Chapter 1
Harry's summer was boring and filled with tension. After he had to return to the Dursleys, he had nothing but the clipping Rebecca had sent him through Muggle mail addressed from a correctional facility.
Clever, considering that was the only letter Vernon allowed Harry to have.
The photo was from the Daily Prophet, the words around it telling how Arthur had won a drawing at the Ministry and had used the proceeds to go to Egypt to see his eldest son, Bill. Rebecca was between Fred and George, Ron and Ginny directly under them. The pyramids were behind them and they were all smiling grandly.
Harry had kept the photo under his pillow, there were still a few weeks of summer and he needed to keep it safe.
The Dursleys had a way of taking the things that made him happy.
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"Come, it's time for you to lose." George sniggered, poking his head into Rebecca and Ginny's room.
"Yes, because I do that so frequently." Rebecca's voice dripped in sarcasm, the kind that comes as a shock to all parties involved and Fred was the first to dissolve into laughter behind George's dropped-jaw face.
"Coming, Ginny?" Ron called, bringing a smile to the youngest Weasley, too. Rebecca set her letter to Harry down, the note inside long completed but no inspiration for what to address it as to ensure he would get it.
She wasn't even entirely certain he'd gotten the photo from the Prophet at the beginning of summer.
"What's pulling you down?" Fred asked, falling into step beside Rebecca as the children vacated their rooms for the allure of outside. "I can see it clear as day, no point in trying to say 'nothing.'"
Rebecca glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "I haven't in a while." To you, was left unsaid. Fred had lingered by Rebecca's side in the days after Harry had to go to the Dursleys, sometimes pushing her to speak about what she was feeling and sometimes just making sure that she knew she wasn't alone. And Rebecca hadn't shielded what she was feeling to him as she had before, not since she and Hermione had returned from Petrification.
"Is it something that I can help you with?" Fred asked, taking their brooms from Ron's outstretched arm. "George or dad maybe, if I can't?" It pained Fred to imagine Rebecca wanting something he couldn't provide himself, but for her...Fred would search for an answer to near anything.
This scared him a little, this feeling he got sometimes about her that left his cheeks burning and the memory of how she had held his hand at the final feast of last term at the very front of his mind.
Rebecca sighed, taking her glasses off and using the bottom of her shirt to polish the filthy lenses. "I need something horrid, near hurtful. I used a juvenile facility last time and I don't think it would work twice."
Fred's thoughts, no matter how pleasantly unpleasant, were wiped away entirely as he was filled with questions. "Wha-Why in Merlin's beard would you need that?"
Rebecca put her glasses back on, holding the door so they could step out into the sunlight of early afternoon. "I want to get to Harry when we're headed to Diagon Alley, in case he could be there then, too. The Dursleys aren't going to let a nice letter go through...but something not, maybe."
Fred nodded, hovering on his broom in front of her a moment. "I'll think on it." Before he went off to join the shouting George and laughing Ginny already ahead on their way to their homemade pitch, Fred shook his head and grinned at her. "That's brilliant, by the way."
Rebecca was glad they played hard that day. Then she had a reason as to why her cheeks were so red.
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"What?" Harry balked, taking the letter quickly.
"It's the the answer to all our problems, Petunia!" Vernon cackled. "The Society for Stupid Boys...I love the post sometimes."
Harry fought and he fought hard. If Vernon saw him smiling at the handwriting for the address, the letter would surely be taken. "That's me, stupid. I'll be in my room."
"Not so fast, boy." Vernon glared at him, his mustache quivering. "Marge will be here for dinner tonight and I expect your best behaviour. No funny business." Harry gave a curt nod and continued up the stairs, stopping as Vernon cleared his throat. "You mentioned that bloody paper last week, remember it?"
Harry nodded, curious. He hadn't expected Vernon or Petunia to give his Hogsmeade permission slip another thought.
"Best behaviour, boy." Vernon teased the possibility of being able to go into the Wizarding town outside of Hogwarts gates, of afternoons spent window-shopping with Ron and laughing with Rebecca and Hermione.
Harry would use these possibilities to bring about a good evening. If not for him, for Rebecca. He wanted to hear from her and talk to her and see her so badly. He laughed as he closed his door behind him and read from the letter so perfectly addressed from.
Harry,
I do hope you get this, the name took hours of work. (Fred says I have to credit him here, which I do. I couldn't quite come up with anything that worked.) We're heading in for shopping next week, maybe you will be able to meet us there?
Term starts in two weeks and while I know I'll see you soon...I miss you. Rebecca's handwriting was different as she wrote this, the ink darked and the letters more starkly separated.
I love you, Harry. I miss you.
Rebecca
Harry had no idea how dinner that night was going to go. At that moment in the early afternoon, he was only filled with hope and longing.
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"Hey, you alright?" Fred asked Rebecca again.
"Fine." She answered shortly, tired of him asking that when she wasn't. Rebecca couldn't get rid of this sickening, itching feeling that something was wrong. "Why?"
"Because you look like a flobberworm snuck into your shoe." Fred answered honestly, though not unkindly. "I have another question though, if you're alright."
Rebecca sat back onto the couch more, trying to ignore how her brain was prickling and her stomach was flipping. "Of course." She meant it, too. Fred and George, though they would sometimes act like it annoyed them, always answered her questions the best they could. From strange customs to simple things like how Molly liked her tea best, a question asked was as good as answered.
"George and I wanted to give you a nickname." Fred couldn't help the blush creeping up his neck. When she looked at him head on, he felt so perfectly seen. "Fred...George...There's a syllable difference."
"Rebecca not good enough for you?" Rebecca asked drily, laughing as he sent the gloom away with a face at her. "Let's hear it then, what're you two thinking?"
"RJ, perhaps?"
"RJ?" Rebecca echoed, testing it out.
"If you don't like it, it's not-"
"It's great." Rebecca interrupted, nodding. "From you two, it'll be perfect actually." She stood up and looked back over her shoulder where he had stayed. "Well? Are you coming up to plan with George and I?"
"Oh!" Fred gasped, jumping to his feet and trailing after her. "Of course, I didn't realise..."
Molly looked up from the shopping list Arthur and she were putting together as they passed, the two children chattering about in perfect peace. Raising an eyebrow, Molly didn't get to say a word as Arthur ended her gloat before it could begin.
"Don't even start, wife-of-mine. No one likes a braggart."
"You don't know that I was going to say anything." Molly refuted. But she didn't try again. She most certainly was going to comment on the blooming friendship.
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"You're still here, are you?"
Harry grit his teeth. "Rebecca, Rebecca...We're keeping it together for Rebecca." "Yes."
"Don't say 'yes' in that ungrateful way. It was good on my brother for keeping you!" Marge slapped Vernon's shoulder as she made her way to Dudley. "He'd have been straight to an orphanage if he landed on my doorstep."
Harry had a bad feeling about the way the evening was going to go and, while the Weasleys were sitting down to a pleasant dinner, Rebecca couldn't help but draw into herself. A headache had started right in her temples and radiated to the back of her head. "May I be excused, please?" She asked Molly--who she sat next to--quietly.
"Of course, dear. Is something the matter?" Molly reached up and held her hand to the girl's forehead, finding it slightly warm but not worryingly so.
"Just tired." Rebecca's lie was as obvious as her pain and Molly sent her up to bed with promises of leftovers if she were to wake up later hungry. Back in Surrey, Harry was starting the mountain of dishes that seemed to grow with every passing second with tension building.
There was at least a rinse done though, for Marge's dishes. Harry bit back a smile as she let her dog drink from the cup she was, finding it disgustingly hilarious.
"What're you smirking about in there?" Marge demanded, her brother-matching beady eyes narrowing at the sight of anything but misery on Harry's face. "Where is it you send the boy, Vernon?"
"Saint Brutus'." Vernon hated speaking about Harry, he didn't even like wasting thought on the boy. "It's a fine institution for hopeless cases. He got a letter from another one today though, maybe Saint Brutus' had had enough of him."
Harry looked down into the dark water in the sink, the need to smile all the stronger with Vernon so plainly talking about how Rebecca had duped him.
"Do they use a cane at Saint Brutus', boy?" Marge demanded, turning back to Harry and wiping the smile--albeit hidden the best he could--straight off his face.
Vernon gave Harry a narrowed-eye look as Harry hesitated. "Cane? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I've been beaten loads of times."
"Good." Marge turned to Vernon and Petunia like she was sharing a secret, though her voice filled the room as her body did. "I won't have this namby-pamby, wishy-washy nonsense about not beating people who deserve it."
Harry wished he was still trying to hide a smile because that at least would have given him a distraction. No one deserved to be beaten. And then Marge had to keep going.
"But you mustn't blame yourself for how this one turned out. It's all to do with blood." Marge raised her brandy like she was calling a toast. "Bad blood will out."
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Rebecca's forehead broke out in a sheen of sweat, strange feelings overtaking her as the rest of the Burrow ate downstairs. She was hearing things, words in garbled nonsense.
"Blood...will out."
That was all that escaped Rebecca before she fell into a darkness that may have been sleep, but was far from restful. The headache in her temples pounded away.
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"What is it the boy's father did, Petunia?"
Harry wondered, for a single second, what would happen if her were to reveal Rebecca to Vernon's sister. Maybe she'd have a heart attack and drop dead.
"N-nothing." Petunia scrambled. "He didn't work, he was unemployed."
"And a drunk, too?" Marge threw her head back, laughing.
Harry was still washing dishes, but he lifted his head. "That's a lie."
Marge composed herself slightly, looking at the narrow-framed, wild-haired boy behind the sink and not seeing how he seemed to fizzle with pent up anger but how he was being petulant. "What did you say?"
"Ou-My dad was not a drunk!" Harry never thought about James and Lily as just his, not anymore. And in that moment, Harry hated himself. He had wished that Rebecca was there so that he was at least not alone and he absolutely hated himself.
They all knew that the before-Weasley times were not something she talked about and there was a reason she didn't. But Harry, in his weakness, would have wanted her to take on more? The shame burned through him hot and angry and it lashed out in the form of a burst of magic that shattered Marge's cup in her hand.
While Marge soothed Petunia, reassuring her that she had a very firm grip, Vernon stared at Harry nervously. That was unnatural, Vernon thought. "I think it's time you went to bed."
Harry turned, more than willing to leave the dishes for morning. He and Rebecca's birthday was next week and he had been working on a present for her anyway.
"Quiet, Vernon." Marge bossed. She raised a fat hand and snapped, pointing at the mess and then at Harry. "You, clean it up."
Harry grabbed a rag and tried to remember why he needed this to go well. Butterbeers with everyone, with my friends. Seeing Rebecca finally see Zonko's. Honeydukes with Ron!
But Marge wiped away his imagination as he wiped away the glass shard on the table. "It's nothing to do with the father, not really. It's all to do with the mother. I see it all the time with my dogs."
Petunia paled, miraculously as her face had retained a near-ghostly look all evening. What Marge was truly talking about was clear. Harry took the rag and went back into the kitchen, trying to contain himself and his magic. Hogsmeade, Hogsmeade, Hogsmeade!
"It there's something wrong with the bitch, then there's something wrong with the pup."
And any hope of Hogsmeade was gone. "Shut up! Shut up! Our mother was a saint, an angel!"
"Our?" Marge questioned, ignoring the soft wind growing through the room as a breeze coming in the door. "You listen here, boy, you are-" Marge had raised a hand to point at Harry again. Seeing how the tip of her finger was inflating, she fell silent.
Harry would not be getting his permission slip signed, it seemed.
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The pent up magic being expelled from Harry in the shape of a floating aunt was all it took for the tension to break in Rebecca's mind.
It was like a balloon had popped.
The headache slowed to the residual pangs of extended agony and she found herself able to sleep as she hadn't been before, peacefully.
There was still the occasional flash of anguish she couldn't place, but for the most part she felt herself once more.
When Ginny creeped into her bed, Rebecca was dead to the world.
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Harry had wished only once more that evening that Rebecca had been with him and that was sos he could have seen how dramatically Vernon screamed up into the sky for his sister who had floated away.
But as he shoved everything that was important to him into his school trunk and hurried back to get the clipping of the Weasleys in Egypt, Harry was so overwhelmingly thankful she wasn't there.
Harry had no idea how long it would take to find somewhere for him to stay, he wasn't even sure the exact location of the Burrow so he could walk. He had no Muggle money, only a handful of sickles as he needed to make a withdrawal in Diagon Alley. Harry, in a sense, was utterly fucked.
Vernon cornered him on the stairs, his fists clenched and his voice booming. "You bring her back! Bring her back and put her right!"
"Unfortunately, I'm not licensed in the help that she needs-"
Vernon roared and charged at Harry, stopping only as Harry raised his wand. "You're not allowed to do magic outside school." Vernon warned, though his voice wavered.
"What did I just do then?" Harry asked, laughing madly.
"They won't let you back now, not with what you've done. You've got nowhere to go." Vernon's voice was cruel . Petunia looked to the ground behind her husband.
"I'm going to find my sister, since she's not bouncing about Britain." Harry said, letting himself have the final word since he was essentially homeless. He wished he had thought to take something to eat, but he'd figure it out.
Hedwig let out a chirp from on top of Harry's trunk and Harry nodded, turning to the door. The sun was setting and he needed to go.
It was easy, at first. He was so fueled by anger that he'd left Little Whinging in under two hours. But then he realised how dark it was, how cold he was getting, and how hungry he had been.
Then Harry just wished he could have a home, a true home.
That's how he ended up on the curb of a playground with his breath pluming in front of him, wishes.
His home would have James and Lily, of course. But Rebecca would be there, too. And Harry knew that for Rebecca to be there, the Weasleys would too and Harry figured Hermione would be there, too. It was a big home. There would be massive family dinners filled with chatter and conversation and clean up would be done by everyone, not just him. When they were all done eating, his family he'd been born with and the family that he made.
He reached up and wiped his cheek angrily, making sure Hedwig wasn't too cold to distract himself. Wishes were wastes and wishes would not get him to wherever he was going.
The light above him flickered a few times before turning off and he cursed, making him smile despite himself. He never would have cursed so punctually before Rebecca.
The leaves across the street rustled and Harry's head shot over his shoulder. Making sure Hedwig was alright, Harry put himself between the noise and the owl. The dog took a step forward, a growl escaping it.
It sent the hair on the back of Harry's neck prickling and his stomach to his feet. Raising his wand, the beeping of a horn sent Harry falling backward. The dog was gone and in its place, a purple bus.
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"Are you feeling better, dear?" Molly asked, holding her hand to Rebecca's forehead as she was the first child down for the morning. Waking early had never truly left Rebecca's routine and she didn't mind, she liked having a few minutes with just Molly and Arthur. "You don't feel warm."
"I feel well." Rebecca leaned into Molly as Molly wrapped her arms around her. "Are there still leftovers or-"
"Don't be silly, we'll get breakfast on the table for the sleepers upstairs. Your choice, since you missed out last night."
Rebecca grinned, already knowing her answer. "Can we make muffins?"
"I should have known!" Molly laughed, waving her wand so the ingredients shot out of the cupboards and cabinets where they were kept and lay on the counter. "Blueberry?"
"Sure!" Rebecca got those herself, looking up as Errol smashed into the window. While Molly magicked breakfast into being, Rebecca thumbed through the post and found one in Harry's handwriting from the Leaky Cauldron.
Rebecca,
I may have, perhaps, maybe, accidentally blown up Vernon's sister. I left. I hate them! I [Harry had scratched out his sentence here, leaving Rebecca sadly curious as to what he could have written.] Fudge paid for a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the week, said I'm to stay here until we leave for Hogwarts next week.
I'll be here when you do your shopping now, at least.
I miss you more than you can know,
Harry
Molly read the letter as Rebecca handed it to her, frowning at the signing statement. Molly and Arthur went without their children more months of the year than not, but they had each other as their children had each other. Harry's isolation broke her heart.
"We're going to get breakfast put together." Molly said, an idea coming to her. "And then you're going to floo over to him and make sure he eats a good meal. Merlin knows what those people have been feeding him..."
Rebecca nodded quickly, thinking that was a good idea. "Do you think-Would Harry like Ron to come too?"
Molly pursed her lips, waving her wand so that the blueberries went into the mix and adding a few more once they were in. No such thing as too many, afterall. "No, I don't think so. You go on, make sure he's alright before we talk about others joining. Going in your pajamas?"
Rebecca blushed, shaking her head and hurrying up the stairs. Harry had left the Dursleys! She could hardly believe it and she also could hardly believe she was happy that now she'd be able to see him. Guilt filled her as she pulled clothes on and left her pajamas on her bed. Harry was probably deeply upset and she was just happy now she'd be able to see him.
Molly put two bags of floo powder with the magically baked muffins, smiling and shaking her head as Rebecca was down in minutes. "We have to chat a moment, before you go."
Rebecca instantly felt as if she'd done something wrong and it showed clearly.
"Nothing bad, no worrying." Molly set the copy of the Daily Prophet from a few days ago on the counter, tapping the photo of the man on front. He was narrow-faced, dark-eyed. His cheekbones jutted horribly and he was gaunt, but that wasn't the worst part. He was screaming, turning his head from side to side and screaming. "I do not wish to leave you with such dark things, not when you're going to see Harry, but this man..."
"He escaped Azkaban." Rebecca finished, skimming the article around the photo. "That's where they sent Hagrid last year."
"It's wizard prison, hell on Earth." Molly tapped the photo again. "He is a dangerous individual, Rebecca. I am only letting you leave this house because I am trusting that you are going to be smart, you and Harry both. Do you understand?"
"We won't leave the Leaky Cauldron."
"Good. We'll all go shopping as a group next week." Molly then slid the second bag of floo powder closer to Rebecca and smiled, feeling that a happier topic was needed now. "And leave this for Harry for Saturday morning."
"For our birthday?" Rebecca felt another flash of guilt as she was filled with joy.
"Yes, you silly gnome. Go on, he's bound to be hungry. Be back around dinner, okay?"
Rebecca paused, holding everything only a moment before setting it all back down to give Molly a hug. The words balanced on the tip of her tongue, wanting to come out but afraid of ruining everything that had become special to her.
But maybe that was worth it, if Rebecca got to say it to Molly. Arthur came in behind them and smiled.
"I love you." Rebecca said softly, meaning it with her entire being.
Molly smiled, kissing the top of her head. "We love you. Don't forget, dinner time."
Arthur laughed as Rebecca hugged him tightly before hurrying out towards the fireplace. "What is going on? Am I still dreaming?"
Molly pecked his lips before shaking her head. "Harry's blown somebody up and now is at the Leaky Cauldron, that's where she's off to."
Arthur paled, turning to the door quickly. "What about-You didn't let her go, did you?"
"I warned her about the danger and she said that they would stay in the Leaky Cauldron until we all go next week." Arthur hesitated to accept relief. "It will be alright, Arthur."
"Well, if you say so." Arthur took a breath. "You do know everything, after all."
"That I do." Molly set a muffin next to him and poured the water for their teas, enjoying the peace for a few minutes.
Then there was a thump from upstairs, a wash of laughter, and the beginning of shouting. The peace was gone but the happiness was not.
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"Where's your wash? I'll bring it back and we'll get all the gunk out." Rebecca said first thing, stepping into Harry's room as he cracked the door open to see who was there before eight.
"Gunk? Wash?" Harry echoed, surprised to see her at all let alone so quickly moving.
"Gunk. You blew her up, Harry." Rebecca's tone was serious as it should be. This could involve the Muggle police. "We'll need to get your trunk cleaned too, in case anything...leaked. That's alright, Arthur is sure to know a spell or something. Worse case, I'll take a toothbrush to every bit of it."
Harry paused, his sleep-covered brain not following.
"Where are the bloody clothes?" Rebecca asked, not seeing a pile. "I figured there'd be a bit more of a mess. Following the explosion of a person, I mean."
"Not like that!" Harry gasped, grabbing his chest and feeling ill. "Oh my-You thought I blew her up?!"
"You said that you did!" Rebecca counted, not sure why he was shouting at her. "We've got to clean-"
"Like a balloon!" Harry corrected, lowering his voice. "I blew her up like a balloon, she floated out of the house."
Rebecca took in this information and nodded her head once. "I see."
"What's this you're going on about? Cleaning my trunk with a toothbrush?" Harry teased her, pulling her into a hug and holding her a long moment.
"Evidence?" Rebecca said embarrassedly. "Are you hungry?"
"Now that we've talked about mass carnage and bloody messes, absolutely!" Harry joked, taking a muffin and finding them to be absolutely fantastic.
"Well, that wasn't exactly how I meant to start everything off..." Rebecca hopped up on his bed next to him and smiled. "It's good to see you. I missed you."
"I missed you more." Harry shook his head, not wanting to tease a moment longer. "Tell me about Egypt! And what you've been doing! And what trouble-"
"I never make trouble." Rebecca laughed with Harry, leaning back and putting her arms behind her head. "Egypt was nice. Hot and sandy, but Bill was great."
"Who's Bill again?" Harry followed her lead, laying back next to her.
"Bill's the oldest Weasley, the curse breaker. Charlie's the second, he's in Romania."
"He's the dragon one?" Harry clarified, wanting to make sure he understood.
"Yes, but he wasn't there." Rebecca looked up at Harry, grinning. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too."
"So, Bill and I hadn't met yet, which was a little strange. He's very funny though. He showed us around a tomb he'd already cleared and George nearly fainted when Bill tossed a rock next to his foot."
"Why?" Harry laughed with her, the stories contagiously happy.
"He thought it was a mummy."
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"That's when she started in on mum." Harry's voice was so much softer than Rebecca's had been. "And I couldn't listen to it, not when it was all wrong!"
Rebecca reached over and held Harry's hand, finding it so different from Fred's. Holding Harry's hand, while important in the moment, was not something Rebecca felt anything other than familial love for. "And then you blew her up like a balloon and not like fireworks."
Harry grimaced, but nodded. "And I started to walk." Rebecca felt herself step back mentally a little, the idea of Harry walking as she did painful. "I didn't get all that far before I sat on a curb and I saw a dog." Harry scrunched his nose. "It was big, biggest dog I've ever seen I think. And it growled."
"You didn't get bit, did you?" Rebecca asked, running her eyes over his arms.
"No, then the Knight Bus showed up and I ended up here." He thought it best to not describe the ride to her. He knew how much she already hated car rides in general and didn't think she'd appreciate hearing about the speeding, shrinking, narrowing-and-widening bus ride he'd taken. "And now I get to be with you again."
"Yes!" Rebecca reached over and set the second bag of floo powder closer to him. "And this is so you can come over Saturday."
"I can't wait! Birthday Saturday, shopping Sunday, and then the platform Monday" Harry frowned as he remembered his permission slip. "I have bad news though."
"What?" Rebecca expected the worst.
"Vernon wouldn't sign my permission slip, Marge's evening had to go well."
Rebecca cursed, getting up off the bed and pacing. "That's bullshite! That-That...Get it out." Rebecca dug around in Harry's backpack on the chair and pulled out a pen as he went into his trunk for the form. "Those bastards."
Harry didn't fancy arguing with her when she was so clearly upset for him, not when it was one of the few times in his life he could say someone was outraged for him and not at him.
"It's V-E-R-N-O-N?" Rebecca clarified, holding the pen loosely. She was no stranger to copying a generic signature for adults. How else did things like the water or the electric or other utilities get paid? "How's that?" She asked, lifting the pen from the scrawl.
"It looks just like his!" Harry near shouted as he held it up to the light. Maybe he would get to go with his friends, have a semblance of normal.
"It's bollocks he didn't do it himself." Rebecca managed, rather pleased with herself. She loved making Harry happy.
"Bollocks or not, maybe we'll have a plain school year." Harry slipped the permission slip gently away, not wanting anything to happen to it.
"Yes, because we have such a track record for them." Rebecca checked the time and could hardly believe the morning had given to the afternoon and crept to the evening. "Harry, Molly showed me something this morning. Something from the Prophet."
Harry heard how serious she was and paused, listening carefully.
"There's a murderer on the loose, a really bad one."
"Opposed to a moderately good one?" Harry tried to joke, to lighten the mood.
Rebecca didn't laugh. "I'm serious, Harry. Please be careful. Don't leave the Leaky Cauldron until we go shopping together. Just...be careful."
Harry nodded, hugging her tightly as they left his room to go down to the fireplaces. "I will, don't worry!"
"Look at that." Rebecca answered drily, feeling slightly relieved that he'd agreed to be careful. "My worries have up and melted away."
"You're awfully cheeky today." Harry noted, loving it. She was so free, so loose and happy. It felt real and authentic being with her and he hoped it would continue at Hogwarts. No restraints, no masks, no hiding as she had been known to do. Harry knew it would take time for her to come into her own from wherever and whatever had been before the Weasleys, but he was ready.
"What can I say?" Rebecca pecked his cheek before stepping into the grate. "Teenage hood approaches and becomes me."
She was gone in a flash of green and Harry was back in his room as he said he would. Needing to see his signed slip once more, Harry grinned and showed it to Hedwig too. Underneath was his homework from the summer.
Harry moved it into a pile to go with him Saturday. Rebecca could check her answers if she wanted, if she hadn't finished it yet. It was the least he could do.
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<3