WIZARD IN STARS HOLLOW

CHAPTER ONE: WHEN HARRY MET RORY

Sixteen-year-old Harry Potter, a young wizard who was a celebrity in the Wizarding World for five years, decided that it was time to make a change in his life for a while. Yes, he knew there was a war going on with Voldemort being back, but after Albus Dumbledore was killed by Severus Snape a week ago, Harry was so depressed that he thought it was time to leave the Wizarding World temporarily. He had told his friends Ron and Hermione that he was taking a vacation, though he knew that Voldemort would come after him sometime during it.

Harry didn't have a large family, so he couldn't think of where to stay yet, but he thought it would be nice to travel to America for a while. His first thought was New York, but something told him it would be too big and, if Voldemort were looking for him, he would easily find him and probably cause some damage. "No, I need something smaller." Harry said as he and Hermione were searching for places for him to stay. "I need somewhere Voldemort wouldn't think to look."

"How about this little town called Stars Hollow?" Hermione asked. "It's a small town in Connecticut not far from Hartford." She smiled and said, "Who knows? You might actually meet a cute girl there."

Harry shot her a glare. Girls were far from his mind at the moment. "Hermione, you know that if Voldemort were to find me in that town and I was dating someone, he'd go for them to get to me." Hermione frowned but nodded. "It's too far to Apparate and probably too much of a distance for me to fly by broom."

"How about a Thestral?" Hermione suggested. "Remember? We used them to get to the Ministry last year."

"Yeah, that might work." Harry said and, using Floo powder, and said, "Hogwarts!" very clearly. He was surrounded by green flame and, instantly, he was in the headmaster's office. He exited the office and ran to Hagrid's hut which was now magically rebuilt after Bellatrix had set it on fire a week ago. Hagrid was standing outside tending to the school cabbages. "Hi, Hagrid."

"All right, Harry?" Hagrid said. "Yeh look a bit unhappy."

"I need a Thestral to get out of the country. I'm taking a vacation and need to fly to get where I want to go."

"Right." Hagrid said. "Rocky can take yeh where yeh need ter go." A Thestral walked up to Harry and lowered its head at him. "Good luck, Harry. See yeh when yeh get back."

Harry thanked Hagrid and hopped on the Thestral. "Number four, Privet Drive, please," he said calmly to the skeletal horse. The large creature ran and jumped into the air, its wings flapping as he flew. An hour later, he landed near the house he grew up in and entered. Vernon Dursley was sitting in the kitchen drinking his coffee. "Hello, Uncle Vernon. I'm not staying long. I'm just packing my clothes and stuff."

"You're leaving?" Vernon asked in a happy tone. "Well, that's amazing! Good."

"I'm just going on vacation, Uncle Vernon." Harry told him. "I'll be back later on during the summer." This made Vernon a little unhappy, but he was still somewhat happy that Harry was leaving. Harry went to his bedroom and packed his belongings in his rucksack. Hermione had placed an Undectable Extension Charm on it so he could carry multiple items in it without anyone knowing there were extra things. He shrunk his school trunk and put it in his rucksack before heading back outside to the Thestral, hopping on it and taking off for America.

A few hours later, Harry and the Thestral landed outside the small town of Stars Hollow. The Thestral took off leaving Harry by himself. Harry reached into his pocket and withdrew his money bag. With a wave of his wand, he Transfigured his wizard money into American Muggle money and went to the nearest diner in town called Luke's diner. He walked into the diner and immediately went to the counter. A man wearing a plaid shirt and jeans and a baseball cap worn backwards. "Welcome to Luke's Diner. I'm Luke. What can I get you."

"One large coffee and a bagel, please." Harry said and paid the man once he got his food and drink. "Thanks." He walked off toward a lone table and, on his way to the table, saw a woman and a girl his age talking. The girl was around his height and body build with long brown hair with a yellow backpack hanging off the chair. He saw that both the woman and the girl were drinking coffee.

"Hey," said the woman to the girl. "Looks like we got a visitor to the town." The girl turned and Harry felt his heart race. The girl's eyes were a bright blue and she smiled at him. The woman waved him over and Harry sat down. "Hi. I'm Lorelai Gilmore and this is Rory."

"Hi." Harry said a little shyly. "I'm Harry." He didn't want to say his last name in case someone knew he was there. "Harry Dursley." He used his uncle's last name.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Lorelai said sweetly. "You must be new in town."

"I'm on vacation, actually." Harry said. "I just got here."

Lorelai grinned and looked at Rory. "How about you show our visitor around the town, Rory?"

"Me?" Rory asked surprised. "Why me?"

"Because you're very good at showing people around town and you know all the good spots to shop. That's why." Lorelai said and whispered, "And, maybe, you and Harry could get to know each other."

"Mom!" Rory whined. "Please don't play matchmaker with me!"

"I'm not!" Lorelai said sounding hurt. "How could you say that? I just want him to feel comfortable and..." she saw that Harry was looking a little uncomfortable. "Oh, man. I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to make things weird."

Harry cleared his throat. "No, you're okay, Miss Gilmore," he said. "I would love to walk with Rory and have her show me around. Like you said, it will give us time to get to know each other." He shot Rory a smile and she blushed. "Come on, then. Let's go see the town."

The two walked through the town and talked. "So," said Rory, "what's it like in England?"

"It's great." Harry said. "If you ever go there, you should visit Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. They're big tourist attractions." Rory giggled which made Harry's stomach flutter a bit. "So, what do you like to do?"

"Read and study." Rory said.

Harry laughed and she looked at him a little hurt. "Sorry. You just remind me of a friend of mine. She's the top in my year at school because she's always studying and reading. Of course, I'm not that good at studying but I get good marks in some of my classes."

"Oh." Rory said. "It's okay. Not many people like that I'm always reading or studying. I'm just good at school, that's all."

"There's nothing wrong with being good at stuff like that. I mean, I'm pretty good with science stuff but when it comes to history and stuff, I'm dreadful." This made Rory laugh and he laughed with her. "I'm sorry if this is too personal, but are you seeing anyone?"

"Not at the moment," she said. "Why?"

"I just thought I'd ask." Harry said shrugging. "I've had bad luck with relationships lately and you..." he blushed. "You seem like a very nice girl."

"Well, Mr. Dursley, you seem like a nice guy, too." Rory said nudging his rib with her elbow. "Do you want to come to my place for dinner tonight? We're having tacos."

"Sure." Harry said and Rory wrote down her address. "This isn't a date, is it?"

"No." Rory said with a laugh. "I'm very bad at first dates. The last date I was on, I was always babbling and sometimes I would make the wrong move and it never went well."

"Yeah, I'm not that good, either," said Harry. "By the way, have you ever heard of Harry Potter?"

"No, why?" she asked.

"Well, I'm sorry if I lied, but my name is actually Harry Potter. I used my uncle's surname in case someone knew me from somewhere." Harry said. Rory sighed. "What?"

"You could have just said your last name was Potter, Harry. Nobody knows you here."

"That's why I came here. Back home, everyone knows me." Harry said. "It's driving me nuts!" They walked more and stopped at an antique shop. "Why are we going here?"

"My friend Lane lives here." Rory told him. "She's my best friend and I want you to meet her." They went into the shop and found Lane at a table studying. "Hey!" Lane stood up and hugged her. "This is Harry. He just got into town an hour ago and we met at Luke's."

Lane looked him up and down and said, "He's cute." Harry blushed. "Oh, gosh! You're not on a date, are you?"

"No!" Rory said. "God, why does everyone ask that?" Ever since they started walking around town, at least ten people asked if they were dating. "I mean, yeah, I like him, but..."

"You like me?" Harry said giving her a playful nudge and she blushed. "Well, that explains why you're so nervous around me."

"Shut up." Rory said through the corner of her mouth making Harry chuckle. "Come on, let's go to the inn. We'll get you checked in so you have a place to sleep. How long are you staying?"

"Probably for a couple of months, actually," said Harry. "I'm taking a long vacation." Rory grinned and they walked to the inn where Lorelai worked. "Oh, hello, Miss Gilmore!" he said when he saw her.

"Hi, Harry!" Lorelai said. "Need a room?"

"Yes, please." Harry said. "How much is a room here?"

"For you, it'll be seventy-five per night." Lorelai said. "How long are you planning on staying?"

"A month or two." Harry told her. "How about I pay for the room every two weeks?" Lorelai agreed to his idea and he paid for the room for the first two weeks and she gave him his room key. Harry went to his room and found it very comfortable.