Harry Potter 05 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

he had wanted before Sirius’s death felt that way these days … the week that had elapsed since he had last seen Sirius seemed to have lasted much, much longer; it stretched across two universes, the one with Sirius in it, and the one without.
    ‘You’re well out of it, mate,’ said Ron forcefully. ‘I mean, she’s quite good-looking and all that, but you want someone a bit more cheerful.’
    ‘She’s probably cheerful enough with someone else,’ said Harry, shrugging.
    ‘Who’s she with now, anyway?’ Ron asked Hermione, but it was Ginny who answered.
    ‘Michael Corner,’ she said.
    ‘Michael – but –’ said Ron, craning around in his seat to stare at her. ‘But you were going out with him!’
    ‘Not any more,’ said Ginny resolutely. ‘He didn’t like Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw at Quidditch, and got really sulky, so I ditched him and he ran off to comfort Cho instead.’ She scratched her nose absently with the end of her quill, turned The Quibbler upsidedown and began marking her answers. Ron looked highly delighted.
    ‘Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot,’ he said, prodding his queen forwards towards Harry’s quivering castle. ‘Good for you. Just choose someone – better – next time.’
    He cast Harry an oddly furtive look as he said it.
    ‘Well, I’ve chosen Dean Thomas, would you say he’s better?’ asked Ginny vaguely.
    ‘WHAT?’ shouted Ron, upending the chessboard: Crookshanks went plunging after the pieces and Hedwig and Pigwidgeon twittered and hooted angrily from overhead.
    As the train slowed down in the approach to King’s Cross, Harry thought he had never wanted to leave it less. He even wondered fleetingly what would happen if he simply refused to get off, but remained stubbornly sitting there until the first of September, when it would take him back to Hogwarts. When it finally puffed to a standstill, however, he lifted down Hedwig’s cage and prepared to drag his trunk from the train as usual.
    When the ticket inspector signalled to Harry, Ron and Hermione that it was safe to walk through the magical barrier between platforms nine and ten, however, he found a surprise awaiting him on the other side: a group of people standing there to greet him who he had not expected at all.
    There was Mad-Eye Moody, looking quite as sinister with his bowler hat pulled low over his magical eye as he would have done without it, his gnarled hands clutching a long staff, his body wrapped in a voluminous travelling cloak. Tonks stood just behind him, her bright bubble-gum-pink hair gleaming in the sunlight filtering through the dirty glass of the station ceiling, wearing heavily patched jeans and a bright purple T-shirt bearing the legend The Weird Sisters . Next to Tonks was Lupin, his face pale, his hair greying, a long and threadbare overcoat covering a shabby jumper and trousers. At the front of the group stood Mr and Mrs Weasley, dressed in their Muggle best, and Fred and George, who were both wearing brand-new jackets in some lurid green, scaly material.
    ‘Ron, Ginny!’ called Mrs Weasley, hurrying forwards and hugging her children tightly. ‘Oh, and Harry dear – how are you?’
    ‘Fine,’ lied Harry, as she pulled him into a tight embrace. Over her shoulder he saw Ron goggling at the twins’ new clothes.
    ‘What are they supposed to be?’ he asked, pointing at the jackets.
    ‘Finest dragonskin, little bro’,’ said Fred, giving his zip a little tweak. ‘Business is booming and we thought we’d treat ourselves.’
    ‘Hello, Harry,’ said Lupin, as Mrs Weasley let go of Harry and turned to greet Hermione.
    ‘Hi,’ said Harry. ‘I didn’t expect … what are you all doing here?’
    ‘Well,’ said Lupin with a slight smile, ‘we thought we might have a little chat with your aunt and uncle before letting them take you home.’
    ‘I dunno if that’s a good idea,’ said Harry at once.
    ‘Oh, I think it is,’ growled Moody, who had limped a little closer. ‘That’ll be them, will it, Potter?’
    He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder; his magical eye was evidently peering through the back of his head and his bowler hat. Harry leaned an inch or so to the left to see where Mad-Eye was pointing and there, sure enough, were the three Dursleys, who looked positively appalled to see Harry’s reception committee.
    ‘Ah, Harry!’ said Mr Weasley, turning from Hermione’s parents, who he had just greeted enthusiastically, and who