Disclaimer: Ah, if only... As much as I really, really, really, wish this material was mine, all characters and such are property of JK Rowling.

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Abandoned

Chapter Two

"Finally!" exclaimed a red faced Vernon Dursley, "Free of the boy and his world at last!" he ranted, shaking his fist in the rear-view mirror, tiny droplets of saliva spraying across the front windscreen as he cheered.

"I- I don't think you should have done that Vernon… You don't- you haven't seen what his kind can do," Petunia ventured timidly, rather wary of her husband's decision.

Things hadn't been the same at the Dursley household since last summer when Potter left for school. Dudley hadn't been the same boy since being attacked by those denemor-things or whatever they were called, while being in the company of his 'freaky' cousin. He had slowly lost contact with his friends, throwing himself into his boxing, and cutting classes as often as possibly – not that was really anything new except he now made no effort to hide it. It was all Potter's fault of course. Dudley was frequently quiet and had taken to staying in his room an awful lot since the last summer. His parents were worried, and according to Vernon at least – the 'freak' had to go before any more damage was done.

"Listen here, Petunia. Look at your son and what that boy has done to him. All because you, you – not me, allowed him into our home. I told you he'd bring nothing but trouble and did you listen to me? No. You didn't. So now, since you've done such a knock-up job so far of keeping our family safe and happy, I'm going to make the decisions now, and I say that damn boy goes!" Vernon growled at his wife, glancing in the rear-view mirror once more, eyes glowing with glee at the stunned teenager he had abandoned.

"But they'll…" Petunia tried, before reeling back in shock as her husbands fist ploughed into the side of her jaw yelling "NO!"

She looked at her husband in shock, and he just looked defiantly back, directly into her eyes. Turning away from her husband, tears welled in the corners of her eyes from the throbbing of her mandible, and her heart leapt into her throat and she screamed her husband's name a split second before her neck was snapped like a twig. Tires screeched, fences snapped like paper, and a resounding thud was heard from the nearby house as the Dursley's car wrapped itself around a tree trunk.

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Harry was woken up the next morning by the summer sun streaming in through the open window at which he had fallen asleep while staring out into the night sky. Yawning, Harry went to straighten up his glasses only to find them missing. He'd left them broken on the footpath after… Harry looked around the room to see if his owl had returned with an answer yet. Without his glasses, his vision was rather blurry, nowhere near perfect. The room was still bare, with only his school trunk leaning against the end of the rather worn four-poster bed. There was no sign of Hedwig.

Opening up his trunk and sifting through some of Dudley's hand-me-downs, Harry found a clean set of school robes he could wear for the day. Sitting down on the bed alongside his trunk, he stared at Dudley's cast-offs. How could they just leave him like that? Harry just couldn't comprehend it. He understood that there was no love lost between them, but yet they had taken him in as a baby, so they must have some sense of family obligation or - love. Fine, make him move out as soon as he was of age, fulfilling their duty to Petunia's sister, but to go to all the trouble of picking him up at Kings Cross station and then just abandoning him like that… Harry shook his head. 'Don't even think on it, Harry' he thought, 'I'm rid of them and they're rid of their 'freak', it's not like I should even care!' They were probably at home sitting down as a family, eating breakfast or something… something he had never been part of anyway. Harry strode across the room, clothes in hand, and slammed the bathroom door behind him.

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Pulling the hood of his cloak further down over his face, Harry stepped out into the cobbled street, and headed towards his destination, Gringotts Bank. Harry had decided that instead of sitting around in his room all day, he may as well get some money out and have a look around the shops. He desperately needed a replacement for his glasses. He was quite tempted to go into muggle London and find some clothes that fit him, but Diagon Alley came first.

"I'd like to make a withdrawal please," Harry said politely approaching the goblin teller behind the counter.

"Key please," the goblin responded unemotionally, all business as usual.

Harry took the small gold key out of his pocket and handed it across.

"Right Mr. Potter, this seems to be in order," he said before calling out, "Griphook!"

Another small goblin approached the desk, "Please take Mr. Potter to his vault," the teller said.

Griphook nodded in consent, and then looked at Harry. "Follow me," he said, and Harry obliged.

The trip down to his vault was just how he remembered it – a rocky trip that would unsettle any stomach. After stepping off the cart Harry had to take a minute to steady himself before proceeding into his vault. If anything, his vault seemed to have more galleons than last time he visited, but perhaps because he hadn't been in awhile it seemed larger. Harry bent down to scoop some galleons into his coin-bag, but paused as he noticed an envelope perched among the coins. Harry fingered it for a moment, before putting it into his pocket so he could read it in private – after he'd got a new set of glasses. After taking as much money as he thought he'd need, Harry straightened up and turned to his companion.

"Griphook, I'd like to get this money changed into pounds, how do I go about it?" Harry asked the creature who barely reached his navel, while handing him a carefully counted pile of galleons.

"I'll take care of that when we reach the main floor," Griphook answered, before motioning Harry to leave the vault.

Back in the entrance, Griphook told Harry to take a seat whilst he changed the galleons. Making sure to keep his face lowered, Harry observed the people walking past him. Most walked past completely oblivious to everyone and everything around them, focusing solely on their purpose. The younger children however, scoured the room with avid eyes, taking in everything and staring curiously at the cloaked figure of Harry, then at the little creature scurrying toward him.

Coming to a halt in front of him, Griphook said, "Here are you're pounds, Mr. Potter," holding out a green velvet pouch with the Gringotts emblem on the front, he then continued, "I also took the liberty of getting you a complimentary Gringotts coin bag to keep your money safe. I have activated it with your key so only you can put your hand in the bag and find money. It will separate muggle and wizarding money also depending on your word. Here is your vault-key again. Be safe and Farewell Mr. Potter," Griphook said before scurrying away before Harry had a chance to answer.

Opening the pouch he saw the pounds in question, so he quickly emptied his old money pouch full off galleons that he'd just taken from his account and added them to the more secure bag. He then stood up, putting his money bag into the folds of his cloak and headed toward the main doors.

Exiting the bank, Harry headed to 'Optimal Optometry', the little shop tucked away next to the Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore. He'd seen the store during his visit in his first year, but being with Hagrid or the Weasley's, he'd never really gotten a chance to see what the wizarding world could do for poor eyesight. Besides, his glasses had done the job for so many years, and they were expensive to replace.

Opening the door, Harry stepped into what looked to be a mirror maze. The entire room had mirrored walls, reflecting the light that came in through the doors and windows in all directions, then refracting it back again. The sight was quite blinding.

"How can I… oh my, Harry Potter!" the lady blushed furiously, while trying to inconspicuously straighten herself up. Harry groaned inwardly at the reaction, before politely asking the attendant for help.

"My glasses broke and I need a new pair, can you help me?" he asked politely. The attendant started, looked at him for a second, and then switched into her professional mode.

"Of course, Mr. Potter. We have a selection of glasses, spectacles and the like, plus a range of lenses that work just like muggle contacts," she said, "glasses have a longer life, but contact lenses offer more freedom without the fear of your glasses falling off or getting smashed. Of course we do have charms to protect glasses from such thing. The lenses are very popular with the younger generation, particularly sports wizards."

Harry pondered for a moment, and realizing she was trying to talk him into getting contacts, most likely the more expensive of the options, but money was not much of an object to Harry and all-in-all, they were a better option really, especially with his record so far.

"I'd like to look at the lenses then, please," Harry requested, and the attendant led him to the back wall of the shop.

"We have many types of lenses with different features such as changing eye colour, night vision, zoom ability…" she began before Harry interrupted.

"I'd like a pair that is obviously of my prescription, last a reasonably long time, with night vision and the change eye colour option only. I'd also appreciate it if there was some sort of anti-summoning charm and unbreakable charm also. They don't fog up or anything do they?" Harry asked, inquisitively and the attendant laughed.

"Of course not. I think we have just the pair you are looking for. A lot of wizards and witches that don't even need glasses often purchase these lenses for their handy charms believe it or not. Here we are, 'Midnight Blues' they are called. They only turn eye colour to blue. They will adjust to your eyesight with a tap of your wand, and then just tap again to stop where you want them to focus." She said, handing him a small packet. "They last up to 5 years, and therefore have a 3 year guarantee. They need never come out, until your vision begins to return to your 'normal' again."

Harry looked at the packet before asking, "With all due respect ma'am, can I try them on because I can't exactly read much at the moment."

"Oh, of course," she answered, "here we are," she popped two little lenses out of their little containers and asked Harry to hold still as she put them in for him, explaining the process as she went. Taking out his wand, Harry tapped gently just in front of his eye and his vision began to swirl.

"At the moment it may seem a little strange, but all it's doing is assessing your eyes for where it needs to compensate for the damage," she explained, seeing Harry confused face.

The swirling slowed, down and the world slowly came into focus. With another tap of his wand Harry set his lenses to the right focus. "Good. How do I change colour and get night-vision?" he asked.

"For those," she answered, "simply tap your wand again and command the change with either "Blue" or "Night", you can use both at the same time too."

It seemed simple enough, and Harry felt as if a load had come of his shoulders with just simply being able to see properly again. "I'll take them," he said, following the attendant to the counter.

"Great. That's 65 galleons," she announced, and Harry handed her over the coins without any hesitation.

"Thank you Mr. Potter," she answered handing him the lenses box with instructions.

"Thank you," Harry replied with a smile, then turned and left the bright shop, instructed his new lenses to blue and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to look for a reply from Professor Dumbledore or the Order of the Phoenix.

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"Ouch!" Harry cried, tripping over the corner of his trunk and hopping around the small room cursing. After returning from the Alley to find no reply, disheartened Harry had decided to stay put and wait. Patience however, had never been a strength of his, pacing the small room, looking from muggle to wizarding world out of the windows.

Flopping down on his bed and rather threadbare blankets, Harry sighed, blinking back the tears in his watering eyes as he remembered the reality of his situation. He'd been abandoned by his family, and had even had to give up the company of his faithful owl, Hedwig, to get help. And there was no Sirius… ever again. Harry curled into a fetal position, wrapping his arms around his knees, rocking back and forth slightly, for whatever comfort it could provide him. A lonely, silent tear escaped down his flushed cheek. 'It's all my fault!' Harry thought wretchedly, clenching his eyes shut. 'If only I'd relied on Snape? Or Listened to Hermione! Or… or if only I had opened the package containing the mirror earlier…'

The only problem was there were too many 'if only's' these days, and absolutely nothing he could do about them. 'That wretched elf Kreacher… Dumbledore! If he'd told me of his suspicions earlier instead of hiding things from me as if I was made of glass, given me a legitimate reason to make me want to learn occlumency, then I would have been able to block out the vision or at least know that the vision had been sent by Voldemort. If I'd known the Prophecy, I would've understood…' Harry pondered pulling at a loose thread on his pillow case.

Deep down in his heart, and even in the back of his mind, Harry knew logically that the blame was divided – Dumbledore, Snape, Kreacher, Bellatrix, Sirius and himself. All of them had made mistakes.

'Oh Sirius, you should've listened to Dumbledore and stayed in that wretched damn house!' "Sirius," Harry whispered huskily, wiping away his tears, curling up as tight as possible pulling his blanket to his chin and gradually giving into oblivion.

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The crooked, rickety gate creaked open as he walked up the path, the surrounding trees curling away from his presence as he walked up the cobbled path that led to the cottage. He whispered "Morsmordre" and continued up the path, admiring his work in the dark sky. An owl hooted in fright and flew away, and he watched its disappearing form in the night sky. It was a full moon this Halloween, and for some reason the stars seemed brighter than ever. He whispered an incantation and the wooden door swung open, allowing him entrance to the home. He stepped inside, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Potter? I know you're here… your secret keeper was very… helpful for a change," he called, following his words with a soft maniacal laugh.

In the opposite room, two adults stood, frozen in place, eyes wide with fear.

It had been a good evening considering they were in hiding, they'd received an owl from Remus and Sirius, wishing the couple a 'Happy Halloween', and saying they would be staying in as it was a full moon.

"Take Harry to the nursery, I'll try and fight him off," James whispered softly into his wife's ear, his voice breaking slightly. He kissed his wife gently on the lips, and his son on the forehead, flicked his wand from the holster and headed toward the entrance hall.

Lily gasped, a hand covering her mouth, as her husband disappeared around the corner, and she began to tremble.

"Ah… there you are James… thought you didn't want to come and play for a minute there…" Voldemort said, twirling his wand in his right hand.

"I know why you're here, I know the prophecy. But I'm sorry you can't have him, you'll have to get through me first," James said, steeling himself.

"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem," Voldemort smirked, "Might as well practice the formalities," he said bowing to James who copied the gesture.

"Oh what the hell," Voldemort cried as he straightened up, and pointing his wand directly at the dark haired man before him, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" he bellowed, and a large green jet of light shot towards James.

James dived to the floor, and rolled behind the table for cover.

"Come on, Potter, this isn't a game of hide and seek…" he said, slowly edging toward the same table.

James leapt out from his hiding place, and sent a well aimed 'stupefy!' at the Dark Lord.

However, Voldemort simply waved his hand, and the spell dissipated into thin air.

James stood in the centre of the entrance hall, eyes wide open in amazement at the man's power.

"Going to fight like a man, now are we?" Voldemort patronized, grinning at James with a lopsided smile.

James, straightened his shoulders, his eyes narrowing to slits as he glared at the Dark Lord.

He held his wand in his right hand and aimed it at Voldemort's heart.

Voldemort copied the stance.

"On the count of three…" Voldemort whispered.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Avada Kedavra," Voldemort whispered, putting all his will force and magic possible into the words.

"Three…" James' eyes widened in shock as the green light hit his chest, then he fell motionless to the floor.

"You didn't really expect the Dark Lord to play nicely, did you now?" Voldemort said as he stepped over the corpse and headed towards the nursery for the boy.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Voldemort said in a singsong voice as he ascended the stairs, and entered the first room on his left – the nursery.

"Ahhh… here we all are…" he said, pointing his wand at the feisty red head.

Lily turned and placed Harry into the cot, then turned around to face the attacker, holding Harry behind her back at the same time.

"Move aside girl…" Voldemort snarled, inching towards the cot.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" she cried.

"Stand aside, you sill girl… stand aside, now…" he warned, now within a meter of the cot.

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead…" she continued to cry desperately.

"Avada Kedavra," he granted, and Lily, fell to the ground leaving Harry defenseless in his cot, or so it seemed. Green eyes met hollow red ones, and Harry tilted his head to one side…

Voldemort frowned, groaning aloud as he exited his pensieve, and began pacing around the circular room. That brat had defeated him once, he couldn't let him do it again. 'What do I need…' he thought, taking a seat in his throne like chair, rubbing his temples. 'The prophecy… it says he will be able to defeat me… with what though? I have my horcruxes, I doubt Dumbledore would know of them… only damned Lucius got my diary destroyed. Seven is the charm… I need to make another… and get rid of that fool Dumbledore once and for all…'

Little did he know as he was lost in thought, that across town in the Leaky Cauldron, the boy named Harry was asleep and his mind had drifted, through the link they shared from the failed unforgivable viewing the events of that fateful Halloween night. Harry awoke with a start, sitting bolt-upright clutching his scar, tears streaming down his face and his heart aching for his parents that had been stolen from him. He vowed to put everything he had into the fulfillment of the prophecy and vanquish the monster that has stolen his life.

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