Harry Potter and the French Exchange
Chapter 1
Harry moaned and turned over. He always seemed to be dreaming of the same thing now. Cho Chang flitted before him, before turning into Peter Pettigrew, who whined and whispered something to Harry. But at least it wasn't last night again. Yesterday's dream had involved Voldemort staring at him and reaching out to touch him. Harry tried to run, but couldn't move his legs. The dream kept repeating itself and each time, Harry couldn't do anything to stop it. He had finally woken up at 6.30, with his scar hurting.
He was sleeping in the room below Remus's at 12, Grimmauld Place, with Hermione. Ron was still at The Burrow, but Harry had been allowed to move to Sirius's, partly because Dumbledore didn't want Hermione spending too long at her parent's. The risks were too great, and it was much more fun when Harry's mates were with him. For obvious reasons, they had separate rooms, but this didn't spoil the practical jokes that often occurred.
Fred and George had sent Harry plenty of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes for his birthday, and Harry had saved them for when he met up with his friends again. However, he had sprung a couple on Remus, Dumbledore and even Kreacher. A couple of false wands left around had caused some mayhem, especially when Remus had attempted to get rid of a Boggart. Just as Harry was walking through the hall where the Boggart and Remus were, Remus had let it out of a chest, and the Boggart had turned into a silver, full moon. Remus grabbed the 'wand' and cried "Riddikulus!" Much to Harry's amusement, the 'wand' promptly turned into a rubber chicken, and Remus was left holding a limp piece of plastic. The Boggart was too confused to do anything, because at that point Harry, Remus and Hermione (who had walked by just at the important moment) were in hysterics.
Hermione had been keeping contact with Victor Krum all summer, and he often wrote to her to implore her to come and stay with him. She, in return, was begging Remus to allow him to stay for a couple of weeks at Grimmauld Place. He had no objections, apart from the fact that he would be staying right in the middle of the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters. "If, Remus kept saying, "this was not the control centre of the most important organisation on the planet, then he certainly could stay. However, you know how vital this is, so stop asking!" Dumbledore had intervened 3 weeks into the holidays, and said that meetings could be held at Hogwarts for two weeks. So that's what happened, except for the fact that, Molly Weasley had pointed out that Harry, Hermione and Victor couldn't stay in the house on their own for a week. They either had to go to Hogwarts as well, or go to the Burrow. Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Victor opted for Hogwarts, on the grounds that they had never been to the school without everyone else, and could take over the school to discover more passages and get away from the fussing of Molly and the annoying patter of gnomes.
They had to go by Knight Bus, because the Hogwarts Express only ran twice a year, and brooms would be much too cold for long distance flying. They were going to meet Victor In Hogsmede, to avoid the possibility of his knowing of the location of Hogwarts, and as he had just passed his apparition test, he only had to Apparate to The Hogshead, where they would all rendezvous.
On the day, Grimmauld Place woke up at 9.00, each hurriedly getting changed. Remus was already downstairs in the kitchen, cooking sausages. He had almost immediately taken over the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix after Sirius' death, having inherited it from Sirius until Harry reached 18. The house was almost clean of everything Black - a lot of the cleaning had been done when Sirius was around, and, although it did take a whole year, the only thing left in the house that was despised by everyone, was the portrait of Mrs Black. Nothing could be done to release her from the wall. There was a rumour that Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes were developing something, but they hadn't done or said anything yet.
Harry was the second person to go downstairs that morning. He was, therefore, the person to get the most sausages. Remus had put a plate down on the table just before he came in, ready for the hungry.
"OK, Harry? You seem far too perky for such an early start." Remus raised his eyebrows as Harry grabbed some sausages and promptly started munching them.
"Riemfreinembruteungrary." Harry looked a bit embarrassed for a moment, as he attempted to swallow the sausage that he was at that moment, stuffing into his mouth.
He tried again. "I'm fine, but hungry."
"Have you never worked out why people always tell you not to eat with your mouth full?" Remus was grinning as he sat down himself, and started tearing away at a sausage sandwich he had just made.
Hermione walked in just at that moment, yawning widely. "Hi people." Her hand flapped at her side as she made a vague gesture of waving in their direction, without much result.
"Well, that's everyone. As soon as you lot have finished eating, we'll set off. Where are we meeting the Weasleys?" Remus had always seemed a bit confused on this point.
Harry gave a loud, sarcastic sigh. "Anyone would think that you're getting old! Hogsmeade."
***
The Knight Bus had dropped off the threesome outside Zonko's, so they had to walk up to The Hogshead. It wasn't that far, and none of them would have been bothered, except for the fact that they each had one large trunk, Harry had a owl cage, Remus had Buckbeak tied to his wrist (the hippogriff was going to be released into the Forbidden forest, along with the rest of the herd), and Hermione was lugging a second large bag of books.
As they reached the door of the pub, Ginny came bursting out.
"Hermione! I saw you out of the window! It's going to be so much fun!" Ginny had immediately thrown her arms around Hermione and started doing a little jig. They promptly parted.
"No hug for me then?" Remus seemed highly amused by the show of the two girls.
"Professor Lupin! Hi! Hi Harry!" Ginny started jumping up and down again, but restrained herself from jumping on the two males.
"Hello." A deeper voice sounded from behind Ginny. They all turned round, and Ron stood there, looking taller and more freckly than ever.
"Hi Ron." Harry stepped forward and clapped him on the back.
"Hi. Have you seen Victor yet?" Hermione was brown eyes seemed larger than usual.
"Yeah - he's inside, just picking up his stuff. Actually, Ginny and I need to get ours, too. Hang on a moment. Ginny, come on!" Ron disappeared inside the grotty building, that must have once been white. Ginny grimaced and followed him in.
Ron, Ginny and Victor came out, pulling trunks behind them in just a few minutes, and soon they were all walking towards the towering gates of Hogwarts between a small bakery, and a newsagents.
A thought occurred to Harry as they were striding along the path, following the trunks (Remus had cried "Wingardium Leviosa" and was floating them ahead of the group - Ginny had wanted to help, but had been reminded that they were still outside of term-time, whether they were at the school or not).
"Can we go to Diagon Alley at some point, Remus? Hermione and I haven't seen Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes yet, and I know I would like to see it. We need to get our books anyway, and we could all go on Thursday."
"As long as I don't have to go - I've seen far too many of those fake wands! You lot can go on your own, as long as you all stay together. Harry can dig out those two mirrors again, and I'll have one, just to keep an eye on you. You're all big enough now, anyway." Remus seemed in a happy mood that afternoon, and he started whistling, as they got nearer the school.
As soon as they entered Hogwarts, Hermione, Harry, Victor, Ron and Ginny all ran up the stairs towards the Gryffindor tower. They were pulling large trunks, but they didn't seem to notice, taking advantage of a staircase that just started moving in their direction as they neared it. Soon they had reached the picture of the lady, who wasn't there at that moment. Hermione stepped forward to pull the portrait back, and they all bounded into the common room.
Chapter 1
Harry moaned and turned over. He always seemed to be dreaming of the same thing now. Cho Chang flitted before him, before turning into Peter Pettigrew, who whined and whispered something to Harry. But at least it wasn't last night again. Yesterday's dream had involved Voldemort staring at him and reaching out to touch him. Harry tried to run, but couldn't move his legs. The dream kept repeating itself and each time, Harry couldn't do anything to stop it. He had finally woken up at 6.30, with his scar hurting.
He was sleeping in the room below Remus's at 12, Grimmauld Place, with Hermione. Ron was still at The Burrow, but Harry had been allowed to move to Sirius's, partly because Dumbledore didn't want Hermione spending too long at her parent's. The risks were too great, and it was much more fun when Harry's mates were with him. For obvious reasons, they had separate rooms, but this didn't spoil the practical jokes that often occurred.
Fred and George had sent Harry plenty of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes for his birthday, and Harry had saved them for when he met up with his friends again. However, he had sprung a couple on Remus, Dumbledore and even Kreacher. A couple of false wands left around had caused some mayhem, especially when Remus had attempted to get rid of a Boggart. Just as Harry was walking through the hall where the Boggart and Remus were, Remus had let it out of a chest, and the Boggart had turned into a silver, full moon. Remus grabbed the 'wand' and cried "Riddikulus!" Much to Harry's amusement, the 'wand' promptly turned into a rubber chicken, and Remus was left holding a limp piece of plastic. The Boggart was too confused to do anything, because at that point Harry, Remus and Hermione (who had walked by just at the important moment) were in hysterics.
Hermione had been keeping contact with Victor Krum all summer, and he often wrote to her to implore her to come and stay with him. She, in return, was begging Remus to allow him to stay for a couple of weeks at Grimmauld Place. He had no objections, apart from the fact that he would be staying right in the middle of the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters. "If, Remus kept saying, "this was not the control centre of the most important organisation on the planet, then he certainly could stay. However, you know how vital this is, so stop asking!" Dumbledore had intervened 3 weeks into the holidays, and said that meetings could be held at Hogwarts for two weeks. So that's what happened, except for the fact that, Molly Weasley had pointed out that Harry, Hermione and Victor couldn't stay in the house on their own for a week. They either had to go to Hogwarts as well, or go to the Burrow. Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Victor opted for Hogwarts, on the grounds that they had never been to the school without everyone else, and could take over the school to discover more passages and get away from the fussing of Molly and the annoying patter of gnomes.
They had to go by Knight Bus, because the Hogwarts Express only ran twice a year, and brooms would be much too cold for long distance flying. They were going to meet Victor In Hogsmede, to avoid the possibility of his knowing of the location of Hogwarts, and as he had just passed his apparition test, he only had to Apparate to The Hogshead, where they would all rendezvous.
On the day, Grimmauld Place woke up at 9.00, each hurriedly getting changed. Remus was already downstairs in the kitchen, cooking sausages. He had almost immediately taken over the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix after Sirius' death, having inherited it from Sirius until Harry reached 18. The house was almost clean of everything Black - a lot of the cleaning had been done when Sirius was around, and, although it did take a whole year, the only thing left in the house that was despised by everyone, was the portrait of Mrs Black. Nothing could be done to release her from the wall. There was a rumour that Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes were developing something, but they hadn't done or said anything yet.
Harry was the second person to go downstairs that morning. He was, therefore, the person to get the most sausages. Remus had put a plate down on the table just before he came in, ready for the hungry.
"OK, Harry? You seem far too perky for such an early start." Remus raised his eyebrows as Harry grabbed some sausages and promptly started munching them.
"Riemfreinembruteungrary." Harry looked a bit embarrassed for a moment, as he attempted to swallow the sausage that he was at that moment, stuffing into his mouth.
He tried again. "I'm fine, but hungry."
"Have you never worked out why people always tell you not to eat with your mouth full?" Remus was grinning as he sat down himself, and started tearing away at a sausage sandwich he had just made.
Hermione walked in just at that moment, yawning widely. "Hi people." Her hand flapped at her side as she made a vague gesture of waving in their direction, without much result.
"Well, that's everyone. As soon as you lot have finished eating, we'll set off. Where are we meeting the Weasleys?" Remus had always seemed a bit confused on this point.
Harry gave a loud, sarcastic sigh. "Anyone would think that you're getting old! Hogsmeade."
***
The Knight Bus had dropped off the threesome outside Zonko's, so they had to walk up to The Hogshead. It wasn't that far, and none of them would have been bothered, except for the fact that they each had one large trunk, Harry had a owl cage, Remus had Buckbeak tied to his wrist (the hippogriff was going to be released into the Forbidden forest, along with the rest of the herd), and Hermione was lugging a second large bag of books.
As they reached the door of the pub, Ginny came bursting out.
"Hermione! I saw you out of the window! It's going to be so much fun!" Ginny had immediately thrown her arms around Hermione and started doing a little jig. They promptly parted.
"No hug for me then?" Remus seemed highly amused by the show of the two girls.
"Professor Lupin! Hi! Hi Harry!" Ginny started jumping up and down again, but restrained herself from jumping on the two males.
"Hello." A deeper voice sounded from behind Ginny. They all turned round, and Ron stood there, looking taller and more freckly than ever.
"Hi Ron." Harry stepped forward and clapped him on the back.
"Hi. Have you seen Victor yet?" Hermione was brown eyes seemed larger than usual.
"Yeah - he's inside, just picking up his stuff. Actually, Ginny and I need to get ours, too. Hang on a moment. Ginny, come on!" Ron disappeared inside the grotty building, that must have once been white. Ginny grimaced and followed him in.
Ron, Ginny and Victor came out, pulling trunks behind them in just a few minutes, and soon they were all walking towards the towering gates of Hogwarts between a small bakery, and a newsagents.
A thought occurred to Harry as they were striding along the path, following the trunks (Remus had cried "Wingardium Leviosa" and was floating them ahead of the group - Ginny had wanted to help, but had been reminded that they were still outside of term-time, whether they were at the school or not).
"Can we go to Diagon Alley at some point, Remus? Hermione and I haven't seen Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes yet, and I know I would like to see it. We need to get our books anyway, and we could all go on Thursday."
"As long as I don't have to go - I've seen far too many of those fake wands! You lot can go on your own, as long as you all stay together. Harry can dig out those two mirrors again, and I'll have one, just to keep an eye on you. You're all big enough now, anyway." Remus seemed in a happy mood that afternoon, and he started whistling, as they got nearer the school.
As soon as they entered Hogwarts, Hermione, Harry, Victor, Ron and Ginny all ran up the stairs towards the Gryffindor tower. They were pulling large trunks, but they didn't seem to notice, taking advantage of a staircase that just started moving in their direction as they neared it. Soon they had reached the picture of the lady, who wasn't there at that moment. Hermione stepped forward to pull the portrait back, and they all bounded into the common room.