Chapter 1: Return to Privet Drive

Number four, Privet Drive, was unchanged but in one way. The Dursleys were missing. Aunt Petunia wasn't in her flowery nightgown, curlers in her hair, armed with the latest cleaning products, scrubbing in the kitchen. Uncle Vernon wasn't having that second, third piece of cake as he watched the late night news, yelling out grumbles of news to Aunt Petunia. Even Dudley, was no where to be seen.

A week after the defeat of Voldemort, among hundreds of owls that pelted Harry thanking him, was a letter from the Ministry of Magic.

Dear Mr. Potter,

It has come to the attention of the Auror Office that two of our Aurors, have not yet returned from their most recent security and concealment assignment. As you are aware, the Auror Office granted a special mission to protect muggle members of your family, in response to Dark wizard activity near Number Four Privet Drive nearly nine months ago.

We have contacted the Aurors on the assignment, and have arranged for them to meet you at Number Four Privet Drive, three nights from tonight at precisely nine o'clock in the evening for the delivery of the muggles by portkey.

Signed,

Dane Rook,

Head Secretary of The Auror Office

Ministry of Magic

Harry had apparated to the house hours before the meeting time. He was in no hurry to accept "delivery of the muggles" the Auror Office had arranged, without asking if he wanted to be there when the Dursleys arrived. In fact, Harry had no clue why he was back at the Dursleys. He had thrown aside the Ministry of Magic letter upon reading it, and had no intention of keeping the appointment that was bestowed on him.

Harry walked into the living room, and wearily sat down on a dust-covered chair. Sighing with restlessness, he thought about that morning at the Burrow. Fred's memorial was the night before, so the family had all awaken early that day. Unable to sleep, unable to rest, the family and Harry were silently trying to avoid one another, needing to grieve on their own. Harry had watched George, walk out into the gardens, dejected and torn.

He had to get it away from it all, away from the wizarding world, away from the death and pain, away from the grieving magical community, when he went upstairs to Bill's room and saw the Ministry of Magic letter that invited him a rest from all the heartbreak.

He had only to find Mrs. Weasley and Ron, tell them where he was going, and had waited in Bill's old room until he apparated to Privet Drive when he knew he wasn't going to be missed.

From his chair, he glanced around the room. It had been years since he had really looked at the place. Spending most of his summer holidays outdoors or locked in the small bedroom upstairs. He noticed that the dust had gathered on the tables and the flowers, the ones Aunt Petunia meticulously watered and cared for, had wilted.

In fact, dust covered the entire living room. Harry saw that many lamps, books, and pillows were haphazardly thrown about the floor. A death eater's frantic search for clues on Harry's whereabouts? Or a muggle burglar, looking for trinkets to steal, knowing that no one lived at Number Four anymore?

Harry got up and started to walk around the room, finally coming to stop in front of the fireplace, but he found that the frames that normally adorned the mantel were missing. Frowning to himself, he than glanced at the walls, but the family portrait, the one taken prior to Dudley leaving for Smeltings Academy, was also missing. In fact, every photo of the Dursleys was gone.

Harry took out his gold pocket watch, and was slightly taken back to realize that it was nearing nine o'clock. Harry had sat in the dusty living room for hours, without realizing it. These days, the minutes felt like hours, as each day brought fresh memories of the people who had died only the week before at Hogwarts.

Pushing aside the new wave of pangs in his heart, Harry sat back down, awaiting the portkey.

Soon, a cracked silver teapot portkey, glowing blue and materializing in the middle of the living room, dropped to the floor.

Harry stared at the portkey for a minute, unsure of what to do next. Should he apparrate back to the Burrow? Harry stood back up and went to the front window, peering out into the dark street through the blinds. The street was empty.

Harry thought about the gloom at the Burrow, and decided to wait a few more minutes before leaving.

A sudden loud CRACK! made him swirl around to another loud CRACK! A witch and wizard in bellowing robes came forward to shake Harry's hand, as his aunt and uncle stood there with their hands over their hearts. Harry remembered the first time he had side-along apparrated and the shock on their faces was quite amusing. Remembering that the wizard he had apparrated with was Dumbledore, he quickly pushed the memory away and instead focused on the Aurors in front of him.

A tall witch in dark robes came forward and took his hand in both of hers. "Harry Potter, first of all, thank you. I have been in the muggle world for a while now of course, but I have heard enough to know that you and your friends are responsible for the defeat of he-who-must-not-be-named" said the witch. "My name is Sam, Samantha Stone, but call me Sam." The witch gave him a warm, sad smile, then turned to the wizard, saying "and this Foot, Magnus Foot, an Auror in training, he's almost finished in fact, I believe this assignment would be marking his last day as a trainee, is it not Foot?"

Foot, a younger looking man with light blonde hair, gave a slight nod, but Harry could see the excitement and pleasure in the small man's eyes. Although he looked older, with unshaven stubble and dirty travel robes, Harry detected the youth in the man's face that clearly showed that it wasn't many years since he had left school.

"You should return to the Ministry now Foot, I know you want to go home to celebrate and see your family." the witch smiled at Foot, who again gave a slight nod to both Stone and Harry before walking out to the hallway. A loud CRACK! Indicated that Foot had gone.

"Ahem!" Uncle Vernon cleared his throat loudly. Turning around, Sam and Harry saw the Dursleys standing root to the spot they had apparated. Stone rolled her eyes at Uncle Vernon, which surprised Harry a great deal.

"Oh Mr. D. it wasn't that bad was it? It's your fault you know. I told you that the portkey was the better option of the two, after you and Mrs. D. had refused to use the floo network." She rolled her eyes again; plopping down on the couch, causing a cloud of dust to rise and Aunt Petunia's gasp at the state of her living room.

Sam turned in her seat, and grinned at Harry, saying in a loud whisper "really! I've seen four, five year old kids who aren't afraid to use the floo network! You'd think I was trying to convince them to fly a Cleansweep Two into a storm of bludgers!"

"I WILL NOT STEP INTO A FIRE ONLY TO FIND MYSELF GOING LOONEY LIKE THE REST OF YOU LOT" Uncle Vernon bellowed, his face turning red. Aunt Petunia nodded with equal conviction.

Sam threw her hands up in the air, "WHICH, is why we had to APPARATE without you or Mrs. D. knowing. You also refused to use the PORTKEY, a much more pleasant way to travel if you've never apparrated before! IF you had LISTENED, instead of stampeding about like a bunch of red-faced-monkeys at a Hogsmeade Village Festival!".

"I DEMAND TO SEE YOUR MINISTER AT ONCE, I'LL HAVE YOU FIRED. JAILED UP. YOU COULD'VE KILLED US ALL, AND WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! IT WAS UNLAWFUL! WHERE ARE MY RIGHTS, I DEMAND THAT YOU RESTORE MY RIGHTS. YOU YOUNG HOOLIGAN."

Sam chuckled at this, "I'm actually close in age to you Mr. D. Been over fifteen years since I left Hogwarts, as I must have told you a hundred times by now. They wanted an Auror with experience to babysit Harry Potter's relatives, although personally, I think someone younger would have been better, I don't have the energy to argue with you every moment of every day." Turning to Harry, she explained, "I'm the only muggle-born Auror with over ten years of experience. Obviously, they needed a witch or wizard who'd be able to live as a muggle with your Aunt and Uncle, while being able to protect them in case a Death Eater found us. Kingsley personally put me to the job. Although, it's been years since I've lived in the muggle world, so it was no picnic for me, I assure you. I'll take Auror training any day in exchange for the months I lived with this lot" jerking her head towards the Dursleys. Harry smiled back at Sam, he had to hand it to her, from experience Harry knew just how unbearable it could be to live with the Dursleys, and Sam had survived it like a true solider in battle.

Harry walked across the living room, sitting next to Sam, and looked at his Uncle and Aunt, who didn't seem to know what to do next. Being back after so many months, they seemed lost.

It was Sam again who spoke, "Sit down Mr. D., Mrs. D., I just need to talk over a few procedures and I'll be on my way, back to my own family."

Aunt Petunia was the first to sit down, sitting on the edge of her normal chair, as if careful not to get her clothes dusty. Uncle Vernon finally huffed and grumbled, and sat down next to her.

Harry finally had a chance to look at his Aunt and Uncle properly, and noted that their clothes were shabby, even though it was once fine tailored clothing. Uncle Vernon had lost weight, a lot of weight in fact. Although still rather large and beefy, he had regained some of his neck, and his normally pink skin tone was pale. Aunt Petunia had so much gray hair that she looked twice her age. She too, looked pale and worn out.

"Well, go on then" grumbled Uncle Vernon.

"Right, back to business." Replied Sam. Harry looked from his Uncle to Sam.

"As you know Harry, your cousin Dudley is at his school, Smootley.."

"SMELTINGS" interrupted Uncle Vernon, regaining his red face.

"Right, Smeltings," smiled Sam, unflustered. Harry now understood why Kingsley had recommended her. This witch was classic Fred and George, ready wit and unflustered delivery. Fred. A pang of extreme hurt, but Harry forced himself to push away the memory for the hundredth time that night. Harry watched in amazement as the dueling continued between Auror and muggle.

"As I was saying, the ministry didn't want to interrupt the muggle education of your cousin for obvious reasons." She sideways glanced at Uncle Vernon before continuing "we wanted to prevent him from becoming any much like your uncle there."

Holding a hand up to Uncle Vernon she hurriedly said "Now Mr. D, now that the war and yadda yadda, is over, I'm been granted full use of my wand, so don't make me force you into silence." She winked at Harry before continuing, "so your cousin's school has been protected much like homes have been. The usual spells, you know, cave inimicum, protego horribilis, that sorta thing. Your Aunt, Uncle, and I have been traveling from place to place, staying in hotels and inns, sometimes in empty buildings so that our traveling couldn't be tracked. Overall we went pretty much undetected, although we did have a slight skirmish with a brother of a death eater who was standing watch at this house when your Aunt and Uncle demanded for weeks to return so that they could pick up the Christmas presents they had bought for Dudley to send to him. Dudley had to stay at the school during winter break, and they couldn't bear the thought of him, getting only the five presents they had bought while we traveled."

At this, Stone glared at the two who had their faces turned to the sides, their nose in the air as if refusing to acknowledge the danger they had put themselves in. "but it wasn't too bad, I missed a few jinx spells which hit Mr. D's car and a fire hydrant, but the prat managed to get away before I could stun him. Gave Arthur and his department quite a bit to fix up afterwards, your neighbors are quite nosey, most of them were peering out of the windows, so I imagine memory charms were done on everyone on this street. After that incident, we knew that we really had to stay under cover, so we had to get rid of all muggle bank cards and rely solely on muggle paper money. The Ministry provided funds, of course, but your Aunt and Uncle refused to use any of it until about three days after they had run out of their own stash, and even then, they refused to eat more than the basic bread and milk bought with our freak money." At this, Sam sighed and closed her eyes, leaning back on the couch as if her assignment had been more than a little troublesome.

Just a short moment later, Sam bounced back up on the couch, and continued.

"We took all precaution of course, even removing all photographs of the family so that their faces would at least remain anonymous. Which by the way Mrs. D," Sam glanced over to Aunt Petunia, and continued, "All confiscated items and photos will be all be sent to you by owl in the morning. They were being kept in Gringrotts."

Harry glanced at his Aunt and Uncle again, who were still looking away from Sam and Harry. Although Hermione, Ron and himself had also survived on wild mushrooms and the occasional meals out of tinned cans while looking for the horucuxes, he knew that Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had never had so much gone without having meat at every meal, let alone having to live for months on bread and milk alone.

The clock in the hallway chimed eleven o'clock.

"Oh wow, I am an hour late in reporting my assignment to the Auror Office. I really must be going. I'll just use a few protection spells on this house before I apparrate, just in case a death eater or two have escaped being caught." With that she stood up and took out her wand and muttered spells as she walked around the room.

Harry just sat and watched her. He leaned back into the sofa, and closed his eyes; he too was late in returning to the Burrow. He knew Mrs. Weasley would be up, sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, while everyone else retreated into their own rooms to be alone. Having finished, Sam stood in front of his Aunt and Uncle, looking down at them. "Well Mr. D. Mrs. D, it was a pleasure."

Sam was definitely a strange witch, Harry thought to himself. A pleasure? Living with the Dursleys? Even Uncle Vernon wasn't buying it, as he was squinting up at her with venom. She held her hand out into Uncle Vernon's face, waiting to shake his hand.

With an extreme look of disbelief, Harry watched as Uncle Vernon slowly stood up, and shook Sam the Auror's hand.

"Thanks…." He grumbled in a low voice. "…for protecting Dudley, and his school" Although Sam hadn't even seen Dudley, and had protected him and his wife, she nodded in understanding and turned to Aunt Petunia. Aunt Petunia also shook Stone's hand, Harry noticed that Aunt Petunia held Stone's hand with the tips of her fingers, but didn't say anything as Sam walked to the middle of the living room, readying herself to apparate back to the Ministry. The Ministry had removed the anti-apparition rule the day after the battle of Hogwarts.

Once Sam stood there, looking out to the three of them sitting on the couches, she reached into her robes for her wand when suddenly Aunt Petunia cried out. "Samantha!" Sam paused and stared at Aunt Petunia, and for a moment it seemed as if Aunt Petunia wasn't going to say anything when suddenly tears started to stream down her cheeks. Sam made a movement as to walk over to her when Aunt Petunia shook her head. "No. no its alright. I just….. I just….thank you… about Lily…and…for protecting my family." Aunt Petunia suddenly stood up straight to look at Stone, still clutching her husband's hand, she continued, "…and…I'm sorry about your son, and your parents."

After a moment of silence, Sam gave a small smile as she nodded. "It was a long time ago…" she said quietly, "I'm glad I got to know you Mrs. D. good luck to you and your family." With that, a loud CRACK! And Sam was no longer there. The three of the stared at the place Sam had just stood, not saying anything until Aunt Petunia made a move towards the kitchen.

"Vernon, I'll make some tea, I know we had tea bags before we left…" With that she disappeared through the door.

Harry and Uncle Vernon sat in the living room, and Harry realized that he had yet to say a word to his Aunt and Uncle.

Harry cleared in throat. "I'm sorry that you and Aunt Petunia had to go hide because of me." He waited, but Uncle Vernon looked as though he didn't even hear him. "I came to meet you to officially tell you that I will no longer be living here…"

Of course Uncle Vernon had already known that, hadn't they said when they separated last summer that it might be the last time they saw each other?

Harry continued. "You know that I have inherited Sirius's, my godfather's, house, I'll be living there in a few months. I'm at my friend Ron's house at the moment." Harry didn't know why he was telling him all this, and Uncle Vernon acted as if he didn't hear anything.

Harry waited for a couple minutes, but seeing Uncle Vernon had still refused to look at him, he sighed as he reached over to the coffee table where he had put an envelope when he first arrived. "This is for you and Aunt Petunia." Uncle Vernon looked at Harry's hand, were Harry was holding a rather full envelope. "I had heard about that car that Sam had damaged, unfortunately, things damaged with certain spells can't be repaired with magic. The ministry was intending to replace it for you, Mr. Weasley was in charge of it. As well as repairing all the damages done to your home while you and Aunt Petunia was away." Harry glanced at the broken window, broken lamps. "This is money, muggle money of course, for the repairs and car replacement."

Uncle Vernon stared at the envelope, and then at Harry, squinting his eyes, "Why?.. Why would you give me money?" he said with a slight snarl.

Harry sighed as he dropped the envelope back onto the coffee table. "The ministry gave Hermione, Ron, and I…money for….our success. Hermione's parents are muggles, so I hear the ministry will be providing funds for them when they're…." Harry paused for a second, how do you explain to Uncle Vernon that his best friend had modified her parents' memories so that they forgot who they were, and was currently lost somewhere in Australia?

Harry hesitantly started again, "…when they're found. Ron's family…" Harry thought back to when the Weasleys had all refused to accept the galleons the ministry officials had brought to the Burrow, demanding and asking the rather terrified workers if there was a price for a beloved son. The only thing the Weasleys would allow the Ministry to pay for was the funeral, and magnificent headstone, one that George had picked out fitted for the hero Fred was.

"Well, anyway, I received enough gold to repair my godfather's house and had some more leftover. I don't need the gold, I still have plenty in Gringotts, and I thought you could use the money to pay off the bills and house payments that have been piling up since Aunt Petunia and you've been gone…. Help you buy a new car….. For… letting me stay here in the summers, and before Hogwarts," said Harry, his voice fading. Feeling tired and weary, and in no mood to argue or be yelled at by Uncle Vernon, he reached for his wand, ready to leave.

His uncle was staring at the envelope on the coffee table, still refusing to look at Harry. Uncle Vernon seemed much older, tired, and as big as he was, less of a person than he used to be.

"I don't bloody need your help" said Uncle Vernon, without much enthusiasm. "Voldy-what's his face comes and suddenly I'm hiding with a lunatic calling me "MR.D" as I watch my life apart fall apart. I, BLOODY HELL, DID NOT ASK FOR THIS." he roared as he slammed his fists on the table.

Aunt Petunia scurried into the living room, saying with a loud squeal "Vernon! Vernon! You'll wake the neighbors!"

Sighing, Harry reached into his pocket for his wand, and CRACK! He was gone.