Harry Potter and the Sixth Year Secrets

Harry raced back to Hermione's room, but when he entered she was sleeping peacefully. Harry turned to leave and walk back to his room, he decided he would give her the OWL results in the morning, and would wait to read his then also. So he opened his door and changed for bed. Even though he went straight to bed, he lay there for hours trying to get to sleep, but only being able to think of the day's events. He finally dozed off around two in the morning and was up at eight in the morning as usual to go running.

When Harry got back from running, he decided it was time to take his shower. He enjoyed taking showers after a long run around the park; it not only got him clean but gave him time to think. So as he was drying off and heard a door open he thought nothing off it as he was busy picking up his clothes and shutting the door to head to his room, but who he found surprised him. She had not seen him yet because her head was down, staring at her feet.

~~~

Where am I, thought Hermione, as everything came flooding back to her and she began to cry. She had suddenly remembered everything; her father's death, being taken to Harry's house to stay the remaining month and a half, and leaving her mother to grieve by herself. Hermione looked at the clock and realized she had been crying for thirty minutes, it was now nine o'clock, and her throat hurt painfully from her crying and decided to get up and get a glass of water.

Hermione exited her room with silent tears flowing down her cheeks. She didn't want anyone to see them so she kept her head down, but when she heard a door shut she looked up and saw Harry for the first time. She had not heard the door open because he had opened it seconds before her and was shocked to see him standing there in nothing but a towel. She just stared in surprise at Harry, and not being able to fully comprehend what she was seeing, continued to stare until Harry ran to his room and slammed the door shut louder than usual in his embarrassment.

She had never seen Harry like that in all the years she had known him. They hadn't ever had the chance to go swimming or anything like that. Her room at Grimmauld place had an adjoining bath and Harry had always bathed before she woke up, so this was something she was certainly not expecting. Get a grip on yourself, you ARE sharing a house with him. This was bound to happen sometime, she told herself.

~~~

As Harry got dressed he was thinking about what had just happened. What HAD just happened, thought Harry, why did I forget to bring my clothes when Hermione was two doors down? "Because you're dumb Potter," said a voice that sounded strangely familiar to Draco Malfoy.

Harry finished getting dressed and made an attempt to fix his unruly black hair, but gave up after trying for a second; it never would lie down flat. He entered the kitchen to find Hermione drinking a glass of water. She was apparently thinking hard about something because she didn't notice him enter the kitchen at first. When she finally looked at him she quickly turned away and back to her water.

Harry wasn't certain what to do at the moment and after a long silence he tried to talk to her about it. "Hermione, I really didn't know you were going to be up this early. I would have brought my clothes to the bathroom instead. It just slipped my mind," Harry told her, praying she would respond and finally look at him.

"It's fine Harry. We are sharing a house together. It was bound to happen," Hermione told him, giving him an amused glance but really just echoing her conversation with herself earlier.

"Oh, right, well...," Harry said, starting another uncomfortable pause.

"Oh yeah, we got our OWL results last night!" exclaimed Harry, glad he was finally able to say something. "They are up in my room. Dumbledore gave them to me last night, but you were asleep, so I waited to give you yours today. I'll bring them to your room, okay?"

"That's fine," said Hermione running up the stairs but stopped on the fourth step, "By the way, where are the Dursleys?"

"Oh, they recently took up church. Dudley got caught smoking and beating people up and Aunt Petunia thought a priest would be able to help him. Now hurry up and I will be there in a minute," he told her while chasing her up the stairs.

He reached his room and got the two letters off of his desk and ran to Hermione's room. He was very excited because these results would change his future career as a wizard. He went to the door and knocked, but Hermione told him to wait a minute, she was getting dressed.

When Harry was finally able to enter the room, after five minutes of waiting outside of her door, he saw she was wearing simple jeans and a t-shirt, and didn't understand what took five minutes. As if sensing his question Hermione told him she had had to tidy up her room a little and get some things situated. She reached out for her letter and got ready to open it when she turned to him and asked, "Harry, have you already opened yours?"

"Nope, I waited for you. I thought it would be more fun if we opened them together," replied Harry. He was getting more and more anxious by the second, and was surprised Hermione was acting so calm.

"Thank you Harry. That was actually very considerate of you," was all she said, then flashed him a wide smile and said, "Now let's open these!"

Harry opened his letter and found three pieces of paper, but let the other two fall on the bed and started reading the results first.

You have successfully completed your Ordinary Wizarding Levels (OWLs) and below are the results for both the theory and practical portions of your examinations. They are as followed:

Examination: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Theory - - - Practical - - - Overall Grade

Astronomy - .................................E............... A..................... E

Care of Magical Creatures ............ E .............. O .................... O

Charms .................................... A ...............O..................... O

Defense Against the Dark Arts ...... O ..............O** ..................O*

Divination ................................. n/a ............P ........................P

Herbology ................................. A ............ E ........................ E

History of Magic ........................ A ......... ...n/a ..................... A

Potions .................................... E ............ E ........................ E

You have done extremely well on your Ordinary Wizarding Levels (OWLs) and have therefore earned the number of 9 OWLs. Enclosed are some choices of jobs available to you, considering your results.

Congratulations,

Wizarding Tests Examiners

Harry sat there ecstatic; he had made an O* in Defense Against the Dark Arts. What is an O*, and what is an O**? Harry thought to himself. Damn, I didn't get an Outstanding in Potions either, goodbye Auror job. How did I get nine OWLs, I should only have eight, he asked himself. He looked over to Hermione and had planned on asking her his questions, but she had already put her paper down and was pursuing her career choices.

"What did you get Harry?" said Hermione, noticing Harry's sudden changes of expression. They had gone from surprise, to worried, then too confused all in the span of about five seconds. When he didn't answer she continued, "I am so happy. I got eleven Outstandings, and they're extremely hard to get. I was worried I wouldn't get one in Runes, because of that stupid word "ehwaz" that I mistranslated. So, I got 11 owls, plus two bonus OWLs for being the top score in 10 of my classes. I wonder who was the top of Defense Against the Dark Arts? Wow, 13 OWLs, that's extremely hard to do. I can't wait to wipe the look off of Percy's face, he only had 12," laughed Hermione, thinking of that particular moment.

"What do you mean? How do you get bonus OWLs?" asked Harry.

"Oh, it explains it on your second peace of paper. The one that explains all the scores on it," she told him.

So Harry reached down and picked up the piece of paper that lay forgotten on the bed.

Listed below are the pass and fail grades for each subject.

Fail - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pass

T-Troll................................ A-Average

D-Dunce................ E-Exceeds Expectations

P-Poor............................... O-Outstanding

&

Honorary

O*-Top of your class in this exam.

O**-School record in this exam.

Bonus OWL-For every 5 top scores in your class, you get a bonus OWL.

Bonus OWL-For every school record set, you also get a bonus owl.

Harry looked up in surprise; He had gotten the highest grade in his year in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then gotten the highest score in the school's history. He was speechless. "Wow," was all he said.

"Harry.......HARRY, you there? I asked you how many OWLs you got," asked Hermione, while snapping her fingers in his face. He had been staring off into space while she was talking to him.

"Oh..., I got nine...nine OWLs," he told her, still shocked. He always knew he would fail Divination. He had thought he had failed History of Magic also, but maybe Dumbledore had something to do with that. He had been back to the school for a month and probably explained it to the examiners.

"That's incredible Harry. I would have thought you only had eight though. You only had nine classes, and you said you probably failed Divination. How did you get nine?" Hermione asked him, looking puzzled. She wasn't one to usually be wrong, and was surprised she was on this occasion. She was sure he should only have eight...unless..."Harry, did you set a school record? Because that's the only way I can think of for you to get nine OWLs. I had the other bonus OWLs. It would have had to have been the school record in Defense Against the Dark Arts, which would explain why I didn't get the top score of the year," said Hermione, knowing she had figured out everything once again.

"Yes," Harry said, still a little shocked.

"That's wonderful Harry, I'm really surprised," replied Hermione.

"Oh," Harry said, more than a little hurt, "Well, I did."

"Oh, I'm sorry Harry. I didn't mean it like that, promise. I'm really proud of you," she tried telling him, but when he didn't seem to believe her, she flung herself at him and gave him a hug. "I really didn't mean it like that Harry. You're a great wizard, I was just surprised because it was Dumbledore who had set that record. Which means you're more powerful that we thought," she told him.

Harry was a little shocked to find Hermione giving him a hug, but it felt nice. So he returned it and told her it was okay. When he finally released her, they watched each other for a minute, once again not sure what to say. Harry wasn't sure what was happening, he had never felt uncomfortable around Hermione, but it seemed like ever since her father had been attacked, something had changed, but he couldn't for the life of him figure it out.

Harry finally decided to do something besides listen to the silence, and sat on the bed to pursue his career options. Hermione followed him and did the same. They spent another thirty minutes talking about careers and NEWT level courses, when the front door opened with a bang, announcing the Dursley's arrival home. It felt like the whole day had already flown by, but it was actually just now eleven o'clock.

Hermione said she wanted to get showered and changed and asked if they could walk over to see Tonks about some items at her house, and when Harry nodded his assent, she shooed him out of her room.

When they arrived at Mrs. Figg's house, Harry realized it was Sunday, and Tonks wouldn't be here, but he knocked anyways. It turned out that Tonks had switched her Saturday off for today, thinking Hermione might need her.

~~~

"Wotcher Harry!" exclaimed Tonks. "I'm really, really sorry about your dad Hermione, and I'm here for you if you ever need me.

But upon hearing that, all Hermione did was walk to the bathroom and shut the door, silent tears starting to fall down her face,

"I don't think that was the right thing to say Tonks. It only just happened yesterday, she hasn't even begun to really grieve properly yet," Mrs. Figg told her. "It's probably still a huge shock."

"Yeah, when she came out of her room this morning, she had red eyes. I think she had been crying," Harry told them.

"Well, let's just leave her alone for now, there's nothing we can do for her. Let her work this out for herself," said Mrs. Figg. "Let me finish Harry, (for he showed signs on interrupting at this point.) I know it seems heartless and like we don't care, but it really will help her in long run, I promise."

"Come on Harry, you can help me with this Shield potion. It's sort of like the shield charm, but you don't have to cast it if you take it, and it lasts for 24 hours. It's been really vital to the Order. Since were doing the highest shield potion, they don't have to worry about most curses, so they can fire back without having to hold their shield up. It's really complex, I have already messed it up the last five times," Tonks told him.

Thirty minutes later, when Hermione finally came out of the bathroom, Tonks and Harry still hadn't been able to concoct a perfect shield potion, and they asked for her help. Hermione threw herself into her work, glad to have something else to think about. Of course, being as smart as she is, she succeeded in completing the potion on her first attempt. Tonks was astounded, and said they could definitely use someone like her; Snape couldn't always do what was needed because of his other business. Tonks told them that Snape might not even be at Hogwarts this year; he might me replaced by Dumbledore's brother Aberforth.

"I remember Professor Moody mentioning him once. He said he was really odd," Harry told them.

"Well, he's not really; it was really just a big cover up, so that he could go underground. Dumbledore told us it had something to do with goats. But anyways, he's not really odd, he's just as good at Potions as Snape, and a lot more pleasant," informed Tonks.

"What was his other job?" asked Hermione. "Did it have something to do with potion making?"

"Well, not really potions, but he does mix stuff together," laughed Tonks, "He's the bartender at the Hog's Head. We get really useful information from him. Aberforth is actually going to let Mundungus back into his club, and Mundungus will be filling in for him. Mundungus is faithful to Dumbledore, he will make some money, and he will also be able to hear some things for himself. It works out for everyone, and it helps that Mundungus knows how to fix a bunch of drink's also."

"Well, anyways," sighed Tonks, "thanks for your help Hermione, and thanks for trying to help Harry, but I really think it's time for you two to leave. There is going to be an order meeting tonight, and we need to get set up. Oh, Hermione, may I have a word?"

"Um, sure," Hermione told her, while getting up and walking into the kitchen.

Once they had sat down at the table, Tonks asked her if she needed anything from her house, and made a list of what Hermione requested. When they were done Hermione stood up to leave but Tonks stopped her.

"Hermione, remember if you need me for...anything...else, I'm here. Also, if you could, will you give Harry some tutoring practices in Potions," asked Tonks. "Dumbledore needs his Potion making to be improved a little or he might not be accepted into Potions, if Snape stays. And he will need all the help he can get with Potion NEWTs. It's extremely harder that OWL courses, as is everything else," said Tonks.

As Hermione turned to leave, after telling Tonks she would be glad to help Harry, she realized Tonks was not only telling her she could come to her for more items, she was talking about coming to her to talk, and ask advice. Tonks really is a good person, thought Hermione, even if she is a little clumsy.

~~~