Harry wanted to write Ron a letter about what he had just heard, but for one reason, Romania was far away and by the time Hedwig arrived there they would have already been back at their house. And the other, just like Mr. Fudge said, he didn't want to ruin their vacation by having them worry.

Sitting next to the fire, Harry breathed with frustration as Hedwig flew in through the window with another sandy owl. The second owl dropped a letter at Harry's feet. It didn't say whom it was from so Harry assumed it was from Sirius.

While he opened the letter, the owl sat patiently on the desk. Anxiously scanned the letter. As Harry had thought, it was from Sirius.

The note said:

'Dear Harry,

As always I am unable to tell you where I am, in case this letter is intercepted. I am fine and in the best shape of my life. Buckbeak and I are having the time of our lives. This is short, but I wanted to make sure that you were okay. I will see you soon.

Love always,

Sirius

'I will see you soon?' Harry thought to himself. He hadn't seen Sirius in a long time and he missed him. Jumping at the fact of seeing him again, Harry tucked the note away in his trunk and pulled out a quill and parchment.

'Sirius,

Thank you for writing. I'm great here. Although, the Dursley's wouldn't let me leave for Diagon Alley to get my school supplies, I had to sneak out last night and catch the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron. And that's where I am now. I'm not quite sure how they took it at the home. You said, 'See you soon.' Are you coming to London? If you are I'm looking forward to it! Oh, I almost forgot, Mr. Fudge told me about the Ministry. He said that the families of the Ministry employees have been victims of robberies. Do you know anything about this? Ron's family was supposedly robbed, but they don't know yet, however. They're gone on vacation. Well, I have to get to bed. Miss you and hope to see you soon.

Harry

Harry folded the letter he wrote and thrust it into an envelope. He was tired and his eyes kept reluctantly shutting on him. He gave the letter back to Sirius's owl and dragged himself to his bed.

* * *

The last days of vacation passed by hastily, giving Harry barely any time to do what he had to do. He wrote Ron and Hermione a letters, wandered around Diagon Alley, and did the last bits of his homework that he had put off so much over the summer.

When September 1st came, Harry packed up his things and headed for the Knight Bus again. As he arrived at Kings Cross, he saw Hermione carting her trunk around the station obviously looking for Harry.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted. "Wait up!"

Running with his trunk, he caught up with Hermione at the gate.

"Hey, Harry!" Hermione thrust her arms around his neck. "How've you been?"

Harry nodded. "Okay, what about you?"

"Great! I had the best summer! I got to visit, Viktor with my parents, it was so much fun!"

"Excuse me?" A girl walked up to Harry and Hermione carrying many packages, her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders. "Are you from Hogwarts?"

Her blue-green eyes met with Harry's and they both blushed until there faces were crimson.

"Er-yes, we're from Hogwarts!" Hermione answered, seeing as though Harry was preoccupied. "You were wondering how to get to the platform weren't you?"

"Yeah," the girl answered meekly. "I'm Mariane, by the way."

"I'm.Harry."

"And I'm Hermione! Nice to meet you, Mariane." Hermione said politely. "About the platform. You see, it's right through that barrier. So, all you have to do is run through the brick wall and, presto, you're there!"

Harry snapped back into reality after staring at Mariane. He clearly found her quite pretty.

"Thanks, a lot!" Mariane answered and gripped her cart.

The three made their way to platform nine-and-three-quarters, hearing the roar of the train's engine in the background. As they left their trunks near the back of the Hogwarts Express, they boarded the train, finding Ron sitting in a compartment in back, looking out the window, looking quite bewildered.

"Ron?" Harry asked as he entered the compartment. "You found out didn't you?"