When Hermione, Ron and Draco returned that evening, Hari was sitting sideways in an armchair, legs hanging over the arm and his Potions textbook propped open in front of him. They were all laden with bags full of colourful sweets and Zonko’s products, which Draco piled on top of Hari’s lap.

“We bought as many of the kinds you liked,” said Draco, sitting down on the arm Hari’s legs weren’t draped over. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring any butterbeer, but there’s always next time.”

“Thanks for the sweets, at least,” said Hari sadly, picking at the wrapper of Fizzing Whizzbees idly. “What did you guys get up to?”

By the sounds of it, they went to just about every shop. They talked about Honeydukes and the different pranks they saw at Zonko’s and the Shrieking Shack on the edge of the village. Ron claimed they had seen an ogre going down the street and a hag coming out of the Three Broomsticks. “Oh, you’ll never guess what else we saw as well!” Ron exclaimed, interrupting Hermione’s explanation about the post office, “We saw Percy and Oliver Wood snogging in an alleyway. Percy told me to sod off when he caught us looking.”

“Anyway, Hari. What did you get up to?” asked Hermione. “Did you manage to finish your work?”

“Yup. I wrote the dumb tea leaf essay and did my star chart and I’ve got a head start on next week’s Transfiguration essay as well,” Hari said, ticking off on his fingers. Hermione looked impressed, nodding her head and stealing one of Hari’s Pepper Imps from the pile. “And I turned my Wiggenweld essay into Snape when he came in while I was talking to Remus earlier.”

“You’re finally talking to Remus again?” said Ron, looking surprised and intrigued.

“He saw me walking past on my way to the library, so he called me over and I felt I couldn’t just ignore him with no excuses,” replied Hari somewhat bashfully, cheeks warm. “But we talked, at least. Turns out he didn’t let me face the boggart because he thought it might be Voldemort and didn’t want him popping into the class and freaking everyone out. But then Snape came in and interrupted us to give Remus some potion for his health.”

“He’s sick again?” said Hermione.

Hari nodded. “Apparently. He looked quite tired. Apparently that potion is rare and people don’t like to make it.”

“Can I borrow your star chart for a second?” asked Hermione, reaching her hand out. Hari nodded and she lifted the star chart, looking it over.

“Can we get to dinner now? I’m starving,” said Ron as his stomach growled and he checked Hermione’s watch for the time. “Dinner starts in five minutes.”

Dinner was, as usual, a spectacular affair. Everyone gorged themselves on heapings of food, grabbing seconds and thirds, even if they were full from their Hogsmeade visit. At the end of the feast, the ghosts did an odd sort of dance, gliding through tables and reenacting their deaths as music played and the candles flickered.

After dinner, Hari, Ron, Hermione and Draco followed the rest of the Gryffindors towards the tower, talking about the ghosts. However, there was a huge hold up outside the portrait hole as everyone was crowded around outside, talking in nervous whispers and craning or jumping to see the front of the group.

Hari craned his neck to try to see over the crowd, but his vision was blocked by a very tall sixth year boy.

“Let me through please,” came the voice of Percy Weasley, pushing through the crowd with Oliver to get to the front. “What’s going on here? Why isn’t anyone going in? Excuse—”

Silence fell over the crowd, a tense chill going through the air with realisation and horror evident on everyone’s faces. Percy said in a tense voice, “Someone get the Headmaster, please. Quick.”

“What’s happened?” asked Ginny, only just arriving from dinner next to Colin Creevey.

The crowd parted ways at the arrival of Professor Dumbledore, moving through the crowd with ease, his holiday-appropriate orange and black robes sweeping behind him. The group having moved, Hari was finally able to get a glimpse of the door to the common room. Someone seemed to have tried to get into the common room, but was denied entry. There were several large slash marks ripping the portrait so that the canvas folded and crumpled over. The Pink Lady also appeared to have left her portrait.

Professors Snape, McGonagall and Lupin came hurrying through the crowd next, making their way over to the portrait. They looked stunned at the sight of the ripped apart portrait, exchanging worried glances.

“We’ll need to search the castle,” said Dumbledore calmly. “We’ll have to ask the other paintings if they’ve seen her hiding anywhere.”

Peeves came bobbing over, cackling to himself as he hung midair over the crowd. “No need! No need!” he said cheerfully.

“Why not, Peeves?” asked Dumbledore thoughtfully to the poltergeist. Peeve’s grin faded slightly; not even he would risk sassing the headmaster.

“Hiding, your Headship, sir. Saw her running screaming through every portrait on this floor. Somewhere in one of the forestry pictures,” said Peeves in an oily voice unlike his usual cackles.

“Did she say who did it?” asked Dumbledore seriously.

“Oh yes, Professorhead sir,” replied Peeves, nodding. “Nasty temper he’s got, that Sirius Black.” A silence fell amongst the room and Lupin looked as though he was about to faint.

¤¤¤

Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall with Remus, where they were soon joined by the students of the rest of the houses, all looking incredibly confused. Pansy, Millicent and Blaise pushed their way through the crowd to Hari, Ron, Draco and Hermione to ask them what was going on. Before they could do so, however, Dumbledore spoke.

“The staff and I will need to conduct a search of the castle. Sirius Black has attempted to break into the Gryffindor tower,” he explained to the students as Flitwick and McGonagall shut the doors to the hall. Quiet murmurs went up among the students at the word that Sirius Black came to the school. “For your safety, you will all have to stay here for the night. Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl will stand guard.” Dumbledore turned to Percy, standing near him and looking very proud. “If there is any disturbance, please send word through one of the ghosts.”

Professor Dumbledore waved his wand next and suddenly the tables flew to sit against the walls and then hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags appeared for them to sleep in. He said good night to the students and then exited the Great Hall with the other teachers.

At once, the other three houses started asking the Gryffindors what happened. Hari and the others told Pansy, Millicent and Blaise about the torn up portrait and the Pink Lady running through the castle, screaming. Once they finished explaining, all three of them looked dumbstruck and horrified, Millicent covering her mouth with her hands and Pansy’s eyebrows raised until they disappeared into her fringe.

“Lights out everyone! Get into your sleeping bags, please!” called Percy over the chattering crowd, ushering groups towards sleeping bags and shushing people loudly.

The group grabbed sleeping bags and moved over to a corner together to continue whispering under their breaths as Percy told people off for being too loud.

“How do you think he got in?” asked Draco, setting his sleeping bag beside Hari’s.

“Dunno. But d’you think he’s still inside the castle somewhere?” said Ron, his voice slightly higher pitched with nerves.

“I hope not. But Dumbledore seems to think he might be,” said Hari seriously as he climbed inside his sleeping bag.

Hermione got into a sleeping bag on Draco’s other side while Ron clambered into his sleeping bag beside Hari. “It’s pretty scary how he managed to get in, isn’t it?” said Hermione nervously, chewing one of her lilac coloured fingernails nervously.

“I’ll say,” said Draco in agreement. “He’s supposed to be pretty unhinged mentally, isn’t he? I mean, he tried to slash up a bloody portrait like that would help him.” Hari noticed he was fiddling with his new signet ring he got for his birthday that June, a nervous habit he picked up recently.

“Good thing he picked tonight while everyone was out of the common room,” said Ron from Hari’s other side, leaning up on his elbow. “Maybe he didn’t know what time it was or that it was Halloween.”

“You don’t think he was trying to… get Hari, do you?” said Draco nervously.

They sat in silence at Draco’s thought, all of them thinking the same thing. If Black had broken into Gryffindor tower on any other night, he likely would have gotten through to their dorm to get Hari. He felt a little sick at the thought.

“Lights out, everyone! No more talking! I mean it!” said Percy’s voice from the other end of the Great Hall. He was standing with Penelope Clearwater, the Head Girl from Ravenclaw, who was significantly less strict than he was.

The candles floating in the air flickered out, leaving the hall in darkness and the students’ chatter turning to a soft hum of whispers here and there. Only the stars in the night sky overhead and the few ghosts bobbing back and forth provides any light in the Great Hall. A huge clock on the side of one wall clicked loudly, its metal face and golden hands stating that it was almost 1 in the morning.

Hari still couldn’t fall asleep, lying on the cold, stone floor digging into his spine and the thoughts racing in his head about the break in. Ron was on his side with his back to Hari, one of his hands flopped out onto the ground beside him and Hermione was curled up in a ball with her face buried under the top of the sleeping bag. Hari could feel Draco lying directly next to him, his body pressed against Hari’s in the darkness.

“Are you awake?” Hari breathed sometime later after Professor Flitwick left after checking in with Percy and Penelope.

Draco turned his head to face Hari, his pale face lit up by the twinkling galaxy over them, stars reflected in the dark pools of his pupils, making his eyes look like miniature skies. The strange lighting caused dark shadows to cut across Draco’s sharp features, giving his face a slightly distorted look. “You okay?” Draco whispered, shuffling closer, breath ghosting over Hari’s face and smelling strongly of pumpkin pie and cinnamon from earlier.

Hari nodded, peering over at Nearly Headless Nick floating in the air with the Grey Lady.

Hari felt something grip his hand and when he looked down, Draco was twining their fingers together where their hands lay between them. “Don’t lie to me, Potter. I know you,” Draco whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“Sirius Black broke into the castle, Draco. And he tried to get into our common room,” Hari whispered into Draco’s hair. “What if we hadn’t been down here? What if we’d been up in our dormitory?” Hari’s heart rate was speeding up at the thought.

“Hey,” said Draco determinedly, rolling over onto his side and draping his other arm over Hari’s torso to pull him closer. “It’s okay. That didn’t happen. We’re safe in here, yeah? There’s no point worrying about things that didn’t happen.”

“But if he’s still in the castle, what if Minerva or Remus or Severus runs into him?”

Draco shook his head, eyes soft. “The thought has crossed my mind, yes. But we know they can handle themselves, particularly if Black only has a knife on him.”

The door to the Great Hall creaking open made them both pause their conversation as Dumbledore and Severus walked over towards Percy only a few metres away. Pretending to be asleep, Draco dropped his head onto Hari’s chest.

“Any sign of Black, sir?” whispered Percy once they reached him.

“No such luck. All well here?” said Dumbledore’s calm voice.

“Yes sir. Only a few whispers here and there,” replied Percy. “Have you found the Pink Lady?”

Severus’ voice replied, “Yes, I found her in a portrait of Argyllshire. Black tried to get in, but she refused to give him the password and he attacked her.”

The door to the hall opened once again and Hari peeked one of his eyes open. Even in the darkness and lack of glasses, Hari would recognise the pointy hat and green dress of Minerva anywhere. She moved swiftly through the groups of students, stopping with the other three whispering together.

“No luck in the Astronomy Tower or the entire third or fourth floors,” she said as soon as she reached them. “I’m assuming you found the same?”

“Precisely,” said Dumbledore as Severus nodded. “Nothing in the dungeons either, I presume?”

“Filch searched there, but he wasn’t there either.”

“Very well. I didn’t think he would stay in the castle once his attack failed.”

“Have you any ideas how he got in, Albus?”

“Many, Minerva, but they are all as unlikely and impossible as the next.”

Hari peered through squinted eyes, glancing up at the people standing a few feet away. Dumbledore’s back was turned to him and Percy was rapt with attention and curiosity while Severus looked angry and concerned and Minerva was frowning, deep in serious thought. He thought he saw her eyes flicker in his direction for a split second, but passed it off as a trick of the light.

“You remember my thoughts just before term about my… concerns?” said Severus through gritted teeth, remaining cryptic to avoid Percy’s understanding.

“I do, Severus,” replied Dumbledore calmly.

“You don’t seriously still think he helped, do you, Severus?” added Minerva, looking affronted and slightly irritable.

“I am simply stating that it would be incredibly difficult to get into the school without, ah, help,” said Severus slightly defensively. “I’m not saying a thing, but it’s suspicious, you must admit.”

“I do not think a single member of staff inside these halls helped Black to enter the school, Severus,” said Dumbledore with finality. He cleared his throat. “I must speak with the dementors to inform them our search is complete.”

“They didn’t want to help, Professor?” asked Percy.

“Oh, yes, they did. But no dementor shall enter these grounds while I am headmaster. Not a single one.”

Dumbledore left the hall quickly after that and shut the door quietly behind him. Percy walked over to go and tell off a pair of girls whispering, leaving Severus and Minerva alone.

“You cannot think Remus had anything to do with this, can you, Severus?” asked Minerva sharply once Percy was out of earshot.

Severus sighed, looking defeated as he ran his pale fingers through his greasy black hair. “I do not know what to think, Minerva. It is suspicious how Black managed to get inside, but I agree that Remus was with us when it happened…”

Minerva looked in Hari’s direction once again and Hari quickly shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep again. She smiled fondly at Draco and Hari together and whispered something in Severus’ ear which Hari couldn’t hear. Severus threw a look over his shoulder and Hari and Draco and then the pair of them exited the Great Hall once again.

Once the door closed behind them, Hari shifted to look at Draco, whose eyes were wide.

“Well, that was insane,” Draco muttered.

Hari was inclined to agree.

¤¤¤

The next morning, Hari woke up to a heavy weight on his chest and a blinding light shining in his face.Yawning and stretching his neck, Hari opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying on the floor of the Great Hall, looking up at the sky, now a vibrant blue. Draco was half on top of him now, his head tucked into the crook of Hari’s neck as one of his hands gripped the fabric of the purple sleeping bag. Hari’s shoulder was wet with a small patch of drool.

“Oh, good. You’re awake,” said Ron from above, currently rolling up his sleeping bag, his ginger hair messy and sticking up here and there and small bags under his eyes. “Slept well, I see,” he added with a grin, gesturing towards Hari and Draco on the floor together.

“Ron, leave them alone,” reprimanded Hermione, sitting up in her sleeping bag. Her dark hair, which she had tied back in a bun, was half falling down, long curls framing her face and hanging down her back messily. “Was that an accident or planned?” asked Hermione, crawling out of her sleeping bag.

Hari huffed, still stuck lying on the floor for the time being. “Dunno what you’re talking about, Hermione,” he replied.

All around them, people were starting to wake up or get out of their sleeping bags, talking through yawns and going over to talk with friends across the room. It was a strange sight, seeing so many people dressed in their pyjamas or, in the Gryffindors’ case, messy uniforms. Across the hall, there was a slight commotion as one of the Weasley twins was woken up with a splash of Aguamenti in the face from Lee Jordan.

Hari pulled on his glasses just as Draco stirred against his chest, woken up by the noises growing in the room as more and more people woke up. He yawned hotly against Hari’s neck, tickling him slightly and then lifted his head up. He looked down at Hari with tired grey eyes and a cowlick of blond hair in the back.

“You’re like a cat,” Hari teased gently, smiling as Draco reached up to rub one of his eyes sleepily before rolling off of Hari.

“Shut it, Potter,” Draco snapped, no venom in his croaky, barely awake voice. “What time is it?”

“Almost 8:30,” said Hermione, checking the clock on the wall and double checking on her watch. “I think they’ll be setting the tables out soon, so I suggest you both get up, as comfortable as you may be.” There was a mischievous glint in her chocolate brown eyes, which Hari squinted suspiciously at as he got to his feet.

A few minutes later, everyone was sitting at their tables eating breakfast in their pyjamas. All anyone could talk about was Sirius Black’s entrance, the theories of how he got in ranging from unlikely to impossible to outright absurd. It was amusing to listen to, though, as Harry ate his eggs and toast.

“Could’ve disguised himself,” Hari overheard a fifth year student at the Hufflepuff table suggesting.

“He could have flown in,” suggested Dean Thomas from a few seats down. “Might have flown past the dementors before they could catch him.”

“Maybe he Apparated. You know, appear out of thin air?” added Seamus. A few people seemed to agree, nodding their heads.

Hermione groaned exasperatedly. “Honestly, am I the only one that’s read Hogwarts: A History?” she complained. “If you’d read it, you’d know you can’t Apparate anywhere on the Hogwarts grounds. And he couldn’t have flown past all those dementors undetected, particularly with all the other security charms placed around the school.”

In the days following, Sirius Black was still the centre of every conversation in the school. Hannah Abbott of Hufflepuff insisted during Herbology class that Black could transform himself into a flowering shrub and the slashed up portrait was replaced by a very loud knight named Sir Cadogan who kept challenging people to duels before he let them in.

“Can’t we have anyone else? He’s a complete nutter, he is,” said Seamus angrily to Percy one evening after having to argue with the painting for ten minutes before he stopped trying to duel him and let him inside.

“No other paintings agreed to doing it. They don’t want to get slashed up,” said Percy. “He was the only one brave enough to volunteer.”

“Brave or stupid enough?” Ron deadpanned to his brother.

Even more annoyingly, Hari was beginning to get tailed by all the teachers in turn. They kept finding excuses to walk with him, which he didn’t hugely mind their conversations in general, but he was a bit tired of having to get followed around by adults that didn’t think he was capable enough after all the things he’d done.

“Hari, may I speak to you?” Minerva said one afternoon as Hari was walking on his way to the library to meet with Draco, Ron and Hermione to work on a Potions essay.

“Yes, Minerva?” he asked, stepping into her office and sitting on the edge of his seat.

“As you know, Sirius Black broke into Hogwarts last week and we all believe he’s after you…” she said seriously. Hari bobbed his head. “Which is why I think it is necessary that you don’t practice Quidditch during the evenings anymore. For your own safety.”

“But it’s the first match this weekend!” Hari exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “We can’t lose another match, Minerva! Can’t someone, I dunno, watch to make sure Black doesn’t come trying to off me on my broom?”

Minerva sighed, looking out the window at the Quidditch pitch in the distance. Hari could see a few yellow figures floating around the stadium. “Goodness knows we need to win the Cup for once… I couldn’t look at Severus for a week last year when Slytherin won again… Fine, I’ll ask Rolanda Hooch to watch you…”