Harry Potter Alternate Universe: Year Three

Harry Potter Alternate Universe: Year Three

Christmas had finally arrived. Harry, Ron, Becca, Hermione, Steph and Luke were the only Gryffindors that stayed for Christmas. Ron told his mom he had a lot of homework he still had to do but they all knew it was to spend Christmas with Becca. The five were sitting in the Common Room about to open presents when the door opened. In walked Lupin with a black dog. Becca shot up and threw her arms around the dog.

"I found this mutt wandering around outside." Lupin said with a smile, Becca moved back as the dog changed into Sirius. Harry and the others hugged him, Steph stood at the back.

"And who is this lovely young lady?" Sirius asked, Luke smiled lightly before holding his hand out to her. She grabbed it and moved to stand by his side.

"S-Stephanie Blane, sir." Steph said with a small stutter, Luke grinned.

"Isn't she cute?" Luke asked, Steph hit him lightly on the chest. "This is my girlfriend, Steph. Steph, this is my dad, Sirius Black." Steph shook his hand and they all moved over to the couches.

"Okay, this is to Ron from Harry." Becca said tossing Ron the package, he opened it to find a brand new chessboard.

"Thanks Harry, this is brilliant." Ron exclaimed as he examined the pieces. "Now I can give mine to Ginny, she's been pestering me for mine all year." Becca smiled lightly at him as he was happy with a chessboard then she grabbed the next present.

"Okay, Hermione from Ron." Becca said handing it to her, Hermione opened it quickly and her jaw dropped.

"Ron, where did you find this?" Hermione asked holding the book as if it were something precious.

"Well, I was talking to Bill and mentioned you were looking for that book and he said he had a spare copy. It may be a little worn…"

"I love it." Hermione interrupted him, he smiled at her. Becca grabbed her own present and smirked.

"Okay, this is from Harry." Becca said and ripped the package open. A small piece of paper fell out. Becca frowned as she read it. "I owe you?" Becca asked, Sirius let out a loud laugh which started everyone off. After opening all their presents, everyone followed Harry, Ron and Luke up to the boys dormitories so they could put away their things. They all saw a long thin parcel that was on Harry's bed. Frowning slightly, Harry made his way over to his bed and picked it up.

"Open it." Ron said eagerly, no one noticed the two adults smirking behind them. Harry looked at the parcel before tearing off the paper. Harry's jaw dropped in shock while the others stared on in amazement. "Harry…that's a Firebolt. I cant wait for the look on Malfoy's face when he sees you with this." The friends grinned at each other.

"Thanks." Harry said to Sirius and Lupin.

"Not a problem Harry." The two replied in unison. Luke moved over to Steph and handed her a small box.

"This is for you." Luke said, Steph opened the box to find two rings. She looked up confused. "They're promise rings, my promise to you that I will always be faithful to you and I will never lie to you." Steph smiled as she slipped the ring on her finger, Luke quickly put on his. Steph put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. He smiled at her.

At dinner time they found themselves starving as they re-entered the castle. They had just seen Sirius off with Luke before visiting Hagrid and Buckbeak. They walked into the Great Hall and saw, to their surprise, that there was only one table in the middle of the room. Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Spout, Flitwick, Filch, Snape and Draco were already seated.

"Happy Christmas everybody. Come, sit down." Dumbledore greeted as he waved them over. Ron grabbed Becca's hand and lead her over with Harry and Hermione leading the back. "I thought it would be silly, since there is so few of us, to be seated at different House tables." Professor Trelawney took her seat quickly.

"Is Professor Lupin joining us?" Trelawney asked, Dumbledore shook his head as the five students traded looks. Luke looked over at Professor McGonagall.

"Excuse me Professor, but I was wondering if you'd share with us about my mom, when you knew her? I mean I get it if you're not comfortable…" Luke was cut off.

"Sam was an extraordinary girl, woman. She was extremely smart and you could tell her and Sirius were in love. If one walked into the room, the other perked up. Of course it took ole Sirius a couple times to get her to go out with him, I think we all agreed their first date was in the hospital wing." McGonagall said with a smile, Luke leaned forward a bit.

"You actually remind me a lot of her." Snape said quietly, surprising everyone.

It was close to midnight when Harry made his way back downstairs, he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach. He stopped when he heard a soft crying, he almost turned around but stopped when he saw the brown hair.

"Hermione?" He asked softly, she looked up and he hurried over to the couch. "What's wrong?" She threw her arms around him, startling him before he wrapped his arms back around her.

"Its my mom." She whispered, he gently stroked her back. "She died tonight. He wouldnt let me go see her."

"Who? Dumbledore?" Harry asked, suddenly getting angry.

"No, he offered to take me to see her. My...my dad." She said before pulling away to look into the fire. "He's been, uh..."

"You dont have to say anything else." Harry said as he pulled her to him again.

Christmas was finally over, much to everyone's displeasure. Exams were getting closer and Hagrid was getting pretty nervous with the case coming up, despite Luke and Steph's assurances that everything would go well. Harry made his way into the Gryffindor Common room and saw Fred watching something intently. He walked over to him.

"What'cha looking at?" Harry asked, Fred kept his eyes on what he was looking at but nodded his head towards her. Harry looked over and saw Hermione sitting at the table near the window, using her books as a pillow as she slept.

"Something's not right with her." Fred said softly, as if he didn't want to be overheard. Harry walked over and sat across from the sleeping girl. He could see the tired lines around her eyes. The bags under her eyes were beginning to look darker than they had earlier. Harry sighed as he reached out and shook her shoulder slightly, causing her to bolt up in her seat. Her tired brown eyes looked around the room, they locked eyes with Fred for a moment before returning to the green-eyed boy who had awoken her.

"Oh, Harry, what time is it?" Hermione asked through a yawn, Harry watched as she looked down at her research for Buckbeak's trial.

"Time for you to tell me what's going on." Harry replied, Hermione sighed, or yawned again, Harry wasn't too sure at the moment.

"Harry, I'm just tired due to studying and looking for information for the case." Hermione said pulling the books toward her, Harry sighed causing her to look up at him.

"You're running yourself ragged. I get you cant, or don't want to, tell me what's going on but don't lie to me. I cant keep watching you do this to yourself, I care about you too much." Harry said before getting up and walking out of the Common Room, leaving Hermione to watch him leave.

Before they knew it the court date had appeared and Becca, Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting in the Common Room waiting for Luke and Steph.

"Man, I wish I could go with you guys." Ron complained, his mother had told him he couldn't earlier.

"So, how do I look?" Steph asked, they all stood up and their jaws dropped. Luke was in a black business suit, his blonde hair was swept from his eyes. He was gorgeous. Steph was wearing a black dress that came just past her knees, her dark brown hair fell past her shoulders in waves.

"If you weren't going out with Luke, I would so date you." Harry said, getting a laugh from everyone.