The next morning, Harry woke early. His stomach didn't hurt, but it was tied in knots. He wasn't nervous about Voldemort; he knew that he would bother Harry for a while now, especially with the Ministry after him.

No, what was bothering Harry was that Sirius would pick him up that night. He was nervous about how that would work out. He packed up his things, and decided to visit Hagrid.

He walked slowly down to Hagrid's hut, thinking about what Sirius' house would be like.

He came up Hagrid's door, and knocked loudly on it.

Hagrid shuffled up to the door. He opened it, and looked down and saw Harry. "Harry! How are yeh? Haven't seen yeh for a while. Come in."

Harry stepped in, and sat down at Hagrid's table. "Thanks."

Hagrid sat down in a chair beside Harry. "So, what's up? Is somethin' wrong?"

"No," said Harry. "I'm just nervous. About living with Sirius."

"What's te worry about?" asked Hagrid, frowning.

"Well, it's going to take some adjusting to," said Harry.

Hagrid laughed. "Adjusting to, Harry? O' course. Everythin' new 'as to be adjusted to. Life is gonna be loads different now, what with You-Know-Who bein' back an' all. But it'll be all righ'. Know how I know?"

Harry shook his head.

"'Cause I know you. Yer really somethin', Harry. No one's ever lived before, and I dunno if anyone else will. But I do know that You-Know-Who can' seem te kill you," Hagrid said. "And I'm not sure he ever will. I think other people're in more danger then you are."

Harry smiled. "Thanks, Hagrid."

"An' about Sirius… If he's smart, he'll be nuts about you, so yeh don' have to worry. Look at the time! Harry, you've gotta go pack! The last feast starts in an hour!" said Hagrid.

"I've packed. I was up early," said Harry.

"Yeh didn' sleep well?" asked Hagrid. Harry shook his head. "Harry! Yeh need yer sleep, an' yer not gettin' it! You've not bin gettin' sleep since yeh got 'ere."

"It's been a rough year," said Harry timidly.

"I know tha', but yeh shouldn' be so worried 'bout it. Ain't nothing' You-Know-Who could ever do te yeh," Hagrid assured Harry.

"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry.

"Well, yeh should go up te the feast… don' want te be late," said Hagrid.

Harry left, waving goodbye to Hagrid. He jogged up to the school, and then walked slowly to Gryffindor tower.

"Good morning!" greeted the Fat Lady.

"Morning. Cirdog."

She opened, giving Harry a nod, and he stepped in. As Harry came in, he heard Hermione say, "Harry! There you are! Where were you?"

"Down at Hagrid's," explained Harry. "I couldn't sleep, so I got up early."

Hermione's eyes widened, and she said, "You still can't sleep? You'd better get packed!"

"I am packed, Hermione," said Harry. "I packed before I left."

Hermione said, "Oh, sorry. Well then, I guess we're nearly ready, aren't we? We're just waiting on — "

"Here I am," said Ron, hurrying down the stairs. "Sorry, woke up a bit late."

"Great! Now we can go to the feast," said Hermione. "Let's go."

They headed down the corridors, chatting excitedly about their summers.

"I can't wait! It's going to be great living with Sirius," said Harry.

"I'm sure it will. I just hope that you don't forget to visit us," said Hermione pointedly. "You will remember, will you?"

"Of course," asked Harry.

"It'll be odd without Fred and George," said Ron. "I wonder what they'll be doing…"

They reached the Great Hall, and took their seats. Ron and Harry sat between Seamus and Fred, and Hermione sat across from them, between George and Lee.

Professor Dumbledore stood up. "If I may have your attention, before we enjoy this last feast…"

Everyone grew silent.

"Another year has vanished, and another set of students is leaving Hogwarts, as another one has just gotten comfortable here. I hope that each and every one of you is an assent to our world. It is your choice to be, make no mistake. If you want to make a difference, you can. And, I think, you all will.

"One of the things I love most about each year is the friendship. New friends are made, and old ones are strengthened. Cherish your friends, as they will always be there for you. Be true to them, and they will never fail you. Now, please enjoy!"

The plates filled with scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, and numerous other breakfast foods.

Harry filled his plate with scrambled eggs, three pieces of toast, and two sausages.

"It's good to see you really eating again," Hermione said happily.

"Yeah, you're making up for everything you haven't eaten all year in one meal," said Fred, grinning. Harry laughed too.

"What're you doing this summer, Harry?" asked Neville.

"Moving in with my godfather," said Harry brightly.

"Wow! I'm not doing much of anything," said Seamus.

The Great Hall continued to be filled with chatter. It was cheerier than it had been the last couple of days, but it was still downtrodden, as Professor Somorum's empty seat served as a constant reminder of their loss.

As the chatter began to subside, Dumbledore stood up.

"Now, the reason you are all here: the Inter-house Quidditch cup…" Dumbledore said, smiling. "The points are these: In fourth place, Hufflepuff, with 356 points. Next, we have Ravenclaw with 452 points. Slytherin is second with 460 points. And first place, with 465 points, is Gryffindor house."

The Great Hall erupted with cheers. None of the students remembered a closer win, although Gryffindor won by only ten points in Harry's first year. Everyone was cheering, except for the Slytherins. Harry smiled as he saw Malfoy turn away, not looking Harry in the eye. His smile turned into an exaggerated one though, when he saw Cho smile at him.

After they were dismissed from the Great Hall, the students were taken by horse-less carriage to the train station at Hogsmeade. Harry, Ron, and Hermione found their own apartment, and Jessica, Fred, and George followed them into it.

They all took their seats, and the train began to lurch forward, and move swiftly out of the station.

"I can't wait!" said Harry excitedly. "I don't have to go back to the Dursleys' anymore!"

"Awfully happy for yourself, aren't you Harry?" said George jokingly. "I'd be careful with that attitude…"

"Hey Hermione, did you ever let Rita Skeeter go?" asked Fred. "I haven't seen her column recently."

"Oh yes, ages ago," Hermione assured Fred. "I'm sure she's just been recuperating. That, or it took her a while to get a grip on not writing lies about people…"

Harry cocked his head and just stared at her, as she had an odd smile on her face. Then, the plump old witch that drove the trolley came into their compartment, and everyone bought candy and cauldron cakes for lunch.

"So, what do you think'll happen with the Quidditch team next year?" asked Ron.

"I dunno," said Fred. "What happened this year will have to happen again, although a lot of the team'll have to be rebuilt. The team'll need three Chasers, and two Beaters. But don't worry, I'll bet you'll find good ones," Fred assured Harry. "Maybe you'll even be chosen as Captain next year."

Harry smiled. Captain… he like the sound of that.

The group continued to eat their snacks, and Fred and George began telling some ideas for new trick sweets that they had.

"I've got an idea for a sweet that make you unable to speak for a minute or two… I figure some witches will be grateful for a minute of peace and quiet…" said George.

Everyone laughed.

Then, the door to the compartment opened, and Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle glided in, shutting the compartment door behind them.

"Well, well, well. You got lucky again, Potter. But don't worry, the Dark Lord will come back." He turned to Hermione. "Too bad Potter got there in time, Granger. I'd loved it if you'd been one of the first he killed."

Ron stood up, but Harry grabbed Ron's cloak, and held him back.

"I bet your father's happy, Malfoy. Now he can quit pretending he's on our side," said Harry.

"I'm glad that I hate you, Potter," Malfoy spat angrily. "I won't have to cry when my father helps the Dark Lord kill you."

Hermione perked up at this. "Actually, Malfoy, I don't think your father will be able to help You-Know-Who for very long."

"What're you talking about, Granger?"

Hermione gave a triumphant smile, and said in a slow, sarcastic and mocking tone of voice, "Don't tell me you haven't read the news?"

Ron and Harry stared blankly at Hermione, who grabbed an article from The Daily Prophet, and read it with unconcealed glee:

PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOU-KNOW-WHO LEAD TO INVESTIGATIONS

IN MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Photographs of You-Know-Who and his accomplice,

Peter Pettigrew, also known as "Wormtail," have led to

serious investigations of Ministry of Magic employees who

have a link to You-Know-Who, or were once Death Eaters.

Some of the most prominent wizards under investigation include

Lucius Malfoy, who neglected to comment.

The Minister himself, Cornelius Fudge, urges the

magical community to stay calm. "I promise that we are doing all

that we can to stop You-Know-Who. I sincerely apologize to Albus

Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and everyone who has already known

this."

Arthur Weasley, who has been fighting to stop You-Know-

Who's return ever since it began said earlier, "It's wonderful that

Fudge is on our side now. Now, we can seriously work to stop

You-Know-Who, without fear of losing our jobs."

When talking to the Daily Prophet, Fudge ended with these

words: "We will find the people who support You-Know-Who's

world of fear and death, and not let them continue to work in our

Ministry. We will not let You-Know-Who gain his hold of terror

over our world again."

"You see?" said Hermione, folding up the article. "Your father's being investigated! Your life's going to be quite different."

Malfoy's cheeks went a dark red. He snapped, "Who wrote that?"

Hermione smiled even wider. She said simply, "Rita Skeeter."

Harry and Ron's mouths dropped open, but Malfoy turned even redder. Rita Skeeter had secretly interviewed loads of Slytherins for her articles that insulted Harry, and those who supported him. Malfoy had actually been one of the Slytherins interviewed.

Fred and George stared dumbfoundedly at Hermione, while Ginny and Jessica just smiled at her proudly.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Malfoy headed towards the door. Before he left, he took one last look at each of them, and said, "But don't be fooled. You haven't won."

Everyone except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle laughed as Malfoy scowled and slammed the door behind him.

"When did you find that article?" asked Ron.

"I found it two days ago, when I found the article about Sirius," said Hermione proudly. "I've been wanting to show him, but I figured I should wait, because I knew he'd bother us on the train, like he always does."

Everyone laughed and resumed eating their sweets.

"So, what are you two doing once we get back?" Harry asked Fred and George, stuffing a cauldron cake into his mouth.

"Well, let's just say that Zonko's Joke Shop has two new employees," announced Fred, grinning from ear to ear.

Everyone gasped.

Hermione smiled, and said, "Congratulations! When did you two find out?"

"Just got the owl yesterday," said George proudly. "We start on July first. It's only temporary, of course. We just need to make enough money to open our own joke shop."

"Yeah," said Fred. "Then we were planning on buying the store, and making it our own."

"So, you're moving out?" asked Ron.

"No, sorry Ron," said George. "We're learning how to Apparate. We were studying hard last summer, before you came Harry, and we're hoping to pass it next week. Then, we'll Apparate to work each day."

Harry saw that Ron had a sad look on his face. He's going to miss Fred and George, Harry thought to himself, and I would too.

"What about you, Harry?" asked Fred. "What do you want to do when you graduate?"
"I dunno… it'd be nice to join up with a Quidditch team if I could make it," said Harry.

"I think you would. What about you, Ron?" said George.

Ron went red. "Er — I dunno. Maybe if you two needed help, I could work for you."

Everyone laughed again, and Fred just said, "We'll think about it. Hermione? What do you want to do?"

Hermione was silent for a moment, petting Crookshanks.

"I think… I think that I'd like to come back to Hogwarts as a professor. I think it'd be fun to teach!" she answered.

"I fell sorry for her students… they'll have so much homework…" said Ron, receiving a glare from Hermione.

She stood up slowly, putting Crookshanks on the floor, and went over to the window, and gasped. "I can see King's Cross from here! We all had better change out of our robes. Jessica, Ginny, let's find another compartment," she urged, heading toward the door. Jessica and Ginny followed her out.

Ron, Harry, Fred, and George all began switching into their street clothes. Crookshanks watched them from Hermione's chair.

"Hermione's something, isn't she?" asked Fred.

"Yeah. She's a lot different than she was in your first year," said George.

Harry and Ron nodded. "Yeah, she's lightened up a lot," said Harry.

Then, there was a knock at the door. They heard Hermione ask, "Can we come back in yet?"

Everyone said, "No," together, and then grinned.

They finished changing, and Harry called, "All right, we're dressed."

Hermione, Ginny, and Jessica came back in, and they all sat down again.

"It should only be a minute or two until we're there," Hermione said. "Oh! It's so exciting, coming home."

Harry realized that for the first time in his life, he himself was happy to come home. Sirius would be taking him home.

The train began to slow down, and it slowly came to a stop. Fred, George, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Jessica all climbed down, dragging their trunks behind them.

They went in small groups out of the barrier into the Muggle world. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went first, then Fred and George, and then Ginny and Jessica.

Mrs. Weasley was standing right outside the platform, and immediately greeted them.

"Hello everyone! Welcome home! Everyone have a good term?" she asked kindly. She turned to Harry, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Harry, Dumbledore told me about everything. Are you all right?"

Harry nodded. He wasn't all right, as he was rather confused, and his head hurt trying to comprehend everything. But, Harry didn't want Mrs. Weasley to worry about him.

"There's my mother," Hermione said, waving at a woman a few feet away. The woman turned, and came up. It was clear that Hermione took after her mother, as the two looked very much alike.

"Hello, Hermione dear!" She gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi Mum! Mum, these are my friends from Hogwarts. That's Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Jessica Braham," Hermione smiled and said, "and that is Harry Potter."

Mrs. Granger's eyes widened, and she clearly had heard of Harry before.

"How do you do, I'm Molly Weasley," said Mrs. Weasley, offering her hand to Mrs. Granger.

"Nice to meet all of you," said Mrs. Granger, shaking everyone's hands. "Well, are you ready, Hermione?"

"Yes," Hermione said sadly, and she gave everyone hugs, including Harry. After giving Harry a particularly long hug, she said, "You'll write to me, right Harry? You won't forget, will you?"

Harry grinned. "How could I?"

Hermione seemed satisfied, and waved as she walked off with her mother.

"Are your parents picking you up, Jessica?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yeah, they should be here soon," said Jessica.

Then, Harry's uncle Vernon, a huge beefy man with a large moustache came up, red in the face.

"Ready, boy?" he growled, purposely ignoring everyone else around Harry.

Harry said, "But — but, I don't have to live with you anymore…"

Uncle Vernon got even angrier. "What the devil are you talking about?"

Then, everyone turned as a man came running towards them. He stopped next to Uncle Vernon, and Harry saw Sirius had arrived.