AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you all once again for the wonderful reviews! They are truly appreciated! I'm so happy that you are all liking the story! Here's the next installment. Hope that you like this one as well.

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After Mr. Weasley and the twins had left for work that day, an owl arrived, carrying Hogwarts letters for the young wizards and witches. Hermione and Ron were still the prefects for Gryffindor House, and Harry had made Quidditch team captain, much to his surprise.

"Harry that's wonderful!" Ginny gushed throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Harry blushed but was happy, and so was Ginny. To finally have their feelings for each other out in the open made things like this a lot better to deal with.

"Thanks, Gins!" he said hugging her back and nuzzling her hair. Ginny felt as if nothing could take her down from the clouds. She was floating and it was because she was finally with the one she loved.

"Oh, we got our O.W.L.s results as well!" squealed Hermione. She and Ron both sat on the couch together to read their scores, while Harry sat in the armchair, pulling Ginny on his lap. He handed her his envelope and she pulled out his results. He put his head in his hand while rubbing Ginny's back with the other as he waited for her to read them to him.

"Harry, you passed!" Ginny exclaimed sitting up. Harry's head jerked up and grabbed the parchment from her. "Including Potions!"

"That's great Harry!" Hermione called out smiling broadly at her best friend. Everyone knew that Harry passing Potions was a big thing, considering Professor Severus Snape loved Harry about as much as he loved taking the time to read Gilderoy Lockhart's Magical Me.

"Yeah well, that only means more torture from him this year!" Harry said rolling his eyes. Ginny chuckled as she kissed his nose and hugged him. Harry hugged her back loving the feeling of having her in his arms like that.

The young couples spent the rest of the day doing chores around the house, including de-gnoming the garden, which as always, was tedious. By the time that they had finished they were covered in grime and dirt and were all muttering about what annoying little blithers the creatures were.

They had gone back to the house to freshen up and helped Mrs. Weasley with supper before the twins and Mr. Weasley arrived. During their preparations an owl arrived at the kitchen window garnering curiosity from everyone. It was a big black barn owl, but with slick, glossy feathers. Its eyes were black with snakelike slits. It was carrying a black envelope with a red bow on it. Harry's name was embossed on the front.

"Who could this be from?" he asked as he untied the letter from the owl. However, before he could pet the owl, it gave out an earsplitting hoot and flew off. When everyone uncovered their ears, they all looked at where the owl was and watched as it disappeared into the darkening sky.

"That was…odd," Hermione commented her eyes narrowing. Everyone muttered their agreement and then asked Harry whom the letter was from.

Harry shrugged his shoulders and walked into the living room holding the envelope in both hands turning it repeatedly. He had never gotten a letter like this, and was a bit skeptical about opening it.

"Aren't you going to see who it's from, Harry?" asked Ron eagerly, anxious as everyone else to know who would send him a letter in black.

"Has anyone ever gotten one of these types of owl before?" Harry asked looking at everyone in the room. When they all shook their heads no, he let out a sigh and untied the ribbon. He pulled out a black piece of parchment and unfolded it. When he did, it flew out of his hand and hovered in front of his face.

Before anyone could say or do anything, a flash of yellow light shot out of the parchment as a curse was heard.

"CRUCIO!"

Harry fell to the ground writhing and screaming in pain from the unexpected attack. He tried to get up to fight it but was rendered helpless as the parchment hovered over him.

"Harry!" Ginny screamed as she ran to his side. She tried to get a hold of him but he was squirming too much for him to be held down. "Somebody do something!"

"INFLAMARE!"

The parchment burst into flames and floated to the floor in cinders. Mrs. Weasley had casted the spell and ran to Harry, who had stopped screaming but was breathing heavily. His glasses were askew on his face and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. Ginny helped him to sit up with tears in her eyes.

"Harry! Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" she cried out hugging him. Harry turned to her and hugged her back tightly trying to comfort her.

"I'm alright Ginny," he whispered in her ear. "Just a bit shook up is all."

"But who sent you that letter Harry!?" Ron asked his voice tainted with fear.

"It had to be someone very powerful to send an Unforgivable Curse like that," Hermione commented looking down on the floor at the burnt parchment. She shuddered at the thought.

"Right, Hermione," Harry said pulling away from Ginny but not taking his arms off her. "And I know of only one who could."

"Oh dear!" Mrs. Weasley uttered. "I believe that we should contact the Order about this."

Harry cringed at the thought of having the whole Order about. He did not want to get fussed over again and be told to watch his back. But he knew that this was something that he really could not disagree to. Mrs. Weasley walked over to the fireplace and threw some powder in.

"Remus? Remus? Are you there?" she called out into the flames.

Mere moments later, Remus' head appeared in the fireplace.

"Yes Molly. What is it?" he asked. Then he turned to the children. "Hello."

"Remus, you must contact the rest of the Order and come to the Burrow immediately. I'll explain when you all get here."

Remus gave her a questioning look but nodded.

"We'll be there shortly, Molly." Then with a small crack, his head was gone.

"Mum, do you think that this was actually the work of…" Ron started shuddering at the thought, not wanting to finish that question.

"Yes, Ronald. I believe that it is."

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The first one to arrive to the Burrow was Albus Dumbledore. But, he did not ask Harry or anyone else why they were all summoned so urgently until the others had arrived. Within five minutes of his arrival, Lupin, Tonks, Minerva McGonagall, Mad-Eye Moony, Mundungus Fletcher, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, Hestia Jones, and to Harry's chagrin, Severus Snape all appeared in the Weasleys' living room. Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George were also summoned to come home early.

"Great! You're all here!" gushed Mrs. Weasley. "I had spoken to Bill and Charlie and they will be here shortly."

"What's going on, Molly?" Lupin asked anxiously looking at the matronly lady with anticipation.

Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a knowing that said that he should be the one to say it. Harry took a deep breath and sighed. Ginny gave his hand an encouraging squeeze and smiled at him. He nodded before looking back at the Order.

"I uh…I received a most…unusual…owl today," he stammered not looking at anyone directly. He threw Dumbledore an uneasy glance before continuing.

"A black owl arrived today. And I got a letter in black parchment and black envelope with a red bow on it."

"Black?" Tonks asked. "What did it say Harry?"

Harry then turned to Mrs. Weasley for help. She gave him an encouraging smile and a nod urging him to continue. He looked around the room again and saw the anxious faces of his audience, aside from Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, who were there when it happened.

"It said…" Harry said taking another deep breath, then looking at Dumbledore in the eyes. "It said, Crucio."

"What do you mean it said 'Crucio'?" Snape asked in the same contemptuous tone he always used when he was in public, and glared at Harry with much loathing.

"Crucio! As in Unforgivable Curse? As in, I got hit with it!" Harry answered scathingly glaring back at him.

Everyone that did not witness what had happened earlier all let out gasps of shock and disbelief.

"Albus, how was that possible?" Minerva asked looking at the old wizard with wide eyes.

Harry and the others looked at him expectantly. He looked at Harry above his half-moon spectacles as if studying him.

"I believe that Voldemort was trying out to see if he could inflict any kind of pain to our young wizard over here," was all he said. Again, everyone gasped.

"You mean to say that Voldemort can just go around and throw Unforgivable Curses through owls now?!" Dedalus Diggle cried, gulping.

"That's insane!" Tonks exclaimed shaking her head.

"But Professor?" Harry called out. "Why didn't he just use the Killing Curse on me then? Why just hurt me? I mean he's been wanting to kill me for ages!"

"Who knows how a dark mind works really, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "I believe he was trying to see if you were still up to face him. Especially now that he knows that you know about the Prophecy."

Harry sighed and rubbed his temple.

"Not that stupid prophecy again," he groaned. Dumbledore let a small smile form on his lips.

"But I also believe that he didn't use the Killing Curse on you just yet is because he wanted to do that himself."

"But he's failed everytime Professor!" Ron suddenly blurted out unexpectedly. "Surely he couldn't be that daft as to still want to try again!"

Harry looked at his best friend and gave him an appreciative smile. It was true that Voldemort had tried numerous times to get rid of him, but somehow Harry had always eluded him. However, he knew that Voldemort will never give up. Harry had vowed to not give up either.

"Harry?"

He looked up to see Dumbledore looking at him again, as if trying to study his mind.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Is there anything else that you would like to tell us?"

Harry blinked. Dumbledore had always known if Harry was trying to hide something. And everytime, he had always said no.

"No, sir," he lied, mentally kicking himself. "Nothing."

"I had this…dream the other night Professor," Ginny spoke up looking at Harry, her eyes getting glazed.

"What is it Miss Weasley?," Dumbledore asked eagerly. Ginny blushed as she noticed that everyone was looking at her waiting for her answer.

"Well, this is stupid really," she said shyly gripping Harry's hand tighter. "But it seemed too real."

"Just tell us dear," Mrs. Weasley encouraged now anxious herself.

"Well, I dreamt that I was in this room, and I heard voices saying something about Harry coming to rescue me and failing."

"What?!" Harry exclaimed. He looked at her with a worried expression on his face. "Was that what happened that night?"

"Yes. That's why I was coming to see if you were still in Ron's room that night."

Ginny was now crying and Harry engulfed her in a hug. Anger was visible in his face as he tried to comfort her.

"I won't let anyone hurt you Ginny," he said, determination in his voice. "I promise."

Then he pulled from her suddenly and looked around.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked as he watched Harry turn around and look for something.

"There's someone or something that is not supposed to be here," was all he said. Everyone looked at him with surprise.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked perplexed.

"I mean, that someone…or something… is lurking somewhere here."

All the adults looked at Dumbledore who had a small grin on his face.

"His powers are getting stronger," he thought to himself. "Truly his mother's son."

Outside of the house, a small rat was just crawling through a storm drain.

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I'm sorry if it's short. But I hope that it was a pleasant read. PLEASE REVIEW!!!