Unspoken
by Teddylonglong

Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.

Harry could not believe his luck. During the last few years, his aunt, uncle and cousin had told him multiple times a day just how much of a nuisance he was, a freak, whom no one wanted to hear let alone see. Now, all of a sudden, the kind lady who regularly came during the night to check on him had taken him away from his relatives and left him with another kind lady, her sister as they had told him.

'This is too good to be true,' he thought, when she gently taught him the letters of the alphabet, as they did a floor puzzle of a large castle with many big towers together by combining the correct letters. Harry knew that her name was Regina, but he had not been told how to address her. If he was allowed to address her at all. 'She'll soon enough notice how much of a freak I am and send me back to my aunt and uncle,' he thought in trepidation.

However, when they finally finished the puzzle, Regina commended him greatly. "Harry, you did that very well. I believe that in a few days' time, you'll know all the letters and will be able to read."

Harry smiled happily, as he glanced over at the bookshelf that was filled with books, apparently all for him to discover.

"Do you know what the building in the puzzle is?"

Harry shook his head. "No." It only came out as a whisper.

"That's Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, the school for magic, where all magical children go to study from the age of eleven onwards."

'Freaks won't be allowed to go,' Harry told himself, feeling sad at the realisation.

"Harry? You're going to attend Hogwarts as well. I couldn't, because I don't have magic, but my sister can tell you all about it. She loved Hogwarts, and as far as I know, she was good friends with your parents."

"My parents?" Harry stared at Regina in disbelief. "They were good for nothing drunks," he whispered, what the Dursleys had not failed to tell him.

Regina shook her head. "Nonsense. They were magically powerful and very kind people. They were even head boy and head girl during their last Hogwarts year. We can ask my sister if she'll be able to provide us with a photograph of them, so that you can speak with them."

Harry's eyes widened in shock. "They're dead," he clarified.

"That they are, unfortunately, but in the magical world, many things are different from the muggle world. People in magical pictures are able to move and talk. I'll ask my sister, but don't get your hopes up, sweetie."

To Harry's delight, they did the floor puzzle another time, and he noticed that he already knew several of the letters, before Dolly appeared and told them that lunch was ready.

"Thank you, Dolly. Come Harry, let's go and have lunch."

Apparently realising that he was hesitating, she gently reached out for his hand, and together, they walked downstairs into a bright kitchen, which looked somehow similar to that of the Dursleys, but only from the structure. The colours were much nicer and friendlier, and Harry immediately liked the homely kitchen.

When he unsurely hovered behind the indicated seat, Regina urged him to sit down. "Please take a seat, Harry. We're all going to have lunch together. I know that you told me you had to cook at your aunt's house, but here, Dolly is doing all the kitchen work, and you and I may simply enjoy her cooking."

Noticing that Regina and Dolly were already seated, seemingly waiting for him, Harry hurried to comply, smiling when Regina piled just a little from each of the bowls with food onto his plate.

His eyes widened in surprise, as he took the first bite. Never before had he been able to eat something so tasty. Too soon for his liking, he felt full, but it was so good that he did his best to finish his meal, before he finally put his fork down, unable to stomach anything more of the delicious food.

"Dolly is a wonderful cook, isn't she?" Regina's voice was laced with apparent pride, and Harry quickly nodded.

"I never ate something so good before," he admitted in a small voice.

"Thank you, Mistress Regina and little Master Harry." Dolly smiled in obvious happiness. "I am very happy to be able to cook for another person. It's great that you're now living with us, little Master Harry."

"I'm just Harry," Harry replied in a soft voice, somehow feeling uncomfortable at being called master.

"May I just call you Harry then?" Dolly smiled, when Harry gave her a sharp nod.

'I am the one who is happy to be here,' Harry thought, happily. 'I like it here, and Regina and Dolly are really nice.'

HP

They had just finished their lunch and settled down in the living room, when Mrs. Figg returned. To Harry's surprise, a small dog toddled behind her into the room.

'She has a dog? I thought she had only cats,' Harry thought, incredulously, as he silently admired the cuteness of the canine.

"Hi Harry, how are things?"

"Great." Harry cast the older lady a happy smile. "Thank you very much for bringing me here."

"You're welcome, sweetie," she replied and gently ruffled his hair.

"You have a dog?" he could not keep himself from asking, when the dog came over to lick his hand in friendly greeting.

The witch chuckled. "No, Harry. One of my colleagues has dogs, and they recently had two puppies, and this one I got from him for you. This is Lucy. She is only twelve weeks old, and she's yours now. Archie took Marlin, the other puppy. Archie is my older colleague," she explained in Harry's direction.

Harry stared at the small dog, who was now meticulously licking his right arm, with a combination of delight and disbelief. "Mine?" he mouthed, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, his happiness expanded tenfold, when he sensed that the canine let out a strong bout of magic.

'I've bonded with you. I am Lucy,' a soft voice penetrated his mind.

'Hello Lucy, I am Harry, and I am very happy,' Harry thought, guiding his thoughts to the canine. 'Thank you so much for bonding with me.'

"Lucy bonded with me," he informed the two ladies and the elf, who were observing them in what seemed to be amusement.

"That's wonderful." Mrs. Figg was the first to react. "She is a magical Borador, a mix of a magical Labrador and an equally magical Border Collie."

'She looks funny,' Harry thought, as he closely examined her fur, realising that one half of her face was black and the other half white with grey. 'Her ears are large and fluffy.' He gently petted the canine's ears, smiling when Lucy let out small noises of apparent happiness that matched his own.

"She seems very gentle," Regina commented, smiling. "Dolly, will you help Harry care for Lucy please?"

"Of course, Mistress Regina. Dolly will help Harry to look after the cutie." Dolly seemed as eager and happy as he felt, and Lucy quickly made her way over to the elf to carefully lick her face. "Thank you, Lucy," Dolly all but squeaked in apparent pleasure.

"I brought some of her favourite food, which my colleague gave me." Harry stared at the witch with a combination of surprise and amazement, when she took a small bag out of her backpack and with a flick of her hand enlarged it to a big box.

"Wow." Recalling that freaks should not be heard, he quickly pressed a hand against his mouth, before his curiosity took over. "Was that magic?"

"Yes, Harry, that was magic, and you're going to learn to do such things very soon." Mrs. Figg's voice was pleasant, and Regina nodded, smiling.

'Cool,' Harry thought in anticipation, as he continued to gently caress the canine's ears, before Lucy suddenly jumped down from the sofa, where she had been perched on his lap, and made her way straight to the box, sniffing the edges with apparent interest.

"Isn't she a cutie?" The older witch looked into the box, before she pulled out a bone, which she handed to the canine, who let herself sink onto Harry's feat and began to eagerly busy herself with her treasure.

'So cute,' Harry thought, feeling very happy at the idea of having a dog just for himself.

"Now, Harry." Mrs. Figg caught his attention again. "I believe that we must take you shopping, as you need clothes among other things. The problem is that no one must see you."

Harry stared at her in shock, the memory of 'No one wants to see let alone hear a freak' pushing itself to the front of his mind. He quickly realised, however, that that was not what the kind witch was implying, when she explained how the headmaster of Hogwarts had made himself his guardian and sent him to live with his relatives.

"He had no right to do such a thing, as I am your magical guardian, but he doesn't know that, and I believe that we don't want to fight him if not absolutely necessary. You must know that he holds several influential positions in the magical world. Therefore, my colleague and I have spent the morning developing something that'll help hiding you."

tbc...?

Thank you so much for the kind reviews for the first two chapters. Are you still interested? Please tell me what you think and what you would like to see in this story (content-wise, pairing-wise, whatever you wish). My muse appreciates it.