Author's Note: So, I played with Harry a little in this chapter. For those of you who have played The Darkness, I was really envisioning Jackie when I wrote this. It'll be a while before there's any quest npcs executed, but I think it wound up having a similar feel.
Rearrangements
The mediwitches at this little hospital were more wonderful than Harry could ever have imagined. With the exception of Pomphrey and Mrs. Weasley, no one had ever doted over and taken such good care of him before. The best part about it all, was that after three days, he'd managed to keep his identity a secret. These people were fussing over him. Harry. Not The-Boy-Who-Lived or the Golden Boy. Just Harry.
Smiling to himself as he reclined back into his bed, which he found to be more comfortable than the ones in the Hogwarts infirmary, Harry ran his had, delicately, through his newly acquired long, raven black, hair. When he had arrived, the mediwitches had tried everything to get his hair clean. Alas, no amount of scourgify or cleaning potions would get the weeks of mats and caked blood from his hair. Eventually, they had resorted to a very muggle way of doing things, a sweet blonde witch handing Harry a razor and a hair growth potion.
In the lavatory that day, Harry had shaved his head bald, insisting that he do it himself. Really, he didn't want any of the witches to see his scar, but they were content enough to let him remove his hair by himself. Harry imagined, that if he didn't have the hair growth formula, it would have been a moderately emotional experience. But that was not the case, and less than an hour later Harry was running his hands trough elbow length raven tresses that he simply couldn't get enough of.
His time at the medicenter came with a few additional perks that he hadn't been expecting. Harry had been originally planning on slipping off to a muggle optometrist to get a new pair of glasses. He was pleased to find out that the witches here were more than capable of restoring his sight to him with potion and a few advanced healing spells. Why no one had mentioned this option to him when he first entered the wizarding world, Harry would never know. Though, perhaps it had to do with his hatred of a certain potions master. Though, Hermione should have known about it. Why wouldn't she have mentioned it?
Quickly, Harry diverted his train of thoughts. Thinking about Hermione and the rest of Dumbledore's gang wasn't going to accomplish anything right now. Rather, he needed to start making himself a plan for what he was going to do after leaving the care of the Medicenter. As nice as it was here, Harry recognized that he wasn't going to stay here forever. It was impractical. Not to mention, the staff here were going to start finding it suspicious when Harry still couldn't 'remember' his name. No, as much as he was enjoying his time here, and the little pecan tarts they served with breakfast, Harry couldn't stay.
It was moderately upsetting to him, and he didn't have anything in terms of positive motivation for leaving this place. For one of the first times in his life he was just Harry. He just couldn't get over how amazing it was to have people treating him nicely without knowing who he is. Harry knew he wasn't going to be in that situation again for a very long time after he left.
So, three days after the mysterious raven haired boy's arrival, the sweet blonde mediwitch came to work one morning to find his bed empty, save for a small piece of parchment rested neatly atop the made sheets.
To Everyone,
Thank you for treating me with such kindness during my stay. Truly, it pains me to leave such a great group of witches and wizards. However, I am needed elsewhere, as much as this disappoints me. Hopefully we will all meet again under more pleasant circumstances.
Best Wishes.
PS. I hope the few galleons I've enclosed can cover a portion of my bill. I will be sure that you receive the rest of the money as promptly as possible.
Mid afternoon found Harry Potter walking down the street in muggle London, wearing new jeans and a nicely fitting T-shirt. He hadn't wanted to spend too much time shopping, not to mention that he didn't have much money on him. The jeans and shirt he'd found had been on a sale rack at a Walmart he happened to pass by. Which was just as well, his old clothing had definitely left something to be desired. His old pants had been salvageable, but as for his shirt, well, his slightly modified hospital gown was getting him a few stares. He wouldn't be setting a fashion trend any time soon.
He thought that he looked pretty good, all things considered. This was definitely an improvement over Dudley's oversized and threadbare hand-me-downs. Sometimes Harry thought that Dudley would intentionally wear through his clothes when he knew he was growing out of them, just so Harry would be stuck with something that was falling apart. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about that anymore.
While he was in Muggle London, Harry made a point of grabbing a random bottle of hair-gel. While he was sitting in the hospital, he'd realized that there was no way to avoid it. He would have to visit Diagon Alley if he wanted to get a hold of some money. For a brief moment, he had considered taking up a muggle job for a small wage over the summer. That way, he wouldn't have to face the wizarding world. But that was impractical. He wouldn't have enough money to live anywhere, and he didn't have a Social Insurance Number – the Dursleys never saw to getting him one. So, Gringotts it is. The Hair-gel was an important part of his plan to infiltrate Diagon Alley, however. If the wind were to blow and his scar to be revealed, Dumbledore and Voldemort would be on him in an instant. So, in the loo of a random coffee shop, Harry Potter went to work styling his hair for the first time in his life.
He had been pleased to find that the added weight of extra hair made his locks tamable for once. In a few more days, on his 16th birthday, he'd finally be able to use magic. One of the first things he had wanted to do was fix his old hair, but that wasn't an issue anymore. Though, it would be nice to be able to style it without any sticky muggle hair products, he supposed.
In his head, Harry was mulling over hair charms that he could place on him self as he made his way down the streets of London to Diagon Alley. Perhaps a charm to keep it from being blown too much in the wind, or maybe he could change the color? He wouldn't want to be a red head like a Weasley, or a blonde like the Malfoy's. Perhaps he'd make his hair darker, in honor of Sirius. That was an option at least. Black was one of the only family names he respected these days, as long as he could disassociate Belatrix that is.
Cursing softly, for reminding himself of that bitch, Harry was pleasantly surprised to look up and see the Leaky Cauldron just across the street. He honestly was not looking forward to going into Diagon Alley, lest he be spotted for who he is, but really, there was no other way around it. Not only did he need money, but he needed another broom, to get around on, and another owl, for delivering letters anonymously. As much as he loved Hedwig, snowy owls were rare, even among wizards, and everyone knew that she was Harry Potter's owl. He couldn't very well use Hedwig to deliver death threats to Dumbledore up at the head table. Not that he planned to, yet. But it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, Hedwig could use a feathered friend.
Resigned to his fate, Harry quietly slipped into the Leaky Cauldron. As he'd hoped, Tom, the owner, didn't recognize him, only greeting him with a slight nod. Things were looking up so far. No one else in the place even bothered to glance in his direction. "Well," Harry muttered to himself "one obstacle down." Things went very smoothly for him. Much more-so than he had thought. Apparently no one recognized him without his trademark glasses and hideous hairstyle. "Maybe Clark Kent is onto something." He mused.
His jaunt down Diagon Alley was rather uneventful, despite it being mid afternoon and the Alley crammed full of witches and wizards, Harry made it to Gringotts with no interruptions. Though, Harry had to admit to himself, that some small part of him did want to be recognized and intercepted. There were a few people he would have liked to see. Neville has always stood by him, even Luna has been wonderful, albeit crazy, in the past. Hermione is someone else he wanted to see. Sure, she hadn't sent him any letter, that he knew of, during the summer, and she was pretty loyal to Dumbledore, but she was muggle raised, like him. There were just some things that none of their other friends understood. It was almost like belonging to a secret society that no one else could hope to comprehend.
Though, it was probably for the best that he didn't run into anyone. For now, he needed to hide, and find foolproof ways of being sure that his friends wouldn't turn him over to Dumbledore. As it stood, he didn't even have a place to stay the night, never mind advanced magic to ensure loyalty. So, without further hesitation, Harry strode purposefully into Gringotts bank.
Unlike his first time here, no one looked up to see who the young man was that had just walked in. No one stared, no one pointed and exclaimed his mane. There were no hushed whispers floating around the witches and wizards who had gathered to take care of their financial obligations. Rather, no one could have cared less. A few people looked at his muggle clothing, likely purebloods that haven't seen proper muggle attire, but other wise, he was anonymous.
Giving the room a quick once over, Harry marched up to an available goblin teller, picking one situated away from the door and as far from the people milling around as possible.
"Name." the goblin didn't even bother to look at Harry, quite intent of writing something down on the parchment beside him.
Not wanting to be overheard, Harry leaned forward as casually as possible mentally willing for everyone to be preoccupied as he said, in a hushed voice "Harry Potter."
The goblin raised an eyebrow at him, nodding his head as he set down his quill, finally giving the wizard his full attention. "Of course you are." The goblin glanced around the room, before nodding again. "You have your key I presume." Not a question, but Harry imagined that these goblins must deal with countless people, like the Malfoys or the Fudges who would insist on being let into their vaults on reputation alone.
"Yes sir. Of course."
"Right. This way then." Harry practically had to run after the goblin as he took off at an overly brisk pace through the maze that was the halls of Gringotts. They went down a corridor, took a left, a sudden right, passed three doors, took another right, and Harry stopped trying to remember the way they had took. With a maze like this, someone was definitely going to be showing him out.
"Here we are Mr. Potter." The anonymous Goblin said, stopping abruptly in front of a large office door. At least, Harry assumed it was an office, from his experience in the magical world, one shouldn't make assumptions about seemingly normal objects. Like doors, for example.
"Excuse me, Sir." Harry said, staring at the large door in front of him. "I was under the impression we were going to my vault, and I realize it's been a while since I was here, and things may have changed, but is this the right way?" If there was one thing Harry was learning not to like in the wizarding world, it was surprises.
"Of course not Mr. Potter. You will be directed to your vaults by Mr. Firmbolt after the will reading. "
"Vaults? Will reading?"
"Yes Mr. Potter, the will reading of Sirius Black is to take place today, now as a matter of fact, as detailed in the letter we sent you."
Harry fought to hold back a gasp. Sirius had a will? Of course he had a will! But why hadn't Harry heard of this. He knew that Vernon had be doing everything in his power to keep Harry disconnected from the wizarding world, but even Hogwarts had managed to let him receive imperative letters. Surely Gringotts could do the same thing. "My apologies Sir." Harry said politely. "I've been so worried over the upcoming war that I thought the date was for next week. Regardless, it's fortunate that I'm here. I would have been devastated to miss the will reading of my Godfather."
The goblin nodded. "Yes of course, these things happen Mr. Potter." With a brief nod, the goblin took off down the maze of corridors in the direction, Harry could only assume, of the way out.
AN: Alright, so most of the prerequisite stuff is out of the way now. The next chapter is going to have Sirius' will reading, and the introduction of a few more characters so you aren't all bored to death with Harry's internal dialogue. The next chapter should also be a bit longer. My muse came and beat me over the head as I slept last night. So… Awesomeness incoming!
Thank you to everyone who's added this story to your watch list. It's really a huge boot of confidence. And even bigger thank yous to my lovely reviewers. There aren't many of you, but I appreciate every word!
