Thanks for the reviews! It definitely inspired me to get the next chapter out-and Tom, I'm waiting for your story now!

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Harry Potter (except for numerous action figures, books, blankets, pillows, and even this weird hanging mobile that my mom bought me)

CHAPTER 2: The Last Summer with the Dursleys

Harry wasn't exactly sure where Ron and Hermione were going to sleep. He hoped Uncle Vernon wouldn't suggest the cupboard under the stairs, but he wasn't sure if he'd be comfortable with three wizards sleeping upstairs, either.

Uncle Vernon had apparently been thinking about this same problem. When the car pulled into Number 4, Privet Drive, he turned and looked at the three of them. "Now, I don't want to see you any more than I have to, you got it? Stay up in that room of yours. I think your Aunt has some chores for you," he said, as he looked up and saw Petunia in the doorway.

"Vernon," she shrieked, "Harry's trunk, and two more, just landed on our kitchen table!"

Harry jumped out of the car, Ron and Hermione quickly following. "Opps," Ron blushed, "I guess I didn't quite vanish them to the right room."

Aunt Petunia looked shocked. "Who are you two?" she snarled. Hermione stepped up, and gripped her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger, one of Harry's friends. And this is Ron." She shoved him forward and put his hand in Petunia's, forcing them to shake. "Right," Hermione said confidently, "I'll take care of the trunks."

She pulled out her wand and walked inside. Petunia followed, speechless. "Harry, show me your room," Hermione said, as she bewitched the trunks to follow her. Harry took them both upstairs to his room. It was a mess. He groaned, and began to pick up his stuff. He'd forgotten he'd left it in such a mess. He'd just been so exited when Dumbledore's letter had arrived, and so afraid he wouldn't show… Harry felt that now familiar flop of his stomach, and pushed the thoughts of Dumbledore's visit out of his mind.

Ron gleefully pulled out his wand and attempted to put the room in order.

Uncle Vernon suddenly pushed open the bedroom door. His face was once again a brilliant purple, and Harry could see chunks of his mustache missing. "WHAT WAS SHE DOING….THAT…FOR?"

Harry smiled inwardly. Apparently three wizards in the house scared Uncle Vernon a bit. He'd be willing to bet it wouldn't have taken him a full 30 seconds to storm up the stairs if Harry'd been the one doing magic. Harry shrugged. "Hermione's of age. She can do magic without getting in trouble." He paused for one, beautiful second before adding, "And so can Ron."

Harry thought he saw Uncle Vernon's eyes widen, but he quickly gained control of his anger and shouted, "NOT WHILE THEY'RE IN MY HOME," before stomping back down the stairs.

Harry turned around, and saw Ron rolling on the floor laughing, and Hermione looking anxious. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to cause trouble."

Harry smile and said, "Naw, it was great. I almost missed that face. I think I'm going to like having you two here."

Ron came up for air, and managed to get out, "His moustache!" before falling back down. Harry and Hermione began to laugh, too.

After Harry regained his breath, he asked, "Why didn't an underage warning appear, though? The ministry can't tell who does the magic, Dumbledore told me so." He felt the stomach flop again. Was he ever going to get used to him being gone?

Ron merely said, "My dad told them we'd be here."

"Excellent, then I can use magic, too!" Harry exclaimed. Hermione groaned. "Only joking, only joking, Hermione!"

They half-heartedly cleaned up the room. Then Hermione cleverly transfigured some of Dudley's old toys (the real air rifle and the tank) into sleeping bags. They shoved Ron's attempts at transfiguring toys back under Harry's bed (where they found, with a shock, The Monster Book of Monsters), and the three headed back down the stairs to the kitchen for some food.

Just as they entered the kitchen, Dudley entered through the back door. Another year of boxing made him more formable looking than ever, and the second he saw Harry, his thick arms were around his neck, crushing him. "I haven't forgotten about what you did to me last summer," he growled. Harry remembered when Dudley would watch wrestling on the telly, and Harry had a faint vision of him and Dudley in the wrestling ring. Apparently those moves weren't quite as fake as they looked on TV, Harry thought as he squirmed for breath.

Ron had jumped on Dudley's back, using the same wrestling move, but apparently didn't quite have the same force as Dudley, as Dudley noticed him about as much as the troll noticed Harry back inyear 2when Harry was hanging on his back. Unfortunately, Ron did not have a wand handy to stick up Dudley's nose, so, Hermione, sighing, pulled out her own wand and waved it, muttering, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Dudley's arms and legs snapped to his side and he fell against the sink. Harry jumped up and massaged his throat. "Thanks, Hermione." He looked at Dudley, "For the last time, I was PROTECTING you last summer. Now stop attacking us." He muttered the counter-curse.

Dudley just stood there, blinking. Ron looked him in the eyes and said, "BOO!"

Dudley found his feet, and ran up the stairs. "RON!" Hermione shouted, "That isn't funny."

"Yes, it is!" Harry and Ron smiled together. "Come on, let's find something to eat."

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Fortunately for everyone involved, the next day Dudley had a boxing tournament, and so Harry, Ron, and Hermione woke up with the whole house to themselves. They settled into the living room, intending to finally show Ron a television, when Aunt Petunia walked into the room. Harry looked at her, surprised. "I thought you were going to Dudley's tournament?"

"I am…But I know you are leaving for good soon, and I wanted to give you something." She pulled out a battered wooden trunk. She opened it, and pulled out some blankets. "You were left on our doorstep nearly 16 years ago. And you were wrapped in these. That man, the one who picked you up last year, left you wrapped in these, with this letter." She sniffled slightly. "I don't know why I kept it. I still pretend like she isn't my sister. But I did. And, um…when my parents died, which was right before your mom and dad were killed, they left a house full of different things of Lily's." She gestured toward the trunk. "Something all these years has made me keep them." She stood up abruptly. "I have to go to Dudley's tournament." She walked out, and it wasn't until they heard her car pull out of the driveway that Harry, not speaking, slowly got up from his chair and moved toward the trunk.

He looked at the trunk more closely. It had chipped paint, with a crudely drawn lily on the center. He looked inside. He pulled out a coloring book. It had "LILY" scribbled on the inside cover. He smiled. He found old, muggle homework, with a smiley face on the top. He pulled out a tiny baby dress. He looked at it and wondered if it had been his mom's first dress. He found a small pair of ruby slippers. She must have liked that movie! Harry smiled, and imagined his mom dressed up. "I wonder if she'd been drawn to the movie because it has witches in it," he mused.

Hermione and Ron had wordlessly been looking at each item, after Harry had carefully set it down. After the entire trunk had been emptied, Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, expectantly. He didn't know what to say.

He was filled with warmth, and sat down, still looking at them. Finally, Hermione cleared her throat and said, " Everything here is from before she came to Hogwarts."

Harry looked over it quickly and realized she was right. He knew then that he was right to travel back to Godric's Hollow. "That is why I have to go back to their home, in Godric's Hollow. I'll be able to fill in the rest of the story."

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The remainder of the visit at Number 4, Privet Drive, was unremarkable. Aunt Petunia didn't even mention the trunk, or look in Harry's direction again. Instead, she and Vernon, as usual, piled praise on Dudley, who'd just become the light heavyweight champ in the city boxing league, and ignored Harry. Dudley, of course,had never had a positive encounter yet with a wizard, and chose to spend more time than usual roaming the neighborhood with his gang rather than face Harry's "gang".

Harry's insides were becoming more and more twisted as the visit to the Burrow approached. He'd not talked to Ginny since the funeral, and was slightly afraid to do so now. So far, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had refrained from mentioned the youngest member of the Weasley family.

When Harry's stomach wasn't focused on Ginny, it was twisting in agony of not knowing what to do about the horcruxes. He just kept his mind Godric's Hollow, and was praying he'd realize what to do once he got there.

They decided to spend a couple of days visiting Fred and George in Diagon Alley, and so, two days before the wedding, they (Hermione insisted she did it, actually) vanished their trunks- Harry now owning two of them- to Fred and George's flat above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

The three of them decided to apparate to Diagon Alley. Hermione, of course, insisted that Harry and Ron, neither of whom had yet gotten their license, side-apparate with her when they left.

Once they reached Diagon Alley, Harry let his mind wander- what exactly do you buy as a wedding gift at a wizard's wedding? he wondered.

Hermione also apparently was wondering the same thing. "Ron, is there any difference between a wizard's wedding and a muggle wedding?"

Ron looked at her, "What, you think I took muggle studies? How the heck should I know?" He grinned. "You mean, in all the pages of Hogwarts, a History, there isn't a single wedding?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and laughed.