Death Becomes You

Death Becomes You.

For the first time Harry could remember, it was raining in July. Of course he always knew that it must rain in July, perhaps even rain in August. He always presumed to himself the rain would wait till nightfall, so as not to mar the joy and beauty of the summer days. Little Whinging had its fair share of joy and beauty but with Dudley and his crew patrolling the streets day and night now, Harry hadn't been able to experience a single second of it.

He brushed the hair from his eyes and forehead, his thoughts lingering on the time spent in previous years covering the ominous mark that was etched into his forehead. His philosophy in life had changed. He no longer wished to hide in the shadows, known only as 'The Boy Who Lived', he had tried that for too long with disastrous results. It always ended with him fighting Voldemort. He wanted to stand up and claim his rightful place, as the only person in the known universe who could defeat Voldemort. He hated the secrecy, the petty groups with their weak attempts to defeat Voldemort, he wanted the world to know the pain inflicted by the Death Eaters, the families disrupted and destroyed. So this new philosophy also ended with him fighting Voldemort. Great.

He stared gloomily out of the bedroom window at the neat gardens below. Much more lush this summer than last, when the heat had been unbearable. Everything seemed grey. His feelings for Sirius had splurged out of him, staining the real world with this dank depression. Even the Dursleys had noticed the difference. He chuckled to himself; the Dursley's had noticed him for the first time in his life, ever. He chuckled again. It sounded hollow to him, but he ignored it.

At least this year his friends were writing to him. He looked fondly down at the bundle of letters on his desk. He picked up the top one. The neat script distinguished this letter as Hermione's. He looked at the letter, the code was easy enough to decipher, perhaps Hermione was losing her touch. Or maybe she thought him an idiot, only capable of deciphering the easiest of puzzles. Then he remembered one of the Order would check every letter and relaxed slightly. Based on his O.W.L. results, perhaps Hermione did consider him stupid.

"They were her stupid notes," he said aloud and then comforted himself with the knowledge that Ron had not done any better. Somehow he had succeeded in failing the simplest of subjects. He'd never liked History of Magic anyway, but it had never been made challenging, or remotely interesting, to him, hence his lack of enthusiasm for the class. Oh and that scary vision of Sirius he had had during the exam hadn't helped much either. He was bound to have failed Divination, he wasn't sure if anyone had passed particularly well in that subject. He had been distracted in his Astronomy exam by the attack on Hagrid by 'The Toad'.

He picked up his results sheet and glanced at them again. This must have been the millionth time.

History of Magic - Poor.

Charms - Exceeds Expectations.

Potions - Exceeds Expectations (this one had made him faint when he'd read it.)

Transfiguration - Outstanding.

Herbology - Exceeds Expectations.

Astronomy - Poor.

Divination - Dreadful.

Defence Against the Dark Arts - Outstanding.

Care of Magical Creatures - Outstanding.

Overall he was pleased with his results, yet slightly disappointed that he hadn't received Outstanding in Potions. Perhaps his dreams of being an Auror would simply remain a dream. On second thoughts, perhaps he wasn't stupid after all.

"Boy!" came the bellow from his uncle. "Shut that ruddy pigeon up!" Harry rolled his eyes and glanced at Hedwig's cage. It was empty.

"Yes sir," he replied sarcastically rising to his feet. He padded over to the cage shook it a bit and then went back to the bed.

"Potter!"

"All right!"

He leant out of his door and looked along the landing to where Hedwig was flying back and forth, hooting loudly and proudly.

"Come on, Hedwig," Harry said, holding out his arm, "time to come in."

She settled on to his arm and he moved back into his room. He placed the bird into her cage, but left the door open. He wasn't planning to cause more mischief, of course he wasn't. He grinned to himself as he made his way downstairs. The now familiar sight still shocked him slightly.

He took in the open plan living room with the large fireplace. Oh how the Dursleys had changed since their meeting with Mad-Eye Moody. Harry had never been told the reason, as is always the case, but he was glad none the less that his house had been connected to the Floo network. True, he could travel to only one place, but that didn't matter, Grimauld Place was the only location he really wanted to visit. The fireplace was not the only thing different about the room. The large bay windows that Harry had spent last summer hiding beneath had been covered with blinds and drapes. Now only the bare minimum of sunlight filtered through, but no inquiring gazes filtered in either. Harry chuckled; the Dursley's still assumed that everyone thought them a peculiar family.

His uncle and aunt were in this room, ignoring him as usual. He was just about to sit down when a flash shot round the room. Uncle Vernon jumped and spilled his tea down his ugly jumper. Aunt Petunia merely flinched. Perhaps she was getting used to this happening.

"Wotcher, Harry!"

"Hullo, Tonks," Harry said with a wide grin. She stepped out of the fireplace and into the room. Harry just wanted to leave. Tonks was a disaster area and he didn't really want to upset his Uncle any more than he already was.

"Need a hand with your stuff?" she questioned as she advanced further into the room.

"No! No, I'm fine really, just stay here, don't move," Harry said hurriedly as he backed away and ran up the stairs.

Tonks smiled happily at the two Dursley's in the room. Vernon made a grunting noise and returned to his now empty cup of tea. Petunia clucked her tongue as she gave Tonks the once over. She didn't like this girl with her bright coloured hair and vacant expression.

"I'll just make myself a cup of tea then," Tonks said brightly as she made her way to the kitchen. Petunia followed, unwilling to allow a stranger into her pristine kitchen. She was a little taken aback by the fact that this girl knew her way around the kitchen. Tonks was looking at the kettle with interest.

"Seems a bit of a slow way to heat water to me," she said conversationally. She pulled her wand out of her robes. Petunia paled at the sight of it.

Harry was just shoving the last set of quills into his bag. He didn't understand why he had to take this stuff with him, since all he needed were his wand and a sane mind. Then the screaming came. Harry jumped at the pitch of the noise. He threw his bag to the floor and ran down the stairs.

"Please still be in the lounge, please, please, please!" he muttered to himself. He skidded into the lounge to see that no one was there. He groaned loudly and ran to the kitchen, where the screams were coming from. He took in the sight before him.

Water was gushing everywhere. From the kettle, from the sink, from the dishwasher. His aunt was screaming at the top of her lungs. Harry never realised she was afraid of water. He couldn't help himself, he laughed. Tonks was stood in the middle of it all, looking very damp, and a little confused. Harry laughed harder. His Uncle Vernon was attempting to stop a very vigorous spout that was leaking from the wall next to the window. He had succeeded in becoming the wettest man in Britain.

"Can't you stop it?" Harry questioned as he waded over to Tonks.

"Considering I don't know how I started it, erm, no."

"Oh."

Harry thought for a while and then waded back out. He wandered into the living room and stuck his head in the fireplace.

"Grimmauld Place," he said loudly and clearly. He shut his eyes until he could feel that his head wasn't spinning anymore. He looked around at the empty living room. There was only one thing for it.

"PROFESSOR!" he yelled as loud as he could. He heard a distant crashing and a startled yelp. Shuffling footsteps approached and then he saw feet enter the room. Lupin bent down in front of the fireplace.

"Were you planning on giving me a heart attack?" he asked, half amused.

"Sorry, Professor," Harry said quickly, "it's just, we've got a bit of a situation..."

"Tonks," Lupin said abruptly.

"Well, yeah."

Lupin shook his head. Harry retracted his head from the fire and turned around.

"Urk!" he exclaimed as he saw that Lupin was stood behind him.

"Where is she?" Lupin asked. He then heard the screams. "Never mind."

They both went into the kitchen and saw that the water had risen to a now dangerous level.

"Reverso Aqua," Lupin said with a half-hearted wave of his wand. The water dispersed, running up the walls and cabinets, back to its origin. Lupin surveyed the very wet Tonks.

"I'm never sending you again," he said. She smiled weakly at him.

"Harry, get your stuff, Occlumency lesson, you're late," Lupin said as he glanced at him. With a crack, he was gone.

"BOY!" Uncle Vernon yelped pointing at him, his dripping finger inches from Harry's nose. "Out, fireplace, now!"

Harry turned as a hand grasped his shoulder. Vernon leant in, inches away from his face.

"Discreetly boy." Harry nodded, trying to contain his laughter, Uncle Vernon looked funny when he was sopping wet and mad. His purple face swelled as if absorbing the colour from the room. Harry realised he must have allowed the smirk to show on his face. He backed out of the room quickly, closely followed by Tonks, who had been wise enough to remain perfectly silent and still up until this point.

"I'll just wait by the fire," she said as she scuttled into the living room. Harry nodded and ran back upstairs to grab his bag. He came back downstairs, equipment in tow and stepped into the living room.

"You go first," he said to Tonks. She shrugged, stepped into the fire, shouted the command and left.

Harry followed suit. He took up his Floo powder and stood in the fire.

"Grimmauld Place," he shouted, and with that, he was gone.