A/N: I just wanted to take a moment to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone that reviewed. You guys ROCK! I was a bit uneasy with how everyone would react to the last chapter, but the responses I got blew me away. =) Please keep R&R, it lets me know whether or not you're liking where I'm taking the story. Last, but certainly not least, a BIG thanks to my BETA's.
Harry Potter and the Rousing of the Lion
Chapter 3 - Picking Up the Pieces
Harry and Hermione were talking happily in the kitchen back in Privet Drive. They were surprised to find an empty house upon their return. They were shocked even further when they spotted a letter that Aunt Petunia had left taped on the kitchen door.
Harry,
After what happened, I decided it was prudent to take Vernon on a rather long holiday. Safe to say, we won't be back until September. God knows he needs the rest and, well, less stressful surroundings. I don't want to have a repeat of what happened, so it's best if he doesn't see you for a while.
I left you a key on the kitchen table and enough food to last you until you go back to school. As for the company you might want to keep, I advise you against staying in the house with only your "friend" for company. I warn you, I will not tolerate any "funny" business in my house.
Lock everything when you leave.
-Aunt Petunia
Harry felt happy, scared, and nervous all at the same time. While he was happy about not seeing any Dursleys for the rest of the summer, he was scared and nervous to having a whole house for him and Hermione. One thing was for sure, he thought, things were starting to look up. Unfortunately, Hermione had different plans.
"Come on, Harry," she began after finishing her tea, "we're dating now. Do you really think you could handle being alone with only me for company?"
"Is that a trick question?"
"You know what I mean."
"I can handle anything, as long as you are with me."
"That's sweet, but I know I couldn't."
He gave her a puzzled look.
"Don't get me wrong, there's nothing more that I would like to do than to spend time with you, to kiss you."
He got up, and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Oh, really?" They kissed passionately, each one being a little more daring with their movements, but still to shy to do anything big.
"You see, if we stay here alone all we'll do is snog…"
He gave her a look that asked if there was anything wrong with that.
"…and while I say that I like kissing you, I don't want to move things too quickly…"
He knew she was right. He just found her, a person who understood the real him, not the hype. He was beginning to fall deeply in love with her. The last thing he wanted to do was to loose her.
"…you understand, don't you?" she finished quietly, looking down at the floor, unsure of his response. "I know you'll think it's old fashioned or something. I know some that girls in my year, or even younger ones, are doing way more than just kissing…"
"Hermione…"
"…I mean, times change, I realize that…"
"Hermione…"
"…and Cho, well, I've heard of some things she does, so I would understand if…"
Harry couldn't take her ramblings anymore. He bent down and planted his lips firmly on hers. She tried to keep talking for a second, when she realized he was kissing her. When he pulled back she was looking out of breath, but confused.
"Sorry, you were rambling."
He could see she was beginning to get teary eyed.
"Hermione, I've only just found you."
"What do you mean? We've known each other for five years."
He bent down and kissed her. She took the hint.
"Oh, right."
He hugged her close to him, and spoke gently into her ear.
"Hermione, you don't know what it is about you that amazes me so much, so I'll tell you a few of those qualities that I love. Let's start with what anybody but you can see. You're beautiful. I love the way you smile at me, that mischievous sexy smile of yours. You've become a gorgeous, elegant, attractive woman. Your passion for knowledge is inviting, and although I usually avoid it, you still make me want to try harder. I love the look on your face when you're presented with a new challenge, you can see the fire in your eyes. The way you are always sticking up for people, like in S.P.E.W., not spew. You're intelligent, witty, driven, passionate and loving. As for Cho, she could only wish to become half the person you are."
"Harry…" she whimpered.
"No, listen. I love you, Hermione, each minute I feel it even more. I'm a fool for having taken this long to have realized it. I couldn't bear it if I lost you, if I couldn't be with you. The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you, and I won't let a simple thing like stupid teenage hormones do anything to hurt us. We will go slow, enjoying every minute of it."
He rubbed his hand across her back gently, soothingly.
"Now that I think about it, we've better. I don't really think I know what I'm doing."
She laughed softly at his attempt to lighten the mood, tears slowly falling down her cheeks.
"Hey, what are these tears for?"
"They're because you're the most understanding boy I know."
She hugged him tightly, as if afraid he was leaving her, as she cried into his chest.
"Man, Hermione, not boy, man. I think all the crying I've done in front of you has made me lose some of my Machoness."
She smiled at him as he removed her tears with his thumbs.
"That's the smile that I love. Now, why don't you call your parents to come pick you up?"
"But what about you, you don't think I'm going to let you stay here all by yourself, do you?"
"No, I figured as much. That's why I'm going to write to Remus. Let's just say that he and I have a lot of things to talk about.
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Harry knew that to get back on track, he needed to go back normal, to everything he had neglected since the beginning of the summer. He had loads of schoolwork to do, but first he needed to apologize to those he had ignored. For some reason, Remus seemed like the first logical choice since he had suffered a loss that Harry could relate to.
Dear Remus,
I know that by saying that I haven't been receptive or welcoming since it happened, I'm making major understatement. I realize now that shutting out the people that care about me was the stupidest thing I could have done. It was selfish of me not to consider that you were coping with death of your best friend.
I think we should talk, face to face. There are things that need to be said in order for us to move forward.
Hope you're well.
- Harry
As he finished the letter he hoped that Remus wasn't to angry with him. He knew he had been a prat, but what was done was done. He wanted to talk to him tonight since Hermione would be leaving soon, so he sent Hedwig out with instructions to fly as fast as she could. He sat there for a moment, watching her fly out the kitchen window. He sighed deeply and turned to the next blank piece of parchment that was in front of him. His next letter wasn't any easier to write than the last one.
Ron-
How you doing, mate? Stupid question, really. You must be two seconds away from coming here and punching my lights out for the way I've been acting. You have every right to be pissed with me. You can say it, by the way, I'm the worlds biggest PRAT! I'm really sorry that I shut you out, you being my best mate and all.
I know it's a long shot, but would you like to come and visit me at Privet Drive? The Dursleys left me the house for the summer. I'll explain later. Anyway, I know you're mad at me, at least I know I would be, so if you still want to talk to me, feel free to come deck me.
Hope everyone is doing fine. Tell your mom I'm sorry, and that she shouldn't be angry with Hermione, she'll understand.
- Harry
Harry felt no particular satisfaction or comfort with his pathetic attempt at an apology letter as he reread it at an arms length. He tensed up as he felt someone standing behind him, but relaxed quickly when he sensed it was Hermione.
"What do you think?" he said, handing her the letter over his head without looking at her.
"How did you know I was standing behind you?"
"I don't know," he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, "I kind of felt you behind me or something, first I felt someone, then I knew it was you. Well?" he asked again.
"Not the best apology letter in the world, but considering who it's coming from and who it's going to, it should do," she answered.
"Thanks, I think. What time are your parents picking you up?"
"They almost didn't, considering it's like 10 p.m., but when my dad heard that we were all alone in the house with no chaperone, he bolted out the door in his bathrobe. He should be here in about two hours."
"Tell you what, I'll make us a late night snack while we wait for your dad."
---------------
They were sitting in the living room enjoying each other's company. She had her head on his shoulder, their hands intertwined, both pretending to avoid the silence with the pretense of watching the telly.
"You wouldn't happen to still have that time turner, would you?" he asked.
"No, why?"
"Because I don't want this moment to end."
"Oh, Harry," she leaned over to kiss him. They both fell back on the couch, Hermione lying on top of Harry.
"Since when did you become the romantic type?"
"Don't know really. I guess you just bring out the best in me."
"Good answer," and she kissed him again, each time deepening their kiss further.
If they hadn't been snogging, they would have a CRACK just outside the house.
They were alarmed when there was a short, loud knock on the door. Hermione had been so surprised that she accidentally pushed Harry back, causing him to fall on the floor.
"Ouch! You know, Hermione, you've really got stop doing that."
"I'm sorry, it's just that, well, um…" she was completely startled and flushed, "just tell my dad I'll be there in a second," and she rushed off to the bathroom upstairs to fix her hair.
Harry rearranged his glasses on his face, patted his hair down a bit and took a deep breath before opening the door.
"Good evening, Mr. Granger, Hermione just went…" it wasn't Mr. Granger standing there on the doorway, but
"Remus!"
"Hello there, Harry, nice to see you."
"You got here quick."
"Well, I thought it was as a good as time as any to come see you, I missed you, you know."
Harry had an odd feeling about the conversation. Remus didn't usually act so formal in front of him, and he was incredibly happy about something, relieved even. Harry looked at him and stared, he was smiling down at him, as if there weren't a care in the world. He could see he was getting nervous about something.
"Stupefy!"
Harry only had time open his mouth as the jet of red light hit him squarely on the chest and sent him flying across the hall.
"Surprising, he almost figured it out," the man posing as Remus walked up to the boy laying on the floor and pointed his wand at him, just as Hermione was coming down the stairs. She saw the scene before her, and leaving all logic and reason behind she leapt over the railing, falling feet first over the assailant.
The fake Remus was taken completely by surprise. He got up quickly, looking for his wand, only to find it pointed at him by Hermione, with a panicked but determined look on her face.
"Oh, bravo, Ms. Granger, you'll get extra points for that."
She turned over to the doorway to find none other than Mad-Eye Moody walking over her, the dull clunk heard every other step.
"Pulled one over you, didn't she, Tonks?"
"Tonks?" Hermione said questioningly as she witnessed Remus turn into Tonks.
"What the HELL is going on here?" she screamed.
"Relax there Hermione, Mad-Eye wanted to test Harry."
"Test, what do you mean? You just blasted Harry across the damn hall. No, don't you dare move until you tell me something understandable and believable. I still don't think you are who you say you are."
"I'm liking her more already, a constant vigilant, this one," Moody stated, smiling at her.
"Hermione, I accompanied you earlier to visit the graves to help Harry."
"Yeah, so? It that doesn't tell me anything."
"Ok, fine. We took Harry away from here last year by broom."
"Anyone could know that, where did you take him?"
"To Number 12, Grimmauld Place, the home of his now late godfather, Sirius Black," she lowered her tone so her voice could only be heard by Hermione, "the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix."
Hermione breathed a long, comforting breath and lowered her wand.
"He won't be happy about this."
"It's not about keeping him happy," Moody stated, "it's about keeping him alive."
"Wrong," Hermione spat at him, "that's what caused his depression and his implosion this summer. Help him, train him, but don't lose sight that he's still just a boy. He deserves to enjoy himself, even with a madman on the loose behind him."
"Are you sure you're sixteen?" Tonks asked, smiling at her, "I swear you've really thought about all this like an adult."
"Well, somebody's got to do it, the adults in his life don't seem to want to do that. All they want is for him to save the world, even at the cost of his life."
There was a long silence after her words. Tonks and Moody shifted uncomfortably, knowing it would be wrong to argue with someone who obviously loved Harry so much. They also knew that there was truth in her words.
Hermione tossed Tonks her wand.
"Revive him," she knew she was being rude, that they were looking out for Harry, that they needed to help train him. She just didn't care about it at the moment. She had anticipated something like this happening, Order members coming to help Harry. She just considered it tactless of them to spring this on Harry the same evening of the day he was starting to get back on track.
"The enemy waits for no one," Moody said, as if reading her thoughts.
"What good is Harry to you if he has no will to live, no strength to fight?" she answered back.
A car pulled up just as Harry came around.
"What happened? Where's Remus? Why did he stun me? Who was he?" he asked Hermione.
She helped him up to his feet, and hugged him closely.
"I'll them explain everything to you and apologize. Dad's here, and he's probably tired from the drive, best not keep him waiting. I love you, and I'll call you tomorrow to get started on the rest of your things."
She gave him a quick kiss and left out the open door without glancing at either Moody or Tonks.
"Ok, what happened, and why is Hermione extremely angry with you?"
"Let's adjourn to the kitchen shall we," Tonks said. "It's going to be a long conversation."
Moody closed the door and mumbled to himself something like "Trusting fool, I should have stunned him again so he'd learn." Harry didn't hear any of it as he followed Tonks towards the kitchen.
Across the street, hidden in the shadows, the curandero watched the whole scene unfold. He smiled to himself and spoke one word into the darkness, "Soon," as he disappeared quietly into the night.
----------------------------
Harry, Moody and Tonks were sitting on the kitchen table. They had just told him everything that had happened. Moody even mentioned how he had failed his test miserably.
"I didn't know, alright," Harry said defensively, "I've had a lot on my mind lately."
"Oh, really? Tell me, do you expect Voldemort or his Death Eaters to send you an owl before they attack you?" Moody asked, quite annoyed at Harry's attitude.
"Ease up there, Moody," Tonks interjected. "You see, Harry, in the past war, the Death Eaters had many ways of succeeding, one of which was extracting information by becoming someone they weren't. That and the imperious curse gave them a lot of information. While some are more paranoid about it than others," she mentioned, looking over at Moody, "it's always good to be on your guard."
"You have a lot to learn, Potter, and now that you seem to be getting your wits back, I'm going to be drilling you. Dumbledore thinks that it's best to wait until you go back to Hogwarts," Harry looked up, happy to side with Dumbledore, "I, on the other hand, refuse to wait. Like I told your friend, the enemy waits for no one."
His magical eye swiveled in its socket to look out the back of his head.
"I can see Remus is here, so I'll be off. You have until your birthday before we begin; after that, you're mine," he smiled menacingly at Harry, then turned and left.
Tonks began to collect the dishes as Remus walked into the room. He usually looked tired, but now he felt worn, drained even. Tonks placed a fresh pot of tea and some biscuits in front of them.
"Well, I'll leave you lads to it," she said goodbye to both and left, leaving Harry and Remus staring at each other. They stared at each for a long time until Harry bent his head down.
"I'm sorry," he began. "I know you were hurting also and needed me to be there to fight through it together, but I just ignored you."
"I'm sorry, too, Harry," Remus responded, "I was too concerned about my grief that I failed to see how much it was destroying you. When Hermione's owl came, I went for the door immediately, but Dumbledore stopped me. He told me it would be better for you if you were accompanied by someone else. I refused, but in the end, they got their way. Later, I realized they were right."
His voiced cracked a bit, showing how difficult it was for him to be saying all of this.
"It been hard," he continued, "trying to take over for Sirius."
"Remus, I…"
"I know that I can never replace him."
"It's not that," Remus looked up to look at Harry. "Right now, I don't need a guardian, I need a friend. I need someone who is older, wiser. Someone who will be there for me, who listens to anything stupid I might say, and who will treat me as an equal."
"If it's OK with you, I would like to try out for that spot."
"It's yours, if you want it."
Remus got up and gave Harry a strong, fatherly hug. The awkwardness was gone. Their three year friendship was back, and Harry was feeling excited about having him around. They didn't lose time catching up.
"So, tell me, what going on between you and Hermione?"
Harry was surprised by the question but began to tell him all about them. Remus laughed at some of Harry's questions.
"You're not supposed to be laughing about this," he said, although he was laughing himself.
"Sorry, it's just that Sirius and James were the ladies men. I guess that my advice would be to take things slowly. You don't want to push her or yourself into something you aren't ready for. Not much help, I know, but believe me, in the end it's worth the wait. After all, the adventure is in the journey. It's like when you travel. Some people like to apparate everywhere. Its fast and easy, but when you have time, no hurry, the landscapes and the sights that you can bear witness to make the journey worth while."
------------------
Harry woke up peacefully in his bed. He missed the company he was getting used to having, but after everything Remus had mentioned, he was in no hurry. As he remembered everything that happened yesterday, he found a clear blue sky, inviting him back from the shadows. He got up quickly and went to the bathroom to get washed and changed. He went down to find the smell of bacon and eggs emerging from the kitchen.
"Well good morning, sleepy head," Remus welcomed him.
Harry laughed heartily at the sight of him. He was wearing his usual shabby clothes, with Aunt Petunia's pink rabbit slippers, a flower patterned bib, and a tall chef's hat.
"Well, what did you expect? I've been up since the crack of dawn, I had to entertain myself with something," he said, joining Harry in his laughter. "So, what are your plans for today?"
"Well, let's see I have a lot of letters that I should answer from people I neglected. I should also review my O.W.L. results and send Professor McGonagall my chosen subjects. Then there's a formal looking scroll from the Black Family Trust which I should look at. I also should go buy some clothes that are my size, for once."
Remus looked at him with a shocked expression. "You just thought about all that?"
"No," he said, starting to laugh as he pulled a piece of parchment from his jeans, "Hermione left me a To-Do List pinned to my bedroom door," they both laughed heartily at her thoughtfulness, "I'm just lucky she didn't give each activity a due date."
-------------------------
Ron was outside, lying down on the soft grass, treating his sore muscles after an afternoon of de-gnoming the garden by himself. When he came back home, he found out that this chore was now exclusively his. He wasn't too pleased with his mother's arguments on the subject.
"All you brothers work now," Mrs. Weasley had said, "since you're the only one not working, your work is around the house."
"But what about Ginny?" he retorted. "She should have more chores as well."
"Ginny helps out around the house in different ways, Ron. Besides, de-gnoming is not is not work for girls."
Ron was still mulling over everything that had happened since he came back home. He was surprised to be coming back home and not to Grimmauld Place. His father said the house had refused entrance to anyone, including Dumbledore. It had something to do with the owner allowing it to. While happy at first to be looking at a full summer at home, his happiness was short lived. He had sent Harry letter every so often, each of them unanswered. He knew, of course, that Harry would be having a rough time dealing with Sirius's death. He just wasn't expecting his best friend to shut him out.
He tried to find comfort in Hermione, his other best friend, never really finding it. Every letter they had exchanged had been on Harry. What to do, how to help, those kinds of things. He found himself being putout finding her responses to dealing with Harry longer than her responses to anything else. He had invited her over to the Burrow to spend some time together, which she refused.
"Can't we talk about anything that's not related to Harry?" he said to himself as he got up and walked over to the trees nearby.
He sat down at the foot of a large oak tree, his back towards his house. In his reeling about his friends being "too busy" for him, he had taken to smoking. Fred and George had said that smoking from a pipe usually helped put things into perspective. Scared about their knowledge of those matters, and after being their guinea pig for their new Long-lasting Smoke Ring Tobacco, he found himself always sitting in the same spot, smoking, wondering, his insecurities making him doubt if his friends even thought about him anymore. He didn't really like the smell or the taste of what he was smoking, he just found himself doing it for a lack of something better to do. With more chores and not seeing his friends, he was startled to find himself wishing school would start sooner.
He was brought away from his thought by the screeching of an owl. He looked up to find Hedwig flying down towards him. As soon as he had removed the letter from her foot, she flew off hooting towards him in disapproval of how he smelled. Ron shrugged it off and looked down at the letter in his hand. At first he was excited to finally be getting a letter from Harry, but as he stared at his name written in Harry's untidy scrawl, he found his thoughts creeping up behind him.
"Why should I open this, when he has ignored me all this time?"
He thought about ripping it apart, but remembered everything his friend was probably going through.
"You'd better have a good reason for what you did, Harry," he said to himself as he sat down to read the letter.
-----------------------------
Harry and Remus were in the living room, staring at the pile of letters that they had brought down from Harry's room. Harry tried to postpone doing anything until later, but Remus gave him a few chosen words to make him think otherwise.
"Just think what Hermione will do or say to you when she comes by and finds that you haven't even started."
He was right. He was now in a relationship with her, he didn't want to hear her tell him how disappointed she was in him or how he always procrastinated everything.
"Don't leave for tomorrow what you can finish today," he remembered the homework diary she had given him.
"Where do you think I should start?" he asked Remus.
"Well I would suggest with your O.W.L.'s, you don't want Professor McGonagall hounding you on which subjects you'll be taking next year," he stated, handing the letter to Harry.
He stared at the official-looking letter in front of him.
"Maybe I should read them to you."
"No, I got it."
He reached over, and pulled the letter out Remus's hands. He took a deep breath and opened the letter two finds to sheets of parchment inside, the first a letter explaining his results, the other showing them.
Dear Mr. Potter,
Enclosed you will find the results of your Ordinary Wizarding Level tests. Each grade is the average of both the theoretical and practical parts of each exam. In those that only contain a theoretical portion, your grade will be the one given.
The marks used to evaluate your scores are: Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, Acceptable, Poor, and Dreadful. The last passing grade is Acceptable.
Your results are found in the attached parchment.
Professor Griselda Marchbanks
Wizarding Examination Authority
Harry turned to second parchment and read his results out loud.
Ordinary Wizard Level results for Harry James Potter.
Astronomy
Theory: Acceptable
Practical: Poor
Mark: Poor
O.W.L. Received: No
Care of Magical Creatures
Theory: Exceeds Expectations
Practical: Outstanding
Mark: Exceeds Expectations
O.W.L. Received: Yes
Charms
Theory: Exceeds Expectations
Practical: Exceeds Expectations
Grade: Exceeds Expectations
O.W.L. Received: Yes
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Theory: Outstanding
Practical: Outstanding
Grade: Outstanding
O.W.L. Received: Yes
Divination
Theory: Acceptable
Practical: Dreadful
Grade: Poor
O.W.L. Received: No
Herbology
Theory: Acceptable
Practical: Exceeds Expectations
Grade: Exceeds Expectations
O.W.L. Received: Yes
History of Magic
Theory: Poor
Practical: NA
Grade: Poor
O.W.L. Received: No
Potions
Theory: Exceeds Expectations
Practical: Exceeds Expectations
Grade: Exceeds Expectations
O.W.L. Received: Yes
Transfiguration
Theory: Exceeds Expectations
Practical: Exceeds Expectations
Grade: Exceeds Expectations
O.W.L. Received: Yes
Total O.W.L.'s Received: 6
Harry was still staring at his results.
"Good job, Harry, six O.W.L.'s," he noticed the crestfallen look on Harry face. "What's wrong?"
"I didn't get an Outstanding in Potions," he stated blandly.
"Well, an Exceeds Expectations is still pretty good. It's better than your father or I did."
"No, it's not that. I needed an Outstanding to get into N.E.W.T. Potions. Snape won't take anyone in without that mark. With no N.E.W.T. Potions, I can't become an auror."
"Oh," he responded. Seeing the look on Harry's face, he said "Don't worry about it, Harry. I doubt very much that it will matter if you want to become an auror."
"Dammit, I don't want any special treatments," he yelled back, his anger rising rapidly.
"I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't mean to upset you," he was shocked at Harry's change in tone.
"No, I apologize," calming down. "It's just that, well, I don't deserve any short cuts. I want to earn my way just like anybody else. I don't want anyone saying that I got any sort of special treatment because I'm the Boy-Who-Lived or any of that. You understand, don't you," he finished pleadingly.
Remus looked at him and smiled, "Of course I understand, Harry. I would expect nothing less from you. Don't worry about Snape, though. Seeing as how things are getting on in the world, I think all teachers will be 'asked' to take in more students into their advanced classes than they usually would. Merlin knows, some of those skills will be useful in the times to come."
Harry thought about what he said. Personally, not having Potions would mean no more Snape, but even though he hated him, he knew the class was important.
He turned over to Professor McGonagall's letter.
Dear Mr. Potter,
As always, term will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from Kings Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock.
As an upcoming sixth year, it is important that you select the classes you wish to take in order to further your areas of interest. While some require having obtained an O.W.L. in that class, there are also electives in which you might want to partake. You are required to choose at least three classes. Please go over the enclosed form and select the classes you wish to take. A letter will be sent to you telling you whether or not you have accepted into said classes and the materials you will need for each. If you should be denied admittance to a class, your Head of House shall suggest alternative classes to take.
Yours Sincerely,
Professor M. McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
The form was simple enough. It had a list of the available classes followed by seven lines. He went through the list of classes until he reached some that he had never heard of. Some of those classes were: Study of Ancient Magic, Basic Medicine, Woodshop: Wand and Broom Manufacturing, Magical Geography: The Study of Magical Locations around the world, and many more.
After thinking about it he wrote down his classes.
He wasn't sure why he wrote down the last one. He had heard Dumbledore say that Voldemort despised ancient magic, thus his weak spot, but Harry felt something else nagging in the back of his mind. He thought about what Hermione might say about his choices, but shrugged it of by thinking to himself that although he wasn't taking a full course load, something other than Quidditch would come up. It always did. Remus looked over his shoulder at his choices.
"Excellent choices, Harry. That schedule should prove to be an interesting year."
"With or without it, it's always an 'interesting' year."
Remus laughed at Harry's sarcasm.
"Yeah, well, never a dull moment with you, eh?"
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Ron was still sitting against the tree; the letter was now on the ground before him. He did apologize, he did recognize he was being an ass, even suggested physical abuse as punishment, but that wasn't the problem. Ever since that first day on the Hogwarts Express on their first year, they became best friends. They were inseparable, they did everything together, well, almost anything. For one reason or another, when Harry was feeling down, Ron could never make him feel better.
"What kind of a friend am I if I can't help him when he needs it?" he spoke out loud to himself. "Sure, I'm there with him in most of his adventures, but that's not what I mean. I'm always there out of loyalty, but never really understanding what I'm doing. Should guys help each other with their emotional problems? Am I gay for thinking that I should? OK, that's a definite NO."
He didn't hear someone approach him from behind.
"So, Harry's writing again?"
He turned around startled to find his younger sister looking down at him.
"How did you find me?"
"It wasn't hard, you're always here. Anyways, even if you didn't, all I would have to do is to follow that awful smell," she finished smiling down at him. She noticed that her brother had a lot on his mind. "Aren't you happy that he wrote to you?" she asked, picking up the letter and skimming through it. "He even invited you over." Still no response from him. "OK, what's the matter?" she asked taking a seat in front of him.
"He's doing better, no question about that. It's just…"
"You feel left out because you weren't there to help?" she finished tentatively.
"Yeah, something like that."
"So, maybe Professor Lupin had a long chat with him and got things sorted out."
"No, only one person can have that much effect on Harry."
"Who?" she knew the answer, but inquired anyway.
"Hermione."
-------------------
Harry was done writing letters to all of his friends. He was amazed at how much post he got from Ginny, Neville and Luna. Ginny and Neville had always been friends, but never as much as to write to him so much. Luna he had just met last year, and although strange didn't begin to describe her, he liked having her as a friend.
"What is it about near death experiences that bring people together," he had thought to himself as he finished the last letter.
He had answered each of them individually, but basically said the same thing. He thanked them for their concern, he was feeling better now, he was glad to hear from them and they would see each other on September first at the latest. It wasn't much, but it was something he convinced himself. He sent of all his post at the same time, receiving a wide-eyed expression from Hedwig. Hermione was going to spend the next few days with her parents, so that left Harry with Remus.
He had been eyeing the scroll containing Sirius's will all day; he just couldn't bring himself to open it.
"Couldn't you open it for me?" he asked Remus in childlike way.
"No, its charmed so only you can do that. Besides, would you really want me to?"
"I hate reverse psychology."
They moved back into the kitchen to make lunch. They made themselves a heavy, "manly", as Remus put it, lunch consisting of lots of different meats and greasy food. Remus placed scroll next to Harry's seat, which didn't go unnoticed.
"You're enjoying this aren't you?"
"Me, what ever gave you that idea?" he said, grinning stupidly at him.
Harry knew he was being a baby about the whole thing.
"You want to be treated like an adult, better start acting like one," he thought to himself.
He grabbed the scroll removed the seal.
"What no sparks or pixie dust?" he asked cheekily.
"Nope, and that's a good thing mind you."
The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black Family Trust
Mr. Potter,
In accordance with the last will and testament of one Sirius Black, last of the noble Black family, I find myself as the bearer of the Black Trust which I am instructed to present to you. Usually I present myself to the recipient of said Trust, but following orders, I am to await your arrival at my office, located inside the Gringotts bank within twenty four hours of your opening of this letter. In said meeting, I will present to you everything that has been left for you, as well as the guidelines to receive each item. I will be awaiting your arrival tomorrow, precisely at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
Sincerely,
Ungh Kablidook
Head of Magical Trusts and Wills & Testaments
"Looks like you've got to make a stop at Gringotts tomorrow. You should probably do the rest of your shopping then. Once your training with Mad-Eye starts, you won't get a chance."
"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to getting my butt blasted all over the place."
"Well it could be worse, Snape could be teaching you."
"True, but at least I would be able to blast him back. I learned some good ones from the books you gave me."
"Now, that must be why he refused to teach you. Being cursed by your father was embarrassing to him, but having his son do the same thing, well, that would just be humiliating."
They both laughed heartily, enjoying the thought of cursing Snape all over the place.