Wow, this is chapter three, isn't it? As Steve the Crocodile hunter
would say, "Crikey!" Oh, I almost forgot. (Straightens herself up
importantly, smoothing whiskers.)
I do not own Harry Potter. Thank you. (Bows deeply)
Now, since I'm finished being silly. On to the story!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ (I love doing that!) (August 20th)
Harry was restless. Today he was going to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys and Hermione, and he could hardly wait. Also, he was going to stay at the Burrow the rest of the summer. Dumbledore had finally allowed Harry to leave the Dursley's, and as far as Harry was concerned, it wasn't a day to soon.
Aunt Petunia had not ordered him to do chores at all this summer and neither Uncle Vernon nor Dudley had even spoken to him. It was rather depressing to not even be acknowledged as a living, let alone intelligent being. When he had approached them about wanting to leave on the twentieth, Uncle Vernon had made it a point to make plans to go out that day so they wouldn't have to be there when the "freaks" came. This was about the only time they had spoken to him all summer. Being ignored did, however, have a plus side. Since he didn't have to do chores he could stay up late and sleep in. This allowed him to continue his practice of staying up as long as his body would allow until he had to go to sleep because of exhaustion.
Harry opened his trunk for about the twentieth time this morning to make sure he had everything packed. His letters, his books, his broomstick, and all his other school supplies. He shut his trunk again and tried to settle on his bed to wait. It was only 6:00 o'clock in the morning and the Weasleys wouldn't be here until noon. Luckily, Mr. Weasley had gotten a hold of some ministry cars. Harry was sure he was trying to avoid another disastrous incident like last times from occurring. Images of Dudley gagging on a four foot purple tongue flooded his mind, and he stifled a laugh, which turned into a yawn. He was so tired, and with this pleasant image in his mind Harry drifted off to sleep.
Harry awoke five hours later feeling refreshed and even more excited. He decided to read his book he had gotten from Hermione to keep himself occupied while he waited for noon to roll around. There were quite a few interesting moves he wanted to try when he got to the Burrow. Time passed by and soon he heard someone knocking on the door. He hurtled down stairs to meet Ron, Mr. Weasley, and the twins at the door.
"How are you Harry?" Mr. Weasley smiled at him, sticking out his hand in greeting.
"I'm doing alright Mr. Weasley." Harry smiled back, shaking his hand firmly with Ron's dad.
"Hermione, Ginny, and Mum are in the car." Ron stated pointing back at the vehicle parked in Dursley's driveway. "Come on, let's go get your trunk."
"Don't worry, we'll go get it." George said as he smiled evilly with Fred who was nodding.
"The Dursleys aren't here. They left to go on holiday yesterday." Harry's lips twitched with suppressed laughter as he thought about the ton- tongue toffee incident.
Fred and Georges faces fell. "Oh well, come on George." Fred beckoned his twin to follow him to Harry's room. As they passed Harry they whispered to him so their Dad couldn't here, "We had a whole new sweet to try out on him too. I guess we'll have to try it out on Percy instead."
Harry suppressed another laugh as the twins hurtled up the stairs into his room. After they returned Mr. Weasley asked him if he had everything and he nodded. They headed out to the car to meet Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley. Harry slid in back with Ginny and Hermione closely followed by Ron and the twins. This car was definitely enchanted since all six of them fit in back with no problems. Mr. Weasley backed the car up out of the driveway and headed off down the street. It hit Harry at that moment; he was free of Pivet Drive and his relatives for a whole other year. With a sigh of contentment Harry settled himself for the trip to London.
It seemed to only take minutes to get to the Leaky Cauldron. They parked in front of the store and headed for the tiny pub. After passing through the little store they headed out the back door to the brick wall. After tapping the correct bricks they found themselves in Diagon Alley. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had dropped to the back of the group as they headed for Gringotts bank. They headed inside the ivory white building and waited for an attendant to help them. Soon a rather small goblin came to lead them to their vaults. After they had gotten their money they headed back to the alley.
"We'll meet back in front of Flourish and Blotts in three hours." Mrs. Weasley stated. Every one nodded in agreement then headed off in different directions.
Hermione already had her list out and was rapidly scanning what they needed. "Well I think we should head to the apothecary first. I know I need more potion supplies. Then we could go to Flourish and Blotts so we can get our books. Then we could..."
Ron cut her off and said "Hermione you need to stop planning everything out. Why don't we go to those two stores then we could just look around the Alley? We do have three hours."
"I wasn't planning everything out." Hermione huffed indignantly. "I just thought we might make a vague idea as to where we were going."
"Right." Ron said rolling his eyes sky ward.
Harry chuckled under his breath as Hermione yelled at Ron for rolling his eyes at her. He had really missed his friends over the summer. They headed off to the apothecary with Hermione and Ron bickering the whole way.
After they left Flourish and Blotts, heavily laden with bags, they ran into Fred and George. Fred clamped an arm around Ron's shoulders in order to steer his brother towards Madame Malkins Robe Shop.
"Come on Ronnykins," Fred cooed in a false motherly voice that sounded oddly like Mrs. Weasley, "We're going to buy you a little present."
Ron looked suspiciously at both twins and asked, "What are you two up to?"
"Why Ron," George gasped clutching a hand to his chest, "What makes you think we are up to something?"
Fred picked up where his brother left off; continuing on in a dramatic rant, "We're your brothers and we want to make you happy is that so wrong?"
Ron muttered something darkly under his breath which Harry caught bit of, "Happy. humph. that's what they said when they gave me that acid pop."
The twins lead him into the shop and straight up to Madame Malkin herself.
"We would like to have him fitted for some dress robes please." George asked the shop owner.
"Of course," She smiled at the gaping Ron as she led him over to a stool, "Up you get deary."
Ron complied and hopped up on the stool. Madame Malkin began measuring and holding bits of fabric up to him to see which color suited him. While this was taking place the twins went to stand next to Harry.
Fred leaned over and murmured into his ear; "See we made good on the deal."
"We really appreciate the money," George chimed in softly.
"We have made loads of new tricks." Fred finished.
"I heard you tried them all out on Percy. Is that true?" Harry chuckled.
"Not all of it." George answered ruefully.
"We still have a bunch more to try, but I think he's starting to catch on." Fred sighed regretfully.
Their conversation was interrupted when Hermione complimented Ron. He did look better in the long silvery gray dress robes. A lot better than he had in the old musty maroon robes at least.
Fred and George paid her and they left the shop. Ron had still not said a word, but instead walked in a mute shock between Harry and Hermione. He finally sputtered out a thank you as the twins started to head in a different direction.
"No problem," Fred and George spoke together, "We thought you would like to have a different set. See you." And with that they headed off.
"What do you know," Ron gaped at his brothers retreating backs.
"That certainly was thoughtful of them." Hermione stated.
"Yeah," Harry played along in the confusion, "Who would have thought?"
They continued down the Alley gazing at new gold cauldrons in the apothecary windows, gawking at quidditch supplies, and staring at all the magical pets at the Magical Menagerie. Finally after trudging up and down the streets at least three times, and examining each shop window, thoroughly, they decided to get sundaes at the ice cream parlor. Harry made it his treat and soon they were all sitting at a table enjoying their ice cream.
'Today is perfect,' Harry thought contentedly, 'nothing could go wrong. The only thing that could ruin my day is.' his thoughts trailed off as he saw Crabbe and Goyle round the corner. 'Any minute now that slimy git Malfoy will show up.' Harry seethed, but to his surprise he did not. Draco's henchmen were on their own.
Ron and Hermione had not noticed them until Harry pointed and murmured, "Look over there." Hermione frowned and Ron growled deep in his throat. After the bumbling duo passed Ron turned back around and started to viciously attack his sundae. Obviously the thought of Draco still upset him greatly.
"I wonder where he is?" Hermione asked the question they were all thinking.
"I don't care," Ron snapped as he continued to attack his mound of ice cream, whip cream, and chocolate syrup.
"As least he's not here." Hermione stated imploringly to Ron.
That comment seemed to cheer him up and he stopped his rapid attack on his sweet.
Harry had not really paid attention to the whole conversation. He was still confused. Crabbe and Goyle always stayed within two feet of Draco, always. So why were they here by themselves now? Considering the fact that if you added both of their IQ's together you would get about a ten, it didn't make sense for them to plan something by themselves. They were, well, to put it lightly, just too dumb. They probably had difficulty finding their way around the Alley with Draco's guidance, let alone without it. Harry was snapped out of his thoughts when Ron looked at his watch and exclaimed that they only had a few minutes to get back to Flourish and Blotts. They all hurriedly gathered their things and took off at top speed for the store.
They reached the meeting spot right on time. After they made sure everyone was their Mr. Weasley led them all to the Leakey Cauldron. Soon they were all packed back into the ministry car and driving to the Burrow. After they reached the Weasley's home they all filed out heading into the house to put away all their things. Harry and Ron carried up Harry's trunk and cage while Hermione carried their bags. After making it to Ron's room they dropped everything and spread out lazily on the floor. They were exhausted from the trip, and dinner wouldn't be for hours so they all wordlessly decided to take a nap.
They awoke later feeling refreshed and hungry. (Well, Ron was hungry.) The three of them could hear Mrs. Weasley making supper downstairs. So they all trouped downstairs to see if they could help.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley." Hermione greeted cheerfully, "Can we help?"
"Oh hello dears." Mrs. Weasley beamed at them, " Ginny and I could use some help."
Harry spotted Ron's younger sister stirring lemonade, while staring at him, and smiled at her. She blushed furiously and ducked her head in embarrassment.
Hermione went over to help her with the drinks while Ron and Harry got out silver wear, napkins, and plates. Soon dinner was ready and sitting out on the table. Harry dug in and decided that Mrs. Weasley's cooking improved every time he tried it. Dinner was rather uneventful, light conversations drifted across the table. The only constant noise heard was Percy's droning about work.
"Our department has really been run ragged since Mr.Crouch died," Percy stated to his father, "If he were here we would still be running smoothly."
Fred murmured to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "The man is dead and he's still his idol."
The three almost choked on what they were eating trying to contain their laughter.
Percy continued to drone until he took a drink of his lemonade. He began to cough lightly until he cleared his throat and forced a cough one last time to make sure. "As I was saying," Percy stated but instead of speaking in his normally bossy voice it was shrill and high like a cartoons. "What?!" he gasped in the same squeaky tone.
Everyone gaped at him and then started laughing. (Everyone except Mrs. Weasley.)
Mrs. Weasley turned her disapproving glare on the twins and asked in a deadly whisper, "What did you two do?"
"You'll have to excuse us," Fred and George stated together trying to get away from their mother.
"Sit." Mrs. Weasley hissed. They did so and she asked them again, "What did you do?"
"It will go away in few minutes Mum." Fred quelled under his mothers glare as he answered.
"That was not my question!" Mrs. Weasley stated shrilly, "Now what did you do?"
"We put one of our new inventions in his drink Mum." George stated quickly.
"It just makes people's voices go two octaves higher." Fred finished.
Mrs. Weasley looked like she might explode again, but she seemed to decide against lecturing them. She sighed instead, a look of defeat etched on her face. "Oh well," she sighed, "I could yell at you two until I was hoarse and it would still do no good."
Fred and George looked at her hopefully. "Can we still make pranks?" They asked pleadingly.
"You two had better get a fair amount of Newts." She threatened looking harsh again, but then she softened, "If you do I won't stop you from opening your shop."
The twins beamed at their Mother, and almost everyone else at the table smiled. Percy, however, looked horrified but he said nothing. After dinner Ron and Harry trudged upstairs to Ron's room.
"Wow, today was filled with the unexpected." Ron stated to Harry as they changed into their pajamas.
"Yeah, I guess it was." Harry smiled back at his friend as they got into bed and drifted off to sleep.
Wow!!! Seven pages! I'm so excited! Please review, thank you.
I do not own Harry Potter. Thank you. (Bows deeply)
Now, since I'm finished being silly. On to the story!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ (I love doing that!) (August 20th)
Harry was restless. Today he was going to Diagon Alley with the Weasleys and Hermione, and he could hardly wait. Also, he was going to stay at the Burrow the rest of the summer. Dumbledore had finally allowed Harry to leave the Dursley's, and as far as Harry was concerned, it wasn't a day to soon.
Aunt Petunia had not ordered him to do chores at all this summer and neither Uncle Vernon nor Dudley had even spoken to him. It was rather depressing to not even be acknowledged as a living, let alone intelligent being. When he had approached them about wanting to leave on the twentieth, Uncle Vernon had made it a point to make plans to go out that day so they wouldn't have to be there when the "freaks" came. This was about the only time they had spoken to him all summer. Being ignored did, however, have a plus side. Since he didn't have to do chores he could stay up late and sleep in. This allowed him to continue his practice of staying up as long as his body would allow until he had to go to sleep because of exhaustion.
Harry opened his trunk for about the twentieth time this morning to make sure he had everything packed. His letters, his books, his broomstick, and all his other school supplies. He shut his trunk again and tried to settle on his bed to wait. It was only 6:00 o'clock in the morning and the Weasleys wouldn't be here until noon. Luckily, Mr. Weasley had gotten a hold of some ministry cars. Harry was sure he was trying to avoid another disastrous incident like last times from occurring. Images of Dudley gagging on a four foot purple tongue flooded his mind, and he stifled a laugh, which turned into a yawn. He was so tired, and with this pleasant image in his mind Harry drifted off to sleep.
Harry awoke five hours later feeling refreshed and even more excited. He decided to read his book he had gotten from Hermione to keep himself occupied while he waited for noon to roll around. There were quite a few interesting moves he wanted to try when he got to the Burrow. Time passed by and soon he heard someone knocking on the door. He hurtled down stairs to meet Ron, Mr. Weasley, and the twins at the door.
"How are you Harry?" Mr. Weasley smiled at him, sticking out his hand in greeting.
"I'm doing alright Mr. Weasley." Harry smiled back, shaking his hand firmly with Ron's dad.
"Hermione, Ginny, and Mum are in the car." Ron stated pointing back at the vehicle parked in Dursley's driveway. "Come on, let's go get your trunk."
"Don't worry, we'll go get it." George said as he smiled evilly with Fred who was nodding.
"The Dursleys aren't here. They left to go on holiday yesterday." Harry's lips twitched with suppressed laughter as he thought about the ton- tongue toffee incident.
Fred and Georges faces fell. "Oh well, come on George." Fred beckoned his twin to follow him to Harry's room. As they passed Harry they whispered to him so their Dad couldn't here, "We had a whole new sweet to try out on him too. I guess we'll have to try it out on Percy instead."
Harry suppressed another laugh as the twins hurtled up the stairs into his room. After they returned Mr. Weasley asked him if he had everything and he nodded. They headed out to the car to meet Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley. Harry slid in back with Ginny and Hermione closely followed by Ron and the twins. This car was definitely enchanted since all six of them fit in back with no problems. Mr. Weasley backed the car up out of the driveway and headed off down the street. It hit Harry at that moment; he was free of Pivet Drive and his relatives for a whole other year. With a sigh of contentment Harry settled himself for the trip to London.
It seemed to only take minutes to get to the Leaky Cauldron. They parked in front of the store and headed for the tiny pub. After passing through the little store they headed out the back door to the brick wall. After tapping the correct bricks they found themselves in Diagon Alley. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had dropped to the back of the group as they headed for Gringotts bank. They headed inside the ivory white building and waited for an attendant to help them. Soon a rather small goblin came to lead them to their vaults. After they had gotten their money they headed back to the alley.
"We'll meet back in front of Flourish and Blotts in three hours." Mrs. Weasley stated. Every one nodded in agreement then headed off in different directions.
Hermione already had her list out and was rapidly scanning what they needed. "Well I think we should head to the apothecary first. I know I need more potion supplies. Then we could go to Flourish and Blotts so we can get our books. Then we could..."
Ron cut her off and said "Hermione you need to stop planning everything out. Why don't we go to those two stores then we could just look around the Alley? We do have three hours."
"I wasn't planning everything out." Hermione huffed indignantly. "I just thought we might make a vague idea as to where we were going."
"Right." Ron said rolling his eyes sky ward.
Harry chuckled under his breath as Hermione yelled at Ron for rolling his eyes at her. He had really missed his friends over the summer. They headed off to the apothecary with Hermione and Ron bickering the whole way.
After they left Flourish and Blotts, heavily laden with bags, they ran into Fred and George. Fred clamped an arm around Ron's shoulders in order to steer his brother towards Madame Malkins Robe Shop.
"Come on Ronnykins," Fred cooed in a false motherly voice that sounded oddly like Mrs. Weasley, "We're going to buy you a little present."
Ron looked suspiciously at both twins and asked, "What are you two up to?"
"Why Ron," George gasped clutching a hand to his chest, "What makes you think we are up to something?"
Fred picked up where his brother left off; continuing on in a dramatic rant, "We're your brothers and we want to make you happy is that so wrong?"
Ron muttered something darkly under his breath which Harry caught bit of, "Happy. humph. that's what they said when they gave me that acid pop."
The twins lead him into the shop and straight up to Madame Malkin herself.
"We would like to have him fitted for some dress robes please." George asked the shop owner.
"Of course," She smiled at the gaping Ron as she led him over to a stool, "Up you get deary."
Ron complied and hopped up on the stool. Madame Malkin began measuring and holding bits of fabric up to him to see which color suited him. While this was taking place the twins went to stand next to Harry.
Fred leaned over and murmured into his ear; "See we made good on the deal."
"We really appreciate the money," George chimed in softly.
"We have made loads of new tricks." Fred finished.
"I heard you tried them all out on Percy. Is that true?" Harry chuckled.
"Not all of it." George answered ruefully.
"We still have a bunch more to try, but I think he's starting to catch on." Fred sighed regretfully.
Their conversation was interrupted when Hermione complimented Ron. He did look better in the long silvery gray dress robes. A lot better than he had in the old musty maroon robes at least.
Fred and George paid her and they left the shop. Ron had still not said a word, but instead walked in a mute shock between Harry and Hermione. He finally sputtered out a thank you as the twins started to head in a different direction.
"No problem," Fred and George spoke together, "We thought you would like to have a different set. See you." And with that they headed off.
"What do you know," Ron gaped at his brothers retreating backs.
"That certainly was thoughtful of them." Hermione stated.
"Yeah," Harry played along in the confusion, "Who would have thought?"
They continued down the Alley gazing at new gold cauldrons in the apothecary windows, gawking at quidditch supplies, and staring at all the magical pets at the Magical Menagerie. Finally after trudging up and down the streets at least three times, and examining each shop window, thoroughly, they decided to get sundaes at the ice cream parlor. Harry made it his treat and soon they were all sitting at a table enjoying their ice cream.
'Today is perfect,' Harry thought contentedly, 'nothing could go wrong. The only thing that could ruin my day is.' his thoughts trailed off as he saw Crabbe and Goyle round the corner. 'Any minute now that slimy git Malfoy will show up.' Harry seethed, but to his surprise he did not. Draco's henchmen were on their own.
Ron and Hermione had not noticed them until Harry pointed and murmured, "Look over there." Hermione frowned and Ron growled deep in his throat. After the bumbling duo passed Ron turned back around and started to viciously attack his sundae. Obviously the thought of Draco still upset him greatly.
"I wonder where he is?" Hermione asked the question they were all thinking.
"I don't care," Ron snapped as he continued to attack his mound of ice cream, whip cream, and chocolate syrup.
"As least he's not here." Hermione stated imploringly to Ron.
That comment seemed to cheer him up and he stopped his rapid attack on his sweet.
Harry had not really paid attention to the whole conversation. He was still confused. Crabbe and Goyle always stayed within two feet of Draco, always. So why were they here by themselves now? Considering the fact that if you added both of their IQ's together you would get about a ten, it didn't make sense for them to plan something by themselves. They were, well, to put it lightly, just too dumb. They probably had difficulty finding their way around the Alley with Draco's guidance, let alone without it. Harry was snapped out of his thoughts when Ron looked at his watch and exclaimed that they only had a few minutes to get back to Flourish and Blotts. They all hurriedly gathered their things and took off at top speed for the store.
They reached the meeting spot right on time. After they made sure everyone was their Mr. Weasley led them all to the Leakey Cauldron. Soon they were all packed back into the ministry car and driving to the Burrow. After they reached the Weasley's home they all filed out heading into the house to put away all their things. Harry and Ron carried up Harry's trunk and cage while Hermione carried their bags. After making it to Ron's room they dropped everything and spread out lazily on the floor. They were exhausted from the trip, and dinner wouldn't be for hours so they all wordlessly decided to take a nap.
They awoke later feeling refreshed and hungry. (Well, Ron was hungry.) The three of them could hear Mrs. Weasley making supper downstairs. So they all trouped downstairs to see if they could help.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley." Hermione greeted cheerfully, "Can we help?"
"Oh hello dears." Mrs. Weasley beamed at them, " Ginny and I could use some help."
Harry spotted Ron's younger sister stirring lemonade, while staring at him, and smiled at her. She blushed furiously and ducked her head in embarrassment.
Hermione went over to help her with the drinks while Ron and Harry got out silver wear, napkins, and plates. Soon dinner was ready and sitting out on the table. Harry dug in and decided that Mrs. Weasley's cooking improved every time he tried it. Dinner was rather uneventful, light conversations drifted across the table. The only constant noise heard was Percy's droning about work.
"Our department has really been run ragged since Mr.Crouch died," Percy stated to his father, "If he were here we would still be running smoothly."
Fred murmured to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "The man is dead and he's still his idol."
The three almost choked on what they were eating trying to contain their laughter.
Percy continued to drone until he took a drink of his lemonade. He began to cough lightly until he cleared his throat and forced a cough one last time to make sure. "As I was saying," Percy stated but instead of speaking in his normally bossy voice it was shrill and high like a cartoons. "What?!" he gasped in the same squeaky tone.
Everyone gaped at him and then started laughing. (Everyone except Mrs. Weasley.)
Mrs. Weasley turned her disapproving glare on the twins and asked in a deadly whisper, "What did you two do?"
"You'll have to excuse us," Fred and George stated together trying to get away from their mother.
"Sit." Mrs. Weasley hissed. They did so and she asked them again, "What did you do?"
"It will go away in few minutes Mum." Fred quelled under his mothers glare as he answered.
"That was not my question!" Mrs. Weasley stated shrilly, "Now what did you do?"
"We put one of our new inventions in his drink Mum." George stated quickly.
"It just makes people's voices go two octaves higher." Fred finished.
Mrs. Weasley looked like she might explode again, but she seemed to decide against lecturing them. She sighed instead, a look of defeat etched on her face. "Oh well," she sighed, "I could yell at you two until I was hoarse and it would still do no good."
Fred and George looked at her hopefully. "Can we still make pranks?" They asked pleadingly.
"You two had better get a fair amount of Newts." She threatened looking harsh again, but then she softened, "If you do I won't stop you from opening your shop."
The twins beamed at their Mother, and almost everyone else at the table smiled. Percy, however, looked horrified but he said nothing. After dinner Ron and Harry trudged upstairs to Ron's room.
"Wow, today was filled with the unexpected." Ron stated to Harry as they changed into their pajamas.
"Yeah, I guess it was." Harry smiled back at his friend as they got into bed and drifted off to sleep.
Wow!!! Seven pages! I'm so excited! Please review, thank you.