l The Ghosts We Can't See - Chapter One l

By: Divineoblivion

l Disclaimer l

No, I don't own Harry Potter; this all belongs to the wonderful J.K Rowling, but I do own my characters.

l Note l

Okay. . this used to be Remie-niscence, but I changed it because I had no idea what my plot was because I had written Remie-niscence along time ago. It drove me mad not knowing what to do so I trashed it. So basically, when I tried continuing it I was kind of winging it. Some things may be the same, but I changed a few things and I have a new plot.

l Pairings l

Ron x Hermione It's so obvious xD. Harry x my other OC? Lupin x another OC? I'll decide or maybe even you guys, it depends what you think of them.

l Chapter One - The New and Unwelcome Neighbors l

The last place on earth Harry wanted to be in was at the Dursley House, and unfortunately, that's exactly where he was. He stirred irritably in his bed as the sun's rays beamed down from the windowsill and awoke him almost instantly, and to his ' good ' fortune, the incandescence was accompanied by Aunt Petunia's unavoidable scolding to get out of bed. He sat up, acquired his circular glasses from the night table that sat by his bedside and did what he was told to do. He stretched for a moment, before the second sonant of Aunt Petunia's voice called from down stairs, and this time she wanted him to come downstairs. Harry grunted with great discomfort and decided to grant his Aunt's desire before she could yell at him thrice. He descended the stairs and entered the kitchen where the three Dursley's sojourned, all of them looking at Harry with every sign of great dislike.

" What? " Harry said grumpily. Aunt Petunia, who was currently frying strips of bacon, shot a nasty look at him.

" Well, make yourself useful. " She spat, shoving the oily spatula into Harry's face. " Not that you can. . " She muttered bitterly to herself as she approached the table and gave Dudley a soft kiss on the forehead. Harry gripped the spatula tightly in his hands, a surge of annoyance suddenly flowing in his veins. He turned the first strip of bacon to its side, as he listened to a commercial about marmalade.

" You're burning it! " Hissed Aunt Petunia who had suddenly appeared out of no where and snatched the spatula out of his hands. Harry backed away from his aunt, decided to take a seat at the table, when the doorbell had rang.

" Package! " Yelled the postman from behind the door.

" Dudley could you please get that. " Said Uncle Vernon who was seemed deeply absorbed with whatever he was reading in the newspaper.

" Make Harry get it! " Dudley whined as he scooped a vast amount of grits into his mouth.

" Harry, you get the door. " Uncle Vernon said, shifting in his seat, not looking at Harry whatsoever.

" Why can't Dudley get it! " Harry yelled.

" Package! " The postman said impatiently, loud foot-tapping noises followed after.

" HARRY, GET THE DOOR! " Roared Uncle Vernon who was now looking from behind the newspaper, his beady little eyes bulging out of his head.

" Fine! " Bellowed Harry who stalked off towards the door, remembering a similar conversation that occurred four years ago.

" Pack- " The postman began, but Harry had opened the door, looking at the postman with an annoyed look. " age.. " The postman finished, an odd smile creasing his lips.

" Sign here," He said, jabbing Harry with the clipboard, pointing his finger at an x that was printed at the bottom of the page. Harry gripped the pen and signed a very sloppy ' Dudley Dursley ' where the man had told him to do so. He handed back the clipboard, while the postman examined his signature.

" Thank you Mister. .Dursley! " The man smiled, handing Harry a large package, which was wrapped neatly with the finest color of periwinkle. Harry almost dropped it due to the its size and hefty weight. He regripped the package firmly in his arms and watched as the postman climbed back into his Muggle vehicle.

" Yeah, whatever.. " Harry muttered to himself while he took a look at the house standing in front of the Dursley's. Planted on the green, refurbished grass was a sign that read ' for sale ' which was obscured by a red sticker with white letters that said ' sold. ' Harry wondered who had moved out and who was going to move in. He gave the sign another inquisitive glance before the third sound of Aunt Petunia's voice interrupted his curiosity.

" Well " Said Aunt Petunia, who was peaking from the kitchen. " Who's it from? "

Harry eyed the package absent-mindedly.

" Oh.. postman.. package. " He bemused, approaching the kitchen while he kicked the door shut. Aunt Petunia gave him an odd look of disgust and continued frying the bacon. Harry climbed into a seat at the breakfast table, coursing the package towards Uncle Vernon. Still curious, Harry gave a quick glance at the window that viewed the house with the sold sign and turned to Uncle Vernon, who at the moment neglected the package.

" Say.. " Harry began, pointing at the house. " Who moved.. and who's moving in? "

Uncle Vernon looked sideways from behind his newspaper and actually put it down to take a better look.

" How should I know? " He spat, straightening up his newspaper and continued to read. Harry muttered angrily under his breath and set aside his curiosity about the house with the sold sign, and instead turned his attention upon the package. In the middle of the package was a somewhat sloppy and girlish handwriting, which Harry recognized immediately. It belonged to Hermione Granger's, one of Harry's best friends, and it read:

Harry Potter

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

' No wonder Uncle Vernon overlooked it ' Harry thought to himself. He snatched the package from the table and got up, doing so, he caught Dudley's eye. Harry smirked to himself, as his cousin stared at him and his package with visible, and pathetic jealousy.

Harry ascended the stairs, opened the door to his room, and found Pigwidgeon carrying a package, which was almost the same size as Hermione's. He dropped it recklessly upon Harry's bed and squawked loudly with jubilant delight.

" Shut that bloody bird up! " Harry heard Uncle Vernon howl. Harry shook his head and shot a cold look at the tiny, gray minute owl called Pigwidgeon.

" Keep it down Pig! " He hissed venomously and threw Pigwidgeon a dead mouse from a tray beneath Hedwig's vacant cage. Pigwidgeon gobbled it down almost at once, whizzed around the room twice and zoomed into Hedwig's cage where he soon was in a state of slumber. Harry approached his bed to take a better look at the package Pigwidgeon delivered, with Hermione's still at hand. The package was obviously from the Weasley's because one, Pigwidgeon had delivered it and two, he recognized Ron's sloppy penmanship. Harry's arm began to ache as he set down Hermione's heavy package. He decided to open hers first and expected a healthy stack of books. He was wrong, it was just only one book, and a very large one at that. It was entitled ' Quidditch Teams Around the World ' Harry examined the cover excitedly and picked it up from the box, revealing a very flattened envelope at the very bottom. He sat down on his bed, set the Quidditch book on his lap, which weighed down heavily amongst his somewhat scrawny legs and unfolded the envelope.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday!

Please enjoy the gift, I thought this might cheer you up since you're back on the Quidditch team.

Sorry I had to send it by Muggle post, as you may know, it's rather large and I assumed that the owls

couldn't handle such a heavy package.

I do hope that the Muggles are treating you fairly. Remember, if they're not, just give us a call.

We're all here at Grimmauld Place waiting for you. We won't be able to pick you up, but a family who has

just been recruited to the Order will accompany you here.

Take Care,

Hermione

All the excitement and happiness seemed to have drained away from Harry. He reread ' Grimmauld Place ' over and over, feeling quite offended and defensive. He knew Hermione hesitated at the word ' Grimmauld ' because there was a very salient smudge. He crumpled the letter in his hands, growing quite red in the face. ' How dare they continue using Sirius's house as the Order's hideout! ' He thought angrily to himself. He swatted the periwinkle box, from his bed and thrust himself onto his mattress. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, tears welling in his eyes while he attempted to suppress his anger. He squeezed the rumpled parchment in his fist as the tears failed to restrain. He sat back up, wiping away the freshly shed moisture from his eyes and threw the parchment onto the floor. He took a deep breath and turned to the Weasley's package. He opened it with no haste, nor excitement. Unlike Hermione's, the letter was at the top of the package. He held the envelope unstably in his hands and unfolded it.

Happy Birthday Harry!

I'm pretty sure Hermione wrote to you about a family who was going to escort you.. to you know where.

I hope you're doing okay, can't wait to see you again.

Ron

Harry stared at the letter for a few seconds and set it aside. He looked into the box, which was filled with several Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills, Fizzing Whizbees, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and every treat imaginable. With what looked like a great, yet painful effort, Harry smiled. He lay back down in his bed and began reading ' Quidditch Teams Around the World. ' Time to time Harry took a go at a few Licorice Wands. Everything seemed quite tranquil, Harry even actually believed that the Dursley's had gone and left the house, but he was wrong. To his misfortune, the fourth sound of Aunt Petunia's voice had filled his room. He sat up, growing very annoyed now, who wouldn't though? He staggered towards the stairways and headed inside the kitchen, where he found Uncle Vernon and Dudley watching some Muggle sport that was currently on.

" What? " He said, looking for this aunt. Aunt Petunia appeared from the sink with a newly filled watering can, shoving it into Harry's chest; a good bit of it slopped onto his shirt.

" I want you to water the Hydrangea Bushes. " She instructed bitterly, returning to the kitchen to patrol something that was baking in the oven. Harry nodded without complaint, seeing as though this was a good opportunity to take another peep at the house with the sold sign at front. He took a look at the sky first, taken aback by its darkening appearance. He realized that he must have read for quite a long period of time, ' nine hours at the most ' he thought. Harry felt quite sluggish, seeing that he had only read about a third of the Quidditch book. Next he examined the house, and to his surprise the people moving in were already there. He tilted the watering can slightly so that a few droplets of water poured down from the maw and onto the scorched Hydrangea Bushes. For a moment, the Hydrangea Bushes seemed to have sprung to life. Deemed from the sun's torrid rays and relieved with a douse of cold water, the leaves seemed to have sprung up on end. Harry didn't bother to notice; instead he was trying to get a better look at the figure standing in the middle of the road, who seemed to be wearing a very pointed hat, a witches hat. Harry gasped, covering his mouth with his freehand, tilting the watering can further with the other.

" Take that hat off! " Yelled a woman's voice. " Muggles could be watching! " The women hissed as she cuffed the hat out of the girl's head.

" Sorry mum. " He heard the girl apologize gruffly, as she gingerly rubbed the spot to where her mother had knocked the hat off. Harry gave a small croak of both interest and confusion. ' Muggle? ' He asked himself. Harry was certain these people were of the magical lot, and then it nipped him in the ear. ' Could these be the people who would be escorting me to Grimmauld Place? ' It pained him to think about it, but this wasn't the only thing nipping him in the ear. Aunt Petunia had pulled him back from the window. Without notice, the droplets of water pouring from the can soon thickened into a waterfall.

" You're over watering them! " She hissed as she jostled Harry aside. She took a peek at her precious Hydrangea Bushes to see if they were okay. Harry rubbed his ear, glaring at Aunt Petunia who was now taking a look at the new neighbors.

" Vernon! The new neighbors have arrived! " She whispered, somewhat excitedly to Uncle Vernon, who at moment was engrossed with the television. He stood up a few minutes later and made his way towards the window, Harry following afterwards, but Dudley, being who he his, pushed Harry out of the way, snickered maliciously to himself and took Harry's spot as the third spectator. Harry cursed hexes under his breath, rubbed his arm where Dudley had rammed into and attempted to take a look out the window. It was no use, apparently, Dudley's head was too big to overlook, infact his head was too big to begin with. Giving up, Harry decided to go upstairs. He heard Uncle Vernon say, with a few signs of envy, " Look at the car they have! " Harry shook his head. Maybe the new neighbors weren't witches or wizards, maybe his ears were deceiving him. He arrived at his room and flung himself onto his bed at once. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before dozing off. The last thing he heard was Aunt Petunia, Dudley, and Uncle Vernon ascending the stairs. His Uncle muttering something about not liking them already.