'CHAPTER ONE: ANOTHER STRAY'

Harry Potter lay asleep in his bed in a small room on Privet Drive. His snowy owl, who had just flown in from her late night hunt, watched on in silence as his mouth opened and closed as if he were trying to speak. The floor was unusually clean as the owner had not been spending much time around Number Four in his short time there.

The sound of an alarm clock rang through his room like an explosion. He was such a light sleeper that the quiet noise in the silent room had given him a start. Harry sat up quickly and groaned when he realized it was just the clock. His knees came up to his chest and he ran both hands through his messy black hair. Glasses sitting on the nightstand were soon picked up and perched on his nose. He looked at the clock and groaned again.

'Four-fucking-thirty in the morning! Damn...just what I needed. To wake up four hours earlier than I'm expected to.'

He hit the off button and lay back down, staring up at the white ceiling. He'd been at the Dursley's for three weeks and the days were slowly getting longer and longer. He couldn't wait until his birthday.

'And then I can really show the Dursley's what I'm made of.'

Harry grinned at the thought, but knew he would never do anything of the sort. He now knew why he must return to the God awful place every summer. Dumbledore had explained everything. But that didn't mean he had to enjoy it at all; no one expected him to. The Order had been making it a little easier by keeping in touch with him and letting him know the events going on in the Magical World.

After Dumbledore's untimely death, no one stepped forward to front the Order of the Phoenix; mostly out of respect to the quirky old man who had once held the position. They all knew what must be done, and continued on with the duties Dumbledore had assigned to them before his passing.

'His murder, you mean,' thought Harry angrily, getting up out of bed knowing that he would not be able to sleep any longer. He decided to go on a run, like he had been doing the past weeks. After he pulled on some gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt, Harry hopped down the stairs and grabbed a water bottle from the Dursley's refrigerator.

Harry sighed as his feet hit the concrete sidewalk in front of Number Four. He'd found that these runs helped him immensely, mentally and emotionally. Sometimes he would run hard and fast so that he was too tired to think much of anything. But others he would run at a moderate pace and allow himself to wonder and sometimes even hope that everything would be alright. He'd spent a number of his morning runs thinking of the Horcruxes. But he also thought of Ron and Hermione. And Ginny.

'Just don't think about her, Harry. It's not good for you. It'll keep her safe.' But deep down, Harry knew he'd never stop thinking about her. They'd only dated for a short while in his sixth year, but she'd left a print on his heart. And she understood him. She didn't always agree with his choices, but she understood why he did the things he did. It was a rare quality not even Ron or Hermione possessed.

His feet stepped up the pace and he took a swig from the bottle. His thoughts drifted away from Ginny and onto Hogwarts. Would it reopen for schooling this year? Or would McGonagall decide to keep it closed? What would happen to all the seventh years then? How would they take their N.E.W.T.S.? Where would Harry go if Hogwarts was gone? Godric's Hollow? Something about that place seemed to hold a lot of mystery for Harry.

'Wherever you're going, you better decide fast. You're leaving soon.' Once he hit his seventeenth birthday, Harry was no longer protected at the Dursley's. The obvious place to go next was The Burrow; he would go at least for Bill and Fleur's wedding. But he would not impose for long on the Weasley's.

Harry turned on the sidewalk and caught site of the park he liked to visit to be alone. There was nothing special about it. One small, metal slide was connected to a set of monkey bars. Only one of the remaining swings was still connected by both chains to the large pole above it, courtesy of Dudley and his little gang of friends. Harry stopped his run and strolled across the street to the poor excuse for a child's play area. He sat on the swing and watched as one lone car drove by in the misty early morning.

There was a time when he was younger that Harry would have said too much time alone would drive him insane. He hated being alone with his thoughts. He would just sit and sit and think about all the things he should have done and all the things that could go wrong in the future. He was a worrier. And of course, he had a nobility complex that would not allow himself to risk others lives.

'So much for that,' he thought with a smirk. Ron and Hermione were never going to leave him. He knew that now. They would always be right by his side, until the very end. And they were definitely proving him right, for his two best friends were coming here...today. They'd promised him they'd come to his Aunt's and Uncle's; he'd received a letter two days ago saying they would be arriving at three o'clock in the afternoon. And they would stay for a week, until his birthday.

Harry heard a dog bark and looked up to see a beautiful Golden Retriever running across the street. It seemed to realize Harry was there and strolled over to him and licked his hand.

"Hey there. Who do you belong to?" Harry scratched behind his ear and noticed that the pup had no collar. His thoughts flashed to another stray dog he'd seen around here back in his third year. The dogs were drastically different. Padfoot was dark and big whereas this one was light and average. It jumped all over the place; Padfoot had stayed in the shadows of the bush, watching him. And this one wasn't his Godfather in Animagus form.

He patted the playful pup's back and kneeled down to play with him. The dog obediently flipped onto his back, waiting to be scratched on the belly. Harry laughed and obliged him.

"You're pretty cool. Nice dog," he said softly. The dog sat up and promptly licked his backside. Harry groaned quietly and averted his eyes to the street. Was this dog really a stray? Was his family out looking for him?

"What's your name, huh? Do you have a name?" It was funny; he didn't even feel stupid talking to an animal who wouldn't respond.

'I must really be losing it.'

The sun was fully out now and the streets were becoming livelier. The neighborhood was turning on their sprinklers and getting ready for the day. Harry stood and beckoned for the dog to follow him, which he did at once.

Five minutes later, Harry rushed into the Dursley's home, interrupting their breakfast.

"Sorry, I just – need..." his explanation trailed off as he reached above the shelf in the closet in the hallway; the one across from where he'd slept for first ten years of his life.

"What are you doing, boy?" Uncle Vernon inquired. Dudley looked on in silence, still chewing with his mouth wide open. Aunt Petunia scrubbed the spotless counter and ignored what was happening.

"I need a dog leash...and a collar." Harry passed his uncle going into the kitchen. "Aunt Petunia, where did you put that leash Aunt Marge uses when she comes over?" He leaned against the counter's edge, careful not to touch the top where she had just scrubbed invisible dirt.

"Why?" she asked.

"I found this dog –"

"YOU STOLE A DOG?" Vernon's voice yelled.

Harry closed his eyes a moment as if collecting himself and turned slowly to his uncle. "No, like I said, I found a dog, and –"

"We don't need a dog, boy!"

"This is why I didn't bring him in here, Uncle Vernon. I just wanted to take him for a walk."

"Marge's things are underneath the sink," his aunt said sharply. "Don't break anything or she'll have your head."

"Better yet, why don't you break something, Potter?" Dudley finally spoke with a giggle. Harry gave him a sarcastic sneer and grabbed a leash and collar from underneath the sink.

"Here you go, boy," he said, kneeling down to clip on the collar. It was a bit snug even after Harry loosened it all the way, because Aunt Marge's dogs were much smaller. But the Golden did not seem to mind one bit, for he took the leash in his mouth and proceeded to walk himself (Harry held on to the leash, but went wherever the pup took him).

It had to have been at least two thirty in the afternoon before Harry and his companion sat on a curb five blocks away from Privet Drive. Harry patted the dogs head and laughed when the dog made to lick his face.

"No way," he said, pushing him away, "I know where that tongue has been!"

"You do, do you?" said a very familiar voice from behind him. Harry turned to see his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger standing there.

"What're you doing here already? I know it's not three yet!" He stood and gave Hermione a hug and shook Ron's hand.

It was then that he noticed Nymphadora Tonks in the back ground. Her hair was back to the normal bubble gum pink, only the tips were a lime green in color. She looked much better than she had all year.

"Hey, Tonks."

"Wotcher, Harry."

The friends talked for a moment until Hermione bent down and looked into the dog's face. "Who is this?"

"I don't actually know." Harry scratched his head. "I found him this morning."

"He's so cute!" Hermione squealed. The dog was pawing her hand and sniffing it like she was holding something tasty. Ron and Harry shared a look and grinned.

"He is kind of, isn't he?" Ron said rhetorically, but he was looking at Hermione, not the dog.

Harry smiled and turned to Tonks. "Not that I'm not glad to see you or anything, but what're you doing here?"

"Security reasons," she shrugged and said.

"Are you staying?"

"I'll be bunking with Arabella Figg. Nice old lady who lives down the street from you. Kind of batty, but it'll be fine for a week."

Harry nodded and smirked as he raised his eyebrows and asked, "How's Remus?"

Tonks blushed a tiny bit, but it was enough to make Harry laugh and Hermione giggle. Ron was too busy scratching the Golden's belly. "He's fine. Sends his greetings. Everyone does."

"Yeah," Ron said as he stood, "I've got a few messages for you. Mum says that you better be eating right and that I'm to watch your diet and make you eat real unhealthy this entire week. She wants you to have more meat on your bones. Bill and Fleur invite you to their wedding –"

"When is it?" Harry asked.

"It's the fifth of August," answered Hermione. She looked extremely excited. "I got to go with them when they tried on their dresses. Fleur's dress is positively stunning! And Ginny's is so beautiful, I was actually jealous!"

Harry stomach flopped. How could he forget that Ginny would be in the wedding? She would look prettier than usual, as she would be all glamorous for her brother's big day.

"Hermione, Harry doesn't care about the dresses! That's most definitely a girl thing. But you missed the Bachelor party, Harry! It was bloody brilliant!"

Hermione huffed and said, "Only because you went to a strip club."

"Exactly! And the people there didn't even check to see if I was of age or not! You could've come and gotten drinks! It was fantastic! The girls were..." he trailed off when Tonks cleared her throat and looked pointedly at him and then the bushy-haired girl to his right. "Right...never mind. It was good though."

Harry laughed inside, knowing he'd get the full scoop later.

They decided to walk back to Privet Drive. Ron and Hermione had sent their stuff beforehand so it was already up in Harry's room when they got there. Tonks didn't stop for long, preferring to let the friends have their time as she went on to Mrs. Figg's. Ron didn't even bother waiting for Harry to open the door before he burst inside, saying something about using the loo...and quickly. Hermione groaned embarrassedly as she and Harry watched their redheaded friend lumber up the stairs.

"I have another message from you. It's from Ginny," she whispered, checking to make sure no one was around. Harry heart leapt. "She says that you're a prat that needs to realize that you're not going to win this war without the help of friends and people who love you."

'Not what I was expecting, but alright...'

"She also says she's not giving up on you. She understands why you broke it off, but she also knows you'll realize soon enough that she's perfect for you."

"She's pretty straight forward, isn't she?" Harry asked in a rhetorical voice.

"She's a Weasley. They're not very subtle creatures."

"BLOODY HELL!" They heard Ron curse from the top steps after he tripped over a misplaced vacuum. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. But Harry swore he caught sight of an affectionate smile before she climbed the stairs to help him unravel himself from the cord.

"What was that noise?" Dudley entered from the kitchen...like usual.

Harry groaned. He'd forgotten all about the Dursley's. They knew about Ron and Hermione's visit, but he still wasn't sure if they would be polite to his friends at all. This was going to be some sort of crazy entertainment, he could already tell.

A/N: So… I hope you've enjoyed the first two chapters. I will be updating pretty regularly up until chapter twenty five, because I worked on this fic during NaNoWriMo this year. Well, see ya in chapter two!

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