Harry jumped around, his wand, always ready, in his hand.
"Put that away. You won't need it," growled a familiar rough voice.
He couldn't believe his eyes. Crammed into Number 4 Privet Drive's kitchen were twelve familiar people. Ron and Hermione were standing in front of him with huge smiles on their faces. Behind them were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron's parents, Ginny, Ron's sister who was going to start her sixth year at Hogwarts, and Fred and George, Ron's older twin brothers. Mrs. Weasley looked like she was trying to hold back tears. Mr. Weasley and Ginny where grinning at him, and Fred and George had equally large smiles. In the back of the kitchen were Ron's oldest brother, Bill Weasley and his new wife Fleur Delacour, hand in hand. Next to them were Remus Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, and Tonks. Lupin, Moody, and Tonks were members of the Order of the Phoenix, a society set up to fight and defeat Lord Voldemort and his alliances. Lupin was a former Hogwart's teacher an old friend of Harry's parents and Sirius. Moody and Tonks were aurors, someone who catches dark wizards. Harry couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm.
"Oh, happy birthday, Harry!" cried Hermione, as she hugged him. She had grown up over the summer holiday. Her hair was no longer bushy or long, but was sleekly curled and at her mid-back. She also was wearing a small amount of Muggle makeup that accented her features. She looked as if she had aged five years.
"Hermione, you look great! What did you do to your hair?" Harry exclaimed.
"I persuaded Mum and Dad to let me get it professionally done. You look good, too, Harry. You grew so tall, and your hair! It's getting so long. Why don't you cut it?"
"Hermione, please! Let the rest of us get a chance to talk to him." This from Ron, who received a withering look from Hermione. "Besides he's 17, now, so he can do what he wants." He smiled at Harry. "Happy Birthday, mate!" Ron's voice had lowered a couple octaves and had grown about two inches since Harry had seen him last, which put him at 6'2". He also seemed to be working out.
"Hey, Ron, good to see you!"
"Harry, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, coming forward through the crowd, "Happy Birthday." She gave Harry a large hug that was longer and harder than usual.
"We all came to give you your birthday present!" said Lupin, with a smile. He had stepped into Sirius' role as godfather, and for that Harry was grateful. At least he had someone to talk to who had known his parents.
"Present?" Harry looked around to see if there were any brightly wrapped boxes anywhere.
"Oh, you'll have to come with us to see it!" said Mr. Weasley. "We should get going. I told Dumbledore we would be there around 7:30 and since we all can't all apparate, we will have to divide into two groups and one will take the car.
"Dad, can I apparate? I mean now that I can!" said Ron. "Oh, Harry, I passed! So did Hermione!"
Harry was going to say congratulations but Mrs. Weasley cut him off.
"Ronald Weasley! You would leave Harry, on his birthday, no less, just to apparate! You should be ashamed of yourself! I can't believe you!"
Ron's face turned red, "Sorry, Harry, I just..."
"I know," Harry said miserably. To apparate showed that you were not an underage wizard anymore. To apparate, you needed to take a test first, but to take the test you needed to be 17. Since today was Harry's 17th birthday, he hadn't had the chance to take the test. Hermione smiled at him, and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, the test was really easy. I can lend you the book I studied, if you want."
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes and laugh. Typical Hermione, always reading.
"No thanks, Hermione. It's alright, I have until September 1."
"Well," growled Moody, "we should get going. We don't want to keep Dumbledore waiting. Now Remus and Tonks, why don't you go with Harry, and keep constant…"
"Vigilance," Tonks finished for him. "Moody, please, Harry's gonna be just fine. We are not going that far. I mean, we are just taking him to his…"
"TONKS!"
"Sorry, I forgot, I know. It's supposed to be a surprise."
"Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, you go with Harry and help him pack ALL of his belongings. Arthur and Remus, you can wait in the car with Fred and George. The rest of us will apparate and see you there. Come on, let's go. NOW!" With Mrs. Weasley's last command, everyone moved, except the Dursley's, whom everyone forgot was there.
Harry followed Ron out of the kitchen and turned to his uncle.
"Well, I guess I am going." The Dursley's just stared at him. "Goodbye."
He was leaving the Dursleys a whole month before school. He couldn't believe his luck. It had happened before, in his second, third, fourth, and fifth year, but Harry had just assumed he would remain at Privet Drive, with Voldemort still at large. He couldn't believe that Dumbledore was letting him leave, let alone in on the secret.
"So what's this surprise?" asked Harry as they walked up the stairs to his bedroom. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all exchanged mischievous looks, and then turned to Harry.
"You'll see!" said Hermione, laughing.
Oh boy, Harry thought.
"Get a move on guys. We only have a half-an-hour to get there. Let's go!" With that, everyone got moving. It didn't take much time to pack because Harry had never unpacked. He was about to drag his trunk out of the room when Hermione stopped him.
"Wait, I know an easier way. Locomotor trunk!" Harry's trunk elevated off the ground, apparently weightless. Hermione smiled sheepishly. "I thought it would help. I mean now that I am 17, I can use magic outside of school, and it just seemed…"
"Hermione, it's ok. Thanks." Harry smiled at her. "That means that I can use magic out of school, too!" He held up the wand still in his hand and swished it causing golden sparks to carry the trunk out of his room, down the stairs, and out the front door. The four of them followed it to a waiting ministry car.
"Um, Mr. Weasley," asked Harry hesitantly, "what if the Muggles look out their windows and see us?"
"I was wondering if you would ask that, Harry. Well, since it is only 7 o'clock in the morning and a Saturday, we placed a sleeping charm on Privet Drive and the four surrounding blocks. When they wake up, they will just think that they slept in!" Mr. Weasley was grinning. He loved Muggles. He worked in the Misuse of Muggles Artifacts office at the Ministry of Magic.
Nevertheless, Harry still had apprehensions. "One more thing, Mr. Weasley. How did you manage to get a Ministry car?"
Mr. Weasley grin got larger. "Well, Fudge thought that the heads of all departments should have other means of transportation, other than the Floo Network and apparating, so he gave us Ministry cars." This meant that Dumbledore asked Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, to let Mr. Weasley borrow a car and Fudge overdid the request out of fear of Dumbledore. Harry smiled and climbed in.
There was an awkward silence as Mr. Weasley pulled away from Number 4, Privet Drive. Ginny broke it with "So Harry, how has your summer been so far?"
Ron, George, and Fred all turned to look at her with expressions of sadness and anger. They were thinking about Hagrid.
Ginny stammered, "I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to know how things were going with him, you know with the Dursleys."
"Ok, I guess. I mean nothing has happened," Harry said to stop Ron and the twins from saying anything. "The Dursley's have been really nice and have stayed out of my way," he added with a little laugh to ease the tension. Everyone smiled.
After a few moments of silence, many conversations started. Harry tried to listen. In the front, Mr. Weasley and Lupin were talking about the Order of the Phoenix and what their next move against Voldemort would be.
"Arthur, Voldemort has not been seen since the end of their fifth year…" He trailed off, remembering Sirius.
"Remus, he's out there waiting for the right time to strike, that's why we have to be ready."
"I know. Everyone in the Order is prepared to fight."
Fred and George were talking about their business, Weasley's Wizards Wheezes, which, from the sounds of it, was very successful.
"We made over two thousand galleons on the fake wands."
"But we made over ten thousand galleons on the Skiving Snackboxes. Do you know what this means?"
"More research and testing!"
"Also, we can afford to branch out. Maybe we can buy a shop in Hogsmeade!"
"Maybe we can buy out Zonko's!"
Harry laughed but admired their determination and enthusiasm. He felt a certain pride when he heard kids talking about their business, since he helped them start it by giving them his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament at the end of his fourth year. Next to him, Ginny and Hermione were going over their plans for the year.
"If I am made Head Girl, there will be so many changes!"
"Hermione, you don't have that much authority."
"You just watch! My first goals are to have libraries and study rooms installed into all dormitories."
"What about the common rooms?"
"Ginny, have you ever tried to do homework while everyone is there? It is impossible!"
Harry snorted. Only Hermione would think of having libraries and study rooms added to the dormitories. He nudged Ron. "I think Hermione is on a bit of a power trip. What will happen if she is not made Head Girl?"
Ron groaned, "Oh, I don't even want to think about!"
They sat quietly for a few minutes. Harry couldn't help but notice how Ron kept glancing in Hermione's direction.
"Um, Ron!" Ron snapped his eyes away from Hermione and looked at him. Harry lowered his voice. "Have you thought about what we talked about on the train coming back from Hogwarts?"
"Kind of."
"Well, have you done anything about it?"
Ron's face, for the second time that day, turned a bright shade of red. He mumbled, "No."
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