The Summer So Far

The Summer So Far

Chapter 2: Revenge

"Don't let him get you, Harry - don't let go!"

"You fight him, boy"

"It will be all right...hold on..."

"Take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents..."

"Do it now...be ready to run...do it now."

The voices of all those souls that came from the light connecting the two duelist's wands continued to haunt him. The pleading image of Cedric asking him to take his body back to his parents, Lily, James, even the image of Bertha Jorkins...he couldn't push them out of his mind. His dreams, no his nightmares, were constantly surrounded by those innocents that were murdered by the Dark Lord, Voldemort. The man, if you could even call him a man, held no remorse. Voldemort killed and tortured without regard, even his own followers could not escape the Dark Lord's wrath. Harry could still remember Avery's screams as he was placed under the Cruciatus Curse.

"Harry!....HARRY!....POTTER!"

Harry awoke with a start after hearing his Aunt Petunia's painfully loud screams. It took a moment for Harry to get his bearings and he realized he was in his bed at the Dursleys. He quickly hopped out of bed, not wanting to start another day off poorly with the Dursleys. Ever since he had returned home from Hogwarts, they had been even more vengeful than usual. He had been forced to clean every room in the house, weed the garden, wash the car, and mow the lawn. He had to admit that he didn't mind doing the work outside, it felt good to be outdoors for most of the day, and he was even starting to get a tan. What really angered him about the situation was that, as usual while Harry worked all day, Dudley lounged on the couch watching television and playing PlayStation. Of course, Harry knew that if he approached his Aunt or Uncle about it the yelling would never end, he could just picture it...

"You insolent ungrateful child," his Uncle would yell at him. "We've raised you since you were a baby. Gave you clothing, fed you and provided you with shelter. You will do as you are told!"

More yelling, this time coming from his Aunt rather than his head, echoed down the hall.

"Potter," shrieked Aunt Petunia from the kitchen, "Get down here and cook the breakfast."

Harry threw the sheets off himself and hopped out of bed. He opened the door and yelled down the hallway in the most innocent voice he could muster, "Just getting dressed Aunt Petunia."

He shut the door and walked over to his closet pulling out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, both happened to be about eight sizes to large for him. As he was getting dressed the visions of his fitful sleep from the past night crept back into his head. The nightmares were just as vivid as the day that he was transported to the graveyard. The death and despair that he experienced every time he went to sleep would be too much for almost any normal person, but he was 'The Boy Who Lived', he didn't have the luxury to ignore it; it was his life.

Watching Cedric die had scarred him to a point where he relived the event multiple times each night. Remembering the soft thud of his limp body hitting the cold ground and the way his eyes were glazed over with death was enough to chill his bones. Harry shook the nightmarish scenes out of his head as he descended the steps towards the kitchen.

The first thing he saw was the Dursley family circled around the kitchen table as he reached the kitchen. As soon as he entered, each member of the family shot him a loathing glare. After spending so many years with the Dursleys, he knew that he was better off by holding his tongue and cooking their breakfast without comment.

He quickly began preparing some toast, sausage and scrambled eggs as Aunt Petunia addressed him, "Don't forget Dudley's soup."

Harry turned to his aunt and replied, "Yes, Aunt Petunia."

What she couldn't see however, was the slight smirk that came across Harry's face as his Aunt mentioned Dudley's soup.

Ever since Harry had returned to number four Privet Drive, Dudley had been sick with a very severe stomach virus. At first, he had barely been able to keep the soup down; he would throw it all up right after he left the kitchen. Naturally, Harry was made to clean up the mess that Dudley left when he was done vomiting. It had been a week since Harry had returned to the Dursley's and Dudley was almost back to normal health. Nevertheless, Aunt Petunia, much to Dudley's disappointment, insisted on making him eat only chicken soup because she wanted to make sure he would keep it down.

Harry was counting on this strict diet of chicken soup when he formed a plan of revenge against Dudley for all the years of abuse that he suffered at his cousin's hands.

Last night, Harry had silently crept out of his bedroom and made his way to the bathroom. He quickly entered and hurried directly for the medicine cabinet looking for a specific bottle that was sure to cause Dudley loads of discomfort. Looking into the cabinet, he could have sworn that the Dursley's could open up their own pharmacy with all the various medicines and medical supplies that were inside. He had to search through many different bottles, but finally after a few minutes Harry found what he was looking for. He softly shut the medicine cabinet and made his way downstairs into the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, he flicked on the light and opened the refrigerator, withdrawing a small pot filled with Dudley's leftover chicken soup. He withdrew the bottle that was marked "Ex-Lax" from his pocket, and began to pour some into the soup. He grabbed a spoon and stirred the soup up to hide the new ingredient. He could hardly keep himself from laughing hysterically as he slid the pot back into the refrigerator and silently closed the door. Harry made his way back upstairs and went to bed after returning the bottle to the medicine cabinet. His thoughts drifted to Weasley twins, he was quite sure that the twins would be extremely proud of him for the prank that he was about to pull off.

"Well, hurry up boy," barked Uncle Vernon who was steadily becoming more impatient as he sat at the table perusing the business section of the newspaper. Harry served his Aunt and Uncle their breakfast and opened the microwave that contained a freshly heated bowl of soup. He removed the bowl and shut the microwave door then walked over to Dudley and deposited the bowl in front of his overly obese cousin.

He saw Dudley's eyes light up brightly as the smell of the soup wafted towards his nose, in an instant he began to devour the soup, not leaving a single drop in the bowl. Aunt Petunia turned to her son and smiled, "I see my Dudkins has finally got his appetite back," she remarked, pleased that her son had recovered.

"Give me more," Dudley said to Harry who kept eating, pretending that he didn't hear his cousin's request.

Uncle Vernon looked over to Harry, displeasure written on his face. "Well, you heard the boy," barked Uncle Vernon, "refill Dudley's bowl."

After two more bowls of soup Dudley slumped back lazily in his chair, satisfied by the amount of food he had been given. His content expression slowly left his face as he began to feel a rumbling in his bowels. He looked down at his stomach with a worried look as if he was about to burst. Little did he know that he was.

His Aunt slowly caught the expression on his face and began to worry.

"Dudley, are you feeling okay?" she asked in a motherly tone full of concern.

"I have to," he paused, his face turning beet red from the strain of controlling himself, "go to the bathroom."

With the end of his statement, he bolted out of the kitchen towards the nearest bathroom with a look of extreme terror on his face. Harry would treasure that look for the rest of his life whenever he looked back on his life at the Dursleys.

As badly as Harry wanted to join his aunt and uncle outside the bathroom door, he knew that there was no way he would be able to contain his laughter. He started to walk up the stairs but stopped, his attention attracted to the disgusting sounds traveling down the hallway from the direction of the bathroom. Harry couldn't contain himself any longer and quickly ran up to his bedroom, closing the door behind him and erupting, quite like Dudley, but in laughter.

It took him a while, almost ten minutes, but it was only until he was able to contain his laughter, that he noticed the sound of tapping glass. His head twisted towards the window and he found himself looking at his snowy white owl, Hedwig. Harry opened the window letting Hedwig fly inside and watched as she swept down on his bed, extending her leg outwards, waiting for Harry to take the piece of parchment from her leg.

Harry had figured that Sirius would be quick in responding since the last time he had seen him, which was less than two weeks ago, he was at Hogwarts. However, the days had begun to pile up since he wrote to his godfather and he had been overcome with worry. He hurried over to Hedwig and untied the parchment from her leg, what he read baffled him.

Dear Sirius,

I just wanted to let you know that I made it safely back to the

Dursleys. Naturally, they are being filthy gits as usual. Mrs. Weasley

said that I may be able to spend the end of the summer at the Burrow,

guess I'll just have to hope until then... Stay safe and write back soon.

-Harry

It was the exact same letter he had sent a week ago. Harry looked to Hedwig, confused by what had happened. She had never failed to deliver a letter before, no matter how far away the recipient had been she had always reached her destination. The first thoughts that entered his head were ones that he could hardly bare to consider. What if the dementors got him? Could Voldemort have found him? Could someone be coming for me? It was times like these when he wished he was able to live in the wizarding world. He could send a message to Hermione or Ron, but he was sure they would know nothing more than he himself did.

He knew that there was only one person who would definitely know the answer to what was going on, Professor Dumbledore. However, Harry was reluctant to owl him because he knew that Dumbledore was busy organizing various witches and wizards to prevent Voldemort from rising to his full power. He decided that he would refrain from sending a message to Dumbledore unless he had more concrete facts to support his suspicions.

Harry looked at the note again and set it down on his desk. He decided that he would send Hedwig out with it again after she rested for the day, in hopes that she would make the delivery this time.

"HARRY, GET DOWN HERE NOW," yelled Uncle Vernon from somewhere downstairs.

Harry jumped at his uncle's loud voice and opened the door, hoping that his uncle didn't suspect any foul play on his part. He walked quickly down the stairs and saw that Aunt Petunia had her purse over her shoulder and Uncle Vernon was holding his car keys.

"We are taking Dudley to a doctor seeing as how his stomach is acting up again," said Uncle Vernon. Harry could hardly hide the smile from his face and had to force down the laughter that so badly wanted to escape from his mouth.

"We're going to take him to a real hospital this time in London, not this worthless clinic here," continued Vernon. "We will be staying the night in London and returning tomorrow morning."

The last thing Harry wanted to do on his summer holiday was sit in a London hospital all day. He thought of Diagon Alley, but he knew that there was no way the Dursley's would let him wander the streets of London alone. He was about to voice his displeasure when his uncle began to speak again.

"Mrs. Figg is on vacation, so I'm forced to leave you here; Lord knows what you would do in a public place like London."

Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry roughly by the shirt and spoke to him, inches from his face, "Now look into my eyes when I say this. When I return to this house, I want it exactly as we have left it. If I see so much as a chair out of place, believe me, there will be hell to pay," his uncle finished.

With that warning, he turned and held open the front door for Dudley and his wife and proceeded to leave Harry standing there shocked.

Harry suddenly realized the repercussions of his simple prank.

"They left me home...alone," he said to himself.

He couldn't believe it, for a whole day and night he would be able to relax without hearing any of Dudley's snide remarks, Uncle Vernon's insults of him, or doing chores for Aunt Petunia. He stood, still completely shocked, watching the Dursley's car back out of their driveway and leave Privet Drive. He couldn't believe his luck; he only expected Dudley to go a few rounds with the toilet, not to be taken to the hospital.

Harry walked back up to his bedroom, a smile plastered to his face, to get some of his chocolate frogs that he still had left over from the Hogwarts Express. The summer was finally looking up for this young wizard; little did he know that the glittering golden owl on his bed would make him even happier than the absence of his horrid relatives.