A/N Well here's chapter 3. It took a really long time for the QuickEdit program to load it here on ff, but I think that was my comp's problem.

Anyway, I'd like to thank all my reviewers, and my brother (JeremyCamp-Stay) who assures me that my F&G letter was "inspired" though I still have my doubts.

I've decided to make this story from both Ginny and Harry's point of view, as opposed to JKR's typical Harry only style. I guess it makes sense to change that since I'm not writing a typical one year at school per book fic.

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Chapter 3

A Lost One

"BOY!"

Harry rolled over in his bed and groaned. Time to face the music. He would've like to have a little more sleep, since the nightmares seemed to disappear once he'd woken up and gone back to sleep, but he knew he couldn't ignore his uncle's summons.

"GET DOWN HERE NOW!"

This got Harry moving quickly. He may have been planning to stand up to his uncle, but that didn't mean he was going to aggravate him further by dawdling. Best to keep him in as good a mood as possible. Within moments, he was walking through the kitchen door, where his uncle was waiting, red-faced and swelling with rage.

Harry noticed this of course, but it did not phaze him in the slightest. "Yes, Uncle Vernon?" he asked calmly.

Vernon, if possible, seemed to become more angry at this. "Don't you give me that, boy," he spat. "I won't take any of your cheek any more."

Harry made no reply to this, but his eyes seemed to harden slightly, and if you looked closely, they seemed to glow just a little bit, as if with some sort of inner light. Vernon didn't seem to notice this, but both Petunia and Dudley - who had just walked in - did. Naturally, they both shrank slightly, as it made Harry look a little scary.

Vernon plunged on, oblivious. "Now what's this I hear about you not doing your chores? You'll do your share of work around here you ungrateful little brat, or you'll be out on the street. After all we've done for you, taken you in, fed you, clothed you..."

Harry could take no more. Abandoning his plan of remaining calm, he swelled in indignation and anger. He seemed to grow several inches, and his eyes shone so brightly it looked as if they could light a dark room bright as day all by themselves. He advanced on Vernon, who faltered slightly, and looked at his nephew in fear.

"SHUT UP!" Harry roared before Vernon could regain his composure. "I REFUSE TO TAKE THIS FROM YOU ANY MORE! YOU WILL NEVER TREAT ME LIKE A SLAVE AGAIN. UNGRATEFUL YOU SAY? WHY SHOULD I BE GRATEFUL TO YOU? YOU'VE DONE NOTHING BUT MAKE ME FEEL INSIGNIFICANT AND WORTHLESS SINCE I WAS A BABY! YOU LOCKED ME IN A CUPBOARD FOR TEN YEARS, AND HAVE NEVER GIVEN ME SO MUCH AS THE SMALLEST SIGN OF AFFECTION FOR AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN HERE!"

Vernon seemed to get back some of his courage, and roared straight back at his nephew. "DON'T YOU TALK LIKE THAT TO ME, BOY! WE'VE GIVEN YOU FAR MORE THAN YOU DESERVE, BUT YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A LAZY, INSIGNIFICANT CHILD. YOU WILL DO AS I SAY OR ELSE!"

Harry did not yell when he replied this time. Instead, his voice took on a deadly quiet tone. It was icy cold, and it made Petunia and Dudley shiver in fear when they heard it. "Do not cross me, Uncle. I am neither lazy, nor insignificant, nor a child." His eyes were glowing even brightly than before, but they seemed to also take on a haunted look, causing Petunia to gasp in shock. They were the eyes of one who had seen much pain and suffering in his lifetime, and they looked very out of place on a 16-year-old.

Harry wasn't finished speaking though, and he continued in the same icy tone he'd taken a moment before. "I have seen horrors like the likes of which haunt only your worst nightmares. I have fought trolls, dragons, and giant spiders. A 60-foot-long snake that can kill you with only a glance, creatures that suck out your very soul, and murderous raving lunatics who would kill you without a second thought. I have faced the most powerful and evil man ever to walk this earth, not once, but five times, and each time I have either defeated, or evaded him. I have seen death; seen it work, and looked it straight in the face, and yet I am still here. I say again do NOT cross me, Uncle, or you will regret it."

He wasn't bragging, anyone who saw the pain in his eyes could see that. He was simply stating a fact. He was also angry though, and one look at his towering figure was enough to convince even the most oblivious person of that. By the end of his little speech, every light bulb in the kitchen had shattered into a thousand pieces, and the air was fairly crackling with energy.

Even Vernon seemed to have lost the power of speech, and had grown gradually paler and more horrified as Harry spoke. By the time his nephew had ceased talking, he was shivering in fear of the young man before him.

Harry, having seen the light bulbs break, decided to get out of there as quickly as possible, before something awful happened. He knew all too well what tended to happen when his magic got too far out of control, and was afraid he'd do something rather....unpleasant....to his relatives. Without even a backward glance, he stormed out the back door, leaving behind a deafening silence.

Harry stormed down the sidewalk towards the park, his eyes still (literally) blazing with fury, though it had begun to abate. He was sure he must look a sight, with his extremely baggy jeans and t-shirt, and his eyes looking like twin flashlights, not to mention his already messy hair that was standing on end from the energy fairly crackling in the air around him.

He reached the tree he'd sat under the day before and settled down to watch the kids play once again. He silently berated himself for getting so worked up with his uncle. It had been a long time since he'd gotten that angry, and he needed to control himself or he'd have the ministry beating down his door to take his wand.

He was a little confused by the light bulbs shattering in the Dursley kitchen. From what he'd read (or rather, Hermione had read and informed he and Ron) accidental magic like that was supposed to taper off once a child started using a wand regularly, and incidents after the age of 12 or so were rare. Yet, here he was at nearly 16 still making things explode when he got angry. He briefly considered writing to ask someone about it, but quickly tossed that idea aside. He'd always had a bit of a temper, perhaps he just wasn't being careful enough at controlling it. He resolved to be more cautious with his anger in the future.

It was late afternoon before he moved from his spot under the tree, and he was glad that he'd eaten most of his supply stash (stowed in his trunk before returning to Privet Drive) when he'd woken up from his nightmare that morning. Even so, he was definitely getting hungry again, and decided to head home for dinner.

Just when he stood up to leave, he saw the little girl he'd been watching the day before. She was sobbing heavily as she trudged along several yards in front of him, and she was covered in dirt and grime. He watched as she tripped over a rock and fell flat on her face, yet didn't get up. She just curled into a fetal position and cried her heart out.

Harry glanced nervously around. Everyone seemed to have gone home for the day. Where were the girl's parents? She still wasn't moving, and he started to worry. What should he do? He couldn't just leave her there....

Abruptly, he made up his mind and walked cautiously over to her. She didn't seem to notice him, so he tapped her slightly on the shoulder.

She rolled over and looked at him through the most startling blue eyes he'd ever seen, and when she saw him, she shrank back in fright. This caused Harry to sigh inwardly in exasperation. It really was annoying being the neighborhood's troubled child. This girl was only 5 and she'd already been told to stay away from 'that Potter boy.'

Harry took in her appearance quickly. Her face was blotchy and flushed, and her eyes were red from crying. She looked to be sporting numerous scrapes and bruises and her strawberry-blond hair was cached with dried mud. He felt an immediate strong surge of pity for her, she looked like she'd been through the ringer.

"Hey there," he said softly. "What's wrong? Where's your mum?"

He glanced quickly around again. Nope, no one nearby. She was probably lost.

The little girl's trembling had lessened slightly. Harry didn't know it, but when she looked into his sparkling emerald green eyes, she'd felt her fears of him slipping away. No one with eyes that soft and kind could possibly hurt her.

"I dunno," she said tearily. "I can't find her. I'm lost"

Yep. Lost. Now Harry was really worried. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't very well leave her on her own now, he had to do something. He decided to get as much information that could help him as possible from her. Best to start with her name.

"What's your name?" he asked kindly.

"Emily Stevenson. What's yours?"

Now that surprised him. He hadn't expected her to be so bold all of a sudden. "Harry Potter," he said. "But you can call me Harry, if you like."

She nodded, and Harry took the opportunity to search his mind for the name Stevenson. It sounded familiar....something his aunt had said......Then it clicked. The Stevensons were a relatively new family that had moved in the summer before. They lived a dozen or so blocks away, but Harry couldn't remember in which direction. He remembered his aunt gossiping about them to his uncle and wondering why she was so interested in a family that lived that far away. He had tuned them out at that point, and now he wished he hadn't. He could've found out the street name that this girl's house was on.

He quickly made his mind made up, and looked at the little girl again. "Right then, we need to get you home. Do you know which direction it is to your house?"

She nodded slowly, and pointed straight behind Harry. She didn't look very certain, but it was all he had to go on at that point. More than likely, he'd find her mother out and around looking for her frantically.

He held out his hand to her, and she allowed him to pull her to her feet. "Can you walk?" he asked.

She nodded again. 'She seems to do a lot of that,' Harry thought. He decided to keep his hand in her's, so that he didn't lose her, and together they set off.

Ginny Weasley sat on her bed, staring at the envelope in her hands. She was shaking in both fear and excitement at the prospect of her first ever letter from Harry Potter.

"Get a hold of yourself, Ginny," she said angrily. "It's just Harry!"

'Sure,' said a nasty voice at the back of her mind. 'And your name is Luna Lovegood. You know you love him.'

Ginny sighed sadly. It was true, she did love him. She had gotten over him last year, had moved on, had no more crush on him. But then the unthinkable had happened. As she talked to him, and got to know him as a person, as she watched him struggle under all the horrible things happening to him, yet keep going through it all, she fell deeply, hopelessly, madly in love with him.

That had been a large part of her break-up with Michael actually. True, he'd been a prat about the Quidditch game, but it had really been a relief to break it off, as she just keep picturing herself with Harry instead.

She looked at the envelope in her hands again. Truth be told, it had taken every ounce of her courage to write to Harry. She didn't know where she stood with him - were they friends?

Steeling herself, she slit open the letter, unfolded the parchment within, and started to read. She stared in disbelief when he told her she was no longer a child. Was he beginning to see her as more than Ron's little sister? It was too much to hope for.

She chuckled when he started asking about how she felt about the Chamber. Trust him to deflect her inquiry onto herself and then offer his help and concern. That was so like him - always concerned about everyone but himself. It was one of things she loved most about him.

Of course, his gorgeous green eyes and adorable messy black hair didn't hurt either.

She gazed at his closing words. He wanted to be her friend? Her heart was practically bursting with happiness. He actually wanted to be friends with her. Little Ginny Weasley. True, she actually wanted to be much more than that, but she knew he would never think of her that way, so she'd settle for what she could get.

There came a frantic knock at her door, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Ginny!" she heard. "Let me in and give me that letter right now!"

"No," she yelled back angrily. "Go away, Ron! This letter is mine, and Harry says you better leave me alone or else!"

Ron continued to pound angrily on her door, yelling at her to let him in, but she just ignored him, as she loaded a quill with ink and started to write......

Harry was lost, and he knew it.

He'd been wandering around with Emily for quite a few hours now, and the sun had long since gone down. Emily too, had long since tired, and Harry was now carrying her, with her head on his shoulder. She looked to be asleep.

He was really getting worried now. He was tired, and Emily was starting to get pretty heavy.

He was also starting to wonder where his Order guard was. He'd assumed that they'd still be watching him this summer, but if they were there, they'd surely have helped him by now.

He knew he should've taken her down to the police station the moment he'd found her, but it was a very long walk all the way into town where the station was, and he couldn't very well ask his uncle for help after the row they'd had that morning. He really had expected to find her parents or her house fairly quickly.

Up ahead, Harry could see another intersection coming into view. When he saw the street signs, he nearly shouted for joy. He had made it back to Privet Drive. He never thought he'd be happy to see this place.

When he reached the front steps of number 4, a gruff voice stopped him.

"Potter!"

He tensed instinctively, and held Emily close to him protectively. He turned slowly, wishing desperately that he hadn't forgotten his wand in his hurry to get downstairs that morning.

When he saw who was behind him, he relaxed slightly. It was Moody. Then he started to get angry.

"Where have you been?" he hissed. "I could've used the Order's help earlier. I thought you guys'd be watching me!"

Moody looked to be just as angry as Harry. "Where have we been? Where have you been? When you left the house this morning, Tonks couldn't follow you. She said she felt like she had been put under a full body bind, and only broke free after you disappeared. We've been searching for you since!"

This gave Harry a pause. His magic hadn't been that strong that morning had it? He remembered not wanting anyone to follow him that morning, but surely that hadn't been enough to stop a full-grown witch, even with his magic at it's height, had it?

He sighed tiredly. "I got lost, that's all."

Moody was looking at Emily with interest. "Who's that you got there, Potter?"

"This is Emily Stevenson. I found her wandering in the park, apparently she's gotten separated from her folks. We tried to find her home, but got lost, and eventually made it back here. I'm going to take her down to the police station in the morning.

"Look, I'm tired, and she's flat exhausted. I'm going to let her have my bed so that she can rest enough to make it to town tomorrow. Can you get Dumbledore down here sometime tomorrow afternoon? I'm going to need to talk to him about what you said about Tonks."

Moody didn't look very happy, but he nodded his consent. "Alright, Potter, just let me get that lock on the door for you." He waved his wand, and the front door unlocked with a soft click.

Harry nodded his thanks and softly made his way up to his room. Emily was miraculously still asleep, and he set her softly on her feet.

She awoke with a start and stared around fearfully. When she spotted Harry, she immediately relaxed.

"Hey there," said Harry. "This is my house. Tomorrow I'm going to take you to the police so they can find your parents, but for tonight you can have my bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

He looked her up and down appraisingly. She looked pretty dreadful. Coming to a split-second decision, he grabbed a clean, white hand-me-down t-shirt from Dudley and led her into the loo across the hall.

He picked her up and set her on the counter. "C'mon then," he said. "Let's get you cleaned up." And with that, he set to work cleaning and bandaging her cuts and bruises. Once that was done, he tried to brush the mud and knots out of her long blonde hair, with little success. She really needed a bath, but the Dursleys seemed to be asleep, and he didn't want to wake them up with the sound of water running. They'd surely demand he turn the girl out, and he wasn't going to allow that.

When he'd gotten her as presentable as he could, he handed her the oversized shirt. "You can change into this to sleep, that dress is pretty, but it's not good to sleep in now is it?"

Emily just giggled and shook her head.

"I'll just wait outside. When you're done, come on out ok?"

She nodded, causing Harry to break out into an amused grin as he backed out and closed the door to wait.

When she emerged a moment later, it was all Harry could do to keep from laughing out loud. The shirt was far too large for her, and was dragging on the ground slightly. She was clutching her yellow sundress, and handed it to Harry, who promptly tucked it under his arm.

"Come on, then, let's get you tucked in"

As he drifted off to sleep under a blanket on the floor that night, Harry idly wondered why strange things like this always seemed to happen to him.

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reveiw responses.

I'm not going to reply to every single review while I write this, as it takes up valuable time. If you just wrote something like "good story" then I don't really have anything to say except THANK YOU SO MUCH. I greatly appreciate that you like my story.

etcies: Glad you picked up on that. How long do you think I should make him take before he figures it out himself?

mysticruby: have you ever been to Sink Into Your Eyes? It's a Harry/Ginny ONLY fan fiction archive. part of the HG network

thanks once again. chapter 4 should be up by Sunday afternoon at the latest. If I'm motivated by loads of reviews, I might even finish it by Saturday night...