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SIYE Time:12:39 on 29th March 2024
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The Opposing Movement
By BigFatMaybe

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Category: Pre-OotP, Alternate Universe
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Other, Sirius Black
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama
Warnings: Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Sexual Situations, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse
Rating: R
Reviews: 86
Summary: Christmas, 1993. Harry Potter is spotted in the company of wanted fugitive Sirius Black, and is forced on a dark, treacherous path. Pursued from all directions by a Ministry intent on capturing him, and the ever-persistent threat of a seemingly immortal Voldemort on the horizon, the road ahead will be dangerous, and the toll will be higher than ever before…
Hitcount: Story Total: 30777; Chapter Total: 2711





Author's Notes:
This chapter is a little appetizer of sorts...




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Melchior was pleased with Harry and Ginny's progress, and as a sort of exam he wanted to stage a break-in for Harry and Ginny to test their progress. They would wait outside in the snow while Melchior, Selene and Sirius did their best to act as if it was a normal day. The goal for Harry and Ginny would be to retrieve Harry's invisibility cloak from the house and get out again without being seen.

"But I don't want you to use anything other than a disillusionment spell and your Homenum Revelio," Melchior said while explaining the rules to everyone. "I know magic makes repairing things much easier, but I'd prefer not to do so in the first place. Me, Selene, and Sirius will just let you know when we've found you. We won't hex you and there will be no duels." Harry nodded excitedly, a grin spreading on his face. At Hogwarts, practical lessons were so much better than the normal ones, and he felt more energized than he'd felt since arriving here. But Melchior gave him a hard stare.

"I'd better see you two take this as seriously as we three are," he said while Sirius obviously resisted making that joke. "This isn't for fun. If you aren't prepared to do everything you can to evade the Ministry and who knows who else will be hunting you, you'll be dead within the first month. But do your best here, and you might survive a little bit longer. You've seen the results of my training already." Harry glanced at Selene, who was leaning against the dark wooden wall, still playing with her pocket knife. She briefly flashed him a feral grin.

“I don’t know about this,” Sirius said. “We three know already that Harry and Ginny are going to be sneaking around. Doesn’t that defeat the ‘going unnoticed’ purpose?”

“That crossed my mind as well,” Melchior said. He scratched his beard.

“I could put a Confundus spell on us?” Selene suggested brightly.

“No, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Melchior said as Sirius narrowed his eyes at her. “Anyway, that’s a worry for another day. Is everything clear for now?" he asked. Everyone voiced their agreement. "Excellent. Harry, Ginny, pull on your coats and step outside. Give me one minute to properly hide the cloak, and you may come in again."

He and Ginny stepped outside and a painfully cold wind chilled him immediately. Harry wondered if he would ever get used to this environment. He glanced at his watch and closed the door at 2:24 precisely.

"So what do we do?" Ginny asked him.

"Disillusion ourselves first. We can't cast it silently yet, so we'd better do it while we're still outside," he replied. Ginny nodded and they pulled out their wands.

"Es Perlucidi," they incanted together.

"And?" He asked Ginny.

"I think you're good. How about me?" She asked. He could see footsteps forming in the snow and Harry guessed that she was moving around a bit. All he could see of her, though, was a faint ripple.

"Perfect," he said, "how are we going to search? Homenum Revelio and then comb through the house?"

"Yeah, but let's split up. If we walk next to each other we’ll be easier to detect. You take the ground floor and I go upstairs?"

"Good idea, yeah." he glanced at his watch. "We've got… ten seconds left… five…" he then started counting down with his fingers before remembering they were invisible. "Alright, let’s go," he finally whispered.

Tingles spread throughout his body as he slowly opened the door. It creaked louder than Harry would have wanted and he realized that they could have used one of the small windows to enter the house instead. He and Ginny were both probably skinny enough to fit through. But that didn’t matter now.

He stepped inside and he felt Ginny brush up against him. He closed the door while he heard her take a couple of steps into the house. She whispered something and he felt the effects of the human-revealing spell pass him. They quickly scanned the house. Sirius was seated in the bathroom, Selene was in her room, and Melchior was… walking upstairs through the kitchen floor?

He flinched when they all suddenly disappeared again. Ginny had cancelled the spell. Remembering their plan, he quietly made his way across the room, towards where Melchior was. Behind him, he heard a creak on the stairs, but he saw no one there. Ginny was going upstairs.

He crossed the last few feet and ducked against the wall between the living room and the kitchen, intent on hearing what Melchior was doing in there. He didn't have much time thinking why exactly he'd just seen their host rise up through the kitchen floor, but it could mean that Ginny was right: Melchior did indeed spend a suspicious amount of time in the kitchen. There was something underneath the floor there. And it was probably a very good place to hide an invisibility cloak.

He put his ear against several places in the wall, and came to the conclusion that he could hear the best when he was close to the doorway. He put his ear against the rough wooden wall and held his breath while he listened. He heard nothing at first, but then a clang that sounded like a glass bumping against something. He heard it again and now he heard water splashing. Melchior was doing the dishes.

Harry began to think. If he was doing that, he probably wouldn't come out for a while yet. So how to lure him out?

Making a sound was probably his best option. He quickly discarded the idea of banging on the door. Melchior would probably be prepared for that and it would sound too intentional. He needed to make Melchior think that Harry had made a mistake, that he was being clumsy. Moving the couch? It would maybe be noisy enough for Melchior to hear, but the couch was large and heavy, and could only be moved if Harry pushed it with all his bodyweight so Melchior would know that Harry did it on purpose. The same went for the sofas. The table chairs, however…

The loo flushed upstairs and Harry stopped dead. Then he heard the tap open, some splashing, and the sounds of water stopped. A door opened upstairs, probably the bathroom door. But No sound of alarm. Ginny was well hidden. Harry shook his head and brought his thoughts back to his own problem.

The chairs were light, yet made of solid wood, and would make a lot of noise if they fell. Probably enough to make Melchior notice it from inside the kitchen.

He stood up from his crouched position against the wall and started to make his way towards the middle of the room. But he stopped when another thought came to him. How would he slip past Melchior afterwards? The man would probably come in through the kitchen and run straight into him. He would have to make the chair fall from afar. A rope would probably do it…

He shook his head for being so stupid, and he grabbed his wand. He briefly hesitated when he thought of the rules, but then he remembered his many adventures from when he was still at Hogwarts, most of them nocturnal, and his life at the Dursleys before that. When had rules ever mattered to him?

"Wingardium Leviosa," he muttered, and one of the chairs rose from the ground and slowly inched towards the ceiling. It was at that moment that he heard someone walking through the corridor upstairs, and then the creaking of the stairs. He quickly cancelled the spell. The chair fell to the floor and one of the legs snapped off, making just as much noise as Harry was hoping it would do.

He was as still and as silent as possible when the stairs creaked even louder now and seconds later, Sirius entered the room, scanning the room with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

Harry almost let out a loud curse when the door right next to him banged open and Melchior entered, his arms still wet and covered in soap. The two men nodded at each other and inched around the room without another word. Neither were looking at the corner where Harry had hidden himself, and that was the opening he needed. Hoping his clothes wouldn't make too much noise while he moved, he snuck into the kitchen.

When he was around the corner, out of view from the living room, he breathed out shakily. Now he had to find a way to get past the floor. It was made of wood, almost the same colour as the walls, but the texture was a bit smoother. He felt the seams, looked at some of the nails, and tested his weight on some of the boards. But he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. He would have to ask Ginny later if he hadn't imagined the sight before. Still, it wouldn't hurt to double-check, so he got on all fours again, this time also trying to put his nails between the seams. But whoever laid down the floor did a good job of it, because he couldn't fit them anywhere in between it.

He was so engrossed in his task that he didn't pay attention the sounds around him anymore. Not until it was too late. A strange feeling enveloped him and he was shocked to see that he wasn't invisible anymore. Moments later, his arms were held behind his back and a voice said in his ear: "got you."

Before he even had time to react he was free again, and he turned around to see his captor, Melchior, regarding him with something that looked like amusement in his eyes.

"You broke the rules," the man said.

"Who said I did?" Harry replied instantly. The corners of Melchior's mouth quivered. Sirius entered the kitchen behind him.

"You've got them?"

"Only Harry. I think they've split up."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of two people coming downstairs. They exited the kitchen and saw Selene cheerfully leading a scowling Ginny into the living room.

"Found her in Harry and Sirius' room," she said happily. "I think she slipped on a sock."

"Clean up your room," Ginny groused.

"Did you find it?" Harry asked her.

"No, of course not, Selene caught me. Did you find it?"

"No, Melchior caught me in the kitchen."

"Let's sit down, shall we?" Melchior suggested. He set the fallen chair back up, attached the broken leg again with a swish of his wand, and they all took place around the table. "Well then, tell me what you two did."

"We agreed to split up," Harry said, glancing at Ginny briefly. "First a Homenum Revelio, then Ginny would go upstairs and I would search this floor."

"Nothing else planned beforehand?"

"No."

"That's alright. And what did you think of your performance?"

"We didn't find the cloak," Ginny said.

"True. Hang on, I'll grab it." Melchior stood up, walked to the coat rack beside the front door, and fished the silvery cloak out of the inner pocket of one of the coats. Harry groaned and Ginny shook her head.

"That's mean," she said.

Melchior dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "I told you that we would hide it anywhere, except in my room." He sat back down. "But back to the matter at hand, what would you have done differently?"

Harry and Ginny sat in silence for a while. Melchior waved his wand and a tray laden with teacups and a kettle flew in from the kitchen.

"The door creaked," Harry said. "If you didn't know we were coming, that sound would have alerted you."

"Good point," Melchior said as the kettle poured everyone a cup of tea. Two sugar cubes floated in the air and threw themselves into Selene’s cup with a splash. "Again, it's a bit of a shame we knew you would be looking for the cloak. It's not as realistic as I would have hoped it would be. Anyway, never mind that for now. Anything else?" He asked Harry and Ginny.

"I didn't watch my step, and I slipped because of that," Ginny admitted. "I need to pay attention to that a bit more."

"Excellent idea. Harry?"

"I dunno?"

"Let me say something, then. I think you were too focused on whatever you were looking for in the kitchen. You didn't pay attention to your surroundings, and that allowed me to catch you unaware. If you hadn't split up, you could have told Ginny to watch your back while you were busy."

"That's an idea," Ginny said.

"What was that with the chair, Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, erm, I needed Melchior out of the kitchen, so I…"

"Used magic to knock over a chair," Melchior finished for him. "I think we specifically said 'no magic other than those two charms at the beginning'."

"Sorry," Harry murmured demurely.

"Still," Melchior continued. "That was a good move. You were hiding in a corner when I came into the room, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"Very clever. Bonus points for that. Of course, I'll have to deduct them immediately because you broke the rules, but it's the thought that counts, after all."

"Why did you want to go into the kitchen so badly?" Sirius asked Harry.

"Well…" Harry paused, noting Melchior's displeased look with interest. "When Ginny cast Homenum Revelio, I saw Melchior walking upstairs through the kitchen floor. Or something like that at least. I figured a hidden room would be the best place to hide something." He looked at their host, but he couldn't read his emotion. "Is there a hidden room there?"

"Well, I had to have come from somewhere if you two saw me coming upstairs, didn't I?" Melchior said, taking a sip of his tea. He seemed unfazed again, relaxed at first glance, but there was a strange look in his eyes that Harry couldn't quite place. It only piqued his curiosity even more.

"What's down there, then?" Ginny pressed.

"Nothing for you to worry about. Now, onto the next subject. I want you two to take this test more often, but we'll add more aspects to it. Breaking protections, more ways of sneaking around undetected, and I want you to start practicing taking down your enemies, too. Either through duelling or, much preferably, through hexing them behind their backs"

"I can teach you that!" Selene piped up hopefully.

"We'll see," Melchior said. He tucked a stray lock of greying hair behind his ear. "Well, class is dismissed either way. Harry, Ginny, tomorrow we'll start with a charm that muffles your footsteps and your breath and, depending on how much time we'll have left, some spells that will help you defend yourself. It's now..." he pulled back the sleeve of his jumper slightly and glanced at his golden watch, "five thirty. High time for me to start cooking supper."

"Meat and potatoes?" Selene asked.

"What else?" Melchior said. He ruffled Selene's hair and headed for the kitchen.

"D'you need some help?" Harry asked. Melchior turned around.

"No. But thank you for the offer, Harry. Perhaps you could help with breakfast tomorrow." With that, he turned around again and closed the door behind him.

"Nice try, Harry," Selene laughed. "A bit too obvious, though."

"Do you know what's down there, then?" Ginny asked her.

Selene pursed her lips. "Just leave it be already. If Melchior wants it to remain hidden, it will remain hidden. Not much you can do about it."

"But-"

"Leave it!" Selene warned. She stood up abruptly and refused to meet anyone’s eye as she marched around the table. "I'm going for a walk."

Harry, Ginny and Sirius said nothing as she put on her shoes and jacket. There was a wave of cold air when she opened the door and stepped out, but the room was silent again after she closed it behind her. Harry could faintly hear the sound of meat sizzling on a pan in the kitchen, but nothing more. No grinding noise of the floor making way for a secret stairwell, no footsteps, nothing.

Sirius cast a charm on the kitchen door and turned to Harry and Ginny.

"Right, I don't trust them at all," he said without preamble. "They're keeping a lot of secrets from us, and speaking as someone who's been lying to other people his whole life, there are all sorts of alarm bells going off here," he tapped his head.

"I agree," Ginny said. "I mean, Selene doesn't exist officially and now there's this secret basement or whatever else there is under the kitchen? It's all so strange!"

"But they saved us from the Ministry," Harry argued. "And now they've taken us in, and Melchior's training us. And we really need training now that we’re away from school-"

"Oh, you're defending them, are you?" Ginny interrupted him venomously. "What, did Selene convince you during one of your little talks? Do you want her to give you a kiss, is that it?"

Harry and Sirius stared at her. Then Sirius chuckled.

"You don't like her, do you?" He asked kindly.

Ginny's angry expression faltered. "No, I… I don't. I don't even know why. She just... bothers me a lot, you know?"

"Is it the fact that she's a fan of the Gorgons?" Sirius asked.

Ginny blushed and looked away. "Well, maybe a bit," she muttered.

"What about that, then?" Harry asked, looking from one to the other. "You and Selene were really angry the first day about that. I mean, it's just a band, right?"

"Just a band? Harry Potter, you are-" Ginny began, but Sirius put a hand on her shoulder.

"He grew up with Muggles, Ginny. He doesn't understand." He said calmly.

"I'm right here, you know?" Harry said. "Explain!"

"Well, the Gorgons and the Weird Sisters are both very famous magical bands. I don't know if they still are, but before I went to Azkaban, they were the two most famous bands in Britain."

"They still are," Ginny said.

"They regularly get compared in the newspapers and on the radio. Who sold the most records, who made the best albums, who were more talented, you know the deal."

"But the Weird Sisters are obviously the best," Ginny piped up.

"You're not helping, Ginny," Sirius said. "Anyway, the fans picked up on this rivalry and then it kind of blew up. You know, the odd fight here and there between groups of fans, rumours and slander all around about the two bands and their fans…"

"You can't be a fan of both," Ginny said with passion. "It's just not right. You're either a Gorgonian or a Weird Sister. You've got some people who say they like both, but they’re not true fans. They're just casuals."

"Ah okay, so it's like with football, then?" Harry said enthusiastically. "Like, you've got Arsenal versus Tottenham, and then Manchester United and Liverpool…" He trailed off when he saw Sirius’ and Ginny's blank looks. "Oh, right. It's a Muggle thing. Erm, it's a bit like rivalries in Quidditch, then."

"Yes, it's a bit like that!" Ginny said.

"Anyway, let's get back on track, shall we?" Sirius said. "What are we going to do about this? Because I don't really feel comfortable staying here."

"But where would we go, then? We don't even know where we are, we can't Apparate away from here, and then there's the Ministry and the fact that it's the middle of the winter, so there won't be any sunlight here until next week…"

"I know, Harry," Sirius said. "And that's the problem. The way I see it, we've got no choice other than to stay here, but I don't like that idea at all."

"But why not? They saved us from the Ministry. And you really need some care, Sirius. You were skin and bones until a few days ago, and that's putting it lightly."

"Ha! You're one to talk!" Sirius laughed, thumping Harry's shoulder. "If anyone's a skinny runt here, it'll be you!" But Harry and Ginny didn't share his mirth.

"Harry's right, Sirius, you really did look unhealthy," Ginny said.

Sirius looked from one child to the other. "Really? Oh, come on, I can be a dog for months on end! It wasn't that bad, was it?"

Harry shook his head. "I still say we can't go without Melchior and Selene."

"And I agree with Harry," Ginny sighed. "Just look outside. We can't possibly just go out there with this weather, not to mention the fact that we're all on the run from as good as everyone now. We wouldn’t make it on our own. I mean, I can’t even write my own parents! They’ll just think you two put a charm on me, or they’ll try to find us through that letter and lead the Ministry to us. We’re hopeless without Melchior and Selene."

Sirius stared at one of the small windows, but there was nothing to see but darkness and the occasional flake of snow drifting past.

"Alright,” he said eventually. “We stay here until it gets warmer, and then we'll decide whether we want to stay or not."

"Fair enough," Harry said. Ginny voiced her agreement as well.

Harry and Sirius then started a game of chess to pass time (the sets weren't magical, sadly) and Ginny watched the game, occasionally making a remark about their lack of skill, or groaning when either made a move that was apparently not good enough in her eyes. Not that she was much better than them, Harry liked to think.

Selene came back for dinner just in time. She was covered in snow and looked more like a yeti than a human being, but sitting by the fire for a couple of minutes helped a lot. Melchior complimented Sirius' silencing charm at the start of dinner, but other than that, no one mentioned the previous tension.

"So your parents were Muggles?" Sirius asked. Melchior hadn't told much more about himself since the first night, and Harry found himself curious about the man's past as well.

"They were," Melchior answered. He swallowed a mouthful of fish before continuing. "And strictly religious too, so you can only imagine the shock when my Hogwarts letter arrived and I turned out to be a wizard. In fact, my dad was just as unnerved as your uncle and aunt were, Harry, if what you told is true."

Harry resisted demanding how he knew that.

"But eventually, Dumbledore came to our farm, did some magic, and then explained a bit about the Wizarding World. My parents were still quite unhappy with me vanishing to a secret castle up north in Scotland, but at least they let me go." He took another bite and took his time before resuming the story. "Sorry. Anyway, when I got there, I was sorted into Slytherin. Quite strange, isn't it? A Muggle-born in Slytherin?"

"But I thought Salazar Slytherin forbade Muggle-borns from entering his house?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, he certainly wanted to, but he couldn't. You all know he left Hogwarts due to differing opinions with the other founders, don't you?" Harry, Ginny and Sirius nodded. "Well, it's probably a good thing he did. He had all sorts of plans for the school: prohibiting Muggle-borns from attending, teaching Dark Arts, making some very racist views on blood purity a mandatory part of curriculum, and so on. But the other founders didn't like his plans, and he left. And in the end it made it possible for me to enter Slytherin House.”

“Didn’t you have a lot of trouble with your Housemates, then? Didn’t they pick on you because of your heritage?” Harry asked, thinking back to his own experience with Slytherin House.

“No, they didn’t,” Melchior replied. “It wasn't really that bad in the end. You'll have to understand that the extreme hostility between Slytherin and the rest of the school only really worsened during the war against Voldemort, when most Death Eaters were ex-Slytherins. So me being a Muggle-born in Slytherin, well, it wasn't pleasant at first, but I when It became clear that I was more cunning and ambitious than most of my pureblood Housemates, I became an accepted member. Of course, Slughorn being my head of house made it very easy for me. I rather impressed him during potions and received high grades, and that was enough for him to notice me and invite me to his private club."

"Who's Horace Slughorn?" Ginny asked.

"Oh right, he isn't the Potions Professor anymore now, is he?" Melchior said. "Well, Horace Slughorn was the Potions Professor and Slytherin's head of house. Can't imagine anyone better suited for that position, to be honest. He loved connections, you see. In all the time that he was a teacher at Hogwarts, and he was there for a very long time, he always made connections between everyone he could lay his hands on.

He had a sort of club of his favourite students, called the Slug Club, and he would do everything to get in the good books of his favourites. For example, when they graduated from Hogwarts, he would pull some favours make sure they landed all the good jobs: a high position at the Daily Prophet, a place right near the director of one of the many magical manufacturing companies, that one highly contested place in the Ministry, sometimes even good jobs abroad too. And he could do that because he had connections. Knew almost every important Witch or Wizard in Britain."

"It was a very good system," Sirius took over. "Everyone who landed good jobs because of him would be very thankful, of course. Slughorn then invited them to his social gatherings, where a new generation of students were introduced to the well-off ones of the previous generations. And those ex-students couldn’t refuse attending such a party, could they? Not when Slughorn was so instrumental in setting up their successful lives. And Slughorn himself loved it, too. I was at two of those gatherings, and both times he bumbled around there with the biggest grin on his face. I swear he gets off on those parties."

"Sounds creepy," Ginny shuddered.

"Well, maybe it was a little creepy," Melchior acknowledged. "But it was very useful at the same time, so I never really minded that much. It really benefited me during my school career. Even more so later on in my life, but that's a story for another time."

"Your mother was quite a favourite of Slughorn, by the way, Harry," Sirius said.

"Really?" Harry asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Yeah, really! He was always impressed with her talent for potions, and her being a Muggle-born only increased his appreciation of her. Said he didn't think Muggle-borns could even be so talented."

"That sounds…" Ginny began.

"Incredibly racist?" Sirius finished for her. "It was. But at least he didn't hate her."

"He actually said the same to me," Melchior said. "I knew better than to comment on it, because it was actually quite insulting, but I think me being a Muggle-born was one of the big reasons why he took to me so much. Ironic, isn't it?"

"You're much like Lily in that sense, then," Sirius said amusedly. "Both talented potion-brewing Muggle-born favourites of Slughorn."

"Oh, none of that, now. Are you really comparing a beautiful, kind woman to a cranky old hunchback like me?"

"Well, you have about the same eyes," Sirius remarked, grinning.

"Stop it, man, you'll melt my heart," Melchior said. He almost smiled.

"You knew my mum, then?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Oh, I did. And we have Slughorn to thank for that too, obviously. I often went to his parties at Hogwarts during the last war, and I occasionally talked to her there. Of course, after she graduated, she went into the Order of the Phoenix, and I never saw her again, but we were good associates, I'd say." Sirius still looked quite bothered by Melchior knowing about Dumbledore's secret society, but he didn't say anything about it.

"Has everyone eaten enough?" Melchior asked the others then. "Harry, some more fish, maybe?"

"No, thanks, I've had enough," Harry said. He leaned back in his chair, feeling like something was bothering him. He didn't quite know what it was, though.

With mixed feelings, he watched the dishes rapidly collect themselves. He was surprised and curious about how Melchior knew his mother, but at the same time, now that he was away from Hogwarts, he felt further away from his parents than before. By going to Hogwarts, he felt like he was sharing things with them somehow: the same building, the same teachers, the same school. That feeling had only reinforced itself during the Christmas Holidays of his first year when he saw them in the Mirror of Erised.

Just when he had felt more lonely than he'd ever felt before, with his classmates ridiculing him or whispering behind his back, they were there for him. Sneaking off under his invisibility cloak in his pyjamas and then sleeping in front of the mirror under the serene gaze of his parents was still something he regularly revisited in his mind. He liked thinking of it. It gave him a strange, yet comforting feeling. Not only was that the only time when he'd seen his parents other than on pictures, and was it one of the precious few times when he could go to sleep without having to bear taunt after taunt from his dorm mates, it was also the very first of many nightly adventures Harry would be having inside the castle.

But when he dug through his backpack in his and Sirius’ bedroom later that evening, in search for the photo album full of pictures of his parents that Hagrid had given him just after the incident with Quirrell in his first year, he realised what caused that nagging feeling he'd had all night.

"Hey," Sirius said as he came into their room. "I'm going to make it an early night. Do you need to use the bathroom?"

"No, that’s alright," Harry replied as cheerfully as he could.

"Something wrong, Harry?"

Harry sighed and looked up from his backpack. "It's the photo album of my parents," he said. "It was in my trunk when we left. I've lost it."

Sirius' look softened. He sat down on his bed and patted the mattress beside him. Harry understood the hint and sat down beside his godfather.

"Did the conversation during dinner remind you of them?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah."

Both sat in silence for a while, Harry staring at his bed across the room.

"Did I ever tell you about when your father made it to the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" Sirius asked then.

"No?"

"Ah, now that's a story you need to hear." Sirius grinned at him. "It was the start of our third year and one of the previous chasers, I believe he was called Higsby, had graduated. James had always been a good flier, so he decided to try out. It was a heavily contested spot, since the team hadn't changed members for five years in a row, and there were loads of other students eager to finally make it to the team.

James won it in the end, though. And that's where the difference between him and you comes into play, Harry. You should have seen him that year! He flaunted and boasted like his life depended on it. The girls loved it, too. If he hadn't been head over heels for Lily already he would have had no trouble whatsoever on that front." Sirius nudged him in the shoulder. "But that's where you two are alike again, aren't you?"

"What d'you mean?" Harry asked, looking up at him.

"What do I mean? Have you or have you not snogged Daphne Greengrass only two weeks ago?"

"I have." Was it really only two weeks ago?

"Well there you go then, you stud! Anyway, the most important reason James boasted so much was because of Lily. He thought that if he only ruffled his hair enough, told her of his successes with Quidditch enough, or winked often enough at her, she would eventually succumb to his charms. During our fourth year he even tried making puppy-eyes at her! I hope I don't have to tell you that that won't work at all, and you should never, ever, try it?"

"Why would I do that? I've already got a girlfriend," Harry said, confused.

"That's true. Well, never mind that for now, then. Good answer, by the way, and I’ll be keeping you to that. I ever see you trying to pull such tricks I’ll deck you, alright? To get back to our story: the first match James ever played was against Slytherin, of course. He would never admit it to anyone, but it was plain to see he was incredibly nervous. Didn't eat that morning, didn't even talk, which was something very rare, and at the start of the game it looked like he’d never rode a broom before. The entire Slytherin house booing him and laughing at him didn't help, of course."

"That's the whole point of it," Harry argued. "It's just a way of unnerving your opponents." He didn't know why he felt the need to defend his former House.

"Of course it is! Everyone does it, it’s a bog-standard sports thing. Luckily, James eventually remembered how to fly and he did alright in the end. Scored four goals. And before you ask me why I remember that so well: it's kind of hard to forget if James himself never stops talking about it every time Lily was nearby. Not that she cared much for it, but that didn't deter him."

"Was he really that good at Quidditch?" Harry asked.

"He was. He wasn't the best of the best by any means, but he was good nonetheless. Stayed a chaser until he graduated too, despite some heavy competition.” He nudged Harry’s shoulder. “It's a shame you never tried out for Slytherin, Harry. I think you'd be a fine chaser too. Or maybe a seeker."

"I would never be accepted to the team," Harry said. "Besides, why would I play for the same House that bullied me? Why would I play for the house that has Snape at its head?"

Sirius shuddered. "Snape, Head of House… You're right, Harry. But it's still a shame."

Remembering the jealousy and envy he felt when watching Quidditch matches from the stands, he agreed with Sirius.

Right before he fell asleep that night, he still felt content from the story Sirius had told him. As was his and Ginny's way of saying goodnight for a couple of nights now, he softly rapped the wall that separated them. A few moments later he heard Ginny do the same from her side. Smiling, he turned around, pulled in his legs and curled up into a ball.

He fell asleep almost instantly.

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