What's worse thought Harry; living with the Dursleys or facing Lord Voldemort? Harry couldn't really decide. Although when facing Voldemort, he had caught a glimpse of his parents, Lily and James Potter. Harry wondered what life would be like, not to have to be with the Durlseys. How wonderful it would be, but at the moment- impossible, he was safest at the Dursleys. But he could dream, couldn't he?
However, Harry decided to make the best of the situation and enjoy being on his own in the house for couple of days. Uncle Vernon had decided to take his family on a holiday, so that meant Harry was left in the hands of Mrs Figg, the funny lady from up the road. But she was only going to look in on Harry every night, so he would have the whole house to himself.
Mrs Figg was not actually a funny old lady. She was in fact a witch, whom had been assigned the job of protecting Harry from the evil of the dark side. Harry really wanted to see what was going on in the magical world but was under strict orders to stay put, in Privet Drive. But this did not mean that the wizard world could not come to him.
"So should I put my stuff in your room or Dudley's?" said the tall, red haired wizard, Harry's best friend Ron Weasley.
"Oh, it doesn't matter, we're all going to sleep downstairs, anyway. We're going to have a proper Muggle sleepover, sleeping bags, everything!" said Harry excitedly. "And we'll watch a scary film on telly."
Ron, who was wizard born and bred, looked puzzled and answered, "Harry, two questions. What is a film and what do you define as scary? If it's about spiders, this film thingy, then I'm off now!" he chuckled, trying to sound casual.
"Ron. It's OK. A film is something you watch, on a television, you know, you must have heard of them." Said Harry. "Anyway, stop worrying, it won't be that bad, it should be fun! Muggles do it all the time! It's not like I get to watch T.V. much really. Hey, Hermione should be here soon, then we talk about, you know, the stuff what's happening."
"Alright. You know, Harry, this is very strange. Y'know, being at your house and it being completely free of you aunt and uncle. I never thought I'd stay here. I bet you're glad they've gone away," said Ron.
"Yeah, it's great!" said Harry happily and bounced off into the kitchen, which he had been warned about touching. His Aunt Petunias' exact words were: "You even so much as scratch my worktop, I'll skin alive, you hear me?" Harry had nodded and got out of the kitchen quickly before Petunia could do him damage. Mrs Figg had been shopping to help him feel better about everything and Harry had even got some of his favourite sweets from Honeydukes. The best thing of all about Mrs Figg was that she let Harry bring his friends over to keep him company.
Harry couldn't remember being so happy. It was nearly his birthday, no Dursleys, and Ron staying at his house. Things couldn't get better, but something in the back of Harry' mind was nagging him; he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Ah yes, thought Harry. Voldemort. Where he was, what he was planning next, whether his godfather was safe, whether Dumbledore was planning an attack on Voldemort. Harry voiced his fears to Ron while he was preparing snacks for the film. Ron couldn't ease his mind, he knew as much as Harry about what was happening, which wasn't much. However, both boys had another thing to worry about, Hermione.
"She's late, Ron. Where could she be? She's the cleverest in our year and she can't find my house? We'll have to start without her at this rate," said Harry anxiously. "You don't think anything's happened to her, do you?"
"Stop worrying, she's fine. She's Muggleborn, her mum and dad know how to drive, she'll be here." But Ron looked anxious still.
Another half an hour they waited. Then just as Ron was going to send an owl to his father, a frantic knock was heard on the door.
Harry ran to get it. He threw open the door and there was Hermione, in jeans that were ripped and torn. Her pink zip up top, in tatters. She looked very scared and flung herself at Harry.
"Oh Harry, I thought I'd never get here!" she wailed. Harry looked around at Ron, who looked anxious.
"Hermione? What happened to you? Why are your clothes all torn?" Ron asked her. He gestured for Harry to shut the front door and they led the now shaking figure of Hermione into the living room and on to the sofa. When Ron fetched her some tea, she felt better and told them what had happened.
"Well, mum and dad dropped me off at the bus stop just outside your town, Harry and I said I would get a bus from there, as they had to get back, my grandmas sick, you know. So, I was waiting at this bus stop and these people attacked me, they were all masked and I think they were after someone. It was horrible. They grabbed me, tried to tie me up and take me away. They ripped my clothes, trying to make me go somewhere. I think I have an idea who they were. I'm not sure it was me they were trying to kid-nap…" said Hermione, in barely more than a whisper. She was still pretty scared and Ron and Harry looked at each other.
"Who did they want then? Maybe it was because you Muggleborn!" shouted Ron suddenly. "Harry, they could have been Death Eaters!" Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth in shock.
"Ron, don't be stupid, they can't have been. The Ministry have watching for them." Said Harry, although he didn't really believe what he was saying. "I mean, it just can't be them," he said.
"It must have been, Harry. It wasn't like she mugged or something. They were wizards, bad wizards at that. Harry, we need to speak to someone. I don't think we are going to safe here." Said Ron, who was obviously thinking the worst.
"I don't know what to do. It might have been just a coincidence! They might not have been wizards," said Harry, desperately trying to save the situation. Hermione began to panic and got angry with him.
"Don't you see Harry? They weren't after me; they were after you. They know we're friends, they're not stupid, You-Know-Who, Harry. Face it. He's back, you saw him, and you know he's got his strength back. We need to do some fast thinking. Where's Mrs Figg? Do you know?" said Hermione.
Harry pulled himself together and replied, "I'm not sure, but I think she is with Dumbledore. She must be. She's the one that he was on about on the day I fought Voldemort." Hermione flinched slightly. "She said if I ever needed her help just to ask. But I don't know what she meant."
Just then a pop sounded in the room and Harry looked around. There was Mrs Figg. Ron jumped and Harry greeted her.
"Mrs Figg! Was that all I had to do, then? Just ask?" he said, amazed.
"Yes, Harry, dear. Now what's she doing all messed up? Nothing bad has happened has it?" she asked seriously. Harry launched into the story about how Hermione was attacked and how they thought that Death Eaters were responsible for it. Mrs Figg appeared extremely interested in the incident and questioned Hermione for a long time, till she was sure she knew the facts correctly.
"Don't worry, dear, I'm sure they won't do it again. I'm going to have to inform Dumbledore. He is our leader, after all," said Mrs Figg. Harry interrupted her and said: "The leader of what? What's going on? Why does he have to know? Will we get in trouble?" asked Harry.
"Harry, some things are best left for later. I can answer you this: you won't get in to trouble. I had to ask Dumbledore for permission for your friends to stay here. Oh dear," Mrs Figg looked at her watch. "Look at the time, you children should be in bed and I don't want a peep out of you tonight, Harry James Potter!"
The three friends set up their sleeping bags in the Dursleys living room and Harry got them all hot chocolate and biscuits to help them sleep. Mrs Figg gave Hermione a potion so that she wouldn't have nightmares about the attack. Hermione dozed off at about 11.30 while Harry and Ron talked about the night's events and how Harry's sleepover hadn't gone according to plan. At last Harry fell asleep, but Ron lay awake. He was thinking about the attack on Hermione, he found he couldn't think of nothing else but the terrified look on Hermione's face when she had knocked on the door. He had an ache inside him; he couldn't explain it. Perhaps it was because he cared for her, more than anyone could ever know.
The next couple of weeks passed, Ron and Hermione went home after Harry's birthday on the 31st of July. Harry had a very enjoyable time, the Dursleys had not come back and he later found out they would not be back till mid August. But Harry would be alone, so he went to stay at Ron's house for the remainder of the holidays. They did not hear of anything unusual going in, Mr Weasley was still at work for most of the day, but he still had time to check to see if Harry was OK.
"Now you're sure Harry, that you and Ron will be alright. I know Bill and Charlie are here to look after you while we go to our-err- special meeting but is there anything I can do? Have you heard from you Godfather lately?" asked Mr Weasley.
"Well, no not really. It's best he doesn't contact me, you see. It's Dumbledore; he thinks it might be dangerous. Mr Weasley don't worry about us, we'll be fine. You and Mrs Weasley need to go. Really, it's alright," said Harry, trying to sound casual. "It's Hermione we're worried about."
"Now, don't worry. We've got that sorted. She's currently in France at the moment with her parents. We know there are no Death Eaters there and we some of our more willing members out there, keeping an eye. Now why don't you go with Ron and sit out in the garden, it seems a shame for you to be indoors on a day like this. I must say, it's almost as if nothing is really wrong…" he tailed off, looking worried. "Now off you go and Molly and I will be back later. Take care Harry, and you Ron, keep yourselves on our land. Don't go into the village. It's best to stay here for the moment. All right, well we'll see you both later." Mr Weasley strode off to get Molly from the kitchen. They both called goodbye and Charlie and Bill appeared.
"Bill! Charlie! It's so good to see you!" called Ron and ran to his brothers. Harry hung back but Bill came forward and gripped Harry's arm.
"You're all right, Harry, yeah?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Said Harry, although not really feeling it, Mr Weasley had made him nervous.
"Where have Mum and Dad gone?" asked Ron at dinner later on. "It's not your business, Ron. It's Ministry stuff, sorry." He added, seeing the look on Ron's face. "Just the way it is at the moment. Do you two want any more pie?"
Harry was looking forward to going back to Hogwarts. Maybe he would get a straight answer on just what was going on.
