Cedric Diggory. Him. A flash of green hitting Cedric. Cedric... dead. Him.. screaming. Voldemort. Voldermort. Voldermort. Voldermort! Voldermort! He's back! He's Alive! He killed him!

His eyes snapped open and he waited for his heart to calm down. He heard clattering outside his room and grabbed his circular glasses from his side table. He watched the key in the door slowly turn like something out of a horror movie. Harry sat up, his eyes glued to the door. He grabbed his wand, his breaths coming out in harsh pants as he prepared himself to attack whoever it was that was about to enter his room. There was a flash of light and Hedwig screeched.

"Very clean, these Muggles." Someone, a female, said.

"Tonks, for God's sake!" Someone hissed.

"Unnatural." The same female whispered.

The woman's wand emitted light and she shone it inside Harry's room, eyes taking in every detail. Behind her were some other people, one in particular catching Harry's attention.

"Professor Moody." He looked at the one-eyed male. "What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, of course." A snort rang out in Harry's mind, making him jump slightly.

The teenager's eyes darted between the other people flooding the doorway, a small part of him praying they hadn't noticed- or at least if they had, they wouldn't bring it up.

He followed them as they left the Dursley's house, his mind racing as confusion and slight anxiety rose within him.

"But where are we going? The letter said that I've been expelled from Hogwarts."

"Well, you haven't been. Not yet." The mad-looking male glanced over his shoulder at a tall dark-skinned wizard. "Kingsley, you take point."

"But the letter said-" He was interrupted by Kingsley.

"Dumbledore has persuaded the minister to suspend your expulsion pending a formal hearing." The broad-shouldered and somewhat intimidating male explained.

"A hearing?" The pure befuddlement that shone through in Harry's voice ignited an amused laugh, although only the boy himself could hear it.

They lined up by the road, Harry's mind still struggling to comprehend what was going on.

Kingsley made a noise of affirmation as the female that had previously been labelled 'Tonks' spoke up.

"We'll explain everything when we get back to headquarters." The moment the words left her lips, Moody hissed at her.

"Ssh! Not here, Nymphadora!"

Her expression changed, the anger she felt leaking through her eyes. "Don't call me Nymphadora." As if to make her anger even clearer, her hair changed colours to that of a tomato.

The one on the receiving end of her fury tapped his staff against the ground twice and six brooms, one for each of the people there, came flying towards them.

"Stay in formation, everyone. Don't break ranks if one of us is killed." The one-eyed male spoke before they mounted their brooms and took off, the only witness to their nightly doings being Mrs Figg.

They flew high in the sky, the clouds acting as fog and the lights of the structures below acting as upside-down stars. They dipped as they flew over a river, Moody at the front and the other four in a square formation around Harry. They raced along the side of a ship, dodging between smaller boats, their hair flying around behind them as they soared at terrific speeds.

Harry's heart drummed in his chest, fluttering with excitement as a feeling of intense thrill shook his system. He exchanged a glance with Tonks, her grinning at him before they parted in order to swerve out of the way of a ship. He enjoyed flying, something about it was freeing and although he was on a broomstick quite often whilst at Hogwarts- considering he was a valued member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team- he was often too busy trying to catch the infamous golden snitch to fully enjoy the feeling of flying.

'This kind of reminds me of home in an odd way..'

The sudden comment from his new parasite startled him and he narrowly avoided falling off his broomstick and diving into the freezing water below. Funnily enough, he didn't find himself all too bothered by the odd voice which was rather bizarre. He was so paranoid about everything else, what with his parents' murderer being revived and all that palaver. Perhaps his stress was causing him to discard the concerning and more recent issues that found him.

'Y'know, that one-eyed professor of yours seems interesting, try getting some stories out of him, I bet he's got some good ones.'

"Professor Moody?" Harry's gaze moved to the man up front. "He's not really one to share."

In their mindscape, Inner rolled her eyes. 'I know that. It will prove a bit of a fun game though, no? By the way please refrain from speaking aloud when conversing with me, I can hear your thoughts so mumbling is an unnecessary risk.'

The boy frowned, he had forgotten that. 'I don't see trying to get to know him as a fun game.'

The boy thought he might have heard the voice mutter something along the lines of 'coward' but he wasn't certain.

'So, any ideas where this so-called headquarters might be?' The entity already knew the boy had near to no idea; she wasn't sure whether she should feel concerned or amused by his lack of awareness.

Harry simply settled for a small shake of his head. Inner's words did spark the question in his head, where exactly were they going? He wasn't particularly concerned as he doubted there was anywhere worse than the Dursley's house but perhaps he should be more cautious. As dark forces invaded the light and great evil was quickly growing in strength and numbers, it would be wise for him to be more alert. His dark eyebrows furrowed. He wasn't quite sure where that thought had come from, he was being careful and was constantly on guard and he knew that. It wasn't like he was running around shouting his name and taunting those who wished him dead.

Inner rolled her eyes at his thoughts. Did he really think that gripping that stick was enough? There would always be those who possessed greater powers than he and thinking he was prepared was nothing but a death wish. In the ninja world, one was never prepared and she doubted it was any different in this new one.

She didn't bother speaking to the boy any longer as he rode the broomstick, flying at a pace that reminded her painfully of races through trees back in a world of green. She was naturally suspicious, a trait that made a good shinobi and although she found her new host's obliviousness curious, Inner didn't wish for him to meet his demise because of it. She knew very well that he would face more challenges in the future, a fate that was familiar to her in the form of sunny smiles and azure eyes. It would be ridiculous not to have figured the boy would be forced to brave more hardships in the upcoming years, especially after surveying his previous years of existence.

So, the entity left the boy to his own thoughts as he followed the lead of the one-eyed man. Only did she check up on him and the outside world when they stood in front of a row of connected homes. The one her headmate called 'Professor Moody' -a dull title in her opinion- tapped the large wooden staff he held, on the ground.

The buildings shook and Inner took a moment to insult the ones inside for their lack of awareness as the building moved in two parts, sliding away from the other and making space for a new part of the building that blended in perfectly with the rest of the structure. Harry was amazed by the show of magic, she was well aware of how he felt but such a display had her on edge. She wasn't a fan of unfamiliar territory, something most ninjas were cautious of, and the fact the grumpy male had just made that showy trick- something that Inner knew in this world was probably nothing too impressive- made her feel slightly anxious. The part of her mind that had paid careful attention to the drills that Sakura had gone through and the lectures that had been ingrained into their very souls, whispered words of possible danger, countless traps and other dreadful things appearing in gruesome visions in her thoughts.

She shook such things off, zoning back into the outside world, watching through the fifteen-year-old boy's eyes as he entered the building. The faint mumbling of a conversation caught the boy's ears and Inner huffed at the show of carelessness. Even if the magic folk of these new lands couldn't use silencing seals she knew that there were several spells they could use instead and was astounded that they would talk about such things where anyone could hear. How did she know that what they were saying was confidential, you ask? Well, they mentioned death, her new headmate and something that they referred to in a mysterious way, really, calling something you-know-what was truly a telling feature in proving her right.

The scarred male pushed past Harry and the boy stood against one of the walls of the narrow hallway, letting the adults who had accompanied him away from the house in Little Whinging walk past. As she went by, Tonks sent Harry a wink, looking back at him as she followed the rest of the group into a room at the end of the hall, stumbling as she walked into an umbrella stand.

The walls looked damaged, as if rats had chewed at them, the many pictures that hung in frames adding to the claustrophobic feeling that suddenly attacked Inner. Small spaces meant less room to move about and higher difficulty in escaping if they ran into trouble. She glanced at the worn decorations around them, mind working out which of them would make for the most effective weapon. She decided against any of the dusty pictures- the space was too narrow to use them to bat anyone away. In fact, the space appeared too narrow to use a lot of the things around, though she did decide that if they had to run, the objects that rested on a cabinet of sorts would do good to throw at the one chasing them. If it came to it she knew the boy she shared a mind with had his wand but something- perhaps her ninja instincts- was against using such a thing in a fight, labelling it as a weapon just seemed wrong.

Harry approached the room where a meeting of sorts seemed to be taking place, a man whom he hadn't seen for what- in his opinion- was much too long exclaiming something. The familiar man looked up upon noticing the fifteen-year-old's presence as did some of the others in attendance. A woman, Inner identified as Molly Weasley from Harry's memories, hurriedly rushed out of the room, shutting the door behind her and blocking any view of the room that lay past its dark wood.

"Harry."

"Mrs Weasley."

The woman rushed towards him, arms spread wide as she brought him into a motherly hug.

"Heavens, you're alright!"

She pulled away from the hug, holding Harry's face in her hands as she gave him a warm smile. Inner frowned in the depths of their shared mind. The woman's earlier actions made it seem as though she didn't wish for Harry to overhear whatever was uttered during the meeting going on in that room. Closing the door was, in Inner's opinion a pathetic attempt as any ninja would be able to hear the conversation happening clearly, though, as she now realised, she would have to stop expecting such things of the people in this world. They weren't shinobi and as such, did not possess such skills.

"Bit peaky, but dinner will have to wait until after the meeting." As Molly Weasley spoke, Harry glanced at the door she had closed.

The boy desperately wanted to see Sirius, the man was his Godfather. It was almost cruel how, after so long, he had finally gotten to see the man, warmth fluttering around in his chest as his eyes lit up with hope only to diminish as Mrs Weasley closed the door, blocking Sirius from his sight.

"About that-"

"Nope." The woman gave him a stern look as she cut him off. "No time to explain. Straight upstairs, first door on the left."

She sent Harry up the stairs and in the teenager's head, Inner frowned. Perhaps she was wrong but she had detected worry in the woman's tone. It was clear to her that Mrs Weasley wished to keep Harry from the meeting which, Inner respected. No one could expect to be privy to every gathering, even when the meeting was partly about them.

Her headmate made it up the stairs and Inner winced at the creepy decor. She and Sakura, despite committing themselves to a line of work that was gruesome and messy, were big fans of pretty things and the aesthetic of the house that she now found herself in through Harry was.. not something she was particularly fond of.

'Dearie me, are all wizard houses like this?' According to the boy's memories- particularly the ones featuring the Weasley family's.. unique abode- though not all share the dark and rather creepy atmosphere, the clutter seemed to be a common trait. Inner was well aware that clutter was well-liked by many and that was fine and all, but she much preferred a well-organised and neatly sorted space to harbour her existence.

This headquarters seemed to be of a time before whatever year they were in. It held certain attributes that gave off the impression that it was once a grand place in immaculate condition. Inner held no doubts that the previous owner, whoever they may be, made sure the place held up nicely so that brought up the question of how it had ended up in such a state.

In the dark confines of their conjoined mind, Inner frowned. Her headmate's untrained ears had picked up on a quiet voice muttering on about several wizard terms. As the teenager made his way further up the stairs, the owner of the voice was revealed to be, what Inner recalled was a house elf.

Thanks to Harry's memories, she was able to find out a bit of information on the pitiful beings. Although she could admire their loyalty and hard-working nature, she found herself not liking the role they had. They were servants; doomed to spend their lives serving the family of whatever big house they lived under. It puzzled her how they didn't seem to even attempt to retaliate, did they really not mind the treatment they suffered? Cleaning and polishing every inch of a grand old house for a lifetime certainly didn't sound ideal, then again, Inner understood she probably didn't understand the overall workings of this new world.

Harry looked down at the small creature through the lenses of his circular glasses. The house elves all seemed to have certain defining features about them but the one he found himself standing before now was easily distinguishable from Dobby, the house elf he had met a few years prior. As with all house elves, it was impossible for him to discern the gender of the creature but their nose was certainly of a different shape to Dobby's.

They had silenced themself upon noticing Harry's presence and the fifteen-year-old moved past the house elf to continue his ascent up the staircase. Behind him, the creature with the grumpy expression continued its duties, continuing to mutter, speaking as if they were really talking to this mistress they kept mentioning.

As Harry continued up the stairs Inner's eyes narrowed as she caught on to some of his surly murmurs.

"Kreacher is here."

'Kreacher? What does that mean?' The funny being had said that before, perhaps it was code for something?

Never mind that, before the words had escaped the house elf's scowling lips, Inner could have sworn she heard another voice. It was difficult to tell exactly, the low tone the house elf used could easily have tricked her ears into believing there was a second speaker but she did believe that this other voice sounded slightly higher pitch.

Harry did as Mrs Weasley instructed, entering the first door on the left. The second he entered the room the form of Hermione rushed over to him, her arms wrapping around him in a tight hug. Although he was taken aback by the jumpscare of a greeting, he returned her hug, waiting for his heart to calm down.

"Harry!" From over her shoulder, he spotted Ron approaching, though he did not leap at Harry as their female friend had. "Are you alright? We overheard them talking about the dementor attack. You must tell us everything."

"Let the man breathe, Hermione."

The brunette quickly dismissed Ron's words, eyes fixed on Harry as she continued.

"And this hearing at the Ministry, it's just outrageous. I've looked it up. They simply can't expel you, it's completely unfair."

'Life's unfair.'

"Yeah," Harry muttered. "There's a lot of that going around at the moment."

He took the time to look about the room. There were two single beds and the decor of the room matched the rest of the house, old and dark. The wardrobe was in need of a good clean though that could be said about the whole of the building. There was a single picture hung up on the wall; it appeared to be blank and blackened with age. The wallpaper was peeling and though it retained some of the hues of its original splendour, the colour had faded. The curtains that were tied back from the windows were creased and sitting on the mantlepiece of an old fireplace were a number of dust-bathed ornaments. One was an old-fashioned clock with fingerprints marked clearly in the dust. The frame around the mirror that was hung on the wall was brighter in some places than others which was the only reason anyone could tell it was gold in colour.

In comparison to the state of the room, the bed that Ron had clearly been using looked very out of place. It was messily made and a number of his clothes were draped across its end and on a chair in the corner. To add to that there was a glass of water on the side table along with some wrappers.

"So, what is this place?"

"It's headquarters." Ron supplied.

"Of the order of the Phoenix. It's a secret society. Dumbledore formed it back when they first fought You-Know-Who."

'Huh...'

"Couldn't have put any of this in a letter, I suppose?" Harry looked at his friends. "I've gone all Summer without a scrap of news."

'Did you not listen to what Harmonica just said? It's a secret society.'

Harry ignored the voice haunting his head. He was hurt. He hadn't had a clue as to why he had received no post from the two. He had thought that after last year- after he had witnessed Voldemort's uprising and the murder of Cedric that his best friends would make sure to check up on him over the Summer. When nothing came he had done his best to shake it off but he was hurt.

"We wanted to write, mate, really we did, only-"

"Only what?" Harry interrupted Ron. He was doing his best not to lose his temper; he was sure they had to have a good reason for not writing but after all that had happened he would really have appreciated some comforting words.

"Only Dumbledore made us swear not to tell you anything."

That caused Harry to pause.

"Dumbledore said that?" He frowned, his mind working desperately to make sense of this new piece of information. "But why would he wanna keep me in the dark? Maybe I could help, after all, I'm... I'm the one who saw Voldemort return, I'm the one who fought him, the one who saw Cedric Diggory get killed."

'Hey, calm down now... you're getting worked up.'

The second the words filled his mind a popping noise erupted in his ears and he jumped as he felt hands on his shoulders.

"Harry." He turned to see two identical faces.

'Oooo, the Weasel twins! I've been looking forward to seeing them!'

"Thought we heard your dulcet tones."

"Don't bottle it up though, mate, let it out."

The two sat on the bed their brother had claimed. They were wearing identical clothing, and as usual, Harry had no clue which twin was which.

"Anyway, if you're all done shouting." One of the twins started and the other leaned forward.

"Do you wanna hear something more interesting?"

'Oh, I like where this is going!' Inner grinned gleefully.

It turned out that Fred and George had come up with a rather clever invention over the summer. They called them Extendable Ears. In short, they could be used to listen in on conversations happening a distance away, which proved to be quite handy when it came to the meeting happening behind closed doors in the kitchen.

"If anyone has a right to know, it's Harry. If it wasn't for Harry we wouldn't even know Voldemort was back. He's not a child, Molly."

Inner approved of that statement. The boy was already fifteen; back in the Elemental Nations even the idea of someone at that age being thought of as a child was preposterous.

"But he's not an adult, either! He's not James, Sirius!"

Frankly, if Inner was an active part of that meeting she would have audibly groaned. Surely there were more important matters to be discussed? Harry was clearly fed up with it too; the boy was gripping the bannister like he wanted to strangle it.

"Well, he's not your son."

"He's as good as. Who else has he got?"

'Are we sure they're not the children? They sure are squabbling like five-year-olds.'

"He's got me."

A small flutter of warmth spurred to life in Harry's chest at those words. Mrs Weasley was the closest thing he had to a mother and he really did think of Sirius as family, the man was his godfather after all.

"Perhaps Potter will grow up to be a felon, just like his godfather."

The familiar drone of that nasally voice immediately caused the warmth inside him to die out.

"Stay out of this, Snivellus."

Near the other end of the extendable ear, Inner spotted a familiar feline. She decided to not mention this to Harry, curious to see how long it would take them to notice.

Harry frowned, looking at the rest of the small group gathered at the stairs.

"Snape's part of the Order?" His bepuzzlement was evident in his tone.

"Git." Hissed Ron.

It was only when a quiet meow was heard that the group of six- Ginny had joined them- stared at the fluffball below in quickly growing horror. Crookshanks, Hermione's ginger cat, was sitting on the stairs, eyeing the dangling listening device in a manner that caused panic to race through Harry's head.

The feline pounced on its dangling prey. Either the cat was oblivious to the hushed hissing coming from above, or he decided he wanted to be a menace. Regardless, the cat managed to rip his target from the thin cord it was hung by and proudly trotted off with his prize in his mouth.

"Bad Crookshanks!" Hermione called after the cat as loud as she dared.

Despite the chaos of the group losing their magic tool, Inner's thoughts were occupied by what had been uttered during the meeting. She wasn't preoccupied by the chance of some thinking of her new headmate as a child- although something most certainly would have to be done about it- but with the words exchanged between Harry's godfather and the slimy potions professor.

The former had mentioned the latter's reformation, apparently being told about it by her headmate's headmaster. Whatever this reformation indicated, Inner had a few ideas that were supported by Harry's memories. She was well aware that the relationship between the two men was of insults and obvious malice, but the level of distrust between them was slightly worrying. They were both part of this organisation which was formed to undo that dark wizard, but their spite towards each other could very well cause some hiccups.

It wasn't like Harry was any better; the memories she shuffled through were all tainted by strong opinions and an obvious dislike for the greasy-haired man. Although Inner does not like the man for the way he targets Harry, the boy's prejudice makes it more difficult for her to decide which side he is truly on. There was just something, a tickle at the back of her brain that was screaming at her that there was more to the story. She would have to wait as it seemed not all pieces of the puzzle had been uncovered yet.

Another thing that Inner was trying to solve was what it was that the Order was teetering on the edge about telling Harry. She supposed it was yet another thing she would have to use her very limited patience on. This new world was really testing her temper.

Molly Weasely called them down for dinner. Harry had spent the time between listening in on the Order's meeting and supper catching up with his friends. A part of him still felt sour towards them for the lack of mail he had received but as his temper died down he understood that they probably didn't have much of a choice.

"Well, we'll be eating down in the kitchen." The woman let out a loud shriek as Fred and George apparated behind her simultaneously. "Oh! Just because you're allowed to use magic now does not mean you have to whip your wands out for everything!"

"Hi, Mum," Ginny said softly as she passed.

The Weasley woman turned to Harry, her voice much quieter than it was moments before. "You hungry, Harry?"

It was honestly impressive how quickly the woman could change from warm and kind to fierce like a saber-tooth tiger and then back to a fussing mother. Inner respected the volume the woman could reach.

"You sure you're alright, Harry?" Mr Weasley put an arm around his wife's shoulders. "You gave us quite a turn."

"Harry Potter." From behind Mr Weasely's tall form, the voice of Sirius met Harry's ears. The red-haired couple parted and Harry did not wait a moment to run up to the man with open arms.

"Sirius!" Harry hoped that it wasn't obvious from his voice just how long he had been waiting to see his godfather again. The last year had been beyond tough and the amount of emotions and thoughts that had been plaguing him since his name had been pulled from the Goblet of Fire- since standing against Voldemort and Cedric's...

He had spoken with Sirius during his time at Hogwarts but it wasn't the same. When they had spoken through the flames of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, Harry hadn't been able to hug him, he hadn't been able to spend as long as he wanted catching up with him. They had so much to talk about and now that he was face to face with Sirius they could have those conversations.

Unfortuantly, he would have to wait a bit longer before having some time alone with his godfather. Dinner was served and it was most definitely very different to mealtimes at 4 Privet Drive. Tonks' nose had transformed into the snout of a pig and she was making noises to match. Ginny was finding it all too amusing while her brother's looked slightly disturbed. The dining table was long and many chairs had been crammed into the room so that they could all be seated.

Harry was seated opposite Lupin, Arthur next to the ex-professor with Sirius at the end of the table. The seat next to Harry was empty as Moody had taken to leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"This is very,very peculiar. It seems your hearing in the ministry is to be before the entire Wizengamot." Arthur Weasley had a curious frown on his face.

'What's a Whizzingamot?'

"I don't understand. What has the Ministry of Magic got against me?"

There was a moment of silence at the table. A moment of silence that Inner did not like.

"Show him." Moody stood a bit starighter. "He'll find out soon enough."

Harry as well as the rest of teens seemed to clock onto something not being right. The atmosphere had turned from warm to awkward, Mrs Weasley filling up people's glasses to fill the silence. Inner just hoped they weren't going to have to deal with anything too terrible. She had only just come to terms with the fact she was in a new person's head, she did not want any trouble to start off straight away. It might be a bit late for that; however, as that incident back in Little Whinging had had quite the effect.

Kingsley- who was seated to the left of Harry- handed the fifteen-year-old a newspaper. The front page had Inner scowling and Harry felt no better. Written in the Daily Prophet's signature font, was the headline: 'THE BOY WHO LIES?'. It was paired with a moving image taken during the Triwizard Tournement and Harry need not read any of the smaller font to know it was a load of rubbish.

"He's been attacking Dumbledore, as well." Sirius imformed him and the new imformation only worsened his already bad mood. "Fudge is using all his power, including his influence at the Daily Prophet, to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned."

'Sounds like a coward to me...'

Harry lifted his head from where he had silently been taking in the words on the newspaper. All in the room were silent as Sirius spoke. No one moved.

"But why?"

"The Minister thinks Dumbledore is after his job." Lupin explained.

"But that's insane! No-one in their right mind could believe that-"

"Exactly the point! Fudge isn't in his right mind, it's been twisted and warped by fear."

'Told you!'

Harry ignored her and focused on what the scarred man in front of him was saying.

"Now, fear makes people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power, he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear. Now he's returned and I'm afraid the Minister will do almost anything to avoid facing that terrifying truth."

"We think Voldemort wants to build up his army again. Fourteen years ago, he had huge numbers at his command. And not just witches and wizards but all manner of dark creatures. He's been recruiting heavily and we've been attempting to do the same. But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in." Sirius was interupted by Moody clearing his throat. The action was not lost on Inner. "We believe... Voldemort may be after something."

"Sirius." The man warned.

"Something he didn't have last time."

"You mean... like a weapon?" Harry wasn't certain what Sirius meant but if Voldemort was after a weapon and he had been so powerful the last time, then what if this weapon would be the thing to turn the Wizarding World onto his side?

"No. That's enough now." Molly made her way around the table from where she had been cutting vegetables. "He's just a boy! You say much more and you might as well induct him into the Order straight away!" She took the newspaper from Harry.

"Good. I want to join. If Voldemort's raising an army, then, I want to fight."

At Harry's words Sirius looked all too proud, leaning back in his seat. His reaction made Harry's lips curl into a small smile which grew slightly wider at the man's wink.

Inner stayed quiet the remainder of the evening. She didn't want to invade Harry's life more than she already had and he had clearly been ignoring her since they arrived at this so-called headquaters. Granted there had been a lot going on, their situation would take time to adjust to.

She also needed time to digest all that had happened since they had been whisked away from the house in Little Whinging. The whole thing was a lot to process. Whatever Sirius had almost spilled must be the same thing that they had been struggling to decide whether or not to tell Harry. What it was she still had little idea but the obvious warnings given to Sirius made her believe that they were leaning towards not sharing whatever it was with Harry. At least his gofather seemed to want to tell him, if it came to it, Inner was sure they could get some imformation out of him.

As Ron snored Harry was attacked by yet another nightmare but this time it wasn't about what had transpired during the last school year. The letter that gave him the news of his expellment, the news that his hearing would be taking place before the entire Wizengamot. All his recent anxiety summed up in one dreadful nightmare that had him waking up to his hands gripping the sides of his mattress and sweat sticking his hair to his forehead.

For a while he laid there, giving himself time to get his breathing under control. His heart had calmed down and although he was sure no one else was awake yet, he found he didn't feel like sleeping any longer. He also couldn't bring himself to move from his bed, the events of the nightmare echoing in his mind untill they were silenced by a voice.

'So why do you think that Minister guy is called Fudge? I mean, who names their child Fudge? That's a sweet here, right? You think his parents were obsessed with it or something?'

It seemed his problems had been tossed away in favour of another one of his issues. Harry had heard Inner comment occassionally on things but he hadn't bothered to respond to much of what she said. It was mostly because he still wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or something but he also didn't know how to respond to her. She mostly commented on others' words, sometimes she would just cackle and other times she would make some rather concerning noises that Harry guessed were meant to express a variety of different emotions.

Perhaps he hadn't woken up fully yet, or maybe he just wanted to get his mind off of the mess of things that had been plaguing him, but he found himself uttering a reply.

"Fudge is his surname." He said it so quietly he doubted anyone except himself could hear it.

'That is hardly any better.'

His parasite was peculiar. She said some odd things and he still wasn't sure if he should tell anyone about her or not but he did feel bizarly comfortable talking to her. Perhaps it wasn't the correct word to use but he certainly didn't feel like he was in any danger. Maybe that was what led to him continuing their conversation.

"Since becoming a part of the magic community I've found quite a few people with strange names." He looked up at the ceiling. "Neville, one of my friends at Hogwarts, his last name is Longbottom."

'I think all names here are strange.'

"Well, you can't even get mine right!"

'Whatever Otter-boy!'

"Point proven."

Thus they bickered. During their exchange the knowledge that Inner was an unwelcome guest in his head hadn't registered to him. It felt like he was chatting with one of his friends and it reminded him of Hogwarts, when he and the boys he shared a dorm with would stay up eating sweets and bantering.

It was a struggle not to wake Ron as he retalliated to her taunts. He spoke too loudly once which caused the snoring redhead to groan and turn over in his bed. The action had Harry silenced and stiff as a board but did not suceed in deterring Inner; though she did change the subject to a more serious one.

'So, what do you think the Order are hiding?' Inner was aware Harry already assumed it was some sort of weapon but bringing it up was a good conversation changer.

It took a few seconds of pondering for Harry to reply and despite already knowing what he was going to say, Inner didn't interupt.

"I don't know for sure but maybe there's some kind of magic artifact? I mean, during my first year at Hogwarts Voldemort was after the Philosopher's Stone so it's not out of the question to assume there's something similar that he'd want... right?"

Inner knew about the events of the years prior from his memories so she was reasonably caught up with what had happened. His guess was not a bad one at all and his reasoning behind it made sense. From what she knew; however, Voldemort had only been after the stone in hopes of restoring his body and achieving imortality. If there was another magical object that had caught his eye then what was it capable of in his hands? Perhaps it was similar to the Philosopher's Stone in that it could grant whoever posessed it with eternal life? She shared her thoughts with Harry, curious as to what he would make of it.

"That..." He sat up, a frown on his face as thoughts ran around Inner in a mock tornado. "That's possible but I don't know what could do that. The Philosopher's Stone can but it was destroyed years ago."

'There's nothing else that could do the same or something similar? Even if it was some kind of potion that could regenerate wounds or something that had a more temporary effect?'

"Unicorn blood!" Harry exclaimed a little too loudly, prompting another groan from the sleeping rehead in the bed next to him.

'That sounds ridiculous.'

"It really is a thing! I first learnt about it in my first year, I don't remember everything about it but I'm pretty sure it has a similiar effect." Inner hadn't doubted it was thing; at least not in this world. Unfortunatly, due to the holes in Harry's memories, Inner couldn't provide any more information then what Harry already knew. She was already missing the photographic memory Sakura had.

'Maybe ask Harmonica? She's smart, right?'

Harry's face scrunched up. "Harmonica?" He murmured.

'Yes, that bushy-haired girl who you have been friends with for the past... five years.'

"You mean Hermione? Do you have something that prevents you from being able to correctly say people's names? A hex perhaps?"

Inner ignored Harry with a roll of her eyes. 'Sounds the same to me. Anyway, she reads a lot so surely she'll be able to fill in the blanks of your poor memory.'

Harry made a noise of offense, retaliating the moment his mind pieced together a come back. Inner wasn't fased. She was in his head and could tell what he was going to say before his brain could even send the signals to his lips. It gave her a good advantage. Still, she did not allow it to go on for more then a couple of minutes and redirected his attention to her suggestion.

The teen sighed and allowed his body to fall back, his head landing on his pillow. "Hermione is a well of knowledge."

'So that's a yes. Maybe leave me out of the conversation?' She knew he wasn't likely to talk to anyone about her- at least not until some of the other issues in his life were sorted out- but she wanted him to know that she not only approved of the secrecy regarding her but wished for it to continue.

Harry nodded, resting an arm over his closed eyes. "I've got enough people questioning me, I don't need those who actually believe me to be having doubts about my mental state."

'Might want to get into the habit of talking to me through your thoughts instead of out loud then.'

Harry paused. He had forgotten that she could hear his thoughts. He glanced over at his snoring friend, feeling fortunate that the other boy was a deep sleeper. Harry could have saved himself a lot of anxiety if he had remembered the small piece of information- a frown settled on his face- or if Inner had reminded him sooner. He was unnerved at the lack of privacy he now had even inside his own head. He would much rather not have such an invasion of privacy dwelling in his brain.

~{*.*}~

Molly Weasley did not make them dawdle. The woman had assigned the teenagers the task of cleaning up the house and did not tolerate any complaints. There was a lot to do and it prevented any of them from sitting around complaining of boredom. It was a productive job that had Inner bathing in nostalgia. Despite it being a completely other world with very different ways of doing things, Inner was reminded of D-rank missions. Consequently, this caused memories of Team 7 to flood her thoughts. She missed those naive days when Naruto got pulled around by a dog much too big for him to handle, and the retrieval of a particular pesky cat was carried out with the utmost seriousness.

Perhaps that was why she had retreated from the front of Harry's mind the last couple of days. Along with the memories of missions that were more like chores, scenes she would much rather forget replayed in her head. It made her a bottle of mixed emotions. She felt sad, wanting to return to her home. She was angry that such things had even happened in the first place and she was guilty for not being able to return to her Outer. Although when she had been torn from Sakura, the pinkette had been working hard to better herself so she could not only protect herself and her team but also help Naruto bring back Sasuke, Outer was still suffering. It was so frustrating to Inner that when her counterpart had needed her the most she had been forcefully ripped from their shared mind. Their communication had been blocked off but she had still been there. She had still been beside Outer Sakura while she trained and studied, while she cried silent tears and had to fight against giving up. Even if Sakura had forgotten about her, Inner had been there. She wanted to be there. So why had she been taken away?

It was best for her to take a step away from the frontlines of Harry's head when her own mind was a mess. She did not want him to catch any of her issues from their shared space. He already had plenty to deal with. Once she had stifled the intrusive thoughts she would return to being a spectator of her new headmate's life.

Harry was doing alright cleaning up the place, there was a lot to get on with and although there were other things he'd much rather be doing, he enjoyed catching up with his friends. Thoughts of the Order and Voldemort were occupying his head and were being more stubborn than they had been over the last few days.

Whilst they had been handling the Doxy problem in the drawing room, Fred and George shared with him some business ideas. The twins were aiming to open a jokes shop and had been advertising their products in the Daily Prophet. Apparently, there was little chance of Molly finding out about it due to her refusing to read any of their papers since they started publishing nonsense. Harry was glad to know that their plans were still unknown to Mrs Weasley. The woman made it clear what she thought of their pranks and although he knew that even if she was aware, the twins would not give up despite her disapproval, it would make it more challenging for them.

Something Harry had found extremely interesting was the Black family's tree. Mrs Weasley had left to bring them up lunch and Sirius had entered the room. Kreacher, the house elf at Grimwauld Place, had been muttering nasty comments but after Sirius had entered the drawing room, the house elf had made quite a different kind of scene- at least somewhat. He had dropped to his knees in a bow and after being told to stand up had muttered some horrible things regarding Harry's godfather. It was only when Sirius had told him quite sternly to leave that the crude creature left; though not without grumbling a few more insults. Once Kreacher had gone, the long-haired man made his way across the room to the tapestry the house elf had been trying to protect from getting thrown away like a lot of the other mouldy clutter in the building. The tapestry was old- much like everything else- and the bespectacled teen wouldn't be surprised if some of the magical creatures occupying the house had gnawed at it over the years. Despite its worn appearance, the gold thread that made up its embroidery was vivid enough to reveal the family tree. At the top of the tapestry were large letters that read: 'The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black Toujours Pur'.

"You're not on here!" Harry's eyebrows furrowed. He had inspected it closely and could not find Sirius anywhere.

"I used to be there." His godfather pointed at a small scorch mark. This action also made Harry aware of multiple other singed spots across the tapestry. "My sweet old mother blasted me off after I ran away from home- Kreacher's quite fond of muttering the story under his breath."

"You ran away from home?"

"When I was about sixteen." Sirius's eyes were still fixed on the tapestry. "I'd had enough."

"Where'd you go?" Surely his godfather hadn't lived on his own so young? He must have had somewhere he could stay- someone who was willing to open their door for him.

"Your dad's place," said Sirius and Harry's heart skipped a beat. "Your grandparents were really good about it; they sort of adopted me as a second son. Yeah, I camped out at your dad's in the school holidays, and when I was seventeen I got a place of my own. My Uncle Alphard had left me a decent bit of gold - he's been wiped off here, too, that's probably why - anyway, after that I looked after myself. I was always welcome at Mr and Mrs Potter's for Sunday lunch, though."

Hearing about his family ignited a feeling inside of Harry that he couldn't explain. He wanted to know so much more about them yet the more he knew the more he felt bitter about never being able to meet them himself. That brought up a question in Harry's head. If he had a family, why would he willingly leave? Why, when he had a roof over his head and parents who loved him and whom he loved just as much?

"But... why... why did you...?" Harry struggled to get the words out.

"Leave?" A bitter smile twisted Sirius's face and the man ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. "Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal... my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them... that's him."

Sirius poked a finger at the very bottom of the tree where Harry could see the name 'Regulus Black'. A date of death, around fifteen years before the present day, followed the date of birth.

"He was younger than me," said Sirius, "and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded."

"But he died," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Stupid idiot... he joined the Death Eaters."

"You're kidding!" Harry felt his jaw drop.

"Come on, Harry, haven't you seen enough of this house to tell what kind of wizards my family were?"

"Were- were your parents Death Eaters as well?" If they were Harry was defiantly sure he would have run away had he been in his godfather's shoes. He might have left sooner!

"No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having pure-bloods in charge. They weren't alone, either, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colours, who thought he had the right idea about things... they got cold feet when they saw what he was prepared to do to get power, though. But I bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining up at first.'"

"Was he killed by an Auror?" Harry asked tentatively, he wasn't sure how much of a sensitive topic this was for Sirius.

"Oh, no. No, he was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely; I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out. Well, you don't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort. It's a lifetime of service or death."

It was then that Mrs Weasley reentered the room. Balanced on the end of her wand was a large tray loaded with sandwiches and cake. The others moved over to her, their appetites large from the amount of work they had done. Harry didn't budge from his spot, choosing to remain with Sirius who had bent closer to the tapestry.

It turned out to be a good decision to stay with Sirius. If Harry hadn't he would not have learned of the number of people related to his Godfather. For starters, Sirius and Tonks. Tonk's mother was Sirius' cousin -and apparently his favourite one at that. The Metamorphmagus' mum was named Andromeda and was also a victim of one of the scorch marks.

"Andromeda's sisters are still here because they made lovely, respectable pure-blood marriages, but Andromeda married a Muggle-born, Ted Tonks, so -" Harry's eyes followed along with Sirius' finger before taking their own path along the branch of names and that was when he made the most startling discovery of all.

"You're related to the Malfoy's!" He gasped. His attention had been brought to the names next to Andromeda's burn mark: her sisters. One, in particular, caught his eye, a double line of gold embroidery linked a Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy and a single vertical gold line from their names led to the name Draco.

"The pure-blood families are all interrelated," said Sirius. "If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods your choice is very limited; there are hardly any of us left. Molly and I are cousins by marriage and Arthur's something like my second cousin once removed. But there's no point looking for them on here - if ever a family was a bunch of blood traitors it's the Weasleys."

Harry backtracked and looked at the name to the left of Andromeda's burn: Bellatrix Black, which was connected by a double line to Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Lestrange..." Harry murmured aloud. The name had stirred something in his memory; he knew it from somewhere. Although he couldn't place where he knew it from, it gave him an odd, creeping sensation in the pit of his stomach.

That caused them to go down a whole new rabbit hole.

"They're in Azkaban," said Sirius shortly.

Harry looked at him curiously.

"Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus came in with Barty Crouch junior," said Sirius, in the same curt voice. "Rodolphuss' brother Rabastan was with them, too."

That was when Harry remembered. He had seen Bellatrix Lestrange inside Dumbledore's Pensieve, the peculiar device in which thoughts and memories could be stored: a tall dark woman who came off to him as unnerving, who had stood at her trial and proclaimed her continuing allegiance to Lord Voldemort, her pride that she had tried to find him after his downfall and her conviction that she would one day be rewarded for her loyalty.

"You never said she was your -"

"Does it matter if she's my cousin?" snapped Sirius. "As far as I'm concerned, they're not my family. She's certainly not my family. I haven't seen her since I was your age, unless you count a glimpse of her coming into Azkaban. D'you think I'm proud of having a relative like her?"

That shut Harry up pretty quickly. His question had been answered though. Even though he longed for his parents, two people who loved him unconditionally and who would forever protect him, he didn't think he would like them very much if they were like Sirius'. He was aware of who his parents were; knew they were brave and righteous people but he was still left with a hole in his heart. Harry was grateful to Sirius for sharing such information with him. He knew it was not an easy thing to talk about. He never mentioned the Dursleys and his life back in Little Whinging when around his friends. It just seemed like a waste to talk about such gloomy things when he was in his happy place. Besides, there were already plenty of reasons for those he cared about to worry about him, he didn't need to add more to the already too-long list.

It must be torturous for Sirius though. He was still a wanted man and in order not to return to Azkaban- or worse- he was confined to the gloomy walls of his childhood cage. It reminded Harry that despite Sirius being innocent he was still being punished. The thought of such unfairness caused the teen's hands to curl into fists.

The cleaning of the drawing room took them three days and by the end of it the only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, which was stuck thanks to a permanent sticking charm put on it by Sirius' mother, and the rattling writing desk. What was causing its odd movement was a mystery to Harry.

After the drawing room, they moved onto the dining room on the ground floor which they discovered was infested with horrifically large spiders hiding in the dresser. Ron had left immediately to make a cup of tea and took an hour and a half to return. Tidying up the house turned out to be a lot less like a chore and more like war as they wrestled against magical creatures and fought against Kreacher regarding getting rid of anything in the house. Some days they would have someone new offer their help for the day and other times they wouldn't see the perpetrator who had rang the doorbell and started Siruis' mother's screaming.

All in all, Harry found that it was the happiest he had been all summer. Being busy meant he was too occupied to let his brain slowly fill up with anxiety but when the day slowed and he lay in bed there were no ghouls hiding in the toilet nor any other critters to be taken care of. His mind raced with worries about the hearing and getting expelled from Hogwarts. He fretted over having to return to the Dursleys and not having the retreat of the magic world. He couldn't bear to confide in others, not even Ron and Hermione. He was getting no sleep but he was aware enough to catch glimpses of worried looks being exchanged between them whenever they thought he wasn't looking.

The worry grew worse the day before his hearing and when his head hit his pillow, Harry knew he would not be able to sleep. His nerves made him restless and the knowledge that the next day would likely go worse if he got no rest did not help. One by one anxious thoughts popped to life in his mind and no matter how he tossed and turned Harry could not get himself to fall asleep. He was going to get expelled. He wouldn't ever get to see his friends again. He wouldn't be able to spend any more time with Sirius. Hogwarts would only be a memory- one he would never be able to talk about.

'You got the jitters?'

As if those words had been a spell, all that had previously cramped his head disappeared.

"Inner..." He mumbled.

'Come on, we've talked about this. Don't speak aloud when conversing with me.' She continued before he could get the apology past his lips. 'Imagine if we were in the middle of your hearing and you just suddenly start speaking to yourself. I doubt that would help you plead your case.'

He groaned. Just when he thought he wouldn't be bothered by any more thoughts of his hearing until the morning.

'Thanks for giving me one more thing to worry about.' He turned onto his side.

'That's why I'm telling you in advance. Really you should be thanking me. Imagine I left it until you were already at the Ministry, what a disaster that would be. Anyway, it doesn't seem to me that you want any sleep tonight so I thought that this would be a good time to talk about tomorrow.'

Talking about his impending doom was the last thing he wanted to do. He had thought for a moment that Inner would help him but now he was realising that he had probably only thought that because he was so sleep-deprived. It seemed like she would only be an annoyance to him.

He winced as a sudden sharp pain pierced his temples. It lasted no longer than a second before it vanished completely.

'Do not call me that.'

"Did you just do that?" Harry hissed, sitting up in his bed.

'I was only offering to come up with a plan for tomorrow. I do not tolerate being called annoying.'

"I thought you said you didn't mean me any harm?" If he wasn't careful he would wake up Ron.

'I don't, that was just a warning. Now, instead of fruitlessly trying to get some sleep, how about we do something practical?'

Harry did not appreciate the way she was acting. She was capable of making him feel pain and there wasn't anything he could do about it! He took in a deep breath before lying down and closing his eyes. He did not care for what she had to say. He would not be able to keep up with whatever the Ministry threw at him if he wasn't well rested.

'Look, I get that you're nervous and although sleep is important, with the way things are going it's unlikely you'll be able to fall asleep at all. Even if you do you'll get a couple of hours at most and they will likely be filled by nightmares. It would be wiser to prepare for what is to come.'

Harry sighed. A part of him knew that she was right. His nightly routine recently had been tossing and turning, getting a few hours of sleep before waking up in a cold sweat. With all the stress of what was to come the next day, it was likely his nightmares would be worse than usual. Despite this, he didn't see how talking about the hearing could help. Harry had no clue what to expect and with how biased most were against him, he imagined that his case would be less fair than most.

'And that is precisely why we should prepare,' Inner piped up from inside his head. 'I don't know what we'll be walking into either but being prepared will probably be helpful.'

'If we don't know what will happen how could we prepare?' At this point, Harry was only replying to Inner because the chances of him dropping off were becoming more unlikely with each passing second.

'Well, we know why you're going to the Ministry.'

'Because I used magic outside of school, in front of muggles.'

'Right. So obviously that should be the main reason why you have been asked to go there.'

Harry frowned. 'Should?'

'Oh come on! You must realise that it can't purely be due to that. Sure it gave them an excuse to summon you but they will likely bring up other stuff. Anyway, they seem to know all the details of the incident so although you acted in self-defence I'm not sure that will be enough to get you off the hook... Barry... were those creepy undead things meant to be in the muggle world?'

Her question caused Harry to still. His eyebrows furrowed in thought as he digested her words.

'I don't know. I've never seen one outside of the magic community until then. Maybe there was a reason why they were there- there has to be. Maybe they were looking for Voldemort!'

'That isn't likely. Don't you remember? That Minister is terrified of him so much so he refuses to even acknowledge the idea that he might have returned. Also, isn't the Ministry sort of in charge of those skeleton- oh...'

Inner suddenly going silent was not a good sign. Harry had learnt quickly that she loved to talk so her going quiet in the middle of her sentence had him on edge. It was Inner who had started their conversation, who had chosen the subject and Harry knew that between the two of them, he was the most uncomfortable about the topic. The pause lasted for several moments until he spoke up, feeling on edge.

"What is it..?"

'I might be overthinking but the Ministry has some level of control over those creatures, right?' She continued after Harry responded with a thoughtful nod. 'They aren't really known for loitering around the muggle world but a couple found you and that cousin of yours. It doesn't sound right because why would they go there and why would they just so happen to run into you? There were no other sightings of any and I believe it would be all over the place if some muggles just happened to spot them... so could they have been seeking you out intentionally? And would it be completely insane to think the Ministry had told them to do this?'

A/N: It is finally done! This chapter took a lot out of me and my brain felt as though it had been fried several times so please excuse any errors. The next chapter will feature the Ministry along with Harry's hearing! It will probably be a bit of a wait until I finish it but I will try and get it done in less time then this one.

Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you enjoyed!