Disclaimer: not mine of course.
Chapter 3After having their wands checked, Tonks led the other two to one of the elevators and pressed the up button. They rattled up to the second from top floor at a leisurely pace, greeting other witches and wizards who used their elevator.
When they got off they found Fudge waiting for them in front of a steel door with a cool expression on his face.
"Right" he said shortly and opened the door. As he stepped into the cavernous, circular room, Harry began to hope that his magic had recharged enough.
"Have you studied the travel pamphlets?" Fudge asked as a flag appeared in the middle of the room.
"Err…yes," Harry answered although he'd done nothing of the sort.
"So you're confident that you can apperate? Good" Fudge scribbled something on a clipboard before looking at Harry again. "Disapperate to the flag then"
Harry raised an eyebrow, sure that there must be more to this then just doing it. After a moment he obliged and found himself standing next to the flag.
"Good" Fudge's beady eyes narrowed "now come back to me"
Harry did so and Fudge gave him the clipboard to sign. Then Lupin signed it and Fudge handed him a stack of papers.
"Read and sign these when you get home and get them back here in a week. Congratulations, Potter, you've passed your test. You may now apperate and use appropriate magic at you leisure"
Then he left.
"That was a bit quick" Tonks said as they made their way home. "Usually he reads through all the rules tells you exactly how to do it. Never mind though"
Harry spent the rest of the holidays living on edge. Every single day he would fight with Jenna, which ended in a fight with Sirius then, Lupin would come to Harry's defence and they would have screaming rages until one person left the room. Harry began dreading living there so much that he worked extra hours before and after work just to stay away.
There was exactly one week left of the summer and the order members were on edge because the end of summer meant Voldemort's cease-fire was over.
Harry had finally come home from work and had found Jenna in his room, searching through his drawers.
"What are you doing?" he asked, leaning on the doorframe and crossing his arms. She jumped a mile and span round to face him.
"I-I lost- lost…"
"Liar" he spat, lunging into the room and dragging her out. "What were you looking for?"
"Ouch! Nothing! I wasn't looking for anything! Let me go!" she wrenched free of his grip at the bottom of the stairs and tried to run away.
Harry made a grabbing motion in the air and an invisible hand closed around her wrist.
"Let…me…go!" she screeched, struggling to free herself.
"What were you doing in there!" he shouted, making a jerking motion so she came flying back across the hall towards him.
"What are you doing, Harry?" Sirius stuck his head out of the dining room.
"She was searching my room," he growled, giving her arm another tug.
"I'm sure she didn't mean it" Sirius strode over with a light laugh. "Let her go"
"Oh of course you side with her!" Harry tightened his grip as Sirius tried to pry his invisible fingers open. "You don't even care that I might have had something private in there. You always believe your stupid little princess."
"She's my daughter, Harry, now let her go!"
Lupin came running down the stairs with a distressed look on his face.
"What's going on?"
"She was going through my stuff in my room and Sirius thinks it was a mistake"
"Why was she going through your room?"
"Because she's a fucking spy!"
"She's my daughter!" Sirius roared
"And what, I'm just some idiot you bought in off the street because you pity me?"
"LET HER GO!"
Harry released his grip and sent the girl flying back into the wall.
"I want you to remember, Harry" Sirius snarled "I let you into my home, have a little respect. I could have easily let you go back to the Dursley's."
The previous summer Harry had been brutally bashed by his uncle.
"Well they'd treat me a lot better than you are now!"
"That's enough, Harry! I'm sick of your jealous attacks on Jenna. Grow up, would you?"
"Fine" Harry said simply, he'd just noticed the smile on Jenna's face. "I'm grown up… AND I'M LEAVING!"
He turned and ran back up the stairs to his room. As he packed his trunk he could hear Lupin continuing the argument down below.
"…We didn't have any troubles until she showed up!"
"Only because Harry's to childish to share"
"SHE WAS GOING THROUGH HIS ROOM, SIRIUS! WHAT IF HE'D HAD ORDER BUSINESS IN THERE?"
"Dumbledore trusts her!"
"Dumbledore trust all of Harry's friends and yet they aren't allowed to know what's going on! How do we know Julie didn't turn into a death eater? She could have sent Jenna as a spy!"
Jenna appeared at Harry's doorway.
"He sticks up for me because he's my dad," she said haughtily as Harry slammed his trunk closed.
"Yeah well, think yourself lucky that you have one!" he barged past her and ran down the stairs again, his trunk clunking heavily behind him.
He threw the front door open and Lupin broke off from his argument.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to the Dursley's" Harry tore out to the street and popped the boot on his car. Lupin appeared behind him.
"Your not really going back there, are you?" he asked, pale faced.
"No. I'm going to Drew's house. I'll come back the night before we leave ok? Invite Hermione and the Weasley's or something."
"What about Voldemort?"
"What about him? If he surfaces then I'll fight. Don't tell Sirius where I am"
Lupin mouthed listlessly before running back inside.
"HE'S GOING TO THE DURSLEY'S! AND YOU'RE JUST GOING TO STAND THERE?" Harry heard the argument flare up again as he got behind the wheel. Sirius suddenly appeared at his window.
"Don't go, Harry. I didn't mean it," he pleaded. Harry ignored him and went flying down the road, leaving Grimmauld place behind him.
He knew where Drew lived; he'd stayed there a few times in the past weeks. He lived in an apartment a few neighbourhoods over.
Harry parked outside the five-story building and sat staring at the steering wheel for a few moments before getting his trunk and taking the lift to the third floor.
"Harry!" Drew said in surprise as he opened the door.
"Can I stay here for a while?" Harry asked tiredly "I had some troubles at home"
"Sure!" Drew stood back and let Harry in.
For an eighteen-year-old boy, Drew sure knew how to keep his apartment clean.
Harry dragged his trunk down the hall to the spare bedroom the joined Drew in the kitchen where he was halfway through making himself a sandwich.
Harry helped himself to an apple from the fridge and the two boys sat in front of the little box television where they watched the end of a wrestling match.
"How long do you reckon you'll be staying?" Drew asked halfway through his second sandwich.
"Couple of days, if that's ok with you"
"Stay as long as you want! It'll be nice to have a little company"
It was fairly late when Drew bought out a carton of beer and an x-rated movie and both boys sat until the early hours of the morning destroying their problems with alcohol and porn.
It felt like an age as Harry rolled over the next morning. His head was spinning and the sunlight was blazing horribly through the window. He groaned and rolled right out of bed where he lay with his face pressed against the cool floor.
Eventually he was awake enough to get up and have a long shower.
"You don't drink much, do you?" Drew asked as Harry entered the living room, rubbing his eyes.
"No" Harry mumbled and slouched on the couch beside his host. Drew was playing a racing game on the play station and he soon asked Harry to join in.
That afternoon at work Harry got a visit from Tonks as she dropped in to get her nitrogen tanks re-filled.
"You should see Sirius," she said after she'd deposited her car to the mechanics and had come out into the shop for a packet of Doritos.
"I'll bet he's happy I'm gone," Harry said blankly, barely glancing up from his paper work.
"Quite the opposite" Tonks replied, munching thoughtfully on her chips. "He looks as if he's been sentenced back to Azkaban. And the girl, what ever her name is, isn't making it much easier. Lupin was screaming at her this morning when I got there because she wanted to stay in your room"
"Did she?"
"Nah, but it wont be long before she does. Sirius wants to go over to your uncles house and kidnap you but Lupin wont let him." Tonks put her chips down and stared at Harry. "Your not really staying at the Dursley's, are you? Because my house is always open"
"Course I'm not staying there" Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust "I'm hanging at Drew's place for a while"
"Good" she said, giving him another strange look before going back to the main garage for her car.
Harry and Drew were driving home when Drew decided he needed a bottle of rum. Harry pulled up outside the liquor store. Harry, not aloud in because he was under eighteen, stood outside the door waiting. He spotted two boys standing a few metres away hunched over a box. They looked about fourteen so Harry didn't pay them much attention until the taller of the two pulled out a stick and began tapping the box.
Harry realised, with a jolt of his stomach, that it was a wand. He'd never seen these boys before. They didn't go to Hogwarts but they had British accents. He decided to investigate.
He strolled past them and 'accidentally' bumped into one of them.
"Hey what…" they turned angrily to Harry. The shorter one glanced him over and his eyes rested on Harry's forehead. He backed hurriedly into the wall and gasped.
"Harry Potter!" the other one stammered.
"Do I know you?" Harry raised an inquisitive eyebrow. The boys looked at each other then ran. Harry watched them leave with a frown before heading back to his car. Drew was waiting for him with a tall bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag.
"We're going to have a party tonight!" he said excitedly as Harry started the car.
The next few days at Drew's apartment were very much like the first. Both boys would stay up late into the night drinking until one of them threw up then they would sleep late, go to work and repeat the process.
Sadly, Harry began looking forward to the hours he spent drunk in Drew's living room. Being drunk meant that he wasn't thinking about his problems.
On the last day of staying there, Harry and Drew decided to walk home. Drew bought a flask out of his pocket and the shared it as they wandered along the streets. They were almost home and feeling rather giggly when a black car pulled up beside them. Kingsley got out and stopped them.
"Kingso!" Drew shouted. He had an arm around Harry's neck and was swaying slightly. Harry, holding the flask, raised it in greeting.
"What are you doing?" Kingsley asked, watching as Harry burst into a fit of uncontrollable hysterics. "Have you been drinking, Harry?"
"Only a little" Harry squinted at him and raised his thumb and forefinger so they were a centimetre apart.
"Give me that" Kingsley grabbed at the flask but Harry held it out of his reach before forcing it back on Drew who took a swig.
"Have you eaten? You look like hell, Harry, let me buy you a meal"
"I'm fine!" Harry said loudly. "I'll be home tomorrow"
Kingsley stared at him a moment longer before getting back in his car and leaving with a squeal of the tires.
Harry set his alarm for early the next morning. He planned to go into Diagon ally and get his books before going home. He'd gotten the day off work so he was in no rush as he walked through the doorway and down the sunny street of Diagon ally.
The first thing he saw was, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, a pretty girl with golden blonde curly hair and dancing green eyes, laughing at a boy with similar features. Harry strolled up behind her and leant down to kiss her on the cheek.
"Harry!" Claire screamed, jumping up and tipping over her chair to hug him. Claire had a sugary curl on her French accent making her sound continually flirty.
"How was France?" Harry asked, taking a seat between her and the boy who looked around twenty.
"It was great! We got to see all the family again. Oh this is my brother Cameron. Cameron, this is Harry"
"Nice to meet you" Cameron shook Harry's hand before standing up. "I'll see you later, Claire," he said before strolling off towards the Leaky cauldron.
"Have you done any shopping yet?" Harry asked as Claire paid the waiter.
"Nope. I have to go down to Gringotts and get some money"
"Lets go then" Harry took her hand and laced his fingers through hers as they set off towards the towering green bank of Gringotts.
Harry had all the money he'd made from working, almost three thousand pounds, that he wanted to exchange for galleons.
Working behind the exchange desk was a young lady with silvery blonde hair and a lustrous smile.
"Fleur!" Claire screamed, running over to hug the girl.
"'Ello Claire" Fleur replied. "Are you 'aving fun at 'Ogwarts?"
"Course I am! Do you remember Harry? We're dating now"
Fleur turned to Harry with a small smile.
" 'Ow could I forget? 'Ow are you, 'Arry?"
"Fine thanks." Harry replied, dropping his bag of money on the counter. "Can you exchange these for me? I'll be right back" Harry had just noticed Lupin, who was in charge of security, chatting eminently to a goblin.
"Harry!" he exclaimed when Harry tapped him on the shoulder. "You look like hell? Have you eaten since you left?"
"A little bit" he replied, "how are things at home?"
"Sirius is ready to kill himself, I'm ready to kill Jenna and she's been sleeping in your room. I think she thinks that now your gone she can just take over. You're coming home this afternoon, right?"
"I'm just getting my books"
"Good because Hermione, Draco and the Weasleys are heading over."
"Great" Harry, through a turn of strange events, had become close friends with Draco Malfoy. They shared a telepathic connection and the fact that their carers had bashed them both. Malfoy was also going steady with, much to Ron's disgust, Hermione.
"Lets go, Harry!" Claire came over and handed him a huge sack of gold.
"Hello, Claire" Lupin said with an amused smile.
"Hello" she replied, blushing.
"I'll see you later" Harry said before linking hands with Claire again and walking out of the bank.
They spent a sunny morning shopping and browsing through shops. It was the best day Harry had had since his birthday.
Harry was just saying goodbye to Claire with an extremely passionate kiss when someone came up behind him.
"Hey, Potter" he turned away from Claire with a grin.
"How you going, Malfoy?"
Malfoy was standing with his arms crossed beside Blaise Zabini.
"Can't complain" he shrugged and Harry noticed a fading bruise on his friends face. He frowned.
"Has he been hitting you again?"
"Yeah but it's ok, he got his share fair back. He only did it about three times"
They chatted for a few more minutes before Blaise glanced at his watch and pronounced himself late.
"I've got my apparition test late this afternoon so I'll be there after dark" Malfoy said as Blaise dragged him away. Harry waved, said another passionate goodbye to Claire before collecting his bundle of books and heading back to his car.
Harry stood on the doorstep of Grimmauld place with his trunk, unsure if he really wanted to go in. a hot breeze was picking up, blowing dust down the road and Harry wondered for a split second if it would ever rain.
Finally he opened the door and stepped into the cool hallway. He couldn't hear anyone so he took his trunk upstairs to his room.
His bed was unmade and littered with an array of soft toys. Clothes were scattered across the floor and a worn travel bag sat open by the door.
Harry laughed and shook his head. Jenna had done a good job of taking over.
Slowly he began to collect her belongings in her bag and took them back to the room next door. He then went to his bathroom and collected all her toiletries as he had done on her first day here and took them to her room as well.
He then strolled back downstairs to the dining room where he found Sirius mulling over a bottle of firewhisky.
"I'm back," Harry said quietly and Sirius jumped to his feet.
"Harry I'm so sorry" he said and Harry could tell he meant it. "It wasn't fair of me to always side with Jenna. I had a good talk to her and…"
"And let her move into my room. Didn't you think I'd come back?"
"Sorry. I didn't know what to do"
"Doesn't matter. I've already shifted her stuff" Harry looked around the room carefully to see if anything had changed. It hadn't. "When are the Weasley's coming?"
"They should be here any minute and Hermione wants you to go and pick her up"
"I'll do that now then," Harry said, turning to the door. Sirius stopped him.
"Harry we need to talk"
"About what?"
"Kingsley said he found you drunk on the street yesterday."
"Oh" Harry ran his fingers through his hair a few times. "I was with a friend. We were just having a bit of fun"
"Have you eaten at all?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Harry replied angrily.
"Have you looked in a mirror lately? Your all pale and dishevelled."
"I had a few light meals," Harry said, which was half true. He'd eaten a bit of food but he'd consumed more alcohol then solids over the past week.
"I'll be back soon" he left again but this time he found Jenna leaning on the door with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"So you came crawling back," she said haughtily.
"I know you missed me and I'd give you a hug but…" he looked her up and down with a smirk on his own face. "God knows what trash hole you've been in"
Jenna's smirk vanished and she stood up straighter before withdrawing her wand. Harry laughed loudly.
"Your not seriously going to fight me, are you? Get out of my way I have to go"
"Your not as strong as everyone says you are" she whispered maliciously
"You don't know how many people have asked me that just to suffer the consequences" Harry replied coolly. Jenna raised her wand higher.
"Jenna!" Sirius appeared in the doorway behind Harry. Jenna dropped her wand and pouted slightly.
"He was trying to attack me, dad! He was trying to make me leave!"
Harry said nothing. Instead he turned to see Sirius' reaction. He face was hard with fury.
"Get out of his way, Jenna"
"But Dad!" she complained but moved over so Harry could leave.
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