Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and characters related to it. Harry Potter and its characters are the intellectual property of the talented J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Scholastic, Raincoast, and Bloomsbury books. Storyline and plot have been developed partially based on the plots, characters and storylines of the first 5 installments of Harry Potter, The Sorceror's Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire and The Order of the Phoenix.
Authors note: This story is based after Order of the Phoenix. Therefore, if you have not FINISHED reading The Order of the Phoenix I would advise you not to read this fan fiction until you have as it is based after Order of the Phoenix. Flames are welcome.
Chapter 1:
Most students found summer holidays the best times of their lives, being able to worry about nothing school related for the whole season was enough for most kids to celebrate. Children could be seen playing in the parks and running up and down the neighborhood streets of Little Whingding, laughing and chattering happily, basking in the warmth of the summer sun. A black haired teenager with spectacles and messy hair was looking out the window of number 4, Privet Drive.
"At least someone else is having a good time," thought Harry Potter.
The name Harry Potter was not at all known in the muggle world by ordinary people, but in the wizarding world, Harry Potter is the boy-who-lived, the boy who had defied the Dark Lord on four separate occasions, the boy who had lived to tell the world of the Dark Lord's return, and there he was, sitting in his bedroom staring out the window, the weight of the world seemingly resting on his shoulders.
Harry had no idea really how he had managed to stay sane for the past 4 weeks. The recent events that he had been through in the past 2 years would have been enough to turn a normal boy insane. 2 years ago he had witnessed the return of the Dark Lord Voldemort, the most powerful and evil wizard that the wizarding world had ever known and he had lived to return to tell the tale, yet, the whole of the past year he was shunned and labeled as a show-off and a maniac by most people save a few that had believed his story. When the world was finally convinced of his words of truth, the price he felt he had to pay was too great to bear, for he had lost the closest thing to a parent he ever had, his godfather Sirius Black.
His heart sank for what felt like the hundredth time during that summer as he thought of his godfather again. Harry hadn't really talked about his feelings to anyone. He still found it too difficult to talk about Sirius and had tried to distract himself for the past month by occupying his time with studying the articles in the Daily Prophet about self defense, which had been printed frequently since the return of the Dark Lord. Harry was surprised though, if not gratified in a way that no reports of muggle attacks or serious dark activity had been reported so far. Still, there were reported sightings of Voldemort supporters rallying in the North of the country, and rumors of dark activity taking place within the community. It seemed though, that no one was really sure of what Voldemort was up to.
Harry had written letters to Ron and Hermione, hoping that they would have had managed to receive some wind on recent events but it seemed that all they knew was as much as he knew.
I can't say we've heard anything here Harry, it seems like You-know-who has decided to keep things quiet for a while after his failure last year. Father says that the ministry is just short of being in chaos, it seems that Fudge isn't doing a very good job on locating You-know-who and getting information on his activities. Don't worry, we'll definitely tell you if we hear anything important.
Ron
"Fudge is messing things up in the ministry, figures," he thought. His letters from Hermione had been more or less the same as Ron's.
I'm sorry Harry I only know as much as you do. I won't hold out on anything after what we made you go through last summer don't worry, but I seriously do not know anything aside from what I hear on the news. I'll tell you if I find out anything alright. Please write to me if you need to talk about, well, what had happened last year. I'm always here to listen.
Hermione
Harry fully appreciated his friend's openness now. They had kept him in a loophole the whole of last summer when Voldemort was at large. This year however, he was sure they would not keep information from him. He also appreciated Hermione's efforts to get him to open up, but every time he thought of writing down what he felt, the hurt he had gone through, the emptiness he felt, he just couldn't put it into words. He was seriously getting tired of Privet Drive and couldn't wait to get away from the place.
It didn't seem all that simple though. He had wanted to write to Professor Dumbledore, asking permission if he could leave Privet Drive and go to the Burrow to spend some time with the Weasleys, but it seemed that Professor Dumbledore had already anticipated his request and he had already received a letter from Remus Lupin, his late parents and godfather's best friend.
I know it's difficult for you to stay at that place Harry, but be patient for a while. Things will work out. Write to me if you ever need to talk okay?
Remus
Harry was touched by his friend's efforts to try and relieve him of the
burden he felt that was weighing down on him like a ton of bricks, but it
seemed so difficult for him to express what he felt. He was as confused
himself, about the state of his emotions. He sincerely wanted to write to them
to try and get the weight off his shoulders but it seemed so difficult to
express himself. Although he had got along with his former professor extremely
well during his third year, he still found it difficult to open up completely
with Remus. He did not know how to explain it himself, but it just wasn't like
talking to Sirius. His heart sank again as he knew he would have liked nothing
better than to talk to Sirius right now, but the man he had come to love as a
surrogate parent was no longer there to give him the advise he so craved. Being
in Privet
Drive
didn't do much to help his state of mind either. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia
were not treating nearly as bad as they would normally for fear of the warnings
that Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus and Mr.Weasley gave Uncle Vernon at
King's Cross at the beginning of the term holidays. Though they did not treat
him as badly as they normally did, they still took every opportunity to blame
him for whatever went wrong in the house just like they did back in his second
year when they were unaware of the fact that he was not allowed to use magic
outside of Hogwarts. More than once, Uncle Vernon had given him stern warnings
on his behaviour,
"Do not, for a moment think that your friends have the right to dictate what you can, or cannot do under my roof. You have long benefited from the generosity your aunt and I have given you, eating food off our table and wearing the clothes we give you………"
The last warning he had received from Uncle Vernon ended with his losing temper at his relatives and storming out of the house without caring about the potential dangers that he might face away from the protection offered to him by the home he had been brought up in. Nothing did happen to him on that particular day but he had learned to be more wary of the dangers that might be present should he be outside the house.
"Just a few more weeks and I'll be able to go back to where I belong. I'll just have to suck it up and bear with it," he thought.
The sky was already darkening and he could see Dudley returning home from his usual day of hanging out with his gang. Dudley had become even more afraid of Harry since his run in with the Dementor last summer. Somehow, he was convinced that Harry had cast a spell on him and he stayed away from Harry the whole summer. Once, there had been a power failure at Privet Drive and the Dursleys were quick to punish Harry whom they thought was responsible for it. The sudden darkness had made Dudley whimper in panic and he very nearly wet himself, remembering his experience with the Dementors. Harry still saw Dudley and his gang every time he fancied a walk away from the house but Dudley made sure that he was nowhere near Harry, or that he even noticed him. Many a time Harry had been tempted to get Dudley to pick a fight with him, but he remembered his godfather's advice the previous summer telling him not to get into trouble. With respect to that, he kept his bitterness with the Dursleys as minimal as he could muster all summer. He could not wait for the moment when he would get to leave Privet Drive again and see his friends. "I hope they get me out of here as soon as possible," he muttered to himself as he set downstairs to oblige his screaming aunt asking him to watch the stew while she answered the phone.
Much later that night, Harry sat by the windowsill in his bedroom, looking longingly out the window up at the clear night sky, hoping for some sign that he would get a message from his friends telling him that he could finally leave this place and join them for the rest of the summer. Harry had taken to staying up late on most nights during the summer, appreciating the peace and quiet that the night offered. It gave him time to relax his mind somewhat. Truth be told, Harry had found that sleeping had become increasingly difficult over the past few weeks due to the nature of his dreams, the constant, repeating one being the night which his godfather was murdered before his very eyes. Many times, Harry had found it hard for him to settle down to sleep as his mind raced with the many emotions that he had been feeling all summer. Often enough, Harry would just stare into the blank emptiness of the night and allow fatigue to take over him before he fell asleep. On this particular night however, Harry noticed a flying object approaching his window. His heart suddenly leapt when he realized that it was an owl approaching his window, and he might finally get his wish, a reply from his friends about whether or not he could join them for the remainder of the summer. However, as the owl approached his window he realized that he did not recognize this particular owl. It perched on his windowsill and he thanked the owl while untying the letter that was tied to its leg. He noticed that it was an official Hogwarts letter and for a moment he thought it might be a letter from Dumbledore.
Harry let out a gasp as he saw what the letter contained. It was his O.W.L results. He had almost forgotten that he had just sat for the Ordinary Wizarding Level tests the previous year, with all that he had been through. "This is………..unbelievable," he thought as he looked through his achievements. There were 14 aspects of O.W.Ls in total it seemed, and the papers were graded both on the practical and the written examinations he had sat for. He was quite amazed with the results he had achieved, considering all that he went through the previous year. He had achieved Acceptables in his practical and written Potions, Herbology, and also the written papers for Astronomy and Transfiguration. He also managed to get Exceeds Expectations on both written and practical Charms, as well as his written Defense Against the Dark Arts paper, and practical Transfiguration. The clinchers were the grades for his Defense Against the Dark Arts practical and Care of Magical Creatures, both which he had earned Outstandings. This had brought his total to 11 O.W.Ls, (He had only managed Poors for his History of Magic, practical Astronomy and Divination, which he did not feel disappointed for in the least) which he had not expected.
He was just wondering about how his friends had done when he spotted another owl flying to his window. This time, he recognized the owl as Pig, his friend Ron's owl. Pig hooted merrily as he delivered the stood on the windowsill for Harry to retrieve the letter and Harry obliged the playful owl while telling him to keep it down as he did not want to wake his aunt and uncle who might already be asleep. He opened Ron's letter and began to read:
Harry,
The O.W.Ls are back. Can you believe it? I got 8 O.W.Ls, that's way better than the twins and way better than I expected. Didn't manage any Outstandings but I'm not complaining. Mum is though, she thought I might have been able to scrape up one or two more O.W.Ls, but she's pleased anyway. I bombed for History of Magic, Astronomy (both papers), Divination, and the written Transfiguration and Potions papers. Probably means I won't do Transfiguration for my N.E.W.Ts. Not that I'm really complaining though. I can't believe I got through practical potions though. Never thought I brewed the damn potion correctly. Anyway there's also another reason why I wrote to you. Dad says that Dumbledore has agreed to let you spend the rest of the summer back at headquarters, seeing that it's the next safest place to Hogwarts and your home right now. Dad didn't tell me how they were going to get you, but he told me to tell you to be ready come evening two days from now. He didn't tell me how he was going to bring you there but Hermione and I will be there, Ginny too. Mum also insisted on coming along. See you in two days Harry.
P.S. Hermione got full O.W.Ls by the way, she's still a little disappointed I think, she only managed 12 Outstandings. If you ask me, I think she's mental.
Ron
He had just finished with Ron's letter and he was feeling happier and more relieved then he had been in the past few weeks. He was going to leave Privet Drive and he would be able to see his friends again. Somehow or rather though, he didn't feel as happy as he thought he would be. He was going back to Grimmauld Place. It would feel empty without Sirius there. He wondered how Sirius had done for his O.W.Ls, and how his father did. He never got a chance to ask Sirius about that, or to talk to Sirius about what he wanted to do after Hogwarts, or the N.E.W.Ts he should take. Sure, he had talked to Professor McGonagall about his future as an Auror, but he had never got Sirius's opinion about the job. He wondered what Sirius would have thought about his results, and what he would have said knowing that he had managed all that with so many other things going on last year. He wondered if his parents would have been proud of his unexpected achievement, would Sirius? These thoughts kept ringing in his head as he buried his head in his pillow, face first, and for the first time throughout the entire summer and even since his godfather passed away, Harry Potter cried himself to sleep.
Authors note: I have no idea on how the O.W.Ls are graded, but this is my best guess, seeing as how Percy got 12 in the second book and there seems to be only 8 subjects. I am assuming that the grades will be given on both practical and written papers. If someone else has any better ideas please share them. Thanks.