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Mixed Emotions
The sun was continuing its slow descent as night slowly began to creep upon the inhabitants of Privet Drive. Many were outside enjoying their first barbeque of the summer after what was the first nice day since mid June. Flowers opened up everywhere and grew quickly due to the constant rain they had received for the last month and the sun encouraged them along. All day Privet Drive was a bustling place with people doing some gardening, walking their dog, or just enjoying a chat with the neighbours. Even Vernon and Petunia Dursley of number four and their son Dudley had a good family day. They, who were titled the most uptight family of Privet Drive, went for a drive in Vernon's new car and were now enjoying barbecued steaks on the new grill. Everyone in the area was relaxing and enjoying the last bit of sunlight.
Almost everyone, except one person.
Shut up in his room in number four, Harry Potter was having the worst day of his life. The extremely odd thing about his reaction on this day was that is was his birthday. Then again, odd and Harry Potter went well together, for Harry Potter was a wizard.
Now one of the odd things was that Harry normally dreaded coming home for the summer. His aunt and uncle and cousin treated him as if he were lower than an ant. He would often try to keep away to not get in any more trouble than necessary.
This past year, however, Harry was never happier to come home to them. As he got of the train from his school, Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he had a good surprise. Some of the adults he knew quite well got together and they threatened the Dursleys. If he wasn't treated right, they would come and do something about it. Harry had a grin on that day thinking of what Alastor Moody, Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin might do if they found out he was being treated badly. For the first time in his life, Harry saw his Uncle Vernon truly afraid. This must have been what caused the Dursleys to act so nice towards Harry. They let him eat nice meals, they no longer forced him to do all the chores, and even Dudley didn't want to constantly beat him up. He had been, by order of Moody, written at least once every three days to let him know everything was all right. Yes, for the first time in his life, Harry was having a good life with the Dursleys.
There was one other reason.
Last year while Harry was in is fifth year at Hogwarts, he went through an ordeal that would affect his life forever. He was tricked by the most evil wizard ever, Lord Voldemort. He was led to an area where he was nearly killed. Because of him, his godfather, Sirius Black came to his rescue. During the struggle, Sirius was killed.
Harry felt he was the only one responsible. He didn't want to talk to any of his friends about it. They respected his privacy for a while and during the first month of his summer vacation, he worked hard to push it out of his mind.
This all changed, however, when Harry received letters on his birthday.
He broke out in a frustration so strong he kicked his wall, making a big hole where his foot made contact. As he sat back down on his bed, the letter from one of his best friends, Hermione Granger, fell out of his hands and onto the floor.
IDear Harry
I do hope your summer is going well. It is pretty quiet here. Mom and Dad have been busy, but they took me to Diagon Alley last week. I requested for my book list for school early and so I went down and now I am reading through our set list. I won't go into any details about the books, because I'm sure you're excited for the surprise of reading them yourself.
I've enclosed your present in the parcel. I really hope you like it.
Harry, I know that you feel Sirius' death is your entire fault. I just want to let you know that if you ever want to talk about it, I am willing to.
Love Hermione/I
Why couldn't she understand, the last thing Harry wanted to do was talk about it. For someone who could last year point out every time he was tactless, Hermione was being quite tactless herself. Harry wept in anger over this letter. When he calmed down, he opened up the parcel. It was a full colour book of pictures from the Quidditch World Cup that Harry went to see with her and his other best friend, Ron Weasley. He stared at the pictures of the match. The one thing Harry really missed about the wizarding world was Quidditch. He was going to return to being seeker for his house team next year.
After he looked at the book, he opened up the next letter. He recognized immediately the writing of Ron.
IHello Harry
How's your summer going? Mine's been okay. Except, now that Percy's back, I have to put up with his constant fussing.
Anyways, I hope you like the present. I wasn't sure what to get you, so Mom took me to Quality Quidditch Supplies and I found this.
Oh, and... if you ever want to talk about Sirius, well, I know I'm not the greatest person with feelings and all that, but I'm here for ya mate.
Ron/I
Harry couldn't believe it. Even Ron, the person least likely to want to discuss this, mentioned to Harry about dealing with Sirius. Harry decided that he just wouldn't respond. He didn't want to discuss Sirius, so he wouldn't. Harry threw the letter in the garbage. He opened up the parcel and found a full broom accessory kit. It had everything from footrests, to a holder for a bottle of water. Harry marveled at it and dreamt of what it would be like to have all these things on his broom. He didn't waster anytime. He quickly reached for his Firebolt, the top of the line racing broom, and started adding items to it. The accessories were charmed to be weightless so they would not affect his performance.
Harry poured over the kit for at least half an hour, when he finally remembered that there was one more letter for him. He didn't want to open it. He figured it would be another letter telling him to discuss Sirius. He considered just chucking it with the other letters. Curiosity overwhelmed him though, when he couldn't recognize the handwriting. He opened it and read.
IHello Harry
I know I never write to you, but I thought I'd wish you a happy birthday. I don't have a present, but I will when I see you next. I really hope you come to our house. I'm looking forward to the next year of school, aren't you?
Well, I should probably get going, Mum is yelling at Fred and George again.
Love
From
Love Ginny/I
Harry read and reread the letter. No mention of Sirius. And then he stared at the name. Ginny. Harry didn't know much about Ginny. He knew she had a crush on him during his second year. He always thought she looked pretty. But he didn't understand why she was writing to him. He was also wondering what the present might be.
Although he was intrigued by Ginny's letter, he still didn't want to write back to anyone. He threw the letters in the garbage, but he kept Ginny's on his bedside table. In a way he had never really felt before, Ginny's letter gave him great comfort. Harry went to bed with mixed emotions that night, varying from anger to pure joy. When the Dursleys finally came in, Harry was sound asleep.
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Mixed Emotions
The sun was continuing its slow descent as night slowly began to creep upon the inhabitants of Privet Drive. Many were outside enjoying their first barbeque of the summer after what was the first nice day since mid June. Flowers opened up everywhere and grew quickly due to the constant rain they had received for the last month and the sun encouraged them along. All day Privet Drive was a bustling place with people doing some gardening, walking their dog, or just enjoying a chat with the neighbours. Even Vernon and Petunia Dursley of number four and their son Dudley had a good family day. They, who were titled the most uptight family of Privet Drive, went for a drive in Vernon's new car and were now enjoying barbecued steaks on the new grill. Everyone in the area was relaxing and enjoying the last bit of sunlight.
Almost everyone, except one person.
Shut up in his room in number four, Harry Potter was having the worst day of his life. The extremely odd thing about his reaction on this day was that is was his birthday. Then again, odd and Harry Potter went well together, for Harry Potter was a wizard.
Now one of the odd things was that Harry normally dreaded coming home for the summer. His aunt and uncle and cousin treated him as if he were lower than an ant. He would often try to keep away to not get in any more trouble than necessary.
This past year, however, Harry was never happier to come home to them. As he got of the train from his school, Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he had a good surprise. Some of the adults he knew quite well got together and they threatened the Dursleys. If he wasn't treated right, they would come and do something about it. Harry had a grin on that day thinking of what Alastor Moody, Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin might do if they found out he was being treated badly. For the first time in his life, Harry saw his Uncle Vernon truly afraid. This must have been what caused the Dursleys to act so nice towards Harry. They let him eat nice meals, they no longer forced him to do all the chores, and even Dudley didn't want to constantly beat him up. He had been, by order of Moody, written at least once every three days to let him know everything was all right. Yes, for the first time in his life, Harry was having a good life with the Dursleys.
There was one other reason.
Last year while Harry was in is fifth year at Hogwarts, he went through an ordeal that would affect his life forever. He was tricked by the most evil wizard ever, Lord Voldemort. He was led to an area where he was nearly killed. Because of him, his godfather, Sirius Black came to his rescue. During the struggle, Sirius was killed.
Harry felt he was the only one responsible. He didn't want to talk to any of his friends about it. They respected his privacy for a while and during the first month of his summer vacation, he worked hard to push it out of his mind.
This all changed, however, when Harry received letters on his birthday.
He broke out in a frustration so strong he kicked his wall, making a big hole where his foot made contact. As he sat back down on his bed, the letter from one of his best friends, Hermione Granger, fell out of his hands and onto the floor.
IDear Harry
I do hope your summer is going well. It is pretty quiet here. Mom and Dad have been busy, but they took me to Diagon Alley last week. I requested for my book list for school early and so I went down and now I am reading through our set list. I won't go into any details about the books, because I'm sure you're excited for the surprise of reading them yourself.
I've enclosed your present in the parcel. I really hope you like it.
Harry, I know that you feel Sirius' death is your entire fault. I just want to let you know that if you ever want to talk about it, I am willing to.
Love Hermione/I
Why couldn't she understand, the last thing Harry wanted to do was talk about it. For someone who could last year point out every time he was tactless, Hermione was being quite tactless herself. Harry wept in anger over this letter. When he calmed down, he opened up the parcel. It was a full colour book of pictures from the Quidditch World Cup that Harry went to see with her and his other best friend, Ron Weasley. He stared at the pictures of the match. The one thing Harry really missed about the wizarding world was Quidditch. He was going to return to being seeker for his house team next year.
After he looked at the book, he opened up the next letter. He recognized immediately the writing of Ron.
IHello Harry
How's your summer going? Mine's been okay. Except, now that Percy's back, I have to put up with his constant fussing.
Anyways, I hope you like the present. I wasn't sure what to get you, so Mom took me to Quality Quidditch Supplies and I found this.
Oh, and... if you ever want to talk about Sirius, well, I know I'm not the greatest person with feelings and all that, but I'm here for ya mate.
Ron/I
Harry couldn't believe it. Even Ron, the person least likely to want to discuss this, mentioned to Harry about dealing with Sirius. Harry decided that he just wouldn't respond. He didn't want to discuss Sirius, so he wouldn't. Harry threw the letter in the garbage. He opened up the parcel and found a full broom accessory kit. It had everything from footrests, to a holder for a bottle of water. Harry marveled at it and dreamt of what it would be like to have all these things on his broom. He didn't waster anytime. He quickly reached for his Firebolt, the top of the line racing broom, and started adding items to it. The accessories were charmed to be weightless so they would not affect his performance.
Harry poured over the kit for at least half an hour, when he finally remembered that there was one more letter for him. He didn't want to open it. He figured it would be another letter telling him to discuss Sirius. He considered just chucking it with the other letters. Curiosity overwhelmed him though, when he couldn't recognize the handwriting. He opened it and read.
IHello Harry
I know I never write to you, but I thought I'd wish you a happy birthday. I don't have a present, but I will when I see you next. I really hope you come to our house. I'm looking forward to the next year of school, aren't you?
Well, I should probably get going, Mum is yelling at Fred and George again.
Love
From
Love Ginny/I
Harry read and reread the letter. No mention of Sirius. And then he stared at the name. Ginny. Harry didn't know much about Ginny. He knew she had a crush on him during his second year. He always thought she looked pretty. But he didn't understand why she was writing to him. He was also wondering what the present might be.
Although he was intrigued by Ginny's letter, he still didn't want to write back to anyone. He threw the letters in the garbage, but he kept Ginny's on his bedside table. In a way he had never really felt before, Ginny's letter gave him great comfort. Harry went to bed with mixed emotions that night, varying from anger to pure joy. When the Dursleys finally came in, Harry was sound asleep.
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