Disclaimer: I tried calling JKR about selling me the rights to Harry Potter, but she didn't pick up.

I'll try tomorrow again... Till then, I do not own Harry Potter :|

Summary: Starts during the summer before Harry's Fifth year. Harry's stuck at the Dursley's and is pissed because none of his friends are giving him any information about Voldemort's activities. He gets a letter from a certain someone whom he met at the end of last year and an unexpected visitor in the middle of the night. Things change...

Pairing: Harry Potter/Tracey Davis (subject to change)

Chapter 1

The Letter

We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously… We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray… We're quite busy but I can't give you details here… There's a fair amount going on, we'll tell you everything when we see you…

These words reverberated in Harry's mind as he sat alone on the bed in his room. He'd tried all types of ways to get some idea about what was going on, even going as far as nicking muggle newspapers out of bins, but the end result was the same: He still knew nothing.

As far as Harry could tell from the vague hints in their letters, Hermione and Ron were at the same place, presumably at Ron's parents' house. He could hardly bear to think of the pair of them having fun at The Burrow while he was stuck at Privet Drive.

He stretched a little and decided to lie down and try his best to go to sleep. However, it was easier said than done. Ever since he had witnessed Cedric Diggory's death in the graveyard, he had been having horrific nightmares about the killing curse hitting Cedric and also some about Voldemort's rebirth.

As soon as he was lying down and was about to close his eyes, he heard a flutter of wings outside the window. Thinking that it was Hedwig returning from her night-time hunting, he decided to pay no heed. However, when he looked up after a few moments, there was a brown owl at the foot of his bed, carrying a letter.

Harry was a little surprised by this. He wondered whose owl it was as he hadn't seen the owl before. He knew for a fact that none of his closest friends owned an owl like that.

He moved towards the owl and then untied the letter from the bird's leg. The owl was still in the same position. Harry looked on in confusion and opened the letter. He read:

Hi Harry,

Here's my first owl to you. I really don't have much to say, but I know you must be having a hard time after the tournament.

With Voldemort having returned, I can't help but feel very scared Harry, and you are the only person to whom I could speak about this.

I for one can't wait to get back to Hogwarts. Hope to see you there soon.

Stay well and stay safe. Also, do write back if you find yourself with some spare time.

Lisa

P.S: The owl's name is Henna. She won't leave until you give her an owl treat. Please do so. Thanks and sorry for the trouble.

He quickly got an owl treat which he used to keep in storage for Hedwig. He was happy that she was out hunting, as he highly doubted that she would enjoy sharing her treats with another owl. As soon as he had given Henna the treat, she flew out of the window.

He then sat back on his bed and stared at the letter in his hands. He had completely forgotten about the meeting with Lisa at the end of last year. However, it wasn't long before it all came back to him and he remembered how the encounter had taken place.

FLASHBACK

Harry was walking down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express to his compartment. Suddenly he heard a voice call out "Hey, Potter."

Harry looked around to see a pretty raven haired girl standing just behind him. He couldn't guess her name, but could tell from her robes that she was in Ravenclaw.

He responded, "Hey. Hi."

The girl stated, "I don't think we have ever met properly. My name is Lisa Turpin and I am a Ravenclaw from your year."

With that she put out her hand and Harry shook it. She spoke again, "Potter, I was wondering whether I could have a word with you."

Harry had no idea where this was going. He replied uncertainly, "Sure. And please call me Harry."

Lisa smiled at him, "As you wish, Harry. I need to get something off my chest. Could you spare a moment and step into my compartment?"

Harry gave her an incredulous look. Lisa saw the look on his face and got wind of his gesture.

She immediately asserted, "Stop giving me that look, Harry. I only meant to say that I needed to talk to you about something important."

Harry tried to defend himself, "Well uh... I didn't ... I mean... Oh forget it."

With that, he walked into the compartment and she walked in behind him.

She shut the door and said, "Harry, actually I wanted to apologize to you."

Harry was even more confused on hearing this. He asked, "For what?"

Lisa replied, "For not believing you, when you said that you did not put your name in the Goblet of Fire."

Harry immediately realized where this was going. He responded, "Its okay, Lisa. I don't really care if you were wearing one of those stinker badges. They didn't bother me much."

Lisa spoke again, "But I wasn't wearing those badges, Harry. It's just that I didn't believe you."

Harry was surprised by this. This wasn't what he had been expecting.

Lisa continued, "Like I said, this was something that I wanted to get off my chest from a long time. I saw you when you appeared outside the maze with the dead body of Cedric in your arms. Something changed me back there. The look on your face said it all. Since then, I have been feeling really guilty because I hadn't believed in you."

Harry nodded in response. This was followed by an awkward period of silence until Lisa spoke again, "So, I guess you'll be having a busy summer, what with You-Know-Who being back and all."

Harry was a little taken aback by this. He stuttered, "Err ... wait... so you do believe me about Voldemort's return?"

Lisa replied assuredly, "Of course I do, Harry. And I also do believe that if someone can stand up to him, it's you!"

Harry was pleased to hear this and uttered out a small, "Thanks" in response. There were only a few people who believed him about Voldemort's return, and he was happy that another name had been added to that list.

Lisa spoke again, "So, I guess that does it. I feel much better, now that I have spoken to you. Thanks for forgiving me, Harry."

Harry responded, "Please don't you worry about it, Lisa. It wasn't that big a deal."

With that he made his way towards the door. Before he could reach, Lisa spoke again from behind,

"Harry, you are a wonderful guy. The stupid rumors about you are totally unfair. I know that you might be busy, but… uh ... would you mind if I owled you in the summer?"

He replied nonchalantly, "Nope. No problem at all''

Lisa gave him a smile and soon both of them went their own way.

END FLASHBACK

As soon as he got back to reality from his thoughts, he quietly put the letter on the sidetable of his bed.

Although he hadn't expected Lisa to owl, he was happy to have received the letter nonetheless. It was a welcome change from all the useless crap which his friends had been sending him.

Harry couldn't make up his mind whether to reply to her or not. Finally he decided that he'd do it the next morning.

With a huge yawn, he fell back on his bed and dozed off for another night of beautiful nightmares.

Harry got up the next morning to the barks of his uncle from the ground floor,

"Boy, get down here and cook us our breakfast!"

Harry quickly scurried out of bed, freshened up a little and headed downstairs. Within a few moments, he was making bacon and eggs for the entire Dursley family.

His uncle was getting impatient, "Hurry up, boy! I need to get to office on time. Everyone's not a lazy and good for nothing fool like your father."

Dudley snickered at this and Harry felt his blood boil with anger. He thought about beating both Vernon and Dudley to death with a frying pan, but he controlled his emotions.

He quickly made the breakfast and served it on the table. Vernon gave him a death glare and stated, "From tomorrow onwards, make sure that the breakfast is ready on time, you foolish boy."

Harry didn't even bother to respond. He quickly ate the small portion of bacon and eggs that he had served for himself, and left the table.

He headed up to his room and settled down on his bed. He was going to grab his copy of 'Quidditch through the ages' for passive reading, when his gaze fell upon the letter on his bed's sidetable.

He grabbed the letter instead and went through it once again. He decided to compose a reply. After spending a good hour on it, he finally had a reply ready.

Hey Lisa,

I wasn't really expecting you to write, but I have to say that I am rather pleased that you did.

Well these days aren't that great, but I manage to live through them.

As for the letter, thanks for your concern; I will look out for any trouble. Also, don't you feel afraid, be brave, nothing will happen to you.

And do keep writing in and perhaps even tell me a bit about yourself, if you don't mind doing so.

Waiting to hear back from you!

Harry

He folded the letter and gave it to Hedwig. Hedwig had returned late in the night from her hunt, and wasn't too pleased on being given a letter to be delivered so early in the morning.

She gave a loud hoot to indicate her displeasure and flew out of the window. Harry sighed and sat back on his bed. He took out 'Quidditch through the ages' and began reading it for the umpteenth time.

Harry spent the next couple of days mostly in his room, only going to the ground floor to either prepare breakfast or have his meals. His mood had turned from bad to worse. He had even stopped looking out for news regarding Voldemort's activities, as he was now convinced that there was none to be found. He was also aware that his birthday was coming in a week, and he didn't find the idea of spending it in a locked room very appealing.

On the morning of the third day however, when he got back to his room after preparing breakfast, he saw Henna sitting on the foot of his bed.

After giving her an owl treat, Harry sat back and opened the letter. He read:

Hey Harry,

Your owl was looking quite displeased when she arrived at my place. Hope nothing is bothering you too much. Is there anything that I can do to help?

Harry, I don't know how you handle all of this. I've heard a lot about you from Neville, who is a close family friend. He can't stop raving about you. At first I felt he was exaggerating a lot, but now I guess that you deserve it. I just hope all this doesn't start getting on your nerves.

As for me, I'm quite the simpleton, and people in my house actually call me 'Plain Jane'. I mostly like reading books and all. I haven't faced many dangers in life like you, but I guess I could be bold enough.

Like I mentioned in the previous letter, I can't wait for the vacations to get over. See you soon.

Lisa

Harry read and then re-read the letter. Lisa appeared to be a Ravenclaw version of Hermione. However, at least she did not seem to be as bossy as his female best friend.

He took out his quill and began writing immediately,

Hey Lisa,

As regards your question, all I can say is that I stay with my Muggle relatives who are vile people. I just can't wait to get out of here. Sometimes I do envy your simple life. As you may be aware, I haven't ever been fortunate enough to live simple.

Neville's your close family friend, really? Well, he failed to mention that. He's a fine guy. I didn't know he speaks about me so much. Well I guess that's a good thing, now that I've got a good friend in you.

Well there's something bothering my mind too. I haven't been able to keep up with the news in the Wizarding World. I do get the Daily Prophet but it hasn't published anything about Voldemort's return. Have you noticed something out of the ordinary? Has there been anything in some other publication? If you come across anything, please let me know.

Harry

Harry gave the letter to Hedwig who then few off with it. He watched her fly away and then sat down so that he could complete some of his Transfiguration homework. As he had got a lot of time with nothing to do, he had already completed majority of his homework in other subjects.

He couldn't help but feel like a loser, when he realized that completing his homework was the only thing that he had done in the past few days.

The night before his birthday, Harry got a reply from Lisa. He quickly opened the letter and read:

Hey Harry,

Neville is a rather dear friend and even I wish that he had mentioned me sooner. I usually spend part of the summer with him and his grandmother. I guess I'll be going there in a few days.

There's no mention of You-Know-Who in the Daily Prophet. He seems to be keeping a low profile and there have been no attacks so far. But there are these crap articles being published about you. The next letter I am going to pen down is to their editor. I can't believe their outrageous behaviour.

I will owl you if I come across any further news.

Lisa

Harry was quite surprised when he read the part about the slanderous articles about him. He quickly took out a couple of Daily Prophets from under his floorboard and glanced through them.

He used to just skim through the front page of the Prophet, expecting that any news about Voldemort will certainly be first page news. Because of that, he'd failed to notice the articles being printed about him on the back pages. As he read the articles, his face became red with rage.

The Prophet was trying to make him look like an attention-seeking brat. He felt like drowning the editor into a cauldron full of Hippogriff poop. He also wondered as to why Ron or Hermione had failed to mention the slander in their letters.

However, after reading a few articles, his temper subsided as he realized his complete helplessness in the situation. He put all the copies of the Prophet away, swearing to himself that he would burn them, whenever he got the chance. He took out his quill in order to reply to Lisa.

Just then, he heard a loud bark from outside his window. He got up from his bed and headed towards the window. When he looked out, he nearly fell out of the window in shock.

Standing near the door of the house, right next to his Uncle Vernon's car, was a shaggy black dog.

(A/N: Well, hope that you liked it.

I'm contemplating ideas about how to introduce Tracey into the picture. Any suggestions regarding that would be welcome.

Thanks for reading! Please review...

P.S: Am working on the final chapter of 'The Wrong Choice'. It should be up in a couple of days.)