CH2: Journey home

The rest of the week passed quickly, the stares started to die down and Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent most of their afternoons down by the lake in the summer sun, and their evenings in the common room by the fire drinking hot chocolate and playing exploding snap and wizards' chess.

Although Harry was joining in with his friends, he was finding it hard, he was increasingly tired, waking multiple times a night due to nightmares he had resorted to putting a silencing charm around his bed to avoid waking his dorm mates.

Harry was also extremely anxious about his impending return to the Dursley's, Ron had sent an owl to Mrs Weasley and she had vowed to get Dumbledore to let Harry stay at the Burrow, her efforts had resulted in a meeting in the headmaster's office which Harry and Ron were sent for. Entering the office was awkward, they had clearly just stumbled in on the dying embers of an argument, seeing Mr and Mrs Weasley and Sirius already sitting around the desk each with their arms crossed.

'Ah, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley, I have just been chatting with your parents and guardians, they both are intent on you, Mr Potter staying with them over the summer'.

'Them? Sirius are you staying at the burrow'? asked Ron

Chiming in before Sirius could answer, Dumbledore spoke 'No Mr Weasley, due to the increased security threat, it has been decided that your family will spend the summer at the black family residence.'

'And Harry, right'?

'unfortunately.…' Dumbledore began but was interrupted by Mrs Weasley.

'no.. the headmaster seems to think that Harry would be safer staying with his aunt and uncle instead of with his family who care about him, where he would be surrounded by order members who could protect him much better than some muggle could'

'Order?' asked Harry

'oh that's nothing to worry about right now dear, its just…'

Dumbledore interrupted before Mrs Weasley could continue 'I have assessed the options and believe the protections around the Dursley's are superior to even those around Hogwarts and Harry can not be harmed while he is there. We could assess later in the summer whether Harry can join you, but the wards require his presence if they are to remain active, and I don't see a reason as to why Harry should not spend some of the summer with his own family'.

'Maybe because they hate me' Offered Harry. The room went silent.

Once Dumbledore had recovered he said, 'Oh Harry hate is a strong word, and I don't believe anyone could hate you my boy, they are merely afraid of something they don't understand but maybe you could spend the summer trying to build some bridges, in the times ahead it is best to keep all friends and family close'

Sirius couldn't listen to anymore 'Dumbledore please I value your opinion, but I am Harry's guardian and I want him to spend the summer with me, we have plenty of protection at Grimmauld place, he can't go back to the Dursley's'.

'I'm afraid it is just not an option right now; besides it would be putting everyone at Grimmauld place at even greater danger'. Dumbledore said this with a meaningful glance at Harry.

'oh, don't be stupid' shouted Sirius getting to his feet, 'He's not putting anyone in danger, he's my god-son and what I say goes'.

Harry thought over what Dumbledore had just said, yes, his life at the Dursleys was miserable but could he really put others at danger just to spend time with his friends? He had survived the last 14 years with the Dursley's he was sure he could survive a few weeks there. He had come to his decision.

Harry emerged from his thoughts and looked up to discover a one-sided shouting match had erupted, Sirius and Mrs Weasley were on their feet complaining at Professor Dumbledore who sat calmly behind his desk replying calmly, waiting for their anger to dissipate.

'I will stay with the Dursley's' Harry said sheepishly. Everyone grew quiet and turned to look at him, Dumbledore with a small smile on his face. 'Professor Dumbledore is right, maybe I should spend some time trying to fix things between me and the Dursley's'. Harry couldn't help but mentally laugh at his own statement, that he and the Dursley's would never see eye to eye, but if he could keep his friends and family safe then he would do it.

'This is your fault Albus, Harry don't listen to him I know you have a need to protect people but I'm telling you, you're not putting anyone in danger' pleaded Sirius.

'I do NOT have a need to save people, I have made my decision please respect that' Harry said a bit more angrily than he had planned on. 'I'll see you later in the summer'. With his closing remark Harry stood up and left the office, feeling a bit overwhelmed he sped up to get away before anyone could follow him, so he could spend some time alone.

Harry became more and more anxious as the week went on, the last time he had seen the Dursleys had been when he was collected by the Weasley's to go to the Quidditch world cup, the Weasleys' had arrived through the fireplace and destroyed the living room, and the twins had seen fit to trick Dudley into eating a ton tongue toffee. He hadn't yet faced the repercussions of that particular incident.

All too quickly the last day of term arrived, and all the students were making their way down the Hogsmeade to board the Hogwarts Express to London, Harry Ron and Hermione found an empty compartment and were soon joined by Neville, Fred, George and Ginny. They were all having fun playing exploding snap, Fred and George had won a record number of times and Harry had the suspicion that they were cheating.

As much as he was enjoying the games, Harry was having trouble concentrating, his mind just kept wandering and he found himself staring out the window being shook by one of the others when they realised that he wasn't playing. He decided to stop playing, he just couldn't pay attention, instead he spent the journey pretending to read Quidditch through the ages, subconsciously feeling the stares of his worried friends.

When they finally reached Kings Cross, the group disembarked and made their way through to the muggle world. Mr and Mrs Weasley and Mr and Mrs Granger were waiting off to the side with huge smiles on their faces clearly glad to see their children. The group rushed over to see their respective parents while Harry dawdled along behind them. After being embraced by Mrs Weasley Harry reluctantly said his goodbyes and made his way through to crowd in search of the Dursley's.

The Dursley's were nowhere to be found, so Harry took a seat off to the side on a bench and waited… and waited… and waited. It was two hours before Harry decided to do something, he found some muggle money in his backpack and tried to call the landline.

'Hello, Petunia Dursley speaking'.

'Hi aunt Petunia, I got back from school today, I'm at the train station is Uncle Vernon going to be picking me up soon'?

Aunt petunia sighed 'Don't be silly, we won't be spending all that petrol money on you, your much too old to get picked up, you can make your own way here'.

Harry stood in shock at the sound of Aunt Petunia hanging up the phone, he couldn't help but think back to the looks on the faces of all the families waiting for their children to return for the summer and the image of Lily and James potter standing at the station with all the other parents filled his head.

Seeing no other option Harry started to make his way through the station, he was much too tired and upset to attempt the train journey, so Harry hailed down a cab and gave his directions, there was a little fuss over the drivers reluctance to transport a large bird but Harry managed to convince him with the promise of a large tip. It was going to cost a fortune in cab fair compared to a train ticket, but what else was a kid with his dead parent's fortune going to do, its not like he had gone crazy with his spending in the past.

The journey to the Dursley took just over an hour, Harry paid the cab driver and started to make his way to the front door and rang the doorbell.