Disclaimer: It still isn't mine, and I'm not making any money off of it. Doesn't that suck a left nut?
Authors Note: Sorry this took me sooooo long to get up. I had midterm... then my grandmother got really sick and I had to go to Mississippi for a week. I'm still trying to catch up. And then my other grandmother had surgery for colon cancer, then school started, and my other grandmother the one who was sick before, died. I'm back in Mississippi, but I'm coming home today, so I'll put this up as soon as get back home. So, luckily, I forced myself to make time to finish. I hope you like it and again, I'm really sorry it took so long…
Chapter 4
Harry, Fred (George had gone back to the store and Fred had taken his place to spend
the rest of the day with them), Ron, Hermione, Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were walking down
the street towards the shop. Ron was telling Fred about Ember. "George was flirting mercilessly
with her. You should have been there."
Fred grinned. "I sure hope she comes in. She had red hair you said?" Ron nodded and
grinned a bit more. Harry couldn't help but smile. Fred got a really thoughtful look on his face as
he walked down the street. A few people waved to him as they went along, but none got any
response, as he seemed to be lost in thoughts. "Hey, Ron, You'll tell me if she comes in, won't
you? I mean, so I could play a joke on her and George."
"Sure thing!" Ron exclaimed as they walked inside of the shop. The shop was nothing that Harry had expected. It was neither big, nor small; in fact, the only thing that seemed extraordinary about it was that it was so not extraordinary. For the twins to pick something that wasn't flashy or anything seemed rather shocking to Harry until he realized that this was probably the only size space that they could afford here in Diagon Alley which was a central location for people of all ages. There were shelves of various products that were sorted by where they could be used and if they were something that was eaten or not. They had testers out in little bins for people to try. There were two people working there that Harry didn't know. One was a girl and one was a man. The man looked to be about sixty or seventy and could easily pass as someone's grandfather. There was a chart on the wall that had seven names, the names of the people that worked there, Harry guessed. The chart was called "Prank War" and below each name was a bar that reminded Harry somewhat of the house points. It looked like Fred and George were about even but William, Harry guessed that was the old man since he wasn't Lee, was a very close third. The other names were Nancy, Angelina, and Jessica.
"So, what do you think, Harry?" Fred put an arm around Harry's shoulder and leaned against him. He smirked as he watched the people who were at intervals, setting off fake wands or turning into some random creature or something.
"I think it's sort of small. Not near flashy enough." Harry commented with a face that was as straight as he could get it. As he watched Fred's face fall slightly, his own face broke into the grin that he had been suppressing. Fred, blinked and then tightened his grip around Harry's neck and pulled him into a head lock and proceeded to give him a noogie as Harry tried to squirm away. "Little twerp. Just 'cause you're going to be my brother, doesn't mean you have to be a prat."
Ron marched up behind Harry and threw his arm over his friend's shoulder, "It's his purgative as you're brother. I'm teaching him well." Ron smirked at Harry as Harry grinned at him.
Hermione shook her head, but couldn't help but smile. "This year is going to be horrible between you two, isn't it?"
Ron smirked and threw his other arm over Hermione's shoulder. "C'mon, 'Mione! You know you're going to love every minute of this, sixth year." Hermione just shook her head and sighed. "Oy! George! Fred! Let's get Harry's present already! I want him to go home and talk to his Aunt and Uncle and become our brother already and move to our house!" A rolling chuckle came from the doorway. Harry looked over his shoulder to see Albus Dumbledore standing there. Harry was torn between smiling in his good mood, or glowering at his sudden anger with the older wizard. Harry opted for a small smile that seemed to satisfy the headmaster.
"Mister Weasley, I'm sure there is no need for such impatience. Harry's presents from your brother's, I'm sure won't go anywhere. Mr. Potter, I do not wish to delay you too much longer, but before you go to talk to your Aunt and Uncle , I wish to speak to you." Dumbledore walked up close to Harry and leaned forwards talking very quietly he twinkled at him. "We'll be taking a portkey from the back room of the Weasley's shop, they already know about it." Harry smiled and nodded. Dumbledore turned to the rest of the room. "Now, Let us see what these two pranksters have in store for our young Mister Potter." Harry gave a small nod.
Harry's good mood kept him from worrying too much about what the older wizard had to talk to him about. A small crowd had formed around the group. Fred ran in back while George walked over to Harry and pulled him away from Ron and Hermione. Ron, Harry was amused to note, did not pull his arm away from Hermione's shoulder. Hermione obviously noticed this as well as a slight blush touched her cheeks. Harry grinned and followed George to behind the counter. George hopped on the counter and raised his hands in the air.
"If everyone will give me their full and undivided attention… Or very good family friend, and business partner Harry Potter is here for a very special event. This year our most adorable friend… " here he crouched down and pinched Harry's cheek. A fairly large crowd had formed and this action brought a chuckle from the surrounding people. "… this very day, this young man turns the bright young age of sixteen." George cooed on as the crowd seemed enthralled by what he was saying. Fred had come in with a cart with two levels. On the top was a fairly large cake. George motioned to the cake. "The cake my brother, George, has just wheeled in was baked for everyone to enjoy by yours truly." He turned to grin at Harry as he gave the wrong name for his brother. Fred looked up at George, startled.
"oy! George, I'm not George! You are! I'm Fred!"
"No! I'm Fred, You're George!"
"I'm Fred!"
"George!"
"Fred!"
"Oh, well… Either way, you and I look so much alike, they're never going to get it right! So, it really doesn't matter"
"Oh, Good point." Fred, nodded and smiled warmly.
"As I was saying. If you'll also look underneath our fabulous cake that I'm sure everyone will be trying as we haven't put anything in it, you'll see two presents. There is one from each of us." Harry grinned as Fred walked over with the two very odd shaped packages. He placed them on the counter top in front of him. Somewhere amongst the crowd, someone took a picture. Harry blinked.
"Open it, Harry." Someone else said. This caused Ron to grin. "Yeah Harry, open it."
Harry smiled and grabbed the one from Fred. "Hey!" George exclaimed when he saw which one Harry was going for. " What about mine" Harry turned to George and spoke lightly," Well, I'm all confused as to whether or not you're George or Fred so… Here I go!" Harry ripped open the brown paper to reveal a basket full of tee shirts. Harry pulled out a few to look at what they said, to his amassment, they were all endorsing Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. The camera from before flashed. His favorite was one with Fred and George on it dressed up as women. That said "Weasley Wizarding Women." Harry threw the shirt on and grinned as George thrust Harry's present from him into Harry's arms.
"A bit impatient aren't you, George?" Harry smiled as he took the package. Harry ripped open the paper as George scowled. Then smiled as an assortment of Wheezing candies burst from the bag and seemingly attacked Harry who let out a startled yelp. Again there was a flash from the camera. Harry grinned and grabbed one of the shirts and wrapped the candies up in them. Fred quickly got to cutting the cake and passing it out. Harry walked over to Ron and Hermione and threw his arms around them. Pulling them close he said, "I want to get out of here…."
Ron nodded and pulled Harry over to Dumbledore. "Professor, I think Harry's feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the people and the press…."
Albus Dumbledore looked over his crescent moon glasses at Harry and smiled warmly. " I understand completely. Let me go tell Mr. Weasley that we're going to be needing his back room." Dumbledore started to walk away then paused and turned back. " Ah, Harry, think it would be wise of you to make an announcement stating that you have to be leaving… It would be rude to simply, run off." With one last smile, Dumbledore turned and walked up to George while Harry, with one last smile at Ron and Hermione approached Fred who was still passing out cake.
"Heya Harry! Want a piece of cake?" Fred asked, and not waiting for an answer, he handed Harry a piece and a plastic fork. Harry obediently took it.
"Um, Yeah, Fred, I need to talk to Dumbledore.. and, well, you know… " Harry grinned a bit, " I want to get to my Aunt and Uncle's … so I can give them the papers."
Fred looked up from what he was doing and smiled, " You really can't wait to be a Weasley, can you Harry?"
Harry smiled and shook his head. "You guys are really the only family I've had. I mean my Aunt and Uncle hardly count, if you know what I mean."
Fred smiled. "Yeah, I know , Percy hardly counts as a brother… " He then scowled and attacked the piece of cake he'd just cut. It took a moment for Fred to seem to come back into himself and looked at the people around them, "I suppose you better tell them that you're off." Harry nodded. Fred held his hands in the air. " Hey! Harry's got something to say!" Everyone about the store seemed to quiet and pay attention to Harry who suddenly felt very uncomfortable. It seemed.. odd that here he was addressing these people who he'd never met. It suddenly struck him that this seemed oddly political and he wondered how much of it had been planned for just that reason. Bitting his lower lip, Harry forced a smile.
"uhm, Thank you all for coming. I hope you enjoy the cake… uhm… This is my first birthday party, ever… so I'm a bit lost as what to say… But, Uhm, I really have to be getting home. If I'm gone to long, my Aunt and Uncle might start to worry." Someone in the crowd, Harry thought it was Tonks, laughed. Harry smiled a bit, gaining a bit of confidence. "But really, I thank you for coming… and don't forget to buy some Weasley products!" With that he waved and picked up his pile of maybe twelve shirts and shirt wrapped candies and walked to the back room where he found Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione and Remus.
Remus was the first to speak. "Harry, We'll be portkeying to Headquarters. There you and Albus will speak then he, Molly, Arthur and you will portkey to the Dursley's." Remus smiled at that point in time. "Moody, and Tonks have something they need to do before they get to HQ, So they won't be there until you come back tonight." Remus smiled again, looking at Dumbledore.
"Well," the older wizard smiled. " If everyone's ready?" He looked around the room and pulled a sock out of his pocket. Everyone grabbed on and Dumbledore counted down. "…. Four… three… two… one…" When Albus hit one there was the familiar, though rather uncomfortable tug at the back of Harry's navel and he found himself on the floor of number twelve Grimauld Place. In the kitchen to be exact.
Harry, pulled himself up from the ground and watched as everyone did the same. He noted that Ron helped Hermione off of the ground by pulling her by the hand. Harry also noted that Ron's hand lingered a bit longer than necessary on her arm.
"Hey, Mione," Ron asked a bit quietly, " Are you okay?" He looked slightly worried as he picked a piece of fuzz off of her shirt.
"I'm fine, Ron, really, You don't need to fuss over me so much." Hermione was blushing as she said this and she pulled away a bit. Harry grinned at the exchange and looked over to Mr. And Mrs. Weasley who both shared similar smiles.
It was Remus who spoke next. "Harry and Dumbledore need some time alone, so How about we all leave them alone to give them time to talk?"
Arthur spoke first. "oh, Of course, Remus! Come on, Molly, kids, let's get going, shall we, I'm sure we'll see Harry when he comes back tonight."
"Oh! Right! Right! Come on, Ron, Hermione, dears. There's something we have to discus as well concerning next year and that girl we saw today." Molly placed her hands on the backs of both of them and lead them out of the room, Ron protesting, "But mom! I want to know what Dumbledore's going to talk to Harry about!"
"Professor Dumbledore, dear. And I'm sure if Harry wants you to know, he'll tell you all about it. Come on now…" With that, Remus Arthur, Molly Ron and Hermione left, leaving Harry and Albus Dumbledore alone in the kitchen. Dumbledore turned to Harry and smiled.
"I wish to tell you, Harry, of why I'm letting Arthur and Molly do this for you. You, see Harry, the protection that your Aunt and cousin give you and you them will disappear on the day that you turn seventeen. So, you see, You are protected for the last year that you are able to be protected for. I want you to be happy this year and next. I wish for you to understand what being part of a family really feels like." At this Dumbledore looked sadly at Harry. "I understand that you were starting to see Sirius as your family, and the truth is that I had originally planned for you to be doing this with Sirius. .. I see that my offer may have come too late for him."
Harry looked at his hand and read the line he'd been forced to write over and over last year and muttered under his breath, "I will not tell lies. "
Dumbledore looked up in interest as Harry said this words. "What is it, Mr. Potter?"
Harry took a deep breath then said. " I can understand why you did what you did. I wish things hadn't turned out the way they did, but I'm glade they are going as well as they are. Remus really helped me a lot this summer. I'm sure Sirius would be… " Harry paused here again and took another deep breath. Regaining his strength, he went on. "I'm sure he'd be happy to finally see me with people that love me more than anything. It's not easy… but I'm okay… and thank you."
Dumbledore smiled warmly. "Harry, I think that you've done a lot of growing up over the summer and I can't wait to see how you will do this year. I hear you ran into one of our new transfer students that will be joining us this year… Ember I believe. What do you think of her?"
Harry smiled. " I thought she was very interesting." Dumbledore nodded. "She's a good friend of the Malloy's, The older wizard went on. That's always stuck me as funny because in a great number of ways, she reminds me of a Weasley, don't you agree."
Harry smiled, "Yeah she does kind of remind me of a Weasley."
Dumbledore smiled. "You are so very much a Potter, I wonder how you'll fit in with the Weasley family… but they are truly a family of Gryffindors…. So I'm sure you won't feel out of place." Harry nodded. "I hope you see this as the opportunity that is." Harry nodded again at this. "Then, without further adieu, how about we head over to you Aunt and Uncle's to relieve you of their care?"
Harry grinned. "I'd like that as much as I'm sure they will, Professor."
"Then let us hop to it." Dumbledore grabbed a handful of floopowder and handed a bit to Harry. "You're Aunt and Uncle's house has been hooked up to the floo network for two hours. It's under Number four Privet Dive." Harry did as Dumbledore instructed and was engulfed in green flames before he ended up in his Aunt and Uncle's fireplace.
Harry found his family watching TV in the living room. His Aunt gave a startled scream and hopped off of the couch. His Uncle hoped out of his recliner. His face turned a lovely shade of purple as he looked at Harry. "Boy! What is the meaning of this! "Shaking his fingers at Harry, he lurched over to the shades and drew them frantically. Harry's aunt did the same. "What if the neighbors had been out, Boy!? Did you stop to think before you… you… did… that.?" Harry steeped out of in front of the fireplace just in time for Dumbledore to walk out. This sent his Uncle into a new fit. He turned to face Dumbledore in a new rage. Harry noted his Aunt step back into the background ever so slightly. Puzzled, Harry continued watching her, ignoring the antics of his Uncle and Dudley, who at some point had hid behind the couch as best he could. "You! This is your fault! What do you want from my family! We've sent you letters every few days after you threaten us! Now you come here and disrupt my families quality time together with this! I want you freaks out of my house! Now! Boy! You're gone! I do-"
Dumbledore held a hand up to Vernon. Harry watched in mild amusement as Uncle Vernon, as most people did when Dumbledore was trying to quiet them, quieted. "Mr. Dursley, Harry and I are sorry to interrupted your families time together and I assure you, if you will agree to it, Harry and I will be out of your house, and life for good after we have discussed what it is that I am here to discuss."
Vernon narrowed his beady eyes at Dumbledore suspiciously. "For good?"
Dumbledore smiled, "For good." Vernon looked at Dumbledore for a moment as if assessing weather or not Dumbledore was telling the truth. He seemed to realize that he was in fact telling the truth, because he nodded and said, "Well, say what you have to say."
Dumbledore smiled and looked to Aunt Petunia. "Mrs. Dursley, You'll come join us in this discussion, won't you, as we are discussing your sisters son." Petunia walked over tentatively and said, "Albus…" before sitting back down on the couch. Vernon blinked a bit then turned back to Albus. "Wait a moment, You're Albus Dumbledore?" At Professor Dumbledore's nod, Vernon reeled again. "You're the one who left that boy on my doorstep! You're the one who's responsible for my family's humiliation over the past sixteen years!" He poked Dumbledore in the chest angrily. Dumbledore smiled at him, though it was beginning to seem a bit of a force, and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Yes," Dumbledore spoke slowly, "I am, but I explained everything in my letter to you when he was left there. I hope you don't have anything more to say about the issue. " Dumbledore ended this with a note of finality that Vernon, though frowning, adhered to.
Harry, busy paying attention to his Aunt who was trying to not be noticed, failed to realize that Dumbledore had his hand held out to him. Harry only looked up when Dumbledore cleared his throat and said. "Harry, the papers, please."
"Oh, sorry. Here." Harry said with a bit of a jump then handed Dumbledore the papers. Dumbledore turned to Vernon and Petunia. "What I have here are adoption papers that the Weasley family wishes for you to approve and sign."
Vernon snatched the papers from Dumbledore's grasp and looked at them. Petunia had stood up, her eyes wide as she scanned the paper, looking at Harry every now and then with an exspression that he was unfamiliar with. Harry placed it somewhere between shock, remorse, and uncertainty. The shock he had anticipated. The later two puzzled Harry, were they the case. For a moment Harry thought she might refuse the request. Panicked Harry thought of something as quickly as he could. "How do you know Professor Dumbledore, Aunt Petunia?"
He thought he saw Dumbledore smile from the corner of his eye as he looked at his Aunt. His Uncle was starting to turn colors again. Harry's Aunt looked at Harry with an astounded espression on her face as thought she could not believe that Harry had just asked such a question. The horror! Harry's normal, everyday, nothing different about me or my family aunt have connection to the Wizarding world? Surely not! She quickly evolved into wearing an exspression of something bordering on rage. How dare he make it seem as though she were anything but normal! As though she were living a lie! She wasn't a freak like him!
" Harry, Your Aunt was a witch… but she refused to go to Hogwarts. She had her power suppressed with a potion that we give to children who don't wish to go to Wizarding school." Dumbledore interjected while Petunia's thoughts were racing for how she should react. This had pulled Dudley out from behind the couch. He was starring at his mother with an exspression that was both shocked and horrified. "… Mum…?" He mumbled.
As all of this was going on, Vernon had taken to procuring a pen from the letter box that sat on top of the table next to the recliner. His pen had stopped moving as he starred at Dumbledore in shock. Harry was floored to say the least. He starred at his Aunt in horror, though this was for a completely different reason than Dudley. "You. A Witch? But you're always telling me what a freak I am! Telling me how my mum and dad were so stupid as to get themselves blown up. How not normal I am!" Harry's hands were beginning to shake. As he stood there, fuming, the glass that held some iced cola on the coffee table shattered. Petunia screamed in surprise and Dudley flew back down to where he was hiding.
Vernon began filling out the forms faster. "You! I'm going to finish filling these out, then I want you both out of my house. For good! I don't want to see you for the rest of my life! I don't' want you near my family!"
"Mr Dursley, You'll need to let you wife be the one to sign those forms, as she is Harry's only surviving relative…" Dumbledore supplied gently. "And Harry, remember your Occlumency." Harry began to focus on keeping his anger under control. After a few moments, he looked back up to his Aunt and spoke calmly. " You were supposed to be a witch."
Petunia pursed her lips for a moment then spoke so deliberately that the words seemed to bite at Harry's cheek. "I refused to be a freak!" The words were spoken with such force that Harry shut up and took to glaring at the imaginary spot on the wall. After a few moments of alternating between glaring at Harry, then Dumbledore, Petunia looked to her husband. "Are you done?" Vernon scanned the pages then nodded mutely. "Where do I sign?"
Harry suppressed as Dumbledore showed Petunia where to sign. Turning to Harry, he smiled. "Why don't' you go start to get your stuff together. I have a few things to discuss with your Aunt and Uncle in private before we leave." He looked at Harry meaningfully. "And I would be highly disappointed if I found out you'd been listening in on our conversation in anyway." That more than anything made Harry nod and go upstairs, opting not to listen in. He did hear on his way up the stairs Dudley's protests of wanting to stay and listen before the slamming of a door. Harry looked around his old room and, smiling, began to pack everything up, knowing that he would never have to suffer through another night in this place again.
