/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Two

"What are you two doing here?" Harry asked in shock.

The twins turned and grinned broadly at him. It seemed to Harry that they were always grinning about something, but just the same it made Harry's heart feel lighter because they had the nerve to do things he would never do.

"We just came here to save you from this lot. We figured that a couple of weeks of staying here is enough to make us go crazy," George informed Harry.

"You know you didn't have to do that. Things have been better, honestly," Harry said.

"Why, you want to spend the rest of the summer looking at those three blockheads all summer? Come on, Harry come with us, you'll have much more fun if you do. And anyways, you need to come and see our new joke shop. We wouldn't have done it without you. Heck, we'll even give you a summer job," Fred said.

"You couldn't beat a better life than that, Harry," George added.

Harry sighed and turned to look back up the stairs. To his surprise, Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley were standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the Weasley twins in shock. He didn't blame them; it was an odd thing for someone to turn up in the middle of the night just to have a chat. He grinned when he saw that Dudley, pale with fright was standing behind his father with his hands clamped tightly on the rear. That incident before his first year must have been really traumatic for him.

"May I go and stay with them for the summer? I'm sure you wouldn't mind, you wouldn't have to look at me until next year," Harry exclaimed.

"Do whatever you want, and good riddance," Vernon said.

"Thanks," Harry turned to the twins, "would you mind waiting while I get my stuff? It'll only take about a moment."

"Sure, take all the time you need," George said and Harry pushed past the Dursleys and headed up to his room to get his things.

Several minutes later, Harry dragged down his trunk and Hedwig's birdcage. The owl wasn't back from hunting yet, but Harry had a strange feeling that she'd find her way to wherever Harry was. He loved having an intelligent bird; they know when their owners need them.

Turning to the Dursleys, who were huddling near the wall next to the staircase, Harry said, "See you next summer." And without a backward glance, he followed the twins outside.

"Er, how did you guys get here?" Harry asked.

"We Apparated here. Surely you know how to Apparate, don't you Harry?" Fred asked.

"Of course he can't, Fred, what were you thinking?" George turned to Harry, "He can be a bit stupid sometimes. The only way we're going to do this is make a portkey."

"Uh…doesn't it need to be approved first?" Harry asked skeptically, but he wasn't listening. He and Fred delved into their pockets, with George finally pulling out a key.

"This should work, shouldn't it?" he asked Fred.

Fred nodded. "Practically anything will work, my brother. Allow me." Grabbing the key, he said a curse that Harry had never heard before. He turned to Harry. "Are you ready Harry? Take hold of your things there and touch the key—that's it and off we go."

Suddenly, Harry felt a jolt around his navel and the next thing he knew, he was flying through the air faster than lightening. Just as soon as they left, the three landed with a jolt onto the ground. Feeling his legs collapse, Harry stared up at the night sky, his eyes slightly unfocused. He hadn't done that in a long time.

Sitting up, he realized that he was at the corner of Diagon Alley. Looking up he saw a sign that said Weasleys' Wizard Joke Shop. Harry grinned and stood up beside the twins.

"So you finally got your joke shop up and running?" Harry said to them.

The two of them nodded enthusiastically.

"It's been quite popular, actually. Had to start hiring people as fast as you could please. And it's all thanks to you, my friend," George exclaimed, patting Harry on the back.

"Yeah, we greatly appreciate it. Hey, perhaps you would like to work for us this summer? You'd love it, and anyways, you don't really have anything else to do, do you?" Fred added.

"Would I like it? I would love to! Thanks you guys. This beats being at the Durselys any old day," Harry nearly shouted.

George grinned. "Well, come with us. We'll put your stuff up in our apartment—we live above the shop you see, it saves time and energy away from the shop, not to include money, of course."

"Yeah, we'd be paying for two separate buildings then. Why live far away from our shop when we can live above it?" George agreed as the three of them entered the building.

"Harry! There you are, mate. I was wondering how long it would take them to retrieve you from those dreadful Muggles," a voice said ahead of them.

Harry followed the voice to a counter set up in the corner of the building and grinned when he saw who it was. It was his best friend and fellow sixth year at Hogwarts, Ron Weasely, Fred and George's younger brother.

"Nice to see you too, there, Ron. I wasn't expecting you to be here, of all people," Harry exclaimed, walking up to the counter.

"You mean my brothers didn't tell you they recruited me, as well? But I do say it's better to be here than under Mum's glares all the time," Ron said, grinning.

"Harry, we'll take your things upstairs for you," Fred said, he and George heaving Harry's luggage up the stairs that were behind the counter.

Harry nodded and turned back to his friend. He was so glad to be here—he hadn't realized how much he missed the magic world until now and it was all flooding back to him like a great torrent of water down a waterfall.

"So how are the Dursleys treating you these days?" Ron asked, bringing Harry back to the present.

"Oh, better than last year, though they'll never treat me like a son, obviously," Harry said, examining the objects in the showcase. Not to his surprise, there were many things behind the glass in which the Weasleys had created and sold at Hogwarts, including The Weasleys' Wizard Weezes. Turning back to Ron, Harry said to him, "How much longer do you have to work here until? Maybe we can explore about the place."

"However long Fred and George want me to work here," Ron commented ruefully, "but maybe if you go ahead, I might be able to get them to have mercy on me and I'll catch up with you in a little bit."

Harry nodded. "Fine. See you in a bit, then." And with that, Harry turned and headed out the door to explore see what the wizarding world had in store for him this time.