First and foremost: to OniLion, you get a thousand cookies, for being my first reviewer.

Ok, ok, so me rushing to get a chapter out still takes a while. It's here though, so yay!

Meeting Aurora

With just two days left until it was time for him to return to Hogwarts, Harry decided that it was time to go to Diagon Alley to get his things. Mrs. Weasley had agreed to take him, as she had no pressing issues that day and she trusted her children to take care of themselves. They Flooed to their destination, and while Mrs. Weasley stepped out gracefully, Harry tripped on his robes and almost fell. He stood up and dusted himself off, looking to see if anyone had noticed him. No one had, and he hurried to catch up with Mrs. Weasley. They stopped first at Madam Malkin's, where he was measured yet again for new robes. In the time it took for the robes to be finished, the pair had managed to gather all the ingredients to restock Harry's potions supply.

Harry handed Mrs. Weasley the parcel of robes momentarily so she could shrink them down to the size of his other purchases. He then took the robes back and stuffed them into one of is pockets. Their final stop for the day was scheduled to be Flourish and Blott's. Harry took out his list of required books thatDumbledore had sent him,only to see many expected names.

Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six by Miranda Goshawk

Advanced Transfiguration

Advanced Potions

Advanced Charms

One Thousand More Magical Herbs and Fungi, and How to Grow Them

Meditation for Beginners

Harry was surprised to see a book about meditation on his list. It would obviously be used for DADA or Occlumency, or both. No one had received the results of their OWLs yet, so Harry could only presume he had passed with decent marks. He did not see a text for History of Magic on his list, and he wondered if it was because he did not receive enough OWLs or if it was due to the fact that he had mentioned at one point to Professor McGonagall that he didn't really like the topic. Either way, he reasoned, it meant that he might not have to take the course any longer. That was something to be hopeful about, even though it might not happen.

When he had picked up all his required books, he started looking for something that would be interesting if and when he had free time. He didn't want to think about the book Hermione had sent him. He had neglected to say anything to her, because in all honesty he had no idea what he would say. "So Hermione, do you think I'm a Dark wizard?" or "Hey 'Mione, why'd you want to help me become an evil genius?" didn't sound appropriate.

Unfortunately, Harry saw nothing on the shelves that looked terribly interesting. He walked to the end of the aisle he was in, and collided with someone coming from around the other side. They both tried to gain their balance before falling. Harry barely managed to do it without dropping his books, while the other person gracefully straightened. Raising his eyes he noticed that the person with whom he had collided was a girl. A very pretty girl, with long black hair that hung in loose curls. Her eyes were almost completely black, excepting for a small dot of that seemed almost to be a deep amethyst in the center. He tore his gaze from her eyes, remembering his manners.

'I'm so sorry about that, I wasn't watching my steps," said Harry plaintively.

"Well that's obvious. But it doesn't matter, no harm done. I'm Aurora." She stuck her hand out to him. He took it and instead of shaking it as he would normally have done he felt compelled to draw it to his lips and kiss her fingertips.

"I'm Harry." He looked at her, not recognizing anything about her. "Where do you go to school?"

She laughed, and it sounded like tinkling bells to Harry. "I'm at Durmstrang this year, though I used to live in America. I may transfer again next year, once father realizes what kind of a school he's sent me to. I have to leave, because I'm supposed to be meeting someone, but do you want to write to me this term?"

She seemed so brash, but it intrigued Harry. "Sure," he said quickly. "I guarantee if you send a letter with just my name on it, it'll find me."

"Why's that?" she cocked her head to one side with a curious glance.

"I'm Harry Potter. I don't mean to sound stuck up, but I do tend to get a lot of mail. And not all of it's very nice."

She laughed again. "Well, Harry Potter, I'll make sure to address it properly, but I can promise that it will be a nice letter."

And then she was gone. It was as if he had blinked and she had managed to vaporize in that instant. He looked wildly around the bookstore, but she was nowhere to be found. He dashed out to the street, but she wasn't in sight. He sighed, wondering if she was older, and therefore able to Apparate. It was possible, but he had no way of knowing.

He picked up the books he had left on the floor when he went to look for Aurora, and headed toward the counter to purchase them. Mrs. Weasley was waiting there for him, and when he had paid they left the store. She offered to take him to lunch, but he firmly stated that he was a gentleman, and that he would gladly pay for lunch. She started to object but Harry was already pulling her toward the Floo system.

"It's just a little bistro I know of. It's right near the Ministry, so it can't possibly be dangerous Mrs. Weasley." She groaned, but with a little more prodding she decided that it was alright. They had to walk a little bit to reach the little place, Michele's, but it was worth it. The food was good, and the service was better.

After eating they headed back to the Burrow, where Harry immediately went to his room to pack his purchases away. He lay on his bed, taking a breather before he went back down to the noisy family he had come to call his own. An image of Aurora was stuck in his mind. She was so pretty, but there was something about her that seemed almost familiar. He just couldn't place it, and that was what bothered him.

The next two days were filled with good food and lots of Quidditch. The time went by quickly for Harry, and soon it was the seventh of August. All of Harry's belongings were once again packed into his trunk, even his broom, which Mr. Weasley had shrunk until it was small enough to fit. Hedwig was on her way to Hogwarts, with instructions to go to the Owlery as soon as she arrived. Her cage was also stored in the trunk, as he had no use for it at the moment.

The goodbyes went quickly, if a bit awkwardly. He gave all the Weasley men a pat on the back except Arthur, who would accompany him to the school. He gave Ginny and Hermione light hugs, but when he pulled away from Hermione he paused for a second to look into her eyes. He wanted so badly to ask about the book, but decided against it. Now was not the time.

He went to give Mrs. Weasley a light hug as well, but she pulled him into a crushing embrace. "If you need anything, Harry, anything at all, just owl, alright?"

He nodded, giving her a small smile. "Ok, Mr. Weasley. I'm ready when you are."

Mr. Weasley smiled, and told him to come outside. Once there, Mr. Weasley pulled a small light bulb from his pocket. Harry could barely see it because dusk was already beginning to fall. "Alright, Harry. Just let me change this into a portkey, and we'll be going. This will take us into Hogsmeade, and from there we'll just walk to the school. Of course they'll be expecting us, but you won't need to worry about anything tonight. Your lessons will start tomorrow, and tonight you can just get settled in to your room. Ready?"

Harry nodded as Mr. Weasley tapped the light bulb, muttering "Portus". The light bulb glowed blue for a second, and then Mr. Weasley held it out in Harry's direction so he could grasp on to it. He did, and in a matter of seconds he felt the familiar tug in his navel. Closing his eyes, he held on as tightly as possible.

When he opened his eyes again, they were in Hogsmeade, standing outside of the Post Office. He looked around for Mr. Weasley, but didn't see him. Something moved in the corner of his vision, and he turned to see what is was.

He saw a flash of black hair, and an unmistakably feminine figure. She looked very familiar…

"Aurora? Is that you?" Harry called into the distance, but the figure was soon out of sight, and it was too dark for him to want to chase after her. Harry turned at the sound of his name being called, and saw Mr. Weasley walking toward him.

"Sorry, Harry." Called Mr. Weasley. "I'm not sure what happened, but I landed over by the Three Broomsticks. No matter, as long as you're alright?"

Harry nodded. "Alright then, off to Hogwarts. Dinner will be served soon, wouldn't want you to miss that Harry."

They headed down the path to the castle. Mr. Weasley had his wand out, and was illuminating the path. Harry followed at a decent pace, but was continually looking around to see if he could see Aurora, or anyone, in the depths of the woods. He saw no one on the journey, and the idea was out of his mind by the time they got to the gates.

The gates opened to admit them with not a word spoken, and after a few minutes they were at the front doors. The doors, also, opened for them without a word, but this time Dumbledore was there to greet them. "Arthur, Harry! It's wonderful to see you here. I trust your journey was without trouble?"

"Of course, Albus. And how are you doing this hot, muggy day?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. Why don't you come in and have a bite to eat? The elves will get Harry's things to his room, and we can go have a nice sit-down and a cup of tea."

"I'm actually going to head back to the Burrow. Molly's making a great dinner tonight, wouldn't want to miss that. Harry, you'll be alright?"

"Yeah, Mr. Weasley. I'll be fine. Dinner sounds good to me right now."

Dumbledore smiled at Mr. Weasley and waved as he walked back to the gates. "Well, Harry. It would appear that you are trapped with me for a little while. Dinner won't be for another half an hour, so why don't we go and have some tea in my office?"

Harry nodded, and followed Dumbledore up to the stone gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. The gargoyle jumped aside without waiting for a password. Just as Harry was about to ask why no password was needed, Dumbledore spoke. "You know Harry, it's so empty in the summer. There are only a few teachers here, and the castle almost seems lonely some times. It's funny like that."

They had reached the top of the steps and entered Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster seated himself behind his desk, and Harry chose a seat near the fireplace. Just as Dumbledore had conjured the tea the fire roared to life with green flame. In it Harry saw Mr. Weasley's face. He was about to ask if everything was all right when Dumbledore spoke again.

"It's fine Arthur. The imposter has gone. He provoked no threat, and seemed to be eager to leave."

"Oh good. I was worried." Mr. Weasley turned his face to Harry. "You must be wondering what happened. You see, when we landed with the portkey I was attacked. You were hit with the full body bind and I was Stunned. I can only guess what happened from there. I'm just glad you're alright Harry."

Dumbledore picked up the conversation from there. "It is my guess, Arthur, that they took a few hairs from you and used a Polyjuice potion. As for Harry, I can only imagine that they Obliviated him, as they didn't stun him immediately."

"That's odd…" said Harry quietly. His thoughts were running to Aurora. When he had met her in the bookstore, it was as if she had disappeared. When he had landed in Hogsmeade he could have sworn that he had seen her. Odd things were just surrounding this girl, and he had only just met her!

"What's odd, Harry?" Dumbledore asked quietly. Harry looked up quickly at the old wizard.

"Just the whole situation. Why would someone want to impersonate Mr. Weasley just to escort me to the school? They didn't learn any important information, they didn't attack me, they didn't get into the school. What was the point?"

"Actually," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "I think they may have learned something from me. I remember being attacked and then I woke up here, at the Burrow that is. I must have been Obliviated as well, so there's no knowing what they learned. I'm sorry, Albus, truly I am."

"Arthur, don't worry about what happened. You had no control over the situation, and I expect that anything you may have told them could not have been that useful, at least not in relation to Harry. There may have been something about the Order that they learned, but as you are not the Secret Keeper, they still are unaware of our location. And as long as you are safe, there is no lasting harm done. You go and rest, eat some of Molly's delicious cooking. We'll talk more of this later."

Arthur nodded, said his goodbyes, and then his head was gone from the fireplace. Dumbledore finished pouring the tea that he had been interrupted from earlier. He handed Harry a cup and sat back in his chair.

Harry was wondering what Dumbledore would say. He worried that the Headmaster would feel he needed additional security. The last thing he needed was a bodyguard when there weren't even any other people in the castle, save his few instructors. He watched as Dumbledore leaned forward, preparing to speak. Here it comes, thought Harry.

Dumbledore spoke. "Would you care for a lemon drop, Harry?"

Yeah, so that took a while to get out. The next bit of plot is well-engrained in my mind, so it should come much more quickly. It should, key word.

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