Disclaimer: that should be obvious

Disclaimer: that should be obvious! Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, and if you're reading this, you better know that. Also, if you've never read all four Harry Potter books, please don't read this!

Chapter 1

Harry was awake, staring at the ceiling at 3:00 that morning. He was thinking about the newspaper article he had read last night. The sightings of Voldemort were becoming more frequent now. A young woman who was named something like Henrietta Marchbanks had seen the first sighting. She said that Voldemort was horrifying, his face was like that of a snake, and his eyes were a gleaming red. Harry agreed with everything this woman said.

Harry sat up when Hedwig hooted and a small feathered being tapped on the window. Harry got out of bed and opened the window to find a very small owl carrying a parcel almost as large as the owl was. Harry recognized the minuet owl as Pig, the Weasley's owl. Harry hoped that a letter from his best friend Ron was in the parcel. He took out a letter and looked at the handwriting on the envelope, it was small, but clear and Harry figured that it was Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother. Harry opened Mrs. Weasley's letter and read:

Dearest Harry,

I certainly hope this reaches you, as I'm not sure this little owl is up for the trip. But if and when it reaches you, I hope it finds you in good health and having a fun summer.

I thoroughly apologize for not allowing you to come stay with us this summer, as Arthur tells me that the Dursleys don't treat you very well, and we would have loved to have you for the whole summer.

(Harry sighed as he read this, remembering the last summer's encounter between the Dursleys and Arthur Weasley, in which Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had refused at first to even say good-bye to Harry. He knew Mr. Weasley was a good father and gladly would have taken Harry to relieve him from the Dursley's treatment had he not made the decision that it would be safer for Harry at the Dursleys', in case it would be more difficult for Voldemort to find Harry at non-magic residence. Upon hearing this news for the first time, Harry, in great disappointment, had not been able to understand this- wouldn't Voldemort know, now that he was back and in perfect health and mind, that Harry was staying with his aunt and uncle? But sure enough, after most of the summer, no sign of Voldemort had turned up anywhere near the Dursley household, though they had not too far off. Harry had started ordering the Daily Prophet just recently to arrive at his house at nighttime (so as not to startle the Dursleys into stopping his order) so that he could keep track of any sightings of Voldemort. This had been at the advice of Harry's wonderful godfather, Sirius Black, to which Harry had at first wondered why he himself hadn't thought of that, then later if that would do any good at all, as Harry was sure Voldemort wouldn't be stupid enough to let himself be seen. But, sure enough, a week after Harry had started ordering it, Harry saw with a start an article headlined: SIGHTINGS OF VOLDEMORT- REAL AND NOW OR JUST BAD MEMORIES OF THE PAST? A few sightings had been made, and later more and more articles of that same type. But they did not seem to be moving any closer to Harry, and that relieved him a bit.

So it had turned out that Harry had been proven wrong a few times. Harry got back to reading the letter.

"Anyway, we hope that you are enjoying your summer and think it might be good for you to go and stay with the Grangers for a while, because that is also a Muggle residence and it might be nice to meet them and get out of the house. Perhaps you should ask Hermione about it. And if you would like me to write a letter to the Grangers to ask that, I would be happy to do so (or rather Arthur would, he's fascinated by the Muggle post). And anything else you might need, don't hesitate to ask. I'm always here to act as a motherly being when you need one!

Sincerely,

Molly Weasley

P.S. If you need a ride to Diagon Alley or King's Cross if you are not going to stay with the Grangers, please just send me a note back with Pig. Thanks, and have a happy holiday!

Harry looked up from the letter to see that Pig had landed and was cocking his head at Harry as if asking for another delivery mission. Harry smiled and took the next letter out of the package. He grinned when he recognized the scribbly handwriting as one of his best friend's, Ron Weasley.

Hey Harry! Sorry for Mum's little over-protective note, if you've read it yet. Gag me. Anyway, what she says is true, if you need anything like a ride to Diagon Alley, just send a note. In fact, why don't you just plan on us picking you up at 11:00 AM on the 31st? Then you can spend the night (I don't care what Mum and Dad say, I haven't seen you for TOO long! ) and we can drive you to King's Cross the next morning, as Dad finally was able to get a car with no invisibility button or flying abilities. Dang.

(Harry remembered with a laugh the Weasley's old car which had had those special features that Ron and Harry had taken advantage of in an attempt to fly the car to Hogwarts, Harry's school, without Mr. and Mrs. Weasley knowing about it.)

So there! Count on that, unless you send us an owl saying you'll stay with the Grangers, which I hope you will, because I feel bad that you have to spend a whole summer with whale-boy, beanpole, and turnip-face just because of my stupid parents.

Anyway, I hope they're not starving you like before, but just in case I've sent a big pack of pretzels and some...err...ok, there's a few chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every-Flavored Beans in there that I swiped from Fred and George's stash, but I'm sure they'd donate to a worthy cause if they... um... knew about it.

Harry plunged his hand into the package once more and pulled out a large bag of pretzels and the wonderful magical candies. He hid them immediately under his loose floor-boards, as, yes, the Dursleys were attempting to put the whole family on a diet again, and, no, it wasn't working on Dudley a bit, he could now be easily mistaken for a large bear, and, yes, Dudley would quickly devour any ounce of food he could get his hands on, especially candy, even if it meant he had to brutally murder his poor cousin. But Harry couldn't resist nibbling on one of the chocolate frogs as he finished Ron's letter.

Well, everything's as usual here, Percy's even more work-devoted than usual (barf) because, he claims, "Now that my dear, *sniff*, wonderful, fabulous Mr. Crouch has gone forever, I must work my hardest to uphold the department, and maybe I might even get another promotion." Ok, ok, you can tell which part of that quote is true and which isn't. Fred and George have finally dropped the whole Ludo Bagman business, after much argument from my mother, who curiously found out about it, and are now back to the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which still remain in secret from the folks, though not for long, I'm sure, as Mum's on their trail there, too. And Charlie's back to Romania, Bill to Egypt, and Ginny's here at home, sitting in her room, reading a magazine (a new hobby of hers), and sighing over you. Me? I'm just, I don't know, doing nothing, a little bit of Quidditch practice here and there. Well, got to be off, Pig is looking anxious to deliver something. Send me an owl about the 31st, and make sure you keep following those sightings of You- Know- Who!

Ron

Harry smiled and quickly turned the note over, grabbed his pen, and scribbled: Ron- thanks for the letters and snacks. 31st sounds great, though you should ask your mum about it. Yes, I'm watching out for (here Harry started writing "Voldemort", then thought better of it, crossed it out, and wrote "You-Know-Who" to please Ron, who insisted in sticking to that nickname for the Dark Lord.) You-Know-Who. Thanks again, and see you soon (hopefully),

Harry

There. He set the note down on his bedside table so he could continue reading the other letters. Then he turned to the piece of paper the barn owl had dropped, wondering whom he knew that owned one of those. He opened the letter and realized that Hermione had sent it, and she must be staying with Viktor Krum, the boy from Durmstrang that she had met that past year and had gone to the Yule Ball with.

Dear Harry,

How are you? I'm having a lovely summer, though I doubt that you can say the same. I'm staying right now with Viktor's family, who is quite nice, and the only other wizard family I've ever met besides Ron's! The house is humongous and beautiful, with lovely gardens, and… Well, anyway, I'm sure you don't want to hear all of that at a time like this, which I know must be really stressful for you. I've been ordering the Daily Prophet as well, and I'm really worried about all those sightings of You-Know-Who! [Yep, thought Harry, that was Hermione, worry, worry, worry...] You really should go stay with the Weasley's for the last three weeks of summer, at least there's a few grown wizards to protect you there! I myself will be staying with the Krum's for the rest of the summer, until, of course, a couple days before the 1st of September. But we really should meet up with Ron and go to Diagon Alley together sometime before then. Well, I want you to keep me posted on how things are going and if you're worried and if your scar hurts... IF YOUR SCAR HURTS AT ALL I want you to go straight away to Sirius or Dumbledore (Harry knew that Dumbledore, Hogwarts' headmaster, was said to be the only wizard Voldemort was afraid of.) and then write me and tell me right away, okay? I miss you, and look out for yourself, Harry! And go stay at the Weasleys' if you can! If you can't, write me and I'll figure out something.

Hermione

Oh, great, thought Harry. Now he was really in a fix: Ron wanted Harry to stay with the Grangers, Hermione wanted Harry to stay with the Weasleys, and he knew that if he didn't, they'd both freak out and get worried...He knew there was no possible way he could stay with either of them...There was only one thing to do, Harry thought, for his friends' sakes. He would simply stay here, with the Dursleys, for the rest of the summer, and get a ride form the Weasleys to Diagon Alley... it was the best he could do for the time being. Great. Harry grabbed the note he was writing to Ron off the bedside table and scribbled on the bottom: P.S. It turns out I can't go stay with Hermione, but it's alright, don't worry, I'll just stay at the Dursley's till the 31st. Dumbledore seems to think this is the safest place for me anyway. See ya.

He sent the letter off in Pig's beak, scribbled a similar one to Hermione, and sent that too with the Barn owl.

Harry sighed and looked at his watch. 3:00 AM! He should get some sleep... He hid the letters and chocolate frog wrapper with the candy and pretzel stash, and was just climbing back into bed, when he heard something tap at the window. What?, he thought, looking out the window at the familiar, minute owl that sat on his edge impatiently, I've already gotten the Daily Prophet for today! He pulled open the window reluctantly to discover that it was not the wizard newspaper, but a rolled up letter. He pulled it open hurriedly while giving the tiny owl a drink.

Dear Harry, (Harry recognized the loopy writing as Sirius's, and realized that the owl must be an owl from the post office at Hogsmeade, the wizarding village where Sirius had been living now for a while.) I can't write much now, hope all is well with you. It seems that Voldemort has discarded Peter Pettigrew from his ring of followers, and Peter is out on his own, wandering around aimlessly somewhere, and I'm on his trail. As soon as I catch him, I can have my name cleared, and you can move in immediately.

Harry's heart leapt at this statement the way it had when he first figured out that Sirius Black was his godfather, and Sirius had offered for Harry to live with him.

But however close to catching him I am, I hope you will forgive me that I will not be able to have you live with me until probably next summer, as it takes time to have my name cleared, reclaim my house and vault at Gringotts, and change my home to an appropriate living space for a 15-year-old boy! Please inform me immediately at anything-strange happening, and keep up your order of the Daily Prophet. Have a good summer,

Sirius

Harry sighed. The solution to his problem had been right there- if only Sirius could find him soon! But at least that was something to be happy about- his godfather was going to have his name cleared! He would no longer be known as the criminal escaped from Azkaban that everyone but Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore believed him to be. He could be recognized as the honest, wrongly accused man that he was. And Harry was going to live with him! No more Dursleys! Harry sighed, with his heart weighed with worry, sorrow, and a faint ray of happiness, sent the owl off to the dark skies, and fell into a deep sleep, preparing to face the three weeks that remained of summer.

The next morning, Harry trudged down to breakfast rubbing his eyes, to find that Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley were already seated at the table, watching Dudley's new DVD player he had received for his birthday. "Well, finally!" shrieked Aunt Petunia as Harry sat down at the table. "Now get over there and fetch us our breakfasts, we're in the middle of a good show! What was this called, Dudley-dear?"

" The Matrix, Mum."

"That's right, now go on, they're on the counter."

Harry grudgingly stood up and went to the kitchen to get the nasty, orange-brown protein drink that was the Dursley's "breakfast". Harry brought in all four glasses in one trip, now used to the Dursley's new habit of having Harry do everything for them while they claimed to watch the movies. He slammed them down on the table and fixed his eyes on the TV screen. Harry had watched Dudley watch this movie before; he knew it was right at the good part, where...

Petunia's shrill voice interrupted the movie.

"All right, it looks like it's over, right?! Let's turn it off." And with that, ignoring Dudley's protests, she reached out and clicked off the TV. Harry was used to this as well, as it happened almost every morning: Aunt Petunia would use the DVD player as an excuse to get Harry to do the work, and when Harry was done and would sit down to watch too, she would snap it off. Well, typical.

"Now, who wants to go get the mail? Dudleykins?"

"Don't call me that."

"Oh, now, baby, why not?"

"I'm not a baby! Don't call me anything!"

"Now, Dudley-"

"Not even that! Now I want to be called, um, how 'bout Fang." Harry started laughing so hard, not even being an expert at keeping a straight face would work now, he thought, looking at Dudley. Fang? That was a more accurate description of Dudley than Baby, at least, but it certainly didn't suit him. He looked more like a Fatty McGee, or maybe Big-Fat-Rolly-Polly-on-legs.

"Silence, boy!" Uncle Vernon intruded.

"Yes." agreed Petunia, "this is no time to laugh! You should be supporting Dudley's decisions, you cruel, cruel boy!"

Harry snorted even louder at this, and was glad for Aunt Petunia's interruption, "Someone, go and get the mail!"

So Harry was finally the one to stand up and retrieve the mail. Sometimes he liked this chore, as he got to see what everyone was receiving for the day. He flipped through the small quantity of letters. None for him, that was usual... those looked like bills...some letter in scroll writing, probably from Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister who despised Harry, but loved taunting him. She had managed to squeeze onto the envelope: For "The Whole Dursley Family, and that doesn't include anyone of the name of Harry Potter." Harry chuckled a little at this, remembering the time a few summers ago when he had gotten so mad at her that he had accidentally made her inflate like a balloon and pop. He kept flipping through. Aha, here was one that looked interesting: "For the Parents/Guardians of Dudley Dursley". Harry held it up to the light to try and read what it said- "HURRY UP WITH THAT MAIL, BOY!" shouted Uncle Vernon. Harry sighed and shoved the letter into the middle of the pile, crossed back to the table, and dropped them next to Mr. Dursley's plate.

"There, your highness." Harry mumbled.

"WHAT was that?"

"Nothing." Harry didn't want them to go into a fit now, not after Dudley's little name-announcement. Aunt Petunia snatched the mail and started looking through it, opening every one hurriedly.

"Not more bills! Ah, here's one from Marge, Vernon. It's for Dudley, you and I..." she through an icy look in Harry's direction. "It reads 'Dearest Vernon, Petunia, Dudley,-'"

"Fang," Dudley mumbled angrily, as if Aunt Marge was already supposed to have known this.

" 'Fang,'" Petunia corrected, " 'I hope your summer is going well, and I am sorry to inform you that you won't be graced with my presence on this holiday. Forgive me, but I will be on a new business trip with my new job.'"

"Pity," Harry thought, and wondered what her new job was. He could just imagine her as a stewardess, trying vainly to fit the cart and herself, down the aisle, and getting stuck. His visions were interrupted by Petunia continuing:

" 'I hope to come visit you during the school year, however, while that awful delinquent is out of the house. Please enjoy the rest of your vacation, and forgive me for not coming to visit. Sincerely, Marge.'"

"Ah, Well, that's ashamed," sighed Aunt Petunia.

"Any more mail?" mumbled Uncle Vernon.

"Oh, yes. "For the Parents/guardians of Dudley Dursley."

"Oh, Fang I do hope this is your Report Card!" Aunt Petunia opened it excitedly, and read out loud: "Oh, yes here it is! Science…F, Math…F, English…F, World Studies…D+, oh, well that's pretty good, Physical Education…F, Art…A+. Well, um… Fang… I'm ever so proud of your Art Skills, but-"

"Dudley! I can't believe you-"

"Wait, now wait, these Fs might accidentally mean as, and…ah, here, another note was included in the envelope. It says: For the Parents of Dudley Dursley-"

"FANG!"

"Whatever, we regret to inform you that your child has not been invited back to Smeltings High School this year. This is for the following reasons-

1. His report card shows that he failed almost every subject in school-"

"NOT TRUE!" shouted Uncle Vernon, enraged.

"Oh, Vernon," Aunt Petunia wailed, wiping tears from her eyes, "You read the rest out loud. I can't bear it."

"Okay, okay:

'2. He has been exhibiting unacceptable behavior towards his fellow students, as you know, because we sent home the letter about poor Wilfred Banks' nose.

3. His uniform was specially made last year, and there will be no more exceptions made, now that his uniform size is XXXXXXXXXL Super-Size. We are sorry, but your son is, to put it bluntly, expelled. Have a good year, and good luck in finding another school for your son. Sincerely, Arnold Smelting.'"

"Ex-ex-expelled?!" screeched Aunt Petunia. "Surely that doesn't mean, that can't mean that-" and she burst into tears.

"WHAT?" roared Uncle Vernon. "EXPELLED?! From SMELTINGS! Dudley-"

"Fang, Dad, Fang!"

"I'll call you whatever I damn well please!"

Harry couldn't bear it anymore. He dashed out of the house and into the yard, and fell down on the lawn with laughter. Expelled? Dudley? Harry could hardly believe it. Where would he be able to go to now?, Harry wondered as he calmed down and went inside. When he reached the kitchen, the doors were closed and Harry felt that he should not intruded on this delicate conversation. Harry's smile broadened at that thought. He could faintly here an ANGRY (imagine!) Uncle Vernon scolding Dudley. He headed up to his room and collapsed on the bed feeling considerably happier than he had in a while.