… O… D… U… O… Y… T… A… H… W… R… E… T… T… A… M… O… N… D… O… I… R… E… P… E… M… H… T… I… W… E… V… A… R… G… E… H… T… O… T… G… N… I… O… G… S… E… H… P… O… R… T… S… O… P… A… T… I… D… O… I… R… E… P… S… T… N… E… T… N… O… C… S… T… I… O… U… Y… L… L… E… T… R… E… V… E… I… F… I…D… E… N… M… E… D… N… O… C… E… B… I… Y… A… M… D… N… A… T… I… F… O… E… S… U… A… C… E… B… D… E… I… D… S… U… I… R… I… S… D… O… I… R… E… P… T… I… E… V… O… H… S… D… N… A… Y… C… E… H… P… O… R… P… S… U… O… I… C… E… R… P… R… U… O… Y… E… K… A… T… D… O… I… R… E… P… E… M… E… T… I… B…" Harry recited.

Hermione and Dumbledore were the quickest to figure it out. Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eye and his mouth twitched but Hermione seemed shocked that Harry would do such a thing. "Harry! Don't you realize what he could have done to you? He could have killed you!"

"He did," Harry said matter-of-factly.

"What did it say?" Ron asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation, attention momentarily diverted from Harry's reply. It said, with punctuations spelled out: 'Bite me. Take your precious prophecy and shove it. Sirius died because of it and may I be condemned if I ever tell you its contents. It's going to the grave with me. No matter what you do to me, I'm still taking it to the underworld with nobody the wiser.'" She finished with a pointed look at Harry.

Everyone except for Hermione and Molly Weasley laughed and even Dumbledore chuckled lightly. The remaining two glared at Harry reprovingly. "What? It was better than telling him, wasn't it?" he said meaningfully.

"Go Harry!" the twins exclaimed in unison.

"Was that all that he did to you Harry?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Well, no. There were smaller things like starvation. But after he deciphered my little message to him, he was … livid. I don't know how he did it, but he got hold of an executioner's chair." Harry hugged himself and shuddered while everyone looked apprehensively at each other as if silently asking if Harry meant what they thought he did. Harry could feel his stomach give a queasy rumble and then knot itself in several places at the raw memories of having electricity shoot throughout his body with deadly intensity. "After seeing how effective that was on me, it became the norm of every day. But you know how it goes. Your body and your heart can only take so much electric current before it gives out. After probably four shots of electricity my heart gave out." Everyone was looking around at each other. Finally, all eyes locked with his.

"Harry," started Fred Weasley. "You should be –"

"Dead," finished George, his counterpart.

"I know. But so should he," Harry said with a gesture towards Sirius. "It gave Voldmort quite a scare when my heart wasn't beating after he had turned it off. Heaven forbid I die before I tell him what the prophecy said." Harry turned his gaze to Sirius and stared at him while he talked, placing emphasis on each word. "I don't remember much. It was like being pulled under by a strong current in a river. Then I stopped, almost as if someone had grabbed me to halt my process towards death. There were whispers all around me, like they were talking to me. Not like I was overhearing snaps of conversation, but like they were speaking directly to me. But I couldn't understand them, they were too quiet, even in that echoing void." Harry finally broke his meaningful eye contact with Sirius and sighed. "Then I woke up. Voldemort had used his wand to send a jolt straight to my heart to revive me.

"After he saw how I responded to dieing and that he could revive me, he killed me every chance he got. Every time I died, it was the same thing. I would go for a while, then would stop and the whisperers would start to murmur. Anyway. He put me in water and put an electrical wire inside. He put me on a table and hooked up the wires to me." He shuddered again. "It was awful." He just sat there. He knew they wanted him to say more, but he couldn't bring himself to. All those memories, no matter the bright face and light façade he put on, tore him up inside almost as much as the electricity had.

Dumbledore coughed lightly, but before he could speak, the door opened and a nurse walked in.

"Oh, so ye're awake are ye?" the plump woman said in a heavy Irish accent. "Well then, it's about time ye got some food in yer stomach. It's been thirty-four days since ye've eaten even a morsel. And I'm afraid yer friends'll have to leave. There'll be plenty of time for conversations after ye've had yer dinner." And not showing the smallest bit of surprise that Harry Potter was alive and awake, she ushered everyone out of the room and conjured up some food. And before Harry could ask her to reiterate exactly how long he had been there, she stuffed his mouth full and ordered him to chew.

After about fifteen minutes Harry had told the nurse that his stomach could not take another mouthful and his previous company had returned and the conversation began right where it had left off.

"Harry, would you please explain to us how you escaped?" Dumbledore voiced the question that Harry figured was the one he had been about to ask when the nurse had bustled in.

"How long have I been here?" Harry asked abruptly. He would not continue until he had straightened out how long he had been free from Voldemort's clutches.

After everyone, thinking he had started his account of his miraculous escape, had puzzled out what he'd said, Ron answered, "Thirty-four days, mate. You had us all worried there for a long time. We weren't sure that you'd make it. You'd lost a lot of blood and you're still really skinny."

"Don't blame me," Harry said fervently. "I never wanted to go anorexic. Anyway. The day started out with electrocution. After I had died a few times he sent me to get flogged." Harry winced. "It was a forked whip and stung like the devil's tongue. Three hours. I imagine that my back was slashed to ribbons." There was a general nod. "Then Voldemort came up to me and told me that I had been stronger than he'd ever thought I would be. In seven years I hadn't mumbled a word about the prophecy, except for my tiny message, or anything else he ever asked. He told me that he'd had enough, that he was through with wasting time. He said that if, by morning, I hadn't started cooperating with him, he'd come after all of you in a stronger force. Then he slapped me on the back and went to the guard, gave him some instructions, and then left. The guard then came over to me and cuffed my wrists. Then he said some magic, I couldn't make out what it was because his speech was slurred. The chain on the manacles rose up above my head until my arms were as high as they could go. Then he left too. I tried to pull the chains down, but as you can imagine, I wasn't very strong and each link was reinforced magically. I passed out. When I woke up, it was because someone had entered the room. I thought that it was morning and that Voldemort had come to find my answer. I racked my brain, trying to find something I could tell him that would convince him so he wouldn't come after all of you. But it wasn't morning and it wasn't Voldemort either." He turned his gaze onto Sirius. "It was Pettigrew."

"What!" Sirius growled. "How dare he show himself to you! You never mentioned him being there before! Probably the first time he worked up the guts to face you!"

"Sirius!" Harry interposed before the man could go any further. "He let me go."

"What?" exclaimed everyone concurrently, stunned.

"He let me go," Harry repeated, and then after a pause to measure the importance of these words, continued. "He brought the chain down and released the cuffs, then gave me instructions on how to get out. He said he'd give me five minutes before he woke the guard. When I started running, I heard him whisper 'Forgive me, Harry'. I don't know if I was meant to hear that or not." He paused again to let these words soak in as well. While he had definitely not absolved Pettigrew of what he had done to Harry's family, he was starting to see him in a different sort of light that was composed mostly of pity. "When I got to the door outside, it was locked." He stopped again, but this time for a dissimilar reason. Should I tell them about not having a wand and whispering Alohomora? Harry asked himself. They might think that I had gone crazy while I was there. He decided against it. "It's a good thing that I grabbed the guard's wand or I might not've been able to get out in time. I wish I hadn't been an idiot and thrown it down as soon as I got out the door," he muttered in self-disgust. He cast a dejected look around and saw that it looked like everyone had swallowed his story. He was proud of the successful untruth, but at the same time was even more appalled that he had become so adept at lying that he had to lie to his friends now.

"I stumbled along in the snow for a while and after about five minutes the Death Eaters came on me. They taunted me for a minute or two and then came to a mutual agreement to curse me with Rictosempra. When I woke up, I was here."

"Thank you Harry," Dumbledore bowed his head politely. "And now, if you will be so kind as to allow me to inform you of the knowledge that we had, I will tell you what we presumed had happened. When no one saw you at Gryffindor Table on the first night, we became very distressed. We consulted with Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley and they provided us with some letters. We now know that these letters were planted to keep us off Voldemort's trail for as long as possible. The next day, I became aware of a Muggle broadcast that spoke of a disappearance in London on September first. I went straight away to your Aunt and Uncle's house." Dumbledore sighed, and Harry's spirits lifted slightly. "I'm afraid that I quite lost my temper. After I had questioned them and had discovered that they had sold you to Voldemort for 50,000 pounds I took a temporary leave of my senses. I exploded at them and cursed each one for life. I told Petunia that for every pence of the money that the household spent she would get one more wrinkle on her face, another gray hair would appear, and a quarter-hour of her life would vanish. For every pound your cousin Dudley gained he would experience the exact same harassment and beatings that he gave you, both waking and unconscious. And with your Uncle Vernon, every time that he so much as thought an ill word against you, he would relive all the pain that you had experienced during your death. I don't imagine that he's suffered much." He stopped when Harry couldn't hold his laughter in any longer and burst out, releasing his suppressed mirth.

"I can't believe you did that! I must say, Professor, that I'm impressed. You cursed my aunt with one of the very things that she is absolutely terrified of; I wonder how much weight Dudley has lost? And don't worry about Uncle Vernon. I've died numerous times, each one of them very painful. They're all suffering. Don't worry."

"Always knew that you were a sadistic little imp, Harry," Fred declared happily while George was pretending to wipe away tears of pride.

"Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasley scolded half-heartedly.

Dumbledore allowed himself an understanding chuckle before continuing on. "Later, I realized that I might have been a bit too emotional at the time, but I still haven't ever gotten around to revoking their curses. It keeps getting pushed to the bottom of my list of priorities, somehow. I forced the Ministry to send out aurors looking for you. Then, during the Christmas holidays, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor Moody, the Weasley family including Ron, Hermione, and myself set out to look for you in the Mojave Desert in the United States. Nymphadora spotted something and your lithe friends here," he said, indicating Ron and Hermione with a gesture, "had the misfortune to be the first to reach the blackened remains of a body. As you know, it had been burnt to practically charred ashes and had only one intact tooth. After further examination of the area, we found your glasses, your school trunk with your belongings and a note. It read: 'Here's your savior, Dumbledore.' After that, I am afraid that we stopped looking for you." He sighed. Harry knew that the man felt tremendous guilt at having given up on Harry. Harry wanted to tell him that it was all right, but he also wanted everyone to feel guilty at not believing in his return. He immediately felt ashamed of this and awkwardly reached out to pat Dumbledore a couple times on the back.

"You can comfort me all you want Harry, but that does not erase the fact that we abandoned you after the barest amount of searching. And I pride myself at knowing how Voldemort's mind works more than anyone. It was too easy, too simple of a solution for him." He released a long breath. "Then, four years after you disappeared, Sirius came back. He just appeared on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Too weak to bring himself to us, Firenze was kind enough to canter out and bring him back to the school. I had the grim duty of informing him of what we had presumed happened to you. Six months later, we had your funeral."

"Wow. Stop. Question. Let me just straighten this out in my head. Four and ½ years after I die you have my funeral? Were you waiting for Sirius to come back?"

Dumbledore smiled wryly. "We would have given you a proper ceremony as soon as we returned from the United States with your body. But the Ministry found out that we had discovered your cadaver and … um… confiscated your remains to… er… study it." He sounded more than a little puzzled at the Ministry's actions.

Harry raised his eyebrows in mock curiosity. "Does the Ministry know that I'm alive?" he asked sweetly.

"Well, we've tried to keep it secret," Hermione admitted. "But the nurses and doctors could have leaked something. The Daily Prophet, and the Quibbler, and such have been asking us all questions about you. I guess that it's only fair to assume that the Ministry knows as well. We've all been ignoring and brushing off all of reporters and mail and everything, but I don't know if that has deterred them any."

"I wonder if the people who studied my body know that I'm alive," Harry mused almost to himself in the same sparklingly innocent voice. "I wonder what a shock my sudden resurrection will cause them when I finally heal enough to make a public appearance." Ron chuckled lightly and Harry granted him a wolfish grin, all coyness gone.

"Finishing up our end of the tale," Dumbledore continued, "after your wake, we put it behind us. You were a painful memory for all of us. We didn't want to be reminded of what we had done that had caused your death. Sirius had a very difficult time coping with your bereavement. He was consumed very deeply into his depression. It took nearly a year for him to recover." Harry glanced concernedly over at Sirius. He was still a thin man, but now it was more wiry muscles. His face wasn't as gaunt as Harry remembered it being after his escape from Azkaban and the years following. Even though Sirius was noticeably healthier, Harry could still make out the vestiges of prolonged worry. He also guessed that it had recently surfaced again when Harry's ultimate condition was unknown. He granted a weakly reassuring smile. Sirius grinned broadly in reply.

"So, now that we're all caught up on recent events, what do we do now?" Harry asked, quickly changing the subject. He still wasn't positive on how he was to regard Sirius. He had lived seven years with him being "dead" and then he came back and here he was. Although he supposed that he couldn't throw that many stones when Sirius had believed him dead for years also. "I'm rather partial to leaving, myself."

AN I'm back! YAY! I had to go on a Forensics meet this weekend, so that's why I didn't end up updating on Friday like I had wanted to. You poor deprived readers! I mean, I posted late last time, and then am prevented from updating for two days! And all my update consists of is a rehash of what you already mostly know. I kinda feel bad. sigh Okay, bad feeling's gone! You can suffer! 

So how did you like Harry being all indifferent to everything while he was talking and then getting all cheerful? I'll let you all in on a little secret. When it gets to an emotional part or something like that, and I start to make fun of it, it usually means that I had a bad day. When I get angry, I get extremely sarcastic. So now you all know the method to my madness.

Actually, right now I'm watching Christmas Vacation and I can't help but laugh diabolically at all the misfortune!

You know, I really need to start making notes of what I want to tell you. I usually remember what I was going to tell you right after I update. And then I forget when I wanted to say when it comes time to update. Well, whatever. I guess it's not all that important. Maybe next time. But there is this one thing. You might only get one, maybe two, updates for the remainder of the year 2005. On Friday, the 23, my parents and I are going to fly up to Anchorage to be with the rest of my family for Christmas and New Year. Just to forewarn you.

Now remember! Ravenous author! I even put in these subtle little hints at the end, and only a few people picked up on it! Fine! I give up on subtlety! I'll give it to ya straight!

REVIEW!

Happy now? I mean, c'mon, I say I'm dieing and you don't care? I barely survived off the meager amounts that I received. But then I came back from Bozeman and I had a handful waiting for me. So it was all good. I don't really care if you think I'm ranting and raving and being annoying! If you want me to shut up, then there's a quick, easy, and quite effective way to do it. I think you know what I mean.