Diclaimer: I own nothing, this all belongs to JK Rowling, please don't sue, I'm a poor poverished student and i have little money, it wouldn't really be worth your while.

Title: Young without Youth

Summary: When Harry leaves Dumbledore's office at the end of the fifth book, where does Harry go? Covers Harry's summer holidays.

Author: Ygraine.

Chapter two: I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies

Harry blinked and looked at Dumbledore's sombre face. How did that happen? He had just left there barely two hours ago! He couldn't think of anything to say. He wasn't excatly grieved by the Dursleys death, more confused and empty and the question why ran through his head, but of course he knew the answer. Him.

He swallowed and bit his lip, and taking a deep breath he looked up again the the Headmaster. "What about Dudley, what about my cousin?"

"Dudley was at a friends house, he is alright, arrangements are being arranged for him to live with his Aunt."

His aunt?...Marge...Harry's eyes widened. "I won't..."

"No." Dumbledore said, rather sternly Harry thought, "We are making arrangements for yourwelfare."

Harry nodded, although he wasn't too sure why. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked behind him. Lupin was there, looking very sombre. "Are you alright Harry?"

He smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine, just tired. Think I might just go to bed."

"Remus, may I be able to have a word with you?" Dumbledore asked when Harry made his way back to the kitchen to get his cloak.

x

He never had to go back to Privet Drive again.

Never

Ever

Again.

It was a good thought and it brought a smile to his face when he woke up the next morning. Although he wished that this could have been resolved without any one dying, he was very glad that he didn't have to return to the Dursley's.

'If any muggle deserves to die, it's them' He thought to himself as he pulled on his socks. A few minuted later he went down the kitchen, where Remus was sitting reading the Prophet, something about Muggle deaths in Ipswitch...

"Oh hello Harry." He sad, rather cheerfully

"Hi" He helped himself to some toast that was on a plate.

"How are you feeling. Will you be alright to meet my sister? Or..."

Harry paused. Remus' little sister..."Yeah, I reckon so. "

"Good" He said smiling, but then his face fell slightly. "I never got the chance to say how sorry I was about your aunt and uncle."

Harry shrugged, "It's ok...I never really got on with them. Just seems like it was someone else I got killed..." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait a minute. There were wards on Privet Drive, how the Death Eaters get through them?"

Remus swallowed and neatly folded the paper dowm. "I spoke to Dumbledore, it seems as though your magical element was the only thing that kept them up. The Dursley's pure hatred of magic caused them to fall. Wards have to be wanted, consiously or unconsiously, to be kept by the persons living there. The Dursleys didn't. But every summer when you returned, the came back up."

Harry sighed and nodded miserably at the kitchen table. "Look Harry, are you sure your alright about meeting Paige? Only I can cancel, she'll understand."

"No, I'll be fine. What are we going to be doing?"

Remus just smiled.

x

"The green one would be better, you know the olive one, over there!"

Harry blinked and piveted around quickly, the shirt on the hanger by his side got slightly tangeled up in his legs. Paige it seemed was a keen shopper, and was determined to take Harry. She had brown hair and brown eyes and creamy skin and was aboout average height and built. She didn't look too much like Remus but then again Harry had looked nothing like his relatives. She had taken them all out for lunch and now was shopping. Harry rarely went shopping and wasn't used to the constant carrying of clothes and trying them on. Already he had two pairs of jeans and a shirt. And they were still carrying on, he was getting tired.

"This one?" He asked, picking up a hooded jumper, the olive one.

"Yeah," said Paige pushing some of her hair out her eyes. "That would look really good, what do you reckon Rem?"

Lupin, who was leaning against the store mirror, looking strangley cool, in Harry's eyes at least, in the muggle outfirt he wore. "Yeah, it goes with your eyes."

Paige smiled fondly at Remus. "If Remus likes it, it must be nice. Try it on!" Harry sighed and smiled and made his way to the changing rooms. It was a nice jumper and it did suit him so he was bullied into getting it. On the way out Paige was ambushed by a group of giggeling teenagers, and a guy, who was very close to her. Harry saw Remus glarring at this man, who looked little a bit older than Paige.

"Oh, this is Rem, my older brother, this is Nick, my boyfriend." It was clear to Harry that Remus was trying to smile but it was failing somewhat and he shook the other mans hand who was 'doing god know's what' to his baby sister. Harry tried to stiffle a giggle. "Oh and this is Harry, Harry Nick."

"Hi, nice to meet you!" Harry said, smiling genuinely. It was nice, to meet someone who's eyes didn't admitted move upwards from his eyes.

"Same, you're a bit young.."

"He's fifteen, but he doesn't act it. Paige said, He's Rem's Ward...Ooops." She said covering her mouth with her hands. If she hadn't done anything it would be unlikely that Hary would actually notice her blunder.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Harry," Remus said pulling him to the side away from prying eyes and ears. "The Ministry are trying to keep the Death of the Dursleys a secret, as not to draw attention to yourself. Dumbledore is trying to appeal to them to have me look after you until your seventeen."

Harry's eyes lit up. "Oh that would be amazing!" He said bouncing slightly on his heals. "I would love that!"

"So would I. But because of my...condition." he spat the word and suddenly became very bitter. "The Ministry might say that you would be unsafe."

Harry shook his head disgusted. "What a heap of crap! It would only be during the holidays and well, I know well enough by now not to stroll into a werewolfs den on the full moon. I don't plan on dying...yet, anyway."

"Don't talk like that, you are not going to die. And yes, hopefully Dumbldore will be able to convince the Ministry adoption services that you have a fair amount of common sense. It should be alright. They tend to listen to him." Remus suddenly looked very dark. "They did last time." His eyes glazed over in memory, but he quickly brightened again. "In any case. You should be able to stay at Grimmauld place. Hardly Buckingham Palace but..."

"That would be wonderful! A proper home!"

Remus smiled. "Well. We'd better get you a decent room, and decorate it the way you want it."

x

Nick had been properly intoduced, and it turned out that he was a 'Very repectable boy' as Remus' mother said, when Remus came back from that 'awful family meal' he'd dubbed it before he had even got there. Remus' family wanted Harry to come 'To meet the nephew', they decided to call him. But Dumbledore put his foot down and said he didn't want parading Harry around.

"Voldemort still wants him dead Remus," He had said. "And even though your sister's boyfriend," Dumbledore sounded as though 'meeting the parents' was a very trvial affair compared to a war againt Fascism. And Harry silently agreed with him, "is most likely an innocent muggle." He continued. "We cannot afford to take chances, especially as this person will be close to you, and therefore Harry, keep an eye on him."

Remus tried to argue that they had already met breifly but still Dumbledore would still have none of it, and even though Harry would never tell Remus, he was glad. The last thing he wanted was to have a 'family' meal with a load of strangers. But Remus it seemed, had a good time, and came back at about eleven, looking rather flushed and smelled like he was had a bit of wine and a whiskey. McGonagal, who was playing scrabble (of all things) with Harry, as a babysitter, (Harry tried to convince people he didn't need one) did not look impressed with Remus' choice of beverages. And she stalked off fifteen minutes after Remus got home, after whispering some very harsh words to the werewolf, whose face fell in shame suddenly.

Harry chose at that moment to put 'rat-arsed' on the scrabble board. Remus threw some squares at him.

It was two mornings after that did the news paper come. With the Headline of dread.

'HARRY POTTER'S GUARDIANS KILLED BY DARK LORD. EVIDENCE OF ABUSE ON BOY WHO LIVED.'

Funnily enough it was Remus' reaction that gutted Harry the most, not the headline it self. The werewolf blinked at Harry, heartbroken it seemed, who reached over to get the paper.

Vernon and Pertunia (sister to Lily Potter) Dursely have been killed in an attack from the Dark Lord almost a week ago. Harry Potter was out of their care at the time. It's not yet known why the Aunt and Uncle of Harry was killed, but suprising news has been unearthed because of these attacks revealed to the Ministry of Magic today. It seems as though the Boy Who Liveds relatives did not treat their nephew as we, or Albus Dumbledore (who knew that the Dursleys were a bit resentful to have to care for Harry) had even dreaded.

The Dursleys made young Harry Sleep in the cupboard under the Stairs with the damp and the spiders until he got his Hogwarts letter when he was nearly eleven. They would encourage their large overweight son Dudley (who survived and is living with a relative away from Harry) to beat and bully Potter and unable to make friends with neighbouring children. And they would make Harry do all of the chores and cooking, and when it was wrong he would be beaten or locked inside the cupboard that didn't even have room for a proper bed.

And even when Harry was at Hogwarts they mistreated him during the summer holidays. They informed neighbours that Harry was attending a school for criminaly insane boys called St Brutus' They locked him up in his bedroom when he was twelve, with barely enough food, water and light to survive. Apparently Potter told his friends and teachers some of the mistreatings he had had but not the full extent...

Harry stopped reading a threw the paper accross the room and looked at Remus who was still standing there in shock. "You told me that you merely hated the Dursleys, that they didn't love you. But Merlin, Harry a cupboard!" He sat down his face in his hands. "How small was it."

"It was standard cupboard under the stairs size. But my Hogwarts letter, it was adressed to the cupboard, why didn't Dumbldedore know?"

"He doesn't address the envolopes, no one does, it's done by that magical book. No one would have noticed. Oh Harry." He whimpered. "Why didn't you saying anything."

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. No one asked, so I didn't tell. I'm sorry, I should have..."

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're not there anymore."

Harry smiled slightly. "Wait a minute. How did they prophet find all that out. The only way would be to question them before they died, and the Death Eaters did that..."

Remus' eyes widened, and he bit his lip. "There must be a spy for Voldemort in the Ministry."

TBC

A/N: Please review, i'm only just starting out. It will get better. There's going to be a bit of angst for young Harry.

REFS:

Story Title: 'Young without Youth' From Idlewild, American English:

'And maybe you're young without youth
or maybe you're old without knowing anything's true
I think you're young without youth.'

Chap Title: 'I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies' From Greenday, Holiday:

'I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday'