Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to read my little story, I hope you enjoy it. This was written for my younger sister, who got me into the crazy world of fan fiction and who means the world to me. That's about all I have to say, happy reading and your reviews are appreciated J
**Islanzadi**
Harry's birthday dawned mild and pleasant. The birds were singing merrily outside, the bees buzzing contentedly amongst Aunt Petunia's agapanthus' and a cat was sprawled lazily on a garden wall idly swishing his tail. Hardly the impending doom Harry had suspected on the day his protection from Voldemort wore off.
Harry retreated from the window and reluctantly looked at his bedroom. He supposed that he ought to clean as well as pack. Broken quills, torn parchment and empty sweet wrappers littered the room, as much as he disliked the Dursley's he couldn't leave the room looking like this without his conscience bothering him. He concentrated hard on his wand lying and the bed and thought 'Accio wand', pleased that this time it came straight to him rather than hitting an unsuspecting Hedwig. He still had the mark on his finger for that little mistake.
He piled his clothes, books, trainers and other items into his trunk, and was dismayed to find it wouldn't close. After several minutes of sitting on it desperately trying to close the latch, he had a wonderful thought!! Today he was seventeen, and legally allowed to do magic without fear of being carted off to the ministry of magic. Harry opened the trunk and used a simple reduction charm on his belongings, and watched in amusement as each of his items shrunk to the approximate size of a two pence piece. He decided that he wouldn't be telling Hermione about sitting on his trunk to close it… or how long it took him to use magic. After surveying the room for a moment longer he began to wonder what else he could use magic on with his new found freedom. He grinned to himself and thought 'locomotor trunk' which sent his trunk flying down the stairs. Minutes later Aunt Petunia's screeches filled the house. Harry sent Hedwig in her cage to meet Aunt Petunia's screeches, then followed humming happily to himself.
Harry was greeted by Uncle Vernon's rather fat face as he walked down the hallway into the living room.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing flying your… your things through my house boy?" He bellowed at the top of his lungs "I'm warning you…"
"What exactly are you trying to warn me? You know Uncle Vernon, I think you need to get out a bit more and have a laugh…" Harry grinned mischievously. He concentrated on his fat, shaking uncle and thought 'rictusempra'. To his delight Vernon fell to the floor and began laughing uncontrollably. Harry found this so amusing that he was laughing himself… until Aunt Petunia entered the room.
"What did you do? You nasty little boy!" She screeched at Harry.
"Me?" He said innocently "What do you mean Aunt Petunia?"
Apparently Dudley had heard all the commotion from the kitchen and had somehow managed to drag himself away from the unguarded fridge.
"You know what I mean! You stop this right now or so help me…" said Aunt Petunia, her voice trembling with anger.
"I just said to Uncle Vernon that the diet you two put Dudley on really seems to be working, and the next thing I know he's on the floor laughing like a loon!" Harry stated, trying hard to hide his grin. Aunt Petunia's face went puce at this comment; she stood up from her husband and glared at Harry
"After all we've done for you, disgusting boy, this is how we are repaid? Using unnatural powers in our house?" she said angrily, glaring at Harry "You stop this at once!"
Harry felt his anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach and shot back with - "After all you've done for me? Are you kidding?"
"You can't see all the good we've done for you because you're a selfish ungrateful little boy - just like your mother!" Petunia retorted
Harry felt like he was about to explode.
"You leave my mother out of this!" He roared "you're just jealous because you were never as good as her! She was everything you wanted to be and you hated that! You've always been so wrapped up in your hatred for her that it's affected everything you've ever done! Look who you married! Look how you treat anyone that's even remotely different. You hate me because I'm a part of her!! I can't help that you didn't feel good enough Petunia" He was shaking badly from his outburst and waiting for her to reply. To his surprise she simply stood there staring at him.
Harry suddenly noticed that Vernon was still laughing hysterically and rolling all over the floor. Reluctantly Harry let go of the spell and surveyed the damage Vernon had done to the room. Harry grabbed his wand and muttered 'reparo' to several broken items. Somehow he didn't think he had enough energy left in him to concentrate on a non-verbal spell.
He looked from the gasping Vernon to the petrified Dudley and decided that now was quite the time to leave. With a few muttered words he sent the only items belonging to him in the world out the front door. He turned around one last time and opened his mouth to say goodbye. It was then that he noticed the tears streaming down Aunt Petunia's face. He held her gaze for a few long moments, and an emotion he couldn't define crossed her eyes momentarily. Then it was gone. Harry turned around from the only family he had and walked out the door.
He quickly realized that maybe he shouldn't be walking down the street with a flying trunk and an owl in a cage. He let both of them down with a bit of a thump, and sat on the curb trying to think of what to do. He knew that the Knight bus was out of the question. Now that he had no protection he had no intention of flaunting his whereabouts to everyone in the wizarding world. He let Hedwig out of her cage
"Meet me at Ron's house ok? I'll be along as soon as I can" She nipped his hand a tad too hard, still not over being hit with his wand and then being unceremoniously dropped on the floor. He held out his arm and watched her fly away into the distance. He dragged his trunk to an alleyway about 200 meters from the house and hid himself at the very end. After checking that there wasn't anybody in sight he concentrated, after a moment he felt the familiar sensation of being pressed through a rubber tube, then found himself outside of the burrow, his trunk still thankfully separate from his body. He really would have to get his test done soon so that he wouldn't be technically doing this illegally. He thought of his friends waiting inside for him, and his mind lingered on Ginny momentarily. How would she react to his turning up at the Burrow? He drew a deep breath and headed for the house…
"HARRY!!!" shouted Mrs. Weasley "What on Earth are you doing here? Come in, come in! Look at you! It hasn't been that long since we saw you last and already you've grown so much!!" Harry grinned at Mrs. Weasley and stepped into the house. Immediately he heard the sound of a thousand elephants coming down the stairs… also known as Ron, Hermione and Ginny.
"Alright mate?" said Ron enthusiastically "Didn't expect to see you 'til the wedding"
"Harry!" Said Hermione moving forward to hug him tightly "It's so good to see you!"
Harry smiled down at Hermione and noticed that Ginny was giving him a rather odd look. Mrs. Weasley was beaming at him, so he couldn't very well ask what was wrong.
"Uh, hello Ginny…" said Harry rather uncomfortably
"Hello Harry" she said, and smiled up at him. She moved forward and gave him a hug that was a little too long for Harry's comfort level. He was trying very hard to put Ginny out of his mind and hugging him that tightly didn't help.
"Well, shall we have a little bite to eat then?" said Mrs. Weasley
"Mum…you read my mind!" said Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron and wondered to herself where on earth he could put all that food, a thought that she pondered quite frequently.
"Well Harry dear, why don't you put your things upstairs and I'll get lunch started. I'll call you when it's ready" said Mrs. Weasley. She bustled off determinedly towards the kitchen.
Hermione had already taken charge of getting Harry's trunk upstairs.
"Show off" mumbled Ron
"I heard that Ron" Hermione retorted "You know, if your practiced your magic a little more you wouldn't have broken so many things…"
Harry grinned to himself and listened to them bicker amongst themselves all the way to Ron's room. Some things never changed.
They all sat themselves on Ron's bed and Harry told them the morning's events. Ron was laughing so hard Harry wondered for a moment whether or not he had a tickling charm cast on him. "Dudley's diet working!" He managed to get out between deep gasps.
"Honestly Harry!" scolded Hermione "Look at you! You look like a man, not a boy. Why act that way? What was it going to prove?"
Harry felt a flash of annoyance. How dare she criticize him like he was a child? It quickly ebbed away, however, as he realized that she was right. He didn't regret leaving, but using magic for the sake of it was particularly childish of him. He felt slightly humiliated all of a sudden and wondered why Hermione's opinion should matter. Ginny's eyes narrowed dangerously towards Hermione
"Some people don't mind letting loose a little and having some fun" she sniped "maybe you should try it sometime"
Harry looked at Ron, both of them puzzled by Ginny's outburst. The room was filled with tension and Harry found himself looking longingly out the window. Ginny waited for a moment longer then asked
"So Harry, Hermione told me you weren't going back to Hogwarts this year. What are you going to do?"
Harry wasn't prepared for this question. He told Dumbledore that he would only tell Ron and Hermione of his plans to find the Horcruxes. He thought frantically for a moment or two then said -
"I have no idea". He reasoned that this was not a total lie, because he really had no idea what he was planning on doing. Thankfully whatever Ginny had been going to say in reply was cut off by Mrs. Weasley's call of -
"Lunch is ready!!" Naturally Ron leapt off the bed and was down the stairs so fast that Harry was surprised he didn't apparate.
After lunch Ron, Hermione and Harry were sitting in the garden. It was a lovely afternoon, and they spent most of it talking about the summer, quidditch, and the wedding plans. Harry was so content. He hadn't heard a single word about Voldemort, Horcruxes, or Dumbledore. He knew that his friends didn't want to mention it until they were sure he wanted to speak about it, and for this he was so grateful that he was almost choked up. He felt so lucky to have good friends. It was a this point that Mrs. Weasley shouted
"Ron dear! We need to go to and have the final fitting for your wedding robes! Hurry along, you'll be back before you know it!"
"If I have to have one more fitting I swear…" groaned Ron.
"Oh Ron" laughed Hermione "It can't be that bad!"
"Can't be that bad?" exclaimed Ron "The woman can hardly see Hermione. I'm like a bloody human pincushion! I can't wait for this wedding to be over with…"
"Ron!" shouted Mrs. Weasley again, sounding a little more flustered "You can meet us in Diagon Alley in 2 minutes, do you hear me?"
"Yes Mum!" He shouted back. "Well, I'll see you later I suppose" he said and with a crack he was gone.
Harry and Hermione sat for a while not saying anything. The silence was comfortable for him, and he watched the garden gnomes fighting with each other at the end of the garden. He glanced at Hermione and noticed she was slowly ringing her hands together and chewing at her bottom lip absently. He watched her for a moment smiling inwardly about the way she chewed on her lip.
"Is anything bothering you Hermione?" he asked.
"What? Me? Oh…no. I was, uh, just thinking about how to do this new charm I was reading about…" she said nervously.
Harry looked at her for a moment longer, then turned back to the gnomes. He wondered what Ron had done now to make Hermione this agitated.
"Harry?" she asked quietly "I don't know if you want to talk about this now, but I was wondering if you had any ideas on where we're going to stay after the wedding?"
"We?" said Harry "So you and Ron are sure you want to help me?"
"Harry! Of course we're sure!" said Hermione affectionately. She moved closer to where Harry was sitting on the blanket and held his hand. "Surely you don't think we would leave you to do it alone? We need each other. We'll be with you every step of the way"
Harry looked down to his hand covered with Hermione's, and his heart lightened at what she had said. He looked up at her and smiled. For a moment it seemed like she wanted to say more, but thought the better of it and lifted her head to look at the clouds. Harry went back to looking at the gnomes for a while and then began to wonder if Hermione planned on moving her hand. It wasn't that it didn't feel nice as such, but he was very uncomfortable with how long his best friend wanted to hold his hand, not to mention that Ron wouldn't see it as innocent no matter how much he and Hermione would try to explain. He thought of ways in which he could move his hand discreetly… He began to scratch his leg with his free hand, then moved the hand under Hermione's and used that to scratch too. Hermione jumped a little, then moved a little bit away from Harry. They sat in silence for a moment longer. Harry wasn't sure what was going on, but assumed that she must really be upset by Ron if she needed his comfort that badly. He felt awful all of a sudden and went to say something to her, but was interrupted by the business like voice of Hermione.
"Ok Harry. So we've decided that Ron and I are going with you. But we need to decide where we're going to stay. What do you think about going back to Grimmauld place?"
Harry was surprised at her sudden change in attitude, but welcomed the conversation.
"I've been thinking about it Hermione" he started "But I'm not sure if I can handle being there again. I can still picture Sirius walking around there all alone…Not to mention that the place is pretty disgusting."
"Oh Harry," she said "I know this must be hard for you, but I can't think of anywhere else we could go. If Dumbledore thought it was a safe enough place for the Order, then I think it's safe enough for us. If you really don't feel comfortable then of course we'll find somewhere else. "
Harry thought for a moment before replying.
"What if Snape tells Voldemort where the Order used to meet… I don't think it will be that safe if those two and a bunch of Death Eaters can turn up at any moment,"
Hermione hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure of how to broach the subject. Eventually she took a deep breath and said very quickly -
"Harry, you may not like what I'm going to say but I really think we have to consider the possibility that
maybe Dumbledore knew the predicament that Snape was in." She looked at him nervously and continued even quicker
"Maybe Dumbledore knew it had to be this way if Snape were to keep himself undercover safely. Snape's position
is one of the most valuable to the Order…"
Harry standing up quickly and looking at her with utmost horror in his eyes interrupted her.
"WHAT?" he shouted so loudly that the gnomes ran back into their gnome holes in fright "YOU AREN'T SERIOUS?! HE KILLED DUMBLEDORE!! THERE ARE NO EXCUSES FOR MURDER. YOU WEREN'T THERE! YOU WOULDN'T KNOW…HE DID IT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO NOT BECAUSE HE HAD TO!"
With that he turned around and stormed off into the house. Hermione was lying on the blanket, watching the clouds, chewing nervously on her bottom lip, her mind in turmoil.
Harry lay on his bed fuming at what Hermione had said. How could she think that? After a few moments of seething he forced himself to think of what Hermione's point had been. It wasn't often she was wrong, but contemplating what she suggested was just too much for him to handle right now. He wiped a stray tear from his eye and stood up. He walked to the window and saw her lying on the blanket; he noticed how the sun hit her hair so that it shone golden amongst the brown. He really should go and talk to her. The way he shouted at her was out of order, no matter what it was that she had said. He went to make a move and noticed that his hand was tingling where Hermione had touched him. He stopped abruptly and decided that it would be much safer to stay in his room.