The Celestial Guidance

by FlyingPixie (Lady Lyssa)

Disclaimer: Everything in this fic belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling (save for my impersonations of Fate, my OCs and my plot). If I were her I would not be here writing on this site, I would be hurrying up and writing the next book!

A/N: This story takes place in Harry's sixth year, after OotP. H/G, R/Hr, PG-13 rating.

Side Effects

Don't flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become. Except in cases of necessity, which are rare, leave your friend to learn unpleasant things from his enemies; they are ready enough to tell them.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table, 1858

Ginny sat at her desk, quill in hand, idly staring at the blank sheet of parchment in front of her. She sighed and raked her hands through her flaming red hair. Crumpled pieces of parchment cluttered her desk and littered the floor around her. Why can't I get this letter right?

Ginny chewed on the end of her quill, thinking. Poor Harry, she thought. He's already been through so much, suffered so much, and now Sirius... Knowing Harry, he was off feeling sorry for himself for what he didn't even cause. She knew from experience: it had been one long guilt-trip for her the summer following her first year. It had been her fault that the muggle-borns had been attacked...

Ginny shuddered involuntarily. Just when she was sure that she had gotten over him, Tom crept back to haunt her. As memories of him floated to the fore-front of her mind, she quickly pushed them back. This was NOT the time to "reminiscence". She turned back to her letter...

Harry opened his eyes, but immediately shut them to stop the light from permanently blinding him. He waited a few seconds before blearily opening them again; this time slower, so as to give his eyes time to adjust to his sunlit room. When he could open his eyes fully without disturbance, he put on his glasses and summoned the energy to get out of bed.

The first thing that hit him: complete exhaustion. His vision doubled and he felt light-headed and dizzy. He quickly sat back down on his bed, hoping it would pass. He didn't think that he had ever felt this drained in his entire life.

Memories of last night came back to him: he had unleashed his magic! Why hadn't Merlin warned him of the side effects? Harry's best guess was that, being at his magic's core, he had used up more than he had in a long time all at once, without realizing it.

After a few minutes passed however, he began to feel better and more awake. Harry could feel the exhaustion leave his body part by part. As the magic flowed through him, exhaustion was replaced with vigor, liveliness and energy. Harry shrugged: perhaps his new magic had needed time to become fully unleashed in the real world, instead of the dream one.

Not bothering to spend more time on it than necessary, Harry leaped out of bed and took a quick shower before running down the stairs two at a time. He made himself a quick bite to eat, cleaned the mess, and ran back up again. He couldn't believe the energy flowing through him. He was definitely going to get used to this. As he reached the top landing, he heard his Uncle yell at him from his bedroom.

"Don't forget to write to – those friends of yours and tell them that we have been treating you right. We don't need those frea –"

Vernon appeared to reconsider his last choice of words, and let his words hang.

"Don't worry; I'm going to write to them now."

In truth, Harry had almost forgotten about his promise to the Order: write to them every three days to make sure that everything was all right and that the Dursley's weren't mistreating him. Not sure whether or not to count the day he had arrived, he decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

He went into his room, took out a piece of parchment and began to write. Not sure to whom to address it, he made his greeting general:

Dear Order,

Everything is going well. The Dursley's are treating me fine. Nothing much is happening. Don't worry, I'm fine.

Harry

Short, simple and to-the-point. Okay, so it was half-filled with lies. He wasn't really okay. And something had happened, but he wasn't about to tell the entire Order about Merlin and the council. Perhaps he would tell some of them later, but he had to sort everything out in his head before that. He didn't want them to treat him like a puppet; to be used and then disposed of. He would start making some of the decisions himself, and he would find out what was going on.

Taking out another two rolls of parchment, Harry also decided that he should send letters to both Ron and Hermione.

Dear Ron,

How is it going? Everything's fine here, the Dursley's are really much better. How is your family doing? What is Percy up to? Has your family made up with him? How are the twins doing? Is business booming?

Have you found out anything about the Order? Write back with any information you have, I don't want to be out of the loop again.

I also wanted to apologize for being a real git last year towards you. I shouldn't have taken it all out on you, it wasn't your fault in the least. Please accept my apologies; friends don't treat each other like that. Furthermore, I should thank you for coming with me to the Department of Mysteries. You stuck by me like a true friend. Thanks mate.

Write back soon.

Your friend,

Harry

An almost identical one was written for Hermione.

Dear Hermione,

Everything's fine here, the Dursley's are really much better. How is it going? I bet you are bored out of your mind without any homework to finish since we had OWLs this year! What news has the Daily Prophet been spreading now? Please fill me in on anything you know, I really want to be in the loop this year. As I'm sure you're well aware, the year-ban on Rita Skeeter writing is almost over. Do you think she's learned her lesson?

Also, I would like to apologize for my horrible behavior to you last year. What I was going through was not in the slightest your fault, and friends don't treat each other like that. Please accept my apologies. Furthermore, I should thank you for coming with me to the Department of Mysteries. You stuck by me like a true friend would.

Write back soon.

Your friend,

Harry

Harry re-read them. They were perfect. Of course, he hadn't mentioned the prophecy to them yet. He wasn't ready for it yet, and besides, it was only fair that he tell them something as important as this in person when he was ready.

At that precise moment, as if fully aware that her master needed her to send a letter, Hedwig appeared at the window. The Dursley's (of course) had no protests about letting her fly freely. Or at least, they didn't complain in front of him. Harry opened the door, and Hedwig flew onto his shoulder, and nipped his ear affectionately. Harry took the letters off the table, folded them, and tied them to her leg securely.

"This one goes to the Order, this one to Ron and this one to Hermione. Fly safely girl, and come back soon."

He watched her fly off his shoulder and out of the window. He stared at her enviously as she soared through the sky. He turned around when she was no more than a speck in the distance. Perhaps another walk would do him good, clear his head. He promised himself that he would clear his mind, and not think of the dearly departed.

(Ten Sheets of Parchment, Two Quills and Two Hours Later at the Burrow)

Ginny stared in awe at her letter. It was perfect! She proof-read her work one last time:

Dear Harry,

How are you? You don't have to answer that; I know you aren't feeling better yet. However, as bad as you are feeling from his loss, you MUST NOT BLAME YOURSELF for what happened. It wasn't your fault, and deep down I know that you have realized that; but as stubborn as you are you just won't admit it to yourself.

I understand what you are going through. You seem to keep forgetting, but my first year was really tough on me. The summer after was especially difficult, having to deal with the blame all by myself. Even in a house full of people (literally) I still felt alone. There was no one to share my feelings with. The problem was too personal.

It took me a really long time to realize that it was Tom's fault, not mine. He was the one who had taken control of me, and petrified the students. The blame lies with him, not me. Of course, if I hadn't poured my heart into the diary, none of it would have happened. Life is like that, there is no point in living in the past and dwelling on our mistakes. We must move on, and most importantly learn from them, so as not to make them again in the future.

You have to believe that I speak from experience: it is Bellatrix's, Kreacher's, and most of all Voldemort's fault, not your own. Don't do anything foolhardy, but just learn from this. I know it will take time for you to heal, I don't doubt it, and that it will take time for all of this wisdom to sink into your stubborn head. You saw what you saw and you did what you thought was the best course of action, with the best intentions in mind; there is nothing you can do to change that. Remember that you didn't mean harm, they did. The blame lies with those who meant to cause other people pain.

I know that you probably won't talk to anyone about it, but please try. It would make all the difference (didn't a famous wizard once say that 'Share with someone your joys to double them, and your sorrows to halve them'?). Whatever you decide to do, just don't focus on the if only's and forget to live.

However, when we next see you, no matter what you've decided, I want you to promise me that you won't blow up on us. Hermione and Ron really don't need it, and you know that they have done nothing to deserve it. But they seem to just take it as it comes, and someone has to put you right: it looks as if I'm going to have to be the one to do it. Don't blow all of your troubles onto them. They didn't cause them, and yelling at them isn't going to put things right again. An apology is definitely in order.

I know that you don't need this right now, but you desperately need the wake up call to stop acting like a real prat. If anyone, you can always go and yell at Malfoy. God knows the ferret deserves it...

I really hope that this letter helped you. Always remember that I'll be here if you ever need to talk to me. I'm only an owl away, and I'm no longer the little girl you think I am...

Always,

Ginny

She smiled in delight; this would teach him to treat her like 'Ron's little sister' (which annoyed her to no end). When she had said that she had lost her 'school-girl' crush on him, she had spoken the truth; it had developed into something – well, different.

She wasn't obsessed with him anymore, and had put herself to the fact that she would probably not end up with him, but that didn't mean that all emotions were completely gone (far from it). It was simply less of an – infatuation. And she had realized that if there were any chance of her getting him, she would have work to get him and his thick skull to notice her.

Looking out her window and seeing the moon shining through, she realized that time had flown by and it was late. Deciding to send her letter with Pigwidgeon first thing in the morning, she got into bed and pulled her floral sheets over her body. She turned off the light, and easily fell into a deep slumber, dreaming about a certain bespectacled, raven-haired boy she knew.

Harry lay down on the park grass. He closed his eyes and allowed his skin to soak in the warm summer sun. It felt good to relax and allow all his tension to flow away.

He sat bolt upright when he heard sounds, hand already in his back pocket (where he kept it, despite Moody's warnings), ready to draw if needed.

Harry was about to lay back down when he realized that it was only Dudley's gang, until he noticed that they were tormenting Mark Evans again. He couldn't believe the nerve of those kids. He stood up and made his way towards them, totally intent on giving them a taste of their own medicine. Well, not really, but at least have them stop hurting the poor boy.

Without Harry realizing it, the air around him crackled with magic as his anger drove him closer to the bullies. When he saw Piers about to openly take a swing at the fallen child, he yelled.

"STOP!"

Unbeknownst to him, his magic had been building up, and as soon as the words were out of his mouth, a white beam of light shot out from him towards Piers. Not knowing what to do, Harry focused all of his concentration and willed the beam away from Piers.

The streetlamp that it hit exploded on impact, and the pavement around it was beginning to crack. Thankfully, all of them had had their faces turned, and, as such, none of them had seen the light. The gang, terrified when they saw the explosion, ran away from him as fast as they could: Dudley afraid of Harry's magic, the rest afraid of Harry's 'fire-crackers'!

With a look as shocked as Harry felt, Mark looked up to Harry, murmured a quick thanks under his breath, before running away as well. Harry sat down, and put his head in his hands. He never thought he would be grateful for his reputation as a highly-disturbed child. Someone could have found out about the magic, or worse, someone could really have been hurt if I hadn't managed to move the beam. He desperately hoped that Merlin would teach him to control his new powers, and fast.

When he heard sirens wailing, he stood up and ran away from the park. He didn't want to be found in association with the accident. He highly doubted that any of the gang would tell on him: they would have to explain what they had been doing and Harry would bet his Firebolt that they would not want to spend time in a juvenile delinquent hall.

But as he walked, a sinking feeling entered his stomach: could the Ministry of Magic detect what he had just done?

Harry found himself in the same room as the past two nights. Already familiar with the room, he decided to go back to analyze the mirror. That's weird, he thought. When he approached the mirror, his reflection didn't fuzz out as much as the previous time. While it was still unclear, it was more than just a vague outline, and some of his details could be seen.

He heard Merlin approach, and turned around to greet the wizening wizard, thoughts of the mirror driven to the back of his mind as thoughts of the fight came to him.

"Why didn't you warn me that I wouldn't have any control over my powers?" Harry accused him. Merlin's eyes twinkled madly.

"If my memories serve me right, you left before I had a chance to warn you."

"Ya, well..." Harry couldn't come up with a good comeback. He had left early, not that it was his fault, but the blame didn't lie with Merlin either.

Merlin led Harry down several winding corridors. As they walked, Harry continued to talk.

"Why don't I have control over my powers? Will I eventually have control over them?"

Merlin nodded, "You don't have control yet because the magic is raw and untamed, unlike the magic that you've had all your life, which grew and adapted to you. You must work to tame this new wild magic. Don't worry, control will come soon enough. All you need is hard work and concentration so that you have firm control over them. Of course, if you let your emotions rule you instead of ruling your emotions, you might have some problems."

Harry blushed. He didn't know how Merlin had known about that, and felt that he didn't want to.

"Of course," Merlin continued when he saw that Harry wasn't going to speak. "Nalani and Mandara will help you with controlling them, so you shouldn't have much of a problem. Ah ha! Here we are."

Merlin opened the tall, oak door and motioned Harry into the room, the same as the previous day. The peach room was still devoid of any furniture; even the center table was missing.

"Let us begin working on controlling your powers."

Sirius woke up, his head pounding ferociously. His head protested even more as he tried to sit up. Griting through the pain, Sirius stood and looked at his surroundings. He was alone in the Department of Mysteries. The veil under a stone archway fluttered behind him.

Hadn't he been in battle? What had happened? Sirius vaguely remembered three stunningly beautiful women in a white room, but the images were gone as soon as they had come. Replacing them was a calm that spread through his entire body. All he knew, instinctively, was that something bad had happened, and now it had been fixed. He could find Harry now, before any Unspeakables saw him. Sirius was, after all, still an 'escaped convict' in their eyes...

A/N: Another chapter up! Hoped you enjoyed it, even though I think its the worst on yet! Every update from now on will be weekly! I really apologize, but now that school has started, I'm going to be swamped with homework, and I won't have that much free time to write! Don't worry, holidays will be filled with chapters. :D

Thanks to all those that reviewed, they really encouraged me to keep on writing! I love reviews! Now on to the review responses:

Harry/Ginnyfan4ever: Thanks for your 'in person' review! I'll try to update as soon as I can! I am so sorry for reversing the order! Me profuse apologies. Please forgive...

Eternity of Twilight: I hoped you liked the Ginny. I know she wasn't really rampant in this chapter, but I promise she will definitely be in later chapters.

Lady of the Dragons2: The training begins next chapter (I promise)! More Sirius later on!

Lek Nufrac: I'll update as soon as I can, I promise. But don't expect it more often than once a week, sorry.

Gohan00: Thanks for the review!

Dr. Gero: I was so happy when I saw that you thought my story was the best Harry-superpower story. I started dancing around the room. That means soooo much to me! I hope you enjoyed the details. I know there weren't a lot during this chapter, but I promise more later on! Thank you for not pressuring me to update quickly. My writing is better if I'm not pressured to update as soon as possible, and can take my time!

Phoebe-H: Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for the help, I really needed it! Thanks for your time! (lol)

Blue-skies: Thanks for the review! I agree that Merlin and Dumbledore really resemble each other, but I assure you that that was done purposefully. They are both old wizards with superior knowledge of affairs, and an annoying twinkle in their eyes when they know something that you don't. I'm sorry that you found the Matrix part too cliched. The funny part was that I wrote it and thought it sounded good before realizing that it was from that movie! Oh well... Thanks for the review. I'm going to use your info... later on in the story :D

Please REVIEW guys! It's that little button in the bottom left hand corner. The next chapter will have more training, I promise.