AN: No warnings or anything in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP or Marvel.

Chapter 4 Twenty-One Hours.

July 27 - July 28th, 2012

Harry hadn't realized how long of a walk it would be from Surry to London; what he was sure was usually around a forty-minute drive was taking Harry hours; he was thirsty, his legs and feet hurt, his back was sore from carrying his bag on it for so long, but most of all Harry would love to have something to drink, by the third hour of his walk, Harry felt so tired he forced himself to take a real break, sat his bag on the sidewalk and sat next to it, and looked around, Harry had messed up, here he was out in the middle of the night after performing accidental magic, has been walking for hours, and probably still have a long ways to go, Harry didn't even know what time it was, or if he was even heading the right way. It was tempting to lay here, use his bag for a pillow, and sleep. The thought of what might come upon him, like ministry officials, muggle police, or even some dangerous creature kept him from doing so; if only he had Hedwig to send a note to Hermione to ask for help, Harry was sure she would, Ron and his family were in Egypt visiting his eldest brother Bill, and wasn't able to help Harry at the moment. So all he had was Hermione.

Harry never had much luck, his parents were murdered when Harry was only one, and he got stuck living with the Durselys wishing that some unknown relative would show up and take him away, Harry thought his life had turned better when on his eleventh birthday he found out he was a wizard and that September started his first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, unfortunately, his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher turned out to be possessed by the very guy who killed Harry's parents Voldemort, his face was sticking out of the back of his head, Harry, Ron, and Hermione was able to stop him, and Harry ended up in the hospital wing for a week; he had hoped in his second year, everything would be different, but then the Chamber of Secrets was open; Harry had hoped the third year would finally be normal, but here he was still over two months before term starts, and already, he used accidental magic and was now on the run; last year Harry got a warning about underage magic, and it wasn't even him who performed it, he would hate to think what would happen after he not only used it this time but almost froze a muggle, he was looking to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban.

Harry decided he couldn't sit there all night, and got up and continued walking, wishing he at least had a watch on him so he knew what time it was; it had to be close to midnight; it was around seven when Harry ran from the Durselys, that had to be almost four hours ago, and after what had to be another hour into his walk, he had to be out of Surry by now, Harry came upon a house with a for sale sign in the yard, and looked to be empty, after walking around it, and looking for any signs of an alarm, Harry found a window in the back unlocked, opened it, and crawled in, the thought of getting out of the night, and getting a little bit of sleep, was too much for him to pass up, Harry laid down on the floor in a back bedroom, laid his head on his bag, and went to sleep, planning to get up once the sun rose before anyone come along and found him in the house, unfortunately, Harry had only bad luck, and that didn't happen.

"Hey, kid." A male voice said, then someone shook Harry's shoulder roughly, "Get up now; this is private property; you just can't come in here like this."

"Huh?" Harry asked, opening his eyes and sitting up; he looked around, then remembered where he was; a muggle man about sixty stood over him.

"Listen, kid, if you get up and leave now, I won't call the cops." He said. Harry didn't need to be told twice; he grabbed his bag and stood, "Go on now and don't come back, or I will have your butt thrown in jail."

"I won't," Harry mumbled, walking past him and down the hall; he glanced into the kitchen when he passed and noticed the clock on the microwave said 6:35. It's been eleven hours since Harry ran away from the Dursleys.

"Hey, kid, " the guy called; Harry paused, "Whatever happened, it can't be that bad; go home; your parents are probably worried sick."

Harry said nothing, just walked out of the house, figuring the guy didn't care to hear about how Harry had no parents, and started his journey towards London and to Hermione's house; his stomach was growling, and his entire body was tired and sore. Still, he kept going; about an hour into his journey, Harry found a spot on a curve for his first rest of the day, the sun was now bright and high in the sky, and a few cars passed him and a couple walked down the street across from Harry, but didn't seem to notice him. He sat there for only twenty minutes before standing and continuing.

As he walked, Harry let his crazy thoughts take over his mind, wondering if he'll be next on the news, most wanted right up there with that Loki bloke and Sirius Black. Would his picture be all over the newspaper, muggle, and wizard? Would he have to leave the country to escape arrest? Where would Harry go? America? No, if he went there, the Avengers might think Harry a threat, and he didn't want to have to try and fight them, and Harry would have no chance.

Harry would give anything to have a drink of water right now, and the walking wasn't helping any; he was pretty sure he was going to start sweating any moment, and he was sure he was going to end up with a sunburn. If he did, it wouldn't surprise Harry; after all, his life had been one long strike of bad luck, and he didn't see it changing any time soon.

When Harry finally reached London, he realized he had no idea where Hermione lived, only that she lived in London, so he went into a cafe, and after buying a drink, Harry asked if they had a phone he could use; the woman at the counter must have felt sorry for him because after explaining they weren't allowed to let customers use the cafe's phone, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and told him he could use it, Harry said thanks, accepted his drink, and sat at a table not far from the counter, and got out Hermione's number, and called her.

"Hullo." Hermione was the one to answer.

"Hermione, it's me, Harry," Harry said, glancing at a clock on the wall; it was 4:17 pm; it's been twenty-one hours since Harry ran away from the Dursleys; it took Harry almost a day to get from Surry to London on foot, of course, that was because he took a few rests and slept once.

"Harry? I'm surprised the Dursleys let you call; Ron said he was sure he got you in trouble when he did, so I didn't want to risk it." Hermione said.

"I'm not calling from the Dursley's phone; I'm not at the Dursley's," Harry answered.

"Harry, is something going on?" Hermione asked.

"I might have run away," Harry said.

"What? Harry, why would you do that? " Hermione demanded.

"Let me finish," Harry replied, "I'm not sure if I ran away or got kicked out or both."

"Calm down, and explain to me what happened," Hermione said.

Harry hurried and explained what happened with Marge; he couldn't say magic in front of muggles, so Harry had to explain to Hermione what he did by calling it accidental you know what, but Hermione understood what Harry meant without him using the word magic and told him she would catch a cab to where Harry was. They could take one back to her house together, but it would be a while before she could get there; Harry told her it was fine, he'll wait; they said bye and hung up the phone; Harry gave the girl her phone back, then ordered some food, then sat back down to wait for his food, and for Hermione to arrive. Harry felt someone watching him and looked over to see a short man in a purple top hat that looked a little familiar looking at him; once Harry looked his way, he turned his head quickly, and moments later, he got up and left in a hurry; Harry didn't have time to think much of it, because his food had arrived and he felt so hungry all thoughts turned to his food when he was halfway through the meal someone walked up to him.

"You know, Potter, " A familiar voice said, causing Harry to pause, picking up his drink. "The last person I want to deal with during the summer holiday is you."

Harry looked to see no other than Severus Snape, his potion professor, glaring down at him.

'Aw, but I'm so happy to see you." Harry let slip out, not thinking; Snape raised his eyebrow.

"Sarcasm does not suit you, Potter," Snape said.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Harry asked, "As you said, it's the summer holidays; you and I should be nowhere near each other."

"As much as I agree with that sentiment, Dumbledore does not." Snape replied, "He has had people searching all night and day between here and Surry for you, and here you are, sitting in a cozy cafe having dinner, like usual, not caring if you have people worrying over you or wasting time looking for you, after the stunt you pulled at the Dursleys." Snape ranted.

"Stunt? It was an accident, and how was I supposed to know anyone was looking for me?" Harry demanded, "I just spent almost a day walking from Surry to London; I was out in the open walking through neighborhoods, so I would have been easy to spot; I guess they must not have been looking too hard; how do you know about what happened at the Dursleys?"

"I know because Dumbledore, Minerva, and I spent all night cleaning up your mess," Snape said, "Now, get up and come; the Headmaster is at the Leaky Caudron. He wishes to speak with you."

"Can I finish eating? It's the first meal I have gotten since dinner yesterday," Harry asked.

Snape curled his lip up but grabbed a chair from a nearby table and pulled it next to Harry's table, and sat in it; the girl behind the counter came over to tell him he wasn't allowed to move the furniture, but Snape gave her that special glare he reserved for Hogwarts students and the girl stopped mid-sentence and went hurrying back behind the counter; Harry went back to his food, as Snape reached in his pocket and pulled out a newspaper; he must have bewitched it, so the pictures didn't move, but it was a Daily Prophet, and the image on the front was Sirius Black.

"I saw that man on the muggle news," Harry said. Snape looked at him, then closed the paper enough to look at the cover.

"You don't know who Sirius Black is?" Snape asked; Harry shook his head, and amusement flashed in Snape's eyes before he smirked, "How amusing, Potter."

"Why is that amusing?" Harry demanded.

"Sirius Black was a big supporter of the Dark Lord," Snape said.

"You mean Voldemort?" Harry demanded.

"Do not say that name." Snape hissed, "If you must know, Potter, Sirius Black was one of the Dark Lord's biggest supporters and thought he'd become second in command when he took over; as you know, that never happened, and the moment Black heard of the Dark Lord's downfall, he went crazy, blew up a muggle street, killing twelve of them and the idiot wizard who had tried to stop him."

"So he was in prison for killing thirteen people?" Harry asked. Snape's smirk had turned into a sadistic smile; his expression looked almost gleeful, as if he was enjoying telling Harry what an awful person Sirius Black was.

"Exactly, Potter," Snape said, folding his paper and standing, "Are you done now? Dumbledore and I are very busy men; we can't wait all day for you to stuff your face."

Harry looked down at his food; he hadn't eaten all of it, but after hearing what Sirius Black did, Harry wasn't very hungry anymore, so he took one more drink before standing and agreeing to go; Snape grabbed Harry's arm in a tight hold, and all but dragged him out of the cafe, they nearly ran into Hermione on their way out. Hermione's eyes widened at the sight of Snape, and Snape's lip curled up at the sight of Hermione.

"Follow us, Granger," Snape ordered, then turned and while still keeping his tight hold on Harry's arm, he walked them the few blocks to the Leaky Cauldron without saying a word; Harry kept glancing at Hermione and could tell she was dying to start asking a bunch of questions. When they got to the Leaky Cauldron Snape still didn't let go of Harry and led him straight to a private room where Albus Dumbledore sat in an oversized chair in front of a fire; he greeted Harry with a smile.

"Harry, good to see you are well," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "Oh, and Ms. Granger too."

"She showed up when I was dragging Potter out of the muggle cafe," Snape explained, finally letting go of Harry; as Dumbledore pulled his wand out and waved it, two chairs appeared across from Dumbledore.

"Have a seat," Dumbledore said, motioning to the two chairs; when they sat, Dumbledore offered them some of the cakes and tea on the table in front of them, and he conjured an extra cup for Hermione. Harry felt his appetite return at the smell of the cakes.

"Thank you, sir," Hermione said, accepting the tea and a cake.

"You are welcome, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore replied, and Harry felt this situation surreal; he was sitting in a room in the Leaky Cauldron with his best friend, Hermione Granger, his headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and potion professor Severus Snape; this was not what Harry had imagined would happen when he ran away from Privet Drive.

"Can we get on with this so I can go home?" Snape demanded, as no one talked; they just sat there eating the cakes and drinking the tea.

"Yes, I was about to just now," Dumbledore said, setting his tea down and folding his hands across his lap. "Harry, you will be relieved to know that Marge Dursley is alright; the moment I got the message something was happening at Privet Drive, I sent a message to both Professor Snape and Professor McGogongall, to meet me there, and after a little...convincing from my part The Dursleys allowed Professor McGogongall to take Marge to St. Mungo's the wizard hospital so she'll be treated, then her memory modified and she'll be taken home, Marge is in bad condition due to frostbite on most of her body, and may lose her hand, but she should pull through. St. Mungo's has some of the best healers in Britain."

"That's a relief." Harry sighed, though he felt terrible Marge might lose her hand.

"Indeed, but Harry, running away like that, I know you must have been scared, but I wish you had gone to Miss. Figg's she would have helped you." Professor Dumbledore said.

"You know, Miss. Figg?" Harry asked.

"Arabella Figg is a squib I placed on Privet Drive not long after you were left on the Dursleys' doorstep, her job was to watch over you, and she alerted me that something was going on at the Dursleys. She saw the flashing lights from the police cars and heard the ambulance; though you had no idea Arabella and I knew each other, unfortunately, you didn't know to go there, but now you do."

"Oh," Harry said, not knowing what else to say or how to feel about the news. Dumbledore has had someone watching him since he was made to live with the Dursleys.

"Good thing she did too, or we would not have been aware you had gone missing," Dumbledore said.

"I, for one, would have, whether not spent the last twenty-some hours of my holiday cleaning up your mess, do learn to control your temper, Potter," Snape said. Harry glared at him but decided he didn't have the energy to argue with him.

"Professor Snape here had the task of following the muggle police, and once far enough from Privet Drive that the Ministry wouldn't blame you, Harry, for the magic, he modified their memories a little," Dumbledore explained, "Then, doing the same with the paramedics, though that took a bit longer, it was done, and us four, Professor McGogongall, and the Dursleys are the only ones who know what happened to Marge Dursley,

"What about the others who were out looking for me?" Harry asked.

"All they know is you had a disagreement with your relatives that was bad enough to get you to run away; I didn't think too many should know the whole truth," Dumbledore said.

"Sir, I'm sorry I caused so much trouble," Harry said.

"It's over and done with now, Harry; you are safe; that's what matters," Dumbledore said, "Though I do appreciate and accept the apology."

"Professor, isn't modifying memories the ministry's job?" Hermione asked. "Shouldn't they have done it?"

"I am not sure what Harry did was accidental magic," Dumbledore said. "And therefore did not think it wise to alert the Ministry on what happened; in fact, Professor McGogongall gave St. Mungo a fake name for Marge and told them she was a neighbor that was found in that condition."

"If it wasn't accidental magic, what else could it be?" Harry demanded; Riddle's words from the chamber filled his mind.

"I am not sure." Professor Dumbledore answered, "I could be wrong; despite popular belief, I do not know everything, but no kind of freeze spell I know of can do that, and I've never seen accidental magic act in that way, and there are other factors in why I do not believe it was our traditional form of wizard magic you performed last night."

"Don't forget Potter turned blue," Snape added; Harry looked at him in surprise; Snape once again had that almost gleeful look on his face.

"How do you..." Harry trailed off when it clicked. The Dursleys must have mentioned it. Snape's the last person he wants to know about that.

"Blue? What do you mean Harry turned blue?" Hermione demanded, sounding concerned.

"I'll explain later," Harry mumbled; Hermione looked like she wanted to question further but let it go. Dumbledore, on the other hand, didn't.

"Has that ever happened to you before, Harry?" Dumbledore asked gently. Harry looked down, he didn't mind Hermione knowing about this, and Dumbledore might know what was happening to him, but he didn't want Snape to know about this, but there was no way he could ask Dumbledore to have him leave.

"Once," Harry admitted. Then he explained what happened after the basilisk bit him.

"Interesting," Dumbledore said, "I believe your body might have reacted in a self-saving way and activated an unknown creature gene that had been lying dormant in your DNA to keep yourself alive."

"Headmaster, I don't know of any blue creatures with freeze powers," Snape said.

"I don't either, but I also don't know every magical creature that has ever existed; that is more Hagrid's area of expertise; perhaps I shall ask him," Dumbledore answered.

"Sir," Harry said, "I thought my father was from a pureblood family."

"The Potters were pure blood." Dumbledore said, "As far as they knew, but we don't always know what our ancestors may have kept hidden, and there's also your mother's side; maybe she had an ancestor that wasn't muggle or even human."

"Professor, am I going to get into trouble for using magic outside of Hogwarts?" Harry asked, deciding he wanted to change the subject.

"As I said a moment ago, the Ministry has no idea about what happened, " Dumbledore said, "And I know you would never do something like that on purpose; you are not this time, but I must warn you, Harry, try to figure out what this is, and learn to control it before you get yourself in serious trouble. I will be checking into the Potter family tree myself."

"Shouldn't the ministry have been alerted to the underage magic?" Hermione asked.

"Exactly," Dumbledore said, "But they weren't; another reason why I don't think that's what Harry did, or maybe the Ministry might have missed it; they have their hands quite full right now."

"You mean because of Sirius Black escaping?" Hermione asked.

"That and other things," Snape said.

"We have a slight problem. " Dumbledore said, "the Dursleys refuse to allow you back into their house; no matter what I say or try to explain to them, what happened to Marge Dursley was the last straw."

"I don't want to go back there anyway," Harry said, then winched at how childish that sounded.

"As childish as ever, Potter." Snape snared, and Harry's face turned red in embarrassment.

"I had a reason for placing you with the Dursleys; you were protected there, your mother gave her life for you, and that set up a protection; as long as you called the place your mother's blood dwelled home, you were protected from Voldemort, even if you often did not feel at home there or was sometimes mistreated," Dumbledore said.

"Aunt Petunia told me to get out," Harry said, "Yeah, I was already planning to leave, but she told me that her house was no longer my home."

"Oh dear, those words might give us a problem." Dumbledore frowned, "We might be able to get around it; I will go to their house again once they have time to calm down and speak with them. If they still refuse, we'll have to find somewhere else for you to live, perhaps the Weasleys will allow you to stay at the Burrow, but they will also have to be willing to allow all kinds of charms and spells to be put around their home."

Harry doubted very much that the Dursleys would allow him to come back, not after freezing Marge; hopefully, Harry could stay at the Burrow; he would even be willing to pay Mr. and Mrs. Wesaley for room and board, he knew they probably wouldn't take it, but still, it would be polite to offer. For the hundredth time in his life, Harry wished some unknown relative would show up to provide him with a family and a home; Harry loved his parents and would be forever grateful for them giving up their lives to save him. Still, he wished he could be like most other kids his age and have alive parents.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that now; we have the rest of the summer and the whole school year to convince the Dursleys to take you back; I will, of course, ask Molly and Arthur Weasley if you can stay there if the Dursleys still refuse," Dumbledore said. "Right now, we need a place for you to stay the rest of the summer."

"Harry can stay at my house," Hermione said, "That is if my parents allow it."

"Excellent, we will go see them shortly, but first, Harry, I want you to promise me you will stay in Hermione's house, no running off or going anywhere without them; I'll also, with permission, of course, set up temporary wards, and have some friends of mine standing guard around the neighborhood, don't worry Miss. Granger, I'll make it clear they are not to be seen."

"But why is that necessary?" Harry asked, "Sir." He added to sound more polite.

"Have you not been listening, Potter? We have a killer on the loose." Snape said.

"Sirius Black, yes, we mentioned him, but what's he got to do with me?" Harry demanded.

"Black's a madman, Potter." Snape said, "And did you forget the former supporter of the Dark Lord part?"

"You don't think Black is after me?" Harry demanded.

"There are reasons to believe he may be after you," Dumbledore admitted, "So, we must take precautions until he is caught."

"And there is also that other madman who destroyed the muggle city; who knows where he is? The muggle authorities sure don't," Snape added.

"You mean Loki?" Harry asked, "He's all the muggle news has been talking about."

"We are in weird times," Dumbledore said. "aliens, gods, muggles flying around inside metal suits, unknown magical objects in the hands of muggles, entire cities being leveled, I tell you, it's got every magical leader all over the world in a frenzy."

"Don't forget that muggle that turns into the green beast," Snape added with a look of disgust.

"I see where the wizard community would be worried," Hermione said. "My parents canceled our trip to France this year; with everything happening, they didn't feel safe going too far from home."

"Understandable," Dumbledore said, standing, "It's getting late, I'm sure, Miss. Granger's parents are wondering where she is, so if you two are ready, I'll apparate the two of you there and speak with them; Severus, I thank you for your help; you may go and enjoy the rest of your summer holiday."

Without a word, Snape turned and fled the room; Dumbledore chuckled and commented about Snape not being pleased he interrupted his vacation, then motioned for Harry and Hermione to go out first; Harry was hoping the Dursleys stick to him not being allowed back, even if it left him with nowhere to go after the coming Hogwarts school year.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter; in case there was any confusion, the reason Snape found it amusing that Harry didn't know who Sirius was, is because he thinks he's James Potter's son, and James and Sirius were so close, so it's amusing to him that Potter's son has never heard of Sirius before. For the same reason, he found a little joy in telling Sirius what a bad guy Sirius was.

The guy that was watching Harry in the Cafe was Dedalus Diggle; Dumbledore had some of the old Order members out looking for Harry; he was one, so when he saw Harry, he went and alerted Dumbledore, who was at the Leaky Cauldron with Snape, so he had Snape get Harry.

The next Chapter is in Loki's POV.