


There was a tree round in the garden that provided reasonable shelter. With a long drawn out sigh he trudged around to the back. Just to make sure he tried the door and wasn't surprised to find it locked. He ran a hand through his hair that was now plastered to his forehead and ran the rest of the way to number four. They'd looked like they would be there most of the afternoon. He'd only been out about five minutes and when he'd left both Vernon and Petunia had been seated on the couch watching TV.

Vernon's sparkling company car, which Harry had been ordered to clean only that morning, was missing from the driveway. As he rounded the corner back onto Privet Drive he froze in surprise.
