“WHAT?” Lily yelled. “How can they attack the Hogwarts Express?” she asked horrified.

“Attacking?” Sirius provided innocently.

“They can’t. The Hogwarts Express is a sacred institution,” Lily glared at him. “It’s one of those things that no matter what you don’t attack. Because of the children.”

“Sorry, Lily. But the psychos that agree with Voldemort don’t hold anything sacred,” James said grimly patting Lily’s back.

Harry awoke to find that a few things were not as they should be. To start with, he was still dressed in the clothes he had worn yesterday. He hated sleeping in his jeans and usually made the effort, no matter how tired he was, to change into his pajama pants. Second, his head was resting on something firm but not hard. His pillows were normally soft. Thirdly, Harry couldn’t remember even going to bed. That rarely happened. Lastly, Harry didn’t hear the soft beeping of his heart that was supposed to be magically monitored. That never happened. Sirius and Remus always made sure the spell was working.

Slowly opening his eyes, Harry tilted his head up to see the somewhat blurry but sleeping face of his godfather. This wasn’t a good sign. Sirius only was overly protective like this when Harry had an episode. Thinking back to last night, Harry remembered the celebration last night and seeing Kreacher. He suddenly remembered the Boggart in the wardrobe and what had happened when it came out. Harry quickly sat up as the realization of what must have happened afterwards ran through his mind. Kreacher must have gone for help meaning Sirius, Remus and everyone in the house saw that he couldn’t even stand up to a Boggart.

“Harry!” Lily scolded, “You didn’t have your wand! There is no way you could have done anything!”

“Harry is never going to think like that,” Remus said grimly, “He always sees things in the worst way possible.”

As quietly and carefully as possible, Harry slid out of bed so he didn’t wake Sirius. He really didn’t need to have an overprotective godfather wanting to talk about what happened right now but deep down Harry knew that was what Sirius, Remus and everyone else under the roof was bound to do the moment they saw him. Carefully walking around the bed, Harry instinctively maneuvered around everything to his bedside table and grabbed his glasses. The moment he put them on Harry saw his wand in his wand holster and instantly grabbed it and put it on. He wasn’t going to let what happened last night happen again. He couldn’t afford it to.

Escaping from his room was a little trickier. His door had a tendency to creek when it was opened too slowly and the light from the hallway was enough to wake anyone up. Carefully, Harry opened his door partially and slid out of the room before closing the door and letting out a sigh of relief. He knew he needed to get moving since they would be leaving for Kings Cross Station in a few hours and he still had to finish packing.

It was still extremely early but that didn’t stop Harry from going through the usual routine of preparing breakfast for everyone. He walked down the stairs slowly so he didn’t alert anyone that someone in the house was awake. He crept into the kitchen only to find that someone else was already up, sitting at the table with a tea cup in their hands looking like they had been up all night.

“Tonks?” Harry asked in confusion. Tonks always hated getting up in the morning. It had been a joke that it must be something in the Black bloodline since Sirius hated mornings too.

“It’s common sense,” Sirius huffed and the others chuckled.

“What are you doing in here so early in the morning?”

Tonks didn’t say a word. Instead, she jumped to her feet, quickly approached Harry and pulled him into an embrace. Her hair had changed back to the short, spiky and purple style that she seemed to favor lately. “What were you thinking?” she asked softly. “Why didn’t you carry your wand? Who cares about the Ministry’s Underage Wizardry Laws? Do you have any idea what it was like to see you on the floor with a Dementor over you? Do you have any idea how much you frightened Sirius, Remus and me?”

“Hey!” James cried, “Don’t make him feel worse than he already is feeling!”

“Calm down James,” Remus said, “She’s just worried about him.”

Harry just let Tonks hold him. How could he have been so thick? By not thinking before running off with Kreacher, Harry caused everyone to worry. It seemed that he had learned nothing over the years. He was still running head first into danger. No, not anymore, Harry mentally vowed. I don’t care what it takes. I’m not going to cause trouble for Sirius and Remus this year. They’ve had too much of it lately.

“See what she did!” James said annoyed.

Remus sighed, “I know she was worried but I have to agree with James,” then looking at the book he said sternly, “Harry James Potter, don’t even think about not letting us know you need help!”

“Yes, sir. Moony, sir!” Sirius standing up and giving Remus a military salute. Remus looked at him annoyed and while Sirius was still in his salute pose Remus calmly swung one of his legs making Sirius lose his balance and fall on his butt. Sirius glared menacingly at the laughing people in the room.

Not receiving an answer, Tonks held Harry at arms length and looked into his emerald green eyes to see pain and regret. She let out a sigh as she pulled Harry into another embrace. “I’m sorry, kid,” Tonks said gently. “I know it wasn’t intentional. Kreacher told us what happened. You were trying to help him but how could you go in there without your wand?”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said softly. “It just surprised me. Before I could run out of the room it just got to be too much.”

Tonks let out a sigh and kissed Harry on the top of his head. “Don’t worry about it,” she said the released him from her hold. “Just don’t do anything like that again. You’re like the nephew I never had.” Tonks leaned back against the table and looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t you wear that yesterday?”

Harry shook his head as he walked over to the ice box to start preparing breakfast. Welcome back, Tonks. She was always quick to notice when someone’s clothes didn’t look right. Sirius had said it was a ‘girl thing’. “Sirius was still sleeping,” Harry said with a shrug. “I figured he needed the sleep since I know he has a tendency to stay up most of the night when something happens to me.”

Tonks eyed Harry skeptically. “In other words you want to avoid a confrontation for as long as possible,” she clarified.

“Avoiding confrontation with Padfoot is just the smart thing to do Tonks,” James explained.

“Yes, for instance,” Remus explained, “James avoided confrontation with Padfoot about spilling his special shampoo by hiding the bottle and making Padfoot think he was losing his marbles and not remembering where he put his shampoo.”

James grinned sheepishly while Sirius eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Now, Paddy. Don’t be like that. Good doggy. AHHHHHHHHHHH!” James cried as he ran out of the room followed by an enormous dog. Remus and Lily just heard the crashes outside until finally James ran back in and slammed the door turning the key.

They heard a soft pop as Mrs. Potter’s voice carried upstairs, “What’s going on up there?”

“Oh, nothing Mrs. Potter,” they heard Sirius’ voice, “Just the wind banging doors.”

They heard footsteps.

“What are you doing out here?”

“The door banged,” Sirius said innocently.

“Well, get inside,” she said and James had to reluctantly unlock the door. He ran behind Remus.

Mrs. Potter opened the door and ushered a smiling Sirius inside, “Is everything okay here?” she asked.

“Oh, yes Mrs. Potter,” Lily said smiling, “Everything peachy.”

James whimpered a little from behind Remus when Sirius sat on the bed next to them.

“Good,” Mrs. Potter nodded and left closing the door.

Sirius innocent smile turned into a cold glare. More whimpers from James. And Remus just fled his spot in time to avoid the trashing pillows.

Then let out another sigh when Harry said nothing to correct her. “Do you have any idea how frantic he’s going to be when he wakes up to find you gone?”

Harry pulled the eggs and bacon out of the ice box before turning to face Tonks. “That’s why I plan on bringing him breakfast before he wakes up,” he answered then pulled out the supplies for muffins. “Sirius is always calmer after he eats; at least that is what Moony tells me.” Remus had said that Sirius was like an overgrown teenager and felt the need to eat at least five times a day. Sirius claimed that he was just making up for the dismal meals he had been given in Azkaban so everyone just let him be.

“Hey! I am a growing boy!” Sirius cried.

“The question is where you are growing,” Lily said knowingly and patting her stomach.

“You’ve got a point,” Tonks said thoughtfully. “So, do you need help?”

Harry glanced at Tonks nervously. It always took twice as long to prepare a meal when Tonks helped out since someone had to usually clean up her mess and then make what she was supposed to. The problem was Harry never could say no to Tonks. “You can mind the bacon while I make the muffins and the eggs,” Harry said at last. “Keep it on low heat.”

Tonks happily hurried to the stove. By the time Harry had the muffins and eggs ready the bacon was finished. As Harry put the bacon on a charmed plate, Tonks started on the toast (after instruction from Harry of course). Soon breakfast was prepared and Tonks sat down with a proud smile on her face. They ate in a comfortable silence before Harry prepared two plates and left the kitchen with Tonks wishing him luck as he left.

As carefully as possible, Harry walked up the stairs and down the still empty hallway. He turned the corner and stopped in front of Remus’ door to see that it was partially open. Grateful for small favors, Harry opened the door completely with his back and entered the room as quietly as possible. He saw Remus asleep in his bed and noticed the tense look on his guardian’s face. Whatever Remus was dreaming about it certainly wasn’t pleasant.

With every effort to be silent, Harry carefully placed the plate on the bedside table. There was a soft ding as the plate touched the table but it was enough for Remus to wake and immediately sit upright in his bed appearing to be ready to strike. He relaxed the moment he saw Harry and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Harry instantly felt guilty. He was the reason his guardians were so exhausted.

Groans were heard.

“Morning cub,” Remus said then noticed the plate of food. “Please tell me you weren’t downstairs cooking by yourself.”

“Always thinking the worst Moony,” Sirius shook his head.

“I find that with you and James the worst is usually accurate,” Remus said dryly.

Harry shook his head. “Tonks was there,” he said. “She helped with the bacon and toast. She’s actually quite proud of it so it wouldn’t hurt to say something when you see her.” He glanced at the plate he was still carrying and knew the food wasn’t going to stay warm for long. “I need to take this to Sirius. If you want you can bring your food into my room so you two can yell at me together.”

“Apparently Harry takes after Moony,” James chuckled.

Remus pulled back his covers and slowly got out of bed. He was wearing dark blue pajama pants and a white shirt that seemed to make him look paler than he already was. The full moon had been a few weeks ago but with all of the stress Remus had been under it seemed that he had never really recovered from it. “We’re not going to yell at you,” Remus said as he grabbed his plate and followed Harry out of the room. “Just promise to tell someone next time Kreacher wants to show you something, all right?”

“See!” Remus huffed annoyed.

Harry looked at Remus and smiled. His guardians had always tried to refrain from yelling at their charge since it had a tendency to remind Harry of his life at the Dursleys. In some ways Harry was still trying to forget his life with his relatives but some things like his fear of being a freak stayed and probably always would. “I can do that,” Harry said as they approached his room and entered.

Sirius was still asleep in the same position as when Harry had left. Harry and Remus grinned at each other. They knew they could have a lot of fun but also knew today wasn’t the day to do it. “Morning Padfoot!” Remus exclaimed as he plopped on the bed causing Sirius to wake immediately.

“You know, I can already see that,” James said imitating a disoriented Sirius. He was stopped when a pillow hit him square on the face.

“Moony!” Sirius shouted as he sat up quickly. “Harry is still…” He stopped speaking when he noticed Harry standing at the side of the bed with a plate of food in his hands. Sirius took the plate of food and set it on the bedside table before grabbing Harry and pulling him back on the bed. Harry landed on the soft bed with an ‘oomph’ beside Sirius who instantly wrapped an arm around the teen. “Stay there, Pronglet,” Sirius said as he grabbed his plate with the other hand and started eating. “What time is it?”

“Now, that is something I can see Sirius doing,” Lily chuckled.

“Early,” Remus answered. “Harry and Tonks made breakfast this morning. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who had trouble sleeping last night.”

Sirius glanced down at Harry and met the teen’s gaze. “Are you okay?” he asked then let a relieved smile appear on his face when Harry nodded. “Good. You need to stop scaring me or I’m going to be as grey as Moony.” Remus moved to object.

Sirius smiled sheepishly and moved away from the fuming werewolf.

 “You know I’m kidding,” Sirius said to his friend then returned his attention to Harry. “By the way, there’s something important we need to talk to you before we leave for the train station.”

Harry glanced at Remus nervously before returning his attention to his godfather. These types of talks were never a good thing. They usually came when something had to be broken gently to Harry. “What happened?” he asked softly.

Sirius cleared his throat and set his plate down. “Well, Fudge is still upset with Dumbledore for claiming that Voldemort has returned,” he said carefully. “Fudge thinks Dumbledore’s trying to cause problems and since no one wanted the Defense position Fudge decided to hire someone for Dumbledore. Her name is Dolores Umbridge. She’s the Undersecretary for the Minister and certainly has no love for Dumbledore.”

“Can Fudge do that?” Lily cried outraged.

“The Ministry has no say over Hogwarts!” Remus stated.

“I bet Fudge changed some law to suit his purposes,” James said frowning grimly.

Harry looked at Remus in confusion. “What about you, Moony?” he asked. “Everyone loved it when you came back last year. No one cares about the wolf. We know you would never hurt us.”

“YES! PROFESSOR MOONY!” James and Sirius cheered.

Remus smiled at the comment. “I know you don’t care about that but the Ministry does,” he said softly.

“Stupid Ministry,” Sirius grumbled.

“Fudge is so desperate to maintain his position in the Ministry that the thought of another war is too much for him to handle. This is a power play, cub. Anything that Umbridge sees at Hogwarts will most likely be reported to Fudge. This includes anything that happens with you. Many in the Ministry believe Skeeter’s articles about Dumbledore using you to gain support.”

“But he’s not,” Harry protested. “I was the one to say Voldemort came back—”

“—but so far all everyone has is Dumbledore’s word,” Sirius interrupted in a calm voice which sounded so strange coming from the Animagus. “As hard as it may be, Harry, we need you to keep your distance from Umbridge. You don’t have to agree with what she says; just don’t be vocal about your own beliefs. We know the truth. That’s all that matters.”

“Good thing that Harry is quite different from his parents on that regard,” Remus nodded.

“Meaning?” Lily hissed while steely green and hazel eyes glared at him.

“That you two find it… er… difficult… yeah, difficult to not express your views on any given subject,” Sirius explained proud of his dealing with the subject of the couples hot headness.

Harry couldn’t help feeling a little nervous. Sirius rarely talked like this. Something else was going on. Harry could feel it. Sirius and Remus never pulled him aside to warn him about something unless it was extremely important. “What aren’t you telling me?” Harry asked cautiously.

Remus and Sirius shared a glance for a moment, appearing to have another one of their silent conversations. “We just want you to be prepared,” Sirius said at last as he returned his attention to Harry. “Umbridge is a Fudge fanatic. Whatever he tells her is what she believes but that doesn’t mean it’s the truth. We have no doubt that she will try to make you and your classmates believe the Ministry’s version rather than Dumbledore’s.”

“We just want you to be careful, Harry,” Remus added. “This is your first day out in public and we know how you hate attention so we just thought we would give you a few words of advice to avoid whatever Umbridge may try. People are allowed to believe what they want. That is their right.”

“As much as I like to agree with myself, and I do think people have the right to believe what they want, I think that we shouldn’t allow that freedom to Padfoot,” Remus said wisely.

“Agreed,” James said.

“Why not? He has the same rights as anyone else?” Lily said defensively. She noticed Sirius wasn’t saying anything just smiling with a dreamy expression.

“Not when he believes he can fly without a broom and decides to test it he doesn’t!” Remus cried.

“He was a little inebriated at the time though,” James explained, “We had found one of the older students stash of Firewhisky and decided to try it.”

Harry understood what his guardians were and were not saying. Umbridge would probably try to convince people that Voldemort hadn’t returned, Harry being one of them. With the current articles Rita Skeeter was writing, everyone was bound to believe that Harry was either a liar or a helpless little boy. They wouldn’t care about the truth. Sirius and Remus were right. He knew the truth as did those he cared about. That was all that mattered. He wouldn’t allow Dolores Umbridge to get the better of him.

---

Sirius and Remus had arranged for three taxis to be waiting for them at Number 2, Grimmauld Place three-quarters of an hour before the train was supposed to leave. Harry (with Hedwig in her cage), Sirius, Remus and Tonks went in the first car, Ron, Fred, George and Mad-Eye Moody went in the second car, and Hermione (carrying Crookshanks), Ginny, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley went in the third. It was a short ride to King’s Cross Station. Sirius and Remus remained at Harry’s side while Tonks stayed a few steps behind, pushing one of the luggage carts. The rest of the group followed them a few strides back.

Sirius and Harry passed through the barrier first with Remus following them. Stepping onto platform nine and three-quarters, Harry had to smile at the sight of the Hogwarts Express. Even with the warnings Sirius and Remus had given him for the upcoming school year there was something about the large, scarlet steam engine that called to you. Harry could remember seeing the train for the first time four years ago. So much has changed since then.

There were a good number of students with their families on the platform but not too many that you couldn’t move. The adults had figured that it would be better to arrive a little early for Harry’s sake. The fewer people around the less likely the chance of something happening. Tonks, Mr. Weasley and Mad-Eye Moody took the carts to be loaded onto the train while everyone else surrounded Harry, Sirius and Remus.

“Everyone have everything?” Mrs. Weasley asked for the tenth time and received affirmative nods in return. “Now remember to behave this year, especially you, Ronald.” Ron rolled his eyes in annoyance at the comment. He had heard this speech countless times since he had received the Prefect’s badge. “You’re a Prefect now and must set an example.”

“Sounds like Moony’s mum last year remember?” Sirius said.

“Yes, you two didn’t let me forget,” Remus hissed annoyed.

“Oh, Remy,” James said in a high voice ignoring Remus, “Be very good this year. Mummy is so proud of you. A Prefect! Do remember you have to set a good example, and don’t forget to wear warm clothes when you go on patrols.”

“So my parents are a little over protective,” Remus mumbled, “It’s understandable. Stop laughing you two!”

“Yes Mum,” Ron said in a bored voice.

Mrs. Weasley looked directly at Fred and George who smiled innocently back. “I’m not going to even bother with you two,” she said with a tired sigh since she knew they wouldn’t listen to her anyways. “Just remember what we talked about last night.”

Fred and George instantly puffed their chests out and saluted Mrs. Weasley, earning snickers from Ron and Ginny as Mr. Weasley, Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody rejoined the group. “Don’t worry Mum,” Fred said with a professional tone to his voice. “We won’t let you down.”

“No one can stop Gred and Forge Weasley when they are on a mission,” George added in the same tone.

“Mission? What mission? Should we be worried?” Lily asked cautiously.

Harry glanced at Sirius and Remus in confusion but saw that his guardians also had no idea what was going on. Fred and George bid their parents goodbye then hurried onto the train. Noticing that more people were coming onto the platform, Mad-Eye growled that the teenagers should get a move on. Ginny quickly bid farewell followed by Ron and Hermione. Once they were all on the train, the six adults all focused on Harry. Knowing what was coming, Harry put Hedwig down and waited for the inevitable.

Mrs. Weasley pulled him into a fierce embrace. “Take care of yourself, dear,” she whispered into his ear before letting him go. Mr. Weasley grasped Harry’s shoulder and told him to look after himself. Tonks pulled Harry into an embrace before demanding that Harry write to her at least once a week. Once she let go Mad-Eye grasped Harry’s shoulder in a similar fashion to Mr. Weasley and reminded Harry ‘constant vigilance’.

Harry bid them goodbye then turned to his guardians. It seemed so hard to believe that two months had passed already. Christmas seemed like such a long ways away and this year it was planned to be a small family get-together at Grimmauld Place. “Thanks for everything,” Harry said at last. “I—I really don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t—” He was pulled into a group hug before he could finish.

“No need to thank us, cub,” Remus said sincerely. “Take care and remember what we told you.”

Sirius leaned down to Harry. “Use your mirror whenever possible,” he whispered into Harry’s ear. “You never know who may be peaking in your mail. If you have any problems from Umbridge or the Ministry contact us immediately. They have no right to question you without one of us there, remember that, Pronglet.”

“Nope they don’t,” Lily nodded approvingly, “You are an underage wizard and they cannot question you without a guardian.”

“Uhm, Lily, they are not allowed to, but, if they break the rules they can,” James said wincing at her glare.

“I will,” Harry said as he took a step back and smiled at Sirius and Remus. Why was it so hard to say goodbye? Harry knew the answer to that. Sirius and Remus had been like an anchor for him the past two months. They were there when he woke up calling Cedric’s name. They were there when he finally talked about what happened. They were there to help him when the small outbursts started coming. Now he would have to work through any further outbursts alone. It just seemed wrong.

“Mind Poppy, Harry,” Remus added, “and remember to take your potion for as long as she believes necessary.” Harry and Sirius rolled their eyes at the overprotective werewolf. “I saw that,” he said instantly. “From both of you.”

Sirius looked at Remus with a look on his face that said he was biting back a laugh, “Channeling your mum Moony?”

He was shoved to the floor which he hit with an ungraceful “Ouch.”

Sirius just shook his head at the comment, noticing how crowded the platform was now. “You better get going, Pronglet,” he said. “We’ll talk to you soon and will be right here waiting for you when the train comes for Christmas break.”

“I can’t wait,” Harry said with a smile then gave each of his guardians one last hug before picking up Hedwig in her cage, bidding goodbye and hurrying on the train to find his friends.

Harry found Ron, Hermione and Ginny already seated in a compartment in the middle of the train. Placing Hedwig on the floor, Harry took the vacant seat by the window next to Ron. Hermione and Ginny were talking quietly, giggling from time to time like they had a tendency to do the last month. Harry and Ron shared a confused glance and shrugged. Sometimes girls were just so strange.

“Tell me about it!” James cried exasperated.

“We are a lot less confusing than you people,” Lily said dryly.

“Lily dear, there is no way we are half as confusing as you girls,” Sirius said seriously.

Ron and Hermione left for the Prefect Carriage ten minutes before eleven after promising that they would be back as soon as they could. To Harry it seemed that Ron and Hermione still believed that Harry was upset about not becoming a Prefect. Or maybe they’re worried about leaving me alone since Ginny doesn’t know about my heart condition. Either way it felt like they didn’t trust Harry without someone around that knew his secret. He had to wonder if Sirius and Remus had said something to them to make them so overprotective.

“I bet they did,” James said approvingly.

Since there wasn’t anything to really do, Harry pulled out one of the books Sirius had bought him and started reading. There was the final whistle and with a lurch the train started moving. Sitting in silence, it wasn’t long before the door slid open to reveal a round faced Gryffindor in Harry’s year named Neville Longbottom. “Er—can I join you?” he asked timidly. “Everywhere else is full.”

Seeing Neville, Harry suddenly remembered something Voldemort had said at the graveyard. ‘How would you feel to being just as insane as the Longbottoms?’ He had completely forgotten about the comment. What did it mean? “Of course Neville,” Harry said with a smile. “So how was your summer?”

Neville shrugged as he sat down beside Harry with Trevor in one hand and his school bag in another. “It was okay,” he said, “but you’ll never believe what I got for my birthday.” He set his school bag down, reached inside and pulled out what looked like a cactus plant except that it was grey and was covered with boils instead of spines.

“Let me get this straight,” James said carefully, “He’s exited about a cactus?”

“Oh, hush James,” Lily said, “Let the poor boy be.”

Harry took a closer look at the plant that seemed to be pulsating, remembering something from the overabundance of reading he had done over the holiday. “Mimbulus mimbletonia,” he said more to himself than those in the room. It was a really rare plant that had a sort of defense mechanism that could be very messy.

Neville stared at Harry in amazement. “H—how did you know what it was?” he asked.

Harry shrugged. “I was bored so I did a lot of reading over the summer,” he said. “Sirius and Remus wouldn’t let me leave my bed for two weeks unless it was absolutely necessary. It kept my mind off of other things too.” Not wanting to elaborate, Harry returned to looking at the plant. “So what are you going to do with it?”

“I want to see if I can breed it,” Neville said proudly. “I’ll have to talk to Professor Sprout. I really can’t wait to show it to her.” Everyone knew that Herbology was Neville’s best subject. It was really the only class he wasn’t timid in.

“Maybe you could do some sort of project on it and present it to the class,” Harry offered. The only reason he knew about the plant was because Sirius let him read some of the books from the Black family library and had almost memorized his class books by now. I’m getting to be as bad as Hermione. “Just don’t activate the defense mechanisms in here…maybe when Malfoy is around.”

Sirius clapped happily, “Oh, why don’t they go looking for Malfoy?”

Lily got up slowly, and once she reached the bed, from where Sirius was looking at her strangely, she smacked his head and went back to her seat as if nothing happened.

Neville looked at Harry in horror. “I—I could never do that!” he exclaimed. “Malfoy would kill me!”

“Why?” Ginny asked curiously. “What happens?”

“Liquid will squirt out of the boils,” Harry answered automatically. Yeah, I’m really turning into Hermione. “The aroma isn’t too pleasant either.” He returned his gaze to Neville. “Have you ever tried to activate it?”

Sirius looked dreamily at the book and you could see him envisioning Malfoy covered in the plant’s liquid.

Neville shook his head. “I read that the Stinksap’s not poisonous though, which is a good thing in case I accidentally set it off,” he said the set the plant down on the floor then looked at Harry. “How are you doing, Harry? Were you really in bed for two weeks because of what happened?”

Harry nodded. “I’m doing a lot better,” he admitted. “I try not to think about what happened. For a while whenever I closed my eyes all I saw was green light but Sirius and Remus helped a lot. I’ll be relieved to sleep in the dorm room tonight. All of the spells and charms they had placed around my room were a little suffocating.”

“What do you mean Harry?” Ginny asked with a partially curious but confused look on her face. Harry didn’t like that look. Hermione got that look when she was on a mission to figure something out. Ginny’s eyes widened with realization a moment later. “Do you mean you could actually feel the spells and charms in your room?”

Harry glanced at Neville before looking at Ginny. “Well, yeah,” he said unsure why she was acting like this. “Every night I could feel them activate. What’s the big deal? There were so many it would be impossible not to feel them.”

Ginny rubbed her eyes before looking at Neville for help. She only received a shrug as an answer. “Harry, it takes a powerful witch or wizard to be able to actually feel magic,” she said carefully. “Not everyone can do it but it’s not unheard of. Has something like that ever happened before this summer?”

“Well, we already know Harry is powerful,” Remus said, “Three Patronuses. Ring a bell?”

Thinking about it, Harry remembered feeling the Unforgivables in Defense class last year but that had been different. He had felt a portion of what their affect would be. He hadn’t actually felt the magic behind them…right? “Once, I think,” he said at last then shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows? Maybe it was just a fluke. If it happens again I’ll talk to Professor Dumbledore about it.”

That seemed to satisfy Ginny who nodded then pulled a book out of her bag and started reading. Harry returned to reading his book while Neville pulled out a Herbology book from his bag. The three of them read in silence until the sound of the door sliding open again distracted them. Looking up, Harry saw that it was Cho Chang, a pretty girl with long black hair who was also the Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He also knew that she had been close to Cedric Diggory last year.

Cho looked at Harry in surprise for a moment before she collected herself. “Um…hi,” she said with a smile to hide her uneasiness. “I was wondering if I could have a word with you, Harry.”

Already dreading what she wanted to talk about, Harry stood up and put his book on his seat before following Cho out of the compartment. The door slid shut leaving them face to face in the compact hallway. “So, what’s on your mind?” Harry asked trying to hide all of the nervousness he was feeling. He couldn’t help it. This was Cedric’s girlfriend. If his death had been hard for Harry to deal with he couldn’t imagine what Cho had been going through.

“Well…I was just wondering how you were doing,” Cho said as she fidgeted nervously.

That was a lie and both of them knew it. Harry let out a sigh as he rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses. “I’m fine,” he said automatically. “Now how about you say what you really wanted to when you asked me to come out here?”

“Very blunt,” James said.

“Must be a Potter trait,” Lily chuckled and James nodded a little then suddenly stopped and glared at her.

“I am a very subtle person!”

“Uh, huh,” Remus sniggered and the other two burst out laughing with him.

Cho’s gaze fell as the floor suddenly became extremely interesting. “I…I was hoping you could answer some questions but if you don’t want to…”

Harry glanced down the hallway in both directions, noticing that Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown were standing about twenty feet away watching and giggling silently. Shaking his head slowly, he returned his focus to Cho. “I know you have questions about what happened, Cho,” he said softly, “but this isn’t the place to talk about them. When we get back to school, maybe we can find a place to talk without so many listening to our every word.”

Cho looked at Harry in confusion and saw Harry’s eyes move to the right then back to her. As casually as possible, Cho glanced to the right and saw the two Gryffindor girls watching them. “I understand,” she said with a soft smile as she looked back at Harry. “Thanks for being so thoughtful, Harry.”

“Of course he is,” Lily cooed, “he’s my son after all.”

Sirius coughed something that sounded an awful lot like: “So modest.”

“No problem,” Harry said with a nod. “See you later.”

They parted ways, Harry re-entering his compartment and Cho leaving for her own. With one glance Harry knew Ginny and Neville had heard everything so he returned to his seat and resumed reading. Yes, talking about Cedric would be hard but Harry knew he wasn’t the only one mourning. He had seen Sirius and Remus stumble through stories about James and Lily Potter, ignoring their own pain so he could know more about his parents.

James and Lily hugged Sirius and Remus.

“Thank you,” Lily whispered.

“Least we could do,” Sirius said patting her back.

He could do the same for Cho. Perhaps it would help to be the strong one instead of relying on someone else.

It was more than an hour later when Ron and Hermione had returned from their meeting. They had missed the food trolley, something that Ron grumbled about for nearly a quarter of an hour while Hermione listed off the new Prefects from each house. Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were the Slytherin Prefects, Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott were from Hufflepuff, and Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil were from Ravenclaw. Harry could already see problems with Malfoy being a Prefect but also knew that there weren’t a lot of choices from the Slytherin lot.

“He’s going to abuse his power,” Sirius snorted.

“Just like his father,” James grimaced. “Remember when he was a Prefect? A nightmare, and we weren’t even supposed to be on his radar that much since we were firsties.”

“Nah, my family was already arranging his and Narcissa’s engagement. He got out of his way to make my life hell for besmirching the family name by being a Gryffindor and unfortunately for you; you were with me,” Sirius said scowling.

Once Hermione finished listing off the Prefects, she looked directly at Harry with a sympathetic look on her face. “Just so you know, there are a lot of people asking about you, Harry,” Hermione said gently. “Um…did you come out of the compartment at all?”

“I talked to Cho a little bit,” Harry said with a raised eyebrow. Why should that matter if he left the compartment or not? “Why do you ask?”

Hermione inhaled deeply as if she needed to prepare herself for something. “Well…um…I guess not many were expecting you to look the way you do now,” she said carefully. Harry glanced down at his body before looking back at Hermione confused. “It’s not bad,” she quickly added. “It’s just that they were sort of expecting you to look like you did at the end of last term.”

“Ah, that’s rich. What did they expect? A broken Harry?” Lily said angry.

Harry was still confused. He hadn’t changed that much, right? How could he? The only thing he had been allowed to do this summer was tae-kwon-do and tai chi. Yes, he had put on a little muscle but it was only noticeable now because the training he had done during the two summers before this one. Was it his fault that no one noticed it before? Were they really expecting him to come back the same weak kid? Probably.

Just then the compartment door slid open again to reveal the last person Harry wanted to see right now. Draco Malfoy, flanked by his cronies Crabbe and Goyle looked particularly smug today. Harry had to assume that it was because Malfoy was a Prefect and Harry was not. Malfoy however looked just as surprised as Cho at the sight of Harry. It seemed that the sleek blond haired and pointed chin Slytherin was also expecting Harry to look like he had a little over two months ago.

“Can we help you with something Malfoy?” Harry asked, his eyes narrowing at the three Slytherins in the doorway.

“It seems that the rumors are true,” Malfoy drawled, a cruel smile appearing on his face. “Tell me, Potter, did you think you would finally get a date looking like this? I guess now that Diggory is out of the way—”

“That’s, that’s,” Lily spluttered horrified.

“Uncalled for is what that is,” Remus said angrily. ”How can he be so cruel and flippant about Cedric’s death?”

“Because he was raised to use every weapon he has at his disposal to get advantage and to think that he has the right to be cruel to others,” Sirius said, “What? It’s not my fault. It’s just the way things are. I was raised like that too. It’s just that not all of us realize that we shouldn’t.”

“And sometimes it takes time,” Lily said.

Surprisingly Sirius answered calmly, “Yes, I know I may have let my upbringing show in my dealings with Snape. But in my defense he isn’t a saint either, and I don’t do it because I think I’m better than the rest of the world. It’s just that Snivellus always rubbed me the wrong way.”

Ron and Hermione were instantly on their feet with their wands pointing at Malfoy. “Get out of here you git,” Ron hissed.

Knowing that trouble was about to start, Harry slowly stood and put a hand on Ron’s shoulder. Sirius and Remus had warned him about this. He knew people like Malfoy were going to use Cedric’s memory to upset him, something Harry couldn’t afford to happen. Nothing Malfoy could say would ever change Harry’s beliefs. That was what mattered. “He’s not worth it, Ron,” Harry said calmly then looked at Malfoy. “Please leave, Malfoy. It is rude to interrupt or is your father too busy tending to his master to teach you manners?”

Malfoy inhaled sharply at the comment as his eyes narrowed. “You were lucky last time, Potter,” he hissed. “Luck won’t save you next time.”

Without waiting for retaliation, Malfoy left with Crabbe and Goyle following him. Ron and Hermione lowered their wands and turned to Harry who was avoiding their eyes. He had to admit Malfoy had a point. He had been lucky to escape the graveyard. Voldemort had underestimated his outbursts. Chances were slim that would happen again.

All of a sudden the train came to an abrupt stop causing everyone to lose their footing and fall to the ground. Thuds and bangs of luggage falling out of racks could be heard. A strange feeling of déjà vu filled Harry. Scrambling to his feet, Harry flicked his wrist and felt his wand in his hand. Carefully, he maneuvered around everyone still on the floor and looked out the window. He didn’t see anything but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything out there.

“I have a feeling the title of this chapter is about to happen,” Remus said shakily clutching his robes at chest high.

Turning around to face his friends, Harry felt an intense cold fill his body. His eyes widened in shock. No, they can’t be here. Not again! Without saying a word, Harry hurried to the compartment door and opened it. He poked his head out and looked both ways, seeing nothing but other students doing the same thing. Harry instantly knew he would have to take charge of the situation. He didn’t know of anyone else who knew the Patronus Charm and didn’t have the time to find out. He could only hope that he was strong enough to pull it off.

“Excuse me? Why would you have to take charge? Let some older student or the driver deal with this!” James cried angry. “You are not responsible for the whole world Harry!”

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Hermione asked instantly.

Harry stepped out into the hallway and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “Everyone please stay in your compartments and keep the doors closed!” he announced then looked over his shoulder at those in his compartment. “That goes for all of you too.”

Hermione’s eyes widened in alarm. “Harry no!” she shouted as she hurried to him. “You’re not strong enough yet!”

“Yes, thank you Hermione!” Sirius cried, “Let someone help Harry! Don’t try to be the hero and get yourself killed or worse!”

Harry gasped as intense cold increased, making it difficult to breathe. Grabbing the wall for support, Harry closed his eyes and focused. “Hermione, don’t argue with me,” Harry scolded. “It’s Dementors. I can feel them coming. You don’t know how to protect yourself from them. I do!”

Feeling his equilibrium returning, Harry opened his eyes and met her gaze with a determination he never knew he had. Hermione reluctantly nodded and backed into the compartment. Returning his focus to the matter at hand, Harry started walking cautiously towards the front of the train. He could feel the cold increasing. He started to shiver as he tightened his grip on his wand.

Suddenly one of the entrances to the train opened to reveal two Dementors trying to enter the train. A high-pitched laugh filled his ears. Harry instantly pointed his wand, focusing on his summer with Sirius and Remus while shouting “Expecto Patronum!” Silver light filled the hallway with such intensity that Harry had to look away. As the light dimmed, Harry opened his eyes to see that he once again had two silver companions. On his left was a silver wolf (Moony) while a large silver dog (Midnight) was on his right. Looking straight ahead, Harry could see a silver stag chasing off the Dementors. With a flick of the wand the door closed and locked. At least they can’t come back.

The severe coldness was decreasing but Harry knew he would need some chocolate. Letting out a sigh of relief, Harry looked down at his companions and smiled. “I need you two to search the train and make sure no more Dementors are lurking around,” Harry instructed. “After that you are free to go.”

Moving out of the way, Harry watched as Midnight and Moony ran to the front of the train before turning around and turning around and running to the end of the train, appearing to be doing nothing more than racing each other. Once they reached the end of the train, they looked at Harry one more time before vanishing into the air. Harry walked back to his compartment and knocked on the door. “Housekeeping,” he called out.

Hermione slid the compartment door open and glared at Harry, clearly not approving of his attempted humor. She was glaring at him with such force that Harry had never thought possible, at least from Hermione. “This is hardly the time to be making jokes,” she scolded.

“Yeah, not funny Harry!” Remus scolded shaking his finger at the book.

“Okay,” Harry said with a shrug. “Next time I’ll say ‘I’m a Dementor here to suck your soul out now let me in’.” Ron and Ginny snickered at the comment. “I need you two to round up the Prefects, Head boy and Head girl to check the compartments. Make sure everyone’s all right, especially the first years. Hand out chocolate if you have to. I’m going to have a word with the driver. Twice in three years…”

“Can do Harry,” Ron said as he stepped out into the hallway. “Shout out if you need anything.”

“James.”

“Yes, Lily,” James answered.

“Did I just hear your son say he was going to foolishly check on the driver alone?”

James checked the book and nodded grimly.

Harry nodded then made his way to the front of the train. He couldn’t believe this was happening again. Fortunately he wasn’t in the same position as he had been in two years ago. This time he had known what to do and had defended himself. Now he just had to figure out why they were here in the first place. Ignoring the whispers that filled the air, Harry reached the door and slowly opened it. He had been prepared to see the driver huddled in a corner suffering for the affects of the Dementors.

What Harry actually found was completely different. The thin, silver haired driver was on the floor with his lifeless blue eyes staring upward. Slowly, Harry knelt down and felt for a pulse but found nothing. The driver was dead.

“Harry, slowly but decidedly back away and go back for help!” Remus ordered.

A sudden movement from the right caught Harry’s attention. Without a thought, Harry acted, pointing his wand at the distraction and shouting, “Stupefy!”

A tall figure with a black cloak and white mask blocked the spell before firing a shot of red light at Harry. Moving out of its path, Harry scrambled to his feet, ready to defend himself. He needed to think of something. Dementors were one thing but Death Eaters? How in the world was he supposed to do this with a train full of people? Someone was bound to get hurt.

“And someone could come help!” Sirius cried.

“Give up, Potter,” the Death Eater hissed. “I would hate for someone else to die because of you.”

“Hey, you’re the one that killed the poor bloke. He’s dead because of you not Harry!” James cried angry.

Harry inhaled sharply at the comment but made no other movement. It seemed that Voldemort and his followers were aware that Harry valued the lives of others above his own since Voldemort had taunted Harry about Cedric’s death while they had been dueling. The Death Eater apparently ran out of patience and fired another unspoken spell at Harry. Quickly moving out of the way, Harry miscalculated his steps and tripped over the body of the driver…right into the waiting arms of the Death Eater.

Grabbing Harry by the robes, the Death Eater roughly pulled Harry out of the train then with a flick of his wand locked every door and window on the train so no one could get out.

“Like that makes a difference. Didn’t see them jumping to help Harry anyway,” Sirius snorted.

“I am sure Hermione, Ron and the others would help,” Lily said.

“Are you sure or do you hope?” Remus asked her. He also was angry at Harry facing this alone when there were older and more experienced students aboard.

 Harry tried to break free and instantly felt pain as something hard was slammed into the back of his head. Dropping his wand, Harry felt his body go limp as he struggled to maintain consciousness. He couldn’t pass out. Passing out would be the end of him.

Approaching footsteps filled Harry’s ears. “It’s about time,” an angry voice hissed. “We need to get out of here.”

Pounding could be heard from the train, sounding like fists slamming against an unbreakable surface. Harry could only assume that those still on the train were watching everything that was happening. Come on Potter! Move! He couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t let them take him. He would never see Sirius, Remus, Ron or Hermione again. No! I’m stronger than this! I have to be!

An intense sensation of power flooded Harry, pushing away any dizziness. It was similar to the minor outbursts he had felt during the summer but instead of waiting for it to pass Harry knew he needed to use it. It was his only hope now. Before either Death Eater knew what was going on, Harry twisted his body over so he was facing upward, freeing his right arm and silently called his wand with his extended hand. Grasping his wand a moment later, Harry jumped to his feet then jumped in the air, bringing his leg up and kicking his kidnapper in the face. As the kidnapper stumbled back, Harry turned to the accomplice and fired a quick stunning spell followed by a body binding spell.

“Yes!” Sirius cried and they all started to cheer Harry on.

The accomplice fell to the ground as Harry returned his attention to the kidnapper just in time to avoid being hit by a stunning spell. The duel began. The Death Eater fired curse after curse while Harry deflected or maneuvered out of the way, flipping when it was absolutely necessary. It only took ten minutes before Harry’s chest started to ache. He was sweating and breathing heavily. Harry knew he wouldn’t be able to last much longer. He needed to take the offensive, staying defensive was getting him nowhere.

Lily was chewing on a lock of her own hair desperately.

Stepping to the right, Harry fired a body binding spell as the Death Eater fired the Reductor curse. Both moved to avoid being hit but the Death Eater predicted this and fired another Reductor curse…one that Harry didn’t notice until it was too late. It struck Harry hard at his right side. Pain screamed throughout his body as Harry fell to his knees, grabbing his right side in a desperate attempt to hold in as much blood as he could.

“No, no, no, this is not good,” Sirius mumbled.

Gasping for breath, Harry looked up to see the Death Eater approaching as rain started to fall around them. His outburst had left him long ago but he was only realizing it now. Sitting on his knees, Harry watched as the Death Eater took one slow step after another towards him. Harry had his right hand resting on the ground, appearing to balance him but he was actually hiding his wand. This was his last chance. He could only hope to take the Death Eater by surprise.

“Not so powerful now, are we Potter?” the Death Eater spat as he took another step. “Don’t worry; we’re not going to kill you…yet. We just need to find out what you did to our Master.”

Come on, come on, Harry silently urged. The Death Eater took another cautious step followed by another. Just after the third step, Harry quickly pointed his wand at the Death Eater and shouted. “Stupefy” followed by “Petrificus Totalus”. The Death Eater’s limbs snapped to his sides as he fell to the ground, stiff as a board. Harry let out a sigh of relief as he lowered his arm.

“WELL DONE HARRY!” Remus cried.

He glanced tiredly at the train as the rainfall started to increase before closing his eyes and collapsing to the ground.

“Someone help! You people in the train get a move!” James yelled.

The shatter of glass could be heard through the clearing. Too exhausted to move, Harry could only listen. He heard chatter breakout before the sound of hurried footsteps approaching. Harry let out a groan as two sets of hands carefully rolled him onto his back. “Just hang on, Harry,” said the voice of Fred Weasley as arms burrowed underneath his shoulders and legs. With one fluid motion he was lifted into the air and carried back to the train.

Harry was completely soaked by the time he was pulled back into the train by awaiting students. Fred and George climbed back in and once again picked Harry up as carefully as possible. The window was repaired as Fred and George carried Harry out of the compartment and down the hallway which was a tight fit but somehow the twins managed. Harry was fighting to stay awake at that moment because he knew they weren’t out of danger yet.

“Harry, you are hurt. Let them deal with any danger,” Lily scolded.

“In here,” Hermione’s voice said urgently.

Fred and George entered a large compartment and carefully set Harry down on a chair that looked like it had been enlarged so Harry’s entire body could fit on it. Harry let out a moan as he felt someone pull his hand away from his wound and slowly lift his shirt up. Several hisses and gasps could be heard as the observers caught sight of the wound. Harry felt something wet and warm pressed against his injured side causing him to inhale sharply as the pain flared throughout his body.

“I’m sorry Harry!” Hermione said quickly.

Harry shook his head slowly as he opened his eyes completely and saw the crowd around him. Struggling to steady his breath, Harry looked directly at Hermione since she was the closest. “You need to send…word to Dumbledore,” he said tiredly. “The driver is dead. Send Hedwig. Tell her I’m hurt. She’ll know what to do.”

“I’ll do it,” Ginny said then hurried out of the carriage.

Harry noticed Ron was standing behind Hermione with a shocked look on his face. “Ron, find my trunk,” he said sounding a little more coherent. “Find the mirror and contact Sirius. He can be here faster than Dumbledore. Take Fred and George if you need help.” The three Weasley boys nodded and ran out of the carriage. Harry closed his eyes and let his head rest against the chair as a wave of dizziness hit him. The blood loss was starting to get to him. “Round up the upperclassmen and disperse among the younger years. The first years must be terrified by now.”

A gentle hand rested on his forehead. “Don’t worry Harry,” said the voice of Angelina Johnson, a seventh year Gryffindor and a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. “We’ll take care of it. Save your strength. We need our Seeker if we want to win the Quidditch Cup this year.” She then stood up and faced the crowd. “You heard Harry. We have a responsibility to those younger than us. Seventh years find a first year compartment and stay there. Sixth years you have second years and fifth years you have third years. Hermione and the Weasleys can stay here with Harry until help arrives.”

“You heard her now let’s move,” a tenor voice announced. “Head boy and Head girl should patrol the hallway just to be safe.”

Lily flinched as a shoe slammed in the wall.

“Hum, Sirius, mate, you okay?” Remus asked.

“What? They couldn’t figure all that by their own? It’s not any stroke of genius, get help see if anyone is injured. Anyone could think of that! But noooooo, they need injured Harry to tell them or else they just stand there like idiots!” he growled angrily.

James and Lily nodded.

“They’re kids. They’re not used to this and were scared,” Remus tried to reason but it didn’t work that  much since he too was angry about Harry having to take care of everybody.

Everyone but Hermione filed out of the compartment, talking quietly to each other. Harry did pick up a few ‘I can’t believe this happened’ and several ‘did you see what he did?’ comments but didn’t have the energy to figure out who was saying them. His mind felt like a cloudy mess. Harry knew that if another threat came he would be helpless and that scared him more than he would ever admit. He hated being helpless. He hated being a victim.

Shortly after everyone left Ginny returned, pulled up a chair and took hold of Harry’s left hand since Harry was still holding his wand in his right. “Hedwig is on her way,” she explained. “I don’t know how fast she will get there in this rain but if any owl can do it, Hedwig can.”

“Sirius is going to be so angry,” Hermione said nervously. “We never should have let you go alone to check on the driver, Harry.

“No you shouldn’t,” Lily crossed her arms, “Now feel Padfoot’s wrath!”

 How could we have been so stupid? Who else would have Dementors attack the train? We should have protected you. Remus and Sirius are never going to forgive us…they’re never going to forgive Professor Dumbledore. Oh no! They’re going to pull you out of school!”

“Should have never let him back,” Sirius mumbled and James nodded.

“You’re going to be his pet now right Paddy?” James said.

“Of course!”

“Hermione, shut up!” Ginny said in annoyance. “We’re supposed to keep Harry calm by not panicking!”

“Hermione’s panicking?” Ron asked as he entered to carriage. “Miss voice-of-reason is panicking?” He pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ginny. “Sirius and Remus are on their way. Remus said he would contact the Order once he calmed Sirius down enough to Apparate. It was a good thing my mum wasn’t the one contacting him. She would have washed his mouth out with soap…repeatedly. Oh, Fred and George are standing guard outside…just in case.”

“For the first time I won’t berate Sirius for his language,” Lily said.

Harry partially opened his eyes and looked at Ron. “Thanks,” he said softly then closed his eyes again. He knew he needed to keep talking or he would pass out. “It looks like you were right, Hermione. I wasn’t strong enough.”

“Er—Harry, I don’t think you realize what happened,” Hermione said carefully. “We saw the duel. You were amazing. None of us would have lasted as long as you did. Those were Death Eaters and you…well…you got hurt but you beat both of them. You haven’t even taken your OWL’s yet and you beat two Death Eaters in a duel!”

“Harry may have been amazing but I still fail to see how two Death Eaters alone would have been able to overcome hundreds of armed students even if they were not fully qualified yet,” Remus said annoyed.

“That would have required for someone to say: ‘Hey, let me go with you’ instead of ‘Go on, save us all’,” James huffed.

“It’s a good thing Remus and Sirius gave you all of those private lessons,” Ron added. “Er—other than where you were hit, are you okay, Harry? I mean, it seemed like you were in pain while you were dueling.”

Harry thought for a moment. It was really hard to determine if anything else hurt with the pain searing from his side. He knew what Ron was talking about. Ron wanted to know if the Dementors and facing the Death Eaters had been too much for his heart to handle. He remembered the pain from his chest while dueling but honestly couldn’t say he felt any pain in that area now. “I’ll be fine, Ron,” Harry said at last. “Don’t worry.”

“WHERE IS HE?” shouted a voice that Harry and the Weasleys knew all too well.

“In here, Sirius,” answered the nervous George Weasley.

“Sirius is there now James,” Lily said patting James, “He’ll make everything well again.”

Sirius puffed his chest proudly and Remus rolled his eyes.

Sirius entered the carriage and inhaled sharply at the sight in front of him. Harry lying on an oversized chair with his shirt pulled up to his chest while Hermione was holding a blood soaked rag to a wound on Harry’s right side. Ron and Ginny instantly moved out of the way so Sirius could hurry to Harry’s side. Harry partially opened his tired eyes to see Sirius’ concerned face.

Forcing a smile, Sirius ran his fingers through Harry’s hair. “It’s okay now, Pronglet,” he said softly. “Moony will be here soon with help.” He then turned to the three watching teenagers. “Where are those Aurors? I’m going to kill them.”

“What Aurors? And may I help?” James asked.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny stared at Sirius in confusion. “What Aurors?” Hermione asked. “We contacted you first because of the mirror Harry had.”

Sirius’ eyes narrowed in anger. “There were supposed to be two Aurors on this train to protect you kids,” he hissed. “Dumbledore assured me all of you would have at least some protection. Do you mean to tell me there was no sort of protection on this train whatsoever? He left a train of children to defend themselves against Dementors and Death Eaters?”

James dropped the book and got up walking to the door.

Lily got up and held him by the arm, “James, where are you going?”

“I am going to have a few choice words with a certain crazy old Headmaster.”

Remus, who had joined them, helped Lily usher James back to his spot saying calmly as if talking to a small child or a very unstable person, “I don’t think that would work very efficiently. Why don’t we keep reading?” he finished handing James back the book.

“Er…well…we really didn’t defend ourselves,” Ron said as he avoided Sirius’ gaze.

“No, you didn’t,” Sirius huffed.

 “Harry defended us. He told us to stay in our compartments when the Dementors came then went to talk to the driver about it.

“I know Harry told you but there is such thing as free will. You could have just not listened to him!” Lily cried annoyed.

That’s when the Death Eaters came. They—er—dragged Harry out and did something to the train so we were all stuck in here.”

Sirius let out a low growl. Harry let out a moan as he reached over and touched Sirius’ arm. He couldn’t stand his friends paying the price for a choice he made. “It’s not their fault, Sirius,” Harry muttered. “We didn’t know Death Eaters were here.”

Returning his attention to his godson, Sirius let out a sigh and buried he face in Harry’s hair as he wrapped an arm around Harry’s upper body so not to cause any further pain to his godson. “I know, Pronglet,” he said softly. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. You shouldn’t have to defend a train full of children. You’re still a kid too, you know.”

“Sometimes I don’t think he does,” Remus sighed as he scribbled something on his parchment.

“They’re in here, Remus!” Fred called out alerting Harry and Sirius that Remus had arrived with help.

Sirius pulled away as Remus ran into the carriage and fell to his knees at Harry’s side. He pulled the bloodied cloth away and winced at the sight of Harry’s wound. “Just hang on, cub,” Remus said gently. “We’ll have you fixed up in no time. Don’t worry. Tonks is outside with some help taking care of your attackers. She was almost as bad as you, Sirius, when I told her what happened. I swear you Blacks have quite a temper when someone you care about is in trouble.”

“Not funny Moony,” Sirius warned.

Sirius glared at Remus.

“Who said I was making a joke?” Remus countered. “Sirius, prop him up so I can bandage him. We need to stop the bleeding.”

“Good thing Moony arrived. He always knows what to do,” Sirius said pleasantly and Remus blushed.

Harry felt and arm pry under his shoulders and slowly pull him upwards so his upper body wasn’t on the chair. Pain flared throughout Harry’s body causing him to wince as his head tilted to the left and rested against Sirius’ shoulder. Harry let his eyes close as he started to drift off. Help had come. Sirius said something to Remus but it sounded too muffled to make out. Everything seemed to fade away…including the pain as Harry lost consciousness.

“I don’t think that’s very good,” Lily said worried.

“Don’t fret. Harry will be fine!” James tried to sound confident but his hand was shaking as he turned the page.