Trial and Error

Disclaimer: I do not own anything having to do with Harry Potter and am not making any money writing this or any other story.
AN: If you have not read OoTP, do not read this story. But I\'m pretty sure everyone has read it by now... :)
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Harry spent the first few days of the summer in his room, doing whatever it took to avoid the Dursleys; this wasn\'t hard, as the Dursleys were doing everything they could to avoid him. They had taken what Moody said to them quite seriously and were not doing anything that could be considered horrible to Harry. They were actually almost....pleasant. When Harry did decide to come downstairs, he was allowed to get what he wanted from the cupboard or refrigerator without anyone shouting at him. He was even allowed to watch TV; Dudley had put up a fight when Vernon had stopped him from changing the channel, though.

Harry knew he had things a lot better than he had before, but he wasn\'t happy. He was owled at least every other day by one friend or another, but he still felt lonely. He missed Sirius. Of all of his friends in the Wizarding world, Sirius was the only one who had understood him. Sure, Ron knew him well enough and Hermione---well, she was there for him when he needed her, but neither of them had been able to relate to him as well as Sirius had. He was sitting on his bed contemplating his loss of his godfather when a brown owl flew thh hih his perpetually open window. He let a small smile grace his lips. As lonely as he felt, he knew he still had people who cared about him.

The owl stuck out its leg to which a large scroll was attached. Harry offered it some of his peanut butter sandwich which it gratefully accepted before flying back out into the afternoon sky. Harry watched the owl disappear before looking at the scroll. It bore Hermione\'s handwriting and makeshift wax seal of a cauldron with stars rising out of it. He knew this meant she had placed a charm on it that only he could open. Smiling again, he pressed his thumb to the seal and the scroll opened itself in his hands.

He gasped when the parchment fell off of his lap and halfway to the floor; Hermione never was one to write short letters, but the length of this particular letter came as a surprise to him, especially since she had written three days ago. After recovering himself, he began to read...


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Dear Harry,

How are you?? Are the Durselys treating you alright? I know I asked you last time and you said yes, but I was worried they might go back into their old habits again. Moody will certainly take care of them if they so much as look at you in the wrong way. That\'s what he told me yesterday. I am at the Black house with some members of the Order now. I was owled two days ago and told to come here. I have so much to tell you--I don\'t even know where to start!
I think I\'ll start with the owl. I was reading our new spell book and writing a potions essay [\'How can she do both at the same time?\' Harry thought] when an owl flew into the kitchen to where my mum was cooking dinner. It was followed by another owl that came over to me. I opened my letter first, as my mum was busy with the skilletis iis is what it said:

\"Dear Miss Granger,

I have a proposition for you and your talents in the field of potions. With Voldemort on the rise, we need as many Wizards and Witches with the strength to fight as possible. As you probably have not heard, Remus Lupin has been gathering others like himself to join in our fight against Voldemort. There are more than we had ever thought to expect which is both good and bad. Professor Snape has been brewing wolfsbane potions in the little spare time he has away from his other duties. It is with desperation that I ask you, Miss Granger, to assist him so he does not over tax himself any longer. Severus is also searching for a complete cure for the werewolves, but it is doubtful he will find any such cure on his own. Your assistance in this matter would be more than greatly appreciated. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Prof. Albus Dumbledore\"

Of course I sent my owl back with an affirmative response even before I had finished reading the letter. I had no idea Lupin was searching for other werewolves. It makes sense though, doesn\'t it? I mean, there are loads of werewolves, especially in America, and they are feared and rejected by almost everyone. Since Lupin is one himself, they won\'t feel threatened, just glad that they can be a part of this war and will be accepted back into society when it is over.

Dumbledore told me in the next letter to meet him at Black\'s house, so I came straight away. My mum didn\'t want me to go, but the letter Dumbledore sent her convinced her that I was needed. I am leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow. Dumbledore said that there are for forty werewolves joining us. Lupin is happier than I have seen since the end of last year. When I told him I was going to help find a cure and brew wolfsbane, he kissed me on the cheek! I think I am still blushing from that. Professor Snape didn\'t seem the least bit happy that I would be helping him. I wouldn\'t expect him to be nice about it, though. He is too proud to admit that he needs help. The poor man. I feel so sorry for him. [Harry almost gagged--there was no sarcasm in Hermione\'s words. When would she realise that he was just a greasy git who didn\'t deserve pity?] At least now he\'ll have help, whether he likes it or not. Maybe with both of us working on it, we can find a cure for Lupin (and his new friends, of course)! That would be worth enduring Snapes sarcastic remarks about my work!

We are going to start on the potions tomorrow night. Once we get a few cauldrons brewing, we\'ll research in the library for a cure. I am going to be so busy, I don\'t know if I\'ll be able to owl you as much. I\'ll at least keep you informed of our progress, even if they are short letters. I know you don\'t want to be left in the dark, Harry, and I\'ll do everything in my power to keep it from happenening. Just pleeeease don\'t get angry with me n ifn if I can\'t tell you everything.

Have you heard from Ron? He owled me today (Pig was exhausted because he went to my house before coming here) and said that he is planning on inviting you to the Burrow. I hope he does soon. I don\'t like you being with those awful people. Let me know when he owls you.

I have to cut this short, Harry. Mrs. Weasley is calling us all down for supper. There aren\'t too many of us here tonight; Mr. Weasley is at the Burrow with Ron and Ginny, so I am the only student. The only ones here are Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Lupin, Dumbledore, Moody, and Snape. He\'s never stayed all night before, but he\'s too tired to go back to Hogwarts. That just shows how much he needs my help. The rest of the Order are out on their various missions. I\'m getting worried about them...I hope they are okay. I have to go. Mrs. Weasley is starting to get impatient. I\'ll write more tomorrow if I have time.

Love from,

Hermione


Harry finished reading the letter and let out a long, low whistle. He had no idea about Lupin\'s mission, of course, and agreed with Hermione that it was a good idea. He squelched the slight jealousy that she got to be included with the Order. Was he really jealous of her? Would HE want to help Snape make potions? No...he definetley was not jealous of her. He would rather take polyjuice potion again than help Snape make potions. That girl never ceased to amaze him. \'Poor thing probably has no idea what she\'s getting herself into\', he thought.