Sorry about the time this chapter took...I promise I'll be a little quicker with the next one!

Chapter III-Sneaking Out

Midnight.

 Apart from the occasional rustle of the trees, Privet Drive was silent. The night was cold, defying the warm summer weather of the daytime, and the figure that stood outside number 4 Privet Drive deeply regretted his failure to take some kind of warm clothing with him.

He was dressed in a baggy white T-shirt, the smallest of all he owned, and an equally baggy pair of jeans which were torn and frayed at the bottom where they

had been trodden on. His hair, slightly long and messy as usual, showed almost no sign of the half hour he had spent laboriously trying to make it presentable.

He had been half leaning against the dainty little wall that delicately laced the perimeter of the Dursleys' garden for at least fifteen minutes, shifting nervously from foot to foot and muttering under his breath to the extent that Mrs Innes from across the road, who had been gleefully spying on him through a chink in her bedroom curtains, considered calling on her husband to go out and see what the matter was.

Suddenly, as if from no-where, a great white bird appeared and landed on the boys' shoulder.

This was too much for Mrs Innes. She shouted out in surprise:

"Ooh Albert! Come and have a look at this!"

Albert Innes, who was reading a newspaper in his bed and humming quietly to himself looked up, a little disgruntled.

"What is it now Edna?" he asked, wearily.

"It's them Dursleys." she said, a smug smile hovering on her lips,

"Or rather that Harry wot used to live with them."

"Oh 'E's back, is he? I wondered why you'd taken to standin' at that window half the night again!"

Edna reddened and looked annoyed.

"There's something not right about that Harry. You know that as well as I do!"

Mr Innes said nothing, and turned the page of his newspaper.

"He's been standin' outside half clothed for near half an hour now! I've a good mind to march round to the Dursleys themselves and ask them what the bleedin' hell he thinks he's doing!"

Mr Innes turned another page.

"He's desturbin' the peace, standin' about at this hour of the night-I've a-"

"Christ woman! Would you give it a rest!?"

Mrs Innes sniffed and patted at her curlers. She knew there was something strange with the Dursleys, even if her husband did not.

                                                *         *         *

As Hedwig landed on his shoulder, Harry Potter shivered; goose bumps appearing on his arms.

Eagerly, he opened up the letter attached to her leg. Earlier in the day, he had sent one himself, to his godfather.

 It was with a sigh of relief he recognised Sirius' untidy handwriting-he was alive at least.

He fingered the letter, considering whether to read it or not, and then resolutely stuffed it into his pocket-if Abi were to show up while he was reading it, it could cause awkward questions, and that was the last thing he needed!

But by twenty past twelve, Harry was beginning to wonder if she was going to show up at all. The thought had been with him since he had gotten outside, but he had hastily pushed it to the back of his mind.

Now however, it looked like he was going to have to face the facts.

Five more minutes, he thought to himself glumly, and then I'll forget it.

He stood for a few moments, idly looking at the neat row of identical houses in front of him, and then, he heard something. A voice. For a second he thought he heard two voices...but then he saw her approaching, her arms wrapped around her for warmth. He quickly pushed Hedwig from his shoulder, and she flew off looking almost indignant.

"Though you'd lost your nerve." he said, with a grin.

She didn't return the smile.

"Harry I-"

But she was cut off.

 Cut off by a voice that was all too familiar.

"Potter!" It was a voice that was that made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry's' neck.

Dudley.

Harry froze, his natural reaction whenever his cousin approached him. He looked in horror, unable to speak, at Abi, but she was chewing her lip and looking at the ground.

So she had turned up-but in a way worse than he ever imagined.

"Potter thinks he's got himself a girlfriend!"

Dwaine and Damien and Robert, who were standing at his side, sniggered.

Harry closed his eyes. How could he have been so stupid?! Why did he ever think that somebody like Abi would want to have anything to do with him?

He had fallen straight into a trap.

It was as if he was ten years old again, standing in the school playground with everybody nearby laughing at him.

"Get lost Dudley." he said weakly, knowing that it was futile.

He never admitted it, even to himself, but Dudley was the person he feared most in the world. Nobody else could make him feel so small and pathetic- he knew his weakest points better than any and had had countless opportunities to use them against him.

"Did you really think she would go out with you?" Dudley smirked gleefully, revelling in Harry's humiliation.           

Harry didn't answer. He looked again at Abi and caught her eye. She wasn't grinning like the rest, she looked...pitying.

 In a way, that made Harry feel worse.

He stepped forward, and tried to pass his cousin, knowing from experience that the longer he stayed, the more likely it was that he would end up with a black eye and more selotape on his glasses.

Dwaine and Damien stepped forward and blocked his path, then, noticing some parchment protruding from Harry's pocket, Dwaine snatched it up.

"Look! He's got a letter!"

Blind panic filled Harry. He made a mad grab at the letter, but Robert and Damien were behind him, holding him back and stopping him from struggling.

"Hey Harry!" He began to read.

"Safe and in the country, meet me at-"

With one last, desperate effort, Harry threw himself furiously at Dwaine, wrenched the letter out of his hands and ran as fast as he possibly could.

But it wasn't quite fast enough, and soon, the three boys had caught up with him.

He looked back at Abi. She was shouting but he couldn't hear what she was saying-it was as if everything was a dream.

He tightened his fists around the parchment and simultaneously, the three boys fell on him. He made no effort to fight back.

                                                          *      *      *

Harry lay still for a few moments after they left him, and then, slowly and painfully he sat up and felt around for his glasses. Finding one of the legs snapped off, he sighed and put both bits into his pocket.

To his great relief and surprise he saw that the letter was still in his hand.

"Are...are you alright?"

Harry looked up in disbelief.

Abi was still there, sitting on the kerb!

Anger and embarrassment surged up inside him. He tried to speak, but found, to his further humiliation, that tears welled up in his eyes. He turned his head from her and dashed them away.

"Harry I really am sorry...I tried to..."she trailed off.

Why couldn't she just leave him alone?

"Are you...hurt?"

Harry flared up.

"No I'm just great thanks!" he said sardonically.

"Harry I really am sorry-"

He ignored her and tried to drag himself into a standing position, but a wave of nausea swept over him and he dropped back down again.

"You're bleeding!"

He put his hand to his nose and found that she was right.

"Let me get your aunt and uncle, they'll-"

"You've done enough already! Just…just leave me alone!" His voice was quivering with anger.

He stood up, shakily and walked slowly towards the Dursleys' neat front garden, leaving Abi alone and shivering in the cold.

                                                *       *       *

When he got to the back door, he found, not to his surprise, that it was locked-Dudley and his cousins had seen to that.

Without much emotion, he sank down on the step and closed his eyes.

Hogwarts had never seemed so far away.