Harry had gotten all the way through his charms reading (without remembering a thing he had read) when there was a knock at the front door. Arabella burst out of the kitchen. Last time Harry had seen her she had been covered in food, but to his surprise she was clean now, and Harry could see that the Kitchen table was sagging under the weight of a mound full of food platters.

“Aren’t you going to let them in?” Arabella asked.

Harry jumped up and ran to the door, flinging it open. There was Sirius and Remus looking awkward in muggle clothes. They were both grinning at Harry, and Harry grinned back stepping aside to let them in.

After many “Hellos” and “How are yous” Arabella ushered everyone into the dining room and started bringing out food. She had not been kidding when she said she had cooked enough for twelve. The food kept piling up, and Arabella made frequent trips into the kitchen taking back platters and bringing out more.

Conversation was general during dinner. Sirius and Remus told Harry that they had been traveling a lot, contacting people for Dumbledore, but would not be more specific. Harry did notice they were both thin, and kept pushing them to eat more. Remus caught on to this right away.

“Harry,” He said, trying to be stern, “I know you are concerned about Sirius and I, but I am starting to wonder if you are trying to fatten us up for the kill.”

Sirius stopped eating in mid bite, and looked at Lupin.

“Fatten us up?” he asked curiously.

“I can’t believe you haven’t noticed Sirius, but Harry has been loading your plate with food every time you turn away.”

Sirius looked down at his plate, over to Lupin, back at his plate, and then to Harry. He smiled and pulled his godson closer to him in a half-hug.

“Harry!”he said in mock pain, “are you planning to use us in the next batch of chili?”

“Yes sir” Harry said trying to keep a straight face but failing

“Ha!” said Arabella walking in from the kitchen again, “you will ALL be chili if you don’t save room for dessert!”

Remus and Sirius perked up.

“You made your specialty didn’t you!” Remus said eagerly.

“Arabella used to make dessert for the entire school at the end of the year banquet. People would not eat for days in anticipation.” Sirius explained to Harry.

“What kind of dessert is it?”Harry asked excitedly.

Lupin was about to answer when there was another knock at the door.

Harry looked uncertainly at Arabella, who was looking uncertainly at the door.

“Should I answer it?” Harry asked.

Arabella nodded and followed Harry towards the door. A dark figure stood in the doorway. For a split second Harry had the urge to slam the door and run, but he froze when he recognized who it was.

Snape.

Harry was shocked. He watched, rooted to the spot, as Snape looked at him and took a step forward. Suddenly Snape lunged at him, Harry flinched unable to move in time.

Arabella stepped in front of him and caught Snape before his head hit the floor. He hadn’t lunged, he had fallen.

“Help me Remus, Sirius! Harry, close the door, mum, get my bag!”

Arabella tried to drag Snape in, but he was too heavy for her. Remus hesitated a second, but then got up to help Arabella get him on the couch. Harry shut the door quickly and followed them. Mrs. Figg was handing Arabella a wet cloth and a glass of water, Sirius had remained in his seat. He was watching over them all with an unattractive sneer, his arms folded in front of him.

Arabella searched for any sign of injury on Snape, but didn’t find anything. She wiped off his face and tried to speak to him.

“Severus, its Arabella, can you hear me?”

Snape mumbled something but did not open his eyes. Arabella seemed content with this. she stood up and put a blanket over him.

“He’s fine,” she said putting a hand on Harry shoulder. “He’s just over tired, why don’t we go have dessert.”

“Yes, let’s not let that slime ball ruin dinner.”

Sirius had come over to the couch and was now looking down at Snape with extreme dislike. Arabella narrowed her eyes. When she spoke it was in a silky growl.

“Mr. Black, if you say one more word along that line you will be sleeping outside tonight.”

Sirius glared at her.

“I never understood what you saw in him.” Arabella didn’t move, so he continued, “He’s nothing but a horrible slime ball. He never washes his hair, and he is never nice to anyone. He is cruel to Harry!”

Harry was about to say something, he wasn’t sure what, when Arabella exploded. Harry hadn=t heard anyone yell that loud since Ron’s last howler. Mrs. Figg and Remus both retreated a few steps, but Sirius kept his ground.

“DAMN YOU BLACK! IF YOU SAY THAT AGAIN YOU WILL REGRET IT! I DID NOT INVITE YOU HERE TO BE SUCH A BLOODY GIT! IF YOU DON’T WANT TO END UP BACK IN AZKABAN I SUGGEST YOU HOLD YOUR TONGUE!”

A deathly silence fell over the room. It seemed to Harry that everyone had stopped breathing. Sirius had gone pale.

“I promise you I’ll do it.” Arabella said in almost a whisper. Harry noticed she was about as pale as Sirius.

Sirius and Arabella stood looking at each other, neither one was moving, or even blinking when a weak voice came up from the couch.

“I hope this is not all for my sake.”

Snape had his eyes half opened. His face was unreadable to Harry, it seemed like a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Arabella looked at Snape, and back up at Sirius who had a haunted look in his eyes. Harry went to him and gave him a protective hug. Sirius looked surprised but hugged Harry back fiercely.

“I’m sorry Harry” Arabella said, and after a short hesitation “and I apologize Sirius, it was inappropriate of me to say that. Will you forgive me?”

Sirius looked at her in a way that suggested he was not planning to forgive her anytime soon, but before he could say anything Lupin stepped between them.

“Of course he does Bella dear, we all know your temper. Why don’t we all go have some pie now?”

“Pie!” said Harry catching on to what Lupin was trying to do, “what kind of pie?”

“A special kind of pumpkin pie Harry.” Mrs. Figg said while pushing him lightly towards the dining room. “A recipe from my great grandmother. Very famous really, but don’t ask what’s in it we will never tell!”

Everyone went back into the dining room, the only trouble was when Snape followed. Arabella opened her mouth but didn’t say anything, Lupin fidgeted in his chair looking uncomfortable, and Sirius gave Snape a look that could only be described as pure hatred. Mrs. Figg ignored them all and got an extra chair for Snape.

“Sit down please professor Snape”

“Thank you” Snape said. Harry noticed how hollow his voice seemed.

The rest of dinner consisted of Harry, Lupin and Mrs. Figg trying to keep a conversation going. Arabella hardly ate any pie and kept her eyes on her plate. Sirius and Snape both ate a lot, but spent the entire time looking distastefully at one another. Finally everyone had finished. Harry couldn’t remember the last time he had been so relieved.

Arabella showed Remus and Sirius upstairs to their room so they could change back into muggle clothes. Harry mumbled some excuse and followed after them. He hid and watched Arabella stop Sirius before he went into the room. They exchanged a few words, but Harry couldn’t hear what they were saying. Arabella looked down at the floor, while Sirius looked at her with a blank face. For a second Harry thought his godfather would cry, but instead he smiled a very small smile and grabbed Arabella’s hand. She looked up at him, smiled, and squeezed his hand back before Sirius disappeared into the room. Harry bolted back downstairs before Arabella could see him.

Snape was in the kitchen helping Mrs. Figg clean up the last plates left from dessert. He shot a suspicious glance at Harry when he came in, but said nothing. Arabella was right on his heals.

“Mum!” she exclaimed. “What do you think you are doing! Severus needs to rest!”

“AND he needs to tell us why he is here dear, I know calm down.”

Mrs. Figg finished the last dishes, and they moved into the living room once again. everyone sat down, except Snape.

“I’m surprised you haven’t heard yet Arabella, but Voldemort made his first attack today.”

Both Harry and Mrs. Figg spoke at the same time, but with a look from Arabella they fell quiet.

“Where Snape?” She asked, the apprehension she felt poorly hidden.

“Right in the middle of London. A bunch of muggles saw it all, the ministry has been working hard to undo the damage. So far Fudge has been quiet on the subject, but he won=t be able to remain so for long. There are many people up in arms against him, they are wondering why he didn’t know Voldemort was still alive.”

“And Dumbledore?” Arabella asked quietly.

“I have not spoken with the headmaster yet.” Snape replied, and Harry had the distinct impression that Snape wanted to say more.

“What did Voldemort do?” He asked, and flinched as Snape’s cold eyes turned on him.

Snape held Harry’s gaze for a second before saying very slowly “He killed a mother and her three children while they were on the way to Diagon Alley”

Harry knew there was something Snape was not saying.

“Why? Where they enemies of Voldemort?” He asked boldly.

“Voldemort does not need a reason to kill. They could have been enemies, or not, either way the purpose of today=s attack was to announce his return.”

Harry knew that this was probably true, but he could not shake the feeling that Snape was hiding something.

“Who were they?”

The question came out before Harry even thought to ask it. As he watched Snape he knew his instinct had been right. Snape’s eyes dropped quickly to the floor, and a violent emotion passed over his face which Harry could not see. When Snape lifted his head to look at Harry again the normal look of disgust was in place.

“I don’t know. It is rather inconsequential Potter, perhaps we can move on to more important matters.”

As Arabella asked more questions about Fudge, Harry left his mind wander. He knew Snape had lied to him. Snape knew who the victims of Voldemort’s attack had been, but why was he lying about it?

***

That night after everyone else had fallen asleep Harry lay in bed.

Arabella had decided that nothing could be done about Voldemort now, and insisted that they all go to bed. Snape was the first to go. Harry didn’t realize how tired his potions master was until Remus had to help him up the stairs and into bed. Sirius put up a bit of a fight. After he heard about Voldemort’s attack he raged that they couldn’t sit and do nothing, and insisted that if the Ministry of Magic could not find Voldemort that they go after him themselves. Arabella shot that idea down as soon as he spoke it, and Sirius, seeing the dangerous glint in her eye, backed down.

So they all called it a night. But long after the others drifted off to dream Harry lay awake in bed. Thoughts swirled around in his head aimlessly. There were so many questions he had not asked, and so many that he had, but had never been answered. Harry looked to the clock on the dresser beside the bed. One o’clock. Knowing he couldn’t sleep Harry got up quietly and headed downstairs for a midnight snack. He tip-toed across the living room, into the kitchen and turned the light on.

“What do you think you are doing Harry?”

Harry spun around. Mrs. Figg was standing in the doorway in her nightgown, with a night cap on her head. She was looking at him with an expression of curiosity and amusement. At least she didn’t look mad Harry thought.

“I’m sorry if I scared you Mrs. Figg, but I couldn’t sleep so I though I would come down and get something to eat.”

She smiled at him “Didn’t eat enough today already?”

“Well,” Harry admitted bashfully “Yes, I’m actually not that hungry. Just restless.”

“Very understandable. How about I’ll make some tea and we can talk.”

Harry agreed, and sat down at the table. It relieved him to have someone to talk to, and Mrs. Figg, although rotten at chess, seemed very good at calming people down.

“Mrs. Figg,” he asked “What happened today, why did Arabella get so angry?”

Mrs. Figg chuckled as she set the kettle on the stove.

“Arabella has a horrible temper. If you provoke her you had better watch out because, as you saw today, she will not go easy on you.” Mrs. Figg set two mugs on the table. “I think she had a difficult time with your godfather and Remus when they delivered Dumbledore’s note, and-“

“What note?” Harry interrupted.

Mrs. Figg raised her eyebrows “They really didn’t tell you anything did they dear. I suppose I should start from the beginning.”

Harry waited eagerly as he watched her put tea bags in the mugs and fill them with water. She sat down and took a deep breath.

“Harry, I have been living in Privet drive all these years to watch over you. There are many measures Dumbledore took to ensure your safety, one of them was me. For the last 11 years I didn’t have any contact with the magical world. In fact, I gave up using any magic in order to gain the trust of my neighbors-- including your Aunt and Uncle-- and to hide. If Voldemort’s supporters knew I was here, or if Voldemort himself knew I wasY My cats were the only connection to the outside I had. Long ago, when I was young I learned how to speak with cats, and that’s why I have so many. Although many wizards and witches have cats, so do many eccentric old ladies. And very few people can convince a cat to do what they want it to do, so they are not used for communication, like owls are.”

“Which is what you use them for?” Harry asked.

Mrs. Figg smiled. “Yes, Harry, that is exactly right. I send my cats with messages to Dumbledore anytime something important happens, but I can not do it too often, and I almost never get replies back. After you started at Hogwarts Dumbledore would send me a letter after each school year ended catching me up on everything that had happened.”

“So you know about-“ Harry stopped, not sure what to mention first.

“Everything.” Mrs. Figg smirked, “Well, everything that Dumbledore is aware of anyway.”

Harry couldn’t help smiling as Mrs. Figg looked at him expectantly.

“That’s all there is to know!” he said as innocently as possible.

Mrs. Figg looked at Harry knowingly and continued. “At the end of the school year, when Dumbledore knew Voldemort had returned he took certain actions to try and prevent Voldemort from regaining the power he had before. One thing he did was to contact his own supporters. You may not know this, but Dumbledore has quite the fan club.”

Harry laughed “I believe it.” He agreed emphatically

“Sirius and Remus spent the beginning of the summer collecting Dumbledore=s fan club, and included in them was my daughter.”

Harry thought about this for a while as they both sat and sipped their tea in an agreeable silence. Another question popped into Harry’s head.

“If this place is secret how did Snape know where to go?”

Harry tried to make the question sound casual, but some of the doubts he had of Snape slipped into his voice.

“Professor Snape,” Harry was surprised to hear Mrs. Figg call him professor, “has been here before.”

She said it in a way that Harry did not consider asking when that was, although he desperately wanted to. Maybe he might try a different line of questioning.

“Do you trust Snape.”

Mrs. Figg considered the question.

“Harry,” she said evenly “I don’t know much about Professor Snape, I don’t think I am supposed to know much. However, Dumbledore trusts him and I trust Dumbledore. What about you, do you trust him Harry?”

Harry started when she asked him the question. He looked at her, was she really asking his opinion? Did he have a answer? Harry thought about it a while and Mrs. Figg did not push him for an answer.

“I’m not sure.” Harry admitted truthfully. “I know Dumbledore trusts him, but I know he was not telling us everything he knew tonight, and I think he even lied.”

Harry didn’t know what to say next. Mrs. Figg considered him for a moment.

“Harry, I think that Professor Snape would like nothing better than to tell you the truth.”

Harry didn’t answer. He was rather skeptical that Mrs. Figg could read Snape’s mind. Another question was lurking in the back of Harry’s mind and a sense of foreboding came over him as he realized the horrid implications.

“Mrs. Figg, if you stopped using magic all these years to hide from Voldemort, why did you start using them all now, after he’s come back?”

Mrs. Figg’s face fell. The cheerful sparkle in her eyes was replaced by a dull, haunted look.

“He knows Harry.” It was barely a whisper. “I suppose he has always known Dumbledore had set up protections, and he may not know who, but that would never stop him from hunting me down. We have made a small amount of ruckus on purpose to protect the muggles who live close by.”

She choked, unable to finish, but Harry understood. Voldemort would find Mrs. Figg if he had to kill every muggle in the town. He felt queasy just thinking about all the people who’s lives he was putting in danger just by being here, and in that moment Harry decided something. He was going to stop Voldemort.

***

The next few weeks passed without incident. Harry spent his time with Sirius and Remus listening stories from when they were in school. The amount of pranks that they had pulled would have shamed the Weasley twins. Snape had simply disappeared one night. Arabella assured them that he was fine, and Harry had to admit he was rather relieved when Snape left.

One night Harry was playing another game of chess with Mrs. Figg when Arabella came and sat down by them. She was smiling so broadly Harry thought it must hurt.

“Harry, we have a special surprise for you.”

Harry looked up from the game. Remus and Sirius were standing with big grins on their faces as well.

“What do you have planned?” He asked suspiciously.

“Harry, tomorrow is your birthday,”

It startled Harry to hear Arabella say that, he was not used to having people remember.

“and we are going to take you, Ron and Hermione on a little trip tomorrow, so we are celebrating here tonight. Happy birthday Harry.”

As she said it Sirius and Remus grabbed Harry and led him into the dining room. It was decorated rather ineffectually with streamers and balloons. There was also a banner on one of the walls that was flashing Happy Birthday Harry, a big pile of presents on the table along with a huge chocolate cake.

“Well?” his godfather said, “which first, gifts or cake?”

Harry couldn’t speak. He answered by turning around and giving his godfather a fierce hug. This was the most wonderful birthday he had ever had.

Harry’s curiosity got the better of him, and he started unwrapping the presents. This was more fun than Harry had ever had. Everyone was chatting and laughing while Mrs. Figg kept taking pictures of Harry at awkward moments. When he protested about this Arabella grinned and told him to keep unwrapping. The amount of gifts was amazing to Harry, he got a mound full of candy and treats, a new quill, a set of checkers from Mrs. Figg, and a new bottle of broomstick polish, among other things. Finally there were only two packages left. Harry reached for the bigger of the two, there was no card so he ripped through the paper.

It was a copy of Quidditch through the ages.

“Thanks.” Harry said. “Who is it from?”

“It’s from all of us Harry.” Sirius said eagerly “but it’s not just the book, open up the cover.”

Harry opened the cover. A small envelope and a note fell out. Harry picked up the note first.

Happy Birthday Harry, This should make your day tomorrow a little bit better.

Love from, Sirius, Remus, Arabella and Mrs. Figg

Harry opened the envelope excitedly. Inside were four tickets to the English national quidditch team practice tomorrow.

“Thanks!” Harry said with much more enthusiasm this time.

“Ron, Hermione and Arabella will be going with you tomorrow.” Sirius explained. “We were really lucky to get permission to go, they usually don’t allow people to watch them practice, but Arabella has got some connections, and they decided to make an exception.”

Harry looked sadly at his godfather.

“I wish you could come with.”

“I know” Sirius whispered. “I do too, next time.”

Remus came over and put a hand on Sirius’ shoulder. “Open your last package Harry.”

The last gift was the same shape as the previous one, but a little bit smaller. Harry was not surprised as he tore away the paper to find another book.

It was an old book of poems. Harry opened it up, there were notes written in the margins, passages that were highlighted and words that were underlined. Remus had come to stand by Harry, who looked up at him questioningly.

“I forgot I had this until I found it while looking for a book this summer. It was your mother’s.”

Harry flipped through the book. That was his mother’s writing, her notes, it was the closest he could come to knowing her thoughts.

“She loved poetry, she never went anywhere without that book. She was constantly reading out of it, I think you will probably find some of her own poetry written in there.”

This was the first thing Harry had of his mother’s. Although he had never read poetry before he could not wait to read all the notes his mother had written. Lupin looked down at him and smiled. Harry didn’t know what to say.

“How about some cake now?” It seemed like an inadequate thanks but Harry knew Lupin understood what this meant to him.

Arabella tore her eyes away from the book, which she had been staring at.

“Cake it is!”