Chapter Two: Driving Dudley

Harry bolted upright in bed, startled out of a deep sleep, and looked around the bedroom, reaching instinctively for his glasses on the bedside table. He had only arrived at the Dursley's house the day before and already he couldn't wait to leave, but it had been very important to Dumbledore that he return, even if for a short while - so he planned on staying out the week.

It wasn't long before he saw the source of his rude awakening; a small brown Pigmy Owl was at the widow, fluttering around and bashing occasionally into the side of the glass, carrying a very thick edition of the Daily Prophet. Harry jumped off the bed and slid the window open, hoping the bird didn't wake any of the Dursleys. He was also thankful that he had sent Hedwig with a quick note to Ron the night before, as she would highly disapprove of this noisy owl.

Harry couldn't help but grimace when he saw the front page. Severus Snape's glowering face was blown up larger than life, with the words "Wanted for the Murder of Hogwart's Headmaster Albus Dumbledore," flashing in red letters across it. He sat on the bed to read, opening the paper to skip over the reminder of Snape's treachery. The second page had sported a smaller, black and white picture of Draco Malfoy and a headline saying he was only wanted for questioning in the murder. What really struck Harry's eye was a minuscule article about several Death Eaters escaping Azkaban the eve of Dumbledore's fall - including Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, and, Harry realized, all of the Death Eaters arrested in the Department of Mysteries over a year ago.

After reading several more similar articles bearing bad news, (Ollivander's body being found outside the Ludgershall Castle and Cross, Wiltshire, and someone named O'Ratsey, fined for harassing the Minister of Magic; Rufus Scrimgeour). Harry slammed the paper shut and was about to step downstairs for breakfast when he noticed a curious bit of colorful parchment slip out of the pages and drop slowly to the floor. He bent to pick it up and noticed that someone had cut up different letters from a newspaper to form words: "Do not leave that house without your Invisibility Cloak, your protections will only go so far."

"How had this come to be in this paper?" Harry wondered to himself, confused. No one was supposed to know where he was, other than the Order members. He figured he would have to show that to Arthur or Molly when he saw them next, and tucked it away in his trunk before setting off to disturb the Dursley's breakfast with his presence.

Later on in the day, Harry was sitting in the living room watching the news, trying to avoid his Aunt Petunia's accusing eye. She had so far not spoken a word to Harry, nor had any of the other Dursleys, but Harry sensed they were just counting the days until he left for the Weasleys. In fact, they were probably looking forward to it more than Harry actually was. He felt so torn about it. He knew that going there he would have to face Ginny, and didn't know how he would be able to take it if she had a date for Bill's wedding, yet in another, heartbreaking sense, he wanted her to move on. And then there was the uncomfortable question of where he would go afterwards After all, how long would he feel welcome there? He had no intention of going back to Hogwarts; he was
going to work on finding and destroying the rest of the Horcruxes, though how he would do that without Dumbledore, Harry had absolutely no idea.

And there was Godric's Hollow too... Hagrid had written out careful instructions on how to get there, and where Harry's parent's graves were from the ruins of their house - but did he want to do that before or after going to the Weasley's? After, he finally concluded, because it would be a great excuse not to stay too long and impose on Molly's overbearing hospitality.

Harry's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the screech of tires outside and the sickening noise of something crunching. He jumped from the couch and ran to the front door, taking his wand out of his back pocket, but slowly lowering it with disgust when he saw it was only Dudley driving Uncle Vernon's car into the driveway. He had pulled in a little too far and had cracked the garage door. Vernon jumped out of the passenger side and had gone to assess the damage, beaming over at Dudley as he got out of the car while a couple of curious neighbors looked over the hedge to see what the noise had been.

"No worries Dudders! Just a small scratch!" Vernon had walked around to clap a large, meaty paw on Dudley's thick shoulder. "A body shop'll bang that out easily, I'll go and tell your mother to get ready to celebrate."

Harry quickly returned his wand to his back pocket before Uncle Vernon could see that he had it out and waited for the front door to shut before turning to look at Dudley, who was turning his back to the window and lighting a cigarette, taking care not to be seen by his parents.

"So... Dudders..." Harry taunted lightly. "Does that big L on the back window stand for Loser? Or perhaps Leadhead?" Dudley looked at Harry with sheer loathing, taking a deep drag of his stick and blowing the smoke directly into Harry's face, causing him to cough and sputter.

"You know Harry, I would say something back, but you might send for that old man to come and croak in our living room and..."

A sudden rage overcame Harry at the mention of Dumbledore and he found himself instinctively reaching behind him for his wand, however Petunia's ear piercing shriek from the front doorway snapped him quickly back to reality.

"Mummy's so proud of her little Dudders!" Petunia pushed past Harry and threw her bony arms around Dudley's ample neck, her eyes watering with pride. "You're becoming a man too fast!" Harry smirked as he saw Dudley trying to stomp the cigarette out and attempting to wave away the reminents of smoke before his mother noticed, wondering what she would think of her "Wonderful Ickle Didders" if she had seen him smoking.

"Now Diddy darling, Vernon tells me that you have been enjoying Chinese food at school, so we will go to the Peking Palace and give that a try to celebrate if you would like."

Dudley beamed and nodded his oversized head before scurrying into the house to get ready, leaving Petunia the chance to suddenly turn on Harry. "Don't you dare think for one minute that I hadn't seen what you were about to do Harry. You will be coming with us, as none of us want to leave you to your own devices in our house."

Harry mumbled something under his breath as he went inside to change; the thought of
putting his wizard's robes and cloak on just to see their faces made him smile a couple of
times, but he reluctantly put on a pair of slacks and a large jacket, tucking his Invisibility
Cloak into the inside pocket. It wasn't only due to the odd letter he had received, but also
because Dumbledore had insisted on it last year, and it had become something of a habit
for Harry.

Harry managed to enjoy his meal, despite the humiliation of his Uncle Vernon speaking
very loudly, and very slowly to the young waitress, or Dudley using the chopsticks as a
toothpick, or the many times Petunia asked the poor young waitress if they had any
"normal" food on the menu. She had wrinkled her nose at everything put in front of her
and had reluctantly eaten the steamed white rice.

Dudley, on the other hand, had eaten more than both his and her share, making Harry
wonder if his fat gut would even fit under the steering wheel. The ride to the restaurant
had been bad enough, Dudley's transitions from braking to accelerations were enough to
make anyone feel a little car sick.

"I... WOULD... LIKE.. THE... BILL..." Vernon boomed to the waitress as she was clearing their plates, causing many people at nearby tables to turn and stare, and Harry shrunk a little in his seat.

"Yes sir," she replied, and Harry was pleased to hear a bit of sarcasm in her voice, and
grinned when he heard her mumbling as she walked off: "Rude son of a..." followed by a
crash in the kitchen.

"Immigrants, Petunia..." Vernon said haughty. "They come into the country and reap the
benefits we pay our taxes for, and..." Harry tuned his Uncle and Aunt out and focused on
the curious little cookie the waitress had just laid in front of each of them. Watching
Dudley crack his own open and pull out a tiny bit of paper, Harry did the same, and
noticed the minuscule typing; "Destination, Determination, Deliberation".

Harry turned quickly in his seat to see if he could see anyone, but at that very moment
Dudley had snatched the little fortune out from his hand, making Harry turn his attention
abruptly back to them. "Destination, determination... deliberation... that's not a fortune!"
Dudley sneered and tossed the paper down on the table, reading his own again.

"How bloody stupid! I guess they must have known it was for you and couldn't put down
anything worthwhile." Harry racked his brain trying to think of what this meant. Did they
want him to Apparate right there in the middle of the restaurant? To where? The last
thing Harry wanted to do was follow cryptic advice leading him nowhere, and was
figuring there was a good chance both the notes had come from a Death Eater. But, how
would they have known where to find him? "Snape..." Harry thought to himself
immediately, and hoped he would have the chance to face him. It would explain the
fragments of newspaper on the first note. Harry would of course have recognized Snape's
writing. On the other hand, Snape was far too clever to try and lure Harry out in such a
way. Snape would have enough knowledge of Harry to lure him in other ways.

Leaving the restaurant, Harry kept his hand in his pocket, wrapped tightly around his
concealed wand and looking around anxiously, awaiting an attack on the way to the car.
There was no point in telling the Dursleys, as they would hear none of it. Whoever it was
wanted to lure him away from them, and Harry felt it was in his best interest... and
theirs... to remain with them for the time being and just to keep silent.

"Easy on the gas there Dudley," Vernon said softly from the front seat. Harry glanced
sideways at Petunia, who was staring out the window and visibly displeased with the
seating arrangements. The car jolted slightly as Dudley braked to slow down. Harry found
himself somewhat less bothered by it than his aunt.

It was later than Harry had expected; the clouds were drifting over the almost-full moon
like a black cobweb. Vernon had allowed Dudley to take the "scenic route", so they were
rolling past the dark valleys and farms at a swift pace. Petunia had began to drift off to
sleep, the side of her head pressed up against the window, and Harry's thoughts
transferred from the mysterious notes to Ginny.

"Dudders... slow down, it's fifty here," Vernon said, a little sterner than usual. Petunia
jolted awake and leaned forward to look over Dudley's shoulder at the speedometer.

"I'm trying!"

Harry could hear the sound of Dudley's heavy foot pounding on one of the pedals and sat
up quickly.

"It's jammed!" said Dudley, alarm in his voice.

Petunia was white with fear and gripping the side of the door handle, and Vernon reached
over and ripped the keys out of the ignition, with no results. The car's meter was swiftly
climbing and Vernon was yanking upwards on the emergency brake. Harry looked out the
back window and saw immediately what was going on.

They were being tailed by five cloaked figures on brooms, each wearing masks that were
reflecting the pale moonlight, giving them a menacing appearance. One, he could see, had
wisps of black hair floating out of it and he knew it was the form of Bellatrix Lestrange.
He took out his wand, thinking he might be able to slow the car down somehow, but
Petunia's hand clamped around his wrist.

"NO! PUT IT AWAY!" Petunia shouted hysterically, glancing out the back. She had
obviously seen what Harry saw and was petrified. He tried to reason with her as Vernon
and Dudley were trying everything they could to stop the car.

"Aunt Petunia - I might be able to stop the car..."

"It's YOU they're after! Not us! You're... you're provoking them! PUT IT AWAY!" she
screamed hysterically.

"Dudley! Steer the bloody car towards the hill! You're heading straight for the ledge!"
As Dudley and Vernon both tried to shift the wheel in the opposite direction from the
cliff, Harry and Petunia were both pulling at the wand, Petunia's sharp nails scatching
him. Harry felt a horrible feeling in his stomach as the car lurched over the side. He gave
a final tug and had recoiled from Petunia, the wand in his hand, and he realized he was
nearly out of time.

"Destination, Determination, Deliberation..." Petunia's angry yet frightened face suddenly
darkened, everything went black and Harry was feeling a horrible, constricting feeling in
his chest. He couldn't breathe. He thought they might have crashed all ready before the
tension let up and he realized he was standing by the barricade, looking down the cliff.

The car was already engulfed in flames, and the five figures on brooms were swooping
down after their prey. He quickly pulled his cloak out of his inside pocket and threw it
over his head. He felt ill. He didn't think there was much chance of any of the Dursleys
surviving that crash, and if they had - the five Death Eaters were likely to kill them
anyhow. It wouldn't be long before they realized that Harry wasn't in the car and would
come looking for him.

He watched helplessly as the Dark Mark went up like a cloud of green smoke over
Vernon's car. The sound of several crashes around him told him more wizards had
apparated on the spot. Harry spun around, ready to curse everyone from beneath his cloak
when he realized it was Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, Dawlish, and a few other Aurors
were there. Another "pop" and Rufus Scrimgeour arrived.

Looking down the cliff, Harry could see the Death Eaters had mounted their brooms and were scurrying off, shouting the occasional cheer as they disapeared over the horizon. He wanted to make his presence known to Tonks or to Kingsley, but did not want Scrimgeour to know he was there.

"Dawlish, go down and see if anyone survived, though it is highly unlikely," Scrimgeour
said gravely. "And see if you can determine who was in the car, though I would wager we
already know that answer. I will handle Modifying the Muggles, I see a few are arriving
now..."

Harry heard a few cars pull up behind him and doors slamming, he was vaguely aware of
someone brushing past his robes. A few Muggles had run to the edge to take a look. "See
how fast they were going?"

"HAD to be drunk..."

"Fire department is on the way..."

Harry felt a strange sense of deja vu, as this had always been the story Petunia had smugly
recalled to Harry about his own parent's death. Killed in a crash, blown themselves up...
but he felt no comfort from it, if anything, it made him feel even worse.

"Kingsley... get me out of here..." He stepped closer to Kingsley and Tonks, barely
managing to pull the hood off his head before his knees gave away from beneath him and
everything around him went black