Harry Potter stared out of his window into the dark sky. He was waiting for his owl, Hedwig, to return with his birthday presents. He looked at the glowing, full moon that shone above him. A shadow passed in front of it. Harry strained his eyes to see what it was. As the shape grew nearer he recognized his snowy owl. A rather large barn owl and a very tiny owl that was hovering lower that the others, sagging under the weight of a large parcel accompanied it. Harry cleared away from his window and let the birds fly in. They landed on his bed with a soft thump. Harry untied the parcel on the barn owl and it took off out of the window immediately. Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, gave a little shrill hoot of joy and also flew out of the window, after a brief drink out of Hedwig's water bowl.
Harry shut the window again and went over to his own owl and untied her parcel. She looked up with her beautiful eyes and nipped his ears affectionately. Harry stroked her head and carried her over to her cage. "It's good to have you back." He told her as he shut the cage door. He returned his attention to the presents. He sat down on the bed and ripped open the present he had received from Hermione. It was a book called Dragons of the Northern Hemisphere. A book was a typical present from Hermione; she was a bookworm. He looked at the picture on the front of the book. It had a photo of a Hungarian Horntail on it. Harry threw it into his trunk as if it had been on fire. In way he was disappointed in Hermione, she usually had a knack for buying the perfect presents. Just when he had been beginning to forget that awful tournament, that awful night, he was suddenly reminded of it. He did a mental shrug and concentrated on the remaining three presents. Ron's was also very disappointing, containing a single Chocolate Frog. Ron to, usually had very good presents. Sometimes a little on the strange side, but what could you expect, coming from the wizarding world? Hagrid's was a sweatshirt, handmade by Hagrid himself. It had scarlet and deep yellow stripes on it. Attached to the sweatshirt was a very thick envelope that Harry recognized at once as the Hogwarts School supplies list. He placed this on the bedside table and went on to the last present.
Sirius' present was very thin. Harry ripped it open a found that it was a picture frame. Harry figured that he had run out of ideas or money and had sent a picture of himself. He was having a very depressing birthday. He flipped the frame around, but the picture that met his eyes was not of Sirius. It was of his parents. James and Lilly Potter beamed up at Harry through the glass frame. Harry's mother became suddenly distracted with a squirming bundle in her arms. Harry flipped on his desk light to examine the bundle more closely. There was a baby in the bundle, a baby boy with a mop of black fuzz on his head and bright green eyes. It was him. Harry looked at the baby boy in his mother's arms a little closer. He looked so much different. There were no thick glasses resting upon his nose, and no lightning bolt scar in the middle of his forehead. And in this picture of himself, he was happy. In all of the pictures Harry had ever been in, he had tried to persuade the photographer to take it of something else, or not take it at all. In his second year a boy named Colin Creevy had gone photo happy and had even taken a picture of Harry when he was lying in the mud, with his arm shattered. And just last year he had had more press attention than he would have wanted for a lifetime.
The reason for all of this unwanted attention was due to the fact that Harry Potter was considered a hero in the wizarding world. When he had been the age of one, the terrible Lord Voldemort had shown up at his house and finished of his parents with the killing curse, Avada Kedavra. When Voldemort had tried to kill Harry, however the curse rebounded off of Harry and had hit Voldemort. (That is how Harry received his scar) But it didn't kill Voldemort either; he was not human enough to die. So instead he was ripped out from his body and had lived for thirteen years in a forest some two hundred miles away from Harry. Last year Voldemort had been returned to his body and Harry had seen it happen. He had taken bone from his father's grave, a hand, given to him by a 'faithful' servant, Wormtail, and a little trickle of Harry's own blood. Having had his body back he had tried to kill Harry again. Harry had escaped yet again and the night had left him nothing more than a very painful memory. Only two people knew the whole story of the night, and that was Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, and Sirius Black, his godfather.
Never in Harry's wildest dreams did he ever think of telling the Dursleys about that terrible night. The Dursleys didn't like magic at all, and just one word about Hogwarts meant that Harry would most likely never leave his room again. With his parents dead, the Dursleys were Harry's only living relatives. Harry had been living with them for as long as he could remember. They had always been less than kind to Harry because they had never really wanted their nephew around. The Dursleys had a son Harry's age and that made his situation even worse. Dudley got the best of everything, even down to how much food he got at the dinner table. Even Harry's clothes were hand-me-down's from Dudley, who was the exact opposite in size. Dudley, who was roughly the size of a baby killer whale, had the largest clothing Harry had ever seen. Harry was short and skinny so none of his summer clothes fit in any way, size, shape, or form.
Harry also set this present in his trunk. He threw away all of the wrapping paper and set the cards on his bedside table. He sat down on his bed preparing to fall asleep. He felt something under his back and sat back up again. Another package Harry hadnt seen was lying on his bed. Harry carefully ripped the wrapping paper, as if expecting it to explode. An acid green quill and a note tumbled out into his hands.
Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday! This is a Quick-Quotes Quill. Need I explain how it works? I figured you might need some cheering up after that last task. It ended most regretfully. And I thought if I was sad, it would be nothing to how you felt. I hope you are having a great summer! See you on the Hogwarts express! Happy Birthday, again!
PLove, /P
PCho Chang/P
Harry folded up the letter and set it down with the rest of his cards and looked back to the quill. It was easily the best birthday present of the year. He wondered how Cho had known when his birthday was. Harry supposed it was in some book…. He yawned and lay back down on his bed. He glanced at the clock. It was twelve o'clock exactly. Harry Potter was officially fifteen. He pulled off his glasses and set them down on the bedside table. He collapsed onto his pillow and fell asleep.
"He must die." Came a cold, high-pitched voice. Harry was in the middle of a room. Lord Voldemort, Severus Snape, and Wormtail were all sitting in armchairs by a glowing fire.
"Who must die, my lord?" Wormtail said in his shaky voice.
"Harry Potter, you fool!" Snape snapped. Voldemort nodded.
"Severus, I am glad you've returned to us." He said with a cold laugh. "And if you hadnt I would have killed you. But I excuse your behavior because you work at Hogwarts, with the boy."
"That is correct, my lord." Snape said.
"And I know you hate the boy." Voldemort said.
"That is correct my lord." Snape said, an evil grin appearing on his face.
" Do you know what you must do then?" Voldemort said, his face too, splitting into an evil grin. Snape nodded.
"Kill him?" He asked hopefully.
"Not kill him!" Voldemort snapped. "It would be to obvious. And anyways, I want the pleasure of killing that boy. You must report to me his weaknesses and strengths. Then we will kill him."
"But my lord, it would be much easier if-" Snape started.
"SILENCE!" Voldemort bellowed. Wormtail let out a little whimper. "We will kill him my way Severus. Never question my judgement. Crucio!" he said and pointed his wand at Snape. Snape slumped to the floor and twitched in pain, not letting out a single sound. "Crucio!" Voldemort said a little louder. This time Snape screamed a horrible piercing scream.
Harry sat bolt upright in his bed. He was breathing very fast and his scar was hurting. His hand searched the bedside table for his glasses. When he pulled them on, he could not see much better, his eyes were clouding up from the searing pain in his scar. He pressed two fingers up to it, but they sprang back away once they touched the scar. It was incredibly hot. He blew on his fingers to cool them off and got out of bed and looked in the mirror. His scar looked completely normal, except for the fact that it was a little redder than usual. The pain was not going away, and for the first time in his life, he actually felt sorry for Snape. He went back over to his bed and sat down on it, massaging his forehead, rocking back and forth. The pain began to clear and Harry sighed. Dumbledore was certainly right in saying that there were dark times ahead. And, Harry thought miserably, they are going to be even worse for me.
Harry glanced out of the window and toppled out of the bed. Two faces were looking straight at him. "AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHH!" He yelled. All Harry could see was their eyes, and nothing else. He slowly got up and edged over to the trunk at the foot of his bed. He grabbed his wand and then edged over to the door. The two people on the other side of the glass were definitely wizards; they were wearing robes of all black and pointed hats. That was all Harry could tell. If they were Death Eaters it was over, he was a goner. To postpone the moment, Harry slipped out of his room and out into the hall. Breathing very fast Harry placed his hand up to his scar again. It was still steaming hot but it didn't hurt much anymore. Maybe the two people weren't Death Eaters after all. Harry hoped that this was the case, but he wasn't willing to take any chances, so he concentrated very hard on the stunning spell. There was a loud thump from inside his room. Hedwig hooted loudly. Harry grabbed his wand much tighter and slowly turned the door handle. He went into his room again. The two people were now standing in his room. They couldn't be Death Eaters they were to short, but all the same, they had broken into his room. He heard a loud bump in the next room. Somebody had heard his shout and was running down the hall. Harry took a deep breath and raised his wand.
"Don't kill us!" One of them cried, but it was too late.
"Stupefy!" Harry said forcefully. They both hit the floor. The red jet of light he had directed at them ricocheted of the window and came bouncing back towards Harry, who quickly stepped away. There was a strangled cry behind him and a tremendous crash. Harry very reluctantly spun around to see what it was. Uncle Vernon lay on the floor and Dudley and Aunt Petunia were both kneeling by him, trying to shake him awake again.
"You!" Aunt Petunia screeched. "What did you do to him?"
"Stunned him," Harry said, fearfully. The two people behind him cracked up. It was Ron and Hermione. Aunt Petunia was clutching something behind her back. It was a metal can of some sort. She whipped it out and threw it as hard as she could at Harry. It stopped within centimeters of his face.
"Aunt Petunia, calm down, I can fix it." Harry said a lot more calmly than he felt. The bottle of Hairspray hovered in front of Harry. Hermione gasped from behind him. "Eneverate!" Harry said and pointed his wand at the unconscious Uncle Vernon. He stood up at once and charged at Harry. The hairspray glided out of his way. Uncle Vernon wrapped his hands around Harry's neck and shook him.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING, BOY?" He bellowed in Harry's face, which was getting purple. "THOUGHT YOU WOULD KILL ME, EH? TO BAD I JUST MIGHT KILL YOU FIRST!" He laughed a mirthless laugh. Oh, this is great, I'm going to die on my birthday, Harry thought. Hermione screamed. Dudley laughed and cheered his father on.
"Oh no you wont!" Harry choked. Uncle Vernon laughed again.
"How? You can't curse me, your wand fell on the ground." He said. Harry realized he was right. But Uncle Vernon hadnt seen the floating bottle of hairspray that Harry was controlling. Harry directed it over to his uncle.
"VERNON, WATCH OUT!" Aunt Petunia screamed. He turned his head just in time, the bottle smashed into his forehead and he lost his grip on Harry. Harry fell on to the ground gasping for air and rubbing his neck. Hermione and Ron ran beside im and helped him get to his feet again.
"Surprise," Ron said flatly. "Happy Birthday." The Dursleys had disappeared from the room and Harry guessed they were going to call the police.
"We have to get out of here." Harry said.
"Why'd you think we're here?" Ron said. Harry shrugged and started packing all of his things up in his trunk. Hermione and Ron helped him by clearing out his desk. Harry dived under his bed and yanked up the loose floorboard, and put all of its contents in the trunk. He snapped shut the trunk and re-opened the window.
"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"Fly my stuff out the window." Harry replied quickly. Hermione gaped at him.
"Wouldn't the stairs be easier?" She said. Harry shook his head.
"And risk being killed again? Uh, uh." Harry said. He grabbed Hedwig's cage and flew out the window on his Firebolt. He set her down and flew back in through his window. Ron and Hermione helped him hoist the trunk through the window and Harry flew it down to the ground. When he flew back through the window Hermione and Ron were talking in very low voices, and when he entered they shut up.
"How did you guys get up here anyways?" he asked. Ron pointed at Hermione.
"We climbed up the drainpipe." She said meekly.
"How are you going to get down?" Ron pointed at the broomstick, and Hermione nodded. Harry shrugged. "Well get on then." He said. It was quite a squeeze, with all three of them on the Firebolt. Hermione was practically sitting on Ron's lap and Ron himself was almost sitting on the tail of the broom. "Hold on tight!" Harry said as they soared through the window. Hermione had such a grip on Harry's shoulders that it was painful. "Not that tight, Hermione!" He winced. Her grip loosened as they touched the ground. Both Ron and Hermione fell of the broom once they landed. Usually Harry would have cracked up, but for some reason he didn't find it very funny.
"Hey Hermione? How do you get the Knight Bus again?" Ron asked her.
"Stick your wand hand out." She replied. All three of them stuck out their right hands. There was a tremendous POP and a purple triple-decker bus appeared on Privet Drive.
"Come on Harry," Hermione said and gently pushed him towards the bus. The doors snapped open on the bus and Stan Shunpike stepped out of the bus.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus! Emergency transport for the stranded witch of wiz- Neville? Is that you?" He said peering at Harry.
"Neville?" Ron and Hermione said at the same time.
"This is Harry Potter." Hermione said.
"I'll explain later," Harry mumbled out of the side of his mouth. Harry paid the money for the ride and Stan hauled Harry's things up the stairs.
"Where to tonight, Mr. Potter?" He asked Harry.
"That's a good question. Oy! Ron! Where are we going?" Harry asked Ron, who was settling himself down into a bed across the isle from him.
"My house." He said quietly, to not disturb the sleeping wizards and witches on the bus.
"Okay then. Stan we're going to Ottery St. Catchpole." Harry told Stan.
"Where in Ottery St. Catchpole?" He asked.
"The Burrow." Harry replied. Stan nodded and disappeared down the stairs again. Harry looked around the bus at the sleeping people. Ron and Hermione were both sitting up in their beds, as was Harry. There was nobody else awake.
"Good night." Harry said, yawning.
"Harry! Happy birthday!" Hermione said.
"Yeah, Happy fifteen!" Ron said just as Harry's eyelids drooped shut. Everything was very silent for about fifteen minutes. Harry had no intention whatsoever of falling asleep. He wanted to hear what Ron and Hermione were talking about. Harry knew this was not right, but what was it that they couldn't tell him?
"Is he asleep?" Came Hermione's voice.
"Yeah." Ron said.
"Good." She whispered to Ron.
"What up with him, anyways?" Ron said.
"I don't know, but I worried about him. You saw the look on his face while he was sleeping." Hermione said.
"I don't even want to think about what he was seeing." Ron said.
"I'm with you there." She said. "Has he told you what happened after the third task yet?" Hermione said, a little quieter.
"No." Ron said. "I really wonder what happened that could be that bad."
"I don't think I want to. Harry is the bravest person I know, save Dumbledore," Ron grunted in agreement. "And that night I caught Rita, he was crying in his sleep. That scares me, Ron, it really does." Hermione said, in a shaking voice. "He was supposed to be having dreamless sleep, too"
"Well we sort of know what happened, don't we?" Ron said, also in a shaking voice. "You-know-who got his body back. Remember, he said that when he was yelling at Fudge. And Dumbledore told us he murdered Cedric."
"I could have sworn that cut wasn't on his arm when he touched the Portkey." Hermione said in an undertone. Harry could feel their eyes on him.
"And what about the Dursleys?" Ron said hastily, changing the subject.
"What about them?" Hermione said.
"Both his Uncle and his Aunt tried to kill him tonight! And that cousin of his was laughing!" Ron said a little louder than expected. Harry grunted in hate accidentally.
"Did you wake him up?" Hermione said.
"I don't think so. But I don't like those Dursleys. In the summer before our second year Fred, George and I went to rescue him from the Dursleys and you wouldn't believe what we found." Ron said.
"What? What happened?" Hermione said fearfully.
"They had put bars on his window, and they were starving him!" Ron said. Hermione gasped.
"That's child abuse!" She cried.
"Sssh! Hermione! You'll wake him up!" Ron hissed. But Harry didn't want to hear any more 'poor Harry' stories. He stretched and yawned.
"Are we there yet?" He asked, pretending to be sleepy still. "What d'you mean, that's child abuse?" He said and yawned again.
"We were talking about the Dursleys." Hermione said. Ron shot her daggers with his eyes.
"What about them?" Harry said.
"Just about how horrible they are to you." Hermione said.
"Which story did you tell, Ron?" Harry asked.
"Second year." He said meekly and blushed the color of his hair. Harry nodded.
" Yeah, but it wasn't all that bad, it was only three days or something." Harry said, to prove he was over that. Hermione smiled a very forced smile.
"It's still child abuse!" She said.
"I don't care anymore. They've done loads of bad things to me, and I'm still alive, aren't I?" Harry said indignantly. Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads in dis belief.
"What could be worse than that?" Hermione said. Harry sighed.
"I used to live in a broom closet that was infested with spiders." Ron shuddered. "All of the clothes I wear over the summer are hand-me-downs from Dudley."
"A closet?" Hermione repeated breathlessly.
"I didn't have any friends at all before you two, because in Muggle School anybody who was nice to me was beaten up by Dudley."
"That's terrible!" Hermione said. Harry shrugged. "But that's it isn't it?" She added. Harry shook his head.
"I have never and will never get as much to eat as Dudley. And you wonder why I'm so skinny…" Harry said coldly. "I get blamed for everything, even down to why the mail didn't come. 'He had something to do with this!'" He said mimicking his uncle's voice. Both Ron and Hermione looked shocked. "They attempted to run away from the Hogwarts letters." Harry said recalling on that glorious day. "It was actually really funny. Hagrid tried to turn Dudley into a pig, but it didn't work, because he was already too much of one. He had a pigs tail for awhile…" Ron and Hermione snorted with laughter. " The only reason I am in okay health and everything is because they are petrified of Sirius. They have done more things but I'd rather not think about it." Hermione flashed an I-told-you-so look at Ron. Harry rolled his eyes.
"That's really horrible, Harry. You don't deserve that." Hermione said.
" I know, good night you two." Harry said. Harry said and actually fell asleep this time. It seemed as if Harry had just fallen asleep when Stan was shaking Harry awake.
"Common Neville, you're at the Burrow now." He whispered.
"All right! I'm up, I'm up!" Harry said and sat up. Yawning and stretching, Harry stood up and made his way out of the bus. Stan came out behind him shortly with his things. Harry thanked him and with a snap the bus disappeared. Harry saw Ron and Hermione heading towards the house and followed them in. They had just entered the house when Harry heard Mrs. Weasley's voice.
"Ron, Hermione? Is that you?" She called.
"Yeah, mom!" Ron called.
"Did you get him? Harry? Are you there?" She said.
"Yeah!" Harry called. They heard footsteps coming their way.
"Harry!" She cried when she saw him. She ran up the front hall and gave Harry a very tight hug. "Oh I just heard what happened at the third- that night!" She said. "Oh my, dear!" She started to sob and hugged him tighter.
"Um-Mrs. Weasley?" Harry choked out.
"Yes, dear?" She said between sobs.
"I cant breathe!" He said. Mrs. Weasley broke the hug.
"Oh, yes of course." She said, embarrassed.
"Second time tonight," Hermione said under her breath, but Mrs. Weasley heard her.
"What was that, dear?" She said, looking from Harry to Hermione.
"You explain." Hermione told Ron. He nodded.
"Well we sort of- um- startled Harry when he saw us and he yelled pretty loud. Well the entire Dursley family showed up behind him when they heard the shout. Harry didn't realize it was us and tried to stun us. Well we ducked and so did Harry when it came back at him. And his spell hit his Uncle." Harry could tell Ron was choking back laughter. " Well his aunt thought Harry had killed him or something and threw a bottle of hairspray at him." Mrs. Weasley gasped. " Don't worry mum, Harry stopped it right before it hit him."
" With the levitating charm, of course," Mrs. Weasley said, and beamed at Harry.
"No mum, he was controlling it with his eyes." Mrs. Weasley looked a little startled. "So he kind of put it to the side of him and woke his uncle up."
"That was good of you." She said, looking at Harry.
"He also thought Harry was trying to kill him and he strangled Harry and told him that he would be killing Harry first." Mrs. Weasley gasped again. "And Harry knocked his uncle out with the bottle of hairspray." Ron finished. Mrs. Weasley took a deep breath.
"Now usually I refrain from speaking foully towards your family, Harry, because they have been good to you." Harry, Ron, and Hermione snorted. "But that is un-expectable. Trying to kill an innocent boy! Really!" She said.
"I don't really think he was actually going to kill me." Harry said shyly. All three of them stared at Harry. "Uncle Vernon has given me death threats and things like that lads of times. He never would do any of it though."
"Harry dear, you've a long night. Why don't you go to bed?" Mrs. Weasley said kindly. Harry shrugged and started to pull his things up the stairs to Ron's room. Ron and Hermione started to follow, but Mrs. Weasley held them back. " I need to have a few words with you two." He heard her say. Harry hesitated on the stairs for a moment, wondering if he wanted to hear what she was going to say or not. He decided finally that he would rather be in a bed, asleep right now more than anything. He pulled his things up the stairs and headed into Ron's room. Harry lay in bed for a long time, reviewing the night in his mind. He made a mental note saying that this was the strangest birthday he had ever had.
A long time later Harry heard Ron and Hermione conversing on the stairs. They were talking in hushed, scared voices. Harry knew at once that Mrs. Weasley must have told them what had happened at the third task.
"No wonder he doesn't smile very much anymore. I wouldn't be very happy either." Hermione was saying.
"You were right Hermione, he didn't get that huge cut on his arm from Hogwarts or the Dursleys." Ron said, his voice had a bit of awe in it. Harry heard two small thumps and he guessed that they were sitting on the stairs. "No wonder he freaked out when he saw us tonight."
"They tortured him?" Hermione squeaked, holding back tears, "Twice?"
"Hermione, don't cry. He's still alive." Ron said in an awkward tone of voice. Ron never did know what to say when there was a crying girl in the picture, Harry thought with a slight grin. " Good night, Hermione."
"Good night, Ron." Hermione said. The door handle turned slowly and quietly. Harry shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Ron passed his bed and sat down on his own. It squeaked under all of the pressure.
"Harry, it's no use to pretend to be asleep." He said. Harry opened his eyes.
"How'd you know?" He asked.
"It's not that hard to tell. Your eyelashes kind of flutter when you pretend to be asleep." He said very matter-of-factly. Harry shrugged.
"How do you know I wasn't trying to fall asleep, then?" Harry said.
"I don't know. I just had the feeling that you've been awake all night."
"Correct." Harry said, yawning. "But I do think I'm going to sleep now. G' night, Ron." Harry situated himself in a more comfortable position and closed his eyes and fell asleep after a most interesting day.
Three weeks went by like a flash, when Harry was at The Burrow, and before they knew it, there was only one day left of summer break. One night at the dinner table Harry suddenly remembered something.
"Hermione, did you go to Bulgaria this summer to visit Krum?" Harry asked. Hermione blushed a brilliant shade of magenta.
"Yeah…second week of break." She said.
"What did you do?" Harry asked. Hermione blushed again.
"Oh…not much." She answered quickly.
"Did you have fun?" Harry asked.
"Yeah! I learned a lot of things about Bulgaria I didn't know. It was quite interesting." Ron burst out laughing and Harry couldn't help but join him. "What? What's so funny?" Hermione asked, looking around the room to see if something happened.
"Hermione, you need to take a break. It's summer!" Ron said.
"Yeah." Harry said. Hermione smiled a very sarcastic smile.
"You two could use taking a leaf out of Hermione's book! I'll bet she'll pass her O.W.L.s with flying colors. Have you two even opened a book all summer?" Mrs. Weasley said sternly.
" I did my homework!" Harry said indignantly. Mrs. Weasley's gaze softened a bit.
"Of course you did, dear." She said.
"So did I!" Ron and Ginny said at the same time.
"Yes, yes. But I expect good marks from all of you." She glared at them all as if saying, Or else!
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny al cleared their places at the table and headed up the stairs into Ginny's room. Harry had never been in this room before and looked around with interest. Ginny had it painted a soft blue color and it was clean, a rare occurrence in The Burrow. They all sat down on the floor in a little circle and started to talk.
"I can't wait for school to start again!" Ginny said. Hermione nodded.
" Yeah, but the O.W.L tests are this year!" Ron said. Ginny's face cracked into an evil grin.
"Not for me!" She said. Ron punched her in the shoulder. Harry held his breath, hoping that Ginny wouldn't cry. She didn't. She socked Ron just as hard back in the stomach. Hermione burst out laughing. Ron scowled.
"It didn't even hurt!" He said unconvincingly.
"Do you need me to punch you harder, VerRONica?" Ginny teased.
"Not if I get to you first!" Ron said. Harry sat down next to Hermione on the bed and watched Ron and Ginny have a fist fight. It was really quite interesting how Ginny and Ron just kept going. Ron landed one on Ginny's stomach and Ginny poked Ron in the eye. "Owww! That one really hurt!" Ron said cupping a hand over his eye his eye.
"Oh! I'm sorry Ron! Are you okay?" Ginny said laying a hand on his shoulder. Ron smiled an evil smile and punched her in the stomach with force. She recoiled and fell backwards on to the floor with a groan. "You win, you win!" She said, clutching her ribs. Harry laughed and the rest of them joined in. Hermione pulled out the daily paper.
"I totally forgot to read the paper this morning!" She said and stuck her nose in it. Harry, Ron, and Ginny shrugged and started talking about Quidditch.
"I wonder who's going to be our captain this year." Harry said. Ron shrugged.
"Maybe it'll be you, Harry." Ginny said and blushed. Harry shook his head.
" I don't think I could think up all of those game plans." He said.
"Well in any case, you're a great flyer. I'm sure we'll win the cup next year." Ron said enthusiastically.
"I hope so!" Ginny said.
"Harry maybe you could 'accidentally' kill Malfoy this year! You know do that Wronsky Feint thing and hope that he lands on his head!" Ron said.
"Good strategy! I'll see what I can do…" Harry said, grinning. Ron and Ginny returned it.
"That's horrible, you two! Plotting a murder!" Hermione said from behind the paper.
"We aren't plotting a murder! We were just imagining it!" Ron cried.
"Now really!" Hermione said, sounding a lot like Professor McGonagall. "Not that he wouldn't deserve it…" She said half grinning, half scowling.
"Anyways we have to worry about way more dangerous murderers this year," Ron said. Harry's smile disappeared.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry snapped.
"You just have to watch your back more carefully this year." Hermione said.
"You two are more concerned about Voldemort than I am. I'm not going to be murdered." Harry said. Nobody looked at him. " I know I wont. There are two people who are making sure of that. Maybe even three." He said. If this was supposed to re-assure hem, it was far from it.
"And who might these people?" Hermione said skeptically.
"Dumbledore for one." Harry said. Ginny nodded. " Then there's Wormtail. He owes me his life. He can't touch me. And then there is-" Harry chewed his tongue for a moment, thinking. "Snape."
"Snape? Harry, are you serious?" Ron said. Harry nodded.
"He's either going to save my life, or kill me. I haven't decided if I trust him yet." He said thoughtfully. Hermione looked uncomfortable.
"Well I'm tired. I think I'm going to go to bed know," She said yawning. Ginny nodded. Harry and Ron stood up ready to leave. Hermione gave Harry a hug and a kiss on the cheek, Ginny did the same and then they both moved on to do the same to Ron, but he shied away from them. Ginny managed a kiss on the cheek to Ron and Hermione to. They closed the door behind then and heard giggling.
"Girls," He muttered as they walked down the hall.
"I know what you're saying." Harry said in agreement. They went to bed without another word.
Harry shut the window again and went over to his own owl and untied her parcel. She looked up with her beautiful eyes and nipped his ears affectionately. Harry stroked her head and carried her over to her cage. "It's good to have you back." He told her as he shut the cage door. He returned his attention to the presents. He sat down on the bed and ripped open the present he had received from Hermione. It was a book called Dragons of the Northern Hemisphere. A book was a typical present from Hermione; she was a bookworm. He looked at the picture on the front of the book. It had a photo of a Hungarian Horntail on it. Harry threw it into his trunk as if it had been on fire. In way he was disappointed in Hermione, she usually had a knack for buying the perfect presents. Just when he had been beginning to forget that awful tournament, that awful night, he was suddenly reminded of it. He did a mental shrug and concentrated on the remaining three presents. Ron's was also very disappointing, containing a single Chocolate Frog. Ron to, usually had very good presents. Sometimes a little on the strange side, but what could you expect, coming from the wizarding world? Hagrid's was a sweatshirt, handmade by Hagrid himself. It had scarlet and deep yellow stripes on it. Attached to the sweatshirt was a very thick envelope that Harry recognized at once as the Hogwarts School supplies list. He placed this on the bedside table and went on to the last present.
Sirius' present was very thin. Harry ripped it open a found that it was a picture frame. Harry figured that he had run out of ideas or money and had sent a picture of himself. He was having a very depressing birthday. He flipped the frame around, but the picture that met his eyes was not of Sirius. It was of his parents. James and Lilly Potter beamed up at Harry through the glass frame. Harry's mother became suddenly distracted with a squirming bundle in her arms. Harry flipped on his desk light to examine the bundle more closely. There was a baby in the bundle, a baby boy with a mop of black fuzz on his head and bright green eyes. It was him. Harry looked at the baby boy in his mother's arms a little closer. He looked so much different. There were no thick glasses resting upon his nose, and no lightning bolt scar in the middle of his forehead. And in this picture of himself, he was happy. In all of the pictures Harry had ever been in, he had tried to persuade the photographer to take it of something else, or not take it at all. In his second year a boy named Colin Creevy had gone photo happy and had even taken a picture of Harry when he was lying in the mud, with his arm shattered. And just last year he had had more press attention than he would have wanted for a lifetime.
The reason for all of this unwanted attention was due to the fact that Harry Potter was considered a hero in the wizarding world. When he had been the age of one, the terrible Lord Voldemort had shown up at his house and finished of his parents with the killing curse, Avada Kedavra. When Voldemort had tried to kill Harry, however the curse rebounded off of Harry and had hit Voldemort. (That is how Harry received his scar) But it didn't kill Voldemort either; he was not human enough to die. So instead he was ripped out from his body and had lived for thirteen years in a forest some two hundred miles away from Harry. Last year Voldemort had been returned to his body and Harry had seen it happen. He had taken bone from his father's grave, a hand, given to him by a 'faithful' servant, Wormtail, and a little trickle of Harry's own blood. Having had his body back he had tried to kill Harry again. Harry had escaped yet again and the night had left him nothing more than a very painful memory. Only two people knew the whole story of the night, and that was Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, and Sirius Black, his godfather.
Never in Harry's wildest dreams did he ever think of telling the Dursleys about that terrible night. The Dursleys didn't like magic at all, and just one word about Hogwarts meant that Harry would most likely never leave his room again. With his parents dead, the Dursleys were Harry's only living relatives. Harry had been living with them for as long as he could remember. They had always been less than kind to Harry because they had never really wanted their nephew around. The Dursleys had a son Harry's age and that made his situation even worse. Dudley got the best of everything, even down to how much food he got at the dinner table. Even Harry's clothes were hand-me-down's from Dudley, who was the exact opposite in size. Dudley, who was roughly the size of a baby killer whale, had the largest clothing Harry had ever seen. Harry was short and skinny so none of his summer clothes fit in any way, size, shape, or form.
Harry also set this present in his trunk. He threw away all of the wrapping paper and set the cards on his bedside table. He sat down on his bed preparing to fall asleep. He felt something under his back and sat back up again. Another package Harry hadnt seen was lying on his bed. Harry carefully ripped the wrapping paper, as if expecting it to explode. An acid green quill and a note tumbled out into his hands.
Dear Harry,
Happy Birthday! This is a Quick-Quotes Quill. Need I explain how it works? I figured you might need some cheering up after that last task. It ended most regretfully. And I thought if I was sad, it would be nothing to how you felt. I hope you are having a great summer! See you on the Hogwarts express! Happy Birthday, again!
PLove, /P
PCho Chang/P
Harry folded up the letter and set it down with the rest of his cards and looked back to the quill. It was easily the best birthday present of the year. He wondered how Cho had known when his birthday was. Harry supposed it was in some book…. He yawned and lay back down on his bed. He glanced at the clock. It was twelve o'clock exactly. Harry Potter was officially fifteen. He pulled off his glasses and set them down on the bedside table. He collapsed onto his pillow and fell asleep.
"He must die." Came a cold, high-pitched voice. Harry was in the middle of a room. Lord Voldemort, Severus Snape, and Wormtail were all sitting in armchairs by a glowing fire.
"Who must die, my lord?" Wormtail said in his shaky voice.
"Harry Potter, you fool!" Snape snapped. Voldemort nodded.
"Severus, I am glad you've returned to us." He said with a cold laugh. "And if you hadnt I would have killed you. But I excuse your behavior because you work at Hogwarts, with the boy."
"That is correct, my lord." Snape said.
"And I know you hate the boy." Voldemort said.
"That is correct my lord." Snape said, an evil grin appearing on his face.
" Do you know what you must do then?" Voldemort said, his face too, splitting into an evil grin. Snape nodded.
"Kill him?" He asked hopefully.
"Not kill him!" Voldemort snapped. "It would be to obvious. And anyways, I want the pleasure of killing that boy. You must report to me his weaknesses and strengths. Then we will kill him."
"But my lord, it would be much easier if-" Snape started.
"SILENCE!" Voldemort bellowed. Wormtail let out a little whimper. "We will kill him my way Severus. Never question my judgement. Crucio!" he said and pointed his wand at Snape. Snape slumped to the floor and twitched in pain, not letting out a single sound. "Crucio!" Voldemort said a little louder. This time Snape screamed a horrible piercing scream.
Harry sat bolt upright in his bed. He was breathing very fast and his scar was hurting. His hand searched the bedside table for his glasses. When he pulled them on, he could not see much better, his eyes were clouding up from the searing pain in his scar. He pressed two fingers up to it, but they sprang back away once they touched the scar. It was incredibly hot. He blew on his fingers to cool them off and got out of bed and looked in the mirror. His scar looked completely normal, except for the fact that it was a little redder than usual. The pain was not going away, and for the first time in his life, he actually felt sorry for Snape. He went back over to his bed and sat down on it, massaging his forehead, rocking back and forth. The pain began to clear and Harry sighed. Dumbledore was certainly right in saying that there were dark times ahead. And, Harry thought miserably, they are going to be even worse for me.
Harry glanced out of the window and toppled out of the bed. Two faces were looking straight at him. "AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGHHH!" He yelled. All Harry could see was their eyes, and nothing else. He slowly got up and edged over to the trunk at the foot of his bed. He grabbed his wand and then edged over to the door. The two people on the other side of the glass were definitely wizards; they were wearing robes of all black and pointed hats. That was all Harry could tell. If they were Death Eaters it was over, he was a goner. To postpone the moment, Harry slipped out of his room and out into the hall. Breathing very fast Harry placed his hand up to his scar again. It was still steaming hot but it didn't hurt much anymore. Maybe the two people weren't Death Eaters after all. Harry hoped that this was the case, but he wasn't willing to take any chances, so he concentrated very hard on the stunning spell. There was a loud thump from inside his room. Hedwig hooted loudly. Harry grabbed his wand much tighter and slowly turned the door handle. He went into his room again. The two people were now standing in his room. They couldn't be Death Eaters they were to short, but all the same, they had broken into his room. He heard a loud bump in the next room. Somebody had heard his shout and was running down the hall. Harry took a deep breath and raised his wand.
"Don't kill us!" One of them cried, but it was too late.
"Stupefy!" Harry said forcefully. They both hit the floor. The red jet of light he had directed at them ricocheted of the window and came bouncing back towards Harry, who quickly stepped away. There was a strangled cry behind him and a tremendous crash. Harry very reluctantly spun around to see what it was. Uncle Vernon lay on the floor and Dudley and Aunt Petunia were both kneeling by him, trying to shake him awake again.
"You!" Aunt Petunia screeched. "What did you do to him?"
"Stunned him," Harry said, fearfully. The two people behind him cracked up. It was Ron and Hermione. Aunt Petunia was clutching something behind her back. It was a metal can of some sort. She whipped it out and threw it as hard as she could at Harry. It stopped within centimeters of his face.
"Aunt Petunia, calm down, I can fix it." Harry said a lot more calmly than he felt. The bottle of Hairspray hovered in front of Harry. Hermione gasped from behind him. "Eneverate!" Harry said and pointed his wand at the unconscious Uncle Vernon. He stood up at once and charged at Harry. The hairspray glided out of his way. Uncle Vernon wrapped his hands around Harry's neck and shook him.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING, BOY?" He bellowed in Harry's face, which was getting purple. "THOUGHT YOU WOULD KILL ME, EH? TO BAD I JUST MIGHT KILL YOU FIRST!" He laughed a mirthless laugh. Oh, this is great, I'm going to die on my birthday, Harry thought. Hermione screamed. Dudley laughed and cheered his father on.
"Oh no you wont!" Harry choked. Uncle Vernon laughed again.
"How? You can't curse me, your wand fell on the ground." He said. Harry realized he was right. But Uncle Vernon hadnt seen the floating bottle of hairspray that Harry was controlling. Harry directed it over to his uncle.
"VERNON, WATCH OUT!" Aunt Petunia screamed. He turned his head just in time, the bottle smashed into his forehead and he lost his grip on Harry. Harry fell on to the ground gasping for air and rubbing his neck. Hermione and Ron ran beside im and helped him get to his feet again.
"Surprise," Ron said flatly. "Happy Birthday." The Dursleys had disappeared from the room and Harry guessed they were going to call the police.
"We have to get out of here." Harry said.
"Why'd you think we're here?" Ron said. Harry shrugged and started packing all of his things up in his trunk. Hermione and Ron helped him by clearing out his desk. Harry dived under his bed and yanked up the loose floorboard, and put all of its contents in the trunk. He snapped shut the trunk and re-opened the window.
"What are you going to do?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"Fly my stuff out the window." Harry replied quickly. Hermione gaped at him.
"Wouldn't the stairs be easier?" She said. Harry shook his head.
"And risk being killed again? Uh, uh." Harry said. He grabbed Hedwig's cage and flew out the window on his Firebolt. He set her down and flew back in through his window. Ron and Hermione helped him hoist the trunk through the window and Harry flew it down to the ground. When he flew back through the window Hermione and Ron were talking in very low voices, and when he entered they shut up.
"How did you guys get up here anyways?" he asked. Ron pointed at Hermione.
"We climbed up the drainpipe." She said meekly.
"How are you going to get down?" Ron pointed at the broomstick, and Hermione nodded. Harry shrugged. "Well get on then." He said. It was quite a squeeze, with all three of them on the Firebolt. Hermione was practically sitting on Ron's lap and Ron himself was almost sitting on the tail of the broom. "Hold on tight!" Harry said as they soared through the window. Hermione had such a grip on Harry's shoulders that it was painful. "Not that tight, Hermione!" He winced. Her grip loosened as they touched the ground. Both Ron and Hermione fell of the broom once they landed. Usually Harry would have cracked up, but for some reason he didn't find it very funny.
"Hey Hermione? How do you get the Knight Bus again?" Ron asked her.
"Stick your wand hand out." She replied. All three of them stuck out their right hands. There was a tremendous POP and a purple triple-decker bus appeared on Privet Drive.
"Come on Harry," Hermione said and gently pushed him towards the bus. The doors snapped open on the bus and Stan Shunpike stepped out of the bus.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus! Emergency transport for the stranded witch of wiz- Neville? Is that you?" He said peering at Harry.
"Neville?" Ron and Hermione said at the same time.
"This is Harry Potter." Hermione said.
"I'll explain later," Harry mumbled out of the side of his mouth. Harry paid the money for the ride and Stan hauled Harry's things up the stairs.
"Where to tonight, Mr. Potter?" He asked Harry.
"That's a good question. Oy! Ron! Where are we going?" Harry asked Ron, who was settling himself down into a bed across the isle from him.
"My house." He said quietly, to not disturb the sleeping wizards and witches on the bus.
"Okay then. Stan we're going to Ottery St. Catchpole." Harry told Stan.
"Where in Ottery St. Catchpole?" He asked.
"The Burrow." Harry replied. Stan nodded and disappeared down the stairs again. Harry looked around the bus at the sleeping people. Ron and Hermione were both sitting up in their beds, as was Harry. There was nobody else awake.
"Good night." Harry said, yawning.
"Harry! Happy birthday!" Hermione said.
"Yeah, Happy fifteen!" Ron said just as Harry's eyelids drooped shut. Everything was very silent for about fifteen minutes. Harry had no intention whatsoever of falling asleep. He wanted to hear what Ron and Hermione were talking about. Harry knew this was not right, but what was it that they couldn't tell him?
"Is he asleep?" Came Hermione's voice.
"Yeah." Ron said.
"Good." She whispered to Ron.
"What up with him, anyways?" Ron said.
"I don't know, but I worried about him. You saw the look on his face while he was sleeping." Hermione said.
"I don't even want to think about what he was seeing." Ron said.
"I'm with you there." She said. "Has he told you what happened after the third task yet?" Hermione said, a little quieter.
"No." Ron said. "I really wonder what happened that could be that bad."
"I don't think I want to. Harry is the bravest person I know, save Dumbledore," Ron grunted in agreement. "And that night I caught Rita, he was crying in his sleep. That scares me, Ron, it really does." Hermione said, in a shaking voice. "He was supposed to be having dreamless sleep, too"
"Well we sort of know what happened, don't we?" Ron said, also in a shaking voice. "You-know-who got his body back. Remember, he said that when he was yelling at Fudge. And Dumbledore told us he murdered Cedric."
"I could have sworn that cut wasn't on his arm when he touched the Portkey." Hermione said in an undertone. Harry could feel their eyes on him.
"And what about the Dursleys?" Ron said hastily, changing the subject.
"What about them?" Hermione said.
"Both his Uncle and his Aunt tried to kill him tonight! And that cousin of his was laughing!" Ron said a little louder than expected. Harry grunted in hate accidentally.
"Did you wake him up?" Hermione said.
"I don't think so. But I don't like those Dursleys. In the summer before our second year Fred, George and I went to rescue him from the Dursleys and you wouldn't believe what we found." Ron said.
"What? What happened?" Hermione said fearfully.
"They had put bars on his window, and they were starving him!" Ron said. Hermione gasped.
"That's child abuse!" She cried.
"Sssh! Hermione! You'll wake him up!" Ron hissed. But Harry didn't want to hear any more 'poor Harry' stories. He stretched and yawned.
"Are we there yet?" He asked, pretending to be sleepy still. "What d'you mean, that's child abuse?" He said and yawned again.
"We were talking about the Dursleys." Hermione said. Ron shot her daggers with his eyes.
"What about them?" Harry said.
"Just about how horrible they are to you." Hermione said.
"Which story did you tell, Ron?" Harry asked.
"Second year." He said meekly and blushed the color of his hair. Harry nodded.
" Yeah, but it wasn't all that bad, it was only three days or something." Harry said, to prove he was over that. Hermione smiled a very forced smile.
"It's still child abuse!" She said.
"I don't care anymore. They've done loads of bad things to me, and I'm still alive, aren't I?" Harry said indignantly. Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads in dis belief.
"What could be worse than that?" Hermione said. Harry sighed.
"I used to live in a broom closet that was infested with spiders." Ron shuddered. "All of the clothes I wear over the summer are hand-me-downs from Dudley."
"A closet?" Hermione repeated breathlessly.
"I didn't have any friends at all before you two, because in Muggle School anybody who was nice to me was beaten up by Dudley."
"That's terrible!" Hermione said. Harry shrugged. "But that's it isn't it?" She added. Harry shook his head.
"I have never and will never get as much to eat as Dudley. And you wonder why I'm so skinny…" Harry said coldly. "I get blamed for everything, even down to why the mail didn't come. 'He had something to do with this!'" He said mimicking his uncle's voice. Both Ron and Hermione looked shocked. "They attempted to run away from the Hogwarts letters." Harry said recalling on that glorious day. "It was actually really funny. Hagrid tried to turn Dudley into a pig, but it didn't work, because he was already too much of one. He had a pigs tail for awhile…" Ron and Hermione snorted with laughter. " The only reason I am in okay health and everything is because they are petrified of Sirius. They have done more things but I'd rather not think about it." Hermione flashed an I-told-you-so look at Ron. Harry rolled his eyes.
"That's really horrible, Harry. You don't deserve that." Hermione said.
" I know, good night you two." Harry said. Harry said and actually fell asleep this time. It seemed as if Harry had just fallen asleep when Stan was shaking Harry awake.
"Common Neville, you're at the Burrow now." He whispered.
"All right! I'm up, I'm up!" Harry said and sat up. Yawning and stretching, Harry stood up and made his way out of the bus. Stan came out behind him shortly with his things. Harry thanked him and with a snap the bus disappeared. Harry saw Ron and Hermione heading towards the house and followed them in. They had just entered the house when Harry heard Mrs. Weasley's voice.
"Ron, Hermione? Is that you?" She called.
"Yeah, mom!" Ron called.
"Did you get him? Harry? Are you there?" She said.
"Yeah!" Harry called. They heard footsteps coming their way.
"Harry!" She cried when she saw him. She ran up the front hall and gave Harry a very tight hug. "Oh I just heard what happened at the third- that night!" She said. "Oh my, dear!" She started to sob and hugged him tighter.
"Um-Mrs. Weasley?" Harry choked out.
"Yes, dear?" She said between sobs.
"I cant breathe!" He said. Mrs. Weasley broke the hug.
"Oh, yes of course." She said, embarrassed.
"Second time tonight," Hermione said under her breath, but Mrs. Weasley heard her.
"What was that, dear?" She said, looking from Harry to Hermione.
"You explain." Hermione told Ron. He nodded.
"Well we sort of- um- startled Harry when he saw us and he yelled pretty loud. Well the entire Dursley family showed up behind him when they heard the shout. Harry didn't realize it was us and tried to stun us. Well we ducked and so did Harry when it came back at him. And his spell hit his Uncle." Harry could tell Ron was choking back laughter. " Well his aunt thought Harry had killed him or something and threw a bottle of hairspray at him." Mrs. Weasley gasped. " Don't worry mum, Harry stopped it right before it hit him."
" With the levitating charm, of course," Mrs. Weasley said, and beamed at Harry.
"No mum, he was controlling it with his eyes." Mrs. Weasley looked a little startled. "So he kind of put it to the side of him and woke his uncle up."
"That was good of you." She said, looking at Harry.
"He also thought Harry was trying to kill him and he strangled Harry and told him that he would be killing Harry first." Mrs. Weasley gasped again. "And Harry knocked his uncle out with the bottle of hairspray." Ron finished. Mrs. Weasley took a deep breath.
"Now usually I refrain from speaking foully towards your family, Harry, because they have been good to you." Harry, Ron, and Hermione snorted. "But that is un-expectable. Trying to kill an innocent boy! Really!" She said.
"I don't really think he was actually going to kill me." Harry said shyly. All three of them stared at Harry. "Uncle Vernon has given me death threats and things like that lads of times. He never would do any of it though."
"Harry dear, you've a long night. Why don't you go to bed?" Mrs. Weasley said kindly. Harry shrugged and started to pull his things up the stairs to Ron's room. Ron and Hermione started to follow, but Mrs. Weasley held them back. " I need to have a few words with you two." He heard her say. Harry hesitated on the stairs for a moment, wondering if he wanted to hear what she was going to say or not. He decided finally that he would rather be in a bed, asleep right now more than anything. He pulled his things up the stairs and headed into Ron's room. Harry lay in bed for a long time, reviewing the night in his mind. He made a mental note saying that this was the strangest birthday he had ever had.
A long time later Harry heard Ron and Hermione conversing on the stairs. They were talking in hushed, scared voices. Harry knew at once that Mrs. Weasley must have told them what had happened at the third task.
"No wonder he doesn't smile very much anymore. I wouldn't be very happy either." Hermione was saying.
"You were right Hermione, he didn't get that huge cut on his arm from Hogwarts or the Dursleys." Ron said, his voice had a bit of awe in it. Harry heard two small thumps and he guessed that they were sitting on the stairs. "No wonder he freaked out when he saw us tonight."
"They tortured him?" Hermione squeaked, holding back tears, "Twice?"
"Hermione, don't cry. He's still alive." Ron said in an awkward tone of voice. Ron never did know what to say when there was a crying girl in the picture, Harry thought with a slight grin. " Good night, Hermione."
"Good night, Ron." Hermione said. The door handle turned slowly and quietly. Harry shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Ron passed his bed and sat down on his own. It squeaked under all of the pressure.
"Harry, it's no use to pretend to be asleep." He said. Harry opened his eyes.
"How'd you know?" He asked.
"It's not that hard to tell. Your eyelashes kind of flutter when you pretend to be asleep." He said very matter-of-factly. Harry shrugged.
"How do you know I wasn't trying to fall asleep, then?" Harry said.
"I don't know. I just had the feeling that you've been awake all night."
"Correct." Harry said, yawning. "But I do think I'm going to sleep now. G' night, Ron." Harry situated himself in a more comfortable position and closed his eyes and fell asleep after a most interesting day.
Three weeks went by like a flash, when Harry was at The Burrow, and before they knew it, there was only one day left of summer break. One night at the dinner table Harry suddenly remembered something.
"Hermione, did you go to Bulgaria this summer to visit Krum?" Harry asked. Hermione blushed a brilliant shade of magenta.
"Yeah…second week of break." She said.
"What did you do?" Harry asked. Hermione blushed again.
"Oh…not much." She answered quickly.
"Did you have fun?" Harry asked.
"Yeah! I learned a lot of things about Bulgaria I didn't know. It was quite interesting." Ron burst out laughing and Harry couldn't help but join him. "What? What's so funny?" Hermione asked, looking around the room to see if something happened.
"Hermione, you need to take a break. It's summer!" Ron said.
"Yeah." Harry said. Hermione smiled a very sarcastic smile.
"You two could use taking a leaf out of Hermione's book! I'll bet she'll pass her O.W.L.s with flying colors. Have you two even opened a book all summer?" Mrs. Weasley said sternly.
" I did my homework!" Harry said indignantly. Mrs. Weasley's gaze softened a bit.
"Of course you did, dear." She said.
"So did I!" Ron and Ginny said at the same time.
"Yes, yes. But I expect good marks from all of you." She glared at them all as if saying, Or else!
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny al cleared their places at the table and headed up the stairs into Ginny's room. Harry had never been in this room before and looked around with interest. Ginny had it painted a soft blue color and it was clean, a rare occurrence in The Burrow. They all sat down on the floor in a little circle and started to talk.
"I can't wait for school to start again!" Ginny said. Hermione nodded.
" Yeah, but the O.W.L tests are this year!" Ron said. Ginny's face cracked into an evil grin.
"Not for me!" She said. Ron punched her in the shoulder. Harry held his breath, hoping that Ginny wouldn't cry. She didn't. She socked Ron just as hard back in the stomach. Hermione burst out laughing. Ron scowled.
"It didn't even hurt!" He said unconvincingly.
"Do you need me to punch you harder, VerRONica?" Ginny teased.
"Not if I get to you first!" Ron said. Harry sat down next to Hermione on the bed and watched Ron and Ginny have a fist fight. It was really quite interesting how Ginny and Ron just kept going. Ron landed one on Ginny's stomach and Ginny poked Ron in the eye. "Owww! That one really hurt!" Ron said cupping a hand over his eye his eye.
"Oh! I'm sorry Ron! Are you okay?" Ginny said laying a hand on his shoulder. Ron smiled an evil smile and punched her in the stomach with force. She recoiled and fell backwards on to the floor with a groan. "You win, you win!" She said, clutching her ribs. Harry laughed and the rest of them joined in. Hermione pulled out the daily paper.
"I totally forgot to read the paper this morning!" She said and stuck her nose in it. Harry, Ron, and Ginny shrugged and started talking about Quidditch.
"I wonder who's going to be our captain this year." Harry said. Ron shrugged.
"Maybe it'll be you, Harry." Ginny said and blushed. Harry shook his head.
" I don't think I could think up all of those game plans." He said.
"Well in any case, you're a great flyer. I'm sure we'll win the cup next year." Ron said enthusiastically.
"I hope so!" Ginny said.
"Harry maybe you could 'accidentally' kill Malfoy this year! You know do that Wronsky Feint thing and hope that he lands on his head!" Ron said.
"Good strategy! I'll see what I can do…" Harry said, grinning. Ron and Ginny returned it.
"That's horrible, you two! Plotting a murder!" Hermione said from behind the paper.
"We aren't plotting a murder! We were just imagining it!" Ron cried.
"Now really!" Hermione said, sounding a lot like Professor McGonagall. "Not that he wouldn't deserve it…" She said half grinning, half scowling.
"Anyways we have to worry about way more dangerous murderers this year," Ron said. Harry's smile disappeared.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry snapped.
"You just have to watch your back more carefully this year." Hermione said.
"You two are more concerned about Voldemort than I am. I'm not going to be murdered." Harry said. Nobody looked at him. " I know I wont. There are two people who are making sure of that. Maybe even three." He said. If this was supposed to re-assure hem, it was far from it.
"And who might these people?" Hermione said skeptically.
"Dumbledore for one." Harry said. Ginny nodded. " Then there's Wormtail. He owes me his life. He can't touch me. And then there is-" Harry chewed his tongue for a moment, thinking. "Snape."
"Snape? Harry, are you serious?" Ron said. Harry nodded.
"He's either going to save my life, or kill me. I haven't decided if I trust him yet." He said thoughtfully. Hermione looked uncomfortable.
"Well I'm tired. I think I'm going to go to bed know," She said yawning. Ginny nodded. Harry and Ron stood up ready to leave. Hermione gave Harry a hug and a kiss on the cheek, Ginny did the same and then they both moved on to do the same to Ron, but he shied away from them. Ginny managed a kiss on the cheek to Ron and Hermione to. They closed the door behind then and heard giggling.
"Girls," He muttered as they walked down the hall.
"I know what you're saying." Harry said in agreement. They went to bed without another word.