Everything property of J.K. Rowling
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The days passed over Harry like clouds of fog since his conversation with Dumbledore. One morning Harry was jarred from an imageless day dream by a very eager Hermione. She had come to give him his booklist for the coming year and to inform him that they would be making the familiar journey to Diagon Alley the following morning. Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley squealing from downstairs; apparently Ginny was now a prefect.
"Another prefect, dear me, I'm so proud of you Ginny. When we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow I shall have to buy you a present in reward."
"Thanks mum! Well, I kind of know what I want. Would it be alright if I were to ask for a cat?" Harry didn't hear the rest of the conversation but he secretly hoped that Ginny's cat would be a bit less, strange than Hermione's. With a sigh, Harry looked at his letter and was surprised to see that he had been accepted into all the courses that were required for Auror training, including Potions. He pondered this for a moment but then saw a small note at the bottom from Professor McGonagall regarding his classes.
Dear Mr. Potter,
I have spoken with Professor Snape about your taking his N.E.W.T. preparatory course and he has agreed to let you in. I will warn you though; he expects nothing but the best work from his students and won't hesitate to petition your removal should your performance be below his standards. Congratulations Potter, and remember I made it clear last year that I would aid you in your aspirations of Auror training, should you need anything, you know where I can be found.
Sincerely,
Professor McGonagall
That night when everyone had packed all their things they joined one another in the kitchen for a last day of summer dinner. This time they were joined by a blue haired Tonks, Moody, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley. Harry was the last to arrive and received a hearty greeting from Mr. Weasley as he took his place table.
"Hello Harry!' he said jovially, 'I was just about to say how wonderful it is that you've made Quidditch captain. I'm positive you'll be brilliant!"
"You made Quidditch captain?! Well bloody hell Harry, why didn't you tell me?" Ron exclaimed.
"Sorry, I guess it slipped my mind." Harry replied absently, thinking again of Sirius.
"Slipped your mind?! Come on mate, it's QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN! Wicked!" said Ron, ending his thought in a dreamy voice that reminded Harry of a certain Ravenclaw. His mind wandered onto her for a moment but didn't get very far, a moment later he was being congratulated by everyone in the room with slaps on the back and cheery laughter. Harry just returned their praises with a slight smile and focused his attentions on his food. He didn't feel like thinking about Quidditch at the moment but didn't want to upset anyone again.
Dinner went well enough in Harry's opinion. The conversations were mostly meaningless chatter about books and the new school year. Hermione seemed bubbling over in excitement of all the courses she'd been accepted into. This didn't surprise Harry in the least; Hermione was always excited about excessive work. Harry noticed that all the conversations that rounded the table seemed to be specifically avoiding talk of the Order, making Harry quite suspicious. He decided to break the proverbial ice and come right out with it.
"So, anyone going to tell me what Voldemort's been up to all summer?" he said quietly, eyes moving from face to face. The mention of the dark lord made the room's atmosphere quickly change from relaxed to tense and uneasy within seconds.
Without skipping a beat Mrs. Weasley stood and tried to usher everyone out of the room, "Alright you lot, everyone out. Let Remus and the others speak with Harry alone." she said nervously. Ron wasted no time protesting.
"COME ON, MUM! You tried this last time. Like we said, Harry will just tell us everything later anyway, we might as well be allowed to listen in. Plus we were with him at the Department of Mysteries! We all know what err- happened." Ron complained, then shooting Harry an apologetic glance. Mrs. Weasley looked at her son for a moment, eyes glazing over. She sighed and sat down listlessly. She obviously realized there was no way around this so she chose to give up early. Harry searched her face for a moment before speaking again, making sure she wasn't going to cry. When he saw she had collected herself he turned his eyes back on the two Aurors and Remus.
"Well?" he said anxiously.
"To be honest Harry,' Remus replied slowly, 'I have been wondering why you didn't ask the moment you arrived here. But regardless, since you have I'm fearful to tell you that things have been pretty quiet since June. There haven't been any attacks as far as we know or even any sign of movement from Voldemort's camp for months."
"That doesn't sound right Remus, he's too quiet. How, after everything that happened at the end of last year, could he just disappear without a trace? It doesn't make any sense." Harry said, beginning to get frustrated. This couldn't be possible. Voldemort had made a huge maneuver by rushing the Ministry and now nothing? Harry couldn't let himself believe it.
"Well, the Order feels the same way Harry,' Mr. Weasley chimed in, 'we think he may be planning something."
"Like what?" Ron said, eyes widening slightly.
"Unfortunately, that is the one thing we aren't sure of. Knowing Voldemort it would have to be something big, but don't worry we have members looking into it as we speak."
"What could he be planning? My guess is he'll be trying to find a way to come after Harry again. After all the prophecy was lost, but that alone wouldn't stop him." Hermione said thoughtfully. Harry fought back a flinch at the thought of the prophecy. He remembered that eerie bug-eyed figure floating up from the Pensieve. Her raspy voice burned in his ears as he recalled her words…
"…AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES."
Harry hadn't chosen to tell his friends that part of the prophecy, he wasn't sure why he'd kept it from them but at the moment it just didn't seem important. In fact nothing seemed important at all anymore, Harry just felt lifeless. He heard Mr. Weasley speaking again and composed himself.
"As I said, we have people looking into it. So don't you lot go getting yourselves all wrapped up in this mess. You all have enough to worry about with classes and the like."
"Alright now, enough talking for tonight it's time we all got some rest. Everyone up to bed, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow and I don't want a fight from anyone about getting up in the morning. Okay off you go!" Mrs. Weasley said as she ushered them all towards the stairs. Ron and Harry entered their room quietly, both seeming to be deep in thought.
"What do you reckon You-Know-Who is up to Harry?" Ron asked as he pulled on his night shirt. Harry, whom was already sprawled across his bed, stared up at the ceiling for a moment before he answered.
"I don't know Ron, but if he's been quiet for this long… it can't be good." And as Harry spoke these words he could have sworn he felt his scar prickle slightly.
~*~*~*~
The next morning 12 Grimmauld Place went from serene to complete chaos as everyone scrambled to get ready to go to Diagon Alley. Harry awoke earlier than the rest of his friends and had already brought his trunk and Hedwig downstairs. And thankful he was that he'd gotten a head start, from the sound of it the second floor of the house was in uproar. Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley's shrill voice barking orders to her son and daughter to get a move on or they were going to regret ever being born. Harry had to laugh at this, Mrs. Weasley had her ways of making you think she'd beat you senseless but she had the biggest heart Harry had ever known. Finally when everyone was downstairs lugging their trunks behind them, they headed towards the fireplace in the living room. Harry hated traveling by Floo Powder, almost as much as he hated Portkeys. One by one they each took a handful of powder, tossed it into the hearth and announced their destination. As Harry entered the fireplace his eyes met Remus' for a split second. The professor looked upon him with a warm gaze but they appeared to be worried. Harry decided not to think much of it, dropped the powder and clearly stated, "The Leaky Cauldron!" and off he went.
Diagon Alley was packed with Hogwarts students and their parents, all of them racing around to get their school supplies before taking the train the next day. Mrs. Weasley had taken it upon herself to go to Flourish and Blott's to purchase their school books, so they could be free to walk about for awhile; accompanied by Tonks. The minute they again set foot on the street Ron was already dragging the other four behind him towards his brothers' joke shop. It would be the first time Harry had seen the store he'd helped come to life and he couldn't deny he was a bit excited.
As they approached 93 Diagon Alley, Harry's eyes widened in awe of how wonderful it looked from the outside. His gaze fell first on the huge awning above the door sporting the shop's name in bright crimson and gold letters. It flashed brightly every so often and as they were walking towards the door Harry noticed something that made him smile wider than he had the entire summer. The sign blinked at him:
WEASLEY'S WIZARDING WHEEZES
Both Z's in the name were shaped like lightning bolts.
~*~*~*~
Over an hour later the group, well all except for Hermione left the joke shop stocked with enough pranks to last all year. Even Tonks had purchased a few mischievous items and stashed them in her robes. They were wandering around deciding where to head next when someone smashed into Hermione knocking both of them to the ground. She stood up dusting herself off and they all looked to see who her assailant was and found Neville standing in front of them blushing furiously.
"Hi Neville!" Ginny said with a laugh, 'You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, sorry Hermione." Neville replied going even redder than before.
"Don't worry about it; it's only a bit of dust. Nothing I can't handle." Hermione said smiling.
"Hey is that a new wand?" Harry noticed a sheath in his hand that looked as though it would hold a wand. He remembered that Neville's wand had broken in the fight at the Ministry; Harry guessed his grandmother was pretty upset that she was forced to buy him a new one. The one that had broken had belonged to Neville's father.
"Yeah, gran and I just bought it a couple of weeks ago. I wish we were old enough to do magic outside of school, I'd like to have gotten a bit of practice in with it before term started."
"She wasn't mad that the old one broke?" Harry asked, trying to hide the guilt that was coming through his voice.
"Actually… N..." Neville began.
Just as Harry's thoughts drifted to his friend's grandmother, she appeared next to him wearing her famous (amongst them) vulture topped hat.
"Harry Potter. Good to see you dear boy, I do hope you are well. I must say, Neville told me all about your Defense club and he seems to have learned quite a bit from you, I suppose a bit of thanks is in order. The boy has achieved a new level of confidence over the summer and I believe he owes it to you. His parents would be proud…" the old woman stated matter-of-factly. She plainly nodded in the direction of the others. "Come now Neville, I have a bit more shopping I'd like to do before the day is out." She looked upon the small group and made a face that Harry thought was a smile and began to walk away.
"See you guys on the train,' said Neville hurrying after her, "Sorry again Hermione!" Harry thought he saw Neville blush once more as he walked away but couldn't be sure.
"Well Harry, listen to that! You've impressed Neville's dear old grand mum, now that is special." Ron joked.
"All right you bunch; it's time to head back to the inn. Everyone all set?" said Tonks from behind them. Harry had forgotten all about her as she had been quiet the entire time.
"No, no wait Tonks. Mum gave me money to go buy my new cat. Would you all wait outside for just a minute?" said Ginny excitedly. A few minutes later Ginny emerged from the Magical Menagerie holding what seemed to be a very tiny, twitchy kitten.
"Aw, Ginny, it's beautiful. Is it a girl or boy? What are you going to name it?" Hermione gushed as she lightly stroked the cat's fur. It was an oddly colored cat covered with patches of white and orange along with black and grey stripes. Each of the kitten's feet were white up to the ankle making it look like it was wearing boots. Its tawny colored eyes were as wide as saucers as it looked around the busy street.
"It's a girl. She's gorgeous isn't she? I think I'm going to name her Miko. The shop owner told me she was the runt of her litter and wouldn't get much bigger than this. I think the name suits her." Ginny said with a smile. With that Ginny readjusted her grip on the squirmy Miko and then announced she was ready to head back. The minute they entered the inn Mrs. Weasley began shooing them up to bed warning them that they had to be up early the next morning.
"It's King's Cross tomorrow and I don't want to hear one complaint of being overtired so get to bed. Oh Ginny dear, your cat is adorable. Now OFF YOU GO!"
Platform 9¾ was the same as ever, Hogwarts students bustling about with trolleys carrying their trunks and various pets. As they were boarding the train Mrs. Weasley was giving her usual rundown prior to their leaving.
"Okay now, write…stay out of trouble, Ginny do study hard, you have O.W.L.S this year. Be good…write us if you've forgotten anything. Hurry now, on the train. See you!" she reminded them all. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had to go off to the prefect's carriage but promised to find Harry after the meeting. Once again he felt very alone, at least last year he'd had Ginny to hang around until Ron came back, but this time he was on his own. Most of the compartments were full as usual and Harry was having a difficult time finding one with enough space for all his things. As he looked down the corridor for another attempt his eyes caught a glimpse of a very pretty blonde girl entering a compartment about ten feet away. Not thinking much of it he followed the aisle to where she had turned and saw that the compartment was basically empty other than her. Without looking at her, Harry addressed the girl asking permission if he could sit down.
"Mind if I join you, I can't seem to find anywhere else to sit." Harry explained politely. He was struggling to pull his trunk towards the door as one of the corners had gotten stuck on something.
"Sure Harry. I don't mind at all,' came a dreamy response, 'want some help?" At the sound of her voice Harry nearly broke his neck when he snapped his head around to see her face. There now standing, was Luna Lovegood. Harry had to fight his jaw from dropping as he looked at her; this was definitely not the girl that he'd known last year. Her hair was no longer straggly, but shiny and quite a bit shorter than he remembered. She had cut it in one of those new, fashionable styles and it seemed to compliment her wonderfully. Something was different about her face as well; her eyebrows seemed darker which took the focus off her noticeably large eyes. And as she smiled at him, Harry noticed for the first time that her teeth were nearly perfect and almost blindingly white.
"Luna, err- hi. Um, no thanks I think I've got it." Harry said timidly, unable to remove his eyes from her face. Anyone else may have taken a shot at him for staring, but Luna didn't even seem to notice.
"Alright then,' she said sitting down again, 'Well how was your summer?"
"It was, uh, it was…' Harry began but Luna went on.
"Mine was alright I suppose. Dad and I went off in search of heliopaths. Remember, they're those fire spirits I mentioned last year." She had buried her face in The Quibbler and didn't look up as she spoke. Finally Harry had settled himself on to the bench after pushing his things aside, his eyes still trained to her face as he tried again to answer her.
"My summer was uneventful. I was stuck back at my Muggle uncle's house with his dreadful wife and son, but other than that I didn't really do anything."
"Oh, sounds interesting," she replied dreamily, it didn't sound as if she was really paying attention. "Did you talk to your godfather?" she asked honestly, still not averting her eyes from the magazine. Harry looked at her in shock once again but it wasn't to admire her newly pretty appearance, all of a sudden he felt as though he were about to explode.
"What did you just say?" he snapped. She looked up at him with her huge eyes and studied his reddening face for a moment.
"I asked if you had spoken with your godfather this summer." She said firmly.
"Luna, you know he is dead. How on earth could I POSSIBLY HAVE SPOKEN TO HIM?" Harry growled. It was taking all of his will not to put his hand through the window.
"Surely you don't think that you won't be able to speak to him again, I told you Harry… about the voices? There are things you can do…" But Luna didn't get to finish, at that moment Ron, Hermione, and Ginny showed up at the door of the compartment.
"Ugh, finally, that meeting took forever," Ron breathed, "Hey Har..." Ron's eyes had fallen upon Luna and his expression changed to the same one Harry had when he first saw her. Hermione and Ginny seemed to be a bit surprised too, as they were silently staring towards the girl behind the magazine.
"Luna, you look err- different," said Ron stupidly. Hermione must have thought his statement was inappropriate because in the next second she elbowed Ron hard in the ribs. "Damn it Hermione, what in the bloody hell was that for?" he whined, rubbing his side pathetically. Harry's eyes fell back upon Luna in wonder if she had picked up on what just happened. Once again, she seemed not to have realized anything unusual and had gone back to reading the magazine. Ron was still staring at Luna in disbelief while Hermione had a look of extreme aggravation on her face. It also seemed as if she were staring at Ron as she sat there looking angrier than Harry had ever seen her. She opened her mouth as if to say something but was cut off by the all too familiar drawling accent of one very particular Slytherin.
"Potter, I see you and your little gang are all back together again, how sweet." Draco said sarcastically. "You and your stupid friends will be sorry for what you did to my father. I promise you that." Crabbe and Goyle were standing next to him like human boulders, and it was a wonder to Harry how they just kept growing in size. Soon enough there wouldn't be a broom in all of England that could hold either of them off the ground. This didn't phase him in the least and he narrowed his eyes at Malfoy.
"Oh yeah? Just like you made me sorry on the train home last year? I seem to remember coming out of that one just fine, too bad I can't say the same for you. How long did it take your mum to get all that sluggish slime off your robes?," said Harry nonchalantly. Ron nearly spit out the mouthful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans he had been eating and roared with laughter, even Luna had looked up and giggled slightly. Malfoy didn't seem to have a comeback for Harry so he just shot him a nasty look and beckoned to his meathead companions.
"Come on Crabbe, Goyle. We'll leave Potty and the Weasels…" he said over his shoulder. Ron and Ginny stood up furiously raising their wands to hex him, but Hermione pulled them back down quicker than they could react.
"Ron, Ginny you're both prefects. Remember you can't go around hexing people," she said sternly.
"I don't care what I am, I'll get that stupid git when he is least expecting it. You just watch…" he said scathingly, still looking through the compartment doorway. After a moment he seemed to relax, and turned back to Harry. "Gotta say Harry that was a good one, you really shut Malfoy up." Ron said with a smile.
The rest of the train ride was uneventful for the most part, except for when Neville came falling into their compartment chasing after an escaping Trevor. When they arrived at Hogsmeade station Harry could hear Hagrid bellowing to the first years, and for some reason it brought him a source of peace. Maybe it was just nice to know that some things had gone back to normal or maybe it was the large man himself, Harry didn't know or care. He decided at that moment that he'd try his best to be happy, if not for himself at least for Sirius' sake. He smiled genuinely to himself as he climbed into the carriage, mentally preparing for the feast because if Harry was anything right now, it was hungry.
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The days passed over Harry like clouds of fog since his conversation with Dumbledore. One morning Harry was jarred from an imageless day dream by a very eager Hermione. She had come to give him his booklist for the coming year and to inform him that they would be making the familiar journey to Diagon Alley the following morning. Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley squealing from downstairs; apparently Ginny was now a prefect.
"Another prefect, dear me, I'm so proud of you Ginny. When we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow I shall have to buy you a present in reward."
"Thanks mum! Well, I kind of know what I want. Would it be alright if I were to ask for a cat?" Harry didn't hear the rest of the conversation but he secretly hoped that Ginny's cat would be a bit less, strange than Hermione's. With a sigh, Harry looked at his letter and was surprised to see that he had been accepted into all the courses that were required for Auror training, including Potions. He pondered this for a moment but then saw a small note at the bottom from Professor McGonagall regarding his classes.
Dear Mr. Potter,
I have spoken with Professor Snape about your taking his N.E.W.T. preparatory course and he has agreed to let you in. I will warn you though; he expects nothing but the best work from his students and won't hesitate to petition your removal should your performance be below his standards. Congratulations Potter, and remember I made it clear last year that I would aid you in your aspirations of Auror training, should you need anything, you know where I can be found.
Sincerely,
Professor McGonagall
That night when everyone had packed all their things they joined one another in the kitchen for a last day of summer dinner. This time they were joined by a blue haired Tonks, Moody, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley. Harry was the last to arrive and received a hearty greeting from Mr. Weasley as he took his place table.
"Hello Harry!' he said jovially, 'I was just about to say how wonderful it is that you've made Quidditch captain. I'm positive you'll be brilliant!"
"You made Quidditch captain?! Well bloody hell Harry, why didn't you tell me?" Ron exclaimed.
"Sorry, I guess it slipped my mind." Harry replied absently, thinking again of Sirius.
"Slipped your mind?! Come on mate, it's QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN! Wicked!" said Ron, ending his thought in a dreamy voice that reminded Harry of a certain Ravenclaw. His mind wandered onto her for a moment but didn't get very far, a moment later he was being congratulated by everyone in the room with slaps on the back and cheery laughter. Harry just returned their praises with a slight smile and focused his attentions on his food. He didn't feel like thinking about Quidditch at the moment but didn't want to upset anyone again.
Dinner went well enough in Harry's opinion. The conversations were mostly meaningless chatter about books and the new school year. Hermione seemed bubbling over in excitement of all the courses she'd been accepted into. This didn't surprise Harry in the least; Hermione was always excited about excessive work. Harry noticed that all the conversations that rounded the table seemed to be specifically avoiding talk of the Order, making Harry quite suspicious. He decided to break the proverbial ice and come right out with it.
"So, anyone going to tell me what Voldemort's been up to all summer?" he said quietly, eyes moving from face to face. The mention of the dark lord made the room's atmosphere quickly change from relaxed to tense and uneasy within seconds.
Without skipping a beat Mrs. Weasley stood and tried to usher everyone out of the room, "Alright you lot, everyone out. Let Remus and the others speak with Harry alone." she said nervously. Ron wasted no time protesting.
"COME ON, MUM! You tried this last time. Like we said, Harry will just tell us everything later anyway, we might as well be allowed to listen in. Plus we were with him at the Department of Mysteries! We all know what err- happened." Ron complained, then shooting Harry an apologetic glance. Mrs. Weasley looked at her son for a moment, eyes glazing over. She sighed and sat down listlessly. She obviously realized there was no way around this so she chose to give up early. Harry searched her face for a moment before speaking again, making sure she wasn't going to cry. When he saw she had collected herself he turned his eyes back on the two Aurors and Remus.
"Well?" he said anxiously.
"To be honest Harry,' Remus replied slowly, 'I have been wondering why you didn't ask the moment you arrived here. But regardless, since you have I'm fearful to tell you that things have been pretty quiet since June. There haven't been any attacks as far as we know or even any sign of movement from Voldemort's camp for months."
"That doesn't sound right Remus, he's too quiet. How, after everything that happened at the end of last year, could he just disappear without a trace? It doesn't make any sense." Harry said, beginning to get frustrated. This couldn't be possible. Voldemort had made a huge maneuver by rushing the Ministry and now nothing? Harry couldn't let himself believe it.
"Well, the Order feels the same way Harry,' Mr. Weasley chimed in, 'we think he may be planning something."
"Like what?" Ron said, eyes widening slightly.
"Unfortunately, that is the one thing we aren't sure of. Knowing Voldemort it would have to be something big, but don't worry we have members looking into it as we speak."
"What could he be planning? My guess is he'll be trying to find a way to come after Harry again. After all the prophecy was lost, but that alone wouldn't stop him." Hermione said thoughtfully. Harry fought back a flinch at the thought of the prophecy. He remembered that eerie bug-eyed figure floating up from the Pensieve. Her raspy voice burned in his ears as he recalled her words…
"…AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES."
Harry hadn't chosen to tell his friends that part of the prophecy, he wasn't sure why he'd kept it from them but at the moment it just didn't seem important. In fact nothing seemed important at all anymore, Harry just felt lifeless. He heard Mr. Weasley speaking again and composed himself.
"As I said, we have people looking into it. So don't you lot go getting yourselves all wrapped up in this mess. You all have enough to worry about with classes and the like."
"Alright now, enough talking for tonight it's time we all got some rest. Everyone up to bed, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow and I don't want a fight from anyone about getting up in the morning. Okay off you go!" Mrs. Weasley said as she ushered them all towards the stairs. Ron and Harry entered their room quietly, both seeming to be deep in thought.
"What do you reckon You-Know-Who is up to Harry?" Ron asked as he pulled on his night shirt. Harry, whom was already sprawled across his bed, stared up at the ceiling for a moment before he answered.
"I don't know Ron, but if he's been quiet for this long… it can't be good." And as Harry spoke these words he could have sworn he felt his scar prickle slightly.
~*~*~*~
The next morning 12 Grimmauld Place went from serene to complete chaos as everyone scrambled to get ready to go to Diagon Alley. Harry awoke earlier than the rest of his friends and had already brought his trunk and Hedwig downstairs. And thankful he was that he'd gotten a head start, from the sound of it the second floor of the house was in uproar. Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley's shrill voice barking orders to her son and daughter to get a move on or they were going to regret ever being born. Harry had to laugh at this, Mrs. Weasley had her ways of making you think she'd beat you senseless but she had the biggest heart Harry had ever known. Finally when everyone was downstairs lugging their trunks behind them, they headed towards the fireplace in the living room. Harry hated traveling by Floo Powder, almost as much as he hated Portkeys. One by one they each took a handful of powder, tossed it into the hearth and announced their destination. As Harry entered the fireplace his eyes met Remus' for a split second. The professor looked upon him with a warm gaze but they appeared to be worried. Harry decided not to think much of it, dropped the powder and clearly stated, "The Leaky Cauldron!" and off he went.
Diagon Alley was packed with Hogwarts students and their parents, all of them racing around to get their school supplies before taking the train the next day. Mrs. Weasley had taken it upon herself to go to Flourish and Blott's to purchase their school books, so they could be free to walk about for awhile; accompanied by Tonks. The minute they again set foot on the street Ron was already dragging the other four behind him towards his brothers' joke shop. It would be the first time Harry had seen the store he'd helped come to life and he couldn't deny he was a bit excited.
As they approached 93 Diagon Alley, Harry's eyes widened in awe of how wonderful it looked from the outside. His gaze fell first on the huge awning above the door sporting the shop's name in bright crimson and gold letters. It flashed brightly every so often and as they were walking towards the door Harry noticed something that made him smile wider than he had the entire summer. The sign blinked at him:
WEASLEY'S WIZARDING WHEEZES
Both Z's in the name were shaped like lightning bolts.
~*~*~*~
Over an hour later the group, well all except for Hermione left the joke shop stocked with enough pranks to last all year. Even Tonks had purchased a few mischievous items and stashed them in her robes. They were wandering around deciding where to head next when someone smashed into Hermione knocking both of them to the ground. She stood up dusting herself off and they all looked to see who her assailant was and found Neville standing in front of them blushing furiously.
"Hi Neville!" Ginny said with a laugh, 'You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, sorry Hermione." Neville replied going even redder than before.
"Don't worry about it; it's only a bit of dust. Nothing I can't handle." Hermione said smiling.
"Hey is that a new wand?" Harry noticed a sheath in his hand that looked as though it would hold a wand. He remembered that Neville's wand had broken in the fight at the Ministry; Harry guessed his grandmother was pretty upset that she was forced to buy him a new one. The one that had broken had belonged to Neville's father.
"Yeah, gran and I just bought it a couple of weeks ago. I wish we were old enough to do magic outside of school, I'd like to have gotten a bit of practice in with it before term started."
"She wasn't mad that the old one broke?" Harry asked, trying to hide the guilt that was coming through his voice.
"Actually… N..." Neville began.
Just as Harry's thoughts drifted to his friend's grandmother, she appeared next to him wearing her famous (amongst them) vulture topped hat.
"Harry Potter. Good to see you dear boy, I do hope you are well. I must say, Neville told me all about your Defense club and he seems to have learned quite a bit from you, I suppose a bit of thanks is in order. The boy has achieved a new level of confidence over the summer and I believe he owes it to you. His parents would be proud…" the old woman stated matter-of-factly. She plainly nodded in the direction of the others. "Come now Neville, I have a bit more shopping I'd like to do before the day is out." She looked upon the small group and made a face that Harry thought was a smile and began to walk away.
"See you guys on the train,' said Neville hurrying after her, "Sorry again Hermione!" Harry thought he saw Neville blush once more as he walked away but couldn't be sure.
"Well Harry, listen to that! You've impressed Neville's dear old grand mum, now that is special." Ron joked.
"All right you bunch; it's time to head back to the inn. Everyone all set?" said Tonks from behind them. Harry had forgotten all about her as she had been quiet the entire time.
"No, no wait Tonks. Mum gave me money to go buy my new cat. Would you all wait outside for just a minute?" said Ginny excitedly. A few minutes later Ginny emerged from the Magical Menagerie holding what seemed to be a very tiny, twitchy kitten.
"Aw, Ginny, it's beautiful. Is it a girl or boy? What are you going to name it?" Hermione gushed as she lightly stroked the cat's fur. It was an oddly colored cat covered with patches of white and orange along with black and grey stripes. Each of the kitten's feet were white up to the ankle making it look like it was wearing boots. Its tawny colored eyes were as wide as saucers as it looked around the busy street.
"It's a girl. She's gorgeous isn't she? I think I'm going to name her Miko. The shop owner told me she was the runt of her litter and wouldn't get much bigger than this. I think the name suits her." Ginny said with a smile. With that Ginny readjusted her grip on the squirmy Miko and then announced she was ready to head back. The minute they entered the inn Mrs. Weasley began shooing them up to bed warning them that they had to be up early the next morning.
"It's King's Cross tomorrow and I don't want to hear one complaint of being overtired so get to bed. Oh Ginny dear, your cat is adorable. Now OFF YOU GO!"
Platform 9¾ was the same as ever, Hogwarts students bustling about with trolleys carrying their trunks and various pets. As they were boarding the train Mrs. Weasley was giving her usual rundown prior to their leaving.
"Okay now, write…stay out of trouble, Ginny do study hard, you have O.W.L.S this year. Be good…write us if you've forgotten anything. Hurry now, on the train. See you!" she reminded them all. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had to go off to the prefect's carriage but promised to find Harry after the meeting. Once again he felt very alone, at least last year he'd had Ginny to hang around until Ron came back, but this time he was on his own. Most of the compartments were full as usual and Harry was having a difficult time finding one with enough space for all his things. As he looked down the corridor for another attempt his eyes caught a glimpse of a very pretty blonde girl entering a compartment about ten feet away. Not thinking much of it he followed the aisle to where she had turned and saw that the compartment was basically empty other than her. Without looking at her, Harry addressed the girl asking permission if he could sit down.
"Mind if I join you, I can't seem to find anywhere else to sit." Harry explained politely. He was struggling to pull his trunk towards the door as one of the corners had gotten stuck on something.
"Sure Harry. I don't mind at all,' came a dreamy response, 'want some help?" At the sound of her voice Harry nearly broke his neck when he snapped his head around to see her face. There now standing, was Luna Lovegood. Harry had to fight his jaw from dropping as he looked at her; this was definitely not the girl that he'd known last year. Her hair was no longer straggly, but shiny and quite a bit shorter than he remembered. She had cut it in one of those new, fashionable styles and it seemed to compliment her wonderfully. Something was different about her face as well; her eyebrows seemed darker which took the focus off her noticeably large eyes. And as she smiled at him, Harry noticed for the first time that her teeth were nearly perfect and almost blindingly white.
"Luna, err- hi. Um, no thanks I think I've got it." Harry said timidly, unable to remove his eyes from her face. Anyone else may have taken a shot at him for staring, but Luna didn't even seem to notice.
"Alright then,' she said sitting down again, 'Well how was your summer?"
"It was, uh, it was…' Harry began but Luna went on.
"Mine was alright I suppose. Dad and I went off in search of heliopaths. Remember, they're those fire spirits I mentioned last year." She had buried her face in The Quibbler and didn't look up as she spoke. Finally Harry had settled himself on to the bench after pushing his things aside, his eyes still trained to her face as he tried again to answer her.
"My summer was uneventful. I was stuck back at my Muggle uncle's house with his dreadful wife and son, but other than that I didn't really do anything."
"Oh, sounds interesting," she replied dreamily, it didn't sound as if she was really paying attention. "Did you talk to your godfather?" she asked honestly, still not averting her eyes from the magazine. Harry looked at her in shock once again but it wasn't to admire her newly pretty appearance, all of a sudden he felt as though he were about to explode.
"What did you just say?" he snapped. She looked up at him with her huge eyes and studied his reddening face for a moment.
"I asked if you had spoken with your godfather this summer." She said firmly.
"Luna, you know he is dead. How on earth could I POSSIBLY HAVE SPOKEN TO HIM?" Harry growled. It was taking all of his will not to put his hand through the window.
"Surely you don't think that you won't be able to speak to him again, I told you Harry… about the voices? There are things you can do…" But Luna didn't get to finish, at that moment Ron, Hermione, and Ginny showed up at the door of the compartment.
"Ugh, finally, that meeting took forever," Ron breathed, "Hey Har..." Ron's eyes had fallen upon Luna and his expression changed to the same one Harry had when he first saw her. Hermione and Ginny seemed to be a bit surprised too, as they were silently staring towards the girl behind the magazine.
"Luna, you look err- different," said Ron stupidly. Hermione must have thought his statement was inappropriate because in the next second she elbowed Ron hard in the ribs. "Damn it Hermione, what in the bloody hell was that for?" he whined, rubbing his side pathetically. Harry's eyes fell back upon Luna in wonder if she had picked up on what just happened. Once again, she seemed not to have realized anything unusual and had gone back to reading the magazine. Ron was still staring at Luna in disbelief while Hermione had a look of extreme aggravation on her face. It also seemed as if she were staring at Ron as she sat there looking angrier than Harry had ever seen her. She opened her mouth as if to say something but was cut off by the all too familiar drawling accent of one very particular Slytherin.
"Potter, I see you and your little gang are all back together again, how sweet." Draco said sarcastically. "You and your stupid friends will be sorry for what you did to my father. I promise you that." Crabbe and Goyle were standing next to him like human boulders, and it was a wonder to Harry how they just kept growing in size. Soon enough there wouldn't be a broom in all of England that could hold either of them off the ground. This didn't phase him in the least and he narrowed his eyes at Malfoy.
"Oh yeah? Just like you made me sorry on the train home last year? I seem to remember coming out of that one just fine, too bad I can't say the same for you. How long did it take your mum to get all that sluggish slime off your robes?," said Harry nonchalantly. Ron nearly spit out the mouthful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans he had been eating and roared with laughter, even Luna had looked up and giggled slightly. Malfoy didn't seem to have a comeback for Harry so he just shot him a nasty look and beckoned to his meathead companions.
"Come on Crabbe, Goyle. We'll leave Potty and the Weasels…" he said over his shoulder. Ron and Ginny stood up furiously raising their wands to hex him, but Hermione pulled them back down quicker than they could react.
"Ron, Ginny you're both prefects. Remember you can't go around hexing people," she said sternly.
"I don't care what I am, I'll get that stupid git when he is least expecting it. You just watch…" he said scathingly, still looking through the compartment doorway. After a moment he seemed to relax, and turned back to Harry. "Gotta say Harry that was a good one, you really shut Malfoy up." Ron said with a smile.
The rest of the train ride was uneventful for the most part, except for when Neville came falling into their compartment chasing after an escaping Trevor. When they arrived at Hogsmeade station Harry could hear Hagrid bellowing to the first years, and for some reason it brought him a source of peace. Maybe it was just nice to know that some things had gone back to normal or maybe it was the large man himself, Harry didn't know or care. He decided at that moment that he'd try his best to be happy, if not for himself at least for Sirius' sake. He smiled genuinely to himself as he climbed into the carriage, mentally preparing for the feast because if Harry was anything right now, it was hungry.