When Fire Meets Fate (H. Potter)

CHAPTER ONE



ZOEY SIGHED AS SHE FINISHED packing her trunk. She wasn't looking forward to spending her summer at number 12 Grimmauld Place. She loved her home at the Burrow, she loved playing with – and beating – her brothers at Quidditch. And she loved sitting by their pond and coming up with new music ideas.

When she was younger, Zoey grew very attached to music. So, her mother and father brought down an old dusty piano from the attic so she could learn how to play. They had originally tried to get her older brother, Charlie, to play, but that didn't go too well. The attempt to tame her brother and make him a respectable member of society didn't work the way that their mother was hoping. Charlie was now currently working in Romania as a dragon tamer, (Merlin knows Mrs. Weasley nearly had a heart attack when she found out.)

Zoey's social life was very restricted as well. She could owl Olive and Finn, however she had to choose her words wisely and not let anything slip. Olive's parents, Rachel and Matthew Barnes, were a part of the Order; however, the couple didn't want their youngest daughter to have any part in it whatsoever. Zoey also couldn't send many letters, since they didn't want their location to be discovered, so she opted to blame her brothers on the fact that she was "grounded."

Zoey sat with Ron and Hermione in their room, talking quietly about Harry's arrival. "He's going to be so pissed when he shows up." Zoey murmured. "We haven't given him any answers. And that BLOODY BIRD OF HIS IS GETTING ON MY DAMN NERVES!" She fumed as Hedwig bit her fingers.

"Well, it's not our fault." Hermione said, wrapping a band-aid around Zoey's finger. "Dumbledore told us not to talk about it with him. And that's just what we did."

"Yeah," Ron started, sitting on the bed across from the girls. "Well, it bloody sucks."

"I know," Hermione agreed sadly. "It's not fair."

Zoey sat on her bed; her music journal propped on her knees as she began writing down new lyrics. She hummed to herself, trying to match a tune with what she wrote.

The door suddenly opened, revealing Harry. Hermione flung herself into her best friends' arms, smiling happily as Pigwidgeon hooted, flying around the room in a frenzy.

"HARRY! Ron, Zoey, he's here, Harry's here!"

"I see that, Hermione." Zoey grinned.

"Let him breathe, Hermione." Ron chastised, closing the door behind Harry. Zoey noticed Harry had grown several inches over the summer, now towering over Zoey's height. His skin was tanner from the warm summer sun, and his emerald green eyes were a shade darker. Zoey waved to him from her position on her bed, too comfortable to move.

Hermione, still beaming, let go of Harry, but before she could say anything, a soft hoot sounded throughout the room. "Hedwig!" Harry said happily. The snowy owl nibbled his finger affectionately as Harry stroked her feathers.

"She's been in a right state," Ron grumbled bitterly. "Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this-" Ron showed off his cut index finger, while Zoey cheekily showed him her middle finger, which made him crack a smile.

"Sorry about that, but I wanted answers." He said, his smile evaporating into a frown.

"We wanted to give them to you." Ron said. "Hermione and Zoey were going crazy, kept saying you'd do something stupid if we didn't give you any news, but Dumbledore made us-"

"Swear not to tell me. Yeah, I've heard." Zoey watched as his happy demeanor changed to a cold, icy one.

"He thought it'd be best, Harry." Zoey explained calmly.