WHERE HOME IS
Chapter 3: Take my Hand

Disclaimer:
Disclaimed.

Dedication:
To athenakitty who was always the first to review any of my stories in almost every chapter. I can always count on receiving your review almost minutes after it is posted :o)

Me-Love-You Owls with Strawberry Pie and Bumblebeez Honey to:
CelticHieressFiona and Orka

Author's Note:
EEP! I'm having writer's malfunction right now. I seem to have lost all my abilities to write ever since I sat for the English Essay Paper (I told you exams were evil!) two and a half weeks ago. I don't think it's exactly called writer's block for I have everything teased into place. I just can't get it out! HELP! Inspire me, someone! It took me two whole weeks to write this, this chapter was pure agony! LOL :o)

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Remus Lupin groaned, feeling the blanket slip off him again, exposing him to the chilly morning cold. He grumbled and groped around for the sheet, not bothering to open his eyes and pulled it back around him.

It took another minute for it to slip off and this time, Remus was waiting for it and gave a huge snarl, grasping the blanket and tugging it around him tightly, the fact that a perfectly normal blanket should not be doing runaway escapades, escaping his drowsy mind.

Nothing happened for a long moment and Remus, savoring his sleep blissfully started to relax his hold when the material gave a sudden lurch and twisted strongly away from his light hold. Since Remus had wrapped himself, cocoon like with the blanket, he yelped as it rotated with lightning fast rolls and dumped him onto the floor, head first.

He groaned loudly as the last of his sleep evaporated and he dragged his legs which were still on the bed, down. Rubbing his face with a hand, he opened his eyes and the first thing it fell on was the clock.

Five-thirty!

He grunted and heaved himself on all fours, disentangling his body from the sheets when a particularly sharp pain jabbed into his back. He yelled and flipped over to his back, taking in the brown tawny owl hopping on the floor next to him.

"Why, you blasted creature!" Remus shouted without thinking.

Immediately he wished he hadn't said anything because the owl froze and then with an offended and mighty look, it hopped closer, close enough for Remus to see the parchment tied onto his leg bearing the Hogwarts seal and then the parchments with the Ministry's official stamp in his beak, and then just as Remus reached out for it, it spread its wings and flew onto the high cupboard across the hotel room.

Darn.

"Look, I was half asleep," began Remus edging towards the cupboard. "No, I was fully asleep. And you know, me and you, we are both males. Strong, handsome males."

The Hogwarts post owl who was regarding him with open dislike, now stood stock straight, an angry expression creeping in its eyes.

"I mean, you are a strong, handsome owl. I am a...skinny, weak person, I feel really small standing beside you. You are so striking, gorgeous." Remus quickly amended.

The owl glowered and glared heavily at Remus.

Then Remus noticed that it was bigger than his own owl back home. And his owl was pretty darn big itself. Then it hit him. It was a frickin' female!

"Handsome males," he said quickly. "I mean, back at Hogwarts, there are plenty of strong, handsome males fighting to get on you, the beautiful, stunning and elegant lady of the house. You are so attractive that if I could, I would marry you."

It sniffed (if that was even possible) but it didn't look that angry any more. Females. Feed them a few honey coated words and they lap it all up.

"Come on, my darling sweetheart," Remus cooed, shuddering as he said it. "Let me stroke your soft feathers."

She paused for a moment and then, apparently softened by Remus' heartfelt render, she flew down and perched on his outstretched arm, preening her feathers waiting for him to stroke her.

It was then too late to realize that all males were the same, and that Remus was just interested in the letters she carried as he snatched the parchments from her beak, eliciting a hoot of anger and then grabbing her leg, tore off the letter.

She squawked so loudly that Remus was sure she was going to wake the whole hotel up before pecking him angrily and taking off into the sky again, no doubt to call her groupies for further attack plans. Females remember.

Remus rolled his eyes at that thought and then focused on the parchments addressed to him. He opened the Hogwarts letter first, not knowing what to expect, and skipped to the signature at the bottom. Dumbledore.

His eyes roamed upwards and before he could progress any further from 'Dear Remus,' the words 'Ministry', 'release', 'afternoon' and 'Obliviate' leaped from the surface.

Remus sucked in a fairly large amount of air and pounced onto the next parchments which were bound up with a big red ribbon, just like the stupid things they handed out during graduation, and with the Ministry's crest on paper. Remus undid the ribbon, hand shaking slightly and broke the wax seal and unfolded the papers.

He let out his breath in a long whiff and sat back on his heels. Finally.

*

The hell with afternoon. They were not going to wake him up at five thirty and expect him to wait for another six hours in his room.

He stepped onto the road that would lead him to the Carltons and began to walk to the farmhouse. Birds chirped overhead and the slight chilly breeze reminded him of the times when he, Sirius, James and Peter woke up and three in the morning and crept off to sneak into Honeydukes.

They always remembered to pay for the sweets they took, placing the money on the counter. They never stole, but instead felt it challenging to creep into dark places and avoid getting caught.

He smiled as he remembered the letter again, its contents etched into his mind the moment he had picked up Dumbledore's letter and read it back to front, left to right.

~*~*~

Dear Remus,

I trust you are well and safe. The Ministry took a short time to approve my application and it rather surprised me that it was actually sufficient enough to grant me permission to perform the strongest Obliviate spell to wipe out six years of memory in a Muggle.

Then I realized, it was, after all Harry James Potter we were talking about. Back to the point, Sirius, Severus and Minerva would be heading to your place at around noon, the time the Ministry had appointed for us to perform the spell.

I ask you to stay put at your room to meet them. An early good luck to you, if everything goes well, I shall see you and Harry before tea time.

Dumbledore

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Sirius was also coming! Remus couldn't wait to see his face when he would push the ridiculously sweet and innocent six year old to the great bumbling Godfather of his. This was what Sirius was waiting for, the precious moment when he was going to meet his Godson for the first time ever.

Remus took slight springy steps, renewed with energy as he stopped in front of the Carltons, hands tucked in his pockets to ward off the cold.

Craning his neck, he bent in every direction imaginable to look into the yard, trying to catch any sign of the six year old. Frowning, he returned his neck to it's natural position, wondering where Harry was. He was usually in the front yard either tending to the flowers or fixing the fences and all sorts of odd jobs since he was still young to do other heavy work.

Smacking his head at his foolishness he realized it was barely past six. Any normal person would still be sleeping in. Except that he thought farmhouse members usually woke up way early.

Hmm...would that myth ever be solved.

He sighed happily and looked up into the sky, catching the last of the fading stars as the sunlight took over the sky, restoring its reign.

A loud bump made Remus jump in surprise and he quickly scooted behind a tree purely on instints. Apparently his spy job had grown on him in the past week.

"Josephine!" a voice whispered. "Watch your step!"

"Sorry," he heard a girl reply. "My neck hurts when I look up."

"Here, let me take that bucket."

Remus heard water sloshing as the object changed hands.

"Where's Harry?"

"Taking the next bucket."

"By himself?" the voice sounded incredulous. "In this...condition?"

"Hey, like I wasn't doing it before you took it from me."

"Well, if you have noticed, it is only half full."

"He'll have the sense to do it too."

"In case you haven't realized by now, that boy refuses to admit if he cannot do it. I suspect that he'll probably die trying to pull that bucket than empty half of it."

Remus poked his head slowly out between leaves.

Josephine and another girl was lugging a bucket of water between them as they made their way towards the stables and he suddenly noticed the bruises on their arms and neck, in fact, on every patch of skin visible under their thin hand-me-downs.

A bad feeling grew in the depths of his stomach.

The girls disappeared around the house and he stepped out from the tree again, determined to find Harry when a slight figure rounded the other side of the house, hauling a bucket of water with him. Remus scooted back behind the tree.

Hidden by the large tree trunk and partly by the leaves, he observed as Harry paused to take a breath, leaning against the wall, rubbing his forehead with a tiny fist.

Remus felt anger taking over as he noticed the bruises and cuts on Harry's body. He was just about to get the hell out there and take the boy away when the window opened beside Harry who was still leaning against the wall.

"Am I feeding you to rest!" Mr. Carlton bellowed. "Buck up! If you want to help your friend to run away, be prepared to do his chores as well! Now move before I come out to make you."

Harry jumped and said something softly which Remus couldn't hear from his spot but could interpret as a 'sorry' and 'yes'. Harry bent down, Mr. Carlton still muttering at the window, and picked the bucket up, straining from the weight and went around the other wall.

Harry relaxed a little when he was out of the line of fire, hauling the bucket towards the stables, the doors opened slightly. He pushed it a little and inserted his small frame into the stables where Josephine and Peggy were filling the troughs with water and hay.

"Water," Harry said softly to get the girls' attention.

They turned and Josephine took the bucket from Harry. "You okay?"

Harry nodded wordlessly. "Yeah." he answered absently. "More water?"

Peggy glanced over her shoulder. "Soon. But we can afford to rest for the next five minutes."

"Who says so?" Mrs. Carlton stood in the doorway, a sneer making her otherwise beautiful face, ugly. She walked over and cuffed Peggy once. "Girl, don't you think that you are the oldest, you can have funny ideas. Harry, get on with the water! Are you planning to work only on the stables the whole day?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Then get on the way," Mrs. Carlton snapped. "Are you waiting for an engraved invitation?"

"No, Ma'am."

Harry felt a funny lightheadedness as he stood beside Peggy, his feet feeling like they didn't belong to him at all. He flexed his fingers a little but they seemed a little too heavy. He felt a flash of panic and quickly shook his head to clear his mind but his response seemed sluggish. What is happening? He blinked a few times.

Mrs. Carlton was saying something again. "You are treading on dangerous grounds, Harry Carlton. Are you defying my orders?"

Peggy and Josephine both looked nervously at Harry, Josephine nudging the boy sharply to get his attention. Harry snapped out of his thoughts. What was Mrs. Carlton saying?

"Yes, Ma'am," he said hurriedly, groping in the dark.

Peggy shoved another elbow into Harry's already bruised ribs and it took all his willpower not to cry out. "He means no, he's not defying any orders you put forward," she said at once.

However, Mrs. Carlton's eyes had flashed in anger at Harry's answer and she took a step forward. The bucket of water that Harry had earlier placed on the ground went unnoticed to the woman and she walked closer, overlooking the object.

"Ma..." started Josephine tensely.

Harry wanted to warn her, wanted to get the bucket out of the way before she tripped over it and drenched herself but his limbs would not obey his orders. He was dead tired, not even managing to sleep for over ten minutes the last night, waking up in short intervals.

Furthermore, ever since Shane had left, he felt lost and alone. Even if he still had his sisters, they were after all...sisters. Shane had been his only brother and in refusing to follow him, Harry knew the chances at seeing him again soon was slim.

Plus, the resentment at being treated so differently in contrast to the real heirs of the Carltons had reached the boiling point and he just felt rebellion welling up within him.

"Watch..." Peggy tried, anxiously.

Too late, the few steps needed to trip over the darned bucket had been taken and Mrs. Carlton found herself sprawled onto the floor, sopping wet with the cold tap water.

"HARRY CARLTON!"

But for once, Harry didn't feel fear.

*

Remus fidgeted under the large shady tree, fighting against instinct and instructions. Instincts told him to ignore commands, get in there and take the last Potter out of that house they had the guts to call 'home' while instructions told him to ignore instincts, stay under this blasted tree and wait until the sun rose directly above his head.

He slid to the ground, turning his back towards the farmhouse and leaning on the tree trunk for the sight of the Carltons' Farm didn't help matters much accept to fuel his desire to follow his instincts.

The chatter in his head grew to a loud talk, then heightened to a shouting match. "SHUT UP!" he snarled. A few birds chirped in fright and took off.

Remus took a few breaths and glanced at the Muggle watch strapped onto his wrist. The hands pointed to certain numbers took him a minute to decipher. It was only half past seven. A pathetic, torturous four and a half hours before noon! ARGH!

He got up, and stomped off onto the road, back to his hotel. That was it. Dumbledore can't send a letter right in the early morning telling everything would be done at noon expecting him to spend the time lounging around and eating chocolate chips and ice-cream.

What were they doing back in Hogwarts anyway? What, they needed four hours and a half to apparate? He glanced at the house, seemingly quiet and peaceful at the front, but Remus could just feel the sorrow and grief harbored deep inside, and retraced his steps back to the hotel.

He was going to write to Dumbledore to speed things up. If he was an old man, it didn't mean everyone had to be slow as he was. He knew he was being a little unfair for Dumbledore had to have his reasons but impatience won him out and he was going to owl the Headmaster to hassle and bug him until Harry was safely in his arms.

*

I'm just going to pretend this story is worth reviewing without a 'please review!' graphic for along with writer's malfunction comes graphic breakdown.

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Replies to Reviews from:

Lyss, Invisible Child, Black-Rose1212, Abbally, MikiBaby, amyaggie, SilverKnight7, Loopy Luna Lovegood, Cat Riddle, restless-soul, willow ann rover, hgf54bgfgfs, lissa+harry=luv, missgiggles120687, kjkit, hp-lover-1-lol -- Thankies!
AthenaKitty -- Hmm...I was thinking more of 'magical' escapade...
Jadyn Potter -- Yes! I passed Jadyn's examination!
Alexis-Lee -- He was? *gulp* Uh-oh. Sigh, I knew I shoulda stuck to Sirius...
Krysalys73 -- Krysalys, the Avenging Angel! Boy, that name sounds nice! *steps aside* Please feel welcome to kick the living crap out of them. *hands you a club* Take this with you too, no rental fee charged. LOL.
Rubberduckie713 -- I hope you get out of your writer's block soon enough! Your story's sitting on my computer and it's labeled 'incomplete, harass author if come across'. I'll poke you until you finish it! *poke poke poke*
Froboy -- Shoots them? You are evil! We shouldn't just...shoot them, we must first chop them into exactly 117 and a half pieces, fry it and feed it to the crocs. LOL.
Serpent of Light -- *cries* Someone called me talented! Aw, crap, I'm blushing again...
Savoy Truffle -- Haha! Then he can just get promoted to the next level where he eats purple mangoes topped with tomato sauce.
SilverDragonHawk -- Huh? Does work? What work? Seriously, I didn't do anything on purpose, did I miss words out? I didn't mean to!
StarWest45 -- More interest in the other kids? NO! Look at Harry, look at Harry! *turns your head forcefully towards the adorable Harry* Your real name's Peggy? Oops...
Japonica -- Not even in summer?! Yikes. Beats Australia... Have I read any of Enid Blyton's books? Hey, everyone practically grows up with it! The first book I read was 'The Adventures of Binkle and Flip'. Haha, thinking of 'Secret Island', eh? No, Peggy didn't come from there! Or maybe she did...I just stuck in whatever name was floating around at that time ;)
Yana5 -- I like Sirius too! But sometimes we just gotta explore! (And I'm never going to after this...)
down-right-mystical -- Hey, I love Sirius too! (I was trying to explore another character but sigh...it doesn't settle well, Remus keeps acting like Sirius...) Anyway, about the apple and tree? I am just insane. No significance. Hope it doesn't bother you...lol
Hp-Azn -- Oops. When I made Shane run away, I was actually trying to get rid of him...haha!
Miss-Cho-Potter -- *giggle* Pardoned!