Rated Teen for language and violence
Summary: In the shadows, a stranger has been watching over Harry since he was a baby, left on the doorsteps of Number 4, Privet Drive. When the abuse goes too far, she intervenes to help Harry. But can he accept her love and care? After OotP, now AU. WILL BE SLASH!
Chapter One: An Angel Watching
This was starting to take over her life. Watching over this child, the boy she called her boy, was all she ever seemed to do these days. She would do her obligatory jobs, and then rush back to the house to check on him. Not that he ever knew that she was watching him. She was a thief, an assassain, and the brightest in her group. This watching was not a job for her, but merely something she felt she had to do.
It had all began when she was ten years old. Already in training, she had a shrewd, cunning mind, and was very mature for her age. Returning from her first job, she had seen the child, no more than a year old, lying on the front steps of a home. Pitying the babe, she had crept up to the doorstep to check on it. It had been a small baby boy with the greenest eyes she had ever seen, and a small scar on his forehead. She had checked to make sure that he was still alive and warm enough, and then had hidden herself alongside the porch in the bushes. As morning came, she walked back up to the porch, rang the doorbell, and then hid quickly, watching. She had watched as a woman took him inside, and then had left.
But even then, she had felt the need to check on him. She watched him grow up from a distance, feeling angry when she was unable to help him, and upset when he was hurt. As she watched and followed him, she discovered the Wizarding World. Intrigued, she explored while he was safely away at school. She bought books, many books, on his school, on Wizarding customs, and on him. He was famous in their world. And she was thankful to him. Some of the weapons that Wizards had were very ingenious and very helpful. She slowly accepted the Wizarding World, and began to recognize many people, and things, from it by sight.
One day, when she was checking on him, she realized that at some point she had grown to love her child. She had never married, for reasons beside her peculiar job, and she had no children of her own. This child had crept into her heart as a surrogate son. He had no parents of his own, that she knew, and she began to think of him as her child.
Now she was beginning to get quite angry and very concerned about her boy. He was fifteen, almost sixteen now, and he seemed to have given up. She knew why, too. His arch-nemesis was back –from the dead, no less-, his godfather had died, and the abuse at his family's house was getting out of hand. It was time for her to make a move.
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Harry Potter kneeled in his Aunt's garden, weeding. The summer sun was sweltering hot, even in the shade. Glancing quickly around, he sat down for a short break. He could only hope his aunt wouldn't see him resting.
Of all the summers he had been forced to spend in this wretched place, this was by far one of the worst. His uncle, thankfully, had been on a business trip for the last week, but he was to return tomorrow. His uncle was becoming increasingly foul-tempered, and Harry feared his return. Nonetheless, he did not want to go to the Burrow or to Grimmauld Place. He shuddered as his mind turned, yet again, to the events of last school year. Quickly he returned to work, trying to keep his mind off Sirius, and off of his death.
"Harry?" His head shot up and he looked around. His eyes alit on the woman hiding in the bushes. She had black hair and sapphire-blue eyes that almost seemed somewhat familiar to him. "Don't worry, I'm a friend. Keep working so your aunt won't yell at you." Harry gave her an odd look, but resumed his weeding of the garden. If she was going to kill him, hopefully she'd be quick about it.
"Who are you and what do you want?" his voice was dull, and without the spark of energy it usually held.
"My name is Ravyn Stanton. This might sound a bit odd to you, but I've been watching you for the last fifteen years."
"Why would you do that? Do you want to kill me too?" Ravyn winced at the cold, calm way he spoke. She was trying to help him, for God's sake, not kill him!
"No, I don't. And I don't know why I kept watching you. You see, I first laid eyes on you when you were only a year or so old, and ever since then, I've cared for you," her voice took on a steely edge, "And I can no longer stand by while your relatives mistreat you."
"There's nothing you can do about it. And anyway… I deserve it…" His voice trailed off as he looked down, his shoulders squared.
"No you don't!" she snapped, glaring at Harry, "You never have. Not as a kid and not now. You can come with me. I'll give you somewhere to live; space, freedom, no strings attached, and I don't want anything in return. I just want to see you happy."
"But why!" Harry yelled, ceasing to weed and staring full at her.
"I don't know!" Ravyn exclaimed, frustrated, "To me, since I was ten, you've been 'my boy' or 'my Harry'. I rang the doorbell when you were a baby so you wouldn't freeze; I've hid food for you in the garden, planted vegetables for you. You are the closest thing I have to a son and I want to take care of you."
"I…" Harry was taken aback by the honest care and love he could hear in this woman's voice. That warmth was something that he doubted a Death Eater could fake. And even if she was a Death Eater, dying might not be so bad. At least he would be out of this hellhole. He began to actually consider it… "No. I can't. You would be put in danger because of me. I don't want you hurt because of me."
"Security is not a problem. And trust me, I can handle just about anything. It's in my job requirements."
"You don't understand. I have a…"
"Crazy, psycho wizard after you. I know," Ravyn finished, interrupting him. This was really not too convincing of an argument for her. She had already considered this wonderful little fact. "And I have yet to see anything a few rounds with an AK-47 can't fix." Harry still looked unconvinced. "I promise you, I can handle whatever happens. I'm offering you a way out of this, and a new life." She reached into her back pocket and handed him a cell phone. "Call me if you decide you want out. I'm number one on speed-dial." Ravyn walked off down the street, soon disappearing into the twilight.
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Ravyn Stanton let herself into the flat she rented. She petted her cat, Magic, and began to settle down for the night. After taking a long shower, she thought about her boy, Harry. It had been a week since she had given him the phone, and she had begun to wonder if he was going to call her at all. She looked at the phone sitting on her table as she dressed in a large T-shirt and baggy sweatpants. She put the knife holders that strapped to her wrists back on, along with her gun holster, which housed her Colt .42. She would take them off when she actually went to bed.
Going into her kitchen, she brewed herself a cup of tea. After it was ready, she sat in a chair, staring moodily into it. Magic butted her leg with her head. Ravyn sighed heavily and reached down to pet her.
"I'm just worried about my Harry, Magic. I don't know what to do. Should I go back, or should I…" She broke off at the sound of her cell ringing in the other room. Not bothering to put down her cup of tea, she ran to her bedroom and picked up the phone. She scalded her hand when the tea spilled all over her hand, but she opened the phone, answering breathlessly.
"Ravyn…I…need…you." Harry's voice was raspy and full of pain. Ravyn was out the door in seconds, still on the phone. She grabbed the keys from where they hung, not bothering to lock up.
"What is it?" she asked in terror, gripping her cell phone tightly. Her boy was in trouble and in pain.
"I want…out…hurt…lot of blood…please…" the phone fell silent with a click. Ravyn gunned her car engine and raced across town. She was at Harry's home in minutes, but it seemed like hours to her. She dashed up the steps where she had first laid eyes on him, and then she kicked the door in angrily. Up the stairs she raced, into his little room. He wasn't there.
"What the hell are you…" that was as far as Vernon Dursley got before Ravyn physically picked him up and slammed him against the wall, a knife at his throat.
"Where is Harry?" she asked, her eyes glittering with anger.
"D…Downstairs, in his cupboard." Ravyn threw him down, rushing back down the stairs to Harry's cupboard. She threw open the door and rushed to his side. He was unconscious, and there was a lot of blood soaking through his clothes. She growled fiercely. Someone was going to pay for harming her boy. Picking him up easily, as he was too light for a boy his age, she grabbed the bag he was clutching, hoping that everything he wanted was in it. She carried Harry out to her car, and then walked back inside, facing the terrified family.
"I will not do justice here today, but rest assured that some day, I will find you and make you pay for what you have done to him."
"He deser…" Vernon stopped, mid-word, as Ravyn pulled out her gun and held it to his forehead.
"Finish that word and you will die," she told him coldly.
"I don't believe you," he stammered. She pulled the hammer back.
"Try me." He fainted and she left, glaring sharply at the other two, who shrunk back from her glare. Hurrying to her car, she started it and drove off. "Can't take him to a hospital," she muttered. An idea came to her, and she turned the car around. She had an old friend who owed her a favor.
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"I've got an injured friend, can you treat him?" Ravyn asked as soon as her friend opened the door. She realized that she must look a sight, in her pajamas, carrying a teenage boy.
"That is Harry Potter!" her friend exclaimed. Ravyn stopped for a second and stared at her friend.
"Poppy, you're a witch! Oh, never mind, he needs help badly, can you please help?" Poppy Pomfrey nodded, motioning Ravyn inside.
"Oh, Merlin. This is bad. I'm going to kill Albus Dumbledore." Ravyn did not understand the last statement, but stood back and let Poppy work.
Half an hour later, she was done, and wearily sat down on a chair next to Ravyn. "You can move him now. Please move him to the spare bedroom down the hall." Ravyn nodded and did so, moving Harry from the couch, then returning to Poppy.
"How is he?" Ravyn asked. Poppy sighed in response.
"He had a lot of broken bones, some internal bleeding and he…" she trailed off. Ravyn stared at her, afraid to hear the last part. "He was raped several times." Ravyn began to weep quietly, something she had not done in a long time. "I am guessing that this is 'your boy'." Ravyn nodded.
"I should have taken him away sooner," Ravyn groaned, quietly blaming herself.
"It is not your fault. I should have told someone sooner," Ravyn gave her a quizzical look, "I work as the healer at his school. This sort of thing has happened a few times before, but he made me swear not to tell. I finally told Dumbledore, the Headmaster, after it got really bad. He told me not to worry about it, and then put a spell on me so that I could not tell anyone who didn't already know."
"If I had known it was this horrible, I would have taken him away from there years ago." Ravyn said angrily. She stood and walked to the door. She could no longer help here, and she could not return to the past to fix things, so there was only one thing left that she could do. This thing was something that she was quite good at, and she had to do something
"Do not kill them Ravyn. As much as he hates them, they are the only family he has left." Poppy warned her, correctly interpreting her actions. She took on a motherly tone. "Please, for his sake." Ravyn's eyes softened slightly.
"Fine, I'll keep it to minor torture. But they will pay." She strode out the door to her car and drove off.
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"Authorities are baffled by a seemingly random house invasion that occurred last night in Surrey. A group of four intruders entered the house of a Mister Vernon Dursley and attacked him and his family. All four intruders were masked and dressed in all black. Mister Dursley and his son were castrated, and his wife's tongue was cut out. Nothing form the house was stolen. Anyone with any information should contact police immediately." Poppy looked up at Ravyn over the newspaper she was reading aloud from. "I thought you said minor."
"They deserved worse." Ravyn said with a shrug, drinking her coffee. Poppy sighed, but nodded.
"Yes. They did. Who else went with you? The paper said four."
"You know what I do for a living," Poppy nodded,
"You kill people," Ravyn nodded with a perverse smile.
"Well, in training, they put you with three or four other people that you learn to trust. They become your cell. The three people with me were the rest of my cell."
"Ah." The two women sat in silence, picking at their breakfast.
"So tell me all about Harry at school. I'm not a witch myself, but by following him around, I've learned a lot about the Wizarding World." Ravyn said, breaking the slightly awkward silence.
"Well, he goes to a school called Hogwarts…"
"I know all about the school. I bough Hogwarts, A History. I just wanted to know about Harry personally." Ravyn said, interrupting.
"He has two good friends in his house. Neither of them knows about his life at home. They get up to all sorts of mischief together, but fight a lot. And his two friends are dating each other, so he sometimes feels like the third wheel." Poppy said.
"You seem to know an awful lot about him." Ravyn interrupted again.
"He is in my Hospital Wing an awful lot. I'm quite fond of him, and as such, know a lot about him. Anyway, he has a…" she trailed off slightly, "A boyfriend, who is in another house," Poppy watched Ravyn's face carefully for a reaction.
"I don't mind that he's gay, Poppy. One of my best friends is gay. I myself am bisexual. It is fine." Poppy relaxed.
"His boyfriend knows everything. Funny thing is, the two of them were enemies until the night that they both wound up in the Hospital Wing on the first night of school. You see, his boyfriend is also abused by his father. They bonded practically overnight."
"I'm so glad he has someone," Ravyn sighed. A sound, like a small bell ringing, sounded.
"Harry is awake." Poppy said, standing quickly. Ravyn followed her to the spare bedroom.
"Harry, how do you feel?" Ravyn asked, kneeling next to his bed and looking down at him.
"Okay," he said, his voice raspy, "Why is she here? Where am I?" he was squinting past her at Madam Pomfrey, who gave him a glass of water. Ravyn smiled at him squinting and gently placed his glasses on his face.
" It turns out that it really is a small world. I went to my friend Poppy's house because she owes me a favor, and find out that she works at your school." Ravyn said.
"Do I have to go home?" Harry asked with a frown.
"No!" Both women exclaimed at the same time. Harry flinched back from the sound of their raised voices.
"I'm sorry for shouting, Harry. No, you don't have to go back there. I will house you for the summer. You can decide if you want to go back to school or not." Ravyn said quietly.
"Not the Dursley's?" He asked, confused.
"No, you don't get a decision about that. I refuse to let you return there, end of story. I don't think they'd be too happy to take you back either, after what I did last night." She left that open for him to interpret as he pleased. If he wanted to think that meant her getting him out, fine. If he asked about the other thing, fine. "But I'll let you decide whether or not you want to go back to school."
"Dumbledore will make me go back." Harry spat bitterly, grabbing his backpack from where it lay beside his bed. He pulled a folded piece of paper out of it and handed it to Ravyn. She read it and her eyes widened in shock and anger. She muttered a curse and fled from the room. The paper, which she had thrown away from her, fluttered through the air before landing on the ground. There was a crash, and then sobs heard form the other room. Poppy picked up the paper and read it.
Mr. Potter,
Surely you must be exaggerating your claims of abuse and "rape" at your uncle's hand. I had hoped that the attention you received from the press would not go to your head. Please do not bother your friends, or anyone else, with these empty claims. I will be closely watching your mail. We will discuss this when you come back to school.
Albus Dumbledore
This note was awful, Poppy thought, staring at it in shock. She too dropped the horrible thing to the ground. It wrongfully reproached Harry, called him attention-seeking, deprived him of privacy in his other messages, and basically implied that Harry would be staying there all summer, until school time, at which time Dumbledore would scold him and probably put the same curse on him that she had on her.
"Harry," She said finally, shaking slightly, "He had no right to say this, any of this. Especially as I have told him already that you were being abused at home already. I don't know what kind of game he thinks he is playing, but I do not like it." Ravyn entered the room, nodding her head in agreement.
"I apologize for my outburst. It's just… He is infuriating, and as an adult, he was completely wrong to say that. He has failed you and you will not be going back to your family as he wishes. I will fight him to the death for you." Her voice was fierce, and no one in the room was able to doubt that statement as she said it so angrily.
"You are a Muggle, right?" Harry asked her. She had not shown any signs of magic, and she had given him a cell phone.
"Yeah. I learned about magic through you."
"Then he has a wand and you don't. You won't be able to fight him." Harry protested, scared more for her than for himself. In a fight to the death, as she implied, he was sure she would lose.
"Harry, his wand won't do him any good blasted into pieces, or lit on fire," While saying this, she drew her gun, and a lighter, then put them away. She had got some more of her stuff last night when she met with her 'gang'. "And it isn't like he can just erase my memories. I've been watching you ever since you were a baby. I won't stop."
"I will help you two also." Poppy added, making up her mind "He has finally gone too far."
"You two seem to have forgotten that you are up against Albus Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards alive!" Harry interrupted them. No one else was going to get hurt for him!
"Yeah, well he can bite me," Ravyn said with a shrug. "I would guess that even powerful wizards could be threatened, blackmailed, killed."
"What exactly do you do for a living?" Harry asked. She seemed so sure of herself. Ravyn blushed slightly.
"I'm an assassain."
"Ah," Harry said. "That explains a lot."
"I have an old family cottage where we can go. It has been in my family for generations. It has a lot of protection on it." Poppy offered. "Albus does not know where it is, and that bothers him. We can stay there for a while." Ravyn nodded.
"Let's get Harry something to eat, then head out." She said, looking at Harry who sighed, but nodded in agreement. They were not going to give up, and secretly he didn't care. So long as they didn't get hurt because of him, so be it.
(A/N: So, what do you think? Review and tell me. Please no flames, but constructive criticism is welcomed. If you flame, I will just ignore you. And please try to use reasonable spelling; it doesn't help me if I can't understand. If you're complaining about me making Harry gay, I don't care; you're wasting your breath darling. Guess who Harry's bf is and you get a cookie. Thank you. Belinda)