The Scars That Haunt Me

Chapter 33

Harry's POV

The Room of Requirement. It's one of the few places we can go to have some privacy.

The four of us sat on plush cushions. Draco and I on one as I leaned up against him, gripping his hand like it's the only thing keeping me alive. Hermione and Ron sat on the opposite side of us.

"How about we fire call him?" Hermione suggested.

"How? Umbridge has all the fireplaces locked up and under surveillance." Ron replied.

I looked down at my joint hand with Draco, lost in thought. "Not all of them are locked." I recalled, looking back up at them all.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, looking down at me.

"Umbridge has one in her office. It's not locked up. We could use that one." I said.

"That's way too dangerous, Harry. What if we get caught?"

"Well we have to do something! We don't have any other choice!" I shouted loudly. Hermione flinched slightly from where she sat. I sank my head in shame for getting upset at her the way I did. "Sorry. I didn't mean to yell."

"It's alright." She tells me.

"Harry's right though. What other option do we have? That's the only thing we can do since Umbridge is headmistress." Ron replied.

"I wish Dumbledore was here. He'd know what to do." I whispered more to myself than anyone. Draco gripped my hand tighter.

"He will be back. Eventually, but until then, we just need to come up with our own plan."

"I think I've got an idea." We all turned to the bushy haired girl who had a small glint in her eyes.

"What is it?"

"We get our friends to create a distraction so we can sneak into Umbridge's office. Harry will contact Sirius through there and if we see that he's ok, then we'll know Voldemort was just playing a trick."

"Ok, but what if he's not ok?"

"Then we'll head to the ministry, but only the four of us. We can't be risking anyone else."

"How do we get there?" Ron asked.

"We'll use the floo network, of course. As long as Umbridge stays distracted long enough."

"That's true. Well then we probably should do it now. Umbridge is already distracted enough because of the twins." He said.

"Agreed. Ron and I will tell everyone what the plan is. You two wait outside of Umbridge's office until we catch up, then we'll all go in." Hermione said.

"Then let's go." I stood up and soon everyone followed. When we were outside of the Room of Requirement, the group of four, split into two.

Draco and I raced down the corridors until we came up to Umbridge's office. We hid behind a pillar, waiting for Hermione and Ron.

"Draco?" I whispered.

"Yes?"

"What if it's too late? What if Voldemort already killed him?"

"Harry, look at me." I looked up at him. He wore a serious expression that drew me in. "Nothing is going to happen to him. I promise."

I was about to reply when I heard fast footsteps coming down the corridor. I gasped, but Draco covered my mouth lightly to stop me from making any noise.

The two of us slowly looked around the pillar to see Filch race down towards where the firework incident had occured.

When he was gone, Draco uncovered my mouth.

"You know. This isn't my first time hiding from people. I know how to be silent." I reminded him.

"There's a first for everything." A glint danced in his eyes.

"You did that on purpose!" I shouted.

"Shh!" He put his fingers to his lips. "We're going to get caught."

I huffed. He's ignoring my accusation. "Truth. You did that on purpose." I said quieter. His lip twitched slightly in a smile, telling me that I was right. "Why-" the sound of footsteps were heard again and I shut my mouth up in hopes that it wasn't Filch or Umbridge.

We held our breath as the footsteps got louder, but then stopped.

"Harry! Draco! Where are you?" Hermione whisper yelled. Draco and I let out the breath we were holding. Thank Merlin, it's Hermione.

We popped our heads from around the corner and saw Ron and Hermione standing there. Both of them had ash on them and their clothes were slightly torn.

"What happened?" I asked.

Ron grinned at me. "Some bombs I stole from Fred over Christmas break. I've been waiting to use them for the perfect time."

"Was that enough to stop her?"

"No, but Neville, Luna, Blaise, Pansy, and some others are keeping them busy."

"Blaise and Pansy?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. On our way there they stopped us and said they wanted to help. I guess they saw Harry fall to the ground, just like we did." Hermione replied to Draco's questioning gaze.

"Guys. Can we continue?" I questioned.

"Oh! Right. Sorry Harry." Hermione said.

The four of us went up to Umbridge's office and surprisingly the easiest spell in the book open the door. Alohomora.

We snuck in and crowded around the fire place.

I fire called Sirius. However, the house was still and empty. There was no sign of Sirius or anyone else there.

"Sirius! Sirius!" I shouted in hopes that maybe he was in another room.

If he was here, then he would be able to hear me. Why isn't anyone here? Sirius can't leave because he's still a criminal. Remus and Dumbledore made that very clear to him. So does that really mean that Voldemort took him? He's really being tortured at this very second? Maybe even killed.

No, I can't believe that. I just have to keep trying.

"Sirius!" I shouted again. This time there was a small movement that happened from across the room. "Who's there?! Come out, now!"

Kreacher emerged from the dark. "Kreacher. Where's Sirius?"

"Master is not here right now." The old crooked elf said.

"What do you mean he's not here? Where is he?"

"Kreacher does not know, but he had not been back for quite some time."

I ended the fire call and immediately stood up. My heart was pounding and my blood began to boil.

Voldemort won't get away with this. I'll find Sirius.

"Harry? Was he there?" Hermione asked.

"No. He's gone."