Disclaimer – All characters are JK Rowling's, not my own,

A/N – Ok, not a good chapter, but bear with me and read the second. I'm not great at starting stuff but hopefully it will get better!

It was a warm, sunny morning in the middle of July, and most of the residents of Privet Drive were out in their pristine gardens, enjoying the heat, but being careful to show off how their flowerbeds were flourishing at the same time. There was only one resident of the street who was not outside, who hadn't, in fact, been outside for some time. This resident was a 15 year old boy, with unruly black hair and vibrant green eyes. This boy was Harry Potter.

At this moment in time, Harry Potter was lying on his bed in the second bedroom at number four, Privet Drive, in the same position in which he had been lying for the last few hours, staring morosely at the ceiling. In fact, Harry Potter had been sat in this position for the past few days, only moving when he needed to use the bathroom, which wasn't often as he wasn't eating much either. The only other time that Harry Potter moved was to write letters to his friends, or when they wrote to him, as he didn't want them to come to Privet Drive and find him like this.

Harry Potter is in fact a wizard, who has been attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the past five years. In his last year, only a month ago, he had lost his godfather Sirius Black, in a battle against Lord Voldemort, his mortal enemy. This was the reason as to why Harry had been lying so still for the past few days. He had been thinking. Hard.

During the first few weeks of the holidays, Harry had been feeling incredibly upset, and incredibly guilty, as it had been him that had caused Sirius to go to the Department of Mysteries in the first place. However, after a week or so of feeling sorry for himself, Harry realised, along with many, many insistent letters from Hermione, and even a couple from Ron, that it wasn't entirely his fault, and there was no point in beating himself up about it. There was work to do and training to be done, not for school, as he would have no homework until he received his OWL results, but for the upcoming war, and the battle that he knew he must have with Voldemort. It was this that Harry had been thinking the most about during the last couple of days. The prophecy that Professor Dumbledore had revealed to him the day that Sirius had died; the prophecy that foretold that either he or Voldemort had to kill the other.

He had reached the conclusion that he would work as hard as possible during the next year, in order to become as strong as possible – as strong as he needed to be to defeat Voldemort. With this new determination, Harry finally rose from his bed and headed for the bathroom to take a shower, then wrote letters to his friends, asking when he would be allowed to leave Privet Drive. He was eager to begin as soon as possible, yet he couldn't access the wizarding world as he needed to whilst he was stuck in his muggle house with his aunt and uncle.

The next few days passed in a blur; Harry had a new found energy, and, much to his relatives' consternation, a new found optimism. He found himself whistling and singing as he went about his various chores knowing that he could do something about the situation, and not have to wait for Voldemort to come to him. Of course, he was still deeply upset about Sirius, but felt that Sirius would have wanted him to get revenge rather than sit around moping. Eventually it was July 30th, the night before his birthday. Harry sat at his desk, furiously taking notes from his fifth year Defence Against the Dark Arts text book. Although Harry was sure he had done well, and would be able to carry the subject on to NEWT level, he hadn't gone as far as ordering books yet, as he felt that might be tempting fate, so he had to put up with his old textbook, getting as much information as he could. Eventually, he put down his quill and glanced at the clock: 23:58. Two more minutes until he was sixteen. Smiling slightly, he rolled up his parchment and put it back into his trunk, gazing out into the navy sky. Sure enough, after a few minutes, he spotted a dark shape gliding towards his window, then another, then another. He opened the window, and stood aside to let the four owls enter his room, then ducked as a fifth whistled past his head with an excited hoot. Wincing slightly, Harry caught the over-excited owl first, muttering "Shut up Pig!" as he did so. Retrieving the letter from the small owl's leg was easier said then done, but he managed it, and poked an owl treat into Pig's mouth to keep him quiet. If the hyperactive owl woke up the Dursleys, there would be hell to pay.

Smiling, Harry opened the letter he knew would be from Ron;

Hey Harry! Happy Birthday!

We're at you-know-where and we're not technically supposed to send anything, as you know, but we managed to persuade mum to go to Dumbledore, and he relaxed the rules for your birthday! Hermione says I've got to write a long letter to make up for it, but you'll just have to live with what you get – when I run out of things to say I'll stop, you can get the rambling from her!

Well, your present. I couldn't send it to you with Pig 'cos Dumbledore said it would be too noticeable, so we're going to give it to you when you get here! It won't be long mate I promise, but I can't say anymore, you know why. Hopefully it won't be intercepted but you never know. Ginny and the twins say hi, and so do Bill and Charlie. See you soon mate,

Ron

Laughing, Harry folded up the letter and rolled his eyes. He was frustrated at the lack of information but, unlike last year, he now understood why, and was satisfied to wait until he was able to join them at Grimmauld Place. Next, he took a letter from a handsome tawny owl, who gave a satisfied nod; them promptly spread her wings and flew elegantly out of the window. Bemused, Harry glanced at the parchment, and then laughed as he recognised Hermione's writing. He assumed she must have bought an owl during the summer and, he thought, she had definitely chosen the right one; the bird acted just like her!

Dear Harry!

Happy Birthday! As you've probably realised, mum and dad bought me a new owl! She's called Kia, isn't she beautiful?

As Ron has probably already explained to you, we can't send our gifts here as they would be too conspicuous, so we can give them to you when we see you. Gosh, I hope we're together when we get our OWL results, and I hope it's soon. I've been terribly nervous, I'm sure I did badly in Ancient Runes, I know I mixed up at least two, and I didn't do as well as I would have liked in Defence either, though I did much better than I would have if it hadn't been for the DA of course. Are you carrying that on this year by the way? I think you should, I'm sure that Professor Dumbledore would let you, and it would be ever so useful for fighting You-Know-Who. That's another thing actually; I've started to say His name now, Ron keeps yelling at me every time, saying that it's bad enough that you do it. I'm not going to stop though – fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself. In fact, I think that you should teach that in the DA if you decide to carry it on. Ok I've got to go now, Harry, Mrs Weasley's shouting us for dinner and I need to write to my parents tonight too, that's why I've told Kia to come straight back, I hope you don't mind. We'll be seeing you really soon Harry, hang in there,

Love, Hermione.

Smiling, Harry fondly folded up the paper and shook his head; trust Hermione to be so nervous about her exam results. He was happy that she wanted him to continue the DA though; even if they had a good Defence teacher this year, it would still be useful for students to learn how to defend themselves. Glancing at the other two owls, he recognised Hagrid's writing and smiled as he read the short note that wished him happy birthday, and told him that he would be seeing him soon. He also recognised the other owl as Errol, the Weasley family owl, who enclosed a note from Mrs Weasley saying that she hoped that she would be seeing him soon. Feeling much happier, Harry set all the letters down on his desk, and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, he showered and dressed, then went into the kitchen to begin making breakfast for the Dursleys; he woke at least half an hour earlier than any of them and therefore had to make their breakfast. When his aunt and uncle finally arose (Dudley wouldn't be up for another couple of hours at least), Harry returned to his bedroom, where he started to make notes from his fifth year potions textbook; he had never really paid much attention in potions, as his least favourite professor, Snape, taught it, but last year, Professor McGonagall had told him that he would need potions at NEWT level to become an auror, so he felt that he had to start taking it seriously. He was so engrossed in his note taking, that he didn't hear the doorbell ring, or the voices below until,

"POTTER!"

Jumping, Harry turned around and frowned at the stairs; his uncle had refrained from shouting at him since he had been threatened by Mad-Eye Moody at Kings Cross on his return from school. Puzzled, Harry went downstairs, then stopped as he saw three of the most unexpected people in his living room. Remus Lupin, Tonks and Bill Weasley were stood in front of his relatives, grinning brightly.

"Wotcher Harry!"

"Hey Tonks! Hi Bill, Professor. What are you all doing here?"

"We're leaving Harry, shortly I might add, so I suggest we go and grab your stuff. I'll give you a hand." Lupin smiled, and ushered a grinning Harry out of the room and up the stairs.

As they entered Harry's bedroom, Lupin turned round and looked Harry up and down.

"You look much better than you did at the start of the summer."

Harry frowned, and then grinned. "So do you."

Remus laughed. "Fair enough."

He then glanced around the room, his eyes landing on Harry's neatly packed trunk. "Have you even unpacked this?"

"Only for what I needed. Last time you didn't exactly give me much notice, and it took me ages to disentangle my socks from Tonks' last attempt."

Lupin laughed again then shrugged. "Well that saves us some time I suppose. Anything else you need? Right, let's go and stop Bill and Tonks from killing your relatives then."

"Do we have to? I think it would be quite entertaining!"

"So do I but I'm sure the Dursleys wouldn't. Besides, we've only got three minutes until we leave."

"How are we getting there?"

"Floo powder. The Ministry are having to bow down to Dumbledore because of last year, so he's using it to our advantage."

As Remus finished, he and Harry stepped into the living room, to find Dudley cowering behind his mother, his hands clamped over his overly large behind. Mr Dursley was purple with rage, with white blotches where his fear was clearly showing. His wife was stood next to him, one hand clamped over her mouth, the other trying to shield her son. In front of them stood Tonks, her hair flashing, rainbow colours and an amused looking Bill.

Vernon spotted Harry and Lupin immediately, and gathered what little courage he had.

"Potter, get the hell out of our house and stay out! We've brought you up from when you were a baby, fed you and clothed you, and this is how you treat us, this is the respect we get?!"

"You have hardly looked after him," replied Remus calmly, though his posture was stiff and tense. "You have shown as much neglect as you legally could and have never gone out of your way to show any care or love for your nephew. Did you know, for example, that his godfather was killed in June by Lord Voldemort, and that he narrowly avoided the same fate?"

At this, Uncle Vernon smirked at Harry, completely ignoring the fact that his nephew had almost died just a month ago. "Your godfather's dead is he? The murderer finally impaled on his own sword." Suddenly a light flashed in Vernon's eyes. "Say, did he leave you any money? As your guardians, we are legally entitled to 'hold' it for you until you're of age…"

"Actually, when Sirus died, he passed magical guardianship of Harry over to me, and therefore I decide what Harry gets to do with what Sirius left him." Remus had stepped next to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder. As a result of this statement, Mr Dursley had turned even more purple than Harry thought possible, but was not given the chance to retaliate, as at this moment, Bill cleared his throat and said calmly,

"The first signal has just been given. We have one minute."

Nodding, Harry picked up his trunk and, with Bill's help, dragged it over to the fireplace, where Remus and Tonks joined them.

"Now, Harry, Bill's going to go first, to check if the coast is clear. A signal will then be given, and you'll go through with Remus, then I'll follow, is that ok?"

Harry nodded at the Auror, then stepped back to let Bill through. After a couple of seconds, red sparks spitted up out of the fire and Bill dropped in Floo Powder, saying clearly "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix,"

before disappearing from view. Glancing up, Lupin nodded at Harry and said, quietly, "Think about where it is whilst you're saying it, it works the same as if you were entering it from the outside."

Tonks, who had been watching the fire intently, said "Remus, Harry, go."

Picking up his trunk, Harry followed Lupin into the fire, thinking hard of 12 Grimmauld Place before saying "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix." He then felt the familiar, unpleasant sensation of travelling by floo, until he saw the cold, hard floor of the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, and put his hands out to stop him. Accepting Lupin's hand to help him up, he dumped his trunk in a corner, and then followed Lupin up the stairs and out of the kitchen, being careful on the landing not to wake Mrs. Black up. They pushed open a door on the other side of the hall, where Harry was immediately grabbed into a hug by Hermione, whilst Ron punched him lightly on the arm, grinning. Looking around, Harry saw the Weasleys all beaming at him and smiled. He was home.