Petunia blinked her tired eyes and yawned. Though there were no windows, only flame torches on the walls, she was aware that it was very early indeed. Dudley was dozing by her side, neither asleep nor awake but at least he was resting. It was a nerve wracking wait and though Ragnok had told them that Harry would be fine she would not be able to believe it until she saw him with her own eyes. Fighting back another yawn she carefully laid her head back against the sofa and closed her eyes breathing deeply to calm her raging mind.

"Petunia…" Bill gently squeezed her hands to wake her. "Petunia it's time to wake up."

"Wha-!" Shooting upright Petunia grabbed his hand within both of hers and blinked her eyes owlishly.

"Shhh it's ok, it's ok."

Turning to face Bill she saw the compassion in his eyes and fought back tears. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, honestly she hadn't. She had just been so tired, so very tired. Suddenly her mind caught up with herself; Harry!

Seeing the panic appearing on Petunia's face Bill quickly explained that the Medi-Goblin had given permission for them to see Harry for a few minutes and that they had better not keep her waiting.

Standing on some-what rubbery legs Petunia, Dudley and Bill walked towards the large doors but before they could even lay a finger on them they opened of their own accord. "I will wait here." Bill said quietly.

"No, please come inside with us." Petunia asked, eyes pleading. Bill nodded once and followed behind at a respectful distance.

Quietly they made their way towards the only occupied bed and gathered around it. Petunia picked up one of Harry's hands and held on as though she was drowning and he was her life-preserver. His skin was cold and some-what clammy and pale. He looked as though he were barely alive.

"Why does he look like that mum?" Dudley asked, his voice barely more than a whisper in the quiet infirmary.

"I don't know Dudders, I wish I did."

Silence enveloped the ward once more. It was a few moments later when Ragnok and what must have been the Medi-Goblin appeared from one of the small doors that were dotted around the large cavern. Bill coughed, attracting both Petunia and Dudley's attention and making them notice the two additions to the room.

"My name is Reselda and I am Harry's Mind-Healer and Head Medi-Goblin here in London's Gringotts Bank." Her tone was no-nonsense and her eyes were sharp. This was not someone to be messed with. Healer though she may be there was a definite edge to her that they would be foolish to cross.

"Hello Reselda. My name is Petunia and I am Harry's Aunt and this is my son Dudley." As she pointed towards her son he waved shyly and shuffled his feet.

"And this is?" Reselda was looking at Bill, her eyes piercing.

"My name is Bill and I am a friend of Harry's and his family."

The Medi-Goblin 'harrumphed' and walked towards Harry until she was stood on the opposite side of the bed. Looking carefully at her charge to check that there had been no change she began her explanation.

"Never in all my years as a healer have I seen such a sorry case. There are injuries and malnutrition going back for many years. The malnutrition," She eyed Petunia with venom. "Is fixable with the right potion regime but that can wait until he is awake. The injuries that this boy has sustained however, I have fixed while he is sleeping. He should find a distinct improvement in his range of motion when he comes around. His blood is tainted and there is nothing that I can do to cure him of this ailment. From what I can tell it appears to contain a mild mixture of Basilisk venom and Phoenix tears though I am unsure how that would have happened."

"I can answer that," Bill said rubbing the back of his neck to relieve some of the tension. "Harry here is a friend of my family and during his second year at Hogwarts he saved my sister Ginny from a giant Basilisk that was living below Hogwarts. In the process of killing it Harry was bit and it was purely by chance that he was aided by Fawkes, Albus Dumbledore's Phoenix. We have been in his debt ever since though it does not require a life-debt to remain loyal to Harry. He's a good kid."

"You honestly think that whole scenario was 'by chance' Bill?" Ragnok snorted back his bitter laughter.

"Well, what else could it have been? Albus couldn't make Lucius Malfoy give Ginny that awful diary and I am sure he didn't know what it would do to my sister. Plus, the chamber of secrets had been lost since long before Albus' birth and most people only thought it to be a myth."

"All true, but Albus knows the goings on in Hogwarts better than any other person. Portraits, ghosts, house-elves…they all answer to him. He must have seen what was going on within those walls and yet he let everything happen. The chamber and the Basilisk probably was just a coincidence but I do not doubt for one second that he, as headmaster, would not have known of its existence even if he did not know of its location or how to get there."

Bill thought carefully about what Ragnok had said. Surely if he had been there he would have noticed his sister acting funny and from what Mcgonagall had told his family they had noticed a change in her after the second month of being at school. So why had no one told their family beforehand? Maybe they would have unearthed that god-damn diary before it had been able to do any damage. His sister had suffered with nightmares ever since though they had lessened in intensity the more time that had passed. It was all thanks to that blasted—

"Oh my god!"

"Finally understanding the—"Ragnok began but was interrupted by Bill as he frantically tried to force his thoughts into words.

"My sister! The…the diary! It was Tom! Tom was the one in the diary! Tom!"

. . .

Alastor Moody really did live up to his name sometimes. He was gruff and unpleasant most of the time and was always under 'constant vigilance' but the one thing that really got his goat? Early mornings! Even as a top Auror where early mornings were the norm he was surly. If his name hadn't been Moody his nickname surely would have been.

Today was his day for the early morning Privet Drive watch. Bill Weasley was the unlucky sod that had been given the night shift. Alastor didn't really understand Albus' reasoning for watching the Potter boys home. Surely if Voldemort wanted to attack the boy here then he would have at least tried by now. He respected the headmaster and would certainly not want to cross him. Despite Albus' many failings they were at least on the same side.

As he made the short walk from the designated apparition point a little way up the road he mused to himself about the state of the country. He had recognised the signs of war several years previously and had begged Albus to consider allowing him to train the boy. His friend had merely twinkled his damn annoying twinkle and told him that it was not yet time for the boy to lose his childhood. Now, with Voldemort back and angrier than ever they were quickly running out of time. He made up his mind to ask his old friend for permission once more.

Even before his magical eye had finished its cursory look around the street he knew that something was wrong. The quietness within the area could of course be due to the ridiculously early time but Alastor knew better than that. The property that he was there to guard stood empty before him. There were no bodies lying asleep in their beds and more importantly there was no sign of Bill.

With a muttered curse and a screw the wards attitude Alastor raised his wand and apparated straight to the front gates of Hogwarts.

. . .

Many miles away in a small office a piercing alarm began to wail. The clerk on night-shift was startled by the sound and on discovering the source of the commotion immediately headed off to inform his supervisor. The Minister of Magic himself would soon be awoken at the news of magic once again being performed on Privet Drive.

. . .

AuthorsNote

This chapter is ridiculously short and for that I can only offer a heartfelt apology.

The version of Chapter 25 sitting on my hard drive is a lot longer but I am not happy with it so far, hence why I have not uploaded it. I have received a few messages now asking me not to abandon this story. I never plan to I assure you.

This is the first part or that chapter and the only part that I am happy with currently. I will still be working on it but as it has been so long since I last updated I felt I should at least put something up and reassure all the people who are enjoying this story that it will continue.