Adaptations

Adaptations

Part 7

The wind whipped through Harry's hair as he accelerated down the motorway. It stung his eyes and Harry was happy for it. He snapped the bike over to the left and passed a lorry on the wrong side. A horn blared, but Harry ignored it and shifted into top gear while rolling on the throttle. The speedometer was edging close to 200 as he came up to an on-ramp.

Harry listened hard, hoping to hear some trace of Sirius' voice inside his mind. 'Please, Sirius, please be there,' Harry prayed. 'You have to be there. You can't be gone.' There was no response.

A line of cars was merging into his lane and Harry moved over to the right to pass. Ahead of him a sedan changed lanes as well, less than a quarter kilometer in front of him, and Harry had less than two seconds before he would hit it. He hit a button on the handlebars and the bike rose up into the air. Harry heard the screech of brakes beneath him as he hit a second button engaging the Disillusionment Charm. His form faded into sky.

Coming to an empty stretch of road, Harry set the bike down again and slowly dropped his speed. Pulling into a rest area, Harry brought the bike to a stop and climbed off. Sitting down on the curb, he lowered his head into his hands, willing himself not to cry. He would not lose control. He would not. His hands scrubbed at his hair, raising spikes and cowlicks in their wake.

"Having fun, Harry?"

Harry recognized the voice of Remus Lupin at once, but refused to respond.

"That was quite some ride you were having," Remus ventured again.

Harry didn't raise his head; he just said flatly, "So, you've put tracking charms on the bike."

"We need to keep track of where you are, but no, we didn't do anything to your motorbike."

Remus didn't see Harry's brows furrow in thought as he continued to sit there, with the shadow of his former professor looming ahead of him on the tarmac.

"Harry," Remus began hesitantly, "I want to apologize for what happened."

At this Harry turned and looked up, squinting against the sun. "Does that mean you're going to give Sirius back to me?" he said with hope growing in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but no." Harry turned back away from Remus. "What we did, we did for your safety." Harry snorted sourly. "I don't like the way we did it. I would much rather have had a chance to convince you that it was the right thing."

"Even though it wasn't?" Harry interjected scornfully.

"I know you won't believe this, but we were all just trying to look out for your best interests. We would do anything to keep you safe."

"Including lie to me?"

"Harry, we never lied to you."

Harry turned and Remus took an involuntary step backwards at the look of anger that twisted his face.

"Oh yeah?" he spat. "Then what was all that nonsense about treating me like an adult? About letting me have some say in what happens to me?" Harry took a deep breath then continued. "I'll tell you what it was. It was all a pack of lies, a load of tripe to get me to be quiet for a couple of days. You, all of you, never had any intention of letting me decide anything. I'm still a prisoner in my own life. All you did was make my cage a bit larger."

"I understand why you feel that way..."

"Hah! You understand but you don't care. All I am to you is a tool, a weapon to be used against Voldemort."

"Harry, that's not true."

Harry snorted again and turned away.

"Harry, we just want to keep you safe. Even Sirius would have agreed that if being inside your mind put you at any risk, any at all, he wouldn't want to be there."

"How can you say that? You don't know! He wasn't in your head, he was in mine! And now, thanks to you, we'll never know what he would have done!"

"Harry, just listen to me..."

"Go away."

"Listen for a moment, please."

"Just go away."

The shadow of Remus Lupin remained there for several minutes, glued to the tarmac in front of Harry. Neither spoke. Then, with a *pop* it was gone.

Harry lost track of time as he sat there with his head in his hands, watching his shadow grow longer on the ground in front of him. Then, with a sharp *crack*, another shadow had joined his. It was smaller than Remus', and somehow it felt softer. Whoever it belonged to came and sat down on the curb, next to Harry.

Harry heard a deep sigh as a head came to rest on his shoulder. He heard Cho speak.

"I'm sorry, Harry." He gave no reply. Cho waited a minute before speaking again. "I know how much it meant to you, to have some of Sirius with you like that, but if by taking it out they can find a way to bring him back completely..."

"Is that what they told you?" Harry said, sickened to know that now they were even trying to use Cho to manipulate him. Would they leave him nothing that was simply his own? "Is that how they convinced you to come out here? And now you're supposed to convince me that it was all for the best?"

"I'm not here to convince you of anything, Harry. Professor Lupin came and he told me what happened... how it happened. He thought you might need someone to talk to." Cho took a deep breath before she continued. "He's really sorry about it."

Harry shook his head, "Not sorry enough to take it back though, is he? He's only sorry that I'm angry. He... them... they all just want me to roll over and do whatever they say. No questions just do it. It doesn't matter what I think or what I want. Just do what they say and be quiet. I'm nothing to them. Sirius was the only one who cared, really cared about me, and now he's gone."

Cho wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight. She nuzzled her head deeper into his shoulder and after a minute Harry could feel his shirt growing damp.

"Cho," he asked, "why are you crying?"

"Because you won't, and I reckon somebody ought to," came her soft reply.

Harry wrapped his arms around her and returned her embrace. After a minute he stood, taking her with him. Walking slowly through the grass by the side of the roadway, they began to talk.

"You know something," he began, "I never really got the chance to know him." They took a few more steps and Cho remained silent, waiting. "I mean, I didn't even know he existed until a couple of years ago. And then everyone was telling me that he was a murderer and that he had betrayed my parents. That he was a dark wizard and a Death Eater."

"That's what we all believed," Cho said quietly. "It's what we were all told."

"But it was a lie. And Sirius was sent to Azkaban for 12 years because of it." Harry sighed deeply. "Even after he escaped and I learned the truth, I never got a chance to know him. He was in hiding. He was able to see me a couple of times but never for more than a few hours. Then, after... the tournament, he was back in hiding. The Order was using his house but he wasn't allowed to do anything. It was like he was in prison all over again. I was with him for a couple of weeks at the end of the summer, and then over the Christmas holiday, but there was always so much stuff going on that I never had a chance... I never took the chance to get to know him." Harry took a few more steps and hugged Cho tightly.

"Then he was gone. I thought that I had lost him, but it turned out that I had found him. He was here; he was with me all the time and we finally had the chance to get to know each other." Harry smiled down at Cho and she returned it gladly. "I finally had a chance to actually get to know my Godfather, and to learn about my parents." The smile faded from his face. "But then they took him away again. It's like they don't want me to have him. They want me to know of him, and to want to be with him, but I'm not allowed to actually do it. Why? Why can't I just have a chance to be with my Godfather? Is it so wrong to want to have somebody?"

"No, Harry, it's not wrong, and maybe you'll get him back," Cho said, her eyes shining but the tears had, for now, stopped.

"He's gone now," Harry said. "He's gone and they're doing nothing to bring him back."

"Harry, Professor Lupin told me that they would do everything they can to find a way to bring him back. Can't you trust them to do that?"

Harry turned and looked at her, his eyes wide with shock. "Trust them? After what happened today, how can I trust them to do anything?"

"But Harry, they said..."

"They said that they'd try, but not hard enough. They don't care about Sirius, they're worried about Voldemort and thinking about Sirius is just something to do in their spare time. It's not any sort of priority for them." Harry shook his head. "If Sirius is ever to get back, then I'm going to have to do it myself." She looked hard into his eyes, trying to see and understand what was going on behind them. "And it's going to have to happen soon."

"Why soon?" she asked.

"I don't know why, but somehow I get the feeling that if he's left there any longer he won't be able to come back. Dumbledore wants to wait. He wants to make sure of what he's doing."

"Is that so wrong, to want to be sure?"

"Sometimes you just can't wait, sometimes waiting means that you lose your chance. Even if you're not sure, sometimes you just have to do something. I don't know how and I don't know why, but somehow I just know that something has to be done quickly or it will be too late."

Cho looked back into his eyes, and she must have seen something there because a moment later she said, "All right, Harry, I trust you. You can count on me. What can I do to help?"

"Cho, I don't want you to feel that you have to help me..."

"Harry, like I told you when you were starting the D.A., anything I can do to help fight him -fight Voldemort- I'm going to do. Right now, I reckon that the best thing I can do to fight him is to help you. Besides, from what I gather, Sirius Black would be one powerful wizard to have back on our side."

Harry nodded his head. "OK, I don't know when yet but it will be soon. The Weasley twins are still working on that rope idea and we need that before we can do anything. "

"And what are you going to be doing in the meantime?"

Harry shrugged. "I dunno. I think I might go to the Burrow for a visit. After all," Harry added with a decidedly Snape-like sneer, "Dumbledore said it was safe."

Cho's face fell. "Does that mean that I... that we won't be seeing each other anymore?"

"Why should it mean that?" Harry asked, surprised at her reaction.

"Well," Cho began uncertainly, "I know you had nothing better to do while you were at your aunt and uncle's, but now that you will be around your friends more..."

"Cho, you're my friend too," Harry said earnestly. "I still want to see you."

Cho smiled at hearing this. "I just kind of get the feeling that some of the Weasleys don't like me and would rather I didn't come around."

Harry thought for a second. He knew that Cho was talking about Ginny. "OK, we can still meet in London, right?" Cho nodded and Harry continued. "It would actually be easier for me since the Weasleys are on the Floo Network. I wouldn't have to go and pester Mrs. Figg anymore. Why don't we meet for lunch the day after tomorrow? We can eat at that little French cafe again."

Cho nodded happily. "I should be able to Apparate into the alleyway just to the side of the cafe, so I can meet you right there," she said.

"Hey!" Harry said, finally realizing something. "When did you start Apparating anyway? I didn't know you came of age?"

Cho blushed. "Yeah, my birthday was in June, after we... Anyway, I've been taking lessons all summer and I just passed my test two days ago."

"Why didn't you tell me that I missed your birthday?" Harry said, blushing. "I didn't get you anything. I feel like a real berk."

Cho quickly hugged him. "Oh Harry, don't worry about it. It was after we stopped... You don't owe me anything. We were both kind of busy then anyways."

Harry scowled for a second then said, "OK, but I get to buy you lunch then. You bought me lunch for my birthday so it's only fair."

Cho grinned, "OK, it's a date." Then, with a *crack* she was gone.

Harry looked around for a moment and spotted a map mounted on a large sign, for motorists to consult as they rested. He knew that the Burrow was in Ottery St. Catchpole, in Devon, on the Otter River. He looked at the map, studying it. He was on the M3 and if he just continued on he could take the A303 into Devon and likely get there before supper. He reckoned he ought to be able to find the Burrow with little problem. It was just beyond the village and near a pond. If he had to, he could always fly the bike over the village and spot the house from the air. Harry mounted the bike once again and rode off.

* * * * *

Finding the Burrow turned out to be easier than Harry had thought. After leaving the A303 and heading down a country lane towards the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, Harry saw a familiar-looking hill just off the road, Stoatshead Hill, and turned off before he even reached the village proper. He rolled down the dirt road towards the house in mid-afternoon.

Approaching the house, Harry began to get a queer feeling and, as a precaution, he used the Disillusionment Charm and flew the bike in, to avoid raising any dust from the road. Once he was airborne, Harry saw the distinctive movement of people flying on broomsticks. The Weasley children were playing Quidditch in the pasture. Reassured by this, Harry flew closer but remained hidden. Ginny was flying high in the air and, as Harry approached, she dove steeply towards the ground. Trying the Wronski Feint, Harry realized. Ron was hovering near the old oak tree that served as their goal. Ginny leveled off before she crashed into the ground, but about a half-second too soon, Harry saw, to really fool anyone, and flew straight at her brother. Ron tensed and, at the last second, Ginny veered right and threw the Quaffle towards the tree. Ron dodged towards her and stretched out his arm to knock the ball off course and prevent the score.

"Good one, Gin," Ron called. "That's a tough move to pull off with only one goal but with two more Chasers and three hoops, that tactic ought to score most times!"

Ginny just waved with one hand as she dove to retrieve the Quaffle from where it lay on the grass. Harry took advantage of this as he gunned the motor and tore a quick circle around the pasture with the bike's exhaust screaming.

Ginny dove off of her broom and came up in a crouch, looking around her for the source of the noise. Ron dove for the ground also and skidded along the grass. Harry was shocked to see a stunning spell fly through the air not ten feet in front of him. He quickly dropped the engine down to a quiet idle and brought the bike to a stop twenty feet above the center of the pasture. Harry hit the flying button again and the bike eased down to the ground. He looked around and saw Hermione slowly walking over to join Ron and Ginny. She had her wand out and Harry quickly realized that she must have been the one who had fired the stunner. The three of them quickly formed a triangle with their backs together and their wands facing out. This way they could protect each other and cover all of the open territory around them. Harry smiled and wondered if it was the D.A. or just Ron's obsession with chess that brought this tactic on.

"Whoever you are," Hermione called loudly, "you have to know that help is coming as we speak, so you had best just clear out!"

Harry thought about releasing the Disillusionment Charm but something made him want to have just a bit more fun with them. He grabbed the throttle and gunned the engine. All three of them swiveled towards him with their wands at the ready.

Drawing his own wand, he called, "Expelliarmus!" Hermione's wand sailed towards the center of the pasture and Ron's slipped from his grip although he managed to get a hold of it before it too sailed away. Ginny's wand remained firm in her grasp and she fired off a stunning spell.

Harry ducked behind the bulk of the bike to avoid being hit and called out again, "All right! I give up! You don't have to try and kill me!"

Both Ginny and Hermione recognized his voice immediately. They raced into the meadow and Harry hit the button that made the bike, and himself, visible again.

Hermione ran straight up to him and threw her arms around him. "Harry, you're here! No one told us you were coming!"

Ginny hung back and waited for Hermione to release Harry before rearing back her fist and punching him square in the chest. Harry was shocked at the power she put behind it and had to cough a few times before he could speak.

"Hullo to you too, Ginny," he managed. She then grabbed him in a tight hug as Ron joined the group.

"I saw Ginny smack you already so I won't bother," he said. "Where'd you come from? And what on earth is this thing?"

"Little Whinging, of course," Harry answered with a wide grin, "and this is my motorbike."

"Wicked!" Ron exclaimed. "Where did you get it?"

"It was a birthday gift from Sirius. I found it at Grimmauld Place a little bit ago."

Hermione broke in, "I thought 12 Grimmauld Place was destroyed in a Death Eater attack?"

"It was," Harry explained quietly. "I was there when it happened."

Hermione began a series of rapid fire questions, "How did it happen? I thought it was under the Fidelius Charm? If Dumbledore was the Secret Keeper how did they manage to break the charm? What were you doing there? Did anyone get hurt?"

"Whoa, slow down, Hermione. Give Harry a chance to answer," Ron said, reaching to put a hand over Hermione's mouth, but she backed out of his reach. "They won't tell us anything," he said to Harry.

"I was there to talk with Professor Dumbledore, Remus and Snape. As usual, it ended up in a bit of a row and I stomped off." Hermione scowled at this and Ginny just shook her head at him. "I found the bike in the carriage house. Remus came out to talk to me and he explained that Sirius planned on giving me the motorbike for my birthday. Then the attack began and..."

"But how did Voldemort - Oh, really Ron, get hold of yourself - find it?" Hermione asked again.

"It was Kreacher," Harry said simply. "All of us managed to get out of the house, I don't know about the Death Eaters, but the house was burned to the ground."

"If Sirius had only shown Kreacher a little kindness..."

"Oh, come off it, Hermione!" Harry snapped. "Kreacher was an evil little toady and he would have hated Sirius no matter how he treated him. He hated you and you were nothing but kind to him!" Hermione shrugged a little but didn't admit to being wrong. "As soon as he learned that Sirius was gone, Kreacher disappeared."

"Yes," Hermione said, "he was free, but that doesn't explain how they found the house."

"Hermione, Kreacher didn't want to be free. He wanted to serve a Dark family and who were the most likely candidates?"

"Bellatrix LeStrange," Ron said.

"Or Narcissa Malfoy," Harry added. "It doesn't matter which really, as either would have gladly given the information to Voldemort. Kreacher went to one of them as the new head of the Black family. As such, they had full access to the house on Grimmauld Place." Hermione began to speak but Harry cut her off. "After all, the Fidelius Charm can't be used to steal property, now can it? Or to keep the rightful owners of a property away?" Hermione shook her head. "So, they knew exactly where the Order's headquarters was located and they just had to wait until some important members showed up to launch the attack."

Ginny pondered this for a moment then said, "So that's why they started meeting here. The Burrow is the new, or maybe only the temporary, headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."

"Wicked," said Ron. Hermione swatted him. Ron rubbed his arm. "They're having a meeting right now. That's why we're stuck out here. They don't want us to listen."

"As if being stuck outside on a beautiful summer day is torture," Ginny chided. "C'mon Harry, how about a ride on this motorbike?"

"Hey, me first, Ginny," Ron said. "I'm his best mate; I ought to get the first ride!"

"Hermione's his best friend too, you know. Maybe she ought to get the first ride?"

Hermione, not the most comfortable of flyers under any circumstances, just groaned.

"But you're my friend too, aren't you Ginny?" Harry asked.

"Of course I am," she said with an unusual softness. "I just reckoned Ron and Hermione would want to ride first, is all."

"Yeah, but who gets to actually go first?" Ron asked.

Ginny hid one hand behind her back. "We'll do it the honest way," she said openly. "Ron, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three," Ron said quickly.

Hermione thought for a moment longer then said, "One."

Harry looked at the closed fist behind Ginny's back. Quickly, she extended her index finger and held her hand forward for all to see. "Hermione wins; she gets the first ride."

Harry grinned then turned towards Hermione. "So, hop on up and we'll take off!"

With a little help from both Ron and Ginny, Hermione was soon perched behind Harry, her arms tightly wrapped around his waist and her feet perched on the high passenger footpegs. "Hmm, Harry..." she began softly.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I know you don't like to fly. How about I just ride you up to the house and we'll see how you like it?" She nodded into his back, making him grin as he kicked the bike into gear and eased his way through the thick grass of the pasture.

Harry took the short ride to the Burrow as smoothly as he could, and as he was approaching the door to the Burrow he asked, "Was that all right, or would you like to get off now?"

"No," Hermione said, much to Harry's amazement. "It's actually rather fun. A bit uncomfortable though."

"I'd be willing to bet you'd be a lot more comfortable if a certain Bulgarian Seeker were on the bike with you, instead of me, eh?"

Hermione said nothing, but Harry watched in the wing mirror as her face turned bright red, and he headed off up the drive to give her a little longer ride.

After a short ride up the lane, Harry returned Hermione to the Burrow. He was surprised to see that she was actually smiling.

"That was quite fun, Harry. Thanks."

"Come on, my turn now," Ron said, pushing past Hermione, practically tripping as he tried to mount the rear seat of the bike.

"This thing's obviously meant for midgets," Ron muttered as his knees were forced into his armpits by the cramped footpegs.

"Actually, it's meant for girls," Harry answered, "and Hermione seemed quite comfortable back there."

"Yeah, well..." Ron stumbled. "What am I supposed to hold on to here anyway?"

"Well, Cho and Hermione just grabbed me by the waist, big boy," Harry said cheekily.

"Sod off, Potter," Ron mumbled as he put his hands firmly on Harry's shoulders. "Now take off, and don't think you can get away without flying. I'm not Hermione."

Harry rode back up the lane and then turned back for the Burrow. As he approached the house he revved the engine and hit the flying button. Cruising low, only about fifteen or so feet above the ground, he took Ron for a turn around the pasture. Heading back to the Burrow, Harry gunned the engine and Ron was pushed backwards by the acceleration. After landing beside the waiting girls, Ron stumbled off the bike and almost fell into the dirt. Hermione grabbed him by the arms and steadied him. Harry looked at her for a moment. She had blushed at his joke about Viktor Krum but hadn't denied anything. He'd have to think about that.

Now it was Ginny's turn. She approached the bike from the rear and put her left foot up on the peg. Grasping Harry's shoulders firmly she swung herself up onto the saddle behind him and settled in like she had been doing it for years.

"I take it this isn't your first time on a motorbike?" Harry asked with a grin.

Ginny blushed, "Well, Dean has a moped that he rides around and I've ridden with him a couple of times."

For some reason this caused Harry to frown. She had done this before. Harry was somehow vaguely unsettled thinking that he wasn't the first one to give her a ride. "So that's why you were so willing to let the others go first. This is no big deal for you."

"NO BIG DEAL?" Ginny gasped. "Dean is going to be absolutely green when I tell him. He wants to get himself a scooter so bad, but his parents won't let him get one until he comes of age. When he finds out that you took me for a spin on THIS, he's just gonna die!"

Harry shook his head as he began to slowly roll down the dirt path away from the Burrow. He looked back over his shoulder and said, "So why'd you bother fixing it to make sure Hermione went first?"

He could practically hear the grin in Ginny's voice as she answered, "Well, part of that was just to take the mickey out of Ron, but what I really wanted was to make sure I was last one to go riding with you."

"Why last?"

"That way I get to have the longest ride and they can't say anything 'cause they've already had theirs," she said smugly. "Now show me what this thing can really do!"

Harry, as with the other two before, began by slowly cruising down the lane, making sure Ginny was comfortable and settled. She let go of his waist and swatted him on the shoulder.

"What do you think, I'm made of glass? Kick this thing and show me what it can do!"

Harry swung the bike around so that it was once again pointed towards the Burrow. He rolled on a little throttle and felt the bike begin to pick up speed. Suddenly, his gave the throttle a sharp twist that pulled the nose of the bike into the air. Ginny squealed behind him and grabbed him tight around the waist. Harry dropped the front wheel as they reached the Burrow. He hit the flying button and up-shifted. The bike took off smoothly, barely missing the heads of Ron and Hermione who, as one, dropped to the ground. Heading towards the pasture, he engaged the Disillusionment and heard Ginny gasp again.

Harry climbed higher and slowly gained speed. Leaving the pasture far below, Harry turned and passed over the Burrow. The bike heeled over slightly as Ginny leaned to one side to get a better view. Harry used this to bring the bike into a graceful turn and climbed even higher. Harry cruised them over the village towards Stoatshead Hill.

"Wow," Ginny shouted above the wind and exhaust, "this is amazing. It's positively breathtaking."

"Thrilling enough for you?" Harry asked her.

"I dunno," she said slyly. "What else can you do?"

Taking up the challenge, Harry began to dive and accelerated at full throttle. He pulled out less than ten feet above the road and roared along it. As they approached the Burrow, Harry gained a little more altitude and slid the bike into a high banking turn. Ginny squealed with delight and clung tightly to him. Harry looked back and saw a group of adults exiting the house below them. Harry circled back to the road and gradually brought the bike down to earth. After they had slowed down to a speed that wouldn't give Mrs. Weasley an aneurysm, Harry disengaged the Disillusionment. They rode up the lane and back to the house as sedately as he could manage.

As they approached the Burrow, and the now-large group of people gathered in front of it, Harry tried to look as calm and innocent as he could, but Ginny had other ideas. She let go of Harry's waist and grabbed onto his shoulders. In a flash, she was standing up on the rear footpegs and whooping like a Berserker as they came to a stop.

She leapt off of the bike and screamed, "THAT WAS FANTASTIC! Did you see us? Blimey! That was incredible!"

Mrs. Weasley was glowering and Harry felt his stomach turn to jelly at the sight of that look turned on him. Suddenly, he knew how she kept the twins in line all these years. Well, almost in line anyway. Mr. Weasley obviously didn't know how to react and Dumbledore had that abominable twinkle in his eye. Somehow this infuriated Harry. He tried not to show it but he knew that he wouldn't be able to hide his feelings for long. As the group approached, Harry put the bike into first and slowly rolled the bike away from them and towards the shed. No one moved to follow.

Harry watched as they talked amongst themselves and made himself look busy by fussing over the bike. He made certain that the chain was adjusted properly and nothing had shaken loose on his trip. All the riding on dirt roads had caked dust over the normally bright bodywork and Harry thought that he ought to wash it tonight. With several *cracks* and *pops* the group began to Apparate away. Harry noticed the twins were still there and moved over to speak with them.

"George?" he said to one of them to get their attention.

"Fred," came his answer.

"OK, Fred then!"

"Yes," the other one answered from beside him. "What can we do for you?"

Harry shook his head at their antics, and then he glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening. "I was wondering if you two had found some time to work on that rope thing we spoke about yesterday."

"Well, old chap," one of them said, "like we said, it doesn't sound like that tough a job. After the Extendible Ears, it ought to be a right cinch, actually."

"So, when can you get it done? I really need it soon."

"Well, we'll get right to it as soon as we can, Harry old boy. Dumbledore just asked us to work on something..." said George.

"Quite interesting too, a fascinating application of our little brand of chaos." finished Fred with a grin.

Harry was getting irritated. "But I need that rope right away. Dumbledore can wait."

"Well, actually Dumbledore said it was rather urgent..."

"I DON'T CARE WHAT DUMBLEDORE SAID," Harry fairly shouted. With an effort he reigned in his temper. "I need that rope."

"And we'll get it done for you, Harry. But Order business..."

"And then we have the shop to run..."

Harry's voice grew tight and he whispered fiercely, "Listen, I don't care what Dumbledore and the bloody Order want! You wouldn't even have that shop if it weren't for me. You owe me, the both of you, a Wizard's Debt, and I expect you to repay it. Now!"

Fred and George looked at Harry like they had never seen him before, and would rather not see him again. It was the sort of look they usually reserved for when they were discussing Percy, but Harry didn't care. He wanted that ruddy rope.

"Fine, Harry. We'll get on it tonight. It should be ready in a day or so," Fred said with distaste.

"I'll be by to pick it up the day after tomorrow. See that it's ready."

Hermione had walked up to stand behind Harry. "What's this all about?" she asked.

"Oh," Harry said casually, "nothing much, just some business."

The twins Dissapparated away and Harry turned to see that Mrs. Weasley was leading Ginny into the house. Only he, Hermione, and Ron remained in the yard. Seizing his opportunity, Harry said, "I need to talk to the two of you for a second."

Harry spent more than a half an hour explaining to them about how Sirius had gotten inside of him and how he had been taken out. Through it all Ron looked confused mostly, while Hermione looked as if she wished she had some parchment and a quill to take notes. Harry wrapped up his explanation and waited for them to respond.

Hermione looked at him and said, "So, Professor Dumbledore thought that having Sirius inside you might have put you at some risk?"

Harry answered, "That's what he said but it wasn't true."

"Then why did he take him out?"

"I don't know. I know that Snape looked real happy when it happened."

Hermione began, "But Harry, maybe there was some..."

Ron interrupted her, speaking for the first time, "You think he convinced Dumbledore to take him out, just to get rid of him?"

"That could be. I know he hated Sirius."

"Oh, come on you two," Hermione chided them. "Professor Snape is a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He wouldn't let petty grudges get in the way of what was best for the Order."

"Are you saying that Snape isn't petty?" Harry asked. Hermione didn't answer. "He's a teacher at Hogwarts, are you saying that he never lets his grudges interfere with his teaching?"

Hermione looked about to say something but stopped. Snape obviously let his grudges affect his teaching and his students, but would it affect his actions within the Order?

Harry continued, "How about this: We all saw how Snape baited Sirius over Christmas. Telling him he was useless to the Order. What if he really believed that? What if he didn't think saving Sirius would benefit the Order? Would he let his grudges get in the way then?"

"That bloody git," Ron snarled. He obviously thought Snape could and would do it. Hermione remained silent.

"We have to get Sirius back," Harry said.

"But Professor Dumbledore said that he would do everything he could..." Hermione said.

"He's not doing anything though," Harry countered.

"No, Harry, you don't know that. Have you asked him what he was doing?" Harry shook his head. "You have to trust Dumbledore."

Harry snapped his eyes onto Hermione's. "Didn't you hear what he did? How can I trust him after that?"

"I know it's hard, Harry, but you know that Dumbledore has never done anything to deliberately hurt you."

"Can you be so sure?" Harry asked.

Hermione looked back at him in shock, "How can you say that?"

Harry just shook his head and looked away. Ron's head was swiveling back and forth between his two friends. He obviously thought that Snape was capable of almost anything. The man had been a Death Eater, after all. But he was raised on the belief that Albus Dumbledore was the most powerful and honorable wizard in the world. He was a legend and to just say that he couldn't be trusted. It went against everything Ron had ever believed in.

"Maybe we could wait a bit, give Dumbledore a chance to do whatever it is he's doing," Ron said tentatively.

"There isn't time to wait," Harry snapped back at him. "Something has to be done now!"

"How do you know that, Harry?" Hermione asked. "How do you know we can't wait?"

"I just do, OK," Harry said. He knew he hadn't convinced them. He knew they weren't going to help him.

"Don't you remember the last time?" Hermione pleaded. "You were so convinced that you had to act quickly. You couldn't wait. And what happened? If we had just waited, then we would have found out that it was all a trick."

"So you're saying that it's all my fault?" Harry said. "I reckoned that I had to go off and be the one to save him. It was my 'saving people' thing that caused it all?"

"No Harry, I'm not saying that," Hermione answered, her face starting to get red. "All I'm saying is that if we hadn't have charged off like that, if we had just made sure of what was happening."

Harry just stood there and looked at her. She was bright with embarrassment but Harry could tell that she also thought she was right. Maybe she was. They should have waited. He should have waited. He had been so sure that he was right and all along he was being used. Maybe she was right now too. Maybe there was no need to rush into this. Maybe they could just let Dumbledore handle this.

"It doesn't have to always be you, Harry," Hermione said softly. She came up to him and touched his arm slowly. "You don't have to always be the hero. Let Professor Dumbledore do this. He'll get Sirius back and maybe he'll find a way to defeat Voldemort too, once and for all. It doesn't have to be you."

Harry looked at her. Her eyes were wide with concern. He knew that she was worried about him and that she only wanted to keep him from doing something stupid, something that wasn't necessary. He turned towards Ron and saw the same look of concern in his eyes. Ron met his gaze and simply shrugged.

Harry sighed and realized that it was no use talking any more. They had decided. But they didn't know, and Harry wasn't going to tell them, that he did have to be the hero. Dumbledore wasn't going to defeat Voldemort because it was Harry's destiny. It was Harry responsibility to either save them all or die trying. He nodded slowly and watched as Hermione sighed.

Hermione looked around, trying to come up with some topic that would get their minds off of this, something light, something normal that they could talk about and just be schoolchildren again. It was Ron who came up with it.

"So, did you get your OWLs yet?" he asked Harry. "I got mine last week."

Hermione jumped on the subject, "Yes, I got mine too."

"Oh yeah," Ron said already knowing the answer to his question, "how did you do?"

"Let me guess," Harry said, joining in. "I recall that Percy got twelve and he made Head Boy, so I'd guess that you got at least that many." Hermione blushed. "Thirteen?"

Hermione blushed even deeper and shook her head. "Fourteen," she said quietly.

Ron burst out laughing, "And I'd bet they were all O's, right?"

"No, I only got an A in Divination."

"Divination!" Harry and Ron said in unison. "You dropped that in third year!"

"But I decided to try for the OWL anyway."

"You are a complete nutter, you know that?" Ron said.

Hermione scowled at him, "And how many did you get?"

"I got nine. That's loads better than the twins, so Mum's happy."

"And how did you do, Harry?" she asked.

Harry shrugged and replied, "It doesn't matter."

Hermione was crestfallen, thinking that Harry's answer meant that he had done poorly. "I'm sure that you did well on the Defense Against the Dark Arts test, I saw you cast your Patronus. How'd you do there?" she asked quietly.

Harry just shrugged again and said, "I don't know, and it doesn't matter anyway."

"What do you mean, it doesn't matter? Don't you understand that your whole future could depend on this? It has to matter!"

Harry understood that the last thing his future depended upon was his OWL results. Whether he got all O's or all T's, it didn't matter a wit. He would still have to meet Voldemort and he would still have to kill him, or be killed by him. He just shrugged yet again and said nothing.

"Mate," said Ron, "I thought we were going to become Aurors together? Did you at least get what you needed to take the right NEWT classes?"

"I don't know; I didn't look. Did you?" Harry said.

"Well, I only got an A in Potions, so Snape likely won't let me into his NEWT level class. But I bet we could talk to McGonagall and get her to make Snape let us in."

Harry grinned a bit. "Yeah, when Umbridge sat in on my 'career counseling' session, she got so hacked off at the old toad that she promised to do anything she could to see that I get a chance to enter the Auror program."

"Then we're as good as in, Mate!" Ron crowed. "That is as long as you passed the Potions OWL, did you?"

Harry shrugged again.

Hermione practically jumped on him, "Well, go back and LOOK! Honestly, how could you put all that effort into taking the OWLs and then not care enough about the results to even look at them."

Harry looked at her evenly and said, "A lot happened between my taking the tests and the results coming out. It just didn't seem that important anymore so I tossed them in the rubbish."

"Arrrgggh!" Hermione screamed. "Well, maybe they haven't collected it yet, or maybe your aunt hasn't emptied the bins. You can go back and check."

Harry just shook his head and said, "Why bother, it won't change anything."

Hermione suddenly got quiet, her eyes bright with sympathy for what she thought Harry meant. Harry alone knew how wrong she was and he wasn't going to correct her mistake.

Ron looked between his two best friends and decided the subject needed changing again. He said brightly, "Besides, Harry's here now. He can't very well go back to Surrey when he's staying here, can he?"

Hermione thought about this for a moment and answered, "No, I suppose not. Anyways, we can always write to Madam Marchbanks and request a duplicate. We can say that your muggle relatives destroyed your first letter and you'd like a copy to keep as a memento."

Harry looked at her and smiled slightly. "I suppose we could." Then he turned to Ron and said, "But I won't be staying, at least not right now."

"Bloody hell, why not?"

"Well, you see I haven't brought any clothes with me, and there're still a lot of chores that need doing around Privet Drive, and I've got to figure out what to do with my motorbike while I'm at school. If I left it in Surrey, my Uncle Vernon would just toss it as soon as I left."

"You could always bring it with you?" Ron said with a leer.

"Oh right," Harry snorted. "We could just let it run wild in the forest with your dad's old Anglia, too. I'm sure that Professor McGonagall would have no problem at all with that!"

"Well, Hagrid wouldn't, I'd wager," Ron said and the threesome chuckled. "Who knows, the two of them might set up housekeeping and pretty soon the forest would be overrun with flying tricycles!"

"Don't even think about it!" Hermione said with a grin. "Then I guess you'd better be heading off then, Harry. It's starting to get late and you have a long journey ahead of you."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, I do and I'd better get started."

Harry turned away from his friends and began to walk back to his motorbike. At the sound of the kitchen door slamming, Harry looked over. Ginny had come out and, seeing Harry walking back to the bike alone, came over to join him.

"How's it going, Harry?" she asked softly, seeing the look in his eyes.

"OK, I guess. What was that with your mum?"

Ginny tossed her hair over her shoulder and said, "Oh that, that was just the usual lecture about how a young lady should behave. Young ladies aren't permitted to stand up on the backs of motorbikes. Evidently, they're not even supposed to be riding on the backs of motorbikes, but she was willing to make an exception seeing as it was with you."

"I guess I should be honored, huh?"

Ginny smiled, "If you like. What were you guys just talking about? Or is it one of your deep, dark secrets that no one outside the triad is allowed to know?"

Harry looked back at her. 'Is that how people think of us?' he wondered. 'Like we're some sort of secret society that won't let outsiders in, instead of a trio of freaks that no one else would put up with.' He smiled slightly and said to her, "No, no secrets today, just talking about the OWLs."

Ginny smiled back. "Oh, was Hermione bragging on setting a new record again? She's right on track to be Head Girl year after next. How'd you do, by the way?"

Harry laughed, strangely at ease discussing these sorts of things with Ginny. "That was the lion's share of the discussion. I don't know."

"You mean they haven't sent you your results yet?"

"Oh, they sent 'em, all right. I just never bothered opening them."

Ginny looked at him strangely. She was about to say something when Harry spoke, "So, what about you, any big news in your letter this year?"

Ginny looked at him with wide-eyed innocence. "Whatever do you mean?"

Harry took all of a half second to see that she was hiding something. "You made it, didn't you? You're one of the new prefects."

Ginny hung her head. "I don't know what they were thinking. Fred and George will be so ashamed of me."

Harry grinned broadly. "I think that's great, Ginny."

Ginny looked up at him, shocked. "How? I won't be able to have any fun now! I reckon that they'll end up taking it away from me in less than a month anyway."

"Don't be silly, Ginny. Remus was a prefect and he still managed to get into all sorts of trouble with my Dad and Sirius."

"Really?"

"Yup, and besides, this means you can get yourself a new broom, just like Ron."

Ginny scowled at this. "Not me, a broom's not appropriate for a young lady. I got new dress robes instead." Harry flinched in sympathy and Ginny added in a whisper, "I think Mum's worried that the twins are having a corrupting influence on me."

"They didn't even call for dress robes on our lists, did they?" Ginny shook her head. "Oh well, maybe Dean will take you out to a fancy dinner or something," he said hopefully.

"In Hogsmeade? Fat chance of that. How'd you know about my making Prefect, anyway? I bet Ron squealed just to distract you from..." She suddenly looked at Harry and realized she had spilled the beans.

"Distract me from what?" Ginny didn't answer but it didn't take long for Harry to figure it out. "Ron was made Quidditch Captain, huh?" Ginny nodded. A sad smile spread across Harry's face. "It figures, who else would it be?"

Ginny suddenly grew very concerned. "Harry, you're not upset are you? I know Ron's afraid to mention it because he thinks that you'll get mad at him."

"Why would I be mad at him?"

"He's afraid you'll think that he took the captaincy away from you."

"How could he be so thick?" Harry asked. "There's no way that I could have been made Captain. You've got to be on the team to be the captain and that leaves me out. Ron's the only real veteran, even if he has been on the team for only one year."

"So you're not jealous?"

Harry looked at her and he could see the concern in her eyes. Could he tell her? Could he tell her the truth and could she possibly understand? When he spoke it was barely above a whisper. "No, I'm not jealous, at least not of that."

"What then? How can you be jealous of Ron?"

Harry looked at her, her deep brown eyes seemed to invite him to tell her, to let go of some of the things that he had been carrying for so long that he no longer realized how heavy they were.

"I'm not jealous of Ron being made Captain, and I wasn't jealous of his being a Prefect either," he saw the disbelief written on her face. "Really, I wasn't. I was jealous, just not of that. I still am, I guess, of all of you."

"Why?"

"I reckon I'm jealous of the fact that he could be a prefect. If we were both up for Captain, or Prefect for that matter, and Ron beat me, I wouldn't mind." Ginny smiled at him wryly. "Well, I wouldn't mind much. If Ron had beaten me, if anyone had beaten me for that matter, I would have been disappointed, maybe even mad for a bit, but I would have gotten over it. What bothers me, what makes me jealous, is that I never even had a chance."

"What are you talking about? Of course you had a chance."

"No, I didn't," Harry said with sorrow. "Listen, I'm not saying this to take anything away from you or from Ron. It's great that you guys were made Prefects, Hermione too. And it's great that Ron's Quidditch Captain. I just wish that once, just once, I had the same chance."

"To be a Prefect?" Ginny asked, clearly confused.

"Not to be a Prefect, exactly, but to want to be one, to be normal enough to have a chance. To be able to have normal dreams and a normal chance of making them come true."

Ginny shook her head and Harry could tell that she didn't understand, but maybe that didn't matter. It felt good to just say it, to put the feelings into words.

Ginny looked at him and said softly, "It's like what you said about Cho, isn't it? You're not allowed to be normal." Harry nodded his head, maybe she did understand a little.

Harry continued, "It's funny, I'm famous, I've got a vault full of gold, I can't walk down the street without people recognizing me..."

"All those things that Ron used to get so jealous over," Ginny finished. "But all you really want is to not have all of those things or, more rightly, to not have to be the person who has those things." Harry would have nodded but his head was hung too low to move any further. She wrapped her arms around him and hung on to him for all she was worth. "Remember Harry, always remember that you have friends, friends who think you are special in your own right, and that makes you normal."

When Ginny finally let go, Harry smiled at her. "Thanks," he whispered. He turned and threw a leg over the bike and pushed the starter.

"D'ya reckon we have time for another ride?" she asked with a smirk.

Harry stole a glance at the house. "Best not risk it," he said, "wouldn't do to get your mum too riled. I do want to be able to come back here, you know. Besides, I wouldn't want to make Dean too jealous."

Ginny laughed. "You let me worry about Dean. Just come back soon so we can go for more than just a spin around the yard."

Harry slowly pulled out and was soon rolling down the lane and back towards Surrey.

As the sounds of the motorbike faded into the distance, Ginny walked up to her brother and Hermione. They turned to look at her with questions in their eyes but Ginny was faster.

"So, what were you lot just talking about?" she asked them.

Hermione answered, "We could ask you the same thing."

"But I asked first."

"Well," Ron began, with the toe of his shoe kicking at the grass. "Harry was telling us how he thinks Sirius is still alive."

Ginny's eyes lit up at this. "HE IS? How are they going to get him back?"

Ron wouldn't speak, so Hermione took over. "We don't know. Harry says that Professor Dumbledore is working on it, but he doesn't know anything else. Harry's got some ridiculous idea about going back to the Department of Mysteries and trying to rescue him himself."

Ron spoke again, "Yeah, he thinks that Dumbledore isn't moving fast enough and that if we don't do something soon, well, then maybe it will be too late."

"So?" Ginny asked.

"So what?" answered Hermione.

"So when are we going after Sirius, of course."

Hermione frowned and Ron just continued to kick at the grass.

"Don't tell me that..." Ginny said.

Hermione found her voice. "We convinced him that he doesn't have to go," she said.

Ginny looked doubtful. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we pointed out..."

"You mean that you pointed out."

"All right, I pointed out that Harry doesn't always have to be the one to do things. Professor Dumbledore said he was going to try to get Sirius back and we ought to just let him do it."

"So what's Professor Dumbledore doing? Can we do anything to help?"

"Well, Harry didn't know exactly what the headmaster was doing."

Ron spoke up, "The prat didn't think to ask." Hermione nodded.

"So, we decided to wait and give someone else a chance to do something."

"Oh no, Hermione, you didn't," Ginny said, her face showing her growing concern.

"I didn't what?"

"You didn't start going on about Harry having a 'saving people' thing, did you?"

Hermione blushed. "Well, I didn't use those words..."

"Although Harry did mention them," Ron added.

"Thank you, Ron, for clearing that up."

Ginny sighed, "Oh Hermione, how could you?"

"Well, it's true," Hermione said coming to her own defense. "Harry always thinks that he has to be the one to do things, to play the hero. He's never willing to let other people take charge. Professor Dumbledore said that he would do his best to get Sirius back and I, for one, trust him." Ron just nodded.

Ginny's face grew hot and she put her hands on her hips. Ron automatically took a step backwards. "Might I remind you Hermione Granger that if Harry hadn't had his little 'saving people' thing, if he just waited for others to take action, MY FATHER WOULD BE DEAD RIGHT NOW! If Harry hadn't been willing to jump in and 'play the hero' then I WOULD DEAD TOO. And unless I'm mistaken, which I highly doubt I am, if it weren't for Harry's taking action, Little Miss Know-It-All, then YOU would be dead as well, hmm? Squashed by a troll while sitting in the girl's lav in your first year? It's a bit difficult to be Miss Perfect Prefect when you're pushing up the daisies." Hermione had the good grace to blush while Ron refused to raise his head to look his sister in the eye. "Might I suggest that next time, before you go complaining about how other people act, you remember that YOU were one of the people who benefited from those actions?"

Hermione mumbled, "But if we had only waited a bit more, then maybe..."

Ginny snapped, "Yeah, if only! And if only my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a trolley! A lot of things could have happened differently, but they didn't. Even if things didn't work out perfectly last time, Harry's got a pretty good track record and we all owe him our lives." She looked at them both with a glare that would have made her mother proud. "At the very least we owe him our loyalty. He's never wanted to put us at risk, he wanted to go alone if you'll recall and we were the ones who insisted on coming along. Harry's never done anything rash unless he really felt that there was no other option."

"But there is an option here," Hermione tried again. "We can wait and let Professor Dumbledore find a way to do it."

"Dumbledore's got Voldemort - Will you STOP flinching, Ron! - to worry about."

"That's what Harry said, too," Ron mentioned.

"And why did Harry think that we couldn't or shouldn't wait?"

Ron looked at his little sister sheepishly. "He didn't know. He just said that he knew."

Hermione said, "He couldn't give us any reason, he just said that he felt, somehow, that if Sirius didn't get back soon, then he wouldn't be able to."

Ginny shook her head again and turned to go back into the house.

"Where're you going'?" called Ron.

"I'm going to borrow Pig," Ginny called back. "I'm sending a note to Harry to tell him that he has at least one friend who trusts him and that he can count on!"