Harry Potter and the Starship Enterprise

As it turned out, the Polyjuice was supposed to be used for a disguise for Harry, but upon learning this, he suggested the Invisibility Cloak instead, since he had used it for many similar situations in the past, and told Christine so. In the end, she decided to simply have him use the cloak inherited from his father and given to him by Dumbledore a few years ago in order to protect his anonymity as she and Harry went to Diagon Alley so she could spoil him as she had never had the chance to do before.

Upon their Apparating there and walking toward the nearby collection of shops, she asked him the things he liked best. "I told you most of them already. Anything relating to those things I'm sure I'd like ... although you don't have to get me anything."

"Humour me, Harry. I know you're not the materialistic type, but I've not had the chance to spoil you before. Let me do it at least this once."

Harry smiled and shrugged. "If you say so."

After a long, hectic day of shopping, they were loaded down with virtually everything Christine could think of buying for Harry. In spite of himself, he was frankly enjoying being spoiled; it was a cinch he'd never had anyone care this much about him before Sirius and Dumbledore, and even they hadn't done this much for him. As they passed the store where broomsticks were sold and Harry happened to catch a glimpse of a Nimbus brand broom in the window, albeit the newest model, a Three Thousand, he pointed it out to Christine.

"I had a broomstick like that for several years until it got destroyed in a very tough Quidditch game in very bad weather. I even recall falling several hundred feet, but fortunately the Quidditch teacher had cast a Cushioning Charm over the entire pitch so that even if I hit the ground, I wouldn't be badly injured. Even at that, I had the wind knocked out of me. Just the same, I was thankful that that was all that happened. Not long afterward, Sirius gave me my current broomstick, the Firebolt." Christine's eyes widened. "Haven't you heard of it? It's a racing broom and therefore perfect for my Quidditch playing."

"Oh yes, I've heard of them. I just wish I could have been able to buy you something like that."

"No need to worry. You've already bought out half of Diagon Alley for me," Harry reminded her. "Thanks to you, I'm set for life."

"Which reminds me ... I talked with my friend Spock and we believe there is a way to bring Sirius back." After speaking this, Christine set up a Muffliato spell to be on the safe side, so in the event unfriendly ears were anywhere around, her and Harry's conversation would not be overheard.

Harry's eyes widened this time. "But how? He's dead!"

"No; we've determined that he just went into another dimension upon falling through the veil--or a parallel universe, as Spock and I usually refer to it. I just need to get him some necessary information so he can get us into that ... parallel universe and rescue him."

Harry wanted to believe that Sirius was still alive, more than anything, but couldn't allow himself to get his hopes up after so long without him. "Do you know which ... parallel universe he's in?"

"I believe so. We also have a pretty good idea where to look."

"Where?" came the curious question.

"This one planet we once went to to negotiate mining rights," she returned ambiguously. "That's all I can say, since the information is still classified ... that is, still secret."

"Where would you need to go to get the information you need?"

"Spock suggested I start in the Department of Mysteries at the veil Sirius fell through, determine its properties and get the information to him."

Harry's ears perked up upon hearing this. "Could I go with you when you do it?"

"I don't know. It's been quite a while since I've been there; I'm not sure if they'll even let me in."

"Will you try?" Harry's green eyes pleaded with her and Christine was unable to refuse him.

"I'll try. That's all I can promise."

"And is it okay for me to tell Gin and the others about this?"

"Shouldn't hurt. Just keep it among yourselves until everything's more set."

"Oh yeah, something else I meant to ask you," Harry remarked as they headed back out of Diagon Alley. "What happened at the Order meeting?"

Christine froze in her tracks, giving her godson a hard look, but began to speak. "I can't give you every detail, but the gist of it is that Dark forces are supposed to attack the Hogwarts Express while you and your classmates are aboard."

For a long time Harry was struck speechless, then said, almost too soft for Christine to hear, "Oh, my God. Have you figured out what you're going to do yet?"

"Spock has an idea on how to get you and the others to school safely, but since there are still several weeks to go before you need to be back, we're giving this other matter top priority. I'm sure you'd love to see Sirius again, and I definitely owe him many apologies for doubting him for so long."

"You know it," Harry assured her. "Can I also discuss this with my friends? I'm sure they could give some valuable input which would help you, especially Hermione."

"As I said, as long as you keep it among yourselves," Christine cautioned. "We'd better get back to the Burrow now. Ready?"

Harry smiled and nodded upon taking her arm, then the pair Disapparated with a faint pop.

It was fairly late, around midnight, when Christine finally prepared for bed and went to say good-night to Harry and his friends. However, when she passed Ginny's room, she found that the lights had been dimmed and that two figures were intricately entwined in the bed. As she got closer, she determined them to be Ginny and Harry; they were covered by a blanket but seemed to be naked underneath it, even though she could only see part of their top halves.

She decided not to bother them, since they looked both very peaceful and very happy, every bit as deeply in love as she and Sirius had once been. In fact she could recall many times when they had done similar things. She could only pray that Spock would be able to pull it off so they could find Sirius and she could hopefully make it up to him for doubting him so terribly.

Meanwhile, she simply smiled affectionately in the direction of the young lovers and blew them a good-night kiss, then turned and headed back to her own room, passing Hermione's room on the way and once again smiling knowingly when she noted that Ron was in bed with her through her half-open door; they were every bit as intricately entwined (not to mention naked) as Harry and Ginny. Kids grew up so fast these days, especially in the wizarding world.

It was hard to believe that Harry would be seventeen in just two weeks. Still seemed like yesterday that he was a babe in arms! The first chance she got, though, she would have to ask Harry if he'd had a chance to discuss things with his friends and Ginny, and if so, tell her what they'd come up with. For the moment, it was time for her to get some sleep as well and hopefully dream of being in Sirius's arms until and unless she could have the real thing again.