Back in Surrey, Petunia Dursley pursed her lips happily as her keen eyes surveyed what was in front of her.

"Hmm. I think it's steak for dinner tonight." Petunia had to make a special meal tonight to celebrate Harry's departure. Vernon was so relieved, and Dudley was just glad to have his bedroom back for a year.

An elderly woman walked up to her in the supermarket, pushing a trolley full of groceries, which Petunia quickly recognised as one of her more likeable neighbours.

"Why, Mrs Dursley, dear; how lovely to see you."

"Mrs Wilshire! Oh, we haven't spoken in a while, have we?" the old lady smiled.

"Come, now, call me Faith. Mrs Wilshire just makes me sound so old."

"All right," laughed Petunia, "If you call me Petunia".

"So how are things, dear? What's happened in your life recently?"

Petunia felt a giggle wanting to escape her, but she fought it back down and maintained her composure.

"Well, Faith, that dreadful nephew of mine has gone back to school. I can't believe he's finally gone."

Mrs Wilshire was a clever old lady, and had a twinkle in her eye as she said,
"But surely his school doesn't start this early. Where does he go, again?"

Petunia snarled inwardly, but made sure she kept a smiling exterior.

"Er…St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys, remember? He's staying with his friend 'Weasley' or something before the term starts. Horrible family, of course. Four of their children go to St Brutus's as well. Oh, that Harry is a dreadful child. You were always such a godsend before he went to boarding school, You caught him wandering on the streets. I have to thank you again for helping us discipline him. Hope he was never too much trouble."

Petunia gazed at Mrs Wilshire with a peculiar expression. How could she cope if Faith ever found out about Harry's abnormality? She only prayed that Harry had never done anything weird in front of her.

"Oh, no. I always made him come home to my house when you were out and look at pictures of my cat. Delightful pets, cats. My favourite cat was my Felix. Lovely little thing, Felix is. It is a shame about Harry, I must say. Whenever I had him over he seemed like such a nice boy; I would never have figured him to be a criminal. Gave me quite a shock when I found out. It's such a pity."

Petunia pursed her lips again, but this time with contempt. "It's a pity, yes, but…" Petunia's eyes flickered around her furtively, assuring none would overhear. Her voice dropped a notch. "Well, I had an inkling from the beginning. With that sister of mine, Lily, and that layabout no-hoper Potter she married; it was really no wonder he turned out as such a bad egg."

Faith Wilshire was the only person aside from Petunia's family that knew about Lily and James Potter. Petunia liked to confide in the little old lady; she was always so sweet and called everyone 'dear'. Faith was also very understanding of her plight. Petunia told her everything, apart from the whole magic thing. She had no idea that Lily was a witch, and that Harry went to Hogwarts. When Harry had turned up on the Dursley's doorstep that fated night over 15 years ago, Mrs Wilshire had been the first person Petunia had turned to.

Faith nodded sympathetically. "Hmmm, yes. You were quite correct."

"I think that school's having an effect on Harry. He's been having nightmares, and before he left became much more subdued than normal. Must be the cane," she laughed. Faith joined her and giggled.

"Oh, Petunia dear, is that the time? I really must dash and feed my cat. Been lovely talking to you. We should go for lunch one day, and catch up for a bit longer."

"Yes, of course. That sounds marvellous. Bye,"

"Goodbye, dear."

Faith paid for her groceries and exited the store quickly. She hopped in her car and drove home with a stony expression. When she arrived home, she waited until she had closed all the blinds and called out.

"Felix? Felix, dear, where are you? Come on, I picked up some chocolate milk at the store for you."

She sighed as she pushed her other cats out of the way. She didn't like Arabella Figg's cats nearly as much as she adored her little Felix. As Faith poured milk into a glass, she heard little paws padding softly across her kitchen floor. She smiled to herself as she fumbled in her handbag for something. She pulled the long, slender object out and ran her wrinkly, gnarled fingers along the polished wood surface. She waved her wand over her head and whispered a spell. Instantly, there was a flash of yellow light and her previous appearance was gone.

Her skin had smoothed itself out and grown much more tanned, her hair turned from grey to brown with blonde highlights and had grown down to her shoulders, while a soft lilac robe replaced her demure, floral, little-old-lady-going-to-church-on-a-Sunday dress. She grew taller and her back straightened itself out, and her face was that of a pretty, middle-aged woman. That was what she really was. Felix meowed, and she nodded, waving her wand over him also.

Felix changed much more dramatically than she had. From a little kitten on the floor grew a handsome teenaged boy of about 15. He had bright eyes, and dark brown spiked hair. He wore tight black leather pants and a white silk shirt.

"Mum. Stop calling me Felix. I'm only Felix to other people, remember?" he went over to the counter and started to drink the milk.

"Sorry, Lindsey. Well, I just spoke to Petunia today. Seems Harry's gone off to the Weasley's for the rest of the holiday, and then on to Hogwarts. Apparently he's having nightmares still. We should speak to Dumbledore."

"I wish I could go to Hogwarts. I hate being in hiding."

"I hate it too, sweetie. But I'm an auror, and I really need to stay hidden. This is the perfect place to hide, so we can keep an eye on Harry and his family."

"But, mum, we are more his family than the Dursleys are. He just doesn't know it yet. I mean, you and dad are his-"

Lindsey stopped abruptly at the look of anguish on his mother's face.

"I'm sorry, mum. I shouldn't have brought him up."

"No, it's quite all right, Lindsey. I totally agree with you. I just….I miss him so much…" she broke off, and willed her eyes not to fill with tears again.

"When you were little, before Lily and James were killed, we were all so happy, even though Voldemort was a huge threat. You've seen the photos of our parties over at the Potter's house. You three babies playing on the floor; us adults playing poker. All that was changed. He killed Lily and James and because of him I've lost my husband. Putting him in an awful place like that, it's just terrible. He's completely innocent: I know he is…was," Faith said fiercely. "Soon, his name will be cleared. We will live a normal life."

Faith paused, and watched her son thoughtfully. Lindsey was a good boy. It saddened her that just because she was an auror and had a duty to fight evil, he wasn't allowed to live like a normal boy, or even a muggle boy. For heaven's sake, Lindsey wasn't even allowed to live like a human most of the time, in fear that Voldemort and his Death Eaters would discover that Faith Wilshire the Auror and her son were alive and still fighting evil.

The woman's heart ached as she thought about her husband. She missed him so much, it hurt to think about him. Lindsey was getting older now, and was beginning to look more like his father every day. That thick, dark hair; those sparkling eyes and that attitude he had was so similar. He even had the same grin as his father had. Altogether, it wasn't a face one could easily forget. Lindsey should have a chance to go to Hogwarts like his father had. It was time to come out of hiding.

"Guess what, Lindsey?" The dark-haired teenager looked up from his glass of milk.

"I've been thinking about what's been happening at the moment, with Voldemort. It's clear I need to be very much on the job again, to fight evil." Lindsey nodded with understanding.

"I think so too, mum. Things are getting dangerous, and you're one of the best." His mother smiled.

"It's time for me to come out of hiding, and I think the safest place for you to be is at Hogwarts. You can finally meet Harry again, and maybe even meet Rose. But that's only an if. What do you think?" she took a deep breath, her eyes shining, and looked at her son. He frowned. She saw this, and then she frowned, too. What's this? He was supposed to be happy!

Lindsey looked up at his mother with big, puppy-dog eyes. "You mean I won't have to go around as a cat all the time?" he asked hopefully.

Faith laughed. "No, I promise. Just let me get you enrolled,"

With that, she swept over to a drawer in the living room. She pulled out a broken shard of crystal. Rubbing it thoughtfully, she closed her eyes with a sigh and remembered the conversation she had held with her associates, all those years ago.

The crystal shard brought back memories, and sad ones at that. Faith's past was hard, and not all too pleasant to dwell on. But looking at the fragment in her hand, Faith Wilshire knew she had to go back.

Albus had given her and all the others a shard of crystal each. He said that it was magical, a given considering this was Albus, and if any of them ever needed to use it they should use it to talk with him.

Faith thought hard, trying to remember the incantation Dumbledore had told her. She remembered after a while, and set about using it. Truth be told, Faith had no idea whatsoever on what the crystal was, or what would happen. She shrugged to herself: she would find out in a minute. She whispered 'Wingardium Leviosa' and made the crystal shard float above her head. With a jerk of her wand, the crystal turned bright purple and shattered into a thousand pieces. Faith shrieked. That wasn't supposed to happen! She cursed to herself, and wondered how she was ever going to reach Albus now that she had broken the crystal, the one means she had of communicating with him. She didn't have any Floo Powder, it was just too risky. She covered her head with both hands, trying to protect herself from the rain of crystal shrapnel. None came. Looking up, she noticed that all the pieces of the crystal were staying where they were, suspended in the air. Lindsey had heard the commotion and came racing into the room. Then, Faith stopped looking. She froze, and so did Lindsey. They both frowned, listening to something. It was…a sort of whooshing noise. It was getting louder and louder, like something was approaching them. Then, it stopped.

Faith? Lindsey? How nice of you to call!

A young, female voice said. Lindsey's eyes widened and he started to pivot around in a circle, looking for the source of the voice. Faith just gaped. There was a giggle.

Lindsey, you're not going to find me. I'm in your head, and your mother's head, too.

There was silence. All that could be heard for a moment was the meowing of some cats outside (who belonged to Mrs Figg and weren't actually humans, unlike Felix/Lindsey) and the steady ticking of the grandfather clock. Faith closed her mouth and then opened it suddenly to say, "Who…who are you?"

Oh! I'm Annabelle Rose. Call me Rose. I think you know me, actually, but last time you saw me I was a baby. I help Dumbledore – I'm in the Order. So, you want to know if Lindsey can come to Hogwarts so hewon't have to be a cat as much and if you can rejoin the ranks of Aurors and finally come out of hiding and see Harry again and try to redeem the name of your husband?

She said this all very quickly and lightly. Faith stifled chuckle. Rose seemed so happy, and had such a lovely, pretty, trustworthy voice!

"Er, well, yes. That's about it."

Okay. Give me a minute, and I'll get back to you. Oh, Merlin, I sound like a secretary! She laughed, and then was gone. Faith was just standing still with a look of amusement written on her features, while Lindsey wore an expression of sheer delight.

"WICKED! I love magic!" he cried.

His mother grinned slyly. Having to live his life as a cat, Lindsey didn't get to see, let alone date girls much. The furthest he had ever gotten with a girl involved her picking him up on the street, stroking his fur and squealing, 'Oooh! Kitty!' or something to that effect. He was a teenage boy, though, and that was one of the reasons he needed to go to Hogwarts: to be around other people, including girls. Those wacky hormones. Arabella snickered.

"Are you sure magic is all you love? Not a certain female voice you're hearing right now?" Lindsey's expression darkened, his face flushing brilliantly. He glared at his mother mutinously. There was a faint giggling, and Rose was back.

Sorry, Lindsey, but I'm not allowed to date. Now, to business. Dumbledore says you can come! Lindsey, since you have been educated at home, you will be joining as a sixth year. How exciting, you'll be with Harry. Now, Faith, there are rooms here for you to stay in. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated. You can arrive straight away, if you like. Pack your things and go to Diagon Alley. Wait in the Leaky Cauldron, and someone'll meet you there. Next time you need me, just think about me.

A/N

Yes, if you've read this before I changed it; you'll notice its very different. Fear not read on.