A/N – This story has turned into one of those Manipulative!Dumbledore fics. Sorry, but that's just the way it happened!

Thank you to my one and only reviewer! Chase-Kun!

Disclaimer – I only own the Lords Family, everything else belongs to Rowling.

Dream a Dream of Happiness

Part 3 of 5


Sirius Black had been on the run for over two months now. He had gone to Australia, and China and Bombay in order to throw the ministry wizards off his trail. That only took one month, the second month he had gone back to the scene of the crime and had back tracked.

By this time Wormtail's trail had disintegrated to absolutely nothing. And so Sirius had to figure out where Wormtail would go next. Obviously he would go to Voldemort – and then his chances of finding the traitor had all ready gone down the drain.

But when he ran into a Centaur, who had graciously hadn't killed him, and after Sirius had explained everything, the Centaur had replied that he had come across two Death Eater deep in the forest just the week before. One was small and round, who looked remarkably like a rat.

The Centaur said that the rat-looking man was going to Surrey. Sirius thank the Centaur before returning to him animagus self and taking off, he had to make sure that Harry was all right and then he had to find Wormtail.


Remus followed Albus Dumbledore deep into the dungeons of the old castle. They passed the entrance to the Slytherin common room and dorms before going ever deeper. There were parts that Remus didn't remember, but this path had become so familiar to him that he thought about adding it to the Marauders Map.

Albus didn't say a word, Remus knew why he was being locked away again. He didn't blame Malfoy – sure in school that man had been just as bad, or even worst, than Severus Snape. Remus remembered turning Malfoy's hair pink once because he just go terribly mad at him.

Remus suddenly felt sick, the full moon was only two days away and he knew he would be spending it in the dungeons. He knew that Dumbledore wouldn't let him out till after the full moon, and that was being hopeful.

Finally they came to a dead end, at the end of the hallway was a silver door. Remus cringed as he got closer, but he knew there was no way out of it. Albus only ever put him in the silver cell if he thought Remus needed a lesson. This would be even worse during the full moon.

"Wand," Albus said. Remus regretfully handed it over before entering the cell. The silver door clanged behind him and he heard Albus walk away. Then the locking spell was placed and he knew he wouldn't be able to get out. That was the beauty of having a silver door – 1) it hurt to touch, at least to a Werewolf. So even without a locking spell they would at least think about it before doing anything. And 2) when the Were was transformed, it killed them.

Remus wondered if Albus wanted him to die.

The cell was sparse, there was only old hay in a corner that made up a bed of sorts, silver chains hung from the ceiling and walls. There was a small window to let in fresh air, but silver bars had replaced old iron bars and a silencing spell had been put on the cell, not to mention a notice-me-not charm. Probably a very strong one as well.

Remus settled himself on the straw to wait; it would be a long wait.


Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Narcissa Malfoy made a visit to Remus Lupin cottage. Located in the South of France and surrounded by woods, the cottage was rather hard to find. But they all knew the way and so they had arrived just twenty minutes after they had Apparated.

"Why are we here, again?" Bellatrix asked, she didn't like Lupin. He was always a starty-two-shoes in school and that always got on her nerves.

"Because, he has to know what really happened to James and Lily," Lucius replied.

"He won't like it, he'll probably hex us," Narcissa said.

"So? Three to two, that's good odds," Lucius replied.

"But, what if he is not there?" Bellatrix asked.

"We'll at least make sure he's all right,"

The three Death Eaters made their way up a steep hill before they caught site of the old cottage. A sign in the front said "LUPIN" and the garden was alive with plants and animals who always hung around the small home. However, there was no movement detected as they snuck up to the house.

Narcissa peeked inside, she saw used breakfast dishes on the table, Lupin had made eggs and bacon, however, he hadn't eaten anything. She wondered why, it was quite close to the full moon as it was.

"Maybe he's sleeping," she said to the others. They crept to the door and found that it had been left open. Now they were on the guard, they pressed a panic button of sorts and moments later two others had joined them.

Severus Snape and Rodolphus Lestrange went in first to check the premises. They found absolutely nothing. Not one singe of Lupin except that of which left clues that someone lived here.

"What do you think this is all about?" Rodolphus asked.

"Maybe he had to leave," Bellatrix said.

"I haven't seen him around the castle, but I haven't been there for a while," Severus said.

"Has there been other times when you saw him at the castle during the summer?" Lucius asked.

"Yes, he's been put in the dungeons now for the full moons," Severus said.

"That's only two days away," Narcissa nodded her head.

"Only logical reason I can come up with. Let's see if he left us any clues," Lucius said.

The group were then able to get a good look at Remus Lupin's Cottage. He was an avid reader, mostly of dark arts. Half the books he had were illegal in England. But since he lived in France, it really didn't matter.

He also liked pictures. It looked as if Remus was putting a photo album together. Most of the pictures were of he and his friends when they were in school. Lily and James showed up more often as the group grew older and there were wedding photos as well.

"Lily always was pretty," Bellatrix said, she picked up a picture to look at it closer.

"She was also good in charms," Narcissa said.

"She made a good Death Eater," Lucius said.

"As did Potter, but I still don't like him," Severus muttered.

"Of course not!" Rodolphus grinned at him, "But you liked that Black Fellow!"

"I am not gay, now, do everyone a favor and shut up!" Severus muttered.

"Look at what I found!" Narcissa held up a letter and then she began to read it aloud.

Remus,

Why do you insist on disobeying my direct orders? Isn't it enough that you betrayed James and Lily? Framed Sirius Black for it by having him meet with Peter?

I must say that I am disappointed in you, come to my office, we shall have a talk.

Dumbledore

"What do you think that means?" Rodolphus asked.

"Lupin didn't betray James or Lily. He's too loyal for that, not to mention that he wasn't even told where they were hiding," Severus said.

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked.

"After that Halloween night, everyone that even knew James and Lily were given Virtriserum -- except for Sirius because everyone all ready knew that he betrayed his friends. Lupin had the hardest time of it because he is a Werewolf and the truth serum has silver in it," Severus said.

"And…that would mean that he almost died from it?" Bellatrix asked.

"I had the honor to question him. He didn't know a thing, not to mention he was completely devastated by everything,"

"And Dumbledore is using that against him," Narcissa said.

"No doubt, now the question is, what do we do about it? I suggest we take any and all letters we can find, I'll go back to the castle to see if Lupin is around anywhere," Severus said.

This plan of action was agreed upon. Severus returned to the Dark Lord before going back to the castle where he reported fake news to Dumbledore. He then took a walk. It was well known that he always stayed in the dungeons, and if Severus knew Dumbledore the way he though he did, than that meant that Dumbledore would secret Lupin away in the Dungeons once again.

That left Rodolphus, Narcissa, Bellatrix and Lucius to gather up any and all letters they could find. Lupin kept most of the post on his desk in front of the huge bay windows of the living room. They gathered it all up before lurking around the house once more to make sure they hadn't missed anything.

Voldemort looked at the one letter that was most obvious. He sighed in frustration when he saw the blatant melodrama that Dumbledore was using to control the Werewolf. The only reason Voldemort was even worried was the fact that Lupin never tried to defend himself in any letters that went back to the headmaster of Hogwarts.

It was almost like Remus blamed himself for what had happened.

"When you find Lupin, bring him to me. We need to have a talk," Voldemort ordered his most faithful followers. Lucius, Rodolphus, Narcissa and Bellatrix gave a bow before leaving him in the audience chamber.


Keziah and Harry were having fun. It had been two days since the Lords family had moved into their new house, and just one that they had finished painting. Harry was good and painting and Mrs. Lords was impressed with him.

They were now walking down the street towards the play park where they figured they could hang out and talk about magic, alone. Harry found that even though Kizzy was smart and a little bit of a bookworm – she didn't lord it over him liked Hermione sometimes did.

Don't get Harry wrong folks. He loved Hermione as a best friend. But it was nice to have a talk of magic with Kizzy and she wouldn't spout off a bunch of facts that he didn't need to know.

They were currently talking about the Restoring Spell and what effect it had on an animagus and if it was painful or not. That was when they were rudely interrupted by Dudley Dursley, who never did like it when Harry had friends.

"Hey! Look at the freaks!" Dudley yelled out. The gang behind him made some snickering noises. Harry just rolled his eyes and went on walking, it was only seconds later the he noticed Keziah was still behind him and giving the evil eye to Dudley.

"Who the hell are you calling freaks?" she asked.

"You, who else?" someone from the group called.

"Yeah, you bloody freak of an American!"

"Oh! Wonderful, so you go to insulting? Do ya? Well, I'll have you know that we American's kicked your ass in the American Revolution and I can do it again to you no good, rotten lobsters!" Kizzy replied.

"We aren't lobsters!" someone muttered.

Harry raised an eyebrow at his friend, coming up behind her but not saying a thing. Kizzy was odd, true, but she was loyal and she was an American.

Kizzy snorted; "You lot don't know anything do ya? Lobsters are your infantry men that the King sent over to quell the Rebellion – along with the Navy but that's beside the point! Anyway, I will beat your asses if I have too," she glared.

"Keziah, are you sure you want to antagonize them like this?" Harry whispered into her ear.

"No shit Sherlock! This is fun," she replied.

"You should leave Harry alone, he isn't worth having friends," Dudley said. He didn't know much about the American Revolution and so decided to change topics.

"Hell no! if I want him as a friend and he wants me as a friend than we have the friggin' right to be friends. You cannot tell us otherwise!" Keziah snapped. Harry shook his head, American's were odd about their wish to not be told what to do.

"Why…you…you…I'll get you!" Dudley said.

"Hah! I'd like to see you try! Now, come on Harry we have something we need to do," Keziah said, and she pulled Harry across the street and to the nearest neighbors house.

Mr. Fig answered the door. She was very much surprised to see two children on her stoop. One being Harry Potter and the second being a girl she had seen around the neighborhood but did not know her name.

"Ma'am, may we use your telephone. There are a group of boys accosting us," the girl explained.

"Mrs. Fig, this is my new friend Kizzy Lords," Harry said.

"Ah, it is nice to meet you dear, please come in and use my phone," Mrs. Fig said. She directed Harry and Kizzy to the telephone while she went to the kitchen for refreshments.

A few minutes later, Kizzy felt very victorious.

"I told the police man what happened; he said they had plenty of reports about Dursley and he said he's going over there to talk to your family about it. I also told him you were their nephew and asked if it would be all right if you didn't go home," she said.

"Why'd you do that?" Harry asked.

"Because I want to make sure they don't hurt you or anything," Kizzy replied.

"Oh, I guess that works," Harry said, scratching the back of his ear.

"Of course it does," Kizzy said. Mrs. Fig then entered the room with a tray of cookies and tea. Kizzy and Harry thanked her and they all sat down by the fire place.

"Mrs. Fig, have you heard anything from Mr. Lupin? I sent a letter to him but he hasn't replied back," Kizzy said.

"No, no, the last time I talk to Remus was the last time he paid a visit to Harry," Mrs. Fig replied with a shake of her head.

"I guess that means we'll have to talk to someone else then," Kizzy said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I have to admit, I kinda…spied on you a couple days ago…"

"You spied on me?" Harry looked astonished.

"Don't take it the wrong way. I know that I shouldn't have done it but I felt that I should at least make sure the Wizard Hero was all right. You don't always want to go back to your home and so I thought I'd just make sure you were all right," Kizzy said.

"What are you getting at dear?"

"Well, I'm American so I don't know what the Brit Ministry does. However, I do know that no one should be…abused…"

"You think I'm being abused?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I don't know much about you but I do feel that," Kizzy said.

"Why?"

"How about how you always shy away from my parents? Talk to me more than any adult I have ever seen you with and how you like to hide in the garden to listen to the news even though you could come over to my house to do so? How about always having ratty clothes and no shoes?"

"I have shoes!" Harry muttered.

"Yeah, duck tape is the handy mans secret weapon! (1)" Kizzy rolled her eyes.

"All right, so maybe you do know what you are talking about. But no one is going to do anything about it,"

"Isn't there anyone who would be willing to do so? Surly someone would like to take care of you," Kizzy said.

"Yeah, Death Eaters so they can kill him," Mrs. Fig interjected.

"True, but from what I could find out from my Dad. When your parents died someone had to take care of the will. In that will there should be a list of people who would take care of you if anything happened to you parents,"

"Well, what if they wanted me with the Dursley's?" Harry asked.

"We shant know a thing if your too scared to even ask! You've got an owl, use her!" Kizzy slapped him gently on an arm while she mock-glared at him.

"Oaky! Ouch, that hurt!"

"No it didn't, know, stop being such a wuss," Kizzy muttered.

"Harry," Mrs. Fig and been patiently listening to them as they all sipped tea, "I think you should contact Gringots and ask to see the Will,"

"Yes Ma'am, I think I should," Harry agreed.


The case worker looked hazard as she quickly floundered out of her car and headed to the front door of the Lords house. It was a nice house and remarkably different from all the others. The grass hadn't been mowed, the flowers in the garden all mismatched but looked remarkably charming. There were even pink flamingos all over the place.

She knocked on the door and quickly straitened her jacket. Seconds later a man answered the door.

"Hello, I am Jocelyn Tempest, the case worker assigned to Mr. Potter. Are you Mr. Lords of whom Mr. Potter is currently staying with?" she asked.

"I'm glad to see you people are on top of things!" Sunny said.

"And please, just call me Sunny," he said and let her in.

"Oh, thank you, Jocelyn if you please then," the woman said as she entered the house.

Inside the house, things were in disarray; boxes and clothes were all over the place but the front living room had been freshly painted and it looked as if things were just starting to find their places.

"My wife is in the kitchen with the kids," Sunny said, he led the case worker to the kitchen where she found it in perfect condition.

"Ilana, this is Miss Jocelyn Tempest, she's here to talk to Harry and Kizzy," Sunny said.

"Hello, please sit down. I am sorry about the mess, we just moved in a few days ago, tea or coffee?" Ilana asked.

"Coffee if you please," Jocelyn said, she had shaken hands with Ilana and found that she had been right about the family, she didn't know where they were from, but they had American accents.

"Where did you used to live?" Jocelyn asked.

"Oh, all over, we are now formerly from Washington State," Sunny replied.

"I see, now then," she turned to Harry, "I'm going to ask you some questions about your family. Answer whichever you liked, but in order to make a decision as to if you should live there or not, I will need you to answer everything I ask," she said.

"Is there anything you are confused about?"

"No Ma'am," Harry replied.

"All right then, What happens in a usual day with your family?" Jocelyn asked.

"Well, when I was really little, Aunt Petunia would bang on my door to wake me to make breakfast," Harry said.

"How old were you?" Jocelyn asked.

"About five I think," Harry replied.

Ilana came back to the table with enough coffee for the adults. They just watched as the case worker went about her business. She kept notes as well and noted the time and date.

"What did your Aunt have you do at such a young age?" she asked.

"Cooked at the stove, used a chair to reach things. Once I dropped a pan of eggs and…"

"Harry, I know it's hard to talk about. But if there is any abuse going on here, then we need to take care of it," Jocelyn said, she patted Harry's hand gently. He seemed to…trust her, though Jocelyn didn't know why.

"They locked me up in my Cupboard," Harry said.

"Your….excuse me, dear, but…did you say that your bedroom was a cupboard?" Jocelyn asked.

"Yes,"

"I see, are you still…there?"

"No, they moved me to Dudley's second bedroom a little bit after I turned eleven and got my school letter," Harry replied.

"I see, and…what else?"

"Ummmm….I get punished for things I can't control," Harry replied. He wondered if he should tell this muggle about the accidental magic. She seemed nice enough but…he didn't want her to think he was crazy or something along those lines.

"Can you give me couple of examples?" Jocelyn asked.

"Once in primary school, Dudley and his gang were going to beat me up and…somehow I ended up on the school roof,"

"That's interesting," Jocelyn said, noting it on her legal pad.

"Once…I got yelled at by Uncle Vernon for stomping on the rose bushes, I don't know how it happened but…his face swelled up and he had to be taken to hospital," Harry said.

"And how were you punished in these instances?" Jocelyn asked.

"Weeks in the cupboard with nothing too…"

"I'm sorry Harry, but I need to hear you say it. Otherwise it isn't valid," Jocelyn said.

Ilana, during this time, watched her only daughter and the friend she had found. Harry Potter, savior or the Wizarding world being treated so poorly. It was obvious that the Dursley's did not care for their nephew.

Everything that the papers said had been a complete and utter lie.

Lies were terrible things and usually made people angry with betrayal.


TBC

A/N – I know I ended it abruptly there. But I thought this was getting long enough at nine pages! Please review!

1) This line about Ducktape being the handy mans secret weapon is from Red Green a brilliant Canadian comedic show that you all have to check out!