Just like Brothers

Chapter 108

They didn't speak or ask any questions and Harry never loved them more.

It took a couple hours to pack, but once it was done, there was no trace that two teenage boys resided in Spinner's End.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, his voice hoarse, his eyes red.

"My childhood home." Sirius spoke, "we're transforming it into headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."

"Order of the Phoenix?" Harry asked. "What's that?"

"Something I had wished to never take part in again." Remus spoke, his tone grim. "We can't stay here. Not if he's back."

"He'll come looking for Snape." Sirius said, "Dumbledore wants him to reclaim his position as a spy for the order."

"He can't do that!" Harry protested.

"He may not have a choice."

12 Grimmauld Place was just as the title states: Grim.

Harry hated it.

He wanted his house. His family. His home.

He didn't want this.

"Hungry?" Remus asked as they stood in the dusty corridor.

Sirius was down the hall arguing with a portrait of his mother.

Harry shook his head.

"Come on then," Remus sighed, "we'll make a room up for you. Don't reckon you'll get much sleep though, we'll try to hold off Albus as long as we can but..."

Harry nodded, "I'll have to tell him what happened, it's okay."

Remus nodded and squeezed his shoulder, "come on."

>•<

Everyone knew something was wrong, a sense of dread was hanging in the air as the professors tore through the maze looking for the Hogwarts champions.

That was before Cedric Diggory's dead body appeared in the center of the field.

The screaming was still ringing in Draco's ears hours later as he sat in the Slytherin common room.

There was whispers from some about messages they had received from their parents...vague descriptions of what happened.

Voldemort was back.

Draco felt like he was going to be sick.

Voldemort was back and Harry was still missing.

Blaise and Pansy sat on either side of him, offering their support, but they were scared too.

The following day, Sirius and Severus gathered Draco, Hermione and the Weasley's to tell them Harry was okay.

They didn't elaborate on the point and everyone's worry was only relieved in a minuscule amount.

It was a week before they held a funeral for Cedric Diggory.

Black drapes hung in the Great Hall for the Leaving Feast.

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."
He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.

"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

Draco held his breath.
"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at
Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror.

He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so — either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."
Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now.

"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."

A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned to the Gryffindor table to search for the missing boy before flicking back to face Dumbledore.

"Harry Potter is alive. He managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him."

Dumbledore turned gravely to the Gryffindors and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to him.

When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened — of Lord Voldemort's return — such ties are more important than ever before."

Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum, Harry saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again — in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.

"It is my belief — and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken — that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."

Sirius and Severus collected Draco before he got onto the train and together they apparated away from Hogwarts.

Draco didn't even have to ask.

He already knew he wouldn't be going home.