The First Meeting

Harry rolled over to look at the clock by his bed. The luminous hands read quarter to two. Sighing, Harry got up and began to drag on some clothes. It seemed that tonight, like most other nights, sleep was not going to come to him. He looked at the street below, bathed in the yellow glow coming from the streetlights. Nodding decisively, he moved towards the window and opened it. Pushing himself up onto the sill, he swung his legs over until his feet were resting on the Dursleys' flat roof. Then, careful not to make a sound, Harry reached over to the drainpipe and carefully felt for a foothold before allowing himself to slide down. Reaching the ground, he looked up at the open window, the curtain now flapping in the night air, and then turned away from the house and walked through the front garden onto the pavement.

Although it was only the middle of July, Harry was already itching to leave the Dursleys'. Dumbledore's revelation before the end of term had made him realise just how important staying there was, but that didn't stop him wishing that he was with Ron and Hermione. Eager to make up for the previous summer, the Order had agreed that Harry could come to Grimmauld Place towards the end of July, meaning that he would have to spend much less time with the Dursleys than usual. Despite this, Harry was still counting the days before he would be back at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

Harry wasn't only missing his two best friends, however. The memory of Sirius' death was crushing him and he had started to have terrible nightmares. This was why he was now walking along Privet Drive at midnight. His late night walks gave him a chance to think, and in Harry's opinion, the less sleeping he did the better. Aware of the danger he was in due to Voldemort's return, Harry always had one hand on his wand. However, the freedom he experienced at night was worth facing a million Death Eaters.

Normally, Harry would sit in the empty park for a while before returning to Number Four. Making his way up Wisteria Walk, however, he became aware of a muffled whimpering sound. Harry froze. A large part of him wanted to turn around and run back to Privet Drive, but he knew that if anything was after him, he would have to face it at some point. Gripping his wand, he cautiously turned onto Magnolia Crescent. Sitting on a wall with her head in her hands was a teenage girl. Harry felt such a wave of relief that he almost laughed out loud. Looking up, the girl saw him and stood up in alarm. Her eyes wide with fear, she tried to back away, missed her footing and tripped over the low wall, landing hard on the gravel drive.

Harry looked down at himself. He was wearing Dudley's old T-shirt and jeans, both of which were none too clean, and threadbare trainers. He didn't need a mirror to tell him that his normally messy hair was all over the place, as he hadn't combed it in several days. I wouldn't want to bump into me on a dark night either, he thought. Hurrying over to the girl, who was still lying where she had fallen, he crouched down beside her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

The girl groaned and shook her head.

Harry stretched out a hand to help her up. Slightly dazed, she sat on the wall, inspecting her grazed elbows. Harry sat beside her. She turned to him.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Harry."

The girl seemed to find this mildly amusing. "I'm Sally," she said, by way of explanation.

Harry looked at her, confused.

"As in 'When Harry met Sally'," the girl clarified.

Harry laughed politely. Looking him up and down, Sally frowned.

"Harry?" she asked, as if trying to work something out, "Harry Potter?"

Harry stared at her. Although he was used to being recognised in the wizarding world, few Muggles even acknowledged his existence, much less knew him on sight.

"Yes, I am," he replied cautiously.

"Dudley's cousin?"

Ah, that explains it, thought Harry, preparing for her to run away as he answered in the affirmative. Sally, however, remained seated, just looking at him.

"You're not…you don't…never mind," she said, shaking her head.

Harry decided to change the subject.

"So what are you doing out here at two am?"

Sally laughed. "I'm locked out."

Harry looked at her, puzzled. "Why don't your parents let you in?"

Sally laughed again, more quietly this time. "They don't exactly know I'm out. The plan was to leave the back gate open and sneak in. Unfortunately my parents, in their wisdom, seem to have locked it again. They are going to kill me in the morning."

"Why don't you just climb over the back gate?"

"Unfortunately," said Sally, dripping with sarcasm, "I seem to have left my pole vaulting pole inside. Or maybe I should just take a running leap and do a somersault over the gate. In fact, while I'm there I'll do a couple of cartwheels along the top and just…"

"Alright, alright," said Harry, laughing. "I get your point. Although…"

Getting up, Harry walked up the path to the gate and looked at it. Reaching up on his toes, he was just about able to wrap his fingers around the top of it. With all his strength, he pulled himself up and scrambled up the gate until he was sitting on the top. With a single movement he landed in the back garden, and opened the gate from the inside.

Sally stood on the other side of the gateway looking impressed.

"I stand corrected," she said, smiling. "You have fantastic balance, anyone else would have fallen off."

Harry grinned. "I've had a lot of practice," he said, thinking of the amount of times he had hung off his broom to catch the Snitch.

"Well thank you," said Sally, entering the back garden.

"Not a problem," said Harry.

"See you soon," said Sally, waving and shutting the back gate.

For the first time since arriving at Privet Drive, Harry smiled all the way back to Number Four.