A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, like always they are appreciated by us writers and we would like more. Yes, they are very addictive especially the good ones. HAHA.

Harry potter is not mine this is a story from a fan.

A helping Hand

C5 More Answers and even more disturbing feelings.

When it was four a clock everybody left the classroom except Harry. Andrea didn't say a thing but walked over to the window and looked as Dudley stepped into the car. He greeted his mother with a shove against the back of her car seat and smiled as he looked over at Harry.

Andrea shook her head and turned back to Harry. She hated that she had to keep Harry longer for something he hadn't done, but something inside her told her that it was the way the other teachers before her had done it too. "I'm really sorry Harry, I know you didn't throw the chalk at me".

Harry looked up at her and there was a lot of unbelief in his eyes. He just could not understand it. Not only did she believe that he didn't do it, but she also told him she was sorry. She was the first adult who just talked to him as if he was a person, not a freak.

"Harry, may I ask how you feel about living with your aunt and Uncle". Andrea asked with a little hesitation.

Harry nodded but he didn't answer her.

Andrea saw that he was thinking hard but that he couldn't find the words. After five minutes she told him with a reassuring voice. "Harry you do not have to tell me anything if you don't want to. I just want to know because you are wearing those things while Dudley is wearing the newest clothes that are in fashion. It is clear to me that you are wearing his hand-me-downs but also that they are way too big for you. But like I said you do not have to say it if you don't want to say it".

Harry nodded again but he still didn't dare to give her an answer. It was at that moment that he felt the arms of Andrea wrap around him. Those arms pulled him against her chest and a hand that pushed his head against her shoulder. So Harry did the only thing he knew and became as stiff as a board. The moment Andrea let him go he asked. "What was that, why did you do that".

Andrea looked at him with some uncertainty in her mind. "Harry, what do you mean?" with some hesitation.

Harry let his eyes go over to the wall and said in a near whisper. "You put your arms around me and pulled me against you. I don't know what it was but it felt nice".

Andrea had to swallow hard and just looked at Harry. She doubted her hearing again. Her mind was screaming and her heart was racing. She had only given him a hug. She knew that she couldn't get emotionally involved with Harry but she could not help herself. Her friendship with Lily had made it personal and here was her son who asked her what it was she did to him. "Harry, I just gave you a hug, has your aunt never hugged you before".

Harry slowly shook his head from left to right. "Aunt Petunia does it to Dudley all the time, but she has never done that to me". He was keeping his eyes on the wall while a very small smile twisted at the corner of his mouth. "It felt nice".

Andrea could not help herself and had to swallow again. Harry had never been hugged and it didn't sit well with her. Now the hardest part was that she had to send him back there because she had held him way too long. So she took it upon herself and brought him by car letting him get out at the corner of the street.

That night Harry had to go to his cupboard without any dinner but that was something Andrea would never know, at least according to Harry.

*#*

The next day Andrea found Harry again at his own spot next to the fence. So without any hesitation, she walked out of her classroom and onto the schoolyard. This time she had to smile a little when she saw Harry jump up to ran away but also how he sat down again when he saw it was her.

While she tried to get a little comfortable on the hard stone next to Harry, she thought about the things she wanted to ask him. The moment she opened her mouth to ask the first question, she heard the voice of Harry in a near whisper.

"Would it be alright if I ask you for another one of those hugs? It was the first one I got and it felt very nice".

The question Andrea had on her mind was completely lost after those words. So on pure instinct, she pulled Harry softly into her arms and noted that he again stiffened at her touch. But compared to the last time it was a little less and she heard a sigh of happiness escaping his mouth.

As Andrea let go of Harry she could see he had enjoyed it because he had a little smile on his face.

"Harry, " Andrea asked one more time in a soft voice.

Harry looked up at her still with that little smile he now had.

"You know that hug would be better if you would also hug me back".

The eyes of Harry became very wide. "You mean to touch you with my hands".

"HUGE, yes".

"But I'm dirty. I cannot touch you, it would make you dirty too".

Andrea looked from left to right this had to be the candid camera or something. It had to be a, No, that, wasn't it. "Why would you think that it would make me dirty". Andrea paid close attention to Harry and saw his eyes going dull. Andrea had to do all she could to keep the snarl from anger as silent as possible. In the eyes of Harry, she could see that he realized that he had been told something that wasn't true and it hurt him a lot.

Harry started rubbing his hand together and sniveled a little.

"Tell me what you are thinking Harry, and if you want you may cry" She wasn't sure why she asked him to cry but something deep inside her told her he never did.

Harry shook his head. "I can't cry, freaks don't cry. My uncle Says freaks don't cry and I'm a freak" Harry sniveled one more time and started to fight against his tears. "One time I saw Dudley walking hand in hand with aunt petunia and I thought that it looked like fun. So I took her other hand and she almost hit me and began screaming at me. Freaks are not allowed to touch people because it would make them dirty".

The way Harry looked at the ground told Andrea that it had been enough for today. She put her arms around him again and gave him a little hug. As she expected he didn't hug her back, but that was okay. The next thing she did was to walk back inside the school just in time before the other kids' starter to arrive. While she sat down behind her desk she couldn't figure out what was more disturbing to her. Harry telling her he was a freak, Harry telling her that he made people dirty. Or Harry not knowing how to hug somebody.

The rest of the week she didn't ask Harry another question. The last time she could see that it had hurt him a lot and she wanted to let him recover. But every morning she would get him inside of the classroom and give him a hug. It was on Friday that he put his small arms around her. Even if it had been for only a second it did gave her a feeling of love that she had never felt before.

That night Andrea sat behind her desk in her little house and started to write another letter.

Dear aunty.

I hope you are well.

Tell me a little bit about Hogwarts. Is Professor Snape still that grumpy, or has he finally warmed up to Professor Sinistra or has she found someone else.

Wel, you know that that is not why I'm writing you. But again I'm not sure how to tell you. I can only tell that there is something seriously wrong with the place Harry Potter is living. Everything I found out tells me that he was never wanted but I don't know how much of that is true. Now I do know that Harry Potter is not lying to me but I do not know the extent of it, That is something I plan to find out in the coming weeks.

Now there was something I wanted to ask you. Could you find out a little bit more about the situation Harry is in? He is wearing hand me downs and that doesn't sound good to me. You ones told me that the Potters were rich and it does not seem that way to me".

There is, however, one thing that disturbed me. I know you told me I have to keep my distance but I can't. I gave him a hug and I found out he never had one before. He didn't even know what it was or how to gif one himself.

Let me know if you find something out.
Love you, aunty.

Andrea McGonagall.

While the owl flew off, Andrea crawled into her bed for another restless night.

A/N: This was it again at this time. The next chapter will be with Minerva. Let see how that will go.