A smile crept across Harry's face as he shut the door behind him. Two weeks. Just two more weeks till he was back at Hogwarts. He had just received his fifth letter from Professor Dumbledore. He anticipated it all summer and it was finally in his hands. He pushed himself away from the front door and walked slowly down the path enjoying, for the first time this whole summer, the warmth and sunlight. This letter washed away all the worry and concern caused by Lord Voldemort that hung over his head the whole vacation.

He couldn't wait to see Ron and Hermione again. Of course being at the Dursley's made it very difficult to visit anyone let alone someone that knew magic. Normally his aunt and uncle would never let Harry outside in plain view like this, but then again how could they object if they didn't know? While Aunt Petunia fussed over Dudley and Uncle Vernon sat engulfed in his daily paper, Harry slid out the front door unnoticed and was now continuing his trek down Privet Drive.

As he turned the corner onto a new street, he was greeted by a family of four outside enjoying the summer sun and playing with their dog. Harry smiled and nodded his head at the family and continued to walk by when he felt something tug at the back of his pant leg. Spinning around fast, he found the family's small spunky dog attacking his pants while all the while his tail wagged a million times a minute.

"No Crackers no!!" a small blonde haired girl screamed as she stood up from her grassy spot and ran over to Harry. "I'm so sorry! He doesn't want to hurt you, he just wants to play!" The little girl reached down to try and pry the little dogs teeth out of Harry's pants.

Harry smiled and shook his head. Nothing could bother him today. Not when he had his letter. "Its ok. I don't mind. I've been faced with worse." He chuckled a little while his mind resurfaced images of Fluffy, Hagrid's dog, who was used to guard the Sorcerer's stone just a few years ago.

The Little girl, who Harry thought couldn't be more then 8, finally freed the dog from Harry's leg and held on desperately as the ball of fur squirmed and licked at anything it could reach. "He's really sweet!" She said, while dodging the pink wet tongue. Harry reached his hand out, petting the dog on the head, also receiving tons of licks.

He pet the dog a couple more times, smiled at the little girl, and then turned to keep walking when he heard a grown up woman's voice behind him. " Hold on a second honey!"

Harry turned around finding a middle-aged woman holding a curly haired toddler sucking his thumb. "I haven't seen you around these parts. You just move in?" She smiled curiously and Harry wished that this nice polite woman were his aunt instead of Petunia.

Harry thought about what to say for a quick second and finally came up with a somewhat truthful answer. "No Ma'am. I'm just visiting."

The women seemed satisfied with his answer and outstretched her hand to him while she glanced up at the scar on his forehead. "My name is Mary Fredo. This little man right here," She said, wiping off the mouth of the little toddler in her arms. "This is Andrew. My little girl here is Alice and you've already met Crackers." Harry laughed out loud when he looked down at the little girl and dog. "And my husband, Greg, is over there sitting on the steps." Harry looked over at the man on the steps. He had a pipe in his mouth and was reading a Muggle paper. He looked up for a split second when he was being introduced, smiled, waved, and went back to his paper.

"I'm Harry. I'm sorry, but I really should get going. It was nice meeting you!" Harry said as he attempted to pet the dog goodbye. Harry really didn't have anywhere to be and was just strolling, but he was starting to feel a little awkward and decided it was time to move on.

"Well Harry it was nice meeting you too! If you are ever visiting around here again, feel free to stop by and see Crackers. He seems to like you!" Mary said while petting the dog herself. Harry Nodded happily and he looked down to Alice to say good-bye. The little girl looked up at Harry. Her eyes sparkled. She raised her finger to point at Harry's forehead and, being a normal child, began to ask questions before Harry could say a word. "Harry? Where'd you get that cut on your head?"

Mary was startled at her daughters' straightforward question. "Alice! You know that's not very polite! It's none of our business! I'm sorry Harry." She took her daughters free hand and began leading her down the sidewalk. Harry wasn't upset by the question and wanted to say so, but they walked quickly away from him and back up the steps before he could. He turned around and kept walking.

Harry had no conception of time or where he was even going. He knew he was gonna get it when he got back to the Dursley's but he didn't care. They never wanted him around anyways. He made sure he remembered what streets he went down so he could find his way back. He pasted by shops with food and cloths that he was never allowed to go into. His mind began to race as he stared into the windows. His hand was in his pocket that contained his precious Hogwarts letter, making sure it was still there. Harry's mind went back to the afternoon's events and the nice family he had met. He never really had a chance to talk to muggles and never knew how nice they could be. He never really thought of it before but now he realized he was happy that muggles didn't know the dangers there were with the return of Lord Voldemort. He pictured the little girl with the dog, Alice, and her family cowering in a corner as their home was being destroyed by the dark lord. The vision made his scar tingle and burn so he shook his head trying to rid it of the awful thought.

The sun started disappearing behind some tall buildings. Harry knew he should head back. He started tracing his steps back down the busy muggle road back to Privet Drive.

He was only a block away when he noticed it was getting dark. One by one the street lamps were being lit and the shadows grew. Harry was starting to wish that he had brought his wand to light his way back.

Out of nowhere Harry heard the sound of wings and a loud muffled hoot. He turned around and saw his owl, Hedwig, flying in his direction. She flew closer to him hooting oddly. It wasn't till she found a sturdy branch on the tree towering above Harry that he noticed why she sounded so weird. A tail and ball of brown fur hung limply out of her beak. "Hey girl! Got your dinner huh?" She hooted a response while grabbing the mouse body with her left foot, giving herself leverage on it. "Well, see you later girl." Before Harry could turn around he noticed Hedwig's head launch up into the air. Her eyes wide with interest. Harry turned in the direction she was looking and saw a small ball of fur bound up the sidewalk in Harry and Hedwig's direction.

Harry realized what it was after hearing an energetic bark and bent down as Crackers came to an abrupt stop at his feet. "Hey boy. What are you doing out?" The dog hopped around in a circle around Harry with its tongue hanging out. "Your family's gonna be worried about you." Harry went to scoop up the pup but it squirmed out of his hands and took his pants in its mouth for the second time in one day.

"No no Crackers. Come on boy let go!" Harry tugged lightly many time until finally his pants came loose and he got a firm hold on the little canine. Hedwig watched from above still working on her dinner.

Harry only got a couple steps away from the tree when the dog squirmed out of his arms again and grabbed onto something in Harry's pocket… his letter. Harry's eyes widened and he went to grab onto Crackers' collar but wasn't quick enough. The dog frolicked into the street, stopping in the middle. It dropped the letter in the street and leaned its front powers forward, his tail sticking up in the air in 'play' position.

"Crackers the street isn't safe!" Harry hollered to the dog while putting his hands on his hips. The dog didn't move but continued to wag and pant excitedly. "Hermione would love you!" He yelled while crouching down to the ground. Harry tried patting his leg to get the pup to come over to him but it didn't work. The dog wanted to play.

The cooing and leg slapping was put on hold when loud hooting and screeching came from the branch above. Harry looked up at Hedwig with curious eyes. Her head was facing the direction of the street and her wings flapped repeatedly above her head. Harry followed her gaze and was momentarily blinded by headlights.

"Oh NO!" Harry screamed as he started to run into the street after the dog. He couldn't let it get hit. Another vision of the Fredo family flashed in his mind. Tears streaming down their faces while Alice clutched the life less dog. No he couldn't let that happen. "Crackers run!" he said as he got closer, hoping the dog would run when he saw what was coming. But Crackers didn't move. He sat wide-eyed staring at the two large headlights coming toward him.

Harry finally reached the dog. He picked it up quick and tossed it as close to the sidewalk as he could. The little canine landed on its feet staggering and whimpered loudly. The next thing Harry heard was the sound of a horn and squealing brakes before he felt himself launched into the air. Pain shot through his legs as his whole body landed on top of the still moving car. The car stopped so fast that again Harry felt himself thrown around roughly by gravity. The world spun around him as he slid down the front of the car.

The last thing Harry's senses received before the blackness surrounded him was a feminine scream before he felt his head smash onto the warm hard pavement.