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Chapter Six

James looked up as Hermione, Ron and Seamus came running towards him. He stood up quickly, hoping they had good news.

"There's no sign of him! We looked everywhere. The common room, the dorms, the potions labs even the kitchens. He's not there!" Ron told him, panic clear in his voice.

James felt his heart skip several beats. He had just returned from searching for Harry as well. The party had come to a standstill when Harry had failed to return with the butterbeers. Mostly everyone was involved in searching for him. Damien was still checking the Marauders map to Hogwarts, refusing to believe that Harry was not there.

"We have to let the authorities know." Professor Sprout said, wringing her hands in worry.

"He has to be somewhere here. He couldn't have left Hogwarts. The wards wouldn't have let him." Professor McGonagall replied sternly.

James didn't say anything. It was true. Harry had to be here somewhere. He couldn't leave Hogwarts grounds, the wards wouldn't allow him or anyone for that matter, to leave without Dumbledore knowing. The Headmaster had already confirmed that all the wards were still in place. None of them had been brought down.

James gritted his teeth in anger.

"He better have a bloody good reason for this or else, I swear, when I get my hands on him …" James trailed off, too angry to finish.

He was worried for Harry but he didn't believe anything bad had happened to him. James was forcing himself to believe that Harry was pulling a prank. He wouldn't put it past him to do something like this, not knowing how worried everyone was going to get. James was caught up with what had become of Damien's birthday party. The fourteen year old was searching for his brother, as were the rest of the guests. He seemed to have completely forgotten about his birthday and was rushing about the castle, worried beyond belief for the safety of his brother. The entire party atmosphere had disappeared.

James set off to look for Harry again, this time heading for the forest, praying that he could control his temper when he found him.

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Sirius watched with a blank expression as Bella's body was lowered into the grave. He had kept a plain expression the whole way through the ceremony. It felt difficult to grieve for the loss of Bella at this point since Sirius had mourned for her when she was given the Dementor's Kiss. That was essentially when they had truly lost Bella. What was left was just an empty shell belonging to her. Sirius bit back his emotions as he reminded himself that he had lost her long ago, when she had first joined Voldemort.

Sirius peered into the darkness and made out the still form of Harry. He was standing motionless next to Draco. Sirius looked at him worriedly. Harry had not spoken a single word since he arrived. He had not even exchanged a single word with Draco. Sirius didn't want to think about how he was feeling. Harry had not fully recovered from losing Voldemort and now he had to deal with the loss of Bella. Sirius didn't understand the guilt Harry was going through regarding Voldemort but he did understand that Harry was suffering. He had already spoken numerous times with James, trying to convince him that his son needed help. But James was still as stubborn as always, claiming that Harry was fine. Sirius felt a wave of unease wash through him as he thought about James and Damien. He had never missed his birthday before. He figured that he would understand though, everything had happened so quickly. He had received the call from Marcus, telling him about the Bella's funeral. He told Sirius that since he was the one who had handed Bella over to Narcissa instead of taking her to Azkaban, he felt he should be present at Bella's funeral. Sirius had rushed to meet them and hadn't even thought to inform James. He figured that Harry would have told them before coming so at least James and Damien knew what had happened.

The funeral ceremony was nearly over. It had to be done quickly and in the dark since most of the authorities was still on the lookout for Death Eaters. It wouldn't matter to them that they were taking away a dead body. It would still count as a capture to them. Marcus had explained solemnly that he couldn't delay the funeral since the risk of getting caught was too great. He had just about managed to keep Bella's whereabouts secret. If it was to be found out that he had been hiding Bella all this time he would be punished severely. Sirius knew that Marcus could potentially end up in Azkaban for hiding a known Death Eater, so he didn't object to the funeral taking place after dark. There was no one else present at the funeral except for himself, Marcus, Narcissa, Draco and Harry. Marcus was performing the funeral ceremony. He finished reading the necessary script and motioned towards them all to gather around the grave. Sirius walked a few steps towards the edge of the grave, trying not to think about who was being buried there. Marcus gestured for all of them to raise their wands. Sirius did so, mentally cursing to himself. He hated this part, the part where they all had to throw in a handful of soil in order for the burial to take place.

At Marcus' nod, Sirius brought down in wand as did the rest. Five jets of white light flashed through the darkness and five handfuls of soil fell gracefully into the grave. In a matter of seconds, the remaining soil poured itself into the grave and the body of Bellatrix Lestrange was buried and laid to rest.

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It was well into the night before Harry and Sirius returned to the gates of Hogwarts. Sirius walked along quietly, trying to think about something appropriate to say. Harry had a vacant look on his face and seemed to be walking in a trance like state. Draco and Narcissa had tried to get Harry to stay over with them but Harry had point blank refused. Sirius cringed mentally as he recalled the last words Narcissa had exchanged with Harry before they left. She had stiffly embraced Harry, as neither Narcissa nor Harry was accustomed to such shows of affection.

"I wanted to thank you Harry, for everything. At least I can live with the peace of knowing that the one to have destroyed my sister is no longer here, thanks to you."

Harry was speechless and only pulled himself away from her before turning to the floo, a look of utter despair on his face. Sirius thought that he understood why. Harry was already feeling guilty about killing Voldemort; he didn't need someone outright thanking him like that. Sirius was sure that only reason Harry didn't lash out at Narcissa was because he was too caught up in his own emotions. Also, she was Draco's mother, Harry would have controlled himself because of that reason alone.

Sirius walked up towards the main doors, feeling drained with the day's events. He made another attempt to talk to Harry though, since he could see that Harry really needed to deal with what had happened.

"Was James okay with you leaving Damien's party?" Sirius asked. He only wanted to say something so that Harry would respond.

Harry turned his startled eyes to Sirius, seeming to come out of deep thoughts.

"Huh?" was the only response Sirius got.

"Damien's party? You did tell James what had happened, didn't you?" Sirius asked, a dreadful feeling building in the pit of his stomach. Did Harry make the same mistake he had and not told anyone where he was going?

Harry seemed to snap put of his thoughts fully and looked around himself as if noticing for the first time that he was standing outside Hogwarts.

"I never got a chance." Harry responded.

Sirius closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead, trying to ward off the headache that was building there. This was not going to be pretty. James had a foul temper and Sirius knew that Harry's sudden disappearance was likely to get a rise out of him. He picked up the pace and headed straight to James' living quarters. It was past eleven o'clock and the castle was deathly quiet.

"We better go and explain to James what had happened." Sirius said to Harry.

Harry looked in the direction of the staircase longingly. He would rather forget everything that had happened today and just go to his room, but Harry knew that he should go and tell his parents that he was fine.

Sirius and Harry hurried along, trying not to make any noise. As soon as Sirius neared James' room he could hear his best friend's voice, obviously talking to Lily. Sirius could hear the worry and anger in his voice clearly.

"Just don't say anything to further upset him. He doesn't know what's happened. I'll explain what happened. Okay." Sirius asked Harry.

Harry only nodded his head. He didn't look too good. Harry's complexion had paled suddenly and his eyes seemed to have darkened in colour. He was completely drained. Sirius took a deep breath before entering the room.

"…we have no choice! We have to listen to the Aurors, James. Anything could have happened to him!" Lily was yelling at a very frustrated looking James.

Sirius saw the anxious looking Order members spaced around the room. Dumbledore was also there along with many members of staff. Moody and Tonks were standing on either side of Lily, apparently joining in the heated debate with James. As Sirius and Harry walked into the room, everyone turned their attention to them.

James turned to look at the two tired looking figures standing near the doors. The relief at seeing his son, safe and sound, flooded into him. He stood speechless as the two wizards walked further into the room. The anger he had felt at Harry's disappearance had gradually changed to worry as the night had passed on. He was reassuring himself that his son could look after himself. It was only this thought that had held James together. He forcefully didn't let his mind wander to what Harry had looked like when they had gone to rescue him from Riddle Manor. It was because of this that James felt the anger and rage explode within him as he saw Harry standing there, next to Sirius, who had also been missing the entire night as well, not looking remotely sorry that they had been missing. They both had very blank looks on their faces.

Lily made an odd choking noise as she rushed towards Harry. She quickly enveloped him into a strong hug and began thanking Merlin that he was okay. Sirius opened his mouth to say something but seemed to change his mind.

"Sirius! Harry! Where have you both been? We were so worried. Are you okay?" Lily started asking both Harry and Sirius.

Sirius didn't want to say where they had been tonight in front of the other Aurors. They wouldn't understand why Sirius and Harry felt the need to protect Bella. They would probably turn against them for hiding her in the first place.

Sirius remained quiet and sent a meaningful look towards Dumbledore. The Headmaster understood Sirius's distressed look and started to usher everyone out of the room.

"Well, it seems there is nothing to worry about. Both Sirius and Harry have returned to us safe and well. The hour is very late and I think we should all retire for the night. Good night." Dumbledore opened the door and stood beside it as the Aurors walked out, wearing very irritable looks. They had wasted their time for apparently nothing.

Dumbledore left once the room was only occupied with James, Lily, Harry, Sirius and Remus. As soon as the door closed, Lily started her questioning again.

"What happened? Where were you? Harry, why did you leave like that? Where did you go?"

Harry didn't respond to her. He was still standing near the door and had his eyes focused away from everyone else. He was caught up in a whirlwind of emotions right now. The sadness of losing Bella, the guilt of being responsible for her to get the Kiss, the confusion of feeling so lost without her and the sudden loneliness that daunted on him. He didn't understand that. He had lost Bella; he had left her when he found out the truth about his childhood. Why did he feel so lost and lonely without her now?

"Lily, I'm sorry. I should have let you know what happened, but everything happened so fast. I'm really very sorry." Sirius started to apologise and was about to explain what had happened when James stopped him.

"Don't say anything, Sirius. We'll get to you later. First I want to speak to Harry."

Harry looked up at his dad. He could see the rage clearly in his eyes. He knew that James was very angry with him, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now.

"I want to know, what the hell you were thinking, disappearing like that!" James asked, his words shaking with anger.

"James…" Sirius started again but was cut off as James stopped him again.

"I'm talking to Harry, Sirius! He can speak for himself."

Sirius tried to cut in and explain but James was not having any of it.

"Did you even think about what the rest of us were going through? We spent the entire night looking for you! And Damien, the poor boy spent the entire night running through the castle looking for you!" James was now red in the face and his voice was getting louder.

"So tell me, Harry, enlighten us with what was so damn important that it couldn't wait until morning! Or why you didn't think it was important to come and inform us that you were leaving!" James finished, looking angrier than ever. James was in such a temper that he didn't even think to ask how Harry had managed to leave in the first place, as the wards on Hogwarts had not been compromised.

Harry still didn't answer, he listened to everything James said and realised with an awful feeling that his parents wouldn't care what had happened to Bella. Like his dad had said, 'what was so damn important that it couldn't wait until the morning.' Harry knew that his dad wasn't going to understand why Harry felt it was important to see Bella for the last time. They were probably going to argue that she was already dead anyway, so why bother going to see her at all. Bella was long gone; it was really only her body that had died. They hated her and would probably be relieved that she was gone. At this Harry's already exhausted mind came to the conclusion that his parents weren't going to understand what had happened, so he wasn't going to try and make them understand. It wasn't worth it.

He turned away from his dad and headed for the door. He really needed to be alone. He couldn't trust himself to speak right now. Before he could leave he felt a hand close over his arm. He looked back to see his dad holding him firmly by the arm, hazel eyes swimming with anger.

"I'm asking you something, Harry. Don't you dare walk away from me without explaining yourself!"

Deep down James knew he was being unfair on Harry. He was shouting at him without even finding out where he had gone. But as James was in the midst of a raging temper, his rational thinking was put on hold for the moment. All he wanted to do was make Harry understand how angry he was.

Harry only brushed away James' hand calmly and looked tiredly at him. If he thought that James would understand how he felt then he would have made the effort to tell him, but deep down he knew that his dad would never understand. He gave his mum a last look before heading out of the door.

James almost leapt out after him but thankfully was stopped by Remus and Lily.

"James, don't. He's really upset about something. Just leave him alone for now." Remus said, trying to stop James from doing any more harm than he had already done.

James struggled out of Remus' grip and turned towards Sirius. It didn't help James' anger that Sirius was glaring at him.

"And what about you! Harry's seventeen and apparently can't think for himself, but what about you? Didn't you think about telling me where you were? You were obviously with Harry, since you both came back together. You could have told me that Harry was with you! You above everyone should know what we must have been going through when Harry disappeared! You didn't even spare a single thought towards Damy. What he must have felt that his own Godfather and brother were missing. I had to practically yell at him to go to bed and give up the search for him." James was starting to break down now. The anger had kept him going, but now he was staring to lose what was left of his composure.

Sirius gave James a calculating look before coming to a decision. He headed towards the door before turning around to look at him.

"There's no point in talking to you when you're like this. I'll talk to you in the morning when your senses return to you." Sirius told him while Lily and Remus kept a firm grip on James.

"But I think you should know that Harry and I weren't out gallivanting as you have so discreetly suggested." Sirius continued before opening the door.

"Both of us were attending Bella's funeral."

With that said, Sirius walked out of the room not sparing a single glance towards the shocked occupants left in the room.

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I know it's short but I had to break it up here otherwise it would have been a really long chapter and it would have taken me longer to update. The next chappie should be out soon, Promise!! Please read and Review!