Chapter 10
The twins caught him and between the two of them managed to carry him up to flat above their shop.
He woke up to Fred and George were debating on how best to get him cleaned up. After seeing what he had done outside they hadn't wanted to use magic on him as they didn't know if it would cause him to wake up and attack again.
Opening his eyes and sitting up Harry saw that they were in the kitchen no doubt thinking that they wouldn't disturb him with how far away they were.
It was the smells coming from the kitchen that got his interest more than the people in it. There was the delicious smell of roast beef wafting in his direction. Without even noticing it he had stood up and was walking towards the alluring aroma.
Noticing that he was up the twins stopped their debate.
"Hey, glad to see you're awake. If you follow me you can shower. Supper will be ready in about thirty minutes." Fred said as lead Harry down the hall away from kitchen to three doors. He guessed one for each twin and one bathroom.
"Towels are under the sink, don't be afraid to use the shampoo and soap it is all prank free. If you toss your clothes in the laundry hamper the cleaning charm on it will get your clothes clean in about fifteen minutes so take your time." With that Fred opened the door to the modest bathroom and left him to do his thing.
Stripping down and setting the water to as hot as it would go Harry stepped into the shower.
As the warm water hit his body it caused the blood in his fur to dampen. The copper smell that filled his nose caused him to automatically look around for a threat. He forced himself to relax and enjoy the relaxation that the heat provided his muscles.
In the end he just laid his head against the wall and allowed the water to pound on his back as he tried to process what had just happened to him. He was also hoping that what they had said in the letter they gave at the train station was true. That if he needed anything to let them know and they would try to help.
By the time he was finished the bathroom was full of steam and his clothes had been cleaned.
He decided to leave his jacket and gloves off and just walked out with his shirt and pants. Not even bothering to hide his appearance as the twins had seen him when he had collapsed in their store.
Using his hand to wipe the mirror Harry stared at his reflection marveling that while so much about him had changed the colour of his eyes and the wildness of his hair had stayed the same. As he brushed out and tied his hair back in a low ponytail he tried to relax about talking to the twins. Hopefully they would take the news better than their brother had.
With a sigh he turned and left the bathroom and let the smell of roast beef guide him to the kitchen.
Taking in the sight of the five pound roast that had been cooked with carrots and potatoes in the pan caused him to study the twins. Then looking around the room he noticed a few cook books laying around.
Fred was starting to cut the beef with a knife be hand and George was setting the table. Directing the knives and forks where to go using magic as he grabbed some Butter Beer from the fridge.
By the time he got over his shock and stepped inside the kitchen and sat down at the empty seat the twins had sat down and were serving themselves food.
"It's not poisoned you know." Fred said.
"Yea, I just never thought of you guys cooking your own food." Harry said, "No offence but your Mum just doesn't seem like the kind of person to share the cooking tasks. Well unless she was trying to teach Ginny."
Harry remembered an incident two years ago when Molly had tried to teach Ginny to cook through demonstration. Ginny wasn't able to use magic outside of school and Molly used so much magic when cooking it was a wonder the pots and pans hadn't taken on a life of their own.
"That is to true Harry." George replied, "Which is why the second day after leaving school found us in the book store looking for cooking books. Even with them we burnt most of the food when using magic. So we got a couple of muggle books and after the first week we actually ate the stuff we made."
With that all talking was cut off as Harry ate as much as he could. But still remembered his manners that Aunt Petunia had tried to drill into Dudley before every dinner party they had.
For the next half hour as they ate Harry tried to ignore the looks of curiosity and astonishment he received. He didn't know if it was because of his looks or that he ate more than half of the roast as well as the sides.
Wiping his mouth with a napkin Harry sat back with a contented sigh.
"That was delicious." Harry said trying to break the tenses silence that filled the air as forks and knives were set down.
"So." Harry prompted after the nods and the twins not saying anything to him.
"What happened?" Fred asked.
So Harry told them everything that had. From the dream he had during his history of magic exam up until the end of the fight and them finding him hiding by the broom closet own stairs.
He felt justification at his anger towards Ron and Hermione at the responses from the twins when they heard what they had said and done. They also nodded in approval at his plans to leave the country.
What he was surprised to learn about was that Ginny. While she had defended him in the common room that was before she had seen what he was. But after they got back to the Burrow when Ron had continued to blame Harry for everything that had happened at the ministry, she had slapped Ron told him to grow up and take responsibility for his own actions and that Harry had warned everyone that it was dangerous.
As they finished talking Harry's eyes that were drooping about half way through were rebelling at the thought of staying open. So when the twins offered him their couch for the night he didn't think twice about saying yes.
Laying down Harry prayed that his dreams wouldn't be as bad as they normally were.
Unfortunately after the day's events that wouldn't be the case.
The flashes and scent of blood, the sound of screams caused him to bolt up around midnight.
Panting for breath and clutching his head Harry tried to calm his racing heart as his mind was still filled with the echoes from the day's battle. He didn't even realize he was biting his lip until he tasted blood. Feeling his lip with his tongue he felt it heal by itself as he stood up and walked towards the window.
It was had only been three weeks scenes he had woken up in the hospital wing so the moon was half way to being full.
He also knew that he would have to leave in the next week or so. If he could only get across the English Channel and into France he would be able to start heading towards the Black Forest. With any luck he would be there in a couple of weeks if not sooner depending on the transportation he used.
Feeling something tickling his arm Harry looked as he was about to scratch at it. There was a chunk of stuffing attached to his arm. Upon further study he found some stuck under his nails as well.
Looking around Harry saw the cause. Sometime during his dreams he had torn a hole into the backrest of the couch.
With a long suffering sigh he closed his eyes and tried to channel his magic only through his hand which he had pointed at the couch. Thinking only about repairing the couch he ground his teeth at the pain he felt, and extended his magic to the couch and visualized it whole once more. He didn't even think about the spell.
Opening his eyes he smiled when he saw that the couch was back to the way it was before he had destroyed it. Well almost any way. Where the center of the tear had been there was now a scorch mark. Only an inch around but it was still there almost as if the magic had over heated the material in the middle as it drew together in the center.
Turning to the kitchen window he pulled up a chair and sat down and stared out. Watching the moon he let his mind wander. As it wandered it went over the events of the past few weeks. The pain and loneliness he had been feeling since he had woken up started to lay on him. The fear came back and before he knew it tears were running down his cheeks, the pain and frustration escaping in the only way that it could without him destroying everything in sight.
After yesterday he would have to leave the country tomorrow or the day after at the latest. Maybe today even.
With that in mind Harry started on breakfast as the first light of the false dawn started. He was being extremely cautious as he had no idea what the twins would have stashed in the corner.
Two hours later the twins were awoken to the smell of fresh bread and frying bacon. Stumbling out of their rooms they followed the smell to the kitchen Harry laughed at them when he saw them. Both of them had really bad cases of bed head and had on similar looks of shock and astonishment.
Calling them to sit Harry placed the bread and bacon on the table beside the stewed tomatoes, kippers and beans as he cracked half a dozen eggs into a large skillet to cook.
They sat down but continued to stare between Harry and the table that looked to be over flowing.
After the eggs were flipped Harry grabbed the plates. Sliding the eggs onto the plates he sat them down at the respective spots on the table, made sure the stove was off, then sat down himself.
It wasn't until Harry had loaded his own plate with a couple slices of bread, some bacon and a lot of kippers that they shook themselves out of their daze and stated to eat.
"That was delicious Harry." Fred said when the plates were empty and the dishes washing themselves in the sink.
"Where did you learn to cook like that?' George asked.
"Let's just say that until I started at Hogwarts if I didn't make breakfast no one ate. Or at least I didn't and Aunt Petunia cooked." Harry replied.
"Fred, George." Harry started, "I wanted to thank both of you for not turning me in yesterday. I also thought that you should know I will be leaving the country sometime in the next couple of days."
"How long will you be gone?" Fred asked.
"For a couple of years at least, or until everyone stops wanting to kill or experiment on me."
"Can you tell us where?" George asked.
"It's probably best if I didn't. But I will be sending letters with Hedwig when I can. Or a different owl as needed."
As he was saying this Harry was making sure he had everything he had brought with him to the alley yesterday.
Double checking that his wand holster was tight he shrugged his jacket on and hid his ears and tail while pulling in his fur. At least it was slowly getting easier to assume his more human appearance.
"Harry have you thought about trying to see if you can continue to change into a lion at all?" George asked suddenly as Harry was pulling on his gloves.
"No I haven't. I will check that out in my spare time." Harry said.
"I will see you both later. Thanks again for everything." Harry said after he had been escorted to the front door of the shop.
"I will miss you two." He told them both honestly as he pulled each of them into a hug then turned and walked down the alley towards the Leaky Cauldron.
As he walked he took in as much as he could without having to turn his head or turn around. He keenly felt the door of his life in wizarding London close behind him as the front door of the pub shut behind him and he stepped out into the waking streets of muggle London.