Red Roses2: Ha ha ha! Thought I was going to end it there, didn't you? Or move on to year 5? But it is not to be! Year 4 complications, coming up! Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd live in Great Britian, be extremely rich, and my name would be J.K.Rowling, and this would be the actual story. But it's not, now is it?

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Chapter Six: The Dursleys

Harry and the Dursleys sat at the kitchen table one morning after Harry's fourteenth birthday. The phone rang and Uncle Vernon picked it up.

"Hello?" Uncle Vernon said. Uncle Vernon's face paled when he heard who it was. "R-right. Boy, it's for you." Harry looked up from his plate. Who would be calling him? Ron hadn't tried again after the incident last summer. Harry took the phone from Uncle Vernon.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Harry." Harry could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Professor Lupin! Hi!" Harry vaguely noted that the Dursleys left the kitchen. Probably to stay far away from the phone at that time.

"You can call me Remus now, Harry," Remus said.

"Okay, Remus. How'd you get this phone number?"

"I know how to use a phonebook. And I knew that your uncle's name was Dursley and that's not a very common name so it was fairly easy. How's your summer been going?"

"Better than the others. I told them that my godfather was a convicted murderer. Neglected to say that he was framed, though." Harry heard Remus chuckle. "You?"

"Fairly good for someone who doesn't have a job. Being a werewolf is always an occupational hazard." Harry frowned. "You don't have to worry about it, though. I'm sure I'll get one eventually."

"Where are you calling from?"

"A Muggle payphone. Don't have a real phone at home."

"Okay." Harry bit his lip.

"You don't have to worry, Harry," Remus repeated. "I heard that the Quidditch World Cup is coming up soon. Will you be going to it?"

"Yeah, if Ron can get tickets. The Weasleys said that if they did, they'd take me with them. It's supposed to be Ireland vs. Bulgaria."

"Ireland has three great Chasers, and Bulgaria has the famous Seeker Viktor Krum. Guessing that Ireland didn't get a new Seeker, it might be a close match. You'll have to tell me about it."

"Okay."

"The time limit on this phone's almost up. I've got to hang up. I'll be coming over to see how well your relatives have been treating you. Lily said her sister was horrible, but I'd like to see for myself. Goodbye, Harry. See you soon."

"'Bye, Remus. I love you." With that Harry hung up, turned around, and saw a horror-stricken Dudley with his pudgy hand an inch away from the refrigerator door. Harry's expression soon mirrored Dudley's.

Remus is a BOY'S name. Dudley thought. "DAD! DAD! HARRY'S GAY! HARRY'S GAY!" In a split second, Harry dashed out of the kitchen and upstairs. If he could just get to his room in time and lock himself in there . . . . Wait, all the locks were on the outside of the door! Harry almost reached his bedroom when he felt Uncle Vernon's fist collide with him. Harry fell to the floor.

"THAT'S THE LAST STRAW!" Uncle Vernon yelled. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE THAT KIND OF ABNORMALITY! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!" He grabbed the front of Harry's shirt, lifted him off of the ground, and began Harry's punishment.

Harry spent the rest of the day in his room, trying to stop his nose from bleeding. He hoped the bruises would go away before Remus arrived. He didn't know what Remus would do. He hadn't seen him furious before. Harry was pretty sure the fact that he was repeatedly beaten by his uncle after the Dursleys found out about his preference would cause Remus to explode. Harry wasn't going to tell Hermione or Ron about this; they were still recovering from the shock of him dating their former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. If Remus found out, he'd probably tell Sirius and Sirius would flip out. Sirius might even walk up to the Dursleys' doorstep and make him pay. Though it sounded like a good idea, Harry didn't want his godfather to get caught.

A few days later and a nose bleed finally cured, the doorbell rang and Harry hurried over to answer it. He stopped in the hallway to look at himself in the mirror. He still had the bruises. He half wished that it wasn't Remus before he opened the door.

"Hi, Remus," Harry greeted shyly, letting the Muggle-clothed werewolf in.

"Good to see you, Harry," Remus replied warmly. He took a good look at Harry's face. "Oh, God, what happened to you?" Remus's hand caressed the boy's face.

"I fell out of bed," Harry lied. Remus gave him a disbelieving look.

"Harry, both Sirius and your father fell out of their beds more than once and never did they ever look like that afterwards." Remus wondered why Harry would lie to him when it dawned on him. "Did your relatives - ?" Feeling defeated, Harry nodded.

"Boy!" Uncle Vernon shouted, obviously still forgetting about Harry's godfather. "What are you doing in there? Get back in here NOW!" Harry reluctantly left the hall and stood in the kitchen doorway. Uncle Vernon fumed and glared. "Who was at the door?"

"His boyfriend," came Remus's voice from right behind Harry. Harry turned around and saw an extremely furious, death-glaring werewolf. Uncle Vernon paled. Aunt Petunia dropped the cantaloupe she had been preparing for Dudley; the fruit exploded into many pieces. Dudley hid under the table in case Harry told that it was because of him that Uncle Vernon found out and beat Harry up. Remus walked over to Uncle Vernon, looking like a powerful god compared to Uncle Vernon's cowering. "If you ever – ever – hurt him again, next full moon I'll tear you limb from limb. Got that?" Uncle Vernon nodded. Abruptly, Aunt Petunia screamed.

"You – you're that werewolf boy she and her husband hung around!" Aunt Petunia gasped. Remus turned to Aunt Petunia.

"Yes, I am. To be honest, I'm astounded that you didn't take good care of Harry. You might not have gotten along with your sister, but he's your flesh and blood! Aside from your son, the only flesh and blood you have!" Remus scolded. "Harry, you said you mentioned Sirius to them?"

"Yes," Harry said. "Uncle Vernon just forgot about him."

This statement refreshed Uncle Vernon's memory and by hearing the name Sirius, he began to stammer, "Your – your godfather is – is Sirius Black?" Harry nodded. Horrified, Uncle Vernon was torn between two instincts: the instinct to turn tail and run and the instinct to stay and protect his wife and son. When Dudley ran out of the room, Uncle Vernon finally lost his nerve and ran out of the kitchen, but not too far away so he could jump in and save Aunt Petunia if necessary. Remus pulled out his wand, waved it around, and the cantaloupe went back into a whole. Remus sat in Uncle Vernon's former chair.

"I'd like to hear about how long you've been treated like this, Harry," Remus said darkly. Harry nervously fidgeted with his sleeve cuff. This wasn't going to end up well. Harry gulped.

"Er – well, uh," Harry began lamely. "Before that, would you like something to drink? I don't know where you live so . . . yeah." God, this is awkward. Harry thought.

"That would be fine," Remus said. Aunt Petunia seemed rooted to the spot until just then. Remus gave her a look that Harry didn't catch and she busied herself with extracting cups from the cabinet. "Tea if you have it." In no time at all, Aunt Petunia had fixed Remus a cup of hot tea and Harry sat down in a chair with a cup of his own. Aunt Petunia stood in the corner, too frightened to leave the room. "Begin."

"Er, I guess it started when that vase broke when I was three," Harry started and, with giving Remus apprehensive looks occasionally, told Remus everything that he could remember from his childhood. Most of it was beatings. Remus sent Aunt Petunia a glare whenever he heard it. He didn't say anything, however. When Harry finished, he wondered what Remus was going to do now. The werewolf had bit into his lower lip and almost drew blood from it. Aunt Petunia stayed in her corner, terrified of what he was going to do.

"When you did accidental magic," Remus said, "how come nothing really happened to your relatives?" Harry sat there with a blank expression on his face.

"Huh?" Harry had expected more shouting, not a question.

"Accidental magic usually happens to the thing or person that goads the wizard or witch into the intense emotion that set it off. Yours didn't do that with your uncle, aunt, or cousin. It only attacked inanimate objects around you and your family." Remus looked pensive. "I'll have to ask Dumbledore. He always seems to know everything." The werewolf stood up. "Now, I need to have a word with your uncle." Harry watched him as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Don't kill him," Harry muttered feebly at his retreating back. Aunt Petunia collapsed into a chair and looked more relieved than she ever had in her life. Harry kept his eyes on where his boyfriend had disappeared to. He couldn't see the living room from there. After a few moments, he didn't need to see anything; he could hear what was happening.

"I WILL NOT TOLERATE A FREAK LIKE YOU TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" Uncle Vernon yelled hysterically. Either he had cracked, or Remus had told him to do something that he just wouldn't stand for no matter who told him. He heard a thud and a wolf-like growl. Panicked, Harry dashed from the kitchen and into the living room to find Remus pinning his uncle against the wall.

"If I hear anything about you treating him like he's not a real person – if I see anything to suggest that you're not taking good care of him – to hell with Wizarding law, I'll come down here and torch you with my wand, do you understand?" Uncle Vernon nodded rapidly. Remus let go of him, turned around, and saw Harry standing there, looking at him fearfully. He hadn't sounded like the Remus he had made out with back at Hogwarts. "Ahem, Harry, mind if I borrow Hedwig?" Harry shook his head.

When Ron had received the letter from Remus saying that Harry would be staying at his place for the remaining summer until the Quidditch World Cup, Ron wasn't sure whether he should be grateful that Harry got away from the Dursleys or be worried about what would go on at Remus's. He wrote back saying that they'd get him at the former professor's place.

Harry slowly recovered from the surprise of seeing an extremely angry Remus. He certainly didn't think about it very much once he arrived at his boyfriend's flat. Harry looked around the flat, exploring every room. Remus let Harry take his bedroom and he'd have the couch. Harry objected to chasing Remus out of his own room. Remus argued that there was no way he was going to let him sleep in an improper room after having to live in a cupboard for ten years, then they both started thinking about the alternative if they didn't agree on who would be sleeping on the couch. The alternative was sleeping in the same room together. Remus only had one extra blanket which definitely wasn't fit to be a make-shift bed so if one of them wasn't sleeping on the couch, they'd have to sleep in the same bed and Remus knew that Sirius, Ron, Hermione, Lily and James would all disapprove of that given Harry's age.

"Really, sleeping on the couch is no problem," Harry insisted, blushing at the thought.

"I can handle it. I'm not that old," Remus argued. They frowned at the fact that they couldn't agree on this.

"Rock, paper, scissors? Winner takes the couch?"

"Okay."

"One -"

"Two -"

"Three!" Harry had rock; Remus had scissors. Harry won.

"Two out of three." Remus said. Harry rolled his eyes. Harry won the second time too.

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