A/N ~Here’s the next chapter. I’m really sorry it took so long to get up, but I’ve been really busy with school and the holidays and stuff. Anyways, I really hope you all like it!!! This is the chapter where the points of view start to interact. It happened in the last chapter a little bit when Ginny and Ron were together, but this one is bringing all four POV’s together. Again, hope everyone likes it! Oh yeah, I should probably warn you that this is a REALLY long chapter. Enjoy!!!~
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Harry got up and looked out of the window. “It’s Kingsley Shacklebolt and Professor Lupin,” he said to Sirius.
“You know Harry, you don’t have to call him ‘Professor’ anymore. He’s not your teacher,” Sirius said thoughtfully. “You know-“
“Sirius, this is no time for a lecture. What am I going to do?” Harry asked anxiously.
“Well, if I were you, I would Apparate somewhere else,” Sirius said.
Harry looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face. “Sirius, why in the world would I do that? It’s not like I can just leave you here with them.”
“Well, you would Apparate somewhere else, and then Apparate back here. Then they wouldn’t know that you were already here, and it would be much less of a shock. Think about it, it would be much easier for them to see you coming after they are already here.”
“I guess so,” Harry said, and he Disapparated, leaving Sirius alone.
A few minutes later, Sirius heard a knock on the door downstairs, after Kingsley and Remus had already come in. He heard either Lupin or Kingsley walk over to it, and open it up. Then, he heard, “Harry!” in Lupin’s voice. And then, he heard Harry say, “Hello Professor Lupin.” Sirius smiled to himself; this was going to be a very interesting conversation.
“Very nice to see you Harry, but what are you doing here?” Lupin asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be going to the Burrow tomorrow for your birthday?”
“Yeah, but how did you know about that?” Harry asked rather rudely.
“Molly in invited me to come too, along with Kingsley, Mad-Eye, and Tonks,” Lupin answered him.
“Oh, hi Kingsley,” Harry said, pretending to just realize he was there.
“Hi Harry,” Kingsley replied in his deep voice. “Is something wrong? You look a bit nervous.”
“Oh no, nothing wrong,” Harry said a bit too quickly. “There’s just something I really have to tell you. I probably look nervous because, well, I’m afraid you won’t believe me,” Harry admitted.
“Well of course we’ll believe you. Why wouldn’t we?” Lupin asked concernedly.
“It’s just that it’s so far fetched and unbelievable that I didn’t believe it at first either, and I had it coming to me first hand,” Harry rambled. “I mean, he was standing right in front of me.”
“Harry, what are you talking about? Who was standing right in front of you?” Kingsley asked.
Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Sirius.” When he opened his eyes, both men were looking at him as if he were crazy. “See? I said you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Harry, are you sure you’re feeling okay? Are you having hallucinations?” Lupin asked, looking very concerned for Harry’s sanity.
“NO!” Harry yelled at them. “He’s upstairs right now, and I can show you.”
“Alright then, show us,” Lupin said, playing along.
“Wait a second,” Kingsley said suspiciously, “what if it was a Death Eater in disguise?”
“I thought of that too,” Harry replied. “I asked Sirius, ‘How do I know that you’re not a Death Eater?’ And he looked around my room, and gave the evidence that he knew he had given me my Firebolt. And then he pointed out the fact that a Death Eater would need his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion anyways. Now follow me,” Harry finished. Lupin and Kingsley looked at each other, and Kingsley just shrugged. They got up and followed Harry up the stairs.
Harry led them up the stairs and down some hallways, and they came to the door of Buckbeak’s old room. Harry reached out to turn the door handle, but it was turning by itself. Harry stood back as Lupin and Kinsley watched in amazement. The door opened, and there stood a beaming Sirius Black.
“Remus!” he exclaimed, and he threw his arms around him. Lupin just stood there with his mouth hanging open, still as a board. Sirius let go of him, and said, “Shacklebolt, long time no see.” He grabbed Kingsley’s hand, and forced it to shake.
“S-Sirius?” Lupin asked in an awed whisper. “Is it really you? I’m not going insane or having hallucinations or-“
“No, you’re perfectly fine,” Sirius said.
“I told you they wouldn’t believe me,” Harry interrupted matter-of-factly.
“And I never doubted that for a second,” Sirius replied, smiling broadly.
Lupin started laughing joyously, and shouting, ”HE’S NOT DEAD! HE’S ALIVE! HE’S REALLY NOT DEAD!”
Sirius laughed, and said, “No, by all means, I am not dead.”
Then Lupin stopped, and said, “Why not?”
“Why am I not dead?” Sirius asked, making sure he understood. Lupin nodded. “Very interesting little account actually, and I was just telling Harry when you two came.”
“Wait, if you were with Harry, and Harry just came a few minutes ago, how were you already here?” Kingsley asked. (He was very observant that day apparently.)
“Oh, I told Harry to go somewhere else and come back so it wouldn’t be so much of a shock to you. It would have been weird if he was already here when you came,” Sirius explained.
“Who’s up for some early dinner?” Lupin asked beaming.
The other three agreed, so they all went downstairs, happier than any of them had been for a long, long time.
* * *
A couple of hours later, Ginny heard a loud “CRACK” downstairs, meaning that someone was home. Then she heard her stomach rumble, and she looked down at it in surprise. “Wow. I’m hungry,” she said aloud to herself, pointing out the obvious. She decided that since she wasn’t getting anywhere with her planning, she might as well get some food to settle her stomach.
She walked downstairs to find Fleur and her mother talking happily. Ginny found it annoying that they had gotten much friendlier towards each other ever since Bill’s attack. She cleared her throat to announce her arrival. Both women looked at her surprised.
“Hello dear,” Mrs. Weasley said happily. “What have you been up to all day?”
“Nothing. Why does everyone care so much?” Ginny snapped grumpily as she pulled up a chair and sat down.
Mrs. Weasley raised her eyebrows. “Because you’ve been up in that room of yours all day, and you haven’t once come down for food. You’re a growing girl, and you need your nutrition.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, young lady!” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed angrily. “I am not particularly fond of your attitude right now.”
“Well, I’m not particularly fond of everyone sticking their overly large noses in my business,” Ginny snapped. (Ginny obviously didn’t know, but the ‘overly large noses in other people’s business’ statement was much like what the Marauders Map had said to Snape five years previously.) She got up without looking at either Fleur or her mother, and left the room deciding that she would sneak down for some food later.
She stomped up to her room and slammed the door. She went and sat moodily on her bed, crossing her arms and glaring out of the window. Then a war started in Ginny’s head. It went something like this:
“Why am I so mad all of a sudden? Maybe I was too hard on Mum.”
“No you were not! They don’t have to know what you’re doing every second of every day!”
“But she was probably just being a little overly-protective.”
“No, she was being flat-out nosy.”
“But it was a good sort of nosy. She was being protective.”
“No sort of nosy is good. It’s just nosy!”
“Maybe I should go down and apologize.”
“No!”
“Why not?”
“Because you didn’t do anything!”
Ginny was becoming more and more frustrated with herself. She didn’t want to be so mean to her mother, but she didn’t want to be treated like a three-year-old who has to be watched every second. She decided that maybe some sleep would do her good.
“Maybe my dreams will give me an idea about what to do when the others find out I’m going to Godric’s Hollow,” Ginny thought to herself. “Probably not,” she thought again realistically.
* * *
The next morning, Ron woke to his mother screaming. He opened one eye curiously, but immediately shut it again because the sunlight from his window was blinding. Ron groaned. He thought that he should probably go down and help his mother with whatever had made her scream.
Ron sat up, and jumped in surprise. There was a large lump on his floor, and he couldn’t remember what it was. Then he realized that it was Neville, and he groaned again. He stood up, stepped over Neville, and walked out of his room. As he got near the stairs he heard, “I’m really sorry Mrs. Weasley. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”
“Oh, of course it’s all right, Harry dear and happy birthday! Now sit down, and I’ll make you some eggs benedict for breakfast.”
“That sounds great!”
Ron jumped down the stairs, and ran into the kitchen to find his mother at the stove, and his best friend at the table. “Harry! Happy birthday, mate!” he exclaimed.
Harry looked at Ron, and stifled a laugh. Ron’s hair was an absolute mess, his eyes looked sort of droopy, and he only had pajama bottoms on. “Thanks, Ron,” he said cheerfully. “Hungry?”
“Of course I’m hungry,” Ron said, almost sounding offended. “Since when do you ask stupid questions?” he added jokingly.
“Since your hair started looking like that,” Harry replied, this time not being able to hold back the laugh.
“Oh, shut up Harry, I just got up,” Ron said, trying to vigorously flatten his hair, but failing.
“Breakfast’s ready,” Mrs. Weasley announced, handing both boys large plates of eggs benedict, toast with marmalade, sausage links, and pancakes.
“Thanks, Mrs. Weasley,” Harry said.
“Yeah, thanks Mum. This looks so good,” Ron said, looking longingly at his food.
“Oh, you’re welcome boys. Now dig in before it gets cold,” Mrs. Weasley replied.
As both boys began to eat, Harry thought it was a good time to mention that he was bringing someone by later. Ron asked, “Who?” through a mouthful of eggs, and Harry replied, “I’ll let it be a surprise. It’s a good surprise,” he added.
When they were finished, which wasn’t very long considering the amount of food they had consumed, Ron said that Neville was upstairs.
“Why is he here?” Harry asked curiously.
“He says his grandmother’s gone missing. I bet she went on vacation or something, and Neville just forgot. But of course, I didn’t exactly say that to Neville,” Ron said.
“I don’t know, Ron. That’s kind of a big thing to forget. Even Neville couldn’t possibly forget that, could he?” Harry asked, looking doubtful.
Ron shrugged. “You never know.”
As the boys started walking up to Ron’s room, Harry added, “And besides, these days, she might have been taken by a Death Eater or something.”
Ron looked at Harry disbelievingly and said, “Why would a Death Eater want her?”
“I don’t know. But you’ve got to admit, it’s possible,” Harry replied.
“Yeah, I guess,” Ron said, though still unconvinced. He slowly opened the door to his room, and saw that Neville was still sleeping. “Should I wake him?” he whispered to Harry.
“Go ahead,” Harry whispered back. Ron knelt down and started shaking Neville saying, “Neville, time to wake up!”
“Please Gran, just five more minutes,” a very groggy Neville replied, not even half awake. At the mention of his grandmother, even though it was by himself, he shot up. Ron jumped back in surprise.
“Gran! She’s still missing!” he exclaimed. Then noticing Harry, he said, “Harry! When did you get here?”
“About an hour ago,” Harry answered.
Neville stood up, stretched, and announced to the room, “I’m hungry.”
“C’mon Neville, Mum will make you something to eat,” Ron said leading the way downstairs, with Harry and Neville following closely behind.
* * *
“Ella, wake up! We have to go,” Hermione said while trying to shake Ella awake.
“Ella sat up and mumbled through a yawn, “Go where?”
“To the Burrow,” Hermione replied. “Remember?” Then Hermione smiled as she got an idea, “Harry will be there…”
“Oh, let’s hurry,” Ella said, suddenly jumping up and seemingly wide awake. This made Hermione laugh.
“Let’s go downstairs and eat breakfast, and then we can get ready to go,” Hermione said.
Ella practically ran downstairs, and she jumped right into her chair. “I’ll have cereal please,” she said.
“Okay. That’s an easy request,” Mrs. Granger replied, getting out the bowl, spoon, cereal, and milk.
Hermione calmly sat down next to Ella, and asked to have cereal also. Both girls ate rather quickly, and ran upstairs to get ready to leave. They got dressed, threw on a little makeup, did their hair, and were, amazingly, ready to leave in about ten minutes.
“Okay. Let’s go,” Ella said anxiously. She grabbed Hermione’s trunk, and the two girls Apparated to the Burrow.
When they got there, they found Harry, Ron, and Neville sitting at the table. Harry and Ron were talking while Neville ate. Ella froze and said in awed voice, “Oh my gosh, Hermione, it’s him.”
“Yes, it is,” Hermione replied. Then she said to the boys, “Hi guys! There’s someone I’d like you to meet: this is Ella.” Then Hermione turned back to Ella and said, “Ella, this is Ron Weasley.” Ron stuck out his hand, blushing, and Ella shook it, smiling. “This is Harry Potter, but I think you know that already,” Hermione went on, laughing at Ella’s beaming face. Harry stuck out his hand, smiling, and Ella shook it, blushing.
“Oh, hi Neville!” Hermione exclaimed, noticing that he was there too. She turned to Ella and said, “Ella, this is Neville Longbottom.” Ella and Neville shook hands.
“How did you two meet?” Harry asked.
Both girls glanced at each other, and Hermione nodded. “Well,” Ella said, “it’s kind of a complicated story actually. Um, Hermione?”
“Okay. I’ll cut straight to the point because I know you’ll find out somehow anyways,” Hermione said. “Look, Ella is, well, okay I’ll just tell you.” Hermione took a deep breath and said, “Ella is… my twin sister.”
All three boys stared at Hermione for a few seconds, and then Ron burst out laughing. “Very funny Hermione. Now really, where did you guys meet?”
“First of all,” Ella said forcefully, “we’re girls, not guys. And second of all, nothing is funny. I really am her twin sister.”
Ron looked from Ella to Hermione in disbelief, and then said, “Seriously? You’re twins?”
“Yes Ronald,” Hermione said, sounding impatient. “Okay, maybe I should tell you the whole story. Firstly, I’m not muggle-born.”
Harry’s mouth dropped open, Ron looked a bit dazed, and Neville’s eyes got wider than they had ever been before. Hermione felt it was best to wait a few seconds to let her words sink in.
“I was adopted by my parents. Well not my real parents, but the only parents I’ve ever known,” Hermione went on. “My, or I guess I should say ‘our’ parents, were murdered by Voldemort and Death Eat- Oh, will you give it up Ron!” she broke off. Ron had flinched violently when Hermione said ‘Voldemort’. Neville had also flinched mildly, but not nearly as bad as Ron had.
“Anyways, they were murdered right after they dropped us off at the orphanage. One family wanted Ella, and the Granger’s wanted me. So, any questions?” Hermione finished, smiling.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Ron asked stupidly.
“Yes, Ronald, I am serious, but that wasn’t quite the question I was referring to,” Hermione replied.
“Well then, yeah, I have a whole bunch of questions!” Ron exclaimed. “When did you find all this out? Why is Ella just now showing up? Why-“
“You know,” Ella said, “I am standing right here. You could ask me why I’m just now showing up.”
“Oh yeah,” Ron said, looking at Ella as if he had just realized she was there. “Why are you just now showing up?”
“Because my parents are, they’re, they were,” Ella tried to say. She stopped, took a deep breath, and said, “They were murdered by Voldemort.” (Of course, Ron flinched again at the sound of ‘Voldemort’.)
“I’m really sorry,” Harry said, speaking for the first time since finding out that Hermione had a twin sister.
“Thanks Harry,” Ella said, trying to smile at him. “Anyways, that’s why I’m ‘just now showing up’. I tried to find Hermione, because unlike her, I knew I had a twin sister. My parents told me.”
“Wow,” Neville mumbled.
“When did you find out, Hermione?’ Ron asked.
“Yesterday, actually,” Hermione said. “And believe me, I was quite shocked.”
“Quite shocked? You were a bit more than quite shocked, Hermione. You should have seen your face,” Ella said, smiling at Hermione.
“Okay fine, I was really shocked. But you would have been too,” Hermione replied, defending herself.
“Um, excuse me?” Harry said. Everyone looked at him and saw that he looked a bit nervous, and Ron pointed that fact out for everyone:
“Harry, mate, you look a bit peaky.”
“Yeah, well I have someone for you to, um, meet,” Harry said, wondering if that was the right way to word it.
“Okay,” Ron said. “Where are they?”
“I’ll go get him,” Harry said, and with a loud CRACK, he was gone.
“Wonder who it is,” Ron mumbled.
“Done!” Neville announced suddenly, handing Ron his empty plate.
“Um, thanks,” Ron said, putting the plate in the sink.
“You’re welcome,” Neville said, smiling.
Just then, Harry walked in the door. “That was quick,” Ron said.
“Yeah,” Harry replied absentmindedly. “Okay, he’s outside. But I should warn you all that this is going to come as a shock. A major shock. Good thing Mrs. Weasley left or she might have a heart attack,” Harry added. “Where’s Ginny? Maybe she should come out too. It might lessen the shock if she’s with people or something or-“
“Oh stop stalling, mate! Ginny can come later,” Ron said.
“But Harry,” Hermione said, “why would it be a shock if we’re just meeting him?”
“You’ll see,” Harry replied. “Just follow me.” Harry led them out to the shed in which he talked with Dumbledore almost exactly a year before. He stopped right in front of it and turned to the others, saying, “Ready?” Everyone nodded curiously. Harry pushed open the door… to reveal a large black dog. Hermione and Ron froze. Hermione started to say, “He looks uncannily like…” but her voice trailed off. Neville and Ella just looked at the dog curiously.
“Meet Snuffles,” Harry said, wondering how the others, particularly Ron and Hermione, would take this.
“Oh, I get it!” Ron said excitedly. “You got a dog that looks like him, and so you named it after him too. Very cool, mate.”
“No Ron,” Harry said. He took a deep breath and said, “I didn’t name the dog after him, it IS him.” Harry looked at Ron, and then at Hermione. Was he mistaken, or were they looking at him… sadly?
“Harry,” Hermione said, sympathy filling her voice, “I know you miss him, but you shouldn’t try and believe it is him. It will just make you miss him more.”
“Excuse me,” Ella said, “but who exactly is the ‘him’?”
“That’s what I was wondering,” Neville said.
“The ‘him’ is, well, him,” Harry said, pointing at the dog. Then he turned towards the dog and said, “Go ahead. It’s okay now.”
Before their eyes, the large black dog disappeared, and a man with scraggly black hair stood in the shed. Hermione and Ella both screamed, and then fainted, although it was for different reasons. Ron stood stock-still, and lost all color in his face. Neville, however, smiled obliviously and said, “Er, hello.”
“Hi,” the man replied.
“This may sound a bit rude,” Neville said, “but who are you?”
“I don’t think I should tell you just yet,” the man replied. “It’s going to come as a bit of a shock.”
“But I’ve never seen you before in my life, so why would it come as a shock?” Neville asked incredulously.
“Actually, you have seen me before. You’ve seen me in person at least once. And I know you’ve seen my picture many a time,” the man said, winking at Harry.
“I have?” Neville asked, looking as if he were trying to remember when he had seen this man’s picture before.
“Oh yes,” the man said. “Now let’s take the ladies inside, shall we?” He knelt down and picked up Ella. Then he turned to Harry and said, “You can get Hermione, can’t you?”
Harry nodded, and picked up Hermione. Then both of them walked inside, and Neville followed, leaving Ron frozen alone outside.
“Let’s lay them on the couch,” Sirius said, setting Ella down. Harry laid Hermione down on the other side of Ella. Then Harry turned to Neville.
“You can tell me, Harry, I can take it,” Neville said.
“Oh, what’s the point keeping him in suspense?” Harry said sarcastically. “Oh well. Tell him,” he said to the man.
The man looked doubtful for a second, but then shrugged. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But I’ll warn you, you might faint.” Neville raised an eyebrow, but the man said, “I’m Sirius Black. Nice to formally meet you,” he added, extending his hand.
Neville’s eyes got very wide, and his mouth dropped open slightly. He began backing away fearfully as he stuttered, “N-no your n-not. H-he’s dead. Who are y-you r-really?” It was obvious that Neville had suddenly seen the resemblance between the man standing in front of him, and the man he had seen in the pictures when Sirius was a wanted mass-murderer.
“It’s him Neville,” Harry said simply, and Neville fainted, sure enough.
Just as Neville hit the ground, Ron walked in the door stiffly. He was still white as a ghost, and seemed to have lost the ability to communicate. He stared at Sirius for a second, and then glanced at Neville. He muttered, “Bloody hell.”
“Ron? You okay?” Harry asked.
Ron looked at Harry a second before shaking his head. Then he paused, nodded, and then shook his head again.
“Okay. Just sit down then,” Harry said, leading Ron over to a chair. “And then Sirius can tell us about what he’s been doing for the last year,” Harry added. Ron looked over at Sirius, and groaned.
“Alright, I’ll tell you. But you do know that I’ll have to tell it again later, don’t you? Can’t you just wait until then?” Sirius asked.
Harry looked as if he were considering it for a second, but then, surprisingly, Ron spoke up. “No. Tell us first.”
Sirius looked at Ron curiously, took a deep breath, and repeated, “Alright. Well the first thing is, you know how my idiot-of-a-cousin hit me with a Stunner? And that’s how I fell through the veil in the first place?” Harry and Ron nodded. “Well, that made something really, er, strange happen,” Sirius went on. “Did either of you go near the veil at all?”
“I did,” Harry said. “It kind of, er, pulled me towards it. I know it sounds weird, but that’s what it felt like. It gave me a, a… a desire to go through it, I guess,” he added awkwardly.
“Yes. That’s exactly right Harry,” Sirius said.
“It is?” asked a very bewildered Harry.
“Yes. It makes people want to go through it. I have absolutely no idea why the ministry has it in the first place, but that’s what it does,” Sirius said. “Anyways, when I got hit with the Stunner, it kind of, I don’t exactly know the right way to explain it. Well, it kind of reversed the effects. I was aware of my surroundings, and I was aware that I was, shall we say, inside the veil.” Sirius paused, watching the boys’ expressions. Both looked utterly perplexed.
“So then if someone just walked through the veil, they wouldn’t know where they were?” Ron asked finally.
“They wouldn’t know anything. That’s how it was. I was aware of my surroundings, but my surroundings were not a pretty sight at all,” Sirius said, his face looking pained as he recalled the sight. “There were people everywhere, but they all looked as if… as if they had been kissed by a dementor. They were walking, all of them. Just walking over the vast wasteland. Well actually, they weren’t just walking,” Sirius corrected himself. “They were all whispering also, but they weren’t whispering words. They were just whispering. I stepped in front of one once to see if he would go around me or say something, but he just walked right through me.” Sirius paused, and shuddered. “It felt a lot like a ghost went through me, but he wasn’t a ghost. He wasn’t a human either anymore. I really don’t know the right way to explain,” Sirius said.
“Were you the only one that was, um, sane?” Harry asked.
“Yeah. And at first, I just kind of stayed there and watched everyone who walked by me. But then I realized I needed to do something. The problem was, I had absolutely no idea what that something was,” Sirius said. “The whole place where I was, like I said, was a vast wasteland. It looked like it stretched on forever.” Sirius paused, and laughed. “At one point, I got so desperate that I actually asked one of those people if it did go on forever. Of course, she didn’t answer me.”
“What did she do?” Ron asked.
“She just kept on walking,” Sirius answered. “I was beginning to feel depressed, as you might imagine. That’s really the reason I was down there so long. If I had just thought about it, I could have been out of there a lot sooner.”
“Did you blow the whole place up or something?” Ron asked, looking excited.
“No, Ron, I didn’t blow the whole place up,” Sirius replied, smirking at the thought of it. “If I blew the whole place up, I would have been blown up with it.”
“Oh yeah,” Ron said. “I knew that.”
“Sure you did,” Sirius replied, looking doubtful. “Anyways, I was thinking for a long time. Reflecting would actually be a better word. I was reflecting on my life, because when I was depressed, I started to think that I would never get out. I was thinking about all of the things I would have done if I knew that that day would have been my last one on Earth. Pretty sad, huh?” Sirius added.
“Yeah it is,” Harry said. “But what made you realize that it was possible to get out?”
“I saw someone. Someone I knew from a long time ago, at Hogwarts. He wasn’t a friend really, so I wasn’t exactly sad to see him. He was two years younger than me, and he was in Hufflepuff. Not the brightest chap in the world, I’ll tell you that,” Sirius said. “That was probably the reason he was in there in the first lace. Poor guy probably wandered into the wrong hallway one day, and decided to see what was behind that big door or something. Then he probably got lost in there, came across the veil, and got sucked in by its power.”
“But how did he make you realize you could get out?” Ron asked.
“He didn’t exactly make me realize that I could get out. He just made me see that I didn’t want to end up like that, and so I had to do something.”
“But didn’t you already know that you didn’t want to end up like that?” Harry asked.
“Well, to tell you the truth, I hadn’t really thought about it,” Sirius answered. “But then, seeing someone I had known, I thought about it. And so I thought that I had to get out of there, and I thought about how.” Sirius stopped, and for some reason had a mysterious look in his eye.
“What?” Ron asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m not looking at you. I’m remembering, my, er, idea,” Sirius said.
“Well?” Harry urged. “What did you do?”
“I thought about a lot of things I could have done. And maybe that I should have done, but I didn’t. What I did was, well,” Sirius started laughing. This made Harry laugh, which made Ron laugh.
“Wait. What’s so funny?” Ron asked after a few seconds.
Sirius smiled, rather mischievously, and said, “Alright, I’ll tell you.” Harry and Ron looked curious. Sirius went on, “First, I started following one of the, er, lost souls. That was kind of pointless, actually, because they just walked on and on to no-where-ville. Then I stopped, and began walking the other way again. You see, it was so very pointless and a total waste of time. So then I stopped, again, and the idea hit me-“ Sirius paused, and laughed again.
“Oh, tell us all ready!” Ron exclaimed exasperatedly. “What’d you do?”
Sirius grinned and proclaimed, “I Apparated. Simple as that.” Harry and Ron looked at Sirius for a second, and then burst out laughing. Then Sirius joined in.
After a while, Harry asked, “What did you mean then when you said you thought about the things that you should have done? Wasn’t that easy enough?”
“Well, yeah,” Sirius said. “But I was referring to the things I should have done for those people. I should have at least tried to help them before I Apparated, don’t you think?”
“But what could you have done?” Ron asked.
“Something. Anything was better than leaving them there. If anything, I could have Apparated while holding onto a few of them, and then I could have brought them to St. Mungo's to see if they could be helped,” Sirius said.
“Well, wait,” Harry said. “If you could Apparate out, couldn’t you Apparate back in?”
“I thought about that actually,” Sirius replied. “But I don’t know if I would end up, well, like them. I wouldn’t have been Stunned.”
“Oh. Oh yeah,” Harry said.
Just then, Ella sat up slowly. “You look uncannily like Sirius Black,” she blurted out suddenly, looking at Sirius. “Has any one ever told you that before?” Then she paused, looking as if she had regretted saying that. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to compare you to a dead man.”
“Oh, it’s quite alright,” Sirius said, finding this very amusing. “Does your head hurt at all? You fell, in case you don’t remember.”
“I remember. And I’m sorry about that too. I was just shocked that you turned from a dog to a man. I wasn’t expecting you to be an Animagus,” Ella said. “But, no, my head doesn’t hurt. I feel fine, actually.”
“Good,” Sirius replied smiling.
“I’m hungry,” Ron announced to the room.
“You just ate two hours ago,” Harry said.
“Exactly, so now I’m hungry,” Ron replied, getting up to get himself a snack.
“I’m a bit hungry too. Would you mind getting me something?” Ella said.
“No problem,” Ron replied, bringing back an extra egg sandwich.
“Thank you,” Ella said, gazing at the sandwich hungrily. She took the sandwich from Ron, and was about to take a bite of it when…
“Harry!” A girl with flaming red hair appeared suddenly in the room. “And Hermione too! Is she asleep?” The girl didn’t wait for an answer, but kept rambling, “Why is Neville on the floor? He looks as if he’s passed out, and-Oh my gosh!”
“Hi Ginny,” Ron said unenthusiastically.
“Oh, hi Ron,” Ginny replied. She wasn’t looking at him though, but at Sirius. “Do I know you? You look familiar to me,” she said to him at last.
“Yes. You know me, and I would hope that I would look familiar. It’s only been about a year since I’ve seen you,” Sirius said. Ginny’s expression became very curious.
“Hi. I’m Ella,” Ella said out of nowhere, extending her hand to Ginny.
“Oh, hello. I’m Ginny,” Ginny replied, shaking Ella’s hand. “I really don’t mean to sound rude, but why are you here?”
“I came with Hermione. Are you a Weasley too? You have the same hair as Ron.”
“Yes. I’m a year younger than Ron though. There’s a lot of Weasleys, just so you know,” Ginny said, smiling. “Bill’s the oldest. Then there’s Charlie, but he lives in Romania. Then Fred and George. Their twins. Then Ron, and then me. And of course, Mum and Dad. Hey, where is Mum?” Ginny added, turning to Ron.
“She went to Diagon Alley to get a new robe for her to wear to the wedding,” Ron answered. “Don’t know where she got the money though.”
“I thing Fleur’s mum gave it to her,” Ginny said. “And by the way, no one answered me about why Hermione’s sleeping, and Neville’s passed out.”
“Uh, later,” Sirius said. “For now, why don’t we tell you who I am since you obviously don’t know?”
“Okay,” Ginny said, curiosity in her voice.
“Does the name Sirius Black ring a bell at all?” he asked jokingly.
Ginny gasped, and stepped back in alarm. “S-Sirius?” she stuttered. “Oh my God…” But before Ginny had time to say anything more, there were a whole bunch of loud cracking noises as the living room suddenly became a great deal more crowded.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N~ Told you it was long! Did you like it? I hope so. I liked it personally, but maybe that’s just me. I’ll probably have some much less impatient reviews now that I’ve told how Sirius got out of the veil. But that still doesn’t mean you’re off the hook to review… the less reviews I get, the longer I’ll wait to get the next chapter up. I’ll try to get the next chapter up really quickly though to make up for the last two chapters taking soooo long!!!~