Emma Potter; Going to War

21: Let the rebellion begin

I knew my brother too well for his own good.

 So he couldn't hide the fact that Sirius had talked to him, without me there and he felt guilty. I did feel a little jealous. . .but we aren't in the same house anymore. So, it would not be possible for Sirius to contact us together. 

Furthermore, to elaborate on the point I started with, I knew Harry had been looking forward to the weekend trip into Hogsmeade, but there was one thing worrying him. Sirius had maintaineda stony silence since he had appeared in the fire at the beginning of September; Harry knew they had made him angry by saying that theydid not want him to come — but he still worried from time to timethat Sirius might throw caution to the winds and turn up anyway.

"Well, you can't blame him for wanting to get out and about," saidRon, when Harry discussed his fears with Me,him and Hermione. "Imean, he's been on the run for over two years, hasn't he, and I knowthat can't have been a laugh, but at least he was free, wasn't he? Andnow he's just shut up all the time with that lunatic elf." 

Hermione scowled at Ron, but otherwise ignored the slight onKreacher. 

"The trouble is," she said to Harry, "until V-Voldemort — oh forheaven's sake, Ron — comes out into the open, Sirius is going to haveto stay hidden, isn't he? I mean, the stupid Ministry isn't going to realize Sirius is innocent until they accept that Dumbledore's beentelling the truth about him all along. And once the fools start catching real Death Eaters again it'll be obvious Sirius isn't one . . . I mean,he hasn't got the Mark, for one thing." 

 "I don't reckon he'd be stupid enough to turn up," said Ron bracingly. "Dumbledore'd go mad if he did and Sirius listens to Dumbledore even if he doesn't like what he hears." 

When Harry continued to look worried, Hermione said, "Listen,Ron and I have been sounding out people who we thought mightwant to learn some proper Defense Against the Dark Arts, and thereare a couple who seem interested. We've told them to meet us inHogsmeade." 

"Right," said Harry vaguely, his mind still on Sirius. 

"Don't worry, Harry," Hermione said quietly. "You've got enoughon your plate without Sirius too."She was quite right, of course; he was barely keeping up with his homework, though he was doing much better now that he was nolonger spending every evening in detention with Umbridge. Ron waseven further behind with his work than Harry, because while theyboth had Quidditch practices twice a week, Ron also had prefect duties. However, Hermione, who was taking more subjects than either ofthem, had not only finished all her homework but was also findingtime to knit more elf clothes. I had to admit that she was gettingbetter; it was now almost always possible to distinguish between thehats and the socks. 

My homework was being managed pretty well, if I do say so myself. 

The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned bright but windy. After breakfast we queued up in front of Filch, who matched theirnames to the long list of students who had permission from their parents or guardian to visit the village. With a slight pang, I remembered that if it hadn't been for Sirius, I would not have beengoing at all. 

When I reached Filch, the caretaker gave a great sniff asthough trying to detect a whiff of something from me. Then hegave a curt nod that set his jowls aquiver again and Harry and I walked on,out onto the stone steps and the cold, sunlit day.

 "Er — why was Filch sniffing you?"I asked, as we set off at a brisk pace down the wide drive to the gates. I had told Zoe, Astoria, Nicholas, Ryan and Draco to meet us at the Hogs Head. Zoe and Nicholas will drag the others there if they had to. 

"I suppose he was checking for the smell of Dungbombs," saidHarry with a small laugh. "I forgot to tell you . . ."

 And he recounted the story of sending his letter to Sirius and Filchbursting in seconds later, demanding to see the letter. To his slight surprise, I found this story highly interesting, much more, indeed, than he did himself.