Harry Potter and the Siren's Song

As Harry stepped through the portrait hole, he was startled to see that despite the late hour, quite a number of Gryffindors were still awake. Hermione and Ron had settled themselves in front of the fire, talking in low voices. Fred and George Weasley were laying on the floor, speaking in relatively normal voices to Angelina and Katie, who sat next to them. Seamus and Lavender were sitting a little bit away from the group, and were completely oblivious to their surroundings: Lavender was curled up in Seamus' lap, and he was whispering in her ear. Obviously more then one romantic coupling would be attributed to the Seges party. As Harry walked over to join Ron and Hermione, he felt a hand hesitantly rest on his shoulder. Even before he turned around, he knew who it would be.

Ginny was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt that she had obviously stolen from one of her brothers. It was so long it almost reached her knees, and she'd had to turn the cuffs back several times to keep them from completely obscuring her hands. The words "Chudley Cannons" were emblazoned across her chest in slightly faded orange. "Have a good time?" she asked, making an effort to sound casual.

"Better then the Yule Ball, at least." Seeing her eyes widen, he shrugged. "I didn’t stomp Cho's feet into mush, which is an improvement on my overall dancing skills. Points for that, I suppose."

"Glad to hear it," Ginny said, looking doubtful. "You don't seem to be in a very good mood for someone who had such a jolly time."

Harry looked away, and found himself staring at Hermione and Ron. They had yet to notice he'd even come in, and Ron looked very serious as he reached over to lace Hermione's fingers in his own. Unable to watch, he looked down at Ginny. "Care to go for a walk?" he asked.

She stared at him. "I promise we won't get caught," Harry said quickly. "Just let me get something." Without waiting for an answer, he dashed up the stairs for his dorm room.

Tossing open the lid of his trunk, he easily located the silky folds of the Invisibility Cloak, even in the dark. Harry slid off his dress robes and folded them none-too-neatly before shoving them into a corner of the trunk. He was having difficulty getting the memory of Ron and Hermione kissing out of his head. I'm not jealous, he told himself fiercely. And as soon as he thought the words, he realized that the emotion he'd been experiencing was most definitely not jealousy.

He knew jealousy. He'd been almost eaten up with it last year when he'd seen Cedric and Cho holding hands in the corridors last year after the Yule Ball. No, this was a far more familiar sensation. This was fear…fear of losing his friends, the people who had kept him sane for the last 4 years. What about me? The same thought kept running through his head, as he angrily slammed down the lid of the trunk, and caught the tip of his finger.

"Owww!" Harry hissed, cursing under his breath. The pain radiated through his hand, but it was somehow a distraction to the sharp catch in his chest he felt whenever he thought of Ron and Hermione.

He slumped to the floor, leaning his head back against the bed. He'd known this day would come…the day when they were caught up in their own world. And now that it had he wanted nothing more then to turn back the clock, and return to the safe world they had known before...when their triangle of friendship had somehow insulated him from almost every pain, and even Voldemort. A hot tear made its way down his cheek, which he brushed away angrily. It's called growing up, you prat…get used to it. The voice in his head wasn't exactly gentle in its reprimand.

Harry sat with his head bowed for a number of minutes, thinking hard and playing with the folds of his cloak. When he finally got to his feet, something in his face had changed. He actually had the ghost of a smile playing around his lips as he headed down the stairs, a smile that widened when he spied the familiar flash of red hair waiting for him by the door. "Ready?" he asked.

Harry and Ginny made their way out of the castle and towards the lake. Once they were safely out of sight from the castle, Harry pulled the cloak off. "This is incredible," Ginny told him, fingering the cloak. Harry told her about receiving the cloak his first Christmas at Hogwarts. "That explains it!" Ginny said triumphantly.

"What?" Harry asked, settling down on a large rock beside the lake and indicating that she should do likewise.

"I always wondered how on earth you, Ron and Hermione managed to do all the stuff you did without getting caught!" she explained. "I mean, not even Fred and George get into as much trouble as you three."

"Difference being, Fred and George look for trouble," Harry said. "Somehow it always just found the three of us." He tossed a rock towards the lake as he spoke.

Ginny was silent for a long moment, then spoke. "You're thinking about how that's going to change, aren't you?" she said softly.

"Well, yeah," Harry said slowly. "They're not going to want to pull those sorts of stunts now…the only sneaking off they're likely to want to do is to snog in the Astronomy Tower-"

Ginny cut him off. "Harry, for heaven's sake, they're not running off and getting married!" she exclaimed. "They're a couple now, but I don't see why that should make you so upset." Her eyes widened. "Unless you like Herm-"

"No," Harry said firmly. "Hermione and Ron are meant to be together, I know that. I think I knew it before they did, although it was really obvious after the Ball last year."

"So why," Ginny asked him softly, "do you look like you've lost your best friend?"

Harry didn't answer. She rose to her feet, and stood directly in front of him. "Ron's never really had a best friend before, you know," Ginny said softly. "I remember how excited he was in his letters to Mum after he met you. And that's never changed, Harry. I think he's closer to you then to any of my brothers." She swallowed. "He'd no sooner give up on you then he'd start raising giant attack spiders. If anything, I think that if you told him to give up Hermione, he'd do it…it would kill him, but that's just how he is."

Harry shook his head. "I don't want that."

"You just don't want things to change," Ginny said.

"It's stupid, I know that," Harry said, sounding whiny even to his own ears. "And I hate feeling like this! I'm really happy for them, Ginny, it's just…."

"I know," she looked out over the moonlit lake. "Growing up right sucks some days."

Harry laughed as he stood and caught her by the wrist. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "It's good to get that off my chest."

She shrugged. "I thought that's what we were here for."

"Not entirely." Surprising himself with his boldness, he reached up to brush a stray hair back from her face. "You know, I think this is the longest conversation we've ever had."

"Must be some sort of record," she nodded solemnly. "I'd say it even calls for a celebration of some sort."

"That it does," he pulled her close, and breathed in the scent of her hair. "You're not going to ask anymore about tonight, are you?"

"Only if you feel like sharing," she said, sounding a little breathless.

"Maybe later." And then he kissed her.

The feeling of her warmth pressed against him was enough to make him slightly dizzy. He pulled her closer, sliding one hand up behind her neck and the other around her slight waist. As if in response, Ginny's hands tightened around him. Harry heard a roaring in his ears, and as their tongues brushed hesitantly against one another, felt an explosion in his chest.

Gasping, they finally fell away from one another. Ginny ran a shaky hand through her hair. "You kissed me."

"You could say that." Harry's voice sounded as though it came from a million miles away.

"No, Harry, you kissed me." Her eyes were bright.

He pulled her back against his chest then, and held her tightly. "I plan to do it a lot more, if that's all right with you."

They spent several hours by the lake, talking and kissing. He told her about his evening with Cho, and how despite his worries, they both seemed to be working on putting the events of last year behind them. He told her about The Spirit Room, and his reaction to them. Far from thinking that he was out of his mind, she seemed to understand. "Well, after last year it's only natural that you'd hate the idea of anyone trying to control you in any way," she said logically. "I think that's why you were able to throw off the Imperius when almost no one else in your year could…once you've been exposed to the power of the Dark arts, and know what they can do, it's part of your defense mechanism."

"How'd you know about that?" he asked, startled.

"Moody told me, well the fake Moody did anyway…I was getting extra tutoring from him after hours last year, and it came up when he teaching me about the Unforgivables."

"I thought he was only teaching that to the fourth years and up," Harry said with a frown.

"He was," Ginny said simply. "And me." Seeing Harry's shocked expression, she explained. "Ever since that bit first year, with Tom, I swore I'd never let my guard down about the Dark Arts again. I went and asked him to help me, and he agreed. In retrospect, I don't know why he did it," she shrugged. "Unless he thought it might blow his cover to refuse."

That explains a lot, Harry thought. He'd been wondering where this more assured Ginny had come from and now he knew. It was damned hard to remain shy and reserved when you'd faced down your worst nightmares. If she'd sought out getting extra lessons in DADA, she'd been forced to recognize exactly scared her and learned to deal with it. "What did he teach you, exactly?" Harry asked.

"Well, let's just say you're not the only one who can throw off an Imperius curse." Ginny grinned.

"You're kidding!" Harry was impressed.

"I told you, I'm never going to let someone use their powers against me again." Her voice hardened slightly. "Do you have any idea what it felt like, to be used like that, and just so some deranged megalomaniac could get a thrill in destroying you?"

"I might," Harry said, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Oh, Harry!" She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Of course you do - I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Ginny, it's ok," Harry assured her. "It's refreshing actually, to talk to someone who understands what it feels like."

"Harry, what Tom Riddle did to me, and what Voldemort did to you aren't even remotely in the same league," she said hotly.

"He would have killed you," Harry said somberly. "He tried to kill me. I'd say they're equally ranked on the reasons for loathing scale."

She smiled, and looked at her watch, before jumping to her feet with a soft gasp. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Early," he smiled at her. "Or late, depending on how you look at it."

"It's after three in the morning! We're heading back up, right now! Come on!" she pulled him to his feet. "Oh, the Fat Lady's going to have herself a right hissy fit…"

"Ginny." Harry said softly. She stopped what she was saying to look at him curiously. "Thanks."

She smiled. "Let's see how much you're thanking me when you fall asleep over your eggs tomorrow."

He gave her one last quick kiss. "Even if I spend the day picking them out of my hair, it's worth it." With that, he slipped the cloak over the heads, and holding hands, they walked silently back up to the castle.

The Fat Lady was less then pleased about being woken up. "Where on earth have you two been?" she asked them, her eyes narrowing. "Miss Weasley, I'd have expected more from you then sneaking in at such an ungodly hour!"

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "It's still earlier then when my mother used to get in, isn’t it?"

"Yes, well-"Unable to come up with a good argument for that, the portrait swung forward and they made their way into the now deserted Common Room.

"Goodnight," Ginny whispered as they reached the top of the stairs that led off to their separate dorm rooms.

"Wait." Harry tugged her hand, and pulled her close for one last kiss before she pulled away giggling. "I think you've created a monster, Miss Weasley." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, and she giggled.

"But I like you so much better then the usual ones." Blowing him a kiss, she ducked under his arm and hurried towards her room.

Smiling, Harry let himself into his own room, and made his way through the dark to his bed. Had it only been a few hours since he'd sat there, wondering if he'd be spending the rest of his years at Hogwarts playing second-fiddle to Ron and Hermione's relationship? Who had that whiny, self-absorbed little boy been, anyway? He knew now - just because Ron and Hermione were together didn’t mean he had to slink away into the shadows. It just meant that their circle had changed a bit. And now, that circle had expanded…now it included Ginny. She'd always been just outside it, and as easily as if he had opened a door, she was inside. He pulled off his clothes, changed into his pyjamas and crawled thankfully into bed.

Hedwig woke him earlier then he would have liked, nibbling on his ear to get his attention. "Good morning," he yawned, taking the letter from her. "I'm out of treats, but if you come to the Hall during breakfast I'll make it up to you." She hooted in understanding and then sailed out the window. The sun was just starting to rise, and he walked over towards the faint light spilling through the shades to read his post.

It was signed with a pawprint. Harry ran a hand over his face. So much for sleeping in. He couldn’t risk running late and missing Sirius; there was so much he wanted to tell his godfather. Still yawning, Harry made his way through the halls to the fourth floor and prefect's bathroom, wanting nothing more then a very hot shower.

To his shock, he wasn't the only one there. Draco Malfoy was standing at the sink shaving, wearing a dark green bathrobe. "Potter," he grunted by way of greeting.

"Malfoy," Harry answered. Not feeling up to a verbal assault so early, he quickly got into the shower, and turned the water on as hot as he could stand it. It had the desired affect, and after fifteen minutes of it pounding into his flesh he felt wide awake. When he pulled on his own robe and made his way to the sinks, he was annoyed to see that Malfoy was still there. "Need a copy of Shaving for Dummies ?" Harry suggested. "Might make it go a bit faster."

"Owch, that stung." Malfoy snorted. "I could say the same for you, or were you trying to work off some frustration in that shower?" His cold eyes glittered. "You and Chang have a good time, lover boy? Did you manage to make her forget about Diggory for a few minutes?"

Harry ignored him, and worked the soap into a lather as Sirius had shown him.

"What, no witty comeback? Or do you need the luscious Granger for that?" Finished with his own morning grooming, Draco seemed in no hurry to leave the bathroom. "You should have seen your face when Weasley took the plunge and kissed her last night…guess that's one fantasy you'll have to forego." He leaned over and said softly, "Unless I've been right about the three of you all along, and that was some sort of group foreplay?"

Slamming his razor against the sink, Harry turned and said coldly, "This fixation you've got on Hermione can't be good for your sex life, Malfoy. Or does Blaise not mind competing with the ghost of what you'll never have?"

Malfoy's face went red but his voice was silky. "Lofty concept, Potter, but Granger is just like every other girl in this school…she's dying for a bad boy to shock the hell out of her prudery. Pity you and Weasley can never measure up."

Harry turned, feeling that hot sick rush on anger he'd felt last year when Malfoy had made his crack about Cedric's death. Just when it looked like a good fistfight might be breaking out, they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Roger Davies. "Up early this morning, boys?" he asked cheerily. "Or is this a daily meeting?"

Glowering, Draco left the bathroom. Harry finished his shaving and headed back for Gryffindor tower. He was so caught up in his silent fuming about Malfoy's comments he didn't watch where he was going and walked straight into Hermione. "Watch it!" she squealed, dropping the small bucket that held her toiletries. "Oh! Harry…" He'd never seen her look so flustered. "We wondered where you were last night…when did you get back?"

"Late," he said, smiling at the memory. Hermione gave him an astonished look. "You and Cho?" she asked, not finishing the question.

"Not exactly. Listen, I'll tell you later." Lowering his voice, he explained about the letter from Sirius.

"Of course, I'll see you after." She headed for the girl prefect's bathroom, calling after him "And I expect to hear everything!"

"Right." Everything. Was she kidding? That'll take more then a few minutes to cover. He whistled through his teeth. And that's assuming I get through the part where Ginny and I spent a few hours by the lake snogging without Ron going into overprotective brother mode. He wondered if any of the Weasleys' knew about Ginny's extra tutoring in DADA. Somehow he doubted it.

Ginny was already at the Gryffindor table when Harry entered the Great Hall. "Morning," she smiled at him.

"Up early, aren't you?" Harry asked, sitting down next to her. "I thought you'd have a bit of a lie-in."

"Couldn't sleep." Her eyes were dancing. "You?"

"Um, yeah, me neither." He'd sound like a real prick if he said 'Actually, I slept like the dead until my owl decided to give my ear a good tap.' As she handed him the plate of scrambled eggs, their hands brushed and that unmistakable electric spark flared between them again. Harry watched as her pink tongue flicked out to lick those lips, and realized he was holding his breath.

"Earth to Harry, come in Potter." The sound of someone snapping their fingers next to his ear nearly made him spill the platter of golden eggs into his lap. "Whoah, bit jumpy this morning?" Ron sat down next to him, and caught the plate before Harry dropped it.

"Something like that." He noticed Ginny's dreamy expression and gave her a gentle nudge with his foot. She started, and then nodded. No need to give everything away just yet. "So, did you have a good time last night?" she asked her brother.

"Did I?" Ron grinned. "It was beyond super-cool...Tell you what, Harry, I think the Hog's Head may just become my new pub of choice! Did you taste the mead? Made the Three Broomsticks' taste like old dishwater by comparison."

"Mead does taste like old dishwater." Ginny said, raising an eyebrow. "And exactly how much of that lovely swill did you partake in?"

"Oh, don't go getting your knickers in a twist, I just had a bit…it's Fred and George you should be pounding on. 'Course, I heard they spent half the night up with Lee."

"Is he ok?" Ginny asked, looking concerned.

"Aside from asking for someone to remove his head and throw it off North Tower, he seemed fine." Ron chortled. "Last I saw him, he was laying face down in the loo, praying that the porcelain gods would just come and finish him off."

"Who was?" Hermione asked, joining them.

"Lee." Ron actually stopped eating - a first for him - to give Hermione a smile. "Hey, you." His voice sounded almost tender.

She blushed, and looked at Ginny with some concern. "Were you ok last night? I didn't hear you come in, and you weren't there when I went up to bed."

"Fine," said Ginny brightly, while Harry concentrated on his toast. "I was in the library, and lost track of time."

"On a Saturday?" Ron said, sounding horrified.

"How did you stay so late?" Hermione asked casually. "Did you get special permission from Madam Pince?"

"Er, yes." Ginny reddened and looked to Harry for help.

"Actually, I ran into Ginny on her way back from the library and we were up for a bit, talking." Harry said easily. "We hadn't caught up in ages, and then it was really late."

"Oh." Ron looked relieved.

"Anyway, I'm off." Harry said, standing. Seeing Ron's puzzled look, he said in a low voice, "Meeting Snuffles."

"Right," Ron said in the same voice. "Tell him Hi for us."

Harry nodded, and gave Ginny a quick smile as he headed for the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione lean forward to engage Ginny in some intense questioning the moment he was out of earshot. It would probably have been easier just to tell them what had actually happened, but neither he nor Ginny seemed to be in a hurry about making their new relationship public knowledge.

Harry hurried out the front doors and across the lawns to the student's broomshed, a massive wooden structure that housed the brooms of every student on the campus. Each house had it's own side of the building, painted in the distinctive colours of Ravenclaw blue, Hufflepuff gold, Gryffindor scarlet, and Slytherin emerald. The doors on each house's shed was, like their common rooms, password protected. This was to prevent, in Dumbledore's words, "competition-inspired pranks", which the students (excluding Slytherins, of course) called "out and out cheating". This dated back to 1465 when the entire Ravenclaw team had discovered, to their horror, that their racing brooms had been replaced by common Muggle house brooms before the finals of that year's Quidditch cup.

Harry hadn't been to the shed since he'd lost his Nimbus 2000, as it was just too risky to house the Firebolt there. He hurried around to the Gryffindor side and looked around anxiously. He appeared to have arrived before Sirius. Yawning, he settled himself against the scarlet door to wait for his godfather.

Just as he was starting to doze off in the warm morning sun, voices jerked him awake.

"So you thought it went well last night, Lena?"

"Better then I could have dreamed, actually. The students were safe, and no one the wiser as just how protected they were. I was almost surprised at how smoothly the whole thing went off."

"Add to that the fact Lauren managed to take in a number of new admirers to her flock of drooling groupies, and it must have been a complete success."

"Yeah, Severus, 'cause you weren't putting on quite the ripping show with those drums."

"Jealous, old girl?"

"Your fantasy."

"I hate to disappoint you, but my fantasies could never centre around something so mundane."

There was a snort, and then the voices drew closer. Harry peered around the side of the shed.

He recognized Snape and Velange, walking with a woman who could only be Lauren - the lead singer from the Spirit Room. Her brilliant red hair was hanging down to her shoulders, and she was wearing a combination of Muggle and wizard clothing: this time a pair of very faded jeans and a rather tight t-shirt that read "Absolut Quidditch", with a pair of Clark's sandals on her feet. It made for quite the contrast with the black robes that both Professor Velange and Snape were wearing.

"It's so nice to see that some things never change." Professor Velange looked as though she was trying not to laugh. "Honestly you two! Go work off the sexual tension already - the rest of us are exhausted from years of ducking out of the way."

"Are you mad?" shrieked Lauren, just as Snape growled "Excuse me?"

"It really can't be healthy, all that repression," Velange continued as though she hadn't heard them. "It explains so much about your adult personalities, however. For example, your complete inability to settle down with anyone mentally older then 12, Lauren, and as for you, Severus-"

"Oh, you and your psycho-babble." Lauren snapped. "That's the Pot calling the kettle dirty-bottomed and you know it, Lena."

"If you two are quite through discussing the 9 1/2 ways you'd like to shag me senseless," Snape interrupted, and Harry was surprised to see that he was smiling. "There's still the issue of-"

Just then, a huge black dog bounded towards Harry's side, cracking a branch at his feet and making all three heads turn in his direction. Snape's smile instantly vanished. "Potter," he said in his familiar nasty tone, "What are you doing down here?"

"I, um, came to go through the school brooms…need to find a pair for my two first-year reserves."

"You put first years in as reserves?" Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Gutsy."

Snape's eyes were on the dog. Sirius, Harry noticed, was sitting and staring at the two women.

"My god! He's huge!" Lauren said, spotting the dog. "Is he yours?"

"Yes, - well, sort of," Harry said. "He's a stray from town. We feed him."

"He's a menace," Snape put in nastily. The dog growled at him.

"A menace that's an excellent judge of character," Lauren shot back at him. She looked at Professor Velange, who was still staring at the dog. "You all right?"

"What? Oh, fine." She looked a bit pale. "Harry, forgive my lack of manners. This is Lauren Velange - my sister."

"Sister?" Harry was startled, and then as soon as the thought spun through his mind, he cursed himself for not noticing before. Both women had red hair, and the same green eyes, not to mention their faces were extremely similar in shape. Even their voices sounded alike. He supposed it had been the difference in their styles that had kept him from noticing. Lauren Velange wore Muggle cosmetics, and had hair that reminded him of a dancing red hot coal as it careened its way in long curls down to her shoulders. Professor Velange was far more demure in appearance, and her hair was short, curling about her face. And yet, how had he missed their similarities before now?

"Twin sister, actually." Lauren smirked. "I know, it's shockingly hard to believe."

"A little," Harry answered her quietly. "I think it's the hair."

Lauren burst out laughing, and turned to her sister. "Subtle. I like him." She grinned at Harry. "How much did she pay you to say that?"

"Half a sack full of galleons," Harry answered, smiling back.

Snape cleared his throat. "As much as I hate to end this little party, Lauren, Professor Velange and I have a teacher's meeting in a few minutes."

"Right you are." Lauren turned back to Harry and rolled her eyes in Snape's direction. "Somethings never change," she muttered before stepping forward and holding out a hand for Harry to shake. "Pleasure to meet you, Harry." As the two teachers turned and started back up towards the castle Lauren hurried after them calling "See you in town!" over her shoulder.

Harry was still for a moment, and then jumped as Sirius resumed his normal form.

"Are you mad?" Harry hissed, running to open the door of the Gryffindor broomshed. "Patchouli!" he hissed, and angrily beckoned his godfather inside. "What if someone had seen you?"

Sirius didn't appear to have heard a word he said. Instead, he headed for the chair next to the desk that Madam Hooch used to store her inventories and sat down, running a shaking hand through his dark hair. "My god," he muttered to no one.

"What? Harry asked. When Sirius didn’t answer, Harry went and stood directly in front of him and said urgently, "Sirius, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry, Harry, I don't know what I was thinking," Sirius said, straightening and giving him his full attention. "How was the Seges?" he asked, mustering up a smile.

"Ok," Harry answered, leaning against the desk, not convinced that everything was all right. "Lauren's band played."

"They did?" Somehow this didn't appear to sit well. "How were they?"

"It was weird, actually." Harry explained how the voices had made him feel. "It was ok, at first, actually it was beautiful, and then…I don't know, it just felt as though they were trying to get inside my head."

"What were they trying to tell you?" Sirius asked sharply.

"Nothing horrible, just to relax and let go." Harry looked at him suspiciously. "Do you know them?"

"In a manner of speaking." The haunted look had returned to Sirius's eyes. "Did you see who the other singer was?"
"No, she was wearing a hood." It was as though a light had gone on in Harry's brain. "But who else could it have been besides Professor Velange? I heard Lauren say something about Snape on the drums, but if that was him he must have been using Polyjuice potion or something 'cause he didn't look a bit like himself." Harry frowned. "Bill Weasley said there were teachers there for our protection...do you think that's why Velange and Snape were there?"

"Possibly." Sirius seemed very far away.

Harry waited, then plunged ahead. "You said you had to talk to me?"

"Oh, right." Sirius looked grim. "I wanted to tell you before you read about it in the papers, although Fudge is doing his damndest to keep that from happening. Arabella Figg has gone missing for three days now, as have two members of the Unspeakables, who it is believed Arabella had convinced to work undercover, posing as Death Eaters."

"Mrs. Figg?" Harry asked, his voice sounding very far away. "Do you think Voldemort's killed her, like he killed Bertha Jorkins?"

"I can't answer that, Harry. Arabella has many years experience working as an Auror. It is possible Voldemort is using her for information."

Harry, remembering the amount of grousing he did about Mrs. Figg growing up, felt a rush of guilt. Desperate to keep the surge of emotions from engulfing him, he asked slowly "How exactly does Fudge hope to keep it out of the papers? I mean, two Unspeakables going missing is sure to raise a few eyebrows."

"Fudge is terrified that people will find out that Voldemort is back, so he's forbidden the Ministry to release the information."

"Then how did you find out?"

"Molly Weasley owled me the moment Arthur told her. Dumbledore's supporters are a close-knit bunch, Harry - we try and stay as informed as possible." He stood up. "Anyway, I can't stay too long. Can't risk anyone seeing me."

"This from the man who nearly blew his cover in full daylight?" Harry asked sardonically.

Sirius ignored him, and headed for the door. Then he turned to look at Harry. "I want to know if anything unusual happens at Hogwarts this year. That means anything and everything that isn't part of the daily routine…something tells me this is just the start of Voldemort's plans, whatever they might be, and if he managed to get one spy inside these walls last year, I doubt he will hesitate to try again." His voice softened as he looked at his godson. "I wish I could tell you that this year will be completely different from last year, Harry, but so long as that madman lives, he will do everything in his power to destroy you. My job is to prevent that. Do you understand?"

Harry was a little taken aback by the intensity in Sirius' eyes. "Of course," he said quickly, "but what-" he tried to say, but Sirius had already changed and was out the door.

Harry sat down in the chair Sirius had just vacated, and rested his head against his hands. Something was clearly up, and not all of it was about Mrs. Figg and the two Ministry members' disappearances. He hadn't seen Sirius look so shaken since his third year, when Harry was accusing him of murdering his parents. And Harry had the very strong impression it revolved around Professor Velange…

Standing, Harry headed back up to the castle. I hope Hermione plans to spend some serious time in the library this year, he thought fiercely.