Harry's summer vacation had reached an all time low, and that wasn't counting
the fact that it was fifty feet under already. As soon as he had come back from
his second year at Hogwarts, he'd immediately been locked into his room, his owl
taken away and locked in the attic along with his chest. The bars had been
re-attached inside and out, making it impossible for him to open the window. His
aunt and uncle had a satisfied grin as they tossed him in. And Harry began to
wonder if he'd EVER get out. He was of course, like before, fed three times a
day through the slot in the door, and
let out to go the bathroom early in the morning and late at night. Harry had
lost count of how many days before he had to arrive at Hogwarts, but he knew it
was drawing nearer. He wondered desperately if Hedwig, his owl, was okay.
But from the scratching and the screeching, not to mention Uncle Vernon's cursing, late at night, he deduced she must be alright. He had given Ron his... or his Aunt and Uncle's phone number, and Ron must have been scared off by now with all their shouting whenever he dialed. Harry sighed. There had to be a way he could get out, there just had to be! With his things. But how?
Sighing, he grabbed a book off the shelf. It had been given to Dudley with
the inscription inside the cover. "Good luck with your poetry Dudley, Mrs.
Figg." It was something about cats he could tell, but it had been maimed by
from the looks of it, food, markers, pencils, gum, and something he couldn't
tell, but wasn't about to find out. Everything inside and out had been
obliterated. The pictures, the title, the author and the artist, except for one
word on the dust cover, 'Cats', sighing he threw the book into a pile of toys.
It was a pity, it might have been a good book. Groaning, he flopped on the bed
and waited for something interesting to happen, like maybe Hagrid or Ron coming
and rescuing him, maybe on a giant pink elephant?
*O*O*
Ron groaned as he slammed the phone down on the receiver again after calling
Harry. All he got was this shrieking and bellowing, and it was getting rather
annoying. He tromped over to the table to eat breakfast with his brothers and
sister.
"Stupid Muggles." He muttered as he attacked his porridge viciously.
Percy looked up from his plate to stare at him disdainfully. Ron, already in a
bad mood, and not wanting his brother's scolding, flicked a piece of porridge at
Percy, his Prefect at Hogwarts. He knew it was wrong, but he need to vent...
badly, and mom and dad weren't around to stop him Percy looked back down at his porridge,
not paying attention to the fact that he had a smudge of porridge on his nose.
He sighed, he knew Ron resented him because he was Prefect, and very disciplined,
unlike the rest of his brothers, although Ginny was showing promise. Didn't they
think he had his
own mischievous impulses? It ran through the family blood! Eating another
spoonful of porridge, he pushed the thoughts out of his mind, and instead focused
on Penelope, the Ravenclaw Prefect, and a... close relation.
"What's wrong, Ron?" Asked Ginny, Ron's little sister, and youngest of
the Weasly clan, who had a crush on Harry.
"Oh... those stupid Muggles that Harry's got for relatives... they probably
got him locked up... in his room again. I keep calling to see if he's alright,
but they always scream and hang up on me." Ron sighed. Ginny gasped at the
thought of Harry being locked up, pictures of a dark cell running through her
mind. Percy on the other hand, felt the compulsive mischievous that ran through
the family blood rear up again.
Normally he would have just ignored it, and went on with his business, but
now... now maybe he'd bend his strict, self imposed rules... just a little.
After all, Harry was under his supervision at Hogwarts, and wouldn't a
*concerned* Prefect go check up
and aide one of his students? Before he could speak up, Ron continued. "And
we can't use the car like last time, since, like Mom'd probably blow her top at
us." Fred and George nodded in glum agreement. Last year, Harry had been
locked in his room after Dobby, an elf who wanted desperately to protect him,
had gotten him in enough trouble to be locked up. They'd been flying their car
of their dad's, and they went to see Harry and eventually freed him. However
using and owning enchanted Muggle belongings was a major offense, and one that
caused their dad to lose his job after Ron and Harry crashed it in the Whomping
Willow after they missed the Hogwarts Express train.
Clearing his throat, Percy placed his bowl in the sink and let it wash
itself. He turned his back to the sink and leaned against the counter, letting a
mischievous grin sneak up on his face, something which he hadn't done in a long,
long, time.
"Well, why don't we just ride our bikes up to Harry's and see if he's
alright?" He suggested. Everyone at the table turned, and silverware
clattered as it hit the table. His brothers and sister stared at him with shock.
Fred and George, the mischievous twins of the household's, gaped at him with an
open mouths. Percy straightened and looked like his normal dignified self,
except for the naughty glint in his eyes. He was really enjoying this.
"After all, a Prefect should always check up on their students if they
think there's trouble." He said by a way of explanation. By then everyone
at the table was grinning. Ginny ran up to Percy and hugged his waist tightly.
"Oh, what a good idea Percy! You're serious... right?" She said giving
him puppy dog eyes. Percy rolled his.
"Of course! Now are we going to sit around and stare, or are we going to go
save Harry?" He said with a smirk. Ron, George, and Fred whooped loudly and
ran out to the yard and grabbed their bikes, Percy and Ginny closing up the
back. Soon they were all speeding off towards Harry's, a county away. About a
half a mile away from home, and now in the local village, Ron paused, and
everyone else did too, since he was in the lead.
"Harry's in the next county, we're a whole county away from him, how are we
going to get to him in time, it will take ages to get there!" Ron moaned.
Percy bit his lip, in all his recklessness, he'd forgotten that little tid bit
of information. He dug through his rough denim pants pockets, patches through
out. He pulled out several dollars in Muggle money. Father had always said to
keep some handy incase you ended up in a strange place, and lots of it, since
Muggles were rather greedy. He found he had thirty pounds, just enough to get
them to Harry's and close to home.
"Well obviously we can't use magic." Percy drawled as he parked his bike, then waved the Muggle money in the air. Ginny shouted for joy again.
"You did it again Percy!" She shouted and dropped her bike to in circle him in another hug. Sometimes, her elder brother, for all his straight-laced strictness, was pretty cool. Fred and George grinned.
"Look Fred, Percy's becoming one of us!" George said with a toothy grin.
"Yup, we musta worn off on him." Fred replied.
The quintet parked their bikes and secured them tightly to prevent thieves, found a local cab and piled in, Percy in the front seat with the driver.
"We want to go to Privet Drive, immediately." Percy said with determination, then flashing briefly the money he held in his purse. The driver nodded and sped off, apparently knowing where they were going.
It was a long drive up to Privet, but everyone was so anxious that they hardly noticed. They stopped right outside of the Privet Drive entrance, and they departed, and Percy promised more money than the fifteen pounds that had accumulated on the way over, if he waited. So of course the driver stayed. They grouped together on the corner, out of the driver's earshot.
"So what's the plan?" Ron whispered anxiously. Everyone looked to Percy.
"Okay, Me and Ginny will knock on their door claiming that we've lost our... what are those funny animals that yap all the time called? Oh yes, that we have lost our dog. Ginny will be turning on the waterworks, the tears and all, and I doubt they'll be able to resist ignoring us. We'll claim that this dog is sneaky and that we'll have to search the backyard just incase he's hidden back there" Everyone nodded, but Ginny gulped.
"I don't know if I can do it Percy, I never really cried on purpose before." She mumbled.
"Nonsense, remember what happened to Mrs. Norris?" Ginny teared up
at the thought of the cat that stalked the halls of Hogwarts, who had been
petrified and tied by her tail to a post. "Good, just keep thinking of Mrs.
Norris. Now Ron, you climb the tree or whatever near Harry's window while we've
got them distracted and ask Harry where they're keeping his things. Fred,
George, Ron will tell you where they are and you two got fetch them, trust me
we'll make a complete show of it out in the backyard, and get them outside,
along with Harry. We won't be able to break the bars, so you'll have to pick the
lock to his door and get him out through the front.
Everyone got it?" Percy asked.
Everyone nodded, and Ginny sobbed before they all headed down the street.
Fred, George and Ron waited beside the neighbor's fence as Percy holding the
hand crying and red faced Ginny up the drive of number 4.
*O*O*
Mr. Dursley, Dudley, and Mrs. Dursley were having the most normal day, Harry
completely out of their minds. Mr. Dursley read his regular newspaper, Dudley
his comics, and Mrs. Dursley was busy chatting away about the neighbor's
troubles once again. Just then they heard a knock at the door. Standing, Mr.
Dursley went to the door. On opening it, he found a red head boy, about
seventeen, holding on to the hand of a hysterical red haired girl of about
twelve years.
"Yes?" He growled. Percy gulped at the sight of the burly man with
no neck, but hid his fear.
"Sorry to be disturbing you sir, on this fine morning, but my sister Penny
here, has lost her puppy, and we think he might have come here, seeing as how
fine your house is compared to the rest of the neighborhood, if I do say so
myself. And we were wondering if we may search your backyard for our dear
pet." Percy said politely, not seeming the ruffian or the odd type at all.
Ginny, thank the heavens had made no remark about the fact that he'd called her Penny, but he needed to change it, since Ginny was an odd name, and the plan relied on the fact that they looked perfectly normal. Ginny sobbed harder. Mr. Dursley looked rather proud at the boy's remark, since he'd always thought that in the first place, and now to have that confirmed by a total stranger made his ego swell even larger. But still, he didn't quite trust him.
"Ooooh where could my good Tuppence be??" She wailed, large tears in her eyes. She had chosen the name after a Muggle coin her father had shown her. Mr Dursley gave into the waterworks.
"Sure my boy you may look, but don't waste time!" He barked. Percy nodded and pushed Ginny in. He took a moment to stare at Mr. Dursley before gasping in shock.
"Oh, have I stumbled upon the great home of Mr. Dursley of the drill company down the road! Please forgive me sir!" He said with great admiration, which was totally and utterly faked. Mr. Dursley puffed up even larger.
"Yes, that would be me. But how do you know me and what is your name, I haven't met you before have I?" Mr. Dursley said, a bit of suspiscion still clinging.
"Oh, you're a legend in my family, my father talks about you all the time. Oh, Penny, look up and dry up, it's the great Mr. Dursley." Percy pitched, seeing it work perfectly. Ginny sniffed and look up and gasped and looked shyly at Mr. Dursley, who swelled up even bigger.
"Well come in and I'll help you find your dog, you little tykes. Who knows, if you're smart at your school work you might even be able to work as one of my workers." Mr. Dursley said as he ushered Percy and Ginny into the kitchen.
"Do you really think so?" Percy said excitedly. Then they were in the kitchen where a large blonde boy, and a thin blonde woman sat eating at the table. He put on another look of great admiration.
"Oh look it's Mrs. Dursley, Penny, mother envies her greatly for her fabulous taste in clothes. And oh my! It's Dudley Dursley, one of the most famous and smartest people in Smeltings, and rumoured in all England." Of course both people bloated with pride at the false compliments.
"Will you... help me find my puppy... Tuppence?" Ginny sniffed. Percy cuffed her gently.
"Penny, don't ask such a thing of such great people! Where are your manners? Such high people shouldn't be concerned about our situation, they've got much better things to do." Percy scolded.
"Oh no, we'll help you, won't we Dudley?" Mrs. Dursley said as she stood up in her robe, her hair in curlers and a net. Dudley groaned, but stood, hoping that maybe he'd receive more praise from this stranger if he did as he asked. Soon they were all out in the backyard.
"What does this Tuppence look like?" Asked Mr. Dursley. Ginny and Percy froze, all the dogs they knew had three heads, and surely they couldn't tell that to these Muggles, they'd freak! Ginny gulped and broke into tears.
"Oh my poor Tuppence, probably hit by a car... his... his black fur all matted on his small body." Ginny said, using the first color that came to her, leaving Percy grateful that she hadn't thought of pink or orange. Soon Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, Dudley, along with Ginny and Percy were searching through the thick bushes searching for a dog that didn't even exist.
*O*O*
Ron and the twins quickly climbed the vine lattice to Harry's barred window, and
Ron knocked his hand upon the window, after squeezing it through the bars. There
was a pause and Ron wondered if they possibly had the wrong window, but Harry's
mess of hair appeared out of a pile of smashed toys which scattered away with
the brush of a hand to reveal Harry.
Harry had heard a knocking upon his window, and first he thought it was his imagination, but he decided he was bored enough to check. He yelped with happiness when he saw Ron's familiar face. Ron hushed him quickly and began to study the bars. The bars ran horizontally on the outside, and vertically on the inside, making it impossible for Harry to open them. Not so for Ron.
He pulled on the end of the window, but found it was much harder to open than it looked. He looked back to Fred and George.
"Any of you got something I can wedge in here to open the window." George pulled a thin metal stick with a flat tip, and a plastic handle.
"Yeah, Dad gave this to me, he called it a 'screwdriver'." George said with a snicker. Ron grabbed in and wedged it inside the jamb and popped it open creating a crack big enough to speak through.
"Hey Harry, we're gonna bust you out again, so where they keepin your stuff this time?" Ron asked wasting no time.
"The attic." Harry replied. Immidately Fred and George scurried up to the top, just below a window slightly cracked open. "How did you get here, and what are you going to do about the Dursleys?" asked Harry after a moment, worried for his friends.
"Don't worry, Percy and Ginny got him distracted." Ron said with a wink. Harry gave him a look of disbelief. "I know, I never knew Percy had it in him either, I guess he really is my brother, and there wasn't a mix up at the hospital."
"You don't know how glad I am to see you." Harry said. "But how are you going to get me out?"
"Don't worry, I'm going up to help Fred and George with your stuff and then we'll free you from the inside and disappear." Ron said with another wink before disappearing. Harry sighed and turned towards the door.
"Suppose I should pack my stuff up." He sighed. "Wait... I don't have any stuff here." Harry said then with a shrug went to go wait by the door. There was a repeated thunk as if something heavy was going down a staircase, which was probably his trunk, and an indignant squawk of Hedwig. He smiled. There was the a rattling coming from the door and soon it was swung open to reveal three boys, a trunk on a cart with an owl fluttering about.
Harry dashed out and shut the door quietly and they ran to the end of the hall, only to be met by the stairs. They gulped. There was no way they'd get passed the Dudley's while carrying the trunk and Hedwig. All took a deep breath and dashed down the stairs, making a loud thunking sound as they went, and Hedwig began screeching. They reached the bottom step and Harry ran to the front door and threw open the door and all raced to the sidewalk.
Mr. Dursley shouted loudly as he heard Hedwig's screeching. "HARRY!!!" He bellowed before running inside the house along with Mrs. Dursley. Ginny suddenly brightened. Percy grinned and both ran out the garden gate, leaving a confused Dudley, who went into play his video games instead of trying to figure it out.
What Mr. Dursley saw was four fire haired boys, and one fire haired girl, along with a lanky black haired boy, Harry, pushing a trunk and owl. He snarled and chased them up the street, but they were too far ahead of him and he gave up as they began to pile into the taxi and headed back home.
Harry pressed his face against the backseat glass as he saw his Uncle retreating.
"Yes!" He said before turning around to sit properly in his street. "Thanks... Percy." Harry said with a wry grin. Percy whipped around and glared at him, along with everyone else back there.
"If so much as ONE word of this escapade comes out, it's thirty points for Gryffindor, clear?" He barked, his usual self again. Everyone was slightly disappointed, but made no remark and simply nodded. Percy settled back in his seat, and only then let out a satisfied grin.
