Chapter 2

Harry woke up later than usual Friday morning (or was now almost afternoon). Mr. Weasley and other members of the Order were going to be picking him up at 7 o'clock tonight (after work). Harry didn't know much about the plans because they still couldn't say much in owl post – for fear of interception – but he assumed they'd be flying to Headquarters on broomstick like last year, which also explains the time the adults would be arriving.

He would have to spend his day packing, as he spread out his belongings more than usual this year since the Dursleys couldn't really do anything about it.

After walking lazily down the stairs with his hair messier than ever and his oversized pajama pants riding dangerously low on his hips, Harry discovered his large cousin sitting like always glued to the television and his aunt cleaning up after breakfast. Uncle Vernon had apparently already left for work and Harry was quite pleased he wouldn't have to be the recipient of an endless stream of loathing glares.

Aunt Petunia presented him with a plate filled with leftovers from breakfast: cold sausages and a bit of fruit. Like usual, Dudley had eaten most of the fruit since he wasn't allowed to eat sausages. Dudley returned home from boarding school once again with a letter from the nurse concerning Dudley's weight. Aunt Petunia was getting quite worried and set him on a stricter diet and Uncle Vernon made him a workout schedule – much to Harry's amusement. He wasn't even aware Dudley's fat legs could run, besides to the refrigerator. But, without fail, every day, Dudley ran around the neighborhood for half an hour at 11 and then at 3 he did an hour of weight lifting on his brand new very expensive (as emphasized by Uncle Vernon) workout equipment. It was supposed to help him train for boxing, but Harry knew Dudley saw it as training to beat up helpless younger kids. When Dudley wasn't around, Harry sometimes used the equipment also; he might as well get some use out of it and get in some shape for quidditch after barely playing last year.

After Harry finished his meager breakfast, he trudged back up the stairs to his room to begin his packing. It was going to take a lot longer than last year when Tonks magically folded and put everything in his trunk, but Harry really didn't mind seeing as he had nothing better to do.

He didn't really mind though, having nothing to do. In fact, for the first time, he wouldn't mind staying at Private Drive a little longer. It's not that he liked it here, but he just wasn't ready yet, not ready for so many things. To begin with, he wasn't ready to be around everyone. Yes, going to Grimmauld Place was fun, but there were so many people. Just the Weasley family alone was enough people for Harry to start feeling uncomfortable. Most of the time, he loved the presence of all the people, but not now, not after... Sirius...gone. He couldn't stand all the people; all their pity, expecting so much from him all the time. Was he expected to behave the same knowing that the weight of the wizarding world (and the muggle world too actually) was all on HIS shoulders. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord....neither can live while the other survives... It was all up to Harry, and quite frankly Harry wasn't up to the responsibility. He was feeling just about ready to live a normal life about now after 5 years of being The-Boy-Who-Lived. He didn't quite care for becoming The-Boy-Who-Lived-But-Then-Let-Us-All-Down. And he was different now, and he didn't know quite how to deal with it. If Sirius was around I could have gone to him for help... But he's not, great job! Harry's mind yelled at him. The only family he'd ever had gone before he ever really got the chance to get to know him. He was overwhelmed by the injustice of the situation.

"Why me?!" Harry wondered aloud for the zillionth time this summer, "Why does every goddamn thing have to happen to me?!" Because I was marked the day my parents died, Harry remembered. Voldemort did it to him. And Harry would either have to kill him or be killed by him. In this situation, most people would be quite fearful, but Harry wasn't. After defying Voldemort 4 times already, it was more determination to finish him off once and for all than fear of being finished off himself. Voldemort had hurt so many people in Harry's life ... the extreme hatred Harry felt for him coursed through his veins in a wave of heat. He flexed his muscles and grinded his teeth viciously thinking about the "Lord" who had ruined his life. Harry picked up one of his old books and threw it with all his might into his trunk. It landed on the bottom of the empty trunk with a loud deep "thunk".

Harry had to stop doing this. He couldn't just think about this all the time and then go off in an angry rage. He was about to be stuck in a house with a minimum of 7 people at all times. Harry ran a hand through his messy black hair, took a deep break, and continued folding his socks. He'd folded all of his clothes and put them on his bed when he saw them, reflecting small bits of light onto the sides of the trunk...the broken pieces of glass from the mirror Sirius had given him. Last year he'd thrown it into the trunk and it broke . Harry took one of his oldest socks and put all the pieces in it then tucked it safely in the corner of his trunk, but not before one tear slid slowly down Harry's cheek It wasn't the first time Harry had cried over Sirius, he had done it quite often, but only when he was alone. He just couldn't get over it... BUT now was not the time to think about it, Harry had to finish packing. He put all his clothes on one side of his trunk. He had more than usual because this year he asked Aunt Petunia to take him shopping. He didn't usually do something like that, but he promised he'd send money to pay her back, and he desperately needed some clothes. He felt like he was growing as fast as Ron!

Harry next moved on to his books and what parchment he had left from last year. He didn't have any homework this summer since he didn't know yet how he did on his O.W.L.s yet which affects which N.E.W.T. classes he'd be in. O.W.L.s were supposed to come out mid-July, but they sent letters to the students telling them they'd gotten delayed because of the current frantic situation the ministry was in because of Voldemort's return. All the departments were having to temporarily help out in some way or another. Harry didn't mind, in fact he didn't want to see his results. Hermione, on the other hand, wrote him a disgruntled letter after she received her letter regarding the delay. She seemed to think Fudge was an insolent cheesehead that would have no idea how to run the ministry properly even if directions popped out of the toaster oven and got lodged in his nose. Harry recalled Hermione's foot-long letter and smiled slightly; even in the worst of times Hermione seemed to still be able to obsess over academics. "She needs to sort out her priorities" Harry remembered Ron saying after Hermione told them it'd be worse for them to get expelled than die.

After a quick lunch he made himself, Harry gathered all of his books and stacked them nicely in his trunk. Then he gathered his parchment, ink and quills and put them in too. In the corner of his room resting nicely against the wall was his beloved Firebolt. Dumbledore had sent it to him with Fawkes during the first week of the summer after recovering it from the dungeons. Harry walked over and picked up the expensive broom, but couldn't help but be reminded of Sirius. Sirius had bought it for Harry before he even knew him. Harry could have been an evil rotten kid for all he knew, but Sirius still cared about him and bought him it. With an audible sigh, Harry picked up the broom and his broom servicing kit that was right next to it and put them on the bed. After one last polish of the handle he packed up the servicing kit and put it in his trunk. He reached under his bed for the final thing he had to pack – the old photo album he had received so long ago with pictures of his parents. He flipped through it quickly, scared to get too caught up and emotional. He saw the loving smiles his parents always had, and wondered if he'd ever be like that, if his life would ever be normal.

Harry closed his trunk and trudged downstairs for his last dinner with the Dursleys. He got there just in time for "Boy! Quit standing there and set the table!"

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry replied in the most bored voice he could muster.

After setting the table for the 4 of them, Uncle Vernon arrived home from work and they sat down for a nice healthy dinner in very small portions.

"Dudley got his letter from school today, he's to start September 5th," Petunia told her husband excitedly.

"Oh that's splendid, isn't it Dud!"

"Yupgh" Dudley grunted in reply with his mouth full of food.

"Boy – when do we have to drop you off at the train so you can go to the ruddy place your kind goes to?" Harry's head snapped up from his plate to glare briefly at his uncle.

"Well I'm leaving tonight, so you won't have to worry about it" Harry replied in a happy voice.

"You better not try any funny business! I will not have my house destroyed like the last few times those people have come to get you!"

"Well... I'm not really sure how they'll be coming." Harry replied with a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes.

"Not sure?! Well I'm warning you... If you do one thing that could attract the neighbors or destroy my house," at this point Uncle Vernon was leaning so far across the table to snarl in Harry's face the table was tipping trying to support almost his whole body weight (which Harry noted is quite a lot of weight), "then I will not allow you back in this house no matter what the bloody hell is going on in that freaky little world of yours!"

"Erm... er...I don't think that will be a problem, after all, we do have a little bit more power than you do, with our magic and all, wouldn't you agree?" Harry stated coolly as he pull out his wand.

"Out! I want you out of this house!" Uncle Vernon yelled as he rose from the table, face turning his signature red with a tinge of purple.

"Fine," and with that last word, Harry turned and walked quickly to his room. He dragged his trunk down the stairs and went back up to retrieve Hedwig's empty cage (she was out hunting) and his broom. He took his items outside and sat down on the doorstep.

He couldn't run away, he knew he would be in much danger, he hadn't been allowed to leave the yard (Dumbledore's orders) all summer. Even if there was an Order member following him at all times, they wouldn't help if a large group of death eaters attacked, which would be highly likely these days. And so, Harry decided to just wait on the doorstep for a half hour until it was 7:00 and he could leave Little Whinging.

Harry lied down and stared up at the vast expanse of black sky above him. After a while his eyes began to feel very heavy, and before he knew it he was in a light sleep.

Suddenly, Harry felt a small amount of pain coming from his left leg.

"Ah!" Harry exclaimed as he opened his eyes to see 5 hooded figures standing and looking down at him, one of which was kicking his leg to wake him. He quickly reached into his back pocket to grab his wand but was startled to find it wasn't there. A look of shock worthy of Ron Weasley suddenly consumed Harry's face – he was defenseless and there were 5 Death Eaters (he assumed) standing in front of him.

"Don't worry Harry; we wouldn't really hurt you," one of the Death Eaters said as they lowered their hood and handed back his wand, "Not today at least". Harry tense body suddenly relaxed as he recognized the young smiling face of Nymphadora Tonks. Harry couldn't even think of anything to say.

"Potter! What do you have to say for yourself! What have I always said! Constant vigilance! You're not very powerful when you're on the ground sleeping where anyone can get you! And your wand just sitting there in your back pocket for anyone to grab!" Harry turned to find that another one of the 'Death Eaters' had removed their hood and he was face to face with a furious Mad-Eye Moody.

"I... er... knew you were coming soon, and they can't get me while I'm here anyway," Harry told him tentatively.

"You can never be too sure boy, anything could come and get you," Moody replied

A hand patted Harry's shoulder and he looked up at his ex-professor Remus Lupin, looking as tired as ever, who was rolling his eyes, "It's ok, Harry, we're happy to see you no matter how vigilant you've been!" Lupin pulled Harry into a quick manly hug, with a firm pat on the back.

"Good to see you Harry!" Arthur Weasley said as he also pulled Harry into a hug.

"Hey Mr. Weasley," Harry managed to reply before Tonks grabbed his hand for an excited handshake.

"Harry! Long time no see!" She said in her always upbeat manner.

Harry was about to reply when he heard the deep voice he recognized as Kingsley Shacklebolt, "Glad to see you're well, Harry," Kingsley said calmly as usual.

"You too," Harry said.

"Well then, best be off, don't want to linger too long then, do we?" Mr. Weasley said with a glance at his watch.

"Are we flying again, then?" Harry asked.

"Yep! Great way to travel! Don't you think?" Tonks replied cheerily.

"Yah, sure," Harry said.

"Well then, disillusionment charms everybody," Mr. Weasley told the group. Everyone took out their wands and cast the charm on themselves that Harry remembered well from his experience last year. After Mr. Weasley put the charm on himself, he turned and put it on Harry. Harry felt the slightly familiar cold trickles running down his body.

"Right then, everyone grab your brooms," Harry reached over to pick up his broom and noticed Lupin shrink his trunk and cage and put them in his pocket, "I'll be leading in the front; Harry you'll be in the middle; Mad-Eye you'll be in the back; Remus, Tonks, and Kingsley, you three will be rotating who is on the top, bottom and side. Ok, then mount your brooms and we're off!" With the command from Mr. Weasley Harry straddled his broom and kicked off.

He followed about 10 feet behind Mr. Weasley, or really Mr. Weasley's broom since he was a bit hard to see because he was disillusioned. They ascended high in the air fairly quickly and soon the houses and cars below were nothing but ants to Harry. He was very thankful that it was considerably warmer this year than last year even though he'd thought to wear heavier clothes. Better safe than sorry, Harry thought, briefly noting how much he sounded like Hermione.

When Harry watched Mr. Weasley's broom level, he knew they'd reached the height they'd stay at the rest of the flight. He looked down below him and watched as they passed town after town.

They'd only been up in the air for what Harry felt like was 5 minutes (but he knew was actually hours) before Mr. Weasley turned around and called, "We'll be beginning the descent now!"

Harry watched Mr. Weasley's broom angle slightly towards the ground and he followed suit, eager to be on the ground where he could continue the slumber he began before being startled nearly to death by his escorts.

They were nearing the ground and Harry watched as the houses suddenly became bigger and his field of vision became smaller. He saw each car distinctly on the highway and the individual streetlights lighting up the streets they were on. As they descended even further he could see through the windows of the houses; he saw mainly darkness as it was quite late but also saw TV's and lamps on.

Mr. Weasley slowed down considerably and then had a nice gentle landing. Harry copied him exactly, as did the four escorts. He felt suddenly like an egg had been cracked open on his head before he realized that Mr. Weasley was removing the disillusionment charm.

Harry looked around and recognized that they were standing in front of none other than 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius's house... Harry thought.

"Hurry up there, Potter! We need to get inside as soon as we can!" Moody hissed at Harry. Harry suddenly realized everyone else was up ahead walking towards the house while Harry had been standing there staring. Harry's legs felt very heavy as he picked them slowly up and followed the rest towards the familiar black door. Standing behind the other five people he could barely see the twisted serpent door knocker. Before he knew it the door was open and he was standing in the dark hallway of Grimmauld Place.

The door closed quickly but quietly behind him and he followed everyone else into the kitchen.

Mrs. Weasley was sitting drinking tea by herself when the six of them entered the room.

"Oh, so glad you've made it!" She squealed quietly at the group as she rushed out of her seat towards Harry, "Harry dear, oh its so great to see you," she said as she pulled him into a tight hug, "Oh, I'd say you've grown a bit in the past month or so, and you're just getting more handsome every day!"

"Yeah, our Harry is quite the looker!" Tonks said as she nudged Harry slightly.

Harry blushed slightly at the complements, "It's nice to see you too Mrs. Weasley".

"Harry dear, I'm sure your tired after the long flight, all the other kids are in bed, Hermione also just got here today. Why don't you just head on up to bed, you'll be in the same room as last year with Ron, we can bring your trunk and things up in the morning."

Harry was very thankful for Mrs. Weasley's suggestion because he was extremely tired and wanted nothing more than a nice long sleep.