Hey all, sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I've been facing big-time writer's block and stepped away from the story for a bit. I'm trying to push through it even as I publish this chapter though! Hopefully you've all had a great year so far; it's really weird that February's right around the corner already.
Thanks for reading this far! I hope you've been enjoying the story. As always, feel free to leave any comments should you wish. Have a good one :)
The first two months of summer passed by rather slowly, seeing as I was already eagerly awaiting my return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As much as I loved spending my time with Robbie, I was ready to see Harry and Hermione and Ron again, and return to all the areas of study that I so loved.
Fortunately, Robbie still made the summer wonderful. He continued to teach me Quidditch tricks that might help during the tryouts, and brought me to new wizarding shops that were slowly opening up around London. He assisted me with History of Magic and Potions and Herbology and was, as always, an incredible older brother.
Even though he was joking around about how he would "lose me to Hogwarts" soon, we both became incredibly worried when, after my twenty-fifth letter to him, Harry was still not responding. I had been certain that he would be only too glad to keep in contact, seeing how dreadful his Muggle family had been when we'd last parted at King's Cross Station. And yet, I heard nothing from him…
"Do you think he's in trouble?" I found myself asking Robbie one day, unable to keep my concern constrained.
Robbie chuckled uneasily and replied, "Certainly not, that would be silly."
There was a light twitch to his eye, however, that told me he didn't think it was impossible.
Ron and Hermione were both keeping steady contact with me—at the end of the month of July, Ron sent the letter I had been anticipating: the one that invited me to stay at his house for the last two weeks of the summer, if I should wish.
Robbie grinned and immediately said he would have no problems at all with me going to spend more time with my friends, provided that he meet the Weasleys first just to see what they were like. Thus, I ecstatically wrote my response to Ron, before sending Harry yet another letter asking if he had received the same missive from our friend.
Three days later, still no reply.
"Robbie," I said, my mouth dry. "I think Harry's in trouble."
My brother looked at me, the expression on his face mirroring my concern.
"Do you think we should go check on him?"
An immense wave of gratitude washed over me as I nodded, my head almost hurting with how badly it was pounding. If those wretched Muggles had done anything to my best friend…
"Then let's get some of those garments the Muggles wear and get moving. Normally I wouldn't be concerned about Harry, but, well… those Dursley folks looked absolutely horrid."
I didn't wait for Robbie to tell me twice. I found the next letter I had been intending to send Harry, a slightly loose pair of black jeans, and a green t-shirt and rushed back to our living room before taking a sprinkling of Floo powder with shaking hands. I was about to throw it into the fireplace and shout Harry's address—but Robbie rushed forward and seized my wrist.
"Belle, they're Muggles," he exclaimed. I felt my face flush hot and sheepishly put the Floo powder back in our urn.
With a short chuckle, my brother walked towards the kitchen counter and grabbed the plate of brownies we had made the previous night. Upon seeing my raised eyebrow, he stated, "We need a reason to go over there, do we not?"
He then waved his arm in the direction of the car. Robbie used it on trips to the Muggle supermarket and other necessities, and for that reason I supposed it was useful—but there was no magic to that car, and frankly, I thought it was a rather lackluster method of transportation. Now, however, it was absolutely vital. I threw myself into the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt, and then we were off.
It was about a forty-five minute drive to where Harry lived on Privet Drive in Surrey. Each minute, scenarios of what might be happening to my friend whirled through my mind. I couldn't keep myself from biting my nails—Robbie must have been preoccupied too, because he didn't even scold me for doing it.
At last, we were there. My legs shaking, I walked up to the doorway and waited for Robbie, who was wearing his standard smart blue suit, to ring the bell.
It took very little time for the Dursleys to answer the door—it was the woman with the pinched face who answered, the woman who could only be Aunt Petunia.
"Good evening, Mrs. Dursley," greeted Robbie, putting his most charismatic smile upon his face. "My name is Robert Skylar. I believe we may have met before."
Mrs. Dursley smiled very slightly at my brother's manners. For better or for worse, it looked like she didn't quite recognize us yet. She was quiet, a thoughtful expression on her face, as if wondering who we were.
"My sister Belle and I made some brownies yester-eve—we thought it might be nice to bring some over and properly introduce ourselves."
This seemed to provide us the opening we needed. She smiled thinly and answered, "Of course. Please, come inside!" and opened the door wider.
Robbie caught my eye and shot me a sly wink as he walked indoors.
Entering the house, I couldn't help but notice how normal everything seemed. There was a clean marble kitchen, a prim and proper living room—I looked upstairs. I could see a couple doors… Harry could be in one of those rooms.
"Ah, Vernon! This is Robert Skylar, he has said that we've met him before! An acquaintance of work, perhaps?"
I looked back to the den, where Vernon Dursley sat, holding a dainty cup of tea. There was no doubt that he remembered who we were; his eyes narrowed and he rose quickly, but only after placing the teacup gently upon the table.
"What are you type doing here?" he hissed, moving in front of Mrs. Dursley protectively. "You certainly were not invited."
Robbie proffered the pan of brownies and innocently answered, "Belle and I were thinking it might be nice to make some friends, Mr. Dursley. These are some brownies that we made yesterday—"
Mr. Dursley jerkily gestured to the kitchen counter. Robbie placed them there gingerly and, upon seeing the young Dursley in the corner of the kitchen, waved amicably.
"Friends, you say? Why?"
I glanced towards Robbie, my eyes wide.
But he didn't seem nervous at all—charming people was his entire job. He was a worker in the Department of Mysteries; he had to lie convincingly about what he did there, and make lots of friends in the process.
And so, with a meek shrug, my brother said, "Our neighbors had just moved away, and Belle and I recalled meeting you at King's Cross! We figured that it would be a nice thing indeed, to make some new friends in honor of Belle's new school."
The Dursleys exchanged uneasy looks; behind us, I heard the distinctive sound of someone munching. I whirled backwards, hoping to see Harry—but instead found his cousin, who had cut into one of the brownies and was beginning to dig in.
"Dudley!" scolded Mr. Dursley, but Robbie cut him off before he could finish.
"Don't worry, Mr. Dursley, it's our grandmother's recipe. Made through completely conventional means—you have my word."
Mr. Dursley sighed and threw a hand in the air, but apparently relented. The young Dursley proceeded to feast on our brownies.
"Thank you for visiting, Mr. Skylar, but we… we do try to stay unassociated with anything regarding that school," remarked Mrs. Dursley not unkindly, but with certainty. "We have found it is best."
Robert nodded and held his hands up in surrender before replying, "Of course. Please, keep the brownies as a gift. Before we go, however—is it at all possible for my sister to say hello to Harry? It would seem he either hasn't received her letters or has been unable to send any back, and there is still another month or so before the next year of their school starts—"
"He is unavailable," snapped Mr. Dursley, an ugly look overtaking his face.
Noting how defensive he got so quickly, I knew that they were doing something to Harry. He had to be here—and I felt my blood boil… but I also knew that I had to keep my head, at least for a little while longer.
"Is it all right if you give him a letter for me, then?" I finally spoke, pulling the envelope out of my pocket. It was slightly crumpled now, but still legible.
Mr. Dursley shot another look at his wife before stepping forward to take my letter. He scanned it suspiciously before putting it behind his back and offering me only the curtest of nods.
"Thanks very much, Mr. Dursley," declared Robbie. He took a step back and placed a hand on my shoulder before tapping it, as if indicating it was time to leave.
I nodded as well and turned to go—but I caught something out of the side of my eye.
The ginormous man had just dropped my letter to Harry behind him into the fireplace—and that was the last straw.
"My letter!" I cried, staring at it with wide eyes. The fire took no time in disintegrating it. My eyes shot to Robbie's face, which had turned to stone.
Knowing that the time for charm was over, I stepped forward, my eyes flaring, and demanded, "Where is he?"
Mr. Dursley blinked at me, as if stunned by my tone.
Figuring they wouldn't reply, I took matters into my own hands.
"HARRY!"
From somewhere upstairs, I heard something THUD. Then, a familiar voice exclaimed, "Belle? Is that you?"
"Harry!" I cried, and I launched towards the staircase, towards his voice.
Mr. Dursley bellowed angrily and ran after me. Robbie called my name—but I ignored him. My eyes scanned across the doors aligned on the upstairs floor and landed on the door just to my left. There was what looked like a cat flap at the bottom of the door; and lying on the floor so he could look out of it was Harry Potter.
I gasped and was about to try to force open the door when my wrist was grabbed and pulled back behind me. It was Dursley, whose fat face was set in a determined scowl and was the color of puce.
"Let go of me!" I cried, wrestling my wrist free. I looked back at Harry, whose green eyes were wide and hopeful.
"Out! OUT OF OUR HOUSE!"
"Let go of my sister! How dare you grab her, how dare you imprison Harry Potter—"
"Vernon! Vernon!"
Everything was chaos. I somehow managed to grab Harry's hand through the open cat-flap, and saw how he was wearing a shirt that did not fit him, how thin his face was, and the dark circles under his eyes. This was no way for anyone to live, much less a hero of the wizarding world; much less my best friend…
Somehow, despite Harry's uncle grasping at my ankle, I managed to grab the door handle—and realized that there were three locks on his door, not including the lock the door had itself.
I bit my lip. I couldn't use magic to get him out, not in front of Muggles. It was against wizard law, I could get myself and Robbie and Harry in so much trouble, not to mention I hadn't even brought my wand…
I met Harry's eyes again. He seemed to know what I wanted to say, because his hope started to fade away. Knowing I couldn't simply leave him until the school year, though, I fiercely exclaimed, "I'm going to get you out of here, Harry. Sometime this summer, I'm getting you out."
He swallowed and nodded and somehow, amidst all the screaming, I heard him say, "It's just good to see you."
With that, I kicked Dursley in the knee and ran past him towards the door, Robbie quickly following me. I felt my eyes tear up, I was so angry—it was inhumane, it was awful—I should've just had Harry come to our house at the end of summer instead…
Robbie slammed the door shut, and we wordlessly walked to the car, and drove away.
After about five minutes of silence, Robbie quietly said, "I'm sorry we couldn't do more. You know the laws about performing magic in front of Muggles."
"I know," I whispered. But it was a struggle to get the words out of my mouth, my throat was so tight from trying not to cry. "It's not your fault. Or mine. It's just those… evil Muggles! I hate them for holding him captive like that."
"Me too."
Another short silence, during which I thought about how I was going to make good on my promise to get Harry out of the house. It was possible I could ride my broomstick up to his place… but then we wouldn't be able to get all his school supplies. And there was no way Robbie would be able to convince the Dursleys now, I was sure…
"I'm going to have to write to Ron and Hermione about this," I sighed, hiding my head in my knees. "They need to know why he hasn't been getting our letters…"
Robbie grunted in affirmation before adding, "And Belle, look. You should go spend some time with the Weasleys. I have a feeling they might have a better chance at getting Harry to a better place than we will."
I sighed again, but I knew he was right. We had done what we could to try and charm the Dursleys, but those pigheaded people weren't relenting. Now it was up to the Weasleys.
The rest of the car ride was eerily quiet. I knew Robbie was replaying the interaction over and over in his head, perhaps wondering how things could've gone differently. I was doing the same.
But the moment I got home, I drafted two letters and sent them: one with Blumiere, the other with Robbie's owl, Hera.
Ron's reply was quick—only the next day, Blumiere came back with a missive that simply read: Come over whenever you like. We've got to get Harry out of there.
After showing my brother this, he and I decided that the day after the next, we would go visit the Burrow. We somehow managed to fit all of my school supplies in the trunk of our little car and set off; after my brother got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, he determined that he was more than happy to leave me in their care for a time, and that he would see me in Diagon Alley for our school shopping. Right before he left, he leaned in close and said to let him know when Harry himself would be with us.
I waved farewell to my brother as he got back into the car. From behind the slightly dirty window I saw him return the gesture—and then he was gone.
With a sigh, I turned to Ron, who had a grin on his face.
"Good to see you, Belle," he exclaimed, throwing an arm around my shoulder.
"You've gotten taller!" I replied, gaping. He was at least a whole head taller than me now.
Ron laughed and gestured me inside, where Mrs. Weasley had prepared a lovely supper.
The Weasleys were incredibly welcoming, and it was great to see Fred and George again. I got to officially meet Ginny Weasley, who had been so shy the previous time I'd seen her. Mrs. Weasley was insisting that I have at least a second helping, if not a third, and Mr. Weasley was asking me all about the car that Robert had driven me in to the Burrow.
I couldn't help but notice how very wizard-like the Burrow was as well. While Robbie and I had a hybrid house of Muggle qualities and wizard qualities, the Weasleys made a show of how magical their family truly was.
The centerpiece of the dining/living room was a large grandfather clock that did not tell time, but the whereabouts of each member of the Weasley family. It was a sight to see nine different spoons pointed to different sections (Bill's and Charlie's spoons were both on "Work" while the reminder of the family spoons were on "Home"). There were also dishes washing themselves in the kitchen sink, and blankets knitting themselves upon the living room couch. One owl was roosting in the ceiling, while another was perched upon the windowsill. But the greatest thing about the Weasleys house was how harmoniously they lived. It was clear that the family cared for each other a great deal, despite the sibling rivalries that I was sure would be present.
"How have you been, Belle?" asked Ron, his mouth full of food like usual.
"Keep your mouth shut while you're eating!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, although she didn't look too fierce when scolding him.
Laughing at Ron's dirty look, I responded, "I've been doing well. Robbie and I have been keeping to ourselves for the most part. We're a very small family, only my cousins are anywhere nearby, and they're in Bulgaria. We've mostly been worried about Harry… haven't heard from him in so long… I told Ron, but I don't know if the rest of you know, Robbie and I went to his relatives' house to see what was going on…"
The rest of the Weasleys were oddly quiet as I told my story. They were simply staring, eyes wide, as they munched on the pot roast that Mrs. Weasley had made. When at last I was done speaking, an ominous gloom settled over the table.
"Well it sounds like if Harry hasn't responded by Friday, we should go over there and get him ourselves. Right, Arthur?" said Mrs. Weasley.
Her husband nodded effusively, though his mouth was stuffed with mashed potatoes.
I saw where Ron got the habit from—the thought made me smile a little.
"Yes, well," she added, her gaze downcast. "If everyone would put their dishes by the sink when they're done, we'll take care of them."
Ginny and Percy nodded and immediately moved to do this. The Weasley parents soon did the same, leaving only myself, Ron, Fred, and George.
As soon as it was only the four of us in earshot, Fred leaned forward and whispered, "Friday? But it's Sunday now! We can't leave Harry imprisoned for the next five days."
"I agree," I whispered back. "It looked like he wasn't getting enough to eat… and I promised him I'd get him out as soon as possible… not to mention that tomorrow is his birthday…"
Fred exhaled and muttered, "Bloody hell, what a way to spend a birthday."
"There's something else you should know too, Belle," Ron mumbled, his ears red. He then proceeded to tell me about how the Ministry of Magic had sent a letter to the Dursleys' household a few days prior—apparently a Hover Charm had been detected there.
"That might be one reason why they're keeping him locked up," I hissed, hiding my head in my hands. It would certainly explain a lot…
"All the more reason to get him out," Ron remarked, looking at his prankster brothers. "We could find a way, I'm sure."
George clasped his hands together and simply said, "The car."
Fred's eyes slowly brightened as he too said, "The car."
"Car? What about a car?" I queried, utterly confused.
Ron shook my shoulder, beaming as he explained, "Dad enchanted the car in the garage. It can fly—we can drive it to Surrey and get him! All we got to do is pull up his window and make sure there's enough room for all his stuff. You guys in?"
The twins wasted no time in agreeing; and for my part, neither did I. Why wait another five days when we could rescue our friend now, on his birthday?
Seeing that we were all in one mind, Fred whispered, "We'll leave at midnight. Should be able to get to Surrey within an hour and a half or so—that'll give us plenty of time to get back before anyone notices that we or the car are missing."
So we had our plan—soon after we finished our discussion, Mrs. Weasley showed me to where I would be staying. It looked like I would be bunking with Ginny, which sounded like fun. I hadn't gotten to know Ginny very well yet, and since she would be attending Hogwarts this year, I figured it would be nice for her to have a friend going in, too.
Ginny was very excited by the prospect of hosting me. That probably had something to do with the fact that she had no sisters—but soon, we were discussing what she could expect in her classes, and she was asking which clothes she should bring to Hogwarts on the occasions we were allowed to wear casual dress. We spent the next couple of hours picking out outfits, and talking to one another about hair dye, seeing as she was fascinated with how dark red my hair was. I definitely did my best to encourage her never to color her hair since she was a beautifully natural redhead, but she still seemed fascinated by the prospect.
At around eleven at night, though, she got tired and decided to turn in. Just as well—it left me enough time to get my things and prepare myself for our plan.
Midnight arrived, and I found myself in the garden, where the other three were waiting. Upon my arrival, we tiptoed to the garage shed where the car was.
With devious grins, the twins activated the ignition.
"You do know how to drive, right?" I asked.
Fred and George just laughed—and then the car was out of the shed and in the air.
Figuring there was no going back now, I simply held my breath for a moment and decided to focus on when our friend would be back by our side.
