Dear Readers,

I would like to thank all the people who reviewed with all my heart. You have made me feel so touched that I am trying to use all my free time on writing (I actually started writing this after my first review). Now I would like to point out my own mistake. In Harry's owl results I missed 'Care of Magical Creatures' and I have decided to give Harry an Outstanding, in my opinion, he knew all that he had to do in the tests and he was really trying to make Hagrid proud. I would also like to warn you guys: Soon, I do not know how soon, the characters may or may not be acting out of character to your point of view because this story is based on romance. I'll try my hardest to make it believable. If it isn't, you don't have to read, but some... 'Connections' may get interesting. I don't own Harry Potter.

The Howler

At Number 4, Privet Drive; each minute felt like an hour, each hour like a day. The whole first month of summer his thoughts had stubbornly revolved around Sirius. Sirius, dead. Sirius, Harry's closest thing to a family, gone. His fault. Harry felt that having new questions in his mind was a most welcome distraction.

Harry was staring at the ceiling as usual so when he heard harsh tapping on the window he jumped up, his heart beating rapidly. There seemed to be quite a few owls huddled outside his window, he opened it quickly to let them escape the heat outside.

Hedwig, his very own, snowy-white owl, was carrying a letter. So was Pigwidgeon, Ron's owl. And two owls that Harry did not recognize. His attention was caught not by the Birthday cards that he knew were inside three of the envelopes, but the bright red howler.

Afraid that it would explode any second, he made sure his bedroom door was closed, and opened the howler. In an austere shriek, Harry heard four words:

"BE READY, FIRST DAY!"

Harry had no clue to what this meant, no one could possibly be angry at him, so was this a threat? It did not make sense. Maybe, he thought, this was a clue to how he was arriving to school. Yes, he thought, that must be it. But it had been no accident that a Howler was chosen, a simple letter would done the job just as well. Harry decided he will be ready on September 1st, the first day of school.

Next, he headed for the envelope Hedwig was carrying. He untied it from her leg and she flew of inside her cage to nibble on some treats. The letter had been from Hermione, clearly a Birthday greeting.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! How are you doing at the Dursleys? I'm back at the same place we were last year, I hope we'll see you soon. Did you receive your OWL results? The lowest grade I received was an E in Astrology, I never really did do myself justice on it, though I think we were a bit distracted.-

Harry remembered, less than to months ago, when their OWL Astrology test was disturbed when wizards from the Ministry of Magic snuck up on Hagrid to take him away from Hogwarts.

- Well, I hope you can come as soon as possible, if not, I'll see you at the train on September the 1st. Enjoy your birthday.

Love,

Hermione

Enclosed, was a homemade cake and surprisingly enough, a book. Harry examined it. The hard cover was black and the paper where shiny white and empty. Harry flipped every page searching for an explanation. A note fell out. It read-

-Harry, this book works somewhat like a pensieve. You can store your memories and examine them somewhat from a "third person's view". I thought it may come in useful once in a while.

Harry was staring into the nothingness contained by this diary. Harry remembered how a pensieve worked. Professor Dumbledore owned a pensieve in his office, Harry had a vision of Dumbledore pressing the tip of his wand to his temple and then extracting a silvery thought.

Harry stared at a page of the book, and it was rapidly filling itself with moving photos of the images that had filled Harry's head just a second ago. He understood but then shut the book with a snap. Not yet, he wasn't ready to see Sirius on paper, or was he? No, not yet. It was hard enough seeing Sirius in his head everyday with the knowledge that he would never see him alive again.

Harry put the diary away, and reached for the second letter, he understood it was from his other best friend, Ron Weasley:

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday Harry. How are you, mate? Well, everything is similar to last year, here. I hope you can come for school supply shopping, we can visit Fred and George's Weasley's Wizarding Weezes, they're located in Diagon Alley remember? They're doing very well, I think mum is proud. Meaning she won't skin you alive.-

Harry smiled for the first time in weeks. It had been Harry's Triwizard winnings that had sponsored the Weasley twin's career. Though Mrs. Weasley wanted a higher qualification career for her twins, Harry was glad that she finally saw that Fred and George's talent was put to good use.

-We've heard from Percy. Nothing in his "apology" indicates us to believe that he is on any level above gargoyle dung. Mum is overjoyed that they are on speaking terms again, but I don't reckon Dad or the rest of us will ever forgive him. Don't let the Dursleys get to you, lets hope that you'll be here soon.

-Ron

P.S.

My OWL results weren't so bright, better than the twins' though. Hermione's were great though. She's literally bouncing of the walls.

It was impossible however for Harry to leave the Dusleys sooner than was necessary. Because of his mere blood relation to his Aunt, he was protected here. Harry grabbed his present from Ron. It was filled with what looked similar to Zonko's products, but Harry knew they were from Fred and George's new joke shop. There was a skiving snack box, canary creams, a hat that Harry recognized would make one's head invisible if worn, and many unfamiliar foods Harry knew he would never, ever try.

The last gift that was from Hagrid included the usual rock cakes, but Harry was nevertheless happy to find out that Hagrid must be at Hogwarts this summer. Now Harry stood up and faced the mirror. He was sixteen now. There were only two years left at Hogwarts, and then what? Assuming that he did survive, would he just live up to his death in fear?

He seemed a bit taller. His jet black hair was a mess as usual. Harry suddenly felt sick. He had not spoken for almost a month now, living in his thoughts and in his nightmares. Harry lay on his bed and either fell asleep or fainted, he never knew.

I would really like some more reviews if possible, you can even point out my mistakes and criticize but if you have enjoyed something, let me know, I'd love to have ten reviews again this chapter, though it was a bit short and unexciting.

-Manichka