What can I say, guys, I'm so sorry for abandoning this fic for so long! Real life just got in the way. Anyway, I plan to see it through to the end, so here is a nice long chapter for anyone that still remembers/cares about the story! Enjoy x

Chapter 16

Harry lay on the bed, breathlessly gazing up at the older man above him. Sirius gave him a devilish smirk and brought his face down, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss. Moaning unashamedly, Harry gently rocked his hips against Sirius and explored his mouth with his tongue, the spicy taste overwhelming his senses. He was sure he would never get tired of this. Sirius's hands slipped under Harry's shirt and he gasped at the delicious sensation of rough fingers ghosting over his sensitive skin. They were lost in each other, lost in their senses, not a single inch of space between them as they embraced. The perfect moment was ruined not a moment later, however, as a loud knock at the door disrupted them.

"Harry, Sirius, are you in there?" Remus's voice came from the hallway. At least he had learnt to knock, Harry thought to himself grumpily, after the many times he'd walked in on them. Sirius reluctantly climbed off him and walked towards the door, a stony expression on his face.

"This had better be important," he growled at Remus, almost impersonating his canine animagus form in his anger. Remus ignored him.

"You know perfectly well that there's an Order meeting happening, Sirius. Get your lazy arses downstairs before I make you. That goes for you as well, Harry!" Remus called into the room, before turning and heading back downstairs.

Sirius turned dramatically away from the door and stomped back towards the bed, letting lose a stream of curses towards Remus and his bad timing. Harry looked at him and smirked, annoyed about his moment with Sirius being ruined but finding the older man's reaction amusing to watch.

"Come on, I guess we should actually head down there," Harry said reluctantly, getting off the bed and strolling towards the door. Sirius grabbed him as he was about to pass by, and placed a quick, searing kiss on his lips.

"We'll continue after the meeting," Sirius whispered huskily into Harry's ear, and Harry's eyes lit up in anticipation. He was almost annoyed that they were headed to an Order meeting, despite all the fuss he'd kicked up in order to even be allowed in. He tried to forget Sirius for the moment and to focus on more important things as they headed down the stairs and into the kitchen where several Order members were waiting impatiently.

"Finally!" Remus called to them half frustrated, half amused as they both sauntered into the room. Harry looked somewhat apologetic, but Sirius just grinned obnoxiously and sat down at the table, pulling out the seat next to him for Harry.

"Now that we're all here," Kingsley Shacklebolt began speaking in his deep voice, looked somewhat pointedly at the two of them, "we can begin this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. Seeing as it's Harry's first proper meeting, it would probably be wise to fill him in on some details." He looked at Harry and Sirius, assuming quite rightly that Sirius would be the one to do it.

"Thanks, Kingsley, I'll do it," Sirius smiled at him politely and turned to Harry, his smile immediately softening and becoming more sincere. "Ok, so we've been monitoring Voldemort's movements as best we can for a while now, trying to get a good picture of what his plans are. One of his main strategies at the moment seems to be recruitment. He's trying his best to boost his following by having his Death Eaters scouting for dark wizards to join his ranks. And he's not only recruiting people that are willing to join, he's using his old tactics of coercion and dark magic to convince people to follow him. There have been reports of torture, blackmail and the Imperius curse being used."

Sirius paused, and Harry looked at him with a dark expression in his eyes. He was filled with so much hate for Voldemort, he almost felt it bursting out of him sometimes. What right did that evil bastard think he had to send his minions out to torture innocent, terrified people into joining him? It was sick and twisted. He scowled, and Sirius' eyes narrowed, obviously feeling the same way as Harry.

"I'm not surprised, but I still find it difficult to think about," Harry said softly with a poisonous edge to his voice. "What else have you found out?" He asked, determined to know as much as possible about the plans of their enemy.

"It's not just wizards and witches that he's recruiting. There have been rumours, hints that he's also trying to liaise with various different groups of dark creatures. He has Death Eaters hidden amongst groups such as the vampires and werewolves, spreading the word and trying to convince them that the only way to survive the war with powers and rights is to join him."

Harry swallowed, a sense of dread coming over him. There was so much damage these creatures could do if they fell into Voldemort's trap and decided to fight against them.

"Is that were you've been, Remus?" Harry asked the man, looking at him worriedly. "Have you been trying to convince the werewolves not to fall for Voldemort's propaganda?" Remus looked at him seriously and nodded his head.

"Yes, I've been living with a large group of werewolves recently, trying to fit in with them and become a trusted member of their group. I need to be able to convince them that Voldemort is evil and they'll be doing a terrible thing if they join him, but it's tough work. Thanks to people like Umbridge bringing in anti-werewolf legislation, they all feel betrayed by humans as it is and they're happy that Voldemort is planning on bringing down the Ministry of Magic. They believe him when he says that he'll give them rights, they won't be shunned by society any more. The werewolves I've been living with are very different to me, Harry. They live rough, and they embrace the wolf whenever the full moon comes around, some of them taking pleasure in murder. Voldemort is playing on that by telling them he'll provide them with muggles and muggle-borns to feed on and hunt."

Remus looked ill as he spoke these words, and Harry couldn't help but feel the same way. He was so used to interacting with Remus that he hadn't really thought about the fact that there were werewolves out there that didn't have the Wolfsbane potion, or a dedicated group of animagi friends to help them out during their transformations. It was easy to forget how unpopular werewolves were in general society, as Harry knew for a fact that Remus was one of the kindest and most genuine men he knew, and that being a werewolf didn't change that in the slightest.

Harry turned back to Sirius, seeing his grim expression mirrored on Sirius' handsome face. "So, Voldemort is gaining ground with the werewolves and probably the vampires too. Are there any other creatures he's hoping to coerce?" Harry asked bitterly, already knowing the answer.

"Sadly, yes. We believe he may be coming quite close to convincing the dementors to leave Azkaban and join the Death Eaters."

Harry gasped, feeling a chill settle over him as he thought about those horrifying creatures. "But if the dementors leave Azkaban that means…"

"A mass breakout, exactly. Voldemort has a lot of loyal followers imprisoned there, and it would be a big blow to our side if he managed to gain all of them back as well as a swarm of dementors. Unfortunately there isn't much we can do about that at the moment, apart from hoping that the Ministry stay competent enough to keep the dementors under their control for as long as possible. Which, seeing as Fudge is being deliberately stupid, is looking less and less likely."

Sirius frowned deeply, and Harry took in a shaky breath. It was tougher than he thought it would be, finding out all of this information. It was starting to dawn on him just how dangerous Voldemort really was, and how important the work of the Order was. They couldn't let Voldemort's plans take hold, they simply couldn't! Sirius noticed his distressed expression and gently squeezed his hand under the table. Harry gave him a grateful smile, and Sirius smiled back, not letting go of his hand.

"Anything else I should know about in regards to Voldemort's recruitment?" Harry asked softly, "or should we move on?"

Sirius looked uncomfortable, and spoke hesitantly. "There's one more thing, actually. A force Voldemort used to great effect in the last wizarding war was the giants. It looks like he's trying to recruit them again this time. This is why…why Hagrid has gone to attempt to liaise with them." Sirius spoke quite quietly towards the end, but Harry heard every word as if it was shouted. Hagrid had gone to liaise with giants, that's why he was gone! He was supposed to be back by now, though. What if something terrible had happened to him?

"No!" Harry exclaimed loudly. "That's ridiculous! You sent him after the giants? No wonder he hasn't come back yet, they probably killed him as soon as they saw him!" Harry's voice broke and he stopped talking, feeling an unnatural quiet fall over the room. He felt Sirius's hand leave his, only to be replaced by a comforting arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug. Harry sighed, leaning onto him for support.

"There's no evidence to suggest that Hagrid is dead, or seriously injured," Kingsley spoke up softly. "He was travelling with Madame Olympe Maxime, and she returned alone only a week after they were due to be back. She said that Hagrid was fine when she left him, but they had got separated on the journey home."

This didn't do much to appease Harry's worry. "But still, he was supposed to be back months ago and no one has heard from him!" Harry said, sighing and putting his head in his hands. When he'd heard Ron and Hermione talking about Hagrid, he hadn't imagined anything like this. Giants were ruthless, bloodthirsty creatures and he was horrified by the idea of Hagrid walking right up to them and trying to convince them not to follow Voldemort.

Sirius looked at Harry, clearly worried about how upset he was. "Alright, I think that's enough for now," he said softly to the room at large. Everyone nodded and agreed, planning another meeting for a few days from now when they would go over any progress that had happened. The members of the Order all began to stand up, stretch and head towards the door, while talking quietly amongst themselves. This all passed Harry by as he sat at the table, thinking sadly about the war and how many people would be lost to it. It filled him with even more determination to do what he could to take Voldemort down and stop his violence once and for all.

"Are you ok, Harry?" Sirius broke his train of thought to ask him gently. Harry gave him a small smile.

"I'll be ok. Thank you, Sirius," Harry squeezed his hand, grateful for the comfort the older man brought him.

"For what?"

"For being here for me whenever I need you. For helping me get into these Order meetings so I can wrap my head around everything and give myself more determination to finish this war. For being you," Harry said quietly, looking sincerely into Sirius' stormy grey eyes. They brightened as Sirius smiled at him, and he was pulled into a firm hug.

"You're welcome, Harry," Sirius breathed, and Harry's throat constricted as a sudden surge of emotion swept over him. He knew that he loved Sirius, he'd known that since he learnt the truth about him and subsequently saved him from the Ministry, but he was starting to think that he may be falling in love with the man. This thought set his blood rushing and his heart pumping, and he got a violent case of butterflies in his stomach. He couldn't help the goofy grin that came over him when he thought about his feelings for Sirius. There was no doubt about it, he was falling for the older man.

His thoughts were interrupted as Sirius pulled away and he registered the fact that they were alone in the kitchen, all the Order members having gone on their way. He needed to take his mind off of the seriousness of the meeting for a while, and he thought he knew how. He pulled back slightly from the embrace, looking into Sirius' eyes again but this time with a playful, almost seductive look in his eyes. He smirked slightly and whispered into Sirius' ear.

"Remember what we were doing before the meeting started? I believe you told me we would continue…" Harry breathed huskily and Sirius' eyes darkened with lust.

"Of course, how could I forget?" he answered with a roguish grin, and Harry felt butterflies in his stomach again as he once more realised just how gorgeous Sirius really was. Before he knew what was happening, the older man had grabbed him by the waist, thrown him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and was carrying him up the stairs to their bedroom. Harry hardly had time to complain before he found himself thrown down onto their bed by an enthusiastic Sirius. "Now, where were we…?" he asked silkily, straddling Harry and leaning over him.

"I think I remember…" Harry answered roughly, grabbing Sirius by his perfectly styled hair and pulling him down into a forceful kiss. Sirius moaned in appreciation and slipped his tongue into Harry's mouth as if it was made to be there, exploring and tasting him, probing his tongue over the sensitive spots that made Harry moan and writhe in pleasure.

Moving from Harry's, Sirius's mouth trailed down Harry's jaw line, leaving a trail of wet kisses along his neck. He paused here for a moment, sucking and nibbling at a particularly sensitive spot as Harry moaned and cursed out loud, tangling his hands further into Sirius' soft hair and begging him not to stop. Sirius laughed huskily against Harry's skin, his soft breath tingling against him and leaving him breathless. He moved further down, softly sucking Harry's collarbone, and abruptly sitting up to rip off Harry's shirt as he became impatient with the amount of skin on show.

Before Sirius could resume his ministrations, Harry shamelessly reciprocated by pulling Sirius' shirt off too. He ran his hands over the older man's perfect body, feeling taught muscles and soft skin under his hands. Sirius closed his eyes and smiled softly, giving Harry the confidence to lean forwards and hesitantly kiss the tantalisingly exposed flesh of his chest. Harry moved his hands around to Sirius's back, holding him in a gentle embrace while he boldly moved his mouth over his nipple and licked it. Sirius' eyes opened wide in surprise and he moaned loudly, prompting Harry to take the sensitive nipple in his mouth and suck on it tenderly, brushing his teeth over the tip as he pulled away and relishing the look of sheer desire in Sirius's face.

Sirius pushed Harry back down onto the bed roughly, pressing their bodies together until there was no space between them at all, their bare chests causing a delicious friction. He crashed their lips together in a searing kiss, pouring all of his pent up desire into it and gasping softly as Harry kissed him back just as forcefully. He had come a long way from the shy, inexperienced boy he had once been when they had first realised their feelings for each other. Sirius certainly wasn't complaining as Harry reacted to their passionate kiss by grinding his hips against Sirius', a sinfully exquisite feeling starting to build, his growing erection pushed against Harry's thigh.

Harry revelled in the feeling of Sirius' excitement pressing against him, it turned him on even more than he already was and he moaned again as their pace began to quicken, grinding against each other as they kissed. Sirius soon decided there were too many layers between them and he began to unbutton Harry's trousers, the younger man looking at him with excited anticipation. They hadn't come this far before, Sirius didn't want to pressure Harry into doing anything he wasn't ready for, but he certainly seemed ready now. He gave him a questioning look as he slowly undid the zip, not wanting to go too far.

"Just hurry up and take my trousers off, Sirius," Harry said roughly, his voice deep with obvious desire. Sirius grinned at him, taking that as all the permission he needed, and he quickly ripped the offending item of clothing off of the green eyed man. Harry was quick to reciprocate, completely ripping Sirius' trousers when he seemed to decide they weren't coming off quickly enough. Sirius smirked and reached his hand between them, palming the obvious erection in Harry's underwear. Harry threw his head back and moaned loudly, prompting Sirius to press harder and faster. Harry opened his eyes, gazing at Sirius lustily. He moved his own hand down, taking Sirius' erection in hand and gently squeezing it. He relished the look of pure desire on Sirius' face and decided he wanted to see him look like that as often as possible from now on.

Sirius gave Harry a sloppy kiss, they were too far gone for precision now. They writhed against each other, palming each other through their underwear, too caught up in the moment to stop and get rid of that final layer. Harry was first to let his orgasm take him over, never having felt anyone touch him like this other than himself. The feeling of Sirius' large, rough hand pumping him was too much for him to take and he screamed out loud, coming hard and fast in his boxers. Sirius wasn't far behind, relishing the look of ecstasy on Harry's face and letting it throw him over the edge. They collapsed in a sweaty heap on the bed, Sirius just about having the effort left to use his wand to clean them up, before curling up in a ball and pulling Harry flush against him.

"Wow…" was all Harry could say, feeling adrenalin and endorphins rushing through his system. That had definitely been the most incredible climax he had felt, and he turned shakily to look at Sirius. The older man smiled at him and pulled him even closer, wrapping his arms protectively around Harry and kissing him softly on the forehead.

"Wow pretty much sums it up," Sirius breathed softly, his breath still quick and shallow as his body began to relax. "You're an incredible man, Harry."

"Sirius…" Harry spoke softly, looking directly into his silver grey eyes with ill-disguised tenderness.

"Harry?"

"I…I think I'm in love with you…" Harry said hesitantly, worried about Sirius' reaction. He didn't have to worry, however, as Sirius' face split into a wide grin and he laughed out loud, taking Harry's face gently into his hands.

"I love you too, Harry," he said ecstatically, his laughter infectious, and Harry started laughing too. He felt that if he'd needed to cast a Patronus at this moment in time, he would've had no trouble banishing an entire swarm of dementors.

Harry sat in the kitchen, staring aimlessly at the wall. He was waiting for their dinner to cook while Sirius showered upstairs. Every now and then a smile would creep across his face as he remembered the afternoon he'd spent with Sirius, their passion and desire finally winning out, and telling Sirius that he was in love with him. Euphoric didn't even come close to describing how Harry felt about the fact that Sirius felt the same way. He had known that Sirius had some feelings for him, of course, but hearing him say the L word out loud just clarified it. He was pulled out of his musings by Sirius bounding into the room, something in his hands.

"Harry, your friends are calling you on the two-way mirror," Sirius said to him as he walked into the room, handing the mirror over to him. Harry took it gratefully, warning Sirius not to let the dinner burn as he headed into the drawing room to talk to Ron and Hermione. He sat down and looked into the mirror, seeing the concerned faces of his friends looking back.

"Hey guys, I'm here!" Harry said quickly.

"There you are Harry!" Hermione said, relieved. "We were worried about you, you didn't respond to us trying to call you all afternoon!"

Harry blushed, thinking about what he had been busy doing while his friends were trying to talk to him. Oops…

"Sorry about that…I was, er, I was kind of busy…" Harry said, eloquent as ever in his awkward embarrassment. He couldn't help himself blushing and Hermione shared a look with Ron, knowing exactly what Harry was hiding.

"I really didn't need that mental picture," Ron said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"I didn't say anything!" Harry said in his defence.

"You didn't need to," Hermione said in amusement. "It's written all over your face. Anyway, moving on from that…" She tailed off. "Have you found out anything about Hagrid?"

"I have, actually," Harry said, sobering up immediately. "We had a meeting this morning and the Order filled me in on some things. I'm not sure I can tell you though, because I signed an Oath of Secrecy when I joined the Order that I wouldn't tell anyone any information." Harry had forgotten about this unfortunate piece of information until now, suddenly realising that something very bad might happen if he told Ron and Hermione any Order secrets.

"Surely you can tell us something, mate," Ron said with a scowl on his face. "Hagrid is our friend, we need to know if anything has happened to him."

"I know, I know. I can't tell you any details, all I can say is that he was supposed to return from this mission that he was on with Madame Maxime. She got back months ago, and she says she got separated from Hagrid on their journey home and that he was fine when she last saw him". Harry thought that was informative enough without actually saying anything important.

"He was travelling with Madame Maxime?" Hermione said thoughtfully, obviously reading into the situation what Harry had hoped she would. "But that would suggest…"

"What?" Ron said blankly, looking between the two of them. Harry gave Hermione a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. She gasped. "What?" Ron asked again when no one answered him.

"What links Hagrid with Madame Maxime, Ron?" Hermione asked him patiently.

"Er…they're both massive?" Ron said, before his face suddenly lit up in recognition. "OH! I see, they're both half-giant…" Ron said, looking enlightened, before the reality of the situation dawned on him. "You mean, the two of them went looking for…?" Harry quieted him with a look, reminding him not to say anything out loud. Anyone could be listening to them in the castle without them knowing.

"Your suspicions are almost definitely correct, but I can't comment any further," Harry said, wishing they could discuss it properly. "I wish I had news that Hagrid was fine, but sadly we'll just have to wait and see what happens." Harry said softly, looking apologetically at his friends. They called it a night shortly after that, not having much more to say to each other while in such a morose mood. Harry trudged back to the kitchen to eat what was left of the dinner after leaving it alone with Sirius for all this time.

As they ate their dinner, Harry and Sirius were mid-conversation when they were interrupted by someone entering the front door. They looked at each other in confusion, not expecting anyone to visit. It was nearing full-moon so Remus would be busy with the werewolf pack, and other Order members didn't tend to visit so late in the day. Their curiosity was soon satisfied as none other than Albus Dumbledore walked into the kitchen.

"Ah, Harry, Sirius, there you are!" He said happily, a twinkle in his piercing blue eyes. Sirius simply narrowed his eyes, but Harry felt the need to be civil to the meddling old wizard. He was, after all, working for the destruction of Voldemort, no matter how annoying his meddling happened to be.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said quietly. "Can I offer you a drink?"

"No thank you, Harry my boy, I'm just stopping by." He walked smoothly through the kitchen, heading into the drawing room for whatever purpose. Only a couple of minutes later he walked back past them, tucking an envelope into his robes with his left hand. His right hand was black and withered, dead looking, just like Ron and Hermione had told him. It looked like he had been touched by some terrible dark magic.

"What happened to your hand, sir?" Harry asked boldly, in as polite a voice as he could manage while being extremely curious. Dumbledore appraised him for a moment over his half-moon glasses, his piercing eyes making him feel uncomfortable. After a moment, he replied.

"I'll tell you the story, Harry, but I would rather we spoke about this alone," he said softly, giving Sirius a pointed look. The older man stood up angrily and looked as if he was going to argue, but Harry gave him a small shake of the head. He would rather find out important information that he could then pass on to Sirius, than Sirius trying to argue and him not finding anything out at all. Sirius backed down, and stalked out of the room towards the stairs, no doubt to sulk in the highest bedroom with Buckbeak.

"Take a seat, Harry," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the kitchen chairs. Harry sat down opposite the headmaster and looked at him expectantly. "My hand, my boy, was injured in the process of trying to locate something that would help bring about the downfall of Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said calmly. "However my reflexes aren't what they used to be, and I unfortunately only just escaped with only an injured hand."

Harry looked at him cautiously, thinking over his words. Dumbledore was looking for something that would help kill Voldemort? Did the Order know about this?

"What were you trying to locate, professor?" Harry asked carefully, observing Dumbledore's facial expressions. Annoyingly, the man was very good at hiding his emotions. He wouldn't like to play poker against the meddling old wizard.

"Ah. That, Harry, is information that I don't believe you are ready for yet," Dumbledore said, his calm tone beginning to annoy Harry. Of course the bastard wouldn't actually tell him anything, Harry thought angrily.

"I see. Is this something the Order is working on?" Harry asked pointedly, and he almost thought he saw a flicker of something in Dumbledore's eyes. Annoyance, maybe?

"Not yet, no. As you can see from my hand, it is something highly dangerous and isn't proven to be of use yet anyway. There is no need for members of the Order to concern themselves with something as dangerous and tenuous as this." Dumbledore's words had a finality to them, but Harry wasn't finished.

"But you have an idea of an object or something that could help destroy Voldemort?

"Yes."

"What is it? How can I help?" Harry said, determined to get something out of the man. Dumbledore scrutinised him for a moment, as if looking into his soul to see if he was worthy.

"Perhaps you can help me with something, although you must understand that any details will not be disclosed at this particular time," Dumbledore said slowly, narrowing his eyes infinitesimally as he stared down Harry.

"Ok," Harry eagerly replied, hoping this wasn't going to be some made-up story Dumbledore was feeding him to keep him quiet.

"You seem to have a close affinity with the mind of Lord Voldemort. You can relate to him in several ways, perhaps have an intuition about his mind," Dumbledore started, and Harry was taken aback. There may be a couple of similarities between them but he didn't appreciate being compared to Voldemort. "Let me continue," Dumbledore said quickly, obviously noting Harry's annoyed expression. "Can you think of a place in which Lord Voldemort may choose to hide an object of…sentimentality, or particular importance?"

Harry looked at him, confused. What did a sentimental object of Voldemort's have to do with anything? He tried to think, however, simply to humour Dumbledore. If he was Voldemort, where would he hide a treasured object? The first thought that came to him was the obvious choice. Something that Harry definitely agreed with Voldemort on was that Hogwarts was, and always will be his home.

"Hogwarts," Harry said to the aged professor. "That's definitely the place where he would hide something of sentimental value, a treasured item," he continued. Dumbledore looked mildly frustrated.

"That thought did occur to me too, Harry, however I simply cannot think of a time in which Voldemort would have planted this…object in the school. Also, despite the vast size of the castle, there are very few places that haven't been explored. If such an object was in the castle, I like to think I'd have come across it by now." Dumbledore looked fairly confident in this statement, however Harry begged to differ.

"No one can ever know every secret that the castle holds, surely," he began, "no one found the Chamber of Secrets until my second year at the school for a start."

"This is true," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "But where else in the school could an object be hidden? The Chamber just wouldn't have been possible…" Dumbledore was almost speaking to himself now, as if far away in a memory. A thought suddenly occurred to Harry.

"Have you thought about asking the house elves?" He said thoughtfully. "If anyone knows the castle inside and out, it's them." Dumbledore's eyes widened and he smiled a genuine smile.

"A wonderful idea, my boy! Perhaps you could call that house elf friend of yours, Dobby, he may have an idea or two for us!" Dumbledore grinned at him, and Harry nodded.

"Dobby!" he called, and the excitable elf appeared a moment later with a loud crack.

"Mister Harry Potter, sir, you called me!" Dobby said with an adoring look on his face. He was wearing several pairs of odd socks on each feet and a hand-knitted tea cosy as a hat.

"Yes, Dobby, professor Dumbledore and I have a few questions for you about the castle," Harry said, smiling gently at the elf.

"Of course, sirs, Dobby will answer any questions you have!" He said enthusiastically, his head bobbing up and down as he tried to contain his excitement at being able to impart useful information to his master.

"Can you think of anywhere in the school that someone would be able to hide an object without it being found for years and years?" Harry asked carefully, hoping the elf would have some kind of answer. Luckily, his tennis ball eyes lit up and he nodded excitedly.

"Yes, Mister Harry Potter, sir, I knows a place! It is called the Room of Requirement, or the Come and Go room. It only appears when someone has great need of it," he said importantly, and Dumbledore's eyes grew wide.

"Where is this room, Dobby?" he asked quickly, and the elf hastened to reply.

"Tis on the seventh floor, professor Dumbledore, sir, to open it you must pace in front of it three times while thinking about what you need. There is a room in there, which generations of Hogwarts students and teachers alike have used to hide things they do not want anyone else to find!" Dobby looked up at the two wizards, hoping that his information was useful to them. There was a gleam in Dumbledore's eye and he looked like he had found exactly what he had been searching for.

"Thank you, Dobby, you have been extremely helpful. You may go back to the kitchens now," Dumbledore dismissed him, and the elf quickly hugged Harry around the middle before acquiescing to Dumbledore's request. He shared a look with Harry, and his voice was low and excited. "Did you know about this place, Harry?" He asked, and Harry could tell why. With the invisibility cloak that Dumbledore himself had gifted to Harry, it was quite likely that he had stumbled across such a room on his night time travels. This was a secret of Hogwarts that Harry had not encountered before, however.

"No, professor, I've never heard of it. It sounds like a fascinating space, though. So you think Voldemort might have hidden something in there?" He asked interestedly.

"Perhaps, perhaps," Dumbledore said evasively. "I really must be going, dear boy. It has been an enlightening visit. Do tell Sirius my goodbyes," he said quickly, and strode towards the door, leaving Harry standing slightly dumbstruck in the kitchen. He heard the front door slam and drifted off into his thoughts, trying to work out what on earth had just happened. It seemed Dumbledore knew something that he hadn't told anyone else, not even the Order of the Phoenix.

I really hope you enjoyed that chapter and don't hate me too much for the long gap! If anyone is still reading this story, please leave me a review! x