Chronicles of Camelot

Summer days and Knights

If there was one thing that Harry had never believed to exist, it would have to be the aspect of fun over the summer: he had always dreaded the summer because it meant he couldn't escape the Dursleys or Dudley's gang of ogres that would have made Crabbe and Goyle feel right at home. All the time he was at Hogwarts, Harry had actually been wishing that he didn't have to return there because it meant more pain and more rounds of Harry Hunting and, if he was lucky, it meant surviving until September First.

All that had changed, however, when he had been asked to become the ward and responsibility of Dan and Emma Granger: sure, it was enough for them to know he was the boyfriend of their daughter as well as a potential Lord, but, for the first time since Hagrid had told him those fated words, Harry began to feel that he found people who liked him, respected him and would stand with him simply because he was, in their eyes, just another boy. Once his wounds had started to clear up, Dan had insisted on Harry joining him on an early morning run that worked up quite the appetite for both man and beast as Padfoot also joined them. Following this, his studies and daily chores were continued, but this time, Harry was able to do them at his own pace, even with Emma constantly reminding him that he didn't have to do it.

The truth was that Harry enjoyed doing these minor tasks: not because he had been forced to by those monsters he'd called family, nor was it because he found it to be instinctive that he kept himself busy, be it through chore work or through his summer homework with Hermione; no, the truth was that Harry enjoyed doing the minor tasks because it made him feel at ease to know he was rewarding the Grangers' kindness and hospitality. In the worst case scenario, he could have been forced back to Privet Drive, but, with help from Dan's protective fatherly streak as well as the real motherly instincts that Emma had around him, Harry could safely say that he was never again going to darken that doorstep.

Out of the two Granger elders, however, Harry found himself wanting to repay Emma more than he did Dan: she was like a real mother to him without trying to force him to do anything he didn't want to or even try to rearrange his ribs with one of her hugs. When she held him, be it to just comfort him or on a whim, Emma's warm, friendly hugs made Harry feel safe and secure, without the added troubles of wondering how her children survived for so long when their mother crushed them like that.

Even more than Dan, Emma and even Hermione, however, Harry also found that he had an advocate in Padfoot: the shaggy dog always slept at the foot of Harry's bed – or rather, Harry and Hermione as Dan and Emma found it useless to convince them otherwise – and, on the odd occasion that Harry needed him, the black furry animal would be there in an instant. Every morning, during their runs, Dan made sure that Harry enjoyed himself without pushing him over the limit and, nine times out of ten, these moments of enjoyment involved Harry and Padfoot having races through the nearby park or along a street back to their house.

The one thing that had mattered to Dan was that Harry was happy and, as his sweat-drenched, smiling face would convince the Granger elder that he was just that, Dan felt proud of his achievements and glad that he had accepted the Bones woman's offer to become Harry's guardian.

All in all, Harry was having one hell of a summer and, as July 31st came closer with each passing day, Harry found he enjoyed every minute of it, not having any idea as to just how much his life was about to change.

HPHG

Most normal thirteen year olds were woken simply by the pure ecstasy of the fact that they had their birthday, but Harry wasn't normal, nor was he woken by his own will. In fact, at 8:30am on the morning of his birthday, his wake-up call came in the form of a wet, slobbery tongue licking his face as well as Hermione's cries of "Harry, wake up: Harry, come on!"

Finally, after wiping down his face and taking a shower – a ritual he always undertook before his morning run – Harry found himself downstairs and in the arms of Emma Granger as she gently kissed his forehead and whispered, "Happy birthday Harry."