(A/N: Dear readers, this is going to be an Harry/Hermione romance fan fiction, but there will be a lot of adventure too. I'd like to tell you immediately, that the romance part will come slowly later on. I prefer to enjoy the romance, bit after bit. Sorry about that, this is my way of writing! As usual, I'd like to thank my BETA readers IronChefOR and SarahLupin for their great job!)
Chapter 2. RETURN TO THE HOUSE OF BLACK
Going out to the heath in the morning
where you do not see a step
for finding again yourself.
Talking with a fisherman
For hours and hours
For not feeling that inside you
Something is dying...
"Emotions" by Lucio Battisti
Finally, Harry was darting freely through the night sky, the fresh wind messing up his hair; the moon and stars were so close he could nearly touch them. So much time had passed since the last time he had felt this way, free to fly on his wonderful broomstick, a Firebolt.
He felt happy, a feeling he had not felt in what seemed like ages. In that moment, he lowered his gaze and looked at his flight companions; a few wizards of the Order had come to pick him up from the Dursley's, and now they were escorting him to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
On his right was Nymphadora Tonks with her bright pink hair, who turned to him and winked. On his left, Remus Lupin was deeply concentrated on following the person in front of him. Behind him was Mad-Eye Moody, who was guarding him, and in front, guiding the group, there was another wizard Harry did not know.
At a distance, another group of wizards from the Order was following them, to make sure that there was no danger and that the way was clear.
After a few hours of flight, Harry was starting to freeze, but he resisted because he knew that they had nearly arrived at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.
Suddenly he shivered, but this time not because of the cold; he realized that he was coming back to Sirius Black's house for the first time after his death. Last year they had spent many happy moments together in that house.
But this time Sirius would not be there to greet him... He wondered, how was he going to react when he walked once more into that house? Harry had never thought about it until just then.
A sudden signal from Mad-Eye Moody shook him from his thoughts and he realized that they had arrived. All of the wizards started to fly down in circle, keeping him in the center and soon they landed in an empty square surrounded by ancient buildings.
As they got closer to numbers eleven and thirteen, Harry concentrated his gaze on where number twelve should be and suddenly a heavy and ancient door appeared in front of them.
Moody opened the door cautiously, and then quickly pushed Harry inside.
"Get in quick, Harry," he said gruffly.
Soon he found himself again in the main entrance of that huge house, which had been the home of the Black family for generations.
He shuddered all over and looked around. Everything seemed to have remained the same: the pictures of Sirius's ancestors on the wall, including the one of Sirius's mother (always covered by a heavy curtain to keep her from screaming at everybody entering the house), the row of shrunken house-elf heads mounted on the staircase wall, and the horrible severed troll's leg umbrella stand.
Quickly and in silence, Harry, Tonks, Lupin, and Moody reached the door that lead to the kitchen. The other wizards who had escorted Harry during the trip were already gone.
When Harry entered the kitchen, he was really happy to find that his friends were all there waiting for him: Ron, Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ginny.
He stood at the door with a huge smile plastered across his face, and suddenly Hermione ran to hug him warmly.
"Harry, finally you've arrived. How are you?" she asked.
She was still hugging him, so tightly in fact that he was not able to answer her question. Ron came over and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"Welcome back, mate, sorry for the poor mail, but, you know, Moody gave us specific orders about what and how long we could write to you. Erm, safety measures...."
"Never lower your guard boys, and always remember: CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody interrupted him before reaching the table. He took a seat and started to drink from his hip flask.
"I hope that you aren't angry with us..." Hermione asked worriedly, after releasing him from the hug. But Harry was not at all angry with them, because he knew that this time, safety measures were never enough.
"It's OK, it isn't your fault...
"Okay boys, girls, let's go and have dinner! How are you, Harry, dear?"
Mrs. Weasley put an end to their conversation and helped Harry put away his cloak.
Soon everybody was busy eating the delicious food prepared by Mrs. Weasley. Harry was sitting between Ron and Hermione and was listening to them talk about all the news; in front of him were Fred, George, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, while Mr. Weasley, Lupin, Tonks and Moody were sitting on his right side, talking in low voices.
"Where are Charlie and Bill?" asked Harry.
"They're in mission for the Order! TOP SECRET! Mum doesn't tell us anything. Nothing about that has changed since last year!" answered Ron, looking disappointed.
Harry could not help thinking that something surely had changed since last year: Sirius was no longer there with them. In any case, he did not want to worry his friends or let them see him so melancholy, so he remained in silence.
"You are wrong, Ron! Many things have changed since last year," answered Hermione, a little bit annoyed, as if what Ron was saying was a terrible lie. For a moment Harry feared that Hermione was going to speak about Sirius, giving voice to his sad thoughts.
"Actually, if you didn't notice, last year everybody was thinking that Harry was a stupid visionary and that he built up a silly story about the return of You-Know-Who just to be in the center of everybody's attention. But NOW, all the wizarding world knows for certain that Harry was saying the truth and they keep talking about him with admiration. It was about time, don't you think?"
Harry sighed in relief. If Hermione had brought up his godfather's death, he did not know how he would have reacted in front of them.
The discussion continued. Ron was explaining that after the first holiday week, he and his family moved to Grimmauld Place, to better follow the current events. Hermione had joined them a few days later. Until that moment, nothing special had happened, aside from frequent secret meetings among the wizards from the Order. Naturally, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were always excluded from those meetings.
Fred and George were now working full time in their new shop "Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes," for which they had rented a little place in Diagon Alley. The next day, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were going to pay them a short visit.
It seemed that the twins had started a great business, and even Mrs. Weasley had now accepted their decision, and was happy for them.
Soon Mrs. Weasley ordered them to go to bed, while the adults stayed in the kitchen to talk about important matters.
Fred and George went to their bedroom, and Ginny did the same, while Hermione joined Harry and Ron in their bedroom to talk a little bit.
Harry sat on his bed, while his best friends sat on the other bed in front of him; Harry could not wait any more and asked a very important question: "So? What do you know about Voldemort?"
At hearing that name, Ron shivered slightly, but Hermione remained quiet and started answering Harry's question.
"No, we don't know anything, nobody here tells us anything at all! But, listening here and there, we managed to understand that after having lost his better Death Eaters, Voldemort is surely disoriented. His plan to steal the prophecy ended badly, and he's probably now organizing a new plan, before attacking again."
"At Diagon Alley everybody is afraid! Fred and George said that! People're cautious and don't trust anyone. People don't want to find a Death Eater on their door, when they least expect it," added Ron worriedly.
"And this is just the beginning," commented Harry bitterly, before adding.
"I fear that Voldemort will attack soon. While I was at the Dursleys, my scar was throbbing so often, and that surely means that Voldemort is preparing something, I'm sure of that!"
Ron and Hermione shuddered on hearing Harry's words, then Hermione spoke again, but this time with a worried voice.
"Harry, you should be really careful. You can't be influenced again by wrong visions! You could, you know, fall again into a trap!"
At those words Harry got up with his fists clenched and started to shout with anger.
"DO YOU THINK IT'S A JOKE WHAT I FEEL EVERY TIME THAT MY SCAR BURNS ? Do you think it's a joke when I feel Voldemort's thoughts? I feel so helpless and horrible each time!"
Harry stopped to take breath, and he noticed that Hermione had lowered her gaze and now she was looking at the floor, mortified. But Ron got up and now he was facing Harry.
"OK, I KNOW! IT'S DIFFICULT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU FEEL, BUT AT LEAST WE TRY! On the contrary, you don't understand us! Hermione just wanted to help, and you didn't need to attack her like that!"
Suddenly Harry felt horrible. He knew that all his bottled-up anger had exploded out against the only person who always had helped him in all those difficult years, the one who had shared with him the majority of his troubles: Hermione.
Harry turned suddenly and walked to the window, trying to control his temper. He began to breath deeply and felt that his anger was slowly abandoning him. When he turned again to face his friends, Hermione was staring directly into his eyes, worried.
Harry moved closer to her to apologize.
"I'm sorry for reacting that way, Hermione, but... I don't know! It was as if all the anger and frustration inside of me wanted to come out. I'm so sorry that it all came out against you. What's happening to me isn't your fault."
Then Hermione got up and put her hand on Harry's shoulder, looking at him with understanding.
"You don't have to be sorry. Anybody could have reacted in that way, if put in the same conditions as you."
Harry lowered his gaze feeling guilty.
"I think that it would be best to go to bed now," said Hermione a little bit embarrassed, before reaching the door and leaving the room.
Ron sat heavily on his bed and started staring at the ceiling. An embarrassing silence fell between them, and Harry was the first to speak.
"I'm sorry, Ron."
Harry reached his bed and sat in front of his friend, trying to figure out what Ron was thinking.
"I'm really worried Harry, I can't hide it from you."
Hearing those words, Harry felt a strong pain in his heart; he was feeling so guilty.
"I mean, for my family. My father, my mother, Bill, Charlie, and now Fred and George, they all are part of the Order of the Phoenix. And the worst is yet to come! If one of them dies, I..."
"Don't say that, Ron!" Harry interrupted him. He understood now that he was not the only person to suffer because of all that was happening. He felt so selfish! He never thought before that Ron could ever suffer like him, or even worse.
Harry didn't have relatives who risked their lives; almost all Ron's family was at risk since the war against the dark side was just beginning. He tried to comfort his friend.
"You'll see, none of your family will get hurt. Everything is going turn out okay."
Harry also wanted to add, "You'll see that Voldemort will be defeated soon," but he knew too well that this war depended entirely on him, on his strength and on his courage.
But his friend did not know anything about the prophecy, so he remained silent, stretching his legs on the bed and
closing his eyes. Soon he fell in a deep sleep.
-->