This is my first story and reviews would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not, though regrettably, own Harry Potter.

Chapter 1 - Goodbye Dursleys, Forever

The boy-who-lived awoke with a start. Sweat dripping down his face, he wiped his brow and noticed his glasses were askew. He pushed them up and subconsciously looked into the mirror hanging ahead of his small bed in his tiny room. Harry Potter reached up and touched his lightning bolt scar, which was a shade lighter than usual, giving it an eerie glow in contrast with his jet black hair.

He took his glasses off to get a better view of his throbbing scar. He was taken aback by the uncanny resemblance he was beginning to share with his father, but his only brought sad thoughts to his mind. His father...his mother...Sirius...and now Dumbledore. All murdered either directly or indirectly through Lord Voldemort and his evil ways. Yes, Voldemort was the reason he no longer had parents to share his life with, or a godfather to confide in, or a mentor to learn from.

Had it really only been a month since that horrible night on the tower? The night when Snape's true colors had finally been shown. Snape...how Harry loathed him. Not only did he hate Snape for tormenting Sirius and killing Dumbledore, he hated the fact that Harry new he was evil, and he couldn't find the strength to convince anyone of this.

Harry also had been harboring guilt over another incident at the end of last year, involving a beautiful girl with red flaming hair. God, how could he have been so stupid, how could he have let her go? He couldn't help but envision the sallow face of Voldemort, and Harry knew that this too was Voldemort's fault, just as everything that went wrong in Harry's life was. Harry had broken up with her to protect her from Voldemort's wrath. In truth, he was still deeply in love with her.

Harry was startled out of his train of thought by two loud 'pop's outside his door. The 'pop's were followed by the sounds of a heated argument between a boy and a girl. A grin came to Harry's lips.

"I told you this wasn't right! I knew we should have written to Harry first to tell him we were coming, he could have met us somewhere!

"Oh yeah, little miss know-it-all, has to do everything her way or no way...Wasn't it you who said we should come at night? And look where it landed us, in the pitch-black darkness and lost!"

"Yeah well I think–"

"Eh-hem. Are you two going to argue out here all night or you gonna come in here and talk to me?"

"Oh Harry!" Hermione cried and flung her arms around his neck, nearly crushing a few ribs in the process.

"Hey mate! We thought we got the wrong place for a minute there," said Harry's best friend Ron sheepishly. "How ya been?" He added.

"Ugh..fi...ugh...fine...ugh," choked Harry, trying to get a breathe past his currently crushed windpipe, due to Hermione's tight embrace.

Ron stepped in and grabbed Hermione's shoulders, saying "Alright alright, let the man breathe." Hermione stepped back with a blush on her face, due to her embarrassment in crushing Harry or the way Ron gently touched her, Harry was unsure. He grinned mentally.

"Ah, thanks Ron," said Harry rubbing his neck. "Now we'd better get inside my room before the Dursely's wake up and kill me." With that, Harry led Hermione and Ron into the room and closed the door, eager to talk with his two best friends.

"Oh Harry, you look starved. Are they treating you good here?" Hermione inquired with worry. Harry noticed how she immediately sat next to Ron on his bed. Ron blushed slightly.

Harry replied, "No better or worse than any other summer. Although, my uncle seems a little happier lately. I think it's the prospect of me leaving forever that's giving him the extra cheer. So, when are we leaving anyway?" He asked them both.

"Mum says we were to bring you home straight away so she can properly nourish you. Plus she thinks it'll do you good to be around family instead of rotting here in this dump by yourself." Harry noted how Ron used the word 'family' and he couldn't help but be happy. He loved that the Weasley's had practically adopted him as their son. They were his family now, and he missed them terribly; one specific red-head in particular. Hermione seemed to pick up on what he was thinking about.

"She misses you, you know," Hermione said quietly.

"I know, I miss her too," Harry said without thinking. He immediately looked up, shocked that that had come out of his own mouth. He blushed. "I mean, who? Who misses me?" Harry tried to cover his slip up, but to no avail.

"Oh come off it mate, we know you still care for her, and it was probably some of those famous, and sometimes stupid heroic thoughts of yours that caused you to end it. Am I right?" Ron asked with a smirk.

"Whatever...I don't want to talk about it," Harry looked down at this shoes. Wanting to get back to the topic of most relevance, he asked them again, "Ok, so when are we leaving then? I don't really fancy hanging out here anymore, or ever again, for that matter." He gave them a pleading look.

Hermione answered, "Well since you didn't pass your apparition test yet, you can do side-along apparition with me. Ron just passed his test last week and will follow us. Let's get all your things together so we can leave as soon as possible." Grateful for the quickness in Hermione's plans, he got up immediately and started throwing things into his trunk from every corner of his room. Hermione sighed at him and made an attempt to point her wand at everything before they fell into his trunk and fold them neatly. When he was all packed, he stepped next to Hermione and looked expectantly at her.

Hermione just stared right back at him. "Well?"

"Well what?" Harry asked, confused.

"Well, aren't you going to say good-bye to your relatives? You're never going to seem them again."

Harry sighed and hurried out of the room. He sprinted down the hallway and came to his aunt and uncle's room. He paused; he had never actually been in this room before, having no real reason to ever seek more contact with the Dursely's. He knocked on the door.

"Dudders, go back to bed. Mummy will bring you cookies and milk in a few minutes!" Aunt Petunia yelled. Harry rolled his eyes and knocked again, this time adding something.

"Um, Aunt Petunia? It's Harry. I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving, um, for good. I won't be back, um, ever. Ok, so, bye then." He turned to walk back to his room, when the door opened. A distraught looking Aunt Petunia emerged. She took Harry into a tight embrace, but letting go and looking him in the eyes, his mother's eyes.

"Be safe and take care." She looked into his eyes a little harder, really taking them in. "You know, you really do have your mother's eyes."

A few minutes later, Harry walked back into his room, a little flustered and confused. He had never know Petunia to act that way toward him, and despite what his inner self was telling him, he was grateful for those few moments of closeness with his only remaining blood relative. Hermione and Ron looked at his curiously, but Harry just brushed it off with a shrug, and went to grasp Hermione's arm for the apparition.

"Oh by the way," Ron said before leaving. "Happy Birthday Harry."