Arriving back at Privit drive was as depressing as ever. It seemed like Hogwarts was a world away as he dragged his chest into the dingy house of his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. Not much had changed since he'd last been there, the large tv was still glowing & flickering in the corner and the ugly peach carpet was as putrid as it ever was. The air was stale, and his cousin was laying on the couch with a pint of ice cream balancing on his round belly.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY" bellowed Uncle Vernon as he came barreling through the door behind Harry. Shoving his things to the side, he lumbered off towards the bathroom in such a hurry that he didn't notice Harry using this opportunity to stow away his wand in the bottom of Hedwig's cage. He knew it wouldn't be long before all of his belongings were locked in the cupboard under the stairs for the summer, and this year he didn't want to be left without his wand. After achieving several OWL's on his exams, this was the first summer the Ministry of Magic wouldn't be on his case for using his wand outside of Hogwarts. He'd have done just about anything to keep his wand from being locked up this year, and it was quite fortunate that he wasn't going to have to resort to more undignified or dangerous methods of keeping it at his side. With Voldemort's constant threats and new-found rise to power, he'd be a fool to be without his wand for even a moment.
A few days later Harry got the impression that the Dursley's were trying to make his miserable enough to take off on his own and save them the trouble of having him around the whole summer. Uncle Vernon delivered a long chore list at the beginning of each day, which included such things as cleaning all of the toilets with a toothbrush and washing all of the sheets and linens in the house by hand. There always seemed to be several more things on the list to get done at the end of the day, even with Harry working long into the night. He hadn't even had an opportunity to owl any of his friends or touch his wand, which was now stowed safely under the floorboards in his room along with a couple of chocolate frogs leftover from his trip back on the Hogwart's Express.
A week into the summer holiday, Pigwigeion, or Pig, burst through Harry's open window just as he laid down for the night after a particularly exhausting day. Pig had a small package tied to his foot. He circled Harry's head several times before settling down enough for the package to be untied. Harry untied the package and sat Pig in the cage with Hedwig so he could have a snack before the journey back. Looking at the package, he noticed right away that it was from his best mate, Ron. His handwriting was all over it, saying "OPEN WHEN YOU ARE ALONE", and "WARNING, DO not open around ANYONE". Unsure if that included owls & people asleep in the next room or not, he decided to wait and open it the next morning when he'd be alone in the house for a good couple of hours. The Dursleys had one of his cousin's wrestling matches to go to, and they wouldn't miss an event of little Dudley-doo's for anything in the world.
Smiling for the first time in days & days, Harry placed the package next to his wand in his hiding place, and gently drifted off into the best sleep he'd had in a week. Not only would he get a couple of hours to himself tomorrow, but he had the package from Ron to look forward to.
The morning came and Harry awoke to the ever nauseating bellowing of Uncle Vernon. "GET UP, YOU LAZY MONGREL, I've giving you extra chores today to make sure you don't get any ideas while we're gone. None of that pansy magic-wagic bologna while we're out, do you hear me?" Harry shot awake and said "yes sir" as he pulled on his overly large hand-me-down sweatshirt. Uncle Vernon mimicked Harry "yes sir" in a small girly voice as he flung the list at Harry. "Now don't try any funny business, and I mean it". Turning and stomping out, a few minutes later Harry heard the front door slam and the car start up. He was alone at last!
Harry sent Pig and Hedwig out to forage for breakfast, just in case the package contained something that wasn't suitable in the company of owls. He rushed to the floorboards and pulled the package out. He ripped it open eagerly and found inside one shiny new galleon. 'Why would Ron send me this'? he thought, knowing that not only was Ron broke most of the time but that in Muggle Surrey there wasn't much need for wizard currency. A bit disappointed, he grabbed it out of the box to put it in his pocket. The second he touched it, he felt the familiar yanking sensation in his stomach and was instantly standing in Ron's bedroom at the Burrow! The Galleon was a portkey! "how in the world" thought Harry, "had Ron managed to perform such magic?"
Not a minute later Ron burst in. "You got my message I see", he laughed as he pulled Harry into a bear hug. A moment later Hermione came skidding in with Ginny not far behind her. "We decided to rescue you from those monsters!" she squealed as she, too, leapt on Harry and kissed him on his lightening bolt. It took a lot of work, but the two of them had managed to set up an untraceable portkey to wherever Ron's matching Galleon was located. At this moment, it was laying on his bedside table.
"Oh wow, this is brilliant!" said Harry as the realization that he was really miles away from the Dursley's set in. Hermione nodded in agreement as she filled him in on the other magical properties of the Portkey. It will also allow him to stop time temporarily by charming the galleon before touching it. It had already been charmed before it was sent to him, so even though he had been at the burrow for over a half an hour at this point, not one minute had actually passed on Privit drive.
This bit of magic alone was something that Harry could ponder for hours and hours. The possibilities were too numerous to contemplate. For the rest of the summer he wouldn't have to wish with all of his might for an extra 10 minutes of sleep or a scrap of bread. He could just portkey here and take a nap, grab a snack...
"Lets go down and get something to eat" said Ron as if reading Harry's mind. Rod licked his lips and was rubbing his belly hungrily. Harry never understood how the Weasley's could consider themselves to be poor when their home had so many comforts that Harry had never had at his own home. Heading downstairs for a bite to eat, he was awestruck when he caught sight of all the tasty treats that were an everyday thing at the Weasley household. Freshly conjured cherry pie, and a big plate of cookies sat on the counter. The icebox held even more delicacies, and Ron had no trouble dishing them out to his friends & little sister. An hour later, all four were stuffed and Harry was as happy as he could remember being. It was a perfect summer day, and the birds were calling them out to the Quiddich field in the large backyard.
The rest of the morning they played game after game of Quiddich, laughing merrily each time one of them would comment about the time. At least 4 or 5 hours had passed and the sun hadn't moved one iota in the sky. Apparently the spell didn't apply to the animal or non-human world, because the birds, bunnies, and garden gnomes still played alongside them.
Suddenly the exhaustion that Harry had felt back at the Dursley's finally took it's tole. Laying down in the grass, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione flopped down beside him. They lay looking up at the clouds for a while, while Hermione launched into the intricacies of stopping time. It's very important to be alone in the room, or else whoever else is there will be trapped in that moment with you. It was a very advanced charm that she had enchanted the galleons with, but it wasn't hard to activate once enchanted. Whenever Harry needed a break from his life, all he'd have to do was say "Duldrumhalt" and touch the Galleon to be transported to it's duplicate that either she or Ron would have at all times. Time will also stop for Ron & Hermione who will automatically be notified with a small tingling sensation that Harry has triggered the portkey. She couldn't have them be just whisked away, she explained, for fear that someone else near them might notice.
With all that settled, they went back into the house to eat once again. Ron could only imagine the surprise on his mother's face when she saw how much food had been eaten when she had only apperated to the neighbor's house for a moment. Soon after eating for the second time, Harry drifted off into a deep sleep leaning against Ginny on the couch. They decided to go back outside and let him sleep. Lowering him onto the the couch, Ron noticed the smile on his friend's pink face had not faded. He brushed the hair from his eyes and covered him with an afghan before heading back outside to put away the broomsticks and practice snitch.
Harry awoke in the burrow, amazed that it wasn't all a wonderful dream. He was actually at the Weasley's, and feeling completely rested on top of it. He didn't know how long he had slept, and glancing at the clock was no help since it still said 8:58. According to the clock on the wall, Uncle Vernon had only left the house 30 seconds ago!
Harry heard his friends talking in Ron's bedroom and decided to head up to join them before port-keying back to Privit drive to get on with his daily chores. He got up to the bedroom and opened the door to quietly. Inside Ron and Hermione were sitting together on his Chudly Cannon's beanbag chair, giggling about something Harry couldn't hear. "Uh hum" he cleared his throat, "what's up"?
They quickly jumped up and Ron said "n.. nuthin', Just waiting for you to rouse yourself, you've been out for nearly 12 hours! Ginny gave up and went to sleep, and we've just been chatting." Both looked like there might have been a little more going on than just chatting, but he wasn't in the mood to press it. He knew Ron's had a thing for Hermione for as long as he could remember, and if she'd finally grown as fond of him and realized it then that would be just great with him.
Harry hugged them both goodbye and got one more rundown on the operating instructions from Hermione before touching the Portkey and plunking all of them back into live time. Harry instantly heard the old car the Dursleys were driving squeal around the corner and he was amazed all over again that not even a minute had passed since he was eagerly opening the package a good 20 hours earlier. Nothing in his room had changed. The list of chores drifted down off his desk and landed on his foot.
Getting out his wand, he decided to see just how much of the housekeeping charms he had retained from his classes last year. He'd never be allowed to use his wand with the Dursley's at home, but he didn't see any need to do things the hard way when they were out! A few 'scourgify" spells and a "repairo" later, the work had been done and it was still early morning. Harry couldn't believe his luck & decided to read a few chapters of his new and more advanced defense against the dark arts book. He had got the book as a gift from Hagrid before he left school and this was the first time he'd even had a chance to peek at it.