Sirius Black
It took Harry longer than he'd thought it would to get used to his strange new freedom. He had never been able to get up whenever he wanted or eat whatever he fancied before. He could even go wherever he liked, as long as it was in Diagon Alley, and as this long cobbled street was packed with the most fascinating wizarding shops in the world, Harry didn't even think about considering to break his word to Fudge and stray back into the Muggle world.
Harry ate breakfast each morning in the Leaky Cauldron, where he liked watching the other guests: Funny little witches from the country, up for a day's shopping; Venerable-looking wizards arguing over the latest article in Transfiguration Today; Wild-looking warlocks, raucous dwarfs and, once, what looked suspiciously like a hag, who ordered a plate of raw liver from behind a thick woollen balaclava.
Some days, he'd sit up in his room, doing nothing but laying in bed, feeling miserable and burnt-out over nothing. Those were also the days he'd practise his occlumency-- try his best to clear his mind. There were days he'd spend entirely by himself, locked up in his own head. He'd force himself to relive the memory of Marge talking poorly of his parents, the time he broke her wine glass, and try his best to not make it explode the way it did. He needed better self-control-- he had better self-control.
There were many days where, when not in bed or energy-deprived, after breakfast Harry would go out into the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron, take out his wand, tap the third brick from the left above the dustbin, and stand back as the archway into Diagon Alley opened in the wall.
He spent the longer days exploring the shops and eating under the brightly coloured umbrellas outside cafes, where his fellow diners were showing each other their purchases ("it's a lunascope, old boy-- no more messing around with moon charts, see?") or else discussing the case of Sirius, who he still didn’t know how to feel about ("personally I won't let any of the children out alone until he's back in Azkaban,"). Harry didn't have to do his homework under the blankets by stolen, broken flashlight anymore; Now he could sit in the bright sunshine outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, finishing all his essays with occasional help from Florean Fortescue himself, who, apart from knowing a great deal about mediaeval witch burnings, gave Harry free sundaes every half-hour, which certainly relieved much stress.
He caught sight of the newest broomstick on sale-- the Firebolt-- and was nearly forcing himself to not empty out his trust fund in Gringotts and spend it all on the Firebolt, but he couldn't bring himself to. There were, however, much more important things that Harry needed to buy, and there wasn't a round he could remember that he hadn't won with his Nimbus two-thousand anyway. He'd begun considering using what he would've used on the Nimbus to get it personally customised. And it was his favourite broom, even if the only broom he's ever used, it was certainly deserving in his mind. But he had turned away from the broomshop a few too many times, whenever he noticed he was staring too long at the Firebolt-- he had supplies to buy.
He went to the Apothecary to replenish his store of potions' ingredients, and as his school robes were suddenly several inches too short, he visited Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and bought new ones. Most important of all, he had to buy his new school books, which would include those for the many new subjects he had taken on.
Harry got a surprise as he looked in the bookshop window. Instead of the usual display of gold-embossed spellbooks the size of paving slabs, there was a large iron cage behind the glass which held about a hundred copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. Torn pages were flying everywhere as the books grappled with each other, locked together in furious wrestling matches and snapping aggressively.
Harry pulled his booklist out of his pocket and consulted it for the first time. The Monster Book of Monsters was listed as the set book for Care of Magical Creatures. Now Harry understood why Hagrid had said it would come in useful. He felt relieved; He had been wondering whether Hagrid wanted help with some terrifying new pet.
As Harry entered Flourish and Blotts, the manager came hurrying towards him.
"Hogwarts?" asked the manager abruptly. "Come to get your new books?"
"Yes," said Harry. "I need--"
"Get out of the way," said the manager impatiently, brushing Harry aside. He drew on a pair of very thick gloves, picked up a large, knobbly walking stick and proceeded towards the door of the Monster books' cage.
"Just one moment, hang on," said Harry quickly, "I've already got one of those."
"Have you?" A look of enormous relief spread over the manager's face. "Thank heavens for that, I've been bitten five times already this morning--"
A loud ripping noise rent the air; two of the Monster books had seized a third and were pulling it apart.
"Stop it! Stop it!" cried the manager, poking the walking stick through the bars and knocking the books apart. "I'm never stocking them again, never! It's been bedlam! I thought we'd seen the worst when we bought two hundred copies of The Invisible Book of Invisibility-- cost a fortune, and we never found them... er, well, is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Yes," said Harry, looking down his booklist. "I need... I’ll just pick these out myself."
Harry emerged from Flourish and Blotts around half an hour later, with his new course books, as well as books he picked out as extra. It was much more tiring, taking them all back up to room eleven, than trying to get Sly away from some unfortunate person's coin pouch.
Even before he had tipped his books over his bed, he could tell somebody had been in and tidied; The windows were wide open, allowing as much sun as they could into the room. Harry could hear buses behind him in the unseen Muggle street, and the crowd down in Diagon Alley. He caught sight of the mirror above the basin, and noticed-- his hair was messier than ever. It had begun to look like a mesh up of frizzy and curly hair, reaching longer than it ever had; He put a hand up to try and flatten it, for once, genuinely wishing he had Petunia's flat iron.
"You're fighting a losing battle there, dear," said his reflection in a wheezy voice. He rolled his eyes and sighed. He may not have liked it, but it was true.
Harry found himself losing track of the days as they grew more alike. Most days, it was waking up, feeding Sly and Hydrus, then letting out Hedwig and Sirius’s owl, if they were around, then getting his own breakfast, going out to take a look at the Firebolt, maybe go to Flourish and Blotts to see if there were any books he'd want to buy, and get lunch. Then there were the days he couldn't bring himself to get out of bed. But he woke up, one Friday morning, suddenly feeling otherwise.
He decided he'd skip breakfast, and went ahead to Florean Fortescue's to try and read up on Ancient Runes. He had been sitting outside for around an hour or so, enjoying a free sundae when, suddenly, someone had yelled his name;
"Harry!"
He turned to see who it was-- it was Hermione, Ron lagging behind her.
"Finally!" said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down, while Hermione was beside Harry across the table. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd already left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, but you weren't there either, then Madam Malkin's, and--"
"I already got my school stuff last week," Harry explained, closing his copy of Rune Dictionary. "How come you know I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron? Did Tom tell you?"
"No-- Dad told us," said Ron simply.
Of course, Harry thought. Mr Weasley, who worked at the Ministry, probably knew all about what happened with Marge. It had been about half an hour before Padma and Lisa popped up, both looking more tan than before.
"Hi Harry - Liz, don't you dare drop me!" Padma shouted, trying to steady herself. She had been on Lisa's back, although the latter had been getting very shaky.
"Oh, I'm sorry, you're the one that- that suggested I give you a piggyback ride! It's not easy carrying you!" She said, stumbling over her own feet as she tipped Padma onto the ground. She’d lost her bad mood in an instant, however, pulling up a seat and talking immediately-- "Is it true, Harry? My mother said she overheard the Minister himself speaking about how you had blown up your aunt! Did she deserve it? I bet she deserved it!"
"It is, and she did, but-- I didn't mean to. I thought I was going to be arrested." Harry said-- thinking back, it was so silly. As if he’d get Azkaban for accidentally turning his rude “Aunt” into a balloon. Ron roared with laughter.
"It's not funny, Ron!” said Hermione, glaring at Ron, who was still laughing. who knows what could've happened to him? You were trying to run away, weren't you, Harry?"
He nodded.
"I like to see the Ministry try to find me if I blew up my aunt," said Ron, "Mum'd kill me before they'd even know. I bet the only reason you got away with it's just 'cos you're Harry Potter. Nobody'd want to see you in deep trouble. Right-- we're staying at the Leaky Cauldron until September first. I don't know if Dad would know, but if you want to know anything Cornelius Fudge didn't tell you, he might be able to." He then pointed behind them all-- Mr Weasley had been being dragged around Mrs Weasley and Ginny.
Lisa had found it quite funny. Ron had just begun to show off his new wand- fourteen inches, willow, with unicorn hair-- when Hermione suddenly heaved three bags into a new chair.
"What's all that for?" Padma asked, poking the one at the top of the stack. She’d just paid for a sundae for herself and one for Lisa.
"All the new classes I've taken up." Hermione said, "Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies--"
"Hermione, why are you taking Muggle Studies?” Ron asked. “You were raised by Muggles. You'd probably know all about them!"
"I think it’d be interesting to see from a wizarding standpoint,” she said, ears very red. “Look at it like this- if you went to, say, a Muggle school, and they had a whole subject on magic- even if you were raised around it, wouldn't you want to know?”
“Er, well- I- I guess?”
“My point exactly.” Hermione gained a brilliant smile on her face. "My parents dropped me off at the Leaky Cauldron this morning-- I've got ten galleons left. They told me I could get myself a birthday present since we were in France the day of. Oh." she pulled a crumpled up letter out her bag. She looked at it with some sort of curiosity, and Harry didn't miss her glance at him before shoving it back in her bag.
“I've decided that I'll buy a magical creature." She said finally. "I mean, Harry's got Hydrus, Sly, and Hedwig, and Ron's got Errol--"
"Errol's a family owl, Mione,” Ron said. “and I'm lucky enough he hasn't died trying to deliver a letter. And before you say it, like I'm stuck with Scabbers, he's practically the same."
"If you'd let me finish, Ron," scoffed Hermione. "And I think Malfoy's got an owl too. Lisa, Padma, do either of you--?"
"I've been using my mother's old owl, Ruby,” said Lisa. “I'd guess Padma doesn't have one, because she wouldn't stop asking me-- Hey Lisa, could I use Ruby? All summer! Between you and me, she'd better be buying herself an owl too," she said quickly, taking a spoonful of Padma's melting sundae. It seemed Padma hadn't cared anymore.
"I'll go with you. I've got to get Scabbers checked out." Ron said, dropping a rather sickly looking Scabbers on the table. He was certainly looking thinner. "Don't think Egypt agreed with him."
"Don't think life's agreed with him," Lisa muttered, sniggering, and Padma snorted. Ron scoffed.
"There's a magical creature shop right over there. Padma and Lisa, you two can stay here. I'll go with Ron and Hermione. I need to get more owl treats," Harry said, pointing to a shop not too far away. He had known his way around Diagon Alley very well by now, he felt. “I think I'll ask about Nifflers, too. Sly's getting more impatient by the day, I bet.”
"Alright then. Padma, you ought to give Harry some galleons so he can get you an owl," Lisa muttered.
"Very funny, Liz. See what I've had to deal with all summer, Haz? She's been making cracks at me for months! I ought to have her give me some galleons for buying her supplies- she's got me wrapped around her finger or something! Had me buy all her stuff for her!"
"I asked you to buy me a book and you just kept buying my stuff for me, what do you mean I've got you wrapped around my finger?" Lisa laughed. Padma sent an apprehensive look at her sundae-- or, now, Lisa's sundae-- and hummed.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron crossed the street to the Magical Menagerie. There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering or hissing-- Harry could've even sworn he'd heard barking.
The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, Hermione, and Ron waited, examining the cages. A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A large tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a large white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats and kneazles of every colour, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-coloured furballs that were humming loudly, and, on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats which were playing some sort of skipping game using their long bald tails.
The double-ended newt wizard left and Ron approached the counter.
"It's my rat," he told the witch. "He's been a bit off-colour ever since I brought him back from Egypt."
"Bang him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.
Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better look.
Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat was second-hand (he had once belonged to Ron's brother Percy) and a bit battered. And more than normal. Next to the glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone.
The witch hummed, picking up Scabbers. "How old is this rat?"
"I'unno," said Ron. "He's pretty old. He used to belong to my brother for a while. Maybe over ten years."
"What powers does he have?" Asked the witch, examining Scabbers closely.
"Er..." Ron muttered. Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers, but Ron suggested, weakly, “he's lived a while?”
The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers's tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.
"He's been through the mill, this one," she said.
"He was like that when Percy gave him to me," said Ron defensively.
"An ordinary, common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so," said the witch, tutting again. "Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these..."
She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. Ron muttered, "Show-offs."
"Well, if you don't want a replacement, you can try this Rat Tonic," said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.
"Okay," said Ron. "How much- OUCH!"
Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.
"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor and then scarpered for the door.
"Scabbers!" Ron shouted, haring out of the shop after him; Harry followed.
It took them nearly ten minutes to find Scabbers, who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket and straightened up, massaging his head.
"What was that?" muttered Ron. "That-- that thing nearly killed Scabbers!"
Harry shrugged. "Looked like a cat, but much bigger than a normal cat,"
"Where's Mione? Did it get her?"
"Don't think so. I bet she's getting her creature. You know she doesn't care for Scabbers."
When they had gone back up to the main street of Diagon Alley, Hermione had just been leaving the Magical Menagerie, holding the large ginger cat that had launched itself at Ron.
"What?!" gasped Ron. "Mione, tell me you're not keeping that monster!"
"I am! He's just gorgeous, isn't he?" Hermione said admiringly. The cat had thick and fluffy fur, but his face looked a bit squashed, though Harry couldn't shake the feeling that the cat was staring him in the eyes. Yet, now that Scabbers had been out of sight, the cat had been purring contently in Hermione's arms as if it'd never been happier.
"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me! And it chased away Scabbers!" Ron argued.
"Oh, it's fine, Ron. Crookshanks didn't mean to hurt you-- and he's a cat, you can't tell him to go against his nature." Hermione said.
"And Scabbers?" asked Ron, pointing to the rat in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation, how is he going to get any with your cat around?"
"Ron, we'll be in different rooms, at the Leaky Cauldron and at Hogwarts! God, it's like you don't think sometimes! And you forgot your Rat Tonic too-- I left it inside since you apparently didn't think you'd needed it! Oh-- Harry, I think Crookshanks likes you," said Hermione, noticing Crookshanks staring at Harry as Ron was grumbling, going back into the Magical Menagerie.
Harry shook his head- he doubted that cat liked him. “Crookshanks” hadn't stopped staring and it didn't look entirely happy. "You're sure it's not wanting to hurt me?"
"Harry, I'd be surprised if he can even tell that much of a difference between us. All I can make out is the bare minimum. He won't hurt you, I swear." Hermione promised, pushing out Crookshanks slightly towards Harry's direction. Harry stuck out his hand- to his surprise, Crookshanks filled the gap between them, purring against his hand.
"See? He likes you! The shopkeeper said he had been in there for years, poor thing. Nobody wanted him. Speaking of, I asked the shop keeper about Nifflers and she told me that--" Hermione began to explain as Harry continued to pet Crookshanks's head, before she was suddenly cut off.
"Lyra! Come back here!" shouted someone from behind them.
"I just want to see if they have one! Mummy won't even know if I just look around!" said another person, presumably Lyra, running right past Harry and Hermione, making way for the Magical Menagerie. Ron had just been leaving, holding the Rat Tonic-- he and Lyra crashed right into eachother. When Ron had gotten to his feet, Harry could see her walking past the Magical Menagerie's window-- she had been inside, looking as though she didn't care in the slightest that she knocked him over.
Someone behind them sighed- it was Draco, looking tired. Luna was standing beside him, looking nowhere near as he did; Infact, she looked rather happy.
"I'm sorry about Lyra,” said Draco. “she's been begging our mother for a crup for weeks, as if we haven't already got dogs.”
"Malfoy? You have a sister?" asked Hermione, at the same time as Ron, who asked, “You have dogs?”
Draco scoffed. “Sister, right. I’ve been thinking she’s a Tasmanian devil just about half my life. And the dogs-- don’t get me started on them. They're rabid.”
“Well, Cassie’s very kind,” said Luna, and Draco rolled his eyes. “When she wants to be. She’s practically just like father, but she hasn’t even got an inch of tact.”
"Wait, that was your sister?!" asked Ron. "I thought all Malfoys were blond?"
"Well, I suppose they are,” Luna shrugged. “But Draco’s not. It’s only that Lyra doesn’t hide her hair. They both got Aunt Narcissa’s hair.”
“You’re both confusing me,” Harry muttered. “Is her name Lyra or Cassie? I don’t care about her hair.”
Draco snorted. “You’re just the same, Floppy. But her name’s not Lyra or Cassie-- it’s Cassiopeia. Only father and Luna call her Cassie--”
“Lyra,” said Lyra, stepping out the Magical Menagerie, holding what looked like a tiny jack russell. “My name is Lyra, I’ve told you a billion times! I hate Cassiopeia! It’s--”
She never finished speaking, because Crookshanks had suddenly started hissing violently, clawing the air in Lyra's direction, and Hermione was having trouble keeping him in her arms.
"Lyra, go back and find Mum." Draco sighed, urging Lyra towards Flourish and Blotts. She had gone without argument, skipping joyfully, cooing to her new dog, just as Padma and Lisa came over.
"What'd we miss?" Padma asked, wiping ice cream off her face.
Ron shrugged, "Malfoy's got a sister, apparently."
Lisa scoffed. "Next thing you'll tell me Harry and Hermione have siblings, why are you all just suddenly having a younger sibling out of nowhere? Parvati, I knew about, and Ginny made sense because of how many siblings Ron already had, but now there's a second Malfoy? Both the Wizarding and Muggle world have got more than enough with just this one, and he’s probably never even stepped a foot into the Muggle world!"
"Ha-ha, very funny, Lisa,” said Hermione, and her laugh sounded terribly forced. “Neither me, Harry, or Luna have any siblings, so you're not alone, atleast."
“Speaking of, Luna,” Ron prompted, after a minute or two of silence. “why are you with Malfoy? And anyway, I thought you and your dad were in the Alps, or something?”
“We’re cousins, of course,” said Luna at once. “I had my dad call Uncle Lucius-- and we just got back a few days ago, see. I think it’s because he hasn’t used it in so long, but when he first tried, the fireplace just gave us a load of smoke. Draco told me you all would be meeting today and I wanted to come. How’s Ginny?”
“She’s doing just fine, really-- bet she’d love to see you. We could probably meet at Fortescue’s later--”
“Oh, brilliant timing, Ron,” Padma smiled. “Come on, Luna-- Fortescue’s finally restocked that ice cream you really like.”
A few hours later, they had all set off to the Leaky Cauldron with the exception of Draco and Luna, who had to get back to the Malfoys.
The first person Harry noticed was Mr Weasley in the bar, reading the Daily Prophet.
"Ah! Children!" He said, smiling as he looked up at them. "Lovely to see you-- how are you all doing?"
"Just fine, sir, thanks," said Harry.
"Cold, but that may be from the ice cream. We had a lot." added Lisa. Padma nodded wildly.
Mr Weasley put down his paper, and Harry saw the picture of Black looking at him. Right. He still hadn’t sorted out how he felt about that-- Black being his uncle, and all. It was taking longer than he'd thought for the whole situation to dawn on him completely, because he knew his reaction wasn’t like it should’ve been.
"He still hasn't been caught?" He asked.
"No," said Mr Weasley, looking extremely grave. "They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far."
"Would we get a reward if we caught him?" asked Ron hopefully. "It'd be good to get some more money--"
"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," dismissed Mr Weasley, who Harry had begun to notice looked very strained. "Black's not going to be caught by a thirteen-year-old wizard, or even five or seven of them. It's the Azkaban guards who'll get him back, you mark my words."
Suddenly, Mrs Weasley entered the bar, holding many shopping bags with the twins, Fred and George, following behind her closely. They were starting their fifth year at Hogwarts; The new Head Boy, Percy, and the Weasleys' only daughter, Ginny, were also following.
Ginny, who had been very red-faced, muttered a "hello" to Harry without looking at him. It was a bit odd, honestly-- she was fine when speaking to Luna at Fortescue's; but then again, she had always been embarrassed to see him. Now, he'd have guessed it to be that he'd saved her life last school year. Percy held out his hand solemnly as though he'd never met any of them but Ron.
"Harry. How nice to see you. Padma, Lisa. Hermione."
"Hello, Percy," said Harry, as Lisa held back her laughter. Padma hadn't even tried to hold back hers. Hermione gave him a forced smile.
"I hope you all are well?" said Percy, shaking hands with Harry. It was like being introduced to the Minister, although much more formally.
"Mhm," Harry mumbled, not paying much attention.
"Harry, Lisa!" chortled Fred, elbowing Percy out the way before bowing deeply. "Harry, simply splendid to see you, old chap--"
"Marvellous," chimed in George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry and Lisa's hands in turn. "Absolutely spiffing to see you too, Padma." He winked at her, and Padma giggled, looking rather flushed and her ears were twitching.
Percy scowled.
"That's enough now," said Mrs Weasley.
"Mum!" said Fred as though he had only just noticed her and he seized her hand too. "How really corking to see you--"
"I said, that's enough," said Mrs Weasley, dropping her shopping bags in an empty chair.
"Hello, dears, how lovely to see you. I suppose you've all heard our exciting news?" She pointed at the badge on Percy's chest. "Second Head Boy in the family!" She said, swelling with pride.
"And last," muttered Fred.
"I don't doubt that," said Mrs Weasley sharply, suddenly frowning. "I notice you neither of two got a Prefect badge."
"What would we want to be Prefects for?" Fred asked, looking revolted at the idea. "It'd take the fun out of life."
Ginny laughed at that.
"You need to set a better example for your sister!" snapped Mrs Weasley.
"Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother." said Percy. "I'll be going up to change for dinner..."
He disappeared and George heaved a sigh.
"We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he said. "But mum spotted us."
"A shame, if you ask me. I bet he'll be all in our business this year, just 'cos he's Head Boy." chimed in Ron.
"I think he'll have a hard time catching us Ravenclaws, though," said Lisa, winking at Harry. Padma sniggered. "We’re very creative, I hear."
Dinner that night was quite enjoyable. Tom the innkeeper had set up four tables in the parlour for the seven Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Padma, and Lisa, who all ate their way through five delicious courses.
"Say, Harry, have you used the gift I sent you yet?" asked Lisa over chocolate pudding.
"I haven't, actually. I forgot about it. I'll have to take a look at it later," said Harry, remembering the Time-Turner currently hanging around his neck. He had thought about trying it out, but he couldn’t ever think of a good time.
After dinner, Hermione had dragged Harry up to her room-- she was staying in room ten, right next to his-- and took about three looks outside before quickly pulling out the same note from earlier.
“Did you get one of these?” she asked, looking desperate. A quick skim let Harry know that she’d gotten a letter like his-- a letter from Sirius. “I-I received it on my birthday. Er- obviously, as it says... but, I meant, er, did you... have you ever-- I’m doing a horrible job at explaining this, but I meant- well, do you have any siblings? Particularly, named, um, Harmony and -and Quinn?”
“Yes,” Harry shrugged. “No? I don’t-- honestly, I don’t know. Professor Dumbledore mentioned it once- I think- I have a twin, and if you ask me, I think Harley and Harmony are the kinds of names I’d imagine twins would be. I have no clue about Quinn, though. The letter I got did mention one, but I- I really don’t know.”
Hermione groaned. "This is... confusing. Okay. So, possibility- right? Possible chance, we're siblings. Twins, maybe- a-and we have a little sibling, and our uncle is an escaped convict from the strictest prison in all of Europe. I mean, the first part would be alright- we get along like siblings, don’t we?" Hermione said, pacing nervously. "Possible chance, on the other hand, someone’s trying to mess with our heads because Sirius Black’s escaped. They come up with Quinn because they think it’d be some funny joke, I bet-- like, harlequin- or- or Harley Quinn, ha-ha, so funny!”
"I don't think it’s a joke,” Harry admitted. “I mean, we got similar letters. They both said the same thing, pretty much, but I think it’s real. Said he told an owl to stick around if I wanted anything– and an owl has been staying in my room. I don’t think anyone would give up their own owl for some joke.”
“Right,” Hermione nodded, looking unsure. "Riiight . I think I need to think about this more. You are having no reaction, and it’s not helping me at all--"
"I am having a reaction, I’m just not showing it," Harry shrugged again. He was feeling weirdly sluggish. He really just wanted to go to sleep. "I've been losing sleep over this for days. I’m tired. I’ve been trying to think about it and I still can’t make sense of it. If you get anything out of it, be sure to tell me."
Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes-- "You're hopeless."
The three days after that were semi-peaceful. The first day Harry tried out the Time-Turner, he spent the two hours practising his Occlumency after a warm evening outside. Admittedly, the entire Time situation had been unsettling, because it wasn't a pleasant feeling-- it was rather nauseous, actually. But by the third day, he’d gotten sort of used to it.
"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, dad?" asked Fred over dinner on the last day of August.
"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr Weasley nonchalantly.
Padma had been so shocked that she accidentally shot the gillywater out her nose. "Sorry- sorry," she said quickly. George and Lisa were laughing for longer than the rest of them.
"Why?" asked Percy curiously, wiping gillywater off the area near his seat.
"It's because of you, Perse," said George, sounding very serious. "And there'll be little flags on the bonnets, with 'HB' on them--"
"--for 'Humongous Bighead,'" chimed in Fred.
Everyone but Mr and Mrs Weasley, both of whom had been looking very solemn, snorted over their plates-- luckily, Padma hadn't been drinking gillywater again.
"Why are the Ministry providing cars, father?" Percy asked again, glaring at Fred and George.
"Well, as we haven't got one anymore..." said Mr Weasley, "and seeing as I work there, they're doing me a favour..."
It hadn't passed Harry's notice that Mr Weasley's ears had gone red and low, much like Ron's did when he felt pressured.
"More like trying to do Harry a favour," Lisa murmured.
"And a good thing, too," said Mr Weasley, seemingly having unheard her. "Can't imagine how much luggage you'll all have.... What a sight we'll be on the Muggle Underground.... You are all packed, aren't you?"
"Ron hasn't got his new things in his trunk yet,” said Percy, sounding insufferable. “he's dumped them on my bed!"
"Lisa's just the same," said Padma. "I buy her all tons of pretty and nice stuff, and she repays me by leaving them all on the end table! Thanks to her, I've lost one of the earrings Parvati got me!" She showed off her ears, and her left had been missing a match to the one she had in her right.
"You two better go pack up, we won't have time in the morning. Lisa, you've got to help Padma look for her earring." Mrs Weasley said. Ron scowled at Percy.
After dinner, everyone had been very full and even more sleepy, and one by one made their way upstairs to their rooms. Harry had just gotten to his own room and found Hydrus on the windowsill when he heard voices through the wall, and tiredly went to see what was going on. He met Hermione in the hall, who could apparently hear it from her room too.
The door of number twelve was, for the most part, closed. Harry had forgotten that Ron and Percy were next door, but he remembered shortly, hearing Percy shouting.
"It was here, on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing--"
"I haven't touched it, alright?!" Ron roared back.
"What's wrong?" asked Harry, pushing the door open.
"My Head Boy badge is gone," said Percy, turning to face Harry sharply.
"So is Scabbers's rat tonic," said Ron, throwing things out of his trunk. "I think I might've left it in the bar--"
"You're not going anywhere until you've found my badge!" yelled Percy.
"I'm not looking for your badge!"
Hermione shrieked louder than either of them. "If you two don't stop screaming, I'll find your things for you and keep them! God, it's not hard to retrace your steps! Percy, if it means that much to you, have Ron search for your badge with you while he repacks all the things he just threw around," shouted Hermione promptly. "I'll go get your stupid rat tonic!" She turned around, leaving Ron and Percy to grumble in disagreement.
"I'll go with you." Harry said, turning to follow. He would go to sleep, but Ron and Percy probably wouldn’t stop shouting at eachother any time soon, he figured, following Hermione down the stairs. They were halfway along the passageway to the bar, which was much darker than in the daytime, when there was another pair of angry voices coming from the parlour. Harry realised they were Mr and Mrs Weasley rather quickly.
He almost would've just turned away, but Hermione stopped him, mouthing, they said your name. They hesitantly moved closer to the door.
"--makes no sense not to tell him," said Mr Weasley heatedly. "Harry's got a right to know everything. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and--"
"Arthur, the truth would traumatise him!" Said Mrs Weasley, sounding shrilly. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For Merlin's sake, he's happy not knowing! He doesn't need to know!"
"I don't want to make him miserable, I want him to know! To be on his guard!" Retorted Mr Weasley. "You know what Harry's like! Wandering off and getting in danger-- he almost died last year! We can't have him doing that this year! When I think about what could've happened that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would've been dead before Fudge found him!"
"He's not dead, Arthur! He's fine, and we know it! What's the point?"
"Molly-- they say Black's mad, and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks and nobody's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge tells the Daily Prophet, we're no nearer to catching Black than we are at making self-spelling wands. All we know is what Black's after--"
"Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts."
"Azkaban should've been perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts. It is not impossible."
"Nobody's really sure that Black's after Harry, Arthur, and who knows how he'll take the fact that--"
There was a loud thud, making Harry and Hermione jump in their spots. Mr Weasley had banged his fist on the table.
"Molly, how many times do I need to tell you? Fudge didn't tell the press a thing because he wanted to keep as much as he could quiet -- he went to Azkaban the night Black escaped. Do you know what the guards told him? That Black's been talking in his sleep for a long while-- always the same words-- ' He's at Hogwarts... he's at Hogwarts.' Molly, Black is deranged. He wants Harry dead. Black lost everything the night that Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years of waiting in Azkaban to think on it. You know what Fudge couldn't keep quiet? How Black didn't stop at James, he didn't stop at Lily, he didn't even stop at his own brother. And Harry's the only one who doesn't know that Black certainly didn't stop at--"
"Fine." Mrs Weasley said, cutting him off. Harry looked at Hermione, having an odd feeling. "But you're forgetting about Albus Dumbledore. Nothing was able to hurt Harry when Dumbledore was there, and all the worst happened whenever he wasn't. You suppose he knows about this?"
"Of course he knows. We had to ask him if we could station Azkaban guards around the entrances to the school grounds. He wasn't anywhere near happy about it, but he agreed."
"Not happy? Why wouldn't he be happy if they're there to catch Black?"
"Dumbledore isn't fond of the Azkaban guards." said Mr Weasley. "Nor am I, if it comes to it... but when we're dealing with a wizard like Black, capable of escaping Azkaban, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid."
"If they save Harry--"
"-- then I will never say another word against them." He said lowly. "It's... late, Molly, we'd better go up...."
Harry heard chairs move, and Hermione got up to move away from the door, but Harry stopped her. He quickly cast the disillusionment charm as Mr and Mrs Weasley walked right past them.
"Brilliant, Harry," whispered Hermione as they went down the passage to the bar. "Lumos- - oh, it's just there!"
The bottle of rat tonic had been lying under the table they had all sat at earlier-- Hermione dived for it, clearly wanting to leave. They waited at the foot of the stairs until they heard the door to Mr And Mrs Weasley's room close.
Fred and George were crouching at the foot as well, forcibly muffling their laughter as they listened to the chaos in room twelve grow worse.
"We've got it," Fred whispered. "We've made brilliant improvements."
The badge now read 'Bighead Boy.'
Harry and Hermione forced laughs and went upstairs. She shoved the rat tonic at Ron before dragging Harry to her room again.
"Do you think... when they were talking about who Black didn't stop at--?"
"That they were talking about you. Harmony, I mean. People think she's dead, and I was the only one who didn't know before, what, two weeks ago? Brilliant."
There was silence between them, the only sound of Percy and Ron still shouting at eachother through the wall.
"Do you Black really sent us the letters?” Hermione asked quietly.
"I don’t know,” Harry said. His head was beginning to hurt. “I don't know- I don't-- I’m... tired. I'll think about it in the morning. Good- goodnight, Hermione."
She said nothing, sighing and closing her door behind him.
When he had gotten to his room, he had changed into his pyjamas, and stopped to look at the mirror. He looked as tired as he felt.
"I'm not going to die." He told himself.
“That’s the spirit, dear,” said the mirror sleepily.