AN: Another huge gap, I agree. But unfortunately, all my chapters are now going to be far spaced. No guarantees as to when the next chapter will be posted. But I do promise that I am not giving up on this story.

Now, enjoy!

Thanks to my wonderful Beta for editing this chapter!

Disclaimer : I Don't Own Harry Potter

Chapter 7 - The Dementors

Chapter 7

Louella simply opened and closed her mouth, no sound escaping her. She was mortified. She had basically gushed about Harry Potter in that letter, only to realise that the Harry she had been writing to had been the very same as Harry Potter himself! Oh, what would her grandmother say when she realised that she had once called Harry Potter a muggle? Well, technically she would and could say nothing, since she had passed away two years ago.

"You knew!" she suddenly said. "When you came here, you knew who I was!" She snorted self-depreciatingly. "Of course you knew, I had already given you my name and address."

"Yes, I knew," Harry admitted.

"And you didn't tell me!" she asked, outraged that he would keep something like this from her.

"You didn't recognise me though, did you?" Harry asked her. Seeing that she had no answer to that, he smiled wryly, "Come sit, Louella. Let's not miss breakfast; we can talk as we eat."

Louella numbly walked over to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. She served herself and watched as he put a few pieces of toast on his plate. However, she didn't know what to say to him, and he didn't make any attempt to talk either.

They were half way through breakfast when Padfoot bounded down the stairs. He did not understand the reason for the tense atmosphere and simply gulped down his food, trusting Harry to handle it on his own. Besides, he was going to Grimmauld Place today – there was another meeting scheduled – and would probably not return till late evening.

…

Harry and Louella were left alone in the house after Padfoot had sneaked out under the pretence of going out for a walk. Louella had not thought anything of it since he was a dog. However, it left both of them in an awkward situation. Neither knew what to say to the other, and even though the silence was growing uncomfortable, they were reluctant to break it.

"How was your summer?" Louella suddenly asked. "I mean – you live with your relatives, right? – I remember you didn't get along well with each other…" She trailed off, realising how insensitive that was.

Previously, when they were still good friends, she had never really pried too much into his home life. They had been kids and things such as neglectful guardians never captured their attention while there were better things to do, like playing and having fun.

But it had been a start, the beginning of a conversation and Harry, glad that she did not inquire about anything regarding his fame or Voldemort, readily answered. Louella was slightly hesitant at first, not knowing how to act around him now that she realised he was her old friend, but seeing that Harry was seemingly content to forget about the past, she too did not broach the subject.

"Tell me about Hogwarts," she requested.

Harry grinned at that; Hogwarts had been his first real home and just thinking of it and all the memories he'd made there made him smile with happiness.

"Hogwarts," Harry began, "is a castle. Almost like a fortress. It is extremely huge and takes quite some time to know your way around the trick steps and moving staircases…"

By the time they'd finished lunch, Louella and Harry had run out of topics to talk about. Harry had told her the basic things about Hogwarts and spoken a little about the classes that were offered. She, in return, had told him of Beauxbatons and the friends she'd made there. She spoke of the snow covered mountain peaks and beautifully sculpted ice statues that Harry remembered Fleur Delacour boasting about last year.

"What were your plans for today?" Harry asked her when they grew tired of doing nothing out of boredom.

"Oh, I was planning to go to town today," she replied. "Do you want to come with me? We could visit the park, and I need to buy a stack of parchment too."

Well, that had not been the main reason she had wanted to go to the town before, but she was hardly going to tell Harry about her initial plans to track him down by leafing through the yellow pages (a muggle telephone directory) in search of his name.

Harry thought about it. Voldemort had been pretty quiet lately according to both the Order and the Prophet. Snape was under an Oath – he couldn't reveal his location to anyone outside the Order. That meant Voldemort had no chance of finding him in Edinburgh. Unless he had really bad luck.

Considering it safe to go, he replied with a smile, "Sure."

Then realising what she had said, he asked her, "Parchment? Where would you get that in a muggle town?"

Louella gave a small laugh. "Oh no! This town is not entirely muggle. There are a few witches and wizards here and a couple of wizarding stores. It's not much, but certainly magical enough to be registered at the Ministry as a part wizarding-part muggle town."

Harry had never really been to such a place before, where both muggle and magical beings coalesced and lived together. He wondered how they had concealed the magical aspects of their life from their non-magic counterparts.

"Is there a clothes shop here?" Harry asked her remembering that he needed a new cloak. His old one had worn thin and had quite a few torn edges.

"Yes. We can leave in an hour or so. Do our shopping, walk for a while and return in time for dinner."

This was agreeable to both of them and after finishing off any pending work, they were ready to leave. Harry and Louella had changed into muggle attire to help them blend in; a jeans and shirt for Harry while Louella wore a dress, both with sleeves long enough to conceal their wands.

…

It had been quite surprising for Harry to enter into a perfectly muggle clothing store only to be led through a door set in the far back of the room behind a couple of huge coat racks. Once through the door, the feel of magic, nearly tangible in the air, overwhelmed him.

Robes, dress robes, shirts, trousers, skirts, woollen clothes, cloaks – in nearly every material and colour were displayed on the racks. At one end, a sewing machine tailored an old pair of trousers with a scissor hovering above it, and a pair of knitting needles worked by itself in the process of knitting what looked like a muffler.

An elderly wizard had propped himself up on an armchair near the sewing machine; probably to look over the tailoring of his trousers; but was instead snoozing peacefully. A woman, presumably the owner, hurried over to them when she took notice of their arrival.

"Hello, dears," she smiled. "I am a bit busy today. Need to complete a long order. Will you be fine by yourselves?" Without waiting for their answer, she continued, "Take your purchases to the counter and Marilla will ring it up for you. Don't worry, she's a squib."

Louella nodded and she then turned to the sleeping wizard with an alarmed cry. As they started toward the cloaks' rack, they heard her shouting,

"Mr Saunders! Mr Saunders, wake up! I told you to tell the machine to stop once it tailored your trousers to the right length. Now look! It's four inches too short –"

Harry ran his hand over a few cloaks, dismissing them because they were not of the right material. He needed something warmer that could help shield him from the cold climate at Hogwarts.

Louella emerged from behind yet another rack, "How about this one?"

It was a dark green colour. "Hogwarts allows only black and grey as a part of their uniform," he reminded her.

She frowned slightly; Beauxbatons had a much better colour for their uniform – blue. It allowed them to wear matching shades of blue cloaks or robes with them. Well, now that it was possible she might attend Hogwarts (her acceptance letter had not yet come), she would have to get used to the dull grey and black colours.

When Harry had found a cloak to his liking at last, he tried it on to see how it felt. Then he felt it again – a small tingle of magic. He frowned: where was this magic coming from? It certainly wasn't from the shop. Because, really, what could have so much magic here that one could taste it in the very air?

"You can feel it?" Louella was surprised when he told her about it. "It's coming from the second floor."

"Second floor?"

"Yes, there's a witch up there. Claims to be a Seer. The muggles have a lot of faith in her. All the readings she has done for them seem to be true."

"And the magical folk?"

Louella shrugged. Her father had never put much stock in what he called "unintelligible mumbo-jumbo", although her mother had been very adept in crystal gazing, or so she had been told.

"A few of them do go to her for a reading," Louella replied, "mostly the older ones. She is rumoured to be very good at what she does."

They went back to the muggle side of the store and paid for the cloak. Harry glanced at the stairs that would lead to the second floor as they were about to exit the shop. Something told him to go up there, almost like a gut feeling. But two years with Trelawney had made him lose faith in Seers, even if she had given one true prophecy in his third year. In the end, he left without paying the acclaimed Seer a visit.

The sky had turned dark. Since they had already visited the stationery to buy Louella's stack of parchments, they walked towards the park. The two teens felt a slight chill in the air although it was still early August. Louella frowned up at the sky, dark grey clouds had begun gathering, shielding them from the last warm rays of the setting sun.

"Is it just me, or do you feel the cold too?" Harry asked his friend.

"No, it is cold." Louella shook her head, instinctively moving towards Harry to share body warmth. "Odd. It is never so cold in August."

That somehow sent chills down Harry's spine.

It is never so cold…

Unnatural coldness. The slight uneasiness creeping over them. A stirring of dread.

When they reached the park, it was nearly empty. The last few children playing in the sandbox were being led away by their parents. The muggles too had noticed the sudden weather change.

It was completely dark now. And Harry had finally realised what those feelings meant. He also knew that they would not be the only ones that would assault him. Soon, something more dreadful would follow.

Harry took the brown package from Louella's hands and put them into the bag that contained his cloak.

"Umm…thanks Harry, but I can carry one stack of parchment on my own," Louella said, surprised at his action.

"I think we should head back to your house," Harry said instead, ignoring her statement; his eyes darted around, searching for something that clearly wasn't there.

"Yes," she agreed. "It is growing cold." She put her arms around her in an attempt to keep herself warm.

Harry nodded and once again surprised her by taking hold of her hand, "What are you –?"

"Be ready to run," he interrupted her.

She paused. She did not understand what was wrong with him. Yes, the sudden change in temperature was strange, but why would they need to run? He must have seen the confusion on her face, but his answer was still cryptic.

"I have a feeling…not totally sure, but," he hesitated, "something is coming our way. Something evil."

(A few hours earlier)

Short, clipped footsteps echoed down the silent hallway. It was empty as ever. The Ministry holding cells never housed anyone. A couple of people at times, when they would portkey into the Ministry, unauthorised. But those were always sorted out quickly. So yes, it did not house anyone. Except Dementors.

There would always be a handful of them present at the Ministry in case they were needed for a sudden trial or for the Minister's use; case in point – Ending of the Triwizard Tournament, Barty Crouch Jr.'s execution . This was why Dolores Jane Umbridge found it perfectly reasonable to use the Dementors to carry out this particular job. After all, she was making sure justice was served.

Everyone kept complaining about the Potter boy and the fear that had spread because of his dreadful lies about the Dark Lord's return. She would not sit back and just complain. She would actively do something about it. She considered herself to be a woman of her word and she had promised the Minister that she would take care of the Potter problem.

A cat patronus swirled into existence as she neared the Dementors.

"You are required to carry out an execution," she began in her usual pompous tone, "The person in question has been spreading lies and creating discord within the Ministry. He threatens our peaceful existence and wishes to bring about unrest in society. As guardians of the Azkaban Prison –"

Why she felt the need to give a long speech to the Dementors of all people…er, creatures, was certainly a mystery. The creatures clearly didn't care for her fancy words. But comforted in the presence of her patronus, she went on for a long while before giving the name of the person the Dementors were supposed to execute.

"Hunt down Harry Potter," Umbridge ordered.

One was not required to give them an address; they could seek out people with only a name. Technically, it was not the name they could recognise when Umbridge spoke of him, but the memories that the name evoked within her.

Earlier that day, Umbridge had requested the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, to part with his memories of his meetings with Harry Potter. She had viewed them in the Ministry pensieve, supposedly to get a better understanding of his character as she told Cornelius.

The Dementors absorbed the memories of Harry Potter. As luck would have it, these Dementors were a part of the group that had been sent to guard Hogwarts two years ago. The Dementors easily recognised Harry Potter as one of the students; and having already gotten close to him on two separate occasions last time, they would have an easy time tracking him down.

Besides, they had unfinished business with him. His soul had escaped their clutches twice. It would not happen a third time. They were also quite anxious to know how his soul might taste. They had never seen one like his before.

After all, how many people housed two souls within one body?

Harry and Louella had begun their walk back home, hands tightly held. She was waiting for the signal Harry would give her to begin running. He still refused to tell her what was wrong and her mind had begun dreaming up wild theories. She had tried to list the number of 'evil' beings that would make one feel cold, but could come up with nothing.

Harry kept his ears strained for them, seeing as he would hear them before he would see them. The cold was making his hands clammy and had fogged up his glasses slightly. Soon, it was cold enough to see the air they breathed out and he knew they were near.

And then their vision was cut off. The night sky stars which just begun twinkling at them were obscured in black. The street lamps had seemingly flickered out, leaving them unable to see anything.

Louella gave a surprised gasp, "W-what's going on?"

"Dementors," Harry breathed. He felt it now, he heard it now. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, a woman screamed.

Louella whimpered, she couldn't see anything. The sky was pitch black and no matter how much her pupils dilated they could capture no light. She was practically blind.

Harry cursed.

"What is it?" Louella asked as she squeezed his hand tighter. They were frozen in one spot. With their vision impaired, they couldn't go further.

"It is coming from ahead! It is in front of us!"

"What! How will we go home then?"

"Run!" Harry tugged at her hand and started pulling them backwards.

Run? Where? They couldn't see where they were going! Louella started running blindly, now glad that they were holding hands. If they hadn't been she would have surely lost him in this darkness.

Despair was creeping up on her. Her legs stopped moving and she could feel Harry pulling her along as sadness overwhelmed her. Then he abruptly stopped. She was about to ask him why when she heard it. A memory had suddenly resurfaced in her mind…

Louella? The headmistress has called for you…I'm sorry but we have bad news…your father is dead…No! NO!

"No!" she screamed out loud. She pulled her hand from Harry's grasp and put them over her ears, trying to block out the voices inside her head. She shook her head desperately; her father's death was still so fresh in her mind, she did not want relive it again! Was this what a Dementor did? Bring out her worst memories?

She wanted to get away from it, run away from this monster! She did not know from where her legs found the strength to support her, but as soon as she stood up she started running.

"Louella! Wait! Stop! You're running right at it!" Harry called out to her.

Running right at it? Hadn't she tried to run away from it? Oh no, they were being closed in by them from both sides! There were more than one. She stumbled back when she felt something ghost over her.

"KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!"

Harry's voice carried over to her and she clamped her mouth shut tightly. She didn't have any experience with this beast and did not know what might happen. Her mind had gone blank with shock and her fingers were too numb to pull out her wand from her sleeve. Besides, what good could a wand do against something she could not see? What spell could affect it? She certainly did not know.

Harry could feel a chilling presence behind him as he pulled out his wand. He tried to think of something happy, something that would create a Patronus. But all he could feel was despair. He shouted at Louella to stop when she began running away from him and right towards the approaching beast. Hoping that she followed his instruction to keep her mouth shut, he tried to make the spell work.

"Expecto…Patronum. Come on!" he muttered urging his magic to respond, "Expecto Patronum! Work, dammit!"

He heard the cold, rattling breath of the dementor in front of him and he stumbled backwards. Now that it was up close, his vision had returned just enough to see it. A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly toward him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night air as it came.

Harry raised his wand once more, "Expecto Patronum!"

A silvery mist shot out of his wand and the dementor slowed; but the spell hadn't worked properly…He tripped over his feet as he moved backward, trying to get away from it. He looked around if he could see Louella, hoping for some help – but it was still dark. The Dementors' magic had cloaked the whole street in darkness. He could hear her whimpering though, and knew that he was alone in this.

Louella had never encountered Dementors before, so it was up to Harry to fight them off. But even as he thought about it, he couldn't move when the Dementor reached for him. A pair of gray, slimy, scabbed hands slid from inside the Dementor's robes and made as if to hold him. The voices inside his head were growing louder and his own attempts to bring out his Patronus were futile.

"Expecto Patronum!" His voice sounded dim and distant to him and the spell failed. He had failed. He couldn't do it anymore…

The Dementor bent its head forward and leaned over him, its putrid breath ghosted over his lips. Harry closed his eyes, giving up. He couldn't produce a happy enough memory to save them. As if mocking him, Voldemort's voice echoed in his mind –

Bow to death, Harry...It might even be painless…I would not know… I have never died…

'It is over', Harry thought, 'and I will never see Ron and Hermione again…'

And their faces burst forth clearly into his mind, providing him with renewed hope and strength. His eyes snapped open as he shouted out, one last time –

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Prongs burst out of his wand in all his silver glory and charged at the Dementor holding Harry. As the Dementor was pushed away from him, Harry turned his wand towards Louella. The light of the patronus had driven away the darkness and he could clearly see her now. She had sat down on the street, her face buried in her knees, following his instructions and keeping her mouth away from the Dementor looming over her.

"This way, Prongs!" The stag tossed its head back proudly before charging at the second Dementor. Its antlers caught it and it was thrown away into the night. Seeing the guardian, the Dementors fled and the moon, stars and street lamps burst back into life.

The two teens took a moment to regain their bearings. Prongs had not faded away yet, standing guard in case of any approaching danger. Louella had got back on her feet, smoothing her dress down and brushing off the dust on it. Her face was pale and she was clearly in slight shock, but she was holding up admirably after her close encounter with a Dementor.

"Let's go home," her voice wavered slightly as she said it.

Harry nodded and picked up their fallen bag. He let his patronus dissolve into the air but kept his wand out. Louella saw it and brought out her own wand. She clutched his arm tightly as they walked back, hoping that there were no other surprises waiting for them.

Skippy opened the door for them and started fussing over them. Taking their bag and depositing it on the centre table, the elf led them to the sofa near the fireplace and draped thick blankets over both of them.

"Skippy was so worried about Mistress and her friend! Something very bad was in town! Skippy could feel it from her kitchen!"

Harry and Louella gratefully accepted the blankets but refused the warm soup that was brought to them. After their adventure, they had no appetite. They felt tired and drained from it. It was a while later that Skippy popped into the room with a letter.

"A letter for Mistress' guest!" Skippy handed it to Harry. "The owl couldn't enter the house Mistress, so Skippy brought it herself!"

Louella nodded at her and then looked at the wall clock. "Very well. Also set the table for dinner. We will come soon."

"Thank you," Harry added before she popped away. That certainly surprised the elf for a moment.

He tore open the letter and read it. The first thing that came to mind after he finished was not 'The Ministry expelled me from Hogwarts!' but 'How did they know that I had done the magic?' He asked Louella about it.

"We are in a magical town! Anyone could have said the spell! How did they know it was me?"

Louella shook her head as she read over his shoulder, "I don't know, but one thing's for sure. They can't enter the house, just like the owl couldn't. There are wards all over it for protection. No ministry representative can come here to snap your wand at least."

That put Harry's mind to rest for now. He did not want to lose his wand; besides, if he hadn't cast the spell, there would have been no use for his wand either. A soulless wizard wouldn't be coherent enough to perform spells, now would he?

"Parchment," Harry said suddenly. "I need to write a letter." He turned to his new-old friend. "I must go write a letter, I'll be back down soon."

Reluctant to be left alone, Louella pulled him back to the sofa. She pulled out a spare parchment from a side table and brought over a quill and ink well.

"I don't want to be left alone after those Dementors today." Louella handed him the materials. "Write it here if it is urgent and I'll tell Skippy to give it to one of the owls."

Harry nodded, he too would not fancy being alone in this vast mansion-like house after a scary ordeal. He could also tell that she was curious as to whom he was writing to.

"It's to Ron and Hermione, my school friends," Harry explained as he dipped the quill into the ink.

Louella felt a twinge of jealousy at that. She knew she wouldn't rush to write to her school friends after facing a Dementor; they were not that close for her to do so. Watching Harry write to his friends made her want for someone she could confide in too. Five years ago, it would have been Harry, but now?

As Harry folded the parchment, she made to call for her elf, but Harry shook his head.

"An owl would take too long, I have a better way," he said. Then raising his voice slightly, he called out, "Dobby!"

Louella watched as the elf popped into her Family Manor, bypassing the wards as if they didn't exist.

"Harry Potter sir calls for Dobby?" The elf asked cheerfully and accepted the letter that was handed to him.

"Is that your elf?" Louella asked before Harry could tell Dobby what to do.

The elf looked indignant as she talked about him as if he wasn't there. Harry shook his head. "He is a free elf. He belongs to himself."

Her eyes widened. "That's impossible! How could a free elf enter this house? If he was your elf, he would be granted access by default. But if he is free…does that mean there's a problem in the wards…"

She was talking to herself now and Harry frowned. "I think you're making this a big deal. There's probably nothing wrong with your wards. And well, Dobby is mine in a way. He is my elf friend. That could be the reason why he can enter."

The strangely dressed elf beamed when Harry called him his friend, but Louella just shook her head. 'An elf friend? Who makes friends with elves?' But this was Harry she was talking about. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the youngest champion of the Triwizard Tournament, someone who was able to successfully cast the Patronus charm (she still didn't about its specifics) and who had a huge, black beast of a dog. What was one more odd friend?

"You really have interesting friends, Harry," she said, glancing at Dobby, who was now assuring him that he would take this letter to his friend immediately.

The children at Grimmauld Place had already heard of Harry's use of underage magic when Arthur Weasley had rushed out of the fireplace screaming at Dumbledore about Dementors and Patronuses. That had sent everyone into a frenzy.

Snape had assured them that it was not Voldemort's doing: 'He doesn't have them under control, yet', and Arthur hadn't waited for any further explanations as he jumped back into the fire, heading for the Ministry with Dumbledore right behind him.

Sirius had had jumped out of his chair at the mention of those vile creatures and tried to instinctive follow them before remembering that he was a wanted man. The Aurors and other Ministry personnel had also left, hoping they could find out what happened by asking around in their respective departments. The other remaining Order members, many of whom had come from foreign countries in order to help as a favour to Dumbledore, also left to take care of their assigned tasks.

"Sirius," one of them said, "I will be returning to Switzerland. The information that the Order requires cannot be found here. I will return in a few days."

Sirius nodded at him, "Very well, Balthasar. And about your sister – ?"

"I will try to convince her to join the fight," Balthasar gave a small smile. "You did help us all those years ago, and now we will return the favour. She is reluctant, and correctly so, as she has to take care of our ailing mother."

Sirius nodded understandingly. As the other members moved out of the house one by one through the fireplace to carry out their assigned jobs, he told Balthasar, "I will willingly provide house room for the both of you should she choose to come."

Snape meanwhile had reached a startling conclusion. Potter had been attacked by Dementors. There was no way they could have entered the house, so that means he would have to be out. If he had gone out, Louella must have too. His niece! What about her?

Just then Ron and Hermione ran into the room. "Harry just sent us a letter! He says they're safe!"

Granger's loud and bossy voice had mellowed over the years, but it still wasn't pleasant to listen to. But now, as she rushed into the room, waving around a piece of parchment, declaring that 'they' were safe, he couldn't be more relieved at her words. They were safe. His niece was safe.

"They?" Molly asked curiously, "Who's 'they'?"

Remus had plucked the letter out Hermione's hand and started reading it. Severus found himself drifting over to him subconsciously to read over the werewolf's shoulder. At the Weasley matriarch's question Sirius snapped his head up from the letter that the three older wizards were reading.

"They? Er…" Ron stuttered before catching Sirius's eye.

Snape did not want many people to know about his niece. If word somehow got to Voldemort, he might want her to join the Death Eaters after coming of age. He was about to interrupt before the Weasley boy bungled it up too much, when he noticed Black shake his head discreetly.

"Oh…er, Harry and Hedwig," Ron continued quickly. "He always refers to his owl as a person, Mum. Both of them are safe and sound."

Hermione let out a relieved sigh as Mrs Weasley frowned. "Oh poor Hedwig. I hope the Dementors didn't have a great effect on her. Harry's very fond of her –"

Snape tuned the rest of her words out. What surprised him was Black's action. He narrowed his eyes and thought about questioning him when the fire flared again. Dumbledore had returned.

'That was quick,' thought Snape, before he said, "Albus, I am returning home."

Albus knew about Louella and understanding that he would be concerned for his niece, bid him goodbye.

"Sirius, I need to have a word with you," Albus said as Snape left the house. They moved out of the sitting room as they talked.

"I think we will have to risk a visit to Gringotts."

"Gringotts?" Sirius asked, a little confused as to why Dumbledore might want to visit the bank and also why he would tell this to him. Then understanding what he meant, he said, "For Harry to claim his Heir rings? But, isn't moving in the open dangerous, especially since any funny business cannot be blamed on Voldemort since the Ministry is ignoring his return?"

"Yes, but the rings possess ancient magic, woven into them years ago and still hold strong. They will prove to be a protection for Harry."

"When?" asked Sirius after thinking about it for a moment.

"Before Harry's disciplinary hearing." Seeing Sirius' expression, Albus shook his head. "No, I couldn't get them to clear him off completely. He still has to attend the hearing. It will be held on the twelfth of this month. I'm sure Harry will already be informed of this by now."

"Alright," Sirius agreed. "Any particular reason, why?"

"I do not trust Cornelius or that Undersecretary of his, Dolores Umbridge. They might want to – ah – tweak the arrangements for his hearing. I want to be prepared if that happens."

Sirius nodded. "I will tell Harry of what he can expect then, ready him for it."

Albus hummed happily. "Good, good. And that reminds me –" He took out an envelope from his robe pocket and handed it to Sirius, "– give this to Miss Prince for me, will you? She will be studying at Hogwarts this year."

Sirius stared at him blankly for a moment before reaching out to take it. "I'm a dog, Albus. I can't go to her and hand her, her acceptance letter. Unless you want me to reveal my identity to her…"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as if he knew something that others didn't. "Oh, I did not mean anything. Revealing your animagus form to her is to be your decision. If you can trust her to keep a secret, you may tell her about it. Oh, and do tell Severus to accompany you to Gringotts, I'm sure Miss Prince has to claim her ring too. It would save time if both of you went together."

Sirius sighed; for how long would he have to endure Snape's company? 'For Harry, it's for Harry.' Sirius chanted silently. 'Don't want Snape to kick both Harry and me out of his house because I hurt the git.'

"I'll leave now, then," Sirius put the envelope in his pocket. "Make the Portkey something I can hold on to."

Albus pulled out a quill from his pocket and transfigured it into a chewy bone, before turning it into a Portkey. "Portus."

Padfoot clutched the chew toy in his mouth and seconds later, disappeared from the house.

Albus pulled out a thick form from his pocket and turned to the last page. It was Louella Prince's application form. A magical oath printed on the first page of the form that affirmed that any and all personal information written on it would stay confidential was what allowed the students to be free while they filled it out. The personal information they shared helped the Headmaster / Headmistress to check up on the students' background to see if they would be a good addition to their school.

The questions set by the headmaster were for that purpose. However, Dumbledore, being nosier than his predecessors, had inserted a few personal questions between some random questions that seemed pointless; a prime example would be: How many times do you brush your hair in a day?).

Where he had asked the applicant to list all their previous residences, he had been surprised to see Little Whinging, Surrey listed on it. He was even more surprised when she had written about a boy called Harry, who was her childhood friend when she lived in Surrey, in response to a question about describing her closest friend.

Connecting the dots, Dumbledore had realised that young Mr Potter and the newly admitted Hogwarts student, Miss Prince used to be childhood friends. He had known he was subjecting Harry to a harsh childhood when he had left him at his aunt's house fourteen years ago. And he was glad to know that he had had at least one friend during those magic deprived years.

Albus chuckled slightly when something occurred to him. He was not ashamed to admit that he dearly wanted to see Severus' reaction when he found out that his niece was a friend of Harry Potter. Hopefully it would make him reconsider his views about the boy. Hopefully.

Ah well, he couldn't think about it all night. Tucking the form back into his pocket, he flooed to Hogwarts and the huge pile of paperwork that awaited him.

"Hmm, I wonder if I can get away with the old muggle excuse. What was it? Ah, 'my dog ate my homework'! Now, if only Fawkes was willing to play along…"

AN: That's the end of another chapter!

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Amber Cresent - Thanks for reviewing (5th chp). And thanks for the info too!