War and Passion

Chapter Thirteen

The Winds of Change

Harry had noticed that since the Triwizard Tournament in fourth year, Ron failed to remain mad at him for any long amount of time, and Harry was extremely thankful for that. He'd grown so used to the grouchy bastard, he couldn't possibly fathom what he'd do without him.

So, by the time Mrs. Weasley had breakfast on the table, Ron was back to his usual self, with only the occasional scowl sent in either his or Ginny's direction. In truth, Ron seemed almost chipper. Harry suspected that this was largely do to Hermione, who was sitting next to him, obviously over whatever row the two of them had been having that week.

It was while Harry was sitting back, feeling that all was truly right with the world for the moment, that a knock sounded at the front door. Everyone at the table started, since in this day and age, a knock at the door was not usually welcome.

The kitchen, which had been a hub of activity and noise a moment before, became deathly quiet.

"Bloody reporters! I'll get it!" Charlie finally said, as he set down his coffee on the counter, next to where he'd been standing and talking to Mr. Weasley.

Though Harry knew Charlie was probably right in his assumption about the reporters, he couldn't help but get up from the table and follow Charlie out of the kitchen. He didn't even have to turn around to know that Ron was right behind him.

Harry stiffened when the door opened, then relaxed when he heard Charlie give a barking laugh.

"You scared the shit out of us. Why the hell didn't you just Apparate into the house?" Charlie sighed in relief, as he clapped Professor Lupin on the back and pulled him inside, followed closely by the black dog Harry had been waiting days to see.

"We didn't want to be rude," Professor Lupin smiled apologetically, as Sirius changed back into his human form.

"I told you, Moony! Between the Death Eaters and the Ministry going around delivering those bleeding black letters in person, no one wants to hear a knock on their door anymore," Sirius said, as he dusted off his robes.

Harry let out his own sigh of relief and turned to see Ron not only doing the same, but also pulling up his trouser leg to sheath a large knife into a holster he was wearing on his calf.

"Do you wear that thing to sleep, too?" Harry asked incredulously.

"This is the knife Hermione gave me. . ." Ron said, as he dropped his trouser leg and looked at Harry like that was all the explanation he needed.

Harry was about to reiterate his earlier comment about Ron being completely barking mad, when Sirius spotted him still standing just outside the kitchen door. Before Harry knew it, he was pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

"Always the hero. Just like your Dad, you always have to be the damn hero!" Sirius choked

"I'm fine," Harry gasped reassuringly since Sirius seemed almost near tears.

"Yeah, now you're fine. But, you weren't. You'd better hope you have more than nine lives because I think you're starting to run out," Sirius said as he finally released him and rounded on Ron.

"I thought you were going to keep him out of trouble," Sirius scolded half-heartedly, as he hugged Ron, who seemed slightly uncomfortable.

"You try keeping him out of trouble. I keep telling you he has a death wish," Ron sighed in both defeat and self-recrimination.

Harry felt angry that Ron or Sirius would dare blame themselves for what happened. He hadn't realized that two of them seemed to have some sort of strange pact where his safety was concerned. If ever there was a job doomed for failure, that was it. There wasn't a year since he was eleven where he hadn't ended up in either the hospital wing at Hogwarts or St. Mungo's at least once, and usually more than that.

It was on the tip of his tongue to really let both of them have it for going behind his back and acting like he was a small child who needed to be baby-sat, when someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"Save your breath. It wouldn't do a bit of good," Remus said in a low voice just below Ron and Sirius' hearing.

"I don't look for trouble," Harry whispered in annoyance.

"We all know that. They just care about you, which isn't such a bad thing, is it?"

Harry felt his anger dissolve at the werewolf's words. "No, not a bad thing at all," Harry agreed as he walked into the kitchen to be met by squeals of delight from Ginny and Hermione who launched themselves at Sirius and Remus like it had been years instead of days since they'd last seen them.

From there, the commotion only got more intense with everyone crowding around Sirius and congratulating him on his impending exoneration for the crimes, for which he'd been falsely convicted over fifteen years ago.

Harry stood back and enjoyed the scene for a moment, until the underlying implications of Sirius' arrival hit him. . . he would be leaving the Burrow or more specifically, he was leaving Ginny. He looked to the other side of the room, catching her eyes, which even from a distance, shone with unshed tears.

Sirius had arrived twelve hours too late. Harry just couldn't decide if that was good or bad. But, life had taught him that you couldn't really dwell on what should have happened. It didn't do a damn bit of good. With a slight turn of his head, he indicated that she should follow him out of the kitchen.

Once alone in the living room, he turned only to catch Ginny, as she fell into his arms, heedless of her entire family only a few feet away in the kitchen.

"I'll miss you," Harry sighed, as he held her away from him to look at her face.

"I'm so happy for Sirius. And you'll never have to go back to those Muggles. I'm very glad for that. It's just. . ." Ginny laid her head back on his shoulder, trying to hide tears she must have thought she had no right to shed.

"I know," Harry said softly, and it wasn't a lie; he did know. He'd waited for years to go off and live with Sirius, but now. . . "The summer's not all that long."

"It'll seem like forever!" Ginny said with a half laugh.

Harry smiled; Ginny did tend to lean towards the dramatic sometimes. He suddenly didn't care about her family in the other room. He moved his shoulder so she would look up at him and then leaned down to kiss her before she could protest. Not surprisingly, she responded with fervor, as she laced her hands behind his neck and kissed him back.

Harry wasn't sure how long they remained like that, since being with Ginny caused him to lose track of time. But, they did break apart when they heard someone clear their throat followed by someone else making a noise that sounded distantly like gagging.

"I could have done without that right after breakfast, " Ron growled as he looked at both of them in disgust and walked back into the kitchen.

"I was ah. . . just telling Ron and Hermione that they're welcome to come visit this summer. Perhaps it would be appropriate to extend the invitation to Ginny as well," Remus said in a voice that seemed to be hiding a huge amount of amusement.

"Do you have room?" Ginny questioned skeptically, since she knew that Sirius and Remus lived a two-bedroom cottage hidden within a forest similar to the Forbidden Forest that bordered Hogwarts.

"We've done some remodeling. Sirius needed something to keep his mind off Harry these past few days. In truth, I set him to it to keep him from driving me mad." Remus chuckled, as looked over his shoulder to see if Sirius was still in the kitchen.

"But, the supplies?" Harry questioned knowing that even enlarging a house by magic still required a great deal of supplies that weren't cheap.

"Oh, he got that settlement from the Ministry right away. The mutt is richer than Midas, if you can believe that. Not that he gives a damn. I don't think he heard Dumbledore when he told him that part, not after hearing that Harry was hurt. In fact, I might have to remind him," Remus said more to himself than anybody.

"And I could really come and stay?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"Of course. . . that is, if it's all right with your mum," Remus added, as a precaution.

"Oh, I'm sure it will be!" Ginny leaned up to kiss Harry on the cheek before she bounced out of the room, to go pester her mum, no doubt.

"She's in a hurry," Sirius laughed, as he stepped into the living room, looking back at Ginny before the door closed completely.

"I extended an invitation for Ginny to come stay," Remus smirked with a glance at Harry.

"Oh? Are we speaking again?" Sirius asked Harry with a smile.

"I'd say they were on friendlier terms than that. . ." Remus teased as Harry glared at both of them. They were getting way too much enjoyment out of this.

"Really?! Harry, do we need to have the talk?" Sirius questioned with the sole purpose of embarrassing him.

Harry arched an eyebrow and decided that two could play this game.

"You missed the boat on that one, mate. . ."

"By how much?" Sirius asked in a truly shocked tone as his jaw dropped.

"I'd say you're about two years too late."

"No!" Sirius gasped as Remus choked back a laugh.

"Oh yes. . . I doubt there's anything you can add at this point," Harry laughed but slapped Sirius on the back affectionately anyway.

*

Sirius and Remus were insistent that they leave well before dinner. The reason they'd arrived today, was that Sirius had received word that the news of his innocence was to be formally announced in the evening post, and they wanted to be well hidden back at Lupin Lodge when it came out. Harry had to admit, they had a point. The press would be in a frenzy to get statements from Sirius. Sirius' custody of Harry was also going to be announced. They'd no doubt be even more desperate to get a hold of Harry, as well.

Harry didn't really need to say goodbye to anyone since the Burrow and Hermione's home were set to be put back on the Floo network tomorrow. He, Ron and Hermione would be meeting at Lupin Lodge almost everyday for training, and Sirius and Remus had both assured the Weasleys that Ginny was welcome whenever she wanted to come over.

*

Harry had stayed at Lupin Lodge for a month last summer since the Dursleys were terrified of him and had wanted him gone as soon as possible. So, he was almost floored when they arrived there. It was more than twice the size it had been before. Harry mused that Sirius really must have had a lot of nervous energy to be able to add an entire extra floor in a few short days. What was once a two-bedroom one-bath cottage was now a four-bedroom two-bath house.

The three of them had dinner and waited for the evening paper which arrived by seven and just as promised announced in a glaring headline:

Sirius Black Innocent!

Harry had dreamed of reading such a headline for years. Now that it had happened, it seemed like there should be more excitement. But, the air was still thick with the impending dangers of the war and while it was huge relief for all of them, it didn't bring forth the sense of relaxation after years of hiding that they'd all expected.

In fact, they all went to bed early. They were hidden so deep in the woods that it was doubtful any reporters would be able to find them. Plus, the wards set up around the house were almost as strong as the ones at the Burrow. No one could Apparate into the house without having their signature woven into the very fiber of the wards.

Harry was out of bed by five the next morning, anxious to get back into his old routine after over a week of inactivity. He also wanted to avoid Sirius, who was likely to balk about Harry wanting to run by himself. He almost made it to the door before a voice stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sirius asked as he came out of the kitchen.

"To the Queen's ball. . ." Harry answered as he looked down at himself, dressed in his running shorts and tennis shoes.

Sirius laughed despite his annoyance at Harry for trying to sneak out. "You're a little underdressed."

"Nothing gets past you. . . " Harry said, then ran a hand through his hair. "I was going running."

"I guessed that. You want company?"

Harry choked back the comment that Sirius would never be able to keep up. He really wanted to run, not jog.

"I meant as Snuffles," Sirius sighed, obviously guessing the reason for Harry's indecisiveness.

"Oh. . . Yeah, sure," Harry agreed quickly.

Over an hour later, Harry had to almost carry Sirius back into the kitchen, where Remus had breakfast waiting for them.

"What did you do to him?" Remus asked as he pulled out a chair that Sirius collapsed into.

"We went running. . ." Harry laughed as he too sat down and reached for a piece of toast.

"Sirius, you're too old. . ."

"Harry, turn on the wireless, would you?" Sirius barked to cut off Remus' lecture.

Harry looked to Remus for confirmation.

Remus just shrugged. "Go ahead. He won't listen to a word I say, anyway."

Harry got up and flipped on the wireless radio they had sitting on the counter, and then poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice. He was only half listening to it, since he was sure they'd be going on and on about Sirius, and Harry really had no desire to hear it. It was a fair bet that they'd just say something that would piss him off, and he was in a good mood this morning.

He almost lost his grip on his glass when what they were really reporting filtered into his mind.

"We repeat. . . Early reports confirm that all prisoners have escaped from Azkaban in a prison break early this morning."

All three of them exchanged looks of muted horror, before Harry reached over to turn the radio up.

"It's feared that the Dementors have joined forces with the ranks of 'You-Know-Who'. Authorities at the scene have stated that they cannot confirm that the Dementors freely released the prisoners, but did acknowledge that they are no longer at Azkaban and urge everyone to be extremely cautious until they can locate the former Azkaban guards."

Harry blocked out the rest of it since he'd heard all he really needed to. He knew that Dumbledore had been warning the Ministry about the dangers of this happening for years now. It's was a real pity no one ever listened to him. . .No, it was a bloody nightmare.

He didn't know who the authorities thought they were fooling. It was very clear that the Dementors were gone and the only way anyone at the Ministry was going to find them now was to trace the stream of soulless bodies. The winds of war had changed, and it was obvious that he was suddenly on the losing side. Voldemort would be damn near impossible to defeat, now.