The next day saw Harry up early, galvanised out of his lethargic state by the oncoming arrival of the Weasley family. He tidied what little he had removed from his trunk back into its dark recesses, and pulled out a set of robes for when he finally arrived in wizard London, a clean shirt and a clean if worn pair of jeans. 'This year I'll get myself some clothes.' Harry thought to himself. He stuffed the clothes he was currently wearing into a plastic bag which he buried at the bottom of the trunk. Knowing Mrs. Weasley, she'd find it before long and wash them for him. He made a mental note to buy a thank you present whilst he was in town.

It always shocked Harry just how much he accumulated over the school year. Now that the trunk was full he had to sit, and then lie on the lid to get it to close properly. And there were still the corners of an item of clothing poking out. He wished he was old enough to do magic outside of school, then he could just shrink everything, and perhaps it would all fit.

"Could do with a lightening charm too." he grumbled as he lugged the heavy trunk down the stairs. Aunt Petunia came out of the kitchen and watched in horror as it thumped from step to step after the boy, occasionally knocking a lump out of the paintwork on the way down. Her husband followed her out; despite their best efforts to ignore Harry, the noise was hard to put up with.

"Boy!" Vernon Dursley growled, his face turning puce in the obvious effort he was making not to grab Harry and wring his neck. "Just where do you think you are going? If you think-"

"The Weasleys are coming to pick me up shortly. I'll be gone for the rest of the summer. See you next year." Harry blew a mock kiss to Dudley who was trying to see what was going on in the hall, whilst simultaneously watching the T.V. in the kitchen. Dudley, who by some supreme freak of nature was balancing on the back legs of the chair without them breaking under his weight, nearly fell over backwards, and Harry, hiding a laugh, turned into the living room and awaited the arrival of the Weasleys.

He did not have to wait long. His uncle had just come into the room spluttering about the neighbours, wizard transport, weirdos, and, strangely, pigs tails. Harry assumed that the trip to London for the removal of 'Duddykins' tail, was firmly rooted in Vernon's memory, and just had time to recall the event that led to that trip before the first figure tumbled out of the fireplace. Vernon gave a strangled yelp and rushed out of the room far faster than should have been possible for a man of his girth.

Harry grinned at the tall, red headed youth who was currently unfolding himself from the hearth. Ron Weasley was now almost a foot taller than Harry, and still had more to grow if Harry was any judge.

"Hey mate. Was that your uncle there?"

"Yeah." Harry sighed. "Guess I'm not getting a going away party this year either. Any more of you coming?" this was directed to the three redheads who had just fallen out of the chimney. Only Ginny had stayed standing, through much effort.

"Nope that's it. Come on let's go." Harry was surprised to see both Fred and George there. Having left school quite spectacularly last year, he had doubted they would be welcomed back into Mrs. Weasleys arms. Well, there would be time to ask about all that later.

Ron and George man-handled Harry's trunk into the wizard flames that had sprung up courtesy of the Floo network. Fred, with Hedwig's cage (she preferred the old fashioned method of flight to get to places,) disappeared next, then Ginny handed Harry the Floo powder pot.

"We're going to meet Mum and Dad at the Leaky Cauldron. You go first, and…um…Harry?" the dark haired boy was staring into the green flames with trepidation. "You will actually need to take some of the powder and then give it back to me, so I can get there too."

Harry heaved a sigh, grabbed a handful of the powder and threw it into the flames before closing his eyes and stepping into the grate.

"The Leaky Cauldron!"

As he started spinning, he had just enough time to see Ginny's grinning face mouth the words 'Good Luck,' before he was whisked off to the oldest wizard pub in London.

Ginny looked around her and scuffed at the soot around her feet as she waited the requisite time before following Harry back into the chimney. A muffled conversation then a shriek outside the door made her jump and suddenly Petunia burst into the room, stopping still at the sight of the girl with a black streak across her nose, treading black dust into her cream carpet.

"TRESPASSING!" was all Ginny heard as she hastily leapt into the grate and muttered her destination as the flames sprang up around her.

Petunia took another look at the dirt trodden into the carpet before fainting delicately into an armchair.


Perhaps it was just the lack of contact on his part for the first weeks of the summer, but Harry realised just how grateful he was to Ron and his family for 'rescuing him' as he stepped into the bustling, heaving noise that was the Leaky Cauldron. He didn't have long to realize his love for the wizarding world as, almost immediately, he was surrounded by people patting him on the back, shaking his hand, and in Molly Weasley's case, enveloping him in a bone crushing hug, before she held him at arms length and admonished him for his lack of news.

"We'd heard nothing for weeks! You could have been starving and wasting away and none of us would have known! Did it not occur to you how worried we were? I was nearly-"

"Mum."

"-frantic! I owled Dumbledore immediately. I said to him, with all due respects of course, that it is not healthy for a lad of your age to be shut up like that without-"

"Mum."

"Shh Ron dear. What was I saying? Oh yes, it is not healthy to be shut up without any friends for the whole summer, and I absolutely begged for him to-"

"MUM!"

"What is it Ron? I am trying to talk to Harry!"

Ron raised his eyebrows at the Boy Who Lived, who had defeated Voldemort five times, and who was currently struggling against Mrs. Weasley's iron grip. "I think Harry wants to eat Mum."

"Oh but of course he does! You're as thin as a rake dear, what could those Muggles have been feeding you for you to get so thin? Now dear, don't just stand there! Go and sit down with the boys and get something to eat. There's a good boy." She gave a final pat to Harry's unruly hair before bustling over to where her husband was sitting, watching the goings on with a faintly amused expression.

Harry just had to laugh. Anyone would think he's been starved for thirteen years in Azkaban like…he stopped that train of thought quickly, but not quickly enough for Ron who saw the dark expression flick across Harry's features.

"Come on," he said quickly, not wanting his friend to descend into one of his gloomy, reflective moods. "Let's go get something to eat."

Harry shot a smile of thanks to Ron and they headed towards the table, which already had four of the seven Weasley children seated around it. So not only are the twins in town, Harry mused, but Charlie's here too.

"Ron how come the twins are around? I would have thought your Mum would have sent them packing after what happened with Umbridge." Harry questioned as they sat down.

Ron unsuccessfully tried to hide a grimace at the thought of that toad of a woman. "Actually that's exactly why they haven't been thrown out on their ears. Mum hates the woman, she's heard the rumours from Dad you know, and almost, almost mind you, seemed pleased with them! Also I don't think she wants to lose any more of our family after what happened with Percy, that bastard." Ron didn't even attempt to hide his distaste at that.

"Still not talking to you?"

"Don't make us laugh Harry!" Fred called out, joining in the conversation from the other end of the table. "He's so pis…"he caught the glare that Mrs. Weasley shot at him from across the room. She had ears like a bat for any kind of foul language from her children. "Um…I mean…he's so annoyed that the rumours were in fact true, and that you're not a raving crackpot that he's transferred in a huff to America."

George wasted no time getting involved. "Actually we think the reason he's been sent off so far is that old Fudge has finally realised how utterly boring he is!" he said in a mock whisper. Everyone laughed, and then settled back to eat as their food arrived. Harry took a swig of the butterbeer that someone had ordered for the table, and felt the warmth spread through him, filling him with an irresistible sense of well-being and light-heartedness that he had not felt in almost two years...


After the bill had been settled by various members of the family, they headed out into the quiet street. Harry was astounded. He had never know Diagon Alley to be so deserted, there were barely twenty people, not including the Weasley horde, to be counted in the whole street.

"What's going on?" Harry whispered to Charlie, with whom, moments before, he had been having an animated discussion about the Chudley Cannons versus the Pride of Portree and who was doing better this season. But now there was an eerie hush, and no one seemed willing to speak above a whisper.

"No one really wants to go out since the newspapers have been saying You-Know-Who is back. Hardly surprising really. This street is probably the biggest target." Charlie answered in an undertone.

Despite the lack of people, everywhere seemed to be open, and it was certainly easier to find Hermione among the shelves in Flourish and Blotts.

"Harry!" She squealed when the group entered, and pulled him into a hug that rivalled Mrs. Weasley's.

"When you didn't reply to any of our letters I thought-"

"Been there, done that with Mum. And for everyone's sake, let Harry go before he has to regrow some ribs!" Ron forcibly pried Hermione's hands from around Harry's waist and led her back a few paces. "Lets get all the school stuff sorted, and then we can do some…" Here he winked very pointedly at Hermione, "…Shopping for a certain date in the near future."

She rolled her eyes at him and opened her mouth to tell him to stop being so blindingly obvious, but Harry gave a chuckle and stepped in.

"Oh don't worry I can't hear a thing and haven't a clue what you are talking about. I'll just wander over to these interesting books over here shall I?" However, he had not walked two steps before the two behind him dissolved into fits of laughter.

"Well…if that's what you…call read…reading material…" Hermione managed to gasp out.

"Whatever floats your boat, mate!" Ron was only marginally more coherent.

Harry slowly looked up at the sign above the bookshelves.

Adult reading: Mixed Species, Hetro/Homosexual, Non-Humanoid, House Elves, Nurses & Mediwizards, Fetish, Magazines & Aids.

Please ask a Flourish & Blotts assistant for help.

"Oh grow up you two!" he said indignantly. But he had to admit, it was funny, especially as his relationships had amassed to all of one, lasting barely two weeks. And what the hell was mixed species?