"Yes, again," Tonks said, angrily.
"Why is it you that always brings me bad news?" Sirius asked softly, making her glare at him. "Okay, lay it on me," he said resigned.
"Just lucky, I guess," Tonks sniffed irritably. "I can't tell you here, but I can give you a clue," she said, glancing at all the people who were listening, but trying to look like they weren't. She leaned again so she was right next to his ear. She had to stand tippy-toes, and he leaned down a bit. "Umbridge," she hissed.
"Shite," Sirius grumbled. "Okay, we'll talk when you get home. Around six, right?" he asked as casually as he could.
"Yeah," she mumbled, her hair turning bright orange.
"Okay, Harry and I have a few things to do, but we'll be home by then. Meet us in the drawing room? I'll make sure everyone else is there," he said, patting her on the shoulder, trying to relax her a bit. "Actually, can you get Madam Bones to come? I've already told her where I live," he asked, shifting his eyes to the eavesdroppers.
"Fine, yeah, I'll ask," she said, and fell silent.
Floor after floor was stopped at. People got off, people got on, most of them sent terrified looks at Sirius. Like he was going to lose it right then and there and kill them all. He just smirked at them. Except those that were making faces at Harry; them, he growled at. They would quickly look away. There were a few sympathetic looks peppered in there. One person even cried, and thanked Harry for the eulogy.
Speaking of eulogies, it was on the fifth floor that Mr. Diggory came in. The poor man looked like he hadn't slept in days. His haggard expression broke Harry heart. He took one look at Harry and closed the space between them.
"Mr. Potter," he sobbed, giving Harry a hug that was very tight, "I want to thank you for what you said about Cedric. They tried to tell me that you had killed him, but I didn't believe it for a minute. Your words in the paper, have given me some closure. And for that, I want to thank you," the sobbing man said, pulling away from the teen and holding him at arm's length.
"You're welcome, Mr. Diggory," Harry said, tears in his eyes. This was a sense of closure for him as well. To be forgiven by Cedric's dad, was something he never thought would happen.
"I believe you, Harry. I know everything you've said since you came back with Cedric's… body was the truth. I know, he's back, and I'll do my best to make sure everyone I know, knows it too," Amos said, looking at Sirius.
"Thank you, Amos," Sirius said, gently taking Harry away from the man.
"Not a problem, Lord Black. I need to…" was all he said as the lift doors opened, and he hurried out.
"Was this even his floor?" Harry wondered.
"Does it matter?" Sirius answered, giving his brother a handkerchief.
Harry quickly wiped his eyes and replied, "No, I guess not." He handed the cloth back, and stood leaning against the wall, closing his eyes to control his emotions, and waiting for Sirius to tell him when they reached the correct floor.
Soon, it was only him and his new brother in the lift and it was going straight down. When it finally stopped, they got out and went to the middle of the circular room. There were doors everywhere. All of them unmarked.
"What are we waiting for?" the teen asked, looking at all the doors.
"They know we're here, so someone should show up in a moment," the dogman explained, rocking back and forth on his feet. His hands in the pockets of his robe, the right one, clutching his wand. Not even as a Hit Wizard had he ever liked being here. The Unspeakables were downright creepy. It was very disconcerting not to be able to identify who you were talking to.
"Oh," Harry said, still peering around like he was trying to predict which door would open.
Soon enough, a man showed up. He came from behind and not one of the doors, making both men jump a bit. Sirius almost pulled his wand, but seeing who it was, didn't.
The man's dark brown robes were hooded and pulled up over his head. His entire identity was concealed. The only reason they knew it was a man, was because of the lack of female parts on his chest. "Ah, Mr. Potter, Lord Black, we've been expecting you," the man said, walking to them.
"Yeah, right," Sirius muttered under his breath. He was sure the man was just saying that to seem omnipresent. He cleared his throat. "Harry here wants to check out the Hall of Prophecies."
"Of course, right this way," the man said, leading them to a door on the right.
When they opened the door, a long hallway appeared. It too was lined with doors. There, in the middle, leaning against the wall, looking bored out of his mind, was Arthur Weasley.
"Weasley," the man barked, making Arthur jump a mile, "what are you doing here? And how did you escape notice?" he demanded. This was an extreme security breach. No one was supposed to come down here without being detected.
"Oh, um, well, you see… I was just wandering around. I wanted to see the Time Room to check on something for work. No one came to get me, so I tried a few doors, and got lost here," he stuttered out, lying badly. A bit of sweat forming on his upper lip.
"And you avoided detection, how?" the man demanded, not believing the Ministry worker for one moment.
"I honestly have no idea," Arthur said, this time telling the truth. He knew that Albus had done something but didn't know what it was.
The man went to the main door, held it open and said, "Leave. If you come back and I, or another Unspeakable, catches you down here, you will be fired. I'll make sure of it," he spat.
"Right, um, sorry," Mr. Weasley said, hurrying to the door, giving wary glances to Harry and Sirius. He was going to have to tell Albus that he could no longer watch this hall. He knew the headmaster would try to get him to continue, but his job was not worth risk.
"Arthur," Sirius called, halting his progress.
"Yes?" the redhead asked, as he stood poised to leave.
"Not a word, okay?" the dogman pleaded without pleading.
"Sure, Sirius. I won't tell anyone," Arthur said with a smile and then scurried away.
"Fucking Dumbledore," the Unspeakable hissed, spitting on the floor.
Harry and Sirius shared a look. They too knew it was Albus, and they both found it funny that the Headmaster wasn't as covert as he thought he was. Not that they were going to tell him.
"Right," Sirius agreed with a hidden cough chuckle. "So, prophecy?"
"Come on," the man said, leading them to the Room of Prophecies.
When they entered, Harry looked around in awe. Sirius was right, there were thousands of these things. Shelves upon shelves of glowing or dark orbs filled the room. They were the only light in the room, and it was eerie.
If he figured it right, the glowing ones were still active, and the dark ones were complete. Add to the fact that there's no way they all came true. He wondered how that worked. He knew from Divination, that prophecies were touchy, tricky things. But why would anyone make one that never came to pass? Did someone deliberately change the predictions and invalidate them? Or was it the other way around?
He knew what a self-fulfilling prophecy was, but the details on how those came to pass were muddled. Something like the butterfly effect. One movement could force a prophecy to come true or defunct it.
For five minutes they quietly walked through the rows of glowing, or dark, orbs. Finally, they came to where the one that was supposed to be about Harry was.
The Unspeakable pointed it out, and the two men came closer to look at it. It was glowing and there was a tag on it to indicate that it was about a Dark Lord, and that it might be about Harry. It also listed the initials of Trelawney and Dumbledore.
"Why is there a question mark after my name?" the teen asked, pointing to the tag.
"Which Dark Lord?" was Sirius' question.
"We don't know for sure, that's why the Dark Lord in question is not named, and why Mr. Potter's name is only guessed," the man said, his arms folded in a resigned fashion. He whole body was slumped, like he knew they were going to ask those questions, and he didn't have the answers they wanted. "We're only going one what was happening at the time it was made."
"How do we find out?" Harry asked, leaning closer to the orb as if it would clear things up.
"There is one way to tell," the Unspeakable said, unfolding his arms, and waving towards Harry.
"How?" Sirius asked, not liking that Harry might have to do something.
"If he can pick it up, then it's about him. But if it's not, then he needs to drop it immediately. Or it will cause him to go crazy," the man said, making sure they knew the danger.
"Right, um, I just need to pick it up?" the teen asked a nervous quaver in his voice. His hand inched forward, shakily.
"You don't have to, Harry. We can wait to see of ole Tom comes and gets it," Sirius offered, putting his hands on the teen's shoulder. He really didn't want to take the chance. "Do you know what it says?" he asked the covered man.
"Only the gist," was his answer.
"Give us that, and we'll decide what to do," the dogman said, subtly pulling Harry away from the orb.
"We know it's about a boy who would was born 'as the seventh month dies'. And we know that boy will be 'marked as his equal'. We also know that it will be a kill or be killed situation," the man replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Dumbledore was the one who pointed the finger at you, Mr. Potter. After the death of your parents."
That was all they could get out of the people that had heard the prophecy. Snape, before Albus got his hands on him, and Aberforth, who only heard one line. Not Dumbledore, though, that man kept his lips sealed. Trelawney, of course, didn't remember giving it.
"Well, shite," both Sirius and Harry said, glaring at the orb like it was its fault.
"Well…" Harry started, reaching up a hand and rubbing his thinner scar. "I think we should just leave it. We know it's here, and we know vaguely what it says. I think that's enough for now," he explained. While his Occlumency was good, it wasn't perfect. So, they'd just leave it here for now.
"It's your call. If you want to leave it be, then we will. I'm not going to try and influence you in any way. You know my thoughts about these things," his brother said, still holding on to his shoulders, but giving them a reassuring squeeze.
"Right, let's get you registered and leave this place. I don't like hanging around here. It's unnerving," Harry said, turning towards the exit.
"You got it," was the reply as the other two men followed. They left the DoM and were just heading for the DMC, but before they could get there, they were stopped by none other than Minister Fudge and he pink lackey.
"Fudge," Sirius said curtly, "what can I help you with?" he asked, pulling Harry to his side, keeping his arm over the boy's shoulder.
"Ah, Lord Black, I heard you were in the Ministry today," the pudgy man said, holding out his hand. "I was just wondering why you were here," he added, after they shook hands.
Sirius nodded to Umbridge, and answered, "Just registering my Animagus form." He still held Harry close. His other hand closing around his wand.
"Hem, hem, and for that you needed to bring Potter?" the pink toad asked, batting her eye at him like a smitten schoolgirl.
"That's Mr. Potter to you, Umbridge," Sirius snapped, making her cringe a bit.
"Mr. Potter then," she said, simpering.
"Besides, he's been indoors most of the summer," Black said, trying to keep his voice even, already regretting snapping at her. He wanted to wait until he had more dirt on her to confront her. "I thought he could do with a day out." He steeled his nerves not to shudder at her cloyish eyes and voice. It would be a cold day in Hades before he even thought of her in any way but vile. Years of abstinence be damned.
"Surly, the… child would have preferred somewhere more exciting than here," she simpered. Her eyes hardened when she saw the boy give her a funny look.
Harry felt a tickle of fear run through him. He in no way shape or form liked this woman.
"We're going to do other things, Ms. Umbridge. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to hurry," Sirius said, leading Harry away, or trying to.
"I was wondering," Fudge said, holding his hand up to stop them leaving, "if you could find the time to speak about your lawsuits." He put on his most charming smile, which made the other two men cringe.
"You will have to speak to my lawyer," Sirius said, pushing Harry past the two blocking their way.
"Surely, you can see reason not to sue the Ministry," Dolores said, reaching out to grab Sirius' arm.
"I'll thank you not to touch me," the dogman growled, snatching said appendage from her grip. "I have no plans to stopping the suit. If you want to speak more on it, talk to my lawyer," he spat and stormed off, Harry in tow.
The two ministry workers moved aside, trying not to be slammed against the wall from Sirius' pushing. Both shooting glares at Harry and Sirius.
"Shite, I hate those two. Now I'm really worried about what Tonks has to tell me," Sirius grumbled as they turned a corner. "You okay?" he asked his little brother, stopping to make sure no spells were cast on either of them. Not that he thought they were, they were in the Ministry, but better safe than sorry.
"Yeah, that Umbridge woman is creepy," Harry answered with a shiver as Padfoot passed his wand over both of them.
"Yeah, stay out of her way if you can. She's behind most of the oppressive laws from the last few years. I'll be making plans to stop her and overturn some of them," Black said, tucking his wand away. "She also delusional. She thinks that muggleborns steal magic from purebloods. She has no proof, but that is what she truly believes."
"That's crazy," Harry said loudly, then got a sheepish expression and lowered his voice. "I mean, why would she even come up with that?"
"I don't know, but I have an ace in my sleeve about her. If she causes any trouble, I'll bury her," Sirius said, thinking on his aunt's blackmail book.
"Good, can we get out of here now?" the boy asked, looking around as if the pink monster would jump out at any moment.
"Yeah, let's go," his big brother said as he moved on.
Once more they made it to the lifts and went to the Department of Magical Creatures. Sirius registered and he wrote a quick note to Bones to make sure that she told Dumbledore that Harry was fine where he was. Not trusting the memo system, he called one of his house elves, after asking permission, and gave the note to Dinky, who then disappeared as ordered.
"Come on, let's go," he snarled at the fact that his nice day was now ruined.
"Sure," was all Harry said, and they finally left the building.
"How about some tea?" Sirius asked, seeing a teashop a few doors down. He wanted to relax a bit before heading home. While Molly was gone and the house was quieter, there were still a lot of people there.
"Sure," Harry agreed, he rarely went out to eat, so this could be fun.
They made their way there and were soon settled at a small iron table, with matching chairs.
"Hey, Sirius, why didn't we go into the Ministry all stealthily?" the boy asked, looking around then picking up the paper menu.
"What? Like hide under your cloak, or something? Why would we do that?" the man really wanted to know. Was Harry hanging out with Moody too much?
"Well, yeah, I mean, you had all those people glaring at you, and you think Malfoy might be trying to do you in. That and Ron still thinks the same about the Ministry out to get me. And, we could have avoided all that shite with Fudge and his toad crony," Harry stated, looking over the menu. He wasn't going to mention Diggory. That, while sad, was a highlight of their visit.
"Well, it's the Ministry," Sirius said like it was the answer to everything.
"Which might be trying to kill me," the boy rebutted. "And from the looks on that pink woman's face, I'll lay bets it's her trying it." He pondered that for a moment and thought maybe he was jumping to conclusions. Maybe not, she was a sinister bint.
"Okay, I get that. And you're right, I could have done without the disgusting, yet dastardly duo. But, during the day there are more people there. I felt it was safe enough for us to go. And," he added, holding up a finger, "I had my wand in my hand most of the time. It was just in my pocket."
"Wait, you used that in the building, but didn't you give it to the guard?" Harry asked confused, knowing that Sirius had given something to the security officer.
"No that was my grandfather's wand," the man explained. "The one I have in my pocket is mine. Ted got it back when Waters got me off."
"Oh, okay. Still…"
"Look we couldn't sneak in the DMLE, or the DoM," Sirius said, trying to make the boy see reason. "They would have caught us right way. And don't ask," he said seeing Harry open his mouth, "no, house elves can only come into the building if you have permission to call them. They could not have just 'popped' us there."
"Fine, but still, shouldn't we have kept a lower profile," the teen asked, setting his menu down.
"We could have, but again I ask why? I mean we're going to have to face them some time, why not now?" the older man said, he too setting his menu down and waving the waitress.
"I guess," Harry pouted, not liking facing the public.
"That and I wanted to make sure that they all know I have nothing to hide," Sirius said, watching the waitress come their way. He had been in prison and on the run for quite some time. So, yeah, he was going to look. "The more I'm out and about, the less people will be afraid of me. I mean, come on, Malfoy is a Death Eater, and he has them all eating out of his hand. Why should I hide? I've had enough hiding to last me a lifetime," he added with a great deal of frustration, finally tearing his eyes away from the nice-looking woman.
"Okay, but I'm still uncomfortable with going there," Harry said with a sigh.
"Harry, your uncomfortable everywhere you go," his brother pointed out.
"Yeah but the Ministry holds a higher creep factor for me. I thought someone was going to curse me from behind the whole time we were there," the teen complained.
"Don't worry, we won't be going back anytime soon," Sirius said, looking over the menu and smiling at the waitress as she made her way to their table.
"Thank Merlin for that," Harry sighed, as he put his menu down.
"If what Tonks said about a problem was true, which wasn't much, then we must worry about Umbridge," Sirius said, clinching his hands into fist.
At that moment, their waitress appeared, and they ordered some tea and cakes.
"Why?" the teen asked when the woman left. "I mean, I know you said that she believes some pretty out there shite, but why do we need to worry about her now?"
"I'll tell you later," his brother stated, looking around the tea shop.
Soon enough, tea came, and they talked of unimportant happier things. With full tummies, and brighter attitudes, the two went home.
"We'll see about getting you kitted out tomorrow, after Gringotts," Sirius said, going up the stairs to change.
"Do we have too?" the boy whinged. He didn't really like shopping.
"You can't keep wearing Reggie's stuff," the man said, stopping on the stairs.
"Why not? It's only going to go to waste if I don't," Harry disagreed. He had no problems with hand-me-downs. He had worn them all his life. These at least fit. "Dobby can adjust them to fit, and they aren't completely out of style. It's not like the wizarding world changes fashions that often."
"Well…" Sirius started, looking at his brother's determined face. "I guess if you're okay with it, you can have Reggie's stuff, but you are getting your own undergarments and socks," he stated, pointing a finger at the teen.
"Sure, I won't say no to new pants," Harry agreed with a shrug, then finished going to his room.
"Glad we could work that out," Sirius mumbled to himself and he too went to his room. He really wanted to get into something more comfortable.