A/N: Props to my reviewers: Riker15, Sar Sar, Sarah, nicky12330, Strider, Rosaleen, saiyanwizardgurl, Lisaloup, Yggdrasil, and Arica, Princess of Rivendell.
sweets2: Harry will be injured at some point during the summer.
mmcgonagall: Sirius will continue to show up. Voldemort and his Death Eaters will be seen and heard from throughout the story. There will be a couple other people that will make appearances (such as in this chapter), but they won't play major roles.
sweet as lemonz: Dumbledore and Harry will continue to bond throughout the summer. As of right now, I don't plan on having Dumbledore train Harry. Voldemort is still adamant about killing Harry, and Harry will be having several visions in the story.
dubdigit: I don't have a set schedule on when I update, but I do try to update every 4-7 days. With college ending for the semester in about a month and Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, updates may not be as frequent though.
hyper-swain: I wasn't really looking for a beta, but thank you anyway. If I change my mind in the future, I will be sure to get in touch with you.
Harry and Dumbledore stood in the living room the next morning after eating breakfast. The Headmaster was going to Apparate them into an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. Before they left, however, they were going to need charms placed on them. The Headmaster gazed at Harry a few moments before waving his wand and muttering a few words. After he was finished, he conjured up a full length mirror so that Harry could check out his new look.
Harry critically scrutinized his face. His hair was now a light brown with hints of blonde highlights running through it. It was shorter and done up in spikes. He glanced at his exposed forehead and was shocked to discover that his famous scar was no longer visible. Harry noticed next that his vision had been temporarily fixed. When he took off his glasses, he realized that his vivid green eyes had turned a deep blue.
While Harry had been looking in the mirror, the Headmaster had gone ahead and put charms on himself. Harry turned to Dumbledore and began studying the Headmaster's new looks. Dumbledore's long hair now reached to just above his shoulders, and his beard was now a neatly trimmed goatee. His hair and beard were a dark red, and his skin was devoid of wrinkles. The Headmaster's nose wasn't long and crooked anymore, and his glasses were gone.
Harry stood speechless for a few seconds while trying to comprehend the changes that had just occurred.
"You have got to teach me that spell sometime. I want to know how to hide my scar and fix my vision."
Dumbledore chuckled at Harry's words. "This is just a Glamour Charm. Our true selves are just hidden underneath it. The spell will wear off eventually, but we should be back here before that happens. Before we leave, Harry, I want to go over a few things. You should stick close to me at all times unless I tell you otherwise. There are some wizards and witches that live close to the town, but I don't think that it will cause us any problems. Come over here and grab my hands. It's time to go."
Before Harry realized it, they had arrived inside the living room of the abandoned house. A saggy couch with stuffing coming out of the fabric sat in the room. Dust thickly covered every surface of the area. Other than the couch, no other furniture was present. Harry silently walked over to the front door while the Headmaster peered through the faded curtains that hung over one of the room's windows. Dumbledore must have been satisfied with whatever he saw because he waved Harry out the door and followed after him.
"What were you looking for, sir?" Harry asked puzzled.
"I wanted to make sure that no one was around when we left the house. People might be suspicious if they saw us leaving an abandoned house, especially since we don't look like we're homeless."
Harry and Dumbledore weren't walking for too long before they entered the small town. A couple people wandered down the streets, but for the most part, the roads were deserted. No one paid any attention to them as they walked over to the first shop and went inside.
As they entered the store, a young salesgirl walked over to them and asked if they would like assistance. Once she heard that Harry needed a whole new wardrobe, her face lit up and she grabbed Harry's hand. She dragged him over to the men's department while Harry glanced helplessly over his shoulder at the amused Headmaster. The girl kept up a constant chatter as she picked up several outfits and shoved them into Harry's arms to hold.
"Are you new around here? I haven't seen you before. My name is Lizzy. I grew up in this town my whole life, and I've worked in this store for about two years. When school is in session, I work during the afternoons. Now that the summer is here, however, I work all the time. I'm glad that you came in here this morning. It's been pretty boring so far. What kind of style are you looking for?"
The girl didn't seem to take a breath during her entire speech. Harry started to open his mouth in order to answer her question, but she didn't give him any time to say anything.
"Why don't I pick out a bunch of different stuff for you to try on, and then you can model all of the outfits for us? If you don't like anything that you try on, you just have to tell me. That will give me an idea for what kinds of clothes to look for next."
Harry didn't have any time to either agree or disagree before he was pushed into a small cubicle and the door pulled closed behind him. He stood in shock for a few moments until he was able to try anything on. After he had the first outfit on, he was only able to stare at himself in the mirror with his mouth hanging open. He didn't want to walk out into the store with the outfit on, but the salesgirl was getting impatient.
"Are you done yet? Come out where we can see you."
Harry reluctantly opened the door and shuffled out. Once the Headmaster caught sight of the outfit, his eyes began to twinkle and the corners of his mouth twitched.
Harry was wearing tight, black leather pants and a dark red sleeveless shirt. On his wrist was a spike bracelet, and a studded necklace was strapped around his neck.
"Not a word," Harry warned Dumbledore before turning to the salesgirl. "I'm sorry, but I really don't like this outfit. It's not me at all."
Harry raced back into the changing room. His face had turned a beet red, and he had to close his eyes for a few seconds. While he stood still inside the dressing room, he was able to hear the salesgirl make a comment about him.
"I don't see why he didn't like it. I thought he looked hot in that outfit."
Harry choked after hearing her speak. He quickly got into motion taking off the clothes and trying on something else. After getting the new outfit on, he left the cubicle once again.
This time Harry had on khaki pants and a light blue button-up polo shirt. Harry thought that this outfit was much better than the previous one, but he still wasn't completely satisfied.
"I don't think that this is exactly what I'm looking for either, sorry. This makes me feel too…dressed up, I guess."
Harry escaped back into the dressing room in order to continue trying on more clothes. After several hours, he quickly grew tired of changing outfits and modeling them for Dumbledore and Lizzy. Harry thought that the Headmaster was enjoying himself way too much. He finally walked out of the dressing room for the last time and threw the latest outfit on the small pile of clothes to keep. Dumbledore grabbed the assortment of jeans, T-shirts, socks, pajamas, and boxers while making his way to the register.
"You are going to love your new clothes," the salesgirl said as she rang up the different items. "I had a lot of fun helping you. If you ever need anything else, be sure to come back."
Harry gave her a strained smile and accepted the bags that she handed him. He and the Headmaster made their way back out onto the street.
"That wasn't so bad, was it, Harry?" Dumbledore said teasingly.
"No, it was worse than bad. It was horrible. You weren't the one who had to play dress up. And to think, I was looking forward to coming shopping today."
"Oh, Harry," the Headmaster chuckled. "You're overreacting just a little bit. Let's get something to eat while we are here in town, and then we will go buy some groceries before we head home."
Harry's mood improved during lunch, but he was still exhausted from their shopping excursion. He was ready to get back to the house and rest for a while, but they still had to go to the grocery store. Once they reached the grocery, Dumbledore turned to Harry.
"I can tell that you are tired. Why don't you rest on this bench in front of the store while I make a quick trip inside? I won't be very long, but I want you to sit in this spot and don't go anywhere."
"Thank you, sir," Harry said gratefully as he put their bags on the ground and sat down.
Harry glanced up and down the streets and noticed that no one was around. As he was watching, he suddenly noticed that two figures were making their way down the road in his direction. Once they were close enough, Harry recognized Arthur Weasley. He jumped up startled, forgetting the charms he had on, and ran into the alleyway beside the grocery store. He quickly looked for a place to hide and finally decided on crouching down on the other side of a dumpster.
He could hear their voices as they drifted closer to the area where he hid. He hoped that they would continue on past the alleyway, but he gave a small gasp when he realized that he could see their shadows moving towards him. The two figures stopped a few feet from the dumpster, and Harry tried to stay as still as he could. Apparently, Arthur and the woman with him thought that they were alone because they began to talk about the wizarding world.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to debrief you about the situation before we left, Tonks, but there wasn't enough time."
"That's fine, Arthur. What exactly is the situation?" Tonks replied.
"Some Muggle kid found a sports card on the side of the road and brought it with him to school. He was showing it off to some of his friends. The card had some kind of curse or jinx on it because all of the ten kids that touched it got sick immediately afterwards. We're on our way over to the school now in order to remedy the situation. I think that a couple people might meet us there to help with the Memory Charms," Arthur explained.
"This is a job for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, so why am I here? Was this the work of Death Eaters?" Tonks asked.
"Even though Fudge doesn't believe that You-Know-Who has returned, he is aware that the public has grown uneasy. People saw what happened at the Quidditch World Cup, they know that Cedric died, and they have heard whispers about His return. Fudge sent you in order to protect himself and his position. He feels that the public will rest a little easier if they know that he is investigating anything that could possibly have to do with the Death Eaters. To me, this incidence at the school doesn't look like it was done by You-Know-Who's followers. I think that it was just someone who wanted to just play around with the Muggles. The Death Eaters are more vicious than this."
"Well, I guess that we had better head over there and get this over with. Lead the way, Arthur."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief as they walked away. He waited a few moments before leaving his hiding spot. When he stood, he found himself face-to-face with Dumbledore. Harry froze when he saw the angry look on the Headmaster's face.
"We will talk about this when we get home," Dumbledore said.
Harry silently followed after the Headmaster. Once they got inside the abandoned house, Dumbledore grabbed his arm and they left. After arriving at the house, Dumbledore handed Harry the shopping bags.
"Go put these in your room and then come to my office."
Harry hurried to comply with the Headmaster's orders. He went into his bedroom and dropped the bags onto his bed. When Harry entered the office, he saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk. Harry slowly made his way over to the chair in front of the Headmaster.
"You deliberately disobeyed me after I gave you strict instructions about not moving from that bench. How will I be able to take you into town again if I can't trust you to follow what I say?" Dumbledore said sternly.
Harry sat slumped in the chair with his head bowed. He felt horrible for disappointing the Headmaster.
Dumbledore continued speaking. "Do you have any idea how worried I was when I left the grocery store and you weren't anywhere in sight? The shopping bags were strewn all over the sidewalk, and the streets were empty. I thought that someone had kidnapped you. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm sorry. I was sitting there and all of a sudden I saw Ron's dad walking down the street with some woman named Tonks. I forgot about the charms on us, so I panicked and hid in the alley."
Dumbledore gave a loud sigh and took a moment to calm down. "I think you would have been safe just staying there. I don't believe that they could see through our disguises. Once you thought that you were in danger of being discovered, however, you should have come into the store and found me, not hid by yourself."
"Yes, sir. Am I in trouble?"
"You will not be allowed to fly your broom for one week, and you won't be able to leave the house. If you disobey me like that ever again, your punishment will be harsher."
"Yes, sir," Harry said miserably. "Who is Tonks, Professor? She seemed to know Mr. Weasley pretty well."
"Tonks is an Auror in the Ministry, and she is also a member of the Order," Dumbledore answered.
"I overheard them talking. Someone put a curse on this sports card, and it made some Muggle kids sick. That's why they were here today. Mr. Weasley didn't think that it was the work of Death Eaters, but what do you think, sir?" Harry asked.
"I don't believe that the Death Eaters were involved in it. It seems a little bit juvenile for them. Besides, Severus will be here later if he finds out that it was true. Now, why don't you go put up your new clothes?"
"I really am sorry, sir…"
"You don't have to apologize again, Harry. It's in the past now. I know that you are sorry, and I have already forgiven you. You just need to think carefully before you do anything in the future."
Harry's heart lifted a bit after hearing Dumbledore say that everything was okay between them. He didn't want the Headmaster to be angry with him. Harry gave Dumbledore a small smile before leaving the office and heading back to his bedroom.
That night Harry woke up at three because of a nightmare. He was a little shaken up, but he managed not to cry. He decided that he didn't want to go back to sleep right away, so he crawled out of bed and started to walk to the living room. He tried to walk lightly and silently, but before he was able to approach his destination, the floorboards gave a loud creak. Harry stood still for a moment and hoped that Dumbledore hadn't heard the noise. Before he was able to finish that thought, however, the door to the Headmaster's bedroom opened up.
"Did you have another nightmare, Harry?"
After Harry nodded, Dumbledore placed a hand on Harry's back and steered him into the living room. They both sat down on the couch, and with a wave of the Headmaster's wand, two cups of milk appeared.
"Would you tell me about it?"
After a moment's hesitation, Harry began to speak. "It was the same as the other night. Cedric, Ron, Hermione, you."
"Do you feel guilty about Cedric's death?" Dumbledore asked, curious about the answer.
"Everyone keeps telling me that it wasn't my fault, but I still feel like there was something more that I could have done," Harry replied while staring into his mug.
"Harry, you didn't know that the Cup was a portkey. You told me about what happened in the graveyard, and I assure you, there wasn't any time for you to help him. Plus, you are only fourteen years old. Peter is over twice your age, and he knows many more spells than you do. There is a war going on in this world between good and evil. More people are going to die before it is over."
"But why did it have to be Cedric? It's not fair," Harry yelled.
"I agree with you, Harry, but life isn't always fair. It isn't fair that your parents were murdered either. Innocent people die all the time, but you will get to see them again someday. Tell me, Harry, do you blame Sirius for your parents' deaths?"
"No, of course not," Harry answered horrified.
"But he blamed himself, just like you are doing now. Both of you are innocent of these crimes. You were both placed in positions which were beyond your control."
Harry sat distractedly contemplating Dumbledore's words. He barely noticed when the Headmaster lead him back to his bedroom and put him to bed. Dumbledore pulled up the covers and tucked them in around Harry.
Just as Dumbledore was leaving, Harry spoke up. "Thank you, sir, for what you said."
Dumbledore turned around. "You're wel-" Dumbledore stopped speaking when he realized that Harry had already fallen back asleep.
