Okay, I know I said that I might not be able to update for a while but my laptop is now up and running. But I can't say how quick this will be posted because for some reason my laptop won't load , but I'll do my best.
This chapter is dedicated to MWPP-Marauders-Forever, who was my 150th reviwer. Thank you all for your continued support! I love you all :')
Disclaimer: Must I? Oh all right then. I do not own any characters, situation, places and spells that you recognise.
The weeks after Christmas went too quick for Harry's liking. Before he knew it, term had started again and he was back in lessons. They were just trudging back to the common room after a double lesson of Herbology when they saw that the corridor was blocked with Gryffindor students, who were casting anxious looks around and some were even crying.
"What's happened?" said Harry to Ginny, who had just spotted them and came over, looking fearful.
"It's the Fat Lady, she's gone," exclaimed Ginny, pointing a shaking finger in the direction of the portrait hole.
"Gone? What do you mean gone?" said Harry, but his question was answered as Percy pushed through the crowd of muttering students.
"Get back all of you, no one is to enter until it has been fully searched!" Percy's panicked voice floated over to them.
The crowd parted and the trio saw the reason for the panic.
Harry, Ron and Hermione gasped at the pure destruction, the portrait had been ripped and slashed beyond recognition. Whoever had done this, were dangerous.
"Somebody get Professor Dumbledore." shouted Percy, however at that moment Professor Dumbledore appeared, followed by Professor Snape and McGonagall, and Peeves the Poltergeist, who was hovering over the congregated students heads, blowing raspberries at them.
"Minerva, Severus, search all of the portraits in the school, it is rudimentary that the Fat Lady is found!"
"Oh there's no need Dumbly Sir. She's hiding," said Peeves, sticking his tongue.
"Did she say who it was?" said Dumbledore sharply.
"Oh yes your headship, he's a nasty piece of work that Sirius Black"
-xxx-
After the pandemonium that had erupted after Peeves' mention of Sirius Black, in which Dumbledore had only managed to calm everyone down with five loud firecrackers erupting from his wand tip, the whole school had been sent to the great hall, where they were spending the night.
Harry tried in vain to sleep, but it would just not come. Why had Sirius Black attacked the castle? Was he hoping he could kill Harry and make a quick getaway. Harry's stomach clenched painfully as he remembered that Black was and still is his godfather.
A whispered conversation from above him caught his attention.
"I have searched the castle, there is no sign of Black," whispered Snape.
"Very well, I did not expect him to hang round anyway," admitted Dumbledore.
"You may well remember a conversation I had with you at the beginning of term, concerning..."
"No Professor in this school would help Black into the castle," said Dumbledore with a tone that brooked no arguments.
Harry fell into an uneasy sleep, full of dreams of a laughing, handsome man and his parents disappearing in a flash of green light.
-xxx-
As the weeks wore on, Harry was too busy with homework and Quidditch practise to brood on Black too much, however aas he trudged dejectedly from a particularly gruelling and very wet Quidditch practise, he spotted a large black dog with bright blue eyes. The dog growled at him and he backed away, he needed to get inside before the dog attacked.
Making a run for it, Harry took the stone steps leading to the entrance hall two at a time and finally slammed the large oak front doors, leaning against them and breathing heavily.
Wiping sweat from his brow, Harry resolved to ask Hagrid about the mystery animal. But then as he approached the portrait hole, he realised with a painful clench of a stomach. It looks like the grim. Dismissing that thought as utter nonsense, Harry spoke the password to Lord Cadogan (The replacement for the Fat Lady) and entered the busy common room.
"Hey Harry, how'd practice go?" said Ron, bending over a fiendishly difficult essay on the properties of Wolfsbane.
"It went all right a bit wet," chuckled Harry, Hermione turned and smiled at him.
"You're soaking Harry!" she exclaimed and waving her wand, she muttered a quick spell and Harry's clothes were instantly dry.
"Thanks 'Mione you're a lifesaver, it's raining cats and dogs out there," said Harry gratefully.
Ron looked up from his essay, confused.
"It's a muggle saying," Harry explained, while Hermione chuckled.
Ron just raised his eyebrows, muttered "Muggles are weird," and went back to his essay.
Hermione chuckled and turned to Harry, a stern expression on her face.
"Have you done your homework?" said Hermione, crossing her arms.
"Yeah actually I have," said Harry, raising his eyebrows.
"Ok well i'm just checking, I'm off to bed. Night." said Hermione, yawning loudly.
"Night," muttered Harry, and stretching he leaned back on the sofa.
"I'm gonna call it a night as well," muttered Harry.
Ron nodded and bade him goodnight. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
"AAAAARGGGGHHHH"
Harry was woken by a very loud, piercing screaming, He jumped out of bed and grabbed his wand. Seamus, Dean and Neville had done the same and were approaching a very scared Ron, who had pushed himself against the headboard and was trembling violently.
The hangings on his bed had been slashed, by the looks of it with a knife.
People from the other dorms had come in to see what all of the commotion was about. They all crowded around Ron's bed, gaping fearfully at the torn hangings.
"Ron? What happened?" said Harry, fearfully.
"It's him Harry, it's Sirius Black, had a knife, tried to kill," said Ron, hysterically.
Just then Professor McGonagall entered the room, mouth set in a thin line. However as soon as she caught sight of the surroundings she paled and ushered everyone down into the common room.
"Mr. Weasley, who did this?" said Professor McGonagall, gently pushing a shaking Ron down into an armchair, as people stared fearfully on.
"Sirius Black," gasped Ron "He had a knife."
Professor McGonagall paled and giving one sweeping look to the shaken children, turned to the portrait hole and began conversing with Sir. Cadogan.
"Sir Cadogan, did you allow a man to enter this tower?" said McGonagall, voice shaking with anger.
"Certainly my fair lady," said Sir. Cadogan cheerfully.
"But he did not have the passwords," McGonagall said in a voice of feigned calm.
"He did M'lady, the whole weeks of them, written on a piece of paper.
The silence was deafening as Professor McGonagall stepped into the room, shaking with anger.
"Which person? Which abysmally foolish person has lost the paper with the passwords,"
Neville Longbottom gave a frightened squeak and stepped forwards, hand raised.
-xxx-
When Harry finally went to bed that night, his mind was racing, Ron had been taken to the Hospital Wing f for shock, but other than that, he would be fine.
How many more people would get injured or frightened before Black found him? How much longer until Black broke into Hogwarts again and this time managed to do what he had been intending to do all along? With these thoughts, Harry fell into an uneasy sleep.