Getting Ready for the Unexpected



The sun was burning Harry's eyes and forced him to wake up. "Another bloody day in the life of Harry Potter," he muttered to himself.

"What did you say?" Ron asked groggily next to him.

"Nothing," Harry replied.

Ron sat up and stared at Harry for a moment, then he looked down at his feet and acted like he had lost his tongue. Harry stared back at him, anger building in his chest.

"Out with it! What do you want to say?" Harry shot.

"You really upset Hermione last night, Harry, she's only worried about you," Ron said quickly.

"I don't want to talk about Sirius, she should know that," Harry defended.

"Still, you went rather hard on her, she doesn't deserve to have her head bit off you know," Ron said as he fidgeted.

"Oh, so I guess you're against me now too, huh," Harry said coldly.

"Mate, nobody is against you. We're just concerned, you've been through a lot lately," Ron said, a concerned look on his face.

"Well, don't be. I'm fine," Harry said curtly.

Harry stood up, grabbed his robe off the chair next to him and stormed out the door.

"Harry Potter! How is Harry Potter doing, sir?" said a small squeaky voice behind him.

"Hi Dobby, what are you doing here?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Harry Potter now owns the most ancient and noble house of Black, therefore I, Dobby, have volunteered to make sure it is properly cared for, sir," Dobby said with an eager girn.

"You don't have to do that, Dobby," Harry said with a serious expression on his face.

"Dobby wants to sir, he is in debt to Harry Potter, it was Harry Potter that set Dobby free," Dobby replied with excitedly.

"You don't owe me anything,Dobby," Harry said firmly.

Dobby suddenly frowned, and stared at his feet as if he had bad news.

"Sir, what about your Buckbeak He doesn't seem to like Dobby very much, I think the house elf Kreacher was ill to him sir," Dobby said with seriousness in his voice. "I'm having difficulty caring for him sir."

Harry's heart dropped. Buckbeak had been the reason Sirius was saved from the Dementors during Harry's third year.

"Who has been feeding him, Dobby?" Harry asked the elf with some urgency.

"Mr. Lupin, sir," Dobby replied.

"Is he still upstairs in Mrs. Black's bedroom?" Harry asked.

"Yes sir," Dobby replied, wiggling his ears.

"I've got to go Dobby, I'll see you around, okay? Don't work too hard," Harry said.

"Harry Potter is most kind, sir, the kindest and greatest wizard Dobby has ever know," Dobby replied.

Harry ran toward the master bedroom, he stared at the doorknob for a few seconds before deciding to open it and peer in.

"Harry, what are you doing in here?" asked a startled Remus Lupin.

Harry approached an apprehensive Buckbeak. He bowed his head and waited. The great creature closed it eyes and bend down on his scaly knee.

"Dobby told me Buckbeak was still in here," Harry finally answered.

"I figured I owed it to him, to look after Buckbeak. This guys was his only friend at times. He owed his life to his animal, and to you," Lupin said as he stroked the hippogriffs neck.

It finally dawned on Harry; Lupin was mourning as well. Sirius and Lupin were the last of the old gang. Pettigrew had betrayed them all and James had died because of him. Sirius was all Lupin had left, and now, he was gone as well. James, Peter, and Sirius had been Lupin's best friends from Hogwarts. What they had done for him was beyond words, Lupin definitely felt more pain and loss than Harry did.

"I'm sure Buckbeak here is grateful. He'd probably pretty hungry by now if it weren't for you," Harry joked forcefully to escape the emotions rushing through his mind.

He was desperate to keep the conversation away from Sirius. Lupin took Harry's subtle hint and replied.

"I think Molly has breakfast ready, what do you say we go grab a bit?" Lupin smiled weakly.

****



"This is wonderful coffee Molly, look, it's really changing me!" Tonks joked.

Hermione and Ginny snickered as Tonks hair turned jet black. Harry sat next to Lupin and looked wearily over toward Ron. He didn't look mad, but he did look upset. Why couldn't they just leave him alone about Sirius? They didn't understand how much it hurt to talk about him, to think about him.

"So Harry have you gotten your O.W.L.s yet?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied politely.

"How did you do?" Mr. Weasley urged.

"Arthur, don't bug him, I'm sure he did fine," Mrs. Weasley said with seriousness in her tone.

"I received 5 O.W.Ls above the E level," Harry replied.

"Excellent, we'll see you as an Auror yet!" Mr. Weasley replied happily.

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes and asked Harry, "Mre bacon, dear?"

"Er, no ma'am, I'm done, thanks," Harry replied politely.

Harry quickly exited the kitchen after breakfast, trying his best to avoid Ron and Hermione.

"You know, your emotions are very much exposed right now," said a dreamy voice.

"Hi Luna," Harry said with a weary smile, "I thought you were going to find whatever you were talking about finding this summer with your father?" Harry asked.

"Plans change," Luna replied. "I know what you're thinking, I was thinking it too," Luna said with a tone that wasn't quite characteristic of her.

"What am I thinking Luna?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"You want to talk to him again, to bridge that gap, don't you?" Luna smirked, "There are ways, you know."

Harry stood there just staring at her. What had she just said?

"Harry, there you are!" yelled Ron from behind. "Why did you take off after breakfast like that mate?" Ron asked

"Sorry, I needed to….use the toliet," Harry lied

Ron looked at him with a skeptical expression. Harry felt guilty for lying, but what was he going to say to his best friend? "I was avoiding you, sorry?"

"What about that game of chess?" Ron finally asked.

Harry turned to look at Luna again, but she was already on her way though the door of the kitchen. If Harry didn't know better, he'd say she was lost.

"Okay," Harry said, staring at Luna as she disappeared.

Harry found himself dozing in and out of his game with Ron. "Harry, it's your turn," Ron demanded for the sixth time.

"Sorry, wasn't paying attention," Harry apologized.

"Obviously," Ron said as he rolled his eyes.

The door started to creak open.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hermione muttered as she began to back her way out of the room.

"Hermione, wait," Harry yelled.

She stopped and looked at Harry. He could tell she was hurt and worried, and he knew it was all his fault.

"I'm sorry about last night, I'm just touchy right now," Harry began.

Before he could finish he felt Hermione flinging her arms around Harry, "Oh Harry, I thought you were mad at me."

"Hermione, I just really don't want to talk about it right now," Harry said gasping for air.

Hermione just nodded, and backed away from Harry. He knew they had an understanding.

Later that afternoon, Harry went to visit Buckbeak, he didn't know why, but it seemed to make him feel better. He sat up there for hours just stroking Buckbeaks neck and staring at him. He understood why Sirius would come up here to sulk, when he was alive. Harry glanced outside and noticed the sun starting to fade in the sky.

"I better get back," he muttered to himself.

"Bye Buckbeak, I'll come visit tomorrow, okay," Harry said politely as he headed towards the door.

He opened the door and heard a soft cry from the other side.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" Harry said quickly as he peered around the door to see who he had knocked down.

"Yea, I'm fine," muttered Cho Chang.

He heart stopped, the one person he didn't want to run into, the one person he didn't care to ever talk to again. He paused for a moment then offered her a hand to help her up.

Cho cheeks had gone bright red as she faced Harry.

"How are you?" she asked trying to sound casual.

"Good. How are things with you and Michael?" it slipped before Harry realized what he had said. He honestly didn't care if Cho was seeing somebody or not, like he had told himself impressing Cho was something that didn't matter to him anymore.

Cho gasped, "How did you know about me and Michael?"

"Ginny Weasley," Harry simply replied.

Cho smiled, "Well, Harry, you had your chance and you blew it."

She bowed her head in embarrassment. It wasn't in her nature to act so snobbish. She was still ill with Harry about the way he had treated her last year.

Harry grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, guess I did."

He turned to leave when he felt her hand on his arm.

"I'm sorry about the way things went last year, Harry, and I'm so sorry about what happened to your Godfather," she said kindly.

"I'm supposed to meet Ron, I've got to go," he lied.

"I know how you feel, it's okay to be angry," she smile as a tear brimmed in her eye and walked away.

"How does she know how I feel, she lost a boyfriend, not a Godfather!" Harry thought bitterly to himself. He watched her walk away, her long curtain of dark hair swishing on her back as she walked.

"What did I ever see in her?" Harry muttered to himself. Then he smiled without knowing why.

"Harry, where have you been?" asked a worried Hermione.

He thought about telling her the truth for a moment, and then realized he wanted to keep his visits with Buckbeak to himself, for a while.

He finally replied, " Just went for a walk."

"Well, we've gotten our Hogwarts letters early this year," Hermione grinned, " I got into ten N.E W.T classes."

"Congratulations Hermione," Harry said with a forced tone.

Harry opened his Hogwarts letter and took a deep breath.


Dear Mr. Potter,
Congratulation on making Gryffindor Quidditch team captain, I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job in leading our house to the Quidditch cup again. Enclosed is a list of all open team positions. Also, enclosed is a list of course materials and the N.E.W.T classes you've been accepted into.


Minerva McGonagall


N.E.W.T classes:
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Transfiguration
Charms
Potions
Care of Magical Creatures
Herbology
Divination


"POTIONS!" Harry suddenly exclaimed, "But how? I only received an A level, Snape doesn't admit anyone below an E!"

Hermione ignored Harry's exclamation and snatched his letter out of his hands. "Congratulations Harry, you're in seven N.E.W.T classes!"

"Damn, how did I get into Divination, I bet Firenze had something to do with it," Harry said angrily.

"Harry, you should be happy you got so many N.E.W.T classes, it's quite an achievement!" Hermione exclaimed.

Harry continued to groan miserably, " I'll bet Snape is doing it on purpose, he can't stand the thought of not being able to torture me."

Hermione shook her head and careful explained, "Didn't you say McGonagall was trying to help you become an Auror? Isn't it obvious, she convinced Snape to admit you into his class, because it's needed to get accepted in the ministry."

"Mum is going to kill me," Ron cried.

"Ron, what's wrong," Harry and Hermione asked at the same time.

"I only got into four N.E.W.T. level classes, that's almost as bad a Fred and George!" Ron moaned

Harry held his breath, only four. That meant Harry was probably not going to be with Ron in every class again.

"Don't be silly," Hermione exclaimed, "What did you get into?"

Hermione snatched Ron's letter out of his hands.


N.E.W.T.Classes:
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Care for Magical Creatures
Charms
Astronomy


"That's really good, Ron, quite a class load," Hermione said hesitantly.

"Let me see yours," Ron urged her.

"Uh, no, it's not that impressive any ways," Hermione modestly.

Ron looked at her for a moment then snatched her list out of her hands.


N.E.W.T. Classes:
Arithmancy
Astronomy
Ancient Ruins
Charms
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Potions
Care for Magical Creatures
Herbology
Magical History
Transfiguration


"Mum's going to kill me," Ron wailed again. He sat motionless for a moment.

"How did you do Harry?" he finally asked.

The gleam in his eyes was signaling to Harry that he hoped he had done as poorly as he had.

"Not all that great, I don't know how I got into two of these classes any ways," Harry smiled.

"What did you get into?" Ron asked urgently.

Harry handed Ron his class list, and sighed.

"Mum's going to kill me," Ron buried his hands in his face.

"Ron look here, it says you're an alternate for Transfigurations," Hermione added hopefully.

"What the hell is a bloody alternate?" Ron asked dazedly.

"It means if you go talk to McGonagall she might let you in," Hermione urged.

"Mum's gonna....."

"If you finish that sentence Ron Weasley I'll kill you," Hermione warned.

Harry held in his laughter, he felt bad for Ron. Four N.E.W.T. level classes was a good indication that Mrs.Weasley was going to be in a bad mood tonight.

"You made Quidditch Captain, Harry," Ron said suddenly with disappointment in his voice.

Harry remembered when Ron had looked into The Mirror of Erised their first year, he had seen himself as Quidditch captain and Head Boy.

"Yeah, I didn't even know I was back on the team," Harry simply said.

He had completely forgotten about being named Qudditch captain, the shock of being in Potions and Divination had pushed it out of his mind. Ginny suddenly pushed her head through the door of the bedroom, "Dinner's ready."

Ron looked at Harry and Hermione, "Tell mum I'm not feeling well."

"Ron, you can't hide forever," Hermione said with concern.

"Oh why bother? I'm such a loser, I bet Crabbe and Goyle got into more N.E.W.T's than I did," Ron cried.

****



Dinner was hectic as usual, tons of nameless faces talking about worthless chatter. Ron's face was pale and his eyes showed his guilt.

"Why didn't I study? I'm an idiot," he kept muttering.

"So I heard you children got your N.E.W.T schedules today," Mrs. Weasley said with a large grin upon her face. "Miss Bones got into 6 N.E.W.T classes and Mr. MacMillian got into 7 N.E.W.T classes."

"Harry how did you do?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Seven N.E.W.T. classes, but I don't know how I got into two of them," Harry said honestly.

"Excellent," said Mr. Weasley.

"What about you, Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley continued.

"Ten," Hermione almost whispered.

"My goodness child, that's amazing!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"And Ron, how did you do?" Mr. Weasley turned to his son and stared at his frightened eyes.

"Harry made Quidditch captain!" Ron exclaimed.

"Congratulations Harry," Tonks roared in.

Harry caught Cho's head popping up from the end of the table at this news.

"Ronald, how many classes did you get into," Mrs. Weasley continued.

"I...I.....mum please don't be mad," he started.

"He got into five," chimed in Hermione.

"Five, we'll that's not too bad, not the eight Percy had or the seven Charlie had, but much better than Fred and George's three." Mrs. Weasley muttered, "Congratulations dear."

"Hermione, why did you lie to my mother?" Ron asked accusingly.

"I didn't, once you talk to McGonagall you'll be in five N.E.W.T classes," Hermione said calmly.

"She was so disappointed in me, imagine if she finds out I really only got into four N.E.W.T. level classes," Ron said, worried.

"Mate, calm down, she's not disappointed. I mean Fred and George only got three O.W.Ls a piece, and look how successful they are," Harry added. "Plus you're a prefect, I mean that makes you better than me."

"Whatever you say, I'm off to bed," Ron said dejected.