Life As A Phoenix			By: Sirius Sidekick

Chapter 4

Ron reached the house with Hermione still in his arms. Harry was still flipping about above the onlookers. However, when he reached the door, there was a problem.

"Um, Hermione. There's a problem."

"What? Am I too heavy? Cuz I'll get down if you want-"

"No. Just hold on as tight as you can."

She did. He released one of his arms from under her jeans. He reached for the door, and opened it.

"Now come on, Ron. Why didn't you just ask me? I would've opened the door. You wouldn't have had to do all of that!"

"Because," he said as they walked inside. He put her down on the couch. "I wanted you to start staring at my body again," he said with a smirk. 

She threw a smile and a pillow at him. He returned the smile, and the pillow. She blocked it, and began to get up. Her walked over to her, and put her back down on the couch. She started laughing and then laughed harder. He had begun tickling her around her neck. She had let it slip earlier in the year that that was her weak spot. She was giggling furiously and he was laughing so that his lips touched his ears. He finally stoped, and she giggled for a few seconds more, and then stopped.

Once again, they had smiles that seemed like they were painted on their faces and were staring into each others eyes. He was holding himself up over her, and he leaned down, and kissed her soft pink lips. There was a huge deal of emotion and they were getting hotter than they were already by the minute. Suddenly, the door swung open and shut just as fast. They both looked up. Harry was standing in the doorway clutching his firebolt, sweating up a storm with a look of terror on his face.

Ron jumped up. Hermione sat up as well. Harry sat in the chair next to the couch that they were on. They were just looking at him with utter confusion.

He seemed a little offended by this.

"Is someone going to break the god-damn silence, or are we going to just sit here and stare at me, the poor bloody bastard that just ran in this house?" Harry yelled.

"I guess I'll bite. What the HELL happened?" Ron asked.

Harry took a moment to gasp for air.

"I was just outside, riding on this curse of bad luck," Harry said.

"Yeah, we saw," Hermione said dully.

"And apparently so did everyone else in the area," said Harry. He still looked a bit scared. "Well, people started to gather, and then more people came. So after a while, I got tired and landed. Some stupid son of a bitch said, "Look! It's HARRY POTTER!"

"You would think you'd be used to that by now," said Ron.

"That's not the bad part. About a minute after everyone started mumbling to each other, I heard a voice."

"What voice?"

Harry put on an accent.

"'ARRY? 'ARRY POTTER? Wha' are you doin' 'ere?"

"STAN?!" Ron asked. His face now full of terror.

"The one and only. Apparently, our little friend lives just around the block."

Hermione laughed.

"That's not funny, 'Mione!" Ron said.

He called her 'Mione. She loved when he called her that. She thought it was so cute.

"It really isn't. I don't think he saw which I went. I took off fast."

Sorry," she said, still snickering a bit. "I won't say anything else."

Harry threw her a curious look. Then he looked at Ron and raised an eyebrow as to say, "So what were you doing?"

"Shut up," Ron said. He had gotten the point at once.

"What?" Hemrione asked.

"Oh, nothing. I meant Harry."

Harry laughed, and got up.

"Well, I guess I'll put this away and get in the shower. I'm sweating like a damn piece of ice in a fire."

He walked up the steps and did just as he said he would. Within a few minutes, they could hear the water running from upstairs.

"Well," Hermione said, "what can we do now?"

"Well I'm taking a shower after he's done. God knows I need one."

"I'll take one after you then," said Hermione. She was going to say with him, but she thought against it.

"I already took mine," said a familiar gravely voice from in the dining room.

Ron jumped, but Hermione pulled him into the room. Once again, Alastor Moody's head was in the fire.

"Really Moody, are you going to do this everyday?" asked Hermione.

"No! Well, not for you anyway... Where's Remus?"

"At the meeting for The Order. Dumbledore called it this morning. Weren't you supposed to go?" asked Ron.

"Yes. But it let out. I figured he'd be back by now. Oh well. Just tell him to contact me. And we need Harry along with you two anyway."

Then from in the living room, the door opened. Remus walked in. He saw they were facing the fire.

"Is that Alastor?"

"Yes, it's me Remus. What took you so long?"

"I stopped by The Daily Prophet office. I subscribed so I wouldn't miss anything else in the papers."

"You hadn't subscribed already?"

"Yes, but they said they lost my records and they needed me to fill everything out again. That's bullshit. They found out I'm a werewolf, no doubt."

"Well, what's done is done. If any damage on your record surfaces beause of the Daily Prophet, then we'll take care of it when we find out what Lucious is doing. Where's Harry?"

"Shower," Ron said.

"Be right back," Remus said.

Alastor, Hermione, and Ron looked at each other.

A few minutes later, Harry came down wrapped in two towels, one for the top, one for the bottom, with a scowl on his face.

"Moody, this had better be worth it," he said.

Ron couldn't help but laugh. "It already is!"

This made Hermione laugh along with Ron for a minute or two. Harry sat down and didn't speak to any of them.

"Well, should you tell them, or me, Remus?"

"You say it. I had to pull him out of the shower."

"Fine."

He waited a moment, then began again.

"Harry, Dumbledore and the rest of The Order have decided that until whatever Malfoy is up to, because we have conformations from Arthur Weasley that he is planning something, we just don't know what, that you shouldn't leave the house. It is a direct order from The Order."

Harry nearly dropped his top towel.

"WHAT?!" he yelled. "You can't do that! I'm fully grown now! I can take care of myself!"

"No matter, you'll be at the house. And you'll be monitered by Remus until we have decided whatever threat he has is over. If Remus must go somwhere, then you'll go with him."

"No. I won't let you do this."

"You have no choice, Harry. And are you forgetting about Voldemort?" said Remus. "He's still out there, and alive. It's not just Lucious we're dealing with."

"Well what about those two?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore has suggested that you two do the same. But you are not the ones that Voldemort is after. So, it doesn't apply to you... yet."

Harry said nothing else. He just sat there. Everything was quiet for a moment.

"Remus," Alastor said, "you can reach me by owl."

"Okay."

And he was gone.

"Harry, listen," Remus said. "We don't have a-"

And Harry left. He walked up the stairs and the bathroom door slammed shut. There was that eerie silence again. Then Remus sighed and walked into the kitchen and sat down to eat something.

"Wow," Ron said.

"Do you realize how serious this is for him? He'll be trapped inside all summer! It'll be like the Dursley's!"

"No it won't."

"What do you mean?"

"He'll sneak out of it. He's got a firebolt. He's got an invisibility cloak. He'll get out of it."

"He wouldn't!"

"Do you know Harry at all? Of course he will. And we can't stop him. He has to do it for peace of mind."

"But Ron, we-"

"We have to. It's not our problem."

She had to admit. She knew he was right. She didn't want to admit it though because the situation was bad.

"FIne. You're... you're right."

"Didn't hurt you too much did it?

She laughed a bit. "Shut up."

Then, the bathroom door opened again, and another door shut. Ron looked at Hermione.

"I'll be right back."

He ran up the steps. He saw that the door to his and Harry's room was shut. He tried the handle. Locked.

He sighed and walked back down the steps.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked when she saw his face.

"Nothing. I just hope that he unlocks that door before I wanna go to sleep."

"Well, if not, then..."

He looked at Hermione. She looked back with a shy glance.

"But Lupin said-"

"Lupin said he didn't care. But our parents would."

"Exactly, Hermione!"

"Our parents aren't here are they?"

There was another silence. But it wasn't eerie. It was sort of a realization. Ron took his hand and fixed her fingers between his. He took his other hand and ran it down her perfect brown hair. It was smooth. Just like her lips. Like her skin. His hands were strong, she thought. He made her feel so safe. So protected. She would only want to be with him at times like these. She wouldn't trade his hand for any other to be with hers right now.

She stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"To take a shower."

"I said I was going after him!"

She looked down on him with that mischevious look her loved.

"So?"

He put out a sly smile. He watched her walk away, and up the steps. She knew he was watching her. Over the last few years she had sprouted curves in places that really surprised Ron. She had never been much of a body person, but she was now if he ever saw one. It was the same for Ron. She was definately surprised when she saw him without a shirt on. When she vanished from sight, he glanced at the clock. It was only 2:00 in the afternoon. It seemed like the whole day had been spent under that tree with her.

Remus walked into the room.

"Where's Harry?"

"Bedroom."

"Hermione?"

"Bathroom"

"And you're in the dining room. Guess I should be in the living room."

"If you don't want to break the "room" pattern, then yeah, Remus."

No later then Ron said that, an owl, Quill, flew in through the kitchen window.

"Wow. That got to The Burrow and back fast..." said Ron.

"What is it?" asked Remus.

"A letter Hermione sent Ginny. It must be the reply."

"Oh, okay."

"Oh, Remus. Did you know that man, Stan, the one with the accent that Harry just loves, lives around here?"

His joyful expression turned quickly to a frown.

"Close?"

"I think so."

"So he would've found my place..."

"Then why'd you have to explain it ten times?"

"I dunno. Maybe the poor bloke's a bit slow..."

He laughed, and so did Remus. Ron untied the parchment from it's leg, and Quill flew back outside. He thought about opening it. But it wasn't his business. He didn't want to lose her trust. It was holy to him. So he thought he would just hold it untill she got out of the shower.

Remus looked in at him from the living room.

"How's it going with you two anyway?"

Ron laughed. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Harry."

Remus smiled. "And what's that?"

"Perfect."