Chapter 3

The next morning Harry woke up to a piercing scream, making him sit upright. He quickly pulled on a t-shirt and ran into the hall to see what was going on.

Out in the hallway, Lupin had Raye thrown over his shoulder, tickling her, while she shrieked with pleasure. Lupin, after seeing Harry, stopped and said, "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to wake you. I was just trying to get her to take a bath." Lupin sat Raye down on the floor and watched her run downstairs with a slight smile on his face.

"It's alright. I'm glad actually. I thought someone was being tortured."

Remus grinned. "Well, if your hungry, Mira and Molly cooked up a delicious breakfast."

"So the Weasley's are her then?"

"Yes...but only for the remainder of the week. They'll go back to the Burrow then."

"Oh," said Harry. "Am I the last person to be up?"

Lupin laughed, and said, "No...Sirius is still asleep."

Down in the kitchen, Harry helped himself to some pancakes, some scrambled eggs, some bacon, and a piece of toast. There were only a few people at the table then. Chara, Finny and a girl Harry had never seen before, were sitting talking animately on the other side of the table. Tonks was sitting at the opposite end of the table from Harry, immersed in a copy of the morning Daily Prophet. He then walked over to the table and sat beside Ron.

"Hey Ron," said Harry.

"Hi,"

Ron yawned, then said, "What time did you get here yesterday?"

"Around nine or so." said Harry, taking a bite of his pancakes.

"Oh, sorry I was asleep, mate. Mum had us cleaning all day." said Ron, rolling his eyes.

Harry grinned and said, "It's alright. I went to bed shortly after I got here anyway."

"Oh...," said Ron, stifling another yawn. "Have you seen Hermione yet?"

"No," said Harry. "Why?"

"No reason. So...are you going to play quidditch today?"

"Probably. I haven't played in forever."

Harry didn't know why, but he felt awkward talking to Ron. Normally, they just talked about anything and everything. And now, they were both struggling for topics.

"Well...I should probably go find Hermione. We're supposed to clean the attic together." said Ron, getting up.

"Alright." said Harry.

A few minutes after Ron had left, Lupin walked in and sat Raye, who still had wet hair from her bath, down on the vacant chair.

"Hi Hawwy!" said Raye excitedly.

"Hi," said Harry awkwardly. He had never had much experience with little kids before. Not that he didn't like them. He just didn't know what to do around them.

He went to the counter and filled up a plate with eggs and bacon and came back over to her and sat the plate down in front of her. Then Lupin sat in the chair beside her and watched her eat.

"Around noon today, we're going into Diagon Alley for school supplies. So make sure you're ready by then."

"We go shoppin today!" said Raye bouncing up and down in her booster chair.

Harry smiled and nodded and leaned in towards Lupin a little and asked in a low voice who the girl sitting with Chara and Ginny was.

Lupin mildly glanced over his shoulder at the three girls and said, "That's Sosia Hall. Her mother, Kayla," Lupin nodded to the other side of the kitchen where Mira was talking to a woman with her back toward him, "was in the original Order as well. She and Mira are really good friends." Lupin took a piece of bacon from Raye's plate and took a bite. "Sosia will also be going to Hogwarts this year."

"What year will she be in?"

"Yours." said Lupin.

"Oh."

They had gotten back from Diagon Alley around five thirty and Most of the Weasleys, Harry, and Chara had decided to go up the hill and play quidditch.

Around nine o'clock, they called it quits, as it was getting too dark to see anything.

They had gotten back just in time for dinner. In the kitchen, Harry sat beside Chara, whom he got to know a lot better today. And now he knew from his own experience that Lupin was right. Chara was in fact a 'bloody brilliant' quidditch player.Harry could tell that the two of them were going to be really good friends, just from spending a few hours with her.

Harry had also gotten to know Sosia pretty well. She was a pretty girl with a quirky attitude towards practically everything.

And though he loved Hogwarts, Harry found himself , for the first time, not counting down the days until his return. He figured it had something to do with him actually having fun during the summer.

A/N: Hello. I really don't like this chapter a whole lot, but I had to get the basics out. Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Sorry it's so short too. As I said before, I don't really like this chapter...and I promise I won't write another chapter like this.