"a," = speech "a," = thoughts "a," = through intercom, television, or read aloud "a," = magic

History can be a Bitch

Harry Potter was just getting back from his third year at Hogwarts and while normally he would be sad about going back to the Dursley's he was elated at the fact that he would get to be spending half of the summer with the Weasleys! However, the best part was that Mr. Weasley had managed to get tickets to the Quidditch World Cup for his whole family, but Mrs. Weasley doesn't like Quidditch so she offered the ticket to him! Hermione would also be going thanks to Charlie Weasley, the second eldest child, being unable to go due to work. He would only have to stay at the Dursley's for a month and a half before the Weasley's came to pick him up. With that in mind, he unpacked as quickly as he could before going to bed with a smile on his face.

The next morning Harry woke up early and made breakfast for the Dursleys before deciding to go on a walk. As he walked through the neighborhood he thought about how much his life has changed. Four years ago if someone had told him that he would be a world-famous wizard going to a magical school that was in a castle in Scotland, he would have said that you were insane. Thinking about magic and Hogwarts brought his godfather to mind and immediately his demeanor changed. "Why did it have to be a full moon that night? If it wasn't a full moon then we could've brought Pettigrew to the castle and I wouldn't have to come here. No, stop being so down Potter. Think positively," Harry brooded before berating himself for it. After Sirius sent him the letter permitting him to enter Hogsmeade, Harry had started to brood about the same thing and Hermione had hammered into him that he should stop being so angsty about the worst parts of his life and think of the good things. Such as the fact that he knew the truth about his godfather or the fact that he now had two living direct connections to his parents (that were willing and able to talk at least), or the fact that he had two friends that would always stick by him. These thoughts brought out the earlier attitude that Harry had and he continued forth with a happier demeanor.

When he got to the edge of Privet Drive Harry noticed an owl flying towards him then abruptly turn around. Harry ran towards the owl and said, "I'm right here if the letter is for me." The owl flew back towards him and landed on Harry's outstretched arm. With the owl up close Harry could assess the minute details that he normally wouldn't have seen. The owl was a barn owl, brown with specks of white and black and had tan eyes. Delicately clutched in the owl's talons was a letter and strapped to its leg was a money box. Harry put a galleon in the coin box and took the letter from the owl before letting the owl go back to its origin. Little did Harry know he just circumvented a mail redirection filter set up by a certain misguided headmaster. Unaware of his actions, Harry put the letter in his pocket and continued on his walk. By this time people had started to wake up and go about their daily business.

As he walked by Number 17, Harry heard giggling to his side and looked to see who it was. His answer came in the form of a group of three girls, whose ages he knew to be ten, thirteen and sixteen, and who he also knew to be sisters. The girls in question, Harry noticed, were each attractive in their own ways. The youngest girl was 4' 3", had blonde hair, a thin but healthy build and was just starting to show signs of puberty. The thirteen-year-old was around 5' 4", had brown hair and a healthy, mature build. The eldest girl was 5' 11", had sandy blonde hair and an attractive figure. When the group noticed they had his attention, the youngest looked at her lap and blushed while the two older ones smiled flirtatiously at him and chirped out, "Hi Harry."

Harry was a little bewildered at the girls' behavior as his cousin had spread a lot of bogus rumors about Harry being a delinquent who had stolen money and other nonsense. He was about to continue walking when he decided that along with positive thinking he would stop being anti-social and shy. Harry smirked and replied, "Good morning girls, aren't we looking rather striking today." The youngest girl, whose name was Christina, heard Harry's compliment and turned a deeper shade of red. The middle and eldest girls, who were named Megan and Terrica respectively, blinked in surprise at Harry's sudden confidence.

Terrica, or Terri, recovering first, teasingly smirked and said, "Why thank you. You seem a little different since the last time we saw you, have you been working out?"

Now Harry knew that she was flirting with him to get a reaction. "Heh, I'm not the little boy you used to tease a few years ago Terri," he thought to himself mischievously. For some reason, he knew just what to say to get her to blush and maybe even think of him in a new light. Harry crossed his arms making sure to emphasize his growing, but noticeable, muscles, raised an eyebrow, smirked and replied in a flirtatious manner, "Why, like what you see Terri?" Terrica blinked in surprise at his response before Harry continued, "I'm flattered that someone as beautiful as you are attracted to me." The beautiful girl in question blushed at his compliment, while Megan seemed put out at not being given the same treatment. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, Megan. You are also quite an attractive girl," Harry said to the now blushing girl. Harry noticed little Christina looking quite bashful and couldn't help but compliment her too. "As for you Christina, you are looking very cute with that blush on your face," Harry flirted resulting in the girl turning an even darker red.

Terrica finally recovered from her blushing and said, "You really have changed quite a bit, Harry. What happened to the little boy I used to tease?"

"He learned some information that had been kept from him by his relatives and made some good friends," Harry responded, purposefully being vague. After what happened two years ago with Dobby and what happened just recently with Aunt Marge, he was taking no chances with breaking the Statute of Secrecy.

The three girls, now sporting their normal skin tones, looked curious at the vague response and Megan asked, "You made friends at a place like St. Brutus'?"

Harry rolled his eyes and joined the girls at the picnic table they were sitting at before correcting, "I'm actually not going to St. Brutus'. That's just a lie my relatives tell to make me seem like an unsavory character. The truth of the matter is that I'm going to an elite private school in Scotland." Technically this was true, Hogwarts only allowed "certain individuals" to go and it is in Scotland.

Christina inquired of Harry in a shy, quiet voice, "Why would your aunt, uncle, and cousin lie about that?"

"My aunt was jealous of my mom for being the golden child of the family for being accepted into the same private school and I guess she told Uncle Vernon about it. Uncle Vernon always saw me as an unwanted mouth to feed. As for Dudley's hatred, family learns from each other," Harry explained.

The girls took what he said in and thought about it. Christina had already known that Harry was a good person even if she had never known the truth of the situation. The elder girls had been a little more easy to fool and believed the lies they had been told but now they started to question things. Harry's explanation had made sense and it did explain why he seemed so nice when he was supposed to be a delinquent. With this new information in mind, the two older girls started to look at Harry in a different light. Megan and Terrica, who had looked at Harry as someone to tease from afar before, now saw Harry as a potential person to date.

Meanwhile, Harry looked down at his broken but usable watch and saw that it was about the time Aunt Petunia started on her daily cleanup of the house, usually forcing him to do most of the work. Harry stood up and said, "Sorry girls, it's about time I got going. See you later." Harry started to walk home when he was stopped by Terrica, who had seen a chance to ask him about a certain comment of his.

"Hey Harry, I was wondering, did you mean it when you called me beautiful?" she asked.

Harry simply smiled and answered, "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it, beautiful," before continuing, leaving a blushing girl in his wake.

Terrica thought to herself in regards to Harry, "He's the only boy outside of family and friends who called me beautiful." This thought led to a torrent of thoughts about what a relationship with him would be like.

Four hours later, Harry's bedroom.

Harry was sitting on his bed, finishing up some school work when he remembered the letter he received from an owl earlier. Putting his books away, Harry dug the letter out of his pocket and examined it. The wax seal had a symbol that seemed familiar to him but he just couldn't bring himself to remember where he saw it. Harry flipped it over and saw the usual cursive scrawl with his name, place he slept and address. The ink used was a deep scarlet and a close look showed some feathering pointing to the right indicating a left-handed person.

Harry turned it over again and tried to remember where in Wizarding world he had seen that symbol.

As he thought about it, he heard a knocking at his door and his aunt screech out the order, "Potter, don't leave the house until I get back! I'll be out running errands and stopping by the bank for a few hours!" The word "bank" triggered his memory and he realized the symbol was the emblem of Gringotts. Harry opened the envelope and pulled out the letter which read,

"Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,

We wish to inform you that your presence has been requested at the London Branch of Gringotts Wizarding Bank on the date of 7 June 1994, this Saturday at 10:00 A.M. sharp by Director, High Lord Ragnock for a meeting (A/N: Just for clarification, in the books the school year ends the third week of June. In my story, it ends either during the last week of May or the first week of June depending on which day of the week September 1st is on and if it's a leap year). The reason for this request will be explained in full detail at the meeting.

Sincerely,

Grinona, Secretary to his Lordship Ragnock

P.S. This letter is enchanted to make any tracking spells ineffective and it will show you where to go for the meeting so bring it with you."

Harry blinked in pure and utter shock at what the letter said. "I've been summoned by the director of Gringotts himself? Why?" Harry examined the letter and couldn't find any useful information other than the fact the person who wrote the letter also wrote his address and with the same ink. Harry's stomach rumbled and Harry decided to grab something to eat while he thought about this new development. As he ate a slice of leftover pizza, he looked at the calendar and saw the meeting was in two days. Harry knew that his relatives wouldn't bring him to London if he were to ask and he had no other methods of transportation besides the Knight Bus so he decided to use that. Harry knew that his uncle would be out golfing and his aunt would be at one of her friend's parties so the only person he had to worry about was Dudley. "He usually stays up late on Friday and sleeps in until about noon," Harry reasoned out loud. 'So all I need to do is simply go to the area where the Knight Bus stopped last time and then ask to go to the Leaky Cauldron.' With that planned out, Harry simply laid on the couch and did more of his school work.

A few hours later, Harry's eyes snapped open when he heard someone knocking at the door. He didn't remember falling asleep but that's not the first time he's done something like this. Harry looked at the clock, saw it read 7:57 P.M, got up and went to the front door. To his surprise, Terrica was standing outside looking at the sky and seeming to have been waiting patiently. Terri smiled at Harry and greeted, "Hey Harry."

"Uhh, hi Terri. It's uh, good to see you," he responded. "Umm, can I ask what you're doing here?"

Terri giggled and answered, "Actually, I was wondering if you could come to mine, Megan and Christina's birthday party this Sunday?" By some impossibly random chance, all three sisters had been born on the same day.

"Ohh, maybe. My relatives usually force me to do all of the chores on Sundays, but I'm sure I can figure something out," Harry said thoughtfully.

Terri smiled and said, "Great! See you there!" She then did something he didn't expect at all. As Terri was turning to leave, she winked at Harry and deliberately walked with an enticing sway in her hips.

Harry blinked in surprise and realized, "Huh, I guess she likes me now." Harry then went inside and continued working on his school work. After about half an hour, Harry felt exhaustion catching up with him and so decided to go to bed.

What did Ragnock see on the paper? What will this meeting at Gringotts have in store for Harry? You'll just have to wait to find out.