A/n: Sorry for not updating for so long! I've just been busy with exams and everything, but now it's finally the summer! Thanks to the people who still review and again I apologize for not updating sooner.

Chapter thirteen

"Mister Potter! Mister Harry Potter has come home!" A cheery voice squealed when Harry popped out of the fireplace.

Harry laughed. "Hello Dobby, nice to see you again too."

"We have missed Harry, oh very much! We kept tidy the house for your return," Dobby said eagerly. "

"Thank you," Harry replied.

A shy, quiet elf slowly walked towards Harry. She was holding a small knitted cap in her tiny hands. She stretched her hands out and showed them to Harry. "I – I made this, for you Sir."

Harry smiled. "Why thank you Winky! I was thinking of buying a cap actually, but thank you for making me this. You saved me money."

Winky looked relieved. She wasn't sure if her Master would appreciate a tiny, knitted cap. She worked hard on it, carefully sewing different colored beads that created different patterns, and occasional little ornaments like little nutshells or acorns. She wisely chose the Gryffindor colors, gold and scarlet. And at the top of the hat, she sewed in a design of a lightning bolt using twigs.

"We'll make something special for you in the kitchen as soon as possible Sir. Come on Winky, let's get to work!" Dobby said excitedly as he grabbed Winky's hand and rushed to the kitchen.

Harry laughed to himself and proceeded to his room. He passed by many portraits of Sirius's relatives, and finally a portrait of Sirius himself. Sirius was smiling mischievously in his portrait, walking, jumping or just standing perfectly still. Harry gave it a little smile and entered his room. In his room, everything was perfectly clean and in order, Dobby made sure of that. He put his suitcase on the floor and jumped on his bed. He stared at his ceiling and saw the glow in the dark stars again. He sighed. I really should take those out, he thought. Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Sir, your meal is ready for you." Dobby told him from outside.

"Thanks Dobby, I'll be out in a minute." Harry replied. He wasn't really hungry, but he knew Dobby was so excited to have him back and he didn't want to disappoint the poor elf. He took his jacket off and left it on the bed. Then he followed Dobby to the kitchen.

Weeks later…

Hermione and Ron still kept in touch with Harry through owl post and occasionally meeting up in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. However, Ginny didn't go with them to meet Harry. She always had 'other plans'. Secretly, she was just too ashamed of herself to see Harry again.

So today, it was the day before school began, and the trio decided to have some butterbeers.

"So what was the 'big announcement' you wanted to tell us from your letter?" Asked Hermione.

"Well, you know how Cho told me she was trying to get into Hogwarts to be a broom instructor or a Quidditch referee? Well I talked to Dumbledore about it and he said that the broom instructor and the Quidditch referee are usually the same teacher." Harry began.

"I'm not quite sure…is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Ron gave him a confused look.

"I'm not done yet, "Harry smiled. "So instead of me trying to fight for that position against Cho, he said I could be the Quidditch instructor!"

"That's great Harry!" Hermione replied.

"Wait, I'm confused. Since when did we have a Quidditch instructor?" Ron wondered.

"Since I asked." Harry grinned. "Dumbledore thinks that having a Quidditch instructor's a good idea to encourage the students to be more involved in the sport and it helps them practice their skills. And you don't have to be in the Quidditch team to take the course, you can just do it for fun."

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Hermione nodded approvingly as she sipped more of her butterbeer. "I expect a lot of students would want to take your course."

"Thanks for the encouragement Herm." Harry replied proudly.

"Yeah I think that's great too." Ron added. "Now this is the time where you go 'thanks Ron'."

Harry laughed. "Thanks Ron…"

"There you go." Ron joked. "Hermione's gonna be delivering soon!"

"Oh really?" Harry raised his eyebrow.

"It's due this month." Hermione nodded. "I'm really scared." She tapped her stomach gently. "I feel it moving a lot more often now. Sometimes when it kicks I feel like he might kick my stomach open or something. I'm rather paranoid about him."

"Him?" Harry paused. "How do you know? I thought you wanted it to be a surprise?"

"I just know it's a boy. I can sense it I suppose." Hermione shrugged. "Ron and I made a bet. If it's a girl I have to play Quidditch with him. How childish he is."

"I think it's a good deal. I'd love to see you even try to get on a broom and make it fly!" Ron snorted.

"And if Hermione's right, what do you get out of Ron? Not that there's much to get out of him anyway…" Harry teased. Ron gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"We're going to move back into my house in the Muggle world since my parents are gone for their vacation and he's going to have to cook food the Muggle way." Hermione explained.

"Are you sure you trust him with the cooking?" Harry joked.

"Hey, shut up!" Ron frowned. "You guys have no faith in me. I'll prove you wrong. I'LL SHOW YOU ALL!"

"Calm yourself Ronald. People are giving us strange looks." Hermione laughed.

Then, a couple entered the room. The boy had shaggy brown hair, wearing a navy blue shirt and jeans. The girl had red hair and was wearing a red shirt and white caprice. Harry could recognize that red hair anywhere. It was Ginny. He lowered himself into the seat, hoping she wouldn't see him.

"Well look who it is, it's my sister and another boy toy." Ron muttered. Hermione hit him on the shoulder. "What?"

Hermione just rolled her eyes. She looked at Ginny and her date. They were trying to find a seat. Ginny turned and saw Hermione and Ron looking at them. There was another figure, but she couldn't see it very well.

"There's an empty table right there." Hermione pointed. Ginny and the boy approached them and sat down the table beside Hermione's.

"Hello dear sister." Ron smirked.

Ginny ignored him. She leaned closer into the table and saw Harry, barely sitting on the chair because he was sinking so low, looking out the window with a smug look. "H – Hi Harry," she said feeling stupid.

Harry looked at her and turned pink. He sat up straight and recomposed himself. He didn't think that Ginny was actually going to talk to him. "Hi," he answered calmly.

"How are you?" She asked, trying to sound casual but there was still a hint of uneasiness in her voice. "I haven't seen you for awhile."

"Oh I'm great. I got a job at Hogwarts as the new Quidditch instructor." Harry answered.

"Quidditch instructor? Really? Great to meet you professor, I'm Andrew Domer from Ravenclaw." Ginny's date said excitedly. He reached to shake Harry's hand. Harry unsurely took his hand and shook it.

"Yeah, this is my new boy – uh – my friend, Andrew." Ginny blushed. She didn't want Harry to know she began to start dating again. She thought to herself that Harry doesn't care for her anymore and she decided that she should try to move on and start over.

Harry felt a twinge of pain in his chest. Jealousy all over again? Probably. "Nice to meet you," Harry cleared his throat. "I have to go the little boy's room. Excuse me." He stood up and walked away quickly.

"Geez Ginny. Way to mess it up again." Ron mumbled.

"Shut up Ron. You don't understand anything." Ginny cried angrily. "Let's go." She grabbed Andrew's hand and rushed out of the shop.

"Oh my gosh Ron, you always say the wrong things. Give her a damn break!" Hermione said angrily.

"Let's not start this argument again," Ron frowned. "You know I can't control myself from not saying what I think."

"Well it doesn't seem like you're trying hard to control it in the first place!" Hermione gritted her teeth. "Okay you know what, let's just stop. I don't want to fight."

"Neither do I. I'm sorry." Ron nodded. He didn't like seeing Hermione angry at him all the time.

"So am I, "Hermione smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

After a few minutes Harry finally came back. "Where'd they go?" He asked.

"They left after Ron – uh – something happened." Hermione told him. "Do you guys wanna go somewhere else?"

"Sure." Ron and Harry said in unison. As they left, they didn't realize that there was someone watching them just a few tables away, grinning to himself.