Harry arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron, a small yawn escaped his lips, while his job may not have been very physical, it had been pretty tiring for a thirteen-year-old. After leaving the bookstore, Harry had gone to buy some chocolates that he promptly ate as soon as he could, something that Venom appreciated.
"I don't see why I had to lock Scabbers away in my room when your hairball is the menace that's causing all the problems around here." A familiar voice complained, causing Harry to stop just as another voice responded to the first.
"Honestly Ronald, it's not Crookshanks's fault! He's just a cat." A more feminine voice argued, Harry's lips curled into a smile as he looked across the room and saw his two best friends, the redheaded Ronald Weasley and the bushy-haired Hermione Granger. Though, Hermione was noticeably different from before, because instead of carrying a pile of books, she was carrying an orange cat that looked somewhat like a small tiger. It wasn't a particularly handsome cat, given that its flat face gave off the impression that it had run headfirst into a wall.
"Looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me." Ron snorted.
"He is not a pig, he's a cat." Hermione glared at Ron before she began whispering to her cat, apparently called Crookshanks. "Ignore the mean boy." Harry couldn't help but smile as he watched the two of them bicker, that was rather normal for him given how often the two of them would argue about the biggest and smallest of things, and right now he could do with some normalcy.
'I'm glad to have my friends with me.' Harry thought to himself.
'I'm your friend.' Venom's voice interrupted.
'Are we friends?' Harry wondered.
'Why wouldn't we be?' Venom asked, sounding curious.
'You entered my body without permission for one.' Harry rolled his eyes before he walked over to Ron and Hermione.
"Besides, your rat is old and disgusting." Hermione was saying to Ron.
"He's not disgusting! Besides, he at least doesn't go running around and chasing over people's pets." Ron argued. "He's better than that hairy mess you like."
"I'm gone for a short while and as soon as I come back I find you two at each other's throats." Harry chuckled amusedly, causing both of them to snap their attention towards him.
"Harry!" They both said cheerfully, Ron reached out and pulled him into a hug while Hermione shifted Crookshanks to one side so she could reach for a one-armed hug just as soon as Ron had let Harry go. However, she was interrupted when Crookshanks tried to swipe at Harry who just about managed to move back in time.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione said disapprovingly when the cat began hissing loudly and aggressively at Harry. "What has gotten into you?"
"I told you that the bloody thing's a menace," Ron said, shaking his head.
"Crookshanks is not a menace," Hermione glared at the redhead before looking down at her cat. "there's probably something here that's upsetting him. I'll take him back to my room, give me a minute." Without waiting for a response, she turned and headed upstairs.
"Bloody mental," Ron said in a mix of fondness and irritation, not noticing Harry's thoughtful face as he watched Crookshanks be carried away. "so," Ron turned to Harry who blinked before giving Ron his full attention. "what have you been up to?"
"Me? Nothing really." Harry shrugged.
"Right, so I suppose there wasn't anything involving you blowing up your aunt," Ron smirked.
"What? How do you know about that?" Harry frowned.
"Dad knew," Ron answered.
"How did he know?" Harry asked. Ron opened his mouth to answer but paused, a thoughtful look on his face.
"I don't know," Ron eventually admitted. "either way, what was it all about?"
"The stupid woman wouldn't shut up," Harry said irritatedly. "she kept insulting my parents and wouldn't stop, eventually I just lost it and she ended up floating away."
"Ha," Ron let out a small laugh, shaking his head with amusement. "you know that Hermione is going to lecture you about this."
"Ron, I won't ever last a day without expecting a lecture from her." Harry joked.
"Fair enough," Ron barked out a laugh. "Merlin knows that I do the same. Oh yeah, did you know that we had all gone to Egypt?!"
...
Harry ended up shaking his head with disbelief as he arrived back in his room later that evening. Ron had told him all about what the Weasley family had gotten up to in Egypt, it sounded like great fun and Harry was happy for them. But that did lead Harry to wonder how much money was spent, obviously quite a lot. Apparently, the Weasley family had won a lot of money earlier in a prize draw and had decided to spend it all on their holidays.
Harry had exchanged looks with Hermione upon hearing that, he and the muggle-born witch both non-verbally came to an agreement as they understood what the other was trying to say. They both thought it was pretty stupid to waste all that money on a holiday when the family was so poor, but they both knew it was probably best to not express that particular opinion.
'Still, it had been nice meeting the Weasley's again.' Harry thought to himself as he plopped down onto his bed after greeting Hedwig.
'I suppose,' Venom replied. 'they're quite loud though.' Harry barely suppressed a laugh at that, Venom wasn't exactly wrong. Harry honestly couldn't imagine the Weasley's without them being loud.
'We all have our faults.' Harry pointed out.
'We do not have any faults,' Venom disagreed. 'though, with that being said, you should probably keep eating more if you want me to fix your body.'
'What?' Harry sent back.
'It'll look out of the ordinary if you are suddenly fully healed,' Venom told him. 'eat more and if anyone asks then tell them that you've had some potions, that way we'll have an excuse for why you'd look different.'
'But I don't know what potions do that.'
'You work in a book store, Harry, I'm sure you can find out," Venom said in a patient voice. 'and while you're at it, lookup acromantulas.'
'What? Why?'
'You escaped their nest last year, they're still there and they are threats to us. We need to get rid of them or at least find a way to fight them off.'
'But they're in the forest, I don't…'
'So you'd kill a massive snake under the school but won't do anything about the massive man-eating spiders next to the school?' Venom cut him off. 'They're dangerous, Harry, to us and everyone else. They tried to eat you.'
'But I…'
'If you want then we can leave them there, hope you don't feel bad about any people they might end up killing.' Harry could have sworn that the symbiote was grinning.
'I hate you and myself.' Harry sighed.