Previously
Mrs Weasley just sighed and Harry never did get a chance to tell them he wasn't going to Hogwarts.
Sitting in his large circular office, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat looking over the list of new first year students while happily sucking on a sherbet lemon. Most of the portraits were asleep or visiting painting around the school and his companion, a regal looking phoenix named Fawkes, was sitting on his perch eating a bunch of grapes. Dumbledore's good mood faded however when he realised a notable name was not present. The charms indicated that he had received the letter or they would have sent a new one.
Getting up from his desk he moved to the fire place. Tossing some floo powder in to the flames he called out, "Arabella Fig, Wisteria Walk." As the flames roared green he flicked his wand and the fire rose up from the hearth to his head height. At his age it just wasn't possible to kneel in order to speak through the fire. Through the flames he heard a voice saying, "Yes yes just a moment." Putting his head into the flames his vision flashed green for a second before clearing to see Arabella Figg in her living room with four or five cats scattered around the room.
"Ah Arabella so good to see you again. I trust you are well?"
"Since you asked, Old Man, I have stiff joints, my back is gone and my hearing is not too great either. In other words I am old. I don't have much time left in this world so I don't want to waste it talking to a senile old man. What do you want?"
Dumbledore chuckled. "Now Arabella its not that bad. I have quite a number of years on you and I'm still spry." Arabella snorted at him. "As to why I called I came to inquire about young Harry. I haven't received his confirmation letter. Have you noticed anything strange in Privet Drive as of late?"
"No I have not because the Dursleys are not on Privet Drive as of late. They have gone to Majorca. Left two weeks ago. If that is all I have to feed the cats. Good day." Arabella rapped a fist on the top of the hearth and Dumbledore's vision turned green and he pulled back into his own office.
"Well Fawkes it semms there's no need to worry. It seems they have taken young Mr Potter on vacation. That would account for the delay in receiving in reply. Well it's a bit irregular but I'll just put Mr Potters name down anyway. No doubt we'll get his letter in a few days."
Smiling at the image of little Harry playing with his cousin in the waters of Majorca he added Harrys name to his list. He never noticed the amused look his companion was giving him before turning back to his grapes.
Mrs Arabella McGonagall Figg had agreed to move to Little Whinging eight years ago when her husband of thirty years, another squib, had passed on. Together they had run a fairly lucrative cattery and had had several prize winning pedigree cats and Kneezles. The business was too much for her to run alone however and thought Little Whinging a nice quiet place to retire.
Her cousin Minerva had asked her to watch over Harry and watch him she had. After noticing bruises on his arms and legs and seeing how small he was she had rushed to Hogwarts to demand his immediate removal. But Dumbledore had dismissed her concerns saying, "Boys will be boys. They do enjoy a bit roughhousing now and then." Even Minerva's own fervent objection had been brushed off. Her disgust for the once respected man had grown,
When the social worker Sheree had come round asking questions she had eagerly told her everything she could remember, including all the bruises and times he had eaten like he was starving.
Sheree had informed her, when she had asked, that Harry was staying with a friend after having been left alone while the Dursleys had gone to Majorca. Arabella also learned that he would not be going to Hogwarts but that his friend would be.
It had amused her to no end, when Dumbledore called. He would assume that Harry was on vacation with the Dursleys and it would be a while before he realised that Harry wasn't coming. What she would give to see his face when that happened.
It was a few days after the visit to the Weasleys found Harry and Hermione in the Hermione's room. Hermione was pouring over her magical history books and comparing them to her muggle ones. Harry had discovered she was something of a history buff, apparently inherited from her mother. She had been pointing out dozens of names and dates that meant nothing to Harry but seemed fascinating to her.
Harry had been going through his family Grimore. It was more than just a family history book. It also detailed the families accumulated knowledge. When a new spell had been invented or a magical beast discovered it was all documented. The book was actually much bigger than it looked. Most of this went entirely over Harry's head, but one useful feature of the book was its semi-sentience. If he asked a question the book would automatically turn to the relevant page. Hermione likened it to the search function on her computer.
He had been reading up on his parents and their life at Hogwarts and after. It was depressingly short. He had been confused at first about what an animagi was but when he had looked it up he was impressed that his father had managed it at fifteen.
He also looked back though his grandparents. Apparently they had been aurors and had fought against Grindewald in their younger days. They had then spent several years travelling around the world together before settling down later in life and having one son and a daughter who was killed along with their parents by Voldemort during James' sixth year.
Harry was looking up the definition of an auror when Mrs Granger called him down to the kitchen. The social worker Sheree was sitting at the table with Mrs Granger and they had several papers in front of them.
"Good afternoon Harry." Sheree smiled at him. "How have you been?"
"I've been good thanks." Harry said guardedly. It wasn't that he didn't like her but he knew that her presence meant the Dursleys had returned from Majorca.
"I know you've been worried so I wont keep you in suspense. I have talked with your neighbours and your babysitter Mrs Figg and their statements together with yours were enough to secure your removal from the Dursleys permanently. They are also going to be facing several legal charges but I wont bore you with the details. The police and our people are going to take care of everything. They may be facing some jail time but more likely is that they'll have to pay some sort of fine, a portion of which will go into a trust account for you although I'm told you don't need it. Now the question remains of where you will be living. I realise you will be in a boarding school for nine months out of the year but that still leaves the summer and other holidays." At this point Mrs Granger took over.
"Harry, Will and I have discussed it and we would like to offer you a place here." Harry looked at her in shock. Diane smiled at him, "In the short time you have been with us Hermione had been happier than she has ever been. You have been a good influence on her and I think she'll be a good influence on you too. You'll be away most of the year and with all your school fees already covered you are hardly a burden. We would love for you to stay."
"I, I don't know what to say." He said in a small voice.
"Say yes!" came a muffled voice from the hallway. Diane rolled her eyes.
"Come in here Hermione." Mrs Granger said sternly but with a smile on her face. Hermione rushed into the room and latched on to Harry.
"Say yes Harry. It'll be great! You'll be my foster brother and stay here during the holidays and the summer. We'll have so much fun." Her eyes seem to light up further. "And it'll be so much easier to trade all our school notes and…"
"Hermione!" Diane was laughing. "It's Harry decision. Don't pressure him for school work before it had even started."
Harry seemed to study Mrs Granger. "Are you sure you don't mind?"
"We wouldn't be offering if we weren't Harry." She said with a firm nod.
"And would I have to go to an orphanage if I didn't stay here?" Hermione made a small noise of protest before her mother shushed her.
"Yes Harry. You need a permanent guardian. It's the law. And there are very few people willing to foster someone your age and for only a few months of the year."
"Then yes, I would like to stay here. If you don't mind." Hermione gave a squeal of joy then seemed to realise what she had done and calmed down but it wasn't long before a large grin was on her face again. Diane smiled and reached over to give him a hug.
"That's wonderful Harry. It will be nice to have you here. Now why don't you and Hermione take the dog out for a walk with I finish a few things up with Sheree. Don't be out too long. I think we'll go out to dinner tonight to celebrate."
They did go out to dinner that night and spent a wonderful evening discussing their new schools which they were to leave for in two weeks. Both Diane and Will were getting nostalgic about their little girl leaving for most of the year.
"It will be the first time we wont be able to celebrate your birthday together." Mr Granger grumbled.
Hermione just rolled her eyes and said in a mollifying voice. "Don't worry Daddy. I'm sure Hedwig wont mind bringing all my presents to me at Hogwarts." Diane sniggered at her husband and daughter. Something seemed to occur to Hermione then and she turned to Harry to ask, "Harry when's your birthday?"
Harry blinked in surprise. "Er, it's, um it's in July. The 31st."
Hermione gasped. "Harry that was weeks ago! Why didn't you say anything?"
Harry just shrugged. "I don't know. I forgot. The Dursleys never did anything for my birthday and it just never really seemed important."
"Not important?!" Hermione fumed. "Of course it's important! It's your birthday. Every birthday is a mile stone that should be observed and celebrated. The 31st? That was the day before we went shopping. If you had say something I could have gotten you a present." She paused. "Wait, that makes me older than you!" She smirked at him."I always did want a little brother.
In the last two weeks before school started, the Grangers and Harry went down to Cornwall for a vacation. They had postponed the trip when Harry had joined them but now that his custody was secure they were able to include him in the family trip. Mr Granger had arranged to rent a house right on the beach. Harry would never forget his first sight of the ocean.
Hermione stood beside him as he stood of the edge of the beach looking out over the waves. "Its so big." He whispered. "It looks like it goes on forever."
"Actually," she said. "If you head straight out you'll only get to Spain. And off in that direction is France. Its only about…" She trailed off as she saw the flat look Harry was giving her. "But yeah, I guess that's a long way. That it might seem forever."
Harry looked back out over the ocean. "All that time living in the Dursleys cupboard," he ignored Hermione's growl, "I never imagined anything so big."
"Well you know about 70 of the Earth is covered in water and it contains roughly 97 of all the worlds water. Also, scientists believe-"
"Hermione!" he shook his head and sighed. "I know all that. I read too you know. But no book ever got the colour right, told me how the seagulls sounded or how it smelled." He took a deep breath breathing in the sea.
Hermione looked out at the sea and tried to see what Harry saw. It was nearing late after noon and the sun was reflecting of the water to the west. "Smells like seaweed to me." She muttered.
Harry gave a small laugh. "You know there's magic in the water."
Hermione gave a start. "What? Where?"
"Over there," he said, pointing towards the sun. "I thought it the light at first but the sun is turning everything gold and magic is silver."
She started to bounce in excitement. "Oh I wonder what it could be? Maybe there is a magical settlement here in Cornwall that could tell us. We could…"
"Hermione we are on vacation." Harry interrupted sternly. "This is not the time for education."
Hermione gave him a dirty look. "It is always time for education, Harry. There's no rule that says you can't learn while on vacation."
"Well there is now. I just made it a rule. And Hermione," he took on a lofty look. "I am the Boy Who Lived. I should be a role model to you."
Her glare intensified. "Role model my -"
"Hermione, Harry come on inside." Mrs Granger called from the house. "You don't have any sunscreen on and I don't want you burning on your first day.
Harry and Hermione spend days in the water and just running up and down the beach. Hermione taught Harry to swim, after some friendly teasing when he wouldn't go further than waist deep. They did find a magical shop in the village and after some initial gushing they confirmed that there was a community of salt-water merfolk that sometimes traded with the small village.
They also visited Tintagel, which Hermione informed him was the birth place of King Arthur though the witch who ran the magical shop said the real attraction was the castle of Camelot further up the coast. The children made Mrs Granger promise that they could come back some time after they had had some schooling.
For Harry, the two weeks spent in Cornwall were the best times in his life to date.
Author Note:
Hey a new chapter and its early! I had the chapter written so I thought I'd post it. Don't start expecting all the chapters this early. The next one is where Harry will be off to the Acadamy. Finally! Unfortunately this one may take longer to come out because I want to do it right.
I've had a couple of comments about my editing. I don't want a beta sorry. I try to edit it myself so you'll just have to put up with any mistakes. Sorry.
Enjoy.
11/2 Not a update sorry. I corrected Hermiones age as it seemed to bother some people. Thank you to those who pointed it out. I am trying to stick at least closely to cannon facts.
The next chapter is taking me longer to write because I'm not happy with some of my OCs and things just aren't going the way I want them too. So please be patient.
Oh and to DoWnEr - If you don't like my story don't read it. I don't need to hear your bile. There have been enough postive reviews to my story that I can safely ignore yours. Thank you to every one else.