Scuttle.
Scuttle scuttle.
Scuttle scuttle scuttle.
Scuttle scuttle scuttle scutt- SPLAT.
"Ow…"
"BOY!"
Harry groaned and sat up. His attempt to get some quiche had been going so well, he'd been resisting the urge to press his hands together in the shape of a gun while pressing against doors, walls, the table, etc.
Damn the stupid cat.
Wait, cat?
The Dursley's didn't have any cats! What, then, did he just trip over-?
Oh, yeah. Alright, then, it wasn't a cat. He coughed in embarrassment at having tripped over the footrest.
Honestly, he thought, it's big enough for me to have noticed!
Sighing, he got to his feet, and turned slowly to face his angry uncle.
"What are you doing, boy?!" Uncle Vernon snarled, his face an interesting shade of purple, his chubby little hands clenched into fists at his sides. Without waiting for a reply, not that Harry was planning on giving one, he grabbed Harry's forearm and began to drag him out of the kitchen, interrupted by a scream from Petunia as someone knocked on the front door.
"Who the devil is calling at this hour?" Vernon barked, releasing Harry's arm and waddling towards the front door while the scrawny teenager darted up the stairs and hid in his room, peering out of the door to try and hear the conversation with whoever it was at the door. Glancing sideways, he saw Dudley's stomach protruding from his own door, and knew that Dudley, bless'im, was trying to hide but listen, too. Suppressing a chuckle, Harry then turned his attention back to the mystery visitor, his eyes trained on the stairs to ensure that he was able to have enough notice if anyone were coming up. He needed to be able to hide if they did. Eavesdropping wasn't something the Dursley's approved of.
Hah. Bunch of hypocrites, all three of them.
"Ah! A pleasure to see you again, Mr Dursley, a real pleasure! Is Harry in?"
Harry groaned inwardly. True, he was extremely pleased that Mr Weasley was here, but he knew that his uncle certainly wouldn't be, and it was his uncle, not Mr Weasley, that he would have to be dealing with for the next month or so before he could return for his final year at Hogwarts. There was silence from downstairs, and Harry could imagine the expression on Uncle Vernon's face from seeing the adult wizard again, and so, deciding to rescue Mr Weasley from the yelling that was almost certainly about to start, he scuttled back down the stairs – casting a furious glare at the footrest as he did so – and grinned at the redhead, who jumped a little at seeing him and exclaimed joyfully.
"Harry! Hello there! Now, Harry, I know this is rather sudden, and I'm not going to beat about the tree."
"Bush, Mr Weasley, the expression is 'beat about the bush'…"
"Yes, Harry, alright. The point is, Molly and I would like to invite you to spend the remainder of the holidays at The Burrow. I know we'd all love you to come!"
He grinned cheerfully at Harry, and Harry couldn't help but let a wide smile slip onto his own face, nodding rapidly.
"Yes, Mr Weasley, I'd love to come, if you're sure it's okay…" He glanced nervously at Uncle Vernon, but the man seemed to be returning to his usual colour, clearly pleased that Harry would be leaving again. He muttered something that sounded like 'good riddance,' but spoke too quietly for Harry to be sure, and Mr Weasley certainly didn't hear.
"Excellent, then, Harry! Excellent! Should I give you, say… half an hour to get your stuff together?" He beamed.
"I'll be ready in just a few minutes, Mr Weasley. Thank you so much," said Harry, still grinning as he then turned and hurtled back up the stairs, laughing at Dudley's shocked expression.
When he returned downstairs five minutes later, dragging with him his trunk, broomstick, and Hedwig's cage, the tension in the air was so thick that he was momentarily fooled into believing that Dementors were nearby, and their mist was seeping in through the windows… but invisible. Somehow. "Erm… I'm ready to go now, Mr Weasley…"
"Excellent! Well, then, Mr Dursley, I'll give you and Harry a few seconds alone to say your goodbyes, and then we'll be off!" Mr Weasley chirruped, either exceedingly high, or something very, very good had happened.
"Not necessary." Vernon grunted, shoving Harry and Mr Weasley out of the door and slamming it shut, locking it quickly afterwards.
Arthur blinked.
"What's got his wand in a knot?" He asked, looking down at Harry and withdrawing his own wand – which wasn't in a knot – to Apparate them both to The Burrow.
"Don't mind him, Mr Weasley. He's always like that." Harry grinned, in an exceptionally good mood now that he knew he was free from the Dursleys. "Do Ron and Ginny know that I'm coming…?" He asked, tilting his head a little to the side and gripping Mr Weasley's arm, bracing himself for the horrid sensation of Disapparating. It was over very quickly, though, and feeling as though he were about to vomit, Harry began to move slowly down the path to the burrow, supported by Mr Weasley and dragging his things.
"We didn't tell them, no, didn't want to get their hopes up in case you weren't coming. Oh, and Hermione's here, too!" Mr Weasley stated cheerfully, more or less oblivious to Harry's discomfort. Seeing as it was the middle of the night – or rather, very early in the morning, Harry was surprised to see lights on in the windows of the building that they were approaching. That said, these were rather dangerous times, and Molly was probably anxious for her husband to return.
Sure enough, as they approached, the back door was flung open and, scattering the few gnomes that were in the yard, Mrs Weasley came sprinting out, her hair in curlers and her body covered by a large bathrobe. She pulled Mr Weasley close in an embrace before releasing him and turning to Harry, immediately hugging him, too, then beginning to drag him towards the house.
"Come on, come on, inside, it's too cold out here to hesitate, oh, Harry, you're so thin!"
Harry smiled a little, nodding momentarily. "It's nice to see you again, Mrs Weasley."
"Harry, dear, you must know, I'm afraid you're going to have to be sharing a room with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, dear, there's rather a lot more people here than usual." She stated, seating him in a chair in the kitchen and beginning to bustle round the room, flicking her wand at seemingly random object, while said objects then began to float round the room, making soup of their own accord.
Harry, who had been perfectly at ease, blinked at the last name, blushing slightly. "E-Er, okay, that's fine, Mrs Weasley." He smiled, looking down at his hands. Sharing a room with Ginny? Surely that was just tempting fate. He always felt guilty whenever he looked at her, for he didn't just see a teenage girl, he saw a young woman, with beautiful eyes, soft, silky red hair, an amazing figure, large, round breas-
"HARRY!"
His daydreaming was cut short as two lumps collided with him, Ron on one side, Hermione on the other. He could hear laughing from the bottom of the stairs, but couldn't see who it was, his glasses had been knocked off and he had been dazed when his two friends, now clinging to him as though their lives depended on it, had glomped him.
"H-Hey, Hermione, hey Ron." He managed to speak, at last, though not very well, Hermione's hug was like a bear trap, and he couldn't breathe terribly well. "H-Hermione… can't… breathe…" He continued, gasping heavily. Hermione blinked, then released him, smiling apologetically.
"Sorry, Harry. It's just been so long! How are you? How was it? Were they treating you alright?" She asked, each question coming directly after the last, giving him no time to respond. "It's been absolutely mental here…"
Mwahahaha!
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I'm sorry, I know it's mean for me to start another story while still working on my other two, and while taking so long to reply to those.
D= But I just couldn't resist!