Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything (9)

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Chapter Nine: Finding Out True Love Is Blind

Everyone seemed to linger over dinner on Friday evenings. Monday through Thursday's meals was always hurried affairs, owing to the constant need to hurry to class or to the library to study. On Fridays, most students seemed to indulge in the luxury of not having anything to rush off to for a change.

Included in this number were the five Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw that sat together at a table along the Gryffindor side of the great hall. Ron, true to his word, had pushed back the time for their evening Quidditch practice sessions so that he, Harry, and Ginny could take their time to eat. And, although there hadn't been any further confrontations for any of them with the Slytherins, Harry still kept a very close eye on Luna and encouraged her to eat her meals with the rest of them. As could be expected, Luna had no objection with this arrangement. As could also be expected, the main topic of discussion was the past weeks events, classes being the primary gripe.

"I'm starting to miss Filch. Between tutoring a bunch of first and second years that would rather stare at me than actually learn anything and trying to learn a bunch of spells that Merlin invented, I'm about knackered. I might have to put an engorgement charm on the snitch to find it tonight. I'll have to rest up once practice is over for our match versus Ravenclaw tomorrow. That new Seeker they've got, Sarah Clingerman, she's got a brother on the Polish national team. I'm going to have to be in top form. But, before I can even get to bed I've got bleeding hall patrol! I tell you, it almost makes me miss Privet Drive. Well, almost."

Harry then leaned forward and kissed Luna on the cheek, causing the blonde haired girl to blush prettily.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Well, get out the violin. I told you I'd switch you tonight for tomorrow, but you're the one who said you'd rather have the time to party after the game. And do you think I'm having any easier a time of things with tutoring the Transfiguration students? The girls all hate me, and the boys drool all over themselves like simpletons. I don't remember the two of you being that way when you were that age. Of course, you were probably lusting after other girls rather than little old me. I was just one of the guys, right? I think I liked it better when I was flat chested and gangly. At least people looked me in the eyes more often. And do you know what a rare opportunity it is to study the ancient spells Merlin himself created? That's usually a field of study reserved for only the highest-ranking members of magical society. The fact that Professor Dumbledore would trust us enough to share them with us is a great honor. Still, Head duties are a little more time consuming than I had planned on. I guess I was so anxious to get the badge that I didn't really think about all that came with it. I'd have a lot more time to study if I didn't have patrols and meetings all the time."

Ron laughed loudly.

"You know what they say, Hermione. Be careful what you wish for! And don't bet on having any more time if you didn't have the badge. Flitwick has had me tutoring every night. You'd be amazed at how many of them can't even manage a levitation charm. I asked Flitwick about having a troll to use, but he didn't seem to think it was a good idea, even after I told him that it was how I managed to finally learn it. Being Quidditch captain is not picnic, either. I don't know how you did it, Harry. Between making up a schedule that everyone can make, coming up with new plays, and scouting the other teams, it's enough to make a bloke go spare."

Neville nodded his head in agreement.

"I know what you mean. I don't have Head duties or captain duties, but I still barely have the time to sleep. Professor Sprout doesn't just have me doing tutoring, she's also got me as her assistant. So, not only am I tutoring, but also I'm also in charge of tending to most of the less dangerous plants. Don't get me wrong, I love Herbology, but I don't want it to be my whole life. I think I spend more time in the greenhouses than I do in Gryffindor tower. And you'd be surprised at how many fifth years still can't tell a dangerous plant from a normal one. I've got this one student, a fifth year by the name of Haley Muir, really thick Scottish accent and lots of blonde hair. I've told her a million times to put her hair up when working around devil's snare, but will she listen? No. I have to get her untangled every time. And she's always so bloody hyper, constantly jumping up and down and giggling. I swear she's going to end up hurting herself."

Ginny glared over to the Hufflepuff table where the girl in question was whispering and giggling to the girl next to her.

"Oh, I've got that girl's number. She's not nearly as stupid as she lets on. She gets herself into trouble on purpose to you'll have to rescue her. And the bouncing up and down thing isn't because she's hyper, it's because she's horny. Don't you notice how her boobs jiggle around while she's doing it? I heard her telling her little friend there in the loo the other day that she never wears a bra to your tutoring sessions. She figures if she can get you to go out with her she'll pass the class with no problem. As long as she isn't being direct, I'll let it go, but if she ever tries anything with you, well, she'll have a lot more than getting her pretty blonde hair messed up to worry about. I'll kick her flat ass all the way back to Glasgow."

Neville looked at her in complete disbelief.

"Why would she do that? I don't give out grades, Professor Sprout does."

Ginny gave out a long sigh.

"Nevy, you are so naïve. She doesn't do it just for the grade. I know that you don't believe this, but you have grown into a very handsome man. She's trying to entice you! I should know; I did the same thing with Harry way back when. Unfortunately, when I jumped around it didn't make much of a difference. Anyway, just keep her at arm's length, ok? And at the first sign of her wearing a V-neck, let me know."

Luna giggled.

"You know, I never thought of doing any of those things when I was trying to get Harry to notice me. I don't think the lack of undergarments would have helped me, either. I've always had a rather boyish figure. Still, that girl should know that Neville is in a relationship. The two of you are always together holding hands."

Ginny scoffed.

"Oh, you'd be surprised, Luna. With so many boys and girls here, there is bound to be competition. Most of the boys here stopped bugging me, but we females seem to be more determined. Haley is just one of the girls I've seen eyeing up Nevy, and nearly every girl with a pulse in this place would love to have Harry's broom in their shed, if you know what I mean. I've even seen girls look at Ron, so you know they must be desperate. Oh, and speaking of my brother's past failed attempts..."

The friends then looked up so see Padma Patil drifting towards them. She looked as if she was nervous about something. She took a seat next to Harry.

"Look, I can't stay here very long, but there's something you should know."

Harry's smile disappeared from his face and turned serious. Even Luna seemed to focus in. Harry nodded for Padma to continue.

"I heard about the confrontation you had with Draco, and I heard about what you and Luna told him. Well, the word has gotten around about the two of you being more than friends, especially in Ravenclaw tower. Some of the other girls have always disliked Luna because of her odd behavior, but now it's gotten worse. Now that they know that the two of you are dating, a lot of the girls are jealous of her, too. At first I didn't pay much attention to them, they were all jealous of Cho back in fifth year, but last night was different. There was a group of them all huddled together talking by the fire. I was at the table behind them working on Charms and overheard what they were saying. They started talking about Luna, and how she could have possibly gotten someone like Harry to date her. A few of them were talking about love potions, while the others mostly just called her a slut. The conversation seemed to heat up from there, and by the time they went to bed they had come up with a plan to do something to her."

Harry's face hardened even more as he leaned closer to Padma. Luna felt more worried for Harry than she did herself. She knew he would take anything done to her as a personal offense to him as well. When he spoke, his voice was harsh with anger.

"What is it Padma? What are they planning on doing to Luna?"

Padma looked to either side of herself to make sure none of her housemates were within earshot.

"The plan is to jump her tonight after she's gone to bed. There's about six of them that are going to do it. From what they said, one of them is going to stun her, and then they're all going to carry her down to the Quidditch pitch. Once there, they plan to strip her and tie her to one of the goal posts. They're hoping that nobody will notice anything until it's time for the match so that the whole school will see her, and a couple of them even mentioned using a charm that would cause the words "cheap slut" to glow red and gold on her. I didn't act like I had heard them, and they didn't invite me in on it, probably because they know I'm dating one of the twins, and that I was in the DA. Anyway, I wanted to tell you this so that you could be ready. I'd better go now before they realize where I am."

Padma then pretended to wave to Parvarti and walked back towards the Ravenclaw table. Once she was gone, Harry had to fight the strong urge to go simply go over and hex every girl in blue he could find. Instead, he set his mind to coming up with a plan. He had thought that Malfoy was the only one he would need to keep an eye on, but now he realized that he would have to send a message to anyone who wished to interfere with their happiness. He motioned for his friends to huddle up once again.

"Right, before we kick their ass in Quidditch tomorrow, we have to beat them at their own game tonight. Stealing clothes is one thing, but blatant assault is entirely different."

Hermione nodded her head.

"Definitely. Harry, you and I should go right this minute and talk to Flitwick. He's the Ravenclaw head of house, he should know about this so he can punish them."

Harry shook his head.

"No, that won't work. The girls would all just deny it, and then we'd have to get Padma to tell on them. That would only serve to get Padma into trouble with them all. I agree that we need to talk to Flitwick, but I have something else in mind to talk to him about. So, here's what I'm thinking about. Luna, you're going to be going up to bed early tonight."

Luna nodded her head without hesitation while Hermione's mouth dropped open slightly.

"Harry, what are you talking about? Luna going to bed early will just make it easier for them to attack her!"

Harry's face broke out into an evil smirk that Draco himself would have been proud of.

"Trust me, Luna will be fine. Go up about nine, Luna. Ron, make sure that I keep my Firebolt with me after practice. Now, Hermione, you and I will catch up with Flitwick after dinner is over. We don't want anyone to see us talking to him. If my plan works out, those bitches in Ravenclaw won't try anything ever again. Ron, I'll be down to practice as soon as I can. Come on, Hermione."

And, with a quick peck on his girlfriend's lips, Harry took Hermione's arm and followed Flitwick out of the great hall at a slight distance. Luna had no idea what Harry's plan was, but she trusted in him enough not to be concerned. In fact, as Ron, Ginny, and Neville left to go to Quidditch practice, she remained behind to have another helping of the baked Alaska.

*****

They had waited twenty minutes after Luna had gone upstairs to follow her. They wanted to make sure she'd be in bed and totally at their mercy. There were six of them in all, and the whole lot of them was tired of Loony Luna gallivanting around the school on the arm of the most desired boy of them all. Who did she think she was? The girl was obviously insane, what with all the asinine things she said and did. At least they knew now how she could be the top student in the school. With her obviously using some kind of love potion on Harry, and being on good terms with that Granger girl, she probably had all the professors on her side. Why was she even in Ravenclaw if she wanted to spend all her time with the Gryffindors? Ever since her fourth year she had been wrapped up with them. Well, they would teach her to think she was better than they were.

Just before going up, they reviewed their plan. One of them would throw back the covers, while another one would stun her. With any luck, they'd catch her with a look of shock on her face. They would then remove her clothes and cover her up with a cloak, surround her, and then take her down to the Quidditch pitch. The girl didn't weigh much; so one of them could act as a scout to make sure that the coast was clear. Once at the pitch, they would cast ropes around her, making sure that they would last until the match started. If they were really lucky, nobody would notice she was missing until they got into the stadium and saw her. As an extra touch, they would charm the word "cheap slut" onto her in glowing letters. They had gotten that idea from what Hermione had done to their former housemate Cho Chang the previous year. Once they were all prepared, the six of them gripped their wands tighter in their hands and made for the sixth floor girls dorm, where their victim was about to receive a rude awakening.

They placed a silencing charm on the door, just in case the hinges made any noise that might alert her. All of them were holding their breath in anticipation and excitement of bringing the girl down a peg or two. Once Harry saw her humiliated like this, he would be sure to distance himself from her. That's when they would step in and show him what a sane girl could do for him. To them, Harry Potter was a grand prize to be won, and for him to waste himself on someone like Loony wasn't right. Coming to a halt next to the bed, they all took one last look down at the sleeping girl in front of them cuddled up in a little ball. Like this, she looked very small and vulnerable. This might have played on the sympathies of other students, but members of Ravenclaw were not widely known for their emotions. They relied on logic. Emotions were for the less intelligent. "Save the hugs for the Hufflepuffs" was one of their old adages.

Their unofficial leader, a tall sixth year named Laura Gibson, took up her wand and pointed it at Luna's head. Giving the nod to one of the others that she was ready, she took one last breath before yelling out..."NOW!"

What happened next was over so quickly that there was no time for any kind of defensive action. In less than a second, there were six very lifelike statues standing in the dorm room. All of them wore similar looks of shock on their faces, with one of them holding her wand out in front of her, caught in the act of casting. The small lump in the bed was not sitting up with his own wand pointed towards them. He didn't look at all like his normal jovial self.

"It is a sad day when I am forced to take points away from my own house. Gibson, I will be taking forty points from you for being the one who was to cast the stunner. The rest of you will have twenty points taken apiece. That's 140 points! It has been over a hundred years since that many points have been taken at once from Ravenclaw. You will all be serving a month's worth of detentions with me, you will all be leaving Miss Lovegood alone from now on, and, since you were all so anxious to have an impact on tomorrow's match, you will be getting your wish. I'm sure that Professor McGonagall will welcome a return of an old tradition for the game. Now, let's get you girls to my office. We've got a few things to practice before the big match."

Professor Flitwick then waved his wand to guide the half dozen floating girls out of the dorm and down the steps to the common room. Some of the remaining people that were sitting there look alarmed at the sight of the girls being taken away in such a manner by their head of house, while others, including Padma, were glad to see them getting what they deserved. She couldn't wait to tell her friends about the looks on their faces as they were all herded out of their tower like a bunch of balloons being taken from a county fair.

*****

Breakfast the next morning was a fairly quiet one. With four of the six of them playing in the match that day, all of them were preoccupied with thoughts on the first match of the season. Ron had been running up to each member of the team and going over and over everything that they had been practicing on all week, along with quizzing them on their correct positions during each of the drawn up plays in the playbook. This went on until Colin Creevy swore he could feel a hive rising up and Ginny told her brother to leave them in peace. It was a true statement to his nerves that even he felt it difficult to choke down his breakfast. After turning down the muffin Hermione offered him by saying that the carbs would only slow him down, he managed the whites of two eggs before giving the team the signal that it was time to move out. After a quick kiss between Ron and Hermione, and a slightly more drawn out one between Harry and Luna, the team made their way out of the great hall, the sound of their entire house table applauding them raising their spirits. Back at their former table, Hermione and Luna remained sitting. Hermione had waited until things settled down to ask Luna how last night had went.

"Oh, it went perfectly. I went up to bed early, just like Harry told me, and made sure that I was the first one in the dorm. When I got up there, Harry was hovering outside one of the tower windows on his broom with Professor Flitwick behind him. The professor then got off and helped me get on so that I could hide out in Harry's Head Boy suite. He then got into my bed and pulled the sheets up. He's shorter than I am, of course, but he said that the dark would help hide that. From what he told me this morning, the six girls come in just like Padma said they would, but before they had a chance to stun me, or at least whom they thought was me, the professor did a nonverbal mass stunning charm. Padma said that she then saw him taking them all out through their common room. Apparently the rest of the students didn't seem to know what to think, but a lot of them didn't seem surprised to see them in trouble. I don't think I'm the only one they'd been working on. Anyway, that's all I know."

Hermione smiled in satisfaction.

"Serves those cows right. I'm more thankful everyday that the Sorting Hat decided on putting me in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw. No offense, Luna. One thing I don't get though, where are the girls now? I know that Harry and Flitwick were scheming something, but I had to get to a meeting with McGonagall and couldn't hang around to hear what they had decided to do. When I left they were talking about bringing back some kind of tradition."

Luna placed a few more capers on her smoked salmon.

"Don't worry, I've wished I could be a Gryffindor more than a few times. But, since both my parents were in Ravenclaw, it's a bit of a family tradition. As for what happened to the girls, I really don't know. The only thing the professor said was that he had found an appropriate punishment for them, and that he was glad that McGonagall had agreed to it. I don't know what he meant by that. Anyway, I'm actually glad those girls tried to do something like this. It gave me a chance to be up on a broom with Harry. I can see why he likes it so much, it's so...freeing. And being snuggled up with Harry doesn't hurt, even if it was just a short ride to his room."

Hermione grinned as she remembered her own experience of flying with Harry.

"Well, I don't know about snuggling with him on a broom, but holding onto him for dear life on the back of a hippogriff was not something I'd want to do again. I was scared to death the whole time. Only Harry could have talked me into that."

Luna smiled.

"He does have the power to charm, doesn't he? It's a good thing he's such a morally upright person. It's hard to tell what he could talk a girl into."

Hermione smiled widely when she saw the even dreamier than normal look in Luna's eyes.

"Sort of makes you wish he'd let those morals droop occasionally, don't you?"

Luna blushed slightly.

"Yes, I guess I do. I don't think either of us is ready to go past first base, but I sometimes wish I could at least have a chance at bat. He is a wonderful kisser, though. I can be happy with that for now. And we've both done a fairly good job of keeping out hands in neutral areas. It's just tough sometimes when he looks at me with those eyes of his. He's always telling me how pretty mine are, and I think he's very sweet for saying it, but his are just gorgeous. Oh, I'm sorry, Hermione. I'm sure hearing about how sexy your brother is isn't exactly what you want to talk about over breakfast. What about you and Ronald? Any progression beyond kissing?"

Hermione pinked up a little.

"No, not really. Ron's a bit tricky, though. We'll be kissing and he'll try to shove his tongue in my mouth, or slip a hand under my jumper. He seems to forget that I can do wandless magic just like Harry can. Well, not to the extent that Harry can, but well enough to give him a wicked stinging hex where it hurts. I've told him a hundred times that I'm not doing that until I'm married, or, as he says, 'no play until the wedding day'. I hope he's matured a bit by then. At least he seems to have gotten over his stupid jealousy problem. That was really tiresome. Well, Luna, what do you say we get down to the match? We can get a seat up high so we can track Harry and Ron together."

Luna kept smiling but shook her head.

"Sorry, Hermione. I may be dating the Gryffindor Seeker, but I'm still a Ravenclaw. I'll be sitting on the blue side. I've made myself a compromise. I'm not going to root for either side. That way, I can stay impartial. Well, until Harry catches the snitch. At that point I'll be cheering on my boyfriend, and that's entirely different."

Hermione chuckled at Luna's unique take on being non-biased. Coming from Luna, however, it seemed to make sense. This thought made Hermione realize that, perhaps, she was hanging around Luna too much.

"Ok, Luna. I'll see you after the match. If we win I'm sure there will be a party in the common room. Would you like to come?"

"Oh, no, I'd better not. I know that Professor Flitwick made it clear that I'm not to be harassed anymore, but I don't think I should antagonize anyone. Thank you for the offer, though. I am hoping that I can get a moment with Harry afterwards. There's just something about being close to him after a match, when he's all sweaty and his muscles are all..."

Hermione cleared her throat loudly to stop Luna before she could get all worked up.

"Luna, settle down. Crossing into weird territory here. Why don't we just get down to the match?"

Luna smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I got caught up there. Well, I imagine I'll see you on the pitch after the game. Good luck on the match, Hermione."

"You too, Luna. I'll see you later."

The two girls then made their separate ways down to the pitch. Hermione spent the time trying to put the image of Harry all hot and sweaty out of her mind. This being related to the school hunk was still taking some getting used to.

*****

The box score on the match itself proved to be fairly unremarkable. Harry caught the snitch at the 181^st minute to give Gryffindor the win, 370-0. One thing that made the match interesting, however, was that, for the first time ever in his career, Harry held off on catching the snitch for as long as he thought he could. The reason for this was because he wanted to prolong the activity going on below along the Gryffindor side of the stadium. The crowd could be excused for not paying one hundred percent attention to the match, as could the players themselves. After all, it had been thirty years since cheerleaders had been allowed on the pitch. And never before had girls from one house cheered for the opposing team. Everything started off normally enough. The students had all filed into the stadium and took their seats to watch the match. Ravenclaw's team was then introduced first, and they flew their usual lap around the pitch before taking up their starting positions. It was then the Gryffindor team was called out that things took a turn.

As each player was introduced, a witch decked out in red and gold Gryffindor cheerleading outfits came out and did a cheer. As there were six of them and seven players, all of them formed a very awkward looking pyramid when the team captain, Ronald Weasley, was introduced. For the Gryffindor players and fans, this was a source of great amusement, while the Ravenclaw students and players seemed to be in a shocked silence. After a while, however, there was a small outbreak of laughs, whistles, and clapping. The "squad" was held under the direction of their head of house, who was tapping his wand against his open palm in case any of them attempted to make a break for it. A cheering charm would have made it much easier for them, but Professor Flitwick refused to make it easy for them. The result was a very un-cheery group of girls who also lacked greatly in coordination and style. The Dallas Cowgirls, they were not. The practice of cheerleading at Quidditch games had been stopped in the 1960's, when the trend of "streaking" had caused Professor McGonagall to abolish it. However, to this day, Mr. Weasley cites the occurrence as one of the reasons he later went on to marry Mrs. Weasley.

Ravenclaw was thrown off their game slightly by the disruption, but in truth they were overmatched from the start. With Ron's added confidence at being the captain of the team, and Harry's vastly superior skills at flying, the match could have been over within a few minutes. The team was simply having too much fun watching the hapless girls below shaking their pom-poms as Gryffindor scored goal after goal against them.

Once Harry had finally put them out of their misery, the girls threw their pom-poms down and fled the pitch as fast as their skirted legs could carry them. Behind them, the Gryffindor team congratulated themselves on a good game, and Professor Flitwick on such an imaginative punishment for the girls. With a wink towards Harry and Luna, he simply smiled and ushered his house's students back to the castle, leaving Luna behind to stay with Harry and the others. She immediately pushed her way through the crowd of Gryffindors to get her arms around her boyfriend.

"Well done, Harry. I was beginning to think that you were going to let the game go one all night, but I am glad that you took your time. Watching those girls form a chorus line was really very entertaining."

Harry laughed.

"Yeah, Flitwick is something else. Hermione and I talked with him, and he recalled that they used to have cheering squads for the Quidditch teams. Hermione had to leave, but we talked more about it and he assured me that he wouldn't mind if I stretched out the game as long as I thought I could. I think this should send a message out to the whole school to treat each other with respect, or face the consequences."

Ron grinned.

"Oh, I don't know. I bet Malfoy and his trained chimps would look a fair treat in those outfits. They'd have to burn them afterwards, of course."

Everyone laughed at the mental image of Draco and his overfed cronies doing a spirited cheer of, "we got spirit, how 'bout you?" As the laughter faded, Ginny suddenly got a thoughtful look on her face.

"I wonder where they keep those outfits? Maybe I could borrow one sometime. What do you think, Nevy?"

Neville turned a violent shade of red as Ron ground his teeth together so hard you could see a perfect outline of his jaws. Luna turned to look at Ginny.

" I would think that all the houses have uniforms. I could ask Professor Flitwick about the ones for Ravenclaw, too. I'm very fond of dancing, and they do look like they'd allow for a lot of flexibility. I could show you the dance I do to that Roberta Flack song you like, Harry."

Now it was Harry's turn to blush. He knew the song she meant and wondered what dance she did to it. He didn't know if it would be done softly, but he did believe it might kill him. Hearing the two girls profess their intentions, Ron turned a hopeful eye to his own girlfriend. Hermione merely shook her head at him.

"Dream on, Ronald. The only thing you'll see me shaking at you is my fist if you don't watch out. Come on, let's all get back to the castle and get the party going. I'll have to do patrol duty later, you know."

The players then all got changed so that they could go up to the castle together. As the three males of the group hugged their girlfriends closer to themselves, their thoughts all focused on the same thing; just how lucky they were to have one another.

The party went on late into the night. Harry rounded up the younger students at ten and made sure they were all in their dorms. The rest of them kept the party going until Hermione came back from her rounds and told them all to get to bed. This was the cue for Harry to go pick up Luna and sneak out with her under his invisibility cloak. Hours later, as the sun rose up over the surrounding forest, Harry gave his girlfriend another last goodnight kiss. Walking back along the deserted halls to Gryffindor tower, he was reminded once again that being Head Boy did have its advantages.

Breakfast the next morning was attended by a large group of very tired Gryffindors. Everyone had been up late after the first match and had all made quite merry. As Harry attempted to focus on pouring milk over his oatmeal, the sound of Hedwig hooting overhead caused him to drop his spoon right into his bowl with a soft plop.

"Who would be sending me mail? Maybe it's something from Gringotts. Here you go, girl."

Harry held out his crusts from his toast for her to take. After receiving a reproachful look, he remembered how she liked it and dunked them a few times in his pumpkin juice. Hedwig then took the soggy bits of bread from her master and flew off. Harry decided at that point that, perhaps, he had spoiled his feathered friend. These thoughts were immediately dispelled when he saw how the latter was addressed. He would have recognized the writing regardless, but the fact that the sender's return of address was perfectly written in the top left hand corner confirmed his suspicion.

"It's from my aunt! She's never written me here before. I wonder if there's anything wrong?"

Ron and Hermione leaned in slightly to look at Harry's letter as he read it out loud to them.

Dear Harry:

How is school going for you? Have you played a game of, what is it, Kibitz? Lily used to talk about it non-stop when she was home from school. From what I recall, she said that your father was quite good at it. How is Hermione? I was very impressed with her. She does remind me a lot of your mother, you know; attractive, intelligent, and obviously very protective of you. If I didn't know better, I'd say she could almost be her daughter.

I've been meaning to write you sooner, but things have been busy here lately. First off, I am happy to report that Vernon and Dudley returned home about a week ago. Both of them were in quite a state. They had both lost weight (due to Marge's abysmal cooking, no doubt) and Vernon didn't look like he'd been sleeping. I was worried that they were just there to collect more of their things, but they really were there to move back in! Vernon said he had missed me and hugged me for the first time in years. We both ended up crying on each other's shoulders. Dudley seemed happy to be home as well, as he wasted no time in depleting the supply of microwave pizzas from the freezer.

Since that day, things are much better than before. Vernon and I talked all night when he came home and I told him everything, even about me receiving my own Hogwarts letter. At first, he was confused and a little angry with me for not telling him earlier, but eventually he agreed that the past didn't matter now. He said that he loved me, no matter what. I guess it's true what they say; absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. At least it did in our case. Starting now, Vernon and I have no secrets from one another, and we've never been closer because of it. Dudley still seems reserved around me, but Vernon assures me that he just needs some time. He'll be leaving for University soon, and I'd like to be closer to him before he goes. I'm going to miss him terribly. I've been missing you, too, Harry. I know that you've been going off to school for seven years now, but this time seems to be much harder on me. Maybe it's because, in a way, it's the first time we've been apart since we actually got to know one another. I've talked to Vernon about you, and he also admitted that we've treated you very badly. He wanted me to tell you that he really is sorry, and that you are welcome to stay here whenever you want, as you are a member of our family.

Thank you again for this past summer, Harry. Your kindness to me has given me a fresh look on life and made it possible for Vernon and I to get back to where we were many years ago. I can only hope that such good things happen for you as well. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers, Harry. I hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

Your Aunt Petunia

P.S. Please thank your owl for me. I had only just thought of sending you a letter when she came flying through the kitchen window. She really is a beautiful and faithful pet.

The group all sat in stunned silence as Harry finished reading he letter. They had all been hearing how awful his aunt and uncle had been to him since they had known Harry, but now it seemed that he could not ask for nicer relatives. Putting the letter down on the table, Harry smiled at his aunt's spidery writing on the page.

"If you would have told me last year at this time that my aunt would be sending me her love and an invite from uncle Vernon to stay with them whenever I fancied, well, I would tell you to lay off the Ogden's."

The rest of the group laughed as Harry smiled at Hermione.

"Kind of odd how she's got you figured out, even if she doesn't know she does. Maybe there's a little magic still left in her after all. I can't wait to have a pleasant conversation with my uncle, that's something I never thought would ever happen."

Ginny nodded.

"She might have had a sudden flush of some form of Divination. Ooh, I think I'm having one now! Harry, quick, let me see your hand!"

Harry instantly held out his hand, palm side up. The rest of the group looked on in anticipation.

"No, the other way. Let me see the back of your hand."

Harry turned his hand over at once. Hermione looked on as if she was catching on to something. Ginny looked down at the back of Harry's hand in interest. Not able to stand the suspense any longer, he asked her what she would see.

"Ginny, what is it? What do you see?"

Ginny's face suddenly broke out into a huge grin.

"It's ten past ten. You lot have five minutes to make it to McGonagall's Auror Training lesson."

That next moment saw the four seventh year members of the group racing out of the great hall, the sound of Ginny and Luna's laughter fading slowly behind them as they ran.