~*~
Chapter Two
~*~
Harry was awakened by the usual screaming aunt petunia. But, unlike other mornings, Harry didn't mind a thing the Durslys could throw at him. In fact Harry couldn't wait to get up and do the Durslys bidding.
"Coming Aunt Petunia." Harry shouted back.
Harry rushed down to the kitchen and started to make breakfast as he had ever morning of ever summer for the past 7 years. Little did the Durslys know that today was going to be very different.
Instead of pulling out the eggs to make the usual omelets, he pulled something out of his back pocket, something long and thin. Harry had been waiting for this day since he had started school at Hogwarts.
"Good morning Uncle Vernon." Harry said very sweetly.
"What's got you so happy this morning boy?" Uncle Vernon replied squinting his beefy face.
"Nothing in particular." Harry said with a large smirk on his face.
"Whatever, make us breakfast, and make it quick." His Uncle snapped.
Then Harry said something to his uncle that he had never said before.
"No."
"What did you say?" Uncle Vernon asked with venom in his words.
"I said no. I am sick of you bossing me around like I'm dirt. I don't have to take this anymore. In case you haven't noticed, I'm 17 now and in my world of Wizards and witches I can use magic anytime I want!" Harry said raising his wand to point right at uncle Vernon.
"Butt youuu caan'tt usssee maaaaggic heerrre I'll kick you outtt." Uncle Vernon stuttered.
"Oh Yeah?" Harry challenged.
"Tarantallegra!" Harry shouted. Immediately his uncle jumped out of his chair and started to dance on the linoleum floor, making many scuff marks in the process. His aunt wouldn't be happy, but Harry didn't care about that anymore. Harry wanted so badly to cause the Durlsys as much pain as he possible could. But he knew that he couldn't do anything really bad to them, he wouldn't give in to the anger. Yes they had caused him much pain over the years, but Harry wasn't about to do any real harm. He would not give in to the hate!
Harry quickly took the jinx off of him and turned to face an extremely angry aunt, and a terrified cousin. He didn't care, with a swish of his wand, he gave Dudley another tail and a pair of ears to go with it. Dudley started to run around in circles and scream. The screaming quickly got on his nerves so he took it off.
The Durlsys just stared at him, Harry decided that this was his exit time. He transfigured some wax fruit on the table into real fruit, and dashed to his room.
Harry stayed in his room for the rest of the days until Hermione came. Friday came very slowly for Harry, but when it finally did, he was ecstatic. He woke up Friday morning and started to pack his trunk. By noon he was done packing and ready to go. He levitated his trunk downstairs to the absolute disgust of the Durslys.
"Where do you think your going?" His uncle spat out.
"A friend is picking me up and I will be spending the remainder of the summer there. Ok?" Harry said nonchalantly.
"Sure" his uncle muttered and walked away.
Harry spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on his trunk in the hall way reading a school book. Knowing Hermione she would probably arrive about 10 minutes early, and the suited Harry just fine. He couldn't wait to see her again; heck he couldn't stop thinking about her. At around 5 o'clock Harry decided that he needed to do something about his hair. So he rushed upstairs quickly spiked his hair with some gel. He was staring in the mirror when he realized that he didn't need his glasses anymore.
He pulled them off and muttered a spell with his wand pointing at his eyes. Instantly he could see crystal clear. He looked different without his glasses but he decided that it was for the better. As he stared into the mirror he realized that with his hair spiked up, his scar was very visible. He didn't like that. Once again he used his wand and disillusioned his scar. It just looked like normal skin, but Harry could still feel it under there. And if it ever hurt, the spell would come right off, Harry had been working on this for a very long time.
Harry was now acceptable for his company. He dashed back down stairs just in time to hear a knock at the door. Almost tripping over his own feet he grabbed at the door.
When he opened it he saw something that he thought must be an angel. Hermione was standing there with a red tank top on and faded jean shorts. Her hair was cut shoulder length, and had blond high lights in it. He just stood there gaping at the sight before him.
"Um, I'm here to pick up Harry Potter? Does he live here?" Hermione timidly asked.
She didn't even recognize him.
"Hermione?" Harry managed to whisper once he had his voice back.
"Harry." She said, and then squinted at his eyes. "yes It is YOU!!"
After he last sentence she launched herself at him and very nearly knocked him over. He just stood there hugging his best friend, taking in the sweet strawberry scent of her hair. They slowly broke apart and looked each other in the eyes. They both realized what kind of position they were in and quickly broke apart.
"You look great." They both said at the same time.
"Well lets get out of here, I'm sure you don't want to meet the Durslys." Harry said. Hermione nodded fervently.
Harry turned to his trunk and with a flick of his wand he shrunk it to candy size. He quickly grabbed it and put it in his pocket. They were ready, Harry quickly yelled a goodbye to the Durslys.
"Bye, I won't ever be coming back here!" Harry yelled and walked out the door with the prettiest girl in all the world right next to him.
They hopped into Hermione Mustang and Harry left the Durslys house for good. The drive home had been great they talked about there summer, Harry constantly bugged Hermione by doing simple spells. She hadn't turned 17 yet, her birthday was September 19, and so she wouldn't be aloud to use magic out of school until next summer. And it bugged her to no end that Harry could use magic whenever he wanted to.
All through the trip Harry kept sneaking glances at Hermione. She was gorgeous Harry couldn't seem to get enough of her; Harry had long given up trying to hide the fact that he was falling for her. Why try to lie to himself? He didn't believe it anyways. The problem was that he couldn't tell if she had any feelings for him, it was a mystery that would need to be resolved.
Ron was another key issue, how would he handle it if Hermione and he became more than just friends? Would he be mad or jealous? Harry really hoped not, Ron was like a brother to him and Harry didn't know what he would do without him.
Where would he be if he hadn't meet Ron and Hermione in his first year? What would have happened if he had taken Draco Malfoy's advice? Those questions were irrelevant. Harry was Harry because of his choices. Dumbledore had said it himself. Choices, they separated us from the animals.
They crunched up Hermione's gravel driveway and parked the car. It was already late, the drive had take around two hours so when they got there it was dark and Harry couldn't see what the house really looked like. They walked up to the front door and stepped inside. The house was beautiful; Harry could see a spiral staircase, with mahogany railings. Straight ahead of him he saw the dining room with steaming plates of Italian food waiting for them. What he concentrated on right now was Hermione's parents; he really wanted to impress them.
"Hello Mrs. Granger, I'm Harry Potter." Harry said extending his hand.
"Hello Harry, we've heard so much about you." She said enthusiastically.
Harry could tell right away that he wanted to stay on her good side, she seemed like she would enforce the rules very strictly. Hermione got most of her looks from her mother, Harry could tell everything except her eyes. Her mother had blue eyes. But everything else was a spitting image of Hermione.
"Mr. Granger is at a dentist conference and he won't be home until next weekend. I will be joining him tomorrow, but I wanted to greet my guest." Mrs. Granger informed Harry and Hermione at the dinner table.
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence; Harry was enjoying the meal very much. After dinner Hermione led Harry to his room upstairs.
"This is your room, there is your bathroom, and the other door in the bathroom leads to my room." Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"Thanks 'Mione" Harry said, still in awe of his room.
His room had gold walls with a red border. The ceiling was enchanted to always look like the night sky. Every once and a while a quidditch player would zoom in and out of the red border.
"We can talk more in the morning, but right now I'm tired. Goodnight Harry." Hermione said.
After Hermione had left the room Harry didn't waste anytime in getting into bed. He fell asleep instantly.
Chapter Two
~*~
Harry was awakened by the usual screaming aunt petunia. But, unlike other mornings, Harry didn't mind a thing the Durslys could throw at him. In fact Harry couldn't wait to get up and do the Durslys bidding.
"Coming Aunt Petunia." Harry shouted back.
Harry rushed down to the kitchen and started to make breakfast as he had ever morning of ever summer for the past 7 years. Little did the Durslys know that today was going to be very different.
Instead of pulling out the eggs to make the usual omelets, he pulled something out of his back pocket, something long and thin. Harry had been waiting for this day since he had started school at Hogwarts.
"Good morning Uncle Vernon." Harry said very sweetly.
"What's got you so happy this morning boy?" Uncle Vernon replied squinting his beefy face.
"Nothing in particular." Harry said with a large smirk on his face.
"Whatever, make us breakfast, and make it quick." His Uncle snapped.
Then Harry said something to his uncle that he had never said before.
"No."
"What did you say?" Uncle Vernon asked with venom in his words.
"I said no. I am sick of you bossing me around like I'm dirt. I don't have to take this anymore. In case you haven't noticed, I'm 17 now and in my world of Wizards and witches I can use magic anytime I want!" Harry said raising his wand to point right at uncle Vernon.
"Butt youuu caan'tt usssee maaaaggic heerrre I'll kick you outtt." Uncle Vernon stuttered.
"Oh Yeah?" Harry challenged.
"Tarantallegra!" Harry shouted. Immediately his uncle jumped out of his chair and started to dance on the linoleum floor, making many scuff marks in the process. His aunt wouldn't be happy, but Harry didn't care about that anymore. Harry wanted so badly to cause the Durlsys as much pain as he possible could. But he knew that he couldn't do anything really bad to them, he wouldn't give in to the anger. Yes they had caused him much pain over the years, but Harry wasn't about to do any real harm. He would not give in to the hate!
Harry quickly took the jinx off of him and turned to face an extremely angry aunt, and a terrified cousin. He didn't care, with a swish of his wand, he gave Dudley another tail and a pair of ears to go with it. Dudley started to run around in circles and scream. The screaming quickly got on his nerves so he took it off.
The Durlsys just stared at him, Harry decided that this was his exit time. He transfigured some wax fruit on the table into real fruit, and dashed to his room.
Harry stayed in his room for the rest of the days until Hermione came. Friday came very slowly for Harry, but when it finally did, he was ecstatic. He woke up Friday morning and started to pack his trunk. By noon he was done packing and ready to go. He levitated his trunk downstairs to the absolute disgust of the Durslys.
"Where do you think your going?" His uncle spat out.
"A friend is picking me up and I will be spending the remainder of the summer there. Ok?" Harry said nonchalantly.
"Sure" his uncle muttered and walked away.
Harry spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on his trunk in the hall way reading a school book. Knowing Hermione she would probably arrive about 10 minutes early, and the suited Harry just fine. He couldn't wait to see her again; heck he couldn't stop thinking about her. At around 5 o'clock Harry decided that he needed to do something about his hair. So he rushed upstairs quickly spiked his hair with some gel. He was staring in the mirror when he realized that he didn't need his glasses anymore.
He pulled them off and muttered a spell with his wand pointing at his eyes. Instantly he could see crystal clear. He looked different without his glasses but he decided that it was for the better. As he stared into the mirror he realized that with his hair spiked up, his scar was very visible. He didn't like that. Once again he used his wand and disillusioned his scar. It just looked like normal skin, but Harry could still feel it under there. And if it ever hurt, the spell would come right off, Harry had been working on this for a very long time.
Harry was now acceptable for his company. He dashed back down stairs just in time to hear a knock at the door. Almost tripping over his own feet he grabbed at the door.
When he opened it he saw something that he thought must be an angel. Hermione was standing there with a red tank top on and faded jean shorts. Her hair was cut shoulder length, and had blond high lights in it. He just stood there gaping at the sight before him.
"Um, I'm here to pick up Harry Potter? Does he live here?" Hermione timidly asked.
She didn't even recognize him.
"Hermione?" Harry managed to whisper once he had his voice back.
"Harry." She said, and then squinted at his eyes. "yes It is YOU!!"
After he last sentence she launched herself at him and very nearly knocked him over. He just stood there hugging his best friend, taking in the sweet strawberry scent of her hair. They slowly broke apart and looked each other in the eyes. They both realized what kind of position they were in and quickly broke apart.
"You look great." They both said at the same time.
"Well lets get out of here, I'm sure you don't want to meet the Durslys." Harry said. Hermione nodded fervently.
Harry turned to his trunk and with a flick of his wand he shrunk it to candy size. He quickly grabbed it and put it in his pocket. They were ready, Harry quickly yelled a goodbye to the Durslys.
"Bye, I won't ever be coming back here!" Harry yelled and walked out the door with the prettiest girl in all the world right next to him.
They hopped into Hermione Mustang and Harry left the Durslys house for good. The drive home had been great they talked about there summer, Harry constantly bugged Hermione by doing simple spells. She hadn't turned 17 yet, her birthday was September 19, and so she wouldn't be aloud to use magic out of school until next summer. And it bugged her to no end that Harry could use magic whenever he wanted to.
All through the trip Harry kept sneaking glances at Hermione. She was gorgeous Harry couldn't seem to get enough of her; Harry had long given up trying to hide the fact that he was falling for her. Why try to lie to himself? He didn't believe it anyways. The problem was that he couldn't tell if she had any feelings for him, it was a mystery that would need to be resolved.
Ron was another key issue, how would he handle it if Hermione and he became more than just friends? Would he be mad or jealous? Harry really hoped not, Ron was like a brother to him and Harry didn't know what he would do without him.
Where would he be if he hadn't meet Ron and Hermione in his first year? What would have happened if he had taken Draco Malfoy's advice? Those questions were irrelevant. Harry was Harry because of his choices. Dumbledore had said it himself. Choices, they separated us from the animals.
They crunched up Hermione's gravel driveway and parked the car. It was already late, the drive had take around two hours so when they got there it was dark and Harry couldn't see what the house really looked like. They walked up to the front door and stepped inside. The house was beautiful; Harry could see a spiral staircase, with mahogany railings. Straight ahead of him he saw the dining room with steaming plates of Italian food waiting for them. What he concentrated on right now was Hermione's parents; he really wanted to impress them.
"Hello Mrs. Granger, I'm Harry Potter." Harry said extending his hand.
"Hello Harry, we've heard so much about you." She said enthusiastically.
Harry could tell right away that he wanted to stay on her good side, she seemed like she would enforce the rules very strictly. Hermione got most of her looks from her mother, Harry could tell everything except her eyes. Her mother had blue eyes. But everything else was a spitting image of Hermione.
"Mr. Granger is at a dentist conference and he won't be home until next weekend. I will be joining him tomorrow, but I wanted to greet my guest." Mrs. Granger informed Harry and Hermione at the dinner table.
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence; Harry was enjoying the meal very much. After dinner Hermione led Harry to his room upstairs.
"This is your room, there is your bathroom, and the other door in the bathroom leads to my room." Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"Thanks 'Mione" Harry said, still in awe of his room.
His room had gold walls with a red border. The ceiling was enchanted to always look like the night sky. Every once and a while a quidditch player would zoom in and out of the red border.
"We can talk more in the morning, but right now I'm tired. Goodnight Harry." Hermione said.
After Hermione had left the room Harry didn't waste anytime in getting into bed. He fell asleep instantly.