Hey here's the next chapter sorry for the wait, read the bottom for an explanation
Oh PS. I do not own Harry Potter, JK is a lucky girl I just hope she'll let me have Draco
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Previous Chapter:
He stayed sat there as the storm subsided, watching the house from which he had been abandoned from afar, learning how to control his sudden heightened vision, as dawn approached he stood and turned to face the opposite direction remembering suddenly that the large man had mentioned something about travelling to London
In the distance, about half a day's walk was a small village just waking and turning off their lights and making up his mind he nodded and slowly set off towards the village through the trees, still wet and covered in dirt
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Harry arrived in the village just as the sun had reached its highest point, by this time he was dehydrated and as he reached the crowded village square he tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground, too weak to stop himself from connecting with the concrete floor
All around him he heard gasps of shock and horror at the sight of him, his hair matted to his face with sea salt which had crystallized in his hair and on his bare skin, his clothes tattered from trekking through the woods to the village, his feet bloody because he had lost his shoes in the sea, he gave a small moan of pain as his body shivered from the small cold breeze that crossed his skin
He felt a strong, warm pair of hands gently grasp his shoulders and turn him over, he groaned again as his body protested to the move, but he sighed when a warm hand was placed upon his brow, blearily he opened his eyes, hoping to discern who was helping him
As his vision began to clear he could make out the black hair and eyes of the man who must have turned him over, his dark skinned hands still upon his shoulders, but the hand upon his brow belonged to a woman with graying, light brown hair and warm grey eyes, he saw their lips move most likely asking him who he was but he saw the edges of his vision going dark and gave a small whimper as he slipped into unconsciousness
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Merriam looked worriedly at the limp form in her husband Robin's arms, as they carried him quickly to their home, their 11 year old son following behind them, they had offered to care for the unknown boy because he seemed the same age as their boy and they knew they'd have the stocks to help him back to health
Their house was near the edges of the village, and they soon were within its warm walls and the boy had been placed upon the spare bed in the guest room, Merriam quickly removed the destroyed clothing upon the boy and replaced them with clean, warm pajamas from her son's drawer
Robin had moved to the hall and was searching the airing cupboard for extra blankets to warm the boy up, his skin had been deathly cold to touch when they had rushed to his side in the street, only now was some colour returning to his face, his lips no longer blue in colour but turning a dusky pink, a small red hue to his cheeks as he developed a small fever as his body battled to survive
Merriam stayed vigil by his bedside all night, placing a cool damp cloth upon his brow whenever the previous one grew warm, she did this till his fever broke in the early morning and he began to awaken from his self induced slumber
"Robyn, Erik, come quick, he's waking up!" she called out as she peered over Harry's pale form, she watched as his eyes scrunched up in discomfort from the light in the room, but she left them on as he blearily opened his eyes and let them adjust
"Whe -" he started before he was set off into a coughing fit from his dry mouth and throat, Robin moved behind him and helped him sit up to alleviate the coughing, when he had stopped he took a few shuddering breaths as Merriam brought a cup of water into his line of vision
"Drink it slowly son, it'll sooth that throat of yours ...? Um?" Harry slowly drank the water given to him and hearing her hesitation at the end of her sentence suddenly found himself stuck, should he use his real name and risk them knowing who he really was or should he come up with a new name, as he thought his face had fallen into a look of despair and Merriam seeing this gave a small gasp
"You don't remember your name do you child?" she asked a small amount of horror to her voice, Harry seeing his chance shook his head in agreement to her statement
"I don't remember much miss, all I know is that I was headed for London," he rasped quietly
"Oh no worries child, my name is Merriam Sage, this is my husband Robyn and my son Erik, would you mind if we called you Wrayth? It's much better than child or boy and suits your hair," she smiled warmly, Harry gave a small smile in return
"Thank you, Merriam, that would be lovely," he agreed the name Wrayth would be a good alias for him, no one would know who he really was anyway
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Over the next few weeks Harry slowly recovered from his stint in the autumn chilled ocean and made plans with Merriam and her husband Robyn to travel to London the coming Saturday by way of the weekly lorry that visited with food and supplies for the local shop. He remembered when he had entered the bathroom to shower he had glanced in the mirror and gasped as he noticed that where one a red thunderbolt shaped scar sat was now smooth skin and Erik were of a similar height and the boy had readily agreed to lend him his clothes to wear since his previous ones were useless now, a tentative friendship grew between them both and it was on Harry's last Friday night that Erik confessed a secret to him
"Wrayth? Can I tell you something? Something secret, you can't tell anyone ever, promise?" Erik whispered as they lay in bed in Erik's room. Harry glanced up curiously to see Erik's warm grey eyes staring down at him, Harry's head tilted slightly to the side
"Of course, you can trust me Erik," he said with a small smile, then grinned, "I'll even tell you a secret in return," he bargained, Erik smiled back and moved to lean against the side of his bed, gazing down at Harry
"Well, first do you believe in magic?" Erik stage whispered, Harry thought back to what he had overheard in the house and nodded. "Well my mum's a witch and my dad's a wizard, they say that I will be too, I got a letter from this place called Hogwarts weeks ago and I have to go there, but I'm scared I won't fit in," he confessed worriedly, Harry sat up and ruffled Erik's dark brown hair brotherly
"You'll do fine, who wouldn't like a friendly guy like you?" he answered honestly, "I'm sure you'll fit in fine, there be others like you too, nervous of their first year there. As for my secret well, first of what do you know about a boy called Harry Potter?" he asked suddenly worried of what Erik might say or do
"I know he's the one who apparently killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or Voldemort as I prefer to call him, but other than that nothing much, why?"
"Well I remember my old name, but you must promise never to tell anyone no matter what you see or hear okay?" Harry pleaded, Erik nodded a confused look upon his face, and Harry leant closer and whispered so low even he had trouble hearing himself
"My name is Harry James Potter, my cousin Dudley was mistake for me a week ago and a man named Hagrid took him away in my place, but I want to stay hidden please don't tell, please," Harry begged taking Erik's hands in his own, when Erik gripped them back he waited
"Your secrets safe with me Wray- can I still call you Wrayth?" at Harry's nod Erik smiled, "Your secrets safe with me, so long as we can keep in touch," Harry nodded in agreement and the two boys returned to their separate beds to sleep
The next day found Merriam distracting the lorry driver with a question about some herb seeds she would like while Robyn and Erik assisted Harry into the back of the truck, he was given a small bag containing food and another that he was told was a present from Merriam and not to open until he got to London
As the door was shut he knew he probably wouldn't see them again but he would miss them, he settled in the corner nearest the door and waited for the long ride back to London
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Harry jolted awake as the lorry came to a halt and the engine shut off, quickly scrambling to his feet he hid behind a stack of empty crates as the sound of the back door opening reached his sensitive ears. During the journey Harry had been practicing with his new abilities, he found that his eyesight had improved immensely from before also if he concentrated he could see every groove and scratch on the crates he now stood behind. His hearing had also improved and with a little concentration he could make out what the driver had been listening to on the journey
His balance was also improved as he had discovered when the van had suddenly swerved around a corner at one point of the journey and he had managed to stay standing upright and avoid any falling items in the truck. Even now he found that he could move silently since the man who walked past him to the rear of the truck didn't once turn around to discover who had walked right past him. Harry jumped from the back of the truck and found himself in the middle of London
Harry glanced around at the new surroundings, slightly edgy and jumpy at the new sounds and smells, stepping out into the overly crowded street he followed the flow of people, hoping to spot something suspicious or even his relatives if possible. Lady luck must have been with him that day as after a few seconds he spotted his relatives following a giant of a man through the crowded square
Slowly making his way towards them he watched as they passed book shops and music stores, hamburger bars and cinemas, until they paused outside a tiny, grubby-looking pub, as Harry watched he noted that all the other passerby's didn't so much as glance at it, their eyes sliding from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other, as if they couldn't see the pub at all. Harry glanced at the sign above the door to see a picture of a cauldron leaking over with the words, The Leaky Cauldron printed beneath
As the giant man and his relatives entered he quickly followed making sure to not be seen or noticed, the pub was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut. The low buzz of chatter had stopped when the giant of a man had entered, everyone seemed to know him; they waved and smiled at him, and the barman reached for a glass, saying, "The usual Hagrid?"
Harry's eyes widened, so the giant was Hagrid? The man who had come to collect him on that night, and who had taken his cousin instead, he barely listened as Hagrid and the barman talked, he caught the name Tom before he saw Hagrid clap a hand on Dudley's shoulder who stumbled slightly from the blow. Harry shrank further into the corner as suddenly everyone in the bar rose from their seats to shake his cousin's hands, his enhanced hearing allowing him to hear what was being said
"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back," Tom had said with tears in his eyes
"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last,"
"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."
"Always wanted to shake your hand – I'm all a flutter."
"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you. Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle," Harry remembered him once from when he, Dudley and his Aunt had gone shopping, he had been stood next to Dudley when the man had randomly bowed to him in the shop, it seemed Dudley remembered too as he said
"I've seen you before! You bowed to me once in a shop."
"He remembers!" cried Dedalus, looking around at everyone, "Did you hear that? He remembers me!"
Harry watched as a pale young man made his way towards Dudley, very nervously. One of his eyes were twitching and he was wiping his hands against his robes as if sweaty
"Professor Quirrell!" Hagrid said, "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts,"
"P-P-Potter," Quirrell stammered, grabbing Dudley's limp hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you. I t-teach D-Defence Against the D-Dark Arts, n-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter," he said laughing nervously
However he didn't get to continue as Hagrid placed a hand upon Dudley's shoulder, "Must get on – lots ter buy. Come on Harry," he said cheerily before steering Dudley to the back door, Vernon and Petunia close behind and Harry not far behind them
He stayed behind the door when they went through but kept it ajar to hear what they said and because of this he head Hagrid speaking gruffly to Dudley
"Right I know ur not 'arry but no one else does so Dumbledore's said until we find the real 'arry you're to pretend to be 'im, no funny business alrigh'?" Harry assumed Dudley nodded because the next thing he heard was the grinding of bricks as they moved, frowning slightly he waited until he heard them walk away before opening the door
Harry paused under the archway and took a quick look around, the sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop, the shop next to it having a window full of bottles and vials, out of the corner of his eye he saw Hagrid and company entering a large white building but shrugged and continued his exploration, there were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments, windows were stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon . . . when suddenly a loud screech followed by a hiss drew his attention away from the other stores to one with cages containing owls outside, the sign above read Eeylops Owl Emporium and Companion Store
Harry eagerly moved to the door, mindful of the watchful eyes of the owls outside he slowly opened the door to where an array of sounds met his ears, however as the door shut behind him all noise within the store stopped, as if the animal could sense his presence. He frowned in thought but jumped as the shopkeeper looked up at him, she was in her later years, hair a bright silver colour and her eyes a pale blue, her face was mostly smooth except for the laughter wrinkles around her eyes and the few visible scars on her face
"That's unusual, they've never all gone this quiet before? You must have great strength to garner all their attention like this young sir," she smiled knowingly at Harry, who was about to turn and hastily exit when a small meow drew his attention to the counter where a cat he recognized sat
"You!" he gasped in shock, pointing at the cat, his eyes wide, the cat dipped its head in acknowledgement before concentrating at the two kittens by her paws, the shopkeeper smiled
"Ah so you know our Egyptian Mao – Kneazle cross, Whisper? She seems to have helped you out if I'm not mistaken Mr. Potter dear," Harry froze as she said his name
"How did you know?" he gasped taking a step back in fear
"Your eyes dear, just like your mothers, also you're the spitting image of your father; I knew them both when they were your age, your mother always visited to help care for the newborns," she smiled, instinctively Harry smiled back, stepping forward he gave Whisper a small scratch behind her ears before turning to the woman again
"It's been a pleasure meeting you ma'am, maybe we can meet again and you can tell me about my parents?" he said politely before bowing gracefully, his hair briefly covered his eyes and because of this he missed her eyes flash gold for a second
"If you require a place to stay dear I'll leave the first floor window open in my back yard, and my name is Ophelia Eeylop, no more of that ma'am business it makes me feel older than I already am dear," she chuckled, Harry nodded in thanks before turning and exiting the store, deciding to find his cousin he began to walk around looking in all the stores, he reached one called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, glancing in the window he saw his cousin being measured for what looked like a dress and spotting the indignant look on Dudley's face he started laughing
He barely noticed anything else but a flash of white to the side of Dudley caught his eye and still chuckling he turned to meet pure silver eyes glaring at him, the boy was also in robes which again set Harry laughing again, so much so that he didn't see the boy finish the sale and then leave the store to stand behind him
He did notice when a hand slapped his shoulder, spinning him around to meet stormy silver eyes, glaring at him full blast
"What's so funny?" the boy snapped angrily, Harry fought to contain his laughter and managed to succeed enough to answer
"You look like you were wearing a dress, and the boy next to you had the funniest look on his face," he said before chuckling again
"They're called robes, not dresses and they're our school uniform, I'm going to Hogwarts, what about you?" the boy asked
"Me? Oh I'm not going to school, I'm an orphan," Harry said, it was almost the truth anyway, his parents were dead
"Oh, well my name's Draco Malfoy, what's your name and why aren't you going to school? If you're here surely you must know magic?" Harry paused for a second before grinning
"My name's Wrayth, haven't got a last name but I don't mind, as for the school thing, well mistaken identity led to someone else getting my place but I don't mind. I . . ." he was about to say more but a high pitched squeal from behind him made him freeze in horror
"HARRY!" Petunia squealed at the sight of her nephew, "We thought we'd never see you again," she cried flinging her arms out in an attempt to hug him, but she grasped only thin air as Harry had dropped and rolled to the side, now crouched on the floor watching her warily, he saw his uncle, Dudley and Hagrid appear behind her and frowned
"'Arry, is that you?" Hagrid asked frowning slightly
"No, that boy beside you is, I heard you talking to him in the Leaky Cauldron, my name's Wrayth I don't know any of you people so leave me alone," he said angrily, catching Dudley's eye he gave a small wink and began to turn and walk away but was stopped by Draco's shout to look out, turning he saw one of Hagrid's large hands moving towards him with the intention to grab him, but he had different ideas
This time he jumped up landing on Hagrid's arm and running up it he took a leap from Hagrid's shoulder into the air towards the sign hanging above Madam Malkin's store, grasping it with one hand he swung himself around to land on it with his feet before bending his knees and leaping again onto the roof above him
Turning he glanced at all the shocked faces beneath him and with a cheeky wave he walked over the roof and away, back to exploring the alleys
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Hope you enjoy this, sorry it took so long in coming but I got distracted by other things, now Q&A time
Should I give Harry a tail and ears to match his new catlike abilities or leave him looking human
Dudley – a muggle or a wizard
Draco – should he see harry again before he leaves for Hogwarts or until the beginning of second year?
What should I call Whisper's two kitten, ones a boy and ones a girl if that helps
Well I'll be waiting for your reviews and answers, thanks for reading
Yours Faithfully
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