Author's note: Harry and Ginny exchange some letters in this chapter after he finds out something that could jeopardise their friendship and alliance already. This is now my longest chapter due to writing the letters. Anyway, let's continue the story...

Chapter 5: Letters

The next day was the first day of lessons, and Harry was slightly concerned. Would the teachers be adequate, or would he have to resort to going to the school library to get the information that he needed? Well, he guessed that he'd just have to wait and see. Harry had fortunately got up earlier than all of the other boys, so after he got dressed, he went downstairs to sit by the fireplace and think in peace before everyone came down. Shade followed him after he opened Shade's cage and walked around the common room as if he was inspecting it. Hedwig also chose this time to tap the window to the left of Harry. He let her in and she landed on his shoulder before rubbing her head on his cheek affectionately in gratitude as the wind made it feel quite cold outside and she wanted to get warmer.

Once everyone was settled, Harry finally began to meditate. He wondered how Ginny was because considering that his suspicions off her family were being proven correct, he worried that her mother would've hounded her for any information regarding him. Harry also wondered why he even decided to talk to her and seem genuinely concerned about her. It wasn't like he ever cared for another person before her, so why would he start now? And with her of all people? What was so special about this young, red-haired girl? Harry didn't really understand emotions, so when he tried to come up with an answer, his mind came back with nothing, which didn't help his curiosity whatsoever. He decided that he'd just have to send her letters and talk to her probably again next year and, hopefully, he'd get an answer to his questions then. Speaking of which, she was probably waiting for a letter from him, so he called Shade over and the trio went upstairs to the boy's dormitories.

Harry entered to what could only be describe as a warzone. The other boys were running around everywhere, some going into the showers, some coming out and getting dressed, and some going to the sink to brush their teeth etc., but the problem was that no-one seemed to be patient, so there was pushing, shoving, falling, and fighting to get ready for the morning. Harry merely rolled his eyes at the insanity of the situation and made his way to his desk. If someone got in his way, he'd move them aside, and if he didn't, then Hedwig or Shade would. Before he got some parchment out, he spotted a letter out on Ron's desk. He walked over to it, making sure that the boy in question wasn't there to see him, and read it.

Dear Mum,

I finally met Harry Potter! He's a bit strange though. Why did you say that he would probably need a lot of advice and that he would be really shy, Mum?! He was none of those things! Instead, he seemed really closed off and angry! I only said how awesome he was and he shouted at me! The boy needs help, Mum, otherwise Dumbledore won't be happy when he goes to talk to Potter only to find an angry, insane boy instead of the shy boy that he can mentor and train to be what he needs Potter to be! Don't worry, Mum, I'll soon be his best friend and I'll teach him everything he needs to know! Oh, and apparently Potter spoke to Ginny, so maybe she can give you some insight into him if you can get it out of her. Why does she have to be so stubborn and un-Weasley-like?! She needs to get over Potter! He's way to good for her, I can tell. Just let her down slowly, alright? Then maybe she'll help us and Dumbledore once she no longer cares for him like she seems to, having a crush on him and all that.

From Ron.

Harry was beyond angry now. His suspicions were definitely proven now. The Weasleys, minus Ginny, and Dumbledore were all trying to turn him into a puppet! He had to find out how deep this plan of puppetry would go, so he'd have to keep a close watch on Ron and Dumbledore more than ever. Now he knew what to write to Ginny. He didn't want her to be fooled into following Dumbledore due to Ron's lies! She was now his only ally in this world it seemed, so he wasn't going to lose her! He put Ron's letter down and went over to his desk.

'Maybe that's why she's so special? She's the only one who truly gives a crap about me as a person in this stupid world,' Harry thought, but he had to shake those thoughts out of his head as he had more important things to do; like keeping said ally.

Harry picked out a roll of parchment and began to write his letter to her.

Dear Ginny,

How are you? Scratch that, I reckon if you've read or heard your mother tell you about Ron's letter, you're pretty upset. What you need to understand is that he's full of lies. There's no way in hell that I'd become friends with him! Why the hell would I want to be friends with a guy who insults his own family behind their backs?! Well, when I say family, I mean only his sister, which is you. I don't like people who insult and bully others, it reminds me of my 'relatives', mainly my cousin, Dudley, and I taught them a lesson they wouldn't forget when they thought that they could get away with continuing their insults and bullying towards me and other pupils in my old primary school before Hogwarts. Whatever Ron writes home, and whatever your mother tells you concerning me, is a load of lies, so don't listen to them. Oh, he was right about my personality though, but what he failed to say was that I hate being fawned over as the only reason why I'm the 'Boy-Who-Lived' is because 'Lord' Voldemort (it's just a name, so don't be scared to use it as I told Ron yesterday. Also, who seriously would come up with a name like that?! He's no 'Lord', and Voldemort is just stupid! He's nothing more than a psychopath, and if he ever does come back, I'm a lot stronger than I was when I was 1-year-old, and a lot stronger than people like Dumbledore seem to believe that I am) murdered my parents and made me an orphan. Does that sound like something to celebrate and glorify?! No, of course not! Before you think I'm shouting at you, I'm not. You're the only person I've met so far that's actually not treated me any differently to another person just because of who I am and because of this stupid scar on my forehead. Anyway, so to summarise; don't trust your parents, don't trust Dumbledore, I do still want to be your friend, if something happens, something happens, I hate my title, and don't be scared by a simple name.

All the best,

Harry.

Harry saw Ron walk up to his desk, after he had finished getting ready, and take his letter before walking out of the dormitory. Harry put his letter in an envelope and gave it to Hedwig and opened his window.

"Now Hedwig, I want to follow Ron to the Owlery as that's where I suspect that he's going to send his letter. Once given it to his family's owl and sent it off, follow after the owl, but don't make it obvious so that it won't steer you wrong. Once you get to the Weasley household, search for the young girl who I was talking to on King's Cross Station. That'll be Ginny, whom my letter is addressed to. Only give it to her, no-one else. Understand?" Harry whispered to Hedwig, and after a nod of understanding, she flew out of the window to search for Ron.

Hedwig didn't need to wait long for Ron to appear outside, and as her master (Harry) suspected, the boy was heading for the Owlery. She followed Ron and watched as he gave his letter to an owl, which flew off as Ron started to walk away. She began to follow the Weasley owl, and fortunately, the owl didn't seem very intelligent as he didn't notice that Hedwig was following him, so she was able to reach the Weasley household, a very oddly-shaped house, and search around for Ginny by looking through the windows inconspicuously. She eventually found Ginny lying on her bed face down and crying into her pillow. Hedwig felt bad for the girl that her master seemed to really like, even if he didn't know it yet, and tapped the window, hoping that her master's letter would cheer the girl up.

A few minutes earlier, Ron's letter arrived and Mrs. Weasley told Ginny everything Ron had said, including how Harry seemed to be too good for her. Mrs. Weasley then proceeded to tell her that she needed to get over Harry as he needed a real friend like Ron instead of someone who would only act like a fan-girl around him. At this, Ginny ran upstairs into her room before slamming the door and falling onto her bed as she began to cry.

'It couldn't be true, could it? Harry was so nice to me at King's Cross. He said that he would be my friend...Maybe he met and befriended Ron, so now he doesn't need a silly little girl like me...Why would he play me like that though, then have second thoughts? Maybe Ron was right and Harry wasn't such a good person after all...' Ginny thought as her young metaphorical heart slowly began to crack from the pain of Harry's (false) betrayal began to sink in.

Just then, Ginny heard a tap on her window. She looked up to see a beautiful snowy owl. It couldn't be, could it? As she got closer and opened the window, the owl flew in and landed on her shoulder before rubbing her face against Ginny's cheek affectionately. She realised that this owl was the same owl that she had seen Harry with at King's Cross. She had the same markings and everything! Harry hadn't forgotten Ginny after all...or maybe the letter on the owl's leg was a letter to say that he didn't need her friendship anymore now that he had Ron. Harry's owl seemed to sense her distress and rubbed against her cheek again in an effort to calm her down. Harry's owl stuck her leg out for Ginny to detach the letter from it, and the owl gestured to read the letter. So, Ginny gulped and gathered her courage, then began to read Harry's letter. After she was done reading it, she felt quite a few emotions. The first was happiness at the fact that Harry still wanted to be friends with her, the second was pride that he considered her to be a genuine friend, the third was anger at Harry's implication that Ron insulted her behind her back, and the fourth was rage at what Harry had warned her about. It was obvious that he must have read Ron's letter and he must not have liked it one bit. He was warning her of Dumbledore, the self-proclaimed leader of the Light, and her family's attempts to manipulate his and her lives now. She also felt betrayed by her family by knowing that they possibly routinely insulted her behind her back and attempted to manipulate her to hate Harry and become a part of their possible plot against him.

'Well I'll show them! I'm not a traitor! Harry's my friend and I'll stand by him no matter what!' Ginny thought, vowing to help Harry in whatever life threw at him.

What Harry also said after saying that he still wanted to be Ginny's friend made her blush. He had said that 'if something happens, something happens'. That must mean that he knew that she had a crush on him, yet it didn't seem to faze him. Either he might feel the same about her, or he just didn't understand emotions well, with the latter being the most likely option as it would explain the calm statement he made. However, she still saw this how any girl with a crush on a boy would see it; a flicker of hope. He was suggesting that he possibly wouldn't mind going out with her if anything happened between them. While this definitely brightened Ginny's mood, she always needed to take a more serious path with this. Harry wasn't brilliant with emotions, if his personality was anything to go by, he didn't trust easily, and his childhood hadn't been great either. All this made Ginny realise that what he truly meant by his statement was that she probably had to prove herself to be trustworthy, loyal, caring, and genuine to him before he'd even allow himself to feel anything besides friendship for her, and if that happened, she'd have to let him make the first move. Ginny decided that she would do her best to prove herself to Harry, and if he still only saw her as a friend after he deemed her all those things, she would move on, but she would still continue to be his friend and help him. After all, what are friends for? She then proceeded to write her own letter below his on the parchment. After she had finished, she tied the parchment to Hedwig's leg and sent her back to Hogwarts and to Harry, her official new friend.

Hedwig flew back to Hogwarts and made her way into the Great Hall where she sense her master was eating his breakfast after leaving his dormitory. As other owls dropped off their parcels and letters, she dropped Ginny's letter on her master's lap before landing on his shoulder, rubbing his cheek, then flying off back to the Owlery to rest after the two journeys.

Harry saw Hedwig drop a letter on his lap and then felt her rub his cheek before taking off again. He also subtly looked over at Dumbledore who was staring intently at him, as it was now obvious that he had two animals, Hedwig and Shade, who was sitting on the bench next to him. He expected the Headmaster to be calling him over to talk later about multiple pets, and oh how he couldn't wait to see the professors' faces when he told them that his 'pets' were his familiars. He proceeded to open the letter, slightly annoyed by many people now staring at him, obviously wondering who sent him a letter. As he opened the letter, he smelt a fragrance on his parchment that wasn't his. It smelt blatantly feminine, and from the flower combination, it smelt just like Ginny's hair from when he was talking to her at King's Cross (yes, Harry has keen senses, including smell. If you remember, he didn't actually smell her hair, but he was able to smell her shampoo in the air around her. Think Half-Blood Prince if you're wondering how). He wondered what she might have written. Had she read or been told about Ron's letter, or not? He hoped that she had done that first before she read his letter, as it would've meant that his letter would've meant more sense then. Just before he was about to read it though, the red-haired boy in question appeared.

"Hey, who's sent you a letter? Wait a minute, it's blank! Who would send you a blank letter?!" Ron asked intrusively, annoying Harry immensely.

"Maybe someone who didn't want anyone like you to read it, now get lost!" Harry replied angrily. He may have told a little white lie, but he didn't want to reveal his powers just yet, considering how much it takes to even do what he had done to his parchment.

Ron seemed to take the hint as he walked away back to his brothers with a scowl on his face. Harry merely smirked and began to read Ginny's letter.

Dear Harry,

I wasn't feeling brilliant, you're right. Before your letter came, my mother read out Ron's letter to me and said that there wasn't any point in me wishing to get to know you as Ron was the best person to be your best friend. Your letter, however, helped my mood immensely. I was worried that you would abandon me after you made friends with Ron, so imagine my surprise when not only didn't you abandon me and still wanted to be my friend, but how you completely dismissed Ron's invitation for friendship! Not many people have chosen to befriend me over Ron (those people being girls) and they had also insulted me, except they did it to my face and delighted in seeing me cry (I was only young!). I always thought that Ron would stick up for me, yet you're saying that he does the same behind my back! Don't worry, I believe you, it sounds like something my idiotic brother would do actually. I still can't believe that Ron would think that you need his help! He's not bright at all, trust me! I also can't believe that Dumbledore and my family would actively be trying to manipulate us like this...Do you think they're trying to keep us away from each other? It feels that way from my end as my mother doesn't seem to want me to have anything to do with you unless it's sanctioned or ordered by her! And as for you, it seems like they want to use you for something as a puppet like thing that'll do what they believe is right! I can tell you that I've lost all respect for my family as they aren't the same people they were when I was younger. I don't know what's happened to them to make them this way, but it can't be anything good, and it has something to do with you, Harry. I'm worried about you, and I don't want to see you get hurt by my brothers, or Dumbledore, or whoever. You're my first real friend (beside my old female somewhat-friends, but they're long gone now), and I don't want to lose you. I know I sound really paranoid, but what I've seen, read, and heard, I can't help it. Harry be safe, be strong, and be careful.

Love Ginny.

After Harry read Ginny's letter, her last sentence hit him deep. Why did those words seem so familiar? He'd probably find out soon, but classes were about to start, so he pocketed Ginny's letter and picked up his school bag ready to leave. He smirked when he heard Dumbledore try to call his name, but he pretended to not hear it. Oh how he would love to see the look on the old man's face once he got out of sight. Now, it was time to see whether these lessons would be what they were cracked up to be...