Chapter 8: Serious Sirius and Occlumency

After 15 minutes Harry called everyone for dinner. Sirius and the Twins came shortly and sat at the table.

"Merlin, Harry! What smells so nice?" Sirius asked.

"I'm glad you like it." Harry said grinning.

After that Hermione walked in and grinned at Harry. She didn't look like she was crying 15 minutes ago. She gets plates for everyone and gives them to them. Then she sat down so as to leave some space between herself and Sirius for Harry. In the meantime Harry took the pie out of the oven and put it on the table.

"Please help yourself. I don't cook like Mrs. Weasley but I hope you like it" Harry said to everyone while sitting. On Twins' faces it can be seen that their mouths were watering.

"Hermione, you were helping our chef to prepare this masterpiece so you start." Padfoot said. At this statement, Hermione put a portion of pie on her plate and sat a little closer to Harry. When she finished everyone else rushed to taste some of this delicious smelling dish.
When the Twins tasted it, their eyes were wide. Sirius gasped. Hermione purred.

"Harry, this is incredibly good!" Hermione stated.

"That's an understatement." Sirius interrupted. "I never eat something as delicious as this."

"Harry, our mother's…" started one of the Twins.

"cooking is no match for yours" ended second.

Because of all the compliments and appreciation he received for what he thought was a simple meal, Harry became embarrassed and turned red in the face. During the dinner no one was talking. Everyone was so absorbed in the meal that no one bothered with social conventions. Only Sirius, towards the end of the meal, when there was only one tiny portion left in the roasting pan because everyone was taking second helpings, waved his wand and the rest flew onto the kitchen counter.

"It's for Tonks. She will come to us after work." Sirius said after he saw surprised faces on everyone's faces.

"Harry, that was amazing" Hermione said.

"Thank you" Harry shyly said. "Pleas, give me your plates, so i can wash dishes"

"Oh-no-no" Sirius said. "You cook, we clean" He waved his wand and plates started cleaning themselves. "And now, I believe we have work to do" Sirius sighs. "The best way to learn occlumency is to have a partner who can probe you looking for any hole in your protection. You must trust your partner because in the beginning he or she will be able to see every memory and thought you have." Sirius said. The Twins looked at each other and nodded. Harry shyly looked at Hermione with hope. She firmly nodded at him.

"She is always there when I need her. What I can do to not lose her." Harry thought to himself.

"Before I teach you how to shield your mind I teach you how to invade another mind. We will be using a wandless method. It's slower but much safer." Padfoot started in a tone similar to professor McGonagall. "Learning occlumency in this method consists of four steps. First, SEE. Second, ORGANIZE. Third, PROTECT. Fourth, IMPROVE. In the first step you must see what the mind looks like. This will give you an idea of how you can protect your mind. If you don't know what you are protecting it is hard to protect it. In the second step you will be organizing your mind. The more orderly the mind, the easier it is to defend it against intruders. The protect step is a bit tricky. You'll have to try to visualise your mindscape and set protection on it. Then your partner will be searching for any holes. If they find any then you must protect that place as well as rest of your mind, and that is fourth step."

"It's that all?" Hermione asked. "It seems very easy."

"It may be looked like it but first try legilimency in first place, then you could said it easy" Sirius answered.

"So how can we start our mindreading lesson" Harry asked.

"Sit in front of each other and look into yours eyes, then try to reach with your magic into your partners mind through his or her eyes. It's similar to summoning charm. You try to summon your partner mind to you." Sirius explained. "If you success then you can see or hear some memories or thoughts."

After an hour they were all silent. First to move besides Sirius, who was having a drink every now and then, was Harry. He was taken aback, eyes wide and pink on cheeks.

"Sorry, Hermione" he mumbled with his head down. "I've seen your memory."

"It's brilliant, Harry" Hermione said.

"Excellent, Harry" Sirius praised his godson. "Now, I think everyone needs a break." He looked at clock. "Let's say we meet here at 8 o'clock. Tonks should return until that." On that everyone started to gather themselves, groaning after sitting almost motionless for an hour. The Twins went to theirs room, while Harry and Hermione went to his room. On that Harry blushed slightly.

"Spit it out." Hermione demanded crossing her arms over her chest.

"Split what?" Harry said.

"Which of my memory did you seen?" Hermione said rolling her eyes. Harry looked very hesitant and extremely uncomfortable. "Harry, look," Hermione started soften "I trust you. I knew you could see literally anything from my memory. It can be something secret, embarrassing or disgusting. But I trusted that you won't be judging me by what you will see in my mind."

"OK, I got it. I'll say it to you." Harry quickly said and sighed. "I've seen …"

A/N: Hello everyone. If you like this story, if you have anything to say feel free to write rev. It's realy nice to read yours comments.

see you soon!