Forever in my Memory

The members of the Order of the Phoenix were in a meeting, discussing Harry's safety. It was decided that two members would be with him at all times.

Albus looked at Sirius. "Sirius, you and Tonks have the first shift. You should be going now. I declare this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix adjourned!"

The various members got up and began to leave. Sirius turned to Nymphadora Tonks, a very clumsy Auror with the ability to change her appearance at will. Currently, she had neon green hair, done up in spikes and violet eyes. She was wearing baggy blue jeans and a loose, white T-shirt.

She smiled at him. "Ready to go, Sir?"

He nodded and transformed. Together they left Sirius's old home and Tonks Apparated outside St. Mungos. As they were about to enter the hospital, Sirius smelled a familiar scent. Peter!

Peter Pettigrew was nearby, and that meant a Death Eater attack. He growled.

Tonks looked down at him and drew her wand. "What is it? Death Eaters?"

Sirius gave an affirmative bark. He looked around. The area they were in was deserted except for the two of them. He didn't see Peter anywhere, as a human or a rat. Where was he?

His question was answered by a shout from his right. "Stupefy!"

Sirius and Tonks dodged and the spell went past them. Sirius turned towards the source of the spell and saw fifteen Death Eaters, including Wormtail.

Wormtail smirked. "H-hello, Padfoot, old friend. My Master wishes to see you. Get him!"

From behind Sirius came another shout of, "Stupefy!"

He tried to dodge, but wasn't fast enough. One of the spells hit him, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

***

Tonks watched as Padfoot fell to the ground. One of the Death Eaters grabbed him and Apparated away. She turned back to the leader, Peter Pettigrew, she guessed.

He smiled at her. "D-don't worry. You get to live. For a while anyways. Give this to Harry Potter."

He handed her a sealed envelope.

"Don't try to open it yourself."

She looked up at him again. He continued. "It's warded. Only Harry Potter can open it. It will kill anyone else."

With that, he and the rest of the Death Eaters Apparated away.

As soon as they were gone, Tonks ran into the hospital and into an unused waiting room. She locked the door, and put a silence ward around the room.

She quickly pulled out a small hand mirror and said, "Albus Dumbledor."

A few seconds later, the face of Albus appeared in the mirror, looking concerned. "Tonks? Is there something wrong?"

She smiled grimly. "You could say that. Sirius has been captured."

Albus paled. "Captured? The Ministry?"

Tonks shook her head. "No Death Eaters."

She quickly told him what happened. When she was finished, he told her that he would be right there.

When he arrived he quickly examined the letter. "It appears that Peter was telling the truth. This letter is warded. Only Harry may read it."

Tonks frowned. "Are you going to give it to him?"

Albus sighed heavily. "I think we have to. Only he can read this, only can tell us what it says. This letter may be the key to saving Sirius."

"But...if Harry's not talking, how can he...?"

Albus smiled gently. "Speech is not the only form of communication available to me."

******

Harry looked up as Dumbledor and a girl with green hair walked, both looking grave. He frowned. Dumbledor smiled at him but Harry noticed that the twinkle in his eyes was gone. He felt a chill go up his spine. Something was very wrong.

Dumbledor sat on the edge of the bed and began to speak. "Harry, this is Tonks. She's an Auror and a good friend."

Harry nodded at him to continue. Dumbledor took a deep breath. "Harry, Tonks was coming up here with Sirius. When they arrived, there were Death Eaters waiting for them. Including Wormtail."

Harry felt his face go pale. Sirius! Something had happened to Sirius!

Dumbledor took a deep breath and continued softly. "Harry...Sirius was captured. Wormtail left a letter that is keyed to you. Only you can read it."

He handed Harry the letter. Harry numbly took it. It was sealed with the Dark Mark.

He opened the envelope and began to read the letter.

His hand shaking, Harry lowered the letter to the bed, where it vanished with a flash of light. He stared blankly at the wall, ignoring Dumbledor as he cast a spell to discover the contents of the letter. Sirius was a prisoner of Voldemort. Because of him. Voldemort was using Sirius to get to him.

Harry closed his eyes. The people he loved always got hurt because of him. It was all his fault!

Ron and Hermione walked into Harry's room, both trying not to cry. Inside, Harry was trying to get his restraints off. He looked up as they entered. Hermione walked over and hugged him.

"Oh, Harry! Dumbledor just told us what happened to Sirius. What are we going to do?"

Harry looked at her and bit his lip. Ron watched him for moment. "You're going after him, aren't you?"

Harry nodded silently and continued to try to get free. Hermione straightened. "Harry? Can you tell us what the letter said? Dumbledor wouldn't say."

Harry stared at her, opened his mouth for a minute, and then closed it, shrugging helplessly.

Ron frowned thoughtfully. "Well, could you write it down?"

Harry nodded and Hermione ran out the door, returning a few minutes later with a quill, ink and parchment. She undid Harry's restraints and Harry wrote down the contents of the letter.

Hermione read it out loud and frowned. "Hmm, it's going to be hard to get all three of us there, especially with everyone watching us."

At Harry's startled look, Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Harold James Potter! Did you honestly think that we would let you go alone? Really!"

Harry smiled slightly for the first time in months. Ron and Hermione smiled back at him and the Gryffindor Trio began to plan.