Disclaimer:This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling. The cards used are copyrighted by Lynn Gordon/ A Spark! production and published by Chronicle Books.

No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Note: When we were on one of our shopping spree's in Amsterdam, we ran into several card decks…. This story sprang forth from the '52 Ways to find your true love' card deck. The idea is that we each take a POV and write alternating chapters, as you will see when the story develops. – Veer and Nat –

Thank you to our betasTip and Keikokin!

Chapter 3

Harry heaved a deep sigh – inwardly – while trying to look like he was trying to give the impression that he was listening to Aunt Petunia's speech. He didn't want to be here in the kitchen, washing the Dursley's dishes. He wanted to pack his trunk and think about his final year at Hogwarts.

Deep inside he knew he didn't want to go back to Hogwarts at this point. Although, if he had to choose between staying at the Dursley's and going to Hogwarts, the choice would be easy enough. But still...he'd rather not go to school this year. Harry didn't want to think about where he would go after graduation. Every year since he had started school, his hopes of staying someplace other than Privet Drive were crushed. He didn't think he'd get that chance when he finished Hogwarts either. Why would he be allowed to stay somewhere else? He wasn't allowed to do so during summer breaks so he couldn't imagine Dumbledore agreeing or even approving of him not going to the Dursley's after graduation.

He'd tried not to show it to anybody. His so-called family, the Dursleys, certainly never noticed it. Ron and Hermione had both asked what was wrong with him in various letters. Harry hoped they hadn't noticed that he wasn't answering those questions. He also had to be especially careful around a keenly insightful werewolf who had almost guessed what exactly was nagging him. He actually i didn't /i want to keep this from Remus but he also didn't want to bother the haggard man whilst he was engaged on so many important missions for the Order. Besides, Remus was still mourning Sirius and Harry didn't want to add to the older man's troubles.

Harry focussed on his aunt again. He was relieved to notice that she had stopped her rant. He quickly finished all of his chores and finally began to get packed for school. He checked his trunk, his room and the cupboard under the stairs, to be was certain that he had all of his things and thought about everything that had happened since Hagrid had introduced him to the wizarding world. Mostly he thought about all the people that he had met, both friends and foes. He realized that a lot of his thoughts centered about a very sexy platinum blond boy – young man – Harry corrected himself.

"Now why would I think Malfoy is sexy?" Harry whispered to himself, confused. He never thought about girls, but that hadn't concerned him nearly as much as it had Ron, who was thinking of girls and especially Hermione, virtually without pause. It was also the first time he had thought that way about a boy. He never would have suspected that he'd be more interested in men than women.

Harry had to think about it more carefully before he drew conclusions, though, that was for sure. He'd also consider what to tell Remus, Ron and Hermione – or even if he should tell them at all.

It hadn't crossed his mind that his friends, Remus included, had already guessed that he was more focussed on men than women.

At last he had what little he possessed locked in his trunk and Hedwig in her cage. His aunt and uncle had promised to drive him to the train station as Dudley was on some sort of Smeltings Summer outing.

"Boy!" he heard his uncle yell "Get your lazy arse downstairs and put your evil things in the car. We're going to that damn train station to drop you off, hopefully for the last time, and we certainly hope to never see you again after that. So come here, you good for nothing!"

Just for a minute Harry tried to imagine what would happen if he didn't do what his uncle told him to. But he actually had no interest in finding out. What if he got locked up in the cupboard again? Although he was now seventeen, and not terribly tall, it would still be quite difficult to fit in the cupboard now, 'Best be going then,' he thought to himself.

Harry guessed that his uncle and aunt thought it funny to call him all sorts of names during the drive to the train station, but they didn't leave it at that. Oh no, he wasn't that lucky. They also made fun of his parents. Normally, which is to say, in previous years that would have made Harry explode with rage. It still hurt, but he had matured enough that he was able to keep silent until he got through the barrier at King's Cross Station.

He didn't allow himself to hope though. Hexing his family to hell was certainly high on his priority list, but not a good thing if he wanted to live somewhere else – the Dursleys knew the worst torture they could concoct for Harry would be to make him stay with them. Although it i would /i be good therapy, it would not be appreciated. Not by Professor Dumbledore, not by the rest of the Hogwarts Staff and certainly not by the Ministry of Magic. Remus might be the only one who would appreciate the reasons that would drive Harry to do it. So he braced himself and tried to think positive thoughts.

It didn't work.

"Ok," he thought "Maybe it works if I think about all the things I could do to the Dursleys if I could get away with it," a distinctly Malfoy smirk, albeit a very small one, appeared on his face as his eyes began to glitter with the inner fire of mischief.

When they arrived at the train station he was actually disappointed. He hadn't even gotten a chance to be really creative about the hexes and curses he was considering for use on the Dursleys. "Well, I never have been very lucky, so why did I think I was going to get a break today?" His aunt and uncle barely allowed him enough time to get his trunk from the boot and pull Hedwig's cage from the back seat. He had just closed the door when Uncle Vernon started the car and drove away like there was an army of devils, no, more like an army of Weasleys, Harry snickered, behind him.

A minute later the black haired boy in his too large clothes couldn't even see them anymore. Harry hoped that this had been the last time he saw them for the rest of his life. He put his things on a cart and entered the train station with over an hour until the train would leave to Hogwarts. What to do?

He didn't feel like waiting on Platform 9 ¾ because he would see his fellow Gryffindors and, frankly, he simply didn't want to see them yet. "Correction, I don't want to see Hermione and Ron yet." Harry thought.

In fact, as he thought about all of his classmates, he couldn't wait to see some of them; like Neville, for instance. He was sure Neville still had more surprises in store for everyone. Neville had changed a lot since his first year: He was no longer that shy, rather stocky boy with the stutter. He was now more confident of himself. He was still not going to draw everyone's attention but he possessed knowledge that other people lacked, such as herbology. And Neville had earned, without question, his place among the other Gryffindors.

He continued to think about his dormmates. Seamus, Dean and Ron were quite opposite from Neville. Seamus was the most extroverted person Harry had ever met. Dean might have been quieter than his best friend, but you couldn't say that he was shy or introverted either, he just wasn't as overly enthusiastic as Finnigan. Ron, meanwhile, was a typical red head, which meant that he was volatile in his manner and actions and quick with his mouth as well. That is to say, he didn't always think before he spoke. That had put him, and Hermione and Harry as well, into some awkward and difficult situations.

Thinking about his dorm mates made Harry realize that he was in no mood to interact with any of them. Just the thought of meeting an exuberant Seamus Finnigan was enough to get on his nerves. To avoid them all, he decided to wait on the muggle part of the train station.

He started walking around the muggle area with all of its the shops. There was a lot to see, and for the next 45 minutes Harry was happy to do some window-shopping. He especially enjoyed the sweets shop and found the booksellers fascinating. While strolling about, he thought about the train ride to Hogwarts. Again he realized that he was not eager to meet everyone. He would be very pleased simply to travel up to Hogwarts by himself. He sighed, understanding the impossibility of that, given his situation: sans charmed car or any other means of magical transportation.

Harry thought back over the summer, comparing it to previous years. This summer had provided absolutely nothing by comparison. Well, apart from all the "fun" at Privet Drive, of course. He wondered why Ron and Hermione had almost forgotten to write him. He could count the letters he got from them on one hand. He could clearly remember summers in which he had almost no time to read one letter before another letter arrived. The more he thought about it the more he felt depressed. Didn't they want to be his friends any more?

And Remus…he had sent letters to Harry but it felt as though his heart wasn't into it. Harry could certainly understand. Remus was obviously still hurt over losing Sirius, but Harry really hoped that Remus wasn't encountering bad omens. The thought of losing Remus, Ron or Hermione sent shivers down his spine.

On the other hand, Harry was somewhat cheered by the little flame of hope inside that this year he would finally fall in love. Really fall in love. That fling with Cho was just that: A fling - nothing more, nothing less. He also knew that there had to be more to romance. Cho wasn't making him feel the way that he i knew /i love would make him feel.

He ached for somebody who would be there for him – always. Harry knew that Hermione, Ron and Remus would be there for him too, or at least he hoped they still would be, but Harry expected that from friendship. It was a different thing entirely from what he wanted in a lover.

Sighing, Harry looked at his watch and noticed that the train was leaving in 15 minutes. 'I better go to the platform now. I don't want to be late and miss the damn train,' Harry thought to himself.

Carefully he looked around: No muggles were watching him. He quickly made his way to Platform 9 ¾, thinking, amidst the noise and bustle, that he was glad he had waited outside for a while.

"Alright Harry? Good summer, Mate?" a familiar voice broke through Harry's thoughts. He turned around to see a far too cheerful Dean Thomas. Harry didn't have a chance to answer the question as Dean immediately started to babble. "I am SO glad that summer is over and we're off to Hogwarts again. I missed it, you know. I missed it a lot. Oh boy, who am I kidding? I missed Seamus. I really, really missed him. Did you know that we've officially been together for a year? One year! Can you believe it? We had our "anniversary" on the 7th of July. Pity we couldn't be together. I don't think our parents will be pleased when they receive the telephone bill from that month. We have something special planned for our first Hogsmeade weekend to make up for the not being together on our BIG day. I just can't wait to see Seamus again."

If Harry hadn't been feeling so depressed, he would have laughed at himself. Here he was at the platform, after avoiding it for the past 45 minutes because he couldn't bare the thought of Seamus' cheerfulness, and now here he was: Standing on said platform caught by an extremely bouncy, hyper Dean. He sighed inwardly. Why did these things always happen to him? Maybe it was written in the stars or something. Professor Trelawney would have a field day with this.

Meanwhile Dean had paused for breath in his otherwise, unstoppable babblogue and was pulling Harry towards the train. Harry couldn't ignore the pulling on his arm so he turned his attention to Dean again. He let himself be dragged to the train and heard Dean say, "In his last letter Seamus told me that he would be waiting for me in a compartment. He also said that he would take Neville with him. So I was wondering, maybe you'll join us?"

Harry thought about it carefuly. Actually he wouldn't mind being ignored by everyone and sitting alone, but Dean had said that Neville would be there as well. So he could ignore Seamus and Dean during the trip, he hoped. He could chat with the calmer Gryffindor instead. Neville he could cope with much better right now than Seamus and Dean. But they probably would be liplocked the entire way to Hogwarts, anyway.

"Erm, sure," he heard himself answer.

"Brilliant, Mate. Let's go find Seamus and Neville!"

For just a moment, he felt guilty. Shouldn't he try to find Ron and Hermione? Shouldn't he be with them so that they could talk about their last year and everything they'd done this summer and speculate about who the next DADA teacher would be? As hard as he thought about it, though, he just couldn't do it. They had ignored him all summer. They knew about his position in the Dursley household. Not everything, true, but enough to know that their letters were something that he needed in order to survive. He couldn't understand why they had only sent one letter each.

He shrugged his shoulders and followed Dean, trying to tune the other boy out as much as he could. He said hello to both Seamus and Neville, and watched as Dean and Seamus kissed each other.

He struck up a conversation with Neville. Things went rather well, considering the circumstances of having a conversation whilst the two other occupants of the compartment were either liplocked or murmuring sweet nothings to each other.

All in all, Harry wasn't feeling too bad, at least not until Luna Lovegood came across their compartment. She opened the door and said "Hullo there, Neville."

Neville blushed as Luna came in and slid into his lap. Within the minute, they too were lip locked, and Harry started to feel like a fifth tire. It seemed Neville had had a very interesting summer…nobody even seemed to notice when Harry stood up and left. He started wandering through the train, now searching in earnest for an empty compartment.

Then he came across the compartment where Ron and Hermione were sitting. After hesitating, he decided to at least greet them.

"Hi", he said as he opened the door.

"Harry!", Hermione said and gave him a hug. Ron hugged him too.

They sat down in an awkward silence.

'We always had so much to say to each other. Now there isn't enough,' Harry thought.

"So, Harry, where have you been?" Hermione finally asked.

"Oh, I've been sitting with Seamus, Dean and Neville. We've been…catching up." Harry said.

Ron frowned, wrinkling his forehead. "Why didn't you come looking for us?" he asked.

Now Harry looked surprised, "I could ask you the same thing."

A quick glance passed between Ron and Hermione, but Harry didn't really care and he slipped into a seat by the window.

Finally, in a matter-of-fact-voice, he asked them about their summer. That innocent seeming question resulted in the both of them jumping into stories at the same time. It soon became clear that they had spent a lot of time together and Harry suddenly understood why he had received as few owls as he had. He wasn't sure how he felt about that yet.

He was deep in thought when the door to their compartment swung open and Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson entered.

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Thanks for reading! – Veer & Nat –