Title: Whisper on a Stream (1/?)
Author name: darkforest214
Category: Drama, Angst
Spoilers: Books 1 through 5
Rating: PG
Summary: Um, well it's Harry's 6th year and some surprises await him (as does danger).
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Aka... I own nothing (except for a few characters...my little first years and a few others I won't mention just yet...)

Chapter One
Dead Man's Touch

Bitterness, sadness, anger and blame; It was only the second week of summer, and a short time after his Godfather's death, but Harry Potter was feeling all of these things as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Another dull day had lead to another sleepless night.

Harry wished there was a way to ease his pain; his guilt. He couldn't talk to his Aunt and Uncle about this, nor could he talk to his insensitive cousin. He had talked to his best friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, but they didn't understand. Nobody did. The only person Harry could think of that would know what he was going through was gone. Only Sirius Black, the falsely accused mass murderer and Harry's Godfather would know. He had gone through the same thing when two of his best friends, and Harry's parents, had been murdered by the evil Lord Voldemort.

Harry had lost so much to the Dark Lord already. Why did he have to kill my parents almost sixteen years ago? Why did he try to kill me and fail? Why does he continue to try and kill me year after year? Why am I stuck at my muggle Aunt and Uncle's house? All these questions passed through his head, and he had discovered the answer to at least two of them. Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, had answered two of those questions, but those answers only brought more questions and confusion. Harry didn't die because his mother had died trying to save him, her love was the reason he lived. He had to stay with his muggle relatives because of some protection they offered, although Harry was unsure of what. Dumbledore's answer was not clear.

Many horrible thoughts had been racing through his head since summer had started. At least when he was in school his mind was occupied with his school work. Now, all he could think of was his Godfather and when he would receive any new news from the wizarding world. So far, he had received nothing new, an occasional letter from Ron and Hermione, but that was it. Harry miserably rolled over onto his side and stared at Hedwig's empty cage. He hadn't seen his snowy owl for three days, but he wasn't worried. She liked to stay away from the Dursley's house as much as possible during the summer. After a while Harry managed to drift off into a restless sleep, reliving the night Sirius died in his dreams.

Harry was awakened early in the morning by a tapping and scratching sound on his window. He rolled over, grabbed his glasses and put them on. He looked at the clock, "Damn," he muttered, "Hedwig, its 4:30 in the morning!" he complained as he slowly rolled out of bed. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" he said as the tapping continued. He opened the window and moved out of the way just in time. A large barn owl flew in and landed on top of Hedwig's cage.

"You're not Hedwig!" Harry said, surprised at the appearance of such a large owl that he had never seen before. He moved away from the open window and took the letter from the owl and allowed him to drink from Hedwig's water dish. But instead of leaving he stayed, as if waiting for a return reply from Harry.

"I'm reading it. Can't you see?" Harry said irritably when the large owl let out a rather loud 'hoot'. "Keep quiet, or you'll wake the Dursleys."

Harry sat on the edge of his bed and read the letter, recognizing Hermione's neat handwriting right away:

Dear Harry,

Sorry about the large owl, it was the only one available at the time. I've got some news! I'm sure you'll be hearing about it from Ron as well, but in case haven't heard already... Hogwarts is getting a foreign exchange student! She's coming from America, although Ron insists it'll be a he. We don't know yet, but we'll find out soon enough. I don't know who will be housing her this summer. She (or he) is coming in a week. Ron and I were going to try and meet her (or him) at the train station, but only if you can be there. Please let me know if you can come.

Hermione

'An exchange student...that could be interesting,' Harry thought. He got up from the edge of his bed and went over to his desk, he pulled out a quill and a bit of parchment and wrote:

Hey Hermione,

First of all...its 4:30 in the morning! I was asleep for once... Anyways, using the excuse of an exchange student to see you guys would be a great idea. But I don't really want to risk asking my Aunt and Uncle if I can come. Besides, I think they have plans (which don't include me of course). Let me know if you hear anything new.

Harry

He let the ink dry before rolling up the bit of parchment and tying it to the large owl's leg. With a quiet 'hoot' the owl flew out the window and into the night. Harry turned out the light and crawled back into bed. Unable to fall back asleep, Harry lay on his back and stared at the ceiling until he heard noises coming from the kitchen. Those noises were soon combined with smells of cooking breakfast and the sound of Dudley trying to get dressed.

"Dudley darling, breakfast is ready." Harry heard Aunt Petunia call out in a sweet voice. "HARRY GET DOWN HERE!" she added, only this time, her voice harsh and shrill.

Harry waited until he heard Dudley stomping down the stairs before leaving the "safety" of his room. He went down the stairs slowly, knowing that it would annoy his uncle and irritate his aunt.

"What took you so long, Boy?" Uncle Vernon asked loudly. "Don't just stand there, go fetch the mail," he demanded, not waiting for an answer. Harry went and collected the mail. Almost every morning of the last two weeks had started this way, why should this Monday be any different?

Looking through the letters, bills and an ad for a sale at a big department store, he noticed that one of the letters was postmarked from America. He was pondering it as he entered the kitchen. "Looking through our mail, Boy?" Uncle Vernon snapped, drawing Harry from his thoughts.

"No, I was just checking to see if I had any mail," Harry lied. Uncle Vernon glared at Harry as he snatched the mail out of his hands, all the mail except for one piece.

"Why would you get any mail?" Dudley asked snobbishly.

"Because I have friends that live with muggles and don't own an owl." Harry said plainly. He knew he'd get reactions from them, not only had he mentioned that he had friends, but he mentioned muggles and owls as well. Dudley's hand went unconsciously to his large bottom, Aunt Petunia clenched her teeth and pursed her lips, and Uncle Vernon's face started to turn purple. Harry smiled inwardly, their reactions were normal, but he still liked to make them nervous.

"Do not mutter that filthy word in my house." Uncle Vernon said through clenched teeth.

Harry gave a cynical smile, "What word? Muggles?" he said sarcastically, his smile grew, "or magic?"

Vernon was now a deep shade of purple from the tip of his balding head to the base of his thick neck. Harry knew he was about to explode. "HOW DARE YOU MENTION THAT WORD IN MY PRESENCE!" he said breathing heavily. "GO TO YOUR ROOM," he shouted so suddenly that Dudley flinched.

"GLADLY!" Harry shouted back. He turned on his heels and heard his uncle shouting after him as he climbed the stairs. "DON'T USE THAT TONE OF VOICE WITH ME, BOY!" Harry slammed his door at the word 'boy'. Hedwig screeched loudly when Harry slammed the door, making Harry jump. He looked over to his desk and saw her resting on the top of her cage.

"I'm sorry, Hedwig. I didn't know you were back," he said as he crossed the room. She hooted quietly and stuck out her leg; Harry untied the letter and gently pet her head. She nibbled his fingers affectionately as he read the letter:

Hey Harry,

Good news. Hogwarts is getting an exchange student! I'm hoping you're reading about this bit of news for the first time...that would mean I beat Hermione and told you first. He'll be coming in this coming weekend, we were thinking about going to meet him at the train station. Although I should probably convince mother to let us go first... Let me know if you can come.

Ron

Harry placed the letter on his desk after reading it and realized that he still held the piece of mail he was pondering over before being yelled at by his uncle. He was wondering if he should open it when his uncle burst into his room.

Uncle Vernon had come upstairs to remind Harry that anything magical was not to be mentioned in his household, but instead was stopped mid-thought when he saw Harry holding the unopened letter.

"Withholding my mail, Boy?" he said sternly

"No, not really," Harry said plainly. "The letter isn't addressed to you. It says, 'to the Residents of...'." Harry showed him the letter.

"Give me that!" said Uncle Vernon as he snatched it out of Harry's hand. He quickly tore open the letter and began reading it aloud without realizing it. "'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, I am pleased to inform you that your application to receive and house a foreign exchange student has been accepted.' Oh right, forgot about that thing," he muttered. Continuing, he read, "'The student's name is Olivia James and she will be arriving this Saturday at Kings Cross Station at 10 o'clock am. She will be bringing along with her, her pet cat­­–' oh great, another bloody animal. '–and will meet you at the station. She will only be staying with you for the remainder of the holiday, when her original host parents will be able to accept her into their home–" his voice drifted off as he read on. When he was done reading it he realized he was standing in the middle of Harry's bedroom and that Harry was looking at him strangely. "What are you looking at, Boy?" he said as he turned to leave the room. "Petunia!" Harry heard Uncle Vernon call out as he went down the stairs.

"Hedwig," Harry said, turning to his owl, "are you fit to send a letter to both Ron and Hermione?" Hedwig gave a low hoot as if to say yes and Harry sat down to write two copies of a letter.

Ron, Hermione,

You said you didn't know where this exchange student was staying...I think I have an idea. Also you said you didn't know what her name was/ is it a boy or girl... I have an idea toward that too. My Aunt and Uncle received a letter from America saying that their application to house an exchange student had been accepted. She'll (yes, she) be arriving this Saturday at 10:00 AM. Her name is Olivia James, but that's all I know. Is this just a coincidence, or is this Hogwart's exchange student? Let me know what you think right away. Oh and if this is her, it would be best if you don't come to the train station...I wouldn't want my aunt and uncle to see you.

Harry

He attached the letters to Hedwig's leg and she flew out through his open window. Harry watched her until he couldn't see her any longer. He turned away from his window and decided that he would go and have a chat with his uncle to see if he could find out anymore information. As he came down the last few steps he could hear Dudley complaining loudly in the living room.

"But Mummy, I can't share a room with Harry!" Dudley whined in a somewhat scared voice.

"He could always sleep on the couch," Aunt Petunia said as she tried to comfort her spoiled son. "We certainly wouldn't want our guest to sleep on the couch," she added as an afterthought. Ever since they had moved Harry out of the cupboard under the stairs, they had begun to use it as storage.

Harry decided he'd walk in on the conversation; things would get interesting if he was present. "Yeah, you wouldn't want to stick a guest in the room of a wiz–"

"Don't say it!" Uncle Vernon said quickly, cutting Harry off.

"–ard," Harry finished as if his uncle hadn't said anything. "Just let her decide when she gets here," he said as he crossed the room and sat in a vacant chair near the boarded-up fireplace.

"What are you doing down here?" Dudley said meanly.

"I just wanted to know more about this person, that's all," Harry said innocently.

Uncle Vernon looked him over a few times, thinking about whether or not he should give up the little amount of information he knew. In the end he decided he would give up only a little bit of what he knew. "Well, she's sixteen, entering her sixth year, her name is Olivia and she has a cat," that's all he was willing to tell Harry.

"Is she pretty?" Dudley asked from his seat, where he was munching on some candy that had been placed in a dish on the coffee table.

"Dudley, my son, I'm not sure, there's no picture. But I'm sure she'll fall for you in a heartbeat," Harry's uncle replied in a tone that sickened Harry. Dudley smiled as he continued to greedily stuff his fat face with the candy. It sickened Harry to think that all Dudley cared about was if she looked good or not. But it also caused Harry to laugh silently at the thought of any girl falling for his killer whale sized cousin.

Aunt Petunia stood up suddenly. "We've got a guest coming in less than a week! This house is a mess!"

"Sorry Petunia darling, I'd love to stay and help you clean but I'm late for work," Uncle Vernon said, looking at his watch. He gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and his son a pat on the head, "Be good Dudley," he said with a smile. "You..." he said glaring at Harry before turning and heading towards the door. Harry watched him leave in silence, he also watched as Dudley told his mother he was "going out to play" as she frantically started to clean the already dirt and mess free house.

Harry went up to his room in silence thinking, only five more days of loneliness...

Friday night had come, all day had been spent helping his aunt clean and Harry was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. He paced around his room, his uncle's snoring could be heard and it kept interrupting Harry's thoughts. After every lap of his, now spotless room, he would pause and stick his head out his window and stare hard into the night trying to catch a glimpse of his white owl in the darkness. 10 pm had passed, Harry had stopped pacing but continued to stare at the open window and by 10:30 he was once more circling his room. He stopped at his window to stare out at the star filled, but otherwise empty skies. He thought he saw movement in the distance so he stared really hard and soon realized it was an owl, although it wasn't Hedwig. It flew closer to where Harry stood waiting.

As it got nearer Harry recognized it as the same large barn owl he had seen nearly five nights ago. He moved away from the window and the owl came through. "Hello, nice to see you again," Harry said politely with only a hint of sarcasm. The owl, remembering to be quiet hooted softly as Harry untied the letter form the owl's leg.

Harry,

Are you serious? Her name is Olivia James? The letter I received from Dumbledore was all smudged. I could only read the last name and the first four letters of the first. So we didn't know it was Oliver or Olive (hey, it could happen). How are going to hide the fact that she's a wizard? What if she doesn't know how to act around muggles (like Ron, that clumsy oaf)?

Tell me about her after you meet her. I want to know details...

Hermione

Harry folded up the letter and placed it on his desk. He let the barn owl drink from Hedwig's water dish before sending it on its way. "Sorry, no return reply today. Can you come back tomorrow evening?" said Harry. The owl gave a low hoot and took off through the open window.

Harry climbed into bed and tried to sleep. He was excited but also worried. 'A Hogwarts student is going to be staying here,' he thought with a smile, but that smile changed quickly, 'oh no, a Hogwarts student is staying here! If the muggles find out who she is there'll be the devil to pay,' said one part of his mind, while another part answered, 'then pray that they don't.'

"Harry! HARRY WAKE UP!" Uncle Vernon roared. Harry, awoken from a deep sleep slowly crawled out of bed and put on his glasses. He quickly got dressed and ran downstairs. He had to try hard not to laugh out loud at the site of their clothing. His aunt, uncle and cousin were all dressed in their "Sunday best." Their tacky clothing made Harry thankful that he had chosen on of the hand-knit sweaters from Mrs. Weasley, even if it had a large letter 'H' on it.

"You could have at least tried to look decent," Dudley snarled.

"Oh, so you call that decent?" Harry remarked sarcastically.

"Keep quiet Boy, or I might have a second thought about you coming along," Uncle Vernon hissed. Harry snapped his mouth shut, "There, that's better now, isn't it?" he said boastfully. "Remember what I've said?"

"Mention nothing about you-know-what, and at least try to act normal," Harry said with bitterness in his voice as he recited words his uncle had been saying all week.

"We don't want her to suspect anything," Aunt Petunia said as she lovingly adjusted Dudley's polka-dot bow tie.

"Best get in the car, we don't want to be late," Uncle Vernon said as he left the house through the front door. Everyone else followed and got into the car. Soon they were on their way to the train station.

They arrived at the station at a quarter to 10. The letter had said her train would be arriving at Platform 9. Harry was pondering whether or not he should try and enter Platform 9 ¾ when the train started to arrive.

"Good thing we arrived early," Uncle Vernon muttered.

Harry realized as the train slowly came to a stop that they wouldn't be able to recognize her, unless Uncle Vernon had withheld that information too. "Uncle Vernon," he dared to ask, "How are we to know who she is? What she looks like?"

"What does it matter to you?" Uncle Vernon said through clenched teeth. Harry realized that his uncle didn't know either. Uncle Vernon exchanged a nervous glance with Aunt Petunia while the ignorant Dudley continued to look on with anticipation. Harry rolled his eyes and began to look over the people as they stepped off the train.

'To old, to young, way to young...is that a guy or a girl?' Harry thought to himself as he watched people step onto the platform. He then noticed a young girl, about his age, struggling to drag along a trunk and a cat carrier with a backpack upon her back and a smaller bag draped over her shoulder. Before he knew it, Harry left his uncle's side and was offering her help.

"Here, let me get that for you," Harry said as he took the cat carrier from her right hand.

"Careful he doesn't like strangers...or maybe not," she said, surprised that her cat wasn't hissing and trying to attack his helper. "Thanks, it was starting to slip," the girl said somewhat breathlessly. With her now free hand she brushed her curly hair out of her eyes and smiled. Holding out her hand she said, "Hello, I'm Olivia, once again thanks, I–"

"Harry! Harry, boy, leave her alone!" Uncle Vernon said harshly as he waddled over to them. His fat cousin and Aunt following close behind. Harry, who was in the process of shaking her hand, dropped it almost immediately. "We can't take you anywhere," his uncle muttered. "I'm so sorry Miss; our nephew is a bit disturbed."

Harry rolled his eyes, and the girl knew the man was lying. "It's no bother, really. I almost dropped my cat, it's a good thing he came along," she said. "If you'll excuse me I have to go and try to find my host family," she said in a voice that clearly belonged to an American.

"Maybe you don't," Harry muttered. She looked questioningly at him. "By the way, my name is Harry. You wouldn't happen to be looking for a family by the name of Dursley, would you?"

"Yes! Yes I am!" she said with a look of shock.

"Ah, you must be Miss Olivia James," Uncle Vernon said as if he had been the one to figure it all out in the first place. She nodded her head, "Welcome to England!" Uncle Vernon said graciously. "Harry, don't just stand there, gather up her trunk."

"No, really, I can manage," Olivia said once more brushing her hair out of her face.

"It's not a problem," Harry said as he took her trunk. She smiled at him and he thought he felt his face flush. Dudley was speechless, as luck would have it, she was pretty. Although travel worn she still managed to look good. Harry smiled when he saw she was wearing a red sweater, which made him think of Hogwarts and the wonderful people of the Gryffindor house. Uncle Vernon had begun to lead the way out towards the car, motioning for the others to follow.

As Olivia passed the speechless Dudley she flicked his tie, "Nice bow tie," she said. Dudley was too thick to notice the sarcasm in her voice.

Dudley grinned and turned to Harry, "She liked my tie," he said proudly. "She didn't compliment you, but she liked my tie." Harry rolled his eyes and Dudley gave a smug smile and waddled as fast as he could to catch up with her. 'I feel bad for her, poor love struck Dudley won't leave her alone. Imagine the look on Dudley's face if he found out she was a witch.' Harry thought.

He looked down at her trunk instead of her initials being engraved on her trunk there where two symbols instead. He looked back up and noticed she wasn't walking with his large cousin anymore. 'Where'd she go?'

As if answering his thoughts she spoke, "Had to get away from that cousin of yours. He's dreadfully boring." Harry was surprised to see her walking next to him. "I told him I wanted to check on my cat, but really it's you I want to see."

Harry new for sure that his face had just turned several shades darker. "Don't mention anything about magic, okay?" he said seriously.

"How'd...how did you know?" she asked slightly shocked.

"The Headmaster of Hogwarts told my friend, she told me... Just promise me Olivia, you won't mention anything about magic around them." Harry said seriously.

"I promise," she said quietly, looking him straight in the eye. Harry found himself staring into her green eyes and knew she would not break that promise. They had both stopped walking and stood eye-to-eye. They came around when Dudley had called out to her. "Please, call me Liv," she whispered before breaking eye contact and moving to catch up with Dudley.