Harry stared, his eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"
Renata grinned. "There're three of us standing here, Harry. Who are you talking to?"
He still couldn't answer. His mouth was working but no sound came out.
"It's good to see you, Harry," said Sirius.
Harry heard his uncle roar from the kitchen, "Boy! What's the matter? Who's at the door?"
Harry heard the scraping of chairs and several pairs of loud feet; two sets of heavy footsteps and a set of clicking heels.
When the Dursleys arrived in the living room Aunt Petunia shrieked. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since.since.since-"
Sirius frowned. "Yes, since Lily and James's wedding. I hope you've been treating Harry right. Though by what I hear, you haven't."
Aunt Petunia couldn't speak, but Uncle Vernon found his own voice. "What is the meaning of this?" His roar changed to a loud whisper halfway through the sentence and he peered outside to check for listening neighbors. "Don't stand there!" He whispered furiously, he was trembling. "Get inside before anyone sees you!" He ushered the three guests into the room and pushed Harry away from the door, consequently slamming him into the wall. Harry rubbed his head where he had hit it and shut the door. Uncle Vernon bolted the door while Aunt Petunia closed the blinds, wearing a fearful expression on her face.
Dudley was left just standing there; too dim to be aware of what was going on. "What's the matter?"
Harry grinned wickedly at Dudley. "That's my godfather and these two are witches. That's what's going on Dudley."
Dudley's fat, piggish, many-chinned face grew pale. He remembered what Harry had said about his godfather. He screamed. His father cuffed him on the neck. "Shut-up, boy! You want the whole street to hear?"
Renata watched with amusement. "Interesting family you've got here Harry."
Harry blushed slightly. "They're hardly family. Er-this is Renata Delano, that's her mum Jennifer Delano, and that's my godfather Sirius Black."
Aunt Petunia's mouth went in a tight line. "I know him."
"Yes, Petunia, that day you ran out of the wedding screaming 'you're all freaks.' And that was the last time you saw your sister. She was crushed; did you know that? I can't imagine why, but she wanted you to be there."
Petunia couldn't collect herself enough to speak.
Vernon spoke for her. "Now see here, sir. Why are you here?"
"To check on Harry.and to take him away."
Every face in the room lit up, but none more than Harry's.
"You mean it, Sirius? Your name's been cleared? I can finally leave?"
"It has, but you can't stay with me permanently. The Ministry said legally you can, but Dumbledore's got his reasons, for otherwise. I'll talk to you about it later on. But you can come with me the rest of the summer, I've been talking about it with Dumbledore and he said it'd be alright."
Harry grinned broadly and his smile went from ear to ear. "When can I leave?"
"As soon as you've packed."
Harry raced upstairs. He had wanted to leave the Dursleys for as long as he could remember and now he finally could. When he had been younger (before Hogwarts) he'd fantasized about some unknown relative taking him away. This was his chance. Sirius and his dad had been as close as brothers, even if they were actually blood related. He tossed his cards and letters in his trunk. He put away his books and homework. Harry packed away the last of his ink and parchment; he made sure his broom and wand were packed with his robes and clothes. He slammed the trunk shut. He picked up Hedwig's cage and began to drag his trunk out into the hallway. He had only come as far as the top of the stairs when Renata met him.
"Want a hand with the trunk?" Without waiting for an answer she picked up one end of the trunk while Harry lifted the other and put Hedwig's cage on top. They made their way down the stairs.
Sirius and Professor Delano were talking to Harry's aunt and uncle. Harry looked around and didn't see Dudley in the room.
Renata saw him looking and whispered, "He ran off. I told him Sirius would turn him into a slug and he scurried off at what I imagine must have been top speed for him. It probably equal the lowest land-speed for a giant tortoise."
Harry stifled a laugh.
Sirius became aware of Harry's presence. "Are you ready to go, Harry?"
"Sure thing, Sirius."
"Good." Sirius rounded on the Dursleys. "When Harry comes back here next summer you lot better treat him right or there's going to be trouble. Big trouble and it'll come out of your hides, understand?" Harry and Renata picked up the trunk once more and followed Sirius and Renata's mum out to a baby blue car. Renata and Harry hoisted the trunk into the back of the car and climbed in the back seat. Harry watched with glee as they rolled away from number four Privet Drive. He was tempted to laugh. "So where are we going?" he asked laughing and settling back into the seat. Sirius was in the passenger seat in the front and he twisted around. "When we were done with the trials, the Ministry released my old property back to me. Nobody would buy it when I was gone. We're going back there, to my old house. Jenny here, offered to drive us. It's only a few miles from where she and Renata are staying for the summer so it isn't too out of the way for them to drop us off." "Did you get a new job yet Sirius?" asked Harry. He hesitated before replying. "There is a position in consideration, people are still skittish about hiring me." "That's not fair. Pettigrew was caught he's was captured, they believe you right? They had to. They saw Peter and they had him under Veritaserum when he made his statement." "But these people have had me set in their minds as a murderer for fourteen years, Harry. That's a long time. They just need some time to adjust to a new picture of who I am." Renata smoothed out the jeans she was wearing and tightened the scrunchy that tied her hair back. "Exactly, but they'll get used to it."
Harry only then noticed that none of his rescuers were wearing wizard robes. He pointed that out.
"We've heard you talk about how bad the Dursleys are with anything to do with wizards, witches, magic, or anything out of the ordinary. Personally, I'm more comfortable in jeans and a tank top anyway. Sleeves bug me."
Renata's mum looked in the rearview mirror, "Yes, we decided we would cause less of a commotion if we wore Muggle attire. I would have liked to stop by and see my friend who lives around here but we decided it would be more fun for you to get away from here as soon as possible."
Renata asked, "What witch would want to live here? This is a Muggle community. Not a drop of magic except for Harry here."
Harry replied, "Mrs. Figg lives only a few streets away from the Dursleys."
"Oh, I wanted to see Bella," Renata remarked. Harry remembered her remarking once that Arabella Figg had been a family friend of hers for as long as she could remember.
They continued driving and at the end of two hours they had reached an out of the way area up in some hills not far from a small Muggle town.
"There's a nice little lake up here too, not far from the house. There are a few other wizard families in the area. It will be good for you to meet them. Get a chance outside of school to hang out with other wizards and witches," said Sirius. "The house is a bit messy because I haven't had much time to clean it up this summer and other than that I haven't been home in fifteen years. So bear with me Harry, it will get better."
Harry didn't mind. As far as he was concerned, anything was better than staying with the Dursleys any longer.
They drove up through the village and up into the hills. Finally they were there. Harry looked and saw a large house. The front of it seemed slightly run down but overall it looked solid. Sirius took Harry's trunk out of the car and carried it up to the house and inside. Harry, Renata and Professor Delano followed him. They entered a hallway that was a bit dusty. Sirius set down Harry's trunk and they all went to sit down in the parlor with a cup of tea. When they were done Harry and Sirius thanked the Delanos for driving them and waved as they drove off.
Harry and Sirius returned inside. Sirius turned to Harry, "I'll show you your room." He led the way up a long winding staircase, Harry's trunk floating behind him and Harry walking beside him. They reached the top of the staircase and passed two doors on either side before they reached the end of the hallway where Sirius stopped. He opened the door. Harry saw a room with an old wardrobe, a dresser that was a bit battered, a couple aged chairs, a nightstand, and a large bed with a scarlet quilt bordered with gold that looked like a good wash wouldn't hurt it. The wooden floor had a few rugs here and there. There was a long window on the far wall, covered in dust. The walls themselves may have once been white but they were spattered with gray and brown here and there from dust and dirt. There were some torches and candles in the room but the immediate impression was not overly cheery.
Sirius let the trunk float to a corner and set itself down. "Harry, I know this doesn't look like much now but it just needs some cleaning and fixing up. Most of the house does. It was empty for fourteen years."
"I know."
"We can work on it together."
Bring life back to it and finally have a family again, the two of us would be a family, thought Harry. Something he had wanted as long as he could remember but that he hardly ever admitted, even to himself. "When do we start?"
Sirius seemed glad by Harry's willingness and they started right away. He and Harry got rags out and cleaner out and had cleaned all the windows by dinner. While they ate Sirius had put the bedclothes from his own bed and Harry's as well as the rugs from Harry's room in what looked like a Muggle washing machine. But Harry soon realized that it only looked like a Muggle washing machine.
Sirius had put far more things in than Harry was sure would fit and the machine wasn't plugged in anywhere. Instead of putting a scoop of cleanser in with the blankets, Sirius just closed the door on it, tapped it with his wand, and it began to wash.
When dinner was over Harry and Sirius went back upstairs to put the sheets and blankets on the beds and the rugs on the floors. When they were done Sirius saw Harry yawn.
"Harry, let me give you a quick tour and then you can go to sleep."
Harry consented. Sirius showed him the other rooms connected to the hallway upstairs. There was a guest bedroom, Sirius's room, Harry's room, a study, a room of magical supplies, and a bathroom. Downstairs Harry was shown the hall he had come in through, the parlor, the kitchen, the dining room, another bathroom, and a library. Afterwards Harry said goodnight to Sirius and he went to his room.

Harry woke up with the sun shining through the large window on the far side of the room. Harry sat up and reached for his glasses. When he swung his legs over the bed and his feet touched the floor that he had expected to be chilly. To his surprise, despite the fact that he was barefoot, the floor was warm. He went downstairs. Sirius was also still in his pajamas and he had made breakfast. "Morning, Harry. Did you sleep okay?" "Yeah, fine. The floor is so warm," he remarked sitting down on a stool at the counter. Sirius passed him a plate of scrambled eggs. "Of course, magic that keeps the floor warm, it gets cold up here. The spell is sort of threaded into the house itself." They spent most of that day working on the house dusting, cleaning, and repairing. Harry didn't mind. The day after that Harry got up and dressed as usual and went down to see Sirius at the kitchen counter. "Harry, guess what?" Harry swallowed the bit of sausage in his mouth and then asked, "What?" "We won't be cleaning today. You can explore the area around here. You can fly if you feel like it. Or finish your homework. Or write letters, or whatever you want to do. I want you to feel at home here. Plus, I've got to go talk to some friends and see about that job I told you about." "Alright. And you didn't tell me anything about the job, just that a position was in consideration. Who wants to hire you? What time will you be back?" "Not until 8. And I don't want to say anything 'til I know for sure." "Okay. I've got a bit of homework left. Then I'll probably go outside." They finished their breakfast. "Wait a minute, Harry." Sirius went to the library and came back a moment later. "I've got a map here. This shows the house here and the area around for about 15 miles. It will help you find your way around if you decide to go out. This also shows where the other wizard families around here live. There're three or four of them around here. Maybe five." "Thanks." "I'll see you later, Harry." Sirius picked up his broom as he left. Harry spoke to himself. "That's odd. I wonder why he didn't Apperate." Harry cleaned up his breakfast plate and went into the study upstairs to write his essay for his Herbology class. When he was done he took another look at the map. There was a small lake not too far away that might be worth investigating. He looked for the nearest wizard house. There was one three miles away that belonged to the Orwells. Harry decided to take the walk leisurely and go down to the lake, then he could make his way to the other houses. He decided to bring his broom in case he didn't feel like walking the whole way back. He picked up his Firebolt and in case it got cold before he came back he took a cloak. He rolled up the map to take too. He traveled at a steady pace and soon reached the lake. It was breathtaking. The water glistened like crystal. And he found unfamiliar plants as well as some odd-looking fish and other creatures. He stopped for a short rest and a drink there, and then he was on his way.
It was just over two miles left to the home of the Orwells. He didn't know them and had only chosen this route because it was the nearest and it would be on his way to wherever else he went. He was less than a quarter- mile away when he saw two figures.
One was a girl with brunette hair, she seemed to be maybe a year or so younger than Harry. She skillfully wielded a stout bat in her hands; though from its size, you would have thought the girl's skinny arms incapable of wielding such an object with such ease.
The other figure was a boy similar to her in appearance but no older than eleven, if he was that old. He darted about happily on a broom throwing large and heavy balls at the girl. At first Harry thought maybe he was attacking her but as he drew nearer he realized the girl was enjoying herself. She shouted remarks to the boy, "That was too easy!" or "Nice aim there!" and "Too easy!"
Harry watched as he came. The girl noticed his presence. "Hi, Harry! I thought you'd have been here sooner."
"Who are you and how do you know me?"
"You don't remember?" She swung the bat again. She didn't seem disappointed as she spoke. "We met last year. I'm Ginny's friend Claire Orwell. I saw you and you were carrying a big dusty book outside the castle one day last year. Besides, if I hadn't met you before it wouldn't be hard to figure out who you are. That scar on your forehead is lifelong identification."
Harry self-consciously felt his forehead and realized he had pushed his bangs back a few minutes before. Harry had no memory of her but decided to take her word for it. "You look like you can handle that bat. Are you on your house Quiditch team?"
"No, but I'm trying out this year. I just had to wait for Fred and George to graduate so I could become a Beater."
"So you're in Gryffindor. Well I hope to see you on the team this year."
"So I guess you're staying with Mr. Black."
"Yeah. But how did you know I was staying with Sirius?"
"Word gets around."
"I've been here three days."
"And your point is.?"
"It's not that long."
"But you are staying the rest of the summer, and next summer you are going back to your Muggle relatives."
"How do you know so much?"
"Word gets around," she repeated. She called to her little brother who was still in the air. "Come on down! We're going to go inside and drink something." She turned back to Harry. "Want to come inside for something to drink? My parents wouldn't mind; they're friendly."
"Er-Okay." He followed the two of them back to their house and inside. It had a light, airy, comfortable atmosphere. The Orwells were hospitable and invited Harry to stay for lunch and he did. He flew outside with Claire and her brother for a while afterwards, first just in a single area throwing and catching and hitting balls while on their brooms. Then they ventured forth.
Claire had said to Harry, "If you're going to be around a while you've got to get to know the neighborhood."
Harry showed her the map and she explained who each family was. "The Tollivers are really nice. They're an old couple. They sort of act as grandparents to any kid who comes and knocks on their door. Now, here, the Changs live. They've got a son in his third year he's a Hufflepuff. Their daughter is a Ravenclaw named Cho. She's in her last year at Hogwarts. Plays Quiditch, a Seeker I think."
Harry remembered Cho. She was pretty and good at Quiditch. Harry must have shown some sign because she continued speaking.
"So you've met her, Harry?"
"Once or twice playing Quiditch."
She didn't say anymore on the subject. "A little further away from there, about three or four miles is the Delano's house. It was empty for years but they came back visiting and restoring last summer and this summer the Professor moved in with her daughter. Come on and I'll show you around." She hopped on her broom. Her brother wanted to stay home. Harry got on his broom and followed.
Claire introduced Harry to Mr. and Mrs. Tolliver. As she had told Harry, the Tollivers were kind and grandparent-like. They welcomed Harry and told him to stop by anytime. They flew on passed the Changs house but didn't stop in. Claire explained that they weren't home and that they were visiting some relatives. They flew on until they reached the Delano home.
It was bright and it seemed to have an intelligent quality to it. Claire reached the ground and ran up to the door to knock. Harry dismounted and followed her. Renata answered the door.
"Hey, Claire. What's up?" She saw Harry. "Good afternoon, stranger. You've been here three days. I was wondering when you'd stop by."
"Good to see you, too," he answered.
"You two want to come in and have something to drink? Then we could go flying or something."
Claire stepped inside and seemed right at home. Harry followed.
They sat on the couch in the living room. They drank water, listened to the radio, and talked. It was fun. After an hour or so hour Renata suggested they go outside and fly.
It was an unusually hot day and the temperature was rising. Claire looked out the window. "It's too hot out there."
"We could go swimming," suggested Renata.
"But my swim trunks are back at Sirius's house," said Harry.
Claire pointed out, "Obviously. And so is my suit. Well, it's at my house. We can pick both up on the way to the lake."
"What lake?" asked Harry.
"The one by Sirius's place. I'll go upstairs and get my suit." Renata left and was back a few minutes later with a canvas bag. "Is it okay if I change in a spare room back at your place? I don't want to fly in a swimsuit."
"Sure."
Professor Delano came out of a room in the back. "Hello, everyone."
"Hello."
"Hello."
"Hi. Mom, we're going to go down to the lake to swim. Do you mind?"
"Okay, but be out of the water by sundown. I don't mind if you stay out longer but be out of the water by then."
"Okay. We'll be back in a while."
"Have fun."
Renata took her broom from by the door and called over her shoulder, "We will." Outside, Renata mounted her broom and put the canvas bag on the end of it.
Harry and Claire mounted their own brooms and flew beside her. They stopped at Claire's house and when Claire came out she emerged with a denim bag.
They flew on to Harry's house. As they flew they talked.
"So Harry, I heard you're back for the summer."
"Where'd you hear that, Renata?"
"A little birdie who was so excited he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Or maybe I should say a dog who couldn't keep his mouth shut."
Harry knew she meant Sirius. Sirius was an Animagus, he could turn himself into a dog at will "So you knew I was coming?"
"Of course I did. Nothing escapes me. Claire, you fly great. You are joining the team this year, aren't you? I'll speak to the Headmaster if you say no."
"Yeah, but it's too bad you aren't going to be a Beater, Renata," replied Claire.
"She needs to be the Keeper. I'm glad she came to replace Wood once he was gone." Harry landed on the ground. He watched as Renata bounded from her broom still three feet from the ground. "Come on in." The girls followed him.
He went up the staircase. He showed Renata the guest room for her to change in and he pointed out Sirius's room to Claire. Harry went into his own room and he changed into his swim trunks.
He came out to find Renata and Claire waiting downstairs; Renata was in a blue swimsuit, Claire in a purple one. Both had towels around their shoulders. "Let's go, we haven't got all day," said Renata.
"Yeah we do," replied Claire.
The three of them left with towels across their shoulders and brooms over one shoulder. They had decided it was too nice to fly but they may need the brooms for their return.
They reached the lake and the fish nearest to the shore swam away. Renata climbed a tree and shouted as she jumped, "Cannon ball!"
The water splashed Harry and Claire and as they were now wet they jumped in too. Harry was thankful the water wasn't more than probably eight feet deep, or nine at the deepest, maybe ten but most of the water was about five feet. Harry didn't have much experience swimming. The three of them splashed and yelled. They swam for a few hours occasionally resting and sunning themselves. It was an enjoyable afternoon. Harry also discovered that Renata knew what Sirius's new job was but she refused to tell Harry.
"Come on, tell me."
"Nope."
"Come on."
"No, I don't think so."
"Tell me."
"Never."
"Please."
"Hmmm.first time you ever said please, but.no."
Harry could tell Renata was enjoying the game and Claire kept bursting into fits of giggles. Harry tried a new strategy. "I bet you don't know. You're just making it up."
"Am I?"
"Prove it."
"How?"
"Tell me what his new job is."
"Shouldn't tell. Won't tell."
"Why not?"
"I promised. A promise given is a promise kept. You're only as good as you're word."
"You're impossible."
"I strive to be so."
Harry couldn't help laughing at this strange girl. "You know you're crazy, don't you?"
"I told you that last year. Did you forget, its one of the benefits of being me." Renata disappeared beneath the water.
After half a minute Harry and Claire looked around but did not see Renata anywhere. Harry felt something or someone pulling his leg and causing him to be submerged under the water. He felt something hit him on the head. He swam back to the surface and saw Renata laughing at him.
"Renata!"
"What?" She gave a look of utter innocence. "So? I didn't do anything. I didn't hurt you. And I'm sorry I scared you." She didn't sound sorry.
"No, you didn't, I had just thought you were hurt down there so I was looking for you." Fool, the water's barely five feet here. She wouldn't have drowned.
"In that case, sorry, but don't worry about me, especially when I'm in water. I'm like a fish. Back home I'd start swimming around Easter and I'd hardly leave the water until October."
A little while later Renata was swimming on her back and Harry had just jumped in the water again when she said, "I thought you 'don't swim'? That's what you said last year at any rate."
"I guess I didn't, then. But it's not so bad." "Harry, 'Not so bad'? Harry, swimming is terrific. But the sun is going down. We've all got to go inside soon. Let's get out and dry off."
The three of them get out and dried off with their towels. They got on their brooms and went back to the house. The girls and Harry went back to the rooms they had changed in earlier and put their clothes back on. They went back downstairs.
"Do you want to eat?" asked Harry.
"Sure."
"Here, we'll help you make something," They followed Harry into the kitchen. Harry looked around and the pantry. It was a magic one, the kind that had whatever you were looking for and it always refilled itself. "So what do you want?" "Whatever is here." They ended up cooking hamburgers in a frying pan on the stove. Harry put plates and glasses on the table but Claire and Renata moved them to the counter. When they were done they sat and talked a while. Renata looked at her watch. "Claire, we should probably be going." "It is getting late." "What time is it?" asked Harry. "Um.8:30," replied Renata. "Sirius was supposed to get home at eight." "Don't worry about him, Harry. He can take care of himself. He'll be back soon." "Do you two want me to fly you home?" "Nah. We're big girls, Harry. We'll manage. We don't need anybody to escort us." "Yeah. We'll see you again tomorrow, right Harry?" "Sure. This was fun." It had been. Harry had spent a fun morning flying with Claire, and a great afternoon swimming with her and Renata. It was really his best day so far all summer. They all stood up. Harry walked the girls to the door. They picked up their brooms and the bags with their wet swimsuits and towels. They waved goodbye to Harry. He watched them fly into the night. The house felt empty. No one was talking or laughing. Harry tried to think of something to do. He couldn't clean up the kitchen; Renata and Claire had already helped him do so. He lit a fire in the fireplace and sat down with a book. It was one he had read before but one he enjoyed. It was the Fellowship of the Ring, Renata had loaned it to him last year when he'd been in the hospital and when they left her house today she had stuck it in her bag to let him borrow it again. She had said, "It's my fault Harry. I got you addicted Tolkien. Here," she had tossed the book at him. "I guess you have been a little Tolkien-deprived this summer. You can keep this copy, I've got several." Harry settled in the chair now and began to read. He was in the third chapter "Three's Company" when Sirius came home. "Hello, Harry." "I thought you were going to be home an hour ago." "I was but I ran into some old friends from the Ministry and I'm getting my flying motorcycle back." "What?" "Before I went to Azkaban I used to own a flying motorcycle. It was incredible. I gave it away when I began to track down Pettigrew. It'll be great. I can't wait to teach you how to ride it Harry. It's terrific. You'll really like it." "I'll get to ride it?" "Why not?" "When are you going to pick it up?" "A few days. So how was your day?" Sirius threw his cloak on a hook and sat down across from Harry. "Did you meet any neighbors?" "Most of them actually. The Orwells were friendly, I met them when I was walking and then after lunch Claire showed me around. I met the Tollivers; they were very nice. Then Claire and I flew over to where Renata lives and we stayed there for a while then we went swimming in the lake. Afterwards we came back and ate here. They only just here left a little while ago." "Sounds like you had a good day." "Well, what about you, Sirius?" "Things went well." "That's it? Aren't you going to tell me where you were?" "Not yet." "Renata knows, how come I can't?" "Because, Renata was being a stealthy little eavesdropper. Goodnight." Harry spent the next two and a half weeks flying, and generally hanging out with Claire and Renata. They even went swimming whenever there was a really fine day. It was great. And Sirius had given him lessons on flying the motorcycle. Sirius had been right, riding it was terrific but Harry still preferred is broom. The engine roar of the motorcycle was loud, especially compared to the whisper silence of the broom where the only sound was the wind rushing by. Harry spent a lot of time away from the house, but Sirius didn't mind it. He had told Harry, "I think it's good for you to be with youngsters of your own sort for a change, much better than being with those Muggles you lived with." That being said, Harry enjoyed himself. After being at Sirius's for almost 3 amusing weeks Harry wrote again to Ron and Hermione.
Hermione,
I hope you've had a great summer. Things are wonderful here. I've been
at Sirius's for over two weeks. Sorry I didn't write sooner. I've been
having a blast. I'll see you tomorrow at Diagon Alley.
Harry Harry set the letter aside and wrote one to Ron.

Ron,
It's great here. I'm at Sirius's now and for the rest of the
summer. That is, until the tomorrow when I meet you guys in Diagon
Alley. See you soon,
Harry

Harry was shocked that already it was the twenty-ninth and he would be going back to Hogwarts in only three days. Under ordinary circumstances, being at the Dursleys, Harry would have felt those three days couldn't come quickly enough, this summer was different. He wanted each day to last. Harry sent Hedwig with the letter for Hermione and borrowed Sirius's owl to send Ron's. He then flew to Renata's as he had promised the day before. He reached the door about the same time as Claire.
"Do you know what we're doing today?"
Harry shook his head.
Claire opened the door and went in. "This will be fun."
Harry followed. They saw Renata, wearing faded jeans and a t-shirt. "We're sliding today."
"What?" Harry asked.
"Follow me," Renata ran up the stairs with Claire and Harry at her heels. Renata spoke over her shoulder as they reached the top. "This will be great."
"What will?" asked Harry.
"Sliding."
"Sliding?"
"Down the banister! Haven't you ever tried before? It's great." Harry briefly thought of his aunt's reaction if he had ever decided to slide down her newly polished banister (Aunt Petunia was something of a neat freak). Harry watched as Renata agilely climbed the post and then slid down, spinning and sliding at a rather alarming rate. Harry tried to reach her before she reached the floor but she fell first. When she hit the ground she rubbed her leg where she fell but grinned happily when she stood up. "I'm fine."
Harry took the cushions off the couch and put them at the bottom of the stairs so no one would get hurt sliding down. He then followed Renata back up the stairs and passed Claire sliding down.
Harry stood at the top with Renata. "So go." She told him.
He sat on top of the banister and it seemed steeper than it had a moment before. He felt someone push him from behind and he felt the rush of air going past him. He hit the ground with a soft thump and ran back up the stairs again.
They all spent hours sliding and running, stopping occasionally only for breath. "Awesome!"
They had been sliding for hours and they were all back at the top of the stairs again when the doorbell rang. Claire, Harry, and Renata got on the banister in a line like a train and reached the bottom together. Laughing, they opened the door to discover who the visitor was.