Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: Shhhhh! I shouldn't be here. I'm in my school's computer lab supposed to be working on my government project. I already finished it though, so, here I am! I hope everyon enjoys this chapter! Thanks!
Remus and Sirius weren't the only two people who were thinking about Harry. Two weeks later at the Burrow, both Molly and Arthur Weasley were talking quietly in the kitchen. The topic of their conversation was, of course, Harry.
Arthur watched placidly as Molly stalked up and down the kitchen in obvious anger. To say that Molly was enraged with Dumbledore was the understatement of the century. Enraged didn't even begin to cover how angry she was with the wizened old Professor.
"Honestly Arthur! What was that man thinking! Harry needs to be with the people who love and understand him! The Dursley's don't understand him at all!" Molly ranted.
"I couldn't agree more with you Molly," Arthur said quietly. "I met them last summer, remember? I had hoped that Ron and the twins had exaggerated about the Dursley's dislike of Harry. That illusion of mine was shattered when I picked Harry up. The Dursley's don't care about him one bit."
"Which is precisely my point! Harry needs to be with us! We know what he has been through!" Molly exclaimed.
"I know, believe me I know. Which is why I have never been gladder in my life to see a piece of paper," Arthur said, a grin threatening to break through his serious expression.
Molly looked at him as though he had finally lost his mind. "Arthur dear, since when have you ever been glad to receive paperwork?"
"Since this afternoon. This came today," he said grinning while placing a piece of parchment on the table ever so carefully.
Molly stopped her pacing and came over to the table. "What is it Arthur?" she asked, not daring to believe that it might be what she had been waiting for almost three years.
"It is the official approval of the courts for us to become Harry's guardians. All we have to do is get the Dursley's signatures and their approval. I doubt that will be hard at all," Arthur said joyously.
Molly squealed and embraced her husband. Finally, after nearly of three years of trying, their efforts had paid off. Harry would become one of their own officially.
"There is one problem Molly," Arthur warned her.
"Oh? What's that?" she asked curiously.
"Professor Dumbledore. He may not want Harry removed from his Aunt's house. Something to do with the protection of her blood because she's Lily's sister," Arthur said.
"Arthur, I don't give a damn if Petunia's blood protects Harry from You-Know-Who. He's not safe there from his relatives. What good is the blood protection if his own relatives mistreat him?" Molly said furiously.
Arthur smiled and kissed his wife. "I was hoping that you would say that. I have the utmost respect for Albus, but I don't think that he knows what is going on in that house. We will be doing this without his permission, but frankly, we don't need it. The courts have already approved it and that's all we need."
"Oh Arthur! I can't wait to tell everyone else! When can we go and get Harry?" Molly exclaimed.
"As soon as we get the Dursley's to sign the papers. In other words, when ever we can get to Surrey," he said happily.
Molly hugged and kissed him again. "Let's go tell the children! They'll be so excited! I just hope Harry would like us to be his guardians."
"Don't worry dear. After all, he's a Weasley already. It just wasn't official till now," Arthur said with a smile.
Molly clapped her hands excitedly before hollering for her children to get down into the kitchen.
The twins, Ron, and Ginny made their way down the stairs noisily, and hastily assembled in the kitchen. They were surprised when they didn't see Bill, Charlie, or Percy. They had thought for sure from their mother's tone of voice that their elder brothers had come home.
Molly saw their expressions and smiled gently. "No, I'm sorry, your brothers aren't home yet. They should be here within the next couple of days though."
"Then what did you call us down here for mum?" Ginny asked.
"Your father and I wanted to share some news with you," she said mysteriously.
The teenagers looked at one another with confusion. Minutes ago they had heard their mother yelling her head off and now she was positively beaming. Something strange was going on here.
"Now, Bill, Charlie, and Percy already know what is going on and they support this fully. We want to know if you will support as well," Molly said.
"Support what?" the teenagers chorused together.
"Well, for nearly three years now, your mother and I have been looking into what it would take to gain custody over a minor. It's been a difficult process but we finally got the approval of the courts today," Arthur said.
All the teenagers looked at each other with some confusion again. "Mum? Who are we gaining custody over?" Ron asked curiously.
"That, is the best part dears. We have finally gained guardianship over one Harry James Potter," Molly said smiling.
For a moment, there was dead silence, and then the whoops of joy came. "Did you hear that Ginny! Harry is going to be a part of the family for real!" Ron exclaimed.
"This is..."
"Bloody awesome!" Fred and George said.
"Fred! George! Watch your language," their mother scolded them half heartedly.
The twins just grinned and grabbed Ron and Ginny and did a celebration dance.
"When can we go and get him mum?" Ron asked excitedly. He could hardly believe this. One of his most desired dreams was coming true.
"As soon as we can get over to Surrey. Say, tomorrow?" Arthur said.
Everyone exchanged grins. "Can we come!" they all asked together. Arthur frowned in thought. He knew that they would want to come but he wasn't sure if it was that great of an idea. The Dursley's were quite adverse to magical folk and if the whole bunch of them went, they might not sign the guardianship papers.
Molly however saved him from answering the teenagers. "Absolutely not! This house is a catastrophe at the moment! I want the house to look at least semi-presentable for Harry!" she said.
"Oh but mum, Harry's already been here. He knows what this place usually looks like," Ron complained.
"Which is precisely why you will all be cleaning up your rooms so that Harry, for once I might add, can see this house in good condition," Molly said sternly.
The teens grumbled but finally gave in to their mother's demands.
"Good! Now that that's settled, what time will you be going to Surrey Arthur?" Molly asked.
Arthur frowned in thought. "I should probably get there a little after noon. I wouldn't want to startle them to early in the morning."
"Great! Now, let's get to work!" Molly said.
Arthur smiled as his children grumbled but didn't really complain. They were all far to happy that Harry was coming to live with them permanently to really complain about the cleaning. It was more than a fair trade off and they knew that.
This time tomorrow, all the Weasley's would be home. Every single one of them, and it was about time as well.
-
Little did Harry Potter know that as he sweated away in the Dursley's garden the next day that his true family was coming to get him.
It was only two weeks into the summer and it was already one of the most miserable Harry had ever endured. The little prank that Fred and George had played on Dudley had proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back.
Ever since he had returned from Hogwarts, the Dursley's had given him nothing but grief. From Aunt Petunia, he got a list of chores as long as his arm. Dudley constantly tormented him about his nightmares, which Dudley would hear at night. Vernon however, was the worst of the three.
As long as Harry could remember, his Uncle had always abused him physically and mentally. The physical abuse had stopped after he had received his Hogwarts letter, but not the mental abuse.
That however, had changed this summer. The first thing that Vernon had done when they had gotten back from the train station was to punch Harry hard in the ribs and stomach. Things had finally gone back to way they had been before Hogwarts, and it was not for the better.
Every day, Harry would do his chores, get little to no food, get beaten where it was not obvious by Vernon, and then go to bed only to see Cedric die repeatedly in his dreams.
All in all, this was the worst summer he had ever experienced by far.
Harry sighed as he took in the garden. With all the rain they had been having, weeds had popped up everywhere. As such, every day he had been outside pulling the weeds up, no matter what the weather.
Today though, he had at last gotten a break. The sun was shining and it was actually pleasant out for once.
As he worked on the weeds, he didn't think anything of a car pulling up in front of the house. Throughout the summer many of Vernon's clients had visited for one reason or another.
Thus, he was very surprised when someone called his name. "Harry?" he heard a familiar voice say.
Harry looked up and much to his surprise and delight he saw Mr. Weasley standing in front of him. "Mr.Weasley! I'm sorry, I thought you were one of my Uncle's clients."
"No harm done Harry. What are you doing there Harry?" he asked, seeing the pile of plants that Harry had pulled up.
"Oh, I was just weeding Aunt Petunia's garden. With all the rain we've been having they have been sprouting like crazy," Harry said, hiding a wince as his ribs throbbed from his motions.
"Oh! That makes sense. Tell me, are the Dursley's here?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah, they're inside eating lunch," Harry said.
"I see," Arthur said, trying to hide his growing dismay. Harry looked quite the sight, covered from head to toe with dirt and skinnier than ever. Molly would not be pleased with that at all.
Seeing Harry here weeding the garden while his so called family ate lunch further reassured him that they had made the right choice in gaining custody over Harry. This maltreatment had to end.
"Well come on then, let's go and see them shall we?" Arthur said, holding out a hand to hoist Harry up.
"We?" Harry asked as he accepted the hoist.
"Yes we Harry. There is much that we have to discuss with the Dursley, and if it interrupts their lunch, so be it," Arthur said.
Harry was going to suggest that they wait until after the Dursley's had finished their lunch, but one look at Mr. Weasley's unusually determined face led Harry not to say anything.
With one arm around Harry's shoulder, Mr. Weasley led Harry back into the house where the confrontation with the unsuspecting Dursley's was about to begin.
TBC