A/N: ok well I'm just now realizing that I left out basically the whole month of august cuz Harry says he's only staying the week at the burrow on his birthday which is July 31 so you'll just have to overlook the fact that I think there is only one week between July 31 and September 1! Thanks
Chapter 3: Back to the Burrow
With two minutes to spare Harry ran into the living room and flopped down on the couch. He expected they'd be coming by Floo powder, like they did last year. Especially if Mrs. Figg was a witch.
Precisely at 11o'clock Mr. Weasley stepped through the fireplace. Mrs. Figg didn't seem even remotely surprised in fact her face lit up.
"Arthur!" she squealed and embraced him in a big hug. "It's been too long!"
"Arabella! Yes it has how have you been?" Mr. Weasley replied warmly.
Their greeting was interrupted as Ron fell out of the fireplace coughing and sputtering. Harry rushed over to him and helped him up. "I (cough) I inhaled some soot! (Cough, cough) No offense but you really should clean that out some time," Ron choked out. Mrs. Figg just laughed as she walked over and hugged Ron too. "You're so big," she said, "last time I saw you, you were a year old and about knee height. And you two," she said as she spun around on Fred and George, Ron's twin brothers, who had been sneaking up on her, "you two were not much bigger, and you were always chasing everyone and everything around, I head you're both excellent beaters on the Gryffindor team now, huh?" She gave the two of them a big bear hug too.
"Would you like some tea?" Arabella asked turning back to Mr. Weasley.
"I'd love some," he replied and their voices trailed off into the kitchen.
"I've got to show you my gift from Sirius!" Harry exclaimed to Ron and the twins. "Check it out!" he said as he pulled the watch from his pocket.
"Whoa, it's just like our clock at home!" Ron breathed.
"Brilliant observation, genius," George, or was it Fred, retorted.
"Shut up!" Ron snapped back.
"It's awesome!" Harry stated as he dropped it back into his pocket. "So Charlie's engaged? Who is she?"
"Her name is Annette Waterfield and Charlie met her in Egypt when we were visiting Bill a couple of summers ago," Ron stated, "She's great!"
"And hot! Oy Harry, it's too bad that you couldn't keep up with our world this summer you missed an amazing quidditch game," Fred said as they sat on the couch. That launched the four of them into a heated discussion about quidditch, the wizard sport played with four balls fifty feet in the air on broomsticks. 20 minutes later Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Figg came back into the living room.
"We'd best be going," Mr. Weasley started, "Molly is expecting us back. It was nice seeing you again Arabella, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot more of you in the next couple of years with recent events and all."
"I'm sure you will," Arabella replied, "and boys, you all have a nice term, be careful, and kick some slytherin butt for me ok?"
"Don't worry!" Fred started.
"We will!" George finished.
Mr. Weasley took a bag from his pocket and threw some of its contents into the fireplace. "Fred, George, you got Harry's trunk? Alright you go on first."
They heaved Harry's trunk into the emerald flames and stepped in themselves. "The Burrow!" they shouted together and vanished. Harry and Ron went next. "Good-bye and thanks Mrs. Figg!" Harry yelled as he stepped into the green fire. "The Burrow!" he shouted. Suddenly he was sucked away in a cloud of soot. All he saw for a couple of minutes was glimpses of living room as he spun quickly around and round. Then, he landed hard on the stone floor of the fireplace at the Burrow.
Harry had barely stood up when Mrs. Weasley had him wrapped in a huge hug. "Hello dear, welcome back!" she squealed to Harry.
Mrs. Weasley practically dragged Harry into the kitchen and sat him down at the table. She started piling food in front of him and wouldn't hear it that he'd just eaten and wasn't hungry.
So after much (ignored) protest he ate some more. Just as he was finishing his third pancake Charlie walked into the kitchen with a short brunette woman at his side.
"Hi," she said cheerfully, "you must be Harry. I've heard so much about you, I mean aside from all the You-Know-Who stuff, but other stuff from Ron and Ginny and the twins. Yeah, I'm Annette Waterfield." She stuck out her hand for Harry to shake.
"Hi," Harry replied and shook her hand.
"How are you Harry, I mean since the last time I saw you. How are you getting along with, you know, everything?" Charlie asked.
"I'm fine, really," Harry lied. In fact Harry was not ok. He was the one responsible for the downfall of the most powerful dark sorcerer ever, Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had some to his home at Godric's Hollow and killed Harry's parents. He tried to kill Harry too but his spell backfired and he was basically destroyed, but all that had happened when Harry was just a baby. And now after the terrifying events of last year Harry was not dealing well. He kept having horrible nightmares reliving that fateful night last term. He kept hearing Voldemort's cold voice saying "Kill the extra," and seeing Cedric fall over dead at his feet and he kept hearing the high, cold, cruel laugh. He kept seeing Voldemort rising from that cauldron when he had been reborn. He half expected Voldemort to be waiting for him every morning when he woke up.
"Well it was nice to meet you," Harry said as he spotted Ron in the doorway. He got up and practically ran out of the kitchen not wanting to discuss the last year's painful events.
"So I guess you've heard that Dumbledore's coming. He says he's got to put some kinda protection on you while you're here," Ron said to Harry as they headed upstairs to Ron's room.
"Yeah he told me that too. You know the spell that they used on my parents to hide them from Voldemort?" Harry asked. Ron nodded but cringed at Voldemort's name, most wizards feared even his name and never said it. "Yeah well Dumbledore wants to use it on me too."
"Wow," was all that Ron could say.
At around 4:30 Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs for Harry and Ron to come down.
"Hello Harry, Ronald," Albus Dumbledore said as the boys clambered down the stairs. Albus Dumbledore was a very old man with a very long and silvery beard and hair. (He could tuck both into his belt if he so desired!) He also wore half moon spectacles that stood in front of fiery blue eyes.
"Hello Professor," they chorused back.
"I won't be staying long. Just enough to perform this spell, then I'll be going back. So Harry are you ready?"
"Sure," Harry replied. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and gave Harry instructions on what he had to do. Dumbledore was going to say the words Secretus Totalus (I know that was a bit uncreative but that's ok) and Harry had to whisper where he was staying into Dumbledore's ear, in this case the Burrow.
Dumbledore stood back and pointed his wand at Harry. He waved his wrist and said "Secretus Totalus!" Harry walked over to Dumbledore and whispered "The Burrow" into his ear.
"Okay I'm pretty sure it worked," Dumbledore announced to everyone there. "And now I must be going. I have business to attend to for 'The Order'. Thank you for allowing me to come here Molly, Arthur. And I'll see you five on September 1st."
"Oh you're always welcome here," Mrs. Weasley said warmly. Dumbledore smiled at everyone and Disapparated.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next few days were fairly normal. They didn't see much of Percy or Mr. Weasley, Harry suspected they had been working a lot at the Ministry. The rest of them spent the days practicing quidditch in the grove behind the Burrow, and the nights playing Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess. Some nights discussing quidditch and other nights discussing what they thought Voldemort was planning. Ron and the twins had to fill Harry in on the events that had been happening that summer. It seems Voldemort had waited a few weeks before doing anything. His first attack was on the Leifmans, a prominent wizarding family. Mr. Leifman had been an Auror and was responsible for the capture of several of Voldemort's deatheaters.
The beginning of the week flew by and soon it was Thursday, the day that Hermione was coming. She was already at the house when Harry and Ron came downstairs for breakfast that morning. "Harry, Ron!" she squealed as she ran over and hugged them both.
"Hi Hermione," they said as the awkwardly hugged her back. Hermione looked great. Her hair had settled down a bit, it wasn't quite so frizzy and now that her teeth were of normal size her face seemed prettier too. She also had grown a couple of inches and was actually quite pretty. (Sorry I couldn't resist! I love Herm and I was so sick of her being Ms. Frizz I had to make her pretty!)
"Eat up boys we're going to Diagon Ally today!" Mrs. Weasley said to them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour later Harry, Hermione, seven Weaselys, and Annette were congregated around the living room coffee table waiting as Mr. Weasley conjured a fire in the fireplace.
"Okay we're travelling by Floo Powder since not all of us can Apparate yet," he said to them. "Molly why don't you go first?"
Mrs. Weasley took a pinch of Floo Powder from the flowerpot on the mantle. She threw it into the fire and instantly the flames jumped and turned bright green. She stepped into the flames and yelled "Diagon Ally!" Fred and George went next each in turn doing the same thing that their mother did.
"Harry why don't you go next?" Mr. Weasley said. Harry got up and walked over to the fireplace. He took some Floo Powder from the pot and threw it into the flames, which for a fourth time turned emerald green. Harry took a deep breath remembering what had happened last time he had tried to get to Diagon Ally by Floo powder. He had ended up in Knockturn Ally a not very pleasant place when you're twelve and alone. Harry shook the thought out of his mind and stepped into the flames. "Diagon Ally!" he shouted.