A Summer Story

A Summer Story

Harry Potter was sitting at the kitchen table with his aunt, uncle and cousin. Dudley was watching television, Aunt Petunia was daintily sipping tea with her little finger sticking out, and Uncle Vernon was wiping his mouth with a napkin, having just finished his enormous lunch. No one had mentioned the fact that it was Harry's birthday, but he had not really expected anyone to.

No one had said much of anything to Harry so far that summer. The lecture Vernon had gotten from the wizards and witches of the Order had infuriated him, but frightened him as well. He was pretty much ignoring Harry, as was Dudley. Petunia had shown no sign of remembering the understanding that had sprung up between her and her nephew the previous summer. She wasn't being any colder than usual to him, but she hadn't warmed up at all, either.

After Vernon Dursley had kissed his wife goodbye to go and run some errands, Petunia turned and viewed her nephew with disdain. "All finished? Off you go, then. Into the garden."

Harry allowed himself a groan. "Not the garden! What do you want me to do to it today? Paint it? I've already obliterated every single weed."

"There's no need to take that tone with me, young man. I hope now that you've gotten used to being pampered by those freaky friends of yours that you're not going to spend all of your time here being belligerent and argumentative."

"I have not been pampered! Believe me, I have not been pampered!"

"Never you mind. Out to the garden now, and the back garden, if you don't mind. I don't want you drawing the attention of anyone who still respects us socially."

Harry went out to the garden, and threw himself down on the grass. Aunt Petunia apparently just wanted him out of the house, which was fine with him. He was a little depressed though, that none of his friends seem to have remembered his birthday. He could usually count on a few cards from them to keep his spirits up.

Harry's pity party was suddenly interrupted by Dudley, who was looking rather pale.

"There's a tramp at the door asking for you. You'd better come quickly. Mum's in a right state."

Bemused, Harry went to see what Dudley was talking about, and to his delight, found Remus Lupin waiting for him in the hall. Harry was rather irritated to realize that Dudley had called his friend a tramp, but had to admit Lupin's clothing was quite a bit more threadbare than was usually seen on Privet Drive.

"What are you doing here?"

"Surprise! I'm taking you to your birthday party." Lupin grinned broadly. "We thought it was about time you had one, and that a visit away from here would do you good. If you want to go, we have permission from Dumbledore for you to spend the night at Grimmauld Place."

"Yes!" Harry said, delighted. "Will Aunt Petunia allow it as well?"

"We've already discussed it," Lupin said with a wink. "Want to change your clothes, or bring anything along? Otherwise we can portkey out of here at once."

Harry looked down. His T-shirt and jeans were a bit worn, but clean, and there were some clothes at Grimmauld Place left over from last summer that would probably still fit him anyway. "Let's go."

Lupin held out an old copy of the Quibbler magazine, and Harry took hold of it. Feeling a jerk he had felt several times before, Harry was aware of the familiar sensation of a portkey, sending him speeding forward in a swirl of wind and color toward Grimmauld Place. He managed to keep on his feet as he landed, and looked around the familiar hallway.

"I didn't know you were going to keep using this place for the Order," Harry said slowly. "Who owns it now, and what did you do with Kreacher?"

Lupin looked thoughtful. "Kreacher is dead, Harry. He died soon after you went to the Ministry. Tonks said it was probably from the shock that six teenagers were able to outwit Voldemort. Sirius had to leave it to a blood relative, so he left it to her. Not that she stays here much. Tonks doesn't think it suits her, even though it's been quieter since we finally managed to cut Mrs. Black out of the wall. It meant redoing a lot of plaster but it's worth it She's up in the attic." He looked down the hallway. "One of your friends is already here. Why don't you go into the drawing room and visit for awhile, while I pop out to the kitchen, and tell Molly you're here? She's been cooking all day."

Harry headed eagerly off to the drawing room. Before he even reached it, he heard laughter. If he wasn't mistaken, the voices belonged to Mundungus Fletcher and Kingsley Shacklebolt. They were very distinctive voices. When he got there, he found them listening to a story being told by Luna Lovegood, who immediately noticed him in the doorway.

"Harry!" Luna said, smiling. "Happy birthday!" Delighted to see another friendly face after a few weeks on Privet Drive, Harry gave her a hug.

"Luna! How are you? I was so worried about you when you weren't on the train going home. I was afraid something else had happened to you."

"Oh, no," Luna said dreamily, patting him gently on the back before stepping away from him. "Daddy picked me up right from school to go to Sweden. We had a wonderful time. I've brought you a present. I'll go get it."

Harry watched Luna amble out of the room, then noticed that Mundungus Fletcher was winking at him. "That's a damn fine filly on the flat. Have you tried her over the jumps yet?"

Shacklebolt winced as Harry blushed. "Mundungus, really!" He looked at Harry apologetically. "We have been enjoying our chat with Miss Lovegood, however. I've never met anyone quite like her."

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I think she gets that a lot."

Mundungus was just lighting his pipe when he heard a shriek.

"WILL YOU PUT THAT SMELLY OLD THING OUT?"

He groaned. "Oh, chuffin' heck! How does our Molly do it?" he said, quickly vanishing the pipe as Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway.

"Hello, Harry, dear," Molly said smiling, then turned on Mundungus. "I've told you and told you to take that thing outside. It's nasty and common."

"Don't knock common," he said, getting up and sliding toward the door. "I've had some of my better moments being common."

"And don't forget you're promised to help Remus tidy up Buckbeak's room tomorrow!" Molly told him. Mundungus looked hurt.

"I don't know if I can. All this dust around here isn't good for me. I'm under the healer for headache. I'm sure it's all the tidying up we do around here."

"If you only got a headache when you helped us tidy up," Molly called after him, "you'd have the healthiest head in London. If you got a headache every time you were dirty, you'd have one continuously. " She shook her head and rolled her eyes when he'd gone. "Well, come on down to the kitchen, you two," she said to Harry and Shacklebolt. "Dinner's just about done. Fred and George just arrived, and they stopped and picked up the Longbottom boy on the way. It was nice of his grandmother to let him come on such short notice. Alastor wouldn't let us invite anyone too far in advance. He said it was a matter of security. The boys have birthday presents for you, Harry. Do you want to open your gifts before or after we eat?"

"We can eat first," Harry answered. "Does Professor Dumbledore know you brought Luna and Neville here? Is it all right for them to know about the Order?"

"Oh, Mrs. Longbottom's known about the Order forever," Mrs. Weasley answered, "and after what those two went through with you at the Ministry, Dumbledore trusts them. It's perfectly all right for them to know."

When Harry got to the kitchen, he greeted George and Fred enthusiastically, and set the present they gave him on a side table. Neville added another, smaller gift, and seemed fascinated by the Grimmauld Place house. After Luna had reappeared with her gift, and set it beside the one from the twins, Harry began to tell them a little bit about what had gone on there the previous summer.

To Harry's delight, Arthur Weasley came in shortly, beaming. "We've got her!" Ron and Ginny followed their father into the room, and Hermione came in after them, but to Harry's surprise, she didn't look very happy.

She wished Harry a "Happy birthday!" and depositing a present on the growing pile, managed a smile for him, but when she looked back at Ron, she frowned again and his expression became rather mulish. Harry sighed. Obviously the two had been bickering about something before arriving at Grimmauld Place.

"How's your summer been going, Hermione?" Harry asked her hastily.

"Lovely," Hermione said, looking not at Harry but at Ron. "I spent a week in Bulgaria visiting Viktor and his family. I find foreign wizards quite fascinating. Viktor's been helping Dumbledore make some contacts that might be very useful. He had quite a lot of interesting things to say about how Dumbledore is regarded in that part of the world. I got to go to a couple of Viktor's Quidditch practices, as well. You would have liked that, Harry."

"Yes, it does sound lovely," said Ron in a snide voice.

"What in the world is wrong with you, Ron?" Hermione snapped. "You've been behaving very oddly."

"Well, if you don't know, I won't tell you!"

"Well, I DON'T know!"

"I know! I know!" Ginny said excitedly, waving her hand.

"Never mind," Molly Weasley snapped. "If we get to talking about Quidditch, we'll never get around to dinner. Get the plates, will you, Ginny? We need fourteen, and Arthur, do go get Remus. He and Tonks went upstairs to see to the you-know-what."

Luna, who had been looking back and forth from Ron to Hermione like a spectator at a tennis match, now looked up at Mrs. Weasley. "Isn't Mr. Fletcher eating with us? We were having a nice conversation a little while ago. He was telling me a wonderful story about a pair of kneazles he used to have."

"He'll come around when everything is set and the food is on the table," Molly assured Luna. "He's just work shy."

Tonks appeared with Remus Lupin and they were carrying an enormous birthday present that they had apparently been wrapping upstairs. The wrapping paper was obviously charmed. It was changing colors. Harry began to look overwhelmed. He'd never had such a birthday. Fletcher crept back in once the table was set, just as Molly Weasley had predicted. There was chicken, potatoes, and salad for dinner, Molly Weasley's special homemade strawberry ice cream, and an enormous birthday cake. Harry was sitting between Luna and Tonks, and they urged him on when it came time to blow out the candles.

Mrs. Weasley magicked a space on the table clear after they had eaten all they could, and Harry began to open his birthday presents. The twins had given him a Deflagration Deluxe box of Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bangs. Neville had brought him a new luxury eagle feather quill. Hermione gave him a book, of course: The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six.

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said. "That's one less I'll have to get in Diagon Alley!"

Luna's gift was a new backpack, which she informed him was from Scandinavia and made out of reindeer leather. The other Weasleys and the members of the Order had also given him something to use at school, but it was much more exciting than a quill or a book. They had all chipped in and gotten him a new Quidditch uniform.

"Now that Umbridge has gone, Dumbledore says you're back on the team, Harry!" Ron said excitedly. "So, we thought you'd need this."

"Thank you! Thank you all!" Harry said, to everyone gathered around him. "This is the best birthday party I ever had!"

"That's because it's the only birthday party you ever had, I suppose," said Tonks. "I really need to drop in on those muggles of yours some day. Preferably when my hair is purple." She gave him a hug, as did Ginny, and even Lupin gave him a quick squeeze around the shoulders.

Harry shook hands with Shacklebolt, Fletcher, and Mr. Weasley. Ron and Neville both cuffed him on the shoulder, grinning like fools. The twins ruffled his hair and made some silly remarks about Umbridge and fireworks that made Harry laugh. Molly Weasley gave him a big kiss, which embarrassed him a bit, and Luna gave him a gentle one which might have embarrassed him a bit if it had not surprised him so.

Everyone broke into groups to talk, open a few butterbeers, and nibble on leftover cake. The adults began to discuss Order business, and as the twins were now allowed to join in, Harry left them to it and took his friends to the drawing room.

The six of them had not had a good long talk all together since they had been in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, and this time it felt wonderful. Harry was disappointed when the twins appeared to tell him they were leaving, and had to return Neville home.

"I wish you could stay," Harry said regretfully.

"We have to open the shop on time tomorrow," said George.

"Business is booming," added Fred.

"My gran wants me back home early," said Neville regretfully, "but I'm glad I got to come, Harry. I had loads of fun."

When they had gone, Ginny went to have some more cake, and soon after, Ron and Hermione, who had been eyeing each other with odd expressions for some time, also excused themselves.

"I hope they make up," Luna said dreamily, watching them slip out of the room. "They really don't understand their feelings very well, do they?"

"Who does?" Harry asked, draining his bottle of butterbeer.

"Well, you look like you're feeling very happy tonight, and that's understandable."

"It's odd. I've been miserable all summer, because of Sirius, and because of what happened at the Ministry. I know that more terrible days are coming. I shouldn't be able to just forget all of those things, but tonight for a little while I did."

Luna looked at him calmly. "You needed to, Harry. I am not a seer. I don't know what is coming for any of us. I know it's hard not to think about it sometimes, but you can't just dwell on the bad things that might happen. There are lots of good things happening, too, and they will continue to happen. I'm sure of it. You can always find something. I know I always can." She looked at the clock. "I have to get ready to go. I have to portkey out at midnight."

"Like Cinderella?" Harry smiled.

"No one has ever called me Cinderella before," said Luna shaking her head as they walked down to the hallway. "I'm usually considered more of the ugly duckling type."

"But remember, the duckling became a swan," Harry said gently.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to be. I don't know what any of us are supposed to be. But I can't wait to find out." Luna picked up the Quibbler magazine that Lupin had left in the entryway. "Goodbye, Harry!" She gave him one last hug. "See you at school." She stepped back when she heard the clocks in the house begin to chime, and vanished.

Ginny wandered into the hallway. "What are you doing, Harry?"

"I think," Harry said thoughtfully, "that I'm waiting to find out what I'm supposed to be."

Ginny shook her head. "You're too deep for me. Want another butterbeer?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "I think I would."

He heard laughter coming from the kitchen, and headed that way. Ginny just shook her head, and followed him.

THE END...please review.