Snape? thought Harry, alarmed. He scooted back on the floor away from his Firebolt. Had Snape perhaps jinxed or hexed it? Even if forced to send it back to him, there was no way Snape would have said the kinds of things he did. Had he personally pried it from Filches hands? Not even McGonagall could have possessed him to do that if he hadn't the will to.
Weird.
Tentatively, Harry moved back toward his broomstick and touched it, as though that would discern whether or not it had been tampered with.
He stood up and placed the broomstick on a shelf in his closet. He figured the Dursleys wouldn't appreciate him leaving an obviously magical item lying out where anyone could see it. Not that they cared, or even came to his room. They didn't need any more reasons to stay away from him. Though, they weren't completely ignoring him. In fact, at dinner the other night, Aunt Petunia had actually asked Harry, rather politely, if he would pass the salt. Harry had had to keep himself from laughing when, after this, Uncle Vernon's eyes seemed likely to pop out of his head.
Harry stood back and just looked at his Firebolt. He hadn't seen it in months. It was like seeing an old friend again after being apart for very long.
Old friend. Being apart. A wave of emotions passed over Harry as he again thought of Sirius. His godfather had been the only form of family he'd ever known, besides the Weasleys. Snape had hated Sirius. And for good reason, too, though Harry was loathe to admit it.
Harry sat back down on his bed again. Thinking about Sirius and Snape reminded Harry of what he had seen in the Pensieve last year. He still just couldn't believe his dad had been such a jerk. No wonder Snape had always hated Harry! People are always saying how much he, Harry, is like his dad.
But I'm not like my dad, Harry thought. He didn't go around jinxing people to impress girls, and he didn't hate people for no reason, and he didn't show off whenever he had a chance, or purposely bring attention to himself. In those respects, he was the opposite of his father.
Harry didn't want all the attention he got. He wished he was a normal wizard. He wished he wasn't famous. He wished his scar didn't burn every time Voldemort had a bloody mood swing!
Harry practically growled as he stood back up and paced the room. He'd done a lot of that this summer. After about a half an hour of walking and not getting anywhere, he decided to read up on Apparating again. He had no idea when he'd be able to take the test, but he wanted to be ready.
It was very confusing. There was no incantation and no wand waving. As the book, Exasperated by Apparating; A few quick tips to get you started, said, it was a magic that worked completely inside oneself. You still needed your wand to do it, but the wand was not the important thing with this magic. Apparently that was how creatures like house-elves, who weren't allowed wands, were able to Apparate. They had that magic built in, and didn't need the wand. Yet, Harry had read through the 300-odd paged book three times, and was still just as confused as he had been before reading any of it.
He kept himself occupied with this for the next hour or so, until he heard his aunt and uncle stirring. It wouldn't be long before they were tapping on his door to "request his presence in the kitchen."
Harry got up, set the book on his bed, and left his room to go to the loo. By the time he had used the toilet, and taken a quick shower, the Dursleys could be heard doing their normal morning routines.
Dudley was in his room wreaking havoc on virtual alien Motherships, while Aunt Petunia was muttering to herself about the strangeness of their neighbors' recent behavior as she tidied up their bedroom. Uncle Vernon was no doubt down in the den reading the newspaper, sipping tea, and running over in his head the many horrible things he wished he could do to Harry.
Harry walked back to his room and was surprised to see yet another owl settling itself on the windowsill. Harry extracted the envelope from the owl's leg and watched it soar away.
Looking at the envelope, Harry saw a very ornate seal on the back and no return address on the front. Sliding his forefinger under the flap on the back, Harry tore the seal and pulled out several pieces of parchment. The front piece was signed Griselda Marchbanks and was informing him that his O.W.L. results had been calculated. The other pieces were his scores for each.
Harry couldn't believe his eyes! He had done very poorly indeed on his History of Magic exam, as he had expected, since he hadn't even finished it, as well as his Divination and Astronomy exams, but those didn't surprise him at all either. He was glad to see the good grade he'd gotten on his Care of Magical Creatures exam. Hagrid would be happy. His other exams were okay, too, but those weren't most important to him. He had gotten Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Exceeds Expectations in both Transfiguration and Charms, and Outstanding in Potions. Potions! He'd gotten the highest grade in his worst class!
The final page was a form for him to fill out about this year's class schedule, with small text on the bottom telling him what he'd need for each after-graduation job. He knew he'd have to sign up for N.E.W.T levels of most of his classes and was very much dreading having to take Snape for another two years.
Harry looked back up at his broomstick. Snape had sent it back to him. Snape had hated Harry's father, and Sirius. As far as Harry could tell, Snape hated Harry. But Snape had done a very unSnape-like thing in sending his broomstick back.
Harry shook his head, ridding himself of that train of thought. Now was not a time to think about Sirius, and he definitely didn't want to continue thinking about Snape after such good news.
Harry turned, hearing an unfamiliar noise. A small handwritten note slid beneath his door. Harry shook his head in exasperation this time as he picked it up and read it quickly. He'd gotten enough notes delivered to him today, they least his uncle could have done was to tell him personally to "come down for breakfast."
~*~*~*~*~
Hy: lol It took me forever to figure out what you meant by "brill." But thank you so much, just the same :)
Slrmn82: I'm glad you think Harry is in character! That's one of the things I'm trying to do…keep all the characters as Rowling would write them.
Spaced Out Space Cadet: Thank you!! Well, as you can see, no one had to wait very long for chapter two! I think I posted it the next day!
Arili: I'm glad you liked the ending. I rather liked it too ;)
Ms. Issues: Well, you know, Snape is a really cool guy, after all. *drools over Alan Rickman for a second* *le sigh*
pointgirl21: Thanks! I try to get my chapters up as soon as I write them.
Zan: Thank you!
Okimak: *Blushes* Being compared with Rowling?? I've never been so honored! Thank you. . .I'm always afraid that people aren't going to like my style of writing, so it's very nice to hear that it's appreciated. It makes me happy.