Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own any of these characters.
Chapter 1: Surprise
Hermione paced the steps outside Gringott's Bank anxiously. Though the day was beautiful, full of sunshine and a gentle breeze, she could not help but feel worried. The street in front of her hustled with carefree shoppers; children dragged their parents from shop to shop in hurried excitement of their first year at Hogwarts. Hermione smiled indulgently in the direction of a young girl trying to regain control of an absolute terror of a cat, looking quite like Crookshanks. It was hard to imagine it had already been 6 years since she had first walked down this street, amazed at the wizarding world she was preparing to enter. She never would have guessed what her years at Hogwarts would have in store. With the thoughts of the horrors she and her friends had faced, the hard lump returned to her throat.
"What is taking him so long? He should have been here ages ago" She asked worriedly of Ron, who was lounging on one of the tall marble steps below Hermione's pacing.
"Calm down, Hermione, it's only 10 after. A million things could have delayed him." At Ron's attempt at reassurance, Hermione's head snapped around to stare Ron fearfully in the face. Before she could start on any more tirades about how unsafe Diagon Alley was, Ron corrected himself. "A million perfectly safe and harmless things. Come sit down here and stop worrying." Mustering an appreciative smile, Hermione settled on the step next to Ron.
"I just don't know if this was the best way to meet up with him again. Maybe we should have found somewhere secret and private to meet. What if something happened to him and Professor Lupin? What if Volde-"
"Hermione! He's fine. Lupin wouldn't let anything happen to him and you know it. He'll be here any moment," Ron continued. As if on cue, Ron and Hermione both caught sight of their best friend hurrying up the street in their direction. A shabby, somewhat bedraggled Lupin fell behind in order to let the three reunite in whatever privacy Diagon Alley allowed.
Hermione was so ecstatic to see Harry again, safe and sound and looking relatively happy, that she flung herself upon him in a relieved hug. Ron and Harry exchanged friendly, somewhat bashful handshakes. Harry was so glad to finally be with Ron and Hermione in person after nearly a month of rushed, brief letters every other week. He was dying to catch up with their news from the summer. Rather than overwhelm them with hundreds of questions, though, Harry walked calmly down the street at their sides. They each held pieces of parchment with a list of books for their sixth year and ducked into shops as necessary to purchase supplies. Something about this touched Hermione as extremely poignant. They had never shopped on their own for their schoolbooks before. At the end of the summer Mrs. Weasley always seemed to locate their lists and take care of the shopping without the kids even realizing. This year, however, Mrs. Weasley was extremely busy with Order business and didn't need to be bothered with school shopping. As Hermione, Ron, and Harry perused the Diagon Alley shops, Hermione was touched by the idea that they were really growing up.
With their parcels under their arms, they made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron where they would meet up with Ginny and then make their way back to the Burrow via the Floo Network. Settling onto three mismatched stools with their bundles of books and supplies, they chatted amiably about their summers. Though they undoubtedly had questions to ask of each other, they all recognized this was neither the time nor the place. Rather, they enjoyed their time, pretending they had not just had a run-in with Voldemort and his Death Eaters where two of them were seriously injured just a month prior. Harry told of the recent escapades on Privet Drive, including the always-humorous tales of Dudley's recent dieting experiments. Harry also described in length how his "rescue mission" had gone.
Out of all the escapes Harry had made from the Dursley's, summer after summer, this was by far the mildest. There was no flying car, Knight bus, or army of guards on this departure from Privet Drive. Instead, it had been a relatively dull morning when Harry heard a timid knock at the door. Never imagining it would have something to do with himself, he retreated upstairs. After all, he knew full well that Uncle Vernon would not appreciate him hanging around if he was having company over. Much to Harry's surprise, Mr. Dursley bellowed his name a few minutes later. To his even greater shock, he came downstairs and saw Professor Lupin sitting on Aunt Petunia's over-stuffed flowered sofa with a delicate teacup in his hand.
"Hello Harry. I hope your summer has been going well." Lupin said calmly, nodding a little and smiling encouragingly. Harry's jaw dropped in disbelief. What was Lupin doing in his living room conversing so naturally with Uncle Vernon?
"Harry, this nice gentleman, what's your name again? Lupan? Lupin? Ah yes, Mr. Lupin was just telling me how much he would appreciate taking you off my hands for the rest of the summer. I'm not exactly sure if he's aware of the sort of extreme delinquency you are capable of, but he assures me he'd like you to go with him. As much as it pains me to dispose of, er, part with my favorite nephew so early in the summer, I think I'll have to acquiesce. Now get your stuff Harry, hurry now, before he changes his mind," Uncle Vernon rambled. Harry only paused a second to make sure this was not some sort of horrible joke before dashing upstairs to collect his trunk, books, and Hedwig's cage, and hurrying out the door with Professor Lupin in tow. Mr. Dursley stood at the door beaming and shouting at their backs "Thank you, thank you, do come again for some tea Mr. Lupin!"
Back in Diagon Alley, the thought of Mr. Dursley entertaining a wizard had Hermione, Ron, and Harry breaking down in fits of laughter.
"Imagine what he would have thought if he'd discovered this was not just any sort of wizard, but a werewolf too!" Hermione pointed out through her laughter. This just sent the trio into more hysterical peals.
"What's so funny?" Ginny asked as she approached from the doorway with bundles of school things in her arms, "Oh and hello Harry."
"Oh it's nothing, I'm just reliving the story of my escape from my aunt and uncle's house" Harry answered back. Ginny smiled widely.
"Well all ready to go then? Your mother wouldn't like to know we were just dawdling around town, attracting all this attention," Hermione said, suddenly aware that everyone in the Leaky Cauldron had probably wondering what they'd been laughing at. The others consented and stood up to go. Much to Harry's surprise, as he turned to go he found himself face to face with Luna Lovegood.
"Hello Harry, good summer?" She asked dreamily. Ginny and Hermione rolled their eyes at each other at her spacey manner.
"Um yeah, it was alright. It's getting better. And you Luna?" Harry said politely, remembering the last night he had seen. She had been posting signs for her belongings, which had been stolen throughout the year. Once again, a wave of pity washed over him.
"Ohh, it was charming. There is nothing quite like tracking Crumple-Horned Snorkacks through the hills of Sweden" Luna replied airily, her wide eyes roaming around the room and settling on Ron. She smiled sweetly and purred, "Hello Ronald." Ron turned a becoming shade of crimson as Hermione narrowed her eyes at Luna and moved closer to him.
"We were just about to go actually, maybe we'll see you…around," Hermione muttered icily and yanked on Ron's arm. Bewildered, Harry followed the pair to the corner table where Lupin sat reading a newspaper.
"All ready gang?" He asked as he got to his feet. They went upstairs where a hunched over, crumpled-looking witch was stoking a fire. As they waited for the fire to burn well enough for traveling, Harry remembered the question he had for his friends.
"Why exactly did Lupin come get me? He said everything was alright, but wouldn't tell me what was going on…not that I mind leaving there early, mind you, but I was just curious."
"It's all ready for you Mr. Lupin, sir" the witch cackled, cutting off any hopes of an answer from Hermione or Ron. One by one they took turns stepping into the roaring green flames and shouting "The Burrow!" After a quick spinning sensation, Harry felt himself fall heavily to the hearth inside the Weasley's home. Before he had a chance to regain his composure Harry was overwhelmed with a "Surprise!" followed by a rousing chorus "Happy Birthday to You!" Harry was absolutely stunned. At the Dursley house his birthday was never even acknowledged let alone celebrated, thus he'd begun to forget it himself.
Gathered in the small Weasley kitchen were all the people Harry had been missing that summer: Hermione, Ron, Lupin, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, the entire clan of Weasleys (minus Percy), even Dobby, who came forward bowing low and squeaking a wealth of birthday wishes. In the midst of all his surprise and cheer, Harry was suddenly struck with intense grief. Everyone was there who mattered but one, Sirius. Among all the chattering, eating, and laughing, no one seemed to notice Harry's eyes cloud over and a frown replace his surprised smile. Yet suddenly he felt a pressure on his arm and he looked down to find Ginny at his side looking somewhat worried.
"Look Harry I know this is a bit overwhelming, but we just thought…I guess we just thought you needed something, a pick-me-up after what happened…well you know. But if it's too much, just say so, we can send everyone home. Or you can go up and lie down. Anything, really," she explained apologetically. He smiled halfheartedly at her.
"Thanks Ginny, but I'll be alright. It's just…different without him…" His voice trailed off sadly "…but no really this is great. Thanks." She squeezed his arm a little and then floated off to socialize with the other guests, including Dean Thomas who had just arrived. Something about the way he casually put his arm around her slender shoulders somehow made Harry jealous. He looked around idly, trying not to stare at Dean and Ginny. He watched Mrs. Weasley cutting a slice of cake for Mr. Weasley, Tonks showing off her rapidly changing appearance to a seemingly smitten Charlie, and a lavishly dressed Fred showing Katie Bell some of his new and improved joke shop wares. It seemed that everywhere Harry looked, people were falling in love. Feeling somewhat sickened, he turned towards Hermione and Ron, glad that they at least were immune to the romance bug.