Undefeated

7:30 NUMBER 4, PRIVET DRIVE:

"Get up!" Aunt Petunia screamed. Harry crawled out of bed and wedged his glasses between his nose, handling it carefully as the Sellotape was coming apart. Quickly getting dressed into baggy clothes which fitted him poorly, he walked down the stairs slowly. At that very moment Dudley pounded down the stairs, shoving Harry hard.

"Move your arse," he said, each step sending his folds of flabs quivering. Down at the kitchen, Harry spotted Uncle Vernon, his fat face hidden behind the crinkled newspaper. Aunt Petunia was frying bacon and eggs as usual- the same meal Harry had for sixteen years; not including the short period of time in which Dudley had been on a diet. As soon as she saw Dudley she shot Harry a glance, indicating for him to look after the cooking.

"How is my darling Dudley?" Aunt Petunia greeted her seriously overweight son.

"Where's my breakfast?" Dudley demanded, his beady eyes scanning the kitchen table.

"Nearly ready, dear," Aunt Petunia answered, semi-hugging Dudley as her thin arms could only embrace half of his porky figure.

Satisfied, Dudley slumped onto one of the chairs and gazed at the TV. Uncle Vernon lowered his newspaper so that it was level with his small eyes. He watched his massive son gobble down every inch of bacon and eggs Harry just set down on the table, before setting down his newspaper and seating himself next to Dudley.

"How's my little tyke doing, aih?" he asked, his mouth full of eggs. Without answering, Dudley continued to fill his mouth with food. Smiling and shaking his head, Uncle Vernon forked his fat bacon pieces. It was strange how the family communicated in the Dursleys' household. As soon as Harry finished his eggs, he headed upstairs to collect his belongings before the Weasleys came and picked him up.

He had missed Hogwarts dearly, all his friends, the giant castle, the ghosts, and especially the magic. During the holidays, Ron and Hermione had sent Harry letters, and the occasional sweets or two, to keep him amused. Recollecting all his possessions from under the loose floorboard and using the picklock that Sirius had given him to get his school stuff from the cupboard under the stairs, he headed downstairs, waiting for the Weasleys to come pick him up. Hedwig, though caged, hooted happily about in its confinement. Uncle Vernon appeared from the bathroom, his mustache neatly trimmed.

"What are you standing about for?" he growled.

"I'm waiting for the Weasleys," Harry replied. He saw Uncle Vernon's face steadily grow red.

"Those," he whispered, his beetle like eyes blinking. The mention of the Weasleys in their home again brought instant anger to him- as what happened the last time the Weasleys dropped by was still not forgotten.

"Just a reminder, boy- any funny business this time; such as destroying large chunks of my property; will result you with no roof over that head of yours. You tell your red-headed friends that too."

"I will, Uncle Vernon," Harry mumbled. He saw Uncle Vernon's beetle like eyes blink furiously.

"Keep in mind, boy... one wave of that stick you abnormal animals hold, and you're gone."

With that, he whipped around and headed to get changed. Harry sighed. As he waited patiently for the Weasleys' to pick him up, his eyes glanced around the living room. He could see the immense damage done by the Weasleys' last visit- Uncle Vernon had rebuilt the living room himself, taking a total of eight months.

Ten minutes later, while Harry was sitting in the Living room, Mr. Weasley popped out of green flames coming from the fireplace. Harry jumped but soon smiled as he saw Mr. Weasley. He was wearing the usual long green robes, his head balding. Mr. Weasley smiled warmly and greeted Harry. Obviously, Aunt Petunia had been watching. Soon after, Ron, Fred, Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and George all appeared.

"Hey Harry!" Ron grinned.

"Ah, you must be Harry's aunty," Mr. Weasley said, smiling. But Aunt Petunia just gulped, and her husband stood behind her, a rifle in his hands. Mr. Weasley suddenly remembered what had happened on his last visit, causing his eyes to dance merrily around the living room.

"I see you have fixed this? Fine jobs, muggles do," Uncle Vernon flinched, at the word 'muggles'.

"Harry, ready to go?" Fred asked him. Harry nodded, heaving his trunks along with himself into the fire. Mr. Weasley was going to make another comment, but hearing the clank of Uncle Vernon's rifle, stopped.

"The Burrow!" Harry shouted, clearly. Within seconds, he was spinning round and round.

*

Mrs. Weasley sighed, and looked at the long list of books and new equipments the children would need this year at Hogwarts.

"Arthur, you think we can afford all this?" she whispered, concerned. Arthur Weasley scratched his balding head.

"I'm sure we'll manage, honey. We always managed before," he replied soothingly.

"Of course... we could always use Fred and George's money," Molly Weasley murmured.

"Hmm yeah- look at this, Molly!" Mr. Weasley was not interested in their financial problems, but more into collecting muggle objects. Last year were Fred and George's last year at Hogwarts, so now they spent most of their time working on the Joke Shop they prepared to open in Hogsmeade. Once Harry had finished unpacking, he sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Is Hermione coming this summer?" he asked Ron.

"No, not this summer; says she's busy. Maybe we'll bump into her in Diagon Alley..." Ron added hopefully.

"Hope so," Harry agreed. Meanwhile Mrs. Weasley yelled for them to come down for dinner. Hopping downstairs, in a much happier mood now that he wasn't with the Dursleys', Harry sat down next to Ginny- and immediately regretted it. As soon as he sat down, Ginny flushed a dangerous blend of purple and red.

"H-Hey Harry..." she greeted, smiling awkwardly. Harry glimpsed at her out of the corner of his eye. Oh my God she's so ugly was his first thought.

"Hey Ginny," he replied, equally awkward. Gazing down at his plate, he saw three fried eggs, five fat sausages and a glass of milk next to the plate. Never had he got so much food in his life. Watching the rest of the family chatter and wolf down their dinner, Harry quickly caught up. Harry was seriously provoked as throughout the dinner, Ginny kept flickering glances at him. Ron leaned towards Harry, his mouth full of sausages.

"Don't worry about Ginny. She's been weird lately. Wouldn't spend a Knut. I guess it's because mom and dad are having financial problems again. Something I get used to," Ron leaned back, stuffing more sausages. Harry nodded while chewing slowly.

"Come on, Harry. I wanna show you my new poster of the Chudley Cannons in my room," Ron said, draining what was left of his milk.

They slipped out of the kitchen and headed for Ron's room, following narrow passageways which haven't changed since the last time he visited. As usual, when they reached Ron's room, the peeling paint was still there on the door, the odd shades of oranges also. Ron led Harry eagerly into the room, tugging Harry towards his posters- which were practically around the whole room.

"Here we are," Ron said proudly, pointing at the moving Quidditch players who were all covered in orange. Harry marveled at the fine Quidditch players winking and grinning at him. If only one day, he was as good a player as them- maybe even join an International Quidditch Team. Suddenly, Ginny burst into the room, panting heavily.

"Ron! Pig's got a letter for you-" she stopped abruptly as she noticed Harry standing in the room. Immediately she blushed.

"You-you want me to give you the letter, Ron?" her voice gradually dropped to a whisper.

"Who's it from?" Ron asked. Ginny seemed to pay no attention.

"Ginny!" Ron snapped. His sister's eyes settled on Ron.

"It's from Hermione," she said, clearing her throat. Harry nodded and looked at Ron. Ron shrugged and led Harry to Ginny's room- where Pig had landed with the letter. They made their way to the third landing, on which Ginny's room lay. The door stood half open, and the Ghoul in the attic banged furiously on the pipes, making Harry jump. Harry was just about to take a step into Ginny's room when she suddenly rushed forwards and blocked his path.

"Waaaaiiiiit!" she screeched. Harry's eyebrows shot up, clearly showing surprise.

"Won't be a minute..." she whammed herself into the room and closed the door. From the outside, Ron and Harry could hear tearing of paper, and frantic shuffling. Ron's mouth bent to one side.

"What's up with her?" he questioned. Harry shrugged, confused himself. Harry inspected the house from a perspective outside Ginny's bedroom. It looked squashy, but cozy. Old copies of Gilderoy Lockhart's books lay scattered on the floor, untouched.

"Ron, why does your Mom still keep these books?" Harry asked. Ron looked at them with no emotion.

"Ever since she found out he was a fake, we all insisted on disposing of his rubbish. But Mom couldn't find the heart to do it," he shrugged. A moment later the door jerked open, along with a puffed out Ginny.

"Now-now you can go," she stammered, breathing heavily. Harry and Ron penetrated into the room. Ron's eyes opened so that his eyeballs seemed tiny.

"Ginny, what'd you do to your room?" Ron looked at Ginny.

"Nothing," she muttered, forcing a smile. Obviously, she had taken off all the newspaper cuttings of Harry Potter that was stuck to her walls.

"Pathetic..." Ron mumbled. They stumbled across scattered trunks to get the letter Pig had. Hooting happily, it danced around on Ginny's bed, forcing Ron to seize it in his fist. Harry untied the piece of string that held the letter in place and removed it. He unfolded it and read:

Dear Ron,

Sorry I couldn't make it this summer. I had some business I had to go on about, I really couldn't make it. How's Harry? I hope his scar doesn't hurt or something. Anyway, I'll see you guys at Diagon Alley!

Have a nice summer Ron- say hi to everyone for me

Hermione

Harry folded the letter back and placed it on the bed.

"Looks like we'll be seeing her in Diagon Alley, then- I'm off to bed," Harry made his way out of Ginny's room, aware of Ginny's glassy gaze at him.

"Goo..." Ginny started. Harry turned to her.

"What was that?" he asked politely. Ginny swallowed and she blushed once again, same color as her hair.

"Goodnight..." she mumbled, forcing a crippled smile. Harry nodded and added 'you too' before heading to bed. As soon as Harry left, Ron picked up the letter from Hermione and read it again. He scanned the parchment over and over, looking at the neat writing. '...Have a nice summer Ron' his heart gave a leap. Ron? She must've written that for a reason? Surely, she could have just said 'Have a nice summer everyone'? Ron grinned happily. Hermione favors him. Shoving the letter into his pocket, he skipped out of Ginny's room, to bed. Ginny eyed his feverish brother and shook her head.

*

The summer at The Burrow was terrific, though the occasional banging from the ghoul in the attic was at time frustrating. Harry liked the way things were in The Burrow, things happened with magic- something the Dursleys' will never understand. Eventually came the day in which they had to go to Diagon Alley to shop for all the school equipments.

The Weasleys used every sparing Knut to by a new car. It was an old model, so old that no one knew what brand it was. But that didn't matter. They had planned to arrive at Diagon Alley by Floo powder, but found that Percy had used the last of it to visit his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater. Placing a spell on the car to enlarge it, Mr. Weasley placed everyone's trunks in and closed the car's trunk, then skipped happily to the driver's seat. It was always exciting to drive on muggle roads. He started up the car and drove forward a few meters. Ron leaned forwards onto the front seats.

"Dad, can't we just fly?" he complained. Mr. Weasley grinned widely.

"Nope. I'm going to drive today," he announced proudly. Ron rolled his eyes and leaned back. Ginny had purposely sat next to Harry for no apparent reason. Mr. Weasley drove on slowly, his eyes gleaming with excitement at the neon lights that were glowing into the bright morning.

"Harry, do you know who made these in ingenious machines?" he asked, marveling at his car. Along the way, Mr. Weasley bombarded Harry with questions about muggle life. He came across a traffic light, clearly amazed by the red light that was shining. He slowed down the car, getting a better view of the light.

"Molly dear! Look at these muggle light generators! Fascinating, if I may say so," Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes. Harry, noticing that Mr. Weasley was speeding up- even though the lights were red quickly called out,

"STOP!" suddenly Mr. Weasley came to a halt.

"What's that you say, Harry?" he asked, smiling warmly at him. Harry sighed with relief. Angry horns blasted out from behind Mr. Weasley's car.

"Ruddy bastard, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" a fat man with tattoos of dark green dragons shouted. Mr. Weasley turned pale; clearly shocked at muggle behavior. He leaned back on his seat and breathed out.

"Fascinating..." he mumbled.

*

They luckily made it to the Leaky Cauldron without any injuries- except for the fact that Mr. Weasley's car had a few dents at the back. They were greeted politely by Tom the bartender, smiling his toothless smile as usual. Silence overcame the Leaky Cauldron once Harry Potter set foot in it. Aware that his scar was showing, Harry tried unsuccessfully to flatten his fringe so that it covered the scar. Wizards held up glasses of Butterbeer when Harry walked pass. Mr. Weasly tapped the right brick to reveal the passageway to Diagon Alley. An archway formed just wide enough for everyone to get through. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went through the archway first, followed by Ginny, Ron and Harry. What they saw before them was a cobble street, which twisted and turned out of sight. On either side of the cobble street was fascinating sight of so many magical shops Harry had grown so used to. Mr. Weasley squinted at the shops.

"Well, first up, Gringotts," he announced.

Harry fumbled his pockets for his key. At last he handed it to the goblin, who was growing impatient.

"Very well, someone will lead yous to your vaults," the goblin said, his wrinkled face bent back to weighing a block of gold that sat neatly like Lego on the scales.

"Thank you," Mr. Weasley thanked. A goblin name Hooky led them to their vaults.

First was the Weasleys'. As the vault swung back, Harry saw how little they had left. About thirty Galleons, twenty Sickles and two Knuts was all that lay in the misty vault. Mrs. Weasley shook her head sadly, and with one sweep of her hand, scraped all the remaining coins into a brown paper bag. She closed the vault and proceeded to Harry's. Ginny's undivided flat stare at Harry was beginning to annoy him at times; but he didn't complain. He was fortunate that he wasn't getting whipped mentally by the Dursleys'. Ron looked at Ginny, whose eyes were naturally fixed onto Harry. He rolled his eyes.

When Harry's vault opened up Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went red. It felt foolish to have less money than a sixteen year old. Mounds of gold, silver and bronze lay. Scraping into his paper bag a bit of each, he closed the vault door and tried to hide his bulging paper bag. He caught Mr. Weasley's eye and at once Mr. Weasley smiled sourly.

Back out onto the streets of Diagon Alley, rapid chattering of witches and wizards hung in the air. As soon as Harry, Ron and Ginny finished buying their school books and equipments, they spotted Hermione, her head pressed against Flourish and Blotts, her mouth open. Ron uncontrollably grinned.

"Hermione! Over here!" Ron shouted, voice breaking. Hermione spun around, and her mouth snapped shut.

"Hey Ron, Harry and Ginny!" she shouted happily, running towards them. So she does favor me. She says 'Hey Ron, Harry and Ginny. My name first.

"Hey Hermione!" Harry greeted. Ginny lingered behind, and muttered a 'hi' only when Hermione came to them. For the rest of their trip at Diagon Alley they hung around drinking Butterbeers and gaping at the newest broomstick; the Dragoness. As they were getting back to meet Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Harry spotted Cho Chang. His knees felt weak, his stomach tightening. He resisted the urge to blurt out 'hi' when Hermione nudged him.

"Mr. Weasley's calling you, Harry," she told him. Jerking his head up, he saw indeed, Mr. Weasley calling to him.

"Well, bye, Hermione. See you at Hogwarts!" he called out before making his way back. Hermione smiled, and waved her hand goodbye. Ron flushed red.

"Er- Bye, Hermy!" Ron blurted out unclearly. Through the hustle and bustle, Hermione placed a hand behind her ear, indicating she did not hear.

"What was that, Ron?" she asked, shouting over all the noise. Ron swallowed and smiled self-consciously.

"Nothing Hermione! See you at Hogwarts!" he pronounced 'Hermione' loudly. Soon after, Hermione was gone. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley led Harry, Ron and Ginny back to the car.

"Come now, get in the car."