Harry woke the next day, tired and groggy. He rubbed his eyes. He had gotten very little sleep, and when he did sleep, he had nightmares of Professor Trelawney, standing in a basin, telling him that he had only two paths in life. One was to die, the other was for Voldemort to die. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. He walked over to the dresser, and put on his glasses.
Since Harry had been living in Grimmauld, he had been given his own room. He found it very nice, not having to sleep in the same room with a snoring Ron. The downside, however, was the fact that his room was right next to Buckbeak’s room, and he often heard scratching noises as Buckbeak tired of being confined in the small room.
He stood up, and walked over to the dresser. He put on his glasses, and then looked in the mirror. He was very tall, and rather skinny. He had rather pale skin, and the brightest green eyes you could imagine. He wore black rimmed, round glasses, and had messy, jet-black hair. He wouldn’t consider himself handsome, but he wasn’t ugly either. His eyes came to rest on his forehead, where a constant, dull pain throbbed almost always. His scar stood out sharper with each pulse. He had grown used to it over the past months, but he still wished there was some way he could rid himself of the pain for even a little while.
Running his hands through his hair in an attempt to tame it, he walked over to a pair of jeans that was lying on the floor. He picked them up and slipped them on, then pulled a tee-shirt over his head. He sat on his bed, and took a deep breath. Why me? he thought. Then he shook himself. He would only depress himself further if he continued to feel sorry for himself. Readying himself, he pasted a tired but content look onto his face, and went down the steps.
“Wotcher, Harry!” Tonks said, as he passed her in the hall.
“Hey Tonks,” Harry said brightly.
“You might wanna hurry, they’re getting ready to eat breakf--OOPS!” she stopped as she tripped over a large wooden chair. She leapt up, grinning. “I meant to do that.” Harry laughed.
“See you,” he said, waving to her. He walked down the steps, and entered the kitchen. It was very quiet, as most of The Order were either at work, or on some mission. Harry sat down next to Ron.
“Morning,” Ron yawned.
“Morning, where’s Ginny?” Harry asked.
“She’s still sleeping,” Hermione said. Harry nodded, and piled eggs onto his plate.
“Good morning Harry, dear,” said Mrs. Weasley, bustling around and cooking. “Would you prefer sausage or bacon?”
“Bacon,” Harry replied through a mouthful of toast. Mrs. Weasley nodded, and moved away.
“You’ll never guess who stopped by to see Sirius this morning,” Hermione said, grinning.
“Who?” Harry asked curiously. Ron laughed.
“Madam Rosmerta!” he said. Harry grinned.
“How did she know how to get here though?” Harry asked.
“Beats me, Dumbledore must have told her,” Ron said. Mrs. Weasley came over and dumped a large pile of bacon onto Harry’s plate.
“Thanks,” Harry mumbled. He heard rustling, and something banging on glass. He looked over at the window and saw a dark grey owl, pecking at the window. Hermione leaped up and let the owl in. It fluttered past her and landed on the kitchen table, scattering silverware everywhere. Ron grabbed the four letters tied to its ankle, and the owl left. Hermione sat back down.
“They must be our Hogwarts letters,” she said. Just then Ginny came down.
“Morning everyone,” she mumbled. Everybody bid her a good morning.
“You’re letter from Hogwarts just got here,” Ron said. Ginny grabbed hers and sat down on Harry’s other side. They all opened their letters. Hermione let out a gasp of delight.
“I’m…Head Girl!” she said excitedly. Then Ginny laughed out brightly.
“Yes!” she exclaimed also very excited.
“Are you a prefect?” Harry asked.
“Oh no, better than that!”
“What’s better than that?” Hermione asked. Ginny grinned wickedly.
“Not being a prefect!” she said. She smiled. “I was hoping I wouldn’t get it.” Hermione stared dumb-struck, apparently unable to comprehend not wanting to be a prefect. Harry, still grinning, opened his own letter…he pleaded silently with the parchment. ‘Please don’t make me a Head Boy’ he got his wish. He smiled. He had not wanted to be Head boy after being a Prefect last year. It was too time consuming. They all looked at Ron, who still hadn’t moved or said anything.
“What’s the matter Ron?” Hermione asked.
“Did you get Head Boy?” Ginny said, frowning. Ron shook his head.
“What’s up, mate?” Harry asked, trying to see over his shoulder.
“I’m…Captain of the Quidditch team!” Ron exploded, grinning widely. He pulled out the letter, there was no badge left in the envelope, but another little booklet, very much like the one they were required to study for their Apparition License. Harry’s stomach dropped. Ron was Captain of the Quidditch team?! He pasted a congratulatory smile on his face and slapped Ron on the back.
“Way to go, Ron!” he said. He felt very much like he had two years ago, when Ron had become prefect, and he not. But, like last time, he was not going to ruin Ron’s special moment because of jealousy. Harry couldn’t help it though, he double checked his envelope, and that’s when he saw it. A little piece of parchment, folded neatly. He opened it while the others were talking. It read:
You will understand why, be patient
Harry stared. That ink was bright green, and the writing was very curly and fancy. Was it a message from Dumbledore? But he was interrupted when Mrs. Weasley bustled over, and saw the letters in their hands.
“Well?” she said.
“I got Captain of the Quidditch team!” Ron exploded. Mrs. Weasley beamed ecstatically, and hugged Ron tightly. “Mum, get off. Mum! Hermione got Head Girl too!” Mrs. Weasley then grabbed Hermione. Mrs. Weasley looked expectantly at Harry and Ginny. They said nothing, and then Ginny seemed to realize how idiotic this was.
“Mum! Oh mum, I’m so proud of myself!” Ginny wailed. Mrs. Weasley smiled widely.
“Oh, my little Ginny! You’re a prefect!” she said.
“No, mum! I’m not! Isn’t that wonderful?!” Mrs. Weasley froze.
“What?”
“I’m not a prefect,” Ginny repeated. Mrs. Weasley composed herself.
“Oh! Oh, well, of course I’m still very proud of you,” she said, trying to smile. She turned to walk away, and then reeled back around. “Why not?!” she burst. Ginny smiled and shrugged. Mrs. Weasley sighed, and then looked at Ron and Hermione.
“Congratulations, you two! I’m going to Diagon Ally today, I’ll pick us up something extra, we’ll have another party tonight shall we?” she said, throwing a look at Ginny. Harry groaned inside. Ron and Hermione both grinned, and thanked Mrs. Weasley. Harry felt very upset; he guessed Ron deserved to be Quidditch Captain more than he did. Right? Harry thought to himself, he was better in Ron in Quidditch, right? Harry was very good at Quidditch, so why shouldn’t he be Captain. Did Dumbledore once again think that Harry was going to be too stressed out to handle it? That was most likely it, Harry thought. Dumbledore thought that being Quidditch Captain would be too much responsibility, especially with Lord Voldemort after him. And maybe he was right.
“Are you alright, Harry?” Ron asked. Harry smiled at once.
“Just thinking about last night, you know,” Harry lied. Ron nodded.
“It was tough on us all, mate,” Ron said.
“I’m going to tell my parents, they’ll be so happy!” Hermione said, grinning. “Can I, can I use your owl Harry?” Hermione said, and then she realized that this had happened two years ago. She frowned, seeing how Harry was smiling a little too happily. He was upset, she concluded.
“Yeah, go ahead,” Harry said. Hermione nodded slowly, and took off.
“Up for a game of chess?” Ginny asked Ron and Harry. They both nodded and took off. They spent the rest of the day playing chess, until Mrs. Weasley got back from Diagon Alley.
“Here are your things,” she said, handing them each their own bags and boxes. “And here, are some ‘well done’ gifts,” she said to Hermione and Ron. Ron blushed scarlet, and looked guiltily at Harry. Harry however, smiled encouragingly at Ron, and went to put his stuff upstairs. He was about to go back down when Ginny stopped him.
“I’m sorry you weren’t made Quidditch Captain, Harry,” she said. Harry shrugged.
“Me too, honestly, but I guess Dumbledore knows best. Speaking of Quidditch, are you going to try out for chaser?” he asked. She smiled and nodded. “You’ll be great.”
“Thanks, but I’m really out of practice. Maybe you could teach me some moves?” she said, slightly flirtatiously.
“We could learn them together,” Harry suggested slyly, before bending down to kiss her on the mouth. But just as Ginny started to kiss him back, they were knocked to the ground.
“Oops! Sorry Harry, Ginny,” said Tonks, who was picking herself up off the ground. “I was just sent up to get you, Harry. There are some Muggles outside in the street, calling your name. Now, I’m not too sure about this Harry, but I’m pretty sure it’s your pig of an uncle and his son.”