Harry Potter and the Time of Change
By: Bethy Ann
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter unfortunately.
Summary: Harry discovers that he must train in order to kill Voldemort. During the summer set after the 5th book. New people, new discoveries, and love is shared all around. Ginny/Harry, Hermione/Ron, and a little bit of Remus/Tonks.
AN: I am proud to write another Harry Potter story. This time I know what is going to happen and I have the last chapter written. It will be long but 50 chapters long. So please tell me what you think. Also, I am at a lost for the title for this story so if any of you have any suggestions please tell me.
Chapter 1
The sun illuminated a tall, skinny, malnourished boy. He was sleeping fitfully; tossing and turning. His covers were strewn all over the floor. There was a trunk open at the end of the bed with clothes haphazardly thrown in a hurry. On his desk was a cage with the door open. There was a floorboard that was a bit crooked near the bed. The boy turned and you could see his face. His face was scrunched up in pain and there was a bright red lightening bolt scar on his forehead. He looked troubled and aged; like he has seen stuff that no ordinary teenage boy should see. But this boy was no ordinary teenager. He was Harry Potter; the Boy who Lived in the magical world. He was famous because when he was just one years old he destroyed Lord Voldemort. The boy twitched in his sleep and woke up with a start.
Harry was breathing heavily from his continuous nightmare. Over and over it played in his mind while he slept. It haunted him to no end. It was always Sirius taunting Bellatrix at the ministry and Sirius falling into the veil. Then at the end, Sirius, his Mum and Dad, and Cedric taunted him and asked him why he didn't save them. Harry was replying the nightmare in his head thinking, it was my fault. Then the prophecy came into his mind, either Voldemort dies or I die. I don't want to die, I want to have a normal life and date Ginny. Date Ginny? He pushed the thought out of his head and got up.
"Boy! Get off your little ass and get down here," Uncle Vernon yelled up the stairs.
Harry sighed and thought, it's going to be a long day. He grudgingly got up and dressed in the over sized clothes that Dudley used to wear. He went downstairs and in the kitchen he saw Aunt Petunia cutting up some fruit.
"I want you to cut the weeds out in the garden and trim the bushes. Oh, Vernon put some paint in the garage so you can paint the fence," Aunt Petunia said in her snobbish voice.
"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry said and made his way to the garage to get his supplies.
He didn't mind being outside in the sun. It felt nice on his back but it did get awfully hot during the day. He kneeled on the ground and started pulling the weeds out and putting it in the bucket. He fell into a routine and he didn't have to think about what he was doing.
Gardening usually got his upper arms strong and he liked it. But how can I, a scrawny skinny boys kill Voldemort, Harry thought? He had no idea and he wanted to do something to change that. But how could he become strong and in shape? You can run, duh, his conscious said. I could run and I also could strengthen my arms and my torso. Maybe I'll start tomorrow, Harry thought and with that he smiled while he worked.
When Harry was done with all the outside chores, he went back inside and changed out of his sweaty clothes. Since he worked through lunch he cautiously made his way to the kitchen. He heard nothing, no noise coming from anywhere. Where is everyone? Harry wasn't complaining so he went to the fridge and took out the leftovers that they ate last night. He got a fork and ate the brown rice with the vegetables in it. He ate slowly and tasted every bite. He finished the food that was in the small Tupperware and found the meat. The salmon wasn't that big but it was more then he ever got. When he was done eating he washed the containers, dried them, and put them away.
Harry went back upstairs and started pacing around his room. While he was eating he thought, how can I get in shape when I don't eat enough? I'd probably keel over and die. Maybe…maybe I could go to Mrs. Fig's house and ask for food. That could work but she might tell the order and I don't want them to know what I'm doing. Dumbledore has done enough to ruin my life so far. He thinks I'm just a kid but how could I when the world is in my hands? Harry shook his head and started pulling out his dirty clothes in his trunk. He saw his books at the bottom and realized that it wasn't just endurance to kill Voldemort but knowing spell work and using the spell correctly.
He had all his books from his first year to now. Maybe he could read them all and see what he missed. He took out all his books and just put it from first year to fifth year. He would read the first year books first and work up. He figured the Dursleys' went out so he got a couple of snacks from the pantry and started reading.
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Ron was beyond pissed. He woke up with something sticky covering his whole body. He knew it was from George and Fred. They wanted to make Ron miserable or just to pick on him. He got up and went to take a shower. He was wondering when Hermione would return his letter. He knew he couldn't tell her how he felt because he was "self absorbed and a big headed git". That is what Ginny told him and if he wanted to win Hermione's heart he would have to change the way he thought. He could do it; he could change just for Hermione. He would start his homework today and he would become serious about school. He would do that for Hermione. He also wanted to change for Harry too even though he was the sidekick, he would act like a hero too. He would start training on wand work start exercising. Harry would be surprised when he comes to the Burrow for the summer.
He got out of the shower and tied the towel around his waist. He went to his room and got some clean clothes from his trunk. He grabbed his dirty clothes from the floor and went to the chute. He threw his clothes down the chute and made his way downstairs to the kitchen.
"Why look who decided to join us," Ginny said.
"Ron! Come sit down and have some breakfast," Mrs.Weasley said.
Ron sat down at the table and filled his plate with some pancakes. He took a couple of sausage and started eating. He could tell that Ginny was surprised that he was taking his time eating. It usually took him about five minutes to finish breakfast but today it took him about fifteen minutes.
"Thanks Mum, they were delicious," Ron said and gave her a good morning kiss.
"Why your welcome Ron," Mrs. Weasley said surprised at Ron's behavior.
Ron went up to his room and he sat on his bed. Where should he start? He started to go through his trunk and decided to start with his homework. He started with the easiest which was History of Magic. It was only a page and it took him only ten minutes. He then proceeded to do Transfiguration and Potions. In an hour he was done and he was amazed. If he read the text first, he understood it and it didn't take him long to do his essays.
Now the training, though Ron. Where should I start? Well, I never did well my first year so I guess I should start there. He read for a couple hours until he heard his name getting called. He ran downstairs and he saw Bill sitting at the table eating lunch.
"Bill! What are you doing here?" Ron asked, surprised that Bill was at home instead of work.
"I decided to tell you guys that I am now working at Gringotts. I got a promotion in work," Bill said.
"Why that's wonderful Bill! I'm so proud of you," Mrs. Weasley said and kissed him on the cheek.
Bill blushed a bit and said to Ron, "Where were you? You were pretty quiet up there."
"I was doing my homework and studying," Ron said.
Ginny looked at him unconvinced and Bill looked surprised. Ginny thought Ron was lying when she remembered what she told Ron and smiled knowingly.
Bill opened his mouth to speak but Mrs.Weasley cut him off saying, "That's wonderful Ron! Are you done yet?"
"I finished my homework hours ago, now I'm just reading. Well, I'm reading my textbooks to get a better understanding in my studies so I can do better," Ron said.
Ron had finished having lunch and said, "May I be excused?"
"Sure dear, you go finish studying," Mrs. Weasley said proudly.
Ron left and the others all stated their replies about how Ron had changed since he got home only a couple days ago. All Ron did was read all his schoolbooks, forgetting all about Hermione's reply letter that never came.
TBC