Chapter 5
Smiling shyly up at her, Harry murmured a quick "Thank you Esme." Before gently reaching for a brownie and biting into it, grateful for the distraction. The appreciative moan made Esme smile glad that her sons mate was pleased with her cooking, Jasper however shifted uncomfortably at the reaction he had at that innocent little noise. Ignoring the smirk sent his way by Emmet, Jasper focused on his mate. Gently placing his hands on his slightly curvy hips, reflexively tightening his fingers and pulling his mate closer to him Jasper enjoyed the slight softness of his flesh. 'I need to get him to eat more, he needs to gain some weight. He'd be even more delicious once he fills out'. Waiting until he felt most of the anger leave his precious submissive Jasper quietly asks, "What was your life like, what did he put you through?" Jasper's deceptively soft and gentle voice didn't fool anyone and seemed to shake Harry out of whatever chocolate induced haze he had been in for the past fifteen or so minutes. Looking around him, Harry blushed, "I'm sorry about freaking out like that, do you guys care if I just give the abbreviated version? Please?" Shocking everyone Rosalie comes forward, ignoring Jaspers warning growl, and rests her hand on his head gently stroking his wild hair, "Just because Jasper's your dominant doesn't mean you have to listen to him. You tell us what you're comfortable with, the rest can wait." Glaring at the rest of her family she flicked her hair over her shoulder and sat down glaring at the rest of her family. Smiling brightly at her, Harry relaxes into Jaspers tense hold. "Thanks Rosalie. As I'm sure you guys have figured out I didn't have a very good childhood, but it all really started when I was about to turn eleven. I had gotten mail for the first time in my life, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon weren't happy about that. The more letters that came the angrier they got… I later realized they feared what they knew was going to happen. We went on a trip to some island off the coast with some ramshackle cabin Uncle Vernon managed to find, it was the night of my birthday and I stayed up as I always do to wish myself a happy birthday. It was storming really hard so it wasn't until the door was broken down that anyone realized that some of the booming heard was actually a fist on the door. That's the first time I met Hagrid. That was the start of was a lot of firsts for me. My first present, first cake, the first time someone was actually interested in talking to me."
Discretely wiping his watery eyes with a self-deprecating chuckle Harry ignored the pitying glances he saw on the faces of all the Cullen's as he took a fortifying breath and continued, "That was my first look into the wizarding world, the world that was hidden from me. The first time I saw an act of Dumbledore's manipulations. Hagrid's great and all but normally a teacher comes to introduce a muggle raised child to the wizarding world and take them shopping at Diagon Alley, having Hagrid take me was genius. He preached the greatness of Dumbledore and cursed everything Slytherin without even having to be prompted. I like to think I'm not stupid so when I realized not only had my parents left me money, but that Dumbledore for some reason had a key to gain access to it I realized something was wrong and lifted the key from Hagrid's pocket when he dropped me off. I went back to Diagon the next day, using the money had been sneaking and saving my whole life to pay bus fare. I wore a baseball hat that time and went straight to Gringotts and asked a teller for a summary of my accounts and the activity that had been going on since they were created. That was where my unique relationship with the goblins started, at first it was just my ignorance and lack of prejudice that got me anywhere. The goblins hate Dumbledore for all the money he manages to steal from Gringotts and they saw me as the perfect way to start getting back what was theirs. I learned all about the money he had taken and where it went, of the documents he demanded sealed and the efforts he went through to keep both myself and the wizarding world ignorant of what he had done. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that I could do at that point even with goblin help but pretend to follow the plan and hide as much as I could. Doing worse in school than I could was an ingrained habit from the Dursley's, upstaging Dudley with my freakishness would only get me punished and when I befriended Hermione and Ron it was easy to fall in the middle, they were among the best and worst in our year. Following the hints and plans laid out for me was ridiculously easy as was following the plans I set for myself. Facing a teacher possessed by Voldemort and saving the Philosophers stone was stupidly blatant but the only person who noticed was me and when I returned to the loving care of my relatives for the summer I did so with the help of the goblins, procuring advanced books and a bottomless bag to keep my things from being locked up. I also stocked up on healing potions and food which I would do for every summer since.
Dobby and the Chamber of Secrets was a surprise and that was when I won the goblins respect as well as assistance. I've always known I could speak to snakes, I just didn't know it was a rare talent or viewed as evil, so when it came out that I was a parselmouth I owled Gringotts and set up an inheritance test for the summer. Facing the basilisk and horcrux did nothing but piss me off. I copied the book and sent the actual horcrux with Hedwig to Gringotts and the Goblins immediately began a search for any others. They found and destroyed the Hufflepuff Cup, which was also a horcrux pissing them off to no end, with the help of the basilisk venom soaked Gryffindor sword. Dumbledore thinks it appears as it wishes but since I am an heir once I touched it, the sword remains with me as a part of my magic. Giving it back to the Goblin Nation is unfortunately impossible but for as hard as I tried even Ragnok the head goblin was shocked. Also, the rendering of the basilisk parts brought quite a large profit for the bank, which I very generously split for their assistance the previous summer and that one as well. The inheritance test revealed that I have many powerful bloodlines running through me as well as several blocks that were very illegal and could have eventually killed me placed by Dumbledore. With the help of Dobby, I managed to go to Gringotts several times during the summer and during the first part of the school year to have them all safely removed. That was also when Sirius Black managed to escape, after receiving his Lordship Ring and a note explaining what had been going on, again via Dobby.
Everyone thought Siri, Sirius Black AKA Padfoot the big black dog, was a Death Eater and that he betrayed my parents and killed one of his friends Peter Pettigrew along with several muggles when trying to escape, but they had it wrong. It was Peter who betrayed them and Peter who staged his death and killed those people to frame Sirius. Even his own mate Remus didn't believe him. He wasn't really given a choice to think on it but that didn't stop Siri from hating him. Dumbledore used me, his godson, and Remus, his mate to lure Sirius to Hogwarts. Remus as a werewolf has trouble finding work, and shouldn't have been able to attend Hogwarts. This honestly shows how far back the plotting began because Remus worshiped the man, and when he was told to leave me, his cub, the remainder of his pack, alone he just did it" Jasper exchanged worried glances with his family at the again shaking room quickly sending calming vibes toward his distraught mate. Sagging into Jasper Harry examined the tips of his hair ashamed of his outburst.
"Overall the year was pretty good. The twins gifted me the Marauders map which made it easy for me to sneak Sirius food during the year as we tried to find a way to expose the rat, when I found out Pettigrew was literally a rat and my friend Ron's PET, Man I just wanted to kill him and be done with it but Siri and I both knew I needed him freed. He got a much more in-depth explanation than you all are getting. He even met with the goblins also to work on getting custody of me, all we needed to do was turn in Pettigrew to Madame Bones, the only honorable person we knew of who had enough power to do something about it and not have it covered up. The only problem was Mooney, Remus's wolf, we planned on having me corner him and bring him to Sirius and even though things didn't work out that way things still went well. I have a very bad reaction to Dementors, they suck the happiness and eventually the soul out of someone and our minister decided that posting them at our school was a bloody brilliant idea and after I nearly fell to my death after being attacked by a swarm of them during a game of quidditch," ignoring Emmet's head perking up at the mention of a sport he didn't know Harry smiled and continued, "Remus offered to teach me some very advanced magic. The Patronus, the only way to get rid of a dementor, it's pretty much happiness magically put into a form. What better way to drive away the darkest creature then happiness? Knowing about Remus's 'furry little problem' helped me avoid him finding out about Sirius before we were ready and with Snape taking his classes over once a month and being not so subtle about his illness Remus didn't socialize much outside of my lessons and class. It all came to head near the end of the year having slipped Amelia Bones memories of the night and proof of a trial never being held, Gringotts providing proof of the blood adoption and godparent bond Sirius had with me almost as soon as I was born proving that he physically couldn't do anything to harm me, his magic wouldn't let it. I had left the map with Remus and had Ron and Hermione, along with a caged Scabbers, following me to the Shrieking Shack to meet Sirius. Everything was set up and Remus and my friends were supposed to hear the truth, see the proof and together present Peter Pettigrew to Madame Bones and her most trusted Auror's at the agreed upon time. But things went wrong as they always do. Pettigrew escaped and Ron was hurt. Remus, in his haste to catch the 'traitor' Sirius Black and to figure out why a dead person was showing up on the map he helped make in school, forgot to take his Wolfsbane potion and with all of our careful detailed planning Siri and I seemed to have forgotten about the full moon.
Snape showed up but with Peter gone he wouldn't listen and he tried to take down Sirius whom he hated since childhood. There was no way either of them could see past their hatred of each other and I'm sure only Remus shifting saved one of them from dying. Siri, he shifted into Padfoot and led off Mooney, starting a fight allowing us to flee but while Snape managed to carry Ron to safety I was running after Padfoot. There was no way he could win against a werewolf especially when he hadn't regained much weight after leaving Azkaban and I wanted to save him, he was all I had ya'know. Still is. I didn't think further than saving him so when faced with an enraged Mooney I blessed my luck that I had a friend like Hermione to save me. When I get to Sirius he was bad. Dementors where everywhere and I could cast a Patronus to save my life. Just as his soul was leaving his body and I was about to follow I saw the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Prongs. My father's Animagus charging at the dementors and saving us. I woke up in the hospital wing to Minister Fudge, Amelia Bones and Dumbledore all fighting over what to do. With Peter gone Sirius was likely to end up being kissed after all that. Another cryptic hint from Dumbledore had me and Hermione going back in time, we saved Buckbeak the hippogriff from an unjust execution and caught up with Peter before he could leave the school grounds. Where we finally captured him was right across the lake from where Sirius and I were laying close to becoming the dementors meal. I kept waiting and waiting for my father to come like I saw from before, in the end it was my Patronus, but it was the thought of my father wanting to save me that gave me such a powerful memory to fuel it."
Smiling sadly into his hot chocolate pressed into his hands at some point by Esme, Harry continued, "even with Sirius being cleared I returned to the Dursleys. Dumbledore and the Minister both agreed that he couldn't raise me after Azkaban. I'm too important to trust in the hands of someone who suffered from the effects of dementors for twelve years after all. No way Sirius could possibly be stable enough or even WANT to take care of a child right away. For almost two years every six months Sirius and Remus go in to have his physical and mental health evaluated and no matter the results Dumbledore manages to keep me away from them." Looking at the clock and feeling the weariness radiating from his small mate Jasper quickly cuts in, "I know you must be tired and telling something like this must be incredibly draining on top of your already weakened state. I'm surprised Carlisle has sat here and not demanded we leave you be to rest." Carlisle laughed at this, "Right you are son. Why don't you show Harry to your room so he can rest, do you mind if we discuss what you've told us while you sleep? We would also go hunting as I'm willing to bet all of us could use it." Blushing heavily Harry nodded not even trying to escape Jaspers hold as he was carried bridal style up the stairs and placed in a surprisingly plush bed. "Thank you, Jasper," whispered Harry, "I know you're all just doing this because I'm your mate but it's still really nice... to have someone care." Before Jasper could respond Harry had already fallen asleep, His black hair curling wildly against the soft white silk of the pillowcase. Full pink lips parted slightly and long black lashes tickled high cheekbones, tracing a cold finger on the lightning bolt scar adorning his mate's forehead Jasper sucked in an unnecessary breath. He's almost too beautiful to believe thought Jasper in awe briefly running his lips over the same path his finger had taken, taking in as much of his mate's scent as he could before returning to his family to discuss what they had learned Jasper couldn't help but smile at the thoughts of the painful deaths that would visit anyone who had ever even thought to hurt his Harry.