~ Chapter 6: An Unexpected Visit ~

Tuesday, 4th July. At the Dursleys'...

Harry was helping out voluntarily in the kitchen, something he had rarely done when he was with the Dursleys', peeling some potatoes for Aunt Petunia. He had just got himself a haircut, as a last resort to make himself look neater, and bought himself a jar of hair wax. He had also shopped for some new clothes to cope with his increasing height and his broadening shoulders. Professor Lupin had given him a certain amount of Muggle money and Harry felt it was wise not to think about where the Professor had gotten the money. He just hoped Professor Lupin had gotten them legally. I certainly do not wish to be apprehended because of some false notes.

His uncle was out; shopping for some foodstuffs while Dudley was off to the boxing club. That left Harry alone in the house with his aunt and gave him an ample space to turn his thoughts inward, wondering what his best friends--Hermione and Ron--were up to. I wonder if I should visit the twins when I head down to Diagon Alley. I wonder how they're doing with the joke shop.

He somehow felt better these days, but the emptiness still hurt when he thought about his godfather every night before he drifted off to sleep. I do care…Professor Dumbledore was right…and I'm never ever going to give up on this whole business. I'm never going to give up hoping that Sirius is still alive…somehow…Harry did not understand his feelings all that well. Sirius somehow had became a major factor in the short time he spent with his godfather. Is this because he's my only link to my parents?

"Harry, please watch the way you're peeling the potatoes," his aunt called out, not looking at him. He gazed down at his aunt's warning and found that he had came very close to cutting himself and stopped any more daydreaming. The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Harry called out to his Aunt, as he wiped his hands on a clean kitchen-towel. He made his way briskly to the door and felt himself gaping as his vision was filled with the glowing faces of Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and her parents.

"Hello, Harry!" Hermione and Ron greeted him as one, and he watched with detached amusement when Ron's face unexpectedly turned red when Hermione gave him a condescending look, though her eyes were twinkling mischievously. She turned back to Harry and gave him a toothy grin.

"Harry, who is--" Aunt Petunia's voice trailed off as she stared at the company. An unbearable silence began to fill in and Harry twitched uncomfortably. Aunt Petunia was at odds with herself. Should I or should I not? The adults looked normal to me but I know the children are anything but normal. Taking a deep breath, she invited the Grangers and the lone Weasley to the house.

"I've got ice-cream for you, Harry," Mrs. Granger told Harry, as she handed him a tub of mocha-flavored ice cream.

"Thank you," Harry replied, feeling slightly embarrassed. That's really odd, why are they giving me the sweet stuff? I thought they were dentists… His aunt returned to the living room, carrying a tray of chilled apple juice.

"I'll finish the potatoes; be a good host," she then said to Harry. Ron blinked his eyes at the back of Aunt Petunia.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked, picking up two glasses of the fruit-juice before taking up one for herself.

"I'm fine."

"I mean--how are you holding up?" Hermione questioned, and rolled her eyes in aggravation when Ron started to make hushing noises.

"Not even married but they sure know how to quibble," Mr. Granger remarked to his wife, a bit bemused by the youngsters' never-ending need to entangle themselves in an argument.

"Dad!" Hermione protested feebly, her cheeks reddening.

"The truth is I still hurt," Harry admitted, head bowed.

Hermione gazed at Harry, sadness slowly creeping into her soul. The guests seeped at their drinks in silence, and that gave Harry some time to think about what Mr. Granger had said in passing to his wife. The way Hermione kept giving covert glances at Ron seemed to prove that his suspicions were at least on the right track. Without meaning to, Harry felt his lips twitched and gave a half smile at his friends. Hermione froze as Harry caught her in the act and began to blush; her face turning as red as Ron's scarlet hair. And to his surprise, Ron began to swear. "Bloody hell."

"Now, now, Ron. That's no way for a Prefect to behave. What will your mother think of us?" Mr. Granger said slyly.

"Oh, be nice," Mrs. Granger pinched her husband lightly.

Harry was distracted by something else other than the idea that Ron and Hermione were 'dating' when Ron handed him a pile of Daily Prophets.

"I've highlighted the important ones in red--shouldn't miss them," said Hermione. Harry spent some time reading them, flipping page after page.

"So, Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters managed to escape from prison," he stated in a conversational tone, not looking up from the paper.

"Yeah, with the help of Dementors," Ron answered.

"I think I'm beginning to understand Hermione's complaints at being left out," Mrs. Granger observed, "I can't make out head or tail of what the kids are discussing about."

"Oh, mom," Hermione spoke lovingly to her mother, "you're exaggerating. At least you know more about Hogwarts, Dementors, the Dark Lord, revolts, even magic than I do know about dentistry." and she squeezed her mother rather affectionately while Mr. Granger glowed.

"And they had also staged a raid at the Malfoys'…I wished they had captured Draco's face when they did it," Harry spoke to them. His tone sounded a bit disappointed.

Hermione looked at her friend curiously. Just last year, Harry had shown a certain amount of being quick-tempered. Now, all he showed was a calm that Hermione found it assuring but at the same time intimidated by it. She carefully gave him the once-over. Harry had considerably grown since she had last saw him. He was still lean and thin but was already developing some muscles, and he had grown considerably taller though he was still shorter than Ron was. Maybe it's due to stress… Hermione thought back about a few days ago when they were at Ron's home, The Burrow, but without her parents along.

Ron had told her a secret. Bill had whispered to Ron that there was a ninety-percent chance that Sirius could still be alive. And the eldest of the Weasley brothers had threatened Ron on some unspeakable thing if he were to tell Harry. Ron kept his word but since his brother did not mention that he should not tell Hermione of it, he had filled her in. She was so pleased with him when Ron told her that she had given him a full bear hug and a quick kiss on the lips. However, they did not disengage themselves quickly enough for the twins caught them. They hinted her parents of their kiss when they escorted Hermione and Ron so the group could go down and visit Harry in Privet Drive. Her parents seemed to be good-natured about the whole business, much to the disappointment of the Weasley twins.

I really hope Sirius is still alive. Harry misses him that badly. She gazed thoughtfully at Harry, when she suddenly shivered. There was a kind of fierceness in Harry's green eyes when he looked up at her.

"Have you read any Muggle newspaper?"

"I haven't," Ron shook his head in perplexity.

"Well, I did--," Hermione answered, "and I've read about those mysterious cloaked figures."

"And we have seen them," Mr. Granger added, his voice rimmed with steel. "Hermione had described them in a pretty good detail that it was impossible for us to mistake those things for something else."

"And what's more Harry, my parents killed four Dementors that day," their daughter triumphed.

Harry looked at the Grangers with a feeling that far surpassed shock. Ron too, was immensely astonished. Harry felt totally flabbergasted. He tried to speak out but his voice stuck in his throat. After several minutes, he managed to croak out, his eyes still wide with astonishment. Dementors can be killed? I think this is the first good news that I had heard ever since Sirius d… "H-how?"

"It turns out that both my parents have some abilities of their own. But the authorities did not recognize the talents they had so that's why they did not receive a letter from any of the wizarding Schools."

"Both of us are Elemental Mages, Harry," Mrs. Granger informed the nonplussed teenage boy.

"Elementals?" Harry repeated in bewilderment.

"My mom's an Air Elemental Mage and dad's a Fire Elemental Mage," Hermione said.

"We had figured how they managed to--say--petrify you. They start first with your mind--"

"But since I hadn't shielded my mind so tightly, they managed to get through my defenses--"

"It seems that they didn't turn out to be so invincible when they were engulfed in Fire, and they were transformed into small atomic molecules when my wife placed several Sylphs inside one of them," Mr. Granger was saying.

"And there is another way to kill them--instead of using the Elementals--I'm not sure if any of you wizards and witches are equipped to destroy them that way--"

"-- For as a matter-of-fact, we can't either. Only one person I know in UK can do that."

"And who is this person?" Harry asked out of curiosity.

"A very young Elemental Mage, a lady, I think she's still in her mid-twenties," Mr. Granger dithered, "but already a Master--"

"Of both Fire and Air," Mrs. Granger interrupted rather excitedly. "Add that to her skills as Hunter, Healer and Empath." Harry looked at Ron for help, but his friend gave him a look that signify that he don't really know what those terms really meant. The Healer part I can understand, but what does she mean by Hunter and Empath?

"This one, dear Lord, if you could meet her Harry, she's a brilliant woman. She works as an environmentalist, here in the Muggle world. Strange occupation for one whose strong abilities lies with Fire, usually the line is much more suited to Earth Mages. If you could just meet her, you will no doubt be able to learn something from her," Mr. Granger continued his voice filled with awe.

"You said that she killed the Dementors without having to use the aid of the--ah--Elementals," Harry said, piqued with curiosity. "How did she do it?"

"We are not quite sure, but we believe she used her mind to do it," Mr. Granger replied.

"Well, the reason we came here," Ron began, taking the news that the Grangers' were not so normal as they looked, calmly, "is that we wonder if you would like to hang around The Burrow before we go down to Diagon Alley to get our books."

"Ron's mother; in fact all of us, wants to celebrate your birthday there Harry," Hermione said, and gave him a pleading look.

Ever since Harry had come to know the Weasleys', Molly Weasley had done everything she could to make sure that Harry considers himself as part of the Weasley family. And does she think I'll say no? Harry slowly began to smile. "I would really like that," he answered. Hermione shot a 'I told you so' look at Ron. The Weasley sighed in defeat.

"So, when would you like us to pick you up? Anyway, we won't be going without any escort," Ron pointed his thumb at the window. "Unless, Dad can fix up the Network again."

So he knew that some of them were in residence here in Little Whinging. "When's the full moon?"

Hermione's face lit up and answered readily, "About twelve days from today."

"I don't think the journey by broomsticks will take that long. Anyway, mom's equipped to handle the peculiarities of Professor Lupin when the full moon arrives," Ron reassured him.

Harry took a moment to think. It wouldn't really take long for him to pack. "Why don't you pick me up of Thursday?"

"No problem-o, till Thursday then," Ron clapped Harry on his back.

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