Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

AN: I am sorry about the cliff hanger in the previous chapter, I planned on posting that and this chapter together but the internet gods were against me!

Harry sat alone on the school train staring out the window waiting, he had arrived very early and had decided that, instead of freezing on the platform, he would get onto the centrally heated train and wait for his friends in comfort. He was trying very hard not to think of the last two weeks of his holidays, but was failing dismally, images flashing through his brain. Against Harry's will, his mind drifted back to the day that he had found his boss had been murdered.

Harry stood for what seemed eternity, staring down at the body lying on the floor, his mind racing.

"Oh No! Death Eaters! They've found me!" Were the first things he thought, but then his senses kicked in, death eaters usually waited for him to arrive so they could try and kill him too, they did not usually just kill owners of shops for fun. Deciding it better to be safe, rather than sorry, Harry went to the store's phone and dialled 999, telling the operator that there had been a murder at the sweet shop he then put down the phone and rang Mrs Figg, telling her the same thing and that he had called the police. Knowing that she would contact the Order immediately he didn't keep her on the phone, rather he went out to the foot path in front of the store to await the arrival of the police or an order member, hoping that the Order would be conscious of the fact that there would be police there an not be too conspicuous.

As luck would have it Tonks was the Order member that Harry met on the footpath a few minutes before the police arrived, after speaking with Harry quickly she metamorphed herself to have brown hair and eyes, instead of the purple she had been sporting a few seconds earlier and transfigured her auror robes into the blue police uniform. Moments later a muggle police car pulled up and two muggle police officers stepped out, one of them staying to investigate the crime scene, the other taking Harry back to the station for questioning.

After hours of questioning by Constable Spencer, in which Harry was asked the same questions again and again, creating the need for him to keep a tight reign on his magic, just in case he lost control of his magic and inadvertently hexed Constable Spencer, Harry was let go.

"Thankyou for your time Mr Potter, it has been most helpful; I will get Constable Tontine to take you home."

Constable Spencer stood and after gathering his notes he stood to open the door and let another constable, presumably Constable Tontine. Harry muttered what he hoped was a suitable response and looked up to see Tonks smiling at him.

"Come along Mr Potter, you must be wanting to go home and have some rest. No doubt it's been a tiring day"

Harry smiled weakly and followed the kindly smiling auror out of the police station and down an alley way adjacent to the building.

"Come on Harry, I'll take you to Mrs Figg's house where a few people are waiting for you and we'll tell you everything there."

Tonks wrapped her arms around Harry's shoulders and during the time it took Harry to blink they had relocated to Mrs Figg's living room. Letting go of Harry Tonks went to find the others that she had mentioned and Harry went to the couch and sat down. Harry didn't know what to think, burying his head in his hands he assessed the situation, he felt numb, he didn't know what to think, this was the first time he had experienced evil outside of the wizarding world and his mind was reeling.

"Harry?" a soft voice jolted him out of his thoughts.

Harry looked up, standing before him was Remus, Professor Dumbledore, Tonks and Mad Eye Moody.

"Harry, there was no magic involved in this." Remus told him, "The police found evidence that Mr Pucey was killed by a youth who wanted money, the cash register was empty and there were signs that they had tried to get into the safe that's out the back. Mr Pucey must have surprised them and they panicked. This was just a very sad accident."

"Harry I found this on a shelf along the back wall with all the sweets, it had your name on it." Tonks said handing him an envelope. Harry took it from her and, looking down at his boss' handwriting, the events of the day finally hit him, sadness and grief overwhelmed him and he broke down and cried

Harry sighed and put his forehead against the cool glass of the train window, briefly thinking about the two weeks he had spent in his room, leaving only to buy some groceries. Aunt Petunia had refused to feed him, saying that as he hadn't needed it all summer, he didn't need it now. Harry didn't feel the need to tell her that his boss had been murdered so he was no longer leaving the house, and therefore had no where else to eat. The Order, in all their wisdom, had decided that as it hadn't been a magical attack, the safest place for Harry to be was still Privet Drive and had even sent his books to him, getting rid of his excuse to go to Diagon Alley. Harry, suffering from utter boredom, had actually read the books, in fact he had memorised them. A brief smirk crossed his face, maybe this year he'd actually give Hermione a run for her money in the know-it-all department.

The door to the compartment suddenly flew open, Harry spun, instinctively grasping his wand, only to release it again as he came face to face with his two smiling best friends.

"Harry!" Hermione screeched throwing herself at him

Harry caught her and swung her around in a circle grinning with undisguised delight at being able to talk to his friends again and not having to rely on letters. Although he hadn't been doing much letter writing during the last two weeks, he wasn't even sure if his friends knew that he had had a job, let alone everything that had happened after.

"Oh my goodness, it is so great to see you again! How were your holidays? Ron and I begged for you to be able to come to London but Professor Dumbledore kept saying that you were safer at Privet Drive. Have you got your books? What did you think about our DADA book, it looks good doesn't it? You have looked at you books haven't you Harry?" Hermione's incessant questioning was suddenly cut short when she caught site of what Harry was wearing. "Wow! Harry you look excellent! Where did you get the clothes! I mean, they fit!"

Harry grinned, his questions had been answered, they didn't know what had happened, in a way that was to be expected, the Order hadn't even known what Harry was doing on his holiday until he had called Mrs Figg.

"She's right mate," Ron said, speaking for the first time since he had entered the carriage, "You are looking better clothed this year, but are you alright otherwise? You look down."

Harry sighed, running his fingers through his hair and making it even more tussled than it usually was, wondering where to start. He decide to start at the beginning and go from there

"Well I hope you guys are comfortable because it is a loooonnngggg story" he said with a small smile, Hermione and Ron sat down on the seats across from him and looked at Harry expectantly, waiting to here the story. Harry allowed himself a small smile as he looked at his friends eager faces and started,

"Well, about two weeks into the holidays I was walking home from the park thinking that I really needed to get some clothes that fit, but realised to do that I needed a job, so I resolved to look in the newspaper for a job…" Harry started his story, continuing on as his friends listened with rapt expressions.

Harry had just started telling Ron and Hermione about the Rugby game he went to when the compartment door flew open once again, once again Harry spun grasping his wand in his hand, only this time he did not let go of it when he saw who stood in the door way.

"Well, well, look what we have here, the mudblood, the pot head and the weasel" Draco stood leaning against the doorframe with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

Taking a deep breath he turned to his two friends "Smell that boys? That's…" Suddenly, Draco went pale, spinning back to look at the inhabitants of the compartment, his eyes widened. He looked over his shoulder at Crabbe and Goyle and jerked his head,

"Come on, let's go. We don't want to waste our time with these losers." And with that Draco made his way down the centre of the train, not even looking back to see if his two friends were following.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other in disbelief,

"Well, that was different" commented Ron

"I wonder what happened to make him give up like that." Harry said sliding his wand back into his pocket "I have never seen Malfoy act like that before; we didn't even say anything to him."

"Did he look different to you?" Asked Hermione "He seemed… taller or something"

As it was obvious that Malfoy was not going to come back and explain his actions, Hermione and Ron turned back to Harry and he continued with the story of his summer vacation, telling them the story and answering questions until the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station and they got off to go to Hogwarts in the thestral driven carriages.