AN - Hey there folks, sorry for the delay in updates. It's been a zoo lately, had an MVA while the wife was pregnant and we had our second daughter a week or so later(all healthy!), in addition to the writers block. I have the next chapter complete awaiting edits and I'm working on the one after that. I can't promise weekly updates to the story or anything, but the story is far from dead. Hope you all enjoy!
Harry sat down on a small bench, his trunk next to him. The street before him was busy, something not altogether surprising for downtown London. He was waiting for Mr. Weasley, who was going to use his lunch break getting him to the Burrow, where he would be staying for the rest of the summer vacation.
Mr. Weasley had been fortunate enough to win a Ministry of Magic contest, the grand prize being ten tickets to the Quidditch World Cup. The World Cup would start in three days and he couldn't help the bubbling excitement. Most of the Weasley family would be going, and Hermione even said she'd be there. Sirius had been invited too, but declined. He had made a lot of progress since his release from Azkaban, but still wasn't feeling up to such a large-scale event.
Living with Sirius the last couple of months had been the most enjoyable time at "home" he'd ever experienced. It's the first time he ever felt like he was at home. He'd come close at The Burrow and in Gryffindor tower, but this was different. Nowhere in the house did he feel out of place. Even Kreacher was starting to tolerate them. He could go anywhere, do anything...within reason of course. Sirius was a lot of fun to be around as well, especially as he got more and more comfortable with being out of prison.
That wasn't to say it was without work. Sirius was nothing if not adamant about his studying. Polar opposite of the Dursleys, Sirius insisted that, not only would he do his homework and studying, he would continue the physical training started by Capt. Gordon during the previous school year and he would be doing extracurricular study in Defense Against the Dark Arts during the summer.
Sirius was no slouch. He was formerly a member of an organization called the Order of the Phoenix, a militia formed by witches and wizards that fought against Voldemort and his Death Eaters during their time. Sirius didn't say much about it, but given his command of defensive and offensive magic, it was clear that they'd been a force to be reckoned with.
"Harry." The voice of Mr. Weasley pulled Harry from his thoughts. The tall, red headed patriarch of the Weasley family was walking up briskly. "Good to see you, m'boy." Harry stood to greet him, receiving a firm handshake. It was one of the man's best qualities, he never treated Harry like a child.
"How are you, Mr. Weasley?" It had been nearly a year since Harry had last seen him. He got updates about the family from Ron, of course, but it was just not the same as talking to someone.
"Busy as ever, I'm afraid!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger in the air. "What with all of the international..." he cut himself off, seeming to think the better of whatever he was going to say. "Well, anyway, we'd better be off. I don't have long."
"Sure," Harry said, looking around. He didn't see the car that Mr. Weasley had enchanted, giving it the capability of flight. Ron told him that, after almost a year of lurking around the Dark Forest at Hogwarts, the car had returned to The Burrow. Ron said that his dad had spent a few hours trying to get the car to stay still so he could make a few repairs. "Er, how are we getting there?"
"Have you ever heard of apparition?" Mr. Weasley asked, smiling wryly at the distasteful look on Harry's face at the mention of it. "I'll take it you're familiar."
"Sirius and I did it once, a few months ago..." Harry trailed off, remembering the unpleasant sensation of being pressed in on all sides and forced into a tiny volume of space.
"It gets easier, Harry," he said reassuringly. "Shall we get it over with?"
"Right." Harry grabbed his trunk and stepped next to Mr. Weasley.
"Hold on tight, we don't want to go splinching anything." Mr. Weasley held out his arm for Harry to grab and sat there for a moment before he realized that Harry had not yet grabbed on.
"Splinching?" Harry asked, a look of genuine concern on his face.
"Er… Nothing to worry about, you'll learn all about it in a bit...from school of course. Well, grab hold." Harry did as he was told, and felt the familiar jerking twist, and the painful compression coming at him from all sides. It pressed harder and harder until he thought he couldn't take it any longer, then all of the pressure was gone as suddenly as it came.
He managed to stay on his feet this time, much to his surprise. He was immediately greeted by the scent of some kind of heavy food being cooked, along with the loud chatter of several simultaneous conversations all competing for attention.
He couldn't help a half smile. It almost seemed like he'd never left. This was among his first homey memories. Living with Sirius at Grimmauld was, without a doubt, home. Yet, it couldn't erase the Burrow from his mind as the first place he'd felt the love and attention of a family.
Mrs. Weasley took a break from her multi-tasking in the kitchen when she heard the soft pop of Mr. Weasley and Harry apparating in. She'd been cooking, directing the dishes to wash themselves, trying to set the table, and attempting to read a book that was hovering over the counter.
"Oh, Harry, dear!" she exclaimed, giving him a peck on the cheek as she wrapped him in an embrace. It wasn't something he'd gotten used to yet, but he was getting there. Motherly affection was a nice feeling. She shifted over to her husband and gave him a warm embrace and a kiss. "I have something for you."
"Is that right?" Arthur mused as his wife darted back to the kitchen. She returned with a container of pan haggerty. It was among Arthur's favorite meals and he beamed at his wife when he realized what she'd made for him.
"Harry!" Ron shouted, giving his friend a pat on the back. "Good to see you, mate!" Several of the nearby conversations died down at Ron's shout. Soon Harry was being greeted by the whole Weasley brood.
It was a whirlwind as Harry rapidly exchanged personal greetings with each of them. Ginny, after squeaking a "hello," had darted upstairs. Fred and George were grinning wildly and trying hard not to look in the direction of the kitchen. Harry got the impression that they'd planned a little something.
Charlie shook his hand firmly with rough hands, no doubt borne from years of handling dragons. A part of Harry thought it was really cool, and a larger part thought of it as insane. Bill, while certainly softer, still seemed...cool. His long hair was pulled back in a ponytail that on others he'd likely have thought looked hilarious. Bill pulled it off though.
The twins wore matching grins and Harry could tell it meant mischief. They were excellent at covering up, but Harry noticed how they kept eyeing their mother while she didn't pay attention. She gave her husband another kiss and he apparated away. She fiddled with her hair as she got back to the kitchen.
There was a whistling sound as the pot of food she was cooking alerted her to its completion. She picked up her wand and waived it, dropping it with a cry of surprise as it squeaked at her and turned into a fake mouse.
"FRED! GEORGE!" she cried out, furious. She scrambled about the kitchen to find her wand as the whistling got louder, more insistent. She found her wand and waived it, moving the pot from the stove.
"Erm, that's our cue," Ron said as his mother rounded from the kitchen on her two twins. The two of them headed upstairs as Fred and George tried to banter their way from their mother's ire.
Upstairs, Percy poked his head out of his room. He was, for some reason, still dressed in his official Ministry robes and wore a pedantic expression on his face. "Do you mind? I'll never get anything done with all this racket!"
"He's finishing a top secret project for the Ministry," Ron explained, trying to hide a grin. Percy scowled at his younger brother.
"It's no secret that imported cauldrons are a little thinner than our more standard ones. Leaks are increasing at a rate of-" Percy started, but was cut off by Ron again.
"That'll be front page news, I expect." He splayed his hands in front of his face, as though unraveling a newspaper. "MINISTRY SOLVES WORST CRIME SINCE GRINDELWALD, thin cauldrons!" Percy sighed and slammed his door.
"Do you really have to go antagonizing him?" The voice of his closest female friend appeared behind him. He turned and saw Hermione walking toward them. Her formerly bushy hair hung down at her shoulders, more or less straightened. It was a habit she'd picked up last year at school, when she'd had a reason to care about her appearance.
"He brings it on himself, really," Ron laughed.
"It's good to see you, Harry." Hermione made a point of ignoring Ron, who was defending his childish antics.
"It's good to see you, too," Harry replied. "Sirius wanted me to thank you for having your parents work on his teeth. He said he feels like a whole new man."
"Of course," she waived off the thanks. It really hadn't been tough, though her parents commented several times that the state of his teeth were worse than they'd seen in quite a few years. "It was their pleasure."
"I think Sophia appreciated it too," Harry noted. "She and Sirius have been spending a fair bit of time together." Hermione smiled and Ron laughed. Sirius spent at least one or two evenings a week at the restaurant until he finally worked up the nerve to ask his favorite server on a date. Harry thought his godfather was going to run laps when she said yes, he was so giddy.
"He works fast, really," he said. He led the trio to his room and sat on his bed. Harry sat next to his friend while Hermione pulled up a chair from next to Ron's desk. It was likely meant for doing schoolwork, but the only parchment there had Quidditch stats.
"So, have you heard from them?" Harry asked. He'd received a letter from Brad early on in the summer and hadn't heard anything since. Hermione straightened slightly, obviously the pain of having to separate from Mike was still fresh.
"Yes, I've talked back and forth with Mike a bit," she replied. They'd parted ways at the end of the last school year, and while they hadn't broken up they knew that it was likely that they wouldn't see each other again. Not for a very long time, anyway. "He obviously can't tell me much about what they're doing, but they sound good."
"Good, I'm glad," Harry said. They caught up for a little bit, going over their last few months. Harry filled them in on his new home and how living with Sirius was. They'd spent a lot of time clearing out some unwelcome guests from Grimmauld Place, mostly pests and a boggart.
Ginny fetched them after a while and led them down to dinner. It was large informal ordeal out in the garden. Mrs. Weasley explained that the house was too crowded with the whole family and guests present.
After dinner they all retired for the night. Harry went to Ron's room, Hermione stayed with Ginny, Bill stayed with Charlie in his old room, and poor Fred and George had to share a room with Percy. They were quite vocal about their complaints, but Mrs. Weasley wasn't hearing it after the fake wand incident earlier that day. Harry suspected that it might have partly been a punishment. When he finally fell asleep it was with a smile on his face.
The next morning Harry woke to the clinking of dishes downstairs. A glance outside told him it was morning and he was sure that Mrs. Weasley was cooking something for breakfast. He sat up and put on his glasses, the world becoming much clearer.
He thought for a moment about not doing his morning exercises but decided against it. It was a routine that was paying off for him. He noticed he was starting to show some defined muscle in his abdomen and arms.
Reluctantly, he threw on a pair of shorts and his tank top and headed downstairs. He found Mrs. Weasley, along with Hermione and Ginny, cooking breakfast. Ginny was carefully stirring eggs at the direction of her mother as Hermione tended to the eggs and bacon.
"Good mor-" Mrs. Weasley started, stopping short when she saw what Harry was wearing. She gave him a questioning look.
"Good morning," he finished. "Just getting ready for some exercise. It's a habit." Ginny looked up from her eggs, blushing brightly at the sight of him in his exercise clothes. They revealed a little more of him thea his normal robes did. In her momentary distraction she accidentally scooped some of the eggs out and onto the stove.
Harry pretended not to notice the ordeal as he headed outside to work out. It was cool outside and at first he felt like he'd made a mistake wearing the shorts and tank top. After he'd run for a little bit though, he felt better. He ran out to a nearby clutch of trees and back a few times until he was out of breath. Afterward, he went back and forth between sets of push ups, pull ups, and crunches.
Half an hour later he was finished and went back inside. He opted to go straight upstairs for a shower before eating, knowing he couldn't possibly smell good. By the time he headed back downstairs everyone was up and eating. Ron looked groggy as ever, though he worked through a heaping plate of eggs and bacon.
Harry helped himself to the full breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage. As he'd been growing to expect, he found himself ravenous after the workout. After a few moments of quiet eating Ron was finally awake enough to speak up.
"I can't wait, we leave for Dartmoor tomorrow," he said between mouthfuls of eggs. It took Harry a brief second. That's where they were holding the Quidditch World Cup. "Bulgaria is going to kick Ireland's tail!"
"Not bloody likely," Fred countered. "There's no one on the Bulgarian team that can match Ireland's chasers."
"Bulgaria has Krum!" Ron replied. Krum was the Seeker and Harry had heard a lot about him. Young in comparison to many of the other Quidditch players, he'd been responsible for a lot of the victories that made their chance at the World Cup possible.
"One good seeker does not a good team make," George chimed in. The argument was in earnest and Harry listened as the merits of each team were presented and picked apart by the brothers. Harry completed a plate and a half food before finally slowing down. Mrs. Weasley was busy busing plates to the kitchen when there was a rap at the door.
The conversation died down as they'd not expected company. Mrs. Weasley took it in stride, though she was too busy to get the door herself.
"Hermione, dear, would you be so kind as to get that?" She put dishes in the sink, mumbling something about it probably being the Daily Prophet about their winning the Quidditch tickets. Hermione didn't reply, instead just heading over and opening the door. With a squeal, she launched herself out the door.