Author's notes: Hey everyone. It's time for the first Chamber of Secrets chapter. It's not a particularly long chapter as it's more of an introduction to CoS than full plot yet, but don't worry, I'm getting to that in later chapters. I don't own Harry Potter, J. does. And now, on with the story...

Chapter 13: Escape to the Burrow?

Harry had spent the summer holidays practicing the spells he had learnt in first year wandlessly, then wordlessly, perfecting the little details wherever he saw the need for improvement. Other than that though, he had been bored for the majority of the holidays. He got letters occasionally from Ginny, talking about how her family had been bombarding her with questions and insults, from her brothers, about her friendship with him. He apologised for the inconvenience, but she merely told him off, saying that it was worth it to be his friend, which made him happy.

Towards the end of the holidays, Harry went up to his room after having his dinner to find a strange-looking creature in his room. The creatures was jumping on his bed until it turned around to see him. The creature bowed lowly in respect.

"Harry Potter...Such an honour it is to see you, sir..." the creature said in awe of Harry.

"Umm, thanks? Umm, do you mind telling me who and what you are? Not to be rude or anything, but I think it would be better if I knew what your name and species was when I talk to you," Harry requested, still confused on what the creature was and why it was here.

"Of course, sir. My name is Dobby, sir. Dobby the house elf," Dobby said cheerfully.

"Umm, hello Dobby. Would you care to sit down and tell me why you're in my room, by any chance? I'm a little confused at why a house elf would be here," Harry asked.

"S-sit d-down? Sit down?!" Dobby exclaimed before he began to cry.

"I'm sorry, Dobby! I didn't mean to offend you!" Harry apologised, thankful that his 'relatives' had gone out for the day.

"Offend Dobby?! Never has Dobby been asked to sit down by a wizard...like an equal..." Dobby said in awe of Harry's request.

"What do you mean 'like an equal'? Are you not treated well by other wizards?" Harry asked, feeling his rage build up. He didn't like it when he saw or heard about people abusing others.

"Dobby is to follow the orders of his family, sir. The family Dobby serves, sir. If he doesn't do a good job, then Dobby is beaten in an attempt to teach him a lesson so that he doesn't make a mistake again," Dobby said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, making Harry grimace in disgust.

"No-one should be treated like that, you mustn't have a very nice 'family' then. Who exactly is your 'family'?" Harry asked, trying to keep his anger under control for Dobby's sake.

"I don't think that Dobby should say, sir. If they knew that Dobby was here to warn Harry Potter, they wouldn't be very happy with Dobby at all..." Dobby said, starting to panic slightly.

"Warn me? Warn me about what?" Harry asked, trying to change the conversation away from the morbid thoughts that Dobby was getting panicked over.

"Terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts, sir. Harry Potter must not go back to school or he will be in grave danger. Harry Potter must stay home or he'll be killed. Dobby mustn't allow Harry Potter to be killed. Harry Potter is the last defence against the Dark Lord and his followers and mustn't be killed," Dobby explained forebodingly.

"Dobby, I was attacked by Voldemort last year, and I didn't come back with a scratch, which is more than what could be said about him and Quirrell. I won't allow myself to get killed when I have a score to settle with the murderer of my parents. Besides, Hogwarts IS my home now, and if I don't go, I won't see my friends," Harry explained, hoping to alleviate some of Dobby's fears.

"Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter?" Dobby said.

"Hold on a second, what friends who haven't been writing to me? My friends have been writing to me just fine as they use my owl. Who's letters have you been intercepting then?" Harry demanded, wanting to know just who was writing to him and why.

"Dobby thought that if Harry Potter thought that his friends didn't write to him, then he wouldn't go back to school, sir. But it seems as though Dobby failed..." Dobby said, shamefully.

"Give me the letters you intercepted now, Dobby. They might be important," Harry demanded again.

"Only if Harry Potter promises not to go back to school!" Dobby said firmly.

"I am going back, now give them here, Dobby!" Harry demanded one last time as his patience was running thin with Dobby now.

"No!" Dobby screamed before turning and running out of the door.

Harry gave chase and drew his hand, pointing it at Dobby. Time to try out one of the new every day-use spells he had learnt.

"Accio letters!" Harry bellowed as the letters that Dobby had stolen flew out of his cloth/rag/robe-like attire and into Harry's hand.

"I'm not powerless, Dobby, and don't do this again! I don't like thieves or other criminals!" Harry yelled, scaring the little house elf before he clicked his fingers and disappeared.

"Now then, let's see who would be writing to me..." Harry said to himself, curiously fondling the letters in his hands.

Harry turned them over and started to cycle through them, opening them and reading them all before throwing them away in annoyance at the content of them. They were all from Molly and Ron Weasley. Molly was apologising, but subtly trying to get him to do so as well in a reply by saying how good it was to have the correct social skills and behaviour in the wizarding world. Harry was definitely not going to reply or apologise to her when it was her continued attitude that was the problem, not his. As for Ron, he was still trying to befriend him and had now started to ask how he was, what he was doing, what his relatives were doing etcetera. Basically, the idiot was trying to get some inside information in the hopes of telling Dumbledore something that could be used against Harry. Well, he certainly wasn't going to tell that blinded fool anything, that's for sure. After a few hours of martial arts practise outside, Harry went up to bed to sleep. Strangely, he had a very odd feeling about tomorrow, and he wasn't sure whether it was a good feeling or a bad feeling.

Halfway through the night, Harry was woken by a loud banging against the side of the house...His side. In fact, in was coming just outside of his bedroom window. He shot up and opened the curtains to see a flying Ford Anglia being driven by none other than Ron, Fred, and George Weasley. What the hell were they doing here?! Harry opened the window just as Ron opened his side's door.

"Not to be rude, but what are you doing here?" Harry asked, completely confused by this surprise.

"Rescuing you of course! Now go and get your trunk and pets! We're taking you to the Burrow away from this place!" Ron yelled impatiently, obviously wanting to get Harry out as quick as possible.

Rescuing? Why did he need rescuing? Then it clicked in Harry's head. It was another ploy to try and make him trust and befriend Dumbledore and the Weasleys by making him see them as his saviour from life at Privet Drive. Too bad that it wasn't going to work on him. Although, going to the Burrow would have its upsides. While he would have to put up with living with the Weasleys, he would be able to see Ginny again. That thought made him smile as he rushed off to get his trunk, freshly-packed a few weeks ago so that he wouldn't be running around at the last minute before going to school. He chucked his trunk into the car's boot before placing Hedwig and Shade's cage in carefully so as not to hurt them and jumping into the back seat of the car. As Harry and the Weasley boys flew away, the Dursleys still slept soundly, not knowing anything. After all, they were very heavy sleepers...

It took about 10 minutes to get to the Burrow, and after Molly found the group and berated the Weasley boys for taking the car, she prepared a meal as a welcoming meal for Harry coming to the Burrow for the first time of hopefully many visits. And then he saw a red blur bound down the stairs. There she was; his first and best friend, Ginny Weasley...in her nightgown...and he was completely stunned by her appearance.

"G-Ginny?" Harry asked, hardly believing that the attractive ('Wait, what?!' he thought) girl in front of him was the same sweet, innocent Ginny he knew.

"H-Harry?!" Ginny too asked, hardly believing that he was here in front of her. Then she followed his gaze, remembered what she was wearing, blushed, then ran upstairs to get changed...after squeaking in embarrassment, of course.

"Mental, that one! She's not said a word to us about you all summer, and once you're here, she blushes and runs off! Are you still sure that you want a crazy fan girl around?" Ron said, almost too smugly at the end for Harry's liking. It was as if the idiot expected Harry to just leave Ginny at the click of his fingers! Well, if it was a game Ron wanted, then Harry would make a new one called 'What happens when someone insults your friend!'

"She was in her nightgown, Ron! She was embarrassed at me seeing her like that, you idiot! And for the record, I don't mind her being around! She treats me more like a proper person than many of the people I know, and she's a 'fan girl'!" Harry chastised, using Ron's own words against him at the end and making the red-haired boy pale as he saw the hidden anger in Harry's eyes almost burning into his soul.

Ron was saved from a possible attack on his soul when Ginny came downstairs in normal clothing, making Harry completely forget about Ron as he went to greet his best friend.

"Hey Ginny, you alright? You had me worried for a minute when you ran upstairs," Harry said kindly.

"Yeah, it's just that I didn't expect you to be here, and there I was in my nightgown. It was a little embarrassing, especially with you...looking..." Ginny explained, whispering the last part in disbelief at the fact that Harry seemed to be taking an interest in her.

Harry subtly glanced over to Ron with a look to say 'I told you' before turning back to Ginny.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright then, and there's nothing for you to be embarrassed about. You're a pretty young girl, so why should you feel embarrassed if I looked at you. You'll get more looks as you get older and prettier, I assure you of that," Harry said before he even thought about what he was saying. He blushed darkly once he realised what he had said and looked down, not wanting to meet her eyes.

"You really think that? You really think that I'm pretty?" Ginny asked, not believing the words coming out of Harry's mouth. She had to be dreaming, surely.

"W-well, of course. Only an idiot wouldn't agree with me! Trust me, Ginny, you'll find a great guy one day and he'll think that you're the most beautiful thing on the planet," Harry said reassuringly, seeing the doubt in her eyes at his earlier statement. However, one thing nagged at the back of Harry's mind. It was a sort of primal part of his mind, and it didn't like the idea of Ginny with a guy other than...him?! What was up with his mind lately? He really needed to sit down and think about things when he was alone, otherwise he was afraid that he might fry his mind up.

"Thanks, Harry. That means a lot to me. No-one has ever said that to me before..." Ginny said, trailing off slightly as she became slightly melancholy in her thoughts about her brothers, Ron and Percy, and their old friends insulting her and calling her ugly (Ron) and stupid (Percy).

Harry saw Ginny's mood change and put a hand under her chin to lift her head up so that they locked eyes.

"Hey, just because no-one's said it before me doesn't mean that it's not true. It is. Even if I have to keep reminding you of that fact, I will. You're brilliant, Ginny, and until you accept that, I'll never stop telling you," Harry said reassuringly, earning him a smile from Ginny.

"Come on, I want to show you the back garden!" Ginny said, taking his hand and leading him rather briskly outside to show him the Burrow's back garden.

The next few days was spent with Harry and Ginny spending time together either in the back garden or in her room just talking about everyday things and the past. Ginny told Harry how her family had heckled her over him, but she remained firm and told them nothing, much to his appreciation. Sure, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy tried to separate them a lot, and Ron still tried to befriend Harry, but the duo would always find a way to be together. Even Molly couldn't keep them apart by giving them separate chores. Harry always got his done quickly thanks to his wandless magic and then came in to help Ginny with her chores, which always confused and irritated Molly as she had no idea how he could do his chores so fast to help Ginny. Yes sir, being together at the Burrow was shaping out to be a great end to the summer for Harry and Ginny, and it seemed like nothing could go wrong to spoil it...

Author's notes: It's a cliff-hanger, so what do you expect will happen in the next chapter then, huh? Well, you'll have to find out when it comes out, won't you? Stay tuned!