"Ron. Ron. RONNY!" Harry bellowed as he yanked the covers off his slumbering friend. It took exactly fifteen minutes, every morning, to get Ron to leave the confines of his nice warm bed. "Bloody hell." He mumbled as he ran a hand through his disheveled dirty blonde hair.
Ron cracked a misty blue eye open and surveyed his surroundings. It appeared to still be dark outside. With a frown, he opened his other eye to get a good look at the person that drug him out of blissful sleep. "What? The house better bloody well be on fire." He grumbled and sat up.
"No." Harry curtly replied. "But I'd like not to be late for school one day in my life." He crossed his arms over his blue pajama clad chest. "You heard what Principle Chaucer said yesterday. If Mrs. Fredericks gives us another tardy, he's going to suspend us. This is our last year. I'd like to finish it here rather than somewhere else." He sat down on the edge of Ron's bed after his little speech.
"Oh...right. I remember. I don't like Chaucer. He's always trying to find one reason or another to get rid of us. Mich is late more than us and he hasn't gotten into any trouble. None at all." By this time Ron was up and getting dressed.
Once Harry saw that Ron was awake, he followed suit and dressed. "Mich's father practically owns the school, Ron. He's donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and built the new gym. I think it's safe to say that Mich isn't going to be getting into trouble anytime soon." He tossed his pajamas into the hamper. "I don't like him very much either." Harry frowned. "But he's all we've got." He said, sadly.
Ron sighed and tucked his hands into his blue jean pockets. "I miss Hogwarts." He said quietly and kicked at a book laying on the floor. "Don't you?" He looked over to his friend.
"Of course I do. But it's been five, almost six years, Ronny. Five years since they expelled us for flying your fathers enchanted car to Hogwarts. It's in the past and this, my friend, is the present." Harry glanced down at his watch. "And we've got to hurry." He grabbed his bag off the floor and slipped his arms into the strips, securing it to his back. It was heavy since he was taking four college level courses on top of his required classes.
Shaking his head, Ron also gathered his bag off the floor and mimicked Harry by securing it to his own back by way of the straps. His wasn't as heavy since he was taking only two college level courses compared to Harry's four. "I know that it's the past. But I still miss it. It was way better than this. I never knew how hard Muggle kids had it until I had to live and learn like one." He followed his friend out of the small apartment that they shared; stopping only to make sure the door was locked. He then fell in step with his friend. "Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Salem Academy, but why did we have to come to America? There are all kinds of Muggle schools back in England, isn't there?" He glanced over at his abnormally silent companion.
He raised an eyebrow. "Yes." He replied simply. "There are Muggle schools in England. But if you recall...we didn't exactly have permission to leave when we did. Actually, we were waiting for your mother to come by floo when we decided that sticking around might not be such a good idea. Not to mention hazardous to your health." Harry smiled at a passing girl. "Good morning, CeCe." He greeted before turning his attention back to Ron.
Harry would never forget Ron's frantic ramblings about how his mother was going to kill him. His red headed friend was literally shaking from head to toe. It was then that Harry suggested that they make themselves disappear. He was in no hurry to return to the Dursley's. He knew that they would punish him, severely, for getting kicked out of his 'freak' school.
So he and Ron mounted Harry's broom and left with nothing but their wands. They flew until exhaustion threatened to bring them crashing to the ground. They only rested when it was absolutely necessary.
Their first stop had been a branch office of Gringott's where Harry withdrew all but a few knuts from his account and had it turned into Muggle money. They then took the next floo transport, which happened to be to Salem, Massachusetts, out of England. They decided to settle there since it was close to the Magical community yet far enough away that they could live their lives as muggles in peace.
They had to blend in. So hair dyes were selected and applied. Ron's bright red hair soon faded to a mouse brown and Harry's hair went from black to a dirty blonde.
Haircuts were next. Ron settled on a short style that left enough for him to spike while Harry also went for the spiked look but left his hair long enough to cover his famous scar; he didn't want to take any chances that they'd be recognized. They didn't want or need any unwanted attention.
It was a bumpy start for the two of them. Ron was having a hard time adjusting to the muggle way of life. But Harry was patient and worked with the other boy until he got the hang of doing things the muggle way. Soon both boys were on their ways to fading into the crowd. This happened a little more quickly after a train they were taking upstate for the weekend, derailed and they were amongst only a handful of survivors. They easily formed a story about their parents being on that train. They also said that they didn't remember anything except their own names and a handful of other details about themselves. They were placed into the care of the state of Massachusetts. Where they were placed in a foster family of sorts. Their new family actually only consisted of one person. A man that was more than willing to be a father to the two boys.
"Are you even listening to me, Harry?" Ron roughly nudged his friend in the ribs with his elbow.
Blinking, Harry nodded. "Sorry, I zoned out there for a moment." He grumbled as he rubbed his ribs.
Ron raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "I asked you if you were going out for the soccer team or the baseball team this year, mate."
"I don't know. Coach Grayson wants me on to soccer team for my final year. He said that I could get one of those scholarships for it. I'd have to play a year or two in college but then I could drop the sport if I wanted to and concentrate entirely on my schooling. Besides, I'm not very good at baseball. What about you?" Harry trudged up the front stairs and into the big red brick building.
"If I do baseball, I know Coach Sanders will bench me the entire bloody season like last year. I played twice and only because two of his players got injured. Who bloody well cares if I'm good or not? He just doesn't like me. So I think soccer will suit me just fine. Coach Grayson wouldn't mind, would he?" Ron followed Harry down the hallway and into their home room. There was only a handful of kids there and they were a good fifteen minutes early for a change. Mrs. Fredericks, their home room teacher, wasn't even there yet. He dropped his bag onto the floor and slid into his seat.
"Mind? Ron, you're a brilliant soccer player. He isn't going to care. I bet he'll even be a bit glad to have you. He wants to win the state championship this year before he loses all his best players and doesn't get the chance again. There is a warm up practice after school today. Be there." Harry also dropped his bag and slid into his seat. With a yawn, he propped his head up on his hand. At least they weren't late today.
"Alright, mate. I'll meet you after sixth period then. By the gym? We can walk out to the field together." Ron had a smile on his tired face; one that reached his eyes.
Harry was beginning to daydream when he heard the door to the class room bang open. It startled him and he looked towards the door. "What the bloody hell was that?" He asked Ron.
Ron shrugged and looked towards the door. "Wind, maybe? Or a freshman wanting to score points with the upperclassmen?"
Raising an eyebrow, Harry chuckled. His mirth didn't last long as he watched the last person he ever thought he'd see again walk right into the class room. Dressed in muggle garments to top it all off. It would have been amusing if he wasn't busy sliding down in his seat, so that he was hidden behind Derrick, the boy sitting in front of him. He was also frantically smoothing down his bangs to cover up his scar.
"What are you...?" Ron trailed off as he followed Harry's gaze towards the door. "Bloody hell." He also slumped down in his seat and raised a hand up to the side of his face where he rested it. Shielding his face from view he whispered out of the side of his mouth towards Harry. "That sure in Merlin isn't Mrs. Fredericks."
"No. I would have to agree with you there, Ronny. That bloody well isn't Mrs. Fredericks." Harry whispered back and hoped to Merlin that they weren't spotted by the man standing in front of the room, surveying it; intently.