Harry Potter 1. The Summer So far

Hello everyone. For those who have read my first fic, the heart wants danger, I know it sucks and I couldn't update so I removed it. Anyways, here is another attempt at writing by yours truly. Oh, and my disclaimer: I own nothing except for any new characters. Please Read and Review...I don't update until I have a certain number of reviewers because it's like a tally of how many people like my story. One more thing: most flames are welcome.  
  
Chapter One: The Summer So Far  
  
Hermione looked up from her research as she heard her mom calling her name. She sighed and got up from her desk. Hermione's mom seemed to think that the older Hermione got, the more chores she should be assigned. Her mom continued to call her to the kitchen. Hermione resignedly walked over to the door and down into the kitchen. She knew it, her mother just wanted to make sure that Hermione would do the dishes before she got home from work. Figures, she thought. She went back upstairs and passed by the hallway mirror on her way into her room. Hermione pondered her reflection: She was no longer short and stumpy, but tall and slender, with her now mature body, perfectly proportioned. A clear, cream colored face stood atop a long neck and honey colored eyes looked back at her. Her mother had, at the beginning of summer, forced Hermione to go to the hair salon to do something to her hair. Thankfully, she now had soft brown curls that framed her beautiful face. Hermione sighed dejectedly. She was not used to the male attention she was now getting from the other boys in her neighborhood. The winks and whistling made her feel stupid and ditsy. Then she wondered if she would mind it if this attention came from him. No, she knew it would never happen. Harry would never think of her that way. He was more like her brother than anything else. But, now that she thought of it, he didn't really act like a mortified friend when she had kissed him at the end of their fourth year. He had even cut his date with Cho Chang short so that he could meet her. Hermione slumped back to her room and took her mind off of her confusing thoughts by reading the new book that she had bought on intermediate transfiguration.  
  
Harry, back at number four Privet Drive, looked out of the window at the many stars outside and was lost in thought. He was still suffering at Privet Drive, but the Dursleys had gone back to ignoring him, and this meant that he could keep a good lookout for news about Voldemort without being disturbed. But this was not what Harry Potter was pondering. No, what he was thinking about was his Godfather. Had it really been only a month and a half since he had last seen his Sirius' face? He sighed and tried to put the thought away. Harry walked across the room and flopped into his chair. No, there was no use in thinking about that now, it was all over. He had no reason to worry. Now that the Ministry of Magic was doing all it could to stop Voldemort, Harry would have to just sit back and wait for news. He knew he would not be allowed to go to the Burrow just yet, or even to the Headquarters of the Order of the Pheonix. In fact, he doubted he would be allowed to go anywhere until Hogwarts started. He fell into his bed and tried to shut his mind off, but the images of a veil fluttering inches away from his hand just wouldn't go away.  
  
Back at the Burrow, Ronald Weasley was fuming. His brothers had just walked in on him and found out...Well they found out something Ron hadn't even told Harry about yet. He lay back and looked at Pig sleeping. Ron envied Pig sometimes, the way he could just put his head under his wing and go to sleep without a care in the world. He heard his brothers laughing in the corridor outside of his bedroom. Ron was just about to give them a piece of his mind, but found he didn't care if they laughed. What was it to him if they thought what they thought? Why should they care if he liked her? He knew they weren't laughing at Hermione but at him, for finally falling for someone so hard that he had been scribbling hearts all over his parchment for 2 hours. It wasn't as if he had no hope of ever attaining Hermione's affection. His mood cheered as he touched his hand to the check that she had pressed her lips upon just last year before his first quidditch game and drifted off into a dream filled sleep.  
  
A/N- yeah, I know the first chapters short, and kind of weird, but don't judge the story by this chapter, there'll be more soon. And the rest of the chapters will be like the book's narration, I just thought I'd let everyone know what was going on with the trio before continuing. Read and Review people. 


	2. Back at 4 Privet Drive

Thank you people for all your reviews....NOT!!! I have received no reviews, which may be due to the fact that I updated late at night, but still. Please read and review people, I can't continue this story without feedback. And just so nobody sues me, everything except the story plot belongs to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing. Ok, you can read now.  
  
Back at 4 Privet Drive:  
  
Harry woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. For a moment he was blinded by pain, then his vision cleared and he stood up. Harry was still getting used to not wearing his glasses and had instinctively put his hand to his bedside table to put them on when he remembered that he no longer needed them. Dumbledore had asked Professor Lupin to adjust his poor eyesight in the first week of the summer holidays. Lupin had said that it was a precautionary step in case he was attacked when he was sleeping and didn't have time to put on his glasses or if they broke and left him vulnerable. Harry examined his surroundings. The room in which he slept was just as it had been before, the empty cage upon his desk and the jumble of books and clothing laying haphazardly all around his room. Harry picked up the recent birthday gifts he had just received from his best friends, Ron and Hermione. Ron had overdone himself by getting him a brand new snitch. In the card, he explained to Harry that the present was from him and his family combined. Ron had also added a P.S: To distract you from other things and to get you through the summer. Harry looked at it. The beautiful navy blue, embossed velvet pouch lay in his hand, with a small golden ball trying in vain to escape the silver lace that confined it. He looked in the palm of his other hand to find Hermione's present: a bookmark. But this wasn't an ordinary bookmark, it was a shiny silver locket attached to a ruby red ribbon. The odd think about this flat locket was that it wouldn't open, but had an indent in the shape of a key in its center. Harry was always on the verge of writing to Hermione to ask her how to open it but had always stopped when he thought of how stupid he would look, not knowing how to open a simple locket. But for some reason, every time he looked at the locket, his stomach did a back- flip and his heart raced. He dropped the present onto his bed and paced his room once again.  
  
The next day two members of the Order of the Pheonix arrived to check on Harry. They had been doing this every week just to make sure that the Dursleys hadn't been mistreating him. It didn't matter if Harry wrote every three days anymore because twice a week was proof enough that he was still alive. The resounding 'pop' in the kitchen was always followed by a smash of fine china as Petunia Dursley acknowledged the arrival of her unwelcome guests. Her disapproval of this magical way of traveling was overpowered by her thought at what the neighbours would say if someone like Mad-Eye Moody climbed up her front steps. Kingsley Shacklebolt was a regular member of the entourage but the other one alternated every week. Kingsley, as he preferred Harry to call him, came twice a weak to teach Harry Occlumency. The discouragement felt by Harry at the thought of suffering through the lessons that had apparently weakened and toyed with his mind was stamped out by the feelings of hatred he felt towards Voldemort. If Harry had learned Occlumency like he was supposed to in his fifth year, maybe Sirius would still be with him. Harry vigilantly worked at Occlumency, not quitting until Kingsley had said he's had enough. Harry was helped by the fact that Kingsley was almost a complete stranger to him and didn't give any inclination that he had seen any of the memories of Harry's that he did manage to get to. This was an immense advantage and Harry had almost learned how to throw Kingsley off completely.  
  
It was not hard to see why Kingsley was so good at both Legilimency and Occlumency. He was a very calm man, never showing his feelings when he didn't want them to be known. He was furthermore an incredible teacher. Harry felt he had learned more Occlumency in the 6 weeks that he had been taught it by Kingsley than in the entire time his lessons with Professor Snape had endured. "Good, Harry, Good. You've almost got it now, but I can still sense your emotions, even though I don't have access to your memories." The pair of them worked tirelessly twice a week to ensure that Harry learned how to do Occlumency completely.  
  
"Sir, how am I going to continue learning once school starts?" Harry questioned as the idea popped into his mind with the arrival of his OWLs, later than anyone had expected.  
  
Harry was surprised to see the grin flit across Kingsley's face as he replied "I'm sure we'll work something out" in his deep voice. With a wink he left the room leaving Harry utterly confused. The tension in the house relaxed once again as Kingsley and Moody disapparated from the living room. The Dursleys were horrified that magic was being taught from inside their very house and had proceeded to ignore the facts that had been explained to them about his connection to Lord Voldemort. Harry sighed and looked at the unopened letter from Hogwarts. He faced the inevitable and broke the seal of the envelope and took out, with a deep sense of foreboding, his exam results:  
  
Defense Against the Dark Arts: Outstanding Divination: Poor Transfiguration: Exceeds Expectations Astronomy: Acceptable Potions: Outstanding Care of Magical Creatures: Outstanding Charms: Outstanding  
  
Harry gaped, open mouthed, at the tiny writing that filled the page. He had known he had done well in both Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures, but some of the other results caused him to rub his eyes in case Lupin's spell hadn't somehow changed them. Divination did not come as a surprise; neither did Astronomy, as he had not finished his star chart in account of trying to see the commotion happening in Hagrid's Hut. But Transfiguration was slightly higher than he had suspected, although Harry supposed he hadn't done that badly during the practical part. Potions was also a source for confusion, but, as Harry thought about it, his written examination had counted for most of his marks and he had answered all of them correctly, especially the one on Polyjuice Potion. Harry's Charms mark was higher than he had anticipated but he guessed that his one mistake between engorgement and colour change charm couldn't have lowered him one whole grade level. All in all, Harry was quite pleased with himself. He had obtained all the necessary marks required to become an auror. For the first time all summer, Harry Potter was content with life. It wasn't just the fact that he had received high marks; it also was the thought that he wouldn't have to tell Hermione that he had gotten any "T"s.  
  
Harry awoke the next morning in a state of pleasant harmony. This was soon ruined by his entering the kitchen to absolutely no recognition of his existence. He shrugged and grabbed some toast, slowly chewing his way through what tasted like rubber for the 100th time. Food had lost all taste since last June. He could neither taste nor smell the cake he had gotten for his birthday. This make have been due to the fact that Moody had thoroughly searched it, and therefore destroyed it, before handing it over to Harry with a gruff "happy birthday". Another promising day had been crippled before the sun had even reached its highest point and Harry settled himself back into his room and decided to write letters to everyone he knew to keep himself occupied. About an hour later, there was a very dark ink spot on his parchment right below his suspended quill and no words could be found. Harry had once again been sucked into the memories of his godfather and could not help picturing his face as he fell into the archway. These memories, as haunting as they were, had slowly turned into a dull, constant pain in his heart, rather than the ones previous to it, which had been so unbearable, his pillow cover had often been soaked with salty water by morning.  
  
Harry relocated himself onto his bed and awaited any incident to occur to take away the monotony of the day. Just then, he heard a crash in the kitchen and rushed downstairs to see what had happened. As he had predicted, aunt Petunia had smashed a plate piled with toast on seeing the arrival of Mad-Eye Moody and Emmeline (sp) Vance. They walked quaintly away from the Dursleys kitchen without acknowledging their presence and up the stairs to where Harry was questioningly looking at them. "Where's Kingsley?" he blurted out before either of them could say a word. "Why are you guys here two days in a row" he questioned once again.  
  
"Curious little blighter aren't you?" Moody said with a small smile that looked more like a grimace to Harry. Moody had changed his attitude towards Harry slightly after Sirius' death and treated him kindly, if that were possible for Moody. Even he had noticed the recovery Harry was going through. At the beginning of June, Harry would not have spent the effort to find out the source of any commotion. He would have stayed in his bedroom, caught up in old memories. "He's not coming today," Moody replied. He continued before Harry had the time to question again, "We've come to take you to 12 Grimmauld Place". Harry's gaping mouth was enough to reveal his astonishment.  
  
"But I thought that I was supposed to stay here because its where by blood relatives are and that's supposed to protect me or something", Harry spilled out. He was not exactly sure why he was saying these things; a vacation from the Dursleys would be a welcome relief.  
  
"That was the plan at first. To keep you here all summer because it was the only assurance we had of your safety. But the Order discussed it and decided that this place may be a protection from Voldemort, but it's not from the Death Eaters. And also, at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, you said Voldemort could touch you without feeling pain whereas before he couldn't. We think that this immunization Voldemort has, since it's due to the fact that he some of your blood running through his veins now, can also apply to the protection you receive at this household.  
  
"Oh," Harry stated, comprehension dawning on his pale face. He did not speak anymore but began to pack as he was instructed by Emmeline. It was amazing how messy his room could get in a mere 6 weeks. He had to rummage under his bed and deep into his closet to recover all of his possessions, and that took a surprisingly long time. Emmeline and Moody had gone downstairs to arrange a portkey as flying by daylight was far too dangerous. Finally, Harry's trunk was packed with his belongings, Hedwig's cage was being held by Emmeline, and his firebolt was slung over hiss shoulder. With a look of foreboding on his face (Harry had never liked traveling by portkey), Harry touched the cane Moody and Emmeline were holding out to him. He felt the now familiar jerk just behind his naval was swept off to the Headquarters of the Order of the Pheonix.  
  
Ok, people, its time to stop reading and type a review!!! Please review, I like knowing what you like and what you don't like. I won't update until I get a certain amount of review!!! Thank you =) 


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Harry Potter, Humor, Romance