Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine
Chapter 13- Dinner at the Dursleys
After the last minute points he and his friends had been awarded allowing Gryffindor to win the House Cup, Harry was so happy he was almost able to forget what the first two weeks of summer would mean. Almost. He hated having to go back to the Dursleys', but he'd seen first hand how important it was that Voldemort not be able to touch him, and with his Dad there the Dursleys wouldn't be able to make things too miserable. Petunia seemed completely terrified of Remus, which Harry though was laughable. Remus was always polite and tried to be as pleasant as possible to Harry's only remaining blood relatives, although Harry knew Remus felt the same way about the Dursleys as they did about him. And Harry couldn't think of a gentler person than his dad, something that made the curse Remus had to endure every month all the more ironic.
They side Apparated to Privet Drive, and walked slowly to Number four, as if trying to delay the inevitable as long as possible. Remus put an arm around his son's shoulder.
"I know how your relatives are, Cub, but we'll be out of here in just two weeks. And then we have your birthday to look forward to." Harry smiled hearing his dad's nickname for him, and knew by mentioning his upcoming birthday he was trying to help him think of more pleasant things. "Anything special you want this year?"
"Just getting away from here will make my birthday happy enough. You don't have to get me anything." But Harry could already see his dad thinking of possibilities for birthday surprises.
When they got to the door Petunia hurried them in, afraid the neighbors would see the "freaks." Vernon, on the other hand, made sure to lay down the law, as if Harry and Remus didn't know by not that they weren't allowed to do magic around muggles unless they had to defend either the muggles or themselves from dark magic. Harry, being underage, wasn't even allowed to do magic anywhere except for Hogwarts. But Vernon made sure to give them another reminder close to the end of their stay.
"Now I'm having some very important guests over this weekend. It could mean a very important deal for me. So you two had better keep to your room once they're here and I don't want to hear a peep out of either of you or that ruddy owl."
Poor Hedwig had been locked up in her cage most of the summer. Remus had been able to persuade the Dursleys to let Harry let her out, but even when she finally had her freedom she hadn't brought any mail. No other owls had come with any letters either. It frustrated Harry that he hadn't heard from any of his friends.
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. They'll write soon," Remus had said.
Harry wasn't so sure. Ron knew how much Harry hated the times he had to be at the Dursleys, and had always made sure to write often during those times before. And Hermione wasn't the type to forget something like that. Neville was always glad to have a friend, and Harry was sure Neville wouldn't have forgotten to write. Harry had written to all of them, but Hedwig always came back without a reply. On the other hand, the Daily Prophet continued to be delivered on time every day.
The day the Dursley's company was coming, Harry and Remus were headed to their room when they heard someone or something jumping on the bed. Whatever it was didn't sound threatening, but Remus had Harry stand behind him anyway as he opened the door. It turned out Remus needn't have worried. What was jumping on the bed certainly wasn't threatening, He lowered the wand he'd been holding at the ready.
"Who are you?"
"Dobby, sir. Dobby the house elf."
Although Harry and Remus didn't own any house elves, they knew what they were and that they worked for wealthy wizards, usually purebloods. A house elf definitely didn't belong in a muggle home.
"What are you doing here?"
"Dobby had to warn Harry Potter-Lupin, sir. He must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Terrible things are planned for that place this year."
Harry could see what the elf said had frightened his dad, but Remus kept his voice calm. The calm didn't last long though as the elf grabbed a lamp and started beating himself over the head with it. Remus grabbed it away from him as quick as he could.
"Whoever your masters are Dobby, they aren't here. There's no need to punish yourself."
Harry felt sorry for the elf. His masters must treat him worse then the Dursleys would have treated Harry if Remus weren't there.
"Why don't you sit down Dobby?"
Remus shook his head at Harry as if trying to tell him he shouldn't have done that, and Harry realized why as Dobby burst into tears.
"Never has Dobby been asked to sit by a wizard, like an equal."
"You can't have met many decent wizards then," Harry said.
"No, I haven't." No sooner had Dobby said the words then he started banging his head against the walls. It took both Remus and Harry holding him to get him to stop.
"You have to be quiet Dobby. They'll hear you downstairs and then we'll all be in trouble."
"The trouble at Hogwarts will be far worse than that, sir."
Remus took a deep breath. Somehow he had to convince Dobby to tell him what the danger was.
"Dobby, I worry about Harry too. He's my son after all. I have to know what's going to happen if I'm going to have a chance to protect him."
"If Mr. Remus Lupin is going to protect his son, he must not let him go back to Hogwarts."
"But Dobby, there is more protection there than I can give Harry at home. There are more people to watch over him and there are more protective charms in place."
"Dobby is worrying that will not be enough."
Remus looked even more worried and asked "Does this have anything to do with Voldemort."
Flinching, Dobby answered. "Not with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, no."
Both Harry and Remus felt some relief at that, but Dobby looked worriedly at Harry.
"Harry Potter-Lupin will be returning to Hogwarts, even though no one from there is even caring enough about him to write?"
Wait a minute.
"How do you know nobody's been writing?"
Dobby looked at his feet before he took a pack of letters from the pillowcase he was wearing.
"Harry Potter-Lupin can have his letters back if he promises not to return to Hogwarts this year."
"I can't do that."
"Then Dobby has no choice."
Before Harry or Remus could react, Dobby bolted down the stairs. Harry and Remus ran after him, guessing it wouldn't take much before the Dursleys noticed the elf. And they were bound to know who anything "abnormal" could be blamed on. To make matters worse, Dobby was levitating the huge bowl of pudding that Petunia had made for dessert right over the company's heads. Harry and Remus both made a grab for it just as Dobby decided to let it drop. For all appearances it looked like Harry and Remus had been working together planning the whole incident as a prank, especially since Dobby had conveniently disappeared.
"I'm terribly sorry!" Vernon started as he began cleaning his guests' up. "These people-"
"Were trying to help," Remus broke in, interrupting what Harry knew would have been an explanation of how they were deranged or something along those lines. "I thought I'd bring in the dessert for you, but I'm afraid I'm a bit clumsy. I tripped and Harry tried to catch it, but it went flying and we weren't fast enough."
Harry looked at his dad in amazement. He'd never expected him to come up with an excuse that easily. Remus always seemed like such a responsible person Harry sometimes forgot he was a Marauder and had taken part in many pranks and must have come up with just as many explanations. And of course, to people who didn't know about magic, what Remus said made perfect sense. What else could they believe? That an elf had levitated it?
One of the guests looked at Remus curiously.
"And you are?" she asked.
"Remus Lupin. And this is my son, Harry. We were in the neighborhood for the day and I thought I'd stop in and visit Vernon and Petunia. Haven't seen them in ages."
Mrs. Mason gave a look of recognition.
"Oh Professor Lupin, of course. I saw you in Jane's yearbook when we were looking through it. And this is my husband Martin."
Harry remembered how Malfoy had teased him about Remus not having much to do with wizards and almost laughed. It was turning out Remus working as a teacher at a muggle school was coming in handy.
"How is she?" Remus asked "She's an extremely bright little girl. Her grades are at the top of her class. Sorry again about the mess."
"It's nothing, especially after what you've done for Jane. Cleans right up. And her grades are all thanks to you. She always looks forward to doing her homework and can't stop talking about how much she enjoys your class. I never thought we'd get her to start reading and studying."
If the conversation between the two had gone on much longer Harry would have started laughing. Vernon went from white to pink to red. Here the Dursleys had been so desperate to make a good impression and hadn't gotten as much as a friendly look from the Masons, and all the Masons did was praise what an excellent teacher Remus was. A person the Dursleys considered a freak was getting along better with them than the Dursleys could ever hope to. The best part was when Mr. Mason "So nice to have an intelligent conversation with someone," and then turned to Vernon and said "No offense Dursley, but I found that joke about the Japanese golfer to be a bit crude."
It could have been a perfect evening, especially since Harry and Remus would be leaving the Dursleys the next day, but when they went back upstairs, but Harry had a nagging feeling he'd forgotten something. When they got to their room Harry realized why that was when an owl pecked at the window. The Ministry had sent him an underage magic notice. Remus said he'd write a reply explaining about Dobby. Harry just hoped the Ministry would believe it.