Pretty Kitty (completed)

Chapter 30

Harry snapped his eyes open sharply, shaking his head. He'd been on the brink of falling asleep. Again.

Can't go to sleep, he thought, determined not to allow the aching tiredness in his body to lull him off again. He had to stay awake – what if he had another one of those dreams again?

A grunt drew him from his horror-filled thoughts, and he looked up to see George shift slightly on the sofa he was sleeping on. The position didn't look too comfortable – he was sitting upright, head lolling off the back of the sofa, and Fred tucked into his side, also unconscious.

Sirius sat in a chair near the fire, staring into it contemplatively. Ron and Ginny were on the floor, leaning against the sofa, Ron awake with an arm curled around a sleeping Ginny, who hadn't spoken a word since they'd arrived.

Harry was sitting in the chair the furthest back, not letting the warmth from the fire touch him in case it made him more drowsy than he already was. The nightmare of killing Arthur Weasley had caught up with him, and he felt limp and drained, but also filled with terror.

Fred and George had been as silent as Ginny all night, only speaking to decline Sirius' offers of tea or hot chocolate. Sirius had been bustling around, nervous and edgy, while the others sat stonily, each in their own world.

Harry shifted in the rock hard chair, curling in on himself further. He was bored and apprehensive and guilty. The silence of the other's didn't exactly ease any of these feelings – they knew it was his fault, didn't they? Even though George and Fred had comforted him just before the Portkey took off, they obviously blamed him. Maybe they'd just been mocking him.

Would Mr and Mrs Weasley feel the same way? It was doubtful they'd feel happy with Harry being so close to their sons after the incident, they had every right to be wary of him. He could attack them in his sleep, too. As a snake.

Why a snake? He thought, quite bemused. Surely a feline, a dangerous jungle cat or even a weird wizard cat with poisonous fangs (such things could exist in the Wizarding world, after all), he would understand. But a snake...

There was a burst of flame suddenly, right in the middle of the room. Harry jumped right off the chair and onto the back of it, claws out and quite shocked. Sirius vaulted from his seat, the chair being knocked over, then, bizarrely, calmed when he saw the flame. Ron looked equally as shocked, his sudden jump waking his sister. The twin stirred awake at the commotion.

A letter fell out of the flames, and then they sizzled into nothing. Sirius sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and picked up the letter from the floor, unrolling the parchment. Everyone waited with baited breath, and Harry clambered down from his uncomfortable and dangerous perch. When he looked over at the twins, they met his gaze, obviously quite amused. He scowled and looked away.

"Arthur's stable and receiving treatment. Molly's with him now," Sirius told them all, looking quite relieved. Everyone sighed with equal relief and Ron's face spread out in a large grin.

"When can we go see him?" Surprisingly, it was Ginny who asked this, staring up at Sirius, expression determined and demanding. He looked quite taken aback, especially when Fred, George, Ron and Harry all leaned forward, interested in an answer.

"Erm," Sirius began, quite nervous at suddenly being the centre of such solemn attention, even though he usually revelled in attention. "I'm not sure, but Molly says she'll be back before noon."

None of them looked satisfied at this news except, maybe, Harry – he wanted to put off seeing Mrs Weasley for as long as possible. She was bound to dislike him, no matter how kind she usually was. No-one could simply overlook him killing their husband.