A/N ~Wow. I amaze myself at my own brilliance sometimes. Just kidding, I’m not that vain. But I will tell you, I think it’s very good. Well, go on, read the story. What are you reading this boring part for??? Oh, by the way, obviously there’s an HBP spoiler warning, but if you haven’t read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince yet, THEN WHY ARE YOU ON THE INTERNET READING FANFICTION????? Go read that first, all of you who are so oblivious to what a good book that you’re missing out on, or otherwise you really won’t get this story. To the rest of you, enjoy!~
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Harry Potter sat up in his bed for the first time that day. Hedwig had started “hooting” loudly. He looked around, as if expecting a cat to be on his windowsill, but he could see nothing that would make his owl this frantic. Actually, he saw nothing suspicious at all. Harry got up and tried to quiet her because otherwise… too late. He could hear the pounding footsteps on the stairs, they were coming down the hall, his door burst open, and then…
“HARRY POTTER! IF YOU DON’T MAKE THAT BLOODY BIRD SHUT UP THIS INSTANT, IT’S OUT! I WON'T PUT UP WITH ALL THIS RACKET!” Uncle Vernon gave Harry a look of purest loathing, and then slammed the door. Harry could hear him muttering to himself as he went down the hall. Harry distinctly heard “ruddy owl” and “only a few more days”. Harry smiled to himself. Yes, it was only a few more days, and then he’d never have to see the Dursleys again. Instead, he’d get to see Ron and Hermione. At the thought of them, Harry actually felt happy; a feeling he hadn’t had much that summer.
Then Harry’s thoughts wandered to why Hedwig had suddenly had an outburst of noise. Harry had sometimes thought that she could sense things that humans couldn’t. He knew that Hedwig was just as smart as most humans (and smarter than some he could think of), but he also thought that she could just tell when things were going to happen. Sometimes she had given Harry warning looks, or sympathetic looks, but she had never just started hooting like she had just a few minutes before. As he lay down to go to sleep, Harry glanced over at Hedwig (who had gone quite silent at the sight of Uncle Vernon), and wondered if she knew something. Maybe it’s something to do with Ron or Hermione, he thought. But little did he know, that was not quite the case.
* * *
Ron sent off Pigwidgeon with the two finished letters to Harry and Hermione. As he watched his owl fly off into the sunset, he thought about the school’s reopening. He knew it didn’t really affect him much because he was not going back. He, Harry, and Hermione were all going to Godric’s Hollow, where Harry’s parents had been killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and where Harry would probably still live if they had not been killed on that tragic night. After they had visited Godric’s Hollow, they were going to track down the remaining horcruxes, and then they would have to find and destroy the last part of Voldemort’s soul, which was the part that was still in his body.
Then something disrupted his thoughts; Ron heard his mother scream below. He sprinted down to her, but she was not alone when he got there. There was another person standing with her, a person with long, flaming red hair. Mrs. Weasley had stopped screaming, and was now hugging Ron’s sister, Ginny. A few seconds later, the fire burst into green flames, and another person with flaming red hair (though not nearly as long as Ginny’s) stepped out of the fireplace. Ron’s second-oldest brother, Charlie, beamed at the three; Ron, looking slightly confused and Ginny and Mrs. Weasley hugging each other. Mrs. Weasley let go of Ginny, who ran over to hug the still confused-looking Ron.
“CHARLIE!” Ron, Ginny, and Charlie all jumped. Mrs. Weasley ran over to Charlie, and embraced (or rather strangled) him in a hug.
“Geez, Mum. Will you please let me breath?” Charlie asked in a muffled sort of whisper. Mrs. Weasley let go rather reluctantly.
“You’re home! Oh, I’m so glad that you’re home.” Mrs. Weasley stopped, with a confused look on her face. “Why are you home?”
Charlie answered, “Because a dragon burned down the settlement that I was at, so my boss gave me some extra time off. After all, I was off for a month starting in two days because of the wedding, so I just thought we’d come a little early.” He smiled, looking innocent. “You don’t mind, do you Mum?” He knew that she didn’t.
“Of course not, Charlie dear.” Then she looked at Charlie, then at Ginny. “My gosh, you look so underfed. Let me make you something.” She bustled over to the pantry to look for something to make.
Charlie, Ron, and Ginny all smiled at each other. They all knew that she thought anyone and everyone looked underfed. They all went over and sat at the table for dinner.
* * *
Hermione was pacing up and down her living room. She could not believe what had happened to her. She checked her watch for the hundredth time that evening, and muttered to herself, “It’s seven thirty-one. They’re supposed to be home now. They always get home at seven thirty. Where are they?” Hermione looked up. She could hear the keys turning in the lock.
Just then, her parents walked through the door, talking to each other happily. Hermione stopped pacing, and looked up at her smiling parents.
“You’re late. Why are you late? I’ve been waiting and waiting and you pick today to be late. Why are you late?” Hermione glared at them.
Her parents, who had by now stopped smiling, looked at her in a concerned way. Mrs. Granger looked down at her watch. “Hermione, dear, it’s only seven thirty- two.” Then she added after seeing her daughter more closely, “Is there something wrong, honey? You look so pale.”
“Wrong? Wrong? Oh no, there’s nothing wrong. There’s just a strange girl upstairs that wandered into the house and scared me half out of my wits, and she just stared at me as if I was the one to walk into her bedroom. And then, when I was just working up the courage to say something, what does she do? She collapses! Yes, that’s right, collapses. Right on my bed and she’s still up there right now! But no, of course there’s nothing wrong!” Hermione replied exasperatedly.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked at their daughter, and then at each other. Then they both ran up to Hermione’s room to check that this strange girl was really there. Hermione sighed, and then ran after them. When she got there, her parents were staring at the still-unconscious mystery girl. Mrs. Granger’s face was very white, and Mr. Granger had a puzzled expression on his face. Mr. Granger walked over to the girl and felt her wrist, then put his cheek next to her face.
“Well, she’s got a pulse. And she’s breathing. She’s definitely not dead, whoever she is. Hermione, tell us exactly what happened.”
Hermione explained to them how she had been calmly reading her book when she heard a noise downstairs. She told them about how she had reassured herself that she was imagining things, but had then heard another noise. She called out, but no one had answered. Then the girl had just appeared in her doorway, and she collapsed on Hermione’s bed.
“That is so very strange,” Mrs. Granger said after Hermione had finished with her story. Then a very fearful look came onto her face. “You don’t think it has anything to do with Lord Volduhmart, do you?” she questioned her daughter.
“No, Mom. And it’s Voldemort, not Volduhmart.” Hermione glanced at the girl on her bed. “I highly doubt this girl is even a wizard. If she was, I’m sure she would go to Hogwarts, and I’ve never seen her before,” Hermione replied, rather calmly for the situation.
“But didn’t you say that he attacks people that can’t do magic also?” Mrs. Granger questioned.
“Yes, but I still doubt this has anything to do with Voldemort. Though he does like to kill people, he doesn’t often kill for the fun of it. He has a reason. What would be his reason for attacking her?” Hermione pointed her finger at the girl as she said this. “And besides,” she added, “she’s not dead. I highly doubt that anyone, especially non-magical, would have got away from Voldemort. Except for Harry, of course,” she added.
“I know honey, but it is suspicious.” Mrs. Granger looked at her husband, who had been strangely quiet all through the conversation. “What do you think, Tom?”
Mr. Granger looked up startled, remembering he was not the only one in the room. “Huh? I haven’t been listening.”
“Well, what were you doing then? Thinking?” Mr. Granger nodded.
“How about we go downstairs and eat? I for one am starved, and this girl doesn’t look as if she’s going to wake up anytime soon.” Mrs. Granger gestured over at the girl.
Mr. Granger and Hermione nodded in agreement, and they all set off downstairs with many things still running through their minds.
* * *
Harry Potter finally drifted off to sleep. The sky was dark outside his window. Hedwig had just left to go hunting about an hour ago, and the Dursleys were all asleep (as you could tell by their very loud snores). Downstairs, the door was opened quietly, and someone snuck into the house.
The person looked around in disgust, for they had never been inside there before. Then the person, remembering what they were there to do, snuck very quietly upstairs to Harry’s room. (They could tell which one it was because it was the only one from which there was no snores.) They creaked open the door, trying very carefully to be quiet. They didn’t want anyone to hear what they were doing.
“Petrificus totalus.” Harry Potter was frozen as a board. The person walked over and shook him awake, opening Harry’s eyelids for him since Harry, while under the spell, could not do so himself. They stood back to let Harry realize that he was awake, then they started talking.
“Sorry, Harry, but I had to put the spell on you or you would have screamed and woken up those Muggles.” The person shuddered at the thought of them. “I can’t imagine what you must be thinking right now, Harry, seeing me here. I wouldn’t believe it if I were you. I would be in total shock. Or maybe,” they added with a thoughtful look on their face, “I would have thought I was dreaming.” They chuckled at the thought of this.
Harry Potter was in total shock, but he somehow knew that he wasn’t dreaming. If he was dreaming, he wouldn’t have had the feeling that he was going totally and completely insane. He stared at the person in front of him; it just couldn’t be possible. He wouldn’t even get his hopes up that it was possible, because it just couldn’t be. Sirius Black couldn’t really be standing there; it just wasn’t possible at all. Sirius Black was dead, and Harry had watched him die. It just wasn’t possible.
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A/N ~ Oh, goodness me, I left yall another cliffie. I’m so bad, aren’t I? Yes, yes, very surprising. Either Sirius is back from the dead, or Harry is going insane. Hmmm... I really hope the next chapter gets put in quick! I’m already writing it, so it should be in soon. Please review, and tell me what you think. I may think about waiting until I have about ten reviews before I submit the next chapter, so REVIEW!!!