He hated quiet nights, he got them fairly often. It was those kinds of nights when his mind would wander too far for his own liking. He would start thinking about the life he wished he had, the life he ran from and the life he currently had. It was rather torturous seeing other people walking about their daily lives, completely unaware how lucky they were because they had someone to care for them. The simple fact of being able to sleep in a bed or eat with people who weren't out to get him, those things that most people neglected is what Harry would stay up all night thinking about.
He started remembering his old life, the life he ran from. Not a single day goes by when he that he doesn't regret leaving.
"Boy," a humongous man yelled loudly. His purple face and the bulging vein on his forehead was a strong indication of how angry he was.
"Yes Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked meekly. He ran a list of things in his head that he could have done to make his uncle this upset, but there were too many thing that could possibly make his uncle upset and most of them were beyond Harry's control.
"What is the meaning of this?" his uncle asked, pointing at a huge chocolate stain on the couch.
Harry gulped. It was Dudley who did it, yet he knew that his uncle would never believe him and would even get angrier at the fact that Harry blamed his cousin. It was really stupid though since Harry wasn't even allowed any of the chocolate cakes since he was an 'undeserving freak'.
"You come into our house, we raise you up solely because of the generosity of our hearts," Vernon continued. Harry wanted to roll his eyes at this but he knew he shouldn't or he would only get into a bigger trouble."And this is how your repay us?"
In truth, his 'family' made sure that he received close to nothing. His clothes were all second hand from his large cousin, who despite being only a few months older than him looked five times heavier. His foods were scraps of leftover that Dudley didn't like. His toys were bits and pieces of Dudley's broken things that he just tossed in the trash and Harry took them while nobody was looking. His bedroom was a cupboard under the stairs that had a lock on the outside so that they could just lock him inside.
"I am tired of you boy," his uncle was not finished with his speech. Vernon always did like to tirade about the house complaining about Harry, his job, the lawn, Harry, the stupid neighbours, local gangs, Harry, the news, the stock market, Harry, the stray animals, teenagers making too much noise, and, you guessed it, Harry. "You have some nerves stealing the cake, next thing you know you'll be stealing our precious jewels and next thing you know you'll be gallivanting around town being a drunkard like those nasty parents of yours!"
Harry frowned, although he barely knew his parents except for the fact that they died in a car crash which he survived, he was rather defensive of them. They were his parents after all.
"No meals for two days!" his uncle finished, spit flying in Harry's face.
It was not an unusual punishment; he had a packet of biscuit or two hidden inside the cupboard for punishments like this. His uncle wasn't very creative with punishments, usually it was no meals, sometimes it was a good smacking around, other times it was both.
The scene changed though. He wasn't in the cupboard anymore.
A screaming woman
A flash of green light
A cold laughter that pierced through the night
Harry woke up gasping for air. His hands reached for the side and felt around for his glasses, a routine he was extremely used to. His vision cleared up when he placed them on his face.
That dream again. The first part, it was about one of his encounters with the Dursleys. He often dreamt of those times, sometimes he would still be half-awake and he'd be praying that he actually left them. He'd gingerly open his eyes and sigh in relief that he wasn't looking at the door to his cupboard. The second part was also familiar, but often dreaded. He figured it was the accident of his parents. The dream didn't really bother him a lot, but it was the annoying pain on his forehead that he didn't enjoy much. If Harry was to say anything about it, he would say that it was coming from the strange scar on his forehead. Apparently he got that scar from the accident, but scars don't hurt after years and years, right?
He wished he had the other dreams though. Dreams of a flying motorcycle, or riding broomsticks, or people changing to animals, those were the dreams that he liked.
With a strong sigh, he picked himself up and looked at the rising sun from the hole in the wall. People were passing by and the image of their shadows passing made the light almost look like a flickering candle. It was going to be a busy day, he needed to restock some food, toiletries and maybe get new batteries for his music player.
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It's been six months. Remus watched helplessly as his friend search for the lost child for six months. He knew Sirius' would end up disappointed for it was not too long ago that Remus started the fruitless search. Harry disappeared from the Dursleys, no sign of foul play, other than the Dursley's less than hospitable treatment of the boy, and no clue on where Harry was. If Dumbledore, the ministry and Remus combined couldn't find Harry, Remus doubted Sirius would be able to.
"I know he's out there Moony. I can feel it in my guts and bones that he's out there somewhere," Sirius told him for the umpteenth time.
Remus did not know what to say to his friend. He knew that words of comfort were meaningless.
He placed his packed belongings on the floor. He had just quit from Hogwarts after a certain old acquaintance of theirs blabbed about his lycanthrope to the student body after a particularly loud and demeaning encounter with Sirius. Sirius of course apologized profusely but what's done is done.
"James and Lily left you some things on their will you know," Remus instead opted to change the subject. "Maybe it was time you looked through them. You'd have to manage their property and what not. Knowing the Potters, it should be a bit of work,"
Sirius crossed his arms, "I don't want them."
"Want them or not, but they're yours now. You should really look into them, and maybe a few of your own properties. You are, after all, the last Black."
Sirius thought deeply, a crease on his forehead evident on his face. While the Azkaban look had faded, there were still traces of it in his eyes. Remus knew it would take years before they completely vanish, if they did vanish at all. Still, Remus was delighted that Sirius had gained weight and looked much healthier than when he first saw the man in Shrieking Shack. The popular good-looks that Sirius was blessed with during their Hogwarts days were resurfacing.
"I'll look into it," Sirius answered after a while. "Maybe there are some things there that I would be able to put to good use."
He was extremely glad he got his friend back. It was rather lonely losing all of them in one night. He wanted to be there for Sirius, just as he had always been before that faithful night.
"Wotcher," interrupted a voice from the door. "I would'a knocked but the front door was unlocked so I let myself in."
Remus turned and saw a young woman that he had never seen before, because he knew if he had seen her before he would never forget. She looked to be about mid-twenties. She was a head shorter than he was, but then again he was taller than most because of his condition, and wore a mischievous glint in her pretty blue eyes. The thing that really caught Remus' attention though, was her hair. Her hair was shoulder length, it was dead straight with a fringe and it was pink with red and purple highlights.
"Hey Tonks," Sirius greeted the lady dismissively.
Remus had offered Sirius to live in his house while he was off teaching in Hogwarts, but he didn't think Sirius would let random women lodge as well, no matter how attractive they were. Then again, Sirius was had always been a player. Remus would admit though, she was very attractive.
"Siri, aren't you going to introduce me to you friend here?" she asked with a playful smirk that he had seen in Sirius' face often.
"Tonks, Remus, Remus, Tonks," Sirius said while rolling his eyes at her. He then rudely left them alone and went off to the upstairs to who knows what.
"Hello Remus," Tonks told him, offering him her hand. He took it and smiled politely. He didn't know what to do next, or who she was. She seemed to notice this and took pity on him. "I'm Sirius' cousin. You probably know my mother, Andromeda."
Remus looked shocked. He knew Andromeda's kid. He'd seen Andromeda's kid. He had seen Andromeda's kid running around butt naked when he was fifteen when Sirius and James decided to visit her and brought him along. This was Andromeda's kid? This beautiful being in front of him was the same person who used to run around the house butt naked? Damn, he felt old.
"Nymphadora Tonks?" he whispered hoarsely.
Her hair changed from pink to dark blue when he said her name. "Don't call me Nymphadora if you have any intention of keeping your precious man-bits."
Remus looked pale at the threat and took a couple of steps back. He tried changing the subject. "You're a metamorphmagus?"
She nodded brightly, pervious threat forgotten. "Yeah, it's awesome. It drives mum and dad mad, and almost every other adult as well but it's pretty handy in auror training." She then started changing her hair from blue to green to silver.
"You're right, it is awesome." Remus had never used the word awesome in his life. It felt unfamiliar coming from him.
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A message from TemperedRose:
I'd like to thank all the reviewers; you guys/gals are awesome! It's really nice to receive reviews, even something as simple as 'update' or something is appreciated. Not only to me but to other stories you read, you should just drop a comment to the author, it's makes us feel better . Also, if you have any questions feel free to ask and I recommend that you read my other stories but I'm a bit biased on that. And to make sure there are no misunderstandings ships here would be canon but it wouldn't be main focus of the story, at least for now it's not.
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Don't forget to drop a review and until next time...
