It's been days. Harry's not quite sure how many. Potter insists that it was only three or four, but everything blurs together, and Harry wonders if Potter just thinks that because they've received enough meals that if it had been four days, they could almost pretend it's strange that they're starving. At least they really are being fed now; Lily's terrified to use magic. They're given their meals through a cat flap in the door. Their window is bared. Harry's mildly surprised that they're even released enough to use the restroom. Actually, maybe that's how Potter's measuring time. Surely they're allowed to leave their room at least twice a day?
It doesn't help that they have to somehow keep Hedwig fed as well. She's not happy with what he has to offer, but it's not like he has any other choice. It's almost too bad that his room isn't mice infested. Then at least one of them would be happy.
He's lying on his bed, too tired to do anything else, not that there's anything else to do. If starvation doesn't set in, boredom will get to him first. At least he didn't have to deal with what he thinks may have been the first day and a half of captivity. Bruises and Boy took that for them. Bruises and Boy have taken a lot of the last few days, Harry thinks as shifting positions shoots pain throughout his body.
At the edge of his conscience is an annoying rattling sound. Like someone is grabbing at the bars on his window, almost. At first, Harry tries to ignore it. Then he wonders if, now that Dobby's satisfied, he could have possibly let one of his letters get through? Reluctantly, he drags himself to a sitting position and forces his eyes to focus.
James, he whispers inside. Then more forcefully, James! Their communication isn't always the best in the world, but this time, it seems to work, and James is dragged up into awareness.
What do you… James notices what Harry's looking at, and his whole face lights up.
"Ron!"
For a moment, Ron just stares. He's in some sort of flying car, and the twins are with them. They seem more than a bit put off by the bars on Harry's window, but after a moment, Ron shrugs it off.
"What's been going on?" he asks. "Why have you been answering my letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times, and then Dad came home and said you'd got an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles—"
"I did nothing of the sort!" James protests, "some bloody house elf apparently took offense that we—er, I—wanted to return to Hogwarts because of danger, or something, and he stopped all my letters and dropped a pudding on someone's head!"
"Whoa!" Ron exclaims. "Anyway, we're going to get you out of there, okay? Hang on!"
He throws James a rope, and the alter quickly ties it around the bars and stands back, somehow ignoring pain that would have Harry collapsed on the floor by now. The car pulls forwards, and off pop the bars.
"I'll need my school stuff," he says as the car pulls back up to his window, "it's all locked in the cupboard."
"No problem!" George says. Within minutes, he's climbed into the Dursley's house, picked the lock on both the bedroom door and the cupboard itself, and retrieved Harry's things for them. James quickly hands everything over to Ron and then climbs into the car after George. Almost immediately, he opens Hedwig's cage and lets the poor bird fly free behind them. Tonight, they're all free!
"So," Fred says from the driver's seat, "what's this about house elves?" James quickly explains the story to them, leaving out Potter's overreaction, and waits.
"It sounds like someone's idea of a joke to me. House-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?"
James snorts. "Too many to name."
The conversation turns to casual chat, and they arrive at the Burrow around morning to find a very angry Mrs. Weasley waiting for them.
XXXXX
By the time that breakfast is served, Mrs. Weasley has mostly finished griping. James doesn't care. Even if he's able to ignore their sore muscles and pounding head, he hates how absolutely empty their stomach feels. How Petal can want this, he hasn't the slightest idea.
His thoughts don't linger for long, though. The Burrow is a nice place housing a great family. He feels safe here, far more so than he ever did with the Dursleys. Maybe he shouldn't be thinking that, though. Sure, it was harsh, but it couldn't have been too bad. They didn't feed him well, but he doesn't see why Potter's so upset about everything else. I mean, heck, Potter was nearly blinded with rage when the bars were put on their windows, but if Ron didn't say anything, it can't be that bad, right? Potter's just a pansy.
When breakfast ends, James has a lot of fun trying to throw the gnomes over the hedge. His competitive nature quickly kicks in, and it's a fun game for him. Inside, Potter's sleeping, and Harry's only barely aware of himself. James supposes that that's fair enough; after all, it wasn't like he cared to come out much while they were locked up- too boring- so it makes sense that they're more worn out than he is. Still, they're missing out! They don't even get to meet Mr. Weasley.
A few days pass, and though it tires him, James stays out as much as he can. He's decided that he wants a house like this, one day. There are weird things going on everywhere, but the entire family seems so close. Not only that, but they seem to like him being a part of the family, too! As much as he enjoys Hogwarts, he almost wishes that he would never have to leave. He's gotten a letter from Hermione, too, after Ron wrote her that they were going to rescue him (the letter came about a week later than would have been expected, and James decides that he's grateful that Hedwig is still a younger owl), but Draco still doesn't know where he is, so he doesn't even have to worry about that! Everything is perfect.
Speaking of Hermione, they're going to meet up with her at Diagon Alley to get school supplies. Grudgingly, James hands back over the front. He can spend more time with the Weasleys later. Besides, this whole floo powder business seems a bit funny to him, so he'll let Potter take the blame if something goes wrong.
Oh, thanks for that, Potter notes drily. He takes a pinch of floo powder and a deep breath, walks up to the chimney, scatters the powder in the flames, and steps in. Opening his mouth to speak rewards him with a lot of hot ash. "Diagon Alley," he manages to choke, but even as the words come out, he knows that he hasn't spoken clearly. And then he's spinning through space, and he has to close his eyes to avoid getting sick.
He falls onto cold stone and feels his glasses snap. Shit.
Picking himself up reveals that he's alone in some sort of shadowy shop, but the items on sale are nothing that Potter would have considered buying. He can see a withered hand, a blood stained pack of cards, a staring glass eye. Evil looking masks stare down from the walls, and he's pretty sure the bones on the counter are human. Even as something inside him is drawn to the idea of looking around, he knows that he needs to leave as soon as possible. The street outside isn't Diagon Alley, but maybe if he walks far enough he'll find a familiar land mark.
He walks quickly. This area is giving him a bad feeling. Everything here seems to be devoted to the Dark Arts. He can feels eyes on him, doubtless wondering what a kid like himself is doing wandering around without a guardian. At least, he hopes that they can't see his scar or otherwise recognize him.
"Harry!" he hears someone call, and he nearly jumps out of skin. A moment later, he hears unfamiliar muttering…
"Merlin Harry, where have you been?" Someone demands in annoyance. Potter turns around in relief. It's just Draco, accompanied by his father. Distantly, he wonders what they're doing here, and he can see the same question on Draco's face. He's not sure how to answer either question.
"I've never used floo powder before," he finally lamely explains, wincing at the shock on Mr. Malfoy's face. "After my parents… well, I've been living with Muggle relatives. They're absolutely awful. They wouldn't let in your owl, Draco, and they wouldn't even let Hedwig out of your cage."
He hopes that this was the right thing to say. He hates knowing that he's only reinforcing Draco's hatred of non-wizards, but he knows that he needs to distract him from the fact that he came here with the Weasleys. If he wants any chance at all of remaining accepted by the Slytherins, he can't have Draco's father forbidding his son from having anything to do with him. Honestly, he's surprised that they're allowed to talk at all, considering the rumors that the Malfoys were devoted followers to the same Dark Lord that he's now killed twice.
Draco, at least, seems to have bought his distraction. Or maybe he can just see how much weight they've lost, Potter realizes in a rush of self conscious, pulling their robes tighter around his body though even his bony wrists show signs of malnutrition.
"That's horrible!" Draco fumes, and he's still fuming when they reach the book store.
"Harry!" another voice calls, female this time. Goodness, he seems to be popular today. Potter looks up to find Hermione running towards them. Draco glares and takes a step in front of him.
"Mudblood," he spits. His father glares at him for his public rudeness, but Hermione rolls her eyes.
"Oh, come on!" she exclaims, "the Weasleys are this way, we've all been looking frantically for you. We weren't sure where you'd ended up…"
Potter's aware of Mr. Malfoy's cold stare on his back as he allows Hermione to drag him away.
"I'll see you at Hogwarts," he calls apologetically back to Draco, "and if you can write me now, I'll make sure to reply immediately!"
"Right," Draco snorts bitterly, "if that old bird of the Weasleys doesn't die on the way!" But he allows Potter to disappear into the crowd
XXXXX
After a bit of fuss from the panicked Weasley gang, they all break up to do a bit of shopping on their own. They reconvene at the book store. Potter hopes that the Malfoys have already left, but he doesn't think that it would be a problem, anyway. How much trouble could anyone really get into in such a public place? Besides, the place is packed to the brim with people, so it would be hard to pick apart anyone in this crowd. He soon realizes the cause of this; Gilderoy Lockhart, the man behind most of their school book list, is there to sign copies of his autobiography. When Potter notices how much of the crowd is made up of older witches, he can't help but snicker. Hermione seems excited, as well, but he figures that she's just delighted to meet another wizard so knowledgeable about anything related to magic. She still doesn't seem as excited to meet Lockhart as Mrs. Weasley does, and Potter notices Ron grimacing.
Then Lockhart notices him, and it all dissolves into chaos.
After countless pictures are taken and Potter's been presented with a free set of books, Lockhart finally announces that he'll be his teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts and sets him free. Potter gets away as quickly as he can. Something about Lockhart seems off, to him, and he hates the way that the man felt the need to keep putting his arm around his shoulders.
"Potter!" It's Draco again. It takes Potter a moment to remember that the use of his last name is because they're in public, not because Draco somehow recognized him, and he forces himself to resume breathing.
"Leave him alone!" Ginny says, and Potter realizes that this is the first time that he's seen her speak.
"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend," Malfoy drawls, but Potter notices the anger crossing his face.
"For God's sake Malfoy!" he says before he can stop himself. Draco looks hurt, but Potter's never been fond of overly jealous people.
"Oh, it's you," says Ron, and Potter groans and hands Ginny his books, telling her that he'll buy his own later. She needs the free books more than he does, and he wants to be able to break up the fight if that's what this comes down to. To his intense displeasure, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy quickly join the small group. This is going to be a real mess.
Thankfully, the fight doesn't last long, though when Mr. Malfoy actually picks up one of Ginny's old school books, Potter's afraid someone's going to resort to violence. He glares at his classmate as he leaves, but Draco doesn't even have the sense to look sheepish. This might be a very long year…
XXXXX
A/N: Thanks to all who read, reviewed, favorited, or subscribed! Sorry for the quality of this chapter; I wanted to include the first part, and of course all know how important that last scene is! But hopefully, things will get interesting soon.
DaisyKitten: Luna will show up in the story at least a couple of times, yes.
