The Benefits (cont'd)

by PotterFanDam

One night of drunken sharing and Harry and Daphne think they can move on. But things are never that simple and sometimes you get more than you bargained for.

2. Strange Occurences

I let out a groan as I tried to stretch out the kink in my back. My first night back at the Dursleys had been unpleasant just as I had come to expect. I was once again living in the small spare room that Dudley had at one point used for his broken and unwanted toys. The mattress I slept on was pretty much a sheet of cloth and springs now after so many years of use. Vernon hadn't been up to take my trunk yet and I was hoping he had forgotten about that. I was already thinking of ways to approach the subject of my attending classes during the summer and the best I had come up with was to do my chores fast and efficiently today and then when I fed them dinner to ask them directly.

I gathered up my towel, some clothes, and the rest of my hygiene gear and as quietly as possible made my way to the bathroom. I had gotten up earlier than normal so that I would be able to shower and get ready for the day before I prepared breakfast for my "family". If there was one thing I had learned throughout my years in servitude to my relatives it was that I never wanted to lack in hygiene skills as the clearly did. Out of the three of them Petunia was the only one I ever saw shower regularly. It was disgusting and I didn't know how people could let themselves be like that and think it okay.

Sure the neighbors probably thought of them as an outstanding family. They always had the nicest lawn on Privet Drive and a fresh coat of paint on everything. Even the garden was maintained to perfection. That was all my doing though; they never lifted a finger to do anything. I suddenly became aware that I was crushing the bar of soap clutched in my hand out of my frustration with my situation. I calmed myself down by telling myself that this summer was going to be different. I had a way out of this hell hole and I was only a few weeks from it. I could survive a few weeks if it meant less time with them.

I shut the bathroom door behind me without making so much as a peep and then stepped lightly towards the shower stall. I twisted the knobs and let the water begin to run so that it would be warm by the time I finished brushing my teeth. I looked at my mess of hair and thought about trying to comb it. I had only attempted to once before, and it had proved to be a useless attempt. After a moment of deliberation I decided to forego the combing. I would settle for smoothing it down in the shower. I made sure to clean all my teeth adequately, but I did so quickly as I knew not to take any longer than necessary in the bathroom. Uncle Vernon would probably accuse me of trying to make him pay a higher water bill or something. Then I would end up with a few bruises or possibly worse and I was not looking forward to explaining that to Neville.

I managed to wash and scrub myself in seven minutes or so and just as I turned the water off I heard footsteps approach the door.

"Hey scarhead get out of the bathroom. I have to use it."

I marveled at how creative Dudley was with his insults. It took one of true intellectual genius to make fun of me based on the scar on my forehead. Even Draco had better insults than that most of the time. It wasn't worth a beating or losing my meals for the day though so I gathered up my stuff and wrapped the towel around my waist. As I walked by the mirror I took a look at myself and it seemed like the first time I was really seeing myself in a long time. I was pale, not only was I pale, but I was thin enough that most of my ribs were at least somewhat visible. There were heavy bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep I had gotten thanks to the return of the graveyard nightmares. Altogether I imagined that I looked like one who was close to death. It was something that I was going to try my hardest to correct. There had to be ways for me to get more food without the Dursleys knowing. It looked like I was going to need to take a trip into Diagon Alley and find out if there was anything that could help me. I didn't know when that would be possible, but I suspected that I could use the Knight Bus at some point the next few days if I was careful to walk far enough away from the house and did it at night.

I pulled my eyes away from my reflection and opened the door. I paid no mind to Dudley as I passed him; even though he was giving me a look that clearly said he wished I would keel over and die.

It only took me another five minutes to slip back into my room and put on the rags that my relatives called clothes. I made my way downstairs and started looking through the fridge for the ingredients for breakfast. It was one of the easiest meals to make since the Dursleys always ate the same thing every morning. Personally I didn't even mind the cooking part of my chores. I just wished I was allowed to experiment a little more with what I made, and I guess being allowed to eat what I made for once would be nice also. I started the stove and put the pan on as I dropped a slice of butter in it to grease the bottom.

My movements were pretty much automated as I went through the motions of making the eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, slicing fruit, and pouring juice. By the time I heard the first set of footsteps coming down the stairs I had laid out a continental type breakfast. I was just setting the last of the spreads for the toast on the table when Petunia entered the kitchen.

She looked at the table, and then looked up at me. Her eyes flittered towards the sink for a moment where I had put the dishes I had used to make the breakfast and a sneer spread across her face.

"What are you doing just standing there boy? Hurry up and clean those dishes. Once you're done with that you may take two slices of toast and then go start work on the lawn. If you're going to be staying here you will earn your keep just like the rest of us!"

I held back a snort as I tried to imagine how Dudley possibly earned his keep. The walrus that passed as a human did nothing at all. The only exercise the boy ever seemed to get was his boxing classes, which he had stopped attending years ago. His mother and father still thought he went, but I had overheard him talking to Piers once about how he just told them he went so he had an excuse to go and smoke pot with his friends. Personally I thought it was hilarious that they were still paying for his lessons and in reality just wasting the money.

I finished up with the dishes and set them in the drying rack so that I could come back later and put them away. I grabbed my slices of toast just as Dudley and Vernon walked into the kitchen. I mumbled a quiet good morning to them as I walked by and headed for the front door so I could get started on my other chores. One of Vernon's hands reached out and grabbed my arm, rougher than necessary, and I came to a halt.

"Where do you think you're going boy?"

In my mind I imagined a scenario where I could use magic and I threw Uncle Vernon across the room and into the wall. However that wasn't possible. It wasn't possible yet at least.

"I'm going to work on the front lawn like Aunt Petunia told me to Uncle Vernon. Then I was going to wash your car." I hadn't actually planned on washing the car to begin with, but it couldn't help to do a little bit of extra work since I was going to be asking for something tonight.

Uncle Vernon seemed to try and find fault in what I was doing, but when he couldn't come up with anything he let go of me and grunted. "Just make sure you bring the mail in when it gets here boy. I'm waiting on an important letter. Now get out of my sight."

I nodded once and then turned and left the room. Once I was outside I headed towards the garage so that I could grab the lawn mower. It was one of those real old fashioned lawn mowers. The kind where the blades were in a circle and you pushed it to move them. I didn't mind too much because the lawn wasn't very big, but sometimes it would get rusty and become a lot harder to work with. Thankfully this was not one of those days it seemed as I gave it a quick few test pushes and found that it rotated very easily.

The sun was just coming up so it wasn't hot out yet, but I knew that by midday the heat would be in full force. Normally I would have tried to have all of my outside tasks done before that, but since I was trying to gain some color to my skin I decided that I might take my time on the washing of Uncle Vernon's car so I could get a little bit of sun. I knew that too much and I would burn up since my skin wouldn't be used to it.

I carried the mower to the front of the lawn and began my task. I made sure to always cut in nice straight, even lines so that there was nothing to complain about. Altogether the front lawn required me to go back and forth about fifteen times and the back took about twenty five or so. Since I was extra careful with how I cut the process took me about three hours to complete. I had worked up a light sweat, but not enough to stain my clothes at all which I was thankful for since I wouldn't be allowed to wash my laundry for at least five more days.

Once I had finished cutting the back yard I carried the mower back to the garage and set it into its normal resting spot. I needed Uncle Vernon to move his car out of the garage so it could be washed, but I figured I would wait until the mail had arrived so that I didn't make any more trips than necessary into the house. No doubt they would accuse me of trying to make their house dirty or something.

To keep myself busy I picked up a broom and began to sweep the garage out. The post arrived about forty minutes after I had started and I quickly finished sweeping up the small pile of dirt that I had been pushing around for the last ten minutes. I dumped it into the trash bin and set the broom back in its place before rushing out to the mail box.

I gathered it up and began to walk back to the house. I made sure to wipe my feet on the mat as I entered and called out for Vernon.

"In the living room boy, hurry up and bring that post here or you won't be getting any dinner tonight!"

The thought of no food bothered me more than I would admit to anyone and I sped up a little being careful not to bump into anything or anyone. I deposited the mail on the table next to him and then waited for him to sort through it.

"What are you still doing here boy?"

"I need you to move your car outside so I can wash it uncle. I didn't want to wash it inside the garage and risk getting anything else wet."

All I received in response was a grunt and then I walked out once I saw him trying to get out of his chair. I had managed to pull out the entirety of the car washing supplies by the time Vernon had gotten his fat arse into the garage. He pulled the car out and without saying a word to me went back inside.

When I washed the car I did it in sections so that the water wouldn't dry and leave spots thus creating more work for myself. I carefully wet the roof of the car and then began to scrub it. I would work from top to bottom so that I wasn't just washing dirt off onto areas I had already washed.

It only took me about an hour and a half to wash the car. I toweled it off with an old rag I had found in the garage and was now debating on whether or not to wax it. I decided it couldn't hurt and dabbed a corner of the rag that was still dry into the tin of wax on the shelf. After another thirty minutes had gone by I had put a thin coat of wax on the car and it looked better than the day it was bought in my opinion. However my opinion counted for very little in the muggle world.

I cleaned up the mess I had made and returned everything where it belonged before once again getting Vernon to move his car. The man had the nerve to complain about me getting him every time I needed his car moved. Honestly if he would just let me move it back and forth he wouldn't have to even think about moving. Even an idiot could back a car up ten feet; that was a true fact because I had seen Dudley do it last summer.

I didn't have to prepare a lunch of any type because the Dursleys had gone ahead and ordered food. I excused myself from the kitchen and was told to be back down to prepare dinner. I made my way up the stairs towards my room. Once inside I closed and locked the door so I wouldn't be disturbed. Despite it being the middle of the day and the sun being out it was almost pitch black in my room.

The curtains were dark enough to block out any light that managed to get past the bars on my window. The single light bulb in my room had stopped working apparently and I knew that it wouldn't ever be replaced unless I found a way to do it myself.

I was content with being in the dark though and I pulled the pillow and blanket off my bed and leaned back against the wall. I didn't mean to fall asleep but I dozed off and soon found myself strapped to the gravestone again. I could feel my scar begin to burn as the form of Voldemort got closer and closer to me. I woke up just as he reached out with his finger to touch my scar.

I reached up and touched my forehead only to find it covered in blood. I panicked for a moment since that had never happened before. Sure I had the nightmares, but they had never caused my scar to actually bleed. I scrounged around the room for a minute until I found a piece of cloth that I could use to clean up the blood. It seemed to be done bleeding, but I still made a note to tell Sirius about what had happened. Hopefully he would be writing to me in a few days and I would be able to talk to him about all my plans for the summer.

I had no way of telling what time it was, but judging from how dark my room was now compared to when I came in I assumed that the sun was setting and I would need to start dinner for the Dursleys soon. I discarded the bloody cloth in my waste basket and then unlocked my door so I could head downstairs. I heard the television and whatever show was on as I started to head towards the kitchen so I assumed that at least Dudley wouldn't be bothering me for a while.

Just like with breakfast I set to work preparing the food making sure to make no excess mess or waste any food. It took me about forty five minutes to lay out a full spread. I had found some fish fillets in the freezer and fried them up as well as some chips. I had also made some mixed vegetables even though I knew they would go almost completely untouched, but if I hadn't put them out someone would have complained. I set out a dish with some lemon wedges and a dish of tartar sauce and then called out that dinner was ready.

I marveled at how three people walking into a kitchen sounded so close to a herd of stampeding cattle. If I was being honest it even felt like the house was shaking slightly. I stood silently off to the side of the table while my relatives took their usual places and began to help themselves to the food. I waited until I was sure everyone was satisfied with what I had made before cleared my throat ever so slightly to draw the attention to myself. I could see the color rising in Vernon's face at being delayed from his meal so I didn't wait for him to ask what I wanted.

"Uncle Vernon, I have a deal for you that will have me out of the house for a couple of days each week during the latter part of the summer if you're willing to listen."

The color faded from his cheeks and I could see that I had piqued his interest slightly.

"Well what is it boy, I haven't got all night to waste on you and I don't want my food getting cold."

I took a second to gather my thoughts and then began to speak. "There are classes this summer that I am supposed to attend in my world. However I need a guardian to approve them for me. Normally I know you would do no such thing, but this would have me out of the house for at least three days a week if not more. Also I would make sure to prepare breakfast before I left each day and I would still cut the lawn at least twice a week if you desired."

It was amusing to watch him try and find some trick or trap in my deal. After two or three minutes he nodded, more to himself than me, and then looked up at me. "Alright boy, you get me the paperwork and I'll sign it. But you'll still be doing your chores and if you start to sack off in them then I'll make sure you can't leave this house, understand?" He cracked his knuckles in a threatening manner at the end and I couldn't help the slight chill that went down my spine at the thought of another beating.

"Thank you very much Uncle Vernon. My friend Neville will be sending the papers over sometime later this week." I started to walk out of the room with a little spring in my step when Vernon called out to me.

"Wait boy! Neville? Is that one of the red headed freaks that helped you escape and damaged our house?!" I could see that once again he was coloring red and probably about to explode. I quickly reassured him that it wasn't the same person.

"No Uncle, that was Ron Weasley. He and I aren't talking right now. We had a row at school and I don't see us fixing it any time soon." The admission made my heart ache a bit at the loss of my first real friend.

If anything this seemed to make Vernon's day though. "Really? So the boy saw you for the no good freak that you really are? Or did he just realize that you're a trouble maker and dangerous to be around?"

I didn't want to answer him, but I knew that something unpleasant would happen if I just walked away. "The latter option Uncle. I'm going to go to my room now, enjoy your dinner."

The laughter I could hear coming from the dining room hurt more than I cared to admit. It just seemed to follow me up the stairs until I finally reached my door and shut it behind myself.

I picked up my blanket and pillow from the floor where I had left them earlier and tossed them onto my bed. I could barely make out the shapes of objects in the darkness of my room. As I sat on the edge of my bed my stomach let out a rumble and it was then that I remember to grab the small portion of food I was allowed to take for dinner. My pride wouldn't allow me to go back downstairs and beg them to let me take my food. I resigned myself to starving until the next morning when I made breakfast. I pushed open my curtains to try and get a little bit of light in my room and was thankful that the moon was mostly full tonight.

I immediately thought of Professor Lupin and the pain he was going to be in in a few days. I didn't know if he was staying with Sirius or if he lived somewhere else, but I hoped that wherever he was that he was able to get the wolfsbane potion. I wasn't really tired yet so I figured I could stay up and let my thoughts wander. I had so many things I wanted to do, but no real plan of action or order in which to do them. I would make a list, but I didn't want to risk losing it or having any of my relatives seeing it. If they knew I was planning on bringing more of those "freak" things into their house they would probably kill me.

I tried to think about what I needed to do, but it only lasted maybe fifteen minutes before I found my thoughts wandering to Daphne. It wasn't the normal type of thoughts a guy would be having about a beautiful girl though. I didn't fancy her in any romantic sense. At most I could describe my feelings for her as ones of acquaintances. She was someone that listened to me without judging or interjecting.

You can't go near her though. The traitorous voice in my mind taunted me.

I wanted to argue with it, but I knew that it would be useless.

That's right. Even you know that it's dangerous to be associated with you. Everyone around you eventually winds up getting hurt. Why do you think Ron and Hermione ditched you? Neville is new to this, but after a while he will tire of the bull shit that comes with being your friend also.

Part of me wanted to just break down and cry as it became clear that I was going to lead a lonely life. However something else stopped me. A new feeling in the back of my mind that I hadn't been aware of before, but at the same time I knew it had always been there. It was a stronger feeling, something I couldn't quite place. It wasn't the sorrow or depression I normally felt. It was closer to anger or rage, but at the same time it was a controlled emotion instead of wild and rampant.

I mentally grasped at it desperate for anything that would take me away from the sorrow even if it was just for a few moments. It was once I had started to immerse myself in it that I became aware of what the emotion was, hate. I wasn't talking about some petty dislike of a person either. I felt and saw images of myself doing terrible things to people I knew that deep down I hated. I had an image of myself torturing the Dursleys. I forced them to watch as I toyed with Dudley. Then it flashed to Ron and Hermione. I was firing spells at Ron as he tried to attack me in the halls and screamed at me.

"You were a worthless friend! Some hero you turned out to be! Every time you tried to help someone they either wound up hurt or dead, just like Cedric! You murdered him!"

The image began to shift and I instantly knew what it was going to turn into. I had just landed in the graveyard and then I heard the words.

"Kill the spare."

I pushed myself up off the ground and dove desperately in front of Cedric to try and save him. I fell short though and the spell hit its mark and once again I watched as Cedric died in front of me. Someone stepped on my outstretched hands and I looked up into a pair of glowering red eyes.

"Anyone you get close to Potter I will kill. Just like I did to Cedric. No one around you is safe." Voldemort pointed his wand at me and then my world was engulfed in green.

I shot up in my bed with a cold sweat dripping off my forehead. I was gasping for air as I tried to stop my racing heart. It was still dark outside so I couldn't have been asleep for that long, but now that I had woken up from the nightmare I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.

I needed something to distract myself from the images I had seen so I decided to do some exercises. I knew that without eating properly they really wouldn't make much of a difference, but at least I could feel like I was being somewhat productive. I got down on the floor and started to do some push-ups. I had been in somewhat decent shape thanks to Quidditch conditioning, but since I had missed the whole season because of the tournament I was now pathetically weak. I only managed about thirty push-ups before my arms felt sore. I rolled over and did some sit ups in hopes of making up for my sad attempt at push-ups only to receive slightly better results.

I knew Dudley had left some weights in here when I had been given the room, but I doubted I would be able to lift them in my current state. It looked like I was going to have to add some sort of conditioning to my schedule this summer. Even if it was something slight just to make sure I kept in shape. Over all I estimated that the exercises had taken up like five minutes and I was once again left with nothing to do.

I looked out my window again and I spotted something that looked like a giant bat in the distance. As it got closer I noticed it was clutching something in its talons. My first thought was that it was holding food, but then it kept coming towards my window and I realized it was an owl and not a bat. My heart soared at the thought that the letter could be from Neville.

Once the owl landed on the outside of my window I reached through the bars and untied the parchment from its leg. I asked the bird to wait not sure if it would understand, but as I walked away it didn't move so I assumed my message had gotten through. I didn't move to far from the window as it was my only source of light. I unrolled the parchment and anxiously began to read.

Harry,

Hey mate I'm sorry this letter is coming so late, but I remember you saying that your relatives don't like magic. I figured it would be best if I sent the owl at night then so it wouldn't disturb them. Anyway I asked my Gran about getting us in the same class and she was practically over the moon. Seriously I haven't seen her this happy since they realized I wasn't a squib. She floo'd the ministry immediately and sorted everything out. All you have to do is have your relatives sign the form attached to the bottom of this letter and you will be golden. I instructed Gran's owl to wait until you had a response before returning. I didn't know if you would have access to Hedwig so I just wanted to make sure you could reply. Alright hoping to hear from you soon!

Your friend

Neville Longbottom

The Future Lord Longbottom

I let out a snort at the last signature line, but then realized it might be something I would have to put at the bottom of my letters now to. I had missed it at first, but the letter had also been sealed with what I could only assume was Neville's house crest. It seemed I was going to have a lot to learn at these classes. I carefully detached the short permission slip type form at the bottom of the page. I drafted a thank you reply to Neville and his Gran and signed it the same way he had in hopes that I was doing the right thing. I didn't have a family seal that I could seal it with so instead I made do with a piece of tape.

All I had left to do now was wait until breakfast so that I could have Vernon sign the form and then I could send it off. I jumped when I felt a weight on my shoulder. I turned to find myself face to face with the owl that had delivered my letter. Somehow it had made its way through the bars on the window.

"Well you can use Hedwig's cage for the rest of the night if you'd like. I'll have a response for you in the morning but I imagine you would like to rest up. You had a long journey here I'm sure."

I received a hoot in what sounded like appreciation and then the bird took off towards the cage I had set up in the corner. It only took a moment or two for it to fall asleep once it was seated on the perch. I felt myself get jealous of how easily sleep came to the bird and wished I could have the same.

I tucked my response and the permission form away and then laid my head back down on my pillow. I stared off at the wall until I eventually fell into a fit-filled sleep where I was once again forced to relive Cedric's death.

When I woke up I felt like I had only slept a few minutes out of the entire night even though it had been at least six hours. I quickly went through my morning routine and even added in some more push-ups and sit ups before I showered.

Like every morning I had the breakfast ready and set out by the time Petunia had made it downstairs. She said nothing to me this time as I was already working on cleaning the dishes. Uncle Vernon was the next one to come down and then Dudley followed a few minutes later. Just like at dinner I waited until I was sure there were no complaints with the meal before I pulled out the form I needed to be signed.

"Uncle Vernon I have that form I needed you to sign." I approached him hesitantly well aware that he could just rip up the form and laugh in my face. I set it on the table next to him and watched warily as he picked it up and began to read it over.

He didn't rip it up but instead he let out a loud laugh. "This says these are classes on etiquette and proper manners boy! So even the other freaks think you need to be trained better do they? Well who am I to stop them from trying to fix you. I hope they use all sorts of torture methods on you. Here you go!" He pulled a pen out and quickly scribbled his signature on the line at the bottom and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"Thank you Uncle Vernon. I'll just take my toast and go to my room now. Is there anything you needed done today?"

"Nothing today boy, but tomorrow you'll need to trim some of the hedges around the property. They're becoming out of control." I nodded my head and then made my retreat.

When I got to my room and was safe behind the locked door I reached into my pocket and pulled out two extra pieces of toast and some bacon slices I had wrapped in a napkin. I broke some small pieces off and fed them to the owl which had woken up at the sound of my door closing. I attached the form and letter to its leg and sent it on its way anxious to have the form away from Vernon before he could change his mind. I put the remaining slices of bacon on by bread and made two miserable looking sandwiches, but it was more than I had ever gotten to eat at the Dursleys in the past.

With nothing to do for the rest of the day I decided that it would be in my best interest to get out of the house so that Dudley wouldn't be tempted to bother me. Out of habit I grabbed my wand and slipped it into my pocket just in case something was to happen. I made my way quietly down the stairs and out the front door. I had made sure to lock my door on the way out so that Vernon wouldn't be able to get in and steal my stuff without breaking the door.

I would be able to get back in thanks to a trick I had learned when I was younger and lived in the cupboard under the stairs. I had figured out how to pick almost any lock thanks to the times when I had to go to the bathroom and my relatives wouldn't let me out.

There was a park not too far from number four and that's where I planned on heading. I decided it would be a good idea to jog there instead of just walking as that could serve as part of my conditioning. By the time I reached the park though I was regretting that decision as I bent over and gasped desperately for air trying to fill my lungs. Every time I breathed in it felt like my chest was on fire and I was forced to admit I was in even worse shape than I originally thought.

I spent a few hours just wandering around the park or observing the people who walked through it. Everyone kept their distance from me since I was known as the town criminal after all. I was a delinquent in everyone's eyes thanks to the Dursleys and I probably always would be.

I got bored a little while after one in the afternoon, or what I assumed was one anyway. So I made the decision that it was as good a time as any to make my first trip into Diagon alley. I found a secluded spot near the rode and looked around to make sure no one was paying attention and then I drew my wand with a snap.

A loud pop sounded and the screeching of breaks could be heard as the giant purple Knight Bus pulled to a halt in front of me. I didn't pause this time to listen to the options available to me. I pulled out the fourteen sickles and deposited them as I walked by Stan Shunpike. I picked one of the seats closest to the front as I knew that Diagon Alley was the next stop and I wouldn't be on the bus any longer than five to ten minutes.

The ride was just as horrible as I remembered from my third year and I barely stopped myself from getting sick. I practically ran off the bus as it came to a halt. I couldn't wait until I had other options of travel available to me. Once I was of age I was never going to take the Knight Bus again. I passed through the Leaky Cauldron and out into Diagon Alley, but I made sure to draw the hood of my robes up so that it would be harder to recognize me. I wasn't taking any chances with getting caught out by one of Voldemort's men or someone I knew from school. I had no doubts that Professor Dumbledore would not approve of what I was doing right now.

My first stop was going to be Gringotts so that I could withdraw money for the things I was going to buy today. I had a good amount on me, but I wasn't quite sure how much I planned on getting today and what could wait. It was only a short walk later that I found myself passing through the front door and once again eyeing the warning above the door. If I didn't know any better I would have sworn that the two goblins at the door were smirking at me as my eyes dropped from the plaque. I fingered the key in my pocket as I approached one of the free tellers.

"Hello, I would like to access my vault please." I slid the key across the desk towards the bored looking goblin behind it. He picked it up and eyed it for a moment before his eyes seemed to bulge and he immediately perked up.

"Mr. Potter it is very convenient that you have come here today. There has been an issue with your account and we sent a letter this morning requesting your presence here to correct it. You will be allowed to go to your vault after meeting with Iron Tooth. He is the Goblin who is in charge of the Potter accounts. Follow me now, I will take you to his office."

I had a million questions running through my mind as I followed the suddenly energetic goblin down the hall to the left. The creature had clearly said accounts when he was speaking, but too my knowledge I only had one account. I was also curious as to what could have caused an issue with it, I barely withdrew anything from my vault.

I was lost in my thoughts and nearly bumped into the teller as he came to a halt.

"Here you are Mr. Potter. Now one thing you should know is that Iron Tooth is highly regarded in our society as are all goblins who work on our larger accounts. In order to treat him with respect when you enter you should address him as such: Good day Honored Iron Tooth, may your gold grow and your enemies blood flow."

I nodded mutely and did my best to memorize the strange greeting. Without saying anything else the teller goblin walked away and left me outside the door. I knocked and waited until I heard what sounded like a strange garble from the other side before entering. I stepped into the office and the first thing I noticed were the two large body guard goblins that stood imposingly on each side of the door with spears in hand. Directly in front of me was an older looking goblin seated at a large desk. The rest of the office was rather plain with a simple bookcase a few lamps and a weapons rack. I hesitantly approached the desk in front of me and the Goblin I assumed was Iron Tooth. He was hunched over some paper scribbling away and mumbling to himself in what I only assumed was some goblin language. I cleared my throat to gain his attention.

"Good day Honorable Iron Tooth, may your gold grow and your enemies blood flow." Just to be safe I added a small bow at the end figuring that it couldn't hurt to go a little over the top when dealing with a race of creatures known to start wars over less.

The toothy smile I received in return to my greeting was unnerving to say the least. I wasn't sure if he was going to kill me or simply amused that a human was using a goblin greeting. I prayed it was the latter of the two options though.

"Good day to you as well Mr. Potter, and may your wealth continue to prosper. I am glad you have arrived in such a timely manner. I was reviewing your accounts today and came across some peculiar things that I needed to discuss with you. Please take a seat so we may begin and get you on your way, time is gold after all."

I did as instructed and sat in the chair on my side of the desk. It wasn't nearly as ornate as the one Iron Tooth sat in, but I was just glad that I wouldn't have to stand the whole time. "Thank you Iron Tooth, but before we start I had a question. You mentioned accounts and to my knowledge I only have one account."

"This is true Mr. Potter you do only have one account technically and that is the Potter Family account. However the vault you currently have access to is a trust vault and so it reads as a separate account because each year an allowance is put in there for you to use until such a time where you can access your actual family vault." I nodded my head as he explained it to me and strangely that made sense to me as I thought about how long of a family history I had. The Potters were apparently a very old family so it would only make sense that they had a family vault. "Now normally you wouldn't be able to access the family vault until you claimed Lordship of your house. That should have been on your 17th birthday since their isn't a current Lord of your house. However this morning I noticed that on your account ledger it is now listing you as Lord Harry James Potter. I tried to find a reason as to why it would do this, but none was forthcoming at the moment. This is a strange situation and leaves us with two options. The first being that you can accept this and access your family vault starting now, and the other is that you wait until we can do a more thorough investigation into your accounts and make sure that someone has not tampered with our records."

I couldn't think of any reason why someone would tamper with my records just so that I could get access to more money and whatever else was in my family vault, but at the same time the whole situation seemed off. The last time I had felt that something was wrong it had resulted in a friend losing their life, so I made my decision. "I want you to do an investigation and forward me any results as to what caused this change."

Iron Tooth picked up his quill and made some notes on the parchment in front of him. "That is a very wise option Mr. Potter. You may not understand the reason for it, but this investigation may save you significant amounts of gold in the long run. If someone has tampered with your accounts it is possible that they are trying to gain access to your larger vault for their own gain. As of right now the only people with access to your accounts other than yourself are your magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore, and Sirius Black."

I couldn't believe that Sirius or Dumbledore would try and steal from me. I was sure both of them had more money than they knew what to do with. So now I was honestly curious as to what had caused my change in status.

Iron Tooth finished the notes he was making on his parchment and then looked back at me. "Now Mr. Potter, there is one other issue we need to discuss before you go. This one is not really related to your accounts; it is more of a personal matter. When you first came to this bank the summer before your first year a dark presence was felt and it triggered our alarm wards. At first we thought that maybe someone was trying to impersonate you, but after further inspection we found that the dark presence had been radiating from your scar."

Involuntarily my hand reached up and touched the scar etched into my forehead. "My scar set off your alarms? How is that possible?"

"We asked ourselves the very same question Mr. Potter. So we did some research and took a further look into things that could cause such a reaction. We originally only did it so that we could improve our own alarm systems. However upon discovery of what exactly was in your scar we felt it necessary to disclose the information to you."

I suddenly had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I noticed the grim expression on the goblin's face. I knew goblins were not known for being friendly creatures or doing favors lightly so this was most likely going to be something horrible. Regardless I needed to know.

"Well what is wrong with me? Or rather what is wrong with my scar?"

Iron Tooth, opened a drawer and handed me a thin folder with a few sheets of paper in it. I began to leaf through them as I listened to him explain what I was looking at. "Your scar is what is known as a horcrux. It is very dark and obscure magic that essentially makes you a soul carrier. As to whose soul your carrying well that should be obvious to you by now."

I very nearly threw up as I realized I had just been told that a piece of Voldemort's soul was living inside of me. "What does that mean though Iron Tooth? What good does it do to put a piece of his soul in me?"

"That is the thing; a horcrux prevents someone from dying. If you were to kill the dark lord right now, he would not really die because a piece of his soul still resides inside of you. That means that the piece of his soul that would flee his body if he were to die would try and link up with the piece inside of you and take over your body. That folder I handed you contains other instances of horcruxes in the past. None of this information was easy to come by and as such Gringotts has taken partial cost out of your family vault since we are being kind enough to share this with you." Iron Tooth flashed me a predatory grin and I suddenly realized why the goblins were being so helpful. I had pretty much funded their research.

"That's fine, but what can I do about this horcrux? There has to be a way for me to get rid of it right?" I did my best to not sound desperate but I was pretty sure I failed. Who could blame me though, I had just been told that Voldemort couldn't die because part of him lived in me, and then I had a sickening thought. Part of him had lived inside of the diary that Ginny used in second year to open the chamber. What if he had made more horcruxes?

"Unfortunately Mr. Potter the only way to rid yourself of that horcrux is for you to die." I stood up and nearly fell over as the blood rushed to my head. "However! There may be a solution in you dying. Normally when someone dies, there soul will flee their body. Theoretically since you have two souls in your body if you were to be hit with a killing curse you might find yourself in limbo or at a crossroads of sort. Where you will either absorb the remaining parts of the fragmented soul or it will simply pass on. Both situations have their benefits and negatives of course."

I sat back down as I tried to understand what Iron Tooth was suggesting. "So your saying that if I was to be hit with a killing curse that it might not kill me, but instead it could kill Voldemort's soul and then I would have the opportunity to absorb the remains? Why would I want to have any of that monster in me?"

"Actually Mr. Potter the answer is quite simple. If you were to absorb the remaining pieces of the shattered soul you might possibly gain some of the knowledge it possessed. However it may also happen that nothing comes of you absorbing the remains. In the end this is all just theory and nothing like this has ever been attempted. If you were to decide to try this method Gringotts would be happy to provide a confidential service for a price. We have a wizard on hand for executions and other sensitive matters that we do not wish to stain our hands with."

I was floored as I listened to Iron Tooth calmly describe to me how I could pay him to let some maniac shoot me with a killing curse. My first instinct was to scream hell no and get the hell out of the office, but then I stopped to consider the options. If I let this horcrux continue to live inside of me then Voldemort could never die and I would essentially be responsible for hundreds if not thousands of people dying. Also it wasn't like I had a whole lot of people that would miss me if I were to die in the process. Ron and Hermione weren't my friends anymore as far as I knew and Neville and I were just starting to become friendly. Daphne had made it clear that she wouldn't miss me. Really the only one who might miss me would be Sirius, but even he had Remus to keep him company now.

"I want to do it. Take the money and let's do it now." I couldn't believe it as the words came out of my mouth. I wanted to take them back, but I knew I was doing the right thing. All the innocent people I could potentially save made my choice only that much easier.

"Excellent choice Mr. Potter. Please raise your hood and stand in the center of the room. I will send one of the guards to fetch the wizard. It will be better off if he does not know who it is that he is killing though." I nodded and pretended to listen as I walked slowly to the center of the room and put my hood on again.

It was strange to know that in a few minutes my whole life was going to be over. I wasn't even upset if I was honest. I hadn't done anything but cause people to die or get hurt ever since I was born. First had been my own parents, then Sirius, Ron and Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Cedric, and the list didn't stop there. This was the best option for everyone.

I heard the door open behind me and knew that my executioner had arrived. I didn't turn around because I was afraid I might lose my nerve if I was forced to watch the spell rush towards me. I watched as Iron Tooth nodded at the person behind me and then I heard a rushing of wind past my ears and I felt a burning sensation in my back and then my world went black.

When my eyes finally opened again they felt heavy like someone had tied bricks to my eyelids. I suppose dying took more out of a person than I had planned for. It took a minute for my eyes to fully adjust to the bright light around me, but when they did I found myself in shock. I was standing in a replica of King's Cross Station. I guess to be more specific I was standing on platform 9 and 3/4. Every detail down to the cracks in the pavement was there.

The only oddity I could find was a carriage of sorts near the edge of the platform. Cautiously I approached it still not sure what was going on. As I got closer I noticed that something was moving in it. Instinctively I reached into my pocket to draw my wand just in case. However I was disappointed when I found that both of my pockets were empty. Preparing myself for anything that was about to happen I closed the last few feet between myself and the carriage and peered inside. Whatever I had been expecting it was certainly not what I found there.

Inside was one of the ugliest looking babies I had ever seen. Well to be honest it was pretty much the only baby I had ever seen, but I imagined most did not look like this thing in front of me. Its skin was practically reptilian and it looked like it had scales in some places. Instead of a nose it had two slits and its eyes were more serpent like than human. Its mouth was opening and closing but no sound was coming out. It was completely hairless and as I observed it I noticed that the skin seemed to be decaying by the minute.

The only guess I had was that this thing was the form that the soul inside of me had taken. It was quite accurate of how Voldemort had actually looked when he returned just smaller. I couldn't tell if the goblin had been right about me being able to live because only one soul would be taken because as far as I could tell both of us were trapped. That's when I heard the whistle blow in the distance. Off to my left I could see the headlight of what I could only assume was the Hogwart's Express. I stood fixated as I watched it pull into the station and the brakes locked up to slow it to a halt. Sparks flew from the rails at the new friction on them and I stepped back so as to not have one land on me.

When the train had finally stopped the door closest to me opened and a man dressed like a conductor stepped out. He looked around the platform and his eyes lit up when he spotted me.

"You there! Come along now hurry up and come here so we can get you on your way my boy!" He moved towards me, but suddenly the smile that had previously adorned his face dropped when he noticed the carriage. "Oh well this is certainly unusual. It seems that you contained multiple souls. I can't say I've ever experienced something like this before. Well I guess this is your lucky day then. For the most part you seem to be intact and much better off than this piece."

I watched for a minute as the conductor bent down to inspect the soul fragment closer before I finally was able to open my mouth and for words. "I knew there were two souls in my body when I died, but what does that mean for me? Am I going to be able to return to life or am I just going to be stuck here?"

I was nervous and excited at the prospect of having another chance. Even though I had jumped into the decision of letting myself be killed that didn't mean I wanted to die. I was doing it for the greater good. I paused at the thought of that and then snorted. Oh Dumbledore would be so proud of me for using his excuse for everything.

The conductor rubbed his chin and then looked at me before smiling again. "Well it's up to you I suppose. I'm going to take this thing, so if you want to go back you can. Otherwise you can get on the express here and it will take you onto the next great adventure. I can give you a minute if you need, but I do have a schedule to keep so I need your decision quickly."

It really wasn't any option for me. I knew I had to go back to the real world. Part of me wished I was selfish enough to leave everyone behind to deal with Voldemort and everything else on their own, but I just didn't have it in me. "I'm going back. How do I do it?"

The conductor stood up straight and clapped his hands together. "Excellent, you should automatically return once I take this little bugger and the express leaves. However one last thing before I go. Would you like to combine the remnants of this soul, that is to say it's last little bit of life, with yours? It will speed up its process of passing and get us both on our ways. Otherwise we'll have to wait for it to die naturally."

My first response was going to be a hell no. There was no way I wanted any part of Voldemort inside of me, however I also didn't want to be stuck here any longer than possible. If I was gone too long the Dursleys would freak out and I still had other things to attend to today before I went back to Privet Drive. "What will happen if I combine the fragments? Will it make me like it? I don't want to become the monster that Voldemort is."

The conductor shrugged at me. "Honestly it will be the first time I have seen such a thing done, but there isn't a whole lot of anything left here. Maybe minor memories, some knowledge, and the slightest bit of a personality. It's actually highly possible that you combine the two and gain nothing from it. At most I would say you would have a few memories not your own and possibly have knowledge of a few spells you didn't before. So what's it going to be?"

I was still nervous about combining the two, but gaining some memories of Voldemort's life could be helpful. Especially if I was lucky enough to gain anything related to the horcruxes he might have created. I nodded my head and stepped forward. It was like I was on autopilot and knew what to do as I reached forward and laid my hand flat on the face of the serpent child. My palm began to heat up and I wanted to pull away, but a force kept me held firmly there. The longer I kept my hand there the darker the skin grew. After three minutes had passed I felt my hand released and I was able to pull it away. When I did the serpent child was no longer breathing and instead of blackened dead skin like it had started now it was practically see through. It reminded me strongly of my first impression of the ghosts at Hogwarts.

Once more the conductor leaned down, but only this time I watched as he picked up the child and started to walk towards the express. He stepped up onto the train and turned to wave at me as it began to move again. I waved back and as the train drew out of sight my vision became foggy and then I was blinded.

When I was able to see again I was staring up into the face of Iron Tooth. I was lying flat on the floor of his office and the goblin looked concerned, or as concerned as goblins could be. He jumped back when he saw my eyes were open and then I felt myself being hoisted onto my feet. I turned my head to get a look at who was holding me up and found it was the guards who were at the door earlier.

"Welcome back Mr. Potter. It seems that our wager has paid off, or at the very least you aren't dead. Please retake your seat in front of my desk and then let us discuss what happened."

I did as Iron Tooth instructed and gave him a condensed version of all that had happened to me. He steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them as he peered at me.

"So is there any noticeable difference now that you have combined the pieces with your full soul? Do you feel any different?"

I hadn't thought about it, but as of yet I didn't feel any different and couldn't recall any memories that weren't mine. I didn't know if it would take time or that like the conductor suggested nothing came of the combination.

"Honestly I don't think anything happened. There was so little life left in the soul piece that I think I couldn't gain anything from it. I'm not upset about that though. At least now I won't have to worry about suddenly having random urges to kill muggleborns." It seemed like my joke was lost on Iron Tooth though and that was when I remembered how blood thirsty goblins were. He probably had random urges to slaughter people all the time. I continued on happy that I was going to be able to get on my way. "Well if that was all the business we had for today then I would like to withdraw some gold from my trust vault Iron Tooth." The goblin nodded at me and then led me out of his office and back to one of the tellers. The two exchanged words in that strange goblin language I had heard earlier and then I was being led down to my vault. Ten minutes later I was walking out of the bank and my bag enchanted to be bottomless so I had a pretty sizeable sum of galleons with me.

I had been dead longer than I thought and it was nearly six thirty when I had left the bank. I was only going to have time to try and find a way to get more food and possibly some nutrition potions today. It didn't bother me too much since now I knew I would be able to make trips to Diagon Alley every couple of days or so. My first stop was the apothecary to see if I would be able to purchase some nutrition potions. I had read about them last year and knew that they could only be taken when one had a proper diet also, but if used correctly they had the ability to heal most effects of malnutrition. If I took them for the majority of the summer I might actually look like a normal child and not a skeleton by the next term.

It seemed luck was on my side today as the man behind the counter had been more than helpful and not only sold me fifteen already made potions, but also gave me a kit that contained all the ingredients I would need to brew another thirty. I wasn't the best at Potions, but I figured without Snape breathing down my back I could brew the potion well enough for it to work. I paid the man and thanked for his help and before I left I made sure to ask him if he knew where I could buy food. He told me to go down the road towards the Leaky Cauldron and on my right I would see what passed as a grocery store in the Wizarding world.

It only took me about two or three minutes to locate the store and soon I was inside looking around for something I could use. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for, but I knew I would need a way of either storing a large amount of food or something that would bring food to me. Having no luck searching the aisles I decided to ask one of the witches who was standing at the front counter. There was one who looked roughly my age, but I couldn't recall seeing her at school at all. I figured she would be my best bet though as the others were either occupied with work or looked like they would rather be anywhere else.

"Excuse me miss, do you think you could help me?"

I was rewarded with the girl jumping back a little bit and clutching her chest as it rose and fell from her heavy breathing. Apparently she hadn't noticed me coming up to her like I had originally thought. I mentally smirked at that, oops.

"Oh merlin, you scared the magic out of me. Give me a second to calm down and then I can help you as long as you don't do that again."

I took the time to take a closer look at her to see if I could get any sort of clue as to who she was. Certainly she would be going to Hogwarts if she was my age. The clearing of a throat drew my attention and I looked up to find her staring at me. I didn't notice the slight splash of red that tinted both of her cheeks though.

"Umm, well what did you need help with now?"

Out of nowhere I decided to have a little fun with the girl. I raked my eyes slowly up and down her body before finally coming to rest back on her face. The slight blush she had earlier was slowly intensifying. "I am looking for a way to store a large amount of food so that I won't have to make too many trips back and forth to the store. Although if I was to run into such a beautiful girl like yourself every time I came here I might just reconsider…"

I smirked as she was now very red in not only the cheeks but her ears as well. My celebration was short lived though as I suddenly realized I had just openly attempted to flirt with the girl. I would never have done something like that normally. I had a memory flash of how charismatic the Tom Riddle from the diary had been and realized he probably used his charm to get what he wanted a lot. It seemed that I was at least slightly effected by his soul then, but if all it did was make it easier for me to talk to girls who was I to complain.

The girl's blushed had mostly faded before she responded. "Well we have a sort of trunk like object. It has multiple compartments all charmed to different temperatures so that you can store large amounts of food in it. The muggles have something like it called a refrigerator; I don't know if you know what that is though."

I nodded to show that I knew what it was, but something bothered me. "How do you know what a refrigerator is? Actually do you go to Hogwarts? I don't recall ever seeing you before."

I regretted questioning her when I saw her demeanor change and her shoulders dropped. Clearly I had brought up a sour topic. "No I don't go to Hogwarts. I'm a squib and my mum is a muggleborn. We have a refrigerator at home."

I tried to apologize for my rudeness but was cut off. "Don't worry about it, you didn't know. It's just a bit of a bad topic for me since I've been made fun of a couple of times by some purebloods that come in here. I'm sure you know how much they look down on squibs."

I nodded again not sure what to say, and then cursed out loud when I caught sight of the clock. It was already fifteen minutes to eight. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'll take one of those trunks you were talking about. And does it come stocked or will I have to pick things out on my own, because I don't have a whole lot of time right now. I need to be getting back to my relatives house."

I was able to pick up from her mannerisms that she wasn't happy with the way the end of our conversation had gone, but I planned on fixing that once I had gotten my business settled. "If you don't have a lot of time you can pay now and leave your address and we'll have one of the store house elves drop it off for you later once it is filled. All we need to know is what you want in the trunk food wise."

I wasn't sure what there was available but I didn't have the time to be picky. I could always come back for little things that I needed. "I'm not really sure about specifics but I want a fairly healthy selection. No greasy or fatty foods. My address is number 4 Privet Drive Little Whinging, Surrey. Also please have it go to the smallest bedroom and if possible do it in the middle of the night. My relatives aren't very fond of magic."

As she made a few notes on a piece of paper and called for an elf I pulled out my bag full of galleons hoping I had pulled out enough. Another five minutes and I was done paying and had just gotten my receipt. "Thanks for all your help. I can't believe my rudeness from earlier, but I forgot to ask your name." I was noticing a common trend with the girls I talked to and me not finding out there names until just before we parted ways. I'm sure Sirius would be so proud of me if I told him that.

The girl smiled at me. "My name is Meg, and what's yours?"

I hesitated for a moment but didn't let it show. I didn't want anyone to know I had been here today. Thinking quick I used the only name I could think of. "Mine is Tom, it's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance Meg. Hopefully I'll see you again sometime." For added effect I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek as I walked by. I didn't have to turn around to know she was blushing as bright as a tomato. I gave myself a pat on the back at my newly acquired flirtatiousness. Wasting no time once I was out of the store I headed right through the Leaky Cauldron and out to the muggle side where there was enough room to summon the Knight Bus. Another nauseating fifteen minute ride and I was once again at the park.

The man at the apothecary was kind enough to shrink my purchases so I would be able to sneak them in and a simple tap with my wand would re enlarge them. So I took up a slight jogging pace as I headed back hoping that I could find a way to slip inside the Dursley house unnoticed, but already knowing in my heart that it wasn't going to happen.

I was right and my luck had indeed run out because as soon as I opened the door and walked inside I was thrown against the wall. Only inches from me with his meaty fists balled up in my rags of a shirt was a purple faced Uncle Vernon.

"BOY! Where have you been all goddamn day!?"

I flinched as specks of spit flew onto my face. "I've been at the park uncle. I fell asleep there and when I walk up it was dark. I'm sorry it won't happen again." I readied myself as he drew one of his fists back and punched me hard in the stomach. I felt all the wind leave my body as he let go of me and I doubled over.

"Boy if you ever pull something like this again, our deal is off. Now get in your room and I don't want to hear a peep out of you until tomorrow when you make breakfast." He walked away as I used the wall lift myself up. He never saw the glare I sent at his back or heard the thought in my head that promised revenge for everything he had done to me. I shook my head to clear the thought as soon as I registered where it was coming from and ashamed at myself for even thinking like that I trudged up the stairs to await the delivery of my magical refrigerator.