A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to my new crossover Hollow Inside. I had this chapter lying around and was satisfied with it so I figured I might as well post it already. The rest of the story may be updated semi-slowly depending on my inspiration and all that. I do actually have the entire story planned out already for once actually so I might not have to struggle with mistakes or the flow as much here.

Thanks you all in advance for reading and I hope you like it!


Thank heavens for Hermione.

Just before they set off to return home after their fifth year, Hermione had warned him that on their sixteenth birthday, each witch and wizard went though his or her magical inheritance. It was a gift from their magic, growing into maturity and unlocking possible hidden skills as well as removing the natural barriers on one's magic. Any creature inheritances were released as well and the witch or wizard was given the chance to get used to their new powers and skills before they were emancipated on their seventeenth birthday. It was the first step to being recognised as an adult, not by people but by magic itself.

Because he now knew this, he also knew dawdling about was a bad idea. He opened the window so that any owls with birthday packages could enter and laid down on his bed, ready to take on whatever would happen. He tried not to see Sirius flashing before his eyes, as had happened a lot whenever he tried closing his eyes. Nightmares hardly left him alone anymore either. He still felt incredibly guilty about his godfather's death, but he also realised Sirius wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He was a marauder after all, and what better way to die than protecting your friends and family? He did know Sirius considered him family, just like James had been.

He could only sigh at the memories, knowing his godfather was lost now and no magic in heaven or earth could bring him back from the Veil. "I miss you, Sirius." He mumbled just as the clock struck twelve.

It happened before he even had a chance to realise what was going on. Soaring pain raced through his body, focussing on his chest. He hurried to claw off his shirt and gasped when a chain was attached to him and was slowly pulling a hole into his chest. What the bloody hell?! He could only surmise this was some sort of creature inheritance, but what kind of creature had a hole in its chest? He was snapped out of his thoughts when an unholy scream was heard throughout the neighbourhood. He had no idea what it was but it sounded huge and very not-human, the ground almost seemed to shake with its steps.

The commotion managed to distract him enough from the pain, which was slowly turning into a burning itch. He saw, more than felt, himself pulling at the chain in desperation. Lord that was uncomfortable! The more the hole was revealed, the better he felt…

With a flash everything was over. The chain was gone and there was a gaping black hole in him, which surprisingly wasn't shedding a single drop of blood. He groaned and was about to sit up when he felt some sort of snap just inside the hole and another light filled the room, this one a tangled hue of blue and green. He fell back down upon the sheets and felt warmth coarse through him, just like he vaguely remembered being described to him. Hermione? Oh right, this was the blocks being released, hence why it didn't hurt as much—

"Spoke too soon…" He managed to grind out between grit teeth. His entire body was suddenly on fire and he could feel every bone that had ever been broken, every bruise that had ever settled and every scar that had ever been given to him blaze up like a thousand suns. Had he looked down, he would have seen them glowing a gentle orange colour. The burning finally moved up to his eyes and scar and settled there. Slowly the sensation eased up, starting at his feet and moving upwards until only his eyes and scar were blazing with that orange magic. He wasn't sure which had ended first but suddenly it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. He could breathe more freely and he felt lighter than before, though considering how underfed he already was, he didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see a blur. He was sure he had left his glasses on though… When he reached up to rub at his eyes, he was met with those very same glasses. "What the hell…?" He wondered aloud, slowly pulling them off and blinking again. "Awesome."

Hermione hadn't said anything about his body being healed but here he was all of a sudden, with perfect eyesight! Sitting up was weird. It felt unfamiliar and awkward, almost as if his mind and body weren't in sync yet. When he looked down he gaped in surprise.

"Did I just… Get taller?" He wondered, slowly sitting on the side of his bed. When he tried to get up, he was briefly dizzy but when it passed, he could see he had grown several inches. "Finally!" It was about damn time he grew some, lest Draco Malfoy continued to look down on him.

When he looked down he saw the hole in his chest was still there, very visible against his skin, which was still tan from painting the fence last week. He'd had sunburn because of it but the tan was well worth it. He looked to his window and tried peering out, wondering what the hell that scream had been, it certainly hadn't come from Harry! Not to mention his uncle hadn't come bursting through the door yet, so his 'family' obviously hadn't heard it.

He hesitantly reached out to touch the edges of the hole in his chest; it was a gaping black where his flesh and blood was supposed to be visible. It was a freaking hole in his chest after all! Surprisingly, he felt no pain at all when he touched it, even though he was quite unnerved by it. Deciding to worry about it later, he pulled his shirt back on and sighed in relief when it covered up the hole, as if nothing had happened. When he glanced at the window, he was glad to see several coloured specks soar through the air, most noticeably a white one. "Here comes the post!"

He grinned when he saw several owls soaring right at him, causing him to jump out of the way in a hurry and land on his bum. "Ouch… Guess I'm still not used to the new height." He smiled when he saw his own snowy owl perched on his desk before the others, proudly looking him up and down.

"Hey Hedwig, how was your flight?" He asked, untying the package that was undoubtedly from his only friend without an owl: Hermione. He set the letter and box aside and relieved the other owls of their packages as well, offering them water and treats before they went on their way. "Let's see…"

The largest box came from . Weasley so he decided to open that first and was rewarded with homemade fudge, packed with a charm to keep it fresh and edible, no matter where he stored it. Beside the fudge there was also a small survival package of food so that he could survive the rest of his summer, or until Dumbledore finally picked him up and left him with the Weasleys.

Next came a letter from her and Mr. Weasley asking about how he was doing and (unsurprisingly) if he was eating well. They also asked if he had received his OWL's yet, though Ron hadn't either apparently. There was a bit of information about how the family had been this summer and how Arthur's job was faring before they finished with hoping to see him at Grimmauld Place soon, where they were staying because it was still safer than the Burrow.

Next was Ron's present, which included a chess set with edible chocolate pieces that would never melt and a Chudley Cannons poster (again unsurprisingly). He skimmed the letter, which wasn't really all that long. It mostly just asked how he was doing, with small reminders that he didn't blame Harry for that happened at the Ministry and if his summer had been all right, considering the dementor fiasco in the last.

"Way to remind me of all the good times Ron…" He grumbled under his breath before looking at the rest of it.

Apparently the Weasleys were confined to the house and stuck doing chores, cleaning up the old Black home and all that, though Kreacher was likely to not make it easy for them. Hermione was coming to Grimmauld in a few days as well if the letter was to be believed, which really made him hope Dumbledore or someone from the Order got him out of Durzkaban soon.

He decided to move on and look at Hermione's letter, which was filled with well wishes and questions about how he was doing. A little note about not blaming him for the DoM fiasco was attached as well but there was little to be done about that, as depressing as it was. She rattled on about her OWL's for a little while before telling him she hoped to see him at Grimmauld and then Hogwarts soon. Perhaps with the Weasleys he'd be allowed out to shop for some extra books on what the hell happened to him. Actually, her gift looked oddly shaped like a rectangle. Translation: a book.

"Only Hermione." He mumbled fondly as he took off the wrapping, staring at what looked like a brand new book about magical inheritances and the things that usually affected a witch or wizard during that period. Perfect! Maybe he'd be able to figure out what in the world had happened to him just now! He'd never seen any of the older students walk around with holes in their chest after all but chances were this was something weird and abnormal because since when did weird things not happen to Harry James Potter? I'm like a magnet for trouble, he sighed in regret.

Setting the book aside, he looked at the rest of his presents, which were simple letters from Neville and Luna. Both just sent him well wishes and the usual, as well as wishing him a happy birthday, but the simple notes already made him happy that they remembered him. He glanced at Neville's note again and almost face-palmed. Neville's birthday had been yesterday and he'd completely forgotten about it! "You up for another trip tonight girl?" He asked, earning a hoot from Hedwig. He quickly penned a birthday letter to Neville in return, thanking him for his letter and apologising for the lateness before sending it off.

Now that everything had been checked, he took a small piece of the fudge and set it aside before hiding the rest in the space under his loose floorboard. His uncle would take everything from him if he knew he had it. At least his trunk was thankfully not locked in the cupboard under the stairs this year. Settling on his bed with the book and the fudge, he started reading...


Nothing! Absolutely nothing about what had happened to him! "Why am I not surprised…?" He groaned to himself under his breath, closing the book. He had just finished reading through the 'most common creature inheritances and their effects' section of the book but nothing had seemed even close to describing what had happened to him. He sighed and drew a hand through his hair to keep it out of his face. How he hadn't noticed sooner was a mystery to him, but his hair had grown a good several inches, leaving it longer and surprisingly somewhat tame. Maybe there was a magical hairdresser in Diagon Alley that could help him save the mess that was his hair? He wasn't letting Mrs Weasley do it for him, that was for sure.

Harry placed the book under the loose floorboards and finished his fudge before finally calling it a night, deciding to read the book again tomorrow night to see if he could make sense of the lights flowing around him earlier. He was asleep faster than he had guessed he would be and for once slept almost dreamlessly, as if he had taken the potion for it. Morning came too soon for his liking but still a harsh banging on the door woke him up.

"Get up you lazy freak, Dudders needs his breakfast!" Yep, nothing had changed at all despite the huge changes that had happened for him last night "Yes aunt Petunia." He replied begrudgingly, pushing himself out of bed to get dressed and quickly go to the bathroom.

Once there he took off his shirt and revealed the hole in his chest, as well as his now finally filled-in figure. He tried touching the hole again after having stared at it in both shock and awe. He had never seen anything like it but despite how it looked, it felt incredibly normal… How is a hole in your chest normal again? Right, it isn't; but it sure felt like it.

He traced the hole lightly with a finger and didn't feel anything, but when he touched the black rim of the hole he gasped loudly, feeling as if electricity was running through him. Only it wasn't painful, just charged. He quickly pulled back and the energy receded. "What the hell was that?" He asked himself before noticing his aunt screeching at him again.

He put the shirt back on before hurrying down, making sure they wouldn't see the 'freakish' change to him. "What did you do to your hair, you freak?" She sneered as soon as she saw him, earning a shrug from her charge. "I had my inheritance last night, my hair grew because of it." He replied flatly, just as his uncle waddled into the room with a greedy glint in his eyes. "Inheritance eh? I'll be seeing some of that if you're smart boy."

It was almost a threat and Harry would have laughed if it wouldn't have earned him a beating. "It's a magical inheritance uncle Vernon, it means my magical barriers are released and I get a power boost. I'm still not allowed to do magic until next year though." His uncle seemed to simply scoff disappointedly at that and turn to the coffee Harry had just prepared before starting on a very greasy breakfast that made his nose scrunch up in disgust. The raw meat looked a lot more delicious now…

After breakfast everything seemed to fall into routine again and he was made to paint the shed, weed the garden, do the laundry and then wash the car before going to his room. If he was lucky, he'd get a few leftover scraps from dinner, which he was to prepare as well. Thank heavens Mrs Weasley had sent him some food or he would have been starving by nightfall, though the food was mostly made out of things that could be kept easily without going bad. So no fresh meat… Damn.

Luckily, he wouldn't have to worry about it too much as that night he received a letter from professor Dumbledore informing him that he would be picked up for his school shopping the day before the train left. Apparently it was too dangerous for him to spend any time of the summer with his friends despite the fact they were probably all at Grimmauld Place by now, safely hidden by the Fidelius charm.

Well, at least he'd get to leave one day early, right?

Right.


A/N: Thanks for reading and I hoped you guys liked it. If you did, let me know your thoughts in the reviews, every comment helps and motivates. Pointing out problems is VERY welcome, bashing or flames are NOT. See you guys in the next chapter!