Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything.

James cried into his son's messy hair. Harry had had a horrific life. His baby boy had been abused by his 'relatives'. And he'd had experiences that most people would not wish on anyone.

Harry was shaking and crying silently. He felt safe in his dad's arms. But they know. They all know. About the Dursleys, the one thing Harry didn't want anyone to know about. Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world, the boy-who-lived, abused by his so-called-family. Harry just turned into his father's chest and closed his eyes. Hiding from what was coming. James was shaking with sobs but held his son tightly and rubbed his back.

The whole class stared in shock. Sirius picked up a desk chair and threw it at the wall with a scream. "NO!"

Remus cut him off. "Sirius, stop it now. We shouldn't talk about this now." Remus croaked out.

"Can you please leave? You are all dismissed. It's nearly the end of the lesson anyway. Go straight to break. It would be much appreciated if you wouldn't talk about this." Remus said and ushered the silent student's out. But the teachers knew that by lunch the school would be buzzing with gossip about the latest story.

Ron and Hermione were last to leave, both of them were crying.

"Harry?" James asked.

"I really do not want to talk about the Dursley's, dad" Harry mumbled.

"Harry, you have to. We need to know what they did to you." James said sadly, hating that he had to put his son through this.

"Why do you need to know? It is not like you were there to change any of it! It's in the past." Harry said.

"I know none of us were there and we can't change what happened to you. I can wish it didn't happen to you but that won't help. I hate that you went through that, but I want to help—"Harry cut James off.

"Help would have been nice 10 years ago! But it's too late." Harry said.

James sighed and ran his hands through his son's hair to calm him down. Soon Harry relaxed.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know that if you could have been there you would have. And the reason you weren't there was because you gave your life for me and mum. And I cannot thank you enough. I... I just get angry. I don't like to talk about my past." Harry said quietly.

James nodded in understanding and helped his son stand.

"Let's go to the Marauder's den and talk about it." He suggested.

Harry nodded and the 4 quickly walked there. Harry and James shared one sofa while Remus and Sirius took armchairs. Harry leaned on his dad's chest and James put a comforting arm around him.

"Tell us Harry. We want to help." James said.

Harry was quiet for a few moments.

"When I was around three was when I think it started. A few smacks now and then. But then by the time I was 5 I was made to do the cooking and I had to clean what I could reach. Aunt Petunia never laid a hand on me. She threatened to sometimes and aimed frying pans at my head, but she knew I would duck in time. But she still let my Uncle hit me and push me around. Over the 6 years when the abuse took place, between the ages of 5 and 11, he would smack me, burn me, and hit me with his belt, a few punches and kicks. One time he stood on my hand and it broke. They called me freak because I was different. I never knew that there was such thing as magic. My Uncle said he wanted to 'stamp it out of me'. They lied about you and mum. They said you were an unemployed drunk and they said you died in a car crash. They... they said you didn't love me."

"Harry I love you more than anything in this world. Carry on. I know it's difficult. You're doing really well." James encouraged.

Harry nodded. "They would starve me. And my bedroom till I was 11 was a cupboard under the stairs. I didn't mind it in there. It was like a safe place. They couldn't touch me in there. I could stay in there for hours... days even once or twice. I'd just make up silly imaginary games. It helped me escape the real world. If I got a better report from school than Dudley then I would be beaten. And I had to do Dudley's and my homework along with all my chores after school. When I did accidental magic Uncle Vernon would beat me too. I didn't even know what was happening. But when I came back from Hogwarts the abuse stopped. I think they were scared of me. They would lock my trunk away, but they gave me a new room. Uncle Vernon never laid a hand on me after that, but I was still starved a bit and locked in my room."

"Did you ever try telling anyone? A teacher at your primary school, perhaps?" Remus asked after a few moments of silence.

"When I was 7 I told my teacher. She was really nice. I didn't have any friends at school because I was the weird boy who got bullied by Dudley and his gang. But she would let me stay with her in the class room at break. She tried to encourage me to make friends but I didn't because I couldn't. So I could just sit and do some colouring during break or lunch while she marked our books. She saw bruises on my arm and asked me what it was. So I told her the truth. She went straight to the headmaster and told him. But I healed very quickly."

"That's because of your magic, Harry. Most magical children heal within a day of getting a bruise." Sirius explained.

"So when they got the social workers here there was no proof. Uncle Vernon made sure not to hit any visible skin areas after that." Harry explained.

"I'm so sorry for everything that happened to you Harry." James said. Harry just shrugged.

"It's not your fault." He said.

"I tried to get custody over you for 5 years you know?" Remus commented.

"Really?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Yes. But every time I even got close to getting custody it would hit a dead end with one word. Werewolf. But even when I found out there was no possible way that you could be in my care I got Dumbledore to send me a letter of how you were each month. I never thought that... I would have just taken you if I had known. But Dumbledore usually just said that his sources said you were a quiet boy who didn't socialise. I thought it was a bit odd because James and Lily were very good with people. But then I always thought that you were probably just different. Maybe you had one of your grandparent's genes. I didn't know." Remus finished sadly.

"Thank-you Uncle Mooney." Harry smiled at him.

Remus smiled back.

"I'm going to teach them a lesson. I already have a brilliant idea!" Sirius said.

"Okay, so next Summer I use polyjuice to look like Harry and go back to the Dursley's. I use magic to record how they treat 'Harry' and I can use magic to pick up traces of violence that happened in each room. I can get a stack of evidence and then we can give it all to the wizarding children's care and safety department. They'll have a case and YAY! That vile couple are put in jail! What do you think?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius! I can't believe it! That was actually a clever, rational and good plan!" Remus said.

Sirius just smiled as Harry and James nodded.

"Anything else happen that is serious that I should know about?" James asked. Harry smiled.

"Dad, I hope you are sitting comfortably." Harry said.

And he told them all about his 4 years of Hogwarts.

At the end the 3 adults sat in shock.

"Well... I don't know what to say. Harry, you are amazing! But please. Don't try to give me any heart attacks. If I lose you I don't know what I would do." James said, still looking slightly out of it.

"Oh no! Lessons are going to start in 5 minutes!" Remus said.

"Harry, if you don't want to you don't have to go back to class." James said.

"No, no I'm not a coward. And anyway, the longer I leave them the more they're going to talk about me." Harry reasoned.

The group shared a big hug and went off to lessons in a mix of emotions. But they all knew one thing. Right now, it was okay. They had each other and that was good.

Author's note: Hiya! Thanks for the reviews! A big thanks to the people who review every chapter, your advice really does help and your praise encourages me to get updates done quickly. But thanks to every reviewer, whether it was just one review or whether you review all the time. You are all lovely and I thank you for being so great on my first story! Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. I thought that Harry trusted his uncle's and especially his dad enough to tell them about the abuse. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully another update will be up tomorrow. Maybe even in the morning! Please review! Thank-you!