Harry Potter and the New Gryffindor

Chapter 2 - The Burrow Again

The initial shock didn't wear off until about an hour later when Uncle Vernon told him to get to bed and asked if Harry had made sure that Ron and company were not to use the fireplace like last year. Harry snapped out of shock and just nodded.

After his uncle left Harry's mind buzzed with questions. He had a hard time going to sleep and was wondering what he should tell Ron and Hermione tomorrow. He resolved upon not telling them right away as he wanted this to sink in a bit and he also wanted to verify if it from his dad. He could ask Sirius, his dad's best friend, surely he'd know his friend's handwriting, which oddly enough reminded Harry of his own. Later, he thought, I'm tired; I need sleep.

The next morning things hadn't started off right because he had overslept and Aunt Petunia was really miffed about that. Next, his cousin Dudley had somehow managed to eat Harry's breakfast, which left Harry very hungry.

The Weasleys arrived far earlier than expected and Harry's uncle was quickly loosing his patience. After a very tensed half hour Harry was ushered into a borrowed car with Ron who seemed to have shot up to a height of six feet, Ron's twin brothers Fred and George and their father Arthur Weasley all on the way to the Burrow, the Weasley's home.

Harry was unusually quiet, but only Ron noticed and shot him a questioning look. " Hermione's already there."

" Uh huh."

" Is something wrong Harry?" asked Ron in an undertone.

" No. Yes. No. I'm not sure. I'll tell you about later."

Hours later they arrived at the Burrow and waiting there to greet them was Hermione and Mrs. Weasley. Hermione had changed; she was taller and telltale signs of what gender she belonged to were beginning to be pretty noticeable on her. Her hair though was still quite untamable, but overall she was decidedly attractive not that it mattered to Harry because she was still Hermione to him. Harry didn't want either of them to see that anything was amiss so he got out and put on a smile and greeted them as he always did.

Mrs. Weasley ushered them in and gave them a superb lunch, to which Harry was very grateful since he was feeling a bit dizzy brought on by not having anything to eat today. Afterwards he settled in his room, which was Ron's room, but soon left because the twins had asked if he wanted to play a bit of Quidditch and he'd never pass up an offer like that.

They played with Ron, who was hoping to make the team since the keeper position was open. They had dinner at which Percy decided to make an appearance. Percy had asked if anyone knew who the new school prefects were. Everyone looked at Hermione since that was the first thing she said to anyone before greeting them. " But who is the boy prefect for your year?" Percy persisted.

No one answered, but Harry could feel all eyes on him, he hadn't told anyone anything yet. "Dunno" was all he replied.

The conversation continued about prefects all the while Ron and Hermione were looking at Harry with questions and concern. As soon as he could Harry escaped from everyone and went to bed.

The next three days passed the same way and soon everyone began to notice Harry's non-social attitude. The Weasleys tried to coax him out of his mood, but failed miserably.

A couple of days later while Harry was staring out Ron's window, thinking about the letter, he heard the door shut. He turned around and faced a determined Ron and Hermione. Oh great, he thought, looks like it's time to face the music. I think I'm ready to tell them now anyways.

" Harry we know something's wrong. You've got to talk about it. If it's about the end of term last year..." Hermione began but Harry decided to cut in.

" No it's not that. I mean I haven't quite gotten over it but it doesn't bother me as much as it did. It's something else."

" What's up mate?" Ron put in after Harry's awkward pause.

" On my birthday I got a letter from someone I never expected to get a letter from."

" From a girl?"

" Oh, shut up Ron!"

" What!?! Come on 'Mione, it could have been from Cho."

" Hey! How'd you know about Cho, Ron?"

" The Yule Ball, you asked her and then during the dance you stared at her almost the whole time, remember."

" Shut up Ron! Let Harry finish telling us, then we'll know."

" Er... thanks. Right. No, the letter was from, well ... it was from my dad."

" What!?!" Ron exclaimed as Hermione said " Are you sure, I mean he is dead, how could he write to you?"

Harry produced the letter for them to read. After a while Hermione spoke " I know the spell he's talking about, but I can't do it now, we'd have to wait until school starts. For now we could ask Sirius or even Dumbledore to confirm if this is real or not."

" No."

" But why not Harry? We can't break the underage rule and they would know your dad's handwriting..."

" No. I think my dad did write it, the writing, it's almost like to mine."

" 'Arry I think Hermione is right. If you don't want to ask Sirius or Dumbledore we'll just have to wait 'til school, unless you want to let dad or mum check..."

" No!"

" Right then. Well, I want to practice Quidditch some more and if I stay here too long my brothers will wonder."

Harry and Ron went to play while Hermione watched from a distance. The rest of the summer went quickly and Harry became more like himself again. Eventually they went to Diagon Alley to get their supplies and soon it was the first of September.

That morning was pretty hectic, but the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry managed to get to the station with twenty minutes to spare. Getting on the train was second nature by now and they managed to do so without any incident.

They settled into an empty carriage with Ron's younger sister Ginny, who as Harry knew was quite taken with him but he didn't let her know. He hadn't noticed before but Ginny was becoming decidedly pretty but then Harry remembered a certain Ravenclaw seeker, which shoved Ginny out of his mind.

" Hey Hermione did you and Krum uh... you know ... get together during the summer?" Ginny started giggling, as Ron turned red after asking.

" Well," Hermione began to blush, " if you must know, we did. I mean there are a lot of interesting things to see and do in Bulgaria, very historical."

" No, I mean did you get together with him?"

" I just told you."

" I know but did you and him, er..."

" What!?!" demanded Hermione hotly.

" Um, forget it," muttered Ron.

Ginny couldn't contain herself any longer and burst out laughing, so did Harry and even Ron managed a weak smile before Hermione started laughing too. They continued laughing until they reached Hogwarts.