Family Ties

Chapter Six: Welcome Home

Breath in,

Up,

Breath out,

Down,

Breath in,

Up,

Breath out,

Down,

Devin stared at the sleeping boy, watching as his chest moved slowly up and down. He was breathing, Devin thought, he could feel Harry's warm breath as he held his hand above the boy's mouth. Devin stared intently, afraid that if he looked away, just for a second, the boy would stop breathing, like Jamison did.

Lifeless green eyes,

Dead to the world,

Staring at nothing,

Never to see again,

Dead,

No, Devin thought shaking his head, Jamison is not dead, he's breathing, he's right here in front of me, safe and alive. But no mater how much Devin argued with himself, he couldn't get rid of the image of the lifeless green eyes as they stared back up at him.

"Kill him," the voice had whispered to him, as he tightened his gripe on his son's neck.

No, Devin mentally screamed, as he tried desperately to push the memory away, but no matter how hard he tried, the nightmares kept coming.

"Mr. Carter, I'm afraid we found your wife's body, we are going to need you to come to the hospital to identify the body."

The sight of his wife's pale, still body lying naked on the cold hard steel covered with only a sheet, the look of pain etched forever into her face, it was a memory that he would never forget.

His son laid motionless, his dead eyes staring up at him as he pulled his hands away from the boy's neck, hardly believing what he had just done. Cruel laughter range from behind him right before he heard the word, "Crucio," after that the only thing that Devin remembered was the pain.

Despite all his efforts Devin found himself crying. Tears fell incessantly down his cheeks at the painful memories of his wife and son. Wiping the tears away with his hands, Devin pushed away all the pain, all the grief and concentrated on the face of the sleeping boy.

"You don't need to be afraid of me, Jamison," Devin said softly. "I don't know what came over me. I never meant to hurt you. I know what I did to you is unforgivable, but I will try to make it up to you, we will be a family again, just you and me."

All the while, Devin spoke, his hand gently stroked the boy's hair. Harry slept.

Dear Harry,

Fred and George have gone too far in their pranks; do you know what they did to me? They locked me in a small stuffy closet, with one of their new inventions. There were spiders in there (shudder)! We need to teach them a lesson, when school starts again, I've got a plan to get them back, but I'm going to need your help, we're going to make them pay for locking me in that stinky, spider ridden closet.

I have some news on he- who-must-not-be-named, something is going on and the Dumbolder is really worried. Wizards all over Britain have been disappearing and then showing up with really powerful memory charms placed on them and no one has been able to break them. Dad won't tell me what happened to the wizards who disappeared, but I'll keep trying to find out. That is all that I have been able to get out of him so far.

Ron

P.S. if you get in touch with padfoot tell him I said hi.

Petunia read and reread the letter. She wasn't quite sure what to do. She wanted nothing to do with the wizards, but her nephew Harry was gone and maybe in danger. If any thing happened to Harry, she would never be able to deal with the guilt. She may not have liked her sister, but she still had been her sister and Harry was her nephew. No mater how much she would like to deny it, Harry was family. Making up her mind, she grabbed a pen and paper and began to write.

"So you have not been able to find out what Voldemort's is up to?" asked Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogswart.

Severus Snape stood before the headmaster's desk, his pale complexion even paler than normal. Beads of nervous sweat forming on his brow. "Whatever he is doing, he's keeping it a secret. As far as I know only a few select people in his inner circle know his plans."

"I don't like this Severus, there have been over fifteen people who have disappeared, that we know of, only ten have reappeared and they have been transformed into old people who have no idea where they have been or what has happened to them."

Severus was about to answer, when Harry Potter's owl came swooping into the Headmaster's office, dropping a parcel onto his desk.

"Potter again," Snape snarled, "What's wrong this time?"

Albus ignored Severus and unrolled the scroll, scanning through it quickly, Albus paled.

"What's wrong?" Severus asked.

Albus handed the letter over to Severus, who quickly read over it.

Dear Headmaster,

I want you to know that my family and I had nothing to do with this. Early this morning, I went to my nephew's room to find him missing, his wand was discarded on the ground. I know that my family and I have not gotten along with Harry, but he is still my nephew and I am worried that something might have happened to him.

Sincerely,

Petunia Dursley

"Potter's missing," Severus said after reading the letter. "That's all we need now, some stupid schoolboy prank."

"This is not good," Albus said, "If Voldermont has him…," Stopping himself Albus turned to the Severus, "I want you to go to the Durlseys and find out all you can."

It was a little after three in the afternoon, when Petunia heard the knocking at the door. Putting away the dishes and drying her hands, she walked to the door, opening it to reveal Severus Snape towering before her, dressed in a black robe, and glaring menacingly down at the housewife.

"I knew one of your kind would come eventually," Petunia said

"You must be Potter's aunt." Severus muttered staring at Petunia down his long nose.

"Petunia, my sweet, who's at the door?" Vernon Durlsey said coming up behind his wife.

"What are you doing here?" Vernon demanded when he saw Severus.

"I'm here to find out what has happened to Potter."

"The boy ran away," Vernon growled, "Now leave, your kind is not welcome here."

Your kind, Severus thought, narrowing his eyes, "Would Potter have a reason to run away?" asked Severus, glaring.

"The kid's ungrateful," Vernon said. "We took him in, fed him, clothed him, all with money we could have used on our little Dudley."

Dudley, stood behind his father holding a large half eaten cookie, looking fearfully at the wizard. Severus gave the porky kid a once over and snorted. "It seems to me, the kid could use a little less of everything."

"How dare you," Vernon roared taking a step toward Severus.

"Vernon," Petunia finally said warningly, then turned to Severus. "I'll take you to his room; I left everything the way it was."

Nodding his head Severus followed Petunia up the stairs, he wasn't quite sure what to expect when he enter Potter's room, but it wasn't this. Harry's room was small and bare, a tattered thin blanket lying discarded on the floor, next to it laid a wand. Severus picked up the wand and examining it, while Petunia stood by the door and watched.

No matter how stupid or rash the boy was he wouldn't leave his wand behind Severus thought. Whatever happened here, Potter did not leave willingly, Severus was sure of that. "Did any…" Severus stated to say, when a piercing scream erupted from downstairs.

"Vernon," Petunia said running out of the room followed by the Potion Master. Standing in the living room were, four Death Eaters, with wands ready.

Slowly coming awake, Harry quickly pulled his arm over his eyes to shield them from the blinding light.

"Where am I?" Harry said slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

Getting out of the bed, Harry found himself in what looked like a boy's bedroom. The walls were a light blue, covered in posters of various bands and a couple of swimsuit models. The carpet was a light brown with clothing scattered everywhere. A large bookshelf was by the bed, overflowing with books of all genres. On the other side of the bed was a desk, a math book laid open, but it was the picture next to it that caught Harry's attention. Picking the picture up, Harry studied it closely, shocked with what he was seeing. There standing in the picture, was someone who looked just like him, next to a man and woman that Harry did not know. He looks just like me, Harry thought, what's going on?

"Do you like it; I left everything just the way you left it?"

Dropping the frame Harry turned around to stare at the strange man standing in the doorway. The man looked as if he had not slept for weeks, his clothes, hair, and face were all rumpled and unkempt.

"Welcome home, Jamison."

I want to thank my uncle for proof reading this chapter for me, because if he didn't I would have never posted it.