The sun took ages to come up…It took so long that for a moment Harry was sure that the night was never going to end, and he'd be trapped in the darkness forever. But it did end, and Harry was grateful for that. He was laying on the bed with his legs dangling off the edge, staring blankly at the ceiling when the tapping on the window forced him to his feet.

A rush of relief surged through his body when he realized that it was Hedwig. He opened the latch hurriedly and untied the letter from her leg with trembling fingers. Taking a deep breath, he ripped open the envelope and took a moment to just stare at the folded piece of parchment. Hoping against hope that the words written on it were in his favour.

His knees felt ready to give way, so he stumbled to the edge of the bed and dropped down on it as he unfolded the piece of parchment and started reading the letter,

Harry,

I cannot guarantee that your Godfather shall go free any time soon, but I can ensure that he gets a fair trial and is sent to Azkaban instead of being subjected to the Dementor's kiss. In due time, when I decide to free my death eaters from Azkaban, your Godfather shall be freed along with them. Rest assured, your Godfather shall not be harmed. All I require from you is your trust and cooperation.

There is something that I require you to do for me. When you go to your Godfather's trial, you must go down to the Department of Mysteries and retrieve something for me. Lucius shall meet you before the trial and he will inform you of the details. I hope that you will not disappoint me.

P.S. This letter shall burn within ten minutes of being opened. Don't burn your pretty fingers. That would be such a waste.

Just as soon as Harry was done reading the last part, a small spark lit up the corner of the letter and Harry dropped it to the floor and watched it burn. Somehow, he felt like Tom's words had suddenly silenced all his doubts and fears regarding Sirius.

But the fact that Tom hadn't bothered to give him an explanation for just leaving him back at the Dursley's so abruptly upset him. Tom should have said something… It felt like that gaping wound inside his chest opened up again and Harry drew in a deep breath as he struggled to bear the ache.

Tom didn't owe him anything… In fact, it was the other way around. He was the one that was indebted to him and he would have to retrieve whatever Tom wanted him to retrieve from the Department of Mysteries. But the thought of meeting Lucius twisted his guts and nauseated him. Well, he'd just have to stand it for Tom.

Rising to his feet, he walked out of the room and went downstairs. He found the twins, Ron and Ginny in the small kitchen and they all looked up when he stepped in. Harry couldn't stand the accusatory glares that were cast his way by Ron and Ginny and walked back out towards the garden. It didn't take long for the twins to catch up with him and Harry heard them speak,

"How are you?"

Harry closed his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest,

"I'm fine…"

It was Fred that spoke,

"We found out where they're keeping Sirius…"

Harry shook his head silently,

"There's no need for that anymore."

The twins spoke up together,

"What?"

Harry opened his eyes and sighed,

"Sirius is going to be fine now."

The twins came to stand in front of him and inquired suspiciously,

"How can you be so sure of that? Did Dumbledore send you a letter?"

Harry focused his gaze on his feet and spoke,

"No… Dumbledore didn't say anything."

The twins grabbed him by both his shoulders,

"Then how are you so confident?"

Harry focused on a weed growing an inch away from his shoe and spoke,

"I just know…"

He wished the twins would just let the matter go. He wasn't in any mood to talk about this but there was something he could distract them with,

"What's the Department of Mysteries?"

The twins looked at him like he'd grown an extra ear,

"How did you hear about that?"

Harry cursed the twins' inquisitiveness and spoke,

"Just read about it somewhere… Tell me what it is…"

The twins crossed their arms over their chests as George spoke,

"Not until you tell us where you heard about it."

Harry let out a frustrated sigh before throwing his hands up,

"You guys are hopeless; I'll find out about it from someone else."

He was about to walk away when the twins spoke together,

"Wait."

Harry stopped and turned around,

"Are you going to tell me then?"

The twins nodded,

"We will but before that, you need to promise us that you won't let yourself get hurt by whatever you've gotten yourself involved in…"

Harry raised an eyebrow,

"What makes you think I'm involved in something?"

The twins smiled sadly,

"You're a good liar but you're not a great liar… Sometimes it just shows in your eyes."

Harry grinned,

"Are you saying that I need to work on my acting skills?"

The twins smirked,

"Something like that…Anyways, the Department of Mysteries is a section of the Ministry of Magic that carries out confidential research. Wizards who worked in the Department of Mysteries are known as Unspeakables because of the confidential nature of their work."

Harry felt his curiosity growing out of proportions as he wondered what Tom wanted from a Department like that,

"So, what kind of research do they do?"

The twins shrugged,

"We don't know…It's supposed to be top secret."

Harry pushed his hands into his pockets as he thought about the task Tom had just assigned him. After what he'd just heard about the Department, he could tell that it wasn't going to be a piece of cake.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a flustered looking Ginny rushing towards them. It was the twins that asked her,

"What is it, Ginny?"

Ginny turned her gaze towards him and spoke,

"He wants to meet you, Harry."