The train ride to King's Cross has been so uneventful that it takes Harry half an hour to realize that he hasn't really thought about where they're going or what they're doing. The Dursleys and Lucius Malfoy are in a compartment together, and they leave him to it. Dudley had been missing his TV privileges for the entire ride, but Harry hadn't wanted to ask any questions.
His aunt and uncle treat him like he's not even alive. There was a welcome-home party for Harry and the Weasleys at the Burrow, and it was kind of fun, but there had been an awful lot of people there and he hadn't been able to talk to anyone. Petunia and Vernon had made him drink a horrible blackcurrant cordial. There were a couple of times, when it was just him and Dudley, when they talked about him. It wasn't mean; just as long as they weren't around Harry. The Dursleys made a point to leave the two of them alone, so it was fine.
Harry hadn't really thought about the Dursleys having any friends, or even family, since his mother had died. At some point in the summer, they'd made some sort of deal to stay in the country for the rest of the summer, with their initial plan being to travel to the Welsh countryside, maybe visit his aunt's childhood friend, Professor Umbridge. After that they'd spent several days back in Diagon Alley, taking care of old chores for Petunia, putting things away for Dudley, and picking up an unheard-of pile of money from Fred Weasley.
It hadn't been long after that that they'd shown up on the doorstep of Harry's parents, with a strange Muggle-sign language book. Harry didn't even think about asking how they got in or how they knew, but once he'd gotten over the shock, he'd understood that they'd just followed the Dursleys and left some instructions.
The last time he'd seen the Dursleys was on the train to Hogwarts. Vernon was yelling at them, and then they'd left.
