Harry Potter's eyes drooped as he stared blankly at the wall.

One more day . . . he thought.

Harry remembered that Professor Dumbledore had insisted that he spend at least four weeks with the Dursley's every summer. "To be polite, Harry. It is always good to be grateful, even for the most discreet things."

It was finally the end of those wretched weeks and tomorrow the Weasley's would come and pick him up. He wouldn't even have to look at his aunt and his uncle until June came again.

He went to pack his trunk full of everything he would need for Hogwarts that he already had, such as his Firebolt, his quills and the parts of his uniform that he hadn't already grown out of.

Harry's shoulders sagged as he headed downstairs for his last dinner with the Dursley's, for the year at least.

"…and highly dangerous criminal, Sirius Black, has still yet to be found after his reported second escape from the authorities."

He walked into the living room only to find his relatives crowded around the television set. Harry didn't know if the news report should make him happy, or just upset.

On one hand, it was good that they hadn't caught Sirius, as he was innocent. But the report only reminded Harry that his beloved Godfather was unjustly on the run from both wizard and Muggle authorities alike.

Harry's uncle, Vernon, looked up and grunted at the black haired boy standing before him. He tilted his head to lazily mime that Harry's dinner was in the kitchen.

As he sat down to a bland meal of boiled potatoes, boiled beans and undercooked chicken, Harry's thoughts drifted to the events of last year.

He remembered when he had first discovered Peter Pettigrew's name on the Marauder's Map. He remembered how excited Sirius had been when Harry had finally believed him to be innocent. He pondered the sickening feeling of watching Sirius fly away, still a fugitive.

Suddenly, Harry wasn't hungry. He pushed his plate away and trudged up the stairs. Pulling the covers over his head, he fell into a weary sleep.

"Good morning Harry! And you must be his aunt and uncle. An honour it is sir, ma'am. You're both Muggles then. Pleased. Simply charmed. Now off we go Harry m'boy!"

Mr. Weasley was very excited. Other than the Granger's, he had never really had the opportunity to meet many Muggles.

Harry clomped down the stairs, holding in his hand his very heavy trunk. In the other hand, he held his owl, Hedwig's cage. This made navigating the precarious steps fairly difficult. However, a flick of Mr. Weasley's wand fixed that problem.

The Dursley's stood, shocked and fearful, as Harry's trunk floated down the stairs and landed gently near the door. As this happened, another figure appeared in the doorway.

"Hey Harry! How's your summer been?"

"Ron! Fine, I suppose…" Harry looked over his shoulder towards his aunt, uncle and cousin. "But I've still got a month left, don't I?"

"Ha, YES! Dad's got a trip planned. Won't tell us what it is though. Mum can't stand it and Ginny's no better."

"Ron, you know that my trip is a surprise. I can't exclusively spoil it" Mr. Weasley levitated the trunk again and opened the door, smiling back at the wide-eyed Dursley's. As he exited the house, he pestered Harry with the usual questions about Muggles, but Harry didn't mind - it took his thoughts away from Sirius.

Harry loaded into the car beside Ron, setting Hedwig on the empty passenger seat. The ride was suspiciously silent. It was uneventful except for the nosy looks Ron kept giving his father and the soft, impatient hooting coming from the direction of the caged owl.

When they arrived at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley was at the doorway to meet them.

"Harry, dear, good to see you. My! How thin you are! Come along then, I've breakfast prepared. Arthur, Ron, you as well. You two must be simply famished!"

Just as soon as Harry entered the house, he was ambushed by Hermione. She pulled him into a tight hug.

"Harry! Oh! I've been so concerned, but I suppose that I always am. Sometimes I think that you'll enter that house and you'll come out this depressed little boy who won't want to go to Hogwarts. Or that maybe, just maybe, your owls will stop and you won't show up for school and you'll be locked in that terrible broom closet again. Oh! Harry!"

She spoke so fast that Harry could barely make out half of the words. He grimaced, but was in such a position that she couldn't see it, nor could anyone else, even if they tried.

Harry knew that this outburst would be mostly centred around the events of the past year. Although she knew that he hadn't technically lost anything, it was completely - well - Hermione to make this a big deal. However, something in her words, anything, made him feel better. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't underestimate the determination of his relatives, like everyone else did.

His thoughts were cut short, however, by the twins skidding around the corner and landing in the kitchen next to Harry.

"Hiya Harry!" Fred said brightly.

"I suppose you're here because our father…" George began.

"…and our brother…"

"…came to rescue you." they finished together. The twins had a tendency to finish each others sentences. It became quite unnerving at times.

Fred and George smiled widely. They always seemed to be on the happy side. This, too, was unnerving.

At that exact moment, Ginny walked in. She looked around the kitchen, her eyes finally resting on Harry. Her face turned a brilliant pink. It reminded Harry of the first time he'd been to the Burrow. She had been so embarrassed to even be around him. He had assumed that after the Chamber of Secrets fiasco, she would be more comfortable around him, but he supposed he was mistaken.

Therefore, he was quite shocked to hear a small voice mutter, "Hello Harry. I suppose Ron picked you up for Dad's surprise vacation."

"Yeah, I s'pose. You don't know where it is do you Ginny?"

"Um, no. I just hope it's not Egypt again…"

George sniggered. Harry remembered being told by Ron that Fred and George had "accidentally" closed the entrance of the tomb Ginny was visiting. They'd kept her in there, in the dark, alone, with all of the bones and creepy writing for a good ten minutes.

It was at that point that Mrs. Weasley had discovered their little activity and given them such and ear-full that they had run all the way to the gift shop and had immersed themselves in magical bones that glowed and make a humming sound whenever anyone got within two feet of them.

"I do hope it's somewhere like Rome or Greece - somewhere with a lot of history." Hermione looked up from ancient runes textbook she was perusing.

"Yes! Excellent. Maybe they'll have chariot races." Hermione scowled at Ron's comment.

'Or, maybe, it will be Diagon Alley, to get your schoolbooks. Have you all eaten. Good. Harry, have you got your letter with you. Fine then. What an organized young man. Alright, I guess we'll use the Floo Network. Is that alright with you Harry?" Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen.

Everyone's head turned to the blushing Harry. He remembered the first time he had tried travelling by the Floo Network. He ended up in KnockturnAlley. Turning his eyes to his now empty plate, he nodded furiously, ignoring the feeling of eyes on the back of his neck.

With a pinch of Floo powder and a clear shout ("DIAGON ALLEY!") he was with the other Weasley's, and Hermione, in the worlds greatest magical shopping area.

The large group started at Gringotts - the wizards bank - and then worked their way through the rest of the shops.

They got robes, parchment, quills, ink, books, potion ingredients, food for Errol and Hedwig and Harry bought the group strawberry-fudge sundaes from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. When they were finished their ice cream, they double-checked the Hogwarts lists and then headed back to the Burrow via the Floo Network.

Harry spent the rest of the day unpacking his school supplies and shoving them into a drawer in Ron's room because he would need the trunk space for when he went on the trip with the Weasley's and Hermione.

He was honoured that they had invited him. Even though he knew that they cared about him very much, it could very well have been a family thing and they could have left him with his aunt and uncle for the rest of the summer, until they picked him up for Hogwarts.

That night, Harry settled into bed, very aware that they were leaving two days from then. He was glad that he had something to distract his subconscious from Sirius because he was growing tired of having dreams about a certain shaggy animagus wrestling with a werewolf to save Harry's life.