The train ride from Hogwarts had been mostly subdued for the trio, and Ginny who had joined them part of the way through. By good fortune, Draco didn't stop by the compartment this year so the four friends were able to talk with each other with little interruption; having already grown accustomed to the stares and curious glances from people passing their compartment. The train slowed as it pulled into the station and Ron moved to walk next to Harry while the girls followed behind.

The four stepped off together, received their luggage and began making their way towards the large mass of people the Weasleys and Grangers would be standing in, waiting for the group. Moody found them first.

"Come on, Potter. Say your goodbyes and then we must be on our way." He said in his usual, gruff manner.

Harry turned to his friends and gave each of them a hug, Ginny first, then Ron, followed by Hermione; the second two holding on a bit longer and tighter. He wouldn't admit it to anyone other than the two he was currently embracing, but his eyes began to tear up. He was taking a Portkey to Heathrow Airport from Platform 9 and ¾, essentially as soon as he stepped off the train. "I'm going to miss you both, you know that, right?" Harry asked, trying not to sound too emotional.

"Mate, we're going to miss you, too; don't even begin to think we're not," Ron jokingly glared at him, smacking lightly upside the head.

"And, you're to call when you get there, all right, Harry?" Hermione stated in a no-nonsense, motherly manner. "If they don't want to pay for the call, just reverse the charges. I want to make sure you get there in one piece, and I want to hear from you this summer. I know we can owl each other, but overseas owling takes a long time, and one of us could be in trouble before the others knew about it. So, you have to call me at least once a week, and I'll either owl Ron with any news, or I'll try to get him on the phone, now that he knows how to use one properly…" Hermione glanced at Ron as she said this, who's ears had turned slightly red at the memory of this last (rather disastrous) phone call.

"Of course, 'Mione. And if anything happens – to anyone here – be sure to call me. I need to make sure everything's all right. Oh, and I'll probably be calling for homework help, as well." Harry says, smirking slightly at Hermione.

Hermione mock-glared at him. "Harry James Potter, you know that I will not give you answers on your homework! …But on your Muggle homework, I might be persuaded to help a little."

Moody stomped over to where the trio was. "Hurry up, Potter, time to get moving; things to do, planes to catch. We've got to hurry you know. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Harry brushed a single tear off Hermione's cheek, blinking back his own tears. "I have to go…" He trailed off as he was swept into a tight group hug. Harry couldn't help thinking, 'I'm going to miss this…' He pulled away reluctantly, wiping at his eyes as Ron cleared his throat and Hermione openly cried. "… It won't be all that long… I'll be back before you know it." He claimed, though he didn't sound sure himself.

"Never learned the meaning of the word 'hurry', did you, Potter? Your plane is leaving in less than an hour. Get moving!" Moody exclaimed, though Harry wasn't paying much attention. He twisted under Moody's grip, craning his head to look back at his best friends. When he saw them standing there, waving slightly, Hermione being supported by Ron, all he could say was "…bye…"

The portkey trip was quick, well, should have been, Moody ended up changing the destination of it twice. Harry thought he glimpsed a view of Spain before they finally arrived in the Heathrow airport. He turned to Moody after they made it into the airport.

"Here's your carry-on bag – there's a note from the Headmaster in there explaining its contents. Here's your trunk – the outside has been transfigured to look like a Muggle suitcase, although, why they can't use trunks like normal people, I don't know… I've got your ticket and travel documents… well, they were right here…" Moody dug through his coat in a way that was eerily reminiscent of Hagrid. "Ah, here they are! Okay, your plane is boarding in… 2 minutes, so off you go, Potter. Don't get yourself killed! CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody bellowed at the end.

Harry cringed as the businessmen around them turned and glared at Moody. He supposed they did make quite the sight. He mentally prayed that the Auror wouldn't curse anyone – if they were trying to smuggle him out of the country, a breach of the Statute of Secrecy would certainly make it harder.

He said his goodbyes to the Auror as he grabbed his bags and rushed off to find his gate (which, of course, was on the other side of the airport). He slipped in to the end of the queue, quickly handing his boarding pass to the woman at the door. 'It's too bad Hermione's not here… or even Ron. Although, as much as I care for him, he might not make this flight any easier.'

Harry placed his trunk in the compartment above his seat, and settled into his spot for the next many hours. Opening the backpack he'd been given as a carry-on, he found a rather large envelope with his name on it. 'I guess this is Dumbledore's note for me…' He set the backpack on the floor and opened the letter.

Harry,

I do apologize for having to do this to you – I know you'd have liked to spend the summer with your friends, but your safety must come first. Also, I admit, I did have a bit of an ulterior motive in mind when I went looking for relatives of yours – I was hoping that I could find somewhere you could go where you wouldn't have the stigma of being the Boy-Who-Lived, and that you could go places and be yourself without having to constantly watch for Lord Voldemort.

So, as an attempt to make the transition to Muggle life a little easier (and as an attempt to begin to rectify the mistakes I've made with you), I took the liberty of contacting Ms. Granger's parents. They offered to purchase you the necessary devices you'll need to… 'fit in', I believe, is the phrase they used.

I wish you well on your trip, and I'll be in contact with you soon.

Albus Dumbledore

Harry smiled – in all honesty, he still wasn't that angry with the Headmaster. It was understandable, Dumbledore was human, he would make mistakes, and while they seemed huge to Harry, and some admittedly were, in the grand scheme of things they were mostly minor. The part of him that was hurting screamed otherwise, and he tried to objectively look at both sides of the argument. His mind was caught away for a few minutes on this train of thought and he was only brought back when the pilot announced they would begin take off shortly and the plane began to move out, onto the runway. He considered the headmaster to be a form of a grandfather to him, and knew the man saw him in the same light. After all, when other students are in the Hospital Wing, their headmasters don't sit at their bedsides to keep vigil – or to keep the nightmares away, as Dumbledore had after the incident with Quirrel.

Harry peered inside the bag again, grabbing the other note he found in there.

Harry-

We hope these will help you fit in while in the Muggle world this summer. Don't even begin to think about paying us back, either – consider this repayment for everything you have done for our daughter over the years. We are very well off, and it hasn't hurt us to do this for you, but it is something we can do to thank you for being her friend and protector.

Inside this backpack are a laptop computer, cell phone, and iPod. The laptop has most programs you will need for school, as well as a few popular games we thought you might enjoy. The iPod has some music on it already – things we've pulled from Hermione's music collection as well as our own, and a few other popular albums as well – and you can always buy more with one of the programs on your laptop. The cell phone has your number taped onto the back of it, and has Hermione's programmed into it already – we suggest giving her a call as soon as you get settled, otherwise she may never forgive you. It's also been set up with text messaging, so you can send her messages at any time.

We've also included a few recent DVDs you can play on your laptop so you'll have an idea of what people are talking about when they discuss them, and your backpack, obviously, can be used for your classes.

Good luck with your family.

-Dan and Emma Granger

Harry grinned to himself, and made a mental note to tell Hermione how much he loved her parents. He slid out his new laptop, and after a few minutes of fumbling around with it, put a DVD in and settled down for a long flight.

Two movies later and they still had around six hours of fly time to go. Deciding to sleep for a while, Harry put in his headphones and pressed play on his new iPod, trying to have something to drown out any noise around him. A few songs later, he began nodding off; the last lyrics he heard were from a song that was just starting, "Living in my own world…"

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Here is where JellyFish72's original story cut off, I took the first chapter of it and made it longer, but I liked how the second and third flowed so easily into each other that I decided to keep things the way they were. There may be clichés throughout, but hey, they can be fun as long as the entire story isn't one.

Harry will not sing, except maybe on one or two occasions and there will be outside forces at work, aka magic, more to be explained at the time of event. Reviews are welcomed and desired. Questions, comments, concerns, random thoughts, whatever; you are more than welcome to post.