"What do you mean? I have been staying away, just like Albus asked me to. He said that everything needed to blow over. I was not even supposed to come today, but when I heard you had to compete, I wanted to make sure that you were okay," Lupin said in a very confused voice. He had no idea why this teen was angry at him. "I was unable to see your performance, but Sirius said you handled it well." He was still doubtful that his friend wasn't just bragging on his godson.
Harry waved the apology away. "I've been, well not ill, but without memory for about three weeks now. I'm sure the Headbastard told you that. He seems to like telling my business to others. So… where have you been? Why haven't you written, or come by to see Sirius? We're supposed to be important to you," the teen all but snarled as he folded his arm and glared at the older man.
"But Albus said…" the werewolf started, only to look away from the betrayed look in Harry's green eyes.
"Right, well that answers that. I'm not sure if we can have any type of relationship if you are going to let your life be dictated by that conniving old man."
"Harry," Hermione said softly, getting up and then sitting near her friend. She put a hand on his arm and made him look her way. "That's not fair. Mr. Lupin owes the Headmaster a great debt. If it were not for Professor Dumbledore, then Mr. Lupin would not have been able to attend Hogwarts. I think you're being a bit too hard on him."
"No, he's right. I could have at least written," the greying-haired man said sadly. He felt that he had messed up this time. "All I can do is ask that you give me another chance. I really want to get to know you," he said with pleading eyes. He didn't want to lose his last connection to James.
Harry hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, taking in the looks on his godfather's and friends' faces. They were all asking that he be a bit more understanding. So, he slumped his shoulders and nodded his head. He'd try.
"Great," Sirius said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them in a happy motion. "What were you guys doing before we showed up?"
"Oh, yeah, I have some ward stones that we were testing," Harry said, reaching into his TARDIS pocket and grabbing two more. "These are for you guys. Not that I knew Mr. Lupin would be here, but I have extra. It never hurts to have backup in case I make more friends." He handed each man a stone and then explained how they worked.
The two men decided to test them themselves and commenced in throwing spells at one another. The stones, of course, worked perfectly. The older pranksters were made to stop by Winky, who was distraught at the mess they were making.
"These are great, Harry. How did you come up with them? I know you didn't study runes," Sirius asked as he pocketed the stone.
"I asked the diadem," he answered with a shrug.
"Wait, you got it to where you can ask it questions?" Luna asked excitedly, bouncing in her seat and looking like Harry had just offered her the world.
"Well, no, not quite. I can do it in my head, but not in the real world. I'm still working on that," he confessed sheepishly. He had a red-shirt wear it and give him the answers. The man had volunteered, so he didn't feel bad about putting him in danger. However, he was relieved when nothing happened, even if most red shirts died young.
"You will let me know when you have that worked out, right?" she said a bit firmly.
"Of course."
"Lovely."
"Okay, can you two tell the rest of us what you are talking about?" Sirius demanded, not liking being left out to the loop.
"Oh, well, it was how we found the Room. The Grey Lady, or Helena Ravenclaw, told us were to find her mother's lost diadem. The Dork Idiot did some type of Dark magic on it, so she asked me to cleanse it, so she could move on. I thought I told you that," Harry said with a tilt of his head.
"No, you told me about the ghosts fighting and that you helped her move on, but not the details," the disguised man huffed.
"Oh, sorry, well it wasn't intentional. I mean, it's not like it's a secret. I'll tell you the whole story later. I have a question for you two, since you know the castle so well. Do you know where the ward stone is?" Harry asked, looking between the two men, hoping they could answer the query.
"Yeah, it's under the dungeon. We needed to find it to hook the map to it. Without it being connected to the wards, it wouldn't work. It'd just be a map of Hogwarts, without the live action," Sirius explained as he nodded to his friend, who was the one who found the ward stone.
"I can take you there if you'd like. Though, I don't know if it would do you any good. The stone is very well protected, there is a shield that needs to be attuned to you in order to allow you access. It took me four weeks to get it to recognize me," the werewolf said, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Okay, we can go now, while the Headbastard is in custody," the teen said, standing and heading toward the tunnel. No time like the present.
"Right, okay, I can do that," Remus said as he too stood, and the rest of the group followed, except Sirius, who was going to stay behind.
"I'll wait here. You come back when you're done, Moony," Sirius said as he got comfortable on the couch. He had plans to talk to his friend about Harry. The man needed to know that the teen was in great danger and that he was not the same young man. Even though Moony couldn't break the wards, the werewolf still didn't understand that Harry was very powerful. No, his friend was going to be caught flat-footed if he didn't get it through his head that things were different. Well, that and he wanted to take Remus out on the town, perhaps get him some clothes from Tylor's Threads.
"We can go with you, Harry," George said, ready to get into mischief.
"We can't all go. A large group of people would make the staff wonder what we're up to. Especially, a group of Gryffindors, in the Slytherin area. How bout, you guys go and see what people are saying. I want to know if I should practice my defenses. I just know your brother is going to break the restraining order, again," Harry said, pointing to the twins.
"You never know, after what happened today it might just be the wakeup call he needs to quit being a prat," Fred said as they made their way down the tunnel.
"Yeah, maybe," the younger teen said, waving it off. He wasn't giving the youngest Weasley male another chance. Not after the last two weeks of scorn and ridicule.
They all parted ways at the castle's entrance. Harry and Remus made their way to the heart of the building. Down and down they went, until they finally got to a door deep under the dungeon.
"This is it," the older man said, indicating the door. "You might want to shield your eyes; it can be quite bright in here." They entered the room, but it wasn't like Remus described. There was very little light shining from the ward stone, and the shield was nonexistent. The stone, itself, was like a dim night light. As if the magic was fading. "That's not right," the man said as he waved his wand over the stone. "I have no idea what happened, but if the wards are this weak then the whole school is vulnerable."
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