Rated PG for mild language and some sexual suggestiveness (maybe PG13
later)
2.) An Invitation with Sorrow Attached
Harry was awakening to the same sounds he has gotten for most of his life: Aunt Petunia screeching at his door to wake up.
"Harry! Get up! Get up right now or I'll lock you in there! Get up and make breakfast!"
Harry moaned an unenthusiastic "I'm coming" before he rolled out of his bed. Harry looked at himself in the mirror. He saw his bright green eyes, half closed with exhaustion, his jet-black hair, sticking up on all ends, and his glasses, which were hanging off his left ear. Sighing and shaking his head, Harry got dressed and shuffled down the stairs.
As Harry was frying bacon with Aunt Petunia hissing the occasional "Don't let it burn", Uncle Vernon made his entrance, saying a jolly "Good Morning" to his wife and bellowed his usual "Fix your hair!" to Harry. Dudley came in next, which Harry predicted not because of the bits of plaster falling off the ceiling as Dudley pounded across the upstairs hall, but by the minor earthquake that occurred every time Dudley walked. As you might have guessed, Dudley was what Petunia called "stout". Uncle Vernon called it "a healthy size". Harry called it "the size of a killer whale with extreme weight problems".
The family sat to their breakfast meal, with bacon and eggs (the Dursleys gave up the diet) and ate in silence. Harry didn't eat at all; he just pushed his food around his plate forlornly. Harry had been depressed ever since he had come back from Hogwarts because of the events that year. Harry had finally plucked up the courage to ask Cho (his crush) out and to Harry's greatest joy, she confessed that she had liked Harry for the longest time. Harry and Cho became the official "it" couple, but as most good do, it came to a tragic end. Voldemort attacked the school during dinner a few weeks before the end of the year. During the battle between the death eaters and students/faculty, Voldemort snatched Cho and fled the Great Hall. Harry spotted them and followed in high-speed chase. But when Harry reached them, all he found was Cho's body sprawled on the floor, dead cold. Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore found Harry cradling Cho's body on the floor, crying bitterly. Harry felt better than that horrible night, but he still felt a stab of sadness every time he thought about it.
Suddenly, Harry heard a tap on the door. "Get the mail Harry" Uncle Vernon said, not looking up from his plate. Harry got to his feet, trudged to the door, and opened it. The mailman stood there, with the biggest smirk on his face.
"Got a letter for a Harry Potter," he said, as if he were holding in a laugh. "I'm Harry Potter," Harry responded, confused. When the mailman handed Harry his letter, Harry cracked into a grin as well. He knew it was a letter from the Weasleys because, except for a few square inches on the front where the address was squeezed in, the letter was covered in stamps. Harry thanked the mailman and returned to the table.
"What's that?" Uncle Vernon said suspiciously.
"A letter" said Harry. "From my friend from school."
"Uncle Vernon got up quickly, came over to Harry's side, and snatched the letter from Harry. "Hey!" Harry objected. "Give me my letter!" Uncle Vernon ignored him, ripping open the letter and reading it quickly. When he finished, Uncle Vernon threw the letter back at Harry, grunting, "Read it."
Harry picked it up and read:
Dear Harry, We got permission from Dumbledore to invite you over out house for the rest of the holidays. Were coming over to get June 31st at 12:00. Even if the Muggles won't let you come, we'll wrestle you away anyway. See you then! Sincerely, Ron Weasley P.S. Hermione is over here too! (P.S.S Mum and Dad have this grand secret that they won't tell us, they just say, "coming July 4th." Weird)
Harry smiled and said "Well, I guess I'd better go pack then. Today is the 30th!" Before the Dursleys could object, he skipped out up to his room to pack. ************************************************************************ The next day, Harry waited by the fireplace alone (the Dursleys remembered the last visit from the Weasleys and decided to avoid it). At precisely 12:00, Harry saw the fireplace turn a bright green and something shoot out of the fireplace onto the floor. Harry, grinning from ear to ear, went over to pick up a very sooty Mr. Weasley.
"Hello Harry!" he greeted. "How are you?"
"Fine" Harry said, still depressed, but tried to cover it up. "Should we go?"
"Yes, just take your trunk and drag it into the fireplace with you. You know what to do from there."
Harry did so. He stood up right in the fireplace, yelled "The Burrow", and felt his body go into a violent whirl of color and then it stopped with a thump as he fell face-forward out of the fireplace.
"Harry!" cried a pair of voices. Harry felt himself get picked up by two pairs of hands, which turned out to be the Weasley twins, Fred and George, identical down to the last freckle. "Sorry old chap" Fred said, as he dusted Harry off.
"How are you old boy?" George boomed, helping Fred.
"Fine," Harry said, trying to sound cheerful, although still depressed. "How's the joke shop coming along?" At the end of the year feast last year, Fred and George had told Harry that they had purchased a lot at Hogsmeade to start their shop.
"Actually," George said, beaming, "We've gotten quite a bit business over the summer." "Quite", said Fred, beaming also. "We're having to restock the shelves almost every other hour."
Harry smiled; glad they were doing so well. Harry suddenly felt a thump on his back before the red head of Ron Weasley appeared. Hermione, who had her brown hair tied up in a ponytail, followed him. Both had greeted Harry with a loud "Hey" before they peppered him with questions about his summer so far. Harry noticed, smiling inwardly, that Ron had his arm around Hermione's shoulder. Ron and Hermione had finally admitted their feelings to each other ever since the end of the year feast and been a happy couple ever since. Harry had been particularly pleased about that event.
The rest of the Weasley family came in and greeted Harry: Ginny with her jolly "Hey, Harry", Mrs. Weasley with her "Hello, Harry dear", and Percy with his handshake and a stiff "Good afternoon, Harry".
Mrs. Weasley had set up a lovely picnic outside for everyone to eat her most delicious food. As everyone was stuffing their faces with as much pie as they could get their hands on and chatting happily, Harry smiled and joined the conversation once or twice. However his mind was elsewhere. He kept asking himself why he had let Cho die like that? Why wasn't he quicker? Why didn't he protect Cho?
Ron and Hermione must have noticed this because when Mrs. Weasley sent them all to bed, the three of them lagged behind so they could talk to Harry alone.
"Um...Harry?"
"Yea, Hermione" was Harry's reply.
"Harry, Ron and I know you're still...depressed about Cho's death, but we want to know if you're going to be alright?" Harry looked at them disbelieving the fact that they would ever think he would ever be all right to the point where he thought them inconsiderate.
"Guys, look," Harry said. "I loved Cho more than words could say and she was taken away from me for no reason. Can you honestly stand there and think that I'll ever be fully, one hundred percent okay?"
Ron and Hermione looked at each other and then back at Harry, each face filled with sadness. "We just want to know if you'll ever be the same." Ron said, worried.
Harry calmed down a little and replied "I'll be myself when I'm ready." To Harry's relief, that answer seemed to satisfy them both they all continued back to the house.
But Harry knew that he would never be the same, he would always mourn over Cho and, as he slipped into bed, he swore to himself that he would never love another person like he loved Cho. Little to Harry's knowledge, someone would enter his life that would challenge that statement and turn his life upside down.
2.) An Invitation with Sorrow Attached
Harry was awakening to the same sounds he has gotten for most of his life: Aunt Petunia screeching at his door to wake up.
"Harry! Get up! Get up right now or I'll lock you in there! Get up and make breakfast!"
Harry moaned an unenthusiastic "I'm coming" before he rolled out of his bed. Harry looked at himself in the mirror. He saw his bright green eyes, half closed with exhaustion, his jet-black hair, sticking up on all ends, and his glasses, which were hanging off his left ear. Sighing and shaking his head, Harry got dressed and shuffled down the stairs.
As Harry was frying bacon with Aunt Petunia hissing the occasional "Don't let it burn", Uncle Vernon made his entrance, saying a jolly "Good Morning" to his wife and bellowed his usual "Fix your hair!" to Harry. Dudley came in next, which Harry predicted not because of the bits of plaster falling off the ceiling as Dudley pounded across the upstairs hall, but by the minor earthquake that occurred every time Dudley walked. As you might have guessed, Dudley was what Petunia called "stout". Uncle Vernon called it "a healthy size". Harry called it "the size of a killer whale with extreme weight problems".
The family sat to their breakfast meal, with bacon and eggs (the Dursleys gave up the diet) and ate in silence. Harry didn't eat at all; he just pushed his food around his plate forlornly. Harry had been depressed ever since he had come back from Hogwarts because of the events that year. Harry had finally plucked up the courage to ask Cho (his crush) out and to Harry's greatest joy, she confessed that she had liked Harry for the longest time. Harry and Cho became the official "it" couple, but as most good do, it came to a tragic end. Voldemort attacked the school during dinner a few weeks before the end of the year. During the battle between the death eaters and students/faculty, Voldemort snatched Cho and fled the Great Hall. Harry spotted them and followed in high-speed chase. But when Harry reached them, all he found was Cho's body sprawled on the floor, dead cold. Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore found Harry cradling Cho's body on the floor, crying bitterly. Harry felt better than that horrible night, but he still felt a stab of sadness every time he thought about it.
Suddenly, Harry heard a tap on the door. "Get the mail Harry" Uncle Vernon said, not looking up from his plate. Harry got to his feet, trudged to the door, and opened it. The mailman stood there, with the biggest smirk on his face.
"Got a letter for a Harry Potter," he said, as if he were holding in a laugh. "I'm Harry Potter," Harry responded, confused. When the mailman handed Harry his letter, Harry cracked into a grin as well. He knew it was a letter from the Weasleys because, except for a few square inches on the front where the address was squeezed in, the letter was covered in stamps. Harry thanked the mailman and returned to the table.
"What's that?" Uncle Vernon said suspiciously.
"A letter" said Harry. "From my friend from school."
"Uncle Vernon got up quickly, came over to Harry's side, and snatched the letter from Harry. "Hey!" Harry objected. "Give me my letter!" Uncle Vernon ignored him, ripping open the letter and reading it quickly. When he finished, Uncle Vernon threw the letter back at Harry, grunting, "Read it."
Harry picked it up and read:
Dear Harry, We got permission from Dumbledore to invite you over out house for the rest of the holidays. Were coming over to get June 31st at 12:00. Even if the Muggles won't let you come, we'll wrestle you away anyway. See you then! Sincerely, Ron Weasley P.S. Hermione is over here too! (P.S.S Mum and Dad have this grand secret that they won't tell us, they just say, "coming July 4th." Weird)
Harry smiled and said "Well, I guess I'd better go pack then. Today is the 30th!" Before the Dursleys could object, he skipped out up to his room to pack. ************************************************************************ The next day, Harry waited by the fireplace alone (the Dursleys remembered the last visit from the Weasleys and decided to avoid it). At precisely 12:00, Harry saw the fireplace turn a bright green and something shoot out of the fireplace onto the floor. Harry, grinning from ear to ear, went over to pick up a very sooty Mr. Weasley.
"Hello Harry!" he greeted. "How are you?"
"Fine" Harry said, still depressed, but tried to cover it up. "Should we go?"
"Yes, just take your trunk and drag it into the fireplace with you. You know what to do from there."
Harry did so. He stood up right in the fireplace, yelled "The Burrow", and felt his body go into a violent whirl of color and then it stopped with a thump as he fell face-forward out of the fireplace.
"Harry!" cried a pair of voices. Harry felt himself get picked up by two pairs of hands, which turned out to be the Weasley twins, Fred and George, identical down to the last freckle. "Sorry old chap" Fred said, as he dusted Harry off.
"How are you old boy?" George boomed, helping Fred.
"Fine," Harry said, trying to sound cheerful, although still depressed. "How's the joke shop coming along?" At the end of the year feast last year, Fred and George had told Harry that they had purchased a lot at Hogsmeade to start their shop.
"Actually," George said, beaming, "We've gotten quite a bit business over the summer." "Quite", said Fred, beaming also. "We're having to restock the shelves almost every other hour."
Harry smiled; glad they were doing so well. Harry suddenly felt a thump on his back before the red head of Ron Weasley appeared. Hermione, who had her brown hair tied up in a ponytail, followed him. Both had greeted Harry with a loud "Hey" before they peppered him with questions about his summer so far. Harry noticed, smiling inwardly, that Ron had his arm around Hermione's shoulder. Ron and Hermione had finally admitted their feelings to each other ever since the end of the year feast and been a happy couple ever since. Harry had been particularly pleased about that event.
The rest of the Weasley family came in and greeted Harry: Ginny with her jolly "Hey, Harry", Mrs. Weasley with her "Hello, Harry dear", and Percy with his handshake and a stiff "Good afternoon, Harry".
Mrs. Weasley had set up a lovely picnic outside for everyone to eat her most delicious food. As everyone was stuffing their faces with as much pie as they could get their hands on and chatting happily, Harry smiled and joined the conversation once or twice. However his mind was elsewhere. He kept asking himself why he had let Cho die like that? Why wasn't he quicker? Why didn't he protect Cho?
Ron and Hermione must have noticed this because when Mrs. Weasley sent them all to bed, the three of them lagged behind so they could talk to Harry alone.
"Um...Harry?"
"Yea, Hermione" was Harry's reply.
"Harry, Ron and I know you're still...depressed about Cho's death, but we want to know if you're going to be alright?" Harry looked at them disbelieving the fact that they would ever think he would ever be all right to the point where he thought them inconsiderate.
"Guys, look," Harry said. "I loved Cho more than words could say and she was taken away from me for no reason. Can you honestly stand there and think that I'll ever be fully, one hundred percent okay?"
Ron and Hermione looked at each other and then back at Harry, each face filled with sadness. "We just want to know if you'll ever be the same." Ron said, worried.
Harry calmed down a little and replied "I'll be myself when I'm ready." To Harry's relief, that answer seemed to satisfy them both they all continued back to the house.
But Harry knew that he would never be the same, he would always mourn over Cho and, as he slipped into bed, he swore to himself that he would never love another person like he loved Cho. Little to Harry's knowledge, someone would enter his life that would challenge that statement and turn his life upside down.