One reviewer asked what I meant about Ron being a 'powerful' my take on the HP 'verse, some wizrds have a stronger magic than others. their spells have a stronger effect. That does not mean that they are _better_ wizards: it doesn't mean that their spells are more effective, necessarily. For example, Imagine a guy who's really good shape - will it give him an advantage in playing a musical instrument? If he's playing the drums, yes. The flute, not so much.
In my story, Ron has a lot of power, but he's lacking in planning and finesse, though that might change as he trains more. In terms of dueling, the best duelists in the DA are: Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione and Terry (in that order), though they are close enough in skill so that victory for the stronger dualist is not guaranteed.
START
"Are you certain this is a good idea? He was in Azkaban - no matter who he was before, that's going to change a person." Hermione worried, holding tight to Harry's arm. "Maybe you should talk to Prof. Flitwick about this."
"I don't know about that. Besides, Prof. Lupin will be there" Harry was going to go meet Sirius that afternoon. Harry had been spending a fair bit of time with the diminutive teacher: he had taken him up on his offer of coming by during office hours for a more in depth discussion of the material (And boy had it made a difference). But he was still a teacher, and this was personal.
It was a Hogsmead weekend, and Harry had agreed to meet Sirius at Remus's room at the Three Broomsticks. "Nothing will happen. I know you want to be there, but he is technically a fugitive, so he wants to keep a low profile." 'It's nice having somebody worry about you.' Harry mused. And the fact that Hermione was unconsciously pressing his arm to her chest was also pleasant. If distracting. Very distracting.
"What if he really is a supporter of You-Know-Who?" Hermione fussed.
Harry didn't bother to reply - they had been over all this before. "I'll see you in a bit. An hour tops." Harry waved as he went into the pub while Hermione continued on her way to the bookstore.
Harry made his way up the stairs and to the rooms on the second floor. "Hello, Harry" Remus opened the door, "Sirius.." He showed the teen into the small room. Sitting on the bed was a haggard looking man. His hair looked like it had just been trimmed, and he was dressed in clean (if worn) clothes that did not fit him well. But his cheeks were hollow, and there were black circles under his eyes. When Harry stepped into the room, a tentative smile broke out on his face.
"Harry.. it is nice to meet you, as an adult. The last time I saw you, you were a baby…" Sirius began "You know, back in school your father, Remus and I were close friends, why we used to get into all sorts of trouble. I remember when, in fourth year we managed to charm the Fat Lady so that she could only croak. The look on her face!" Sirius paused, "Do you have friends in school?"
"Yes, I have a couple of close friends, and a few others that I get along with well enough."
"Good, good. Friends can keep you sane.. Is one of them the witch you walked up to the pub with? Oho! a girlfriend!" Sirius crowed, He leaned in conspiratorially, "You know about the Shrieking Shack, right?"
Harry blushed and stammered, "We're not like that!"
"Oh, that's fine, there's no need to rush, but keep up the charms on it, so that it's available if you want it."
"Charms?"
"The Shrieking Charms. Remus was the one who came up with them. This was back when your dad was starting to get interested in Lilly. So we cast them on the shack as a 'birthday present'."
"Not that they ever used it," Remus quickly interrupted Sirius' monologue, "Your mother was a very proper young lady."
"I think the charms must have worn out, because I've never heard about them."
"Well, that's too bad. I remember some good times in there. You see, some others of us took advantage of the charms. Waste not want not, if you know what I mean." Sirius waggled his overgrown eyebrows. It was a slightly disturbing sight, but Harry found the fountain of words pouring forth from Sirius very comfortable. Here was another misfit, who had missed out on much of life. But he seemed determined to make up for it now. "So, how about I show you some of the places in London that James and I used to hang out in the summer?"
"I don't know if that's a good idea.." began Remus "We still need to practice occlumency" This was their third meeting, and Harry was showing some progress. Slow progress, but that was to be expected.
"You can work later. You can only have fun now. Besides, nobody will know that we're gone - I'll have Harry back before dinner. Come on!" Sirius stood up, "There is this really awesome muggle arcade where we spent hours playing pinball during the summer. And there is a little cheap jewelry store that you could see from the window. You can see all the muggle girls as they go in. I imagine this time of year, there's not so much to see, but in late July, whoo! And my parents hated the fact I would hang out in muggle London. They were convinced that I would be kidnapped and sold into the white-slave trade by passing muggles." Sirius grabbed Harry's arm "I can side along you there. You game?"
"Let's go!" smiled Harry.
*Meta*Meta*
"It used to be here. Right here!" Sirius said, anguished, as he looked around the street corner in confusion. The place he was pointing to was now a clothing boutique.
"I guess they closed."
Sirius nodded morosely.
"Hey, there's a comic book store over there." Harry pointed across the street, "Come on, I'll show you some of the good ones."
"I don't know.." Sirius began, "Comics were never my thing.." but he followed Harry into the store. Soon Harry was pulling out books and explaining the story-line to Sirius.
"These are comic book? They are so serious!" the older man gaped, "Wait - spiderman is married? NO! That's not right! When did he get so responsible?"
"I thought you didn't read comics?" Harry smirked.
"Well, I didn't read them _often_, but sometimes, I would buy a few. But only the good titles." Sirius replied without looking up, his nose buried in the comic.
They continued flipping through comics, earning dark looks from the fat young man behind the counter. "How about you buy something? This ain't a library," He grumbled.
Harry shrugged. He had a couple of pounds in his wallet, "Hey Sirius - how about this one?" He held up an edgy new imprint.
"No! Too dark. I don't understand why anybody would want to read something like that. Pass me that X-Men - they're always amusing." Sirius glanced at Harry's wallet. "You don't have an enchanted money pouch?"
"Um, no? I don't know what that is." Harry replied, embarrassed at his failing.
"Most people in the Wizarding world have a money pouch that is magically linked to their Gringotts vault. That way, they can pay for their purchases without having to carry around a ton of money. I remember my Dad gave me my first one when I was fourteen."
"That sounds like a muggle credit card." Harry paused for a minuted to think, "But what if somebody steals it - they can empty your vault!"
"It has a modified version of same ward as the vault - anybody other than the owner can put their hand in, but they can't pull it back out."
"Oh, that makes sense." Harry smirked, "I can just see some would=be thief walking around witha their hand jammed up to their armpit into a bag. They would have to cut the bag off."
"That would destroy the charm on the bag, and in the words of Hooknose, 'that would be unhealthy'" Sirius smirked.
"Unhealthy? And who's Hooknose?" Harry finished paying and lead the way out of the shop - the guy behind the counter had been paying too much attention to their conversation, and he didn't want to get in trouble with the Statutes of Secrecy.
"Hooknose was the family accountant. He wasn't a bad sort, for a goblin. He hated my parents almost as much as I did. And 'unhealthy' in the sense that they would have to amputate what was left of your hand." Sirius did his best imitation of a goblin smile.
"Oh. The Dursleys are aggressively muggle so no, I don't have a pouch."
As Harry glanced around the street, wondering what t0o do next, Sirius pointed to a greasy looking diner down the road,"You fancy some fish and chips?"
"Have you ever been there before?"
"Nope, but it looks good. Especially compared to Remus's chow. Can you believe he's a vegetarian now? He's getting into all this Indian food. It's not bad for a bit, but I want real honest-to-goodness greasy British fare."
"Ok, let's do it!" Harry had never been out on the town with friends before, and he was having a blast.
They took their orders to a cheap naugahyde lined cubicle. The seats were bright orange, and the table was even cheaper formica. It looked like something out of a 1950's movie. Sirius happily shoveled fries into his mouth between bites of his deep fried fish. As they sat eating, Harry happened to glance at the clock over the counter.
"Oh, shit!"
"Language, Harry." Sirius said, unexpectedly.
"Sorry. But we gotta go - I promised Hermione - that's my girlfriend - that I'd be back by dinner time. She's probably panicking."
Sirius finished his mouthful and washed it down with the rest of his orange soda. "Sounds high strung. Is she pretty?"
"Yes, to both, I guess. She's also very proper and really smart." Harry replied as Sirius paid for their meal.
"I don't think 'proper' was ever on my list of things to look for in a girl." replied Sirius as they stepped into an alley to apparate back to Hogsmead
*Meta*Meta*
"Where were you!" Hermione was beside herself. She intercepted Harry as he walked into Hogwarts, "I was so worried - I was just about to go to Flitwick and tell him that you were kidnapped by Sirius, and then I would have had to explain why you were meeting with him in the first place without telling somebody in authority and that would NOT go over well and.."
"Hermione, relax, I'm ok. I just lost track of time."
Hermione hugged Harry tightly, "I had every right to be worried! Sirius has a reputation as a criminal. Now I know you believe that he is innocent, but the courts didn't think so, and even if they were wrong, -things- happen to people in prison. They change, and I thought…"
Harry sighed in exasperation. He liked the idea of having a girlfriend, but maybe he should have read the fine print before signing on for this."Hermione, Give it a rest. I'm fine"
Hermione took a step back. "Fine. I'll see you at breakfast, then." and stormed off.
Harry sighed, 'She'll get over it'. He headed down to the dojo to blow off some steam himself.
An hour later, Harry was in the Ravenclaw's Commonroom. It was awkward. Harry had already finished his homework, so he didn't know what to do with himself. Hermione was up in the girls dorms, and none of the other claws were willing to talk to him, outside of the DA, at least. 'I hadn't realized how much of my life has revolved around Hermione lately. What did I used to do for fun, last year?'
But people watching had lost some of it's luster. With a sigh, Harry got up, 'Maybe I can find a book in the library.' As he made his way down from the tower, a thought popped into his head, 'I completely forgot - the twins asked me to collect their stuff!' Harry went back and grabbed the Sack from his luggage and then headed for the Weasley's broom closet.
It took him three tries to get the series of knocks just right. Harry sighed, 'There's a lot of junk here.' He started by wrestling a large metal contraption that had a picture of a dragon doodled on its side into the Ever-Expanding Sack. That was followed by an assortment of flasks, tubes and wooden stands. As Harry worked his way around the room, he found himself next to Luna's corner.
"Hmm" Harry crouched down and poked the carpet. The plush moved gently. He leaned in closer, looking to see if there was anything living in there.
"Don't get your nostril hairs tangled in there!"
"YI-YI-YI!" Harry leaped straight up is surprise.
"Or it will be really painful when they get yanked out as you leap up." finished Luna.
"What are you doing here?" asked Harry.
Luna cocked her head to the side and gave him a look, to see if she could spot any of the Nargles that were obviously stealing Harry thoughts. "That is my hot chocolate still you were ogling. A better question would be what are YOU doing here?"
"I was taking the twin's stuff."
"Ooh. Living dangerously, are we?"
"No" Harry rolled his eyes, "I mean I'm collecting it to send to them. They asked for it."
"They often ask for it, but nobody's willing to mess with them anyways. They have a mean streak."
"But you were renting space from them!" countered Harry. He realized that he had somehow gotten off topic, but he wasn't certain how it had happened.
"So I am in a position to know. Why were you peeping at my carpet?" Luna asked. "Are you a peeping Harry?"
Harry ignored the second half of the question, as he wasn't certain how to answer it. "I was checking to see if there were any 'foot-fodder' worms living in the plush. But there aren't any worms in there!"
"Of course not" scoffed Luna, "'futfodder worms' is the name of the spell I used to animate the carpet. Some Ravenclaw you are - you didn't ask for a definition of the terminology that you didn't know!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Harry turned away, blushing in embarrassment. He went back to collecting the Weasley's equipment and dropping it into the Sack piece by piece. As soon as anything he popped in passed through the mouth of the Sack, the built in cushioning charms slowed the pieces fall, landing them gently inside the huge interior. It was very nice piece of Magic, and Harry considered getting one himself. If it wasn't too expensive.
Luna stood and watched.
Harry became more and more self conscious, "What?" He finally stood up, and faced the blond girl.
"Speaking of terms that need to be defined, what exactly is our relationship?"
"I don't know!" Harry snarled, "You're the one who likes making stuff up and not letting anybody else know what you're thinking." Luna's shoulders dropped. she looked like she was about to turn around and slink away. "But, um.." Harry continued quickly, holding out a hand as if to physically hold Luna from leaving, "I would like to be friends, now. You know?"
A tentative smile slipped across Luna's face. "Yeah. Ok." She held out her hand to shake, "Friends?"
"Friends" Harry shook her hand.
Luna smiled, "I'll see you around," and skipped out of the broom closet.
*Meta*Meta*
It wasn't until breakfast time the next day that Harry managed to catch Hermione. So he had had plenty of time to go over their last conversation. And he had come to a conclusion: 'Just because I'm right doesn't mean I need to say it.' Harry was annoyed with himself. He thought he had learned to pay attention to what other people were thinking - it was a life skill for living with the Dursley's after all. "Uh, Hi, Hermione?" Harry sat down next to his girlfriend. "Um, I'm sorry for being a little rude yesterday. I hadn't realized that you would worry so much." Actually, having anybody worry about him at all was a new experience. He wasn't certain if he liked it.
Hermione smiled, "And I'm sorry for blowing up like that. I was just really worried. We should work out some way of communicating, so that something like this doesn't happen again."
"I.. well ok" Harry felt an invisible leash settling around his shoulders. 'I wonder if I'll end up regretting this?'
"Great! we can work on setting up a Protean charm for just the two of us after class."
'That's actually not a bad idea', Harry nodded, "so, what will we use? I don't want to enchant another Sickle - what if we sent the message on the wrong one.
Hermione blushed, "HowAboutAPairOfRings?" she said all in one breath.
Harry's brain froze. "I think that won't work - it will be really hard to read the message" he quickly countered.
"Oh, yeah, you're right" Hermione replied, assiduously not looking at Harry as she continued to blush.
"How about a medallion? - I bought one to use for the enhancement runes, but I can use the back side for the Protean charm. And I can get you one to match"
"Ok!" Hermione looked up, a beatific smile on her face.
*Meta*Meta*
Harry hunched over the strip of leather, slowly carving the runes into the metal plate on the leather arm band that he had bought. He was able to tune out the drone of Binns voice as the ghost professor continued to talk about a goblin something or other. Only half the class had even bothered to show up, and they were either napping or doing homework for other classes, so this was as private a place to work as any at Hogwarts. 'Almost done' Harry had finished two of the five charms he was planning to make (Five was the minimum required, and Harry figured that would be plenty).
Harry quickly glanced up to see if Binns was paying attention. No. the ghost was still talking to the blackboard, just like every other class. 'It's a good thing he's a ghost. If he had a real body, his nose would be smearing his chalkings'.
Harry held up the charm. It looked good. Unfortunately, the next class was herbology. He couldn't slack there, yet it was just as boring. 'At least Charms is going well this year.' Harry liked Flitwick, and the class was obviously useful, so he exerted himself there. Transfiguration was also interesting, but McGonogall was such a dull old bat that he never really warmed to the subject.
*Meta*Meta*
Harry stretched as he sat down in the DADA classroom. 'Time for another lecture on how to be polite to creatures that want to eat your soul' Harry considered his options. Sleeping was out - Umbridge wasn't that oblivious. Besides, he was well rested: the occlumency lessons had him sleeping better. He wasn't certain if the occlumency actually blocked anything, or if it was just the reassurance that it would - sort of a placebo effect. Whatever it was, he hadn't had any nightmares in a couple of weeks.
Harry pulled out his notebook. Doodling or passing notes to Hermione it was.
"Hello class!" the pink toad pronounced. And those were the last words that Harry paid attention to for the next hour. Instead, he tried to come up with configurations to try in DA: How many wizards to a team. Who should cast defensive spell, who should cast offensive. Along with that, there was a list of initials of wizards and witches that were particularly good at one spell or another.
"I am glad to see that SOMEBODY is taking notes" Harry's head jerked up as he saw Umbridge approaching his table. "Hem. Hem. When I am talking, it would be in your best interests to take down what I say. I am NOT talking just to to hear the sound of my own voice, after all."
'She's not?' Harry quickly whisked the DA notes under the parchment with the lecture notes from the last class. 'I hope she doesn't read this.'
Umbridge stopped next to Harry and possessively placed a palm on his shoulder, "Harry here is busy taking good notes. I would like the rest of you toe emulate his example. Starting tomorrow, I will be collecting your class notes to grade."
Several of the students glared daggers at Harry.
*Meta*Meta*
"Harry! Harry! Guess what" came Sirius' tinny voice from the Two Way mirror that Harry was holding. Sirius had given it to him as an early Christmas present. In March. It was pretty obvious that Sirius was going stir crazy hiding out at Remus' pad and needed to talk to somebody. How he had survived over a decade of prison was a mystery to Harry.
"Harry, I spoke to Dumbledore, and he's going to try to have the charges against me cleared!" Seeing a gaunt middle-aged man bouncing like a teenager was a disturbing sight. But whenever the two of them spoke, the same thing happened - within a few minutes of talking, the morose, care-worn adult quickly rolled back to a carefree teenager. "He say's he can't promise anything, but the fact that he believes me is a HUGE load off of my mind. Now at least I am on the road to normalcy. He even invited me to a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix, so I'll be able to talk to some of my old friends!"
"Keep it down!" Harry shushed, "I'm talking to you in the boy's loo."
"TMI!" crowed Sirius, "Though it could be worse - if you were in a broom closet, passers-by might think I was a girl!"
Harry sighed and smiled in bemusement 'This so weird - I'm the more mature one in this conversation'. "What's the Order of the Phoenix?"
"It's the group that Dumbledore founded to fight Voldemort, last time around. Me and Remus and James joined up right out of Hogwarts. Your mom was a member too. Albus restarted it to fight him again. According to Remus, they're mostly trying to trace who's supporting Voldemort - Albus is certain that he has started minting new Death Eaters. And they're also standing guard over something in the Department of Mysteries. Remus won't say what. He claims that I have developed verbal diarrhea and can't keep a secret anymore. Well, he should try not talking to anybody for a decade!"
"Ok, ok!" Harry laughed, "I didn't accuse you of anything! Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you're going to be hanging out with your old friends, because I'm going to have to take a rain-check on hitting the arcade" Harry fingered the portkey that Sirius had owled him that morning, "Hermione wants to go out to Hogsmead Saturday, and as much as I hate to say it, I got to spend Sunday revising for my OWLS." Harry conveniently forgot to mention that Hermione had been on his case to study more since the start of the semester, and that taking her out was his way of trying to mollify her: first a date, then a study session. And afterward? Who knew how the evening would end... Harry smiled to himself.
"Well, I guess that's the way it goes when you have a girlfriend," sighed Sirius, "At least a girlfriend you're serious about. I never had to worry about that - most of the girls I dated were one night stands. Incidentally, how far have you gotten? You guys have sex yet?"
"Urk!" Harry staggered back, almost falling into the toilet, "SHH!" He quickly stepped onto the lid of the toilet and looked over the top of the stall - the bathroom was still empty. This bathroom was across the hall from Moaning Myrtle's haunt, so people tended to avoid the both of them. Myrtle mostly stayed in the girls' loo, but there were rumors that she was a bit of a peeping tom, so for they boy's toilet, unless you were real desperate, you kept on walking. "And no. Not that I would mind being, um, more physical, but she's doesn't want to do anything more than kiss." Harry shrugged, "I guess I'm fine with that." He was happy just to have such a cool girlfriend - not only was she smart, but dignified and poised. Even the Dursleys would be hard pressed to find anything wrong with her.
"Yeah, well if you want some advice on that, you know that Prof. Black's door is always open"
"Uhm, you mean you'd be willing to talk about sex? What a surprise" Harry rolled his eyes.
"Well, since you brought it up, the best way to.." began Sirius, blasting ahead on a full head of steam.
"I gotta go. I'll catch you later!" Harry waved and covered the mirror with a cloth, shutting down the communication spell.
*Meta*Meta*
"Hermione, relax." Harry repeated for the twenty third time. The happy couple were in the Three Broomsticks, sharing a goblin float (despite the name, Rosmerta reassured Harry that there were no goblin or goblin parts in the beverage) "try the ice cream - it's surprisingly good." A goblin float was made from pumpkin ice cream, floating in butterbeer.
Hermione smiled and took a sip, "Sorry I'm bad company. I just keep thinking of the OWLs. We haven't spent anywhere enough time prepping for them. I think I'm going to work late at the Ministry this week, and then I'll slack off so that I can revise my notes."
"Hermione, I am an expert on slacking off, and I have to say, studying your ass off does NOT count as slacking."
"Language" Hermione tried to keep a smile from slipping out at the compliment. "And I think you sell yourself short. You work plenty hard. Maybe not as much as me, but I'll freely admit that I get a little carried away when it comes to studying."
Harry paused and his brows furrowed, "Huh. I guess I have been working hard this year. How did that happen. It must be your good influence" Hermione blushed and looked down at the table, "No, seriously - I used to spend all my time hanging out with Draco and his loser squad. I had to pull it together last year, for that crazy tournament, but if I wasn't spending all my time with you, I'm certain that this year I would have gone back to slacking."
"I don't know about that," Hermione was blushing furiously as she drew circles on the table with a little spilled butterbeer. "And besides, Goyle isn't a loser."
"Yeah, he really pulled it together, but you have to admit, he's no genius."
Hermione nodded. In the DA, Goyle worked hard, but his personal best was barely average. "Yeah, he really wants to impress Hannah."
"See, I told you, the love of a good woman can turn a guy around."
"Love?" stammered Hermione.
"Um.." Harry's brain ground to a halt as he realized what he had said, and he started to panic, 'ok, what do I say?' "Um.. Yeah. Love, as in 'I love you'." he managed to stammer out.
Hermione quickly got up and pulled Harry into a hug. After several moments, she pulled her chair around so that it was on the same side of the table as Harry's. That way she could lean into him as she sat.
*Meta*Meta*
It was Wednesday, and Harry was bored. He had gotten so used to spending all his free time with Hermione, either studying, or prepping for the DA or just snuggling. So much so that he was at a loss for what to do while she was getting ahead on her work at the Department of Mysteries. 'I guess I could just start revising for the OWLs on my own'. He half heartedly picked up his notes and flipped through them. 'Or maybe I'll wait.'
He got up and went down to the dojo.
"Hey, Nev. What brings you here at this hour?" Harry was surprised to find the Gryffindor boy at the dojo - they usually worked out in the morning.
"Not much. I just got to work off some steam."
Harry quirked an eyebrow. "Something happen?"
"Draco and his inquisitorial squad happened. They have been harassing me and the other Gryffindors all week. They stop us in the hallways demanding to know where we are going. Today they even came by our dorms, demanding to inspect our stuff for contraband. I called in McGonagall, and she said she'll talk to Umbridge, but I don't know what she can do. That fat toad has complete control over Hogwarts."
Harry nodded. "Want to spar?"
"Aren't you supposed to be with Hermione right now?" asked Neville.
"There's no 'supposed to'. I like hanging out with her."
"Uh, huh. And she arranges your schedule, and if you don't show up on time, she gets huffy."
"Well… " Harry was at a loss for words.
Neville laughed, "Dude, I'm just having you on. If you're happy, that's all that matters."
"Yeah." Harry nodded his thanks, "Hermione's at work, at her internship"
"And this is how you spend your evening as a bachelor? If this were a movie, we'd be sneaking out to Hogsmead for butterbeers."
"You want to do that? Really?" Harry boggled.
"Well, no." Neville backpedaled quickly. He was notorious for not liking to break the rules, "but if this was a story about us, that's what would happen next."
"Yeah. Maybe. Though if somebody was going to make my life into a movie, they would have to make it a whole hell of a lot more exciting." Harry paused and clutched his chest, "Excuse me" He pulled out the medallion that he and Hermione had charmed. He read the small inscription that was transmitted from Hermione's linked medallion.
"OH, SHIT!"
"What's wrong?" Neville crowded towards Harry. Harry looked like he wanted to run, but wasn't certain where to go.
"I just got a message from Hermione - there are Death Eaters breaking into the Department of Mysteries. She's trapped." Harry grabbed his robes and threw them on over his gi. "I have to go help her!" he turned to run out the door.
"Wait! I'll come with you. Better yet, I'll call the DA. We'll all go."
Harry nodded. He doubted anybody would come - people didn't do that sort of thing for him. But it was worth a shot, "Tell them to meet us at the Whomping Willow"
"Ok. How are we getting to London?" Neville asked as he finished with his enchanted Sickle.
"I have a port key from Siri… from a friend.
"Let's do it." The two friends ran out the door.
*Meta*Meta*
When they reached the Whomping Willow, they found Luna and Terry already there. "What's going on? Has Umbridge discovered us? Neville said it was an emergency."
"Worse - Hermione is being chased through the Department of Mysteries by Death Eaters!" Harry blurted, "I'm going to go help her!"
"Who.. I'm not certain if we can.." began Terry.
"Wherever you go, I'll follow" Luna interrupted.
"I'm in," added Collin. He was still out of breath from having run up. "Let's wait a minute before going, though: Ron's on his way also - he just had trouble finding his shoes."
Harry nodded, "ok. I just thought of something. Give me a minute while we wait." He stepped off to one side and pulled out the Two Way Mirror.
"Sirius! Wake up. Hey, Sirius! I need help here!"
"What's up, pronglet?" came the voice from the other side.
"Hermione is hiding from Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries. I need your help to rescue her," Harry got out all in one breath, keeping an eye on his friends at the same time - they didn't know about Sirius, and now was not the time to explain. "I'll meet you there."
"Hey, wait - don't.."
"I gotta go!" Harry interrupted as Ron ran up. He put the cloth over the mirror and shoved it back into his pocket.
"Who was that?" asked Terry.
"Backup. Let's go!" Harry replied anxiously.
The teens ran through the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack, until they were outside the Hogwarts wards. "Ok, everybody, hold hands. I'm activating the portkey."
"Um, wait - where will that take us?" asked Terry.
"Central London - about two blocks from the Ministry. We'll have to hoof it from there!" 'I hope Hermione manages to hold out until then.' "Ok, Let's go."
and the world spun around them.