Chapter 28: Summer Beginnings

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I was able to darken my screen more, and that helps. Thanks for all the advice.

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Keeping Dumbledore out of the loop lasted for all of three days. Snape was called to Voldemort's side. And he immediately let Dumbledore know as soon as he came back. The first thing Dumbledore did was reestablish the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius was called and asked if he could use Grimmuald Place as headquarters. It was the only place big enough to house the Order. At least, that was Albus' excuse.

Sirius gave his okay, but he wasn't going to live there. He was quite content to live in Hogsmeade. And Harry was going to stay with Millie and there was nothing anybody could say about it. It was an argument they had for a good hour.

"Sirius, see reason," said Dumbledore in a pleading, yet frustrated tone. They have been going at this for quite a while now.

"No, and that is final. Harry will be staying with Millie," Sirius said, getting just as frustrated as Dumbledore was. He was very firm in his stance on this. He did not like the Dursleys, and he did not want Harry there.

"But Voldemort or his Death Eaters could come and get him at any time. He must go back to his relatives," the headmaster begged one more time. He was trying to be as calm as possible about this, but he would get firm if he needed to.

"No, they are abusive. He is not going back there. We can put wards up on Millie's place just as easy as we can put them up anywhere else," the dogman said, waving his hand in the air as if it were such an easy thing to do.

"He need only stay there for two weeks, just as he was doing before," explained the old man one more time. He had repeated this over and over again. It wasn't like the boy had to stay there the entire summer. Nobody wanted that.

"Harry, what do you want to do?" Millie finally asked the teenager. He had been sitting there the whole time, just looking back and forth between the adults, waiting for them to ask him. She saw how frustrated he was becoming at them arguing over him like he wasn't there.

"I don't mind staying with the Dursleys for two weeks. They've been behaving themselves as long as they know somebody is watching them," Harry said, looking at Sirius with a smirk. They could have ended this a long time ago if they had just asked him. He knew Sirius was just looking out for him, but damn.

"There you have it. He can go and stay with the Dursleys for two weeks. Somebody will visit them every day. I don't know why you two blokes had to argue about this for so long," Millie said cheekily. She knew that the Dursleys were cowards when it came to magicals. She used it to her advantage many times.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I just didn't think you wanted to be with them," Sirius said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. he knew he never wanted to see his parents after he left home, he just assumed Harry wanted the same.

"It's alright. I know you don't like the Dursleys," Harry said, putting his hand on his godfather's arm. Heck, he didn't even like the Dursleys, but he didn't want to see them dead. "They really are cowards though. Millie's got them right cowed."

"I'm glad you see reason, my boy," said Dumbledore, His eyes were twinkling madly.

"I'm not doing it for you, sir. I'm doing it for my family," the teenage boy said, almost glaring at the headmaster for even having this conversation for so long. It was a private conversation that he could have had with Sirius and Millie, and Dumbledore didn't even need to be involved. He was his headmaster, not his grandfather. No matter what he liked to portray.

"Nevertheless, I am glad to see that you are mature enough to think about the Dursleys," the old man said, rubbing his beard in a thoughtful manner.

"I may not like the Dursleys, sir, but I don't want to see them dead," Harry said, glaring at the man. He wasn't callous after all.

"That is very commendable of you, young man," The old man said in his best grandfather voice. His eyes were still twinkling.

"Let's get out of here, yeah. Now that we've got this settled. We've got many other things we need to do," Millie said, getting up and preparing to head for the door. "I have a store to run," she added, looking at her watch and seeing that she did indeed have a class to teach soon.

"I need for you three to tell me everything you know about Voldemort and his resurrection," Dumbledore said, in a firm tone.

"You first," said Sirius just as firmly.

"Whatever do you mean, Sirius, my boy?" Dumbledore asked, confusion in his voice. As if nobody ever asked him for his information before.

"I know you know things about Voldemort that you're not telling anybody. You tell us and we'll tell you," the other man said, leaning back in a 'it's your turn' motion.

"I know things that are not meant to be known by anybody else. Yes. But they are secret and dangerous things that I do not feel comfortable revealing to anybody," Dumbledore said with an air of 'I know better than you do'. It was something that he used often, to make people bow to his knowledge.

"And I know some things that are not meant to be known by other people too," said Sirius, scoffing at his airs.

"Come now, my boy. I am very well versed in many things that you may not be. I can help you," the old man said, leaning forward a little bit in a very wiseman fashion.

"And I know some dark magic that you don't, and I may be able to help you," countered Sirius in a very arrogant way.

"I see we are in an impasse," said the headmaster.

"I see that we are," said Sirius.

"If you two are done comparing the size of your John Thomas, can we go now, yeah?" Millie said very much done with the pissing contest.

"Since we are not going to be sharing information, then, yes, you are free to leave," said Dumbledore, waving them away with the negligent air.

"Thank you ever so," said Millie, giving him a sarcastic curtsy. The three of them left the office discussing how they were going to handle the Dursleys and Harry's stay there.

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When they showed up at the Dursleys at the beginning of summer, the family was not happy about that. They caught them unawares. They did knock and Petunia let them in, though very reluctantly.

"I thought we were done with you," said Vernon as he struggled to get his bulk out of his chair.

"Yeah, well the bad wizard just showed back up and we needed the protection of the wards again," answered Millie, trying hard not to laugh at the fat man trying to get out of his easy chair. It was hard because it was quite a sight.

"Since he wasn't even gone for one summer, the wards are still here, albeit weak. So, we're going to have him stay here for two weeks just like last year," explained Sirius, chuckling at the sight of the man finally getting out of his chair and lumbering towards them.

"Well, we weren't expecting him, we've already turned his room back into Dudley's playroom. So, he has nowhere to stay," said Petunia, sticking her nose in the air as if she were better than them.

"That's all right, we've got a tent for him. We'll just put this up in the backyard and it'll suffice for the wards," explained Sirius, already heading towards the back door.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Millie, following along behind him. She wasn't quite sure how far the wards extended, so she wasn't sure if the tent would suffice.

"Yes, as long as he's on the property, it'll satisfy the wards," the dogman explained, opening the door, and heading into the backyard with everybody following behind.

"Okay then," she said, watching him pull a triangle of cloth out of his trouser pockets.

"What if we don't want one of your unsightly tents to disturb the neighbors?" asked Vernon, imagining some large monstrosity that the wizards would put up in his backyard.

"You won't even notice it's there. It's got a Muggle Repelling ward on it and a Notice Me Not ward on it so nobody will even see it," said Sirius putting the triangle on the ground, and tapping it with his wand. It grew into a pup tent.

Vernon and Dudley laughed their butts off just seeing it.

"You're going to spend two weeks in that tiny thing," said Dudley, holding on to his stomach because he was laughing so hard.

"It's bigger on the inside," said Harry, rolling his eyes. Didn't these two understand the concept of magic. It wasn't hard.

"It would have to be for you to spend any amount of time in there," said Petunia, looking around the fence area to see if any of the neighbors saw them.

"It is. Don't worry, I won't even have to come in your house. It's got everything I need in there," said Harry, waving his hand in a 'You don't have to worry about me' fashion.

"Good, because I wasn't planning on cooking for you anyway," said Petunia, sniffing loudly. She was actually glad she didn't have to cook for the boy anymore. Though she was secretly upset that she couldn't make him cook for her. The boy did know how to cook a good meal.

"I'm good," said Harry and with that he crawled into the tent.

Sirius and Millie followed him in. Out of curiosity, so did the Dursleys. Vernon and Dudley had to squeeze their large bodies in the small opening, but it was magical, so it accommodated them. All three of the Dursleys were amazed about how big it was inside the tent. It was big enough to have a three-bedroom house in there.

"Wow," said Dudley as he stood dumbly in the middle of the living room. Then he twirled round and round, looking at the size of the place. It was bigger than the living room of his house.

"Don't get too comfortable in here," said Sirius, sneering at the boy. "I'm going to ward the place, so you can't come in." It was going to be the first thing he did as soon as they were gone.

"Why would you do that? It'll be on my property," said Vernon, very jealous that the boy got to live in someplace like this while he had to live in something smaller.

"I'm going to make sure that you can't harm Harry when nobody's here," said Sirius, glaring at the man who ever dared laid a hand on his godson.

"And we'll be here every day to check on him, yeah," said Millie, putting a threatening quality in her tone.

"Are you threatening me?" asked Vernon, standing to his full height.

"You bet your arse I am," said Millie not the least bit intimidated.

Vernon backed down. He knew what these two could do with their magic, and he was no threat to them whatsoever.

"Alright, Harry, you have enough food in here to hold you over for two weeks. We'll be here every morning at six, and we'll be here randomly throughout the day to check on you. You're welcome to come to Hogsmeade every afternoon, but you have to be back by five every night," Sirius said, glancing around his godson's face to make sure he understood what he was saying.

"Alright, Sirius. I'll make sure that I'm back before five every night. I wish I had a watch that had an alarm on it. That would make it so much easier," the teenager said, not quite whinging.

"I'll see about getting you, one," said Sirius. "It's a good thing to have, anyway."

"We can go and get one together in Diagon Alley," Millie said, glancing at hers. "They have an excellent watch and clock shop there." She smiled at her pseudo brother.

"That sounds like a plan," said Sirius. "Let's get you settled in." Then he turned to the Dursleys and looked at them. "Are you still here?" he said.

"We were just leaving," sniffed Petunia.

"But, Mum, I wanted to see what was going on," whinged Dudley, still staring at everything.

"You don't wanna be around this freakish stuff," said Vernon, putting his hand on his son's arm and dragging him to the entrance. "Come along, we'll go back to our normal house and do normal things," he said. And with that, the Dursleys left, though Dudley had to be dragged. Harry, Millie, and Sirius spent the rest of the afternoon getting Harry settled down in the tent.

"I really wish we had a house elf for you. I'd feel so much better if you weren't here by yourself," said Sirius. "And I don't trust my house elf, Kreacher."

"I wonder what happened to Dobby," said Harry. He had forgotten about the elf, but now wondered where the little guy was.

"Who's Dobby?" inquired Sirius.

"He's the house elf that tried to keep me from going to school in my second year," the teen explained, looking at Millie who confirmed with a nod.

"Oh. Do you know who he belongs to?" was the next question.

"No, I think it was the Malfoys, but I'm not sure," said Harry, he was just guessing at this point.

"You want me to see if I can purchase him?" asked Sirius, thinking that it would be an easy sale. The Malfoys were part of his family via marriage.

"That would be great," said Harry, enthusiastically.

"I'll see what I can do. I've got enough money to buy him off them or I can trade him for Kreacher. I don't like Kreacher, and I might like your Dobby," the other man said, wanting someone here to keep an eye on the lad.

"There's a thought," said Harry.

"I'll see what I could do," said Sirius.

And with that, the two adults left after giving Harry a hug and wishing him the best of luck. Harry was left alone, and he was happy about it. He hadn't had any free time to just himself in forever. Now he was free to do whatever he wanted. And what he wanted to do was just sit and think about girls. Which was something he wasn't free to do at Millie's house.

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The two adults kept their word, and the next morning they showed up. They did this consistently for three days. But on the fourth day, Harry got a surprise when Dobby showed up into his room.

"Dobby is so excited to see you, Master Harry," the little elf said, bouncing up and down. He looked much better than the last time Harry had seen him. He had on a fresh pillowcase, and he was clean and looked to be recently healed.

"Dobby, it's great to see you," Harry said, getting up and hugging the little elf. "I see Sirius was able to buy you."

"Oh, Master Sirius did not buy Dobby. He traded him," the excitable elf said, still bouncing on his toes as if he had drunk an entire pot of coffee.

"I see," said Harry. "Well, either way, it's great to see you. You didn't come and see me after I told you we would be friends and I had no way to contact you." It was almost a chastisement, but not quite.

"Dobby was told by his master he was not allowed to go and see anybody," said Dobby, drooping his ears in a sad fashion. As if he had disappointed Harry and was very sad about it.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Dobby," Harry said, putting his hand on Dobby's shoulder.

"What can Dobby be doing for master today?" the elf asked perking up a bit.

"Well, I was just about to go make breakfast," Harry started, only to be cut off by the excitable elf.

"Dobby cans be doing that right now. What would you be liking?" Dobby said, his eyes going wide.

"I was just going to have some eggs and bacon," the teen said. He was going to say he was going to cook it, but Dobby stopped him once again.

"I will be doing that right now. Is you be liking your eggs scrambled?" Dobby asked, ready to snap his fingers and pop away and to start breakfast.

"That would be fine, Dobby," Harry said with resignation. He realized he wasn't going to be starting breakfast and that Dobby was going to be doing it for him.

And with that, the elf popped away, and it was the start of a very good relationship.

Harry ate his breakfast with gusto. It was better than what he could cook. Dobby was an excellent cook, and Harry didn't know how he made the breakfast better than his. It was simple eggs and bacon, but it tasted better than Hogwarts. It must be some sort of elfin magic. Though there were elves at Hogwarts too. So, he didn't understand why Dobby's were just so much better.

Millie came by a little later to do Harry's self-defense routine. She was just as excited to see Dobby there. That way Harry wasn't alone during the mornings when she had classes.

And time marched on. Harry started to get emotions that were not his own. He started feeling elated when he had nothing to feel elated about, and angry when he had nothing to feel angry about. He wasn't sure how to feel about this and what to do about it. He started practicing his occlumency harder than ever. It helped, but it didn't help completely.

Now it's time for Harry to move back with Millie. She came to take down the tent and Vernon and Petunia were out there to wish Harry a goodbye. Not a fond one, but a goodbye, nevertheless.

"Good riddance to you," said Vernon, folding his meaty arms over his chest, looking superiorly down upon them.

"Goodbye to you too, yeah," said Millie, looking at him as if he were a bug. She was not the least bit impressed with his manliness. With a tap of her wand, the tent folded up into a small triangle. She picked it up and slipped it into her pocket.

"Well, goodbye, Dursleys. I'll see you next summer. Hopefully not. But this war might still be going on then. We don't know. If it is, I'll be back," said Harry, a frown marring his brow, as if he wasn't sure which would be the better outcome. Not that he wanted a war to be still going on next summer, but he didn't know whether or not he wanted to come back. It had been good to have two weeks of the time to just himself. He got to do things he was uncomfortable doing at Millie's flat.

"Hopefully, your war won't be around," snapped Vernon. "Then you'll leave decent, honest folk like us alone."

"Wouldn't want to sully your house one more summer, that's for sure," said Harry. "Because it was such a hardship this time," he said sarcastically.

"Don't you take that tone with me, boy," said Vernon, taking a menacing step forward.

"I didn't even see you these last two weeks," said Harry, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't a hardship for you."

"I knew you were here and that was hardship enough," said Vernon, glaring at the teen.

"Oy, fatso, back off, yeah," said Millie, tapping her wand with her free hand.

Vernon wisely didn't say another word. He turned around and marched back into the house. Petunia sniffed and followed her husband.

"They're such friendly people yeah," said Millie.

"Yes, yes, they are," said Harry, watching the door close behind his Aunt Petunia. "Let's get out of here."

Within seconds they were in Hogsmeade, headed towards Millie's place. Harry was soon ensconced in his room, putting his things away. Millie was down in her shop, tending her store. She had no more classes today. So, she was just playing entrepreneur. Harry came down to join her as soon as his stuff was put away.

"So, what have you been doing these last two weeks?" he asked her as if he hadn't seen her every day.

"Nothing much, just classes and tending the shop, yeah. How's things been going with you?" she asked, playing along.

"Nothing much. Just me and Dobby hanging out when you guys aren't around," Harry said. There was no way he was going to tell her about his private time.

"Sounds like fun, yeah," she said, giving him a wink.

"It really was. That elf is quite a riot once you get him going," he said, ignoring the wink for the moment. He wasn't going to go there with his pseudo sister. That, and Dobby really was quite fun to be around when he was excited.

"Where's the elf?" she asked, having not seen him all morning.

"I'm not sure," said Harry, rubbing his nose in confusion. "He said he had something to do and then took off for the afternoon." That had caught him off guard.

"That is strange behavior for an elf," said Millie, frowning a bit.

"Why so?" said Harry.

"They usually don't do anything without their master's permission first," she explained, even though it was obvious, and Harry probably already knew that.

"Maybe he's doing something for Sirius. Sirius is his master, after all," Harry said with the shrug of his shoulders.

"There is that," said Millie with a nod of her head.

"Anyway, is there anything you need me to do around the store?" the teenager asked, quite bored out of his head. He had finished all his summer homework during his stay at the Dursleys.

"No, I've got it. Why don't you go run, do something around Hogsmeade, see if you can't find a summer job or something?" she suggested. It would do him some good to be seen around Hogsmeade and be kind to the shopkeepers there.

"Do you think Dumbledore would approve of me having a summer job and being away from the wards of your shop?" he asked, knowing that they had warded the shop to the gills. It had been one of the concessions of him staying here is that they had put every known ward that the Blacks knew on the store. Short of the Fidelius. Millie couldn't operate her store if it couldn't be seen.

"Bugger Dumbledore," she replied, a growl in her tone.

"I'd rather not, thank you very much," said the teenager with a cheeky grin.

"Go on with you, see if you can't find something to do with your time," she said, shoving his shoulders playfully.

"Alright, I will. Maybe somebody's got room for a broom pusher," Harry said, leaving the store.

And with that, he ran around from store to store, asking them if they had anything for a summer job. However, Hogsmeade was rather slow during the summer when the children weren't at school, so there was very little for him to do.

He did get some coins at Hog's Head for pushing a broom, but that was just about it, and it was only for one or two days of the week. Madam Rosmerta also paid him some coins to bus tables during lunch hour, at the Three Broomsticks. So, he was able to make some pocket change. And it did keep him busy.

All in all, it was a good beginning to the start of summer, after he left the Dursleys.

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Whatever Sirius, and the Department of Mysteries, was supposed to do at the end of the month, didn't work. Well, it didn't work completely. They were able to get three of the five Horcruxes. But two of them were out of their reach. And the one in Harry's forehead still remained where it was. They needed to find a stronger spell. Or they needed more power. They weren't sure which. But they were working on it.

That and they detected a sixth Horcrux. Therefore, Voldemort had to have made another one. They were sure that it was his snake, Nagini. And they were sure that they were going to take her out last because they didn't want him to know what was going on.

They were pretty sure that the two they couldn't get were under strong wards. So that had to be Gringotts and Hogwarts. They didn't have anybody to negotiate with the goblins except Sirius, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to. He was going to try though.

They did bring Amelia Bones in, and she did beef up the Aurors, without letting Fudge know why. The only thing he knew was that Black donated a large fund of money to the DMLE with the stipulation that more patrols were added to Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. They were better equipped and were combat ready, well as combat ready as any police force could be.