We meet an old friend in this chapter...

Harry Potter and the Secrets Within

Chapter 6 – A Meeting with an Old Friend

Harry's eyes snapped open, only to see that it was still dark. He sat up slowly, slipping on his glasses and making a small gap in the curtains and peering out. The curtains on all the other beds were drawn. He could here Sirius's heavy snoring and saw one of James's arms slung over the side of his bed, his fingers just barely brushing the floor. He slowly got out of the bed and tiptoed over to the window and looked out towards the forest.

It was quiet. There was no wind. The trees weren't rustling and the lake had no waves. The deathly pale moonlight was the only thing showing Harry the Hogwarts grounds. The moon, although just a sliver, was oddly bright.

'Snap out of it, Harry,' he told himself firmly. 'You're paranoid again…'

Still, Harry couldn't get over the nagging suspicion in the pit of his stomach that was telling him something was wrong. His eyes scanned the room again and saw nothing wrong, not a thing out of place.

Then he stopped.

His eyes went back over to his bed and saw his trunk, wide open. As quickly and as quietly as he could, he dashed across the room and over to his trunk. He rummaged through, checking the contents. He sighed with relief.

Nothing was missing. He couldn't help but wonder why his trunk was open for all to see though. He stopped his rummaging, closing the lid. Then, the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

He raised his head, staring straight forward and breathing heavily. He turned around sharply and cried out in surprise.

His cry was cut short however, when a strong hand covered his mouth, squeezing his face tightly. The man's other hand caught Harry's wrists, holding them in a deathly tight grip. His screams were muffled against the large hand as he was pulled harshly to his feet and turned around so his back was pressed against the man's stomach and chest.

"What the hell is going on here!"


Remus's nose twitched as a new scent entered the room. His eyes fluttered open and he listened with his enhanced werewolf hearing. He heard someone get out of their bed and walk somewhere, only to go back rather quickly. He then heard the sound of things being moved around then the snap of a trunk being closed.

Brushing off his suspicion, he closed his eyes and was about to drift off again when he heard a sharp yell of surprise, but the sound was cut off quickly, muffled by something large. He made a small slit in his curtain and peeked out. The sight made him gasp.

He saw Harry being roughly dragged to his feet as he struggled and fought against the person.

"What the hell is going on here!" he asked rather loudly. The man froze, as did Harry, who was being pressed up against him. He saw the flash of Harry's glasses in the moonlight, his eyes scared. The man threw Harry off him as though he was burned, and seemed to disappear right in front of Remus's eyes.

Harry hit the ground with a loud thud! He lay silently for a few seconds, before pushing himself up on his hands and knees, rubbing his sore jaw. Remus crawled out of bed and over to Harry, taking the black-haired boy's chin gently and examining his face.

Whoever had attacked him was strong, stronger than most men. Finger shaped red marks marred the smooth skin of his face around his mouth. His lips were red and slightly swollen. There was bruising around his wrists as well from where the man grabbed him.

"Who was that?" Remus asked, his voice wavering with shock and fear. Harry swallowed nervously. He knew exactly who it was, but he couldn't tell Remus.

"Did I mention," Harry whispered breathlessly, "That Death Eaters are trying to kill me?"

"No you let that little detail slip I suppose," Remus said in an unnaturally squeaky voice. If Death Eaters could get into their tower, were any of them safe?

"I'm sorry," Harry said earnestly. "I shouldn't be here."

"Harry," Remus said, shaking the boy's shoulders roughly, "Stop apologizing. I'm sure it isn't your fault Death Eaters are trying to kill you. We'll tell Dumbledore, he'll make the castle safe again."

"It won't stop him though," Harry whispered. "Voldemort wants me personally; there is no way to stop him! Believe me, I've tried. And I've lost every time. I've lost everything."

"We'll tell Dumbledore," Remus repeated. "He can fix this, I know it."

"Alright," Harry whispered. "We'll tell Dumbledore." Remus nodded, helping Harry to his feet. He coaxed Harry back into bed, tucking him under the blankets and drawing the curtain, putting up a silencing charm just in case. He didn't get back into bed however. His eyes scanned the room, searching. A fat, balding, sickly looking grey rat scrambled out of the room.

Remus's eyes shot over to Peter's bed and he saw the boy sleeping peacefully, his mouth open and drool dribbling onto his pillow. He frowned, his eyes darting back to the door. Then, his eyes traveled over to Harry's bed.

This boy had too many secrets. Remus was starting to wonder if they should trust him. He got dressed quickly, snagging James's Invisibility Cloak and heading to the library. If Harry was pureblood as he claimed, there had to be some record of him somewhere. And he was going to find it.


James stretched lazily as the sun broke through his closed eyelids. He propped himself up on his elbows, looking around. The rest of the boys seemed to be sleeping, but Remus's bed was surprisingly empty. He raised an eyebrow, but his instincts told him that Remus was probably in the library like he usually was.

His eyes wandered the room and he saw that Harry's curtains were ruffled as though he'd gotten out of bed or someone had gotten in. He gently pulled the curtain back. Harry's sleeping face was turned toward him, and James noticed that there was slight swelling around his mouth in the shape of a large hand. It looked like someone had attacked him, someone that was abnormally strong. But, Harry had been in bed all night as far as he knew – who could have attacked him in the dorm?

Harry's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at James groggily. He blinked a few times and sat up.

"Morning already?" he asked. James nodded, a grin forming on his face. Harry groaned and flopped back onto his pillows.

The day passed by slowly, ending with mountains of homework. They got more and more homework every night, and by Friday, Harry found himself cracking under the stress.

"Eat this," Sirius said, shoving a plate under Harry's nose as he tried to finish Transfiguration homework during breakfast. Harry winced and shook his head, turning back to his essay. Sirius growled in frustration.

"I don't think I've ever seen you eat, Harry," Remus said with concern.

"I'm not hungry," Harry said stubbornly, scribbling frantically on the parchment.

"Eat it or I'll shove it down your throat!" Sirius snapped, banging his fist on the table. Harry jumped and picked up the fork, shoveling food into his mouth as people stared. Sirius nodded in approval and turned back to his own breakfast. When Harry's plate was empty, he stood, shoving his finished essay into his bag. Sirius and Remus followed him out, heading for Care of Magical Creatures.

"Good morning class," Kettleburn said as he carried a large cage in his arms. The cage was full of small birds, every one different in color. Harry cocked an eyebrow as the birds fluttered around, their beaks opening and closing, but no sound came out.

"Today we are studying Fwoopers!" he said with a large smile. The class looked at the colorful birds skeptically as they flapped around. "Who can tell me what a Fwooper is?"

"It's an African bird that is usually brightly colored. Its feathers are used for fancy quills and it lays eggs with all sorts of colorful patterns. The song of the Fwooper will eventually drive the listener to insanity, as proved by Uric the Oddball." Remus said with a somewhat smug smile. Kettleburn smiled and nodded enthusiastically while the rest of the class backed away slowly.

"No need to worry, class," Kettleburn laughed. "These Fwoopers already have a silencing charm placed on them. They're harmless. Now, I want you to partner up, groups of three please, and each group take a Fwooper. I want you to experiment with what they eat using the choices I have lined up for you."

Remus, Harry, and Sirius were grouped together. Remus hesitantly took one of the bright birds and brought it to where Harry and Sirius sat. He set it down on the grass, and then sat down next to Harry. They stared at it for a while, and it stared back.

"What are we supposed to be doing again?" Sirius asked.

"Feeding it," Harry replied, throwing a few acorns at the green bird. It ruffled its feathers indignantly and took off. They watched in horror as it flew above their heads and into the Forbidden Forest. Kettleburn scowled.

"Boys, really!" he snapped. "Now you've lost it. One of you had better get in there and get it!"

"I'll go," Harry said, getting to his feet. Remus frowned, remembering the night before.

"Harry, are you sure?" he asked. Harry nodded. He wouldn't admit it to them, but he knew his way around the forest pretty well. The Fwooper couldn't have gotten too far, could it?

"I'll be right back," he assured them he ventured through the trees and deep into the forest.

He pushed away stray branches and twigs as he walked. His eyes went toward the treetops as he searched. He looked around the ground when he tripped over something. It was just a stray root, he found with a sigh of relief.

'Remus just had to pick the green Fwooper…' he thought bitterly. It was most likely quite near him, but if it was he couldn't see it as it blended in with the trees. He tripped again, noticing that he was getting dangerously close to the center of the forest without even realizing it. He stopped when the bushes behind him rustled.

Someone or something was following him. He took a hesitant step forward and a tree branch snapped. He spun around and was slammed into a tree. He yelped at the pain in his back but a hand clamped over his mouth, successfully silencing him. Harry's eyes widened fearfully as the man pulled a wand and aimed it at his heart.

"Y-You should learn to be quiet!" he heard Wormtail's squeaky voice in his ear. The silver hand gripped his face harder, cutting off his muffled words. It was Peter Pettigrew from his time. The silver hand released his mouth and traveled down to hold him against the tree.

"What are you doing here?" Harry hissed. That earned him a sharp smack to the face by Peter's free hand.

"You don't ask the questions here!" he said shrilly. Harry winced at the pain in his cheek and raised his hand to rub the pain away when his wrist was captured by Peter's silver hand. He was pulled away from the tree, turned around and slammed into it again.

Harry winced as blood seeped down his forehead. The bark of the tree was jagged and sharp, cutting into the skin of his face and neck as Wormtail bound his hands together with thick rope.

"My Lord from the future is here, and so is a small group of followers. He is going to kill Lily and James before you're born, and he wants me to bring you to him so you don't get in the way," he explained, removing Harry's glasses and tossing them to the ground.

Harry kicked and thrashed, but Wormtail didn't seem to feel any pain. Harry, already almost blind without his glasses, jerked his head away as the larger man brought a blindfold in front of his face. Wormtail tied it around his eyes tightly anyway and Harry stopped struggling. He was useless without his wand. But he couldn't reach it, as it was in his robe pocket.

Wormtail seemed to read his mind, for he fished around in Harry's pockets and pulled out the wand. He looked at it for a while, thinking, and then flung it to the side in the direction he'd tossed the boy's glasses. Suddenly, Peter stopped tying him up. Harry rested his head on the tree trunk, waiting.

The Death Eater turned him around again, so Harry's back was against the tree. He shoved Harry into a sitting position and got to the other side of the tree and tied Harry to it tightly. He then went around and knelt down to look at Harry's face, even though he knew the boy couldn't see him. He liftedHarry's chin with one silver finger to see him more clearly.

"I'm going to leave you here," he said. "I'll come back later to get you. My Lord wants you tonight and no earlier. I don't know why, I don't question him. You won't be able to get away, so don't try."

"I'm supposed to be in class. Someone will come for me," Harry whispered.

"You're in the deepest, darkest parts of the forest, Harry. No one will find you. I'll be back tonight," with that, Peter shoved a piece of cloth in his mouth. There was a small pop and the sound of rustling leaves, signaling he'd transformed before departing.

Harry squirmed and pulled at the ropes, but found he was bound by magic and muggle ropes. He leaned back, resting his aching muscles. After a while, something slithered across his legs. He jerked them back quickly, fearfully.

"It is the boy," he heard the hissing voice. Two others hissed in response.

It was the runespoor.

"But he is in peril…" hissed another head.

"Perhaps we should leave him," whispered the third head.

"Yes. It will be much more amusing when we hunt it," the first head laughed quietly. Harry shivered, curling his legs tighter to his chest. He heard the runespoor slither away quietly. He could almost feel the sun start to set as the air around him chilled. He heard footsteps approaching and went totally limp, giving up. The footsteps got closer and closer and Harry took a deep breath.


Sorry for not updating...I'm going to continue this even though not a lot of people are reading it, so I'll update again soon.

OrganiclyMe - But there is more

hots4harry - Aw, thanks! I really like your story too!

Kim Kotchanski - It's coming...slowly but surely

Jelly Bean Fairy - cookies?