Disclaimer: I don't own anything HP, JK Rowling does!
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Author's Note: Thank you reviewers!!!
epholge: Thanks for reminding me of the Transfiguration thing. Fixed it!
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"Harry!" Harry barely had time to look and see everyone gathered in the kitchen before Mrs. Weasley was showering him in motherly kisses.
"Mum! Get off him!" said Ron Weasley, one of Harry's best friends, as he pulled his mother of him.
"Hey, mate! How are you doing?" asked Ron as he clapped Harry on the back. He seemed to have grown a couple of inches even in the couple of weeks in which they were apart. "Hermione has been going crazy thinking about you at the muggles. She kept saying things like," he put on a shrill voice, "Oh I hope Harry is alright. What if he decides to leave Privet Drive? He's got more sense than that. Right? Right? RIGHT???"
Harry smiled. It was nice to know that he was being thought of over here. "Where is Hermione anyway?" he asked looking around the kitchen, for no 16- year-old girl with bushy brown hair was visible.
"Oh, her and Ginny will be right down. Apparently Dean Thomas," his voice grew slightly bitter, "just sent a letter to Ginny and as I was coming down to meet you I heard them giggling like mad. Stupid girls," he finished lamely.
Harry gave a laugh and looked at the scrubbed kitchen table to find 2 identical boys in green leather jackets, sitting down in chairs and grinning. They stood up and walked over to Harry.
"Harry! Good to see you mate! Good to see you!" said Fred as he took a bow.
"You look simply ravishing!" said George shaking his hand. "Simply ravishing!"
"So, how's business?" Harry asked taking in Fred and George's full outfits. Now that he looked, he realized that both men had, besides new coats, brand new orange robes with an emblem in the left corner that read: Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in block letters.
"The store is doing fantastic!" said Fred.
"Everyone loves the merchandise! People are telling us that our stuff is better than Zonko's, and that's saying something." Both twins swelled with pride.
"That's great! I can't wait to get down there," said Harry looking excited.
"Well, stop on by when you come later in the summer to pick up your school supplies," said Fred.
"Definitely!"
"HARRY!!!" screamed Hermione as she and Ginny entered the kitchen. She flung her arms around his neck and practically squeezed the living daylights out of him before letting go. "Oh Harry! I am so glad that you're here! We've missed you so much! Happy birthday, by the way. Sorry that we left you hanging about where we are taking you but it's a surprise and I know that you'll really like it."
"Hermione! Let him breathe!" exclaimed Ron, pulling her back a few feet from Harry. Lupin caught Harry's eye and gave a small smile.
"Hello, Harry," said Ginny as she too hugged him, although with much more calmness. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. And you?"
"Oh, I'm fine," she said and gave him a smile. "It's really great to have you back."
Harry smiled at Ginny.
"C'mon, Harry. Let's go upstairs." Ron motioned to the kitchen door and Harry, Hermione, and Ginny followed.
They went through the kitchen door and walked up some stairs to the foyer. Here Harry saw a big moth-eaten curtain pulled closed where he had once suspected a door. This of course, was where Sirius's mother's picture hung. He felt a stab of pain in his heart. Sirius. This was the first time that he had thought of him in a day or so. It hurt.
Ron and Hermione stopped walking towards the stairs and looked over at Harry. They saw him looking mournfully at the curtain and looked over at each other sadly. They knew that the subject of Sirius was to be brought up.
"Harry," said Hermione gently walking over to him and placing a hand on his arm. "Are you alright?"
Harry continued to stare at the curtain. He was afraid that if he looked at her he would start crying. He didn't know why he hadn't thought that he would be sad being in this house. It was now obvious to him that he would.
"Harry, it's okay to be sad," she said quietly. "We all miss him. No one probably as much as you and I can imagine how it hurts to be here in his house but we all have to move on."
"I know," he said slowly. "It's just hard to believe that he's not here. I miss him so much."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione pulled him into a hug and he felt suddenly comforted and warm. Inside he knew that everything was going to be okay.
"Umm... let's go upstairs, shall we?" asked Ron awkwardly from the stairs.
Hermione let out a noise of disgust. "Yes," she said putting on a better face as Harry looked at her curiously, "let's go to your guy's room."
As the 4 started passed the troll-leg umbrella stand and started walking up the stairs, Harry heard Hermione give Ron a smack on the arm and say something like, "You are the most insensitive person that I know..."
As they passed the row of house-elf heads and all of a sudden Harry took a double take. Ginny rammed right into his back. "Oww! Harry! Why are you stopping?" she asked as she rubbed her head.
"Hey! What's the hold up here?" Ron turned to look where Harry was looking, over at the house-elf heads.
"Kreacher!" Harry said quietly as he stared at the newest addition to the row of heads. The wrinkly skin of the Noble House of Black's last house-elf hung mounted next to his mother. His eyes were shut and he had a scowl on his face.
"Oh yeah," said Ron with an evil smile. "The old git finally died. Once he heard that Malfoy was put into Azkaban he went up into the attic and hung himself. Can't say I was too disappointed."
"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione. She was looking at Kreacher with sadness in her eyes.
"Hermione! Don't tell me that you are still sticking up for that wicked elf even though he betrayed Sirius and got him killed?"
"Well, no but maybe he wouldn't have acted that way if Sirius just treated him-" she caught the look on Harry's face and immediately hushed up.
"Well, I for one am glad that the little weasel died. I said to myself if I got here and he was still roaming around, I would kill him myself." Harry said this all with satisfaction and took one last disgusted look at the elf before continuing up the stairs. Everyone followed.
As soon as they entered Ron and Harry's room a voice issued from an empty canvas. "Harry Potter, you're back I see." It was the voice of Phineas Nigellus, an old headmaster of Hogwarts and an ancestor of Sirius.
"Oh, Phineas, leave right now!" Hermione said to the canvas.
"I will, gladly, Miss," he said in his silkiest tone. "But first I must give my message from Dumbledore. He says: Welcome back Mr. Potter."
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A/N: Sorry, for not giving you the Museum of Quidditch in this chapter but it will be here soon. I felt that this chapter needed to be by itself. Thanks again to my reviewers! :-D
*~~~~*~~~~*
Author's Note: Thank you reviewers!!!
epholge: Thanks for reminding me of the Transfiguration thing. Fixed it!
*~~~~*~~~~*
"Harry!" Harry barely had time to look and see everyone gathered in the kitchen before Mrs. Weasley was showering him in motherly kisses.
"Mum! Get off him!" said Ron Weasley, one of Harry's best friends, as he pulled his mother of him.
"Hey, mate! How are you doing?" asked Ron as he clapped Harry on the back. He seemed to have grown a couple of inches even in the couple of weeks in which they were apart. "Hermione has been going crazy thinking about you at the muggles. She kept saying things like," he put on a shrill voice, "Oh I hope Harry is alright. What if he decides to leave Privet Drive? He's got more sense than that. Right? Right? RIGHT???"
Harry smiled. It was nice to know that he was being thought of over here. "Where is Hermione anyway?" he asked looking around the kitchen, for no 16- year-old girl with bushy brown hair was visible.
"Oh, her and Ginny will be right down. Apparently Dean Thomas," his voice grew slightly bitter, "just sent a letter to Ginny and as I was coming down to meet you I heard them giggling like mad. Stupid girls," he finished lamely.
Harry gave a laugh and looked at the scrubbed kitchen table to find 2 identical boys in green leather jackets, sitting down in chairs and grinning. They stood up and walked over to Harry.
"Harry! Good to see you mate! Good to see you!" said Fred as he took a bow.
"You look simply ravishing!" said George shaking his hand. "Simply ravishing!"
"So, how's business?" Harry asked taking in Fred and George's full outfits. Now that he looked, he realized that both men had, besides new coats, brand new orange robes with an emblem in the left corner that read: Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in block letters.
"The store is doing fantastic!" said Fred.
"Everyone loves the merchandise! People are telling us that our stuff is better than Zonko's, and that's saying something." Both twins swelled with pride.
"That's great! I can't wait to get down there," said Harry looking excited.
"Well, stop on by when you come later in the summer to pick up your school supplies," said Fred.
"Definitely!"
"HARRY!!!" screamed Hermione as she and Ginny entered the kitchen. She flung her arms around his neck and practically squeezed the living daylights out of him before letting go. "Oh Harry! I am so glad that you're here! We've missed you so much! Happy birthday, by the way. Sorry that we left you hanging about where we are taking you but it's a surprise and I know that you'll really like it."
"Hermione! Let him breathe!" exclaimed Ron, pulling her back a few feet from Harry. Lupin caught Harry's eye and gave a small smile.
"Hello, Harry," said Ginny as she too hugged him, although with much more calmness. "How are you?"
"I'm okay. And you?"
"Oh, I'm fine," she said and gave him a smile. "It's really great to have you back."
Harry smiled at Ginny.
"C'mon, Harry. Let's go upstairs." Ron motioned to the kitchen door and Harry, Hermione, and Ginny followed.
They went through the kitchen door and walked up some stairs to the foyer. Here Harry saw a big moth-eaten curtain pulled closed where he had once suspected a door. This of course, was where Sirius's mother's picture hung. He felt a stab of pain in his heart. Sirius. This was the first time that he had thought of him in a day or so. It hurt.
Ron and Hermione stopped walking towards the stairs and looked over at Harry. They saw him looking mournfully at the curtain and looked over at each other sadly. They knew that the subject of Sirius was to be brought up.
"Harry," said Hermione gently walking over to him and placing a hand on his arm. "Are you alright?"
Harry continued to stare at the curtain. He was afraid that if he looked at her he would start crying. He didn't know why he hadn't thought that he would be sad being in this house. It was now obvious to him that he would.
"Harry, it's okay to be sad," she said quietly. "We all miss him. No one probably as much as you and I can imagine how it hurts to be here in his house but we all have to move on."
"I know," he said slowly. "It's just hard to believe that he's not here. I miss him so much."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione pulled him into a hug and he felt suddenly comforted and warm. Inside he knew that everything was going to be okay.
"Umm... let's go upstairs, shall we?" asked Ron awkwardly from the stairs.
Hermione let out a noise of disgust. "Yes," she said putting on a better face as Harry looked at her curiously, "let's go to your guy's room."
As the 4 started passed the troll-leg umbrella stand and started walking up the stairs, Harry heard Hermione give Ron a smack on the arm and say something like, "You are the most insensitive person that I know..."
As they passed the row of house-elf heads and all of a sudden Harry took a double take. Ginny rammed right into his back. "Oww! Harry! Why are you stopping?" she asked as she rubbed her head.
"Hey! What's the hold up here?" Ron turned to look where Harry was looking, over at the house-elf heads.
"Kreacher!" Harry said quietly as he stared at the newest addition to the row of heads. The wrinkly skin of the Noble House of Black's last house-elf hung mounted next to his mother. His eyes were shut and he had a scowl on his face.
"Oh yeah," said Ron with an evil smile. "The old git finally died. Once he heard that Malfoy was put into Azkaban he went up into the attic and hung himself. Can't say I was too disappointed."
"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione. She was looking at Kreacher with sadness in her eyes.
"Hermione! Don't tell me that you are still sticking up for that wicked elf even though he betrayed Sirius and got him killed?"
"Well, no but maybe he wouldn't have acted that way if Sirius just treated him-" she caught the look on Harry's face and immediately hushed up.
"Well, I for one am glad that the little weasel died. I said to myself if I got here and he was still roaming around, I would kill him myself." Harry said this all with satisfaction and took one last disgusted look at the elf before continuing up the stairs. Everyone followed.
As soon as they entered Ron and Harry's room a voice issued from an empty canvas. "Harry Potter, you're back I see." It was the voice of Phineas Nigellus, an old headmaster of Hogwarts and an ancestor of Sirius.
"Oh, Phineas, leave right now!" Hermione said to the canvas.
"I will, gladly, Miss," he said in his silkiest tone. "But first I must give my message from Dumbledore. He says: Welcome back Mr. Potter."
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A/N: Sorry, for not giving you the Museum of Quidditch in this chapter but it will be here soon. I felt that this chapter needed to be by itself. Thanks again to my reviewers! :-D