Okay, so remember the warnings I gave in Chapter 1 about the Dumbledore and slight Hermione bashing? They make themselves known here. I am not trying to bash Hermione but some of her actions in Book 5 are questionable to me, but I will try to have her learn, grow and develop from them. I don't hate her, but she does irritate me at times because she doesn't change or grow. This chapter mostly focuses on Ron and Sirius, and I have to admit writing a scene between them was fun.
2. What He Needs
Ron Weasley did not like waiting because nothing good ever came out of it. It usually brought bad news. A perfectly good example was when they were getting no news of where Harry and Cedric had disappeared too. Hours had passed and it had brought Harry back traumatised and Cedric, dead. Now, while he and Hermione didn't have any real news on what was going on with the Order of the Phoenix, he had even less news about how Harry was because they hadn't written. Hermione had written vague letters, but Ron hadn't written for fear that he may reveal what little he did know.
He did not like lying and lying to Harry did not feel good even if – as Hermione kept reminding him, Dumbledore made them swear not to say anything. Or rather he made Hermione swear and somehow, Ron had been convinced into it because Hermione couldn't say no to Dumbledore. He and Hermione were on the top floor of 12, Grimmauld Place which was the headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, but they had both been peering downstairs to get any news about Harry. He still didn't know why he had agreed to this. It made him feel as if he was choosing between Harry and Hermione somehow. If he was, had he made the right choice? No, he wasn't choosing, they were all friends, after all and his best friend would understand. He hoped.
His fears were confirmed correct as his father came through the door with a familiar owl who was screeching in her cage. Hedwig.
"Bloody hell," Ron said, eyes widening. "What in Merlin's beard is Hedwig doing here?"
"Maybe she brought another letter from Harry," Hermione said although her uncertain voice did not ease his worries.
"Come on, let's go see," Ron said, practically running down the stairs but Hermione was not too far behind him. "Dad! What happened? What's Hedwig doing here?" He walked over to her as she screeched. "Hey girl, you ok? Can you hear me?" She stopped screeching for a moment but then started again.
His father shook his head.
"We found her flying in distress outside the Burrow," Arthur admitted. "She's very spooked, I'm not sure what happened but we've sent Aurors to make sure Harry is alright and nothing's happened."
Ron's heart sunk a little. Hedwig was really attached to Harry to see her this distressed must mean something was wrong.
"Hedwig and Harry are very close," Hermione spoke up now. "If Hedwig is here and, in this condition, something is wrong."
"We need to go after him!" Ron said firmly. This was their best friend they were talking about; they couldn't just leave Harry if he was in some sort of trouble, screw the rules. It didn't matter what they had sworn to Dumbledore, Harry was more important than any of that.
"Ronald, we can't, we promised," Hermione began but Ron cut her off.
"Is that promise really worth more than Harry?" Ron asked her, staring at her. He didn't understand her sometimes. He knew she had a respect for authority and an admiration for the headmaster in particular, but that shouldn't be more important than Harry. If the adults were so competent, then why did the three of them have to solve most things that happened at Hogwarts? Hogwarts would have closed down if Harry and he had not gone down to the Chamber of Secrets and resolved that. They had risked their lives to keep Hogwarts going when even Dumbledore himself had been driven away from there.
Hermione frowned. "You know that's not what I mean, Ron, but all of us here want the best for Harry. He's my best friend too, you know."
"Both of you, please calm down," His father interjected before Ron could retort to Hermione. "Hermione's right, son. We all want the best for Harry. Dumbledore wants the best for Harry too. We're going to help him, no matter what situation he's in right now. But you need to relax. Don't act rash."
Ron's shoulders slumped at his father saying that and he sighed. "I won't do anything stupid but Dad? I don't think anyone's ever thought of what's the best for Harry, especially not Professor Dumbledore." He knew maybe he was being a pain to deal with right now, but he didn't care. No one understood but he had witnessed it. When Harry had first come to Hogwarts and been allowed to eat whatever he wanted, he had been so excited about it that he hadn't even considered how bad it would be for his body. He had spent the next few days sick and throwing up and Ron wasn't the only witness to that. Dean, Seamus, and Neville had seen this as well.
His father stared at him for a moment but didn't say anything and Ron took that as his cue to leave. He headed up the stairs but didn't go back into his room, instead he headed to the room where Buckbeak stayed in. Before he could move in that direction, Hermione reached to grab his wrist.
"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked softly and Ron sighed.
"I just want to be alone for a bit, Hermione," Ron said honestly. "I'm fine. Sorry for snapping at you." It wasn't her he was really angry at after all even if she wasn't helping matters at all.
"I'm worried about Harry too, you know," Hermione said softly. "He's my best friend. He's like a brother to me."
"Yeah, I know," Ron replied, before pulling his wrist away and continuing in the direction he was headed in. To his relief, Hermione didn't join him. He meant it when he said that he wanted to be alone. He hadn't been the greatest friend to Harry last year and even though his best friend had just accepted it, it didn't change the fact that he messed up.
Besides, Harry always accepted the things that happened to him because there was no one there to fight for him. His parents cared for Harry like their own son but even they didn't question Dumbledore's decisions about anything. How bad were things really at the Dursleys? He had only seen a portion of it with the bars on Harry's window and the cat flap at his door. He had tried telling his Mom, but she hadn't believed him, thinking it was just an excuse. But why hadn't Harry confirmed it? Surely, his best friend didn't think it was right, did he?
He came to the room where Buckbeak was, seeing Sirius there with him and hesitated. Ron hadn't put a lot of thought into why he was coming here, just that he needed to get away from everyone who were acting like they knew what his best friend needed.
"Hey," Ron said shifting a bit and Sirius looked over at him.
Sirius smiled. "Hey. Didn't expect you to come up to see Buckbeak and I. You ok, Ron?"
Ron nodded at first before he shook his head. "I don't know."
Sirius frowned at this. "Did something happen? Is Harry okay?"
A part of Ron wanted to tell Sirius everything but at the other part didn't know if he should. It was Harry's secret – he was tactless but even he knew that much. But that didn't mean he had to hide everything either.
"Hedwig showed up at the Burrow," Ron admitted. "Dad brought her here, but she's really spooked. Something's happened, I think but I swear no one ever thinks of Harry as a person, just as the boy who lived. Even I forget it sometimes and let pettiness get to me. But no one ever fights for him."
Sirius didn't know Ron that well – just that he was Harry's best friend and was usually supportive of him but in the small amount of time that he had known him, he had never seen him like this. The young teen seemed lost almost in more ways than one and he seemed frustrated. And Hedwig was here and was spooked? That was a potential reason for worry and his heart did sink but the curiosity on what Ron meant outweighed that more than anything else.
"Ron," Sirius said slowly. "What do you mean no one ever thinks of Harry or fights for him?" He would do whatever he could to protect Harry if he wasn't trapped to this house and heck, it didn't even feel like his house anymore because it was like Molly had taken over.
Ron sighed. "If Professor Dumbledore's word is so important that everyone has to follow it, then why were Harry and I the ones who had to put ourselves in danger to save Hogwarts from closing down? We were just kids. It shouldn't have been something we had to do if the teachers in the school couldn't. We could have been killed. Dumbledore should have done something about it, not us. Harry always suffers the most in everything, but no one cares about him or fights for him."
"I'll fight for him," The words had slipped out of Sirius's mouth, but it wasn't like he didn't mean them. He knew he had been listening to everyone and staying in Grimmauld Place because it was more stable than being on the run but at the same time, Harry came first. Harry always came first, and this was still his house. He could change things around here – whoever Harry wanted here would stay and anyone else wouldn't. That included Dumbledore. He exhaled at that – he knew that wasn't going to be an easy decision with the Order of the Phoenix and the position Dumbledore had but that didn't mean he was going to agree with the Headmaster if it endangered his godson.
He didn't know what had happened or why Harry's owl was so distressed, but he knew Harry had a rather fond attachment to that owl so if something had happened, it would upset Hedwig.
"Has anyone checked in at Privet Drive?" Sirius asked, beginning to pace back and forth. Everything else seemed to take a second step – Ron had never been this open with him before and he could tell the young boy was upset at how people had treated his best friend. Also, Sirius was not an idiot. Ron had only told him the partial truth – he knew that there was a lot he wasn't saying and while one part of him wanted to push him for everything, he knew that wasn't fair. All friends had their secrets and whatever was going on with Harry, it was something he wanted to find out from his godson.
"Yeah, they sent Aurors to check in his house to make sure nothing happened there," Ron admitted. "But we haven't got any news back on them yet."
Sirius nodded. "I'll try to find out more information." He had to. Harry was his responsibility and he had pushed that onto others for too long. No more. He wasn't going to allow anyone to push his godson around. He was about to leave the room when Remus stepped inside.
"Is everything ok here?" Remus asked and Sirius frowned.
"I was going downstairs to get some information on Harry," Sirius said plainly. While Remus hadn't protested to him being locked in this house, claiming it was for the best, he had also been coming around a lot to visit him and he could appreciate that. He knew Remus found it hard to speak up against the one person who had given him the chance to have somewhat of a normal life.
Remus bit his lip. "We found out information. I just heard from Tonks." He shifted a bit and Sirius had known his friend long enough to tell that he wasn't about to give him any good news.
"What? What is it?" Sirius asked immediately and Ron moved forward quickly as well.
"Professor Lupin, is Harry okay?" Ron asked him.
"We're not sure," Remus answered softly. "Harry's been missing for the last three days."