I feel particularly ashamed of myself. I have recklessly begun yet another fic - now I have three on the go - just because my main one had ground to a halt.

I won't say what 'type' of fic this is, since it will ruin it... but I'll say this. It's a well-used 'type'... with a twist. A dark version of this... 'type'.

I won't tell you the pairings either. You have to wait.

Many thanks to FireOpal, who has gotten her arse into gear at last and started acting like a proper beta.

Don't hit me!

Harry Potter yawned widely and buried his head into the flat pillow, black hair in stark contrast against the white cotton. Sunlight streamed through the thin curtains on the late August dawn and he could hear movement in the room beside his as his uncle and aunt started moving around. Hedwig hooted gently from her cage on his desk.

"Up!"

"Mrrm." He muttered into the sheets.

"Now!"

"Yes, Aunt Petu…" Warm bed…

"I mean it!"

"I'm up." He replied finally, yawning again and sitting up in his bed, stretching widely. He grinned as he caught sight of his homemade calendar on the wall at the end of his bed. It was September the first; time to get rid of his Aunt and Uncle again for a whole year. Shuffling out of his bed, he grinned at Hedwig.

"Time to go home, girl."

She hooted gently as he pulled off his pyjamas and shrugged on a pair of massive jeans and an old shirt of Dudley's. He opened the window to let her fly out and walked out onto the landing and descended the stairs to the kitchen, where he could already smell bacon frying.

Uncle Vernon's red face peered around the side of the newspaper as he entered, piggy eyes watching him suspiciously as he got a glass of water.

"You're going today." He remarked. Harry bit back a smart reply.

"Yes. But I don't need you to take me; I already have transport."

"Wasn't going to anyway." Uncle Vernon muttered as he returned to his newspaper. Harry raised an eyebrow at the offending media and turned to Aunt Petunia.

"Can I help?" he asked politely. She scowled at him.

"Set the table."

The summer hadn't been that bad, Harry mused as he took the cutlery out of the drawer. The Dursleys had behaved as could be expected after Moody's threats, and generally steered clear of Harry, communicating with polite but short sentences. Harry returned the gesture. They no longer complained about Hedwig; Aunt Petunia told him that he could do whatever he wanted, so long as he stayed in his own room. For the first time in his life as a wizard, he had been able to do his homework in broad daylight without fear of being yelled at if he were caught. It was refreshing to say the least.

Dudley announced his presence by yawning ridiculously loudly.

"You're going off to your freak school today, aren't you?" he queried between yawns. Harry nodded.

"And there's a good chance I'll not be coming back, so I'm going to take everything with me. I'll be an adult by next August, so hopefully I'll only have to be here for a few days at the most."

"No you won't." Uncle Vernon interrupted suddenly.

"Won't what?" Harry asked, pausing in his job to look at Uncle Vernon with a puzzled look on his face.

"Won't be an adult. I know you won't. You're younger than Dudley, and he'll still be seventeen next August. You're lying."

"I'm not." He replied, keeping his annoyance hidden. "In the- in my world, we're adults at seventeen."

Uncle Vernon eyed him suspiciously and grunted before returning to his newspaper. Harry shrugged and finished setting the table as Aunt Petunia put bacon and sausages into a dish and brought it over to the table, where Dudley sat down heavily, piggy eyes drinking in the sight of the food.

Packing his belongings into his trunk half an hour later, Harry wished more than ever that he could use just a simple Shrinking Charm on half of his belongings. Rather than send him into Diagon Alley personally, the Order had decided to send Tonks in his place. He had sent Hedwig with his list and later that day received a package with the instructions to tap everything three times to return it to normal size.

Although he had to admit that using Tonks was a much more sensible option, he was still a bit peeved that he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ron and Hermione throughout the holidays. As promised, he sent a letter to the Order every three days, and later that day he would get one back. Hermione and Ron had started off sending him letters at least twice a week, but soon stopped, and occasionally added their names to the bottom of Tonks' letters, which led Harry to assume that they were staying at Grimmauld Place for the last bit of the summer.

Dumbledore had been in touch with him a week after his birthday and informed him that Sirius had left the entire Black fortune to him in his will, including the Black house. Harry had given permission for the Order to use it as Headquarters still, but now wasn't quite sure what to do with two massive fortunes stored deep under London.

As he forced his trunk shut and locked it, the alarm on his watch went off to signify half past ten. He switched it off and opened his bedroom door, dragging his trunk down the stairs awkwardly whilst Dudley watched from his bedroom door.

"Dad's not going to take you to the station, you know."

"I know. I'm going to get the bus." He replied, panting slightly.

"You don't have any money for a bus." Dudley said shrewdly, eyes narrowed.

"I'm not getting a normal bus." The trunk landed heavily on the hall floor and he opened the door, shoving it though and then climbing back up the stairs to collect Hedwig and his Firebolt, encountering Dudley again at the top. "I'm getting a bus for people like me."

"They have things like that?" he asked, aghast. Harry grinned.

"Of course. But people like you never see them."

Once all his belongings were down on the pavement, he stood and stuck out his right arm. There was a bang and the Knight Bus barrelled into view, screeching to a halt beside Harry. Stan leapt out.

"Hello there!" he greeted cheerfully.

"Hi Stan." Harry replied. "Could you get my stuff onto the bus? I'll be back in a moment."

He turned and jogged back up to the house, where the Dursleys were stood in the doorway, apparently oblivious to the massive purple bus.

"Well… I might see you next summer." He said awkwardly. Uncle Vernon looked at him as though he were a slug. "But if not… thanks."

They didn't reply, so he left them, stepping onto the bus and paying Stan thirteen Sickles.

"King's Cross Station." He said tiredly as he sat down in an armchair. Stan relayed the message to Ernie, and with an almighty bang, Harry left Privet Drive.

He was going home.

As you can see... not much happens. It starts getting interesting in the next chapter.

smokey

is slowly losing her mind.