Harry Potter and the Strength of the Heart

A/N Harry Sixth Year, after OotP. H/Hr

Chapter 1 - Feelings of the Heart

Hermione sat at her desk staring aimlessly at the blank parchment lying on her desk in front of her, twirling her new quill in her hand while thunder and rain rambled outside. Dark grey clouds had descended earlier that day which in turn had formed into a fierce storm which could easily tie with one of Molly Weasley's tirades when she got angry. The weather did nothing but echo the gloomy feelings which she felt at that moment, for what seemed like hours she had been staring at the blank parchment considering what to write if she ever could find the right words. Her nerves were on end more so than she ever thought a person's could be, she felt worse than she had when she feared writing her OWL's in her fifth year. Compared to this, it had been a simple task.

The thing that had her almost jumping out of her skin was the fact that over the previous year and that summer she had come to a realization. She had realized that there was someone that she liked very much, that was a simple way of putting it as he filled her mind the entire summer so far and didn't seem like he would leave anytime soon, if at all. To most it would seem like a simple problem easily solved, but in her case it wasn't so simple, the boy in question was also one of her best friends. The fact being if she did anything without knowing how he felt she could very likely end there friendship, what plagued her more than anything was how she could find out how he felt without actually telling him.

She didn't have much experience in the regards of boys let alone he was one of her best friends, when it came to books she knew nearly everything, but when it came to people that was a entirely different story altogether. In truth she was so confused she sought out help from one of her close friends, Ginny Weasley. Ginny in the end had not been very helpful she had only expressed what she herself had been thinking, but she couldn't complain as she hadn't mentioned a few important facts, especially which made this a bit harder than simply telling him how she felt.

She continued to stare at the blank parchment considering what to write although each time she did she would end up discarding it, she had already tried numerous times but it ended the same, surrounding her and her desk were several small balls of parchment which she had made an attempt at, but each time she read through them she found them utterly wrong and discarded them. In the end she wandered how she ever managed to finish any of her letters that she had sent to him over the summer so far.

While she continued contemplating what to write she heard a small tapping sound coming from her window, curious to see what it was she opened her curtains to find a sopping wet feathered ball resting against her window. She had know idea what it was; she noticed that attached to the bottom of the strange object was what looked like a letter. She opened her window enough to pull the small bizarre object into her room before closing the window again, since the storm which had pop up earlier that day was still rampant outside.

As soon as she pulled the little ball into her room it suddenly jumped in to the air and began hooting noisily while flying around in circles around her head. She realized that it was 'Pig' Ron's little owl he had gotten forth year when he had lost scabbers which in a way was a good thing, you wouldn't count having a cowering Death Eater hiding as your pet rat a good thing. She managed to catch the little fluff ball finally after a minute of trying to calm the thing down, even despite the fact that she now held him in her hands he still kept hooting loudly as if it were ordinary to be so excited. She took the letter which was attached to his leg before letting him go again where he continued his unrelenting circling of her head, which she had to admit, was rather annoying. She opened the letter and began to read.

Dear Hermione

How's your summer going, it has been a bit boring here since the twins are always locked in their room, surprisingly more explosions coming from there than usual. Ron's been actually livid, he's been hounding mum and dad to find out about Harry coming here for the rest of the summer, surprisingly it paid off dad's going to speak to Dumbledore tomorrow about it.

Oh yeah, by the way dad's having your fire place hooked up to the floo network tomorrow between two and three so that you can come over for the rest of the summer to. You better check with your parents and let us know, just send an answer with pig.

Who's this guy you keep mentioning, as soon as you get here your going to tell me everything about him whether you like it or not, I'll see to that.

Hope to see you soon

Love

Ginny

Hermione ran downstairs to ask her parents and quickly returned to her room, eager to send an answer back as soon as possible. The thought of seeing him so soon practically had her jumping circles but it also worried her so much she was glad she had had dinner sometime ago; since she feared she would be able to eat at all. The prospect of maybe seeing him the following day was all that filled her mind at that moment, not even studying or going through her homework to make sure it was perfect held any appeal to her, which was strange considering this, was Hermione, she was the text book of perfect when it came to school and work.

The sun glowed brightly in the clear sky no trace of the previous night's storm, the morning seemed to be giving its blessings as Hermione awoke after having had a peaceful night sleep which of late was a rare occurrence. For the rest of the day she gathered her belongings preparing for the Weasley's arrival, which was not to far off now. As soon as the clock struck half two as if summoned by the clock's chimes the roaring flames in the fire place grew to the size of a man and change from a fiery red orange to a luminous green. She stood there expecting Ginny or Mr. Weasley to come through first but was surprised when a golden snitch came flying through at great speed; it seemed faster than the ones they used at school. What shocked her more was a second after the snitch came through Ron came running at full speed almost running right into her, she was so surprised that she didn't move as Ron flipped head first over the chair while he chased the snitch.

"I told you, you should of put it in something before it started flying around it's going to be hard to catch it now" She could hear Ginny's voice coming from behind as she watched her trying not to laugh out loud at her brother. Before she could ask what was going on the red headed Ginny ran up to her giving her a tight hug which she returned just as eagerly. When they let go of each other they saw Ron's head sticking up behind the chair, his hair which had grown a bit over the summer since last she had seen him was in such a state he looked like some wild animal. Which was only added onto by the wolfish grin he had on his face when he rose holding the struggling snitch in his hand triumphantly.

"What's up with the snitch?" She asked turning to see Ginny shaking her head at her brother's antics.

"It's a birthday present for Harry, it's a snitch used by the professional teams. It's a lot faster than the ones we use; he got it so that Harry can use it to practise during the summer and so on. Unfortunately the idiot keeps loosing it as you can see, keeps playing with it himself and almost loosing it most of the time." Ginny answered looking angrily at her brother more annoyed than anything.

"Oi! aren't you going to same something, Merlin's Beard!" Ginny yelled noticing her brother was more interested in the snitch then saying hello to his own friend. "Oh yeah, Hi Herm you ready to go" Ron asked crushing her in a tight hug similar to the one Ginny had just given her, 'Boys' she heard Ginny whisper behind her as Ron finally let her go.

"Yeah it's good to see you to Ron" She said sarcastically reminding him what he had just done.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that Hermione" He apologized looking down at the ground his face blushing bright red; he just hoped they didn't notice. The two girls just stood there laughing at him they didn't know what to make of it. "Alright, we better get going" Ron said quickly grabbing Hermione trunk while the other two grabbed the rest of her stuff.

Ron grabbed a small red bag out of his pocket as he stepped towards the fire, opening it to reveal a grey powder which looked like a bag of ash. Only pausing for a second he took a handful and threw it into the fire, the flames changed almost instantly from a fiery red orange back into the luminous green flames which had appeared only moments ago. Ron passed the bag of which could only be floo powder to Ginny before grabbing Hermione's trunk and disappearing into the flames.

Ginny went next following right after Ron, leaving only Hermione left in the house, with the remainder of the floo powder she stepped into the flames.

o-o-o-o-o-

As soon as she called out "Grimwuald Place" the luminous green flames engulfed her as she watched numerous fire places flying quickly past her, on all sides, as she spun round and round in the eerie darkness. She kept falling until one of the fire places seemed to be flying straight at her, quite quickly. Just before it collided into her, she closed her eyes tightly as the darkness quickly disappeared, replaced by a dim light shinning over eyes, still standing there unsure whether it was safe enough to open her eyes yet.

Slowly she opened her eyes, adjusting to the dim light surrounding her, completely different from her home. It was so different it seemed to try and chase people away leaving a feeling of solitude as if happiness and joy were not welcome in this home, if it could be called a home, with the state it was in now.

Leaving her thoughts, Hermione returned to her surroundings, the all to familiar kitchen of Grimwuald Place which would be a welcomed sight but now it was no more than a painful reminder of what was lost.

Grimwuald Place had belonged to Sirius Black, Harry's Godfather; Sirius was the closest thing he had to a real family and all in a few minutes the previous year he had lost everything. It wasn't easy to understand how it felt to loose your family, let alone once, Harry now had to live with it for the second time. It was a wonder he had any emotions at all, for it seemed all that he loved would be taken away, and it was all by one person, you couldn't even call him a person he was a monster.

Hermione felt a strong twinge in her heart when she realized that Harry would be returning to this place and so soon after he had lost Sirius. She couldn't imagine the pain he was going through, although he did seem to be doing well in the few letters she had received from him over the summer so far.

Just as she passed the door which led to the kitchen Hermione found herself once again in a tight hug by none other than Mrs. Weasley who seemed overjoyed to see her. "How are you doing dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked releasing Hermione and holding her in front of her to look her over. "I'm fine Mrs. Weasley, Thank you" Hermione answered as she was quickly pushed towards the stairs where Ginny was waiting for her. "Come on hurry up now, were expecting some more company so you go and get settled in." Mrs. Weasley said as she ushered Hermione up the stairs not giving her a chance to respond, Hermione did as Mrs. Weasley said and headed up the stairs following as Ginny lead the way to were they were sleeping.

o-o-o-o-o-

The room was as baron as ever, planks of wood that made up the dark walls were mouldy and black from age, some of them half sticking out of the walls as if trying to grab something or someone. Encased in darkness little light managed to squeeze through the only window, covered in dreary looking moth eaten curtains, which crumbled at the touch. An eerie cold encompassed the room, rejecting the warmth of life, as two beds lay alone against the barren walls.

Hermione made her way to the only bed in the room which wasn't being used; she placed her school trunk next to the bed as she sat down. She'd forgotten how gloomy this place was, especially since Kretcher wasn't there anymore to do what little cleaning he did do. She was still against the wizarding kind keeping House Elves as slaves, but she had to agree with Harry and Ron in this case, she couldn't believe what Kretcher had done. If it was anyone's fault what had happened to Sirius it was none other than Kretcher and no one else's and she would make sure that Harry understood that the next time she saw him.

"It looks worse than it did last year." Hermione said looking around the room "I thought it would look better by now."

"It would, except there's a small problem." Ginny said putting Crookshanks down next to Hermione "It seems there's a charm on the house that prevents anyone from cleaning the place up, except for a house elf and since Kretcher isn't here anymore no one's been able to clean the place up."

"Can't they just get rid of the charm?" Hermione asked scratching Crookshanks behind the ears while she looked at Ginny. Ginny just shrugged while she sat there "It's been a bit of trouble trying to get rid of it, since we don't know what charm it is."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked confused. "They used some old spell and until we figure out what it is we can't get rid of it." Ginny said "Enough of that, come on who is it?" This was what Hermione had been fearing all day when she had seen Ginny; she knew she would end up asking her sooner or later.

"Come on, why can't you tell me who it is. I promise I won't tell anyone." Ginny said eagerly. "It's not that I don't trust you Ginny, it's just a bit complicated." Hermione said.

Ginny was about to ask what she meant when a large beautiful white owl flew though the window dropping a small envelope into Hermione's hands before landing on Ginny's bed. "Hedgewig?" Ginny said surprised as she carefully rubbed Hedgewig's head.

'Why was Hedgewig here' wondered Ginny as she looked between Hermione and the letter she was reading. Hermione seemed happy as she read the letter with a small smile on her face which only seemed to get brighter as she read. "It's Harry isn't it, that's why you couldn't tell me?" Ginny asked when the thought hit her.

Hermione was surprised by Ginny's question as she let the letter slipped out of her hands looking at Ginny her eyes wide. "I'm right aren't I?" Ginny asked. Hermione didn't know what to say, she knew Ginny had, had feelings for Harry and was afraid to tell her encase she still did, but Ginny had now somehow managed to figure it out.

Hermione knew she couldn't hide it anymore, she had to tell her "Yes it's true." Hermione said not daring to look Ginny in the eyes. "I'm sorry Ginny I know how you feel about him…" Ginny didn't give her a chance to finish as she grabbed her in a tight hug. "It's alright Hermione, I still like Harry but I've given up since it didn't seem like he would feel the same way I did. So tell me how's it going, have you told him?"

Hermione was a bit surprised by Ginny's reaction and it took her awhile before she could even speak again "You don't mind?" Hermione asked unable to believe what she was hearing. "It's okay Herm, I really don't mind. Like I said I've given up on him?" Ginny said reassuringly "Thanks Gin, you have know idea how worried I was." Hermione said relieved. "So, have you told him yet?" Ginny asked, she was determined to find out every detail.

"No I haven't." Hermione said sadly "Why not?" Ginny asked curiously. "What if he doesn't feel the same way, Gin. I don't want to loose him as friend." Hermione said crushing the letter she was holding in her hands. "You worried that it'll become weird between you two if you tell him and he doesn't feel the same way, right?" Ginny asked amused. "Yes and its not funny Ginny." Hermione said angrily.

"Don't worry Hermione, I'll help you, there must be someway to find out if he feels the same way or not. Or if there's a chance" Ginny said smiling. "Thanks Ginny, I hope your right." Hermione said thankfully. "So what's the letter say?" Ginny asked remembering the letter Hedgewig had just brought. Hermione quickly let go when she realized she was crushing the letter in her hands. She smoothed it out as much as she could before handing it to Ginny so that she could read it.

'Dear Nee

Thanks for the letters, I'm feeling better now. You were right about it not being my fault, I've managed to have some time to think it over, and anyway thanks I owe you one.

See you soon

Love Harry'

It was a short letter as she read over it a few times, she couldn't understand what he meant by it wasn't his fault. "What does he mean 'it wasn't his fault'" Ginny asked as she handed the letter back to Hermione. "Sirius, we've been sending letters back and forth talking about it." Hermione said "I was worried that he was blaming himself for it."

"I guess you were right, but…" Ginny said smiling to herself. "What?" Hermione asked confused. Ginny just smiled coyly before she spoke "What's with 'Nee'" Ginny asked. "What do you mean?" Hermione asked cautiously. "You already got pet names for each other?" Ginny asked as she quirked an eyebrow. Hermione could feel her face becoming red as she stared at her hands, griping her jeans.

"It's not like that, Harry had to send letters quickly, since his uncle didn't like Hedgewig flying around. So he had to write quickly when Hedgewig got back and it just ended up like that." Hermione said the heat in her face only getting worse as Ginny stared at her in thought. "Maybe?" was all that Ginny said as she handed the letter back "Or maybe it's something else." Ginny said with a smug look on her face.