Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter, except some battered books. Anything I write is purely for my own amusement and the pathetic happy feeling I get when someone reviews.
Chapter 3: Family
Evan woke up to noises coming from the kitchen. He slowly crawled out of bed and pulled on the clothes that were left out for him. It was a difficult task, taking a full ten minutes to accomplish. When he was dressed he wrapped a blanket around himself and walked out of the small bedroom.
"Hi, Andy, can I help you with anything?" he asked politely.
Andy turned around slightly startled. "Evan, what are you doing out of bed? You're going to hurt yourself more if you don't relax. Go ahead and sit on the couch. I'll be done in a minute. I'm just making some coffee."
"Are you sure I can't help at all?" Evan asked as he grasped the wall for support.
Andy looked at him with an annoyed expression, but it was easy to see the concern hidden below the surface.
"Look, Evan, you need to stop moving around. I don't know why I ever agreed not to take you to a hospital, other than the fact there isn't one for miles, but you're in really bad shape. I looked through that pouch again and there were only two of your healing potions left. Do you think that's going to be enough?"
Evan made his way to the couch with only a little help from Andy and sat down heavily. "That should be plenty. Actually, the others I took should have healed everything fairly quickly…" he trailed off forgetting he was in the middle of talking to Andy.
"Evan? Hey, Earth to Evan, are you in there?" pestered Andy.
"Wha? Oh, yeah, sorry. I just drifted for a minute. Oh, I forgot to tell you. I was looking at my photo album and one of the pictures fell out. It said my name is 'Harry.' So, I guess you could call me that instead of Evan if you want… I don't really know how I came up with that name, but it just seemed familiar for some reason," Harry explained.
"Did you look at the backs of any others? Maybe you could find someone to contact who can help," exclaimed Andy with much excitement.
"Yeah, maybe. I didn't really look at any of the others. I kind of fell asleep while I was looking. I'll go look again." Harry was about to get up when Andy stopped him with a look.
"I can bring it out here. I told you to stop moving around so much. How are you ever going to get better if you keep straining yourself?"
"Thanks," said Harry as Andy handed him the photo album.
The two looked through the album at the back of every picture. Unfortunately, all they found were phrases like, "Best friends," "Greatest Christmas Ever!", or "MWPP." They had no idea what that last one meant. There were a few other words, but never any names.
"ARGH!" Harry growled. "This is so frustrating! How stupid am I not to have put any names or places on these? Hell, most of them don't even have writing at all." Harry laid his head on the back of the couch and sighed. "Well, would you like to do anything else? We've looked through everything in that stupid trunk, and nothing is giving anything away about me."
"Well, you could tell me some more about all this magic stuff and being a wizard. What you remember anyway," suggested Andy.
Harry tried to think of what he should tell him. What was there to tell if he couldn't remember his own past. He could recite spells for days on end, but he couldn't tell him where he'd learned it all. He could show him how to ride a broom, but he couldn't say if he was good or not, or if there was any purpose other than transportation for them.
"Well, we can do basically anything you do non-magically using magic. Like, cooking, cleaning, traveling, communicating, anything really. All of those things are pretty superficial, but I think magic definitely has its benefits in healing. Muggle medicine is just so invasive and sometimes harms a person almost as much as it helps. We have spells and potions specialized for almost any kind of injury. As I said before, I must have been learning healing, because I know some of the more basic spells. Being a wizard opens up another entire world of being. It's amazing." Harry had a peaceful, dreamy look on his face as he thought about the wonders magic could do. He may not have had any personal memories on the matter, but he could clearly see the magnificence of it all in his mind's eye.
"Could you show me some more magic?" Andy asked excitedly, rather like a five year old.
Harry was a little uneasy. "I'm sure I'm not supposed to be doing magic in front of a muggle… but since no one's come by yet, maybe it doesn't matter in this country? Alright, here goes. Accio Candy bar!" Harry grinned as the requested candy bar flew from the kitchen counter into the palm of his hand. "That was a summoning charm… I guess that was obvious," Harry smiled again. "Do you want half?" he asked. Andy nodded with wide eyes as Harry used a severing charm to cut the candy in half, then he banished it the short distance to Andy's hand.
"Wow! This is so… wow!" Andy exclaimed, and Harry laughed even though he fully agreed. "So, are there any limits? Is there anything that magic can't do?" he asked with twinkling eyes full of amazement.
"Yes, there are plenty of things it can't do, and some pretty awful things it can do. For example, you can torture someone to insanity with a single curse, but so far, no amount of healing can bring them out of it. Another curse kills instantly, but there's no way to bring back the dead," Harry finished quietly. He was suddenly overcome by a feeling of sadness after saying the dead couldn't come back. He couldn't remember why right away, so he pushed the thoughts aside for the moment.
Andy also looked a little sad. "Oh, so you can't bring someone back, even if it wasn't a curse or something that killed them?" he asked with dying hope in his voice.
"Unfortunately, no." There was a somewhat uncomfortable silence until Harry asked, "Er, it's none of my business and you don't have to answer, but who would you bring back if you could?"
Andy looked up and gave him a sad smile. "My father had a heart attack about six years ago. It would be nice to be able to say goodbye, you know? I mean, I've moved on and all that, but I still wish I'd had that chance. Especially at this time of year."
Harry nodded in understanding. He didn't know who, but he could feel a deep sadness inside telling him that he'd lost someone important too. Not remembering who or why made it even worse. He needed to change the subject before he got lost in a grief he couldn't even remember.
"So, do you have any other family?" Harry asked cautiously.
Andy looked up with a small smile. "Yeah, my mom lives with her sister in Arizona for the winter." He gave a small laugh, "She says the cold is hard on her joints. She's only fifty-two years old. It's not like she's ancient or anything, but she likes it there. That's all that matters I guess. I have an older brother who lives in Denver. He works at a bank, nothing too interesting. We haven't gotten together for Christmas since my dad died. We usually spend a few days together in the summer, but that's about it. I sometimes feel like my real family is my friends. Speaking of which, they'd like to come over and meet you. Do you feel up to it? I don't know if it'll stop them if you don't," he joked.
Harry nodded. "Sure, I guess. As long as we're not going out dancing, I'll be ok." Harry grinned at his new friend. "So, who's coming over and when?"
"Josh, he was my neighbor growing up, and I've known him as long as I can remember. Samantha, who I've been friends with almost as long as Josh. She's an awesome friend, and before you ask, yes, just a friend." Harry smiled and shook his head. "Cory is Samantha's not-so-little brother. He's two years younger, but much bigger than her. It's been kind of a stupid joke for a while now. And Liz, who was new to town in high school, but fit in perfectly with us right away. I'm not sure when they'll be here. Cory and Liz said something about bringing stuff for supper, so I'd guess somewhat soon." As though using magical powers of his own, Andy's friends pulled into the snowy driveway at that moment.
"Have you told them, you know, about me?" asked Harry nervously.
"I've told them that you showed up all beaten and you have amnesia, but I haven't told them about magic or any of that, if that's what you're worried about. I think they would have locked me up if I'd done that," Andy smirked. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
With a single knock the door opened without answer from Andy, and four people walked in, stomping off snow from their shoes on the way.
"Merry Christmas Eve, Andy!" called a girl with chin-length blonde hair. "And you must be Evan, Merry Christmas to you too," she said with a huge smile.
"Wait, it's Harry now, Sam. We found a picture with his name on the back. His first name anyway. So, how are all of you? What's for dinner?"
"My specialty," said Liz.
"She means spaghetti and meatballs, Andy," clarified Cory.
Josh was being very quiet. Harry didn't know if that was his usual behavior or not, but he somehow doubted it. He was giving Harry some very suspicious looks. Andy must have noticed, because he grabbed Josh's attention right away.
"Hey, Josh, this is Harry, the one I told you about," Andy said with a smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Josh," Harry greeted politely with a smile. He was embarrassed at the weakness of his handshake, but he was already feeling drained from being up for the past few hours. Josh looked at him as they shook hands, and something in his face changed. He was becoming less suspicious.
"Hi, Harry, welcome to the winter wonderland," he grinned.
Harry was introduced to everyone, and they were polite enough not to ask too many questions. Andy had told them earlier that Harry couldn't remember much of anything, and he would get extremely frustrated when he tried.
Liz and Cory started preparing supper around six. Harry had some strange compulsion to help. He felt horribly guilty just sitting there doing nothing and almost like he would be punished if he didn't help. He wasn't feeling too bad. He had a headache that could knock out a hippogriff; he ached all over; and he was so tired he was sure that he could sleep for a week. However, he felt like he could still be of some use, so he decided to offer.
"Liz? Cory? Can I help with anything?" he asked shyly, but politely.
Five sets of eyes turned to him in shock. They were all speechless, and Harry was beginning to feel nervous and embarrassed. Finally, Andy spoke.
"Harry, stand up," he commanded.
"Er… what?" Harry responded eloquently.
"Just stand up for a minute, I want to show you something," Andy insisted.
Harry figured it was better to comply than refuse his host. He forced his groaning muscles to work and stood up from the couch. He let the blanket fall back to the couch as he waited for more instruction. His legs were aching already.
"Now, Harry, do you really feel up to helping with supper?" Andy asked seriously.
"Yes, I feel bad just doing nothing," Harry tried to explain. It would have been more convincing if he hadn't been hit by a dizzy spell right afterward and had to grab the wall as his legs decided to give out. Two pair of hands caught him and he looked sheepishly up at Andy and Josh.
Andy lifted an eyebrow. "Still want to help? Geesh, you have to be the most politely stubborn person I've ever met."
Harry apologized as he was helped back onto the couch and Sam tucked the blanket around him again.
"No need to apologize, Harry. But Andy's right, you are stubborn in your own nice way, aren't you? I don't want to upset you or anything, but do you remember anymore about what happened to you?" Sam asked, and all eyes were once again on Harry. He really didn't want to tell them, but they were all so nice to him. Maybe if he just told them a little of it, not like there was much he remembered anyway. If he left the magic out it wouldn't seem too fishy with the rest of the details he didn't know. Samantha must have taken his silence for anger, because she quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, Harry. I shouldn't have asked that. Even if you did remember, why would you want to tell a bunch of complete strangers? Just pretend I never asked such a thoughtless thing, alright?"
Harry gave her a small smile, "It's ok, Sam. As of now all of you are my closest friends, and I've known you less than a day, except Andy. I just don't really know what happened. I'm pretty sure I was captured by some people… I think I escaped, but I have no idea how I got here. It seems pretty clear that I'm from England, but I just don't know… well anything."
"Why are you sure you were captured?" asked Cory.
"I've dreamt about it." Harry looked down at the blanket covering him. The room grew quiet after his soft statement. He just wanted to crawl completely under the blanket and disappear.
The silence was finally broken by Josh. "Hey, Liz, how's the food coming along?"
"It's just about ready. I only have to drain the noodles and we'll be ready to eat."
The others got up to start getting dishes out. Harry was given a warning glare from Andy not to get up. Harry was about to open his mouth in protest, but was cut off before he began.
"No getting up, and no feeling guilty about it. My place isn't that big. It'll take me three steps to bring you a plate of food. No big deal, see?" he said as he handed Harry a plate full of spaghetti and meatballs.
Harry waited for the others to get their food before starting. Everyone sat around on the couch or other chairs surrounding the television. They watched some animated Christmas movies that were obviously for little kids, but Harry found them absolutely delightful. He was only able to eat about half the food on his plate. He tried to eat more, because he didn't want to seem ungrateful or wasteful, but his stomach was threatening to show him the first half of the plate again, so he stopped.
Harry was watching elves dancing merrily around a tree when he drifted off and the scene went black.
~~~
The room was dark, the only light coming from an angry red fire in the center, around which men in black cloaks were gathered.
"Severus," an evil voice hissed out of Harry's mouth. "Tell me what the fool has found concerning the boy."
"My Lord, he knows nothing more than he did when the brat disappeared."
"Good. Where is he searching?" he asked.
"The fool has sources all over the world. Although, he is focusing on England, he has not ruled out other countries or even continents. As far as I know, he has had no leads yet, my Lord," assured the man named Severus.
"Severus, are you sure you have his complete trust?"
"I have as much as many of the other teachers, but I must admit that he does seem to withhold information from me, likely due to my questionable past."
"It is as I thought. How can I be sure that the boy isn't simply at his relations' house? You admit that the bumbling fool wouldn't trust you with this information, correct?"
"That is a possibility, my Lord," Severus reluctantly agreed.
"Very well. I would like to know if the boy is at his muggle relatives' house. I have sent scouts throughout the world as well, but I believe his disappearance was too convenient. I believe the boy had a portkey to that safe house and those incompetent fools didn't take it from him! We will go to Surrey and retrieve the boy. If he is not there, I'm sure holding his precious family will draw him back to me."
"An excellent plan, my Lord."
"Now, as to your lack of information, you must be punished. I have spies for a reason, Severus. A spy with no information is like a house elf that can't cook; something to be disposed." He let that pleasant thought linger for a moment before yelling, "Crucio!"
Pain was shooting through his scar and seemed to radiate to the rest of his body until he was almost convulsing with each wave of intense agony.
~~~
"Harry!" shouted a voice above him.
He reacted on instinct and pulled out his wand at the same time yelling, "Stupify!"
He saw a body fly through the air and crunch into the wall opposite. There were other people standing around him, but they were backing away slowing and had frightened looks in their eyes. One came forward.
"Harry?" a girl asked tentatively. "Hey, try to relax. You were having a nightmare. Can you calm down?"
Harry was still staring wildly around the room. Who were those people in black cloaks? Were they really after him and his family? He had to get to Surrey, but he didn't know where to go from there or what to do. There was a person on the floor and two others kneeling next to him. Another was getting a rag wet in the sink. A girl was standing before him. He recognized her from earlier that day.
"Sam?" he asked quietly. His voice felt hoarse. Had he been screaming?
"That's right, Harry. Are you ok now? You threw Josh clear across the room. I think he's knocked out."
Harry looked on in horror as the others tried to revive their friend. He got up, ignoring the protests from Samantha, and kneeled next to the unconscious Josh with Andy and Liz. Cory rushed over and pushed him down to the ground.
"What did you do? Are you trying to kill us or what? We've been nothing but nice to you, and then you go and throw him against the wall? How did you do that anyway? What is that?" Cory demanded looking at the wand.
Harry didn't know what to do. He needed to check if there were any major injuries, but he didn't know how he would get any of them to trust him again. He saw Samantha take Cory off to the side and made him sit quietly.
Harry decided to take a chance. "Andy, I'm sorry. I was dreaming about… something. Anyway, can I take a look at him? I need to help him."
Andy looked at him for a few seconds and nodded. He helped Harry up to a sitting position and closer to Josh.
Harry checked him over. He didn't seem to be hurt from Harry's point of view, so he decided to revive him and ask if there was anything he'd missed.
"Enervate," he muttered. Josh's eyes fluttered open and he looked around quickly with his eyes. "Does anything hurt?" he asked calmly.
Josh moved to sit up and grabbed his head. "Yeah, my arm might be broken, and I've got a horrible headache. What happened anyway? I tried to wake you up, and next thing I know I'm flying into a wall."
Harry chose to ignore that question and did a quick scan for injuries with his wand. "Your arm isn't broken, although it may hurt for a few days. I think I have something to help both your head and arm though. Andy, can you get me my pouch?"
Andy nodded and retrieved it swiftly. He handed it to Harry who began digging through the various potions he had with him. He was relieved to find the one he was looking for.
"Can you get me a small glass of water?" he requested. Again, Andy obliged without question.
Harry added a capful of the potion to the glass and handed it to Josh. "Drink this all at once, if possible. It might have a strange flavor, but try to ignore it and drink it all down. It will alleviate the headache and should sooth that arm as well."
"What is it?" Josh asked skeptically. Andy gave him a look, and Josh drank it down with a sigh. Less than a minute later he looked at Harry in shock. "It's gone. All of the pain, even the sore muscles from running around in the snow all day yesterday! What was that, some kind of miracle cure?" He smiled at Harry.
"Er… it was just a solution I learned to make once…" Harry explained lamely.
Liz looked at him with wide eyes that held some sort of knowledge. "Harry, are you holding a – a wand?"
_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_
"Severus!" Dumbledore exclaimed as the pale potions master collapsed into a chair. "What happened?" he asked in a business like voice, at the same time handing the man pain relieving potions.
Snape drank them immediately. "He doesn't have any leads either, or at least none he's sharing with me. He has scouts sent to different parts of the world, but he has come up with a new plan. He thinks he can lure Potter to him by attacking his relatives' house. He believes you are hiding the boy there, and if you're not, he thinks it will draw him out of wherever he's hiding."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a moment. "Did he say when this attack would take place?"
Snape shook his head.
Dumbledore was lost in thought for a while longer until he sighed. "Why did he hurt you tonight?"
"He believes I'm not doing an adequate job as his spy. He doesn't think I have your full trust, and I don't deliver enough information. Albus, you know he doesn't need a reason. He felt like it, so he did it. It's done."
Dumbledore nodded with a pined look on his aged face. "I'm sorry to ask so much of you, Severus. I don't like to see you in pain."
"Forget it, Albus. I haven't been forced into anything. This was my decision. Will that be all?"
"Yes, get some rest, Severus. Take a bubble bath with a rubber ducky and you'll feel better in the morning," Dumbledore advised with a semblance of the old twinkle in his eyes.
"Perhaps I should call those specialists at St. Mungo's, Albus. Good day," Snape said, lacking the usual bitterness reserved for students and colleagues.
"See you tomorrow, Severus."
A few hours later, the headmaster of Hogwarts could be found gazing out his high window at the full moon worrying about two former students and Harry. He was unceasingly worried about Severus Snape as long as he was serving his dual role. He never knew when the man left the castle holding his left arm if that would be the last time he would see him again. Another former student, Remus Lupin, was taking Harry's disappearance extremely hard. Of course, the transformation being so close didn't help any. Dumbledore just hoped the werewolf would be able to make it through tonight, then he would feel, hopefully, a little better about the situation. He had been doing all he could to help in the search, in fact more than he should, because the upcoming moon wore him out so badly that Dumbledore thought he might have to have Remus restrained in the hospital wing for the man's own safety.
Naturally, he allowed Remus to continue helping. If he was idle for too long, he became depressed and moody. Most of the time he was partnered with Tonks, but not tonight. Tonight was the full moon, and none of his old friends were left to spend it with him. Harry had been studying to become an animagus, but he hadn't yet completed the transformation. Even with the Wolfsbane potion, Dumbledore was worried that Remus's extremely dark emotions of late may manifest in his wolf form and cause him severe bodily harm. Professor McGonagall agreed to check on him later on after she finished with a small Order meeting. She was the unfortunate one to have to explain Harry's disappearance to the Weasleys who didn't know yet. Dumbledore didn't expect her back before the wee hours of the morning.
He was quite sure that Harry was nowhere in England. He had sent several owls out with letters for him, but they all returned with sealed messages. His next course of action was to send messages with long distance owls.
The busy headmaster decided to get some rest, since there was nothing he could do at the moment. As he lay down for the night, a conversation from earlier that day surfaced in his mind.
~
"We are using too many Order members for this. What if there is an attack? Albus, we have no clue as to where to start searching. For Merlin's sake, we don't even know if the boy is alive!" shouted Severus Snape.
"Severus, I appreciate your concern, but we must keep looking wherever we can. I know that Harry is alive." Dumbledore cast a glance at a shimmering silver object on a high shelf. "It's true that I cannot locate him, but I do know he is alive and he needs our help. If you get wind of any attacks, then I will have to reassign duties as necessary, but until that happens I want every available person out looking. He is a resourceful boy, but I fear that he will not last long in the condition you described."
Snape lowered his eyes and nodded. In a more subdued voice he said, "I understand that the Death Eaters who captured him didn't even search him. It's possible he still has his trunk and the emergency potions with him. If he can get to them he will be fine."
Dumbledore nodded. "I hope so. We will know when we find him."
Snape agreed, then hissed in pain. He grabbed his left forearm and said, "I will try to find out if he has any information."
"Be careful, Severus. I'll be up when you get back," the headmaster assured as Snape left his office.
~
Dumbledore fell asleep with the only hope he had left to hold on to; Harry was alive, and Voldemort didn't have him.