JULY WAS COMING to an end and as he marked the day off of his calendar, Harry Potter was quite surprised to learn that his sister managed to handle the Dursleys with utmost respect for a month already. Respect was something Harry could never scrape for the Dursleys, no matter how hard he tried or what he discovered on them. Although Lily Potter did not express much of a liking for any of them, her constant display of respect and her knack for cooking helped to reel Harry in from the hole of belittlement they had plunged him into. When their aunt, Petunua Dursley, demanded they dust the mantle or tend to the flowerbed, Lily always complied without a word or complaint.
A week after their arrival home, Harry noticed their Aunt Petunia held somewhat of a soft spot for Lily when their uncle, Vernon Dursley, shouted at her for giving him advice on how to tie Dudley's bow tie. Their pudgy cousin was attending a work party with his father and was therefore forced into a suit -- something he never wore in his entire life. So, naturally, he hadn't the slightest idea what to do when his mother handed him a black bow-tie -- apparently, neither did Uncle Vernon.
"Excuse me, sir, but that's not how you do it." said Lily. Harry wanted to puke at how polite she was being. "If I could just help--"
"I KNOW HOW TO TIE A BLOODY BOW-TIE, GIRL--" roared Uncle Vernon.
"Vernon!" exclaimed Aunt Petunia as she paused in chopping up vegetables for a salad. Her husband seemed taken aback by her intervention. "Let the girl do it."
Uncle Vernon turned purple in the face as Lily walked around him to Dudley and not a peep escaped Dudley's fat lips as Lily took the bow tie from him and strung it under the collar of his white dress shirt. When she finished tying the neat bow, she fixed his collar over it and ignored the tense silence in the room. Harry decided to walk along the lines and open his mouth.
"I didn't know you knew how to do that."
She shrugged. After all, she did have a lot of time to kill when she stayed with the Denvers. Uncle Vernon grunted and loosened his tie around his neck so that he wouldn't explode. Whole minutes seemed to pass in silence, but really only seconds passed before the next person spoke.
"It's a good thing to know." said Aunt Petunia with pursed lips as she returned to chopping carrots.
"Come on," began Harry, "Let's stay out of their way."
Lily despised how defeated Harry was at the Dursleys. They shouldn't have to live like they were freaks in the place they were supposed to be able to call home. She followed after him and bid them farewell with, "Have a nice evening."
As they ascended the carpeted staircase, conversation started in the kitchen again and Lily found herself rolling her eyes -- they seemed to think she and Harry were freaks. Now she knew he wasn't kidding when he said the Dursleys wished to be completely and utterly normal -- and despised the fact that they were not. They entered their bedroom, sat down on their individual beds and waited for the voices downstairs to cease. Harry was the first to break the silence.
"Aunt Petunia's different with you around." he said, "She's more tolerant."
"Maybe she's not as bad as you think. Maybe she just has to tough things out because she lives in a house of boys or something."
"No, that's not it." he shook his head, "Before, she ignored my existence. Now, she acknowledges you and I."
"Do you think that maybe I remind her of mum?" inquired Lily. "I mean, I've been told loads of times that I look like her...maybe she reminisces her childhood when she sees me."
"I don't think so." said Harry. "She never talks about her and the one time I recall that she did, she insulted her -- hated her, even."
"Have you ever considered the thought that maybe she was jealous of her? Mum, I mean." when Harry scoffed, she elaborated, "Think about it: maybe she hates magic so much because she didn't have any like mum did. Every child loves the idea of magic and fairytales. If I didn't have any magic but you did and I knew you were going off to a wondrous school of magic, I sure would be jealous."
He paused for a moment and slowly, he nodded. "I suppose."
"And maybe because you have magic and Dudley doesn't, she pampers Dudley -- into a spoiled brat, may I add -- so that he won't feel left out or mediocre compared to you."
"That would actually make sense."
There was a rapping at their bedroom door, tap tap tap, and Aunt Petunia opened it. She stood in the open doorway and stared at the carpeted floor. In her hands there was a dish towel and she wrung it tightly in her hands.
"Vernon and Duddykins just left. Dinner will be ready in an hour" she spoke in a whisper. Lily was surprised she was talking directly to them, but Harry was surprised by the fact that she was making dinner for the three of them. "In the meanwhile,...I wonder if you'd like to join me in the living room?"
Harry gaped at her and Lily, although just as surprised, nodded, "We would love to."
Those weren't the words that Harry would have gone with -- he had a worse reply for his aunt -- but his sister's response seemed to be a good one because a moment later, Aunt Petunia's shoulders relaxed, she nodded once and returned to the kitchen. Nevertheless, the Potters joined their aunt in the living room and for an uncomfortable but rather interesting hour, they watched television in silence. Harry didn't mind it. In fact, it was the first time he watched television without viewing it through the window outside.
So the Potters sat quietly in their room, daydreaming about their return to Hogwarts school as the heat caused them to form thin layers of sweat on their skin. Harry was caressing Hedwig's feathers through her cage; Caspian slumbered peacefully within his own. Lily laid across her bed, flipping through the photo album given to them from Hagrid for what seemed like the hundredth time. Within her cage, Hedwig squawked indignantly, yearning to be released from her confinement.
"I can't, Hedwig." sighed Harry, "I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school. Besides, if Uncle Vernon--"
"POTTERS!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the living room below.
"Now you've done it." Harry huffed passive aggressively at the bird.
Lily shut the album and shoved it under her pillow as Harry arose from his own bed. They made their way downstairs, making it a point to step on the creaky step, and passed by the kitchen as Aunt Petunia put the finishing touches to a pudding made of whipped cream and sugared violets. In the living room, Uncle Vernon was struggling to fasten Dudley's bow tie once again. Lily scoffed and did it instead as the man glowered at Harry.
"Which one was it?!"
"Hedwig, sir." muttered Harry, who avoided his scrutinizing gaze.
"I warned you!" he spat, "If you can't control those bloody birds, they'll have to go!"
"She's bored." reasoned Harry, "If I could just let her out for an hour or two--"
"--and have you sending secret messages to your freaky little friends?" he grunted. A smile formed under his thick mustache, as if he had just outsmarted them at their own game. "No, sir."
"But we haven't gotten any messages from any of our friends." he frowned more to himself than to Uncle Vernon or his sister. "Not one. All summer."
"Who'd want to be friends with you?" Dudley chuckled.
"As a matter of fact, we have loads of friends." Lily retorted, "But I don't think I can say the same for you, Duddley-Wuddley."
"I should think you'd be more grateful." snapped Uncle Vernon, clearly angered by her snide remark. "We raise you since you were a baby, give you food off our table, even let you have Dudley's second bedroom... and then, we take in your sister, purely out of the goodness of our hearts!"
Dudley furrowed his bushy eyebrows, "I thought they got the second bedroom because Mum was afraid they'd turn us into dung beetles if you put him back in the cupboard under the stairs."
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon exchanged dark looks, but this went unnoticed by Dudley who reached to pick a sugared violet off of the pudding.
"Not yet, Popkin." said Aunt Petunia. She shoved him away as he grumbled. "That's for when the Masons arrive."
Uncle Vernon stood abruptly, "Which should be any moment. Now, let's run through our schedule one more time. Petunia, when the Masons get here, you will be --"
"--In the lounge, waiting to welcome them graciously to our home." a faux smile graced her bony face as she recited her part.
"Good. And Dudley?"
"I'll be waiting to open the door." Dudley placed his hat on, grabbed his Smelting's stick and pretended to open a door with a cheeky smile on his chubby face.
"Excellent." he grinned, but his grin disappears as he turned to the other two individuals within the room. "And you two?"
"We'll be in our bedroom, making no noise and pretending we don't exist."
"Too right you will." He turned back to his wife and son with a hopeful smile. "With any luck, this could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career."
Dudley smacked his Smelting's stick against the wall as he stood idly by the door in the forte and Petunia obsessively straightened the dozen pictures posed atop the mantel. Then, the doorbell rang and chimes echoed around the living room. Uncle Vernon spun around on them faster than anticipated, "Upstairs! Hurry!"
With great reluctance to obey and annoyance at their task to remain in the room for the rest of the night, the Potters jogged up the stairs and stood at the landing to see the guests enter. As rehearsed, Dudley opened the door and was the first to greet the middle-aged couple, followed by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon who showed her more affection than usual. After a few exceptionally polite greetings, the twins became bored of watching the formalities and proceeded to their room. As soon as Harry opened the door, however, there was already another individual in their room.
There he jumped on Harry's bed, a two and a half foot creature with long, flappy ears and bulging eyes the size of tennis balls wearing a filthy pillowcase like one would wear a toga. He giggled euphorically, as if jumping on the mattress was a happy highlight of his day. Upon their entrance, he stopped bouncing, but his jubilance only increased as he laid his eyes on the auburn-haired girl and dark-haired boy.
"Harry and Lillian Potter! Such an honor it is!"
His voice was high-pitched and kind; he was enthusiastic, to say the least. He clambered off of the bed, rushed to shake their hands and beamed up at them. Harry shut the door and turned to the creature, "What --Who are you?"
"Dobby, sir. Dobby the house elf." he bowed.
"I see." said Harry, "Not to be rude or anything, but....this isn't a great time for us to have a house elf in our bedroom."
Lily narrowed her eyes at her brother.
"Oh, yes, sir, Dobby understands." Donny sputtered, "It's just that, Dobby has come to tell you both... it is difficult, sir... Dobby wonders where to begin..."
"Why don't you sit down?" suggested Lily. She gestured to her bed and cared not that the blankets were in disarray after his bouncing episode.
"Yeah." agreed Harry. This, however, seemed to be the wrong thing to say, for at once, Dobby bursted into tears.
"S-S-Sit down?" he sobbed wailingly and tears like fat bullets poured from his wide eyes.
"Shhhh!" exclaimed Harry, waving his hands.
Lily pressed her ear to the door and was relieved to see that the noise had not carried down to the living room. She turned to him, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything--"
"Offend Dobby!" he was appalled, "Dobby has heard of your greatness, but never has he been asked to sit down by a witch or wizard, like an equal..."
"You can't have met many decent wizards then." said Harry. Dobby shook his head but as soon as Harry sat down, the house elf seized the bedside lamp and knocked himself over the head with it.
"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" he yelled.
With a sudden fear that they would be heard and would therefore be grounded for weeks, Lily lunged forth, grabbed the lamp and placed it back on the table. Dobby wobbled on his feet from dizziness.
"Are you alright?" asked Harry.
"Dobby had to punish himself, mister. Dobby almost spoke ill of his family."
"Your family?"
"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir. Dobby is bound to serve one family forever. If they ever knew Dobby was here..." he explained, wringing his long fingers. He glanced between them and spoke again with trepidation. "But Dobby had to come. Dobby has to protect Harry and Lily Potter, to warn them." "Harry and Lily Potter must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year!"
"Not go back?" the idea alone seemed horrid to them. How could they not return to Hogwarts? Their friends were their. Hogwarts is their home. Harry frowned, "But we have to."
"There is a plot, a plot to make most terrible things happen." continued Dobby, "If Harry and LilyPotter go back to school, they will be in great danger."
"What terrible things?" inquired Lily.
Harry followed, "And who's plotting them?"
Dobby made an odd sort of choking noise as he debated whether to let more information slip from his tongue or punish himself further for thinking of it. Lily truly hoped that her pessimistic thoughts were just spun in a web created by her imagination. Out of the entire unknown magic in the world, she only knew of one danger, one evil, that sought to kill them. After all, Headmaster Dumbledore did say the Dark Lord was not truly gone. Could this be the evil Dobby spoke of?
"Okay! We understand." began Harry. "You can't say..."
Dobby grabbed the bedside lamp again and started to hit himself about the head. This time, it was Harry who snatched the lamp and grabbed Dobby in a poor attempt to silence him. "Stop! Stop!"
Silence did not follow when Dobby stopped. Instead, heavy footsteps bounded up the staircase as Uncle Vernon advanced toward their room. Harry could just imagine his angry purple face; Lily could already see the fat blue vein bulging in his forehead.
"Harry! He's coming!"
Harry grabbed Dobby by his dress garment, muffled his surprised shriek and pitched him into the wardrobe just as Uncle Vernon flung the door open.
"What the devil are you doing up here?!You've just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke!" he whispered fiercely, "One more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born!"
He stomped from the room and slammed the door again, all in the span of a minute, and when his footsteps faded, Harry opened the wardrobe door. Dobby jumped out of it as if he just played a fun little game and looked at the young Potters again.
"D'you see why we've got to go back? We don't belong here!" exclaimed Harry. "We belong in your world -- at Hogwarts. It's the only place where....we've go friends."
"Friends who don't even write to Harry and Lily Potter?"
"Well, I expect they've been busy or someth--" she paused and scrutinized the house-elf who suddenly bowed his head. She narrowed her eyes at him, "Wait, how do you know that our friends haven't been writing us?"
Dobby shuffled nervously on the spot and refused to meet their eyes. With a guilty expression on his face, he reached under a fold in his garment and produced from it a stack of letters. "Harry and Lily Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby." Harry was livid, "Dobby hoped if Harry and Lily Potter thought their friends had forgotten them...they might not want to go back to school,..."
"Give me those. Now." demanded Harry.
The house elf shook his head and Harry demanded them once more. When Dobby refused once again, he lunged of the letters and Dobby dodged him and slipped out of the room. With her heart in her throat, Lily chased after Harry who ran after the house-elf. They skipped the creaky step and snuck into the kitchen where Dobby stood next to the island counter. Sitting atop it was Aunt Petunia's iced pudding, complete with the sugared violets Dudley still longed to eat. He snapped his fingers and with a spark, the delicious masterpiece arose from its spot and levitated in midair. They froze in their places as it floated off into the living room.
"Dobby!" whispered Lily. She could hear her heart beating; the Dursleys were sure to kill them now.
"Dobby, please!" pleaded Harry. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley stared fearfully at the pudding which hovered threateningly over the heads of their oblivious guests.
"Harry and Lillian Potter must say they are not going back to school!"
"We can't!" Harry exasperatedly, "Hogwarts is our home!"
This, as it turned out, was a very wrong thing to say. "Then Dobby must do it, sir, for Harry and Lily Potter's own good." with a tragic expression, the house elf snapped his fingers again and the pudding dropped. The next thing they knew, the Masons were shrieking as they cleared their faces off the chocolate goodness.
Uncle Vernon shot up from his seat quicker than he ever did when Harry referred to magic. "I'm so sorry! It's our niece and nephew, they're ery disturbed. Meeting strangers upsets them, so we kept them upstairs--"
But he couldn't finish telling his lie because the Masons stormed out of the house and shouted down the street about the crazy people that lived on 4 Privet Drive. The couple scrambled into their car, pulled out of the gravel driveway, and drove off without a second glance back. As their car became a dot in the distance, Aunt Petunia let out a shriek as a barn owl swooped over her head and dropped the letter in its beak at Uncle Vernon's feet. Ignoring the fact that it was obviously addressed to the Potter, Uncle Vernon tore it open and read the contents. The wax seal on the front of the envelope looked unfamiliar and Harry had a bad feeling it wasn't a Hogwarts letter naming the books they should buy for their second year. He glanced between them and the letter with a furious gleam in his eyes and stroking his fat mustache, he entered the house with Petunia at his heels. When they were in the confinements of the house, he slammed the door shut so a neighbor as nosy as even Aunt Petunia couldn't hear. With a new grin on his face, he handed the letter to Harry and he took it wearily.
"Go on. Read it."
With a sigh, he read it aloud, "'Dear Mr. and Miss Potter. We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence at twelve minutes past seven this evening. As you know, underaged wizards....--'"
This was it. The Dursleys were surely going to stuff Harry and Lily both in the cupboard until the end of the summer. No meals, no socializing, no getting out...Dobby set them up. It made sense now why he dropped the pudding onto their guests' heads. Without a registry saying a house-elf worked in the house -- it would be nearly impossible to find one out of their master's home --it would only make sense that the Ministry of Magic thought they had done it. Uncle Vernon snatched the letter back an gleefully read on.
"'--... are not permitted to perform spells outside school.'....You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic at home. Slipped your mind, didn't it?"
"You treat Harry and I so horribly, as if we are nothing but dirt! We understand we're some sort of burden to you. You despised our parents, but that doesn't mean you have to treat us like crap!" Lily turned to Aunt Petunia, "I don't know what happened between you and our mother. Maybe deep down you miss her and you hate being reminded of her. Maybe you wanted to be like her and you weren't, so you pamper Dudley so he doesn't feel that same way --"
"--Lily, stop." began Harry.
"But if you really hate us as much as you make it to be, then don't starve us or lock us up. Kick us out."
Aunt Petunia stood in a stupor at Lily's words but Uncle Vernon's grin only grew on his face. "Oh, you think you're so mistreated? Well, I've got news for you. I'm locking you up! And if you try to magic yourself out, they'll expel you! You're never going back to that school! Never!"
Vernon Dursley was so adamant about his decision to lock the Potters up, he didn't allow Petunia to convince him not to screw bars onto their window. And so they hadn't even an ounce of hope of returning to Hogwarts....that was the beginning of the rest of their torturous summer.
***
Harry and Lily Potter were fast asleep in their beds on that early morning at the end of July. His glasses were askew on his face as he hung off of half the bed. As the sun arose in the sky and the bird began to sing their morning song, Uncle Vernon coughed from his bedroom. Everything seemed peaceful and quiet, but why wouldn't it be on such a fine morning? Scattered around Lily's bed were the many letters sent by Fred, George, Ron, Hermione and even Hagrid -- he also apparently sent a package of rock-cakes to them, but thankfully that package was also intercepted along with the rest. Even Hedwig and Caspian were fast asleep in their cages with their heads under their wings. In the near distance, a car engine rumbled and roared.
"That sounds like a car." Harry grumbled sleepily.
"Yeah, Harry. It's a car." Lily groaned and rolled over, "Now shut up and go back to sleep."
Harry stumbled out of bed, made his way over to their window and stared at the floating figure. "It's flying."
"You're mad."
"Lily, I think it's Ron!" He exclaimed. All sleepiness aside, Lily jumped out of bed and joined him at the window. Gazing past the iron bars, a blue Ford Angelia was flying in their direction and as it drew nearer, they could see outlines of three figures with flaming hair: Fred, George and Ron Weasley were there to rescue them. And they were sure having some fun of their own as they did.
"Ron!?!" exclaimed Harry through the bars.
"Hiya, Harry, Lily!" Ron greeted them in a much lower voice than when they saw him last.
"You never cease to amaze, Weasleys." Lily smirked. They grinned in return.
"Fred? George?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows, "What're you all doing here?"
"Rescuing you, of course!"
"We don't know about you, Harry, but we figured since Lily wasn't replying to our letters, something was up." George grinned.
"Besides, if Ginny asks us about you once more time," Fred looked at Harry, "I think I'll going to kill her."
Ron eyed their bedroom, "Where are your trunks?"
As Harry and Lily hastily packed their trunks full of their school supplies, clothes and other necessities, Ron and George work to tie a sturdy knot around the bars screwed onto the window.
"Stand back." warned Ron. As they backed away, Fred pressed on the accelerator and the car roared as it surged forth and ripped the bars from the siding of the house. The Potters hurried to load the trunk with their luggage and handed Caspian's cage off to Ron in the back seat. They heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's bedroom door burst open and heavy footsteps bound towards their door, fumbling with a set of keys to unlock it. Ron gave Lily a hand into the car and just as Harry leapt onto the windowsill to follow, Hedwig gave a loud squawk from her cage.
"Hedwig!" Harry ran back, grabbed Hedwig's cage and returned to the window just as Uncle Vernon charged through the door.
"PETUNIA!" he roared and lunged at Harry. He managed to grab Harry's ankle as he made the jump and Ron and Lily try to wrestle him away. "THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!"
With an iron grip, Uncle Vernon pulled harder on Harry's ankle as he shouted. As Ron pulled with more force, Lily let get go, drew her wand and directed it at his purple face, "Let him go or I'll do something we will both regret!"
"You wouldn't dare!" he screeched. Within the bedroom, Aunt Petunia's rushed into the room alongside Dudley and they let out terrified shrieks.
Lily narrowed her eyes at him, "Try me."
As he was caught off guard, Ron gave Harry a hard pull. With a loud yelp, Uncle Vernon was dragged out of the window, let go of his angle and landed in the bushes below. They could hear the snapping of branches and Aunt Petunia's shrieks from their bedroom window as the car pulled away from the house and set off into the sky.
"By the way," with a sheepish grin as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, Ron said, "Happy Birthday!"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" screamed the twins.
In Lily's opinion, this was the best Birthday presented they could have ever given her. It was a long ride that lasted just until the sun reached the highest place in the sky. They flew over much of London, past old buildings and residential plots and roads busy with the morning rush hour. Shortly after they reached grasslands, Lily freed Hedwig and Caspian from their cages, they flew out through the open windows and soared through the fresh morning air. In the near distance, a tall lopsided structure came into view and as the car descended towards the ground, Lily spotted a wooden sign that read: THE BURROW. A flock of chicken cleared away as they drove the car into an open garage.
"We have to be completely silent." said Fred.
"Mum doesn't know we took the car." said George. George and Fred grabbed their trunks and heaved them inside.
"Hurry!" Fred whispered urgently, "Let's nip inside before Mum wakes up!"
The lot of them snuck into the house through the kitchen door, set the luggage down and Ron gently shut the door behind them. The Weasley house was amazing: a clock on the wall that displayed the statuses of each family member at the current time, a pair of needles were knitting a sweater by magic and there were even playing cards on the table that were shuffling themselves. It was clear that Ron misunderstood Harry and Lily's amazement for judgement...
"It's not much." he didn't meet their eyes.
"...But it's home." Fred smiled pridefully.
"I think it's brilliant!" exclaimed Harry with a grin. Ron met his eyes and upon seeing the genuine smile on his face, he smiled sheepishly too. Just as George grabbed an apple from the table, footsteps bounded down the wooden staircase and a plump red-haired woman, Mrs. Weasley, appeared with a expression of mixed fury and relief on her aged face.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?"
The boys nearly jumped out of their skin but before they could stammer out replied, she turned and smiled sweetly at the Potters, "Harry! Lily! How wonderful to see you." They smiled unsurely at her and she turned to the boys again wth the same curious look as before. "BEDS EMPTY! NO NOTE! CAR GONE! YOU COULD'VE DIED! YOU COULD'VE BEEN SEEN!"
The boys' paled under the scolding of their mother, but once again she turned to the Potters, "I don't blame you, of course, dears."
"They were starving them, Mum!" reasoned Fred.
"There were bars on their window!" Ron nodded.
"You best hope I don't put bars on your window, Ronald Weasley!" she threatened. With a huff, she turned back to the Potter and smiled again, "Care for a spot of tea, you two?"
"Oh, yes please, Ma'am." Lily nodded while Harry politely declined.
She patted Lily's hair in a motherly way before setting the kettle on. Everyone sat down at the dining table as Mrs. Weasley prepared breakfast. Lily offered to help out but Mrs. Weasley insisted she sit down and relax. After a few minutes of tense silence, the kids began to chat with each other. Just as Mrs. Weasley set a cup of tea in front of Lily, light footsteps skipped down the stairs and entered the kitchen in striped pink pajamas.
"Mummy, where's my jumper--" Young Ginny Weasley waltzed into the kitchen, laid eyes on Harry and Lily and flushed.
"Hello." they greeted. Her eyes widened, her face blushed as red as her hair and she raced back up the stairs. The boys chuckled and even Mrs. Weasley, in her angered state, chuckled along with them.
Harry frowned, "Was it something we did?"
"Ginny, " George began, shaking his head, "has been talking about you all summer."
"Dead annoying, really." said Ron. Mrs. Weasley set platters of eggs, buttered toast, sausages and bacon down on the table just as the handle on the clock with Mr. Weasley's name on it landed on traveling and then home. A moment later, Percy and Ginny joined the others at the table and Mr. Weasley entered the kitchen. He was a tall plump man with red hair and blue eyes. He wore a slightly travel-worn suit and an overcoat which he hung on the coatrack as he entered the kitchen.
"What a night!" he sighed, "Nine raids! Nine!"
"Raids?" queued Lily.
"Dad works at the Ministry of Magic." responded Ron, "In the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."
"The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts...?"
"That's when wizards bewitch something to drive Muggles mad. Shrinking door keys, that kind of thing." said Fred, "Dad loves Muggles. Thinks they're fascinating."
Ginny made it a point to avoid Harry and Lily's gazes. As Mr. Weasley sat down at the table, "Well now. Who are you?"
"Harry, sir. Harry Potter." introduced Harry, who then gestured to Lily, "And this is my sister, Lily."
"Good Lord, are you really? Ron's told us all about you two, of course." said Mr. Weasley interestedly, "When did you get here?"
As Mrs. Weasley set a cup of coffee down in front of her husband, she spoke with a contemptuous tone, "This morning. Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey house and back last night!"
"Did you now! How'd it go?!" He inquired curiously and the boys began to grin until Mrs. Weasley cast them all a dark look. "I... I mean...that was very wrong, boys. Very wrong indeed."
As Mrs. Weasley set a platter of pancakes, oatmeal, a bowl butter and utensils down at the table, everyone began to dig in. Mr. Weasley beamed at the Potters, "So, Harry, Lil, you two must know all about Muggles. Tell me, what exactly is the function of a parking meter?"
With grins, they opened their mouths to reply just as Mrs. Weasley sat down, but there was a SMACK! and an owl collided with the glass of the kitchen window.
"That must be Errol with the post." she sighed, "Fetch him, will you, Percy?"
Percy stood; took the unconscious Errol and absently laid him on a draining board before he took the letters clutched in his claws. "It's our Hogwarts letters. And look," He held up two letters, "they've sent Harry's and Lily's as well."
"Dumbledore must know you're here." Mr. Weasley sipped his coffee. "Doesn't miss a trick, that man."
Everyone paused their breakfasts and opened their letters. Mrs. Weasley beamed over Ginny as the youngest Weasley girl opened her very first Hogwarts letter. Peering over her own Hogwarts letter, Lily noticed the gleaming Prefects badge pinned on the breast pocket of Percy's pin-striped pajamas.
"This lot won't come cheap, Mum." Fred frowned, "The spellbooks alone..."
Harry and Lily suddenly felt guilty about the mounds of money pulled high in their vault at Gringotts.
"We'll manage."
A little while later, after Lily insisted on helping to clean up the breakfast table, everyone gathered in the living room. It was just as peculiar as the kitchen with green-fabric sofas centered around a wooden coffee table and a brick fireplace.
"Harry and Lily, you first." Mrs. Weasley handed an flowerpot of dust to Harry. The twins looked at it in bewilderment.
"Harry and Lily have never traveled by Floo Powder before, Mum." informed Ron.
"Floo Powder?"
Realization dawned on Mrs. Weasley's face and she turned to her eldest son in the room, "Percy, would you mind going first so Harry and Lily can see how it's done?"
"Certainly, Mother." he answered and took a pinch of the powder. "Don't worry. It's simple enough." He stepped into the fireplace, threw down the powder and spoke clearly, "Diagon Alley!" And then bright, big green flames engulfed him and he disappeared.
Mrs. Weasley noticed the uncertain expressions on the Potters' faces and smiled reassuringly, "You two are small enough. You can go together, if you'd like."
With a nod, Harry reached into the pot, took a pinch of powder and joined Lily in the fireplace. Ginny smiled brightly, Ron gave them a thumbs up and Fred and George mocked them with scared faces which earned them a pointed glare from Lily.
"Remember to speak clearly, dears!"
"And mind you get out at the right grate!"
Ron pitched in.
"On three." Mr. Weasley said, "One...two...!"
On his countdown, Harry threw the powder down and spoke with uncertainly, "D-Dia-gon Alley!"
The last thing they saw before they were engulfed by green flames and a rush of wind were the apprehensive faces of the Weasley clan. The flames licking their skin were as cold as ice and a gust of wind engulfed them. Before their eyes, the living rooms of numerous Muggle and Wizarding homes passed by until finally, they landed in a dark and grimy one. They tumbled out of the blackened fireplace and coughed the dust from their lungs.
"Alright there, Harry?" Lily asked as she stood and brushed her jeans off. As she looked around, Harry fumbled for his glasses. They were in a dark and dreary shop with aisles of peculiar objects; a shriveled hand, a cursed necklace, magical sheers and much more. It smelled of rotten wood and stale air.
"Yeah."
Lily approached a pedestal holding an opal-emerald necklace. As she was about to pick it up, the sign printed in small letters caught her attention: CAUTION: Do not touch. Cursed--Has Claimed the Lives of Nineteen Muggle Owners to Date.
Harry put on his broken glasses as Lily withdrew her hand from the cursed necklace. The shop was undoubtedly for Dark witches and wizards and they would be damned to stay there any longer than they had to. Seeing as Percy not any of the other Weasleys were there, Harry said the destination wrong...they only hoped they weren't too far away. As they made their way towards the front door, two figures approached it from the outside and entered: a tall man with long platinum blond hair and a younger boy with the same hair and sneer on his face. It was Draco Malfoy and the man next to him was presumably his father.
Lucius Malfoy.
Without so much as a sound or a breath, Harry and Lily hid behind a large showcase as the pair entered the shop. At the sound of the bell ringing over the doorway, a tall old man with gray hair and a glowering expression emerged from a back room and approached the front desk. Lily had a sudden urge to tease Malfoy at school about his father's hair-do, but upon seeing the menacing sneer on his face, she decided against it.
"Mr. Malfoy! What a pleasure to see you again." By the tone of the shopkeeper's voice, he definitely did not feel this way. "If I may, just in today--"
"--I'm not buying today, Mr. Borgin, " Lucius Malfoy cut him off snidely, "But selling."
"Selling?"
"You have heard, of course, that the Ministry of Magic is conducting more raids. There are even rumors of a new Muggle Protection Act..." he unraveled a roll of parchment and handed it to Mr. Borgin, "I have a few... ah... items at home that might prove embarrassing if the Ministry were to call. Certain poisons and the like..."
"Hmmm... yes. I see..." The man mumbled.
Draco walked over to the shriveled hand, labeled the Hand of Glory and reached out for it. It grabbed him in an iron grip and shrieked fearfully. He managed to ski free before he awkwardly composed himself and returned to his father's side. He then looked back at the hand with a mischievous sort of look, smirked, and turned to the men, "Can I have that?"
"Ah, the Hand of Glory. Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder. Best friend of thieves and plunderers." explained Mr. Borgin fondly, "Your son has fine taste, sir."
"Hopefully my son will amount to more than a thief, Mr. Borgin." he scowled at his son, "Though if his marks don't pick up--"
"--It's not my fault the teachers have favorites." Malfoy grumbled, "That Hermione Granger--"
"--I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizarding family beat you in every exam."
"It's the same all over. Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere." the shopkeeper commented.
"Not with me." he spat. Mr. Borgin averted his gaze to the parchment and checked off the items. With a satisfied nod, he pocketed the parchment and looked at the pair again.
"Very good. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow." Lucius grabbed his staff, "Come, Draco."
The father and son exited the shop and Mr. Borgin grunted as he returned to the back room he emerged from. Harry and Lily snuck out from behind the showcase and in their pursuit of the door, Harry knocked over an urn and Mr. Borgin appeared just in time to see them flee. They spotted a large rusted street sign at the end of the alleyway that read:
KNOCKTURN ALLEY
As they observed the shops around them it was clear all of the shops and people walking out of them favored the Dark Arts. Much to Lily's dismay, one store window had spiders crawling around. Outside another's shrunken heads and poisonous candles were for sale. The witches and wizards that passed by moved like slugs.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Harry grabbed Lily's wrist and began to weave through the crowd until an aged with with rotten teeth, a hooked nose and more warts than one could count grabbed his arm and smiled menacingly at them.
"Not lost are you, my dears?"
Harry wheeled around, coming face to face with the mossy and rotten teeth of the woman. Her voice was shrilly and it was clear she didn't not have good intentions in mind. Harry pushed his sister behind him and viewed the woman through his broken glasses. "We're fine, thanks. We're just--"
It was then that the familiar gruff voice belonging to Rubeus Hagrid rung out in alley, "LILY! HARRY! What d'yer think yer doin' here?!"
"Hagrid!" they sighed in relief.
The lurking wizards and witches parted ways for the giant and the aged woman backed away at his warning glare. Hagrid turned the Potters around and lead them away from the sketchy scene. "Skulkin' 'round Knockturn Alley. Dodgy place, you two. Don't want no one ter see yeh down there. People'll be thinkin' yer up ter no good."
"We were lost--" reasoned Lily.
"--Hang on. What were you doing down there?" inquired Harry. They took a turn around the bend and found themselves at their intended destination: Diagon Alley. Lily was happy to see it was exactly the same as it was when she first ventured through it in her first year -- and now it was her first time heading through it with Harry. Unlike Knockturn Alley, Diagon Alley was bright and colorful and the shops had everything from pewter cauldrons to tasty sweets to ancient books of magic galore.
"I was lookin' fer a Flesh Eatin' Slug Repellent." Hagrid replied gruffly, "They're ruinin' the school cabbages."
"Harry!" called out a young feminine voice. Hermione Granger weaved through the crowds of magical folk gathered on the steps of Gringotts Wizarding Bank as she spotted the Potters. "Lily!"
She beamed at them and after warm greetings and hugs, she greeted Hagrid with the same friendliness. "Hello, Hagrid."
"Hello Hermione."
Hermione turned to them again, "Oh, it's wonderful to see you two again." She cocked her head to the side, proceeded to take out her wand and pointed it directly between Harry's eyes. He stared at the tip of the wand uncertainly.
"Oculus Reparo." A small spark erupted from the top of her wand and Harry's glasses repaired themselves.
Harry chuckled and examined his glasses, "I need to remember that one."
"C'mon." she gestured down the road, "Everyone's been so worried."
They all turned to Hagrid and Harry bid him farewell. "See you at school, Hagrid!"
"Thanks Hagrid."
"Don't be goin' 'round there, ya hear?" he grunted with a smile and dove into the crowd of shoppers.
Hermione led Harry and Lily back up the steps of Gringotts where her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, stood nervously amongst the crowd of magical and goblin folk. Mr. Weasley questioned them on their Muggle profession as Mrs. Weasley spotted the twins and stumbled towards them.
"So you're dentists! Fascinating! I understand other Muggles quite fear you? Why is that?"
"Oh, thank goodness! We hoped you'd only gone one grate too far." Mrs. Weasley brushed the dust off of their clothes. "Come now. We're off to Flourish and Blotts."
Ginny caught up with the pace of Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Lily as they followed Mrs. Weasley through the crowd towards the small book shop. As the woman entered the shop first, the kids stopped the view a huge flyer in the window of the shop: it animately depicted a man with sandy hair, blue eyes and a charming smile. The photograph was captioned: GILDEROY LOCKHART: Here today! Signing copies of his autobiography: Magical Me...Gilderoy Lockhart.
"Isn't it thrilling?! Gilderoy Lockhart's going to be there! We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed excitedly. Upon seeing the confused looks on the boys' faces, she amended, "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"
"He looks like an arrogant git to me." Ron remarked sourly.
"He is not!" Ginny rounded on him and narrowed her eyes.
"Let's see who's right, then, shall we?" and so Lily followed Mrs. Weasley into the shop and the others followed.
The walls of the shop were lined with shelves that extended to a second floor; book old, new, frayed and dusty, in different shapes and sizes and languages. This and the unusual amount of people squeezed into the shop was much more interesting than the sandy-haired man standing cockily on a platform at the back of the large area. As Gilderoy Lockhart flashed his signature smile and a wink at the photographer for the Daily Prophet, the children noticed Mrs. Weasley pat her hair down as if to make it look more presentable.
"There he is!" she chirped like a young teenage girl.
"Mum fancies him." whispered Ron, but even amid the noisy crowd, his mother heard him. He received a sharp jab in the arm. Lily swore under her breath as another Prophet photographer pushed past her and a few others to reach the platform.
"Out of the way!" the stout man exclaimed
importantly, "This is for The Daily Prophet!"
Upon hearing this, Lockhart looked up and flashed a smile at the camera once again. The photographer snapped the photo with a blinding flash from the camera and smiled gleefully -- it was the perfect photograph. As the second photographer moved on to achieve a different angle, Gilderoy Lockhart caught sight of the Potters. His gaze lingered on them for a moment and it was only when Hermione whispered, "Harry, he's looking at you!" did the man realize he was staring at the legendary Potter twins.
"Great." Harry huffed as Lockhart stood from his seat.
"It can't be," Lockhart exclaimed with a jubilant gasp, "Harry and Lillian Potter?"
He dove into the crowd, seized Harry and Lily and dragged them up onto the platform. In his attempts to make the scene picture perfect, he made them stand on either side of him as they spluttered. Fred and George smirked at Lily's evident dismay while Mrs. Weasley gave them an encouraging nod. At the front of the shop, the upper half of his body sticking out over the crowd, was Hagrid. He winked at them.
Lockhart spoke through his flashy smile as they stared at the camera, "Nice big smile, Harry, Lily. Together, we'll make the front page!"
The camera flashed and the Potters mustered up the best lopsided smiles they could. After he snapped the photo, the first photographer looked as though he was going to faint from his excitement -- he was going to get paid big time for such a photograph! Lockhart placed his hands firmly on their shoulders to keep them in place as he addressed the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is! When young Harry and Lily here stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, Magical Me -- which, incidentally is celebrating its twenty-seventh week atop The Daily Prophet's Bestseller List, " he increased the volume of his voice, "they had no idea that they would, in fact, be leaving with my entire collected works, free of charge!"
As the crowd broke into an admirable applause, a bespectacled woman placed a stack of books in each of their arms. Mortified, they mumbled in unison, "Thank you."
After Lockhart was content with the extra publicity, he let her go peacefully and they thankfully slipped back into the crowd. Harry flushed red with embarrassment as he approached a grinning Ron; Lily avoided Fred and George all together and made a beeline to Hermione and her parents. Without a word, Lily shoved the stack of books into her cauldron.
"What're you doing?" Hermione furrowed her eyebrows.
"It's either I give them to you or I burn them." she scowled and Hermione gaped at Lily's attitude towards her wizard idol. "I don't like being paraded around, especially not for the benefit or publicity of others."
Her reasoning mattered very little to Hermione who was just happy to have signed copies of Gilderoy Lockhart's works. Behind her, Mr. and Mrs. Granger smiled at Lily as they recognized her act of kindness. She smiled back at turned to Harry who gave his books to Ginny, "You have these. I'll buy my own--"
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potters?" spat Draco Malfoy as he entered the shop. The teenagers turned towards him. "Famous Potters. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."
Hermione and the Weasley children came up behind the Potters defensively.
"Leave them alone!" snarled Ginny, "They didn't want all that!"
"Look, Potter." he mocked Malfoy, "You've got yourself a girlfriend!"
"Silence, Draco!" The sneering voice of Lucius Malloy spoke as he approached. Draco immediately fell silent. "Ah... Mr. and Miss Potter. I don't believe we've met."
Mr. Malfoy extended his hand out as if to offer a formal hand shake but instead brushed his fingers over Harry's forehead to reveal his lightning-shaped scar. "Forgive me, Mr. Potter. But your scars are legendary. As, of course, is the wizard who gave them to you two."
"He was a murderer." Harry spat.
"Yes, a pity about your parents." He did not make an effort to sound piteous, "Curious that you two should escape with a mere flesh wound. Curious, too, that you speak of him in the past. Surely, you don't think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone forever."
"His name is Voldemort." snarled Lily. Those around her gasped.
Mr. Malfoy looked directly into her eyes with keen interest at her nerve, "You must be very brave, Miss Potter, to dare speak his name -- or foolish."
Hermione cut in then, "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."
His gaze shifted to Hermione as she glared defiantly up at him. "You must be Miss Granger. Draco's told me all about you and your parents." he looked at her fidgety, "Muggles, aren't you?"
Mr. and Mrs. Granger nodded nervously and Lily's scowl grew as she heard the distaste in his tone. Lucius could barely hide his hatred for the Muggles. She growled, "Have a problem with that, do you?"
He glowered down at them and it was a good thing Fred and George grabbed a hold of Lily, for the foul man's next words angered her, "You have quite a mouth, Miss Potter, just like your arrogant father. It might get you into trouble one day."
"IS THAT A THREAT?!" she lunged at him but the boys held her back. Lucius seemed even more intrigued by her outburst. Mr. Weasley overheard the commotion and made his way over. His expression was just as contemptuous as the teenagers'.
"Well, well, well -- Arthur Weasley." venom dripped from his voice like running water.
"Lucius." Mr. Weasley replied stiffly.
"Busy time at the Ministry. All those raids. I hope they're paying you overtime." Mr. Malfoy spoke, reached into Ginny's cauldron and removed a very old, battered copy of of A Beginner's Guide To Transfiguration they got for a cheap price. "Obviously not. Dear me. What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Lucius." Mr. Weasley' voice was quiet but rage was infused to every word.
"Clearly. The company you keep, Weasley." he responded sharply, glancing at the Grangers, "And I thought your family could sink no lower."
Mr. Weasley lunged forward to hit Mr. Malfoy but Hagrid joined in at the perfect movement and put a large, firm hand on his shoulder to keep him from doing something he would regret. "Ignore 'im, Arthur."
The red-haired man backed off as his wife came over and Mr. Malfoy tossed Ginny's battered textbook back into her cauldron with contempt, "Here, girl. Take your book. It's the best your father can give you."
"Oh, look, now it's my turn to threaten someone." Lily snarled again, moving in front of Ginny. "Talk to her like that again and we are going to have a problem."
Mr. Malfoy gathered his son and exited the shop without another word. Mr. Weasley found that this was the very moment when he connected with the Potters as family. These two children, orphaned siblings, stood up against one of the foulest Wizarding families in the Weasleys defense. And it was not out of obligation or pity for their financial status, but out of friendship.
Hagrid looked at the Weasleys, "No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter. Rotten ter the core, the whole family..."
"Yeah, but it seems as though our Lily can hold her own against them." Mrs. Weasley chuckled, hiding the tears in her eyes.
As her anger rolled off of her in waves, Lily turned to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, "Do you mind if we go to the joke shop down the alley?"
While Mrs. Weasley seemed hesitant as they didn't have enough money to spare for it, Mr. Weasley nodded, "Of course. We'll just finish up here and go grab some ice cream cones for everyone after, how does that sound?"
"Thanks Dad! Thanks Mom!" The Weasley kids said in unison as they filed out of the shop with the Potters. Percy stayed behind with their parents as he was too mature for the joke shop.
As the teenagers weaved through the thinning crowds to get to the joke shop, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley headed off to the nearby ice cream shop to discuss sleeping arrangements for Harry and Lily. Mrs. Weasley just couldn't bear the thought of sending them off to the Dursleys again where they would be starved and neglected. And so that was the beginning of the rest of their summer before the start of term.