Disclaimer: You know the drill, don't own them, and never will, sadly enough.
A/N: I decided to write this story in memory of Richard Harris (For those of you who don't know who he is, he is the guy who played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies.) He died on Friday in a London hospital. I just thought it was sad because since I write about him (The character he portrays in the movies) in my stories, I felt close to his character, and it's just all confusing. Anyways, here is the story, hope you enjoy it.
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It was a gloomy day, perfect for meeting Vernon Dursley at least that is what Harry thought as he sat on Ron's bed. He had been dreading this day since he found out about it just last week. If he could just disappear without anyone missing him, he would. But someone would find him eventually, and then he'd be in big trouble. Life definitely sucked. He had to meet with his uncle in less than an hour. 'Why couldn't Voldemort have just killed me?' The thought popped into his head before he could stop it. 'I did not just think that thought.' But he had, and there was no turning back now. Compared to living with the Dursley's again, death sounded good. This was definitely not good. He could and he would survive. If they touched him again, he would make sure his godfather or the Weasley's knew about it. He would never live like that again, ever. With his mind on more solid ground, he decided to go downstairs and join the others for breakfast. Hermione had tried unsuccessfully three times to get him to go down, and now he would.
Upon entering the kitchen, he noticed that he wasn't the only one in a bad mood. The whole lot of them looked like they had just lost their most favorite puppy. Sirius looked particularly upset. Harry decided to put up a front, and smiled as he entered the room. He was hoping that they weren't seeing straight through him.
"Good morning." He said, faking merriment. Ron and Hermione looked at him as if he had lost his mind. And for a moment they were literally pondering the idea. They knew how much he hated his uncle.
"You don't have to pretend to be happy for us Harry. We know." Sirius said, patting the chair beside him, in indication to sit down. Harry did so, and the smile slipped from his face, showing his gloom. Sirius gathered his godson in a quick embrace, knowing Harry wasn't too big on hugs. "It'll be alright. We'll be just in the next room if you need us."
"I know." The only way Sirius would agree to let Harry see his uncle and not kidnap him, was if the visit was in the same house. This proved to be slightly difficult, because they had to find a social worker who knew about the wizarding world, and wouldn't pass out if they saw anything abnormal, at least abnormal in the muggle sense of things. Dumbledore personally hand picked the woman who would supervise any visits in the present and in the future. She had been a student at Hogwarts, and was now living and working in the muggle world, as a social worker.
"You know, they'll be here any minute now. Perhaps we should go into the living room?" Remus was still staying at the Burrow after Sirius had requested him to do so.
"I'd rather stay out here until the rodent arrives, just so he knows we are here. I'd like to see him squirm." said Sirius, with a menacing tone in his voice.
"You can't stay out here, what if this woman recognizes you? You need to turn into Snuffles to be safe." Harry sounded more like the parent than Sirius did.
"You're right, but I can still growl." Harry rolled his eyes, and Remus laughed.
"Fine, growl if it'll make you feel better about the situation, but we should really leave now." Remus was now pointing at the living room, and most of them were following him. The only ones left were Snuffles, he had already turned into his animagus form, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Harry was beginning to get nervous, and started pacing the room. He hadn't realized until that exact moment that he really didn't want to see his uncle. The thought of it made him want to throw up. So he did. He ran straight to the trash can and puked. Harry felt a hand rubbing his back in a comforting gesture, and almost pushed it away. His irrational fear of touch was beginning to come back, along with his uncle. He stood up and wiped his mouth with a shaking hand.
"Oh Harry." Molly made to give him a hug, only this time he did push her away.
"Don't." She immediately backed off, but was reluctant to leave his side. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a worried look, and was about to just call the whole thing off, when Harry finally gathered his wits about him.
"It's alright, go ahead and answer the door." He really didn't want to do this.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah." 'God, I don't want to do this.'
She nodded her head and went to open the door. Standing there on the porch was his uncle Vernon, looking as fat as ever, and a woman no one had ever seen before. She looked quite young. She had long red hair that was currently up in a sophisticated looking bun, and was dressed in black slacks with a white top. She carried with her a black briefcase. "Come in." Molly hissed. The woman gave her an odd look and followed Vernon into the room.
"Hello, my name is Indra Rostau." The woman held out her hand for Molly to shake, which she did, but wasn't to thrilled about it. Her personal opinion was that this woman was the devil incarnate if she was helping this bastard. The only thing holding her back from telling her all this was the fact that Dumbledore had picked her, and therefore, he must trust her. "I'm sure you want to get started right away." She said this while looking at Harry, and he could see the concern in her eyes. He couldn't decide it he trusted her or not. "Why don't we just have a seat in the kitchen here? Is that alright with everyone?" Once again, she only addressed Harry, completely ignoring his uncle, who was beginning to look annoyed.
"That'll be fine." said Molly, leading the way into the kitchen. "Sweetie, do you want us to stay with you?"
"No, I'll be okay." Inwardly, he was wishing with all his might that they would just stay in the room with him. But he didn't want to seem like a coward in front of his uncle, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Holler if you need anything, okay?" Molly and Arthur left the room, leaving Harry alone with his uncle and the social worker. Harry was eyeing Indra skeptically.
"Is there something you would like to ask Harry?"
"Well, actually, yeah. Are you sure you're even old enough to be qualified for this job?"
Indra looked slightly amused, yet annoyed all at the same time. Apparently she got this a lot. "I can assure you Mr. Potter that I am highly qualified for this line of work, and I am old enough. I'm twenty-five years old. I've been doing this for three years now. Are there any more questions you would like to ask?"
Harry didn't speak anymore. Taking the silence as an affirmative, she continued. "Well, why don't we start with you two getting to know each other again? Just talk about what has been going on in your daily lives, get comfortable being in each others presence." Harry didn't seem in the least bit agreeable to do this. He didn't want to talk to the man at all, but made the effort just the same.
Harry was surprised when his uncle gently placed his hand over his, leaned in and said "I'm sorry." Harry didn't know what to think.
"Okay." Harry took his hand out from under his uncle's hand, not feeling comfortable with the contact. He couldn't ever remember a time when his uncle had touched him gently.
"Harry do you have anything else to say?" she was trying to push them into a conversation. Harry finally started talking, just mentioning odd things that he and his friends had been doing during the summer. It went on like that for an hour, Harry and Vernon talking about odds and ends, and finally time was up.
"Well, this session is finished." Indra looked at Vernon as if trying to figure out whether or not she trusted leaving him alone for a moment while she went and discussed the next visitation day with the Weasleys. Then she saw something flash in his eyes, something that sent a chill down her spine, but then it was gone, and she was sure she had imagined it. But it wasn't something she would put off easily. "Come along Harry, we need to talk to the Weasley's." Harry nodded and stood up, following Indra into the living room, where the others were still waiting for him patiently, well maybe not patiently.
"Is it finally finished?" asked Ron, standing up from the couch, running over towards his friend, and skidding to a stop beside him. "It's about time." He whispered. Harry laughed.
"You're telling me." He whispered back.
Harry could vaguely make out Indra speaking to the Weasley's about next Saturday, but he was too busy thinking about his uncle. Had he really changed? Somehow, he didn't think so. But he couldn't be sure. She had mentioned at some point that if things went well, that he would be spending Christmas Break with the Dursley's. The moment she said it, he had gone pale, and she had noticed. She also made a mental note of it. Harry finally noticed that Indra and his uncle were leaving, and waved, caring none in the least, after them. As he turned around, he came face to face with everyone, who was staring at him.
"Do you really have to spend Christmas with him?" asked Hermione, looking on the verge of spitting fire.
"I guess." Harry sat down on the couch, hoping that his uncle had changed, especially if he had to spend the whole of Christmas break with him. 'This sucks.'
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"How did it go?" asked Petunia, who was making their lunch, and not looking like she was too happy about it.
"Well enough, I guess. I just have to make him think that I won't hurt him again, and then once I get him here for his break, I'll drill it in his head how it's going to be." He smiled sweetly at his wife and sat down for his lunch.
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A/N: I hope that ya liked this chapter, it's going to get more exciting with the next few chapters, I can tell you that much, so keep reading. I'll try and keep the updates more regular now.
Ashes: Thanks for the great review. I am very proud of my plot actually. I'm hoping that it is the only one out there, but with as many as there are on this site, who knows.
Weird: Well, whatever, I meant that it was similar, or something like that. I haven't gotten to reading it yet, but I will as soon as I get finished with this. Writing these stories can be demanding. I'll be sure to read yours and put up a great review!
Lei Dumbledore: Yes, I know, my stories are wonderful!!!!!!!!! I'm just being stupid. Anyways, I went and read one of your stories just to see how they are, and you're right, you are the 'harry torture' kind of person. But hey, aren't we all? But I'm sure you can tell which way I'm going with this from the end of this chapter. I'm so mean! I guess we've both got sick, demented, and twisted brains, because just wait until the next few chapters.
CatalinaRose: Glad you loved that chapter. Hopefully you loved this one as well. Yeah, the stalker is gone, so far, so I can update more frequently! Woo-Hoo!