Of Friends and Family Chapter 1

There was a knock at the door, another one followed shortly after. These simple sounds brought fear to one Harry Potter. He was in is house with his beautiful red haired wife playing with his one year old son. He got up instantly, yelling top his wife "RUN! TAKE HIM AWAY, HE'S COMING, I WILL TRY TO BUY YOU SOME TIME!".

Suddenly the door fell to the floor with great force, there standing was the most feared Dark Wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort. Harry tried to fend of Voldemort, trying to buy time for his wife and son, knowing he would probably never see them alive again. Voldemort muttered "Avada Kedavra"a brilliant green light shot from his wand and struck Harry in the chest, he fell dead. Or was he?

Harry could not move and felt cold all over, he somehow never he was dead, but he could see like nothing had happened. He watched as the "Dark Lord" moved to towards the ones he was trying to save. His wife was screaming at him "TAKE ME, TAKE ME!" she yelled. She got in his way from his goal, the small child. Another blast of green light came from his want and struck his now dead wife. Turning his wand on the young infant.

"This is the one who will stop me?" he said mockingly. With a smirk on his face he said for the third time "Avada Kedavra" the green light once again radiated from his hand and went towards the young boy.

Harry was now somewhere else, in a hall, a very familiar hall. He knew instantly where he was, the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. He was rushed right into a duel with a witch Harry knew well, Bellatrix Lestrange, the one responsible for his godfather's death. He had just dodged a spell when he taunted her saying "is this the best you can do", just then a beam struck him in the chest, he fell through the veil behind him, hearing shouts of "SIRIUS, SIRIUS!", he knew them as his own.

Harry woke up out of breath, covered in a cold sweat gasping for air. Harry was no stranger to unusual dreams, but this was different, his scar didn't hurt, this dream was not an attempt to draw him out like last spring, he was not in the head of Voldemort, in fact there was nothing strange about this nightmare at all, this is what is made it unusual. However, there was one strange thing about his dream, for the first time he saw it happen, he saw his parents death. He was his father, his wife was his mother, Lily, he died to save him, and thanks to his last year at Hogwarts he knew exactly why, the Prophecy, "... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies", either Harry would kill Voldemort, or he would kill him.

He thought again about the second part of his dream, when he was not his father James, but his godfather, Sirius Black. Harry missed Sirius deeply, he was the only "father" he ever knew. "Why didn't I open his package when I wanted to talk to him, WHY DIDN'T I USE THE MIRROR!", this was the question he had asked himself over and over again. Thinking of this he stood up to a lose floorboard, and got out a bag. He opened the bag and pulled out two mirrors. He received the other mirror shortly after the school year, it was sent along with a few other mementos found in Sirius' room. His godfather left him anything, his fortune, his house, everything, but Harry really didn't want any of it.

He already gave away the house, located at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, to his school's headmaster Albus Dumbledore. It was, and still is, in use as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a league of wizards and witches fighting to stop Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry knew the house well, he spent a good time there over last Summer and Christmas Hollidays. Sirius hated it, and so did Harry after his death.

Harry turned in his bed to look at the clock, it was now a little past five o'clock. He wondered when he would see his friends again. How he missed Ron and Hermione, his best friends at his school. He stood up and walked to his desk, and picked up some of his the letter they sent him this summer. It was July 23rd, he had only been gone from his school and the wizarding world for about a month and already he had received close to two dozen letters from his friends. A part of him thought they felt guilty about not sending him a lot of post last year, whatever the reason, Harry was not complaining.

He looked at this letters, the bulk of them had come from Hermione, 'I would give anything to be with her' thought Harry, 'or Ron' he added in, but did he mean it? Was he really wanting to spend more time with Hermione? His feelings for her had confused him over the summer, he loved her, that is for sure, the same way you love a sister, but did he love her in another way? Did he want to love her in another way? His thought process was interrupted by a tapping at the window.

There he saw a large brown owl, he had a letter with him. Harry opened the door to allowed it in, the bird entered, allowed Harry to untie the letter and flew back out. He took the letter and opened it immediately, it was from Hermione.

Dear Harry,

Had an amazing time in America the past week, I was able to stop by an amazing wizard village in the state of Florida. It does not have the history of the villages found in the North, but it did make for a very interesting visit. I got a chance to visit some of the snow white beaches in the area (the thought of normally modest Hermione in a bikini amused Harry) and went SCUBA diving for the first time, it was amazing. Spending most of the rest of the summer at home

Hope to see you soon,

Love Hermione.

P.S.

Hope you like your present, it changes with the weather and time of the Floridian village.

Harry picked up and opened the package that accompanied the letter, it contained a small orb that look similar to a snow globe. However it was a scene of a palm tree on a sandy beach, it was dark with a full moon shining over the calm water. While this was very cool, this did not catch his eye as much as what was also in the package. He picked up five or six photos Hermione sent him. He was glad to see she was having fun. She had changed since the last time he saw her. She was looked older, more mature, more developed, even... hot. This reaction shocked Harry, he had never thought of his brainy best friend in this way, it startled him a little.

After spending some time rereading his letter looking at the pictures and observing his gift, he looked back at the clock. It now showed 6:15, 'wow' he thought, 'already and hour has passed'. With the he stoop up and exited his room, heading towards the shower.