Chapter I
"What are you doing here?" His aunt's shrill voice piercing the air. Harry forced a small smile trying to appear friendly. As if she didn't know, when he had called her personally the day before.
"I'm here to pick up some of the stuff I left behind last summer," he replied. His aunt gave a loud 'tut!' and left the door open. Harry supposed this meant he could come inside. His stomach gave a funny lurch. It had been almost a whole year since he had been in this house. It was rather strange, as though walking into a time portal. It was exactly as he remembered it: The spotless kitchen, many frames of Dudley on the wall, and the many television sets throughout. Looking around, the cupboard caught his eye. He remembered when he had first found out he was a wizard. It was because of that very thing that he was able to escape from that suffocating hell. It was almost unbelievable to think that tomorrow he was going to board the Hogwarts express for the last time. He wasn't quite sure why, but he was a bit nervous about his return. With Voldemort dead at his hands he would finally be able to have a normal year- or as normal of a year he could ever have at Hogwarts. Harry turned and left the room, walking up the stairs. He strolled over to his old room casually, opening the door and hesitantly walking inside. Apparently if his aunt had let him in they had not gotten rid of his belongings, although thinking about it they might just have left the remains to anger him. Harry looked under the bed and in his drawers, then in the closet where he found his old suitcase stuffed with pile of hastily shoved things that belonged to him. He began sorting his things then repacking them. He marveled at the fact that the Dursley's hadn't disposed of them. Here he was, stacking assorted things he would need into his trunk. He shut it with a snap strolling the room carelessly. He tidied his mess, grabbed his suitcase, then walked back out of his room. He was barely two steps out before he ran smack into his aunt.
"Idiot Boy!" Petunia screeched at him, shoving him towards the staircase. He stumbled down the stairs, wondering if this was a mistake or not. Feeling as though he could do with some cheering up, Harry pulled out a neatly folded letter from his pocket.
Harry,
How's everything going? Hope the trip to the Muggle's goes alright. Hermione and I are going to go to Diagon Alley August 31st and will disapparate from there tomorrow to King's Cross 'bout 20 minutes until the Hogwarts Express leaves. Any chance of meeting us in Diagon Alley sometime 'round 6? We'll be outside Fred and George's shop if you decide to come.
Best,
Ron
Harry folded the letter back and pocketed it. He walked over to speak to his uncle. He saw him there on the couch.
"Er," Harry began, unsure of what to say, "I'll be leaving now." Vernon grunted. Harry rambled on. "I'm going to Diagon Alley with my friends and we're going to King's Cross from there." Another grunt. Okay. "So I'll just go then." He was halfway out of the room before his uncle spoke.
"You won't becoming back, is that right then?"
"Yes, I won't." Harry said, not regretting it at all
His uncle returned his attention to the television as Harry left the room. He trod up the stairs to his room and closed the door. He clutched his trunk in his hand, his wand in the other, and disapparated into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Evening Mr. Potter, what'll it be?" said Tom the barman, evidently not noticing Harry's luggage.
"Hi, Tom. D'you have any open rooms for tonight?"
"Got one right here already booked for you Mr. Potter, follow me." Tom said, leading Harry up a staircase into a room down a hallway.
"Thanks," Harry said, walking into his room and dropping his luggage in the corner of the room. No sooner had he walked in that he walked out, proceeding down the handsome staircase to meet Ron and Hermione. He strolled out the pub and into Diagon Alley, walking down the cobblestone street to Fred and George's shop. As soon as the shop came into view, he got a glimpse of two running figures, then was blinded by a sudden cornucopia of brown and red. He got a mouthful of bushy hair.
"Ew, Harry you got your spit all in my hair!" Hermione said reproachfully, although she was smiling. She cleaned his drool off with a wave of her wand and gave him another (less hairy) hug.
"Harry, mate!" Ron said, grinning "Its been ages! I've got really great news, you won't believe it. I would have told you in the letters- but-"
"Oh, Harry! Ron and I are engaged! Isn't it wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing out her hand and wiggling her finger, beaming. Harry clapped Ron on his back and gave him a rough hug.
"That's great! I'm really happy for you!" He said, smiling. Ron's grin widened. "So when's the wedding?"
"Sometime next spring. We haven't got it all worked out yet, but we're thinking about March."
"We're going to have it at Ron's mum's house, like Bill and Fleur's wedding, she did such a fantastic job you know-"
"Of course she burst into tears when we told her we wanted to have the wedding at the Burrow." Ron said, looking as though he was resisting the temptation to roll his eyes. "I don't reckon I've ever seen her that happy, honest."
"And you'll be Ron's best man?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"'Course," Harry said, smiling even more broadly.
"And Hermione's going to ask Ginny to be one of the bridesmaids. Hermione's going to have one of her cousins too."
"When'd you meet her parents?" Harry asked.
"Ages ago, right after I proposed. Blimey, it was a nightmare." Ron said, shuddering. Harry couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh Ron, it was not," Hermione said, amused.
"They interrogated me, Hermione. And they didn't look too impressed with me, to be truthful."
"Come on. My parents found you absolutely fascinating."
"Fascinating."
"And charming."
"Is Krum coming?" Harry asked at random.
"Yes," said Ron a bit moodily. Hermione looked at him amusedly again.
"Can you believe this is going to be our last year at Hogwarts?" Harry said, hoping to change the subject.
"Yea…Blimey, it feels so weird, doesn't it?"
"It's so odd," Hermione said. "I mean, no more learning? No more-"
"Library?" Ron sniggered.
"Yes, no library!"
"But Hermione's going to be back, she wants to teach transfiguration since McGonagall's headmistress." Ron told Harry.
"Still, it feels weird, no more dormitory, or homework-" Said Hermione.
"You're going to miss homework?"
"I didn't say I would miss it, I just said it would feel weird without it!" She said, blushing crimson.
"Whatever." Ron said, rolling his eyes, "Anyway, y'know what this means? We're going to be sharing a dormitory with Creevy and whoever else. And Hermione's going to be sharing a dormitory with Ginny. Mad, eh? No Dean, Seamus, or Neville. No Malfoy either. I won't miss him, personally. Y'know, I still can't believe we have to go to Hogwarts after all we did! But it's not like its all bad, right? The feast and everything are great. Maybe they won't give us any homework." He added in hopefully.
"The whole reason we're coming back is to get our N.E.W.T.S. Ron. How're we going to pass if we don't do any work? Homework really helps you better understand-" Hermione said, sounding like a lecture was coming.
"Yea, yea." interrupted Ron, who had obviously sensed the coming lecture.
"So," Began Harry yet again, "are we going to take a look inside Fred and George's shop or are we going to stay out here all night?"
"Right," said Ron, beginning to walk towards the shop. Harry and Hermione followed suit. The eye-watering display met their eyes as they approached the front of the shop. Although he had seen it before, he couldn't help but be awed. He gazed at it absentmindedly for a few moments before shaking himself back into reality and walked inside.
"Harry!" Fred Weasley shouted from the other side of the shop.
"And look who else! Hermione and Ickle Ronniekins! George exclaimed, pretending to be overwhelmed with happiness.
"Joke shop still going strong?" Harry asked.
"Great as ever, actually better ever since You-Know-Who kicked the bucket." Fred replied, winking at Harry.
"Anyway," Ron said "We came here to get some of that pimple vanishing cream for Hermione, she doesn't want to have to worry about acne on the big day."
"What ever do you mean Ron?" Fred asked, pretending to be shocked.
"Our little Ronnie's getting married!" George cried, pretending to sob and making shoppers stare.
"Oh, shut up, just tell me where the crap is okay?"
"Over there," Fred said, pointing in a corner somewhere.
"Great, I'll go get it. Just a moment," Ron said, walking over to the section.
"I'm going to go outside and get some ice cream from Florean's," Harry said, walking out of the shop. He bought three enormous ice creams and tottered back down the road with them to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes where Ron and Hermione were snogging outside. When they saw Harry and his mammoth ice creams, they rushed up to get an ice cream from his hands at once embarrassedly.
"Thanks Harry!" Hermione said, licking her ice cream happily. Ron, however, said nothing. He had decided to eat the ice cream rather than lick it, which resulted in a very large and painful brain freeze. Hermione, noticing this, ran over at once to him and tapped his forehead with her wand smartly, which relieved him of his brain freeze.
"Thanks Hermione," Ron said weakly, still clutching his forehead.
"Fancy going to Hogsmeade for a butterbeer in Three Broomsticks?" Harry asked.
"Sure. What'll we do? Disapparate?"
"Yea," He replied. "Side-Along Apparition, then?" they all linked arms and twisted into nothingness. Harry gulped the fresh air as they arrived in Hogsmeade. He glanced around for a moment before walking towards Three Broomsticks with Ron and Hermione. They walked in silently, the bell tinkling and indistinct chatter washing over them as they opened the door. They sat down at an empty table and Rosemerta came bustling over to them.
"What'll it be?" she asked, smiling kindly at them.
"Three butterbeers please," Harry said. Rosemerta walked off to get their order.
"This is great, isn't it?" Ron said. "I mean, we can just go wherever we want now. If we fancy a butterbeer we can go ahead and get one if we like, or if we need anything we can just pop into Diagon Alley, y'know?"
"Yea, anywhere we can apparate we can go now. And we can do magic over the summer and stuff too." Hermione added. Rosemerta appeared at the table seconds later to give them their butterbeers and left to take another order. They drank their drinks, put a galleon on the table, and walked out into the street, linked arms, and apparated back into Diagon Alley.
"Reckon we ought to get a bite to eat before we kip off to bed?" Ron asked.
"We were just in Hogsmeade! How come you didn't say anything then?" Hermione said incredulously.
"Sorry, sorry," Ron muttered.
"We can get something to eat in the Leaky Cauldron, can't we?" Harry asked.
"I don't think so. But dad reckons there's a good place over near the Magical Menagerie." Ron replied knowledgeably.
"Lets go then," Harry said. They all paraded down the street like a very small baton.
"The sun's starting to set," Hermione pointed out.
"Yea, lets get our food quick then kip off to bed." They reached the quaint little restaurant within minutes, and walked inside.
"I'll go order, shall I?" Ron said, disappearing out of sight for a few moments then reappearing, his arms laden with plastic bags containing dinner.
"Lets eat in the Leaky Cauldron," Harry said.
"Good Idea," Ron replied. They reached the Leaky Cauldron, where they ate their food sleepily before turning in for the night. Harry thought dazedly of the next day, how he would be returning, at last, to Hogwarts.