A/N: Alright, I may be a three years too late for a sixth year fic, but I've had this idea for three years, and I've suddenly found the determination to try and finish something I've started for once. This is my first fic, so things will improve as it goes along. Please R/R!
Chapter One: Danger in the Safest Place
Every resident of Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, consider themselves to be thoroughly and completely normal. And nothing can be said against them, as far as they are concerned. But of course, like everything in life, there is an exception to every rule, and this exception was currently residing in the smallest bedroom of Number Four.
Harry Potter is not a normal teenage boy by any stretch of the word. Not just because he is being hunted by the most ruthless man to ever set foot on the earth, or his army of equally bloodthirsty henchmen, nor was it because his godfather was killed by falling through an odd gateway into the netherworld. It is because Harry Potter is a wizard, and this fact was the cause of great discomfort in the home of Vernon and Petunia Dursley.
"..that good for nothing boy, just moping around his room like he has nothing better to do," raged one Vernon Dursley, to his wife, Petunia.
"I don't like him any more than you do Vernon, but his godfather….."
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT HIS GODFATHER! I'VE HEARD ENOUGH ABOUT HIM! I DON'T CARE HOW MANY OF THOSE FREAKS LIKE HIM DIE, AND I DON'T CARE HOW CLOSE THEY ARE TO HIM, IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST AND I'M STARVING!" stormed Vernon, marching around the kitchen like a bull waiting to charge.
"I'll make you some breakfast Vernon, it's not like we're going to get him to do anything," offered Petunia.
"Well, it's about damn time he starts doing something, you just sit down Petunia, I'll get that little freak to make us some breakfast."
And with that Vernon Dursley marched up the stairs, ready to rouse his nephew.
Harry had spent most of the summer brooding on recent events. For the past three weeks he had barely slept or eaten anything, instead choosing to think about what was happening in his life. He was beginning to come to grips with the fact that he would never see his godfather, Sirius Black, again. But even though he accepted this, it could not heal the pain he felt about this any faster. Instead, Harry chose to brood on happier topics, such as his friends and classes, which while not necessarily happy, at least took his mind off things. His thoughts about his feelings towards a certain red-haired girl, one of his most confusing, yet favorite things to think about, were interrupted by his door being slammed open…
"GET DOWNSTAIRS BOY AND MAKE US SOME BREAKFAST!" screamed his Uncle Vernon, turning his favorite shade of puce for the occasion.
"Alright, Uncle Vernon, I'll be downstairs in a moment," sighed Harry, turning to pick a t-shirt up off the floor.
"NO, YOU WILL COME DOWN WITH ME NOW! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU'RE MOPING AROUND UP HERE, YOU HAVE CHORES TO DO, AND NO ONE TO DO THEM!"
"Well, I've had more important things on my mind, such as how to save the world," retorted Harry, still looking for that t-shirt.
"You save the world? I suppose you mean that freak world that you live in. Who would want to save that world? I suppose that it's filled with people just like you, and you're lazy, good for nothing, lay-about parents and godfather."
With that statement, the wardrobe next to Vernon exploded in a cloud of dust, showering him in splinters and sawdust.
"DID YOU USE MAGIC BOY? WE DO NOT TOLERATE THAT IN THIS HOUSE!"
"MY PARENTS WERE NOT GOOD FOR NOTHING!"
"Yeah, the only thing they were good for was getting killed so we could get stuck with a little freak like you!"
Deciding that he had had enough, Harry reached for his wand that he kept with him at all times. Unfortunately for him, Vernon caught the motion before he could grip the handle.
"YOU WILL NOT POINT THAT THING AT ME! WHEN YOU ARE UNDER THIS ROOF, YOU WILL SHOW RESPECT! IT LOOKS LIKE I AM GOING TO HAVE TO TEACH YOU SOME!"
Once Vernon was through with that tirade, and before Harry could react, Vernon launched himself at Harry, catching him square on the chin, forcing him backwards. With an agility that did not fit his bulk, Vernon landed a kick to Harry's side, knocking him down, and cracking a few ribs in the process. When Vernon drew back his fist once more, a crack sounded in that little room, and what appeared frightened Vernon more than anything at that moment could.
"What is Harry Potter sir's uncle doing to Harry Potter sir?" squeaked Dobby the house-elf.
Regaining his composure, and coming to his feet, Vernon Dursely, calmly told the little creature that he was teaching Harry some matters and that he should leave if he knew what was good for him.
Unfortunately, due to the binding enchantments, Dobby was unable to intervene in anything that wasn't directly related to him. This left Harry trying to defend himself against his uncle.
Dobby knew he had no other choice but to leave Harry and find help. Knowing exactly where to go, Dobby apparated out of Privet Drive and into the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts, just as Vernon Dursley landed another series of blows to Harry's body.
Albus Dumbledore is not a man who is easily scared. In fact, nothing seems to ever affect his calm demeanor. This was one of those few exceptions though, as Dobby's arrival and following story affected Dumbledore almost more than anything that he had ever heard.
"Now tell me Dobby, one more time, what was Vernon doing to Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"Harry Potter's uncle said he was teaching Harry Potter sir some manners, but Dobby knows better sir, Dobby knows that Harry Potter's uncle was causing him great harm."
"Alright Dobby, I see. Well in order to get him out, we're going have to get together a team. Could you go to the residences of Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin and tell them to apparate to Privet Drive immediately?"
"Oh yes Albus Dumbledore sir, Dobby will do anything to help out the great and wonderful Harry Potter. Dobby will find these people, and then we will save the noble Harry Potter from his evil relatives."
And with what could be possibly called a salute, Dobby apparated out of the office.
Albus Dumbledore rose from his desk, and with a cold blue fire burning in his normally twinkling eyes, threw some powder into a fire place, and jumped into the green flames to the one person he knew could help the most.
Meanwhile, while all these events were unfolding, Ginny Weasley was currently reading through a letter she had received only that morning. The letter in question was from Dean Thomas, and in it, he decided that he just wanted to be friends. He didn't like the distance between the two of them, and he said that he had already found someone better than her.
Now you would think that someone would be upset, receiving a letter from their boyfriend effectively telling you that you weren't good enough for them and that they had already found someone better. But this was not the case with Ginny. In fact she welcomed the letter. She was angry at the thinly veiled insults that the letter contained, and she knew she was going to have to hex him the next time that she saw him, but all in all, she was not angry at all. This letter presented her with an opportunity for her, and she had waited for this opportunity to present itself since she was ten years old.
A crack, and a subsequent crash startled Ginny out of her thoughts. Deciding that she wanted to find out what was going on, she left her bedroom and went down to the kitchen, where she had been sure that's where the crash had came from. Entering the kitchen, the sight that met her eyes was not what she expected.
"You must come and help the great and wonderful Harry Potter, Mr. Wheezy! Harry Potter is in great danger and Dumbledore sir, sent me to get help for Harry Potter," squeaked Dobby to Arthur Weasley.
Entering the kitchen, Ginny let out a gasp of surprise.
Noticing this, Mrs. Weasley decided to try and get her out of the way.
"Now Ginny, why don't you help me go hang some of this laundry outside?"
"No mum," Ginny said, a fire burning in her eyes, "I want to know why Dobby is here, and why he says that Harry is in danger and needs our help."
"According to Dobby," said Remus Lupin, finally stepping out of the shadows, "Harry and his uncle got into a little disagreement this morning, and Harry was on the receiving end of a physical outburst of Vernon's temper."
"We better get out of here Remus, the quicker we can get to Privet Drive the better. If we step right outside the gate….." Arthur said, as he started to turn towards the door.
"What is this about Harry?" asked Ron Weasley, coming down the stairs, closely followed by his twin brothers Fred and George.
"And can we help?" asked Fred.
Knowing it would do no good to disagree, Fred, George, and Ron followed Remus and Arthur out the back gate, quickly followed by Ginny.
"No Ginny, you can't go, you're much too young," Mrs. Weasley said, grabbing her before she was out of the door.
"But, I want to go help Harry, he needs our help and I'm not going to leave him."
Looking at his daughter, Mr. Weasley knew it was better to allow her to come than tempt fate, and he rather liked having his house in once piece.
"Alright Ginny, you can come, just make sure you don't get hurt, and you have to listen to everything we tell you to do."
With that, Ginny, Fred, George, Ron, Arthur Weasley, and Remus Lupin, all disappeared with a loud crack, headed for Privet Drive.
As he stepped out of the fireplace and into the large cabin, brushing his robes off in the process. Albus Dumbledore knew it had been a good idea to connect Hagrid's hut to the floo network.
"Hagrid," started Dumbledore, "I need you help."
"What is it Headmaster? You know you can count on me for anythin'."
"Yes, I know this Hagrid, and this is why I came to you. You are the only one that will be able to get through the wards at Privet Drive."
"Privet Drive? Isn't that where Harry's….. Oh no, something musta happened to Harry."
"Yes, that's why we need to get going Hagrid. According to Dobby, Vernon Dursley was in the process of, um, let's say, "teaching Harry some manners", when Dobby came to me."
"Well then what are we waiting fer? Let's go 'elp Harry!"
And they strolled out past the Hogwart's gates, and apparated to Privet Drive.
A rag tag group appeared on to Privet Drive, almost simultaneously. Five redheads, a werewolf, an eccentric old man in deep purple robes, and a half-giant looked determinedly at Number Four.
"Alright, everyone, as the blood magic makes this house resistant to magic, we need Hagrid here to force the door down so that we many enter the house to save Harry. Arthur, Remus, and I shall enter after Hagrid, and the rest of you may come in to the house last. If everyone is ready, Hagrid you may proceed."
Hagrid crossed the lawn of Privet Drive with only three steps, and briefly looking at the door, kicked it down as if it were nothing. As soon as it fell, the rest of the group was across the threshold.
"Arthur, Remus, and I myself will go upstairs to Harry's bedroom and look for him, the rest of you, stay down here and try to find Harry's relatives. Stun and bind them if you find them." And with that, the three men proceeded up the stairs, while the rest of them looked through the house for the Dursley's.
"I can't believe that these horrible Muggles did this to Harry," said Ginny, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Yeah I know, it's terrible, and from what Harry says, this may not have been the first time either," responded Ron, voice choked with suppressed emotion.
"Didn't Harry once say something about living in a…" said Fred.
"….cupboard? Maybe we should look in there." finished George.
"Good idea, you two. If those Muggles had wanted to hide him, they probably would have locked him in there. Not like they had any trouble doing that when he was a child anyways."
"WHAT? WHAT IS THIS ABOUT HARRY BEING LOCKED IN A CUPBOARD AS A CHILD?" screamed Ginny, voice shaking.
"Yeah, Harry lived in this cupboard under the stairs until he was ten," said Ron, as he crossed over to it, and undid the latch.
The sight that met their eyes was not a pretty one. Harry lay in the cupboard, barely breathing, with vivid bruises covering his entire body, and blood covering his face where ever the glass from his shattered lenses cut his skin.
"Harry?" murmured Ginny, crossing over to him and resting her hand on his arm, good arm, the other one being twisted to an odd angle.
"Ginny? Is that you?" coughed Harry, leaving a few specks of blood on his lips, "Look, there is something I have to tell you."
"What is it Harry?"
"Ginny I….Gin I…..," unfortunately, this was the moment that unconsciousness decided to claim victory, as Harry's eyes rolled back into his head, and he was swallowed up by the blackness.
"OI! DAD! WE FOUND HIM! HE'S DOWN HERE UNDER THE STAIRS!" shouted one of the twins up the stairs.
As footsteps pounded down the stairs, Ginny settled Harry onto the floor and stood up. Crossing over to Ron, she waited as Remus and Arthur came around the corner.
"We found his relatives," said Arthur, a little breathless, "They were upstairs packing, figuring on making a getaway, but Albus has……." he stopped suddenly, as he noticed Harry laying on the ground, a patchwork of purple and red.
Remus crouched down next to Harry his eyes glistening, as he tried to come to grips with what Harry's last living relatives had done to him.
"ALBUS GET DOWN HERE!" roared Arthur.
As Albus walked down the stairs, the three Dursley's in tow, he stopped as he looked down at Harry, and then back at the Dursley's.
"Did you do this to him?" Dumbledore asked calmly, but no one missing the anger emanating from his voice.
Vernon slowly nodded, and spat back, "The little freak deserved it! Every last punch! Laying around and doing nothing the past three weeks, doing nothing to earn his keep. Waking us up every other night with nightmares, murmuring almost incessantly about Sirius Black, and then some girl named Ginny…"
The others turned to look at Ginny, as she looked down at her toes, a blush working its way into her face.
"We were up to here with his attitude, and I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands." concluded Vernon, looking pleased with himself.
Grasping for their wands, Remus and Arthur jumped at the Dursley's, fully intending to hurt them 100 times worse than they hurt Harry, luckily for the Dursley's Albus Dumledore held the two back.
"Take Harry up to the castle, Madam Pomfrey is expecting him."
"But why not St. Mungo's Albus? Wouldn't that be better for him?" Remus asked.
"Normally yes, but with the present circumstances, we're going want to keep his condition a secret from the public, and besides, Madam Pomfrey is more than qualified to take care of these injuries. You go and apparate him in Remus. The rest of us will be along shortly."
Nodding his agreement, Remus walked over to Harry, gently picking him up, and then disappearing from Privet Drive.
"I suppose the rest of you will want to go to Hogwarts as well?" Dumbledore asked the Weasley's, already knowing their answer.
Murmuring their agreement, Arthur stepped forwards and said, "Yes I suppose we will. We'll stop back at the Burrow quick and get Molly, and then we'll head up there as well."
Then Arthur disapparated, as did Fred with Ron hanging onto his arm, and George with Ginny hanging onto his.
Albus looked back at the Dursley's, and with cold fury in his voice, said, "Don't think that you'll get away with this. Once Harry's back to normal, all three of you will suffer from the wrath of both of our worlds.
"Will you be up to watching them for a while Hagrid?"
"It'd be my pleasure Headmaster."
As with the others, Albus and Hagrid disapparated away towards Hogwarts, this time with the Dursley's in tow.
That evening arrived, and Harry had finally been stabilized in the Hospital Wing.
All of the Weasley's were there, and Remus had left to go explain things to Hermione and bring her back with him if she so chose.
"Well, I've finally mended all the broken bones he had, which came out to five ribs, his left radius and ulna, and his collar bone. He is still unconscious though," Madam Pomfrey said to all the waiting Weasley's.
As soon as she finished her report, Hermione burst into the Hospital Wing, closely followed by Remus and Dumbledore.
"How's Harry, Madam Pomfrey?" asked Hermione, as soon as she caught her breath.
"Well, I fixed all of his broken bones, and I have done all I can do for now until he wakes up."
And so Remus, Albus, and the Weasley's waited.
Later that evening, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were the only ones left awake. Ginny was on one side of Harry's bed, Ron and Hermione on the other.
"Alright you two, I'm going for a walk, all this waiting has me on edge and I need to organize my thoughts," announced Ginny as she left the Hospital Wing.
"Hmmmm…." said Hermione.
"What is it Hermione? Is something the matter?"
"I don't really know, it's just that Ginny has been acting kind of strange since we got here, and she looks horrible."
"I know, I've noticed that too. Ginny seems even more frustrated than the rest of us, but that could be from what took place at Privet Drive while we went to go save Harry."
"What happened there? Wasn't Harry already unconscious by the time you go there?"
"No he wasn't. That's what's so strange, as soon as we found him, he tried to tell Ginny something, but then he was out before he could finish. And than his uncle said something about how Harry was talking about Ginny all summer….and I don't know, it's just kind of strange."
"I suppose so." said Hermione, and soon they were both lost in their own thoughts.
As silence settled down upon them, and with Ron snoring lightly, Ginny came back into the Hospital Wing, and Hermione noticed that she had tears covering her face, and her was in an even worse mess than before.
"Ginny? Is there something the matter?" Hermione asked, her voice filled with concern.
"Yes there is. It's just that…. Just that, Harry tried to tell me something really important before he passed out, and I want to know what that is."
"Do you think he feels the same way about you as you do about him?"
"I don't know, that's the thing. He's never really showed any interest in me other than as Ron's sister, but the way he looked at me today was different."
"I see," Hermione said, "Well anyways, I'm going to try and get some sleep, and I would suggest you try and do the same."
"Yeah you're probably right. I'll be along in a few minutes."
"G'night Ginny."
"Night, Hermione."
As soon as Hermione left the room, Ginny turned her full attention to Harry.
"You have to come back to us Harry, to me. I want you to know once and for how much I love you, and I want to see if you feel the same way about me," tears began falling freely from her eyes, wiping them, and taking a deep shuddering breath before continuing, "I need you Harry, more than you know. Sure I've tried to hide my feelings the past couple of years, but I've never stopped loving you. You need to come back Harry. I love you Harry James Potter, I love you with all my heart."
With her heartfelt speech concluded, Ginny laid her head down on Harry's chest, and the tears began to fall freely.
As soon as come into contact with his chest, an odd feeling came over Ginny. Not knowing what it was, she ignored it, missing the fact that she and Harry had begun to glow.