Disclaimer: Yes, Yes....not mine...of course...The clowns will eat me...I know the drill J.K.
Author's note: Never, in a millions years, even if you paid me, would I ever, EVER, have a Mary Sue in one of my stories. Ever. They make me angry. And the Internet fairies agree with me. So there. Just thought you should know. Dawn is not a Mary sue, just an O.C. whom I find amusing. As of shipperness in the story (EJ!) these apply, Hr/R, G/H (if I get around to it), SS/RL (Yes, that means slash, but I haven't decided whether or not to put it in yet, if I do, It will be low key and a very minor thing, as it doesn't pertain to the plot very much), and Percy Weasley/Death. Just because he makes me angry, like Mary Sues...one more thing, don't listen to Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a gun" and write fan fiction at the same time, it gives you strange ideas, take that as reference to future chapters....beyond that, Aerosmith rocks!
And now to the continuation of.....Doom!
Dumbledore listened quietly as Snape told the aging Professor of his findings at the leaky cauldron, a man stood in the shadows of the great office, his young looking face offset by salt and pepper hair and premature lines making him decades old too soon. Lupin watched Snape talk with no hint of expression and Dumbledore with even less. A middle-aged women sat on a plush chair, her eyes red from crying, clashing with her bright red hair, Molly Weasley looked at no one, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. "At the least," Snape said quietly, "We can assume that Potter will be out of the picture for now, so we will have to continue our effort against Lord Voldemort without him" Snape said this in a slightly deceiving voice, as if even he, the one most critical of Harry's character could not believe the boy just up and left. Molly buried her head in her hands and stifled a sob. Lupin frowned "Is doesn't make sense, why would Harry run off, he may not like the situation he's in, but it's not like him to turn tail." Lupin didn't expect anyone to answer, and was mildly surprised when someone did. "I believe this my fault Remus," Dumbledore tugged on his long beard, as if was lost in thought. "In more ways than one I am more responsible for Harry's departure than he is, and as for Harry turning tail, I don't doubt we'll see him soon enough, Though I would like you and Severus to see if you can find him before too much time has elapsed. Let's hope it's just enough time for Harry to do what he needs to."
Harry yawned into his pillow, turned onto his back, and watched as the light filtered in through his curtained windows. Harry was under the opinion that it was much to early to be awake on Saturday, but the voice singing merrily up and down the hallway refused let him go back to sleep. Just as he was considering getting up Dawn burst through the door with enough enthusiasm to make even the perkiest morning person cringe away in horror. "Time to greet the day kiddo! Rise and shine! Up and At 'em! Stir your stumps Laddie, breakfast waits for no one!" Dawn grinned happily and Harry repressed the urge to cry.
"What time is it Dawn?" He asked tentatively.
"It's 7:30 am, Boy-o, we've a busy day ahead of us." She grabbed Harry by the shirt and dragged him out of bed. "Hold on a minute, can't I get dressed first? And what's with the rush, anyway?" Harry tried to wriggle out of Dawn's grasp, but to no avail.
Dawn raised a manicured eyebrow at him. "You are Harry Potter; you have run away from the magical world so you can deal with your inner tragedy and blah, blah, blah. Long and short of it is, practically the entire wizarding world will be out looking for you not to mention the fact that you have opened yourself up to certain security risks involving drunkards and death eater's, but alas, things must be done, and done quickly." She adjusted her grip on his shirt and pulled him downstairs into the kitchen, and deposited him on a stool. Harry watched her bustle about for glasses and pull out a small phial from the refrigerator. It occurred to Harry that someone as lithe as Dawn was shouldn't have been able to forcibly remove him from his room like that, but Harry had a notion that there was much more to his roommate than he'd ever find out.
"Here, pour this into your cup and drink" She said, handing him the tiny bottle.
"What is it?" He asked, holding the glass bottle to the light. The liquid shone a clear red.
"It's a hair growth potion" she said as she spread some peanut butter on her toast.
Harry felt himself get irritated. "And why, if you don't mind, do I need hair growth potion?"
Dawn took a bit of her toast "Weren't you listening? I told you that everyone and there dog would be looking for you, so logic dictates that in order to thwart thine enemies, one must relieve themselves of any prior existing elements that would give you away. In other words, the glasses have got to go. And the hair will be at a length that will make me stop wanting to call you porcupine head." She sipped her orange juice and watched him, eyes twinkling.
Harry glared at her, pick up the vial, poured its contents into the glass, and lifted it up to his lips. "Porcupine Head?" He raised his eyebrow at her. Dawn smiled at him. Sighing, Harry down the liquid, and found it tasted like honey and mint. He felt a tingling on his scalp and suddenly black hair swung down past his cheeks and clouded his vision. He reached a hand behind him and felt hair resting below his ears and just short of his shoulders. "This is going to take some getting used to" he mumbled fingering the black tresses. Dawn grinned, hopped up from her seat and grabbed a box from the counter, holding it at arms length to se what it is.
"Hair dye?" Harry blinked, wondering if Dawn could read minds.
"Well, actually its only for emergencies, there's a potion you can take that will color your hair for you, one draught a week will make it permanent, for the time being I think you should get it done by a professional. There's a place called Jackie's down the street that that does wonders with people's hair."
Harry stared at her, blinked and nodded, not quite sure what to say.
Dawn leant over the counter, her index finger tapping lightly against her upper lip, seemingly lost in thought until she grabbed a dish towel hanging nearby and tossed around Harry's shoulders, gently lifting his hair out of the way and producing a pair of scissors out of nowhere. At this point, Harry tried desperately to bolt out of his seat, but his legs seemed incapable of moving. Harry then tried yelling, but his voice didn't want to obey. In the end, Harry was left nothing to do but glare at the hands that neatly trimmed the hair around his eyes and ears, and finishing by tying it in a tidy ponytail at the back of his head. "There!" Dawn proclaimed and waved her hands. Harry felt a slight loosening in his feet and immediately bolted into the bathroom and the mirror. Harry's normally messy hair was pulled back in a tail tied with a short length of black ribbon, leaving long bangs to rest on his cheeks and over his ears. Harry stared at himself. "Well. What do you think?" The blond asked him from the bathroom door.
Harry glared at her reflection in the mirror, "I look like a girl." He announced irritably.
"No, you look like a boy with any modicum of fashion sense these days should look like, besides, it beats looking like a hobbit that was held upside down for to long."
"I think your fashion sense is a few centuries lacking" Countered Harry, tucking his bangs behinds his ears.
Dawn grinned, "Matchtop was right; you are going to be fun." She laughed brightly and hauled him back into the kitchen to get ready for the rest of the day.
'All in all' Harry thought as he walked into the apartment laden with shopping bags and a pizza for dinner, 'This could have been a lot worse'. Dawn had made sure that every speck of personality that made up Harry Potter had vanished, or was hidden under a veil of brand names and hair-dye. Harry didn't really know what to make of his new image, his normally black locks were a sandy brown with streaks of blonde in it, and his eyes were a murky chocolate brown. His baggy clothes had become form fitting and mostly black and navy, which dawn said made him look less like a twelve-year-old and more like a twelve-year-old with fashion sense.
Harry walked to the couch and stopped dead in his tracks. "Dawn?"
"Mmmh?" The girl grounded out, holding her mail between her teeth and juggling her keys with some groceries.
"Do you have a brother?"
"Err...Why do you ask?"
"Well, there's a strange little blonde boy sitting on your couch."
Dawn blinked and looked over to the couch where a boy about seven years old happened to be sitting. She grinned in amusement and Harry thought he saw the barest flicker of relief in her bright eyes.
"Remember the door you asked me about last night?" She asked, and the little boy giggled.
"Yes...."
"Well this is the part-time occupant, right Gekko-chan?"
"Full moons and monsoons, amigo." The boy- Gekko -replied. Harry recognized him as the boy who flipped off Gary the day before.
"Full moon?" Harry asked.
"You don't have a problem with werewolves, do you?" Dawn asked in tone that held the tiniest bit of a threat in it.
"No," Harry said, "one of my closest friends is a werewolf."
"Ah good, no worries then." The boy said cheerily. Harry looked at him again and realised this was the same boy who flipped Gary off the other day.
So, er, Gekki- He began.
"Actually it's Gekko, its Japanese, it means Moonlight, my real names' Tommy, but I prefer Gekko." Gekko said this all rather fast, and in a know-it-all tone that made him wonder if he had any relation to Hermione.
"Okay, I don't mean to interrupt the confused introduction, but we clothes to put away and pizza to eat, so if you don't mind, Gekko, go help Harry put away his things upstairs, I'll get some plates and Drinks out." Dawn bustled off to the kitchen and started clanging around. Harry and Gekko shrugged at each other and headed upstairs.
"So who are you hiding from?" The young werewolf asked him while Harry practised taking his contacts out in and out of his eyes. Harry started "What do you mean, hiding from?"
"Well, you're staying with Dawn, and anybody who stays with Dawn is usually hiding from someone, or thing. That's why I'm here." He shoved a few shirts into Harry's closet.
"Do you live here too?" He asked in surprise. Gekko laughed, "No, no, I just come here to hide when I'm transforming, my rooms the one down the end of the hall with the shitty looking door."
"Aren't you a little young to be cursing?"
"Aren't you a little young to be telling me not to" The boy countered.
Harry sighed "Fair enough."
Gekko grinned, "So, are you going to answer my question now, or are you gonna bullshit me?"
Harry smiled at him "No, I won't bullshit you. How old are you anyway?"
Gekko wrinkled his nose at him. "I'll be ten in March, and you're bullshitting."
Harry looked affronted, "I am not!"
The boy grinned, "Are too!" He exclaimed happily. Harry and Gekko continued in this vein until Dawn shouted that dinner was fixed. Harry checked the mirror to make sure his contacts were in properly before heading downstairs. Gekko, however, jump onto Harry's bed and made a flying leap at him and onto his back with a demand to be taken downstairs. A startled laugh escaped Harry and he ran to the kitchen with the smaller child in tow.
Dawn smiled at them from her seat on the kitchen counter and motioned for the two boys to take a slice of pizza. Harry smiled slightly and was about to sit down on a stool when he felt a tremor of pain run through his forehead. Harry frowned and touched his scar. It hurt on a regular basis now so he usually didn't notice it, but since he a left the Dursley's two days ago he hadn't felt a thing. Feeling something warm and sticky on his fingers he pulled them back and stared at the crimson smear on his hand. Dawn, seeing the blood ooze from Harry's forehead, jumped off the counter and raced upstairs while Gekko watched with a strange solemn expression. Harry barely noticed when Dawn returned seconds later and pressed a small violet coloured leaf to his throbbing scar. Harry instantly felt the pain recede and a cool feeling spread about his face.
"Feel better?" Dawn asked. Harry nodded, still a little surprised by the pain. "Yeah, it's odd, it hasn't hurt in the last two days."
Dawn smiled slightly, "You were relaxed, that made your mental barriers recede, you've been stressed for the last two days and it clouded any pain that Voldemort wanted to send you, as soon as you let your guard down emotionally, Voldemort was able to make you feel pain. You seemed more surprised by the blood than the pain, I take it-it has been worse?" She asked him softly, as if speaking in a loud tone may cause him pain.
Harry frowned "I wish there was a way to stop it" he muttered more to himself than others. It had been no surprise that when Harry went to sleep at night he ended up looking through Voldemort's eyes. Mostly when he was torturing his underlings and was feeling some sort of emotion that Harry was forced to into Voldemort's head, and Harry had a sneaking suspicion that the Dark Lord knew this.
Dawn removed the leaf from Harry's head looked at it thoughtfully. "Harry." She said. Harry looked up at her "Hmm?" He responded, lost in his own thoughts.
Dawn took a deep breath and gently blew on the blood stained foliage, "Eat this leaf." She said in a distant voice. Harry blinked at her.
"Think of it as a first step in your training, this leaf is very much like a dreamless sleep potion, only it's properties allow the patient to block out unwanted visions and nightmares. It should stop you from visiting the Dark Lord in your sleep, and him from visiting you."
Harry stared at her. "How did you-"
"I know because my innate gift is to see the cause of pain, and, if I can manage it, heal that pain." She held out the leaf, and Harry took it, noticing how his blood had traced around the veins of the plant, and popped it into his mouth. The leaf immediately melted on his tongue and disappeared. Harry felt as if he was spinning and tumbled off the stool. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was Gekko, asking if he could eat Harry's pizza.