a/n: thanx, for the reviews, I appreciate it. I have had a really busy week, so it took me a little while to get this next chapter typed. I'm sorry about the whole "snap" "snape" thing, I tried to be a little better with my spelling this time.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own any of this...


Chapter Two: The Thunderbolt

"Harry, here's your letter from school!" Ginny said, trying to sound normal. She threw the letter to him.

"Thanks." Harry said, he slowly ripped it open and read the letter, smiled weakly and tossed the letter aside. Hermione silently told Ron and Ginny to leave the room. Once they left Hermione went and sat next to Harry on his bed.

"Harry, I know you feel horrible about what happened last year, we all do, but you musn't blame yourself." Hermione said soothingly.

"I don't blame myself." Harry said simply.

"Well, if you just want someone to talk to, I'm here. Okay?"

"Yeah, thanks"

"Hermione! Harry!" they heard Mrs. Weasley yell, "Come down for dinner, it's almost ready!"

"C'mon, it looks like you could use some food." Hermione said.

"Yeah, I guess so." Harry replied and together they walked down stairs into the kitchen. They each took a seat Hermione next to Ron and Harry next to Hermione. There were few people there for dinner that night. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat next to each other, Ginny at the end, and Mundungus next to Mrs. Weasley. It looked as though Snape had had his word with Mundungus and left before dinner, which was perfectly fine. No one really liked Snape all too much anyway.

"Hermione, Ron was just telling me, your head girl! Congratulations! We all knew that you would be!" said Mr. Weasley

"Thank you" Hermione said blushing, as everyone else at the table congratulated her.

"Head Girl?" Harry said, "That's awesome, congratulations!" The sound of Harry's voice was only half-heartedly excited. It was obvious that his mind was in other places, no doubt he was still thinking about Sirius Black, as he probably had been all summer.

"Harry, are you feeling alright?" asked Mrs. Weasley, "You look a little pale. I think you should go straight to bed after dinner."

"Alright" Harry said. It seemed that he was not in the mood to argue.

About five minutes later Harry got up from the table and went up stairs. Hermione noticed that he had barely eaten anything, and decided to follow him. Before she went to his room, she stopped in her own room for a moment, to get something. When she entered Harry's room he was laying on his bed face down, she wasn't sure if he even knew she was there. Quietly she made her way to his bed, sat down and started to rub his back, he didn't jump, he just laid there. Finally after a minute or two, he turned to lie on his back.

"Thanks" he said

"No problem. You know, you really should eat something, you'll feel better if you do." Hermione said

"I'm not hungry."

"Well, I can't force you to eat." Hermione said, "but I brought you some chocolate, I thought you might appreciate some." She handed him a chocolate frog.

He looked at it for a moment and then opened it. Inside was a chocolate frog card, it was one with Albus Dumbledore. He showed a small smile as he thought of his first year at Hogwarts. Hermione started to get up to leave the room.

"Could you stay?" Harry asked her.

"Of course I will" she said and she sat back down.

After a few minutes of silence Hermione said, "You know how you're an only child, and I am too? Well, I was just thinking, do you wanna be my blood brother?"

"Yeah, I'd like that" Harry said taking a bit of his chocolate frog.

"So, from now on we are brother and sister," Hermione said. They both sat there in silence, until they heard foot steps come up the stairs.

"I should probably go to be."

"Yeah, alright" he said

"See ya, big bro" she added, they both smiled.

The next morning was hectic. Everyone was hurrying to get dressed and eat breakfast. There were various members from the order going in and out, including Mad-Eye, Lupin, Snape, and two wizards and a witch Harry had never seen before, all looking for a word with someone different. Harry, Ron and Ginny had all woken up late, witch made Mrs. Weasley both angry and even more stressed out.

Hermione on the other hand was up and ready to go when she came rushing into the boy's room yelling, "Harry, Ron, what are you two doing! We're going to Diagon Ally today! You should have been up ages ago!" At this Harry and Ron simply looked at each other, and then at Hermione.

"Do we have to?" Ron said. Hermione chose to ignore this comment and walked out of the room.

Fifteen minutes later Ron and Harry made their way downstairs and were heading to the kitchen for breakfast, when they reached the kitchen there were at least seven other people in there, not counting Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Fred and George who were wearing their lime green dragon hide jackets, which showed the success of their shop.

"Hey Harry!" The twins both said.

"Hey" he replied.

"Look, we brought you and Ron some stuff from the store." Harry took the bag

"Thanks" but he knew better then to open, or eat any of it without expecting pandemonium so, he put the bag on the table and sat down to eat. Again, Hermione noticed, he barely ate anything, but he did seem to be in a slightly better mood this morning. Harry talked with the twins, who did most of the talking, while he ate. When he decided that what he had eaten was sufficient he headed back upstairs to get his money bag, and he put the bag of tricks on his bed side table. When he got back downstairs Mrs. Weasley was trying to get everyone together to head to Diagon Ally.

"Okay, okay, QUIET!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, "Now, we will go by flew powder, Harry, Hermione, have you used it before?

"Yes", the chorused.

"Good, now one by one we will go to Diagon Ally. Ron, you first."

"We'll disapparate, if you guys come into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, we'll give you half off!" Said Fred

"But, we should be getting back; we left this new kid there managing the store by himself. See ya!" said George and there were two loud pops and they were both gone.

One by one the rest of them threw some powder into the fireplace stepped in, shouted "Diagon Ally" and disappeared.

They all found themselves standing in the Leaky Cauldron. Slowly each one brushed off there clothes.

"C'mon" Mrs. Weasley said, "better hurry up or we will have very little time to spend here!"

Finally once everyone finished brushing themselves off, they all headed into the back of the Leaky Cauldron. Ron tapped three bricks with his wand and they moved aside to create a doorway into Diagon Ally. Every where there were witches and wizards, stores with flying brooms, wands, and unicorn tails. They all made their way up the street to a large white building called, Gringotts, the wizarding bank. They all went inside. Harry and Hermione had one goblin take them to their vaults while another took the Weasley's to theirs. All of them met up outside Gringotts about fifteen minutes later.

"How about we all meet at Flourish and Blott's in two hours? There we can buy your school books." Mrs. Weasley said. Everyone nodded their heads, or said, "Okay" and went off into separate directions. Ron, Hermione and Harry walked down the street trying to decide where they wanted to go first.

"Oh! I need to stop at the post office for a moment." Hermione said. Harry and Ron looked at her questioningly. "I have a letter for my mum, and I want to mail it before I forget…I would have used Hedwig, but I forgot about her last night." Ron shrugged.

"Okay, but you can use Hedwig when we get back if you want to." Harry offered.

"I'll just go to the post office." And Hermione turned to walk into the post office. It was filled with owls of all different colors, shapes and sizes, each one labeled for how it was to be used. Some were just for local deliveries only and others for very long journeys. Hermione walked up to the counter, gave the letter and some coins to the Witch standing behind it, and headed back out side where Ron and Harry waited.

Harry and Ron both started walking toward Quality Quidditch Supplies, and Hermione caught up with them.

"Where are you two headed?" Hermione asked

"Where do you think?" said Ron

"Where is the first place we always go when we reach Diagon Ally?" Said Harry

"Oh, wow," Hermione said pointing up the street, "Look at the crowd standing out side the Quidditch store!" Harry and Ron both looked to where she was pointing and they both half-ran to the crowd.

"There must be a new broom out!" Ron said excitedly.

"Yeah, there must!" Harry agreed

Hermione soon caught up to them and tried to get a look into the window herself. She had never really liked flying, she didn't like heights too much either, but she was curious on what this new broom was. The Firebolt was the best broom out there, she couldn't think of what there could be to make a broom even better.

She finally got a look at the broom she saw what was grabbing everyone's attention. The handle was made out of bloodwood; the sign said it came from South America. They called it the Thunderbolt. It had a deep red wood that was light weight and durable. Harry and Ron were goggling at it along with the many other spectators. It is just as good as the Firebolt, no better or worse, the hand printed sign in the window said. Even Hermione was impressed by its sleek, red handle and its hand placed twigs, all shaped for perfect aero dynamics. The color was what captured her attention the most. The deep red was so beautiful, that she almost wanted the broom, even though she didn't fly.

"Let's go inside…" Hermione heard Ron telling Harry. Then she saw something pushing through the crowd, and then the door of the shop opened and closed again. Hermione just decided to stand out side and wait for them to come out. In the mean time she just stared at the shop window with the many other people.

About ten minutes later Ron and Harry found Hermione sitting on the ground near the shop.

"Wow, did you see the twigs on that broom! They were perfect!" Ron said

"Yeah, they could be even more perfect than the ones on the Firebolt!" said Harry.

"That broom was amazing!" Hermione said. Harry and Ron were taken aback.

"You were interested in the broom?" Ron said surprised.

"Didn't you see it! It was beautiful!"

"Wow, that thunderbolt really is a broom everyone will enjoy." Said Harry, he grinned, and Ron laughed, apparently Hermione was missing something.

"I don't think I want to know" Hermione told them.

They went to Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor. There they talked about the Thunderbolt and ate their chocolate ice creams, with chipped nuts. Afterward they went into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where they said hi to Fred and George. They talked with Fred and George about the broom and looked around the store a bit. They left about half an hour later, Harry and Ron each with a bag of joke candies and other supplies they planed on using on Draco Malfoy, their worst enemy at Hogwarts.

They all stopped in the stationary shop to get some new parchment, quills and ink for the upcoming school year. While they were looking around, someone else chose to stop in. The one and only Draco Malfoy.

"Oh, look who it is, Potty and weasel." Malfoy said.

"Shut up ferret," Ron retorted, "get out of here."

"What? Sacred of me? Don't want me in the same shop as you? Sacred I will hex you?"

"Shut up Malfoy!" Hermione and Harry said together.

"I'm warning you!" Harry said.

"Ooooh, I'm so scared, Potter!" Harry started to fell the anger burn up inside him.

"No, Crabbe or Goyle here to save you now, Malfoy, I'd be careful if I were you!" Harry spat

"Who says I need them!"

"Draco!" said a stern voice. They all turned to see an unfamiliar man standing in the doorway. He was wearing black robes; he had pale skin, black eyes and dark brown hair. "Come on, we need to go to Borgin and Burkes"

Malfoy gave them a small snigger. "You better watch out Potter, I have more power than you think." Malfoy said and he followed the unknown man out of the store.

The trio waited for Malfoy to be well out of ear shot when they finally spoke again.

"Who was that?" Ron asked

"It sure wasn't Lucius Malfoy" Harry said.

"Well it's obviously someone like Lucius, if he's going into Borgin and Burkes and he's probably taking care of Malfoy while his Father's in Azkaban. But, that brings up this question: Where is Narcissa Malfoy?" Hermione said.

"Hermione, you think too much" Ron said.

They all purchased there new quills and parchment and headed toward Flourish and Blott's where they were to meet up with everyone else. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already there. Ginny showed up about five minutes later with Euan Abercrombie and Kirke Andrew, both in her year. They all bought their books and headed to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner and Fred and George showed up to have Dinner with them. It was a very pleasant day for Harry, and the thought of his god-father was driven out of his mind for the first time since that pervious year.

After dinner they all said their good-byes to Fred and George, and using floo powder made it safely back to the Grimmauld Place. Everyone was so tired by then they all went straight to bed.

They had a week before it was time to head back to school. They all had to help clean the attic with Mrs. Weasley and they found a place where they could play Quidditch, using muggle balls, where no muggle would see them. When Harry, Ron and Ginny went to play Quidditch, Hermione would sit in her room and read or write a letter to her parents, or Victor Krum. Two days before September first while the other three were out playing Quidditch, Hermione snuck into Ron and Harry's room. Out of curiosity Hermione picked up Harry's letter from Hogwarts and read it.

Dear Harry Potter,

We are Proud to say that you are entering your seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Inside you will see a list of any new books and other supplies you may need for your seventh year. Semester starts September First. The train will leave Kings Cross at 11:00am sharp. We look forward to seeing you then.

Minerva McGonagall (Deputy Headmistress)

Along with the letter there was a badge. It was red and gold, the Gryffindor colors, with a broomstick and a snitch with a large C on it. Hermione gasped. Why had Harry not mentioned this to anyone?

Later that night Ron and Ginny were talking with Mrs. Weasley and Harry was sitting in his room.

Hermione went to his door and knocked.

"Come in," she heard the muffled voice of Harry say from inside. Hermione opened the door.

"Hey Har-," she paused. "Big Bro" he smiled.

"What's up little sis?" Hermione smiled.

"I was just sitting in my room, and thought I would come say hi." Hermione said, "Hey, who do you think will be the new head boy, and Gryffindor Quidditch captain?

"You know," Harry said, "the new Head Boy will be Anthony Goldstein, Ernie Macmillan or Draco Malfoy."

"Oh, I hope it's not Malfoy,"

"Yeah, I'll have detention every night for the entire year if he is." Harry said.

"So, what about the Quidditch captain, who's that gonna be?" Harry did not answer or even look at her. "Well, it's not going to be Ron, or Ginny, there on the team but I don't think they will be captain and Fred and George aren't there anymore. Did Angelina and Katie both leave last year too?"

"Yes." Harry said. He started to get a little too interested in his nails.

"Harry, why didn't you tell anyone? I know you are the Captain, if you're worried that you won't be any good, I promise you, you will do a wonderful job."

"It's not that I'm worried I'm not going to do well," said Harry, "It's just that Sirius said that I am a great seeker, just like my father was great."

"Oh, Harry, I know you miss Sirius, we all do, probably you most of all. But, you can't stop playing or thinking about Quidditch because he said that, you should be proud and play the game. You know, he wouldn't want you to stop playing Quidditch, he would want you to be the best Quidditch captain ever."

"I guess your right." Harry said.

Just then Ron came bursting into the room, went to his trunk, pulled something out and ran back downstairs. It didn't even seem that he realized Harry and Hermione were there at all.


a/n: What do you think? Should I keep writing it?