Chapter 1:
"Wake up!" Harry heard his aunt scream. He rolled over in his bed pretending not to notice Aunt Petunia's shrill call. Apparently she was used to his tricks and rapped on the door continually. Why is she trying so hard today to wake me up, Harry thought. "It's Dudley's Birthday today and you have to clean the house before his friends get here!" she called. No wonder, today was "Duddy's" 16th birthday. Joy. All the more reason to lie in bed. "I said now!!" "I'm up." He sighed and searched for a semi-clean pair of socks. Upon finding some he slowly put them on trying to delay his trip downstairs. He peered at his clock, which read 7:12 AM; he drew a long heavy breath and he trundled down the stairs. "Be quiet! You are going to wake our little birthday boy up!" she shrieked out the kitchen door. Harry snorted; he doubted there was anything little about Dudley besides his peanut brain and not even a herd of elephants could wake that monster up. Didn't she notice she was making more noise than Harry? "I swear she has the voice of a foghorn." He muttered under his breath. "What did you say, you slob?" "Nothing." He said exasperated. Aunt Petunia looked at him with her beady squint she always gave to Mr. And Mrs. Next Door when she was trying to see what they were up to. After about five seconds of scanning him she seemed to not care and gave him a list of chores to do for none other than Dudley. "If you don't wrap those presents perfectly I'll make you do each and every one again," she warned. Harry glanced down at #1 and tried to make out what his aunt's chicken scratches said. #1. Wrap Dudley's Presents "Fine," he groaned. "But can I eat something first, I'm hungry." "No, not until you finish wrapping those gifts." Harry dragged his feet into the living room and saw a mountain of boxes. He lifted a heavy one and shook it. There was a small crack and Harry hurriedly put the gift down. "Oops," Harry laughed. "I hope it wasn't expensive." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ After finishing wrapping the birthday presents, mowing the lawn, pruning the roses, dusting the furniture tops, vacuuming the house, and eating his slice of bread and a moldy lump of cheese, which was probably so putrid a mouse wouldn't touch it, Harry got to go upstairs to not exist again. Purposely slamming his door, he slumped into bed. 5 days, just five days until this nightmare is over.
"Relax, Harry. Just five days until you're rid of this living-" he was interrupted as a high-pitched shriek came echoing from the hall. "Happy Birthday, Dudleykins!" Aunt Petunia screeched. With the force of an earthquake the birthday boy came wobbling down the hall towards the creaking stairs. Harry pulled out Flying with the Cannons, a book given to him as a gift from his best friend, Ron Weasley, whom he was going to visit in, hopefully, five short days. Suddenly came a sharp tap from his window. "Oh, Hedwig!" he let his snowy white owl in and was relieved to find a bundle of letters tethered to her thin leg. He recognized the handwriting of his friend Ron on the first letter, looking especially rushed.
Dear Harry, I can't wait until you can come to my house on Friday. We're planning to have a fun month together. I got to go Hermione is calling me. Oh, here she is, she wants to say something. She got here two weeks ago..errr yeah here she is.
Following this was Hermione's neat writing.
Hi, Harry. It's me Hermione. How are you doing? Well, miss you lots. see you on Friday. Love From Hermione. Yeah. Herm says hi. Well.we got to go do stuff. I think the garden needs de- gnoming, again. We'll pick you up in a Ministry car on Friday. Around 2:00 ok? Send Hedwig back with a letter. Ron
Harry turned the parchment over and scribbled down a quick response. Before he sent Hedwig off to deliver the letter he looked at the other note. It seemed to be written on very nice stationary. He turned it over and found the name R.J. Lupin stamped on the back of the letter. But the writing wasn't Lupin's usual print. Instead it was- "Sirius!" Harry tore the envolope apart.
Sirius Black was a convicted murderer, which Harry proved innocent in his 3rd year, yet no one believed him, causing his long lost godfather to flee into his animagus form (can change into animal) and stalked the school grounds watching over Harry regularly, and staying with Harry's old professor and his old school friend, Remus Lupin. Dear Harry, I miss you very much. As you might have noticed, I'm back at Lupin's place. We have a nice home for buckbeak. He seems to enjoy the old barn rather nicely. Hedwig came by, so I just thought you wan'ted some "fan" mail. Well, I hope to see you soon. Don't let the muggles put you down. -Sirius your BIGGEST fan.
He wrote back to Sirius and put both replies on Hedwig's leg for her to give back to the senders. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Dudley's party was a confusing blur. It wasn't unusual for his thuggish cronies' to come over and bother Harry. But this year there were.girls! Who would ever imagine that Dudley would ever talk to a girl? This boy believed in cooties until the age of 13, and at this moment had about 10 young females in the house and they weren't his mother and her cabbage-smelling friends. Fine, girls were a small shock, but what came next was enough to make Harry burst out laughing. He would have if the girls weren't hanging around him. Each girl was actually noticing and being nice to Harry, and completely ignoring Dudley. Not that the guys paid any attention to the ladies. They sat watching TV turning their miniscule minds into lard while the girls chatted and gossiped in the corner. Aunt Petunia thought they were mingling and ordered Harry to serve punch and snacks. Trying to avoid the "men," as his aunt called them, he turned on his heel and walked slowly toward the girls. When he pushed through the swinging kitchen door the girls all seemed to stop talking all at once and glanced at Harry and started whispering in each other's ears and giggling. As Harry found out in his fourth year, girls giggled a lot when approached or acknowledged by a guy. He had had too much of this giggling when he separated Cho Chang, his crush, from her mob of friends to ask her to the Yule Ball in his fourth year. Sadly rejected he now found giggling girls as a very eerie noise. "Snacks, girls?" Harry asked cautiously. God, not more giggling. Some girls took some snacks reluctantly. Dudley obviously smelled the food with his snout and came thundering toward the tray Harry was carrying, knocking boys and small furniture out of the way as he cleared the field. He ate a piece of every one causing the girls to draw back several feet. Dudley snatched the tray of food out of Harry's hands and tipped the contents into his mouth. Having served his duty of feeding the "group" Harry walked back upstairs. The girls seemed mildly upset that the only decent guy in the whole party had left. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ On the day of the Weasley's arrival, Harry packed his things and returned Hedwig to her cage. "Come on Hedwig. We're finally leaving this prison." Hedwig hooted in delighted agreement to Harry's comment. "Yeah, I know, I hate it here, too," Harry sighed, "even more so probably. Remember you came only six years ago; I've been here for about fifteen." Hedwig's eyes seemed to widen in quiet surprise. Harry chuckled at her simplicity to show emotions. Harry heaved his trunk, with Hedwig's cage on top, down stairs and waited on the couch for the Weasley family to arrive. He had barely opened Flying With the Cannons when there came a vigorous knock on the front door. "No, it couldn't be them," but sure enough it was Ron Weasley Harry saw as he pulled the door wide. "Ron!" Harry gasped in surprise. "Hiya, Harry," Ron replied. Ron moved back a little to show all of the eight Weasley's with flaming ginger hair, with Hermione standing among them, positioned around two bright red car. They all waved eagerly to Harry, Ginny going exceptionally pink in the face.
Ginny had always fancied Harry ever since her first year at Hogwarts. Now starting her 5th year, Harry realized how much she had grown since he saved her life in his 2nd year, which was just her first year. Even though Harry knew Ginny liked him to such extremes, he never saw her for more than his friend and his best friend's little sister. She used to give Harry cards, such as get-well cards and valentine cards sung to him by a dwarf with cupid wings on its back. "Ron! You're.you're," Harry stuttered, "You're early. What happened?" "Oh, yeah. Herm said we might be late so she made us leave early," he said.
"Herm? Since when have you called-," but Harry was interrupted as Hermione came over. She placed her hand on Ron's shoulder, seeming to want to gently pull him away to talk to Harry, but instead she kept it there. Harry stared quizzically at her hand.
Ron calling Hermione Herm; Hermione being so comfortable around Ron.what is happening?
"Hello, Harry!" Hermione laughed. When Harry responded he guessed his tone showed question. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Wake up!" Harry heard his aunt scream. He rolled over in his bed pretending not to notice Aunt Petunia's shrill call. Apparently she was used to his tricks and rapped on the door continually. Why is she trying so hard today to wake me up, Harry thought. "It's Dudley's Birthday today and you have to clean the house before his friends get here!" she called. No wonder, today was "Duddy's" 16th birthday. Joy. All the more reason to lie in bed. "I said now!!" "I'm up." He sighed and searched for a semi-clean pair of socks. Upon finding some he slowly put them on trying to delay his trip downstairs. He peered at his clock, which read 7:12 AM; he drew a long heavy breath and he trundled down the stairs. "Be quiet! You are going to wake our little birthday boy up!" she shrieked out the kitchen door. Harry snorted; he doubted there was anything little about Dudley besides his peanut brain and not even a herd of elephants could wake that monster up. Didn't she notice she was making more noise than Harry? "I swear she has the voice of a foghorn." He muttered under his breath. "What did you say, you slob?" "Nothing." He said exasperated. Aunt Petunia looked at him with her beady squint she always gave to Mr. And Mrs. Next Door when she was trying to see what they were up to. After about five seconds of scanning him she seemed to not care and gave him a list of chores to do for none other than Dudley. "If you don't wrap those presents perfectly I'll make you do each and every one again," she warned. Harry glanced down at #1 and tried to make out what his aunt's chicken scratches said. #1. Wrap Dudley's Presents "Fine," he groaned. "But can I eat something first, I'm hungry." "No, not until you finish wrapping those gifts." Harry dragged his feet into the living room and saw a mountain of boxes. He lifted a heavy one and shook it. There was a small crack and Harry hurriedly put the gift down. "Oops," Harry laughed. "I hope it wasn't expensive." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ After finishing wrapping the birthday presents, mowing the lawn, pruning the roses, dusting the furniture tops, vacuuming the house, and eating his slice of bread and a moldy lump of cheese, which was probably so putrid a mouse wouldn't touch it, Harry got to go upstairs to not exist again. Purposely slamming his door, he slumped into bed. 5 days, just five days until this nightmare is over.
"Relax, Harry. Just five days until you're rid of this living-" he was interrupted as a high-pitched shriek came echoing from the hall. "Happy Birthday, Dudleykins!" Aunt Petunia screeched. With the force of an earthquake the birthday boy came wobbling down the hall towards the creaking stairs. Harry pulled out Flying with the Cannons, a book given to him as a gift from his best friend, Ron Weasley, whom he was going to visit in, hopefully, five short days. Suddenly came a sharp tap from his window. "Oh, Hedwig!" he let his snowy white owl in and was relieved to find a bundle of letters tethered to her thin leg. He recognized the handwriting of his friend Ron on the first letter, looking especially rushed.
Dear Harry, I can't wait until you can come to my house on Friday. We're planning to have a fun month together. I got to go Hermione is calling me. Oh, here she is, she wants to say something. She got here two weeks ago..errr yeah here she is.
Following this was Hermione's neat writing.
Hi, Harry. It's me Hermione. How are you doing? Well, miss you lots. see you on Friday. Love From Hermione. Yeah. Herm says hi. Well.we got to go do stuff. I think the garden needs de- gnoming, again. We'll pick you up in a Ministry car on Friday. Around 2:00 ok? Send Hedwig back with a letter. Ron
Harry turned the parchment over and scribbled down a quick response. Before he sent Hedwig off to deliver the letter he looked at the other note. It seemed to be written on very nice stationary. He turned it over and found the name R.J. Lupin stamped on the back of the letter. But the writing wasn't Lupin's usual print. Instead it was- "Sirius!" Harry tore the envolope apart.
Sirius Black was a convicted murderer, which Harry proved innocent in his 3rd year, yet no one believed him, causing his long lost godfather to flee into his animagus form (can change into animal) and stalked the school grounds watching over Harry regularly, and staying with Harry's old professor and his old school friend, Remus Lupin. Dear Harry, I miss you very much. As you might have noticed, I'm back at Lupin's place. We have a nice home for buckbeak. He seems to enjoy the old barn rather nicely. Hedwig came by, so I just thought you wan'ted some "fan" mail. Well, I hope to see you soon. Don't let the muggles put you down. -Sirius your BIGGEST fan.
He wrote back to Sirius and put both replies on Hedwig's leg for her to give back to the senders. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Dudley's party was a confusing blur. It wasn't unusual for his thuggish cronies' to come over and bother Harry. But this year there were.girls! Who would ever imagine that Dudley would ever talk to a girl? This boy believed in cooties until the age of 13, and at this moment had about 10 young females in the house and they weren't his mother and her cabbage-smelling friends. Fine, girls were a small shock, but what came next was enough to make Harry burst out laughing. He would have if the girls weren't hanging around him. Each girl was actually noticing and being nice to Harry, and completely ignoring Dudley. Not that the guys paid any attention to the ladies. They sat watching TV turning their miniscule minds into lard while the girls chatted and gossiped in the corner. Aunt Petunia thought they were mingling and ordered Harry to serve punch and snacks. Trying to avoid the "men," as his aunt called them, he turned on his heel and walked slowly toward the girls. When he pushed through the swinging kitchen door the girls all seemed to stop talking all at once and glanced at Harry and started whispering in each other's ears and giggling. As Harry found out in his fourth year, girls giggled a lot when approached or acknowledged by a guy. He had had too much of this giggling when he separated Cho Chang, his crush, from her mob of friends to ask her to the Yule Ball in his fourth year. Sadly rejected he now found giggling girls as a very eerie noise. "Snacks, girls?" Harry asked cautiously. God, not more giggling. Some girls took some snacks reluctantly. Dudley obviously smelled the food with his snout and came thundering toward the tray Harry was carrying, knocking boys and small furniture out of the way as he cleared the field. He ate a piece of every one causing the girls to draw back several feet. Dudley snatched the tray of food out of Harry's hands and tipped the contents into his mouth. Having served his duty of feeding the "group" Harry walked back upstairs. The girls seemed mildly upset that the only decent guy in the whole party had left. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ On the day of the Weasley's arrival, Harry packed his things and returned Hedwig to her cage. "Come on Hedwig. We're finally leaving this prison." Hedwig hooted in delighted agreement to Harry's comment. "Yeah, I know, I hate it here, too," Harry sighed, "even more so probably. Remember you came only six years ago; I've been here for about fifteen." Hedwig's eyes seemed to widen in quiet surprise. Harry chuckled at her simplicity to show emotions. Harry heaved his trunk, with Hedwig's cage on top, down stairs and waited on the couch for the Weasley family to arrive. He had barely opened Flying With the Cannons when there came a vigorous knock on the front door. "No, it couldn't be them," but sure enough it was Ron Weasley Harry saw as he pulled the door wide. "Ron!" Harry gasped in surprise. "Hiya, Harry," Ron replied. Ron moved back a little to show all of the eight Weasley's with flaming ginger hair, with Hermione standing among them, positioned around two bright red car. They all waved eagerly to Harry, Ginny going exceptionally pink in the face.
Ginny had always fancied Harry ever since her first year at Hogwarts. Now starting her 5th year, Harry realized how much she had grown since he saved her life in his 2nd year, which was just her first year. Even though Harry knew Ginny liked him to such extremes, he never saw her for more than his friend and his best friend's little sister. She used to give Harry cards, such as get-well cards and valentine cards sung to him by a dwarf with cupid wings on its back. "Ron! You're.you're," Harry stuttered, "You're early. What happened?" "Oh, yeah. Herm said we might be late so she made us leave early," he said.
"Herm? Since when have you called-," but Harry was interrupted as Hermione came over. She placed her hand on Ron's shoulder, seeming to want to gently pull him away to talk to Harry, but instead she kept it there. Harry stared quizzically at her hand.
Ron calling Hermione Herm; Hermione being so comfortable around Ron.what is happening?
"Hello, Harry!" Hermione laughed. When Harry responded he guessed his tone showed question. "What's wrong?" she asked.
