A/N- My first HP fan fic. Normally I'm over in the M. Lackey section. Anyways.. This sorta smacked me around after lingering in the recesses of my brain the last few months.

So, hope you enjoy and of course R&R.

A Welcome Ally-

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, sat staring out his small bedroom window at 4 Privet Drive. He had just sent his white owl, Hedwig, off with a note for Professor Lupin. This summer, at least, he could send the owls openly. At the train station, just a fortnight ago, Professor Moody had scared Uncle Vernon enough that the larger man was not complaining of the comings and goings of the owls.

The sound of the television floated up to him, from downstairs. Some program or another was on and his beefy cousin, Dudley Dursley, would be parking his rather ample behind in front of it and probably stuffing his face with whatever Aunt Petunia, Dudley's mum, had made "especially" for him.

He didn't bother going downstairs. Why should he? The television held nothing of interest for him. The Dursleys were quite happy he wallow up here in his room and they not have to think about him. Earlier today that had been different, however.

Today, Uncle Vernon had called him down the stairs to inform him of a guest they would soon be having. The woman arriving had been hired to help Dudley not go over the weight cap of the Heavyweight Boxing class. Harry personally thought it was a lost cause. Still, it wasn't his decision. The conversation hadn't gone well.

"Tomorrow, boy, a young woman arrives to help Dudley with his boxing weight." Uncle Vernon's face was not as flushed as normal but could easily become so. "There will be none of your funny stuff while she's here. None of your disappearing in the middle of the night. None of your odd-ball friends showing up here. And no more owls!"

Harry had nodded and agreed not to do anything he would consider odd. Then again, he smiled to himself, he had no control over the owls. Which was the reason, Hedwig was now winging her way out of Little Whinging. Harry was sending a warning of a new Muggle living here at 4 Privet Drive.

The last few years, the arrival of wizards to retrieve him from this house had been a bit spectacular. His second years at Hogwarts it had been his friend Ron with his father's flying Ford Anglia. His third year, he'd run away for fear of his godfather, Sirius Black.

His thoughts didn't go on. The stab of grief at the thought of his godfather was swift and sharp. Only a short time ago, Sirius had raced to Harry's rescue at the Ministry of Magic. Harry had gone there after Voldemort had convinced him that the Dark Wizard had Sirius captive. He'd gone, intending to rescue Sirius. Instead it was he that had needed the rescue.

Sirius, Lupin, Moody and several others had all come to rescue him from that folly. Sirius had paid with his life. Harry felt the tears trickle down his face. He missed him so much! Harry sighed and flopped onto his bed.

The sun was down and soon the Dursleys would be heading for bed. Then the house would be quiet again. Then Harry could work on his summer homework, in the peace and quiet and without worrying about being caught.

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The next morning, he dressed and took himself downstairs to be presented to the new woman who would be living here. He had tried to tame the black hair that tended to flop down into his eyes. It hadn't worked. It still looked a bit messy, but he'd done the best he could. His scar was at least covered. He gathered the refreshments to serve their guest and placed them on a tray. He thought about floating it into the living room but decided against it quickly. The last thing he needed was another reprimand from the Ministry.

He set the tray down gently on the table and stood in the doorway, waiting for their guest.

Dudley was the one to open the door for the trim figure of a mousy-haired woman. She smiled gently and extended a hand. "You must be Dudley Dursley. I'm Heather Stone, your new Fitness Consultant and Trainer. Nice to meet you lad." She breezed into the house, slipping by the substantially heavier Dudley and floated into the living room to alight on a chair, across from both his Aunt and Uncle.

Harry studied the studious looking woman and wondered how she thought that she would be controlling the bully, as small as she was. And she was small. She barely topped Harry's height, meaning Ron Weasley would tower over her. She shoved her glasses up her nose and flicked her hair back over her shoulder.

"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. I see you have a very healthy boy here," she nodded at Dudley, who stood behind his mother's chair. "I, however, will need to see his room, the contents of all the cupboards and the refrigerator and ask that you not interfere over the next two weeks while I'm here. Now, as I said before, let me get a look at your cupboards and your refrigerator and then we'll put together a shopping list and get started." She stood, looking at his Aunt Petunia expectantly.

Harry barely held in a snicker. His Aunt Petunia looked shocked. This young woman had simply breezed in, taken command, and not given them anytime to talk.

The woman stood, brushed past Harry into the hallway, and breezed down to the kitchen. She threw open the doors to the refrigerator. She began taking things out and placing them in several spots. Quickly the appliance emptied and the countertops and table were full. Then she started replacing the food.

All the vegetables went back in, along with the chilled water and juices. All of the sweets, treats, cakes, pies and special things set aside just for Dudley went straight into the trash. Needless to say, the refrigerator was much more empty when she was finished.

"There." she said, dusting her hands off. "Now, on to the cupboards." In less than two hours, she had the kitchen torn apart and put back together again. She pushed everything she'd left out into a large garbage bag that she conjured out of her jeans pocket. "Now, to write out the shopping lists."

"Now wait just a moment!" Uncle Vernon seemed to have finally found his voice. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

She looked up a smile on her face. "Mr. Dursley, I was hired to help your son for the next fortnight. Now the first thing I need to do is get the shopping done, after that I'll run several tests to see where your son is at with his physical fitness." She looked down and began writing out a rather long shopping list. When she was done, she handed the list to his Aunt Petunia who took it with trepidation. "I'll let you go by yourself the first time but if anything arrives that isn't on this list I will go with you next time and show you the proper way to shop."

Aunt Petunia bristled and snatched the list from the woman's hand. "I can shop just fine on my own, thank you." She sniffed. The woman just smiled and nodded.

"Now, on to introductions," The woman said brightly standing. "I am Heather Stone." She extended her hand and shook hands with both the elder Dursleys. Then she turned to Harry and his cousin. "And you would be Dudley." She shook his hand quickly. "Afraid I don't know you, lad."

"This is Petunia's nephew, Harry." Uncle Vernon quickly spoke up. "He won't be any trouble." The last was said with a glare at Harry.

Heather smiled at him but then turned away. "Alright then, just show me where to sleep and the lads here can help me drag my trunks in. Now, shall we?" She waved her hand at the stairs heading up stairs.

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Once she was settled, she took Dudley into the back yard and began testing him on basic things that all kids learned in grammar school. Before a quarter hour was over, Dudley was red in the face and huffing loudly. Harry observed silently from the kitchen, biting his lip to keep from laughing.

Miss Stone took pity on him, however and let him return to relatively cooler interior of the house, shortly there after. She came in behind him and poured herself a glass of the ice water in the fridge. She leaned against the appliance and studied the teenage boy putting dishes in the dishwasher.

Harry kept his head down, making sure his scar was covered. He knew what she saw. He was a skinny, teenage boy. He had unruly black hair and green eyes hidden behind glasses. His only true identifying mark was the lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

Uncle Vernon called from the living room, drawing Heather out of the kitchen. She winked at him and left her glass on the counter.

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Harry was waiting the next night for Hedwig's return, when he saw another owl winging in to his backyard. That piqued his curiosity. Why would an owl go to his backyard instead of his window? Of course it could just be a regular wild owl, but he doubted it.

Instead, he snuck down the stairs, wand in his pocket and out the back door.

"Hello, love," Heather crooned to the barn owl on her shoulder. "Ahh good, another letter." She untied the letter from the owl's leg, and scratched its head. "Good, thanks love. Now go hunt, nothing to go back yet. I'll borrow the lad's owl if I need to send something before the next note you bring." The owl nibbled her ear, in what he assumed was affection, and then took to the sky.

Heather turned and startled seeing Harry standing in the doorway. He saw her blush and wondered just who she was and what she was doing here. He had his wand out and pointed at her. He wasn't taking any chances. To find a Death Eater here in Little Whinging, was almost as impossible as finding dementors here. That, however, had happened just the summer before. Now, Harry tensed ready to set off a curse and run like the devil if she turned out to be on the wrong side.

"Easy lad," she said smiling gently. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a letter. "I wasn't supposed to give this to you until my time here was up, but I guess you can read it now." She handed the letter to him and stepped back while he read it.

Dear Harry,

I sent Heather to you, simply as a precaution. We do not expect anything to happen, but having an overage witch with you will avoid sticky situations with the Ministry. Will see you as soon as possible.

Love,

Mrs. Weasley

He looked up shocked while Heather smiled. "Yes, Molly Weasley sent me here. The fact that your Aunt and Uncle were looking for someone to keep Dudley in his weight class was pure luck. The Dursleys are more closely watched than you would imagine."

"Mrs. Figg," he said weakly.

Heather smiled and nodded. "Among others. So you see Harry, you can put your wand away now."

Harry realized with a start that he still had his wand out and pointed at Heather. "Sorry," he said, shoving the wand into his back pocket.

Heather saw the motion and grinned. "Didn't Mad-Eye ever tell you not to put it there? That you could blow off a buttock?"

Harry smiled in remembrance. Mad-Eye Moody had told him exactly that the summer before when a group of wizards and witches had arrived to take Harry from this place. That was when the thought struck him. She was his ticket away from Privet Drive and Little Whinging. He turned hopeful green eyes on her but she shook her head sadly.

"Sorry, Harry, I can't. Not yet. When the fortnight with Fatboy in there is over, then both of us can leave. Not before." She cocked her head at him. "Don't worry," she said in some amusement. "I'm going to keep all three Dursleys so busy, they won't notice you at all."

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A/N- A quick note of thanks to Shahanna for beta-ing for me. Thanks!