Seven Days, Zero Nights, Take My Hand, We Die Tonite

Harry's summer so far had been absolutely horrible with Dudley's new interest in American rap music, and Petunia's new hobby, giving piano lessons to children with rich families. Harry lay in his room, reading mail from his best friends, Ron and Hermione, and surprisingly a new friend to the gang. After the incident in the Ministry of Magic just a few months earlier, Draco had switched sides, joining forces with the Order and being shockingly nice to the trio. Harry's mind pondered on how they could all get together somewhere and have a little mid-summer party. He had no idea how he would get past Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia but . . . they would be glad to have him gone.

Harry took out some muggle magizines on travel destinations in London and found a small article about some cabins out in the woods just outside of London. He read on and decided that he should run his idea across his friends and see what they think. He sat down at his desk, pulled out parchement, quill, and ink and began his letters. He tied the letters around Hedwigs ankle and wiped his sweaty locks out of his eyes. "Take these to Hermione, Ron, and Draco . . . they're all the same so it doesn't matter who gets what, okay girl?" Harry said slowly. Hedwig nibbled at his hand in realization and took flight out of the window.

Harry layed down on his bed and thought of how fun it would be to spend a week or two in a cabin. He closed his eyes in exhaustion and let his body fall captive to sleep.

--------

Harry woke with a start a few hours later to find Hedwig sitting on his chest, his view obstructed by a small pile of letters. "They must've replied right away!" Harry thought. He sat bolt upright and began tearing at the letters:

Dear Harry,

That sounds like a marvelous idea! When can we go? I'm sure

my parents will give me permission! Write me back with a date and

time to meet, oh, and where to meet! HaHa!

Much Love,

Hermione G.

All of the others were the same . . . just asking for date, place, and time. Harry remembered that the Dursleys' were out to dinner so he walked out into the hall and down the stairs to the telephone. He looked in the magazine to confirm the telephone number and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hello, I would like to make a reservation for four people for a one night stay in one of your cabins?" Harry said nervousley.

"When would you like to stay?"

"Anytime is fine." Harry said plainly.

"Okay . . . you'll be staying on the 30th of August . . . and whats your last name?

"Potter." Harry said confidently.

"Okay, your total comes to £1,350.87. Would that be cash or credit?"

"Cash, please." Harry stated.

"Pay at the front desk and we will give you your key."

"Thank you!" Harry hung up the phone and proceeded to his room to write to the others and pack his stuff up . . . it was already the fourth! He grabbed a quill and wrote on the bottom of everyone's letter to meet at Diagon Alley tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. He would have to get money from Gringotts and exchange it to muggle money. Harry sent Hedwing off to deliver everyones letters and began throwing stuff into his trunk. He filled it with the essentials like clothes and shoes, of course. He then grabbed his wand from his bedside table and shoved it into his pocket. He locked his trunk and made his way down the stairs and out into the murky dusk. He trudged down to the curb and shoved his wand out over the pavement. Lights appeared out of the humidity and a large purple, triple-decker bus came to a stop in front of Harry.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus-" Stan Shunpike said before Harry interjected.

"Hi, Stan . . . The Leaky Cauldron." He said thrusting a few coins into Stan's hand. Harry took a seat at the back of the bus and waited for the bus to start moving. The bolted forward with a jolt as the many beds in the bus slide back and forth with the movement of the tripl-decker. Before long, they had arrived and Harry was lugging his trunk in through the door of the Leaky Cauldron. He walked up to the counter where Tom, the owner, was drying glasses with a dingy rag. "Hey, Tom . . . one night, please." Harry said in a rush.

"Hey there, Harry" Tom said gleefully. "That will be 9 galleons." Harry poured a handful of galleons into Tom's hand as he handed Harry a key. Harry jostled up the stairs to his room, 219, and threw himself on the rickety bed. He was exhausted! Harry was soon consumed by the black velvet of sleep and cast into horrible dreams. He awoke at around 4:30 a.m., his scar searing with pain He closed his eyes with hopes of drifting to sleep. Slowly, ever so slowly, he finally returned to sleep, without disturbances, peace . . . at last!

--------

Harry awoke at 12:30, and he still felt exhausted. He had tossed and turned all night, totured by the unmeaningful dreams. He pulled on his robes and set course for Diagon Alley. As he set foot in the morning sunshine, he felt a warmth, not, of course, from the sun, but on the inside. He walked to Gringotts Wizarding Bank and entered the cool interior. He stepped up to the goblin at the front desk and cleared his throat. "Yesss?" the goblin hissed.

I need to make a withdrawl and exchange it to muggle money." Harry said firmly.

"Do you have your key?" the goblin asked.

"Yea." Harry said shortly, placing the golden key into the goblins grimy hand. The goblin handed the key to another goblin and instructed Harry to follow him. They boarded the train that would transport them to Harry's vault.

"Vault 787." the goblin said loudly. They climbed off the cart and the goblin proceeded to opening Harry's vault. Th egoblin inserted the key into the small hole of the large door. The hall was filled with the sound of clanking locks then, it opened. Harry stepped forward and filled his satchel with galleons, knuts and sickels. Harry stepped back from the vault and the goblin waved his hand over the bag and turned to close Harry's vault. Harry peeked inside the bag and almost yelped in surprise. It was no longer filled with Galleons, Knuts and Sickles, but with thousands of pounds! They climbed back onto the cart and returned to the surface. Harry walked out of the building, once again filling with warmth. He raised his face to the sky as he heard someone shout his name.

"Harry!" a voice called. Harry looked around only to see Hermione, Ron, and Draco standing in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Harry rushed over to the three, wondering why they were here so early. "We just couldn't wait, Harry, we were all too excited!"

"Yea, mate, it's a brilliant idea!" Ron said cheerfully. Harry looked over at Draco and saw that he had his arms full of bags which looked like they were full of food.

"Thought we might get hungry . . ." Draco said proudly. They all laughed before Harry spoke again.

"This means we can leave, it takes about 3 hours to get there by train, so lets head to the train station. Harry ran back to The Leaky Cauldron to get his trunk and quickly returned to the others. They four left Diagon Alley and headed for the train station. They walked up to the Ticket Station to buy tickets to Southampton. From there they would take a cab to Sulpher Hills Cabins, located in New Forest. Harry paid the woman behind the counter and handed everyone their tickets. They walked over to engine seven and handed their luggage to the bag-handlers. They found a compartment to themselves and sat down to chatter about the upcoming week. What they would do, what they would see, they were bubbling over with excitement.

Harry looked at his watch and saw that it was close to 3:30. He was the only one awake, the others had fallen asleep ages ago. he lay his head against the window, the smooth sound of the locomotive stirring his senses. Just as he thought he was about to fall asleep, the train screeched to an abrupt stop at Southampton Station. Harry shook his friends awake and climbed off the train, collecting their baggage as they went. The group jogged over to the curb of the highway and flagged down a taxi cab. They climbed in as Draco threw the suitcases into the trunk. As he climbed in, the driver spoke, "Where to?"

"Sulphur Hills Cabins . . . in New Forest." Draco said in a deep tone. The driver nodded to show that he had understood and sped off toward their destination. Harry watched the meter as the price slowly increased with every mile they traveled. He looked at the others and smiled in delight that he had people who cared for him. They pulled up to a small rustic building with a sign on the front that read:

Sulpher

Hills

Cabins

"Your key to pure Relaxation!"

"That will be £72.63." said the driver. Harry counted out the amount from his satchel and handed it to the man. They scooted out of the back seat as Draco stepped out of the front seat. The cab drove away as the group entered the office to get their key and cabin number.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" The man behind the counter said.

"We're here for the two week stay for four people?" Harry said quietly.

"And what's the last name?" The man asked quietly.

"Potter."

"And that will be £1,350.87." Harry counted out £1,350.87 from his satchel and handed it to the man. In return he handed Harry a silver key. "Cabin 9, follow the trail with the blue flags, enjoy your stay."

"Thank you!" The four of them left the office and started down the trail with the blue flags. The trail seemed almost grown over with weeds and brush. Their hike came to an end at a clearing which housed a small cabin with a bronze number '9' emblazoned on the siding. Hermione lead the way up the steps and asked for the key. Harry threw it to her and she forced it into the lock. She turned the key and pushed on the door, and walked inside, the others close behind. They walked through the small house, searching for a room to call their own. The only rooms that they found were two rooms, two beds each. Ron and Draco bunked together, leaving the other room for Harry and Hermione. The two blushed as they placed heir luggage on their beds. The four of them met in the living room and sat on the couch to relax and conform to their new environment.

Harry got up from his seat on the couch beside Ron and Draco and began pilfering through the entertainment center. He reached back into the far corner when his hand touched a small plastic box. He pulled the box out of the dusty cabinet and discovered that it was a muggle videotape. "What's that?" Draco asked.

"It's a videotape," Hermione began, "muggles' use them to watch movies." Ron looked at it as if it were a small chunk of gold. Harry looked around the television and saw a small video-cassette recorder. He turned on the T.V., to Ron and Draco's amazement, and inserted the tape into the VCR. Harry hoped back on the couch, and Hermione squeezed in to get a better view. The televisions' picture began to get fuzzy before a large circular ring of light appeared on-screen. The group continued to watch on. Picture after picture of horrifying images flashed across the screen. Dead horses, maggots, and then a woman . . . staring at the four, seeing them, through the screen, then she was gone. It showed a woman plummeting from a cliff, then the ring once again. The four thought it was over when a clearing in the woods appeared on the T.V., and in the center of the clearing, stood a well. It seemed to remain still fo a moment, then a hand appeared over the side of the well . . . the picture went fuzzy then cut off, leaving the group to sit in darkness.

The silence was broken with the loud ringing of the telephone. The four teenagers jumped in horror at the loud disruption. They all exchanged looks of horror as Harry reached over to the table and hit the 'speakerphone' button, allowing everyone to hear the person on the line. At first, nothing, then, with a scratchy, deathly voice, the message flowed from the phone. "Seven Days!"