A/n: Hello all! Sorry about the wait but I was having writing issues. Mostly time, but I was going through that "I can come up with ideas for stuff way down the line, but not for the stuff I need to get through first" phase. Anyway here you go. I hope you enjoy it! And keep in mind this isn't a mystery novel! I'm lookin at you Mr. Yellow! :) I do hope you still enjoy.

A Muggle Side of Things

Chapter Two

Accepting the Unexpected

Harry listened patiently as the doctor gave him the diagnosis. Three weeks with the cast on, two weeks after that with at least a brace on his wrist, be careful of doing too much so that he doesn't get dizzy spells (just in case the concussion is worse than it seems), and to take painkillers after every meal if needed. It was strange to Harry that it would take so long for the muggle method to heal him, considering the last time he had a broken bone (they'd also been removed entirely once by Lockhart's horrible healing prowess) he had been out of Hogwarts's hospital wing within the week. In fact, Harry couldn't remember himself being in the hospital wing for the longer than two days for any of the injuries he had sustained at Hogwarts or otherwise.

Of course, Harry took the time the doctors had told him he needed to heal and cut it in half. He remembered all too well the last time he was this very hospital, years ago before he even knew about magic. While Harry couldn't quite remember what he had done to anger his uncle (something magic related no doubt), he could remember clearly the baseball bat his uncle wheeled, the excruciating pain, and the awkward way his arm had been bent. The Dursleys had actually been terrified enough to take him to a hospital, acting to the world as the concerned aunt and uncle who's nephew had fallen out of a tree and broken his arm. Harry had worn the cast the entire time he had needed to, but he had known that his arm had been completely healed about two weeks beforehand. He had chalked it up to him being one of those people who healed very quickly but perhaps his magic had been helping him the whole time.

Harry had been asked to recount his time with the Dursleys before he left the hospital with the Jovanovichs. He was tempted to simply say he had tried to forget everything that had happened before he was eleven (before the Dursleys knew that the Wizarding World would notice if he was hurt more like), but something about the comforting presence of Nicole and Samantha- Dagger had stopped him from playing that particular card. And so he had spilled the details of his life, at least of a sort. He told them, in slightly edited form, the details of the broken arm incident, the fact that the Dursleys had toned it down after that incident, and how they stopped entirely after he turned eleven. At least with the physical violence. A little more hesitantly, Harry had also told them of the Dursleys slave driving and of the name calling, the hurt feelings returning despite what he told himself hours earlier.

And then it was over. Harry had no doubt that if the Dursleys were found that they would be instantly arrested and sent to prison. He sincerely hoped that he was long gone by then. Nicole and Dagger reacted better than Harry expected, but he saw the anger grow with every sentence he spoke until Nicole had finally excused herself. Dagger had remained anchored to him, though he could feel her shaking with barely concealed rage. Even the police officer and the doctor who had been asked him tell them about the Dursleys looked disgusted. It was making Harry very uncomfortable and he zoomed out of room once the officer said he had enough information, forcing Dagger to have to catch up to him.

Harry didn't make it very far before the room started to spin, suddenly feeling light-headed. Harry found a seat and sank down into it, feeling overwhelmed once more.

"Harry!" Dagger called jogging around the corner he had just come from. "Harry, wait up!" She had nearly ran past him, but skidded to a halt when she found him rubbing the sides of his head. She took in his expression and cautiously sat down next to him. "Are you okay?"

"I will be. Just a headache." Harry did his best to smile reassuringly at her, but he imagined it came as more of a pained grimace. Dagger threw him an exasperated look that was clearly meant as a 'You know that's not what I was talking about!' kind of look. "Trust me Dagger, the Dursleys can go hide wherever they want to and I would be very happy never to see them again. Just leave it at that."

"But..."

"I'll be okay!" Harry reiterated. "Why are you being so nice to me?" Dagger had a grumpy look about her, not happy about the change of topic, but she let it go. She might not have said it out loud like her mother did, but Harry felt as though there was some sort of 'for now' attached to the look she gave him before she replied.

"I hit you with a car Harry," Dagger said, rolling her eyes as though she thought it was stupid question to ask. "I'm pretty sure there is some unspoken rule that says I have to be nice to you now." A smile appeared on his face as he looked back over at the clearly American girl. Her accent gave her away, but Harry had taken a little longer to figure it out. He hadn't met very many Americans before. Or ever really. "Besides, mom says that I am a good judge of character."

A curious song started playing from one of Dagger's pockets causing her to jump slightly. She dug out a rectangular device and looked at it before sliding a finger across the front of it and sticking it to her ear. Harry saw the same apple symbol that was on the back of many of the portable music players that had become popular at Hogwarts since the electronics started to work off magic instead of blowing up. He figured it was a similar device, and clearly a phone as well as Dagger started speaking into it.

"Hello mom," Dagger said, putting a finger into her other ear so she could hear over the noise. Harry tuned out the conversation as much as he could, feeling that it would be rather rude of him to listen in, and simply decided to look at his new acquaintance now that his brain was functioning a little more properly.

Harry's first impression of the girl still hit the mark. She was a very cute girl. And in terms of looks she was vastly different than any of the girls he knew. Her wavy hair was a light shade of blonde that cascaded down to about her mid-back area. One side of her hair was colored in with two one-inch side-by-side stripes of light pink and blue respectively which she seemed to habitually tuck behind her ear, despite Harry watching it frequently come loose and cover a little bit of her face. Her face was a bit of a narrow heart shape with a small and very hard to see amount of freckles spattered about, as well as a perfectly petite nose and mouth. Her eyes were by far her best feature, a pink color that matched the stripe in her hair, a pair that, like Harry's, seemed to shine with whatever emotion she was feeling at that moment, despite the fact that she said they were contacts. Perhaps that was why Harry felt he could trust her so easily.

"…Yes mom…" Dagger was saying, sounding slightly frustrated. "I know how to take care… yes… yes… Ok I'll get him something to drink! Geeze! We'll be out in a minute or so." She slammed the phone back into her pocket and threw an exasperated look at Harry. "It's like she thinks I've forgotten how to deal with other people. What kind of drink would you like?" She led him to a vending machine nearby. Muggle soda was not a common item around Hogwarts so Harry knew virtually nothing about how any of them tasted.

"Anything will do." She put the money into the machine and out popped a brand of soda that Harry at least recognized (Coca-Cola).

"Don't drink it all before we get to the car. Mom has painkillers for you." Harry gave her an embarrassed look and mumbled that he didn't need painkillers. Dagger pulled another look out on Harry, the 'Don't BS me' look. "C'mon Harry! You're still holding your side and I saw you rub your head a few moments ago! What's it gonna hurt?"

Dagger gave Harry a little push towards the exit of the building, catching him when he stumbled a bit more than necessary. Despite Harry trying to plead that he was fine to walk on his own, Dagger linked one of her arms with Harry's, leading him out to a car that was parked outside. She offered him the shotgun seat and got into the car seat behind him. Nicole smiled at Harry and offered him two tiny tablets after she watched him wince his way into a more comfortable position. He ignored them for fifteen full seconds before his fidgeting around started to become extra painful. He definitely ignored Dagger's smirk as he popped them in his mouth.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harry asked, feeling unsure of himself as they started down the road. "I mean, I could always find a place to stay on my own." Harry definitely wasn't sure who it was, but there was a loud hissing sound that came from either Dagger or her mom. Possibly both.

"And where would you go?" Nicole asked him in a false sweet voice that Harry detected easily.

"Well… I could take a bus to London… find a room…" It's two in the morning now. Trains and Buses probably are not running at this time... Idiot… It was still pouring outside so Mrs. Jovanovich didn't actual look over at him, but Harry could feel the raised eyebrow she would be giving him, as well as the equally annoyed scowl coming from the girl behind him.

"No. You're going to stay with us and that's final." Harry couldn't place the emotion behind the comment. No, the order. What Harry did know was that if he turned her down, she would have to power to convince him otherwise. More interesting than that was the anxiety he was now feeling towards returning to the magical world. It was almost as if he didn't want to go back… but that couldn't be right. He had friends there and it was his home! Home, came a sarcastic thought in the back of his head. Since when have people considered their home a prison? Sirius did and just look at him! He was miserable and fled from the place as soon as he could!Harry shook his unbidden thoughts away, pushing the heartache that came from thinking of his godfather back inside.

"Harry, we want to help you." Nicole was saying. "It wouldn't feel right to me if we just left you there with no place to go to."

"Besides!" Dagger added happily. "It's not as if we don't have enough room for you to stay with us. At the hotel or back at the house!"

"Ahem, Dagger perhaps we should wait until we know all of Harry's options."

"Hmmm… Er… What?" Harry was definitely tired. Was Dagger implying that he could live with them? No. No. The last thing he heard was they just wanted to help him and then… Nodding off… There was a light amount of laughter in the car.

"Perhaps we should wait until he's awake enough to understand as well." Nicole said as Harry took another sip of his soda. It helped very little. "Go ahead and sleep Harry. It'll be another hour if this rain doesn't clear up."

"No, I'll be okay. So where are you from anyways?" Harry asked, rubbing his eyes and hoping that it would wake him up. Damn painkilling medicines.

"We live in New Jersey. Little town called Avon."

"Oh, that's… that's… Yeah, I don't where that is… Somewhere in the States I imagine." They were turning onto a highway, speeding up as the rain died down enough to see normal distances again. Harry thought he saw a formation of birds flying in the distance. No, each shape was too big to be a bird. Broom riders, maybe? The Order? Harry blinked.

"Harry… HARRY!" Harry jumped. The car was still now, the engine no longer running.

"Huh?" He asked stupidly, rubbing his eyes to clear them.

"We're here!" Dagger was standing outside his door with a big grin on her face. He scowled at her as he unclicked his seatbelt.

"Well duh…" He stumbled a little when he stood, still not feeling entirely balanced but Dagger didn't let him fall over, although that didn't keep her from snickering at him. Harry scowled at her again and started wheeling his trunk after Dagger's mom, it's now lone wheel protesting the entire way. Thankfully it held up and nothing ended up on the wet concrete.

They were obviously in London, at a hotel that Harry only knew because he passed it every year when he came and went from King's Cross. Harry also knew that it was only a short distance from the Leaky Cauldron. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about being this close to the other world. His foggy mind didn't help him out at all, so Harry allowed himself to be dragged into the hotel by Dagger, who'd caught up to him.

Dagger's hotel room was located on the ninth floor, and even though they took an elevator up, Harry felt as though he'd walked up nine floors worth of stairs. He swayed on his feet as he waited for the elevator to stop on their floor and would've fallen over in the hallway if Mrs. Jovanovich hadn't taken his trunk and Dagger hadn't thrown her arm around his shoulder. At Room 903, they stopped to unlock the door.

The room was pretty simple. Two king size beds, a couple chairs, a small kitchen/dining area, and a large comfy looking couch. A man, Dagger's dad most likely, was watching the television and wore a relieved look as he saw the group walk in. It was clear that Dagger got her looks from mostly from her mother. The man had short dark brown hair and was much taller than both his wife and Dagger. He had a pair of gray eyes that reminded Harry uncomfortably of Malfoy. However they didn't hold the same cruel light that Malfoy's held.

"Hello fam- Geeze Sammy! You certainly did a number on the boy, didn't you?" Dagger turned red, and removed her arm from around Harry's shoulders so she could cross them and glare at her Dad. The glare moved back to Harry as he let out a weak laugh. Dagger's dad stuck his hand out for Harry to shake.

"And you must be- WOAH!" Harry blinked again. The sun had risen behind the mask of grey-mist caused by the Dementors. He was lying on a bed that was way too comfortable to be his bed at Privet Drive. For a moment, Harry was unsure of where he had ended up but he quickly remembered the night before. The rain, the hospital, the car ride, and then walking up to the hotel.

His movements felt sluggish, but Harry eventually managed to sit up. Dagger and her mom and dad were sitting at the little table playing a game of cards it looked like. Harry smelt warm breakfast type foods, but they seemed to have already finished eating. His stomach wondered if they had left him any food. Harry yawned and stretched, his movement picking up speed as his brain woke up. He frowned at the cast on his arm. It wasn't very big but it still made his arm feel extra heavy. Dagger must've found a marker as well. I'm sorry I tried to run you over! Dagger was written across the entire top of the cast in a fancy cursive script.

It could be worse, Harry thought. My wand could've been broken as well… MY WAND! Panicking, Harry reached to his back pocket, wincing as his brain remembered that his body was extremely bruised. But Harry sighed with relief as he felt his most important tool still where he kept it on his person, and still intact. It wouldn't do well to have another broken wand situation.

Harry slipped out of the bed, gingerly putting weight on his leg. He still nearly collapsed but caught himself before he caused himself another injury.

"Easy there, kiddo," a male voice said to Harry. "We definitely don't want you anymore hurt than you already are." Harry looked over and saw that all three of the muggles had risen and were halfway from the table to the bed. Harry winced.

"Umm… Hi. I'm up," Harry said weakly and unnecessarily. Dagger rolled her eyes with an amused snort and sat back down at her chair. Nicole had a mostly worried expression on her face, mirrored by her husband, although he had a tinge of exasperation mixed in as well.

"You're going to be stubborn about being injured aren't you? The whole 'it's not that bad' deal?" Harry said nothing as he limped over to the table. Dagger's dad just shook his head a little. "Asked and answered. Well if you didn't guess, I'm Dagger's father, Cameron."

"Nice to meet you." Harry said politely. His stomach growled audibly this time. Dagger giggled and the worry from her parents melted slightly.

"Sorry Harry, but that beast," Nicole pointed at Dagger who looked unashamed, "Ate your share of breakfast. It's almost noon now but would you still like breakfast food or just skip to lunchy stuff?"

"Breakfast, please." Harry answered automatically.

"Okay then! Now, we certainly have a lot to talk about but why don't you wash up first." She pointed Harry to the bathroom. Harry nodded. Before he closed the door though, Nicole called out "Oh wait! Are you going to need help undressing? Samantha why don't you go help him."

"Umm… T-that's okay," Harry stammered. "It's really not as a bad as it- shoot…" Dagger's dad gave her and her mom that 'what did I tell you' look as he laughed. "Look, I'll call out if I need help." Harry closed the door very quickly, trying to keep them from seeing him turn even redder. Nicole joined in with the laughter and Dagger as well, although he detected a little bit of nervousness in it.

Undressing was a little tedious, but Harry managed well enough without help, keeping embarrassment to the minimum of what just happened. Without looking at a mirror, Harry started the water and stepped in.

"Ah, the victim resurfaces," came Nicole's quip as he emerged from the bathroom three-quarters of an hour later. Harry gestured to his casted arm, and Nicole grimaced. "Well, Cameron should be back any minute with your food. Why don't you go pry those headphones out of my daughter's ears while you wait?"

True to the stereotypical teenage girl, Dagger was lying face down on the bed with her pair of headphones blasting music that Harry could hear across the room. She was bobbing her head in time with the song, and she was clearly doing that texting thing that had become more of a staple with these portable phones than actually using it to call people. Perhaps Harry could see what the hype was about, now that he wouldn't have to hide the fact that he had money for whatever he wanted.

Since Dagger was oblivious to the world around her, it was easy to sneak up on her. Harry had a quick mental debate with himself about whether he should spook her or not.

"Psst!" Harry looked over towards Dagger's mother, who mimed what Harry figured was a tickling motion, pointed at her side and then pointed back to Dagger with a wink. Harry grinned and did just that.

Dagger jumped violently, and then rolled over so fast that she lost her grip on her phone. It sailed into the air, ripping the ear buds out of her ears. Harry's reflexes weren't quite as sharp as they should have been, but he still managed to catch the phone after juggling it in his good hand momentarily.

"Harry! That was so uncool!" Dagger was clutching her heart and glaring extremely hard at Harry while Nicole sat in the background laughing. Harry simply smirked at her. Her glare didn't last for very long and it gave way to her typical rolling of her eyes. "I suppose I deserved that. Nice catch."

"I agree! It's nice that I don't have to replace her phone yet again!" Mrs. Jovanovich said, with a look that told Harry volumes about how many times Dagger had damaged her phone before this. Harry snickered.

"Hey!" Dagger shouted indignantly. "It wouldn't have broken!"

"What wouldn't have broken?" Dagger's dad asked as he walked into the room. He handed Harry a bag of McDonalds and told him to dig in, which Harry proceeded to do. 'Mmmm… Cinnamon rolls…'

"Well?" Cameron asked turning back to the others.

"Oh, Harry scared the bejezzus out of Dagger and she threw her phone in fear! Harry caught it though." Dagger let out a 'hmpf' noise and stuck one of the headphones back into her ear. She did turn down the volume on it dramatically, so Harry could no longer hear it.

"Well then, thank you Harry!" Mr. Jovanovich said with a mischievous smile on his face. "You just saved us the hassle of having to buy her a new one. You know how teenage girls are about their cellphones, am I right?" Harry only had an inkling of what he was talking about (phones were still largely unreliable around Hogwarts despite the electronic wards that were up there), but he still raised his fork in a 'no problem' gesture before plowing into the food again.

"If we're all done playing Pick-On-Daggeropoly…" Nicole coughed 'Samanthaopoly' under her breath earning a harsh glare from said girl. Harry and Cameron were both trying not to laugh, a lost cause once they glanced at each other.

'These people are very easy to get along with,' Harry thought absentmindedly as Dagger sighed and shook her head.

"Don't we have important things to be talking about?" Dagger said a little harshly, looking not so subtly at Harry and then at her parents.

"Now Sam, let the boy eat! Getting hi-"

"Dad! Don't start!" Throwing one last amused look at his wife, Cameron decided that continuing to tease Dagger would be a bad idea. Good thing too. Dagger's reddening face looked hot enough to spontaneously burst into flames. Harry was definitely sure that wouldn't be good for her at all.

"No, that's alright. I'm pretty good at eating and talking." Harry said, pausing to take a sip of chocolate milk.

It was clear enough to Harry that they did not start off with anything near what he would consider an 'important thing'. They covered Harry's likes and dislikes first, usually answering their own questions at the same time. Then came Harry's story. With Hogwart's obviously having to be omitted, Harry spun a tale of going to Stonewall, the public school he would have gone to if he hadn't found out about being a wizard. They asked about grades but since Harry hadn't really been allowed to be 'smarter' than Dudley, his grades weren't really any good to begin with.

Dagger's parents also asked about friends, something to which Harry struggled with answering truthfully. He had an idea of why they asked, but the idea of living with any one of his friends seemed laughable. For one he barely knew where any of them lived, save the Weasleys, and two… well there was no need to put anyone else in danger by just being around them. So, Harry kept it vague, explaining that he did have a few friends, but he'd never really interacted with them under Dudley's fearsome reign (which had been largely true anyway).

"So you don't really have anybody you could stay with?" Harry shook his head dejectedly, still cursing his hurt feelings about the people he didn't even like. 'It's probably only because they're my only blood relatives left,' Harry thought bitterly. He once again pushed the feeling away, hoping that would stay gone this time.

Harry quickly tried to think up a way to explain that he had plenty of money to live on his own if he had to (a futile effort he figured), but Dagger's mom beat him to the punch.

"Well then, it's final!" Nicole said with a snap of her fingers. "You're coming to live with us!" Again her language didn't leave a whole lot of room for argument. But Harry's nature was naturally to reject this development. At least in his head. His body seemed learn how to speak on its own.

"Y-You'd really just let me live with you?" He seemed to be saying. Their smile made it clear that they'd already discussed it and had a decision. But one wanted to be sure, even if that person's head was still trying to come up with all the reasons why this was a bad idea.

"Hey, I know we just met you-"

"And this is crazy!" Dagger interjected in a singing tone, smiling innocently at her mother. She got an unimpressed look in response, but Nicole just continued as if nothing happened.

"In a very unusual way," she continued. "But, I wouldn't feel right if we just left you here with nowhere to go. None of us would." Dagger and Cameron both nodded emphatically. "We certainly have plenty of room for you back in Avon."

"So you're coming with us! No choice!" Dagger said in what she figured was a helpful tone, as if Harry should realize that there was no other option. And so it was decided. Harry would be going with the Jovanovichs. He hadn't even come close to having a compelling reason to stay. The arguments to leave however…

'Crazy megalomaniac killer after me? Check. An entire world that thinks I'm going to save them from said megalomaniac? Check. A prophecy that pretty much says exactly that? Check. The person that I wanted to live with just died? Sirius…

Hours later, Harry was still stunned by the turn of events. He had accepted their decision way too easily. Or something. He should have argued, told them he would be fine on his own. Cameron was already finding Harry a plane ticket to New Jersey and Nicole was out shopping for a new suitcase to replace the smashed one.

Tap Tap Tap.

Harry looked up towards the noise. Hedwig had returned from her trip to the Weasleys. He could see the letter in attached her claw but he was fairly certain that hotel windows would open that way.

"I'll meet you outside, okay girl?" Hedwig hooted her understanding and flew off. Dagger was luckily enough in her own little world. She did talk to Harry for a while after her parents went out, but she eventually went off to texting her friends the news.

"Hey, Dagger?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to go outside for a bit, get some fresh air." Dagger rolled over so she could look at him.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She looked a little concerned.

"No, no that's ok. Just a little overwhelmed, you know?" She nodded at him, apparently understanding the feeling.

"Just don't be gone too long! I don't want to worry." Dagger smiled at him briefly and then disappeared into her phone again.

Hedwig was waiting on the canopy when Harry walked outside. She led him to a tree located on the side of the parking lot, kind of out of the way from prying eyes. Harry retrieved the letter from her leg. It was from Ron.

Harry,

Mate, is everything ok? Looks like Hedwig got caught in a storm. Couldn't read a word of it.

If you're fine then I guess I can complain a little bit. Mum's really gone off the deep end. Threatened to keep me and Ginny from going back to Hogwarts. Says it's not safe enough. I know you-know-who's on a rampage, but Hogwarts not being safe? Completely barmy! We talked her out it though so it's alright!

Fleur Delacour (you remember her right? The half-veela from Beauxbatons?) is staying with us at the moment. She's engaged to Bill now. It's a little embarrassing but she still surprises me from time to time and I get caught staring at her occasionally. Ginny keeps threatening to tell Hermione when she gets here in a few weeks, although I can't figure out why she's threatening me with Hermione. I don't think she likes her very much. Keeps calling her Phlegm.

Anyway we're getting Hermione in two weeks. We'll try to collect you around then as well, earlier if we're lucky. Hang in there Harry! I know your summers already going to be rough so don't let the muggles make it worse!

Ron

Harry immediately felt guilty. Once he left, they were going to be so angry with him. But still, Harry couldn't bring himself to change his mind. He realized that he actually wanted to leave England. He wanted to be a normal teenager (and Dagger pretty much exuded being a teenager). He certainly didn't want to be known as the Boy-Who-Lived or the Chosen One or whatever. Fighting Voldemort shouldn't have to be his job.

Harry sighed. He told Hedwig to wait in the tree and walked inside to get a paper and pen from the front desk. He wrote a quick response, leaving out where he was going and making it seem like he was still with the Dursleys. He didn't want to lie to them but Harry really didn't want them to try and talk him out of it. Maybe he'd tell them where was later…

Hedwig was still waiting for him by the tree when he walked back out. He had one last thought before reached her. Muggles didn't exactly keep owls as pets. Harry's heart sank a little bit when he realized she'd have to stay here.

"Here girl. Take this to Ron…" He hesitated. "And you should probably stay with him for a while." Hedwig looked at Harry as if to say 'why would I do that?' "I know you're the best owl a guy could have, but flying over the ocean? There's not a lot of places to hunt." Hedwig hooted and Harry swore she was saying 'you wanna bet?' "And I don't think I can take you on the plane."

Hedwig stared at Harry for a few seconds before nibbling on his finger in an affectionate sort of way before taking of for the Burrow. Harry wasn't exactly sure that meant she was going to listen to him or not. She could be quite stubborn when she wanted to be.

"Was that an owl?" Harry jumped and turned towards the voice. Dagger was watching Hedwig's progress as she flew away.

"Y-Yeah I think so. Weird huh?" Harry said nervously. Dagger just smiled and shrugged.

"We don't get a whole lot of owls in New Jersey. Especially not during the day. So, are you doing alright? You've been out here for a while." Dagger jumped up and grabbed onto a branch above her. She used the trunk of the tree to help pull herself up. She sat down, legs just dangling there, and looked at Harry expectantly. Harry raised his broken arm in response, and she looked a little ashamed.

"I'm doing fine. Great actually! I've decided I want to go with you guys!" Dagger beamed at him.

"Didn't I tell you that you didn't have a choice in the matter?" She asked jokingly.

"Well then, I'm just getting more excited about it then!" Harry retorted.

"That's good! Oh, all my friends so excited to meet you already! Most likely because they want to rub it in that I hit you with a car but still!... You'll love it there too! Ten minutes from the beach, an hour from New York City! Best of all, mom and dad said you could stay in the guest house, you lucky dog you!"

"Wait, a guest house? I'd be fine with just a bedroom…" Dagger just smiled at him again.

"We figured you hadn't had enough time to be just a teenager, so we thought we'd make it a little easier for you to be… well… be a teenager." She gave him a sly look for just a moment. "You'll be able to throw parties or have girls over anytime you wanted!" Dagger winked at him, and Harry knew that he was turning red.

"Really?" Harry asked, curious despite his embarrassment. It certainly sounded like a good deal.

"Yeah! I mean, as long as you don't like super abuse the house and don't get into trouble. And, you know… practice safe sex!" Again she gave him a sly look that turned him even redder. Dagger giggled at him. Harry frowned at her.

"You like to embarrass people, don't you?" Dagger jumped out of the tree, stumbling a bit as she landed.

"Yes, Harry, I really do. It's all in good fun though! You should get used to it too. A lot of my friends have a dirty sense of humor."

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry said with a smirk. Dagger surprised him then by giving him a hug. He, however, did not let her know how much the hug actually hurt him. He hoped the bruise went away pretty quickly.

"I'm glad you're going to be coming with us. It's been a long time since I've had a new person to corrupt!" Harry wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that, but it certainly sounded fun. "C'mon! I feel like I need to catch you up on how teenagers act."

"What do you mean, 'they're gone?'" The twins shrunk away from their mother, who was rapidly turning red. They had unfortunately been tasked with telling their mother that the Dursleys, and Harry as well, were not at Number Four Privet Drive. They blamed Ron for their misfortune. He was the one who had been worried about Harry and asked them to go check on him. Just because they could Apparate and he couldn't. There was also a fair bit of walking involved because they couldn't just Apparate directly to Harry's Aunt and Uncle's house.

Well perhaps blaming Ron wasn't quite warranted. It was probably best that they learned of these developments as soon as possible. Still. Angering Molly Weasley was almost not worth it. And anything the Dursleys did was usually enough to set her off.

"Gone, as in not there."

"Disappeared."

"Absent."

"Dep-"

"Alright, alright!" Mrs. Weasley shouted, rubbing her temple. "Explain to me what you're mean?"

"Well Ronnie here had this idea that Harry was in trouble," George began.

"On account that Harry sent a letter to him in the middle of the night." Fred continued.

"So he-"

"It had gotten soaked so I couldn't read it." Ron interjected impatiently. "I wrote back to him but I decided to ask Fred and George to go check on Harry without waiting for a response." The twins gave Ron an annoyed look to which he shrugged. "You guys were taking too long. What'd you find?"

"Well little brother, we found nothing."

"Nada."

"Zilch."

"Looks like they'd packed up and left months ago."

"We even broke in to confirm-" Wrong thing to say.

"You BROKE into the muggle's house!?" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. Everyone flinched and took several steps away from Fred and George. "WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THOSE AWFUL DURSLEYS HAD BEEN THERE!?"

"We probably would stunned them,"

"Maybe turned them into something that better resembles their slimy personality." The twins' devilish smiles graced their lips.

"Oh the possibilities…" They turned to each other and started rattling of animal names that would best suit the Dursleys. Ron and Ginny nearly laughed, but knew better not to because Mrs. Weasley was clearly ready to throttle their brothers. With what Ron could only describe as divine intervention, Harry's owl flew in between the pranksters and their mother, distracting all three. Hedwig landed and held her leg out for Ron, who untied the note and began to read.

"Well?" Ginny pressed anxiously. "What's it say?" Ron kept mouthing words as though he wasn't quite sure what he was reading.

"Get this. 'Ron, don't worry about the first letter. It was a false alarm. Dursleys showed up really late last night. Uncle Vernon must've gotten a promotion because they were in the middle of moving to another house. They're grudgingly taking me along now so I guess I got lucky, but everything's fine now.' Does any of that add up to you?" Ron scanned the letter once more. "The rest is just a response to what I sent him, but he signed it 'I'll catch up to you eventually, but it might be a while longer before I see you'. We're getting him in two weeks aren't we? I guess we'll have to find him now but still…"

"Does it say where he went?" Mr. Weasley asked, speaking after a long moment. Ron shook his head. Ginny swore softly under her breath and the twins seemed to thinking hard about something. Either they'd just come up with a new prank idea or…

"There was way too much dust for them to have just moved away, right George?"

"Right you are Fred. Was practically breathing it instead of oxygen when we got inside."

"So either the Dursleys became super slobs before they moved-"

"Or Harry's lying to us."

"Harry is a bad liar…" Ron said, to which Ginny agreed.

"But why would Harry be lying? Remus said he made it to Dursleys just fine…" But with a growing look of horror, Mrs. Weasley looked to her husband.

"Remus told us that he left Harry a couple blocks from their house to help the Order…" Mr. Weasley said, comprehension dawning on his face. The twins, Ron and Ginny all groaned, catching on as well.

"Crap, Harry pulled a runner…" Ginny moaned, slapping her palm on her face.

"Or he got captured, and their forcing him to send that letter," Ron said.

"Ron, you are a real ray of sunshine sometimes," Ginny said sarcastically. "And before you ask, yes, I think that Harry would do something like this. Harry has been distant since…" Pause, wipe away a few tears. "Well, more distant anyway. But I did get a good conversation out of him before we left school. It was kinda offhand when he said it, but I got the impression that Harry's become unhappy living in our world. Ron can back me up." Looking incredibly uncomfortable, Ron nodded.

"Hermione as well." Silence. Mr. Weasley left the room, obviously going to contact the Order.

"Do you think he's just on his way here? Or maybe the Leaky Cauldron again?" Mrs. Weasley asked, trying to make it easier on herself. The Weasley kids gathered all exchanged a look. They knew the answer. This time Harry wouldn't be anywhere where they could find them. At least not for a while.

A/n: Hey again! Like I said, I've gotten a little busy. College doesn't help the writing for fun aspect of writing but thats what happens. To the chapter I did have to cut Dagger's POV out of it... It just wasn't coming out very well. All in all this chapter didn't quite come out how I wanted but... Well I wanted to move. I didn't come out that bad did it?

Feedback is always appreciated! And don't be afraid to ask questions! I enjoy them. It means people wanna know!

As for questions: I believe a Miss Ashley asked me if Dagger was going to be Harry's sweetheart. Well I can honestly say... Um... well I haven't decided yet. It was of course the original intention of mine but that was for the other Dagger. Now they're going to be living together (Sort of). So yeah. I don't know yet. Thanks for thinking Dagger's interesting enough though! :D

As for Mary-Sue's... Well a lot of OC's are going to be in this story. I'm sure not every one of them is going to be great so if they get too bland or MarySueish please let me know! Pointers would be helpful too!

Thats all for now! I hope you guys are okay with Harry's destination. I know they've been done before, and they're Cliche. But its a Harry Wins kinda story so I figured I could move him to a place I know a lot better. I'll do my best to keep it different! I swear. Super original plans are hard to come by but... Well I'll do my best!

MB is out! Peace! and X's and O's of course!

Oh and I really like reviews! and Questions!