It had been three days since the Great Cake Incident.
Harry had received a notice about being expelled at the next underage magic usage.
‘If I had know I had a freebie I’d have used one of my Firestarter stones.
Maybe if the house burned down we’d move somewhere that people would listen to me.’ Uncle Vernon hadn’t beaten Harry but he almost wished the man had.
At least then his stomach wouldn’t hurt so much from lack of food.
And Hedwig wouldn’t be starving then either.
His friend was hurting obviously but at least she wasn’t dying yet.
That was something right?
As night fell a low rumbling came from outside his window.
It sounded almost like a car was sitting there on the second floor.
As interesting as that might have been Harry couldn’t bring himself to move enough to go look.
There really just wasn’t any point in it.
“Is this the one?”
“Neville said 4 Privet Drive and this was the only 4 Privet Drive and that map Hermione sent.”
Harry frowned.
Fred and George?
Was he delusional now?
They had given him water though the cat flap so he really shouldn’t be hearing things…
A gentle knocking sounded from the window just barely loud enough to hear over the rumbling engine.
Unable to resist the curiosity, Harry headed over to the window only to stare in shock at Fred’s grinning face looking back at him.
Hanging out the side of a car window.
A car floating next to his window.
On the second floor.
“Hiya, Harry!”
“You – I – what?” Harry said.
“We got worried when you didn’t respond to any of our letters. Neville and Hermione were going to come too but we told them we had it handled. Are these really bars? Who bars a guy’s window?”
“Can you really get me out?”
“Sure.
Just loop this,” Fred handed a piece of rope through the bars, “around those bars there.
Cool.
Okay, George, gun it!” With a thumbs up George turned the wheel and accelerated away from the house.
The bars on Harry’s window tore off with a loud crunch and Harry glanced towards the wall to Dudley’s room and the master bedroom beyond.
How had they managed to sleep through that racket?
George drifted the car back over to the now open portal.
“Come on, Harry, get in!”
“Take Hedwig!” Harry said hurriedly handing off his owl to Fred.
“My trunk is locked up under the stairs! It has my dad’s cloak, my mother’s notebooks and my picture book of my parents in it. I can’t leave it!”
“Hang on then.” Fred opened the car door and easily hopped inside.
“Downstairs you say?”
“Yeah but the door is locked,” Harry said again glancing towards the wall.
He scowled.
It didn’t matter if they woke up.
He would not leave without his things.
“Locks aren’t a problem.” Fred had brought out a small set of tool and knelt next to the door.
“Are those lockpicks?” Harry gaped at Fred.
Out of all the people he had come to know…this really shouldn’t surprise him.
“Yup. Sometimes it’s better to do things without magic. Always good to be prepared!” The lock popped and Fred tip toed out into the hall following Harry’s outstretched arm towards the stairs.
In another minute they had the cupboard opened up and Harry had grabbed his trunk.
“Harry…why is there a mattress down here?”
“Can you give me a hand with this?” Fred had to shake himself to stop from staring between Harry and the tiny cupboard.
With a scowl the older boy grabbed the trunk and lifted it away from Harry.
“I got it. Come on. Back upstairs and into the car.”
Harry had just jumped into the car and was pulling his trunk in when Uncle Vernon’s voice screamed out.
“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THAT?! WHAT ARE YOU FREAKS DOING!?”
“Budge over, Harry!” Fred yelled with a wide grin.
He jumped out the window and grabbed the car just as Vernon scrambled over towards them.
“George!”
“Hang on back there!” Fred’s twin yelled as he gunned the engine.
“Oh, and happy birthday, Harry!” Fred, George, Harry and Hedwig soared away from Number 4 Privet Drive leaving a purple Vernon Dursley shouting at the sky.
An hour or so later, George landed the flying Ford Anglia in driveway to the twins’ house, the Burrow.
The car had barely touched down before a screaming woman flew out of the front door yelling obscenities at the twins.
Her hair was a flaming mop of red and Harry was willing to bet whatever money he owned that this was the infamous Weasley matron, Molly.
“HOW DARE YOU! NO IDEA WHERE YOU WERE! CAR GONE! THE CLOCK SHIFTED TO MORTAL PERIL! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ” She cut off mid-rant as Harry stepped out of the backseat lugging his trunk.
“Oh hello, Harry, dear. It’s a pleasure to have you here. I’m not angry with you, dear. Just my sons. Why don’t you head inside? I’ll have breakfast on the table in a minute!” The twins had carefully been edging towards the house when Molly turned back to them and continued her screaming.
Harry had opened his mouth to try and defend them but stopped at George’s gesture.
A large hand landed on Harry’s shoulder causing him to jump and turn around reaching for his wand before sheepishly realizing that it was still locked in his trunk.
The man behind him was tall, with a ponytail, pierced ear and flaming red hair to match the rest of the Weasley’s he’d seen.
“Hey, Harry,” he said, “I’m Bill. The oldest of the Weasley brood. There’s not much point in trying to head off one of mum’s rants. We’ll talk to her and get the twins out of trouble later. Come on inside.”
Harry just nodded and followed Bill into the house with a sorrowful glance back at Fred and George.
Surprisingly, George gave him a covert wink and smile as he caught his eye.
.
.
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