Harry wouldn't have minded the Infirmary if they'd only give him something to read. Or his wand, or something to do.
He was almost tempted to see if he could raise enough of a ruckus to get Snape to give him detention. (School was out, and it wouldn't be fair cricket to give him ones next year... would it?).
No.
It was hours and hours before they were ready to let him go - and he had to run up and get ready to leave for the Summer Hols. He spared an apologetic smile for Hermione, then rushed, "gottarunneedtopack" out of his mouth.
It was chaos, pure and simple, in Harry's dorm room. Harry despised stupid chaos. And this was the height of stupidity. Everyone else had had plenty of time to pack - they just hadn't done it.
Harry had to settle for throwing all his things willy-nilly into his trunk, and then putting Hedwig's cage inside. With everything ready, Harry hurried up to the Owl Eyrie, writing a letter to himself - it was hardly fair to force his owl to have to sit on a train for hours.
Then he sat down with Hermione - and would have talked, if it hadn't been in the Gryffindor Common Room. There were too many ears. And there was Ron.
The only bright spot about the day was arriving on the train and realizing that Harry hadn't had a spare moment to worry - or plan, for meeting his relations again.
Hermione and Ron sat nearby, and Harry closed his eyes, getting to work on projects A and B.
A was the plan for Aunt Petunia continuing roughly in the direction she'd been foreshadowing - letting Harry find the most productive use of his summer, so long as he got the dishes done.
B was the plan for Life As Usual. As much as Harry didn't want that to be the case, it seemed the worst case and the likeliest response. So he lavished the most time on that, everything from deciding that he could probably read the Magical History book in the cupboard under the stairs, to regretfully trying to find someplace to hide his chest - before Uncle Vernon tried to burn it.
Harry didn't think Uncle Vernon could succeed.
[a/n: Reviews? Sorry this one is so short. Up next: What do you think will happen at the Dursleys?]