A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you might recognize.
FOR ALL THOSE WHO DID NOT SEE THE LETTER TO REMUS IT IS NOW IN CHAPTER 2 AT THE VERY END. Sorry, I did not realize that I had forgotten to put it in and my best friend told me that it Is a letter and Should be in that chapter
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!
Chapter 4: The Pick-up and Drop-off
Harry sat on his bed and waited to until Dobby climbed up beside him. "Dobby is very glad that Harry Potter is allowing him to stay," he said sincerely.
"That's alright," Harry replied. "I'm really glad you could stay. Now I'll have company while I'm not working." Suddenly, he sat up in bed. "Dobby, I forgot to read the letter. Do you know were I put it?" He looked around the room, trying to see where he placed it. He reached into his back pocket and felt something there. "Never mind I found it." The front of the envelope said 'To Mr. Harry Potter, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.' I wonder what Dumbledore had to say. He tore open the letter and surveyed the contents. Inside it said:
Dear Harry,
I would like to apologize for making you go back to the Durselys.
Tonks has arranged a small group to come pick you up at 5:00 Saturday
evening. Please have all of your bags packed and ready to go when
they get there.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
"Guess what Dobby? Someone is coming to back me up. Tomorrow night. This is great. I will be gone from the Durselys soon and not have that many chores. Is Dumbledore going to let you come to Grimmauld Place with me?" he asked the elf.
"I is not knowing, sir. But I can go and ask Master Dumbledore." with a slight pop he was gone. He got started writing the letters to everyone telling them to be ready on Monday.
I wonder what happened to those owls the Ministry sent to me. He got up to go see and as soon as he stepped through the door all of the envelopes the owls had been carrying landed at his feet. I guess that solves that problem. He looked at the letters. All were addressed to him from the Misuse of Magic Department, Ministry of Magic. Obviously the Ministry had been keeping tabs on him. I wonder if there is some way that I can keep the Ministry from being aware of what I do. He pondered this thought all the way back to the cupboard. When he got back in he realized that he had somehow put all of the letters in his hand without knowing and brought them inside with him. He started to open them. They were all the same except for the times. I think I will write a letter to Dumbledore about these. No reason for me to get expelled over a couple of burglars who chose the wrong house.
He was thinking about getting up for some parchment when suddenly a clean sheet came zooming to him from his trunk. Oh, no. More magic. I better go get that letter before Uncle Vernon sees the delivery owl. He ran out of the room and through the kitchen. Once outside he waited. He was there for about twenty minutes before he realized that there wasn't going to be a letter. They must have decided to go ahead and expel me and didn't want to waste the parchment anymore. He dejectedly went inside again as he thought of what he could do since he wasn't going to graduate from Hogwarts. I could live in exile at Grimmauld Place. No one can find it unless Dumbledore tells them where it is and I doubt he would do that even if it did mean hiding a fugitive. He sat down on his bed and closed his eyes to take a nap while he waited for Dobby.
Sirius's PoV
Harry opened the letter and was practically jumping for joy when he read it. He asked the elf if he could come with him to my house and when he didn't know he left to go ask permission. As Harry got up I followed him out the door. He went outside and I immediately saw him jump as he opened the door. Letters. And from the seal on them they were pretty important. He took them back inside without opening them and walked back to his 'room.' Once inside he ripped the letters open and scanned them. He sat back stared at the wall when a piece of parchment leaped out of his trunk and flew to him. He jumped about a foot in the air and ran from the room as fast as he could. He was standing outside when I reached him and seemed to be looking for something. After a while when nothing came he sighed and walked back inside.
Dumbledore looked up at the sound that came from somewhere to his left. "Ah, Dobby. Back so soon?"
"No, Master Dumbledore. I was just wanting to know if I could stay with Mr. Harry Potter at Grimmauld Place. He said I could stay as long as I is wanting to and you is allowing." he squeaked.
"Yes, you may, Dobby. Before you go back to Harry though, I need you to tell Remus to expect company tomorrow night. That is all," he said before turning back to a contraption on his desk.
Dobby left with another pop to see Remus.
Remus jumped as a small creature appeared on the table in front of him. "Kreacher, you are not supp- You aren't Kreacher. Who are you and how did you find this place?" he asked.
"I is Master Dumbledore's house elf, Dobby, and I is coming to give a message to you, sir," he blinked his large eyes up at Remus.
"Alright, Dobby. What is your message?" he asked quietly, trying to calm the frightened elf.
"You is to get ready for Mr. Harry Potter tomorrow night around 5 o'clock. That is when he is getting picked up," Dobby replied.
"Thank you, Dobby," Remus said and then Dobby was gone.
Dobby returned around midnight and when he went to tell Harry of his errands he found that the boy was sleeping. Instead of waking him up, though, Dobby decided to make himself useful by becoming invisible and going around cleaning everything so that Harry wouldn't have to do anything tomorrow. He started in the kitchen. There were dirty dishes in the sink and plates from the Dursely's meal on the table. He snapped his fingers and the dishes began cleaning themselves.
In the den there was dust on the mantle and the table was covered with tea glasses and saucers. With another snap the cups and plates were washing in the sink and the dust had disappeared. The living room was not so bad. There was a lot of dust but not dishes.
In the bathroom he made everything sparkle and sent all the dirty laundry to the shoot for wash later.
When Dobby finished it was a little after one in the morning and he was exhausted. He went to the cupboard and lay down by Harry to go to sleep.
Harry awoke to a soft breathing noise coming from beside him. He figured it was Dobby but did not want to wake him. He quietly reached beside him for his glasses and looked around to find where Dobby was but couldn't see anything. He grabbed his wand from his trunk and lit it. The light shone over the whole room but he still couldn't find the elf. He was not sure where a house elf would sleep so he started looking everywhere, starting with the smallest spaces and moving to the larger ones. He was starting to get frustrated when he noticed that the was a shadow on the floor right beside where he had slept that was in the approximate shape of Dobby. He walked over to it and squatted down to see if there was anything there. As the wand light got closer the shadow darkened and it was definitely an elf shaped shadow. He reached out to touch the shape and found that his hand stopped almost a full six inches above the floor. With a gasp he pulled his hand back and whispered, "Dobby, is that you?"
"H-Harry P-Potter does not recognize Dobby?" The sound seemed to be coming from thin air.
"Dobby, I can't see you," he simply replied.
"Oh. Dobby forgot to make himself see-able, sir, and Dobby is really sorry," the elf squeaked.
"That's ok, Dobby. What were you doing making yourself invisible anyway?"
"Dobby was cleaning Mr. Harry Potter's house so that Mr. Harry Potter might be able to go outside to play and also might let Dobby stay for longer."
"You didn't have to do that. And I am sure that since you have so graciously spent your time cleaning when you did not have to we will spend all day outside if that is what you want." Harry felt bad for Dobby because he thought that since Harry had chores that he would want the poor elf to go away. He looked at the clock. Almost nine. "Are you ready to go outside?"
Dobby's grin covered most of his face and his snapped his fingers and became invisible again. "Yes, I is ready. We is going outside now?" he asked excitedly.
Harry laughed and stood up to stretch. He was almost straightened when his head hit the ceiling. I don't remember that ceiling being so low. I must have grown more than I thought. He rubbed his head were it had made contact the bottom of the stairs and yawned. "Come on, Dobby, before my 'family' wakes up and wants their breakfast.
They hurried out the kitchen door into the back yard just as Harry's great lump of a cousin made it down the stairs. He heard a banging sound and knew that Dudley was trying to wake him up to cook. "Wake up, cousin. Wake up," and with that he walked into the kitchen and turned on the television. He plopped the main part of his bulk on the two chairs opposite the counter that the telly sat on. He picked up the remote and was flipping through the channels to find something gory when his father and mother walked in. "Mummy, Daddy, I'm hungry and Harry hasn't made me my breakfast yet," he whined.
"Awwww. Mommy's Duddikins is such a polite little angel," she crooned.
Harry gave a snort at this. "Dobby, I am going to have to leave you out here for a little while so that I can go fix something to eat for 'Duddikins,'" Harry said through the laughter that was threatening to overflow.
"Ok, Mr. Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will be sitting out here waiting for you to be done."
Harry walked inside to start the meal. "It's about time you got up, Boy, Dudley is hungry," Uncle Vernon yelled, "And make sure you make enough for Marge, too," he finished.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry said through gritted teeth as he reached for some skillets to cook with. Either Uncle Vernon didn't catch it or he chose to ignore the tone. He began with the eggs, beating almost a whole dozen in a large bowl and mixing in a bunch of bacon, green onions, and cheese. When this was all mixed up he poured it into a skillet and got to work on the bacon. When this was sizzling another skillet he opened a loaf of bread. He started feeding the bread into the half dozen or so toasters and had just put the last piece in when the eggs got done. He returned to the range and dumped all of the eggs onto a large, oval plate and set it on the table. The bacon was also done so he put it on another large plate that was covered in paper towels to drain. This was also put on the table. He let go of that plate and turned around in time to grab all of the slices of toast and dump them on yet another plate. He walked to the fridge and grabbed the marmalade and jam and set these on the table also. "Is there anything else I can get for you, Uncle Vernon?" he asked.
"Yes, there is, Boy. You can have the pleasure of waking Marge this fine morning. Now, hop to," Uncle Vernon said with a wicked smirk.
Harry walked from the room and ran up the stairs to his old bedroom. He quietly opened and closed the door. Standing with his back on the door he softly called to his aunt. "Aunt Marge, it is time to wake up." When she didn't stir he tried again, this time a little louder. "Aunt Marge, breakfast is ready." She sat up real quick-like and looked at who had woken her up.
"You woke me up. Well, I will have to talk to Vernon about that. I don't want to see your scrawny face in the morning. I would rather you not be here but Vernon has been too kind and planned for your stay. What are you waiting for, Boy? Get out. I need my privacy."
Sirius's PoV
I watched as my godson walked out he door with Dobby to pass the day away and was almost immediately called back in to make breakfast for those people. They made him fix all that food for him and he didn't even get to eat any. It is a good thing that he gets food from the refrigerator after the Dursely's went to sleep. It made me so angry that I started thinking of what James and I did to some of the Slytherin's food as jokes. Maybe giving some of the things eyes that blinked at the person trying to eat it or making the food move as they put it into their mouths. That would be really good except that Harry would get blamed and that lump of a muggle would try to beat him again. I'll just have to get them some time when Harry isn't here to be accused.
Harry ran from the room and down the stairs, slowing to a walk to re-enter the kitchen. "Go wait outside, Boy. I will call you when it is time for your chores." Uncle Vernon shouted as he walked through the door. Harry did as he was told and walked out the back door. Dobby jumped up and ran over to him. "Dobby was worried the big man would keep you inside all day even though there is no works to be done." He hugged Harry's legs so hard that his knees buckled. When Dobby realized what was happening, he snapped his fingers and Harry stopped.
"Thanks, Dobby," he said breathlessly. He hadn't realized he was falling until he stopped halfway there.
"That's ok, Mr. Harry Potter, sir. Dobby is helping you more."
Harry sighed as he straightened himself up. He walked over to the garden to see if Mikkhail was out yet. Mikkhail. Are you awake? he asked in parsletongue.
Yes, I am. came the answer from somewhere to the right of him. He watched as the bushes started moving and then a head appeared beside him.
I am leaving today and would like to know if you still want to go with me. Where I am going there are plenty of rats and things for you to eat but there are some things that might be able to eat you because of their magic.
I still would like to go with you, Harry. I think I will enjoy having food everywhere. Whenever you are ready just come out and call and I will come as soon as I can. Mikkhail hissed as he retreated into the bushes again.
Ok, I will. Harry replied before walking back to Dobby. "We are taking someone else with us to Grimmauld Place, Dobby. My friend, Mikkhail, is in need of a home, also."
Dobby looked at him with those big green eyes. "Harry Potter is so kind and generous to other creatures. Not even unworthy house elves like me are overlooked." Tears ran down his face again and he started choking on his words.
Harry didn't know what to do so he pulled Dobby up and tried to reason with him that he only did what he thought was right. Instead of comforting, though, his words made the elf cry harder. Oh, no. I wonder what I did this time to make him cry. I really don't like to see him like this but it seems that the Malfoys have never treated him like anything but scum stuck to their shoes. I bet they told him that he should be glad he was their house elf, and that no one else would take such a creature as him. Even the voice in his head sneered with malice at the thought of those people.
"Come on, Dobby. Let's go inside. We can start packing my trunk. Ok?" Harry hesitantly said, still trying to cheer the elf. At these words, Dobby's head popped up and his smile was on his face again.
Harry knew it had worked and told Dobby to make himself invisible so that they could go inside again. They walked through the kitchen and were in his cupboard before anyone could stop them. "I can't believe they didn't see us," Harry said as he plopped down on the floor. After sitting for about five minutes, he got up and started packing all of his things. Dobby occasionally moved things around but for the most part he stayed out of Harry's way.
"Wow, Dobby. It's already 4:30. In half an hour we get to go home. Let's hurry and get Mikkhail though. I don't want to leave him behind." They ran back outside quickly so that no one would notice and try to make him do anything else.
In the garden, they got down in the bushes and while Dobby was looking Harry was calling out for him. When Mikkhail did show up, Harry said, It's almost time to go. We have about fifteen minutes now that we found you. Can you ride in Hedwig's cage until we get there?
Yes, Harry, are we going now to this cage? If snakes could have grinned, Mikkhail would have had the biggest smile. He looked ready to go.
Harry gently lifted him up around his neck and told him to hold on. The boa complied and when they were in Harry's cupboard again and Mikkhail was settled down in the cage Harry turned to Dobby and said, "Any minute now and they will be here to pick me up."
As he finished saying this, he heard the doorbell ring. "Ok, Dobby, you can come to the door with me but you have to be invisible." Harry was walking out of his 'room' when he heard Uncle Vernon yelling from the kitchen. "Get that, Boy. And don't scare whoever it is away."
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," he yelled back. He answered the door but didn't see anyone. "Hello, is anybody out here?" he called. He turned to close the door when an old lady with a large bun pinned up on the back of her head step up and said, "Quick, Harry, get inside and grab your things. I have to go talk to your uncle about your leaving for the rest of the summer."
Harry nodded and turned around to run and get his things when he suddenly found himself on the floor. "Dobby, are you alright?"
"Yes, Mr. Harry Potter, sir. Dobby is fine. Is you ok?" came a small, squeaky voice to his left.
"I'm ok. Let's go get my stuff and Mikkhail. Then we can go listen to Tonks and Uncle Vernon." They got all of his belongings by the front door and ran into the living room to listen to the conversation that was going on between Tonks and Uncle Vernon.
Sirius's PoV
Harry is leaving! He is going to my house none the less. I am happy that he is finally leaving that 'family' he had to stay with. I will be able to get back at those muggles as soon as I see that Harry is safe at Grimmauld Place.
"That blasted boy and his ruddy bird will not be going back to that bloody school. You and all your freakish people will just have to get over it. I refuse to let him leave this house." Uncle Vernon apparently wanted to keep his nephew for a slave.
Tonks would have none of it. "What are you going to do about it? I can bind you to your chair from fight here before you could even stand up." Her hair had changed from being gray and honey brown to being fiery red and orange with the colors continuously changing around. The wrinkles were gone also. She now looked like a shapely woman whose head is on fire.
Uncle Vernon quailed at this sight. You could almost see the cogs in his head turning as he thought about losing his 'nephew' or angering this woman any further. He decided against making the witch standing before him any angrier. Instead he glared at her. "If you take him away, he is not to come back. Ever. I want nothing to do with that -boy." The way he finished that sentence told everyone listening that he meant what he said.
"Ah, Harry, it's time to go. You will be staying with Remus at your godfather's house and, as you have just heard, do not have to return here for the next summer break," Tonks said happily.
"Ok, my trunk is in the living room. I just need to get my broom and we will be ready." He ran back to the cupboard and grabbed his broom. When he walked back into the living room, Tonks was shrinking his trunk. "We can shrink the cage, but the snake can't stay in it and I don't think it will like the ride there because it is going to take a while."
"Dobby, would you mind taking Mikkhail to Grimmauld Place while we take the long, scenic route?" Harry asked.
Dobby smiled, picked up the cage containing the snake and, with a pop, was gone.
Tonks opened the front door and called into thin air, "Team, we are ready."
Immediately Moody and Shacklebolt appeared in the doorway.
"Alright, Harry, time to go. Get on your broom and stay between Tonks and me. Shacklebolt will be in front of you at all times."
He nodded and jumped on his broom. As he was about to kick off, Tonks ran up to him and handed him his miniaturized trunk. "Thanks," he said. She waved him on and he kicked hard off the ground.
It seemed that his Firebolt had been as eager to fly as him. It shot him up much faster than usual and as the wind whipped through his hair he realized that it had been way too long since he had flown. He tilted the handle until it was almost perpendicular with the ground and flew down as fast as he could. At the last possible second he pulled out of the dive in one of the best Wronski Feints anyone had every seen. His joy overflowed and he started laughing. He took off again just as Moody and Tonks lifted off to join him. He did flips and dives all over. When he finally did stop, Tonks was cheering him on, Shacklebolt was staring in wonder, and Moody had a smile on his gnarled face.
"Hope you got that out of your system. Now, come here."
Harry flew over to him. Moody waved his wand, muttered the incantation, and tapped Harry on the head with said wand. Harry felt as if an egg had been cracked on his head and the contents were running from the wand tip. When it was done, he gave a slight shiver, and noticed that the light seemed to bend around him now.
"Time to go," Shacklebolt said. They got in formation and started flying in the general direction of London. After about and hour, they flew above the clouds and turned back towards Surrey. After another two hours that way, they flew more to the left. Harry figured they should be around where Grimmauld Place would be and could see the lights of the cities through the clouds occasionally and noticed that they started dimming and becoming more spread out.
Moody started them going down toward a particularly dim area and when they were all touched down, motioned everyone to stand still. After about fifteen minutes of quiet he said, "Ok, everyone inside. I don't think anyone followed us but just in case, be quick."
Everyone nodded their heads and hoisted their brooms. They walked to the place between 11 Grimmauld Place and 13 Grimmauld Place and waited for it to appear. When it did, they walked quickly up the steps and opened the door. Inside they set down their brooms and started walking to the kitchen.
Remus's PoV
I was sitting at the table with a couple of other Order members when I heard the door open and close. Making excuses to get up I ran to the door to see who had arrived. When I saw Harry standing between his guards I raced up to them all and asked, "How's it going, Harry?" Before I knew what had happened Harry had hit me with a hug that would rival a death hold. "Harry...have—to—breathe."
"Oh, right, sorry about that, Remus." Harry said.
"S'okay, Harry. How have the muggles been this summer?" I asked. He hadn't said anything about them in his letter so I figured they had been okay.
Harry's smile turned into a dark scowl. "Uncle Vernon kept getting mad and almost beat me with a belt twice for no reason." His face lightened into a thoughtful look. "Every time he tried though he couldn't and it just made him madder and madder." He seemed to be lost in his thoughts and instead of continuing on to the kitchen walked upstairs and into his room. I heard the door close and started to go up after him when Moody stopped me.
"I wouldn't do that right now. He just needs some time to think about it for a little while." I nodded as if I understood, but I really didn't. Moody accepted it, though, and walked into the kitchen for tea.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!