Very Strange Strangers
Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.
~Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone page 27~
Chapter 1
"Boy, you wait right there while I get Dudders a doughnut. If you so much as move one step, you will rue the day you were born. Come along, popkin." Petunia Dursley led her oversized offspring into the bakery shop, from which the tantalising scent of fresh bread taunted the small, hungry, five year old boy hunched on the doorstep.
Harry, clad in an oversized T-shirt and baggy jeans, curled up on the gravelly concrete outside the bakery, trying to protect himself from the chilling, misty November afternoon. He was failing miserably, as he realised when he sneezed violently, twice, and shuddered convulsively from the cold.
He was so absorbed in trying to warm up, that he missed yet another of the strange men approaching him, concern on his lined face.
There had been lots of these strange strangers in Harry's lifetime. They would stare at him almost reverently, before bowing to him, or tipping their hats.
Once, there had been an odd man dressed in purple silk robes with a matching top hat. He had stared at Harry for almost a minute, before hurrying up to him, tipping his hat and vigorously shaking his hand, before walking, almost skipping around the corner and disappearing, all without saying a word.
This man was less odd. His clothes were brown and worn; he wore no hat over his brown hair, and wasn't staring at him reverently, more as if he was worried for him, like he knew Harry. He looked almost normal. He even carried a shopping bag.
Remus Lupin went up to the boy and stood in front of him, at the end of the bakery queue, glancing occasionally at the ragged child. How are you supposed to tell a neglected child that you were his parent's best friend? He wasn't even supposed to be here.
He had told Dumbledore he would stay away, after the man had insisted on the Dursleys for Harry's upbringing. Well, he thought to himself, look how well that turned out... He would have taken Harry despite Dumbledore's insistence, after that terrible night, but there was his 'furry little problem' to be considered.
He wrenched himself away from that train of thought, finally he simply said, "Hello."
Harry just muttered "Hello" in return, and hugged his knees, shivering slightly. He was a bit surprised. The strangers rarely spoke to him, only stared.
Remus frowned. "Aren't you cold? I have a spare coat here if you need one."
He reached into a plastic bag and drew out a large heavy brown coat, similar to the one he already wore. He had charmed them both about a month past to fit the wearer. It also had a long-lasting warming charm on it. Harry just shook his head and lowered his eyes, seemingly shy.
"Come on lad, you'll catch your death out here, what are you waiting for?" The man could just hear the murmured answer. "My aunt won't like it... not s'pposed to talk to strangers."
"I'll talk to your aunt about having a coat, she'll understand. And my name is John." He gave Harry his middle name. "There, now we're not strangers, okay?"
'John' held out his hand for Harry to shake. Harry looked up nervously, and shook it in his tiny, thin hand.
"I'm Harry. Why'd you care if I don't have a coat?"
Because I'm the closest thing you have to family, and this is the most I can do to look after you, Remus thought, And I can't even tell you my real name, for fear you'll remember me by the time you're grown up and I can meet you properly.
Remus said instead, "Because you seem like a nice boy, Harry, and life seems to be treating you pretty badly. I'd like to help you out."
Harry stared incredulously for a moment, then turned his face back down, and mumbled something else. Remus' sharp ears caught the word 'deserve'.
"Of course you deserve a coat in winter, Harry! Everyone does! Who told you otherwise?" Remus fumed inwardly, they were treating his little boy as if he were a piece of gum on the underside of their shoe!
Harry ducked his head again, blushing, and scared of this suddenly angry man. "Harry, come here. You're about to freeze. Just put on the coat and warm up a bit."
Harry reluctantly scrambled to his feet, straightening his oversized T-shirt and shuffling his feet, which were clad in trainers two sizes too big, with the soles peeling away from the uppers.
Remus held out the coat and Harry slipped into its vast depths as it shrunk slowly to accommodate to his small frame. Remus fastened the zipper, and subtly shrunk his T-shirt and trousers too, pointing his wand behind his back. Finally, he mended the trainers, before slipping a large bar of Finest Honeydukes Chocolate into the pocket. He looked down at his surrogate son, a little more pleased at his appearance. He smiled fondly, stroking the mop of black hair on the small boy's head, and turned towards the bakery entrance.
By this point, Petunia and Dudley were leaving the bakery, with Dudley's face covered in sticky doughnut glazing and clutching a large bag filled with them.
Remus patted Harry on the shoulder affectionately and looked up at Petunia, who had gasped dramatically at the sight of him. "You...!"
He glared chillingly at her and spoke calmly but with a distinct loathing in his tone.
"I want to hear that you are treating Harry with more care and kindness in the future. Leaving a boy outside in November without a coat is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and don't think I don't know what goes on in your house. Keeping an innocent child under the stairs! I don't know what in Merlin's name Dumbledore was thinking when he assigned him to you!"
Remus' face held the faintest glimmer of a furious wolf, and his hands were clenched firmly on Harry's shoulders. Harry was bewildered. Who was this man, and how did he know Harry? Petunia looked like a deer in the headlights, and was frozen in place.
"Now I am responsible for this child just as much as you, his father was my brother in every way but blood, while Lily was your sister in blood only. You know full well why I can't care for him, as much as I want to.
I will come down on you like a ton of bricks, despite the consequences, unless Harry's conditions improve rapidly. And if you don't care for him decently, I will know, and it will stop. You are fully aware what I am capable of doing, if the care of my child isn't to my liking. You have one warning. That was it."
Petunia nodded helplessly, clutching at Dudley. Remus turned back to Harry, kneeling beside him, and grinned at him, and Harry smiled shyly back.
"You'll be alright now Harry? I've got to go now, but I'm sure we'll meet again someday."
"Thank you sir!" said Harry, who had been observing Remus' rant with wonder on his face.
Remus smiled, straightened up, glared at Petunia and looked at Dudley stuffing his face with something akin to disgust on his face, turned on his heel and strode down the bustling street, glancing occasionally at the sky, hands in his pockets and humming.
Petunia pushed Harry roughly ahead of her, pulling Dudley behind, and hustled them home.
Harry never did see 'John' again, but he did meet a man who could have been his clone, Remus Lupin, on the Hogwarts express nearly eight years later.
A/N: This is my very first story, so please keep that in mind when you read it, and don't be too harsh reviewing it. This story is a two-shot; the second is about Harry meeting Remus on the train to Hogwarts, when he's thirteen.
Reviews are like Honeydukes Chocolate to me! Press that blue button! I don't accept flames though.