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THE FOLLOWING WEEK, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Rory spent their Tuesday night working on their homework in the Gryffindor common room. . . Actually, Hermione spent her time revising Ron and Harry's essays, Ron spent his time goofing off, Harry spent his time staring at the fire, and Rory spent her time napping on the sofa.
"Okay, write that down," Hermione pushed Ron's essay back in his direction. "And then copy out this conclusion that I've written for you."
"Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful person I've ever met," Ron said to her weakly. "And if I'm ever rude to you again —"
Hermione interrupted him with a grin, "I'll know you've gone back to normal. Harry, yours is okay except for this bit at the end, I think you must have misheard Professor Sinistra, Europa's covered in ice, not mice — Harry?"
She focused her attention to Harry, whom had slid off his chair and onto his knees, gazing into the flames of the crackling fire. Ron raised an eyebrow as he question uncertainly, "Er — Harry? Why are you down there?"
"Because I've just seen Sirius' head in the fire," he responded calmly, waiting for his godfather to appear again.
"Sirius' head?" Hermione repeated. "You mean like when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard Tournament? But he wouldn't do that now, it would be too — Sirius!"
Hermione's sudden exclamation and the dropping of Ron's quill caused Rory to wake up, alarmed at the sudden loud noises. She noticed the trio's sudden interest in the fire, but quickly fell back asleep, tired from getting little sleep since September. However in the dancing flames sat Sirius Black's head, his long dark hair falling around his grinning face.
Her father.
"I was starting to think you'd go to bed before everyone else had disappeared," Sirius admitted, a playful smile filling his features. "I've been checking in every hour."
Harry laughed, "You've been checking in every hour?"
"Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear yet," Sirius corrected his previous statement, then focused his attention to Rory asleep on the sofa. "Who's that behind you?"
"That's Rory," Hermione answered his question, quickly glancing back at her. "She's our friend, but she's asleep so there's no need to worry about her. Besides, Rory wouldn't tell anyone about you."
"Rory?" The name sounded both foreign and familiar to Sirius as he spoke it. "Do you mean Aurora? The girl Harry's wrote about in his letters? Is that who Rory is?"
