Hello! I hope you like the new chapter. It's settled on the day before the last day of holidays. Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed and reviewed! I really appreciate it.

Spacecowboy2011: Yes, I know the update schedule sucks! I'm sorry, I'm too much of a perfectionist which makes me a very slow writer. And yes, I don't really know anything about psychiatry, I'm just making it up as I go along. I'm glad you like my story despite those things!Jslee102: I know, it's not extremely realistic that Harry's so mature after 2 months, but really, I couldn't make his therapy last years and just then he would start to make changes, because then the story would be less interesting, so I sped up his maturity process. And yes, I will touch on Harry's long distance relationship, the fact that they decided to keep their relationship going doesn't mean they will last forever or not have breaks. The pairing I decided on will remain secret! :) It might be Anto or it might be someone else.

TheMunnin: Yes, thank you, that's right, Harry didn't want to go to therapy, so that's why he gradually started opening up, instead of telling Carmen all his issues the first time. Still, as I just wrote to Jslee102, I feel that in real life one would take more time than Harry, but I needed to speed it up for the purposes of the story. Also, nice to see another Chilean here!

Guest: You are right, I just assumed that Augusta Longbottom was immediately made regent after Frank became incapacitated, which should have compelled her to be at Sirius' trial had there been one.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Harry Potter universe.

Chapter 19

Saturday, August 30, 1995

Harry woke up after a peaceful sleep and stretched, yawning, glancing around at his own space. There was something about waking up in his new airy bedroom that was incredibly calming. He stood up and went to run a shower, happily noting that this was the first time he had a private bathroom in his life. He would have never thought he'd be hesitating to think if he actually wanted to go back to Hogwarts.

He went to breakfast and greeted Sirius and Remus, accepting the nutrient potion from his godfather. He made a grimace at the taste, but it was not nearly the worst potion he had taken.

"Do I really have to take this for ninety days?" he grumbled.

"Yes, you do" Sirius told him, in no uncertain terms. Harry was grateful that Sirius cared about him enough to take him to a healer and help him with his finances, though he didn't see what the big issue was about him not being "as tall as he could be", whatever that meant. Still, if it made Sirius happy, it wasn't such a big sacrifice to take the potion. Harry was more worried, and quite disturbed, about the mysterious danger in his scar than he let on. He couldn't control it, so he was trying to not think about it, but he hoped Andromeda and her expert consult found whatever it was and fixed it soon.

Sirius had been a big help, and Harry was grateful, never having had an adult who actually bothered. The closest thing he'd experienced before was Mrs. Weasley welcoming him into their home, making sure he ate and knitting him family sweaters, or maybe Hagrid inviting him to tea and putting together that album from his parents, but neither of them had acted like Sirius. Somehow, giving him a permanent home, making sure he got medical attention and became aware of his wealth and status seemed to be caring on a deeper level, not that Harry knew much about the subject. Sirius and Harry had last night gone over the impossibly large book about his assets, Sirius summarizing it for him and pointing at the relevant parts, making Harry thus aware that he had several properties, and that the vaults not only contained money, but also family jewels and prized possessions of his ancestors. His godfather had promised to go with him once he turned seventeen to inspect Harry's vaults and properties, and Harry was eager to see the remnants of his family, which seemed more interesting than the money ever could.

"Harry, I need to tell you about something" Sirius told him in an undertone once Remus had left.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"I need you to be careful about letting Dumbledore make decisions for you. I'm not convinced he has your best interests at heart." Sirius replied somberly.

"Why?" Harry asked, surprised. Of course, he had already decided to be more independent, and not let other people decide for him every detail of his life, so he had no problem with Sirius' request. But he was surprised to hear his godfather talk that way about Dumbledore.

"It's highly irregular that he didn't give you your heir ring when you started Hogwarts, and that he didn't take you at all to the yearly medical check ups" Sirius answered.

"I thought he just forgot" Harry told him "though I agree that he shouldn't be making decisions for me, you are my guardian now". Dumbledore seemed quite forgetful to Harry lately, not having been a great magical guardian, or at least seemed to overlook a lot of things, like the easy possibility of achieving Sirius' freedom. The teenager didn't think that the old wizard was infallible anymore, but he had never thought that Dumbledore did all those things on purpose.

"Dumbledore is insanely smart under his friendly face, Harry. It's highly unlikely that he would have forgotten things that are so important for your safety, but remembered to make sure to monitor you during the summers". Harry was shocked, though he guessed Sirius had a point. He'd seen Dumbledore at the end of last year, when Barty Crouch Jr. had led Harry to his office, and he'd seemed every bit the great wizard that people said he was. It did seem very strange that he was so concerned about Harry's safety in a lot of aspects while overlooking such a basic thing as taking him to the doctor.

"Are you saying he's actually on the other side of this war?" Harry asked, concerned. It was odd, knowing that Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever been afraid of.

"No, of course not" Sirius replied, snorting with surprise. "I just think that your safety and happiness are not his priority, or that he has a different idea about what you being safe means. The world is not divided into good people and death eaters, Harry. And good people can also be bad in different ways". Harry nodded, thinking carefully about that, not having thought about it in quite that way. Of course he knew people could be bad without being Death Eaters, his relatives were not death eaters, but they were certainly terrible people. And lockhart also fit the bill quite nicely. But he had never thought that good people could also be bad. Specially, he had never thought about Dumbledore as someone less than perfect before this summer, and as someone that could be a bad person in any way until today. But if he had neglected Harry in the ways that he had found out yesterday on purpose, which now seemed like a real possibility, Dumbledore certainly had his bad person aspects just like many others.

"So what should I do?" he asked Sirius uncertainly.

"Nothing drastic. Simply never meet him alone, insist that McGonagall is present, and don't let him make decisions about your life outside of school related issues. If he tries to convince you into something that you don't want, tell him you are going to talk it over with me, or simply that you don't agree and it's not his place. Don't let his disappointed eyes manipulate you". Harry agreed, thinking about how he had been working with Carmen in order to be better able to stand up for his friends. It looked like he would have to apply that with more people than he had thought.

"Ok, enough with the serious talk. Let's get going" Sirius grinned at him and Harry stood up, relieved, going to his bedroom and shrinking his tv and other things to take. He was eager to see Ron and Hermione again, and Sirius had agreed to show him around the order headquarters, which was apparently "disturbingly creepy". Sirius hadn't wanted, of course, to let Harry see the awful house of his parents, but Harry had insisted that he wouldn't think of Sirius any differently, and Sirius had known the teen would eventually see it anyway.

Sirius motioned for Harry to go first, and the teen promptly grabbed a pinch of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace as soon as the green flames appeared, subjecting himself to the uncomfortable twists and turns. He arrived in a living room, and immediately understood Sirius' description, as he had never seen a house as gloomier as this one. He wondered how the Weasleys had found the place, used to the cozy and cheery burrow. He had barely dusted the soot off his body when he was mauled into a hug my Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry, dear, how good to see you! My, you've grown, you look so handsome! Come have breakfast, you are much too thin!" she said in one breath, not letting Harry go. Harry was glad to see Mrs. Weasley, but he wished she didn't hug him quite so tightly. Having become used to Anto's soft hugs, Mrs. Weasleys' seemed overwhelming.

"I already had breakfast, thank you Mrs. Weasley. Where are Ron and Hermione?" he asked politely. Mrs. Weasley told him to go up an incredibly dirty staircase with houselves heads stuck to the wall, making Harry recoil. No wonder Sirius was ashamed of his family. Who in their right mind would think that was appropriate decoration?

"Harry! I'm so glad you're finally here!" Hermione squealed, and hugged him much like Mrs. Weasley, to his discomfort.

"Hi, nice to see you too Hermione" he said calmly, ignoring the awkwardness he felt and trying to hug her back.

Hermione was shocked. First of all, Harry had always acted completely awkward whenever she hugged him, so it was a nice surprise that he was now able to respond like a normal person. Also, he looked quite different. He looked quite tanned, for one, and he had square glasses that fit him much better than his old round ones. Hermione smiled, thinking that the summer had done Harry well. He had also bought new clothes, apparently, because what he was wearing looked new and it was his size, unlike the old outfits he used to wear.

"Come on, everyone is in Fred and George's room" Hermione told him, and tugged him by the arm to lead him without asking his opinion. Harry followed, slightly uncomfortably. He had become used to Hermione's bossy ways before, but now they seemed a little invading. He wondered if he should tell her, but he figured there would be time. There was no reason to start an argument after five minutes of meeting her.

"Hi, what are you up to?" Harry said grinning. Fred, George and Ginny were laughing as Ron held a rubber chicken, which Harry was fairly certain had been a wand an instant before. This made him grin inwardly. He had missed the Weasleys.

"Hi, mate! You're finally here!" Ron said enthusiastically. Fred, George and Ginny echoed his greetings, Fred and George with a lot of fanfare.

"You look different" Ron commented, confused. Harry thought he detected a hint of jealousy in his voice and the way the redhead eyed his new clothes. He was probably imagining things, though, having talked about Ron's jealousy about the tournament with Carmen the previous session.

"Yeah, it's the tan and the glasses. They fit much better than your old ones" Ginny told him smiling.

"Thank you. I can see a lot better too" he replied grinning cautiously. He wondered what had made Ginny able to speak normally with him, as opposed to the previous years, but it was an unexpected relief in any case. Her blushing and stammering had not been very comfortable, though there had been occasions when her real personality seemed to shine through. He hoped her current demeanor was a permanent change and not a one-time occurrence.

"Yes, you look so handsome, would you let me court you, Harry?" George exclaimed, fluttering his eyelashes exasperatedly. Ron snorted loudly, and everyone, including himself, dissolved into a fit of laughter. Harry was surprised. He had forgotten how fun the twins were, and he was surprised to remember that while they weren't as close to him as Ron and Hermione, they were a lot closer to Harry than most people at Hogwarts. He wasn't as alone as he had thought, and would definitely make an effort to get closer to them, the boy who lived decided.

"I'm flattered, George, but I already have a girlfriend" Harry replied, pretending to be sad. Everyone looked at him in shock, not having expected the shy teen to say such a thing.

"You're just taking the mickey, mate, aren't you?" Ron asked him unsurely. Harry now could definitely detect a hint of jealousy in the redhead's voice. He hoped he had the strength to stand up for himself if it ever became a problem, not having done that before. Still, he had to, for his own mental health. Carmen would tell him just having this internal discussion was a success, but he didn't want to do things halfway.

"No, I really do. Her name's Antonia, we met over the summer. She's great" Harry replied sincerely, consciously avoiding looking at Ginny by looking straight to Ron. If she was over her crush on him, she wouldn't care. If she wasn't, it was time that she became so. Still, he didn't want to make someone feel bad, but he had a right to tell his friends about his girlfriend. Luckily, though he couldn't see her face, Ginny wasn't making any noises to suggest she was heartbroken. In fact, no one was making any noises at all, instead looking at him in shock.

"Well, that's great Harry, congratulations!" Hermione beamed after a second of uncomfortable silence. The tension suddenly broke, and Harry answered questions about Anto that Hermione and the twins rapidly fired. Ron watched his friend while following the conversation, feeling his ears become red. How come Harry had snatched himself a girlfriend? He seemed different, and Ron had noticed the boy-who-lived had new clothes that definitely weren't second-hand, and it wasn't fair. Harry had even managed to go to the beach this summer, and partied with other people their age, which Ron had never done. Why couldn't he have a girlfriend, new things and do cool things too? Harry always seemed to easily get everything Ron wanted. He wondered if the girl was pretty.

"You spent the summer travelling around Spain? That's so lucky mate, we've been stuck cleaning this house all summer" Ron said, not caring to hide his envy.

"Really? Then why were your letters so mysterious?" Harry asked skeptically, slightly annoyed.

"It's true. They keep us away from all the Order business, we don't really know anything and mum seems to think cleaning an uncleanable house is a nice way to keep us occupied" Ginny said, in a frustrated tone.

"Please, you've snuck out plenty of times" Fred snorted.

"Once every six days is hardly plenty of times. And so would you if you weren't so busy with your products" Ginny argued. Harry was surprised. He hadn't realized Ginny was the type of person to sneak out, though he reasoned he didn't really know anything about her. Ron had shifted his jealous expression to his sister, which made Harry wonder whether Ron's jealousy had somehow become a bigger problem over the summer, or if he had always thrown those looks at his siblings.

"Ginny, you did? That's so dangerous!" Hermione scolded. "You could have been hurt or…"

"Please, Hermione, it's not like I went walking around Diagon Alley, I'm not stupid" Ginny cut off Hermione's tirade rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I believe we were talking about Harry's letters".

"Harry, we're sorry we couldn't write you more useful things. Dumbledore made us promise not to put any information in writing, he said your mail would probably be intercepted and that could be dangerous" Hermione told Harry anxiously, instantly forgetting about Ginny's escapades. If he wasn't so annoyed at his best friends, he would have probably been impressed with the female redhead's efficient way of changing the subject.

"It's hardly dangerous to tell me you've been confined to cleaning all summer" Harry disagreed, annoyed, though he knew that wasn't what she meant. "But yeah, it's good that you didn't tell me anything about Voldemort, I wouldn't have wanted to worry when I couldn't do anything about it" Harry said offhandedly. "At first I was really angry, but now I'm just grateful that I had a peaceful summer. Ron and Hermione exchanged a look that clearly meant that he was not reacting at all like they had expected. Harry wondered what they had thought. Were they expecting he would yell at them or something?

"Well, we can tell you now, though we don't know very much" Hermione told him. "This is the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The Order is…"

"Hermione don't worry, Sirius already told me the basics" Harry cut her off. It didn't really seem like they knew much more than he did. He wondered if he should tell Ron and Hermione about the prophecy when the other Weasleys weren't around, and decided not to do it for now. Ron would just say prophecies were bonkers (which according to Sirius, wasn't too far off), and Hermione would get ridiculously worried and research for months. He had to think whether to tell them about the apparent danger of his scar, but that would have to wait until the three were alone in any case.

"He did? You know more than us, and you're not even staying here! How unfair" Ron complained.

"Well, I can hardly decide for your parents what they decide to tell you" Harry pointed out, refraining from rolling his eyes. "It's not like Sirius told me much either, just enough so I wouldn't be tempted to go looking for trouble." Ron looked mollified, but Hermione looked at him suspiciously. Harry was really acting a lot different than the last time he had seen him, she decided. He should have been dying for information. She thought, uneasy, that Sirius might have told him too much, and that's why he wasn't curious. She thought Sirius was quite impulsive and moody sometimes, having lived with him for all of july, and she couldn't help but agree with Mrs. Weasley's assessment that he was probably not the best as Harry's caretaker. Still, Harry would probably get angry if she told him so, so she decided not to breach the subject for now. She wondered how her friend was doing, with Cedric's death, as he seemed to have felt needlessly guilty at the end of last year. He seemed okay, but he had probably not come to terms with it yet, and would explode at some point. Hermione hoped Harry decided to be mature and talk to someone about his feelings, but he had never opened up to them fully, and that meant he probably didn't open up to anyone, which was definitely harmful.

"So, what other products have you invented?" Harry asked Fred and George curiously. Fred and George launched into a dynamic explanation (and demonstrations) of their new products proudly, and Harry let himself relax in the company of his friends, who seemed to have had fun with the creations despite their claims of not doing anything but cleaning. Harry suspected the extendable ears were the item they had used the most. He had to say he admired Fred and George's dedication and talent, and he was glad he had given them his triwizard winnings.

"Hey Harry, you ready for your tour?" Sirius popped his head in. Harry agreed, and Hermione and the Weasleys decided to trail behind. Apparently, Fred and George still saw Sirius as some kind of idol for having created the Marauders' Map. Sirius showed them around the house keeping a funny, sarcastic commentary that rivalled Fred and George's, about his blasted family tree (Harry was surprised to note people had been thrown out of the Black family for the most ridiculous of sins), the houselves heads on the walls (was it seriously an honor to end up like that? The Black houselves must be as crazy as their owners), and the snakes in every doorknob (seriously, there are other animals in the world, commented Sirius). Harry was shocked at the Weasleys' stories about cleaning the place. Apparently, earlier this summer they had been attacked by doxies, almost lulled to eternal sleep by a music box, and ron had been nearly strangled to death by some weird robes. Harry couldn't say he envied them, their summer had obviously been less dull and less safe than they made it sound. Honestly, he was surprised Mrs. Weasley had made them clean this place, specially after the first mishap. Hadn't she realized that his friends had been put in danger by cleaning without supervision? Sirius had specifically told him not to touch anything in the house, as he had hired Bill to take out and break the curses on all the objects that had dark magic, but he hadn't finished the task yet due to the sheer amount of them.

"I brought something that I think you might like" Harry told the rest after they'd finished the tour and settled in Fred and George's room. He promptly enlarged his TV, games and console, to everyone's astonished looks.

"Merlin's pants, you have the Donkey Kong game! How did you manage to make it work with magic?" Ginny shrieked excitedly. "Can I go first?"

"Sure, I'll play with you, that way everyone else can learn" Harry replied, shocked, but excited that someone else knew how to play. Ginny didn't seem to care about her first question, busying herself with setting up the console and game (correctly, to Harry's surprise).

"How do you know about that game thing?" Ron demanded.

"It's a muggle thing, I've played it at Colin's a million times" replied Ginny distractedly, fumbling with the controls. Harry once again was surprised, and wondered if some of Ginny's sneaking feats were to Colin Creevey's house. He hadn't even known Ginny and Colin were friends, having never noticed what any of them did aside from idolizing Harry. It surprised him how oblivious he had been, as he had always thought himself quite observant, but over the summer he had also realized he didn't know much about his own roommates beside Ron, so this was definitely a pattern. Was he really so focused in Ron and Hermione that he didn't know anything about anyone else? He definitely needed to make more friends, or at least be more open to the idea and pay attention to people. He vaguely recalled Ginny being sometimes absent during the summers, but he had never given any thought to what she was doing, or even considered that she might not be at the burrow.

He wondered if Ginny should be one of the people he should try to get closer to, now that she wasn't mute in his presence, and tried to recall the few times he had interacted with the redhead normally. He'd liked her personality those few times, specially when she'd attempted to defend him from Malfoy in Lockhart's book signing. She had also believed Harry about the Goblet, he recalled the twins saying she gave Ron an earful about it when he was being a prat, which was more than could be said about most of the Hogwarts population. She was also probably quite a good friend, he reflected, seeing as she had refused to go with Harry to the Yule Ball, even though she had a crush on him, in order to uphold her promise to Neville. He wondered if Neville and Ginny were friends, but he had never noticed. Neville was also someone he should try to get to know, what with them being roommates and having the fact that their parents were not available in common.

The twins did not seem to share Ron's annoyance at Ginny, and enthusiastically asked Harry questions about the game and how to play. Harry showed them how to move and what the different buttons in the control were used for while he tried to concentrate on the game with mixed results.

"This is wicked!" Fred exclaimed. "So how does it work with magic?"

"Instead of electricity they use charms and runes, but I don't know the specifics" Harry told them, trying to make Donkey Kong jump back into the cart.

"It has many ideas we could copy for our products" George said happily. After Harry and Ginny lost, Fred and George played, which they did abysmally but enthusiastically.

"You go with Ron, Harry, this is not really my thing" Hermione told him. Harry wasn't too surprised, and complied, showing Ron how to play.

"This is fun! You should take it to Hogwarts mate! I wish I had one" Ron told him after playing for a few minutes. Harry replied negatively, having already thought about the situation. He would love to play at Hogwarts, but he had always been up to his neck in his homework, so who could say that this year would be any different? Specially now, that he had decided to apply himself and would have two new classes, it would be better not to have an extra temptation lying around. Of course, if for some reason Harry found that he had a great amount of extra time, he would consider it for next term, but that was highly unlikely. Plus, he had already promised Sirius and Remus that they could play while he was gone.

They played until lunchtime, and then went downstairs, Harry enjoying Mrs. Weasley's delicious cooking. The order meeting was right after, and some members had arrived early, making the meal a boisterous affair. Mr. Weasley and Ron's brother Bill were there and greeted Harry warmly, and Sirius introduced him to a witch with bright pink hair who went by Tonks, and who was apparently Andromeda's daughter. Moody and Remus were talking to two aurors, who thankfully introduced themselves to Harry as Hestia Jones and Kingsley Shacklebolt without uncomfortable stares at his scar.

"All right, today will be the attic" Mrs. Weasley said after lunch, and the Weasleys groaned, even Hermione grimacing. Harry wondered what was this all about, though promptly realized that Mrs. Weasley was leading them away from the meeting, and that probably didn't sit well with his friends. He followed everyone into the dusty attic, and resisted the urge to sneeze. Why was she leading them so far away from the meeting, and in such a dreary room? They could have just hung out in one of the bedrooms while it took place.

"Okay, Ginny, dusting. Ron, mopping. Fred and George, charm these cobwebs away before helping your siblings. Hermione and Harry, please sort through the boxes" Mrs. Weasley instructed to Harry's astonishment, and he finally remembered that the children were made to clean the house while the order meetings took place. Harry watched as the Weasley siblings groaned, but grabbed the supplies their mother was giving them, while Hermione nodded politely, though unenthusiastically. He supposed they were used to this, and had been doing all summer. But he was not about to spend one of the last days of summer cleaning some random house, and honestly he was offended that Mrs. Weasley would just assume he would do it, specially after Sirius had specifically told him not to touch anything.

"I won't be cleaning Mrs. Weasley, but don't worry, I'll find something else to do and not listen in on the meeting" he said politely. Everyone looked at him, shocked, pausing what they were doing.

"Excuse me, Harry dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked him blankly. Harry felt a pang of annoyance. Was she really so surprised that someone would not want to clean this awful place?

"I said I'm not cleaning" he told her. "I have no reason to spend my summer cleaning a house where I don't live, and Sirius told me specifically not to touch anything. Some of these items could be dangerous." The Weasley siblings and Hermione looked at him as if he had grown a second head, but that didn't keep Harry from noticing Mrs. Weasley frowning at Sirius' name. He didn't know the reason for this, or of is was completely coincidental, but it didn't sit well with him.

"Hear, hear!" the twins chorused enthusiastically, getting over their initial shock, though obviously not realizing Harry was completely serious. Hermione was still looking at him, speechless, unable to understand why he would stand up to Mrs. Weasley.

"Well, if Harry's not cleaning neither am I"Ron said defiantly.

"And I'm not cleaning if Ron isn't" Ginny said firmly.

"You four are cleaning" Mrs. Weasley said in a tone that booked no argument. "Harry, I'm sure Sirius didn't mean for cleaning purposes" she told him sweetly, but a little condescendingly. "Of course nothing dangerous will happen".

"I disagree" Harry said, still politely, though now he was having trouble controlling himself. How could she be so oblivious? "Ron was strangled by cursed robes, and they were attacked by doxies. That doesn't sound very safe to me, and I'm not going to put myself in danger to clean an attic" he told her firmly, looking straight at her eyes. "I'm actually shocked that you would leave teenagers to deal with possibly cursed items without supervision".

"We are of age" Fred said indignantly, at Harry's suggestion that they needed to be supervised.

"But you are not experts in dark magic or curse breaking. Were you able to save Ron from those robes?" Harry asked pointedly. George replied negatively, seeming more worried than Fred.

"You can't hear what's happening in the attic from the kitchen, what if someone's cursed and the adults don't make it in time? How would you explain to Hermione's parents that you supposedly brought her here for safety but she died by touching a cursed item, Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked the Weasley matriarch. Hermione looked uncomfortable at having been brought into the conversation, though she did look worried. She had never thought about the possibility of being seriously damaged while cleaning before.

"Harry, no one is going to die. And it's very disrespectful to question the chores I give my children" Mrs. Weasley admonished him, still apparently in shock that Harry had openly disagreed with her. "And I can't make you clean, though I will be talking to Sirius about giving you some chores. The rest of you, get going" she said sharply to her children, and received groans in return. Harry was offended at the suggestion that Sirius was not a good guardian. He had done more for Harry than Mrs. Weasley ever had.

"It's also disrespectful to question the chores Sirius gives me," he told Mrs. Weasley defiantly, "he's my guardian, not you". Mrs. Weasley looked like she wanted to shout at Harry, and the teen realized he was being a little overly confrontational, but he didn't really care at the moment. Why would she think she knew better than Sirius, who owned this house? There was a reason why he had asked Bill to remove all the items with dark magic. And why did she think she had a right to order Harry around? He was proud to have Sirius as his guardian.

"Maybe we should ask Bill if he's cleared this room before cleaning" Hermione suggested worriedly, but politely. Harry didn't know if her worry was about diffusing the tension between himself and Mrs. Weasley, or about possibly being cursed. "That way we can be sure that nothing will happen".

"Great idea Hermione. I'll go!" said Fred and vanished from the room without waiting for an answer, apparating ten seconds later with Bill in tow.

"I actually haven't checked this room yet, good thinking Harry" Bill said calmly. "You shouldn't be cleaning by yourselves, some things in this house are the darkest I've ever seen". Mrs. Weasley looked as though she was going to explode, and promptly told them not to go anywhere near the meeting before leaving the kids alone, looking silently at each other. Harry was shocked. Had really no one realized the danger until he pointed it out?

"Mate, that was brilliant!" Ron told him. "Let's get out of here. Ginny and the twins congratulated him enthusiastically, seeming to think he had achieved some great feat, instead of simply pointing out that the task was dangerous.

"That was terribly rude, Harry, you shouldn't talk to Mrs. Weasley like that. Though you did have a point" Hermione told him worriedly, seeming to be the only one in the room besides Harry aware that they could have actually been hurt. Harry shrugged, not feeling like explaining his need to defend Sirius, and how close he felt to his godfather after so few meetings. He wondered why Hermione had obeyed and cleaned all summer, seeing as she wasn't Mrs. Weasley's child, but he figured his bookish friend was too polite to refuse.

"I didn't do it to antagonize anyone, I just thought it was dangerous"he said.

"Yeah, yeah, it doesn't matter, you got us out of cleaning! Let's go play on your game thingy again!" said Ron.

"Maybe we could watch the TV instead" said Hermione, and Ginny agreed enthusiastically.

"What's that? I think I've heard of it." Ron asked. Hermione gave him a lecture on the TV on the way back to the room, which Ron half-ignored. Harry smiled, in spite of himself. It didn't feel the same as he used to feel, but it was good to be home.

I hope you liked it!

I know some of you might be upset that Ginny's good in this story, but that's how it will be. As I've mentioned before, I like Ginny as a character. That said, this story is NOT Harry/Ginny. I have already decided on a pairing, but I'm not going to tell you! :) It could be Anto or it could be someone else.

I get that a lot of people don't like that she was Harry s love interest, but I'm not going to paint a character as something completely out of cannon (gold digger?thief? love potions? She doesn't mention money or use love potions in the entire series!) Most of the things mentioned in canon about her are good (except for her being ridiculously after Harry at 11, which I think anyone would be at that age after meeting the prince charming that you've been reading story books about for your entire life, in person), so her character will use the things that JK Rowling actually wrote, because I like being realistic.