Chapter Nine

Too Disney

"Tell me, Wormtail," Voldemort's cold voice rang around the room softly, piercingly though as it sent a shiver of fear down Peter's spine, "How is it possible for a boy who looks like Potter to be on the train? I was under the impression he had no male relatives left?"

Peter swallowed hard. He didn't understand it, there was no way, no way in hell that Harry could have survived an attack from so many Dementors. He had no magic to protect him, not wand, not a shield. He was good as a muggle, no better off in the defence category.

Yet he had survived.

But how?

Peter hoped the forgetfulness potion he had tipped the knife with had done its job and that Harry remembered nothing of him attacking. If the wizards at Hogwarts, particularly Albus Dumbledore, were able to read the boy's mind, he would find all the answers he sought. Wormtail shuddered to think of what his master might do should that come to pass. At present his return remained a secret, only revealed to a few of the old Death Eaters at a time. Soon they would all return, but until then, the Dark Lord was being cautious, waiting his time to strike.

Potter's daughter was to be the first blood spilt, the perfect revenge. This was the perfect time to capture her, now it would be harder to get her before-

"I don't know, m-my Lord," he whimpered and then screamed as Voldemort's curse hit him. He melted to the floor, twitching violently, his bones felt like they'd been set on fire.

"Don't know? Don't know?" Voldemort screeched in fury, "You failed me Wormtail! Assured me that the brat-who-lived was no more than an empty shell devoid of soul. If I find this child is indeed Harry Potter you will-"

The Dark Lord cut off for a moment, his red eyes taking on a musing sort of glow as he thought over the situation. Peter didn't dare look up for fear, he wasn't being tortured, that was a good thing, but for how long would it last?

"Perhaps you still have a use, Wormtail," Voldemort said softly and then laughed, "Yes, I can see a better possibility to my plan."

He stood suddenly, dark robbed swishing out behind him as he began to pace, a raving excitement taking over the Dark Lord as he continued to smile and laugh with glee the more he thought about his new plan of action.

"Indeed," he stopped, "Perhaps its time to entertain a few old friends. Come Wormtail! You're going to help me with this."

Peter's brain barely computed that his master wanted him to do something, he leapt to his feet automatically and followed Voldemort. All he kept think was that by some strange miracle; he was alive.

The nagging feeling started in the back of his head again.

But for how long?

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Ginny Weasley tapped her foot impatiently against the carpeted floor if the Gryffindor Common Room, seated forward in one of the larger arm chairs, her elbow on the arm rest and head in her hand. She stared quite convincingly at the fire, but anyone who knew her could tell there was more going on in her mind than just the dancing flames. Indeed, Ginny had a lot on her mind, said vital organ was reeling in on itself with all the information it was processing. There was a part of her that was really excited to have met her childhood crush, finally, and although the butterflies in her stomach were not present as they had been long ago, she still felt a small thrill.

She had met Harry Potter.

Then there was the part of her that really didn't give a damn who the hell he was.

All she wanted to know was if that face, his face, was the one she had seen in the Chamber all those years ago.

She listened as the other students started returning from the feast, in truth she had skipped out on the rest of the beginning of the year celebrations after helping carry Harry to the Hospital Wing.

He looked so pale.

Ginny couldn't really blame the poor boy, finding out like that, in front of everyone, who you were. It had to be shocking to say the least. When he had been unconscious she had been able to study the face more closely, perhaps it was a little thinner and his features were more defined now with age, but essentially it was close to the child around her own age who had saved her.

But did he realise it?

That's what had Ginny worried, there was still a very slim chance that it may not have been him, though she doubted it, the possibility was still there. If he outright denied it, then what proof did she had that it was true? A hunch? A gut feeling?

She needed evidence!

Of course, this brought another thought to mind, one that haunted her a little and halted her in her schemes of finding the truth.

He was Harry Potter.

Girls were probably going to end up stalking him because of his famous story, was she really willing to let him think that about her because she wanted to go snooping around for evidence?

Ginny sighed, looking into the flames. He had just found his family and his sister. Truth be told, Ginny had only ever met Mr. Potter. That was once and a long time ago when he had been working with her father on a case and had had to spend the night at the Burrow. Ginny thought she must have been five or six, but she stared at the older man nonetheless and had even had the audacity to ask him about his son Harry. Ginny blushed scarlet at the memory of that day quickly pushed it to the back of her mind.

The Potters remained on her mother's Christmas card list nonetheless and they, she was grateful to admit, on theirs.

Ron seemed to be pretty friendly with Harry as did Hermione. It was an odd twist of fate. A third puzzle piece coming in to fit the other two together. Maybe that was all they needed to be friends, just the right excuse. A mutual friend seemed to be the best bet. Ginny smiled to herself, hoping that Harry would somehow manage to slap a little sense into her oblivious brother and friend.

Still watching the flames Ginny made a decision, Harry was still going to be at Hogwarts for another couple of years and if she had waited this long, she could wait a little more. She was not going to trouble Harry about the Chamber of Secrets until he got settled, or if it was absolutely necessary. For now, she smiled and said another prayer of thanks, that hers and those of so many had been answered.

Harry Potter had finally returned.

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Harry shuffled a little uncomfortably under his parents happy gazes.

His parents.

It sounded wonderful, familiar, welcoming and yet…

It was also terrifying.

He looked away from them and focused on Remus and Sirius, they were the ones who had first taught him magic. Remus had allowed him into his home, despite the fact that at that stage he was a stranger. Sirius had talked to him, played with him, cheered him up when the workload got too much, even helped him.

His parents were foreign to him. Lily and James Potter might as well be strangers and yet, they weren't. Foreign yet familiar. Scary yet comforting. The feelings were confusing him to no end.

He remembered the feeling of having them hug him, take him into their arms and the feeling of safety. For the first time in maybe fifteen years, Harry felt safe. Home, family…those were day dreams, illusions he kept up to defeat the loneliness of the streets. Imagining that someday he would find them, be with them, be reunited with them. It was all very well thinking about it, all very well dreaming about it, but dealing with it in reality was another situation entirely.

Harry had expectations of what they were probably like and he had no doubt that the feelings were returned. He didn't want them to know all of a sudden, that he had lived on the streets, that he had run away from the orphanage, that he had been beaten and ran away from street gangs more often than not. He didn't want them to know that he lived in a homeless shelter, he didn't want them to know about his life.

He didn't want pity.

He had chosen to live his life that way, he had worked for every meal he ate, every treat he bought, every grade in high school.

What if they found it…wanting?

What if they felt more guilty about losing him?

Harry repressed a shudder, the last thing he wanted was for them to feel guilty. His parents were good people, he could tell, if they were friends of Remus and Sirius, then they had to be good people. He remembered the assurance James-his dad, had given him not minutes before, the look in his hazel eyes, comforting and sincere. The light feeling in his heart and the battle it was having with the mounting self-doubt.

Real or not, dream or nightmare, he had to know. He had to know something, something to grip to, something real.

Oh, who was he kidding?

He'd always wanted to meet them, right? Real or not, this was his chance. His only chance.

He looked back into his parents faces and gave a small sigh, looking down.

"This is real, right?" he blurted out before he could stop himself, still not looking up at them, refusing to see them.

"Harry?" he heard the soft voice of his mother, questioning and worried.

"I-I'm not gonna wake up and find I was dreaming, right?" he asked through gritted teeth, "The magic, you, everything, its all real, right?"

"Harry," this time it was his father's voice, he felt a firm hand grip his shoulder, "Of course its real. Why would you think-"

"Because stuff like this doesn't happen in real life," Harry interrupted forcefully, "Orphans don't just miraculously find their parents after fifteen years and on top of that find out that their magic too! Its unbelievable!"

"Magic is unbelievable," Lily agreed, "I'm a muggle born myself, but Harry, maybe this time you should just believe."

"Sound like a crummy Disney movie," Harry muttered defiantly.

Lily was the only one to laugh, the three Marauders looked confused and even Harry could feel the tug on his lips, a shadow of a smile escaping as he and his mother looked at one another knowingly, laughing at their faces.

"I'll explain later," Lily chuckled, she turned to Harry, "I dare say it does sound like one, but I promise I wont be breaking into song anytime soon."

This time Harry couldn't help it, he gave a dry chuckle.

"Well, I'd seriously be questioning my sanity if you did," he sighed.

"Magic took you away from us," said Lily suddenly, "But it also protected you and brought you back to us. It may be unbelievable, but its there and I ever never been more grateful for it than I was today."

"How-?" Harry started, he felt his mother grip his hand and saw the kind smile on her face.

"I think its time you knew exactly how we lost each other," she said a little sadly, "It's quite a long story though."

"I'm ready," said Harry, though deep down he wondered if that were true.

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"He's my brother and I want to see him!" Ally yelled at the Gryffindor prefect. The bushy haired girl sighed yet again and tried to console the First Year.

"He's been taken to the Hospital Wing," she said softly, "He's had a big shock, give him a little time to adjust to the idea."

Ally glared at her darkly and nodded.

"Alright," she said sweetly, "Then I'm going to Professor McGonagall!"

"Professor McGonagall told us to keep you in Gryffindor Tower," said Hermione, crossing her arms, "And this is where you'll stay until your parents say otherwise."

Ally and Hermione were glaring at one another quite spectacularly in the very centre of the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron and Nick were looking from one to the other as the battle of wills raged on whilst Mickey just rolled her eyes and disappeared behind the cover of a book.

"I'll take her," Ginny Weasley finally sighed, getting up from her position by the fire.

"Ginny," Hermione began.

"You and Ron went to check on him," Ginny retorted, "She's his sister! I'll take her."

Hermione bit down on her lip and sighed, looking from one red head to the other.

"Alright," she said, "But if Filch catches you, it's on your head!"

Ginny grinned at her friend and nodded. She looked at Ally, brown eyes meeting the hazel straight on.

"Come on Potter," she said lightly, "I'm sure Harry wants to see you."

Ally gaped at the fellow red head and nodded, she fought the urge to smirk at Hermione deciding the action may just reverse her sudden burst of luck.

"See you later," she said to Nick and Mickey who nodded in unison. As she and Ginny left, Ally could have sworn she heard the red haired prefect ask Nick;

"So Malfoy, any interesting titbits we should know about your brother?"

"Ron!"

"What?"

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"You were about a year old," Lily began, sitting next to Harry, "It was Halloween and we-we were in hiding."

Remus and Sirius had left the room to talk with Dumbledore, leaving the boy and his parents to discus their pasts. Both knew it was a hard discussion for Lily and James, but for Harry, they could only imagine.

"Hiding?"

"Harry," said James, "Your mother and I, we belong to an Order whose mission is to stop an evil wizard from taking over, his name is Voldemort and he has been in a way, defeated for the past fifteen years, thanks to you."

"Me?" Harry blinked, realisation dawning, "That whole Boy-Who-Lived thing, Hagrid told me about it and in the hall-it-it was me?"

"Yes," said Lily softly, "You are, as the history books would put it, a saviour of the wizarding world."

Harry swallowed hard. Realisation hitting him like a punch in the stomach, questions started swimming in his head, so many of them.

"How did I survive?" he asked.

"Your mother cast a protection charm on you," explained James, "A powerful one, it requires the caster to love the recipient very much and to be willing to die for them."

"But L-mum's alive," said Harry.

"Yes," there were tears in Lily's eyes, "My mother, your grandmother, she loved you very dearly. When I performed the spell, I didn't know it would be anyone of my bloodline who could protect you. That night, mum was visiting and the wards went off. James and Sirius wanted to go alone, but I insisted on going with them. We left you with your grandmother and when we came back-"

She bit down on her lower lip and her emerald eyes took on a haunted look. James squeezed her hand and continued for her, though his hazel orbs weren't much different.

"The house was in ruins," he said thickly, "Everything was collapsing, it was like there'd been a huge explosion. We blasted our way through the rubble until we got to your room. We found Rosie, your grandmother's, body and what was left of Voldemort, but…you were gone."

"Gone?"

"Professor Dumbledore has a theory," said James, "That you managed to Apparate as a defence mechanism when the house started to fall apart, and because of the charm, you would have been completely protected."

"Meaning?"

"One part of the charm," said Lily, finally finding her voice, "Is that it protects the innocent, in other words, children. You were completely untraceable by magic until you came into your full powers, age eleven. Then we should have been able to find you using magic-"

"But?" inquired Harry, raising an eyebrow.

"You went into the employment of one Petunia Dursley," said James with a small, sad smirk, "Your aunt."

Harry's face went deathly pale.

"You mean," he said shakily, "I'm actually related to that woman and her-her spawn?"

Lily looked a little a taken back and James roared with laughter at the unhidden contempt and disbelief on his son's face.

"Well, she's my sister, unfortunately-" Lily began.

"Dudley's my cousin!" Harry groaned, "No!"

"They're not that bad," defended Lily, hiding a smile.

"Mrs Dursley," Harry said after a moment, "No, she actually made me a cup of tea once, but that Mr Dursley and his bully of a son are another thing entirely."

James was still chuckling and even Lily was finding it hard to suppress a grin.

"Can't argue there," she said.

Harry gave them a small smile before asking.

"So why didn't you try the muggle way then?" he looked at them anxiously, "I mean, you know, police."

"We did," said Lily, "I still don't understand why they couldn't find an abandoned one year old."

Harry frowned.

The orphanage hadn't been one for keeping records, he always suspected there were more illegal adoptions going on in that place than should be allowed. He had no idea why no one reported him to the authorities as a newly found child. In fact, Harry was quite certain it was why no one bothered looking for him, no record of existence, no report…

But then, why had he been there in the first place? Maybe Matron Morgan would know-

"What about you Harry?" his father asked suddenly, a big grin on his face, "How have you been all these years?"

Oh crap!

"Oh, here and there," said Harry nonchalantly, "So you're an Auror?"

James blinked, surprised by the turn in conversation, he looked at Harry for a long moment before answering. Harry was glad, he was afraid his dad was going to push the issue.

"Yes," he said, "Your godfather and I-"

"Who?"

"Sirius," James grinned, "Guess we forgot to tell you that."

"Sirius is my…godfather?" Harry was genuinely surprised. He'd been with a technically legal guardian this whole time?

"Dogfather more like," James snorted.

"Huh?"

James shook his head.

"I'll explain later," he assured Harry, "Sirius and I are Aurors at the Ministry, have been for about, oh I'd say close to sixteen years now."

"Wow," breathed Harry, "That's pretty cool."

"Well maybe you should look into it," James teased, "After beating down a few Death Eaters…"

Harry blushed a bit at the praise.

"Ron and Hermione-" he began.

"We know," said Lily, "It was very brave what you three did. Can't say I'm surprised the Hat put you in Gryffindor. Thank you Harry, thank you so much for saving Ally."

"Ally?" Harry's eyes suddenly widened, "Ally Potter."

"So you remember, huh?" James laughed, "How's it feel to have a younger sister?"

"Sister?" Harry squeaked.

"Oh James," said Lily, rolling her eyes, she smiled at Harry, "You've met her before, twice now I think. Ally's just under five years younger than you, she's a first year this year and I now she'll be very excited to know her brother is back."

Harry was staring wide eyed at his mother and he knew it, but could anyone really lame him. It didn't hit until now that if the Potters were his family, then Ally Potter would be too, would be his sister. He'd saved his little sister, saved her from Death Eaters, Death Eaters who wanted her…

"Why were they after her?" he blurted out, worried all of a sudden for the small girl he had encountered only a few times in his life, "What did they want with her?"

James' eyes darkened.

"I don't know yet," he admitted bitterly, "But I'm going to find out."

There was a deep determination in his words that made Harry cock his head to the side, he truly believed that this man would go down fighting for the ones he loved. He swallowed, maybe it was a good thing neither of his parents had been there when Voldemort attacked. If they had, he shuddered, he may have lost them forever…

The thought was jolted abruptly from his head when the subject of their conversation, followed smoothly by Ginny Weasley, entered the Hospital Wing. Next thing Harry knew, a small mass of red headed Potter had bounded across the room and thrown itself onto him.

"Harry!"

Harry blinked.

"Er-hi Ally."

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Ally was now seated very close to Harry on the bed opposite the one her parents were seated on. She couldn't read their expressions, but she knew she was in trouble. Harry seemed somewhat uncomfortable about the whole situation, his green eyes kept darting from his family to the watching Ginny Weasley. She stood out of the way. Ally reached over and squeezed his hand worriedly, he seemed to freeze for a moment, before gently relaxing into the grip.

"Allison Rose Potter," her mother said gravely, "What were you thinking? Leaving the Common Room?"

"I wanted to see Harry!" she whined, tightening her grip on his hand, "He's my brother!"

Harry and his father looked at one another for a moment, before avoiding one another's gazes, both knew they'd likely burst into laughter at the look on two red heads faces if they did. Ginny respectfully kept silent. Harry glanced at her and flashed her a grin which she returned a little nervously. He looked away again and back to his parents.

Thank you Ally, perfect opportunity to avoid more questions.

"It's okay," he said, "I still have questions, but-but it was because of that spell that you couldn't find me, right?"

James and Lily looked at him in surprise and both nodded.

Harry smiled.

"Well," he said, "I think if I keep talking I won't get any sleep and as you've said, I have class tomorrow, right? So does Ally for that matter."

"Harry-" Lily began.

"It's okay," he interrupted with a small grin, "Everything that's happened tonight-it's-it's more than I ever dreamed could happen to me and I think I can wait. I just wanted to know what happened the night I disappeared and now I know. The rest can wait."

He cast a meaningful look at Ally and his parents expressions softened.

"We'll be here for a few more days," said James, "And we were-we were hoping you'd like to come for Christmas?"

Harry looked surprised, but smiled.

"I'd like that," he said softly, "I'd like that a lot."

He stood up and turned to Ally.

"Okay then, Ally," he said with a grin, "You going to show me where this masterful Common Room everyone keeps talking about is or not?"

Ally's small face broke into a grin and she nodded. She quickly got up and gave her parents each a peck on the cheek before rushing over to Ginny.

"Come on then," she said, "Let's go."

Harry chuckled.

He turned to his parents.

"So I guess I'll see you soon," he said, feeling awkward all of a sudden. What was he supposed to do? Hug them? Kiss them goodnight?

Luckily, he didn't have to worry because Lily hugged him first, tight and hard and was followed by her husband.

"Sleep well, Harry," she said fondly, not wanting to let him go, she kissed his cheek before drawing a way.

"Be good," said James with a wink, ruffling Harry's hair, he looked at Ginny and smiled, "It was good to see you again, Ginny, don't think you remember me, but give your parents my best."

"Yes Mr. Potter," Ginny said, flushing a little, "It was good to see you again too."

Harry nodded and walked over to Ally and Ginny, with one last smile at his parents, he left the Hospital Wing.

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"Our family," Lily whispered, leaning against James, "Together again."

"Yeah," he said wistfully, "Come on Lils, did you ever doubt we'd all lost each other for good?"

"I always hoped-" she paused, "We were going to declare him dead, James, I can't believe we were going to do that. All this time, he's been so close."

James gazed at his wife, there was a glow about her that he hadn't seen since Harry was born. It was as though the years of wondering, worrying and waiting had all disappeared from her face and her eyes, she looked younger, happier…

…more content.

James smiled, for the first time in fifteen years he felt his family was finally complete. He had a son, a daughter and a beautiful wife. Years ago he had nearly been torn apart, thinking he had failed his son, for a time he had truly believed that he had completely and utterly lost Harry. Now he was home.

He was home.

"Lily? James?"

The couple turned when Madam Pomfrey entered the room again, she was carrying several files in her arms and was looking a little worried.

"Hello Poppy," James greeted her with a smile, "Thanks so much for looking after Harry, we did give him rather a shock."

"Yes, well," the older woman sighed, "I found something about Harry that you should probably know."

"What is it?" asked Lily.

"We all know from investigation of Godric's Hollow that Harry was hit by the Killing curse and survived, correct?" the Potters nodded, "It has been theorised that such a dark spell would leave a cursed mark somewhere on the body and I believe I know what it is."

The Potters remained silent, merely waiting for the school nurse to continue.

"I examined Mr. Potter's head for any trauma after his fall, it is standard procedure when someone passes out like that," she said, "And I came across a peculiar scar on his forehead, shaped like a bolt of lightning."

"You mean that's-"

"Where the Killing curse hit him?" Poppy nodded sadly, "Yes, I'm afraid so."

Lily and James looked at one another in surprise, of course, this was the exact moment Padfoot decided to come back. He had heard the last bit of the conversation and raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"What's this about the Killing curse?"

"The scar on Harry's forehead," Lily said slowly, "Its where Voldemort's-where his-"

"Where the killing curse hit," James finished for her.

Sirius whistled lowly.

"That's kind of creepy," he said, "I always thought it looked pretty cool, shaped like a lightning bolt, but to think its there because of that…that's kind of depressing too."

"Where's Remus?" Lily asked, refusing to talk on the matter any more.

"We just ran into Tonks," said Sirius, "They're going to make their final report and-"

"You left Remus with Tonks, huh?" James chuckled, wriggling his eyebrows at Sirius, "I'm sure she was happy about that."

Sirius looked a little flustered. It wasn't much of a secret anymore that Nymphadora Tonks had somewhat of a crush on Remus Lupin, the only person who seemed unaware of the fact was Remus himself. Sirius, although happy for his little cousin liking his best friend, was still a little irked by that age difference, but figured that every girl had to have a crush. And besides, you had school girls crushing on their teachers all the time, surely it was no different. Right?

"Yeah, yeah," he said, brushing off James' remark whilst Lily hid a small smile, "Anyway, I believe we have some Death Eaters to be after, Mr. Head Auror?"

James' face immediately grew serious and he nodded in agreement with serious. The more time they wasted, the colder the trail would get and although he had already sent teams out whilst Harry was unconscious, it was high time he got more involved. He and Lily had already decided to hang around Hogwarts for a few more days, in the event that there was a backlash from the Death Eaters, then they would have to return home.

"Alright," he sighed, rising from his seat beside Lily, "Let's go."

He gave his wife a brief kiss on the cheek before following Sirius from the Hospital Wing, as they came to the door, James narrowed his eyes and looked at Sirius' shoulder.

"You have a bug on your shoulder," he commented, pointing to Sirius' left shoulder, the dog animagus looked and harmlessly flicked the insect away. The small beetle landed on the Hospital Wing floor and quickly scurried towards one of the open windows going unnoticed by the human occupants of the room.

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"…and then we can go flying! And I'll show you my room!" the eleven year old was telling her brother excitedly, "Wait till you see the garden! You're going to love it!"

Harry could only smile at the young girl, now he looked at her he could see the resemblance. Ally was a carbon copy of Lily Potter, in a way that was similar to how he looked so much like James. Where Harry shared his mother's eyes, his sister shared their father's, both had the smaller noses inherited from their mother and both high cheekbones from their father. Like their mother as well, they had inherited smaller builds, while Harry had been a knobbly kneed youth who had grown lithe in his mid teen years, Ally was perfectly small and slender.

"So where's this elusive common room?" he asked Ginny, who was smiling as well.

"Right this way," she motioned up a flight of stairs, Ally ran a few steps ahead of them in excitement.

"So," said Ginny softly to Harry, "You're Harry Potter."

"Guess so," he chuckled, still watching his sister with amusement.

"You're pretty famous you know," she said softly.

Harry blanched a little.

"Er, how famous, exactly?" he asked a little worriedly.

Ginny sent him a small smile.

"Let's just say that not many witches and wizards in this castle have grown up without hearing your name."

Harry bit back a groan. That was just what he needed.

"Look," he said, "I don't know what happened when I was a baby and I don't know how this Lord Voldemort disappeared or why it had anything to do with me, but, I really doubt I had anything to do with it. I mean, how could I? If he was really as powerful as you all say."

It was perfectly true, Harry reasoned, his mother had cast the spell that saved him, he had nothing to do with it. In fact, if she hadn't, he would have died all those years ago. The real hero and saviour of the wizarding world was Lily Potter, not him.

Ginny surveyed him critically, like she was trying to read him with her brown eyes, Harry had the sneaking suspicion that that dream he had had so long ago was going to come back to kick him. The manifestation might just be that of one Ginny Weasley.

"Regardless," she said softly, her warm brown eyes seemed to see right through him, "You are a very famous wizard Harry, you saved us, whether you know it or not."

They reached the top of the stair case, stopping in front of a portrait of a rather Fat looking Lady.

"Password?" she asked, watching the three newcomers.

"Patronus kid," chirped Ally, the portrait swung open and she hopped through.

Harry flinched at the name a little, he guessed that was one story he would never be able to live down as well, he sighed and turned to Ginny, smiling stiffly.

"Ladies first," he offered nervously, she chuckled and stepped through. Harry took a deep breath and followed, his mouth opening in awe at the sight of the Gryffindor Common Room. Decorated in bright reds and gold with comfy looking chairs, a cheery fire and large tapestries and portraits all over. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this. He looked in wonder until he felt a bushy haired force slam into him.

"Hermione!" he cried in surprise, nearly toppling over.

"You're okay!" she cried, "Don't you ever make us worry like that again Harry Potter!"

Harry heard a dry chuckle and turned to Ron who was watching with a shaking head.

"She was worried you weren't going to wake up, mate," he said with a shrug. Harry grinned at his new and swiftly growing, best friend.

"Just a little shocked," he admitted.

"I can imagine," Ron grinned as Hermione pulled away from Harry and glanced between the two. The two looked at each other and Ron extended a hand.

"Welcome to Gryffindor," he said, still grinning, "Harry."

Harry nodded and took hold of Ron's hand, shaking it firmly. That's when he noticed the whispers around him.

Oh boy, he thought, taking in for the first time all the staring faces. He smiled nervously.

"Er, hi?" he ventured to his House mates.

Once again, the unexpected happened. Everyone present burst into grins and their was an applause sounded, followed closely by people running up to shake his hand and thank him and welcome him back. Harry could feel his face growing steadily redder by the minute. He tried to back away from the onslaught, only to find them on all sides of him. He looked at Ron and Hermione pleadingly as a dark haired girl started fluttering her eyelashes at him and mouthed out, help. Ron laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes. She pushed her way to the crowd and grabbed Harry's hand.

"Leave him be Romilda," she told the dark haired girl haughtily, "Ron needs to show him his dorm."

Romilda huffed at the prefect but backed off, giving Hermione a chance to pull Harry away. One of the seventh year prefects caught the hint and turned to the crowd.

"Alright you lot!" he yelled, silencing the Gryffindor Common Room at once, "Potter's had a long day, leave him alone! He'll still be here tomorrow! Now to bed, all of you!"

The Gryffindors grumbled a little, but scattered none the less. Ally immediately ran up to Harry, hugged him around the waist again, and with a hasty goodnight, disappeared up the stairs with the other first years.

"Thanks Peter!" Ron called to the older prefect.

"Not a problem," said Peter, as he started shouting at a pair of Second Years to get to their rooms.

"You alright Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded and swallowed.

"Is it always going to be like this?" he asked, a little shaken.

"Probably for a few more days," said Hermione sympathetically, "They'll calm down soon enough, you have been missing for quite a while."

Yeah, a while, Harry thought to himself as he was shown upstairs to the Sixth Year dorms. He looked at his trunk and was surprised to see the initials HJP had been pressed onto the wood in gold lettering as though they had always been there before. He couldn't help the small smile that came to his lips as he traced his fingers over the letters. He had always chosen his own names, shifting around people, never letting himself be tied down, but now he had something that did tie him down and in a good way. He had a family, he thought he was starting to have some friends and he had a name. His own name and it was something that belonged to only him. That night, for the first time in fifteen years, Harry James Potter fell asleep knowing exactly where he belonged.

Revision 9-This is the second last revision, other two chapters are being completely rewritten, then story will begin to progress. Written this twice over, still not happy with it, but it contains all the important bits in any case.

On a different note, I put up a pole on my account. This will be the only time I ever ask for a reader's choice on something, because I don't usually like it when writers do that, but since I'm being bugged about it, I will leave it up to you guys to decide.

Do you actually want Harry to eventually learn to be an animagus?

If I do put it in, its not really going to effect anything in the plot, and I'm not going to do more than mention it. I don't really see the point, but like I said, am being bugged nearly everyday by a certain someone *coughs* ex-beta *coughs* So I thought I'd just ask, cause if its no then I have back-up on my decision, but if its yes…well, you'll see Harry turn into some kind of bloody animal.

Thank you for your patience.

~Southern Hearts~