Harry Potter - Fanfiction

Year 5 - Occlumency

As the date of our departure back to Hogwarts draws nearer, Sirius becomes more and more prone to what Mrs. Weasley calls 'fits of the sullens', in which he will become taciturn and grumpy, often withdrawing to Buckbeak's room for hours at a time.

With his gloom seeping through the house, oozing under the doorways like some noxious gas, so that all of us become infected by it, I also find myself spending more time in Buckbeak's room, finding it hard not to think about Draco.

And this year none of us are actually looking forward to returning to Hogwarts, as we have all the previous years, as this year we will be returning to the tyranny of Dolores Umbridge, who has no doubt managed to force another dozen decrees in our absence.

Then, on the very last day of the holidays, the Weasley's are back in high spirits as Mr. Weasley returns home cured. Although the nights meal which should have been a cheerful one instead is filled with Sirius forcibly laughing loudly at Fred and George's jokes or offering everyone more food, his face falling back into a moody, brooding expression due to the fall out he had earlier on in the day with Professor Snape.

After a hurried breakfast the following day, in which we are to return to Hogwarts on the Knight Bus escorted by Tonks and Lupin, we all pull on our jackets and scarves against the chilly grey January morning.

And before we know it, we are all being shunted out into the icy winter air. The door of number twelve slamming shut behind us. We follow Lupin down the front steps. Number twelve is shrinking rapidly as those on either side of it stretches sideways, squeezing it out of sight; one blink later, it's gone.

"Come on, the quicker we get on the bus the better," says Tonks throwing a nervous glance around the square. Lupin flings out his right arm.

BANG.

A violently purple, triple-decker bus has appeared out of thin air in front of us, narrowly avoiding the nearest lamppost, which jumps backward out of its way.

A thin, pimply, jug-eared youth in a purple uniform leaps down onto the pavement and says, "welcome to the –"

"Yes, yes, we know, thank you," says Tonks swiftly. "On, on, get on –"

We all shuffle onto the bus which is crammed with an assortment of mismatched chairs grouped haphazardly around windows. Some of these appear to have fallen over when the bus stopped abruptly in Grimmauld Place; a few witches and wizards are still getting to their feet, grumbling, and somebody's shopping bag has slid the length of the bus; an unpleasant mixture of frog spawn, cockroaches and custard creams is scattered all over the floor.

"Looks like we'll have to split up," says Tonks briskly, looking around for empty chairs, "Fred, George, Ginny and Nyx, if you just take those seats at the back Remus can stay with you..."

She, Harry, Ron, and Hermione proceed up to one of the upper decks. The bus sets off again, swaying ominously. It rumbles around Grimmauld Square, weaving on and off the pavement, then, with another tremendous BANG, we are all flung backward as we speed down a motorway.

The Knight Bus sways alarmingly, overtaking a line of cars on the inside.

BANG.

Chairs slide backwards again as the Knight Bus jumps from the Birmingham motorway to a quiet country lane full of hairpin bends. Hedgerows on either side of the road are leaping out of our way as we mount the verges. From here we move to a main street in the middle of a busy town, then to a viaduct surrounded by tall hills, then to a windswept road between high-rise flats, each time with a loud BANG.

A few minutes later the Knight Bus screeches to a halt outside a small pub, which squeezes itself out of the way to avoid collision. A man ushers out an unfortunate woman which seems to not be feeling well and the relieved murmurs of her fellow passengers can be heard. The bus moves again, gathering speed, until –