Acceptance Letter

A/N: The characters contained within are J.K. Rowling's, I am simply using them to entertain my self and others.
Summer is almost here, and along with it comes some big things. The new movie and the final book. One way or another, whatever happens in the book I am planning on finishing the story.
Fixed the error, thanks for all who wrote in.
Enjoy it, review it, suggest it, spread it, love, live, and everything else I can’t think of…
-Your Humble Servant,
J.T.P

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The Massey Residence, London, England

It had been a long day for Joy, she had just gotten back from a tedious day at court and now just wanted to have a nice dinner with Emma and take a hot bath. She walked into the kitchen to get dinner started for her and Emma, when she saw a large bird patiently standing on the sill of the kitchen window. Joy let out a gasp of surprise and nearly dropped her briefcase at the sheer size of it and how it was intently looking at what seemed to be her. That’s not just a bird it’s an owl, do owls even live in London anymore? And what’s it holding, is that an envelope?
The owl gave a soft hoot and tapped on the glass, urging her to open the window. Joy didn’t know what else to do so she slid the window open and immediately retreated to the other side as if expecting it to attack her. The owl did no such thing; it simply dropped the envelope on the counter, spread its wings and flew back out the window, leaving a completely bewildered Joy staring at the diminutive envelope.
She first noticed that it was addressed to Emma, more specifically Emmaline Massey of Number Eight Broom Hall Lane, Upper Left Bedroom. Well that’s oddly specific she thought to herself as the she broke the wax seal which had a very elegant looking coat of arms on it with the inscription Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus. She unfolded the letter and began to read:

Miss Emmaline Massey,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress

Joy stared at the letter with complete incredulity. What is this? This HAS got to be a joke! There aren’t such things as witchcraft. And I’ve never heard of this school before… hold on, I have heard this name before! Wait... that young man, Harry, he said that’s where he goes to school! He must be pulling a prank on us… but why? It doesn’t seem like something he’d do, it isn’t even really that funny. And what on earth does it mean by ‘your owl’ it’s not as if you can just go to the post office. There’s no way that this is real
Joy re-read the letter several times, and finally just accepted it as a rather odd joke that Harry was pulling on Emma. She would certainly let Emma read the letter but before she gave it to her she’d talk to Harry about why he was doing this. Lord knows she’s been through enough in her life, no need to add another disappointment on her shoulders.

The next day Joy stayed home from work so she could talk to Harry about the letter she’d gotten when he stopped by to drop Emma off. It was just a little after one when Harry came with Emma to their house.
“Hi Ms. Massey! How are you?” Harry asked.
“I’m fine Harry, and you can call me Joy. I was wondering if I might be able to talk to you for a moment, just off in the living room. We’ll only be a moment Emma if you want to go to the kitchen lunch is ready.” She opened the door wider to let Harry in as Emma dashed off to the kitchen.
Harry gulped nervously, why did she want to talk to him privately? Out of paranoia Harry’s hand travelled to his wand inside his jacket pocket.
“Harry, come over here sit down,” she patted the seat next to her then seeing his expression she added, “oh don’t worry you’re not in trouble I just was wondering if you might be able to help me understand this letter I got last night.” Joy pulled out the letter that she had, by now, read many times.
Harry saw the parchment and immediately understood what she had wanted to talk to him about; he knew it could only be one thing. He grinned.
“Do you know what this is? Is it a joke you’re pulling on Emma, is that why you’re smiling?” She asked noticing his rather odd grin, she had never truly seen Harry smile so it was unsettling to see a full grin coming form him now.
“Well if I could have a guess I would reckon it’s from Hogwarts. You know, my school, I got a letter that looked just like that a few years ago, did an owl deliver it?” Harry asked.
Joy just nodded mutely. A moment of silence passed where they just looked at each other.
“I bet you’re wondering if this is all just a bunch of rubbish,” Harry said finally.
“It can’t possibly be true! I mean there aren’t such things, they just exist in fairytale books, don’t they?” She spat out, releasing the uncertainty that had been building ever since the letter arrived.
Harry just nodded, “Would you like a demonstration? You should bring Emma in here also, does she know?”
She shook her head and rushed off to go get her daughter, a moment later she came in with Emma in tow and sat her down on the couch. “Dear, yesterday you got a letter from someone. Actually it’s not really someone, more of a somewhere. It was from Harry’s school, Hogwarts. Anyhow, it said that you got accepted into the school and are expected there for next term. If you wish to go I’ll be supportive of your decision. But before you say yes or no there there is something that may seem a little, odd…unique…different…well I can’t exactly explain it. Harry you said you had a demonstration?” She looked over at him pleadingly.
“Sure,” he turned towards Emma, “Hogwarts isn’t just a boarding school… it’s a school for a certain group of people, people who are special. People like you and I. It’s really common there for someone to have hair that changes colour or be able to move themselves quickly. Emma, Hogwarts is a school for witches and wizards.” His words echoed in the room, a deafening silence had fallen over the room with the revelation. He watched as Emma’s face slowly ran through a gamut of expressions, shock, excitement, disbelief, and confidence, yet still no words came from her, she seemed to be completely frozen in her seat.
“Well how about I just show you what I mean, seeing is believing right?” He smiled jokingly, as he pulled out his wand. “This is a real life wand, we use these at school and when we’re older we can use them anywhere. I can’t use it outside of school because I’m not of age yet.” He stopped seeing both Emma and Joy’s face failing to comprehend, “okay sorry about that, a little too much information for right now. Emma why don’t you give my wand a wave?” He asked, flipping his wand over he held it out to her by the tip.
Emma nervously clutched the handle of it with her right hand. She stepped back unsure of what to do next.
“Okay now before you wave it just step back a little bit more and point the wand over there, away from us. The first time I waved a wand I nearly punched a hole through the wall. Right now let’s see what you’ve got!” Harry said enthusiastically as he sat down next to Joy.
Emma swished it a little then finally deciding to go with the whole thing she just slashed it back and forth. Instantly there was a huge flash of light and a ripping noise.
“WOAH!!!” Emma yelled, stepping back in amazement. Across from where she was standing a huge tree had erupted out of the floor. Joy simply dropped the letter as she stared at Emma in amazement.
“Well, that’s a little bigger than what I expected. Now that right there is magic, not just something you see on T.V. Hogwarts teaches us how to use our wands so we don’t end up doing things like that everywhere we go. I have a feeling that we might have a visitor in a moment because of that tree. Let’s sit down and you can ask me anything you want while we wait. Are you ok Mrs. Massey? You look a little stunned.” Harry said, grinning slightly as he retook his seat on the couch.
“Oh, yes…yes I’m fine it’s just a lot to take in all at once. It is hard to believe that such a thing exists. How do people not know about them, about you? I mean I’ve never heard anyone talk about them outside of fairytales.” She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. Emma still just stood holding the wand limply, staring at Harry, completely gob smacked.
“Hogwarts will teach you everything you need to know, and you’ll no longer be ‘weird’ just because you sometimes let your magic get away from you Emma, all those things that happen to you are normal for us. I blew up my aunt once, she actually floated away she got so big. Every one of us has done some sort of involuntary magic at some point in their life. And you’ll love everyone there, the teachers are great, and so are the other kids. They’ll help you learn all about the magical world. I was from a Muggle family too so I know this all seems like a bit much. Oh sorry, Muggle means no-magic, so mostly everyone in the world are Muggles, or non-magic folk.” Harry paused once again, seeing their confused faces as they tried to follow what Harry was saying. “Blimey, I didn’t know that it’d be this hard to explain all of this. I guess it was easier for me because I desperately wanted to believe that there was something better than my Aunt and Uncle…”
Mid-sentence the doorbell rang. Joy jumped as if she’d been electrocuted. Harry smiled, “I think that this might be someone who could answer things loads better than I am.”
Emma hopped off the couch and sprinted towards the door. Harry stood up and led Joy down the hallway, the mother was obviously nervous and Harry was curious to see how she’d react to Dumbledore’s undoubtedly peculiar fashion sense.
Emma flipped the lock and opened the door to reveal Dumbledore standing in his most luridly purple robes. He looked down at Emma and smiled warmly.
“Hello little miss, you must be Emmaline Massey?” Dumbledore said to the ecstatic little girl, then turning to Joy he held out his hand, “and you must be Mrs. Joy Massey if I am not mistaken, I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”
Joy was undoubtedly shaken by his initial appearance, and his title, but shook the headmaster’s hand with great kindness. Although his clothing appeared to be a bit amiss, something about the old man was reassuring and endearing.
“I’m sorry I’m intruding but the Ministry of Magic detected a rather large output of magic from your house and seeing as I was nearby I offered to see what was going on. My assistant headmistress Minerva McGonagall has told me that your daughter was sent an admission letter recently. Am I safe to assume that this had something to do with the report?”
“Sorry Headmaster, Joy asked me about the letter and the school, and I was trying to explain things so…”
“…I did it sir, I made the tree grow. It was my fault not Harry’s, he shouldn’t get in trouble.” Emma said in a strong voice as she stepped in front of Harry.
The headmaster smiled at the little girl, “Don’t worry Miss Massey, I was not about to reprimand Harry, although I do quite admire your courage to stand up for what you did. Now I think that is enough stress over the matter, if you don’t mind I’d like to help explain what I am sure Harry has already started to do very well.” The headmaster gave one of his good-natured winks at Harry, but he just ignored it. Harry was barely managing to keep a civil tone with him in front of the Masseys let alone go along with Dumbledore’s antics.
“While Harry here has undoubtedly told you somewhat about the school that your daughter has been accepted into I am hoping to clarify things, and tell you a little more about the current state of things in the wizarding world, shall we go somewhere a little more comfortable. There is much to tell you, alas not all of it is good.” Dumbledore stepped inside curtly and followed Joy and Emma to the living room. Harry walked beside him but did not say a word to the headmaster. Dumbledore noticed the seemingly icy demeanour Harry had developed and looked over to the boy and smiled sadly.
Once everyone was settled in the living room, Dumbledore, much to Emma and Joy’s surprise, conjured tea and biscuits for them all to nibble on. “Now that we are settled I see no sense in delaying any longer.” Dumbledore smiled, “So Harry, what have you discussed with the Masseys so far?”
Harry listed off that he’d explained the basics about wands, magic, and what the school was like.
“Ah, well he seems to have done a fine job of explaining the basics. I’ll try to fill in all the blanks, and then tell you about the wizarding world right now.”
Harry flinched at the last part, knowing how mild a euphemism he was using to describe Voldemort’s reign of destruction. Hopefully the revelation of the wizarding world being in such a state of turmoil would not dampen Emma and Joy’s enthusiasm. Harry crossed his fingers and turned his attention towards Dumbledore who was explaining the basics of the school.
The headmaster spent well over an hour explaining all the niceties of the school, why Emma became a witch, and even going so far as to describe the “wonderful assortment of pranks and gags at Weasley Wizard Wheezes.” When the topic of the school was finally exhausted the attention turned to the wizarding world itself and what was currently going on. Harry saw the headmaster straighten and rub his temples as he began.
“Now, onto the less pleasant facts of our world I fear,” Dumbledore smiled softly at the little girl who’d been completely enthralled by the discussion so far. “Now this is not intended to discourage you from sending Miss Massey here to Hogwarts, but currently our world is at war with others inside the wizarding population.”
This was when Joy piped up, “but didn’t you say that there weren’t that many wizards. I mean it couldn’t be a much of a war when only a few hundred are fighting.”
Dumbledore sighed, “I wish that were true, but I am afraid it isn’t. There is a dark wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort, who, with is faithful followers the Death Eaters, have been spreading panic and fear within the wizarding community. Now there have been many Dark Wizards over the centuries, but this one is especially so. This is the second time he has been terrorizing people.” He said grimly.
“What do you mean his second time?” Emma asked nervously.
“Well Lord Voldemort, born Tom Marvalo Riddle, was at his most powerful sixteen years ago, and was commiting the same horrific acts he is doing currently. Thankfully, although it was only temporary, he was defeated and his rule was destroyed.” Dumbledore stated, smiling proudly at Harry.
“How was he defeated, and if he was defeated how did he come back? You can’t bring people back from the dead can you?” Joy asked, her fear had been piqued by the headmaster’s latest revelation. She was wondering if it was the right idea to send her daughter to school during a war.
Dumbledore turned towards Harry his eyes twinkling mischievously. “He was defeated by a young boy, his parents were tragically murdered by Tom, but somehow this baby vanquished this dark lord. Although Voldemort tried to kill this him, his spell backfired and all that happened was that the boy received a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. No one is quite sure why, or what happened but somehow he brought about Voldemort’s end. For well over eleven years Voldemort was thought to be dead, but we were given quite the wakeup call five years ago when Voldemort returned. The same young boy who destroyed him the first time foiled his plans once more, this time at the age of eleven. Over the next four years he continued to fight Voldemort in different settings and ways. He is the one of the very few wizards who have actually duelled with him, and one of even fewer who has actually survived doing so. He is actually a current sixth year at Hogwarts right now, and is by far one of the best Quidditch seekers I have ever seen pass through the school, better even, some may say, than his father.”
Harry’s cheeks glowed fiery red under the headmaster’s embarrassing praise.
“What’s his name?” Emma asked quizzically, in complete wonder how a little boy could defeat such an evil person so many times.
Dumbledore turned once again towards Harry, looked deep into his eyes, and then proudly said, “His name, if I’m not mistaken is Harry James Potter.”
“WHAT!!” Joy and Emma both shouted at the same time swirling in their seats to face the embarrassed boy. Harry buried his face in his hands. Well he couldn’t have done that any with more subtlety. I sound like some sort of prophet or something.
Dumbledore chuckled softly as if he could hear Harry’s thoughts. Harry raised his head out of his hands to look over at Emma and Joy who were both staring at him incredulously. For Harry this was right up there with his most embarrassing moments in his life. He was angry at Dumbledore for telling the story in such a way that it made him appear to be something he wasn’t, and not only that but to do so with him right there.
“Why didn’t you tell us Harry?” Emma said, sounding a little put out that her best friend had not told her something this important.
Harry got up and sat down next to Emma and put an arm around her comfortingly. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to scare you or worry you. It’s not exactly normal for a 16 year old to fight the world’s most powerful dark lord. And it’s summer, I just want to be like any other sixteen year old right now, because once I get back to school everyone stares at me for my stupid scar and my over sensationalized stories.” Harry ended in a somewhat defeated voice. Joy placed a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder and Emma hugged him.
“It’s alright Harry, we wouldn’t have cared, I mean if we could handle the sudden fact that Emma is a witch, and that she made a tree appear out of no where, then I’m sure we could have handled your story too. And you’re right, you should have every right to live a normal life if you want to.” Joy said in a comforting voice.
“I completely agree with Mrs. Massey here, I believe that you should enjoy this summer to its fullest and not worry about what is to come.” Dumbledore put stress on the last words. “You are first and foremost a student and a teenager, not an Auror, and it would do well for you to pursue what other teenagers do. While I cannot stress how important it is for you to stay wary you should also relax for, unfortunately, it may be the only time you have for a long time.” Dumbledore’s eyes showed true sorrow and compassion. When he stopped to think about it, Harry had never seen the Hogwarts headmaster this worn down. Joy sensed that there was a large amount of sorrow and tension between the two wizards in front of her, and decided that they needn’t bring it up again just for their sake.
“Well Mr. Dumbledore…Headmaster Dumbledore, thank you so much for meeting Emmaline and I. We cannot tell you how much it means to us that you would take time out of what seems to be a rather busy schedule to help us understand, especially when there is a war going on. I’ll make sure Harry is acting like a normal teen, but I’ll also make sure that he is safe. I don’t know anything about spells or wands, but I can promise you that I’ll protect him. He means too much to Emma for me to let him get harmed.” Joy smiled.
Dumbledore stood up and shook Joy’s hand congenially. “The same goes for you Mrs. Massey, I will have an Auror posted by your house to ensure that you and your daughter will not come into any sort of harm.” Dumbledore smiled at the little girl and then turned to Harry, “Harry? Might we have a word while you go back to the house?” Harry just nodded fearing what new revelation Dumbledore would have for him. “Excellent! Thank you for your hospitality and bearing with my rather long winded explanation, barring any more trees or things of that nature, I will expect to see you, Miss Emmaline, at Hogwarts on September 1st.” Dumbledore stepped out the door, and Harry followed closely waving goodbye to Emma after promising to meet up with her at the park tomorrow.
“Harry, thank you for acting the way you did today. I think it was best that they were told as much as possible here instead of Emmaline learning it all second hand from her peers. This year the entrance rate has dropped significantly because parents are too afraid to send their children away from their sight, even if it is safer at Hogwarts.” At this Dumbledore stopped walking and turned to face Harry, “Harry, I meant what I said in there. You really are an amazing young man facing adversity most people could never imagine, and overcoming it with a sense of style that I daresay I don’t even have. I also meant what I said when I told you that you had to have a normal summer, relax. If you’ve been reading the paper you’ll have noticed that there haven’t been any other attacks since the one on Privet Drive, sadly this is only the calm before the storm.”
The headmaster started to walk again, and after a few moments of silence, started speaking in a softer voice, “I really and truly am sorry that I have lost your trust Harry. I am still teaching myself that I cannot protect you from everything without an explanation. You are so tied to the outcome of this war that it is my duty to prepare you as much as I can, and therefore I will strive to tell you more now, although, because you have still not yet mastered occlumency I cannot tell you everything. I hope that one day we can rebuild what we used to have, I know it may take months or years but I am willing to try.” Reaching the front step of headquarters Dumbledore came to a stop and placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders. “Before I leave you let me say two more things. One; it is not your fault; you couldn’t have done anything to prevent your godfather from going to the Ministry that night. And secondly; this is not only your battle, let your friend’s help you along the way, that is why they are here, they care for you.” As Dumbledore stepped away form the door and back to the street he smiled, “There are more ways than one to overcome grief Harry; you just need to find the one that suits you.” Dumbledore winked over his spectacles, turned, and without saying another word apparated away.

Chapter 3 Version 2

Grimmauld Place, London, England

Harry once again was up in his room, this time cleaning his broom for what had to have been the thousandth time that week when he heard the commotion coming from downstairs.
“What should we do Remus? She’s knocking at our bloody door!”
“We just should ignore it, she’ll leave in due time.”
“If we just leave her there she’ll be attracting attention. You know full well Voldemort has spies all over here.”
“We need to get hold of Dumbledore…”

Harry headed downstairs to see what was making Moony and Tonks so nervous. At the foot of the staircase in the hallway stood an anxious looking Tonks with her wand drawn and pointed at the front door from which there was an incessant rapping coming form the other side.
“Tonks what’s going on? Why is Moony flooing Dumbledore?” Harry asked, keeping his own wand out just in case.
“Keep it down Harry. That girl we helped a few days ago is outside knocking on the front door as if the fidelius charm and about three-dozen other ones weren’t protecting it. I mean, blimey, the headmaster himself set them up, so one way or another this’s bad news.
A few tense moments passed until Lupin appeared with the headmaster in right behind him. Without saying another word Dumbledore took four quick paces to the door and swung it open to reveal the young girl. An awkward silence fell over the rather odd sight. There was the girl, mid knock standing in front of a man in purple robes, and behind him stood three people pointing what looked like sticks, right at her.
“Umm…hiya. Is Harry here, he said I could stop by if I wanted to talk,” Emma asked finally breaking the silence.
Harry didn’t wait for a cue from Dumbledore; instead he just walked right up to her. “Hi Emma, how are you? It looks like your cut knee is doing better. Tonks knows her stuff doesn’t she? Oh and your hair’s back to normal, what’d your mum think?”
“Ya it feels loads better, and my hair changed back that night. Mum didn’t care too much, she’s used to weird things happening.” She responded, fingering her brown hair nervously, “Well I wanted to see if you could come swing with me at the park down the street?”
Harry stopped momentarily, looking up at Dumbledore to see what he thought. The headmaster shook his head ever so slightly. Harry didn’t care though, he still was upset with the headmaster and he had no right to lock Harry up like he did to Sirius. “Okay Emma, why not. I need to get outside anyhow, I was starting to get sick of doing my homework.” Harry sidestepped Dumbledore and headed out the doorway.
“Harry, perhaps now isn’t…” the headmaster started to say but Harry had turned around and cut him off.
“Don’t worry about me Albus, I can take care of myself.” He said tersely, his eyes daring Dumbledore to try and stop him. However there was not challenge, just an expression of deep sorrow etched on the Headmaster’s face. Harry took the last step out the door kept going without looking back.
Dumbledore turned around to face Lupin and Tonks. “Tonks if you wouldn’t mind following Harry I do not believe it wise to be outside in these dangerous times. The girl is fine though, her name is indeed on the list of perspective students for this year. What still troubles me however is how she can see through the numerous wards that have been painstakingly placed throughout the house. I must be off now, there are some questions to be answered about this, Remus floo me if anything else occurs.” He bowed curtly and strode into the kitchen.

Dinner that night at Grimmauld Place was quiet once again, Moony and Mad-Eye had left with Kingsley to deal with some rumors of a Death Eater recruiting hideout near Glouscter that they were hoping to stamp out before it gained more members, therefore Harry was left alone with Tonks and Hestia Jones.
“So Harry, what did you and Emma end up doing today?” Tonks asked, trying to sound genuinely curious although she had followed and watched every step they took from under the invisibility cloak.
“Not much, just talked mostly. She’s really shy because of all the bullying she’s dealt with. She reminds me a lot of myself actually. Except she’s a girl, and she’s got a family that cares about her. I’m positive that’s she’s magical though, she showed me how she can move a pebble if she really wants to.”
“Dumbledore told us that her name is on McGonagall’s list so she should be getting a letter sometime soon. That amount of magic does seem to be a bit much though; she can already wandlessly move rocks and can see through our wards. She could certainly be a handful if she goes to Hogwarts.” Tonks said chuckling as she poked at her overcooked chicken.

That evening Harry decided to finally try and respond to at least one of the countless letters he’d gotten. At first he’d thought that the sudden change of locations would stop the flow of letters but shortly after the owls managed to somehow find where he was. From what he’d read his friends didn’t know about the attack or that he wasn’t even anywhere near Privet Drive. He pulled out a sheet of crumpled but clean parchment, dipped the end of a quill he’d dug up from the bottom of his trunk into some ink, and began to write.
Five hours later Harry was sitting at his desk surrounded by a pile of used parchment. He’d had been so focused on his letters that he hadn’t gone to bed, the activity being a welcome respite from the haunting dreams. He was having trouble writing what he truly meant and thought, the words seemingly vanishing the second he managed to think of the proper one. He couldn’t figure out what to write to these people who he had carried into a life-threatening situation without asking them and then nearly getting them killed. He’d spent the entire night drafting, writing, and then re-writing to finally come up with five letters; one each for Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Ron, and Neville, each trying to explain how deeply sorry and upset he was. Finally, only thirty minutes before breakfast he put his quill down, rubbed his eyes, and sealed the last envelope of the five, he then handed them to Hedwig, and went to take a shower hoping he wouldn’t fall asleep in it.

That afternoon Emma once again came and knocked on the door to see if he wanted to come and swing with her. Harry of course said he would and headed out with her down the street.
When they reached the broken down slide and the rust swings he saw a woman sitting on a nearby bench. Harry instinctively grasped hold of the wand he kept in his pocket. As they got closer Harry noticed the shocking similarity between the woman and Emma. “Is that your mum?” Harry asked Emma as they approached.
“Yeah, she said she wanted to meet you. Come on.” She pulled him over to her mom.
“Hi I’m Joy, Emmaline’s mother. She’s talked non-stop about you for the last week so I decided that I should come down and meet the famous Harry Potter.”
“Yes, Harry Potter,” he instinctively moved his hair to cover his scar, “its nice to meet you, your daughter is really great.”
“Thank you; she says the same about you.” Joy looked at the scrawny young boy. His face had a strange haunted look that she only saw in the victims of horrific crimes, his eyes carried with them an immense weight that a teenage boy should not have. “Would you like to have brunch with us? It would be nice to talk to you some more, and I’m sure Emma here would enjoy it.” She asked, hoping that she might be able to get some food in this boy. Although not looking as bad as he did when he first arrived at Headquarters he was still looking quite peaky.
“Um sure, that would be great,” Harry said warmly.
So the three departed the park and headed up the street to a small but well kept house on the opposite side of Headquarters. When Harry entered it he immediately could tell that this was a loving family. Pictures of Emma and her family on the walls, and everything had a homey feel to it that both the Dursleys’ and Grimmauld Place lacked. The closeness of it compared to the dank rooms of headquarters reminded him a lot of the Weasley’s own house.
“Your house is really nice, it reminds me of a good friend of mine’s.” Harry said as he looked over the various pictures
“Thank you, we try and make it feel nice and cozy.” Joy was surprised at how polite and mild-mannered the young boy was considering how he appeared. But no he wasn’t a boy, he’s a man, she corrected herself. His eyes make him look like he’s a hundred years old. Joy’s motherly intuition told her that he had seen or been subject to something that had caused him to skip over his childhood.
“C’mon Harry! Over here into the kitchen, we have loads of food.” Emma dragged him into the kitchen and sat him down. Joy opened up the oven and pulled out a freshly baked coffee cake and cut each of them a piece; there was also bacon, eggs, and orange juice on the table. For a while the room was only filled with the sounds of the silverware hitting plates as they ate.
“Thank you for having me over Emma, I get really bored over the summer so it’s nice to do something every once and a while. I can’t wait ‘till school starts.” Harry said as they cleaned up.
Emma laughed, “That’s silly. Why would you want to go back to school? Summer’s fun!”
“Because it’s more of a home to me than anywhere else,” he said quietly.
“Do you not do anything with your parents over the summer?” Joy asked.
“No, my parents were killed when I was one, I live with my Aunt and Uncle, and they usually don’t like to acknowledge I don’t even live with them.” He said with a sour laugh.
“Oh, I’m sorry; Emma lost her father, Harold, in a car accident. If you don’t mind me asking, how did your parents die?” Joy asked softly.
Harry tried to think of a story in his mind that would not reveal him as a wizard yet still explain what happened. In the end though, he decided to just tell part of the truth.
“Well, my parent’s were murdered by a man named Tom Riddle. He killed both of them, and tried to kill me. He didn’t though, but left me with this scar.” He lifted his bangs out of the way so they could see the lightning bolt scar he was so famous for.
“Did the police ever catch him?” Emma asked.
“No, he ran away after that, no one could find him. Some said he was killed… but he was seen again last year.” Harry stated, satisfied that the story made at least some sense.
“Well I’m sorry that happened to you. You said that you live with your Aunt and Uncle now, how are they?” Joy said patting him on the shoulder reassuringly.
“They’re….ok…. I guess. Well actually right now I’m not living with them. Right now I’m staying with my friends who have a house here. My Aunt and Uncle live in Surrey. They never liked my mom, or my dad, so they don’t exactly love me. I’m more like a tenant or something. They’re as happy to see me go off as I am so I try to only stay at their house as long as necessary.
“Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that. Do you like your school though? Do you go to the public one near here?” Jay asked, she hadn’t seen the boy at Emma’s school and most of the neighbourhood kids went there.
“Nope, I go to a boarding school in Scotland.”
“Really? I went to a boarding school too, what’s it called?” Joy asked.
Harry hesitated for a moment, but then decided to tell them because they would most likely be figuring out soon enough.
“It’s called Hogwarts, it’s near a town called Hogsmeade. It’s really cool, the school’s an old castle and there’s a huge lake that you can hang out by. It’s like my real home.” He said nostalgically, a moment later however he remembered how horrible the last school year was; everything from Umbridge, to learning about the prophecy Dumbledore had been keeping from him had been an absolute nightmare. Harry shook his head clearing it of all those memories, it’ll be better this year, I know it will.
“It sounds cool, I wish I could go to a school like that it would be wicked!” Emma said excitedly.
“I’ve never heard of a school by that name, but Emma’s right it does sound wonderful, I could see why you love it so much. Do you have to apply?” Joy asked, it sounded like a great school and she herself had enjoyed boarding school. Maybe Emma would too, it certainly would help her get away from the bullies around here. Eventhough her daughter never admitted it she knew that she was being bullied and it broke her heart that there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
“Actually I just got a note one day saying that I was accepted into it, apparently my mum and dad had me signed up for it. It was one of the happiest days of my life.” Harry said happily, thinking about what a shock it will be for Emma and Joy when they get the letter.
“Well I’ll have to look into that, I enjoyed my boarding school experience and I’m sure Emmaline would too.” Joy glanced at her watch and gasped. “Oh no, I’m sorry I’m going to have to go I have a case that I should be working on. Harry you’re more than welcome to stay with Emma if you want to. Emma I’ll be at my office, you know the number, and I’ll be home around six alright?” She bent down and kissed her daughter on the forehead.
“I think I’ll be going home also, I have some chores I need to do, I’ll see you tomorrow though okay?” Harry smiled at the little girl.
“Sure, same time, same place. See ya Harry!” She hugged him around the waist.


The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, England

Ginny had just taken a shower and was combing her still damp hair. As she brushed she thought back to the letter she’d written Harry; it had been over two weeks since she had sent it and had still not heard back. She’d asked her mom how Harry was this morning and she simply replied that he was doing perfectly fine. Something about her mom’s response seemed canned but she figured it was just that she didn’t want her to know how bad the Dursleys really were. She wanted to help Harry though, she’d watched silently year after year as Harry came back to the Burrow, every time he looked dejected and starved. She knew that he only thought of her as a friend but she always allowed herself the small hope that maybe one day she might be able to pay him back for everything he’d done for her.
Ginny stopped when she heard a tapping noise on her window. Outside was the unmistakable white shadow of Hedwig holding an envelope clasped in its talons. Her heart leapt as she raced over to the window. Throwing it open she let Hedwig in and took the letter from her. Hedwig nipped at her finger affectionately and then hopped back out the window.
Ginny didn’t know why but her hands were shaking out of nervousness. She sat down and tore the envelope open.

Dear Ginny,
Thank you for the letter you sent me, it’s nice to know that there are people out there who care for me. Sorry I didn’t write back sooner, I got loads of letters from everyone and I’ve been trying to figure out what to write to you all.
First thing, I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am about taking you all to the department of mysteries and almost getting you killed. I should have though it through and not just followed my instinct, maybe then Sirius would still be alive.
For some reason I feel that I can talk to you about this, I hope you don’t see me as weak once you’ve finished this letter. I’ve been having trouble sleeping, every single bloody night I have these nightmares. The bad one is when I just replay the battle in the Department of Mysteries, each time I see Sirius get hit, each time I see him fall through the veil. On good nights I have a dream of this small glass box with some silver liquid in it. I know I’ve never seen it before in real life but for some reason it feels familiar to me. These days I get only a couple of hours of sleep a night… blimey I’m so tired even right now. I remember you saying that you had nightmares after the chamber of secrets, do you still have them? Can you get rid of them? It would be nice if I could get at least a couple of hours more sleep.
I don’t know what your parents have told you but I’m at Snuffle’s place now, some Death Eaters tried to attack my Aunt and Uncle’s home but just got my Uncle Vernon’s toe (I’ll explain later). Anyhow, after the attack they I moved into Snuffle’s nearly two weeks ago and I’ve been mainly staying inside although I met a little girl down the street who will probably be getting her letter to Hogwarts in the next couple of weeks.
Anyway, I hope I don’t seem defenceless or weak to you now, I just had to tell someone and you offered to listen to me. Hope I’ll be able to some visit you and Ron soon I’m going mad in this house, everything creaks when you move and the whole place still smells like Mundungus although he left three days ago.
- Harry

Ginny’s eyes fogged over with tears, she couldn’t believe that he’d actually written back to her let alone told her so much. She knew that he was stubbornly quiet about his feelings so this confession of sorts was very important.
She looked back down at the letter, he’s having bad dreams? Well, how couldn’t he after everything he’s suffered through, I’m just surprised he hasn’t completely snapped under the weight of everything. The first few months after Ginny had been rescued by Harry from the young Lord Voldemort she had barely been able to close her eyes in fear of being repossessed. It had taken the combined efforts of Madam Pomfrey and her mother to finally allow her to get a decent night’s sleep, and that was with the aid of a dreamless sleep potion. Why wasn’t Dumbledore giving him that same help she got? Was it because he couldn’t help? Or was it to make sure it did not interfere with Harry’s trespasses into Voldemort’s consciousness?
That wasn’t the only big piece of information in the letter though, Privet Drive had some how been attacked by Death Eaters. Although he was okay and apparently now staying at Grimmauld Place it unsettled her that neither of her parents had told her or Ron that he was staying there. She’d overheard snippets of conversations between her mom and dad about Voldemort recruiting and something about growing number of attacks, but those had all been done through the extendable ears and very rarely paid off. She was smart enough to know that there was a war brewing but the thought that her friends and family, and even herself now, were caught up in the middle of it worried her to now end.
Exhausted from the day of chores and Harry’s emotional letter Ginny yawned loudly. I’ll write him tomorrow. He said he sent letters to everyone so Ron and Hermione probably have one too, I’ll talk to them and see what he said to them. As she nestled herself under her covers she went over possible ways that they might be able to somehow either get Harry to the Burrow or go to Grimmauld Place. No one should be left alone trapped inside for the whole summer…

Chapter 2 Version 2

The days following Harry’s arrival passed relatively uneventfully. While he occasionally heard other voices downstairs from the various Order members coming and going he didn’t really care to go down and talk to them. He had started to eat again, coming down from his room only for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yet his depression seemed to get worse daily, it wasn’t so much sorrow anymore but deep-rooted anxiety. How on earth am I supposed to fight him, let alone win? Why did I even get picked, I mean what if it was Neville. I would give anything for a normal life right now. In-between his daydreams and bouts of zombie-like mindlessness Harry read some of the other letters that he’d stuffed into his trunk. Most were just Ron and Hermione repeating mostly what they said in their first ones only they were growing more frantic as he continued to not reply. One letter stood out among the others however, this one had been on his bedroom table for several days, finally he managed to decide to open the letter from Ginny.

Dear Harry,
I know you don’t know me as well as you do Ron or even Fred and George, I’ve just always been “Ron’s-little-sister-who-had-a-crush-on-you,” but I’ve always wanted to get to know you better; even just as friends. That’s why I asked you to write me on the train ride. I know what it feels like to loose someone close to you, my cousin, who was also my best friend, died from a fever when she was 9. I was so upset I cried for weeks. Now I know I’m probably just saying the same stuff Hermione is, but I want to tell you it’s alright, you need to cry to let out all your emotions. It isn’t healthy to stay bottled up like you do. You’re going to have to forgive yourself, we came with you, by choice, and the only person to blame is Voldemort. We all are worried about you, especially mum, she’s going nutters.

Love,
Ginny

Harry unconsciously let out a breath of relief. For some reason he couldn’t exactly place he was most worried about Ginny’s reaction to what had happened that night. Although it was essentially the same stuff that Hermione and the others were saying when it came from Ginny it had a different sense to it, he couldn’t exactly place it but as he re-read the note he felt a slight glimmer spark in his chest, a spark he recognized to be hope. However brief it was it certainly was refreshing, and although he did once again have the strange dream about the small glass box that evening he did not feel as tense as he usually did when he awoke.

As Harry’s mind would wander over the prophecy he would watch the street in front of headquarters from above. While there wasn’t much interesting going on this dead-end street one person had caught his attention. For the past few days he’d seen a young black haired girl playing with some of the other kids that were out of school. While at first nothing immediately struck him about the girl, as the days went by he started to notice that she was not really fitting in with the rest of the group. She would play tag, or ball with the others but would always be picked last or always get ganged up on. Harry felt a pang of sorrow for the little girl, it started to remind him of his childhood, of being teased or ganged up on by the school bullies or jocks.
As more and more days went by with the same sort of things happening to this little girl Harry’s conscience kept jabbing at him harder and harder to do something. Just a week after seeing the little girl Harry was trying to do some of his summer potions work when he heard laughing from outside. He set his quill down thankful for the distraction from the mind numbing work. Outside was the usual group of kids yet this time instead of playing they were just grouped in a circle laughing and pointing at something in the middle. He couldn’t make out what exactly it was at first but when one of the boys shifted a little bit Harry’s stomach dropped. Right there, lying on the pavement was the girl, only now she was obviously crying and strangely had bright blue hair. Harry’s muscles tensed as his anger flared, he grabbed his wand, and headed downstairs to help her. As he came stomping down the stairs Tonks came out of the hallway.
“Oy, Harry, whotcher up to?” She asked, sipping on some tea, then she saw his expression as he marched towards the door, “Blimey Harry what’s wrong? I know my food isn’t good but don’t get angry about it” She tried to joke as she chased after him.
“Don’t worry Tonks it’s nothing, I’m just going to check on something…” Harry said before slamming the door shut.

Outside the groups was still surrounding the little girl. The largest boy in the group, a blonde haired, podgy boy, that reminded Harry of his cousin, seemed to be leading the group. He walked up closer to them feeling like he could break it up pretty quickly seeing that they were all at least three years younger than him.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Harry asked, pretending to be genuinely curious.
The group stopped and turned to face the young wizard. The weeks without eating and the grief had carved out a new, rather gaunt face for Harry, one that seemed to scare the kids. The kid he had assumed was the leader stepped forward, “nothing to see, we’re just dealing with a freak.”
Harry stepped closer, finally managing to get another view of the girl who was now curled up crying. He moved to take another step towards the big brute when Tonks grabbed him by the shoulder and swung him around.
“What in Merlin’s name are you doing Harry? You know how dangerous it is being outside these days. Come on get inside before anyone sees us” she tried to drag him away but instead he just turned the other way. Pushing aside the people in the group he knelt down by the girl. When Tonk’s saw the state of the young girl she rushed to follow him. “You lot best get out of here sharpish, next time I see you around here I’m calling the police!” With that and a menacing look Tonks managed to disperse the group of kids.
The little girl looked up at Harry. She had steel grey eyes that were bloodshot from crying, pale skin covered in freckles, and somehow had foot long shocking blue hair in place of her normal black hair. The anger Harry had originally felt was now replaced with a deep sense of compassion. This little girl was going through the same thing that he had to deal with as a child. “Hey, my name’s Harry Potter, and this is Tonks. You don’t have to worry anymore; we got rid of those other kids. What’s your name?” Harry asked as gently as possible.
She stared into his eyes for quite a while, for some reason he felt the same tension build as when he would look into the Headmaster’s eyes. Finally, after what must have been careful deliberation she whispered, “my name’s Emma Massey.”
“Well Emma, it’s very nice to meet you. Why don’t you get up and we’ll sit on the bench over here.” Harry said holding out a hand to the little girl. Only when she reached for his hand did they see the rather large scrape that went down her entire left arm. Tonks gasped, “okay, lets get you situated and I’ll be back in just a second, I have some stuff to fix your arm up in just a second. Harry if anything happens get inside house ASAP.” Waiting until Harry acknowledged that she then turned and jogged back to the house.
Harry turned back around to see the little girl quietly crying to herself. Harry suddenly felt very out of place, he’d only been around one other crying girl, and that was with Cho Chang; he had no real idea about what to do to comfort the girl so he just tried to talk to her hoping to distract her. “So Emma, I like the blue hair, do you think that I should dye mine a colour? How about pink, it’d match with my friend Tonks’ hair.”
She looked up at him, “You should dye it green, it would match your eyes.” She looked shocked at herself for saying something so bold and instantly looked down again. Harry had to laugh, “well I guess green would work. I think my friends would think I was off my rocker though if I showed up with green hair.” Harry chuckled, “so why did you dye it?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know how I did it, we were just playing tag when Cody pushed me, that’s how I got this, and when I stood up again everyone just started laughing at me. They think I’m a freak, they think that because weird stuff happens to me I’m cursed, or something.” She finished sadly, delicately plucking pieces of gravel out of the cut.
“Don’t listen to them, they’re just a bunch of brutes. You know what? I was the same way when I was your age. Weird things happened to me all the time, and I would always get picked on by my cousin and his bullies. Who cares really if you have blue hair, or…”
“…can make things disappear. If I get upset sometimes I make things just disappear. I once made Jonny Templeton’s chair move out form under him after he threw a spit ball at me too.” She added, smiling slightly at the memory. Harry stopped, not believing what he had just heard, did she just admit to making things disappear and move? That’s impossible! Not for a witch… his inner monologue responded. “Hey Emma, how old are you?”
“I’m going to turn eleven in a month! My mum said that she’s going to take me to go pick out a dress for the party we’re having.” Emma replied happily, forgetting the tears that had so consumed her.
“That’s great, well if I don’t see you before then Happy Birthday!” That means she’ll probably be getting her letter from McGonagall sometime soon if she really is a witch. “Well I wouldn’t worry about getting pushed around anymore, they just need a good scare. Oh looks like Tonks is coming back.”
Tonks, it turned out, was a skilled healer and soon had Emma’s arm cleaned and patched up; Harry even saw her slip in a few drops of some healing potions. “Well there we are! All cleaned up in tip-top shape, just make sure you change the bandage tomorrow okay? If you ever need help or just want to talk feel free to stop by…” Tonks paused remembering the fidelius charm placed on the Order’s headquarters. “…well if you see us around come and say hi.”
“Can I visit your house sometime? It looks really cool, I like how it’s bent around the other buildings.” Emma asked.
Harry looked nervously over at Tonks who just shook her head slightly, “You like the house? What do you think of the front doors?”
“They’re okay, sort of creepy though. What does toejures pure mean?” she asked wrinkling her brow as she tried to pronounce the Latin word.
Tonks smile faltered just momentarily as she realized that the girl really and truly could see the headquarters, inscription and all. Harry was first to respond, “Its Latin for always pure, it’s our family’s motto.”
“Cool, well thanks for helping me Harry and Tonks. It’s almost time for dinner though so I’m going to go home before my mum gets mad at me.” She hopped off the bench and started to run home then paused, a moment later she turned back and gave Tonks and Harry a quick hug and said “thanks” again before running off her blue hair flapping behind her.
As Harry and Tonks headed back to headquarters they discussed the ramifications of that little girl being able to see the house. “Well we know that she’s a witch, or at least a squib, I was talking to her when you were gone and she said that weird things happened to her. She’s made things disappear, or that’s why her hair changed too. If she can see it does that mean the fidelius charm is broken?”
“I’m not sure Harry,” she mumbled as she opened the door, “but I think we better floo the headmaster.”

Revised Chapter 1

The Heart Bond
Version 3.0
By: Jay T. Prorter

It was a dreary, fog filled day on Privet drive, and the raven-haired boy with the jagged scar on his forehead was matching it perfectly. He had been laying in his bed staring into the white eternity of the ceiling, for the two days since he’d returned home to the Dursleys. Although he had yet to come down when he was called there had been no repercussions as there usually would have been. His Aunt and Uncle instead had taken to ignoring him ever since their run in with Mad-Eye at the train station. If it was out of fear for interacting with more people like him, or just a new form of neglect they were trying, Harry didn’t care.
These past few weeks had been the worst in his entire life, worse even than the day he saw Cedric get killed. His mind was plagued with the memories of that horrible night at the Department of Mysteries. Only two weeks ago he not only saw many of his closest friends get severely injured he witnessed his godfather being murdered at the wand of Bellatrix Lestrange. And although Hermione and the others had told him time and time again, he was still blaming himself for involving all the people he loved and cared for, for almost getting them killed, and for Sirius getting murdered. Harry had gone down to the Ministry thinking he was going to save him; instead he fell into a trap and led his godfather to his death.
He slammed his fist into his mattress in frustration. “It just isn’t fair! I was going to live with him. We were going to be a family!” He screamed hoarsely into his pillow for the hundredth time that day, hunger and exhaustion making him dizzy. He rolled onto his back as he watched the ceiling start to spin in several colours of black and silver. He closed his eyes to try and make it stop but it just kept going, spiralling tighter and tighter together until it was a whizzing blur of silver until all of a sudden it morphed into a small glass box filled with what looked like mercury. Harry’s eyes shot open, startled by the little box. It hadn’t been the first time it had occurred in the past few days. It seemed that every time he tried to shut his eyes he was either haunted by the shocked look on his uncle’s face as he fell into the veil, or this odd little glass box. He never managed to see more of it than just the small glimpse and moments later even that faded from his memory as if he had never even thought of it.
Harry sighed, rubbing his bloodshot eyes as he propped himself up against the bed and looked out the mist covered window. The same senseless grey mass of fog was hanging outside of his window just as it had been since he came home. Everything seemed to be pressing down on him from every direction, the room was beginning to make him claustrophobic, yet he was too weak from lack of sleep and food to go anywhere. And even if he could, where would he go? He thought to himself as he stroked Hedwig’s soft white feathers. The Weasley’s certainly wouldn’t want him to stay with after putting both Ron and Ginny in so much danger, and Hermione had already headed to her own home to recuperate from her injuries. Harry began to panic again as he worked down the list, he really did have nowhere to go. If something were to happen he would be alone, perhaps he could go stay at Hogwarts? Even in his delirious state he tossed the thought out the moment it came him, imagining what spending the summer with Snape would be like.
Harry continued to stare out the window, following the small beads of water as they worked their way down the windowsill. His eyes began to droop again as exhaustion swept over him once again. Trumping his worry about whom he would stay with, Harry lay back down in his bed to another seemingly endless dream of Sirius falling.
Harry woke the next morning to the continuing gloom of thick grey fog, he stood up from the bed wincing from the injuries he’d gotten from the fight in the Department of Mysteries. They weren’t serious, just enough small cuts to remind him of the fight. Harry flicked on the light in the bathroom, the mirror reflecting his grief stricken, emaciated face. His resemblance to what Sirius looked like in the cave not two years ago was startling. He now saw the same desperation and sorrow from Sirius’ face reflected in his own.
He splashed some water over his face and brushed his hair back some. Because he wasn’t allowed to use magic outside of school he hadn’t been able to shave in three days so a rather mangy beard was starting to form. He rubbed his scar absentmindedly, since the time Voldemort had entered his mind he hadn’t felt any of the usual pricks or tingles that he was now accustomed to. Harry assumed that it didn’t have anything to do with what he was doing, but was because Tom felt the pain during his little foray into Harry’s mind too. One less thing for me to worry about I guess, Harry thought as he flicked the light off and went back to his room.
He lay in his bed for the rest of the day; doing the same thing he did the day before, and the one before that. As the rest of the world passed by Harry attempted to make heads or tails of what had happened in the past weeks. While the deaths and events at the Department of Mysteries were shocking enough, the words of the prophecy echoed in his head seemingly gaining strength the more he attempted to ignore them. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… but what power do I have. If Dumbledore can’t even scratch him how am I supposed to kill him? Harry thought to himself, more and more anxiety building as the true weight of this obligation began to take shape.
As the days went by he began to fill scrolls and scrolls with chunks of the prophecy, sometimes in order, sometimes barely legible. He didn’t know exactly what he was doing as he scribbled fiercely but his hand continued to spell out the foreboding paragraph over and over again. By his fifth day back home Harry had been reduced to a sliver of his old self, only this time it was not caused by any direct abuse from the Dursleys, in-fact they seemed to be quite content with Harry’s apparent desire to starve himself to death. This was not entirely true however, Harry didn’t want to starve, he didn’t even want to be hungry. He was eating occasionally; thankfully he still had some of the snacks he’d bought on the train back, yet most of the time it refused to stay down. While surviving on almost nothing was certainly taking its toll on him, he felt no concern, nothing could be worse than what he put Sirius through.

A week into his self-imposed imprisonment the storm broke, literally, outside the sun was shining brightly for the first time since he arrived back home. Even though he was still severely depressed Harry couldn’t help but let his spirits lift slightly at the sight of Hedwig gliding happily about in the summer’s air. Outside everything seemed hyper-realistic, every leaf was the most vibrant green and the pavement of the road the deepest black. Although it was finally nice once again Harry felt as if he were a spectator, only viewing from his little white window, not close enough to touch or experience the life outside. As he continued to stare morosely out his window he noticed a grey spot materialize on the horizon, one that he soon recognized to be that of an owl. He opened the window to let the ash-grey owl into the room. Harry assumed that it was from one of his friends, probably writing to tell him how sorry they were, or how it wasn’t his fault. Unfurling the scroll just a little confirmed his hunch, and, in no mood to read Hermione’s explanations of condolences, tossed it on the desk. The owl gave him a disapproving glare and hopped out of the window after taking an owl snack from Hedwig’s cage.
This same thing carried on for several days, the letters becoming more frequent, and not only from Hermione, but from Ron, Ginny, Neville, and even Luna. In the back of his mind he occasionally thought that perhaps he should write something, just show them he was still alive, but then the thought of having to explain his feelings to someone resulted in him tossing the whole lot into his school trunk. If they want to know how I am they can come and get me. He thought to himself clamping the latch down on his trunk and sinking back onto his bed. This very thing happened just a week after that very wish entered Harry’s head.

Aunt Petunia had occasionally checked in on Harry over the past week and a half under the premise of trying to “find one of Dudder’s toys.” Each time Harry would just stay in the same place on his bed, ignoring his Aunt’s staged search for the imaginary toy. She doesn’t care if I don’t eat; I bet she just doesn’t want me to die on the linens. He thought to himself sourly. So, the next time Harry heard a knock on the door he assumed it was Petunia just coming in to make sure that he had not vomited on the rug, or somehow turned the room into his wizard’s shanty; although it was late at night, nearly eleven, he wouldn’t have put it past her to try and catch him doing magic or whatever other evils they imagined him capable of.
Outside his door he heard a loud commotion going on between three people, two he knew to be his Aunt and Uncle, and the third was oddly familiar. Although it sounded as if they were just outside his room he was only able to make out parts of the conversation due to the overlapping voices in the argument.
“You can do no such-!”
“I can and I am…just try and…”
“I’ll call the police….”
“And tell them what?”
“Just put it down...”
“…Keep that away from…”
“YOU HAVE NO DAMN…”
“Step back if…”
BANG! The door burst open in a blast of smoke and light, in its place appeared the shimmering white light of a wand and the face of its owner, Remus Lupin.
“Professor! What’s going-” Harry said hoarsely, jumping out of bed to meet him.
“Harry, hurry! We don’t have much time I’m afraid, we need to get to the safe house.” Moony said, stopping him mid-sentence. He flipped the room’s light on and began to move towards his trunk.
“THAT’S IT I’M CALLING THE POLICE. YOU CANNOT JUST BLOW UP WHATEVER YOU FANCY. YOU HAVE NO BLOODY FUCKING RIGHT!!!” Vernon shouted, his face a shade of red even Harry had never seen. Although adamant in his statement it was lessened some in his refusal to come within twenty feet of the wizard.
“Silencio!” Moody said, pointing his wand at a rather shocked Uncle Vernon. Petunia and Dudley peeked out nervously from the corner of the hallway, not daring to go face to face with the wizard.
Harry frowned at the current course of events, “Professor, what the bloody hell is going on? Is everything okay? Voldemort isn’t…”
“Shhh,” Moony once again cut him off as he grabbed Harry’s broom and cloak from the closet, minimizing them along with the trunk, and stuffing them in his cloak. “Grab Hedwig’s cage, we might not be able to come and get it. And make sure you have your wand out.”
Harry grabbed the cage and when he turned back around saw Lupin already halfway out of his room, pushing past the mute Uncle. He rushed to catch up with him, skilfully ducking a punch Uncle Vernon had thrown. They rushed down staircase, not even acknowledging his aunt and cousin on the way down. They burst out the front door of the house and were immediately joined by several wizards, all of whom moved with speed and skill. As they continued to walk briskly down the street Lupin talked to one of the wizards. “Are you sure that this is a valid threat, what we’ve just done broke nearly a dozen Muggle Wizard Relations acts. We’ve had false alarms before.”
“I am positive about this one Remus, it came from Tobias who is stationed in Knockturn Alley. He managed to intercept part of a conversation between Pettigrew and some other Death Eater.”
“Hold on, you’ve seen Wormtail? Why didn’t you capture him, he has enough information to stop more than one attack! He knows where Voldemort is…” Harry said, struggling to keep up with the ever-quickening pace of the group due to his current state.
Lupin looked over his shoulder, “Harry we had to let him go so we can follow him without suspicions being raised. He’s already led us to dozens of people who we have now confirmed to be Death Eaters. I know you want to punish him, Merlin knows I want the same thing, but his time will come.” He gave Harry a weak smile and turned back to the wizard to his left, “We’re far enough away now Ashe, you stay here to watch for signs of an attack we’ll meet you later at headquarters.”
Then man gave him a quick nod and popped out of sight, Lupin didn’t say a thing just held out his arm. Harry instinctively took a hold of it and waited tensely, he’d never apparated before and was nervous after hearing so many horror stories about it passed around the Gryffindor commons. Lupin looked at him and winked. Instantly Harry felt as if the top of his head was being sucked through a very thin pipe, maybe even a straw. The sensation grew stronger and began to travel down his body until it felt as if he’d been turned into spaghetti. As soon as it happened, however, it was over and Harry collapsed to the pavement gasping for breath.
“Blimey Professor, you could warn me next time!”
Lupin smiled and held out his hand to help Harry back up, “Sorry Harry, I forgot that you hadn’t apparated yet, you’ll get used to it soon enough however. First things first though, I have not been your professor for nearly three years now so I do not see it necessary for you to call me that.”
“Oh, right… sorry about that. Habit I guess. What can I call you then?”
“Why not Moony? It’s simple and it’s nice to have a reminder of simpler times,” Lupin said smiling.
“Okay, well Moony, where exactly are we and why are we here?”
“I’m surprised you haven’t guessed yet, we’re going to Order Headquarters, it’s just about half a mile away. We apparate at this old playground to give us some cover and so we can’t be followed as easily.” Moony started to walk and talk, following a small path through the overgrown park. “We had to get you out of Privet Drive as soon as possible. As you heard we had a tip that Voldemort was planning to attack your neighbourhood sometime in the next twenty-four hours. While we know he couldn’t directly harm you there we felt it wouldn’t be prudent to leave you all alone. On Dumbledore’s orders we extracted you, seems like you’ll be spending the rest of summer here.”
Harry was speechless; so much had happened in such a short amount of time that he didn’t exactly know how to feel about the whole thing. He just mutely followed Lupin the rest of the way down the path and up to Grimmauld Place. His stomach turned over when he saw the gaudy pewter knockers and the inscription over the doorway, Tojours Pur. He hadn’t thought about what it would be like to come back to Sirius’ home so soon after what had happened.
Lupin knocked on the door several times until a shout of recognition came from inside. “Listen Harry, I can’t imagine how hard this is for you but I just want you to know that we’re all going to be here for you. Whatever you need, even if you just want to talk, I’ll be there.”
Harry nodded dumbly, his vision narrowing as a wave of grief began to come over him, he probably would have started to cry if it weren’t for the door opening and Tonks rushing out to hug him.
“Blimey Harry! Am I glad to see ya, felt like its been years. Come on, come on, lets get inside, Alastor and I just got back from a mission and were having lunch. I assume everything went well Remus, you got to him in time?” She ushered them inside, looking both ways furtively before closing the door shut and locking it securely.
“Oh yes Tonks, everything went fine, I left Ashe and the others to keep an eye on the place for a while. Figure if anything happens we might at least be able to snag a few men.”
“Merlin knows we wouldn’t be allowed to keep them. Hell, the way Fudge has been running the Ministry lately; he’d probably give them a pardon and throw us in Azkaban for undermining his authority or some rubbish like that. Oy Moody, Remus and Harry are here!” She shouted as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. A moment later the massive magic-eyed Auror appeared in the hall.
“What have those Dursley folks been doin’ to you now Potter. I thought my little speech would have taught them a lesson. Doesn’t matter now does it though, you’re here now, for a while at least.” He said laughing gruffly.
“Alrigh’ Harry, Remus, sit down, sit down! Let’s get some food into you too. Now I don’t know much about cooking but I think we’ll manage, I’ve already got some things cut up in the pot for a stew.” Tonks waved her wand at the hearth muttering “incendio” rather enthusiastically. Instead of the wood catching however the cauldron exploded tossing bits of beef and carrot all over the room.
Thankfully, for Harry and Lupin at least, Moody had been blocking their direct view of the cauldron at the time so they were mostly saved. Mad-Eye however had felt the full force of the explosion and was now covered head to toe in the cold makings of Tonks’ stew.
She didn’t miss a step, just muttered “blimey” under her breath as she waved her wand for the second time cleaning up the room and Moody. “Oh well, why don’t we just stick with bread and cheese? Never hurt anyone did it.”
Lupin stood up grabbing a pot and some supplies from a cupboard. “If you don’t mind Tonks I’d like to try making some pasta. I’ve had to cook for myself for years, plus Harry looks half starved. You can help me if you want?” Tonks, enthusiastic as ever, helped Lupin fill the pot and make the red sauce.
Dinner that night was a rather subdued affair too, actually it was just another serving of pasta, this time cooked entirely by a rather proud Tonks. As the four were finishing up their meals a rather harried face came out of the fire.
“Lupin, its Ashe, the Death Eaters attacked Privet Drive just a few minutes ago. From what we could tell there were only five of them, when we surprised them three of them disapparated immediately, the two others stayed to fight. They managed to break down the front door and punch a large hole through the kitchen before we could stop them. We’ve sent both of them to Auror headquarters, I told them to hold them in detainment there rather than at Azkaban, due to the escapes and all.”
“Great work Ashe, Albus and I shall probably go down and interrogate them tomorrow morning. Is everyone okay, no one saw anything I hope?”
“There were a few park dwellers who saw some rather major damage occur to the house as if by magic, we obliviated them and made it seem like it was a gas leak. The large man at the house was wounded; he was in the kitchen at the time, not much surprise there judging by his size…anyway, he lost his large toe due to some shrapnel. We couldn’t find the toe so we’ve just had to do with obliviating him and making the whole family believe it was a gas line explosion too.”
“Okay, thanks Ashe. Oh, and don’t forget we have a meeting next week to discuss school security” Lupin said. Ashe nodded and disappeared in a flash. He turned up to face Harry. “Well Harry, the headmaster told me that we should keep you here if there was any form of attack on your house. Seeing as that has happened it seems that you will indeed be staying here the rest of the summer. I know it’s not the place you’d want to be, but you and I can work on cleaning up a room for you to stay in okay?”
Harry nodded sadly; just now the true recognition that he would have to stay at sirius’ house was setting in. This was the awful place that he had been practically imprisoned in, with no one to keep him company but Buckbeak and Kreacher.
“Kreacher…” Harry growled, his anger swelling up, remembering the house elf’s role in the events that occurred that night. “…where is he Moony?”
Lupin’s face paled, “Well Harry, after hearing what that he had betrayed you, and was willingly aiding Voldemort, Dumbledore disposed of him. He was quite averse to the idea but there was no other choice; he knew too much to be freed and was too much of a threat to us to be kept around. We had made the decision to send him to a high security detention cell that is top secret. When we came to retrieve him however it tried to attack the Headmaster with an ancient pair of very poisonous snake fangs. Dumbledore was forced to defend himself and in the process ended up killing him.”
Harry just shrugged, “glad he got to him before I did.”

The following day Harry went about unpacking his rather hastily gathered items from his escape yesterday; Hedwig had arrived at headquarters later the night before and was now tucked safely inside its cage. Lupin had flooed to the Ministry of Magic early in the morning to meet up with Dumbledore and interrogate the captured Death Eaters so Harry was left alone with Tonks. He started to unpack his trunk, pulling out the piles of clothes that had been shoved in there, along with the various textbooks. About halfway down he came upon the stack of letters that he’d tossed in there earlier in the week and forgotten about. You don’t have to reply; you could at least just read them. There isn’t much else to do here unless I want to help Tonks watch the patrol maps. He thought to himself, then finally decided to open at least the top one.
He tore open the envelope from Hermione and sat down on the corner of the bed.

Harry,
I’m so sorry that this had to happen to you on top of everything. Even though you’re saying you’re alright I know you too well, you aren’t. You’re probably blaming yourself for Sirius’ death. It wasn’t your fault; it’s no one’s but Bellatrix and Voldemort’s. Please promise me you’ll forgive yourself for everything including taking us there. We followed you there, you didn’t force us, we’re your friends and we wanted to help. You know we’d all do anything to help you even if it is dangerous. Don’t forget your friends in these times Harry. You and Ron are like my family, and I hope you think that about me.
Love,
Hermione

Harry sighed, no surprises there. He set that one aside and opened up the next letter, he could tell this one was from Ron due to its chaotic almost unreadable scribble.

Harry,
How are the muggles, I hope they’re feeding you better than last year. If not I’ll go over there and give them a piece of my mind! The Cannons are finally winning again after their 5-year losing streak. They beat Ireland 250-130!
Do you know when you can stay with us again? I’ve been asking Dumbledore but he won’t say, just something like ‘all in due time’ Write me if your troll of a cousin is giving you any trouble, Fred and George have some new products to test. Their store is a huge hit, even Mum thinks it was a great idea to start it up now.
See you soon (hopefully),
Ron

P.S. Those weird tentacle things’ marks have finally gone, we’re still not exactly sure what they did.

Harry smiled briefly at the Ron’s fidelity with his Quidditch team; maybe it finally would pay off this year. He was about to reach for the next letter when he heard Tonks call for him form downstairs.
“Harry! Come on down, I made lunch, well tried to at least!”
Harry tossed the letters on his bed and headed downstairs to find out what part of the house Tonks had nearly burned down this time.