Sorry for the delay everyone... I just couldn't get around to posting this until now... But, I promise the next one will be out soon...

Here's Chapter 52... Enjoy!

"Wait... where is 12?" asked John, confused. Arthur glanced at him and then removed a piece of paper and handed it to Harry.

"The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London" read the note.

Harry read it and with a confused expression handed it to John after Arthur gestured him to do the same. Jon read the note and with a smile on his face, handed the note to Arthur.

"What's the..." began Harry but got shushed by Arthur.

"Not here," he whispered and took the note from John. Arthur flicked his wand at the paper and instantly it incinerated and turned to ashes.

Harry was taken aback but silently followed Arthur. No sooner had they reached between the houses 11 and 13, Grimmauld Place, a battered door emerged out of nowhere. It was as though an extra house had materialised out of thin air. A few moments later, Harry found himself following Arthur through a dark hallway. He could smell damp, dust and rot. A few seconds went by and then finally, Harry saw some light. The moment they reached the end of the hallway, Arthur stopped and glanced at the boys.

"Welcome to the Order," he said with a smile and opened a door. The moment the door was ajar enough, Harry's eyes lay on Sirius, who was sitting royally on one of the chairs. And beside him, were Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

"Sirius," exclaimed Harry happily and dashed towards him.

"Harry," exclaimed Sirius excitedly and got up to hug his Grandson.

John entered the room and glanced at Dumbledore who gave a smile in response, and then he glanced at Severus who seemed to look like he hated his life.

"John Smith," exclaimed Sirius, diverting John's attention. John walked up to Sirius with a smile. "I have heard things about you," he added with a curious smile.

"I'm sure a lot of them would be far-fetched," retorted John with a cheeky smile.

"I was told this is what you'd say," replied Sirius with a cheeky smile.

"How is she doing?" asked John.

"She is well, but misses her brother very much, even if she may not admit it," replied Sirius.

John nodded in response, though Sirius wasn't sure what it meant.

"Harry," said Sirius and turned towards Harry. "Let me show you my house," he added.

"Your house? This is your house?" asked Harry, shocked.

"Yes, the Black family property," replied Sirius. He walked closer to Harry and whispered in his ear, "let's get out of here before they bore us to death," he added.

Harry looked at Sirius confused and then realized he was referencing Dumbledore and Severus. And without hesitation, he left the room with Sirius.

John watched the pair leave the room and then turned his attention back to Dumbledore and Severus.

"The Order is back, eh?" he remarked as he sat down opposite Dumbledore.

"Most of the original members aren't here... but we have some new faces to fill their roles," replied Dumbledore with a smile and looked at Arthur and then at John.

"So, what are we doing here?" asked John.

"We have informed a few selected wizarding families about Tom's return. The families that we trust to keep this a secret of course," replied Dumbledore.

"And the reason behind doing so? Why the secrecy, why not just let everyone know he's back?" asked John, confused.

"Widespread panic," retorted Snape.

"But you're playing his game," retorted back John.

"We have to know what he's planning before we make our move. We suspect he wants us to do exactly that, create panic amongst people," replied Dumbledore calmly.

John looked unconvinced but didn't say further.

"Who's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year?" asked john after a couple of minutes.

Dumbledore remained silent, and so did Snape. John glanced at them confused by their silence.

"You have appointed someone, right?" he asked.

"We will inform you in due time, Mr Smith," retorted Snape, rudely.

"Oh my God, you're joking," gasped John, shocked. "Surely there is somebody out there willing to do the job," he added.

"No one seems ready, especially not after the series of articles by the Prophet. We have asked them to retract, of course, but the damage is done," sighed Dumbledore.

"I'm sure none of us would mind if you take it up yourself," retorted John with a smile.

"I have taught Defense Against the Dark Arts before... I used to teach Transfiguration as well. But in this old age, I would prefer a younger, enthusiastic candidate to take up the mantle," replied Dumbledore with a smile. Severus seemed to want to add something to the conversation, but he remained silent.

"We received an application, a couple of days back," said Dumbledore after a couple of minutes.

"You did? That's great, who was it from?" asked John.

"I'm rather unsure of the candidate, but if I fail to find someone else, I may have to go with him," replied Dumbledore. John looked at him curiously but didn't prod further.

The four of them sat there silently. It seemed like Dumbledore liked the silence better than talking. John wondered if the silence persisted due to his presence, but he didn't even remotely care.

"So... nice location for the Order... who all knows about this place?" asked John.

"A fair few," replied Dumbledore. And then there was silence again.

After some time, John finally decided to leave the Hogwarts Professor and Arthur alone and decided to roam around the house. This wasn't the first time he had been at 12, Grimmauld place. One could argue, that he knew this house as well as any other place in the future. Just like Remus, Sirius was also someone John had spent a lot of time with as a kid. In fact, Sirius was one of Jane's professors at Hogwarts, back when she attended Hogwarts. And every break she came back home, she would tell tales of her time at Hogwarts to her twin brother, who couldn't attend Hogwarts. It was one of the mysteries that plagued John's entire family. They could never understand or comprehend why John never got the letter from Hogwarts, whereas Jane did. And in his early days of struggling with this fact, it was Sirius Black who had shown faith in him. John often wondered how poetic it was that, of all the people, it was himself all those years later who showed faith in Sirius' innocence.

John eventually met up with Harry and Sirius and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with the pair. It was late in the evening when Arthur, John and Harry returned to the Burrow.

The moment they back, John and Harry found themselves mauled over by Ron and Hermione.

"Look who we have here," whispered Ron to his owl and pointed at Harry and John.

"Harry Potter, say hello to Irwin," said Ron.

"You got an owl?" exclaimed Harry, excitedly.

"Well I had to, didn't I? The last pet I had didn't turn out so well," replied Ron sarcastically.

"And here is John Smith," whispered Ron and pointed at John.

"Hi, Irwin," whispered back John with a smile.

"You're not going to believe what we found out today," came a voice from behind Ron that diverted their attention. Hermione walked up to John and Harry, looking rather animated.

"Guess who's our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year," said Hermione as she neared the boys.

John looked taken aback. Just a few hours back he had learnt that there wasn't one decided yet.

"Who is it?" asked Harry.

"Gilderoy Lockhart," replied Hermione, beaming happily.

"Who?" remarked John, confused. However, Harry looked disappointed.

"No... are you serious?" retorted Harry unhappily.

"Yes... he told us when we saw him at Diagon Alley," replied Hermione.

"No," sighed Harry loudly. "I hate that guy," he added.

"Who is Gilderoy Lockhart?" asked John, confused. He hadn't even remotely heard of him.

"Wait... you don't know who he is?" asked Hermione, shocked.

"Should I?" retorted John with a sheepish smile.

Hermione pulled John away from Harry and Ron's negative expression and began waxing lyrical about Gilderoy Lockhart and his achievements.

"He did this, there..."

"He was awarded this..."

"He is just the best out there..."

"Once he battled..."

And the list went on and on. John listened to her with great enthusiasm, matching her in multiple instances.

"I can't believe he has done all this and I hadn't even heard of him," sighed John at the end of it.

"Oh, you're going to absolutely love him," replied Hermione.

John however was still confused. He had been categorically informed by Dumbledore himself that there wasn't any decision made on the role, just a few hours prior. But regardless, he was looking forward to his classes. From what Hermione had told him about Lockhart, the classes were going to be taken by someone special indeed.

John and Harry's stay at the Burrow were coming to an end. In another day or so, they were going to go back home, but not alone. Ron was going to join them. Harry's birthday was coming up in a week and Ron was going to be there at 4, Privet Drive just like the year before.

John and Hermione were whispering away in one corner of the room. Harry who had been observing them curiously made his way to the pair. And he realized, he wasn't the only one who had been observing the pair, so were Fred and George.

Harry made his way to Hermione and John and was about to speak up when Hermione turned around and glanced at him and both John and Hermione's demeanour seemed to change instantly.

"Harry," exclaimed Hermione and gave a shy grin.

"Hermione... what were you guys talking about?" asked Harry as he sat beside John. "Anything about You-Know-Who?" he whispered.

John and Hermione glanced at each other and John spoke up.

"In a way, yes... Just that the worst is yet to come. The streets would never forget the terror and mayhem he caused back then. To imagine how everyone would react to finding out his return itself is frightening," replied John.

The three of them sat there depressed and after a minute's silence, Harry spoke up.

"My nightmares have reduced since last year... but my scar keeps hurting," sighed Harry as he rubbed his forehead.

"You need to tell Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall the moment you think it is getting worse," replied John. He had the answer to why it was happening, just not one that he wished to give to Harry. "You two obviously share a connection. And we do not know how it works. We have to be very careful," he added.

A few minutes went by in silence.

"Hermione," said Harry. "Why don't you visit us next week?" he asked.

"You mean for your birthday?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah... it will be fun. John, Ron, Daisy, everyone's going to be there... apart from you," replied Harry.

"I don't know..." began Hermione. But after a few seconds, she said, "sure, I will be there."

"Brilliant," exclaimed Harry happily. Hermione gave a quick glance to John. John seemed to nod in approval.

Just then, she heard her name being called out by Ron and left Harry and John alone. She had only been gone a couple of minutes when Fred and George made their way to them.

"Hey guys," exclaimed Harry as he saw Fred and George walk towards them.

"Hello Harry," greeted Fred with a grin.

"John," added George with a similar expression. Harry instantly recognized the look that they had. It's the same one they had just before their prank played itself. The one that said, "Oh, this is going to be so much fun".

"What's up?" asked Harry curiously. George went and sat beside John, while Fred took a seat beside Harry.

"We got thinking," began Fred.

"On how to make our friend's life better," added George putting an arm around John.

"Okay?" said John confused.

"And we remembered you, Harry," said Fred and put his arm around Harry.

"Okay?" this time it was Harry who replied with the one-syllable word.

"You and Daphne are cute together," said George and Harry blushed a little.

"It only makes sense that as our first act in this mission for redemption, we help our friend here live a colourful life. Am I right, George?" added Fred and glanced at his twin.

"Wait... what?" gasped John, surprised.

"Yes, you heard us," replied Fred.

"My dear, John Smith, what do you think about dear old Hermione Granger?" asked George with a cheeky smile.

Harry's expression turned aghast the moment his head registered the words he just heard.

"Absolutely not," replied John instantly. "You're out of your mind," he added strongly.

"Oh" responded George surprised.

"Maybe there's someone else?" asked Fred.

"A girl at school?" added George.

"Or a boy?" added Fred and the twins glanced at each other and shrugged.

"No... there is... This is not happening," began John.

"Don't be shy," interjected George and chuckled.

"I'm not shy... this isn't happening. Guys, we are not going to hook me up with anyone," replied John, uneasily.

"Harry, any words of wisdom for your friend here?" suggested Fred. Harry had yet to recover from the idea of the twins setting up John with anyone from the school. That would definitely be scandalous, to say the least.

"No... I don't know," replied Harry awkwardly.

"Oh... grow up a little, boys... you have no idea what you're missing," said Fred with a cheeky smile.

"Well, you do," added George looking at Harry, "but John here might need some assistance," he added.

"Absolutely not... this is not a discussion," replied John, he looked rattled.

"Okay," replied Fred.

"Okay," replied George. "That wasn't an auspicious start. But we have so much more to offer," he added with a smile. And the next moment, the twins left Harry and John to themselves.

"God I hope they don't come up with something like that again," sighed John the moment the twins were out of earshot.

"Hermione would have absolutely torn them apart had she heard of what they had said," retorted Harry and chuckled.

"She's never going to find out about this," retorted John and joined in on the giggles.

And just as they were giggling, in walked Hermione followed by Ron, Arthur and Molly, and the boys went silent instantly.

"I told them that Iceland was your idea, and not Professor Lupin's," said Ron as he sat down beside John.

"Oh," gasped John, surprised.

"That was really kind of you," said Arthur. John smiled awkwardly.

"I just suggested, it's not a big deal..." began John but was interrupted by Molly.

"It is to us... it is our only daughter," said Molly with tears in her eyes.

"Did you speak with the facility?" asked John.

"We did... from the time we got Ron's letter a few months back, we have spoken with them a few times. They haven't promised anything, but have assured us that they will do their best," replied Arthur.

John smiled in response. "I'm glad," he added.

"We are planning on moving her to Iceland next month," said Molly.

"Oh," gasped Harry, shocked.

"We will be there for some time and then return back once we know she's in good hands," replied Arthur.

"You need not worry, Mr and Mrs Weasley... she will be in good hands," replied John reassuringly.

First, it was Harry who appeared. Within seconds, he was followed by John.

"Harry's here," exclaimed Dudley at the top of his voice as he bumped fists with Harry and then with John. Daisy then gave Harry and John a big hug.

"How was it?" she asked releasing the hug from John. And just then, Ron appeared from the fireplace, with a small trunk.

"Ron," exclaimed Daisy, shocked. "You're actually here?" she added stunned and dove at him.

"Daisy..." exclaimed Ron, surprised. "It's great to see you too," he added returning the hug.

And then there was another popping sound and out of thin air appeared Hermione, looking a little discombobulated.

Harry went near Daisy and whispered, "Daisy... meet Hermione Granger, the best and brightest of us all," with a bright smile. And then Harry turned his head towards Hermione, "Welcome to 4, Privet Drive," he greeted Hermione. She gave a brief smile glancing at everyone in the room, including Dudley and Aunt Petunia who had just walked in.

"Harry," exclaimed Daisy. "You didn't tell me you were bringing both Ron and Hermione," she said, excitedly. "This is going to be lovely," she added and gave Hermione a quick hug. Hermione returned the hug, though she looked a bit piqued.

"Daisy... Hermione isn't staying with us, she'll be going back home later today," said Harry. "But she'll be back in a few days for my birthday," he added with a smile.

"Yes... that's the plan," added Hermione with a blank expression.

Everybody soon settled down. Harry recited an in-depth and detailed account of what all happened at the world cup final, while Ron chipped in from time to time. Daisy and Dudley listened to the events eagerly. The conversation soon shifted to everything else that they had done in the Burrow. Daisy peppered Ron with loads of questions, which he was happy to answer. John chimed in multiple times, with his cheeky remarks and all in all, everyone had a decent afternoon. Everyone except Hermione. She seemed quite unlike herself, and Harry had noticed it.

While Ron was busy explaining the history of great wizarding houses to a curious Daisy and an eager John, Harry excused himself from the discussion and made his way to Hermione, who was sitting in the other corner of the room, intensely reading a book titled, "Wanderings with Werewolves".

"Hermione," called out Harry softly and sat beside her.

"Hmm?" responded Hermione faintly.

"You alright?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Hermione.

"You don't look fine. You look a little... uh... what's the word I'm looking for... uh... I don't know, you don't seem yourself," said Harry, looking intrigued.

Hermione gave a small smile and replied, "I'm fine... Just a little tired." Harry smiled in response and examined the cover of the book she was reading.

"Gilderoy Lockhart..." he sighed and chuckled.

"What's funny?" asked Hermione, curiously.

"I was just imagining sitting in his class, while he talks about himself," replied Harry.

"Make fun of him all you want..." retorted Hermione unhappily.

"Okay... I'll stop," retorted Harry with a smile. "For now," he added and earned a glare from Hermione.

"I think I should get going," said Hermione after a couple of minutes.

"Already? You can stay for a few more hours... We'll eat something in the evening and then can't you leave?" retorted Harry, surprised.

"It's fine, Harry... I feel like going home," replied Hermione. "I promise, I'll come back for your birthday," she added with a smile.

"What about all your things?" asked Harry.

"I asked John to come with... he will help out," replied Hermione.

"Oh, okay," replied Harry.

It was only a few minutes before Hermione said her goodbyes to everyone there and accompanied by John, she left for home.

John and Hermione were en route to the station.

"Well done," remarked John with a calm smile.

"Are you mocking me?" retorted Hermione, looking upset.

"What? No," replied John with a chuckle.

"That was just... bad," replied Hermione.

"No, trust me... don't be hard on yourself. You did well back there," reiterated John with a smile.

"How can you say that? I was practically silent for the entire time. I just couldn't take it being near him, I literally had to pull myself out of there to a corner," replied Hermione looking John right into his eyes.

"Again, don't be so hard on yourself. The very fact that you stayed there, tried to be normal and succeeded for a few hours was great. You'll eventually get there," suggested John.

"Daisy..." remarked Hermione faintly. "She is nice," she added. John glanced at Hermione and gave a grin.

"She gets easily excited by things," remarked John.

"I can only imagine... I remember how I reacted when I found magic existed," replied Hermione with a smile.

"I'm glad you like her," remarked John after a few seconds.

"All of this must be so weird for you," said Hermione. "I can't even begin to understand how I'd react if I time travelled back in time and saw my mother... my parents... when they were kids," she added with an intrigued look.

"It was surreal... there is nothing more I could possibly say," replied John with a wide smile.

Hermione remained silent for a few minutes and then spoke up.

"What happened with Sirius?" she asked.

"Nothing of note..." replied John.

"Did you speak with him about Remus?" she asked.

"I did... apparently, Remus has been distant with everyone. He's hardly spoken with Sirius," replied John, sulking.

"Hmm"

"I also found out that Jane told Sirius a lot about us... including... you know what," added John.

"What? She told Sirius about time travel?" asked Hermione, shocked.

"Mm-hmm... not sure why. I presume she needed someone to confide in," replied John, calmly.

"Oh... you should have told Sirius to speak with Remus then," suggested Hermione.

"I didn't get an opportunity. Harry was with him the entire time," replied John. "Remus will be fine. They have known each other for years. I'm not much worried about Remus," he added confidently.

"Is she alright? She seemed a little different," said Ron the moment Hermione left.

"Yeah... she says she's fine, didn't look it, though..." replied Harry.

The days leading up to Harry's birthday went by in a flash. As promised, even though reluctant at first, Harry gave Daisy a ride in his firebolt. And this time, it was even more enthralling than the previous time. The firebolt was at ease flying with 2 people on its back, so much so that, Harry didn't even feel the effects of Daisy sitting behind him, apart from of course the tight grip she had around his chest.

Daisy, Harry, Ron and Dudley got up to some of their old habits from the year before. Harry found Ron and Daisy to be much more comfortable with each other. But he didn't read too much into it. John as usual refrained from joining in on the activities, despite being invited by Ron and Harry multiple times.

As Harry's birthday crept nearer, the gifts started coming in from all directions. Hagrid had sent him some hut-made rock cakes. Sirius had sent him a cake as well, along with a mirror that Harry instantly recognized as the 2-way-mirror he had heard stories about from Sirius. Mrs Weasley had sent him a green sweater with a large dragon woven on it. But the gift that caught everyone's eye was still wrapped up, unopened.

"Who's that from?" asked Daisy.

"No one," replied Harry instantly and took away the present.

"Harry," exclaimed Daisy curiously. "Why are you acting... like this?" she asked with a cheeky smile.

"Acting like what?" retorted Harry.

"Oh," gasped Ron. "I think I know who that's from," he added excitedly.

"Ron, shut up," glared Harry.

"I can't believe you didn't tell her that you have a girlfriend," remarked Ron with a giggle.

"What?" gasped Daisy. "Harry James Potter..." she exclaimed, shocked. Harry looked at Ron, distraught, though Ron wasn't sure why.

"It all makes sense... you 2 had a fight, didn't you? That's why she was upset," added Daisy.

"What?" asked Harry, confused. Ron looked equally puzzled.

"Hermione... the other day, when she was here... she hardly spoke a word... it was because of you," replied Daisy. "I thought something of it, but didn't put 2 and 2 together... till now," she added.

Harry facepalmed in response.

"Hermione? No, it's not Hermione... why would you think that?" asked Ron, curiously, noticing Harry's reaction.

"What? Who is it then?" asked Daisy. "I thought..." she began but got interrupted by Harry.

"Daisy," he exclaimed. "It's Daphne..." he added. "She is in the same year, but in a different house," said Harry.

"Daphne... that's a cute name, tell me more," replied Daisy, excitedly.

"Sometime later?" retorted Harry. Daisy thought of protesting, but looking at the expression on Harry's face, she decided to agree and nodded her head.

The birthday arrived in style. This time around, Harry stayed awake along with Ron, Dudley, Daisy and Ron till midnight playing board games and chatting random stuff. There was a huge uproar of celebration as the clock struck 12. John and Ron had managed to acquire some butterbeer and a wide variety of sweets from Honeydukes. And they were devoured almost instantly, along with the wonderful cake Aunt Petunia had baked.

Early afternoon, a couple of hours since the kids had woken up, Hermione arrived as promised, looking a lot better than she did a few days back.

"Happy Birthday, Harry," she greeted the moment she walked in and gave Harry a quick hug.

"Thank you so much, Hermione," replied Harry with a smile as he took Hermione's gift.

"You can open that later..." said Hermione. "I have something else for you," she added and took out another wrapped package and handed it to Harry.

"What is this?" asked Harry curiously.

"I made something for myself and figured I'd make one for you and Ron as well," replied Hermione.

"Did someone take my name?" asked Ron as he walked up to the pair.

"Ron," exclaimed Hermione and gave him a hug. "Here," she added and handed Ron a similar wrapped package.

"Hermione, you do realise that it's not my birthday today?" retorted Ron with a chuckle.

"What is this?" gasped Harry in surprise as he opened his package and took out what looked like a handcrafted chain.

Hermione pulled out a similar-looking chain from her neck, hiding under her dress and pointed at what it was carrying.

"Oh," gasped Harry.

"That is neat," exclaimed Ron as he stared at Hermione's chain. The totem given by John was hanging around Hermione's neck.

"This will be so much more convenient," exclaimed Harry.

"Hi Hermione," greeted Daisy as she walked up to the trio.

"Hi Daisy," greeted back Hermione with a smile.

"I'm so glad you came... I have so much to talk with you," said Daisy. Hermione looked a little taken aback.

"Really? What about?" asked Hermione, surprised.

"We will keep that for when the boys aren't around," whispered Daisy, earning a bewildered stare from Harry.

"The chain looks beautiful, by the way," said Daisy as she examined the one hanging around Hermione's neck. "Hey... he gave you this as well?" she asked when she saw the totem.

"He gave one to each one of us," replied Ron. "He gave it to you too?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah... said that I had to be careful with it. And I had to use it only in an emergency," replied Daisy as she took out a totem from her pocket.

"Speaking of which, where's he?" asked Hermione.

"He's upstairs with Dudley," replied Daisy.

Once Hermione had joined them, the group of kids decided to go out and have some fun. As it turned out, Daisy and Hermione got along really well, which was a relief for Harry. He had been wondering what was up with Hermione, but seeing her on his birthday removed all those questions from his mind. The 6 of them went to the movies, then to the mall and finished off the day with a bit of swimming, in essence, just another day of the vacation. Daisy had a lot of questions for Hermione, similar to ones she had for Harry and Ron. Hermione's reaction to finding out about the wizarding world, their shared love for books and reading, and the kind of troubles the trio had cooked up at Hogwarts were just some of the topics the girls talked about.

It was late in the evening when Hermione left 4, Privet Drive after a well-spent day with her friends.

Ron too left for the Burrow a few days later. Ginny was going to be taken to Iceland in a few days. Harry and John had promised to be there on the day, and they were there. At St Mungo's, and then back at the Burrow and then along with the entire Weasley family when they bid Ginny an emotional goodbye.

The 4th year was going to begin in a couple of weeks. Harry and John had found out from Hermione right after the quidditch world cup final that Gilderoy Lockhart was going to be their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. But then the whole world also seemed to find out the same a few days after they found out when the Prophet printed a bold and catching headline on the front page, "Defend the Dark Arts the Gilderoy Brave-hart Way!" and had followed it up with a massive article on Lockhart's achievements and how he was planning to break the curse.

Harry and John got their books from Diagon Alley and to their shock, the entire set of new books was authored by Lockhart.

"I don't have a good feeling about this year," sighed Harry.

"I'm dying to meet this guy," retorted John.

It was late in the evening before Harry was going to leave for Hogwarts.

"Harry," called out Daisy.

"Hmm?"

"Come here, will you?"

"What is it?" asked Harry, sitting on the couch.

"Come... here..." she reiterated strongly. Reluctantly, Harry made his way towards Daisy and then found himself being dragged outside the house into a quiet corner.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Harry.

"Just away from everyone," whispered Daisy. When they finally came to a halt, Daisy began, "Listen to me carefully," she said.

"Okay?"

"Don't do anything stupid," she said.

"What?" asked Harry, confused.

"I've been debating with myself, wondering if I should tell you this. But I can't let you back without knowledge of this," replied Daisy. "Don't do anything stupid in your relationship," she added.

"Why would I... what do you mean?" asked Harry, confused.

"You told me last time you came home that you liked Hermione... you come home this time and tell me that you have a girlfriend and that it is that girl who sent you those drawings and all," replied Daisy.

"Hmm"

"So, don't do anything stupid," added Daisy.

"I still don't get what you mean," replied Harry.

"Harry..."

"What?"

"See... this is why you need me. You are really dumb sometimes. Hermione likes you... And I mean, likes you likes you," replied Daisy.

"What?" asked Harry, shocked.

"Yeah... It was pretty much obvious by the time she left on your birthday," replied Daisy.

"You're mistaken... she's not..." stumbled Harry, shocked.

"Well, every time you mentioned Daphne, her expression was worth a million words she didn't say out loud," retorted Daisy.

"But," began Harry but got off.

"So, I'm warning you... I know you adore her. Maybe not any more like you used to, but don't even think about doing anything stupid," said Daisy strongly.

"You keep telling me not to do anything stupid. I still don't know what you think I might do," retorted Harry, annoyed.

"Don't break anybody's heart, alright? Be honest with both of them... Hermione and Daphne... And don't... I repeat, don't even think about playing with both of them... I'll be really pissed at you if I find out you did something," replied Daisy.

"Okay Ma'am," retorted Harry taken aback. "Since when did you become so serious?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Harry... don't joke about this... you're in so much trouble, you just don't see it yet," replied Daisy.

"Fine... I won't do anything stupid," replied Harry with a big smile. Just then they heard John's voice.

"Harry... I'm leaving," exclaimed John from the hall.

"John... wait, I'll tag along," exclaimed back Daisy.

"Bye Harry... have fun at school... and write to me if anything juicy happens," she said and winked at Harry.

"Never," replied Harry with a big smile and embraced Daisy in a long hug.

And with that, Daisy left and so did John. Harry and John would meet again the following day of course, at platform 9 ¾.

Meanwhile, in a different part of England, the Dark Lord was giving out instructions to his most trusted lieutenant.

"... find her," said Voldemort in a hissing voice.

"Yes, my lord," replied Barty Crouch Jr.

"But don't kill her... I have some answers I want out of her... They have thwarted me twice, they won't get another chance," said Voldemort.

"Yes, my lord. I'll bring you, Jane Smith," replied Barty confidently.

Hope you enjoyed this one... The first couple of chapters after the break have been light, but the pace is going to ramp up soon... Stay tuned!

PS - I'm eager to know if and how you reacted to "that" remark from Hermione