Chapter 1
The Reunion
"When night it almost done And sunrise grows so near That we can touch the spaces It's time to smooth the hair
And get the dimples ready And wonder we could care For that old faded midnight That frightened but an hour" -Emily Dickinson
13 hours. 13 hours until Harry would have to go through one of the most traumatizing experiences of his life (which was really saying something). The Dursley Family Reunion. Now most teenagers hate family reunions, but Harry was no ordinary teenager; he not only hated the fact he had to attend the reunion.he was absolutely dreading it.
Harry was a 15-year old boy. He was quite small for his age (well, up until recently when he shot up 7 and a half inches) and skinny (until he gained about 30 lbs. of muscle doing manual labor for his Aunt Petunia), he had untidy jet-black hair and vibrant green eyes that stared at the world through broken glasses. Harry was also a wizard, but not just any wizard; he was Harry Potter-the Boy Who Lived.
Harry had defeated the most powerful dark wizard of the time when he was only a year old. After Voldemort had killed both of Harry's parents, he turned his wand on Harry and his spell backfired, sending him into 13 years of complete nothingness. Harry had met Voldemort three times since the spell backfired, but the last time Harry was not as successful.Voldemort's slave (one of Harry's parents' best friends, Peter a.k.a. Wormtail) had returned and given Voldemort back his body and Harry had just barely escaped. Harry lived in fear that one day Voldemort would slither into his bedroom and attempt to take Harry's life again.
Since Voldemort had taken the lives of Harry's parents, and Harry had no other living relatives, he was forced to live with his wretched Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. After 10 years Harry had gotten used to the ridicule given to him by his "family," but then on his eleventh birthday Harry learned a secret that would have made his life make a lot more sense. He was a wizard, as Hagrid had told him, and it was time for him to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So on September 1st, Harry had left the Dursleys' home for Platform 9 and ¾, and he finally had a chance to prove to himself that he wasn't just the untidy-haired boy who was shoved in a cupboard under the stairs.
But now, after his fourth-year at Hogwarts, he was still forced to stay with the Dursleys over the summer.especially now that Voldemort was back. So there he sat, on his bed in the smallest room in the Dursley house waiting, just waiting. 12 hours and 53 minutes until the reunion, where he would be forced to put up with 200 other Dursleys, whom would probably treat him worse than his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin do. Geesh, I better get to sleep. God knows I'm going to need it, Harry thought to himself.
******
"WAKE UP YOU WRETCHED BOY!" Aunt Petunia's shrill voice carried up the stairs and down the hall. Harry groaned Damn her, one day I'm going to wake her ass up at the crack of dawn. Harry threw on some khaki pants (which fit much better since his growth spurt) and a green sweater ("It bring out the color of your eyes, dear," Harry could imagine Mrs. Weasley saying in his head.) He grinned at the thought of Mrs. Weasley and then made his way downstairs.
Harry entered the kitchen quickly and quietly, hoping maybe the Dursleys would just ignore him. Dudley was stuffing a rather large doughnut into his mouth all at once (his diet had been postponed to "start tomorrow"), Uncle Vernon had his nose stuffed in the newspaper and was muttering something about "government conspiracies", and Aunt Petunia was looking through the kitchen window, no doubt spying on the boring law-abiding neighbors. "Well, let's get going, don't want to be late!" Uncle Vernon told them. That's what you think, Harry thought to himself. The four made their way to the car to the first (and hopefully last) Dursley Family Reunion.
*****
The drive was long and uneventful. Harry slept mostly, and when he wasn't sleeping he just stared out the window at the boring scenery. Harry jerked awake when they pulled up to a large Victorian style home. The house was on about 20 acres of land, and was placed on a small hill. The driveway was a very large circle in which many cars were parked along. Uncle Vernon found a rather good parking spot, and they all got out of the car. Harry knew what was coming when Uncle Vernon held him back slightly, Great! Here comes a lecture. "Now, you listen here boy, no one knows of your abnormality," Uncle Vernon said, his voice dripping with disdain, "so there's to be no funny business." Harry knew the speech so well; he could have said it along with his Uncle Vernon (though, he didn't think Uncle Vernon would appreciate that.) Harry simply nodded and walked on.
There was a gasp from his Aunt as she rounded the corner to the back of the house and Harry understood why when he saw the garden in which the reunion was being held. It was absolutely beautiful, with statues, large weeping- willow trees, fountains and flowers. There was table after table piled high with delicious looking food. Harry had noticed he was just standing with his jaw dropped until his uncle shoved him rather hard from behind. "Remember what I told you, boy." His Uncle Vernon said between gritted teeth and an artificial, plastered-on smile.
The Dursleys went to mingle with family, while Harry stood by a replica of Michelangelo's "David" statue. He was looking around for any "family member" he remembered when his eyes locked with a girl's.a girl who looked to be about his age. Harry had an odd sense of déjavoús, like he had met this girl in a dream or something. The girl had jet black hair and dark brown eyes, she was about 5'4" with a very curvaceous figure, yet with a very tiny build. She smiled at him with straight white teeth, and started to walk towards him. She whispered into his ear with an American accent, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Famous Harry Potter."
*****
Harry panicked.was she a witch? As if reading his mind she said, "Yea, I'm a witch.I'm going to be attending Hogwarts soon too, but first I think I better explain a few things." She then grabbed his hand and they started off down a small path until they came to a clearing.
They both sat down on a small, garden bench and Harry just couldn't help but blurt out, "Who are you?" The girl laughed and started to talk in a voice that reminded him way too much of Hermione. "My name is Irian Sykes, but my friends call me Iri. I'm originally from the United States, as you can probably tell from my accent, and I attended a wizarding school there called Draihaid. Draihaid is like the Hogwarts of the U.S., it's very well-known and is very highly thought of, in fact our Headmistress is actually Professor Dumbledore's younger sister. My mother, my older brother, and myself recently moved here and my brother and I have been transferred to Hogwarts. My mom went to Hogwarts for school too. Wanna meet my mom?" Harry nodded enthusiastically, "Definitely." Iri grabbed his hand once more, and they started quickly back down the path.
"Mom! Mom!," Iri yelled across the large garden. Iri's mother excused herself from the conversation she was having with two very distinguished looking women and walked towards Iri. "What is it, Iri?," Her mother asked. "Look who I've found," Iri stated simply. Iri's mother looked at Harry with a large grin and tears forming in her eyes. She pulled Harry into a rather embarrassing, yet motherly hug that reminded him instantly of Mrs. Weasley. "Oh Harry, I haven't seen you since you were a year old, just a few months before." Harry noticed that Mrs. Sykes was openly sobbing now.
Iri, Harry, and Mrs. Sykes all returned to the bench that Harry and Iri had been sitting on before. Mrs. Sykes (who had told him to call her Debbie) said, "Goodness Harry, you look exactly like your father, in fact it's almost scary how much you look like James. Lily and I used to joke about how we hoped you wouldn't get your father's hair.guess we didn't wish hard enough." Debbie laughed.
*****
"Wait, you knew my parents?" Harry asked expectantly.
"Well of course! Your mother was my best friend all through Hogwarts.and eventually James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter became my really good friends too." Harry noticed how she had said Peter's name.the same way Remus, Sirius, and he did.full of hatred. Debbie soon started telling stories of how Lily, The Marauders, and herself got into trouble (and how they talked themselves out of it). Iri, Harry, and Debbie were having a wonderful time until he heard a familiar shriek from about 10 yards away, "Harry! Where are you, you filthy child?!"
"I really hate to have to - ," but Harry was interrupted by his Aunt barging into the small clearing. Petunia looked around angrily until her eyes met with Debbie's.
"D-D-Deb-Debbie?!," Petunia finally choked out.
"My, My Petunia dear! How have you been?," Debbie said in a mocking tone.
"What are you doing here?," Petunia asked haughtily.
"Well, I've invited you all to my home to save the young man you've almost destroyed with your inability to face reality! It's high time you faced the fact Petunia Dursley, Harry is a wizard, a very powerful wizard and he will not, hell, he CANNOT change that." Debbie said in a whisper, yet still made her point very clear.
"Your home?! What do you mean your home?," Petunia asked in anger, yet with jealousy laced in her tone.
"This is my home, I invited everyone here so I could get Harry.because I would not be able to take him from your house without your permission, whereas since this is MY house, you are the guest.now I want you gone.NOW." Debbie enunciated every word with just enough force that Petunia squeaked and then hauled ass to her car, pulling Dudley and Vernon along with her.
"I'm sorry to have to do this, but I'm afraid the reunion will have to be cut short." Debbie informed everyone. And with that everyone started to get their things, said their good-byes and then left.
*****
"Harry, we know it might be a little weird staying with us, considering you just met us, but Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea. Your things are already here and we have a lot of extra room anyway." Iri said questioningly.
"I'd love to stay," Harry said plainly and simply.
"Well then Harry, Welcome to your new home."
"When night it almost done And sunrise grows so near That we can touch the spaces It's time to smooth the hair
And get the dimples ready And wonder we could care For that old faded midnight That frightened but an hour" -Emily Dickinson
13 hours. 13 hours until Harry would have to go through one of the most traumatizing experiences of his life (which was really saying something). The Dursley Family Reunion. Now most teenagers hate family reunions, but Harry was no ordinary teenager; he not only hated the fact he had to attend the reunion.he was absolutely dreading it.
Harry was a 15-year old boy. He was quite small for his age (well, up until recently when he shot up 7 and a half inches) and skinny (until he gained about 30 lbs. of muscle doing manual labor for his Aunt Petunia), he had untidy jet-black hair and vibrant green eyes that stared at the world through broken glasses. Harry was also a wizard, but not just any wizard; he was Harry Potter-the Boy Who Lived.
Harry had defeated the most powerful dark wizard of the time when he was only a year old. After Voldemort had killed both of Harry's parents, he turned his wand on Harry and his spell backfired, sending him into 13 years of complete nothingness. Harry had met Voldemort three times since the spell backfired, but the last time Harry was not as successful.Voldemort's slave (one of Harry's parents' best friends, Peter a.k.a. Wormtail) had returned and given Voldemort back his body and Harry had just barely escaped. Harry lived in fear that one day Voldemort would slither into his bedroom and attempt to take Harry's life again.
Since Voldemort had taken the lives of Harry's parents, and Harry had no other living relatives, he was forced to live with his wretched Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. After 10 years Harry had gotten used to the ridicule given to him by his "family," but then on his eleventh birthday Harry learned a secret that would have made his life make a lot more sense. He was a wizard, as Hagrid had told him, and it was time for him to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So on September 1st, Harry had left the Dursleys' home for Platform 9 and ¾, and he finally had a chance to prove to himself that he wasn't just the untidy-haired boy who was shoved in a cupboard under the stairs.
But now, after his fourth-year at Hogwarts, he was still forced to stay with the Dursleys over the summer.especially now that Voldemort was back. So there he sat, on his bed in the smallest room in the Dursley house waiting, just waiting. 12 hours and 53 minutes until the reunion, where he would be forced to put up with 200 other Dursleys, whom would probably treat him worse than his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin do. Geesh, I better get to sleep. God knows I'm going to need it, Harry thought to himself.
******
"WAKE UP YOU WRETCHED BOY!" Aunt Petunia's shrill voice carried up the stairs and down the hall. Harry groaned Damn her, one day I'm going to wake her ass up at the crack of dawn. Harry threw on some khaki pants (which fit much better since his growth spurt) and a green sweater ("It bring out the color of your eyes, dear," Harry could imagine Mrs. Weasley saying in his head.) He grinned at the thought of Mrs. Weasley and then made his way downstairs.
Harry entered the kitchen quickly and quietly, hoping maybe the Dursleys would just ignore him. Dudley was stuffing a rather large doughnut into his mouth all at once (his diet had been postponed to "start tomorrow"), Uncle Vernon had his nose stuffed in the newspaper and was muttering something about "government conspiracies", and Aunt Petunia was looking through the kitchen window, no doubt spying on the boring law-abiding neighbors. "Well, let's get going, don't want to be late!" Uncle Vernon told them. That's what you think, Harry thought to himself. The four made their way to the car to the first (and hopefully last) Dursley Family Reunion.
*****
The drive was long and uneventful. Harry slept mostly, and when he wasn't sleeping he just stared out the window at the boring scenery. Harry jerked awake when they pulled up to a large Victorian style home. The house was on about 20 acres of land, and was placed on a small hill. The driveway was a very large circle in which many cars were parked along. Uncle Vernon found a rather good parking spot, and they all got out of the car. Harry knew what was coming when Uncle Vernon held him back slightly, Great! Here comes a lecture. "Now, you listen here boy, no one knows of your abnormality," Uncle Vernon said, his voice dripping with disdain, "so there's to be no funny business." Harry knew the speech so well; he could have said it along with his Uncle Vernon (though, he didn't think Uncle Vernon would appreciate that.) Harry simply nodded and walked on.
There was a gasp from his Aunt as she rounded the corner to the back of the house and Harry understood why when he saw the garden in which the reunion was being held. It was absolutely beautiful, with statues, large weeping- willow trees, fountains and flowers. There was table after table piled high with delicious looking food. Harry had noticed he was just standing with his jaw dropped until his uncle shoved him rather hard from behind. "Remember what I told you, boy." His Uncle Vernon said between gritted teeth and an artificial, plastered-on smile.
The Dursleys went to mingle with family, while Harry stood by a replica of Michelangelo's "David" statue. He was looking around for any "family member" he remembered when his eyes locked with a girl's.a girl who looked to be about his age. Harry had an odd sense of déjavoús, like he had met this girl in a dream or something. The girl had jet black hair and dark brown eyes, she was about 5'4" with a very curvaceous figure, yet with a very tiny build. She smiled at him with straight white teeth, and started to walk towards him. She whispered into his ear with an American accent, "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Famous Harry Potter."
*****
Harry panicked.was she a witch? As if reading his mind she said, "Yea, I'm a witch.I'm going to be attending Hogwarts soon too, but first I think I better explain a few things." She then grabbed his hand and they started off down a small path until they came to a clearing.
They both sat down on a small, garden bench and Harry just couldn't help but blurt out, "Who are you?" The girl laughed and started to talk in a voice that reminded him way too much of Hermione. "My name is Irian Sykes, but my friends call me Iri. I'm originally from the United States, as you can probably tell from my accent, and I attended a wizarding school there called Draihaid. Draihaid is like the Hogwarts of the U.S., it's very well-known and is very highly thought of, in fact our Headmistress is actually Professor Dumbledore's younger sister. My mother, my older brother, and myself recently moved here and my brother and I have been transferred to Hogwarts. My mom went to Hogwarts for school too. Wanna meet my mom?" Harry nodded enthusiastically, "Definitely." Iri grabbed his hand once more, and they started quickly back down the path.
"Mom! Mom!," Iri yelled across the large garden. Iri's mother excused herself from the conversation she was having with two very distinguished looking women and walked towards Iri. "What is it, Iri?," Her mother asked. "Look who I've found," Iri stated simply. Iri's mother looked at Harry with a large grin and tears forming in her eyes. She pulled Harry into a rather embarrassing, yet motherly hug that reminded him instantly of Mrs. Weasley. "Oh Harry, I haven't seen you since you were a year old, just a few months before." Harry noticed that Mrs. Sykes was openly sobbing now.
Iri, Harry, and Mrs. Sykes all returned to the bench that Harry and Iri had been sitting on before. Mrs. Sykes (who had told him to call her Debbie) said, "Goodness Harry, you look exactly like your father, in fact it's almost scary how much you look like James. Lily and I used to joke about how we hoped you wouldn't get your father's hair.guess we didn't wish hard enough." Debbie laughed.
*****
"Wait, you knew my parents?" Harry asked expectantly.
"Well of course! Your mother was my best friend all through Hogwarts.and eventually James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter became my really good friends too." Harry noticed how she had said Peter's name.the same way Remus, Sirius, and he did.full of hatred. Debbie soon started telling stories of how Lily, The Marauders, and herself got into trouble (and how they talked themselves out of it). Iri, Harry, and Debbie were having a wonderful time until he heard a familiar shriek from about 10 yards away, "Harry! Where are you, you filthy child?!"
"I really hate to have to - ," but Harry was interrupted by his Aunt barging into the small clearing. Petunia looked around angrily until her eyes met with Debbie's.
"D-D-Deb-Debbie?!," Petunia finally choked out.
"My, My Petunia dear! How have you been?," Debbie said in a mocking tone.
"What are you doing here?," Petunia asked haughtily.
"Well, I've invited you all to my home to save the young man you've almost destroyed with your inability to face reality! It's high time you faced the fact Petunia Dursley, Harry is a wizard, a very powerful wizard and he will not, hell, he CANNOT change that." Debbie said in a whisper, yet still made her point very clear.
"Your home?! What do you mean your home?," Petunia asked in anger, yet with jealousy laced in her tone.
"This is my home, I invited everyone here so I could get Harry.because I would not be able to take him from your house without your permission, whereas since this is MY house, you are the guest.now I want you gone.NOW." Debbie enunciated every word with just enough force that Petunia squeaked and then hauled ass to her car, pulling Dudley and Vernon along with her.
"I'm sorry to have to do this, but I'm afraid the reunion will have to be cut short." Debbie informed everyone. And with that everyone started to get their things, said their good-byes and then left.
*****
"Harry, we know it might be a little weird staying with us, considering you just met us, but Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea. Your things are already here and we have a lot of extra room anyway." Iri said questioningly.
"I'd love to stay," Harry said plainly and simply.
"Well then Harry, Welcome to your new home."