Chapter 1 - A Day with the Dursley's
Sixteen-year-old Harry Potter awoke on the morning of the second day of his summer holiday and groaned. He had been having a wonderful dream and didn't want to return to his reality. He remembered Sirius had been in it, as well as his mother. Harry smiled when he thought of his mothers words. 'I'll always love you'.
His smile faded when he looked around his room. It was bare, containing only a bed, a broken desk, and his trunk. His trunk didn't look too big, but appearances can be deceiving. This was because Harry was no ordinary boy. He was a wizard, just having finished his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry sighed as he thought over the past year. His two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, had begun to date leaving him feeling like a third wheel and with a lot of free time on his hands. He had used this time to study. Yes, Harry had started to take his studies very seriously this past year. Especially Defence Against the Dark Arts. He learned everything necessary for his classes and then some. Even Potions. He smirked when he thought of that. Ol' Snape hadn't been expecting him back that year. Hell, to be perfectly honest, HE hadn't expected to be back. But he had received an 'O' on his OWL, and needed Potions for to become an Auror, so he took it. Even Snape couldn't find anything wrong with his potions this year.
His other classes, Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts faired just as well. He had also opted to take an additional class, Healing, offered only at the NEWT level. While not doing course work, Harry had studied anything and everything in the Hogwarts library. Also, after some lessons from Dumbledore, Harry had mastered Occlumency. He needed to know many things if he was going to defeat Lord Voldemort.
Voldemort had kidnapped Ginny Weasley. She and Harry had become quite good friends after her blushing and stammering stage had passed. Thankfully, she had been rescued, with no deaths. But it had resulted in another confrontation with Voldemort. He often wondered how many more of these he could survive. His thoughts drifted to Neville and Cedric. They had both died because of him.
Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts, and glanced at the clock. 5:17. He sighed and got out of bed. There were nearly two hours left before his aunt Petunia would force him to go cook breakfast. It appeared that the fear from the threat of the Order members, which had made his previous summer bearable, was gone. Picking up a Potions book and some parchment, he sat down at his desk. He might as well do something useful with the time only time he had to himself during the day.
'Explain the use of various healing potions.' Harry laughed quietly. There were over 1000 potions used for healing. This was going to be one long essay. He decided to categorize the potions instead of writing about each one. Snape probably wouldn't like it, but it didn't matter. Snape wasn't marking the NEWTs. As long as Harry knew what he was talking about, it would be okay.
All too soon, Harry heard his aunt's voice. "Up! Get UP boy!" He rolled his eyes and stood up. It was probably best not to annoy them just yet. He did need to live here for the summer. Dumbledore still didn't think it was wise for him to know anything. 'Blood lying bastard' he thought. Dumbledore had promised not to leave him out of things that concerned him.
"What are you doing in there? Vernon and Dudders need their breakfast!" Harry was willing to bet that neither his Uncle Vernon, nor his cousin Dudley were awake yet. He opened the door and went to the bathroom to get dressed.
After a quick shower and pulling on Dudley's old oversized clothes, he went into the kitchen. To his surprise, his aunt had already started cooking breakfast.
"Here!" she snapped when she saw Harry. "Finish the bacon, eggs and sausages." She went to go cut the bread. 'Ah, so we're having a full English breakfast.' Well it made sense, since this was Dudley's first day home.
Harry had just finished making the breakfast and was about the turn off the stove, as he heard an elephant coming down the stairs. He smirked as Dudley waddled into the kitchen. As Petunia fussed over her son, Harry allowed his thoughts to wonder. He also managed to sneak a few pieces of bacon while their backs were turned. He knew he wouldn't get anything more than a slice of bread. Vernon came into the kitchen and the family sat down to breakfast. Harry quickly sat down too, hoping for some food before Dudley got to it. His aunt glared, but tossed a slice of bread at him. He ate it hurriedly and went up to his room.
As he opened his door, Harry noticed a lump of feathers on his desk. Upon closer examination, it seemed to be the Weasley family owl, Errol. Errol had collapsed on his desk, worn out from the journey. Harry smiled. Ginny had remembered that his relatives didn't feed him and had sent pies and other food for him. He relieved the owl of the parcel, gave him some water and left him to rest.
Harry then turned his attention to the other owl. It was his own owl, Hedwig, whom he had sent off yesterday with a note for Dumbledore. The snowy owl had returned with an answer. Harry took the letter and started to read. He had asked if he could get someone to teach him Apparition, since his 17th birthday was approaching. He hated to ask Dumbledore to teach him anything, but in this case, it couldn't be avoided. Apparition could be very dangerous and Harry didn't want to end up splinched. However, Dumbledore said that he would send someone after Harry's 17th birthday had passed. Damn. That meant he was stuck here until after his birthday.
After hiding the food under the floorboards, Harry sat down and tried to concentrate on his Potions essay. Again, he was interrupted by his aunt demanding that he come out and do his chores. When he stepped out of his room, he thrust a sheet of paper under his nose. Glancing it over, he noticed it was a list of chores. He groaned. It would take at least a week to finish all this. Probably more, if he didn't work all waking hours. He noticed the last thing on the list was 'Clean out the Attic'. The ATTIC? No one had been in there for years! That alone would take a few days. He looked at his aunt.
"Don't look at me like that, boy! These are your chores for the next week. If I think you aren't working, you're not getting food. Got that?"
'Well at least she isn't being totally unreasonable,' he thought wryly. The put the list in his pocket and brushed past his aunt to go start his chores. Petunia looked like she was going to say something but thought better of it and closed her mouth. She pursed her lips and walked off in the opposite direction. Harry smiled in amusement and went downstairs.
Harry had decided to start on his outdoor chores before the sun became too hot. Finishing weeding the flowerbed, he went back inside, deciding to come out again after the sun had gone down.
Around eight o'clock, Harry retreated to his room refusing to do any more chores. He wasn't terribly hungry, seeing as his relatives had given him meals today. Small, but it was food nonetheless.
Pushing his potions essay aside, Harry pulled out a book on advanced duelling. He had become quite an adapt dueller over the past year, but still hoped to get better. He read until he was exhausted, and finally collapsed into his bed, sometime after midnight.
A/N: Okay, heres the first chapter. I know nothing much happened, but I wanted to establish Harry's personality and mental stability. heh. He's still upset over people dying but has decided to throw himself into his studies instead of being depressed. He's also pretty pissed off at Dumbledore, but there are some reasons for that. One of which being that he won't tell Harry anything. Review please!! It'll make me very happy!
Sixteen-year-old Harry Potter awoke on the morning of the second day of his summer holiday and groaned. He had been having a wonderful dream and didn't want to return to his reality. He remembered Sirius had been in it, as well as his mother. Harry smiled when he thought of his mothers words. 'I'll always love you'.
His smile faded when he looked around his room. It was bare, containing only a bed, a broken desk, and his trunk. His trunk didn't look too big, but appearances can be deceiving. This was because Harry was no ordinary boy. He was a wizard, just having finished his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry sighed as he thought over the past year. His two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, had begun to date leaving him feeling like a third wheel and with a lot of free time on his hands. He had used this time to study. Yes, Harry had started to take his studies very seriously this past year. Especially Defence Against the Dark Arts. He learned everything necessary for his classes and then some. Even Potions. He smirked when he thought of that. Ol' Snape hadn't been expecting him back that year. Hell, to be perfectly honest, HE hadn't expected to be back. But he had received an 'O' on his OWL, and needed Potions for to become an Auror, so he took it. Even Snape couldn't find anything wrong with his potions this year.
His other classes, Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts faired just as well. He had also opted to take an additional class, Healing, offered only at the NEWT level. While not doing course work, Harry had studied anything and everything in the Hogwarts library. Also, after some lessons from Dumbledore, Harry had mastered Occlumency. He needed to know many things if he was going to defeat Lord Voldemort.
Voldemort had kidnapped Ginny Weasley. She and Harry had become quite good friends after her blushing and stammering stage had passed. Thankfully, she had been rescued, with no deaths. But it had resulted in another confrontation with Voldemort. He often wondered how many more of these he could survive. His thoughts drifted to Neville and Cedric. They had both died because of him.
Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts, and glanced at the clock. 5:17. He sighed and got out of bed. There were nearly two hours left before his aunt Petunia would force him to go cook breakfast. It appeared that the fear from the threat of the Order members, which had made his previous summer bearable, was gone. Picking up a Potions book and some parchment, he sat down at his desk. He might as well do something useful with the time only time he had to himself during the day.
'Explain the use of various healing potions.' Harry laughed quietly. There were over 1000 potions used for healing. This was going to be one long essay. He decided to categorize the potions instead of writing about each one. Snape probably wouldn't like it, but it didn't matter. Snape wasn't marking the NEWTs. As long as Harry knew what he was talking about, it would be okay.
All too soon, Harry heard his aunt's voice. "Up! Get UP boy!" He rolled his eyes and stood up. It was probably best not to annoy them just yet. He did need to live here for the summer. Dumbledore still didn't think it was wise for him to know anything. 'Blood lying bastard' he thought. Dumbledore had promised not to leave him out of things that concerned him.
"What are you doing in there? Vernon and Dudders need their breakfast!" Harry was willing to bet that neither his Uncle Vernon, nor his cousin Dudley were awake yet. He opened the door and went to the bathroom to get dressed.
After a quick shower and pulling on Dudley's old oversized clothes, he went into the kitchen. To his surprise, his aunt had already started cooking breakfast.
"Here!" she snapped when she saw Harry. "Finish the bacon, eggs and sausages." She went to go cut the bread. 'Ah, so we're having a full English breakfast.' Well it made sense, since this was Dudley's first day home.
Harry had just finished making the breakfast and was about the turn off the stove, as he heard an elephant coming down the stairs. He smirked as Dudley waddled into the kitchen. As Petunia fussed over her son, Harry allowed his thoughts to wonder. He also managed to sneak a few pieces of bacon while their backs were turned. He knew he wouldn't get anything more than a slice of bread. Vernon came into the kitchen and the family sat down to breakfast. Harry quickly sat down too, hoping for some food before Dudley got to it. His aunt glared, but tossed a slice of bread at him. He ate it hurriedly and went up to his room.
As he opened his door, Harry noticed a lump of feathers on his desk. Upon closer examination, it seemed to be the Weasley family owl, Errol. Errol had collapsed on his desk, worn out from the journey. Harry smiled. Ginny had remembered that his relatives didn't feed him and had sent pies and other food for him. He relieved the owl of the parcel, gave him some water and left him to rest.
Harry then turned his attention to the other owl. It was his own owl, Hedwig, whom he had sent off yesterday with a note for Dumbledore. The snowy owl had returned with an answer. Harry took the letter and started to read. He had asked if he could get someone to teach him Apparition, since his 17th birthday was approaching. He hated to ask Dumbledore to teach him anything, but in this case, it couldn't be avoided. Apparition could be very dangerous and Harry didn't want to end up splinched. However, Dumbledore said that he would send someone after Harry's 17th birthday had passed. Damn. That meant he was stuck here until after his birthday.
After hiding the food under the floorboards, Harry sat down and tried to concentrate on his Potions essay. Again, he was interrupted by his aunt demanding that he come out and do his chores. When he stepped out of his room, he thrust a sheet of paper under his nose. Glancing it over, he noticed it was a list of chores. He groaned. It would take at least a week to finish all this. Probably more, if he didn't work all waking hours. He noticed the last thing on the list was 'Clean out the Attic'. The ATTIC? No one had been in there for years! That alone would take a few days. He looked at his aunt.
"Don't look at me like that, boy! These are your chores for the next week. If I think you aren't working, you're not getting food. Got that?"
'Well at least she isn't being totally unreasonable,' he thought wryly. The put the list in his pocket and brushed past his aunt to go start his chores. Petunia looked like she was going to say something but thought better of it and closed her mouth. She pursed her lips and walked off in the opposite direction. Harry smiled in amusement and went downstairs.
Harry had decided to start on his outdoor chores before the sun became too hot. Finishing weeding the flowerbed, he went back inside, deciding to come out again after the sun had gone down.
Around eight o'clock, Harry retreated to his room refusing to do any more chores. He wasn't terribly hungry, seeing as his relatives had given him meals today. Small, but it was food nonetheless.
Pushing his potions essay aside, Harry pulled out a book on advanced duelling. He had become quite an adapt dueller over the past year, but still hoped to get better. He read until he was exhausted, and finally collapsed into his bed, sometime after midnight.
A/N: Okay, heres the first chapter. I know nothing much happened, but I wanted to establish Harry's personality and mental stability. heh. He's still upset over people dying but has decided to throw himself into his studies instead of being depressed. He's also pretty pissed off at Dumbledore, but there are some reasons for that. One of which being that he won't tell Harry anything. Review please!! It'll make me very happy!