"Harry, where are you planning to go after we get back this time?"
On the Hogwarts Express, Ron watched the scenery flash past outside the window and asked quietly, almost as if talking to himself.
"Back to 12 Grimmauld Place, of course," Harry said. "Sirius is waiting for me. He said in his letter that he wanted to run a shop with me in Diagon Alley."
"That's great," Ron said. "You finally don't have to go back to your aunt and uncle's house."
"That's right." Harry smiled too.
Before this, the first stop of every holiday had always been Privet Drive in Little Whinging. Even last year, he had stayed there for a month before the Order of the Phoenix escorted him away after he truly came of age.
Although that experience had eased his relationship with Vernon Dursley's family considerably, and Dudley's attitude toward him had changed greatly, if he went back again this year, Uncle Vernon would probably still be wearing that sour expression.
That family seemed allergic to wizards. As long as he still held a wand, their relationship could never truly improve.
Fortunately, he did not need to go back anymore. Sirius was still waiting for him.
Harry looked out the window as well. For a moment, his anticipation for his new life gradually washed away the sadness of graduation.
"I just heard that you're going to open a shop in Diagon Alley." Ginny pushed open the compartment door and came in from outside. "Doesn't that mean you can be neighbors with Fred and George?"
"I don't know about that yet." Harry came back to himself and thought for a moment. "Sirius didn't tell me the address of the shop either, so I don't know whether it'll be near theirs."
"You can't be too far away