Chapter 1 –
Harry Potter knelt in the dirt along the edge of the front flower garden of Number Four, Privet Drive. He'd done the same thing every day for the last three weeks. He'd weed and plant new flowers. The next day, Petunia would stalk outside and tell him that they were ugly and not placed correctly. She would then force him to remove the flowers and plant new ones. Over and over. If it wasn't the front garden, then it was the back. If it wasn't Petunia yelling at him, it was Vernon pushing him to mow the lawn, paint the fence or clean the garage. This was on top of the normal cooking and household chores he was forced to do.
Harry was getting angry. Just a few weeks ago, the vestige of his family was killed. Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, was murdered in the attempt to protect Harry and his friends. Harry didn't blame himself for Sirius' death. He blamed Sirius for being too careless. He blamed Bellatrix Lestrange for killing him. Lastly, he blamed Dumbledore who could have solved all the problems by pushing for Sirius to have a trial to clear his name. The public believed that Sirius had killed Harry's parents. They were so very wrong.
Harry wiped the sweat dripping from his nose away with the back of his hand. Dirt smeared across his face as he tried to stop the weird feeling the little ball of water always caused. He was so involved with his hatred of Dumbledore and his relatives, that he failed to register the sound of footsteps behind him until…
"Potter," queried a soft feminine voice.
Harry dropped the flower pot and spun around with his wand at the ready. "Who?"
"Easy! I'm just here to talk," said the young woman with black hair. She was attractive in the classical sense. She was curvy, with pale skin and hazel colored eyes. "Are you always this jumpy?"
"Yes. You try to survive the last five years with people trying to kill you and try not to become jumpy. Who are you, and how did you find me?"
"I'm a little hurt, Harry. After five years of classes together, you don't recognize me," she teased a little. "I'm Tracey Davis. You were rather easy to find once I started looking. Your mother was an Evans. A little research for that name, and I found a Petunia Evans that married a Vernon Dursley. Lilly and Petunia, both with the same last name. Pretty easy to draw the connection there."
"Then just a directory search, huh? Fuck, Dumbledore is stupid," said Harry. "I recognize your name Ms. Davis, but I'm sorry that I haven't taken a lot of time to expand my circle beyond Hermione and Ron. My… um, family isn't here right now. Would you like to step inside for some water? You can finish your explanation there."
A little taken aback by Harry's language and obvious dislike of Dumbledore, Tracey nodded and followed Harry inside. She noticed the house was immaculate. Everything was placed just so. There were pictures of the Dursley's, sans Harry. There were flower prints everywhere. White lace doilies were placed underneath lamps and flower arrangements. Plastic runners had been placed on the carpet. "Delightfully tacky," commented Tracey.
Harry grinned, "Yeah. It wasn't left to me to decorate."
Tracy smiled back. "If it were your home, I'd expect red and gold."
Harry shook his head, "I prefer earth tones and greens. Water?"
"Yes, thank you," answered Tracey. "Really? No red and gold? Not very Gryffindor."
"Can you keep a secret?"
Tracey nodded.
"The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin."
"I knew it!"
"Huh?"
"Oh, so eloquent there, Harry. I am far more observant than most of our classmates. Granger may have me beat on rote memorization, but my level of notice is a bit higher. As a matter of fact, there are several members of the female population at Hogwarts that have been watching you. We're concerned."
"Who are they and what are your concerns?"
"Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, and I are the most involved. The Patils, Hannah Abbot and Daphne's little sister, Astoria are the rest. We have noticed that you have slowly become more withdrawn and reliant on your little circle. Even with that little 'study group' you had last year, you have lost a lot of your light. We know about your godfather. We know what happened at the Ministry. We also know that Dumbledore has been manipulating you from the day your parents died." Tracy sat down on the couch and looked Harry over. "We've been taking turns watching you. Daphne was across the street yesterday, hiding in the bushes. I watched you the day before as you went to the store for your aunt. Sue watched as your cousin pushed you around the day before that. It has taken all we had to keep from interfering until now."
"Really? Why now," asked Harry. "What changed?"
"Sue's aunt, Madam Bones, was contacted by an anonymous source that you were going dark. When she asked Sue, we all knew that either something was wrong, or someone was lying."
"Why…" Harry started to ask. Suddenly the front door of the house opened, and Percy Weasley walked in. He was followed by four aurors.
"Potter," spat Percy. "Under the authority of the Minister, you are being placed under arrest."
"On what grounds," demanded Tracey.
"None of your business. The Minister has issued the warrant and these men are here to take you in. I do hope you don't go quietly."
"Percy? What are the charges? I have the right to know."
"Very well, Potter. You are charged with breaking and entering the Ministry, vandalism, obstruction of justice, assaulting Undersecretary Umbridge, and illegal use of a class 4 X dangerous creature in or near a muggle inhabited zone. You are looking at life in Azkaban. I'm sure your little whore here can find a new man."
"I am Tracey Davis, heir apparent to the Noble House of Davis. You will refer to me with a great deal more respect, Junior Undersecretary Weasley. You are also speaking about the heir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Potter, and the Noble and Ancient Houses of Black and Peverell. You sir should tread lightly. The Sacred Twenty-Eight will not only hear about your intrusion into a private residence, but these charges. Unless of course, you are charging The Longbottom heir, your brother and sister, your parents, Chief of the Wizengamot and several aurors as well."
"Shut your useless hole, you little bitch. The Minister is above the Twenty-Eight, and he is issuing the warrant."
"So," said Harry. "You don't have the warrant yet?"
"It is on the way," boasted Percy.
"Good. Because until it does, you have no authority." Harry turned and picked up the phone, dialing 999. He yelled into the phone, "I'm at Number Four, Privet Drive! Five men just broke into my home and are trying to kidnap me and my girlfriend! Around the corner? Yes ma'am, I'll try to stay on the line. Hurry please!"
Just as Harry ground out the last bit, the flashing lights of the village constable were visible behind Percy and the aurors. As the men turned to deal with the police, Harry dropped the phone, grabbed Tracey and grinned at Percy. "Checkmate arsehole," he said as he pulled Tracey towards the back door.
Turning and running, Tracey and Harry made it out the door as spell fire erupted at the front of the house. They could hear Percy and the aurors flinging spells at the police. The teens ran around the side of the house and hid along the side of the garage. Harry counted to ten and ran through the hedge into the next yard.
Tracey, out of breath already, said, "Stop!"
"We can't stop yet. The muggle police won't keep them busy for long. We need to get to get to Wisteria Walk and Mrs. Figg's house. We can floo from there."
"Who?"
"My old baby sitter. She's a squib that lives two streets over," said Harry still pulling Tracey along.
They snuck through yard after yard, easing their way through the privacy hedges that separated the properties. As they neared the end of Privet Drive, they heard Percy yelling about muggles and secrecy. The aurors were running along the street looking into the yards for the teens.
Breaking through the last hedge, Harry and Tracey barreled into a young woman with lime green hair. "Oof! Oi! Watchit you," she shouted.
"Tonks," asked Harry. "What are you doing here? We need to run."
"I know. C'mon." The young auror, and secret member of the Order of the Phoenix, turned and ran along the connecting street. "What did you do this time, Harry? The minister bypassed Madam Bones and the DMLE by issuing his warrant."
"It's all related the Department of Ministries from the beginning of the Summer."
"Wait," said Tracey. "You're an auror, why aren't you trying to capture us?"
"I'm a real auror. Not a mercenary like those brutes. Bones sent me to find you. Dumbledore was going to let you be taken and then try to politic his way into getting you released to his custody. Turn here!"
"This isn't," started Harry.
"I know," Tonks cut in. "We moved Figg two days ago. This is a staging house. Now move your arse before we're caught!"
The trio ran down the entry path and up to the door which opened as they neared. "Get in," hissed a male voice. "They are right around the corner."
The door slammed shut but made no noise. Harry dropped to his knees and looked up into the face of Severus Snape.
