Chapter 1 Well we can hope can't we?
A/N: This plot bunny won't let me be. I decided to move this out of Musings into it's own story. A few more chapters are in the works for this. Yes I'm working on my next chapter of Summer… when this bunny will let me!
Anyway on with the Fic!
Gol
*** *** ***
Harry had sat and stewed at Privet drive for almost a full week. Apparently he had been cutoff from the flow of information again. Hermione had sent him two owls. He hadn't replied to either yet. Her first owl told him that she wanted to talk about Snuffles. The second owl she reminded him that he should talk to someone about how he was feeling. She was trying to arrange to visit him so they could talk. He hadn't answered because he couldn't bring himself to write anything like that down. What if Voldemort intercepted it? What if Rita Skeeter got hold of it? Maybe he could talk to whichever Order member came and checked up on him tomorrow? Maybe if it was Lupin he could, but not Tonks or Moody. He sat up late into the night trying, like he had since it happened, to understand how he had been so foolish.
About noon the next day the doorbell rang. Dudley eagerly answered the door then screamed and ran yelling, "Mummmy!" This woke Harry and he had managed to get his glasses on when a soft knock came on his closed door.
He pulled his wand out from under his pillow and pointed it at the door before asking, "Who is it?"
A familiar voice came from the other side, "Remus."
"What's Hermione's Patronus form?"
"Umm I don't know. You never told me."
"Oh, ok come in then."
Several locks clicked and Remus pushed the door open. He looked haggard. Harry remembered the full moon had just passed. "Hi Harry." He closed the door and came across the room. Harry kept the wand pointed at him but lowered it to the bed. "Moody is downstairs to keep the Dursley's occupied." He pulled the hard wooden chair away from the desk and sat backwards on it about two meters away. Resting his arms on the back of the chair he leaned forward slightly. "I know you're expecting me to ask a certain question so here it is. How are you doing Harry? There I asked it. Now I can tell Hermione I did."
"Has she been pestering you too?"
"Well let's just say she is very concerned about you. If you don't start talking to her soon she is going to do something drastic."
"Like what?"
"Oh I don't know that's what's scary."
Harry lay back on his bed and looked up at the peeling ceiling. "I want to talk to her but I can't bring myself to write any of it down." He twisted onto his side so he could look at Remus, "What does that veil do?"
"It was formerly used for those witches and wizards who had committed severe crimes. Crimes that now warrant a life term in Azkaban." Since Harry still looked confused he tried again, "It's for killing people Harry."
Harry barely managed to whisper, "a…and there is no way back?"
Remus shook his head, "None Harry. I know you think this was your fault. It's alright to take blame for what you did. It's not alright to take blame for what others did. Sirius was a fighter, he knew the risks, we all did. If Dumbledore had been killed by Voldemort would it have been your fault? Not in the least. We are adults Harry. We are responsible for our own actions. Maybe if Sirius was paying more attention instead of taunting Bellatrix he would be alive today. He wasn't and he paid the price."
Harry just sat there looking at him.
"Look at it this way Harry. Sirius was one of my best friends for more than ten years. I thought he had done a terrible thing, I was wrong. We had just come to terms with that and now he's gone. I lost my best friend that night. It's our job to keep going, keep trying. That is what he would have wanted us to do."
"But what do I have left?"
"You are going to have to answer that question for yourself. I will give you one suggestion though. Start by talking to a certain bossy, know-it-all witch who is very worried about you."
"How can I talk to her? I can't owl her about this!"
"Do you still have that mirror Sirius gave you?"
Harry looked shocked and sat up straight in bed, "Yeah, but its broken."
"Let me fix it for you. I will give her the other one. Then you two can talk all night long."
Harry climbed out of bed and went to his trunk in the closet. He pulled out one of Vernon's old socks it was tied off at one end and the other stuck out at odd angles. He handed it gently to Remus.
Remus stood and poured out the glass shards onto the desk. He took out his wand, "Reparo!" The shards snapped back together. He smiled and handed the repaired mirror to Harry. "There you go. Tonight, after dark look into it and call her name. She should have the other one by then."
"Thanks Remus. I wondered where the other one was."
"Alright? You're stuck here for a few weeks then we will see where we go from there. Those are very secure by the way. They only talk to each other. Those two are the only ones that still survive. We each had one back in our Hogwarts days. Your dad's and Peter's broke our senior year and Filch threw away the pieces."
"Ok, thanks again Remus."
Remus hugged Harry tightly then let him go. "Be safe Harry. Constant Vigilance! By the way what is Hermione's Petronus?"
"Oh, it's an Otter."
"Got it, for next time." Remus smiled at him and headed out the door.
He heard them leave. He was alone again but now had a connection.