Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter, that ownership belongs to J. K. Rowling.

Warning: Beware that some clichés may appear. Other things may not make sense right now but will be explained in later chapters, even if those chapters are much, much later.

.-.

By my clock Hogwarts students went home on June 27th, a Monday, about noon or early morning.

.-.

Harry gazed silently out the window making no movements or noise. Vernon stared pointedly ahead as he drove down the streets of London. Harry cast him a quick glance and saw the man was irritated. But he always was around Harry.

Harry looked back k out the window and wondered how Sirius was doing. He knew the man had to be quite a long ways away from London at the moment with Remus, on the run still. Harry knew that was partly his fault. If he had let Sirius kill Peter then at least the corpse would have most likely gotten suspicion on who was guilty. Sirius probably would have got a trial for the suspicion of why the corpse of a so called blown up man had appeared eleven and a half years later.

Harry bit his lip and looked blankly at the sky. He'd been so happy when Sirius had asked him to live with him. Not because he liked the man. He didn't know him at all. But it had been a way to get out of the Durselys. A way to escape.

'I would have went with him if he had asked.' Harry thought. 'I would have become a fugitive with him if to get away from the Durselys.'

Harry blinked and straightened.

'I…I could do that on my own.' He thought. 'I could run away! I have money and I know the magical world now. I could find someplace to stay!'

His eyes opened wider in excitement. He quickly covered the emotions though as he noticed Vernon's eyes glancing at him in the rear view mirror. He didn't want that man to know he was excited.

"Uncle Vernon." He said shakily, none of his anxiety fake.

Vernon didn't reply just stared ahead as he drove.

"Uncle Vernon. Could you drop me off here?"

He noticed the corner of his uncle's eyes crinkle into a frown. The car was swerved into a parking lot where Vernon slammed the brakes. He turned to Harry, one arm reaching back to grab the seat back to steady himself. Harry flinched automatically waiting for the hand to smack him for speaking when not spoken to. The hand didn't move from the seat back though.

"Explain boy." Vernon growled.

"Well, if you leave me here you won't see me for the summer."

Vernon's eyes narrowed and Harry quickly ploughed on.

"I wouldn't have to bother you and your lovely, kind family!" He said laying on the flattery thickly. "And if any of my kind bother you, you can say I threatened you and ran away. Then I would get in trouble not you."

Vernon frowned in thought and Harry's hand twitched to the door handle. The man's hand lashed out and smacked him hard across the face. Harry took it without even a gasp and resisted clutching his now aching cheek.

"You listen boy." Vernon growled. "If they find you and bring you back I'll kill you. Got it?"

Harry nodded viciously.

"Go."

Harry scrambled from the back seat and tumbled from the car. He quickly pulled his trunk from the trunk and slammed the door just as Vernon drove off, leaving Harry alone in the middle of London.

Harry bit his lip a moment and wondered how he was to get back to Diagon Alley. He sat down on his trunk and just thought a minute. Hermione had praised him as intelligent more then once. She had always told him he could be the top of his classes with her but he just wasn't ever that motivated. It hadn't been that he hadn't been motivated. He just hadn't wanted to show up Ron and Hermione. Both would have been jealous.

He knew he would have beaten even Hermione if he tried. Because he'd always been able to get the spell on his very first try, even if he had hidden that fact. Even the ones Hermione had had trouble with he had gotten. He wasn't illiterate either. He just made sure to do a bad job on essays. He'd been reading since he was very little though as books were one thing Dudley had never gotten jealous about and Vernon and Petunia had never thought about. He could write well and structure paragraphs perfectly.

He hadn't tried to get top marks though. Hermione would have been jealous and always harping after how he had done it. When he'd say he just had she would have explained there had to be a logical reason she couldn't do just as well or better then him. Ron just would have been jealous. He was already jealous of Harry's fame and wealth. His intelligence would have created a large rift between them.

Harry loved both his friends, but they had their faults.

He sighed and stood. He popped his trunk open and dug through to try and find all his spare change from the year. He found some sickles and a galleon or two. No muggle money. So no taxi or bus. Harry straightened and blinked. Bus…

Harry quickly shut his trunk and pulled his wand from the pockets of his hand-me-down trousers. He saw a few people on walks casting him odd glances but ignored them. He was glad for the fact he'd let Hedwig fly home instead of riding in her cage. It would have been hard to fit in with an owl in a cage with him. He raised his wand straight out in front of him and pointed it up. In a 'bang' a familiar purple bus appeared. Harry grinned happily in relief. He'd almost thought it might not appear in areas with muggles. But as it appeared everyone around seemed not to see him or the bus.

The doors of the bus swung open and Harry turned back to his trunk in a moment of brilliance. He yanked it open and pulled out the standard black pointed hat he'd bought first year as his list had said. He pulled it on, pulling it low and letting the rim hide his face. He snapped the trunk shut once again and quickly stepped on to the bus, dragging his trunk with him.

"Welcome to the Knight bus, transportation for the stranded witch or wizard." Stan Shunpike said in monotone, looking bored. "I'll be your conductor for the day. Eleven sickles for the ride, or fifteen and you get a hot chocolate-"

Harry counted out the money and dropped it in the older teen's hand.

"Diagon Alley please."

"Sure kid. What entrance?"

Harry blinked.

"Entrance?"

"Yeah. Do you want to get in through the Leaky Cauldron, through Talon's Inn, or through Nightingale Cage?"

"What's the difference?" Harry asked, still surprised.

"What's the difference, he asks." Stan snorted. "The Leaky Cauldron leads right into Diagon Alley. Talon's Inn leads into Knockturn Alley. And Nightingale Cage leads into Vertical Alley. They're all inns."

Harry blinked and briefly wondered what Vertical Alley was.

"Um…Nightingale Cage please."

"Sure. Take her away Ernie!"

Harry grabbed one of the poles just as the bus took off at high speed. Hs trunk slid into place under one of the many beds and Harry flopped flat on one, gripping the edge to hang on.

Five minutes later Harry was stumbling from the bus in front of a large blue building. It was a corner building with water blue walls and large windows that you couldn't see in. Harry quickly entered the building and looked around. He was in a restaurant area. The inside was greens and blues. There was a thick green carpet and the walls were a teal blue. Small round tables were spread about, metal wrought chairs pushed into them. Birds of many painted colors flew across the walls, paintings on the deep blue. Harry hurried past the tables to a small counter in front of a hall. A tall woman with curly blonde hair smiled at him.

"Hello Sweetie. Can I help you?"

"Um, yes please. I'd like to get into Vertical Alley."

"Oh! Of course dear! Follow me."

He followed her down the hall until they reached an arch way leading outside. They stepped into a beautiful courtyard of white stone with a small fountain in the middle. Benches and gardens surrounded the courtyard. Straight across from the arched doorway was a large beautiful metal gate that had small birds designed into it. The lady hummed and tapped it with her wand. It swung open and she stepped to the side.

"There you go dear. Need any other help."

"Can you point me towards Gringotts?"

"Of course. Just follow this alley to the end where it meets up with Diagon Alley. You should be about three stores down from the bank then."

"Thank you." Harry said dragging his trunk through the gates.

"You're welcome. And here."

She tapped his trunk as it passed and he blinked in surprise as it suddenly became as heavy as a feather."

"There you go. Trunks can't be shrunk because of certain magical properties and the things inside, but you can make them lighter." She winked. "Have a good day."

Harry nodded to her and took off down the street, curiously glancing around. He decided after seeing the first couple stores that this alley was not an alley you shopped at for supplies for school or home. It had music stores, art stores, cafés, portrait stores, pet stores, dress stores, jewellery stores, and other indulging stores. Everything in this alley was also light and cheerful, painted bright colors and with gardens on the sidewalks and window sills.

Harry finally exited the beautiful alley into the more plain Diagon Alley. He found himself recognizing the area and wondered how he had never noticed the entrance to Vertical Alley as it was as wide as a small building. Harry shook the thoughts away and quickly headed for Gringotts.

No one would notice he was missing from the Dursely's for a few hours at the very least. And that's only if they checked up on him after Vernon got home. He doubted that would happen. No one would probably know he was gone all summer if he hid himself well enough. One spotting in Diagon or by any other magical people he knew or recognized him and he would be labelled missing. But until then he would be safe.

Harry quickly walked into Gringotts pulling his trunk behind him. It would be a bother to carry it everywhere but he had no choice. He spotted an empty teller quite quickly and hurried over.

"Excuse me." Harry said softly. "I'd like to withdraw some money from my vault."

The goblin eyed him.

"Name."

"Harry Potter." Harry said softly.

The goblin raised a brow. Then he yelled at another goblin in an odd language. The goblin strode over and eyed Harry before nodding.

"Follow me." He sneered, leading Harry over to cart area.

Harry scrambled in pulling his trunk with him as the goblin sat in the driver's seat. He took off down the tracks at the regular speed and Harry actually relaxed at the fast pace.

"Which vault would you like to visit Mr. Potter?" The goblin asked.

Harry blinked.

"Um…my vault?"

"Funny." The goblin said deadpanned, with a sneer. "What vault."

Harry scowled now, upset that the goblin was teasing him.

"I said my vault." He stressed. "I only have one vault."

He huffed as he finished. Before he could react the cart screeched to a stop and Harry had to grab his seat as to not be flung out of the cart. The goblin turned to him and Harry's breath caught as he recognized the movement as what Vernon had done earlier. He flinched as the goblin stared.

"What did you say?" He asked.

"I said I-I only have one vault." He stammered.

The goblin stared at him for a long moment. Then slowly he turned back to the controls and they sped off again. Harry watched as his vault passed by but didn't bother pointing it out. The goblin looked determined about something. Soon they were deep within the tunnels, the numbers of the vaults getting lower. Finally the cart rolled to a stop. Harry stared at the enormous doors of a vault with no number. The goblin stepped from the cart and Harry hesitantly followed, leaving behind his trunk. The goblin swipe his nail down the door then looked pointedly at Harry.

"Hand here." He said curtly, pointing at a blank square on the door when Harry did nothing.

Harry slowly reached out and pressed his hand to it. He yelped as a quick bolt of pain cut through his hand. He pulled it away to find a small cut on every one of his fingers. Bloody prints marked the square on the door. Slowly the blood was absorbed by the stone. Then the door gave a groan of protest as it unlocked and shuddered opened. Harry hesitantly stepped forwards and pulled the door open.

His jaw loosened as he gazed inside with large eyes. The room was huge. Larger than two of the great halls of Hogwarts and as high as one. Large glass pillars reached from floor to ceiling around the whole room systematically spaced, filled with gold coins that glinted even through the glass. Three in the center of the room were filled with gems and jewels. Every wall was covered in shelves and each shelf was filled with books or boxes. Between every second pillar stood small tables, their tops slightly indented and lined with velvet. A layer of glass was held on top protecting the display of pieces of jewellery and fancy weapons. In some cases the tables were shelves filled with jars and vials of what looked like potion ingredients; some had just liquids, some just feathers, some just plants, and so on.

One shelf in the middle of the room, glass covering both sides to view, were varying eggs. The shelf back to back with it was filled with what looked like seeds. On the outside of the room near the bookshelves were large beautifully carved bins full of precious metals or rare chunks of wood. The floor and the ceiling of the room was all shining white marble. Hanging from the ceiling over the direct center of the room was a beautiful silver chain holding a large perfectly spherical white crystal orb. The orb glowed brightly and Harry saw it was the light source of the room instead of the usual torches.

Harry's eyes though, were soon drawn to the small pedestal in the very center of the room. It was waist high with a beautiful red velvet cushion on it. Harry found himself walking over to it to stare down. On the pillow was a small silver ring. The band was plain for the most part. On it was a small red stone entwined in a silver Celtic knot that connected to the silver band. On the small red stone was a rearing stallion.

Harry found himself reaching for the ring and slipping it on his right hand ring finger before he had even realized what he was doing. As soon as the ring was snug a huge gust of wind rose, blowing Harry's hair up and fluttering his clothes. The ring turned as hot as a poker and the air seemed too vanished as light flared from the red stone. Harry screamed as needles seemed to pierce his heart, mind, and magic. He felt a rush of fire flow through his veins and his skin prickled like glass was digging into it. Harry felt like something was ripping through his mind, judging him of everything.

Suddenly everything froze. The pain and power vanished and Harry was left on all fours, trembling as he panted, sweat rolling over his brow. He shakily stood, the pain and exhaustion flowing out with every steady breath he took. Finally he felt normal. He looked down at his hand. The ring was still there, but it felt slightly warm. He tried to pull it off but it wouldn't budge.

"Congratulations Lord Potter."

Harry spun to stare at the goblin who was grinning much too widely to be friendly from the doorway to the vault.

"Excuse me?" Harry asked.

"The Potter ring accepted you meaning you are now officially the Lord of the Potter clan."

Harry blinked in numb shock.

"What?"

The goblin rolled its eyes.

"You are now Lord Potter."

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence.

"Why?"

The goblin sighed in weariness.

"Because you slipped on the ring and it accepted you. Lord rings are not just for looks. They are deeply embedded with magic from the generations of their use. They are sentient enough to judge a persons mind and heart to see if they approve of them and wish to be worn by them. If a ring accepts you, you are officially the lord of the clan the ring represents."

"…That's it? I'm now a lord? Just like that? No paperwork, no ceremony, no ritual, no spell?"

"Correct."

"Oh…. So what does the title Lord entail?" He asked cautiously.

The grin returned, showing sharp teeth.

"It means that you control all assets of the Potters, you gain the title Lord, and you are immediately an adult."

Harry blinked in dumb surprise.

"I'm an adult." He whispered.

"Yes."

"I'm officially an adult? I can live on my own and stuff?"

"Yes."

"…You brought me here to this vault why?" Harry asked softly.

"Because you are one of our top clients. Vaults are frozen if the head of a family dies and are only woken when the next head wakens them. The longer your vault is frozen the longer it is closed off from even our bank. Large vaults bring both clients and us wealth through loans, investments, and interest plans. We had believed you were just waiting, not ignorant."

"…There is no age limits on the vaults? Like no one under adult status can't access their family vault?"

The goblin scoffed.

"The ministry tried to enact laws like that, but Gringotts is under the Goblin Nation. We do not care how young a human may be. If they have money in our bank they are our clients and as such we do not care if they are of age or not. Their money makes us money."

Harry stared at the ring on his finger.

"It's legal right? My adult status I mean?"

"Yes. Sheets will already be filled out in the Ministry of Magic. They have spells on the rings to do that. No one will most likely notice them though as it's done magically in one of the back rooms and filed. I will also arrange for muggle papers stating the same thing."

Harry twisted the ring on his finger idly.

"I could kiss you right now." Harry finally said, happy tone lightening the air.

The goblin appeared amused.

"I would prefer if you didn't."

Harry soon wandered back through the room looking at everything. He found the glass surrounding the gold was magical; as such he could stick his hand right through it and pull out a handful of gold coins without the rest spilling out. He soon filled a small pouch with some and then set off looking everything over. A few books caught his eyes but he only grabbed a few which he quickly threw in his trunk, which was still in the cart. Harry had also looked over all the supplies in the glass shelves and the jewellery and weapons in the cases. Nothing caught his interest in them though. He had been quite interested in the egg case seeing some eggs labelled griffin, basilisk, Ridgeback, and other magical creature species.

Finally Harry left the large vault and shut the huge door, noticing the light of the orb vanished as he stepped out. When the door was shut Harry could hear all the tumblers fall into place. He glanced at it one more time before following the small goblin back to the cart.

When they reached the surface once more Harry was directed to a set of seats to wait as the goblin went off to arrange some legal muggle papers proclaiming his new status. Even in the muggle world he would be considered a Lord. In the agreement between the magical and muggle governments all magical people with titles would be recognized in the muggle world and helped with records if they ever needed to enter the muggle world for some reason. Most Lords were purebloods and at the least halfbloods, so no one took that offer up any longer. Harry could see the advantage though. He'd get all the legal documents he would need to live alone, buy a house, and even drive possibly.

He idly swung his legs and made sure the brim of his hat covered his face as much as possible. As the goblin returned and strode over to him, he held out a small folder.

"Here are copies of the papers. The originals have been sent off to be filed and we have a copy on hand in case something happens to the others."

"Thank you." Harry said tucking the file into his trunk and vowing to read it later.

Harry hopped up and grabbed his trunk ready to set off when he paused.

"Um, do you know if there are any properties I own?"

"In fact there are two. There is the Potter Manor. It's the ancestral home of the Potters and filled with many things that have belonged to the potters over the years. The last place is a house in Godric's Hollow. Usually when a Potter owning a piece of property other then the ancestral home dies, the property is sold off instead of inherited as each new generation usually ends up buying some place to call only their own. The property would just add up and most would never get used."

"Understandable." Harry nodded. "But why didn't the home in Godric's Hollow get sold?"

"It was in James Potter's will that the house would go to Remus Lupin when he died. As Werewolves can not legally own property he had it written under the Potter name as rented out to Remus Lupin, but also written as paid for Remus Lupin's lifetime."

Harry found a smile flitting across his face. Then he wiped it and nodded to the Goblin.

"Thank you Griphook."

The goblin eyed him curiously.

"So you remembered my name. Not many humans can tell us apart."

Harry shrugged. The goblin's face morphed into a sneer.

"Don't think that will immediately get me to like you. I can't count the number of times humans have tried to memorize our names and recognize us thinking it made us friends."

Harry smiled slightly but nodded in understanding.

"Thank you again. For everything. You just saved me a lot or worrying and helped with a lot of my 'running away' plans."

Griphook's face lit up.

"Running away? Defying Dumbledore?"

Harry bit his lip and decided in a way he was.

"Good, good." The goblin grinned viciously. "I'm glad to be of service then. This should give the old human some things to get a headache over. Now, your new legal status should appear in the muggle database in the next twelve hours. We label all our files important and they're taken care of quite quickly. In that file I gave you is also a card showing you status along with a picture of you. It's classified as ID and shows you are legally an adult."

Harry nodded and bowed his head before hurrying off to an exchange teller to get some muggle money. Half of his gold now in bills he hurried out the door having spent quite a while at the bank.

.-.

Harry found himself pausing on the white granite steps of the bank wondering what the next step of his plan was. He had to get a room in a hotel or something but it would have to be muggle. He wondered if he should perhaps go find a place to stay right now or spend time shopping. He quickly dismissed the idea of shopping knowing it would increase his risk of being spotted or found out.

'Perhaps I could get a second wand.' He thought.

His thoughts screeched to a halt.

"I'm an adult. That must mean I can do magic outside of school." He grinned.

The grin vanished though as he bit his lip.

"But what if I can't?"

Suddenly he was struck by an idea. He knew who to ask. He gripped his trunk and set off down the street. As he neared his destination he smiled slightly. Finally he slipped into the small out of place wand shop and found himself face to face with Ollivander. The old man smiled oddly at him.

"Here to get the tracking charms off your wand eh? You're quite luck to get them off three years early."

The man deftly snatched his wand from his hands. Harry didn't bother to ask him how he knew why Harry was there. The wandmaker ran his hands over the wand before tapping it gently. A white sphere of light surrounded the whole wand before shattering, planes of the light falling like broken glass. They vanished before touching the floor. The wandmaker held Harry's wand back towards him, handle first. Harry took it slowly.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome Mr. Potter."

Harry quickly left the store and the strange wandmaker behind, heading back towards Nightingale Cage.

Soon he was out side, back in the muggle world, weight charms on his trunk cancelled and wand and hat tucked away. He spotted a taxi off to the side and waved the man down. He slid into the back seat dragging his trunk with him. The man eyed the trunk but then looked to Harry.

"Where to kid?"

"Could you take me to a nice inn please?"

"Nice as in expensive?"

"Sure. And make sure it has a pool." He grinned.

"Sure thing kid."

Harry enjoyed the silence of the ride and watched the streets of London go by. When the Taxi stopped it was in front of a large hotel that looked well kept. Harry pulled his trunk from the car and paid the man with a quick goodbye before heading for the main entrance.

Harry entered the inn and headed straight for the front counter. A man sat behind the desk and smiled at Harry as he stepped up.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'd like to get a room?"

"Do you have a parent or guardian with you?"

Harry reached into his trunk and grabbed the file from Griphook. He grabbed the ID card inside and slid it to the man. The man blinked and read it.

"Oh." He said evenly. "Well then, single room?"

"Yes please."

"How many nights did you wish to stay?"

"Seven at the least." Harry said.

"Of course. Do you wish to pay now or when you leave?"

"When I leave please, in case I have to leave earlier or stay later. I'll pay for the first three nights now though."

Harry pulled out his cash and counted out the number the man gave him, sliding it over to him.

"Thank you. Here are your key cards. Your room is number 237. Do you need help carrying your luggage?"

"No thank you." Harry said taking the cards handed to him.

He tucked the cards in and headed for the hall. The first area he stepped into was a large open area with balconies going up three stories, doors lining them. The whole three floors were open to look down on the first floor where there was a large pool and a bunch of fake plants in some large fake gardens. Harry glanced at the numbers on the first floor doors and realized he had to head up. He found a stair case and made it to the second floor where he quickly found his room.

He slid the card in the slot and a small light turned green. He quickly opened the door, pulling his trunk in. As the door shut he glanced about smiling. The room was fairly large and decorated with lovely shades of greens and browns. The bed was queen-sized covered in soft pillows and blankets. There was a TV on top of a small table across from the bed. Two nightstands held lamps and a small alarm clock. Near the large window at the end of the room was a desk and two small arm chairs with a coffee table. Then there was a tiled area with a small counter that held a one hot plate stove, a mini fridge, a small sink and two cupboards. There was also a connecting bathroom with red-ish tile, a large sink and counter, a large tub/shower, and a toilet.

Harry pushed his trunk near the desk and popped the lid open. He frowned at the things inside. School books, school robes, ratty hand-me-down muggle clothes, and the odd item or two. He snapped the lid shut.

"I need to do some shopping." He sighed.

He made sure his muggle money was tucked in his pocket along with the card keys. Then he set off out of his room and back down the stairs. He found himself pausing in the front area though, glancing to the area opposite of the hotel rooms. A bunch of table were set up between more fake gardens and their appeared to be a buffet. He felt his stomach growl and blushed before heading to the restaurant area.

As it was one thirty not many people were about and those that were, were keeping to themselves. Harry nodded to the waiter behind the till as he passed him. He headed for the long tables of food and grabbed a plate. He picked all the food he wanted, grabbing some he hadn't had in a very long time as Hogwarts didn't have it and such.

.-.

Half an hour later Harry had charged his meal to his room tab and was walking out of the inn and heading down the sidewalk in the direction of a small mall the hotel waiter had pointed to. He entered the mall a few minutes later and headed straight for the department store clothes isle. After buying a couple of new outfits he set off exploring. He spent the next three hours weaving in and out of stores and buying what ever caught his fancy from colourful pipe cleaners to sneakers.

Amongst the newly bought items was a luggage set that he made a note to send off to the trunk maker in Diagon. Hopefully the spells they used to put security on trunks along with enlarged insides would work on the sturdy muggle luggage set.

.-.

When he finally returned to the inn he stopped by the restaurant once more and got some food to take to his room including a bunch of fruits. Once back in his room, the first thing he did was go to the window where his beautiful snowy owl was waiting. He shoved the window opened and pulled the screen out, setting it just beside the desk. Hedwig hooted and landed on his shoulder, preening slightly under his smile.

"Such a smart girl." Harry cooed. "I knew you would find me."

She gave a soft bark and nudged him. He smiled and went to his trunk to pull her cage out. He left the cage door open and filled her food and water dishes.

When he saw she was comfortable he took out his wand and turned to his pile of bags. He'd shrunk many of them, sliding them in his larger bags. He would never have been able to carry everything he had bought. He finally sorted all the stuff into piles and then dug through his trunk. He pulled out all the books and such and looked them over. He'd kept every book he'd gotten for every year. As he gazed at them he realized he didn't want to throw them away.

'I'll look over them later then give them to that second hand shop in Diagon.' He decided, setting them aside.

He threw all his old ratty hand-me-downs into an empty bag to throw away. He set his robes aside knowing some wouldn't fit anymore but he could give those to the second hand shop in Diagon also. H e set broom, photo album, marauders map, and invisibility cloak to the side with the things he was keeping. When the trunk was emptied he ran over it with a damp cloth and then neatly set everything back inside. When everything was in, including all the new things he had bought he snapped the lid shut. The only things he'd left out had been Hedwig's cage, his luggage set, his wand, and a new pair of clothes.

Harry stood and grabbed his wand. He quickly said the incantation he needed and tapped his luggage set. It all shrunk to a good size. He put all the shrunken things into a bag which he tied tightly. Then he grabbed a pen and some blank paper off the desk.

'Sir/Ma'am,

I was hoping that the spells cast on magical trunks could be cast on this muggle luggage set. I travel into the muggle world quite often and my trunk draws to much attention. I can pick the luggage set up when you finish or if you can't do it. I will pay when I pick it up if the spells can be cast.

Thank you,

Harry.'

Harry tied both the bag and the note to Hedwig and stroked her softly as he carried her to the window.

"Sorry for asking so much when you just got here, but can you take this to the trunk shop?"

She gave a curt nod and nipped his fingers happily before taking off. He smiled after her and shut the window. He turned back to the room and decided he needed a bath.

.-.

Harry rubbed his hair viciously with his towel to get the moisture from it. It made his hair into a giant mess but it was more comfortable messy and dry then dripping and untangled. He left the towel lying on his head and peered at the spread out sheets in front of him. On the way back from the mall earlier he'd stopped by a realtor and grabbed a booklet that contained all the houses for sale in London including flats and apartments and stores. Harry knew he had the money to buy a place and he really did need to find some place to live.

He flipped through the book and looked over every place. He circled the ones he was interested in and continued on.

"I don't want an apartment." He said, "Or a flat really. I'd kind of like a house. Something I could redesign and do anything I wanted with."

He went back through the list and crossed out all the flats and apartments he'd circled. He finally narrowed his house choices down to three.

"I'll have to go see the realtor again." He decided. "These ads don't give enough detail to choose the final house."

He stood from the desk and grabbed the new outfit he'd set on his bed. He tossed his towel down and pulled the clothes on. Then he quickly threw the wet towel in the hamper and grabbed an apple from the counter. He'd gotten a bunch of groceries to last the next few days so he didn't have to go down to the restaurant every time he was hungry.

He grabbed the booklet and pulled on his new pair of red sneakers. He stuffed his key cards in his pocket and took off out of the room. It only took him ten minutes to reach the small office sitting on the street between a printing store and a lunch café. He slipped inside and found the front desk.

"Hello." The lady behind the desk smiled.

"I need to speak to Sarah Williams." He said checking the name listed under the places he wanted.

Luckily all three houses were under the same realtor.

"Oh." The lady blinked in surprise. "Of course. Give me a moment."

She picked up the phone beside her and dialled a number.

"Miss Williams. There is a young man out here to see you."

She paused and looked to Harry.

"Do you have an appointment?"

He shook his head.

"No ma'am." She replied into the phone. "Okay. Thank you."

She hung up the phone and smiled at him.

"She'll see you now dear. Second room on the right."

He gave her a smile and headed down the hall. He knocked softly on the door when he reached it.

"Come in."

He entered quickly and found himself facing a woman with hazel eyed and blonde/red hair. She smiled at him and motioned him to a seat across from her desk.

"How can I help you dear?"

He slid the booklet to her.

"I'm interested in these three places but I need more details."

She blinked and stared at him and his serious face. Finally she smiled.

"Of course."

She turned to her computer and quickly typed something into it. Then she turned the screen to him and he got a close up of the first house along with it's yard. She clicked another button and he saw the entrance room. She started to point stuff out to him and click through pictures of the whole house. Then they moved onto the last two. When they finished Harry had made up his mind.

"I'm interested in the second one." He admitted.

She smiled faintly.

"Do you want to come back tomorrow? I can get the papers for you to look over. The couple selling the place has been trying to sell it a while with no luck. They've already moved out and you could move in as soon as you sign the papers and give the down payment."

Harry nodded and stood.

"Can I bring someone with me?" he asked.

"Of course." She nodded. "You may wish to bring your lawyer so he can look over the papers and sign as you legal witness."

Harry nodded acting like he understood.

"What time can we meet?" Harry asked.

"I'm open at three."

"Perfect. I'll be here."

She smiled and held out a hand which he shook.

"Pleasure Mr. …?"

"Potter. Harry Potter." He smiled.

She smiled back again and he left with a happy feeling.

.-.

End of Chapter one, end of June 27th.