Good Surprises that Lead to Bad Endings
Chapter 1
The Aunt He Never Knew
Harry's ride back to Privet Drive was not the best (as if any of them could be considered "good"). He gazed out of the window the entire way home, contemplating all of the problems he would have to deal with.
"What the hell is your problem!" Vernon barked, but Harry just sighed.
Aunt Petunia grew worried. It wasn't like Harry to just sit there and let Uncle Vernon yell at him for no reason; usually Harry would have trouble controlling his temper and there would be some argument going on. She noticed that he had also behaved this way last summer after his godfather died. Petunia wondered if somebody else had died, but didn't dare to ask anything near Vernon and Dudley.
All these years, she had been mean to Harry. She often scorned him, made fun of him, and sometimes even treated him rather harshly. Now that she was reflecting on it, she didn't know what else she could have done. If Vernon suspected that she was being nice to him, he would have gone ballistic. She deeply regretted treating Harry this way; the thought of emotionally abusing her sister's son was horrifying; Lily would never forgive her.
The loss of her sister changed Petunia; it was too much for her, she couldn't handle it. She somehow seemed to be taking it out on Harry, venting by yelling at him almost as though it was his fault she lost her sister. She knew Harry had nothing to do with it, and was grateful that Harry survived, but could not resist thinking 'what if Harry had died and Lily was alive'. She rationalized this was the reason she couldn't bear to hear the word "magic" or "wand"; if Lily hadn't gotten involved with the Magical World, she would have still been alive today.
Harry spent the entire ride home ignoring Dudley and his rude and annoying comments. When they finally arrived home Harry grabbed his trunk in one hand, Hedwig's cage in the other, and went inside silently.
When he reached his room, he shut the door behind him, threw himself on the bed, and started crying. He could not withhold his emotions anymore; the tears just kept coming, from everything that he experienced. This wasn't just because of Dumbledore's death, though it was greatly caused by it; this was because of his parents, Sirius, the many Order members that died. 'And it's all Voldemort's fault,' Harry thought to himself, debating whether he wanted to go on crying or start smashing his possessions against the walls. He decided he did not have enough possessions, and then remembered his little outburst in Dumbledore's office in his fifth year. This made him cry even harder.
It seemed to him that he was losing everything he ever cared for, and the thought of him losing Lupin, Tonks, Moody, the Weasleys, Hermione, McGonagall, or any of the other teachers was unbearable.
The only teacher he didn't mind losing was Snape, and he truly hoped he would never have to encounter him again; if he did, Harry would have to kill him. 'Then again, maybe it would be a good thing if I see him again,' Harry thought to himself.
Dumbledore was the closest thing he had to a parent since Sirius died, and Snape was the reason Dumbledore wasn't with him. He still considered the Weasleys as his family, but it was not the same as having Dumbledore around. Dumbledore always knew what Harry was thinking (partially because he used Legilimency on him, but that's a different story); Dumbledore understood Harry, and rarely was mad at him. He was always proud of Harry, spoke very highly of him, appreciated and valued him, and most importantly-he cared for him, something that meant more to Harry than anyone could possibly imagine.
And now, the greatest man Harry had ever met and would ever meet was gone forever. Harry suddenly felt very alone, and could not understand why. 'I have Ron and Hermione, and Ginny, and the rest of the Weasleys…and I've got Lupin, and Tonks, and Moody…so why do I feel as if I have no one left?'
'How am I supposed to defeat Voldemort without Dumbledore? How am I even supposed to know where to start looking for the horcruxes, or how to destroy them?' Everything seemed impossible, and Harry was slowly starting to give up.
'Maybe I shouldn't bother.' Harry argued with himself. 'I'm tired of losing every single person that I love. I cannot inflict my presence on any of them, or they will all be in more danger than they could ever imagine.'
'Don't be stupid,' another voice argued back, 'they're already in danger. They can't be in more danger just because you--'
Loud banging against the door interrupted Harry's thoughts. Uncle Vernon burst into the room, stomping his feet and making sure to ruin some of Harry's textbooks. Harry knew he was in trouble, because his uncle was nearly purple in the face.
"What the ruddy hell do you think you're messing with? This is my family you're meddling with, and I won't allow it. READ IT, NOW!" Vernon bellowed, throwing an already-opened envelope at Harry. Harry took it, very confused and scared of what he might discover, and began reading.
Harry's heart immediately began racing. It was a black mail from the Death Eaters. They were demanding Vernon to hand Harry over to them, or the fate of their son would not be a pleasant one, as they put it. Harry looked up at his uncle, frightened at what he would have to endure from his uncle for this. Before Harry could brainstorm any ideas, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. "That's for putting my family in danger!" roared Uncle Vernon. Then his left eye felt like it would explode any second. "That's for annoying Dudley!" Harry dropped to the ground, trying to hold himself from screaming out of pain; he then felt Vernon punching and kicking his stomach, while making sure to step on Harry's fingers, crushing them, just like he did to his books. He felt a foot stomping on his nose, breaking it. "And that's for being the annoying, ungrateful little brat you always were! Now GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Vernon shouted; he looked like he would be rather happy to help Voldemort right now.
Harry did not know what to do; he felt as if his brain were about to explode, and this worsened when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his forehead; his scar felt like it was burning his skin. This was the last thing Harry remembered before he fell unconscious.
When Harry woke up, he felt Hedwig resting her head on him. He did not know how she got out of her cage, but he was grateful for it. He could not get up at all; he could barely move. Hedwig immediately brought him a piece of parchment and a quill, and Harry started writing; to indicate the pain he was enduring right now, his crushed fingers were starting to turn blue. Harry had a feeling Vernon broke his finger bones and cracked his ribs…and he didn't even want to think of what happened to his back that was constantly kicked at for about 10 minutes. He wrote as much as he could, and hoped it would be enough for Lupin to understand that Harry was in pain.
Lupin,
Sorry to bother you, can't explain, please come help me. At Dursleys, hurry!
Harry
He then told Hedwig to deliver it as fast as she could; he did not know how much longer he could endure this pain. He stayed still on the floor, trying as hard as he could not to move so as to not cause himself more pain.
He wondered whether his aunt was home or not. His uncle had never hit him before, and Harry didn't think Petunia would allow that, as unkind as she was sometimes.
He did not know how long he had been waiting, but when he heard several cracks outside of people Apparating, he was grateful. He only hoped it was Lupin with Order members, and not Death Eaters; there was no way he could fight anyone in this condition.
Lupin then Apparated straight into Harry's room; Harry was relieved—if he could Apparate into his room, that meant that this wasn't a Death Eater trying to impersonate him; after all, the wards that Dumbledore put on the Dursely's residence still held true.
"Harry! What happened?" Lupin said worriedly. "Are you ok? Who did this to you? Where are you hurt?"
Lupin was getting worried; Harry was barely able to open his eyes, and he noticed that Harry's left eye was bloodshot and had turned blue all around. His fingers were blue, and Harry was bleeding from his nose and holding his stomach as if he just wanted to crunch up into a small curled-up ball.
"Uncle….hit…stomach…breathe" was all Harry could say.
"Harry, I need you to tell me what happened. I can't do anything to help you if you don't tell me where you're injured."
Harry tried to explain, but could not utter a word.
"Harry, I will need to examine the bruises. I am going to levitate you up on your bed, and I will need to see your stomach. It is possible that your ribs are broken and I don't want to cause you any more pain."
Harry nodded and allowed Lupin to examine his injuries. Lupin then cast a few simple spells, and Harry immediately felt relief spread through his body; his eye was still bloodshot, but at least his fingers didn't hurt so much and he could move again.
"Thanks," Harry gave a weak smile.
"Harry, this is very serious. Your uncle did this to you?" Harry nodded. "Why?" Lupin inquired.
"Well, first we got black mail from the Death Eaters and they threatened to hurt Dudley if Uncle Vernon didn't hand me in. I'm guessing that's why he hit me, because he never did this before."
Lupin looked astonished. He did not know what to do. He couldn't take Harry away from this place until his birthday, but he could not let him stay here either.
"Oh, one more problem," Harry began, hoping that Lupin would have a solution for him, "My uncle kind of wants me out of the house…erm…soon."
Lupin could not believe what he was hearing. "What does your aunt think of this?"
"I don't know, I don't think she's home. She wouldn't have let Uncle Vernon do this to me if she was."
"Well…I can't do anything to help you. Are you sure you must stay here?"
"Yes, Dumbledore wanted me to stay until after my birthday. He has his reasons, and it would be foolish of me not to obey his request."
"I understand, Harry. What are you going to do if your uncle kicks you out?"
"I haven't quite figured that part out, but I'm hoping my aunt will be able to stop him. She knows why I need to stay here."
"Ok…I guess I can't help you much in that department, I don't think your uncle likes me very much. I must go Harry, I promised the Order I would report to them as soon as you were safe. We all came here, but when we saw there were no Death Eaters around they Apparated back. I'm glad you called me over; your injuries could have been deadly if you waited longer. Don't hesitate to do that again, if you ever need my help. I'll see you soon, Harry." Lupin embraced Harry in a hug, making sure not to crush his ribs, and Apparated away.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, but it was very different from the usual banging sound that resonated every time Uncle Vernon made a visit to Harry's bedroom.
"Come in." Harry said, slightly bewildered and sounding very afraid.
It was Aunt Petunia. The look on her face was one that Harry did not recognize—at least not being directed at him. She looked remorseful, and caring. Harry thought he was hallucinating, imagining things because of his injuries. If anything, Petunia was coming to punish him, not to take care of him; indeed, he was surprised.
"Do you--" Petunia stopped herself after noticing she was using a harsh voice again, "Do you feel like talking? You seemed unusually quiet on the ride back home." Surprisingly, Petunia did not seem to notice that Harry was injured.
Harry was amazed, "Since when do I ever talk to you guys on the ride back home? That is, when Uncle Vernon isn't yelling at me and I'm not yelling back at him," Harry replied weakly.
Aunt Petunia half smiled. "You don't, I just thought it would be nice to talk for a change. Sorry to bother you." And with that, she turned to leave the room.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude, it's just that there's a lot going on right now and I'm really stressed."
"Your uncle and Dudley left to go to the video-game store; they won't be back for a while. Do you want to talk about it over a cup of tea?"
"Erm…sure…I'll be down there in a second."
When Harry finally came downstairs, there was already a cup of tea on the table, waiting for him. It took him nearly 5 minutes just to walk down the stairs; he still could not walk properly without hurting. He sat down opposite Aunt Petunia and decided that it was up to him to start talking.
"I'm sorry about before; it's just that there's a lot of pressure on me right now, and being depressed doesn't help."
"Why are you depressed? Is this about your godfather?"
"No. Well, yes. Kind of. Not really, actually," He then realized how confusing his answer was.
"Would you care to make up your mind?" She teased him.
"Well…" Harry hesitated, "You know Professor Dumbledore? The person who came to pick me up last summer?"
"Yes, I had the honor to get to know him. Did something happen to him?"
"He was murdered by one of my professors at the end of last year." 'That stupid, egg headed, son of a wizard, slimy, greasy git,' Harry thought to himself.
"I'm sorry, Harry. Were you two close?"
"Yes. He was like a father to me…or a grandfather, pick one," Harry could not believe that he was telling his aunt about his relationship with another wizard. He sniggered at the thought of having the same conversation with Uncle Vernon. He decided not to tell her about what had happened earlier; there was no point.
"I understand, Harry. I really do."
"Well, there's more to it than that, but I cannot say anything else because otherwise you would be in danger just from knowing."
"Does this have anything to do with...Him?" Petunia asked with a slightly shaky voice.
"It has everything to do with Voldemort. And I plan on killing him by the end of this year. No one will stop me. And if I die during that, at least I would take him down and let the Wizarding World live in peace without scum like him."
"You can't be serious! You're barely 17, how do you expect to kill the most powerful wizard out there?"
"I don't know. But I do know that I will not be able to rest until he is dead, and I should kill him sooner rather than later."
"I know I don't have the right to tell you what to do, Harry, but please consider this logically. I understand that you are a very powerful wizard, but you stand no chance against him!"
"There is nothing you can do to change my mind."
Silence broke between the two of them, one that seemed to last for hours. After a while, Petunia said, "I trust you to do the right thing. And I wish you the best of luck."
"Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."
At those words, Petunia started crying. She stood up, and went over to hug Harry; awkwardly, Harry hugged her back. At the sound of the front door opening, she jumped back, dried her tears with the back of her hand, and told Harry to go up to his room, while sneaking him a smile before leaving to greet Vernon and Dudley.
