I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 47 – Preparations

The Hogwarts Express blew its whistle, the loud long sound traveled with the wind. It was to signal that the train was getting closer to its destination, that the journey to King's Cross Station was coming to an end.

Harry sighed heavily. While he enjoyed being on the train with his friends, he hated that it meant that he would be leaving them. He would be forced to spend the summer at the Dursleys, to be hated and tortured by them for weeks. He did not think things could possibly get worse after growing up with them but their actions last summer proved him spectacularly wrong.

He could only hope that this summer would not be as bad as that but his hopes were not high at all.

He was staring morosely out the window and missed the look passed between some of the people that were in the compartment with him.

"Hey Harry, come with me to find the snack cart? I promised to get some candy for my little sister and forgot earlier," Katie said.

"Did you forget or did you eat it all?" Alicia asked innocently.

Katie snorted. "Both, neither, I don't know. I don't know why I said I'd get her any. You can get the same candy elsewhere but she insists that the Hogwarts Express candy tastes better."

"Poor thing," Angelina chuckled. "It'll only be a few more years before she's riding the train."

"Ugh don't remind me. She already promised to terrorize me at school." Katie's smile betrayed her words. She reached up and pulled her bag down, slinging it over her shoulder. She and Harry left the compartment and made their way to the end of the train. However, well before they got there, she pulled Harry into a corner at the end of the car.

"Is everything okay?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yup. I didn't really need to get more candy. I already got hers and put it away. Just needed an excuse to take you out of the compartment for a few minutes." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small box. It was thin and long with a hinge and cover that would swing open. She handed it to him.

His eyebrows went up when he took it. "What's this?"

"It's technically a specimen container," Katie explained. "They use it at clinics and St Mungo's. Whenever they need a blood sample or tissue sample, they use these to carry them around. Things put in it shrink down a bit and come back to normal size when you take it out. Also, there is a Stasis Charm on all things you put in it so things don't spoil."

"Wow, that's really cool!" His confusion did not subside. "But, what do I do with it?"

Katie flipped open the lid and he gasped when he looked inside. "We filled it with sandwiches and fruits and vegetables, as much as we could. No sweets or anything elaborate, but you'll have food to last you a while. You can try to fill it up when you can. Normally the charm wears off every few weeks and it's not easy to reapply so you won't be able to right now. I was able to get a really strong one applied though so this will keep you going for a while. Not the whole summer but, close."

He gaped at her. At first, he was horribly embarrassed that he had to resort to such measures but the embarrassment was swiftly drowned when he realized how much she cared for him. His cheeks became hot and he resisted the urge to tear up. "How did you get this?"

"My mum got it for me when I asked her. I had the idea a week before term ended and she sent it to me pretty fast. She was the one that did the extra strong Stasis Charm too."

"She sounds incredible," he said softly.

Katie smiled. "She is. She was happy to do it too. Made me promise not to fill it with sweets though so sorry about that."

He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her shoulder. "I should be the one saying sorry," he mumbled. "For all the trouble."

She hugged him back. "You're no trouble. You just cause lots of trouble," she teased gently. "Then again, be around the Weasley Twins and you can't really help it."

He grinned as he let go. "I am rather impressionable."

She snorted. "Did Alicia say that?" She snorted again at his confirming nod. "Anyways, there is a hole for a lock on the front but the twins said they gave you something that would work so we didn't try to find you one."

"They did. A Never-Lock."

She laughed. "Oh boy that thing. One time they used one to lock the teacher's lounge. It took Flitwick, McGonagall, and even Dumbledore to break it. They said it was the best limits test they've ever had on one of their things."

"Did they get in trouble?"

"Surprisingly not. Dumbledore congratulated them on well done magic but warned them of dire consequences if it was ever used again like that."

"That's amazing," Harry said.

"Yeah, the twins are really good at things when they want to be." She peeked around the corner. "Okay I'm going to head back and swap with one of the others. You stay here for a bit, okay?"

He nodded. "Did you…bring me out here so the others wouldn't know?"

She nodded, a sad expression on her face. "We figured you wouldn't want some of the others to know. We didn't want to embarrass you."

"Thank you," he said thankfully. "Not that you guys embarrass me or anything," he added hurriedly.

Katie grinned. "Don't say that to Alicia, she'll try to figure out ways to embarrass you." She disappeared around the corner, leaving Harry there.

He waited patiently, hugging the box to his chest with both arms.

Alicia appeared, sliding into the corner next to him. "Angelina started an exploding snap game so we got a few minutes which is good so I can explain a few things." She gave him a leather satchel. She untied the drawstring and the satchel opened up. Vials were placed in leather loops with different colored corks.

"I color coded the vials to make it easy for you. Wrote down what they are on this parchment here too but here's a quick run-down." She pointed at each vial as she spoke. "If you're feeling feverish, take the red one. It's an anti-fever potion. If you're feeling cold, the blue one is for general colds and will warm you up. If you're sick, the green one will keep most forms of upset stomach at bay. Only a sip is needed for each.

"This one with the blood drop on it is Dittany, good for minor cuts and scrapes. This thick ointment is for bruises, the twins swear by it. This one with the ice cube on it is for burns. And these bandages have some essence of murtlap soaked in. You only need a little of each for the little things. It'll help them last."

Harry definitely teared up. "All this is for me?"

"Of course." Alicia looked troubled, the most serious he had ever seen her. "I…it's a crime that you can't see a medical professional when you need one. None of these are substitutes mind, but they can treat basic things and get you by until you return." She neatly folded the satchel up and wound it with the string. "The string is supposed to be anti-Muggle. So no one but a magical should be able to open it. Everything wouldn't work for Muggles anyways."

She hesitated and slowly withdrew a pair of vials from her pocket and held them out to him. "This is some Calming Draught and Dreamless Sleep. You really shouldn't have these without a proper Medi-Magical or an adult around. You can hurt yourself with these."

Harry looked at the vials and then back at her. "Do you think I should take them?"

She shrugged uncomfortably. "I think you might need them, when you're at that place. I can't say it makes me comfortable giving them to someone as young as you without supervision though."

He gently pushed her hand away. "If you don't think I should, then I won't." He smiled with teary eyes. "I trust you."

She sighed with relief and slipped them back into her pocket. "Thanks Harry. I trust you to be careful but with these things, you can't be too careful."

He hugged her tight. "Thank you for doing all this for me."

She squeezed him. "I wish I didn't have to. But I want you to come back in decent shape." She smiled. "Who else can I order about and do things for me?"

"Oliver," he said readily.

She blushed and was thankful they were still embraced so he would not see her. "True, but you argue less when you do it."

"I'm happy to," he replied seriously. He stood back and looked at the two precious bundles he held. "I really don't know how to thank you all for all you do for me."

"Take care of yourself and come back to us in one piece," she said just as seriously. Then she smiled impishly. "And you can get me something pretty for Christmas and my birthday. If the others don't want their gifts I'll take them."

"Deal," he said happily.

"You know I'm kidding right?"

"Oh I take everything you say to heart Alicia. I'm very impressionable after all."

"No seriously Harry, I was kidding. Don't tell Angelina what I said or else she'll really get ticked off." She began to panic as he walked away. "Wait, where are you going?"

"To get some candy for Katie's sister and for you," he replied with a smile.

She rushed to catch up to him. "Okay that's fine but please tell me you know I was kidding."

"I always listen to you Alicia."

"Harry…"

-0-

Angelina looked up when the door to the compartment slid open. Alicia walked in first, gnawing on an almost indecently large bar of chocolate. Harry followed behind carrying a bag of candy and gave pieces to everyone in the compartment including a large package for Katie.

"My sister will thank you," she said with a grin.

Harry sat by Angelina and gave her a large bar of chocolate. She noticed that his bag was not empty and it held the box and satchel.

She hugged him in thanks and took the moment to whisper in his ear. "We gave Hedwig our addresses. She can find any of us girls and Oliver pretty easily now. You need anything at all, you just send her to us. If she shows up without a note, we know you didn't have time to write one and will do our best to come find you and help you."

"Thank you," he whispered back. When he pulled away, he looked up at Hedwig's cage and noticed her glaring very angrily at Angelina. "Why is she looking at you like that?"

"I don't know," Angelina said evasively.

"That's not what you said before Harry returned," Hermione said snidely. "You called her a ruddy feather duster. That's what you get for being mean to her."

"I was not being mean to her," Angelina protested while the others laughed. "I just wanted to make sure she understood me. Besides, she's the one that bit my hair through the bars and wouldn't let go!"

"Hedwig! You didn't!" Harry exclaimed, reaching up and pulling the cage down and into his lap.

Hedwig screeched and flapped her wings, clacking her beak at Angelina.

Angelina looked like she was about to poke the cage then thought about it when Hedwig snapped at her. "I'll roast you like a chicken and get Harry a nicer owl!"

The cage danced as Hedwig literally flew in rage.

"Now now, she didn't mean that," Harry said soothingly to his irate owl.

"Oh yes I did," Angelina replied. She waved one of her braids that looked like it had been cut at with dull scissors. "She tried to bite my hair off!"

"Now now, she didn't mean that," Harry said soothingly to his irate friend.

The compartment laughed as the girl and the owl gave Harry remarkably similar looks of indignation.

It took some intense negotiation where Angelina had to surrender her first plate of bacon when the new term started and Hedwig had to hoot an insincere apology for trying to bite Angelina. The two finally reached a peace of sorts though for the rest of the journey Hedwig alternated between glaring at the girl and showing her tail feathers moodily. Angelina started to draw a picture of a roast chicken but stopped when Harry cuddled with her and shared another bar of chocolate with her.

As the train pulled into the station Harry felt better about the situation, but feeling better did not mean he felt good at all. He knew there was no way around it, no way he knew of anyways. However, it did mean a lot to receive those things from his teammates. To know that they cared about him even when they would be far away.

Luna had been sitting with Ginny in the compartment and had been quiet for most of the trip. As the others gathered their things and got ready to disembark, she tugged on Harry's wrist. "Will you continue sending me notes over the summer? I enjoyed doing that with you during the year. We don't have an alcove to leave notes in however."

Harry smiled. "I would love to. Hedwig will be more than happy to be our alcove, I'm sure. You know, after she's calmed down a bit."

Luna smiled serenely. "I'm sure. She's a very lovely owl." She reached into the bars with her finger and gently rubbed the owl's head. Hedwig leaned into Luna's touch, blinking slowly. "I never said thank you by the way," Luna said softly to Harry.

"For what?"

"For listening to me. Not many people do."

Harry nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean. No really," he said at Luna's look of incredulity. "I used to beg for someone to listen to me. I had no one to talk to, no one to hear me. I didn't have anyone who did that until I started at Hogwarts. It was really hard getting used to talking and being heard, but I'm getting there."

He tried to smile encouragingly. "You deserve the credit too. We were only able to help Ginny because of you."

Luna blinked away a happy tear and her smile was bright. "I don't need the credit. I'm just happy things ended well." Her smile faded. "I take it that your next few weeks will be difficult?"

Harry nodded slightly. He knew no one told her, not that he saw. He also knew that they were not that overt while in the compartment. However, having exchanged notes with Luna during the year, he knew that she had an uncanny ability to say uncomfortable truths without having been told. Among all the strange things she said, there were things plainly said and meant.

"Then you should remember what you taught me this year," she said.

"And what's that?"

"There's always someone who will listen, even if it doesn't seem like it." Her smile returned in full and she handed him a letter folded prettily. "I hope you reply soon."

"Thanks Luna," he said, his heart warm. "I hope so too."