Read My Mind

Hippogriffs' feathers

"Nothing! Not a single letter, do you have any idea how I spent this whole summer--hoping for---" Harry just arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place and was happy to finally see his friends yet furious about their nonchalant behaviors over the whole summer at the same time.

"Harry, we thought we had heard your dulcet voice." Fred and George apparated from the thin air. They managed to calm Harry down for just a minute and updated him about the Order of the Phoenix and its current members.

"Snape is also here, but he never stays for dinner."

"Mom wouldn't let us listen to their meetings, we have to use this." They showed Harry their latest invention of the extendable ears.

"Mrs. Weasley, just hang on one second, I think we should probably go and greet Harry."

Harry was surprised to hear Ria's voice.

She came out and hugged him, "Sorry about what happened Harry, you must have been terrified and lonely."

Harry didn't quite know how to react, and decided to just ask a question instead, "Wait, so how come you are allowed to sit in the meetings?"

"Well, it's not like they can hide anything from me anyway, can they?"

"But don't get happy so fast, Harry." Fred came behind him, startled both Harry and Ria, and most of Mrs. Weasley.

"WILL YOU TWO STOP THIS--" Mrs. Weasley started scolding her two sons again.

"She won't tell us anything." George added.

"Wait, what? But--" Harry felt upset.

"No, sorry Harry." Ria gave him an apologetic smile, "I know you must feel angry, it's reasonable. But I'm sorry, I don't think I'm supposed to."

"She called it, 'the integrity of a Legilimens"--never revealing something that was not supposed to be revealed."

"Well, stop telling me how I feel or what's supposed to be revealed." Harry raised his voice again.

"No, Harry that's not what I meant. I didn't say anything about not being supposed to be revealed. It's just, what people didn't want to be revealed, I can't go around poking other people's brains and just gossip."

She read Harry's thoughts and her face turned pale, "Oh. Well, I should probably--"

Harry felt bad for hurting her with his thoughts, but then again, he didn't ask her to read his mind, did he?

Ria stayed upstairs until dinner, when Harry started feeling better. Sitting in front of the dining table with his godfather, his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, and everyone else, munching down countless sausages, bacon, and pancakes under Mrs. Weasley's scrutiny, Harry was still contemplating on how exactly he is supposed to feel. As warm and sweet as Mrs. Weasley's kind wish of offering him more calories so that he doesn't look like a person who has been starved for 2 months (which in fact he was), he seriously thought his stomach is going to explode if he swallows even one more bite.

Oh dear, Harry thought. Instead of being killed by the dark lord, he's going to die because of stuffing his face too much. He looked at Ron, hoping his best friend can offer some help and save her from his mother's kindness and affection, but his buddy is too busy sending his third plate of sausages down his throat.

"Where is Ria?" He asked, as a distraction so that Mrs. Weasley would stop trying to feed him for a second. Also, he was hoping she would show up so he would know they were fine.

"Oh she doesn't like eating with us. It's too noisy, poor girl. That reminds me, Fred honey why don't you go up stairs and--"

Fred got up, holding a plate in his hand, he's apparently being used to delivering food to Ria.

"More juice, honey?" Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry again.

"Oh no, I think I'm good. Actually, why don't I--" Harry practically yanked the plate out of Fred's hand.

"Oh, okay then. It's just the room next to the stairs on the second floor. Be careful with the stairs!"

Harry ran away from the dining table.

"Ria?" He knocked on the door, but there's no response. He gently pushed the door open, and saw Buckbeak.

He growled happily to greet Harry, waking up Ria--she was leaning against Buckbeak and falling asleep.

"Oh hey, Harry. I didn't hear you come in."

"Oh, sorry, I knocked but--"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Thank you for the--" she took over the plate.

"Hippogriffs' feathers can help with the...noises. They are loyal magical creatures and grant people peacefulness." She explained, "this is like my favorite room in this house, and also the reason my father allowed me to stay here over the summer."

She stroked Buckbeak's feather gently, and the

latter groaned in enjoyment. "And don't worry about it Harry, I know you didn't mean it." She was not reading his thoughts, but she just knew why Harry was here.

"Yeah, well, perhaps I should leave you--." Harry left Ria to her enclosed small space.

He still felt upset about being kept in the dark, but now he could see the reasons why Ria wouldn't want to abuse her power.

"She's upstairs a lot." Sirius came to stand with Harry in front of their family tapestry.

"Must have been hard." Harry said.

"Yeah. She's a very good person to talk to. A very good listener."

Harry was slightly surprised to see his godfather complimenting a Slytherin outrightly, but soon he realized, Ria might be one of the few people that understand Sirius' frustration right now. And Sirius didn't have to say it out loud, she just knew.

"She kept me sane, when Snape swung by with his--" Sirius didn't finish the sentence, "he brought her potions once in a while." And probably mocking Sirius for being trapped in the house every single time.

"But if Ria thinks he's with us," Harry said.

"Yeah, that's what I have been telling myself too." Sirius sighed.

"She understands not being understood. And how there are things you can't do even if you want to, and even if it makes you look useless."

"You are not useless, Sirius." Harry looked at his godfather seriously.

"Thank you Harry, you are always kind, just like your father."