Girl Who Survived: Book Two {Harry Potter: Order of Phoenix}

[Chapter Fourteen: Percy and Padfoot.]

"What's got you so smiley?" I asked.

"Oh nothing." He said laughing, "I'm excited for Quidditch again this afternoon."

"Ah, back to the pitch." I beamed, "You must be happy."

He chortled as something brushed in-between our ankles. I looked down and saw the caretaker's skeletal grey cat, Mrs. Norris, slinking past us. She turned lamplike yellow eyes on me for a moment before disappearing behind a statue of Wilfred the Wistful.

"We're not doing anything wrong," Harry called after her. She had the unmistakeable air of a cat that was off to report to her boss, yet i could not see why; Harry and I are perfectly entitled to walk up to the Owlery on a Saturday morning.

The sun was high in the sky now and when we entered the Owlery the glassless windows dazzled my eyes; thick silvery beams of sunlight crisscrossed the circular room in which hundreds of owls nestled on rafters, a little restless in the early-morning light, some clearly just returned from hunting. The straw-covered floor crunched a little as we stepped across tiny animal bones.

"There you are," Harry said, spotting Hedwig somewhere near the very top of the vaulted ceiling. "Get down here, I've got a letter for you."

With a low hoot she stretched her great white wings and soared down on to his shoulder.

"Right, I know this says Snuffles on the outside," he told her, giving her the letter to clasp in her beak and whispered, "But it's for Sirius, okay?"

She blinked her amber eyes once and that must have meant that she understood.

"Safe flight, then," said Harry and he carried her to one of the windows; Hedwig took off into the blindingly bright sky. We watched her until she became a tiny black speck and vanished. I noticed Harry switch his gaze to Hagrid's hut, clearly visible from this window, and just as clearly uninhabited, the chimney smokeless, the curtains drawn.

The treetops of the Forbidden Forest swayed in a light breeze. I watched them, savouring the fresh air on my face, thinking about being with friends later... then I saw it. A great, reptilian winged horse, just like the ones pulling the Hogwarts carriages, with leathery black wings spread wide like a pterodactyl's, rose up out of the trees like a grotesque, giant bird. It soared in a great circle, then plunged back into the trees. The whole thing had happened so quickly, I could hardly believe what I had seen, except that my heart was hammering madly.

"Harry, did you see that?" I asked breathily.

"I did!" He said.

"I still think it's weird how we're the only two who can see them..." I trailed off, "I wonder why that is."

"We're just two of the same people, I suppose." He said softly. When I turned to face him he was already gazing at me.

"Maybe." I said back in the same quiet tone. He reached and took my right hand in his.

"Whatever happens, we'll get through it. As long as we have each other."

He squeezed my hand gently and threw me another warm smile. I smiled back feeling my heartbeat quicken in happiness. All was silent, and all was peaceful. Harry pulled me closer to him, but precisely at that moment, Filch the caretaker came wheezing into the room. There were purple patches on his sunken, veined cheeks, his jowls were aquiver and his thin grey hair dishevelled; he had obviously run here. Mrs. Norris came trotting at his heels, gazing up at the owls overhead and mewing hungrily. There was a restless shifting of wings from above and a large brown owl snapped his beak in a menacing fashion.

"Aha!" said Filch, taking a flat-footed step towards Harry, his pouchy cheeks trembling with anger. "I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs."