A Walk in the Park

by

Herman Tumbleweed

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter stories, I do own a ten year old pickup and four year old computer however.

Chapter One: How Not to Drink a Fizzy Drink

Harry thought, at first, that the summer was off to a rousing start. His two best friends were staying with him for the two weeks he'd decided he should stay at Privet Drive. It was great because he had someone to talk to and be with, and he didn't have to worry about being bullied by Vernon or Dudley with an adult witch and wizard in the house. On the downside was the fact that his uncle did not come home until very late at night, and his aunt didn't seem to be around much either. While these things were fine on the surface of it, that did leave the trio alone with the Pig in a Wig rather more than he'd have liked.

For some reason, and not a hard one to figure out, Dudders didn't seem to want to leave the house until his friends came and forcefully removed him each day. As afraid of wizards as Dudley had been previously, this kind of surprised Harry at first. The Pwig, as the trio had tended to refer to him after Harry told of how he'd thought of Dud in years past, tended to lurk in the doorway of his room watching the fairest of the trio exit the guest bedroom each morning. After she'd had her time in the loo, he would always be waiting in the hall to leer at her as she made her way to Harry's room. Harry had asked, cajoled, begged, demanded, and finally threatened the arsehole, but nothing had worked.

Not only that, but there was the fact that since the Order didn't seem to want them to leave the house much that left the three of them in rather tight quarters most of the time. While they did go out in the back garden most days, the unfortunate side effect of being so confined was that Hermione and Ron were sniping rather more than usual at each other on a regular basis. They seemed to Harry to be arguing even more than they did at school. By the third morning Hermione had had enough, and, stating she needed some sanity and normality in her life, left as soon as she could get packed and apparate home.

Before she left, though, she told Harry, "You are my very best friend and we've been through a lot together. I'm not abandoning you and whatever you need to do, but I need to get my priorities straight. I spent all of the school year pining over this clueless git," she stabbed a finger in the general direction of the redhead, "and it was all for nothing. I'm just not sure I can help you as I have in the past, right now." Her voice softened then as she added, "Harry, if you need my help, please send Hedwig to me, but right now I need to be with my family and to find me again."

Harry nodded and said, "I understand what you mean, and I don't blame you. If and when I go on with my search I'll let you know. It has to be done, but I'm just not entirely sure how to go about it right now. We'll talk in a few weeks."

The lovely young witch had then held him close and whispered, cryptically "I think I know which wizard I should have been setting my sights on, and I need to think about that." She'd then kissed him lingeringly on the cheek and hugged him tightly, her whole body pressed to his.

With that, she was gone, and Harry had a bad feeling the trio would never be the same again. It was a feeling borne out all too soon after.

Ron was as clueless as always about to why she had left. He asked Harry right after she stormed out the back door, "What was she so upset about? All I asked her was if she wanted to snog for a while."

Harry, deciding that silence was all of valour in this case, just shrugged and trudged back up the stairs to his room. He pulled out a book from the set he'd gotten a year and a half ago at Christmas from Sirius and Remus, and started rereading a chapter on evasive combat moves that he thought he'd like to learn more about.

Ron followed him into the room, and pulled out his chess set, setting up a game he'd read about in a wizards' chess magazine from memory. He wanted to see if there was a way to allow the loser of that match to win.

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Harry's quiet, lazy week in Little Whinging went further south the next morning when Molly Weasley apparated into the back yard at the Order's designated apparation point and stormed into the house, scaring Petunia out of her morning tea break (from the gossip-vine), and up to the boys' room. She demanded, "Ronald Bilius Weasley, you're coming home with me, so pack your things." She would side-along apparate him back to the Burrow, she'd added. At Ron's initial protests, she shouted him down and said that Harry was very well guarded by the Order and didn't need the company of her son who should be home.

To Harry she added, in her usual, too sweet, talking-down-to-kids tone, "Not your fault at all, Harry dear. I'd just rather have Ron at home. Besides I need someone to de-gnome the garden and to do a few other chores that can't wait until next week. Sorry dear, but I really do need Ronald at home, what with the wedding little more than a month away."

Harry couldn't and wouldn't protest, since he'd thought all along it was barmy for his two best friends to come here. It wasn't like it was the greatest place in the world for a witch or wizard to be, that was for sure. Besides which, he was fairly certain he knew the real reason she wanted Ron at home.

Ron, however, had other ideas. For the first time Harry knew of, the young man tried to stand up to his mother, saying forcefully, "Mum, I am legally an adult now and you cannot order me around like a child. It is my intention to help Harry on some very important work…" and that was as far as he got.

Molly's voice rose shrilly and her face turned as red as ever Uncle Vernon's had when she glared daggers at Ron and Harry both. "RONALD!" she shouted, "You will NOT take that tone of voice with your mother. You are returning to the Burrow with me! NOW!" With that she waved her wand about and Ron's things flew into the suitcase he'd brought.

That done, she glared at Harry and informed him, "I've lost all the people from my family I intend to in the cause of fighting You-Know-Who, and I shall not lose any more! This mission you have that the Headmaster set you on is yours, not ours. You may not take any of my children with you!" She added emphatically. But then, her demeanour changing instantly, she added, in a normal tone of voice "You are of course still invited to the wedding and you should receive your invitation in a week or so, Harry. I do hope you'll join us," she said sweetly.

By this time, Harry thought the Weasley matriarch did not have enough oars in the water. He looked over at Ron who was cowed now by the outburst of temper his mother had directed at him, his head hanging down and his face red in shame and embarrassment. Harry knew the famous trio of Hogwarts was at an end. He might get Hermione back to help some, but Ron would never go against his mother's wishes.

"Mrs. Weasley," he said gently, "I understand how you feel about your children, at least as best I can at my age, so not to worry there. As for the wedding, I may be busy this summer on some things, but I'll definitely try to be there. Thank you for all you've done for me over the years, it has meant a lot."

She didn't seem to catch the implications of what he'd just told her; didn't seem focused on anything except getting Ron home forthwith. For his part, Ron seemed too far off in his own world as well, and Harry was sure he'd not heard either.

With the conversation at an end, as far as she was concerned, Molly all but frog-marched Ron downstairs and out the back door. When they got to the apparation point, Harry watched as she grabbed Ron's arm, told him to visualize their back garden, and with a loud crack the two of them were gone leaving Harry standing just outside the back door feeling a bit lost and abandoned. He knew his relationship with his redheaded surrogate family had changed forever… and not for the better.

Harry stood there for a few minutes thinking things over. When he'd arrived, he was not willing to put up with any crap from Vernon this time, so he'd informed the Dursleys he was not doing any of the chores around the house they were accustomed to foisting off on him, that he would supply his own food, and be gone in a fortnight anyway. Vernon had, naturally, turned several interesting shades of purple at Harry's declaration of not doing anything, but backed off when the other two had brandished their wands and informed him they were of age and could use whatever magic they wanted to on him. Ron had muttered something about "cauliflower ears", which Harry was sure Vernon knew to be a boxing term, but he was also sure the man knew the 'freak' had something else entirely in mind.

Dobby had, of course, been ecstatically happy to supply the trio with enough food from the Hogwarts kitchen to feed ten full grown Sumo wrestlers at each meal. Harry sent Hedwig with a note to Headmistress McGonagall saying that he'd reimburse the school for it, but when she sent the owl with her reply, her note consisted of the words, "Over my dead body". She'd included the ten Galleons he'd sent with his letter of explanation.

After Molly and Ron's departure, Harry felt the walls starting to close in on him, even though he was still standing outside the back door staring at the spot where they'd disappeared. With nothing else to do, he pulled the door shut behind him and headed around the house, through the front garden, and turned down the street walking more or less aimlessly.

Totally ignoring the entreaties to return home by an invisible watcher whose voice he didn't recognize, he let his feet carry him where they would. He finally wound up, perhaps an hour later, on the opposite side of the play park from the route back to Privet Drive. Deciding to take the long way around the park, to put off going in the direction of that dratted house as long as possible, Harry again wandered aimlessly off in whatever direction his feet took him. He knew there was at least one Order member following him under an invisibility cloak or disillusionment charm, but he figured that was their problem. He didn't want to be in that house at all, hadn't ever really considered it home, and was beginning to wonder why he'd even bothered coming back.

From what Hermione had been able to find in the past week on the subject of blood protections, the advantage of him coming here was probably offset by the fact that he didn't want to be here. It was stated quite clearly in the old tome she'd found that most of those types of charms were greatly enhanced by the willingness of the person to be in the location protected by it and, conversely, weakened by a lack of the same. The protection for Harry was suspect at best as far as she was concerned, especially considering Old Snake Eyes probably was interconnected with Harry's blood because of the ritual which had brought the damned walking corpse back to life.

So Harry wandered around Little Whinging for a while longer, stopping at a burger joint and picking up some food. He'd given Hermione some Galleons in exchange for pounds which she could use, or exchange at Gringotts, next time she was in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. Her being able to apparate now had made life easier for both of them in that respect.

Burger, chips and a drink in hand, he wandered back to the play park and sat down in the shade of some nice trees, still opposite the direction of his relatives' home. He wondered if he'd ever really felt that the place was home, but then he realized it was the only one he'd ever really known aside from Hogwarts. That thought brought him up short for a moment. Was Hogwarts actually his home? If so, how could he live there other than as a professor? Hmm, he mused, food for thought. Perhaps one day I could go back and teach. In the meantime… He purposely steered away from those dark thoughts. He knew he needed a few days to himself, to grieve over Professor Dumbledore, to figure out what to do next in the battle against Voldemort, and to just enjoy being a teen as much as he could under the circumstances.

Finished eating, he leaned back against the tree and enjoyed the wonderful feeling of the sun shining on him through the trees and listening to the sounds of insects and birds, and children playing a ways off. The slight breeze felt nice on his face as it ruffled his hair. He let his mind wander where it would, just as he'd let his feet and mind wander earlier. Thoughts came and went, visions of his six years at Hogwarts, Quidditch games he'd played in and watched, things he'd learned, adventures he and his friends had, conversations and adventures he'd shared with Professor Dumbledore, all went through his mind.

He was so lost in thought it was several moments before he heard the sounds of two young women speaking in low voices as they approached, the other side of the copse of large trees where he sat. At first their words didn't penetrate his consciousness as he mused on his memories of the man who'd mentored him and controlled his life up until just over a week before. He'd placed a considerable amount of trust in the man and in his century and a half of experience. Without that, he wondered how he could go on with the quest left to him.

At the same time some other thoughts came unbidden to mind. Why had the Headmaster controlled his life so much? Why had he allowed all the things to happen to him that had over the past sixteen years, especially the goings on at school. A lot of it made little or no sense and he shook his head at the circle his mind was chasing trying to twig on what the old man had really been doing. Harry realized that the old man had played his cards way too close to his vest, kept way too many secrets for way too long. He wondered if the great power the man had held might have gone to his head, or if he'd merely been going senile. A lot of it just did not stack up.

Now, over the sounds of small children playing on the swings and such, or chasing each other squealing in the delight of being children, he heard footsteps on the leaves and grass as the people he'd not noticed moved closer. The voices were still low enough he couldn't quite make out what they were saying without straining, which he was not inclined to do anyway. He was still somewhat lost in thought and didn't care what others were talking about. Unconcerned for his safety at this point, knowing a minder or two was still nearby, he continued to let his mind wander until it penetrated his thoughts that the two voices sounded familiar.

Tuning his attention into the conversation which was now just on the other side of the trees where he sat, he heard one of the people say, "I know he lives around here somewhere, but I can't remember the street. He didn't talk about it that much when I was around him, but I know we have to be close, I can feel it."

The other replied, "Right. Now that's starting to sound like Trelawney."

The other giggled and replied, "Why, don't tell me you think she's anything less than genuine," in a far too innocent voice to be believable.

Harry snorted as he suddenly recognized that voice, though for the life of him he could not figure out how she could be here, let alone why she would be.

"All I know," came the other familiar voice, though he couldn't quite place it, "is that from what I overheard of the conversation at the Burrow, he probably could really use some company."

"I agree," came the somewhat dreamy and vague voice, "considering how lonely he seems much of the time. Did you know that last year on the night of the leaving feast he and I had a nice talk and I think it helped him to deal with the loss of his godfather? He seemed a lot better on the train home the next day than he had when I ran into him. He even offered to help me find my things when we were talking that night."

"He is such a nice and caring man," the other replied, "and I can see him doing that. I've seen him go out of his way to help people so many times: he should have been a Hufflepuff if he wasn't so brave, too. I wish he'd been teaching defence this year instead of that… git…" she trailed off, sounding angry and a little hurt.

"Yeah," was the dreamy reply, "I miss the Headmaster, too. It's like he left a hole in all of us when he died."

"Yes, I think he left an empty space in the entire wizarding world. I for one can think of only one man who could fill that hole, myself."

Sounding less dreamy, the other said, point blank, "I think there's another hole you'd like to have filled by that particular wizard." Harry could hear the smirk in her voice.

The other girl giggled as well and said, her voice dropping to a sultry level, "He does have that effect on a lot of us, doesn't he? I can't say much for Hermione walking away from that, but I wouldn't mind taking her place."

The other, sounding as if she were smirking again, said, "Uh huh, and with the two of us being as loyal and smart as we are, we can easily replace her and that fool who can't even stand up to his mum. I was starting to like him a lot until today. I can't believe he let his mum run over him like that. Doesn't say much for his future, does it?"

"I'm afraid you're right on that. I wouldn't want to wind up married to the idiot if he can't handle that at his age. She seems to think they will always be children and is trying to keep them that way. I can't be like that, and I know you can't either."

"I like Mrs. Weasley a lot most of the time, but she has always been that way. It's no wonder the oldest boys are not around most of the time and the twins refuse to leave their shop."

"Well, that aside, what do we do now to find Mr.Sexy Green Eyes? I sure couldn't see him knuckling under like Ron did, or taking off in a huff like Hermione. You know, when she flooed me after she got home to talk about Ron last night and told me what happened, she said she loved Harry a lot and valued their friendship immensely, but that she just needed to be with her family and get her priorities straight. And as for your earlier comment, I get the feeling you have at least one hole you'd like to have filled by said wizard as well." She sounded to be smirking now as the two of them giggled.

"So," the Hufflepuff continued, "how are you about sharing things, such as sexy, green eyed wizards?"

"Oh, gee. I think I could share that particular wizard with someone like you, who only had his best interests at heart. He is a special man, you know, very energetic, and I just can't see keeping him to myself if someone so deserving was involved also." The smirk was still quite evident in the normally dreamy voice. She giggled, a light airy sound Harry found endearing, to say the least, and which he'd not ever heard her do before. "It's like we talked about last night, dearie, he'd be a welcome addition to our bed."

"Oh I agree; he needs to be with girls like us who only want him to be happy and loved. Now all we need to do is find him and make sure he has everything he needs, including us." Both giggled and chuckled suggestively again over that exchange.

Harry decided he liked how the two witches laughed, both of them, but he was gobsmacked as he took in the gist of the conversation. He'd wondered at first who they could be talking about, but as they chatted he got the distinct impression of who the person they were looking for was, long before they got to the last few comments.

As they laughed, albeit in that very suggestive way, he was suddenly having trouble catching his breath since he'd tried to swallow a sip of his drink just as the girls had added that last part. He now knew exactly who and what they were talking about; there was only one wizard, to his knowledge, living in Little Whinging. And for certain there was only one with green eyes in the age group these two witches would be interested in, since he'd now identified the second voice. Finally, Harry couldn't hold in the cough any longer and bent over as he gasped for breath, just barely keeping himself from curling up on the ground while he choked on the fizzy drink he'd tried to inhale rather than swallow.

It was only seconds before two pairs of feet came into his view and a small spell was cast which cleared his lungs and he was able to gasp in a deep breath for the first time in what had seemed like hours. Two young and lovely faces appeared before him in his semi-prone position as the two women knelt down to see if he was alright. He looked up at the worried expressions of two sweet people he knew to be very caring, one with darkish blonde hair, the other a strawberry blonde.

After he got his breath back and was able to sit up again he smiled and said shakily, "Thank you, Susan. Did you learn that from Madame Pomfrey?"

She smiled broadly, an odd expression in her eyes and on her face as she replied, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I think I want to be a healer, so I spent a lot of time with her when I could this past year. She was very happy to teach me some of the basics." She blushed then and added, "You are very welcome, Harry. I'm glad we were here to help you. That could have been a big problem in another few seconds. What were you choking on, if I may ask?"

Before answering Harry glanced at Luna, who was also smiling in that same odd way as Susan, and was considerably less dreamy than he was accustomed to. He could feel his face heating up over why he'd choked, and said in a very low voice, "I was sipping on a fizzy drink from the burger place and it went down the wrong way."

Susan blushed rather prettily, Harry thought, though her eyes seemed to be dancing with mirth and her smile broadened. Meanwhile Luna maintained her rather odd smile, which also broadened and Harry thought it became a bit devilish as she asked, "So, Harry, how much of our conversation did you hear before you choked on your drink?"

Harry gulped, twice, not entirely sure what to say as he looked back and forth between the two witches whose smiles now seemed almost feral. He wasn't too sure that he might not be walking into some sort of trap here, but if it was such he was sure it was not the kind he usually got into. If they were serious about what he'd overheard, it could be the nicest trap he'd ever heard of. Then again, he could really use the help of two people whom he respected and liked as much as he did these two. He was certain Ron and Hermione were gone from his efforts against Voldemort, at least for the foreseeable future.

"Well, ladies," he smiled back a bit uncertainly, "I actually heard quite a lot more than I'm sure you meant for me to. Erm… I really don't know what to say, except that I'm glad to see both of you. If you are serious about helping me, we need to go somewhere that we can talk privately." He felt his face heat up to a nice Weasley red, as he added, "I'm flattered by what I heard. We can, er, go back to where I live for now, if you like, and talk in my room. No one is home now, so it shouldn't be a problem… er, that is if you want to… er, do that, that is…" He trailed off, unsure if it was appropriate to invite two young women, into his room whom he didn't know as well as he did Hermione, and who had made very suggestive comments about him only moments before. But, it was the only thing he could think of to do at the present time.

The girls looked at each other and smiled even more broadly, if that was possible, and chorused "What a lovely idea, Harry."

They smirked at each other, before Susan continued, "If you think you can get up now, why don't we do just that, Harry. I think we do need a long talk, the three of us."

The way she said that made him a bit nervous, but he nodded and started to get up. The two rose also and helped him to stand, each taking an arm when he was on his feet as if to support him. He felt the softness of their bodies as they sort of snuggled against him.

Before he could say anything else though, Luna reached down and grabbed up his lunch papers and drink cup, smiling as she said, "Yes, we do need to have a nice long talk, Harry. And we certainly don't want to leave these for the Nargles to nest in, now do we," she sort of brandished what she'd picked up, and grinned devilishly as if it was all a joke.

She giggled at his confused expression, as did Susan. Shaking his head at what was going on with the two young lovelies, he guided them in the direction of Privet Drive. He asked how they'd gotten there and, as he listened to Susan explain how she'd turned seventeen and gotten her Apparation license just before they left school, he was thinking, "Now this could turn out to be a wonderful summer after all".

More to come…

Thanks go to my beta team on this one of Helen, Keith, Ken, Brit picker extraordinaire Tommy, and the poor guy who gets to pick up all the pieces we drop, Mike the Magnificent. Reviews are always welcome, but mostly I hope you enjoy.