Chapter 53

New Years was unbearable. It was a year since they had got together. A year since they had shared that first kiss. And now he didn't think that they had ever been so far from one another.

He stayed with Sirius for most of the holidays. He didn't remember ever feeling like this. He hadn't over his parents. He had never really knew them he realised. Not in the way that he had her. And now he just felt as if he was alone.

Whenever he asked for new news there was never anything new. No new news on when she might be rejoining the land of the living which by the looks of things was not going to be any time soon.

A dreadful December soon turned into a painful January. Harry paid little attention – to, well anything. He did not care for chatter in the common room after lessons. He did not take any note as the snow fell and melted once more, as he would have had she been there to point it out to him. Her presence in his life was so keenly missed and intensely felt.

At the Hogshead life was not much better. Aberforth continued to walk around in a daze weeks after the attack. It was as if all the fight had left him for a time. He had become to accustom to having her with him. He was no longer used to the huge vacuum her absence in his life caused.

He didn't understand why she had done what she had and that what what was upsetting him the most. The thought of her and that boy together haunted him. She had always seemed so small and innocent and all the time she had been thinking about. It felt in a weird way a betrayal of him when she had gone to Harry. It was a betrayal of all the family values he had tried to imprint on her as their parents had done to him.

But he was not going to abandon her now. How could he? Days were spent at work and nights were spent in the hospital wing by her side, talking to her gently. He was going to bring her back round if it killed him. He had fought to get her back once more and he would do so again he promised himself.

Albus seemed just as devastated. His guilt seemed to be added to with every day that passed without her opening her bright blues eyes. If he had not left the memories out then she would not ever had learnt the awful truth over their mother's death and then maybe, just maybe, she would still be there. Or if they had not ended her Hogwarts career he would not have left the pensive there. There were so many, too many what ifs for his mind to digest.

He seemed to be goon over every little thing in his mind. Every cross road they had come to since she had arrived. Had he made a wrong decision? Had he put her back into her madness?

Yet unlike harry and his brother he forced himself to keep focus because there was going to be a way to get her back, he told himself. And when she did get back they were going to embrace and be a family once more. They were. He had to believe that.

Besides he had the added advantage of having other focuses in his life such as the Order of the Phoenix. He had to stay strong for them.

But that did not mean there was not a moment of the day when his sister was not on his mind for she always was. He went to see Pompfrey at least three times a day. However, in this period of the year his sister was not the only case she had to deal with. There were colds and flus going about Hogwarts and she had to help all the students. In fact Ariana wasn't even a student, so technically she should be at the bottom of the nurse's priorities.

That did not mean she was though. Every spare moment she was reading something new or if she had missed something. But there was just nothing she could see to do to help her. And it broke the nurse's heart.

"Albus there is nothing I can find to improve the situation!" she admitted to the professor late one night in early January. Potter had as usual been into see Ariana already. Aberforth had protested to begin with by then Albus had convinced him it was cruel to deny the boy, who was obviously so devoted to their sister, the small comfort of sitting with her for an hour. Aberforth had also come and gone. It was just the headmaster and the nurse by the side of the comatose girl.

Since she had been brought up she had been changed into a plain white robe but apart from that she had hardly changed. The nurse gave her nutrition through drips. She breathed, but she didn't move. It was an appalling sight.

It was more than evident to the headmaster that the nurse was getting rapidly frustrated with the situation. She hated it when she was unable to do her job. And it was her job to get people better. But this was an entirely new case for her to take on.

"You are doing your best Poppy and that is all any of us can ask of you. I know that." He said soothingly his eyes not leaving his little sister. His long bony fingers encapsulated the girl's small, slender ones.

It was a sight she was getting used to but it still touched her. And it gave her the motivation to go on with the at times hopeless search.

"Sir there is something else you should be aware of. Umbridge. She was in here earlier, asking questions. I kept Ariana from her but I do not know if I am going to be able to doing it again if she comes. Ariana needs to be some where she can be safe till we can recover her." the nurse urged.

What she said made sense to him. He should have known that she was going to get involved in this sooner or later. He had to get her to a secure place. It was a rare thing the headmaster took against anyone, but in the case of Umbridge he was more than willing to make a concession. All he wanted was to keep his family safe.

"Hogwarts needs its nurse back Poppy." Her told her gently.

"Surely not? You won't take her to –"

"St Mungos?" he shook his head. "We have brought her this far without needing to take her there. And besides if I even so much as considered that as a visible option then I am sure my brother would not fail to block my every attempt. No I can't take her there. She needs her own nurse though. I'll find someone, and a place." He wouldn't fail her. Not this time.

-

As soon as he heard what had happened with Umbridge, Sirius knew that they were going to be trying to move Ariana out of harm's way. While he did not relish the thought of opening up his ancestral home or going back there, Grimmauld place was going to give Ariana the security that the Dumbledore's so needed to give her.

Needs must.

Aberforth as soon as he got Albus note came to his office. He knew he should not let it get his hopes up but he had thought for one glorious moment that there might be some new ion her condition and when she was going to come about. When he found out it was about moving her somewhere more permanent for the duration of her illness he could not hide his disappointment.

"Why doesn't she just come home to the pub?" he offered.

It was the obvious solution to him but his brother shook his head.

"It is too obvious. That is the first place they are going to go looking for he." The article which had been in the prophet was still playing on his mind and the haunting thought that Umbridge might be plotting something was tormenting his heart. 'Ariana the abnormal...'

As much as he wanted nothing to do with Potter or his godfather at that moment, he had to let his head rule his heart. If she was going to be placed somewhere safe that could only be a good thing.

"Then I am going to go with her." He said to him. If she was moving to a new home permanently then he would go with her.

Albus had seen that he was going to say that and he nodded. It was right that one of them should go with her. They were after all her guardians.

"When are we going to move her?" he asked.

"As soon as we can. I want to get her out of the castle by tomorrow night at the latest. Are you going to be able to find cover for the pub?" he asked.

Aberforth nodded. He would find it if it meant he could stay with her.

"Sirius Black has been very good letting us have his parents house for her, however he did mention that for quite some time now it has been empty. He said he would come and help us at the weekend clear it but it will need cleaning."

"As long as it is safe then don't suppose the condition is really that important. After all she isn't going to be aware of the difference is she?"

Albus shook his head. No she was not.

"When she is there she can have her own healer to help take care of her until we can figure out how to bring her round. I have arranged it already. Her name is Elaine Tusker and she is an old friend and a loyal heart. She was in the first order of the Phoenix and joined up this time as well. If this is all agreeable to you that it." The old tension between the two of them since there sisters attack had returned. One again Albus felt he had to ask his little brothers permission when it came to their sister.

With a numb nod of the head the bar man agreed. He hated that there was always a logic behind what his brother was saying to hi,. It made it so much harder for him too argue his own much weaker point.

"Good. Then you shall both be there by this time tomorrow. And she shall once again be safe."

Aberforth needed to the first point but shrugged at the second. Had she ever been safe? Had they ever made her truly safe? The fact remained that the darkness they were trying to save her from came from within.

-

When Sirius had said to the headmaster that the house was in a bit of a state, he not been lying. Albus could only blush when he thought of what his mother would say about her two youngest living in such conditions. But they were going to clear it up, they would have too. It would not remain as it was for long, he hoped.

Early in the morning he had gone to survey the place. It was full of dark objects, unsavoury items and dust. Lots of dust.

How did they come to this?

Black arrived later in the day when he had taught his first year class. He was taking the news badly as well and so had become determined to help. Albus was obviously grateful but as ever Aberforth remained cold.

"It is suitable Albus?" he asked as he strolled down the hall way careful not to wake his mother portrait into the kitchen .

"Yes it is. Thank you so much for this Sirius. It means a lot to have her safe."

"Well that is what she did for me." He reminded him. Albus' gave a small smile but his eye lacked the usual twinkled which was one of the biggest give away just how wrong things had gone for the Dumbledore's.

"Have you told Harry we are moving her from Hogwarts yet?" Albus asked. He had been wondering who was the right one to deliver the news and whether he should do it, or leave it to the boys godfather.

"No." Sirius admitted to the headmaster. He had been trying to find the words and the courage to tell him that his time with the girl was going to be limited but there was no way he had yet found that was going to make the fact any less of a blow to his godson.

"I didn't think he was going to take it so badly." Albus admitted. As ever he was underestimating Harry's courage which was beginning to seem boundless. Once he had got used to the fact that he had slept with his sister (though there were days when it was still difficult to digest), he was once again coming about to Harry. He had always felt duty bound to protect the boy for Lily and James. He was also forced to admit that if he was not there when she came about that his sister was likely never to forgive him.

He had still not summoned the courage to look into her mind of those last hours when she had been so alive. He was going to one day but somehow he could not face it. Not yet.

"Well he loves in the same way as he father did. It was all or nothing for James when it came to Lily. As soon as I saw him with Ariana for the first time I knew it was going to be a case of history repeating itself."

Dumbledore looked at Sirius and he saw the animagus had become quite emotion at the thought of his best friends as ever, but it was more than that. Sirius had known from the start that this could only end badly. And now it had. Another love that had been so precious destroyed by external forces.

"I am afraid it will be."

Elaine Tusker arrived an hour later. Sirius found her to be dumpy, short witch with brown hair but she had a jolly personality. Her lack of personal involvement in Ariana's case and her history so far meant that she was able to inject some humour into their conversation, the like of which he had not heard for a few days, though he doubted Aberforth when he got there was going to appreciate it.

Ariana and Aberforth were due to arrive by six o'clock that night and so he spent the day with Elaine and Albus getting ready and cleaning two of the guest rooms which were side by side with a adjoining door. If she needed him at night, he was going to be there.

"They're going to be here any minute," said Sirius to Elaine as they walked down into the kitchen, Albus having left them to go and help his brother gather his sister things.

"Is there anything you have not told me yet about Ariana or her brother?" she asked.

"Not really. Only that he is extremely protective and is probably going to get in your way and ask a lot of questions when it comes to her care. She is still his kid sister. He loves her."

"I cannot image what they are going through. When Albus was telling me what happened to her - well, he was struggling to do so. I felt for him." She admitted.

"Who doesn't?" Sirius asked in reply rhetorically.

"Listen, are you going to be ok on your own here for a while? I have to get back up to the school and tell my godson what is going on." He said to her. She nodded as she drunk the last of the tea she had been given half an hour earlier and watched as he walked up out the room.

Once back in the castle he proceeded to the hospital wing, heading Harry off just as he got there. Harry had looked brighter that day until he saw his god father.

"What's going?" he asked. It was written all over Sirius face that he had something to tell him, and Harry had begun to live by the rule of no news is good news. If he didn't hear anything then at least she was alive. That was the blessing he was beginning to live for.

"Harry you have to come down to my rooms. I have to tell you something." He said to him.

"Can you tell me on the way?"

Knowing that if he did not then he was only going to agitated his godson, he told him what had happened with Umbridge. He watched as his godsons face turned into an unnatural sneer. He didn't think Harry hehad ever hated any one so much or so openly.

"Any way the point is that it was not going to be safe to keep Ariana at Hogwarts anymore." He said. "They had to move her to Grimmauld Place. It was my home when I was a child. It isn't nice but it secure thanks to my Father."

Harry said nothing in response to his god father until they reached his quarters. He was having trouble digesting this latest piece of bad luck. They hadn't even let him say goodbye.

"I am not going to see her that much now, am I?" he questioned. Were they going to deny him the chance just to see her face? That was his only, his one comfort!

"You won't see her daily, that's for sure."

Harry collapsed into the sofa. When was it going to stop?

"She is all I ever wanted Sirius." He told him. "I have to see her."

"And you will. I will take you to see her every weekend if that is what you want. But that is the most I can give you right now." He said and he felt he was failing him. It was enough, they both knew it! Harry looked down at his shoes, ignoring what his godfather was saying. All he knew was that he hated life without her. He loved Sirius, Ron and Hermione dearly. But they just didn't understand the way she had.

And nights were the worst. As January had drizzled by he had had to get used to having a single bed to himself again. There was no warm body next to him. There was no one to cuddle or reach out for. He had forgotten what it was to be alone.

Tears welled up in his eyes. Turning into his godfather he begun to sob. Sirius shut up. Harry didn't want to hear what he had to say clearly.

He just wanted to be held.

-

Albus and Aberforth sat in the kitchen of Twelve Grimmauld Place. They were exhausted and were both quite ready for bed. However, Elaine had been left to do her first examination of Ariana. They would wait for the results and then say goodnight.

Aberforth had not been as shocked by the houses unkempt condition as his brother had thought he was going to be. In fact, he had not even mentioned it and it was then that he begun to truly understand the depths of despair that he had felt since their sister had once again fell so far from their grasp.

It was as if nothing else mattered.

Albus shut his eyes. He wanted to be a better brother to Aberforth. To make it better for him. But there was no way he could. Not until they got her back.

It was at that moment that Elaine came back into the room. She had a troubled look on her face.

"Have you found something?" asked Aberforth, alert for seemingly the first time.

"Yes I have. It was not what I was looking for but..." she trailed off. "I mean, it is hardly a surprise it has gone unnoticed. Ariana has been so ill it is the problem of her mind people have been focusing on..."

"Just tell us." Albus pleaded and so summoning her courage, she nodded. She didn't want to make him panic, but that was exactly what her news was going to do.

"Albus, your sister – she's with child."

Please Review!