Disclaimer: I wish I owned Harry Potter. Sadly, I don't.
A/N: Chapter Three! Yay! Don't know what to say, so R/R!!!!
Chapter Three An Arrival and Pointless Shaving
Harry jumped to his feet. Was he mistaken, or did he hear hushed voices coming from downstairs? He crept to the top of the stairs and listened.
"Alright then, lads --" he heard a gruff voice say.
"And lass," a young woman's voice added.
"Yes, of course," the man's voice said again. "Do you remember where his room is?"
"Of course we do, Mad-Eye, let's just get him out of here, shall we?" another man said. Harry felt his heart leap with delight. It was Lupin, Moody, and Tonks --part of the Advance Guard-- and they had come to take him away from the Dursleys!
Before he could go downstairs to greet them, Harry heard another voice, this one thunderous and not at all comforting.
"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!" Uncle Vernon's voice echoed through the house. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Lupin tried to get a word in, but Uncle Vernon kept going. "PETUNIA! BURGLARS IN THE HOUSE!"
"No, let us explain," Lupin interrupted, but before Uncle Vernon could yell another word, Moody pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at the overweight Muggle in front of them.
"One wrong move, Dursley," Moody started menacingly.
Uncle Vernon's eyes grew as big as saucers. "It's – you!" He said, terrified when he recognized the man who had threatened him the month before.
"Of course it's me, Dursley. We're here to pick up young Potter." Moody glared at him through his magical eye. Vernon winced. Before the man could yell up the stairs for him, Harry ran down the stairs to see his friends.
"Here I am," he said, smiling at them all, overjoyed to finally be leaving. Just then, Aunt Petunia came running into the living room from the backyard, where she had probably been gossiping with one of the neighbors.
"Vernon, what is it?" She asked, in a panic. Then she turned to see the strangers in her living room, along with Moody's eye and Tonks's blue hair, and let out an earsplitting shriek.
"Oh, shut up, the both of you," Moody said grumpily.
"How'd you get here? Apparate?" Harry asked.
"No, Portkey. This way you can come back with us," Tonks answered. Lupin held up the object that had transported them.
Harry looked at it curiously. It was exactly what he would have pictured a Portkey to look like, had he only heard what it was called. It was a very large golden key with the letters 'MM' inscribed on it. He thought it resembled the key to a city that the mayor would give to an outstanding citizen.
"That's an official Ministry of Magic Portkey, Harry," Lupin explained. "Now that the Ministry is supporting Dumbledore and the Order, we've gotten special permission to pick you up and take you to the Burrow. That's also why there are only three of us to pick you up. It's a lot safer than it was last year."
"Are you all staying at the Burrow?" Harry inquired.
"No, I'm sorry, we're not," Lupin said, "But we'll… visit on your birthday."
"The oldest Weasley boys are coming to stay, though," Tonks added, "I suppose they want to see their father after what happened last month." She smiled impishly. "That Bill is something, isn't he?"
"I'm afraid none of us men can comment on that," said Moody. The others chuckled. Uncle Vernon looked like he was about to explode with rage.
"You will not talk of such things in my house," he sputtered.
"What, Bill Weasley?" Tonks asked sarcastically.
"No, the m-word," Harry said. When they looked at him questioningly, he said, "Magic." Aunt Petunia gasped. "What are you going to do about it?" Harry was taking pleasure in enraging the Dursleys when they couldn't punish him.
Just before Uncle Vernon could find something to throw at Harry's head, the doorbell rang. Aunt Petunia gasped again and ushered --more like shoved-- the uninvited guests into the kitchen. "If any of the neighbors see them, Vernon," she said, the fear evident in her quavering voice. She quickly ran to answer the door.
Harry heard another familiar voice coming from the front door. "Hello, Mrs. Dursley, how are you today?"
"Quite well, Mrs. Figg. How are your cats?" The small crowd of wizards in the kitchen grinned at each other.
"Just fine, Petunia. May I come in?"
"Of course." The two women stepped inside, and Aunt Petunia closed the front door.
"Could I just have a look around?" Mrs. Figg asked.
"Oh, dear, I'm sorry, this place is just a pigsty! I don't know why you would want to see it, I mean—" Aunt Petunia was interrupted by Mrs. Figg.
"Mrs. Dursley, I know from experience that your house is always clean. Overly-clean, in fact." Aunt Petunia looked like she had never been more insulted in her entire life.
"Well, I never!" she said, but Mrs. Figg cut her off again.
"Let's just cut to the chase, as they say. I'm here to see Harry. I believe that he has some friends coming to visit," She said, and before Petunia could interject, she continued, raising her voice as if to speak to the group in the kitchen. "And they had better be on time!" The four of them walked into the hallway. "Ah, good."
"We're on time, Figg, no need to be angry," Moody said. Petunia gaped at them. The wizards ignored her.
"Of course, if a certain Dung was here on time, we'd be just peachy!" Mrs. Figg looked frustrated. "I swear on Merlin's beard, I'm going to boil him! Whenever Dumbledore gives him an important job, he's always late, or he leaves to buy stolen goods, or some other cockamamie thing!" Then she finally acknowledged Harry. "Why, hello dear! I haven't seen you in a while." She smiled. "You can always come and visit me, you know, you don't have to stay inside all the time."
"Stop feeling sorry for him, Arabella, he's been through enough already without you whimpering over him," Lupin said, frowning.
"Harry, you'd better go get your things. We've only got three more minutes," Tonks said, changing the subject. She herded Harry upstairs to grab his trunk and Hedwig's empty cage. When they got back down, they saw Mr. and Mrs. Dursley sitting on the sofa, their lips moving soundlessly. "Silencing charm," Tonks muttered, grinning.
"These two wouldn't stop barking at us, so I shut them up," Moody said. He then eyed Harry suspiciously. "Are you sure this is really Harry?"
"Harry, what form does your Patronus take?" Lupin asked dully.
"A stag," said Harry in an equally dry tone.
"Are you still sure?" Moody wanted to know. "We asked him that question last time."
"Harry, what is your stag's name?" Lupin said, catching Harry's eye.
He understood. "Prongs," said Harry, looking at the ground.
"All right then." Lupin had a glint of sadness in his eyes. He glanced at his watch. "One minute, everybody."
They all gathered to the center of the living room, each touching the Portkey. "Mrs. Figg, you're coming too?" Harry asked.
"Sure, I might as well," she replied, joining the circle. "And undo that Silencing charm, Mad-Eye." He did so, and they all waited in silence (even the Dursleys, who didn't know what they were waiting for).
"Three, two, one." At that moment, Harry felt the annoyingly familiar tug coming from somewhere behind his bellybutton, and before he knew it, he and the others had hit the floor in a heap.
Harry got up slowly, rubbing his elbow where it had collided with the floor. He adjusted his glasses, and looked around. They were in the living room at the Burrow, and he noticed dimly that there were people greeting him.
"Good to see you, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, clapping him on the back.
"Hello, dear." Mrs. Weasley pulled him into a big hug.
"Hey, mate," Ron said as he offered Harry a brotherly handshake.
"Hi, Harry," said a quiet voice from behind Ron. Ginny stepped out and gave Harry an awkward one-armed hug. Harry couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked. Ginny couldn't help but notice how much Harry was blushing.
Mrs. Weasley suppressed a small giggle, and said, "I'm making lunch, if you all want to stay. Merlin knows that I'm used to cooking for large numbers." They all went to sit down at the large dining table.
In the middle of the delicious meal, two loud cracking noises were heard coming from one of the upstairs bedrooms. No one at the table had to guess what it was. "Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs. "Lunchtime!" There were thunderous footsteps, and then the twins appeared in the kitchen, both wearing their dragon skin jackets.
"Business is booming, as usual," George said, plopping down in an empty chair next to Lupin.
"But selling pranks and tricks to innocent youths is very tiring," Fred added with a grin. "What're we eating?"
"Excuse me, boys, but does this look like a restaurant to you?" Mrs. Weasley said.
"No, but you should open one, you're the best cook in the entire world," Fred said sweetly.
Mrs. Weasley blushed, and said, "All right, fine, but do clean up your room before you leave again!" Everyone at the table grinned at how the twins were so talented in buttering up their mother.
When they had moved on to a dessert of pumpkin pie, Harry asked (to no one in particular), "So when's Hermione coming?" After he said that, a burst of sniggers came from Fred, George, and Ginny, and Ron seemed to be choking on the milk he had been gulping. Harry looked over to see what was so funny, and he came face to face with what looked like a bright red tomato with even redder hair. Ron tried to cover up his face, which was blushing deeper by the second. When Harry looked around the table, he even saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, and Mrs. Figg all hastily covering up smiles with their napkins or their hands.
Ginny finally got a hold on herself, and managed to say, "She's coming this afternoon, actually." Harry nodded, and chuckled to himself.
Later that afternoon, Harry was downstairs waiting for Hermione to arrive. Ron was taking a considerable amount of time to "freshen up" as he called it. Harry thought it was rather funny, since Ron never gave a tick what he looked like.
Harry heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and Ginny emerged and sat in a chair next to him. Harry didn't enjoy the awkward silence that was occurring then, so he said, "Does he always act like that when her name is mentioned?"
Ginny chuckled. "Yeah. It's pretty funny most of the time." She looked at him. "You wouldn't have any idea why he gets so embarrassed, do you?"
Harry shrugged. "No, but he's probably not even embarrassed. He just blushes a lot." Ginny nodded, but he got the impression that she knew something he didn't.
Just as he was about to pry whatever information Ginny had out of her, Mrs. Weasley called them over to the large kitchen fireplace. "It's half past two, dears," she said. "Hermione should be here any moment. She walked over to the foot of the stairs. "Ron, get down here!" She sighed. "He doesn't have any whiskers to shave, I don't know what he's playing at up there." Harry and Ginny laughed.
Ron came down the stairs at a record-breaking pace. "Is she here?" he said, panting. Harry noticed that Ron had put on his best Weasley sweater, and judging by the cuts on his face, he had tried to shave as well. Harry made a mental note to tell Fred and George. They would torture Ron about it to no end.
"No, she's not here yet, calm down," Mrs. Weasley said, handing Ron a glass of water. The group stared at the large fireplace for long minutes, when finally there was a large burst of green fire inside it.
A/N: Hope you liked it! I promise, more fluff and fun when Hermione finally comes!