Chapter 1

The day was hot and humid. Harry lay in his bed, wishing it was two weeks later, laying in his 4 poster bed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Dursleys had yet again shut him in his room, with only Hedwig to keep him company. "Pull another flying car!" he kept saying to himself, hoping his best friend Ron would show up in his fathers Ford Anglia. But day after day passed, and Ron never showed up.

Harry had never felt more pain in his life. Not because of Ron ignoring him (or so he thought), but because of last year's events. The only father figure Harry ever had, Sirius, who was also Harry's friend, was killed. Harry had no one left to confide in. Ron and Harry's other best friend, Hermione, just wasn't the same. "Maybe I wouldn't feel so bad if it wasn't me who's to blame for Sirius's death," he thought miserably day after day. That wasn't a false statement: Harry thought he had seen Sirius dying in a dream, so he heroically left to save him. Only Harry found that his enemy, Lord Voldemort, was tricking him, so he could fulfill a prophecy about their lives told 17 years ago. Sirius had come to help Harry, when he was hit with an unforgivable curse. Harry would never forget the arc of Sirius, gracefully curving, before hitting the stone floor and not getting up.

Harry sat in his room for 5 days more, eating plates of rice that were stuffed under his door twice a day. He tried to think of his 6th year at Hogwarts, the fun he would have with his friends, and even playing Quidditch. It was during this time when a letter came. He opened it hurriedly, as it was the Weasley's owl, only to be discouraged. It was from Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother. It read:

Dear Harry,

How has your summer been? Ours has been quite pleasant. The reason is of course that we only had to care for Ginny. I hope Ron told you about Prefect Camp in Ireland. If he didn't, it's a camp where the Prefects go into more detail about their assignments. Obviously he was with Hermione. I know how dreadful it must be for you, all alone at Privet Drive. I'm sorry we didn't offer to keep you for the summer. Using Fred and George's money from the joke shop, we visited Tokyo. Lovely city. Ron will be arriving back tomorrow. He will come for you by Floo Powder around 5:00. Get the muggles ready, or at least out of the house. Last time they had a nasty shock, didn't they? Please write, so I can tell Ron how you've been doing before he comes.

See you soon!

Mrs. Weasley

Harry sighed, and turned over the paper. 'thanks, I'll see you tomorrow then. oh, and I'm just fine thank you. -Harry' He tied it around the owl's legs, and watched it fly into the distance.

Harry for the first time in months slept soundly. Even his uncle's early morning "GET UP BOY!" didn't startle him. "Umm, Uncle Vernon?" he called through the door.

"What?"

"The Weasl-uh my friends from, you know, my school, are coming by to pick me up to go to school, so may I leave tonight with them?"

Uncle Vernon thought, then quickly responded, "You haven't done anything too horrible this year, except being here. Don't think of it as a gift to you, because it's a gift to us."

"Oh thank you!" exclaimed Harry, rummaging his room, throwing everything into his case. Time seemed to fly by. Soon it was noon, then 3, and finally 5. Harry slipped downstairs, hoping not to cause an uproar, as none of his relatives hadn't seen his face in 2 weeks. Looking into the living room, he saw all three of them sitting around the TV, which was right in front of the fireplace. He knocked on the wall by the opening to the kitchen, and they looked over. Dudley's face was astonished. "You! Dad! Why is he here? I thought his punishment didn't end 'til next year!"

"Sorry for breathing," said Harry, rolling his eyes, "Its 5 o'clock. I hope Uncle Vernon told you that my friends are coming now, and by Floo Powder." They all knew what that meant. Within 5 seconds the Dursleys were all out of the living room, watching Harry through the crack in the door.

POOF! Dust exploded from the fireplace, and in the middle of it there was a figure. A tall, muscular, much taller Ron figure.

"Ron?" Harry asked, knowing what was coming.

"Yeah, its me!" said Ron, stepping out of the fireplace. Harry's jaw dropped. He was at least a foot taller than he used to be, and with highly stylized red hair. Even his face looked different.

"You're not as bad as my mum" Ron said, surveying the damage of the dust, "She screamed and cried."

"What happened? Your mum just told me that you were learning the ways of a prefect."

"Didn't you ever notice that 6 year prefects were always more buff than the 5th years?"

Harry thought and said, "I never did."

"Well, we did push ups, curl ups, oh yes we take a class or two, but mainly were running, using our wands. Even Hermione got stronger. She could take on Malfoy and beat him." Ron clapped his hand to his head, "why did I just say that?"

"Say what? We always knew that Hermione could beat Malfoy with magic." Ron looked ashamed, "I'll explain at home. C'mon, grab your bag and we'll be off." Harry very gladly picked up his trunk and stepped into the fireplace. Holding some Floo Powder than Ron had given him, he yelled, "The Burrow!" and he was off. After about a minute he landed on the hard brick floor of the Weasley's house, which they called the Burrow. Ron arrived shortly after him.

"Oh Harry! You've made it! I'm sorry that you had a dreadful summer, please forgive us." said Mrs. Weasley, throwing her arms around him. He reluctantly smiled, and whispered, "It's ok." Ginny came by and said hello. Harry found it was hard to look at her. She was with him when Sirius died. No one else from the Weasley's rather large family was around, so Ron took Harry up to his bedroom, where he said they needed to talk.
"Ok," started Ron, looking nervous, "Please don't get upset with me because its not my fault, its Hermione's."

"Just tell me!" Harry demanded.

"Well, umm, see, at camp, we all had randomly chosen partners, mine was Ernie, but anyway, Hermione's was Malfoy."

"That should've been fun, then" said Harry, sarcastically.

"Well, at first they hated each other, you know, always trying to jinx each other. Then ummm........" Harry's stomach turned in knots. "Then..........?"

"Hermione and Malfoy are going out." breathed Ron quickly. Again Harry's jaw dropped.

"Shut up Ron, great joke." Harry said, trying to make himself feel better.

"I'm not joking!" Ron said sternly, "They started going out after about 3 days, and oooh it's so horrible! They hold hands and everything!"

"Normally, I would be mad, but Hermione has sorta liked him since 1st year. I know its weird, he's always so mean," Harry said, realizing he just let out a huge secret.

"And you know what?" said Ron, flashing Harry an evil glare, "I've liked her since 1st year too." Harry suddenly became very uncomfortable, "You never told me that..."

"Why would I? It would only make the three of us together seem awkward, and knowing you, you would've always left us alone so I could be with her." Harry's face sank into his hands.

"I know how you feel, Ron, when I asked Cho out, she was going out with Cedric." "But Harry, this is different! We're talking about Malfoy. She likes Malfoy! There's no hope for me, at school she'll be all stuck up. How could she like him?? He called her a mudblood all these years!"

"Sometimes being mean is a sign of affection..." whispered Harry, giving Ron comfort.

"But........it's Malfoy!" said Ron, and he ran out of the room.

"Ron!" cried Harry, sprinting toward the door. It was too late, Ron was already down 4 flights of stairs.

"Harry.." whispered a voice. Harry turned, and looked straight into Ginny's eyes. "Harry, Ron would kill me if he knew!"

"Knew what?" asked Ron.

"I...uhh...I, kinda, well I set up Hermione and Malfoy." "You? Wow, how did that happen?" Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but a scream rang out through the whole house.

"Not again," muttered Ginny, breathing deeply, "Don't worry, the clock downstairs is all screwed up. It says dad is in mortal danger all the time." Harry looked down. Last year Harry had dreamed about a snake attacking Mr. Weasley, and it was true.

"Maybe the clock is right," he said softly. "Look, my dad's out in the garden!" said Ginny, looking out the window, "Omigosh..." she muttered, clasping her hand to her mouth and running downstairs. Harry glanced out the window, and saw Mr. Weasley, trudging slowly down the garden path. His was limping with his right leg, and blood was spilling down his face. Harry followed Ginny, jumping down all 7 flights of stairs.

"ARTHUR!" yelled Mrs. Weasley, running to hug him, "What happened?"

"I dunno," he said, "I just apparated to the trees so I could walk through them on my way home, but then..." he turned and looked back, as if hoping to see someone through the trees, "A man, I think it was a man, flew out of the branches." His eyes drooped, but he continued, "He attacked me, punched me. All the while he was mumbling something like, 'Stay away from my girl.' Then, I pulled out my wand, and he was gone."

"Oh Arthur!" cried Mrs. Weasley, helping him walk inside. "C'mon, lets get you a spot of tea." Harry, Ginny, and Ron, stayed outside, looking at each other with terror on their faces.

"Ron, do you think it could've been-" Ron bit his lip, "Yes."

"Did anything, happen between you and Malfoy at Prefect Camp?" asked Harry. Ron's face showed that he had a confession to make, but he obviously didn't want Ginny there. "I'm not leaving," she said, "Till after you're done explaining."

"Fine! Alright, Harry, how would you feel if the person you loved more than anything, more than Quidditch, more than Christmas, or even life, was going out with the one person you most hated? How would you feel? Bad? Well I felt awful. I couldn't help myself, he was there all alone...I lost control."

"Ron," started Harry, "What did you do?"

"I...I...I used the Cruciatus Curse on him!"

Ginny screamed, "RON! How could you? And you haven't been expelled?"

Ron was on the verge of tears, "The only people that know are me, Malfoy, and I guess now Hermione. Malfoy was alright, not that I wanted him to be, but if he had died, I would've been expelled."

"So, you think that Malfoy came here, trying to get you back?" asked Harry.

"Yes. He probably thought it was me going down the path. I'm taller than Dad now."

"Does he know you like Hermione?" questioned Ginny.

"Obviously." sighed Ron, "Oh, look, an owl." A barn owl swooped down and landed beside Ginny.

"Its marked to Harry," she said, handing him the letter. He opened it.

"Its from Hermione." He looked at Ron, "You think she's angry?"

"Just read the letter." Ron said angrily.

Dear Harry,

I know you're with Ron now, and fine, stay that way. I do not wish to stay your friend if you choose to act the way Ron did about Draco and me. It was my decision and in fact I am quite happy. I know you displease him, but maybe you wouldn't if you gave him another chance. He's willing to do that. Please consider, and maybe you'll meet the wonderful man I found when I looked deeper.

Sincerely yours,

Hermione

"Ew!" exclaimed Ron, throwing the letter on the ground, "He's turned her into a mushy mush."

"Wonderful man?" asked Ginny, "I wonder if she means wonderfully terrible man. But guys, don't get mad at me, but all the girls think he's incredibly good looking. Even if he is mean." She looked toward the house, "I'll go see what's happening with dad." She left, and Ron glared at her.

"I'm going to get Malfoy back...somehow." Almost as if a light bulb exploded over his head, he looked toward the broom shed. "How 'bout a little Quidditch?"