An update; Shock and Awe, Shock and Awe

Last time:

She turned to go join the rest of the group, and noticed the woebegone expressions on the two Slytherins faces.

Julia smirked as she headed towards them, and wondered what her brother was doing.

Harry: Part One

Hundreds of miles away Harry Potter, cursed the existence of house elves, or to be more precise he cursed the existence of barmy old headmasters who charged house – elves with his safe keeping.

"Dobby is sorry Harry Potter but Wezzy's mum wants Dobby to take Harry Potter to the kitchen."

Harry groaned, he had hoped for at least another hours respite from the other occupants of 12 Grimmauld place. It wasn't as if he didn't pull his weight around the house, or socialize with the other occupants of the house, but this summer more than most all he really wanted was some time alone.

And his sister back.

Harry still couldn't believe that Dumbledore wouldn't even allow him to see Julia, at all. The best he had been able to do was write letters to his sister, HIS sister. It wasn't as if he wanted to go visit the Prime Minister or anything, he just wanted to see his sister, and that barmy, meddlesome, old man wouldn't let him even see her!

The lack of contact with his sister was real hardship for Harry, because while Ron and Hermione were his best friends they didn't know him like Julia did. They didn't know about the cupboard under the stairs, or the way the Dursley's acted as if he didn't exist. Hell they didn't really know him to tell the truth. Yes it was a stated fact that they knew the Harry Potter who attended Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but they didn't know the Harry Potter who was unloved by the people who were supposed to take care of him. They didn't know Privet Drive Harry, they just knew Hogwarts Harry.

There was a big difference between the two.

Well if they didn't know Privet Drive Harry before they'll at least get a taste of him in a week. Harry thought as he trudged down the stairs after Dobby.

One week, and then he would again be 'reunited' with his mother's sister, her grossly over weight husband, and their 'recently slimed down' son Dudley.

That's right the Dursley's were coming to Grimmauld Place.

'Oh, lord kill me now,' Harry snarked as he made his way into the kitchen.

Hermione Granger was worried.

It was rare that she wasn't worried about something, whether it be home work or her cat Crookshanks, Hermione could unabashedly say she was worried about something 80 of the time. Or to be more realistic, more like 95 of the time. It seemed rather odd that she could think of such numbers but she had actually run a test and discovered that she worried a whole heck of a lot, it had been scientific and everything.

One of the things she worried about most however (excluding her parents of course) was her friends, Mostly Harry to be exact. Ron was, of course, worried about but he didn't get into near the amount of trouble the emerald eyed teen did. Ron didn't pass out during a Quiditch game, only to fall from his broom fifty feet up. No Hermione could honestly say that she didn't worry about Ron nearly as much as she did about Harry. Not that she was ever going to admit to favoring one friend more than another, even in such a mundane way as who she worried about more. Ron, Hermione knew, was a bit jealous of Harry, and felt that he needed to be thought of more than Harry. Not that Ron didn't honestly and truly care about Harry as a friend, he just needed to be catered to a bit more than Harry did.

Right now though, in the silence of her room, Hermione could honestly say that she was worried about Harry. Ever since she had been brought to Grimmauld place, ( a week after the attack on Julia) Hermione had noticed that Harry had been withdrawn and depressed. She didn't like it, not one bit. Hermione could honestly say though that if one of her family members had been attacked and she had been unable to see them that she would act exactly as Harry was.

Harry had asked to see his sister from the moment he had been taken from Privet Drive. The Headmaster had refused, saying that Julia needed time to recover. From what Harry and Hermione had no clue? They had been talking a lot about what could have happened. Harry had only been told that there had been an attack on Julia, but nothing else. He didn't even know where the attack had taken place. Dumbledore's orders of course, He had told everyone not to tell Harry, Ron, Hermione, or any of the underage Weasley's what had happened that June night. Harry had been furious to be sure. Hermione had arrived while he was in the middle of what seemed like a promising rant on meddlesome Headmasters. She always had a flair for timing.

Hermione knew that the Headmaster didn't fully realize what he was doing, keeping this information away from Harry. He was, Hermione thought, just trying to keep Harry from worrying more than he should. Well he certainly is going about it the wrong way. He doesn't even know Harry if he thinks that not telling him anything is the right thing to do, but then again, he never really knew Harry in the first place. Hermione didn't think anyone really knew 'Harry', besides maybe his sister. Hermione knew for a fact that she didn't know the real Harry. Not as he was now. She might have known the real him his first year, before the stone incident, but after that he had become tight lipped. Sure he would joke around with them, but he was always looking over his shoulder after that. Then again if I had come in contact with the dark lord that killed my parents I would probably do the same thing.

Now while Hermione could say that she didn't know Harry for a certainty she could say that she knew him better than Ron. These last few weeks Ron had been distant from the both of them, but that could be explained away by the fact that he now worked part – time at the twins joke shop Weasley's Wizarding Weezys. While the twins were admittedly the world's best practical jokers, they were hard task masters. Ron had come back many a night complaining about how Molly Weasley must have possessed them during the day. It was amusing to see him say that while making sure that no other Weasley heard, well other than Ginny of course. During the day while Ron was away at work, along with his sister Ginny; Harry and Hermione studied in the Black Family Library, which Hermione was in love with at first sight. At first Harry hadn't wanted to but Hermione finally bullied him into it. The first day had been filled with Harry's grouchy complaints about know-it-alls, said half-heartedly and with a smile to let her know that he didn't mean it, but near the end of the day Harry had come across the mother load of a defense section. Form then on he was hooked. Now three weeks later, and Harry and Hermione had set up a routine. Promptly at 8 after breakfast they trouped up to the library, where for two hours they studied silently. At ten Harry would practice wand movements with a pencil while Hermione looked up medi-spells. And after lunch, both Harry and Hermione would work on Occlumency. Granted it wasn't going well, but after the incident at the Department of Mysteries Harry wasn't taking any chances.

The Occlumency would proceed thus. Harry and Hermione both would sit on one of the long tables in the library and start to meditate. This lasted for as long as they could keep their mind in a relatively peaceful state. Since neither Harry nor Hermione had ever seen an Occlumens at work, Harry maintained that the lessons with Snape didn't count since they were attacks on his mind, not lessons; they both had to play by ear. At first they had barely been able to meditate for ten minutes, but after a while they had the hang of it. Hermione always thought about the sound of the ocean that put her mind in a calm state, from where she could order her thoughts and attempt to build a shield. She didn't know if her shield actually worked but she thought that it might, even if it didn't though it did help her remember things she thought that she had forgotten. Harry, after a week of frustrated no – success, had improved, he could remain in his meditative state for an hour and a half, only 15 minutes less than Hermione herself. He told her that he imagined flying. Not on a broomstick but by himself. He told her, which Hermione found strange, that when he flew he wasn't in body but in spirit. He felt that he 'was' the air in which he flew. It was odd, but then again Harry had never been what she would call normal, anything and everything happened to him.

In a week Harry's relatives would arrive, a fact which Hermione personally knew, from hearing hour long rants that Harry was completely unhappy with. Well she couldn't blame him. From what she could tell Harry and Julia had, had a less than optimal childhood. She was thinking about giving that Vernon fellow a piece of her mind. But she had promised Harry she wouldn't and she never broke a promise.

Hermione now knew a lot more about Harry from spending time selectively with him. He wasn't the hero that everyone thought he was. Hermione knew that everyone, herself included, thought that Harry was in control of his emotions, yes he was a little hot headed at times, but they thought he was mature enough to deal with the threat of Voldemort by himself. Not necessarily from fighting perspective, but from an emotional perspective. Harry needed an adult in his life and since Sirius died, he didn't have one. Hermione knew that he considered Remus Lupin an honorary uncle but uncle and godfather don't rank near each other in the emotional dependency scale. Harry loved Remus but he didn't trust himself to not push the man away. Hermione also knew that Harry was afraid that he had lost Remus when Sirius died. He was afraid that Remus would blame Harry for Sirius's death. Remus had disillusioned him of that notion very quickly.

A week after the attack Remus had visited Harry to tell him that Julia was getting better, from what he wouldn't say, but at least she was getting better. Harry had been very awkward with Remus at first, saying yes sir, and no sir; Remus had picked up on Harry's anxiety right off and had dragged Harry of into an empty bedroom to talk. Harry had told him later that Remus didn't blame him at all in Sirius's death and that he would like to get to know Harry better, since he was all the family the werewolf had, besides Julia, his goddaughter. Harry was worried about the werewolf rejecting him still but he was better after the talk than he had been.

Hermione sighed, she really needed to find out what had happened to Julia because until harry knew he wouldn't be the friend she missed. The friend she needed him to be.

She wondered what was happening to Julia.

AN: well what did you think? Corny good, bad?

Next chapter: Meet The Dursley's.

I'm not telling you the exact circumstances in which they meet, or why the heck they have to be back in the story but rest assured it will be good, and explosive. Oh yeah and next chapter Harry and Julia reunite. There might be some Ron and Draco mutual loathing too. Nothing definitive, but if so, it'll be a heck of a fight.

Reviews welcomed.

Kira