Author's Note: I'm trying to keep my story as close to canon as possible so if I make any slip-ups please feel free to let me know and I will try to fix them as soon as possible or explain why I changed something. Now that I've finally started writing this fic I have no idea how long it will take me to post chapters and all that good stuff so please be patient and also please R&R! ..
Chapter One: The Beginning------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a beautiful summer morning when Harry Potter awoke in his bed at number four, Privet Drive. He felt unusually happy and for a moment could not remember why. That's when it came to him; today was the day he was leaving to spend the rest of the summer with the Weasleys. There was nothing that could bring him down on a morning like today.
But, of course, he was forgetting his family, if one could even call them that. The Dursleys had been just as nasty as usual to Harry, only this summer Dudley kept his distance.
Harry slowly crept his way downstairs, not in a big hurry to greet the people who somehow managed to make his life miserable every summer. Just after he stepped into the hallway, Hedwig, his beautiful snowy owl, flew down after him with a very short note attached to her leg. Harry smiled as he looked down and recognized Ron's unruly scrawl and proceeded to read the note.
Harry,
Dad says be ready at 4 o'clock. We're driving over this time, so don't let the muggles give you any grief. See you soon,
Ron
Still smiling at the prospect of leaving today, Harry glanced at the hall clock and sighed.
Only seven more hours to go then…
He figured he would break the news to his aunt and uncle later.
Hearing the noise of the TV on in the kitchen, Harry decided that it should be safe enough to go in and try to grab something for breakfast and be out before he got harassed. He had managed to get all the way across the room and snatch a piece of toast before he realized that his aunt and uncle hadn't noticed him at all. Both of them were sitting transfixed at the kitchen table, their eyes never straying from the television screen.
Suddenly interested, Harry saw that they were watching a shaken looking news reporter. Her voice wavered as she talked about the tragic explosion and how no one had seen it coming or could have done anything to save the lives of the three unidentified persons whom had been in the house at the time.
Harry felt his blood run cold and he tried desperately to tune out all the horrible ideas that were running through his mind. Then he noticed that he had completely crushed his piece of toast.
So much for breakfast…
Deciding to skip out on eating and finish packing instead, Harry dashed out of the room and back up the stairs, only to sit down stiffly on his bed and stare at the wall in shock.
What did this mean? That it was Voldemort who had killed the three innocent muggles, Harry had no doubt. He knew it would only be a matter of time once the Dark Lord had returned before he began to kill again. It was only the third week of summer vacation so Voldemort hadn't wasted any time before regrouping and making the first attack.
The first attack. Of course there would be more, but who, and when? There was no way to tell and Harry was more than a little unnerved as he finally got up and began to stuff things back into his school trunk.
Three o'clock came and went and Harry decided it would be a good time to go down and tell the Dursleys he would be leaving in less than an hour. After one last check to make sure he had everything, he locked up his trunk and walked back downstairs, deliberately smacking his trunk on each step so that his uncle would know he was coming.
"Boy, stop that racket!" Harry could see his uncle, sitting there in the living room with his face slowly turning purple in irritation and an unfortunate newspaper being crumpled in his lap.
"Uncle Vernon," Harry paused to make sure the large man in front of him was listening, "You remember my friends the Weasleys, right? Well, they're coming to pick me up today. Actually, in about fifteen minutes… just thought you might want to know."
"What? I will not have those people come crashing through my fireplace again! Do you hear me boy? I will not have them in this house!" Uncle Vernon had leapt to his feet and was now clenching and unclenching his fists, probably itching to grab Harry by the neck and give him a good shake. He had been like this ever since Harry had come back, seeming a bit eager to find any reason to squeeze the life out of him.
"Don't worry about the fireplace this time," Harry smirked at his uncle's large purple face, basking in this chance to poke fun. "Ron says they're driving here to pick me up." With that, Harry turned on his heel and strode from the room to go and wait on the stairs.
About ten minutes later, a knock sounded on the front door. Harry couldn't help grinning as he practically flew down the remaining two or three steps to run and answer the door. He flung it wide to find Ron with Mr. Weasley, who was standing at the door of a huge black car with little flags on the hood that Harry could only assume were Ministry regulation.
"Dad figured it would be better if he waited outside this time; reckon he thought I might seem like less of a threat to the muggles or something." Ron shook his head, still grinning and stepped inside to help Harry with his trunk.
"Looks like the Dursleys have decided otherwise," Harry stated realizing that his uncle was no longer in the living room and Dudley's television was, for once, quiet. They both laughed and Ron followed Harry upstairs to his room.
"It's good to see you again mate, even if it's only been a few weeks." Ron surprised Harry with his words and a sudden clap on the shoulder. Harry stopped checking the clasps on his trunk and looked up at his best friend.
"It's good to see you too, Ron." At this they both smiled again and between the two of them got the trunk and Hedwig's cage down the stairs and out of the house. With a shout through the door to let the Dursleys know they wouldn't have to see him again for several months, Harry shut the door and ran the rest of the way down the walk to where the two Weasleys were waiting for him.
"Ready to go Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked him as he held the car door open.
"Of course Mr. Weasley," Harry said, finally happy for the first time this summer. He would always be ready to leave Privet Drive.
Finally having gotten his breath back after being nearly squeezed to death in Mrs. Weasley's embrace, Harry was able to turn and greet the other people in the room. He had barely had a chance to look around before he had the breath knocked out of him by his other best friend, Hermione Granger, who seemed intent on suffocating him as well.
"Oh Harry," she sighed. "How are you?"
"It's only been a couple of weeks, Hermione. I'm fine." Harry smiled at his friend's concern. He knew that everyone was worried about him, especially after the incident at the department of mysteries. The truth was, he was broken up inside over Sirius's death. Somehow, though, he still managed to put up a brave face for his friends; they were all he had left. Hermione let go of him, even though she wasn't completely satisfied with his answer, and Harry had a chance to notice everyone else in the room. He was surprised to see all of the Weasleys, including Charlie and most surprisingly, Percy.
"All right, everyone go outside and get the tables set for dinner," Mrs. Weasley said in a tone that suggested they had no choice in the matter. Smiling at each other, the three friends walked together out into the back yard with an armload of dishes each to help Bill and Charlie set up the tables.
"Mum says we're not allowed to use magic this time." Said Charlie, winking at his younger brother and his friends as he and Bill carried a table outside. "Can't imagine why."
They all laughed, thinking back to another summer evening when one of the tables had lost a leg, and Harry was once again reminded why he always looked forward to summers at the Weasley's. They all had so little to laugh about these days, he thought, remembering the news of the three deaths this morning. He decided to ask Ron about it the next chance he got.
"Where's Ginny?" Ron asked, looking around the yard.
"Oh she's been put on kitchen duty, I'm afraid," said Hermione in a matter-of-fact tone. "She was in a rage about it earlier. Apparently your mum told her she had to learn to cook sooner or later before she gets married and that seemed to put her in a right state."
At that moment, Fred and George calmly walked out of the kitchen, each of them carrying a single spoon with innocent expressions on their faces.
"What are you two up to with those?" Bill asked his younger brothers, gesturing at the spoons.
"Oh nothing, just helping our dear sister bring out the silverware," George replied calmly, their faces cracking into identical evil grins.
Behind them, the screen door burst open with a bang and there stood Ginny Weasley with an armload of cutlery and her face bright red. She looked as though she were ready to explode.
"You two!" she screamed at the offending redheads.
"Wonder what she's mad about?" said Fred and George before they both tossed up their spoons and took off running, still grinning like mad.
"Last time I ever ask the two of them for help," Ginny muttered as she walked over and dumped all the silverware on one of the tables. "Ron, will you go get a couple of table cloths?" She asked with a sigh.
"Already got them," Charlie dumped a heap of white linen unceremoniously on top of the silverware.
"Thanks, Charlie."
"No problem Gin," he said, either not noticing the sarcasm in her voice or ignoring it. He then proceeded to ruffle her hair making her look very undignified and quickly returned to the house before she had a chance to yell at him.
"Well I think we'll just be going then, won't we Harry?" Ron said, trying his best to edge away from his fuming sister unnoticed.
"Oh no you don't," she said, rounding on them. "You're going to help me set these tables and you had better do a good job!"
At this Ron sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat before his little sister who was easily a foot shorter than him.
"I swear, she's bloody turning into Mum." He mumbled while Harry helped him spread out one of the table clothes, trying his best not to burst out laughing.
"Careful, she might hear you." He answered back, grinning at his friend and tossing him a spoon.
After a few minutes of spreading table clothes and putting out plates and silverware, Harry decided to ask the question that had been nagging at him since he first entered the Weasley's living room.
"So I suppose Percy's decided to come around then, has he?" he asked Ron quietly while the others weren't paying attention.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you then, didn't I? Well, after what happened at the end of last year and us all almost dying and all that, well he just sort of cracked. Came home not long after we got back from school and told Dad he was quitting his job. That's when we knew something was wrong; Percy loves his job. So anyway, Dad told him he shouldn't do that, Fudge just made a mistake is all. Hell of a big mistake if you ask me. And well, he's been back here ever since, trying to make up with everyone and all. I don't think I've ever seen Percy so, well you should have seen the way he was about that letter!" Ron said, referring to the pompous letter Percy had written him the year before about turning against Harry.
"So if he comes after you begging forgiveness," he continued, "don't be too surprised."
Harry was a bit surprised, Percy had never been his favorite Weasley brother but he hadn't liked being against him either. It had been really awkward last summer, when no one could even mention him without Mrs. Weasley bursting into tears.
Suddenly the screen door burst open and this time, Mrs. Weasley stood on the threshold, serving spoon in hand.
"All right," she said. "Everyone come and get something."
Everyone obediently filed back in after her with Harry and Ron last. Percy was waiting for them at the door, looking determined.
"Told you," Ron whispered as he walked past Harry into the kitchen.
Percy fidgeted as he watched him go in which made Harry stare. Percy never fidgeted. "Harry, I just wanted to say…" he trailed off, seeming to be looking for the right words. "Well, about last year and all,"
"Percy," Harry interrupted him when he saw this was going to take awhile. "It's alright, Ron's told me everything. Everyone makes mistakes, you know." Harry suddenly wondered at his own forgiveness as Percy smiled gratefully and motioned for Harry to go in ahead of him just as Bill was coming back out carrying a huge bowl of potatoes.
"Best go in and get the rest, else Mum might think of something else for you to do," he said with a wink. With that they both rushed inside.
After passing everything around the table at least once and everyone settling in to enjoy their meal, Harry's thoughts once again drifted back to the attack shown this morning on the news. He couldn't wait to ask Ron if there had been anything else happening while he was away in the muggle world. After looking around the table and seeing that everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves, Harry decided not to ruin the mood and ask Ron about it later.
It was hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, they had battled it out with Voldemort and now he was once again known to be alive. Everyone here seemed so at ease and they were all having such a good time, just the way it had been the summer before fourth year. Sirius had still been alive and so had Cedric and Harry hadn't even had to worry about Voldemort at all.
But he knew that they were well protected here, Mr. Weasley had explained to him in the car on the way over that wards had been put up all over the house and aurors were monitoring them at all times to make sure nothing was amiss. Harry had been worrying silently over the three deaths this morning all afternoon and he finally decided to relax. They were all safe, for now.
Everyone gradually wandered off to bed until only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were left sitting around the living room. Hermione was trying to convince Ron that orange wasn't his color and it still wouldn't be if he dyed his hair so he should just drop it and Ginny was dozing on the sofa in what looked to be one of the most uncomfortable positions possible. Harry didn't feel like talking to anyone so he just sat staring contentedly into the empty fireplace.
"Well, since Hermione has decided to be difficult, I think I'm going to bed." Ron stood up and stretched, his fingertips touching the ceiling, he had gotten so tall. "Coming Harry?"
Harry nodded and said goodnight to the girls as he followed Ron upstairs. He suddenly felt exhausted and decided he could wait to ask Ron for news in the morning. The two boys kicked off their shoes and put on their pajamas and went to bed. Harry had one last thought before he went to sleep: a vision of Ginny laughing at dinner, and then again of her dozing in the chair downstairs. If Ron had looked over just then he probably would have wondered what it was that had Harry grinning in such a ridiculous way.