Harry Potter and the Undead Alliance

The figure stepped forward and Harry forgot everything else. This was a version of someone Harry had seen in two other forms so far. One as a seventeen year old Hogwarts student and the other as something barely human that had tried to kill him the past two years. "You!" Harry exclaimed. "It can't be!"

"You know me?" The older version of Tom Riddle said, stepping closer.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled in place of an answer, but as Tom had said nothing came out of his wand.

As the man stepped forward, Harry moved to block Sirius' body from him. "You look familiar," Voldemort said with a questioning look in his face.

"Yeah well you did try to kill me," Harry spat back, not lowering his wand even though he knew it wouldn't help.

"If I had tried you would be dead," Voldemort said, but did look a bit confused. "Unless..." he added looking at Harry in a new light. "You're the boy!" Voldemort hissed. "The Potter boy."

"Good guess Tom," Harry spat. "Now what are you doing here?"

"Such insolence!" the evil Wizard spat. "Tom Riddle is gone, I am Lord Voldemort!"

"Yeah, Yeah I've heard this before," Harry quickly replied, still keeping himself between Tom and Sirius. "Witch mother -died, Muggle father -killed him, left in orphanage. Heir of Slytherin. Tell me something I don't know."

Harry could tell Tom had never expected a boy to talk to him like that. With a motion quicker than Harry was expecting, Tom slashed his wand up and called, 'Avada Kedavra'.

After the shock of hearing those words quickly passed, Harry said, "Doesn't work here Tom!" The man took a step forward but Harry didn't back down and saw the confusion in the evil man's eyes. He was clearly surprised that Harry didn't back down.

"What are you doing here boy?" Voldemort questioned.

Harry quickly thought about Sirius and knew he didn't have much time so he said, "I'm here to kill him."

Voldemort laughed just as coldly as Harry remembered before saying, "Kill him! How? Magic won't work here. Are you going to strangle him? Watch him as the life slowly seeps out? I don't think so. I can smell your indecision."

Harry looked at Sirius' body and thought there was no way he could kill him like that. During his lapse of attention, Voldemort had stepped up and kicked Sirius right in the cursed spot causing the man to shake violently with pain. "You can't kill him but now that I know he means something to you, I can make his stay here most... interesting," Tom said with a mad laugh.

"No!" Harry screamed, forgetting everything and lunged at the man who wasn't expecting anything so bold. One of Tom's hands connected to Harry's head but Harry's hands got through and were now around Tom's throat. He may not be able to do it to Sirius but he could do it to Tom.

Voldemort was much stronger but just as he pulled Harry's hands away, Harry heard the hiss he had heard once before and smelled the familiar disgusting smell. Voldemort was now screaming in agony and Harry saw that the skin where he touched was burnt and raw. Harry tried to seize this opportunity and grab the man again but with sudden movements, Voldemort had taken a few steps back and disappeared into the blackness still groaning in agony.

Harry was about to go after the man when he noticed the necklace begin to pulse, indicating he only had a moment before being pulled back out. Looking back at Sirius, Harry pulled off the necklace while he ran to his Godfather. Throwing himself on top of the body, Harry pulled the necklace around both of their heads just as he felt the tug.

Hermione and Ginny were sitting with Ron in his bedroom with Hermione sitting very close to Ron and Ginny sitting on the edge of Harry's bed staring at his pillow. "You don't think that Harry would really...you know..." Ron hesitantly asked.

"I don't know Ron," Hermione answered through the tears. "He's been so depressed since Sirius died.

"Whatever else is going on with him, it's got to be huge if he's gone to...," Ron added.

"Harry would NOT kill himself! I don't care what anyone says," Ginny exclaimed as if trying to convince herself. Then after a moment of silence she softly said, "I couldn't deal with it if he's gone."

"Oh Ginny," Hermione said, moving to hug her friend and knowing that they felt exactly the same. The three hadn't gotten along the same this year but Hermione just couldn't imagine a world without Harry. He was such an important part of her life and the thought that he wouldn't be there was too much to bear.

"He'll come back Ginny," Ron added, but this wasn't what Ginny wanted to hear.

"Then you can tell him how he tries to hurt us and only thinks of himself. Or maybe so you can blame everything on The Boy Who Lived," Ginny spat, and Ron was take aback at the venom in her voice.

"Ginny," Hermione softly said, "You know Ron didn't mean that."

"I know," Ginny finally admitted with an apologetic look at her brother but then added, "Harry doesn't though." That was the key to what Hermione and especially Ron were feeling. They had let their relationship with Harry become very strained this year as the two of them got closer together. Ron hadn't thought of much else other than those words to his best friend.

Kari Boslav had watched with total hopelessness as Harry; blood flowing freely from his wound, fell through the veil. She had possibly just killed someone who she now realized had become very important in her life. She hadn't planned on getting this close to Harry Potter, it just happened. He treated her better than anyone in the other houses and even better than most Slytherins. Snapping herself out of her despair, she grabbed his invisibility cloak and was just about to run when a loud bang caused the door to burst open and she stared at a sight that sent shivers up her spine; a very angry Professor Dumbledore.

"Where is Harry Miss Boslav?" Dumbledore demanded, as Professor Lupin and another woman she seen once before stepped into the chamber.

'This is it,' she thought, 'I'm going to Azkaban for the murder of The-Boy-Who-Lived.'

"Miss Boslav," the firm voice continued. "I need to know now."

Looking into those powerful eyes, she knew she had to tell. "He...He ..went...through...." she broke down at reliving the moment.

Tonks gasped and then exclaimed, "No! Harry would NOT kill himself!"

Lupin had noticed something and exclaimed, "Blood! Who's blood is this?"

Lupin was rounding on Kari with the piece of wood Harry had been stabbed with but Professor Dumbledore held him back and questioned, "Miss Boslav?"

"He begged me to!" she exclaimed, clearly terrified at the look on Professor Lupin's face and then looking at Tonks she added, "He didn't kill himself. He went to kill Sirius!"

That was obviously not at all what the three adults had expected to hear and the room turned suddenly silent. It even took Professor Dumbledore a moment to regain his thoughts before he calmly asked, "Miss Boslav please start at the beginning and tell us exactly what happened as quickly as you can."

Kari told them the whole story and as she repeated it, the enormity of what she and Harry had done began to sink in. She was totally broken down and crying as she told them about stabbing Harry before he fell through. As she said this, Lupin snapped the wood and Tonks wondered if the man would transform right before their eyes.

The Slytherin was obviously terrified of what would happen to her but Professor Dumbledore lightly put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Well it seems we have a few more minutes before Harry comes back." Tonks and Lupin looked at his calm demeanor with astonishment. "Nymphadora," he continued, "would you please escort Miss Boslav upstairs so she may floo home?"

"What?" Tonks and Lupin exclaimed as Lupin continued, "you're letting her go?"

"I'm not leaving Harry!" Kari exclaimed.

"Miss Boslav," Dumbledore calmly said, "You will return home and not mention anything about this night to anyone, is that understood?" The girl saw the seriousness in his eyes and sheepishly nodded. "Nympharoda," Dumbledore added, "please see that she gets safely into the floo and return directly."

Tonks looked like she wanted to arguer but instead turned to Kari and firmly said, "Move!" The two walked in silence until they got to the main room where the guard was still out cold where Tonks grabbed the girl's arm and turned her around. "Listen," she roughly said before releasing the girl and composing herself. In a calmer voice she continued, "You have no idea how important Harry is to our side and to me personally." Kari started to say something but Tonks cut her off, "Just listen. There are many people, including the three of us who would willingly give our lives for him." This obviously stunned the Slytherin but Tonks continued, "He seems to trust you more than he trusts us and I think you've been good for him BUT," she firmly stated, "if I think for a second that you are a risk to him I guarantee you'll never get close to him again." Tonks saw the hurt in the girl's face and added, "If you're going to keep hanging around him, help us keep him safe. He see! ms to be talking to you and that's good. Just don't let him put himself in danger. Ok?"

Kari nodded but then pleaded, "He just missed his Godfather so much. I want to know he's ok."

Tonks now nodded and said, "I know. You go home and I promise I'll let you know how he is." She leaned in closer and said, "He is the most important thing to a lot of people. Don't forget that." Tonks watched as the girl vanished in the floo and then in a run headed back to the death chamber.

"Remus," Professor Dumbledore said as the other man glared at the two women leaving the room, "I need to get medical help for Harry. I will return momentarily."

Remus nodded as the man vanished and silently hoped that Harry would not return before help arrived. Looking at the bloody piece of wood in his hands, Lupin had felt he had failed his friends again. 'I just got custody of him,' he thought as he tried to keep the emotions from welling up. Looking at the veil, Remus couldn't believe that only 7 months ago his best friend had fallen through it and now Harry had gone through apparently to kill Sirius. He knew Harry had originally felt Sirius' death was his fault but thought the boy had come to grips with the loss of his Godfather and the guilt.

He was surprised by a light touch on his shoulder. Glancing up, he saw Tonks' worried expression, but just that moment, 'pops' signaled the return of the Headmaster and along with him were two Healers with large bags.

"We should be prepared for his condition," Dumbledore calmly said as the Healers looked at each other. "Please do not ask any questions," Dumbledore said to them, "I will be in your debt for any assistance you can provide in the coming moments." One of the Healers nodded but it was obvious they didn't know why they were there.

After an agonizing couple minutes of silence, Tonks softly asked, "Do you really think he'll do it?"

"If he finds his Godfather in torment and that is the only way to relieve him....Yes he will," Dumbledore said with strained confidence.

"I can't believe he went through and saw James," Lupin said, shaking his head at the thought.

"Remus," Dumbledore cautioned with a slight look at the Healers who were trying to listen to the conversation.

A slight twitch of the veil made everyone snap to attention and with a shudder, the veil floated up as a lump of robes slid across the floor leaving a trail of blood behind. "Harry!" Lupin exclaimed, but Dumbledore held him back as the two Healers stepped up.

One of the Healers gave a gasp as she pulled the lump onto his back. "Sirius?" Lupin now questioned as he struggled to keep his balance. He then looked at Harry and asked, "Will he...they be alright?"

The Healer looked at Professor Dumbledore sharply but the Headmaster said, "It seems I was fortunate to bring you both. They are of the utmost importance to me. No one can know." The two Healers nodded then Dumbledore asked, "Their condition?"

"They both seem to have the same injuries, but the boy's seem fresher...."

"The same? But Sir....," Tonks exclaimed.

"Nymphadora," Dumbledore cautioned. "Continue," he said to the Healer that was still trying to figure out what happened.

"He should make a full recovery." The Healer looked at Harry then said, "Mr. Po...the boy's puncture wound is worse but nothing difficult to fix. The curse didn't do as much damage to him."

"Please see to them. I will collect them both very soon," Dumbledore said, as the Healers produced portkeys and vanished with Sirius and Harry.

"That...." the Headmaster softly said after a moment of silence, "was most unexpected."

"I told you Harry wouldn't run," Tonks said still looking at the veil, and then noticed Remus just staring at the spot the two had vanished from. "Remus?" she softly asked.

Lupin looked between the two, the veil and then back to the bloody piece of wood in his hands before saying, "I don't think I can take much more of this. I can't lose him again."

Tonks hugged the man who now looked frailer than she could ever remember. The three stood around in silence until Dumbledore said, "We should leave before the guard wakes up. I must ask Harry exactly what he gave the man, they could be very useful." After shaking his head, he continued, "Nymphadora, would you return to headquarters and make sure no one else finds out anything about the events of this evening. Not a word of this to anyone."

She nodded and then said, "They're going to be ok Remus. He's back." With that she vanished.

"Remus," Dumbledore said, eyeing the man with a concerned look. "Could you please inform the Weasley's that Harry will be fine. Please impress on them that they are not to discuss any of this with anyone. Not even other Order members." Lupin didn't answer for a moment so Dumbledore said, "Harry will be fine and Sirius is back. As much...stress as he placed on us this is a wonderful Christmas present."

Lupin looked up and tried to give a slight smile before apparating to the Burrow.

The students were still in the bedroom when they heard their mother demand to know about Harry so they all barreled down the stairs coming to stop at the vision of an obviously bothered Professor Lupin. The man was looking blankly at the faces in the room and seemed to be holding onto the table for support. This instantly gave the others the worst impression, causing Mrs. Weasley and Hermione to start crying.

"Did you find him Remus?" Arthur asked as calmly as possible, fearing the worst.

"Um...yes..yes we found him," Lupin stumbled, finally getting the words out.

"Sit down Remus," Bill suggested, and Remus took the closest seat.

"Professor," Hermione asked, "Did he...is ..." the girl broke down at this point.

Lupin looked at the distraught faces and realized that his behavior was making things worse but had a hard time composing himself. "No Hermione... He's...They're going to be fine," he finally got out.

"Oh bless Merlin," Molly exclaimed as she let out the breath she was holding. "Where's the poor boy at?"

"You said 'they're going to be fine' who else go hurt?" Ginny demanded.

"Oh no," Hermione said. "Who did he drag with him?"

This was the wrong thing to say with Ginny around as the younger girl exploded, "Drag! Harry doesn't 'drag' people. If you'll remember he told us all to stay last year."

"Ginny," Bill said putting a hand on her shoulder... "Remus, who else was hurt?"

Remus caught each of their eyes and then, pulled himself together and calmly said, "No one else was hurt." They started to question this but he shook his head, took a deep breath and continued, "Harry and Sirius are going to be fine. Harry went into the veil and brought Sirius back."

The silence seemed to stretch on as each person had the oddest look on their faces. It wasn't until Hermione exclaimed, "That's impossible! Sirius died! I told Harry all year that he was dead."

Ginny glared at the other girl but Professor Lupin said with the annoyance clear in his voice, "I for one am glad that Harry decided to listen to himself because Sirius is in critical condition but very much alive."

"Oh Professor," Ginny exclaimed, as she hugged the man.

Hermione felt the coldness in her former Professor's voice and the gravity of what happened hit, causing her to nearly pass out right there. She had threatened to tell Professor Dumbledore that Harry kept thinking about the veil and all the time Harry was right.

"Remus, what happened?" Molly asked, still seeming to be in shock.

"No one is to know of this, do you all understand?" Remus asked and they all nodded. "You cannot even discuss this with other members of the Order," he stressed and they saw he was very serious.

Remus went on to tell them only the part about Harry coming out of the veil with Sirius clutched to his chest. He also told them they suspected Harry stabbed himself with the wood and that was how he got hurt.

"What if he was wrong? He would have died!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yes," Remus said, finding himself agreeing with Hermione, "but Harry felt very strongly about this and he was willing to do anything..." Remus looked at Bill whom Harry had stunned to make his escape, "to see Sirius."

"I guess I won't make him suffer too much," Bill said, squeezing Ginny's shoulder.

"But how could he think he could bring Sirius back? That's just so far out there?" Ron asked, finally speaking up. Everyone seemed to agree this was a good question.

"Well..." Remus began, not wanting to give all the information, "we don't think he originally planned on bringing Sirius back. The plan was to talk to Sirius but that wasn't possible. We're not sure how he brought Sirius back since we haven't been able to talk to him yet."

There were small conversations when Hermione firmly asked, "He wasn't alone was he? Someone helped him. The person he met in the Leaky Cauldron."

Lupin, while amazed at Hermione's mind sighed at having to get into this. "Yes. Harry and a friend planned to go in together to see lost relatives..." he went on to tell them what he knew without revealing who his friend was.

"It was that Slytherin wasn't it?" Ginny said with disgust. "She talked him into this, didn't she?"

"I can't say who went with him but Harry went into the veil by himself two times and came out with Sirius. We'll find out more when Harry comes around," Lupin said.

The three were up in Ron's room sometime later still trying to digest what had happened. "Oh Ron, this is terrible," Hermione finally exclaimed.

"Terrible?" Ron questioned. "Hermione, Harry's going to be ok and Sirius is back. What's terrible about that?"

"Don't you see Ron?" Hermione replied. "He didn't need us. And he didn't trust us enough to tell us what he was going to do," she said sounding very sad. "At least one of us has been there for everything he's done. We've always been there to help. I should have known that us getting together would push him away."

"We'll be there next time Hermione," Ron said, trying to comfort his girlfriend.

"Right," Ginny snorted, causing them both to glare at her. "Hermione threatened to tell on him every time he brought up the veil."

"But..." Hermione tried to talk but Ginny continued, "And you Ron. You accused him of purposely hiding in the castle knowing Dementors were going to attack Hogsmeade. You know Harry feels guilty about everything that happens and you just rubbed that in. Do you really think he'll just forget all that and let you back in on everything? No way."

Ginny just shook her head and left, leaving Ron and Hermione to let her words sink in and realize the younger girl was probably right.

Harry woke to a familiar smell and groaned, "Not the hospital wing."

"Well I'm sorry my company is not on your list of favorites Mr. Potter," Madame Pomfrey said, stepping next to him. "I would appreciate a break from your business at least during the holidays." The woman waved her wand over Harry for a moment without saying anything. "The Headmaster will want to know you've come around," she added, turning to go to her office.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," Professor Dumbledore said, much sooner than Harry had expected the man to arrive.

"How's Sirius?" Harry quickly asked, "Is he ok?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly and nodded his head. "Sirius will be fine Harry. He is recuperating at a secure location." Harry visibly relaxed at this and a bright smile crossed his face. "Now that is something I haven't seen in a while," Dumbledore teased.

"Kari!" Harry exclaimed suddenly remembering her, "It was my idea. She shouldn't be in any trouble. I'll tell the Ministry it was my fault."

"Harry," Dumbledore said, raising his hands, "Miss Boslav is safely at home and the Ministry need not know what happened." After studying him for a moment, Dumbledore said, "Would you mind telling me exactly what happened from the time you stunned Mr. Weasley until you exited the veil?"

Harry grimaced at being reminded that he stunned Bill Weasley but began telling the story until Dumbledore interrupted him. "And what was it you gave the guard at the Ministry?"

Harry hadn't told Dumbledore that it was him who drugged the guard. "Sleeping Snacks sir," Harry sheepishly said. "The twins didn't know what they were for. They thought I would use them on Snape."

"Professor Snape Harry," Dumbledore said with a bright twinkle. "Please continue."

Dumbledore let Harry finish telling most of the story without stopping him up until the part about Tom Riddle being in the Veil. "Are you sure it was Tom?" Dumbledore questioned, suddenly very alert.

"I'm sure," Harry said with hate in his voice, "He was older than he was in the diary but it was the same person." "How is he there and still here?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore now looked worried and sighed, "I have no idea....Please continue."

When Harry told of how his touch hurt Tom like it had Professor Quirrell, Dumbledore looked quite pleased. "What?" Harry asked. "What does that mean?"

"Well, that version of Tom is obviously before he used your blood to regain a body," Dumbledore said as he was thinking. He studied Harry hard and then said, "Harry, this is something that only myself and Professor Snape know about and I want you to repeat it to no one." Harry nodded. "There was a large death eater attack planned for early Christmas morning. Professor Snape was in his presence when suddenly Voldemort became very distressed and grabbed his throat. Professor Snape said the skin seemed to be burning. A Death Eater kidnapped a healer and the rest of his supporters were sent away."

"Do you think it was because of what happened in the veil?" Harry asked, now very excited since Voldemort was hurt.

"I believe it is too much of a coincidence to not be related," Dumbledore said. "This is something I will have to think on...Please finish your story."

At the end of the story Harry said, "And then I got the necklace around us both just before being pulled back." Harry turned and again felt bandages higher up than he expected. "How did this happen?" he asked, pointing to his upper torso. "The wood went lower."

"I've heard stories long ago," Dumbledore said, "that other people have attempted to bring someone back from the veil but they died each time of the same thing that killed the person they tried to bring back. My guess is that both of your injuries transferred to each other when you came through with Sirius but since Sirius wasn't completely dead, and you both had immediate care they could be healed."

Harry hadn't thought of that and felt very lucky to still be alive. "Now about the fact you ran off to do this in the first place," Dumbledore said, and Harry dreaded what punishment he would face. "I am extremely disappointed you took such a risk with your life knowing how much we all depend on you. I was not as young as you when I realized Grindewald would be my responsibility but I do understand how you feel. You feel everything is planned out and you have no control." Dumbledore paused as Harry looked up with some understanding. "You DO have the control," he continued, "you chose, in this case to risk your life and all that would mean to the wizarding world for the chance at speaking to Sirius again." Hearing it like this made Harry think how selfish he had been.

"I would not have advised that route but know from personal experience that the uncertainty of not making the choice you did can weigh heavily on one," Dumbledore said looking down at the floor. Harry wondered how many people have died that the old man thought he could have prevented and shuddered. "Nevertheless, you did have a choice and you made it. This time things worked out better than even you imagined. That won't always be the case. Please remember what your friends and many in the wizarding world will go through if you had not come back."

There was silence for a minute and then Harry asked, "Sir, will I be going back to the Burrow for the rest of the holidays?" Harry dreaded seeing them after what he put them through.

Dumbledore's mouth twitched as he said, "After stunning Bill and the worry you caused Molly, only Professor Snape would suggest sending you back. You will stay here... And out of trouble...Please do not send any owls..." Dumbledore was just about to the door when he turned and said, "Do not mention what happened to anyone, except for myself, Nymphadora and Remus. Not until I understand better what happened." Harry nodded

Harry was up a day later and as he sat on the steps staring off towards the forest, he heard, "I should hex you for disturbing my Christmas Eve."

"Tonks," Harry exclaimed brightly. "Have you seen him? Does he look ok?"

"I've seen him," She said, sitting next to him. "He'll be fine. Remus is there now telling him everything we know."

Harry smiled brightly feeling very content but Tonks continued, "I had a little talk with the Slytherin."

"You what?" Harry snapped staring at her.

"Relax," she quickly added, "As much as I wanted to curse her for helping you get into that situation, I couldn't. You two aren't going to make a habit of things like this are you?" Tonks looked at him closely.

"No," Harry defiantly said, "but I'd do it all over again."

Tonks shook her head. "That's what I'm afraid of." After a second she added, "So you two find a favorite snogging spot?"

"We haven't... we're not....I mean..." Harry stumbled, trying to figure out what he and Kari were now. He had asked her to the Ball and she did kiss him but the moment was definitely weird.

Tonks smiled at his discomfort and said, "C'mon let's go inside and practice."

Harry's eyes got huge at this comment. Tonks realized what he thought and laughed, saying, "Forgot where teenage boys minds are. Let's go practice shields." Harry let out the breath he was holding but immediately started to blush. "But maybe this would be a good time to let you in on some secrets that'll light up her wand," she added, pulling a thoroughly embarrassed Harry through the doors.

The novelty of having the school mostly to himself soon wore off and Harry was getting bored. Every time he had asked Professor Dumbledore when he could see Sirius, the Headmaster had just said, "Soon".

Harry was just about to the point of sneaking to Hogsmeade and flooing to Grimmauld Place since that is where he thought Sirius was but Dumbledore's talk about choices did sink in a little and he knew that he should be more careful.

One morning there was a note on his nightstand when woke up:

Hagrid's Hut 9:00

Harry brightened. 'It has to be Sirius', he thought. Finally, Harry sprinted down to the gamekeeper's hut. When the door opened after he knocked, Harry was looking not at Sirius, but Professor Lupin. "Hello Harry," Remus said, not looking very happy.

"Hello Pro..Remus," Harry corrected confused at the man's expression. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just stepping out for a minute," Remus said as he stepped around Harry. "He's all yours Padfoot," he added once past Harry.

Harry turned and looked at his Godfather standing in the middle of the room. "Sirius!" Harry exclaimed running to hug the man he had thought was dead. "I'm so sorry," Harry said, the emotions flooding him. "It's all my fault you were hurt."

Sirius hugged his Godson, trying to hold his own emotions in check. "It wasn't your fault Harry. I never blamed you." It was silent for a moment until Sirius asked, "Are you fully healed? No problems?"

Harry stepped back with a huge grin on his face and said, "Nah, I'm fine!" Seeing the expression on his Godfather change he asked, "What's wrong?"

Sirius took a step back and then roared, "What the hell did you think you were doing? Do you have any idea how stupid it was to come after me? Do you?" Harry; too shocked to say anything just stood there. "Well I'll tell you how stupid it was. What would have happened if you had died or got stuck in there with me? You can't risk yourself like that."

"Yeah well you should have stayed at the house instead of playing around with Bellatrix and then I wouldn't have had to. I'm almost and adult and I'll do what I want," Harry roared back, ignoring how much bigger Sirius was than him.

Sirius' face twitched almost between rage and humor until he finally said, "Well just don't do it again. You've got more important things to do."

"Fine, don't go dieing again," Harry coldly replied.

After a moment of silence, the two embraced again and Harry said, "I missed you so much."

"Me too Harry," Sirius said, and then stood back and shook his head. "I can't believe you weren't even a little scared of me. I thought I did the 'Angry Godfather' thing pretty good."

Harry laughed and then said, "You don't have anything on Voldemort."

Sirius stiffened at this but Harry laughed and said, "Joke... Sirius, c'mon."

Lupin came back after a bit and the three sat around talking until late that evening. When Harry was about to leave Sirius said, "I want to meet this Slytherin that stabbed you."

"Not if you're going to yell at her you're not," Harry firmly said.

"I think I've lost all control over the boy Moony," Sirius said.

"When have any of us had control over him?" Lupin replied.

The next day Harry was sitting on the steps when Snuffles came walking by and then headed to Hagrid's hut. "I guess you want me to follow you?" Harry asked. "Who's supposed to be the dog here?"

Once inside Harry said, "I didn't think I'd see you so soon."

"Well, how would you like to come to an Order meeting tonight?" Sirius said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Really? But does everyone know you're back?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Not yet," Sirius said mischievously.

Harry and Sirius portkeyed to Grimmauld Place early so they could be out of sight when the meeting started. Harry noticed that the housed didn't seem quite so dark anymore. Now the thought of staying there had suddenly become appealing. "There're a lot of people here," Harry said, noticing how many unfamiliar faces he saw.

"Well it IS my welcome home party," Sirius joked.

The two listened through the beginning of the meeting with Sirius becoming impatient and mouthing 'Blah...Blah...Blah"

"Now, onto some very interesting information," Dumbledore said, causing Harry and Sirius to pay attention. "There were two incidents early Christmas morning that are worth noting." Harry wished he could see the twinkle in Dumbledore's eye telling the story.

"First, we were unaware that Voldemort was about to carry out a large attack until suffering extreme personal discomfort causing him to cancel the attack," Dumbledore said, causing mummers in the group. "He had to kidnap a Healer and our sources say he is only now recovered. The greatest benefit to us in addition to the cancelled attack was that many Death Eaters saw this happen and it should reinforce any seeds of doubt they have."

"Do you know what caused this?" a female witch Harry didn't know asked.

"I have my suspicions," Dumbledore said, drawing a confused look from Professor Snape. "Now, before I tell you the truly outstanding information, I would like to invite one other person to join the meeting. Harry, could you come out here," Dumbledore said surprising Harry. Sirius pushed him in the back to get him going.

"What is HE doing here?" Snape spat as Harry appeared around the corner.

"Albus, you know how I feel about this," Molly Weasley said, and then turned to Harry and softly said, "I'm so glad you're alright dear. We were so worried about you."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley. I hate that I made you worry about me," Harry said, feeling very guilty about what he had put her through.

"I understand dear," she said, wiping a tear. "I didn't think anyone other than the twins could make me worry so much."

The twins looked at each other and then to their mother. They had only been told that Harry needed to return to the castle but knew something else was being kept from them. "Know what this means," Fred started.

"We'll have to try harder," George added as he smiled at his mother.

"Now onto the other thing that happened early that morning," Dumbledore added, causing Snape to look even more confused. "It seems that since the Battle at the Ministry, Harry has understandably been doing a lot of thinking about the Afterworld Veil." There were pained expressions on every face as they looked at Harry except for the glare from his Potions Professor. "Early in the morning, Harry made his way to the Ministry of Magic and into the Chamber of Death."

"He what?" Snape spat out.

"Severus," Dumbledore cautioned, but Harry could tell Snape was furious.

Harry also noted that many of the other members looked like they were angry at him as well. 'Worried about their tool,' Harry bitterly thought.

"Harry decided he wanted to try and speak with his Godfather," Dumbledore continued and Harry could tell the old man loved stringing the rest along with his story, "so he stepped through the veil to attempt just that."

"That's impossible! He's still alive," a petite witch exclaimed over the other talking.

"I assure you he did enter the veil," Dumbledore calmly said.

"How can you be sure?" Snape said, standing up and stepping toward Harry. "He's made up stories before. He's just an attention seeking child who needs to be in the limelight. I for one do not believe his made up story. How can the rest of you be sure?" Snape spat, causing mumbling between the other members but Professor Dumbledore smiled slightly.

Just then there was a gasp from one side of the table and a voice announced, "They can be sure because I'm back!" Sirius said, stepping up and landing a wicked punch to Snape's face, causing the man to tumble back over a chair and land with a solid 'thud' on the hard surface. "If you ever talk about Harry that way again, there will be something to send me to Azkaban for!"

It was chaos for the next several minutes with most people not believing this was the real Sirius Black and the others not exactly sure how to act. It took the assurances of Remus and Tonks before many of the attendees believed the story. Professor Snape sat on the floor just staring up at the man. Harry almost, but not quite felt sorry for his Professor.

When Professor Snape finally got up, he and Professor Dumbledore moved into the next room and Harry wished he had some Extendable Ears to pick up what they were saying. A grand laugh from Sirius brought his attention back to his Godfather. Sirius was talking to a group of people and smiling brightly. "You've given me a present I'll never be able to repay," Lupin said, appearing next to Harry.

"He looks pretty happy," Harry replied with his own smile, realizing he had rarely seen Sirius look truly happy before. The two continued to laugh at Sirius' antics.

Alastor Moody clunked over a few minutes later and said, "Do you have a lick of common sense in that head of yours?" Harry couldn't tell if the man was joking or not. "What were you thinking?" Harry was just about ready to go off on the man but he continued, "If I label something 'Very Risk', it means 'Very Risky'. If that would have failed, you're arm could have been blown clean off." Moody shook his head and mumbled, "Bloody foolish if you ask me." Harry just stood their stunned that Moody had been talking about his duel with Professor Snape. "Keep reading boy," Moody added, before heading back to the group of people around Sirius.

"Listen Harry," Remus said after watching Moody leave, "I'm very happy that he's back but you do realize what you risked by going after him don't you?"

Harry sighed, "I know Remus. I was pretty sure I'd come back the first time and then just couldn't stand to think of him suffering for eternity. It was stupid, I should have thought of everybody else, I know."

"That may be," the calm voice of Professor Dumbledore said. Neither Harry nor Remus had noticed the man next to them. "But Sirius is back with us and we have some vital information that we didn't have before." The man eyed Harry over his spectacles and said, "May I speak with you for a moment Harry?"