Chapter 5: Family, Fame and Flight

This had probably been the second worst summer that Harry could ever remember. Prior coming returning to the Dursleys, he had thought he had friends in Hermione and Neville. He had thought he had an ally in Shiva. He had thought that things would be different.

He had been stupid.

As soon as Harry had entered Number 4 Privet Drive he had been thrown against the wall, nearly breaking his arm. Harry had been expecting that and immediately brought out his Slow Burn. It was a rune stone that didn't do much of anything beyond keep a low level lumos going for an hour or so. It was basically just a fancy candle. But the Dursleys didn't know that…so Harry had activated it on the train hoping to intimidate his Aunt, Uncle and cousin into leaving him alone. A bit of misdirection and with any luck Harry wouldn't have to worry about his relatives at all for most of the summer.

Unfortunately, he had greatly underestimated Aunt Petunia. Upon seeing the Slow Burn she just sneered at him. "Idiot, boy, my sister went to that school as well. I know perfectly well you can't do any of that freakishness here!" Harry's eyes had widened as Vernon's smile practically split his face. Dudley cackled with glee behind him. The beating that followed left him sore for nearly two weeks and Harry had been let out of his room only for bathroom breaks and two meals a day.

Even that wouldn't have been so bad except that he had received no communication from any of his 'friends' at all. Not a letter, not a phone call, not a visit. He couldn't even send Hedwig to ask what he had done wrong since Uncle Vernon had padlocked his familiar's cage. Harry was given little enough to eat himself and he had to split that with Hedwig to ensure his poor owl could last until school started again. Having friends and then being stripped of them, yet again, had made this summer practically unbearable.

Harry's only retreat had been speaking to Hedwig and coming up with new experiments and applications for his rune stones. Whenever he got bored he tried branching out a bit into attempting to craft some ward schemes. While he couldn't actually test any of them, several designs were complete and awaiting etching. The Ninja stone had taken a while but it looked like it should work. The only problem was it didn't seem like it would play well with too many others so his father's Cloak would likely still be more useful until he could figure out a workaround. He'd come up with a Proximity Ping as well that would let him know whenever anyone not in the original bubble radius entered. A Lockpick stone was easy to set up and it seemed to have the potential to work on things specifically designed to block Alohomora as well since his rune stone incorporated a Suppression rune twined into the Spell rune. The improved barrier that he had originally thought of the first time he met Shiva was making progress but was still way too complicated to attempt.

Harry had considered playing around with more offensive designs especially after coming face to face with Voldemort but ended up deciding that was something better left for next year. A simple Blastor Concussor,and Disintegrator would have to do for the moment. Building up rune stones designed to explode had too much risk without a bit of oversight. At least, at first.

July, 31st rolled around and Harry quietly sang to Hedwig and himself. Uncle Vernon was in the middle of a large business dinner so he figured he'd likely be missing dinner. Getting a soft hoot and gentle nip from his friend, Harry turned to head to bed early.

And found a small creature with very large ears, a long nose and bandaged hands standing on his bed. The creature was sporting several bruises and seemed to be dressed in a pillowcase with holes cut out for the head and arms. Harry's mouth dropped open and he just stared. 'And I thought my life sucked…'

"Err, hello?" Harry blinked in consternation at the strange little creature standing before him.

The creature burst into tears and cradled its head. "The Great Harry Potter speaks to Dobby! Dobby is not worthy, Dobby is – "

"Quiet!" Harry hissed frantically moving forward to attempt to shut the creature – Dobby – up. "Please, you have to be quieter! My Aunt and Uncle will hear you!"

"Dobby – is – sorry!" Dobby said between sobs at least attempting to lower his volume. "But yous is the – Great Harry Potter Sir. And Dobby is – just a lowly House Elf. Dobby – cannot believe the – Great Harry Potter would wish – to speak with him!"

Harry turned to Hedwig in confusion who just chuffed at him. "Glad you're amused. Traitor." Turning back to Dobby, Harry hesitantly reached out and clasped the little thing's shoulder. It just made the sobbing worse. "Look, Dobby? Look, Dobby, first off, it's just Harry. Not The Great Harry Potter Sir. Just Harry. Second, not to be rude or anything but why are you in this house?"

Dobby stopped crying almost instantly and turned sorrow filled eyes on Harry. "Dobby comes to give Harry Potter a message. Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts."

Harry's compassion for the poor creature in front of him dried up and ice crept into his voice. "And who told you tell me that?"

Dobby cringed and held up his hands to cover his face. "Dobby comes by himself. Master would not want Dobby to tell Harry Potter. Bad Master would want to ensure Harry Potter is present. Dobby must shut his head in the cabinet for coming but Dobby will do it! Dobby will protect the Great Harry Potter!"

Harry froze for several long moments running over the house elf's words. His anger retreated somewhat as he realized some of what the little fellow was implying. "Dobby…" Harry cut off as he watched Dobby grab a lamp from the bedside table and swing it towards his head. Harry's mouth dropped open and he caught the lamp before it could impact the house elf. "Jeez, why did you do that?!"

"Dobby is bad elf! Elves should never refer to Master like that!" He tried to grab the lamp again so Harry dropped the lamp and held Dobby's arms instead until the creature calmed back down.

"Okay, Dobby, let's try this again," Harry said, cautiously letting the house elf's arms go. "I'm guessing you can't tell me who your master is?" Dobby shook his head so hard that his ears flapped. "Can I try to guess?" Dobby considered for a minute before shrugging. "Okay, well is it someone I go to school with?" Dobby paused before half nodding and half shaking his head. "So it's the family of someone I go to school with then." Dobby nodded. "Gryffindor? Ravenclaw? Hufflepuff? Slytherin? Okay, Slytherin. Now is it – " Harry was forced to break off again as Dobby ran headfirst towards the wall. Harry just barely managed to grab the little guy before he knocked himself out. "Okay, guess we're done with that line of questioning. How about a different tack. Why can't I go back to Hogwarts?"

"The Great Harry Potter Sir must not go back! It is not safe at Hogwarts now!"

"Yeah, kinda figured that out already, Dobby."

"No, Harry Potter does not understand. Hogwarts will not be safe! Master will make certain!"

Harry swore under his breath. 'Oh perfect, someone is going to try something again this year. And now I won't even have my friends to help me deal with – ' Harry's thoughts ground to halt as he turned to slowly stare at Dobby. The little house elf had succeeded in slamming his arm into the drawer while Harry was distracted but Harry couldn't quite bring himself to care as much as he had a moment ago. "Dobby…have you been, perhaps, trying to…dissuade me already from returning?"

Dobby froze. "Dobby thought…Dobby thought if Harry Potter felt his friends had abandoned him he would not want to return the castle…"

Harry carefully got up from his seat on the bed and narrowed his eyes at the house elf. "Dobby, have my friends written me any letters?"

Dobby reached behind him and pulled out a stack of letters in his shaking hand. "Dobby will give the Great Harry Potter is letters if he agrees to not go back to Hogwarts this term."

"Give me my letters, Dobby." Harry took a single step forward. He tried very hard not to snarl but he couldn't quite keep the ice out of his voice. "Now." His friends had been writing him. His friends hadn't abandoned him. He had friends.

"Harry Potter must promise. Hogwarts is not safe."

"Dobby I refuse to stay in this house any longer than is absolutely necessary. I have already survived a murderous Professor and psychopathic possessing ghost. The only friends I have are at Hogwarts. The only adult I trust is at Hogwarts. I am. Going. Back. NOW GIVE ME MY LETTERS!"

"If the Great Harry Potter refuses to stay, Dobby will make him." The house elf snapped his fingers and Harry's door burst open. Harry sprang to grab him but Dobby sprinted out and bounded down the stairs. Harry flung himself to his feet and ran after the house elf. He caught up just outside the kitchen watching with wide eyes as Dobby stared at the cake on the table outside the door. The door with Uncle Vernon's business party still going on beyond.

"Dobby, please…"

"Dobby is sorry Harry Potter Sir. But Harry Potter cannot go back to Hogwarts." Harry lunged for Dobby but only managed to grab the letters in the house elf's hand before Dobby twisted away, snapped his fingers again and the cake lunged through the door. With a quiet pop, Dobby vanished and Harry was left lying on the floor looking at the astonished faces of Vernon, Petunia and three guests. All covered with cake.

It had been three days since the Great Cake Incident. Harry had received a notice about being expelled at the next underage magic usage. 'If I had know I had a freebie I'd have used one of my Firestarter stones. Maybe if the house burned down we'd move somewhere that people would listen to me.' Uncle Vernon hadn't beaten Harry but he almost wished the man had. At least then his stomach wouldn't hurt so much from lack of food. And Hedwig wouldn't be starving then either. His friend was hurting obviously but at least she wasn't dying yet. That was something right?

As night fell a low rumbling came from outside his window. It sounded almost like a car was sitting there on the second floor. As interesting as that might have been Harry couldn't bring himself to move enough to go look. There really just wasn't any point in it.

"Is this the one?"

"Neville said 4 Privet Drive and this was the only 4 Privet Drive and that map Hermione sent."

Harry frowned. Fred and George? Was he delusional now? They had given him water though the cat flap so he really shouldn't be hearing things…

A gentle knocking sounded from the window just barely loud enough to hear over the rumbling engine. Unable to resist the curiosity, Harry headed over to the window only to stare in shock at Fred's grinning face looking back at him. Hanging out the side of a car window. A car floating next to his window. On the second floor.

"Hiya, Harry!"

"You – I – what?" Harry said.

"We got worried when you didn't respond to any of our letters. Neville and Hermione were going to come too but we told them we had it handled. Are these really bars? Who bars a guy's window?"

"My Aunt and Uncle," Harry responded. "Can you really get me out?"

"Sure. Just loop this," Fred handed a piece of rope through the bars, "around those bars there. Cool. Okay, George, gun it!" With a thumbs up George turned the wheel and accelerated away from the house. The bars on Harry's window tore off with a loud crunch and Harry glanced towards the wall to Dudley's room and the master bedroom beyond. How had they managed to sleep through that racket? George drifted the car back over to the now open portal. "Come on, Harry, get in!"

"Take Hedwig!" Harry said hurriedly handing off his owl to Fred. "My trunk is locked up under the stairs! It has my dad's cloak, my mother's notebooks and my picture book of my parents in it. I can't leave it!"

"Hang on then." Fred opened the car door and easily hopped inside. "Downstairs you say?"

"Yeah but the door is locked," Harry said again glancing towards the wall. He scowled. It didn't matter if they woke up. He would not leave without his things.

"Locks aren't a problem." Fred had brought out a small set of tool and knelt next to the door.

"Are those lockpicks?" Harry gaped at Fred. Out of all the people he had come to know…this really shouldn't surprise him.

"Yup. Sometimes it's better to do things without magic. Always good to be prepared!" The lock popped and Fred tip toed out into the hall following Harry's outstretched arm towards the stairs. In another minute they had the cupboard opened up and Harry had grabbed his trunk.

"Harry…why is there a mattress down here?"

"Used to be my room until I got my letter and Uncle Vernon got paranoid," Harry muttered. "Can you give me a hand with this?" Fred had to shake himself to stop from staring between Harry and the tiny cupboard. With a scowl the older boy grabbed the trunk and lifted it away from Harry.

"I got it. Come on. Back upstairs and into the car."

Harry had just jumped into the car and was pulling his trunk in when Uncle Vernon's voice screamed out. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THAT?! WHAT ARE YOU FREAKS DOING!?"

"Budge over, Harry!" Fred yelled with a wide grin. He jumped out the window and grabbed the car just as Vernon scrambled over towards them. "George!"

"Hang on back there!" Fred's twin yelled as he gunned the engine. "Oh, and happy birthday, Harry!" Fred, George, Harry and Hedwig soared away from Number 4 Privet Drive leaving a purple Vernon Dursley shouting at the sky.

An hour or so later, George landed the flying Ford Anglia in driveway to the twins' house, the Burrow. The car had barely touched down before a screaming woman flew out of the front door yelling obscenities at the twins. Her hair was a flaming mop of red and Harry was willing to bet whatever money he owned that this was the infamous Weasley matron, Molly.

"HOW DARE YOU! NO IDEA WHERE YOU WERE! CAR GONE! THE CLOCK SHIFTED TO MORTAL PERIL! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA – " She cut off mid-rant as Harry stepped out of the backseat lugging his trunk. "Oh hello, Harry, dear. It's a pleasure to have you here. I'm not angry with you, dear. Just my sons. Why don't you head inside? I'll have breakfast on the table in a minute!" The twins had carefully been edging towards the house when Molly turned back to them and continued her screaming.

Harry had opened his mouth to try and defend them but stopped at George's gesture. A large hand landed on Harry's shoulder causing him to jump and turn around reaching for his wand before sheepishly realizing that it was still locked in his trunk. The man behind him was tall, with a ponytail, pierced ear and flaming red hair to match the rest of the Weasley's he'd seen.

"Hey, Harry," he said, "I'm Bill. The oldest of the Weasley brood. There's not much point in trying to head off one of mum's rants. We'll talk to her and get the twins out of trouble later. Come on inside."

Harry just nodded and followed Bill into the house with a sorrowful glance back at Fred and George. Surprisingly, George gave him a covert wink and smile as he caught his eye.

"Food?" Bill asked gesturing flicking his wand towards the table which was quickly covered by a plate a flying bacon, biscuits and eggs.

Harry could feel his mouth watering and he just nodded before running to the table and diving in. "Thanks! I haven't eaten since that stupid party thanks to that crazy elf."

"Crazy elf?" Bill asked plopping down into the seat across from Harry and swiping a slice of bacon.

"Yeah, some house elf decided the best way to try and save my life was to get my relatives even madder than usual. And of course I get blamed for it as usual." Harry paused mid bite and squinted at Bill. "Do you know how to submit a complaint to the Improper Use of Magic Department by any chance?"

"Why?" Bill was starting to feel like he was having a conversation with the twins for as much sense as this was making.

"Like I said, I got blamed for the magic. Apparently I get a freebie but I want whatever the elf did off my record so I can still keep my freebie in case I actually need to use it," Harry said gesturing with his fork like it made perfect sense.

"Err, we can ask my dad. He works in the Ministry so he should at least be able to get a letter to the right people if not take you in to talk to them…"

"Sweet! I love you guys!" Harry dived back into his meal completely ignoring Bill's facepalm.

"Now I see why you get along with Fred and George and not Ron."

"Well that's easy," Harry chuckled, "the twins are funny and as long as you can get them to keep to some limits, very nice. Ron's a prat who can't seem to understand why I get annoyed with people treating me like a celebrity for something I didn't even do."

"I'll…talk to my brother," Bill said with a sigh. "I'm not looking to take sides in this thing. I'm not home nearly enough to deal with that sort of drama."

"George said you worked with Gringotts in Egypt right?"

"Yeah. I had a job in the area for an old friend and figured I'd stick around for an extra day or two for you to show up so I could talk to you."

Harry frowned at that. "Why did you want to talk to me?"

"Well," Bill shrugged, "my friend mentioned you had a talent for runes so I just wanted to see for myself how far that extended. I'm a cursebreaker, we deal with runes a lot in that job."

Harry started to speak before stopping and laughing. "Let me guess, Shiva?"

Bill chuckled too. "Got it in one. The girl was a year behind me but she knew her stuff almost better than I did! Said you were a bit of a savant with runes." Harry nodded. "Sweet! Would you mind taking a look at this etching? My team in Egypt ran across it a few days ago and while I'm pretty sure we've got the dangerous stuff figured out I wanted a second opinion was I was here."

"You do know I just turned 12?" Harry said raising his eyebrows.

"Harry, I grew up with Fred and George. They were making better potions than Mum at 12 and she's studied it for years. And you come highly recommended," he winked. "Like I said, just a second opinion."

"You're scouting me…" Harry said with a bit of pride creeping into his voice.

Bill laughed. "Maybe a little."

Harry just shrugged, pushed his plate to the side and held out his hand. The twins walked into the kitchen and sat down as he took the paper from their brother. "Fair warning, I'm probably going to end up opening a shop at some point."

Fred and George shared a look and silent grin while Bill just shrugged. "I don't doubt it. Can't blame a guy for trying though."

Molly ambled into the kitchen with a huff. "Bill, stop bothering, Harry. He's a guest." Bill rolled his eyes at his mother.

"Hmm," Harry muttered staring at the rune scheme. "This is nasty. That's some sort of explosion trigger, this part looks like it would turn the target inside out before cooking them, this section is a super powered cutting charm – way more than necessary for even an entrenched target really, and oh, this one…" Harry's mouth dropped open. "Seriously? Soul absorption? I didn't even think that was possible!"

"Man, Shiva did not oversell you at all," Bill whistled. Molly behind him was gaping like a fish. "That was the part we were worried about too. That specific cluster doesn't look like it worked quite as designed thankfully. If it had, Edgar wouldn't be around to buy us all drinks, but it's right nasty that's for sure. Thanks for the read, Harry."

"Harry, you put that down this instant!" Molly had finally regained her power of speech. "Children have no business reading horrid things like that! Bill! What were you thinking bringing that into this house! I raised you better than that!"

"Mum…" Bill sighed as the twins snickered beside him.

Before Molly could say anything else, a young redheaded girl came in from off the stairs. She yawned and stretched before glancing around. The girl started towards Bill with a big smile on her face before she caught sight of Harry and froze. Her mouth snapped closed and with a squeak the girl took off like a shot back up the stairs, nightdress flaring behind her.

"Uhh…" Harry uttered staring in confusion at the blank space where the girl had retreated.

"Honestly, that girl!" Molly snorted. "Harry, why don't you grab your things and take them upstairs. You'll be sharing with Ron."

Harry, Fred and George all frowned immediately at that. "Mum, that's not such a good idea," Fred said.

"No offense, Mrs. Weasley, but I would really prefer not to. Ron and I…don't exactly get along," Harry sighed.

"Nonsense, Ron is a sweet boy. There's no reason you two can't get along perfectly well." Molly turned back to the counter obviously considering the discussion over.

"No reason beyond his jealousy and tendency to insult practically everything Harry likes," George muttered.

"Ma'am, I really – " the rest of Harry's statement was cut off as the boy in question came into the room and plopped down grabbing a handful of biscuit and throwing it into his mouth.

Ron was halfway through his bite when he noticed Harry sitting at the table and his visage darkened immediately. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"The twins," Molly glared at the two for a moment, "decided not to wait for your father and myself and left last night to bring Harry back."

"Rescue," Fred said with a scowl. "Rescue, not bring."

"Boys, please – "

"There were bars on the window, Mum. And locks on his door and trunk. And apparently the cupboard was – "

"Thanks for the support, Fred," Harry said cutting him off. "I appreciate the jailbreak." Fred and George turned to each other then Harry and nodded slightly before falling quiet. "Anyway, Mrs. Weasley, Bill said your husband could take me to talk to someone in the Ministry? I need to get an Underage Magic Warning off my record."

"Oh, so the Boy-Who-Lived is going to throw around his fame like usual," Ron drawled around a bite of bacon.

Bill facepalmed again. "It is far too early to deal with this. I'm going to go say goodbye to Ginny and head out. Fred, George, try not to burn down the house. Ron, stop talking with your mouth full. Mum, stop arguing with me about work. Someone tell Perce I said hi and Dad that I love him." He walked up the stairs leaving Molly shaking her head, the twins with a grin and Ron glaring.

"Harry, dear, Arthur can take you into work with him tomorrow morning if you want," Harry nodded at Molly's reply. It was better than nothing and much more than he had expected from the woman the way the previous conversation had been going. "I still think you should sleep with Ron…" Ron's snarl answered that comment well enough, "but I suppose if Percy is alright with it you can share his room instead."

It ended up being almost a week before Harry could get to the Ministry to speak with Mafalda Hopkirk. It was also a supremely unhelpful meeting. Harry argued with the annoying woman for nearly an hour repeatedly stating that he had done no magic over the summer and that if he had it would have been a hell of a lot flashier than a simple hover charm. Hopkirk then brought out her records proving that there had been a hover charm performed at Number 4 Privet Drive. Harry had repeatedly stated that a house elf had been the one performing the charm. Hopkirk replied that such an excuse was ridiculous since no wizards lived nearby so obviously no house elf would be near Privet Drive either. Harry offered to take a test or give an oath or drink a potion to prove it hadn't been him and Hopkirk had scoffed, saying that there was no way she could get authorization for something like that with such a simple clear-cut case. Things quickly descended into a shouting match from there. After Harry demanded to see her boss, Hopkirk threw him out in a huff saying that Director Bones was far too busy to be bothered by a foolish boy's temper tantrum.

Needless to say, Harry's first experience with the Ministry of Magic had been decidedly unpleasant.

The shopping trip to Diagon Alley did not go much better. By the time the Weasley clan and Harry were getting ready to head to the Alley, Harry was practically ready to curse someone. It was a hell of a lot of fun to spend more time with the twins – especially once he started asking them about why they were supposedly so good with potions and yet got such bad grades – but that was basically the only high point of staying with the Weasleys. Whenever Ron wasn't avoiding Harry, he was insulting him. Ginny seemed pleasant enough but could barely speak whenever he was nearby. Molly kept trying to send him on chores that either had him paired with Ron or Ginny and the woman had never once apologized to Fred and George for screaming at them for rescuing Harry. Percy barely came down from his room but at least he let Harry bunk with him. Even Arthur got to be annoying. He was very nice man and Harry really did like him, but asking about the purpose of rubber duck had been the last straw. There was being curious and then there was being annoying.

To Mr. Weasley's credit, when Harry asked him to slow down a bit, the man did listen. Harry also recommended he start up a correspondence with either Hermione, or the senior Grangers. While Harry had been raised Muggle he had also been extremely sheltered, so they would be better able to answer Arthur's questions and explain the concepts.

It only took one trip through the Floo network for Harry to decide he hated wizarding travel. Besides being left nauseous, covered in soot and with skinned knees he had apparently wound up in the entirely wrong location! Growling, Harry got to his feet, asked for directions back to Diagon Alley – telling the owner explicitly he preferred to walk – and started limping back in the direction he hoped to meet back up with the others. Harry had barely taken ten steps out of the shop though when he ran into Hagrid who was nice enough to escort him the rest of the way. Harry could've done without the lecture about Knockturn Alley being no place for children though. It wasn't like he meant to go there.

"Harry!" Harry was still glowering at his feet so he barely had time to look up let alone brace for the brown bullet flying at him before being knocked back into Hagrid by the force of Hermione's hug. "Oh I've missed you so much! How has your summer been? How were the Weasleys? I hope Ron didn't give you too hard a time – or that the twins didn't prank you too badly while you were there. Did you really shout at a Ministry employee, Harry? You shouldn't have done that! Can you tell me about the house elf? He sounded very interesting from your letter. Oh, did you end up getting the birthday card I sent? I know you said that you got your letters back but I wasn't sure – I'm so glad I decided to save the actual gift to give you in person!" Hermione was turning ever so slightly blue by the end of her rambling. Harry chuckled, his spirits lifting immediately at seeing his friend again. He blushed slightly as he realized he had even grown to miss the hugs she gave him.

"Hermione," Harry said with a grin, "you really need to stop to breathe sometimes. I'll tell you all about everything as we walk. How are you, Nev?" Harry asked turning his head to smile over at his other friend who was shaking his head off to the side near the relieved Weasleys.

"I'm good, Harry. Nice to see you again. Sorry, that the twins had to rescue you. Gran was going to go herself but they apparently beat us to it." Hermione's face fell at that and she started to pull away from Harry.

"Don't worry about it, Nev, Hermione," Harry said squeezing her back before she finally let go. Hermione's face seemed to lighten a bit as he hugged her back and her frown disappeared completely when he continued, "I got to meet the rest of the Weasleys because of it – well besides Charlie. Bill apparently knows Shiva by the way."

"Oh?" Hermione asked. "Did they go to school together?"

"Year apart I think he said. Let's get our books then we can talk more." A familiar gleam entered Hermione's eyes as Harry said that. He smiled getting just the reaction he had hoped for.

"Eh hem," a well built man in a jeans and Metallica T-shirt cleared his throat looking at Hermione with a raised eyebrow. The woman standing next to him was obviously trying very hard to hold in her laughter and failing.

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my gosh, I forgot! Harry, these are my parents, Richard and Emma Granger."

"Sir, ma'am," Harry said stepping forward and holding out his hand, "it's nice to meet you."

Richard shook Harry's hand and gave into his own soft laughter. "It's nice to finally meet the boy our daughter gushes about in her letters, Harry." Harry glanced over at his friend who had turned nearly as red as the Weasley's hair and was doing her best to completely avoid his gaze. "And it's Richard, none of this, sir stuff. You saved my daughter's life, I think that deserves a first name basis."

"Err…"

"It's nice to meet you, Harry," Emma wrapped Harry into a hug similar to the ones her daughter gave though thankfully much shorter so he didn't have to start squirming away. "It's also nice to see someone else trying to get her to slow down sometimes."

"Yes, well, if you two are done embarrassing me," Hermione huffed, hands on her hips, "perhaps we could go into the bookstore finally?"

Neville smirked coming up beside his friends. "Merlin forbid we keep Hermione from her books." Leading the way into Flourish and Blotts Neville started browsing through the Herbology section while Hermione followed Harry into the Ancient Runes part.

"Ugh can you believe that guy," Harry jerked a thumb over his shoulder at a blond haired wizard with a gleaming smile signing books in the middle of the store. His hair looked like it had more gel than Draco Malfoy's and his smile had to have been charmed to look so perfect. The comments streaming from the man sounded so totally fake they made Harry want to gag.

"He is a bit dreamy looking isn't he?" Hermione mused turning to stare.

Harry's mouth dropped open and he worked it soundlessly a few times with nothing coming out. "Dreamy? Him?"

Hermione snapped her head back to Harry and gasped. "I – um – I just meant – well – oh never mind! You look much better Harry!" She clapped her hands over her mouth again and Harry heard a snicker from further up the aisle where Richard had stopped to browse. "That's not what I meant either! Oh for heaven's sake! Stop distracting me, Harry!"

A now thoroughly confused Harry shook his head, grabbed some new books and tried to buy his things without getting noticed. He almost succeeded in making it to the register before the bleached author noticed him. Sadly it was not meant to be.

"Harry Potter! As I live and breathe. Come to buy my books, eh? Of course you would! After all, we famous wizards have to stick together, that we do." Lockhart threw and arm around Harry's shoulder and twisted so that several camera flashes nearly blinded Harry. "Little did you know though, that not only are you going to get a full free, autographed copy of my books," Harry grimaced and tried to twist away from contact with the man, "you are also getting…ME! I'll take this opportunity to announce my acceptance of the newly opened Defense Against The Dark Arts position at Hogwarts. Don't worry, Harry, you'll be able to grill me on all the best methods of prepping for interviews and grooming tips while I'm there! I'm so looking forward to imparting all my knowledge to you and the other youths." Harry felt like throwing up. With a final twist he pulled away from Lockhart and practically ran to the front of the store only stopping as he came across Ginny talking with a tiny blond girl wearing what looked like radishes as earrings.

"Ginny, you need a set of these books right?" The poor girl practically seemed to vibrate when Harry addressed her but managed to nod while her friend just cocked her head at him. "Cool. Take them. I can't imagine they're very useful and even if they are, I'll just skim Hermione or Neville's copies."

"Th-th-thanks, H-Harry," she squeaked out.

Harry nodded and moved to head outside, sidestepping two girls who looked vaguely familiar. "Trace, do you think we need two sets of these stupid books? How good can they possibly be? I mean, really, the man looks like a determined pixie would trounce him," the taller blond said glaring back at Lockhart. Harry snorted – a woman after his own heart.

The dark haired girl next to her just shrugged and put a ratty book back into her bag. "Let's just go with the one set. At least he's pretty though. Better than Quirinus I-Have-No-Fashion-Sense Quirrell."

'I prefer Quirrelmort myself,' Harry thought darkly as he managed to squeeze past the girls.

Just before he left the store, Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley started shouting and trading blows just ahead of them. Ron egged his father on while Molly yelled and the twins scowled. A short exchange of blows left Arthur with a black eye and Lucius – with a toilet seat around his neck – stumbling into the dark haired girl and then Ginny and her friend.

Harry moved to help Ginny up and Lucius threw her books back at her from where they had fallen to the ground. "Try to keep better hold of your things child. I will not forget this, Blood Traitor." Lucius scowled twisting away and stalking down the street throwing the toilet seat off to the side.

"Arthur! I can't believe you let that horrid man goad you into fighting in the street!" Molly screeched at her husband.

"I will defend our honor, Molly, as I always have. Come children, I believe we still have more things to get."

'I should've asked to stay with Neville or Hermione. At least then I wouldn't be here less than five minutes before the stupid train leaves!' Harry thought, glowering at the Weasleys. First the twins forgot their trunks. Then Percy forgot his owl. Then Ron forgot he hadn't actually packed any of his schoolbooks. How the heck did this family ever manage to get to the school to begin with? One would think in nearly a decade worth of leaving for school Arthur and Molly would've figured out how to wrangle them here sooner!

Molly and Ginny had just gone through the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters and Harry and Ron lined up for their turn. They waited a moment to make sure that no one was watching and then ran towards the barrier.

And bounced off it landing on their bums. Hedwig squawked as her caged was knocked back and the luggage shifted.

"What the…?" Harry muttered climbing to his feet and staring at the barrier. He turned to Ron. "Has the barrier ever closed before?"

Ron shook his head looking terrified. "I'd have heard about that if it had…Do you think this is a prank by Fred and George?"

"No way. Those two would never pull something like this. Their pranks are funny not mean. Well...not mean unless you deserve it." Harry walked forward and ran his hands over the barrier. "It feels just like regular brick."

"What are we going to do?" Ron whimpered.

"Well I imagine the people on the other side are going to freak out about this as well so we might as well just wait for someone to figure it out and come back through."

Ron's eyes widened. "We can't! We're going to miss the train!"

Harry glared at the other boy. 'Maybe if you had packed last night we wouldn't be in this position.' He took a deep breath to calm down before speaking. "I'm sure it will be fine." The whistle sounded for 11 O'clock and Ron jumped up in a panic.

"We need to go! Dad's car is still in the lot. I can drive it and we can follow along behind the train! Come on!"

Harry slapped his hand over his face trying desperately to quell the urge to smash his face against the bricks behind him. "Steal the car and drive behind the train. You realize how insanely stupid that sounds don't you?"

"No, FLY. Come on, Harry, there's no time! If we don't hurry we won't be able to catch up!"

"You know what…no. I'm not going to sit here and argue this with you. You want to go be an idiot go ahead. Hope you don't crash or break the Statute of Secrecy or anything," Harry waved him off with his free hand.

"You're…not coming?" Ron looked genuinely confused before his face reddened. "Fine! I'll let them know you're still sitting here when I get to Hogwarts." He turned and raced out the doors with trunk in hand.

"Thank god I am friends with Hermione and not him," Harry muttered. "Come on, Hedwig. Let's go sit down over there and wait for someone to figure out how to get out of the stupid barrier. You up to taking a letter to Shiva if no one comes out after a half hour or so?" Hedwig glared at him before huffing and preening her feathers. Harry just laughed. "Okay, fine, stupid question." Harry sat down on the bench and watched the barrier to make sure he didn't miss anyone.

It was barely five minutes later when a stern looking woman in a suit with a monocle in one eye tromped into Kings Cross. Beside her was a girl who looked just a bit younger than Shiva. She must have graduated recently though Harry didn't remember her from his first year. He definitely would have noticed that short, spiky, hot pink hair. She had on jeans and a T-shirt for the Weird Sisters. The girl was hurrying to stay next the monocle woman.

"See! We missed it, Tonks," Monocle said as she glanced at the clock on the wall. She looked like she wanted to facepalm. Harry could commiserate.

"Come on, Boss, I may just be a rookie but everyone already knows I can't go ten minutes with tripping on something or another!" Pink said with a sheepish look crossing her face.

"I'm not asking you to stop being clumsy, Tonks. I'm asking you to be on time!"

"Hey, it's not my fault that Dawlish stuck those doxies there! If he didn't want to risk falling into them he shouldn't have had them on the edge of his desk!" Harry could've sworn he saw the girl's hair flicker a shade darker. Monocle sighed but the way her mouth twisted upwards Harry could tell she was fighting her laughter.

Leaning over to Hedwig, Harry whispered, "I think we found our ride, Hedwig." Hedwig twisted her head towards the two now standing by the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters and scanning the crowd. She turned back to Harry and bobbed her head uttering a soft pleased sounding hoot. Harry gently stroked her feathers through the cage then gathered his trunk and stood up heading towards the newcomers.

They noticed him almost as soon as he began to move. The younger one casually pointed him out to Monocle and the older woman just sighed though it seemed genuine this time. As he drew closer she extended her hand. "Hello, I'm Amelia Bones and this is Nym – " The girl cleared her throat and threw a nasty glance at her superior. "Privileges of being the, Boss," Amelia continued with an evil grin, "next time don't make me late. As I was saying, this is Nymphadora Tonks."

Nymphadora's scowl deepened before she turned to Harry. "It's just Tonks. Couldn't help but notice your owl. Muggle-born?"

"Technically, Muggle-raised but yeah. Hello," Harry said shaking their hands.

"We're the clean-up crew," Tonks said with a satisfied nod.

"My apologies," Amelia said. "We were supposed to be here early enough to wrangle any Muggle-born or raised through the barrier who were either uninformed, forgot or were too scared to try."

"Err, thanks but I'm not a firstie. I'm a second year and I know how to get through the barrier..." Harry ran a hand through his hair but they started talking again before he could continue.

"Oh, just late then? Don't worry! It happens to the best of us!" Tonks winked at him.

"A bit short for a second year," Amelia said frowning.

"I'm not allowed to eat much usually." Harry scowled. He knew he wasn't as big as most of the others. How was that his fault? "And no, not late, the barrier went solid when my classmate and I tried to get through."

Amelia's frown deepened. "That doesn't sound right...Give me a moment. Tonks round up his friend."

Tonks saluted. "Yes, ma'am, you got it, Boss." As Amelia moved back slightly to examine the recalcitrant barrier, Tonks turned back smiling at Harry. "So where's your friend?"

"He's really not my friend," Harry grimaced. "His brothers are, but he's a prat. Case in point, he stole his dad's car to try and catch the train."

Tonks' mouth fell open. A bit farther than seemed strictly possible at that. "He what?"

"Stole his dad's car to fly after the train."

"Seriously? You're not pulling my leg here? Did the Weasley twins put you up to this?"

"Funny you should mention them; it's their brother who stole the car. I imagine Fred and George are going to have a fit when they hear." Harry said. He grinned imagining the reactions of the twins.

"Wow..."

"That barrier is frozen solid." Amelia came up behind the two, frown still intact. "I've never seen anything like it before. I'm going to have to get some backup here to go over this. Tonks make sure those...two...didn't you say your friend was here too?"

"No, his classmate has apparently stolen Arthur Weasley's car to chase the train...I am sooo glad you gave me this job, Boss." Tonks looked like she was torn between incredulity and being impressed at Ron's stunt.

Amelia's face drained of color. "Arthur Weasley's car?" Tonks nodded. "Arthur Weasley's flying car?" Now Tonks' face whitened. Harry was rather impressed with the degree to which her face seemed to empty of blood and yet she still managed to avoid passing out.

"If it helps," Harry commented offhand, "I did tell Ron it was a horribly stupid idea and that he shouldn't do it. I don't think he meant anything bad though. He's just being an idiot. Like usual."

"Mr ..."

"Potter. Harry Potter, ma'am." Tonks' eyes widened as Harry gave his name.

Amelia recovered faster than Tonks and continued. "Mr. Potter, did Ron Weasley know that the car flies?"

"Yeah. He knows about the invisibility thing too and as much as I rag on him sometimes I don't think he'd forget that part...like I said, he's an idiot but, he's not that bad...I hope." He finished somewhat uncertainly.

"I have to run damage control. Tonks get Potter to the school. Can you Side-Along? You know what, I don't care. The Express takes hours anyway, just get him there and then wait there for me, Shacklebolt or Mad-Eye. Let's just pray this doesn't become a full incident!" She ran off, heels clacking.

Tonks turned to Harry with wide eyes. "Eventful first day back, huh, Harry?"