Tattered Innocence

Child of the new Dawn

Disclaimer: don't own don't sue

A/n Sorry for the wait, the action in this chappie should make up for it… Unbetated at the moment so I'll make corrections later, for now I'm going to the beach!

Chapter 14

Harry Potter was, in a word, miserable. Try as he might, there was just no pleasing his Aunt and Uncle. From his appearance to the way he spoke, Uncle Vernon could always find some kind of fault in comparison to Dudley.

Remus had always told Harry to never say he hated anyone, that hate was too strong a word just because he was upset, but Harry found himself now struggling to say he didn't hate the Dursleys.

Harry sighed from his spot on the floor and let his tired arm rest for a moment after washing the windows for the second time that day. He had only made one friend in his two week stay so far and it wasn't even a human friend.

One Week Ago

Harry brushed a few beads of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, smearing dirt across his face. He had been trying to pull out weeds in the garden since Dudley had claimed Harry had tried to steal one of his toys earlier that morning.

He had never weeded a garden before and couldn't tell what to pull out and what to leave in, but he didn't dare ask his Aunt and Uncle for fear of being punished further. "Stupid Dudley," Harry sniffed, "I d-didn't even do a-anything wrong…"

ssss… humans… always digging around in the dirt… scare away all the nice juicy mice…

Who's there? Harry asked looking around for the sound of the voice.

A Speaker? I thought there were no Speakersss left…

Harry looked down to see a small green snake peering up at him. Harry dropped down to rest his elbows on the grass, in awe. He had never spoken to a snake before and had never heard of anyone else doing so.

You- you can understand me? He hissed back unconsciously.

The snake bobbed his little head in an unmistakable nod, You are a Speaker human, all of my kind can understand a Speaker…

How many Speakers are there? Harry asked curiously, Sirius and Remus had never talked about Speakers before…

Just you and one other, but he is much older. You're still a child

"Boy! Get in here if you want to eat!" Aunt Petunia's shrill voice shrieked.

Will you come with me? Harry asked quickly turning back to the little snake.

Oh no, those humans are much too loud. I'm staying here and catching my own meal, the snake said, but I suppose I could stay in this garden, I have never talked with a Speaker before.

I'll see you soon then! Harry said and stroked the snake once before jumping up.

Present

Since then Harry had spoken to his new friend everyday, but he was very careful not to let the Dursley's see him. Harry knew that they would just call him a freak again and wouldn't believe that he could talk to snakes.

Harry stood up and picked up the heavy bucket next to him with both hands. It was much too heavy for Harry to get more than a few steps at a time and he had to be very careful not to let the water spill up over the edge and onto the carpet. After a few moments of careful walking, Harry was able to set the bucket down on the floor next to the mop.

He had finished early and couldn't wait to go outside as he was going to show his new snake friend the picture of his parents Sirius had given him. Walking on tiptoes, Harry carefully opened his cupboard and gently pried the waving picture off the wall.

Harry managed to get right in front of the door before he broke into a run, clutching the picture tightly to his chest… right into Dudley.

"Watch where you're going, freak!" Dudley yelled as he was forced to take a step back.

"S-sorry," Harry said, immediately jumping back out of Dudley's range.

Dudley scowled and tried to peer at what Harry was holding, "What's that?"

Harry hesitated, and then reluctantly showed the picture to Dudley, "It's my mum and dad…"

"Hah!" Dudley grabbed the photo, and shoved Harry hard, forcing the smaller boy to fall hard on his back, "Why would you want a picture of your mum and dad? I bet they thought you were a freak to!"

"They did not!" Harry shouted, leaping to his feet, "Give that back!"

"No," Dudley said taking the picture with both hands, "you know what? I bet your parents died on purpose! I bet they just got sick of being around you! They didn't want to be around a freak!"

"That's not true!" Harry shouted again, his face turning red.

"Is too!" Dudley sneered, "They didn't love you at all!"

"Give me back my picture!" Harry yelled, tearing running down his face.

"No!" Dudley yelled back and tried to rip the picture in half.

The picture didn't rip or tear at all. Dudley tried to point where his arms were shaking at the attempt, but the picture remained the same.

Harry's hands were clenched into fists at his side and his eyes were screwed up against the force swelling inside of him. He could literally feel his magic go around the photo and felt the house shake next to him.

"Stop!…"

Harry heard the yell dimly as he fell to his knees, exhausted. Dudley had dropped the picture and it had fluttered down beside his knee.

Wiping his face with his sleeve, Harry left Dudley shouting for his parents and fled into his cupboard. He quickly took down all his precious pictures and, after giving him a long hug, put them and Blackie into his suitcase. His hands shook as he heard the thunderous steps of his uncle as he tried to shut the suitcase, his practice wand falling out in the process. He pocketed his practice wand and shoved his suitcase under his cot just as his uncle flung the cupboard door open.

Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry by the collar and flung him so he stumbled into the wall.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO DUDLEY!" Vernon screamed, a vein already pulsing in his forehead.

Harry felt something surge through him again and looked his uncle in the eye, "I didn't do anything to Dudley. He tried to-"

"THAT'S A LIE!" He pushed Harry up against the wall, "I'll not have you endanger my wife and child! You're not welcome in this house! Right Petunia?" He added slightly softer.

Petunia looked into her husband's purple face as her son wailed in her arms and slowly nodded.

Harry felt as if he had been doused in freezing water. He blinked as the entire house suddenly seemed to be made of light before it all faded. A sudden feeling of absolute dread filled him and he bolted towards the stairs.

Vernon lunged, but missed him, merely grazing his ankle as Harry ran up the stairs only to freeze as a deafening 'BANG' sounded and the lights went out. There was a soft 'click' that resounded in the silence and the door slowly swung open allowing a light mist to swirl in the doorway.

Then the footsteps came … darkly dressed figures entered the house…

Harry turned and fled as he caught sight of the masked figures that had haunted his dreams since they attacked his old home. He opened the first door he saw and hid in a corner. He cried out when he heard his Uncle screaming and tried block out the sound by covering his ears, but he could still hear him.

The door to the room opened suddenly and Harry pressed himself flat against the wall as one of the masked figures saw him, "He's here!" A man's rough voice called out.

Terrified, Harry grabbed his wand and shouted, "Stupify" sending a jet of red light at the man, causing him to fly backwards into the wall. He bolted out of the room and went halfway down the stairs only to freeze as he saw more of the masked figures.

Uncle Vernon was on his knees, shaking like mad as a figure leveled his wand with Vernon's face and said, "Avavda Kedavra!" sending a jet of green light at Vernon.

Harry's cry was drowned out by his Aunt's scream as Uncle Vernon fell lifeless before the figure. Harry felt his legs give out from under him and he collapsed on one of the stairs.

He vaguely saw another burst of white light and heard more shouting, before he fell into welcome darkness and silence.

Remus was shaking. While this was common enough for a werewolf the day after the full moon, Remus doubted he would ever feel this way again in his life. He hoped he would never feel this way again in his life.

When Remus had first seen Fawkes flying towards him, his first thoughts were of Marrok, that he had attacked or some kind of riot had taken place. He had not expected a hasty note from Dumbledore telling him that Harry had been attacked; his uncle had been killed, and Harry was most likely seriously injured. He had also not expected to be sitting in a hard plastic chair in St. Mungo's waiting to hear if Harry was so much as alive because 1) he was a werewolf, 2) he was not Harry's official guardian, and 3) because he was a werewolf.

It was only when Remus was sure he was going to attack the Auror at the door and force his way in to see Harry, did Sirius come through the door with a harassed looking mediwitch trying to keep step behind him.

"We're seeing Harry now." Sirius said barely looking at Remus as he passed the werewolf.

Remus was up out of seat and with Sirius through the door before the mediwitch could so much as open her mouth to protest.

Once inside, both men froze upon seeing Harry. He looked so small lying there in the hospital bed with a bunch of Healers standing around him, looking positively alarmed if not frightened at the approach of the two men.

"Umm…" the youngest Healer murmured, "Mr. Black?"

Sirius just looked at him, his face completely blank.

"Erm… Healer McBride sir, Mr. Potter has been checked over and it seems that, along with being borderline malnourished, Mr. Potter has heavily bruised ribs and sprained wrist due to what looks like falling down the stairs. He hasn't been responsive, but he does not seem to have a concussion. Once he wakes up, we can-"

"Dumbledore asked that Harry be moved back to Hogwarts for safety reasons." Sirius said in a monotone voice.

The healer stared at Sirius for a moment before nodding, causing more than one of his fellows to look alarmed. "Mr. Black," the young man said softly, "I'm not sure if you are aware of it and," he glanced back towards the other healers, "if you can't tell from my associates, you are suspected as to play a part in this…"

Sirius' eyes flashed furiously, "You think I did this to my own godson!"

"No", McBride said calmly looking Sirius in the eye, "it has been rumored that you were involved in this. Your family history along with Mr. Lupin's condition…" He shook his head, "I may have only been a healer for a year now, but I can tell from the way you look…you wouldn't harm a hair on this child's head."

He straightened and leafed through a chart briefly, "I'll heal the bruising as best I can while he's unconscious, if I know Poppy she'll heal up the rest the minute Harry's eyes open. There's not much I can do for the sprain so I'll wrap that as best I can, just be careful that it doesn't get knocked by anything or Harry will get a painful wakeup call."

"Why can't you heal him now?" Sirius asked, grateful that at least one healer didn't think he and Remus hurt their own child.

"When a wizard is unconscious, their magic does what it can to try and heal itself. If a foreign magic is administered, the body might try and reject it causing the person to go into a magical shock. This doesn't happen often, but as Harry is so young and his wounds are not life threatening, I'd rather wait and be sure he is healed properly." The young man said waving his wand over Harry's wrist, causing bandages to wrap themselves around it.

"Do you have a portkey?" McBride asked finally and nodded approvingly when Sirius held up one of Fawkes' feathers.

Remus gently lifted Harry into his arms, and fought a gasp from how light he was. Sirius walked over to them and rested on hand on Remus' forearm and the other on Harry's shoulder. The young healer shook his head sadly as he watched the trio go, the media was going to have a field day over that poor boy's torment.

A/N hope you liked the chapter! More on Sirius, Remus, and Harry's condition next chappie! Review Please! Dawn