Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Independence Day
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and other canon characters belong to JKR I'm only having some fun
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and other canon characters belong to JKR I'm only having some fun
Chapter 2: Planning and Preparation
After eating two slices of bread and cheese and drinking some water, Harry started making his plans, he first checked everything in his school trunk and removed Tracking Charms from various items of clothing, someone (Dumbledore) was really going all out to keep him under surveillance. This did not make him any happier with Dumbledore and only served to make him feel even more manipulated. He knew he had to speak to someone about how he felt, but who? Other than the Dursleys the only adults he knew were either School Staff or Members of Dumbledore's Order, then it clicked, Hermione's parents, they were Muggles and professional people, maybe they could help him. Hermione had given him her phone number, all he needed now was to be able to phone her without the Dursleys or the Order finding out.
Harry was aware that if he wanted to convince Hermione and her parents to help him he needed to be able to show good reason for thinking that he was being manipulated. He took out some parchment and started listing Dumbledore's treatment of him over the years.
1. Placed him with the Dursleys against the provision in his father's Will.
2. Left him to be mistreated for almost ten years, he must have known where he was living, the first letter was addressed to his cupboard and Mrs. Figg, an Order member certainly knew how the Dursleys treated him.
3. Not given his parent's belongings or his father's Will on his eleventh birthday as per his father's request.
4. 1st Year. Dumbledore sent the most indiscreet member of Hogwarts staff with him to collect his school supplies, the same person who fed him negative information on all the school Houses, except Gryffindor and was carrying out a special mission for Dumbledore the same day.
5. Didn't inform him of how to get onto Platform 9¾, but Molly Weasley just happened to be there at the right time talking indiscreetly about Muggles.
6. Befriended by Ron Weasley on the train, coincidence or not? He would decide later.
7. Fed just enough information throughout the year to keep him and his friends interested in finding the Philosophers Stone, including giving him his father's invisibility cloak just when he needed it.
That was one of the items Harry had found a Tracking Charm on.
8. Almost got him and his friends killed protecting the stone and then forced him to return to Privet Drive.
9. 2nd Year. Almost expelled due to a rogue house-elf, rescued by Ron and the Weasley twins.
10. Allowed, with his friends, to brew an illegal potion and to chase clues about the Chamber of Secrets, again just enough information coming their way to keep them interested.
11. Almost killed again while rescuing Ginny Weasley from the Basilisk
12. Sent back to the Dursleys and isolated once more.
13. 3rd Year. Got off with blowing up Aunt Marge.
14. Allowed to overhear the Weasleys discussing Sirius Black.
15. Reunited with Sirius, only to be parted from him due to Snape's interference, almost being killed by Dementors in the process.
16. 4th Year. Good summer.
17. Manipulated into taking part in the Triwizard Tournament.
18. Fed information and assisted through the tasks only to witness the return of Voldemort and the death of Cedric.
19. Taught by a Death Eater in disguise.
20. Given no help after Cedric died, sent back to his relatives and isolated from his friends.
21. 5th Year. Forced to learn Occlumency from a Professor who hated him.
22. Ignored by Dumbledore.
23. Tortured during detentions with Umbridge
24. Banned for life from playing Quidditch.
25. Manipulated into forming the D.A.
26. Tricked into going to the Department of Mysteries.
27. Watched while Sirius died.
28. Told of the Prophecy concerning him and Voldemort and made feel guilty over Sirius' death.
29. Sent back to the living Hell of Privet Drive and isolated from his friends again.
30. Banned from writing to anyone except the Order.
Harry re-read his list, he didn't blame Hagrid for what had happened, Hagrid had been manipulated just as he had. The Weasleys were another matter, had they been willing participants, or had Dumbledore used them as pawns? Only time would tell.
Harry didn't feel up to reading his mother's Journal, he was still emotionally fragile from reading the letters and his Father's Will and didn't know if he would ever be able to read it. His father's books were another matter, he delved into the Auror Training Manuals and found one on Occlumency and Legilimency 'Good' /he thought 'Maybe this will help me find out how to keep Voldemort, Snape and Dumbledore out of my head.'/
After reading the introduction he realised that Snape had been doing little more than torturing him, to be an accomplished Occlumens he had to learn how to shield his mind from intrusion, and the first step to doing so was to learn relaxation and meditation techniques which would help clear his mind. Harry read the chapter on relaxation and started the first exercise. He did as the book said and started concentrating on his breathing. As he took the long slow breaths recommended, he tensed his left foot and relaxed it as he breathed out. He continued with his right foot and gradually worked his way up his legs onto his torso, tensing and relaxing each muscle group in turn, when he got to his shoulders he moved down to his hands and continued the exercise. Thirty minutes later, the shouts of Dudley's gang out in the street brought him out of his state of relaxation, he felt more rested than he had since before Cedric's death.
The next stage was to learn how to meditate, he re-did the relaxation exercise and took it one stage further, when he was relaxed, he took a single thought and concentrated on it, he took the memory of his first flight on his Nimbus broom and let his mind fly with it, after some time, he was aware of the sound of the phone ringing and he allowed himself to come back to reality. He thought he'd only been meditating for a few minutes when in reality he had been doing so for almost an hour.
Taking a break he ate another two slices of the bread with some cheese and drank a mouthful of water. The next stage in learning Occlumency was to go into the meditative state and to start sorting through his memories, there were several methods of doing this, each equally valid, it was up to the individual to select one that they thought would work for them. Harry decided to go with what he knew and imagined his mind to be a Quidditch team changing room. The everyday thoughts that he didn't mind people seeing he hung on pegs, they looked like Quidditch robes and had the name of the memory written on the back where the player's name would be. Other thoughts he put into lockers and padlocked them shut, the memories he didn't want found he locked in a safe in the coach's office.
By the time he had finished the light outside was fading, so he waited for the bulb to light and when it did he ate the remainder of his bread and cheese. As soon as the light went out he practised his meditation and relaxation and allowed himself to drift off to sleep. His dreams that night were pleasant ones and he only woke once and that was due to his dream involving a certain witch with bushy brown hair and copious amounts of whipped cream. Sitting up he did a quick cleaning charm on his sleeping bag and the boxers he used as pj's and allowed himself to drift back to sleep.
Harry's day started much the same as the previous one, he was wakened by the sun at around 4:30 and decided that some more reading would be in order. As he had left Kings Cross Station, Ron had thrust a Quidditch Magazine into his pocket so he started to read it. He found most of the articles boring (I mean who cares what hair-care product the Seeker for Puddlemere uses) but an advert caught his eye. 'Modern Transport for the Modern World.' The people who brought you the Knight Bus are proud to present the Knight Taxi Service, just hold out your wand hand and shout 'TAXI' and one of our drivers will take you to your destination. All destinations 5 Galleons.
'Brilliant' /thought Harry 'If I can phone Hermione and arrange to speak to her and her parents I can use the Taxi service to get to her house.'/
When Vernon released him with the usual message, Harry was delayed from getting into the bathroom by Dudley, and entered the kitchen in time to see his ration box being locked in a cupboard. He was sent back up to his room and told to be on time in the future and reminded that the next day he would be expected to do the garden.
The rest of his daylight hours were spent practising Occlumency and reading, he strengthened his mental shields using the exercises described in the book and was becoming confident in his ability. As he meditated he searched for his 'Magical Core', the book described it as being the centre of his magical self, the stronger the wizard or witch the larger the core. When he found it, he discovered that his core was large but for some reason there was some sort of block on it. He allowed himself to come out of his meditation and started reading again. This time his reading was on magical blocks, he discovered that blocks were usually placed on babies who showed unusual levels of 'Accidental Magic' and gradually released as they grew older being fully released when they started school. If the blocks weren't removed, then it became harder for the witch or wizard to learn new things and could even stunt their magical and physical growth.
Harry cast the block detection charm and discovered that he had been blocked on the day he had arrived at 4 Privet Drive. The block had been placed on him by none other than Dumbledore, chalk up one more reason for anger against the old man. Harry also discovered that he could not remove the block himself but would have to get someone to do it for him. He decided to leave it in place for the time being as the power surge that the removal would cause would set off every Ministry magic detector for miles around.
Uncle Vernon appeared at the hatch when the light should have come on. "Potter let me see you write to the freaks. You will write 'everything fine, the Dursleys are treating me well and only asking me to do the garden.' Then you will give me the letter and the owl and I will send it off at breakfast, you're not going to tell them lies this year."
Harry did as asked and was glad that the owl being put into his uncle's care wasn't Hedwig, he really missed his owl, she had been the one constant in his life, there when others couldn't or wouldn't be there for him. As the light went out he lay down and slept.
The following morning Harry managed to get washed and down for breakfast in the allotted time, he was given a bowl of unbranded cereal while the Dursleys tucked into a full cooked breakfast and was told that on the days he worked he would be allowed cereal for breakfast.
Harry spent the day doing his gardening and planning on how he would contact Hermione. Dudley had disappeared off with his gang and his aunt had left, locking the house and setting an intruder alarm, unaware that Harry was able to do magic undetected and that he could use it to bypass the alarm.
Harry gave his aunt ten minutes and then opened the door with a quick 'Alohamora', he looked at the alarm and saw not only the instructions but the alarm code written inside the control panel.
/'How thick can you get' /he thought, but then realised that it was probably so Dudley could set or unset the alarm if his parents weren't around. He unset the alarm and took out the piece of parchment with Hermione's phone number on it.
Nervously he dialled the number and waited for a reply, "Granger residence, Hermione speaking" said the familiar voice.
"Hi, its Harry" he replied. And then went into lie mode. "Dumbledore said I could phone you as I can't use Hedwig to send letters, he also said I could visit you during the day if its okay with your parents. If your mum and dad say its okay, could I visit you tomorrow?"
Harry heard a muffled conversation at the other end of the line and then Hermione's voice came back on the phone. "Mum say its okay for tomorrow."
"Great" he replied, "Could I speak to your mum for a minute"
"Sure, I'll get her to pick up the extension"
A voice very similar to Hermione's came on the line.
"Mrs. Granger, thank you for letting me visit tomorrow, when I'm at your house could I ask your advice on something? I can't speak about it on the phone but I would appreciate it if you could give me some of your time."
"Certainly, Harry, I would be happy to help if I can, come at 10 a.m. Now here's Hermione back"
Harry heard the extension click and Hermione's voice came back on. "Harry, I'm really glad you're coming, bring your swimsuit and we can go in the pool."
"Okay" Harry replied and after a trail of goodbyes the two teens hung up.
Split scene 1: At the Grangers
Hermione's mother looked on in shock as her normally reserved daughter bounced up and down singing "Harry's coming to my house" over and over again.
"Hermione, is there anything you want to tell me before Harry arrives?" she asked. "It's just that I noticed how you said goodbye at Kings Cross and kept looking back at each other and I don't want to say the wrong thing when he's here."
"Mum, I really like Harry I want to be more than his best friend, but I don't know how to get his attention. I'm sure he likes me the same way but doesn't know how to express it, how do I get him to notice me?"
"Just be yourself, dear, that and wear your white bikini when you go into the pool."
"But mum, that bikini's two sizes too small and goes see-through when wet, oh, I see now, thanks, mum"
Split scene 2: At the Dursleys
Harry quickly reset the alarm, left the house and locked the door behind him. His thoughts were reeling, he had just spoken to Hermione, the sound of her voice had sent his pulse soaring and the warm tones she had used when speaking to him hadn't had a settling effect. Quite the opposite in fact, he had visions of her in a skimpy bikini but couldn't believe he would be that lucky, going by what she normally wore, her bathing suit would be an old-fashioned one-piece that covered up all the interesting bits. He got back to his gardening hoping to get finished before his uncle returned.
Harry was a good gardener, after all he'd had plenty of practice and the state of the garden dismayed him, all his good work from last summer was undone, no one had bothered to weed the flowerbeds or de-moss the lawn, it would take him most of the summer to put it right. He had started mowing the lawn before his phone-call and quickly finished that job. He raked up the loose grass and dumped it all in the compost heap he had started after learning about it in Herbology. He then got out the rake and started raking the moss out of the lawn. After that he went over it again and pulled up the weeds. Some of them he recognised as potion ingredients so he carefully bagged them just in case he could find a use for them.
He worked all afternoon, wishing that he had some dragon-dung fertiliser to put on the flowerbeds, not only would it give the plants a welcome boost but it would deter the neighbourhood cats and dogs from using the garden as a latrine. He wondered if Dumbledore would let Professor Sprout send him some, he knew that Neville had taken some home to experiment with over the summer.
By the time Vernon had arrived home all Harry had left to do was trim the hedge, of course this didn't please Vernon, so Harry was treated to a swift punch to the stomach with a blow to the kidneys thrown in for good measure. He was sent up to his room without any food but was given his bottle of water.
Harry was exhausted by the physical labour and fell asleep as it got dark and woke later than usual. He looked at his watch, only three more hours and he would see Hermione, the witch that filled his pleasant dreams. He wished he knew what this meant, he knew he trusted her more than he did Ron, after all she had always stood by him, but was there anything more? How do you know when you are in love? How do you know it isn't a mad crush like he'd had on Cho? He wished there was someone he could ask, but the one person he could've asked was dead, killed rescuing him from Death Eaters, and it was all my fault.
A little voice sounded deep within Harry's subconscious, 'It wasn't your fault Harry, I went willingly to rescue you, if you need to blame anyone blame Trixie or Voldemort, or even Dumblebore.' Harry shook his head, 'Hearing things again Potter, if you don't watch you'll go mad.'
His thought processes were interrupted by the sound of the loft ladder being pulled down he hurried past his uncle and made use of the facilities. He tried to get down the stairs but found Dudley blocking him, going down one stair at a time as slowly as humanly possible. Once again he got to the kitchen in time to see his box being locked into the cupboard. He was handed a bottle of water and told to get his lazy freakish hide back up to his room.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and other canon characters belong to JKR I'm only having some fun
Chapter 2: Planning and Preparation
After eating two slices of bread and cheese and drinking some water, Harry started making his plans, he first checked everything in his school trunk and removed Tracking Charms from various items of clothing, someone (Dumbledore) was really going all out to keep him under surveillance. This did not make him any happier with Dumbledore and only served to make him feel even more manipulated. He knew he had to speak to someone about how he felt, but who? Other than the Dursleys the only adults he knew were either School Staff or Members of Dumbledore's Order, then it clicked, Hermione's parents, they were Muggles and professional people, maybe they could help him. Hermione had given him her phone number, all he needed now was to be able to phone her without the Dursleys or the Order finding out.
Harry was aware that if he wanted to convince Hermione and her parents to help him he needed to be able to show good reason for thinking that he was being manipulated. He took out some parchment and started listing Dumbledore's treatment of him over the years.
1. Placed him with the Dursleys against the provision in his father's Will.
2. Left him to be mistreated for almost ten years, he must have known where he was living, the first letter was addressed to his cupboard and Mrs. Figg, an Order member certainly knew how the Dursleys treated him.
3. Not given his parent's belongings or his father's Will on his eleventh birthday as per his father's request.
4. 1st Year. Dumbledore sent the most indiscreet member of Hogwarts staff with him to collect his school supplies, the same person who fed him negative information on all the school Houses, except Gryffindor and was carrying out a special mission for Dumbledore the same day.
5. Didn't inform him of how to get onto Platform 9¾, but Molly Weasley just happened to be there at the right time talking indiscreetly about Muggles.
6. Befriended by Ron Weasley on the train, coincidence or not? He would decide later.
7. Fed just enough information throughout the year to keep him and his friends interested in finding the Philosophers Stone, including giving him his father's invisibility cloak just when he needed it.
That was one of the items Harry had found a Tracking Charm on.
8. Almost got him and his friends killed protecting the stone and then forced him to return to Privet Drive.
9. 2nd Year. Almost expelled due to a rogue house-elf, rescued by Ron and the Weasley twins.
10. Allowed, with his friends, to brew an illegal potion and to chase clues about the Chamber of Secrets, again just enough information coming their way to keep them interested.
11. Almost killed again while rescuing Ginny Weasley from the Basilisk
12. Sent back to the Dursleys and isolated once more.
13. 3rd Year. Got off with blowing up Aunt Marge.
14. Allowed to overhear the Weasleys discussing Sirius Black.
15. Reunited with Sirius, only to be parted from him due to Snape's interference, almost being killed by Dementors in the process.
16. 4th Year. Good summer.
17. Manipulated into taking part in the Triwizard Tournament.
18. Fed information and assisted through the tasks only to witness the return of Voldemort and the death of Cedric.
19. Taught by a Death Eater in disguise.
20. Given no help after Cedric died, sent back to his relatives and isolated from his friends.
21. 5th Year. Forced to learn Occlumency from a Professor who hated him.
22. Ignored by Dumbledore.
23. Tortured during detentions with Umbridge
24. Banned for life from playing Quidditch.
25. Manipulated into forming the D.A.
26. Tricked into going to the Department of Mysteries.
27. Watched while Sirius died.
28. Told of the Prophecy concerning him and Voldemort and made feel guilty over Sirius' death.
29. Sent back to the living Hell of Privet Drive and isolated from his friends again.
30. Banned from writing to anyone except the Order.
Harry re-read his list, he didn't blame Hagrid for what had happened, Hagrid had been manipulated just as he had. The Weasleys were another matter, had they been willing participants, or had Dumbledore used them as pawns? Only time would tell.
Harry didn't feel up to reading his mother's Journal, he was still emotionally fragile from reading the letters and his Father's Will and didn't know if he would ever be able to read it. His father's books were another matter, he delved into the Auror Training Manuals and found one on Occlumency and Legilimency 'Good' /he thought 'Maybe this will help me find out how to keep Voldemort, Snape and Dumbledore out of my head.'/
After reading the introduction he realised that Snape had been doing little more than torturing him, to be an accomplished Occlumens he had to learn how to shield his mind from intrusion, and the first step to doing so was to learn relaxation and meditation techniques which would help clear his mind. Harry read the chapter on relaxation and started the first exercise. He did as the book said and started concentrating on his breathing. As he took the long slow breaths recommended, he tensed his left foot and relaxed it as he breathed out. He continued with his right foot and gradually worked his way up his legs onto his torso, tensing and relaxing each muscle group in turn, when he got to his shoulders he moved down to his hands and continued the exercise. Thirty minutes later, the shouts of Dudley's gang out in the street brought him out of his state of relaxation, he felt more rested than he had since before Cedric's death.
The next stage was to learn how to meditate, he re-did the relaxation exercise and took it one stage further, when he was relaxed, he took a single thought and concentrated on it, he took the memory of his first flight on his Nimbus broom and let his mind fly with it, after some time, he was aware of the sound of the phone ringing and he allowed himself to come back to reality. He thought he'd only been meditating for a few minutes when in reality he had been doing so for almost an hour.
Taking a break he ate another two slices of the bread with some cheese and drank a mouthful of water. The next stage in learning Occlumency was to go into the meditative state and to start sorting through his memories, there were several methods of doing this, each equally valid, it was up to the individual to select one that they thought would work for them. Harry decided to go with what he knew and imagined his mind to be a Quidditch team changing room. The everyday thoughts that he didn't mind people seeing he hung on pegs, they looked like Quidditch robes and had the name of the memory written on the back where the player's name would be. Other thoughts he put into lockers and padlocked them shut, the memories he didn't want found he locked in a safe in the coach's office.
By the time he had finished the light outside was fading, so he waited for the bulb to light and when it did he ate the remainder of his bread and cheese. As soon as the light went out he practised his meditation and relaxation and allowed himself to drift off to sleep. His dreams that night were pleasant ones and he only woke once and that was due to his dream involving a certain witch with bushy brown hair and copious amounts of whipped cream. Sitting up he did a quick cleaning charm on his sleeping bag and the boxers he used as pj's and allowed himself to drift back to sleep.
Harry's day started much the same as the previous one, he was wakened by the sun at around 4:30 and decided that some more reading would be in order. As he had left Kings Cross Station, Ron had thrust a Quidditch Magazine into his pocket so he started to read it. He found most of the articles boring (I mean who cares what hair-care product the Seeker for Puddlemere uses) but an advert caught his eye. 'Modern Transport for the Modern World.' The people who brought you the Knight Bus are proud to present the Knight Taxi Service, just hold out your wand hand and shout 'TAXI' and one of our drivers will take you to your destination. All destinations 5 Galleons.
'Brilliant' /thought Harry 'If I can phone Hermione and arrange to speak to her and her parents I can use the Taxi service to get to her house.'/
When Vernon released him with the usual message, Harry was delayed from getting into the bathroom by Dudley, and entered the kitchen in time to see his ration box being locked in a cupboard. He was sent back up to his room and told to be on time in the future and reminded that the next day he would be expected to do the garden.
The rest of his daylight hours were spent practising Occlumency and reading, he strengthened his mental shields using the exercises described in the book and was becoming confident in his ability. As he meditated he searched for his 'Magical Core', the book described it as being the centre of his magical self, the stronger the wizard or witch the larger the core. When he found it, he discovered that his core was large but for some reason there was some sort of block on it. He allowed himself to come out of his meditation and started reading again. This time his reading was on magical blocks, he discovered that blocks were usually placed on babies who showed unusual levels of 'Accidental Magic' and gradually released as they grew older being fully released when they started school. If the blocks weren't removed, then it became harder for the witch or wizard to learn new things and could even stunt their magical and physical growth.
Harry cast the block detection charm and discovered that he had been blocked on the day he had arrived at 4 Privet Drive. The block had been placed on him by none other than Dumbledore, chalk up one more reason for anger against the old man. Harry also discovered that he could not remove the block himself but would have to get someone to do it for him. He decided to leave it in place for the time being as the power surge that the removal would cause would set off every Ministry magic detector for miles around.
Uncle Vernon appeared at the hatch when the light should have come on. "Potter let me see you write to the freaks. You will write 'everything fine, the Dursleys are treating me well and only asking me to do the garden.' Then you will give me the letter and the owl and I will send it off at breakfast, you're not going to tell them lies this year."
Harry did as asked and was glad that the owl being put into his uncle's care wasn't Hedwig, he really missed his owl, she had been the one constant in his life, there when others couldn't or wouldn't be there for him. As the light went out he lay down and slept.
The following morning Harry managed to get washed and down for breakfast in the allotted time, he was given a bowl of unbranded cereal while the Dursleys tucked into a full cooked breakfast and was told that on the days he worked he would be allowed cereal for breakfast.
Harry spent the day doing his gardening and planning on how he would contact Hermione. Dudley had disappeared off with his gang and his aunt had left, locking the house and setting an intruder alarm, unaware that Harry was able to do magic undetected and that he could use it to bypass the alarm.
Harry gave his aunt ten minutes and then opened the door with a quick 'Alohamora', he looked at the alarm and saw not only the instructions but the alarm code written inside the control panel.
/'How thick can you get' /he thought, but then realised that it was probably so Dudley could set or unset the alarm if his parents weren't around. He unset the alarm and took out the piece of parchment with Hermione's phone number on it.
Nervously he dialled the number and waited for a reply, "Granger residence, Hermione speaking" said the familiar voice.
"Hi, its Harry" he replied. And then went into lie mode. "Dumbledore said I could phone you as I can't use Hedwig to send letters, he also said I could visit you during the day if its okay with your parents. If your mum and dad say its okay, could I visit you tomorrow?"
Harry heard a muffled conversation at the other end of the line and then Hermione's voice came back on the phone. "Mum say its okay for tomorrow."
"Great" he replied, "Could I speak to your mum for a minute"
"Sure, I'll get her to pick up the extension"
A voice very similar to Hermione's came on the line.
"Mrs. Granger, thank you for letting me visit tomorrow, when I'm at your house could I ask your advice on something? I can't speak about it on the phone but I would appreciate it if you could give me some of your time."
"Certainly, Harry, I would be happy to help if I can, come at 10 a.m. Now here's Hermione back"
Harry heard the extension click and Hermione's voice came back on. "Harry, I'm really glad you're coming, bring your swimsuit and we can go in the pool."
"Okay" Harry replied and after a trail of goodbyes the two teens hung up.
Split scene 1: At the Grangers
Hermione's mother looked on in shock as her normally reserved daughter bounced up and down singing "Harry's coming to my house" over and over again.
"Hermione, is there anything you want to tell me before Harry arrives?" she asked. "It's just that I noticed how you said goodbye at Kings Cross and kept looking back at each other and I don't want to say the wrong thing when he's here."
"Mum, I really like Harry I want to be more than his best friend, but I don't know how to get his attention. I'm sure he likes me the same way but doesn't know how to express it, how do I get him to notice me?"
"Just be yourself, dear, that and wear your white bikini when you go into the pool."
"But mum, that bikini's two sizes too small and goes see-through when wet, oh, I see now, thanks, mum"
Split scene 2: At the Dursleys
Harry quickly reset the alarm, left the house and locked the door behind him. His thoughts were reeling, he had just spoken to Hermione, the sound of her voice had sent his pulse soaring and the warm tones she had used when speaking to him hadn't had a settling effect. Quite the opposite in fact, he had visions of her in a skimpy bikini but couldn't believe he would be that lucky, going by what she normally wore, her bathing suit would be an old-fashioned one-piece that covered up all the interesting bits. He got back to his gardening hoping to get finished before his uncle returned.
Harry was a good gardener, after all he'd had plenty of practice and the state of the garden dismayed him, all his good work from last summer was undone, no one had bothered to weed the flowerbeds or de-moss the lawn, it would take him most of the summer to put it right. He had started mowing the lawn before his phone-call and quickly finished that job. He raked up the loose grass and dumped it all in the compost heap he had started after learning about it in Herbology. He then got out the rake and started raking the moss out of the lawn. After that he went over it again and pulled up the weeds. Some of them he recognised as potion ingredients so he carefully bagged them just in case he could find a use for them.
He worked all afternoon, wishing that he had some dragon-dung fertiliser to put on the flowerbeds, not only would it give the plants a welcome boost but it would deter the neighbourhood cats and dogs from using the garden as a latrine. He wondered if Dumbledore would let Professor Sprout send him some, he knew that Neville had taken some home to experiment with over the summer.
By the time Vernon had arrived home all Harry had left to do was trim the hedge, of course this didn't please Vernon, so Harry was treated to a swift punch to the stomach with a blow to the kidneys thrown in for good measure. He was sent up to his room without any food but was given his bottle of water.
Harry was exhausted by the physical labour and fell asleep as it got dark and woke later than usual. He looked at his watch, only three more hours and he would see Hermione, the witch that filled his pleasant dreams. He wished he knew what this meant, he knew he trusted her more than he did Ron, after all she had always stood by him, but was there anything more? How do you know when you are in love? How do you know it isn't a mad crush like he'd had on Cho? He wished there was someone he could ask, but the one person he could've asked was dead, killed rescuing him from Death Eaters, and it was all my fault.
A little voice sounded deep within Harry's subconscious, 'It wasn't your fault Harry, I went willingly to rescue you, if you need to blame anyone blame Trixie or Voldemort, or even Dumblebore.' Harry shook his head, 'Hearing things again Potter, if you don't watch you'll go mad.'
His thought processes were interrupted by the sound of the loft ladder being pulled down he hurried past his uncle and made use of the facilities. He tried to get down the stairs but found Dudley blocking him, going down one stair at a time as slowly as humanly possible. Once again he got to the kitchen in time to see his box being locked into the cupboard. He was handed a bottle of water and told to get his lazy freakish hide back up to his room.
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