A Period of Anger and A Period of Misunderstanding

Harry woke up the following day to some confusion as to his location – this was not his cupboard! It wasn't until several seconds had passed that he remembered that he was in Hogwarts and sleeping in a room with Hannah and Susan. Sitting up slightly, he saw Susan hugging what appeared to be a stuffed dragon and Hannah starting to stir from her slumber. He felt thirsty and noticed a jug of water sitting on the bedside table that he knew wasn't there before he slept, but he guessed there must be a thirsty pupil spell on the three or something. Carefully sitting up in bed, he poured a glass and let the refreshing contents slide down his throat before leaning back and wondering about the day ahead. The idea of taking the new pupils round the castle made sense as he couldn't imagine the teachers just allowing them to wonder round without any knowledge of where stuff was or classes located.

"Morning, Harry" Hannah said. He looked over to see Hannah smiling at him warmly and he felt a warm rush of emotion at the thought of having friends. Friends… That was something else that was new to him. They had only spent one day with him and both of the girls stuck up for him. It was, he decided, a very nice feeling. Friends… He was going to like having friends…

"Morning, Hannah" he replied.

"Do you know what time it is?" she asked.

"Um…" Harry looked at his watch – one of the only useful hand-me-downs from Dudley. "Half past six" and he yawned and stretched before throwing the covers off and getting up.

"Good – more than enough time to get clean, get dressed and go to breakfast" Hannah said, sipping some water herself before getting out of bed. She was wearing a set of blue pyjamas that had little golden specks all over. "Like what you see?" she asked when Hannah noticed him looking.

"Yeah – they look awesome" Harry replied. He was wearing black pyjamas with a pocket on the shirt should he need to put anything there. Secretly, the boy thought that it made him look a bit like Darth Vader. "Should we wake Susan up or let her get up normally?" he asked.

"Better wake her up now" Hannah replied, putting on her slippers. "If you do not wake her up now, she'll miss breakfast and be a real grumpy girl" and she gently shook Susan by the shoulder until the girl was awake. After a quick drink of water and an exchange of 'Good Morning's, the trio went into the bathroom and had a shower before dressing in their uniforms. Once sorted, they went into the common room to find they were the only ones awake.

"How are we going to find the hall now?" Susan asked.

"Well we are on the ground floor and so is the hall, so we could go outside into the corridor and follow the smell of breakfast" Harry suggested.

"That is no good… We are next to them" Hannah pointed out.

"Sorry" Harry hung his head.

"Hey" Hannah gave him a hug, "No need to be sad… It was a good idea. Maybe we can ask them the way to the hall"

"Well I didn't see a doorway when we walked past" Harry said.

"Drat"

"Hey" Harry replied with a giggle, "Don't be sad… It was a good idea" and he was rewarded with a cushion to the head.

"I have it!" Susan exclaimed. "We know roughly where Hufflepuff is, right?" and the other two nodded. "All we have to do is go in the vague direction of the side of the castle where the doors are, go along that side until we reach the doors and the big hall should be there or at least nearby" and the Great Hogwarts Breakfast Hunt began. After taking a few wrong turns, the trio found the right way to the hall and sat down at their House table and started on breakfast. Harry, not having such an offering to choose from, caused bemusement amongst the others there by putting porridge on top of the bacon.

"You do know that that doesn't go on bacon, right?" questioned Hannah.

"It doesn't?" frowned Harry. "I saw the Dursleys doing that and thought everybody did it" and he looked at his friends with fear evident on his face. "Have I been bad? I don't want to get in trouble after I have got here" and the girls felt sorry for Harry.

"You didn't know, Harry… Its all alright" Susan reassured him. "I guess there are a lot of things you need to know, so me and Hannah will help you"

"Why?"

"Because we're your friends, you idiot" Susan replied as she waved her spoon madly. She would have said more but Harry went a deathly shade of white before dropping his knife and fork and running out of the hall – pushing past two teachers as he did so.

"What" asked Professor McGonagall, "Happened there?"

"Um…" Hannah hesitated, "Has Professor Sprout told you what happened last night and what has happened to Harry before he came here?"

"I was told some of it, but what does that have to do with it?"

"We were joking around because Harry had put porridge on his bacon, mainly because he didn't know different, and then I jokingly called him an idiot and that is when he ran away" Susan said

"Ah…" understanding dawned on McGonagall's face. "I think I know what has happened here. Severus, can you organise a search of the school using the ghosts?"

"And why should I do that?" asked the other teacher. "It is just an idiotic child that could not take a joke"

"Because" McGonagall lowered her voice so only Snape could hear, "That is Lily Potter's child. Yes, I know all about how you loved her and tried to save her life… You are a lightweight when drunk"

"Even so, Minerva, why should I?"

"Because that child has been physically and mentally abused and most likely had a flashback when Miss Bones was joking"

"I see…" he said carefully. "Very well, I shall alert the ghosts and see what can be done" and he turned around and walked out.

"I suggest that you two finish your breakfasts and meet me at the Headmaster's office"

"Where is that?" asked Hannah.

"It's on the second floor" McGonagall replied. "Should you get lost you should ask for directions" and she walked up to the staff table and spoke to the other teachers there.

"I feel horrible" Susan said. "I didn't mean to make Harry think about those evil Muggles" and Hannah put an arm around her friend.

"It'll be alright" said the girl. "Harry just hasn't had the opportunity to tell what is serious and what is kidding. When we find him, we'll sit down and talk about it – maybe even send your Aunt a letter telling her what has happened. Maybe she knows somebody who can cast a spell to make him happy"

"Magic is not like that" Susan said.

"You know what I mean" Hannah replied. "Look… Lets finish breakfast before we die of hunger and go to see Professor Dumbledore" and the two girls finished their breakfasts before leaving for their destination.

# # # # #

"I admit that I may have made a few mistakes in my time" Albus Dumbledore said to his deputy, "But the care of Harry Potter is not one of them"

"Albus, I know your many positions take up a lot of your time, but have you ever stopped to check up on him?" McGonagall asked.

"No, but I had a squib in place to watch over him"

"Oh, that makes it alright does it?" McGonagall sighed. "Albus, I had a call from Amelia Bones stating that she'd had a Harry Potter visit her along with her niece and Hannah Abbott. I was very concerned when she told me of all the abuse her had suffered – both mentally and physically. I was extremely concerned to hear that they had starved him for no reason other than getting better grades then their son"

"Very well… I shall look into this affair and tell the squib to be more careful in her watching over Mr Potter"

"That is not going to solve anything you stupid old codger!" McGonagall lost her temper. "At the moment we have a student who was last seen pushing Severus Snape against a wall and running away at high speed"

"Who was that?"

"Harry fucking Potter!" McGonagall only stayed her hand because she wanted to keep her job. "A comment was made in an off hand and joking manner, but Mr Potter took it the wrong way and is now missing in or around the school"

"Well we can't have that" Dumbledore chuckled.

"Really…?" McGonagall drawled. "As it happens, Severus is organising a search of the castle using the ghosts and I'm going to search the grounds with the staff"

"There is no need to" Dumbledore smiled, "I am sure that Mr Potter will come back to us safe and sound – and apologising for running away"

"It is my experience, Albus, that abused children rarely come back and apologise for being frightened – or have you forgotten a certain Tom Riddle?" and Dumbledore paled.

"My god… What have I done?" he whispered. "Minerva, seal off the outside of the ground so nobody can get in or out. Get the Prefects and Head Pupils to help in the search – tell them that if they find Harry, they may use a light stunning spell before taking him to the hospital wing"

"As you wish"

"And Minerva?"

"Yes, Albus?"

"Get hold of Amelia Bones and tell her I need to see her and a Court Scribe at once" and McGonagall raised an eyebrow before nodding and going to her office.

"Well…" said Susan, "That was entertaining"

"Sure was" agreed Hannah.

"Professor McGonagall said you might be able to explain a few things about Harry to me" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and regarded the two First Years in front of him.

"Where should I start?" Susan asked.

"From the moment you first met him… If I am to understand what has gone wrong, I need to know everything" and the girls looked at each other before launching into their explanation. "I have been a fool" he said at last.

"Well it would be wrong to disagree with you, Sir" Hannah giggled.

"Oh, you misunderstand me. What I meant was I am a fool to let this all be discovered. Now my plans are ruined and I shall have to see what I can do about fixing them up" and, without warning, he picked up his wand and cast a memory altering spell on the pair along with a compulsion charm. It had been a long time since Dumbledore had taken part in such activities… "Now then, you two, if you would be so good as to remove your robes"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore" they intoned flatly and stood up to do what they were asked to do.

# # # # #

After half an hour, Harry was found by a female ghost trying to get the boats to move. It took a great amount of effort to convince Harry to get out of the boathouse and talk to a Slytherin Prefect that had been the nearest person the ghost had found first.

"What do I do now?" he asked bitterly. "Susan and Hannah were making fun of me – I thought they were my friends"

"I am sure that they didn't mean it" the Prefect replied. "We all get frightened at first, we all make mistakes and we all laugh about them in years to come"

"I want to go home" Harry spoke quietly. "At least… I would if I had a home"

"You don't have a home?"

"No… I live with Muggles that abuse me"

"Oh, I see"

"No you don't – nobody ever does. Dumbledore will always come round and make the Dursleys even more evil and wipe my mem…" Harry stopped talking as something in his mind shattered and new memories came crashing through to the front of his brain.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked the Prefect.

"I don't know why, but now I have memories of when Dumbledore came to my relatives's place in Surrey" and the First Year frowned in confusion and fear. "What am I going to do? The best wizard in the world is after me"

"Are you sure it is Dumbledore? Maybe someone was impersonating him"

"No, I remember it clearly now"

"Sounds like suppressed memories" the Prefect pondered.

"Why would Dumbledore do that?"

"I don't know, but he must have had a reason. Look… Why don't we go find a teacher so they can call off the search – the entire staff has been looking for you. You can have a cup of tea, have a chat and if you still want to go home then I am sure that something can be arranged"

"Alright" Harry agreed and stood up and wiped his face dry of the tears that had spilled out from his eyes. They were on their way back to the castle when he got an image in his mind of an office with Dumbledore sat in a huge chair with wings. Stood in front of him were Susan and Hannah wearing just a short t-shirt and really small shorts. The image in his mind bothered him, but he wasn't sure if he should tell the Prefect in case he was working for the Headmaster. He was walking alongside the older boy when the image came again, but this time it also had the impression of a desperate plea for help from both the girls. Without a word of warning, Harry imagined the office and wished to be there – and was therefore surprised when he appeared at a doorway guarded by two stone statues.

"The Headmaster is busy" said the one on the left.

"Please leave your name, House and reason you want to see the Headmaster and he will get back to you as soon as possible" said the one on the right.

"I need to see my friends" Harry stated. "I think they are in danger"

"From the Headmaster?" the left one snorted. "I hardly think so"

"I think he is doing something wrong to them"

"Children always get the wrong idea" said the one on the right.

"Open the door or I'll… I'll…"

"Or you will what?" sneered the left one. "Are you going to threaten us with a stammer?" and they both laughed. This had the effect of making Harry both upset and mad – giving him hidden strength that allowed him to push over the statues in frustration.

"OI!" the right one shouted before he was smashed to pieces with his companion following seconds later. The doorway slide round and revealed a spiral staircase which Harry raced up and barged through the heavy wooden door to see Susan and Hannah down to their underwear and Dumbledore with his robes open. The Headmaster looked up in surprise as Harry pointed his wand at him – laughing at him proved to be a mistake as some unknown spell his him and sent him spinning backwards. Whatever was affecting the girls broke and they blinked to see Harry standing there like some avenging devil of darkness with his wand pointing at Dumbledore. It was after that they realised that they had stripped down to their underwear which, although Harry had seen them in them only that morning, seemed odd and creepy in the presence of Dumbledore.

"You might want to get dressed" Harry said as he looked towards them. They nodded and quickly pulled on their clothing before slipping their robes on again. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think we are… Just a little confused" Susan said.

"He wanted to see us naked" Hannah shuddered.

"He's a dirty old man" Harry said.

"How did you get here?" asked Susan. "I thought I had scared you off"

"I was lost, but then somebody found me. I was talking to a Prefect when I got an impression the pair of you needed help"

"That must have been when Dumbledore used a spell on us" Hannah mused.

"You'll be expelled for sure" said a painting. "You attacked the Headmaster and that will never stand"

"You were here and watched everything that goes on?"

"Yes, of course I did. I must say that I liked the red head's choice… If only I was still ali–" the painting of a man wearing gold robes never finished the sentence as his painting suddenly caught flames and was reduced to ashes in seconds.

"Imperio" the spell hit Harry from behind. "Kill the girls" Dumbledore ordered. He had come round and used his wand on Harry to put him under his control. Once he was, he'd have the boy kill the girls and then thrown into Azkaban and therefore under his control.

"Yes, Sir" Harry replied and spun round to face Susan and Hannah. 'Wait a minute… Susan and Hannah are your friends – why would you want to kill them?"

"That was an order, Mr Potter"

"Yes… I… I WON'T DO IT!" he yelled. Spinning round again to face Dumbledore again, he pointed his wand at the Headmaster and hit him with some unknown spell which dropped him into an untidy pile on the floor.

"What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall's voice brought Harry round from his rage filled haze and he blinked several times.

"I don't know, Miss" he said. "All I knew was that the girls were in a lot of trouble and needed help quickly. I think I pushed something over and then I came upstairs and found Hannah and Susan almost wearing nothing at all and then I don't remember much until you came here" and he was then almost knocked off his feet as the pair jumped him and held him tightly as they started to cry as what they had been through caught up with them.

"I am beginning to get a good idea of what is going on here…" McGonagall looked at the crumpled form of Dumbledore on the floor. "Mr Potter, might I suggest taking Miss Bones and Miss Abbott back to their room so they can calm themselves down?"

"Um, actually… We share one"

"Really? Well, that is going to be an interesting story, but one which will have to wait for another time to be told. For now, just get them back to your room and stay there until somebody comes for you. Miss Bones, your Aunt was already on her way here when Mr Potter had gone missing – I will inform her what this animal has done to you and Miss Abbott"

"Um… Miss?"

"Yes, Mr Potter?"

"Am I going to be in trouble? Am I going to be starved again?"

"What do you mean again…?"

"Happens all the time at the Dursleys"

"My Aunt knows" sniffed Susan.

"Very well… I shall see to that, but you had best leave now" and when the trio had left, she conjured ropes to bind Dumbledore and pocketed his wand for safekeeping.

#

"I wonder why Dumbledore wanted to see you in your underwear" Harry said as the trio sat on their beds and waited for a teacher to come to talk to them.

"I think he wanted to see us naked, Harry" Hannah said.

"So…? What is the big point of it all?"

"Um… Have you ever had biology lessons?" asked Susan.

"No – Aunt Petunia always got me out of those. Is it something important I should know?"

"Yeah, it really is" said Hannah with a grin. "Maybe we can get that Nurse to talk to you about it…" she paused as she saw Harry looking at her legs with a worried look on his face.

"You're hurt" he exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"You are bleeding from under your robes – I think it is under your skirt too… There has to be loads of blood coming out. I better find a teacher…" and he got up and run out of the room and common room screaming that Hannah Abbott had been attacked and was dying.

"I know what it is" Susan said. "You change your underwear and clean up and I'll lend you a pad" and Hannah got up and went into the bathroom attached to their room after extracting a fresh pair of knickers. A few minutes later, and Harry came back with a procession made up of McGonagall, Sprout, Pomfrey, Madam Bones and several Aurors including Kingsley Shaklebolt.

"Ask around for anybody who might have seen the attacker after we get a description" he ordered.

"There is no need" Hannah said.

"I do not detect any signs of attack" Pomfrey waved her wand over Hannah's body. "I do not even see any signs of poison" she added.

"That is because there is none" Hannah said.

"Child, you must have been put under a very power memory charm" Pomfrey said.

"I AM ON MY PERIOD!" Hannah screamed out. There was a long moment of silence as everybody looked embarrassed and between themselves. It was broken by the small and quiet voice of Harry asking a question

"What is a period?"

#

Dumbledore was brought round from whatever spell had been put on him, arrested and taken away for questioning by a rage filled Madam Bones. She had nearly killed the wizard where he stood when she had found out what he had done to her niece and her friend. That night, after some dinner, the trio sat in their rooms getting ready for their lessons starting the following day.

"Hannah?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for what happened earlier"

"You were not to know, Harry… You might have overreacted a little, but that is okay after you saw what happened to us" she replied and gave him a hug. She and Susan noted his flinching and hesitation before he started to relax a little. "I suppose some of the fault is with me and Susan – we didn't tell you that girls are made a little different"

"Well I am sorry anyway" he mumbled.

"At least Pomfrey said she'd give you lessons on what is what" Susan commented as she buttoned up her pyjama shirt. "And we'll go to them with you"

"Why do that though? You already know what does what? I'm just a stupid idiot that doesn't know anything"

"Yeah, you might be a stupid idiot" Hannah shrugged, "But you are our stupid idiot, and we wouldn't change that for all the tea in China. Anyway… We are Hufflepuffs and we are your friends… It is what we do. Besides, if you hadn't got the impression that you had to help us, who knows what Dumbledore would have done to us"

"Well all he was doing was looking at you in your underwear… What else would he have done to you?"

"That…" Susan hesitated, "That is something you'll learn in your lessons with Pomfrey. For now, just know that we are super happy you are our friend and that you helped us"

"Friends…?" Harry rolled the word on his tongue. "I quite like having friends – even if I don't know how girls work"

"Meh…" Susan waved her hand dismissively as she got into her bed. "You should have seen what happened when I had my first one"

"What happened?"

"I had a bit of accidental magic and blew up Stonehenge"

"Oh" Harry seemed to be fearful of Susan until she snorted and burst into giggles. "Laugh at me, will you?" Harry said crossing his arms and looking upset.

"Sorry"

"PILLOW FIGHT!" Harry said, picking up his pillow and throwing it so it hit Susan gently in the face.

"Oh now you've had it Potter…! I have been trained by Aurors" Susan said as she and Hannah teamed up on the helpless Harry.

#

Just after midnight, Professor Sprout was awoken by the sound of wards alerting her to an issue. According to the wards, two girls were in the bed of a boy which was against the rules. Putting on her dressing gown and slippers, she left her quarters and hurried to her House's common room and was directed towards the First Year bedrooms. On a hunch, she deactivated the alarm and went to the one shared by Hannah, Susan and Harry. Looking inside, her heart wasn't in it to wake them up and send them to the correct beds with a stiff warning. Harry was in the middle of the two girls who had cuddled up to him clutching stuffed animals in one hand and him with the other. All three were in a deep state of sleep and snoring gently – clearly nothing was amiss or improper. Sprout smiled gently as she closed the door – knowing that the girls had had a nightmare and didn't want to sleep alone. If their friendship continued the way it had been in the short time they knew each other, then a great future awaited them.

A/N:

Okay then…

Well first of all I hope you all liked this chapter and will be good enough to review it. Not much to say really, except that the trio's friendship has become more firm – even if there are going to be times Harry slips back into thinking he has done wrong.

Special mentions go to Le Diablo Blanc2 for the lengthy chat we had about the story and what I had planned, and a mention also goes to Rainbow2007 for being the first person to review the chapter as well as XRaiderV1 for being the first of the Old Guard of mine to review it.

What do I have planned for the next couple of chapters…? Well certainly there is the fall out of the incident with Dumbledore and Hannah and Susan to deal with (expect Madam Bones to go after Dumbledore and put him away for the rest of his life), Harry's first Sexual Education class (that ought to be fun – any suggestions on how that could work out?) and meeting Snape as well as the other teachers for the first time.

Oh yeah… One last thing – hope people spluttered their drinks or food when they realised that the trio had shared the same shower.

As always, if you have anything to suggest for the fic, then please put it AFTER the main part of your review.

Regards

Pixel and Stephanie