Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. All of the Harry Potter Characters are owned by J. K. Rowling.

A/N: There is some fluff, but mainly from wanting to make each other feel better. I wanted to let all of you know that I have been influenced by everything I read. I won't be able to list all of the fan fictions I've read so thank you everyone for writing fan fictions.

Chapter Five

The Night the World Awoke and the Weeks that Followed

Mr. Weasley didn't have to say anything; Harry knew something dark had happened. He could see it on Mr. Weasley's face and here it in his voice. "I don't know how to say this," Mr. Weasley was saying, "There has been an attack, it was in the village of Vela, in France." At these words Fleur screamed as her knees gave way, luckily Bill was right behind her and he kept her from falling. They found a place to sit as Mr. Weasley continued, "We received reports of the Dark Mark in the sky about an hour ago. The French ministry sent many of their workers over to find out where it was coming from. We then sent several of our guys to help investigate. The reports say that the workers came into the village and were directly under the mark. No one survived. All of the children are missing and all of the adults have been killed by the killing curse." Mr. Weasley took a breath, "Fleur, I'm sorry." He was sincere in his condolences. Harry had finally been able to open his eyes and was now standing shakily behind Fleur. The pain in his head was subsiding. He knew what that meant, the attack was over.

Harry looked at Fleur; she was in a state of shock her face was whiter than Harry had ever seen it. No one had seen her so numb. Bill was kneeling next to her holding her to his chest in a loving embrace. Mr. Weasley was continuing to talk, "We will be working late tonight, I'm sorry I'm not home to celebrate with you about the contract. Everyone needs to stay inside, and keep themselves protected. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George I want you to go get your wands. Be ready to use them if necessary. I don't know what the Death Eaters are going to do next but I don't want you to be caught off guard. Everyone at the ministry is now working on tracking down the Death Eaters and trying to find the children. I'll let you know if anything else happens. I love you, Molly. Bill, Charlie take care of everyone." With another Pop Mr. Weasley was gone. No one moved for a long moment. Harry felt numb. All of the memories of last June were rushing back into his head. He then heard his mother's last words; he saw the green light from Voldemorte's wand. He tried to shake these thoughts away but he couldn't. He felt as though he would collapse.

Harry looked at Ginny who had moved closer to him while her father had been talking. She looked white as a ghost. Harry assumed that she was reliving the events of her first year at Hogwarts, the events involving Tom Riddle and his diary. She was the only person who had as horrible of a past as Harry himself had. Harry gently placed his hand on her back. Ron had done the same to Hermione who was eyeing Harry suspiciously. Harry hatted to worry his friends.

Mrs. Weasley slowly went back to cooking. "We can eat in the sitting room. We might not have a table but we will be closer to each other. Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry do as Arthur told you, go get your wands for protection. Fleur is there anything I can do for you? Would you like some tea?" She asked, her voice shaking.

Fleur couldn't speak she nodded in response. "Mum, I'll fix her tea, you just finish dinner so everyone will have something to eat. I have a feeling it is going to be a long night." Bill said standing and leaving Fleur's side momentarily.

"Bill, I've got it. You stay with Fleur, she needs you." Penny instructed, she reminded Bill so much of his mother. He didn't protest and went back to comfort Fleur. She began to cry and Bill pulled her in closer to him, as he began to cry with her. Everyone was in for a long night.

Harry and Ginny met on the stairs. Neither spoke but Harry knew to move in and gave her a hug. They walked down the stairs into the sitting room.

"Harry, I'm so scared, I don't want anything to happen to you." Ginny whispered into Harrys ear as they entered the sitting room. George and Fred were outside moving the tables back into the kitchen, while Penny was giving Fleur a cup of tea. Harry and Ginny sat down on the couch.

"Don't worry about me, no one knows I'm here, except your family, Dumbledore, and The Dursleys." Harry answered catching himself before he mentioned Sirius. He hated not being able to tell Ginny about Sirius but he didn't want to put her in more danger than she already was in. He wanted to talk to Ron and Hermione about letting Ginny in on the true identity of Sirius. Ron came down hugging Hermione. Harry thought it must appear similar to the way he held Ginny. They carried their wands and chess sets although no one was really in a mood for Chess.

Soon everyone came into the room. Mrs. Weasley distributed plates of food, although no one was hungry. They ate in silence. Mrs. Weasley busied herself by cleaning everything in the house.

"Harry, let's play a game of chess." Ron suggested. Harry didn't want to, but saw the look on his friend's face. He moved to sit down on the floor by Ron. They played for a while, Ginny and Hermione watching over there shoulders.

"Check mate." Harry said, it was one of the few times he beat his best friend at Chess but it didn't have the joy that it would have if his mind weren't preoccupied. Hermione took Harry's place as he climbed upstairs.

"Ginny go with Harry, I don't want any of you going anywhere by yourself." Mrs. Weasley instructed. Harry wouldn't have minded too much if he weren't going to write Sirius. So instead he got his broomstick and his broom handle wax. He knew it didn't need to be waxed but it wouldn't hurt. Ginny came into the room and moved over to Harry giving him another hug. Harry just held onto her for a long moment. "It's okay Ginny, we will be fine." Harry said trying to sooth Ginny.

Then Harry said, "Come on we need to go back downstairs. I'm going to wax my broomstick to try to keep occupied." She nodded and went to the door. Ginny and Harry walked down the stairs into the somber sitting room. Fleur was curled up in Bills lap with her head against his chest. Charlie was now pacing the kitchen waiting from news from his father. Mrs. Weasley had run out of things to clean and was moving into the sitting room. Ron and Hermione were playing in the corner while Fred and George tried to entertain Penny with tricks.

"I just realized you didn't show me your new dress robes." Mrs. Weasley declared looking in the room, trying to find something to do and to keep everyone occupied. "Why don't you go upstairs and change into the robes and come back downstairs and show them off."

Harry and Ginny turned around and went back upstairs to change. Ron and Hermione followed quickly. When Ron entered his room he and Harry were able to talk for a moment.

"I saw you and Hermione getting close there." Harry said trying to lighten the mood, and not being able to resist the opportunity to tease his best friend. Ron blushed and grinned. Harry put down his broom and the wax. He wasn't going to be able to concentrate on it tonight.

"Yeah, I really like her, but she's Hermione! You know? She is our best friend."

"Ginny thinks you two look good together."

"I saw you and Ginny budding up lately."

"What do you mean?" Harry demanded trying to control his voice and the color of his face. It was a loosing battle.

"You know what I mean!" Ron joked. "Just take care of my little sister and don't break her hart."

They laughed and for a moment it looked like everything was back to normal. That is until they went downstairs into the sitting room.

"You two look so grown up!" Mrs. Weasley said looking at the boys. Ron and Harry grinned modestly.

"Oh Mum, I forgot to give this to you." Ron said handing his mother the extra gallion.

"Why do you still have this, did you buy everything you need for school?"

"Yeah" Ron answered.

"I bought their dress robes to pay you back for always taking care of me, especially now that Voldemorte," everyone flinched at the mention of his name," oh sorry, You-know-who has returned. You are putting your selves in danger." Harry chimed in.

"Well, of cores we want you to come here. I want you to feel safe here. This should be your other home. But thank you Harry." Mrs. Weasly said. Harry thought she looked like she was about to cry, again. Luckily the girls entered the room at that moment. Ginny looks stunning Harry couldn't help but think. He stopped trying to think and just enjoyed the sight.

Mrs. Weasley "oooooed" at the sight of her daughter and Hermione. "You two look wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley had them turn around so she could see all of the robes. "Thank you for showing me dears. You are all SO grown up." The group went back upstairs to change back into their normal clothing.

"I didn't realize before now but You and Ginny match in your dress robes." Ron said grinning.

"You match Hermione!!" Harry replied making Ron turn scarlet. The pair stayed in Ron's room to let him change from scarlet to pink before going back to the sitting room. They met the girls on the way down. When they entered the sitting room they could smell Mrs. Weasley brewing something.

"Mum, WHAT are you doing?" Ron asked.

"Oh, I'm brewing an dreamless sleep potion for all of you, or at least Fleur, she has had such a traumatic evening that I thought it would be helpful. I remembered that Dumbldore did this for Harry in June and it is a good idea. And maybe Ginny and Harry could use it, I'm sure it brings up memories for both of them."

"What did you say Mum?" Ginny asked hearing her name.

"Nothing dear, I was just saying that I'm brewing a dreamless sleep potion. I thought all of you should take it to help you sleep tonight."

"Okay Mum if it will make you feel better." Ginny agreed as she went into the other room and took her seat next to Harry. Fleur looked worse by the minute. She hadn't moved after eating and she looked like she would break any minute. A few minutes later Mrs. Weasley came in with the potion. She gave a cup to everyone. They all took it obligingly. Harry hadn't finished his cup before he fell asleep. The next thing he knew Harry heard Mr. Weasley.

"Molly where are the kids?"

"They are sleeping, I gave them some potion for dreamless sleep. Bill is taking care of Fleur."

"Dad, what's going on?"

"Molly, Charlie you know Fudge. He still thinks we can handle this diplomatically but many people are leaving the ministry right now. I'm staying; Percy came in and talked to me. He is moving out. I tried to talk with him but it didn't matter. He has the typical Weasley determination. Is everyone okay there? Nothing has been discovered about whom did this. Dumbledore and the Order know it was the Death Eaters. He has them moving to protect the innocent. I can't tell you more now. I will later, when I get home. Percy is coming home and gathering his things. I'll talk with you later. I love you Molly!" Then Harry heard a Pop.

Mrs. Weasley came into the room and looked at everyone. Harry began to lift his cup and take a sip but Ron caught his eye. Harry then looked and saw Hermione's head resting in Ron's lap, her eye's were open. Harry then realized Ginny's head was in his own lap, she looked up at him.

Ron motioned towards the stairs. Harry understood his friend and gently moved Ginny's head. She quickly sat up and followed Ron, Harry, and Hermione up the stairs into Ron's room.

"Ginny, go back down stairs and drink the rest of the potion. The three of us need to talk." Ron instructed, sounding more like the older brother he was.

"No, I'm not going back, something is going on, I heard Dad just like the three of you, I'm not nine years old anymore. You can tell me these things."

"Ginny is that you?" Charlie's voice came into the room from the landing. "Are you up?"

Ron opened the door and was greeted by his older brother. "What are you doing up? You should all go back downstairs and drink the rest of your potion to go to sleep."

"No, what's this talk about 'the order'?" Ginny demanded.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Don't give me that Charlie! I know you know. I heard Dad, I also heard you. What is going on?"

"Ginny, you are too young, the things we know and say are too dangerous for you. If you find out it will put your life in danger."

"What, and if I don't know I'll be safer? Voldemort is back Charlie! It's not just some little attack; he is really back, Harry has seen him and tonight was just an example of the power of his followers! If I don't know I'll be in more danger than if I do!" Ginny sounded exasperated. Harry had to give it to her, she was right. She was in danger weather they wanted to admit it or not. She deserved to know the truth.

"We'll just see what Mum has to say about this." The group followed Charlie back downstairs into the kitchen. Penny and Molly were sitting at the table drinking what Harry guessed was there twelfth cup of tea. Penny left the room leaving the Weasley's Harry and Hermione alone.

"Charlie what's going on? Children you need to go back into the other room and finish your potion. Do I need to brew some more?"

"No Mum, I'm not going back in there until I have some answers." Ginny was determined. Charlie stayed quiet.

"What are you talking about Ginny."

"Don't treat me like I'm a Baby. I know some things. Tell me what's going on so I will be able to protect myself."

"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley started. She sighed deeply muttered some spell pointing her wand at the walls and continued, "I really wanted to wait for your father came home to explain all of this to you. But I think I can begin. He should be home soon. This room is safe." Harry assumed the spell Mrs. Weasley had muttered was a sound proofing charm allowing them to speak openly with one another.

"I should begin." Harry said speaking for the first time. Ginny jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Yes dear, I believe you should."

"Do you remember when Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban?" Ginny nodded. "Well, when he was at Hogwarts the three of us met him. We thought he was going to kill us at first. If he didn't kill us I thought I was going to kill him." Harry paused, "Did you know he is my Godfather?"

"No," Ginny answered slowly as Mrs. Weasley hurried around serving everyone a cup of tea.

"Well, he was best friends with my Dad when they went to Hogwarts. He explained that at the last minute my Mum and Dad changed their secret keeper from him to Peter Petigrew, and that Peter was the one who betrayed my parents."

"The group of them were unregistered anamagi, James, Peter, and Sirius. You know that Proffesor Lupin is a werewolf? The others became anamagi so they could spend time with him while he was a werewolf. Werewolves only bite humans and while they were animals they could communicate and be in the same room without fear for their life." Ron continued seeing that Harry needed help telling the story.

"What does this have to do with Voldemort's return?" Ginny questioned.

"We are getting there." Ron answered shortly.

"The Potters were originally going to use Sirius as their secret keeper because he was their best friend but he convinced them otherwise. The only people who knew the truth were Sirius, the Potters and Petigrew. When Sirius heard about the attack he knew at once that Petigrew was working for Voldemort." Hermione continued.

"Sirius tracked down Petigrew and confronted him on the street." Harry explained.

"I remember that, it was when Petigrew died and Sirius killed all of those muggles."

"That's what everyone else said. But that's not what really happened. Petigrew faked his own death. He cut off his finger and dropped it, then he killed the muggles and changed into his animal form, a rat, and ran into the sewers with the other rats."

"Okay, I understand all of this, but how does this tie in with today."

"Petigrew, Wormtail is his nickname, was Scabbers." Ron explained.

Ginny gasped and dropped the cup she was holding. It shattered into little pieces.

"Sirius had come to Hogwarts to kill the man that he had been imprisoned for killing. He had not come to kill me like the ministry and everyone else believed. I kept him from killing Petigrew because I believed that is what my Dad would have done. We tied him up and were leading him back to school when Profesor Lupin changed into a werewolf. This distracted us and Petigrew changed back into a rat and got away. Dumbledore believed us and we helped Sirius get away, saving Buckbeak in the process. He has been living on the run since then." Harry paused and took a sip from his cup of tea that had cooled since Mrs. Weasley had poured it.

"That summer Petigrew made it back to Voldemort. He helped him come back to power. When I touched the triwizard tournament cup it transported Cedric and me to Voldemort. Voldemort killed Cedric instantly. He used my blood in a ceremony to bring him back to power. During the ceremony Wormtail cut off his hand as a sacrifice. Voldemort's wand contains a pheonix feather, it is a brother to my wand." Harry said holding up his own wand. "The pheonix that donated the feather was Fawks. Our wands did a strange thing called Priori Incantatem; it is because wands that are connected, like ours, will not fight each other. I saw my Mum, Dad, and Cedric's ghosts for a brief moment. They helped me get away. Before they disappeared Cedric asked me to bring his body back to his parents." Harry shook his head. "I then ran and grabbed Cedric and the cup which returned me to school. We found out that Barty Crouch Jr. wasn't dead, he was posing as Moody. He was the one who planted the Portkey that transported me to Voldemort. He admitted everything when we gave him Veritaserum. Dumbledore and McGonagall tied him up and were keeping him to show Fudge but Fudge believing that he was in danger brought along a Dementor and before Professor McGonagall could stop it the Dementor kissed Crouch. All of the information he had was lost. Fudge, who had been reading Rita Skeeter's articles, didn't believe Dumbledore. He thought I was mentally unstable." Harry looked at Ginny for the first time since they started telling her the truth. She was pale and shaking her freckles standing out even more against her suddenly pale skin. Ginny seemed to look at Harry with new understanding. This was hard for Harry; he was reliving everything that had happened. Harry knew she would understand, that was something different about Ginny, she was so willing to accept everyone's word, so trusting.

"Oh Harry, I had no idea." Ginny gasped moving to hug him. Harry let her. He felt safer hugging her, and letting her know the truth. He didn't want any harm coming to any of the Weasley's especially Ginny and Ron. Knowing the truth would help her he thought.

"Harry I can take the story from here." Mrs. Weasley said as they moved out of a tight hug. "I was introduced to Sirius and filled in on the rest of the history by Dumbledore that night, when Harry was up in the hospital wing. This summer your father has been passing information along to Dumbledore. He has also been trying to find others to join our side, the good side. It has been difficult because the whole of the ministry thinks Dumbledore is crazy and they are unaware of the truth. We have been trying to keep up with the Death Eater's and their movement. Fudge didn't believe Harry and Dumbledore, he still doesn't. He's an ass. I hate to say it but tonight's events don't come as a total shock. Now, would the four of you go back into the other room and get some sleep."

Ginny must have been satisfied with this explanation because she moved back into the sitting room. She resumed her seat on the couch. Harry moved quickly to sit next to her. They all picked up their cups and drained them of their contents. Mrs. Weasley was good with her potions, Harry didn't dream at all.

The next thing Harry realized he was waking up to sunlight filling up the room and the smell of breakfast. Harry looked down and was glad to see Ginny still sleeping. As he looked around Harry realized the twins were gone. He assumed they went upstairs. As he sat the events of last night flooded back into his brain. Harry was about to take another sip from the potion to go back to sleep when he saw a familiar dog sitting in the doorway. Harry grinned at the sight. His family was all around him. He wanted to get up but he didn't want to disturb Ginny. As Harry watched the dog it changed into his godfather.

"You shouldn't be here." Harry heard himself whisper to Sirius.

"Shhhh… it's fine, Molly let me in and I'm about to leave I just wanted to make sure you were okay Molly will be able to fill you in on everything I found last night. I'm glad to see you are okay. Molly told me about what you told Ginny last night. You did the right thing. It was brave of you to relieve all of the details of your horible past to her. I have also been filled in on her past. Dumbledore and I believe this may be important but He will keep you informed at Hogwarts." Sirrius said placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Each time I see you, you remind me more and more of your Dad. Next time I see you, you will have to tell me what is going on with Ron and Hermione, and you and Ginny!" Sirrius added with a grin. "I'll write to you soon. Take care of him, Ron." Sirrius had turned his head to look at Ron. Ron smiled and nodded. "Take care of yourself." Sirius added turning and going back to the fireplace. Harry heard a POP! And knew his Godfather was gone.

Harry turned to Ron and grinned, nodding at Hermione. "Comfortable?"

"Yeah, and yourself?" The two quietly laughed trying not to move too much. Moment's later Ginny stirred. She turned and starred up at Harry. "Good morning." Harry said gently. Ginny grinned and slowly moved to sit up. Hermione also woke up and starred at Harry and Ginny. She then looked at Ron.

Ron tried to be as smooth as Harry, "Good morning." He said, but his voice cracked in the middle of morning. Everyone laughed including Ron. The four of them entered the kitchen trying to be quiet.

"Did the four of you sleep well?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she fixed breakfast.

"What do you know about what happened last night?" Harry asked wanting to know what Sirius meant.

"Arthur and Percy came home about two hours ago. No one at the ministry knows who was responsible for last night. Of course Arthur and Dumbledore know it was Death Eaters, they are starting the kind of attacks that they did last time." She explained shaking her head. "Fudge is just so stubborn, if your father didn't love muggles so much he would be higher up in the Ministry. The Dark mark was everywhere. Someone," Mrs. Weasley paused, making eye contact with Harry, "saw a rat that is a supporter of Voldemot, but he got away." Mrs. Weasley sighed, shaking her head again. "I don't want any of you leaving the yard. We have set up some protective precautions around the house and the yard but it can still be passed. We are living in a dangerous time." Mrs. Weasley added looking at Ginny who had no color in her face.

Just then Bill and Fleur appeared in the doorway. "Good morning dears. Did you sleep well? Can I get you anything?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No thanks Mum, we're fine. Is it okay if Fleur stays at the burrow with us for a while?"

"Of course! You are always welcome here, Ginny do you mind sharing you room with a third person?"

"Not at all, it will be fun!" Ginny said trying to sound up beat. Fleur looked awful.

"Why don't we eat outside this morning, it is a beautiful day." Mrs. Weasley suggested.

"Okay, I'll move the tables." Bill offered. With a swish of his wand the back door opened and the tables rose into the air. With another swish they were outside in the garden. Mrs. Weasley than moved the plates of food outside and positioned them on the table while Bill moved the chairs around the table.

"Good morning everyone!" George said coming down the stairs. His up beat voice sounding forced.

Mrs. Weasley was right, it was a beautiful day. The sun was out, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and there was a slight breeze. Harry laughed thinking about Oliver Wood and how glad he would be at this weather. The team would have had to practice an extra two hours because of the good weather.

"What do you reckon, Oliver would have had us practicing an extra four hours today." George added, voicing what Harry had been thinking.

Everyone was quiet as they ate especially Fleur. Harry didn't blame her; he knew how she must feel right now. He remembered how he had felt for the first several weeks after the third task in the Triwizard tournament.

"What is everyone's plans for the day?" Mrs. Weasly asked trying to be in a chipper mood.

"I don't know, I hadn't thought about it." Harry said.

"We still have homework to finish before school starts." Hermione added. "We could start it today."

"Yeah, okay." Harry agreed wanting to stay busy. Ron tried to keep from laughing, but he failed.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that all you think about is homework!"

"Well, we do need to finish it, so why not get it done now! Then we can begin studying for our O.W.L.s."

"Okay, sure."

The group moved into the house and gathered their school things.

"Have you two done any of your schoolwork?" Hermione asked when the group gathered in the sitting room.

"Yeah, we are almost done. What about you?" Ron asked.

"I have done most of it, but I didn't do any work at Victor's house." This answered seemed to bother Ron. Harry could tell, Ron was good at hiding his irritation from Hermione but having spent so much time with Ron the past four years had taught Harry to read his friends body language and he was defiantly upset but determined not to say anything.

The afternoon was spent doing homework and talking. The mood was somber, as much as Hermione and Ron wanted to they couldn't keep Harry's mind from wandering to what was going on in the rest of the world.

Around mid day Fleur cam and sat in the room. "I'll be right back." Bill said kissing her on the head. Harry had to smile because the two of them didn't seem to realize they had an audience. With a Pop! Bill Disapperated.

"All I have left is Arithmancy." Hermione declared closing her copy of History of Magic.

"I love Arizmazy." Fleur said with a smile. "It wuz my best class at Beauxbaton."

"Really! It's so refreshing to find people who enjoy it! These two don't have proper respect for ancient magic."

Ron looked at Harry in discussed. Fleur was about to reply when Pop! Bill reappeared in the room carrying a dozen red roses. He handed them to Fleur. She jumped up and gave him a hug and kiss. These two really loved each other. Harry doubted anyone would feel this way about him. Then he noticed Ginny was grinning, at him. She blushed and looked away quickly.

The rest of the afternoon passed with the group doing homework. Harry didn't realize how much homework they had. Mrs. Weasley entered the room and said, "Kids go put your things up and wash up for dinner. We are going to eat outside to celebrate the twin's contract and Penny and Percy's announcement, since we didn't get to celebrate last night."

Harry and Ron were only too eager to stop doing schoolwork. They picked up the books and ran upstairs. "I wonder what the 'announcement' is." Ron said with a look of disgusted. "It's likely something about marriage or love."

"You really don't know?"

"No, Percy and I aren't best friends or anything. If anyone knows it would be Ginny but judging by her expression yesterday she doesn't have a clue."

Harry and Ron went back downstairs and meet the rest of the family. The group ate dinner outside under the stars. The conversation was polite and no one mentioned anything about the Ministry or Dark Magic. Towards the end Penny and Percy looked at each other. "Well, Mum, Dad, Penny and I would like to tell you something. We are engaged. We will get married next summer when everyone can attend. Things are too hectic at the Ministry right now, and I feel I am needed there too much for us to plan a wedding." The girls at the table squealed even Fleur who had been the most of an outsider at the table. She now seemed like one of the family, loosing momentarily the look of numbness.

Mrs. Weasley was trying not to cry but she was clearly thrilled. "Congratulations!" Mr. Weasley said. Mrs. Weasley lost her battle with herself and began to cry tears of joy. Everyone at the table said their congratulations as Mrs. Weasley floated the plates into the kitchen. Fred and George ended the evening with a wonderful display of fireworks.

At the conclusion of the display everyone said good night and went back into the house. The girls went into Ginny's room while Harry and Ron walked all the way back to Ron's room. Harry watched the Cannon's speed around the room, enjoying the familiar wizarding photographs. He felt himself drifting off to sleep and allowed it.

The next morning during breakfast an owl arrived addressed to Hermione. Harry recognized the Green ink and the Hogwarts seal. Hermione ripped it open and read it out loud. "Dear Miss Hermione Granger, I am writing to inform you that you have been selected as the Gryffindor Prefect. Congratulations. I have included the badge for all of your robes. This year's head boy and girl will inform you of the special privileges, and the pass words you will need to know, when you meet with them after the sorting ceremony on September 1st. Yours sincerely, Professor M. McGonagall."

Ginny hopped up and gave Hermione a big hug. Ron and Harry said congratulations giving her a hug.

The next two weeks were somber. Ron seemed to take Sirius' words to hart and was determined to keep Harry busy so he couldn't dwell on the dark happenings in the world. Ron and Ginny had Harry training for Quidditch. Ron said he wanted to get in good practice. Hermione practiced with them but flying was clearly not her strong point. Fleur seemed to be doing better. She and Bill were inseparable. They would be starting work again on September 2nd so they were practicing and preparing for work. Hermione had even cornered them and convinced them to explain advanced charm work to her insisting that it might help in the O.W.L.'s.

The night of August 31st Mrs. Weasley floated everyone's trunks downstairs.

"This will make things go faster tomorrow morning." Mrs. Weasley explained.

Harry realized that he would be going back to Hogwarts tomorrow. As much fun as he had at the Weasleys Harry was glad to be going back to Hogwarts. He fell asleep thinking about Gryffendor's chances at the Quidditch Cup this year.