"Harry, what's going on

A/N Hi everybody! Here it is, the lucky thirteenth chapter. Hmmm, lets see, I'll be gone this weekend, but I could probably get home to post on Sunday or Monday, that is, if I get enough reviews. This chapter is kind of weird and has some extremely disturbing scenes in it. I don't know what exactly I was on when I wrote it, but if it disturbs you, please just skip ahead and don't read it. Anyway, enjoy and REVIEW!

"Harry, what's going on."

"Nothing!"

"Remember my house? We already went through this withholding information bit. Now tell me what happened."

"I can't."

"Why not."

"Because you'll get mad."

"I won't get mad."

"Promise?" Harry looked skeptical.

"Yes!"

"Fine. I'm going to spend the rest of the summer with the Dursley's." Harry shrank back a little.

"What! After what they did to you! There's no way you can go back there!"

"You're getting mad."

"I am NOT!" Hermione shouted.

"My mistake." Harry didn't feel like fighting with Hermione now. Hermione sighed and sat down on the sofa next to Harry, resting her head on his shoulder and holding onto him. Harry couldn't help but feel a little bit light headed while she did this.

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't Hermione, I know what I'm doing. It won't happen again."

"Like you've known what you have been doing for the past fourteen years? It's not your fault Harry."

"If it's not my fault then why do they do it?"

"Because they have the screwed up minds, not you. Although sometimes I wouldn't bet on you not having a screwed up mind with some of the stupid things you can do."

"If they have screwed up minds then why don't they do it to Dudley? Face it Hermione, it's my fault."

"Harry, it's not your fault! What do I have to do to get you to see that?"

"There's nothing you can do, because this time your wrong."

"Harry, if you ever say that again you die, understood. Just please try to be careful."

"I will."

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks." Hermione gave him a quick kiss, then went back to his shoulder, where she just lay still for a while. Harry tried not to think about anything, but couldn't help thinking about the Dursley's, the world, and especially Hermione.

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At about the same time that Hermione kissed Harry on the couch at Hogwarts, the invasion of France began. The armies of Voldemort quickly overpowered any resistance that the French Ministry could offer. Death Eaters quickly broke through, and the slaughter of many wizards, witches, and muggles followed. Within two days Voldemort controlled all of France excluding Beauxbatons, which continued to defy him alone. Many wizarding families fled, some to Germany, some to Spain, some to England, even some to America. Those who didn't flee were given the choice to support the new regime or die.

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Early the next morning, Professor Dumbledore came into the Gryffindor common room to find Harry and Hermione in the same position they had been in the night before. He ordered them to only pack a few days worth of clothes, and leave the rest of their stuff at Hogwarts. Giving Hermione a pinch of Floo Powder and Harry a portkey, he gave them both the usual lecture about being careful and not drawing attention to themselves. He left them alone to leave. Hermione gave Harry a quick hug and kiss, then had gone into the fire with a shout of "The Burrow". Harry grabbed the portkey a few seconds later landed on the front lawn of the Dursley's. Unsure of what to do, he walked up to the front door and knocked.

Dudley answered the door shortly. Seeing Harry, he slammed to door in his face and ran into the kitchen. Back from his fat camp, he didn't seem any skinnier to Harry. He could here him calling "Dad, Dad!" and could hardly keep himself from laughing. However, he abruptly calmed down when he saw the gigantic figure of his uncle open the door. He slowly walked in.

"Well boy, you are back here again, asking for our charity again." Harry kept on walking, but his uncle grabbed him by the shirt. "Things are going to be a little different around here now, boy. You will treat me with respect. Is that clear?"

Harry didn't say anything.

Vernon Dursley threw Harry hard into the wall by his shirt. "I said is that clear, boy!"

"Yes." Vernon threw him into the wall again, harder this time.

"YES, SIR!" Vernon yelled.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied meekly.

"That's better. Now listen to me you little bastard, before you come in and make lunch for us, I want you to mow the lawn, weed the garden, fix the fence, and paint the garage."

Harry gawked at him. "But that's impossible." Vernon threw him into the wall again, knocking the wind out of him and then dropped him to the ground.

"I want it done! Now get to work."

Working quickly, Harry managed to get the lawn mowed rather fast. He then set to work on weeding the garden. This took a lot longer, and Harry was sweating profusely by the end of it. He knew better than to go ask for a drink, although it had to be almost lunchtime now.

Sure enough, as soon as he started on fixing the fence, he heard the high pitched voice of Aunt Petunia calling him in to cook lunch for the family.

After cooking a quick lunch consisting of many sandwiches and about a two gallons, of soup, Uncle Vernon came in looking extremely angry. "Boy, why is the fence still broken and the garage still not painted?"

"I didn't have time-"

"Bullshit you didn't have time! I could have done it in that amount of time! You just weren't working!"

"Of course I was working! What did you want me to do, use magic!" That did it. Vernon went over and punched Harry as hard as he could, knocking him to the floor. Harry didn't move for a minute, then felt his uncle carrying him up to his room. Throwing him on the floor, Vernon then picked him up and punched him again. Harry could see that Vernon was very red in the face, and Dudley was cheering him on from the doorway. Punching him again, Harry felt everything begin to become dizzy and he fell to the floor. However, the pummeling didn't stop as Uncle Vernon continued to kick Harry while he was on the ground.

"I will not scream, I will not scream," Harry repeated over and over in his mind. He had been in worse pain than this when Voldemort had put him under the Cruciatius Curse. Uncle Vernon gave him one last extremely hard kick to the ribs, and Harry felt his ribs shatter. He had lost his glasses and had tears running down his face, but he still hadn't cried out.

Uncle Vernon leaned over him closely. "Now listen to me. I want you to say that your mother was a stupid bitch for getting herself killed." Harry didn't say anything, but just glared at the blob that was his uncle's face. "SAY IT!"

"Fuck off."

With those words, his uncle punched him again then backed off. "Dudley, go get my belt." Harry shuttered at those words, but once again started steeling himself from crying out. Dudley returned with the belt, and Uncle Vernon reached down and ripped off the shirt that Harry was wearing, one of the ones that Hermione had bought him.

Harry just barely kept himself from crying out when the first swing ripped into his soft back. Lying down and whimpering while his uncle had fun cutting up his back, Harry didn't move as blow after blow came down until his back was laced with bloody cuts.

"Now, boy, I want you to tell me that your mother was a stupid bitch."

"No."

"WHAT!"


"No."


Vernon was even more incensed, kicked Harry over until he was lying on his painful back. Raising his arm again, he brought a blow down with all his strength onto Harry's chest. This time Harry couldn't help himself and screamed, causing Vernon to yell at him again.

"You little shit, do you want the neighbors to hear? Dudley, gag him with my handkerchief." Dudley gagged Harry, and then the treatment continued until Harry's torso and arms were covered in cuts. Still not satisfied, Vernon ripped of Harry's pants and started on his legs. Every time a blow landed, Harry tried to scream but instead choked on the gag in his mouth. Finally Uncle Vernon got tired, and left Harry to lie on his floor, bleeding silently.

"You have half an hour to get back to work, or else I'm coming back up here."

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At the Weasley's, Hermione was having a great time, grateful for something to take her mind off all the things that had been bothering her in the past weeks. It was like a free vacation in paradise with all her friends. And with Fred and George constantly trying to test out their new merchandise, she had to be watchful all the time.

"No, George, I'm sorry, I'm just not that hungry right now. No, it's not that I don't think your are a good cook. Fred! Get away from there."

However, while she was having fun at the Weasley's, she couldn't help but think about Harry and him having to spend the week with the Dursley's. It was only a week. How bad could it be? She only hoped that Harry would be able to handle it, because despite his tough and impenetrable outside appearance she could tell that something was eating at him. Something wasn't right, and she was afraid that if nobody talked to him he would flip out, or do something stupid. Was it Cedric's death? Could it be having the pressure from the whole wizarding world is finally getting to him? Or is it that the Dursley's have finally become too much for him to take.

Oh well, Hermione thought. He's safe for now.

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Harry Potter was anything but safe. He had slowly crawled around on the floor, searching out his glasses. It hurt just to breath, but it hurt ten times worse when he moved, so when he found them he lay still on his back. He slowly and cautiously lifted his head and surveyed his body, not liking what he saw. His chest and stomach had numerous gashes on them, some of them deep and still bleeding. His arms and legs were also covered, but not quite as badly. Harry didn't want to turn over to check on his back, but he could tell that it was the worst.

His uncle was soon calling up to him, telling him that he only had five more minutes to get back to work, or else. Harry didn't want to think what the 'else' would be, so he slowly picked himself up and gingerly put on his ripped pants and shirt, biting his tongue to keep from crying out in pain. It took awhile, but he was finally able to get up and try out his legs. It was extremely painful to walk, but nothing was broken outside of a few ribs. He avoided seeing his aunt or uncle on the way out, and gingerly went back to work on the fence. His pants and shirt were sticking to the blood coming out from the cuts, and it was a very hot day. Harry hadn't had a drink since breakfast that morning at Hogwarts. As he continued to work he could feel himself continue to perspire heavily. He began to feel slightly dizzy, but continued to work through it as he was scared to go as his uncle for a drink. It continued to get hotter and pretty soon he could barely stand up and was seeing spots. His eyes were playing strange tricks on him, and at one moment he was seeing black and the next he was seeing strange colors. Finally he couldn't take the heat any more, and he keeled over and passed out.

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Hermione had spent the last few days at the Weasley's having fun, but it was now Thursday and time to start thinking about school again. They were going to Diagon Alley today, and she also had to pick up all of Harry's school supplies, as he was unable to go. Not being allowed to send an owl to the Dursley's to check on Harry really worried her, and she was scared that things wouldn't be all right with him. She had no clue as to how he was going to get out to go to the Council meeting on Saturday night, and also she realized that she didn't know how she was going to sneak out. She decided to tell Ron that night the whole story about the Council, and see if he could cover for her when she left. She knew that Anton would come to get her that Friday night, but she still hadn't found out how. And she also had to get studying for the O.W.L.s. She had been forcing Harry to study an hour a day with her at Hogwarts, but she had gotten out of the routine when she had come to Ron's.

Also, this year she had to deal with the added pressure of being a prefect, as her letter from Hogwarts had informed her. She received it yesterday, and couldn't help but feel surprised that she had gotten the prefect position, seeing all the rules she broke when she was there. She knew that there were two prefects per year per house, and she wondered who would be the male prefect. She hoped that it was Harry, as Ron hadn't got a notice in his letter. However, there was no way that she could know until she saw him on the train next week. Hearing Mrs. Weasley calling up to her to get going, she raced down the stairs and joined the Weasley's at the bottom.

"About time Hermione, what took you so long?"

"Nothing, Ron, I just had to use the shower late because someone took so long."

"If by that vague statement you are referring to me, then I have no clue what you are talking about."

"You wouldn't, Ronaldo, you never were the brightest."

"Oh, Hermi, I'm so sorry, you are right as always."

"Don't call me that!"

Ginny finally stepped in between the two. "Would you two please lay off each other, just for a minute? We're all ready to go."

Ginny went first into the fireplace, shouted out "Diagon Alley" and disappeared. Fred and George went next, Mr. Weasley went after them, and then Hermione and Ron went, followed by Mrs. Weasley.

When they landed in the Leaky Cauldron at Diagon Alley, Mrs. Weasley gave them each some money to buy school supplies and told them to meet outside of Gringots at three. It was ten now, so they had five hours to buy supplies and shop. Fred and George quickly found their friend Lee Jordan, and Ginny found some other fourth years to hang out with. Ron and Hermione went over to get an ice cream, and then they had to go to Gringots so Hermione could get money for Harry's supplies. However, as they were coming out, they saw Draco Malfoy, accompanied by Crabbe and Goyle.

Draco sneered when he saw them. "Well, if it isn't Weasel and the Mudblood. Where is the other one, to busy hiding to show himself in public?"

"Shut up, Malfoy, or we are going to have a ferret bouncing around here very shortly," Ron shot back.

Draco took it in stride. "Scary, Weasel. I must say, this is a place I thought I'd never meet you, outside of a bank. Oh, but I'm sorry, the Mudblood is getting the money. Why am I not surprised?"

"Listen up Malfoy, which I know isn't something you're good at. Shut it and sod off." Hermione looked like she was ready to go off and slap Draco again, and for once Ron had to be calm. Seeing as how Harry wasn't there, he didn't exactly feel like getting in a fight with three boys with only Hermione to help him.

"I'll do what I feel like, Mudblood, and you best get used to it. Pretty soon you and your friends and everyone you care about is going to be dead, and if mudbloods like you do survive then we will do anything we want to them. Anything!"

He looked triumphant and walked past them into Gringots. Ron continued walking, but then he noticed that Hermione was no longer at his side. Looking back up, he saw her still standing on the steps of Gringots, crying silently. 'Oh, shit,' Ron thought, 'that bastard got to her.' He knew that Hermione wasn't one to get upset over insults from Malfoy, and he could tell that something he said had hurt her. Going back to her, he threw his arm around her shoulder and dragged her into a dark corner behind a shop.

"What's wrong Hermione?" he asked.

"What if he's right, Ron?"

"Malfoy, be right about something? I think that you need to sit down."

"I'm being serious. What if Malfoy is a Death Eater and does know all this stuff? How do you know that Voldemort isn't going to go after me? Or what if he goes after my parents? I can't do anything for them."

"It's going to be fine, Hermione. We will beat him. Harry and us. Nothing can stop us."

"Did I tell you what they wrote on my bedroom wall after they burnt my house? MUDBLOODS WILL DIE! Now, do you think that it was some sort of accident that they happened to put that on my bedroom wall?"

Ron didn't say anything, and just looked at her. He tried the rest of the time to comfort her, and just let her cry herself out. When she had regained control, she fixed herself up and they continued on with their shopping.

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Up at Hogwarts, Sirius and Remus were meeting with Professor Dumbledore after a meeting of the Staff of Merlin. Having finished up all the important business, the conversation soon turned to Sean Granger.

"What are we going to do with him, Albus? We can't keep him here forever. And we can't send him back home yet, Voldemort knows who he is."

"I haven't decided yet. We could move him to another country secretly. Or we could say he's an exchange student with limited magic." Dumbledore smiled.

"Are you sure that would be wise? I mean, Flitwick is still scared to come out of his office."

"I'm sure that Professor Flitwick will recover Remus. However, we must get him away from Hogwarts before the students come."

"I might have an idea. We might be able to use him. With all the undercover work we do, I've been observing him when he goes out to meet his, er, woman at Hogsmede. He's almost as good as we are, and he even gets around me some nights. And he's a good bull shitter when he gets caught."

Remus and Professor Dumbledore looked at him skeptically. "But he has no magical skills," Remus began.

"So we give him squib courses. I'm telling you, he would be perfect, and he could stay with me."

Dumbledore still looked doubtful, but consented. "Call him in here."

When Sean arrived, the first thing that they noticed was that he had a black eye. "All right Sean, where did you get the black eye?"

"Um, the ghost held a book over my head and when I looked up he dropped it."

"See, that's what I'm talking about with the bull shitting. Now, how did you really get it Sean?"

He looked at Sirius for a minute. "At a bar in Hogsmede. I didn't really do anything, then I'm talking to this guy and he just punched me."

"Why did he punch you?" Sirius asked.

"How was I supposed to know that he was Polish. And what was he doing in an English bar?"


"And I hoped that you learned a lesson from all this," Sirius continued.

"Yes, sir, I know, no more Polish jokes." Sean looked a little bit downcast.

"No, always find out if anyone's Polish before Polish jokes." Sirius gave him a smile, then proceeded to fill in Sean on what was going to happen.

On his way out, Sean stopped and turned back to Sirius. "Hey Sirius, did you hear about the new automatic Polish parachutes?"

"Nope."

"They open on impact."

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