Chapter 4

The next morning, Harry and I had changed into fresh clothes and headed downstairs when an ugly rat ran down the hall, being chased by a large orange furball. I recognized the rat, but not the cat. So, Harry and I followed the animals and heard a familiar voice shout, "I'm warning you, Hermione, keep that bloody beast away from Scabbers."

That's when Ron and Hermione's heads came into view. "He's a cat, Ronald, it's in his nature."

"A cat? Is that what they told you? It looks more like a pig with fur, if you ask me."

Harry and I leaned against the railing and smiled. "That's charming, Ronald. Coming from an owner with that pet! It's alright, Crookshanks, just ignore the mean boy."

Ron finally noticed us and smiled, "Harry! Elliot!"

I gave a smile and walked down the stairs. Ron and Hermione met us at the bottom when I asked Ron, "Feeling better?"

Before Ron could answer, I punched him hard in the stomach. Ron doubled over in pain as I scolded, "You prat! How dare you pretend to be sick and leave me to deal with the Dursleys by myself?"

With each word came another hard punch. It may not have been the best way to handle the situation, but it made me feel good. Finally, Harry pulled me off of him as Ron regained his breath. "Bloody hell, Elliot, I didn't know you could hit like that," he grunted.

"There is plenty more where that came from," I replied with a snarl.

"Alright, you two. That's enough. Why don't we get something to eat?" suggested Hermione.

"Perfect," I replied, giving Ron the evil eye.

Harry and Hermione were walking off, but Ron and I stood glued to the spot. Ron looked scared while I looked furious. I'm guessing that both Harry and Hermione noticed that we weren't following them because I felt Hermione grab my arm and drag me to the dining area. The room was jam packed with witches and wizards. The four of us found a seat at a long table where Percy sat looking over a newspaper. "Oh, Harry, I have something to show you," smiled Ron as he rummaged through his pockets.

Trying to ignore him, I looked at Hermione's large cat and smiled, "He's adorable!"

"Isn't he? I saw him at the menagerie and I just had to have him."

As I scratched behind Crookshanks' ears, Ron pulled out the picture of us in Egypt. "Look where we went, Harry!" smiled Ron.

Harry's eyes lit up. "Wow! Egypt! What's it like?"

"Brilliant! There were loads of mummies and stuff. Even Scabbers enjoyed himself."

"You know that the Egyptians use to worship cats," I stated. I was still angry at Ron and seeing as how Crookshanks was adorable and Ron hated him, I though It would be a good idea to let out some of my anger. "Yeah, along with the dung beetle," replied Ron.

I shook my head and went back to adoring Crookshanks when Fred, George, Rachel and Amanda came in, taking the picture from Ron. "Flashing that picture again, have you Ron?" asked Fred.

"I haven't shown anyone!" replied Ron.

"No, not a soul. Unless you count Tom the barman," stated George.

"The morning maid," continued Fred.

"The night maid," added Amanda.

"And the wizard in Flourish and Blotts," finished Rachel as they sat at the table. I tried to sustain my laughter as Mr. And Mrs. Weasley ran up to us. "Harry! Elliot! Thank goodness you're alright!"

Harry and I stood up to greet them. As I jumped over the table to stand with Harry, Mrs. Weasley asked, "Do you have everything?"

"Yes," replied Harry.

"All of your books?"

"Yeah, they're upstairs," I replied.

"Good job. Oh Elliot, we brought your trunk and sent it up to your room."

"Thank you," I said as she walked away.

Just then, Mr. Weasley took her spot. "Harry, Elliot, good to see you!"

"Good to see you too, Mr. Weasley," replied Harry.

"Can I have a word with both of you?"

"Sure thing," I replied.

Mr. Weasley led both me and Harry beneath the staircase to a more secluded area. Wanted posters of Sirius Black adorned the walls. "Have a good holiday, Harry?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Yeah, it was fine," replied Harry as Mrs. Weasley stopped and turned to us. "I'm sure Dumbledore has told you two about your parents?"

"Yeah, he sent an owl about a week ago," I replied.

"Good. Now listen you two, there are some within the Ministry who would discourage what I am about to divulge to you, but I think you both need to know the facts. You are in danger…grave danger," he whispered.

"Why am I not surprised?" I muttered under my breath.

"Sir, does this have anything to do with Sirius Black?" asked Harry.

"What do you know about Black?"

"That he's a murderer and escaped from Azkaban," replied Harry.

"Do you know anything else?"

"Well, we're sort of confused with what he has to do with us," I replied.

Mr. Weasley took a deep breath and began, "Thirteen years ago, when you defeated…"

"Voldemort?" I asked.

"Don't say his name!"

"Sorry."

"When you defeated You-Know-Who, Black lost everything," started Mr. Weasley again as he led us away from the spot as if it were cursed, "But to this day, he remains a faithful servant, and in his mind, you two are the only thing that stands in the way of…You-Know-Who, returning to power. And that is why he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you two and…" he continued after leading us to a new spot.

"And kill us," I finished.

"Harry…Elliot, swear to me that whatever you might hear, you will not go looking for Black."

"Mr. Weasley, why would we go looking for someone who wants to kill us?" asked Harry.

Harry did have a point. We wanted to stay alive for as long as possible. So, we promised Mr. Weasley that we wouldn't go looking for Sirius Black and returned to our friends. Unfortunately, I had to walk in on a make-session between Rachel and George. The only way I found that out was because when I went to the lavatory, I found them snogging in the shadows between the boys and girl's lavatory. "EW! Rachel! Get a room!"

Rachel and George quickly split up and ran of towards the dining area again as I proceeded into the lavatory. I wish I never have to see that again.

TBC...