DISCLAIMER:I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT OF THIS STORY. EVERYTHING ELSE IS JKR'S (sorry, I forgot this last time)

Reviews:

Rosalyne: I am glad to hear that you liked it, and thanks for being my first reviewer. I hated Sirius' death as well, and I felt that there needed to be more closure, so that is what I am trying to do.

Vertigo4ever: thanks for your review. I am glad that you liked the beginning, and I really hope you like the rest as well

MisFit Writer: thanks for the review. Just make sure that you know that you are going to be helping me out a lot! lol

FredandGeorgeWeasleyareMYKings: I am very glad that you liked my story, so far. Yes, I am getting into the world of HP fic, and I know I'm going to have a hard time with it. I want to give you special thanks, because your story kinda inspired me to start one. I hope the rest of my story is up to your standards.

A/n—a quick review of the last chapter:

Harry has been on break for nearly 3 weeks. The Dursley's are not home, they are at a company picnic, leaving Harry home alone, of course. Harry gets letters from his friends, and also a box of things from Lupin. These things belonged to Sirius. A few thing that were in the box: the key to Sirius' Gringotts vault, and the keys to his house on Grimmauld Place, which Harry is now the owner of (or almost)

Ok, here's the next chapter. I want to thank those of you who read the first chapter. Hopefully after I post more, I will get more readers, and therefore more reviews. Sorry this is taking so long. I don't have a lot of time to get online, plus I have been away from the computer for the last few weekends. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

CHAPTER 2: Homework and O.W..L.'s

The Dursley's returned home late that night to find Harry already asleep. They checked to see if he had eaten anything, and were leased to see that he didn't; they could care less if he starved. They went to bed satisfied, and fell into deep, dreamless sleeps almost instantly.

Down the hall, in the smallest bedroom, Harry stirred. Visions of the night at the Department of Mysteries filled his mind, interrupting his peaceful slumber…

Sirius ducked Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room

The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.

The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

Harry released Neville… He was jumping down the stairs again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore turned to the dais, too.

It seemed to take Sirius ages to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch…

And Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place.

Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing –Sirius had just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second…

But Sirius did not reappear.

"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled. "SIRIUS!"

He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out again.

But as he reached the ground and sprinted toward the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry –"

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"It's too late, Harry –"

"We can still reach him –"

Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go…

"There's nothing you can do, Harry… nothing… He's gone."

Harry woke with a start, sweating heavily. He couldn't shake off the feeling from that memory. He just had his closure, and now he's dreaming again. Why did this have to happen now!

He turned over in bed to read his alarm clock. 6:07. Harry groaned; he would never get back to sleep. He decided he might as well get dressed and work on his homework until the Dursley's woke up.

When he was dressed, Harry looked at the list he made prior to the end of 5th year. It contained the classes he would need to take in order to be an Auror, along with some other suggested classes that would be of use. He knew his O.W.L. scores determined the classes he would take next year, but Harry had began some of his homework based on past exam results. Harry had always been good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, (except last year, which doesn't really count, as the teacher was a fraud anyway) plus he had all of the experience from the DA, so he felt very confident that he would pass his DADA O.W.L.

He had also always done well in Charms and in Transfiguration. He wasn't sure how he did on those O.W.L.'s, but he thought he did well enough to continue in those subjects. It was potions he was most worried about.

Professor Snape had always hated Harry, and he was particularly nasty last year. He had gotten so many zero's last year that it would be a miracle if he passed the exam. Of course, Snape wasn't present when Harry had taken that O.W.L., and Harry felt that he had done a fair job, but he needed top marks on that exam in order to be let into Snape's class. This was not something he was looking forward to.

Harry began his DADA work, feeling confident that it would be worth it. He worked for an hour and a half before he finally heard the Dursley's stirring. He hastily put away his homework, waited a few minutes, and then went downstairs for breakfast. He entered the kitchen to the smell of fresh bacon and eggs. Dudley had already begun eating, his eyes never leaving the television that the Dursley's had put in the kitchen for his convenience. Aunt Petunia was fixing a plate for Harry, and Uncle Vernon was consumed in his newspaper. Aunt Petunia gave Harry a feeble smile when she handed him his plate. Harry smiled back, remembering what Dumbledore had said to him last year.

"You boy!" Uncle Vernon barked suddenly, putting down his paper. "What were you up to yesterday?"

"Nothing." Harry said innocently.

"Didn't get into our food, did you? I noticed you hadn't eaten anything. Hungry, are you?"

"No, I didn't get into anything, and yes, I am hungry." Harry stared hard at his uncle. Harry definitely didn't forget what Uncle Vernon was like last year when he found out that Voldemort was after Harry. He had wanted Harry out of the house, and while that was what Harry had wanted to do, he had to stay. At least now he knew why.

"Well, hurry up and eat. You're to go straight back to your room when you're done."

Harry frowned. He wasn't completely sure why his uncle wanted him to stay in his room. Last year, he had always wanted Harry out of the house. Harry guessed that everything that had happened last year had made his uncle ten times worse than he always was.

Harry finished eating in a hurry and headed upstairs to his homework. When he reached his bedroom, however, he saw a small, tawny colored owl sitting on his bed. He went to it and took off the letter it had with it. He saw his name scrawled on the front, but didn't completely recognize the crest on the back. He opened the letter, and knew what it was immediately:

Mr. Potter,

Enclosed are the results of the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams that you took in June of your previous school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The results are a major part of the rest of your schooling. They determine what classes you should take to meet the requirements of the career path you choose. I want to congratulate you on your performance in the exams.

Madame Marshbanks,

Coordinating witch for the O.W.L. program

Harry took out the second sheet of parchment to see what his scores were. He was surprised with some of them:

Grade system:

O-outstanding

E-exceeds expectations

A-acceptable

P-poor

D-dreadful

Number of O.W.L.'s you receive is determined by how many O.W.L. exams you scored an A or better.

Grades for Potter, Harry:

Charms: Theory-E

Practical-E

Transfiguration: Theory- E

Practical-A

Herbology: Theory-A

Practical-E

Defense Against the Dark Arts: Theory-O

Practical-O

Potions: Theory-E

Practical-A

Care of Magical Creatures: Theory-E

Practical-E

Astronomy: Theory-A

Practical-P

Divination: Theory-P

Practical-P

History of Magic: Theory-P

Total O.W.L.'s for Mr. Potter-13

Harry was stunned to see the scores he had gotten. He was most surprised at his Potions grades-he never thought he would pass that one. He couldn't wait to tell Ron about that one. No sooner had he thought that than an owl flew into his window. He recognized it as Pig, the tiny owl that Sirius had given to Ron in their third year. He ripped open the letter and saw that it was both Ron and Hermione's exam results. Ron had scraped through 12 O.W.L's (he didn't do as well in Potions) and Hermione had of course gotten all 17 O.W.L's. Harry smiled to see that they had all done well.

A/n-whew! The second chapter is finished. Sorry that took so long, I was very busy these past few weeks. I hope you guys liked it. Please leave me a review, and try to get some other people to read my story. Oh yeah-for those of you interested, here is a link to my original fiction posted on fictionpress. my penname is the same. I would really like it if you guys checked that one out as well (I do a lot better with original fic.) thanks again. http/