The next morning Harry was lying in bed; he had managed to get a few hours of sleep but he felt drained. He wasn't working out today, so he was in no hurry to move. He finally pulled himself out of bed and started his routine. After showering and dressing, Harry finished his last minute packing. He surveyed his room making sure that nothing was left behind when there was a knock at the door. Hermione looked about the same way he did, little sleep and run down. Ginny was staying in her room and she didn't want to wake her, so Hermione asked Harry to use his shower. After she was finished, she exited the bathroom to find Harry petting Crookshanks, who came by for a visit. Hermione sat on the bed and spoke.
"Harry why didn't Ron stay with you last night?"
"He said he was staying with the twins. I don't think he's too happy with me right now."
"He'll come around. I wanted to talk to you about Ginny."
"What about her?"
"I know you wouldn't do it intentionally, but please don't lead her on. You know she has a major crush on you, I think it's great that you want to be friends with her but just be careful." She said.
"Hermione, I just wanted to make up for ignoring her last year. All of us did. If we had paid some attention to her she might not have gotten hurt. I'm not interested in anyone THAT way right now, I just want to be friends but I'll try to make that clear to her. My big problem right now is Ron, he's acting like I betrayed him somehow."
"I know what you mean. He's been acting strangely towards me as well. He felt the need to 'protect' me from you before he even knew who you were." Hermione replied.
"It seems he had some sort of master plan and things aren't going his way. He didn't say it but I could tell he doesn't like my changes. He kept looking at me like I changed to anger him somehow. That's why I shot back at him when you got furball here." He said petting Hermione's familiar.
"He just needs to accept that things are changing, things can't always stay the same or go the way he wants. And Crookshanks is not a furball, at least I don't sleep with a teddy bear." Hermione teased.
"Leave Annie out of this." he said. Both shared a laugh and they felt better. They left the room and headed to the bookstore. All the major stores were open early for the very last minute shoppers, Harry quickly purchased the defense books Ginny had and they returned to Harry's room. After packing the books Harry had a thought.
"You know that you can store any extra books in here if you want. We'll probably be spending a lot of time down there."
"I was going to ask you about that, thanks. How do you think Ron's going to react about everything else?" She asked.
"I don't even want to think about. Hey I just thought of something, are there any school rules about having your own library." Harry wondered.
"I'm not sure, you can ask Percy or wait and ask.."
"McGonagall" they said in unison and snickered. "That is going to be a very long meeting. Let's get some breakfast."
The two agreed to leave so Harry checked his room one last time, shrank his trunk, and the two exited his room. In the Hall they were met by Ron who was looking very angry about something.
"What was she doing in your room?" He asked loudly.
"We were just talking Ron, Hermione has talked to us in our dorm many times. What's the problem?" Harry spat.
"I...nothing. I'm hungry you guys coming." Ron said dejectedly.
"We were heading that way. Let's go." Harry said.
Hermione wisely stayed out of this confrontation. Ron was almost accusing them of doing something behind his back. Even if something did happen, it wasn't any of his business anyway, she thought and blushed. Harry handled the situation well by not getting to angry, but he was annoyed by Ron's actions. If Ron acted this way because of a simple conversation how is he going to react about us studying and working out together? Why is Ron being so petty about everything? She pondered as the trio made their way to breakfast.
The rest of the Weasley clan joined them at breakfast. Mr Weasley announced that they had Ministry cars to take them to King's Cross. After everyone was fed, everybody went to their rooms to retrieve their trunks. Harry stayed in the bar and ordered some food for the train ride.
When the Weasleys and Hermione returned, Harry helped load the trunks into the waiting cars. The look in Hermione's eyes told him that she wished that she took Harry up on his offer but he didn't say anything. After everything was loaded and people in place they headed to the train station. Ron said to Harry.
"Harry where's your trunk? I didn't see you load it."
Harry pulled his miniaturized trunk from his pocket and showed Ron. He explained what he had done to it and returned the trunk to his pocket. Ron thought to himself, showing off his money again, trying to impress Hermione. The ride was fairly swift and soon they were through the barrier and boarding the Hogwarts' Express. The platform was a pandemonium of activity, Percy had already changed into his robes and was assisting some first years. While looking for a compartment, Harry had been given many complements from the female population on his new look, and even more offers to share compartments with them. Harry graciously refused their kind offers and soon the trio were in a compartment with what seemed to be a teacher sleeping. Ron was seething with jealousy at the attention Harry was receiving but hid it well. Ron spoke.
"Who's he? He looks almost dead."
"Ron be nice. His name is R.J. Lupin." Hermione answered.
"How do you know that?" Ron said.
"It's on his trunk Ronald." Hermione replied. The train got underway and the trio began chatting about the new year.
Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office awaiting the arrival of the Train. His tracking charm on Harry's glasses indicated that he was still in Diagon Alley but Arthur had told him that he was on the train. He was confused for the moment when there was a tapping at the window. Recognizing it as a Gringgots owl, the aged wizard took the letter and sent it on his way. Albus was even more confused, because there had been only one owl and he had been getting two owls for over 12 years. Albus opened the letter to find only his vault statement, this was not what he was expecting. Albus went to his private Floo connection to call Gringgots.
"How may I help you?" The goblin asked.
"I seem to have a problem with my vault statement. I have been watching over a vault, as a favor for a friend, and have not received the statement." Albus said politely.
"Name and vault number?" The goblin asked
"Albus Dumbledore, Vault #687."
"One moment", after a few minutes the goblin answered back, "You do not have signed authorization to access this vault."
"I understand but I have been keeping an eye on this particular vault for some time. The owner is very young and he doesn't need the burden of such matters. Surely you can do.."
The goblin cut him off, "Without proper authorization I will do nothing, Is there anything else?"
"No, Thank you" Albus said dejectedly.
The Floo closed abruptly and Albus was taken aback. This has never happened before, he pondered. He would have to get Harry to authorize him to receive his statements but to do that Albus would have to admit to intercepting Harry's mail. There was nothing the old wizard could do about this now, until Harry arrived, so he started to plan.
Meanwhile at Gringgots, a RED FLAG went up. Vault #687 was under investigation for missing statements. The clerk that took the Floo call reported the incident to his superiors and they sent a memo directly to the ledger in Harry trunk. The goblins would not take action without the vault owners consent, until then they would have to wait.
Harry had just returned from visiting Ginny, He was talking to his friends about the person he just met. Luna Lovegood was, to say the least, different but nice.Do I really have to describe Luna. The thing that caught Harry off guard about her was the fact she knew his real name. Hermione needed answers so she asked.
"Harry what did Mr Weasley talk to you about?"
"He told me that Sirius Black broke out of prison to come after me." He replied.
"Why would he come after You?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. He was supposedly one of Voldemorts followers."
"No worries mate, you'll be safe at Hogwarts with Dumbledore around." Ron said confidently.
"Yea right. I've already faced Voldemort twice in two years AT Hogwarts WITH Dumbledore around." Harry spat.
Hermione listened to Harry's response and started to get concerned. Harry was right about what he just said. Harry also seemed very angry with Dumbledore about something, other than these facts. The fact that Harry said supposedly not definitely meant Harry knew something about Sirius Black others didn't. Hermione was pulled from her musings by the train stopping. The air was getting cold and the windows were frosting over. A feeling of despair was overtaking her as the door to their compartment opened. There was a skeletal hand pushing the door open and the figure went straight for Harry. Harry seemed frozen in place as the figure moved closer, Harry had just lost consciousness when the teacher awoke and chased the creature away. Mr. Lupin stayed until Harry regained consciousness and gave him some chocolate to eat. Harry spoke to the teacher,
"What was that thing?"
"A Dementor, a guard from Azkaban looking for Sirius Black. I'm going to talk to the conductor, eat you'll feel better." Lupin said.
Harry ate some of the chocolate and started to feel a bit better. He asked his friends.
"Who was screaming? Before I blacked out I heard someone screaming."
"No one was screaming Harry, and we didn't blackout." Hermione answered very concerned.
"I did feel weird, I felt like I'd never be happy again." Ron added.
Harry sat there pondering the events and thought to himself, I have to learn about Dementors. He gave Hermione a look and he knew she was thinking the same thing. Harry closed his eyes and tried to calm himself all the while thinking about who was screaming.
News of Harry's episode spread quickly throughout the train. Draco Malfoy came by to taunt Harry but was chased away by Lupin. Harry was offered 'comfort' in other compartments but he politely refused. Ginny and Luna stopped by to see Harry, both girls were feeling off so Harry resized his trunk and took out a box of Chocolate Frogs he had stashed and shared with everyone, but he wanted the cards. Ron waived his resentment for Harry's new trunk, he wasn't about to pass up free sweets. The rest of the ride was uneventful, the girls excused themselves to change while the boys did the same.
Upon reaching Hogsmeade Station, the trio boarded a carriage and went to the castle. They were met by Madam Pomfrey, who fussed over him. Professor McGonagall checked on him as well then ushered Hermione away. Professor Dumbledore was there as well, he did not like having Dememtors around but had no choice. He asked Harry about his glasses and Harry explained about his contacts, Albus accepted this and let it be. Hermione returned smiling widely and the trio entered the great hall.
After the feast, Dumbledore introduced Remus Lupin as the DADA professor and Hagrid as Care of Magical Creatures professor. He also warned the students about the Dementors and to give them a wide birth.
Returning to Gryffindor Tower, there was a somber mood. Harry was feeling drained so he changed quickly into his pajamas and went to bed. He and Hermione agreed to take a couple days off from working out until they saw their timetables, and planned a schedule around it. Harry was lying in bed practicing his occlumency, after sorting through another batch of memories he found that he just couldn't sleep. Hearing the snores of his dorm mates, Harry quietly went into his trunk and retrieved Annie. He knew he was taking a chance at getting caught, but really didn't care at the moment. He needed sleep badly and Annie was a comfort, especially after the train ride. He never understood why people slept with stuffed animals, until he had one of his own. He settled down and eventually drifted off to sleep. The year hadn't even started yet and Harry was already having issues.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter.