Chapter two - 'I fell over in the shower Sirius. Honest!'
It was early the next morning after Sirius had been sat up half the night wondering about Harry, that Lupin poked his head around the door at about eight to find Sirius fully dressed in the cleanest looking things he could find and using a shaver charm on his stubbly chin.
"Morning Padfoot! See, I told you you'll feel better in the morning." Lupin explained sticking his torso around the door to see his friend properly. He'd enjoyed living with Sirius again this past year every now and then he could stop feeling so lonely about the world and just be good friends with someone who actually enjoyed the fact that every month he became a werewolf.
"I'll be happier when I've seen him and you know it!" Sirius replied turning back to his mirror.
"Are you going to hang around on his landing until he emerges?" Lupin asked already knowing full well this was why Sirius had got up so early today. But also that Sirius had neither the confidence nor the close friendship yet he felt to merely stick his head around the door and have a look.
"Hmm. Is Molly up yet?" He asked hoping she'd fallen into a deep sleep that would last at least a few days at least but wasn't holding much hope today.
"Yep, up cooking breakfast for Harry!" Lupin grinned and then rolled his eyes before closing the door.
Later having given up that Harry would ever wake up this morning Sirius had decided to head back to his room and open the parcel from Harry when Ron's head popped around the door apparently hoping Sirius would be lurking around near Harry's room.
"Err, Sirius, you any good at broken bones?" He asked carefully in his none alarming manner he seemed to have developed from his father.
"I'm sure I don't want to know where this is going, but yeah I can manage most things. Why?" Sirius explained finally glad to get a chance to be around Harry but slightly worried by the prospect of broken bones.
"Err good, I think Harry's broken his ankle it's err, blue." Ron explained far to casually to be comfortable for Sirius opening the door and letting Sirius past to see Harry squirming on his bed in an attempt to get his leg more comfortable. It seems he never did manage to get into his pajamas and was wearing his baggy t-shirt still and boxers showing some dodgy skinny legs underneath covered in purple and blue bruises.
"This from when you fell on the stairs, Harry?" Sirius asked kneeling down next to Harry's outstretched and quiet rightly strangely blue ankle.
"I fell in the shower, must have done it then." Harry explained but even he knew it was getting a bit thin this excuse, especially with the clear finger marks around his thigh was showing.
"Harry are you going to tell me what happened or not?" Sirius asked slightly impatient and struggling with his mounting frustration. But Harry never had much of a chance to reply as he had gently taken a hold of Harry's ankle to see if it was in fact really broken.
"Arrgh!" Harry cried out squeezing his eyes up in pain and eventually leaning back and covering his face with his hands showing even more of the green tinged cut that Ron had mentioned on the inside of Harry's leg.
"Ok I'll leave that for now, not to worry, definitely broken though, let me just look at your leg, that's all." For an over grown school boy Ron had to applaud him, Sirius was doing a very good job at keep Harry calm(ish) as he looked at his leg. Although he was treating him like Hagrid would treat a dragon, absolute loving devotion, but still well aware of his ability to lash out at any time and rip you to pieces, Ron was pleased Harry was finally getting his injury's looked at.
"Do you want me to get you anything Sirius?" Ron asked peering over his shoulder and wondering if he could do anything but stand there looking awkward.
"Err, could you go fetch Lupin for me he's down having breakfast with your mother." Sirius asked trying not to let the slight snide feelings towards Ron's mother show in front of him. This was mainly because out of all of the Weasley children Ron still liked his mother a lot or at least liked the way his clothes were always clean and he always had something filling ready and waiting at every meal for him.
"Sure, 'oat else?" He asked.
"Na, just tell him Harry needs some pain daft he'll know where to look.' Sirius explained deciding it was probably best to wait for some pain killing potion before attempting to touch Harry's ankle again.
Putting his wand back on the floor by his knee, Sirius gently placed a hand on Harry's leg around the green cut making him flinch like mad and try and wiggle away to no advantage.
'Stay still Harry you'll only make it worse.' Sirius explained not looking up but bringing his other hand to the side of the cut and further up Harry's leg. Sirius couldn't understand why Harry was squirming so much he could only put it down to pain. He had looked up properly though and seen Harry's face and fierce eyes watching Sirius with no love or compassion in them, only fear and even hate making Sirius more than uncomfortable he was a little afraid now of what Harry might be thinking of him.
Harry really did not want Sirius anywhere near his dodgy green cut but soon Ron returned with Lupin making him look away for only a second before returning to flick his eyes between Sirius's hands and his face.
'Come look at this will you?" Sirius asked as Lupin looked over and tried to smile at Harry.
"Well if your going to do something you might as well do it well, that's quiet spectacular. Hear drink this it'll numb the pain." Lupin explained pleasantly as he passed Harry a flask of red potion and kneeled down by Sirius.
"Hmm. What you suggest, I'm not that good with infections?" Sirius asked creasing his eye brows slightly as he thought.
"Got any Benzar powder Sirius?" Lupin asked finally as Harry finished drinking to reveal a slightly less pained expression.
"Mum has down stairs." Ron put in remembering how his mother had often used it on one of Fred and George's accidents on the rocky road to self-employment.
"Go and fetch it will you Ron." Sirius asked as he quickly rushed downstairs. Sirius looked up to Harry's face again but he was shivering and Sirius couldn't think why the room was still quiet warm.
Although Harry glared fiercely as he could at Sirius as he stood up and watched Harry wiggle uncomfortably from one side to another to try and keep out of Sirius's way it wasn't hard for Sirius to lean his palm on Harry's forehead and feel just how hot his shivering godson was.
"You're burning up Harry why didn't you say?" He picked up his wand flicked it and sat down next to Harry with a glass of water.
"I'm cold Sirius. Really, really cold." Harry mumbled feeling his back shiver with cold waves. He didn't want Sirius to lean up close to him so despite the pain he tried to move and lay down on his side.
"No Harry, stay still till we fix your ankle." Lupin urged unsure to why Harry was so squeamish all of a sudden, usually being very stubborn, he hated showing any sort of weakness at all.
"Harry you're burning up try and drink some more water." Sirius asked looking to Lupin who decided now was the time to set the bone.
He had barely got a steady grip on Harry's leg when he suddenly started moving and jerked so quickly he dropped the glass of water all down his front.
"Harry stay still, you've broken bones before it doesn't hurt that much to fix them, you know that." Lupin explained pulling out his wand and concentrating. In the end Sirius leaded over took a firm grip of Harry's leg to keep him steady despite Harry's struggling within moments though Lupin had tapped the bone with his wand it had burned hot and healed itself.
"See that wasn't so bad Harry now was it." Lupin explained nicely but Harry seeing it was finally fixed shook Sirius off pushing him to the floor. He didn't want Sirius close to him, Harry just wanted to be by himself so pulled his legs up tight under his chin however painful it still was. Laying his head down he closed his eyes and sat so still Sirius wondered if he'd turned to stone. The pain had finally subsided, he was grateful, but still, he didn't want Lupin or Sirius coming near him to try and mend the cut.
Sirius merely looked up in shock from his fallen place on the floor. He and Lupin had just fixed a very nasty break on Harry's ankle and all Harry had done was push him away on to the floor. Harry although he had said hardly a word to Sirius had twice made it very clear he wanted nothing to with his godfather and seemed to be merely suffering his presence while he had to.
Lupin watched from what he felt like was a long distance as Harry laid his head down in his arms clearly feeling drowsy from the pain relief, he turned to Sirius and it was clear he wasn't making any attempt to cover his shock and disbelief at Harry's behavior.
Harry clearly had no idea how much he meant to Sirius and that Sirius really needed Harry to keep going in life. Harry was the one thing that kept Sirius's mind focused and to see him be pushed away made Lupin angry. How could Harry not understand that he meant so much to his godfather, was he so stubborn he couldn't forgive him for letting Dumbledore send him to the Dursley's? If that was the case then shouldn't he be like Sirius and actually angry with Dumbledore?
No, Lupin knew him better than that, he'd seen the sweet forgiving nature of his mother in him and yet the boy sat before him certainly wasn't showing signs of either of the parents that went into make him. To try and bring Sirius back from his shock Lupin stood up.
"Ron did you get that Benzar powder for us?" He asked trying to nudge Sirius subtly with his foot again. It wasn't working to well, Sirius just didn't do subtle.
"Err yeah, mum said she'd bring it up. Err, she was a bit difficult about it, didn't seem to think you knew what you were doing. She rambled on about Benzars having nothing to do with broken bones and I thought it best to leave before the frying pan hit me." Ron sighed rolling his eyes to Harry having clearly not explained what the Benzar was for to his mother and probably was in very great danger of being hit by a frying pan.
"Ok, I'll go and see what she's done with it. Sirius you got anything to bind it on with?" Lupin asked knocking Sirius with his foot again to get him to come to his senses.
"Yeah sure I'll err, go fetch it." He stood still looking a bit lost and passed Hermione on his way out. Having witnessed that Harry must have shoved Sirius off the bed he didn't think it wise to go sit right with Harry but Hermione saw nothing wrong with the idea and went to give him a morning hug clearly carrying a card and present in her hand.
"Morning Harry. What have you done this time?" She asked nicely sitting up next to him and leaning against the wall. Hearing her voice though was like watching a flower open to the sun. Harry literally sat up more and laid his legs back out straighter slouching forward to wring his hands and cause his knuckled to go red.
"I fell over in the shower." He mumbled not looking up at Hermione but leaning slightly towards her to rest his head better.
Ron gave her an encouraging look as to say you can be the one to ask him, he might talk to you then standing up declared while thinking on the spot that.
"Erm, I'm going to go find Ginny she's got a card for you and really wants to know you're up." He explained leaving the room and making sure the door was definitely shut behind him. He didn't go looking for Ginny he knew perfectly well she was downstairs with their mother unfortunately unable to get away and 'pester Harry'. Instead he leaned against the wall and waited to fend either Lupin or Sirius off for a while so Hermione could have it out of him.
"Molly have you got that Benzar for me?" Lupin asked politely as he came into the kitchen to find Mrs Weasley fussing over some dirty washing and Ginny sat in a corner with a face like thunder at being stuck down hear again to be 'mothers little helper'.
"Yes, well I'm not going to give it to you unless you tell it me what it's for. Ron rambled on about Harry having a broken ankle and I would have thought you knew better about basic healing than that!" She snapped clearly not giving up the powder until Sirius let her have access to Harry to do it herself, what ever it was that needed doing.
"Ron was right he did have. We've fixed it now, we just wanted the Benzar to deal with something else." Lupin explained still quiet calm but Ginny seemed to have picked up now hearing Sirius kicking Kresher outside the door.
"And by 'we' I assume you mean you and that scabby godfather of Harry's that does nothing but laze around all day and kick his house elf." Lupin was about to defend Sirius but just then to Ginny's utter amusement they heard Sirius quiet loudly shout.
"Oh piss off to your den you useless house elf and kick your self in the arse a few times.' The next thing they could hear was Kresher squeal in pain and run off before Sirius was heard yanking the curtains shut over his noisy mother.
'Shut up you old bag!"
"Erm, well, yes, as a matter of fact." Lupin explained just as Sirius strode through the door clearly with a clean bandage in his hand and a cleaning potion in the other.
"You got it yet or do I have to send Mundrunges to get some cheap?" Sirius asking knowing full well the one person Molly disliked as much as him was Mundrunges Fletcher the supposed ex-con.
"You'll do no such thing. I'm not having you inflicting bent unstable goods on Harry like that, you could be giving him anything." She started to shriek making Ginny smirk and Sirius keep a guilty straight face.
"Well unless you help us out this once then I'll have no choice to ask him. What with Lupin feeling off and me stuck here with Harry, who else am I going to ask? I can hardly ask Hermione to run to Diagon ally now can I? Her mother wouldn't want me letting her wonder round London by herself however capable she is." He explained keeping a painfully straight face now.
"No I don't suppose you can, been stuck in hear and all." Mrs Weasley snapped trusting her hand into her apron pocket and passing Lupin the small jar of Benzar powder whilst glaring at Sirius's lack of fear.
"Thank you very much Molly." Lupin said sweetly as he could before leaving with Sirius back upstairs.
"Harry you didn't fall in the shower did you?" Hermione asked softly putting a gentle woman's hand on his shoulder. Harry was still rubbing his knuckles feverishly and Hermione could feel just how warm he was getting.
"I did but I just grazed my hand, see." He held up a pale skinny wrist to show her and after looking for a moment he put it back in his lap to continue rubbing it.
"What about the rest of them Harry, they didn't come from one little knock did they?" She asked keeping herself as calm as she possibly could. It was clear someone big and heavy had being knocking him around like a rag doll and it didn't take and idiot to put two and two together and get his beastly uncle as the answer.
"No I suppose not, it was something else. My aunt kicked me out the house for the evening so Dudley and his friends could have a party." Harry mumbled but Hermione watched him pull his glasses off and start rubbing at his eyes. She knew he was crying but she knew his pride would never let him admit to it either so tried not to notice.
"It was your uncle wasn't it?" She finally asked knowing full well it must have been. Vernon hated having Harry in the house and only put up with him because of Dumbledore.
"No he's frightened of Sirius. He didn't realise. He thought Sirius was Moody and that he could bewitch himself to look like other people. I thought Sirius would think it was funny, so I never really corrected him." Harry mumbled trying to cover the sob forming in his throat. Hermione was just hoping that Ron could hold Sirius and Lupin off long enough for her to find out what had happened.
"Oh well, Sirius would be glad he managed to keep your uncle off you. But he's worried about you Harry, he's always worried about you.' Hermione explained.
'Mainly because he's got nothing else he'd rather do but still. He cares about you a lot."
"I suppose." Harry mumbled letting his head now rest properly on Hermione's arm not caring it gave her a clear look at some of the worst cuts on the inside of his legs.
"Harry they look like bite marks and finger nails on your legs." She moved over to get a better look but Harry merely flinched and pulled away covering himself with the blanket.
"It's nothing. I just got caught out in the dark by myself. That's all. Shouldn't have been wondering around on my own when Dumbledore and Sirius told me not to. I promised them I wouldn't go out after dark." Harry explained tucking the blanket firmly around his legs and up to cover his neck where Hermione finally worked out that someone had been hanging on rather tight recently with long broad fingers.
"Were you mugged wandering around at night when your aunt kicked you out?" Hermione asked horrified as the memories of other such incidents flashed to her mind that she'd either heard from her mother or read in the paper but doing her best not to let it show.
It seems as Dementors moved more freely around, despair was easily setting in on normal muggles making crime increase and in particular violent attacks. Dumbledore had warned about this to the order members in particular the aura's but none dared imagine it would directly affect Harry in such a way.
"Hermione." Harry mumbled looking over at her horrified face. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him, but he really wanted to lay his head down somewhere warm and she seemed to be that something at the moment.
"I'm sorry Harry I didn't realise. Why didn't you fight back with your wand? Anything to get away from them?" She asked whilst letting Harry crawl back over to her and curl up with his head in her lap and the blanket covering his legs.
"I'd left it at home. Got into trouble last time didn't I?" He explained but Hermione merely sighed and became aware Harry was rubbing tears out his eyes again.
"Oh Harry."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Harry continued to mumble not really looking at anything anymore as Hermione went to stroke the back of his hair a little bit.
"Will you let Sirius heal some of your cuts Harry?" She asked but before Harry could have chance to answer there were loud slightly muffled voices outside.
"Look he's my godson and I'm perfectly capable of healing a few cuts and bruises for him. And I'm not badgering in there when he's talking to Hermione." Sirius grumbled firmly at Mrs Weasley.
Ron it seemed had done a very good job at holding Lupin and Sirius off while Hermione talked to Harry by just explaining clearly to the that out of everyone she was by far the best at talking to Harry when he was upset like this and finding out why he was so miserable. But Mrs Weasley had already decided she knew best and was determined to force her way in past Ron who was stood determinedly blocking the door.
"Yes and a bang up job too you've done looking after him if he turns up here with a broken ankle, infections and covered in head to toe with bruises." Molly shouted back standing to her full height hands on her hips with a look that would make any Weasley male cower before her. Sirius however was not going to back down easily although he was managing to keep himself from tipping over the edge with rage by remembering that Harry would be able to hear this through the door.
"What are you implying?" He asked grumbled quietly glaring her down like a stubborn dragon.
"What am I implying?' She shrieked
'You.' She pointed firmly with a stubby finger.
'Are a totally useless godfather. And if I was Lilly I would never have dared risk leaving my baby in the incapable hands of a selfish, arrogant, self-centered wizard who thinks that practical jokes and rude comments are all he needs to get through in life. No wonder you lasted so long in Azkaban, Dementors don't seem to have any effect on arrogant little boys with no manners or consideration to anybody else. I'm not surprised Dumbledore left Harry at his aunt and uncles house that night. He may be knocked around by a drunk like a punch bag but at least he wasn't subjected to your clumsy care."
Mrs Weasley was bellowing her voice all around the house waking up nearly all the shrieking portraits and drawing the attentions of Moody, Tonks and Mr Weasley who had just got back from the Ministry and were hoping for a late breakfast after working through the night again.
Sirius however, was showing a shocked Lupin an extraordinary amount self control as he stood and took all this knowing it was tearing him to pieces inside, his lack of reaction was however enraging Mrs Weasley even more but it was Ron who stepped in to the defend him.
"Will you shut up mother! Leave Harry and his family alone, you don't think he can't hear you through the door. Sirius was doing perfectly well at looking after Harry in his own way. Me and Hermione are doing perfectly well in our own way to look after him. Hagrid even spends half his life at Hogwarts looking after him and you have the balls to stand there and tell us that Harry's parents weren't liked enough by there friends to develop a perfectly good parenting group on there behalf.'
He barely paused for breath as no body who could hear him could believe Ron would be the one to have the guts to stand up to her.
'Harry's managed perfectly well so far with his own mother he doesn't need you pushing your way into his life and destroying any sort of decent memory he has of her. What, you think you could just replace her like that? Even Sirius can't find someone to replace his mother and she's almost as bad as you! Now shut up shouting and go back downstairs. Dad will be back from work and he'll be hungry so you'd better cook him something nice for breakfast!"
Ron hadn't lost his temper like his mother but he'd stunned her in to silence as he closed the door behind him in to Harry's room.
"Thanks Ron, I heard what you said." Harry asked sitting back up a bit on Hermione's shoulder he'd been listening for Sirius to lose his temper and was surprised never to hear it.
"Don't mention it. You aren't well enough to stick up for your self yet. Anyway, I got you some chocolate frogs if you want. Cheer you up a bit." He explained sitting on the end of the bed and passing a box over to Harry who accepted it warmly and then laid back down in Hermione's lap to nibble at one. He knew Ron was giving Hermione his inquisitive look and understood he'd have to wait until later to find out what she knew but was glad to see Harry nibbling quietly on his chocolate and not looking quiet so pale when Sirius and Lupin came in pretending they had only been gone a minuet and hadn't had a slanging match with Mrs Weasley on the stairs.
"Looks like you've managed to get gang-green Harry, so I was going to wrap some of this around the wound for a few days while it clears up. It should make you feel better in an hour or so." Sirius explained kneeling back on the floor and waiting for Harry to sit back up and let him have some access to the wound on the inside of his thigh. As he did Hermione gave him a knowing look not to ask any more questions and that she had something to explain when Harry was out of ear shot or preferably asleep.
Although Harry twitched quiet a bit as Sirius twisted the bandage around his leg, Hermione sat close by him and somehow managed to keep Harry comfortably still, unlike Sirius who had resorted to holding his leg down firmly. He didn't ask as he was warned but made a clear look to Hermione when he asked Ron to help Harry get dressed and left the room.
"So Ron said you were doing what ever it is you do, to get things out of him?" Sirius asked impatiently but calmly as soon as the door had closed.
"Before you send Mad Moody and the order hit squad over to his aunts it wasn't them. Well it was, but not exactly. Well at least no more than usual."
"Ok, err, does she always sound this complicated." Sirius said looking rather confused.
"Yes pretty much, you'd be in a major minority if you weren't confused." Lupin added plainly.
"It doesn't take much to confuse you now, does it." Hermione explained sarcastically.
"Hermione." Lupin said in his still serious teacher voice making Sirius smirk inside. He still couldn't get over Lupin being a teacher at Hogwarts.
"Well it doesn't.' She sighed and however uncomfortable, Sirius did have to sort of agree with her here.
'Seems his cousin had a party so his aunt sent him wandering around the streets till late at night, which he knew he wasn't really supposed to do but he thought it would be better than being Dudley's human piñata like usual. Anyway, some rotten muggles jumped him down a dark ally and knocked him up pretty bad when he didn't have any money for them. Just like wizards you can get some really nasty muggles out there you know, except they tend to stick to bigger chunks of wood than you lot." Hermione sighed looking from a rather depressed Lupin to of course, a rather blank and confused looking Sirius.
"Why didn't he..?" He began.
"He didn't have his wand because he didn't want to get into trouble again for using magic outside school. And he didn't want to tell you because he thinks you'd be angry at him for wandering around late at night when he'd promised you he wouldn't." Hermione explained finally looking to see if Sirius was angry or not, knowing full well Sirius was even worse than Harry sometimes for his bloody mood swings.
"I'm not, well, I'm not angry with him, just I wish he hadn't. I guess he'd of had a lot of trouble with the Dursley's if he hadn't of gone." Sirius asked sitting down on one of the random chairs that were on the landings in case he got tired from kicking Kresher down the stairs or something.
"Yes probably. They usually lock him in his room but this time they had guests so sent him away. It isn't a very nice area at night near him, I err, read his local news paper to see if he's init, you know weird stuff happening around him and stuff.' Lupin and Sirius looked at Hermione with a peculiar eye very similar to one Harry and Ron often gave her when she got a bit over enthusiastic about homework.
'What, I've run out of books in the library and there's a lot of interesting stuff near him. Art exhibitions and stuff, I was looking for something good enough to convince mum to take me to.' She sighed grumpily looking at Sirius.
'You'd wonder over there if you could, and don't look at me like that, you can hardly be surprised Lupin." She complained but he merely shrugged at Sirius thinking he probably shouldn't be and Sirius really would wonder over there if he could.
"So it wasn't his uncle, he was mugged by some muggles." Sirius asked making sure he had it quiet right before letting the unpleasant idea sink properly in his thick head.
"Yes but there's something more to it, he'd have told Ron that much by now. Not to worry, he'll come out with it eventually, he always does. Worked that one out when he first heard about you and his dad. Oh and a word of advise try not to drink around Harry, he doesn't like it what with his aunt and all." She explained just before Ron and Harry came out now fully dressed and Harry still limping a bit on Ron's arm.
"See your looking better already." Sirius explained nicely seeing Harry had apparently combed his hair with probably some help from Ron. It didn't look much better but you could see he had at least tried to make it lay flatter.
"Hmm, feel a bit better." Harry mumbled still in another large jumper.
"Are you hungry Harry?" Sirius asked hoping Harry was feeling better and noticed he didn't seem to be sweating as much as before now the Benzar was working on him.
"Yeah a bit. Can I have some toast?" He asked quietly following Ron and Lupin down the stairs slowly in case he tripped again.
Sirius managed the rest of that day without spending more than five minuets in Mrs Wesley's company. She was keeping a determinedly silent role towards both Sirius and Harry but kept pestering anybody else who could tell her something about what was the matter with him. Lupin had disappeared off to do some order business leaving Ron and Hermione to spend all there time with Harry and Ginny would either refuse to comment or give some cock and bull story about Harry suffering from nymphomania until Moody spat out his coffee and Tonks fell over laughing at the idea, to have it later explained to both a humoured Sirius and an upset Molly when she realised what Ginny was implying.
Things continued like this for several days until it became known that Dumbledore was coming to the meeting that night and wanted an opportunity to speak to Harry. Harry had so far not spent a single moment on his own with out either Ron or Hermione with him but now hearing Dumbledore was going to talk to him Harry feared his worst nightmare, if anybody was going to have it out of him Dumbledore would, one way or another he was just stubborn and annoying like that.
"Ron, will you go and fetch Ginny and Harry, its dinner time and I want him fed and what not before the others get hear. The headmaster wants to speak with him before the meeting and you lot need to be done and dusted and out the way by then." Mrs Weasley ordered as she bustled around getting dinner ready only daring to mention Harry because Sirius wasn't around. Ron wondered off calling for Ginny and soon found her looking through a hair colour magazine on her bed.
"Have you seen Harry?" He asked surprised no on had seen him in a while when he hadn't left Ron's side for longer than a minuet before and he'd been sure he was with Hermione this afternoon only to learn that she was sure Harry had been with him.
"No, not recently is he with Sirius?" She replied getting up.
Thinking Harry was sat upstairs with Buckbeak and Sirius they climbed too the next floor when they suddenly heard a shriek of delight from Kresher in the attic.
"Master's boy has took a little tumble and hurt himself, Kresher is Happy. Master's boy might die ha, ha, ha." Kresher squealed jumping around in delight. Ron ran up the stairs to find out what was happening and Ginny pulled open the door to find Sirius and Buckbeak sat in the afternoon sun.
"It's your stupid house elf it's happy about something!" She explained making Sirius jump up and follow the shouts from Ron up the stairs.
"Hurry up Sirius its Harry!" Ron called as Sirius came rushing along the stronger floor boards of the attic to find Harry. He'd been watching the sun set by the open window and had seemingly fallen over and knocked himself out.
"Harry, Harry you ok?" He asked kneeling down and hoping it was just a bump on the head.
"Hee, hee, Kresher is happy. Master's boy has taken a tumble and hurt himself!" Kresher continued to jump around with glee but even Sirius wasn't finding any spare attention for him as he rolled Harry over into his arms.
"Harry what's the matter?" Ginny asked kneeling down next to Sirius and taking one of his hands in hers as Ron shut the window tight.
"He's burning up." Sirius explained flicking his wand to pull Harry's sweaty jumper off him and reveal fresh cuts on Harry's left arm. They weren't very big but still had the glow of fresh blood on them. Flicking his wand again Sirius rapped Harry up in the clean blanket and carried him down the stairs to his own bedroom.
"Master's boy has taken a tumble and hurt himself. Master's boy isn't well, such wonderful news for Mistress." Kresher squeaked loudly as he passed through the kitchen next to Lupin who immediately jumped up climbing the stairs two at a time and knocking into Mrs Weasley.
"What's got into you all of a sudden?" Molly shouted as he reached the floor to Sirius's bedroom.
"What happened?" Lupin asked rushing into the bedroom to find Sirius already pulling Harry's t-shirt off and trousers.
"He just keeled over upstairs and started burning up." Sirius explained opening up Harry's sweaty pale eyes to see his pupils.
"What's the blood from?" Lupin asked looking at the drops of blood on Harry's discarded t-shirt.
"Look he's cut his arm on something. Or at least someone has." Sirius explained quickly.
"I've got something you might want to see." Ron explained laying what at first looked like a rolled up jumper on Sirius's writing desk.
"What, a jumper?" Lupin asked peering over his shoulder.
"Well it does have dangerous Black family heirloom written all over it so I'd rather not touch it to be perfectly honest!" He opened up his jumper to reveal a shinny silver dagger with the Black family crest on it and what seemed to be Harry's blood soaking into the metal of the blade.
"Good job you didn't touch that Ron it's a, a...' He stopped as Sirius stood up to have a look to.
'I'm sorry Remus, I haven't got rid of all my brothers toys yet." Sirius looked sympathetic to his friend who was obviously appalled by the object before him.
"Sirius he's shaking like mad now!" Ginny called from the bed where Harry had taken to clutching her arm as his body shock like mad and his skin turned to fire.
Moving back to Harry Sirius pulled out his arm and started muttering a spell as he ran his wand tip over the cuts on Harry's arm. Eventually after several attempts Harry stopped shaking and his body went limp with his eyes closed. Sirius rolled him back over into his arms and started to try and pour water down his neck as Ron went back down to Hermione leaving Ginny to untangle her arm from Harry as Lupin went in search of some fever draft.
"What was it? That knife Lupin seemed really weirded out by it." Ginny asked quietly as Sirius pushed the sweaty hair out of Harry's face and pulled a sheet over his legs.
"It was a dagger they use to skin werewolves with. It's bewitched to be really painful." Sirius explained not looking up to Ginny.
"That's horrible what about the person who you know, after the full moon?" Ginny asked taking the dreadful information better than Sirius would have expected giving him more respect for the young girl.
"They're left to wake up in the morning with half their skin ripped off. It's something some of my family used to take part in. But then even my mother found it turned her stomach some times." Sirius sighed quiet ashamed to say it.
"Not Tonks though." She asked but Sirius noticed by the look on her face it wasn't as if she had any doubt, Tonks would never be a part of something so brutal and probably neither would her mother, judging by the way she was so affectionately mentioned between the two.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked curiously smiling.
"She likes him you know. Thinks he looks cute in his patchy tweed jacket, can't see why, he just seems old to me but still, each to there own and all that." She smiled knowingly as Sirius knew perfectly well what Ginny was implying.
"I think you better go down to your mother now, she'll be wanting her little helper!" Sirius said smiling broadly now as Lupin walked back in with his find to see Harry calming down a bit in his arms.
"Are, is little Snuffles protective!" She grinned content that Harry was in very capable hands and strutting back out the room and down to the dinning room. She didn't want to leave Harry but if anybody was going to fuss over his health and make him better, it was Sirius.
"What was that about?" Lupin asked sitting down on the end of Harry's bed as Sirius magically made a bowl and cold water appear.
"Nothing much, just something funny that's all. You know she's a bit odd don't ya?" Sirius explained as he started trying to cool Harry down with the cloth.
"What do you mean he's got a burning fever and won't be coming back down?" Molly shouted at her daughter who merely through her a dirty look and sat down to face Moody quiet calmly.
"Some how he got himself cut by that knife on the side in Sirius's room and collapsed by the window upstairs. Can you see it?" She asked politely hoping Moody would see the blade and understand what had happened and therefore make himself useful in his own way to help Harry.
"Oh, those are real nasty those blades, no wonder he's rapped it in a jumper before picking it up. But how did he get hold of one?" Moody growled.
"Sirius said it was his brothers but I think the little rat had something do to with it, he was up there celebrating when we found Harry." Ginny explained pointing to the door where Kresher had just sulked through and pulling her plate towards her.
"Hmm, his brother's hay? Well I can't say I'm not surprised he was a bad egg that one, even by this family's standards." Moody growled, his magical eye clearly spinning up to the attic and then to Harry.
"He will be ok though won't he?" Hermione asked watching the conversation as Moody found himself being looked at by all three including Mrs Weasley for an answer.
"Yes of course, provided Sirius looks after him well. I'm sure he'll be fine in a few days, he won't however be in any fit state to talk to Dumbledore tonight, I'd better go warn him about what's happened." Moody got up and limped out the room feeling slightly smug that he was clearly the man to ask for help on all things dark and dangerous.
Mrs Weasley clearly wanted to rush up the stairs and take over Harry's care but she seemed to think better of it and contented herself with rushing the others through their food and up to bed before Dumbledore arrived. They didn't however go to bed but poked three heads around the door to see if Harry was going to be ok.
"Come in if you want? I know you want to see him. He should be ok given that we keep him cool till he wakes up." Lupin explained seeing three faces appear around the door.
"Do you want to go down to the meeting and explain to Dumbledore? I'd rather stay up hear with Harry till he wakes up." Sirius asked while the three wondered into the room quietly and kept out the way. Harry was laid down in the bed flat on his back, as pale as the sheets and sweating like mad as Sirius kept his face and neck cool with the cloth knowing there was not much he could do but wait for Harry to fight his own way though it and try to keep him cool.
"If you need to go to the meeting we'll sit with him. We'll shout you if he changes." Ron explained hoping to be helpful as he too followed the other's gaze and looked down on Harry's sweaty face.
"You're a good friend but he'll probably start throwing up soon and I'm not sure I got all the poison out." Sirius explained pleased to see how loyal and caring Harry's friends were.
"It's ok, I understand. I done my share of Harry's vomiting its only fair you have him now." Ron shrugged not wanting to see vomit but still, would always help his friend if necessary.
"You have?" Hermione asked slightly puzzled like Sirius.
"Yeah well last year he would usually though up when he woke up from those nightmares. Bit gross some of the things he was describing and he always did manage to cover my shoes some how. Didn't matter where I put em he still got sick on them, Nev went pale as anything when Harry was telling us about what he'd seen Knott, we think, do to some poor creature, never did work out what it err, originally was." Ron explained darkly having only sat and listened to Harry with Neville because he knew it was the only way Harry would calm down by talking about it.
"Nev?" Sirius asked sure he hadn't come across this name before.
"Neville Longbottom." Ginny explained looking back at Harry.
"As in?" Sirius began.
"Yeah, he lives with his gran." Hermione explained.
"You'd probably like him Sirius; he always gets on well with Harry and thinks you sound highly amusing." Ginny explained but Sirius looked a little confused.
"He knows about me?" Sirius asked.
"Oh yes. He likes the sound of anybody who tackles Ballatrix to the ground and gets her dragged kicking and screaming back to Azkaban." Ron explained still looking at Harry.
"Well he's Child of the Dammed isn't he, so Harry tells him allsorts now? It helps him calm down a bit." Hermione explained.
"Child of the Dammed?" Sirius asked totally unaware of what this might be.
"Yeah, it's a Harry thing. Some sort of group." Ron replied.
"Fortunately we don't qualify but Harry and Neville do. When he's in a good mood you can ask him about it, he won't mind ya' know?" Ginny explained then yawning followed the other two to bed when they heard Mrs Weasley thumping up the stairs to check on them.