Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: I am soooo sorry that this is up so much later than I had planned. I've been very ill the past week and now that I'm finally over it, I have a ton of make up work to do. AH! Being sick is really no fun at all. None. Thank you all so much for reviews though! They really cheered me up while I was ill. A million thank you's to my beta enb2004! LOVE YOU GIRL! She is truly the best! As promised, here is Chapter 8. Enjoy!
The next morning dawned bright and beautiful, a severe contrast to the current occupants of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who were anything but cheerful. Today was the dreaded day when they would bring the Dursley's to Hogwarts and decide their fate. It was not going to be a good day.
At first, Albus had insisted on going to collect the Dursley's by himself, but Minerva and Severus would not hear ot it. They insisted upon going along with him, not only for his safety but for their peace of mind as well. They were aching to get a hold of the Dursley's, badly, and they would not let this opportunity go by.
As such, at nine o'clock in the morning that day, the three Professors found themselves outside Number Four Privet Drive.
"Shall we knock or just barge in?" Severus asked, his lips curling in distaste as he took in the house. He wanted nothing more than to barge in and retrieve the Dursley's. Inwardly, he was hoping that they would put up a fight so that he could hex them.
"We shall knock and if they don't answer, then we may barge in," Albus said, his normally bright and twinkling eyes dark with anger and raw power that was just waiting to be released.
Minerva and Severus unconsciously took a step backwards at the power they felt emanating off Albus. They were very glad that they were anyone but the Dursley's at that particular moment in time.
Albus composed himself, seeing Minvera and Severus drawing back from him, and rang the doorbell.
The three Professor's waited for a few moments and soon heard footsteps heading for the door. The door opened and revealed one Petunia Dursley.
"No, I'm sorry but we don't wish to buy anything," she said as she started to close the door.
"Petunia Dursley! Do not close that door in my face. If necessary, we will force it open," Albus said while taking out his wand and pointing it at the woman.
Petunia paled when she saw her three "guests". "YOU! What do you want? The boy's gone!"
"We have come to talk to you. We are quite aware that Harry is no longer residing here. Shall we go indoors?" Dumbledore said mildly, but everyone there knew that it was not a request.
Petunia paled even further and reluctantly let them in. "What is it that you want from us! He's gone and I was told that he would never be returning here! Stop interfering with our lives!" she exclaimed as they sat down.
"We will not stop interfering in your life Petunia because you happen to be the last remaining relative of Harry. As such, you will constantly be in contact with the Wizarding world," Albus said.
"I don't want to be, and lord knows I didn't even want to take that brat in when I found him on the doorstep. I want nothing more to do with you and your freak world!" she screeched.
"That is not possible Mrs. Dursley," Severus growled. "You and Harry share Lily's blood, unfortunately I might add. For both of your sakes, we must watch over you to keep you from harm as well as convict you for crimes against one Harry James Potter."
"Therefore, we are moving you and your entire family to Hogwarts. Do not bother to deny it Petunia, we are aware of the abuse that you heaped on Harry. We are here right now to find out what he has not told us and I am willing to use unconventional methods to gain that information," Albus said.
"I will tell you nothing except the brat got what he deserved!" Petunia spat.
"Severus, if you will?" Albus said.
"It would be my pleasure," Severus said as he took out a bottle of truth serum. How Lily could be related to this woman was beyond him. They were as far apart as he and Sirius Black were for Merlin's sake! And that was saying quite a lot.
Petunia eyed the bottle nervously. "And what exactly is that?" she hissed.
"A bottle of truth serum ma'am seeing as you won't answer us truthfully without it," Albus said.
Petunia paled and wrung her hands anxiously. "Fine! What is it that you wish to know?"
Eyeing Petunia speculatively, Albus handed the potion back to Severus. "How long have you been abusing Harry?" he asked.
"If by abuse you mean hitting, since the day you people left him on my doorstep," she answered calmly.
Severus's eyes widened while Minerva's narrowed to slits and Albus's hardened.
"Mrs. Dursley! When Harry was left on your doorstep he was little more than one years old! What could he have possible done to cause you to hit him?" Minerva asked, only barely refraining herself from standing up and hexing the woman into oblivion.
"He cried, which upset my Dudley," Petunia said simply.
Albus stood, his normally clear blue eyes dark and stormy with rage. "I do believe that we have heard more than enough. Petunia, you and your family are now under my custody until such a time as you have been tried for your crimes against Harry. You shall be removed to Hogwarts today."
"It would be wise if you would collect your husband and your son. The sooner we leave, the better. It would be best if you did not tell Vernon and Dudley what is happening, but it is your choice. If they resist though, we will be forced to subdue them," Minerva said.
Petunia knew a threat when she saw one. Reluctantly, she went upstairs to fetch her husband and son, as well as a few provisions to take with them.
"Good, very good," Albus said as he watched Petunia climb the stairs.
"We still haven't found out the extent of the abuse though Albus," Minerva protested.
"I know, but I would rather hear it from Harry first and then confront the Dursley's. At least that way, we will have true accusations and proof for how long this has gone on," Albus said.
"And what makes you think that Mr. Potter will tell us everything that those despicable people have done to him? I admit that I do not know him that well, but even I know that he is exceptionally closed mouth about his personal life," Severus said.
"I know. We shall have to wait and see. In the meantime, let us just get the Dursley's back to Hogwarts," Albus said.
Minerva and Severus nodded, knowing that the subject was closed, and so, they waited for the Dursley's.
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Back within Hogwarts, Harry was still unconscious and blissfully unaware of the impeding move of the Dursley's to Hogwarts. The same could not be said however of the rest of the occupants in the castle.
"The Dursley's are being moved where!" Molly and Poppy exclaimed together.
"Here I'm afraid," Sirius said shuddering at the thought. "Believe me, I didn't agree with it either but it's the only option we have. If we were to hand them over to the Ministry, Voldemort's minions would get a hold of them quicker than you can say Quidditch, and then we'd all be in danger."
"Sirius, just when did you become so profound?" Remus asked curiously. This was a side of his old friend that he had never seen before and he was taken aback by it.
"Azkaban can do things like that to a person Remus," Sirius said tiredly.
Everyone in the room winced, knowing what a sore subject that was. Seeing the tired and haunted look in Padfoot's eyes, Remus decided to tactfully change the subject. "How are we going to keep the Dursley's confined though? Merlin knows we can't let them have free reign and go where they please," he said.
Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, what if we were to make the third floor corridor livable? That way, they have their own little wing of the castle while being kept away from Harry and the rest of the student body. Professor Dumbledore can tell everyone that it's off bounds again."
"She's right you know. What with it having been off boundaries during our first year, not many people will question it being again. In fact, they probably still think it's off boundaries even know. No announcement was ever made about it being made accessible," Ron said.
"That just might work Ron. We'll have to ask Professor Dumbledore before we do anything though," Remus said.
"Knowing that man, he has probably already thought of that and is waiting for us to suggest it," Arthur said dryly.
"What wouldn't surprise you?" a tired sounding voice asked.
Everyone whirled around startled. "Harry James Potter! Lie back down this instant!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed seeing her charge attempting to sit up.
Harry looked around the room and groaned when he realized he was in the hospital wing. "Back here again am I?" he said, momentarily forgetting that the Weasley's knew about his injuries.
"So it would seem. Although this is most certainly not your fault, this time," Pomfrey said.
Harry paled as he suddenly remembered. Bloody hell, now everyone knew his secret! Oh Merlin, if he was at Hogwarts that meant a good deal of his professors would know. This was going to be a very bad day, he could tell that already.
"Harry dear, why did you never tell us?" Molly asked, sitting down next to him on the bed.
Harry didn't answer and looked away. Molly didn't let him get away with that however. Grasping his chin firmly, she made him meet her eyes. "Harry?" she prompted.
Tears filled his eyes but he would not let them fall. "I didn't want to be a bother," he said, repeating what he had told the others earlier.
"Oh Harry! You could never be a bother, never!" she exclaimed while drawing him into a fierce hug.
"Whatever gave you the idea that you were a bother?" Sirius asked as he sat down on Harry's other side. One look at Harry's haunted eyes though gave him the answer.
"Damn those Dursley's to hell," he swore.
"Sirius!" Molly scolded halfheartedly. Truth be known she wanted to swear quite a bit as well.
"Harry James Potter, I can't believe that you don't know this already, so I am going to spell it out quite clearly, right here, right now," Ron said.
"Spell what out?" Harry asked nervously, having finally escaped from Molly's hug. Not that he minded her hugs, on the contrary actually. He was just more than a little embarrassed about all the attention that was being heaped upon him.
"Harry, each and every person in this room loves you! You are not alone Harry, you have a family and you're looking at part of it right here," Ron said.
Harry looked around and saw that everyone was agreeing with Ron. He knew that the Weasley's and Sirius considered him family, well, he did now anyway. He wasn't aware though that Remus did, although he probably should have been aware of it. What surprised him even more though was that Ron had said that the people in this room were only part of his family. He just wasn't any good with this family stuff and recognizing love. Harry knew he would have to work on that.
"It's just hard for me to believe," Harry said quietly.
"Honestly Harry! Ron is right you know, as shocking as that may be," Hermione said ignoring Ron's mock hurt look. "We all love you, more than you know obviously. I hate to break it to you, but you're stuck with us for life," she said.
Harry looked around the room once more as he remembered Ron's words. "Wait a second Ron, what did you mean that I'm only looking at a part of my family?" he asked.
"Oh Harry, you may not realize it young man, but you have Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall wrapped around your little finger. You have since the day you were born! Heck, you even have me! We all love and adore you Harry," Madame Pomfrey said.
Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children all looked at Madame Pomfrey with wide eyes. "You were there when Harry was born!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Of course she was Ginny. She delivered him. In fact, your mother and I were there as well and were pressed into helping her calm James down," Arthur said.
Sirius and Remus grinned at the look of horror on Harry's face. "Tell me you're kidding," Harry pleaded.
"Sorry kiddo, no can do. It's true, quite a few of us were there, us included. It was quite the sight, believe me," Sirius said grinning.
Madame Pomfrey pulled a face. "It was indeed quite a sight. Your poor father was besides himself and nearly half dead with worry while your mother was as calm as could be, for a little while anyway. And you two!" she said pointing to Remus and Sirius. "You two were no help at all and made James all the more anxious if I recall!"
"Can you tell me about it?" Harry asked with the others nodding eagerly. They hadn't heard about this before and it sounded quite amusing.
"Sorry Harry but not right now. I'm afraid we have some bad news for you," Remus said grimacing. He hated to be the one to disturb the light mood but Harry had to be told before Albus came back with the Dursley's in tow.
"Oh, all right. What is it?" Harry asked figuring it was better to just get it over with. He would get the story out of Sirius and Remus later, and in front of a lot of people. A lot of people.
For a moment, there was a silent debate between the adults as to whom would break the news to Harry. When no one said anything after a few minutes, Hermione finally took over.
"For goodness sakes, I'll tell him. Harry, unfortunately, the Dursley's are coming to stay at Hogwarts," she said.
Harry paled once more and started to breathe heavily. Dursley's, at Hogwarts! Oh god. It was one of his worst nightmares come true.
"Don't you worry about them though Harry. They will stay far far away from you in a totally separate area of the castle. They'll be locked in and will never be able to get to you," Remus said.
"We'll see to that," Sirius added.
Harry calmed down somewhat upon hearing that they couldn't reach him but that didn't mean he liked the situation any better. "Why do they have to stay here though? Why can't they stay at Privet Drive?"
"Harry, what they did to you was unforgivable and they need to be punished. Due to the current circumstances however, we can not turn them over to the Ministry of Magic without compromising your safety. The Dursley's know to much about you, and if the Death Eaters were to get a hold of them, it would not be good," Arthur said.
Harry nodded. He understood it but that didn't mean he had to like it. "How, how many people know?" he asked quietly.
"Well, everyone in this room does obviously, along with Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape," Molly said.
Harry's eyes widened upon hearing that Snape knew what his home life was like. Snape was one of the last people he wanted to know about his life.
"Don't worry about it Harry. Snape won't say anything, not if he knows what's good for him," George said.
"Yeah, if he starts picking on you, just tell us and we'll prank him silly," Fred whispered in his ear.
Harry nodded and smiled. "All right, I can live with that, so long as no one else is told."
"That's fine for now Harry, but once everything has calmed down, the Dursley's will go to trial. I'm sorry kiddo, it is for your own good," Sirius said while hugging Harry.
Harry sighed as his eyes started to close on their own accord, but didn't say anything. He was enjoying Sirius's embrace too much to move anyway.
"Are you tired Harry?" Madame Pomfrey asked, seeing Harry's eyes closing.
"Yeah, a bit," he said not moving from his position.
"Go to sleep then Harry, your body still needs to heal. You've been through quite a bit and it will take time for your strength to return," Madame Pomfrey said.
"Just sleep Harry, we'll all be here when you wake up," Molly said gently kissing the infamous scar on Harry's forehead.
"Okay," Harry murmured before instantly falling asleep against Sirius.
"Well, I think that you're stuck Sirius," Remus whispered.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't have it any other way," Sirius whispered back.
Silence fell over the hospital wing while Harry continued to sleep peacefully. It is a well known fact however that nothing every stays peaceful around Harry Potter for long, a fact everyone would be reminded of all too soon.