Harry felt pretty good when he stepped back through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters alongside Ron and Hermione. Sure, it would take two months before he would go back to Hogwarts, but now he had a godfather to write to, his Hogsmeade permission form signed and Ron had said something about the Quidditch World Cup. Harry would also make sure to mention that his godfather was a convicted murderer, and omit the fact that he was actually innocent. That would surely scare the Dursleys. Speaking of the Dursleys, Harry looked around, but they were nowhere to be seen.

'Harry!' Mrs Weasley called after she had greeted her own children, and she hugged him. 'How nice to see you again!'

'Hello Mrs Weasley' Harry said with a smile.

'Isn't your family here yet?' Mr Weasley asked.

'No' Harry said, looking around once more.

'Well, I'm sure they'll be here soon' Mr Weasley said.

'Goodbye everyone! See you soon!' Hermione called and she waved. They all waved back at her and watched her walk away with her parents. The platform gradually became less crowdy as students met up with their parents and left, but there was still no sign of the Dursleys.

'Maybe they've forgotten' Ginny said.

'That'd be very irresponsible of them' Mrs Weasley said.

Mr Weasley looked at Harry. 'Do you want us to wait with you?'

'Well, if it's not too much trouble' Harry said hesitantly. He did not like the idea of making them all wait, but at the same time he was becoming increasingly worried.

'Of course it's not' Mrs Weasley smiled at him. Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, then twenty. While Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were discussing the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, Harry kept looking around. Then suddenly he got an idea.

'I'll try to call them.'

'With a fellytone?' Ron asked. 'I know how to use them now' he said proudly, but nobody responded. Harry rummaged in his trunk for a bit, until he had found some Muggle money.

'Be right back' he said and he made his way to the payphones. He threw in a coin and dialed the Dursley's number. The phone rang one time, two times, three times, four times and just when his heart sank he heard a voice.

'Hello, Dursley residence.' Harry had never been so happy to hear his cousin's voice before.

'Julie! Hello! It's Harry. I'm at King's Cross Station. Why didn't your parents come pick me up?'

Julie said nothing for a few seconds. 'Oh. Was that today?'

'Yes! Did you forget?'

'Ehm, you see, the thing is, aunt Marge's very ill and my parents are at her place at the moment. I guess that in their worries they indeed forgot about you' Julie said.

'How come you're home then?' Harry asked.

'Well, duh, I mean, aunt Marge can't really give me any presents when she's ill, can she?' Julie said.

Harry sighed. 'When do you reckon your parents will be home?'

'No idea' Julie said unhelpfully.

'Well, since I'm basically stuck here, can you come and get me?' Harry hated to ask, but he felt he had no choice.

'Oh. Well, Harry, you know I'd love to, but I'm extremely busy at the moment, you see.'

'With what?'

'Well, considering I was going to be alone for a great portion of the evening, I rented a few movies and I just started watching' Julie said. Harry had to contain his anger.

'But if you don't come, I'll be stranded. I don't have enough money to get back myself!'

'Sounds like a personal problem to me, scarface' Julie said.

'Julie, please.'

'Oh, I like that. Tell you what. I'll come if you beg me to' Julie said nastily. Harry said nothing. 'Suit yourself, twat, goodbye!'

'Julie, wait! All right. What do you want me to say?'

Julie laughed. 'Wise choice! Say, hm, my cousin Julie is the prettiest, awesomest girl on the planet and superior to me in every way imaginable.'

'My cousin Julie is the prettiest, awesomest girl on the planet and superior to me in every way imaginable' Harry said grudgingly. He felt his blood boil.

'Sorry, didn't hear that' Julie said. Harry said it again. Two women standing near him looked at him and smiled. 'Ahhh, one more time, scarface!' Harry said it again.

'Now will you come get me?'

'No, of course not, are you stupid?'

Harry sighed, feeling incredibly frustrated and worried. But then Julie sighed as well and spoke again. 'All right. I told you I would, and I always keep my word. I'll be there in an hour, I guess.'

Harry felt incredibly relieved. 'Okay, thank you, Julie.'

'Don't flatter yourself. If something happens to you, I'll be out of a job.'

He walked back to the Weasleys. 'I just spoke to my cousin Julie. Apparently my uncle's sister is ill and my uncle and aunt went to take care of her. Julie stayed home and I managed to convince her to come pick me up.'

'Is the sick aunt the aunt you blew up last year?' Ginny asked, but Mrs Weasley hissed at her to be quiet.

'She should be here in an hour' Harry concluded.

'All right,' Mrs Weasley said, 'shall we wait with you until she's here?'

'That's very kind, Mrs Weasley, but I'll be fine now' Harry said with a smile.

'Are you sure? What if she won't show up? There's no telling when your uncle and aunt will be able to come, and I hope you don't mind me saying, but your cousin doesn't really seem like a very reliable person' Mrs Weasley said carefully.

'Let's stay, we don't mind at all' Fred and George said. Harry knew they would love to meet Julie; he had told them a lot about her.

'It's really no problem, dear. We'll be worried about you if we don't see you off.'

'Yes, mate. Don't even worry about it' Ron said.

'All right, thank you' Harry said. He really appreciated it.

About an hour later Harry spotted his cousin trying to make her way through the crowd. He put up his hand and she nodded at him. However, when she saw his company, she stopped abruptly and motioned for him to come.

'She doesn't seem too keen on meeting us' Fred said.

'That's because she's terrified of anything related to magic' Harry said.

'That's so weird' George said.

'Well, actually, not really' Harry said with a smirk.

'Well, it seems you'll be in, er, good hands now' Mr Weasley said, looking at Julie annoyingly standing in the middle of the platform so that people had to wrestle themselves past her.

'Sort of. Thank you for waiting, that was really kind' Harry said.

'Don't worry dear, just look out for our letter' Mrs Weasley said with a smile. Harry nodded once more and then walked up to his cousin.

'You didn't say a whole entourage was included!' she said immediately, casting a final glance at the Weasleys.

'Hello to you too' Harry said.

'Let's just get out of here. I'll take your bird.' She took Hedwig's cage, but as soon as she did the owl started screeching. 'Or not' Julie said, handing him back the cage immediately. 'Ungrateful flying rat.' She walked away and Harry clumsily followed. While they got into the subway, Julie kept looking around. 'Everyone's staring at us, I just hope we won't run into anyone I know.' It was true; like always Hedwig drew a lot of attention. There was one empty seat left and Julie quickly claimed it. Next to her sat a young couple a few years older than them, who were mumbling and giggling together. Julie made eye contact with Harry, looked at the couple quickly and carefully and then rolled her eyes.

'This movie got very good reviews' the boy suddenly told his girlfriend.

'What movie are you going to see?' Julie intruded. The girl told her the name of the movie. 'Ah yeah, I've seen that one. I mostly liked the part when…' She revealed the entire plot and the couple groaned in annoyance. 'It's a good movie though, you're in for a treat!' Julie said with a sweet smile and then got up, because their stop was next.

Darkness had fallen by the time they set foot on Privet Drive, and Harry was feeling tired. He could not wait to get to his room. When Julie opened the door, they were immediately greeted by her parents. 'Oh Jewel, we're so sorry you had to go pick him up! We'll make this up to you, don't worry.' Petunia hugged her daughter, who cowered a little. 'We're so proud of you.'

'It wasn't that big of a deal, mum' Julie mumbled, feeling embarrassed by the praise.

'Yeah, boy, I'm sure you'll understand that you were off our minds for a bit. Aunt Marge's ill' Vernon said. The hall was way too small for all four of them and Harry felt uncomfortable.

'I know, Julie told me.'

While Julie was taken to the kitchen for a cold drink, Harry took his stuff to his room and fell asleep almost instantly.

This summer was a particularly good one for Harry. He had indeed told the Dursleys that the escaped convict from last summer was actually a wizard and his godfather. They were sceptical at first, but Harry showed them one of Sirius's letters. 'You know, he likes to make sure I'm doing okay' Harry said pleasantly. After that, the Dursleys mostly ignored him, which he was fine with. He did his homework and corresponded with his friends, who (unlike the Dursleys) gave him nice birthday presents. Sometimes he even took dips in Julie's pool, to which she did not (dare to) object. The days went by peacefully, until one morning in August.

They were having breakfast when Julie came walking into the kitchen with the mail. 'Aunt Marge sent you a letter, daddy' she said, handing her father a letter. 'And Harry,' she said, looking at him, 'the Weasel family is inviting you to the, er…' (she looked at the letter) 'Quidditch World Cup'. Did I pronounce that correctly?' She smiled at him.

'Give me that letter!' Harry said at once, but Julie held it up, revealing an exorbitant amount of post stamps.

'Look at this. I bet this came from the same lunatics who made that phone call last year.'

'Julie, give me that letter' Vernon demanded immediately while Harry looked at Julie angrily.

'Why did you open someone else's mail? Where are your manners?'

'In my butt,' she said, still smiling, 'you can't blame me for wanting to know who sent it, after that.' She pointed at the stamps.

Vernon had finished reading. 'Who are these people?' he asked his nephew, but it was Julie who responded.

'I've seen them at the station, daddy. They all have red hair and were dressed in rags. They're one of those families with more children than they can afford. There are ways to prevent that, you know.'

'There are also ways to mind your own business' Harry said angrily, but he knew Julie was immune when in the presence of her parents.

'You,' Vernon said, looking at Harry, 'living room, now.' Julie smirked; she was sure Harry was about to be told off and she loved it. A few minutes later her father and Harry came back into the kitchen. Much to Julie's shock, Harry seemed ecstatic about something. 'All right, so, some family is going to take the boy to some World Cup nonsense. As I don't have time to drop him off somewhere, they'll come and get him tomorrow.' Petunia and Julie looked shocked.

'Those people? In our house?' Petunia asked incredulously.

'It's all right, they'll take the boy and go' Vernon said.

That evening Harry already packed all of his stuff. He could not believe his luck; he was actually going to the final of the Quidditch World Cup! At first Vernon had been hesitant to let him go, but when Harry casually mentioned his godfather his uncle no longer dared to say no. He wondered how the Weasleys would make their way to Privet Drive. Mr Weasley would probably borrow a car from the Ministry again, that would make the most sense.

He went outside where he found Julie doing laps in the pool, sat down in the chair he had made her fall off of three years ago and smiled to himself. 'Hey!' Julie called. She had come to a halt with her arms resting on the edge of the pool. 'How are those people going to get here?'

'I don't know' Harry said truthfully.

'Let me guess, they drive some old banger that'll break down in the middle of nowhere. Actually, that's more of a hope than a guess.'

Harry said nothing, he had too good a mood to let her spoil it.

'Don't get me wrong, though. I don't mind you leaving so soon. What is that World Cup thingy exactly?'

Harry sighed. 'Quidditch is a sport, played on broomsticks. Why do you care, though?'

'Just curious, that's all' she said, and she turned around to swim a few more laps.

The next day all three of the Dursleys were very nervous and they could not sit still or focus on something. Petunia had cleaned the house about three times and Julie had made sure that all of her precious belongings were safely tucked away in her room. The letter the Weasleys had sent had mentioned five p.m., but at about three p.m. they were already as ready as they could be. Harry found their nervousness strangely amusing.

Vernon had put on his best suit, but Petunia and Julie had not made a special effort. Julie contemplated staying in her room all the time, as her last encounter with a wizard had resulted in her arms being covered with feathers and her parents having to pay for a removal at a private hospital in London. However, she did not want Harry to think she was scared and so she decided not to hide. She was also not afraid to admit that she was kind of curious about Harry's friends, considering she had made sure that he never had any in primary school. She wondered if they were just as weird as he was.

It was a quarter to five and everyone was sitting in the living room, waiting anxiously for the Weasleys' arrival. Harry felt he could cut the tension with a knife, and therefore he went to sit on the stairs in the hallway. He hoped that the Dursleys would not be too rude to the Weasleys. At five p.m. he went back into the living room, where the Dursleys sat in front of the TV without it being on. Vernon and Petunia kept looking out the window, while Julie nervously took sips of her tea. There was no sign of the Weasleys, however, and soon it had become a quarter past five. Vernon and Petunia started mumbling. 'No consideration… maybe they think they can join us for dinner…'

BOOM! An explosion came from behind the electric fireplace, that subsequently shattered into pieces. The Dursleys started screaming and a man and three boys appeared, all red-headed. 'Ouch! Sorry about that, it didn't occur to me that we'd face any obstacles. Don't worry, I'll fix it before we go!' the man said. 'You must be Harry's uncle and aunt!' He stretched out his hand, but Vernon and Petunia were too scared to shake hands; they backed away a bit. Ron, Fred and George were examining the living room with benign interest, until their gaze rested on Julie, who was sitting on the couch and determined not to look back. 'Hello, Harry!' said Mr Weasley happily, 'are you ready to go?'

'Yes, my trunk's upstairs' Harry said.

'We'll get it' Fred and George said and they quickly left the room. Julie looked after them, worried they would enter her room. She had recognised the boys as the same who had come to pick Harry up with the flying car two years ago. She looked around and her eyes met Ron's, who turned a little red. She inadvertently smiled at him before she looked away. Mr Weasley did a brave attempt to break the awkward silence.

'Well, nice place you got here' he said as he looked around. Harry knew he would have loved to examine the television and the video recorder. Mr Weasley pointed at them, as the Weasley twins re-entered the room with Harry's trunk. 'They are powered by elicitytrek, aren't they? I can see the plugs. I collect plugs.' The twins rolled their eyes and Vernon still did not say anything. He clearly thought Mr Weasley was out of his mind. 'I work with that kind of stuff, you see, to prevent people from misusing those kinds of things.'

Suddenly Julie snorted. 'Ha! That's supposed to be a job?' she asked mockingly with a nasty smile. She earned herself angry looks from all of the Weasley boys, while Mr Weasley actually went slightly red.

'You're Harry's cousin, right?'

'I am.'

'Are you having a nice holiday?'

'Er, it's all right, I guess.'

Seeing that this conversation was also going nowhere, Mr Weasley turned to Harry. 'Well, let's go then.' He took out his wand (the Dursleys again backed away a bit), and made flames appear in the fireplace.

'You first, George' he said.

'Okay, oh no…' A bag of sweets fell out of his pocket and within a second the entire living room floor was covered with them. Harry and Julie instinctively got up to collect them all, and Fred moved close to the couch to collect the last toffees. Julie quickly handed him the sweets; she wanted the Weasleys out as soon as possible. The Weasleys then moved to the fireplace. Fred, George and Ron had already disappeared in the flames and Harry was about to, when suddenly everyone heard a loud popping noise followed by the breaking of a tea cup. Julie started screaming; she had taken a sip of her tea, and now her nose was growing at a rapid pace. Within seconds her nose was about five ft long, and it did not stop there.

'Not to worry, I can sort her out!' Mr Weasley screamed, moving closer to Julie with his wand out. Vernon bellowed and Petunia, who was screaming almost as loud as her daughter, tried to shield her from Mr Weasley. 'It's a simple process! My son Fred must've poured something in her drink, but I can fix it in a jiffy if you just let me!' Her nose kept growing; it started knocking stuff over and Julie screamed worse than ever. Vernon lost control of his emotions and started throwing china figures at Mr Weasley. 'Please stop that! I'm trying to help! Harry, go, I'll sort this out!' Harry hesitantly stepped into the fire (he would rather have stayed and watch the fun), casting the scene one last look. Julie's nose appeared to have stopped growing, but it was now about sixteen ft long, Petunia was still on top of her and Mr Weasley dodged another ornament thrown by a furious Vernon.

'The Burrow!' Harry said loudly and he disappeared.

'All right, do whatever you need to do to fix this' Vernon said about a minute later. He had calmed down a bit and realised Mr Weasley was probably their only hope.

'Finally, thank you' Mr Weasley said annoyedly; it did not happen every day that someone threw ornaments at his head. Petunia let go of her daughter, who looked terrified, but she too had stopped screaming. Mr Weasley had been right; it only took about two seconds to get Julie back to normal. She felt her nose and involuntarily mumbled 'thank you'. Relief was one of world's best feelings.

'Don't thank him, his rotten kids did this to you!' Vernon said.

'I'm really sorry, I'm sure it was just a joke, they're always doing stuff like this' Mr Weasley said apologetically.

'Then raise them better' Vernon snapped. Julie gave Mr Weasley one last look of terror before she quickly walked out of the room. Mr Weasley then fixed the damage that had been done when he arrived and was more than happy to leave Privet Drive through a curtain of green flames.