The next morning, Harry walked into Professor Snape's classroom.
"Sit down," Snape said.
"Did your dark mark come back?" Harry asked.
"Why would it?" Snape asked.
"If Voldermort is getting stronger, the mark will get stronger," Harry said.
"As long as you keep him out of your head, he can't get stronger," Snape said.
"Can I see for myself that it's not back?" Harry asked.
Snape reluctantly rolled up his sleeve.
"Satisfied?" he asked.
"Thank you professor," Harry said.
"Now let me test your occlumency," Snape said.
Harry worked hard to close his mind. He felt Snape pushing and he pushed back. They were both pushing for several minutes until Snape finally pushed through. Harry saw himself sleeping in his cupboard. He quickly pushed Snape out, falling over backwards as he did so, banging his head against the floor.
"Are you okay?" Snape asked.
Harry sat up slowly. He rubbed his head and smiled.
"Thank you," Harry said. "I think you just knocked some sense into my head."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Snape asked again.
"I'm fine," Harry said. "I guess I needed to get whacked in the head."
"I'll remember that the next time you get scared," Snape said.
Harry cheerfully walked back to the common room.
"That was a short detention," Neville said.
"After I fell over backwards and hit my head on the floor, Snape decided I needed some rest," Harry explained.
"I'll have to try that next time," Fred said.
"Did he answer your questions?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Yes, everything is fine," Harry said.
Christmas break went by fast followed by more school work. In the middle of January, there was another Hogsmeade weekend. Harry spent most of it in the Three Broomsticks with Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny. That night, Harry checked the map again.
"What are you looking for?" George asked quietly.
"I'm just checking for death eaters," Harry said.
"You didn't used to be so paranoid," Fred commented.
"After seeing them at the Quidditch World Cup, I was reminded of how many of them are still around," Harry said.
"Are any in the school now?" Ron asked.
"Just the one who was here since October 30th," Harry said. "It doesn't look like he's making any trouble now."
The next time Harry saw Cedric, he decided to help him again.
"Did you figure out your egg yet?" he asked.
"Why do you want to know?" Cedric asked.
"I saw Victor take his into the lake and listen to it under the water. I don't know what it is, but it's possible you could only hear it in water," Harry explained.
"I'll try it," Cedric said. "Thanks."
In February, Harry remembered that Sirius met them in Hogsmeade in his dream. He decided to see if that could happen again. He wrote Sirius a long, detailed letter about all his activities for the past few months. He mentioned that he missed seeing Sirius over Christmas and felt bad that Sirius had to celebrate by himself. He then asked what Sirius and his dad liked to do in Hogsmeade as kids. He explained that they always go to the same few stores and he wanted to picture his dad doing whatever he used to do there. Sirius offered to meet them at the next Hogsmeade weekend to give them a tour.
Harry watched the second task nervously. Victor had to rescue Hermione despite not taking her to the Yule Ball. Cedric had to rescue Cho, and Fleur had to rescue her sister. Fleur was the only one who did not succeed. Harry was relieved when the task was over.
The next weekend, Harry was delighted to see Sirius at Hogsmeade. Remus, Fred, George, and Ron joined them.
"Ready for a tour?" Sirius asked cheerfully.
The others followed him eagerly.
"I'm sure you already know Zonkos," he said. "But I love looking in it."
They spent a short time in Zonkos, stocking up on joke products.
"Honeydukes is also one of your regular spots probably," Sirius said. "Remus loves chocolate, so let's stock up for him."
They all restocked their junk food supply, especially Remus.
"One of the passages from Hogwarts to Hogmeade is in this cellar," Sirius said, pointing to the cellar.
"We use it all the time," Fred and George said cheerfully.
"It's a good thing we're not in school now," Remus said. "I'll pretend I didn't hear you say that."
"Do you know the story of the shrieking shack?" Sirius asked.
"I keep Remus's secrets," Harry said firmly. "I thought you did too."
Remus put an arm around Harry's shoulder.
"I think he assumed they already knew," he said softly.
"Fred and George figured it out, but Ron didn't," Harry said.
"There is a secret passageway from under the whomping willow to inside the shack," Sirius explained. "If you hit the knot in the willow, you could enter the shack."
"What's it like inside?" Ron asked.
"It's a regular empty house," Remus said.
"I thought it's supposed to be haunted," Ron said.
"We were the only ones who ever haunted it," Remus explained. "I spent one night a month at this house throughout my seven years of Hogwarts."
"Could we see inside?" Fred asked.
"Let's go back to school so we can show them the right way to enter," Sirius said.
They walked back to school and entered the passageway under the willow. Remus was able to explain each room in the house. He shuddered several times while looking around.
"Painful memories?" Harry asked quietly.
"Is this where you went to transform?" George asked.
Remus nodded.
"What do you do now?" Fred asked.
"Wolfsbane potion," Remus said quietly. "Ron doesn't know so don't discuss it in front of him."
After they toured the house, Sirius led the way to a tea shop.
"Your parents used to date over here," he said.
Harry looked inside.
"It doesn't look like my type of store," he said.
"This is Hog's Head," Sirius said pointing. "There's no reason for you to go in it ever, but Aberforth Dumbledore owns it."
"Your dad liked Spintwitches," Sirius said. "They're a sporting goods store."
They spent a few minutes looking around the store.
"Let's stop for butterbeer before we head back," Remus said.
They had their butterbeers at the Three Broomsticks. Sirius walked them back to school.
"Thank you so much for the tour," Harry said, hugging Sirius good-bye.
"Didn't my mother tell you that Blacks don't show affection in public?" Draco said, coming up behind them.
"It's a good thing I'm not a Black," Harry said smiling, hugging Sirius again.
It was a cheerful group that returned to school.