Ooohkay, we're going to rip the bandage off real quickly here. To clear the air and to reassure you H/Hr fans: THIS IS A H/Hr STORY. Yes, folks, contrary to where you think this story IS going, just go with the angst and the torture! Lol. Nah, I am just going for more realism in the relationship and it will be rocky for a chapter or two, but things will turn around again. So...beginning the first of a three chapter post...happy reading.

Three days after Ron and Ginny arrived, Harry and Ron's OWL results came. Harry, Ron and Ginny were sitting at the kitchen table, eating another delicious breakfast provided by Kreacher, when three owls soared in tail-to-tail through the small hole near the ceiling, where Pigwidgeon had flown in just days ago carrying Ron's letter for Harry. Ron and Ginny, who hadn't had the pleasure of witnessing an owl fly through this hole, started, and Ron slopped milk down the front of his shirt. Ginny, however, stylishly set down her fork and clapped with glee as the beautiful brown owls soared around the kitchen before landing in the center of the table.

"Holy thestrals," said Ron, sucking in a deep breath, eyeing the owl in front of him with severe apprehension. "I don't know if I want to accept this owl. Can we just pretend not to notice? Will they fly away if we don't take the letter?" Harry laughed.

Kreacher, who had noticed the arrival of the owls, bustled in with a pan of bacon and set it between the owls. The owl in front of Ron dropped the letter into the middle of his plate and began at once to nibble at the bacon. Harry laughed at Ron's look of astonishment and took the letter from his own owl, Ginny did likewise.

"Come on, Ron, it can't be that bad! At the very worst we won't have to take Divination and History of Magic!" he began to open his letter, then stopped, scrunching up his nose. "Did I say worst? I meant best." Ginny giggled and watched him anxiously as he peeled away the Hogwarts seal and removed the pieces of parchment. He grazed briefly over what each of the letters of pass and fail grades represented and felt his heart beat faster as he read on.

Harry James Potter has achieved

Astronomy – Acceptable

Care of Magical Creatures – Exceeds Expectations

Charms – Exceeds Expectations

Defense Against the Dark Arts – Outstanding

Divination – Dreadful

Herbology – Exceeds Expectations

History of Magic – Dreadful

Potions – Exceeds Expectations

Transfiguration – Outstanding

It took him nearly three minutes to completely digest every word on the parchment, even more the fact that he'd received an Outstanding in both Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. When he finally looked up and saw Ginny's expression, a mingle between exasperation and concern, then he realized his mouth was hanging open. He shut it, but didn't move. Ron looked up seconds later.

"Swap?" said Ron, a bit hoarsely. Harry nodded numbly and Ginny impatiently shifted in her seat. Ron handed his own letter across the owls, and Harry exchanged it with his. He didn't spend quite as long on Ron's letter as he did on his own, mostly because he was still too shocked at his own results. Ron only had one Outstanding, in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and other than an Exceeds Expectations in Transfiguration, he and Harry had all the same results.

"Ha-rry!" Ron exclaimed, emphasizing the syllables in his name. "Two Outstandings! I say…" his voice trailed off as he looked up at Harry, grinning from ear to ear. "I suppose it helps when your girlfriend is the effing library!"

Harry laughed, glancing at Ginny out of the corner of his eye. "Not bad yourself, mate. We got all the same grades!" he was about to exchange letters with Ron again when Ginny snatched them both at the center.

"Good grief, I can't take it anymore!" she said, smirking. Holding them side to side, Harry watched her, innocently, glance back and forth, comparing the grades.

"Want to bet Hermione strolls in here with eleven Outstandings?" said Harry, raising his eyebrows at Ron, who had taken another bite of egg and was grinning like a chipmunk. "The day before we took our OWLs this summer, I only saw her for five minutes at breakfast, and then not until the next morning when Moody and Tonks picked us up to take us to the Ministry." He laughed, remembering Hermione's fingernails digging into his arm as they rode in the ministry vehicles and Tonks talking about taking her OWLs.

"Congratulations, you two," said Ginny, very shortly, but looked pleased. "Ron, you got more OWLs than Fred and George put together! Mum would be so proud of you…" she stopped suddenly and her ears turned red, her jaw set, and Harry could, in that instant, see Fred and George in her facial structure.

"Good morning!" sang Sirius as he walked into the kitchen. He was fastening the buckle on his belt, holding up the pair of jeans he claimed he bought at a muggle shop. He stopped in stride when he saw the look on Ginny's face. "Who died?"

"Sirius!" said Harry, sharply.

Ginny's face turned so quickly from shock and incredulity to excitement and delight that Harry wasn't sure if the former had ever been there. "They just got their OWL results, Sirius! Look!" She held out the pieces of parchment and Sirius strode over and took them from her hands, scanning them carefully.

"Wow! Both of you got an Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts! That is something else," he grinned down at Harry and Ron, "no doubt from, what was it, Dumbledore's Army?"

Ron snorted. "Harry could have gotten an outstanding in that subject with his hands tied behind his back. But the rest of the fifth year, nah, I bet every single person in the DA got an outstanding!" He gave Harry an admiring look, then looked at Ginny. "How about you, then, did you pass everything?"

Ginny mouthed, "Did I pass everything?" in a mocking sort of way and sneered at him, though she looked amused. "Of course I did," she said, finally.

"I guess we can go to Diagon Alley today, then, now that you got your Hogwarts letters," said Sirius, drawing out the chair between Ron and Ginny and taking a seat, accepting a heaping plate of food from Kreacher. "Thanks, Kreacher," he said, absently, still appearing to be deep in thought. "I think Moody said he and Tonks would be available as a guard this week."

"Hell yes," said Ron slamming a fist down on the table, "I cannot wait to see Weasleys Wizard Wheezes." Harry raised his eyebrows. "Didn't you hear? Fred and George opened their joke shop in Diagon Alley. They've had to sleep in the flat about the shop because they're so busy. They reckon they'll be able to pay you back in a year or two's time."

Harry put on a sour look. "Pay me back? Why the bloody hell would I want them to pay me back?" he poked his scrambled eggs with his fork. "What's the point of a gift anymore if no one wants to keep it?"

"You know how it is, mate," said Ron, "can you imagine accepting a thousand galleons from The Chosen One?" He laughed. "Well, I guess you can't. Anyway, it's not like they don't appreciate it, I think they named one of their products after you."

Ginny giggled. "That's right, I overheard them talking about it last time they were home. What was it?" she tapped her chin and gazed into the air as though the product itself would swoop down and reveal itself to her. "Potter's Plants: Touch them if you dare! Is what the sign reads, I think."

Ron nodded vigorously. "If you touch any part of the green you get electrocuted!" Harry exchanged a look with Sirius, not quite sure if he got the joke. Ron's look changed to exasperation. "Your scar of course! Electrocution…lightning…it's not like it would kill you like lightning would, but they made it so your body looks like its one big ball of static and then you can see your bones." He chuckled, amused.

"See your bones? Like an x-ray?" Harry asked, feeling a bit taken aback by this revelation.

"X-ray?" asked Ginny. "What's an x-ray?"

"It's a muggle method of checking on broken bones," said Sirius lazily, "and I reckon it's something like that, though it may or may not be your actual bones."

Harry smiled. Potter's Plants? That ought to be a laugh.

"Harry?" said Ron, looking at the envelope sitting in front of Harry. "You've got something else there…"

Harry looked down and indeed, the envelope still had something in it. There was a small, circular bulk near one corner, and he stared at it curiously.

Ginny looked from Harry to Ron, and she and Ron seemed to be sharing a similar idea. Ron stared at her, his eyes wide. "You don't reckon!"

Harry picked up the envelope and turned it upside down. A small, scarlet badge fluttered into his hand and he held it up to inspect it.

"It is!" Ron shouted, jumping up from his seat and rounding behind him to look at it more closely. "Harry! You've been made Quidditch captain!"

Sirius looked up from his plate with a big grin. "Wow! Congratulations, Harry!"

"Oh, that is so exciting!" said Ginny, clapping her hands.

"Wow…" Harry managed to say. "Quidditch captain?" He turned the badge over in his hand, undergoing a surreal sensation. He'd almost forgotten how much he loved Quidditch, how much he missed it, after being disbanded from the game last year. A surge of emotions and memories overtook him and he had vision of kicking off from the ground and soaring into the air, the wind whipping his hair back and nothing but him and his Firebolt at top speed.

"Harry? You still with us?" asked Ron, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

Harry didn't answer, he really wasn't with them. He was far, far away, high in the air, soaring above the cheers and whoops of his fellow classmates.

Harry and Ron spent that evening admiring all of the things they'd bought from Fred and George's shop and conversing over all they had seen and done. Diagon Alley had been quite strange and very different from Harry's memory of it. Though he hadn't been there in the last two years, Mrs. Weasley had gone for him, he couldn't remember it being so heavily guarded.

Security details of aurors and qualified wizards had been stationed every two stores and patrolled the streets, particularly around the entrance to Knockturn Alley. Moody and Tonks had led them around, specifically assigned to them for Harry's protection. However, after Ron mentioned that Harry would have a difficult time getting through the crowds of people, with his fame heightened as a result of the events in June, Harry said he would rather eat toe fungus than be bombarded by people and insisted he go under his invisibility cloak. He passed his gold to Sirius who bought him his books, and was thus able to sneak up on Fred inside Weasleys Wizard Wheezes and scared the living daylights out of him.

It took nearly four hours to get through everything they needed. Ron had eighty galleons to spend after working for Charlie for a month—they had given him a generous tip for staying on an extra week when all the other boys went home—and disappeared for a half an hour while Harry and Ginny had an ice cream cone at Florean Fortescue's. When he came back he insisted that he couldn't find what he had gone looking for, but kept sticking his hand into his pocket when he thought Harry wasn't looking.

Along the way, Harry had pulled Sirius aside and asked him what he should get for Hermione, as a present, just a little something. It occurred to him that her birthday was in a month's time and he should probably think ahead to that as well, but he knew she might not be in the most high of spirits after having spent two weeks with her less than capable grandmother so soon after her grandfather's funeral.

"Girls always like necklaces," offered Sirius, nodding towards a jewelry store.

"Hermione's got a gold locket with her initials on it," said Harry, though he knew that would have been a good idea. "A book is too…non boyfriendish, don't you think?"

Sirius laughed. "I would definitely not give a girlfriend a book as a present," said Sirius. "I'm sure you could find something at Fred and George's."

And find something he had. The shop was full of the items Fred and George had invented during school, but that was hardly ten percent of their total products. There was everything from protective hats and cloaks to love potions to muggle magic tricks. The display was spectacular and the shop so crowded that Harry could barely move around under the invisibility cloak. After a time, though, he noticed that no one could tell who was bumping into whom and he stopped bothering about anyone running into him.

According to Fred and George, the love potions had been flying off the shelves by giggling girls so fast they could hardly keep up with the demand. They joked about how it was probably all for Harry, the girls being so infatuated with The Chosen One, now. Harry gritted his teeth and tried to laugh, but felt sickened by the thought, making him very glad he was invisible. The idea of even a quarter of Hogwarts' girls buying a love potion to give to him was scary. He was glad, in that respect, that he had Hermione who would probably be able to spot a love potion a mile away.

What would he do, though, if someone managed to slip him a love potion? He'd never been under a control like that and wondered, vaguely, if it was anything like the imperius curse and the person subject to it just had to simply resist it by will. With a pang, he thought of Hermione and what she would do or say if he suddenly went ga-ga over another girl.

The idea altogether amused him, after he got over thinking about being given one by half of Hogwarts' girls, and he bought a love potion, a mild one. The bottle read, "A kick in the right direction! Three drops in the morning and he's yours until sundown!" He thought he would write a little note to Hermione and say that if he was ever acting like a bad boyfriend she could slip it into his morning pumpkin juice and she would have one hell of a day. Ron particularly liked his idea.

Ginny became interested in a small pygmy puff that she quite obviously didn't have enough money for, and Ron graciously bought it for her. Harry had been about to pass Sirius the money to get it for her himself, but when he saw the look on Ron's face after Ginny had put one of the small, furry creatures back inside the jar, he had watched with something close to awe as Ron pulled out his sack of money and handed ten sickles it to Fred and George without so much as blinking.

Harry distinctively remembered Ron shouting once, a couple years ago, "Why is everything I own rubbish!" The scene in the shop made Harry go numb, jealous again of how much Ron had grown up during their month apart, made him almost long to go off on his own and find himself in the way Ron had.

All of Harry and Ron's purchased items were now spread out on Harry's bedroom floor. It was late, nearly midnight, but neither boy was very tired. They were too excited from their trip to Diagon Alley and, with Harry's birthday looming in the air, couldn't manage to stop talking.

"Twenty minutes!" said Ron, glancing at his watch. "Sixteen in twenty minutes!"

Harry popped a handful of Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans into his mouth and cringed. He and Ron had been doing that for nearly two hours, laughing at the ridiculous faces they'd each make at the assortment of flavors they got in each handful. Harry tasted vomit and nearly spat it all out, but gritted his teeth and forced the lump down his throat, then smacked his mouth in disgust.

"I think my luck gets worse as we get towards the bottom of the box," he said, gazing at the half empty box of beans. "Ah well, I can't imagine a better way to spend the eve of my birthday. I think this is, hands down, the best birthday ever. I can feel it. I've never had so much fun in the days surrounding it."

"But last year," said Ron, tossing a handful of beans into his mouth, "we got all that excellent news about…oh, nothing!" His face contorted and he coughed, "Hairball!" He swallowed with what appeared to be much pain. "Remember, don't you? The Order was just skipping around us, not bothering to tell us anything while we cleaned their house and made it fit for habitation? Now after what happened at Hogwarts I bet they'll be more keen to give us information." He paused and thought for a moment. "I suppose my mum had a lot to do with it, too, eh? She was the driving force behind shutting Sirius up while he was trying to bring you up to speed when you first got to Grimmauld Place."

Harry didn't answer. He had thought of that, too, but had felt too ashamed to admit it to Ron. Ron seemed to sense what Harry was thinking and shrugged in a noncommittal sort of way.

"How about Tonks, though?" said Harry, grinning. "Blonde hair? I don't think we've seen her without pink or purple."

"I know!" said Ron. "Lupin is doing a number on her, isn't he? And from what you told me about him, she's certainly got her hands in his pockets, if you know what I mean." He snickered and handed the box of Bertie's Beans to Harry.

"It'll be interesting to see them together tomorrow, won't it?" Harry thought aloud. "And Bill and Fleur. I haven't seen her since Cedric's funeral."

"They're a piece of work," said Ron, sticking out his tongue. "She is beautiful, don't get me wrong, but sometimes she just seems to be…insane. I guess she's been helping dad with a lot of the household stuff around the Burrow, since she's only working part time at Gringotts."

"When are they getting married again?" asked Harry.

"Next summer. That should be a good time. I bet Tonks and Lupin will get married too, before long," said Ron. He yawned suddenly, involuntarily. "Whoa, where did that come from?" He laughed. Then he nearly jumped off his spot on the floor. "Harry! Happy Birthday!"

"What? Oh!" Harry looked at his own watch. It was five after midnight. "I'm sixteen!" They stood up and Harry took a heaping fistful of Bertie's Beans in his hand, and Ron did the same. "Oh God," said Harry, staring at his own beans, "I bet you there is a vomit, ear wax, toe shavings, and maggot flavored beans in here." They raised their hands in a sort of cheer and then shoved every last bean into their mouths, immediately falling to the floor, convulsing with repulsion at the horrific combination of flavors in their mouths.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" a small voice squealed. Harry sat bolt upright in bed and squinted into the morning sunlight, which was all a hazy blur without his glasses. Then a pair of very soft lips pressed on his own and the voice registered inside his head.

"Hermione!" he said, breathlessly, as she pulled away from their kiss. "You nearly gave me heart failure! I wouldn't mind living until seventeen…you know."

She giggled and plopped herself down by his feet. He slid his glasses on and she came into focus. She looked a bit tanner than when they'd parted two weeks ago, but other than that she looked like her regular, beautiful self.

"When did you get here?" asked Harry, stretching out his arms and yawning.

"Just five minutes ago," she said, and Harry noticed she was still wearing her light jacket. "So, how does it feel to be sixteen?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well, the last thirty seconds hasn't been all that bad," he said, winking. "I suppose my fortunes are bound to go up from here."

She giggled again and got to her feet. She slid off her jacket and laid it on the back of his chair. "Sirius said you four went to Diagon Alley yesterday?" she said, turning back to him, before her eye landed on Hedwig and she hurried to go pet her.

"Yeah, have you been, yet?" he asked.

"No, we only got home late last night. Tonks came and picked me up this morning. Guess I'm not as important to get Dumbledore himself," she looked at him and gave him an amused smile. "It was good, though, she's so much fun to talk to."

"I know! She and Moody escorted us around Diagon Alley," said Harry as he flung the covers off his lower body and jumped out of bed.

Hermione laughed. "Yes, she said that you insisted on wearing your invisibility cloak," she said, amused. "It can't be easy going around Diagon Alley hidden beneath that thing, can it?"

Harry shrugged, yawning and stretching again. "It wasn't to-o-o bad," he said, his yawn impeding his speech. "Oh! Before I forget, I got you something!"

Hermione stood still, looking confused. "But it's your birthday, Harry, what do you mean you got me something?"

Harry laughed, and rummaged through the top drawer of his dresser. "This has nothing to do with my birthday, if you would have gotten here in a week I would have given it to you then, but you're here now and I want to give it to you." He pulled out the bottle of love potion and quickly concealed it behind his back, she was trying to peer around his back as she walked up to him. "No peeking, it comes with a little verbal message."

"Verbal message?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms and looking somewhat apprehensive. "What does that mean?"

Harry shook his head. "I know I was a bit harsh while I was at your house this summer, and I know it was my fault. I let the Prophet get to me and whatnot, and I'm trying not to let it—"

"Oh, Harry, you don't think I actually held that against you, do you—"

"Hermione!" said Harry, cutting her off. She held up her hands in surrender and bid him to go on. "Anyway. Things might get that way again once we go back to Hogwarts, so, I bought you something to use if I ever get unbearable." Her eyes widened as he revealed the little bottle of love potion and held it out to her, chuckling. "All you need to do is let a couple drops slip into my morning drink and I will be the best boyfriend you have ever had, which wouldn't be too hard considering..." he let his voice trail off with an air of suppressed criticism, thinking menacingly of Krum. The odd thing was, no matter how many doubts he had about their relationship, the idea of her with someone else made a strange jealous creature rear up inside his chest.

Hermione's mouth was slightly open in shock and amusement as she took the bottle from him, looking from him to the bottle in successive counts. "This is…unexpected," she said. "But, um, thanks, I guess!" she laughed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "You do know love potions are one of the most powerful potions in the world, don't you? Amortentia is the strongest of all, but I doubt this is that. Where did you get this?"

"Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, of course," said Harry, pulling out a drawer.

"Oh, right, I thought they would be opening that joke shop soon," she said, smiling at the little bottle. "And I probably won't be able to see it until next year."

Just then the door burst open and Ron came bounding in, grinning broadly. "Happy Birthday, again, Harry," he said. Then he noticed Hermione and nodded at her. "Oh, I see how it is. You get midnight calls, and I—"

"I just got here, Ronald," said Hermione, crossing her arms again and trying to slip the bottle into her jacket without him noticing. But as Ron had been with Harry when he bought the potion, he only grinned more broadly and cast a knowing look at Harry, who was changing out of his pajamas.

"Can't a guy change in peace around here?" Harry asked. Ron snickered.

"Come on, hurry up. Kreacher's got a wonderful birthday breakfast prepared for you. And your present stash won't get any higher until tonight," said Ron. "Hermione, come with me, I want to show you something before breakfast."

"Alright," she said, grabbing her jacket. "See you downstairs, Harry."

Harry nodded distractedly and rummaged through his bottom drawer trying to find his jeans. He'd just found them and slid them on when an owl flew through the window and landed on his bed, holding a note in its beak. He fastened the clasp on his jeans and walked over to accept the owl from the bird, which hooted once and flew back out the window.

"What's this?" he mumbled, gazing at the unfamiliar handwriting on the front, which just read Harry Potter. He tore open the envelope and removed the bit of parchment inside.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! Your godfather invited me to your party tonight but I am afraid I can't make it. My gran took me and my younger cousin, who now attends Beauxbaton, to Italy for a couple weeks and we became delayed in returning. I thought we'd make it back by yesterday, but things didn't go quite as planned. So I apologize that I won't be there to help you celebrate, but very much appreciate the invitation. I will no doubt see you on the Hogwarts Express on September first. Have a wonderful day and see you soon!

Neville

Harry smiled down at the parchment. Sirius had invited Neville to his party? What a wonderful idea. It made him wonder, briefly, who else Sirius had invited. With a new surge of affection, he felt elated by the thought that Sirius had taken the time to arrange such a party for him. Too bad he can't come, Harry thought, I would have liked to talk to him before school started, see how he's doing.

He remembered, vividly, the moment Neville had ran after Bellatrix LeStrange and sent the curse that ended her straight for her chest. The look on Neville's face, one of pain and anger, but also of shocking incredulity, when he had blasted her down was one that had been daunting him all summer. He, Harry, had done virtually nothing but defend others during that battle, he hadn't finished off anyone, much less Voldemort. But Neville had taken down his first in command, someone he had thought for so long was almost as invincible as Voldemort.

Invincible. How that idea tormented him. The idea that Voldemort had an edge, an unknown edge, that kept him alive while Harry was stuck with the lame power of love. How had Voldemort survived when the killing curse rebounded on him those fifteen years ago? Was that what Dumbledore was to teach him? How to become invincible so as to meet Voldemort on equal grounds?

Somewhere inside of himself, Harry knew that Dumbledore wouldn't teach him magic that concerned the dark arts. But he also felt that if Dumbledore wasn't going to teach him to survive by skill matched only by Voldemort, he was lost to where their lessons were to begin.