Disclaimer: All character and the world in this story belongs to JK Rowling. I own nothing.

A/N: One thing that always bugged me was Harry's clothes. Every book mentioned the baggy oversized clothes but nobody seems to care that they could be magically altered to fit Harry (not even Molly Weasley or Hermione) even when he stayed with the Weasleys either at the Burrow or the headquarters. I hope you like it. Please Review.

Chapter One: To The Burrow

July 31, 1994

It is hard to behave normally around the people you despise so much that the mere thought of their existence was enough to make you feel nauseated but Harry had years of practise doing exactly that. Since he came down to the spotlessly clean kitchen of her aunt to begin his daily chores one last time before returning next summer, he was trying his best to not give any reason to his whale of an uncle to refuse his request of leaving with his friend. At last, the hour of his departure was approaching and a small smile appeared on his face, not big enough for any of his relatives to notice.

Finally, at ten minutes to one his uncle came to living room in his best muggle suit and sat on the couch, his expressions clearly showing the displeasure he was feeling from the thought and anticipation of these freaks coming to his abode of normalcy. Harry was expecting an angry eruption from Mt. Vernon any minute now. A few moments later, his uncle finally spoke.

"When are you freaky friends are coming?", his voice carrying a hint of disgust.

"At 1:00 PM, uncle Vernon." Harry said while trying to keep his face blank and his voice emotionless.

"And how they will be coming to my house, your folks wouldn't own a car or know about it?"

"They will be arriving by the floo." Harry blurted out.

"What?" The expression of confusion clearly pasted on his face.

"They will be arriving by the fireplace."

Vernon's pig-eyes widened for a moment before a devilish grin appeared. He was Thinking and playing a scenario in his head where he was berating these weird people coming to his house. He wanted to give them a piece of his mind that they would remember till the day they could remember their own names.

Just before the arrival of Weasleys, his aunt and cousin came down to the living room and sat on either side of his uncle. Just as the minute hand on the wall clock was reaching the designated time, the fireplace erupted in green flames for a few seconds and A tall redhaired man with horn-rimmed glasses stepped out of the fireplace, he recognized Mr. Weasley on the first look itself. He was followed by Ron then the twins. Mr. Weasley stepped closer to Harry, dusting the soot from his robes and offered his hand with his warm greetings wishing him for his birthday. Harry blurted his thanks and shook hands a bit too enthusiastically. It was immediately followed by three one armed hugs and three shouts of 'happy birthday, Harry'. Mr. Weasley turned towards the Dursleys, he offered his hand to Vernon with a cheery smile and greetings of good day. In reaction to this gesture, Dursleys leaned back in the couch trying to distance themselves from this weirdo with expressions of utter disgust evident on their faces. Arthur got the clue and took a step back, turned to face the teenagers who were looking towards the hosts with a look of unhidden disapproval.

"Harry, bring your Trunk and Hedwig. The floo-connection is a temporary one and will close in 15 minutes." Mr. Weasley said, looking towards his watch.

"My trunk is upstairs in my room, I sent Hedwig earlier."

"We will get it." The twins chimed in unison and stepped towards the stairs leading to Harry's bedroom.

A few seconds passed in uneventful and uncomfortable silence where Mr. Weasley was eyeing every electronic item with excited wide-eyes. The twins came down from his room, holding his trunk between them while Fred (or was it George) was holding his firebolt in his other hand. As they entered the living room, the second twin dropped a small string-pouch on the floor but before he could say anything regarding it, they pushed him and Ron aside and were gone through the floo with a call to 'the Burrow'. Mr. Weasley blurted his goodbyes to the Dursleys and pushed Harry and Ron towards the fireplace.

The next few moments were a total blur for Harry. He stepped in the fireplace and was engulfed in the green flames of the floo and was falling on his behind the next moment on a wooden floor, the next moment he was lifted from his position on ground and was involved in a bone-crushing hug. Once he was recovered from the hug, his brain started to process his surroundings and the happenings of last few seconds.

He was standing in the leaving room of Burrow facing the Weasley matriarch, a step behind her was Ginny. He waved towards her and voice the words 'hi Ginny'. In response, she replied with a 'hello Harry' in squeaky girly voice and averted her eyes towards the other occupants in the room.

Harry turned towards the twins with a questioning look and asked, "what was in that pouch?".

They shrugged and started to walk towards the stairs. As they stepped on the first stair, they turned towards him with a menacing grin.

"Let's just say..."

"that he will understand that..."

"it's wrong taking something…."

"belonging to someone else…."

"without their permission".

They left the room with those words. They shouted from the top of the stairs "Nothing permanent". Everyone turned back towards Harry again.

"Harry, you can keep your trunk in Ron's room. You and Ron will be sharing the room this summer." Mrs. Weasley said.

"But mum, can't we sleep in Percy's room. My room is too small and Percy hasn't been home all summer." Ron responded with a begging look.

Mrs. Weasley was unperturbed, Harry got the feeling that this was not the first time this conversation took place. Before Mrs. Weasley could reprimand Ron, Harry said "It's fine Mrs. Weasley, I will just bring my trunk in his room". He picked up his trunk and started moving towards the staircase leading to the floors above without looking back. He did not want to be a bother to Weasleys. Before he could step on the stairs, Mrs. Weasley called him from behind.

"Harry, where is Hedwig?"

"She is away Mrs. Weasley, delivering a mail."

"Okay. Go freshen up and come to the kitchen soon, you look quite thin, you could do with some food."

The day went pretty well thereafter, he was enjoying Mrs. Weasley's hospitality and culinary skills. Harry knew his way around kitchen but Mrs. Weasley's cooking was many levels above his, he wanted to be as good as her. It felt good to finally have a meal after a month which he hasn't prepared by himself. In all this excitement and happiness, he totally forgot about the letter he had sent the day before yesterday.

-X-X-

Minerva McGonagall was sitting in her office, preparing the annual budget for the school which was her job as the Deputy headmistress of Hogwarts. To be frank, she knew more about running the school then the glorious headmaster, who was busy all the time due to the various positions he held and roles he played in important institutions of magical Britain and the ICW. Hence the responsibility of overseeing day-to-day works of the school fell on her capable shoulders.

She was a bit surprised when she saw the beautiful snowy-owl with amber eyes flew in her office through the window and landed on her desk. Everyone in the school knew to whom this owl belonged. She removed the letter from the owl's leg, gave her an owl-treat and started to open the letter. She was surprised that Harry would contact her during the break, she knew Harry was an above-average student but he can't be categorized as exceptional. She was certain that he wouldn't be asking for advice or suggestions for extra reading material. A thought popped in her mind that Harry might want to resign from Quidditch due to his constant injury woes but she pushed this thought out as she remembered that the kid loved flying. She quickly opened the letter.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I hope my letter is not an interruption in your busy schedule. I wanted to know if it possible to change an elective subject this year. In case it is possible, I want to swap Divination with Ancient Runes. What are the requirements for swapping the subjects and can you give make some suggestions?

Thank you,

Sincerely

Harry Potter

It was a happy feeling that finally the kid followed Miss Granger's path and started to become a bit more serious about his education. She retrieved a blank piece of parchment from her desk drawer and wrote a response, tied the letter to the leg of Harry's familiar and gave her a pat on her head. The bird took off from its position on the desk and flew out of the window, leaving the transfiguration professor to her musings.

-X-X-

Harry was in a dilemma, how to approach Ron and explain the situation. Hedwig returned two days ago, with a positive response from the deputy headmistress. Since then Harry has been trying to organized his words so that Ron does not react very badly. He would have not mentioned it until the beginning of the school term if it was not for the exam he had to prepare for. According to McGonagall, he has to get a passing grade in the exam which will be taking place, coincidently, on Hermiones's birthday. He had to study a year's worth of material in less than 45 days with 2 days being already reserved for Quidditch World Cup Final. He can't lose another day if he wanted to have any realistic chance of passing the test. He had already rent a letter to Hermione, explaining the situation and asking for her advice and her Ancient Runes notes from her last year. Hedwig hadn't returned but he won't be wasting any moment once Hedwig returns. He was determined to get away from the harbinger of his doom who predicted his bad fortune in each class, he knew in his heart that he can' take these continuous 'daily death predictions' anymore.

He gathered his courage to finally tell Ron that he would be leaving him alone in Divination. Ron was sitting on the other side of the chess-board. Harry had totally forgot about the game of chess he was playing against Ron, no harm done as he was already close to defeat. He wanted the game to get over first so that Ron will be in high spirits and hence better chance of him taking this without much argument. God, Harry was so wrong (In Hindsight).

"Hey, Ron?"

"Yeah Mate?"

"I wanted to tell something about the next term."

"Hmm, better be something other than studies, we have Hermione for that." He snickered on his own comment before looking at Harry's face and sobering.

"I'm changing my elective to Ancient runes this term."

"You can't do that." Ron reacted, a bit too loud then what was necessary. After a moment's pause he continued, "why would you do that?".

"Ron, I'm fed up from my death being predicted daily in her class. I at least some rest from my doom being announced by the professor in front of students from our year".

"But I would be alone, what about that?", he whined.

"I'm sorry Ron but my mind is made up."

"Yeah, way to go mate. You are becoming like Hermione, she is a bad influence for you." Ron stood up and walked out of the room with that remark.

"Could have been worse" Harry mused to himself and he left the room to find the twins who most surprisingly had taken the subject for their O.W.L. & N.E.W.T.s and were good at it to some extent, not like their older brother Bill who was a prodigy according to Mr. Weasley.

-X-X-

Harry returned from a 3v3 Quidditch match with the twins, Ron, Ginny and Twins' friend Lee Jordan. It had been three days since the day he and Ron had their little argument. Ron was trying to avoid him since then, as much as he could avoid to a person who was sharing a room with him. Harry knew that this time Ron has to come to term with the situation on his own as his reaction and behaviour was completely uncalled for this time.

Hedwig had finally arrived last night with a big parcel. The parcel contained Hermione's copy of the standard textbook for introductory course on ancient runes, her study notes and a letter on top of this both. Harry was excited when he received the parcel and opened the later, eager to know what's been going on with his other best friend.

Dear Harry,

How are you? How was your summer till now? It's good to know that you are showing interest towards proper learning and want to get away from that old fraud. I am sending you my book and notes so you can start studying. I was in Italy for the past month, I just arrived yesterday morning, it was a pleasant surprise to see Hedwig waiting for me. I will tell you about my holidays when I see you. I will come to Burrow on August 22 and to help you with your study I will stay for the rest of the summer. I will tutor you during school term too till the day of exam. I would have come earlier but I wanted to spend some time with my parents before I leave for Burrow, they haven't seen much of me since we started Hogwarts. My parents and I will be staying with my grandparents at their farm for the next two weeks so I would appreciate you won't send any more letters through Hedwig. See you soon, Harry.

Yours Truly,

Hermione

PS: Start Studying right away and please see if Ron also wants to make the switch from that stupid subject named Divination.

Harry was unsure about asking Ron to make the switch, may it was the one thing needed to end the strain in their friendship. Harry was not particularly enthusiastic about it though, he knew Ron would want to slack-off but the subject required patient and hard-work. He can at least try asking Ron before Hermione's arrival.

Harry was determined about passing the test and hence started reading the book that night. After the first few pages of the book, Harry came to know that he underestimated the complexity of subject so he opened the notes that accompanied the book. On the first page of the notebook was a timetable with a small note at the bottom, 'I drew this timetable so you can study as well as enjoy your time at Burrow'. He would have to thank Hermione when she gets here, he noted.

For the next few days, Harry was following the routine set by none other than the Gryffindor bookworm. He would wake up early read a few pages from the notes for an hour before breakfast, 2 hours of book reading between breakfast and lunch, free hours during the day and 2 hours of revision and practice session after dinner.

-X-X-

Molly was a consummate housewife and a devoted mother, she was not an exceptional witch like many others of her age but she had her qualities. Molly's observation skills were well known among her peers, she could read someone's body-language like a book. She had noted that there was some tension between Harry and her youngest son Ron. She knew that they will be able to sort things out, given the time but she didn't want to stretching his tension longer then it was needed. She decided, after 10 days of observation that it was time to intervene. She asked both the boys to stay in the kitchen after the breakfast.

"What's going on between you two and don't try to deny."

"Harry just abandoned me mum, he left me alone in the class." Ron answered, sounding a bit hurt.

Harry winced but replied in a steady voice, "Mrs. Weasley, I just planned to change one elective this term."

Molly had a questioning look on her face. "But Harry, why would you change the course now?"

"The subject and the professor does not get along with future plans of mine, Mrs. Weasley".

Molly turned to her son now, "Ron dear, why don't you change the subject to the one Harry is opting for?".

"Mum, the subject is too hard, too much work to do and I want to try for House Quidditch team. I need free time to practice."

"Ron, Harry is trying to do what he feels is right for him. He is not abandoning you, he will be sharing other classes with you, won't he? Now it's up to you Ron to decide if you want to change subject with Harry or make your peace with the decision he takes for himself."

"I will try, mum". Ron left the room with that answer.

Molly turned towards Harry now. "Harry dear, give him some time and talk to him. He will come around soon, it takes some time for emotions to seep through to him."

"I will talk to him, Mrs. Weasley".

-X-X-

He was sitting in a dark room, windows bolted from inside and no source of light apart from the fire burning in fireplace. His eyes were staring into the fire, his mind was racing, imagining and playing all the possible scenarios in his mind. There was no sound in the room apart from the crackling of wooden log burning in the fireplace. His round-faced servant was standing on the side facing him, expression of worry evident. The second person was on one knee, holding the armrest of his high-backed leather chair on the other side of Wormtail.

He moved his hand to rest on the head of the kneeling person. With a strained voice, which came out like a hiss, he commanded, "Do not fail me, Lord Voldemort do not appreciate failures. If everything goes according to my plan, you will get in Hogwarts and will be close enough to the boy."

"I won't fail you master, I promise I will deliver the boy to you."

"I have high expectations from you, your success will be rewarded in kind. Make sure you don't do something that will alert the old fool."

"Yes master. I will leave with your permission."

"Go and succeed. Wormtail, it's time for my rest".

-X-X-

Harry woke up in his bed with a jolt, still clutching his scar, it was burning like a coal. He noticed that somebody was shaking his shoulder lightly and a worried voice calling his name, he tried to turn his head to see the source of this disturbance. All he saw a brown blur and then someone handed him his glasses. Finally, his vision focussed on the person standing on side of his bed.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?"

"Good morning to you too, Harry. Nightmare?"

"Yeah, we will talk about it later."

"When did you arrive?"

"10 minutes ago, my parents are going for a conference today so dad dropped me here a bit early."

Harry sat in his bed now, fully awake. Hermione moved to the other bed in the room and violently shook the occupants shoulder in an attempt to wake him up, without any success, apart from a groan.

"Please wake him up and come down for breakfast. Hurry up."

With those words, Hermione left the room with a near impossible job of waking up Ron falling on Harry's shoulder. Harry removed his blankets and stepped on the floor of the room and stepped closer to Ron's bed. He shrieked near Ron's ears and Ron almost jumped out of his bed and fell to the floor. Harry was laughing at the expense of his best friend who was directing an intense glare of fury towards him. He sobered with just one look towards his friend and left the room with a final remark that the breakfast was ready.

The next three days were just a blur of activity, the major factor being the excitement of approaching world cup and Harry's ancient runes study. Harry's study schedule suddenly became stricter with the arrival of his bossy best friend, he still got few hours to enjoy but he had to completely concentrate on study in the designated time slots. He came to know during his study time that Hermione was a very patient teacher and Harry was beginning to get hold of the fundamentals of the subject under her tutelage.

The day of the world cup final arrived and they were all ready for the day ahead. Harry had packed all the essentials in his school bag, it was just a one day trip anyway. Harry, in the company of the Weasleys and Hermione, left the Burrow well before dawn. According to Mr. Weasley, they had to reach some location before half past six. It was a 30-minute track though the fields towards the hill. He could see that Ron and Ginny were still a bit sleepy, the other members of the group looked fully awake. At the top of the hill they met two people, a man in his early forties, named Amos Diggory who was a colleague of Mr. Weasley working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and a good-looking, brown-haired fellow Hogwarts student named Cedric Diggory who was in the seventh year.

They were standing around an old leather boot, Harry was confused about the situation and just like every other confusing situation, he turned towards Hermione for answers with a questioning look. She whispered in his ear that it was a portkey. He still had no idea what she was talking about, Hermione just smiled and mouthed 'Later'. Mr. Weasley asked everyone to hold the old boot, he followed without a question. A few seconds later the boot glowed blue and at that moment he felt a strong pull behind his navel and his legs lost contact with the ground. It felt like he was in some kind of whirlpool and as soon as he realized the sensation, it was over. He landed on hard ground on his bum with a thump.

A/N: I hope you like the story. Creative criticism is welcome. There might be some errors, if you find any please PM me.