Truths, Secrets, and Lies
Disclaimer:
Aside from the plot (and future characters), everything belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
Summary:
Throughout his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry discovers a paradox that could quite possibly upturn his life.
A/N:
This story was formerly called 'Harry Potter and the Lost Year,' however, an alteration in storyline called for a new (better) name. 'Truths, Secrets, and Lies,' however, is going to be extremely different from the 'Lost Year,' especially in later chapters.
Chapter 2
Harry's slumber had been disrupted by troublesome dreams—he had awoken in a cold sweat at three in the morning because of one particular dream.
Rubbing his eyes, Harry recalled the dream…
There had been children playing beneath the hot summer sun. The children had been the very quintessence of happiness. However, a dark shadow had engulfed the sun, casting the children into darkness. Then the Eeath Eaters made their appearance. Jaw clenched, Harry fought to forget the screams of the children…
Deciding that sleep was out of the question, Harry merely lay on the couch in Mrs. Figg's parlor, and stared out the window, absently marveling at the joy the children had expressed before sadness swept over him. How long would their carefree happiness last? Would Muggles be informed of the atrocities Voldemort had committed, or indeed, what he was capable of?
Despite himself, Harry yawned widely. Not wishing to suffer more nightmares, Harry decided to ward off sleep, and crept tentatively through the unfamiliar house to the kitchen, where he poured himself a glass of water with shaky hands. He rinsed out the glass, and was about to go back to the parlor, when he heard a soft rap at the window; tap, tap, tap.
Harry stopped mid-stride and looked out into the pressing darkness. Tap, tap, tap; he heard again, this time seeing a flash of white.
"Hedwig!" he exclaimed gleefully. As quickly as possible, he opened the window, and allowed Hedwig to perch on his arm as he removed the letters from her leg. Then, he filled two dishes in her cage with water and a bit of meat. In return, she hooted gratefully, and began to nibble at her food.
In the meantime, Harry lit a lamp in the parlor, and began to read the two letters he had received.
The first had come from Hagrid.
Harry,
I hope Hedwig can find you… I'm pretty far away from Surrey on Hogwarts business. Though, I'm sure she can—heaven knows how or why she chose to find me. You have one smart owl, Harry.
Anyway, our recruiting of the giants hasn't been entirely successful. Apparently, You-Know-Who had the same idea as Dumbledore. Many of the giants we've spoken to are enlisted by Death Eaters.
However, we have gotten many giants to join our side, though for a price. Through negotiations, I uncovered a bit of information you'd be interested in hearing. I'll tell you at Hogwarts.
Rubeus Hagrid
And Olympe Maxime (who authored this note)
Harry pondered for a moment what information Hagrid had uncovered, then, with a smile, he decided that there were few things Hagrid would wish to discuss, but Madame Maxime and dangerous creatures were at the top of the list. Still smiling, Harry opened the next note, written in Ron's unmistakable scrawl.
Harry, Mum's just told me that you're coming to stay with us! Can you believe it? Last year, Dumbledore sounded as though you'd be trapped at the Dursley's for the whole summer (what a drag that would be, eh?). Anyway, Hermione recently wrote to tell me that she's staying at Vickie's house in Bulgaria. I guess we can't compare with Vickie. She should be coming to the Burrow tomorrow, though, so I suppose I will get to find out all about Bulgaria. I can't wait… HA!
I'm sending this letter with Hedwig, because Errol looks as though one more delivery will finish him off… Ginny got rather upset when I spoke of using him. It was pretty lucky Hedwig showed up.
I'll see you soon mate!
Ron
Harry shook his head in disbelief. Ron and Hermione bickered all the time, but (especially more recently) he had noticed the duo were really only skirting around their true feelings.
Finally feeling content in knowing he still had friends who cared about him, Harry slipped beneath his covers, and eased into a blissfully dreamless sleep.
*~*~*
Sunlight streamed onto his face as Harry suddenly woke. He lay still for a moment as he tried to remember what had wakened him, when the cause for his disturbance became painfully clear. From the kitchen, the deafening noise of Mrs. Figg could be heard. Reluctantly, Harry rose to greet the woman who had given him a safe place to sleep.
"Hello, Mrs. Figg," Harry said—his voice still gravely from the hours of nonuse.
She glanced up only long enough to flash Harry a smile before returning to stir her batter and saying, "Good morning, Harry. I'm making pancakes. Many of my peers chose to use magic to make food, but I've always found it leaves a certain something to be missed…" she began to babble. "Anyway, these pancakes should be finished in fifteen minutes. I saw you received a letter from a Hermione Granger—I put the letter on the table beside the couch in the parlor."
"Thanks," Harry said. "I think I'll go read that now."
Hello, Harry! I hope you've had a pleasant summer. I've only just returned from Bulgaria—it's such a beautiful country, and it has an absolutely fascinating history…
(She continued to prattle about famous witches and wizards from Bulgaria, but Harry decided to skip to the bottom of the paragraph)
I'm looking forward to visiting the Burrow—I've never been more ready to be surrounded by friends. Mum and Dad are driving me to London in a few hours, and I'm to meet the Weasleys at Diagon Alley. We're not buying our school supplies yet, but Mr. Weasley wanted to have dinner with my parents, so Mum and Dad offered to pay for dinner at the Leaky Cauldron.
Ron's just wrote me to say that you're coming to his house soon. I can't wait to see you!
With love,
Hermione
P.S. I'm sending this with Ron's 'Pig.' I do hope he's more reliable than Ron claims…
Harry carefully folded the piece of parchment, placed it by Hagrid's, and Ron's letters, and walked back to the kitchen.
"I hope you received good news?" Mrs. Figg asked as she poured pancake batter onto a griddle.
"Oh, my friend, Hermione, just sent me a letter—I guess now that they know I'm not at the Dursleys', they are more encouraged to tell me all the news I'm missing out on."
Mrs. Figg laughed, "Yes, well, luckily you'll be able to see them soon."
"Yes," Harry agreed.
*~*~*
The remaining days before the Weasleys were to make their appearance at Mrs. Figg's house passed in a blur. Harry had come to grow fond of his formerly elderly neighbor. She had recounted numerous stories about herself and her adolescent friends: Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus.
"…I remember Lily and James' wedding—it was like a fairytale. Lily had insisted on purchasing matching rings made of a particular substance… Oh I can't remember what it was called! James desperately wanted to buy his bride a magnificent gold and diamond ring, but Lily threatened to call off the wedding unless he agreed to these silver-colored rings. Of course, James was never one to deny his bride-to-be anything. Even at Hogwarts he was constantly trying to impress her with lavish gifts, but Lily would have none of it…"
Despite the fact that he couldn't help but look forward to seeing his best friends and his favorite wizarding family again, Harry felt himself almost dreading leaving Mrs. Figg's house. No one Harry had met would speak so candidly about his parents, and he decided rather enjoyed it.
"Harry, do you have your trunk packed to go to the Weasleys'? They should be here any moment…" Mrs. Figg said, bustling around the house to make sure that there was nothing Harry had forgotten.
"I think I've got everything," Harry said as he gazed out a window to see the street.
"All right. I just don't want you to forget any—oh! They're here," she exclaimed.
Harry, too, noticed the forest green Ministry cars pull up to Mrs. Figg's picketed fence. At once, Mrs. Weasley leapt out of the car, and began to walk briskly, almost desperately, to Mrs. Figg's front door. She rapped on the door, and waited impatiently for her husband to join her. Harry quickly opened the door to greet Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
"Harry, dear! We're so happy to see you!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed upon spotting Harry. She strode to Harry and nearly smothered him in a hug. Harry enjoyed this affectionate, motherly gesture, but, nevertheless, was glad to be able to breathe again.
"Hi, Mrs. Weasley," he said as he smiled at her.
"Hello, Harry," Mr. Weasley said next, and jokingly added, "I'm glad to see you're in one piece. Ron can't wait to see you—Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are fixing a 'welcome home' dinner for you at the house. Hermione's been here for about a week. She and Ron have been very anxious to see you."
"Yeah. I've barely survived the summer without being able to talk to them."
An angry look crossed Mrs. Weasley's face. She didn't care much for the Dursleys and their unfair treatment towards Harry.
"Surely, next summer, Albus Dumbledore won't send you back to that horrible family… Ah! Arabella!" Mrs. Weasley said, seeing Mrs. Figg for the first time.
After the two women embraced as old friends do, Mrs. Figg said, "Molly, you know the measures of safety Albus put on that house years ago—Harry couldn't be safer anywhere else!"
With a sigh, Mrs. Weasley conceded, "I know. I just feel safer when Harry stays with us…"
With a slightly feigned smile, Mrs. Weasley suggested the trio be on their way to the Burrow.
"Yes, you probably should be on your way," Mrs. Figg agreed. "Goodbye, Harry. I hope to see you soon."
"Bye, Mrs. Figg. Thanks for having me stay here."
"Don't mention it. Now, off you go," she said, handing Harry his bundle of letters.
After a drive (that was considerably shorter than Harry thought it would have been in Uncle Vernon's company car), Harry was finally reunited with the Weasleys. He walked into the cozy kitchen and could smell the delicious foods. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny looked exhausted after their food-preparing.
Dinner was a jovial affair. Harry completely lost himself while he listened to stories of the Weasleys (Fred and George also informed Harry, in confidence, that their business, Weasley Wizard Wheezes, was prosperous—they had invented a new candy called 'Tail Taffy,' which caused the unsuspecting eater to sprout the tail of various animals, depending on the flavor). Hermione told Harry that she had gone to visit Viktor Krum in Bulgaria.
"…It's simply lovely there. Viktor spent hours showing me Quidditch maneuvers—"
Ron scoffed, though Hermione chose to ignore him.
"—And I told him about the classes I'm taking. He asked me about my previous years at Hogwarts, but I felt I couldn't tell him everything. He didn't like to think I had secrets I was keeping from him…" She drifted off, lost, momentarily, in her thoughts.
"Anyway," she said with a sigh, "Viktor and I agreed we shouldn't see each other romantically anymore. Logically, it was the best thing to do."
Triumph gleamed in Ron's eyes. "Really? Was this Vickie's idea, or yours?" he inquired.
Angrily, Hermione retorted, "As I've told you three times already, that is none of your business, Ron…" and, as an afterthought added, "And don't call him 'Vickie!'"
Ron, wisely, in Harry's opinion, chose not to reply, but he did whisper into Harry's ear, "I've been meaning to catch her off-guard, so she'd answer that…"
After a brief silence, Hermione asked Harry why he'd been allowed—indeed, nearly forced—to stay at the Weasleys. Harry recounted his conversation with Professor Dumbledore, in which the headmaster of Hogwarts had informed Harry of the events at Azkaban.
"Oh, Harry! That's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed. "But why did you have to stay with your neighbor?"
"Well… Dumbledore said something about Mrs. Figg being my protector, but I don't really understand why I had to stay there. It was almost like he wanted me to figure something out."
Ron, who had been looking pale, and having remained silent for nearly ten minutes, finally commented on Harry's tale, "Dumbledore—he doesn't think the Death Eaters might be after you, does he?"
"I dunno," Harry said, shifting uncomfortably. "It's possible, I s'pose. It's pretty common knowledge that I live with the Dursleys, so I guess the Death Eaters could find me…"
Harry noticed his friend was looking rather ill, so he ventured tentatively, "Ron? Are you okay?"
Ron swallowed audibly. Harry knew that Ron feared Voldemort and his supporters more than Harry did, and almost wished he hadn't told him about his discussion with Dumbledore.
"Yeah, it's just… I still can't believe You-Know-Who is back. I mean, all my life I've been told that I 'wouldn't understand' what it was like all those years, and it just occurred to me that my best mate could be in more danger than anyone could imagine… It's a little scary," Ron explained.
Harry tried smiling confidently, but failed miserably. Truth be told, Harry was beginning to worry about his involvement with Voldemort as well.
"But you're forgetting," Hermione chimed in, "The only wizard You-Know-Who fears is at Hogwarts! Dumbledore would never let anything happen to you, Harry."
Willing himself to believe Hermione's words, Harry engrossed himself in eating his dessert, only half-listening to George as he recounted his heroic—if somewhat exaggerated—tale of saving a young Ginny from a group of extremely overconfident gnomes.