Fallen Angel

Chapter Eight: Fall Like a Stone

It had been two days since his life-altering conversation with Severus, and Harry couldn't have been happier with the outcome. They'd fallen asleep that night in each other's arms and, come morning, Harry was slightly saddened to find Severus had returned to Hogwarts. He looked over the note the man had left upon his pillow, and Harry held it to his chest, before secreting it inside the back of his wardrobe.

Remus and Sirius had returned to Grimmauld the morning Severus had gone, and Harry was relieved that none of the three men had run into one another. As he went downstairs for breakfast, he heard from Sirius that the mission had gone well. Remus also was quick to inform everyone that he'd had an owl from Tonks, saying that she was due to return to Grimmauld by teatime, and was looking forward to seeing them all. Remus then left the breakfast table after he'd eaten, and moved to answer Tonks's owl.

"They seem quite close," Harry observed, moving his scrambled eggs around his plate, with his other hand occupied by a piece of half-eaten toast.

Sirius gave a small smile and rolled his eyes. "Moony is crazy about her, no question."

"And you really don't mind?" Harry pressed, not wanting to get a rise out of the man, but also wanting to know his true feelings about the situation.

"Harry, he's my best friend, and she's my favorite cousin. Of course I don't mind. In fact, I think they're excellent together," Sirius told him.

Harry smiled at that, and stabbed at his eggs again. "Glad you think so."

Sirius pulled his mug of tea towards him and sipped it slightly then. "Remus was not the only one to get an owl this morning, Harry."

Harry blinked, his blood suddenly running cold, and hoped that someone hadn't caught wind of his relationship with Severus, and, therefore, saw fit to inform Sirius of it. "Yeah?" he asked, and hated that his voice resembled a squeak. "What'd it say?"

"You're not in trouble, Harry," Sirius assured him, reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. "Far from it, actually." He summoned the letter and showed it to him, and Harry was quick to recognize the handwriting of Molly Weasley. "You've been invited to spend some time at the Burrow, is all. If you want to, that is."

Harry's jaw fell open, and he had to snatch at the halfway-chewed pieces of egg with his teeth to ensure they didn't come spilling out and fall onto the table. "I can go to the Burrow?"

Sirius smiled indulgently at that. "Of course you can, Harry. Ron is due to return from the Granger residence, and Hermione is coming with him. Plus, Ginny and Draco are already there, as you know. Not to mention the fact that Fred and George still live at home, and Bill makes regular visits with his girlfriend, Fleur. And, according to Molly and Arthur, Charlie came down a few days back from Romania—he's taking a few weeks off from the dragon preserve. I know you like Charlie very much," Sirius put in, and Harry flushed, knowing that Ron had suspected that Harry had had a crush on Charlie when his elder brother had brought the dragons for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Harry shoved himself backwards from the table then; he did not want to talk about his preferences with Sirius, and the crush on Charlie had been minor. In fact, he had had a far more full-fledged crush on Cedric at the end of the year, which was partially why he had been so torn up at the young man's death, right in front of him. "Not going to discuss it, Sirius," he said, pushing in his chair and stumbling backwards.

"Well, do you want to go to the Burrow, then?" Remus asked.

Harry sighed. "Yes, yeah. I'd like to go to the Burrow," he said. "I'll send Mrs. Weasley a thank-you and an acceptance through Hedwig. I'm sure she'd like to stretch her wings a bit."