All of the band members were nervous as they walked onto the stage. This was the largest, most public performance they had ever given, and they were terrified. Jason and Brad had their lucky plectrums whilst Harry had his new drumsticks, which he had tested, and he was wearing contact lenses because he knew from experience that his glasses fell off when he drummed. He felt a flash of panic when he wondered what the first song was, but once he was sitting down, ready to play he found he remembered easily. They played ten songs including 'Ghostbusters' and 'The Boys are Back'.

After the last song was finished, Harry and the others stumbled off-stage towards the barbeque amid deafening applause. The band had been a big hit, but they were all completely knackered. By this time, Harry had forgotten about the group and all he wanted to do was eat and collapse.

Harry and Jason made their way over to the barbeque whilst Marie informed the crowds about the layout and activities for the rest of the day. They each grabbed a couple of Hotdogs and a bottle of water and went to look for somewhere to sit.

"Hey, how about under a tree somewhere. That way we'll be able to cool down and hopefully avoid the crowds!" Jason said.

"What you mean is that you don't want Kim to find us," Harry replied, smiling at the thought that his friend was scared of his own sister.

"That girl is evil incarnate!" protested Jason.

"Jase, she's five years old. She acts like every other five year old. Besides, she's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Jason repeated incredulously. "You try being woken up on Christmas day by being jumped on."

'I was' thought Harry, remembering Dobby the House-Elf and his gift of odd, hand-knitted socks.

They reached the tree and sat down, Harry with his back against the trunk. Neither spoke for a while at they devoured their hot-dogs.

"How is this fair," a familiar voice interrupted the boy's lunch. "We come all this way to see our best friend and he get's food before the rest of us!"

"Honestly Ron! Is food all you ever think about?" The sentence was so well used that Harry mouthed the words as they were said.

"No. Sometimes I think about Quiddich!"

"I hate to interrupt, but what are you both doing here?" Harry asked, a grin on his face.

"Charming! We've come to surprise you, but if you don't want us here..." Ron made as if to leave.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. This is fantastic!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Anyway, Happy Birthday!" said Ron, brushing Harry's explanation aside.

"Thanks Ron. And thanks for the present. You too Hermione."

"It was nothing," she replied, sitting down and pulling Ron with her.

"The others don't know where we are," she explained, seeing Harry's questioning look.

"So you're Ron and you're Hermione. Nice to meet you," Jason said, reminding the three that he was there.

"Oh right," Harry said, realising that no introductions had been made. "Ron, Hermione, this is Jason Smith. Jase, these are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Oh and the little girl hiding behind Jason is Kim."

"Hello," The little girl grinned shyly, before locking her arms around the older boy's neck and burying her head in his shoulder.

"Kim being shy? That's a first!" exclaimed Jason, pulling her onto his lap.

"Ron! What are you… Harry! Dude! That was like, totally awesome!" Fred's voice startled the group as he moved over to Harry and slung an arm around his shoulders.

"Gnarly!" seconded George, elbowing his twin out of the way so he could ruffle Harry's hair.

"Thanks you two, I'm glad you liked it. Now if you could let go I might be able to play again sometime."

The second George let go and backed off a bit, Harry was knocked sideways by a big black blur.

"Snuffles! Eew, stop it! Get off me!" Harry protested, pushing the big dog off himself.

"Big doggie," giggled Kim, moving closer to pat Snuffles.

"Why on earth is that thing called Snuffles? Surly The Hulk would be more appropriate?" Jason asked, confused.

"Because he makes a snuffling sound when he tries to laugh." The answer came from someone standing behind Jason.

"Hi Professor Lupin," said Harry, brushing himself off.

"I'm not your teacher anymore Harry. Call me Remus or Moony. I hate Professor Lupin."

Remus Lupin stood with the rest of the Weasleys, laughing at Snuffle's antics with the 5-year-old.

They were rolling around and chasing each other, much to everyone else's amusement.

"It's hard to tell which one's the kid," said Bill, just loud enough for Sirius to hear. The dog gave him an offended look before sitting down with his back to Bill, who had just noticed Jason.

"Sorry," said Harry, seeing where he was looking. "This is Jason Smith and that's his sister, Kimberly. Guys, this is Molly, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Ginny Weasley, Remus Lupin and his dog, Snuffles." Harry pointed at each person as he introduced them.

"So, not that I mind but what are you all doing here?" Harry asked, leaning back against the tree.

"You remember that we said that there was another part to your present?" replied Moony.

Harry nodded as the conversation caught Snuffle's attention and he trotted over, sitting beside Harry.

"Well it turns out that…" Lupin broke off when Jason stood and picked up Kim.

"She wants to go on rides. I'll meet you later at the Dodge-ums!" he told Harry.

"See you there!" When everyone turned to look at him, Harry explained, "We have a bet going about who's better on the Dodge-ums."

The group, except Hermione, continued to look blank so Harry continued, "It's a ride at the fair. You know what? I'll show you later."

"Right. Well, as I was saying, it turns out that Dumbledore has a holiday home in Italy and he's agreed to lend it to me, Snuffles, Molly and Arthur for the rest of the summer. It's also fully warded so while we're there, he'll put the wards up around here," said Remus.

"That is, if you want to come," added Molly with a smile.

"Of course I want to come! Do you even need to ask?" Harry asked rhetorically, grinning from ear to ear.

"We thought that might be the answer. Everything is arranged with the manager. We'll be leaving tonight by Portkey. You'll need to bring all your things," explained Arthur.

Only Sirius noticed the panic that flashed across Harry's face at the mention of using a Portkey, before it was hidden. He made a mental note to talk to Harry about it once they arrived at Dumbledore's Villa.

"Looking forward to Quiddich again this year? It's going to be tough. There's always more pressure when you're the defending champions, and you've had a whole year off," Charlie sympathised, knowing from experience just how much pressure was put on the Seekers.

"You had to remind me? It's going to be even harder seeing as Oliver left year before last," Harry explained.

"What position did he play?" queried Arthur.

"Keeper. We'll need tryouts to find someone else."

"He seemed good when I watched. And Quiddich was all he ever seemed to talk about. What's he doing now? Do you know?" Remus asked, recalling Wood.

"He's been signed to Puddlemere United. I don't know how often he plays but he's going to be hard to replace," said Harry.

"All you lot ever seem to talk about is Quiddich," grumbled Hermione. "Like last year, you went on and on about that Wonkey Faint thing."

At this Harry and Charlie cracked up while Fred, George, Ron and Bill looked horrified and the others looked blank.

"It's a Wronski Feint and the reason I was 'going on' about it was because Oliver never fully described it. That and after seeing Krum do it at the World Cup I really wanted to try it!" Harry said, grinning at the thought of Malfoy getting ploughed.

None of the adults, except Sirius, looked happy about this, the thought of Harry plummeting towards the ground at high speed terrifying, though if they knew details of previous escapades they might not be as worried.

"So are we going to take advantage of the free rides then?" Hermione asked, getting to her feet and waiting impatiently for the others to follow.

The group was approaching the rides when Ron turned to Harry.

"How come you never mentioned that you play the drums?" he demanded of his friend.

"I dunno. It just never seemed to come up. I mean, I never really played at the Dursley's, it was more something I took up when I came here," he explained.

Again, the feeling of carefully contained rage travelled through the group at the mention of Harry's relatives, a reaction that didn't fit with what Sirius knew of the situation.

"Do they miss those bars at all? 'Cause we can take them back if they do," suggested Fred, cracking an evil grin.

Harry laughed, saying "I don't think they'd appreciate it, but since there's nothing they can do, I say go for it!"

"What bars are you talking about?" asked Lupin.

"Oh nothing important. They were just something I took with me to the Burrow at the beginning of Second Year," Harry explained, not willing to mention that he had been locked in his room by his relatives.

By this time they'd reached the fairground where everyone but Harry and Hermione were looking around in wonder.

"Are there waltzers here?" Hermione asked, almost innocently.

"What are waltzers?" Ron asked.

"You like waltzers? Hermione, I reckon you've been spending too much time around me and Ron," said Harry, stunned.

"No, I've always liked waltzers. Rollercoasters too," she added, grinning. "And to answer your question, Ron, a waltzer is a ride. But if you want to know what it's like, you'll have to go on it!"

Harry led them over to the ride in question, which had just finished. Ron, Harry and Hermione went in one car while Charlie, Ginny and Bill went in another and Fred and George in a third, all totally unprepared for what was to come.

By the time they exited the ride, Ginny was looking slightly unwell, as was Ron. Those who hadn't gone on the ride were looking worried and slightly smug as they hadn't dared to go on the ride.

"Where next?" Harry asked, grinning as Ron turned whiter.

"Don't you have to meet Jason?"

"Not for half an hour," he said. "There is a rollercoaster, or a Ferris wheel, a carousel, a ghost train…" Harry trailed off as he and Hermione silently agreed to go on rides as and when they got to them.

By 5 o'clock the visitors had started to leave and Harry and Hermione had taken the Weasleys on most of the rides (they were all laughing on the ghost train!) and Harry had lost his bet against Jason. After clearing away the sound system, Harry went up to his room to pack, not noticing that he was being followed by Snuffles.

"Are you going to tell me the truth about the bars?" Sirius asked, changing back to human as Harry pulled his trunk out from under his bed.

"Jeez, Sirius! You need to learn to make some noise when you enter a room," Harry complained, startled. "What did you think of the music?"

"It was good. I never knew you played. Leaving the Dursley's seems to have been good for you."

In mentioning Harry's relatives Sirius was reminded about the bars.

"Hey! No changing the subject! I want to hear the truth about the bars Fred, or was it George? mentioned."

"It was Fred and if, IF, I tell you, you have to promise not to over-react and not to do anything about it!"

"Ok, I promise," Sirius said slowly, becoming worried.

"They were on my window the summer before second year, after my Uncle found out that we aren't allowed to do magic outside school."

"How did he find out? And why put bars on the window?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Dobby the House-elf used a hover charm on Aunt Petunia's pudding when they had visitors so I got a warning from the Improper Use of Magic office. Uncle Vernon was so happy with that note. He decided that he wasn't going to let me go back to Hogwarts, so he put the bars on my window, locked me in my room and gave me food through a cat-flap," Harry explained, avoiding Sirius' eye.

Sirius' voice was flat and carefully neutral when he asked his next questions.

"So how did Fred get them? And why was there a House-elf at Privet Drive?"

"Fred, George and Ron came to get me in Mr Weasley's flying Ford Anglia. They ripped the bars off the window to get me out. And Dobby was trying to stop me from going back to Hogwarts because Voldemort was trying to re-open the Chamber of Secrets," Harry explained, finishing his packing.

"The Chamber of Secrets doesn't exist. It never showed up on the Map and no-one else ever found it. Not even Dumbledore!" Sirius retaliated, not noticing his godson's sceptical expression.

"So where is… wherever we're going?" Harry asked, changing the subject more effectively than before.

"I'll tell you when we get there, just in case. You ready?" Sirius stood up and transformed, just before the door opened and Jason walked in. Boy and dog exchanged a look, clearly saying that they had cut it very close.

"You want a hand taking that down?" Jason asked, missing the exchange.

"Cheers!"

They carried Hedwig's cage and Harry's trunk down to where everyone was waiting, ready to say goodbye.

"Try not to kill Kim," Harry said, grinning at the dawning look of horror on his friend's face, as he realised that there would be no one to help wrangle his sister.

"Harry no go!" yelled Kim, running up to Harry and hugging his leg.

"I have to go sooner or later. Don't wind your brother up and stay away from trees, ok?" Harry asked, hugging her before handing the child to Jason.

"See you next summer!"