A/N: Helloooo to the wonderful people who took their time read and review my story; here's your personal thank you bit:

Eliniel: I know, it was weird killing Hedwig. But she had to die. Mwa ha ha.

Clearly Clayr: Thanks for pointing out the errors for me. I don't know why but my computer is doing this weird thing at the moment where it leaves out spaces, so sorry about that. Also thanks for pointing out the comma/speech marks error, I so didn't realise I was doing it! Im glad you find Hedwig interesting, I didn't know how that part was going to turn out. Reading back some parts do drag on a bit but I can't help myself, I want to write it all down : D

Anonymous Marauder: Glad you liked it/ thought it was weird. I am pretty weird so I guess that comes out in my writing lol.

justawriter: merci buckets, always cool to have someone say nice things about your work.

Washdup: again thanky you for being groovy and here is the next chapter!

Angelic Evility: If I was drunk right now I'd go into a long winded speech about how you're my best friend, how even though you hate me for dropping psychology you still find it in your heart to spray me with cleaning products and ultimately how you are a paper throwing freak before falling off my chair. But it's a Sunday afternoon and I'm not so I'll just say thanks a bunch and see you tomorrow. Also UPDATE!

Rosie W: I've already mailed you but I thought I'd just say here you're a great author and a helpful reviewer so cheers to you.

Disclaimer: (x2, forgot to do it last chapter)I don't own Harry Potter. If I did I wouldn't cry every time I took money out of the bank.

Ok I'm going to shut up and disappear until the end of the page.

Chapter Two

Petunia Regrets

Harry sat in his room, reading and re-readingthe notewhile Pig zoomed around his head, happy that he successfully delivered a letter from Ron. Harry waved his hand irritably, trying to shoo Pig back to Hedwig's empty cage. He looked down and sighed, trying to get back on track. The note from Ron read:

Harry,

Alright mate? I know its only been two weeks but you haven't replied to any of my letters. We're kind of worried so Mum and Dad are sending me and Hermione to get you tonight at five. Don't bother geting your stuff ready, we'll help you do it when we get there.

See you tonight

Ron

Harry wrote, "yeah see you then" on the back of the note, then heaved himself wearily from the chair and called Pig to him. Pig dive bombed onto the table and started pecking his finger impatiently in between hooting excitedly and looking round the room in a way that suggested the tiny owl might have had one too many treats.

Even though he felt like he would never laugh again, he found Pig quite amusing. He shook himself mentally and the empty feeling flooded back. 'Great' he thought, 'I have a hyper owl for company'. He finished tying the letter to Pig's leg with some difficulty, then opened the window and sent him through. As he watched the small owl fly off into the distance, the familiar wave of tiredness washed over him. He flopped down on the same bed that he'd spent the last week lying in - not sleeping – just lying, and he closed his eyes against the tiredness, the nausea, the guilt, the pain, the emptiness, everything he was feeling right then. They were overwhelming him, he screwed his eyes up tight until it really hurt thinking maybe, just maybe, if he wished hard enough then maybe he'd go back to being a baby and he wouldn't have to deal with anything anymore. He pushed himself onto his stomach as a few tears rolled down his cheeks.

Harry didn't know how long he stayed like that for. All he knew was that suddenly, there was an enormous crack from downstairs followed by an even louder crash and a small, "oof". Harry sat bolt upright, a huge grin spreading across his face. Ron was here.

Still grinning madly he leapt up from his bed and bounced over to his bedroom door. Ron was here! He wasn't alone anymore! And Hermione would be here soon and then the three of them would be together again, laughing and joking like old times- " AAGGGHHH! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Harry froze in his tracks as Uncle Vernon's voice filled the building. "Oh no".

Quickly he shot out of his room and leapt down the stairs. How could he have forgotten about the Dursley's? Ron's slightly alarmed voice could be heard trying to explain to Uncle Vernon how he came to be in the living room without opening a window or door when, just as Harry reached the living room, another shattering crack sent Uncle Vernon tumbling to the floor in surprise. Hermione stood just behind Ron, her bushy hair pulled back neatly into a half-ponytail, her brown eyes scanning the room. They finally moved to Harry.

She stood for a moment, apprehension in her eyes as she tried to work out his mood. Harry smiled. Her eyes lit up as she threw herself at him, momentarily knocking the wind out of him. "Harry you've no idea how good it is to see you, I've been so worried! Well everyone has really. I thought you might have done something stupid – you know, after last term everyone was…anyway you're OK, that's all that matters".

Ron grimaced and Harry patted her awkwardly on the back. "I'm fine 'Mione, really I am. You don't need to worry about me, I can handle it, you know that. 'Mione, are you crying?"

Hermione hastily wiped her eyes as she said thickly, "no, no of course not. I'm just so relieved you're OK, I really thought…knowing you…you would…anyway". She gave Harry one last squeeze and turned away to find Ron looking at her with an expression of horror and amusement. She blushed and looked around the room, her eyes resting on the broken vase.

"Harry, do you want me to clear that up for you?" she said, regaining her normal tone although her cheeks remained pink and she made special effort not to catch Ron's eye.

"Err yeah, thanks" said Harry as she moved towards the vase, pulling out her wand as she went. She was almost there when her wand was knocked forcefully from her hand. Harry watched, half scared half amused as Uncle Vernon pulled himself to his feet, the vein in his temple throbbing madly and his teeth bared in a snarl. "DON'T-USE-THAT-TWIG-IN-MY-HOUSE!" he roared, spittle flying and landing in Hermione's face. She wiped her cheeks hurriedly as she tried to explain. "I'm sorry, I-I was just trying to use m-magic to-"

With a war cry Uncle Vernon charged at her, his red face contorted with rage. Hermione uttered a shriek and covered her face with her hands.

Harry thought that he should probably step in and was about to when- "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

Uncle Vernon froze, eyes blazing and arms outstretched. Ron lowered his wand. "Blimey Harry, someone needs anger management"

Hermione picked up her wand, then threw her arms round his neck, saying shakily, "Oh Ron, you saved me! Thank you, thank you!" Ron turned red and mumbled, "yeah, it was nothing".

After a few moments she let go and turned on Harry. "Harry, why didn't you tell us how bad it is here? We could have come sooner, we could have told Dumbledore and-" Hermione bit her lip as Harry's face turned stony.

"Sorry, I-I didn't mean to bring him up. I keep forgetting, it doesn't seem real-"

"Just leave it" said Harry cutting across her sharply. He didn't feel like talking to anyone about Dumbledore ever again. In many ways, his death was proving even harder to deal with than Sirius'.

Hermione looked down at her feet and Ron looked at Harry awkwardly.

"Listen, mate, I know how your feeling-"

"No, you don't" said Harry curtly. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then at Harry who stood moodily pushing his toe further through the hole in his sock.

"Harry, please," began Hermione but the sound of the front door opening stopped her. "Vernon, we're home. Guess what? Duddykins has the cup! He won the county championships! Of course, I knew he would all along and obviously that nasty little boy he was up against knew too because he told the judge that Duddy had flushed his head down the toilet before the match! As if our little Duddykins would do that! He was obviously trying to get him disqualified…VERNON!

Aunt Petunia had reached the living room and was staring in horror at the oversized-statue that was Uncle Vernon. Dudley pushed past her with his enormous cup, his triumphant smirk sliding off his face as he saw, Harry, Ron and Hermione to be replaced by one of abandoned terror. Ron waved his hand in friendly greeting and said, "Hocus Pocus Dudley". Dudley squealed and pushed himself (with difficulty) behind the sofa, cuddling his precious cup.

Ron snorted, making Dudley squeal again. Hermione glared reproachfully and said, "Ron, I really don't think this the time or the place for that sort of childish behaviour. We've been here five minutes, your Dad said we've only got fifteen before they assume the worst and send aurors. If your parents send them on a wild goose chase they could be chargedwith wasting ministry time.Do you want that?" Without giving him a chance to reply she carried on, "I'm going to go upstairs and pack Harry's things. You had better stay down here with Harry and sort out the mess you made." Leaving Ron gawping after her she made her way over to the door. On the way, she trod on a piece of broken vase that was lying at Aunt Petunia's feet. She winced and waved her wand irritably at it, making it repair itself as it flew back onto the mantelpiece. Harry saw Aunt Petunia's eyes bulge and her cheeks whiten as her hand went to her mouth. Hermione carried on out of the room, calling over her shoulder, "You two hurry up, we've only got ten minutes!"

With that, she ran up the stairs leaving Harry and Ron momentarily shocked at how quickly they'd been left to sort everything out. Ron looked at Harry and said hesitantly, "Err, right, you sort out your Aunt and I'll…erm…oh I'll see to your Uncle"

Harry looked over at Uncle Vernon and understood why Ron was looking rather apprehensive. He glanced at Aunt Petunia, then did a double take. She was staring at him with her shaking hand still over her mouth, breathing heavily. Harry made his way over to her. "Erm, are-are you OK?" She lowered her hand to whisper, "was...was that….you know...magic?" Harry blinked and said, "Err, yeah, s'pose it was"

Aunt Petunia moved closer and whispered quieter still, "can, can you do that too? Can you mend something in a second, just like that? Just wave your wand and it's mended? You can, can't you? And - and I know you saved Dudley last year. You-you could do almost anything with…with magic"

"Err" said Harry uncertainly. Aunt Petunia moved even closer until they were just a few inches apart. She pushed his hair out of the way and looked into his eyes. Harry didn't know how to take this so he just stood there, wondering why on earth his Aunt was touching him; let alone looking at him with…remorse?

"You-you do have her eyes, you know" said Aunt Petunia. Harry was shocked; he'd never heard her speak of her sister without looking embarrassed or apologetic a moment after. Now, she looked…well she looked like she was going to cry.

"If you can do so much – could she? I always thought she was a – but maybe I've been – but its too late now, far too late…" She was interrupted by the sound of Dudley's cup smacking Ron on the head. Harry whipped his head round and saw Uncle Vernon sitting on top of Ron, his hands around his throat. He was screaming, "GO ON SON, GET 'IM! THAT'S IT YOU TEACH 'IM A LESSON! COMING INTO MY HOUSE WITH THAT TWIG, THINKS IT MAKES 'IM BETTER THAN US! WE'LL SHOW 'IM BOY, WE'LL SHOW 'IM!"

As if a spell had been broken Aunt Petunia tore her hands away from Harry. She looked at him for a moment longer before hurrying from the room, her white slender hand brushing her eyes. Harry still hadn't quite registered what was going on, so he was rather surprised to feel Ron's hand grasp his ankle as he managed to say, "Harry…help..."

Suddenly, Harry remembered that he and Ron were supposed to be getting ready to leave. He looked at the clock.Five minutes. He rushed over to help Ron, prising Uncle Vernon's fingers off his neck long enough for him to get up and stagger out of the room, trying to avoid Dudley and his cup (which wasn't hard as the cup was so big that Dudley couldn't see where he was aiming). Harry could hear Hermione running down the stairs and knew it was time to leave. He let go of his Uncle and sprinted out to the hall where he found Hermione holding his trunk and Hedwig's cage with one arm and supporting an oxygen starved Ron with the other. She turned and saw him, her expression relieved. "Thank goodness your here Harry; I thought we were going to be late"

Before Harry could voice his concerns about her main priorities, she said, "We're going to apparate so grab my arm"

"But I can appa-"

"Yes but I've passed my test so just grab my arm" she said agitatedly, her eyes flicking to the living room where Uncle Vernon was lumbering to his feet, his expression murderous. Harry decided not to argue and held on to her arm. He braced himself for the uncomfortable sensation of apparation and was sure they were just about to set off when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Aunt Petunia, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Harry, I've been so wrong about you and my sister. I saw there was something special, I suppose I was jealous so I never gave her the chance to show me – oh Harry, I just wanted to say that you have so much to cope with for someone so young. You're more special than I know and I'm so sor-"

The last thing Harry saw was his Aunt Petunia smiling at him through her tears, her hand on his shoulder. The next moment he was being compressed in a rubber tube; his eyes pushing against their socketsand hisears feeling like they were going to burst, his lungs were being squashed in his chest all air was gone, he had to breathe he had to breathe he had to-",

Harry's knees cracked painfully as he landed on the flagstone floor. He gulped in lungfuls of air, barely hearing a voice from somewhere above him saying, "Harry, Ron Hermionethank goodness you're safe!What took you so long? We thought you'd only be five minutes, ten at the most. We were on the point of sending the aurors in, although we would have faced charges if you'd been safe but one can never be too careful and afine is a small price to pay for your safety -oh my goodness Ron, what happened to your neck? It's all purple! Sit down dear, sit down, I can't understand a word your saying. I'll just get your father. ARTHUR! ARTHUR THEY'RE HERE! Hermione dear, would you get me that book there…yes that's the one. It's got everything you need on bruises and it looks like Ron needs some attention. ARTHUR!"

Harry heard footsteps and a second later he was lifted up and onto a chair. Arthur Weasley grinned down at him. "Hello Harry, good to see you in one piece! We were getting worried though; it took them ages to get you. Although I suppose you had to get your trunk packed and say goodbye…Harry, are you alright?

Harry was looking around the room, drinking in the familiar sights of the Weasley kitchen. The potatoes peeling themselves in the sink, the pictures waving cheerily from their frames, the Weasley's family clock (although the hands still pointed to 'mortal peril'), Mrs. Weasley fussing over Ron with Hermione pacing behind her muttering about 'madmen' and 'lunatics'. Harry finally turned his gaze back onto Mr. Weasley's tired, troubled face and grinned. "Yeah Mr. Weasley, I'm fine".

A/N: Wow that took ages (I forgot the A/N)

I got my GCSE results on August 25th and they were actually pretty groovy. I got two As, five Bs and three Cs so yay for me! Although they are rubbish compared to my friend who got all As and As apart from one B (but she is very brainy).

Please sign the guest book on your way out, thank you!