Faith .|. H. J. POTTER ✔

Chapter thirty-eight

He had seen that before, the year before when he just came back from seeing the dragons of the first task with Hagrid.

"Sirius's head?" Hermione repeated confused. "You mean like when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard Tournament? But he wouldn't do that now, it would be too - Sirius!" She gasped the last part. Faith sat up, Ron dropped his quill, both gazing at the fire because there was, indeed, Sirius's head, grinning right back at them.

"I was starting to think you'd go to bed before everyone else had disappeared," Sirius said. "I've been checking every hour,"

"You've been popping into the fire every hour?" Harry exclaimed with a laugh.

"Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear," Faith shook her head at that. He loved the risk.

"But what if you'd been seen?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Well, I think a girl - first-year, by the look of her - might've got a glimpse of me earlier, but don't worry," Sirius quickly said when Hermione clasped her hand over her mouth. "I was gone the moment she looked back at me and I'll bet she just thought I was an oddly shaped log or something,"

"You're really something," Faith laughed, Sirius grinned back.

"Nice one, by the way, the 'I thought you were Harry', exactly what I'd've said," Sirius said with a wink. Harry looked from him to Faith, Faith now winking at Harry, before turning back, the fire lighting up his face covering the slight blush that appeared.

"But, Sirius, you're taking an awful risk -" Hermione began.

"You sound like Molly," Sirius just said. "This was the only way I could come up with of answering Harry's letter without resorting to a code - and codes are breakable,"

"You didn't say you'd written to Sirius!" Hermione said indignantly at Harry.

"We forgot," Harry motioned at Faith, which was more or less true but he also asked Faith not to say anything to Hermione. "Don't look at me like that, Hermione, there was no way anyone would have got secret information out of it, was there, Sirius?"

"No, it was very good," Sirius smiled at him. "Anyway, we'd better be quick, just in case we're disturbed - your scar,"

"What about -?" Ron began to ask but he got interrupted.

"We'll tell you afterwards. Go on, Sirius," Hermione said.

"Well, I know it can't be fun when it hurts, but we don't really think it's anything to really worry about. It kept aching all last year, didn't it?"

"Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion," He ignored the winces from Ron and Hermione at that name.

"So maybe he just stepped on a piece Self-Building Lego the night you had detention," Faith said with a cynical grin. The others looked at her. "What? He deserves that!" They couldn't disagree on that.

"Well, now he's back it's bound to hurt more ofter," Sirius said finally.

"So you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge touching me when I was in detention with her?" Harry asked, just to be sure.

"I doubt it," Sirius said. "I know her by reputation and I'm sure she's no Death Eater -"

"She's foul enough to be one," Harry said grimly, the other three students nodded.

"Yes, but the world is not split into good people and Death Eaters," Sirius smiled. "I know she's a nasty piece of work though - you should hear Remus talk about her, or you mum," He directed the last part to Faith.