A Trio of Serpents

66: A Severed Bond

Summary: An emotional rollercoaster of emotions is emotional; a chess board gets abused somewhere in the middle

Sid's soft snores filled the room. After years of fighting the urge to suffocate Jayson for snoring louder than a hippogriff, Harry found it soothing. Like it was something that made it feel one step closer to normal.

Sirius had left for Gringotts ten minutes ago, saying that him being a relative of Bellatrix should give him an advantage over the others. He refused point-blank to let anyone go with him, and since Sid needed looking after, Harry reluctantly complied.

So here he was, leaning against his bed while Sid slept on. Every once in a while, Sid would shift around and murmur. Even less frequently were the whimpers, which died down when Harry reached up and lightly grasped his hand hanging over the edge of the bed.

He was still holding on when Sid jerked awake. "I don't know anything, I..." He trailed off, tightening his grip on Harry's hand as he came to. "...swear. Did I wake you?"

"I've been awake for a while," Harry replied.

"Okay." Sid rubbed his eyes with his free hand. His thumb absently stroked the back of Harry's hand. "Where's Mum?"

"Having breakfast. Moony told her to let you sleep as long as possible."

"Okay." Sid paused. "But she really is here, though, right?"

"She is," Harry answered, and he felt Sid relax marginally.

"Good, good." Sid seemed to be trying to think of what to say. "I'm hungry."

Harry snickered. "Figured. Come on."

He stood up and led Sid out into the hallway. "Let me get Ron and Hermione," he said, releasing Sid's hand.

He walked over to their bedroom and lightly knocked. No response.

"Ron? Hermione? You in there?" called Harry even though he could hear familiar snoring.

Still nothing. Quietly, Harry turned the doorknob and pushed his way in. At once, he had to press a hand over his mouth to keep from squealing.

His friends were so close together under the covers they looked like they were stuck. One of Ron's arms was slung over Hermione, the scars faintly visible in the dim light.

Harry was about to back out when Hermione's eyes opened a crack.

"Harry?" she said softly.

"Sorry," he whispered back. "Sid woke up and said he was hungry, so I thought I'd check on you two."

"Oh, that's all right. I am pretty hungry myself." Hermione sat up, disentangling herself from Ron, and gently shook his shoulder. "Ron? It's time to get up."

The snoring cut off for a moment, then resumed.

Hermione exchanged an amused look with Harry. "Should we let him be?"

"Best not if you don't want him to panic." Harry flipped on the lights. "Rise and shine, Wheezy."

Ron's eyebrows furrowed, but he still did not stir. He mumbled something that might've sounded like a protest, but it was so slurred Harry couldn't say for certain.

Harry opened his mouth to make a remark about humans hibernating when he caught sight of Hermione's face. The amusement was gone to be replaced by worry.

"Ron?" she prompted. She looked up at Harry. "Is he Seeing something?"

"I don't know." Worried now himself, Harry moved forward.