Chapter 4: Feeling in the Right

Slowly, Harry started to wake up. He felt strange, all warm and fuzzy, protected really. Then he started feeling beyond that and realized he had arms slung around him, warm arms, enveloping instead of crushing or hurting him. Opening his eyes he saw Daphne, still lightly hugging him in her sleep, face stained with a few tear lines.

At that moment it hit him; He had fallen asleep, with a girl. Immediately, Harry felt his face go red and tried to extricate himself from her cuddled up form. This woke her up. As she came to, Harry could see her mind making at least some of the same steps his own had done only moments ago and she became as red as Uncle Vernon in a temper tantrum.

"Sorry for falling apart like that" he said after a few seconds of thick silence. "That's not usually like me."

"It's okay Harry. Sorry for falling asleep, cuddled up with you. And for just hugging you, I didn't ask before…" she trailed off, embarrassment evident in her voice.

"You did not have to, no need to apologize" and, his blush further intensifying if that was even possible, he added "I kind of liked it, I slept really well."

"How do you feel now?" she asked in a tender voice, clearly still quite worried about his emotional state. Now, this was a hard question for Harry, considering he could not remember anyone else asking him.

"I'm fine" he answered her, coupled with a shrug. Although he could clearly see how much she did not believe him she did not force the issue and said nothing. Instead, she hugged him again.

"I think I'd like to be alone now, sorry Daphne."

"No need to apologize, Harry" came the reply from close to his ear.

Daphne left he library, still a little confused about what had happened. She had really liked falling asleep with Harry, despite the circumstances and she had had a few hours of very good sleep. It was not something she could see herself do all the time, but maybe if it happened like this again, there was no problem with it.

The other train of thoughts occupying her mind was a little more worrisome to her. And it featured a green eyed boy she had grown to like quite a bit. Not for a second had she believed him to be fine, not after that outburst and all those emotions. Still, he wanted to be alone and though it hurt her a little she complied.

"Why does it hurt me that he wants to be alone?"

Not having come to a sufficient conclusion to this particular question she reached her temporary home. At the same time, two other people came up the walkway towards the house. One of them was a stern looking woman, hair in a bun and body in a neat and conservative muggle dress. The other one was a slightly balding, red -haired man in a somewhat haphazard combination of muggle clothing.

She reached the door at the same time as the two strangers and the stern woman reached with her hand to the door-bell and ringed.

It was the early afternoon and Xander Greengrass was doing his mandatory patrol around Little Whinging, thinking about his daughters, the older one specifically. He was glad that she seemed to have found a way to occupy her time away from her usual hobbies and the manor. Having read the signs about his daughter, he suspected she had found a friend. The last few days, his daughter had been happier than he had seen her for quite a long time. Actually, for the first time since she had been old enough to understand what being a member of a wealthy pureblood family entailed: Suck-ups and sycophants all around, out for status and wealth. Xander had never had any problems with it, but his often gentle and caring daughter had taken it quite hard that some of her supposed friends were in it for themselves.

Coming to his door and already dreading to fill out the daily report, in triplicate of course, he got out his keys and opened the door to the house he currently occupied.

"Well, no use in drawing it out" he thought and went for his office desk. Halfway through writing his report, the door-bell chimed. With a slight feeling of trepidation, he went to answer. I could not be Daphne, she was now usually out until dinner time. Furthermore, his wife and other daughter were out shopping and would also only be back in time for dinner. No, to him this could only mean trouble in his otherwise quiet assignment.

The "trouble" presented itself in the form of three people, each of them he recognized. It was their combination that tipped him off. There was his daughter, her face bearing a confusing mixture of emotions and, if he was not mistaken, one or the other tear track. Then there was Arthur Weasley, whom he recognized from the Ministry, where the man was both a figure of ridicule and of grudging respect for his obvious integrity. Now the third one was the most troubling: It was Professor McGonagall alright, but her face showed none of her usual calm stoicism. Instead she wore an expression of extreme worry and quite some anger. To Xander, this could only mean one thing. There was something wrong and he wasn't keen to find out what. Though he was intrigued.

"Professor McGonagall, Mr. Weasley. How may I help you?" Bowing down to his daughter he added: "Hey, princess, you okay."

Without a word, Daphne made a step forward and completely disregarding the audience, she threw her arms around her father as tight as she could, obviously not planning to let go in the near future.

Xander turned his head again towards the other two people at the door as Arthur Weasley started to speak: "Auror Greengrass, we're sorry to intrude upon you. May we come inside it really is no topic to discuss in the open?"

This did nothing to curb Xander's increasing worry and neither did his daughter's unusual actions, for that matter.

"Yes, of course. Please, do come in." He led his guest to the kitchen and they all sat down at the table, Daphne still clinging to her father tightly. "Now, might I know what your visit is about, Mr. Weasley? You both seem to be in a quite grave mood, if I am not terribly mistaken."

This time it seemed to be the Professor's turn to answer: "Auror Greengrass, as I believe you know it is the time of the year when we start delivering the Hogwarts letters to the muggleborn and –raised children. We just went to one of these visits, but the child was gone."

"I gather this is the VIP I've been guarding all the while, without anyone telling me who it was. If you don't mind me asking, how is Misuse of Muggle Artefacts involved in this, Mr. Weasley?"

"Before we can be more forthcoming in our answers, we need your word that nothing will leave the room. And your daughter should probably leave, as well. No one but we and Madam Bones know who you were guarding and it should stay that way."

Now Xander was really intrigued. Of course he had not really believed the story about the reason for his posting, but this was more interesting than even he had thought. His thoughts mulled over the things he knew and he reached a fascinating conclusion.

"I will say nothing of it, neither will my reports. But my daughter stays as it would seem she needs me at the moment. I guarantee you, she too will say nothing outside the four of us. Now would you please just tell me I've been guarding Harry Potter and be done with it" he finished with obvious glee over the gobsmacked expressions of the two people sitting across the table from him.

"The auror training does include some detective skills. You spoke of a muggle-raised magical child about to receive its letter. The age fits. And everyone knows Potter lives with muggles now. Who else would warrant guarding over by an auror, at least who else that is muggle-raised?" He really enjoyed the stunned looks on his guests' faces at his proclamations, chuckling inwardly.

"You still have not told me how Misuse of Muggle Artefacts came to be involved though" he reminded them.

Now it was Arthur Weasley who answered: "Well, it was coincidence, really. You know Wilson, the Obliviator?" At Xander's nod, he continued "He was here after the knight bus incident and he met the young Harry who seemed to be without knowledge of our world and somehow afraid of his Uncle. He told me this over lunch in the cafeteria. After that I made sure to inform Professor McGonagall and told Wilson to be more careful to whom he tells this story. As an auror, I am sure you know how many Death Eaters got off after the war" he finished and Xander nodded glumly. He knew quite well how many "imperius victims" had been cleared of all charges.

Having collected herself more, McGonagall put on her stoic impression again and started speaking: "As for why I did not involve MCPS and the DMLE, Madam Bones knows we're here, because I trust her implicitly. About MCPS, I just don't know the people there that well and I have no intention of letting too many people know that Harry Potter is currently an easy target, despite whatever wards I'm sure are in place. However, knowing what I know of that family, I had no intention to go alone" she finished her explanation with a worried glance towards Daphne, who had clung to her father through the whole conversation and even started crying a little now.

"Sweetheart, what is it?" Xander asked his daughter, now getting very worried over her unusual behaviour. Instead of answering, she just hugged herself to him even tighter and buried her chest in his head. Knowing he would not get anything out of her just now, he again focused on the situation at hand.

"So, we lost Harry Potter?" he asked his visitors.

"In a way, yes that would be correct. We went there today to inform him of our world and give him his letter but he was not there. His aunt said he had been gone for a few weeks now, after a rather severe "punishment" from his uncle" her tone left no question as to what she meant by punishment, and what she thought about that sort of punishment. "She seemed to be quite at ease with herself, maybe even felt in the right. Otherwise, she never would have told us. Probably didn't even really realize who we were until it was too late."

Again, Xander was distracted by the young girl on his lap. This time it was a scoff uttered at McGonagall's explanation of Petunia Dursley's actions. "How could anyone justify that" she mumbled just loud enough for her father to hear.

"Daphne, princess, do you have something to tell me?" he now asked her, a sneaking suspicion forming as to who her daughter's secret new friend might be. She paled a little at his question and looked at him, despair in her eyes.

"I'm sorry daddy, I can't tell you. I promised" she answered apologetically, yet with a lot of conviction in her voice.

"Of course he wouldn't wanna be found, considering what I've just heard. He'd probably think we want to bring him back to those people" he shivered a little, thinking of what the transfiguration mistress had just told him. "Still, we'll have to find him, if only just to make sure he gets his letter and can attend the school."

"It's okay, princess. You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to tell us, especially if you promised not to. But would it be okay, if you gave your new friend a message from all of us?" He asked his daughter, who still looked at him quite worriedly.

"I'm sure we won't hold it against you. Especially if you tell him he can attend Hogwarts together with you. Wouldn't that be great?" Slowly Daphne started to smile. Yes, that seemed to be an idea she was very fond of. As was Xander, for that matter. It would be good for his daughter to make a few friends out of the usual circles his family had always been a part of.

"Okay, Daddy. I'll do it, but only for you" she answered him, now smiling widely. Her joy about going to Hogwarts with her new friend was very evident.

Said friend was now sitting in one of the chairs of his and Daphne's library. "When has it become mine and Daphne's library?" he questioned, surprised that he didn't really know an answer. It had just somehow happened. Surprisingly, he was okay with it. She wanted somewhere to retreat to just as much as Harry himself. Her reasons were different of course; From what he had learned, Daphne's father would never raise his hand against anyone in his family, be it his wife or his daughters.

Xander Greengrass was a man Harry was curious about; Daphne had told him a little about her father, how he was from an old and wealthy magical family but still worked in law enforcement because it was his calling, how he used to tell his daughters stories for bedtime, before they had deemed themselves "too grown up" for story-time. Yes, Xander Greengrass was someone he really much wanted to meet.

Despite this, he was scared of the man. Not because of what he knew about the man himself, but because he was a law enforcement officer and Harry was a runaway. He knew quite well that runaways were brought back to their families when found by the police. This was something Harry was very much opposed to.

He was raised from his musings by Daphne. "Well, this is unexpected" he thought and instantly felt a blush creep up his face, mirroring hers quite nicely. He had deemed himself thoroughly embarrassed when he woke up, with Daphne in his arms. As it turned out seeing her again was worse. A lot worse.

"Hey" she greeted him, barely above a whisper and with a little awkward wave from her hand. "How are you?" she questioned, a sad look in her eyes that Harry could not explain. Maybe there was a little fear too.

"Hey" he greeted her too. And with a shrug he added: "I'm fine. You?"

"We had visitors today" she told him bluntly "they were looking for you."

Panic began rising inside of Harry. "Have they found me? Will they bring me back to the Dursleys? Will they punish me for running away like that? Will they…"

These frantic thoughts were interrupted by Daphne as she stepped forward and enveloped Harry in a tight hug. "I haven't told them anything, they don't know where you are and they don't want to take you back to your relatives" she whispered into his ear consolingly, although the last word came out with quite a sneer. Letting go of him she continued: "But I told you about Dad and he saw right through me. I'm supposed to give you a message. You wanna at least hear it?" She asked him, still a little trepidation in her voice.

"They don't want to take me back?" Harry asked, not daring to hope until he had confirmation. Upon Daphne's affirmative nod he relaxed. "Okay so what's the message?"

"I am to tell you, that after meeting your aunt, no one will expect you to go back there. Furthermore, they implore you to come out of hiding so that you can be safe. Lastly, there was a professor looking for you, her name is McGonagall. She is a teacher at Hogwarts, you know. Wanted to bring you your acceptance letter. I'm so happy you're going too, I can't wait" she finished with a broad smile on her face.

"So I don't have to go back, ever?" Harry asked, still not quite able to believe his luck. He just never was that lucky. He was a little startled when Daphne came towards him and hugged him again. This was just the third time in his life that he had been hugged and they just kept coming. He enjoyed it quite a bit and was moved even more. She seemed to notice Harry's whirling emotions and put a little distance between the two of them to look him in the eye.

"What is it, Harry? Do you not want to go to Hogwarts or do you not want us to go there together?" She was clearly worried that he would not want to be her friend come the day they went to Hogwarts. Maybe a little hurt, too.

Harry was taken aback by this reaction. Had he given any indication of something like this? No, he was quite sure he had not done so. So where did this come from? He hurried to answer her desperate question: "No, of course I'll be happy to be there with you. It's just…" he was getting embarrassed again and paused, steeling his resolve "It's just that I've never been hugged before and you keep hugging me. I really like it, it just takes some getting used to, is all" he finished hurriedly, sure she would see him differently now.

"How should she be able to understand? She loves her family and they love her" he mused sadly.

Her only reaction however, was a whispered "Oh, Harry" and another hug. This one lasted a long time, both of them needing reassurance, although Harry had no real clue about what Daphne needed reassurance about, although he was all too happy to provide it, of course.

After several minutes had passed by, they separated again. Still a bit embarrassed, but they were getting used to being close to each other. "Ok" Harry suddenly uttered. Seeing the confused look on Daphne's face he continued "I'll meet them. In the muggle part of the library, far away from this room, this is our secret hideout" they both grinned a little at the thought of having their own secret hidey-hole. "And I want you there with me. If it's okay with you" he finished, looking at her hopefully.

"Of course I'll be there, Harry, if you really want me to" he nodded vividly" then I'll be there with you. We're friends after all, aren't we?"

"I never had any friends before. They were all scared of my cousin…" he said dejectedly with a note of happiness somewhere in his voice. "I really like having a friend" he now stated with outright glee.

The next day a slightly nervous Professor McGonagall was on her way to the library. With her was Xander Greengrass, who had really wanted to meet his daughter's new friend. Minerva suspected there was more to his presence than he told her, but she let it rest. She was sure she would know in time.

"How do you think he'll react?" Xander asked her suddenly, the same question she herself had been asking a lot of times by that moment.

"I don't know. We've had cases of this at Hogwarts, of course, but they were all different from each other. And none of those were as severe as Harry…" she answered glumly. "He'll be wary of authority figures, that's for sure. And it won't be easy for him to integrate at Hogwarts, but beyond that we can only guess. Not even the muggle mind healers could predict it and they're way more advanced in dealing illnesses of the mind."

She sighed heavily and went back to her own thoughts of worry interspersed with incredible guilt. Next to her, Xander also was deep in thoughts, obviously still trying to wrap his mind around what he'd learned of the young boy he knew was very important his Daphne.

Both still deep in thoughts they reached the library where they were awaited by Daphne. Professor McGonagall immediately saw the girl was upset, it seemed there already was a problem.

"Hey Dad, hello Professor" she greeted them with a worried look etched into her pretty face and some unshed tears in her eyes. "I'm worried about Harry, he just sits there, hasn't moved at all since we came here to wait for you…" at this, she lost her brave face and ran to her father, throwing herself into him and wrapping her arms around his waist tightly.

"I'll go, Auror Greengrass. You should stay and look after your daughter" the Professor told her companion, who nodded in response. "This is not gonna be easy" she thought and started on her way to where Harry was, as indicated by Daphne.

She reached a secluded corner of the library and there, in an uncomfortable chair sat a small, black-haired boy staring at the book-shelf in front of him, clearly in the throes of a very unpleasant memory, if his occasional flinching was any indication.

The experienced Professor was at a loss as to what to do. Of course she would have to get him out of this state, but she had absolutely no idea how she could achieve that.

"If I touch him, I'll only make it way worse, that much is clear. But how can I snap him out of this?" Before an answer to her self-posed question could be found, a blond blur shot past her and tackled Harry inside his chair. Professor McGonagall could see the panic in his eyes, at least until they fell on the person who had tackled him. As he recognized Daphne he visibly relaxed and hugged her back. Over her shoulder, he let his gaze drift to the Professor.

"Well, that's one way to get him out of his stupor…" she mused and continued, now speaking and not thinking: "Hello, Mr. Potter. My Name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. Would you like this to be somewhere more quiet, or are you quite certain we won't be disturbed here?" As he nodded, she continued her introduction: "I'm a teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I've come to hand you your acceptance letter. Term will start on 1st September, should you decide to attend of course. Now, I assume you have a lot of questions, so ask away."

"Thank you Professor" the boy said quietly, still a little fear in his voice. "Why would I be accepted though? I mean, I'm just Harry…" he shrugged and looked at her questioningly.

"You, Mr. Potter, might be "just Harry", but you are still a wizard. That means you should get proper training to control your powers, to make the best of your abilities and, most importantly, to meet people just like yourself, make new friends." At her matter-of-fact explanation the boy's face visibly brightened up, yet a hint of doubt remained in his expression.

"As if he still thinks this to be a cruel joke" McGonagall suddenly realized, although she had no idea where this particular realization came from exactly.

Again his green eyes fell on her and they seemed to bore through her face. She knew the next question was important to him. "What about the Dursleys? They detest everything that's "abnormal and freakish", and this certainly is" he looked very sad as he told her this and the usually very composed Professor got the strange need to hex a certain muggle family.

"It will be taken care of, we will certainly find a way" she assured him with a conviction that she nearly scared herself with. She was surprised at how strongly she felt about this boy and his fate.

"Okay, I have two more questions: One, I can talk to snakes, will that be a problem?" he asked her, again with a worried expression.

At his revelation Professor McGonagall's breath hitched a little. Knowing he would only be satisfied with absolute honesty she started to answer: "It might be, at least for some people. Parselmouths are often thought to be dark wizards, you know." As he nodded his understanding, she elaborated: "Superstitious nonsense, if you ask me, as pointless as divination. But many people believe in it. You said you had two questions?"

"Yes" Harry said, now with a full blown smile on his face "where can I get my school stuff?"

AN: Hello Y'all

Followers are in the triple digits. Just a few chapters in and already in two communities. I'm so happy right now.

I've recently been contacted about the severity of the abuse I depict Harry to have received. Firstly, it's my choice as a writer, and I think it an important topic to mention once in a while, therefore I do so. Secondly, I don't see emotional abuse and negligence of the calibre the Dursleys depict towards Harry to go without physical abuse as well. My guess, JKR was not inclined to mention it in the first book, as it is hardly a topic for a children's book. After that she had to stick to her choice.

From now on I'll try to update at least weekly, maybe more often. But I won't promise anything.

Do keep your reviews coming, they motivate me a lot. Please do not take it personally if I don't reply to everything, I'd much rather spend the time writing the story, as I'm sure you'll agree.

Have a nice weekend,

alexandertheII