"Aunt Petunia?"
"What is it, brat?" Harry was not holding out any hope on being allowed to go, but it seemed less likely now that she was calling him a brat again …
"My headmaster would like to take me out to dinner tomorrow night to discuss some … school issues. He will come through normal means, and then I can sleep at my friend Ron's house and come back home Saturday afternoon. Please may I go?"
"And what time will you be leaving tomorrow, then?" Harry could not believe what he was hearing. His aunt might actually be letting him go with Dumbledore!
"At … 'promptly ten pm' it says on the letter. Please may I go?"
"N – yes." It was said reluctantly, but Harry didn't care – he still counted it as a victory, even if it was probably fear that made her agree. Harry still sniggered when he thought about how pale Petunia's face went when she saw Moody's eye, and Tonks' multi-coloured hair. He owed them big time for this.
Harry rushed through the housework that Thursday and Friday, longing to spend more time reading the Occlumency book. At 930 Friday night, he turned the last page with relief, now knowing more about the subject than he thought he ever would. Next week, he would work on the exercises given, and only after his mind was completely shielded would he start reading his other new books; Occlumency was far more important than grades.
He looked at the clock, his eyes widening when he saw the time. He was most definitely not ready to meet his headmaster, but it wouldn't take long to get ready – he only had to throw some decent clothes on.
He picked out his best robes – the ones that actually fit him still – and realised that they didn't fit either.
"Damn!"
He had to go with Dudley's cast-offs then … well, at least he was ready then!
Ten minutes to go …
'Waiting is so boring'
Five minutes to go …
'I can't stand this much longer'
Two minutes to go …
It wasn't worth it. Harry got up and went downstairs, thinking that maybe if he was ready to just walk out of the door, his family would be more agreeable when he got home tomorrow evening!
"Thank you, Aunt Petunia for letting me go. I think he is coming by normal means, so don't worry about the nieghbors, and I'll see you tomorrow." With that, fifteen year old Harry Potter walked outside the house to wait for his headmaster.
He wasn't disappointed when his teacher walked down the road, whistling an old muggle nursry rhyme, his waist-length silver beard tucked into his belt and wearing a long black cloak and a pointed hat. The cloak could have passed as a muggle travelling coat, but Harry knew better, and wondered if maybe he should have tried harder to fit into his wizarding clothes. No matter – it was done now, and nothing more could be said on the subject.
"Good evening, Harry!"
Harry, feeling rather nervous (he had never spoken to the headmaster out of school before) replied with the usual mumble, looking at the toes of his scuffed trainers, wondering what the headmaster was really doing here.
"I shall assume then that you grew tired of waiting, and chose to come outside out of choice rather than out of necessity, shall I?"
"Yes Sir, I just thought it would be better for my family if I waited outside instead of inside, Sir." If the older man had thought it strange that Harry had referred to the Dursleys as his family rather than 'the Dursleys', he did not show it. His eyes twinkled as they usually did, and he smiled serenely at the teenager beside him.
"Well then, my boy. What do you say we get some dinner as I said in the Leaky Cauldron, then?" And he held out his arm to the confused Harry next to him. Feeling rather bewildered, The-Boy-Who-Lived took the offered arm, and found himself feeling as though he was being pressed from all directions. He couldn't breathe, and every aprt of him was being compressed further and further inside.
And then it was over, and Harry felt that he could breathe once more. Discretely checking that all of his body parts were still attached, before realising that actually, it felt similar to how he presumed a roller coaster did, and it was quite enjoyable, once you got over the fact that you had just moved from one place to another in the blink of an eye.
"Are you alright?" asked Dumbledore, looking down at him solicitously. "The sensation does take some getting used to."
"I'm fine, Sir! It was quite good actually. Was that Apparition? I thought you had to be seventeen?"
"Yes it was, and yes you do, so that was side-along Apparition, which you do not need to be seventeen for. Well, here we are, The Leaky Cauldron."
And so they were, Harry had not even noticed!