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Y/N's P.O.V.

It was a week into the summer, with Y/N and Hermione at the Burrow. Regrettably, Y/N had been stuck up in Ginny's room. She spoke to barely anyone, unless she had too, and really only exited at mealtimes.

She would send letters to Harry, not many, since it had only been a week. Y/N wanted to talk to him about it, about Cedric, because he was the last person to see him alive. But...she didn't bring it up - absolutely not. Harry didn't need to be reminded of that, and she was sure he'd bring it up when he was comfortable.

The others didn't try to push her to talk, but sometimes they would come into Ginny's room and simply sit with her.

Hermione wrote to her through their Herms and Trouble scrapbook, just sweet things, reminding her to eat, giving her warnings when someone was coming upstairs. Most of the time, Y/N just asked Hermione to come upstairs and be there. Sometimes Ron would come along, and the two would sit on the edge of Y/N's bed, or hug her. It was warm all the same.

Ron, when he came sans Hermione, would go about his day in Ginny's room. He'd read (Hermione forced him too, to prepare for O.W.L.S), he'd play Chess against Ginny if she came up, he'd sit there and fiddle with some trinkets. Just keeping Y/N company, but not smothering her.

Fred and George came up and worked on their joke shop supplies - products, forms, shop layout, everything. Occasionally, they'd ask for her opinion, and she'd give it.

"What color should we make our first posters?" asked Fred.

"Uhhh, orange. Very Weasley. Very on brand," answered Y/N.

"Thanks. What about the packaging? But only the packaging for the slime balls?" said George.

"Green, obviously," Y/N said.

Elijah hadn't lettered much, but that was understandable. He just lost his cousin. Mathew lettered a little, but Liana...not at all. Mathew told Y/N that Liana just needed time.

It was okay, though, because Y/N would see them soon. She would see them, mourning, at Cedric's funeral.

Cedric's funeral...

Getting ready for Cedric's funeral was like a stab in the heart, because it meant he was finally gone. Every single movement hurt, but somehow, Y/N got herself dressed and ready - it was a simple black dress that fell just above her knees, with a square neckline and flowy sleeves.

Before leaving Hogwarts, Hermione had shrank and seared the broken pieces of Cedric's shield bracelet into a shield pendant. When she offered it to Y/N, the girl burst into tears, and looped it onto her Herms and Trouble necklace.

Y/N fiddled with the pendant now, sitting front row on the chairs set up for Cedric's funeral. It was a small event, in the orchard behind the Diggory's home. The home where Y/N and Cedric used to play, and she could see their younger selves when she looked around.

The Weasleys and Hermione had been invited, and were right there with Y/N. Harry couldn't make it - Dumbledore wouldn't let him leave the Dursley's for a little while longer.

Amos and Rosetta had welcomed Y/N and the others warmly. Amos was in tears all the time, and Rosetta...well...she could barely speak, she was numb, she looked absolutely expressionless, and that made Y/N's heart break. Imagine being hurt to point you just blocked out all your feelings.

The Weasleys and Hermione had respectfully stepped aside as Y/N, Amos and Rosetta hugged each other, and found solace in each other's warmth.

"It's...it's okay, Uncle Mossy," Y/N said, though she didn't quite believe it herself.

Amos just sobbed harder into Y/N's shoulder, as she did to him. Rosetta squeezed Y/N particularly hard, and Y/N felt a prick on her shoulder, but Rosetta simply shook her head in apology - she didn't mean it to hurt Y/N, she was just holding on as tight as possible.

"Aunt Ettie," Y/N started, "I...Harry says sorry. You...well, you couldn't make it to the last task, but...he's really sorry. He thinks it's his fault. I've told him it isn't."

Rosetta raked back Y/N's hair gently, "It isn't his fault, not at all. He was able to bring Cedric back to us."

Y/N nodded, sniffling quietly.

The funeral went alright. Y/N didn't want to call it good, because there was nothing good about it. She recognized some faces in the crowd when she looked back from the front row of chairs. Mathew and Liana sat beside each other, and, on Liana's right side, was Elijah.

Y/N furrowed her brows, as his parents were nowhere to be seen. She assumed they didn't care much, but...his dad didn't even come? His dad, who was Rosetta's brother?

She didn't know that Elijah spoke to Liana and Mathew, but Y/N supposed it could be a exchange-of-grief sort of thing, even though Elijah barely knew Cedric.

It wasn't on purpose, but Y/N could barely pay attention through the funeral service. She could barely remember anything, it was all a blur. Tears, glowing, metal thrumming underground. There had to be some metal somewhere. It didn't feel real to Y/N, it felt like a fever dream.

It didn't feel real. Cedric was just asleep for a little bit.

Y/N gave a speech, she couldn't not. Rosetta and Amos informed her that it wasn't necessary, but Y/N wanted to anyway. She didn't prepare a script, she knew she could talk about Cedric from memory.

Moments from their childhood, all the things they've done together, how kind and hardworking and brave of a person Cedric Diggory used to be.

Used to be...

The Weasleys and Hermione had cried, upon her speech. It made her feel fuzzy inside - they'd barely known Cedric too, yet they valued his life. Y/N's black dress flowed gently in the wind, the trees swayed. Playing in Cedric's backyard as a child was a core memory of hers, one she never ever wanted to let go of.

After the concession, she felt empty. Everyone else had left, except Y/N, the Weasleys and Hermione.

Cedric's casket, upon looking closer, had a broken shield engraved into it. With watery eyes, Y/N looked to Rosetta. She shrugged and gestured to Amos, who Y/N ran to, engulfing him in a hug. They cried in each other's arms.

"Um...I'll make some tea," Missus Weasley said nervously, looking around as though a teapot would magically manifest.

"Mum!" Fred half-whispered, half-groaned. "Shut up!"

Ginny sighed as Molly murmured a "sorry!"

The thought of Cedric's smile never spreading across his face again made Y/N sick to the stomach, but at least it had graced the world in the first place.

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Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was truly an oddity. Grimmauld Place always had a peculiar sort of arrangement, as Number Eleven skipped straight to Number Thirteen, leaving Muggle neighbors wondering, or laughing at the stupidity of the builders and designers. Perhaps it was intentional, perhaps the founders presumed it would seem interesting, but the Muggles simply found it unnerving, and annoying.

Now, the only people who could find Number Twelve Grimmauld Place were the people who already know of it's existence, but to know, you had to be told, so who truly knew in the first place?

Remus had arrived at The Burrow a week after the funeral. Y/N was ecstatic, and at first, she assumed he would have Harry in tow. Alas, he didn't.

"Dad!" Y/N had exclaimed, jumping up from her spot on an armchair.

She'd been curled in a blanket, despite the heat, with the fireplace going. In fact, all of the children were lounging in the living room. Hermione was speaking quietly with Y/N as the Weasley's played a game of exploding. Nobody looked that interested, though, everyone somber, even if they didn't know Cedric well.

"Hey, kid," said Remus. He gave her a fatherly kiss on the forehead and squeezed her tight. "Missed you so much." The scars on his arms were visible, since he was in a tee-shirt, but to Y/N, that meant he was comfortable enough around the Weasleys. They never asked how he got them.

"Missed you too," said Y/N, "how your mission thing go?"

He gave her a sour look and shook his head, then his eyes softened and he changed the subject. "How was the funeral? I went over and paid my respects before coming here."

The atmosphere sobered for a moment, and Y/N diverted her gaze. "It was fine. Final goodbye you know? I just miss him." The carpet under her feet was looking very interesting right now, and her eyes squinted to avoid tears.

Remus pulled Y/N into a long hug - he smelt of coffee, maybe he'd had some earlier. He didn't say anything, just held her, until the Exploding Snap pile, indeed, exploded. Y/N side-eyed Fred, who was the cause of the blast, but Remus raised his voice and called through the house, "Molly! Molly, are you there?"

Hermione spoke up from the couch, beside Ron, "She's out in the garden, I'll go get her. Come on, Ron," she beckoned.

Ron got up and followed her like a lost puppy, and Ginny, Fred and George came to stand beside Y/N, who had Remus' arm around her.

"Hey, Moony," George said mischievously.

Ginny groaned and Y/N laughed lightly, so the redheaded girl came to stand beside her.

"Merlin, it's so crazy that one of our idols is our little pranksters' uncle!" Fred added.

"Dad," Y/N and Remus corrected at the same time.

Remus chuckled, and shook both of the twins' hands. "We didn't exactly have a formal greeting during Y/N's birthday last year. You can call me Remus, or Moony. That goes for you too, Ginny," he said with a smile.

"Why're you here, dad?" Y/N inquired.

With furrowed brows, Remus said, "Molly didn't tell you? Well, we've finally decided on a -"

There was clatter from the kitchen, the slam of a door, and a patter of footsteps. Missus Weasley appeared in the living room with Ron and Hermione on her heels. "Remus!" she said. "Sorry - I never got around to telling them, I've been busy with so many things for the Order, and Arthur and Percy are working-"

"It's completely okay, Molly," Remus said comfortingly.

Missus Weasley turned to the children, "Pack everything, your Hogwarts trunks, all your belongings you'll need over the summer."

"I'm taking a sweep of the cottage, kid," Remus said to Y/N. "Anything you need from there?"

Y/N nodded, and gave him a list of the belongings she wanted to bring to...wherever they were going. Apparently, this was urgent, because they needed to be packed and out of the house by tonight. But, also apparent, they weren't allowed to know.

Which is how they'd gotten to this point - standing in the shadows of evening on the streets of London, staring between two houses. The paint was peeling, bricks were missing, and the area was an eerie sort of quiet.

Remus pulled a small note out of his jean pocket - he indulged in muggle clothes, like many younger wizards - and beckoned everyone to gather around him.

"What's happening, dad?"

"Shh, just read the note in your head. Look at the wall between Number Eleven and Number Thirteen."

"The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."

Ron made a nonconical grunt, then took the words out of Y/N's mouth. "What's the Order of the-"

"Not here, Ron," Remus warned. "Wait until we get inside."

Inside...?

Inside indeed.

The bricks began to distort, and the whole row of buildings squished, crumpled in on itself. Then it began to expand, and by some wonder, no other humans were disturbed. Soon, in between Number Eleven and Number Thirteen was Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. It was dirtier than the rest, more gaudy, more broken and tattered and so very unappealing. Perhaps that is what made it a perfect spot for...whatever they were doing.

Remus took a quick glance down each end of the street, then he strode to the door with everyone else in tow. Hastily, he turned the handle and ushered them all inside, making sure to enter last, and to close the door shut behind him.

Tick!

If the outside was gaudy and dark and intimidating, the inside was worse. Y/N stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. She could smell damp, dust, and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. As the door closed, darkness overtook then.

"Lumos," Molly and Remus muttered in unison. The hall lit up slightly, and the others' hushed voices were giving Y/N an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person.

She heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of along, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. Y/N heard something scuttling behind the baseboard. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents.

Somewhere, from a shadow, there was a movement. Y/N drew her wand with no hesitation - she knew she couldn't use it anyway, but it felt right - and pointed it into the darkness.

For some crazy, insane reason, Remus laughed.

"Dad! Shut up! There's someone-"

Remus simply kept chuckling, "Come out, Sirius. You're not slick."

There was a loud sigh, and Sirius Black's handsome face appeared in the light. He looked better than when Y/N had seen him last - hair neater, untangled, down to his shoulders. A clean-shaven face, a more nourished body. A bright smile upon seeing them all. "You think you could let me have some fun, Rems?"

"Never," Remus laughed.

"Sirius!" Y/N, Ron and Hermione exclaimed, running at him for a hug. The man hugged the three of them, then shook Molly's hand and gave small side-hugs to Ginny, Fred and George.

There was a loud coughing noise from Remus' direction, and Sirius rolled his eyes, then walked over to the significantly taller man and gave him a hug as well. Y/N watched with narrow eyes as they both seemed to melt into each other's arms.

"You have to show me around," said Remus, "You just took my belongings, shoved them somewhere, made me a cup of coffee - you still remember how I like it - then pushed me out of the house to get the others."

Sirius rolled his eyes and pushed the other man away. "Yes, that is what I did." Before Remus could say more, Sirius turned back to the kids. "Alright, Ron, you're sharing a room with Harry..." he made a sour face, "whenever he gets here...Fred and George, you're sharing, and the girls are sharing."

As all the kids nodded, then Sirius clapped his hands happily, "Alright. Rems, show them to their rooms."

"I don't know where their rooms are, Sirius!"

But Sirius was already halfway down the hall, laughing goodheartedly, and Remus went after him with a loud sigh, but Y/N could tell he wasn't really mad. Molly stood awkwardly with the children, and murmured about how the other Order members would drop by. Hopefully. And how she hoped Arthur would be here soon.

Y/N, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins exchanged glances.

"What say you guys? Should we just explore and figure it out on our own?" Ginny proposed, lugging her trunk in front of her.

Everyone else nodded, but Ron...he looked around the dark hallway apprehensively, eyeing corners, the ceilings, everything.

"What if there are spiders?!"

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Harry's P.O.V.

So. He'd really done it this time, hadn't he? He'd gotten himself expelled. Expelled from Hogwarts, expelled from his home. Harry Potter and the Lifetime of Shitty Happenings, wasn't it? It was.

Still, he couldn't just let that Dementor perform it's Kiss on him or Dudley. It was self defense, he could plead that, right? Plus, he'd had a witness - Arabella Figg. The name scratched his brain in a way he couldn't remember. Maybe something about Y/N...something at Hogwarts.

Oh, Merlin. He'd never see Hogwarts again, he wouldn't be going to school with Ron, or Hermione, or Y/N...

Speaking of Ron, Hermione and Y/N, he was angry. So, so angry at them. He and Y/N were lettering during the first couple of weeks of summer, and then she suddenly got...weird. Harry knew that she, Ron and Hermione were together, but he didn't know where, or why, and they weren't telling him.

If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying letters from his best friends, though any expectation he had had that their letters would bring him news had long since been dashed.

"We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously..."

"We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray..."

"Dumbledore is being a fuckass idiot, Goldie. I was literally going to letter you right away and then his oldass said I couldn't. No disrespect to him, though."

"We're quite busy but I can't give you details here..."

"There's a fair amount going on, we'll tell you everything when we see you..."

"This is so stupid, you deserve to know. Dumbledore has been odd, we barely see him. He'd just being a pretentious prick!"

But when were they going to see him? Nobody seemed too bothered with a precise date. Hermione had scribbled, "I expect we'll be seeing you quite soon" inside his birthday card, but how soon was soon?

As far as Harry could tell from the vague hints in their letters, Y/N, Hermione and Ron were in the same place, presumably at Ron's parents' house. He didn't want to think of the three of them having fun at the Burrow, because it would make him feel worse. In fact, he was so angry that he'd thrown away both Ron and Hermione's birthday presents of Honeydukes chocolates away unopened.

He severely regretted this subsquent to eating a wilting garden salad that his Aunt Petunia had made for dinner.

Well, he hadn't thrown away Y/N's gift, which...was...a simple card. He read it over so many times he could recite it perfectly.

"Hello, Goldie

Happy 15th birthday ♥

I know you're frustrated with us. It's shitty, but it'll make sense when you get here, which (I've heard) is really soon. Please don't be too mad. Please don't do anything stupid. Even if you do, you're my stupid.

I didn't want to send you a birthday present when you're going to come to me anyway, plus, it would just be more to take care of. I'll give it to you once you're here.

I love you!

Miss you lots,

Silv."

And that was why he was less mad at her. Y/N and Sirius were being, at least, straightforward and not cryptic like Ron and Hermione were. Most of Sirius' letters consisted of...

"I know this must be frustrating for you..."

"Keep your nose clean and everything will be okay..."

"Be careful and don't do anything rash..."

And what were Y/N, Ron and Hermione busy with? Why wasn't he, Harry, busy? Hadn't he proved himself capable of handling much more than they? Had they all forgotten what he had done? Hadn't it been he who had entered that graveyard and watched Cedric being murdered and been tied to that tombstone and nearly killed...?

Oh, and Cedric. Dumbledore hadn't even let Harry attend Cedric's funeral...and that was downright disrespectful. He felt terrible, he lost sleep over the funeral for days.

But it seemed like he was getting his answer soon enough, and he was also getting dust in his sinuses.

An advance guard had come to collect Harry in the dead of night, consisting of the real Mad-Eye Moody, an auror-in-training, Nymphadora Tonks (who preferred to go by Tonks), Kingsley Shacklebolt, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore and Remus Lupin, Y/N's uncle.

Tonks, the youngest of the bunch (excluding Harry), had greeted him brightly with a, "Wotcher, Harry!" She was a very striking individual, with hair that seemed to be...changing colour? Harry had to double take when her purple hair shifted to a bright bubble pink. "That looks better, doesn't it?" Tonks asked, looking in the mirror of the Dursley's entryway.

His reply had been a bewildered, "How did you do that?"

The young woman had grinned, "I'm a Metamorphmagus," she said, looking back at her reflection and turning her head so that she could see her hair from all directions. "It means I can change my appearance at will," she added, spotting Harry's puzzled expression in the mirror behind her. "I was born one. I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great."

Right...

Harry had been nagging Remus the whole broom ride about what was going on, when he would see Y/N, how Y/N was doing, what was going on, oh, and is Y/N doing well?

Remus' only replies were chuckles and many, "You'll know soon enough"'s.

How was that for a post-delirium and exceedingly-angry recap? Pretty good, Harry would say.

Back to the dust in his sinuses.

He was standing in a dark, grimy hallway, just having stepped in. To where, you may ask? Number Twelve Grimmauld Place - at least that's what it said on the note Remus had shown Harry. The note in Dumbledore's slanted handwriting made Harry irrationally angry. He was going to find the old man in this godforsaken place and give him a piece of his mind.

There were hurried footsteps and Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried toward them, though Harry noticed that she was rather thinner and paler than she had been last time he had seen her.

"Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!" she whispered, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. "You're looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid..."

She turned to the gang of wizards behind him and whispered urgently, "He's just arrived, the meeting's started..."

The wizards behind Harry all made noises of interest and excitement and began filing past Harry toward the door through which Missus Weasley had just come; Harry made to follow Remus, but Missus Weasley held him back. "No, Harry, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Ron and Hermione are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meeting's over and then we'll have dinner. And keep your voice down in the hall," she added in an urgent whisper.

"Why?"

"I don't want to wake anything up."

Harry gave her a bewildered look, "What d'you - ?"

"I'll explain later, I've got to hurry, I'm supposed to be at the meeting - I'll just show you where you're sleeping."

She shushed him again and let him past long, moth-eaten curtains. And after skirting a large umbrella stand that looked as though it had been made from a severed troll's leg, they started up the dark staircase, passing a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look showed Harry that the heads belonged to house-elves.

All of them had the same rather snout like nose. Harry's bewilderment deepened with every step he took. What on earth were they doing in a house that looked as though it belonged to the Darkest of wizards...? Whose house was this...?

"Mrs. Weasley, why - ?

"Y/N, Ron and Hermione will explain everything, dear, I've really got to dash," Mrs. Weasley whispered distractedly. "There" - they had reached the second landing - "you're the door on the right. I'll call you when it's over."

And she hurried off downstairs again. Harry, palms sweaty at the thought of seeing his friends again, crossed the dingy landing. His hand met the doorknob, which was shaped like the head of a serpent, and creaked the door open.

He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room, then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair - Hermione had thrown herself onto him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.

"HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't expect you for a little bit!"

Caught off guard, Harry took a couple of seconds to return the hug, and Hermione's little rant never ceased.

"Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless - but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got to tell us - the dementors! When we heard - and that Ministry hearing - it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up - Y/N helped me, she was absolutely furious - they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations -"

"Yeah. 'M fine, Hermione," Harry said irately, wriggling out of her grip.

"Let him breathe," Ron chuckled, then turned to Hedwig, who was perched on his bedframe. "She's been giving us a foul time, mate. Nearly pecked us half to death when she delivered your last letters," he held up his hand, which was bandaged. "Attacked everyone, 'cept Y/N."

Harry couldn't help but feel a sting of pride. They deserved it, but he felt bad for thinking that. He looked around the room, and felt his stomach sink when he didn't see Y/N.

"Oh yeah," Harry said dully, eyes on the floor. "Sorry about that, but I wanted answers, you know."

"We wanted to give them to you, mate," said Ron. "Y/N was going insane, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us- "

"-Swear not to tell me," said Harry, hands in his pockets, shrugging. "Yeah, Y/N's already said."

All of a sudden - after yearning to see them for a solid month - he felt he would rather Ron and Hermione left him alone.

"He seemed to think it was best," said Hermione rather breathlessly, her cheeks pink. "Dumbledore, I mean."

"Right," said Harry. He noticed that her hands too bore the marks of Hedwig's beak and found that he was not at all sorry. "Where is Y/N, by the way? She's the only one who heard me out, instead of giving me useless excuses," he added bitterly.

Ron's face fell. "She's...upstairs with the twins and Ginny right now, I think. Mate, look, I know it wasn't...Er...I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles -" Ron said.

"Yeah?" said Harry, raising his eyebrows. "Have any of you been attacked by dementors this summer?"

"Well, no - but that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time -"

Harry felt a great jolt in his guts as though he had just missed a step going downstairs. So everyone had known he was being followed. Well, everyone except him.

"Didn't work that well, though, did it?" said Harry, doing his utmost to keep his voice even. "Had to look after myself after all, didn't I?"

"He was so angry," said Hermione in an almost awestruck voice. "Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary."

"Well, I'm glad he left," Harry said coldly, with a small glare to Hermione. "If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer."

"Aren't you . . . aren't you worried about the Ministry of Magic hearing?" said Hermione quietly.

"No," Harry lied defiantly. He walked away from them, looking around, with Hedwig nestled contentedly on his shoulder, but this room was not likely to raise his spirits. It was dark, and dank, grimy.

"So why's Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the dark, and when can Y/N come here to explain it all?" Harry asked, exercising all the control he had to keep his voice casual. "Did you - er - bother to ask him at all?"

He glanced up to see Ron and Hermione exchanging a look, like they knew he'd react this way from the get-go. He felt anger flare in his chest.

"We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on," said Ron. "We did, mate. But he's really busy now, we've only seen him twice since we came here and he didn't have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted -"

"He could still've kept me informed if he'd wanted to," Harry said shortly. "You're not telling me he doesn't know ways to send messages without owls. At least Y/N has been trying to keep me sane!"

He watched Hermione avert her gaze. "At least Y/N has been giving me reassurance instead of shitty clues!" He took a pause, then brought the topic back to Dumbledore. "Maybe...maybe he thinks I can't be trusted," said Harry, watching their expressions.

"Don't be thick," said Ron, looking highly disconcerted.

Harry kept probing, "or that I can't take care of myself -"

"Of course he doesn't think that!" said Hermione anxiously.

"So why do I need to stay at the Dursleys while you, and Ron, and Y/N get to join in everything that's going on here?" said Harry, the words cascading like a waterfall, roaring and crashing and getting louder by the second. "How come you two are allowed to know every little damn thing that's going on - ?"

"We're not!" Ron interrupted, his cheeks and ears completely red. "Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young -"

But before he knew it, Harry was shouting.

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU GUYS HAVE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT - WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED ALL OF YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?"

Every bitter, resentful thought that Harry's mind had conjured in the past month were pouring out of him. They'd been together without him, his lack of news, his fury at being followed and not told about it. These feelings burst their boundaries, their damn, and came crashing out of Harry like a tsunami.

"WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!"

Ron was standing there with his mouth half-open, clearly stunned and at a loss for anything to say, while Hermione looked on the verge of tears.

"BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?"

"Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did -" Hermione began.

"CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR -"

"Well, he did -"

"FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUTWHAT'S BEEN GOING ON-"

"We wanted to -"

"BUT STILL, THE ONLY ONE OF YOU TO TRY AND HELP ME KEEP MY HEAD WAS Y/N! YOU TWO JUST DON'T KNOW WHEN TO STOP-"

Ron tried this time, "Mate, listen-"

"I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER -"

"Ah, yeah, such a laugh," said an irritated voice from the doorway, cutting off his sentence abruptly. Harry's body immediately relaxed. He didn't know why, but his mouth shut immediately, because he needed to listen to what the voice had to say.

"Just, such a laugh!" the voice continued. "I very much enjoyed attending Cedric's funeral! Makes me so happy, when someone as close as a brother passes. I just love moving myself to a new place, swearing not to tell you anything, and watching you spiral! All in good fun, isn't it, Goldie?"

Harry still hadn't turned around, but he could feel chills go down his spine. Hermione stared at something beyond Harry, and nodded, then turned to Ron, who blinked slowly. Hermione began to walk towards the exit, and Ron followed with a sad look at Harry.

There was a shuffle of footsteps, and the door clicked shut. Harry was basically rooted to the spot, and carded a hand through his raven locks nervously.

"You can turn around, Goldie," Y/N's voice came.

It was as though all of Harry's anger had been melted off and away from him, simply at the sound of her voice. As though on command (which, technically it was), Harry's feet turned him around, his navy tee-shirt rumpling slightly, towards the doorway.

Standing, framed in the door with her arms crossed, a frown on her face and furrowed brows, was Y/N Sterling. Was his Silv.

─── ☆: *.⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ .* :☆ ───

hi guys!!

its comeback time (fire emoji x3, im js too lazy to find it)

lowkey NOTHING happened in this chapter but LIKKEEE YOU GOTTA START SOMEWHERE GANG

guys, its the first chapter of fifth year, and theres ALREADY CLUES??!?!?!?!? crazy...

okok i need to sleep!! i will edit tomorrow (no i won't but i enjoy lying)

vote n comment if u wanna :3 i love giggling at ur comments <3

edit: it is july 31st now. guess what july 31 is! 

wishing the happiest birthday to my main man hazza p, hazzatron, the hazzanator, our little murderer who makes grown men crumble!

my perfect, hot, handsome, hardworking, kind, smart (?), brave, courageous, kind-hearted, amazing, wonderful boyfriend, harry james potter <3 

ok anyway

i love youu, troublemakers!

- dizzy