~ This fanfic has a new ending to the fourth Harry Potter book, and this takes place when Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in their fifth year at Hogwarts. Cedric didn't die. Only Harry touched the portkey. Cedric is also a year older. ~
Chapter 1
It had been almost two months since Harry had seen Voldemort, but he could picture it in his mind as if it had been yesterday. Harry often woke up in the middle of the night because he always had the same nightmare of the day he went face-to-face with You-Know-Who. The only difference is that in his dream Cedric had also touched the portkey and was killed. Luckily that hadn't happened like that, at the last minute Cedric tripped, knocked himself out, and the huge spider had dragged him away. Harry's dreams kept him up at night, but he didn't feel any safer in the day than he did at night. Living with a Muggle family who despised wizards doesn't really make you feel safe against a powerful dark wizard who wanted you dead.
"Harry, get down here right now and make us breakfast", uncle Vernon yelled, but then reconsidered and said more timidly, "please," remembering what Harry had said two years earlier about his godfather who was a convicted murderer who had escaped from jail.
Harry hopped out of bed and got dressed. He had been awake for hours, because of his dream. He had a feeling it was telling him something. He wondered what his friends where up to this summer. He had gotten a few owls from both of them, but they never talked about themselves. It just didn't seem right. Harry concluded that they were just writing to make sure he was okay.
"HARRY!!!" uncle Vernon called viscously for about the tenth time. He finally gave up, and grumbled about Harry being a good-for-nothing, lazy boy. Now he would have to make his own breakfast, because Petunia was away for the morning.
Harry ignored his uncle and started to re-read his letters from Ron and Hermione. Hedwig flew into Harry's room while he was reading and Harry didn't notice her until she started nibbling on his ear. She looked very proud and Harry wondered who had written to him. Hedwig flew to her cage and drank her water while Harry unrolled the parchment. Then she flew to his shoulder. The letter was from Dumbledore.
Dear Harry,
I have talked with both the Weasley's and Sirius and we have decided that it is safe for you to spend the rest of the summer with the Weasleys if you wish. Send an owl to them with your consent on this. They will pick you up at the end of the week if you want to go. Hermione is also spending time there. Sirius wanted you to live with him, but he is busy at the moment doing some favors for me. Hope you are doing well, Albus Dumbledore
Joy washed over Harry. He would get to spend his remaining vacation with Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys. Harry wrote a quick letter to Ron, telling Ron that he would love to go, and to tell his parents that he couldn't wait to visit there, like he had last summer. Relief also came over him. Harry would feel so much safer with other wizards around, and it was always something fun going on at the Weasley's. Finally my luck has changed, thought Harry.
Harry ran downstairs to tell the Dursleys that he would be leaving. "The Weasleys have invited me to stay with them for the end of the summer," he told them. Dudley's eyes widened and he ran out of the room.
"Those retched people who almost killed Dudley and destroyed my house? They better not dare come anywhere near my house ever again!" thundered Uncle Vernon.
"They didn't almost kill him, and besides, Mr. Weasley fixed everything in the end. You can't stop me, I'm going if you like it or not! I'll be gone at four pm this Friday." Uncle Vernon was speechless to Harry's reply.
Harry stormed up the stairs. 'They should be happy to get rid of me, that's been their wish all along,' Harry thought. He wished Hedwig hadn't left, because he was now lonely. Harry abandoned his letters and found the photo album Hagrid had given to him. He opened it and saw his parents waving to him. When they had come out of Voldemort's wand it was almost like having them back. It was as if they were real. They had even talked to him. Although it was the scariest time of his life, Harry would give anything to relive that moment right now, just to see and hear his parents again. Even though what he saw were just shadows of their living self, Harry didn't care, it was the next best thing to them being alive again.
* * *
The past week had been the longest one of Harry's life. Every time he had walked into a room Uncle Vernon would glare at him, Aunt Petunia would snarl, and Dudley would make a little shriek. He still remembered the Ton-tongue toffee Fred had dropped last summer. Harry knew he had deserved it, and it was Dudley's own fault that he had eaten it. Besides, it had been rather funny. If Dudley wasn't such a jerk, Harry would probably have felt bad for him, but after everything Dudley had done to him, Harry felt no pity. He couldn't wait till the Weasleys came to get him. There was only one day left, but it felt like an eternity.
As it got closer to four, everyone got tenser. Dudley had locked himself into his room, and aunt Petunia blamed Harry. She was pleading for Dudley to open up his door, because she knew what he was capable of doing to it, but he refused. Uncle Vernon cursed at the Weasleys for causing so much trouble in his house. He also yelled at Harry, because it was his fault that they where coming back. As uncle Vernon yelled, Harry started to get worried. He wasn't afraid of his uncle, he hadn't been afraid of him for years. However, he was afraid that the Weasleys would try to come through the fireplace again. Harry knew the Dursleys couldn't truly hurt him, but they could make his life miserable. He started to pace. Then he heard a car coming up the driveway. Harry looked out the window and saw that the car belonged to Mr. Weasley. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were also in the car. They were all smiling, although Ginny was also blushing. Harry felt his own checks go red. Harry had a feeling that Ginny had liked him since the valentine she had given him in his second year. Harry now wondered if the feeling was mutual.
"Hmmph", Uncle Vernon growled. Harry knew the reason. Mr. Weasley's car was a brand new P. T. Cruiser. Harry knew that was the car was not Mr. Weasley's, but the Ministry's, although Harry somehow failed to tell his uncle this. 'Let him be jealous, serves him right,' Harry thought. His uncle had wanted a one of those cars for a couple months now, but his wife wouldn't let him get one, because the neighbors across the street had just gotten one. She didn't want it to seem like she was copying them. She cared way too much about what the neighbors thought, but for once Harry didn't mind.
Everyone entered the house, much to Uncle Vernon's complains. Ginny grabbed Hedwig's cage, which now contained Hedwig. She whispered a hello was walked back out the door. Hermione helped Mr. Weasley carry Harry's trunk out the door. "Mum wouldn't let Fred and George come. She still hasn't forgotten about last time with the Tounge-Ton toffees," Ron said to Harry as they picked up the rest of his stuff and brought it to the car.
"Neither has Dudley, he's still hiding", Harry replied looking up at Dudley's window. Dudley was peering out of it with a look of terror on his face. They both started laughing and couldn't stop until Hermione scolded them for laughing when Dudley was scared out of his mind. She had a twinkle in her eye though, and the way she talked let them know that she also thought it was amusing, although she didn't want to let it on; it wasn't her style to laugh at others' pain. Harry left number four, Private Drive without saying as much as a word to his aunt and uncle. On the way home, everyone was happily talking about the rest of the summer. Everyone that is, except Ginny. She was sitting between Harry and Hermione. She barely said a word, unless asked a question. Even the she only gave short answers. Harry noticed this, he also noticed that whenever his arm brushed up against hers she flinched and leaned away. 'She probably feels uncomfortable around us,' he thought, 'we are all great friends and she doesn't fit in as quiet well, because she is younger.' Harry wanted to put his arm around her, or do something that would let her know she was welcomed, but nothing seemed right. He decided to do nothing.
Mrs. Weasley was at the door to greet them when they all returned. She tightly hugged Harry when he walked to the house, as if he were her own son. It was a feeling he still wasn't used to. "Mum, he's not gunna be kidnapped the second you loosen your grip, you can let go of him now", said George, peering through the doorway. His identical, but much funnier brother, Fred was right behind him. Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry, and he silently thanked George.
"Come on, let's all get out of the doorway, so I can put down this heavy trunk. Harry should get unpacked tonight, so he can enjoy the rest of his vacation as soon as possible." They all moved as Mr. Weasley carried Harry's trunk inside. Everyone started talking at once. Everyone was trying to be heard, and they all kept raising their voices. Harry wondered where Percy was, he should have been downstairs the second it got loud, to tell them all to be quiet. Fred and George came up to Harry.
"He found his own place," said George.
"Finally left," said Fred.
"Said it was too loud around here."
"Imagine that."
"So now each have our own room, but we don't want it, it's boring and dull."
"Just like him."
"We decided to look around, anyway, though. We thought we might be able to find something Percy left behind, we were hoping we could black-male him, we have a favor to ask, but he won't do it unless we have some dirt on him," George said.
"We didn't find anything he left behind, but we found something better. I was inspecting the room when I found something strange-" Fred was saying, before being cut off by George.
"You did not, I found it!"
"You lying piece of scum, you did not!" said Fred in an outburst.
"You idiotic, ugly, un-funny person, I did so!" was George's reply.
Harry knew he had to do something, but he didn't feel that it was his place to tell George that Fred was his identical twin, and saying Fred was ugly, was also saying he was ugly. Harry didn't want more commotion, so he decided a different approach. He asked what they BOTH had found that was so strange. This seemed to make both twins forget about what had just happened, and started to tell Harry more about what had happened.
They had found a strait brick, although Harry found nothing strange with this information, so the twins explained that the whole house was crooked, therefore something strait WAS a big deal. When the tapped the brick with their wands, a doorway appeared, much like the entrance to Diagon Ally. Since they did not know where the entrance led, the paid Ginny a galleon ("well worth it") to make sure no one entered the room, and if they had not come out in an hour then she was to get their parents and give them a letter. The twins had written a letter that explain what they had found, and what had happened, just incase they were unable to return to Percy's old room. The letter had not been needed, they found out later, because the room was very safe. It was also soundproof, and is now where the twins had set up their business.
"It's great, we can do anything we want there, and no one will ever know," George explained.
"We don't think Percy ever knew about it, he probably wouldn't have even cared if he did find it. We don't know if Mum and Dad know about it, they must, but they never said anything about it," Fred added.
"Wow, cool, I wish I had a secret passage where I could get away from everyone anytime I wanted," said Harry.
Just then Ron walked up to them. "Hey, what are you all doing?" he asked.
"Nothing," both Fred and George said at the same time, "we were just leaving." and they turned around and left. When they were at a safe distance, they turned around and gave Harry a look that told him that he better not tell anyone. Harry knew that he would have a hard time keeping this from Ron, but he didn't want to hurt Ron's feelings by telling him, so he said nothing. Harry knew that if he told Ron, Ron would be hurt that his brothers had trusted Harry with that information, and not him, their own brother.
"Lets bring all of your stuff to my room," Ron suggested, "I have something to show you." Harry agreed and followed his friend up the rickety stairs, wondering what Ron wanted to show him. When they arrived at Ron's room, still covered in orange at first glance, Harry realized what Ron wanted to show him. It was his new dress robes.
"Look at these, aren't they great? Fred and George gave them to me, at first I thought they were a trick, but they are real! They just gave them to me. For no reason!" Ron was ecstatic. It was obvious to Harry that the twins had never given Ron anything that wasn't forced by their parents. Harry was glad he had told the twins to get Ron new dress robes.
The door opened. Ron and Harry turned around and saw Hermione. "Hello," she said.
"You could have knocked," Ron snarled without any recognition of Hermione's greeting. Harry was shocked at Ron's tone of voice, but Hermione looked as though she had expected it. Harry was confused. Ron had been nice to Hermione ever since the Yule Ball, as far as he knew they hadn't had any recent arguments. What shocked him even more was Ron's follow up to his comment. "Come to brag about all of the books you memorized over vacation? How many was it? Ten, twelve? And exactly how many spells have you already learned in addition to all of our homework? I'm sure you'd just love to tell us," Ron continued in a low voice. If Harry hadn't know any better, he would have sworn that it was Draco talking, not Ron.
" For your information, I haven't memorized any books. I've been busy. Like planed, I spent part of the summer at Victor's. I didn't have much spare time to waste on memorizing books, although he did teach me some handy spells, but those are all. Of course you already knew all of that," Hermione snapped back, "Oh, and dinner is ready." She aimed the last statement at Harry, while giving him an apologetic look. With that, she left, shutting the door behind her.
"Can you believe her?" Ron questioned the second Hermione had left.
"What did she mean, you already knew that?" asked Harry not bothering to answer Ron's question, because he too thought Ron was being unfair.
"When she first arrived, I asked her how she had spent the first part of her summer, and she told me that she had stayed with Krum. Just now was the first time since then that I have spoken to her," Ron said, with a sound of disgust in his voice, "She's staying in Percy's old room if you want to talk to her. I'm going to go eat," said Ron as he left the room.
'What is going on here?' Harry thought. Harry has always had a sneaking suspicion that Ron liked Hermione as more than a friend, but he wasn't sure of it until now. Ron's voice had told Harry everything he needed to know. It was full of jealousy. He decided that he wasn't very hungry after that ordeal. Knowing Hermione, she wouldn't be at the table either. He went to Percy's old room, and knocked on the door. There was no answer, so he pushed it open. Not being able to hide his curiosity after what Fred and George had told him, he looked for the strait brick. He soon found it, now understanding what they had meant. At the same time he was skeptical that this had been Percy's room, for Percy was a perfectionist, and this room was far from perfect. He put that into the back of his mind and tapped the brick. A doorway formed.
As Harry walked down the hallway that was attached to the doorway he began to get worried. What if this was one of Fred and George's jokes? Anything could be at the end of the hall. What if it turned out that the whole family was in there, and he made a fool of himself by picking up one of the twin's inventions? He could handle Voldemort, but be humiliated in front of the Weasleys, that was another thing. As he neared a door, he took caution. He could hear a noise behind the door. It was open just a crack, which is why he could here anything. After all, Fred and George said that it was soundproof. He pushed it open.
Chapter 1
It had been almost two months since Harry had seen Voldemort, but he could picture it in his mind as if it had been yesterday. Harry often woke up in the middle of the night because he always had the same nightmare of the day he went face-to-face with You-Know-Who. The only difference is that in his dream Cedric had also touched the portkey and was killed. Luckily that hadn't happened like that, at the last minute Cedric tripped, knocked himself out, and the huge spider had dragged him away. Harry's dreams kept him up at night, but he didn't feel any safer in the day than he did at night. Living with a Muggle family who despised wizards doesn't really make you feel safe against a powerful dark wizard who wanted you dead.
"Harry, get down here right now and make us breakfast", uncle Vernon yelled, but then reconsidered and said more timidly, "please," remembering what Harry had said two years earlier about his godfather who was a convicted murderer who had escaped from jail.
Harry hopped out of bed and got dressed. He had been awake for hours, because of his dream. He had a feeling it was telling him something. He wondered what his friends where up to this summer. He had gotten a few owls from both of them, but they never talked about themselves. It just didn't seem right. Harry concluded that they were just writing to make sure he was okay.
"HARRY!!!" uncle Vernon called viscously for about the tenth time. He finally gave up, and grumbled about Harry being a good-for-nothing, lazy boy. Now he would have to make his own breakfast, because Petunia was away for the morning.
Harry ignored his uncle and started to re-read his letters from Ron and Hermione. Hedwig flew into Harry's room while he was reading and Harry didn't notice her until she started nibbling on his ear. She looked very proud and Harry wondered who had written to him. Hedwig flew to her cage and drank her water while Harry unrolled the parchment. Then she flew to his shoulder. The letter was from Dumbledore.
Dear Harry,
I have talked with both the Weasley's and Sirius and we have decided that it is safe for you to spend the rest of the summer with the Weasleys if you wish. Send an owl to them with your consent on this. They will pick you up at the end of the week if you want to go. Hermione is also spending time there. Sirius wanted you to live with him, but he is busy at the moment doing some favors for me. Hope you are doing well, Albus Dumbledore
Joy washed over Harry. He would get to spend his remaining vacation with Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasleys. Harry wrote a quick letter to Ron, telling Ron that he would love to go, and to tell his parents that he couldn't wait to visit there, like he had last summer. Relief also came over him. Harry would feel so much safer with other wizards around, and it was always something fun going on at the Weasley's. Finally my luck has changed, thought Harry.
Harry ran downstairs to tell the Dursleys that he would be leaving. "The Weasleys have invited me to stay with them for the end of the summer," he told them. Dudley's eyes widened and he ran out of the room.
"Those retched people who almost killed Dudley and destroyed my house? They better not dare come anywhere near my house ever again!" thundered Uncle Vernon.
"They didn't almost kill him, and besides, Mr. Weasley fixed everything in the end. You can't stop me, I'm going if you like it or not! I'll be gone at four pm this Friday." Uncle Vernon was speechless to Harry's reply.
Harry stormed up the stairs. 'They should be happy to get rid of me, that's been their wish all along,' Harry thought. He wished Hedwig hadn't left, because he was now lonely. Harry abandoned his letters and found the photo album Hagrid had given to him. He opened it and saw his parents waving to him. When they had come out of Voldemort's wand it was almost like having them back. It was as if they were real. They had even talked to him. Although it was the scariest time of his life, Harry would give anything to relive that moment right now, just to see and hear his parents again. Even though what he saw were just shadows of their living self, Harry didn't care, it was the next best thing to them being alive again.
* * *
The past week had been the longest one of Harry's life. Every time he had walked into a room Uncle Vernon would glare at him, Aunt Petunia would snarl, and Dudley would make a little shriek. He still remembered the Ton-tongue toffee Fred had dropped last summer. Harry knew he had deserved it, and it was Dudley's own fault that he had eaten it. Besides, it had been rather funny. If Dudley wasn't such a jerk, Harry would probably have felt bad for him, but after everything Dudley had done to him, Harry felt no pity. He couldn't wait till the Weasleys came to get him. There was only one day left, but it felt like an eternity.
As it got closer to four, everyone got tenser. Dudley had locked himself into his room, and aunt Petunia blamed Harry. She was pleading for Dudley to open up his door, because she knew what he was capable of doing to it, but he refused. Uncle Vernon cursed at the Weasleys for causing so much trouble in his house. He also yelled at Harry, because it was his fault that they where coming back. As uncle Vernon yelled, Harry started to get worried. He wasn't afraid of his uncle, he hadn't been afraid of him for years. However, he was afraid that the Weasleys would try to come through the fireplace again. Harry knew the Dursleys couldn't truly hurt him, but they could make his life miserable. He started to pace. Then he heard a car coming up the driveway. Harry looked out the window and saw that the car belonged to Mr. Weasley. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were also in the car. They were all smiling, although Ginny was also blushing. Harry felt his own checks go red. Harry had a feeling that Ginny had liked him since the valentine she had given him in his second year. Harry now wondered if the feeling was mutual.
"Hmmph", Uncle Vernon growled. Harry knew the reason. Mr. Weasley's car was a brand new P. T. Cruiser. Harry knew that was the car was not Mr. Weasley's, but the Ministry's, although Harry somehow failed to tell his uncle this. 'Let him be jealous, serves him right,' Harry thought. His uncle had wanted a one of those cars for a couple months now, but his wife wouldn't let him get one, because the neighbors across the street had just gotten one. She didn't want it to seem like she was copying them. She cared way too much about what the neighbors thought, but for once Harry didn't mind.
Everyone entered the house, much to Uncle Vernon's complains. Ginny grabbed Hedwig's cage, which now contained Hedwig. She whispered a hello was walked back out the door. Hermione helped Mr. Weasley carry Harry's trunk out the door. "Mum wouldn't let Fred and George come. She still hasn't forgotten about last time with the Tounge-Ton toffees," Ron said to Harry as they picked up the rest of his stuff and brought it to the car.
"Neither has Dudley, he's still hiding", Harry replied looking up at Dudley's window. Dudley was peering out of it with a look of terror on his face. They both started laughing and couldn't stop until Hermione scolded them for laughing when Dudley was scared out of his mind. She had a twinkle in her eye though, and the way she talked let them know that she also thought it was amusing, although she didn't want to let it on; it wasn't her style to laugh at others' pain. Harry left number four, Private Drive without saying as much as a word to his aunt and uncle. On the way home, everyone was happily talking about the rest of the summer. Everyone that is, except Ginny. She was sitting between Harry and Hermione. She barely said a word, unless asked a question. Even the she only gave short answers. Harry noticed this, he also noticed that whenever his arm brushed up against hers she flinched and leaned away. 'She probably feels uncomfortable around us,' he thought, 'we are all great friends and she doesn't fit in as quiet well, because she is younger.' Harry wanted to put his arm around her, or do something that would let her know she was welcomed, but nothing seemed right. He decided to do nothing.
Mrs. Weasley was at the door to greet them when they all returned. She tightly hugged Harry when he walked to the house, as if he were her own son. It was a feeling he still wasn't used to. "Mum, he's not gunna be kidnapped the second you loosen your grip, you can let go of him now", said George, peering through the doorway. His identical, but much funnier brother, Fred was right behind him. Mrs. Weasley let go of Harry, and he silently thanked George.
"Come on, let's all get out of the doorway, so I can put down this heavy trunk. Harry should get unpacked tonight, so he can enjoy the rest of his vacation as soon as possible." They all moved as Mr. Weasley carried Harry's trunk inside. Everyone started talking at once. Everyone was trying to be heard, and they all kept raising their voices. Harry wondered where Percy was, he should have been downstairs the second it got loud, to tell them all to be quiet. Fred and George came up to Harry.
"He found his own place," said George.
"Finally left," said Fred.
"Said it was too loud around here."
"Imagine that."
"So now each have our own room, but we don't want it, it's boring and dull."
"Just like him."
"We decided to look around, anyway, though. We thought we might be able to find something Percy left behind, we were hoping we could black-male him, we have a favor to ask, but he won't do it unless we have some dirt on him," George said.
"We didn't find anything he left behind, but we found something better. I was inspecting the room when I found something strange-" Fred was saying, before being cut off by George.
"You did not, I found it!"
"You lying piece of scum, you did not!" said Fred in an outburst.
"You idiotic, ugly, un-funny person, I did so!" was George's reply.
Harry knew he had to do something, but he didn't feel that it was his place to tell George that Fred was his identical twin, and saying Fred was ugly, was also saying he was ugly. Harry didn't want more commotion, so he decided a different approach. He asked what they BOTH had found that was so strange. This seemed to make both twins forget about what had just happened, and started to tell Harry more about what had happened.
They had found a strait brick, although Harry found nothing strange with this information, so the twins explained that the whole house was crooked, therefore something strait WAS a big deal. When the tapped the brick with their wands, a doorway appeared, much like the entrance to Diagon Ally. Since they did not know where the entrance led, the paid Ginny a galleon ("well worth it") to make sure no one entered the room, and if they had not come out in an hour then she was to get their parents and give them a letter. The twins had written a letter that explain what they had found, and what had happened, just incase they were unable to return to Percy's old room. The letter had not been needed, they found out later, because the room was very safe. It was also soundproof, and is now where the twins had set up their business.
"It's great, we can do anything we want there, and no one will ever know," George explained.
"We don't think Percy ever knew about it, he probably wouldn't have even cared if he did find it. We don't know if Mum and Dad know about it, they must, but they never said anything about it," Fred added.
"Wow, cool, I wish I had a secret passage where I could get away from everyone anytime I wanted," said Harry.
Just then Ron walked up to them. "Hey, what are you all doing?" he asked.
"Nothing," both Fred and George said at the same time, "we were just leaving." and they turned around and left. When they were at a safe distance, they turned around and gave Harry a look that told him that he better not tell anyone. Harry knew that he would have a hard time keeping this from Ron, but he didn't want to hurt Ron's feelings by telling him, so he said nothing. Harry knew that if he told Ron, Ron would be hurt that his brothers had trusted Harry with that information, and not him, their own brother.
"Lets bring all of your stuff to my room," Ron suggested, "I have something to show you." Harry agreed and followed his friend up the rickety stairs, wondering what Ron wanted to show him. When they arrived at Ron's room, still covered in orange at first glance, Harry realized what Ron wanted to show him. It was his new dress robes.
"Look at these, aren't they great? Fred and George gave them to me, at first I thought they were a trick, but they are real! They just gave them to me. For no reason!" Ron was ecstatic. It was obvious to Harry that the twins had never given Ron anything that wasn't forced by their parents. Harry was glad he had told the twins to get Ron new dress robes.
The door opened. Ron and Harry turned around and saw Hermione. "Hello," she said.
"You could have knocked," Ron snarled without any recognition of Hermione's greeting. Harry was shocked at Ron's tone of voice, but Hermione looked as though she had expected it. Harry was confused. Ron had been nice to Hermione ever since the Yule Ball, as far as he knew they hadn't had any recent arguments. What shocked him even more was Ron's follow up to his comment. "Come to brag about all of the books you memorized over vacation? How many was it? Ten, twelve? And exactly how many spells have you already learned in addition to all of our homework? I'm sure you'd just love to tell us," Ron continued in a low voice. If Harry hadn't know any better, he would have sworn that it was Draco talking, not Ron.
" For your information, I haven't memorized any books. I've been busy. Like planed, I spent part of the summer at Victor's. I didn't have much spare time to waste on memorizing books, although he did teach me some handy spells, but those are all. Of course you already knew all of that," Hermione snapped back, "Oh, and dinner is ready." She aimed the last statement at Harry, while giving him an apologetic look. With that, she left, shutting the door behind her.
"Can you believe her?" Ron questioned the second Hermione had left.
"What did she mean, you already knew that?" asked Harry not bothering to answer Ron's question, because he too thought Ron was being unfair.
"When she first arrived, I asked her how she had spent the first part of her summer, and she told me that she had stayed with Krum. Just now was the first time since then that I have spoken to her," Ron said, with a sound of disgust in his voice, "She's staying in Percy's old room if you want to talk to her. I'm going to go eat," said Ron as he left the room.
'What is going on here?' Harry thought. Harry has always had a sneaking suspicion that Ron liked Hermione as more than a friend, but he wasn't sure of it until now. Ron's voice had told Harry everything he needed to know. It was full of jealousy. He decided that he wasn't very hungry after that ordeal. Knowing Hermione, she wouldn't be at the table either. He went to Percy's old room, and knocked on the door. There was no answer, so he pushed it open. Not being able to hide his curiosity after what Fred and George had told him, he looked for the strait brick. He soon found it, now understanding what they had meant. At the same time he was skeptical that this had been Percy's room, for Percy was a perfectionist, and this room was far from perfect. He put that into the back of his mind and tapped the brick. A doorway formed.
As Harry walked down the hallway that was attached to the doorway he began to get worried. What if this was one of Fred and George's jokes? Anything could be at the end of the hall. What if it turned out that the whole family was in there, and he made a fool of himself by picking up one of the twin's inventions? He could handle Voldemort, but be humiliated in front of the Weasleys, that was another thing. As he neared a door, he took caution. He could hear a noise behind the door. It was open just a crack, which is why he could here anything. After all, Fred and George said that it was soundproof. He pushed it open.