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Chapter 14: The Journey Home

The last week of summer sped by for Harry and the rest of the inhabitants of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. His heart lightened considerably by his talks with Moony and the easy camaraderie of his best friends, Harry began sleeping more peacefully than he had in over a year, and as a result, by the time September first came, he was feeling more normal and his grins came more often and were more sincere.

Mrs. Weasley woke everyone at seven on the morning of their journey north to Hogwarts, and after a rather hurried breakfast, the house rang out with the usual din of four disorganized students and as many harried adults.

"Mum!" Ron called less than ten minutes before they were set to leave. "I can't find my prefect's badge!"

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed in an exasperated voice. "Of all the things to lose!"

"Check with Fred and George," Harry suggested, remembering how the twins had stolen Percy's Head Boy badge the summer before and transfigured it to read "Bighead Boy".

"Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasley shouted up the stairs. "If you have Ron's badge, I want you to return it /immediately/!"

Fred and George, who had asked Lee Jordan to run the shop for the day so they could be part of Harry's guard to Kings Cross, shouted back indignantly that they had not touched Ron's badge.

"Never mind," Ron said as he sheepishly emerged from searching his messily packed trunk, holding the badge. "I found it."

Hermione sighed even as she smiled fondly at Ron. "Honestly, if you'd just pack properly, Ronald."

Over the past week, ever since they had spent the day at Diagon Alley, Ron and Hermione's relationship had solidified and come out into the open. Several times, Harry had come upon them in various stages of cuddling around the house, always when they had thought they wouldn't be seen. Harry had been worried about feeling like an outsider if his two best friends began to date, but he found that he was so happy for them that he did not even notice a difference. He had, however, begun to spend more time with Ginny as Ron and Hermione began to spend more time by themselves. As he had told Moony while the rest were at Diagon Alley, he didn't quite know how he felt about Ginny Weasley just yet, but he was grateful for their friendship. She had a way of knowing exactly what he needed, whether it was a joke, or an open ear, or even a telling-off, and he found that talking to her was just as easy for him as talking to Ron or Hermione.

"Alright, you four," Molly called. "I want your trunks downstairs now so Moody can get them ready for the journey!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny lugged their trunks and their various animal cages down the stairs to the entrance hall, stumbling into one another. As a reward for becoming a prefect, Ginny's parents had bought her an owl of her own. Errol had finally become too old to make the long journeys to and from Hogwarts, so Ron's owl Pigwidgeon and Ginny's new barn owl, Bono (she had become rather fond of U2 after hearing "With or Without You" blaring from a Muggle car stereo on the way to Diagon Alley), were to handle all correspondence this year.

They reached the front hall, and Harry immediately noticed something he had not noticed the entire time he had been in the house. The wall near the front door was blank. There were no moth-eaten curtains, no screaming portrait of Mrs. Black. Harry stared at the spot where the painting had been, wondering how they had done it. Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, and the rest of them had not been able to take the portrait down the year before, no matter how hard they had tried.

Moony followed Harry's gaze and answered the unasked question. "The Permanent Sticking Charm was negated as soon as the house changed owners."

"Changed owners?" Harry asked. "Who owns it now?"

"I do," Remus replied quietly. "It is part of what Sirius left for me. You see, after my parents died, I often found myself with nowhere to go...being a werewolf means, as you know, that finding a job is often difficult, and finding a flat can be as well. So Sirius left me this place."

Harry smiled. "That's brilliant, Moony! I'm really glad you're going to be staying here." It was the first time that the mention of Sirius had not rendered him immediately sad, and Moony supposed that had to be a good sign. He was glad Harry was starting to remember Sirius with gladness; it was what his old friend would have wanted.

Harry's expression darkened as he was reminded of another inhabitant of Number 12, Grimmauld place, one who he had blocked from his mind until this moment. He looked around in confusion for a moment, and then asked, "Moony, what happened to Kreacher?"

Remus grinned bitterly; he did not like to be reminded of the house elf's treachery. "I sent Kreacher from the house as soon as I got here. I believe he has gone to Narcissa Malfoy."

Harry gasped. "Narcissa Malfoy! But, Moony, what about all the stuff he knows about the Order?"

"That will not be a problem. Dumbledore had to place several very strong charms on Kreacher in order to make him reveal what his part had been in Voldemort's plot. Much like a strong memory charm, these measures rendered Kreacher quite incapable of reasonable speech or even thought. It was not intentional on Dumbledore's part; it was simply a side effect. I doubt the Narcissa will find Kreacher useful in any way; in fact, I would be surprised if she has not killed him."

Harry did not reply - his anger at Kreacher was great enough that he hoped the Malfoys had killed him. That sick creature deserved nothing less.

Before Harry had a chance to ask any more questions, Molly came up to them. "Harry, did you keep your invisibility cloak out of your trunk like I told you to?"

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley." The request had not surprised Harry. He supposed that he would be walking to King's Cross under the cloak, and knew it was probably for the best.

"Good," Molly replied. "You will be wearing it until you are safely on the train, and then you will hand it out to one of us. Remus will be wearing it for the remainder of the journey."

Harry stared at her. "The remainder of the journey?" he asked.

"I will be accompanying you on the journey to Hogwarts, Harry," Remus told him. "I plan to stay under the cloak, however. We do not want the other students to know you are traveling with a guard, do we?"

"I guess not," Harry replied. He was glad Remus would be traveling with him, as he was not anxious to say good-bye, but at the same time, he felt a stab of annoyance that he was not even trusted to ride the train to school by himself. "But do you really think I'm going to be attacked on the train?"

"Haven't you learned anything yet, boy?" growled Mad-Eye, who had come up behind them. "You can never be too careful. /Constant vigilance/!" He turned to Molly. "I've got the luggage ready. We need to be going."

"Right," Mrs. Weasley said, relieved that Harry had not argued about Remus accompanying him on the journey. "Ron! Hermione! Ginny! It's time to go, now!"

Harry pulled on the invisibility cloak and followed the others out the front door. The walk to King's Cross was more than a bit nerve-wracking for him. It was, after all, the first time he had been out of doors all summer, and Harry kept looking over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed.

At several points on the long walk he saw people he was sure were witches and wizards, even though they were dressed in Muggle clothing. For one thing, most of them seemed to pay more attention than was strictly necessary to the group of students and parents walking toward the station. For another, most of them had their hands tucked discreetly into their pockets or suit jackets, and Harry knew they were gripping their wands but unwilling to show them unless it was necessary. He figured they were either aurors or members of the Order, and his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Dedalus Diggle, dressed as a businessman in a very old-fashioned brown suit and purple necktie, standing on a street corner in London, pretending to wait for the light to change.

No one talked to Harry on the way; it was part of the plan to ensure that his presence remained undetected, although he knew Moody's magical eye had remained on him constantly. He was glad when they finally reached King's Cross, took it in turns to pass discreetly through the barrier between platforms nine and ten, and found a compartment on the rapidly-filling train. After he had closed the door to his compartment, Harry took off the invisibility cloak and handed it to Mad-Eye Moody, who was returning their trunks to normal size (having shrunk them for the walk from Grimmauld Place) and stowing them and the protesting pets, who had traveled in their cages under Disillusionment and Confundus charms, in the luggage racks.

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny only stopped off for a moment before rushing to the prefect's compartment at the front of the train, promising to return as soon as they could. Harry sat alone in the compartment for a few minutes, enjoying watching the other students as they bid goodbye to their families and gossiped with one another about the upcoming year. He marveled at how few cares most of them seemed to have - they knew now, without a doubt, that Voldemort had returned, but as it had not yet affected them directly, they found it easy to push the thought from their minds.

Molly and Arthur Weasley entered Harry's compartment just as he was contemplating going to find some DA members to talk to, knowing that Mad-Eye could tell Moony which compartment was theirs. Molly immediately went to Harry and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Harry, dear, I want you to make sure you have a good lunch. Do you have your money bag with you? I see that your trunk is already here, and Hedwig. Now, I don't want you to worry about anything, just enjoy the journey."

Harry smiled. This was Mrs. Weasley as he had known her for years, making sure that her children had everything they needed, and wanting them to enjoy themselves. He broke away from the hug, assuring her that he indeed had everything he needed and that he would buy a good lunch when the trolley came around. Even though his appetite was quite back to normal, Molly had never stopped encouraging him to eat. She had still not forgotten the way he had looked at the beginning of summer.

He shook hands with Mr. Weasley, and as they opened the door to leave the compartment, he felt a slight jostle as someone he could not see brushed against him. "Moony?" he asked softly, wanting to make sure he knew who was in the compartment with him.

"Yes, Harry, I'm here," Moony answered from under the cloak, and Harry heard the slight squeak of springs as his invisible guardian settled onto the bench seat. Harry was about to ask him if he needed anything when the compartment door opened once again, and a very flustered-looking Neville flopped onto the seat across from Remus, his trunk dropping onto Moony's invisible foot. Harry covered Remus' groan with a loud cough. Luckily, Neville didn't seem to notice as his trunk shifted slightly when Remus pulled his foot out from under it.

"Glad I found you, Harry," he gasped. "Thought I'd never get away from Gran. She's put out with me because I forgot to bring my Transfiguration book."

"You made Transfiguration, then? Way to go, mate!" Harry congratulated Neville.

"Well, I got an 'A', but Gran talked McGonagall into letting me take the class on a trial basis. She reckons all I need is more confidence, and now that I have a wand of my own..."

"You got a new wand, then?" Harry asked, not really wanting to talk about the Department of Mysteries, where Neville had broken his father's wand at the end of term last year, but not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah!" Neville brightened considerably as he pulled a brand-new wand out of his pocket. "10 inches, mahogany, unicorn tail hair core. Neat, right? I've never had my own wand before. Do you reckon it'll help?"

Harry remembered what Mr. Ollivander had told him before his first year about wizards never getting such good results with other people's wands. "Yeah, Neville! I bet it will!" Harry had been impressed with Neville's determination and skill in the DA last year, and he wondered how much having his father's wand had held him back.

With a lurch and a whistle, the train finally started. After Neville had finished putting his things in the overhead bins, he asked Harry how his O.W.L.s had gone. It seemed that Neville also wanted to avoid any subjects that might be painful.

"I got eight," Harry answered. "How about you?"

"Well," Neville hesitated. "I got six."

"Excellent, Neville! Which six did you get?"

"I got an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts, thanks to you," Neville began, and continued before Harry could protest, "and an O in Herbology, and A's in Transfiguration, Astronomy, History of Magic, and...Potions."

"Potions?" Harry asked incredulously. "Wow!"

"Yeah," Neville said, looking rather pleased with himself. "It's much easier without Professor Snape hanging over my shoulder, isn't it? Of course, I can't take N.E.W.T. potions with only an 'A', but I wouldn't have wanted to anyway." Neville shuddered slightly. He was still terrified of Snape.

"I bet your Gran was really pleased!" Harry said.

"She was. It was kind of strange, seeing her all proud of me for a change. I don't think she expected me to get any O.W.L.s."

"Of course she did, Neville," said Harry severely. "You know most of your problem was lack of confidence, not lack of brains."

Neville blushed, and then, wanting to get the conversation off of himself, asked, "So, are we going to continue with the DA this year, Harry?"

Harry frowned. He and Moony had talked about it. Moony thought it was a good idea, because even though they would undoubtedly have a better DADA teacher this term than Umbridge had been, he thought it wise for the students to have as much practice as possible in dueling and defense. Harry wasn't sure if anyone would want to be in the DA anymore, though, if they had a decent teacher. "I dunno," he answered. "If we have a good Defense professor, we may not need to."

"Harry," Neville said, suddenly serious. "My gran said the war is going to start any day now, that You-Know-Who is just biding his time. Don't you think we need all the practice we can get?" Harry thought he felt a slight kick from the seemingly empty seat next to him as Neville echoed Moony's advice almost word-for-word.

"I might call a meeting a couple of weeks after term starts to see what everyone thinks about it," Harry said, resigned to the fact that the members of the DA would likely want to continue, but not really knowing what else he had to teach them. "So, how about a game of Exploding Snap?" he asked, changing the subject. He got Ginny's well-worn deck of cards from his pocket. Knowing that he might need a diversion while she was at the prefect's meeting, she had lent them to him.

For the next hour or so, Neville and Harry played increasingly competitive games while the train sped northward. Moony watched them with satisfaction - he liked to see Harry spending time with his friends, not talking about the war, or Voldemort, or death. The boy needed that.

*

Draco Malfoy was the first to emerge from the prefect's meeting in the front compartment. The others, the Weasels and the Mudblood included, had stayed behind for a few moments to catch up with friends they had not seen all summer, and to ask the new Head Boy and Girl questions about their upcoming duties. Draco had no desire to talk to the idiots from the other houses, and Pansy Parkinson, the other Slytherin sixth-year prefect, was quite put out with him after he had refused to date her over the summer. He'd had much more important things on his mind, and he had grown tired of her simpering flattery.

Draco headed down the narrow corridor, keeping himself balanced even as the train lurched slightly over the old wooden tracks. He had another reason for leaving the meeting as soon as it had ended. He wanted to find Potter before his friends had a chance to get back to him. He had a score to settle.

Halfway down the third car, he glanced through a compartment window to see Potter and Longbottom playing Exploding Snap. He stared for a moment, silently fuming, but composed himself quickly and opened the door, smiling sardonically as Harry and Neville looked up, expecting to see Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

"Hello, Potter," Draco drawled, lazily pulling his wand out of his pocket and aiming it at Harry, quite ignoring Neville.

*

"Malfoy," Harry snarled, quickly drawing out his own wand and standing up, causing the Exploding Snap cards in his lap to emit several loud 'pops' as they hit the floor. He felt an invisible hand on his shoulder as Moony stood up behind him. "I'm only going to tell you to leave once."

"Why should I leave, Potter?" Draco asked, looking around at the empty seats. "Seems you have plenty of room in here. Maybe I'll just stay awhile."

Several more loud 'pops' sounded in the compartment as Neville stood up beside Harry, his own hand of Exploding Snap cards hitting the floor as well. "Get out, Malfoy," he said, his voice quite lower and more threatening than anyone had ever heard it before.

"Stay out of it, Longbottom, if you know what's good for you," Malfoy responded, never taking his eyes off Harry. "So, Potter...been having any good dreams lately?"

Harry felt Moony's hand tighten on his shoulder. How did Malfoy know what had happened over the summer? His father was still in Azkaban. Even if Voldemort had been able to get to him there, there had been no reports that Lucius Malfoy had actually left the fortress at any time.

Harry was not going to have this conversation with Draco Malfoy. On sudden inspiration, he replied smugly, "Why, yes, Malfoy. Thanks for asking. I had several pleasant dreams this summer, most of them involving a bouncing white ferret..."

Neville snorted, and Malfoy raised his wand, preparing to attack. Before he could say an incantation, however, Lupin, still under the invisibility cloak, pushed past Harry and knocked Draco's wand from his hand.

"Dropped your wand, did you, Malfoy?" Harry laughed at the astonished and fearful look on the pale, pointed face.

Draco recovered quickly. "I should have known you wouldn't be traveling alone, Potter. Who is it? The mudblood-lover? Or is it the werewolf?"

"Watch yourself, Malfoy," Harry's voice lowered dangerously. "In case you didn't notice, I have a wand, and you do not. Now, I'm going to tell you one last time. Leave us alone."

Malfoy assessed the situation. He did not know where the invisible person had gone, his wand was still on the floor, and Longbottom and Potter both had their wands trained upon him. "This isn't over, Potter," he snarled, and, picking up his wand before anyone could stop him, turned and left the compartment.

Neville lowered his wand and looked around the compartment. "Harry?" he asked tentatively. "Who else is here?"

Harry had been told not to reveal Moony's presence to anyone, but before he could think of an answer, Moony's voice came out from behind the cloak. "It's Remus Lupin, Neville. I'm traveling with Harry today, under his invisibility cloak."

"Oh," said Neville, looking towards the corner of the compartment, where Lupin had once again retreated. "Professor Lupin? Why are you here?"

"Oh, I just thought I would come along in case anything like this had happened. Although, I must say, you and Harry handled yourselves quite well enough without me. I was just trying to save Mr. Malfoy some embarrassment."

Harry laughed, and Neville asked, "Can't you come out from under that cloak, Professor? It's weird, not being able to see you."

"Sorry, Neville," Moony answered. "I don't really want to make my presence known on the train. I'm here to help Harry, not to cause any trouble." Neville nodded, and all three had just sat back down when the others arrived, followed closely by the witch pushing the lunch trolley.

"Snacks for you, my dears?" she asked.

Harry, feeling surprisingly chipper after the argument with Malfoy, bought the largest lot of food he ever had, and the rest of the train ride passed pleasantly as they swapped food, talked about O.W.L.s, new classes, and the other students Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had seen as they walked through the train on patrol. Since everyone in the compartment now knew he was there, Moony even joined the conversation, regaling them with some of his old stories from the Marauder days at Hogwarts, stopping only when other students came into the compartment to say hello, the former DA members all asking when the first meeting would be.

Night feel around the train, and boys and girls took it in turns to stare out the window as their counterparts changed into their school robes. They disembarked from the train at Hogsmeade Station and smiled as they heard the familiar voice call, "Firs' years, over here!"

Harry, knowing that Lupin needed a private place to remove the cloak, walked behind the last carriage, going carefully between the teams of thestrals pulling the carts. After looking around to check that they were alone, Moony pulled off the cloak and handed it to Harry, saying, "Alright, Harry, this is where I leave you. You're going to be fine, and if you need anything, anything at all, you send Hedwig to me, agreed?"

Harry nodded, suddenly feeling sad to be leaving his guardian, even as excited as he was to return to the school that felt like home. Moony pulled him gruffly into a one-armed hug, squeezed his shoulder, and then disapparated with a soft 'pop.'