A.N. Here's an early update, since I could hardly leave you with that cliffhanger for a whole week.

Enjoy :)

8-8-8

'You Know Who Returns: Hundreds Dead at Quidditch World Cup!'

Harry stared at the headline as thoughts began spiralling through his head. Was this why Sirius and Remus hadn't been home when he had retired to bed the night before? He'd presumed that they were just sleeping in, but what if they had never come home the night before? What if they had been hurt? What if they had been killed?!

"Harry?" Neville questioned from his seat across the breakfast table.

"So-something happened." Harry stuttered, before turning the newspaper around so that Neville could see the heading.

Neville was silent for a few seconds as he read the headline. "You-Know-Who's dead!"

"No, he's not." Harry told him blankly, he'd forgotten that Neville didn't know about Voldemort's return. "He never actually died, he just became a wraith. He performed a ritual to get a new body last summer."

"No," Neville shook his head. "You-Know-Who's dead. You killed him. I would know if he had come back. Everyone would."

"He's been keeping quiet." Harry explained, turning his attention back to the article in front of him. "Sirius and Dumbledore knew, but the Ministry wouldn't believe them."

Harry skimmed through the article quickly, looking for any mention of people he knew, but the article didn't say anything that he hadn't already guessed from the headline. About thirty minutes after the game had ended, Voldemort had apparated into the campground with dozens of his Death Eaters and begun cursing people. The Aurors had responded quickly, but hundreds of people had died and hundreds more had seen Voldemort's face. Apparently Voldemort had decided that he was done with trying to hide his return.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Neville's accusing tone interrupted Harry's thoughts.

"Sirius said I shouldn't." Harry answered defensively. "Besides, what would you have done? What difference would you knowing have made?"

Neville's jaw clenched. "What does that matter? I doubt you did anything to help, and you still knew."

"Sirius only told me because Voldemort wants to kill me!" Harry snapped back at him.

"He wants to kill all of us!" Neville returned angrily. "What makes you so special?"

"What's the matter with you two?" Draco's voice came from the doorway.

Harry looked over at his cousin who, true to his nature, had clearly taken the time to ensure that every hair on his head was in perfect position.

"Voldemort attacked the World Cup." Harry explained tiredly, holding up the paper. "The paper says that hundreds of people are dead and I don't know where Sirius and Remus are."

"Merlin, really?!" Draco exclaimed, walking forward quickly and grabbing the paper out of Harry's hand.

"Wait, you knew too?" Neville asked, his tone outraged. "Did everyone knew that You-Know-Who was still alive?"

"Not everyone." Harry tried to reassure him. "I don't think Daphne or Blaise know."

"But Theo did?" Neville asked, his face turning red.

"What did I do?" Theo asked as he strolled into the room. "Because if you're talking about…"

"You knew that Voldemort was back." Harry interrupted him. "He attacked the World Cup last night."

Theo went pale. "What?"

"Why did Theo and Draco know, but I didn't?" Neville asked insistently.

"Because our bloody fathers are bloody Death Eaters." Theo snapped at him.

There was a long silence as both Draco and Neville stared at Theo in horror.

"What?" Neville asked eventually.

"Don't be naïve, Neville." Draco snapped. "It's not like you didn't know."

"I didn't know it was true!" Neville protested.

"It doesn't mean they're evil." Harry said quickly.

"No, my dad is pretty evil." Theo corrected him with grimace.

Harry shot him a sympathetic look. "Well, Lord Malfoy isn't evil."

"How can you say that?" Neville asked him. "He's a Death Eater!"

"Don't call my father that!" Draco snapped at him.

"Why?" Neville asked loudly. "It's true, isn't it?"

Harry pulled his attention away from his friends, he didn't have time for that right now. He needed to know whether Sirius was alright or not.

"Lindy!" Harry called firmly.

The aforementioned House Elf appeared in front of him almost instantly. "Master's Heir is calling Lindy?"

"Are Sirius and Remus here?" Harry asked her hurriedly. "Did they come home last night?"

Lindy shook her head. "No, Master's Heir, they is not being here."

Harry's stomach sunk. "Can you sense them though? Are they alive?"

"Lindy is not sensing Master Remus," She answered. "But Lindy is not being bonded to him."

"And Sirius?" Harry asked her impatiently.

"Yes, sir, Master is being alive." Lindy nodded. "Lindy is not knowing where he is being though."

Harry let out a sigh of relief. At least one of them was alive and if Sirius was alive, Remus probably was as well. "Thank you."

Lindy beamed at him. "Lindy is being honoured to serve Master's Heir. Is Master's Heir needing anything else?"

"No," Harry shook his head.

After Lindy had popped away, Harry turned his attention back to his friends. Draco and Neville were facing each other with furious expressions, though thankfully their wands weren't out.

"Stop it." Harry shouted at them. "Shut up and sit down."

They both turned to him with scowls on their faces but, being the well-bred traditionalists that they were, slowly sank into their seats.

"I don't know where Sirius and Remus are." Harry told them. "They didn't come home last night, which means they were probably there when Voldemort attacked…"

"When Draco's father attacked you mean." Neville muttered.

Draco turned to him in fury, but Harry got there first.

"Shut up, Neville. You too, Draco. You can fight about this later if you want to."

Theo, who had been standing to the side, watching with a helpless expression, carefully took a seat beside Draco. "We should put the wireless on. Maybe they'll have some more news."

Harry nodded and quickly called for a house elf to bring him the wireless from his room. Once it was set on the table, Harry switched it on.

"…complete surprise." A wizard was saying. "The Ministry is claiming that there was no evidence that You-Know-Who had returned until his attack last night."

"Rubbish." Harry commented with a sneer. "Madame Bones knew, so did Sirius and Dumbledore, Fudge just wouldn't let them do anything about it."

"The Ministry aren't releasing many details," The wizard continued. "But they have released some of the names of those who died in the attack. William Alderton, Emmeline Vance, Broderick Bode, Peter Blotting, Alison Denbright, Jason Denbright, are all confirmed casualties. As are Auror Jonathon Franklin, Auror…"

"Wasn't Auror Franklin one of our Defence Professors in second year?" Theo asked. "He was the one after Auror Tonks."

Harry's stomach squirmed uncomfortably at the knowledge that he'd actually met one of the people who had been killed.

"…three Hogwarts' students, Roger Davis, Anita Samuels, and Seamus Finnegan have also been confirmed dead." The wizard went on.

Neville paled in shock. "Seamus was in Gryffindor. We've shared a dorm since first year."

"Roger was in my Quidditch team." Harry commented blankly. "Anita Samuels was in Ravenclaw too."

"Even now, new casualties are being reported." The wizard continued.

"I don't think I want to know." Neville muttered.

"Including Lord Julian Nott, Head of the…"

Harry turned to Theo just in time to see his friend's expression crumble.

"It can't be true." Theo denied. "I would know if father was dead."

Draco leaned forward and switched off the wireless that was still naming individuals who had died.

"I'm so sorry, Theo." Harry told his friend sincerely.

"I can't believe he's dead." Theo shook his head in disbelief. "Why would they just announce it like that without telling me first?"

"I don't know." Harry admitted. He had no idea what to say.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Even Neville, who had previously been so angry at the idea of Theo's father being a Death Eater, didn't seem to know what to say.

"Harry?!" Sirius' voice called suddenly from the hallway. "Are you here?"

Harry leapt to his feet and ran across the room, before meeting his godfather in the doorway. "You're alright!"

Sirius pulled him into a firm hug. "I'm fine. So is Remus."

Harry could feel tears of relief pricking at his eyes. "I was so worried. We were just listening to the wireless and they were announcing the names of some of the people who had died."

"We're alright." Sirius repeated.

"Theo's father died." Harry mumbled into Sirius' robes. "We heard it on the Wireless."

Sirius released Harry, turning his attention to Theo who was still sitting at the table. "I'm sorry, Theo."

Theo looked lost. "I didn't even like him and now he's dead."

"Does your brother know where you are?" Sirius asked him.

Theo nodded. "Is he alright?"

"I haven't heard anything that would suggest he wasn't." Sirius said noncommittedly.

"What happened?" Harry asked. "The papers didn't say much."

Sirius turned his attention towards him. "I don't have time to explain everything, sorry, pup. I'm needed at the Ministry. I just needed to know that you were okay."

"I'm fine." Harry reassured him, because he was – physically at least. "You should go do what you need to do."

8-8-8

Harry barely saw Sirius during the next couple of days, but Remus seemed content to stay at Grimmauld Place with him. He wouldn't say much about what Sirius was spending all his time doing, but from the small pieces of information he let slip Harry knew that it wasn't just about preparing to fight against Voldemort. Apparently there was supposed to be some kind of international event held in England later in the year and Sirius had been asked to help convince the other countries not to pull out.

Harry could understand where the other countries were coming from – he wasn't sure he wanted to be in England right now either. So many people had died, some of whom Harry actually knew, and the knowledge that Voldemort was still out there was terrifying.

He hadn't known any of the people who had died well. Sure Seamus Finnegan had been in his classes since first year and Roger Davis had been in the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team with him, but neither boy had been Harry's idea of good company.

The death Harry felt the worst about though was Theo's father because, no matter how much Harry tried, he didn't feel the least bit sorry that the man was dead. Lord Nott had been horrible to Theo, not to mention he had been a Death Eater. He hadn't been one of the helpless victims, he had been there to murder people and Harry was glad that he was dead. A reaction that, no matter how many times Remus assured him was understandable, reasonable even, Harry still was sure made him a horrible person. What kind of wizard was glad another wizard was dead?

To make matters worse, Neville wasn't returning any of Harry's letters. Remus said that Neville probably just needed some time, but Harry couldn't help but be afraid that he had lost one of his best friends. He could understand where Neville was coming from – after all, he had freaked out when he'd heard that Lord Malfoy was pretending to be a Death Eater as well and Neville didn't even know that he was faking it – but that didn't make the thought of losing his friend any easier.

When he'd told Remus, the older wizard had suggested that he sit down with Neville by himself, just the two of them without Draco or Theo around, and try and talk Neville around. Harry had immediately owled Neville, asking if they could meet and talk. Neville hadn't replied at first, but he had eventually replied suggesting that they could talk on the train.

It wasn't exactly what Harry had had in mind. He wanted it all out of the way before school started but, since Neville's reply hadn't arrived until the last day of August, there was nothing Harry could do about it.

Sirius was actually home for dinner that night, claiming that he wanted to spend one last evening with Harry before he returned to Hogwarts. After dinner, they moved to the Elladora Lounge and spent the evening talking and laughing. It was the first time Harry had managed to take his mind off the attack since he'd gotten the news and he was glad for the reprieve.

"You know what we were going to do this summer?" Sirius asked suddenly.

Harry shook his head. "No, what?"

"Remus was going to take the vows to become a vassal of the House of Black." Sirius answered, looking over at his friend. "You still up for it, Moony?"

Remus looked a little startled, but he nodded. "Now?"

"If we don't do it now we'll have to wait until Christmas." Sirius commented. "Because the two of you will be off at Hogwarts."

"Alright," Remus rubbed his hands on his trousers. "How do we do it?"

Sirius stood up. "You kneel in front of me," He made an uncomfortable face, "Not because of anything, it's just, you know, tradition."

"I know, Sirius." Remus told him soothingly, as he stood as well. "I'm not going to get offended. My knees might though."

"We can always cushion the floor." Sirius offered quickly.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I was kidding, Sirius! I'm only in my mid-thirties, I'm practically a sprite. My knees will be fine."

"Right," Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "So you kneel and I'll stand…"

"What will Harry do?" Remus asked.

"He'll stand beside me." Sirius answered, gesturing for Harry to stand. "Then you recite the words that I gave you to memorise." He paused. "You did memorise them, didn't you?"

"Of course I did."

"Good," Sirius nodded. "Then I'll say my part and then we're done."

"So Harry doesn't say anything?" Remus checked.

"No, he's pretty superfluous for the whole thing really." Sirius answered.

"Superfluous?" Remus smirked. "Someone's been reading the dictionary."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "No, but it turns out that teenaged me was right – snootiness is contagious."

"Right then." Remus' gaze swept across the floor. "Anywhere particularly we should do this? Because my knees and I vote for on that big rug."

"What happened to you being a sprite?" Sirius smirked, as he took the few steps towards the rug in question.

Harry stood and moved so that he was standing to Sirius' right, before watching as Remus knelt down on the rug in front of them. It felt weird to have Remus kneeling before them.

"Ready?" Sirius asked, offering both his hands to Remus. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"I want to." Remus answered firmly, placing his hands in Sirius'. "I, Remus John Lupin, of the House of Lupin, do so swear obedience and fealty to the House of Black, its Lord and his Heir. I will be to Lord Black faithful and true. I will love all that he loves, and shun all that he shuns, according to the law of magic, and according to the world's principles, and never, by will nor by force, by word nor by work, do ought of what is loathful to him. So mote it be."

"So mote it be." Sirius echoed. "I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, accept the oath of fealty sworn to me by Remus John Lupin, of the House of Lupin. As liege lord, I will be to Remus, fair and honourable, according to the law of magic, and according the world's principles, and never, by will nor by force, by word nor by work, do ought of what is permanently harmful or injurious to him. So mote it be."

8-8-8

Sirius and Remus both accompanied Harry to Kings Cross Station the next morning. The atmosphere on Platform Nine and Three Quarters was sombre and Harry couldn't help but note the difference to previous years. Parents seemed clingier, not wanting to let their children go, and even the students seemed more reluctant to get on the train.

Harry hugged Sirius and Remus goodbye, before boarding the training and making his way to the cabin that he and Neville had agreed to meet. The cabin was full, already containing a group of third years, but Harry waited until Neville arrived before walking silently with him to find an empty cabin.

Neville seemed colder than usual and Harry's stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought of maybe losing another friend. Once they had found an empty cabin, Harry cast the most complex locking charm he knew on the doors, before sitting down opposite Neville.

"How are you?" Harry asked seriously.

"I don't know." Neville's shoulders slumped. "Confused, angry, scared."

"I'm scared too." Harry admitted. "Did you see how serious everyone was on the platform?"

"Gran almost didn't let me come." Neville confessed. "I think if You-Know-Who had attacked again, she would have refused completely."

"Sirius and Remus say that Hogwarts is one of the safest places in England." Harry told him. "Apparently Dumbledore has had a whole team of people there this week strengthening the wards."

"That's good." Neville nodded. "Of course, it won't protect us from the Death Eaters who actually go to school with us."

Harry sighed. "Draco and Theo aren't Death Eaters."

Neville's face twisted into a scowl. "Maybe not, but their fathers are."

"Theo's father is dead." Harry reminded his friend. "And Draco's father…" He trailed off.

"Draco's father what?" Neville prompted him.

"I trust him." Harry answered finally. "I can't tell you why, or even what that means, but can you trust me when I tell you that I trust him?"

Neville slumped backwards against the seat. "I don't know."

"You know I'm not supporting Voldemort, right?" Harry asked. "And if I want Voldemort dead and I trust Lord Malfoy, can't you just trust me to be right about it?"

"I wish you wouldn't say his name." Neville muttered.

"Sorry." Harry said, though he knew it didn't sound very convincing.

"I don't know." Neville said again, though this time more firmly. "But you can't keep bugging me about it. Let me think about it."

"Alright." Harry nodded.

"And you can't keep staring at me." Neville said after a few seconds. "Read a book or something."

Harry looked away in embarrassment, before reaching for his satchel to find a book.

They sat in silence for the majority of the train ride. Harry reading a book on Ancient Runes and Neville staring out the window, deep in thought. Ten minutes before the train arrived in Hogsmeade, Neville turned back to Harry.

"I do trust you, Harry." Neville told him seriously. "Can you swear to me that Lord Malfoy is nothing like Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Definitely." Harry nodded quickly.

"I can't trust him." Neville said after a few seconds. "Even knowing that, I can't trust him. But I do trust you, and I trust Draco and Theo."

Harry let out a relieved breath. "That's good."

"I wish you had told me he was back, Harry." Neville admitted. "I hate the fact that you knew for a whole year and didn't bother telling me. He's the one who broke the Lestranges out of Azkaban isn't he?"

"Yes." Harry confirmed.

"Why didn't you tell me then?" Neville asked.

"Because Sirius asked me not to." Harry answered. "And because part of me wished I didn't know. It was horrible knowing that Voldemort was out there somewhere, trying to come up with ways to kill me."

Neville nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense. Gran said that she knew all along. Apparently Dumbledore told her. She didn't tell me either."

"She was probably just trying to protect you." Harry pointed out.

"I know."

8-8-8

The Welcome Feast was a lot quieter than it usually was. Every single House had lost at least one student to Voldemort's attack and their absences were almost deafening. After everyone had finished eating Dumbledore stood up to give his usual announcements.

He started with the normal announcements: the new DADA professor (Auror Moody), the Forbidden Forest being out of bounds, no magic in the halls, the list of contraband products, before moving onto the shocking ones.

Harry wasn't sure which shocked him more, that Quidditch would be cancelled or that they would be hosting the Triwizard Tournament. The lack of Quidditch was disappointing, Harry had really been looking forward to trying out Krum's seeker strategy, and he could only imagine how devastated the seventh years would be – this was their last year to play. This was the year that Quidditch Scouts usually came to watch the games.

Having said that, if there was ever a reason to cancel Quidditch the Triwizard Tournament would be it. Even if Harry wouldn't be able to enter it would definitely be fun to watch. The Tournament also explained why Sirius had been so busy – Harry wasn't surprised that the Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic had been reluctant to send their students to a country where a Dark Lord had just killed hundreds of people. Harry was more surprised that they had actually agreed to come.

As exciting as the Tournament would be, Harry was more interested in meeting the students from the visiting schools. No wonder Sirius had advised him to start learning Bulgarian. While Durmstrang was actually somewhere in Scandinavia, it had been founded by a Bulgarian and so the official language of the school was actually Bulgarian. Harry thought it was strange given how difficult Bulgarian was as a language – though it definitely explained why Bulgarian was in the top five most widely used languages in magical Europe.

The news of the Tournament definitely lightened the atmosphere of the hall though, and the students murmured excitedly to one another. Harry hoped that the brighter mood would last. He didn't want the school to spend the year mourning for their friends and fearing for their lives – that felt too much like a victory for Voldemort.