The Other Side of Midnight

The Holidays

Harry Potter was actually not finding these holidays so bad as the rest of them. Make no mistake they were still not a walk in the park but at least in these ones he was left alone and not bothered by the Dursleys. This was all due to a letter that the Dursleys had received during the first week of his holidays and even now remembering it, Harry had to grin in amusement....

It was a normal day at 4 Privet drive and Harry found himself as usual making the breakfast. Dudley had amazingly not become any fatter during his school year and had actually lost some of the fat, mainly due to valiant efforts on the part of Smeltings' matron to get him to exercise and diet during the school year.

Aunt Petunia's comment when she had seen him had been a pathetic, "Oh my god! What have they done to my poor Duddy? You've gone so dreadfully thin. I must fatten you up while you are here."

And that was exactly what Dudley was doing now, eating a huge breakfast consisting of four eggs, bacon, five pieces of toast, three pancakes heavily laden with syrup and a huge mug of coffee to wash all of it down with.

Harry was sure that Dudley would be as big as a whale before the start of term but it didn't bother him in the least as at least he didn't have to diet like last year.

Harry was a very depressed person as he blamed himself for Cedric's death and for Voldemort's resurrection, if only he had allowed Sirius to kill that rotten rat during his third year, none of this would have happened. To think that it had all happened because of his doing didn't help him sleep any better at night, not that he slept anyway, as he was plagued by nightmares, really horrible ones; where he was being tortured by the Cruciatus curse and the old and familiar ones of his parents being killed. But by far the most horrible one's consisted of the resurrection of Voldemort. It always ended with him looking into the pale skeletal snake like-face of the Dark Lord as he said the fatal words of the killing curse.

These nightmares kept him awake all night and left him tired and drained. He was not spared in the day either as the Dursleys were keeping him busy with the regular chores of the day, trimming the bushes, watering and weeding the garden, mowing the lawn, washing the windows and the car, spreading the manure and fertilizers and pruning the roses.

He, for the first time, didn't mind it as it took his mind off the looming danger that was ever-present. He was also glad of the regular food, as he didn't want to starve on top of everything else like he had done last year.

Harry looked up from turning the eggs to see Aunt Petunia screaming as a large owl landed on her shoulder.

She threw the owl off, screaming like a banshee and acting, Harry thought, as if a Blast-ended Screwt was trying to kiss her.

The owl hooted in annoyance at this behavior and flew over to Uncle Vernon and after dropping a letter by his, plate flew off in a rush, as if glad to get away from such unpleasant people.

Harry walked forward eagerly to take the letter, ignoring the dirty looks that the Dursleys were giving him. He was about to pick up the letter when a hand roughly stopped him from doing so. He looked up inquiringly at Vernon Dursley

"Looks like it's for me boy," he said pointing to the letter that had the name Vernon Dursley scrawled on it.

Harry shrugged and walked back to the stove to check the bacon, all the time wondering why any wizard would want to write to Uncle Vernon or any non-wizard for that matter.

Vernon Dursley hesitantly picked up the letter as though he were afraid that it would bite his head off at any moment and slowly opened it, extracting a single sheet of thick paper from it he started to read it.

Mr. Dursley,

I want to request you to not trouble Harry these holidays as he has just been through a very horrible experience. I think that he needs some time to be alone and to relax so that he may get over it, so I hope that you will provide him with just that.

I hope you understand that Harry is a very important figure in the wizarding world and that he needs to be taken care of as it would be very bad for all concerned if anything were to happen to him due to your lack of care.

I am writing this letter as a warning to you; as if I find that you have been starving or overworking him or giving him any sort of trouble like you have over the years, the consequences will as bad as I can make them for you.

Sirius Black.

Vernon paled as he finished reading the short letter. He suddenly remembered who this Sirius Black was, Harry's godfather the mass murderer who was on the run. He gulped as a huge lump formed in his throat.

"Uh Ha...Harry" he stammered, "you don't have to make breakfast my boy, It's very nice of you and all that but why don't you just sit down here and let your Aunt do it for you? After all you haven't had breakfast yet have you?"

Harry looked up amazed but his amazement was nothing like Aunt Petunia's.

"What?" she shrieked at her Husband "Have you lost it?"

"In fact," he went on ignoring his wife, "I feel that you have been working too hard and need to rest more, after all school," He looked around to see if any outsider had overheard him and continued "...uh it must be very hard work and besides your cousin Dudley can do some work too."

Harry was so shocked that his jaw dropped open. Uncle Vernon was suggesting that Dudley do work! The Dudley that probably didn't know what work was or even how it was spelled.

"Dad! What are you saying? Are you feeling ill?" Dudley squeaked in horror, spilling his hot coffee all over his shirt in shock.

"Nonsense! I'm fine, just fine, I just feel that we are making Harry do too much of the work around here and we should help him with it," He said firmly, looking at his wife and son and then looking meaningfully at the letter.

Aunt Petunia snatched the letter from his hands and read it quickly, her face going white.

"I quite agree with you Vernon," she choked out, as she finished reading it.

Harry was dazed by this; what could have been in that letter to make them react this way, and who had written it?

From that day onwards Harry was generally left alone and he was asked to do no work except a few trivial chores. Amazingly Dudley had been made to do them and it was having a profound effect on his weight, something Harry thought, was sure to make the Smeltings matron very happy at the start of term.

Harry had suddenly found himself with more free time than he had ever had and he had spent a couple of days lazing around, catching up on his studies and watching some television. But he had started to feel an odd lethargy and decided that he would need to do something about it.

He had started to go running in the mornings to get some exercise and it did him a world of good, it had made him overcome his lethargy and made him feel more alive than it had in days and it also gave him back some of his appetite that he had lost due to his lack of exercise.

It was this that had made him think of joining a gym. He had some money that he had changed to pounds last year, deciding that it would help him the next year at the Dursleys and he was now glad of it. He had gone to a nearby gym and had asked to enroll in it, thinking that it was always good to have a good physique.

The gym instructor, a man in his late thirties, had had a good look at him and groaned.

"It's good that you came now, why you're nearly all skin and bones"

Harry grimaced. He had never thought of himself as skin and bones.

The gym instructor, unlike many others like him, was a nice man and he didn't want to give Harry bad advice just to get his money so he took him aside and gently told him,

"Look, lad, I'll tell you one thing, you are growing up right now and it's never good to start body building now as it'll affect your growth. The best thing you can do right now is exercise and do jogging every day."

"... And for God's sake, eat some more," he added as an afterthought.

"But I wanted to start bodybuilding as self defense," said Harry, feeling incredibly stupid as he said the words wondering what the instructor would think as to why a fifteen-year old would want to learn self defense.

The instructor just looked at him thoughtfully. "Have you ever considered martial arts?" he asked. He knew that it was always good to learn self-defense, as he had been one of those who had been bullied quite a lot as a kid.

"Martial arts?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, you know, Kung fu, Taekwondo, Aikido, jiu jitsu, karate..."

"No..." Harry said slowly. " I have very little knowledge about them."

"Well, it's like this, I would recommend either Taekwondo or Aikido. Taekwondo is more physical and aggressive and is generally easier to learn as compared to Aikido but Aikido will take time. You will need a year to get good at it. But what's special about it is that you learn not only self defense but also how to physically relax, attain peace of mind and experience spiritual enlightenment."

It was looking good to Harry. Peace of mind and relaxation he could certainly use.

"But there is a problem, I have to go back to school in three month's time."

"That's not a problem as long as you practice there too. You can continue further when you come back for your next holidays. But anyway, you should at least talk to the person who runs the place as he can explain things better to you than I can."

Harry took the card that the instructor handed him and thanked him.

The next day he went to the school that taught Aikido and the 'sensei' or master agreed to speak with him.

Harry entered the small sparsely furnished room to see the sensei sitting before a low table on the floor. He was in his early fifties and had been practicing Aikido for well over thirty years now and was a very accomplished master in the art of Aikido and held the rank of eight dan or 'hachidan.'

"Please sit down," said the sensei, pointing to the opposite side of the table where a mat was placed.

Harry sat down, looking around the room as he did so, it was painted a bright white color and, instead of chairs, had mats like the one he was sitting on for seating. There was a large window open through which bright sunshine was streaming in and from the top of the window hung wind chimes which were swaying in the wind and producing a light melodious and peaceful sound. The walls were bare except for a scroll, which had something written in an oriental language on it and a few pictures of the sensei being presented with various his belts from his own master.

"My name is Roger Green but if you are going to study Aikido here, you will call me sensei," said the sensei smiling at Harry

Harry nodded "I'm Harry Potter."

The sensei nodded "Go on, Harry. I'm sure that you must have many questions."

"Well, yes, the first one is will I be able to become a good fighter if I take up Aikido?"

The sensei smiled. "The first thing you must learn about Aikido, or rather any martial arts, is that fighting is not considered right. You learn it for self defense and you must fight only if it is absolutely necessary."

Harry nodded. "And I've heard that it helps you to relax and improve your speed."

The sensei looked at Harry thoughtfully for a moment. "Harry, Aikido is useful on many levels- it will help you to defend yourself, it will help you to gain control of your emotions, it will keep you fit, it will help you to relax and it will also improve your focus. But all this will only come through practice and if you are willing to put in the effort required."

Harry nodded "Well, there's one more thing, you see, I have to go back to boarding school after three months and so I will not be able to continue to train."

"That's no problem," the sensei said smiling. "You can always practice at school and continue when you come back next holidays, but the important thing is to practice every day. Also, I can provide you with a manual so that you can learn even while you are at school. While what you can learn from the manual will be limited and you will need to come back to learn the advanced techniques, it will help all the same."

Harry smiled. "Well, I guess that's everything. I would love to join up."

"All right. We start tomorrow at two p.m. sharp and remember to wear something loose."

Harry arrived at the dojo the next day at five minutes past two; he entered the dojo hurriedly and saw rows of students sitting on exercise mats that were neatly arranged.

He spied one that was empty and rushed to it, here he had made his second mistake of the day, where the first was coming late. He looked around and saw that the teacher had not arrived yet and sighed with relief.

Harry turned to the person sitting next to him and asked in hesitant tones, " Uh... excuse me when will the sensei arrive?"

He got no answer from the man who just looked ahead and ignored him.

But his answer came from another quarter, "Harry, we do no talk in the dojo about anything except Aikido, but I guess you would not know that. Meet me after the class and I'll give you the rules manual."

Harry nodded. "And Harry..."

"Yes sensei?"

"Please take off your shoes."

That was how it had started and Harry found as he daily attended the 'dojo' or school that it helped him at various levels; the sheer hours of training exhausted him so much that he fell into a dreamless peaceful sleep in the night. He was also feeling more alive and fit than he had ever felt; thirdly, and most importantly, he was also learning how to defend himself if the situation arose.

He had read the manual of dojo etiquette and the rules were few and simple; he realized that he had broken quite a few of them on his first day and resolved that it would not happen again. The rules after all were very reasonable,

His daily schedule consisted of a long jog in the morning followed by a large breakfast of two eggs, bacon, toast and coffee that he forced himself to eat and then off to the dojo for three hours of intensive training in Aikido.

After that, he spent the rest of the day doing his homework that he was set by the various teachers.

Harry had got his uniform or keikogi after his first week of attending classes; he felt very comfortable in it as it came very close to his Hogwarts robes, it consisted of a tunic or gi along with a belt that denoted skill which was called obi.

As he attended the classes he realized how wrong he had been about his beliefs concerning strength and speed in Martial arts; he learned that Aikido was not about how strong you were but about using your opponents strength to defeat him. He also learned that speed would come only with practice and to try to be fast without practice would lead only to disaster.

He remembered his first day when he tried very hard to match the speed of the others who had been learning for months. His sensei had chided him for it and had said that speed would come only with practice. He had also told him an old story concerning this.

A young boy traveled across Japan to the school of a famous martial artist. When he arrived at the dojo he was given an audience by the Sensei

"What do you wish from me?" the master asked.

"I wish to be your student and become the finest kareteka in the land," the boy replied.

"How long must I study?"

"Ten years at least," the master answered.

"Ten years is a long time," said the boy. "What if I studied twice as hard as all your other students?"

"Twenty years," replied the master.

"Twenty years! What if I practice day and night with all my effort?"

"Thirty years," was the master's reply.

"How is it that each time I say I will work harder, you tell me that it will take longer?" the boy asked.

"The answer is clear. When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the Way."

After that Harry buckled down and started practicing hard but within his limits and he found great peace and satisfaction from it.

Harry also learned various other things that he had never thought would concern Martial arts, cleanliness was one of them. He learned that a very important part of Aikido consisted of cleanliness and he learned to keep his keikogi clean, washing it every day after his workout. He also learned that it was totally against the nature of Aikido to jump into a fight because you knew that you could defeat your opponent, rather it was taught to never fight unless absolutely necessary and even then to make sure that you did not critically injure your opponent but try to take him out as painlessly as possible.

Harry learned the importance of concentration and timing and he practiced to improve his balance that was a must for Aikido. Fortunately he didn't have to work very hard on this as he had an innate balance which had only improved with Quidditch.

Harry could see the changes, while not great, in himself at the end of the month.

He had started to fill out and was looking fitter; his skinniness was vanishing and was being replaced by trim and fit muscles. He had grown slightly and his skin was tanned and glowing with health. He also noticed a lightness in his step that had not been there before.

By the end of the month he had also realized that he had not even begun to learn Aikido and it would need years to perfect the skill, it was a well documented fact in Aikido, that the more you practiced the more you would improve, regardless of your age.

~*~~*~~*~

Harry was sitting on his bed finishing a rather nasty essay on Goblin rebellions for Prof. Binns when he heard a tapping at his window. He looked up and saw two owls sitting on his window ledge waiting for him to let them in.

Harry got up hurriedly to let them in as he recognized one as Hermes who was Percy's owl and thought that it would most probably be from Ron.

The owls flew inside in a rush and Harry moved aside to give them space. Both of them had parcels tied to their feet and they flew tiredly to Harry's bed where he untied them hurriedly then poured some water into Hedwig's dish so that the tired owls could drink. He wondered where Hedwig was as she had gone somewhere last night and had not returned yet.

Harry went over to where the parcels lay and opened the one from Ron. It was wrapped in brown paper and from it tumbled a card, a letter and a gaily-wrapped present.

Harry suddenly realized with a shock that today in fact was his birthday. He eagerly opened the card that Ron had sent and realized with a shock that it was a singing one and each of the Weasleys had sung happy birthday to him in it, Fred's and George's voices being the loudest. They had also left personalized messages on it for him wishing him happy birthday individually. Harry closed it hurriedly after the messages were over as he was afraid that the Dursleys would think that a whole load of people had broken into the house.

He then opened the letter and scanned it quickly.

Happy Birthday again Harry,

How are you? Hope the Muggles are treating you okay and not giving you too much trouble.

Anyway Mom has talked to Dumbledore and he has finally given his permission for you to spend the rest of the holidays with us so it won't be long that you'll be there after all.

Send us your reply soon and with Hermes if possible; if there isn't one then we'll pick you up the coming Sunday at 5 p.m.

Hermione is coming too after a week to stay for the rest of the holidays.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Love Ron

Harry grinned happily in anticipation of the visit and then with a sinking heart realized that he wouldn't be able to go after all. He reluctantly picked up his quill and wrote,

Ron,

I loved the card and the gift and would love to come and stay but unfortunately I can't, as there is something I'm doing here that I have to be here for. I will most probably meet you at Diagon Alley when we go to buy books.

I hope you have a wonderful time and don't get into too many fights with Hermione.

I'll tell you more when I meet you at Diagon Alley.

Love Harry

P.s.- What are Fred and George up to?

He tied the letter to Hermes's feet and set her loose, watching her fly away with a heavy heart, almost cursing himself for joining the course.

He went back and opened the present Ron had given him; it was a beautiful black leather holster for his wand. It could be strapped either at the shoulder or the waist and was custom-made for the size of Harry's wand.

On it etched in gold were the words, 'Harry James Potter - the boy who lived.'

With it was a tiny case that held a jar of Fleetwood's extra shine wand polish and a handy manual of wand care.

Harry strapped the holster around his waist to try it on and grinned as it fit perfectly the wand positioned low on his waist so that it could be drawn very quickly.

He opened the other parcel and saw that it was from Sirius and in it was a letter and a parcel wrapped in brown paper.

He quickly opened the letter and scanned it eagerly for news of the outside world that Sirius' letter was sure to provide.

Harry,

I want to wish you a very happy birthday and may you enjoy yourself thoroughly.

Are the Muggles treating you all right? If not let me know and I'll send them another letter.

Harry laughed as his question as to who wrote the letter was answered

Things are keeping pretty fine around here and there is no sign of the Dark Lord, which makes me even more scared as I fear that he is up to something. I want you to keep your eyes open and make sure that you don't go out of the house too often, also if your scar twinges even a little bit be sure to write and tell me. Cornelius Fudge is acting like a rather nasty pest and the absence of any attacks has given him fodder to convince everybody that the Dark Lord has not actually risen, he has also warned the Order not to go about spreading any rumors around or he'll have us arrested. It looks bad and the order is trying its best to keep alert and we are on the look out for any dark activity.

Harry, I want you to remember one thing, you will only be young once so please don't worry about things like these and leave it to us. All you have to do is concentrate on your studies and keep your nose out of trouble.

Love Sirius

P.s.- Did I ever mention that I'm really proud of you?

Harry eagerly opened the parcel that Sirius had sent and found a handsome leather-bound book. He traced the gold embossed title with his finger, Advanced Defense against the Dark Arts by Alastor Moody.

He opened the book to find a scrawled note from Sirius- Harry, this book will give you more knowledge about the Dark Arts than any other as Alastor ' Mad-eye' Moody is one of the best Aurors that this century has seen and has actually experienced all that is in the book unlike some of the other authors.

That was for sure! Harry thought wryly as he remembered Gilderoy Lockheart and his books.

Harry was just opening the book to get a taste of what was in it when he heard a flurry of wings and Hedwig flew in and landed heavily on his lap.

Harry stroked her gently and noticed that she too had a parcel and letter for him.

Harry,

Wishing you a very happy birthday. So how are you and how are your holidays going? Not too badly I hope.

I had gone to Australia for my vacation and have just returned and it was breathtakingly beautiful there, sunny, beautiful beaches and really great sights and I was wishing you were there with me too.

Anyway I'll tell you more about it when I meet you at Ron's in a week's time.

Harry, I hope you aren't having any nightmares, I know that it must be a very difficult time for you, just remember that none of it is your fault.

I know you too well and I know that you must be blaming yourself for all that has happened. Well, stop it. You didn't want him back any more than the rest of us.

I also want you to promise that if you feel any twinges in your scar you will write to Dumbledore immediately. Anyway you'll be with us soon and so we can then make sure of that.

Dying to meet you.

Love Hermione.

P.s.- I hope you like your present.

Harry opened his latest present and predictably a book fell out, but he had one look at the title and grinned for it was Dueling- Spells, Stance, Tips and Tricks.

"Wow Hermione!" he muttered, now he would be able to read up on his dueling and maybe by the end of the holidays he would be better at it.

He was particularly happy about this remembering the duel with the Dark Lord where he only knew the disarming spell. If he ever had to duel with him again Harry intended to be better prepared than the last time.

Harry looked happily at all his presents, which had just been increased when Hagrid's gift, a box of Honeydukes best arrived. He arranged all his cards and presents on his table and taking off his glasses lay back on his bed, happily basking in this wonderful start to his birthday.

~*~~*~~*~

Harry practiced diligently at his dojo and slowly he began to get the hang of Aikido, One reason for his quick progress was because he had nothing to unlearn as he had never fought or learned martial arts before. He was, like the instructor said, an empty vessel that was getting filled, unlike others who had to have theirs emptied first of their previous attempts at martial arts before they could be filled with the knowledge of Aikido. It was an exhilarating experience and he decided that everybody should learn martial arts if only for the sheer physicalness of it.

Harry had at the end of his first month found out that a lot of students were taking up two martial arts at once and when he asked the instructor about it, he was told by him that it was a good thing to do if you had the concentration enough, but it was best to join a martial arts as different from Aikido as possible as then you wouldn't mix up the principles of them both.

Harry had been intrigued by it and he joined up for learning Taekwondo at a nearby school. He remembered the gym instructor's words that Taekwondo was an aggressive form of martial arts and had decided on it. It had been tiring at first to attend two martial arts classes in one day but soon Harry, with his daily running and Aikido practice, increased his stamina and started coping up with it. He spent day after day being thrown, punched, kicked, and doing the same in return until his bones ached, but gradually he learned to ignore the pain and learned ways to avoid getting hurt and to bear the pain by ignoring it.

His days were now filled with martial arts and the only free time that he got was spent on reading the books that he had received for his birthday. The dueling book was very interesting as it listed many spells used for dueling and also improved his stance for better and quicker movement during dueling. Harry found that he could bring out his wand in a very fast draw by constant practice and he longed to be back at Hogwarts so that he could try casting the spells.

Harry had trouble recognizing himself at the end of the next two months; his height had increased by five inches and his skinniness had vanished, to be replaced by firm, hard and wiry muscles that had come from intensive workouts at his two dojos. His frame was fast becoming more and more muscular as he started to increase his food intake and the fat was converted into muscles by the strenuous exercise. He had cut his hair quite short so that it wouldn't be in the way of his sight during his training and he realized that the hairdresser had done a good job and the haircut actually suited him very well.

The scar had been plainly visible after his haircut and had raised questions as to how he had acquired it, to which he found it convenient to tell them the same story that the Dursleys had told him for years before he found out the truth.

Ron had not yet replied to Harry's letter and his next few ones and Harry knew that he must be upset, he decided that he would tackle Ron at Diagon Alley when he met him at the end of the month.

Hermione had written though, a long curious letter asking Harry why was it that he could not come and had to be there and whether he and Ron had fought or something to make him refuse to come.

Harry grinned. Hermione had always been a very curious person and he had written back without any hint of what he was doing, but soothed her fears by saying that he and Ron had not fought at all. He knew that she would be seething with curiosity as to what he was up to, but he had no intention of letting anybody know before time.

~*~~*~~*~

It was the twenty fifth of August and Harry was overjoyed for two reasons. One was that he had received, after hours of practicing his green belt (sixth geup) in Taekwondo.

He had still to receive his next level in Aikido but he knew that it would take some time and he would need to practice for at least a year for that.

The belts were a way of the master to honor the student and each color had its meanings and significance-

White Belt (tenth Geup)

The color white indicates that a person is "innocent", has no knowledge of the sport Taekwondo. The white-belt is automatically gained by taking Taekwondo classes.

Yellow Belt (eighth Geup)

The color yellow indicates that the person is getting to know the basic techniques, this stadium is compared to a plant growing its roots.

Green Belt (sixth Geup)

The color green indicates that a student is growing as a Taekwondo student. The color of the belt is compared to a plant growing its leafs.

Blue Belt (fourth Geup)

The color blue indicates that a student is reaching higher, like a plant that is growing towards the sky.

Red Belt (second Geup)

The color red indicates danger. The student is warned to practice the control of his/her movements. The color red also warns an opponent.

For each belt one must earn it by passing a series of tests for it which Harry had successfully finished today. The tests for the green belt were,

Il-bo Daeryon (one-step sparring) number: six

I-bo Daeryon (two-step sparring) number: two

Chayu Daeryon (non-contact sparring) one-and-a-half minute

Ban-Chayu Daeryon (various techniques at a target) one-and-a-half minute

Styleform (Poomse Taeguk) one to three

Kyepka (breaktest) none

Hosinsul (self-defense) three wrist, three neck, one tobok

He had actually advanced quite rapidly at Taekwondo and it was because he had started Aikido a month earlier and that had given him a platform for it. Usually it would have taken at least a fortnight longer or maybe even a month or two.

The second reason for his happiness was that he had just received his Hogwarts letter naming him prefect along with Ron and Hermione. He noted distastefully that Draco Malfoy had been named prefect too and decided that it must be Snape's doing.

He looked at the badge in his hands and for a minute thought with a pang about how his parents would have reacted to this news.

He pushed the thought away and rushed to write congratulatory letters to Ron and Hermione. He pictured in his mind Ron preening up and down before his mirror with his badge on, for he knew that Ron had secretly always dreamed of becoming prefect. Hermione, he thought, would probably not react to it as strongly. Even she must have expected herself to be named prefect. After all, it was a very well accepted fact in Gryffindor that Hermione Granger would be Head Girl someday.

~*~~*~~*~

The thirty first of August almost came too slowly after that. Amazingly, Uncle Vernon had offered to drive him to Diagon Alley and when they had reached there he had said that he would pick him up in three hours time. Harry silently thanked Sirius and resolved that he would get him to write a letter every year from now onwards or at least until he graduated.

He caused quite a commotion when he entered Diagon Alley and he was very embarrassed by it. Diagon Alley was as usual filled with Hogwarts students who were doing their shopping and as Harry entered there was a shocked silence by the female part of the crowd and then it all started at once and he heard a dozen whispers-

"Oh my god! Look at Harry Potter. He looks so handsome."

"Yeah and look at those muscles."

"Ohhh! He looks almost edible."

"Yummy!"

Harry tried very hard to ignore these comments and looked around for Hermione and Ron; he wondered where they were and why weren't they anywhere to be seen.

He then saw them. Hermione was looking or rather staring at him, her mouth wide open and Ron was looking away scowling and acting as if he hadn't noticed Harry.

Harry walked over to them and as he came nearer, Hermione suddenly realized that she was staring and looked away blushing.

But Harry did no such thing. He suddenly realized that he wasn't the only one to have changed physically over the holidays; Hermione had too and she was suddenly looking very different to him than the Hermione of the past years.

She had cut her hair short and it was amazing how pretty she looked because of it. It enhanced her delicate face and exposed her pretty neck. That wasn't the only thing that had changed, Harry noticed. Hermione had suddenly sprouted breasts over the holidays, and now they pushed full and firm against the confines of her low cut t-shirt and Harry found himself staring at them as though hypnotized. He tore his eyes away and looked down to see her gently rounded hips and long tanned legs, which were bare as she was wearing only very tight, tiny denim shorts. Harry groaned. How and when did Hermione get so beautiful and why was he after doing all those self-control exercises drooling at his best friend like an idiot?

He looked over to Ron, who was still looking away. He noticed that Ron was wearing his prefect badge and it looked like it had received some serious polishing.

He reached them and, going over to Hermione, pulled her into a fierce hug, which he suspected had more intentions than just being friendly. He inwardly cursed himself and his raging hormones and went over to Ron and pulled him into a hug too. Ron didn't respond and Harry pulled away slowly.

"Ron, stop behaving like a git. I had a good reason for not coming and you shouldn't feel that every time someone is refusing to come to visit that he is refusing you personally."

"Well let's hear your reason then," said Ron irritably.

"I was training in Aikido and Taekwondo."

"And what are they?" asked Ron eyebrows raised, looking at Harry as if he were talking Greek.

"Martial arts," said Harry patiently.

Ron had still not understood but Hermione had. "Oh my God! Taekwondo and Aikido!" she exclaimed. "I've heard that they're very difficult to learn and you started learning both of them together?"

Harry was surprised that Hermione knew about them; after all it wasn't like her to take an interest in sports.

"Yeah, it is tough and that is why I couldn't leave as I had to practice every day," he said, giving her a curious look.

Hermione caught it and grinned sheepishly, "I used to watch a lot of Steven Seagal movies as a kid; I thought he was rather dishy."

Harry nodded thinking that after this nothing would surprise him.

"So why didn't you write and tell why you couldn't come?" Ron said, ignoring Hermione's comment

"Ron! If I would have written to tell you that I was learning martial arts, would you have believed me?" Harry asked exasperatedly

Ron was silent for a moment and then he grinned, "No I guess not. I would think that it was something you had made up."

"Great! now stop all this nonsense and tell me how was your vacation?"

"Quite good actually. Charlie and Bill had come down and we practiced a lot of Quidditch and generally had a lot of fun. Fred and George got a whole lot of money from somewhere and were inventing a whole lot of tricks and that is always interesting."

Harry grinned. "I bet your mom wasn't too pleased."

"No, she wasn't, but ever since she heard of You- Know-Who's resurrection, she isn't too keen on them getting jobs at the Ministry either."

"So where are they?" Harry asked

"Over by Gringotts. Lets go there now."

"Yeah, lets. By the way, thanks for the present Ron. It was really neat"

Ron slapped him on his back and put his arm around Harry's shoulder. "No problem." Then he lowered his voice and said matter-of-factly, "You know, Harry, if Ginny sees you now, she is going to go even more crazier about you."

Harry groaned. Maybe he shouldn't have taken up martial arts.

Hermione walked besides Harry and smiled as she saw the camaraderie between the two of them; she found herself studying or rather staring fascinatedly at Harry. Various thoughts were going through her mind, some of which she fiercely tried to subdue but she had to admit to herself that Harry was rather handsome, no very handsome. She groaned. it was going to be a long year!

Harry was swamped in bear hugs by the twins who were very happy to see him and shared none of Ron's insecurity for Harry declining to stay at the Burrow over the summer. They knew that there must have been something important for Harry not coming and respected his wishes. Harry shook hands with Bill and Charlie, both of whom commented on Harry's looks.

"Looking good, Harry," said Bill.

"Yeah, but don't get too heavy. Seekers need to be light," put in Charlie, ever the Quidditch buff.

Mrs. Weasley came forward and engulfed him in a hug and then kissed him on both cheeks before saying, "I must say I missed you, Harry dear, and don't listen to these two as I think that it is high time you put on some weight."

"I missed you too, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said smiling. " I so wanted to come but I was busy with something."

Harry looked over at Ginny who was standing next to Mrs. Weasley and smiled at her. "Hi, Gin. How are you?"

"Fine" she said shyly. She had been staring at Harry all the while he was greeting the rest of her family but now that he was talking to her she found that she couldn't meet his eyes and went a beet red.

Harry looked fondly at her while all the time he was troubled from inside knowing that someday Ginny was going to really get badly hurt if he rejected her for someone else.

But the problem was that he thought of Ginny as his younger sister and nothing more.

He sighed life was full of problems!

~*~~*~~*~