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Chapter 4

~ Third Year Part 1~

"Harry!" Ron shouted. "What the hell were you thinking, blowing up your Aunt!"

"Oh, Ronald! He has just arrived. Give him some time!" Harry heard Hermione say.

Just like what Ron said, Harry blew up his Aunt and that's why he's now with the Weasleys. His Uncle Vernon's sister, Aunt Marge, came to visit them. But after a big mistake, her bad-mouthing Harry's parents, she blew up and flew away. Harry didn't really know if he was the cause of that, but after it happened he packed his trunk and left. He was picked up by the Knight Bus and went to the Leakey Cauldron and there he met the Minister. He was afraid that the Minister was there to tell him that he got expelled for using magic outside school, but was surprised that a Portkey was waiting for him to bring him to the Weasleys. Harry was too scared to say anything or ask why he was let out so easily and thought that maybe something was off and that the Minister was hiding something that he didn't want Harry to know. The Minister pushed Harry into his room and gave him a book, telling him that it was a portkey that would bring him to the Burrow, and it did.

Harry entered the house after Ron and Hermione and was immediately enveloped in a hug by Mrs Weasley.

"Oh, Harry dear. How are you?" she gently asked him. Behind her, all the Weasley family came over to greet Harry.

"Hey, Harry!" greeted Fred.

"Good job on blowing up your Aunt." Saluted his twin, George, which caused him a slap in the back of his head from his mom.

"Harry, dear. Why did you blow up your Aunt?"

"I – She was criticizing my parents. She said that they died in a car crash because my dad was drunk…"

"A car crash? Lily and James Potter died in a car crash because they were drunk?! That's ridiculous!" shouted Mrs Weasley.

"Well, that old woman deserved to be blown up." Said Ron, surly.

"Never mind about that. The Ministry has taken care of it. It's late now. Let's go to bed. Bill and Charlie will be arriving tomorrow morning, so we have to wake up early," ordered Mrs Weasley. "Harry, you'll be sleeping with Ron. Go ahead. Goodnight, see you tomorrow."

Everybody greeted each other a good night and went to their respective rooms. Harry and Ron were too tired to talk, so when they arrived in his room, Harry quickly changed and they both fell asleep when their heads touched the pillows.

The following morning, the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione had a big breakfast together. They woke up early when Bill and Charlie arrived. While eating breakfast, Harry had pleasant conversations with the family and his best friends, but something was bothering him. Something was in his head but just couldn't remember what it was. He shook his head and got out of his daydream when he heard Mrs Weasley talking to him.

"Harry, can you come with me when you're done changing? I need your help with something." He nodded and left the table to change.

When he was done, he went down to wait for Mrs Weasley. He was surprised that nobody else was coming with them but she simply told him that the others were too lazy to come. They were going to a farm that's owned by Mrs Weasley's friend. The walked to go all the way to the farm and Harry was wondering why they didn't just apparate. When they arrived, they were greeted by a witch that was about the same age as Mrs Weasley. Harry learned that they were classmates and best friends during their years at Hogwarts and that the lady would give Mrs Weasley the vegetables and fruits she needed for free. Harry went around the farm while the two ladies were talking. When Mrs Weasley said it was time to leave, it was around noon. They said their goodbye's and left.

"Let's apparate, I don't feel like walking all the way to the Burrow. Here, dear, take my arm." Harry took hold on Mrs Weasley's arm while they apparated. When they arrived, the house seemed mysteriously quiet. He thought that it wasn't normal and that something was wrong.

Harry walked first and opened slowly the door. When the door was open, he didn't see anybody, so he walked towards the living room. When he stepped into the room he was greeted with loud noises from firecrackers (Fred and George's invention) and party poppers (from Hermione).

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they all shouted. Ah. That's what he forgot. It was his birthday, he forgot his own birthday.

He was pulled into the room by Hermione where he received some pats on the back and hugs from the boys and kisses on the cheeks from the girls. When he could finally process what was happening, Harry saw a bunch of birthday gifts on the table and was shocked to see Blaise, Theo and Draco in the Borrow too.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here?"

"Ron and Hermione invited us." Answered Theo.

"It almost gave mum a heart attack when I told her to invite them too. So, I told mum and dad everything. Shocked her when I told her that Draco was with us when we went to save Ginny. But the funniest was dad. The three of them came last week and when dad came back from work and saw Draco, he fainted!" they all laughed at the story and Mr Weasley's cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"Come on now. Let's go outside and eat." Mrs Weasley ushered everybody out of the house and in the big garden where a big table was set.

On the table, there were various kinds of food. It was clear how much he was loved by the Weasley family. The table was filled with laughter and sounds of plates and silverware clanking together. Afterwards, Mrs Weasley took out the cake that was baked and decorated by Hermione and Ginny. They sang a Happy Birthday song and gave their gifts to Harry.

After Lunch, Mr and Mrs Weasley allowed the six friends to go around the field if they wanted some time together. Ron led his friends on top of a hill where they had a wonderful view of the house and the surroundings.

"Does your parents know that you're here?" Harry asked his three Slytherin friends after sitting down.

"Nah. Draco and I told our parents that we were at Blaise's house and Mrs Zabini is barely there so she won't know if we're really in the Manor or not." Answered Theo.

"But if Mrs Zabini is not there, then who cooks your meals?" Hermione asked.

"Our house elves," Hermione looked at Blaise warily. "Hey don't look at me like that! I treat my house elves nicely, unlike others…" he said while eying Draco.

"Hey!" he shouted defensively. "I treat them right too! Only Dobby was mistreated because father had him during his 'bad' moment."

"Oh, talking about your dad, I saw him pick you up at the train station when we left Hogwarts. What was that all about?" Ron asked the blond.

"I honestly don't know. This summer holiday has been very weird."

"What do you mean by 'weird'?"

"Well… It's like, he's back to his old self…" He saw that his friends were looking at him strangely.

Blaise broke the silence by saying, "Well, shouldn't that be a good thing?"

"I really don't know. I mean yes, it should be. But it's weird. I just can't help to think that he's up to something…" he sighed.

Hermione moved closer to Draco and put her hand on his arm. "Draco, I think you should be happy that he's back. Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll go back to his 'mean' self. That's why you need to take advantage of the time you have with him right now, we'll never know when he'll change again."

"Why do you always have to be right?"

"Because I'm the brain of this group," she answered jokingly, which made the boys chuckle.

"Enough about Draco. Harry, you didn't really tell us about what happened in the Chambers of Secrets." Said Theo.

"Remember when I told you that the journal we found was Voldemort's?" they all nodded. "Well, his real name is Tom Marvelo Riddle and I found out that he's a half-blood." Everyone's mouths dropped. "His father is a muggle and his mum is a witch."

"So, he hates and kills Muggles and Muggle-born…"

"But his father is a muggle…"

"I just think he's a big lunatic!" said Blaise, Theo and Ron consecutively.

"Anyways," continued Harry. "He was there in the Chambers. Well, his sixteen-year-old self was there. He was the Heir of Slytherin and he was the one who opened it in 1950 and blamed Hagrid for it. He was the one controlling the Basilisk and it was about to kill me but Fawkes came and helped me."

"How did you kill the Basilisk?" one of them asked.

"When Fawkes came, he had the sorting hat with him and gave it to me. And inside I found the sword of Gryffindor and I used that to kill the Basilisk."

"How about Tom Riddle? How did you get rid of him?" asked Ron.

"I used the Basilisk's fang to stab the diary. Since he was just a spirit of his sixteen-year-old memories, I thought that if I destroy the diary he will be gone. And it worked…"

"Wicked! You fought with You-Know-Who during our First and Second Year and you even survived the killing curse when you were still a baby!" said Theo in admiration.

"Let's just hope that everything this year will be normal and that You-Know-Who won't make an appearance." Said Blaise.

"Yes, well, you know that's not possible. With Sirius Black on the loose…" Ron whacked Theo in the stomach with the back of his hand. The brown haired Slytherin cried in pain and was about to hit Ron back but stopped when he saw the glares from his four other friends.

"Who's Sirius Black?" Harry asked.

"Well…"

"You see…"

"Uhm…"

"He's…"

"HE'S ONE OF THE DARK LORD'S FAITHFULL FOLLOWERS!" Theo suddenly blurted. He immediately clasped his mouth shut when he saw more deathly glares that were sent towards him.

"What does he have to do with me?"

"When your parents died, Harry, they caught him and put him in Azkaban. But not long ago, he managed to escape" Hermione explained softly.

"There has never been a break out from Azkaban before so nobody knows how he got out and now we don't know where he is. He could be anywhere." Added Draco.

"You have to be careful mate." Said Blaise with a slightly concerned voice.

"Why?"

"We thought that he broke out of Azkaban to look for you and kill you to finish his master's task." Answered Theo.

"And don't think of going around and look for him!"

"Honestly Ron! Why would I go look for someone who wants to kill me?"

The redhead shrugged, "We never know. You might get bored and start to look for him." He said jokingly. Theo laughed and the two other Slytherins chuckled silently but stopped when they saw Hermione give the four of them a deathly glare clearly meant: 'It's not funny!'

"Why don't we go back inside? It's getting late." Hermione stood up and pushed the boys back to the house.

Blaise, Theo and Draco decided to stay for the night so Mrs. Weasley cleared out the living room for their sleepover. The six friends continued to talk and laugh with each other before finally falling asleep.

Hermione, being an early person, woke up first. She woke up when she felt the morning sun on her face. She gave out a happy sigh and stretched out while still having her eyes closed. When she slowly opened her eyes, the sight in front of her made her blush. In front of her was a sleeping Draco and he was facing her so she could see his sleeping face. For some minutes, Hermione stayed there and stared. When she finally came to her senses, she shook her head and darted to the kitchen. Molly was already up and preparing breakfast for everyone, so she helped her out.

After a while, everybody woke up and entered the dining room. The room was full and loud but they were all having a happy morning. When they finished their breakfast, an owl arrived and knocked on their window.

"Ah! It's our Hogwarts letters!" shouted Fred.

"Dumbledore even sent one for you guys," said George handing the letters to the three Slytherins.

After their meal, the three Slytherins said their goodbyes and thanked the Weasleys for having them over. Mrs Weasley hugged the three boys and made them promise that they would come back and visit again. Hermione hugged the three of them and promised to see each other in Diagon Alley when they buy their school supplies.

A week before going back to Hogwarts the Golden Trio went to Diagon Alley with the other Weasleys. They were in Flourish and Blotts when Hermione finally saw Draco again. She was about to run and hug him but stopped when she saw that he wasn't alone. She saw a man with long blond hair who she knew was his father and a woman who she guessed was his mother.

Draco turned around and locked eyes with Hermione. He was about to call her name when he remembered that his parents were with him. He recovered and put a glare and a sneer on his face. But unluckily for him, his mother saw his face when their eyes met and knew that her son was hiding something from her.

"Draco, do you know her? Aren't you going to introduce us?" Narcissa Malfoy asked her son.

"What? Oh! Uhm… Mother, this is Granger…" He said looking at the brunette. "Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Granger." Narcissa greeted the brunette with a smile which surprised Hermione.

"Uhm… It's nice to meet you too, Mrs Malfoy…" she greeted back shyly.

There was an awkward pause and the Malfoy family were staring at the dark-haired witch. Despite the situation, Hermione blushed and felt uncomfortable. But she also noticed that Lucius Malfoy was simply staring at her and not glaring.

"Hermione! We've been looking for you! Where…" Ron stopped midsentence when he saw who was in front of his friend and paled a bit and so did Harry since his last encounter with the Malfoy Patriarch was not a pleasant one. The two boys were expecting Lucius to throw insults at them, but to their surprise, the man greeted them with a light nod. They greeted them back and stood awkwardly, trying to avoid looking at their eyes.

"Let's go Hemione." Harry politely excused themselves and pulled Hermione and Ron away from the Malfoys to avoid the awkwardness.

Before Draco left the store, he saw Hermione again. She was looking around the shelves for a book. He was studying her and he saw for the first time how happy she gets when she finds a new book that interests her or how her eyebrows would furrow in concentration. He was so caught up on staring and studying her that he didn't notice his parents looking at the both of them. His parents were not stupid, they knew exactly what kind of look their son was giving the muggle-born witch.

A/N: Okay so that's it! I know that it's short but I promise you that the next chapter would be very long. I wanted to post this chapter today (May 28) because it's Mother's Day here in France. I hope you liked it. I'm sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors. Please review and follow (if you still didn't).

Thanks to those who reviewed and followed the previous chapters, it means a lot! Can I ask for at least 5 reviews before I post the next chapter, please?

Thanks for reading. And don't forget to review…

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