Chapter Four

When Anton next woke up the room was in darkness, the only light was the faint light coming from the hall outside his room and a low glow from a lamp next to him. A clock was on the wall, it told Anton it was two in the morning. The sound of murmuring was leaking in from just outside the door and laughing brought Anton back into the present.

The pain relief dosage must have been still high because Anton was feeling lethargic and heavy without so much as a twinge of pain from his side.

So here he was, seven years in the past with his younger self receiving grief at every turn. It was probably only about a week until Hogwarts broke up for the summer.

Anton stretched his arms out to loosen up the joints, almost immediately a small whining alarm sounded next to him. The door opened and Sirius and Tonks hurried in, when they saw that Anton was not attempting to leave they relaxed considerably.

'Well look who's woken up again' Sirius said flicking his wand at the alarm to shut it off.

'What the hell was that for?' Anton asked indignantly 'I do not need to be monitored like a child!'

'Aww is liccle Anton getting upset' Sirius teased smiling at the annoyance on Anton's face.

'And anyway' Tonks joined in 'you're not getting monitored like a child, you're getting monitored like an adult who can't act responsibly and who risks his life, just think if you get yourself killed we may lose out on a really good fighter.'

'Gee thanks,' Anton said still annoyed 'It's nice to know that my life is valued, you haven't got a load of aurors hidden somewhere have you?.'

Sirius and Tonks exchanged small smiles before looking back Anton.

'What?' he asked.

'We've got a few aurors hanging in the wings, they'll be more than happy to jump in and help including Tonks here.' Sirius laughed.

'Funny,' Anton said scathingly, he was feeling miserable because he was in a situation he couldn't see a way out of 'so when do I get out of here?'

A look of disbelief crossed over both Sirius's and Tonks's face.

'You'll be here for at least a week,' Sirius said 'and after that you'll need about a fortnight to recover even further.'

'I don't believe it,' Anton said disgusted 'I kill Wormtail and you keep me hostage in a damned hospital.'

'You revealing Wormtail is something I'll always be grateful for,' Sirius said quietly 'it's the fact you've helped me so much that makes me determined to help you.'

'Can you help me by letting me the hell out of here?' Anton asked hopefully.

Sirius laughed 'not a chance Anton, I'm helping you by making sure you stay here.'

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The next morning when Anton woke up again a Healer bustled into the room, Anton immediately remembered her to be the Healer that had gone into his room after he had left it.

'I am Healer Rowley,' she announced drawing her wand and waving it over Anton 'I would advise you do not attempt another disappearing act, the repercussions could be deadly.'

'I'm already under a close eye,' Anton said irritably 'I suppose you're going to turn off some of these things,' he gestured at the tubes in his arms, there were about twenty of them all coming from a large white object a bit like a large box.

'Turning some down,' the Healer said sternly 'not off, that would take you back to the start.'

'Brilliant,' Anton muttered under his breath.

'I'll ignore that as you're about to be reintroduced to your pain,' the Healer said smartly 'I do however have to change the dressing on your wound and check it.'

She pulled up the t-shirt part of Anton's pyjamas far enough so she could see the bandage that had been strapped there, she clicked her fingers and a tray zoomed in with all necessary equipment on it. Pulling a chair closer to Anton's side she sat down so she was the right height and slowly began peeling the bandage off.

Anton watched he entire thing with a disgusted interest, the wound when it was displayed was back to the purple colour it had been, the inky blackness was gone. The veins were still there though looking pretty nasty, Healer Rowley picked up a vial from the tray and pulled the stopper off with an ominous pop.

'Do I really need any more of that crap?' Anton asked dismayed 'surely there's enough being pumped into me!'

'Allow me to know how to do my job!' the Healer said her patience cracking slightly.

She poked the wound mercilessly with meticulous fingers, every so often she would tip some of the purple liquid into the wound which made the wound weep.

'What's that for,' Anton asked unable to help himself.

'This,' Rowley said pouring some more 'is the antidote to the Gildras potion you were infected with.'

'I thought you'd got rid of that,' Anton said surprised.

'We would have,' Healer Rowley replied 'if you hadn't gone off all of a sudden it would be almost healed by now.'

Anton didn't say anything in answer to this he just hunched down in his mass of pillows and contented himself with glaring at the Healer's head.

Twenty minutes later she had declared everything to be done regarding the wound, placing a new bandage over the injury she stood up and watched as Anton pulled his top back down to cover not only his wound but the bruised area that fell over his muscled stomach, the bruises were rapidly turning into dark purple and they covered at least half of his chest.

'I'll be back tonight to check on everything,' she said walking over to the white box, tapping her wand on the lid it popped up to display clear packs of potions all attached to the tubes, leaning over it she adjusted the nozzle's power on a couple to slow the speed down. She locked the box back up and taking the tray she left the room.

-=-

And so continued the system for the next five days, in-between the Healer coming to change his bandage and adjust his potion measures other people came to see guard him and talk to him, he had been told it was to make sure no Death Eaters tried to get to him but Anton knew fine well they were making sure he didn't leave. He had met a large number of Order of the Phoenix and most were more than willing to tell him what was happening in the world of Dark Wizards, which was a surprisingly large amount. Lupin had already told him that Dumbledore was waiting until Anton was feeling better before he spoke to him again.

Sirius had been right about one thing though, the pain. After Healer Rowley had reduced some of the potions Anton realised just how much pain they had been suppressing, he also found that he was tiring quite quickly compared to what he was used to. At first he had thought it was solely to do with the poison, however Healer Rowley had been only to happy to tell him that his lack of energy was to do with his body recuperating from long term sleep neglect and pushing it to far for long periods at a time.

On the sixth day Anton was feeling he would go mad if they didn't let him go soon enough, when Sirius and Lupin entered his room he was in jeans and a plain hoody, his legs were hanging over one side of the single bed and his head was hanging over the other side staring at the wall upside down, he still had about fifteen tubes stuck in his arms and he was getting more and more impatient about taking them out.

'Hi,' he greeted the two men sitting up and swivelling round to see them making sure he didn't strangle himself with the tubes.

'Anton!' Sirius said loudly as he walked through the door.

'What?' Anton asked suspiciously.

'How would you like to get out this place,' Sirius asked watching Anton closely for a reaction.

'You're serious!' Anton said 'really serious, I can get out of this hellhole?'

'Under one condition,' Lupin said as Healer Rowley followed them into the room.

'Which is?' Anton said his elation decreasing as he looked for the catch.

'You need to stay with someone while you're still recovering.' Rowley said.

'And that someone would be me,' Sirius said 'and of course everyone else that's staying at my house which includes Remus and the Weasley's.'

Anton's shoulder's visibly drooped, this meant he wouldn't be given a chance to get back into action straight away, he'd have everyone watching him to make sure he was okay.

Healer Rowley looked from Sirius to Lupin before deciding that Remus looked the more trust worthy one 'he needs to take each of these potions everyday and night,' she instructed handing the werewolf a box 'for at least a month maybe more, then he needs a different potion for his lack of natural immunity that developed as a side effect of the poison.'

'I'm not a child,' Anton said exasperated 'I do not need to be mollycoddled!'

They ignored him completely and the Healer handed Sirius a list 'he needs to get at least fifteen hours sleep a day in this next week. If he gets the whole 105 hours for that week after that he can go down to ten but preferably twelve hours a night. You also need to make sure he keeps a healthy diet going and doesn't do any taxing work for the next fortnight. I've written it all down, and hopefully he'll make a full recovery.'

'Bloody Brilliant,' Anton said standing up and gesturing to the potion tubes he was attached to 'now can we go?'

--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

They left the room a short while later with Anton next to jumping up and down with relief, it was noticed by Lupin and Sirius that Healer Rowley was also looking thankful that Anton was finally going.

'How are we travelling to the headquarters?' Anton asked switching into concentration mode.

'Dumbledore's done a Portkey to take us straight to my house,' Sirius answered pulling out a pair of scissors from his robe pocket 'we should be safe doing that.'

'We should be,' Anton repeated under his breath 'that fills me with confidence you know.'

When they were standing on the Third Floor landing, Lupin, Sirius and Anton all held onto the scissors and Lupin tapped them with his wand activating them.

The bottom dropped out of the world and when they next met solid ground it was to arrive on the steps outside 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius held out the bit of paper and told Anton to read it.

'The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.'

When the house appeared Anton waited for Lupin to knock on the door before following him through into the familiar presence of the Black House. The gas lights flickered on displaying the painfully memorable peeling wallpaper, threadbare carpet and wonky portraits. A light was on in the kitchen and Sirius and Lupin herded Anton in that direction, before he could open the door it was thrown open and a beaming Mrs Weasley stood in the doorway with a cooking ladle in her hand.

'Hello dear,' she said to Anton pulling him bodily into the kitchen 'I'm Molly Weasley.' she pushed him into a chair opposite Mr Weasley who gave Anton a big smile as well.

'Um Hi Mrs Weasley,' Anton managed to get out before she set a plate in front of him and began heaping it with Spaghetti Bolognese.

'Call me Molly dear every one does,' she said heaping ever more on his plate 'my goodness you're skin and bones,' she cried 'I know you've been ill but you need to put some weight on!'

Anton stared in shock as Mrs Weasley fussed over him, he had almost forgotten just how nice the Weasley's were, he had never forgiven himself when they had been killed and neither had Ron and Ginny, no one else had been left of the family to feel guilty.

'See,' Sirius said in a stage whisper to Lupin 'he is being Mollycoddled!'

Before Anton could think up a comeback Mrs Weasley rounded on the two men and forced more of her cooking on them, but not before relieving Lupin and Sirius of the potions and instructions, she studied them carefully taking in all of Healer Rowley's instructions.

'How many hours of sleep has he had?' she asked the two men over Anton's head.

Anton growled in frustration, no matter what he did they all were determined to treat him like a sickly child.

'We spoke to Healer Rowley earlier,' Sirius said ignoring Anton's snarl of annoyance 'she said he had ten hours from midnight to this morning.'

'So he needs fifteen from twelve to twelve,' Molly said studying the paper, she eventually turned back to Anton 'you need an early night tonight' she said in a tone that commanded obedience.

'But,' Anton began to protest.

'Terms of the agreement,' Lupin said 'We're in charge of making sure you're well again soon, its no use if your ill and we need immediate backup.'

His tact had worked instantly, there was nothing Anton wanted to do more than to help the war effort and Lupin knew it.

'Early night it is then,' Anton said shovelling some of the hot food into his mouth 'but I still can't understand why you insist on treating me like a kid.'

'I have a boy your age,' Molly said filling his plate even more 'and I would treat Charlie in exactly the same way if he'd been hurt!'

-=-=-=

'So what now,' Anton asked when they'd all finished eating.

'You need to rest,' Lupin said sipping some of his tea.

Anton pulled a face 'I'm going to bed early why do I need to rest now?'

'It all helps,' Sirius said putting his fork down 'that was lovely Molly' he said politely.

'Yes Dear very nice,' Mr Weasley said picking up his paper and standing up from the table 'I'll see you tonight, I have to get back to work.'

'Be careful,' Mrs Weasley said looking worried.

When he had gone Anton opened his mouth to say something else but Sirius cut him off.

'I mean it Anton,' he said in a voice that was frightfully convincing as stern 'every time you do something stupid you reawaken the poison still in your blood and then you know what happens.'

'So what am I supposed to do?' Anton asked.

'You can keep me company,' Molly Weasley said clearing up the plates 'I'm making the beds for when the children get here.'

'He can't…' Sirius began to say but stopped at Molly's face.

'I know he can't,' she said 'but he won't be, I'll be doing it Anton'll just be keeping me company.'

When Sirius looked suitably humble and he turned to Lupin and asked 'so what time do you want to go?'

'In the next hour,' Lupin replied helping Molly with the dishes 'I need some supplies from Flourish and Bolts.'

'You're going to Diagon Alley,' Anton said 'and I have to stay here!'

'We didn't run away from hospital,' Sirius said 'so we get to go shopping.'

'Is there anything you want?' Lupin asked Anton 'you don't have much.'

'Clothes would be good seeing as I can't go and get them and I've only two tops,' Anton said passing his wallet to Lupin which linked directly to his Gringrotts account.

'Any colours you hate?' Sirius asked smirking at the thought of choosing someone else's clothes.'

'Anything bright, really bright,' Anton said shuddering slightly 'way to visible, I like red though.'

'I can see that by your hair,' Molly said studying his hair closely 'I could give it a trim for you it's looking ragged.'

'I haven't had the chance to cut it in over a year,' Anton said gratefully 'but the colours sort of natural.'

'Is it?' Molly said surprised at the black red highlighted hair.

'Yeh like my eyes,' Anton said which was partially the truth, the colour change had been a natural process, the extra's he'd had done were not so natural.

'Well a cut would certainly look better,' she said thoughtfully 'if I could only get my Bill to cut his hair, now that would be an achievement!'

-=-=-

Lupin and Sirius left soon after with shopping lists from both Anton and Mrs Weasley, then Anton followed Mrs Weasley as she took him to his room.

'Sirius and Lupin did it two days ago with a couple of the others' she said conversationally 'we're doing up a room at a time, so when someone moves into one of the bedrooms Sirius has decided decorate it.'

Compared to the first time Anton had stayed at Grimmauld place this room was different to say the least, three of the walls were cream with the fourth one a deep red. The wooded floor had been polished and a red rug had been paced on it, red curtains hung at the high windows and the four poster bed had a red cover on it, a wooden cupboard stood in corner and a small table was next to the bed and a mirror hung to the wall opposite the bed.

'They didn't do this just because I was coming? Anton asked touched but upset they had gone to so much trouble.

As if realising what he was thinking Mrs Weasley smiled at him and said 'if you're sleeping for fifteen hours, you might as well do it somewhere nice.'

'So Mrs We… Molly' he said smiling 'who are the kids that are coming to stay?'

'Well,' Mrs Weasley said beaming 'there's…'

-=-=-==-=-

When Lupin and Sirius returned three hours later laden down with parcels they were greeted with Molly shushing them.

'He's asleep,' she whispered 'he's to full of restless energy that's his problem, he can't stand to be sitting for more than two minutes.'

'How long has he been asleep?' Lupin asked handing her parcels over.

'Only about twenty minutes,' she answered 'are you taking his parcels up?'

'Yeh,' Sirius replied 'don't worry I won't wake him up.'

'Mind that you don't,' she warned sadly 'what kind life is it for a twenty one year old to spend over a year running from country to country, losing everyone they love along the way?'

'I don't know Molly,' Lupin said sadly 'I only hope I could have that courage.'

'I think he's still running,' she said suddenly.

'What to do you mean?' Sirius asked concerned.

'I think he's been running for so long he can't face staying somewhere more permanently,' she said 'I think it's a subconscious thing, but watch him, every time he gets somewhere new he's looking for somewhere else to go straight away.'

'Survival instincts,' Lupin said 'maybe Dumbledore should wait a bit longer before coming to talk to him about joining the Order properly.'

'I agree,' nodded Sirius 'he needs time to get settled first.'

-=-=-

Sirius climbed the stairs to the first landing and walked quietly into Anton's room, the boy was lying haphazardly on his bed with half the quilt thrown off, every so often he would groan and shake his head as if trying to clear it of something. Sirius tiptoed over and pulled the quilt back up over Anton, he studied him carefully, he didn't know what it was but something about the mysterious Anton had made him feel strangely paternal or brotherly towards the young Light Wizard.

Dropping the parcels on the chair by the wall Sirius closed the curtains with a flick of his wrist blocking the sunlight out and quietly closed the door on its sleeping occupant.

-=-==-

Anton woke up less than an hour later with the sun still high in the sky, he rolled out of bed painfully and hobbled to the bathroom for a shower, the pipes clanked noisily but eventually supplied him with warm water. Going back to his room he dried himself while walking and surveyed the items they had bought there were:-

- Five more T-shirts in different subdued colours and styles, along with two dark shirts.

- A pair of black jeans.

- Two new robes, one in plain dark blue and the other a mix between red and black.

- Two sets of new pyjamas one black and one red.

- Plus assorted underwear was added in.

Dressing in the black jeans he pulled on a black t-shirt and his hoody and walked down the stairs looking for a sign of anyone.

-=-=-

Lupin, Sirius and Molly were in the living room and had been joined by Tonks and Mad-Eye.

'That's only fifty minutes,' Molly said disapprovingly 'so so far he's had ten hours and fifty minutes, he's got to make up just over four hours before midnight.'

'I can really see Anton being keen on that,' Tonks said studying the newspaper in front of her 'you know the fuss he gave that Healer when she suggested he go to sleep at four in the afternoon.'

'He did it though,' Mad-Eye said swigging some drink from his hip-flask 'I can still feel that man's mouth on this bottle.' he said disgusted.

'I'll wash it for you Alastor,' Molly offered 'and Anton only went at four under sufferance.'

'Why what was he threatened with?' Mad-Eye asked 'I was out that day.'

'He was threatened,' Sirius said smiling 'with more fussing if he refused.'

-=-=

Anton entered the room and everybody looked at his expectantly, Anton rubbed his head nervously.

'What?' he asked warily 'why are you all staring at me?'

'No reason,' Tonks said dropping her feet off the end of the settee 'come and sit down.'

Anton dropped onto the couch and still looked apprehensively at them,

'Seriously,' he said 'why are you staring at me?'

'You're just self-conscious, that's all,' Sirius said 'now it's five in the afternoon who wants food?'

'You're eating early because you're making me go to bed early,' Anton said looking peeved,

'Doesn't miss a trick this one,' Sirius said smirking 'anyway the kids are coming tomorrow aren't they?' he asked Molly.

'Yes we're picking them up at half past one, why do you fancy coming?'

'No,' Sirius said looking bothered 'but I owe it to Harry to go and meet him even if he can't stay with me at the moment, and say something to his aunt and uncle.'

'You should go,' Lupin said sitting up 'I'll come with you.'

'We'll be there as well,' Mad-Eye said nodding to Tonks 'got to make sure no jumpstart Death Eaters decide to attack him but I'll be incognito.'

Anton was about to ask how such an obvious man could go in disguise but decided against it, after all it had obviously worked in his time round.

'Who's going to stay with Anton then?' Molly said 'he only got out of hospital this morning, we can't all just leave him on his own.

'You could,' Anton interjected.

'Not a chance,' Sirius said 'you may be an adult but like Molly said you've only just started recovering from a serious illness.'

Anton sat back and let them decide who was stuck with the task of looking after him, after ten minutes of them still going on he asked 'why don't I just come with you?'

'You're supposed to be resting,' Lupin said immediately 'I don't think travelling to a busy muggle station constitutes resting.'

It was eventually decided that Mr Weasley would watch Anton and with that decided they moved onto dinner. They ate it in the kitchen, a quick meal of hot soup with thick crusty bread but Anton couldn't fine his appetite so he struggled to force the food down, afterwards Molly Weasley had insisted on him taking the five different types of potion one of which had him gagging over the sink.

Anton contemplated the fact that all the things that were supposed to make him feel better had just made him feel worse and tired.

'Bed,' Molly said half an hour later taking in his red eyes and bags.

'But,' protested Anton 'it's only half seven!'

'We've already had this discussion,' she reminded him 'now you have to go to bed.'

'This is really unfair,' Anton grumbled pushing himself up from the chair he was sitting on 'fifteen hours is extreme.'

'It's only for week,' Lupin said gently 'then you can go later.'

'Sometimes I was lasting on three or four hours a night at a time,' Anton moaned 'I didn't have anyone telling me to go to sleep then.'

'Which is half the reason you're going now,' Sirius said grinning at Anton's disgust.

-=-=-=-=-

Anton trudged up the stairs feeling thoroughly fed up with what was going on, the Weasley's would be arriving tomorrow and his younger self was about to endure a month of the Dursley's not knowing what was going on. Getting annoying letters, being watched every hour of the day, and then being attacked by Dementor's to top it all off.

Anton pulled on the pyjama bottoms but left off the top, crawling into the comfort of his bed he soon dropped off to sleep.

The nightmare sucked him in and before he had chance to stop it he was swimming in a heap of bodies, each mutilated body had the face of one of his friends. The pile pulled him further and further in, until the bodies were almost covering his face, Anton tried desperately to free himself, but the more he struggled the more he was dragged in. Making the mistake he looked at one of the faces and saw Ginny staring blankly back at him her eyes glazed over and bloody, Voldemort was floating above him laughing into the gloom and by his side Wormtail poked his finger into the hole in his neck giggling as he pulled it back out.

Anton woke with a strangled yell sitting straight up in bed, the covers had wrapped themselves around him making him feel like he was still in the pile of bodies. Shivering he thrust them off and pushed himself off the bed to stumble across to the door. Pulling it open the rest of the house lay in darkness, unable to stand the shadows Anton conjured a handful of fire and made his way downstairs, the flickering ball lighting his path.

The large grandfather clock told him the time was well past two in the morning, creeping into the kitchen Anton sat down at the table, he made the ball of fire bigger and then made it hover in the air so it lit the kitchen. Holding out his hand he summoned a glass and a bottle of firewhisky to come zooming from a cupboard shelf. He filled the glass with shaky hands and gulped back the drink in one swallow, the alcohol stopped him trembling but every time he shut his eyes a face floated past his closed eyes.

An hour and four more glasses later Anton pushed himself up from the chair and cancelling the fire ball he made his way back to his room making sure he didn't wake anyone. The alcohol had numbed his fear and when he fell back asleep it kept him in a deep sleep away from the nightmares.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Mrs Weasley packed her children into the kitchen and started to cook them lunch

'How was your year then?' she asked her four kids.

'Oh fantastic,' George said sarcastically 'in-between people dying, Voldemort coming back and Harry getting treated like a leaper it's been great.'

'Yeh,' Fred added 'a real blast.'

'There is no need for that kind of attitude,' she scolded them 'I asked you a question so don't give me any cheek or they'll be trouble.'

Fred and George looked slightly ashamed and they sat down and waited for the food to be done, Ron and Ginny were talking to Sirius and Lupin about what they were going to do all summer. Sirius looked distracted as if his meeting with Harry had left him feeling worse than before, Lupin was also looking unhappy.

They were distracted by Mr Weasley entering into the kitchen and welcoming his children wholeheartedly.

When all eight of them were seated at the table footsteps could be heard getting closer to the door, Ron, Ginny, Fred an George all looked up from their food in interest as the door opened and Anton entered the room still only in his pyjama bottoms, his hair was sticking up in odd places and he was yawning loudly. He'd taken the bandage off so you could see the purple slash mark that was slowly turning back to pink, the veins were fading and the bruises were yellowing.

'I guess I missed breakfast,' he grinned ignoring the fact all four of them were staring at him, it was definitely strange to see all four of them young and innocent, they were so different from the people they had turned into and it surprised Anton more than he thought it would.

Mrs Weasley was staring at his tattooed arms disapprovingly 'sit down' she told him 'I'll get you some lunch.'

'So how'd it go?' Anton asked Sirius softly.

'Not the best,' Sirius answered truthfully 'he's got to go back to that sick family and there's not a thing we can do about it.'

Anton nodded in understanding and dropped into a spare chair.

'I'm Gred,' one twin announced.

'And I'm Feorge,' the other said staring curiously at Anton.

'Nice to meet you,' Anton said smiling at them 'I'm Anton Lukyen.'

'Wait,' Ron said joining in 'you're that guy from the paper!'

Anton grimaced slightly and said 'I wish they hadn't published my name.'

'If mine got published then yours had to be,' Sirius said livening up 'after all you revealed an evil dark wizard.'

'I should have just pushed him off a cliff,' Anton laughed 'would've been easier and

he wouldn't have stabbed me.'

'He stabbed you!' Ron said 'ouch!'

'Excuse our brother,' Fred rolled his eyes at Ron's childish interest 'he's a prat.'

'Dumbledore's coming to talk to you today,' Lupin said pulling out a letter and handing it to Anton 'he sent a message this morning, he'll be here at about three this afternoon.'

'Great,' Anton said looking at Lupin 'does this mean I'm joining the Order?'

'Dumbledore said he was going to ask you, but at the end of the day it's your choice,' Lupin answered 'but whatever happens you won't be joining in any missions for at least a fortnight.'

Anton groaned again 'this is getting old' he muttered.

'And it's getting old to say it's your own fault,' Sirius said tucking into his own food 'you're the one who almost got killed by Death Eaters.'

'Sirius not in front of the kids,' reprimanded Molly to the disgust of her children.

'Mum we're legal adults,' George said 'we should be able to listen to what's going on!'

'The less you know, the less danger you're in,' Arthur Weasley replied quickly 'I don't want any of you putting yourselves in unnecessary harm.'

'Tell that to Harry,' Ron said angrily 'he doesn't even put himself in the way of danger, it just finds him.'

Molly put a plate in front of Anton and then put the potions next to it, Anton ignored the potions and tucked into the food instead. Mrs Weasley regarded him as if you would a naughty child.

'And what time were you up last night?' she asked sternly.

'What?' Anton said trying to play dumb.

'You heard,' Sirius joined in 'someone was in the kitchen drinking firewhisky in the middle of the night and it wasn't any of us.'

Anton mentally cursed himself for leaving the bottle out.

'The Healer said no alcohol whatsoever until you're off the potions,' Lupin said 'and we don't even know how much you chose to drink last night.'

'As I keep saying I am not a child who needs to be supervised,' Anton said annoyed 'if I want to have a drink I should be able to have one without getting grief over it.'

'Death wish,' one of the twins muttered under their breath and they all concentrated on what they were eating.

'You say that but you constantly do things that are reckless and stupid,' Mrs Weasley said drawing herself to her full height 'you spent years doing God only knows what, you left St Mungo's within half an hour of waking up! You got into a fight with twenty Death Eaters and nearly died! And you say that you need to be treated like an adult!'

'I only wanted a drink!' Anton said indignantly.

'Well you're not having another one!' Sirius said firmly 'now just drink your potions and eat your food, you keep saying you wanted to be treated like a grown person yet you appear to do everything to oppose it!'

Anton slumped back in the chair miserably and grabbed a piece of bread.

'It's only for a fortnight,' Sirius said in a more gentle tone.

Anton managed to smile and look less irked, as everyone seemed slightly on edge he cast around for something to say 'So' he began looking at the twins 'what's the most ingenious prank you've ever come up with?'

It definitely broke the ice and soon everyone was joining in on the conversation, though none quite as enthusiastically as Sirius who had them all howling with laughter at some of the pranks he had gotten up to during his time at Hogwarts.

An hour later Anton excused himself to get ready and after a quick five minute shower he pulled on jeans and a shirt buttoned over a T-shirt, tying his hair back he went downstairs to await Dumbledore.