A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed, there what make want to keep writing, even if they are flames, just as long as they aren't to mean… I've gotten over 900 hits, but only 10 reviews. Come on people, it's not that hard! Sorry for how long this took to update, but, like I said, I was having Easter with family, and literally didn't have any time to write. Also, this chapter is a lot longer than the previous two (about 17 pages), but there was just a lot in this chapter, even though it's only over the course of a day, I hope it makes up for the delay. So, please don't expect them all to be this long, and thanks again for the reviews!
JayaMioneDurron: I appreciate your advice so much, feel free to continue giving it to me, I want to do anything I can to improve my writing!
Oh, and just to prevent any confusion, when you see words in italics throughout this story, it means that that is what the character is thinking, except for a few headings and such, but you'll be able to tell.
So, here's chapter three, Hogwarts letters come, and that means that Harry, Hermione, and Ron finally receive their O.W.L. results:
O.W.L.'s
It was quiet, and peaceful outside the next morning, a perfect reflection of the atmosphere inside Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Early morning rays of sunlight were finding there way in through the windows, illuminating certain patches of carpet. It was early, nearing 6:00a.m., and no one was awake besides two people in the kitchen, talking quietly.
Harry had woken up early that morning. His body was used to getting little sleep, having averaged only a couple hours a night because of the nightmares. After getting out of bed, he had headed downstairs. No one else seemed to be awake. He walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see Dumbledore there.
"Oh, hello Professor, I didn't think anyone else would be down here." Harry said quietly.
"No problem at all Harry, in fact, I was hoping someone would come down soon. Being an early riser can be peaceful, but lonely at times."
Harry was trying to think of something to say when he remembered his conversation (well maybe it was more like Ron yelling at him) with Ron in the car yesterday. Harry looked up at Dumbledore with hope, "Professor, I was wondering, will I be allowed to play Quidditch this year?"
Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes Harry. As a matter of fact, I have convinced Mr. Fudge to lift all of the decrees, and bans that were made under Professor Umbridge's consent last year."
A shine that had been missing from Harry's eyes since Sirius' death came back at that moment. Harry had been wanting to fly again for so long. "Thank you Professor."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment, and then looked at Harry, almost as if deciding on something. "Well Harry, I guess it would be best to let you know now, since Mr. Weasley will be asking me about it sooner or later, that Professor McGonagall has appointed you to Captain of the Gryffindor team."
Harry looked shocked, "What? Not that I'm not glad or anything, but why me?"
"Well Harry, I believe that it is because Professor McGonagall sees that you have good leadership skills, and that you can lead the Gryffindor team to win the Cup this year, as do I." He said with the familiar twinkle in his eye.
They sat in silence for a moment, before Harry looked up again at Dumbledore. "Professor, I'm sorry about last year, I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you, since it was mostly my fault."
"Harry, you may think that you caused Sirius' death, but you are wrong. Although a small part of it may have been you going to the Ministry, if anyone is to blame then it is me. Any man would be anxious to get out, being stuck in here for so long. I should have let him out more, under disguise." Harry knew that he was referring to Sirius' animagus form, the shaggy, black dog.
"What made matters worse, is that I didn't give Sirius anything to do. Everyone else was being given assignments, and he was supposed to stay here in hiding, with Buckbeak and Kreacher as his only company. Then, there was Severus, his rival since they were kids, rubbing it in. I could have put an end to it, but I didn't, and that is why you have no reason to be blaming yourself, Harry." Dumbledore said in his usual, calm voice.
There was another moment of awkward silence as Harry let what Dumbledore had said sink in. He then looked up at Dumbledore, "Thank you."
Harry had a lot of reasons for thanking Dumbledore just then; the fact that he had convinced the Minister of Magic to lift his bans, telling him about being appointed Quidditch Captain, but most of all, that he had lifted a heavy weight off of Harry's shoulders. Somehow, although he knew it was selfish, since Dumbledore had taken most of the blame, Harry no was no longer convinced that Sirius' death was completely his fault.
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Harry and Dumbledore sat in the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld place for the next half-an-hour. They didn't talk, just sat, taking in the beauty of the summer morning.
It was precisely 6:30a.m. when the two heard the soft tapping sound at the window. Dumbledore opened the window, letting the two barn owls in, with a wave of his hand. One landed on the table near Harry, dropping six letters on the table before flying off. One each for Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George. The other landed on Dumbledore's shoulder, and left after he had taken the letter tied to his leg.
Dumbledore read it quickly, his face going from the carefree expression he had earlier, to one of concern.
"Harry, I'm afraid that I must be going. Something has happened. I will inform you of what when I return, which should be sometime tomorrow. Please inform Molly and Arthur that I will send word to them later tonight." And with that, Dumbledore disapparated with out a sound. Harry didn't even have a chance to wonder what was going on, because just after Dumbledore went, Molly came down stairs, followed a few minutes later by Hermione.
"Oh, Harry dear, I didn't think you would be awake already." She said when she came down. "I'll go ahead and start making breakfast."
The kitchen was buzzing with the sound of bacon sizzling, and the smell of eggs frying. Harry had completely forgotten about the six letters that the owl had brought until Hermione came down.
"Oh, hi Harry, Molly. Harry, what are those?" She said, pointing to the letters.
"An owl brought them before Dumbledore left. Another owl came to, gave a note to Dumbledore. He looked worried, and left. Oh yeah, Molly, he told me to tell you that he would send word tonight to you. About what's wrong I guess."
Hermione walked over and sat down next to him, picking up one of the letters. "Harry!" She exclaimed, "These are our Hogwarts letters, do you know what this means?"
Harry looked at her, "Umm, that we'll know what to get for school this year?"
She frowned. "No, it means that we'll finally find out our O.W.L. results!"
"Oh." Harry said, panic flowing through him. What if he hadn't gotten good enough grades to become an auror? Well, McGonagall did say that she would make sure he became an auror if she had to tutor him nightly. He wondered if she still would.
He looked up at Hermione to ask her if she would help him, but found that she was already ripping open her letter, quickly dropping the supplies list on the table and pulling out what Harry guessed was her O.W.L. results.
Molly had come over and was as excited as Hermione. They both read over her results and Hermione looked extremely happy.
She looked at him, "Harry, aren't you going to look at yours?"
He felt queasy, "I don't think I can, why don't you look at them for me?"
She looked uneasy at first, then agreed, "Oh fine. Here, you can look at mine while I read yours.
She handed him her results, quickly tearing his letter open and pulling his out.
He looked down and read over her results:
Theory of Charms:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Transfiguration:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Herbology:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Defense Against the Dark Arts:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Ancient Runes:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Potions:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Care of Magical Creatures:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Astronomy:
Written - O
Practical - Not Scored
Overall - O
Arithmacy:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
History of Magic:
Written - O
Overall - O
Congratulations Ms. Granger, you have achieved 10 out of 10 O.W.L.'s, and have passed those required to become an auror.
The feeling in Harry's stomach got much worse after reading Hermione's results. She had wanted to become an auror too? How would she feel when she saw that he had wanted to become one, but didn't have good enough results?
"Harry, good job! Now we'll both be able to become aurors, that is if we get enough N.E.W.T.'s." Harry felt much better after that. He had done well enough to become an auror?
Realizing what Harry was feeling, she handed him his results. He took them, somewhat gratefully and read them over.
Theory of Charms:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Transfiguration:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Herbology:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Defense Against the Dark Arts:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Potions:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Care of Magical Creatures:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Astronomy:
Written - O
Practical - Not Scored
Overall - O
Divination:
Written - A
Practical - P
Overall - A
History of Magic - Due to certain events, your History of Magic O.W.L. will not be graded.
Congratulations Mr. Potter, you have achieved 7 out of 8 O.W.L.'s, and have passed those required to become an auror.
Harry couldn't believe it. He hadn't been too worried about passing the classes he needed to become an auror, except for potions. Somehow, he had managed to get an O, exactly what he needed. He couldn't wait until school started. Snape would probably have a heart attack when he saw him walk into his N.E.W.T. class.
Molly then walked over to them. "Here, let me see." She said, taking their O.W.L. results. She read them over quickly, "Good job Harry, and Hermione, even though we already knew you would do well." Hermione blushed.
Molly started fishing through the pile of Hogwarts letters, and then pulled out Ron's. She opened it and pulled out the O.W.L. results, and began looking them over. It was then that Ron came down.
"Hey guys." Then eyeing the letters, "What are tho…" He realized what they were mid-sentence, and then looked up at Molly, "Mom! What are you doing, those are my results!" He ran over to her and tried to grab them from her.
"What's the matter dear, afraid of what they are?" There was a look of terror on Ron's face as he realized that if he had done badly, he was in trouble. He would personally rather go tell Dumbledore that he was joining Voldemort, than face his mom when she was in a bad mood. He remembered all too well when Fred and George had received theirs, only having gotten 3/9 O.W.L.'s each.
Molly noticed his look, and turned to face him. "Don't worry Ron, even you had to do better than Fred and George did." She was smiling, and looked somewhat proud as she handed them to him.
Ron took them and walked over to Harry and Hermione, pulling a chair up in between them, and sitting down. They read them together:
Theory of Charms:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Transfiguration:
Written - O
Practical - E
Overall - O
Herbology:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Defense Against the Dark Arts:
Written - O
Practical - O
Overall - O
Potions:
Written - O
Practical - E
Overall - O
Care of Magical Creatures:
Written - O
Practical - E
Overall - O
Astronomy:
Written - E
Practical - Not scored
Overall - E
Divination:
Written - P
Practical - P
Overall - P
History of Magic:
Written - A
Overall - A
Congratulations Mr. Weasley, you have achieved 6 out of 9 O.W.L.'s, and have passed those required to become an auror.
Ron was stunned "Harry, I can't believe it! I passed Potions!" He exclaimed. He then looked back down at his results, and his eyes came to rest on his Divination O.W.L. "See Harry, told you I'd get a poor in Divination. I'm glad I don't have to take that class again."
Harry laughed, "Yeah, well I didn't do much better, I got an acceptable."
Ron looked at him, "Well, at least you did better than me. Speaking of which, how did you guys do?"
Harry and Hermione handed him there results, which Molly had left on the table. "Hermione did well, and I didn't do much better than you Ron." Harry said as Ron took their results from them.
Ron quickly read over them, and smiled. "Hey, I didn't know that you two wanted to become aurors too. I mean, I thought that maybe Harry would have wanted to, but I didn't think you would Hermione."
Hermione gave him a look, "Well Ron, I'll have you know that I'm perfectly capable of becoming an auror."
Ron looked at her, "I didn't mean it like that, I just thought that you would want to do something else."
"Like what?"
"Umm, I dunno, maybe a healer or something?"
"I actually did consider that, but I decided that I would rather become an auror, since I have a lot more experience in that area."
Harry looked up at her, "Hermione, I'm sorry."
"Harry, don't apologize! It's not your fault." Why does he do that? Always blaming himself for everything, if only I could tell him how I really feel. But he would never return my feelings…
Ron decided to change the subject, "So, did you guys already look at your supplies you need and stuff?"
Hermione turned her gaze from Harry to her envelope, and pulled out her supplies list, "No actually, we were too excited about our O.W.L.'s."
Harry looked up at her, "You mean you were excited about your O.W.L.'s."
Ron laughed, "Yeah, I'll bet Harry just couldn't wait to open his."
Hermione scowled, "Well, I guess it was just me who was excited, Harry made me look at his before he did."
"Don't blame you Harry, but at least you didn't have my mum looking at it first. Can you imagine if I had done as bad as the twins? I probably wouldn't be with you right now." He said, laughing.
Harry laughed too, and pulled out his supplies list, along with another letter. He opened it up and read it:
Dear Mr. Potter,
I would like to inform you that I have promoted you to Captain of the Gryffindor team. You will be required to schedule when tryouts will be for recruiting new players, and you will also be in charge of scheduling Quidditch practices, and informing your team of when they are. The first match has not yet been scheduled, but you will be informed upon arriving at school of when it will be held. I ask you to do the best you can to lead Gryffindor to when the cup, and I know you will be as determined as Mr. Wood, and Ms. Johnson were to win, which is one of the reasons why I have selected you, but I would like to tell you that although Mr. Wood was a good captain, he was a little, overbearing. I ask you to, if you can, be a bit more like Ms. Johnson, and not work the team into dire straights, as Mr. Wood did. It takes a lot out of them, which leads to lazy school work, but I still want you to be a good captain. Good luck Mr. Potter, not that you will need it.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Ron looked over at him, "Harry, what's that?"
Harry decided to tell him in a casual way, "Oh, Professor McGonagall was just telling me that I'm Quidditch Captain this year." He shrugged.
Ron had a look of shock on his face, "What? Let me see that!" He grabbed the letter from Harry and read it over. "Harry, this is great, I completely forgot that we would need a new captain this year! Harry, please tell me that you're taking McGonagall's advice, and not being like Wood, from what I heard from you, Fred, and George, he was brutal."
"Don't worry Ron; I knew what it was like when he was captain. I know what that was like."
Hermione then cut in. "Congratulations Harry." She said hugging him. He hugged her back, blushing slightly. After she let go, Harry had a strange feeling. When she had been hugging him he had felt, complete, and comforted. Why did you let go? He found himself thinking. Harry was trying to figure out this new feeling, when Hermione interrupted him.
"Harry, from what you and the twins said, Wood slightly overworked the team, but that doesn't mean you should just let them slack off, especially if you want to win the cup."
Harry was about to answer her when Ron cut in, "Slightly, are you kidding Hermione, from what I heard, Wood worked the team until they could hardly walk back to the tower! You saw what Harry looked like after practices, he was about to pass out!"
Harry then turned from staring at Hermione, to Ron, "Yeah Ron, but we're still going to practice as much as Wood made the old team, just probably not as long, Hermione's right, when isn't she?" He said looking over at her. She blushed. Ron noticed this and gave her an odd look from behind Harry. She just glared at him and he shrugged to himself.
"That's true; I don't think she's ever been wrong."
Hermione was about to reply, when Molly walked into the room, levitating about five trays full of food. She used her wand to lead them over to the table. "Breakfast is served. Why don't you three start while I get the others up?"
"Ok." They all replied as one.
They began eating, and flinched as they heard Molly shouting from the bottom of the stairs, which were just a room away. "Fred, George, Ginny, wake up and get down here, breakfast is ready!"
They heard a few moans, and footsteps upstairs of those getting out of bed. Then, after a few minutes, the twins came down. They sat down next to each other, across the table from Ron, and Harry, picked up their Hogwarts letters, absently pulled out the supplies lists, read them over, and began talking quietly amongst each other. They had gotten Hogwarts letters this year, since they would be repeating their seventh year, because they hadn't really finished it last year. This would actually be better for Harry. Now he wouldn't have to find new beaters for the team, since their bans had been lifted as well.
Harry looked over at them, "Hey you two, Dumbledore got all of the bans from Umbridge lifted."
The twins looked up at him, smiling, "Are you serious? We can play Quidditch again!" They talked about Quidditch for a few minutes, and they both congratulated Harry, and then went back to talking quietly.
Ron turned to Harry, "Probably talking about some new thing for their joke shop, they've been inventing stuff all summer. Unfortunately, I've been their main tester, and trust me, I didn't do it deliberately, they kind of, jumped me, and, after threatening me with what they would tell mum if I didn't do what they asked, forced me to be a "volunteer" for whatever stupid thing they needed to test." Ron whispered to him. Harry laughed.
Soon after, Ginny came down stairs, and she sat next to Hermione. After opening her letter, the two of them began talking, and kept to themselves all through breakfast, giggling occasionally.
Harry and Ron, left with no one else to talk to, started talking to each other about the upcoming Quidditch season. During the conversation, Harry told him everything about his conversation with Dumbledore that morning, except the part about apologizing for destroying Dumbledore's office last year, and anything else that may hint about the end of last year. Once finished with the subject of Quidditch, they moved on to wondering what the note that Dumbledore received had said.
After breakfast Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny went upstairs to Harry's room. Fred and George had gone off somewhere, most likely to work on more jokes and pranks for there shop, which they were going to open the next year. They talked for a good part of the day, about all sorts of things; who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would be, what Voldemort was up too, and what the prophecy might have contained, and many other things.
When they got on to the subject of the "lost" prophecy, Harry found himself debating over whether or not he should tell them what Dumbledore had told him at the end of last year, but in the end, he always ended up deciding that he would just wait a little longer before he told them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was nearing dinner time before any of them knew it. They had spent the day catching up, and only stopped to eat lunch, but they continued there as well. They were all grouped around or on Harry's bed. He and Hermione were sitting next to each other towards the top, and Ron was on it too, but near the foot of the bed. Ginny was sitting in a comfortable looking chair she had brought from the library.
That was when they heard Molly shouting up the stairs, much like she had done at breakfast, for them. They got up, and headed down stairs. She was near the door, waiting for them.
She looked up at them as they walked down, and she motioned for them to hurry up. "Come on you four, I have just received a letter from Professor Dumbledore. He will be arriving shortly, and he will be bringing two people with him."
Ron looked questioningly at his mother, "Mum, who's coming?"
"I don't know Ron, all he said was that he was bringing two others, and he would be arriving shortly."
As if on cue, the door opened, and in walked Professor Dumbledore, with (to the disbelief of all of them), none other than Luna Lovegood, and another man.
"Ah, thank you for bringing them all down Molly." Dumbledore said, looking to the four of them. "As you all know, I have brought Miss Lovegood, and her father here to headquarters. Miss Lovegood will be staying here until the start of term, and her father will stay here tonight, and then begin to rebuild his home."
"Professor, I don't mean to interrupt, but why would he have to rebuild his house?" Harry asked, answering the question that all four of them wanted to know the answer to.
"Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy, attacked the Lovegood's home late last night. Mr. Lovegood was working late at the office, and Miss. Lovegood managed to escape before they attacked. The house was destroyed, but luckily, no one was injured."
There was a stunned silence, as there hadn't been any word of Voldemort, or his Death Eater's activities since in the Department of Mysteries last year.
Harry finally broke the silence, "So that was why you had to leave so suddenly this morning?"
"Yes Harry, that is correct." Dumbledore said calmly.
"Professor, were there any other attacks?" Hermione asked quietly, unconsciously moving closer to Harry.
"None that we know of, but I am quite sure that this was the only one. So, Miss Lovegood, you will be sharing Miss Weasley's room, I am sure she would be more than happy to show you to it."
"Yes, of course Professor." Ginny said, and she led Luna up stairs to her, now their, room.
"Now, why don't you three go up stairs for a bit, I am sure Molly will tell you when dinner is ready."
Molly seemed as if she had forgotten that their dinner was still cooking, and hurried off to the kitchen. Harry, Hermione, and Ron turned and headed up stairs. They certainly had a lot to talk about now.
They reached Ginny and Luna's room, and Hermione knocked on the door. "Come in." Came Ginny's reply.
They walked in and saw that there were now two beds in the room. Both Ginny and Luna were sitting on one of them. "Hey." Ginny said as they walked in. The beds were parallel against the back wall, so Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat on the other bed, facing Ginny and Luna.
The four of them sat there for a few minutes, wondering what to say to Luna. She on the other hand, just stared off into a corner of the room, dreamily, without any sign of emotion on her face.
Hermione finally said something, "Luna, I'm sorry for what happened to your house."
Luna looked over at her, she looked as if she had just been woken up, "Oh, it doesn't really bother me Hermione, I'm just glad that my dad wasn't hurt."
"Yeah, but didn't you lose all of your stuff?" Hermione asked.
"Well, yes, but it's no matter, I can always get more things."
"Oh. You sure your ok Luna?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Ever since my mother died nothing bad that has happened to me really bothered me, I think it's just better to just not be bothered by it." Luna said dreamily.
After she said that, everyone seemed to loosen up a little bit. Hermione told her that she was sorry about her mom, but Luna simply said that she had gotten over it.
They talked for a while, and Harry noticed that Luna seemed to stare at Ron a lot, and most of what she said was to him. Ron on the other hand looked slightly nervous, but seemed like he liked talking to her.
After a while, they all went to go to sleep. As Harry lay in bed, he began thinking about Luna. He realized that she wasn't really that bad after all. She had lost someone very close to her as well, her mother. And last year, when Harry was desperately trying to figure out a way to talk to, or see Sirius again, and realized that he couldn't, Luna had comforted him somewhat, and he felt sorry for her, when she told him about how people stole her things, and hid them.
As Harry was drifting off to sleep, he remembered Luna and Ron talking. Luna definitely fancied Ron, and Ron seemed to like her as well. But didn't Ron have a thing for Hermione?
Those thoughts were quickly forgotten as Harry drifted off to sleep, and they were replaced by the dream. It was the dream about the bushy haired girl that looked so familiar, and gave him a comfortable feeling, and seemed to make him feel complete. He needed her. He started towards her to see who she was, but just as he was about to find out who she was, the dream changed. He saw the scenes from the Department of Mysteries, and the feeling of grief as Sirius fell through the Veil, and his heart stopping when Hermione was hit by the purple flame Dolohov cast on her…
A/N: Hope you all liked this chapter, I think it turned out very well, although it was rather long. Ok, now that you've read it, write a review! Please do, they make me want to keep writing!
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