Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K.R.

Author's notes: Many thanks to Averlovi to let me use the universe he created with On A Night Like This to give it my own spin.

READ PART ONE OF "ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS" BY AVERLOVI FIRST, OR THIS WON'T MAKE SENSE TO YOU!

Taken from "On A Night Like This", Part One:

Daphne fixed him with a firm stare.

'What we shared tonight was something special, it certainly went beyond the physical for me, and I'd like to find out what we can be. You win the war, kick the little ferret into the arse, and you have a very grateful and intimacy starved witch waiting. I like to think that's quite the incentive to win a war?'

He gaped.

'I didn't think… I thought you'd likely want to never speak of us again after tonight.' A wry grin played around his mouth. 'But what kind of man would I be if I didn't at least try? ' He winked at her, the next second, however, the reality of the fight before him took over, and he sobered. 'I prom….'

He stopped, how could he give a promise he most likely wouldn't be able to keep? He lowered his head.

Her hand slipped to his cheek and she kissed him gently.

He studied her, there was a fire in her eyes that told him he'd better live up to her expectations, or he was going to rue it for the rest of his life. He gave her a nod in confirmation and understanding.

'I promise.'

For once, Hermione and Ron respected his privacy. They sat opposite of him as the Hogwarts Express carried them southward and talked in hushed voices. They never addressed him, although they kept giving him concerned looks.

His return to the Gryffindor tower in the wee hours of the morning hadn't gone unnoticed. Worried about him claiming the need for privacy after Dumbledore's funeral, Hermione had decided to wait for his return. Of course she was smart enough to cast Detection Charms that would alert her of his return when he wasn't back by curfew.

Harry sighed; Hermione wouldn't be Hermione if she hadn't tried to pry everything about his whereabouts during the hours since the funeral out of him.

As if he'd ever tell anyone what he'd done. That was his secret - and Daphne's; a secret too precious to share, too precious to let it become part of the Hogwarts gossip mill.

He'd committed every minute of their encounter to his memory, the ardent passion as well as the unexpected tenderness, and the fragile blossoming of something between them.

Would he see her ever again?

He had to, the promise he'd made to her weighed heavy on him.

How made you sure to stay alive when you were about to leave to hunt the most powerful Dark Lord who had ever tormented the British Islands, and who was hell-bent to kill you on top of that?

No matter how, he had to survive, he had promised to Daphne.

Harry pressed his lips together and lowered his head to hide his determination from his best friends. As a rule, he'd jumped into each of his adventures without preparation and without a thought of the possible consequences. The best outcomes had seen him ending in the infirmary. The worst outcomes had people he cared for killed.

That had to come to an end, he couldn't stumble into the Horcrux hunt with his usual carelessness. What if he killed Hermione and Ron due to his recklessness? What if he died himself and condemned Daphne to the fate the Malfoys had planned for her?

He shuddered; anything, sweet Merlin, but not that!

Harry closed his eyes to shut the rattling sounds of the train out. He had to make plans.

He had to prepare for a war.

The Hogwarts Express reached King's Cross in due time. Harry said goodbye to his friends and headed out to the Muggle side.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia already waited for him. They both didn't look happy about his unexpected early return for the summer.

A sentiment he shared with them.

Uncle Vernon grunted and turned his back on him.

That was his cue to follow them to the car. As always, they left it to him to handle his heavy and cumbersome trunk on his own.

There had to be a way to travel light if you used magic, he could think of several ways to shrink and lighten the necessary baggage. Could that also be applied to the equipment they'd need while on the run? If only he was already seventeen, it would be convenient if he could practise some of the ideas that had come to him during the trainride before he had to go on the run.

The drive back to Privet Drive passed off in hostile silence.

Harry didn't care, by now he was immune to the hate of his relatives. At least their determination to ignore him gave him time to perfect the plan he'd developed on the train. He dried the moist palms of his hands on his jeans. Would he be successful or fail right at the beginning? Everything depended on his ability to find an undetectable means of transportation.

The car came to a halt in front of Privet Drive number four.

Uncle Vernon grunted something unintelligible and pointed towards the door with a meaty finger.

Harry heaved his trunk out of the car boot and dragged it up the few stairs that led into the house.

Aunt Petunia waited for him inside. 'Go up to your room and stay there. Your Uncle and I have to go out again.'

Dinner was not even mentioned. He didn't ask for it, either. He knew better than that. Besides, if his new plans came to fruition, he could obtain anything he needed, regular and healthy meals included. He trudged up the stairs and into his room. The door shut behind him. The next second the heavy bolts Uncle Vernon had installed at the door before his second year at Hogwarts slid into place.

Bastards.

He waited and listened until the frontdoor closed behind them, and the sound of a car backing out of the driveway told him they were gone.

It was now or never. Harry took a deep breath.

'Dobby!'

The next moment the small elf materialised in front of him with a loud CRACK.

Harry winced at the noise as well as at the colourful outfit the little creature wore: to chequered trousers in different shades of blue, turquoise and green he'd combined yellow flip-flops and an open hawaii shirt in a violent pattern of orange and red that revealed his narrow chest.

'The great Harry Potter sir called Dobby! What can Dobby do for the great wizard?' The elf bobbed up and down in excitement.

'Thank you for coming when I called you, Dobby,' Harry said as soon as his eyes got used to Dobby's taste in fashion and he was sure he had control of his voice. 'I was wondering if you were interested in a new job.'

The elf's tennisball-sized eyes almost popped out of his head. 'Does the great Harry Potter sir ask Dobby to work for him?'

'Yes, I need your help with something I'll have to do. But -'

An elf-sized missile hurled itself at him and almost knocked him off his feet.

'YES, YES, YES! The great Harry Potter master only has to ask, and Dobby will do!'

Harry's face brightened as the tension rushed off him. Too much of his plan depended on Dobby's willingness to help him. Yes, he could order Kreacher to do his bidding, but with what the hateful elf had done to Sirius, he never would trust him. Dobby was different in that regard, somewhere deep inside he knew that Dobby would do anything for him. Time to come clean, then.

He bent down and hugged the small creature. 'Thank you, Dobby, you have no idea what that means to me.' His voice was thick, and he cleared his throat. 'However, I'll have to warn you, what I intend to do is dangerous, and by helping me you might come to harm or even die. I won't be offended if you'd rather not take my offer because of that, Dobby.'

Dobby extricated himself from his hug and straightened to his full height. The look of his protruding eyes became determined. Despite of his small size and hilarious clothes there was a dignity about him that made Harry swallow.

'Dobby will not shrink from his duty to his master!'

'Thank you, Dobby,' Harry whispered. 'In return I'll do everything to keep you safe and happy.'

A blinding light wrapped around elf and human as soon as he finished his sentence.

Dobby hurled himself at Harry's knees again. Happy tears rolled down his cheeks.

Harry's eyes became wide. Had he just bonded with Dobby without realising it?

Dobby snapped his fingers. His colourful outfit turned into a snow-white tea-towel toga with a strange crest embroidered on it: a triangle, surrounded by a circle that cut the triangle at its three peaks.

Harry gulped. What had he done? He hugged the small elf. 'I'm sorry, Dobby, I didn't mean to enslave you again. Is there anything I can do to make this undone? Do you want me to give you clothes?'

A shudder went through the elf at the mentioning of clothes. 'No, no, no! The great Harry Potter master must not give Dobby clothes!'

Oh, sweet Merlin! Harry hugged the elf again. 'I won't give you clothes if it makes you unhappy, Dobby. But, please, tell me what happened? Did you bond yourself to me?'

Dobby nodded and gave him a shy upwards side glance. 'Dobby bes sorry, Harry Potter master. Dobby is a bad elf, Dobby will have to iron his ears for making the great Harry Potter master angry!'

'Stop that nonsense at once, Dobby!' Harry tried his best to make his voice sound stern and authoritative. 'I am your master from now on, and I forbid you to ever bodily harm yourself if you think you've failed in your duties. Wheneveŕ that happens, you'll come to me, and we'll discuss what you've done, and I'll decide about an adequate punishment. Have I made myself clear?'

'Yes, Harry Potter master! Harry Potter is a great master!'

'Good, now the formalities are settled, let's get to business. Dobby, can you get me out of here to Diagon Alley without anyone noticing?'

'Of course Dobby can. Shall Dobby take the great Harry Potter master there right now?'

Harry shook his head. 'Tomorrow morning will be soon enough. Tonight I just need a light dinner. Please, return early tomorrow morning with some breakfast and take me to Diagon Alley.'

'Dobby will do as told. Dobby loves to serve the great Harry Potter master!'

Another loud CRACK, and the excitable elf was gone.

Harry sat down on his bed and leaned back on the lumpy mattress. Stage one of his plan had gone through without a hitch. Merlin give that he could pull off the rest as easily.

Harry let out a deep breath as he left Gringotts the next morning. A weight seemed to roll off his shoulders, and his hands clutched around the two thick ledgers the goblins had given him.

Ever since he'd entered the magical world six years ago he'd known that he was rich. Dumbledore had told him after Sirius' death that he was Sirius' heir, and that a considerable number of Galleons had been added to his vault.

Well, that was only half the truth.

He wasn't rich, he was filthy rich, even by Muggle standards.

Sharptooth, his goblin vault manager, loved to reminiscence the past, and he'd told him about how his grandfather Fleamont quadrupled the already vast Potter fortune with the income he got from his ingenious hair potions, and how his own father had multiplied that fortune by ten by investing into Muggle companies.

The Black fortune, although vast by wizarding standards, paled to a mere pittance compared to that. Although it was nothing to be sneezed at, the vault filled to the brim with books on every branch of magic imaginable alone was priceless.

Harry cast his eyes heavenwards with a small smile. 'Thank you, grandfather, dad, and Sirius.'

They'd never know how thankful he was. Thanks to their foresight he wouldn't have to worry about the means to pull off the next stages of his plan.

He slid into a side alley and called Dobby to take him back to Privet Drive. Back in his shabby room, he sat down on his bed and opened the Potter ledger and scanned the yellowed pages.

There it was, a long list of real estate. He discarded the commercial estates and concentrated on the houses in Muggle areas. A cottage in a small village in Gloucestershire caught his eye. Linfred's Cottage was situated in a sole Muggle area, although it was already unplottable. He'd need to put up a Fidelius Charm, with himself as the Secret Keeper, if that was possible. He wouldn't repeat the deadly mistakes his parents had made.

'Dobby!'

His house elf appeared again, although this time with not so much as a soft plop, as was his new order. It wouldn't do to let Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon know that something was going on in his room. Or his Order guards who still observed the house, for that matter.

Harry pointed his index finger to the entry in the ledger. 'Can you take me there, Dobby?'

Dobby put his hand on the ledger and closed his eyes. Then he nodded. 'Dobby has taken in the magic of the family of the great Harry Potter master. Dobby can now take the great Harry Potter master to every property that belongs to his family.'

'Brilliant!' A big smile appeared on Harry's face. He got up and took Dobby's arm. 'What are you waiting for?'

The next moment he stood on a lawn dotted with colourful flowers that stretched down to the muddy banks of a river. High hedgerows of wild roses and other prickly bushes he didn't recognise obscured the garden from prying eyes. The hairs on his arms rose up. The prickly bushes might keep away the Muggles, but there were also some strong wards at work here that kept out unwanted magical visitors.

A few ancient fruit-bearing trees graced the lawn. Closer to the house were flower beds with colourful perennial plants in full bloom.

The house boasted shiny white walls under a thatched roof, and crown glass windows. A back porch with a thatched, pitched roof marked the entrance.

Harry walked towards the entrance and opened the door. Ahead of him, another door led into a small vestibule with pristine white walls. From there two doors, one to the left and one to the right, gave access to the inner rooms of the house.

He tried the door to the left first. It led into a formal dining room that boasted a bow window with a window seat under a low ceiling with dark beams, and a fireplace. The reddish, polished table and chairs gleamed in the sunlight that streamed through the window.

Beyond the dining room was the kitchen, visible through a broad opening in the wall. It had a small breakfast area and white cabinets with tops of light coloured oak. A huge AGA took up most of the space of the backward wall that was decorated with copper kitchen utensils.

It was the kind of kitchen Aunt Petunia dreamed of, and Uncle Vernon waved aside as unaffordable.

A huge grin appeared on Harry's face.

He walked back to the vestibule and opened the other door. This one led to the living room of the house. It also had a low ceiling with dark beams and a fireplace. Two windows let in the sunshine. Bookcases lined the walls, and comfortable looking leather chairs and sofas around the fireplace and lots of small tables to hold a cup of tea invited to an afternoon of reading pleasure.

Hermione would so love this room.

Harry crossed the room to a door in the wall opposite of the windows. As expected, it led into the entry hallway. Opposite of him, a window in the front door gave him a good view of the street side of the house. There was no front garden; the frontdoor opened directly onto the pavement.

Muggles hastened by, nobody spared the house a glance. There had to be strong Muggle Repelling Charms and Notice Me Not Charms at work. Good!

There were two more doors in the entry hallway. One led into the dining room, the other one into a small bathroom with an old-fashioned bathtub on claw feet.

A carpeted stair with a gleaming, dark bannister swung up to the first floor. Harry walked up and reached an open gallery that overlooked the entry hallway. Three doors led from here into what had to be the bedrooms of the house.

The door to the left revealed the spacious master bedroom. A huge four poster bed with rose-coloured curtains stood on one side, opposite of a row of in-built wardrobes. The window overlooked the garden, and there was even a small ensuite shower room. The ceiling to the top floor was missing, which gave the room an airy feel, and the walls were made of stretches of white washed wall between dark beams that extended to the roof ridge.

Harry let out a small whistle and closed the door behind him. There were two more bedrooms, both decorated in the same style, but in different colours: the bed in the middle room had creamy yellow curtains, while the one in the bedroom to the right had curtains in a light green that reminded him of fresh leaves in the spring. That room also had an ensuite shower room.

Yes, the house would do beautifully as a safe house and base of operation for his friends and him. All that was left to do was making it as safe as possible.

As soon as Dobby appeared with Hermione on the lawn, she jumped away from the elf and pirouetted, her wand drawn and ready to defend herself.

Harry laughed and got op from his chair on the patio behind the dining room. 'Put your wand away, Hermione, it's only me here, Harry.'

She narrowed her eyes and pointed her wand at him. 'Which spell did I use to kill the troll in our first year?'

'You didn't use any spell, the damned creature got you by surprise and you did your best to hide from it. We didn't kill the troll, either. Ron knocked him out with his own club, using the Levitation Charm.'

Hermione breathed out and lowered her wand. 'What is this all about,Harry?' She gestured around the garden.

'Well, this is my part in making sure we'll survive the next year.'

Her eyes became wide. 'But… But I thought we'd agreed on hiding out in the wild. I've already written to Mr Weasley to obtain a magical tent for us.'

'I'm glad you did, it's a good back-up plan if we're ever forced to leave this house. However, don't you think that roughing it in the wild is exactly what Riddle and his Death Eaters want us to do? I imagine it's easier to detect magical residue in the wild than it is in an inhabited area. After all, all humans have some magic, the only difference between Muggles and magical people is the amount of magic they carry, so there has to be a certain amount of residual magic in Muggle areas as well that will mask our activities.'

Hermione opened her mouth, as if to contradict. A thoughtful expression appeared in her eyes, she closed her mouth again, and considered his words. 'I think you're up to something.' She looked at the house. 'Whose house is this?'

'It's mine, it's part of my inheritance from my parents. I made a short visit to Gringotts, and it turned out there's quite a lot more than just the contents of my vault. That's only a trust vault for my school expenses. I should have got access to the houses on my fourteenth birthday, and I'll get access to everything else as soon as I'll turn seventeen. I had no idea, for some reason I have not found out yet Gringotts' owls never reached me.' He took Hermione by the arm and pulled her towards the backdoor. 'Come on, I'll give you the grand tour.'

Not even fifteen minutes later they were back in the dining room.

'What do you think?' Harry asked his friend.

Hermione worried her lower lip with her teeth. 'It's big enough for the three of us. However, is it safe enough?'

'It's already unplottable, and there are strong wards around the property. Despite that, I'd feel safer if we had a Fidelius Charm in place. That's why I asked you to meet me today.' Harry gestured with his hand towards a book on the long table in the dining room. 'I'm not going to repeat my parent's mistake and will be my own Secret Keeper. I want you to perform the spell. Everything you need to know about the spell is in that book.' He picked the book up from the dining table and handed it to Hermione.

Her face brightened.

Harry suppressed a chuckle. Trust Hermione to be excited about a new book.

'Tell me, what happened, Harry? This is so unlike you,' she said into his thoughts.

His breath caught, her question had got him by surprise. Telling Hermione the truth was out of question, what had happened between Daphne and him was not of her concern, and he wouldn't let her taint the wonderful memories with her prodding and admonishments. So, he just shrugged. 'I grew up, I suppose. It's about time, don't you think?'

She laughed. 'Can't argue with that, after all you're coming of age in a couple of weeks.'

'Thanks!' He joined her laughter. 'However, until then I'll need your help, Hermione. I not only want you to cast the Fidelius Charm, you need to go over the ward scheme for this house as well.' He handed her a thick tome from the table. 'You can call Dobby whenever you need to get here, he'll also deliver your messages to me. It's safer not to use owls these days.'

Hermione pressed her lips into a thin line. 'I've noticed when Dobby took me here that he wears a tea towel again. Harry, have you enslaved the poor elf?'

Harry's heart sank. Trust Hermione to pick on that. 'Yes, Dobby bonded with me, however -'

'Harry! How could you!'

He held up his hand. 'Let me finish, Hermione.'

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, but indicated with a motion of her head for him to go on.

'I had no idea that I was creating the elf-master-bond when Dobby agreed to work for me and I promised to keep him happy and safe. Of course I at once offered to give him clothes. Poor Dobby was devastated and begged me not to. I didn't have the heart to go against his wishes.'

Hermione huffed again, but had the good sense to let it go. 'What else have you done?'

'I've transferred a part of the Black fortune to a Muggle account, enough to last us for years, if necessary.'

Hermione's eyes became round at that. At least she didn't ask any questions about his finances.

He pulled a small jewelry case out of the pocket of his jeans and handed it to Hermione.

'What is this?' she asked as she took the box from Harry.

'Open it.'

She opened the lid.

On a bed of dark velvet lay a delicate silver chain with a pedant that showed her zodiak sign, virgo, surrounded by a silver ring with an intricate pattern.

'It's goblin made,' Harry said. 'It's an everlasting emergency Portkey that will transport you back to the safe house from any corner of the world. You just have to put your hand on it and say "home". Of course it's un-summonable.'

Hermione gasped. 'Harry! This must have cost a fortune.'

He shrugged. 'I'd like to be prepared as best as I can. I've another one made for Ron, which I'll give to him as soon as I'm at the burrow, and one for me.' He pulled a chain out of the collar of his shirt and showed her his pedant, a leo.

He tucked the chain back under his shirt. 'I've also told Dobby to bring all the books on Dark Magic from the Black Library to this house as soon as you've cast the Fidelius Charm, and buy additional ones in Knockturn Alley.'

'Anything about the founders would also be good, they might give us an idea where to look for the artefact he might have used from Ravenclaw.'

'Good thinking. I'll tell Dobby.'

Harry took a last look around. 'Until I'll turn seventeen there isn't much else to do. Meet me here next week for the Fidelius Charm?'

'Of course. I'm really impressed what you've done, Harry.'

She gave him a hug, pressed the two books to her chest and left the house to Apparate back to her parents.

Harry let out a long breath. Another stage of his plan was completed. For the first time in his life he wasn't running into a new adventure unprepared.

For the first time in his life he dared to hope he might be successful.

t.b.c.