Harry Potter lay silently in his cramped room. Oversize clothes (once his cousin's) littered the floor and a large white snowy owl slept in a cage, she was one of the only visible signs that this boy was in fact a wizard.
A large purple bruise was beginning to show on Harry's side, it was the shape of a fat hand and Harry winced as he breathed in a little too quickly, and sent a sharp pain through his skinny torso. Tears threatened and he brushed them away, no, he wouldn't cry. He turned his face and smothered it in the pillow. Please, anybody, an angel, come and help me this year. Little did he know his daily prayer had already been answered.
He squeezed his green eyes tightly shut and rolled back over, sighed, then sat up, running his hand through his jet black messy hair. He slowly retrieved his favourite jumper from the floor, a large green item knitted by Mrs Weasley as it turned out, his favourite because it had his name POTTER on the back of it and underneath this, the number 7. Just like his Quidditch kit. The bruise was a reminder of what Harry got for mentioning his schooling whilst in the presence of his cousin. Dudley had asked him what the 7 stood for. Harry had told him, and was subsequently beaten and told never to wear the jumper again.
He carefully folded the jumper and laid it to one side, picking up a royal blue and white checked shirt Hermione had given him for Christmas last year and carefully pulling it on, leaving the top two buttons undone just for good measure. He was about to curl up once more when doorbell rang. He angled his ears towards the door and listened to his Uncles loud complaints,
"Bloody freaks, don't they own watches?" Then the creaking of the door, a gasp and another threatening voice,
"Stand back Dursley" Harry's heart leapt, he would recognise that voice anywhere! He could hear his Uncle stepping back in to the kitchen, hopefully with a wand at his throat. In three steps Harry was out of his room and it only took three more for him to throw himself in to his godfather's arms.
"Padfoot!" He knew he sounded like a three year old at Christmas but he couldn't help himself, especially since his Uncle was watching.
"Harry!" He felt one arm close around him and knew the other was still pointing a wand at his uncle. He pulled himself away and looked at his Godfather's face. It was clean shaven and the long black hair surrounding it had been cut to shoulder length but Sirius still hadn't lost the haunted look, the look 12 years in Azkaban had given him. He turned to look at his Aunt and Uncle who were cowering in the kitchen door.
"It's him! The murderer!" Petunia gasped and promptly fainted in to her husband's arms.
"Get out of my house!" Uncle Vernon roared, his beefy face turning purple and Harry grinned at him, watching Uncle Vernon attempt to remove Sirius could be interesting.
"Move, get in there and shut the door" Sirius threatened and narrowed his eyes; three red sparks flew out the end of the wand. Uncle Vernon didn't need telling twice, he might not approve of magic but he knew it was dangerous. With a last furious glare at the pair of them he hauled his beefy belly back out of sight and slammed the door shut.
With a wide grin on his face Harry hugged Sirius again,
"What are you doing here?" he asked, pressing his head against his Godfather's chest, though truthfully he had never been so pleased to see somebody in his life.
"We, are on a rescue mission" A voice behind Sirius stated and Harry peered around him to smile at Remus Lupin. His third year Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and friend.
By the time Harry and Sirius had collected all of his belongings in to his large school trunk and gone downstairs, Lupin had dealt with his Aunt and Uncle, patiently trying to explain the situation before finally giving up and just writing it down for them instead.
Sirius Black and I, Remus Lupin are removing Harry to a safer location after a strange event. This will not concern your lives in any way, Harry may return to you next year after he has been to school.
Harry wondered how stupid his Aunt and Uncle must be if they couldn't understand such a simple statement but merely shrugged to himself, that was their problem, not his. He was however curious about this, strange event.
"Harry, have you ever side apperated before?" Remus asked him, straightening his shabby robes and leading him out on to the pavement, bird cage in one hand. Harry shook his head, he had heard of apperation before, though never tried it himself, it sounded dangerous and unpleasant from what he had heard. They both watched as Sirius struggled on to road with the trunk and disappeared with a loud pop.
"Cool!" Harry grinned, Remus smiled,
"Hold on to my arm, very tightly, and do not let go. Understand?" Harry nodded and took hold of his arm, then, closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt like he was being squeezed through a very tight pipe and then, as quickly as it had begun, it was all over.
He opened his eyes and realised that they were standing in the hall of an old house surrounded by wizards.
"Quick the Wards!" He heard a familiar voice whisper, Arthur Weasley; this would mean Ron was here too! Suddenly Hermione Granger, one of his best friends grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the circle,
"C'mon Harry, you can come back down in a minute!" She led him past an old wooden door and up a flight of stairs that Harry did not trust, finally in to a bedroom.
"Hiya mate!" It was Ron, red hair all over the place and a large grin on his face. Harry greeted him enthusiastically then turned to look at Hermione,
"What were they doing?" He asked, inquiring about the Wards.
"Oh, them, they stop people finding the house, and apperating in to it I suppose, they had to remove them for a moment when Sirius and Lupin went to fetch you because of….." She trailed off, looking away for just a second "Anyway, welcome to the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix!" She brightened again
"Order of the what?" Harry was confused now, and slightly suspicious
"Order of the Phoenix. A secret organization set up by Dumbledore to rival Voldemort as such, when the ministry of magic failed."
"So you've been here, with god knows who all bloody summer whilst I was stuck with the Dursleys!" Harry could hear his voice rising now, he didn't care,
"Dumbledore made us swear not to tell you Harry or else we would have, I promise!" Hermione begged, trying to make him calm, he turned away, seething.
"Look!" He showed her the large bruises on his side. "That's what I got for going back there!" She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands,
"Harry I'm sorry!" She pulled out her wand and muttered something quickly. Within seconds the bruises faded.
"Thanks" He muttered his anger was fading, and he really wanted to go catch up with Sirius, he had missed him, a lot. "Can we go downstairs now?" His eyes narrowed as Ron and Hermione glanced at each other,
"Er, Harry" Ron began uneasily , but he was interrupted by Sirius entering the room. Harry placed his forehead on the peeling wallpaper and closed his eyes as his Godfather motioned for his friends to leave; he had known they were hiding something, it frustrated him so much that whilst he told them everything; the scar hurting, the beatings, the lack of food they were so obviously keeping a secret and everybody seemed to know it.
"How are you Harry?" Sirius was right beside him now.
"Fine" Truthfully Harry was seething, "Just wonderful, just spent six weeks being beaten and starved whilst you lot hang out here having one big party" He heard Sirius turn to leave and his heart leapt "No wait! Sorry, I'm just tired, I didn't mean it!" He blinked open his large green eyes and stared pitifully at his godfather who was wearing maroon robes and old jeans. Padfoot smiled,
"Welcome to the Black Family house Harry Potter!" He opened his arms to indicate the room. "We are currently standing in one of twelve spare guest rooms though residence has been taken up most recently by young Mr Weasley and hopefully yourself" Harry nodded, seeing the brighter side now,
"But, that wasn't all I came to tell you about" Sirius lowered his voice and the bright smile on his face disappeared. Harry frowned. "Come here Harry" He was sitting on one of the two beds now. Slowly Harry crossed and sat beside him and Padfoot slung a casual arm around his shoulder, Harry looked at him.
"Please promise me Harry, that, even if you do not accept what I am about to tell you, you will not do anything rash" Harry nodded and felt a lump appear in his throat, he swallowed and ran his hand through his hair making it stick up even more, how bad could this be? "I do not know how or why or even exactly when but your father, James Potter has reappeared alive and is in this house at this very moment" Whatever Harry had been expecting, it wasn't that,
"You're lying" He pushed Sirius away and stood up, backing up against the wall "This is a cruel joke Sirius, even for you"
"Harry please, calm down" Sirius pleaded, but he didn't move towards him, "He arrived here four days ago, crying his eyes out 'bout you and Lily, he knows you're alive now, been begging to meet you"
"SHUT UP" Harry bellowed, making for the door now, "STOP BLOODY LYING" He turned pointing his wand at Sirius who had his hands in the air,
"Harry, I wouldn't lie about this, he was MY best friend Harry, MY brother in arms and your father. This isn't a joke please listen! He knows about the Dursleys and Azkaban, we have told him all of that, Remus and I, only two people have seen him apart from us, Dumbledore and Snape, we all agreed that you should be next, listen Harry!"
"So what if a man's come? He's lying, MY father's dead Sirius DEAD! The man's lying! For god's sake he is probably a death eater sent by Wormtail and Voldemort!" Harry could feel his eyes getting wet now, he blinked furiously, and yet, despite the denials a tiny part of him was beginning to wonder, what if it was his father? No, he pushed the thoughts away. He couldn't get his hopes up, he would only be more disappointed when Sirius admitted it wasn't true.
"No Harry, I know James, we have tried him under truth serums, they conform it is him but we didn't need them, you should have seen the way he cried Harry. You can't put that on, he was crying for you, you and Lily." Sirius broke off as Harry collapsed on to his knees, tears streaming down his face,
"Stop it" Barely more than a whisper, Sirius sighed,
"I knew this would be hard for you Harry but you've got to listen, he loves you and he wants to know you, more than anything Harry, more than anything in the world, I promise you I am not lying, Marauders' Honour." Harry closed his eyes and didn't resist as Sirius put his arms around him. "I love you Harry, you know I do and he does too. He knows you've changed. He accepts that, I promise. It is him"
They were both crying now,
"Not truly" Harry murmured in to his Godfather's robes, a final thought before like a black wave, sleep overcame him.
