Friday arrived and Harry had the responses to his letters so he went to see Professor McGonagall again. He arrived at her office after classes had ended and knocked.
"Enter." Harry opened the door just a little and stuck his head in.
"Do you have a moment, Professor?" She looked up at him with a slight scowl.
"Certainly, Potter. That is why I said 'enter'. Will the rest of your body be joining us?" Harry stepped all the way into the office and closed the door behind him while doing his best not to feel like he had just been caught stealing a biscuit.
"The reason I- Professor! What is that thing doing here?!" There, on the wall next to the case that held the mementoes of Gryffindors past, hung a framed copy of last week's Daily Prophet. An edition he was still being asked to sign every time he stepped foot into a hallway. He couldn't believe that his Head of House had framed it and hung it on a wall. As he stared at her, horrified with embarrassment, she started to defend herself.
"It was an important moment in the history of Gryffindor House that happened during my tenure as Head. Why shouldn't I commemorate it?" Harry thought he might have been more accepting of that very reasonable explanation if his professor's cheeks hadn't pinked. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I assume the reason you're here is because you have received notice from Mr. Weasley and Miss Skeeter?"
Looking anywhere but the framed picture and McGonagall's blush he nodded. "They both said they would be here at nine thirty, ma'am. I haven't spoken to the victims yet as I don't want it getting out and people queuing up to go down with us." As he spoke, Harry felt the embarrassment fade and he could once again look in Professor McGonagall's direction. "I was also hoping you could contact Penelope Clearwater for me. I think she might suspect a prank of some sort if I were to offer her a trip to the Chamber of Secrets." McGonagall had also regained her composure and nodded.
"I can do that, Mr. Potter. Was there anything else?" He shook his head. "Very well, then." Accepting this dismissal Harry left. Professor McGonagall watched him go and sighed to herself as she tried to remember what Filius had told her about keying a Notice-me-not Charm to a specific magical signature.
:-:-:-:-:
The next morning at breakfast Harry got up and walked over to the Hufflepuff table. A lot of curious eyes followed his progress and more than a few were surprised when Potter started talking to Finch-Fletchley. The Hufflepuff boy was nodding excitedly and raced out of the Great Hall, sparking much speculation about what was going on with Potter this time.
On returning to the Gryffindor table Harry also spoke to Colin getting a reaction similar to Justin's. When he spoke to Ginny she paled and nodded, then spent the rest of breakfast pushing her breakfast around her plate.
At nine thirty a small group arrived in the Entry Hall. Penelope Clearwater was talking to Charlie Weasley who had brought five other dragon handlers along. Rita stood off to one side looking eager and had brought her photographer, Bozo. Justin and Colin were also standing slightly apart, waiting on some people their own age to arrive. When Harry, Hermione, Luna and Ginny arrived, he noticed with satisfaction that everyone seemed to have brought a broom like he had asked them to. Well, Hermione hadn't, but he would be giving her a ride. The recently arrived group had apparently picked up a tail on the way to and from the Quidditch pitch though.
"Charlie!"
"What are you doing here?" The dragon handler looked up and grinned to see his little brothers.
"Fred. George. Managed to turn McGonagall's hair white yet?" he joked easily at them. The twins opened their mouths to respond but another voice cut across them before they could.
"They have not, Mr. Weasley, though not for lack of trying I assure you; and I'll thank you not to give them any ideas." Professor McGonagall had arrived, accompanied by Professors Sprout and Flitwick. "Run along now Mr. and Mr. Weasley."
"Actually, lads, why don't you join me over here for a minute?" McGonagall raised an eyebrow at Harry countermanding her. "Fred, George, I want you two to come down into the Chamber of Secrets with us."
"You're going down into the Chamber?"
"And we're invited?"
"Wicked." They both finished.
"Actually there's a condition." Harry's serious tone caused the prankster's to eye him carefully. "You will stay close to Ginny at all times. I think she might need you today." One look at their sister and both boys agreed. "Get your brooms then and meet us at Moaning Myrtle's toilet."
"No need, O Champion." one of them started.
"We learned from the best." the other added.
"Accio Brooms!" They finished with grins at Harry before moving over to sandwich a grateful-looking Ginny. McGonagall had been about to berate Harry for adding people they hadn't discussed to this expedition before she heard his condition and had taken a good look at the Weasley girl. Potter might just have a point. When the twins had caught their brooms the group set off for the second floor. In the bathroom there was no sign of Myrtle so Harry walked over to the tap with the snake engraving.
"The entrance is right here. It can only be opened by a parselmouth." Feeling that he had given everyone enough of a warning Harry turned his attention to the snake and, imagining it to be real, hissed: "₰Open.₰"
Harry could hear Bozo's camera clicking as the entrance to the chamber was revealed. He tried to ignore it as he felt a twinge of relief that he had not lost the ability to speak parseltongue along with the horcrux.
"This next bit is rather dirty, but I recommend you try to enjoy it." With that Harry grinned at them and hopped into the pipe and slid down with a loud whoop. At the bottom he quickly got up and cast a cushioning charm at the base of the pipe to make the landing a little easier on the rest and conjured several small, pale balls of light that hovered in place using the Magelight Charm. As the others started arriving he took the time to clean some of the muck off himself and his friends.
Once everyone was down and several people were looking at the profusion of bones and on other detritus in horror Harry called them on. When they reached the cave-in Harry began chanting and waving his wand ending the motion by stabbing his wand forward and then wrenching it up. The pile of stone in front of them shuddered and started flowing until it formed into an arched passageway.
"Very good, Mr. Potter. That would be worth an O in class." McGonagall nodded approvingly.
"Thank you, Professor. This is the point where we found the shed skin of the basilisk. That fraud, Lockhart told us he was going to take a bit of the skin up, Obliviate us to the point where we wouldn't know our own names and write a new best-seller. Thankfully he tried to use Weasley's broken wand to do it and the spell backfired. Last I heard he was at St. Mungo's." The professors' faces became grim at this revelation while Rita Skeeter could hardly look more excited.
As they continued walking Harry continued to field questions from both his friends and the reporter about how he and Weasley had ended up down here. When they got to the vault-like door to the Chamber proper, Harry hissed the passphrase again. The door swung open and everyone trooped inside. Harry was pleased to see that the basilisk wasn't showing any obvious signs of decay. If the war does come, we'll need money to fight it. This should help. If the war doesn't come St. Mungo's will forget all about Malfoy's 'contribution' when they get whatever this ends up being worth. All of a sudden Harry realized nobody was walking with him anymore. Turning around he saw that he had crossed about half the chamber while the others were all standing open mouthed at the entrance. He followed their stares to the basilisk before looking back again.
"Are you all alright?" He called over. "It's ok. It's quite dead, I assure you." His complete lack of concern about the massive snake behind him broke the spell for some members of the group. Hermione sprinted across the chamber and slammed into Harry grabbing him in the tightest hug he could ever remember getting from her as she knocked the breath out of him. He was worried he might have seen tears in her eyes as he was bracing himself for impact. His worry was suspended as he came under a verbal onslaught.
"Harry James Potter! Describing that…that thing as 'a big snake' is woefully inadequate! That monster is gargantuan or colossal or…or…just something more than 'big'!" Harry didn't get the chance to respond as the air was once again being squeezed from his lungs. "Why didn't you tell me how bad it was?" The pressure lifted slightly, allowing Harry some breath to answer.
"You would have worried; and like I said it's dead now." She looked up at him as if trying to determine the truth of his words and he mentally cursed as he saw that her eyes did indeed look suspiciously shiny. Pulling her closer again, Harry looked over at the rest of the group to see that some of the shock was wearing off. Bozo and Colin were snapping pictures and Rita was scribbling like mad. The professors and some of the victims were starting to look around the Chamber. The Weasley brothers had Ginny surrounded in a hug and the handlers were waiting on Charlie to get started. Luna was looking over at him and Hermione and seemed to be trembling a little. Harry lifted one arm from Hermione's back in an unspoken invitation to the little Ravenclaw and was soon experiencing his second impact hug of the day. Professor McGonagall and Rita followed her over at a more sedate pace.
"Potter, I don't know what to say. I can't believe you faced this monstrosity at age twelve with nothing but a sword." The Head of the House of Brave looked thoroughly shaken.
"Actually, I was hoping to hear that story in more detail," Rita prompted. So Harry told the story, the pressure on his ribcage increasing whenever he got to a particularly tense part. When he told of how the basilisk had bitten him as he killed it, Harry had to stop talking and comfort the two girls who hadn't let go of him for a moment and didn't seem likely to do so anytime soon. He had some trouble moving his arms around them to show the scars where the fang had gone clean through to the listeners. He managed to get through the entire story without mentioning Ginny's name as the possessed student. He only mentioned that Ginny had been taken into the chamber and that a student had been controlled by a dark artifact. Nothing Rita did made him shift his stance on that. He also managed to gloss over the fact that the diary was a horcrux. If Riddle got suspicious and started moving his treasures around, Harry would have the devil's own time finishing the bastard off so he didn't even mention the connection to Voldemort. At the end of the tale Charlie, who had joined them unnoticed, spoke up.
"Professor McGonagall, you may want to get the kids out of here. We're about to start rendering the basilisk and it's never a pretty process." The professor took this as the good advice it was. Several of her charges had clearly seen enough for one day. She herself could use a stiff dram, but not until she was safely back in her office. Potter's blasé attitude to the whole affair was just adding to her nerves. To think that someone that young simply accepted these sorts of things as a part of life made her feel like she had failed terribly somewhere. She quickly began herding them out of the chamber, noticing that the handlers had dogged the door open. Anything that kept her students from having to come back down here to open that door by speaking in hisses was fine by her.
Filius Flitwick was a champion duellist and Charms Master. He had lived through two wars and thought he had seen something of the horrors the world had to offer. The Head of Ravenclaw had just been presented with a rather pointed reminder that there is always more that you don't know. He would have to find an excuse to be in Minerva's office tonight. Her 'secret' bottle would be open, he was sure of it. He was also sure that he could use something stronger than what was usually on offer in Hogwarts.
Pomona Sprout had come down to support one of her badgers but was now in the slightly embarrassing position of having that badger steady her as she staggered out of the chamber. How on earth Minerva put up with students that could get into those sorts of situations, regularly too, was entirely beyond her. Pomona would be asking her old friend that very question at the earliest possible opportunity; tonight, in fact.
Charlie Weasley watched as the group containing two of his little brothers and his only little sister left the legendary Chamber of Secrets. Turning back to the basilisk he considered that his family owed Harry Potter more than he had ever realized. Being a dragon handler was considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the magical world. In the space of ten days Harry had proven twice that he had larger stones than any dragon handler alive. With a determined cast to his face Charlie set about gutting the thing that had threatened his baby sister, taking a grim pleasure from the job that he never had before.
Up in Myrtle's toilet Luna reclaimed the death grip on Harry's arm that she had relinquished to fly up the pipe. Justin had left in a hurry once his Head of House had steadied herself; he had a story nobody would believe and everyone wanted to hear. Colin had been out of there even faster clutching his camera like it was his first-born. Harry would be very surprised if the younger boy left his dark room before dinner. Penelope had bid the teachers a shaky goodbye before heading down to Hogsmeade. Professors Flitwick and Sprout had left once the students had, informing Minerva that they would be by in a little bit. Professor McGonagall herself looked like she desperately wanted to join them but turned her attention on the three students in front of her. The girls were obviously distressed but Potter seemed to have things well in hand. Actually they seem to have him in their hands, she snorted to herself.
"Potter, that discussion we had concerning the Yule Ball…" She trailed off, unwilling to tell him to ask one of these girls to the ball in front of them like that. The only person who seemed completely unruffled by the events of the day so far smiled at her.
"It's alright, Professor. I asked Hermione and she agreed to go with me." Minerva allowed a small smile to form on her features at that; she should have known.
"Excellent choice, both of you. I will inform you that the first dance of the ball will be a waltz. After that it will be up to the band that the headmaster convinced to play for us. I don't think I'm breaking any confidences when I tell you that 'formal' isn't what they're known for." A look of consternation crossed Harry's face. "I will be offering dancing lessons starting on Monday after dinner." Relief flooded her student's features.
"Thank you, Professor. I will be sure to attend." With a nod Professor McGonagall left.
"Harry?" Hermione's voice was small and she hadn't loosened her grip at all. "Can we go to the Room and just stay there for a while?"
"Of course. Let's go." He was about to take the two girls out of the loo when something occurred to him and he hissed "₰Stay Open.₰" over his shoulder. He hoped that would keep the handlers from getting trapped.
:-:-:-:-:
Something was poking him in the knee. Harry cracked open an eye to see Dobby standing in front of him. The elf perked up at finally having woken Harry.
"Master Harry, it is being dinnertime and the red-haired wizard is looking for Master Harry." Harry groaned softly trying to understand what he was being told. Red-haired wizard? That was probably Charlie Weasley or if it was Ronald there was going to be a problem.
"Alright, Dobby. I'll head down in a moment. Thank you for waking me." The little elf gave a beaming smile as he popped away. As the cobwebs cleared from Harry's head he noticed that he was sitting on a comfortable couch with two bodies pressed against him. His memory kicked into gear and reminded him that he and the girls had asked the room for a different set-up this time. A large comfortable couch in front of a roaring fire that the trio had collapsed on without letting go of each other. The stress of the day had gotten to the girls and first Hermione then Luna fell asleep on his shoulder. He had been so comfortable that he had joined them in their afternoon nap. The feeling of their rhythmic breathing on his neck told him they hadn't woken up from Dobby's presence. After a quick internal debate that resulted in the conclusion that he wasn't going anywhere pinned as he was, Harry gently shook the girls.
"Come on, you two. Time to wake up. We need to go have dinner." Luna just scrunched her face up in a clear protest of being woken while Hermione snuggled down deeper in an effort to avoid wakefulness and burrowed her face further into Harry's neck sending shots of pleasure racing around his nerves. "Please? We can't just stay here all night."
"Why not?" came Luna's groggy voice. Looking over at her Harry saw her blinking sleepily up at him. "I was really very comfortable, Harry. You rather ruined that."
"Sorry, Luna. Dobby just told me that Charlie is looking for me. If he doesn't find me he'll tell McGonagall and we'll have a mess on our hands that we don't need." Luna grumbled something unintelligible but did get up from the couch and start stretching. Harry turned his attention back to his other shoulder.
"Hermione. You need to wake up. Come on, I know you can do it." A slight mewl was his only response and set his nerves tingling again. "Luna, any ideas?"
"I did hear something once," Luna said straightening up and placing one finger on her chin in a thoughtful pose. "I think if you can't get a girl to wake up you're supposed to kiss her." Harry's face flushed red as he thought about what Hermione might do if he kissed her awake.
"Luna! Something else!" Harry hissed in a strangled whisper. Luna just pouted at him.
"You haven't even tried my first suggestion yet." Harry was still completely red but decided to get Luna of his back by technically following her suggestion. Twisting his head, Harry pressed a kiss to Hermione's temple. He never noticed the sly smirk crossing Luna's face.
"Hmwah?" Crap. Luna's never going to let me live this down. "Hey, Sleepyhead. Time to get up." Hermione was blinking owlishly as she came back to full consciousness.
"Harry?"
"Yeah, it's me. Luna's here too and all three of us need to get down to dinner before someone orders a search party." Hermione sat up and started rubbing her eyes. She looked around the room and suddenly seemed to sharpen to full awareness.
"How long have we been here?" she asked sounding a little worried.
"I'm not sure of the exact amount of time, but I'd guess the entire afternoon." Harry also stood up and noticed that his body was one big knot from the way he had been sleeping. Hermione just nodded and finally the three were ready to go.
When they walked into the Great Hall they saw several heads at the head table snap up to look at them. Charlie was there, looking relieved, and started heading over to them as soon as he saw them. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall simply nodded at the students before returning to what looked like a heated argument happening behind a Silencing Charm. Snape and Dumbledore were clearly agitated and letting the other three senior staff members know it.
"Hey, you three. I'm happy to see you. It's getting a little uncomfortable up there. Mind if I join you for dinner and some business?" Taking one look at the argument at the head table would be enough to convince anyone to cut the dragon handler a break.
"No problem, Charlie. What are they arguing about anyway?" A grin slowly started to spread on Charlie's face.
"You didn't hear this from me, but Snape and Dumbledore apparently would really have liked to see the Chamber and the basilisk. Snape was screaming at me about letting amateurs collect valuable potions ingredients. He thinks we should have donated the carcass to Hogwarts and let him take charge of it." Harry couldn't help but grin. Anything that got Snape's humungous beak out of joint was a good thing to the last of the Potters. He may have been sort of helping them during the hunt, but the man was an unmitigated arsehole whose obsession with Lilly Potter creeped her son out enormously.
"I'm not saying that I would have been happy to take Snape along, but I don't think I could have objected if either of them had signed on. " Harry said as the group sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Ginny and the twins. Charlie's mirth was almost a tangible thing now.
"From what I gathered from the screaming Dumbledore was out of the castle because he had to attend a ministry inquiry about why you had to save Hogwarts from a runaway dragon. He's one of the organizers of the tournament and the one ultimately responsible for the safety of the students. His main problem seems be with Rita Skeeter's presence there today. I think he may be in for another inquiry very soon. Snape was on rotation to supervise the castle and be the contact for the prefects and Head Students. He had to stay up here all day and didn't even know anything about us going into the chamber. I think I just told you what his biggest problem with today's outing is." The Weasleys and the trio were already snickering and just one step from outright laughter. "You have to tell me: did you know this when you planned it?"
"Not at all. I just told you the time and date McGonagall gave me." Harry managed before he collapsed in laughter along with the others. The mirth at the Gryffindor table went largely unnoticed by the staff but certainly washed away the last of the tension felt by those who had had their first encounter with the basilisk that morning. Once Harry had regained some control he asked Charlie "Was that the business you wanted to discuss or was there something else?"
"Ah, well, I wanted to tell you we sold the dragon parts like we discussed. We held back several litres of blood for you and enough hide to make four suits. I…Fred and George told me what happened with Ron. I can't tell you how sorry I am. We could still sell the hide that was earmarked for the fourth suit if you like." At Charlie's mention of the youngest Weasley brother all four red-heads frowned briefly and Harry's face twisted into an expression of grief. Hermione and Luna looked angry more than sad.
"No. Let's leave it as is. You never know and we may need that fourth suit or a spare sometime." Harry took a steadying breath. "I suppose you also wanted to talk about the basilisk?" At Charlie's nod, Harry continued. I'd like a good bit of the venom. With all the things that seem to want to kill me around here I can think of several uses for it. Is the hide useful for anything?" Charlie snorted.
"Basilisk hide is absolutely wonderful for covering the walls of a duelling arena. With how much there is I can guarantee you a bidding war between various national duelling federations so they can boast about having an entire room lined with the stuff. It's far too heavy for armour. We had to cut the stone the hide was lying on out of the floor and levitate that to move it. The viscera and heartstrings will be in demand from the same sort of people who bought them from the dragon. The goblins put in an offer on the meat which is probably as good as we can get and I honestly don't know about the fangs but I imagine there are several collectors who would want them, as well as possibly potions researchers." Harry nodded in understanding.
"That's fine. Just keep back some of the venom then. Did you find someone I can talk to about making armour out of the dragon hide?" Charlie handed him a slip of parchment with an address and a name in response. "Thanks. Any more business?" When Charlie answered in the negative Harry declared that they had been serious enough for today. Fred and George heard their cue and started telling their brother about recent happenings at Hogwarts that had them all in stitches, even if the likelihood that the twins were telling the truth was almost non-existent.
After dinner Harry, Hermione and Luna said goodbye to Charlie and headed back up to the Room to do their homework and, in Harry's case, several additional assignments on Runes and Arithmancy. Just before curfew they left to go back to their respective towers, happy they were already on the seventh floor after a long day. In the Gryffindor common room Harry wished Hermione goodnight and started up the stairs to the boys dorms.
On the first landing two shadows separated themselves from the gloom at his approach. He had his wand out and a Stunner on his lips before he recognized two very serious-looking Weasley twins.
"Harry. We don't have the words to thank you after we saw what you saved Ginny from." George started.
"Whatever you need, whenever you need it, it's yours." Fred continued. "We owe you our little sister's life and will repay you with our own if that's what it takes."
"We've got your back, little brother." George finished up for his twin as Harry felt incredibly touched.
"Thanks, guys. That…that means a lot." Harry croaked out past the lump in his throat. The twins nodded and clapped him on the back before heading up and out of sight towards their dormitory.
:-:-:-:-:
When the paper came out the next day Harry was once again the main topic of conversation at Hogwarts. The pictures of the basilisk and the harrowing tale that accompanied them were enough to turn your blood cold on any given day. Coming just a week after Harry's defeat of the Horntail it cemented him as the favourite to win the tournament in the minds of many of the students. Many of the girls who already had autographs from Krum and Cedric came up to Harry begging for his. The reluctant champion himself was confused. These girls had attended school with him for years, surely they knew he didn't give autographs? Hermione mostly saw the funny side and teased her best friend repeatedly with Luna getting in on the act once she realized that, while Harry honestly despised his fame, the worst he would do to friends who teased him about it was huff at or tickle them.
Rita had sent him another copy of the paper with a slightly less snarky note. Harry had as little interest in this one as he had the last and once again gave it to Hermione for her scrapbook when she asked him for it.
Over the course of the next week Harry received multiple offers for dates to the Yule Ball and turned them all down, happily telling the girls that he already had a date. The first time he did this in front of Ron the red-head snapped the quill he had been putting in his bag before storming away. Hermione hadn't mentioned being asked by anyone else yet and Harry hoped that this meant that Krum wouldn't try. He was not at all convinced that she would turn the Bulgarian down after the fantastic night she had had with him last time.
The two friends attended Professor McGonagall's dance instruction religiously and worked hard to make sure they would know what to do at the ball. News that the dance would have formal dress but no mandatory formal dancing, except for the champions, meant that only four people showed up at all: Harry, Hermione, Cedric and Cho. On Friday Hermione had mentioned that the Yule Ball was shaping up to be a wonderful night and she was just sad that there was no way for her parents to see her attend her first dance with her first date. The look Harry got in his eyes was one she was starting to associate with Harry getting ready to turn something on its head. She decided she didn't want to know what he was planning now and that she would find out eventually. Eventually turned out to be that very next day when Professor McGonagall announced that couples would have the opportunity to get their photo taken at the ball by Hogwarts very own in-house photographer: Colin Creevey. Harry's utterly unsurprised look and self-satisfied smirk as well as Colin's teary-eyed look at his hero pointed her exactly in the direction of the culprit.
"You got Colin into the dance to take photo's? You realize he'll be even more enamoured with you now, right? She teased her friend. She was surprised when he just shrugged and his smirk turned into more of a smile.
"It'll be worth it if you get to send your parents a photo of you at your first ball." Hermione couldn't help herself, she threw her arms around the very best friend any girl had ever had with enough force to knock them both off the bench they were sitting on and she was not crying, she wasn't.
"Thank you, Harry." she whispered as she felt his arms come around her shoulders.
"Just when I think you can sink no lower, Scarhead. You seriously asked that disgusting creature to the ball?" Harry looked up from the floor to see that Draco Malfoy had made his way over from the Slytherin table, flanked by his henchmen.
"You know, Draco, insulting Hermione isn't going to get me to suddenly invite you to the ball. I wouldn't be able to stand the smell of all that hair-product anyway." The Malfoy heir had not counted on anything but some blustering about Granger being attractive which he would then use to show that Potter was an idiot with no taste. His surprise at the direction this conversation was taking, was being taken by the rest of the school to mean something else though. It didn't take Draco long to realize what the whispers were about.
"I am not some poofter, Potter!" he screamed. Harry just raised an eyebrow.
"So you came over here with two boys who follow you around everywhere to insult my date who was hugging me because you're not gay?" Students were beginning to laugh as they listened in. "It's okay, Draco. I won't judge you on your sexual orientation. I'll judge you on being bigoted, little ferret and an utterly crap wizard."
"Damn it, Potter, I am not interested in you!" Draco was getting red in the face with rage and embarrassment. The whispers were going to take ages to shut up and he knew it would affect his standing in Slytherin, especially after that incident with the badges.
"Actions speak louder than words, Draco, and everyone at Hogwarts has had three and a half years to watch you approach me over and over again. You want us to believe that you don't care about me? Then stay the hell away from me." Potter's voice had gone cold and threatening and for once Draco took the advice he was given and got out of there at what he hoped was a dignified speed.
After that the gossip mill worked overtime to tell everyone what they claimed to already know: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were going to be attending the Yule Ball together. Neither Harry or Hermione ever really paid any attention to the rumors that raced around the ancient castle and this one wouldn't have interested them anymore than the others except that it caused Harry's Yule Ball invitations to slow to a trickle as the girls of Hogwarts mostly chose to respect the fact that he was spoken for. There were always going to be a few who thought they were in with a chance, but those persistent few came away disappointed.
:-:-:-:-:
On one of Padfoot's scavenging missions into Hogsmeade he noticed a distinct lack of newspapers in the bins he was rummaging through. Remembering what that had meant the last time he once again slunk towards the newsagents for further reconnaissance. Sure enough there was once again a throng of people clamoring for copies of the Daily Prophet. This had his godson's name written all over it, probably literally too. This time Padfoot snuck up to the large stack of papers Norton was selling from and nicked one just as the old man was busy with one of his customers. This time more than shouts followed him as he fled the scene of the crime and though he managed to dodge the proprietor's hexes and make good his escape, he worried about the next time his godson did something ridiculous enough to make the papers. Harry didn't seem inclined to tell his godfather these sorts of things so he needed those papers, couldn't the old bastard understand that?
Settling down in the cave, he cleaned off his loot once again. Padfoot's reaction contained a lot more invective than last time. Buckbeak looked up, startled at the sudden noise, to see his usually human companion staring white-faced at a piece of parchment. When the human started flipping through the thing and continued making those odd noises Buckbeak settled down and ignored it. Humans were strange creatures on a good day and an intelligent Hippogriff didn't bother with them if it didn't have to.
Sirius on the other hand was starting to seriously consider if howler supplies might not be worth the risk. What the hell was going on at Hogwarts these days? He was going to be having a very serious talk with Harry next time they met. If this was only coming out now, Sirius shuddered to think what else his little godson had seen. He would have to be careful how he approached it though. The boy seemed bound and determined to make the legendary Marauders look like a bunch of average schoolboys and appearing jealous would not help an old prankster in getting the juicy details. He was still deep in thought when an elf wearing dungarees and a beret popped in.
"Is you being Master Harry's dogfather?" The elf asked him looking him up and down suspiciously. Thoroughly taken aback, Sirius could only nod. "Dobby has a letter for you from Master Harry. You be calling Dobby when you be wishing to send a reply. Master Harry said this would be safer than using owls." Well, hot damn. Maybe Sirius would be getting answers from his godson sooner rather than later.
"That's great, Dobby. Can you get me some writing supplies?" The little elf snapped his fingers and a quill and parchment appeared in front of the old marauder. "Excellent! So how did Harry get an elf anyway?" Dobby's face lit up as he launched into what he considered the greatest story ever told about the greatest wizard who ever lived. Sirius thought that tricking Lucius Malfoy out of a house elf was a marvelous prank. By the time Dobby left he had become quite friendly towards the Marauder who clearly held a deep fondness for Master Harry.
It took Sirius quite some time to get started on reading the letter Harry had sent him and even more to actually write the reply, including a request for Harry to have Dobby buy periodicals and food and deliver them to a cave near Hogsmeade, but he had rarely enjoyed a conversation with an elf more.