Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Remus knew that Harry's disappearance would attract attention. So he needed the muggles to to keep up the charade that Harry was still with them. But he also knew that eventually Dumbledore would investigate. And he would get caught. He had considered taking Harry with him and leaving the country. But would they really be able to outrun everyone in wizarding Britain? He seriously doubted that. They needed a better plan. And if everyone thought Harry was still with his relatives, they would have time to plan.

He got up and started pacing. He was not at all confident that Harry would be safe in his house. He would have to update the wards. No better still, he would move Harry to a house that nobody would associate with him and put up the best protections he could think of.

Then there was the problem of him taking care of a child. Harry was no longer a baby. But that didn't mean he was prepared to look after him. He couldn't ask anyone for help either. He continued to pace.

He hoped that nobody was suspicious of him yet. He needed time to buy another house, and move with Harry. He wanted to move to the suburbs of London. That would attract the least attention. People in small towns asked more questions. A widower and his young son wouldn't attract too much attention in muggle London.

The next day they went out to make deliveries, and he took Harry with him. Since he could apparate to deliver the parcels, they were able to go to a mall in London, to buy clothes for Harry. Remus also bought him muggle books.

Harry had been overwhelmed with all the new things Remus had bought for him. Remus was angry enough to use another unforgivable curse on his relatives. In five years, they had never bought anything for Harry. He would make them pay.

Harry had been unhappy when Remus insisted he learn to read before he could do any magic. But Remus had told Harry that he would have to read spell books to learn magic. That had been a convincing argument.

Harry didn't get car sick if he tried to read while Remus was driving. That meant he could go with Remus everyday, and read his muggle books. Since Harry had never been outside Little Whinning before, Remus thought seeing more of the countryside was good for Harry.

Harry had proven to be a quick learner and Remus assumed it had something to do with his excitement for learning magic.

The first full moon with Harry had been stressful for both of them. Since they had always been together for the whole month, Harry had cried when Remus had to leave. Remus had given him a dreamless sleep potion and promised to be back the next morning.

He was not at all comfortable leaving Harry alone in his house. Too many things could go wrong. And in spite of the additional protections he had put on it, he was worried that a determined attacker could break in.

He was back the next morning. Nothing had gone wrong during the night, but Harry was alarmed when he saw the state he was in. Harry had insisted on cooking for him and taking care of him for the next two days. He had to admit that Harry had done as much work as he would if he was still living with his horrible relatives. He seemed to think that he needed to prove his worth, and nothing Remus said could reassure him. Once again Remus was thinking of unpleasant things he wanted to do to Harry's relatives.

When he had finally recovered, he agreed to teach Harry how to do magic. Harry had decided he wanted to learn how to make things fly. He had already read the chapters in his old charms textbook and was practically bouncing with excitement.

"The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa," Remus said pronouncing the words carefully for Harry. Then he demonstrated the swish and flick wand movement.

He gave his wand to Harry. Harry took the wand and tried the spell. But nothing happened. He asked Harry to keep trying. After half an hour with no progress, Harry was getting impatient.

"No Harry, you need to pronounce the words clearly."

"But it's not working. What if I can't do magic anymore?"

Remus sighed. "Harry, that spell is taught to eleven year olds. You're only six. It's going to take time to learn. And you're using my wand. It might not be working well for you. Don't worry, you just need practice."

It had been three days and Harry still insisted on practicing the levitation charm. It had not worked even once. Remus was starting to doubt the logic behind teaching a six year old how to do magic. Many children hadn't even done accidental magic at that age.

Harry had learnt theory much quicker than he had expected and he had forgotten how young Harry really was. He wanted to teach Harry to defend himself before he went to Hogwarts. Harry was famous for defeating You Know Who. He was sure to be challenged or attacked. But they still had five years before they needed to worry about any of that. Harry didn't need to obsessively practice spells right now.

"It's still not working," Harry said dejectedly over dinner.

"Why don't you try the Lumos spell?" Remus asked trying to cheer him up.

Harry picked up his wand and said, "Lumos." It lit up immediately. That brightened his mood. He said, "Nox," to put the light out.

"See you can still do magic. Maybe we should try another spell after dinner," Remus said with a smile.

"Can we really? What should we try?" Harry asked excited to learn more magic.

Remus had taught Harry the Jelly legs jinx. He remembered learning it in first year without any problems. And Harry had learnt it quickly as well. He had successfully cast it on Remus at least a dozen times.

As he carried Harry to his bedroom he reconsidered his approach to teaching Harry. Not all first year spells were easy. He would have to wait till Harry was older to teach some of them. He could teach Harry potions and history. They were his worst subjects. But he wasn't going to tell Harry that. But maybe he would do some revision first, he thought with a smile.

A few weeks later, Remus had enrolled Harry at a small primary school near his parents' cottage. Harry had not been keen on going and had even cried on the first day. But Remus was helping him study and Harry was starting to make friends. He smiled to himself as he saw his little cub doing his homework in the living room.

After a lot of determined questioning, Remus had learnt that Harry's cousin had bullied him and anyone who was nice to him at Harry's old school. So Harry had no friends and didn't like school. And to make matters worse, his aunt and uncle even accused Harry of cheating when he had done better than their son. He really wanted to kill those muggles.

He reminded himself that he really couldn't attract the attention of the wizarding world right now. Harry would be safer with him if everyone else thought he was with those muggles. But he was going to make them pay.

"Harry I'll be back in an hour," he called as he collected his coat and scarf.

"See you later, Uncle Moony," Harry called back looking up from his book.

Remus apparated to Harry's relatives house. Making sure he was disillusioned, he waited for Harry's uncle. When he arrived, Remus wasted no time in giving him instructions.

He knew that Harry's uncle worked at a company that made drills. And he also knew that Harry's aunt didn't work and had never worked in her life. They were very proud of the fact that they were well to do, respectable members of the community. And they had the audacity to tell Harry that he was a burden on their hardworking family. They had tried to extract the price for their "generosity" in housing and feeding a child by turning him into a servant! Just thinking about it was enough to make his blood boil.

But Remus was determined to upset their perfect world. He had suggested to Harry's imperioused uncle that he deserved more money than Grunnings gave him. And if his bosses didn't give him a raise, he could take it by other means. That had been surprisingly easy. The pompous man was practically finishing his sentences. Remus had not told him to steal, but he was sure that when the company realized what had happened, he would at least lose his job for embezzlement.

A few weeks after that Remus was curious about the fallout of Harry's uncle stealing from his employers. What Vernon had done was unambiguously a crime. He wondered why he hadn't been caught. After investigating further, Remus had found out that Vernon had indeed stolen money from his company and some of the other employees still gossiped about it. But they thought there was a cover up. They just didn't know how. But Remus had put the pieces together. A wizard had intervened to stop Vernon from losing his job. And he was almost certain that wizard was Dumbledore, because Harry's relatives had no other friends in the wizarding world.

He was furious. The senile old man couldn't make sure that Harry was safe, but he was protecting Vernon from paying for his crimes! But he also recognized that this was not a fight he could afford to pick. And so he had left things as they were.

It had been an unremarkable day, when both Remus and Harry were in the house reading. As he often did when he had free time, Remus was considering various ways he could hide Harry from the Death Eaters, Dumbledore and the rest of the wizarding world.

He was looking at Harry's untidy hair, when he came to a shocking conclusion. But was it true?

He tried to keep his voice calm, and asked, "Harry, when was the last time you had a hair cut?"

Harry looked surprised at the question. But he told him that his Aunt Petunia had cut his hair really short and it had grown back overnight.

Now Remus could hardly keep the excitement from his voice. "And when did you have a haircut before that?" he asked.

Harry looked confused at that, but eventually he said, "I've never had a haircut before that."

Remus jumped to his feet. "You mean your hair never grows longer than this?"

Harry just seemed to have realized that this was unusual. But he didn't know what it meant. He just looked confused as he shook his head.

He looked even more confused at the wild smile on Remus' face, as he said, "Harry can you close your eyes and concentrate on your hair?"

Harry did as he had asked. Then he said, "Now concentrate on making it longer."

Harry's brow furrowed in confusion and he asked, "But how…"

"Just think about it getting longer. Concentrate on how you want it to look."

Remus gaped open mouthed as Harry' hair extended past his waist. "Harry, stop," he said when he had regained the ability to speak.

So Harry really was a metamorphmagus. That would solve all their problems!

Remus was looking at a thick muggle letter that he had picked up from a P.O. Box. He was quite sure it contained good news. He decided to wait till Harry came back from his friend's house.

It had been a year since Harry had come to live with him. He was happier than he had ever been in his life. There were so many things that could go wrong. He was a werewolf, and he was poor. He also had no experience in taking care of children.

But everything had been surprisingly easy. Harry was not a difficult child. He was hardworking and eager to please. He often cooked breakfast and dinner. Even though he was only seven years old, he was already a better cook than Remus would ever be. Harry also didn't mind being alone for a few days every month. He was surprisingly self sufficient.

He also studied diligently, although Remus suspected that it was only to please him. But the teachers at his school had taken note of Harry. And Remus agreed with them that Harry would do better if he went to one of the expensive prep schools. The problem of course was that they were expensive.

One of Harry's teachers had suggested that Harry apply for scholarships. And that was what he had done. Remus hoped that the letter contained an acceptance. Harry had liked St. Marks best of all the schools they had applied to. He turned the letter over in his hands.

He heard the lock click open, and turned to see Harry walk in.

"How was school?" he asked.

"School was fine. What's wrong?" Harry asked. He had picked up on Remus's nervousness.

"Nothing is wrong. You received some mail." He handed over the letter.

Harry tensed when he saw where it was from. But he was too impatient to procrastinate. He tore open the envelope and skimmed the letter. "I got it!" he exclaimed. "They're giving me a full scholarship for next year."

Remus congratulated him enthusiastically. Soon they were eating chocolate cake to celebrate. He was very happy but also relieved. In the three weeks since Harry had written the tests at all those muggle schools, he had seriously considered going to the school and changing Harry's scores if they all refused him scholarships. He wanted Harry to have the best of everything. And it was very aggravating to not be able to give him everything he deserved. 'This must be what it's like to be a parent,' he thought.

But he shouldn't have doubted Harry. He had done nothing but study for the tests from the time Remus had suggested applying for scholarships. He was a good boy.

"Uncle Moony, are we really going to change our names?" Harry asked.

"Yes. And you will look different too. It would help to have solid identities in the muggle world. Do you remember who we're going to be?"

"Yes. John and Harry Carter. I'm your son and my mom, Emily Donnovan died when I was born," Harry recited confidently.

"Are you sure you don't mind being called my son?" Remus asked nervously. He was uncomfortable with taking that role. He didn't want to replace James. But pretending to be Harry's father and having Harry change his appearace felt like he was doing exactly that.

But in the muggle world, relatives looking after a child faced much more scrutiny than parents. Then it suddenly hit him, Dumbledore had done something to prevent the muggle authorities from checking up on Harry when he sent him to live with them! It was impossible that any of them would have missed the fact that they were mistreating their nephew, if they had actually gone to check. The old man had a lot to answer for…

"… and I can have a dad, like all the other children," Harry was saying. That brought Remus back to reality. He had never thought of it from Harry's point of view. He was just a child and he wanted to have parents.

"Come here," Remus said, pulling Harry into a hug. "You'll always have me, Harry."

Harry had started at St. Marks Academy three years ago. He could tell almost immediately that this school was different from his old schools. The teachers at the school he attended with his cousin were indifferent. Even at the school Uncle Moony had sent him to earlier, the teachers were relaxed. They only really paid attention if something unusual or unexpected happened. But this school was not like that.

The teachers always tried to make lessons interesting or memorable. The students were constantly tested. They were reminded that they were at one of the best schools in the country and they were expected to work hard. They were encouraged to participate in extra curricular activities.

Harry had not been keen on it but he now played football and was learning to play the piano. That was the only thing he was really bad at. He was probably tone deaf.

"Uncle Moony!" Harry exclaimed on the morning after a full moon. He had been researching the Harry Potter situation. He explained the problem hurriedly as Uncle Moony drank his potions.

Harry had not been keen on learning potions at first. But he had soon learnt that potions were incredibly useful. Uncle Moony needed to take potions to get better on the day after the full moon. But he was not good at making them. After four years of practice, Harry now made all the potions they used.

"So what do you think happened?" Uncle Moony asked after he had taken the last potion.

"I'm not sure. But there is no reason to think that You Know Who cast the killing curse at me at all. I mean it doesn't usually leave a mark at all. So saying that I was hit with a killing curse and got a scar instead of dying is absurd. Besides You Know Who killed my mom right? Maybe she cast a spell that killed him at the same time. Then he wouldn't have even tried to kill me."

"What you're saying makes sense. But you don't know what it was like. Voldermort was the most powerful wizard anyone had ever seen. He couldn't be beaten even when he fought against an entire team of aurors. Nobody could touch him. So that's why nobody thinks Lily could have killed him. She was a good fighter, but nowhere near as good as him."

"But the best fighter doesn't always win! And isn't it more impossible that I beat him when I was a baby?"

"I don't know Harry. And a lot of people think he isn't dead. He could come back. So we need to be careful."

Harry nodded. "But if we don't know what happened, how can Dumbledore say that Voldermort is not dead? Or that I will be safe with the muggles? If my mom didn't give me this weird protection when she died, I would be really unsafe with her muggle relatives."

Harry watched his uncle's face pale at that. They had of course talked about this before. Harry had tried to find out more about his mother's supposed protection. He had not found anything resembling it. Uncle Moony had told him to reserve judgement until he had access to the Hogwarts library. But still, he had learnt at school that you shouldn't believe things without proof, and ask questions about everything.

"I don't know what Dumbledore was trying to do!" Uncle Moony said obviously frustrated. Harry knew that he had respected the headmaster. But he had put Harry in the Dursley's house, and wanted him to stay there even though there were people like Uncle Moony who actually wanted him to live with them. Harry would never forgive him for that.

"Harry, if what Dumbledore said about Voldermort being alive is true, and if you really defeated him, you are probably going to have to fight him if he ever comes back. If that is the case, Dumbledore should have had Aurors training you or something from the time you learnt to walk. But he put you in the muggle world, with people who hurt you."

"I don't understand…" Harry said.

"As you said, we don't know what really happened. And Dumbledore's actions don't make sense if he is really telling us everything he knows," Uncle Moony said with a frown. Harry was about to interrupt, when Uncle Moony continued, "So maybe he knows more than he is telling us. And you don't have close relatives in the wizarding world. Maybe Dumbledore was really just trying to give you a normal childhood. He didn't make your relatives hurt you after all."

"You're saying it's not his fault!" Harry asked incredulously.

"Of course it's his fault. He decided where you would live. It was his responsibility to make sure you were treated well there," Uncle Moony replied before Harry could get angry. "So what I'm trying to say is that we don't have all the information."

Harry agreed. He couldn't understand why everyone believed he had survived the killing curse, without any proof, when it was supposed to be impossible. Wizards were crazy, Harry decided.

Uncle Mooney had been quite shocked when Harry had successfully made Polyjuice potion, even though he was the one who had originally suggested that Harry try making it. Harry smiled as he put the mud like liquid into unbreakable vials. He didn't think making it was difficult. He just had to follow instructions. There was nothing difficult about that. But it had required a lot of work and planning. He had also ruined a batch of it earlier. But nobody needed to know about that. Instead he wondered what Uncle Mooney was going to do with the potion.

Harry looked at Uncle Moony nervously. He was pacing, which usually meant he was worried about something.

"Harry," he called, "Have a seat."

Harry wondered if he had done something. He was almost never in trouble, but Uncle Moony looked especially upset today.

He sat, but didn't speak.

"We need to decide what we're going to do," Uncle Moony said.

"Uh," Harry looked at him confused. About what? Harry didn't know what was going on.

"Sorry. I should start at the beginning. When I took you from your aunt and uncle's home, nobody knew that you weren't there. They just thought you were ill, and couldn't go to school."

Harry nodded. He had even gone back to Little Whining, so that the neighbors could see him and not get suspicious. And Uncle Moony had changed his attendance records at school to make them think he had gone to school for a few weeks every term. Harry thought he had also modified the teachers' memories, but Uncle Moony never talked about that.

"But if we wait till you're eleven, your acceptance letter to Hogwarts will arrive here and we will get caught," Uncle Moony said.

Harry jumped from the couch alarmed. "No we can't! They'll send you to prison. We have to do something!"

"Harry, it's all right." Uncle Moony made him sit back so he could explain. "We're not going to get caught."

He got up and started pacing again. "We can change your name and appearance. But it won't change who you really are. I think Dumbledore has a way to find you."

"But how…," Harry asked confused.

"If he has your blood or hair or something, he could use it to track you down. But I don't know what he has."

Harry looked at Uncle Moony in horror. If Dumbledore had a way to find out where Harry was, he could appear at their house at any moment. "But we have to do something! What if he goes to my aunt and uncle's house and finds out everything? He could send you to the Dementors!"

"No Harry, he isn't going to check on you. He knows your relatives don't treat you well. He will hide at Hogwarts and lie to himself that because they are family, you will be "safe" with them," Uncle Mooney said in a disgusted tone.

"But still. We can't take the risk. If he suspects something is wrong, he could come here!" Harry objected. He couldn't understand how Uncle Moony could be so calm about this.

"I'm sure Dumbledore isn't going to check on you. It would upset his perfect little world. But yes, we need to do something about him being able to find you. And I have a plan," Uncle Moony said.

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked. A plan to outsmart Dumbledore! He couldn't wait.

"Well, the first part is quite simple. You will run away from your relatives' house," Uncle Moony said with a mischeivious smile.

"But how will that help us?" Harry asked.

"It will help us, because Dumbledore will be unhappy with the turn of events and try to send you back. But since nobody will have any idea about how to find you, he will be forced to use whatever he has that he can use to find you…"

"And then we can steal it from him!" Harry said.

"That's the plan. But he is Dumbledore, so I'm not sure how we're going to steal something from him."

"He's just one man. And there are two of us. We'll come up with something," Harry said confidently. Uncle Moony had already solved half the problem after all.

And they had come up with something.

It was two weeks later and Harry was at Kings Cross station. He had blonde hair and brown eyes and looked to be fifteen years old. He was expecting a long wait. Aunt Petunia had only started telling the neighbours this morning that her good for nothing nephew had run away. Uncle Moony was at Privet Drive, waiting to see what Dumbledore would do when he heard the Boy Who Lived had escaped his prison.

Remus was waiting near No. 4 Privet Drive. Harry thought it would take at least a day for Dumbledore to hear that he was missing. Remus had bet it would take less than an hour.

He had heard Petunia tell her neighbors that Harry had run away about an hour ago. He was unhappy about the story she was telling, but Harry had assured him that anything else would be suspicious.

The neighbors were all discussing the Dursley's misfortune with ill-concealed glee. How their good for nothing nephew, who had finally shown his true colors had run away from their home after robbing them.

Remus idly wondered how they could all be so stupid. Harry had barely been seen in the neighbourhood in the last four years. And the Dursley's own son was notorious as the local bully. Well maybe they thought Harry was guilty by association to his cousin.

All thoughts of idiotic neighbors fled his mind as he saw Albus Dumbledore walk out of a house on Magnolia Crescent. He made note of the house. If a witch or wizard working for Dumbledore lived in the area, he wanted to know about it.

Dumbledore walked up to Petunia's front door and rang the doorbell. He had fortunately not suspected that it was Remus who was fiddling with the telephone pole.

Remus fidgeted anxiously as he waited for Dumbledore to finish speaking to Petunia. He couldn't stop himself from worrying that he would find the hidden camera, or even worse, find out that Petunia was under the imperious curse. If he did find out, Remus hoped that Dumbledore wouldn't suspect him.

After a few minutes, Remus saw a flash of blue in the Dursleys' house, and in a few more minutes Petunia came out into the street. Remus rushed to her and took the video casettete from her. Then he walked into the nearest alley and disapparated.

He appeared in a hotel room that he and Harry were using as headquarters for this operation. Harry had helped him with the muggle devices, since he was not very good with them. He played the video as soon as he was in the room. They had no time to waste.

"Petunia, I have heard some worrying news," Dumbledore said. It looked exactly like the movies he had watch with Harry on the telly.

Dumbledore was speaking again. "Do you know where Harry is?"

"How should I know? The ungrateful freak just ran away yesterday night. He stole almost fifty pounds from us too! ..." Petunia was shrieking in her usual manner. He was relieved that she wasn't acting uncharacteristically. But she was under the Imperious curse. Would Dumbledore suspect?

Dumbledore had apparently decided to take the direct approach and use Legilemency on Petunia. Remus hoped that he only saw "Harry" cooking dinner and washing dishes the previous night. Then he had been sent to bed without dinner. The real Harry had told him it was a normal occurance when Harry lived in their house. Except in Petunia's memory, Dudley had been given Polyjuice potion to look like Harry.

"Petunia, I had hoped that you would treat Harry as your own son. But you and your family have driven him to leave the safety of his home. As I explained in my letter, while Harry lives here you and your family is protected from any wizards who wish to harm you," Dumbledore said.

Remus was furious. So that was why they hadn't sent Harry to an orphanage. They knew that their safety depended on Harry living with them, but they still treated Harry so badly!

"But he's gone! You said he lost," Petunia sounded scared now. Remus couldn't understand what she was talking about.

But apparently Dumbledore did. "Yes. But he is not dead. And his supporters could come here looking for Harry," Dumbledore said. "Now I will find Harry and bring him back. Do I have your word that he will have three meals a day from now on?"

"Yes," Petunia replied. That was all? This woman just needed to promise that Harry would not starve in her house, and Dumbledore was satisfied? Maybe he was really senile.

Then Dumbledore pulled out his wand and cast a Patronus. Remus guessed he was sending a message to the Aurors. Then he took a small silver, rectangular object from his robes and clicked it. A blue sphere appeared in front of him and he walked into it and disappeared.

So that was how he was tracking Harry.

Remus apparated to an alley near Kings Cross, hoping that Harry had not been seen yet. He met Harry in a deserted corner near Kings Cross.

"Did it work?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Yes. Dumbledore has a small, silver rectangular thing. He had it in his pocket. Any problems here?" Remus asked speaking quickly. Then he pulled a vial of mud like liquid out of his pocket, added a hair to it and drank. He was going to meet Dumbledore as Elphias Doge.

"No. Haven't seen Dumbledore, but at least he hasn't found me yet," Harry replied. They were already walking back to the station.

"It's been about five minutes since he left Petunia's house. I hope Dumbledore doesn't have something else up his sleeve. Stay nearby but try not to attract attention," Remus said worriedly.

Harry nodded and they started searching. Remus pointed Mad Eye Moody out to Harry, but they didn't reognise any other aurors. A few minutes later they saw Dumbledore walking towards them. They were on a crowded platform, exactly the place they had hoped to have the confrontation. They split up immediately.

Remus approached Dumbledore as Elphias Doge. "Albus! Fancy meting you here," Remus said. "I know you love them," Remus offered him a packet of lemon drops with an indulgent smile. Dumbledore often offered the muggle sweets to visitors to his office.

"I'm sorry, I would rather not," Dumbledore said coldly. Remus didn't know Doge well enough to impersonate him and Dumbledore had known him for a hundred years. He just hoped Harry would have better luck.

"Are you sure? I know they are your favourite sweet," Remus said still pretending to be Doge. Mad Eye Moody was not nearby and Harry had appeared behind Dumbledore and Remus was feeling optimistic about their plan. But in the second before Harry could take the tracking device, Dumbledore turned and caught Harry's arm. Harry tried to kick Dumbledore, but he managed to dodge. Harry suddenly stopped moving. Dumbledore then turned around to face Remus with his wand already drawn, but evading Harry and casting the spell to stun him, had cost him valuable time. Remus stunned him and took the tracking device. He wasted no time in disapparating with Harry. They were gone before Dumbledore's body had hit the ground.

They landed at the muggle hotel. There Remus took the tape out to the vcr and they disapparated again. This time they appeared in a deserted corner of a large shopping centre. Finally Remus unfroze Harry and they walked out of the building. They walked a few minutes to another hotel and took a room.

"That was fun," Harry said, when they were safely in the room.

Remus was casting security spells. When he was done, he sat heavily in the only armchair. "That was nerve wracking. I can't believe we beat Dumbledore."

"Your plan was perfect! We nullified his advantage at magic by meeting him in a place full of muggles, and he hesitated to draw his wand or to do any magic that would attract attention. And you were also right about the Aurors. In a crowded place like that they should have stayed with Dumbledore. Because they split up we had to fight only one of them," Harry said. He was very impressed.

"You're forgetting the biggest advantage we had. They didn't know what we wanted." Remus said.

"I know that not knowing that was bad for them, but how did it help us?" Harry asked after a moment's pause.

Remus smiled. Harry really hated it when he couldn't figure something out. "Dumbledore thought you had run away from home. And Kings Cross station is a transport hub, so it seemed like a logical place for you to go to. So he must have been confused when a fake Elphias Doge appeared to offer him sweets. He correctly guessed that the sweets were an excuse to give him a potion, but he didn't attack me at once. Also if there were Death Eaters around, he expected them to try to kidnap you, not steal from him. And of course being in an area full of muggles he hesitated to use magic.

"And then there are the aurors. They thought they were looking for a child who didn't even have a wand. They expected you to try to run. So they split up to surround you, in spite of how crowded the platform was. None of them would have expected you to be involved in an elaborate plan to steal something from Dumbledore. Not to mention, it's very difficult to walk through a crowd of muggles while you are invisible. So they couldn't use Moody's invisibility cloaks."

Remus put the stolen device on the table and was casting detection spells on it. "This has your blood. Dumbledore has found some way to make it work with the device, so that it creates a portkey to wherever you are," Remus said, when he had finished his investigation.

"So what do we do now?" Harry asked.

"Incendio," Remus said. The silver object promptly burst into flame. Harry jumped in surprise.

"That's what we do. And good riddance," Remus said turning to Harry.

"Yes good riddance," Harry agreed.

The next day, the muggle newspapers had announced that a young boy had fallen onto the tracks in front of a train and died at Kings Cross station. Some of the tabloids even had a picture. Uncle Moony had told Harry that the Daily Prophet had an even more explicit picture, but had refused to let Harry see it. The Boy Who Lived was dead and the wizarding world was mourning the death of their savior.

Uncle Moony had spent the morning grumbling about sensational news stories and someone called Skeeter. He had also refused to go into the details of how he had staged Harry Potter's death.

Harry suspected that he had given some dying muggle Polyjuice Potion, and the unfortunate soul had died before the effects of the potion wore off. That would explain why the Ministry had believed that they really had his dead body, when he was very much alive.

Uncle Moony had also insisted on doing a Fidelius charm to hide Harry's real identity and the fact that he was a metamorphmagus. Now he was the only person who could reveal that information. Harry was intensely relieved that he wouldn't accidently say something that could get Uncle Moony sent to Azkaban.

They had gone back to their lives in the muggle world. Harry had obsessively started learning Occlumency. He had felt Dumbledore look into his mind for a brief instant during the fight. He was very worried about what he had given away.

"That was good Harry," Uncle Moony said, bringing him back to reality.

"But what if I make a mistake? If Dumbledore finds out…"

"He won't even bother using Legilimency on you," Uncle Moony said calmly.

Harry knew it was probably true, but he was still worried. He also insisted on practicing harder for what he had given away last time. "I'm sure Dumbledore knows it was me on the platform," Harry said looking down.

"We've talked about this before Harry. It doesn't matter. Dumbledore knew you were somewhere on the platform."

"But he saw me talking to you. He might be suspicious of you. He could send you to prison!" Harry knew working himself up wasn't going to help, but he couldn't stop worrying.

"No Harry, the memory he saw was of the first time I met you. I told him everything we talked about that day. So he won't suspect me because of it."

"You're sure?" Harry asked looking up at Uncle Moony hopefully.

"I'm completely sure," he answered confidently.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and a phoenix patronus appeared. "The Order of the Phoenix will reconvene to help Harry Potter. I hope to see you tomorrow at 8 PM at Hogwarts," it said in Dumbledore's voice.

"Uncle Moony!" Harry looked at him alarmed.

"Don't worry Harry. Everything is OK," Uncle Moony tried to reassure him.

"But …"

"The patronus messages can't be tracked."

Harry relaxed only slightly. "But you can't go? What if it is a trap?"

"I have to go. My best friend's son just died. If I don't they will get suspicious," uncle Moony tried to explain calmly. "Besides I need to find out what Dumbledore means by helping you when you are supposed to be dead."

"Can't you say you're sick?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Harry, I'll be fine. If they suspected me they would have sent the Aurors to arrest me already."

Harry nodded but he was still worried.

A/N: Hiding Harry in plain sight is a huge amount of work! And I had seriously underestimated it. I ended up rewriting this chapter completely, because of the number of problems I found with the original draft. Please let me know if something doesn't make sense, or if I have made any mistakes. Or just let me know what you think of the story.

A reviewer suggested that they should steal Fawkes. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I can't come up with any way to do that. But it's an interesting idea and I'm thinking about it.

Next time: Dumbledore has a (worryingly accurate) theory about Harry Potter's death and Harry returns to the wizarding world in disguise. I will try to post it over the weekend.