Harry Potter and the Siren's Song

***

Harry awoke early the next morning. Despite the fact that he had only had a few hours sleep, he felt more rested then he had in some time. Heading down the stairs for breakfast, he smiled at the thought that this would be his last breakfast on Privet Drive until next summer.

"Wipe that smirk off your face!" his uncle Vernon snapped as soon as he set foot in the kitchen. Dudley sat in his chair, slightly less bulbous than last year. Harry thought the number of piggy chins hanging down his neck appeared to have been reduced by one. It appeared that Dudley's diet was actually beginning to work.

"What have I told you about coming to the table with that dirty scruff on your face?" his uncle continued. "I will not tolerate slovenliness under my roof, young man. Now go-"

"I told you, I don't know how to shave." Harry said cooly. "And if you think I'm just going to start in on my face with a razor and no lessons, you're wrong. Besides, I won't be under your roof much longer. Sirius is coming to pick me up in the morning. You know - my godfather."

That had shut Uncle Vernon up. "He's..he's coming - here?" His uncle's face had gone as pale as the cream in his hand. "When?" he asked, in a desperate attempt to sound as though he was in control.

"Tomorrow at eight. He and one of my parents' friends, who was a teacher of mine at school. Well, he was until he resigned last year after everyone found out that he was a werewolf." Harry was quite enjoying himself now. His aunt uttered the smallest of squeaks before dashing from the room, and Dudley seemed unable to speak at all.

"A were-were-werewolf?" His uncle was slopping cream all over the table as his hand shook uncontrollably.

"Professor Lupin is only a werewolf a few days a month. Oh, that's right - last night was a full moon, wasn't it?" Unconcernedly, Harry poured himself some juice and reached for the toast. "I'd advise you not too upset him - never know what might set him off this time of the month."

Dudley scampered from the room after his mother, making it the first time in history that Harry could remember his cousin ever not finishing a meal. His uncle, he noticed, had managed to set the cream pitcher down and was glaring at him while trying to remain calm.

"Very well, boy - you've had your fun. A werewolf and an murderer coming here? For you?"

"Yes, indeed." Harry said brightly, as he completely failed to control the grin that had been threatening to surface.

"I shall hand you over with pleasure." His uncle said, his eyes narrowing. "Maybe you can ask the werewolf for shaving tips." Chortling at his own sense of humor, his uncle snapped up his paper again and continued to read.

The day passed without incident. Harry finished up his chores (just because he was setting a murderer and a werewolf on the household didn't mean he could get out of weeding the garn), packed his trunk, and made sure his room was free of all spare books, parchment, quills and anything else he might not want to leave behind. He scrawled a quick note to Ron, saying that he was leaving Privet Drive with Snuffles and would let him know where he would be as soon as he could, and set Pig off in the direction of Ottery St. Catchpole. He wrote a similar note to Hermione, and sent it with Artemis. Finally, he picked up Hedwig and stroked her glossy white feathers. "Sirius is picking me up today to go to Hogwarts - I'll meet you there, ok?" She gave a soft hoot of approval, then flew out the window after the other owls. He cleaned up her cage, making sure it gleamed before he packed it - he wasn't sure how Sirius and Remus would be taking him to Hogwarts and he wanted to make sure he didn't attract too much attention. Carrying a dirty owl cage onto the Muggle underground was a sure way of bringing unwanted interest to himself and the people traveling with him.

Too excited to sleep that night, Harry read another two chapters of The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts. He had just finished reading about Dumbledore's defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald when he remembered the diary. Maybe that would help him get to sleep.

Pulling out his eagle feather quill, he loaded it with ink and wrote:

Everyone keeps telling me I'm not processing everything from last term. They say I'm not dealing with what happened. Just because I'm not walking around sobbing all the time - does that mean I'm an emotional pygmy? How else am I supposed to deal with it? Cedric is dead - and while they tell me it's not my fault, I can only remember how I insisted he take the cup with me. He was ready to walk away from it. People still say after everything that happened that I won the Tri-Wizard Tournament. That's not true. Cedric won. He didn't have Barty Crouch fixing things to go his way in that maze. He fought the dragon on his own - no one had to tell him how. He managed to figure out everything and he should get the credit for it. But now he's dead, and rather then say "well, Harry - you won by default" they say "You and Cedric tied, and would have won together. You would both be Tri-Wizard Champions." But there was only one Tri-Wizard Champion last year - and he died.

It was a relief to see this - even if no one else could. He could at least tell the diary the truth. Cedric had won. Cedric should be alive, he should be Head boy, he should be able to grow up and marry and raise a family. Cedric should be anything other than dead. But Cedric was dead. Maybe the more Harry wrote this fact, the easier it would be to accept.

His mind wandered, and settled on the other thing that was bothering him. Hermione. Krum. Bulgaria. He wrote:

We've all grown up this year. Hermione is no longer a little girl, just as Ron and I are no longer little boys. What's going to happen to the three of us now that we are growing up? Ron and Hermione are going to have to deal with their feelings - how will that change our friendship?

He swallowed then. He didn't want things to change. But they would - they had to.

And then Harry wrote that was worrying him most of all:

And if they do deal with their feelings - where does that leave me?

There! He'd said it. "You were right, 'Mione - I did need this," he murmured. Feeling as though a large weight had been lifted from his chest, heut the diary and quill down next to his bed, set his alarm for seven and went to sleep.

***

When the alarm rang a few hours later, Harry slipped out of bed and took a quick shower. Changing into jeans and a button down shirt (both of which were new - Dudley's shirts had been too short for him as well) he tucked his wand into his pocket, slipped the small bag Dumbledore had sent into his front pocket, and heaved his trunk down the stairs and next to the door. He set Hedwig's cage on top, then made sure his booklist was inside the diary, as well as his Marauder's Map. He placed the diary carefully on top of the trunk and headed into the kitchen.

The entire Dursley family was seated around the table - even Dudley, who hadn't been up at seven since he was old enough to say "no". Harry couldn't help but notice his aunt and uncle looked even more tense than they usually did when they were dealing with anyone from Harry's world. Dudley looked nothing short of terrified. Harry grinned and spread a liberal amount of jam on his toast, which didn't even draw its usual protest from his aunt.

At precisely 8 am, the doorbell rang. Aunt Petunia knocked over her tea. Uncle Vernon turned a rather pronounced shade of chartreuse. Poor Dudley, however, seemed determined to appear brave. "I'll get it." He volunteered, and was off before his panicked mother could stop him. Harry rose, and followed his cousin.

In the doorway stood an enormous shaggy black dog, and a pale man Harry recognized at once as Remus Lupin. "Harry." Lupin said warmly, holding out a hand. "How are you?"

"Great, now." Harry returned his smile. "Hey." He patted his godfather on the top of his furry head. "Incognito today, Snuffles?"

"Just until we're safely inside." Remus looked behind him, and pulled the door shut.

"Weird, neither of you look like a were-" Dudley's comments were cut off by a soft scream as Sirius changed form from dog to man. "Holy sh- that was bloody brilliant!" he stammered.

"Thank you." Sirius said dryly. "You would be Harry's cousin?"

"Du-Dudley Dursley." Dudley managed to stammer out. His aunt and uncle came out into the hallway then, and neither wore an expression that was overly welcoming. "You're Harry's godfather?" Dudley asked.

Sirius nodded.

"Meaning that you're the, um, werewolf?" Dudley frowned as he looked Lupin over. "You don't look like one."

Remus smiled politely. "I assure you, I am a werewolf. And while I look perfectly harmless now, tonight is another story."

Aunt Petunia gave a half-gasp and pulled Dudley towards her, as if to shield him from Lupin's gaze. Lupin turned to Harry, and gave him the smallest of winks. Harry just grinned.

"Well, goodbye." He said to the Dursleys, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. They didn't answer, just stared after him. Even Sirius changing back into a dog, and Lupin performing the Leviosa charm to make Harry's trunk levitate a few inches off the ground produced no reaction aside from a few gasps. Laughing, Harry followed his godfather out the door.

"Before I forget, Professor Dumbledore sent this - said it was for the two of you."

Lupin opened the sack, and poured a handful of what looked like glitter into his hand. "Yes, he said he would send this as soon as he finished making it." Lupin looked excited. "This may go down as one of Dumbledore's biggest accomplishments."

"What is that stuff?" Harry asked, watching it sparkle.

"The Headmaster calls it Disapparation Dust. Similar to Floo Powder, only you don't need a fire. You don't have to tell it where to take you, either - it takes you to where the maker designated for you to go. Think of the possibilities! If you were to make some up for me Harry, whenever I wanted to see you I would just have to throw some on the ground, step in the circle and there I am! More secure then using the Floo Network, and minors can use it without an apparition license."

"But - where are we going? I know you can't just apparate into Hogwarts." Hermione must have said that about a thousand times in the last two years.

"You're right - but you can apparate into Hogsmeade." Lupin smiled. "From there, it's just a short walk until you're back on the Hogwarts grounds. And we can pick up whatever books and supplies you need in Hogsmeade as well." He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure that no one was watching them, then tossed a circle of the sparkling glittery powder onto the ground. It sizzled where it landed, looking like a ring of stars on the ground. The great dog walked into the circle, and a moment later he had vanished - along with the powdery circle.

"Whoah." Harry whispered. "No one would ever know it was there."

"Impressive, eh? You go next, and I'll follow." Lupin said.

Harry didn't have to be told twice. Lupin made another circle with the powder, and Harry stepped inside it. He felt the instant tug behind his spine, and then he was whirling off in a very fast blur. Unlike Floo powder, however, this didn't rush him past fireplaces, so he didn't get that dizzy and sick feeling. His feet crashed into the ground without the bone-crunching halt of a portkey. Without question, he absolutely preferred the Disapparation Dust.

Sirius was waiting for him, his tail wagging. He stepped out of the way and towards his godfather just in time to see Remus Lupin appear exactly where he had been standing. Lupin's normally pale skin looked flushed with excitement.

"I look forward to telling Dumbledore his newest baby is a complete success. Come on, Harry - we'll stop by Dervish and Banges first so you can get your supplies for school."

They walked up the main road of Hogsmeade. As the only all-wizard community in Britain, they hadn't attracted so much as a blink from the villagers with their sudden appearance outside Honeydukes sweet shop. Harry was itching to go inside the candy store, but realized with a start that he had only a few Galleons on him. "Siri- I mean, Snuffles, I haven't been able to go to Gringotts in ages. I don't have enough money to cover all of this."

"Not to worry." Remus held out a small moneybag to him. "Dumbledore took care of that for you as well. We picked this up in Diagon Alley yesterday from your vault at Gringotts." Inside the bag was more than enough money to see him through the term. "We weren't sure what all you'd need this year - as much as you've grown, a few new robes wouldn't hurt."

He was right, Harry realized. His old robes wouldn't fit him. Besides, as a prefect he really should have new robes. He followed Remus into March's Modiste, and left a short time later with five new sets of black everyday robes, and a new set of dress robes in Gryffindor scarlet. Their next stop was Dervish and Banges, where Harry could not only re-stock his potion ingredients but also buy everything on his booklist. He noticed a few unusual texts such as Grindelwald: Why We Should Be Thoroughly Relieved That One's Gone, by Prudence Perrinald, and The DAS: A Study of Those Who Practice the Dark Arts and Why They'll Never Be Voted Prom Queen, by Iris Tenterhooks. There was also Preparing for Your O.W.L.'s: Give up Eating and Sleeping Now as You'll Never Be Ready, by Matthew Mage and curiously enough Introductory Psychology and Sociology, by Dr. Amanda DeBolt. That last one looked like it was a Muggle book - interesting, thought Harry. He shrugged and added it to the stack of books, which also included the usual Standard Book of Spells: Grade Five, and A Thousand More Magical Herbs and Fungi.

Loaded down with packages, the small group made their way up the path to the castle entrance. Harry had barely started up the stone steps when a familiar voice made him freeze. "Potter!"

Professor McGonagall was hurrying down the steps to meet him. "You made it," she said briskly. "The Headmaster was starting to worry. Thank you for making sure he arrived safely, Remus."

"Not at all, Minerva. I would like to check in with the Headmaster before I leave-"

"Professor Dumbledore said for you all to come to the Great Hall straightaway - he's held breakfast for you." Her eyes flickered over the dog. "All of you." Her tone sounded less than pleased at the thought of a dog invading the Great Hall.

"Leave your things in the hallway, Potter. The house elves will see to it that they are taken to your room. The password is 'Patchouli'. Professor Dumbledore wants you to meet with Professor Moody as soon as you have finished with breakfast."

"Ok," Harry said. He'd really wanted to owl Ron and Hermione and let them know where he was, but didn't dare argue.

He followed Professor McGonagall, Lupin, and Sirius into the Great Hall. The long House tables were conspicuously absent, and the teachers were all gathered around smaller round tables. Professor Dumbledore raised a hand in greeting, and the other teachers, noticing who had entered, did likewise. Tiny Professor Flitwck gave an excited wave to Harry, who returned it nervously.

Professor Moody, he noticed, was sitting directly next to Dumbledore and was watching him intently. "Nice to meet you at last, Potter." Moody growled. It was confusing to hear that voice and know that despite almost a full year of contact, he had never known the real Alastor Moody...only the imposter played by Barty Crouch.

"Harry - come and have a seat." Dumbledore patted the empty seat to his right, and indicated that Lupin and McGonagall should also sit.

"The dog, Albus?" McGonagall asked.

"This dog is a friend of Harry's, and is extremely well-trained. He's welcome to stay if he likes, or he can eat in the kitchens." Dumbledore said evenly. Sirius chose to trot off in the direction of the kitchens, his tail wagging, no doubt already anticipating some of the elves' excellent cooking.

It was a bit unnerving for Harry, sitting there surrounded by teachers. The attitude was certainly less formal than during the regular school year - if he wasn't mistaken he'd just seen Madam Hooch cause something in Professor Trelawney's porridge turn a distinct shade of puce - but he felt as if every eye was on him.

He was extremely thankful when breakfast ended and the teachers left the hall en masse. He waited with Professor Dumbledore and Moody to say goodbye to Lupin. "Keep me posted, Remus. You're our eyes and ears in London." Dumbledore said. Sirius came bounding up from the kitchens, looking well fed and pleased with himself. Harry was allowed to pat his head once more before he headed to Lupin's side. "We'll see you back again shortly. Harry is in good hands." Dumbledore kept a firm grip on Harry's arm as they waved Remus and Sirius off.

"You'll see them again, Harry. Sirius is welcome here whenever he wishes." Harry's eyes widened. Dumbledore had said Sirius's name in front of Moody. "Professor Moody is fully aware of Sirius's innocence, and of his being an Animagus." Dumbledore continued. "He also knows of Peter Pettigrew's Animagus identity, so he knows who and what to look for."

"And now, it's time for your new training, Harry. If you would be so kind as to start him, Alastor? I have a letter I need to send to Mr. Weasley's family as well as Miss Granger's, so that they will know our young friend is safe and sound." With that, Dumbledore left Harry alone with Moody.