The sky was starting to fade as Harry Potter stared out the window from his bed. Another day had been wasted lying around his room, wondering and dreaming about the wizarding world and sometimes even the Muggle one. However, he hardly left his room; though the Dursleys had quite changed their tone from last summer, they still loathed his existence, and he preferred to stay out of the way if he could help it. There was no point in being around people that didn’t want him around .So he stayed in his room with Hedwig and the occasional Pigwideon as company. On this particular Saturday he longed to be with his friends and wondered why Professor Dumbledore would not let him stay at the Weasleys over the summer.
He had yearned to hear from somebody, as Hedwig was not much of a conversationalist. He had just written Ron a couple days ago and still hadn’t gotten a reply so not wanting to seem desperate or annoying, Harry wrote to Hermione this time. This was a desperate measure in itself. He hardly wrote Hermione during the summer -- he never knew what to say, he sounded so unintelligent and boring when writing to her. She seemed to always have exciting and interesting summers.
Hermione,
How are you? It's terribly boring over here. The Dursleys just kind of ignore me so I spend most of my day upstairs in my room. Don’t worry I have Hedwig as company and I get letters from Sirius all the time. My scar hasn’t even hurt that badly. I suppose that Voldemort is laying low for a while. I guess I haven’t heard from you in a while. I hope your summer is going well.
Harry
He carefully rolled up the parchment and attached it to Hedwig’s leg and sent her out the window. Then he threw himself back on the bed and continued to stare out the window, dreaming he was someone else, and somewhere else.
It was a long couple of days before Hedwig came back with a response from Hermione, and another small excuse for an owl came barreling in with a response from Ron as well. Harry tore open Hermione’s letter excitedly, reading each word carefully and consciously, drinking it in so he would have something sustain him for the next couple of lonely days.
Dear Harry,
I’m doing wonderful, thank you for thinking of me! I’m so sorry the Dursleys ignore you, but I’m glad to hear you have been writing to Sirius, how is he? Has your scar been hurting you at all? I know you said that it didn’t hurt too badly but Harry -- please be careful; even a little pain probably means Voldemort is thinking of you. I can't believe school is so close! I better do some extra studying, you and Ron as well; NEWT classes will certainly not be easy for any of us. Please write back about your scar. Though I do imagine I might be seeing you soon.
Love,
Hermione
Harry chuckled silently at the end of Hermione’s letter. She knew perfectly well that he and Ron wouldn’t study for school with about a month to go, not until the last second, if that. He shuddered at the thought of late nights of potions cramming. At least he’d be at school though, it seemed like it might be worth it to be away from this isolation. He now turned to Pigwideon who was happily zooming around the room wildly. Harry struggled to catch him and finally get hold of Ron’s letter. Hedwig stared at Pigwideon with great dislike. Harry started reading Ron’s letter, too excited by now, to try reading it slowly.
Harry,
How are you? Probably not so good with the Muggles, but good news, Dumbledore said that you can come stay with us the rest of the summer. We’ll come pick you up by a Muggle faxi or is it taxi? I’m not sure, but it’s a normal Muggle way of traveling so we don’t scare your Muggles this time. We’ll be here to pick you up at 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon, and then we are going to pick up Hermione. I’ll see you then.
Ron
P.S. Mum bought Pigwideon some new food that makes him crazier than he normally is (I didn't think that was possible). So feel free to throw him out the window, I know I would.
Harry looked at the owl that was now pecking on his door. Harry looked at the letter again and took Ron’s advice and threw the small bird out the window. He couldn’t help but laugh as the poor bird fell and almost hit the ground before pulling himself up and flying away. Harry couldn’t wait to see his friends again and at once started packing excitedly. Though he was looking forward to seeing his friends he was more excited to see Sirius because he knew how much his godfather hated being alone in the forsaken house of Black. Harry was in such a good mood that afternoon that he ventured on a stroll out of the house to torment Dudley’s gang a bit. He hadn’t felt this good all summer long.
***
Hermione woke up suddenly and looked at her alarm clock. It was eight in the morning. She loved being able to get up later than her usual five in the morning at school. Though everyone thought she enjoyed getting up at the crack of dawn to study, she was by no means a morning person. She stared out her window and jumped surprised to see a little brown ball of fluff staring back at her. Then she realized it was Pigwidgeon who blinked at her in acknowledgement. She smiled as she opened the letter because she already knew what it was going to say. She had figured this letter would be coming for a while now.
Dear Hermione,
Since there are only two weeks until school begins, Mum said I could invite you and Harry to our home. We'll be picking you and Harry up around 3:00 on Wednesday afternoon. Send an answer if you can come or not.
Ron
Hermione was delighted; things around a Muggle house could be so boring sometimes. Even though she had guessed that they were going to the Order Headquarters and not really Ron’s home, she was thrilled to get to see some magic, not to mention the excitement that ran buzzing in the headquarters. They still had to be careful when writing letters even though Voldemort seemed to have subsided for a while. She ran upstairs to ask her parents if she could go. They hesitated but finally gave in to her persistence and many promises to be safe. She ran to her room and quickly packed all her things, even if it was still two days before Wednesday.
On Wednesday afternoon, Hermione was sitting on the front steps of her house waiting impatiently. A taxicab pulled up in front of her house, with Harry, Ron, and Mr. Weasley piling out of it. Harry ran up to Hermione and she hugged him in greeting.
“Harry, Ron, it’s wonderful to see you both,” she said, beaming at the both of them. “Why aren’t you at work Mr. Weasley?” she asked him politely.
“I have the day off today, and besides, how could I give up a chance to ride in actual Muggle transportation? It’s fascinating…completely amazing they are…” he responded, carrying her bags back to the taxi.
"Bye Mom, bye Dad!" she called back at the front door. "I'll send you owls!" she yelled as all of them piled into the car and drove off. After a very talkative and exciting car ride over they arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place. Mrs. Weasley rushed to greet them at the door.
“Harry, Hermione, dears, how has your holiday been?” she asked them, hugging them both.
“Wonderful, thank you,” said Hermione brightly as Harry mumbled something about having a good summer.
“That is lovely, dears. You know where your rooms are, why don’t you take your stuff up and then come down and have some cookies and lemonade with us? I’m sure you are exhausted.”
"Shall we go up to the room, Harry?" asked Ron.
"Sure," said Harry, thrilled to know he was minutes away from seeing his godfather again.
***
Ron enjoyed having his friends over. It was so boring during the summer especially when he had to deal with his little sister and five older brothers. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly boring, but family hardly counted.
It drove him mad when Ginny giggled over his shoulder every letter he got from Hermione; and how Fred and George constantly tried their new gags on him. Luckily for him he never really saw Bill or Charlie because of Order business. It was only four brothers for the first weeks of summer, and then Percy came back to them after begging for forgiveness in a well-written apology to his mother. Of course Mrs. Weasley was more than happy to have him back and the whole affair ended in tears of joy and mushy sentiments. Ron wasn’t at all thrilled that Percy was back in the house, but at least his mother wasn’t so somber anymore. Ron sometimes despised having such a huge family; he thought Hermione was rather lucky really. But now his friends were there and he didn’t have to endure his family alone. The real holiday had finally started.
A 6th Year at Hogwarts by SomberBallad
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer: For all of you guys who have read the 5th book….all of my story is based of the 5th book except the fact that Sirius died…I really enjoy penning that character too much to kill him off for my story…so Sirius never died…they still fought at the Ministry and everything…except Sirius never died….Dumbledore told Harry everything…except Harry didn’t have quite the fit…because *chants* Sirius never died….if you have any questions still about it…I will address it in my story hopefully or leave a comment about it, and I’ll address it in an author note. And thanks for stopping in! Hope you enjoy!