Nic was pacing back and forth as Hermione and Ron tried to calm her. "Nic, calm down," Hermione sighed.
"My brother was just attacked by dementors!" Nic shouted, rounding on her. "And I wasn't there to protect him so don't you dare tell me to calm down!"
"He's fine, Nicki," Ron groaned. He had never been her biggest fan, but he tolerated her for Harry and Hermione's sake. "He's just got the trial and that's it."
"Oh, that's it!" Nic shouted, turning towards him with her back to the door. "He could have been killed!"
"Nic-" a voice behind her broke in.
Turning, she cried, "Harry!" Instantly she hugged him tightly. "Merlin, are you all right?"
"I'm all right," he replied stiffly as she pulled away.
"Harry, I know you're furious with me," Nic rambled, fidgeting with her hands. "And I understand why, I just Dumbledore made us swear not to..."
"Let him breathe," Ron snapped.
"Hedwig!" Harry cried as the snowy owl flew down to meet him.
"She's been in a right state," Ron said. "Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this." Ron showed him the deep, half-healed cut on his index finger. Harry noticed that both Nic and Hermione also bore marks from Hedwig's beak.
"Oh yeah," he remarked quietly. "Sorry about that, but I wanted answers, you know..."
"We wanted to give them to you, mate," Ron replied, lightening up now that he wasn't just around Hermione and Nicki. "Hermione was going spare, she and Nic kept saying that you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us-"
"Swear not to tell me," Harry finished. "Yeah, Nic's already said." His tone had turned slightly cold near the end and Nic felt a feeling of apprehension.
"He seemed to think it was best," Hermione explained quietly. "Dumbledore, I mean."
"Right," Harry replied unvaryingly.
"I think he thought you were safer with the muggles," Ron added.
"Yeah?" Harry replied, looking up sharply with raised eyebrows. "Have any of you been attacked by dementors this summer?"
"Well, no, that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time-"
"Yeah?" Harry replied coldly before fixing his eyes on his sister. "And let me guess, you've been in on that. Probably watching me from the inside of trees?"
"What? No," Nic replied, shocked.
"Well it didn't work that well, did it?" Harry snapped, clearly struggling to keep his voice even. "Had to look after myself after all, didn't I?"
"He was so angry," Hermione said. "Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mudungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary."
"Well, I'm glad he left," Harry said coldly. "If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer."
"Harry-" Nic began sympathetically.
"Aren't you...aren't you worried about the ministry of Magic hearing?" Hermione asked quietly.
"No," Harry snapped. Nic could tell he was lying, but was too worried for what he was getting at. She could feel he was about to explode and she knew she didn't want to be around when he did. "So, why's Dumbledore so keen to keep me in the dark?" Harry was trying desperately to keep his voice casual, but Nic could clear as day sense the underlying anger. "Did you, uh, bother to ask him at all?"
"We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on," Ron said. "We did mate, but he's really busy now, we've only seen him twice since we came here. Well, Nic's seen him a bit more, but he didn't have much time. He just made him swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted."
"He could still've kept me informed if he'd wanted to," Harry retorted. "You're not telling me he doesn't know ways to send messages without owls."
"I thought that too, but-"
"Stop," Nic said quietly, causing Hermione to break off and everyone to fix her with a cold, surprised gaze. Crossing her arms, she stepped towards him and said, "Harry. I know you want to know what's going on, but honestly? So do we. We aren't allowed into the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix, the secret organization founded by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort. I get that this summer has been hard on you, but-"
"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL!" Harry shouted, causing Nic to jump back and let out a small yelp. Harry noticed this, but continued shouted, not caring that he was triggering his sister. "YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEY'S FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN ALL OF YOU'VE MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT - WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED ALL OF YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?!"
Nic's heart rate was spiking as she heard him shouting even more. "WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME! WHO HAD TO SEE CEDRIC DIGGORY MURDERED?!" The moment it left his mouth, Harry regretted it. Nic's eyes instantly filled with tears as she ran past him. He could just hear a sob leave her mouth as she ran up to her room.
"We don't say that name here," Hermione said quietly. Nic was laying on her bed, sobbing bitterly as Ginny came over.
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked.
"Harry," Nic sobbed. "He-he mentioned...h-him." Ginny said no more and merely wrapped her arms around Nicki. After a time, she asked, "C-Can you get S-Siri?"
"Yeah," she replied, getting up. Leaving the room, she saw that Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George were all standing at the top of the stairs. They all looked up at the sight of her, Harry with a look of guilt.
"Is Nic okay?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Where's Sirius?" Ginny asked, ignoring Hermione.
"The meeting just got out," Fred replied. "He's downstairs." Nodding, Ginny headed downstairs to find him.
"Sirius," Ginny said, approaching him. "Uh, Nic needs you. She...she kind of fell apart."
"What happened?" Sirius asked worriedly.
"Er, Harry kind of exploded," Ginny explained as they headed upstairs. "And he may have said...the name. Well, screamed it at her more like."
With a sigh, Sirius replied, "Thank you, Ginny." She left him alone as he headed up to the room Ginny, Nic, and Hermione shared. Once inside, he saw a scene he had never wanted to see again. Nic was curled up, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Sitting down next to her, Sirius said, "Hey, Nic."
"Hey," she replied quietly. Sitting up, she lay her head on his shoulder as he let out a sympathetic sigh.
"I'm sorry about Harry," Sirius said, giving her a fatherly hug. "He didn't know."
"It's okay," Nic replied quietly. "I knew he was going to be mad, but I just hoped that maybe he wouldn't..."
"Do you want me to bring you food so you don't have to face everyone?" Siri asked.
"No," Nic replied, wiping away her tears. "I'll go down with you. Sorry to be so much trouble."
"Hey, it's not trouble," Sirius interrupted. "You're my goddaughter and I love you. You're not a burden, little phoenix." Nic smiled at the nickname.
"Thanks, Siri," Nic replied. "Now let's go eat."