Chapter 2: The Late Letter

Now the one thing he knew he could count on was the fact that he would soon be out of there. Whether in a week or a month, he didn't know, but he had not heard from the Weasleys since their last letter. It was from Ron and all it said was:

'Hermione and I are at the Burrow and we really hope to see you soon. Can't really say much here, I guess we'll tell you when we see you.'

But this could not satisfy Harry's need for information. It was just like last time, when Harry had narrowly escaped from Voldemort in his 4th year at Hogwarts. They had been denying him the details then too. What was this big secret that everyone seemed to be hiding from him? Was it bad news about Voldemort? Was it something else? Harry didn't know, but he desperately wanted to.

He headed down to breakfast that morning to find all three of the Dursleys sitting at the tiny kitchen table awaiting his arrival.

"Erm, hi", said Harry nervously, thinking this was some private meeting about him. They had been extremely cautious since the warning from Lupin, and Harry was quite glad they were.

"Hello, Harry why don't you take a seat?" said his Aunt a little too politely. It seemed he was right.

"Er, okay."

Dudley let out a snigger behind his parents' backs.

"We would like to talk to you about where you are going to live after you are out of that… that… school of yours"

"Oh don't worry; I'll make sure I find a place as far from you as I possibly can." Harry said quickly.

"No, you see, that's what we need to arrange. It appears that …someone wants you to stay here for at least another year after you, well, graduate." she said ungratefully, as if graduating from Hogwarts was the worst thing in the world.

"Oh," he said, not really knowing what else to say.

"Yes, he wants you to stay here for protective reasons, you see, not like we want to keep you" Aunt Petunia said bringing back her snappish manner.

"Damn right," barked uncle Vernon, as Dudley smirked once again.

"Fine, but you have to start treating me like a human being and not some stupid animal," Harry said to the floor.

"What was that?" Uncle Vernon said over the television Dudley had just turned on.

"Will you please turn the TV down for mommy, Dudders?"

"Uh" was the only reply that she got, but all the same he lowered it a notch.

"Well what am I supposed to do once I have my own place? I mean, I can't stay here forever." mentioned Harry.

"Yes well we were wondering the same thing and we wanted you to talk to this… man... and let him know our… uh... concerns," she said with a fake smile on her face.

Harry was pretty sure he knew exactly who they were talking about, but thought to ask.

"Who?"

"Dumbledore, I believe is his name," said Aunt Petunia sarcastically, having received a howler from him just last summer. Harry's guess had been right.

"Yeah, fine."

"Good, now get the ruddy hell out of here!" Uncle Vernon said, loud enough so even Dudley turned to listen in.

"I wouldn't get so upset, remember? There are wizards out there watching you every minute of every day. So don't fool with me. " Harry said triumphantly as he bounded from the room.

Messing with the Dursleys only caused him a moment's joy.

If only he could hear from his friends would he finally be happy. What he wouldn't give to be out on the Quidditch pitch again, with Ron at his side, or doing lessons with Hermione. The D.A. would also raise his spirits. But of course they probably wouldn't need to do that anymore since Umbridge was no longer their teacher. Still, he liked having people listen to his side of the story for once.

He decided to write to Ron and Hermione today. He wanted to ask what was going on and why he hadn't heard from them for such a long while. Harry dragged his feet up the steps to his room.

Most people would find solitude in their rooms, but not Harry. This wasn't his real room, in his own house. His house was destroyed, along with his parents, leaving him to live forever more with the Dursleys, all of which despised him in every way possible.

As he grabbed a quill from inside his left desk drawer, he pulled out a piece of parchment from his right. Placing his quill on the surface of the paper, he thought of what to write.

"Dear Ron and Hermione" he said aloud to himself.

I haven't heard from you guys in a long time, what's happening? I'm guessing you two are together from the stupid hints you keep giving me. Why does it seem like everyone is keeping a big secret? I don't want to bug you, but I want to know what this big thing is that no one wants me to find out about. Can you at least tell me if it's something bad, like about Voldemort? Write back as soon as possible.

Harry

"That seems alright to me."

He folded up the parchment and tied it to a rather disgruntled Hedwig. "Take this to Ron and make sure that they answer straight away," he told her. She hooted a doleful reply and took off into the breezy night air. Why hadn't they noticed how lonely and upset being here made him? Couldn't Dumbledore have done some other form of magic somewhere else like Grimuald place to protect him? And why, why, couldn't he even leave the house once? As these thoughts swirled through his mind, he began to feel dizzy.

He laid back down on his bed, drifting into a silent stupor. He didn't have any idea how long he lay there, until his Uncle's voice brought him back to his senses.

"Harry, get down here, you have a letter!"

"What?" he said aloud to himself. Could it possibly be Ron, Hermione, or Dumbledore? Leaping down the stairs, and darting towards the voice of his uncle, he slid on the kitchen floor with his socks and came to rest at the small table.

Only uncle Vernon was sitting there, with a purple twinge to his face, because Aunt Petunia and Dudley had gone grocery shopping and left him to watch Harry.

"You've got a letter here, from our post, but you're going to open it up right now so that I can know what this is all about," snarled his Uncle, his mustache quivering.

"Fine, whatever, can I have it?" Harry said anxiously.

Uncle Vernon slowly withdrew the letter from a pocket in his shirt and handed it over slowly, as though not wishing to part with it. Harry saw there were yet again too many stamps. He never got around to telling the Weasleys it wasn't necessary. Harry took it and opened it with a lot more speed than his uncle and began to read aloud:

Dear Harry,

We're picking you up on Saturday morning at 8 o'clock sharp, whether the muggles like it or not. We thought you'd be held down with all of the owls, so we used the muggle way instead. Be packed and ready to leave straight away.

Arthur

"Well, I guess that means I'm going!" he said brightly.

"Good, we can finally be rid of you and that annoying owl." Uncle Vernon said nastily.

"Yup, 'fraid you will," and he leapt from the room.

Once inside his otherwise silent room, he picked up his Transfiguration homework and began to steadily work until late into the night. Finally looking up, having just finished, he heard a soft beeping noise. Scanning his room for a sign of the disturbance, Harry realized it was only his alarm. It was now 12 p.m. He remembered why he set it; it was his 16th birthday. Wondering if the Dursleys would yet again forget this day was soon to be discovered. But now, he didn't care because he would be gone, gone, in just 8 hours. It would be another year before he had to deal with them again.