It was official. Harry was having the worst summer ever. Once again he was stuck at the Dursleys. Once again he was counting down the days til September 1 when he would return to Hogwarts. But unlike his previous summers there was a perpetual feeling of apprehension in the air.
Voldemort was back and out there somewhere, plotting something. Harry scoured the Daily Prophet in hopes of some kind of news about his return but there was nothing, not even a shred of information. He knew Fudge and the rest of the ministry were refusing to believe the dark lord had been resurrected but he had hoped that something, anything might slip through in the newspaper.
After all this had been no ordinary summer. It had started out blisteringly hot, which was to be expected of course. But then something strange had happened, one day the heat vanished and was replaced by a gloomy atmosphere. The sun disappeared behind grey clouded skies and then the rain came torrenting down. The wind picked up, thunder boomed, lightning flashed, and soon it didn't feel like summer at all. 'Freak storms caused by unknown phenomena' the muggle news channels had dubbed it.
Harry felt certain it had to be because of something magical. But still nothing from the Daily Prophet on it or anything of any real importance. That wasn't the worst part however.
No the worst part of all this was the lack of letters from his two best friends Ron and Hermione. Sure they'd write to him but always a quick scrawl about nothing. He expected the ministry to hide what was going on, but not his own friends. Surely Ron would have plenty of things to tell him about the situation what with his dad working for the ministry. And from the little he'd gleaned from their letters, Hermione was staying with Ron and the rest of the Weasleys. And yet no invitations for Harry to join them at the Burrow.
Harry lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, listening to the rain slow to a drizzle and then stop completely. Finally after weeks of downpour, the storm had calmed for however long it would last. He got up and crossed to his window opening it up, unlocking Hedwig's cage to let the poor owl out to enjoy the fresh air.
"Go on Hedwig, best get what little freedom you can before it starts up again" He told her. The snowy owl took off and soared into the sky. Harry hoped she would come back with letter from his friends or Sirius. Not that it mattered seeing as they probably wouldn't tell him anything anyway.
Harry shoved his wand in his jacket pocket, just in case, and headed outside himself.
It felt good to get away from number 4 Privet drive, even if only for a little while. He was tired of it, of The Dursleys, of having to go back every summer to stay with them. He walked down the street and to a nearby park with a children's playground. It was empty for the moment and so Harry sat on one of the swings, taking in the smell of fresh damp earth that came after a rainfall.
He wondered what Ron and Hermione were doing only to feel a surge of anger at them. He was used to Dumbledore keeping him in the dark but he'd always been able to count on his friends. Ron and the twins had stolen their dad's car to come rescue him from the Dursleys the summer before second year and Hermione who was a rule follower by nature had been willing to break them for his sake when it was important.
So why now, when it was more important than ever, were the two people he thought he trusted most in the world suddenly keeping secrets from him?
A little voice of doubt bubbled up inside him.
Ron has let you down before. He didn't believe you when you said you didn't put your name in the goblet of fire.
But that was just one time, one stupid fight we had. He's always been steadfastly by my side every other time when it's counted, Harry told the voice inside him. Besides even if I couldn't count on Ron, I know Hermione wouldn't abandon me. Or Sirius.
Thunder rumbled in the sky and a few droplets of rain trickled down, cueing Harry to head back. He got up from the swing set and began the long walk back, winding through back streets, taking any shortcut he could to make it to Privet Drive before the storm got any worse.
He turned a corner when suddenly he heard laughter and the familiar sound of his cousin's voice. Harry cursed internally. Dudley and his gang must have also taken advantage of the previously clear weather to meet up. He debated with himself whether or not to wait for them to pass, though part of him was itching for a confrontation of any kind.
Lightning flashed in the sky, the wind howled and the rain came down harder. The storm was picking up fast so Harry decided the best course of action was to continue on his way despite the risk of running into dear old Duddiekins. The air tasted metallic, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and a sense of dread came upon him.
Suddenly there was a blinding flash, a rumble and then everything around him stopped as if someone had pressed the pause button on a television. Harry looked around, feeling disoriented. He had been standing at the end of the street just one block over from Privet Drive while the storm brewed before him but now he was somewhere else entirely.
There were no houses and the road was broken up as if in need of a serious paving. It wasn't raining here, though the sky was just as bleak and grey, but the atmosphere was calm, quiet. In fact it was too quiet.
"Where am I?" Harry asked aloud though no one was around to hear it. No sign of Dudley and his gang. He began walking around in a sort of daze, he wasn't sure where he was or how he'd gotten here and yet it was familiar somehow.
He made his way down the broken, torn up street, trying to get his bearings. Instinctively he turned down another road in similar disrepair and slowly it dawned on him. He was on Privet Drive, but something terrible had happened.
Those identical houses all neatly lined up in a row were gone. Simply vanished! There was nothing left but piles and piles of ash but the ash wasn't new. The whole place looked as if it hadn't been touched in years. Harry felt almost dizzy in his confusion.
He walked a little further until he found himself standing where number four should have been but it too was nothing but ashes. Looking closer he noticed big burnt spots scorched into the earth where the perfectly manicured lawn used to be.
What had happened? Had Voldemort and his followers attacked Privet Drive while he was gone? But surely he would have heard or seen something that would have alerted him. No one could burn a neighborhood down and not make some kind of noise. He would have heard the screaming, just as he heard it in his nightmares every night. And surely the rain would have helped put out any fire being lit. Instead there were no signs signs of an attack, or at least not a recent one. Everything around him looked time worn, as if something horrible had happened many years ago.
Feeling a sense of urgency now, Harry took off in a run. Block after block, every house in the neighborhood gone, no signs that anyone had been there for a long long time. After running til his legs burned, he made into town, only to the find the whole place abandoned, many of the buildings in ruins.
It was like a nightmare. Harry gazed around in despair, trying to make sense of what had happened and what to do next. Dazedly he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. He needed to get to Diagon Alley, to the wizarding world. He needed to find a way to contact Dumbledore. It was the only thing he could think of to do so he thrust his wand out in an attempt to summon the knight bus. Then waited and waited and waited again. Nothing happened.
Harry thrust his wand out again in the same motion as before but still no one came. He started wracking his brain, trying to think of a spell that could help him get out of here.
Why didn't I pay better attention in class instead of goofing off with Ron? He thought. I wish Hermione was here, she'd know what to do.
Then Harry spotted a car parked outside one of the shops, it was covered in a layer of dust and grime but maybe it could be of use to him. He ran up to the car, wiped a layer of dust off with his jacket sleeve, jiggling the door handle.
He pointed his wand at it. "Alohamora!" There was a clicking sound and the door opened. He jumped into the front seat and began rummaging in the glove compartment hoping to find something he could hot wire the car with, not that he was even sure he knew how to do it. But desperation had taken hold of him, he knew he needed to get out of here, find some kind of civilization and figure out what was going on.
He found a girl's hair pin and jammed it into the key hole but it didn't work. He tried Alohamora on it and still nothing. Harry screamed in frustration, banging his fist against the wheel. He was trapped in an abandoned town, with no food or water, no way out, and no clue what was going on.
Suddenly he heard an inhuman screeching pierce the the evening sky. He looked up in horror to see a reptilian shape circling above him, a dragon! One as big, fierce, and deadly as the ones from the first task of the Tri-wizard tournament.
Now it all made sense, no wonder everything had been burned down with nothing left but ash. A dragon was loose in Surrey. But that still didn't explain how it had gotten here. Ron's brother Charlie worked with dragons and they were all kept in far off countries like Romania. They were illegal in places like England, though they had been brought up for the tournament a few months ago. Had one of them escaped back then? But why come here? Why all the way from Scotland to Surrey?
Harry ducked down as the dragon descended from the sky and landed a few feet away. Then his horror grew even more when he heard a sadistic laugh. Someone was here!
He risked a quick glance out the window before ducking out of sight, but it was just enough to see that a man was riding the dragon, a man in a familiar hood and mask, one he'd seen at the Quidditch World Cup and in the grave yard.
Harry threw up the hood of his dark jacket, trying to blend in with the car floor. He knew if he was spotted he'd be dead in an instant. No spell he'd learned could take on a dragon let alone a Death Eater riding one.
"Patience my pet, you'll have blood to taste again soon" He heard the man say. Harry could hear him prowling around the town, like a predator on the hunt.
"Indus! Have you found something?" Came another voice.
"Brant what are you doing here? You followed me here didn't you?!" The man replied with a snarl.
"I figured you could use a hand after the last time."
"No you didn't. You just wanted to swoop in and take any glory from my findings. Admit it the dark lord favors me and you can't stand it!"
"No I- wait what's that thing over there?" The other voice said.
"It's a muggle mobile but don't try to change the subject Brant."
Harry felt a sweat trickle down from his forehead. They were talking about the car he was hiding in, he was sure of it. How long before they found him? He gripped his wand tightly and thought of a spell. If nothing else he would go down fighting.
"But look at it, everything else here is covered in a layer of dust. Everything except that window there. It's been cleaned off. Someone's been here and recently."
"Hush!" Said the first man, the one called Indus.
Harry heard footsteps approaching and was just about to leap up and throw every spell he could think of at them when a third voice shouted "Expelliarmus!"
There was a cry of surprise and then many more voices all casting spells and the sounds of a fight. The dragon let out another shriek, this time in severe pain. Harry knew he shouldn't look but he had to know what was going on, and right now they were distracted. Slowly, carefully, he took a peek out the window and was frozen to his spot by what he saw. A man who looked vaguely familiar had plunged a sword into the dragon's belly and it was bleeding profusely, having been struck in a spot that was fatal.
A group of men and women, none of which were wearing Death Eater masks like the initial two men who had shown up with the dragon, were rapidly firing spells and quickly incapacitating them.
The man who had stabbed the dragon withdrew the sword he had plunged into the beast, and now Harry recognized it as none other than the sword of Gryffindor. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this man, but from where he couldn't possibly guess at.
A man with red hair and freckles shot binding cords out of his wand which bound together both of the Death Eaters who had been stunned. He looked like one of the Weasleys, maybe Charlie or Bill. A feeling of relief swept over Harry. Help had come at last.
"Perkins can you take the prisoners back to headquarters?" The man who had slain the dragon instructed. Getting a better look at him, Harry noticed he had a long jagged scar running down the side of his face.
"Of course" Answered a woman with long blonde hair.
"Nice job taking out the dragon" The red haired man said. Harry recognized his voice too.
"What shall we do with it?" One man asked.
"Well as much as my brother would kill me if he knew I think we should take it back with us, every part of a dragon's body has its uses. We could use the extra ingredients for potions and enchantments. Might as well get some use out of its death."
"It's so sad" One the women commented.
What do you think Longbottom?" Perkins asked. Longbottom! So that's why he seemed familiar, he must be related to Neville, Harry realized. He was tall and broad shouldered and radiated confidence. So unlike the scrawny awkward boy he went to school with. No wonder Neville felt so inadequate, if this is what his family looked like.
"I say we-" Longbottom began only to stop cold as his gaze landed on Harry peering out the car window.
"Wands ready!" He commanded. The man pulled out his own wand and slowly approached the car. Harry froze like a deer caught in the headlights. He wrenched the car door open and the man leveled his wand at him.
"Who are you?" He demanded in an intimidating voice.
"I-uh-er-I'm a friend!" Harry stuttered nervously.
"I'll be the judge of-Harry" He said in sudden recognition, looking like he'd seen a ghost.
"That's not possible" His voice a hoarse whisper.
"What do you mean? Have we met before?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Take your hood off" The man commanded and Harry hurriedly complied.
The red haired man swore loudly as he came up behind Longbottom for a closer look at him.
"But…how?" Longbottom asked.
"It's a trick it's got be!" Perkins said.
"Polyjuice?" A man asked.
"I'm not!" Harry protested, trying to think of how he could convince them he was on their side.
"No couldn't be. Polyjuice can't make you look like a younger version of whoever your impersonating."
"Harry" The red haired man said softly. "Tell me how you got here."
"I-I don't know" He answered honestly. "I was taking a walk to get away from my relatives for a while and when I came back, suddenly the whole neighborhood was burned down and the town abandoned. But how could it have all happened so quickly?" His head hurt trying to make sense of it all. No matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't figure out what had happened.
"Was there a storm before this happened?" The red haired man asked. He looked and sounded just like Ron, Harry was certain now. He was a Weasley.
"Er yes" He replied. "There've been storms all summer and today's was the worst but then it vanished."
Longbottom shared a knowing look with the red haired man. "You don't think-"
"It's possible. We did come here to investigate the latest anomaly, it's entirely possible that he came here through one of them. In fact I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened before now."
"What? What's happened?" Harry asked looking back and forth between the two.
"Well we'll have to take him with us then. We certainly can't leave him here!" Longbottom insisted.
"Right" The red haired man agreed. "We'll take him back to headquarters and see what he has to say about it."
"SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!" Harry exclaimed angrily, tired of being spoken about like he wasn't there.
"Listen Harry, we'll explain everything once we've gotten somewhere safe, it's too dangerous out in the open. I know you're confused and probably scared, but you need to come with us" The red haired man said using the same soft tone of voice as before.
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what you know" Harry insisted stubbornly.
Longbottom let out an exasperated breath but the red haired man just chuckled.
"Alright Harry, I'll tell you this much" He said. "To start with, I'm Ron Weasley and you have just been accidentally sent 10 years into the future."
A/N: This is my first fanfiction so please no flames or harsh criticism. If you don't like the story then don't continue reading it.