So sorry to whoever reviewed this whose review got erased! I accidentally
deleted this chapter and had to upload it again.....but to all those who
read it, I made this chapter a little longer.....enjoy!
Chapter 2
Harry opened his eyes, and saw that he was in the Chamber of Secrets once again. He looked around, confused. I thought this secret place was closed off forever, he thought to himself. Bewildered, he wandered around, searching for something, anything. He got to a main chamber, where he had fought the Basilisk about two years before. He heard nothing, but the sound of his own feet. Then, a swooping sound came to his ears. A huge, beautiful red bird flew over to Harry, dropping a raggedy old hat at his feet. It was Fawkes, the phoenix belonging to Dumbledore, and the sly bird had brought Harry the Sorting Hat. Harry picked up the hat, examining it. The flames on the torches instantly started to burn, letting him look at his surroundings more clearly. It was still the same as before, but then he noticed three extra pillars standing in the distance.
He walked to theses pillars and saw three different people tied to them, all unconscious. The first one he recognized as Hermione. He ran over to her and tried to wake her up. Harry yelled, shook her, and even slapped her, but all was in vain. The second column, further down the path, had Ginny tied to it. He tried to wake her up too, but failed. The third he saw his own crush tied to it, the crush that he had had since his 3rd year at Hogwarts. Cho Chang, looking so gorgeous to Harry, was bound to the third pillar. He was about to try and get her to wake up, when he realized that something had dropped out of the Sorting Hat.
It was the Sword of Gryffindor. Harry picked it up, and held it close to his face. Something was being reflected off of the sword. Harry thought it looked like a person, but couldn't decide because all he could see was a light shining on their forehead. It was a bright white star with a moon encircling it. Harry tried to get a closer look, but his scar started to shine as well, giving him enormous pain and anguish. He dropped the sword, clutching his forehead, and the next thing he knew he...
Woke up, sweating. Harry sat bolt upright in bed, wondering if he had just seen what he think he saw. He was still holding his forehead tightly, feeling it burn under his hands. When he removed them and looked into the mirror propped up beside the closet, he saw that his lightning bolt scar was shining white. After a couple of seconds, the scar stopped shining. Harry lifted his hands from his head and looked at the clock. It was 6 o'clock in the morning.
He got out of his sunken bed and marked off another day on the calendar he had received from Ron for his birthday. It featured Ron's favorite Quidditch team of all time, the Chudley Cannons. As the miniature people whizzed around on their broomsticks, Harry calculated how many days he was pent up in this little space. Three weeks, he saw sadly. For three weeks, he was not let out of his room at all except to go to the bathroom. His two meagar meals a day had consisted of Campbell's soup, slipped in the opening between the bottom of the door and the floor. Most of the time, it sloshed, leaving Harry only a little bit left. Fortunately, along with Ron's present came various food cooked up by the wonderful Mrs. Weasley, his mom. He ended up feasting on bread, chicken enchanted to stay warm, and many other kinds of edibles. Hermione had also sent him a present of food. She had to send three owls at one to carry her enormous cake all the way to Harry's place. With the cake came some Japanese trinkets. Hermoine was spending her holidays in Tokyo, and had bought lots of different things for Harry, including Japanese poppers, candy, and some cards that her friend there had given her.
Harry went to the loose floorboard and took out some of the food and the cards that Hermione had given him. Glancing at these, he recognized the girls from that cartoon that he had watched before. They bore the title of the show on each collectible: Sailor Moon. He grinned, happy that Hermione hadn't sent him books or reminded him to do his homework. Besides, he thought, it's already all done. Looking at the other presents that he had received, he found the cookies that Hagrid had sent him. This time, they weren't rock solid. The headmaster from Beaxbatons in France had taught him how to cook properly. Harry's eyes also landed upon his gift from Sirius. It was a curious thing called a Pandora's Box. It was supposed to contain all your pains and frustrations for you so that you wouldn't have to carry them around. Harry, though, was afraid to open it, fearing that it was the real box from the legend, not the imitation that it was.
He threw it back under the floorboard and fished out some food to eat. He pulled out a warm corn on the cob and sat, eating it. He looked out of the window and saw Hedwig, finally returning with some mail. I guess I shouldn't work her so hard, he thought, looking at Hedwig who seemed to be worn out and beaten. He gave his owl the rest of his corn, while he sat down with his letters. Ron had sent a note, hoping Harry would come over soon. But, Ron couldn't send anyone to pick him up again. His family was afraid of another catastrophe with the irritable Dursleys. Hermione wished him luck on Privet Drive and said she would meet Ron and him at Diagon Alley a week before school started. And, he received not only one, but TWO letters from Hogwarts. Surprised, he opened up the first one.
Harry recognized it instantly as his new supply list. Nothing new, except that he had to get the upgrade versions of all his textbooks. The second one, he presumed, was probably just an extra copy, sent to him by mistake or something. Just to satisfy his curiosity, he opened it to reveal another slip of parchment. Harry realized that this handwriting was that of his professor of Tranfiguration, not to mention head of his house, Professor McGonagall. In it, she had briefly scrawled that Gryffindor was in need of a new captain for Quidditch, and that she would be so happy if Harry would take the job. Reading over these words, Harry felt a leap of joy, but restrained himself from yelling lest Uncle Vernon come stomping up stairs to scream at him.
Filled with unmeasurable glee, Harry lied down on his bed, the letter still clutched in his hand. He closed his eyes and envisioned himself winning the Quidditch Cup as the captain, and Cho clapping for him, and giving him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. He thought about Cho, her short, layered hair, her dark almond-shaped eyes, and that pretty smile that shoed all of her perfectly aligned teeth. But as this thought hovered over him, another suddenly occurred. Harry thought of Cassie and envisioned her standing next to Cho. Cassie was about the same size, but with longer hair with those violet highlights, and large round violet eyes. Both equally beautiful and tempting, Harry thought about which one was easier to get. He came to the conclusion that he should go after Cho, since he would probably never see the girl who slapped Dudley again. A sharp sound knocked him out of his daydreams. It was coming from the window.
Harry walked to the window and looked outside. It had already grown surprisingly dark, and he saw the full moon waxing bright. More sharp sounds hit the window, and Harry opened it to look out. He looked downward and found none other than Cassie, throwing small pebbles at the window.
"Hey," whispered Cassie, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Want to go out, have some fresh air?"
"Is that really such a good idea? I mean, the Dursleys, they're ..." Harry stuttered.
"Sound asleep," Cassie said, finishing off his sentence for him. "Don't worry about it, we'll get you out of here!"
" 'We'll' ? What do you mean we'll?" he said nervously.
"This is what I mean," Cassie said. She pointed to the bushes. Harry stared at them, while she gave a short whistle. Out of the shrubbery came three cats. One was black, one was white, and the other was gray. They climbed the tree next to Harry's window and jumped though the window into his room, nearly knocking him over. They simpered down to the door, and the black one jumped onto a shelf situated near the lock, and picked it with one of its claws. The black one than turned back to Harry and gave him ... a wink? No, he was just imagining all this. That's right, he said to himself, it's all just a dream. But he watched these cats nimbly walk down the stairs, heard them pick the lock to the closet under the stairs, and watched in awe as the cats carried the heavy trunk back upstairs, unaided. The three cats then jumped to the tree outside again, and rested, cleaning themselves. "Good," Cassie told them. She then looked at Harry and said, "Hurry up and pack up your stuff! We're supposed to leave in 10 minutes!" Harry tore up the loose floorboard and piled all its contents in his trunk. He then grabbed the oversized clothes from his closet and put them on top of the rest of stuff. Making sure he had everything, he grabbed Hedwig's cage and tried carrying both out the window. Cassie rolled her eyes thinking, Boys, they do everything the hard way. She whistled again, and the cats got hold of the trunk and carried it with ease down the tree, as Harry followed them, hugging Hedwig's cage.
Cassie did something even stranger, now that Harry was safe on the ground. She gave a little smile, and stuck a small key into the trunk of his tree. She turned the little key, and a door that Harry didn't even know was there opened up. She walked inside, followed by the strong cats and a confused Harry. Inside the door was a place that was unlike anything Harry had ever seen. It was a big, endless plain of nothingness, going on forever in all directions, even, it seemed, down. Cassie lead the little group a long way until she stopped in front of a woman with long dark hair carrying a staff. This person seemed so familiar to Harry, but he couldn't place her anywhere. His new friend whispered something in this woman's ear, and she nodded and stepped aside, revealing yet another door. The odd group passed through it and found themselves at....
"The Burrow?! But how?!" exclaimed Harry.
"Oh, don't you worry Harry Potter. As long as you're safe here," Cassie said, giggling a little bit. "And look! The sun is rising!" She pointed to the horizon, and together they watched the sun ascend into the new day. "This is where I leave you, Harry. Hope I see you again sometime!" she said, giving him a wink. She then took her key out again, this time affixing it into a knothole in the Weasley's tree. The cats dropped the heavy trunk, shook a little as if dirty, and followed her. She waved at Harry, who waved back, also grinning. As Cassie disappeared into her portal, Ron Weasley in, his pajamas, came bounding out of his ramshackle house. He was yelling and screaming and gave Harry such a big hug that he felt that he was going to faint.
"Harry!! I can't believe it! It's you! What took you so long?!" Ron said all in one breath.
"Can't...speak...can't...breathe....please....," Harry mumbled.
"Oops, sorry Harry," said Ron, letting go of his friend. "Hey, who was that girl who walked into our tree? She was pretty...."
"Ron, I'll explain later. And, what about Hermione? I thought you and her were..." Harry started. Ron grew red and shot Harry the most evil look ever. Harry immediately shut his mouth, understanding immediately what Ron had meant. Harry and Ron carried the trunk back to the house together, Harry grabbing one end, and Ron the other, with Hedwig still sleeping in her cage balanced on top. Harry wondered how three small cats could haul a load that two strong boys couldn't. As soon as they got inside, Harry was nearly tackeld to the ground with greetings form Ron's family. Mrs. Weasley gave him as tight of a hug as Ron did, then he was passed to Mr. Weasley, who clapped him on the shoulder and made Harry's knees buckle and almost make him fall. Percy put his arm around Harry's shoulders, explaining that he neede help on his paper about parchment lengths ("Really!" Percy remarked. "I person could get killed by tripping on a too long parchment!"). That was before the twins got a hold of Harry and whizzed around him, talking in excited voices about their new shop and shaking Harry's hand every five seconds. This was a problem, since each of them had a buzzer attached to their hand, and gave Harry a real lightning shock with every handshake. Finally, when Harry's hair was already standing on end and you could see the charge going through it, Ron dragged him away.
"Dad already brought your trunk upstairs, Harry! We'll be roomies again this summer!" Ron said excitedly. Harry looked ready to collapse, but he was happy too. "And guess what, Harry?! I'm a prefect now!" Ron grinned from ear to ear and flashed his little prefect badge for Harry to see. "Mione is one too.....but." Ron had a glum look on his face.
"What's the matter Ron?" Harry said.
"Malfoy is also one of the new prefects," said Ron, with a sour look on his face. "We each got a list of all the prefects, and at the top of the list were me, Hermione, and Malfoy."
"Ewww......I am so sorry for you," said Harry, patting Ron on the back.
"You? Sorry? I should be sorry for you! You weren't made into a prefect," Ron said defensively.
"No, but I get to be something even better. You are looking at Gryffindor's new Quidditch Captain!" Harry relished in his triumph, as he saw Ron's jaw drop a hundred miles. "OH MY GOD!" Ron screamed, and both started jumping up and down.
"YOUNG MAN, DI D I JUST HEAR SOMETHING BAD COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH?" the voice of Mrs. Weasley said from downstairs. They both stopped jumping and smiled.
"No, Mom!" Ron yelled back.
"Well, come out here! We need some help degnoming the garden!" his mom screamed back at him. Ron sighed and he and Harry walked down the stairs and out the door in the kitchen to the garden. There, the rest of the family was busy whirling the gnomes over their heads and flinging them over the fences. "There's more than ever. It's like they tell all their friends that this is the place to go!" remarked an exasperated Mrs. Weasley. Harry helped them to degnome the garden, and then went inside to play some wizards chess with Ron. After 13 straight victories for Ron, the family had a heaping helping of supper, partly in honor of their guest. Harry caught sight of a very beautiful redhead he had never seen before. He stared at her for most of the meal, wondering who she could possibly be. Stuffed full of food, the family head to their rooms to sleep.
"So, you fancy Ginny now, ay?" Ron said with a smirk.
"No! Of course I don't!" Harry snapped. They both changed into their pajamas and sat on Ron's Chudley Cannons bed. "By the way, who was that other girl at the table?"
"That girl you were staring at the whole time? Oh, that was Ginny. I think she may think you like her now, with all that attention you've been giving her," Ron said, giving an evil smile.
"Oh great. I was just wondering why she was so familiar! I wasn't checking her out or anything!"
"Sure, Harry, sure..." Ron said, sarcastically. Harry pushed Ron off his bed, and they both laughed.
"Wow, she's changed over the summer," Harry said.
"Yeah. She's grown taller and gotten her 'curves' as my mom says. But, she's still the same geeky little sister," Ron said.
"You better watch out, Ron. Your sister could be the most popular Gryffindor 4th year now...she could be getting more action that you!" Harry said. This time, it was his turn to be pushed. After a little roughhousing, they both got into their beds and lied down.
"Harry, what was with that girl that you were with?" Ron said, turning over in bed to face Harry.
"Oh, just a friend. She slapped Dudley. Enough said," Harry said, stifling a laugh.
"What? Oh geez," said Ron, also trying to keep his laughter down.
"Yeah, and she saw me laughing at her and talked to me. We became instant friends," said Harry, thinking back on that day nearly 3 weeks before.
"You're a babe magnet, you know that? First Ginny, then Parvati, then Cho..."
"Cho? She never liked me..."
"Are you kidding me? Didn't you notice that she and her friends sort of followed you around?"
"No....."
"You're so thickheaded sometimes!"
"Well, it's not like I could really get her to be my girlfriend anyway!" Harry shot back at Ron. Harry thought about his last comment, and realized that it was true. Cho would probably have a new boyfriend as soon as they came back to school, and it most likely wouldn't be Harry.
"You'll see, Harry. And even if she won't, there a countless others that will. Like your new friend, for instance. One look, and she was stuck on you!" Ron said.
"Cassie is just a friend. A friend that I will probably never see again. So, you won't talk to me about Hermione?" Harry said hopefully.
"I will. She's in Tokyo, and she sent me some of these cards. But, I don't want them," Ron said, handing some Sailor Moon cards to Harry.
"Thanks, but that's not what I meant. Do you still....you know...." Harry started again.
"I don't want to talk about that," Ron said quickly. "And, I will never let her know my secret in a million years!"
"Aw, come on Ron! You know you want to tell her! Everyone else knows already! Even Rita Skeeter knows, I bet!" Rita Skeeter is a very lucrative reporter. She spread rumors on just about everyone Harry was friends with. But currently, she is not getting any stories because she is being held captive in a jar by Hermione. Skeeter, you see, was an Animagus that could change into a bug.
"Harry, shut up! I won't talk about it!" Ron turned in his bed and went to sleep. Harry lay awake for a couple of moments. Throughout the whole, tiring day, he still couldn't shut his eyes. Then , he heard humming. Strolling to the window, he looked out as he had done the night before. There was a just a little white rabbit below in the garden. But, he still heard the humming noise. It was so familiar, yet so distant. He just smiled, and went back to bed, now too lulled by the song to think about it origin.
Chapter 2
Harry opened his eyes, and saw that he was in the Chamber of Secrets once again. He looked around, confused. I thought this secret place was closed off forever, he thought to himself. Bewildered, he wandered around, searching for something, anything. He got to a main chamber, where he had fought the Basilisk about two years before. He heard nothing, but the sound of his own feet. Then, a swooping sound came to his ears. A huge, beautiful red bird flew over to Harry, dropping a raggedy old hat at his feet. It was Fawkes, the phoenix belonging to Dumbledore, and the sly bird had brought Harry the Sorting Hat. Harry picked up the hat, examining it. The flames on the torches instantly started to burn, letting him look at his surroundings more clearly. It was still the same as before, but then he noticed three extra pillars standing in the distance.
He walked to theses pillars and saw three different people tied to them, all unconscious. The first one he recognized as Hermione. He ran over to her and tried to wake her up. Harry yelled, shook her, and even slapped her, but all was in vain. The second column, further down the path, had Ginny tied to it. He tried to wake her up too, but failed. The third he saw his own crush tied to it, the crush that he had had since his 3rd year at Hogwarts. Cho Chang, looking so gorgeous to Harry, was bound to the third pillar. He was about to try and get her to wake up, when he realized that something had dropped out of the Sorting Hat.
It was the Sword of Gryffindor. Harry picked it up, and held it close to his face. Something was being reflected off of the sword. Harry thought it looked like a person, but couldn't decide because all he could see was a light shining on their forehead. It was a bright white star with a moon encircling it. Harry tried to get a closer look, but his scar started to shine as well, giving him enormous pain and anguish. He dropped the sword, clutching his forehead, and the next thing he knew he...
Woke up, sweating. Harry sat bolt upright in bed, wondering if he had just seen what he think he saw. He was still holding his forehead tightly, feeling it burn under his hands. When he removed them and looked into the mirror propped up beside the closet, he saw that his lightning bolt scar was shining white. After a couple of seconds, the scar stopped shining. Harry lifted his hands from his head and looked at the clock. It was 6 o'clock in the morning.
He got out of his sunken bed and marked off another day on the calendar he had received from Ron for his birthday. It featured Ron's favorite Quidditch team of all time, the Chudley Cannons. As the miniature people whizzed around on their broomsticks, Harry calculated how many days he was pent up in this little space. Three weeks, he saw sadly. For three weeks, he was not let out of his room at all except to go to the bathroom. His two meagar meals a day had consisted of Campbell's soup, slipped in the opening between the bottom of the door and the floor. Most of the time, it sloshed, leaving Harry only a little bit left. Fortunately, along with Ron's present came various food cooked up by the wonderful Mrs. Weasley, his mom. He ended up feasting on bread, chicken enchanted to stay warm, and many other kinds of edibles. Hermione had also sent him a present of food. She had to send three owls at one to carry her enormous cake all the way to Harry's place. With the cake came some Japanese trinkets. Hermoine was spending her holidays in Tokyo, and had bought lots of different things for Harry, including Japanese poppers, candy, and some cards that her friend there had given her.
Harry went to the loose floorboard and took out some of the food and the cards that Hermione had given him. Glancing at these, he recognized the girls from that cartoon that he had watched before. They bore the title of the show on each collectible: Sailor Moon. He grinned, happy that Hermione hadn't sent him books or reminded him to do his homework. Besides, he thought, it's already all done. Looking at the other presents that he had received, he found the cookies that Hagrid had sent him. This time, they weren't rock solid. The headmaster from Beaxbatons in France had taught him how to cook properly. Harry's eyes also landed upon his gift from Sirius. It was a curious thing called a Pandora's Box. It was supposed to contain all your pains and frustrations for you so that you wouldn't have to carry them around. Harry, though, was afraid to open it, fearing that it was the real box from the legend, not the imitation that it was.
He threw it back under the floorboard and fished out some food to eat. He pulled out a warm corn on the cob and sat, eating it. He looked out of the window and saw Hedwig, finally returning with some mail. I guess I shouldn't work her so hard, he thought, looking at Hedwig who seemed to be worn out and beaten. He gave his owl the rest of his corn, while he sat down with his letters. Ron had sent a note, hoping Harry would come over soon. But, Ron couldn't send anyone to pick him up again. His family was afraid of another catastrophe with the irritable Dursleys. Hermione wished him luck on Privet Drive and said she would meet Ron and him at Diagon Alley a week before school started. And, he received not only one, but TWO letters from Hogwarts. Surprised, he opened up the first one.
Harry recognized it instantly as his new supply list. Nothing new, except that he had to get the upgrade versions of all his textbooks. The second one, he presumed, was probably just an extra copy, sent to him by mistake or something. Just to satisfy his curiosity, he opened it to reveal another slip of parchment. Harry realized that this handwriting was that of his professor of Tranfiguration, not to mention head of his house, Professor McGonagall. In it, she had briefly scrawled that Gryffindor was in need of a new captain for Quidditch, and that she would be so happy if Harry would take the job. Reading over these words, Harry felt a leap of joy, but restrained himself from yelling lest Uncle Vernon come stomping up stairs to scream at him.
Filled with unmeasurable glee, Harry lied down on his bed, the letter still clutched in his hand. He closed his eyes and envisioned himself winning the Quidditch Cup as the captain, and Cho clapping for him, and giving him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. He thought about Cho, her short, layered hair, her dark almond-shaped eyes, and that pretty smile that shoed all of her perfectly aligned teeth. But as this thought hovered over him, another suddenly occurred. Harry thought of Cassie and envisioned her standing next to Cho. Cassie was about the same size, but with longer hair with those violet highlights, and large round violet eyes. Both equally beautiful and tempting, Harry thought about which one was easier to get. He came to the conclusion that he should go after Cho, since he would probably never see the girl who slapped Dudley again. A sharp sound knocked him out of his daydreams. It was coming from the window.
Harry walked to the window and looked outside. It had already grown surprisingly dark, and he saw the full moon waxing bright. More sharp sounds hit the window, and Harry opened it to look out. He looked downward and found none other than Cassie, throwing small pebbles at the window.
"Hey," whispered Cassie, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Want to go out, have some fresh air?"
"Is that really such a good idea? I mean, the Dursleys, they're ..." Harry stuttered.
"Sound asleep," Cassie said, finishing off his sentence for him. "Don't worry about it, we'll get you out of here!"
" 'We'll' ? What do you mean we'll?" he said nervously.
"This is what I mean," Cassie said. She pointed to the bushes. Harry stared at them, while she gave a short whistle. Out of the shrubbery came three cats. One was black, one was white, and the other was gray. They climbed the tree next to Harry's window and jumped though the window into his room, nearly knocking him over. They simpered down to the door, and the black one jumped onto a shelf situated near the lock, and picked it with one of its claws. The black one than turned back to Harry and gave him ... a wink? No, he was just imagining all this. That's right, he said to himself, it's all just a dream. But he watched these cats nimbly walk down the stairs, heard them pick the lock to the closet under the stairs, and watched in awe as the cats carried the heavy trunk back upstairs, unaided. The three cats then jumped to the tree outside again, and rested, cleaning themselves. "Good," Cassie told them. She then looked at Harry and said, "Hurry up and pack up your stuff! We're supposed to leave in 10 minutes!" Harry tore up the loose floorboard and piled all its contents in his trunk. He then grabbed the oversized clothes from his closet and put them on top of the rest of stuff. Making sure he had everything, he grabbed Hedwig's cage and tried carrying both out the window. Cassie rolled her eyes thinking, Boys, they do everything the hard way. She whistled again, and the cats got hold of the trunk and carried it with ease down the tree, as Harry followed them, hugging Hedwig's cage.
Cassie did something even stranger, now that Harry was safe on the ground. She gave a little smile, and stuck a small key into the trunk of his tree. She turned the little key, and a door that Harry didn't even know was there opened up. She walked inside, followed by the strong cats and a confused Harry. Inside the door was a place that was unlike anything Harry had ever seen. It was a big, endless plain of nothingness, going on forever in all directions, even, it seemed, down. Cassie lead the little group a long way until she stopped in front of a woman with long dark hair carrying a staff. This person seemed so familiar to Harry, but he couldn't place her anywhere. His new friend whispered something in this woman's ear, and she nodded and stepped aside, revealing yet another door. The odd group passed through it and found themselves at....
"The Burrow?! But how?!" exclaimed Harry.
"Oh, don't you worry Harry Potter. As long as you're safe here," Cassie said, giggling a little bit. "And look! The sun is rising!" She pointed to the horizon, and together they watched the sun ascend into the new day. "This is where I leave you, Harry. Hope I see you again sometime!" she said, giving him a wink. She then took her key out again, this time affixing it into a knothole in the Weasley's tree. The cats dropped the heavy trunk, shook a little as if dirty, and followed her. She waved at Harry, who waved back, also grinning. As Cassie disappeared into her portal, Ron Weasley in, his pajamas, came bounding out of his ramshackle house. He was yelling and screaming and gave Harry such a big hug that he felt that he was going to faint.
"Harry!! I can't believe it! It's you! What took you so long?!" Ron said all in one breath.
"Can't...speak...can't...breathe....please....," Harry mumbled.
"Oops, sorry Harry," said Ron, letting go of his friend. "Hey, who was that girl who walked into our tree? She was pretty...."
"Ron, I'll explain later. And, what about Hermione? I thought you and her were..." Harry started. Ron grew red and shot Harry the most evil look ever. Harry immediately shut his mouth, understanding immediately what Ron had meant. Harry and Ron carried the trunk back to the house together, Harry grabbing one end, and Ron the other, with Hedwig still sleeping in her cage balanced on top. Harry wondered how three small cats could haul a load that two strong boys couldn't. As soon as they got inside, Harry was nearly tackeld to the ground with greetings form Ron's family. Mrs. Weasley gave him as tight of a hug as Ron did, then he was passed to Mr. Weasley, who clapped him on the shoulder and made Harry's knees buckle and almost make him fall. Percy put his arm around Harry's shoulders, explaining that he neede help on his paper about parchment lengths ("Really!" Percy remarked. "I person could get killed by tripping on a too long parchment!"). That was before the twins got a hold of Harry and whizzed around him, talking in excited voices about their new shop and shaking Harry's hand every five seconds. This was a problem, since each of them had a buzzer attached to their hand, and gave Harry a real lightning shock with every handshake. Finally, when Harry's hair was already standing on end and you could see the charge going through it, Ron dragged him away.
"Dad already brought your trunk upstairs, Harry! We'll be roomies again this summer!" Ron said excitedly. Harry looked ready to collapse, but he was happy too. "And guess what, Harry?! I'm a prefect now!" Ron grinned from ear to ear and flashed his little prefect badge for Harry to see. "Mione is one too.....but." Ron had a glum look on his face.
"What's the matter Ron?" Harry said.
"Malfoy is also one of the new prefects," said Ron, with a sour look on his face. "We each got a list of all the prefects, and at the top of the list were me, Hermione, and Malfoy."
"Ewww......I am so sorry for you," said Harry, patting Ron on the back.
"You? Sorry? I should be sorry for you! You weren't made into a prefect," Ron said defensively.
"No, but I get to be something even better. You are looking at Gryffindor's new Quidditch Captain!" Harry relished in his triumph, as he saw Ron's jaw drop a hundred miles. "OH MY GOD!" Ron screamed, and both started jumping up and down.
"YOUNG MAN, DI D I JUST HEAR SOMETHING BAD COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH?" the voice of Mrs. Weasley said from downstairs. They both stopped jumping and smiled.
"No, Mom!" Ron yelled back.
"Well, come out here! We need some help degnoming the garden!" his mom screamed back at him. Ron sighed and he and Harry walked down the stairs and out the door in the kitchen to the garden. There, the rest of the family was busy whirling the gnomes over their heads and flinging them over the fences. "There's more than ever. It's like they tell all their friends that this is the place to go!" remarked an exasperated Mrs. Weasley. Harry helped them to degnome the garden, and then went inside to play some wizards chess with Ron. After 13 straight victories for Ron, the family had a heaping helping of supper, partly in honor of their guest. Harry caught sight of a very beautiful redhead he had never seen before. He stared at her for most of the meal, wondering who she could possibly be. Stuffed full of food, the family head to their rooms to sleep.
"So, you fancy Ginny now, ay?" Ron said with a smirk.
"No! Of course I don't!" Harry snapped. They both changed into their pajamas and sat on Ron's Chudley Cannons bed. "By the way, who was that other girl at the table?"
"That girl you were staring at the whole time? Oh, that was Ginny. I think she may think you like her now, with all that attention you've been giving her," Ron said, giving an evil smile.
"Oh great. I was just wondering why she was so familiar! I wasn't checking her out or anything!"
"Sure, Harry, sure..." Ron said, sarcastically. Harry pushed Ron off his bed, and they both laughed.
"Wow, she's changed over the summer," Harry said.
"Yeah. She's grown taller and gotten her 'curves' as my mom says. But, she's still the same geeky little sister," Ron said.
"You better watch out, Ron. Your sister could be the most popular Gryffindor 4th year now...she could be getting more action that you!" Harry said. This time, it was his turn to be pushed. After a little roughhousing, they both got into their beds and lied down.
"Harry, what was with that girl that you were with?" Ron said, turning over in bed to face Harry.
"Oh, just a friend. She slapped Dudley. Enough said," Harry said, stifling a laugh.
"What? Oh geez," said Ron, also trying to keep his laughter down.
"Yeah, and she saw me laughing at her and talked to me. We became instant friends," said Harry, thinking back on that day nearly 3 weeks before.
"You're a babe magnet, you know that? First Ginny, then Parvati, then Cho..."
"Cho? She never liked me..."
"Are you kidding me? Didn't you notice that she and her friends sort of followed you around?"
"No....."
"You're so thickheaded sometimes!"
"Well, it's not like I could really get her to be my girlfriend anyway!" Harry shot back at Ron. Harry thought about his last comment, and realized that it was true. Cho would probably have a new boyfriend as soon as they came back to school, and it most likely wouldn't be Harry.
"You'll see, Harry. And even if she won't, there a countless others that will. Like your new friend, for instance. One look, and she was stuck on you!" Ron said.
"Cassie is just a friend. A friend that I will probably never see again. So, you won't talk to me about Hermione?" Harry said hopefully.
"I will. She's in Tokyo, and she sent me some of these cards. But, I don't want them," Ron said, handing some Sailor Moon cards to Harry.
"Thanks, but that's not what I meant. Do you still....you know...." Harry started again.
"I don't want to talk about that," Ron said quickly. "And, I will never let her know my secret in a million years!"
"Aw, come on Ron! You know you want to tell her! Everyone else knows already! Even Rita Skeeter knows, I bet!" Rita Skeeter is a very lucrative reporter. She spread rumors on just about everyone Harry was friends with. But currently, she is not getting any stories because she is being held captive in a jar by Hermione. Skeeter, you see, was an Animagus that could change into a bug.
"Harry, shut up! I won't talk about it!" Ron turned in his bed and went to sleep. Harry lay awake for a couple of moments. Throughout the whole, tiring day, he still couldn't shut his eyes. Then , he heard humming. Strolling to the window, he looked out as he had done the night before. There was a just a little white rabbit below in the garden. But, he still heard the humming noise. It was so familiar, yet so distant. He just smiled, and went back to bed, now too lulled by the song to think about it origin.