The Final Battle

Professor Trelawney

Ron and Hermione made their way back from the infirmary to Gryffindor Tower. Every day at noon they had walked this way for the last ten days, and mostly they had done so in silence.

Harry's state had bothered both of them greatly. Hermione had felt utterly helpless because there seemed to be no reason for his sleep, and no matter how many books she had read since her friend had not woken, she had not been able to come up with a solution.

Though nobody had blamed Ron for what had happened, inwardly he had cursed himself every day. If he had been more persistent, if he had forced Harry to go to the infirmary straight away, then maybe none of this would have happened at all.

And when yesterday evening Remus had come into the Gryffindor Common room, both Ron and Hermione had feared the worst for a moment. They had known about the plans to move Harry the next day, and though both had not liked the idea at all, they had seen the necessity behind it.

And when Remus had told them the news, Ron and Hermione had wanted to go to the infirmary straight away to convince themselves that Harry was alright. They had had to wait until Wednesday afternoon, however. Remus had told them that Harry was still quite weak from ten days without food and physical activity and they had understood. But they had also been told about his strange reaction towards Sirius, a reaction none of them had an explanation for as Remus had hoped.

And even though Harry had seemed to be glad to see them, he had told them nothing about where he had spent the last ten days. He had told them that he didn't remember anything at all, but Ron didn't believe him.

When Ron and Hermione had climbed back into their common room, they sat down on an empty sofa and for a moment only looked at each other. Ron was the first to break the silence.

"Well, what do you think about it?"
Hermione shrugged her shoulders.

"I really don't know. I don't believe him when he says he can't remember anything. There's something he's hiding from us, and I'd bet my N.E.W.T.s that this has to do with his reaction towards Sirius. But unless he tells us, I'm afraid we won't be able to help him."

Ron nodded without really noticing.

"He seemed different somehow. I don't know how to describe it, but it scared me. He was so distant, even cold. So unlike the Harry I know. He really scared me."

"Do you think we should search for Sirius and talk to him?"

"No, I don't think that would be wise. Give them some time, maybe they only need to have a good talk about whatever it is that suddenly stands between them."

Silence once more settled between the two as both thought about what had happened during the last eleven days. They knew that something seemed to be wrong with their friend, and the fact that everybody was expecting the castle to be attacked soon didn't help to ease their minds.

Nearly half of the students, mostly from the lower classes, had left this morning, called home by their parents because they feared for their children. Ron and Hermione however had decided not to leave their friend alone.

Hermione knew that as a muggle-born, she was possibly even more in danger than most of the other students, but she had merely said that this danger would be bigger if she was home with her parents who would not be able to defend her against any magical attacks.

Ron had talked to his father through the fireplace, and as much as Arthur was concerned, especially about Ginny, he trusted Dumbledore enough to leave his two youngest children at Hogwarts. Besides, the entire Weasley family was busy with their own work, so staying alone at the Burrow would have left Ron and Ginny even more unprotected than at the castle.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Remus cautiously knocked on Harry's door. When he received no answer, he knocked again and then opened the door a little.
"Harry? Can I come in?"

The only answer he received was a grunting sound from the direction of the bed, but he decided to take that as a yes. So he stepped into the room and sat down on one of the chairs next to Harry's bed.

"Hello Harry. How are you feeling?"

Harry rolled his eyes and gave Remus a threatening stare.

"I am fine."

"Ron and Hermione have been here?"

Harry nodded and his mood seemed to lighten a little. He had been really glad to see his friends again, but when they had visited he had not been able to really show it. He was still too confused by everything that had happened to him, so much had changed during the last couple of days. And he had not even been awake.

He knew that he had been too harsh to Ron and Hermione, but as soon as he'd see them again, he'd apologize. After all they had been one of the reasons why he had decided to come back.

Harry turned around and faced Remus, allowing him a chance to start a conversation. If he could restrain himself from talking about Sirius, then there would be no problem here.

Remus realized that he was walking on a very thin line and that Harry would block him out as soon as he'd say the wrong thing. So he quickly raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to talk about what happened yesterday. Nevertheless, some things have happened while you've been sleeping and I think that you should know about them. Have Ron and Hermione already told you about the things that have been going on outside the castle?"

"No. What's happened?"

Harry sat up in bed and nodded at Remus, gesturing him to continue.

"The evening after Sirius left for Scotland, the night when you fell asleep, Dumbledore called the staff into his office."

"So that's why no teacher was there for dinner."

Remus nodded.

"Yes. He had received some disturbing news he wanted to tell us about. During the night from Friday to Saturday, Azkaban has been raided. The Ministry suspects that some of the remaining Death Eaters managed to overwhelm the human guards and then freed the prisoners that were caught during the last couple of months. And it appears that the Dementors have gone with them just as well."

Harry's eyes widened.

"So all those Death Eaters are free again? And the Dementors are on Voldemort's side now?"

Remus nodded.

"I'm afraid that's true. But that's not all, though we are not sure about what I tell you now. I guess you didn't know that I've spent nearly half a year in Romania, directly after we graduated?"

When Harry shook his head, Remus continued.

"The Ministry and Dumbledore sent me there because Romania has always had a large population of uncontrolled werewolves and they wanted me to have a look at how bad the situation really is. Even for me it was unbelievable how much chaos reigns there during full moon nights, and I've seen a lot of things about which I don't even want to think.

But what is important is that the authorities never got them under control. And strangely, during the last three months not a single werewolf has been sighted and not one attack has taken place. Which is impossible, not with the number of werewolves that should be there."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"And what does that mean?"

"We think that Voldemort has recruited them, just like he tried during his first reign. And if that's the case, he has his Death Eaters, the Dementors and the werewolves on his side. And Hogwarts is probably his main target."

Harry took some moments to contemplate what he had just heard.

"You think that he'll attack Hogwarts?"

Remus nodded.

"We think it's possible, even most probable. The parents have been informed and those who didn't want their children to stay here have already taken them home. We think that he might attack in nine days, on the next full moon. If that really happens, we try to take the younger students out as soon as the protection wards fall down.

But if they don't attack then, school will continue as usual. The students will come back and it might very well be that we'll be surprised by an attack later on. That's why we prepare the students for it. They know how to kill a werewolf and we've given them lessons in the Patronus charm. Not all were able to perform it, but I doubt that even those who could know what to expect when they face a Dementor. That's why I wanted to ask you something."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I have found a Boggart. Sirius promised me to try it first, but if it doesn't turn into a Dementor for him, or if he can't fight it, then I wanted to ask you to fight the Dementor in front of the other students. I want them to be prepared for what it feels like, even if they will not experience the full extend of it. You don't need to do it, only if you want to. I know that hearing James and Lily is hard for you, so don't feel obliged to do it."

Harry thought for a moment. At first he wanted to say no straight away, he could clearly remember how much it had hurt to hear the deaths of his parents. But then he thought back to the time he had spent with them recently, and knew that it would not be as dreadful as it had been before.

"No Remus, it's okay. I'll do it if you want me to."
"Sure?"

Harry nodded and even managed to give him a short smile.

"Yes, sure. I'll do it."

"Thank you Harry. But I'll ask Sirius first, no need to put you through this unnecessarily."

Remus got up and smiled at Harry.

"I'll leave you alone now, otherwise Madam Pomfrey will be after my hide. But I guess I'll see you back in class soon."

"Bye Remus."
"Bye Harry."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Harry quickly looked up when the door to his room opened for the umpteenth time this day, and it wasn't even afternoon yet. Remus had been here twice, Ron and Hermione, Madam Pomfrey came nearly every hour, now he only needed Snape to make his day. Couldn't they all just let him have some moments for himself?

He was quite surprised when he saw Dumbledore poke his head through the door.

"May I come in?"

Harry waved his hand in an admissive gesture.

"It's your castle."

The old man chuckled and took a seat next to Harry's bed.

"My, don't let the Ministry hear that. They'd think that I'd gone completely nuts in my old days, claiming the castle to be mine. How are you doing, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"Alright. I feel fine and I've woken up myself this morning. Can I leave?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Madam Pomfrey wants to check you again, but then you may leave, yes. However, she wants to keep an eye on your sleeping patterns, so you'll have to come here again every morning after getting up. At least for a week."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Professor, I'm fine, why can't I just leave and go on like usual?"

"Because you've been asleep for ten days without a break, and still nobody knows why this was the case. Maybe we would know more if you told us where your mind did go to during that time."

"I've already said that I don't remember. Why does nobody believe me?"

Some moments of silence followed during which Harry tried to read Dumbledore's expression, but to no avail.

"Harry, could I ask you a question?"

Harry only shrugged his shoulders, already knowing what would come next.

"Everybody tells me that you are somewhat different since you've woken up, but still you claim that you can't remember anything. I have to admit that I am rather confused, especially concerning your reaction towards Sirius."

"I just don't want to see him, is that so hard to understand?"

"Yes Harry, it is. You and Sirius have been so close before all this happened, and now you refuse to see him. Why?"

Harry sighed and sat up in his bed.

"Let's just say that I took the time while I was asleep and thought again about some things, okay?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry with a very strange expression on his face. Harry got the feeling that the man knew a lot more about what he thought than Harry would have liked.

"Things the two of you never talked about or things you already forgave him?"

"Listen Professor, with all due respect, but I don't think that this should concern you. It's something between Sirius and me, and nobody has the right to involve themselves into it, not even you. So, if that's all why you came here, then you'd better leave, because I for my part have said enough."

He lay back on the bed again and demonstratively turned his back towards his headmaster. Dumbledore watched him for a moment and sighed. Something was definitely bothering Harry and he didn't talk about it, but instead let it poison him from the inside. With a shake of his head, the old headmaster rose from his seat and went towards the door.

"If you change your mind Harry..."
"...I can talk to you anytime, about anything, without Sirius getting to know. I've had that one before, thanks very much."

Dumbledore shook his head and left Harry's room without another word.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Later that day, Remus made his way towards his office. He had asked Sirius to meet him there, but he was nearly half an hour late by now. His third year Hufflepuffs had kept him longer than he had planned, their Patronus lesson had gone somewhat wrong - to put it politely - and he had had to take care of some rather nasty results of Patronus charms that had turned out differently than expected.

One student had really managed it to pronounce 'Expecto Patronum' so wrong that it had turned out to produce a rather nasty and itching skin rash to the unfortunate classmate who had stood in her way at that time. It had taken Remus long minutes to sort through the resulting chaos in which two other students, who had mistaken the attempts of the cursed boy to scratch himself as efforts to put a curse on them, had started a joke duel in his class. Only after he had let off several explosions with his wand, Remus had managed to get the situation back under control and it had taken him nearly half an hour to clear away the results of the duel.

In the end, he had sent the remaining casualties to the infirmary because he didn't want to let Sirius wait any longer, but not without giving out detention to the entire class.

If they didn't realize how serious the situation was, especially for the younger students who were still rather defenceless, then they'd have to learn it the hard way.

Normally, Remus didn't like to give out detentions, but this afternoon they had really managed to annoy him. He was trying to teach them techniques that could save their lives, the least he could expect was some seriousness from them.

Remus tried to swallow down his anger and to focus on what he would say to his friend now.

Sirius had been heartbroken when Remus had finally managed to find him on the castle grounds yesterday. Though he also didn't know why Harry had rejected him like that, he had willingly taken the blame for everything and had started to dig himself deep into a depression again. It had not been easy to convince him that it might be a good idea to let Harry calm down and then address him again, but in the end Remus had managed. Tonight they would start another approach, and if the boy would still refuse to see Sirius, then they'd think about something.

Remus had just reached the Defence corridor when his keen werewolf hearing made him stop and listen. He could clearly make out raised voices, and they came from the direction of his office.

'Strange. Only Sirius should be there, whom could he be fighting with?'

But there were two voices, Remus was sure about that. Curiously, he quickened his pace and went down the corridor. The closer he came, the more he could understand from the conversation behind his office door. One voice was shouting things he could not understand while the other one, which Remus identified as Sirius', weakly repeated 'Stop, please stop!' all over again.

Every alarm bell in his head going off at once, Remus ran as fast as he could towards his office door, pulled out his wand and pushed the wooden door open. What he saw when he entered the room made the blood freeze in his veins.

Sirius was crouching on the floor near the window, tears streaming down his face and his hands raised protectively in front of him. He now no more begged for an end, he was sobbing so hard that he could not bring out one coherent word. But it was what stood in front of him that had paralyzed Remus.

In the middle of the room, slowly approaching Sirius, was James and he appeared to be angry. In fact, as angry as Remus had never seen him before.

His eyes were alight with a furious fire and he was shouting loudly at his friend, his wand aimed straight at Sirius' heart.

"And to think that I ever trusted you, you of all people, with something that meant so much to me. I trusted your decision, Sirius. You said that Peter was the best choice. 'Everybody knows it will be me, James. So they'll come looking for me while you, Lily and Harry are safe.' That's what you said Sirius, isn't it? And what happened only days after you said that? What happened, can you tell me? Voldemort came and murdered me, he murdered me and my wife! He even tried to murder Harry, he tried to kill the child you had sworn to protect with your life! And that Harry survived was not thanks to you! No, instead you foolishly went after Peter yourself and condemned Harry to a childhood with Lily's sister. It's all your fault Sirius, it's all your fault.

I am dead because of you, Lily is dead because of you, and everything Harry has suffered so far, he has suffered because of your spinelessness!"

James was very close to Sirius now, his friend barely more than a violently sobbing heap on the floor, and suddenly Remus realized what was going on. He quickly overcame his paralysis at the sight of his dead friend and shouted.

"Hey! Over here!"

James turned around and as soon as he lay his eyes on Remus, the Boggart turned into the silvery disk of the full moon and hung unmoving in mid-air.

"Riddikulus!"

With a *pop*, the moon turned into a slice of cheese and Remus managed to drive the distracted Boggart back into the drawer of his desk. He quickly locked it in, then went over to Sirius and dropped to his knees beside his fallen friend.

Sirius was still sobbing heavily and didn't even seem to notice that James was gone. Not exactly knowing what he should do, Remus put his arms around Sirius and pulled his friend into a comforting embrace, gently rubbing circles across his back.

"Shhh. It's over Sirius, it's gone. It was only a Boggart, this wasn't real."

For long moments, Remus held Sirius and stroke his back while he repeated his words over and over again, until Sirius finally seemed to calm down again. Remus pulled him to his feet and led him over towards the sofa in the corner, then he quickly boiled some water and made his friend a cup of tea. Pushing the warm cup into Sirius' shaking hands, Remus sat down beside him.

"I asked you to come here because I found a Boggart, but I'm afraid that you already realized that."

Sirius didn't answer to that jest, but stared at the far off wall. He quickly wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robe.

"I just wanted to look whether you had some chocolate in your desk. You always had chocolate in your desk, normally you don't store Boggarts there."

Remus got up and opened another drawer, producing a box of chocolate frogs and some large Honeyduke's Finest Milk Bars which he handed to Sirius. With a weak smile, Sirius took them.
"Actually, I wanted to have them for facing the Dementor."

"Well, I think that you don't need a Dementor to get yourself some chocolate, don't you think? On the contrary, I've always had kind of a soft spot for chocolate."

"More like an addiction, you want to say."

Remus smiled and chewed off a large bite from one of the Milk Bars.

"I knew it was a Boggart, of course I did. But it's been so real, Remus. It was as if James was really standing in front of me, and I just freaked out..."

Again, Remus put a hand on Sirius' back and rubbed it gently.

"For a moment, it fooled me as well Sirius. But it's not been real, that wasn't James who was standing there and that surely wasn't the way he would react to you if you met again. You know that, don't you?"

"How can you be so sure?"

Remus sighed. He had hoped that now, with Harry living with him, Sirius would finally be able to get over the past and start living again. But seeing that after all Sirius had been through in his life, the disappointment and anger of his best friend was still his biggest fear had given Remus quite a shock.

"I can be so sure because I have known James. He loved you like a brother Sirius, he would never say something like that.

Truly, switching to Peter was your suggestion, but it was his choice. And you didn't make that suggestion because you were too cowardly to take up the burden yourself, but because you knew that they'd come after you and not Peter. You've been putting your own life in jeopardy because you wanted to protect them, and James knew that. We've been through this before, nobody could have known that it was Peter. You suspected me, I suspected you and nobody paid any attention to him. It's been the perfect plan, he fooled all of us. And James would never blame you for steeping into a trap when he himself has made the same mistake.

Sirius, we can't make it undone. James and Lily are dead and it still hurts, but the only ones who are to blame are Peter and Voldemort. And - even though it might sound morbid - but try to think about this: if you had been their secret keeper, if James and Lily had not been given away, then Voldemort would not have fallen that night. How long do you think would we have been able to go on like that? While suspecting each other, with a traitor amongst us, with Voldemort trying to kill all of us?

We all would have died for James, but don't you think that, if he had had the choice, he would have chosen to die for us as well? That he would have taken this upon him in order to grant us and Harry at least thirteen years of living in relative peace?

The ones who are left behind are always the ones who hurt, and I'd more than gladly give my own life to bring them back, and I know that you'd do just the same, but it's not been our place or time to die. Maybe there's still something we need to do, and I think we owe it to James to go on. We need to keep fighting, for Harry and for everybody else we care for, and we can't allow the past to haunt us. We owe it to them, Sirius."

Sirius didn't react and so Remus pulled him into his arms again. He felt that Sirius had somehow understood what he had said, but whether he believed it or not was still another question. Sirius sighed deeply into Remus' shoulder.

"Thank you Remus. I think that Boggart would have finished me off, I owe you one. In fact I owe you a lot. For this and for - anything else."

Remus smiled.

"We're far beyond the point where we have to thank each other for everything, Sirius. And even if you had been able to react, I could not imagine any way to make this look ridiculous, really. Besides, if my class hadn't kept me so long, none of this would have happened."

"I think I won't be very much of help for your classes now, sorry."

Remus shook his head.

"It's okay, I'll ask Harry if he'll do that. Those kids really need an insight into what they could face out there, today they managed to turn the Patronus lessons into a duel practice."

Sirius laughed softly.

"Remus, slowly I start thinking that I was right and you're still not up to teaching again. First, two of your students fall desperately in love with you and you just don't realize it, and now your classes get out of control. Do you need a helping hand?"

But Remus had not even heard the last part. He pulled back from Sirius and held him at arm's length, his amber eyes giving his friend a very quizzical look.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Well, I just thought that if your classes get out of hand then maybe you need somebody to..."
Remus shook his head.

"No, not that you idiot. What you said before. Who has fallen in love with me, how can you come up with such a ridiculous idea?"

Sirius laughed.

"Oops. I didn't really want to mention that. But now that it's already said, I've come to hear some very interesting stories about you. Remus Lupin - ladies' man."

"Speak plainly or remain silent, I really can't stand deciphering your cryptic meanings today."

Sirius laughed, the former tension somewhat relieved in their friendly banter.

"Well, before I left for Scotland, my spy in your midst told me that some Gryffindor sixth years found their Defence teacher extremely...what were the words...handsome, gorgeous, cute, admirable, do you want me to continue? They even seem to take away the sleep of some of the more ambitious students, and to give you a small hint to their identities, they seem to be very eager to help you with your classes lately..."

"No, please don't tell me that..."

Sirius grinned from one ear to the other.

"Exactly."

"No, not Lavender and Parvati! Please!"

"The very same. Now Remus, please tell me what you did to make them long so desperate for you."

Remus simply shook his head and suddenly he looked very pale and helpless.

"Nothing! I did absolutely nothing! I can't even imagine that you're telling the truth, but it seems to fit. I mean, it's true that they were very eager to help me with my demonstrations, but I thought that they were just trying to get good grades or something like that..."

Sirius threw his head back and started to laugh heartily.

"Oh, Moony! I think I've never seen a thirty-six year old man who was more naïve than you are. Really, even Harry had noticed it, and you know that his thoughts are mostly innocent above all else."

Remus replied nothing but continued shaking his head.

"No, no you can't be right. It's not possible that those two have crush on me. Harry must be mistaken Sirius. Sirius?"

Remus looked at his long time friend and found that his expression had turned hard and he was once more staring unfocusedly at the wall.

'Great idea to mention Harry, you should really know better by now.' Remus inwardly scolded himself.

"Sirius?"

He gently shook Sirius' shoulder, the touch making Sirius turn his head towards him.

"Remus, you didn't speak to Harry today, did you?"

Remus nodded.
"I did indeed. But, well I got the feeling that he would end that conversation immediately as soon as I started talking about you. So I merely told him what happened here while he was asleep and asked him to help me with the Dementor demonstration."

Sirius sighed and buried his head in his hands.

"Madam Pomfrey said he would be released this afternoon. I'll ask him to come over tonight, then we can try and talk to him again."

"Don't think that's such a good idea. In the end he only ends up not talking to you as well."

&uot;Sirius, we have to try something. That boy is confused and we need to find out why. Better do that before he has a chance to excuse himself with homework or something like that again. Worst that could happen would be that he comes here, sees you and leaves again. But at least we have to try."

Sirius nodded slowly, but obviously still not convinced that this was so much of a good idea.

"If you say so. I think I'll go for a walk now, maybe pay Hagrid a little visit. It's been ages since I've seen him."

He stood up from the couch and gave Remus a weak smile. Remus returned the smile and made a face as if he was suddenly thinking about a traumatic memory.

"Oh Sirius, let me give you an advice. If Hagrid offers you something to eat, please say that you just had lunch. Believe me, it's better that way."

Sirius grinned.

"Someone talking out of own experience?"

Remus nodded.

"Second afternoon back here. Rock cakes and Toffees. The first nearly broke my teeth off, the latter glued them together. Took me ages to get rid of them and made talking a little difficult."

"Remus, I've been searching for something to shut you up effectively for ages and now you tell me that Hagrid has found it? I got to ask him to give me some of those wonder Toffees!"

"Get out before I decide to practice a little Transfiguration, will you?"

With another grin into Remus' direction, Sirius turned around and left the office. Remus sighed and leaned back against the couch. After all those years, Sirius' sudden changes of mood still startled him to some extend, but he knew that his friend was far from being in a positive mood even though he was joking. He was merely covering up the confusion and hurt that had to be raging in him since Harry had woken up.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Harry was glad to finally be back in the Gryffindor Common room. After Madam Pomfrey had exercised a last huge check up on him, she had allowed him to leave the hospital around tea time and Harry had not waited another minute.

Now he sat in an armchair and tried to focus on what Hermione was explaining to him. Much to his own distress, she had volunteered to update him on everything they had covered in lessons while he had been asleep, not that he had asked her, of course. After they had gone through the Transfiguration notes of the last two weeks and then had summed up the Potions they had covered so far, Hermione was now trying to go through the Charms notes. But Harry wasn't really listening, he felt as is if head might explode.

"Sorry Hermione, but could we continue with this tomorrow? I don't think that I can pay attention any longer. And we won't have Charms till next Monday, tomorrow it's just Herbology and Divination, you know. Just Fireseeds and Trances, I think I can cope with them somehow unprepared."

Hermione gave him a disapproving look but then nodded.

"Of course, I understand. Maybe you can ask Ron what you did in Divination while you were absent, but I doubt it was important anyway."

Harry snorted.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. I bet that Trelawney had a lot of fun to announce that I wouldn't wake up anymore."

"Harry! Would you please stop saying things like that? We were so worried that exactly this would happen."

Ron, who had been playing chess with Ginny, turned around when he heard what Hermione had said and nodded feverishly. Harry gave them a sheepish grin.

"I know. Sorry. It's just kind of hard for me to understand, to me it felt as if I had slept merely a night."

Ron and Hermione quickly exchanged glances, both still didn't believe that part of their friend's story. But silently they came to the decision to let that matter rest for tonight. Hermione got up.

"How about we grab some dinner and then think what we'll do tonight?"

Harry nodded in agreement and Ron looked at Ginny.

"Alright if we finish this later? I'm starving."

Ginny grinned.

"As if there was any use in contradicting when you're hungry. We can go on later, no problem."

So the three quickly made their way down towards the Great Hall.

When they arrived there, Ron quickly threw a glance towards the Slytherin table to see whether Malfoy had made an appearance, but tonight he was disappointed.

"What a pity, Malfoy isn't here. Harry, you should see his face, I can't thank you enough. You really brightened up my day. Though of course the bruise isn't as beautiful as it was when it was new, but that yellowish-green also looks good on him."

Harry laughed.

"Yeah, I really regret that I haven't seen it."

Ron grinned.

"Well, Colin said the pictures would be ready by the end of the week. We did both, muggle and wizard snapshots and I asked him to make copies for you as well. I say we decorate the Common Room with them, what do you think?"

They laughed and began to fill their plates with food. All during dinner, Ron and Harry thought about places where they could put up the pictures of Malfoy's bruises, and just when Ron suggested to put them up in the DADA classroom as 'demonstration material for healing charms', Harry felt someone put a hand on his shoulder.

When he looked up, he saw the face of Remus and it was obvious that he had a hard time to suppress his laughter.

"No Ron, I don't think that would be a wise idea. I have to teach him, you know?"

Ron pretended to scowl and Harry started to shift uncomfortably in his chair.

"What is it, Remus?"

"I wanted to ask you whether you can come to my office after dinner. I wanted to talk to you about the Patronus lessons."

Harry nodded quickly.

"Sure. I'll come down in - let's say half an hour?"

Remus smiled.

"Yes, that would be fine. Thank you Harry, see you later. Bye Ron, Hermione."

Remus left the Great Hall and soon Harry and Ron had returned to their ideas of 'Malfoy Decoration'. They came up with a huge stack of ideas, from 'Malfoy Tea Cups' up to 'Malfoy Globes for Christmas Trees'. Hermione just shook her head.

"If any of you were just as enthusiastic about your studies I'd be a lot more at ease, you know that?"

Ron snorted.

"Oh come on, Mione. You have to admit that it's fun!"

Hermione only shook her head.

"Let's get back to the Common Room. I still have some Arithmacy to do."

Harry stood up.

"Yeah, and I have to hurry, otherwise I'll be late at Remus' office."

Together they left the Great Hall and while Ron and Hermione climbed up the staircase towards Gryffindor Tower Harry turned into the left corridor towards the DADA office. When he arrived there he checked his watch and sighed in relief when he realized that he was just in time. He knocked.

"Come in!"

Remus' voice called from inside and so Harry opened the door and stepped inside of the room. Remus got up from his chair and smiled at him.

"Harry, I'm glad that you found the time. Take a seat. Do you want some tea?"

"Sure, thank you."

Harry sat down in one of the chairs in front of Remus' desk while Remus prepared the tea and put the cups, milk and lemon onto the table. Harry looked around.

"Where is it?"

"The Boggart?" Remus laughed. "It unusually quiet, isn't it? It's in one of the drawers of my desk, unfortunately."

Harry frowned his forehead.

"Why unfortunately?"

Without really thinking, Remus answered.

"Oh, Sirius was looking for chocolate earlier today and unfortunately he opened the wrong drawer."

"And he wasn't prepared to suddenly facing a Dementor?"

Remus turned around and, suddenly realizing that he should not have mentioned this incident at all, started shaking his head.

"Let's just say that he had some problems and that he won't be able to show the students. That's why I asked you to come here."

Harry nodded, somewhat startled by Remus sudden change of topic.

"Okay. So, how did you think we'll do it?"

Remus poured some tea into their cups, then sat down in the chair next to Harry.

"Well, all classes have additional Defence Lessons now. I've checked it, most of them don't collide with your schedule. Only the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seventh years' lesson does, but Severus agreed to let you leave Potions earlier on Mondays."

Harry raised an eyebrow and asked himself whether he had heard right.

"Severus? As in 'Severus Snape'? Snape allows me to leave his lessons earlier? What's gotten into him?"
Remus sighed.
"Well Harry, Severus knows how important those lessons might be. But of course he told me to 'remind Potter that this doesn't mean he has to work any less than everybody else.' He said you already missed enough lessons."

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"Mission Potions is not something I think about twice."

Remus laughed.

"My, my. Don't let him hear that, I think he would be so disappointed. So, wanna practice it once more?"

Harry nodded, got up and pulled out his wand.

"Yeah. Would be better, I think. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if the Boggart suddenly turned into something totally different than I expected."

Remus flinched and mumbled "you can't even imagine half of it" silently, before he opened the drawer and took a step back.

But obviously Harry's biggest fear had not changed, for shortly after Remus had stepped back, the hooded figure of a Dementor climbed out of the drawer and slowly turned towards Harry. The lights in the room began to flutter and an unnatural coldness spread around. Remus shuddered involuntarily.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Harry yelled the incarnation and immediately, the silver stag came out of Harry's wand and sped towards the Dementor, driving it back into a corner.

Satisfied that the demonstration had had it's expected effect, Remus quickly turned the Boggart's attention towards himself and drove it back into the drawer of his desk. The stag turned around and vanished into Harry's wand again. Remus stared after it for some moments.

"Remus?"

Hearing Harry's voice, Remus forced his thoughts back into the here and now and gave the boy a smile. It was a weird feeling to see his dead friend twice a day, both as a human and in his animagus form.

"That was good Harry, I'm impressed."

"You're okay?"

Remus nodded.

"Yes, I am. It's just still weird to see your Patronus, that's all."

Harry nodded and sat back down.

"So when do we start?"

Remus pulled a piece of parchment out of his desk, along with a large bar of chocolate.

"Here, eat this. Better be on the safe side with that Dementor. And I've made you a copy of my schedule. Don't be shocked, it looks like an awful lot, but I guess you'll only need to show each class once to make them understand. And if you don't have enough time just let me know, then we'll think about something. After all, you have a lot to catch up to."

Harry nodded and took the piece of parchment.

"It's not that bad, Hermione helps me with it."
Remus smiled knowingly.

"Oh, that should give you an excellent preparation for the end of the year exams I guess."

Harry wanted to answer something but a knock on the door interrupted them. Remus looked somewhat uncomfortably at Harry, then called.

"Come in."

The door opened and Sirius stepped into the room. He and Remus had decided to let it look like a coincidence in order not to make Harry even angrier.

"Remus, I...Oh, I didn't know that you weren't alone."

Harry quickly got up.

"Stay. I was just about to leave anyway."

He wanted to step through the door, but Sirius still stood in front of it and blocked his way.

"Would you please let me out?"

"Harry, what's wrong? Why don't you want to talk to me?"

"Let me out please! There's still some homework I have to do."

Sirius made a tentative step forward.

"Harry, please talk to me. What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, Harry turned around towards Remus.

"So now you're ambushing me or what? Really, why does nobody ever listen to what I want?"

Remus crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Harry. When he spoke, his voice was remarkably calm.

"Nobody ambushes you. We just want to know what happened that makes you act like you do."

"Nothing!!!"

Remus sighed.

"Harry, let me ask one thing of you, okay? Just sit down for a moment and listen, if you want to leave then, we won't hinder you."

Harry said nothing but sat down again, his jaw firmly clenched and his hands balled up to fists inside of his pockets. He raised both eyebrows, gesturing the two adults to go on.

Sirius sighed and sat down in the chair Remus had sat in earlier.

"Harry, I simply don't understand it. When I left for Scotland, I had the impression that everything was alright between us. Then on my way back I received an owl from Dumbledore, telling me that I should come to Hogwarts immediately. I was scared that something had happened, and when Madam Pomfrey told me that you didn't wake up I was very concerned. I sat beside your bed for ten days, and I would have gone to St. Mungo's with you if you hadn't woken up. But then you did wake up, and the first thing you do is that you glare at me and tell me to leave. Ever since then you've been avoiding me. I simply don't understand it Harry. Just give me an explanation, just tell me what I did wrong then I'll accept it. But not knowing why you refuse to talk to me slowly drives me insane."

Harry stared at his godfather and shook his head. Was Sirius really so thick, didn't he understand what he had done?

"You just don't get it, do you? Even now you're only concerned about yourself and you own pity. You, you, you, always you, isn't it?"

"Harry, what have I done wrong, tell me? Should I have not gone to Scotland, is it that? Should I have stayed here? Why didn't you say anything?"

"It's not about Scotland, don't you get it? It's about you and your idiotic, self-centred attitude. You don't even realize what you do to the people around you, instead you expect the others to pick up the pieces you left!"

Sirius shook his head and looked at Remus in search for help. But the werewolf only shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of ignorance.

"Okay, if you don't want to tell me what I did wrong then at least tell me what I can do to make it undone. At least give me a chance to make amends!"

That was too much for Harry. He jumped off his chair and glared daggers at his godfather.

"What you can do to make it undone? Nothing! That's the problem, you can do nothing! Get yourself a fucking time-turner and try not to be such a coward this time!"

With these words, Harry stormed out of Remus' office, leaving two very dazzled looking adults behind.

Both sat in silence for a long time, staring at the door through which Harry had left. Remus was the first to regain speech.

"Sirius?"

Sirius focussed his gaze and looked at his old friend. The confusion and hurt in those pale blue eyes was obvious and pained Remus.

"Look Sirius, I'm sorry. It wasn't such a good idea to talk to Harry tonight, I'm sorry that I brought that idea up. We should have waited until he had time to get adjusted again."

Sirius only shook his head and got up from his chair.

"It's not been your fault, Moony. Whatever it is, Harry obviously got a problem with me. I should not have dragged you into this as well. I think I'll retire now, maybe if we'll give him enough time he'll finally start telling what's wrong."

He nodded at Remus and then left the room without another word.

Remus sank back into his chair and covered his face with his hands. He didn't understand himself what was going on with Harry and why he reacted towards Sirius like he did, but it was obvious that it had to do with the time while Harry had been sleeping. Before Sirius had left for Scotland, everything had seemed to be alright between the two of them and only after Harry had woken up again those problems had started.

With a deep sigh, Remus rose from his seat and made his way towards his sleeping quarters. Whatever was wrong, he could do nothing than wait at the moment. Again. Sometimes Remus hated how difficult life could be.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Harry was glad that he didn't see any trace of either Remus or his godfather at breakfast the next morning. He really didn't want to see them, let alone have another discussion.

After he had stormed out of Remus' office last night, he had immediately gone to bed, telling Ron and Hermione that facing the Dementor in Remus' office had left him tired and drained. Both had accepted his explanation, though the looks on their faces had told him that they didn't truly believe him.

Harry had slept soundly through the night and had woken up on his own to the sound of his alarm clock, much to Ron's relief. Afterwards, he had reported to Madam Pomfrey who had once again checked him and then he had gone to breakfast.

While chewing listlessly on his toast, Harry read through Ron's Herbology notes from the last two weeks. He was quite glad that they hadn't moved on from Fireseeds yet, he had so much to catch up to in his other subjects that Herbology and Divination seemed like a relief to him.

"Good morning Harry."

When he looked up, Harry saw that Ron and Hermione had joined him on the table. Harry smiled at them.

"Good Morning you two. I was just checking how far you have already progressed in Herbology."

Ron nodded.

"Well, you're lucky. Those Fireseeds didn't grow the way Professor Sprout expected them to, so we're kind of stuck right now. She said that maybe next week they've grown enough to harvest them. Until that is the case, we're just sitting around and watching them grow. Erm - glow."

Harry laughed at this remark, but Hermione frowned.

"Actually", she started in her famous know-it-all tone, "we're supposed to water them with gasoline and check out that their temperature doesn't fall too much. Fireseeds are very sensitive towards temperature changes, and if they get too cold, they die. That's why Professor Sprout turned up the heating in Greenhouse five a little."

Ron sighed.

"A little? That's a bloody sauna in there, with all the heat and those plants around there. Humidity must be around ninety percent, really. I really can't explain why anybody would want to spend more time than necessary in there, but Neville even volunteered to help Sprout in his free time! Can you believe that?"

Harry just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, Neville really likes Herbology."

The three friends finished their breakfast and then left towards the greenhouses. Ron had been right, Greenhouse five resembled a sauna more than anything else. The air in there was nearly unbearable warm and wet, and no matter what spells Professor Sprout had used to remove it, the smell of gasoline still lingered in the air.

The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff sixth years spent one and a half hour with spraying gasoline onto the Fireseeds, carefully as to not cause any explosions and always keeping an eye on the temperature of their plants. During Harry's stay in the infirmary, Neville had taken care of his plant, and Harry was more than surprised to see that it had grown far more than any other of the plant, except from Neville's own. One could think about Neville's magical abilities whatever one wanted, but he definitely had a huge talent for Herbology.

When Professor Sprout dismissed them at the end of the lesson, the students lost no time in leaving the greenhouse to grab some breaths of fresh air. Once outside, Harry stepped towards Neville and thanked him for taking care of his plant. Neville blushed a very deep crimson.

"Oh Harry, really nothing to thank me for. I was glad that there was something I could do, and I rather enjoyed it."

Harry smiled.

"Well, you definitely got a hand for Fireseeds. That plant has grown huge while I was away. Thanks again."

Neville returned the smile.

"You're perfectly welcome."

Harry nodded at him and then set off towards the castle together with Ron. Hermione had already left for her Arithmacy lesson together with Dean.

"Hey Ron, do you think that Trelawney will be disappointed to see me again?"

Ron stifled a laugh.

"Well, I'm sure that she had already foreseen that you would wake up and resume classes today. But mind you, I think that classroom smells even worse now. She's burned some sort of herbs, said it would help us to fall into a Trance."

Harry just rolled his eyes.

"Great, and I thought this day would be relaxing. But instead, I get to spend one and a half hours in a greenhouse that smells like a gas station and now I have to go into that perfumed excuse of a classroom."

Laughing, both boys made their way up into the North tower where they climbed up the rope ladder into the Divination classroom. They had just taken their seats when from somewhere in the dark corner, the well known voice of Professor Trelawney piped up.

"Well, now that we are complete again we can finally continue our lessons. My crystal ball told me that the next few weeks will be very important for your upcoming exams, so mind you and pay attention. I want all of you to take a seat, to relax and close your eyes. You have all read on Trances in your books, now I want you to try and use that knowledge. Close your eyes and free your minds from all thoughts, just focus on my voice and then look out for what you see."

"Whenever I hear her voice, the image of a bat with overgrown eyes crosses my mind."

Ron whispered from beside Harry. Harry fought hard to keep a straight face at that remark, but could not stifle a laugh. Without very much success, he tried to tarn it as a cough.

Professor Trelawney gave them a stern look before she extinguished the lights.

"Lay back and close your eyes. Don't think about anything, free your minds from all thoughts and just listen to my voice. Let my voice guide you, then you'll be able to get a glimpse into the future. Just listen to my voice."

For more than an hour, Professor Trelawney spoke to her students in a monotone way, reminding them to empty their minds and listen to her voice. When the end of the lesson neared, she walked to each pair of students, addressing them and asking what they saw. Harry and Ron sat on their bean bags next to each other and both could clearly tell that each and every single thing the students told Trelawney was vague and made up. Most of their classmates spoke about seeing a threat or dark times ahead, fully well knowing that their Professor was always very receptive for those kinds of predictions. But when Trelawney finally reached her favourite students Lavender and Parvati, Ron and Harry had a very hard time to restrain themselves from laughing out loud.

Both girls could 'clearly see' love ahead for themselves. A handsome man who finally realized his true love was in their future.

In the dimly lit room, Harry glanced over towards Ron and saw that his friend was chewing on his lower lip in order not to laugh out loud and there were tears streaming down his face. Ron looked at Harry and finally, both could restrain themselves no longer.

They burst out laughing, so loud and hard that they had to hold their stomachs. After no time, they crumbled into a laughing heap on the floor, tears rolling down their cheeks and struggling to breathe between their laughs.

"Enough! Class may leave! Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I want the two of you to stay here."

Professor Trelawney lit the torches on the walls with a flick of her wand, and the rest of the class quickly left the classroom. When Parvati and Lavender walked by, Harry saw that both had blushed deeply red and didn't as much as look at him or Ron.

The two boys finally had calmed down enough to get up on their feet again, and they made their way over towards Professor Trelawney to receive their lecture. The Divination Professor had sat down on the chair behind her desk and watched the two with a very stern expression.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, I have the feeling that you don't take the subject as serious as you should. Of course I had foreseen that you would disturb my lesson, but I'm strongly disappointed."

Harry tried to make a regretful face.

"I'm sorry Professor, it was just so...funny."

Trelawney raised her eyebrows.

"Funny?"

Ron couldn't hide a grin.

"Yeah, you see, I don't think that Parvati and Lavender were..."

He stopped speaking when he saw that Trelawney's eyes had become dull and unfocussed and were staring at a point somewhere behind her ear. Ron quickly glanced at Harry, but his friend only shrugged to show that he didn't know what was going on either. Then Professor Trelawney spoke, though it didn't sound like Trelawney's voice at all.

"Soon the time will come when it is in the hands of one to chose the path of all our futures. Only with the will to doubt everything that he believes and with the decision to sacrifice what he loves most will he be able to extinguish the dark. If he is strong enough, then there is hope and light. But if he is not, there is darkness. Darkness and Death. For all that he loves and for the world around him. The future is dark and his path is narrow. One wrong step and we are all lost. There will be death upon these grounds."

The two boys just stared at their professor, then at each other. Both didn't really know what they had just witnessed, neither did they know what to make of Trelawney's words.

"Erm...Professor?"

Trelawney shook her head and her eyes focussed again on the two students in front of her.

"Yes Mr. Potter?"

"What did you just talk about?"

Trelawney shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, Mr. Potter, I was talking about you disturbing my lessons. There are students here who really want to learn the art of Divination, and I would appreciate it if you let them do so."

Ron interrupted.

"No, he was asking what you were talking about after that. You said something about dark times ahead, and the decision of one that would decide our future."

"Mr. Weasley, surely I would remember if I had said something like that. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to go back to my work. I expect an essay from both of you about Trance Divination. Two rolls of parchment, to be handed in next week. And you won't disturb my lessons again, is that understood?"

Harry and Ron only nodded and left the room. After they had climbed down the ladder, both stood in the corridor and stared at each other. Finally, Ron spoke.

"What in Merlin's name was that? Why does she talk about death and despair and then say that she can't remember? Have you ever seen something like this?"

Much to his surprise, Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I have. Back in fourth year, when she predicted Voldemort's resurrection."

Ron's eyes widened.

"You don't want to tell me that this..." he gestured up towards the classroom "that this was a real prediction, do you?"

Harry just shrugged his shoulders.

"Dumbledore said it happened from time to time that Trelawney really predicted something. But frankly, I don't know what to make of it, really. 'One wrong step and we are lost. Willing to sacrifice what he loves most.' I don't understand it, and I don't think that we should be concerned about it."

"Do you think we should tell Dumbledore?"

Harry shook his head.

"No, what would it help? She wasn't exactly precise about what will happen. Let's just forget it and get some lunch. I'm starving."

He started walking towards the staircase and Ron quickly caught up with him.

"Yeah, and I want to ask Lavender and Parvati about that man in their future. If I only had a clue whom they were talking about..."

Harry laughed.

"Don't remind me, Ron. I almost pity Remus, those two are a real pain in the neck when they behave like that."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Ron and Harry quickly pushed every thought about Professor Trelawney aside and spent the rest of the day in their common room, catching up with homework and playing chess. Harry's skills had really improved, but still he was no match for Ron, so he kept on losing game after game.

Later, after dinner, the two finally decided to get over with their Divination essay as soon as possible.

While they were doing so, Professor McGonagall hurried towards the headmaster's office. Dumbledore had called her through her fireplace and requested her presence immediately, a fact that left McGonagall somewhat worried. She just hoped that it didn't mean more bad news.

When she arrived at the wooden door of Dumbledore's office, she found it slightly ajar.

"Ah, Minerva. Please come in and take a seat. Can I offer you a tea?"

McGonagall shook her head.

"No, thank you Albus. Why did you ask me to come up here? Has something happened?"

Dumbledore's face became sad and worried, and McGonagall needed nothing more to confirm her fears.

"What is it Albus?"

Dumbledore hesitated, the old wizard looked as if he was searching for the right words to say something dreadful. McGonagall shook her head in desperation.

"Albus, don't tell me that there are still more bad news."
"I'm afraid there are, Minerva, though this time they might not pose a threat to all of us. But still, they are no good news and they leave me completely without an explanation.

Two weeks ago, when I told you about the Romanian werewolves, I said that here had been Death Eater activities in Romania, as you might remember.

The Romanian authorities didn't gain knowledge of it until a couple of days ago, but it must have happened at least ten days ago, maybe even two weeks.

All I know is that a couple of days ago, a herd of dragons was sighted in an area where they should not have been. When the Romanian authorities localized the camp where they had been kept, they found it deserted. The campsite obviously showed that a fight had occurred there, and traces of Dark Magic were found all around the place. However, none of the Dragon keepers was found, neither dead nor alive. They had simply vanished."

McGonagall shook her head.

"And why should this concern us? I mean, it's just another riddle amongst many, but at least a group of Dragon keepers represent no threat to us."

"No Minerva, they don't. But amongst those who have vanished there was one who had a connection to both, the Ministry and Hogwarts. That's what worries me, even if only for the sake of one of our students."

McGonagall's eyes widened in shocked understanding.

"You don't want to say that..."

"Yes Minerva, Charlie Weasley and his colleagues are missing. And it might be quite dangerous for us because through his father, Charlie has always had a very good insight into the way the Ministry works. He himself has helped them a couple of times in the past years. And it is not so long ago that Charlie himself has been a Hogwarts student. He knows about the protections around the castle, last year I myself explained some of the wards to him. I don't want to overestimate the danger within this, maybe this has nothing to do with Voldemort's plans at all, but if Charlie is really in the hands of the Dark Lord, his knowledge could be a huge aid for Voldemort.

Not to forget the fact that he could easily be used as a bait for either his father or for Ron, and in the latter case most likely also for Harry."

Minerva interrupted.

"Wait Albus. Let's just for one moment assume that you're right and Charlie really has been captured by the Death Eaters. Maybe they don't even know whom they have caught. And Charlie would never give something away willingly."

'If he is still alive', she added as an afterthought to herself.

"Do not underestimate Voldemort, Minerva. I know that Charlie is very strong, but I'm afraid that if Voldemort realized who he is, he won't have many problems to gather the information he needs."

McGonagall had started rubbing the bridge of her nose some moments ago and now raised her head to look at the headmaster.

"The Weasleys know about it?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, they have been told this afternoon. They want their children to stay at the castle, though. But Arthur will floo over at eight tonight and tell Ron and Ginny about it, he wanted to tell them himself."

"I see. Maybe I should go and search for them now, it won't be long until he arrives then. Shall I bring them into your office?"

"Yes Minerva, thank you."

He nodded at her and McGonagall left the office.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Just when Harry and Ron had finished the chapter on trances in "Unfogging the Future", Professor McGonagall entered the Common Room.

Whenever she did this, Harry always got the feeling that something was wrong. McGonagall never visited the Common Room if she didn't want to tell somebody off or had really bad news for them. Both boys looked at her and their eyes grew wide when she headed straight towards them, a very serious expression on her face.

"Mr. Weasley, the headmaster wants to see you in his office. If you would come with me, please?"

Ron's face fell. He couldn't remember that he had done anything wrong lately, there had been no sneaking out after bed time, no kitchen raids and no rule breaking in general that he was aware of. But if he was called to Dumbledore himself, it had to be something serious.

With a shrug that could not entirely hide his confusion and concern, he got up and followed the head of his house out of the portrait hole. After a couple of metres, he caught up with McGonagall.

"Erm, Professor? If I might ask, why does Professor Dumbledore wants to see me? Am I in trouble?"

McGonagall turned towards him with a small compassionate smile at the corners of her lips.

"No, Mr. Weasley, I don't think that you are in trouble. But you'll have to wait until the headmaster tells you his reasons for calling you."

They walked on in silence and Ron feverishly tried to find out the explanation for all this. Much to his surprise, they stopped in front of the library.

"Wait here for a moment, please. I need to fetch another student before we go to the headmaster."

Ron waited for a couple of minutes until Professor McGonagall returned, an obviously very confused Ginny at her heels. The moment Ron saw his sister walk behind her, all the alarm bells in his head went off. If Dumbledore wanted to see them both, something must have happened with their family. Something had to be very wrong.

Ron felt as if he was going to be sick, his stomach contracted into a small knot somewhere in the middle of his intestines. This was not good.

Professor McGonagall walked them to Dumbledore's office, led them in and then left. Dumbledore rose from his seat and gestured the two students to take a seat.

"Ah, Mr. and Ms. Weasley, I've been expecting you. I'm afraid that there is something you need to be told, but we'll have to wait for a moment, I expect another visitor any minute now."

They sat in silence for some moments and with increasing concern Ron realized that all the colour had drained form Ginny's face and she was clenching her robes so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. He searched for something to say to her, but at the moment he wasn't able to find any encouraging words.

Suddenly, the flames in Dumbledore's fireplace went green and a figure stepped out, quickly brushing off the dust from his robes before turning towards Ron and Ginny.

The moment Ron recognized the third visitor as his father, he sent a silent prayer to whatever deity listening that this didn't mean what he feared it did.

Dumbledore once more rose and greeted Arthur with a warm handshake.

"Hello Arthur, good that you came. I guess I better leave the three of you alone now."

With this, he turned and vanished through the door. Arthur sat down opposing his children and looked at them with an expression Ron had never seen before. One Ron had hoped he would never see on his father. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard against the lump in his throat.

"Ron, Ginny, I am here because something has happened..."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Harry waited for Ron to come back to the Common Room, but at half past nine he decided that his urge to sleep was too big to be ignored anymore. He got up from the couch he had been sitting on and started collecting his things together. Just as he was about to pile Ron's divination notes onto one stack, he heart the portrait hole open, followed by the sound of feet running towards the staircase. When the person ran past him, he heard a suppressed sob that identified the runner as Ginny.

Harry curiously turned around, but all he could see was a red ponytail vanishing into the direction of the girls' dormitories.

He frowned his forehead and was about to turn around again when he noticed Ron standing in the portrait hole, his face white as chalk which made his freckles look like dark spots in his face. Something was wrong here. Carefully, Harry stepped towards his friend and put a hand on Ron's shoulder. The other boy didn't even seem to notice.

"Ron?", he asked cautiously.

Ron's gaze focussed on his friend and within seconds, a blur of various emotions crossed his face, way to fast for Harry to identify all of them. But now he was sure that something had happened.

He took one of Ron's arms and led him back towards the couch where he gently pushed him down onto the cushions.

"Ron, what has happened?"

Ron stared at the far off wall for a moment and, much to Harry's shock, a tear made his way down Ron's cheek. He quickly brushed it away with the sleeve of his robe and started fumbling nervously at the fabric.

"Dad was here. Something has happened to...to Charlie. His camp in Romania has been raided and nobody knows where he or his colleagues are. He's either in the hands of the Death Eaters or he's...he's...Harry, he could be...dead."

Harry shook his head in disbelief. It could not be. Beyond his ability to fight it, the memories of the day when Sirius had gotten to know that Remus was dead came to his mind. Though there appeared to be the possibility that Charlie wasn't dead at all, he kind of knew what Ron was feeling at the moment. And he knew that there was hardly a way to encourage him.

Carefully, he put a hand on his friend's shoulder and rubbed his back.

"Ron, I'm sure it will be alright. They will find him, I'm sure he's okay."

Ron shook his head.

"Dad said that they don't have any idea why they should keep a group of Dragon keepers hostage. What would be the use in that?"

"But Ron, if they had wanted to kill them, then they wouldn't have made the effort to take them away first. If they were dead, their bodies would have been found. He's alive, I'm sure he is. Don't give up hope."

Harry himself didn't fully believe what he told his friend, but no way he would admit that to Ron.