Hey Hey…Sorry I took a long while to get a chapter up. I was too busy. Anyway, thanks to my reviewers. To answer some of your questions here it goes…sportbabe: I don't really have an exact location as to where the Dursleys will be staying but it is completely magic-free. And yes, James and Lily are alive but temporarily? I don't know. I can't tell you that. Heheheh…. Okay, I don't own anything except the unfamiliar characters like Briana Sullivan. All right, on with the chapter!
Chapter 3: Life in the Summer House
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Harry turned as the light shined on his face. It was already late in the morning. He woke up suddenly, put on his glasses, and ran downstairs. As he ran outside his room, it was only then that he remembered where he was. He had no choice but to go down and eat breakfast. He entered a large dining hall. The hall had a large table that can seat twenty people. At the moment the only person who was sitting there was Briana. She was sitting at the head of the table reading the Daily Prophet and eating breakfast. She looked up.
"Oh, good morning, have a seat and have some breakfast. I don't know what you usually eat for breakfast so I had Barnabie and Willa cook everything we had," she said gesturing at the seat next to her and at the food.
The food was marvelous. It was much like Hogwarts. Harry did not know which to eat.
"I would be going to the office for a moment. So what do you want to do? You can do whatever you wish. There is some Floo Powder in the kitchen if you want to visit Ron. I'm sure he will be delighted to see you."
Harry's eyes glanced at the front cover of the Prophet. He was glad that the happening at Privet Drive did not leak out to the wizarding world. He heard the front door opened and shut. Footsteps came into the hall and there was standing a tall, blonde-haired woman.
"Sam, what are you doing here? Oh my goodness, sit down and eat. I haven't seen you in months. How are you?" greeted Briana.
"Well, Annie, I was here and there and at the quidditch field. Remus, Sirius, and I got separated when we found out what happened at Privet Drive. They went west and I went east," chuckled Samantha Abberton. She looked at Harry. "Are you all right? How are you? I heard you would be staying here from now on. Remus and Sirius wanted to visit but they have, er, some things to do. You know how it is nowadays. They might come on a later date."
"I'm fine. Did they get my owl?"
"Of course, Sirius was really worried when he got your owl. Never seen him like that before. I guess you did him some good," winked Samantha. "On a lighter note, guess what? The Irish are doing some quidditch exhibitions and I have five Top Box tickets for tomorrow. So what do you say? Reckon you want to come?"
Harry's eyes widened. "Exhibitions? Are you kidding? Of course, I would want to come. Can Ron come too?"
"Yes, he can come. I have five tickets. Actually, four tickets, I'm giving one to Remus," she added, blushing.
"Great! This is so wonderful! A quidditch exhibition! I've never been to one before!" exclaimed Harry. Nobody but Briana noticed that the empty fireplace in the Dining Hall blazed furiously as Harry said this. She was taken aback by this.
"So, Annie, are you in or are you out?" asked Samantha.
"Huh? Er, of course, I would never miss you play, Sam," said Briana, snapping out of her daze. She stared at the fire for a moment and turned to Harry. "Why don't you send a Floo message to Ron? Owl is too slow if you want to tell him about tomorrow. The Burrow is quite far from here. Do you know how to use a Floo message, Harry?"
"Er, no," he answered meekly.
"All right, you throw in some of this," she brought out a large stone jar with green-colored powder, "and you throw it in the fireplace and say 'The Burrow!' and your head will appear on their fireplace. Go on. Here I'll show you."
She threw some green powder in the blazing fireplace. She gestured to Harry. "Go on, put your head on the fireplace."
Harry put his head on the fireplace, which turned bright green now, and yelled, "The Burrow!"
The wall of the fireplace gradually changed into the living room of the Weasleys. He saw Ron enter the room with a broomstick on his shoulder.
"Hey! Ron!" Harry called out. Ron stopped dead. He looked around the room with a confuse look on his face.
"Harry? Where are you?" asked Ron, still looking around.
"Over here! At the Fireplace," answered Harry. Ron turned around.
"Harry! You know how to use Floo message?" asked Ron, amazed.
"Not really, Annie showed me how to use it."
"Annie? Who's Annie? Blimey, Harry, I got your owl! Are you really leaving the Dursleys forever? That's amazing! And are you really staying at Professor Sullivan's?"
"Annie is Professor Sullivan and I am staying with her. Guess what? Her house is big and it looks like Hogwarts only smaller. So how are things at the Burrow?"
"Really? It sounds like you're having a great time. Bill is on leave at Gringotts and I don't know where he is. Mum is really worried. George and Fred are at Diagon Alley. Guess what? They own the lot next to the Quality Quidditch Supplies! They call it 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes,' just like what they wanted. Mum reckons it's all right to start to their own business, just as long as they have something to fall back into. You know, in case they go bankrupt. Percy offered them jobs at his department but George reckons that they might turn into Percy copies. Fred got offered to play as a Beater for the Wisbourne Wasps but he turned it down. I reckon he's crazy trading that with his joke shop.
"They're opening the shop next week Friday before we go back to Hogwarts. They said for you to come."
"How's Hermione? Where is she?" asked Harry.
"She said she will be in vacation with her parents in Italy. She won't be coming back till a week before school starts. So what's going on with you?"
"Well, nothing much. By the way, Samantha got us tickets to the Quidditch Exhibitions tomorrow. Do you want to come?"
"Quidditch Exhibitions? Blimey, I've never been to one before. Do you have to ask? Of course, I want to come. What seats do you have?"
"The Top Box!"
They took the early portkey to the field in which the exhibitions would be held. Ron used Floo Powder to come with Harry to the field. They arrived at the field seconds later. Briana led the way to the tents filled with quidditch souvenirs.
"This way, my dears," she said, holding out a hand.
"Professor?" asked Ron.
"Please, Ron, just call me Annie. We are not in class," said Briana simply.
"Er, right, er, Annie, can I ask you something?" Briana looked down at him.
She smiled and said, "You just did, but I can permit you to ask another."
"Are you going to
teach us again this year in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"Well, let's just see if I arrive at
Hogwarts during the feast on September 1st," she replied. "Oh, look, there's Sam and Remus." She pointed at the couple that was walking
their way. Samantha had her arm around
Remus's arm. Harry had never seen him
so happy before. His face was very
bright and his smile was so big.
"Hello, Harry, Ron," greeted Remus. "Harry, Sirius said to say hello. He couldn't be here since, well, you know. Too many people can see him here." He turned to Briana. "Annie, always a pleasure to see you. I heard Harry is staying with you now. I'm sure you're happy there, aren't you, Harry?"
Harry nodded. "Is Sirius coming to visit the Summer House anytime soon?"
"I'm sure if the opportunity comes, he will. After all, the two people he loves the most are at the Summer House. Which reminds me, Annie, he told me to give you this." Remus took out a white gold glittering charm bracelet that made angelic chorus sounds.
"Oh, it's beautiful. Tell him thank you," said Briana, eyeing the bracelet with gleam in her eyes.
"I think you should be the one to tell him. And he also would like to me to tell you this." Remus bended over and whispered something to Briana's ear. She smiled broadly and blushed deeply. Harry and Ron looked at each other. Samantha rolled her eyes.
"All right, cupid, that's enough. There's plenty of time for that later. Right now, we need to take these kids to the Top Box because the exhibitions are about to start in thirty minutes. By the way, I have to go change. I'll see you all later," she said, waving good-bye to everyone. She was about to apparate but she gave Remus a kiss on the lips and disappeared.
Harry had the time of his life watching different teams show off their best moves. He and Ron bought souvenirs and even played with real quidditch players. Harry wished the day wasn't over yet. But as they went back to where the portkeys where, he wished it was only a dream. But it wasn't just a dream. It was real and there will be more of this from now on, he thought as he felt something jerk him forward around his navel. The portkey was taking him back home.
Okay, honestly, I think this chapter was a little boring. But I had to add it. I had no choice. Okay, that's all. Please leave a review.
