6

Grief, Deceptions, and Hope for Freedom

Part 14

Harry surveyed his checklist with a sense of accomplishment.

Transfigure and Charge Patronus Pals

Read up on Mail Wards and Owl Protection Charms

Start Evans Families check

Write Lawyer about half letter & mail wards ?visit?

Read about Wards

Harry had also had the room make him a bike trail and some weight sets to exercise a bit. It had been so long since he had ridden that he'd been happy the room provided a one speed bike. The best part had been when he'd hit a 'tree root' on the trail and fell off, the room had cushioned the fall. The twinkling of the lights though the 'trees' of the trail had made him think the room was laughing at him a bit, as he'd been laughing at himself. After all, how could he have thought riding though a wooded trail would be easy, when he'd never done it before? He folded his checklist and put it in his pocket.

The Pals were in a bag he'd slung over his shoulder, and he'd reset the time controls of the room. Books, notes, checklist, and catalogs shrunk and replaced in his pocket, while the mail he needed to send was in his hand. Finally he had gotten something started. With a smile, Harry left the Room of Requirement.

oOOo

After tending to Hedwig, and her insisting on taking some of his mail, he decided to send the lawyer letter with her, and the rest with school owls. He asked Barrister Ehrmann to send a copy of any correspondence for the next week to Neville, double sealed to maintain attorney-client secrecy.

Harry was nearly back to the tower, lost in thoughts and plans, when he literally ran into Professor Snape, or would have, if the Professor hadn't shoved his arms out.

"Potter, is your head too big to see?" Curiously the venom in the Professor's voice wasn't as acidic as usual.

"No, sir, I'm sorry. Just lost in thought." Harry noticed this hallway was empty even of portraits, and tried to get his courage up.

"That would be a new situation for you. Ten points from Gryffindor." Snape stepped wide and was about to continue down the hall...

"Wait sir." Snape swirled, a new glare on his face.

"I apologize, sir. For my behavior in remedial potions, I mean."

Snape stared at Harry for a moment. "A Gryffindor... apologizing? The apocalypse must be approaching."

"Dumbledore once said you hated my father for saving your life. But that was another lie. They should have been punished, sir. I'm sorry for imposing on your privacy, and for their behavior."

Snape was frozen there, gobsmacked. Harry left, retreat being the smartest course.

oOOo

A few hours later after much quidditch discussion and a couple good games of Snap, Harry fell asleep concentrating on the sounds of the ocean, all three Pals at the foot of his bed. His dreams were the best he had all year.

oOOo

In the morning, Harry woke with a smile. He felt he'd accomplished something for the first time in a long time.

He'd made a resolution while he was in the RoR that he would behave like an adult although the adults around him were not. It was the right thing to apologize to Snape, Harry had been wrong to do what he had. Snape's mistakes might be larger, might make Harry scream for justice at times, but letting himself sink to Snape's level would only harm Harry. Harry wondered if the potions professor had never been lied to by Dumbledore before Harry, even if this was the case, to believe on a man's word that the goat in front of you was a unicorn, even when the pasted horn fell off and the animal bleated, was idiocy supposed to be reserved for carnival sideshows.

Then again, despite the wizarding world knowing numerous ways to create illusions and pretend to be someone else, rumor and appearances were treated as gospel. Harry shook his head, rolled out of bed and prepared to meet another precious day.

oOOo

He'd grabbed breakfast from the kitchens again, not ready to confront McGonagall. He took his walk around the grounds, and retrieved the mind magic book. He saw a bunch of lower years heading to the quidditch pitch and knew tonight he'd have to speak to his Head of House. He wanted his broom back.

oOOo

Ron and Hermione were in good spirits, when Harry arrived for his daily visit in the hospital wing.

Ron beamed at Harry, "Hey mate, we get sprung from here before the feast!"

Harry smiled in return, as Hermione added, "I'll still be on potions for most of the summer, but Madam Pomphrey said Wednesday, we could return to the dorms."

"Just in time for the best parties. Right, Harry?"

Harry laughed, "Even if I have to pay for the butterbeer myself! So quidditch Wednesday?"

Ron nodded eagerly, as Hermione frowned. "Are you sure you shouldn't wait?"

Ron shook his head, "Been keeping Harry waiting too long anyhow. I'm a keeper, I grip the broom with my thighs not my hands."

Harry jumped in, "It'll be a friendly game, not a match, Hermione. We don' t use bludgers."

Ron smiled, "See, Hermione."

Hermione crossed her arms and responded quietly, "Just wait, please. See how you feel on Wednesday, and decide then. I don't want you getting hurt, that's all."

Harry and Ron smiled at her, "Yes, 'Mione."

She smiled back.

Harry pulled the quidditch catalogs out of his pocket, along with the books catalogs for Hermione. "So let's order us some new brooms, and Hermione some books for next week."

Ron accepted the catalogs, "Wednesday? Are you getting to go to Gringotts?"

"Did you choose a lawyer?"

"No, and maybe," Harry answered. Seeing the reactions on his friends' faces, he held up his hand. "Hang on... I think there is something wrong with my mail. I got a letter back from one of the lawyers," Harry noticed a portrait out of the corner of his eye perking up, "And it was burnt, and Hedwig was ruffled up too. The guys thought it had to be mail wards."

"Mail wards? Still?"

"Yes, Hermione. And I haven't been able to talk to McGonagall."

"They canceled the classes, though... There should be plenty of time for the teachers to meet with students. Are they even gathering evidence."

Harry shook his head, "I don't think so. Malfoy and his Squad have been lying low, and there hasn't been an announcement, at least that I've heard of."

"Ginny and the guys never mentioned it when they have come to visit. We'll have to ask, since you've been here during lunch a lot," Ron added.

Hermione shook her head, 'If they were gathering evidence, they'd have aurors here. We would have been asked."

Harry and Ron shared a look, she was starting to plan.

"So about the brooms, Ron?"

Ron frowned, "Harry, if we order now, won't it come out of your personal account?"

Harry shrugged, and sat on the foot of Ron's bed, dropping his bag on the floor, "I'm not saying we order all the brooms you were thinking of for training or the stuff for the team. I think those will be a great way to remember Sirius, and I still want to order them later... But," Harry paused, "I don't know where I'll be all summer. And I'd like to fly my new broom when its still new."

Harry thought it was a good sign that Ron didn't answer right away, and his ears weren't turning red, and pressed his case. "And well, I think it might be good to get some long-distance brooms for emergencies."

Ron's head jerked up at that, "That's how... Last summer."

Harry nodded. "I think some of the American brooms are meant for families. Didn't the Twins tease Ginny about getting her the Papoose?"

Ron laughed, "Yeah, and then got tricked into setting off several of their own pranks."

"Hermione, did Dumbledore give your family any sort of escape plan?"

The studious girl had been paying more attention to her book catalog than the boys. "What?"

Ron repeated what Harry had said.

Hermione shook her head, "Not yet at least. I was going to ask for a portkey."

Ron nodded, but Harry shook his head. "If you got attacked that'd be the first thing they'd ward against. Everyone knows you like your parents. With me, it'd be apparition."

Ron protested, "Anti-portkey wards are some of the hardest to cast...

"And you guys are my best friends, even if I announced to the Prophet I hated you now, Voldemort wouldn't send new recruits after you."

"And my parents couldn't get a broom to fly, at least a legal one, and I can't fly that well myself. Maybe there is a ward?"

Ron spoke up, "There are American family brooms that let you couple them together. They're legal, and since the driver broom has multiple cores its almost as good as a flying car."

Hermione still looked hesitant, "If we order a set for you now, you could practice a bit. And everyone knows how much you hate flying, so they'd never expect it."

She shook her head, "To be useful, I'd have to practice, and if I practice they'd know."

Harry smiled, and pulled out his trump card, "Not if we used the Room of Requirement."

Hermione worried her bottom lip, "You promise you'll put the amount you pay back into your account when you get the inheritance?"

Harry froze, and looked away.

"I didn't mean… Harry… I just I know he told you to spend the money how you liked, but I don't want to spend your money."

Harry glared back at her, "The money doesn't matter to me! All it does is gather dust! If something happened to you, and we didn't get every little thing we could… How do you think I would feel? Cripes, Hermione. I know your parents are dentists, with your trips I know you could get the brooms yourself."

Harry stood and walked towards the windows. "Sirius is gone. And if we'd had a way to contact him, if Kreacher hadn't gotten in the way, if…" Harry trailed off, staring out the window at the people flying around the pitch.

Ron had found the family lines of brooms in the meantime and showed Hermione the picture he'd called up of the Caravan series, put out by Northwest American Broomworks. The picture showed a mother on the driver broom tending to a baby strapped in a carrier seat to a side broom, without the broom jostling at all. "They're steady, and have some autopilot features. Supposed to be the only legal way to get a ride like a riding carpet. See, they have wards that can keep all passengers in their seats, and they all have seatbelts too."

Hermione stared at Harry, before nodding to Ron. "Okay."

Harry nodded, and walked back to his friends. Before he sat back on the foot of Ron's bed, Harry picked up his bag. "I made something for you guys last night." Harry pulled out a teddy bear and a cat Pal from the bag, and set them next to him on the bed.

"I thought I'd let you guys make your final choice, since I don't know if the Twins ruined bears for you, Ron. Or if Crookshanks would be unhappy if you had a cat plushie, Hermione."

Hermione's face lit up, but Ron looked wary. "Um, mate, I think we're a bit old for plushies…"

Harry cut him off, "These aren't just plushies…"

"Are they transfigured? How did you get the eyes to glow?"

"I've been reading a lot, and these are supposed to be one of the only ways to store a Patronus."

Hermione cooed, and grabbed up the cat plushie, and inspected it. "How does it retain the charm?"

Harry shifted a bit, knowing Ron might not be too comfortable with his reply, "Well, the crystal stores the charm, but it gets recharged, well, by the positive feelings holding it gives."

"So these are meant for kids," Ron said.

"I've made myself one, too." Harry pulled a snake plushie that was a bit smaller than the other two out of his bag. "And I already wrote the Twins, Ron, so it should be ok. Think about it, if they could make these, and get them out there, the Dementors would be worthless."

"And you wouldn't have to use magic! This could keep muggles safe, too!"

"Apparently the parents who made the first ones just wanted to get their babies to sleep a bit longer at night, but it ended up saving the kids during an attack. Plus the book said it could help with spell damage, countering lingering bits of curses."

Ron reached out for the bear after that, inspecting it critically, like it would change into a spider any minute.

"And to answer your earlier question, Hermione, they are transfigured. So try to avoid adding any charms or doing more spells to them, the charm strains the transfiguration."

She nodded, and held out the plushie cat to Ron, "If you want, we could trade?"

Ron looked at the cat, and then the bear. "Um, maybe, I could keep the bear until the train, and then we could trade."

Harry smiled, "That sounds like a great idea! The Twins would never dare mess with anything of Hermione's."

Hermione smiled, and put the plushie cat next to her most injured side. "So what are they called?"

"Patronus Pals."

Ron set his Pal down, with a small smile. "Thanks, Harry."

"Thank you, Harry."

Harry smiled, "Now what about brooms?"

oOOo

6

Dear Readers, please remember, this story started shortly after Harry got out of Dumbledore's office and heard the prophecy. And yes, yet another chapter where little time passes, he's still got a lot to get done:)