A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Harry's face. He narrowed his eyes in concentration and felt his body tense up. He was staring intently at the ball of magic levitating in the air in front of him. Light from the orb made his face glow eerily as he struggled to contain his magic. Finally it was too much, the ball dissipated and Harry dropped on his bed exhausted.
This was just another one of his experiments. All summer he had been playing with his magic, trying to see what he was capable of.
Wandless magic was something he had learned. He had started trying it when he was still at Hogwarts, but it was only within the past few weeks that he had actually succeeded. He smiled. It was supposed to be a difficult feat, but it seemed to him that it was just a matter of will.
Harry rolled over onto his side and rubbed his face against his pillow. The urge to develop his magic was overwhelming, he couldn't shake off the urgency he felt. No matter what he was doing he couldn't ignore the feeling that Something was coming.
He shook off his exhaustion and sat up, ready to try again. His eyes closed and he felt his magic within him. It flowed through his body, through every part of his being. It flowed around him, he could feel the magic of the wards surrounding the house. He focused on his magic again and was about to mold it when he felt a magical signature appear outside the house. He opened his eyes again. He had forgotten that a member of the Order was going to take him to headquarters for the remainder of the summer. Harry got up to get his things while trying to figure out if he wanted to go or not. He missed his friends, and he was likely to see them there, but opportunities to explore his magic would be few.
He lifted up his suitcase and grabbed Hedwig's cage in the other. He had just opened his bedroom door when he heard the visitor knock. He jogged down the stairs to the front door. His relatives were off on a day trip somewhere and Harry was only too glad not to have to deal with them.
Harry opened the door and was greeted with a smiling Tonks. He smiled back as greeting.
"Hey Harry," she said, pink hair bouncing slightly "Ready to go?"
"Yup, my stuff's all here," he replied.
"I'll grab that," she said as she grabbed his suitcase, "Alright then, just grab this and we'll be off." She held out an old soda bottle and Harry grabbed it, feeling the familiar tug on his navel.
He felt his feet touch ground and he stood still for a moment to regain his balance. When he opened them it was only to see Tonks heading for the front door of Grimmauld Place. Harry hesitated. He hated this place and all the memories it brought back to him. But when Tonks yelled for him to hurry up he lifted his luggage and went forward.
As he walked through the doorway he tensed up, anticipating the shrieks and insults of the portrait of Sirius's mother. It took him a moment to realize that there was no sound.
"Dumbledore finally took it down, thank Merlin," a tired but warm voice said, answering his unvoiced question.
"Professor Lupin," Harry smiled as he greeted him, "How have you been?"
"Same as usual I suppose. Come on let's put your things away," he replied as he picked up Harry's things. "I'm sorry I didn't go and get you myself, but I was attending to some Order business and I didn't think that I would be back so soon."
"It's no problem," Harry replied, curiosity piquing as he wondered what kind of business Lupin had been attending to. Something to do with the Order no doubt. He decided against asking, he probably wouldn't get a real answer anyway. He chose instead to ask, "Are Ron and Hermione going to be staying here at all this summer?"
"They'll be here sometime next week I believe," Lupin said as he walked into the guest room that Harry was to use, "You'll all be able to go to Diagon Alley then."
"Excellent." Harry put Hedwig's cage on the dresser. "How long will you be staying?"
"I leave in a few days. I'll be in and out all summer." Lupin smiled his tired smile again. "Well, I'll just leave you to your unpacking," he said heading for the door. "Oh and Harry?"
"Hm?" Harry turned toward him.
"What happened at the Department of Mysteries, Sirius's death, I just want you to know that it wasn't your fault, and that no one blames you." He searched Harry's eyes to see if he understood.
The sadness he saw there was painful to see. "I know you don't blame me, but I can take responsibility for my actions. I did something foolish, and Sirius paid. There's no changing that."
"There are a lot of people who are to blame-"
"And I'm one of them," Harry finished firmly. He smiled softly. "I have to finish unpacking, I'll see you later okay?"
"Yea, alright," Lupin replied as he left Harry. Harry had grown up, Lupin thought to himself. There was pain in those eyes, but wisdom was beginning to shine too.
Harry sighed as he put a shirt into a drawer. Training magically was another way to get his mind off his godfather. Over and over he had gone over that night, trying to figure out what he had done wrong, what he should have done.
He had messed up. He wouldn't do it again.
The rest of the night passed by uneventfully. Dinner had been pleasant, with Lupin telling him stories of when he was a Marauder.
Harry went to bed with no feeling of unease. He had no dreams that summer and he figured Voldemort was only bidding his time. So Harry was surprised to find himself in rundown room, not knowing why he was dreaming this. He looked around. The room was long with beds lined up in two rows. There was no one there except... Harry turned around and walked to the other side of the bed. He glanced down and was surprised to see a little boy with night black hair curled up against the bed crying. He couldn't have been more than four.
Harry reached out to him and was annoyed to see his hand go through the boy. Apparently he had no say as to what went on in this dream. A loud noise from outside the room made both Harry and the boy start. Harry glanced at the boy's face only to do a double take. I know that face.
Harry turned his attention back to the door as a large man came storming through the door. "Boy where are you," the man bellowed and the little boy shook next to the bed. "Tom Riddle, if you don't get out here this second you won't get dinner for a week!"
A gasp of shock escaped Harry as he stared at the boy. Tom Riddle? Why was he dreaming of Tom Riddle as a boy? Harry turned back to the man. He must be the caretaker of the orphanage. He was searching around each bed and he was only a few away from Tom. Tom's eyes were wide with fear and when the man finally looked around the bed where he was hiding he was shaking violently.
The man's face twisted with anger. "Why didn't you come when I called boy!" He didn't wait for the boy to finish stammering out explanations. He instead lifted the boy by the collar and gave him a sharp backhand across the face. Harry yelled at the man and tried to grab him, but it was no use. The dream ended as the man tossed him to the ground and continued to scream at him.
Harry bolted up in his bed, wide awake and questions running through his head. What was that? Was it a real memory or was it just a dream? Maybe Voldemort had sent him a false memory? Harry dropped his bed back to his pillow. There was no way for him to know. He would have to wait to figure it out.
I can't believe I'm attempting to write a multi-chaptered fic. What the hell am I thinking. Anyways, this is my first attempt at a fic that's not a one-shot. It will be Tom/Harry in the future. I can't believe I'm really doing this to myself. Oh well. If it seems kinda rushed, yea it is. Hopefully as more interesting stuff happens it will be easier to write (and read). Please review, if anything it will guilt me into writing the next chapter. Also, if anyone is interested in being a beta reader email me at IriaStara hotmail . com. I didn't even reread this chapter so there are probably mistakes but I really am just too lazy. Also I don't have the books with me so if I misspell or forget stuff, my bad.
I'm really not sure where I'm going with this fic. I have a very vague outline in my head, but I'm not sure how I'm going to connect the dots.
Also, brownie points to anyone who recognizes the song that the fic title and chapter titles are from. I can't think of titles by myself so I just borrow them :P.
Please review!