The Sunrise of My Heart

As the days passed, I couldn't help but feel bad that Harry wasn't able to join us at the Burrow. He'd just had the worst ending to the school year possible, and now he wasn't even able to spend the summer with his best friends. It must have been awful for him.

Finally, one day, I decided to figure out what was going on. I waited for the opportune moment, and then I got Hermione alone, ready to interrogate her about all of it.

"Evening, Hermione. Lovely weather we're having don't you think?" I asked, smiling sweetly at her.

"Erm, yes," she answered, looking a bit nervous because I had her cornered against a wall. "Yes, it's very nice. Um I was just on my way to the bathroom, so if you don't mind..."

"Not so fast. I'm sorry to corner you like this, but in my head I was being all hard-ass, intimidating, super spy/interrogator. And the role just called for a cornering. Anyways, my reason for cornering you like this was to ask you something. What's going on with you and Ron?"

She turned slightly pink. "Wh-what do you mean? Nothing's going on between us."

I rolled my eyes. "Not like that, that's obviously not going on yet. He's still too stupid to understand what needs to be going on there. I mean, why isn't Harry here? You guys were all 'Yeah, Harry, come on over! We'll send an owl to let you know ahead of time!' And then you just completely abandon him, not sending him owls, not having him over, not talking about him to anyone. What's been going on?"

"Well we... We um just thought he might need the summer to relax, away from the magic world."

"Hermione, don't make me cuss you out. I may be your friend, but I am a Slytherin, and I was placed in that house for a reason. I will do whatever it takes to get what I want..." I let the threat hang in the air for a moment, giving her a wicked smirk.

"Ok! I don't know very much. I just know that right before the year ended, Dumbledore came to me and Ron, and he asked us not to have contact with Harry this summer. I'm not sure why. He just said it might be best for Harry, and he mumbled something about a connection, and he told us all would be explained eventually and we just had to have faith in his judgment. He also said we might be able to see Harry before the year ends, at Sirius Black's house," she said very quickly, getting it all out before I went crazy on her.

"Wait, he said what? We might be going to Sirius Black's house this summer? But... when? Why? What's... Oh my god! Headquarters? No, it couldn't be. But then again, maybe it is. But then, that means... Of course, I already knew, but still. It makes it so much more real, so much worse. Oh, dear. Hmm... So we're going to Sirius Black's house?" I asked, actually addressing her again.

"Yes, we might. You know him, right?" she asked, looking at me like she feared for my sanity.

"Yeah, I know him. I've known him for a very long time. He's a close friend of mine. But he failed to mention the part where I'd be packing up again and moving my stuff to his place. So typical of him. Tsk tsk..." I shook my head lightly.

"What was it you were saying about headquarters and what it might mean?"

"Hmm? Oh, that. It's just, I think the reason we're going to his house might be because of Vol-" she flinched so I corrected myself "You-Know-Who's return to power. I should really start reading the Daily Prophet, see how bad things have gotten."

"They've gotten terrible. They're calling Harry a liar. Saying You-Know-Who isn't really back. And they're blaming Sirius for all of his crimes."

"Bloody dickheads!" I cursed. "Of course, them going against Harry's words wasn't exactly a shocker. It was sort of to be expected. After all, no one wants to admit that he's right, because then that would mean the world was in danger again. But blaming everything on Sirius? Honestly, what creeps. What jerks! What... What... What fiends!"

"Um, I do really have to use the bathroom, so can I go please?" she asked somewhat timidly.

"What? Oh! Yes, sorry." I moved and let her pass, then called after her. "Hey, Hermione. You know, despite my big, bad talking, I wouldn't ever really hurt you."

She smiled at me and nodded. "I know. You're still intimidating though."

I grinned and nodded. "Course I am! I'm a Slytherin!"

After that, I went up to Fred and George's room, deciding to spend some time with my favorite twins before I went to bed. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that they both liked me, though, and I felt bad because I knew I would never feel the same way about them. Not while Draco was still in the picture. But still, they were two of my best mates, and I wasn't going to let anything ruin our friendship.