Harry Potter and the Maneosioan War

Chapter 1

From the Mist

It was another hot summer day on Privet Drive; children were laughing outside while riding their bikes and playing new games, with not a care in the world. Who would have ever guessed that at that same exact moment, a teenage boy by the name of Harry Potter was laying in his bedroom on a beautiful day, full of concern and resentment, hidden away from the wizarding world that he missed so much, even though he had only been away from Hogwarts, his school, for no more than two weeks? It was the twelfth of July and he had already missed his best friends, Ron and Hermione, and the school at which he learned magic after spending the summer holidays with the Dursleys, his least favorite and only relatives.

For Harry Potter was a wizard - and a real one at that. Not the ones that muggles see on television doing fake magic tricks, but the kind of wizard who was brave, noble, and, at this very moment, the loneliest one in his year.

But right then, Harry wasn't thinking about the homework that he had to do over the holidays, or how much longer he had to wait until he came into the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. He wasn't even bothered with who was going to be the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain or who was going to fill in all those empty spots on the team, or what he had gotten on his O.W. L.'s. And, for one thing, he wasn't even thinking about Sirius, who's murder he had wanted more than anything in the world to get out of his mind. The only thing he was thinking about was -

Hermione. And all of the others that he had dragged into the Department of Mysteries last year that could have suffered the same fate as his godfather.

"She nearly died," he thought to himself, "and I haven't even apologized to her or any of the others. All I was thinking about was myself and that stupid prophesy...It was all my fault. She warned me; she knew this would happen. And now what?" he thought. "What if something did happen to her? I'd never forgive myself! I was such a fool to think that I could save Sirius. That I, Harry, could face Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters singlehandedly. If I had only left it alone, let Dumbledore handle it."

But then he remembered, it was Dumbledore who had told him that it was not Harry's fault, but his own. Of course, Harry wasn't about to fall for that. It was his fault and he knew it. Nothing Dumbledore could have said changed anything, even when he told him about the prophesy . . .

Harry shuddered. He remembered the words spoken by Sibyl Trelawney so clearly, as if she was whispering them in his ear at this very moment, "BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRISE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES .. ."

"But one day," he reminded himself, "one day I will have to face him, all on my own, one on one. I will either have to murder him or die trying. And I'm the only one who can...I must do it...one day"

And he drifted of into a deep sleep from the heat of his bedroom.

"Harry, Harry, listen to me," he heard a voice call out from the mist. No, it wasn't a mist, it was behind the veil. The same black veil behind which Sirius fell and never returned.

"Harry," came Sirius's voice, "the mirror, Harry. Use the mirror. Tell her, she needs to know...You must decide. Tell her, she is the one that must know. Tell. Tell. TELL HER!!!"

Harry awoke with his glasses fogged-up in sweat. He was still fully dressed and could feel a chill running down his spine from the wetness of his tee-shirt.

Tell her? But who was her? thought Harry. Although he knew perfectly well who Sirius was talking about.

Harry rummaged through his trunk and found the mirror that Sirius had given him last Christmas and called out to his own reflection, "Show me Hermione Granger."

At first, nothing happened and Harry thought that the only way the mirror would work is if it was in Sirius's possession, but later he heard mumbling voices and the image of what appeared to he a slab of wood appeared to him. Then Harry realized the mirror was laying face down one of the tables in the Black Mansion. He then wondered if Hermione was there and decided to reach her. "HERMIONE! RON! ANYBODY! I'M HERE! PICK UP THE MIRROR! IT'S ME, HARRY! HELLO! IS ANYONE THERE?"

Suddenly, Harry saw another flash of light and the mirror was picked up by none other than Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister.

"Harry?" she exclaimed in utter surprise. "What are you - what the - ?"

"Ginny!" said Harry. "Hi! Sorry, no time to explain. Is Hermione there?"

"Er - " she said, still mildly bewildered, "yeah, she - she's here. D-D'you want to talk to her?"

"Um, yeah," said Harry. "If-If she's there, that is." He didn't know why, but the thought of telling Hermione about the prophesy made him nervous. He began to feel sweat streaming down the back of his neck again.

"Okay," said Ginny, "hold on just a moment." Then she turned awkwardly and said, "Wait a minute? How do I know that you're the real Harry?"

Harry signed, impatiently, "Just go on, ask me anything."

"Alright," she said. "Er...what's Ron's owl's name?"

"Pigwidgeon," he answered.

"And who came up with that name?" she said in a teasing tone.

"You did," said Harry, getting rather bored.

"You pass, then," she grinned. "Hold on."

Harry heard a muffle of footsteps and then two people running up the stairs very hurriedly. One of them picked up the mirror again and Harry found himself face-to-face with Hermione. He was now feeling rather dumbstruck because he didn't really know what to say after she screamed and began speaking very quickly. "Harry! Oh, my goodness. It's so great to see you! Where did you get this mirror? Why do you need to talk to me? Did something bad happen? Are you alright? Do you need any help? Oh, Harry, what is it? I'll do anything, just say the word."

Harry's grin fell immediately. He now remembered how Hermione had told him that she would do anything to save Sirius with him if he was sure that Voldemort had been torturing him. How very wrong and stupid Harry felt now. But that is exactly why she had to know...

"Er," spoke Harry, "hi, Hermione! It's very nice to see you too. And I got this mirror and the one that you're holding from Sirius." Hermione's expression sunk and Harry could tell that she felt a bit embarrassed for making him remember Sirius. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm over it, honestly," said Harry, and she suddenly looked the happiest since the time that she read the article saying that Harry's name had been finally cleared from coming up with the silly story that Voldemort had regained power, because it was true; Fudge, the Minister of Magic, saw him right within the Ministry itself.

"Listen," he continued, "are you alone?"

"Er," she turned to Ginny, who Harry saw rolled her eyes and left the room, shutting the door behind her, which Harry noticed was the same room that he had slept in when he last stayed at the Black Mansion.

"What about Ron? Is he there?" asked Harry.

"Oh, no. He's at Diagon Alley with Fred and George. He agreed to help them with some things at their joke shop," explained Hermione. "So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Harry still didn't feel confident to tell her. Not here, he thought, not now. Maybe, he thought, it'd be better if I spoke to her in person. Then, an idea popped itself into Harry's mind.

"Hermione, it's only a matter of time before I see you again at the Order of the Phoenix and I need to tell you something very important. So, make sure that you can arrange a room for us so that we cannot be overheard or over looked. Okay? It's very important and you just have to know. I'm afraid you're life may be at stake - " Hermione gasped - " and not just yours...all because of me."

"Harry, what are you talking about?"

"Look, I can't tell you now. The thing is, I don't exactly know how safe this mirror is. So, will you agree not to tell anyone and do this for me?"

"Oh, of course, Harry, but what about Ron - ?"

"Absolutely not! Especially he can't know. Nobody! Do you hear me?"

"Yes, yes. I understand Harry. I'll study how to make that charm that they used on the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix. Although, I dare say, it will be quite the challenge. But I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out!" she said with a wide grin.

"Excellent! Well, I hope to see you soon, then."

"And, er, Harry," said Hermione going rather pink, "I'll try to arrange it so that Moody and the others can pick you up as soon as possible."

"Right, thanks. Well, I'd better go."

"Okay," said Hermione, rather depressed that they had such a short conversation. "Bye," she said, and put down the mirror.

Harry did the same and signed, "Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest."

But it was not far enough off his chest yet and Harry knew it because, sooner or later, he knew that he would have to face Hermione once again and tell her the real truth about the Boy Who Lived....

***

"Potter! Get down here this instant," Harry heard the booming voice of Uncle Vernon call from downstairs.

Harry had woken up and, as he looked out the window, he could tell that it was early morning.

"I'm coming....coming," he roared.

Harry got dressed and made his way downstairs, which he regretted very much once he saw the loathing look that Uncle Vernon gave him.

"Tell me, who is this person, or rather people, stalking us at our very home!" he screamed and pointed at the front door. Harry slowly moved towards it and saw Ron staring back at him.

"Ron!" said Harry, quite shocked. "Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, but what the devil are you doing here? I knew Hermione told me you'd pick me up soon, but isn't this a bit overdoing it?"

"Nice to see you too," said Ron sarcastically. "So, are you ready? Everyone's waiting in the car." Ron pointed to a crowd of Weasleys frantically waving at him from none other than -

"The Ford Anglia! No way! How did you get that back?" said Harry, astounded.

"Dumbledore," said Ron, simply. "He found it out in the Forbidden Forest while he was searching for some slightly unusual things and decided to send it back to us, fully fixed and everything! Dad's not allowed to fly it anymore though; he was forced to remove the charm. Shame, we could have really used it for a bit of fun, eh?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Well, d'you want to help me get my things?"

"Sure," said Ron, "that's exactly what I'm here for."

Uncle Vernon gave Ron a slightly detesting look, which Ron returned and Harry laughed at.

Harry gathered up his belongings quickly, along with his treasured Firebolt, the mirror, Hedwig, and his trunk, and the both of them made their way downstairs and towards the car where Harry was greeted by an overwhelming amount of people.

"Harry! Our old business partner. You can't possibly imagine how well our joke shop is doing. All thanks to you, of course," said Fred in a hushed voice so that Mrs. Weasly wouldn't overhear. Harry noticed that they were, indeed, dressed in the finest cloaks and seem to have done the family the same bit of profit because Ginny was wearing a new dress and the rest of the Weasleys were no longer clothed in their old cloaks. Even Mrs. Weasley seemed to be wearing a new pair of diamond earnings which changed color in the sun.

"Couldn't have done it without you, mate," added George. "Great to see you again!"

"Hullo, Harry!" said Ginny. "I know you're glad your summer with the Dursleys has been this short, aren't you?" Harry grinned and nodded.

"Oh, Harry. It is good that we get to see you so soon, dear, isn't it?"said Mrs. Weasley, grinning merrily.

Both Bill and Charley clapped Harry on the back and said, "Hey, Harry. Nice to see you again."

But the one Weasley that Harry couldn't believe was smiling back at him as he reached the end of the line was Percy.

Harry felt quite awkward. After all, it was Percy who had betrayed the Weasley that same year and told Ron not to hang out with Harry anymore.

"Er," said Percy, "listen, Harry. I'm really sorry about being so stupid and all. I should have guessed that you and Dumbledore were both telling the truth. I guess I just let my head get a little too big -" Fred and George giggled; Percy threw them a stern look - "So, I really hope that you'd only be so kind as to forgive my foolishness."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. Percy, perfect prefect Percy, was admitting to him that he had been foolish and was actually asking Harry for forgiveness!

After a few seconds, Harry replied to an earnest Percy, "Of course I'll forgive you. After all, I never really gave you any explanation, did I?"

Percy beamed, "Why thank you, Harry, I' m honored."

Harry noticed that the Order of the Phoenix wasn't there to accompany him anymore and he asked, "Er, what about the members of the You-Know-What?"

"Oh," said Mr. Weasley, who had just emerged out of the car and smiled at Harry, pointing up. Harry looked above his head and saw the members circling the car on broomsticks like muggle helicopters. "Couldn't stay away, now, could they?" he said.

"Won't the muggles see them, though?"

"No, I'm afraid not. You see, Moody has learned a new trick that he desired to show off to all of us. It's called the Eye-of-the-Muggle. You see, you simply mutter the magic words and the muggles cannot see the witch or wizard that may be standing right in front of them."

"Awesome," said Harry.

"Yes, it certainly is. Now, Harry, if you don't mind, we best be on our way. Don't want to linger for too long or the muggles might find it suspicious" he said.

"Right," Harry said and he climbed into the Ford Anglia, followed by Ron and the others.

Yet Harry felt as if there was someone missing, as if a part of his was still not in the car.

"Ron," he asked, "where's Hermione? Didn't she want to come and see me as well?" He sounded a bit hurt.

"Oh, she did and she told me to tell you that she was truly sorry, but she had to deal with something important. Dunno. Probably doing homework already."

But Harry quickly realized what she must have been doing - she was looking for the spell to silent the room in which Harry was going to tell her -

He gulped. Why couldn't Hermione just look for it when he got there? She didn't have to know it at the exact moment that they met. The though slipped his mind, however, as Ron began to tell Harry the fascinating story of Percy's apology to his parents and the rest of his family. Percy didn't seem too entertained by it and tried to quickly change the subject. "Harry, by the way," he said, "you'll never guess who's joined the Order of the Phoenix!"

"Oh, yeah," said Ginny and giggled as she glanced at Bill who suddenly became interested in the muggle buildings that could be seen through the car window.

"It's - " began Percy, but was interrupted by the harsh landing of the Ford Anglia at Number Twelve, Grimauld Place. Harry's insides lurched. He knew very well that everything inside the place would remind him of Sirius. Luckily, it was the house of Dark wizards, so there weren't many portraits of Sirius hanging there. Still, there was Buckbeak, who helped Sirius escape the dementors in Harry's third year and Kreacher, the house elf that had betrayed Sirius and got his own master murdered....

But Harry tried hard not to think about it right at the moment and got out of the car, anxious to get some breakfast and find out if Hermione had found the spell.

Harry went with the others, who got his things, and Mr. Weasley said, "Number 12, Grimmauld Place," to an empty alley between Numbers 11 and 13 where an entire mansion suddenly appeared towards which Harry stepped forward and walked inside.

"Quiet, Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley prompted him. "Remember, Sirius's mother."

Harry made his way silently down the creepy corridor with the decapitated heads of the old house elves and into the kitchen where he dropped his things and waited for the others to join him. Hermione, however, was nowhere in sight. She must still be looking for that spell, thought Harry.

The Weasley all made their way into the kitchen and were followed by the members of the Order who all greeted Harry as invitingly as if he was their own flesh and blood. To Harry's surprise, Tonks had made her pink hair floor length, which he didn't see the point of considering the fact that she constantly kept tripping over it.

However, he soon found out that she had merely been trying to outgrow another girl's hair who ran towards Harry and slowed down on her tip-toes before she rushed into him, and it was none other than Fleur Delacour!

"Oh, ‘arry!" she gave him a kiss on each cheek and Harry felt himself go red. "It is marvelous to see you again!"

"Hi, Fleur. What are you - how did you - ?"

"‘arry! I'm surprised at you. I would think zat you would be ‘appy to see me."

"No, I am. It's just that this is the Order of the Phoenix, and well-"

"Oh, I am working for zee Order now, ‘arry. ‘Asn't anyone told you yet? Ah, well it is a long story."

Harry could hear someone approaching and joining the rest of them behind Fleur's silvery blonde hair, but he wasn't paying attention; he couldn't if he tried. Fleur's glow was so illuminating and her hair so shiny that it was impossible to see anything but her, even if Harry desperately tried.

"Well, since I am working for zee Order now, we will be able to spend a lot more time togezer. Isn't zat wonderful ‘arry?"

"Ahem," a girl had cleared her throat very loudly behind Fleur, and Harry had suddenly turned to focus on who she was, though he couldn't figure it out.

She had sleek brown hair that laid very nicely on her strait figure and looked like the type of hair that Harry noticed Aunt Petunia arguing was no point in having if you didn't want to spend a fortune on a hairstyle. Her eyes were deep blue and unlike anything Harry had ever seen before. She was wearing an orange dress that fell down to her knees and met up with a bright yellow hem. Over the dress, she had sky-blue robes that were attached at the center with a gorgeous blue pin that resembled an oval gem. A red heart necklace hung on her neck.

Just then, Harry was taken aback as Fleur said, "Oh, don't worry. I am engaged, you know."

The girl's eyes widened and she went extremely pale. She suddenly regained her blood to a point when she was crimson red and Harry finally recognized her to be no other than his best friend, Hermione. He felt his jaw drop.

Hermione looked so much more feminine that it was scary. Her eyebrows had thinned, she was wearing a very thin and natural layer of make up, and she even had gained about an inch from the very elegant shoes that sat gracefully on her feet.

"Er, hi," was the only idiotic thing that Harry could possibly think to say to her because, even though Fleur, who was part Veela, was standing right in front of Harry, he couldn't take his eyes of Hermione. So this is what she has been doing, he thought to himself. Ron seemed to be just as surprised, only one of his eyebrows was raised and he looked slightly disapprovingly at Hermione.

She smiled back at Harry and quickly looked away because everyone seemed to be staring at her now.

"Well, Harry. Best get your things upstairs, eh?" said Mr. Weasley, "Ron and, er, Hermione can help you with that of course." He gave Hermione an odd and disbelieving look.

Hermione, eager to get away from all of the people staring, all except for Fleur, who seemed to be simply beaming at the sight of Hermione, was the first to leave the kitchen and lead the way.

As they made their was upstairs, Harry was speechless. He didn't know what to say to Hermione, but he knew it would be rude not to complement her on such a change so he said, "Er, Hermione you look - you're - "

"Different," helped Ron.

"Well, not that there was anything wrong with you before," said Harry to a blushing Hermione, "but you look somewhat more elegant and, well, you're hair's strait and stuff."

"See, since Fleur came buy I kind of thought that I was getting tired of my hair being all over the place, so she bought me this special potion that permanently straightens your hair - "

"But I never minded your hair before," said Harry.

Hermione's face turned even more brick-red, but she continued, " - and my eyes were getting a bit dull - "

"That's not true!" shouted Harry.

"Calm down mate," said Ron, "you'll wake the mother of horror," who referred to Sirius's mom.

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what about Fleur? How did she - ?"

"She's engaged to Bill, you know," said Hermione.

"Oh, no, Hermione. Not Bill. It's dear Villiam," said Ron, mimicking Fleur's accent.

"Do you mean to tell me that Fleur is going to be a Weasley?"

"Yep," said Ron and, right before Harry had the chance to open his mouth, he said, "and Bill was convinced that she really wanted to spend a lot of time with him and work for the Order and stuff, so Dumbledore let her join."

Harry was shocked. "But how does he know- I mean, not that Fleur is a bad person, we just don't know that much about her - how do we know her parents aren't in touch with Voldemort or anything?"

"Because Snape tested her with Veritaserum, even though Dumbledore seemed to think that her word was enough. So they allowed her in," said Hermione.

"But how do they know that she just won't run off to Voldemort and, well, spill everything about the Order?"

"Harry, do you honestly think that Dumbledore is going to let anyone join the Order without special charms cast upon them? Otherwise, anyone could just run over to Voldemort and tell him everything, no matter how much we might trust them."

Harry had completely forgotten that Hermione had started saying Voldemort's full name last year and now remembered how much he had appreciated her for that.

They finally reached the top of the stairs and it seemed that both Harry and Hermione had remembered something important - their secret meeting. How in the world were they supposed to ditch Ron? thought Harry. But it was Hermione who handled it, and very nicely indeed.

"Listen, Ron. Harry and I can take care of things from here on. Why don't you go and have breakfast already? I ate and, well, I'll come down with Harry soon enough."

Ron hesitated, firstly, but then heard his stomach growl and said, "Okay, then. I'll meet you two downstairs. Hurry up, though. We've got a lot of people there. Wouldn't want them to run out of food, now, would you?" and he ran off, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.

Harry felt awkward. He still didn't feel right about telling Hermione, but he knew that it had to be done.

"Er," he said, "so, I suppose you've worked out that charm?"

"Oh, yes," said Hermione. "It was a bit difficult at first, but I got the hang of it eventually."

"Okay then, er, where to?"

"Well, I was thinking we could go into the room with Buckbeak. I mean, he can't overhear us and he was just fed this morning, so I don't see any reason for someone to go bursting in there."

"Alright," said Harry and they made their way through the mansion to a room containing the hippogriff, which was far less pleasant than Harry hoped it would be, but at least no one was about to hear what he was going to tell Hermione.

"Imperturbio," said Hermione and, immediately, the door behind her had shut itself and so had the only window that the room contained. The floor boarder jammed themself up tightly and Harry was slightly worried that someone would notice the bangs that they had made as they closed themselves.

However, there was no shouting Mrs. Weasley or Mrs. Black, so Harry let out a relieved sigh.

At that moment, Hermione turned to him and was watching him closely, he beautiful head tilted to one side.

Harry took a deep breath. This was it, he told himself.

"Hermione," he said, "there's something that I've been meaning to tell you."

"Yeah, I know," she said in a quiet and voice and Harry noticed that her cheeks were a bit flushed.

"Well," began Harry rather nervously, "the thing is that this is very serious, Hermione."

"Oh," she said, "well, go on then."

"Hermione, do you remember that prophesy last year? The one that Neville dropped and was lost forever?"

"Er, yes. But what does this have to do with anything, Harry?"

Harry could obviously tell that this wasn't exactly what she was expecting.

"Absolutely everything," he said.

She looked at him with a mixture of misunderstanding and concern.

"The thing is that the prophesy that was destroyed was told by none other than Sibyl Trelawney, our Divination teacher, to Albus Dumbledore."

"Harry, how could you possibly - ?"

"And it was about Voldemort...and me," he breathed.

Hermione looked extremely puzzled.

"It was told before I was even born and the night that we returned to school from the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore invited me into his office. And since, you know, he witnessed it, he was able to draw the prophesy out of his Pensive."

Harry could see an anxious and frightened look on Hermione's face.

"It said - " he continued, " - It said that the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. It said that he is born to those who have thrise defied him as the seventh month dies. He will mark him as his equal, but he will have power unknown to the Dark Lord," Harry stopped as he saw Hermione losing breath. "And one of us must die at the hand of the other because the both of us cannot live at the same time," he finished.

Hermione looked as if she had just been Petrified again. She seemed lost for words but then spoke in a minuscule voice, "But, Harry," he could hear the tears edging to escape from her throat, "how can you be sure that she was talking about - " she gulped - "you?"

"Because," said Harry and lifted his hair back so that Hermione could see his scar clearly, "the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal."

At first, he though that Hermione was going to faint, but then she took him by surprise as she threw herself onto him and said, "Oh, Harry. No, she wasn't talking about you. It's not true! I won't let it be true! Do you hear me Harry, I won't let it be true?!" she screamed as he saw tears running down her face, but he knew that no matter what Hermione could possibly do, the truth would always stay the same.

Harry was holding onto her very tightly, but then she slightly drew her head back and was now face-to-face with Harry. Although, Harry didn't understand why she hadn't run and never wanted to see him again. And then something magical happened, as Harry looked into Hermione's shining blue eyes, they moved closed and closed together until, finally, their lips touched and Harry never wanted it to end; it was the most sensational feeling. And it was not like when he had kissed Cho, because he could feel Hermione's love and passion for him, there, in Buckbeak's room.

However, she suddenly drew away and Harry could see a look or regret on her face. "Oh, Harry," she said, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I better go."

Just then, Harry realized that what Hermione wanted to hear wasn't about the prophesy or his destiny. What she wanted to hear was the exact reason for why she had gotten dressed up and made sure to look beautiful when Harry first saw her. And that was exactly what she was going to hear because that was exactly how Harry felt.

As she approached the door, Harry ran after her and grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, Hermione."

She stopped, but still had not looked up at him. "Listen, the reason why I wanted you to know this is because I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't want to lose you like I lost Sirius. Because, that day, at the Department of Mysteries, when you were hit with that spell and I thought that you were - well, dead - I realized how much I cared about you. Hermione I l-"

But Harry never got the chance to finish telling Hermione what he "l-"d because, at that moment, he could hear Ron's voice coming from the hallway calling for them, "HARRY? HERMIONE? WHERE D'YOU TWO GO?"

"We better get going," she said.

But Harry wasn't finished, so he said one of the shortest and most meaningful sentences of his life, "Hermione, I love you."

It seemed that those words were exactly what she wanted to hear because she suddenly looked up at him with the most hopeful face in the world and said, "Harry, you have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that."

"What?" said Harry.

"It seems...that I've loved you since forever."

"Y-you did?" said Harry.

Hermione nodded her head with a mixture of a smile and eyes full of tears.

"You don't mind that I might - that you might -?"

"Harry, if I was told to die for you tomorrow, you know that I would. Considering the countless times that you nearly died for me and the way that I really feel about you."

Harry felt better. It was as if he was suddenly no longer a victim or a future murderer. It was as if, for one of the few times in his life, he felt normal, and just the same as everybody else. So, I'm not a marked man, he told himself. I'm just really lucky...

Hermione came up to him and gave him another kiss, and a much more confident one at that. She held his hand and said, "Let's go, we need to tell the others - "

"Wait!" said Harry as he pulled her back and returned her kiss. "First of all, I don't want anyone else to know about the prophesy. Not yet. And second, I think that we should keep our relationship a secret."

"But, why?" said Hermione, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Because," replied Harry, "if Voldemort ever somehow finds out that you are someone that I love deeply, then you will be put into a lot of danger, and that is the last thing that I want right now."

"Alright," said Hermione, and let go of his hand, which he very much regretted.

Hermione undid the spell by shouting, "Fortis!" and they walked out, eager to find out what had happened in the past half-hour.

Chapter 2

Relatives

"Hey, Harry," said Ron. "Where've you two been? I've turned the entire mansion inside out trying to find you!"

"Oh, er, sorry Ron. We, er -"

"Got lost," said Hermione.

"Lost? In this place?" Ron shuddered. "That has to be about the worst thing that could possibly happen to you."

"No, it - it really wasn't all that bad," said Harry, grinning at Hermione vaguely.

Ron stared at them, looking from one to the other, puzzled. "Well," he finally said, "you'll never guess who I got a letter from!"

"Who?" said Harry and Hermione.

"None other than," Ron lowered his voice so that Fred and George wouldn't overhear, "Loony Lovegood."

"You're kidding," said Hermione, gigging.

Harry, however, didn't look too pleased.

"Don't call her that," he said as Hermione gave him an oddly furious look. "You know, she isn't all that bad, Ron. I just kind of feel sorry for her ‘cause, well, she told me people take her stuff and call her that behind her back. It's just, she seems simply misunderstood."

"Well, Harry. You better hope that's all she is to you," said Hermione in a low whisper so that only he could hear her.

"Oh, come on, Hermione. You don't honestly think I actually -" But Hermione smiled at him. "Of course I don't, Harry. It was just a joke," said Hermione who seemed to find Luna a funny competition.

"Well, Luna wrote to me and said that she was hoping that I was having a good vacation and asking if I could meet her down at Diagon Alley on the first of August," said Ron in a disgusted tone.

"Go, Ron!" giggled Hermione, this time even harder.

"This isn't funny!" he said. "And besides, I'm not going! If I'm seen with her in public, I'll be the laughing stock of the entire school!"

"So, go somewhere private," suggested Hermione.

"Are you kidding me? Do you honestly think that I like her or something?"

"Well, she definitely seems to like you so why not give it a go? We'll all go and get our things on the same day so that you don't feel lonely if you want," she teased.

"No!" shouted Ron. "Because I'm not going and that's final!"

He stormed off, but Harry could still see Ron clutching Luna's letter in his hand and eventually pocketing it as he left the room.

"What's got him so worked up?" asked Ginny.

"Oh, nothing," said Harry as Hermione was nearly about to spill his secret.

"Say, what ever happed to that git, Kreacher?" asked Harry.

"Oh," said Ginny, "he's still around but no longer at the Order of Phoenix headquarters. See, as soon as, well, his last remaining master, you know, well - Dumbledore decided to keep him at Hogwarts so that he wouldn't remind you and the rest of us of, well - " she broke off, but Harry knew exactly what she was talking about.

However, before Harry could tell her that he understood who she had meant, they were interrupted as, suddenly, Percy's breakfast plate burst with a loud BOOM and left pieces of scrambled egg all over his face, leaving Fred and George fit with uncontrollable laughter and Mrs. Weasley with rage at the twins.

"I THOUGHT A PROMISE WAS A PROMISE! YOU SAID NO MORE TESTING OF YOUR SILLY PRODUCTS! "

"Strange," said George, "I thought those silly products made us all fortunes."

"SILENCE!....ESPECIALLY ON FAMILY!" roared Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, so we can try in out on, say, Harry?" asked Fred in an innocent tone.

"NO!" cried Mrs. Weasley, who was too furious to continue yelling at them and appeared to be having a migraine as she patiently rubbed her temples while muttering something to herself as she stormed out of the room.

Eventually, everyone had cleared out after breakfast and seemed to be busy with their own troubles: the Order was working secretly, head-to-head, on new information that they seemed to be discussing behind Harry's back, Fred and George had to find an alternate for their product tester, Ron had promised Mrs. Weasley to carry some heavy loads from the basement, "But why can't Fred and George do it? They can use magic!," and Ginny had run off to give Melificent her bath, whom Harry had never heard of (while finding it odd that she would need someone to give her a bath) and was wondering if he could meet when Hermione, checking to see that they were well out of sight, suddenly took his hand and whispered, "Harry, how about we go for a walk around this place?"

"Alright," said Harry. They both grabbed the last bit of toast, which reminded Harry uncannily of the time that they had gone for a walk around the lake at Hogwarts, and left the dinning room.

They reached the second floor corridor without saying a word when Hermione said, "You know, I have always wanted to walk around this mansion. I doubt that it is ever possible to know all of its corners, though."

This wasn't the conversation that Harry had in mind and so he said, "Say, Hermione. Er...has anything been, er, going on between you and Ron lately?"

"What'd you mean?" she asked in a rather bored, matter-of-fact voice.

"I mean, has he, er, askedyouout?" said Harry.

Hermione looked bemused, "Say that again, Harry. I didn't quite get that."

"Has he, you know, asked you out?" Harry breathed.

Hermione chocked on the bit of toast that she had finished nibbling.

"Harry, you're not serious about that, are you?" she looked stricken.

"Actually, I am. I mean it," he said, still looking at her frightened face. "Well? Has he?"

Hermione looked as if she didn't know what to say and, finally, she managed to spit something out. "Harry," she said in a rather shaky voice, "I think that it's time that you know something about me and - and Ron."

She was avoiding Harry's eyes, but he still noticed that she doubted telling him whatever it was.

"If you must," he said.

"Well, you see Harry, it's like this - " she began rather scared " - I..I probably shouldn't be telling you this - scratch that, I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but, well, since you told me about that prophesy..."

She continued, "You see, Ron and I are - are - "

"What is it, Hermione?"

"We're related."

"WHAT!" yelled Harry.

"Shhh!" said Hermione. "Mrs. Weasley and the others will have my throat if they find out I told you!"

"But why? How?" Harry was so confused. Everything that he once knew seemed do be swirling in a massive disarray.

"Well, the thing is that I'm Ron's, and Ginny's, and Fred and George's (Hermione shuddered), and so on, cousin."

"But - but - b-but," said Harry.

"I know, and I'm really sorry, Harry, but I just couldn't tell you," she said. "Mrs. Weasley is my aunt. She, er, is my mother's sister; her maiden name is Prewett, and she is, er, a Squib."

Harry was still transfixed in the thought, but then awoke from the moment to ask, "But Hermione, I mean, why didn't you just tell me? And how long have you known?"

"Harry, the reason why I couldn't tell you was because of you. You and your family. Because the only family that you had was those awful Muggles that you lived with and, here I am with Ron, in this huge wizarding family - " she paused, watching his sulked face. "But the only reason that we kept it a secret from you was because we didn't want to hurt you, Harry. We didn't want you to feel left out. And besides, wouldn't you feel awkward if you knew that your two best friends were cousins?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"See! And, we've known ever since second year," she said. "Once Ron's parents met my mother at Diagon Alley the day we were getting our books, they just had to tell him that I was related to him, otherwise it would have caused a lot of peculiar moments. And - they obviously told me, but they hesitated telling you because they just weren't sure that you were ready for something like that, Harry," she said desperately.

Harry felt like such a fool. Of course, he told himself, that's why Ron keeps jumping on Malfoy for calling her a Mudbood and why he didn't like the idea of her being fond of Lockhart and -

"Wait a minute," he said, "but why was he so jealous when you went to the ball with Krum?"

"Jealous? Is that what you though he was? No - " Hermione laughed, "He's just a bit overprotective. You know how he was when he found out that Ginny was dating Michael. That's just how he is. Ron's like a brother to me."

"But, what about when you said that he should have asked you to the ball first?"

"Oh, I was being sarcastic, Harry. I knew that it would have been too overprotective of him to take me to the ball himself so I made that snide remark to show him how ridiculous I thought he was being about the whole Krum thing."

"And - and what about when you kissed him on the cheek last year, eh?"

"That was just because I really wanted to wish him luck, and you know that he needed it back then. Besides, the only reason he reacted like that is because it is kind of weird if your cousin just kisses you on the cheek out of the blue. Especially one that you constantly argue with and one that is a girl."

Hermione shook her head and smirked. "What is it?" he asked.

"Oh, no - I just remembered when we were practicing Patronuses in the Room of Requirements and I found out mine was an otter. I thought - surely you would have realized that an otter is a member of the weasel family. I mean...nothing...never mind. Just a thought..."

"Hermione, you know I'm not good at these sorts of interpretations."

"Yeah, I know. And, er, what about you and Cho, then?"

Harry snorted, "You don't really think there is anything going on between us anymore, do you?" Hermione raised both of her eyebrows. "We definitely broke up when I had an argument with her over her friend Marietta when for ratting us out and then brought it home when I said how brilliant your idea of the 'sneak' charm had been," he grinned.

She blushed and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Oh, a kiss on the cheek? Is that all you've got, Hermione?" Harry teased.

But just as she leaned over to kiss him, Harry took a step down from the corridor on a descending latter and slipped on what seemed to be a very fuzzy snake. There was a loud screech and even louder scream from Hermione as she saw Harry tumble down the stairs and land in a loud THUMP. Harry could feel his entire body going numb and a small live object jumping on top of him and eventually running off in another direction, being picked up by a glowing girl.

"Melificent!" she said.

"HARRY! Oh, are you all right?" yelled Hermione as she made her way carefully down the stairs and then bended down to be by Harry's side.

"Yeah," he heard himself say. After all, he had gotten much worse injuries at Hogwarts and, certainly, a trip down the stairs was nothing of a big deal.

"‘arry! I am so sorry! I was wondering were Melificent had gone after her bath."

Harry looked up as he was now standing up firmly on both feet, with the aid of Hermione, and noticed that Melificent was, in fact, not a person, but a cat; Fleur's cat. And, as a matter of fact, it had a remarkable resemblance to her. The cat had rich beige fur, white paws, illuminating sky blue eyes, a grey tail, and black face and ears. Harry never even imagined seeing a more beautiful cat. Surely, Crookshanks was in no league against her.

The cat gave Harry a very superior look as it prompted its nose high up in the air while held tightly by Fleur, who was now gently petting her behind the ears.

"Poor, poor, Melificent. Are you ‘urting? Zhere...zhere...it will be alright."

Harry gave Hermione a disgusted look, who shrugged, and began to walk him towards the nearest bedroom when he said, "No, I'm fine, really." She looked at him rather suspiciously, but was convinced as she witnessed him walk all on his own, only slightly limping.

"If you're sure - " she said.

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT," yelled Ron as he, too, came limping from a corridor nearby. "D'you know what just happened? I just dropped and enormous crate full of old garbage on my foot and you know what Fred and George did about it?"

"What?" said Hermione.

"They added another hundred pounds to it before I could pick it up!"

Hermione was trying to keep a straight face while Ron said, "Really! One of these days I'll - what happened to you?" Ron had noticed Harry limping as well.

"Melificent," said Harry.

"Oh," said Ron, as if he understood. "Well, whatever she did to you, it could not have been that bad....there's a cat that seems to know its manners," said Ron as Hermione frowned.

Harry and Hermione exchanged odd glances. Harry was wondering if he should bring up the fact that he knows about them being related now, but just as he opened his mouth, Hermione said, "So, have you thought about that trip to Diagon Alley, Ron?"

Ron turned red. "No! Why would I?"

"Well, it's just that - "

"Look, can we just forget about this?" said Harry who wanted the last thing to happen was to hear them arguing.

Hermione seemed to think that there was a bit more behind Harry's reason and eyed him, so he said, "Just don't start arguing, okay, you two?"

"Right," said Ron.

"Ron, I'm sorry," said Hermione, "but there's nothing wrong with wanting to get to know Luna. I'm sure she's a wonderful person," finishing with most difficulty.

"I don't want to know her, okay," said Ron. "Just leave me alone," and walked off quite depressed.

"Good job, Hermione," said Harry.

"Well, I was only trying to help."

"No, I mean, at least now we can be alone," grinned Harry.

Hermione leaned over and kissed him, but quickly drew away as she heard a shuffle of footsteps and approaching voices.

"I don't think that he would dare try it, do you, Moody?"

"I don't know, Remus. You-Know-Who's been meant to do some pretty twisted things."

"But he wouldn't - "

"Shush!" The footsteps slowed down and Harry and Hermione came to discover Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, and Mr. Weasley in the hall.

"Oh, it's you two. What are you doing around in the hall all by yourselves, and at this time?"

"Just walking, sir," said Hermione, meekly.

"Hmmm, yes," said Moody. "Right, well, you best be off - why not find that boy, Ronald, and do something useful around this dump? Go on," he said.

Harry and Hermione made their way past him, shyly, and escaped to the west side of the house, searching for Ron or anyone else.

"I think we'd better limit our sneaking off," said Hermione. "If they keep catching us like that, they might eventually find out. ‘S not a very good thing, is it? Them finding out without us telling them?"

"No, it isn't,"said Harry.

"What isn't?" said Charley as he, Percy, and Bill emerged out of a trap door that seemed to lead to the basement.

"Nothing," said Hermione automatically. Percy scowled.

"What were you three doing down there, anyways?" Asked Harry.

"There seems to be an uncontrollable army of Mold Sprites down in the basement and mum wanted us to clear them out. I know we're not supposed to be telling you this, but the Order thought that the basement is an even better hiding place for the members in case headquarters are discovered; it's supposed to have a strange charm on it that confuses an untrustworthy person as soon as they walk in there. They'll actually get lost inside their own mind. Kind of a Dementor's Kiss, mind you, only not as fatal. The condition can only be deceased if the person walks out of the room. But, fortunately, they will be so confused that they won't know which way's up. They'll kill themselves beforehand, too much of a torture. Seems to be such an advanced charm, not even Dumbledore has heard about it. Ow!" Percy had hit Charley hard across the back of his head with his hand. "What d'you do that for?"

"More importantly," said Percy, extremely angrily, "why did you tell them?"

"Oh, like they can't be trusted! Honestly!"

Percy stormed of, apparently mad at his brother for let information about the Order slip and Bill for not stopping him.

"But - isn't that kind of dangerous?" said Hermione. "I mean, if Dumbledore doesn't know about the charm, then it may be full of Dark Magic. How do we know that basement can be trusted?"

"Relax, Hermione," said Bill, "it's not like he hasn't inspected it himself. Even if he is busy running around, answering stupid questions that the Ministry is still asking about You- Know-Who's return to power, he's always had time for the Order. Besides, we're still in our right minds. Aren't we?"

Hermione didn't seem convinced, but said, "I'm not so sure I'd like to answer that."

Bill laughed and followed Percy, accompanied by Charley.

"You know, I just realized something," said Harry.

"What?" asked Hermione.

"This is going to be the first birthday that I get to spend away from the Dursleys, entirely."

"Then I'm sure it will be wonderful..." said Hermione and leaned on Harry who put his arm around her.

"Yeah...Yeah...it will," said Harry who looked down the steps of the basement and wondered if there would ever come a time for them to find sanctuary in its mysterious likeliness of what seemed to be Harry's least favorite form of protection - being guarded by dementors.

***

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!!!" screamed Hermione as she gave him a huge kiss that prevented him breathing since he had just woken up, startled at the thought that his birthday had come so quickly this year.

"Hermione!" said Harry as she drew away and watched an enormous package appear on his bed, wrapped in gold paper and tided with a handsome red bow.

"Oh, that's not from me," she said and drew out a package the size of a large matchbox and handed it to him, "this is."

Harry hesitated, and slowly opened the package, wondering what Hermione could have possibly gotten him that seemed the be the size of a walnut. In the box, an illuminating green glow mesmerized Harry as he watched a medium-sized gem glistening at him from the heart of a handsome golden ring.

"It's, er, a promise ring," said Hermione, blushing.

"Hermione, I...I don't know what to say!" said Harry, transfixed by the illumination of the ring. "Except I promise you that this is probably the best gift I've ever gotten."

Hermione giggled, "No, silly. A promise ring doesn't mean that you'll promise someone that you like it. It means that you'll promise someone that you'll stay with him forever."

"Well, then I should probably get you one too, then," said Harry.

"You don't have to do that!" said Hermione. "Your word is enough."

"Well, then my word is....is...." Harry teased as Hermione awaited anxiously, "that I want to know what's inside that package," Harry pointed at the huge box planted on his bed.

"Harry!" said Hermione.

"I'm sorry...sorry. But I'll only promise you if you tell me how you really feel about me."

"Harry, you know, the way that I really feel about you right now is that you're being an awfully selfish jerk! And I still love you," she added.

"Alright," said Harry, "and the way that I feel about you is that I...I...I just need you to help me open that present right now."

Hermione made a loud tutting sound and said, "Harry, you're impossible!" leaving the room. Harry laughed. He knew that she realized that he was only joking, but it was fun to tease her while he had the opportunity.

"Now for this present," said Harry, as he turned to the large package, placing the ring on his finger, which felt very warm and comfortable.

He looked for a card and found a small one, dangling from its side. Harry's stomach must have flipped several times as it read, "To Harry, From Sirius."

How? Thought Harry. It was unimaginable.

Harry tore open the paper and found a card sitting on top of a cardboard box. Harry read it:

Harry,

I know that things must be very though for you right now, but just remember that I'm not as gone as you may think. First, I would like to wish you a Happy Birthday, Harry, but I'm afraid that I might lay a burden on you along with this wish. It might be hard for you to come back to the Department of Mysteries after what happened last year, but I think that it will be the best thing that you could do right about now. The Order will take you there, and you will not be alone, but you must face me, once again, in a state that I know you don't find very favorable, but I'm afraid, it is better off this way. Voldermort is back, Harry, and it's no laughing matter. You must arm yourself. You are now sixteen years old, on your way to adulthood and almost of age to do magic outside of school. Harry, take these possessions. I am not fond of them, neither am I of the people from whom I received them from, but I have found them quite useful when I last worked for the Order, while your parents were still alive. And one more thing, Harry. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of love, of pain, of death. Fear puts a stopper in all of us, but I want you to be an exception. Hear me Harry, and bring the mirror that I gave you for Christmas; yours and mine.

Once again, Happy Birthday,

Sirius

Harry wasn't sure how he felt after he had read this. It seemed as if he felt nothing at all. But suddenly, a jolt lighted inside of him. Was he going to be able to see Sirius again, or at least, speak to him? He remembered Luna's words "you heard them, behind the veil." Was it true? Could they really be heard? Could they be spoken to?

Just then, the doors of his bedroom burst open and the entire Weasley family, along with some members of the Order came hustling inside. Hermione was seen standing in the hall, her arms crossed. Harry knew she was still upset with him, but her anger wouldn't last long...

Ron and the other Weasley brothers clapped him on that back. Everyone was wishing Harry a Happy Birthday. Gifts came pouring in as Harry found himself unwrapping candy, clothes, Quidditch equipment, and magical objects.

Fleur had given Harry a cologne that smelled somewhat like the air at Hogwarts, which Harry laid cautiously aside; Fred and George had given him Tickle Tarts, which they told him they had used on Percy, who still having a fit of giggles; Lupin gave him an Observe-Me-Glass, which revealed the true form of anything that you might look at through it; Ginny - Adjusting Spray, which seemed to correct anything that you sprayed it on, and the list went on and on. Harry felt like he must have spent at least an hour opening presents and receiving greetings while Sirius's gift lay unopened on his bed. As much as he enjoyed the company of such an overwhelming amount of people, Harry couldn't wait for them to leave so that he could look at what Sirius had given him.

Finally, Mrs. Weasley said, "You know what, Harry, dear, you haven't even properly woken up yet. Why don't we all go downstairs and give Harry a proper breakfast and some time to breathe? Common now, all of you. Let's go, let's go!"

The crowd waved Harry good-bye and joined Hermione, who pursed her lips and walked out with the rest of them. Harry had no time to loose. He threw open the box and found a number of fascinating objects lying inside of Sirius's box, a piece of paper attached to each one with instructions and descriptions. He picked up the first one and it read:

Harry,

This is a wizarding shield. It is quite light for the purpose of reflecting powerful spells while having the opportunity to attack an enemy at the same time. Simply say, "Directium," when you want to shrink it down to size for pocket-storage, and "Extensium," when you need to shield yourself from unfriendly spells without having to use any charms.

Harry muttered, "Extensium," while pointing to the small object with his wand and a big silver shield irrupted from its center. Half of it sank into his bed and Harry realized that it must have no effect on solid objects, but only on spells cast off by other wizards.

He tried it out and, as the spell hit the shield, it immediately bounced off, hitting a wall, and narrowly missing Harry's head. "Wow!" he said.

The next amount of objects included a cloak that shadowed your face, even if you were in broad daylight, a silencer that you wear around your neck so that no part of your body can make a sound, bands that prevented wounding when put on certain parts of the body, a cauldron that brewed whatever ingredients you put inside of it so that the potion that you wanted would turn out correctly, a spell detector that told the holder what spell they should use next and, finally, something that made Harry's mouth form the words, "No way!" as he pulled out what seemed like a rug.

Harry,

This is a Magic Carpet. I know what you're thinking, and that they were banned by the Ministry of Magic, but this different. It's not a flying carpet, and that makes all of the difference in the world. However, it will transport you from place to place. Similar to the Floo network, you just step on the carpet and mutter where ever you want to go. And, by the way, Harry, all of these objects were inspected by Dumbledore and Moody, so you have nothing to worry about. However, if you'd like to ask them, just in case, be my guest. And, Harry, try not to use these objects to get into trouble. Oh, yeah, and the carpet doesn't work on Hogwarts grounds. Sorry!

Harry looked down at the carpet, which seemed to be able to fit four people on it, at most, and knew what he had to do. He grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and said, "Diagon Alley," as he stepped fully onto the carpet and appeared right at the heart of wizarding stores and pubs. He picked up the carpet, making sure that no one had noticed him appear out of thin air and placed the invisibility cloak over it as he held it under his arm. He stepped into Gringotts and retrieved quite a sum of money from his vault. His next stop was the jewelry store, Rock Cutz, (If it sparkles, we have it!). Harry had overheard Mrs. Weasley telling Fleur that she had gotten her diamond earnings at that store. He made his way across to the section with rings, which seem to look like an ocean of sparkling jewels on hoops. Harry saw a very elegant and distinct ring with a blue center that had a swirling mass within it, looking like blue fog. He was so intrigued by the moves of the mystical haze, that he knew that he simply had to buy Hermione the silver coated ring if he ever wanted her to speak to him again. If anything says promise, though Harry, it's this ring.

He payed for it at the counter, while finding out that it cost more than he could have imagined, yet still turned out some of his galleons in his pocket and took the neat package in which the ring had been placed. Glancing at it once more, he pocketed it and left the store.

However, no sooner had he done so than a group from Hogwarts greeted him out in the alley. "Hey, Harry!" yelled Dean. "Isn't it your birthday today?"

Harry nodded, grinning. "Happy Birthday, then," he said, followed by similar pursuits from the others. "Say, Harry, would you mind passing this to Ginny?" he said as he shoved an envelope at Harry.

"Er, not at all," he said.

"Well, later, I'm afraid. We better get going. Have you gotten your Hogwarts letter yet, by the way?"

"No," said Harry.

"Shame. Me neither. I guess they're taking a bit longer considering the O.W L. scores." He shuddered. "Say, do you know who the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain will be?"

"Nope," said Harry, "not a clue. Can't wait to start playing again, though."

"Yeah, we need to kick Slytherin's butt at the Quidditch Cup again."

Harry grinned. They said their goodbyes and Harry sneaked off, taking the invisibility cloak off of the carpet and placing it on himself while stepping onto the rug and vanishing towards Grimauld Place.

As he secretly appeared in the living room, he saw Hermione pouring over books near the fireplace. He took off the cloak and approached her.

"Hermione?" he said.

"What, Harry?" He could tell she was still quite mad at him.

"I forgot to tell you something."

"Yes," she said as she still hadn't looked at him.

"Mrs. Weasley was right, you know. A promise is a promise," and he pulled out the ring from his pocket, "and I promise that I'll love you forever and never let anything bad happen to you."

Hermione gasped at the sight of the ring. "Oh, Harry! Where did you - how did you- it's beautiful!" She got up and kissed him as she took the ring. He could see her eyes shining with tears. "Harry, you know you didn't have to. Oh, I just feel terrible. Why didn't you tell me? Honestly, Harry, you can do quite a job on some people's nerves!"

"So you like it?"

"Of course I do! But how did you manage to get it?"

"I don't know if I should trust someone who doesn't seem to trust me as well."

"Harry, don't be ridiculous, you know I was only kidding."

"Well," said Harry, looking at the desperate look on her face, "alright." And he told her about Sirius's gifts and how he wanted him to come to the Department of Mysteries.

"Harry! You can't just disappear like that. Ask Moody before using anymore of those things. I mean, how could those things possibly be from Sirius if he's - if he's - ?"

"Fine, I'll ask him," said Harry, who didn't think that Hermione would find him telling her about what Luna said an amusing story.

"I don't believer it! I don't believe it!" They could hear Ron yelling somewhere from another room, "Harry! Hermione! Come see this!"

At first, Harry and Hermione had though that something had gone terribly wrong, and came rushing into the room, but were relieved to find Ron jumping up and down with stunned faces along side of him and clutching a Hogwarts-crested envelope.

"I did it! I got a nine! I got a nine on the O.W.L.'s! Can you imagine that?! I thought I'd have failed Potions for sure!"

Both Harry and Hermione congratulated him.

"Does that mean we got our Hogwarts letters, too?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, but I didn't want to be rude and, you know, open them myself," and he handed Harry and Hermione both their envelopes. Harry's envelope seemed heavier than usual. He ripped it open, his heart plummeting.

"A ten!" said Harry. "Excellent! Hermione what d'you - ?" But Harry stopped. He couldn't believe his eyes as a paper fell from the stack that he was holding along with a list of the new books that they would need. It was a letter addressed to Harry, or was it? How could it be?

"No! I...I can't be - how could he - he just told me - but - ?"

"Captain!" read Fred over Harry's shoulder.

"Not just any old Captain! Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain!" said George.

Hermione ran over and hugged Harry. "Oh, Harry - Congratulations!"

Ron shook his hand with a broad grin spread across his face.

"But - but why?" said Harry.

"Harry! You're probably the best Quidditch player on the team and you've played Quidditch for about five years now!" said Ron.

"Aren't - aren't you happy, Harry? Isn't this what you wanted?" said Hermione.

"Well...well yes, but - nothing, never mind."

"Now that's a birthday present!" said Fred. But the moment was interrupted as the Order came bursting into the room.

"All of you out! NOW! Emergency meeting! This is crucial! I SAID NOW!" yelled Moody.

Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys scampered out of the room, deserting it for the members of the Order as it filled and the door shut itself in a loud BANG!

"What do you think could have happened?" said Hermione, anxiously.

"I don't know..." said Harry.

"I've never seen them this upset before...even Moody. Something bad happened...I know it," Ron said, sounding panicky.

"We better go..." said Hermione, but just as the three of them turned to leave, the door opened and Lupin's face appeared out of the crack.

"Harry," he said gloomily, "I think you'd better come...there's something that we need to say - " But Moody interrupted him as he, too, emerged from the door.

"Potter, the gift - the gift - did you open it?"

"Gift? What gift?"

"The gift from Sirius!"

"Yes, yes I opened - is something wro - ?"

"Did you read the letter attached to it? Yes or no?" He sounded extremely severe.

"Of course, I - "

"Listen to me, Harry. There has been a sort of a, er, problem," said Lupin. "Somehow Voldemort found out about Sirius's communication with you. Harry, the veil, the black veil, do you remember it?"

"Yes..."

"Harry, it's - "

"Been destroyed," finished Moody.

"WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry," said Lupin. "There was nothing that we could do, but, I'm afraid that there is no way that you will be able to speak to Sirius - "

"NO!" yelled Harry.

"Harry, I - "

"ENOUGH!" barked Moody. "Remus! The meeting! Now!"

"Yes, yes, of course," he replied and they disappeared behind the thick wooden doors, leaving Harry's birthday memories crushed.