It was Friday midnight and Harry Potter lay in his bed reading a schoolbook. He paused to turn the pages when he heard his Cousin Dudley snoring in the next room. The heavy breathing of his Aunt Petunia came from the next room. Asleep, he thought with satisfaction, was how he liked the Dursley's best.

Harry wasn't what you would call a normal boy. Of course, he looked like any other fifteen year old boy. He even had the same problems as any other boy (Cho Chang). But in addition to these minor problems, he had even greater troubles.

For Harry was a wizard.

At the age of one year old, Harry had somehow survived a lethal curse from the greatest Dark sorcerer of all time. His name was Lord Voldemort, the name most witches and wizards still feared to speak even fourteen years after his downfall.

Harry's parents had died in Voldemort's attack, but Harry had escaped with a lightning shaped scar. Because his mother had loved him so much that she had been willing to die for him Voldemort's lethal curse had rebounded and causing him to flee, barely human. Thus, the reign of terror which had lasted over the magical community for a decade was over. Voldemort's followers had been captured and imprisoned. Peace reigned and Harry Potter became famous.

At the age of eleven Harry had finally discovered that he was a Wizard. The fact that he was so had been kept from him by his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, who had a medieval view on magic. They were terrified that the neighbours would find out about Harry's abnormality and that it would bring great shame to their family.

However on his eleventh birthday he had finally found out about his magical abilities and since then he had been attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He, together with his two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, had many adventures over the years at Hogwarts.

Harry had become even more famous by being chosen as Seeker, the youngest in a century, in his first year. The Seeker position was one of the most important positions on a Quidditch team.

Quidditch was the popular wizarding sport in which seven players played on broomsticks.

Quidditch was one of the things Harry missed playing and which contributed to his gloominess during the holidays.

However last year, instead of the traditional Quidditch Cup, the Tri-Wizard Cup was held at Hogwarts after a period of 100 years. This was a competition between the three leading magical schools in Europe. In which Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons competed in a series of magical tasks throughout a school year. Harry, though technically underage had been compelled to compete, as his name was entered by an agent of Voldemort, who was an impostor posing as a teacher. Harry had fought his way through the tournament, and after the third and final task, witnessed the rebirth of Voldemort. Harry had then battled with him, was tortured and had barely escaped with his life.

This was enough to make anyone feel shattered.

And then there was Cedric Diggory.

Cedric had been the real competitor for Hogwarts. He was popular, handsome boy of seventeen. When Harry faced Voldemort, Cedric had been murdered.

For the past few weeks Harry had wrestled with his guilt, in an attempt to push it away. He succeeded, for he managed to avoid thinking about it during the day. But even he couldn't help the nightmares which he had to experience. For practically every night Harry had slept he had nightmares so terrible that he had begun, like an owl, sleeping by day and rising at night. This caused no problems with his uncle and aunt, as they too thought the less they saw of Harry the better.

Suddenly Harry heard a clock in the distance chiming midnight

He realized with a jolt, that he was now fifteen. Another reason he didn't look forward to his birthdays was that it being during the summer holidays, which meant that he was usually at the Dursleys.

He heard a tap on the window. He looked out and saw a bunch of owls, all carrying parcels, hovering outside his window. He quickly opened the window for fear that they would attract attention from outsiders. The owls flew in and dropped several packages on his bed and flew off, save for a tiny owl, Harry had no difficulty recognizing as Pigwidgeon (Pig for short), who was Ron's owl. Pig twittered and zoomed around the room making an ear splitting racket.

"Shut up!" hissed Harry. If his uncle and aunt heard it…

Another tawny owl flew in and settled on Harry's owl perch.

Harry took this in a single glance and started opening his presents.

The first one was from Hermione Granger. It contained a cake, with the words, "Happy Birthday Harry" written on top of it. He supposed that was meant to cheer him up, and provide him with sustenance for a couple of days as Dudley was on a diet.

With the cake was a book, titled The Seeker's Handbook.

Harry smiled to himself. What else would he have wanted?

He ripped open the envelope and a piece of paper and a photo fell out.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! How are you? I really hope you're okay. Your last letter was very vague and I got worried.

I can't help it I'm sorry, but Ron and I worry so much about you.  I'm in Bulgaria and I'm currently visiting Viktor with my parents. The weather's excellent. We went swimming the other day. It so fascinating here! I'll tell you (Not Ron, he'll get snippy again) all about it when I return. Sirius is travelling with us, guarding us from any trouble.

I'll probably be at the Burrow when you arrive. So hope to see you soon.

                                                Love from Hermione

Harry rolled his eyes. Not only was Voldemort was watching him, so were his best friends.

Harry looked at the photo and felt his jaw drop. He even forgot about Sirius being Hermione's bodyguard.

For he was looking at a very pretty young woman with brown hair who was wearing dark glasses, jeans and a rather skimpy T Shirt. "Hermione?" he croaked. Was this her? What had happened to her? Where was that bossy girl with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth?

Wow, he thought. She sure had become a stunner! Viktor Krum sure was a lucky git!

He gathered his thoughts and read Ron's letter.

He opened Ron's present, which contained a book on the Chudley Cannons, a Quidditch team that Ron supported fanatically.

He read Ron's letter,

Harry

Dumbeldore hasn't given you permission to come to our place. Sorry, mate. I know you'd like to get away from those Dursleys.

Fred and George have gone ahead with Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes though. Mum's given in.

See you at Daigon Alley.

                                                                                                Ron

Harry opened Hagrid's present which turned out to be a box of chocolate frogs.

Hagrid's letter read,

Dear Harry,

Just to see if you are okay. Don't bother writing back. I'm abroad and the journey would tire Hedwig. I'm fine and I hope to be back when term starts.

                                                            Hagrid

Hagrid was an alarmingly huge man who was twelve feet tall. Hagrid however, once you got to know him, however you quickly realized that he was very gentle. Another thing about him was his fondness of dangerous creatures. In the past he had reared baby dragons, huge spiders, hippogriffs and a new species of animals called Blast ended Skrewts, a cross between a scorpion and a crab.

Harry frowned. There were two more presents. One was from Sirius Black, his godfather. But other than that he knew no one else who had sent him presents or letters.

There was a simple reason for Sirius's complete absence from Harry's life. Until then - Sirius had been in Azkaban, the terrifying wizard jail guarded by creatures called dementors, sightless, soul-sucking fiends who had come to search for Sirius at Hogwarts when he had escaped.  Yet Sirius had been innocent - the murders for which he had been convicted had been committed by Wormtail, one of Voldemort's supporters, whom nearly everybody now believed dead.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew otherwise, however; they had come face-to-face with Wormtail only the previous year and the year before that when he was unmasked. Unfortunately only Professor Dumbledore, their headmaster had believed their story.

            For one glorious hour, Harry had believed that he was leaving the Dursley's at last, because Sirius had offered him a home once his name had been cleared.  But the chance had been snatched away from him - Wormtail had escaped before they could take him to the Ministry of Magic, and Sirius had had to flee for his life.  Harry had helped him escape on the back of a hippogriff (a cross between an eagle and a horse) called Buckbeak, and since then, Sirius had been on the run.  It had been doubly hard to return to the Dursley's knowing that he had so nearly escaped them forever. It also made him guilty that he had stopped Sirius and the Defence against Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Lupin from killing Wormtail, who had escaped and returned to Voldemort to serve as his servant which had resulted in Voldemort's rise. What really made Harry mad was that because he had saved Wormtail, Cedric had been killed, which he believed, was his fault.

Last year Sirius had returned from abroad, where he was in hiding, to Hogwarts so that he could guard Harry from any possible danger.

However in light of Voldemort's return Dumbeldore had entrusted him with several missions in order to prepare a defence in the coming war against Voldemort.

Harry read Sirius's letter.

Harry,

Happy Birthday! I can't tell you where I am, but it's a safe place. I managed to make contact with the others including Moony. I'm currently with Hermione, guarding her. Things are very quiet concerning Voldemort. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Remember, please take care. We need you in the fight against Voldemort. You will find out why in due course. Until then be patient.

I hope you like your present.

Hope the Muggles are treating you well. See you soon. Moony sends his love.

                                                Sirius

He looked at Sirius's present. It was a year's subscription to Which Broomstick.

Why the hell does everyone think that I only appreciate Quidditch presents? Harry thought indignantly.

Burning with curiosity he opened the last present. It was a photo album. Pasted inside were pictures from Harry's school days. There was a picture when Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup two years ago; another picture which showed Harry, Ron and Hermione seated at a table laughing.

He read the letter.

Dear Harry,

I know I haven't sent you any presents before; but I thought that you might need some cheering up. So I contacted Colin and borrowed his pictures of you. I hope you like it.

                                                                                                Love

                                                Ginny

Harry smiled faintly at this. Ginny Weasley was Ron's sister, the youngest in the family. She had a crush on him since her first year and was prone to blushing furiously whenever he spoke to her. But as of late she had appeared to have conquered her emotions. She even had managed to keep up a conversation with him without any blushing. However he was touched by the present and she was right. It had cheered him up. It reminded him of his happier times at Hogwarts. Besides all of his presents were connected to Quidditch, and even though he loved the sport, he did like other tings in life.

He quickly got some parchment and his quill out. He wrote some answers to his birthday letters.

Dear Hermione

Thanks for the cake and dress robes. I got some cool presents, from Ron, Hagrid and Sirius. Personally I don't think travelling in Bulgaria alone is such a good idea. However take good care, be careful and don't worry about me. I'm fine. Give my love to Sirius.

Harry

He tied this letter to Hedwig's leg. "Get this to Hermione okay?"

She hooted, pecked his hand lovingly and she flew off.

Harry thought a bit before writing Ron's letter. He had to thank Ginny about the present. It was good manners wasn't it? He bent his head down and started scribbling.

Ron,

Don't worry about me. Hermione is in Bulgaria with her parents and are staying with Krum.

I still don't think it's such a good idea for her to be travelling these days. However Sirius is with her, so I think she'll be okay.

Why do you support the Cannons? They never win!

Say thanks to Gin for the present. I'd have sent her a thank you letter except that Hedwig's away and Pig won't keep still. What do you feed him? Anyway see you at Daigon Alley.

Harry

He tied this letter to Pigwidgeon, who hooted executed one last zoom around the room and flew out of the window.

He then wrote the last letter to Sirius.

Sirius

I'm okay and before you ask, NO, my scar hasn't been hurting me again. Thanks for the presents, they're great! Love to you and Moony. Take care and Take care of Hermione as well.

                                                                                                Harry

He tied the letter to Sirius's owl, and it flew off.

Harry watched it go, the feeling of loneliness returning. He returned to his books and attempted to master the theory of a invisibility charm.

Harry awoke next morning with great excitement. He couldn't wait till the end of summer when he would finally get away from the Dursleys. He wouldn't have to see them till the next summer. If he survived till next summer he reminded himself with a frown. It didn't pay to get too optimistic or too pessimistic either.

Harry sighed. He wished that Dumbeldore would allow him to go to the Burrow.

He resumed his reading, as an old woman, living in a house a couple of streets away, observed him through her binoculars. She could clearly make out his frown of concentration as he flipped through the pages.

"He looks so much like his father…." she muttered to herself in a soft voice.

Harry woke up next morning to find his face covered in ink. How did that get there? Then he remembered he had fallen asleep on his quill.

Bloody hell! He swore and busied himself cleaning the ink of his face. Once that was done he hurried downstairs for breakfast.

There was Vernon, his uncle, who looked like a walrus. He even had an identical moustache. Then there was his aunt, Petunia, who had a long neck which she used to peep into the neighbours gardens. Finally there was Dudley, who was wider than he was tall. He had been on diet since last year; however it didn't seem to have any effect as he looked the same when Harry last saw him. It was probably because Dudley had bribed the postman to bring him sweets, which he later devoured in his bedroom.

Harry silently finished his breakfast and went up to his room. He wanted to try out his new presents. He was reading The Seeker's Bible when he was distracted by a familiar tap on the window. He looked up and saw an owl he had never seen before. He opened the window and the owl swooped in and landed on Hedwig's perch. It allowed him to remove the parchment that was attached to it's leg. He unrolled the parchment and read the short letter.