Bonded Over Losses

by Michael in Arizona

At the start of fifth year, Harry sits with Luna and Susan on the Hogwarts Express. When Ron and Hermione never turn up after the prefects meeting like they said they would, Harry cuts ties with them and Luna and Susan become his best friends. Having Susan and Luna as best friends leads to several different outcomes in fifth year.

13. A Siriusly Serious Conversation

This chapter features a conversation between Harry and Sirius. This thread is no longer just about Bonded Over Losses but will be a more fully AU fifth year. I definitely wanted to include Sirius in this story and now seemed like a good time to introduce him.

When Harry returned to the Gryffindor Common Room after leaving Classroom Eleven, he saw that he was the only one in it as all of the other Gryffindors had gone to bed.

This was fortunate because Harry heard a voice call out from the fire "Harry!"

Harry recognized that the voice belonged to Sirius and walked up to the fire to be able to talk to him.

"Harry, I don't have much time so let me straight to it," said Sirius seriously, "I have something that I am going to give you. I am going to present it to you in person to make sure you get it. My heart of hearts tells me that this gift will be very important down the road. As such, I didn't want to present it to it to you as a wrapped gift with vague hints about what it is and risk having you never open it. Furthermore, I want you to understand exactly what it is, what it does and why it is important."

"Okay, I'm listening," said Harry quickly.

"Harry, " explained Sirius, tossing Harry an old, small, square mirror from the fire that Harry caught easily in his left hand, "This is a two way mirror. I've got the other. If you need to speak to me, just say my name into it; you'll appear in my mirror, and I'll be able to talk in yours. James and I used to use them when we were in separate detentions."

"Why do you think this mirror will become so important?" inquired Harry.

"I don't know exactly how or why," mused Sirius, "But I have a suspicion that Voldemort may use me as bait to try to get you to come to him at some point. I fear that this could include feeding you inaccurate information about my whereabouts, safety, or condition. And on that unhappy note, I have an order for you. It is of the utmost importance that you follow this order no matter what your instincts are in the moment in question."

"What is that order?" asked Harry, giving Sirius a look that made it clear to Sirius that he was listening intently.

"If, at any time for any reason under any circumstances, you are under the impression that my life, health, safety, or freedom are under threat by Voldemort, or, if you ever receive any kind of sign from Voldemort that I am a prisoner of his or that he has captured or will capture me, then, do NOT act on any impulses you might feel right away, " ordered Sirius in a no nonsense type of voice, "Instead, use the mirror in your left hand right now to check on me first. If I am safe, I will be able to inform you via the mirror. This should prevent you from making a rash decision that will cause great damage that you will feel immense guilt and regret over later on."

"So," realized Harry holding the mirror out for Sirius to see, "This is a better safe than sorry tool,"

"Yes, "confirmed Sirius, "And I have been reading the letters you've been sending me about your life at Hogwarts this past week. I admit that I am disappointed that you won't be playing Quidditch for Gryffindor anymore. However, I understand your reasoning. It is clear that this Angelina girl is a huge fucking bitch."

"Alicia would have made a far better captain," said Harry matter of factly, "She knows how to criticize mistakes without yelling, raising her voice, or getting in people's faces. I'm all for being more critical than complimentary. But there's a right to criticize people and a wrong way to criticize people and Angelina did it the wrong way far too often. Her berating me after I had missed that snitch in practice was the straw that broke the camel's back."

"I really respect that Alicia, Katie, Fred, and George quit the team as well," smiled Sirius, "I also got a letter from Ginny about this. She said that she had been looking forward to playing Quidditch this year but had reversed her decision to try out for the team when she learned about Angelenia's behavior. "

"It's too bad in a way," admitted Harry, "I think Ginny might have turned out to be a great player. But we'll never know and that's Angelina's fault. As for me, quitting Quidditch frees up more time for my studies, my new Defense Against Arts club, and my new friendships with Luna, Susan, and Hannah."

"I sense you have become a more serious person this year," piped up Sirius.

"It's easier to be motivated academically when Ron Weasley's lazy ass isn't influencing you and when Hermione Granger's overbearing approach isn't sucking the fun out of learning," said Harry bluntly.

"I got the sense over the summer before the dementor attack," admitted Sirius, "That Ron and Hermione weren't overly concerned about you, especially Ron."

"The worst decision I ever made in my life was forgiving Ron after the First Task last year," snarled Harry, "He PROVED to be a disloyal fairweather friend who didn't deserve my friendship by not standing by me after my name came out of the Goblet of Fire. Maybe Luna was right that I was surrounded by wrackspurts at the time because my brain had to have been fuzzy to forgive that act of abandonment."

"Pup," said Sirius proudly, "I really respect how much you have grown just this past week in standing up for yourself more. Terminating your friendships with Ron and Hermione when their status as fake friends became apparent. Quitting Quidditch to get away from Angelina. Speaking up about Umbitch's detention leading to her removal from Hogwarts. Forming a Defense Against the Dark Arts Club with your three new and truer besties Luna, Susan, and Hannah when you realized those classes might be on hiatus for the foreseeable future."

"I was easy to take advantage of in the past because I let people walk all over me," reflected Harry, "No more unwarranted forgiveness and no more going easy on people who wrong me. Fuck Ron and Hermione, Fuck Umbitch, Fuck Angelina, and still Fuck Draco."

"Speaking of Draco," interjected Sirius, "His insensitive response to Luna's beautiful tribute to her mother on the anniversary of her mother's passing is so disgusting that it literally falls into the scum basket. I am grateful that despite the lack of effort from McUseless, Snape's bootlicking, and Dumbledore's pleas for forgiveness and second chances, the majority of the staff saw fit to vote Draco out of his prefect position. I LOVED hearing that it was the Reductor Curse that destroyed his badge given how cruelly he had tried to use that curse on Luna's necklaces. But, has that position been filled?"

"Not yet," admitted Harry, "It's not really urgent at this point. I suspect it will happen next week. I suspect Terance Higgs will be the new fifth year male Slytherin prefect. The only other choices are Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott, so yeah. I think it's a matter of time before Ron and Pansy lose their badges too. If nothing else Ron's laziness will become clear before long. He might even skip a prefects meeting to play chess with Seamus in the common room. And it won't be long before Pansy will engage in a bitch move that will show her true colors. I expect Neville to replace Ron when he loses his badge. Seamus is too temper prone. And while it may not be fair, the staff may not trust Dean because of his past friendship with Seamus. I think either Dean or Neville would be a good choice though. I predict it will be Neville. There are more potions for the Slytherin female. Lily, Tracey, and Daphne would all be good picks. My guess is that it will be Daphne. I'm telling you Sirius, it's only a matter of time before Ron's and Pansy's times as prefects come to the same abrupt ends that Draco's did. Ron's laziness and Pansy's bitchiness make this inevitable."

"I'm glad to hear that the majority of the staff isn't kissing Dumbledore's and Snape's asses," smirked Sirius, "How do you think your new Defense Against the Dark Arts club is going?"

"We were careful about who we invited, " acknowledged Harry, "We started off with stunning and most of the group could stun their partners between five and seven times out of ten. That's not bad for a first meeting. Luna, Susan, and Hannah are excellent leaders who are also very enjoyable company. They know when it's time to be serious, but we also know how to have fun as a friend group too."

"Did anyone stick out to you in the Defense Against the Dark Arts Club?" wondered Sirius.

"We've only done stunning," said Harry matter of factly, "But the three best were myself, Ernie, and Sally Anne. Luna struggled initially because she wasn't focused enough. I imparted upon her that it wasn't time to be Miss Dreamy Girl, and her performance improved as she focused better. Neville was terrible at first because he was overly aggressive with his wand movements. He improved with Hannah's guidance and supervision. "

"So, a few naturals, a few that needed some help, and most in between. Sounds reasonable," observed Sirius, "I assume you'll continue stunning next week?"

"Yes," confirmed Harry, "But not exclusively."

"Harry," advised Sirius, "You, Luna, Susan, and Hannah need to read the book Mental Mind Magic. It will be clear once you have read this book that there are two related disciplines of Mind Magic that you should attempt to master. One is more of an Offensive Spell and its counterpart is more of a Defensive Spell. I don't expect a lot of people to master the Defensive Spell, but you've got to try. It'll make more sense once you've read the book. Well, I've got to get going Harry. Remember what I said about the importance of that mirror in your left hand. Do NOT forget about it. Remember that mirror, remember what I said about how important that mirror could be, and remember the warning I gave you about times you should definitely use it."

And with a pop, Sirius was gone.

Harry held the mirror intently.

Wanting to internalize Sirius's message about its importance, Harry repeated everything Sirius had told him about the mirror many times in his own head until he was tired of hearing his internal voice talk about them.

Harry trusted Sirius and he knew the mirror was a Siriusly serious thing.

So, I wasn't on much in late December or early January. I had planned to take some time away from here around Christmas and then I got sick late at night on December 26th and spent most of the 27th in the hospital. I didn't feel too great until New Year's and decided to take it easy for a few more days after that. I started the year here by updating my one shots threads. This is the second of my six "true" fics to get an update in 2025. Bonded Over Losses continues to gain popularity rapidly so thank you to all the wonderful people who are supporting this thread.

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Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :) ❤️