After Harry was done with the chores inside, he went outside. He read the list again; Mow the Lawn. Harry went to the backyard and got the lawn mower started up.

As he pushed it around the backyard, his thoughts wandered to his friends. What were they doing right now? Were Ron and Hermione hanging out together? Without him? Had they even thought about him?

Harry's thoughts drifted away when he realized he had been mowing the same spot over again for at least five minutes. He quickly moved on to the rest of the yard.

He turned off the lawn mower when he was done and put it away in the shed. His eyes moved down the list for the next chore.

The hours passed and soon Harry was starting his last chore: weeding the garden. He got out the gardening gloves and put them on. He slowly knelt down on the ground and started pulling out weeds. As he was doing this he heard a popping noise.

Harry was positive he knew what that noise was. Someone had either apparated or dissaparated. He turned around but saw no one. He thought of Arabella Figg, who lived a couple streets away on Wisteria Walk. Usually there were people from the Order spying on him, while he was outside. They would stay at Mrs. Figgs' house until Harry came outside, and they would watch him (how they knew when Harry was outside and when he was not, was a mystery to him). He hated that. Even though Harry knew they were doing this for his safety, he still hated being treated like a prisoner, and being kept under close watch every second of the day.

He turned back and went to work again. Uncle Vernon would be home any minute now. Just a few more weeds to pull and then he would be done.

Harry noticed an owl fly overhead. It flew over to Harry's bedroom window and pecked on the glass, before it realized Harry was outside. The owl flew over to him. He took off his gloves and untied the piece of parchment from the owl's leg. It gave him a friendly hoot and took off.

Harry was about to unroll the parchment and read it when he heard the sound of a car. He looked down the street and saw a very familiar car driving toward the house. Uncle Vernon was home.

Harry looked at the flower bed and noticed there were still a few weeds left. He pulled them out as fast as he could, not even bothering to put the gloves back on.

The car pulled into the driveway right as Harry stood up, gloves in one hand and the letter in the other. He heard the car door slam shut and pounding footsteps came his way.

"Boy!"

Harry looked at Uncle Vernon. He looked angrier than Harry had ever seen him. His face was red, his eyes looking malevolent, and his hair was unusually messy. It was sticking up in odd angles.

"Yes?" Harry asked innocently. He wanted to see how far he could push Uncle Vernon before he burst, and by the looks of it, not very far.

"Don't you play innocent with me!" Vernon roared.

Harry noticed a few neighbors peeking out their windows to see what all the clamor was.

"You didn't finish your chores! I'm sick and tired of it!" Uncle Vernon growled.

Aunt Petunia had now stepped outside.

"Vernon, dear. Maybe you should come inside." Aunt Petunia said hesitantly. It seemed that she hadn't seen Uncle Vernon this angry either.

"No! This little brat had been slacking on his chores all week! Obviously not feeding him isn't working." he said quietly, but his tone was of pure malice.

Harry rolled his eyes and decided to put his letter in his pocket before his uncle saw it. Bad idea.

"What's that?" Uncle Vernon said loudly, noticing the parchment.

"Nothing." Harry said.

"Let me see it!" demanded Uncle Vernon.

"No." Harry said simply.

"Give it to me!" said Uncle Vernon, his voice getting louder.

Harry grabbed the letter from his pocket and held it out. Uncle Vernon snatched it away quickly. His eyes scanned the letter and when he finished he had looked angrier than he had before.

"Get inside." Uncle Vernon said, his voice deathly quiet. His face was so red with anger it looked like he was going to explode.

When Harry didn't move, Vernon grabbed his arm and started dragging him to the front door.

"Let go of me." Harry said through gritted teeth. His uncle's grip was tight and Harry still hurt from the day before. He dropped the gloves that he had been holding.

Uncle Vernon didn't listen. When they got to the door Aunt Petunia scurried away from them and went into another room. Uncle Vernon pushed Harry inside and walked in after him, closing the door.

KrisD501- Thanks!