Harry pushed the shattered remains of his broomstick away miserably. He'd woken up in the hospital wing surrounded by Ron, Hermione, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Madam Pomfrey had kicked the team out so now only Ron and Hermione were left.
'What do you remember?' Hermione asked gently.
'It was … so cold,' Harry answered. He wasn't thinking about the rain but of the horrible feeling that had rushed over just before he had spotted the Dementors. 'Then I heard …'
Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!
Stand aside, you silly girl.
Harry's throat closed up. He knew now who's voice he'd been hearing when the Dementors got too close.
'What did you hear Harry?'
'I don't remember,' Harry lied. 'I just remember falling and the next thing I knew I was waking up here.'
'Do you remember how you got to the ground?' Hermione asked.
'Fell I suppose.'
Ron snorted but was silenced by a glare from Hermione.
'No! … Well, yes actually …' Hermione seemed flustered.
Harry closed his eyes and sunk back into his pillows. His mind started to drift away.
'Malfoy caught you.' Ron's voice cut through the fog in Harry's brain, startling his eyes open.
'Malfoy?' Harry repeated.
Potter? Harry, wake up!
'Yeah, weird right?' Ron said. 'It got weirder though. He insisted on coming here with you and then ran off as soon as Madam Pomfrey said you were OK.'
He went to Sirius, Harry realised. His checks burnt and a lump formed in his throat as Harry remembered that his godfather had been in the stands to see him fall. Sirius had probably been expecting Harry to fly like his father and instead he'd played his worst game in three years.
'Maybe he was trying to pay you back for saving him from Buckbeak?' Hermione suggested.
'Git probably just thought he'd be in trouble if he let you fall,' Ron said.
Harry nodded absently and tried to stifle a yawn, Hermione caught him though. 'We should let you rest,' she said pulling Ron away. 'We'll see you tomorrow.'
'Bye.'
The door had barely closed before Harry fell asleep.
It was dark when Harry work up. Half asleep he tried to stretch out but jumped in surprise when he felt a weight at the bottom of his bed. Harry fumbled with the lamp beside his bed. He could make out a dark shape at the foot of his bed.
'Sirius?' He dog lifted his head and when he saw Harry was awake he jumped to his feet.
Suddenly Harry found himself wrapped up in a hug by his human godfather.
'Harry! I was so worried! I'm sorry! The Dementors were after me! It's my fault you fell.'
Harry hugged him back tightly. 'It wasn't your fault! I'm usually a much better flyer I swear!'
Sirius pulled away. He ran a comforting hand through Harry's hair. 'That's what you think I'm worried about?
'I …' Harry looked down at his lap. 'I didn't want you to think I was embarrassing my dad's legacy or something.'
When Sirius was silent, Harry glanced up and saw he looked stricken. 'Harry. I would never think that. It wouldn't matter to me if you sat on your broom backwards or couldn't even get off the ground. Your parents loved you more than anything in the world and … so do I.'
Harry's whole body was filled a glowing warmth, he felt something inside him melt. He'd never had someone care about him like that, someone who would put him first, at least not since his parents.
'I … I love you too Sirius.'
When Sirius smiled brightly back at him he suddenly looked years younger.
'Hey, Sirius?' Harry asked. 'How did you get in? I thought after what happened on Halloween Dumbledore increased the security on the front door?'
'He did,' Sirius said. 'I apparated,' he nodded towards the corner. Harry looked and saw Kreacher standing there glaring at the wall. For a moment, Harry was surprised he hadn't heard the elf but then he remembered Sirius's 'no insulting Harry' rule.
'Oh, elf magic.'
Sirius settled himself into the guest chair and they sat quietly for a few moments before Harry had another thought.
'Lupin!'
'What?'
'Professor Lupin! He knows your animagus form! He could haves seen you at the game!'
'It's okay, Harry,' Sirius said. 'I knew he wouldn't be there.'
'How?'
Sirius smirked slightly but didn't answer.
'He wasn't in class either,' Harry said. 'We had to have Snape.'
'I'm sure you had a fantastic class then,' Sirius said with a sarcastic smile.
Harry shook his head. 'He made us study werewolves. We told him we weren't up to werewolves yet but he wouldn't listen!'
'Did he now?' Sirius said, his smile had disappeared. 'What a git! I wish I could hex him! If I wasn't risking Azkaban …' he trailed off.
Harry frowned. He couldn't make much sense of the strange reaction.
Sirius looked out the window at the full moon. 'I, umm, I probably should let you sleep,' he said. 'I'll see you soon.
Harry nodded and hugged Sirius goodbye.
Kreacher reluctantly grabbed on to Sirius's arm.
'Bye Harry!' Sirius cried and then they were gone.
Harry had a steady stream of visitors over the next few days. Ron and Hermione visited of course, so did the Quidditch team and Harry's dormmates. Ginny Weasley had shown up, blushing furiously, with a handmade 'get well' card which sang shrilly unless Harry kept it hidden under a bowl of fruit. Hagrid sent him a bunch of earwiggy flowers that looked like yellow cabbages. He also received a bunch of transfigured flowers from Professor Lupin. Hermione had marvelled at the spell work behind the flowers so much that Harry had given her one of the flowers, much to Ron's displeasure. Harry had also received a rather expensive looking box of chocolates, they didn't have a card but Harry had a pretty good idea who they were from. Ron had quickly forgiven Harry when he'd offered to share the chocolates.
None of his visitors however were enough to lift his mood, he was still upset about his broom and the match, not to mention Peter Pettigrew. It was a relief to return to his classes where he was forced to think about othr things.
Harry saw Malfoy in potions and had an insane urge to go over and say thank you, he didn't think Malfoy would appreciate Harry talking to him in public though. The potions lesson was one of the worst of Harry's life. Although Malfoy stayed quiet, the other Slytherin's were delighted about their win over Gryffindor and wondered aloud what it would mean for Gryffindor's house cup chances and for Harry's future on the team.
'If Snape's taking Defence Against the Dark Arts again, I'm going off sick,' Ron said, as they headed towards Lupin's classroom. 'Check who's in there Hermione.'
'It's OK!'
Professor Lupin was back at work. It certainly looked like he'd been ill. He had dark circles under his eyes and he still looked a bit pale. When the class told him about Snape's werewolf essay, he'd had a similar reaction to Sirius. Frowning with displeasure he'd said that they didn't have to do the essay. Hermione was the only one who didn't welcome that news.
They had a very enjoyable lesson. When the bell rang, everyone gathered up their things and headed for the door, Harry amongst them, but-
'Wait a moment, Harry,' Lupin called. 'I'd like a word.'
Thank you for reading and thank you to all the people who have followed my story or left a comment it means alot to me :)
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