Harry Potter was sitting on his bed at the Dursley's poring over his many school books. His room was a combination of empty food wrappers and dirty clothes which was the result of many days of neglect. Muttering phrases of spells under his breath, Harry didn't pay attention to the popping sound outside his window. A sharp knock on his window made him jump and raise his wand at the same time. Harry merely opened the window when he realized who it was.

"Hermione, hi." Harry greeted his friend quietly.

Ignoring Harry's apparently glum mood, Hermione greeted him brightly. "Thought I'd pop on over here and celebrate your birthday with you. Gives me a good reason to practice my apparating." Hermione said with a grin.

"Oh, well, there aren't any celebrations planned." Harry replied. "Except the fact that I can actually practice magic and not just in theory."

"Harry, I know you want to be prepared for the near future, but you should lighten up, have some fun.

"Hermione, Dumbledore is de-"
"Har-"

"No, let me finish. Dumbledore is dead. DEAD, Hermione! Voldemort is back in power. The Ministry of Magic is a farce. What the HELL am I supposed to do when I am the only one who can stop him. I mean REALLY stop him." Harry said darkly.

Hermione quickly changed the subject. "So, now that you're seventeen and allowed to use magic, what's next for you?"

"Well, Lupin, Tonks, and a couple of other people are going to be here at some point today to transfer me to the Order's headquarters. This will be the last time I have to stay here with the Dursley's again. Anyway, they've all agreed to tutor me in advanced magic until Bill and Fleur's wedding. After that-I thought a visit to my mum and dad's graves. But after all of that is over, destroying the Horcruxes and Voldemort is my number one priority." Harry replied. Raising his wand, he directed all of his belongings into his trunk and all of the trash in the wastebasket. "I'd better get ready for the others." he muttered. "By the way, thanks for coming Hermione. I know Ron would be here if he could apparate. You know we're going together tomorrow for the test." Harry said with a half smile.

Harry and Hermione had just began talking about the upcoming wedding when a loud pop announced Lupin's arrival.

"Hello, Harry, Hermione." he greeted. "The others will be along in a second." he added.

"Harry, I'm going to go ahead and go. I've been invited to the Order's headquarters for the summer to keep you company as well as Ron so I'll see you there." Hermione said with a grin.

"That's great, Hermione." Harry said with his first real smile in weeks.

All of a sudden there were several pops as Hermione disapparated and Tonks, Mad Eye, and Shacklebolt apparated into Harry's bedroom.

Before he had a chance to greet the members of the Order, he heard footsteps thundering down the hall. The door of his bedroom was jerked open and Uncle Vernon stood in the fram red faced and furious. "What was all that noise and who are all these people?" he yelled to Harry.

"I'm leaving for good and these are my friends escorting me." Harry said quite calmly. "Now you can go back to living your perfect lives and pretending that the magical community doesn't exist. But take care of yourselves. We are in a war, after all." Harry added as he lifted his wand and all of his belongings floated to mid air. With a nod to Lupin, he grabbed his broomstick for the ride.

"Okay, the usual formation then?" Lupin said to the others.

Uncle Vernon opened his mouth and closed it and then cleared his throat seemingly unable to speak as Tonks transfigured Harry's window into a door. As Harry stepped out the door, he turned back for one last look at Uncle Vernon and the room that had sheltered him for so long. With a nod, he mounted his broom and rode off to battle.