Jupiter | Harry James Potter

li ; lessons from snuffles

  "Hello, Sirius."

Waiting for us at a stile at the end of the lane in Hogsmeade, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar. Seeing Sirius in this form made it extremely odd to say that his was in fact, my father. The black dog sniffed my bag eagerly (the bag with all of the food), wagged its tail once, then turned and began to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain. The four of us climbed over the stile and followed.

Sirius led us to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, but we were soon out of breath. We followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour we climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail, sweating in the sun, the shoulder straps of my bag cutting into my shoulders.

Before I realized I seemed to be obviously struggling with the weight of the meat-filled tote, Harry's hand slipped under the strap and pulled it onto his shoulder.

I opened my mouth to say 'thanks' but again, he got there before me. "Don't mention it."

As we walked, I found my wandering eyes drifting over to Harry's hand clutching the bag, his veins popping as he strained his fist to help take the weight from his shoulder.

Thankfully, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when we reached the place where he had vanished, we saw a narrow fissure in the rock. I froze for a moment as Ron and Hermione began to crawl through, just staring at the crack in the stone. I thought of Amy Benson clawing helplessly at the chink, and Dennis Bishop behind kicked out from it.

"Jo? Are you alright?" Harry asked, pulling me from my daze.

"Er- yeah." I muttered, struggling to keep my eyes away from the opening to the cave.

"Are you claustrophobic?" He sighed, keeping his attention focused on me instead. "Because me as well." I felt myself begin to smile, letting my mind become fully entranced by his sudden over-sharing. "After all of those years in a broom cupboard, I dunno, small spaces just creep me out a tad. Sometimes I still get a bit nervous when I close the curtains to my bed, honestly. Sorry, I got a little carried away."

"Don't be sorry. I like hearing your voice." I shrugged without thinking. His compulsive sharing was contagious. His eyebrows raised, and the corners of his mouth began to curl up.

"Yeah? What else do you like?" He grinned, taking a step closer to me. His confidence had suddenly spiked at my unintentional comment.

For a moment, I managed to redirect my thoughts to Cedric, but my brain shut off, and before I could decide if I was going to step back or stay completely frozen, there was a loud voice from the cave. "Oi! Are you two ever going to bring my food?"

I blinked for a moment, then shoved Harry slightly by his chest. He stumbled backwards, readjusting his grip on the tote with a knowing smile. "Sorry, coming!"

"You're an arse, you know that?" I said, glaring at him before taking a deep breath and slipping into the cool, dimly lit cave.

"Yeah, I know." He smiled as he crawled in after me. I cursed myself for still allowing my stupid feelings to take control of me like that. Although small slip-ups like that were still (unfortunately) taking place, it was safe to say that I had fallen for Cedric even more. Harry was becoming more and more insignificant to me in that way, and I was finding my life a lot more peaceful.

"Thank Merlin!" Sirius groaned as Harry took out the bundle of chicken and bread we had smuggled from the Great Hall. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."