Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot.not even the title
Chapter 1 Escape
Harry sighed as he looked out the window. If only there was a way to escape without causing a ruckus, or using magic. Well, it was only one more week, right? If it were possible, summer at the Dursley's had been the worst yet. He was hardly allowed out of his room at all.not even for meals! Uncle Vernon swore that Harry's increased height came from the overfeeding he received from "that absurd excuse for a school." It was true, Harry had gained several inches and now met his uncle eye to eye. Dudley's pants looked even more ridiculous on him as they fell two inches above his ankle and were bunched awkwardly around his waist. So, Harry was allowed to come out and finish the dishes and could take half of Dudley's leftovers. However, this wasn't such a bad thing after all. Two days into the summer, when he realized it was going to remain this way for the rest of the summer, Harry owled Ron, pleading for intervention. Just as he thought, within two hours it was Mrs. Weasley to the rescue, he received a huge basket with food enough for two Dudeys. After that, Harry received regular meals as if he himself was sitting at the table at the Burrow.
Just as Harry turned from his window, resigning himself to another week at the Dursley's, he heard a roar that sounded vaguely like his name. "HARRY!" Yep, it was Uncle Vernon. Harry quickly slipped out of his room and down the hall only to run straight into.Hermione?
"What are you doing here??????"
"That's what I'd like to know," growled Uncle Vernon, glancing sideways at Hermione in distrust.
"Well, are you surprised? My parents insisted on driving me to the Burrow so they could meet all the Weasley's, and I agreed only if they would take you along as well. We couldn't very well have all that fun without you for a week."
"Great!" Harry replied cheerfully and headed back to his room to get his things.
"Just one second." Uncle Vernon stepped into his path, and even though Harry matched him in height, Uncle Vernon was a much larger man and blocked the entire hallway. "What makes you think that I'm going to let you out of this house with this.girl and her parents. They're probably just as creepy as she is."
"Actually," Hermione interrupted, "my parents are muggles. They're dentists and just as.normal.as you are." She smiled sweetly and looked Uncle Vernon straight in the eye.
Uncle Vernon went to the window and peered at Hermione's parents and their seemingly normal car. Suddenly, a smile spread across his face. Harry almost jumped, he hadn't seen a genuine smile on his uncle's face in a long time. Uncle Vernon looked curiously at Hermione, then looking straight at Harry but addressing Hermione he asked, "You'll leave here in the decent way? No funny stuff?"
"Absolutely," she grinned at Harry.
"Well, then," Uncle Vernon looked downright pleased, "on with you boy. No doubt you're already packed and ready to go."
Harry wasted no time in getting his trunk and Hedwig's cage, still not believing his luck and Hermione's genius. Well, maybe he could believe Hermione's genius. As Hermione helped pack his things in the car, Harry yelled goodbye to Aunt Petunia and Dudley, who looked on in disbelief. Once they were in the car and safely away from Privet Drive, Harry let out a sigh of relief. Hermione turned to him and grinned, "So what did you think of my plan?"
"It was great! Couldn't have thought of a better way out myself."
"Of course it's not a flying car, but."
"Hey, we would have been fine if we hadn't crashed into that stupid tree."
"The Whomping Willow."
"Yeah, that. How could I forget?"
As they settled in for the ride to the Burrow, Mrs. Granger asked when Harry's last dental check-up had been and reminded him of the necessity of good dental hygiene. Hermione rolled her eyes and started chatting about their reading list for their 6th year. Hermione was planning to get duplicate books so that she could mark up one all she wanted when she was studying and have a fresh set for her own personal library.
"Why don't you just use some magical ink that'll disappear as soon as exams are over," Harry suggested, hoping that she would stop talking about textbooks as if they were some buried treasure.
Hermione seemed to give this some thought before snapping out of it and saying, "Well, disappearing ink might leave some residue. I want to have the perfect library." She seemed a bit huffy after this, taking the hint that Harry didn't want to talk about school, but it didn't last long. Soon they chatting happily about their friends, their teachers, past pranks, quidditch, and why Hermione wasn't going to be a prefect again that year.
"Why did you turn down the offer?" Harry asked with a sly look on his face.
"Well, it really took too much time away from my studies. Honestly, with the O.W.L.s and everything, I shouldn't have been wasting time running after all those first years." She hesitated slightly and then smiled smugly.
"And?" Harry prodded.
"And what?"
"You're not telling me that you gave all that up because you couldn't take the pressure. Besides, you got twelve O.W.L.s anyway."
"So?"
"HERMIONE!"
"And it was too hard to be a prefect with you and Ron getting me in trouble all the time," she finally said. "Besides," she continued, "I don't know by what miracle you got eleven O.W.L.s."
Harry burst into laughter, knowing full well that Hermione had far too many brushes with detention (even though she never actually got detention) for her comfort. At this, Hermione pretended to get huffy again and pulled out Hogwarts: A History, ignoring Harry to punish him for making her admit the real reason she had turned down the offer. Honestly, if it would have jeopardized her potential to become Head Girl, she would never have turned it down, but as it was, she was already pretty sure there was no one else they could give that to, not even a Ravenclaw, which had a long history of turning out Head Girls. They spent the rest of the ride silently, Hermione reading and Harry planning out Quidditch strategies. Before they knew it, Mr. Granger stopped the car in front of the Burrow and announced their arrival.
~A/N: Well, that's just the first chapter, I should be able to get more up soon. Tell me if you all like it. Oh, and it might take a little while to get to the Harry/Ginny interaction, but don't worry, it'll come.
Chapter 1 Escape
Harry sighed as he looked out the window. If only there was a way to escape without causing a ruckus, or using magic. Well, it was only one more week, right? If it were possible, summer at the Dursley's had been the worst yet. He was hardly allowed out of his room at all.not even for meals! Uncle Vernon swore that Harry's increased height came from the overfeeding he received from "that absurd excuse for a school." It was true, Harry had gained several inches and now met his uncle eye to eye. Dudley's pants looked even more ridiculous on him as they fell two inches above his ankle and were bunched awkwardly around his waist. So, Harry was allowed to come out and finish the dishes and could take half of Dudley's leftovers. However, this wasn't such a bad thing after all. Two days into the summer, when he realized it was going to remain this way for the rest of the summer, Harry owled Ron, pleading for intervention. Just as he thought, within two hours it was Mrs. Weasley to the rescue, he received a huge basket with food enough for two Dudeys. After that, Harry received regular meals as if he himself was sitting at the table at the Burrow.
Just as Harry turned from his window, resigning himself to another week at the Dursley's, he heard a roar that sounded vaguely like his name. "HARRY!" Yep, it was Uncle Vernon. Harry quickly slipped out of his room and down the hall only to run straight into.Hermione?
"What are you doing here??????"
"That's what I'd like to know," growled Uncle Vernon, glancing sideways at Hermione in distrust.
"Well, are you surprised? My parents insisted on driving me to the Burrow so they could meet all the Weasley's, and I agreed only if they would take you along as well. We couldn't very well have all that fun without you for a week."
"Great!" Harry replied cheerfully and headed back to his room to get his things.
"Just one second." Uncle Vernon stepped into his path, and even though Harry matched him in height, Uncle Vernon was a much larger man and blocked the entire hallway. "What makes you think that I'm going to let you out of this house with this.girl and her parents. They're probably just as creepy as she is."
"Actually," Hermione interrupted, "my parents are muggles. They're dentists and just as.normal.as you are." She smiled sweetly and looked Uncle Vernon straight in the eye.
Uncle Vernon went to the window and peered at Hermione's parents and their seemingly normal car. Suddenly, a smile spread across his face. Harry almost jumped, he hadn't seen a genuine smile on his uncle's face in a long time. Uncle Vernon looked curiously at Hermione, then looking straight at Harry but addressing Hermione he asked, "You'll leave here in the decent way? No funny stuff?"
"Absolutely," she grinned at Harry.
"Well, then," Uncle Vernon looked downright pleased, "on with you boy. No doubt you're already packed and ready to go."
Harry wasted no time in getting his trunk and Hedwig's cage, still not believing his luck and Hermione's genius. Well, maybe he could believe Hermione's genius. As Hermione helped pack his things in the car, Harry yelled goodbye to Aunt Petunia and Dudley, who looked on in disbelief. Once they were in the car and safely away from Privet Drive, Harry let out a sigh of relief. Hermione turned to him and grinned, "So what did you think of my plan?"
"It was great! Couldn't have thought of a better way out myself."
"Of course it's not a flying car, but."
"Hey, we would have been fine if we hadn't crashed into that stupid tree."
"The Whomping Willow."
"Yeah, that. How could I forget?"
As they settled in for the ride to the Burrow, Mrs. Granger asked when Harry's last dental check-up had been and reminded him of the necessity of good dental hygiene. Hermione rolled her eyes and started chatting about their reading list for their 6th year. Hermione was planning to get duplicate books so that she could mark up one all she wanted when she was studying and have a fresh set for her own personal library.
"Why don't you just use some magical ink that'll disappear as soon as exams are over," Harry suggested, hoping that she would stop talking about textbooks as if they were some buried treasure.
Hermione seemed to give this some thought before snapping out of it and saying, "Well, disappearing ink might leave some residue. I want to have the perfect library." She seemed a bit huffy after this, taking the hint that Harry didn't want to talk about school, but it didn't last long. Soon they chatting happily about their friends, their teachers, past pranks, quidditch, and why Hermione wasn't going to be a prefect again that year.
"Why did you turn down the offer?" Harry asked with a sly look on his face.
"Well, it really took too much time away from my studies. Honestly, with the O.W.L.s and everything, I shouldn't have been wasting time running after all those first years." She hesitated slightly and then smiled smugly.
"And?" Harry prodded.
"And what?"
"You're not telling me that you gave all that up because you couldn't take the pressure. Besides, you got twelve O.W.L.s anyway."
"So?"
"HERMIONE!"
"And it was too hard to be a prefect with you and Ron getting me in trouble all the time," she finally said. "Besides," she continued, "I don't know by what miracle you got eleven O.W.L.s."
Harry burst into laughter, knowing full well that Hermione had far too many brushes with detention (even though she never actually got detention) for her comfort. At this, Hermione pretended to get huffy again and pulled out Hogwarts: A History, ignoring Harry to punish him for making her admit the real reason she had turned down the offer. Honestly, if it would have jeopardized her potential to become Head Girl, she would never have turned it down, but as it was, she was already pretty sure there was no one else they could give that to, not even a Ravenclaw, which had a long history of turning out Head Girls. They spent the rest of the ride silently, Hermione reading and Harry planning out Quidditch strategies. Before they knew it, Mr. Granger stopped the car in front of the Burrow and announced their arrival.
~A/N: Well, that's just the first chapter, I should be able to get more up soon. Tell me if you all like it. Oh, and it might take a little while to get to the Harry/Ginny interaction, but don't worry, it'll come.