A/N: Hey everyone! Back for another chapter, yippee! I didn't get many reviews last chapter, but I'm hoping you'll do better this time! This chapter is pretty humourous, in my mind, and I hope you think it is too! Sorry for the long wait. I've been pretty busy. Also don't expect another update for maybe 2 weeks, because I have to get the plot sorted out. I'll try my best though.It would have beenupdated for like the past 4 days, but I've been so busy with basketball,Ash Wednesday, and homework.I also couldn't miss theSuper Bowl!Please review if you have comments, find mistakes or just want to say how good or bad it is! I really appreciate them!

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Glenlightarrow: Thanks so much for reviewing! You reviewed like immediately after I updated! I don't quite think I'm as good as JKR but thanks for the praise, I really really appreciate it!

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Chapter 5: Friends and Memories

Harry woke up early the next morning to the excited squeals coming from Hermione and Ginny as they jumped on his bed, and Ron yelling at them to leave him alone. Finally his friends were here! It had been a long two months since he had last seen them face to face.

"Harry!" shrieked Hermione and Ginny at the same time. Harry noticed Ginny's cheeks going a bit rosy when she said that and felt a little tingle from somewhere in his midsection. While he was being smothered by the girls as they gave him hugs and Ron who was repeatedly slapping him on the back, Harry glanced under Ginny's arm and saw Snape watching them from the corridor outside the hospital wing. Harry gave a little wave and was pleased to see his professor return it.

"How'd you guys get here?" Harry asked.

"We took a portkey Dumbledore made us to Hogsmeade then walked from there," Hermione told him smartly. "We stopped at Diagon Alley to pick up school supplies. We got you yours, too, based on you O.W.L. scores," Hermione looked at Harry for his approval at this.

Harry nodded in thanks and glanced back to the hospital wing door. Snape had disappeared. Harry was a bit disappointed, but realized that his friends probably wouldn't have liked Snape coming in here wanting to get all chummy and talk.

"How you doing then, mate?" Ron asked, finally able to get a word in between the girls constant babbling about what had been happening during their summer.

"I'm doing alright," Harry said slowly, debating whether to tell his friends the prophecy yet or not. He decided now was not a good time and he didn't want to put the burden on them also. "So, how have the Chudley Cannons been doing the last few weeks?"

"Great!" said Ron enthusiastically. "Reports have it that they should actually make the playoffs for the first time since 1892 when they won the league! They are now tied for second in the league and play Puddlemere United who's first in the league. I heard Oliver is starting for them now, too! It should be an exciting game, I wish I could go."

"Wow, that's awesome, Ron!" said Harry, glad his friend had something to cheer for in this time of war and sadness. "Have you been to any games this year?" Harry was jealous of his friend, Ron actually got to do stuff this summer and have fun. But then, Ron had always been jealous of him because he got so much attention for being the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry bitterly thought that he would have traded anything to live the life Ron did.

"Well, if you two are going to be discussing Quidditch all afternoon, Ginny and I will go unpack and set up our dormitories. I have something I need to look up in the library, too. I've been waiting all summer to do that!" Hermione told them, looking bored with the Quidditch talk. "See you guys later!"

Ginny gave Harry a look that said she would much rather be talking Quidditch then going with Hermione to the library, but left anyway, glancing back as she did so. She motioned to Ron and then to Hermione, making a heart. Harry got the hint and smiled mischievously at his best friend who had been obliviously rambling on about the Cannons and Puddlemere United and how it was going to be the game of the century. This would be fun.

Harry listened some more and nodded and said yeah or no in all the right places until Ron got tired of Quidditch and asked if he could have some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

Harry grabbed his chance when Ron was preoccupied with the beans. He took a picture he had of Ron and Hermione from last year in Hogsmeade and charmed it to make them kiss. He had learned it from one of Sirius' old books that he had lying around Grimmauld Place last winter. It was a charm to make the occupants of the picture do whatever you wanted them to, with some limits (like not being able to change their physical appearance). Harry snickered as he looked at it then hid it under the bed sheets for the opportune moment to display it.

"What are you laughing at?" Ron asked suspiciously as he took a breath in between talking about different Quidditch plays.

"Nothing," said Harry, changing the subject to the war and Voldemort. "So, what do you think of what happened to Moody?" Harry asked sadly, remembering the old auror and his gruff and vigilant ways.

"He was really brave and loyal to have done that for you guys," said Ron, a sad look appearing on his face. Ron had always liked Moody and they seemed to have been a bit closer then Moody had been to Hermione or Harry. "But he had to do it; there was no other way that I can see from what Tonks told me."

Harry now felt a new rush of guilt rush into his stomach. It was his entire fault. Everything he did got someone killed. Harry felt a tear drip down his cheek and brusquely turned away from Ron and wiped it off, trying to make sure Ron didn't see him.

"Yeah, so how has things been going elsewhere? I haven't heard any news for days," Harry asked Ron, trying to get the thought of Moody surrounded by Death Eaters out of his mind.

"You heard about Mungdungus didn't you?" Ron asked,

"No! What happened? He's not the one that was killed a few days before the attack…?" Harry was speechless. How could he have forgotten the person who had been killed and made Dumbledore run from him? He felt so bad now, only caring about himself and forgetting that there were others that were worse off then him.

"Yes, I'm sorry Harry, but Dung was killed while he was off trying to get some more cauldrons for his new black market deal he was doing. Some Death Eaters found out he was in the Order and were the ones he was trying to sell the cauldrons to. His celebration will be at the same time as Moody's I believe. A week from tomorrow."

The two boys sat in silence for several minutes, thinking and grieving for the members of the Order that had been lost in the last two weeks. Harry again thought of the prophecy and whether or not he should tell his friends. They deserved to know, but he didn't want them to be as overwhelmed as he was. 'Sirius' Harry thought, calling his godfather. This was the first time he had tried this and he hoped it worked. 'Sirius, I need help. Then he remembered what he was supposed to say.

'Help me Padfoot,' MeanwhileRon was looking at Harry like he was insane. He had been concentrating a lot his face was distorted. Harry just put his finger to his lips and mouthed later.

'What later, Harry?' Harry jumped at the sound of Sirius' voice in his head.

'Sirius!' Harry shouted in his head, thinking this was totally weird. 'I just told Ron I'd tell him what I was doing later.'

'Ah, I see. We'll have to work on that then,' Sirius said.

'Work on what?' Harry asked, turning away from Ron who was looking very far from comforted that his best friend was going insane on him.

'You being able to talk to me without looking any different than normal. You must be able to talk to me and talk to someone in the physical world at the same time. Now, why do you need my help?'

Harry looked back at Ron and tried to tell him what was happening and at the same time tried to think to Sirius. What came out of Harry's mouth surprised him.

"Ron, do you I'm sorry, this may think I should tell sound weird, but Ron, Hermione but I'm talking to Sirius and Ginny about in my mind. It's hard to explain the prophecy? but I will just give me a minute," Harry didn't realize anything had gone wrong until he heard Sirius cracking up inside his head and realized Ron was panicking and saying he had better go get Dumbledore.

'You better just talk to Ron first, Harry, I'll wait,' Sirius said as Harry groaned and mentally imagined himself kicking Sirius because he wouldn't stop laughing.

"Ron, don't go, I'm fine, I can explain!" Harry said hurriedly as Ron had been slowly backing away towards the door.

"Ar…are...are you sure Harry?" Ron squeaked, still looking frightened at his best friend's actions.

"Yea, I'm fine. I was trying to say Ron, I'm sorry this may sound weird, but I'm talking to Sirius in my mind. It's hard to explain just give me a minute. It just got scrambled up with what I was trying to tell Sirius at the same time," Harry now realized he would have to tell his friends the prophecy whether he wanted to or not. How could have been so stupid?

"Uh, ok. What about talking to Ginny in your mind? And the prophecy?" Harry could see Ron still wasn't getting it.

For the next 15 minutes Harry told him about the Padrinos Charm and how it worked. By the end, Ron was sitting their awed, his mouth agape with disbelief.

"That's bloody brilliant Harry! Now we can get help whenever we need it! Or for your exams, just ask Sirius a question and he can tell you the answer. I wish I had someone like that!"

"This is Sirius we're talking about, Ron. He's not so brilliant himself," Harry grinned, knowing Sirius was listening.

'That's not very nice, you know. Now maybe I won't help you. I was going to before and now you ruined it Harry.' Sirius said, trying to sound hurt. Harry laughed. He knew Sirius would stop at nothing to help his godson out.

"Ok, so until I practice talking to both of you at the same time I'll switch back and forth, ok?" Harry asked Ron.

"That's fine, are you going to go talk to him now?" Harry nodded and was back into his trance.

'So, Sirius, should I tell him about the prophecy or not?' Harry asked of Sirius.

'Well, now you kind of have to don't you? I would if it were my friends. Trusting people and not trying to do it all yourself is what is going to help you defeat Voldemort, Harry. I would say you've got yourself a good batch of friends; ones you can trust your life with,' Sirius pointed out. Harry knew he could trust them; he just didn't want them to get hurt. 'Harry, I wouldn't worry about it. You have a saving people thing by the way, did you know? They are going to do what they think is right no matter what you do. So prepare them all you can and hope for the best.'

'Thanks Sirius,' Harry said, sounding very sincere.

'No problem, call me anytime for help. I might sometimes just pop in for a visit anyways, it get's kinda boring here.'

'Where's 'here'?' Harry asked.

'Beyond the veil, Harry, I'm sorry but I can't tell you more than that. I believe learned wizards study the topic in the DoM. They could help you out more. By the way, your parents say hi and told me to tell you they are very proud of you. Farewell for now!' And with that, Sirius was gone from his head, making it feel too quiet.

'Sirius, wait, you are with my parents?' Harry shouted to him, wanting him to come back and tell him more. It was no use.

Harry slowly came back from his trance to find Ron staring at him nervously. He had forgotten about him in the few minutes he had been talking to Sirius.

"Ron, we've got to talk later. All of us, in private," Harry said, resigned to telling his friends his fate. "Tonight, after I move back into the dorms. Maybe the Room of Requirement." Earlier Dumbledore had told Harry that if he had a clean bill of health from Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape, he could move back to his shared room in Gryffindor Tower.

"Ok, sounds good. Hey, what's that?" he knelt down next to the bed and picked up a picture. His face quickly grew from pale and freckly to bright red. "Um…Harry…where did you get this?" If it was possible, Ron was now turning redder than he had ever gotten and was blubbering madly about how it wasn't true and somebody must have tampered with the picture.

Ron seemed resigned to accept the fact that the truth out. "I swear Harry; we were going to tell you…Where did you get the bloody picture? It couldn't have been Hogsmeade last year, was it?"

Harry was cracking up at the look on Ron's face. "No, I'm sorry Ron, but it was so funny!" he leaned back onto his pillow, holding his ribs. "Ginny told me, even though I had been hoping it would happen, and I just had to embarrass you with the picture. Hogsmeade, our last trip was it? Yea, I think so, must have been then. So, how long has this been going on?"

"Just since right before the DoM, I swear Harry! But, how could it have been our last Hogsmeade trip? We were all together and never separated," Ron was studiously examining Harry's face. "You did tamper with the picture!"

Harry started laughing once again. "Oh, wow, that was brilliant Ron! You were so going for it at first! Wait until I get Hermione!"

"Harry, no way are you going to do that to Mione, she'd flip," Ron said forcefully, then realized his mistake a second too late.

"Oh…so it's Mione now is it? So sweet! And what's her pet name for you, Ron? Oh, my darling little Ronniekins!" Harry mimicked Hermione's voice.

Ron again turned red, and threw a pillow from the next bed at Harry, which hit him in the face and broke his glasses. "Oops, sorry mate."

Harry was laughing and threw the pillow back at Ron. He waved his wand and mended his glasses quickly. "No, Ron, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have sprung that picture on you like I did, or made so much fun of you, my apologies."

Ron waved it off and soon they were back to talking about Quidditch and other matters that were much happier then the war and didn't involve teasing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The four friends (Ginny was now officially included in their little clique, and consequently they became a quartet) talked all day about different gossip and what had happened to them during break.

Harry had some time alone after lunch when the others had gone back to their rooms to organize and get some rest. He was therefore surprised when Madam Pomfrey announced he had two visitors. He had been planning on thinking about what to tell his friends about the prophecy and the meaning behind the words on the pendant Ginny gave him. He decided he needed to talk to her alone later.

Harry turned to see Professors Dumbledore and Snape walk into the hospital wing. In turn, they each greeted him and Harry returned each with a little "Hello." He wondered why they were here, but they made no sign of trying to make conversation and sat there in silence looking at him.

"Er…if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" Harry asked, looking from one to the other, starting to get worried. Instantly he jumped to bad conclusions, as he had been prone to doing recently. What if something had happened and they were here to tell him?

Dumbledore sighed, which he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. Harry assumed it was the stress of the war and deaths in the Order. "We're here to talk to you about an important event which needs to take place; Sirius' Celebration."

"It has come to my attention, Mr. Potter, that you do not know what this entails," said Snape, immediately transforming into his teaching mode. Harry laughed to himself at this. He had never thought he would see a softer, nicer side of Snape. The reality was, the mean and strict half of Snape was his Professor side that he let students see. Harry supposed it was to intimidate them, and it worked. He remembered how much he had feared Snape in his younger years. In fact, he still did a bit.

Harry then turned serious, remembering what this was all about. "No, sir, I don't know. What exactly happens at a Celebration?"

"A Celebration is the equivalent of a muggle funeral, with many magical qualities, of course. Have you been to a muggle funeral, Potter?" Snape asked, his eyes searching Harry's face when he saw it cloud over in dismay.

"Yes, my Uncle's father died when I was seven, and I was forced to go," said Harry darkly, remembering a little of the fiasco that had occurred. "Do I have to go? I don't really…enjoy funerals" he gulped. Harry's memory of the event came to him and he entered it unwillingly, knowing that he would have to face it sooner or later.

It was a sunny, hot day, with many house flies swarming around him. He was stuck sitting in the hot, muggy church through a long service, and was starting to get annoyed by everyone going up to the pulpit and crying over their many, and in Harry's mind boring, memories of Uncle Vernon's father.

To make it worse, it was Harry's birthday, July 31. The last thing he wanted to do was be at a funeral of someone he met once and had hated. Grandpa Dursley, as he had been forced to call him, had been an old, rough-spoken man. Grandpa Dursley had lived in Ireland, and had only come to visit once when Harry was six. Just like his so-called Aunt Marge, Grandpa Dursley constantly looked down on, and ridiculed Harry. Dudley was treated like a prince and Harry like his lowly servant.

He constantly kept a close watch on Harry the whole vacation, and Harry had been warned by Uncle Vernon that he would get a beating if he didn't behave and do whatever the old man asked of him.

Harry definitely didn't mind that he had died, except for the timing. As usual, his birthday had gone unnoticed and little Harry had been on the verge of tears all day. Why didn't he get any presents while Dudley got many? He had been told that it was because he had been a bad boy and his parents had been bad so he didn't deserve them.

Thinking of this, Harry broke down in his pew and started crying. Friends of the Dursley's looked sympathetically at him and murmured to each other 'poor boy, barely knew his grandpa, to have been taken from him so young.' Harry just sat there and cried by himself, because no one would comfort him as the Dursley's had told them all he was a 'troubled and mean-spirited' boy.

Soon (but not soon enough), the funeral was over. As the Dursley's made their way out the door and Uncle Vernon roughly called to Harry, "Hurry it up boy! We haven't got all day," Harry wiped his runny nose on his hand-me down t-shirt of Dudley's that was five sizes too big and thought of his parents. Had there been a funeral like this one? If there had been, he didn't remember it. He wished he did.

Unfortunately for little Harry, the best part of his day was over. It only got worse on out. Harry quickly ran to his uncle's new Mercedes and climbed into the back besides Dudley who gave him an evil look, punched him hard in the stomach and then sat as far as possible from Harry as the car allowed him. Harry shouted out as he was hit, and then cowered in the corner whimpering and trying to stop crying as his aunt now gave him a malevolent glare.

"We do not need a sissy little boy making a disturbance at the burial!" she hissed at him. Aunt Petunia then turned to his uncle and said, "Why couldn't you have found a baby sitter! He is a terror in public! What will the relatives think of us?"

"They will think nothing; they already know how disturbed he is. They will just assume he has gotten worse. As for a baby sitter, Mrs. Figg is out of town at the moment and no one else will take him," his Uncle Vernon said disinterestedly.

Harry glowered in the back corner of the car, holding his head with its messy black hair that Aunt Petunia once said looked exactly as his father's had. He traced his finger along his lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. He had gotten it in the car crash his parents had died in. Tracing it reminded him of his parents, and comforted him. It held a soothing power.

As they reached the cemetery, little Harry calmed himself and got out of the air conditioned car into the hot summer day. He was forced to stand by Uncle Vernon, who hit him for not paying attention. 'Pay attention to what?' Harry thought. The priest was droning on with the burial rites and to Harry it combined with the droning of the insects in the air.

All at once, Harry's senses seemed to expand and the colors where brighter, he could smell every flower among the stench of a few dozen sweaty people. Underneath it all, he thought he could even smell the body of Grandpa Dursley decaying in the coffin. Harry shuddered.

Harry's attention then focused on a bumblebee that had landed on a dandelion by his foot. It was buzzing around gathering nectar and gave Harry a needed distraction. He knelt down beside it and stroked the yellow and black fuzz.

"You disgraceful boy!" Aunt Petunia hissed down at him after noticing the boy beside her had disappeared. "Get away! It'll hurt Dudley, don't provoke it!"

That gave Harry an idea. He stood up and mouthed sorry at Aunt Petunia and pretended to be interested in the burial again. That was when he felt a poke in his back. He slowly turned around and saw Dudley poking a stick in between his shoulders. Dudley leaned down and Harry could see his fat bulging and rolling on his stomach. 'Disgusting!' he thought.

"Why don't you scream?" Dudley asked him, trying to provoke Harry to get him in trouble.

"Why don't you leave me alone?" Harry whined back. Then he remembered how much Dudley hated bees. He concentrated on the bee he knew was nearby and willed it to get bigger. Cautiously, Harry looked down, and then jumped back onto Dudley's foot, who immediately let out a howl. This caused his aunt and uncle to round on Harry.

"What do you think your doing? We are in the middle of a burial!" They shook their fingers at him and then pulled him aside behind a tree. Harry paid no attention to them. His focus was now on the bumblebee, which had swelled to the size of a yellow Labrador retriever. Dudley was cowering on the ground, moaning and covering his eyes. People around them were just starting to notice and started shrieking.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked around the tree and screamed. Uncle Vernon immediately dropped Harry and ran towards Dudley. Aunt Petunia fainted dead away and fell on top of Harry, who crawled out from underneath her with a look of awe on his face. How had he done that?

Harry tottered slowly towards the bumblebee. Harry could have swore the bee was looking at Dudley like it was nectar, and it started slowly towards the fat, blonde haired boy lying on the ground. Dudley started hyperventilating and also fainted.

Uncle Vernon, meanwhile, had been shouting for help. Now he turned to Harry and started yelling, "Stop it before it eats him! Boy, you will be in your cupboard for the next 6 months if you don't do something!" His face was turning bright Dursley-red as little twitters from the people watching in fear grew at his statement. He realized he had blamed the impossible on a small boy in front of all these people. Uncle Vernon shrugged it off with what looked like difficulty to Harry.

The bumblebee was still growing. It had reached a size that the body couldn't grow any bigger, but it could grow wider, and fatter. To Harry, it looked like it was filling up like a balloon does with air. Several other people realized this and started to yell, "It's gonna blow!"

Harry laughed until he was rolling on the ground with tears in his eyes. People looked at him oddly then began to inch away from him. When Harry could manage a glance at the bee again, he saw that it was now almost as round as a basketball. Then, with a large BOOM, the bumblebee exploded and sprayed those unlucky enough to still be within range.

Harry, Dudley, and Uncle Vernon all got a full blast of the fluid that flew everywhere, but Harry got the most of it. He immediately stopped laughing and started crying. He hadn't wanted to make a mess, and in truth, the liquid stung him quite a bit. He looked down at his skin to see it very red and irritated. Dudley and Uncle Vernon were disgustedly trying to wipe the slime off them, but it didn't seem to be irritating them at all.

Harry just sat and cried until someone came with a bucket of water and dumped it on him. The Dursley's then dragged him home, the burial and day ruined. As he sat in his dark cupboard later that night and thought of what happened, Harry again laughed at the look of fright on the Dursley's faces. 'At least something had come out of it,' he thought.

The down part was that he had received the first whipping of his life, and was sentenced to 3 months in his cupboard, only allowed to come out to go to the bathroom.

The whipping hadn't been bad, just five strokes with Uncle Vernon's belt, but three months in the cupboard was torture. His skin was now very irritated, and Aunt Petunia wouldn't let him have anything to put on it.

Harry started crying and thought of his parents, and how if they would have been alive, none of this would happen.

Slowly Harry came back to reality after recalling his only funeral ever to Dumbledore and Snape.

They looked taken aback at his story, and nobody said anything for a long time. Finally, Professor Snape said quietly, "I'm sorry, I didn't know. But Harry, with some counseling, you could get over your fear enough for you to go. Celebration's aren't exactly like funerals."

Harry looked at Snape curiously. Snape, uncertain as to what was going on, looked back calmly. "You said my name," Harry said wonderingly.

"That I did. Didn't you ask me to?" Snape asked, amazed the Harry was so astounded.

"Yes, I did, it's just you never listened to me before," Harry said quietly, looking at his Professor with a kind of new reverence.

"Albus, what do you think of Harry's funeral? Do you agree that he should be counseled?" Snape turned to Dumbledore. "Headmaster?" The aging wizard was gone. "Harry, did you see Dumbledore leave?"

"No, sir," Harry replied, perplexed as to where Dumbledore had gone. "He was right there a minute ago, I'm sure of it."

"I've better go find him then," said Snape exasperatedly. "He always is doing this to me. I'll come back to talk later." With that Snape got up and strode out the door in search of the headmaster.

Harry had just leaned back onto his pillow when Snape stuck his large nose back into the hospital wing. "By the way, Dumbledore was supposed to tell you that you can move up into your dormitory with your friends this afternoon."

"Yes! Finally! Thank you Professor!" Harry shouted across the room to the retreating Professor.

The Celebration was cast aside in Harry's memory for the time being in the rush of moving up into Gryffindor Tower before nightfall. He had so much to do, how would he ever remember to do it all?

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!