Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing…except for the plot line and a few original characters.

(A/N) Hey everyone. I am trying to get chapters done as fast as possible so you will remain interested in this story! So please read and review and tell me how I am doing. I could use a few critics. So R&R! Please!

Chapter 1: New Neighbor

"YOU! BOY! GET YOUR FREAKY ARSE DOWN HERE NOW!" screamed Vernon Dursley from down stairs. Harry was forced to go spend yet another summer with his so called "family" due to the whole blood protection thing that Dumbledore keeps insisting is for his own good. Harry pulled a shirt over his head and slowly mad his way down the stairs. As he walked, he wondered what stupid job he would have to do to make his uncle happy this time.

He looked at his watch which said 10:00 a.m. and sighed. 'At least it isn't as bad as yesterday' he thought. Yesterday he was pushed out of bed at 5:00 a.m. and forced to cut the lawn with scissors. He didn't get anything to eat until he finished, which wasn't until 7:00 p.m., and even then he just got a cheese sandwich.

Harry noticed that his uncle had gotten a lot more abusive this summer, and not just toward him. He would occasionally hit his aunt and call her names which Harry didn't really know how to react to. On one hand he had never liked the Dursleys, and on the other hand Harry realized that his aunt isn't really that mean to him, she isn't nice, but she doesn't go out of her way to hit him and call him names. He didn't like to watch people get hurt.

Harry put those thoughts aside as he walked into the living room to find his uncle and see what slave labor he was having him do this time. He found his uncle sitting lazily in his chair reading the day's paper. Harry cleared his throat to let him know he was in the room, 'or that I even exist.' Harry thought.

His uncle looked at him with pure hatred and loathing; setting his paper aside he sighed, "Mrs. Figg from next door called. She said that her grandson is moving in down the street and that he could use a couple of strong arms to help him get everything settled in his house. I volunteered you because I am tired of seeing your face around my house. You start now. So get your freaky arse OUT OF HERE!" He yelled.

Harry sighed as he left the room, then a thought struck him 'what if Mrs. Figg's grandson is a wizard!' Harry crossed his fingers as he headed out the door toward Mrs. Figg's house. He walked down the path to the street not daring to walk on the grass; He put 14 hours into making it look good and he wasn't about to mess it up now. He walked up and knocked on the door to Mrs. Figg's. She was quick to answer and ushered him into the house without saying a word.

Once the door shut behind her she turned to the boy who had lived next to her for the past 15 years and smiled, "Hello Harry. Would you like some tea?" Harry immediately accepted the invitation, and took seat next to her at the dining table.

"Thank you Mrs. Figg. So…have you…have you heard any news?" Harry asked hesitantly. He had been writing Ron and Hermione but neither of them had seemed to by privy of any new information.

Mrs. Figg smiled at his nervous behavior, "If it helps Harry you can call me Arabella. I was never really one for the Mrs. thing. Anyways, nothing much has happened really, ever since the battle at the ministry, You-know-who has been laying low."

Harry blew out a sigh of relief, 'well at least there is some good news.' Harry looked at Arabella and decided to find out about her grandson. "So my uncle told me that your grandson needs help moving in down the street?"

Arabella gasped "Oh! I almost forgot about that! Well I guess I am getting up there in the years. Yes dear, he is moving into the house at the end of the street on the left. He should be there right now. Why don't you head that way and see if he could use your help?" She stood up and motioned for Harry to follow her to the door. Harry stepped outside and turned around.

"It was nice to see you…um..A-Arabella." Harry was not used to calling his elders by their first names.

Arabella smiled at the young man's naivety, "It was nice to see you too Harry, come by anytime." And with that she shut the door.

Harry started heading down the street toward Arabella's grandson's house. He immediately regretted not asking Arabella if her grandson knew about the wizarding world. 'Oh well. Guess I will have to find out the hard way.' He thought.

As he approached the house, Harry began to get extremely nervous. He managed to make himself go up to the front door, with a resounding breath he steadied himself and rang the door bell. About 3 seconds later the door was answered by a well built man about 6 feet tall. He had dark eyes and sandy brown hair and was dawning a slight smirk on his face. There was a brief moment of silence before he held his hand out, "Hello. My name is Dimitri. Who might you be?"

Harry was slightly taken aback by his introduction, 'I don't guess anyone has smeared my name with this guy yet….good.' Harry shook Dimitri's hand, "Sorry sir. I am Harry Potter. Your grandmother said that you could use a hand unpacking so my uncle volunteered me. It's nice to meet you."

Dimitri smiled at Harry, 'He looks so much like James it's absolutely unreal! And those eyes…wow. Lily's all the way.' Dimitri motioned for Harry to come in. He offered him a seat and sat down across from him, "It's nice to meet you too. And no more of that 'sir' business, I'm not that old." he said with a slight grin. "So how has your summer been so far?"

Harry seemed a bit hesitant "I-it's been…ok."

Dimitri frowned at the obvious lie, "Good, good. Now do you want to tell me the truth?" He didn't say it in a mean way, but in a caring more curious way.

Harry sighed, "Am I that readable?" Dimitri nodded. So Harry continued, "Truthfully? My uncle is a total arsehole who thinks he can just push me around whenever he damn well pleases." Harry waited to see Dimitri's reaction.

Dimitri had a scowl on his face, "Yeah. My grandmother doesn't really like that family too much. She seems to be quite fond of you though. Says that you are a 'special boy'" he said while smiling. "I know where she is coming from. I mean not everyone can survive a killing curse and all that jazz."

Harry looked at him and was a bit miffed, "You do know! If you knew me this whole time then why did you ask me who I was?" Harry asked looking at him curiously.

Dimitri let out a booming laughter, "Ha! I had you going to! Oh that was great! Anyways, I asked you your name because it was the polite thing to do. And I am sure you get annoyed when people that you don't know call you by your name. I know I would."

Harry looked at him and smiled. "Yeah I guess you're right."

Harry started to look around the house something was a bit strange about it. Then it clicked, Arabella said he needed help unloading and such, but from the look of the house…it was already very well furnished. Harry started to get a bit nervous now, 'why did he need me if he already had it done?' He was starting to feel like he should get the hell out of there before he found out that Dimitri was here to kill him or something, and started nervously looking around for an escape.

Dimitri didn't miss the fact that Harry was now shaking and he was looking everywhere, his lips twitched a bit, trying to hide his smile as he addressed Harry, "Are you scared?" He said this with the straightest voice possible.

Harry looked at him quickly, fear evident in his eyes. Finally, Dimitri just couldn't hold it in any longer and busted up laughing. Harry look at him a bit perplexed, and then realized what he was playing at. Harry started laughing too, now that he thought about it, this is the first time that he had really laughed since…Sirius. Harry didn't really like thinking about that. He finally came to grips with fact that Sirius was probably happy somewhere else.

Harry looked at Dimitri and smiled, "So…I couldn't help but notice that there doesn't seem to be anything to unpack here…so why did you want me to help?"

Dimitri looked at Harry then looked around the room, "Well, honestly I wanted to meet you. My grandmother seemed to think you could use a friend to keep the Dursleys off your back. So we made it sound like I would need your help every day. They would think your off breaking a sweat and such, when in truth you would be chilling with me!"

Harry gawked at him for a moment, 'Sirius would have loved this guy. This is by far the ultimate prank!' "Holy shit! You are a genius!"

Dimitri laughed, "You don't know how often I am called that!" he said with a noble look on his face as he looked off into the distance.

Harry snorted, "You know. I don't think I will mind coming and hanging out with you. This is the first time I have laughed since…my godfather died."

Dimitri's expression became understanding, "Hey its cool. That's what I do! Anyways…so, tell me about school. Any girls? Favorite class? What are your grades like? Do you get into trouble? You know. The 'low down.'"

Harry chuckled, "I have decent grades. My favorite class is definitely Defense Against the Dark Arts. And I have been known to sneak around the school after curfew hours getting into stuff and what not." Harry smiled at that. 'fun times.'

Dimitri laughed, "And the girls?" He asked curiously.

Harry blushed slightly, "There aren't any girls…well…I don't know." Harry didn't know what to say. He had that whole thing with Cho which was downright terrible. But lately his mind had been drifting toward someone who he didn't expect….Ginny Weasley. It just started right after the battle at the Department of Mysteries. His thoughts would just randomly go to how pretty her hair was, and how cute she looked when she was frustrated. Harry shook himself from those thoughts. He looked up at Dimitri who was giving him a knowing look.

"So is she pretty? What's her name? What does she look like?" 'Calm down Dimitri. Go easy on him.' He understood that Harry had a rough life without his parents. He even felt a bit guilty that he had gotten to know them even better than Harry. 'They will be together soon enough.' he thought to himself.

Harry blushed at these questions. "Well…she is…pretty…no, no that isn't right…She is beautiful. She has long red hair, and the temper that seems to belong to most gingers. She is about 5'6" with the prettiest brown eyes I have ever seen. She is also a hell of a duelist." Harry smiled at the thought of the fear that Ginny seems to instill in her brothers if the mess with her too much. "Her name is Ginny Weasley."

The smile on Dimitri's face got wider as Harry went on before he finally snickered, "Wow… Sounds like this little witch has got The Boy Who Lived smitten." he finished with a mock arrow shooting him in the heart and forcing him to the ground.

Harry let out a laugh, "Ok…You've had you're laugh." he finished as his cheeks began to burn from embarrassment.

As Harry helped Dimitri up from the ground he glanced at his watch "Well it's about 12:30. What do you want to do?"

As if on queue Dimitri's stomach a sudden growl that could rival an angry dog. A smile appeared on the man's face as he suggested, "Lunch?"

Harry seemed to be at a loss for words so he just nodded back in return.

Over the next 6 hours Harry and Dimitri were becoming the best of friends. After they ate lunch Dimitri decided that they should go see a movie. They got back to Dimitri's at about 6:45ish. Harry decided that he should probably head home before he got locked out or something. Dimitri nodded, "Yeah. Hey, tomorrow. I was thinking we could go to a soccer game. What do you think?"

Harry looked at Dimitri with laughed, "Sure! I haven't been to a match before. That should be fun!" Harry and Dimitri said their good-byes and Harry headed back to the Dursley's. When he got there he was pleased to find the door unlocked. He went straight to his room and decided to turn in early. He had fun today, and made a friend in the process. Sleep claimed him as he slowly drifted away into the first dreamless sleep he had had all summer.

Over the next month, Harry was able to use the excuse of going to "Work" with Dimitri. And every day they would sneak off on some muggle world adventure. Harry was growing to really like Dimitri. He was funny and sarcastic and reminded him an awful lot of Sirius, but in a good way. Over the month of them hanging out, Harry began to think that Dimitri was hiding something from him. Something big. He kept saying things that would relate to his parents, but when Harry called him on it he would just wave it off as a coincidence.

Finally, Harry decided he would corner him the next time it happened. He and Dimitri had just gotten back from a disastrous game of bowling when he and Dimitri's were discussing Dimitri's past relationships. Dimitri spoke up, "Now look. Just because I slept with her that one time doesn't necessarily mean that I wanted a relationship."

Harry just rolled his eyes, "It did if you acted like you wanted to be with her to get her in bed. If you think about it you were lying to her by omission. That's the way I see it anyways."

Dimitri acted hurt, "ah! I would never do such a thing!...ok maybe I would. But that is not the point…so…When are you going to try and get Ginny Weasley to see that you like her?" He said this waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Harry huffed, "Hush you…I don't know to be honest. I mean I guess I could try when I go to stay with the weasleys."

Dimitri was smiling "You know. What is it with Potter's and redheads?"

'MY OPENING!'Harry thought. "…yeah…Wait! How did you know my mum had redhair?" Harry leaned in a little.

Dimitri choked on his tongue, "M-my Gran told me?"

Harry wasn't convinced. "Uh-huh…Yeah right. You are hiding something from me! I know you are so tell me!" Harry was getting a bit frustrated with this secret of his.

Dimitri's face held a guarded expression, "I can't tell you. But you will find out tomorrow."

Harry thought for a second 'what is tomorrow?' He just couldn't see why he couldn't tell him now. "What's so special about tomorrow?" Harry asked genuinely curious.

Dimitri looked at him a bit irritated, "Um…It's your BIRTHDAY! DUH!" He playfully cuffed him on the back of the head. "You think you would know when your own birthday is. Jees!"

Harry thought about it and laughed, "I guess it just slipped my mind! So are you coming to my party? It would be nice if you would come."

Dimitri nodded, "Yeah. I am coming with Dumbledore. And before you ask about how I know him, you will find out tomorrow. So hush!"

Harry groaned, "Ok, ok. You win. So I will see you tomorrow?"

Dimitri nodded, "yep! Well you should probably head back home so you can pack. I am riding the knight bus over to the Weasley's with you tonight so you get there safely and such."

Harry nodded and hurried home to get his things. About two hours later, Harry and Dimitri summoned the knight bus so they could head to the Weasley's. Harry was beyond excited. 'I finally get to see her!' He kept thinking over and over.

Dimitri smirked; he knew exactly what was going through Harry's mind. 'Oh to be young'

It seemed like only minutes had passed when they reached their destination. Dimitri helped Harry take his things up to The Burrow. Dimitri started to head back for the road when Harry stopped him, "Come on. You know you want to meet them."

Dimitri smiled and nodded. They walked up to the front door of and knocked twice. They waited for a few minutes then the door slowly opened, revealing Arthur Weasley. He looked out and smiled at the sight of who was waiting. "AH! Harry! Yes do come in will you? And uh…who is this?" He asked looking curiously at Dimitri.

Harry couldn't help but smile, "It's great to see you too. Oh. This is my friend Dimitri Figg. He is Arabella's grandson." Arthur smiled and shook Dimitri's hand.

"It's nice to meet you. I trust that Harry has been staying out of trouble?" Arthur asked. Looking amusedly at Harry's too innocent face.

Dimitri laughed and nodded, "Yes sir Mr. Weasley. We have been hanging out for the past month. No trouble here."

Arthur smiled, "You can call me Arthur. And it's good to hear that Harry had someone to rescue him from the Dursley's. So Harry why don't you and Dimitri go put your trunk up in Ron's room. You can introduce him to everyone. He probably won't meet Molly until tomorrow though." Arthur paused. Noticing Harry's concerned look he quickly explained. "Oh not to worry. She just felt a bit under the weather this afternoon and went to bed a bit early tonight. She'll be fine by tomorrow. Well I am heading up to bed. It was nice to meet you Dimitri. I hope to see you here tomorrow." Arthur shook Dimitri's hand again.

Dimitri smiled, "It was nice to meet you too Arthur. I will be here."

The Weasley Matriarch bid them goodnight before heading off to bed. Harry led Dimitri up the stairs to Ron's room. Harry was happy to finally be back in a friendly household with people who actually wanted him there. He loved how The Burrow always smelled like a good home cooked meal….It was home. He then realized that Ron and Ginny were the only ones staying here now. He had a brief flashback of the interruption during his O.W.L.s test. The twins had left the school for good. He assumed that they moved out of the house as well. They finally reached Ron's room. Harry knocked on the door before opening it.

He slowly opened the door to be greeted by a smiling Ron, "Harry! I'm glad you made it in one piece! I must admit I was a bit worried about you coming here by public transportation."

Harry smiled, "Hey! I am glad I made it too." Harry noticed Ron eyeing Dimitri. "Oh! Sorry. This is Dimitri. Dimitri, this is Ron." Harry and Dimitri led the trunk over to the corner he normally had it in; Dimitri went and shook Ron's hand as he let out a laugh, "So your Harry's best mate? It's great to finally get to meet you. I have heard an awful lot about you. So your favorite team is the Cannons am I right?"

Ron seemed to perk up at this question, "Hey. It's nice to meet you too. Yes I love the cannons! Are you a fan?" Ron seemed a bit too excited about this turn of events.

Dimitri chuckled at the obvious excitement in Ron's eyes, "Yep! It sucks that they lost their keeper Laughlin, he was their best player. Now they have to recruit a rookie with barely any ring time. It's going to be awful unless they spend a bit of money and go for an amateur instead of a rook."

Ron seemed to be nodding the whole time, "I know! But it happens. Hopefully their seeker Rutherkson has been practicing. He was bloody awful this year. But I stick with my team through thick and thin."

Harry couldn't resist, "But you only know about the 'thin' part. Seeing as they haven't won a game in 20 years." Harry laughed!

"Hey!" Ron and Dimitri said at the same time. Dimitri recovered first, "It's only been 16 years thank you very much!" Ron nodded in agreement. Harry just lost control and started laughing. About 30 minutes later Dimitri decided that he had better be getting home so he said good bye to Ron and that he would definitely owl him. Turns out that they had many of the same interests which Harry thought amusing to no end. They made their way down the stairs passing quietly by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room so as to not wake them. They reached the bottom when they heard a shuffle coming from the kitchen.

Harry and Dimitri went to check it out, not wanting to risk that it could be an intruder. They quickly entered the kitchen to find Ginny making tea. She turned around with her wand out, "Harry! Oh merlin I nearly hexed your bits off!" Dimitri flinched mildly at that. "How are you?" She moved toward Harry and hugged him making him turn all shades of red. He heard Dimitri snicker.

"Hey Gin. It's great to see you. I have been pretty good. Just trying to keep this one in line."Said Harry while nudging Dimitri in the ribs. Dimitri acted hurt by his teasing as Harry sighed, "Oh. Ginny this is my friend Dimitri Figg. He lives down the street from me now. We just took the knight bus here."

Ginny giggled at Dimitri's silly antics, "Hello Dimitri. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand.

Dimitri had a menacing smirk on his face, he took her hand in his and gently kissed it, "Oh Ginny but the pleasure is all mine. I have heard a great deal about you from Harry here. He just can't seem to shut up about you…now I see why." He chanced a look toward Harry who was frozen in place, beat red. 'Haha! Score!' thought Dimitri. He looked at Ginny and noticed that she too was extremely red. He decided to take his leave before Harry or Ginny decided to retaliate. For he had heard of Ginny's temper and her bat-bogey hex…he shuddered.

Harry was completely taken by surprise, he vaguely heard Dimitri say goodbye, 'bloody coward.' Harry thought to himself. He looked at Ginny and noticed that she was smiling. He got a hold of himself and sighed, "What are you smiling about?"

Ginny's smile got bigger, "Is it true?...did….you talk about me?"

Harry felt trapped. He knew that Dimitri must have planned this beforehand. That was just too good to be an improvisation. He looked Ginny in the eye and couldn't help but think about how beautiful she was. He decided that it was now or never. He took a deep breath and let it go, "…yes. I…uh…I've been thinking about you…a lot. And I came to the conclusion that….well…um…I…I…like you…a lot." Harry was speaking barely above a whisper.

Ginny's face was priceless, her face was a mix between happy and shock. She gulped, "…you do?" Harry nodded. They seemed to slowly be getting closer. Ginny smirked, "Good." Then she leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. It wasn't a long kiss. But the passion was certainly there.

Harry smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek. "Ginny? Will you be my g-girlfriend?" He asked. Hoping that she would say yes.

Ginny smiled a beautiful smile, "Yes. I would love to be. I think I like that Dimitri guy. He finally got you to see me."

Harry had to agree that Dimitri had helped him quite a bit with his feelings towards Ginny. After they caught up for a bit they decided to go to bed. Harry walked her to her door and kissed her goodnight. Harry was the happiest man alive, and didn't think that anything could make him happier. He walked up to Ron's room then panicked. 'Shit! What do I tell Ron!' When he walked in the room he found Ron getting ready for bed.

'It's now or never.' Harry thought to himself. He sighed, "Ron?" Ron turned and looked at Harry curiously. Harry sighed again, "Um…w-what would you s-say if I were to…to…um…dateyoursister." He said that last part a bit quickly.

Harry watched for Ron's reaction. Ron just stood there for a moment then sighed, "I would say, don't hurt her. And that I am glad it's you and not some other guy." Ron smiled at Harry and gave him a thumbs up. "So are you going out with her?" Asked Ron.

Harry simply nodded. Ron smiled and went to sleep. Harry on the other hand was having trouble sleeping. He was so excited that he was with Ginny. And what's more, this event just topped off all of the good things that happened over the summer. But something was bothering him, and he knew exactly what it was. Dimitri's secret. Dimitri said that the secret would be revealed tomorrow, on Harry's birthday. Harry couldn't help but wonder what the secret was. And what it had to do with his parents.

Harry eventually just decided that worrying about it wasn't going to fix anything. So he settled his thoughts on the pretty little redhead that he had just kissed not 30 minutes ago.

A/N: Alright! Chapter 1 is Finite! I hope everyone enjoyed it. Plz let me know what you think in a review.