Harry Potter and the Mortal Enemy
By Alex

Chapter One

Harry Potter woke up to the sound of his aunt banging on his bedroom door, yelling at him to get up and make breakfast for her precious Dudley. Some things never change, he thought to himself.

He got dressed in his hand-me-downs that came from Dudley - where else would they come from, and walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Why did you take so long? You're lucky that we're even looking after you at all, we could put you in an orphanage if we wanted" snapped Aunt Petunia, with Dudley smirking at him at the background.

Harry swallowed the remark he was going to say in response, and started to fry the bacon. Of course, when he was done cooking enough to feed a whole family for a week, it all went to Dudley, while all he got was a slice of toast that was very burnt.

He had never got as much as Dudley, although he suspected that it was due to the fact that he was a wizard, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, just about to enter 5th year, and the Dursleys absolutely hated him for that fact (and also that his parents had been killed by the famous Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort, and had landed themselves with Harry), so they never treated him well. Not that he cared.

It took him roughly a minute to eat his breakfast, so he ran quickly upstairs before his aunt and uncle could give him more housework. He still hadn't finished that job from a week ago, painting the shed, and he really needed to finish that if he wanted to stay sort of on their good side.

He walked into his room, and to his surprise there was an owl that he didn't recognize waiting on his bed for him. It was from Hermione Granger, one of his two best friends. (The other was Ron Weasley)

Dear Harry,

Sorry I haven't sent you anything, I was away in Greece and I know you probably couldn't send Hedwig to me, knowing the Dursleys. I got a new owl yesterday, and I figured I might as well try to contact you.

How are you doing staying with your aunt and uncle? Mum and Dad said that you probably aren't having fun, as they know all about them, and they offered for you to come and stay with me. And we've already cleared it with Professor Dumbledore, so that's ok. The Ministry of Magic have put up wards all around our house, so you don't have to worry about You-Know-Who, especially since he's come back (even though Fudge still refuses to believe it).

Write back and tell me if you can come, and we'll come around and pick you up (in a car, I heard about what happened last year!) If you aren't allowed, we'll come around anyway.

Hermione

Harry grinned, and went down to ask his Uncle if he could go. He stopped outside the kitchen door, which was closed, and was about to knock when he heard his name.

"But I don't want him to come on this holiday, he'll ruin everything!" He heard Dudley complaining, which wasn't surprising.

"Well, what are we going to do with the boy then? Mrs. Figg has gone away with her blasted cats AGAIN, so where else can he go?" His aunt this time. This reminded him of a conversation when it was Dudley's birthday 4 years ago, when he ended up going to the zoo. Suddenly, he had an idea that would get all of them what they wanted.

He knocked on the door, and his uncle growled at him "What do you want now?" He entered the room, to find all three of them glaring at him.

"Umm, I just wanted to ask if I could go and stay at my friend's house for the rest of the summer, while you go away on your holiday."

"And what made you think that we would let you go?" snapped his uncle.

"Well, it was just that I heard you saying that Mrs. Figg is on holidays, and you didn't have anybody to look after me." He replied.

"Alright. I supposed you can go. Mind you, I'm not dropping you off, and I don't want any funny business like last year."

Harry tried not to smirk at that memory – his other best friend, Ron Weasley, had come via Floo Powder with his family. That would have been fine, except the Dursley's had an electrical fireplace.

Keeping a straight face, he replied "Oh, the Grangers are Mug…ordinary people like you. They do have a normal car."

"Well if these…Grangers, you say? Come and pick you up, I guess that it's alright." His uncle responded.

"Thankyou!" said Harry, and raced up the stairs to reply to Hermione.

Hermione –

I can come! Come and pick me up whenever is suitable, as soon as possible please though, I can't wait to be rid of the Dursleys!!!

– Harry

-tbc-

A/N – Please tell me what you think of this, the good and the bad. This is my first attempt at a HP fanfic, and I'm anxious to see how people like it!