Harry Potter and the return of the Dementors

Harry Potter and the return of the Dementors (7/?)

---------------------- Chapter 7 ----------------------

When they arrived back, the four from Hogwarts landed on a hill, just outside the town. Having transformed back as soon as he landed, Harry looked at the rest of the group, who looked as tired as himself. It was late into the night, but, even from here, Harry could see that there was an abnormally large number of people within Hogsmeade.

"It's late, and we've done enough for tonight", Ron said, before yawning and sitting down under a tree. The yawn was contagious, and before long, Harry, Hermione and Tim were all yawning.

"Yeah, I think that's probably a good idea", Harry said generally, laying down on the hill, and seemingly preparing to go to sleep next to Ron. However, Harry had no intention of going to sleep, tired as he was. Harry suspected, from the amount of light coming from Hogsmeade, that there were still people awake. Harry thought it would be a good idea to try and find out what had exactly happened at Hogwarts when they were away.

Before long, the others had also lain down on the hill. Harry waited for a while, and, when there was no movement from the others, stood up quietly, ready to go into Hogsmeade. However, before he even moved away from the hill, Harry felt a hand close on his ankle, stopping him from moving.

"Oh no you don't, Harry", Hermione said softly through the darkness.

"Hmmm? What are you doing up, anyway?", Harry asked, surprised

"Waiting for you to start sneaking away. I knew you were going to - I heard it in your voice before. You had no intention of sleeping, and we both know it." Hermione said.

"Well...OK. I'm still going down to Hogsmeade though, I'll be back soon.", Harry said softly, so not to wake Ron or Tim from their sleep.

"You mean we'll be back soon, I think. You're not going anywhere alone, Harry". Hermione stood up while saying this.

"Oh...really Hermione! I can look after myself you know!", Harry replied.

"I'm sure you can, Harry. You've done that more times than I care to remember. I'm still coming along, though. You don't mind, do you?". Hermione spoke quietly, not wanting Ron to wake up. She didn't know how to explain this if he woke...

Harry knew that he wasn't going anywhere without Hermione following, so he said "Oh...OK then". Harry inclined his head towards Hogsmeade "Let's go."

Walking down the hill, Hermione asked "Where are we going, Harry?"

"Down to Hogsmeade, Hermione. I'm going to try to find out what happened at Hogwarts when we were gone.", Harry replied.

Harry and Hermione didn't quite make it that far. Harry heard a sound behind him, but before he could even react to it, ropes sprung out of thin air, neatly tying both him and Hermione, causing them to fall over. On the ground, Harry could see Hermione, frozen in shock. Having had this done to him before, Harry tried to struggle out of the ropes, but to no avail. He could only roll around on the ground. Harry could see shadows walking towards him and Hermione, but could do nothing.

"Aha! Who have we caught, trying to sneak inside the town?". Harry didn't recognise the voice. Both Harry and Hermione were too nervous to answer, not knowing who the men were. One of the men lit his wand, and, having done this, Harry could see that the men were pointing their wands at both himself and Hermione.

When the group reached where Harry and Hermione were, one of the men bent over to see who he had caught. Having seen Harry, the man stood up and said:

"Hey, false alarm. Guess who we caught?", the man chuckled.

"Who?" Another man in the group asked.

"Harry Potter.", the first man said, laughing.

"Nice try! No...who is it?" The other man said, lowering his wand.

"No...really, it IS Harry Potter, come, take a look if you don't believe me!"

The group of men all moved up, bringing the light over Harry. Harry could feel dozens of people staring at him. Harry squirmed under the attention he was receiving, and would have given anything to disappear on the spot. A couple of men laughed, until one spoke up.

"Oh come on...Harry's not something you stare at in a zoo!". The man said something, and he and Hermione were released from their bonds. There was something familiar about that voice.

"Um...thanks.", Harry said, sitting up and rubbing where the ropes had been. Harry looked around nervously. In the whole group of men, Harry recognised the one who had freed him. It was Bill, Ron's brother.

"Don't worry Harry, We're not going to hurt you. You OK down there?", Bill asked Harry, seeing the nervous look on his face. Seeing Harry looking over at Hermione, Bill said "Yeah, Hermione's OK. Don't worry."

"Yeah, I'm fine.", Harry replied, motioning for Bill to come closer.

"What's wrong, Harry?", Bill asked, confused why Harry would want to say something to him in private.

"Nothing's really wrong...Just wanted to tell you, Ron's on top of that hill" Harry gestured towards the hill "He's sleeping under the tree".

"OK. Thanks. I'll walk you two back to the town. It's not safe out here.". Bill stood up, then helped Harry onto his feet.

"Hey! Quit staring! It's quite rude.", Bill shouted at the other aurors, who suddenly decided that there were other more interesting things to look at than Harry.

"Thanks, Bill", Harry said gratefully, relieved from all the attention. Hermione walked over to Bill and Harry.

"Oh! Hi Bill! Why did you tie US up for?"

"Can't be too careful nowadays. Didn't recognise you in the dark. Anyhow, it wasn't me.", Bill replied.

"What happened to Hogwarts, anyhow?", Harry asked Bill.

"Forget Hogwarts, what in blazes have you two and Ron been up to?", Bill asked Harry in return.

"Saving our lives, apparently.", Professor Lupin's voice drifted through the darkness.

Bill, Harry and Hermione wheeled around quickly to face Professor Lupin.

"What did you just say, Remus?", Bill asked, in shock

"Harry, Hermione and Ron were with our auror group, Bill", Professor Lupin explained. "We would have probably lost if not for them."

"Well...that was fortunate. Yours was the only auror group to actually defeat the dementors. Everyone else had to retreat to somewhere else. Many of the aurors have linked up, now.". Bill turned to Harry "You're very lucky, Harry. Picked the right group...and didn't get hurt either. Stupid thing to do though. Don't push your luck too far, Harry. You're too important to lose."

"Why does everyone thing I'm so important?", Harry spluttered. "I'm no more important than anyone else!"

"Actually Harry, you're quite a bit more important than you seem to realise...or than you want to admit, anyway", Bill replied. At this, Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Hermione for support. Hermione got the message.

"Um...I don't think Harry wants to talk about this...again. Not tonight at least.", Hermione offered in the background.

"Oh...OK then" Bill said, smiling. "You may not think you're important, but I certainly do...so don't go doing anything stupid, OK?". Harry nodded in agreement. He'd still stand up and fight, but he wasn't suicidal. Bill put his hand over Harry's shoulder. "Let's get you to Hogsmeade, then. We'll tell everyone that you're alive after all. Caused quite a commotion when we couldn't find you at Hogwarts!"

"You mean...everyone thinks I'm...well...dead? Some of the staff knew where I was!", Harry asked in disbelief.

"No. But everyone got worried when you went missing. Nobody knew exactly where you were, actually. But I was pretty sure you were alive - your death defying antics are legendary now", Bill said, grinning.

"Oh, I haven't seen you since then, so congrats on winning the Triwizard tournament!", Bill added. However, as soon as he saw Harry react upon hearing those words, Bill realised that he had made a big mistake. Harry gave a big sigh, and instantly became distant, seemingly detatched from his body and the world in general. 'Oh...bugger. What have I done?', Bill thought. Harry's pace slowed down as well, his mind now obviously on other things. Bill noticed how Harry's posture changed as well, Harry was slouching, looking down at his feet.

Hermione noticed the change in Harry as well. She recognised what was happening, the haunted look that Harry was showing was all too familiar. Hermione moved next to Bill.

"What did you just do?", Hermione hissed.

"I'm not sure. I just congratulated him on winning the Triwizard Tournament last year and then Harry went all funny..."

"Maybe that's because Harry's still feeling guilty about Cedric Diggory dying last year!", Hermione replied, annoyed that Bill had put Harry back into this state, undoing all the work she and Ron had done over the year.

"What's Harry feeling guilty for? He didn't kill him!", Bill asked Hermione

"Survivor guilt, Bill.", Hermione responded. "He's feeling guilty for a multitude of reasons, which I won't go into now. Harry was like this when he came to Hogwarts at the beginning of this year. Recently, I've been thinking that he's been starting to get over it...he's been getting more cheerful lately. But now he's just gone back into his shell again."

Bill swore. "I can't believe I didn't think before I said that!" Bill muttered under his breath. "Hermione?".

"Hmmm?" Hermione gave as return for an answer.

"Harry'll be OK though, right?", Bill asked.

"I think so. It might take a day, or it might take months like last time, but I'm pretty sure Harry'll pull through.", Hermione responded.

Bill, Hermione and Harry strolled into Hogsmeade together. As soon as they went into the town, Hermione was reminded of her third and fourth years at Hogwarts, where this town had played a part in the lives of her, Ron and Harry. Strolling up the main street, Hermione kept stealing glances at Harry, without him realising. Hermione knew what was going through Harry's mind, now, but she knew that although this was something she could help Harry with, eventually, it would come down to whether Harry would ever forgive himself for the horrible events that happened last year. Harry walked into a park by the river, and sat down by the riverbank, immersed in his thoughts. Absently, Harry picked up a pebble, and skimmed it across the river, unaware that Hermione and Bill were watching him. Busy watching Harry, Hermione and Bill were unaware of another person watching over all of them.

"Ah. I see that you are in good health, Hermione.", Professor Dumbledore said from behind them.

Both Hermione and Bill looked around quickly.

"Yes, they're all in good health. Ron's up on the hill, sleeping. There's a couple of aurors on the hill, watching.", Bill replied.

Professor Dumbledore looked at Bill and Hermione, and then looked at Harry, who was still sitting by the riverbank.

"Harry doesn't look so well.", Professor Dumbledore commented softly.

"He's OK" Hermione said quietly. "Physically at least. He's thinking about Cedric again, which is why he seems so...distant at the moment."

Professor Dumbledore sighed. "I really feel for Harry sometimes, you know. People expect much from him, and he's had to deal with the pressure of their expectations of him. He's had high expectations for himself as well, everyone does. He's saved the school from Voldemort twice, now. He's probably thinking, wrongly, that he could have saved his friend, and fellow Triwizard champion, Cedric, from Voldemort. It won't matter how many people forgive him and tell him that it wasn't his fault, because Harry doesn't need forgiveness from others, he needs it from himself."

Hermione then blurted out what had been on her mind for quite a while. "Harry's got a lot on his plate, and it's getting worse over this last year. Everyone's looking for him to do something against Voldemort. Harry's only fifteen...how can everyone expect that? And why won't Harry ever ask for help?"

"I understand that this is hard on you as well. Harry's trying to come to grips with the fact that Cedric was murdered in front of his eyes, and he was powerless to do anything about it. Even as a fellow Triwizard Champion, Harry didn't know Cedric that well. You've seen the pain and suffering that has followed Cedric's death. Imagine what would happen should someone close to Harry, like you or Mr Weasley, be killed in front of him? It would totally destroy his morale, and I doubt that even he could come to terms with that, and Harry's one of the strongest characters that I've seen in a long while. He's worried about his friends, and I believe that it's this, as well as Cedric's death, that is affecting him right now. He doesn't want you to get hurt, and I suppose that he believes that if you don't get involved in anything dangerous that he's planning to do, you won't."

Hermione stood in silence, looking at Harry while she absorbed what Dumbledore was telling her. 'You may not want to believe this, Harry, but you ARE more important than you think', Hermione thought.

"Oh, Hermione, one more thing", Professor Dumbledore said.

"Sure, Professor Dumbledore", Hermione replied.

"Try your best to cheer Harry up soon. I'm sure he'll appreciate the company. I'll ask Sirius to come over and help you, he's the closest thing that Harry has to a father. I hope its enough." Dumbledore said this to Hermione, before walking back into Hogsmeade and trying to find Sirius. Bill also left, leaving Hermione with Harry.

Hermione walked to where Harry was sitting, and sat down silently next to him. She could see, from the moonlight, that Harry had been crying.

"You OK, Harry?", Hermione asked softly.

"Yeah...I suppose so.", Harry replied, barely audible.

"What happened?", Hermione asked Harry, trying to engage him in conversation.

"Well, I was talking with Bill, and then he basically congratulated me for standing back and letting Cedric die...", Harry's voice trailed off, he was speaking so softly that his words were carried away in the breeze.

"Harry, Bill didn't mean that. I'm sure he didn't.", Hermione said sympathetically.

"Yeah, I know.", Harry answered. "But thoughts of the Triwizard tournament will always bring back memories of Cedric."

Hermione thought for a moment, and realised that she had an opening, a small one, that she could work through. Hermione knew that she had to break Harry's train of thought, off Cedric, and onto his own actions during the tournament.

"Harry, the fact that you survived the duration of the tournament should be cause for celebration. You won that tournament fair and square, Harry.", Hermione said, hoping for a positive response from Harry.

"I didn't exactly win that tournament fairly, Hermione. I had someone cheating on my behalf, although I didn't know it then.", Harry responded.

"Even then," Hermione continued "I found out a lot about you during the tournament, Harry. Especially in the second task, which you could have won, if you had wanted. You stayed at the bottom of the lake, and when Fleur didn't arrive, took both Ron and her sister back to the surface."

"That was because I was thick enough to believe the merpeople's song in the egg", Harry replied, glumly.

"Even if you didn't take the song literally, you would have stayed down anyway. I've known you for four and a bit years now, and if there's one thing I'm certain about, Harry, its the fact that you care about other people more than you care about yourself. I don't know what the hat saw in you, Harry, but you're a Gryffindor at heart.", Hermione said, softly, but purposefully.

Hermione watched as her words sunk into Harry's mind. Having successfully distracted Harry from his thoughts of Cedric, Hermione was now watching Harry slowly emerging from his depressed state, back towards what she considered normal. As Harry lifted his chin, he caught Hermione's gaze, and they looked into each other's eyes.

It has been said that the eyes are the window to the soul. Looking at Harry's eyes, Hermione noticed that, in the last year, they appeared to have changed. When they were younger, Hermione used to think that Harry's eyes were almost bright enough to glow in the dark. It now appeared that the light that Hermione had seen had been dimmed. Hermione supposed that something within Harry had changed as well. With the killing curse that claimed Cedric's life, Voldemort had managed to change Harry in a way that Hermione hadn't seen before. Hermione decided that she was going to try and reverse the change. Hermione realised that the Harry that entered the maze on that fateful day was no different from the Harry that emerged. It was just that the Harry that emerged from the maze seemed to have left something behind. Looking at Harry now, Hermione somehow knew that although Harry still had his courage, he had lost his self-confidence. Hermione smiled encouragingly at Harry, who returned the smile given to him. It was then, at that time, that Hermione realised that Harry would be OK.

Hermione stood up beside Harry, causing him to look up at her curiously. Still smiling at him, Hermione reached down and pulled Harry onto his feet. Hermione ran her fingers through Harry's hair, and she felt oddly protective of him. In fact, Hermione sometimes saw Harry as the brother that she never had. Harry started looking downwards, but Hermione put her hand underneath his chin, and pushed upwards gently, so that they established eye contact once again. After she moved her hand back, Harry's head remained in the upright position, so Hermione took to playing with Harry's hair again. Harry and Hermione stood in amicable silence, and that is how Sirius found them when he arrived.

Walking into the park, Sirius found Harry and Hermione where Dumbledore said they were, by the riverbank. However, by the time he arrived, Sirius found that Harry was already suitably cheered up, and so he walked over to where Harry and Hermione was standing, happy that Hermione had been able to help Harry. Hermione was still playing with Harry's hair, running her hand through it and watching as Harry's hair flopped back into shape.

"Everything OK, you two?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, I think we're fine, thanks", Hermione answered. Next to her, Harry turned around and looked at Sirius.

"How about you?", Sirius asked Harry.

"I'm OK, thanks", Harry responded to his Godfather, smiling.

"I'm glad to hear it.", Sirius responded gently. Reaching out, Sirius ruffled Harry's hair in a way that made Harry smile.

"Is my hair really that interesting?", Harry asked, looking at both Sirius and Hermione in turn. At this, both Hermione and Sirius burst out laughing.

"Er...yes?", Sirius offered mischeviously, causing Hermione to burst into another fit of uncontrolled giggling. Harry playfully hid his face behind his hands, peeking out between his fingers. Sirius left his hand where it was, however, and his thumb found the scar that had been part of Harry's life since he was one. This caused Harry to look up at Sirius curiously.

"That didn't hurt, did it?", Sirius asked, concerned.

"No, it's fine, don't worry", Harry replied, shaking his head slowly as if to emphasise the point.

Sirius smiled. "Harry, you really are quite interesting, you know."

"How so?", Harry replied, confused to why Sirius found him interesting.

"Well...just the way that you are, really. There's a bit of both your parents in your character, Harry, and it shows. And then, there's other parts to you that I don't understand. You're a mystery to me in some ways. I'm afraid that, despite being your godfather, I don't know you very well.", Sirius started.

Harry was lost for words, wanting to say something, but, at the moment, he was overcome. Eventually, Harry managed to say "I'm sure that will change over time, Sirius."

"I hope so, anyhow." Sirius responded. "Your parents would have been proud of you, Harry."

Harry couldn't bring himself to speak, no matter how hard he tried. Instead, Harry looked at Sirius, who was smiling down on him benevolently. Upon seeing Harry visibly struggling for words, Sirius said "I wonder how the two most open people I knew in Hogwarts produced a son so quiet."

Harry smiled at Sirius, who somehow understood what Harry was thinking, without him needing to actually say something. Finally, Harry said softly "Well, for the first eleven years of my life, I never really had anyone to talk to. I suppose I've gotten used to not saying much at all."

"Surely Harry, your Aunt and Uncle must have talked to you sometime?", Sirius asked gently.

"No...not really, unless they were angry at me for something that I'd done either by accidental magic, or something Dudley had done. But even then, they'd usually just shut me up in my cupboard and forget about me for a while.", Harry said, summing up his life at Privet Drive.

"You telling me that...when I found you, that wasn't the first time your uncle locked you in that cupboard?", Sirius asked sympathetically.

"Sirius, I literally grew up in that cupbooard. For the first eleven years of my life, until I got my Hogwarts letter in fact, I lived in that cupboard, regardless of the fact that there was a spare room upstairs." Harry explained.

"Sorry if I brought back bad memories, Harry. It's just that...I'd assumed that they would have treated you well. Especially your Aunt Petunia - you're the only living proof that her sister ever existed. It seems that I was wrong.", Sirius responded.

"No, it's fine.", Harry said simply. With what Sirius had said still in his head, Harry thought about his life before Hogwarts, at Privet Drive. None of his relatives had really come across to Harry as approachable, but he supposed that Aunt Petunia had been that little bit nicer to him than Dudley or Uncle Vernon. Harry, however, realised that wasn't too hard to achieve. Aunt Petunia wasn't friendly to him, but nor was she quite as horrible as the other two either.

Harry yawned, his lack of sleep catching up on him. Upon seeing this, Sirius said "I think it's time for you to go to sleep now, Harry". The idea of sleep agreed with Harry at the moment, so he agreed. Not having anywhere to stay at the moment, Harry decided that here by the riverbank was as good a place as any to go to sleep, so after bidding Hermione and Sirius good night, Harry lay down on the soft sand of the riverbank, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. It was a measure of how tired Harry was that he forgot to take his glasses off.

Sirius and Hermione watched as Harry fell asleep on the riverbank, under the moonlight. Both Sirius and Hermione were watching as sleep enveloped Harry. After Sirius was satisfied, by Harry's deeper than usual breathing, that he was indeed asleep and not faking, he turned to talk to Hermione, who was still awake, standing next to him.

"Does he always sleep with his glasses on?", Sirius asked Hermione, gesturing down at Harry.

Hermione chuckled. "No, I think he just forgot to take them off this time" she said. After saying this, Hermione reached down to Harry, and with a gentle and deft hand, plucked Harry's glasses off his face without waking him up. Hermione then gave Harry's glasses to Sirius, who put them in his pocket.

"Thanks", Sirius said, when Hermione gave him Harry's glasses. "Harry doesn't know it yet, but he's in for a bit of a surprise tomorrow"Sirius said to Hermione.

"Um...am I allowed to know what that is, or is it a surprise for me as well?", Hermione asked

"Well, it doesn't matter if you know. After hearing what Harry told me before, I'm not too sure about the wisdom of this anymore, but Harry's aunt's here in Hogsmeade.", Sirius explained.

"What about Harry's uncle and his cousin Dudley? It's just that I think Harry and Dudley have started getting along, so I would have thought he'd have been more willing to visit than Harry's aunt.", Hermione said, explaining what she was thinking.

"Well, I was thinking about Dudley as well, actually, after seeing him talking with you, Harry and Ron at the party we had at your place. But he's at a muggle boarding school, and he couldn't get away from there. Harry's uncle...well...I probably wouldn't have asked him anyway, but he's in prison at the moment.", Sirius offered as an explaination.

"In prison? What for?", Hermione asked incredulously.

"He's in prison for the intentional mistreatment of a child placed under his care.", Sirius said, reading off a paper that he had just taken out of his pocket.

"You mean, for starving Harry half to death?", Hermione asked.

"Yes, for that. I think 'half' was an understatement as well. You saw the state that Harry was in when I brought him into your care before term started. I don't know if you know this, but when I found Harry at his uncle's place, he was curled up, under his bed, hiding from the world. I think he had given up all hope of ever getting out of that cupboard alive, and, from his state, I don't think he had much time left alive if we hadn't taken him away. Harry basically had no energy left in him, I haven't seen many people in that state, even in Azkaban. Even standing up and walking was an effort for him, that's how badly he was starved. Thanks for sending me what Harry wrote in his letter as well, you may just have saved Harry's life. I doubt he would have survived to the beginning of term, which is when people would have realised that something was wrong.", Sirius replied.

"How did that happen anyway? You couldn't have told the police, they're after you as well!", Hermione asked. It seemed to Sirius that Hermione was continually asking questions.

"Yes, that's true. In fact, Harry's aunt felt guilty about what happened to him, and she helped me. Apparently, she had wanted to get Harry out of there earlier, but Harry's uncle stopped her. So, she asked Dudley to try and contact any of Harry's friends. He found your number on Harry's desk. That's why I found Harry's pre-Hogwarts home life so surprising. I'd thought Harry's aunt had been nicer to him than she actually was.", Sirius said simply.

"Well, she's come here to visit Harry, so that's an improvement of some sorts, I suppose" Hermione thought aloud.

"I suppose so", Sirius agreed. "Well, Harry's aunt's got a spare bed in the tent that we've put up for her, and if all turns out, Harry will stay with her as well. It's been magically enlarged so it's like a small cottage inside."

Hermione remembered the tent that she had stayed in with the Weasleys and Harry when they went to the Quidditch World Cup. She supposed that this tent was similar. While Hermione was thinking about how well Harry would really get on with his aunt after all these years, Sirius had somehow managed to scoop Harry off the sand, and was cradling him close to his chest. Upon seeing this, Hermione realised that a bond had been formed between Harry and Sirius, Harry seeing Sirius as the father that he never had, and Sirius seeing Harry as the son that he missed out on in Azkaban. If they could see what was happening, Hermione believed that Harry's parents would have been happy for both Sirius and Harry.

"I hope Harry doesn't wake up", Hermione said to Sirius. Hermione knew that no matter how strong the bond between Sirius and Harry happened to be, Harry would find his current airborne position quite embarrasing. "I don't think Harry would really take to being cradled like a baby."

Sirius looked at Harry, who was still fast asleep. "I don't think there's any danger of Harry waking up, but if he does, I'm sure he'll forgive me. Anyway, for some reason, I still see Harry as a little kid sometimes, so this feels quite natural."

"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell Harry this, but I see him that way as well sometimes. I don't know how he does it, really, but Harry's held up to everyone's expectations pretty well, and still comes across as just another playful kid. I suppose that in some ways, the nervous little eleven year old boy I met on the Hogwarts Express hasn't really gone away." While Hermione was saying this, she lifted one of Harry's arms, which was hanging limply off the side of his body, and placed it on top of his chest. Due to his having a small frame, Harry looked to be quite fragile sometimes. Hermione knew, however, that this was far away from the reality.

After a while, Sirius, Hermione and the still sleeping Harry reached the tent that Aunt Petunia was staying in. Surprisingly, Aunt Petunia was still awake when they walked in. After Sirius softly lay Harry down in the bed, Hermione tucked in the blankets around Harry, and went to where Aunt Petunia was sitting at a table, waiting for both her and Sirius. After putting Harry's glasses down on a bedside table, Sirius followed.

Having seen Harry being carried into his bed, Aunt Petunia asked: "Is Harry OK?"

Sirius responded: "Harry's fine, he fell asleep by the river, he's had a long night."

Aunt Petunia looked at Harry, who was sleeping peacefully, unaware that he had been moved from his original sleeping place by the river. "It's been many years now. I'm afraid that it might be a bit late to create the bond that should exist between us. It's just that, I never saw magical ability as just a gift, to me it was something that shouldn't happen. Naturally, after seeing that my sister was magical, I was scared. The bond that existed between us broke, and I never repaired it. I never even formed one with Harry after he was left in my care. Vernon was even worse. Although I told him that it was useless, he was convinced that if Harry was kept as miserable as possible, the magic would just go away. Although I see now that I was wrong, and Harry's just a fifteen year old with extra ability, I think it might be too late to repair the damage."

"I'm sure Harry will find it within himself to forgive you, Petunia", Sirius said gently.

"We can only see" Aunt Petunia responded doubtfully. And so the conversation continued into the night, Aunt Petunia finding out new things about the nephew that she had lived with for many years, but never understood. When the conversation finally turned to the events of the year that had just past, Aunt Petunia finally understood what had happened to Harry. At Privet Drive, she also had noticed that something had changed with Harry, but she hadn't taken any action on it, and had let Harry wallow around in misery. As it was, her husband preferred it that way.

The only other person who went to sleep that night was Hermione, exhaustion getting the better of her from the events of the night. After bidding Sirius and Aunt Petunia goodnight, Hermione went into the other room and sat on the floor, watching Harry sleep. Not long after, she too was sleeping. Before long, the sun crept up to the east, and it was time for those asleep to face a new day.

Hermione woke up before Harry, who was sleeping with the faint traces of a smile on his face. Having quietly walked out of the room, Hermione was helping Sirius and Aunt Petunia prepare breakfast when Harry awoke.

The first thing that Harry noticed when he awoke was that he was no longer by the riverbank, but had instead been moved to a bed. Harry found this situation mildly confusing, because, due to the fall of Hogwarts, he had no bed to sleep in. Harry supposed that he was in Sirius' house, as he had been with Sirius when he had fallen asleep. Having found his glasses sitting on a bedside table, Harry put them on and sat on the side of the bed. Harry was, however, extracted from his thoughts by his growling stomach and the smells of breakfast wafting under his door, and into his room. Harry walked across the room, and when he reached the door, he half expected the door to be locked. Harry reached for the door handle, and, finding that it indeed wasn't locked, turned it. Harry opened the door slowly, the hinges creaking slightly when he did so. Peering out through the door, Harry saw three people in the next room, looking at him. Surprised at Aunt Petunia's desire to actually visit him, Harry blinked hard, then stumbled backwards, shutting the door quickly behind him. The door closed with a snap.

'This has got to be some sort of nightmare', Harry thought to himself. How else could he explain Aunt Petunia's presence in Hogsmeade?

Outside in the kitchen, Hermione, Sirius and Aunt Petunia heard the distinct rattling of a doorknob, and the creaking noise invariably made when a door is opened slowly. All three turned around to see Harry slowly emerge from the door, hesitate, and stumble back inside, closing the door sharply.

"It's useless. He doesn't trust me.", Aunt Petunia said softly, to herself.

"Petunia, trust has to be earned." Sirius responded. "You've got years to make up for...this will take some time."

"No." Aunt Petunia said "It's not just that he doesn't trust me - I think he hates me."

"I'm sure Harry will come around", Sirius said. "After all, when we first met, Harry thought I killed his parents. Needless to say, we didn't get off to a good start. Harry may harbour something against you now, but he is a rational boy, and he will listen to reason. Give him some time, and I'm sure he will come to trust you."

"I'll go in there to talk to Harry", Hermione offered, "I'll try to coax him outside - this will probably be easier if we can get Harry to talk to you, Mrs Dursley"

"Thank you dear" Aunt Petunia replied, and with that, Hermione crossed the room, and entered Harry's new room, closing the door behind her.

Harry was anxiously pacing back and forth across the length of his room, evidently trying to convince himself that this wasn't reality, and was part of yet another nightmare. Upon seeing Hermione, Harry stopped pacing, and asked "Is that person out there in the kitchen who I think she is?"

"Yes, Harry, that's your aunt out there." Hermione answered, in a matter-of-fact voice.

Harry groaned. "Oh no...now that Hogwarts is...well...closed, she's probably going to try and stick me in some muggle school and I'm never going to see any of you again..." Harry babbled.

Hermione hadn't seen Harry babble like this before, and she had to make a conscious effort to stop herself from laughing at Harry. If the situation wasn't so serious, Hermione wouldn't have bothered. Hermione reached out towards Harry, and gently put her finger over Harry's mouth. Harry got the message immediately, and fell silent. Harry did, however, give her a curious look. "That's better. Now listen, Harry. Nobody is making you go anywhere against your will at the moment. Your aunt has come here to visit you, that's all, Harry." Hermione said.

"Well, she's got to have a reason for coming. I mean, she's hardly talked to me all my life - it's not as if she's exactly likely to come visit now, is it?" Harry replied.

"There's a first time for everything. Look, I've spent half the night with Sirius talking to your aunt out there. She doesn't seem so bad, you know" Hermione continued.

"Well...you haven't had to live with her, if you did, you would probably have a different opinion. Anyway, you were the one who was so convinced that she tried to kill me over the holidays!" Harry said quietly, so those in the other room could not hear what he was saying.

"Actually, that was mainly your uncle's doing, as I'm sure your aunt will explain. I'm sure she hasn't been exactly nice to you in the past, but you could at least give her a chance." Hermione said evenly.

"Oh..OK then", Harry said, walking towards the door, behind Hermione.

The door creaked as it opened, and both Sirius and Aunt Petunia smiled when they saw Harry coming out of the room behind Hermione. Harry still felt uncomfortable about his situation, though, but the presence of Sirius and Hermione with him was enough to stop him from turning around and going back into his room.

"Er...hello, Aunt Petunia" Harry said in a timid voice which strongly reminded Hermione of Harry's first day at Hogwarts.

"Good morning, Harry", Aunt Petunia replied. It was evident from her voice that she too was nervous.

It seemed odd to Hermione that Harry and Aunt Petunia were speaking so formally to each other. In fact, if Hermione didn't know otherwise, she would have thought that Harry and Aunt Petunia were meeting for the first time, as opposed to them living under the same roof for most of Harry's life. Hermione knew that this was indicative of their previous relationship, where Harry had been deliberately neglected by his only surviving relatives. Hermione pulled a chair out from under the table, amd, noticing Harry's present state, decided that she had probably better pull one out for Harry as well. Both Harry and Hermione sat down at the table, neither of them saying a word. A tense silence descended over the room. Eventually, Aunt Petunia said: "Well...eat up, you two, your breakfast is getting cold".

Breakfast consisted of toast and scrambled eggs, both of which were sitting in the middle of the table. After scooping some of the eggs onto his plate, and also some on Hermione's plate as well, Harry eyed the food on his plate suspiciously, as if he had seen something other than scrambled eggs there.

"I didn't poison those eggs, Harry" Sirius said lightly, having seen Harry looking at them. Despite his very nervous state, Harry smiled. Sitting on the opposite side of the table, Aunt Petunia couldn't remember the last time she saw Harry smile. Aunt Petunia knew there was a reason for that, as her family, Harry's last remaining relatives, had rarely given Harry anything to smile about at Privet Drive.

Even though Harry trusted Sirius, it still took a much longer than usual time for Harry to take his first bite of eggs-on-toast. However, after being satisfied that he wasn't dead after that first bite, the rest of the food followed relatively quickly. Breakfast was quite a tense affair, not many words being said at all, and Harry and Aunt Petunia stealing nervous glances at each other. After everyone's plates were cleared, Harry stood up, picked up everyone's empty plates and headed into the kitchen to do the dishes. Harry didn't say a word as he did this, as though it were an automatic reaction to the situation.

"Thank you, dear", Aunt Petunia said as Harry retreated into the kitchen. It was the first time that Aunt Petunia had ever thanked Harry for anything. Hermione followed Harry into the kitchen to help him with the dishes.

After Harry had left the room, Aunt Petunia turned to Sirius, and said softly.

"It's going to take a long time to convince Harry that I'm not going to kill him".

"Why do you think that?" Sirius asked as a reply.

"I don't know...the way that Harry looked at his breakfast today, he just seemed so suspicious of everything. You probably know better than me...is Harry always like that?" Aunt Petunia asked further.

"Well, given all that's happened in the last year, Harry's quite fragile at the moment, so I can't say that I was too surprised." Sirius said, a little too loudly, as Harry heard him in the kitchen.

"Fragile?" Harry said exasperated. "I'm not fragile!"

"You haven't really been yourself this year though, Harry. After all you've been through, I can't really blame you" Hermione replied.

"Just because I've been thinking about...er...a lot of things this year doesn't automatically qualify me as fragile!" Harry paused for a while, then added "It doesn't...does it?".

"Well, I'm not too sure what you were doing some of the time, but it's sometimes looked like you've been on the verge of falling to bits, Harry. I wouldn't really worry about it, though, you seem perfectly OK now" Hermione said in a reassuring voice.

"Hmmm...can I take it that I've stopped making an absolute prat of myself, then?" Harry asked lightly.

Hermione laughed. "I don't think you've said enough this year to even come remotely close to that, Harry!"

"Don't worry about that, Hermione. I don't even need to talk to make an absolute prat of myself. Of that much, I am sure!" Harry said, also laughing.

"OK...you win. I can't argue against that. There's just too much historical evidence!" Hermione said. Both Harry and Hermione burst out laughing, and they were heard by both Sirius and Aunt Petunia. Both Sirius and Aunt Petunia followed the sounds of happiness eminating from the kitchen.

Harry and Hermione both noticed Sirius and Aunt Petunia walk into the kitchen, and although it was still evident that Harry was uneasy about Aunt Petunia, it also seemed that the light banter that he had just had with Hermione had managed to calm him down somewhat. Although not exactly at ease, Harry definitely didn't seem so tense anymore. Hermione, even after knowing Harry's past history at Privet Drive, still found it odd that Harry would be so nervous around his own relatives, especially one he had lived with for as long as he could remember. When Harry looked at Aunt Petunia, the famiiliar hard, searching look was not on her face, replaced by one of curiosity. This, in turn, made Harry very uneasy, but also mildly curious. Shifting his weight between his legs, Harry wasn't comfortable with the look that Aunt Petunia was giving him. Stealing a glance at Sirius, Harry saw that he wore an expectant look, as though Sirius was waiting for him to do something. Harry clasped his hands behind his back, but Hermione, standing next to him, pulled them apart again and squeezed his hand encouragingly. After a few more agonising moments, the tension started bleeding off, and the traces of a smile appeared on Harry's face. Sirius shot Hermione a triumphant look, but made a mental note to himself that Harry and Aunt Petunia still hadn't talked to each other yet. 'But then' Sirius thought 'You can't have everything'.

After the dishes had been done, Harry and Hermione went outside to find Ron, who they had left behind the night before. As they walked out the door, Sirius put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Harry, could I ask you something?", Sirius asked, scanning around, making sure Aunt Petunia wasn't listening. Hermione respectfully also moved out of earshot, on the off chance that what Sirius was going to say was private. To Hermione, it looked that way.

"Actually, you just did...but sure, go ahead", Harry replied, smiling.

"Um...how do I put this...Harry, do you hate your aunt?" Sirius asked uneasily, obviously hoping that Harry would say no, but suspecting he might not.

Harry thought for a moment, his mind thinking of reasons why he should or should not hate Aunt Petunia. After a while, still torn between the two extremes, Harry replied quietly "I'm not sure, Sirius...I just don't know".

"That's OK, Harry. I'm sure that as time goes on, and things become clearer, you will know", Sirius replied. At this, Sirius added:

"Well...off you go, before Ron misses you and Hermione". Hermione, seeing that Harry and Sirius had finished their conversation, walked back and stood beside Harry. Harry and Hermione then started walking towards the hill where they had last seen Ron.

"See you, Sirius!", Harry said, waving as Hermione pulled him away towards the centre of Hogsmeade. Sirius watched as Harry and Hermione walked off into the distance, their figures dwindling over the horizon. Once they were out of sight, Sirius smiled, turned around, and headed back into the tent. Walking inside, Sirius found Aunt Petunia sitting on her bed, looking quite miserable for herself. "Petunia, what's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"What's wrong?" Aunt Petunia exclaimed incredulously "I think the fact that Harry, my nephew, hates me...one of the three relatives that he has left, is something to be upset about!"

"Petunia" Sirius said, "Harry doesn't hate you, trust me".

"How can you be so sure?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"I asked him" Sirius said simply. He watched as this sunk into Aunt Petunia's pattern of thought.

"You did what?", Aunt Petunia asked, a bit louder than she intended. "Anyhow, Harry probably just said that to make you feel better. How can he possibly like me after what I've done for most of his life?".

"Harry doesn't lie very well, and he wasn't lying. In fact, he said that he wasn't sure. It's not exactly the same as him liking you, but it's something that you should be able to change over time. You're starting to gain his trust now, I think. Don't push him too quickly, he'll come around eventually.", Sirius said.

"Harry really said that?", Aunt Petunia asked hopefully

"Yes, he did. You could ask him yourself, you know." Sirius replied simply. Sirius knew that the only way for Aunt Petunia to fully gain Harry's trust is for her to talk, and to listen to him. Knowing Harry, though, Sirius knew that Aunt Petunia would be the one who would have to start the conversation.

Walking up the main street of Hogsmeade, Harry noticed how people were much more nervous than normal, although trying to go about their business like nothing had happened. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the slightly crowded street was Harry and Hermione, making their way slowly to the hill where they had left Ron last night. To the side, Harry saw Bill and Professor Lupin talking about something next to the building where some of the aurors were staying when not on duty. Harry caught Professor Lupin's attention, and walked toward them. Hermione followed.

"Hello Harry", Professor Lupin said brightly, "How have you been?" Harry noticed that both Professor Lupin and Bill seemed on edge, as opposed to their usual relaxed selves. The fact that Bill hadn't said something, and Professor Lupin wasn't talking in his usual way also logged in Harry's mind. Harry supposed that the current situation had got to them, especially since they were working as aurors.

"I'm fine, thanks.", Harry replied

"That's good to hear", Professor Lupin replied. There was something wrong, Harry knew, as Professor Lupin was being at pains to speak formally, something that Harry had never seen him do.

"Can I speak to you in private?", Professor Lupin added, stealing a glance at Hermione. Hermione got the message, and after telling Harry that she would meet him on the hill, left. After Hermione had disappeared from sight, Bill spoke up.

"You really are OK, now, aren't you?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, I think so", Harry replied, wondering why Bill had asked the same question as Professor Lupin. After Harry had said this, Bill walked up to Harry and enveloped im in a big hug. This struck Harry as odd, but within the confines of Bill's hug, Harry couldn't breathe, so he didn't stay with that thought for long. Harry unsuccessfully struggled to get away from Bill, so he could breathe, and to Harry's horror, he realised Bill wasn't going to let go. After a minute or so, for Harry, the world faded to black as he fell into unconsciousness.

When Harry finally stopped struggling and sagged, limp in his arms, 'Bill' turned to 'Professor Lupin' and said: "Useful stuff, that Polyjuice Potion".

Harry woke up with a groan. As the world swam back into focus, Harry knew that something had gone horribly wrong, as he was tied up, quite tightly, in an old wooden armchair. Shaking his slightly sore head to clear away the fog in his mind, Harry tried to remember what had happened. Harry remembered walking through Hogsmeade with Hermione, and finding Bill and Professor Lupin. Then...black. Harry couldn't remember what happened next, what had got him to this cold room, strapped into an armchair. Harry looked around the chamber, searching for some method of escape. Harry didn't find much in the room, in fact, he could only see a table with some seemingly unrelated muggle things on it. Harry could also see some sort of large table, seemingly designed with a specific purpose in mind. However, Harry couldn't see what was on it. Harry decided that he was going to call out, on the off chance that someone would hear him and call for help.

"Professor Lupin? Bill? Sirius?", Harry called out. Silence. It seemed that nobody was around to hear him.

Then, the door to the chamber creakily opened, and three men walked in. But they weren't Professor Lupin, Bill or even Sirius. Instead, they were three people that Harry had seen before and had no wish to see again. Lucius Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle the elder. It seemed to Harry that Crabbe and Goyle's parents were as attached to Lucius Malfoy as their sons were to Draco at Hogwarts. Crabbe and Goyle were, standing around, seemingly waiting to do Lucius Malfoy's bidding.

"So we meet again, Harry Potter. I noticed that you were calling out the names of your supposed friends before. Perhaps they hate you as much as I?" Malfoy said in a very insulting voice.

"What would you know about friends?", Harry spat back, angrily.

"Plenty, Potter. For example, I know that friends generally don't wish to cause harm to one another. Yours, on the other hand, seem to see great humour in doing this and scaring you out of your wits.", Malfoy continued.

"They do not!" Harry replied forcefully.

"Whatever you say" Malfoy replied. "I am going to give you a proposition, Potter. Let's say, if you decide to join my master, you get to leave this chair in happier circumstances than if you do not."

"Joining you would go against everything that I stand for. I will not." Harry half shouted at Lucius Malfoy.

"Oh well, that's just too bad. It would seem that our conversation is over, for the moment". Malfoy said, stepping back. Lucius Malfoy then turned to Crabbe and Goyle. "Make sure he doesn't make another sound before nightfall. I don't want to be found before we can take him to our master. Just don't kill him yet - our master will be very displeased".

Malfoy went to the table, and picked up a seemingly harmless roll of masking tape from it. He turned toward Harry.

"Quite ingenious, some things that Muggles come up with. This for example, was called 'Sticky Tape'. Perhaps a short while of...enforced silence will teach you to speak more politely in future.", Malfoy said, unrolling the tape. "Crabbe! Make yourself useful! Help me deal with this delinquent!" Malfoy barked. Crabbe sprang forward immediately, and after thinking for a long while to what Malfoy wanted him to do, gave up and stood there stupidly.

"Why don't you just go over there and shut that boy's mouth. Or is that beyond you?" Malfoy asked sarcastically. Crabbe mumbled something under his breath, and went over to Harry, and despite Harry's best efforts, clamped his mouth shut with both hands. Malfoy then walked up and sealed Harry's mouth with copious amounts of masking tape. After he was satisfied that Harry could not open his mouth anymore, Malfoy stepped back to survey his handiwork. After a short while, Malfoy went back to the table and picked up a clothes peg.

"Ahh...this is called a clothes peg, apparently", Malfoy continued. "Muggles use them to hang up their washing, but I think I have a better use for it".

Malfoy turned back towards Harry, who knew what was coming, but could do nothing about it. "So. Have you changed your mind about joining our master yet?" Malfoy barked. Harry replied to this question by staring icily at Malfoy. Harry knew that the one thing that would save him at the moment was the fact that Voldemort, for some reason, wanted to see him alive. "Oh well, that's just too bad then." Malfoy said, holding Harry's nose between his fingers tightly and clamping it with the peg. Malfoy shot Harry a look that told Harry that he was enjoying himself.

Harry couldn't breathe. 'Help!' Harry thought as hard as he could 'Can somebody help me?' Harry's mind raced as his face started turning blue. Harry knew that it was hopeless, there was nobody who could read minds. Harry could only await the fate that had surely been already planned for him.

Hermione walked up the hill, to where she and Harry had left Ron the night before. Hermione found it odd that, despite her slow pace, Harry hadn't caught up with her yet. Hermione supposed that Bill and Professor Lupin were holding him up. Nearing the top of the hill, Hermione saw Ron, talking with some people. Ron waved at her. However, when she reached the top of the hill, Hermione was frozen with shock. Standing with Ron were Professor Lupin and Bill.

"Hermione? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Ron started, looking at Hermione's shocked state.

"Professor Lupin?...Bill?...", Hermione said faintly to the two.

"Yes, Hermione?", Professor Lupin said, concerned.

"How long have you been here?", Hermione asked, frantically.

"Why, Hermione, we've been with Ron the whole night!" Professor Lupin replied, confused.

"Oh no...Harry...", Hermione started

"What's happened to Harry?", Professor Lupin asked quickly

"Well, I last saw him in Hogsmeade, talking to you two...but if you've been up here the whole night..." Hermione said quickly, upset that she had left Harry alone, and consequently put him in danger again.

"Then somebody down there is on Polyjuice.", Bill said, completing Hermione's sentence. Bill drew his wand from his pocket and ran quickly towards the town, down the hill. The rest of the group followed a moment later.

The man who was to take the post of Defense against the Dark Arts this year, Professor Thomas Grey, was also out on duty patrolling with another group of aurors around Hogsmeade. Suddenly, Professor Grey froze. He could have sworn he had heard someone shout 'Help!'.

"What's wrong?", his partner asked.

"Did you hear that?" Professor Grey asked his partner, confused that his partner didn't hear the cry for help.

"Hear what?" his partner asked again.

Can somebody help me?' the voice echoed through Professor Grey's mind. "There it is again!", Professor Grey said. "Did you hear that?"

"I couldn't hear anything then", his partner said. "Maybe someone's communicating with you, Thomas, try sending something back...you can read minds, remember, maybe you can communicate with them as well".

"I'll give it a go", Professor Grey said dubiously. He'd never tried something like this before. He could read minds, but this was like...telepathy.

'Yes' Professor Grey thought, projecting his mind toward the direction of the voice. 'I can hear you. Who are you?'. Professor Grey thought he recognised the voice in his head, but couldn't put a name to it.

After there was no reply, Professor Grey said: "I didn't think so. That was always going to be a long shot".

"Well, it was worth a try" his partner said. No sooner had he said this when Harry's voice came back into Professor Grey's head.

'You can hear me?' Professor Grey thought the voice sounded surprised, hopeful even. 'Help! Please....'

"He can hear me" Professor Grey said. "He seems in quite a bad state, I still don't know who he is yet, where he is, what has happened or how to help him"

At this point, Professor Grey saw Bill, Professor Lupin, Hermione and Ron running down toward Hogsmeade, reacting to some emergency.

"Remus! What's wrong?", Professor Grey asked Professor Lupin

Professor Lupin turned to Professor Grey. "Harry's in trouble, some people on Polyjuice, probably death-eaters have managed to get into the town and get hold of him. We're trying to find him.". Professor Lupin turned to run again, but Professor Grey said "Wait!"

Professor Lupin and the rest of the group turned around. "What happened?", Professor Lupin asked, noticing the urgency in Professor Grey's voice.

"Describe Harry's voice to me, Remus", Professor Grey asked.

"Huh? Generally pretty soft, I suppose, you can usually tell his mood from it - it changes, usually a little bit nervous as well. Why did you ask?", Professor Lupin asked

"Well, I've just heard a voice that fits that description, calling for help. He seemed to be in a bad state - if it's him, it seems that he can communicate with me, through my mind. I'll ask if it's him" Professor Grey explained.

'Is this Harry?' Professor Grey asked, projecting his thoughts again. A while later, Harry replied. 'Yes...yes, it's me. They've got me...I think I'm still in Hogsmeade, but I don't know where. Could you please help?'.

"Yes, it's him." Professor Grey announced. The group huddled around intently.

'Who's got you, Harry? We're trying to help, but we need more information.' Professor Grey sent back.

'Three men, Lucius Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle...they plan to take me to Voldemort tonight.' Harry replied. Professor Grey repeated this to the group. Hermione groaned. "Not again...." she muttered under her breath.

"At least we know he's still alive, Hermione", Professor Lupin said soothingly.

"Yes...but for how much longer?", Hermione replied, upset.

"For a very long time, if I can help it" Professor Lupin replied.

'Where are you, Harry? Describe the room or something', Professor Grey sent across the telepathic link.

'Stone walls, no windows. The only furniture in the room is the chair I'm tied into, a table, and some sort of wooden bed thing. There's only one door.', Harry shot back. Professor Grey repeated this to the group, now listening intently. From this information, Bill, Professor Lupin and Professor Grey tried to figure out where Harry was.

'You're coming to get me...right?' Harry asked nervously over the link, obviously unsure of his situation.

'Yes, Harry. We're going to get you as soon as we figure out where you are. Hold on for a while longer...', Professor Grey replied.

'I'm not going anywhere' Harry replied 'But hurry...they're taking me somewhere else at nightfall'

Suddenly, Professor Lupin said: "I think I know where Harry might be. As you know, when I was at Hogwarts, the other Marauders and I explored Hogsmeade extensively. It's not very clear to me now, of course, but from what I can remember, Harry's in the old interrogation room of the disused Hogsmeade prison. Although all prisoners now go to Azkaban, the prison's still there."

The group headed off toward the old Hogsmeade prison, hoping to find Harry there. Professor Grey told Harry he thought that they knew where he was, and that they were coming to get him.

'Er...who's am I speaking to?', Harry asked nervously over the link again.

'Well' Professor Grey replied 'standing next to me is Professor Lupin, there's Hermione, and then there's Bill and Ron Weasley. I'm Professor Grey - I think I may have met you on the Hogwarts Express, Harry. We shouldn't be long.'.

'Thank you', Harry replied, grateful for the help the mysterious Professor had given him.

Lucius Malfoy froze, having thought he had heard footsteps in another corridor in the building. Harry heard them, too, hoping that the footsteps belonged to Professor Grey and his group.

"Harry...can you hear me?", a voice echoed throughout the empty building.

'Yes! I can hear you!' Harry shot back through the mind link.

Lucius Malfoy froze, not believing that Harry could be found. He didn't know about the link that Harry and Professor Grey were using to communicate with each other. Swearing, Lucius Malfoy called Crabbe and Goyle to him.

"They've somehow found us. We must leave now", Malfoy said to Crabbe and Goyle.

"What about him?", Goyle grunted, tilting his head toward Harry.

"We can't take him with us, you know that. We'll have to leave him for now.", Malfoy said, obviously disappointed. At this, Crabbe and Goyle disapparated.

Malfoy turned to Harry. "Oh well, I must be going now", Malfoy said. "Enjoy the rest of your miserable life. We'll meet again". Malfoy turned to disapparate, but, after thinking for a while, turned around and put the peg on Harry's nose one last time. Malfoy reached out and patted Harry on the cheek insultingly. "That is...if your friends get here in time." Chuckling, Malfoy disapparated, leaving Harry unable to breathe.

'Hurry up!', Harry basically shouted over the link. 'They've gone but I can't breathe anymore!'

Professor Lupin, who was leading the way, basically sprinted down the last hallway when Professor Grey repeated what Harry had told him. Drawing his wand as he ran, Professor Lupin shouted "Alohomora!", pointing at the door to the interrogation room. When he ran inside through the now open door, Professor Lupin ran directly to the very-blue Harry, who was slumped in the chair, rapidly losing conciousness. Professor Lupin pulled the peg off Harry's nose and ripped the masking tape off his mouth. Harry gasped for breath as soon as his mouth was able to open again.

'Thank you...thank you', Harry repeated a couple of times, over the link. He didn't have enough breath in him to talk at the moment. However, after seeing Hermione and Ron standing in front of him, worried expressions on their faces, Harry decided to send a message to them as well, through Professor Grey. He had tried to speak, but ended up gasping for air.

'Tell Hermione and Ron not to worry so much, I'm fine, just a little short on breath at the moment' Harry shot over the link. Professor Grey repeated the message to Hermione and Ron.

"Harry! I think I've got a right to be worried when you're sitting there looking like a tied-up Smurf!" Hermione said indignantly.

Harry smiled weakly at Hermione, while Ron asked "What's a Smurf?".

Hermione replied "They're characters from a Belgian muggle cartoon. They're small and blue". Ron started laughing, despite the seriousness of the situation. Harry, meanwhile, was almost back to a normal colour and had nearly caught his breath back again.

While both Ron and Hermione untied Harry from the chair, he finally managed to speak and thanked everyone in the room.

"Oh Harry! I'm so sorry..." Hermione started.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for.", Harry replied, gingerly prodding the burns he had received from the ropes when he had tried to escape earlier. He had only just got onto his feet when Hermione threw her arms around him, tears of relief streaming down her face.

Looking over Hermione's shoulder, Harry saw Ron, Professor Lupin and Professor Grey talking. Although he couldn't hear what they were saying, Harry had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't going to have any time to himself in the near future. After a short while, Ron, Professor Lupin and Professor Grey came back to where Hermione and Harry were standing, Hermione with her arms still locked around Harry tightly. Ron reached towards Harry's head, which caused Harry to involuntarily flinch, the action obviously bringing back memories of the very recent past. Ron's hand hovered in the air, and eventually he reached out gently and ruffled up Harry's hair in a show of support. Harry, appreciative of the support he was receiving at the moment, smiled gratefully at Ron. Compared to what had happened not too long ago, Harry thought that the world couldn't really be better.

'I really don't deserve friends as good as these', Harry thought, making sure that he didn't think hard enough so that Professor Grey could hear him as well.

After Hermione had separated herself from Harry, the group headed back out into Hogsmeade, its residents still unaware about what had happened to Harry inside the old prison. After exiting the prison, Professor Grey announced that he was going back to his post outside Hogsmeade.

'Remember - If you're in any trouble like this again, don't hesitate to call for help!', Professor Grey sent over the link. 'I'll always be ready to help'. Harry smiled gratefully at Professor Grey, who turned and returned to his post. Professor Lupin, Bill, Hermione, Ron and Harry walked towards the tent where Harry, Sirius and Aunt Petunia were staying.

"Why didn't I know earlier?", Sirius exclaimed indignatly, after he was told what had just happened.

"We didn't have enough time, Sirius", Professor Lupin replied evenly.

Sirius spluttered, his annoyance at not being told about Harry's predicament getting the better of him. However, when his eyes fell on Harry, Sirius' gaze softened, and he asked seriously:

"Are you OK, Harry?"

"Yes, Sirius, I'm fine", Harry replied, smiling back at his godfather.

Sirius stepped forward and also hugged Harry tightly. Harry looked around awkwardly, embarrased by this show of affection, but smiled. What Harry didn't remember, of course, was that a similar embrace had started the day's troubles in the first place - another example of how all things could be used either for good, or for evil.