A Little Help from a Snake // Tomarry

18: Diagon Alley*

Harry nodded.

"Is it true you blew up your aunt?" Pansy asked in a hushed voice.

"Uh, yeah." Harry supposed they found out from Draco's father. "Surprised I wasn't expelled, if I'm being honest."

"Well, it wasn't like you meant to," Draco pointed out. "Besides, with Sirius Black looking for you —" He broke off at Pansy's warning glance.

Harry was saved from having to respond when a yowl split the air. It was followed by a loud "NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" and a large orange blur shot out of the Magical Menagerie and streaked by.

"Scabbers!" Ron's voice sounded as he ran after it.

Harry had to refrain from growling at the mention of the person responsible for his parents' demise. He wondered if Pettigrew was actually on Dumbledore's side and therefore aware of what he was doing or merely another pawn that unwittingly helped him. If the latter were the case, then he would not be punished as severely. If the former... well, they'd cross that bridge when they got there.

Draco sneered slightly at Ron and strode by without another glance. Harry tagged along for a bit before separating and returning to the Leaky Cauldron. To his surprise, he saw that the Weasley family was there.

"Harry!" said Mr. Weasley, smiling at him. "How are you?"

"I'm all right," Harry replied.

Ginny smiled shyly and mumbled a soft "Hello."

Percy, ever the formal one, shook his hand. "Harry. How nice to see you."

"Hello, Percy," said Harry.

"I hope you're well?" said Percy formally, as if he were talking to the mayor.

"Well enough —" Harry began, his conversation with Tom still fresh in his mind. He was almost relieved when Fred elbowed Percy aside and bowed deeply.

"Harry! Simply splendid to see you, old boy —"

"Marvelous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing."

Despite himself, Harry found himself grinning. "That it is, George," he said, matching his superior tone. "Wonderful weather today."

"Indeed, my good man." George was still shaking his hand vigorously. "Indeed."

"That's enough, now," said Mrs. Weasley, stepping forward.

"Mum!" Fred turned to her and grabbed her hand. "How really corking to see you —"

"I said, that's enough," said Mrs. Weasley, depositing her shopping in an empty chair. "Harry, dear, so glad you're okay."

"Thank you," said Harry, because really, what else could he say? Oh, no, Mrs. Weasley. You see, my soulmate is giving me the cold shoulder because I was being an idiot. Right, that would go swell.

He searched for something to say. "Percy, I see you've been made Head Boy."

"Second one in the family," Mrs. Weasley said proudly.

"And last," muttered Fred, rolling his eyes.

Mrs. Weasley frowned at him. "I don't doubt that. I notice they haven't made you two prefects."

"What do we want to be prefects for?" George looked aghast at the mere thought. "It'd take all the fun out of life."

"You want to set a better example for your sister!" snapped Mrs. Weasley as Ginny giggled.

"Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother," said Percy loftily. "I'm going up to change for dinner..."

He disappeared and George heaved a sigh.

"We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he told Harry. "But Mum spotted us."

Three tables were put together for the Weasleys and Hermione, who apparently had been dropped off earlier by her parents. Mrs. Weasley insisted Harry joined them, which he did after considering the alternative of eating alone with an exasperated snake and a distant soulmate.

"I'm really sorry about last year," Ron blurted out. "Thinking you were the heir and all."

Harry blinked. He hadn't expected to hear an apology from him. "Oh. Um, thank you. It's quite all right."

Ron nodded, his ears red.

After dinner, Harry went to his room to get some rest. But Percy and Ron started arguing, so Harry got back up and headed downstairs for some peace and quiet.

"... makes no sense not to tell him," Mr. Weasley was saying heatedly. "Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and —"

"Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" said Mrs. Weasley shrilly. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? Besides, he's a smart boy. He's not one to wander around anyway."

The truth? Harry listened closely.

Mr. Weasley sounded tired. "It won't matter that he's a smart boy. If Black can break out of Azkaban, even with the the dementors guarding his cell, he can break into Hogwarts."

"But no one's really sure that Black's after Harry —"

"'He's at Hogwarts,' he was saying. He is. Who else would Black be referring to?"

The pieces fell into place. They believed that Sirius had escaped Azkaban to finish what he had started, which was supposedly to finish what Voldemort had started that night. That was what Draco had begun to say earlier as well before Pansy cut him off.

Harry waited, but when there was nothing else of substance, he headed back up.

Fred and George were heaving with laughter as they listened to Percy practically tear apart the room in his search for his badge.

"We've got it," Fred whispered to Harry. "We've been improving it."

The badge now read Bighead Boy.

Harry rolled his eyes and lightly smacked them on the head. "Gred, Forge, you two are the biggest idiots on the planet."

"We know," they said with proud grins.

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I don't know what to say here, so... remember to apply sunscreen.