Home Again
It had been only three weeks since the end of term and Harry was being liberated from his hell at Number Four Privet Drive. It was about midnight the day before his much-awaited departure from the Dursleys' and Harry couldn't sleep. He couldn't wait to leave the place where he had spent most of his time wallowing in a sort of diluted grief over Sirius. Whenever he closed his eyes, images of the veil and memories of cruel laughter from Bellatrix Lestrange crept into his thoughts. But being suddenly ripped from the wizarding world and sent to the Dursleys, Sirius' death almost didn't seem real but deep in his heart of hearts, Harry knew it was. He was dying to get away from the small bedroom where so many nightmares and so many thoughts of confused grief and pangs of guilt attacked him at sudden times.
He looked over at the digital clock, which read 12:17. He groaned and rolled over and reached under his bed. If he was awake, he decided to do some reading so he wouldn't have to think about Sirius. He pulled out the first book he could feel under his bed. It was 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi.
"As much as I love Snape…" he muttered sarcastically and tossed the book away. Groping for another book, he came up with Quidditch Through the Ages.
"That'll do," he said, satisfied. He settled down to read and as the minutes clicked by his eyes became increasingly heavy. Soon, Harry was fast asleep and in the midst of a strange dream including his Quidditch team riding around on giant pretzel rods in the middle of a huge cauldron. Suddenly Harry was falling and falling through nothing and then he landed on giant pillow where all of the Weasley family was splayed out enjoying themselves. He had landed right on top of a quite giggly Ginny, who looked up at him and flicked her long red tresses alluringly and laughed up at him with her big beautiful brown eyes. Suddenly Harry was awakened by the sound of a bang on his door.
"WE'RE LEAVING!" Uncle Vernon bellowed "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!".
"I'll miiiiiiiiiss you," Harry said mockingly, yet quietly enough so as not to be heard. He unstuck his cheek from a page that showed a team in red robes on a continuous loop scoring a spectacular goal with a Quaffle. He rolled over, trying to get the sleep as well as images of a Ginny who was most certainly not Ron's little sister out of his eyes. Harry twisted his lanky form off the bed and onto the hardwood floor. He decided to start packing for his departure as his "escort service" would be arriving in the near future, also known as 10 hours. As Harry figured, it was better to be prepared. He began to throw books and clothing and robes haphazardly into his trunk. He was done in a fairly short amount of time, quite disappointed in the fact that he had hardly taken up any time of his long wait.
"Might as well sleep," Harry muttered bitterly to the room at large. As he collapsed on his bed, a slight smile crossed his face as he wondered what might happen in his dreams.
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"Tonks honestly, can you hold up any pretense of silence?" Remus good-naturedly joshed with his companion as he helped her to replace various kitchen utensils in a jar on the counter. The young woman who sported a choppy pink bob looked guilty as she awkwardly placed a spatula in the toaster.
"I'm sorry Remus. I tripped!"
"Come on, let's go get him." Remus led the way up the staircase to Harry's room. Tonks followed behind, trying to keep silent and failing spectacularly.
"Harry? It's Remus," he knocked on the door to the boy's room. After a thump and some footsteps, the door creaked open to reveal a sleepy-eyed but slightly smiling Harry. "Hi Harry."
"Hello Harry!" Tonks chimed in from behind Remus.
"Hi… come in." Harry opened the door to allow them entry into the room. Remus pulled Harry into a quick one-armed hug as he entered while Tonks pounced on him, practically lifting him from the ground in greeting. As Remus sat to talk with Harry, Tonks looked around the room, fascinated by the Muggle devices such as the clock and Dudley's broken Playstation.
"I didn't think anyone was coming until later tonight." Harry questioned Remus.
"I'm the first round brigade and Tonks is here as, uh, Auror support. Apparently, Moody felt it was necessary for an Auror who is trained in stealth and intense battle situations should be involved in such an important mission." At that moment, Tonks tripped over Harry's rug as she dragged his trunk towards the door, sending her and the trunk barreling across the room.
"Um exactly what mission?"
"Basically we're here to keep you company and help you pack. The others will be here in about an hour to make the journey to as Moody would say, "an undisclosed location"."
"Undisclosed location?" Harry asked, confused. Tonks suddenly burst into a coughing fit which sounding oddly like "The Burrow". Remus smiled and offered her a cough drop, which she gladly accepted. The three amused themselves for the rest of the hour by talking about Auror missions gone haywire due to certain "stealth issues" as Tonks said, also known as knocking over chairs. They also delved into several of Dudley's old children's games, which turned out to be highly amusing. After about an hour, a sort of odd hooting sound came from the downstairs of Number Four.
"Moody," Tonks muttered and stood to retrieve Harry's trunk.
"Come on, Harry, it's time to go," Remus stood and put his hand briefly on Harry's shoulder before striding out the door after Tonks.
"Good," Harry looked around what had become a prison of guilt and grief and whispered to his room, "I'll miiiiiiiss you." With that, he strode out the door without a glance back.
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As Ginny and Ron sat on the couch playing a grueling chess match, a loud shriek erupted from Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen.
"I didn't do ANYTHING!" Ron bellowed defensively.
"No not you Ron, Harry's here!" Mrs. Weasley came bustling through the living room and out the front door. Ron jumped up and followed, Ginny close behind. The two youngest Weasley children walked out the front door to see a tall black-haired boy being smothered in one of their mother's famous hugs.
"Mum, give him a break," Ron grumbled good-naturedly to his mother who lessened up a little in her attack. "Hey mate, how's it going" Ron smiled at his best friend. Harry grinned back and the two boys shared an awkward yet endearing back-patting manly hug. As they broke away from each other, Harry noticed Ginny Weasley standing behind Ron. He thought at first She had reverted to her old 'elusive Ginny' ways but he was mistaken as she ran up and hugged him tight.
"Hi Harry, glad you're here!" Harry was taken aback at first but returned the hug in earnest.
"I'm glad to be here, Ginny," he replied truthfully. At that moment, Ron noticed that there was a large contingent of people behind Harry including Remus, Tonks, Moody and several other Aurors who he didn't know. As if he had suddenly noticed a stampede of rampaging elephants approaching the Burrow at warp speed, Moody bellowed out that they had all better get inside or meet certain doom. Mrs. Weasley and Remus ushered the group of children inside, while several of the Aurors waved their good-byes, making their way down the sloping front lawn of the Burrow.
"Everyone come and eat, come and eat. Just help me bring some things out back; we'll eat in the garden." Mrs. Weasley announced to the group at large as they entered the Burrow. "Ron, help Harry with his things and Ginny, would you get me some plates and take them out back."
"Great, I get the manual labor," Ginny grumbled. Harry shot her a smile of apology and headed up the stairs with Ron. Mrs. Weasley bustled around the kitchen, giving orders on how to set up their garden dinner.
Harry entered Ron's vividly orange room and sense of peace and a feeling of well-being overtook him as he flopped down on a cot set up on the floor.
"So mate, how were the Muggles?" Ron asked Harry carefully, obviously trying to figure how depressed Harry was.
"Not too bad, they just didn't speak to me," Harry replied. Ron murmured an assent and nodded his head. "When is Hermione getting here?" Harry asked casually but noticed how the tips of Ron's ears turned red.
"Uh… my dad's going to get her after work. She should be here soon… before dinner you know," Ron said somewhat nervously. He then went to check his appearance in the mirror and brushed his shaggy hair into the perfect state of disarray. Harry laughed as he remembered that Sirius had done just that in the memory Harry had seen of his father by the lake. Sirius… Harry realized with a sudden start that he had just thought of serious without a deep-seeded pang of guilt welling up in his stomach or a burning sensation affecting his eyes. Harry smiled at the fact that his best friend reminded him a lot of his late godfather.
"You look happy mate," Ron said. Harry looked up at Ron and around the carrot-colored room and said "It's good to be home."