Chapter 2
Relatives
"Hey, Harry," said Ron. "Where've you two been? I've turned the entire mansion inside out trying to find you!"
"Oh, er, sorry Ron. We, er -"
"Got lost," said Hermione.
"Lost? In this place?" Ron shuddered. "That has to be about the worst thing that could possibly happen to you."
"No, it - it really wasn't all that bad," said Harry, grinning at Hermione vaguely.
Ron stared at them, looking from one to the other, puzzled. "Well," he finally said, "you'll never guess who I got a letter from!"
"Who?" said Harry and Hermione.
"None other than," Ron lowered his voice so that Fred and George wouldn't overhear, "Loony Lovegood."
"You're kidding," said Hermione, gigging.
Harry, however, didn't look too pleased.
"Don't call her that," he said as Hermione gave him an oddly furious look. "You know, she isn't all that bad, Ron. I just kind of feel sorry for her `cause, well, she told me people take her stuff and call her that behind her back. It's just, she seems simply misunderstood."
"Well, Harry. You better hope that's all she is to you," said Hermione in a low whisper so that only he could hear her.
"Oh, come on, Hermione. You don't honestly think I actually -" But Hermione smiled at him. "Of course I don't, Harry. It was just a joke," said Hermione who seemed to find Luna a funny competition.
"Well, Luna wrote to me and said that she was hoping that I was having a good vacation and asking if I could meet her down at Diagon Alley on the first of August," said Ron in a disgusted tone.
"Go, Ron!" giggled Hermione, this time even harder.
"This isn't funny!" he said. "And besides, I'm not going! If I'm seen with her in public, I'll be the laughing stock of the entire school!"
"So, go somewhere private," suggested Hermione.
"Are you kidding me? Do you honestly think that I like her or something?"
"Well, she definitely seems to like you so why not give it a go? We'll all go and get our things on the same day so that you don't feel lonely if you want," she teased.
"No!" shouted Ron. "Because I'm not going and that's final!"
He stormed off, but Harry could still see Ron clutching Luna's letter in his hand and eventually pocketing it as he left the room.
"What's got him so worked up?" asked Ginny.
"Oh, nothing," said Harry as Hermione was nearly about to spill his secret.
"Say, what ever happed to that git, Kreacher?" asked Harry.
"Oh," said Ginny, "he's still around but no longer at the Order of Phoenix headquarters. See, as soon as, well, his last remaining master, you know, well - Dumbledore decided to keep him at Hogwarts so that he wouldn't remind you and the rest of us of, well - " she broke off, but Harry knew exactly what she was talking about.
However, before Harry could tell her that he understood who she had meant, they were interrupted as, suddenly, Percy's breakfast plate burst with a loud BOOM and left pieces of scrambled egg all over his face, leaving Fred and George fit with uncontrollable laughter and Mrs. Weasley with rage at the twins.
"I THOUGHT A PROMISE WAS A PROMISE! YOU SAID NO MORE TESTING OF YOUR SILLY PRODUCTS! "
"Strange," said George, "I thought those silly products made us all fortunes."
"SILENCE!....ESPECIALLY ON FAMILY!" roared Mrs. Weasley.
"Oh, so we can try in out on, say, Harry?" asked Fred in an innocent tone.
"NO!" cried Mrs. Weasley, who was too furious to continue yelling at them and appeared to be having a migraine as she patiently rubbed her temples while muttering something to herself as she stormed out of the room.
Eventually, everyone had cleared out after breakfast and seemed to be busy with their own troubles: the Order was working secretly, head-to-head, on new information that they seemed to be discussing behind Harry's back, Fred and George had to find an alternate for their product tester, Ron had promised Mrs. Weasley to carry some heavy loads from the basement, "But why can't Fred and George do it? They can use magic!," and Ginny had run off to give Melificent her bath, whom Harry had never heard of (while finding it odd that she would need someone to give her a bath) and was wondering if he could meet when Hermione, checking to see that they were well out of sight, suddenly took his hand and whispered, "Harry, how about we go for a walk around this place?"
"Alright," said Harry. They both grabbed the last bit of toast, which reminded Harry uncannily of the time that they had gone for a walk around the lake at Hogwarts, and left the dinning room.
They reached the second floor corridor without saying a word when Hermione said, "You know, I have always wanted to walk around this mansion. I doubt that it is ever possible to know all of its corners, though."
This wasn't the conversation that Harry had in mind and so he said, "Say, Hermione. Er...has anything been, er, going on between you and Ron lately?"
"What'd you mean?" she asked in a rather bored, matter-of-fact voice.
"I mean, has he, er, askedyouout?" said Harry.
Hermione looked bemused, "Say that again, Harry. I didn't quite get that."
"Has he, you know, asked you out?" Harry breathed.
Hermione chocked on the bit of toast that she had finished nibbling.
"Harry, you're not serious about that, are you?" she looked stricken.
"Actually, I am. I mean it," he said, still looking at her frightened face. "Well? Has he?"
Hermione looked as if she didn't know what to say and, finally, she managed to spit something out. "Harry," she said in a rather shaky voice, "I think that it's time that you know something about me and - and Ron."
She was avoiding Harry's eyes, but he still noticed that she doubted telling him whatever it was.
"If you must," he said.
"Well, you see Harry, it's like this - " she began rather scared " - I..I probably shouldn't be telling you this - scratch that, I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but, well, since you told me about that prophesy..."
She continued, "You see, Ron and I are - are - "
"What is it, Hermione?"
"We're related."
"WHAT!" yelled Harry.
"Shhh!" said Hermione. "Mrs. Weasley and the others will have my throat if they find out I told you!"
"But why? How?" Harry was so confused. Everything that he once knew seemed do be swirling in a massive disarray.
"Well, the thing is that I'm Ron's, and Ginny's, and Fred and George's (Hermione shuddered), and so on, cousin."
"But - but - b-but," said Harry.
"I know, and I'm really sorry, Harry, but I just couldn't tell you," she said. "Mrs. Weasley is my aunt. She, er, is my mother's sister; her maiden name is Prewett, and she is, er, a Squib."
Harry was still transfixed in the thought, but then awoke from the moment to ask, "But Hermione, I mean, why didn't you just tell me? And how long have you known?"
"Harry, the reason why I couldn't tell you was because of you. You and your family. Because the only family that you had was those awful Muggles that you lived with and, here I am with Ron, in this huge wizarding family - " she paused, watching his sulked face. "But the only reason that we kept it a secret from you was because we didn't want to hurt you, Harry. We didn't want you to feel left out. And besides, wouldn't you feel awkward if you knew that your two best friends were cousins?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"See! And, we've known ever since second year," she said. "Once Ron's parents met my mother at Diagon Alley the day we were getting our books, they just had to tell him that I was related to him, otherwise it would have caused a lot of peculiar moments. And - they obviously told me, but they hesitated telling you because they just weren't sure that you were ready for something like that, Harry," she said desperately.
Harry felt like such a fool. Of course, he told himself, that's why Ron keeps jumping on Malfoy for calling her a Mudbood and why he didn't like the idea of her being fond of Lockhart and -
"Wait a minute," he said, "but why was he so jealous when you went to the ball with Krum?"
"Jealous? Is that what you though he was? No - " Hermione laughed, "He's just a bit overprotective. You know how he was when he found out that Ginny was dating Michael. That's just how he is. Ron's like a brother to me."
"But, what about when you said that he should have asked you to the ball first?"
"Oh, I was being sarcastic, Harry. I knew that it would have been too overprotective of him to take me to the ball himself so I made that snide remark to show him how ridiculous I thought he was being about the whole Krum thing."
"And - and what about when you kissed him on the cheek last year, eh?"
"That was just because I really wanted to wish him luck, and you know that he needed it back then. Besides, the only reason he reacted like that is because it is kind of weird if your cousin just kisses you on the cheek out of the blue. Especially one that you constantly argue with and one that is a girl."
Hermione shook her head and smirked. "What is it?" he asked.
"Oh, no - I just remembered when we were practicing Patronuses in the Room of Requirements and I found out mine was an otter. I thought - surely you would have realized that an otter is a member of the weasel family. I mean...nothing...never mind. Just a thought..."
"Hermione, you know I'm not good at these sorts of interpretations."
"Yeah, I know. And, er, what about you and Cho, then?"
Harry snorted, "You don't really think there is anything going on between us anymore, do you?" Hermione raised both of her eyebrows. "We definitely broke up when I had an argument with her over her friend Marietta when for ratting us out and then brought it home when I said how brilliant your idea of the 'sneak' charm had been," he grinned.
She blushed and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Oh, a kiss on the cheek? Is that all you've got, Hermione?" Harry teased.
But just as she leaned over to kiss him, Harry took a step down from the corridor on a descending latter and slipped on what seemed to be a very fuzzy snake. There was a loud screech and even louder scream from Hermione as she saw Harry tumble down the stairs and land in a loud THUMP. Harry could feel his entire body going numb and a small live object jumping on top of him and eventually running off in another direction, being picked up by a glowing girl.
"Melificent!" she said.
"HARRY! Oh, are you all right?" yelled Hermione as she made her way carefully down the stairs and then bended down to be by Harry's side.
"Yeah," he heard himself say. After all, he had gotten much worse injuries at Hogwarts and, certainly, a trip down the stairs was nothing of a big deal.
"`arry! I am so sorry! I was wondering were Melificent had gone after her bath."
Harry looked up as he was now standing up firmly on both feet, with the aid of Hermione, and noticed that Melificent was, in fact, not a person, but a cat; Fleur's cat. And, as a matter of fact, it had a remarkable resemblance to her. The cat had rich beige fur, white paws, illuminating sky blue eyes, a grey tail, and black face and ears. Harry never even imagined seeing a more beautiful cat. Surely, Crookshanks was in no league against her.
The cat gave Harry a very superior look as it prompted its nose high up in the air while held tightly by Fleur, who was now gently petting her behind the ears.
"Poor, poor, Melificent. Are you `urting? Zhere...zhere...it will be alright."
Harry gave Hermione a disgusted look, who shrugged, and began to walk him towards the nearest bedroom when he said, "No, I'm fine, really." She looked at him rather suspiciously, but was convinced as she witnessed him walk all on his own, only slightly limping.
"If you're sure - " she said.
"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT," yelled Ron as he, too, came limping from a corridor nearby. "D'you know what just happened? I just dropped and enormous crate full of old garbage on my foot and you know what Fred and George did about it?"
"What?" said Hermione.
"They added another hundred pounds to it before I could pick it up!"
Hermione was trying to keep a straight face while Ron said, "Really! One of these days I'll - what happened to you?" Ron had noticed Harry limping as well.
"Melificent," said Harry.
"Oh," said Ron, as if he understood. "Well, whatever she did to you, it could not have been that bad....there's a cat that seems to know its manners," said Ron as Hermione frowned.
Harry and Hermione exchanged odd glances. Harry was wondering if he should bring up the fact that he knows about them being related now, but just as he opened his mouth, Hermione said, "So, have you thought about that trip to Diagon Alley, Ron?"
Ron turned red. "No! Why would I?"
"Well, it's just that - "
"Look, can we just forget about this?" said Harry who wanted the last thing to happen was to hear them arguing.
Hermione seemed to think that there was a bit more behind Harry's reason and eyed him, so he said, "Just don't start arguing, okay, you two?"
"Right," said Ron.
"Ron, I'm sorry," said Hermione, "but there's nothing wrong with wanting to get to know Luna. I'm sure she's a wonderful person," finishing with most difficulty.
"I don't want to know her, okay," said Ron. "Just leave me alone," and walked off quite depressed.
"Good job, Hermione," said Harry.
"Well, I was only trying to help."
"No, I mean, at least now we can be alone," grinned Harry.
Hermione leaned over and kissed him, but quickly drew away as she heard a shuffle of footsteps and approaching voices.
"I don't think that he would dare try it, do you, Moody?"
"I don't know, Remus. You-Know-Who's been meant to do some pretty twisted things."
"But he wouldn't - "
"Shush!" The footsteps slowed down and Harry and Hermione came to discover Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, and Mr. Weasley in the hall.
"Oh, it's you two. What are you doing around in the hall all by yourselves, and at this time?"
"Just walking, sir," said Hermione, meekly.
"Hmmm, yes," said Moody. "Right, well, you best be off - why not find that boy, Ronald, and do something useful around this dump? Go on," he said.
Harry and Hermione made their way past him, shyly, and escaped to the west side of the house, searching for Ron or anyone else.
"I think we'd better limit our sneaking off," said Hermione. "If they keep catching us like that, they might eventually find out. `S not a very good thing, is it? Them finding out without us telling them?"
"No, it isn't,"said Harry.
"What isn't?" said Charley as he, Percy, and Bill emerged out of a trap door that seemed to lead to the basement.
"Nothing," said Hermione automatically. Percy scowled.
"What were you three doing down there, anyways?" Asked Harry.
"There seems to be an uncontrollable army of Mold Sprites down in the basement and mum wanted us to clear them out. I know we're not supposed to be telling you this, but the Order thought that the basement is an even better hiding place for the members in case headquarters are discovered; it's supposed to have a strange charm on it that confuses an untrustworthy person as soon as they walk in there. They'll actually get lost inside their own mind. Kind of a Dementor's Kiss, mind you, only not as fatal. The condition can only be deceased if the person walks out of the room. But, fortunately, they will be so confused that they won't know which way's up. They'll kill themselves beforehand, too much of a torture. Seems to be such an advanced charm, not even Dumbledore has heard about it. Ow!" Percy had hit Charley hard across the back of his head with his hand. "What d'you do that for?"
"More importantly," said Percy, extremely angrily, "why did you tell them?"
"Oh, like they can't be trusted! Honestly!"
Percy stormed of, apparently mad at his brother for let information about the Order slip and Bill for not stopping him.
"But - isn't that kind of dangerous?" said Hermione. "I mean, if Dumbledore doesn't know about the charm, then it may be full of Dark Magic. How do we know that basement can be trusted?"
"Relax, Hermione," said Bill, "it's not like he hasn't inspected it himself. Even if he is busy running around, answering stupid questions that the Ministry is still asking about You- Know-Who's return to power, he's always had time for the Order. Besides, we're still in our right minds. Aren't we?"
Hermione didn't seem convinced, but said, "I'm not so sure I'd like to answer that."
Bill laughed and followed Percy, accompanied by Charley.
"You know, I just realized something," said Harry.
"What?" asked Hermione.
"This is going to be the first birthday that I get to spend away from the Dursleys, entirely."
"Then I'm sure it will be wonderful..." said Hermione and leaned on Harry who put his arm around her.
"Yeah...Yeah...it will," said Harry who looked down the steps of the basement and wondered if there would ever come a time for them to find sanctuary in its mysterious likeliness of what seemed to be Harry's least favorite form of protection - being guarded by dementors.
***
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!!!" screamed Hermione as she gave him a huge kiss that prevented him breathing since he had just woken up, startled at the thought that his birthday had come so quickly this year.
"Hermione!" said Harry as she drew away and watched an enormous package appear on his bed, wrapped in gold paper and tided with a handsome red bow.
"Oh, that's not from me," she said and drew out a package the size of a large matchbox and handed it to him, "this is."
Harry hesitated, and slowly opened the package, wondering what Hermione could have possibly gotten him that seemed the be the size of a walnut. In the box, an illuminating green glow mesmerized Harry as he watched a medium-sized gem glistening at him from the heart of a handsome golden ring.
"It's, er, a promise ring," said Hermione, blushing.
"Hermione, I...I don't know what to say!" said Harry, transfixed by the illumination of the ring. "Except I promise you that this is probably the best gift I've ever gotten."
Hermione giggled, "No, silly. A promise ring doesn't mean that you'll promise someone that you like it. It means that you'll promise someone that you'll stay with him forever."
"Well, then I should probably get you one too, then," said Harry.
"You don't have to do that!" said Hermione. "Your word is enough."
"Well, then my word is....is...." Harry teased as Hermione awaited anxiously, "that I want to know what's inside that package," Harry pointed at the huge box planted on his bed.
"Harry!" said Hermione.
"I'm sorry...sorry. But I'll only promise you if you tell me how you really feel about me."
"Harry, you know, the way that I really feel about you right now is that you're being an awfully selfish jerk! And I still love you," she added.
"Alright," said Harry, "and the way that I feel about you is that I...I...I just need you to help me open that present right now."
Hermione made a loud tutting sound and said, "Harry, you're impossible!" leaving the room. Harry laughed. He knew that she realized that he was only joking, but it was fun to tease her while he had the opportunity.
"Now for this present," said Harry, as he turned to the large package, placing the ring on his finger, which felt very warm and comfortable.
He looked for a card and found a small one, dangling from its side. Harry's stomach must have flipped several times as it read, "To Harry, From Sirius."
How? Thought Harry. It was unimaginable.
Harry tore open the paper and found a card sitting on top of a cardboard box. Harry read it:
Harry,
I know that things must be very though for you right now, but just remember that I'm not as gone as you may think. First, I would like to wish you a Happy Birthday, Harry, but I'm afraid that I might lay a burden on you along with this wish. It might be hard for you to come back to the Department of Mysteries after what happened last year, but I think that it will be the best thing that you could do right about now. The Order will take you there, and you will not be alone, but you must face me, once again, in a state that I know you don't find very favorable, but I'm afraid, it is better off this way. Voldermort is back, Harry, and it's no laughing matter. You must arm yourself. You are now sixteen years old, on your way to adulthood and almost of age to do magic outside of school. Harry, take these possessions. I am not fond of them, neither am I of the people from whom I received them from, but I have found them quite useful when I last worked for the Order, while your parents were still alive. And one more thing, Harry. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of love, of pain, of death. Fear puts a stopper in all of us, but I want you to be an exception. Hear me Harry, and bring the mirror that I gave you for Christmas; yours and mine.
Once again, Happy Birthday,
Sirius
Harry wasn't sure how he felt after he had read this. It seemed as if he felt nothing at all. But suddenly, a jolt lighted inside of him. Was he going to be able to see Sirius again, or at least, speak to him? He remembered Luna's words "you heard them, behind the veil." Was it true? Could they really be heard? Could they be spoken to?
Just then, the doors of his bedroom burst open and the entire Weasley family, along with some members of the Order came hustling inside. Hermione was seen standing in the hall, her arms crossed. Harry knew she was still upset with him, but her anger wouldn't last long...
Ron and the other Weasley brothers clapped him on that back. Everyone was wishing Harry a Happy Birthday. Gifts came pouring in as Harry found himself unwrapping candy, clothes, Quidditch equipment, and magical objects.
Fleur had given Harry a cologne that smelled somewhat like the air at Hogwarts, which Harry laid cautiously aside; Fred and George had given him Tickle Tarts, which they told him they had used on Percy, who still having a fit of giggles; Lupin gave him an Observe-Me-Glass, which revealed the true form of anything that you might look at through it; Ginny - Adjusting Spray, which seemed to correct anything that you sprayed it on, and the list went on and on. Harry felt like he must have spent at least an hour opening presents and receiving greetings while Sirius's gift lay unopened on his bed. As much as he enjoyed the company of such an overwhelming amount of people, Harry couldn't wait for them to leave so that he could look at what Sirius had given him.
Finally, Mrs. Weasley said, "You know what, Harry, dear, you haven't even properly woken up yet. Why don't we all go downstairs and give Harry a proper breakfast and some time to breathe? Common now, all of you. Let's go, let's go!"
The crowd waved Harry good-bye and joined Hermione, who pursed her lips and walked out with the rest of them. Harry had no time to loose. He threw open the box and found a number of fascinating objects lying inside of Sirius's box, a piece of paper attached to each one with instructions and descriptions. He picked up the first one and it read:
Harry,
This is a wizarding shield. It is quite light for the purpose of reflecting powerful spells while having the opportunity to attack an enemy at the same time. Simply say, "Directium," when you want to shrink it down to size for pocket-storage, and "Extensium," when you need to shield yourself from unfriendly spells without having to use any charms.
Harry muttered, "Extensium," while pointing to the small object with his wand and a big silver shield irrupted from its center. Half of it sank into his bed and Harry realized that it must have no effect on solid objects, but only on spells cast off by other wizards.
He tried it out and, as the spell hit the shield, it immediately bounced off, hitting a wall, and narrowly missing Harry's head. "Wow!" he said.
The next amount of objects included a cloak that shadowed your face, even if you were in broad daylight, a silencer that you wear around your neck so that no part of your body can make a sound, bands that prevented wounding when put on certain parts of the body, a cauldron that brewed whatever ingredients you put inside of it so that the potion that you wanted would turn out correctly, a spell detector that told the holder what spell they should use next and, finally, something that made Harry's mouth form the words, "No way!" as he pulled out what seemed like a rug.
Harry,
This is a Magic Carpet. I know what you're thinking, and that they were banned by the Ministry of Magic, but this different. It's not a flying carpet, and that makes all of the difference in the world. However, it will transport you from place to place. Similar to the Floo network, you just step on the carpet and mutter where ever you want to go. And, by the way, Harry, all of these objects were inspected by Dumbledore and Moody, so you have nothing to worry about. However, if you'd like to ask them, just in case, be my guest. And, Harry, try not to use these objects to get into trouble. Oh, yeah, and the carpet doesn't work on Hogwarts grounds. Sorry!
Harry looked down at the carpet, which seemed to be able to fit four people on it, at most, and knew what he had to do. He grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and said, "Diagon Alley," as he stepped fully onto the carpet and appeared right at the heart of wizarding stores and pubs. He picked up the carpet, making sure that no one had noticed him appear out of thin air and placed the invisibility cloak over it as he held it under his arm. He stepped into Gringotts and retrieved quite a sum of money from his vault. His next stop was the jewelry store, Rock Cutz, (If it sparkles, we have it!). Harry had overheard Mrs. Weasley telling Fleur that she had gotten her diamond earnings at that store. He made his way across to the section with rings, which seem to look like an ocean of sparkling jewels on hoops. Harry saw a very elegant and distinct ring with a blue center that had a swirling mass within it, looking like blue fog. He was so intrigued by the moves of the mystical haze, that he knew that he simply had to buy Hermione the silver coated ring if he ever wanted her to speak to him again. If anything says promise, though Harry, it's this ring.
He payed for it at the counter, while finding out that it cost more than he could have imagined, yet still turned out some of his galleons in his pocket and took the neat package in which the ring had been placed. Glancing at it once more, he pocketed it and left the store.
However, no sooner had he done so than a group from Hogwarts greeted him out in the alley. "Hey, Harry!" yelled Dean. "Isn't it your birthday today?"
Harry nodded, grinning. "Happy Birthday, then," he said, followed by similar pursuits from the others. "Say, Harry, would you mind passing this to Ginny?" he said as he shoved an envelope at Harry.
"Er, not at all," he said.
"Well, later, I'm afraid. We better get going. Have you gotten your Hogwarts letter yet, by the way?"
"No," said Harry.
"Shame. Me neither. I guess they're taking a bit longer considering the O.W L. scores." He shuddered. "Say, do you know who the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain will be?"
"Nope," said Harry, "not a clue. Can't wait to start playing again, though."
"Yeah, we need to kick Slytherin's butt at the Quidditch Cup again."
Harry grinned. They said their goodbyes and Harry sneaked off, taking the invisibility cloak off of the carpet and placing it on himself while stepping onto the rug and vanishing towards Grimauld Place.
As he secretly appeared in the living room, he saw Hermione pouring over books near the fireplace. He took off the cloak and approached her.
"Hermione?" he said.
"What, Harry?" He could tell she was still quite mad at him.
"I forgot to tell you something."
"Yes," she said as she still hadn't looked at him.
"Mrs. Weasley was right, you know. A promise is a promise," and he pulled out the ring from his pocket, "and I promise that I'll love you forever and never let anything bad happen to you."
Hermione gasped at the sight of the ring. "Oh, Harry! Where did you - how did you- it's beautiful!" She got up and kissed him as she took the ring. He could see her eyes shining with tears. "Harry, you know you didn't have to. Oh, I just feel terrible. Why didn't you tell me? Honestly, Harry, you can do quite a job on some people's nerves!"
"So you like it?"
"Of course I do! But how did you manage to get it?"
"I don't know if I should trust someone who doesn't seem to trust me as well."
"Harry, don't be ridiculous, you know I was only kidding."
"Well," said Harry, looking at the desperate look on her face, "alright." And he told her about Sirius's gifts and how he wanted him to come to the Department of Mysteries.
"Harry! You can't just disappear like that. Ask Moody before using anymore of those things. I mean, how could those things possibly be from Sirius if he's - if he's - ?"
"Fine, I'll ask him," said Harry, who didn't think that Hermione would find him telling her about what Luna said an amusing story.
"I don't believer it! I don't believe it!" They could hear Ron yelling somewhere from another room, "Harry! Hermione! Come see this!"
At first, Harry and Hermione had though that something had gone terribly wrong, and came rushing into the room, but were relieved to find Ron jumping up and down with stunned faces along side of him and clutching a Hogwarts-crested envelope.
"I did it! I got a nine! I got a nine on the O.W.L.'s! Can you imagine that?! I thought I'd have failed Potions for sure!"
Both Harry and Hermione congratulated him.
"Does that mean we got our Hogwarts letters, too?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah, but I didn't want to be rude and, you know, open them myself," and he handed Harry and Hermione both their envelopes. Harry's envelope seemed heavier than usual. He ripped it open, his heart plummeting.
"A ten!" said Harry. "Excellent! Hermione what d'you - ?" But Harry stopped. He couldn't believe his eyes as a paper fell from the stack that he was holding along with a list of the new books that they would need. It was a letter addressed to Harry, or was it? How could it be?
"No! I...I can't be - how could he - he just told me - but - ?"
"Captain!" read Fred over Harry's shoulder.
"Not just any old Captain! Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain!" said George.
Hermione ran over and hugged Harry. "Oh, Harry - Congratulations!"
Ron shook his hand with a broad grin spread across his face.
"But - but why?" said Harry.
"Harry! You're probably the best Quidditch player on the team and you've played Quidditch for about five years now!" said Ron.
"Aren't - aren't you happy, Harry? Isn't this what you wanted?" said Hermione.
"Well...well yes, but - nothing, never mind."
"Now that's a birthday present!" said Fred. But the moment was interrupted as the Order came bursting into the room.
"All of you out! NOW! Emergency meeting! This is crucial! I SAID NOW!" yelled Moody.
Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys scampered out of the room, deserting it for the members of the Order as it filled and the door shut itself in a loud BANG!
"What do you think could have happened?" said Hermione, anxiously.
"I don't know..." said Harry.
"I've never seen them this upset before...even Moody. Something bad happened...I know it," Ron said, sounding panicky.
"We better go..." said Hermione, but just as the three of them turned to leave, the door opened and Lupin's face appeared out of the crack.
"Harry," he said gloomily, "I think you'd better come...there's something that we need to say - " But Moody interrupted him as he, too, emerged from the door.
"Potter, the gift - the gift - did you open it?"
"Gift? What gift?"
"The gift from Sirius!"
"Yes, yes I opened - is something wro - ?"
"Did you read the letter attached to it? Yes or no?" He sounded extremely severe.
"Of course, I - "
"Listen to me, Harry. There has been a sort of a, er, problem," said Lupin. "Somehow Voldemort found out about Sirius's communication with you. Harry, the veil, the black veil, do you remember it?"
"Yes..."
"Harry, it's - "
"Been destroyed," finished Moody.
"WHAT?!"
"I'm sorry," said Lupin. "There was nothing that we could do, but, I'm afraid that there is no way that you will be able to speak to Sirius - "
"NO!" yelled Harry.
"Harry, I - "
"ENOUGH!" barked Moody. "Remus! The meeting! Now!"
"Yes, yes, of course," he replied and they disappeared behind the thick wooden doors, leaving Harry's birthday memories crushed.
A/N: Oh, please don't kill me about the r/hr cousin thing. I can explain, I really can! Only not anytime soon...
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