-Chapter One-

Alright, Alright, Stop NAGGING!

It was a warm, sunny day on Privet Drive in the small town of Little Whinging, where the flowers bloomed and stretched themselves as high as they could in a vain attempt to reach the source of warmth (1), and to all intent and purposes it was perfectly normal neighbourhood in a perfectly normal town, except for one house in particular which had once been home to the Dursleys, except they've moved away from there and don't live there anymore, so let's start again.

It was a cold, dreary day on Holly Road in the small town of Alright, Alright, Stop NAGGING! (2) And the residents were doing what they did best, ignoring each other and wishing they were somewhere else. All residents ignored a particularly run-down looking location where a family known as the Dursleys lived. The Dursley's had apparently been living the good life in Little Whinging before the Grunnings, the drill making company where Vernon Dursley had been working had been shut down under mysterious circumstances and the Dursleys had been forced to move. When asked about it Vernon would splutter out some excuse ("Some fool forgot to pay some bills, nothing to do with me!" was his favourite response), change the subject, and then make a hasty exit. No one was really interested in their plight though, no one asked no one told. That was always the way in Alright, Alright, Stop NAGGING!

The flowers in the garden had long since died but the boy on the sun lounge paid them no heed, concentrating on the newspaper in his hands. His name was Harry Potter and he was a boy quite unlike anyone else in Alright, Alright, Stop NAGGING! For one thing, he was a wizard, but even in the wizarding world he was special, for Harry had been the one to inadvertently defeat one of the most evil wizards known to man, Lord Voldemort. Not long after he had been born Lord Voldemort had attacked Harry's household and killed Harry's parents. However when it came to Harry the spell had rebounded, killing him instantly. Or at least that's what SHOULD have happened. Somehow, impossibly, he had survived beyond the realms of death as a mere shadow of a shadow.

But two years ago he had returned, and now with his army steadily building, the MInistry Of Magic had finally acknowledged it.

NEW MINISTER URGES EVERYONE TO PAY HEED

As the return of You-Know-Who spreads through the community the Ministry of Magic has issued several precautions to help protect them from the Dark Lord.

"It's for everyone's safety." said Rufus Scrimgeour, the recently appointed successor to Cornelius Fudge. "Now that he has returned the Dark Lord isn't going to be wasting time, and we must make sure we are ready for anything he throws at us."

But Scrimgeour's ideas may be too little, too late. Only this morning the house of renowned wand maker Ollivander was found abandoned, with signs indicating a huge fight had taken place there. The Ministry has refused to comment on the situation.

Harry put the Daily Prophet down and stared thoughtfully at the sky. At last everyone seemed to have accepted that Lord Voldemort had returned. But would it be enough? Voldemort had had a whole year of people ignoring the signs, could he be at full strength already? Harry jumped to his feet and wondered around the garden restlessly. He hated being with the Dursleys, even more so this year. He wanted to be there, in the wizarding world, helping people to prepare! He wanted to see his friends, Ron and Hermione, he wanted to speak to Dumbledore. He wanted… he felt a cold emptiness inside. He want to talk to Sirius.

Sirius had been Harry's godfather, and for a long time he had been on the run after becoming one of the few people to break out of the Wizard prison Azkaban. He had been suspected of murdering thirteen people but Harry was one of the few people who had found out the truth. Sirius had not killed those people, but the real murderer had escaped and Sirius had to remain on the run. Now that Voldemort had returned the Ministry had granted him a pardon after the real story finally came out but it had been too late. Sirius had been killed a few months prior defending Harry… when Harry had been lured away from Hogwarts on the pretence of rescuing him. Harry had yet to forgive himself for being indirectly responsible for his godfather's death and often found himself imagining one last conversation between himself and Sirius. "It wasn't your fault, Harry." he heard him say. "As long as your safe, that's what matters."

Harry sighed. No matter how he worded it it still sounded fake. Resignedly he climbed out of the sun lounge and trudged inside for dinner, sitting down at the kitchen table and ignoring his relatives.

"EAT!" screeched Aunt Petunia, a woman. Harry looked down at the unappetising mess on the plate in front of him. Ever since Uncle Vernon had lost his job the Dursley's had to get by on canned food, but unfortunately the only shop in All Right, All Right, Stop NAGGING! sold canned food with the labels removed (3) making every meal an adventure. Harry looked at the plate miserably, his appetite quickly fading. He wasn't the only one.

"What the blazes is that?" cried Uncle Vernon, pointing to the greyish mush in front of him, his face reddening.

"Blueberry custard." said Aunt Petunia irritably. "Eat it all up, Diddykns."

Sitting opposite Uncle Vernon was Harry's cousin, Dudley, a large blonde boy who's favourite past time was to go out and cause trouble with his gang, not that the Dursleys knew that. To them he was an angel who loved school and strived for the best. Ever since the move to All Right, All Right, Stop NAGGING! He had been using any and every excuse to get out of meal times but had come up short tonight. Harry found some amusement in watching Dudley trying to force down the food.

What Harry wanted, more than anything, was to be at the Burrow. Every night he would send Hedwig, his owl, off to the Weasleys politely asking when he could stay, each tome his letters getting slightly more desperate. Even now he found himself getting upstairs and finding Hedwig had returned with a reply…

He blinked and looked around in surprise. He was in his room. He must have eaten his dinner and gone up to bed in a daze, not that the Dursleys would have noticed. With a sigh Harry put his pyjamas on and prepared for bed, automatically checking to see if Hedwig was back. There she was, sitting calmly on top of her cage, holding - holding a letter! Harry eagerly snatched the letter off her, ignoring her indignant hoot, and read it.

Dear Harry

I am quite aware of the letters you have been sending to Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger asking to stay and have taken it upon myself to call round and pick you up myself. I will arrive on friday at 9pm to pick you up and escort you to the Burrow personally. Please be packed and ready to leave at once by the time I arrive.

I am, yours most sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry's stomach gave a little lurch. This friday… that was today! Harry jumped to his feet and looked around the great mess of his room without really knowing what to do. Deciding to let Hedwig out, he opened the door to her cage. "You can fly to the burrow if you like, they're expecting us." Harry told her. Hedwig hooted in the affirmative and took off, shattering the window as she flew through it. Harry grimaced. Uncle Vernon was going to kill him for forgetting to open the window again. Doing his best to ignore the resulting draught, Harry frantically changed back into his normal clothes and busied himself with his packing. Books and robes were thrown into his trunk at a frantic pace and leaflets from the Ministry of Magic were shoved in so roughly they were torn apart in seconds.

The clanging of the old-fashioned doorbell made Harry jump. It was time! He was just finishing off when he heard the door open downstairs. Two voices could be heard: the deep gruff voice of Uncle Vernon and an unexpected voice… that of Remus Lupin. Confused as to how why he should be here, harry went onto the landing to listen better.

"… here to pickup Harry." Lupin was saying.

Yep, that would explain it. Deciding he should just go with it, Harry grabbed his trunk and began to descend down the stairs.

Lupin, dressed in his usual scruffy attire was talking pleasantly to Uncle Vernon who, despite wearing a dressing gown still looked more well-dressed than Lupin, and was most certainly not talking pleasantly.

" Now look here!" he spluttered in rage and perhaps with a hint of fear mixed in. "You turn up here out of the blue and begin throwing your weight around…"

"I'm not 'throwing my weight around' as you put it," said Lupin calmly. "I'm here, as I said, to pick up Harry." At that moment he turned and his eyes fell on Harry. "Hello Harry, all ready to go?"

"Yes sir, but I thought Dumbledore was…"

"Dumbledore couldn't make it" said Lupin a little too hurriedly. "I was more than happy to come instead. Now, let's make a move shall we?" He produced his wand from his pocket and waved it in the direction of Harry's trunk. Almost immediately it floated into the air and through the door, waiting patiently in the garden. (4)

Uncle Vernon had gone a rather nice shade of purple while all of this was going on. His mouth worked furiously as he tried to force whatever it was he was trying to say out. Finally he swung round to Harry. "Well, go on then!" he roared.

Deciding it was best just to go, Harry stepped outside beside Lupin, who smiled at him warmly. They were just turning to leave when Uncle Vernon got his second wind. "And if you or any of your kind turn up unannounced again I'll… I'll…"

"Yes?" said Lupin, smiling pleasantly.

Vernon faltered, his new-found bravado quickly fading again. After a few more seconds of purple-faced mumbling and stuttering he abruptly slammed the door. Even though they were heading away from the house Harry could hear the sounds of frantic locking up going on from inside.

"Come along Harry, we'd better get on before it's too late" said Lupin.

But Harry couldn't help but have his doubts "Why couldn't Dumbledore pick me up?"

"He… ah… well, an incident was reported a few weeks ago."

"I didn't see it in the paper…" replied Harry.

"No, you wouldn't have done. Dumbledore looked into it personally and ordered it not to be mentioned. He's been getting a lot of authority now that he was proven right about Lord Voldemort."

"What happened?"

Lupin didn't answer for a moment but stopped suddenly, looking around to make sure there was no one nearby. "This should do it. Hold my arm Harry." Slightly confused, Harry took his arm and was about to ask what was happening when he suddenly Lupin twist away from him and suddenly everything went black...

APPENDIX

(1) That's what flowers do, right?

(2) The reasons as to why the town is called this are sadly lost to the depths of time a.k.a. the old section of the local library that 's been there since it was built but nobody likes to go into because its so dusty.

(3) This practice is in fact an old tradition in All Right, All Right, Stop Nagging! And dates back to a time before shops when people would remove labels so that any would-be thieves wouldn't be able to tell what they were stealing. The advent of shops had not stopped the practice, much to the dismay of customers.

(4) Very Patient, Trunks are.