As of 6/25/08 I am rewriting this story!!
I'm still going to keep my original author's notes (I think you lose something if you get rid of those when you do rewrites).  At the beginning of each chapter I rework, I will put the current date.  So if you are reading this and get to a chapter without a date, I have not reworked it yet.  --
summary: Harry and Hermione share more than they know.  Troubles at home, a sympathetic Death Eater turned spy, and a quest to destroy good ol' Voldie all mix together for plot that will keep y'all entertained (I hope!). 

And so it begins again- a new story

Disclaimer: I will say this once, and only once. The characters that you recognize from the genius Harry Potter books do not belong to me. Any characters, locations, objects, etc that are familiar in that respect belong to the one and only J.K.R. Any similarities or resemblance of any characters or plot lines to any person or any thing in real life is merely coincidence and should not be taken to the tee.

Okay, now that that is out of the way I never want to have to mention it again- it gets tedious.

Well I've not worked much with HP fanfics but hopefully this one will turn out nicely. It takes place directly after book 5 ends. Yes, Harry might seem a bit too cheery at the beginning being as his godfather just died and all but I really do have my reasons. I was getting a bit sick of fics that concentrated soley on his boohoo me thing. That will be part of this but it will not consume the story. Please r and r…. your time I greatly appreciated. Also I'm looking for a beta- if you can beta this story, please email me at

I would appreciate it

Other than that- enjoy:

The shifts of Fortune test the reliability of friends.
Cicero

--
Dear Harry,

Hello. I hope this is finding you well. I have just returned from a short holiday in France.  It was unbelievable.  The history there (both wizard and muggle) was fascinating.  I could have stayed there for ages.  Did you know the Bibliothèque nationale de France was the first free public library in the world?  I must admit I found this amusing because now you have to pay a fee to access the materials.  We also got to visit the Eiffel tower.  I will never willingly go that high again!!

I know you are probably sick of us asking this, but I must. Are you doing okay? I realize this is a difficult time for you now, but just remember your friends are here for you.

I have some news.  I know this may sound a bit odd, but in a few weeks  my family is moving into a house on Privet Drive. My mother has a sister who lives in a house about ten minutes from Privet Drive. My mother felt that with her sister's recent illness, we would do better to move closer to her. So that will put us on your street soon. Would you care to do anything on Friday the thirtieth? I would really like to see you. Send me an owl back.

Love,
Hermione

Harry finished reading the letter and could not help but smile. He was anxious to see his friends again. After a moment, his smile faded. He could not help but worry that Hermione would try and make him talk about Sirius. Harry wasn't sure if he was ready for this. He shrugged off these unpleasant feelings though and cheered himself with the thought that he was going to be able to see Hermione soon. And it would be the day before his birthday too. It was hard not to feel excited.

A tap on his window drew him out of his thoughts and Harry went to let the owl in. He opened the window and found not one, but two owls carrying a long thin package. Harry's heart surged. It was a broomstick; he'd recognize that shape anywhere. Frantically he ripped open the brown paper covering the broom. A pang of sadness swept over him as he realized it was a Firebolt- his Firebolt- the Firebolt Sirius had bought him. Harry shoved the package away not wanting to deal with emotion-laden memories. No matter how hard he'd tried over the past couple of weeks, Harry was finding it near impossible to keep his mind off of Sirius. When he thought of Sirius, he was hit with a feeling of guilt that would not go away. It was like a constant stomachache. He knew what his friends would say if they found out. They would tell him that it wasn't his fault and that he should not feel this way, but they would not find out, Harry was going to make sure of that.

He stared moodily at the carpeted floor of his small bedroom. How many times had he gone over that scene in his head? Bellatrix standing there triumphantly, the feelings hitting Harry as Lupin pulled him away from the veil- Sirius was really gone. Harry could not begin to count the number of nightmares he had had, replaying the entire event in his head. He could not help asking himself over and over why had he not seen through the trap of Voldemort? Harry knew it was his fault and was prepared to accept that. He just wished acceptance had lessened the feelings of guilt.

A nip on the hand from one of the delivery owls brought him back to the present. It had a note tied to its leg. Harry quickly undid the ties and absentmindedly patted the owl on the head. He unfolded the note and read:

Dear Harry,

We have officially reinstated you on the Quidditch team. The lifetime ban on flying has been lifted and you are now free to play as seeker. Happy holidays.

Sincerely,
Professor Dumbledore
And
Professor McGonnagal

Harry's heart surged. He would be able to fly soon! 'I must write Hermione,' he thought to himself. 'She will be thrilled to know that evil Umbridge lady didn't win.' Smiling to himself and pushing Sirius to the back of his mind, Harry drew out a sheet of parchment and his quill.

Dear Hermione,

Thank you for the letter. I am doing fine. The school sent me a letter delivering me my Firebolt back and telling me that the ban has been lifted. I can be on the team next year! I am very excited. I am also very much looking forward to seeing you on the thirtieth of July. It will be nice to see a friendly face again. These Dursley's aren't much to look at. Give my regards to your family. Can't wait to see you.

Love,
Harry

Harry called over to Hedwig and tied the letter securely to her leg. "Thanks girl," he said, stroking her feathers.

With a soft hoot, Hedwig took to the air, followed by the two delivery owls. Harry watched his faithful owl disappear into the night sky and walked back over to his bed. Sitting down upon it he reflected on what news, he had just received. It felt great to be able to have his broom with him again. But would it feel right riding on the broom Sirius had given him? Not even Malfoy had a Firebolt- just a Nimbus 2001. That was certainly incentive to fly it, especially during games, but Sirius had given it to him. It was hard even to look at it, never mind probably impossible to fly it without being plagued by memories of Sirius. Pushing these thoughts away he tried to focus on the happiness he had felt earlier at finding out that Hermione was coming to Pivet Drive. Harry began smiling again.

Getting up he crossed his room and looked at himself in the mirror. He was a bit nervous after not seeing Hermione for so long. Would she have changed? Had he changed? He glanced at his reflection and smiled at what he saw. He had grown taller, developed more muscle and his voice had gradually deepened.  muscles were becoming more pronounced due to his workouts each morning.

Harry glanced over at his clock. It read three o'clock. He had not been able to sleep although he was quite drowsy. Suddenly a thought hit him- how foolish he had been to reply to Hermione's letter at this hour of the morning. She was sure to think there was something wrong when she received it. Harry had gone to bed early but had been awoken around midnight by an unpleasant dream about Sirius, and now Hermione was probably going to think that he was not doing well. Oh well, he thought, it's not like I can do anything about it now.

With a bit of uneasiness he climbed back into his bed and tried to go to sleep.

a/n as of 25 June 2008

well, this chapter didn't change too much.  I am restructuring the summer, so where Hermione was on Privet Dr right away in my old story, it's going to be awhile before she comes now. 

by the way, I wasn't lying about the library.  It's amazing.  It's massive.  It was truly the first free public library in the whole world

and they truly do charge you to get in now. something like 3 and half Euros, the price may be higher now. 

I find that really funny

There's also this garden that sits low with the buildings of the library surrounding it in a circle; and no public access is allowed to the garden.  It's ridiculous.  So if you want to go to the far building, instead of being able to shave 15 minutes off your trip (not an exaggeration- that place is huge) you have to walk all the way around the garden, which takes like 20 minutes

Hope you guys enjoy the rewrite. 

Please review.

Pretty please.

Like even if it's just a "nice" or "this sucked"

I'll even take an ad hominem, 'cause then at least I know you're reading the story: ie, "you suck" or "you're stupid"

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Original a/n: okay so first chapters up

I'm not really sure if I want to make this a Harry/Hermione fic or a Draco/Hermione fid

It will not, and I repeat, it will nOt be a Ron/Hermione fic

I will soon get a move on with the story

Other than that

If u can beta for me, please email me

If you have opinions or ideas about the direction the story should go, please leave them in your reviews……. Or if u have opinions on who hermione should end up with