A Promise Worth Keeping

Chapter Fifteen

Feet pattering on the dusty flagstones, Harry followed the tall figure of Sirius along the tunnel. He had been right; Sirius did have to stoop. The tunnel was lit by a weird ball of light that Sirius had conjured before they entered it. Now it floated ahead of him, lighting the way.

Harry wondered how long it was going to take to get to the end of the tunnel and what they would find there, if 'they' would be waiting for them, as his godfather had feared they might be. His godfather. It was a strange thought.

At a curve in the tunnel, Sirius slowed down. He turned round, "Nearly there." His teeth flashed in a brief smile, then he frowned. "Harry, they're going to be looking for us, you know that?" Harry nodded. "Well, it would be better if I'm not with you."

Fear clenched Harry in the guts. Sirius was going to leave? His dismay must have shown on his face as Sirius immediately said, "I don't mean I'm going to leave you or anything. It's just that they'll be looking for a man and a boy." He distractedly ran a hand through his hair, "Oh lord, I'm no use at this, I just don't want to frighten you…." Then as Harry was clearly looking more and more concerned, he simply said, "Oh bugger it." And disappeared.

In his place stood the largest black dog Harry had ever seen. It had shaggy fur barely hiding its skinny frame and strange, pale eyes. It stood looking at Harry, anxiously wagging its tail. Harry's jaw dropped. "Sirius?" The dog's tail wagged faster. "How did you do that?"

The dog disappeared and Sirius stood there once more. "It's magic," he said and grinned.

Harry thought about this. "Can all wizards do that?"

Sirius shook his head. "No, not very many at all, and it's really hard to learn. Took me three years."

Harry instantly determined that he would learn how to do it, however long it took.

"Anyway," continued Sirius, "I just wanted to show you, because I'll need to do it later. I don't think they know I can do it."

"You're not sure?"

Sirius shook his head. "Remus Lupin knows, but I don't know if he'll have told anybody else - he didn't seem to have done."

They started walking again. Soon they came to a series of steps cut into the bedrock. Sirius stopped and turned round again. "The tunnel comes out behind a secret panel in one of the corridors in the pub in Hogsmeade. That's a village near Hogwarts," he explained. "We'll need to be quick, but fortunately it's near the back door, so we should be able to get out without being seen, okay?"

Harry nodded. "What do we do after that?"

"There's a cave I know about, up in the hills behind the village. We should be all right there for the night."

They climbed the stairs and eventually came to a door. Sirius showed Harry the peephole where they could see if anybody was outside. "You push this, when we're ready," he instructed, indicating that Harry should take hold of the release mechanism. Then he whispered something and the ball of light disappeared, plunging them into darkness. Something cold and wet nudged Harry's hand and he pushed hard.

The panel sprang open and Harry quickly followed the black dog out into the corridor, closing the panel behind him. He barely had time to glance about him, as the dog made for the door. It paused beside a row of cloaks hanging on pegs, and looked up at Harry.

Harry looked at the cloaks doubtfully. "I can't reach," he whispered.

The dog's shape shimmered and for no more than a second or two, Sirius stood there once more for just long enough to unhook one of the cloaks from its peg and drop it to Harry before transforming back into the dog.

Harry pulled the cloak around himself - it was a bit long, and opened the outer door, letting the dog out first. It was bitterly cold outside, and Harry's breath smoked in front of him. There weren't many streetlights, and those there were weren't the usual sodium orange ones he was used to, but a more natural colour that didn't pollute the night sky. In the cold air, the moonless sky was ablaze with more stars than he'd ever seen before in his life. However, he didn't have time to stand and gawp at them as the dog had trotted to the end of the street and now it paused, waiting for him. It jerked its head indicating the direction they should go in, and Harry followed it along a twisting lane to the edge of the village. At the end of the lane just outside the village, there was a stile and the dog jumped over it. Harry followed.

The streetlights had provided more light than he'd been aware of. Away from them, and off the road, progress was much slower, especially now as they began to climb, following a narrow, twisting path up into the hills. After a little while, Sirius transformed back into himself.

"Are you okay?" he asked Harry.

Harry tried to stop his teeth chattering. "I'm fine," he said.

In the dim starlight, Harry saw an expression of disbelief flicker across his godfather's face. "Yes, of course you are," he agreed. "You always make noises like that with your teeth." He paused and seemed to think for a moment. Then he said, "I know there aren't many trees around here, but if you see any sticks pick them up and we can have a fire when we get there."

Harry grinned and nodded.

However, the path was steep and although he looked hard, in the dark, he couldn't see anything that looked combustible. Sirius didn't seem to be having much luck either, he noticed. Suddenly Sirius stopped and turned round. "It's just in here," he said.

He conjured another ball of light and sent it ahead of him, so that Harry could see a narrow fissure in the rock. "Through here?" Harry asked doubtfully.

"Want me to go first?" Sirius asked in response. As Harry must have looked dubious about this, he said, "Tell you what, we'll send the light first, then you go, and I'll be right behind you. How's that?"

Harry nodded, so that was what Sirius did. They squeezed through the fissure, and Harry found it opened out into a small cave. Nobody would ever find it unless they knew it was there.

"At least it won't be quite as cold in here," Sirius commented, but he was looking at Harry with a concerned expression. "But it'll still be too cold for you."

"It's all right. I'll be okay," Harry assured him, suddenly feeling terribly guilty and not wanting to be a burden.

Sirius looked sceptical, then shook his head. "No, we need to get a fire. There's a peat bog not far from here. It's always throwing up the remains of trees." He stopped and corrected himself. "Or it always used to. I'll go and see what I can find."

Making sure that Harry was well wrapped up in the stolen cloak, he transformed back into the dog and left. Harry felt terrible. What if Sirius got caught? He shivered, and it wasn't just from the cold.

After what seemed like hours but which couldn't have been, Sirius came back. "I was right!" he said, grinning, and put down a small, sodden tree stump. "This should last us all night."

Harry looked dubiously at it and Sirius grinned. Then he muttered something and the tree stump was suddenly twice the size it had been. Harry jumped in surprise. He supposed he was going to have to get used to this sort of thing.

"It's still wet," he pointed out.

Sirius grinned again and muttered something else. The stump suddenly looked dry. "Banishing charm, to move the water," he explained.

Soon they had a blazing fire and at last, Harry began to thaw out. He sat, warming his hands at the fire and looked at Sirius across the flames. His godfather looked completely shattered, Harry thought, feeling guilty again. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Sirius assured him.

"You don't look all right."

Sirius gave a slight smile. "Just tired, that's all. Not used to doing so much magic, and this wand doesn't really suit me, so it's harder."

Harry thought about this. Sirius had tired himself out doing magic to help him. "You shouldn't have done -" he began.

Sirius looked horrified and broke in, "Harry, if it hadn't been for you, I would have just let them take me back to Azkaban. I'd probably be there right now." His already pale features paled further and a horrible dead look came into his eyes as he spoke. "I promised your mum and dad I would look after you if anything happened to them, but I didn't keep that promise. It's about time I started to do so."

They sat in silence for a few moments as Harry digested this. Then he asked, "Why didn't you?"

"I let myself be persuaded -" Sirius began, then stopped and shook his head. "No, that's not true," he sighed. He looked across the flames at Harry, that deeply sad expression flickering across his face again. "It's a long story," he said and sighed again. "But we've plenty of time."

Sirius was right, it was a long story and complicated. Harry wasn't sure he understood all of it, but by the end he knew he understood one thing. He and Sirius weren't so alike after all. Sirius had spent all that time in prison for something he hadn't done, although he seemed to think he was responsible. Whereas Harry really had nearly killed Uncle Vernon, and they'd been quite right to send him to that awful place. He looked down at his hands, feeling tears welling up and anxiously trying to hide them.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Sirius sounded worried.

"Nothing," Harry responded instantly. "Must be tired too, I think." He didn't look up.

There was a shuffle as Sirius moved round the fire until he was sitting beside him. "I know it's not a nice story, I'm sorry. I just thought you should know."

"Oh no, no, it's not that at all," Harry said quickly, flicking a glance up at his godfather. He was just making Sirius feel worse. "It's just that…" he trailed off, desperately not wanting to see the concern he saw in Sirius' eyes fade into disgust, which he knew would happen if he told him what he'd done to Uncle Vernon.

"Then, what?"

Harry tried to deflect Sirius' question again, but his godfather wouldn't give up, and Harry, who wasn't used to fending off such persistent interest, eventually mumbled out a confused explanation of how he'd been wrong in thinking they were alike. Sirius looked completely bewildered. "Dursley said you'd gone mad and attacked him. I thought he was making it up."

Harry stared at his hands. "He was calling my mum and dad names, so I kicked him. Then he hit me and Professor Dumbledore said I used magic to throw him across the room and he hit his head. So it really was my fault that he nearly died and they were right to send me to that horrible place." He blinked hard, trying not to make a fool of himself.

Suddenly he felt himself enveloped in a hug and Sirius said fiercely, "Oh God, Harry it was not your fault. All magical children do things like that."

"They do?" Harry asked into Sirius' chest.

"All the time. That's why Hogwarts exists. So that children can learn how to control their magic." He released Harry and, keeping his hands on his shoulders looked him in the eyes. "Did you mean to kill your uncle?"

Harry shook his head. "I just wanted him to stop hitting me," he said in a small voice.

"It was an accident then. And an accident caused by something you didn't know you could do. So, do you still think you deserved to be sent to that place?"

Reluctantly, Harry shook his head. Then something occurred to him. "But you said that you didn't mean my mum and dad to die and that you didn't know your friend was a traitor, so how did you deserve to be sent to that prison?"

Sirius' jaw dropped and he blinked. He looked completely nonplussed.

Harry sniggered. "You look like a fish," he said.

Sirius shut his mouth with something approaching a snap. "That was different," he protested, letting go of Harry's shoulders. Harry didn't see how, but he wasn't about to argue. He looked down at his hands again.

Sirius sighed. "Come on," he said, lightly touching Harry on the shoulder, "we need to get some sleep." And he promptly transformed into the dog, curling up beside Harry.

Harry sat for a moment longer, staring into the fire, then he snuggled into his cloak and lay down himself.

---

Sirius listened until he was sure the boy had fallen asleep, then he opened his eyes again and transformed back into himself. Harry had given him a lot to think about, not least was the wish that he'd known what he knew now when he'd visited Privet Drive. Vernon Dursley would have been lucky to escape with his life, that was for certain.

Harry shifted slightly in his sleep and Sirius leaned over and moved his glasses to a spot where the boy was less likely to roll onto them. He frowned and picked them up again. They'd been broken so many times they were almost falling to pieces. Pulling out his wand he muttered, "Reparo!" and satisfied, put them back. Harry looked so vulnerable without them, and yet he was astonishingly resilient, and not at all stupid. He'd taken Sirius' explanation, thought about it and with impeccable logic, flung it back in his face. And it was unanswerable. He could see that. But it didn't change how he felt.

With a sigh, he transformed back into Padfoot and lay down again, resting his head on his paws. Eventually he closed his eyes and slept.

He woke early; before even the first, faint dawn light appeared. Harry was still fast asleep beside the last smouldering remnants of the fire, and Sirius let him sleep on for a few moments more. He stood up, stretching, gave himself an enormous shake, and went outside. In the dim pre-dawn light, he could see that clouds had rolled in during the night and it was significantly warmer. But that wasn't the good news it should have been. The clouds looked heavy and dark, snow-laden.

Quickly, he went back inside the cave, transforming as he did so. Waking Harry with a shake, he said, "We need to get going. We're too near the village, and it's going to snow."

Harry blinked at him and reached out for his glasses. He squinted at them in puzzlement for a second or two, but put them on without comment.

"Okay?" Sirius asked and when Harry had nodded, he transformed again and trotted outside. Making sure the boy was following him; he set off up the hill, towards a distant ridge. As he walked, he tried to plan out a route, but it had been so long since he had roamed these hills and he didn't trust his memory. If he remembered correctly, there were miles of desolate moorland before the first Muggle habitations, miles with no cover. He was banking on them believing that he would have gone into the Forbidden Forest and that they wouldn't search in this direction first.

The light began to grow, and by the time they crested the ridge, it was as light as it was going to get, on this drear winter's day. Ahead lay mile upon mile of drab, tussocky grass and heather, without a single tree to be seen. To their left the land rose to the peak of the mountain above Hogsmeade. It was lightly dusted with an icing-sugar sprinkling of snow, as were other peaks Sirius could see. They were well below the snow line for now, but it wouldn't last, he knew that.

They made slow progress. Harry found the terrain difficult, and Sirius, knowing he could have gone a lot faster on his own, was constantly fighting down a rising panic that the inevitable pursers would find them before they reached shelter. At least in his canine shape, Harry couldn't see just how worried he really was.

Sirius paused as they came to a stream, running down from the hilltops, waiting for Harry to catch up, then quickly jumped across. He turned round and watched while the boy stood for a moment on the opposite bank. The stream was full of stones and boulders, rolled smooth by the force of the water. As such they were treacherous. Harry gingerly stepped out onto the first one, then when it proved steady, moved forwards with more confidence. However, the last stone shifted as he put his weight on it, and he overbalanced, stumbling into the cold, dark water. He stood, looking up at Sirius in consternation, wet to his knees.

Instantly Sirius transformed into himself and held out a hand. "It's all right. Give me your hand, we'll soon get you dry."

He pulled the boy out of the water and Harry, shamefaced, muttered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall."

Oh Lord. Sirius forced down the irritation he had felt and assured Harry, "Don't worry, I should have realised you might have trouble crossing." It only took a few seconds to get Harry dry again, but Sirius frowned as he looked at the trainers the boy was wearing. They really were most unsuitable for the terrain, but there was nothing he could do about it apart from making sure they were kept dry.

Harry must have noticed the frown as he quickly repeated, "I'm sorry, I know I can't go as fast as you can."

"That's not what I was thinking," Sirius assured him. "I was just looking at your trainers, you need to keep them dry, so make sure you tell me if they get wet, okay?"

Sirius waited until Harry had nodded, then transformed back into Padfoot.

They carried on, and for a while the going was easier. But then they had the option of crossing increasingly marshy ground or walking across a patch of scree. Sirius chose the scree. He carefully picked his way across the loose stones, keeping a close eye on Harry as he did so. He felt horribly exposed, but it was still faster and less dangerous than the marshy ground might have been. They got across without mishap and after a short rest, continued.

All the while the wind had been getting steadily stronger. Sirius paused and sniffed the air. The smell of snow was almost palpable. He was now more worried about that, than pursuit. But there was nothing he could do about it, just keep on going. Ten minutes later the first flakes started whirling past them; large, fat flakes that spoke of much more to come. He moved closer to Harry, making sure that the boy couldn't lose him.

It didn't take long for the snow to start lying, and Sirius knew that if the going had been hard before, it would be doubly difficult now. They kept trudging on, but soon Sirius could sense Harry shivering, as the temperature dropped. He glanced up. The boy looked miserable, even swathed in the stolen cloak as he was.

A pile of boulders loomed ahead, and with a sigh of relief, he nosed Harry round into the lee, out of the wind. It wasn't much shelter, but it was better than nothing. He transformed, and crouching down, instantly began to shiver violently.

Harry watched as Sirius pulled out his wand, but he didn't say anything. Sirius tried to smile and explained through chattering teeth, "Need to get our bearings - make sure we're not going round in circles," He held the wand in the palm of his hand and muttered the four point spell. He was surprised to see that when it pointed north, he had only been a little out in his estimate.

He transformed again and stood up, but Harry looked at him. "Can we rest for a bit… please?"

Worry gnawed at Sirius, he knew it was better to keep moving if they possibly could. But equally he could see that Harry was exhausted and they'd been going all morning with only one short break until now. So he nodded and Harry huddled back into his cloak. Sirius sat down beside him, watching him anxiously. When it seemed as if the boy was falling asleep, he nudged him until Harry opened his eyes, then nudged him again until he stood up, and they set off. Sirius knew he couldn't let Harry fall asleep.

As they walked, Harry clutched the fur on Sirius' ruff, leaning on him more heavily as time went on. Eventually he stumbled on a tussock and although he quickly got to his feet again, he began to fall more and more often. Their progress slowed even further as Sirius desperately tried to keep Harry on his feet.

Then came the time when Harry fell and either couldn't or wouldn't get up. Shivering in the driving snow, Sirius transformed and slapped the boy's face, trying to get a reaction.

"No!" Harry protested indistinctly, "Jus' wan' to sleep."

Sirius felt like howling in despair, but knew he had to hold it together if he was going to get them out of this alive. He shook the boy by the shoulder. "Harry! I'm going to carry you, but you'll need to give me the cloak." With some difficulty, he managed to get Harry to climb onto his back, the cloak enveloping the two of them. He felt horribly light, and Sirius bitterly cursed Petunia Dursley for starving him.

He set off, and for a while seemed to be able to make better time. But Harry steadily got heavier and heavier, and when Sirius tried to lighten him the spell either didn't work or he was too exhausted himself to make it work properly. He gritted his teeth and kept going, talking constantly to the boy, trying to keep him from falling asleep. Then with a jolt he realised he was starting to drift off himself and he really began to be afraid that he wasn't going to be able to save them.

It was hard to see very far ahead, the falling snow was so thick, and the steadily increasingly snow cover made the landscape deceptive. So it was hardly surprising that he walked into the wall before he noticed it was there. He was unable to stop himself falling forwards, over the top, Harry's weight shifting his centre of gravity. The boy rolled off his back onto the snow, as Sirius crashed to the ground in front of a very miserable looking sheep. It baaed in surprise before disappearing into the whirling whiteness.

Harry groaned and Sirius shook him saying, "We're nearly there, won't be long now." He hoped he wasn't lying.

Harry blinked up at him looking confused. "I'll jus' stay here," he muttered.

"Don't you go falling asleep on me, Harry!" Sirius exclaimed. He felt re-energised, and determined that they would make it now. The wall meant they were at last coming to the Muggle settlements he remembered. While he knew these old drystone dykes could run for miles, he could see the ground inside the wall was significantly different from the wild country they had crossed and he was hopeful that it wouldn't be too long before they hit a track.

Managing to get Harry onto his back once more he started to follow the wall, keeping it on his left, with the wind. After about ten minutes of this, he came to another wall, intersecting the first one at right angles. "What did I tell you, Harry? I knew we'd come to a cross wall eventually." But Harry just grunted in response, and Sirius wasn't even sure if he had understood. However, he carried on talking to the boy as he followed the cross wall until they came to another wall stretching in front of them. There was another field on the other side, and with a sigh he got Harry over the wall, then scrambled over himself. This field wasn't as big, and this time when he came to the next wall, to Sirius' unutterable relief, there was a track on the other side. But which way to go? He tried to remember the geography of the area, and eventually chose to go left, fervently hoping he was right.

It wasn't long before the track began to curve steeply downhill, and there was a change in the sound of the wind that indicated there might be trees nearby. Then he gave a yell of triumph as the snow cleared for a moment and he saw a stand of Scots Pine with an old cottage sitting in their shelter.

He quickly realised the building was empty as there was no smoke coming from the chimney and no lights appeared to be on. At least it had a roof, he thought, trudging up to the door. Harry slid off his back and crumpled up on the ground. "Oh no, you don't!" Sirius said, and picked him up, supporting the boy with his left arm as he tried the door.

It was locked, of course and Sirius summoned the last of his strength to cast an unlocking charm. The door swung open and he staggered inside, pulling Harry after him.

It was amazing the difference simply being out of the wind made, but he didn't pause to relish it. He needed to get a fire going and get some warmth into Harry. The door had opened into a narrow hall, with steep stairs rising immediately in front of him. A door on the left opened into a sitting room with sofas, a bookcase and a large open grate. The door on the right opened into a kitchen area. There was a large table, but the whole room seemed to be focussed on some sort of solid fuel cooker, he thought, that stood against one wall.

There was a note on the table. Sirius pulled out a chair and sat Harry on it, then picked up the note.

Dear Bill and Jenny

As I said on the phone, there's plenty of coal for the Aga - one bag in the scullery and more in the outhouse. There are also some logs and some peats if you fancy having a good old fashioned blaze in the living room. There's plenty of tinned food in the kitchen and a sack of potatoes in the outhouse. Oh and there's a crate of beer in the scullery.

Have a great Christmas and hope to see you in March.

Chris

Sirius grinned and breathed a sigh of relief. There was no-one here and probably wouldn't be for some days. "Harry?" he asked, but the boy only grunted in response. He seemed to be barely conscious. Right, Sirius thought, first things first. Get the fire going, then get some blankets and get him warmed up.

There was another note stuck to the chimneybreast, which gave instructions on getting the cooker lit. He quickly found the bag of coal in the scullery and lit the fire, but knew it would take a while to heat up properly. He rushed upstairs and grabbed a downie from one of the bedrooms. However, he knew he had to get warmth into the boy rather than just around him, so he opened cupboards until he found some mugs and some instant hot chocolate. He shovelled some into a mug and mixed it up with water from the tap warming it up with his wand. Then making sure that he'd dried Harry's clothes properly he wrapped him in the downie and pushed the mug into his hands. "Come on, drink this, you'll feel better."

Harry blinked owlishly at him, but made an effort to lift the mug. Trying not to let the boy see just how desperately worried he was, Sirius smiled at him and supported his hands while he took a sip of the chocolate. Harry gave a faint smile back. "'S nice," he said and took another sip.

By the time Harry had finished the mug, he was really starting to revive and Sirius made himself some hot chocolate. God it was good!

Over the next few days they settled into a routine. The snowstorm had lasted for three days, so they were well and truly snowed in. Unless they were coming on cross-country skis or broomsticks, Bill and Jenny were unlikely to be appearing any time soon. There was enough food, they were warm, and if the Muggle electricity didn't work there were plenty of candles, so why worry? Sirius discovered that the Aga even heated the water and enjoyed the sheer luxury of a hot bath.

There was a radio in the kitchen and Harry fiddled around with it until he found some local news. Apparently the storm had been one of the worst for years and many people had been snowed in with their electricity cut off. The man reading the news reported that some were unlikely to get their power back before Christmas, and he read out the numbers of various phone lines people could call to complain.

Sirius stopped using his wand. "It's sometimes possible to track magic," he told Harry, "And now that the weather's cleared a bit they'll really be looking for us again."

"Shouldn't we leave then?" asked Harry looking anxious.

"If it thaws we will," Sirius responded. "Those people will probably come then in any case. But until then, we'll be okay if we keep the magic to a minimum."

A few days later, it finally cleared, although if anything, it was colder than it had been. Making sure that Harry was well wrapped up in the cloak, they went outside, and Sirius helped Harry make a snowman. He stuck an enormous blob of a nose on it and Harry looked at it screwing up his face. "Is it supposed to be somebody?" he asked after a moment's consideration.

Sirius twitched his eyebrows. "Guess," he said, grinning.

"Somebody with a big nose," Harry said, to which feeble response Sirius just rolled his eyes.

"You have met him," he said.

"That man, Snape." Harry replied and grinned. "It doesn't look like him at all."

Sirius threw a snowball at him, then transformed into Padfoot and barking loudly, chased him round the house. Harry shrieked at him and tried to throw snowballs back, but Sirius easily avoided them.

Harry stopped, breathing hard and instantly Sirius transformed back. "Cold?" he asked.

"A bit."

"We'd better go in, then. Don't want you to get too cold again."

They kicked the snow off their shoes against the doorstep and went into the house. Harry pushed open the kitchen door, and plonked himself down at the kitchen table. "That was fun," he told Sirius, grinning.

Sirius smiled back but didn't say anything for a moment. Harry looked completely recovered from his ordeal, cheeks rosy from running around in the cold air. Sirius could never get over just how like James he was. Not just in looks, but, once you made allowances for the impact the Dursleys had had on him, in personality. He even had James's sly sense of humour. And yet he found he had grown to like the boy for himself, not for whose son he was.

That afternoon, Harry insisted they go out again, and they explored the area around the cottage, following the line of the track for about a mile, before coming back as the sun started to sink.

But still it didn't thaw, and one day, Sirius realised with a shock that they'd been there over a week. He began to think they'd be able to stay for Christmas, and realised he was looking forward to that. However, the next morning the weather had changed, with clouds rolling in from the southwest, and it was much warmer. Sirius went outside after breakfast and sniffed the air; rain was coming.

"I think we should leave," he told Harry.

The boy looked surprised. "So soon? I thought you said we could stay until Christmas."

Sirius hated letting Harry down. "I'm sorry, I know I did, but I just don't think it's safe any more. The weather's cleared - the snow's probably going to be gone tomorrow and those people could come back at any time."

"Or from Hogsmeade," Harry added, turning pale.

Sirius nodded. "Or from there too. We should go as soon as possible."

They set about getting their things together, but it didn't take long. They collected a pile of tins and Sirius cast a feather light charm on them, which made them easy to carry.

They were just having a last cup of coffee when there was a sharp rap at the door. Harry's eyes widened in alarm and Sirius whispered, "Wait here." Then he picked up his wand and, walking into the hall, opened the door.