Harry's lack of lessons with Dumbledore extended past a couple of weeks. This annoyed him, not only because he and Sirius felt that the headmaster was not taking his education seriously, but also because it limited the amount of face-to-face time the two could spend together. Harry valued their nightly talks via the two-way mirror, but it wasn't the same as having his godfather by his side. There was only so much you could convey when the person wasn't there beside you. He knew that he was in the same boat as all of the other students at Hogwarts, who had even less contact with their family and certainly no two-way mirror, but for the first year in his life, he felt more acutely aware of it.
Sirius had kept his promise to send Harry regular owls, and they often came with treats. Had Harry been a girl, he might have accused Sirius of trying to make her fat, but Harry was still growing, and remembered Sirius's reassurance that good metabolism ran in the Potter family. Of course, Harry shared the mounds of treats with Ron and Hermione, who were first surprised and then pleased to hear what a good cook and baker he was. In fact, the baked good Sirius sent easily rivaled Mrs. Weasley's.
Not that he would have told Ron this, except his friend outright told Harry that Sirius outranked his mum with sweets.
"Don't you dare tell her I told you!" he added, through bites of homemade toffee.
"Don't worry, I won't," Harry promised, as he began chewing his own piece.
Hermione, too polite to eat with her mouth open, simply smiled at their banter and said nothing.
Harry had also experienced his first Slughorn party, on a Monday night after the Quidditch practice had finished. Since he and Hermione had received regular invites, Harry had altered the Quidditch practice schedules so that they fell during the same times the parties were given. This had the benefit of not only having a good excuse not to attend, but also making sure that Ron didn't feel left out, for he hadn't received a single invitation.
Hermione seemed more amused by Harry's determination to avoid the parties than anything else, and Harry could see (when he'd finally had to go to one) that they weren't too bad.
All the same, unless Ron began to receive invitations, he wasn't going to make it a habit of going, no matter what Slughorn wanted.
Harry was pleased to see the posting in the common room that this year's first Hogsmeade trip was to take place halfway through October. He hoped that Sirius would be able to make it. Harry had learned that Sirius had tracked down the cup with Remus, and they had destroyed it with fiendfyre once more. He looked rather worse for the wear the day afterwards, but Sirius insisted that the burns he had received from Bellatrix's duplication hex were minor, and would fade, if not disappear entirely.
The night that Harry learned of the trip, he told Sirius about it during their talk.
"It's next Saturday, if you want to come?" he asked, a little tentatively.
"Of course! I miss seeing you, pup," Sirius answered, grinning broadly. "I must say that I'm surprised Dumbledore hadn't notified you about another lesson."
"He's been away from the Great Hall during most meals, and Hermione thinks he's left the school for days on end," Harry explained. "D'you think he's trying to track down the other horcruxes?"
"If he is, he's not doing a very good job. We forgot about the diadem last time I was there, but after that, it's only that bloody snake that remains," Sirius noted. "We'll have to tell him everything at the next lesson. There's really no need to hide it from him."
"What if he made more than seven, though?" Harry wondered. "I keep thinking about the diary, and how ordinary it was."
Sirius shrugged. "Seven is the most powerful number in the wizarding world, and whatever his intentions were, we won't really know what he managed to achieve. I think we ought to focus on the evidence at hand before assuming he's made hundreds."
Harry nodded. "So, Hogsmeade first, and then horcrux hunting in the Room of Requirement?"
"Sounds like a plan," Sirius said, with a bit of a laugh. "Also, I know I already gave you money to treat your friends before you started school, but I'll bring some of my own so you don't have to use it."
"Sirius!" Harry protested. "You don't need to do that!"
"You do realize I'm practically made of galleons, right?" Sirius chuckled. "Besides, this sort of thing-treating others-is fun for me. When Remus was at Hogwarts, he never had much pocket money, and your dad and I enjoyed buying out half of Honeydukes to last him until the next trip." He paused, then added, "And he would give us nearly as much trouble as you do, pup!"
Harry sighed, rather dramatically, but made no further protests. "Well, thanks," he conceded, with a grin.
"You're most welcome."
The Saturday of the outing was so cold that they bundled themselves in hats and scarves as well as sweaters. Even so, the wind was biting, and their extra layers did little in the way of keeping out the chill.
Until they saw Sirius just outside of Honeydukes, where he'd promised to meet them.
He had on his regular robes, with a cloak over them, but did not look cold in the least.
"You lot look half frozen," he said, cheerfully. "Mind if I perform a heating charm on your clothes?"
"G-go ahead," chattered Harry, and the others nodded.
Sirius pointed his wand at Harry, first, and immediately, a delicious warmth filled him. It was as though his clothes had been hanging up in front of a hot fire, or had come out of the Dursleys dryer. Sirius performed the same charm on Ron and Hermione's clothes, and the smiles on their faces were filled with gratitude.
"I'd do your faces as well, but you'd likely end up sunburned," Sirius explained, rather regretfully. "But if you wrap your scarves rightly around your head, the wind shouldn't bite as much."
They followed his advice, and the results were immediate.
"Thank you!" Hermione murmured, the chatter completely gone from her voice. "Oh, I really must learn how to perform that charm!"
"Yeah, that's brilliant!" Ron agreed, looking a lot more cheerful. "How long will it last, though?"
"Two hours, and then I'll reapply it if we're still in Hogsmeade," Sirius promised.
Then, he held out his arms, and Harry stepped into a long hug that was nearly as warm as the clothes he was wearing. It was with some reluctance that he pulled back to allow Sirius to give Ron and Hermione theirs, albeit somewhat briefer.
"All set? I wouldn't bother with Zonkos, though, as they're boarded up," Sirius warned. "Honeydukes, as you can see, is still open."
With that in mind, they headed towards the sweet shop, although with less vigor than they would have had they been as cold as they were moments earlier. Harry and Sirius walked step in step, and his godfather placed an arm around his shoulder. Harry didn't mind in the least.
"Oh, look! They've got deluxe sugar quills-those would last hours!" Hermione nearly gasped, taking a look at the oversized quills.
"Help yourself. In case Harry hadn't already told you, I'm treating you all today," Sirius informed them, passing out baskets. "And don't bother trying to refuse-I won't hear of it."
"Thanks!" Hermione and Ron answered, sounding a bit surprised.
"Yeah, now I can save my pocket money for the next trip!" Ron enthused, and helped himself to several of the quills, followed by Harry and Hermione. "And for Christmas presents as well."
"Oh, I don't want to imagine how cold it will be in December if it's this bad now," Hermione murmured, adjusting her scarf.
"Won't matter, so long as we know how to do the heating charm," Harry pointed out, but he was glad to inside the warmth of Honeydukes.
Even though Harry still had a few of the sweets leftover from the train, he helped himself to chocolate frogs and other favorites. Sirius, he noted, kept adding extras of selected treats to his and his friends' baskets, and by the time they had left the shop, they were nearly overflowing.
They had to perform feather light charms to carry their lot without it being a burden, but all three of them had known this charm since the end of their first year.
Wrapping their scarves around their heads, since the wind still bit at their exposed faces, they headed to Three Broomsticks for lunch and drinks. The pub was quite as warm inside as Honeydukes, but certainly less crowded. After a quick hello to Mundungus Fletcher, they sat down to order drinks-firewhiskey for Sirius, and butterbeer for the rest of them.
None of them had eaten lunch beforehand-only breakfast-so they ordered a large meal and talked with Sirius about how their sixth year was going.
"I hadn't expected there to be so much work after the OWLs were over," Ron complained.
"I had," Hermione answered, a bit smugly. "Now, they're preparing us for the NEWTs."
"Sure, but they don't need to be loading you up with over three hours of homework for every one of class," Sirius answered, understanding in his voice. "Your dad and Remus and I figured out how to game the system, at least for holiday work, by working on those essays and assignments ahead of time. They never changed from year to year, you see. Unfortunately, it didn't do much for day to day work."
"But how did you manage to do the essays for the Christmas and Easter break ahead of time?" Hermione asked, with interest. "Surely, they didn't teach enough for you to do them justice?"
"We read ahead during the summer holidays, not unlike a certain witch I know," Sirius explained, with a smile at Hermione's pink with pleasure face. "But the work itself was usually based on certain chapters that could be studied on their own. We usually got full marks, and could focus our holidays on recreation and studying what we enjoyed."
"You must have been really smart," Ron observed.
Sirius shrugged modestly. "School came easily for us, but we did work hard when the topic interested us. History of Magic was, of course, extremely dull by the way Binns taught it, even though the topics themselves were quite fascinating. We usually just read our textbooks in his class. He hardly noticed."
"Did you have all of the same professors as us?" Hermione asked, with interest.
"Slughorn instead of Snape for Potions, and Divination wasn't offered, so Trelawney wasn't on staff." Sirius grinned. "Other than that, yes. Hogwarts professors tend to stay on for decades at a time, centuries, in the case of Binns."
They spent the next half hour or so listening to Sirius tell them about pranks he and James and even Remus had pulled in school. Fun ones, the kind that didn't do any real harm and made the recipients laugh, as opposed to what Harry had seen in the pensieve with Snape. Harry listened with interest as his godfather detailed a prank that turned everyone's robes various colors, depending on their year and their house.
"They remained like that for a day, before returning to normal," Sirius concluded.
"Did they ever figure out it was you?" Harry asked, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer.
"As we were the main troublemakers during our time at Hogwarts, any mischief could be attributed to us and, usually, it was the case," Sirius explained. "We tried not to do anything that would cause real harm or embarrassment, certain Slytherins excluded. Not just Snape, but there were Slytherins who would become Death Eaters, and we sent the occasional hex their way. Often splitting the seams of their book bags, and occasionally their robes." Sirius smirked, and even Harry had to laugh. "Say, Ron, how's the twin's joke shop coming along?"
"It's doing brilliantly. Fred told me that they had to hire two more people to keep up with the demand," Ron answered.
"Think you'd want to work with your brothers after Hogwarts?"
Ron shook his head. "I'm glad they're doing well, but I don't reckon I would be good at inventing products or selling them. Besides, I really want to be an Auror."
Sirius nodded, clearly impressed. "We certainly need more of them, and I saw how fast you were in the Department of Mysteries. A few years of training, and you'd be a force to be reckoned with."
Ron turned pink. "Snape keeps saying that my nonverbal magic skills are...well, awful."
"Most of the Death Eaters can't use nonverbal magic to save their lives," Sirius answered, with a snort. "Mind you, it's a good skill to have, and it certainly gives you an advantage in dueling. That's not all of what Aurors do, though. You should talk to Moody more about it, and Tonks. They can give you an idea of what to expect in the job, especially Tonks, being new to the line of work." Sirius placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "As for the nonverbal spells, just keep at it, and I promise you, they will become easier over time. Second nature by the time you graduate."
Ron nodded, grinning a bit. "I will. Thanks, Sirius."
Having finished their meals, Sirius paid the bill and they set off. As it had been well over two hours since he'd performed the charm that kept their clothes so toasty, he performed it again before they left the warmth of Three Broomsticks. On the way out, he pulled Harry aside.
"Would you like to spend the rest of the weekend with me?" he asked, speaking quietly.
Harry grinned. "You had to ask?"
Sirius ruffled his hair. "I'd rather ask than tell you that you had to, pup." At Harry's nod, he added, "We'll stop in at the Room of Requirement, and then head off."
The diadem was very easy to find, but Sirius took the same precautions as he had with the other horcruxes. He did allow Ron, Hermione, and Harry to look at it-but not touch it-before placing it in a separate bag, his gloved hands preventing the horcrux from touching his skin.
"Once I destroy this, it will just be the blasted snake that remains," Sirius said, proudly.
"Are you going to use fiendfyre again?" Harry asked, letting himself take a deep breath.
"Yes, Remus and I are becoming quite good at managing it, and besides, it's getting rather late to take another trip into the Chamber of Secrets," Sirius pointed out, reasonably. "Why don't you pack any books you want to bring along, and some extra robes, and I'll meet you in the common room?"
It sounded like a good plan to Harry, so they set off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. He'd finished all of his work except for Herbology, but he wanted to bring along his Potions book to go over a few questions with Sirius. After adding an extra pair of pajamas and a pair of robes for the following day, he met Sirius in front of the fireplace after saying goodbye to Ron and Hermione.
"All set?" Sirius asked, smiling.
Harry nodded, smiling back, and looking forward to spending the entire evening, and most of the next day, with his godfather.
"After you, then," he instructed, and Harry felt the warmth of the flames surround him.
Author's note:
In canon, this is where Katie Bell gets cursed by the cursed necklace. It still happens in this version, and I briefly considered including Harry finding out about Katie Bell in this chapter, but decided that if he did, he likely wouldn't want to leave Hogwarts with Sirius. So, he'll learn about what happened to Katie when he returns. As for why he didn't witness it himself, as happened in the books, it's rather simple: timing. In the book, Harry and his friends were only at Three Broomsticks briefly, for warm drinks. In this version, they're there with Sirius, and after eating a full meal and staying to listen to his stories, the damage to Katie had already been done. The outcome will still be the same-someone else will have gotten her the help she needed-but Harry's involvement would be minimal, and relegated to learning about this near tragedy after the fact.
Feedback is always appreciated, especially the constructive kind! :)
Up next:
Sirius tells Harry about James's time on the Quidditch team, and Harry tells Sirius about how he learned to cast a Patronus charm. Also, lots of fluff.
