He had been back at the Dursley's for over a month and, despite the vast amount of letters from his friends, had not come close to recovering from the shock of Sirus's death. The burning anger towards Bellatrix had not subsided, but actually grew every time his mind strayed towards the subject. He wanted revenge; against Bellatrix, Wormtail, and especially Voldermort. If it weren't for him, he would have a good life; loving parents, a godfather, a household that cared about him… the list could go on and on. Maybe he wouldn't be the Daily Prophet's favorite topic of conversation. Maybe people wouldn't flat out stare at him when ever they noticed the scar on his forehead. All he wanted was a normal life. Voldermort had seen to it that his life was anything but normal.
Harry Potter carried a burden that no one should have to shoulder, much less a 16 year old boy. He alone could defeat the most feared Dark Lord of the age. He alone could rid the world of that evil. His friends didn't know about the prophesy made about him and Voldermort. He knew he would have to tell them eventually but he needed to see them face-to-face. This wasn't news that he felt should be sent in writing.
Hermione's letters not him had been mostly advice on how to grieve, while Ron's were a sorry attempt to get him to "open up".( he suspected Hermione had told him what to write.) What had been surprising to him was that the letters that had helped him most were from Ginny. She could relate to him, because she felt responsible for nearly killing all of the muggle-borns in her first year. Harry reminded her that that was in no way her fault; it was Voldermort who had controlled her. She responded by saying that it was exactly the same way in his case, which made him feel better than all of Ron's and Hermione's letters combined.
He often thought of Ginny, but didn't know why. He realized that last year she was the only one who kept his temper in line and who didn't mind taking a cool tone with him when he was being unreasonable.
She does have the most amazing hair, Harry thought, they way it glints and almost changes color in the sun…Funny I've never noticed befo- WHOA! Where did that come from? Harry blushed red even though there was no one around. But then again there was no denying that Ginny was very pretty, and her fiery temper was a risk he was willing to take, he realized. He liked Ginny…very much indeed. He knew that she had gotten over her crush, but he held onto hope that maybe her crush had simply developed into something more… He soon tried to crush all thoughts of Ginny realizing that Ron would never approve. He instead turned his thoughts to a whole day with the Dursleys hoping it would take his mind off of her…but it didn't work…nothing did. He just kept imagining how her warm chocolate brown eyes burned with fire when she told him off. He chuckled at the thought, and was soon once more occupied with thoughts of Ginny Weasley.