Harry grinned at her and disappeared up the stairs.
"See you in the morning!" Ron shouted as he and Neville followed Harry.
She shook her head, feeling the bounce of her frizzy brown hair and made for her own dorm room. Lavender and Parvati were sprawled on Lavender's bed gossiping. Hermione got her nightshirt and toiletry bag out of the trunk and made for the bathroom. A quick change of clothes and her night-time routine completed, Hermione went back to the dorm room. She drew the curtains around her bed, set an alarm charm, and climbed under the covers gratefully.
She closed her eyes and tried to block out the chatter of how good Ron's robes looked; how cute Neville was; how hot Harry looked...Dear Merlin! Was she going to have to put up with this prattle all year, Hermione thought…although Harry really did look hot…
It was her last thought as she slipped into sleep.
o-O-o
September 4th 1994
"…but thankfully Ron made this great save and Angelina put him on the team!" Harry finished his tale of the try-outs, laughing. He was so pleased that Ron had made the team; he knew how important it was to Ron and his future aspirations.
Sirius grinned at him through the mirror. "Sounds like an eventful afternoon between the Slytherins trying to steal the pitch…"
Although to be fair to Draco he'd looked completely miserable and hadn't said a word as the rest of the Slytherin team had tried to claim the pitch only to find out exactly how great an aim Angelina had with a Quaffle.
"…and the Harry Stalkers' antics."
Harry went red but he nodded. Ron had coined the phrase after Harry's first three days at Hogwarts had found him followed everywhere by the trio of Ginny, Lydia and Jessica. The boys' dorm room was quickly becoming a sanctuary and Harry thanked Merlin he had his Dad's cloak.
"I swear they have a tracking charm on me!" complained Harry.
Sirius chuckled. "At least they haven't followed you into the showers yet."
"Don't say that!" Harry protested. "You'll give them ideas!" He adjusted his position on the bed. "Anyway, that's it for me! How are you and Remus? Where is Remus anyway?"
The werewolf usually said at least hello at some point during the nightly conversations between Harry and Sirius. Harry had to admit that it had helped his feeling of homesickness a lot being able to talk to Sirius and he felt guilty that the rest of his school mates didn't have the same ability to communicate with their parents.
"We had an issue in Russia which led to us thinking we need to do a review of the overseas properties; he's in Moscow for the rest of the week." Sirius admitted, and Harry saw a flash of loneliness cross Sirius's features before it was pushed away.
"Did he really need to go now?" worried Harry out loud. Harry had a feeling Sirius was missing Harry just as much as Harry missed Sirius, and for Remus to go away now of all times…Hermione had been right that it had been his friends who'd helped Harry over the worst of it – they'd helped pull him out of his moping and made him feel better. He was sure Remus was doing the same service for Sirius.
Sirius shrugged. "We wanted to make sure he didn't have to go away once the Tri-Wizard Tournament begins. Between the Potter and Black estates we have enough abroad to keep him gone a month but he's going to break the trips up – home one week, abroad the next – over the next couple of months. He should be done by Halloween."
Harry frowned. It made sense but he didn't like Sirius being alone so much. "Why can't he go after the tournament starts?" He could see Sirius debating his answer and wondered why.
"Because we're concerned someone will try and include you in the tournament." Sirius confessed.
"Oh." Harry's eyes widened.
"Look, it's a concern but a small one. Like I've said to you before there'll be plenty of security around the artefact that's being used to decide the Champions for each school but…"
"But you think someone will try to make it choose me anyway." Harry sighed. Probably the 'someone' was Voldemort. "I understand why you're concerned. It'd be just my luck if someone did that."
"Well, besides that, there's also the fact that security at Hogwarts will be compromised during the tournament. You'll have Ministry officials on the grounds; the other schools; the press is being allowed in – not to mention on the days of the tasks, there'll be spectators around." Sirius ranted in a familiar way that made Harry miss him all over again. "We want to make sure both of us are around if you need us so…Remus is going now and then he'll be back for the tournament and won't have to go again until next Summer."
Harry nodded but something of his lingering concern must have shown on his face.
"Hey, don't worry about me!" Sirius reassured him. "Penny has me booked up with so many meetings, lunches and dinners I'm barely going to be home myself."
"And you're OK?" pressed Harry.
"I'm OK." Sirius said firmly. "I miss you lots, but like you I'm continuing to see Healer Allen, and as long as I can talk to you so I can see with my own eyes you're OK, I'm OK. OK?"
"OK." Harry shifted against his pillows. "I mean, I, um, miss you lots too." He coloured rapidly. Talking and seeing Sirius helped him although he was going to confess that; it was embarrassing enough admitting that he missed him.
Sirius's grey eyes lit up though and made the effort of telling him worthwhile. "We'll see each other on Wednesday for your first duelling club session." He promised.
Harry nodded enthusiastically. He'd almost forgotten about that.
"Go get some sleep, Pronglet. You have classes tomorrow and Minnie will yell at me if you're too tired for them." Sirius said.
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