Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, all rights go to JK Rowling.
Set in the summer before forth year. Canon-Compliant for first three books.
Moving
Harry knelt outside number 4 Privet Drive doing some of his Aunt Petunia's gardening when a moving truck pulled up outside the recently sold number 2. It was the third day of summer, and Harry only had one thing on his mind: when would he be rescued by the Weasleys towards the end of the summer. Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, called for him from the living room, in a polite tone of voice, and Harry followed his instruction, not wanting to get in trouble during only the first week of summer.
"Harry, please sit down, I have something to tell you." Vernon told Harry in a pleasant tone. "Now, as you may have guessed, we are getting new neighbours. They are, as you call them, 'muggles' but their daughter is not. I would like you to introduce them to the area, seeing as you are better with, um, those types of people. Now please go to your room and change so you can meet them when they arrive soon."
Harry's mouth just gapped, not only at what his uncle had just said, but at the civilised way he spoke the him.
"How do you know she's a witch Uncle Vernon?" Harry said as politely as he could.
"Your headmaster Dumbledore sent us a letter regarding our new neighbours and hoping that we would help them settle in. Seeing as you probably know the daughter, as we are told she is about your age, we thought you might like to be the one the help. It would also get you out of this house for a while, seeing as for years of summer holidays, you have been stuck inside this house, unless gardening."
"Thank you Uncle Vernon, I'll go to my room then?" Harry asked in a confused tone of voice. Vernon just politely nodded and Harry turned to go to his room. He got changed and sat on his bed wondering who would be standing outside the door when his neighbours came over. Just as soon as he decided that it couldn't be anyone in Gryffindor, he was called by an unusually pleasant Aunt Petunia. Harry bounced down the steps two at a time, stopping only when he got to the bottom step, and only because he looked directly at the familiar bushy haired girl at the door. Standing with his mouth agape, he finally realised his new neighbour was one of his best friends. Realising he still had to talk, he walked over to her and welcomed her.
"Hi Hermione! Welcome to Privet Drive! This is my Uncle Vernon, my Aunt Petunia and my cousin Dudley. Guys, meet Hermione, my best friend from Hogwarts."
"Welcome to Little Whinging Hermione, it's a pleasure to meet one of Harry's friends." Petunia said with a smile, holding out her hand to shake the 14 year olds. Hermione gladly accepted it and replied with a smile.
"Hello, and thank you for this warm welcome, I just came over to say hello and meet the wizarding family who Dumbledore said would be here. I thought it was going to be someone I didn't really know too well though, but I guess I was wrong." Her smile never fell, even when she just said she was wrong. Never in her life, had she been so relived to be wrong.
"Would you like some tea Hermione, I just made some cake I'm sure you would like." said Petunia with that same out-of-character personality.
Later, after several cups of tea and meeting of the Granger parents, Harry took Hermione to the small play park near their homes.
"So Hermione, when were you gonna tell us you were moving?" Harry asked in a mock-hurt tone.
"I just found out when I arrived back home after Hogwarts. I was gonna sent you and Ron owls, but as you know, I don't have one so I was going to have to wait till you sent me a letter with Hedwig or Ron with Pigwidgeon."
"Oh yeah. I know! For your birthday present I'm going to get you an owl! I remember you wanted one last summer, but you bought Crookshanks instead. And if you dare argue against me…" Harry exclaimed happily, but the last statement was said as a warning, while Hermione had a look of shock on her face.
A little while later, the topic of Ron came up.
"So, when are we gonna tell Ron?" Harry asked steering off of the previous subject of how useless Divination is.
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked a rarely confused Hermione. "Oh you mean about us being neighbours now! We could send him an owl tonight. Oh and while we're on the subject of telling people things, why did you lie to me and Ron for years saying that your aunt and uncle were cruel?"
"I didn't! I was even surprised at how pleasant they were to me, and you this morning. They were acting so different from usual, I have no idea what to think. They were even pleasant when they said they received a letter from Dumbledore."
A few hours later, and a trip around the shopping centre nearby, Hermione left for her new home, and Harry entered his home. For a while before going to bed, the two magical teenagers sent messages via Hedwig, who was more than happy to be able to fly so much in one evening, especially when getting treated with owl treats after each flight from the two teens.
The next morning, after a pleasant conversation with his aunt, and a bigger-than-usual breakfast, Harry knocked on an expecting Hermione's front door, and the two set off for Diagon Alley. When they reached The Three Broomsticks, they spotted Mr Weasley talking to Hagrid. After waving 'hello', the two adults coaxed them over to talk.
"Hi Hagrid, Hi Mr Weasley" both teens said simultaneously.
"Hello Harry and Hermione." said Arthur Weasley politely.
"'ey kids nice ta' see yer 'ere. So you doin some meetin' up fer the 'olidays?" asked Hagrid.
"Oh no, we came shopping, I just moved houses-" Hermione began.
"- And surprisingly, she happened to move right next door to me." Harry finished with a proud smile.
"Ron and the others are in the alley if you wanted to meet up with them, I think they might be in Flourish and Blotts." Arthur suggested.
"Thanks and bye." Harry and Hermione both said, waving to the two men.
After making a stop in Gringotts for some money, the two made their way to the bookstore to look for Ron and the other Weasleys. Ron, the twins and Ginny were all standing outside Flourish and Blotts, and, looking at them, you could see they were studying something in George's hands. When the two non-Weasleys were in close enough range, you could tell that they were looking at some of the twin's merchandise.
"Hey guys!" Harry and Hermione said together, and all four Weasleys just gasped.
"Harry Potter -"
"- in Diagon Alley -"
"- early summer -"
"- with no Hagrid?" the twins said, finishing each others sentences ending together.
"Yep, it's me, in the flesh, without Hagrid or any other teacher - with the permission of my uncle to come here!" Harry announced, looking at the Weasley siblings all with their mouths dropped.
"We was gonna send an owl to tell you some cool news, but seeing as you're here we can tell you now." Hermione stated. "I moved houses yesterday, and now I have the privilege of living next door to 'the great Harry Potter'!" She made the last four words over-dramatised. The six all laughed at this.
"We're off to Eeylops Owl Emporium anyone wanna come with?" asked Harry.
"I'll come, I can't be bothered with waiting for Mum anymore," Ron said to Harry, then to his siblings: "Can you tell mum that I'm off with Harry and Hermione will ya'?" All he got was three nods in response so he turned around and followed his two best friends towards the owl emporium. "So, why are we going to Eeylops Owl Emporium?"
"I'm getting Hermione an owl for a birthday present." Harry stated simply.
"Yeah, seeing as I can't ever send you mail until one of you guys send me some, so Harry offered to get me one, no arguments."
After half an hour of looking at all of the beautiful owls, Hermione saw one that caught her eye. Harry paid for it and then they all left. She named her owl Angelicum, as she was a snow white owl just like Harry's. Pulling Harry into a hug, Hermione extremely cheerfully said "thank you so much Harry!"
"So guys, any plans for the summer then? Dad's planning on taking us to the Quiditch World Cup and you guys could probably come too!"