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Portia felt like her head was inhabited by a particularly put out hippogriff. She dared to crack open her eyes and was assaulted by the burning fire of the sun. She tried to move but her body felt like it had gained a hundred pounds in a night. In short she felt awful.
"That's the last time I pay the green fairy a visit." Said Portia as she tried to turn onto her back. She noted in dismay that she was wearing the clothes from last night. Well, at least it was silk but the peacock feather in her hair was most likely ruined even with magic. To add insult to injury she had slept in her shoes.
"Do be getting up child. No use hiding from it; tragedy has struck us all." Said Paulette as she entered Portia's room with a tray of breakfast and a pepper up potion.
"What do you mean by tragedy?" asked Portia as she managed to prop herself up on a pillow. She sunk into it and cursed the luxury she lived in.
"I suppose you were too inebriated to know so I'll fill you in. Your brother who is not your brother was taken away, your father is planning on running to India before he's found, your new brother Bertie Bott was born, and you've been asleep for two days. Please, never drink wizarding absinthe again." Said Paulette as she pulled a new outfit out for Portia. It was a simple navy robe style dress.
"That's not a funny joke, Paulette." Said Portia sourly as she brought a spoonful of porridge to her lips. Paulette shook her head in annoyance.
"This is no joke. Prepare to go to India for a while until this gets sorted out." Said Paulette as she left. Portia got up slowly and stripped off her pink silk dress. She put the navy one over her head and was momentarily trapped in it before getting it right. She went to bed happy and woke up mourning.
Harry Potter didn't take many things into account when he made his escape. One; he didn't have any muggle money and no idea where to get some. He had paper Remordere notes and gold but nothing he could use. Two; he had no idea where he was and no idea where to find another wizard. Three; he was getting looks. The residents of private drive were out and about with their lives that morning and saw the strangely dressed boy. He looked like something out of a period piece. He pulled at his frock coat self-consciously and decided to pick a direction and walk in it. He walked and walked before he realized that he was a bit out of shape. He patted the slight belly he had developed and sighed. He knew that this was England and eventually he would get to water. Water meant boats and boats meant that he would be able to get back to that blasted island. Soon it began to rain and Harry took refuge in an alley. It was dark and wet and he was miserable. What he didn't know was that he was being tailed by a member of the Order of the Pheonix.
"Potter, go home. I don't want to involve Dumbledore." Said Nymphadora Tonks and she took in the miserable, shivering form that was the boy who lived. Harry looked up and then immediately reached for his wand. He didn't have it. He was cornered.
"St-stay back! I warn you I'm heavily armed!" bluffed Harry. Tonks shook her head reached for her wand. Harry turned his head away and awaited whatever came to him.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Said Tonks as she cast a drying charm on Harry in an effort to at least keep him from catching his death.
"What do you want?" asked Harry as he took in her pink hair. How could he have not noticed her? She stuck out like a kneazle in a dog pound. He mentally cursed himself for his stupidity.
"I'm going to bring you back home. It's for your own protection." Said Tonks as she tried to put her arm around him. Harry let her, his eyes never leaving her chest. The perils of being fourteen.
"Remordere then. I've lived there for years and I've always been safe." Said Harry with the conviction only someone his age could manage. Tonks didn't need this; she was in her last year of Auror training and she was stuck babysitting this kid. She knew that he had good reason not to like his aunt and uncle but Dumbledore put him there for a reason.
"No, your relatives. I know they're not exactly an afternoon of Quiddich but…" said Tonks before Harry interrupted her.
"You've got that right." Snorted Harry. He had his foggy memories of them. Locking him in a cupboard, working him like a servant. He was Harry bleeding Pettigrew for God's sakes! Wait…he wasn't. He was Harry Potter.
"But they're your blood and you're safest with them." Finished Tonks her hair turning red in frustration. Harry rolled his eyes and debated taking her hand off of him. He gave her a look over and decided that he could be tolerated.
"If you want to get technical about it I'm a wizard and therefore related to just about every other British Wizarding family at some point. Hell, we're all related somehow in some way. And how exactly does Dumbledore know my family tree anyhow. I know the Pettigrew family tree inside and out. Potter's have married Pettigrew's before and those children last married into the main line about a century and a half ago. That's blood relation right there. " said Harry taking a breath after his little tirade. Tonks blinked.
"Done yet?" asked Tonks her hair turning back to pink.
"Quite." Said Harry as the rain stopped completely. He decided that he could at least get some information from her before he ventured out with a prayer for a plan.
"Good, let's go back then." Said Tonks. Harry weighed the pros and cons. There were too many cons so he decided to go his own way. Hmm… she was a morph and she knew her way around. Best not to make an enemy out of her; she could be useful later.
"And how would I go back; if I were to be on my own." Asked Harry in an overly innocent way. Tonks was immediately suspicious.
"Why don't I just show you the way back. C'mon, let's go. No need to burn anymore day light." Said Tonks not in any mood for games. Harry unfortunately was.
"But you have so much to do." Said Harry grasping straws. Tonks raised an eyebrow.
"And how would you know that when you don't even know so much as my name?" asked Tonks. Harry decided to flatter her; girls liked to be flattered.
"I'd imagine someone as beautiful as you would have to get to work." Said Harry laying it on thick. Tonks couldn't believe this; she was being chatted up by some kid barely into puberty.
"Aww, you really think so?" Said Tonks with false modesty. Harry took it as progress and laced his fingers into hers. Her hand felt ruff; nothing like the ladies hands he had felt outside of gloves. Well, she wasn't a lady after all.
"Oh yes I do. You more beautiful than the girls at our Moulin Rouge; not the famous one never been there, but if you did work there I'd bet you'd be the star." Said Harry. Tonks laughed internally as she batted her eyes.
"And what exactly is this Moulin Rouge? Some sort of theatre?" asked Tonks softly.
"Our is still part night club and part bordello. The one in France is a Bohemian theatre. Rather stupid really; they convert it into a theatre for some dancer and then she goes and dies of consumption. Good of the Duke to give the deed back to the original owner." Said Harry going off on a tangent.
"Bordello? Why would-how-what-?" started Tonks taking her hand from his. From what she had heard of Harry Potter he was a meek but magically gifted boy. He was not the kind of boy that nonchalantly talked about frequenting bordellos. Maybe he was there for the nightclub part…? Why would a boy of his age be in a nightclub?
"Consorts not prostitutes. Father always said never touch a lower woman. I don't want to be trapped with a child." Said Harry. He felt a pang of sadness. Peter may not have been his father but he had been there.
"Ok, let me sort a few things out. One: Peter Pettigrew is not your father. Two: you are fourteen years old and you have your whole life for that sort of thing." Said Tonks. Harry gave her a look that could sour milk.
"Not really. I have to find a girl and soon and I'm guessing she'll have probably been spoiled by the Diamond Dog or the Aphrodite's Palace of wherever else girls went and had fun. So if I don't I'll make a fool of not only myself but her too and in front of anyone else who turns out for our wedding night which may not happen because I'm not the Pettigrew heir and therefore it's in no one's best interest that the heir gets conceived. Not that I ever had a chance with Galatea Black anyway she's been married and has an heir already. I could always marry Portia she's not really my sister and I suppose she's pretty and smart and nice enough even if we do bicker. I'm guessing I'm some sort of society if Potter's intermarried Pettigrew's but my mother had no standing and proper name so I don't know what I'm going to do. And as for Peter Pettigrew he saved his family and later on he saved me. I was a child in a London Alley in the middle of the night or beginning of the morning or whatever! You want to bring me back to the people who abandoned me! Who locked me away and worked me like a servant! No, not you. You only listen to Dumbledore. Take me to him! Now!" yelled Harry finishing his second tirade. Tonks was staring to regret joining the Order which had only been started again because of Sirius Black who turned out to be innocent. Now he only had his trial and he'd be free.
"Fine, whatever. Just stop ranting! Ok? Good. Hold on or you'll get splinched." Said Tonks as she apparated to Hogsmeade Village. Harry fell to his knees and kissed fistfuls of the ground. He didn't like apparating and didn't care for the performance he was giving.
"I'm never doing that again." Muttered Harry as he got up. He felt for his tiny trunk and sighed with relief that it was still there. Tonks helped him up and they began to walk towards Hogwarts. They walked in silence because Harry was deep in thought. He couldn't run away, he had even less of an idea where he was now. He couldn't fight, he had no wand. He'd have to find that thing at some point. He had just had it and now it was gone much like house keys. Well, those shrunk and that was why they were unfindable but it was the same basic concept.
"We're coming up on Hogwarts now. I should have sent an owl. Well, Dumbledore will just have some unexpected visitors then. " said Tonks. Harry took in the historic castle that had been his home, be it briefly, all those years ago. All the students were gone for the summer and the castle was peaceful. Well, it was until they got inside. They had been mobbed by teachers that didn't give him a second glance except for giving words of sympathy about his father when he was a Pettigrew. They made their way to the Headmasters office but not before running into Professor Snape. He was just as sallow and greasy as Harry remembered. Harry just wanted this day to end and for him to be home with his family bickering over some crazy idea Galatea or Persephone had.
"Harry my boy, what brings you and Miss Tonks here?" asked Dumbledore his eyes perpetually twinkling. Harry wondered if it was a spell that had gone wrong and left his eyes permanently looking like they were full of glitter. Hmm…Tonks. Harry did a mental search and turned up no known Tonk's besides that one.
"I want to go home. And if you dare say to my fucking aunt and uncle I swear I will throw this chair at you. Wizrad or not you're still an old man and this will hurt you." Said Harry standing behind the chair. His eyes bore into Dumbledore's. Dumbledore get a mental projection of a happy family from the boy. He knew that Harry wanted to go back but there were rules, laws, and the greater good. He couldn't bend to the will of a child and throw that all away.
"Langue my boy." Said Dubmledore. He had just gotten an owl that Peter Pettigrew had been captured attempting to flee his home for India and was in ministry custody. Remordere was understandably outraged but Peter had committed a crime and was going to be punished. This could have some fallout for him because he had known about Peter and encouraged him to play secret agent man for the Order. He was no Severus Snape and did break when his family which were tucked away were found.
"You are not the boss of me you senile old shirt lifter!" yelled Harry kicking the desk as hard as he could. He got a sore foot and the embarrassment of throwing a tantrum like a child for his trouble. He was stressed and just wanted to go home.
"Merlin, what is wrong with you!" yelled Tonks. Dumbledore lifted a hand to silence her. He gave Harry his best grandfatherly look.
"Regardless of how you feel about Peter Pettigrew he committed a crime. He killed thirteen people and attempted to have your parents killed. By siding with him you dishonor their memory." Said Dumbledore as he wiping the angry tears from Harry's face
"He saved my life from the people you left me with and did all that to protect his family. He only got involved in all of that rubbish because his friends were. He would have inherited immediately if his one brother hadn't died and the other one turned out to have some serious mental problems. He inherited while all of that was going on and left Addie to run things while he hid from He-Whose-Name-Must-Be-Hyphenated and his crazy blood purist followers." Ranted Harry. Tonks rolled her eyes.
"You sure do like to rant don't you?" asked Tonks sarcastically
"Only when I'm stressed." Said Harry catching his breath. Dumbledore looked baffled for a moment but decided that the best thing to do would be to try and reason with Harry.
"He committed a crime even if he did have a good reason. You'll only have to stay with your aunt and uncle for a short amount of time. Sirius Black's trial will be tomorrow and then you'll be living with him." Said Dumbledore. Harry wanted to knock the twinkle from that senile old man's eyes.
"I'm not a Black. He should be providing for his daughter; the Lady Galatea Black and her son Timothy Oberon Black. I'm not his son, thank Merlin. He abandoned me as a baby. He cared more about his revenge then a fifteen month old baby. He left me on a doorstep all night in the middle of November and abandoned his daughter and the woman he led on. I want nothing to do with him." Said Harry
"Actually Hagrid left you on that doorstep on my orders. Don't worry, I had the basket charmed to keep you asleep and warm throughout the night." Said Dumbledore. He hoped that if he brought Harry's opinion on Sirius up he would come to see Sirius as the father he needed and forget all about Peter Pettigrew the failed spy.
"And what if someone had decided to take me? He had just died and I'd bet old Moldy Warts' flower were pretty upset about that. I'd bet that they weren't above killing a baby either from what I was told about them." Said Harry in a challenging voice. Dumbledore hated teenagers sometimes; he really did. They were hotheaded and couldn't be reasoned with. It was amplified with Harry. He had grown up to be a spoiled big headed brat, much like his father, just as he feared.
"You were safe inside of the blood wards. Everything was fine. I didn't know that your aunt and uncle would treat you like that. I thought that her love for her sister would over look her petty jealousy and you would be raised in a loving environment, safe from everything." Said Dumbledore. Harry laughed a mocking, barking laugh.
"Well, I was raised in a loving environment no thanks to you. Did you ever speak to my relatives yourself? Ever take the time to sit them down and explain everything to them? Tell them what had happened and how they were protected? Did you take into account the financial strain that another child would cause? Did you even ask them if they had the time to raise another baby when they had one already? And what kind of ward did you lay anyway? I can't believe I'm defending them but they're just as human as you or…maybe not you…well me definitely. I felt a damned compulsion ward urging me to stay. I got away but they have no magic. What if they wanted to move to a bigger house? What then? Huh? Huh!" said Harry his face turning red
"Harry, maybe you want to lie down for a moment? Take a calming draught? Tonks, go and fetch a calming draught from Professor Snape. You're not doing well, Harry. You need to calm down." Said Dumbledore genuinely worried.
"Give me a wand of equal or greater value to my own and let me go." Said Harry darkly even scaring Dumbledore a bit. Harry was in a bad place right then and he didn't care what happened to him. He just wanted to get home.
"Harry, I'm afraid that's quite impossible. Even if you were to go home I doubt you'll be well received. You brought Sirius Black to the house and it is ultimately your fault that Peter Pettigrew was arrested. Now just calm down and talk to me like the adult you want me to see you as." Said Dumbledore diplomatically. Harry glowered at him angrily. He was an adult whether this old man knew it or not.
"I've been to places you can only dream of and done things I'd rather not say. I know the past and I've seen the future. You want proof just go and visit Galatea Black. Inquire about her son and you'll know. I'm not some stupid little boy only thinking about girls and Quiddich and whatnot. I want to enjoy the time I have before the oncoming storm. I know that you want me to fight again that Dark Lord who you are all to chicken faced to even say his name. I won't fight him; I never asked for that. All I want is to go home and find a good girl to court and a bad girl to have fun with. I want to live my life and let you all deal with your own problems." Said Harry giving a look that could kill. Dumbledore wordlessly put him to sleep and laid him on the couch. He didn't want to do that. Putting someone to sleep like that too many times wasn't safe but it had to be done. Where had he gone wrong?