The moment they landed on the doorstep of Number 12 and they were safely inside, Sirius was asking question after question. It took them almost a half an hour to explain, and about an hour and a half more to convince him that what they were telling him was the truth.
He shook his head for the fifteenth time. "No. I just can't accept it. It can't have been two years. It can't have been!"
"I'm sorry, Sirius," Harry said solemnly.
Sirius hung his head, as if finally accepting this dire news.
"But, hey," Ron said. "Look on the Brightside. You're two years younger than you were when you fell in there!"
Sirius gave Ron a look like that could also be one of the worst parts of the situation.
He shook his head. "I can't believe you defeated the Dark Lord, though, Harry. The war has been such a big part of my life…what do we do now that it's over?" He seemed to be avoiding the topic of his backwards aging and his consistent confusion.
"Well, it's not exactly…over," Harry replied, scuffing the floor with the toe of his sneaker. "See, all of the Death Eaters…they've come back."
"What do you mean, 'They've come back?'"
"All of the Death Eaters that died came back to life the moment Lord Voldemort was killed by Harry," Hermione replied. "It's sort of hard to explain. See, they've been saved using Black Magic."
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Black magic? You mean magic that has been created by my family?" He looked back and forth between Harry, Hermione and Ron. Things were clicking behind his eyes. "Is that the only reason you came for me? You needed my assistance?"
"No, of course not!" Hermione exclaimed.
Sirius was having none of it. "It is! Why haven't you come for me before now, then? Why not right when I got stuck in that bloody curtain?"
"We've only known how to save you since we found out about the curse!" Hermione tried to explain. "We would have come back the moment you were gone had we known how! You know that, Sirius."
"Do I?" Sirius responded, still sour, but also sort of understanding what they were trying to tell him.
"Of course," Harry replied. "You don't know what I went through. I would have dove in there that very moment had so many people not been restraining me. You should have seen me. I was a wreck for months. I have been all the way until now." He flashed a quick smile. "It's nice to have you back."
Sirius couldn't help smiling. "Ah, it's behind us, isn't it?"
He wrapped his arms around the three, and they talked and caught up until, one by one, the Order members returned.
Remus stood at the head of the table and grinned around at everyone. "Everyone, the mission was a complete success," he said happily. "I believe a brief celebratory dinner is in order."
"Already on it, Remus," said Mrs. Weasley from the stove.
In minutes, Mrs. Weasley had before them an entire, four course meal in celebration. All of Sirius's favourites. He'd chowed down firsts, seconds, and thirds in mere minutes. The only thing that stopped him was that they'd run out of potatoes, and he refused to eat anything more without potatoes.
Remus sighed in content as he stood at the head of the table once again.
"Well, folks," Remus said. "We've got our great friend Sirius back. And while we're so glad he's back and would have saved him even if he was the most unhelpful man on the planet, he is, in fact, one of the most helpful men on the planet. Sirius?"
Sirius nodded at his best friend. "Yes, Mooney?"
Remus grinned, as if happy to hear his old nickname. "I am told you know of the whereabouts of the Great Book of Black Magic. Correct?"
"Aye," Sirius replied. "It be in the ocean."
Remus paused a moment. "Er…the ocean?"
Sirius nodded. "It's retrievable, don't fret. But it could take some time to find. I've got a map up in my room. Shall I fetch it?"
Remus nodded. "Do. We'll wait."
The map was incredibly helpful. Hermione was able to easily decipher it, and found that it dwelled on a mysterious island at the centre of the Atlantic Ocean. It would take several days to reach it, it seemed, as airplanes didn't land there, as it was mostly trees, and commercial ships steered clear, because it was surrounded by reefs and mangroves, was to use their own, magically strengthened ship.
"Now," said Remus during one of their following Order meetings. "We can only spare three Order members for the time being, as there have been more and more attacks from Death Eaters, and we need people to help. Do we have any volunteers?"
Sirius was the first to raise his hand. He raised it so fast his joints cracked. He wanted to get out and do something with his life, considering he'd missed out on two years of it. The next was Harry. He couldn't stand being away from Sirius, now that he had him back. Last was Hermione – she didn't want to leave Harry, and escaping Ron and Lavender sounded like a very good idea at the moment. Plus, anything that kept Draco Malfoy from her mind was her new favourite hobby.
"Alright, then," said Remus, a small smile on his lips. "We've got our crew. The three of you, it's up to you to get that book. How you go about retrieving it is up to you, but I definitely wouldn't recommend apparating there, as there's no telling how far from a hospital that place is."
"We'll go with the boat plan," Hermione said. "We'll get a crew in Isla de Medusas, and we'll sail straight on to the correct coordinates."
Remus nodded. "Excellent plan, Hermione. Meanwhile, we'll fend off the Death Eaters in the area and try and keep them in the area and not allow them back into the muggle world. Meeting over. Sirius, Harry and Hermione, you should get some sleep. It'll be an early start tomorrow, you know."
Hermione headed straight up to her bedroom. She shut the door and turned to face her bed. With a sigh, she flopped face down. She knew that, even with magic, this ship ride would take them at least two or three weeks at top speed, counting on them not running into any obstacles. The longer the better, she decided. More time to keep a certain blonde out of her thoughts. She wondered if she'd ever get over this. She knew she was never going to see Malfoy again. Why waste her thoughts on him? But, somehow, she couldn't help it when her thoughts turned to him. She hoped this would get easier over time. She really did.
…
I wrote this chapter over the course of three days…it seems very disjointed to me…ugh…but I didn't know how to fix it .
Well, midterms are over, so I have a little more time to write, so I might update about twice a week now, if I can get to it. Yeah… Bye now! ^^