It was ten in the morning when a knocking at the front door of number 4 private drive brought Petunia Dursley out of her kitchen and Vernon form the den. Petunia dried her long tin hands on a dish towel that she was carrying. She opened the door to see a strange large black car in the drive way. There were three people she had only ever seen at Kings Cross Station, three people she definitely didn't want the neighbours seeing standing on her door step.

Pretending not to know them she looked at them quizzically pursing her lips. "How may I help you?" she asked politely taking in their appearance. One had greying hair, another had various pieces out of her face missing, and the last had deep forest green stick straight hair to her waist. All of them wore robes. Definitely not the type of people who would be easily accepted in this strictly muggle neighbourhood.

"Hello, I'm Remus Lupin, This is Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks we are here to get Harry for the rest of the summer." said the greying man.

Petunia looked at them nervously and was ready to close the door in their faces when her hulking husband, Vernon, looked out the door over her head. " Let them in quickly Petunia," he said remembering the threat that they had made him at the beginning of the summer.

Tonks, Moody and Remus entered the ultra clean house as Vernon bustled them. Vernon was thinking that the faster he could these weirdoes inside, the faster they would leave and the Dursley's would be back to being Harry free for another eleven months. Vernon had to go to work as well but he figured Petunia would have no problem handling this crowd it was after all her fault the little devil came to live with them in the first place.

Harry had been upstairs working on his summer homework when the two Aurors and Remus had arrived. He had already done all of his summer work but was redoing as a why to keep is mind from wandering down more painful paths. He heard something crash downstairs and someone apologizing profusely to his aunt Petunia for it.

Harry got up and walked dot he top of the stairs. A faint smiled graced his lips for the first time in a month when he saw the scene at the bottom of the stairs. Tonks had knocked over a vase of Narcissus and the vase hand chattered. She was now repairing the vase and putting the flowers back into it. Professor Moody was looking peeved, glare at Tonks. If looks could kill... Aunt Petunia stood there looking shocked to say the least.

"Hey Tonks, Professor Moody, Professor Lupin is it time to go?" Harry asked both excited to be leaving and not wanting to go back to headquarters. Number Twelve Grimwalde Place would remind him even more of Sirius.

As of the first day of holidays Harry had tried hi best to keep himself busy and his mind of his godfather. He had taken to running every mourning and he had continued to look after his aunt and uncle's garden. He did not do so because he had been ordered to it as had been the case in the past but because he would do anything to keep his mind occupied. Mostly the Dursley's ignored Harry's very existence although once or twice plans what Petunia planed to do with the flower beds had been "accidentally" left on the table where Harry found them. Working out, school work and the gardens had kept him sane up to this point.

"Hello Harry, wotch," said Tonks as cheerfully as usual. Harry noticed that Tonks seemed older, her bright smile did not reach her eyes as it had before. Harry saw in her someone else who had been deeply affected by Sirius's death. Other then her mother Tonks had no one left on the Black side with whom she had any wish to associate. "Ready to go? We are due at Headquarters in just under two hours," said Professor Lupin.

"Yep, I'm almost done packing," said Harry. Actually the truth be told Harry had never truly unpacked.

"I'll come up and help you," said Tonks walking up the stairs much to Petunia's chagrin already having see one of her precious ornaments broken and magically reassembled. Petunia knew that Vernon would throw it out simply because it had been in contact with what he considered unnaturalness.

Vernon mumbled something about having a meeting to go to and bustled out the door. Petunia heard his care fire up and drive out of the drive way. She sighed inwardly. He she was on her own in her house with three wizards and a witch.

"Petunia Evans," said the grey haired man. "What happened to you? You didn't hate magic like this when I first met you." Remus looked at this woman, the sister to a woman he had loved as his won sister, the wife of one of his best friends and mother to the boy he saw as a nephew.

Petunia looked up at this man with scared eyes. She had met Remus Lupin before, and long while before. One year she had been with her parents when they had gone to pick Lily p off the train from school. Thinking hard she couldn't remember if it had been her sisters 5th of 6th year. Lily had emerged from the hidden platform 9 and ¾ with another student whom she introduced to them was Remus Lupin. Petunia had showered them with questions about eh magical world. "I gave that up, hid it all away. Please…it Vernon ever found out….ever.. he would leave my son with him. My interest in the magical world died with Lily." Petunia whispered this. "Please Remus, my love for magic died when my parents and Lily died believing I hated her."

"Petunia, you should be able to live as yourself." Remus looked at the distraught woman. "Be who you were born to be, no one else. I will tell no one not even Harry: said Remus.

As this exchange ended Harry and Tonks reappeared with Tonks floating Harry's trunk. "Ready to go Remus," said Tonks cheerful as she and Harry approached.

"Let go then," said Moody gruffly.

The two Aurors the boy and the werewolf left number four Private Drive. They got into a large black ministry care after putting Harry's trunk in the back. "How long will it be?" asked Harry as he couldn't judge the distance from their round about flight the summer before.

"About an hour and half, Harry," replied Remus. Harry looked at the last of the Marauders. This man had lost so much and was truly Harry's last connection to his past. The last connection his mother and father as well as too Sirius.

It was a quiet hour and a half drive to the Headquarters. Everyone was at a lose to what to talk about. In the end they just didn't talk about anything. Talk of the war lead to orders stuff and that was taboo. They couldn't talk about the world because the led to the war, other things led to Sirius, and still other's led to Shadow.

After awhile Harry drifted off to sleep. I seemed only moments later that Tonks was shacking him awake. "We're here Harry," said Tonks in a quiet voice. Harry noticed she was almost nervous sounding. They got out of the car to find that Moody and Remus had already retrieved Harry's trunk.

As the quartet walked towards number twelve the house that wasn't there suddenly was there between its two neighbours. This didn't choke Harry as it had the year before. Actually, when Harry thought about it he didn't think anything would surprise him every again. He felt so numb to the world around him.

They walked up to the house and as quietly as possible entered. The quiet seemed tense, Harry guessed that this indicated that no one had been able to remove Mrs. Black's portrait from the front hallway. As they walked into the house and crowding into the foyer Harry saw a flash of long red hair. At first he surmised that it was probably one of the Weasley's but then he realised that none of that family had hair of such a deep red nor did any have hair so long that it fell to their hips. Their hair was all fire red. He had only ever seen hair like that on one person. He stared in chock. "Mom?"