Harry Potter and the Extremely Weird Year

Chapter 7

Harry stood there watching the scene: a red-faced Mrs. Weasley was running after Fred and George, who were closely followed by Ron and Ginny.

"Ah, Molly. How are you?" asked Lupin.

Mrs. Weasley sighed as she tried to catch her breath. "I would be all right if it weren't for these two." She pointed her finger accusingly at Fred and George.

Fred snorted. "Ah, you're just uptight because we wouldn't give you a discount."

"You figure just because you're our mum that you're going to get everything half off?" George asked, trying to containing his laughter.

"That's enough out of you two!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. "Harry, dear, how are you?" she continued, regaining her composure.

"Fine," muttered Harry. Mrs. Weasley could sometimes be even more over-protective than Sirius or Lupin.

"Harry, Ron, Ginny, could you please go inside? I have to talk to Remus here. Lunch will be ready soon." Mrs. Weasley smiled pleasantly at them.

Ron nodded to Harry. "Come on, we don't want to be caught in another crossfire."

Fred and George motioned towards Ron too, but were stopped by Mrs. Weasley. "Where do you two think you're going?"

"Away from you," said Fred sarcastically, putting his hands on his hips.

"No you aren't! You two stay right here until I'm done talking to Remus!" Mrs. Weasley's face, once again, turned bright red.

"Wish we could, but we have pressing matters to attend to," said George in a business-like tone.

George and Fred both raised their wands. "Bye, "they chorused.

Before Mrs. Weasley could say another word, the two Apparated inside. "I hate it when they do that!"

Ron stifled a laugh. "Now would be a good time to leave," he said to Harry.

"Uh...yeah."

Ron nodded to Ginny. "We had better run."

Without another word, the three sprinted into the house. Harry gasped as they entered: the inside of the Weasleys' home hadn't changed either.

"Hungry, Harry?" Ron questioned.

"A little." Harry was suddenly reminded that he hadn't eaten an entire meal since he was at Hogwarts. Sirius and Remus had given him food, but never enough to be concocted into a whole meal.

"Lunch will be ready soon," said Ginny.

Harry turned. Ginny, he noticed, had grown a few inches, her hair was a bit longer, and she didn't seem as uncomfortable around him as previous times. She still, however, wouldn't look Harry directly in the eyes.

"Why don't we sit down?" Ron offered.

Harry nodded. Ron too had grown a few inches--- making him even taller than Harry.

"So what's been going on?" Harry asked, sitting down beside him.

"Absolutely nothing!" Ron said, rolling his eyes. "The only thing I've heard about was that Fudge had been captured."

Harry sighed. He remembered hearing about that. Harry thought about when he had asked Sirius to tell him about it, but he had never received a straight answer from him. "Yeah...I heard that too." Harry said finally, scratching the back of his head. "What about this Order of the Phoenix? Have you heard anything about that?"

Harry was anxious to find out what this 'Order' was. He knew Dumbledore would eventually tell him, but he was very tired of being left out of the loop.

Ron stared into space for a while. He appeared to be thinking hard about what Harry had just asked him.

"Well?" Harry persisted.

Ron sighed. "Dad started talking about it to mum once, but he sent us all up to our room." He paused for a moment. "And I did hear him mention Moody before once too. Other than that I haven't heard anything. What do you reckon it is?"

"Maybe...maybe it has something to do with Voldemort." Harry heard Ron and Ginny gasp, but he didn't care. "Sirius said something about it once," Harry stated, staring hard at the floor. "Something about me joining it."

"Why you?" asked Ginny.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know."

"Did anything else happen?" Ron asked.

Harry thought for a while, trying to remember everything that had happened before he had passed out---again. "Well, " he began, "I saw Mrs. Figg, who supposedly is a muggle. Sirius was ranting about a letter he had received from Dumbledore saying that the 'Order' knew he was innocent... my scar started hurting and I fell to the floor. Oh, and Malfoy and Macnair showed up at my house."

"Malfoy and Macnair? How...when?" Ron stumbled out.

"It's a long story...I'll tell you later." Seeing their eager faces he added, "Tonight, when nobody's around." Harry wasn't in the mood to talk about this right now.

Ron stared at Harry, surveying him closely. "How was it though?"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "How was what?"

"Staying with Sirius and Lupin. How was it?"

Harry grinned from ear-to-ear. "Great. I never---"

Harry was cut off by Mrs. Weasley. "Ah, I see you're all here," she said entering the kitchen. "I have persuaded Remus to have lunch with us also."

Mrs. Weasley rambled for some time while they were eating. She told Harry about how their summer had been going, and said that neither Percy nor Mr. Weasley were going to be at the Burrow. Harry asked why the two weren't joining them, but Mrs. Weasley refused to tell him. "Don't worry, dear. I'm sure you'll see them some time this year." she finally said.

After they had all finished eating, Ron offered to help Harry take his trunk upstairs. Harry nodded and got up from his seat.

"Well, I'd better be going," Lupin said, handing Mrs. Weasley his empty plate. "Thanks for the food, Molly."

"Any time, Remus." Mrs. Weasley smiled at him.

Harry stopped. "Good-bye."

Lupin smiled at him. "Could I possibly talk to you for a second?" Harry nodded and followed him out by the door. Lupin suddenly looked gravely serious, and he bit his lip before he began to speak. "Harry, will you promise me something?"

"What?"

"Please, please, please, for the sake of everyone's sanity---stay out of trouble."

At this, Harry had to grin. "Like I said before, I promise."

"Good," Lupin said, patting Harry on the head.

"OK, Professor Lupin." Harry smirked. He knew what was coming next.

"Oh, for the love of Merlin, call me Remus! We spend the summer together and you still won't call me by my first name!"

"All right, all right, Remus." Harry grinned slightly. "Remus, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, you may. What is it?"

Harry looked up at him; he needed to know what was going on, and he needed to know now. "When are you going to tell me what the Order of the Phoenix is?" Harry widened his eyes. Maybe I'll get an actual answer this time, he thought.

Lupin looked down at Harry with sad eyes. "Soon. Now I'm afraid I must leave. Good-bye, Harry, see you soon."

I should have seen that coming! Harry snapped himself back out of his thoughts long enough to watch Lupin walk out the door with a sad smile on his face. "What is it with everyone saying that they'll tell me soon?" Harry asked himself.

"HARRY! Come on!"

Harry jumped. Ron was yelling for him. "Coming!"

***

After Harry had had dinner that night, Ron and Ginny had asked him tell them what had happened. Harry, annoyed by the fact that they gasped at every word he said, told them his story. Ron kept interrupting to ask about Lupin and Sirius. Ginny, however, was still in shock from hearing about Malfoy and Macnair.

"And what about this Figg woman?" asked Ron when Harry had finally finished his story. "Do you suppose she's a witch?"

"I guess," said Harry. "Why do you think she personally delivered a letter? Why couldn't someone else do it? Or use an owl?"

Ron sighed. "You got me, mate."

The three sat in silence for a while, not quite sure of what to say. Ginny was the one who finally broke the silence. "When is Hermione coming?"

Harry looked at Ron. "She's coming here too?"

"Uh huh," said Ron. "She's coming here three days before school starts."

Harry nodded. He didn't expect her to come here too. And why for only three days?

"She's still talking to Krum."

Harry blinked. "I know, she told me in one of her letters. Why does it bother you so much?" Harry smirked, why did Ron care?

"It doesn't bother me!" Ron yelled outraged.

"Sure," said Ginny slowly.

"It doesn't!" Ron's ears were now bright red.

Harry turned to Ginny. "Touchy about this subject, isn't he?"

"Very," said Ginny, playing along.

"What do you know?!" said Ron.

"Well," said Ginny, moving towards the door. "I'd best be off. Mum will be yelling at us anytime now."

Harry had to practically scream now, to hear over Ron's rambling. "You'd better run for it, I think Ron's going to explode."

" 'Night, Harry," she said, avoiding his eyes.

" 'Night, Ginny."

Harry walked over to his bed: there were pajamas already laid out for him and a small piece of chocolate was stuffed into the shirt pocket. Harry didn't eat it---he figured it was probably from Fred and George. Harry had started to change into the pajamas when he noticed that Ron still hadn't stopped shouting. "I'm going to bed now, Ron. If you still want to continue this conversation, I'll be available in fifty years."

Ron finally stopped shouting. "Fine! I'm going to bed too."

******

The next couple of days were filled with chess, eating, sleeping, and helping Fred and George escape Mrs. Weasley. Harry had been told by Ron that they weren't allowed outside for long periods of time, so they had to find other ways to keep themselves busy. Harry didn't really mind though; he had spent the majority of his summer in a cave, so a house was a pleasant change. Sirius had already written to Harry twice since he had been there, claiming that Remus was driving him up the wall.

Unexpectedly, Dobby had dropped by one morning to bring Harry his Firebolt, which Harry was enraged with himself for not remembering in the first place. Harry wondered why Dobby had been doing all these favors for him lately. He knew Dobby admired him, but it seemed as though he had been told to do these things. I guess, Harry thought. That's another thing I'll be informed of later.

*

It was now three days before term started and Hermione was to arrive that afternoon. Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny were currently eating their breakfast and discussing the upcoming year.

"Do you suppose we'll be allowed to do anything at Hogwarts this year, Harry?" Ron asked, shoving a piece of toast into his mouth.

Fred suddenly stopped eating, and with a very twisted smile on his face, looked up at Ron. "You have your O.W.L.S this year."

Ron stared. "So..."

George raised his eyebrows and fixed his stare on Ron. "You think you had lots of work before, just you wait."

"I personally can't wait!"

The entire table looked up to see a madly grinning Hermione.

"Hello everyone," she said, sitting down in the empty chair. "How are you, Harry?"

Harry screwed up his face up in disbelief. She had only been here two seconds and was already asking him questions. "I'm fine. Why?"

Hermione looked as though she had just been insulted. "Well, seeing that Death Eaters came to your house, I thought you might want to talk."

Harry saw Ron's jaw drop. "How did you find out? I didn't know until Harry told me!"

"Sirius told me," Hermione said simply.

"Oh, well that explains everything," Harry said in a mock tone. "See 'cause I thought you were going to be vague about this."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He wrote to me a couple of times."

"What?!" screamed Harry.

"He did it to make sure you were all right, Harry."

At this point, Harry was completely dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"

"He asks me how you are and things," Hermione said sighing. "He knows you wouldn't tell him if anything was truly wrong. He also knows you'd tell me if something were wrong. He only wrote to me twice. That's all."

Ron snorted. "So he doesn't trust me enough to ask me?"

Again Hermione sighed. "Ah...well...yes."

"Huh?" Ron asked snappishly.

"Well, he knows you wouldn't tell him something without asking Harry's consent first."

"Oh," Ron said, not able to think of a better response.

" 'Afternoon everyone!" Mrs. Weasley came striding into the room.

Why is she always doing that?

thought Harry.

"I believe I have something for you all," Mrs. Weasley continued.

"What is it?" asked Ron.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at them thoughtfully. "It's your Hogwarts letters. Oh, and here's a package for you, Harry. It's from Sirius."

Harry's eyes lit up. A package? For me?

"What is it?" asked Harry.

"Don't know, dear. You have to open it for yourself."

Harry looked down at the package with a goofy smile plastered on his face. After all, it wasn't every day that Harry Potter got a gift for no reason.

"Open it, Harry!" Ron said, almost knocking over his glass.

"I think I'll wait 'til later." Still smiling, Harry pushed his package to the side and finished his lunch. He wanted to save the best thing for last.

*

"So that's all that happened?" Hermione asked Harry that night. Just as Ginny and Ron had questioned Harry, Hermione was now doing so too.

"Yes, Hermione! I've told you a thousand times now!"

Harry was getting thoroughly irritated. Even though it felt good to have someone care so much, he had already explained himself several times and didn't feel like doing it again.

"Alright, sorry I asked." Hermione said, crossing her arms and slumping down onto the bed.

Harry sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get snappy. It's just I'm so sick of---"

Hermione waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. It'd be best if I go to bed now anyway. I'm a bit tired."

"Alright. Good-night, Hermione."

"Good-night, Harry, Ron."

"'Night, Hermione." Ron said, watching her walk out the door. Ron paused for a moment, making sure Hermione was out of ear shot. "Geese, you think my mum's a little over-protective? She's just crazy!"

Harry snickered. "I know."

Ron laughed then headed towards the door. "I'm going to go get a drink or something. You want anything?"

"No, that's all right." Harry sighed.

"All right, I'll be back in a little then."

Harry watched Ron exit the room. "Well, I guess I should change then." Harry dragged himself over to his own bed. Picking up his pajamas he noticed something fall out from under it. What the...? Sirius' package! Harry picked up the package and smiled. "Let's see what in it, shall we?" He ripped off the paper furiously. A book?

Harry opened to the first page of the book. Written in it was a note from Sirius. It read:

Harry,

How are you? I hope you're having fun with the Weasleys. Well, I guess I'll get down to business then. This is a Padfoot writing book. (It has no real name, since I created it). All you do is say the name of the person you want to write to and start writing. Your writing shows up in my book and mine in yours, so we can both see each other's writing. Get it?

Harry snorted. He was suddenly reminded of Tom Riddle's Diary he had found in his second year. Trying to push that out of his mind, he went back to Sirius' letter.

If you want to erase something, just shut the book three times and say your own name. It's as simple as that. Remus has one too, Harry, so feel free to write him. Anyway, please take care of yourself this year, Harry. I know you must be sick to death of people telling you this, but I just don't want anything to happen to you...like last year... understand?

Harry sighed. He knew all too well what Sirius meant.

You know when I say stay out of trouble I'm not including pulling pranks. I'll see you soon, Harry. Have a great year!

Sirius (no one else will see this book anyway!)

Setting the book down, Harry felt an overwhelming sense of safety. He knew in his heart that he could ask Sirius for anything, as well as Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione.

With a smile still on his lips Harry pulled on his pajamas and set his glasses on the stand beside him. He had just pulled the blankets over himself when he heard Ron come in.

Ron, thinking Harry was asleep, crept quietly over to his bed. "'Night, mate."

After a few minutes, Ron was already snoring. Harry smiled to himself one more. "'Night, Ron," he said barely above a whisper. Thinking of the year to come, Harry Potter drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

*****

A/N: How was that? PLEASE REVIEW! Now, to thank my only reviewer.

Magical Me: Ah....thanks for telling me. I didn't notice. I'm just glad you like...since it is my first fic...knowing my flaws will be helpful in the future. If I keep doing it feel free to tell me.