Really sorry for the delay, I'm not sure how many people read my delay woes on my profile but I thought I'd inform the small portion that might read it.

Now that exams are over I can continue again.

The interlude was only fuelled by the all nighters I'd been pulling. I hope it was satisfactory. Here's a summary for those who didn't fully get it.

1) Harry's friends embarrassed about what happened in the classroom.

2) Daniel Potter and Ron Weasley during the summer before Hogwarts starts getting pranked by the twins.

3) Dumbledore and the Potters trying to decide Harry's fate

4) Petunia Dursley throwing away mail from Lily Potter

5) Mary, a Daily Prophet reporter, coining the phrase 'boy who lived'

6) Diggle and Kingsley try making contact with Harry. What Diggle doesn't know he's just another test subject used to understand Harry's magical progress. Kingsley himself had his eyebrows singed off by their last attempt.

7) Dumbledore trying to figure out Harry's mystery and also going over the prophecy. It's not the same as the one in the books. It has been changed slightly.


Harry walked back to his dorm in a daze. His teacher, no, his Godfather, had given him a choice to stay back so they could talk further but Harry's throat felt constricted from the dry sobs he hadn't been able to stop himself from producing. Neither did he want to face his friends though. Harry was utterly mortified about what happened in the classroom. Bits of him were pleased that they cared about him enough to have courage to accuse their teacher in such a fashion without caring about the consequences.

The more he thought about it the more he realized that it was a great feeling to actually have friends. But his obvious embarrassment didn't go away in spite of that.

Harry looked at his beat up watch and realized it was nearly dinnertime and reluctantly went up to his dorms. In a motion that was almost timed to perfection his friends sprang up like little clockwork mice when they saw him.

"Harry," Walter blurted almost like he was not expecting Harry to show up at all. Seeing their faces, Harry's cloud of embarrassment was instantly blown away to a wispy nothingness. He decided to enjoy their discomfort while he could. Harry looked down and marched in with a determined look on his face.

He didn't stop to acknowledge them as he started rummaging through his shared closet trying to find clothes to wear for dinner. He had to duck his head down to hide his widening smirk.

"Look, look what you've done. You've made him angry," Terrance blubbered.

"Harry, we're sorry," Ali quivered miserably.

Harry was stonily silent as he unrolled a baggy t-shirt.

"Come on, Harry, what can we do to make things up to you?" Jeremy asked agitated.

Harry couldn't resist anymore and started laughing.

"You, git, you scared me," Terrence trying not to let his own grin overpower him. Walter didn't say anything but his relief was palpable.

Ali smirked at him and asked, "So when were you going to tell us about your godfather."


Harry spent the rest of the next day trying to avoid questions from his friends about his godfather.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Walter asked for the umpteenth time and Harry lost his resolve to be quiet on the subject.

"Because I didn't know, okay."

"You didn't know he was your godfather?!"

"I didn't, seriously, nobody bothered to tell me about him. He's the one who told me."

"Your folks are naff, mate, if they didn't tell you about him. No wonder your colour's been a bit off," Jeremy sympathized.

"Did they have something like an ASBO or some other kind of restraining order against him?" Ali asked quietly.

"No, why," Harry asked confused.

"Well, it's not just them who're wrong about not letting you meet him. He didn't meet you either," Ali answered.

"He- He had his reasons why he couldn't."

"Well, maybe it was geographical or he's really pillow biter material. The government really doesn't allow the camp types to get custody. They think they're all nonces and stuff," Terrence shook his head as if the matter was confirmed.

"Does he even look camp, you git?" Jeremy growled.

"Naa, but you never know when they start fluttering their eyes at ya."

"Idiots, get back to the topic at hand. He obviously isn't one of them so why not come and visit or write to you or call you even."

"I don't know, okay, I just don't know," Harry answered miserably.

His mood remained foul the whole day.


Harry was summoned by Mr. Black after dinner. Harry was jovially invited in by the man who was currently sitting on his desk.

Mr. Black looked up from a letter he was reading. It wasn't paper that looked like it had come from a notebook. It looked almost like papyrus; the paper Egyptians used to make. Harry may not know much about history but Ali's persistence at throwing facts about his Egyptian heritage at them had certainly made him more knowledgeable about Egypt.

On his shoulder sat a bird preening itself.

"I have a letter from your folks," His godfather motioned for Harry to come closer so he could read it.

Harry instead stood stock still eyeing the man, wearily.

Mr. Black misinterpreted Harry's reluctance and petted the sleek bird that seemed to relish the attention, "You don't have to worry about Keerk. He's harmless as a dove, actually much more docile than them. Those nasty birds nearly killed me at your parent's wedding."

Harry cocked his head quizzically but didn't make any more movements.

"Sit down now, won't you," the man nodded towards the chair in front of his desk.

Harry gingerly sat down and continued to stare at the parchment.

The man continued on still oblivious, as he read through the letter from his friend.

"…Rosie's all well though she sprained her wrist in a quidditch accident. I'm amazed a girl who likes her 'little miss witch' products could be so good on a broom. I tell you she's going to be a pro…" Mr. Black cut off seeing the blank look on Harry's face. It wasn't the blankness of confusion but more of a lack of any kind of emotion. The man's heart jumped in his throat at the sight of it.

"Harry…"

The boy in front him blinked and finally opened his mouth, "Good on a broom?"

Harry's godfather knew this wasn't the question Harry wanted to ask. From the weight in the air it seemed Harry was stopping something from passing through his lips. Mr. Black decided to play along.

"Yes, the sport voted no.1 by the general wizarding public this century is Quidditch and we play it on broomsticks. You'd have to be barmy not to love it."

Harry nodded but it was fairly obvious something else was on his mind.

"It's got seven players and-"

"Why didn't they ever call me?"

"Who,"

"You know, the people whom you're talking about, my family, why didn't they ever call or you know mail me or something. Why was I in the dark all this time?"

"Harry…"

"Is it too much to ask to let me know that they love me; even a card for Christmas would've been nice."

Sirius looked confused.

"But Lily did send you cards and presents."

"She what?" Harry's blank expression morphed into confusion.

"Yes, Harry I signed some of them myself. We even sent you some pranks one fall…" Mr. Black trailed off in confusion. He put the letter down and stood up; his bird gracefully floated to a perch near the window Harry hadn't noticed before.

"The gaps in your knowledge about your family don't make any sense. I never knew exactly what terms and conditions your Aunt took you in but I knew the gist of it. You were allowed to have two letters a month-"

"Letters? I never got any letters much less every month."

"It's obvious that you know very, very little and now it seems that the letters never reached you. Lily always thought you were too content in your current family life and too angry at them to write back; at least that's what your aunt said."

Suddenly the man started pacing and swore profusely. "That… conniving, miserable, bat. She hid it from you, everything; the toys; the letters, our world. She told your parents about how happy you were, and how you didn't want their interference in your life. If only Lily and James hadn't been so desperate when they agreed upon that contract."

"What contract, Uncle Vernon mentioned it before."

"He did, did he" he man replied nastily, "He remembered it enough to deposit all the money in his bank but didn't bother to fulfil his own side of the deal. I knew they should have thrown away that muggle nonsense and gone straight for the unbreakable vow."

Harry looked at the man feeling more confused. "What money, what deal?"

"Do you honestly think a greedy man like Vernon Dursley was going to let you move in without some sort of monetary compensation for his pain, of course not. Lily and James were paying him a ludicrous amount of muggle money every month and he in turn was supposed to provide you with food, shelter and a loving family. Petunia added her own clauses about how she was going to raise you normally and didn't want anyone from your world talking to you and filling your head with nonsense especially since it seemed doubtful that you could manage to even live in the wizarding world. That's why the contract takes on the possibility that you might have to live with muggles all your life and allows the contract to remain in tact till you're eighteen; the age for muggle majority."

"But why the Dursleys, why couldn't it be someone else, a mu-muggle orphanage even," Harry stuttered at the now familiar word.

"Harry, you were sprouting fire balls at the best of times. All wizarding children are known to perform accidental magic at some point or the other but we weren't sure whether ignorant muggles would be able to ignore your magical accidents. What if you conjured up a dragon? The magnitude of the magic you were throwing at us was alarmingly great."

"Dragons! I've never done anything that epic; ever."

Sirius smiled, "That wasn't even the worst you could do, you know."

The smile watered down as he continued, "Your loss of control wasn't the only factor you had to live with the Dursleys. Dumbledore reckons he's still alive."

"Who?"

"You know who."

"Eh?"

"I mean you know who, the dark lord, mouldy voldy, the man who tried to kill you."

"He's still alive?"

"Yes, but in a very weakened state; doesn't even have his wand with him. Dumbledore's got it for safekeeping. I'm not sure if he's capable of performing magic any more."

"And what does that have to do with my relatives?"

"Your aunt is your last living relative aside from your actual family, of course. Blood is a very important factor for some kinds of magic especially protective wards. Dumbledore has an obscene amount of books dedicated to the subject, I swear, my eyes want to bleed just thinking about them. We went over a huge pile till we found the perfect wards that would encompass the situation."

"And those wards do what, how can being related to Aunt Petunia, of all the people, help me."

"Her blood anchors the protection the wards would give you. As long as you call Pivet Drive your home, you would be safe.

"Can blood really do that?"

"There are many types of wards, Harry. Some dominated by love, sacrifice but this one was firmly rooted with your and hers acceptance as your protector. It was a bloody complicated spell and it involved your aunt and mother having to give some of their blood. You should have seen your uncle's colour; I thought he was going to explode. I'm glad we never told him we'd been messing about with the foundations of his house. He would have jumped off a bridge if he knew what sort of magic his house possessed."

"Magic on the Pivet Drive, seriously, it's probably the least magical house ever?"

"Well, remember this for the future Harry, appearances can be deceiving. No one with the intention to do any bodily harm to you can enter it."

"But… my family… they weren't very nice to me and they hated me but they didn't want to kill or maim me, right. It didn't consider the lack… of... umm… food as…" Harry faltered, unable to string the sentence together.

"-the intent to kill, no, unfortunately. Your aunt mustn't have wanted to kill you when she did what she did. I'm sorry, Harry," Mr Black sighed with sad eyes.

"It's okay, I'm used to it. But, but I'm still not okay that I had to get used to it. Doesn't my m- mum know what kind of person Aunt Petunia is?"

"Harry, I know you've grown up without your brother and sister so you don't know what it's like to have one. In a way I can understand why Lily trusted Petunia. Regulas, my brother, has barely had any contact with me. We were on the opposite side of the war, he knew it and so did I but we were brothers, you see. No matter how much he postured about and revelled in his Slytherin ways he was still my little brother. If you'd asked me about him ten years ago I would've told you flat out that we were enemies but now I know better. He's always going to be my little brother and it's an unspoken thing that if any one of us is in trouble we'd be the first ones to help each other out. Can't live with each other and can't live without each other has never been truer."

"So she really trusted Aunt Petunia to do the right thing."

"In the face of the war, sibling rivalry seemed so insignificant. It seems so petty when you're all grown up ready to face the world. With time the people you grow up fighting like cats and dogs with suddenly become human beings and demand respect. Your aunt obviously kept her grudges and instead of healing they festered with time. She never really loved her sister as much as her sister loved her."

"I can't imagine anyone but Uncle Vernon *ugh* loving my aunt. It's beastly to watch them call each other pet names. He likes to call her sweet tarts when he thinks no ones looking. Obviously he doesn't understand how non- sound proof my cupboard is."

"Your cupboard."

"I mean my room, yup, my room."

Mr. Black eyed him suspiciously but ignored the slip.

"So, now what do you plan to do. I know your parents are aching to meet you."

"I don't know," Harry mumbled averting his eyes. The fact that Aunt Petunia had betrayed him was an agonizing thought but it didn't really sting so much. It was just another list of nasty things she had done to him but his parents seemed to still have never really tried hard enough. He couldn't believe people who wanted to meet him that badly could have been so complacent about letting him go. Harry still felt like he'd been forgotten in the passage of time.

They probably didn't even mention him at home; their home. Not his.

"Don't' worry, Harry, they're not evil, well, Daniel's in Slytherin but he's a Potter so that cancels out any evilness he might have," Mr. Black joked, "Can you believe it, the boy who lived in Slytherin, who would have thought."

"Slyther- what?"

"Ah dear, Harry let this noble and most honourable marauder tell you all about the four houses in Hogwarts."


"Walter, that's disgusting; are you that hungry that you're going to eat a rat?"

"M'not," Walter mumbled his eyes fixed on the rat on the centre of his palm.

Jeremy slid out of his bed, shivering.

"What's so special about a ruddy rat that you're staring at him at this time of night?"

"It's just the poor thing looks so fragile, and look he doesn't have a paw. And he's so tame; wonder if some boy owns him."

Jeremy peered at the rat and frowned. "He's a nasty looking thing with half its fur gone. I think it's been in a fight; maybe that's where the paw went."

"Maybe".


I understand people love pms!Harry but like I said, not going to happen.

And the wards are not the same as the ones Dumbledore places in the books. And yes, I believe, even in canon, Dumbledore placed those wards there and weren't merely a bi- product of Lily's sacrifice. This time around Aunt Petunia needed to participate in the rituals whereas before she didn't even know they existed.

I think I need to make notes, my logic is going to get ripped apart and I'd like to work on any loopholes I leave behind. So rip apart people it's easier for me to see where I mess up ^_^

And I've decided to not have horcurxes in my story.

I actually was so bored during my exams I even made up a back story for Lily and Petunia. When Lily's parents decided to move houses because of the war Petunia was more than just a little angry so as soon as she was done with her A-Levels she packed her bag and enrolled in Madame Philippe's finishing school. Tragically during her first year at the finishing school her parent's were killed in a bizarre train accident; never confirmed but obviously the work of Death Eaters using unsuspecting muggles for sport. During a picnic out with her girls she met Vernon Dursley and they decided to get married soon after. She invited all her friends and grudgingly her sister but her sister only sent her an owl apologizing. (The canon prophecy says they thrice defied Voldemort so Lily was obviously on the run a la Deathly Hallows). Petunia was even more infuriated when she received a wedding invitation from Lily mere months after her own. She refused of course. Just a few years later Lily and Petunia meet again when Petunia was given responsibility of Lily's child.