I don't own Harry Potter, only the OC

Hello guys, Badger here. We have a bit of a shorter chapter today. I must apologise though. This chapter is a bit all over the place and that's because my mind was just all over the place. It happens sometimes, so I apologise. My mind only calmed down when I was writing the ending portion. If I had the time to redo the whole chapter I would have, but I had college work and a work shift to do, so I hope you forgive me for this chapter.

Chapter 16

The beginning of Second Year

Harry felt a bit sick, as the world around him stopped spinning. The holidays were now over and James had Jinx take the two of them to the Platform, their luggage currently shrunken down and in his coat pocket. James was still suspicious about Dobby and his warning, so believed having Jinx take them to Platform 9 ¾ would be safer than going through the barrier. Even if Harry agreed, that doesn't mean he liked Apparation. Thankfully, he was able to keep his breakfast down. As soon as they arrived, the two of them wasted no time in boarding the train and finding a compartment, as they were early, there were a lot of free places, where James placed their luggage in the baggage carriers above the seats. The two of them were talking to one another, until the compartment door opened, where Daphne came in, along with Astoria.

"Hey guys" Daphne said "Do you mind if Astoria sits with us for the journey?"

"I don't mind" James shrugged "Do you Harry?"

"No, come on in" Harry replied

"Thank you" Daphne said, as she and Astoria sat on the opposite seats

"So how are you two?" Harry asked

"I'm excited" Astoria smiled "Gilderoy Lockhart is going to be the Defence Professor this year…he is so dreamy"

James and Harry looked at Daphne with an incredulous look on their faces. Daphne said nothing, she just rolled her eyes and shrugged at them.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your first year at Hogwarts Astoria" James said "Feel free to spend time with us, if you wish to"

"Really?" Astoria asked

"Of course" James nodded "You are Daphne's sister, Daphne is our friend, which makes you a friend"

Astoria smiled softly, whilst Daphne also smiled at James, before the door opened once more. This time, it was The Twins and Ginny, who stood with them nervously.

"Hello there, you two" James smiled "I'm surprised to see you here…normally you aren't here until much later"

"Mum woke us up early" Fred shrugged

"She practically had to drag Ron out of his bed" George continued

"Say, you don't mind if we sit with you lot, do you?" Fred asked

Seeing that there were no objections, James nodded where the Twins sat down, before they noticed that Ginny was still standing nervously in the doorway.

"You going to sit down Gin?" George asked

Ginny went red a little bit, as she looked at Harry, before she quickly rushed away. Harry looked around in confusion, whereas everyone else looked amused.

"W-what was that about?" He asked

"I think it is obvious Harry" Fred replied

"Our dear sister has a crush on you" George smirked

"What?" Harry exclaimed "I don't even know her…how could she have a crush on me?"

"Do you remember when I mentioned the books written about you?" James asked, to which Harry nodded "Well, the Twins will agree with me on this, Ginny was raised on those books, as their father read her those books every night…as you can imagine, a little girl tends to crush on the hero of the stories they read"

Harry just looked on in disbelief. He was going to have to do something about that. It was at that moment, when the compartment door opened again.

"Blimey, we must be popular" James commented, as he saw Susan Bones standing there "How can we help you Susan?"

"I was looking for you actually" She replied

"Really, how come?" Harry asked

"My aunt wanted me to spend more time with you guys" Susan shrugged, as she sat next to them "After what happened, she wanted me to be your friends and make sure nothing else happens…that is, if you are fine with that?"

"Of course, the more the merrier" James smirked "It will be nice, seeing as Daphne and Astoria are practically outnumbered"

There were laughs all around the compartment, until a small voice spoke up.

"Hello, do you mind if I sit here?"

Everyone looked to see a small girl with long platinum blonde hair that went several inches past her shoulders, silvery blue eyes with earrings that seemed to be made of radishes. Everyone looked at one another, until they all shrugged in agreement.

"Of course you can" James said "We have enough room"

The girl smiled as she sat down next to them.

"So, what is your name?" James asked

"I am Luna Lovegood" The girl replied, in an airy voice "Of course you don't need to introduce yourself James Badger"

There was silence across the compartment for a moment, before Daphne spoke.

"How…how do you know his name?"

"Sometimes I know things I probably shouldn't" Luna shrugged

There was silence once more, as everyone decided to move on. James didn't pay attention to the conversations. He just looked at Luna. The fact that she knew his name was unnerving, but there was something else about her. He couldn't tell what it was, but he was going to find out.

Dobby panicked as he saw the Hogwarts Express leave. He kept himself hidden out of sight, he had to stop Harry Potter from boarding the train, but he was too late. He hoped to block off the barrier to the platform, but another House Elf had brought him to the Platform. Even if he failed to stop Harry Potter from boarding the train, he could probably make him leave the school during the year. He just had to wait for the right moment.

Harry, James and Daphne sat amongst the rest of the Slytherins, as they waited for the new first years to arrive. Whilst they were waiting, Harry noticed that many girls was looking at him. When he asked James about it, he snorted slightly.

"Well Harry, look at their perspective" James said "Over the holidays, you have grown taller and gotten rid of your glasses, making you look more handsome"

Harry wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, so just turned his attention to the First Years that entered the Great Hall. Astoria went into Slytherin just like Daphne, Ginny went into Gryffindor with the rest of her family and that Luna girl went into Ravenclaw, where she skipped over to the Ravenclaw table. He didn't pay much attention to the rest of the Sorting, until the feast started. As he was eating, however, Snape approached the group.

"Mr Potter" He said "I apologise for interrupting, but the Headmaster has asked for you to see him in his office after dinner"

"Umm…okay" Harry nodded

Harry hadn't given much thought to the Headmaster recently. However, as he thought about why the Headmaster would ask to see him, he thought about the Trial and that he left him on the Dursleys doorstep and his anger flared again. Harry wasn't sure what to think about the Headmaster, but he will at least go and see what he wanted.

Lucius Malfoy relaxed, as he leant back in his chair. Whilst on the Platform, he was able to sneak the diary into the only daughter in the Weasley family. If all went to plan, the filth of Hogwarts will be gone, Dumbledore will be removed from the ICW and Arthur Weasley will be left in disgrace. All in good time.

Harry entered the Headmasters office, feeling uneasy. After dinner was over, he immediatley followed the directions that Snape had given him. He tried to keep himself calm, but the abuse he went through was because of Dumbledore placing him there in the first place. After the Griffin Statue moved to reveal a staircase, he went upwards where he came across the Headmasters office. He took a small breath before he knocked on the door.

"Come in Harry" Dumbledore's voice came from the other side

Harry opened the door to reveal a grand room, filled with all kinds of trinkets on various shelves. With how cramped it seemed to be, Harry wondered how he got around. Dumbledore was sat at his desk, where he gestured for Harry to take a seat.

"How are you Harry?" He asked

"I'm fine" Harry replied "Though I doubt you called me here just as a social call"

"Indeed" Dumbledore sighed "Harry…I wish to apologise…for everything you went through at the Dursleys…please believe me, if I knew how you were going to be treated, I wouldn't have left you there"

"Even if you didn't think they would abuse me left and right, why didn't you at least check on me regularly just to make sure I was being treated right?" Harry asked

"I wish I had an answer for you Harry" Dumbledore replied, looking down slightly "But I'm afraid I don't…I guess I trusted my judgement too much and believed they would do as I asked"

"Yeah well look at what your judgement caused!" Harry snapped, standing up "Your judgement caused me to go through ten years of abuse, being forced to cook, clean and garden, sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs and being almost being beaten to death on several occasions!"

Dumbledore put his head in his hands, as Harry went on a small rant. He just couldn't understand why the Dursleys would do this.

"May I go now, sir?" Harry asked in forced politeness

Dumbledore nodded, saying nothing. He watched as Harry left his office, slamming the door. It gave him a headache as he thought about everything. He had asked for the Dursleys to treat Harry with love, as if he was one of their own, which would help with the downfall of Voldemort, when he came back from wherever he was currently residing. He wasn't sure how this was going to affect everything. He needed Harry to trust him, but he had a feeling that wasn't going to happen.

Ginny Weasley sat on her bed in the girls dorms. She was holding a black diary in her hands. She wasn't entirely sure where it came from, but assumed either her parents or one of her brothers bought it for her. Though she wasn't sure why. She decided to leave it for now, placing it on her bedside table, where she quickly fell asleep. On the black diary, however, in golden letters was a name. A name that she didn't notice: Tom Marvolo Riddle.

There we go guys, chapter 16. Again I apologise for the chapter. I will take a days break before I begin the next chapter, just so I know that my mind has properly calmed down. I'm not sure what it is, but my mind just goes into hyper mode at any random times of the day.

Anyway, this chapter was another filler, but the next chapter will have more story, as I am sure you guys just want the story to happen already. In this chapter, we have had the introduction to Luna. She will be featured more in other chapters and will explain how she knows James, so don't worry. We have also had Harry confront Dumbledore about the Dursleys. This will be part of the reason why Harry distrusts Dumbledore, along with other reasons. This was to lay the groundwork of that distrust. You guys might be wondering why Ms Figg isn't mentioned. Answer: She doesn't exist in this fanfic.

I actually have ideas for future chapters. Firstly, the duelling club. I might have it set, where students write who they wish to duel and they draw the pieces of paper from a hat or something. Kind of like a duelling competition. I believe it will be fitting for James to go against Hermione, though I am still conflicted about Harry either going against Ron or Malfoy. I might stick to canon and have him go against Malfoy, but I don't know just yet.

The other idea, is a Valentines ball. I know this isn't in canon, but I have seen other fanfictions where they did a valentines ball and thought it would be interesting to do and help lay the foundations for pairings. I want to know who you would like to see Harry and James take to the ball.

That is all, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even if I didn't, and I'll see you in the next one.

Pairing Poll results, so far:

James/Pansy: 3 James/Harry: 5 Harry/Susan: 8 James/Daphne: 6 James/Tonks: 3 Harry/Fleur: 2 Harry/Tonks: 2 James/Luna: 3 James/Astoria: 2 Harry/Daphne: 2 Harry/Astoria: 0 Harry/Ginny: 0

Badger out.