Chapter 14

"No quills, no parchment, no owl," Harry moaned, cradling both his wounded arms against his chest. His butt and back were both sore from sitting on the cold, hard ground and leaning against the wall. "No Sirius, no Ron, no Hermione, no Remus … no Isabella."

Harry sucked in a sharp breath as the pain in his arms came back to life with a vengeance. So far Allyson had cut his wrists—both of them—twice.

"Oooh!"

Allyson threw open the door to Harry's dark room. Still, she didn't help him up onto the lone bed. He still stay in the corner of the room on the floor.

"Look!" Allyson continued, waving a piece of parchment in front of Harry's face. A smug smile slowly crept onto her face. "Guess what this is!"

Harry gave her a disgusted look. "It's parchment, obviously. Are you blind or just stupid?"

Allyson's smug look vanished, a cold, disgusted look of her own replaced it. "Just shut up, you brat. No manners whatsoever," she spat, glaring at Harry. "But yes, it is parchment, but guess who from? Huh? No guesses? Oh, well, it's from Sirius. He's replying to the terrible letter I sent him earlier."

Harry froze. "Terrible letter? What did it say?"

"Oh," Allyson started, waving her hand. "You know … stuff. 'How was your day, how could Harry do that?' the usual."

"What do you mean 'how could Harry do that'?" Harry repeated, paling.

"Oh, well in the letter I wrote to him I told him that I found a whole bunch of towels absolutely soaked in blood, and then I said that I confronted you about it. I finally got you to talk and you said to me that you started cutting your wrists because of everything that you're going through. You said that you do it because it helps you in a way, that it comforts you."

Harry's mouth slowly opened, completely sinking into disgust. How could she have said that?

"I—I don't, though," he argued. "How can Sirius believe that?"

"Because he knows that it could possibly be something that you'd actually possibly do!" Allyson replied. "After all, you did get drunk. And that was just because you found out that Sirius and I were getting married. Here, here, let me read you a bit from the letter he sent me."

Allyson's eyes shuffled through the letter until she found a part and read out loud.

"This is from the very first part of what Sirius wrote. 'He what? Are you absolutely sure that he's cutting his wrists? It doesn't sound like something he'd do … then again, he did get drunk … but are you sure? How can this happen? Why? Well, I know why. It's because we're getting married. Harry can't stand that or something … but to cut his wrists?'"

Allyson gave Harry a look before searching for another part.

"He also added here, 'I should come to your place and get him. I can't let him stay the whole Christmas holidays while he's doing … that. When should I come pick him up?' Of course, I'm going to try to get him into leaving you here." She smiled sweetly. "Wouldn't spending more time with me be even more fun? I think so."

"Oh, yes," Harry said sarcastically. "I think I'd absolutely die if I left."

"I'm doing this for your own good," Allyson said matter-of-factly. "You don't like me, I don't like you. If your off to a boarding school, we won't have to deal with each other."

"Sirius deserves so much more better than you," Harry spat out. "He won't believe anything that you say."

"He already has!" Allyson laughed. "You two are so … Oh, I can't even find the word. Things haven't been going well between you, have they? With you getting drunk and your fights with Sirius … he's probably too pissed to even look at you."

"I'm his godson," Harry argued. "He raised me since I was little. He'll believe me."

"Oh?" Allyson nodded slowly, throwing the letter down at Harry's feet. "Read the letter. It doesn't exactly sound like he believes you. Oh, and Potter? You're not feeling woozy anymore, are you? I can tell, so I'm going to start locking the door so you can't get out." She grinned smugly. "Thank god I don't have any windows in this room."

Harry looked around, taking it again. She was right—there were no windows. That was probably the reason for it being so dark. Glaring at Allyson as she left, Harry leaned over to pick up the letter, and as he read it, he realized that Allyson was right: Sirius didn't believe him.

-

Harry woke up to the feeling a lot better and stronger than he had been in a while. He didn't know what day it was, for it felt like he was locked up in the room for weeks. His arms were slowly beginning to heal, but soon enough Harry knew that Allyson would be back with the razor.

Through the darkness in the room, Harry managed to find the door. He fiddled with the doorknob, amazed when he found that it wasn't locked. As he opened the door, the light blinded him, but he slowly made his way through it.

"Harry? Oh, you're finally able to stand!" Allyson stood in the living room, by the fire. She had something in her hands, and a smile on her face. "I have something to show you."

Harry watched as she lit the fire, holding up what Harry realized to be a package. Bending over, Allyson threw the package into the fire, watching as it turned a crisp black and the edges started to curl, slowly disintegrating.

"Oops," she said carelessly, throwing in another letter. Then she threw in another package, larger this time, and then more letters. Harry wondered why the woman was burning her mail, but then he understood: it wasn't her mail, it was his.

"Isn't Christmas just absolutely the best time of the year?" Allyson asked, looking up from the fire with a grin. "It just happens to be my favourite holiday. Especially when I get to spend it with my fiancé's godson."

"You're pathetic," Harry spat out, eyeing the woman in disgust. "What did Sirius ever see in you to actually … propose to you?"

"Obviously something you didn't."

"Meaning?"

"He saw something you didn't. You really are observant, though, I must admit … no wonder you didn't like me," Allyson continued, smiling still. "You knew I was up to something, right? Didn't you try to tell Sirius and Remus about it? They didn't listen, did they? Only Isabella did, didn't she?"

Harry turned away, glancing at the door.

"It must hurt that Remus and Sirius didn't listen to you," Allyson said, slowly walking towards Harry. "After all, they raised you, right? They should trust you and what you think."

Allyson reached out, grabbing Harry's arm and studying his wrists. "They're healing nicely. Wait here, all right? I have to find it again."

Allyson took two steps forward, then froze when she heard a sound behind her. Harry turned around, as did Allyson (more slowly than Harry did) and a smile graced her face as she saw Sirius standing in the fireplace.

-

Harry didn't know what to say, or what to do. Allyson, however, did. She rushed over to Sirius, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss.

"I'm so glad you're here!" She said, her voice becoming urgent to Sirius. "I don't know what to do about it! I was just … talking to Harry," she paused, glancing over at Harry, who couldn't help but have a confused look on his face, "and trying to find out why he was cutting his wrists."

Harry's mouth opened in astonishment. More lies. "What? I'm not cutting my wrists! I swear I'm not!"

Sirius disentangled himself from Allyson, walking towards Harry. He had a stern and a rather … sad look on his face.

"If you're telling the truth," he started, "that you're not cutting your wrists, show me them."

"What?"

"You're wrists. Show me them!"

Harry stared at Sirius for a while, then turned his arms over to show Sirius his wrists. There were red lines down them. Sirius let out a noise, turning away.

"I didn't do them," Harry said firmly. "Allyson did. I wouldn't cut my wrists, Sirius, you have to believe me. I wouldn't."

"Oh? And why would Allyson cut your wrists? It doesn't make sense," Sirius said, looking at Harry again.

"She wants to send me to boarding school," Harry spat out. "Far away from here. From you, and Remus. I forget why."

"Oh, so you forget why? You should come up with better lies, Harry," Sirius snapped. "My god, how can this have happened?"

"I didn't cut my wrists!" Harry yelled, scowling at Sirius. "Why can't you believe that? You know what, just go get the razor that Allyson used anyway! Go to that place where … where they check for fingerprints! It'll show that the fingerprints on that razor are Allyson's—not mine!"

Feeling that, since Sirius was here, Allyson wouldn't be able to prevent him from leaving, and that Sirius would be too stunned to stop him either, Harry flew to the door, making sure to slam it shut on the way out.

He had no clue where his feet were taking him to, but he knew that he'd go anywhere. Anywhere, except there.

-

Harry stopped in front of the house. Apparently, that 'anywhere' happened to be Isabella's house. And then, he knew exactly why.

He stepped up to the threshold, knocking on the door. It was Isabella who answered the door. Her eyes widened from surprise, and without a word she opened the door farther, inviting him in.

"This is definitely a surprise," Isabella said. "Aren't you suppose to be in school or something?"

"Christmas holidays," Harry replied, panting. Sucking in a deep breath, Harry let it out and started talking again. "You still have their phone numbers, right?"

Isabella tilted her head, looking confused. "Who's phone number?"

"Them!" Harry said impatiently, waving his arms around wildly. "From that … day. I—I know you must have them, or at least one of their phone numbers, because you wanted to keep in touch with her. Can you please tell me?"

"I need to know who 'her' is first, and why you need them," Isabella said. Her smile soon turned into a frown. "You're running away, aren't you? You're running away from Sirius."

Harry gave her a desperate look. "Please, Mrs. Jessup, you keep in touch with her, I'm pretty sure you do. Can you give me Nevaeh Maeve's number?"

"Nevaeh Maeve?" Isabella repeated, staring at Harry. "You're running away to Massachusetts?"

Harry closed his eyes. "Please. I need her number."

"I'm not sure if Sirius would—"

"SCREW SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, looking furious. "Please! I need Nevaeh Maeve's phone number! Can you please, please give it to me?"

Isabella nodded quickly. "Y—yeah. Wait here, OK?"

Harry watched as Isabella hurried towards her room, and then later came out with a piece of paper. She handed it to him.

"It's Nevaeh Maeve's phone number. Do you want to call her here?"

Harry shook his head, already opening the door. "No, thanks. Thanks, for this, Mrs. Jessup. I really needed it."

Isabella nodded uncertainly. "I guess."

She watched Harry leave, and realized that she may have just made a big mistake in giving Harry that phone number.

-

"Hello?"

Immediately Harry remembered Nevaeh Maeve's cheery voice. He glanced at the door, hoping that Remus wouldn't walk into their house anytime soon.

"Hi," Harry started. "This is Harry. Harry Potter? I—I'm a friend of Charlie's. I was wondering if you knew his phone number."

"Sure." There was a pause, before she continued. "Your voice sounds familiar."

"Yeah. We met a while ago, actually, at the airport. I was with my godfather at the time, you may not remember—"

"Yes, yes, I do!" She interrupted excitedly. "I remember you. You were the boy with the green eyes and that scar, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"And you want Charlie's phone number?"

It took a while for Nevaeh to get Charlie's phone number, but in the end she did. Harry said goodbye, looking down at the piece of paper with Charlie's phone number on it. Exhaling, Harry dialled the number, quietly listening as it rang. Finally the familiar voice of Charlie was on the other end.

"Charlie?" Harry said quietly. "This is Harry. I—huh? Oh, yeah … the one with the crutches." Harry laughed.

"What can I do for yah?" Charlie asked.

"Well, nothing, actually," Harry replied. "But … would you mind having a guest over for a while?"

"Nah! I wouldn't mind at all. Kinda lonely down here, actually," Charlie said. "I'd be honoured to have yah back, Harry. When can I expect you?"

"As soon as possible," Harry replied firmly.

"Well … I must say I'm surprised. Didn't expect yah to be visitin', really. I'mma glad, though. Will yer father be with yah, too?"

"My godfather?" Harry corrected, and after a moments silence, said, "No. Just me."

"Well … great, I guess."

"Yeah," Harry said quietly. "I'll see you soon."

"Yep."

Harry hung up, staring at the phone. Then, he turned away and stared down the hall at Sirius's room. In Sirius's desk drawer was Muggle money, hopefully enough for everything Harry would need to get to Wisconsin.

After glancing at the phone for a second time, Harry went into Sirius's room and gathered all of the money he could find before heading out. To Wisconsin.

Somehow, that was hard to understand. Harry was running away to Wisconsin. He wasn't running away like a little boy would when they were angry. He wasn't going to hide out in a tree house. He was going to Wisconsin.

-

"I shouldn't just stay here," Sirius said angrily. "I should look for him. Get everything settled out. Help him get over whatever he's going through."

"But he slit his wrists," Allyson pointed out. "You're acting as if it's nothing."

"No I'm not." Sirius looked at Allyson. "I'm definitely not."

"You should send him away or something," Allyson suggested. "To a place where they can straighten the brat out."

Sirius looked at Allyson oddly. "What?"

"You know!" Allyson said angrily. "Send him away. He's nothing but trouble, and slitting his wrists?" She shook her head. When she looked up, Sirius was still looking at her. "What?"

"Did you do it?" he asked. "Did you cut Harry's wrists? Did you want to send my godson away?"

Allyson made a noise. "Of course not. Why are you starting to believe what he says?"

"Because he's my godson. I should start believing him."

"You weren't before though," Allyson pointed out. "Were you? You didn't believe Harry at all. Not when he told you that I was up to something, not when he claimed that it wasn't him slitting his wrists."

"How could I not have believed him?" Sirius said quietly, stepping away from Allyson. "He was right about everything. I chose not to believe him."

"You didn't, did you?" Allyson smiled.

Sirius glared at Allyson. "You cut his wrists, didn't you? You wanted to send him away to boarding school."

"I did it for us," Allyson said simply. "Don't be mad."

"You're pathetic," Sirius spat. "I don't want to marry you, and I'm saying that for us."

Allyson watched as he left. Letting out a loud yell, she stomped her foot on the floor. Life wasn't fair.

-

A/N: Sirius isn't stupid anymore and Allyson is now out of the picture. Too bad Harry's on his way to Wisconsin. Oh … well … R and R! Next chapter will be up soon!