Like The Rain

Chapter 2

The Next Day

"Remus. Remus, wake up," Sirius gently prodded Remus in the back with a finger. "Come on. There's something you have to see."

Remus groaned and rolled over on the rug. It was way too early for this. He couldn't believe Sirius was even awake at this hour, it was barely light outside.

"What is it?" he asked more harshly than he intended. Sirius didn't seem to notice though. He was staring at the door to the study with a look of fear in his eyes. "What's wrong Sirius?" he asked again, this time with concern in his voice.

"Th- there's something in the study. I can hear it. It's making some kind of weird noise," Sirius said, his voice shaking a bit. "Come on, Moony. We have to see what it is."

Remus pushed himself up and forced his legs to support his weight. He was still weak from the transformation and had to lean on Sirius to stand. They made their way towards the study and Remus could hear what Sirius was talking about. It sounded like it was.. snoring.

"What do you think it is, Remus?" came Sirius's voice from beside him.

"I don't know? It doesn't sound all that dangerous, though. It sounds like it's snoring," Remus said, with amusement. He pushed open the door and flipped the light on. His eyes landed on a small figure laying on the large couch. It was a girl, who looked to be about 18 or 19 years old. She had very long, dark brown hair, with tints of red in it. Her figure was nice, even though she was so skinny. She seemed to be sleeping. Remus and Sirius walked over to her, their wands drawn, in case she was a messenger from the Dark Lord or something like that. Sirius poked her a few times with his wand and her eyes fluttered open. Remus noticed she had very bright green eyes, almost like Harry's except they had streaks of gold in them, before she screamed and rolled off the couch.

"Who are you?" she practically screamed. "Where am I? What was that thing outside the door last night? Is it still there?"

Sirius shot Remus a look that obviously said, geez.. you gotta handle her, and bolted out the door. Remus couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Sirius never was good at calming hysterical girls down. They always seemed to freak him out and he got hysterical, too. He was broken from his thoughts, though, when he noticed the girl's eyes again, looking at him in fear.

"It's ok. We're not going to hurt you. I just need to know a few things about you. Ok?" he said, very gently. She nodded slowly in agreement. "Ok, then. First question. What's your name?"

"W- Wren Scot."

"How old are you?"

"21, almost 22."

"How did you get here?"

At this question, Wren hesitated. How did I get here? She searched her memory and vaguely remembered the shop with Faye. Faye. Where's Faye? She began to panic again at the thought of not having Faye with her. What happened to Faye? Then she remembered. The woman, screaming about dementors. The cold chill and the screaming and howling and green light. Running into the forest, leaving Faye behind. Finding the house and the wolf-thing in the middle of the floor.

"I- I was running away from something," she began. "A de- dementor? I think that's what the woman called it. People were everywhere. Me and Faye went to see what was going on. I got a cold chill. It felt horrible. Everything bad in my life flashed before my eyes. Then I heard howling and screaming and I saw a flash of green light. I couldn't see anything else. I ran into the forest, and left Faye to that horrible thing. I left her," at this, Wren's eyes watered and she had to pause for a few seconds before continuing. "And I found this place. And this thing was lying in the middle of the floor. It had the biggest yellow eyes I'd ever seen. It growled at me and I hid in here and fell asleep. I know all this probably sounds crazy, but it's true."

So the dementors are running loose. And the ministry still probably doesn't believe the Dark Lord is back. Bumbling fools. And I'm betting this girl is a Muggle. Since she didn't know what a Dementor was.

"I'll be right back, Wren. Don't worry. We'll make sure you get back to your friend, Faye. I'm sure she's alright," Remus said, still lost in his thoughts. He walked to the kitchen and found Sirius busying himself with breakfast. He seemed to have other things on his mind, though, because he wasn't paying attention to the black smoke rising from the eggs.

"Sirius. The eggs. They're burning," Remus said when he noticed the smoke.

"Oh," and here he said something that would've made Hermione say "Sirius!" "I'm sorry, Moony. I've just been thinking 'bout Harry. He's supposed to be here later today and now we have this girl to worry about."

"It's ok, Sirius. I think I've got it under control. She's a Muggle, I can tell that already. But her and her friend were attacked by a dementor. Apparently they're running loose. But I'll take care of the girl. I'll take her back to where she was and perform a Memory Charm. Ok?" Remus suggested.

"Yeah, yeah. That'll be fine. Thanks, Remus. I was worrying there for a second. Well, you'd better hurry, if you wanna be here when Harry and them arrive," Sirius said, and began to fix another breakfast.

Remus went back to the study and found Wren sitting exactly as she was when he left her. She smiled when he came back into the room. She seemed to trust him, since there was nobody else around to trust. Hmm.. she's alright looking, Remus found himself thinking and then was suddenly disgusted with himself. Wait, what am I thinking? She's only 21 and I'm what? 32? Geez.. that's way too old for her. Just forget it, Remus. Besides.. you'd never have a chance with her because of what you are. And with that he banished that thought.

"So, I suppose I should be returning you to your friend Faye, shouldn't I? She's probably wondering where you're at," Remus said, a bit reluctantly. For some reason, he didn't want her to go. She nodded and got up to follow him.

"Hmm.. let's see. How much would a train ticket cost, I wonder? And when does the next train leave? Hmmm..." Remus seemed lost in thought.

"Why don't we just Appara-?" Wren started to ask, not thinking. This remark seemed to startle Remus. How does a Muggle know about Apparation? he thought.

"Do what?" he asked.

Uh-oh.. he's a Muggle. Damn it, Wren thought.

"I mean- er.." she trailed off. Hmm.. I'll have to keep an eye on her, she could be a spy for Voldemort or something, Remus thought.

"Well, let's go," he said, a little stiffly. They walked to Hogsmeade which was nearby and took the train.

*************************************

"Harry! Ron! Wake Up!" Hermione practically screamed from the foot of Ron's bed. "Oh come on, you lazy boys!" she spat out the word *boys*.

"Oi, Harry, please tell that bossy know-it-all to KEEP IT DOWN!" Ron yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Mmmhmm, whatever, Ron. That's nice," Harry mumbled, obviously still asleep.

Hermione stood there, glaring at Ron, even though he couldn't see her due to the fact that his eyes were still closed. Boys, thought Hermione. I give up. Those two are impossible. And with that she stomped back downstairs. A few minutes later, Fred and George peered around the doorway, mischievous grins on both of their faces. They were just about to pull another one of their pranks when a sharp voice from behind stopped them.

"Fred, George! Just what do you think you're doing?" Mrs. Weasley demanded. They slowly turned around, trying their best to put on innocent faces. Mrs. Weasley stood there, with her hands on her hips and a suspicious look on her face.

"We were just gonna wake Ickle Ronniekins and Harry up," George said, unable to keep a straight face. Fred burst into laughter behind him.

"I'm sure you were," Mrs. Weasley said, a disbelieving tone to her voice. "I'll do that. You two run downstairs and dispose of whatever it was you were gonna wake them up with."

"Yes, Mum," Fred sighed. Him and George slowly made their way downstairs, but didn't dispose of the giant rubber spider they were going bewitch to crawl on Ron's face. Those two. Thought Mrs. Weasley. Will they EVER grow up? She made her way into Ron's room and over to his bed. She poked him in the back and whispered for him to get up.

"Ron, dear. Time to wake up. We've got to leave soon. You don't want to be late do you?" she whispered gently. She prodded him some more until he stirred awake and opened his eyes.

"Mum.." he whined. "It's way too early. Can't we sleep a little bit longer?" he pleaded.

"I'm afraid not, dear. We have to go."

Ron sighed and sat up. Mrs. Weasley patted him on the shoulder and kissed him on the forehead before going back downstairs. Ron walked over to Harry's bed and bent down next to his ear.

"OI, HARRY! WAKE UP!" he shouted as loud as he could. Harry jumped up and almost knocked Ron in the mouth with his head. He twisted his head around from side to side until his eyes rested on Ron. It took a moment before he realized the reason Ron was blurry was because he didn't have his glasses on. He reached onto the bedside table and slipped them on. His eyes focused on Ron again.

"Thanks a lot, Ron," he said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Ron shrugged.

"No problem. Any time," he said, grinning. "Come on. We're going to be late. I think Hermione's already awake. Unless I dreamed she came in here..." he said, his voice trailing off in thought and the back of his neck turned almost as red as his hair. Harry didn't seem to notice, though.

They got dressed and walked downstairs for breakfast. Everybody else was awake and they were all sitting at the kitchen table, obviously waiting for them. Harry grinned sheepishly and sat down next to Hermione.

"G*Morning everyone," Ron said, as he sat down next to Harry.

"Finally," came Hermione's voice. "I tried to wake you guys up earlier, but someone," and at this she glared at Ron," yelled at me to shut up. So I figured I'd just leave you two here."

"Oh, come off it, Hermione. I was asleep. I don't even remember yelling at you," Ron said, dismissively.

They all ate the rest of their breakfast in silence, the building tension of them leaving making it hard for anyone to talk. When they were finished, Mr. Weasley stood up. He was about to say something, when a Ministry owl flew through the window and straight at him. He took the note it had tied to its leg and quickly scanned it. His eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open.

"Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said, worried. "What in Heaven's is wrong?"

"Dementors," he said, and apparated to the town of Woodsen.

******************************************

The train ride was surprisingly short to the small town of Woodsen, where Wren and Faye had been shopping. Neither Remus nor Wren said a word the whole ride. When they arrived at Woodsen, they found it in an uproar. News cameras and reporters were everywhere. Remus noticed a group of people standing away from the crowd and recognized a few of them as Ministry officials.

"What's going on?" he heard Wren ask. "Why's there cameras everywhere? Where's Faye? She's usually in the middle of stuff like this. I don't see her anywhere," Wren was beginning to panic. She could always feel Faye's presence when they were close. And as far as she could tell, Faye wasn't anywhere in town right now.

"Hold on a second," Remus said, patting her shoulder clumsily, trying to comfort her. "I'll see what's going on."

He walked over to the Ministry officials who were eyeing him suspiciously. Oh like I had anything to do with this. They always suspect us. There was only one official who greeted him cheerfully.

"Remus, it's good to see you," Arthur Weasley said. "Do you have any idea what happened? The Ministry's in an uproar. We've talked to a few witches and wizards that live here and they said a dementor attacked some Muggle girl. We didn't find the dementor, though. I don't have a clue as to what's going on here. I don't even know why I'm here. I guess they needed a few extra hands."

"It's good to see you, too, Arthur. Who's the Muggle girl that was attacked? Was she kissed?"

"Of course she was kissed. According to Sylvie Rosden, a local witch, a dementor glided into town yesterday morning. She ran into a nearby shop where she had seen a few witches and wizards shopping and yelled about the dementor. They had all run out into the streets to contain it, and caused a big crowd of Muggles in the process. The dementor wasn't slowed by their Patronuses and kept trying to head in the direction of the shop, where two Muggle girls had just exited. All of the witches and wizards trying to contain the dementor were growing weak way too fast and all but Sylvie passed out. One of the girls took off running into the forest while the other one was kissed. Sylvie tried to help her but wasn't in time. I believe her name was Faye McNeely."

Faye, thought Remus. That's the name of Wren's friend. Uh-oh.. I bet it's the same Faye. Poor Wren.

"Umm.. Arthur. I think I know who the other girl was. The one who ran into the forest. She showed up at my house last night. I was just now bringing her back to her friend, Faye," Remus said a little haltingly. Arthur's eyes turned from worried to sympathetic.

"I'm sorry, Remus. You'll have to tell her, though. Well.. at least tell her that her friend is.. er.. dead. First, wipe her memory," he said gently.

Remus walked towards Wren, dreading what he had to tell her. When he found her, she was sitting on the steps of the train station, head in her hands. She seemed to be crying. She looked up when Remus approached her.

"Faye's gone, isn't she?" she asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"ER I'm sorry, Wren. I really am. But how did you know?" he asked with curiosity.

"I can feel Faye. We have a connection. I can feel when she's near. And I should be able to feel her, but I can't. She's not dead. I'd know if she was dead. She's just.. gone. What happened to her?" she asked with tear stained cheeks.

"I- I can't tell you that, Wren. It goes against the Ministry rules. But perhaps, since I'm going to wipe your memory anyways, perhaps I could explain it first," he said with a gleam in his eyes. The rules never said they couldn't explain first.

"Wi- wipe my memory? But to do that you'd have to be a- a wizard," Wren said, stuttering a little bit.

"A- why yes, I am a wizard. And wait a second. Didn't you start to mention Apparation earlier? How do you know about that if you're a Muggle?"

"Me? A Muggle? You have to be kidding. I'm one the best known witches in America. I thought you were a Muggle!" she said, a little surprised.

"You're a witch? But- but. Then how don't you know about me? Or dementors? Or werewolves?"

"Why would I know about you? And of course I don't know about dementors. We have no such creatures in America. And what do werewolves have to do with this?"

"You don't have dementors in America? Wait, I knew that. Of course you don't. That's why you don't know about them. And werewolves have a lot to do with this. I'm a werewolf. The most famous one at that. I'm the only one that was ever allowed to own a wand."

"You- you're a werewolf?" Wren asked, almost in another panic. She began to back away, but Remus stopped her.

"Ok.. don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a good werewolf. Good. I'm in line with Dumbledore," he assured her, trying to calm her down.

At the mention of Dumbledore, she stopped and relief flooded into her eyes. Some things were starting to make sense, although other things still confused her. Like what a dementor was. She still had no clue. And what exactly was going on. She remembered last time Dumbledore had visited the American Ministry of Magic he had left it in an uproar. But they had refused to tell anyone what was going on. The things she did understand now were the long wooden sticks those people had yesterday. She remembered studying about European witches and wizards and how they had to use wands to produce magic, unlike the Americans. And the wolf she had seen last night. That must've been Remus.

"You're friends with Dumbledore? That's good then. He was always over at the American Ministry of Magic. So. I'm confused," she said, despair filling her voice.

"Ok, ok calm down. Everything's going to be alright. I'll explain everything to you, just calm down and wait a little while. Where are you staying?"

"I- I was staying with Faye. She's a Muggle. We were lodging at her sister's house in the next town. What do I tell her sister? Faye knew I was a witch, but her sister didn't. Nobody else in her family knew," and she burst into another set of tears. Remus backed away. He was good at consoling upset people, but he just didn't know how to comfort her.

"Ok Ummm... stay right here Wren. I'll go talk to Arthur and we'll get this straightened out, ok?" She nodded her head and buried her face in her hands. Remus quickly walked to Arthur.

"Arthur. Some change in plans. Wren is a witch. From America. Faye was a Muggle. They were staying with Faye's sister in the next town. I- I don't know what to do..." Remus said, his voice trailing off.

Arthur looked up from his paperwork and looked at Remus. He looked tired. Damn. More than tired. He looked like he'd just been through Hell and back. Then he remembered that the full moon had been the night before and this was probably very straining on him. His eyes had a haunting look to them and the dark rings under them didn't help any. He needed rest.

"Don't worry about it, Remus. I'll take care of everything. Just send her over here and you can go home. You look like you need some rest. Give my regards to everyone," he said, and continued with his paperwork.

Remus walked back to Wren. She was sitting down again. This time in the dirt. She didn't seem to notice, though. She was staring at the sky, a distant look in her eyes. She seemed to be focusing on something only she could see. Remus didn't want to wake her from her reverie, but he was tired and he wanted to go home. After all, Arthur told him he would take care of everything. He slowly approached her and her eyes focused on him when his shadow fell across her face.

"Wren, I- you- I have to go home now. I'm tired. I had a rough night. Don't worry, though. Arthur Weasley is going to help you. He's a good friend and Dumbledore trusts him very much. He's the one with the red hair over there. Go on, I have to go home," he said all this very quickly, to get it done.

Wren's eyes focused on the sky again and she sat still for a few more minutes. Finally, she looked at him again and smiled. A very forced smile, but one anyways.

"Thank you, Remus," she said, and quickly got up and walked away.

Thank you, Remus? What did I do? Remus thought to himself.

"Ahh well," he said aloud, and Disapparated to the town of Hogsmeade. From there he walked to his house, all the while thinking of Wren.

*****************************************

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all sitting in the Weasley's living room, silent. They were waiting on Dumbledore to open the link to Professor Lupin's fireplace. Ron was rubbing his hands together in a nervous fashion. Hermione was reading a book. Harry was running his hands through his hair repeatedly. And Ginny just sat there, with a blank expression on her face. They had all said their good-bye's to the rest of the family, who were in the kitchen or out in the garden. Dumbledore had said nobody but the one's leaving should be in the living room, for when they yelled out their destination. Suddenly, there was a bright flash, and Dumbledore appeared in front of the fireplace. He was smiling and his eyes had their familiar twinkle.

"Is everybody ready," he asked cheerfully. They all nodded their heads, to nervous and excited to speak. "Right then. Here we go." He mumbled a few words, and the Burrow's fireplace lit up, a bright purple. "Just say, *Lupin Lodge* and you're off."

Hermione was the first to go. She slowly walked into the fireplace, yelled *Lupin Lodge* and disappeared in a flash of blue. Ron went next, followed by Ginny, until only Harry was left. He was about to walk into the fire, when Dumbledore gripped him by the shoulder.

"Good luck, Harry," he said and let go.

Harry nodded his head in thanks, and walked into the fire, yelling *Lupin Lodge* as his destination. Dumbledore stood for a moment looking at the fireplace in thought, until he mumbled a few more words and the fire returned to its normal shade of orange. Then he apparated away.

***************************************

"Sirius! Professor Lupin!" Hermione yelled, as she exited the fireplace at Lupin Lodge. "Is anybody here?"

Sirius was sitting at the kitchen table, playing with his food and waiting on Remus to return when he heard her voice. He dropped his fork and rushed into the parlor. Hermione was standing in the middle of the room, purple ashes in her hair, and a wide grin on her face. Sirius rushed over to her and scooped her up into a big hug.

"Ok, Sirius. Too tight," she managed to say, although she was grinning. "Where's Professor Lupin?"

"He had some business to take care of. He'll be back any minute, though. Where's Harry and the rest of them?" Sirius anxiously asked.

"Oh, they're coming. You know how they are, always late. So how have you been? You look a lot better than you did when we first saw you."

Sirius was about to answer when there was a bright blue flash and Ron tumbled out of the fireplace. He stood up and purple ash fell to the floor around him. He smiled at Sirius and gave him what they called a *man hug* where they grab one hand and pat each other on the back. Another blue flash later and Ginny stumbled out of the fireplace, although she had the grace not to fall like Ron did. Sirius scooped her up into a hug like Hermione. She, too, had to ask for air. The only person left now was Harry. They all stood there, silent, watching for the next blue flash. After what seemed like hours, though it was probably only a few minutes, the last blue flash signaled Harry's arrival. He stumbled out of the fireplace and brushed the ashes off of him. Then he looked up and his eyes met Sirius's. He broke into a grin and ran and gave Sirius a hug. A *real* hug, too.

"It's so good to see you, Harry," came Sirius's voice, choked with emotion. "How have you been?"

"It's good to see you, too, Sirius. I'm great now that I'm here," Harry said, with real sincerity. He broke the hug off and looked around. "Umm.. where's Professor Lupin?" he asked.

"He should be getting back any-" Sirius started to say when the front door banged open and Remus walked through it. "There he is."

Remus stopped when he saw Harry and Co., then broke into a huge smile. They all rushed to give him a hug and he was almost knocked down by them.

"It's good to see you guys, too," he said, laughing. "How's everyone been?"

"Great!" they all answered at the same time.

"Where were you?" Ginny asked.

"I was, uh-, attending some business. I need to talk to you Sirius," he said with worry. "And your Dad gives his regards to everyone here," he said to Ginny and Ron. With that, he practically dragged Sirius into the study, leaving the other four to wonder what that was all about.

******************************************

As soon as the door to the study was closed, Remus let go of Sirius's arm and flopped down on the couch. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. After a few minutes of silence, he looked up at Sirius with clouded eyes.

"Wren's friend was kissed by a dementor. A strong one by the accounts of Arthur Weasley. Several witches and wizards couldn't contain it. I'm worried, Sirius. This means the Dark Lord is starting to call all dark creatures to him, and giving them power beyond our imagination. I'm scared I might be next," he said in a rush.

"Don't worry, Remus. I'll write to Dumbledore right away. Everything's going to be fine," Sirius said.

Remus sighed and closed his eyes again. Sirius studied his face. He looks tired. Too tired. He's never looked this tired after a transformation before. Something's wrong. I'll have to keep a closer eye on him, he thought. Remus had dark, purplish rings under his eyes, which were themselves sunken in. He looked like he'd lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time and his robes were hanging more loosely off of him than normal.

"Do you need anything, Remus?" he asked after a few more minutes of silence.

Remus looked up and forced himself to smile.

"No, Sirius. Just rest. I'll be fine. Go catch up on Harry and them's lives," he forced the words out. I probably do need help, he thought, but... and his thoughts trailed off.

"Are you sure?" Sirius prodded. Why won't he let me help him anymore?

"I'm absolutely sure." And he got up and walked to the door.

******************************************

"Well, I wonder what that was all about?" Hermione questioned as soon as the door to the study was shut. "Professor Lupin seemed really upset. And what was that he said about your dad?" she asked Ron and Ginny. They just shrugged their shoulders.

The four teenagers were standing in the middle of the parlor, unsure of what to do, except wait for the two adults to come back. Ginny was staring into the fire, seeing something other than the bright orange flames. Harry was staring at the ceiling, fidgeting with his glasses, deep in thought, the tension evident in his stiff shoulders. Ron wandered over to an overstuffed armchair and sat down heavily. Hermione looked around at all of them and sighed.

"For goodness sake. Cheer up guys. We all made it here safely and we're all together. Can we please have a normal and fun summer?" she pleaded softly.

Ron looked up from the armchair where he was falling asleep. He observed the other three and his eyes met Hermione's. He sighed. She was trying to make the best out of a bad situation. But she was right. Life goes on. They might as well make the best out of it. He stood up and walked over to Harry, placing a hand on his shoulder and jolting him back to reality. His blue eyes stared intensely into Harry's green ones.

"She's right, mate. I know everything's different now that you-know-who's back, but we have to go on. Moping around all worried isn't going to help us at all," he said gently.

Harry nodded in understanding. They were right.

"I know, I know," he said smiling. "Oh and Ron, guess what?" he suddenly asked, excitement filling his voice. Ron raised his eyebrows in response. "Now that Oliver and Angelina have graduated, the Gryffindor Quidditch team has some openings. How about it?"

Ron's eyes widened and soon he and Harry were deeply immersed in a discussion about Quidditch. Hermione rolled her eyes, but was soon dragged into the conversation, too. Ginny stood there, listening to them. They still had their little circle that nobody, not even her, could penetrate. She had tried, goodness knows she had tried, but she just couldn't. She sat down in an armchair and curled into a tight ball, determined not to let her emotions get the best of her. Ron was now talking about the Chudley Cannons and swinging his arms to emphasize his speech. He was about to demonstrate a new, and highly complicated move, when the door to the study opened and Sirius and Remus walked out. Remus gave them an acknowledging, and very forced, smile and walked upstairs to his room.

"Well, come one guys and I'll show you to your rooms," Sirius said, glancing in the direction Remus had gone, worry written all over his face.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione shot each other worried glances and followed Sirius to the back of the house, with Ginny trailing a little behind. They came to another set of stairs, a very small set of stairs, and barely managed to drag their trunks up them. There was a small and narrow hallway with one door on each side and a door at the very end.

"This will be your's and Harry's room," Sirius said to Ron, gesturing to the door on the left side of the hallway. "And this will be Ginny and Hermione's room," he pointed to the door on the right. "And that," the door at the end of the hallway," leads to the bathrooms. You go through that door and come to another small hallway. The door to the left is the boy's and the door to the right is the girl's. Got it?" he asked.

They all nodded their heads yes and Sirius hurriedly walked back down the stairs.

"Well, see you in a few," Ron said to the girls and opened the door to his and Harry's room, dragging his trunk inside. "Wow," he gasped as he looked around.

The room was huge with two four poster beds, one at each end. It was decorated in Gryffindor colors and had a merry fire crackling in between the two beds, with squashy armchairs all around. There were two dressers, one at each bed, and two small chests, one at each bed. Harry walked in beside Ron and gasped, too. It seemed Sirius and Professor Lupin had really outdone themselves.

"I wonder if the girl's room is anything like this?" Ron asked, dragging his trunk to the foot of the bed on the right side of the room.

"Probably," Harry answered, going to the bed on the left. "Except maybe a little more.. girly. Anyways, as much as I'd love to lay down and sleep, I wanna explore the rest of the house, too." And with that, he walked out of the room.

Explore? thought Ron. Bloody hell. That's all he does. He hardly ever rests. And he went back to sleep, still in his clothes. Hermione opened the door to their room and peered inside. Honestly, she thought. He's asleep, again. She noted the boy's room was almost like theirs, except more like a boy's room, before she left to find Harry.

**********************************************

Harry was walking around the garden in the back of the house when Hermione found him. He seemed deep in thought, as usual. He looked up when he felt someone watching him. His eyes met Hermione's and he smiled.

"Hey, Hermione," he said.

"Hey, Harry," she said back, smiling. "What are you doing?"

"Just looking around. It's beautiful out here isn't it?" he asked, looking around at the newly bloomed flowers.

"Yeah it is. I'd love to have a garden as beautiful as this. I wonder how Lupin does it..." she trailed off.

Harry looked at her. Something seemed to be bothering her.

"Is anything wrong, Hermione?" he asked, suddenly worried.

She looked up in surprise and hesitated a few moments before answering.

"No. Everything's perfect, Harry," she said, although Harry could tell she wasn't exactly telling the truth. But knowing Hermione, if he prodded she would just get angry with him, so he left it at that. They sat down on a garden bench in silence, just looking at the flowers and both thinking. Finally Hermione stood up.

"I think I'm going to go back in," she said. "I need to unpack still." And she left Harry sitting on the bench, still immersed in his thoughts.

***********************************************

As soon as Sirius had shown the teenagers to their rooms, he had rushed back down to the study to write to Dumbledore. After about 15 minutes, he was finished and went to find Harry to see if he could borrow Hedwig. He found him sitting on the bench in the garden with Hermione, and decided to let them be for a few minutes. They seemed to be thinking, something they did a lot for teenagers. Finally, he saw Hermione get up and start to walk back towards the house. Sirius walked out the door and nodded at her when he passed her. He walked over to Harry and sat down with him.

"Is everything alright, Harry?" he asked.

Harry looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just thinking, that's all. Is Professor Lupin ok?" he asked, apparently trying to change the subject.

"I don't know, Harry. I really don't know. He won't tell me anything anymore and he won't let me help him at all. I'm afraid something is wrong. But I'll not trouble you with that. I do need to ask you a favor, though. Could I borrow Hedwig for a little while? I need to talk to Dumbledore," he asked.

"Uhh.. sure, Sirius. Yeah. You want me to go and get her?" Harry asked.

"No, no. I'll do that. Thanks, Harry," and he quickly left to find Hedwig.

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