Order of the Phoenix
Return to Normalcy
By Ruskbyte
Chapter Twenty Four
~ Return to Normalcy ~
"D'you think anybody would mind if I completely erased the Dursleys’ personalities and gave them new ones?"
Everyone standing around him looked at Harry with expressions ranging from puzzlement to outright horror. Harry matched their gazes with a bland expression, looking for all the world as if he honestly meant what he’d said. The frightening thing was that he really had.
Even with the Order's power helping him perform magic outside of Hogwarts without detection, Harry felt as eager to return to Privet Drive as he always did. In other words, not at all.
"Harry, you're not serious, are you?" asked Hermione, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Well, you have to admit," commented George, "the idea is tempting..."
Hermione rounded on the twin and glared at him. "George Weasley, don't you dare say things like that!"
Harry sighed and turned to look up at the castle, half hidden by hills and trees, trying to take strength in the knowledge that he would be back in only a couple of months.
It's going to seem like an eternity, he silently groaned.
*For you and us all.*
His fifth year at Hogwarts had drawn to a close and now he, along with his friends and fellow students were down at the Hogsmeade train station. Most of the crowds had already boarded the Hogwarts Express for their journey to platform nine and three-quarters, but Harry and his little group were taking their time.
For six of them this was the last time they would be seeing Hogwarts as students. Fred, George and Lee were taking it pretty well - laughing, joking and reminiscing over the many good days and detentions they had spent there. The girls were proving more emotional, and only Angelina had not yet burst into tears, although she was looking very misty-eyed.
The younger teenagers were also feeling less than ecstatic about leaving as they were now faced with imminent separation from their significant others. Ron and Hermione had it worse than Harry and Ginny, since Hermione would only be coming to the Burrow for the last day or two of the summer. Unfortunately this did not make Harry feel any better.
"Don't let it get you down, Harry," Ginny tried to comfort him, standing close and running a hand between his shoulder blades. "Before you know it, it'll be your birthday, and you'll be coming to stay with us."
"I know," Harry sighed and turned to smile at her. "But a month with my 'family' is an experience I wouldn't even wish on Snape."
Ginny smiled at him and asked in a playful tone, "What about Malfoy?"
Harry pretended to pause and think about it. "Maybe."
All conversation was interrupted by a chill wind that suddenly gusted around them. Despite the onset of summer, the weather was oddly foul and matched Harry's own dispirited mood. A pall of steely clouds hung low in the air, and the sun had been hidden behind them for the past week. It was a cold day, and the season could easily have been mistaken for late autumn.
Harry scarcely noticed, and even if he had he would not have cared. Everyone else was dressing in jumpers and jackets with robes and cloaks wrapped around them to stave off the biting wind. Harry had on just a pair of jeans and a loose-fitting t-shirt.
The cold was nice. Comforting in a way.
"Brrr!" shivered Fred, rubbing his hands up and down his arms, "bloody chilly, isn't it?"
"Wonderful way to start off the summer," agreed George pulling his robe tighter.
Ron frowned at his older brothers. "Would have been better if we'd won the House Cup. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy seeing pink Slytherins but if you two had held off the pranks just a bit we might've had a chance of beating Hufflepuff and coming third instead of dead last."
Lee waved the younger boy's complaints away. "Come on, Ron! No force on earth, not even Harry, could have helped us win the Cup. So what was wrong with making the most of our remaining time at school? At least it was Ravenclaw that won and not the Slytherins."
"Besides," chimed in Angelina, sniffling a bit, "you have to admit, it was worth it."
"Was it ever," gloated Fred, grinning with delicious satisfaction.
George swung his arms around Alicia and Katie's shoulders and sighed. "Ah, pink Slytherins... if only we'd thought of it for the Quidditch match."
Ron snorted. "If you had, we'd never have won the game."
"Yeah," agreed Lee, "our players would have been too busy laughing at them to play properly. Flying around on their brooms like pink..."
"Moira would have still hit Bludgers at them," said Ginny with conviction.
Hermione nodded. "That girl is far too violent."
Harry smirked at her and chuckled. "I imagine my PFT classes will be a lot more lively with her in them next year."
"She'll only a third-year next year, Harry," said Ginny, reminding them that only fourth-years and above were permitted to attend Practical Fighting Techniques.
"Dumbledore decided to extend it down to third-years," replied Harry, remembering the conversation he had had with the headmaster the previous week.
With Voldemort's return explicitly confirmed and his dramatic attack on Hogwarts several months ago, Dumbledore agreed that the students would need all the advantages they could get. They had even talked about maybe obtaining an assistant to help Harry during his lessons.
Remus Lupin had seemed like a good choice, since he would not be continuing as Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Unfortunately his tenure at the school had been terminated so that he could pursue activities elsewhere in Dumbledore's service. As such Lupin was unavailable, and Dumbledore was preoccupied with finding a replacement for the position the following year.
I still wonder if he was joking when he said he might hire me for the job.
*Heh, could you imagine it?*
*Imagine Malfoy's face if he found out.*
"Come on," urged Hermione from one side, pulling on Ron. "The train's leaving in a minute or two. We'd better get onboard."
"Alas!" cried Fred dramatically, "dear Hogwarts, how we shall miss you!"
"Let us count the ways!" agreed George, pretending to swoon.
Ginny looked at her comedic brothers and noted dryly, "Not to mention the detentions."
The twins gave their sister a mock offended look before grinning and jumping onto the steam engine's rear carriage. Everyone else followed after them, Ron and Hermione leading the way to their customary compartment.
With ten of them crowding into the one compartment, it was a tight fit, but somehow they managed. It was mostly thanks to the girls, who saved space by finding more or less comfortable seats in the laps of the five boys. Of course the boys did not find the situation as comfortable, especially when their partners deliberately started wiggling about.
Don't think about it, thought Harry in a strained tone as Ginny pressed her rear against him. When she started to surreptitiously grind around in small circles that seriously disrupted his blood flow, Harry swallowed and his thoughts became a mantra. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it...
*You're thinking about it,* noted a bemused female alto.
Oh God, please don't let her feel that...
Ginny turned her head to look at him and smiled in the same smugly superior way she had during their date at the Ragnarok. The date where she had tortured him mercilessly for hours with the knowledge that she had not been wearing anything beneath her dress.
"You okay, Harry?" she asked teasingly, wiggling provocatively against him.
"I'm going to pass out," Harry managed to say, amazed that his voice did note sound as strangled as he had thought it would.
Ginny arched an eyebrow and asked with a knowing grin. "And why's that?"
Harry looked her in the eyes and grinned back, deciding to play along. He lifted his hands up and gently placed them on Ginny's hips. With a knowing smirk that rivalled her own, he pulled her tightly to him and purred into her ear, "Lack of blood to my brain. It's all being diverted somewhere else."
*Harry!* protested several feminine voices in the back of his head as he watched Ginny's face suddenly blossom with a remarkable red.
"Got you," he whispered with satisfaction. He then drew away just enough to tenderly brush his lips against hers. They were prevented from continuing their flirtations as the train gave a brief jolt and the gleaming red steam engine whistled shrilly.
As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the Hogsmeade train station and began its winding journey towards London, Harry leaned against the window he was sitting beside. Pressing his cheek against the cool glass he looked out at the place he considered a second home, maybe even his proper home.
Fifteen minutes later he was still watching, long after Hogwarts had vanished from view.
***
In an occurrence that everyone agreed was something of a miracle, the entire journey from Hogwarts to platform nine and three-quarters was accomplished without any interruption by Draco Malfoy. As they disembarked the train, it was Ron that commented on this, with a mixture of satisfaction and disbelief.
"Smarmy git's beginning to learn," he declared as they lumped their trunks onto the trolleys they were pushing.
"Took him long enough," grumbled Harry, lifting his trunk into the air with almost no effort and depositing it on his trolley. Once certain that it was firmly in place he turned around to grab Ginny's trunk and transfer it from the carriage to her trolley.
He's so sweet that way, thought Ginny, watching him handle her trunk. He doesn't even realize how exceptional he is.
"Only five years," agreed George with a grin.
"Not to mention countless beatings this year, eh Harry?" asked Fred, grinning wickedly.
Ginny shook her head and playfully wagged a finger at her brothers. "You two are incorrigible."
"Y'know, Gin-Gin," countered Fred, deliberately using that annoying nickname they had assigned her during the year, "you certainly lack the Weasley sense of humour."
"Only when the joke's not funny," she snapped back, narrowing her eyes at him. I might have to hurt them if they don't stop calling me that.
George clasped his hands at his chest and groaned theatrically. "Oh! Touché!"
The two tricksters beamed at Ginny as she hissed in annoyance. She wondered how she was going to survive the summer being cooped up in the Burrow with them both. Watching them both grinning at her with demented relish, she started to take a step towards them, ready to cause them physical harm.
"Relax, Gin," soothed Harry, patting her on the shoulder. "You know they don't really mean anything by it."
"I know," she sighed, trying to rein in her annoyance. "I'm just worried that I'll end up being the butt of all their jokes again now that we're home."
Harry looked at her and arched his eyebrows, letting his eyes wander downwards. "And a very nice butt it is too."
Absolute silence descended over everyone standing around them. Ron and Hermione were openly gaping at Harry, both in disbelief. Alicia, Angelina and Katie seemed to be blushing, although Angelina was definitely the most composed of the three. Lee was staring at Harry in what looked like admiration and the twins...
Just swallow me up, Ginny prayed to any and every god that might happen to be listening.
Ginny had thought their expressions after turning the Slytherins pink had been wickedly evil. Compared to how they were looking at Harry and her now, that had been almost stoic. The fierce blush rising up to burn her cheeks was certainly not helping matters.
*Take some deep breaths before you spontaneously combust.*
*Now you know how Harry felt before your date.*
Oh Lord, just swallow me whole.
Before any of those watching could speak, Ginny looked from Harry to her trunk and asked in as calm and nonchalant a voice as possible, "Did you pack my sword, Harry? You know how easily I get stressed out and there's nothing like cutting things in half in order to relieve the tension."
Fred, George and Ron, being her brothers, wisely decided to keep their mouths shut and not tempt fate by teasing Ginny. All three were well aware of just how adept their little sister was when using the sword Harry had given her for her birthday. Of course the fact that Ginny had put each of them in the Hospital Wing at least once during the past year might have something to do with their silence as well.
Unfortunately for Ginny, the others were not hampered by this fact since they were secure in the knowledge that they did not have to live in the same house as the threatening teenager.
"Why use a sword to relieve your tension, Ginny?" asked Angelina with a lecherous smirk. "I'm sure Harry would be happy to oblige you instead."
"Actually, Ang," leered Katie, "I think she was talking about Harry's sword."
Ginny had never felt so openly horrified in her entire life. Well maybe, but this certainly rated somewhere in the top ten. Stifling a groan she turned back to Harry and dropped her head against his chest, knowing that the teasing had only just begun.
"And we all know how deft Harry is with his sword," chirped Lee, shaking so much with barely repressed laughter that his dreadlocks were bouncing wilding about his head.
I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them. I'm... I'm... damn he's a good kisser...
With a suddenly content smile, Ginny pulled slightly back and opened her eyes. Harry returned her smile and reached up to stroke her cheek with the back of his hand. His green eyes were sparkling brightly, and he looked more lively than he had in days.
"I'm going to miss being able to do that for a whole month," he told her.
"It's only a month," she reassured him, smiling at him. Ginny pressed back against him and leaned up for another kiss. "At least nobody's interrupting us anymore..."
"Harry! Ginny! Boys!"
She should have known better than to jinx the situation by saying that out loud. Unfortunately she had, and the moment before their lips could meet they were joined by smiling presence of Molly Weasley. Looking up at Harry in silent apology Ginny sighed and turned to face her mother, who appear positively delighted to see them.
Me and my big mouth.
***
Harry remained waiting in King's Cross station for nearly an hour after Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys had departed. He had already known that Uncle Vernon would not be coming to pick him up for his return to Privet Drive. Thus he was planning to Apparate to his 'home' in Surrey, which he also knew would no doubt terrify and appall his relatives.
The only real reason for Harry's delay in returning was his reluctance to face Vernon, Petunia and Dudley. Despite everything that had happened over the years and his own efforts, his family had never liked him and were, to put it plainly, openly disgusted by him.
His situation in number four Privet Drive had improved the previous summer, after he had merged with the Order of the Phoenix. Unfortunately his family's change in attitude had nothing to do with Harry himself, but rather his newfound ability to practice magic at home without having to worry about the Ministry punishing him for it.
In other words, he had forced the Dursleys to act courteously towards him through simple intimidation.
And so, reluctant to return home, Harry waited in the train station. He had left platform nine and three-quarters at the same time as the Weasleys and Hermione, and was now leaning against one of the barriers. With his trunk and other possessions resting beside him, Harry was watching the world around him.
The Muggles passing through King's Cross were almost entertaining to watch.
There was a man wearing a deer-stalker hat and dressed in a distinctly unattractive looking tweed suit. All told he looked rather like a diminutive and portly Sherlock Holmes, albeit without Doctor Watson.
The man strode past Harry, taking as long a stride as his legs could manage, a handkerchief held to his nose. As he went by Harry could hear him muttering to himself, apparently engaged in a running commentary on the state of England's health.
"...God-forsaken island... barrage of cold germs... brood of catarrhal bulldogs... bloody travelling TB sanatorium... nasal spray through the keyhole... pestilential island... worse than the Great Plague..."
Harry watched with amusement as the rotund man retreated from his sight. His attention was soon diverted by a loud shout in a language he identified as German.
"Mein Gott in Himmel!!"
He turned to watch as three children, two girls and a boy, about his own age walked past. The one girl was dragging the boy after her, her auburn hair whipping his face as he trailed behind her. The boy, with dark brown hair and soulful eyes, followed meekly as the redhead berated him in a constant stream of insults.
"What were you thinking? Or were you thinking at all? Baka hentai!"
The girl's rant continued without halt in a mixture of English, German as well as Japanese. The boy, who seemed to be suffering from the same sort of resignation to his fate that Gryffindors felt when attending Potions, kept trying to apologise. Unfortunately this only seemed to incite the redhead into a new string of invective.
Harry's eyes were then drawn to the third child of the trio, the other girl. Of the three she was actually the most visible, even if she was silently watching the antics of her companions. This probably had something to with her hair, which was cut in a short bob that framed her face. It was powder blue.
Glancing down at the watch Ginny had given him for Christmas, Harry noted the time and decided that he should probably be Apparating to Privet Drive. With a resigned sigh that seemed to match that of the still-apologising boy, Harry reluctantly departed the station.
"Okay, Hedwig," he said after ducking around a corner and out of sight. He reached to the cage his snowy owl was sitting in and released her, letting her perch on his arm. "I know you don't like Apparating, so I'm going to let you go here, all right? I'll leave the window open so you can come in later tonight."
With a nibble of his finger and a soft hoot, Hedwig took to the air. Harry watched her fly away until she vanished from view in the dull grey of the cloud-covered sky. Lifting his trunk from the trolley he had been using, he set it at his side and kept a hand on it as he disappeared from King's Cross with a pop.
The world swirled around him, and Harry felt a fuzzy sensation, like having too much blood rush to his head. He blinked once and looked around the second bedroom in the upstairs part of number four Privet Drive.
"Home sweet home," he noted sarcastically. He deposited his trunk at the foot of his bed and then moved to open the room's only window as he had promised Hedwig. Pulling off his coat Harry threw it upon his bed and swiftly exited the room.
He could hear Dudley from the top of the stairs, accompanied by the soothing tones of his aunt as she tried to placate him. Personally he thought they sounded like a squealing pig and a shrill hag respectively. As he quietly stepped down the stairs Harry noted that he could not make out Vernon's bellowing voice amidst the noise coming from the kitchen.
At the bottom of the stairs, Harry paused for a moment to consider the cupboard door. The cupboard under the stairs had been his home for ten years. It was small, dirty and had a number of wiggly things inside it, but he could not deny that some small part of him missed it.
Everything seemed so much simpler in there, he thought nostalgically.
Repressing the sigh that threatened to escape his lips, Harry turned away from the cupboard and strode purposefully into the kitchen. Dudley and Petunia's conversation, if it could be called that, drew to an instant halt as they saw him.
"I'm back," he said, stating the obvious.
Harry watched with amusement as Dudley's face drained of blood and grew a pale and sickly green as the overweight boy squeaked with alarm. He noted that despite the Smeltings nurse's best efforts, Dudley had not lost any significant amount of weight since last Harry had seen him.
Standing beside her son, Petunia's long face also paled, and she dropped the glass of orange juice she had been holding. The glass fell to the tabletop and splashed the juice everywhere over its smooth surface. Harry watched as his aunt ignored the mess and began fidgeting nervously, puzzling over why her was behaviour was out of the ordinary,
I'm not that frightening, am I?
*I think she's worried you might give her that horse's tail you promised last summer.*
Oh yes. I'd forgotten about that. Thanks for reminding me.
Harry was about to speak when a sound from behind him registered in his ear. It was a clicking sound that he found strangely familiar. Very familiar in fact. It was metallic, and he knew that he had heard it before, but could not remember where.
With some mild curiosity Harry turned where he stood, and as his eyes came about he realised just where he had heard that clicking sound before. He had heard it dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of times before. On the television when Dudley was watching some late night or mid afternoon movie.
It was the click of a hammer being cocked.
Somehow, he thought, with a strange sense of calm detachment, I always knew it would be the Dursleys that killed me.
And Vernon pulled the trigger.
TBC...