He looked down at Scabbers. "Ron—"
"He will help you," Ron repeated in a hiss. "I know your family is not the best, you can't fool me, Harry. Take him. If you get hungry or something he can get food from the kitchen, he's done it for me. Okay, it's mostly sweets and sometimes it's nibbled on, but you won't mind that would you?"
He looked down at the rat. "Ron, I can't." He couldn't take the chance, aunt Petunia would lock him up forever if she saw. She already hated Hedwig and she didn't even let Dudley have pets. He pushed Scabbers back into Ron's arms.
"Better not, Ron," Hermione said, stopping Ron from returning Scabbers to Harry again. "You heard what his cousin is like. Harry has my phone number and he can give me a call anytime, day or night, I told him already. He's going to be fine, right Harry?"
"Yes, of course I will be." He never considered they might have noticed more than he said. It felt awful, knowing that they worried about him. He plastered a smile on his face and told them he would be fine, allowed Hermione to hug him, thumped Ron's shoulder, and rushed after his uncle.
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