The Town

Pain

Coming to his senses, Harry Potter, couldn't recall ever feeling this much pain. What happened?

The last thing he remembered was yelling at Remus... Harry cringed as his words rushed back to him, he really shouldn't have been that awful to the man. He and Sirius were the only ones who still cared, even though he didn't get to see them as much as he would like. Harry went to roll over to get up so he could go downstairs and apologize if Remus was still here. Only, he wasn't in his room.

Nor was he even in his house.

Harry forced himself to roll back over so he wasn't getting a mouthful of dirt. He looked to the sky, closing his eyes quickly as the light assaulted them. Waiting a moment, Harry re-opened his eyes and tried not to blink when the light flooded his vision. Harry noticed the sun was high in the middle of the sky, causing him to blink again in confusion.

"Did I really sleep all day?" Harry questioned quietly, trying to piece together more of what happened. The more he tried to remember, the more his headache become more pronounced.

Harry looked back to the sky again. Something was odd… he just wasn't sure what.

"Hello?" Harry called out loudly, his voice rough from the lack of water. Harry listened for a reply, but the only sound he heard was chirping from the birds. He slowly picked himself off the ground, brushing dirt off his clothes as he did so.

"Is anybody there?" He tested again, sorely disappointed when even the birds didn't answer this time. With a sigh, Harry looked around; he was in a clearing, surrounded by large trees he couldn't see past. He saw signs of a camp fire that didn't seem to be too old, as well as a couple of footprints. Relief flooded Harry as he realized he couldn't be too far away from civilization, his only concern was which way to start walking.

Harry walked towards a tree on the edge of the clearing. Upon closer inspection, he decided it wouldn't be too hard to climb with the help of the branches. Climbing the tree, the green eyed boy began to reconsider his athletic abilities. Sure, he would run around outside from time to time, but he decided he needed to pursue a more active lifestyle.

Harry finally reached the top and stood on the highest branch he could. Trying to see above the canopy of trees was harder than he had originally thought. Various trees had grown taller than the ones below obstructing his view of the horizon; of course, not picking the tallest tree did not help the situation either. Still, Fate seemed to be on his side as he caught a glimpse of a stone structure in the distance and judging by the direction of the sun, it seemed to be west. Memorizing his destination, Harry climbed down the tree.

Harry took one last look around the clearing before he began to set out for what he hoped to be a civilization.

He entered the trees and their shadowy realm.

Now, Harry wasn't necessarily afraid of the dark, he was just bothered by it. Dark was ok, but this, this was way past dark. It was as if the area was absent of any type of light at all. He could barely see the trees he knew were present; which required him to throw out his arms to feel around. Many times he tripped over roots and scratched his jeans, but silently thanked Merlin that he was wearing muggle clothes; he could not have made this journey with that cloak.

Harry continued to walk in silence when he finally realized what had been nagging him about this forest; the lack of wildlife. Granted, the forest was dark and dense, therefore certain animals wouldn't find the area as habitable as others, but there still should be something. Almost as if reading his mind, a branch snapped in the distance, reassuring Harry for a second, only a second, because in the distance he heard another noise. It was so low and guttural that Harry almost didn't hear it.

Almost.

Harry paused for a second.

Something was growling.

He knew if he began to run, the thing, whatever it was, would begin to chase him, something he learned from his brother. Predators loved a challenge, and Harry could not give it the pleasure of hunting him down. Harry held his body perfectly still and waited to see if the growling would continue or if the animal would decide he wasn't worth it. Harry felt his panic subside when the growling stopped and he let out a breath.

Bad idea.

The growling kicked up a notch, and Harry heard feet pounding on the ground to his left accompanied by sound of branches snapping under the weight. Terrified, Harry began to run at full speed straight ahead with his hands in front of him, as the noise drew closer. Harry again regretted not being more athletic, even if he was quite adept at running. Unfortunately, being skilled at running did not mean he could run through a forest in the dark unscathed, and Harry was made painfully aware of this fact as his shirt caught on a branch and it sent him twirling forward. He closed his eyes as the darkness seemed to completely envelope him and for a moment, he felt as if he was truly flying through the air.

Light assaulted Harry's senses as he flew out of the trees, giving a loud yelp at the sudden brightness. Harry lay on the ground with his hands over his eyes, waiting for them to adjust, relieved that he could no longer hear the growling or pounding of the animal's feet.

What have I gotten myself into? Harry thought quietly.

"Are you ok?" A voice asked from somewhere above. Harry cautiously opened his eyes, unsure if they were fully adjusted or not.

"My… eyes." Harry groaned out painfully.

"Yes, well that's what you get for going against the Kings' order to not go into the forest. Especially a boy like you, you can't be any older than six or seven!" Harry flinched as he heard the man yell at him. It was different though, less… hostile. Had he even heard the man chuckle? Harry cautioned a look upwards.

The man was looking down at Harry with a gentle smile on his face. He seemed to be in his twenties, from what Harry could tell. Amusement filled his golden-yellow eyes as he stuck out a hand to help Harry up, his straight black hair barely fell around his eyes.

"Thanks." Harry muttered, grabbing the man's hand. He brushed off the dirt on his clothes and his hand glided over a large cut on his shirt. "Great. I'm sure they'll just love this."

"I can get you fixed up, if you wish?" The man offered.

"Thanks." Harry said again, staring curiously at the man when he didn't take out his wand. "So?"

"So, what? You'll have to come with me if you want a new shirt." The man said, somewhat amused.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Harry yelled in protest. "Just fix it with your wand!"

"My wand?" The man chuckled, "You certainly are far away from home, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Where are you from?" The man asked kindly. Harry opened his mouth to tell him address, but no words came out. He tried again, but not even a sound was emitted. The man took it as shyness and asked again where he was from.

"I live in… I live at… Agh. I can't say." Harry scoffed as he kicked the ground lightly.

"It's ok, you can tell me. Once you do, I can take you back home."

"No, I physically can't tell you. My house is under some type of charm. The Fidelius charm if I remember Moony correctly… And who said I wanted to go back, for that matter?"

"Hmm, that does pose a problem, doesn't it?" The man said, ignoring the second part of Harry's sentence. "First of all, what's a Fidelus charm?"

"A Fidelius charm," Harry corrected, looking at the man oddly, "hides things, or people, I suppose."

"Let's get back into town before we find out a way to get you back. The Kings definitely wouldn't be happy if they found you here." The man said as he held his hand out for Harry to grab.

"Kings?" Harry asked as he stared incredulously at the man. "Wizards haven't had a King in centuries! And you want me to follow you? I don't even know your name! I may be young, but I'm not an idiot." Harry said defiantly.

"Dear boy," The man chuckled. "whomever said you were with wizards?"

"So, what are you?" Harry asked nervously, edging back a little bit. Glancing back at the forest that he was putting his back to, Harry decided he probably didn't have much of a choice.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't harm you." The man said kindly. He cast a quick glance at the forest as well. "However, whatever is in there, might."

"Alright." Harry said quickly after one last glance into the forest, trying to catch a glimpse of his attacker. The man stuck out his hand eagerly but Harry paid no heed to it and began to walk.

"I don't think I've properly introduced myself," The man said as his steps fell into place with Harry, "I'm Cyrus."

"I'm Harry." Harry said stiffly as they approached another grouping of trees. "I thought you said the forest was unsafe?"

"It is. But this isn't the forest; this is merely a ring around the town." Cyrus informed him. Harry looked to his left and right and indeed, the trees seemed to curve, he stepped into it and was glad at the fact that his eye sight wasn't fully cut off. Harry and Cyrus walked together in silence for a little while before light shone up ahead. Breaking out of the ring of trees; Harry was amazed by what he saw.

The first immediate difference was the sound. It was as if there was a silencing charm between the trees and the town. The noises assaulted Harry's ears as he heard people laughing and yelling. He looked around and was amazed by the buildings; small bungalows were crowded everywhere on the grey brick ground.

The most amazing thing however, was the black castle that loomed above. Harry could tell the size was a bit diminished from the distance between them, but he could tell it was massive.

He moved quickly out of the way as two kids barreled towards them. One, not paying attention to where he was going, crashed into Cyrus, while the other walked back into the shadows to hide. The boy who had not being paying attention, looked up with amusement and Harry guessed he was going to apologize, upon seeing Cyrus, however, his facial expression turned to worry.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Please, I really didn't mean to do it! I'm really sorry!" The boy said quickly. Meanwhile, Harry looked for the boy's friend and barely saw him, it seemed that he had blended into the shadows perfectly.

"It's fine," Cyrus chuckled, "just make sure you watch where you're going next time." Cyrus ruffled the boy's hair. Harry watched the exchange in confusion. Personally, he would have snapped at the man not to touch him, but Harry was generally against human contact from strangers, as the only contact he received lately was in the form of punishment.

"I will! I swear!" The boy said quickly as he turned and ran off. Harry watched in silence and he turned to Cyrus who was watching the boy run.

"Why was he so afraid of you?" Harry asked, breaking Cyrus out of his reverie.

"Hmm? Oh, no reason." Cyrus said lightly as he began walking again.

"Are you going to answer any of my questions? You don't tell me where I am, you won't tell me what you are, and that kid was terrified of running into you!" Harry said loudly, attracting some of the attention of those passing by. Harry didn't notice when some of them shot him a second glance and began whispering to their companions.

"Why would I tell you, when you're going back home in a little while? Once you leave, the chances you'll be back here are very slim. You'll find that some of the citizens of this place don't take to kindly to newcomers." Cyrus informed him. Harry looked at him wide-eyed, was that some type of threat? Of course, he had worse, so he plowed on.

"What do you mean I'll never get back here? And what if I don't want to go home?" Harry asked quickly.

"Why wouldn't you?" Cyrus mused. Harry looked at him silently. He didn't dare tell this… this stranger of why he wouldn't want to go home.

My parents hit and neglect me in favour of their other son. Harry thought quietly to himself as he followed Cyrus through the town.

"Would you at least tell me where we're going?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, we have to go home. Well, my home anyway. We have no way of finding yours yet." Cyrus informed him.

"And where would your home be?" Harry asked as he followed the man through a space between two houses.

"It's on the other side of town, near a little pond. My wife chose it." Cyrus said with a fond smile on his face.

"If you live on the other side of town, what were you doing near the forest?" Harry asked cautiously. At home, he'd probably get a slap and a lecture about how you don't question your betters.

"Well technically, the people who live here are always near the forest." Cyrus said with a chuckle but seeing Harry's look of confusion, Cyrus explained.

"Think of it this way; this city, the capital of our land, is in the center. Then we have the ring of trees that we just came out of. Then there was that slightly larger circle that separated the ring of trees and the forest. To get a rough estimation of the forest, think of that ring of trees and multiply it by a hundred."

"But… but, it took us almost fifteen minutes to walk through that ring of trees! How do your people know how to get here? Especially if there's more creatures like the one I saw in there!" Harry protested, unable to make sense of the logic behind Cyrus' explanation.

"Harry, that would be telling, wouldn't it?" Cyrus asked with amusement dancing in his eyes and a chuckle escaping his lips.

"Why can't you just tell me?" Harry asked pleadingly.

"You're quite the knowledge mosquito, aren't you?" Cyrus chuckled as he led Harry out into what Harry guessed to be the center of town. He looked around the plaza, not answering Cyrus' question. While they had come from a small alley, Harry noticed there were actually four main roads leading away, reminding Harry of a wheel's spokes. Just to Harry's left, there was the road that led to the castle, he noticed that road seemed to have the least amount of people coming and going. In the center of the plaza there was a fountain and in the middle of the fountain was a black blade with its tip in a raised platform that stopped it from touching the water. Down the center of the blade, there seemed to be a gold strip. To Harry surprise, instead of the guard, there seemed to be a pair of purple wings sprouting out of the sword. Harry could tell it was metal, but the artist had really made it look as though feathers were on the wings. All around the fountain and plaza, vendors had their stands.

At each of the four roads, Harry noticed there were two men standing at each of the entrances. Each of the men had a sword in a sheath that hung loosely at their sides, smiling and nodding at those who passed by them.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Cyrus asked Harry, snapping him out of his wide-eyed staring. Harry absently nodded.

"How come I've never heard about this place? It's amazing." Harry admitted in a hushed tone, taking in the sights.

"I doubt you ever will. We've kept this place a secret from the right people for quite some time. There's more too, much more. This may be the capital city, but there are many more places just like this." Cyrus said with a smile. He seemed like he was about to say more until he realized who he was talking to.

"Which is why we have to keep you a secret."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked as Cyrus motioned for him to keep walking. Cyrus pulled Harry tightly to his side as he started to head to the path opposite the one leading to the castle, Harry was about to protest the motion as he had definitely never been this close to someone other than Sirius and Remus. The pair passed the guard quickly and Harry noted that Cyrus didn't even look over to the guard. Cyrus did, however, seem to relax after they walked past the guard. Looking down the path, Harry realized how long it was. He could barely make out the trees all the way at the end.

"What do you mean, keep me a secret?" Harry asked as he pulled himself away from Cyrus. Looking around quickly, Cyrus looked down at Harry.

"I can't talk about it. I'm not allowed to. The King would have my head if he found out I was telling an outsider about this place."

"Sounds like a charming guy." Harry muttered quietly, though Cyrus heard him. Cyrus gave a low chuckle and held a smile like there was an inside joke to what Harry said.

"We're almost there." Cyrus informed him, "My wife will take care of you. She'll make sure you're not hurt or anything. Merlin knows what happened to you in the forest."

"What's her name?" Harry asked as he shifted nervously when Cyrus mentioned him being hurt or not.

"Lyla." Cyrus said with a smile.

"What's your last name?"

"Another one of my many secrets."

"What am I going to call her then?"

"Lyla?" Cyrus said in confusion.

"That wouldn't be respectful." Harry frowned at Cyrus who turned and looked down at him, confusion and speculation in his eyes.

"Your parents have taught you well, Harry." Harry couldn't help but give a silent snort at that.

"You may simply call her Lyla though, I'm sure calling her Mrs. would just make her feel old."

"Are we almost there?" Harry asked with dread. He liked this place, it was… nice. He probably enjoyed it so much for the fact that he could actually be outside.

"It's just over there." Cyrus said as he lifted his finger to point to a little cottage right at the edge of the town. It wasn't in a neat row with the other houses. It sat right at the curve of the end of the road. Harry noticed that half of the house was concealed by the ring of trees. It definitely wasn't like any of the other houses he had seen so far.

"The pond is right behind the house. It goes about halfway into the ring of trees. It has a nice little clearing around it, perfect area to relax on a nice day."

"It is really nice." Harry agreed. "What makes you so special that you got it?"

"Quite the clever one there, Harry." Cyrus said with a chuckle as he approached the cottage. Looking around, Cyrus pushed open the door to the cottage. He turned around at the door when he noticed that Harry wasn't going in.

"I'm pretty sure I was taught not to go into a stranger's house." Harry said worriedly.

"We really don't have time for this Harry." Cyrus said as he looked around outside quickly. "Plus, don't you want to go home?

"I…I don't know." Harry said, even as he walked into the house and felt Cyrus close the door behind him immediately. Harry looked around the cottage curiously. The front door led into what seemed to be their sitting room where a white couch was directly in front of him. There were two windows in the room, one to Harry's left and one to his right. Two chairs each were at the window, letting people sit down and look outside. A small bookcase sat next to each window and Harry silently wished he could flip through the books.

"It's not very big, but it's nice for me and Lyla." Cyrus said with a fond smile.

"Lyla and I." Harry absently corrected.

"Let's go and meet my wife, shall we?" Cyrus said as he began walking towards the far end of the room. He led Harry through a single door that led to a hallway. Harry counted five doors. Two on his left, two on his right, and one at the far end of the hallway. He guessed one lead to a kitchen, one led to the backyard, and the other three were bedrooms.

"You have three bedrooms?" Harry questioned as Cyrus led him to the closest left door.

"No, one's a study." Cyrus informed Harry as he pushed through the door. Harry scanned the room quickly. It seemed to be a basic kitchen with all the necessities. He remembered what Cyrus had said, a little small, but probably just perfect for the two.

"Hi honey." A woman, whom Harry guessed was Lyla, said absently as she cradled a cup of tea and looked down at a newspaper.

"Lyla, this is Harry." Cyrus said as he stepped out of the way so his wife could see.

Looking up, she gave a small "Oh!" as she spotted Harry. She studied him for a second before turning to her husband.

"Who is this?"

"Harry here was in the forest." Cyrus informed her. Lyla looked shocked and was about to say something until Cyrus cut her off. "But he isn't supposed to be here at all."

"What do you mean?" Lyla asked, her sentence drifting off as she studied Harry more closely. Harry shifted nervously at the intense scrutiny.

"How did he get here?" Lyla asked as she took a sip of her tea. Harry sensed her intrigue. He knew he sounded the same whenever Sirius or Remus brought him new books.

"I don't know, and neither does Harry. I found him stumbling out of the woods on my walk. I offered to get him a new shirt, and, get this, he thought I had a wand!" Cyrus finished with a chuckle. Harry blushed at how the man talked as if he wasn't there, but knew from experience not to say anything.

"That is odd." Lyla commented. Harry noticed a faraway look in her eyes. Clearing his throat, Harry caught the attention of the two and shifted nervously.

"May I just have a shirt and go? My parents will already be angry as it is…" Harry said uncertainly. Lyla's eyes flickered down to Harry's side, where a large cut was in Harry's shirt.

"You're bleeding too." Lyla said worriedly as she looked at the splotched of red. "Come on, I'll get you fixed up."

"It's fine."

"I insist." Lyla said kindly with a smile on her face.

"Ok." Harry said quietly. Lyla held out her hand and he grabbed it and let her lead the way. Harry was oddly comforted by the simple gesture. Lyla's hands were smooth, he noticed, and his hand fit snugly into hers.

"My husband's best friend's son has some clothes here for when he stays over. He's not at that stage where his godparents are too odd for him." Lyla said with a laugh as she went to the door on the far left.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked worriedly.

"He won't mind at all. He probably won't even notice it's gone." Lyla said as she continued to lead Harry to the room's bathroom. "First, we have to take care of your wounds so, off with the shirt."

"Uhh… It's ok, really!" Harry quickly reassured, worry filling his face.

"Come on Harry. I wouldn't do anything to you, I promise." Lyla reassured.

Harry looked down. In a second of bravery, he lifted his shirt over his head and lowered his head even more when he heard Lyla give out gasp.

"Harry, what are these markings from?" Lyla asked quickly. Harry heard an off form of curiosity in her voice. He found it odd that she would refer to his bruises as markings, but he kept quiet nonetheless. He'd never shown his bruises to anyone, not even to Sirius and Remus. He guessed there couldn't too much; he did bruise extremely easy, after all. So, whenever his brother pushed him to the ground, or his mother smacked him, or his father threw a book at him, he got a new bruise.

"How did this happen, Harry?" Lyla asked again in a slightly more demanding tone. Harry was about to reply when a loud voice outside cut him off.

"Cyrus and Lyla, we know what you are harboring! Release the outsider now! He has no right to be here, and if he's not out in a minute, we're coming in!"

A/N Changed a few things in this chapter.