The next day, Harry woke up bright and early. His excitement was palpable, and he was more than ready to run away.

Well, his mind was ready to run away, his luggage begged to differ.

Harry groaned a little when he saw the mess his room was in and finally packed up, in case he had to make a quick getaway.

He spent most of the morning getting his stuff from all across the room and stuffing it into his trunk. How everything fit so haphazardly into his trunk was a mystery Harry wasn’t willing to solve.

As his clock hit eleven in the morning, a small stone with a piece of paper wrapped around it flew into his room from the open window.

Harry picked it up and headed to the window, peering down as he waved at Lily. He could see her crouching down behind the bushes and waving back at him, her usual cheerful grin adorning her face.

Harry smiled as he unwrapped the paper from the rock and read through it.

The plan was rather simple, though he didn’t doubt its effectiveness. They would wait for night to fall and once the Dursleys fell asleep, Lily would show up and give him a signal (an owl call), and once he acknowledged that, she would break into their house and break Harry out of his room and they would run away.

Now that Harry could do magic, he didn’t need Lily to break into his house but it would still be nice to have her show up and help if need be, so he quickly jotted down how he had a way to make it out of the house so all she would have to do would be to ensure the Dursley’s had fallen asleep before giving him the signal and then he would sneak out of the house and they could run away together.

Lily looked at him quizzically for a moment before she finally nodded. She grinned happily as she waved at him and ran off to her house.

Harry spent the rest of the day packing up and making sure he left nothing behind.

Come evening, Harry sat at the edge of his bed. He looked around the room for the umpteenth time, making sure he had left nothing behind. Despite his room being barren enough that he couldn’t possibly miss anything in it, his nervousness said otherwise.

The sun slowly fell past the horizon. The day was finally ending. His nervousness heightened and he could hear every single squeak and he could practically hear everything that was happening in the house.

Dudley’s snores that were loud enough to penetrate walls, Vernon grunting on his way to the bathroom or Petunia’s high-pitched voice as she talked Vernon’s ear off. No doubt complaining about Harry.

Though, soon enough, everything became quiet. The odd grunt or groan kept Harry on his toes, though. Eventually, when Harry felt like he might start pulling his hair out from restlessness, he heard what could have passed as an owl’s hoot. If the person listening was deaf, that is.

Harry rushed to the window and looked down. He grinned and waved at Lily, who similarly was waving at him.

‘The terrible owl sounds aside. I’m glad she came,’ thought Harry.

As per their plan, Harry gave her a thumbs up, seeing which Lily’s smile spread even further and she ran off around the house.

‘She should be waiting across the street from the Dursleys’ house. I’ll quickly head out and join her’

Casting a last glance over his room, Harry smiled.

“Goodbye, you dump. I hope I never have to stay here again.”

Harry magicked his trunk, Hedwig’s cage and his broomstick to float behind him as he headed down the stairs. As quietly as he could.

Skipping any of the stairs that squeaked, Harry approached the front door.

Every step he took felt more freeing than the last. In no time, he had reached the front door.

Harry placed the floating trunk, cage, and broomstick on the floor and pointed his wand at the door. An audible click signaled the door unlocking.

Harry grabbed the doorknob and turned it slowly and pulled the door open, as softly as he could.

Though, what he hadn’t expected was the loud creaking sound the door made.

Eyes wide, Harry swung the door open, making even more noise in his fluster. He looked across the street and beckoned Lily over. His expression making it clear she had to make haste.

Lily ran over to Harry. “What happened? Why did your door make that much noise?” She asked in a hushed tone, “I could hear it all the way across the street.”

“No idea,” said Harry and promptly pointed his wand at Lily and used the same charm he had used on himself to cut her off from the trace.

‘At least with this, even if I use magic near her, the Ministry won’t know.’

Harry was about to turn around to make his stuff levitate. He heard voices behind him.

“I’m telling you, I heard something, Petunia,” said Vernon’s gruffy voice.

“Fine, we can just check it out and then, maybe, you’ll let me go back to sleep, “ grumbled Petunia.

The lights came on in their room as Vernon walked out, followed by a disgruntled Petunia. Her hair in rollers and her pajamas with nary a wrinkle in it showed she had just gotten into bed.

The moment Vernon walked to the stairs, he looked down and saw a sight that caused his face to turn red and then inched towards purple.

“He’s getting away!” Screamed Vernon.

Vernon rushed towards the stairs. His speed belied his size. He took the stairs two at a time, to get to Harry that much faster.

In the meantime, Harry cursed loudly and magicked his stuff, causing it to float off the ground and approach the two standing in the doorway.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Yelled Harry.

He grabbed Lily’s hand and together, the two ran as fast as they could, away from the Dursleys house and the fast approaching Vernon.

“Don’t let him get away!” Screeched Petunia.

Harry glanced back and saw Vernon trying to catch up to them, but despite being faster than his size would suggest, he was still extremely fat. He could only try to catch up to the two, but eventually, he had to stop and try to catch his breath.

Even in the dark, Harry could see the deep shade of purple Vernon’s face had transitioned into.

Even after they lost sight of Vernon, the two continued to run. Huffing and puffing, they ran for quite the distance, till they reached the street corner near Lily’s house.

“Do you think they’re still following us?” Asked Lily, through laboured breaths.

Harry bent over, wheezing, and could only answer once he caught his breath to some extent.

“I don’t think so. They probably gave up after we went round the first or second corner.”

Once they had caught their breath, they glanced at each other and a moment later, burst out laughing.

“That was so exciting!” Gushed Lily.

“Did you see the look on his face?” Asked Harry, roaring with laughter.

“He looked so purple!” Laughed Lily, “Though, for someone that huge, he sure can run fast.”

“Yeah, that was a surprise to me too,” said Harry.

Harry gazed fondly at Lily for a moment. He then took a step forward and gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

Lily let out a surprised squeak, though moments later, Harry felt her arms snake around his back. Her movements seemed hesitant at first, but as time passed, her grip tightened and she hugged him tightly.

Harry looked down, and Lily looked up at him. Harry noticed a slight blush on her cheeks and as they gazed deeply into each other’s eyes, Harry leaned down a little.

Lily’s eyes glazed over a little, and a small smile tugged on her lips. She leaned up and closed the gap between their lips.

Harry felt a jolt of electricity pass through him. In what felt like a long, yet incredibly short time, he felt the softness of her lips and the sheer joy he felt at kissing her.

The two of them kissed for a short while before moving away. Harry looked down at Lily. Her cheeks had turned a deeper shade of red, but she had a beautiful smile on her face.

“That was…” Lily said, but paused, seemingly unsure of what to say. Moments later, she released a content sigh.

Harry smiled down at her. “Yeah, it was.”

Harry continued to gaze at her, her long golden hair framing her beautiful face. Her hazelnut eyes looked even more beautiful at that moment.

Unable to stop himself, Harry leaned down and took her lips once more. This time around, she responded immediately and with equal passion.

The two seemed to want to convey their desires, and they did it in the only way they currently knew how. Harry and Lily got deeper and deeper into the kiss.

Harry tentatively snaked his tongue out and brushed it against Lily’s teeth. Lily seemed to understand immediately as her mouth opened and her own tongue slid out.

Seconds turned into minutes, but eventually, the two lovebirds separated. With heavy breaths, they gazed at each other with a smile.

“It’s getting late, we should go home,” said Lily, though she did not seem to want to get out of their hug.

“Yeah, you’re right,” replied Harry, though his actions and words didn’t match at all. He bent down and gave her another peck on the lips.

Lily smiled widely, but she seemed to recall something, so she reluctantly moved away from the embrace.

“My uncle and aunt would get anxious if we don’t go home soon,” she said.

Harry smiled and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers, and they walked towards her house.

“I couldn’t ask earlier but how are you doing magic, Harry?” Asked Lily. “Didn’t you get that letter and stuff for doing magic outside?”

Harry nodded and paused for a moment, wondering how he should explain it to her.

“Well, the thing is, I stopped the trace. The charm the ministry uses to track underage magic,” answered Harry, “I did the same for you by the way, otherwise, the moment I used the levitation charm on my luggage, your trace would have been triggered and I would be implicated again.”

Lily stared at Harry wide-eyed. “That is quite the outrageous thing you just mentioned. Rather nonchalantly, might I add?”

Harry laughed sheepishly in response.

“How is that possible, though? Where did you learn it?” Asked Lily.

“Let’s get to your place first. This is probably not the best place for this conversation.”

Lily nodded in agreement, and the two made their way to her house. It was a short walk from the place they had stopped at, but since they were walking at a leisurely pace; it took them a few minutes to reach it.

Lily rushed excitedly to the front door and opened it up. She stepped into the house, turned around, and faced Harry.

She gave him a short, professional-looking bow as she spoke. “Welcome to my humble abode. I hope you enjoy the various amenities we offer.”

Lily barely got through the shtick before she broke down giggling, causing Harry to join in with her.