Charlie stared at the nutrient potion sitting across from him. It was early morning in the Burrow, the sun barely up over the horizon. The Weasley brood slowly meandered their way down to the table throughout the hour. Molly Weasley bumbled about the kitchen as usual, wand swishing and flicking to dry the plates and remove a screaming kettle from the stove while she set a steaming tray of scones on the table, three plates stacked with pancakes floating in behind her. He leaned back and listened as Ron loudly wailed his fist on the bathroom door, Ginny shouting at him to bugger off and threatening to make use of the Jelly-legs jinx the twins taught her. He snorted into the cup of coffee as Bill wandered in and helped himself to a cup of tea. They locked eyes and grinned. As chaotic as their childhood home was, they always missed it.

"The twins are awfully quiet this morning, hm? Makes one wonder what they're up to." Charlie smirked into his mug, taking a long swig before hastily moving to smack his fork on Bill's hand as the curse-breaker snatched a fresh piece of bacon off the plate. He scowled as the other man crunched happily on the crispy piece.

"Never thought I'd say I look forward to seeing what they've got planned this time 'round," Bill joked, helping himself to a bowl of fruit with a quick kiss on the cheek to their mum before he sat down next to his brother. They'd only been at the burrow for a week, and they both pitied the thought of going back to work at the end of summer. Bill had been in Egypt for the past year, working on some sort of temple out that way with other Gringotts Curse-Breakers. He was quite good with Arithmancy, Defense, and Ancient Runes. He'd been hired almost immediately following graduation, achieving O's in most of his N.E.W.T.s and even breaking school records with his Ancient Runes score. He had managed to become a Prefect and Head Boy in his school days, despite going on adventures that seemed rather similar to what he'd heard of Harry's year thus far.

Then again, Charlie had many unauthorised adventures himself and had also managed to acquire the Head Boy badge. Ginny joined them at the table, and he quietly shuddered at the thought of his baby siblings wandering through the forbidden forest by themselves. With any luck, the twins had spun enough scary tales to keep the youngest far away from the forest. Lord knows what happened to the Acromantula egg he'd abandoned there last year, but if it was big enough to fool him into thinking it were a dragon egg then he has no doubt it must be a ginormous creature by now.

It didn't take long for Percy, Ron, and the twins to crowd around the table. There was a hushed quiet for a few moments as all the occupants spared glances at the only empty seat, then at Charlie who leaned back in his seat with a slight frown. It really wouldn't do for Harry to miss any meals. He looked half-starved as it was and Charlie had a feeling he was neglected, if not abused, by his own relatives.

He sighed and scooted his chair back, ready to go upstairs to call the boy down for breakfast. It was then that Ron spoke, mouth shoved to the brim with syrupy pancakes that he hastily chomped and swallowed.

"Erm… Charlie? Harry wasn't in bed this morning… I assumed he was down here but... He's always first up in our dorm. Maybe he's outside?"

"Afraid not, Ronnikens!" Fred leaned forward, an unknown green substance staining his shirt.

"You see, we were out there just this morning! Weasley Wheezes matters—," George pitched in, the similar green shade dying his hair giving a mad scientist look to him.

"—top secret of course, but there was no ickle Harry in sight!" Fred finished, glancing warily at the dragon tamer.

Charlie stared at Ron and the twins, before turning to Bill with a wildly panicked look in his eyes. They stood hastily, chairs scraping. Their mother gasped out a small oh no and hurried to the fireplace to floo their father at work.

"Point me, Harry Potter!" The entire table stared as Bill's wand hovered above his hand and spun in a slow circle. It didn't stop, and Charlie cursed as he threw his coat on and trudged up the stairs to find any clue as to where he had gone. Bill's head swiveled back to his littlest brother, who cowered back in his seat at the deadly serious expression on the curse-breaker's face.

"Ron—," Charlie started only to get cut off by the wide-eyed young boy.

—

Harry groaned as he woke to a fit of coughing. His lungs burned as he sat up, a quick glance at the alarm on his nightstand showed it was already mid-morning. He slept a lot longer than he'd intended. Quickly rolling to his feet, he stumbled into the shower to freshen up. His clothes peeled back and he stood in just his pants, staring glumly at the pile before him. Dudley's much-too-large cast-offs had never looked worse to him. The white shirt splotched with red and yellow and raggedy from what was probably Aunt Petunia's cherry pie and sweat-stains. He grimaced at the thought. The blue jeans were cuffed and rolled up until the ankles were thick and bulky. He looked longingly at his simple black Hogwarts cloak. The first piece of clothing he owned that fit him. He'd have to leave the cloak here, and he dreaded wandering about without it. If only he could use shrinking charms here.

It was then that the thought occurred to him. He hadn't gotten an owl. He'd used magic in the alley, but there was no owl telling him he'd been expelled or a ministry worker showing up to snap his wand and send him to whatever prison wizards go to. Since a muggle prison certainly wouldn't keep them in. Surely something would have happened by now if they really weren't allowed to use magic outside of school? He grinned, pulling his wand out of the pile and pointing it his jeans.

"Reducio!" He whispered excitedly, glancing around as his jeans shrunk slightly. Nothing happened though, and he picked up the now shrunken fabric. He panicked for a moment, wondering if they'd become too small. When he pulled them on though, he realized they seemed to fit perfectly. It was peculiar, how did the charm know exactly when to stop? He'd have to look into that. Maybe Hermione would know, he'd ask when he saw her again. He grimaced at the thought of returning to school. Surely somebody had raised the alarm by now and they were looking for him. He knew they'd find him sooner than later, but he had a list to get through.

He hurried to get ready, copying the shrinking spell to the shirt and grinning in the mirror at the sight of well-fitted clothes. They'd do for now, especially since his first stop was the muggle shopping district. It was about time he updated his wardrobe. He grabbed the hotel key and small money pouch, shoving them into his pocket on his way out. He'd thankfully managed to acquire a card the night before, one that would work in Muggle London, he couldn't fathom heading back into the alley in broad daylight. Not after the Leaky Cauldron crowd last year.

He wandered down the street, keeping an eye out for any sort of clothing store. It was odd, being in such a populated area. The Dursley's had rarely taken him out of the neighborhood, preferring to leave him trapped in the cupboard or with the neighborhood cat lady, Ms. Figg.

It didn't take him long to find a store. As he wandered in, he realized it was an upper-class place. Evident by the odd stares he received, making him shrink into himself a tad. Nobody bothered him though, and he wandered through to the boys section with a cart. It took a moment to get over the price tags; he was a Potter, and he'd never owned anything of his own until Hogwarts, he was allowed a few frivolous purchases. No, not frivolous. Necessary. It wasn't long before the cart was laden high with everything from socks to shirts and even some dress shirts and ties. He tossed a new pair of trainers in, glancing down at the holes in his own. Yes, definitely necessary.

A worker walked by and glanced his way, eyeing his full cart dubiously before doing a full 180 and walking back the way they came. Harry let out a frustrated sigh. It was time to go, before they decided to patronize him like most adults did. He hurried to the cashier, loading up the conveyor belt with his purchases and giving a sweet smile to the hesitant cashier.

"My mum is busy with my sister, she's really sick so they're waiting in the car. I told her I'd take care of my back-to-school shopping this year. Don't worry! I have my own credit card," he waved his card up with a grin, hoping he'd be able to pass off as a brave rich kid and the lack of attention would explain away the torn clothing he wore. As he hoped, the lady's face melted with pity, and she quickly rang up the purchases. The total came to a few hundred pounds, and he happily offered his card (which went through, to the still slightly wary cashier's surprise) and bagged up his purchases before pushing the cart out of the store.

He pulled to a stop just outside of the doors and pondered how to go about getting everything back to the hotel. There were a few too many bags in the cart than would be comfortable to carry, and he glanced around warily to make sure no muggles were around. He'd never done magic in a muggle area, but he didn't have many options. Hiding a few bags from sight using his body, he quickly shrunk most of them down and fit them inside another bag, leaving three regular ones to avoid suspicion, and then he hurried down the street.

He tossed the bags onto his bed as soon as he got back. Grinning and plopping on the mattress. Who knew shopping could be so thrilling? He quickly used the engorgement charm on the bags he'd shrunken, silently thankful for Hermione's insistence on learning the growing and shrinking charms -even though they weren't part of first-year curriculum- if only to make their trunks easier to move around.

He pulled out a pair of pants and jeans, clean socks, and a simple white t-shirt. A quick change and scourgify on his robes was all it took for him to look a million times better than before. He ran his hands through his hair, debating on attempting a haircut before deciding against it. Last time Petunia tried, it didn't go well. He doubted it'd change regardless of whether the cut was actually stylish this time. He'd see the optometrist in Diagon Alley next, then pick up some new robes. He had plenty left to do, but even if he didn't make it through it all today he was certain he'd manage to figure out a way.

—

Charlie strode through a small side alley in Diagon Alley. It was half past noon and they still had no sign of Harry. They'd checked Privet Drive first, and there was no magical signature nearby that matched. They'd gone to the Leaky Cauldron next, but Tom had been adamant he hadn't seen the boy and all of the rooms remained empty. Diagon Alley was too crowded to even attempt to single out a signature, and the Dragon-tamer was growing more frustrated by the minute.

They'd alerted Dumbledore, but the old man had chuckled and said something along the lines of boys will be boys. Charlie and Bill had both been left fuming after the floo call, and they were certain the old man was going senile at this point. They couldn't let anyone know that the Boy-Who-Lived was missing, lest the press get wind of it. So they kept the story short, leaving the description vague and only asking trusted friends and allies. They had found one lead so far, a friend of Bill's from Gringotts had mentioned seeing a young boy there at three in the morning. A very odd sight, Charlie was sure, and not at all a comforting one.

He stepped up to the blue door, knocking firmly and taking a half-step back as it swung open immediately. He was met with suspicious blue eyes, which cleared quickly at the realization of the person before him. Charlie stumbled as he was wrapped in a strong embrace.

"Charlie! I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Alex. Good to see you, mate. Do you have a minute?"