"Come on boy, don't dawdle!" Uncle Vernon shouted at his nephew Harry Potter in the main concourse of the Kings Cross train station.
"Good God, if you think I putting up with this for 10 days your mad." Draco whispered to his left.
From his right a whisper out of thin air came to his ear. "Shut up Malfoy, and get moving."
"Who is he anyway" Draco whispered. He had been sure everyone in the muggle world worshiped Potter like they did in the wizarding world. He had heard the sad sob stories Potter had told of his muggle upbringing but had been sure that Potter was just playing for sympathy.
"It's Harry's Uncle, Vernon Dursley, Harry lives with him, his Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley. Remember those names, Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley." The bodiless voice whispered back.
"Are you talking to yourself?" Uncle Vernon yelled at the boy.
"Of course I am not talking to myself!" Draco replied.
"Ask him why they want Harry home." A whisper in his ear told Draco. Ron had been wondering on the entire trip why the Dursley's had wanted Harry to come back over the holidays. They hated having him during the summer and had never before wanted him home during the holidays. Ron was sure of one thing they hadn't gotten Harry home to shower him with Christmas presents.
"Why do you want Pot…"Draco started to ask but was shoved hard in the back by Ron. " I mean why do you want me home?" Draco asked.
"You have to go see some people tomorrow," Vernon Dursley said with an unpleasantly pleased look on his face that neither boy liked the look of.
"What people?" Draco asked.
"You have a little court appearance to attend." Vernon Dursley continued. "Going to get your comeuppance."
Ron didn't like the sound of that but couldn't think of anything to do at the moment. Draco didn't like it either. He knew enough about reading people to know what sort of a person he was dealing with in Vernon Dursley. The fact that this was Harry Potter's uncle was very surprising. //Maybe// Draco thought to himself, //Potters stories about his home life were not just a play for sympathy.// Without further discussion they reached the car. Uncle Vernon pulled the keys from his pocket and hit the alarm disarm button, the car beeped and flashed its lights.
"Aaargh" Draco exclaimed as he jumped back from the car surprised at the sudden noise. Draco had never been this close to a muggle car before, let alone ridden in one.
"What's the matter boy?" Uncle Vernon shouted at Harry(Draco).
"Nothing" Harry(Draco) said.
"Well, put your trunk in the boot. I haven't got all day." Uncle Vernon yelled as his face was getting very red.
"The boot, right, and exactly where would that be?" Harry(Draco) replied.
Two things happened at once, Uncle Vernon screamed, "What the hell do you mean, you know perfectly well where it is!" and Draco felt himself being dragged backwards by an unseen hand. When he had been dragged to the back of the car, a whisper in his ear said "Lift it, lift the back section of the car."
Now he was back here, Draco could see where a lid was partially open at the back section of the muggle car. He lifted and discovered the hinged lid rotated up to reveal an area obviously designed for carrying luggage. He lifted the heavy trunk into the 'boot' as muggles called it and closed the lid. "Clever!" He said quietly. A whisper told him "Move to just behind the door Vernon Dursley got in, pull up the silver handle to open the back door and get in."
Draco quickly worked out how the door opened and got in. He was then suddenly pushed over by Weasley as he got in too. Potter's pig of an Uncle was seated in front of the car. He was doing something with the controls that Draco didn't understand but the noise of the engine starting was the result.
"Put your seat belt on, boy!" he yelled as he looked back at Harry(Draco). Draco was baffled again but his arm suddenly moved as Weasley grabbed it and put the hand on a metal buckle hanging on a flat piece of webbing on Draco's side of the car. Draco guessed this was the 'seat belt' but how was he to 'put it on'. He pulled it and the webbing extended easily. He was looking around and saw a small thing on the seat was moving back and forth. Weasley was trying to get Draco to notice it. Draco pulled the metal buckle on the webbing down to it and pushed it into the slot. A click and it was locked it. The webbing was now stretched across Draco's body. He panicked slightly fearing he may not be able get out but the webbing moved easily and then he noticed a button on the box the buckle was locked into. Pushing it experimentally caused the buckle to release.
"Stop mucking about boy! What has gotten into you? It's that damn school. Every time you come back from there, you're worse." Vernon Dursley yelled.
Draco was feed up with all his loud yelling. //I mean I'm not deaf!// he thought to himself. How Potter put up with this sort of behaviour was beyond Draco. He caught himself just in time. He almost expressed sympathy for Potter.
Vernon Dursley's attention was turned now to the front of the vehicle as it moved forward. For the next hour Draco sat fascinated by Vernon Dursley's actions. He was obviously moving controls that caused the car to change direction and speed, but why did the car veer straight for other vehicles causing Vernon Dursley to shout out of his window at the other cars' passengers. To Draco, it all looked very inefficient. //Why don't they just get the cars to control themselves like the carriages at school// he wondered. Eventually they turned into narrower roads with a lot less cars for Vernon Dursley to shout at and then into a very quiet avenue lined with almost identical little ugly houses. Draco was shocked when he realised that the little hovel of a house the car stopped in front of must be Potter's home.
The noise of the engine stopped. They had arrived and a nudge from Weasley got Draco moving. Draco got the trunk out of the 'boot' and followed Vernon Dursley into the house. Draco thought the inside was even uglier than the outside. Had Potter really grown up in this hovel?
"Wipe your feet this instant!" a hideously horse-faced women yelled as she appeared from the rear of the house. "How dare you track dirt onto my nice clean floors. Pulled back by an invisible Weasley, Draco wiped his shoes on the front door mat that had the word WELCOME printed on it. //That's a joke!// Draco thought.
"Get upstairs and get to sleep, you'll have a busy day tomorrow." The horse-faced women said.
"But I'm hungry" Draco protested. After all it had been a long trip and he hadn't had anything all day.
"Too bad you missed dinner, it was a nice roast beef." The old cow said obviously enjoying Draco's distress. Draco wasn't use to being treated like this.
Pulled slowly towards the steps a very angry Draco began to climb up to the next floor carrying the heavy trunk. He felt like yelling the truth about who he really was to these muggles and getting the hell out of there. To hell with whatever Weasley would do. Nothing could be as bad as this! But then he thought just how bad a wizard with a wand could make it for him, defenceless as he was. He knew all too well the answer to that question from personal experience and had no desire to repeat it. So the only choice was to continue this absurd charade for the moment until he gained the upper hand.
He was soon in Harry's bedroom. Vernon Dursley had closed and locked the door behind him. Draco looked around. Bars on the window, bare floorboards, a mean little bed with two thin blankets on it and a bunch of what could only be described as broken muggle junk.
"You have got to be kidding!" Draco said out loud.
"I'm afraid not" Ron Weasley said quietly as he appeared in front of Draco. "This is Harry's room. They lock him in here during the summers and he doesn't get much to eat either. Not much of a home coming is it?"
"It's freezing in here" Draco complained shivering. "Where's the fireplace?"
"No fireplace, muggles use electricity to heat their homes. Guess Harry's Aunt and Uncle haven't bothered to turn the heat on in Harry's room."
"No fire, no food! I can't stay here" Draco hissed.
"Food! We sent Harry some food last summer. He hides stuff from the muggles under a lose floorboard. Perhaps there is something left." Ron said in a moment of inspiration.
It didn't take the two hungry, cold youths long to discover Harry's hiding place. In it was a good supply of the sugar free snacks Hermione had sent him last summer. In their wrappers they were still good. The boys sat silently chewing for a while.
"This is no good. I need sugar!" Draco complained.
"Well unless you know how to pick a muggle lock, you will have to make do with it." Ron said growing tried of Draco's incessant complaints.
"You have the wand, you could open the door easily enough and we could get out." Draco said, his tone keen for a change.
"Students aren't allowed to do magic during the holidays, one little Alohomora from me and the ministry would take action. We can't afford to do anything that might result in the discovery that you are not the real Harry Potter. Tomorrow I'll use the cloak to steal some food from the kitchen and hid it up here. I don't think the ministry can detect it like a wand spell. But for tonight it's good old sugar free snacks. Now shut up and chew."
"So you can't use your wand." Draco said evilly.
Ron yawned sleepily, "Don't get any ideas Malfoy. If you try anything I'll risk using the wand if I have to. Besides even without the wand, I could take you. Don't forget I'm a lot bigger than you these days and I have been trained in the marital arts plus the fact that I grew up with five older brothers to fight with. I could pound you into the ground with my bare fists and not even break into a sweat."
Draco didn't reply but his look soured enough to let Ron know his words had had the desired effect. Ron took off his shoes and climbed into the bed handing Draco one of the thin blankets. Ron gave him a cheerful "Goodnight"
"How do you make the light go out?" Draco asked looking up at the bare electric light bulb.
"Switch by the door" Ron said sleepily, wrapping the other thin blanket tightly around him to stop as much of the cold air getting to him as possible.
Draco eventually found the little switch and gingerly flicked it with one finger. Instantly the light went out. A second later it went on again, then off, on, off, on.
"Draco!" Ron said annoyed by the flashing light.
"First time you called me by my right name, RON!" Draco said sneeringly.
"Just leave the light off." Ron replied.
The light went out without further comment. Ron couldn't get to sleep with the noise Draco was making trying to find a place to sleep. He first tried the hard floor, then the broken chair, then the top of the Wooden box by the cupboard. Suddenly Ron felt the bed move. Draco was climbing into bed with Ron!
"What the hell do you think your doing, Malfoy" Ron demanded now fully awake.
"So we are back to surnames again, are we?" Draco said, "Move over and let me in."
"If you think I'd sleep with you…" Ron began.
"Don't flatter yourself Weasley. You are not my type. There is nowhere else and at least if we share both blankets we'll be a little warmer." Draco replied.
Ron hated that it actually made sense. "Alright but don't even think of trying anything." So soon they were lying back to back in Harry's bed sharing the two blankets. Ron hated to admit it but Draco had been right, at least they were warmer. Ron drifted off to sleep.