The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 6: Privet Drive

August 2nd, 1995 - 4:30pm

The moment I opened the door, I was hit by the sweltering heat. The air was so dry that standing in the sun, alone, made me thirsty. The road I wondered upon was boring, untenanted, and deserted; It was an uneasy feeling. Walking down the road, the worse that feeling became. But even with the uncomfortable feeling, I felt calm; I liked the peace and quiet. I walked until I came upon a sign at the end of the road.

"Privet Drive?" I shrugged, reading the name off of the sign. It was unfamiliar.

I explored the road: boring houses, boring streets, boring people, boring weather. Everything was boring. The road was quiet except for the charismatic voice I listened in on that told me today was going to be hottest day of the summer; which explained the temperature. There was only one thing that stood out from the rest: a park. Another thing that caught my eye was the person at the park. There was a boy with raven hair and round glasses sitting in on the swings; He looked oddly familiar.

"Harry?" I exclaimed, "Harry, is that you?"

"What the..." Harry stuttered, looking up at me in complete, utter shock "Dawn, how did you know where I lived?"

Harry lived here? In this dump? I knew that he lived with his aunt and uncle, and that they were a bit overbearing, but Harry told me that they settled in a nice neighborhood. Privet Drive was anything but a "nice neighborhood".

"I don't, and you live here?" I asked disgustingly, causing Harry's eyebrows to furrow.

"Yeah? What's wrong with it?" Harry questioned.

"It's not that great of an area..." I hesitated, "I mean, these muggles-"

"These muggles?" Harry asked rudely, "Are you serious?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" I protested, "And never mind what I was trying to say, it's a nice area! I didn't know you lived here though!"

"Well, I do..." Harry said coldly, "So why are you here? Is daddy here to torment some poor muggles?"

I raised my eyebrows in response to Harry's vulgar comment. I didn't understand his sudden attitude. Did I accidentally offend him? Did I say something wrong? I haven't seen him in months, so what happened?

"Erm... no?" I scoffed, "We're here on a holiday, and the Ministry had us put our transportation to the coast on this road since it's heavily monitored."

Harry rolled his eyes, "Of course, it's heavily monitored..."

"What do you mean?" I asked, utterly confused.

"Don't worry about it," Harry scoffed, "But you still didn't answer my question, why are you here? Why are you standing in front of me, and not learning how to surf or something?"

Again, the sudden sass and attitude, I didn't understand it! I wasn't going to give into Harry's rudeness, considering we've both had really long summers. I lost my boyfriend while Harry watched him die, and witnessed You-Know-Who's apparent return.

"Draco didn't want to share the surfboard," I sassed, "And I left to get my mind off of... stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Harry asked, dropping the attitude.

I sighed loudly as I crossed my arms, "You know what kind of stuff, Harry."

Harry gestured to the contraption next to him, "Sit... and let's talk about it."

I didn't know what kind of muggle gizmo this was, but the last thing I wanted to do was sit on it. There was a small, curved, black seat, big enough to fit only one person, held to a giant metal pole by thick, silver chains. It didn't look remotely safe.