Endless Waltz

Chapter One

Worth a Prince's Ransom

As Harry approached his Uncle Vernon, he reminisced about his year at Hogwarts. In contrast, this was going to be a dreadful summer. He turned to bid Ron a final farewell, but by now he was out of sight.

"Get a move on, boy! I haven't got all day!" Harry picked up his things once more and trudged after his uncle through the thinning crowd.

Once in the Dursley's new blue BMW, Harry settled into his old routine. "So, how are Aunt Petunia and Dudley?" he asked as he drummed his fingers on the leather seat in front of him, already bored out of his mind and missing his friends terribly.

"They would be better, knowing I would return without you. Tell me again why you can't stay at that blasted school of yours?" So Harry began to explain, for about the hundredth time why he was unable to attend Hogwarts over the summer holidays. Just as he was about to get to the part about Professor Dumbledore, he glanced at the road ahead.

"Look out!" he shouted, but it was too late. A black cat that had been trying to cross the street, now lay squished under the tires of Uncle Vernon's new car.

"Damn cat!" Vernon cursed loudly as he got out of the car to inspect the damage. Surprisingly, he returned a moment later with the cat snuggled safely in his arm as though he had saved it, not almost murdered it. Without a word to Harry, he set the cat in the passenger seat and continued on home.

Upon arriving at the house, the poor creature was nearly squished a second time as Dudley took a liking to her and decided to see how hard he could squeeze her before she threw up. She immediately tried to scratch him back, but he squeezed her again before she could. "I'm gonna call her Tiger!"

"We're not keeping it! I'm sending it to Mrs. Figg as soon as she gets home." Uncle Vernon protested.

"Put that thing down, you don't know where it's been!" Petunia exclaimed as she hurried over to Dudley. His face scrunched up and turned a horrid shade of purple.

"But she's MINE! I WANT HER!"

"But Dudley dear," his mother began, trying to console him. He only screamed louder however.

"I WANT HER! GIVE HER TO ME! NOW! I WANT TO KEEP HER!"

"Now, Dudleykinns, there's no need to shout! Of course you can keep her, right Vernon?" He began to protest once more but she looked at him sharply. "RIGHT Vernon," and as an after thought, "dear?"

"Yes, yes of course."

"Now, her name is Tiger, and HE," Dudley pointed to Harry in disgust, "isn't to touch her."

"Stupid to name her Tiger. She doesn't even have any stripes," Harry muttered under his breath as he left the room to get his things put away.

As usual, Harry was left to lug his trunk, books, and Hedwig's cage into their proper household places. It took him until supper to completely finish the task. Once he was done, he joined the family at the dinner table. Dudley had set the cat on his right and the poor thing was shaking from all the commotion.

"Tiger, kitty, would you like some milk?" cooed Aunt Petunia as she placed a small china-blue bowl in front of the cat and tried not to cringe as Tiger rubbed her tail against her hand.

In response, she began to drink it hungrily. He knew they never liked him, but still it hurt. After all, they were his family, technically speaking of course and she was just a cat. He finished his meager meal in silence.

That night, Harry thumped upstairs early because there wasn't much else to do but sleep. Once he had reached his door, however, he stopped. It felt as though he was being watched. He slowly turned around, expecting to see Dudley, but paused. There, sitting on the top step, was the cat, her gray eyes shinning eerily in the dim light of the hallway.

*************************************

Harry awoke with a start, and groaned as he glanced at the clock. "Do you EVER get up at a normal time?" he asked Tiger as she sat purring next to his bed. "Oh, alright!" He climbed out of bed, put on his glasses, threw on a shirt and some pants, and went downstairs with Tiger in the lead. He rummaged around in the top cupboards; tying to find the cereal they had hidden from Dudley. Once he found the last box, he poured some into a bowl, dumped in some milk and sat down at the table. Tiger leapt onto the table and tried to eat some of Harry's breakfast, but he picked her up just in time.

"Shame on you, Tiger. That's MY breakfast, but if you'll wait a minute, I'll get you yours." He put her on the floor and got up to get her a dish of milk. While he was at the cupboard, Tiger jumped back onto the table and finished off his Weetabix. When he returned, he sighed and knew today would be most interesting, to say the least. He got a new bowl and poured the remainder of cereal into it. Tiger looked hungrily at that too, but Harry ate it standing up so as not to give the impression he would be sharing with anyone.

She pranced to the door moments later, apparently wanting a bit of fresh air. Harry went to the door, let her out and followed when she showed that she so desired. Once outside, he sat down on the bench. She swatted at some flies before cuddling down next to him and demanding to be stroked behind the ears. "You know, you need more maintenance than Dudley." She stiffened and looked up at him, offended. "I'm kidding. No need to get huffy about it." He heard a yell from upstairs.

"Where are you Tiger?" Dudley yelled as he thundered around upstairs.

"You'd better get going." Harry told her. "We wouldn't want him to know you were conversing with the 'freak', now would we?" Tiger immediately jumped off the bench, leapt onto the windowsill and entered soundlessly. Harry shook his head, finished off the last of his breakfast and hurried inside so as not to arouse the suspicion that the 'freak' had actually been enjoying himself.

*****************************

Later that day, as lunch drew near, Harry heard the words he'd been waiting for all day. Just as he finished washing the final breakfast dishes, Uncle Vernon called him into the other room.

"Your Aunt and I will be going to visit Marge in London until late this evening. You and Dudley will stay here."

He groaned inwardly. This wasn't the way he wanted to spend the final days before his 15^th birthday. He's been hoping they'd take Dudley with them on yet another of their pointless visits that only resulted in more presents to clutter Dudley's already piggish room. He hadn't figured on them leaving the kid at home. "We'll be gone till about dinner, so Dudley dear, of course you may order out." Dudley smiled greedily and Harry knew they'd be having the greasiest, most disgusting, most expensive thing Dudley could think of for dinner. He could hardly wait. "And you?" Vernon pointed at Harry.

"Will be in my room making no noise and pretending I'm not there." Harry finished for him. He knew the drill by now. After all, it'd been nearly fifteen years.

"Good. There will be no trouble, correct?" Vernon sneered as he none to gracefully helped Petunia with her coat.

"Correct." They left moments later without another word. Within minutes of their departure however, Dudley got up from the sofa and walked to the window, peering out. Once he was sure that his parents were out of sight, and apparently out of earshot as well, he turned to Harry.

"Okay, here's the deal. I'm going out with my friends and Mum and Dad won't find out about it will they? They'll think that I was here, babysitting you" he put an awful emphasis on the word that made Harry's blood boil, "the whole time. Isn't that right?" Harry couldn't believe his good luck.

"Of course. Whatever you say, Dudley." Harry agreed as Dudley bounded out the door without so much as a decent goodbye though Harry knew better than to expect one. As soon as he was gone, Harry dashed to the cupboard under the stairs and grabbed Hedwig's cage. He'd been so busy lately; she hadn't been let out at all in the past week. The Dursleys had stopped allowing her to stay in his room after Dudley began to complain that she was keeping him awake at night.

He let her out in the house and she flew up the stairs, followed closely by the cat. Once in Harry's room, she jumped onto his bed and looked the owl squarely in the face. Hedwig stared calmly at Tiger and an agreement, unheard by anyone, seemed to be agreed upon.

He took out a piece of parchment and began to write:

Dear Sirius,

How's your holiday so far? I finally have a chance to write you. The Dursleys have been working me so hard lately. Right now, they're are out visiting my aunt's sister and Dudley is who knows where with his friends. Hedwig is so happy to be out of her cage that I wanted to write you now so she may go out.

I was hoping that Professor Dumbledore would allow me to spend the summer holidays with you, but so far, I guess I can't. I'll probably visit Ron sometime soon, hopefully very soon.

Nothing much is happening; this isn't a note of distress. In fact, this must be the first note that I've written you that isn't of dire importance. Is Voldemort losing his touch? Anyway, I hope you have a good summer holiday, what's left of it, and I'll talk to you soon.

Harry

"There," Harry muttered to himself as he finished. He tied the parchment to Hedwig's leg and opened the window. "Bring this to Sirius for me please, but it's not important, so you can take your time." Hedwig gave a hoot in reply and soared out into the dimming sky.

Harry sat back on his bed then changed his mind. After all, how would they know if he watched some TV or played on Dudley's new computer?

A few hours later, as he lay watching TV in Dudley's room, Tiger climbed over his legs and settled into her favorite spot in his lap. "Why do you like me so much?" he absent-mindedly asked the cat as he stroked her fur. "You know it would drive Dudley insane to see you like this in my lap." She looked up at him, questioningly. He sighed. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

**************************************

Harry was only half awake when he heard the front door open. He shot up, dumping the sleeping cat onto the floor. She woke with a start and hissed reproachfully. "Tiger, Dudley's home, get moving!" She raced out of the room at top speed and down the stairs. Harry ran into his room and stuffed Hedwig's cage into his closet, then shut and latched his window. He prayed she wouldn't be back anytime soon. Finally he raced downstairs to get Dudley's story straight. However, once he got there, he stopped short. His aunt and uncle were home, but where was Dudley?

"There you are! Take these things!" Petunia shoved a few parcels into Harry's hands. "Now, where's my little Dudleykinns?" asked his aunt as she tossed her coat at him as well. Harry decided to act as though he hadn't heard and went to put away her coat and packages. "Dudley, where are you? Dudley, your Aunt Marge sent a present for you! Come and see what she sent my little man! Dudley?" Aunt Petunia called up the stairs. After a few moments of silence, she went upstairs to find him. Harry dreaded what would happen next but knew it was inevitable. Aunt Petunia came running down the stairs as fast as humanly possible and toppled down the last two. "Dudley, " she began, but her voice seemed to be caught in her throat, "My D-d-dudley ......... g-g-gone ... he's n-n-n-not ........." And she proceeded to enter into a state of hysterics, issuing high pitched screams every few seconds.

Aunt Petunia stopped moments later when Vernon dumped a large pitcher of iced water in her face. "What, what's wrong with Dudley?" he asked as soon as she stopped sputtering.

"He's, h-he's..." she started, sputtering all the while.

"He's, he's, WHAT?" mimicked Vernon in an annoyed tone. "HE'S WHAT?" he finally yelled when Petunia didn't answer. Harry shuddered as the house shook with the refraction of his voice and Tiger skidded under the couch clearly terrified. "I'll ask you one more time, Petunia," he paused for effect, "WHERE'S DUDLEY?" The china clinked loudly in the kitchen as it rattled on the shelves he had so 'expertly' installed himself when his aunt had been on one of her infamous proactive obsessions earlier in the summer.

"He's gone, my Dudley, GONE!"" Aunt Petunia said in a small voice, clearly petrified of her raging husband by this time.

"What do you mean, he's gone?" shouted Uncle Vernon. Just then, Harry glanced nervously at the window, hearing a faint tapping sound. Hedwig, looking half dead, was trying to get in. He slipped out of the living room chaos and went to the entryway to open the window and let her in. Once inside, she landed on the chair and Harry untied the two scrolls from her legs. He was surprised that there were two; he'd only been expecting one. As soon as she was relieved of her burden, Hedwig flew into the kitchen, followed closely by the cat who'd snuck out from under the couch. Harry examined the scrolls more closely. One he could tell was from Sirius because Harry's name was written in his recognizable scrawl. The other, however, wasn't marked on the outside. He stuffed Sirius' letter in his back pocket to read later, opened the unmarked one, and began to read.

Dear Mr. Potter,

I'm sure that by now, you and your family are aware that Dudley's present location is undisclosed. I'm sorry to tell you that unless our demands are met, the young man will remain in our custody. We don't require much, only that you deliver Black into our hands without any trouble. No money need be delivered in addition to Black. The ransom is expected outside your home at two o'clock tomorrow morning. If our demands are not met, I'm afraid that we will be forced to take more serious actions. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

******************

Hedwig landed on the back of one of the kitchen chairs she cocked her head to the side as Tiger jumped onto the seat of the same chair.

Tiger's tail flicked back and forth as she watched Hedwig begin to preen herself. After a moment or two, she hissed to get her attention.

Hedwig's head swiveled around to face her. Tiger hissed again. Hewing blinked three times then went back to preening herself. Tiger's ears twitched for a moment then she reached up and swatted Hedwig with her paw. She turned her head sharply and nearly nipped the cat. Again she blinked three times, but before she could turn away, Tiger had again twitched her ears and seemed to be glaring.

Hedwig gave a final hoot. Tiger nodded. The she jumped down off the chair and began to pace in circles. Things weren't looking too good from her perspective. Not good at all.

******************

Harry was stunned. Dudley had been kidnapped? Were they talking about Sirius? There was no way he would give Sirius over to them; Dudley wasn't worth squat to him. Although, he probably should let someone in the Wizarding world know that these people were after Sirius, but his house was probably being watched at this point if they had gotten to Hedwig already. He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard his uncle call from the other room. "Harry, what in the blazes are you doing in there, and where's your cousin?" Harry walked back into the living room and handed Vernon the note, still in shock and trying to pull all of the information together. Dudley being kidnapped-it made no sense! Why would they want Dudley? They should, theoretically speaking, be after him!

Vernon read the letter in an eerie silence, and then handed it to Aunt Petunia as he stared at Harry, a look of purple rage on his face. Once Petunia had finished, she turned to stare in silence at him too. Finally, she broke the stillness.

"Can you, perhaps, tell us why this is addressed to you?" she seethed as she tried to contain her fury. When Harry just stood there, she asked again, this time with more venom in her voice. "Well, Harry, spit it out. Why was this letter," she threw the piece of parchment in his face, "addressed to you and not us?"

"I don't know," he answered after another moment.

"Well, I can tell you why!" Uncle Vernon thundered at the top of his lungs. "Your little friends think that it is FUNNY to give us a scare like that! HOW DARE YOU! This family does not work that way! TELL ME WHERE HE IS NOW!" Harry shuddered as the house shook, and he heard the pictures in the hall fall from their hooks and the small coffee table toppled over, bringing with it the lamp.

"I can assure you that they didn't. None of my friends would ever pull a trick this low. I have no idea who this could be and no idea who they're looking for." Harry spat; offended at the mere mention that anyone he knew from school could be related to, or responsible for this. Save Draco Malfoy, but what would he want with Dudley?

"Damn right you don't! Never again will you set foot in this house! Write to that freak you spent the end of the summer holidays with last year. You won't stay more than another night under my roof! Go!" Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into the kitchen.

Hedwig was sitting on one of the chair backs and Tiger was sitting on the table. She cocked her head at them as they came in and jumped down as Vernon slammed his fist onto the table.

Harry was looking at Hedwig in horror. How had she brought him this letter? Who'd given it to her? Uncle Vernon threw him into one of the chairs and put a piece of lined paper and a pen in front of him. "Write to him. Tell him that you MUST stay with him for the rest of the summer holidays!" he hissed in Harry's ear. Harry began to write in a shaky script:

Ron -

I need to know if I can stay with you for the rest of the holidays. We're having some, 'family issues' and I'd really appreciate it. I anxiously await your return owl.

- Harry

"Good, now go upstairs and get to bed." Uncle Vernon demanded as Harry tied the letter to Hedwig's leg.

"Go fast, please!" he whispered as he opened the window. "This is very important." Hedwig hooted in reply and flew off. Uncle Vernon left the kitchen to console Petunia, who was still in shock in the living room.

Harry picked up Tiger and went up the stairs. "I'm sure you don't understand, but I have to go away for a long time. I might never even come back. I wish I could take you with me, but we're only allowed one animal," he paused. "Besides, when Dudley comes home, he'll want to see you. I'll miss you though." He kissed her on the head and put her down at the top. She sat and purred, looking at him strangely. "I know, only losers talk to cats," he sighed again. "Good night." He walked down to his room and flipped off the hall light. He couldn't wait for Ron's letter.

******************

As Harry awoke slowly, he found himself peering hopefully between his eyelids, praying that he was back in his bed at Hogwarts, surrounded by his gold and red curtains. But when his eyes were completely opened, he sighed heavily in realization that he was in Dudley's old bedroom on Privet Drive.

Harry rolled out of bed and, after reaching over for his glasses; he slowly walked over to his window and gazed out of it. Hedwig should have been back by now. Ron's letter was so important, that if it didn't arrive within the next few hours, Harry might wind up staying in a prison cell for the rest of the summer. "Get down here, boy!" Uncle Vernon's bellowed, "Now!" Harry groaned and went quickly downstairs to the kitchen. "That bird of yours is back," Vernon pointed to Hedwig. She was outside, tapping at the windowpane with her beak.

"Thanks," Harry mumbled the words "for nothing" to himself, but thankfully, Vernon didn't hear. "Go wait up in my room Hedwig," Harry took the letter that she had returned with her and went over to the breakfast table.

He opened the letter, and knew instantly that it was Ron. His handwriting was so distinctive; he would have known it even with his glasses off.

Dear Harry,

Mum said that you are welcome to stay with us for tonight. The train leaves at eleven on tomorrow morning. Mum and I will be there in less than an hour, hope you can handle it until then!

- Ron

Harry put the letter back in the envelope and placed it on the table. He was starved, but the only thing left for breakfast was a cornbread muffin. He was just about to reach for it when his uncle pinned his newspaper to the table. "Has that freak friend of yours said you can stay with him?" his Uncle Vernon asked grabbing the last muffin with his free hand and glaring menacingly at him. Harry could feel his stomach growl as his Uncle's fat fingers wrapped around the golden-brown cake.

"Yes," Harry was quite upset now, "It's from Ron. He'll be here shortly so I can stay with him."

"Is that right?" Vernon smirked, "Excellent, have a wonderful time."

"I'm going upstairs pack," Harry said at once. He picked up his letter, and a tiny crumb of toast from the counter, and left the room.

Vernon stood and walked into the living room as fast as his pudgy legs could carry him. "Petunia, gather your things, he is staying with that freak. If we don't leave now, that strange family will be here, and they will come inside our house. Not to mention that the detective said we should be at the station around nine." Harry's ears perked up. Detective? They'd contacted the Police? Crap, he thought, now I'm in for it! He hurried up the rest of the stairs to get packed quickly.

"Come to think of it," Vernon glanced at the wall opposite him, "We better board up the fireplace, just as a precaution." Harry's Aunt Petunia scrambled from the couch and went upstairs at once with her husband. Harry had just sat down on his bed when they ran past his room.

Harry followed them downstairs moments later and out onto the damp lawn. Petunia opened the passenger door on the left side of the car. "You're scared aren't you Uncle Vernon, of Ron and me?" Harry watched as Vernon opened the door. "That's why you're leaving." Harry finished.

"Scared?" Vernon stared in disbelief, "Scared of a couple of fifteen year-olds with sticks?" Vernon added, while threateningly pointing his fat index finger in Harry's face. "When you can turn back time."

"Been there, done that." Harry mumbled under his breath. Harry backed away, and turned toward the front door as his Uncle got in the car and backed out of the driveway, heading down the street.

As soon as they were out of sight, he went back in the house. Harry quickly ran upstairs, into his room, and opened his trunk. He gathered all his school things and shoved them inside, books, robes, wand, broomstick, Invisibility Cloak, cauldron, and red and gold Gryffindor scarf. Then he opened Hedwig's cage and gently forced her inside, locking it, "Don't worry girl, you'll be out as soon as we get to Ron's house." He grabbed the handle on her cage and on the side of his trunk and dragged them down to the kitchen. He dropped them on the floor in front hall. He opened the lid on his trunk to make sure that he had everything. He pushed his round glassed up the bridge of his nose as his eyes scanned the inside of the trunk.

"Quills? Ink? Magic's History book? Ah, I did forget a few things!" Harry closed his trunk and went back up to his room for the last time. He walked over to his bed and began to kick one particular spot in the floor. Here, there was a lose floorboard where he kept a few of his school supplies. He bent down when it began to come completely loose, and lifted the board. He reached inside and pulled out a bottle of black ink. He twisted the cover a few times to make sure that it was tight, and then put it in his breast pocket. Next, he grabbed three quills, and placed them on his desk. Finally, he took out Magic's History and Legends. He put the board back on the floor and stepped on it to get it stuck in the right place. Now, with his ink, quills, and history book, he headed back down to the kitchen.

He took the bottle of ink out of his pocket and put it in his trunk with the quills, his book however, he kept out. He closed the trunk and sat down to read while he waited for Ron and Mrs. Weasley. He held the book out and opened it randomly. Harry found himself on page 213 entitled "Sticks and Stones." The first thing he saw on the page was a picture of a clear green stone. Under it was a caption:

The Eternal Emerald

Intrigued, he read on.

Along with the other six stones of sorrow, the Eternal Emerald allows the owner to have not eternal life, but eternal love. The other stones each have a different power. The Contentment Ruby gives forever and absolute contentment with life. This stone has done the most damage throughout the world because the bearer of the stone is never satisfied with what they have. The Sapphire of Secrets gives the gift of wisdom. The owner of this stone knows everything. The Diamond of Destiny allows the bearer to see the future of all and yet none. Finally, the two twin stones - The Opal of Erised and the Ivory Pearl. Both stones allow you to see your most desirable dream, however, although the Opal does not allow you to achieve your heart's desire, the Pearl guides you to it. It is common knowledge; therefore, that this stone's owner has little to no self-confidence.

All of these stones have been scattered throughout the Wizarding World because only their creator, Paracelsus, early medieval alchemist, knew of their true power and dangers. The only other known Stone of Sorrow, the Philosopher's Stone, gave Eternal Life. Nicholas Flamel is said to have found a manuscript with spells to create such a stone, but as he is no longer living, proof of this has never been provided.

This, being the most powerful stone, was hidden within the walls of Gringotts Bank (vault number undisclosed), however, while temporarily residing at Hogwarts School, the Dark Lord went there to obtain a body of his own, therefore, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore of Hogwarts had the Stone destroyed, but the spirit of the stone will lie in the school forever. The Opal of Erised is the only other stone on location. It is embedded in the Mirror of Erised, which absorbs its power from the stone. The mirror also has a home somewhere in Hogwarts. The other five stones have not yet been located.

Only the owner who has inherited a stone can use it to benefit them self. If a stone's owner dies, or loses the stone because of misuse, it will be handed down to the owner's direct heir or closest relative.

There was one last paragraph before the end of the legend, but Harry thought nothing of it, so he closed the book and got up to check the clock once more. He put the book back in the trunk ad walked over to the large cuckoo clock hanging on the wall. It was five minutes to nine.

"Well," Harry said to Hedwig, "Ron should be here any minute," and just as he spoke, a small blue car pulled up alongside the walk.

Ron stepped out of the car and came running over to the front door. Harry opened it and welcomed him.

"Ron!" Harry shouted, "You have no idea how good it is to see you!"

"You too Harry," Ron reached through the door and grabbed one of the handles on Harry's trunk. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep," Harry nodded and picked up Hedwig's cage.

They brought Harry's things over to the car and popped them in the trunk. Ron got into the front with Mrs. Weasley, and Harry went into the back with Hedwig.

"Good morning Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley turned and looked at him, smiling, "How was your summer?"

"It could have been better," Harry replied politely as Mrs. Weasley put the key in the ignition and the car started with a grumble.

"Ronald, dear, how did your father say to work this thing again?" Mrs. Weasley asked, backing her head away from the steering wheel.

"The pedal mum, on the right," Ron reached over and pointed to her foot. "Not the one in the middle, that'll make it fly." Mrs. Weasley nodded, and the car slowly took off down the street.

"Yeah mum, those bloody Muggles threatened to keep him home from Hogwarts this year if he didn't do everything he was told," Ron said as Mrs. Weasley slowed down progressively as the car neared a corner.

"That's just awful!" She shouted into the back seat, as they stopped suddenly, "Does Dumbledore knows about this?"

"Oh, I'm sure he knows," Harry said as he glared out the window at the sky, "He knows everything!"

"So, mum, didn't you start to tell me about Hogwarts this year?" Ron asked. "Dad has been working on the documents for it all summer," he turned and said to Harry. He didn't respond, only continued to look out the window. "Harry?! Did you hear me?" Ron seemed frustrated. "Harry?! Are you listening?"

"What? Oh, yeah, yeah," Harry waved his hand at Ron, not looking away from the window.

"Good," Ron smiled and continued with his conversation, Harry still only half listening.

"Yes dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "There are..." Harry's mind seemed to drift off out the window. It was as if he was in another place. Not here, in the stuffy car... "Dumbledore's idea it was," Mrs. Weasley said, a few minutes later. Harry could barely make out the words. "And a fine one too. Imagine, those poor children..." Hearing that bit of conversation, Harry snapped his eyes open, and brought himself back to reality. "Well, here we are," Mrs. Weasley turned the car onto the dirt road and pulled into the driveway next to the burrow.

"C'mon Harry, we have to get all of your things up to my room," Ron got out and went over to the door on Harry's side. He stood up and got out of the car, walking toward the back of the car. Harry stared up at the tall burrow, its walls leaning, as if to topple over any moment. "What's the matter?" Ron asked as the trunk flew open by itself. "You spaced out back there."

"Yeah," Harry tightened his grip on Hedwig's cage. "I was just thinking."

"Okay," Ron pulled Harry's trunk out of the back as the doors shut on Arthur's enchanted car.

By now, Mrs. Weasley had already gotten in the house, and soon, Harry would too. Not that spending time at the Weasley's bothered Harry, but he longed to return to Hogwarts. He would be there very soon, where his life would be back to what he considered normal. He could be doing what he liked, with the people that he liked, and he would never need to listen to the Dursley's again; at least, for a few more months.