The Shadow of the Wizarding World

By: Jamnaz79

Beta: Winged Seer Wolf

-x-x-x-x-x-

Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc.

-SotWW-

A week after the meeting with Narcissa, Harry was enjoying an afternoon nap. After all, everyone deserves a nice deep nap once in a while and his life this summer had been training, business, politics, headaches, and life changing events. Still, it seemed for Harry Potter a nap was not in the cards. He had just settled down and fallen asleep about ten minutes prior. He was just starting to thoroughly enjoy his rest when a splash of freezing cold water fell onto his face and brought him to a frightful awakening. His emerald eyes darted open as he spotted the pink haired culprit of his trouble standing above him.

Nymphadora Tonks couldn't keep the smile from her face as she watched the water splash over the face down to the lap of Harry. She had made certain that the water was on the verge of icing over before she dumped it. He might be the son of a marauder, but it doesn't mean that she couldn't have some fun too.

Now watching Harry leap and almost falling off of the couch she couldn't keep the grin off of her face. This attack, after all was just the latest in the line of pranks back and forth. It was nothing compared to the muggle itching powder in her bras, the invisible ink that became visible on the back of her shirt when she walked into the Auror office that said, "Fuck you Death eaters." Perhaps her favorite had been Kingsley had stopped over and stolen the fresh blueberry muffin that Harry had made for them. The man had eaten it at work and turned into a large rolling blueberry. Harry had sworn he got the idea from a muggle movie called Charlie and the Chocolate factory. But, now this was just a small personal bit of fun.

"Oh you think that is funny Nymph?" The words came from the mouth of the younger teen boy just moments before he reached up and grabbed ahold of her arms pulling her forward into his lap. The boy whipped out his wand and cast a silent augmenti spell. The back of her mind was impressed that he had managed to cast the spell silently, but the other part of her was too surprised to care.

A screech filled the room for a second time that afternoon as icy cold water splashed against Nymph's face and chest drenching her white tee shirt. She reached out quickly and started to try to wrestle the wan from Harry's hands. The two of them rolled around on the couch before falling down hard onto her backside. Luckily Nymph succeeded in overpowering Harry to grab the wand and toss it to the side. The cost of acquire the wand for Nymph was unfortunately to end up with Harry straddled above her looking down at her evilly.

The girl couldn't help but tease her friend in between deep breaths, "You have me now. What will you do with me?"

Harry looked down at the beautiful, wet, teenager and blushed crimson. Two thoughts ran through his head counter to each other, the first was the need for revenge for the loss of the nap, but the second was purely hormone driven. The second seemed to win the day as Harry reached down pulling the girl up seated towards him "I think I will do this…"

The teenage boy leaned his head downwards towards the girl about to give her his first kiss. But, when they were a haired breath away a pounding sound echoed from the door shattering the moment and distracting the two.

The two teens became alert right away as Harry rolled off of Nymph grabbing his wand before taking a position at the side of the doorway. His back was against the wall in a place that had been magically reinforced with steel to be impenetrable. He crouched down to so he would be at the height of the knees of an intruder, where most adult attackers might aim at the chest or head. He could shoot upwards easily and remove the threat quickly, one swift strike.

Tonks slipped quickly behind the couch which had reinforced magically to act as a barrier. She crouched down waving her wand at the door to trigger the runes carved into it. After a moment the other side of the door started to act as a two way mirror. They could see out at the individual in the hallway but the individual would not see back in. The spell was a trick tied through the runes to the apartment, a development of Harry's mother before her death.

On the other side of the doorway stood a sight that neither of the teenagers expected to see, Albus Percival Brian Dumbledore. Neither of the two moved from their protected locations at the sight, after all anyone could use polyjuice potion.

Nymph flicked her wand again to activate a second charm on the runes. The voice echoed outside of the room into the hallway like a muggle speakerphone, "Albus Dumbledore, please prove your identity. What did you say to me, Tonks, in private after I told you of my assignment?"

The old man seemed to listen to the question then smiled, "I told you Nymphadora that Harry was the most precious young man you will ever find. And to be careful not be captured by his spell. He seems to ensnare others to his ways."

Harry turned his gaze towards Nymph for a brief moment to see the crimson her cheeks. A surprise since a metamorphmagus can easily control their skin coloring, "He is laying it on a little think. Perhaps we should blast him to see if he really is the Headmaster?"

Nymph took back control of herself with a growl, "Next question, What did you say to my mother when you spoke to her in private in regards to Ted Tonks her seventh year at Hogwarts."

Amusement was plainly visible on the face of the aged man as he spoke up, "I told her to follow her heart and everything will sort itself out. I was right of course, since they had you Nymphadora."

The woman let out a sigh with a frown, "It is him, but if he keeps calling me Nymphadora I might just go with your plan."

Harry nodded his head towards his assigned protector before flicking his wand to lean up his and Tonk's clothing with a quick household drying charm, "Please come in Professor. I have been expecting you to visit us."

Albus stepped through the doorway and spotted Harry and Nymphadora setup in ambush position. He smiled at the pair of them, "Perhaps one more show of who I am? Fawkes, please join us."

A bright flash of fire and clap of thunder signaled the arrival of the phoenix as it appeared in the living room. The creature ripped right through the wards of the house to appear in the center of the room, then flapped it's wings to land lightly onto the kitchen counter.

The tall boy flicked the door flossed then walked into the kitchen to pull out two bowls. He poured some habanera peppers into the first bowl then some water into the second bowl before he placed them down onto the kitchen counter for the phoenix. "Welcome to my home Fawkes. Please know my friend, that you are always welcome in any residence of House Potter."

The phoenix seemed to be happy for the words of the boy but it was hard to tell as it was eating the peppers as if they were its last meal. The boy heard the voice of the Headmaster which seemed to dance with delight, "I think Harry that you have made a friend there. Perhaps when I am on to the next great adventure Fawkes will want to live with you."

Harry raised his emerald gaze from the phoenix to look at the Headmaster's twinkling eyes, "I am sure that will be a long time coming Albus."

A slight raise of the eyebrow from Tonks was all the surprise that was given from the tone of Harry accompanied by his use of the Headmaster's first name.

The old man smiled at the boy but before he could speak up Harry motioned to the dining room table, "please sit, would you like some tea? I have a bag of muggle candy I thought you might like."

Harry placed a kettle of tea on the stove before he reached into the fridge and pulled out a variety package of different mini chocolate bars. He walked over and placed the package down onto the table as the tea started to heat up, "These are multiple different types of American candy bars."

Harry pushed over a snickers, kit kat, almond joy, and milky way before the Headmaster, I know you love your sweets. The best part is there is no earwax flavor."

The boy settled down to sit across from the old man as he watched the excitement and joy in the most powerful wizard in perhaps the world over muggle candy. To put that he looked like a kid in a candy store truly was correct. He mentally checked off one Christmas gift off of the list to acquire. Of course, that would assume this conversation would go as he had planned it to.

Tonks walked over to the table and placed down three cups of eat for the group and settled down herself. The old man tried one of each bar then gently took up the cup of tea from Tonks, "Thank you Nymphadora."

The grimace that came over the face of Tonks was a beautiful sight to behold for her roommate. He awaited the yelling response to erupt from her but she held her tongue. Instead he hair flashed between bright red that would make a Weasley cringe to neon green.

Dumbledore placed down his cup of tea and smiled, "It is good to see you are both doing so well. Especially you, Harry my boy."

The aged Headmaster straightened his glasses with his best grandfatherly look as his eyes rested on the boy studying him , "Harry, you are truly a special boy… err young man."

The old man placed boy of his hands down onto the table before him as he continued, "I owe you an apology Harry. I never knew of the abuse that you put up with. I had someone that was supposed to keep a watch and let me know if there was any trouble. But, she never let know of anything. I should have personally made certain that your family took care of you. I never considered that your relatives would be that terrible of people. They were your blood-kin and the idea of abuse is a foreign one in magical society. We treasure our young because there are so few."

Harry frowned at the old man considering his words, "Albus…" He paused a moment as the Headmaster stopped his talking to still a bit unused to his name coming from Harry's lips. He let the silence sit there a moment his eyes meeting the Professors before he continued, "They aren't my blood relatives Albus. My mother was adopted."

The old man froze with his hands halfway to his mouth with the cup of tea. His eyes narrowed and for a moment lost their twinkle. The old grandfather sitting there moments before disappeared in an instant to be replaced by the angry archmage. The man's voice became demanding, and Harry saw perhaps the power behind the war against Grimmwald. "You mean to tell me that those muggles abused you and they were not even your family?"

The nod that Dumbledore saw from Harry didn't quiet the anger of the old man but instead stoked the fires, "They lied to me and took my money to care for you. Then they treated you like shit and blemished my name!"

The fact that the old man cursed was startling. The fact that this was a Dumbledore that Harry had never seen before was perhaps a bit scary. Before him now and started to sprout a magical radiance was one of the most powerful wizards in the world. The fact that this was happening in the middle of his dining room did not bode well for his mother's china cabinet. Perhaps he should have been more afraid but, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew Dumbledore wouldn't harm him. He was needed for the prophecy. The curses coming from the mouth of the old man were in languages that Harry had not heard before but judging from the interest on Tonk's face they must be colorful. Finally, five minutes later the old man started to calm down.

Now that Harry saw the man calming back to his normal self, he figured it was best to give the true details of the situation, "I had the goblins look over the blood wards you had placed over the residence. It was due to their findings that I am here meeting with you today and not in New Salem or a dozen other schools."

The Headmaster was brought up short with interest turning his gaze back towards Harry with a studied calm demeanor, "What do you mean Harry?"

The boy tossed ten acceptance letters onto the table from schools from Japan, India, Italy or America. Then Harry spoke firmly, "The blood wards were not able to be keyed to the Dursley family Albus. Because of that they have been relying on mine and your life force and magical cores to work. You have been draining your very life to empower the protections there and did not know it. I was giving away my magical strength to strengthen the wards to protect those people. When it comes down to it, I cannot give a punishment to you Albus greater then what you gave to yourself."

The Headmaster suddenly looked a very old man as he became pale at the thought that he had spent years of his own life just to have Harry beaten. A wizard could live a very long time, and he had lived already one hundred and fifty eight years. He did not have much longer, and perhaps far less now. Suddenly Albus felt very old as he swallowed the tea. He looked up with heartbreaking sadness in his eyes instead of the normal twinkle then slowly reached out to touch his gnarled old hand against Harry's hand. "Harry, I cannot make up for what I have done even with a lifetime. I am sorry and I was wrong to have placed you there. I was wrong to seal your parents Will. Even though I thought it was more important to protect you from Death Eaters after Sirius betrayal. You don't know what it was like in those days after the war suddenly ended. I didn't know who I could trust, especially with you. The Malfoy's were trying to claim you as blood relatives as were half a dozen pureblood families. If they had, I don't think we would be here today. I thought at the time protections and a childhood away from all of this would be best."

Harry stated at the headmaster for a long moment then slowly slid across the table before the man the documents from the goblins, "If you had told me anything but the truth I would have thrown you out of the House and never returned. Now, I will give you one chance and I want the truth, the whole truth Albus." The boy paused a brief moment staring at the old man, "Why did Tom target me for attack? What were his reasons?"

The twinkling eyes of the old man met the gaze of Harry and he could swear he felt a shiver down his spine as the Potter family ring felt warm. Then the old man seemed to deflate, "I will give you the truth. Your parents were not the target by Voldemort. It was you Harry. There was a prophecy spoken about you my boy."

Albus swung his gaze towards Tonks with a stern look, "Nymphadora, before I continue you will need to make an oath not to repeat this."

The young woman was about to argue but after a glance at Harry whom nodded she took out her wand and completed a quick oath. Albus turned back to Harry meeting his eyes as spoke.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord Approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark him his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not... either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live with the other survives.."

The old man finished his words a pin could have fallen and none would have noticed.

Harry just sat there staring at the Headmaster wide eyed. Tonks reached over and grabbed hold of Harry's hand giving it a squeeze. The boy returned it before he stood up and walked away to the living room to stare out of the windows at muggle London. The silence of the room stretched for a good five minutes as Dumbledore and Tonks patiently waited for Harry. Finally, the boy turned and looked back breaking the silence, "Were you going to train me or serve me up as a lamb for slaughter so he might destroy the part he had left in me on the night of my parents death?"

"I would not serve you up for slaughter Harry. Of course I was going to train you. But, I wanted you to have a childhood. I needed you to be mature enough and ready. I had not seen it yet, till this summer. I had only seen a boy and not a man that is ready for this responsibility." The old man spoke up quickly trying to hide his shock that Harry knew of the Horcrux within himself. Even to Dumbledore's own ears the statement sounded hollow and untruth. The old man had tried to hide the tremble from his voice but could not. When had he gone so far astray? It was true that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. He felt as if he was a perfect case. He had let his fame go to his head and this was the price to pay. The old man looked up and met the emerald eye of the young boy and he could see it. Harry knew he had failed him. He could read it from the boy's mind screaming at him in barely restrained fury. He spoke softly, "Then he did leave a fragment behind?"

The situation was enlightening for Harry but for Tonks it was world shattering. She had always believed the Dumbledore could do no wrong. She had been raised by her parents to be skeptical, to question things. But, somehow that rule never applied for her to Dumbledore. Not sitting there was the man that had caused her friend, future brother, and perhaps something else to be terrorized for most of his life. The same man that had been planning to have Harry fight a Dark Lord without any form of proper training. To say Nymphadora Tonks was pissed would be an understatement.

The boy let out a deep breath and shook his head slowly back and forth with a frown. He looked up and met the gaze of the Professor and he could tell that the old man knew that he knew. He dropped that thought before it could get confusing still the fact remained Dumbledore had set him up. Yet, now he was trying to make an effort. He broke the gaze of the man and looked at his teacup to consider.

He had three choices lying before him to consider. He could kick out the Headmaster, end any sort of relationship with the man. This would end up with making the man an enemy, a powerful and dangerous one. Further knowing Dumbledore, the man would start to paint him as falling to the dark and use him for a political end.

The second choice would be to accept the apology of the man, distance himself completely and transfer to another school. Perhaps Imperial in Italy, Mediterranean girls are rather enjoyable to watch. Of course he would need to learn Italian other another language. Then again there was also New Salem in the United States. That could be an interesting school to try out. Still, that would mean abandoning all of his current plans and power bases that he had started to build up. Plus eventually he would need to come back, he couldn't walk away from being a Potter. He had to do it for his father's sake to rebuild his family.

The third option would be to use the old man, gather what he could from him and then find an appropriate punishment. Dumbledore had defeated a Dark Lord, and if one was still out there and going to come back then he might be useful. The man was useful politically and he could twist him for his needs before leaving him to rot. He couldn't trust the man, but that didn't mean he couldn't use him.

Harry sipped his tea then looked up at the Headmaster, "I want your opinion on something before I accept your apology."

He saw the nod of agreement from the Professor so he placed the cup down, "I tried to claim by right of conquest the title of Heir of Slytherin."

The excitement in the eyes of the old man came back as they twinkled. Harry could swear the man licked his lips like a creepy bond villain before he spoke up, "What Happened?"

Harry let out a sigh of frustration, "Something attacked my magic, as if the claim was invalid. I am not certain why my claim failed. What are your thoughts on this Albus?"

Albus studied Harry carefully for a time with a frown of consideration, "It is a quandary. My first thought would be that Voldemort was not the Heir of Slytherin just another Parselmouth. But, the Gaunt family were related to Slytherin. We know that Voldemort lives, even if it is not in human form any longer. There was proof of that first year. It could be that since he is alive in that form you will not be able to claim this right. You did defeat him but it was with the gift of your mother as a child. The protection she had given you through her love. The same protection that defeated Professor Quirell could be considered by the magic to be your mother's victory and not yours. The magic was from Lilly Potter so perhaps the magic of Slytherin House does not view you as defeating Voldemort but instead your mother as the victor. Still she had died prior to this victory so the magic could see the heirship as forfeit to any claim. A disturbing bit of news to consider and something that I may have to research into."

The boy sighed as he stood up again to walk now into the kitchen and get some food. But, soon as he stood Dobby appeared with a platter of muffins and refilled the tea to everyone. Harry sat back down and leaned back into his chair, "Then I believe that we will need to find some common ground to work together. But, if we are to do tis Albus it will be as allies. I will not be controlled again. If I find you life to me, or mislead me, I will walk away from our arrangement. And your pet death eater will behave himself to me for now on understood?"

The old man smiled at the boy not wanting to argue about Snape at the moment, as he knew that it could ruin everything, "That is most wise my boy. I am glad to see you are indeed growing up. I half expected you to hear the prophecy and decide to blow up the place in anger. You do have your mother's temper."

Harry watched Dumbledore pluck another piece of muggle chocolate to enjoy. He gave a smile back to the man, if forced before speaking up, "I would like your support on the matter that I mentioned at the trial."

The piece of chocolate was placed back down on the wrapper as Dumbledore looked at the boy sadly, "Harry, that is another reason for my visit today. It appears that Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban to join his Dark Lord. He may be coming after you Harry."

The long black locks of hair flipped back and forth as Harry shook his head with a frown, "No, He wouldn't. He was not my parent's secret keeper. Pettigrew was their secret keeper. Sirius was imprisoned for the wrong reasons."

For the second time that day the Headmaster was surprised by the young man, "Why do you believe that my boy?"

"My mother left a journal, it is blood encrypted so you would not be able to view it. But, she details many things including who is the secret keeper for her and father. She also wrong up to the moments before Voldemort came for me. " The boy paused as he frowned deeply, "Sirius Black is innocent of crimes against my family and he never received a trial."

The Headmaster frown deepened as he considered the words, "He is still a killer of those muggles and Peter."

A matching frown was plainly visible on Harry's face, "We don't know that for certain without a trial. If Peter was a Death Eater he could have been capable of anything."

A sip of tea was drawn from the cup of Dumbledore as he considered the information that boy provided. There was no proof that could be provided to support his claims still this was a matter he needed to show trust. If had failed Sirius by not forcing Crouch to have a trial he would have convicted an innocent man to insanity. Plus if he was able to help free Sirius he could be useful in the future as the Lord of House Black. "I will do what I can Harry but the Minister is already setting up plans of his own. I will try to get him a trial as soon as he is captured. That way the truth will come out and he can be freed."

"Thank you Albus. I am sure that the Black Family would appreciate that. "The words came from Tonks instead of Harry surprising the old man as he had forgotten she was present with his concentration on Harry. The girl should be a black, another useful and interesting possibility. This was indeed too useful politically to keep his hands off of. Dumbledore spoke up, "We will do what we can to resolve the issue peacefully. Speaking of family Harry, did you decide whom you want to be adopted by for the next few years?"

A bite of muffin saved the boy a few moments to think before answering, "Well I have narrowed the list down to the Tonks, Longbottom or Diggory families. All three are very nice and have added benefits. But, I want to wait till after Christmas to decide. I was hoping that Sirius would be free by then."

The old man could feel a touch of sadness in the voice of the boy when he spoke of his godfather, "You could consider the Weasley family. I believe Molly wanted to put in for you, and they are a good light family."

A forced smile touched the lips of Harry as he looked up to Dumbledore, "The Weasley family is a good light family Albus. But, I wouldn't choose them for a few reasons. I would prefer my family's traditional allies, and I could not be sane under Ms. Weasley's mothering for that long. She is a sweet woman but a little strong willed for my taste."

A bit of amusement danced in the eyes of the Headmaster as he stood up. While the Weasley family was a supporter and allied house of Dumbledore it was true that they had never been of the Potters. The Potters always seemed to ally more with neutral houses till the last few wars. Strange House Potter numbers seemed to drop only after the change of alignment. He could understand the boy's decision and he knew that if he pressed today it would only ruin the progress that he had made, "I understand the sentiment. I believe in school we may be able to arrange some extra lessons. Provided your grades improve from previous years? I saw that you have signed up for Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, and Arithmancy."

Harry smiled politely to the old man, "Now that I understand what it means to be a Potter. I feel I have an obligation to live up to my ancestors. I would welcome the extra lessons any of the professors except for Snape could provide to me."

Albus picked up the bag of muggle candies and walked over to Fawkes, "I believe it is time to depart as I have taken up a lot of your day already. Please enjoy your summer Harry. It was good to see you too Nymphadora." He touched to Fawkes then in a flash and bang both were gone from the flat.

After the old man departed Harry turned to look at Nymph with a frown, "Something tells me this will be an interesting year back at Hogwarts. I fear I will not be able to get away from all of his manipulations until I am strong enough to position myself and those I care about far away from his claws. But, I will deal with that bastard someday once and for all."

Nymph stepped next to Harry and gave his shoulder a squeeze, "We will get there Harry. I promise I will be there for you whenever you need me."

The boy smiled brightly looking at the beautiful girl, whom always confused him, at his side. Then he leaned up to give her a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Nymph. You don't know how much that means to me."

The girl stepped back and grabbed his hand with a grin, "Come lets go blow something up. It will make you smile."

A week before returning too Hogwarts, Harry was again sitting on the couch studying after his morning workout. The runic powered record player was playing an old Pink Floyd album that they had purchased while Nymph was again performing her wonderfully seductive yoga workout. Harry swore to god he would miss this workout each day. Nothing said good morning like a metamorph in a spandex doing yoga. Perhaps he could find a travel pensive just to relive the memory when there was a need. Still, there was nothing more he could ask for in the world then to sit there relaxing as he watched the girl go through her thrusting and limber exercises.

Of course this peace and quiet, like his naps, could not last. It was interrupted this time by a pounding at the door from an angry young woman whose voice echoed with a scream, "HARRY JAMES POTTER! You open this door right away!"

Harry grabbed his wand and pointed it at the door, activating the one way mirror rune. Through the door all Harry could see at first was a mass of bushy brown hair. Then he could see the pale skin of the young woman standing around five foot three outside of the flat. The voice and appearance could only belong to one person. He turned to look at Tonks and cringed, "I think I forgot to write to her all summer."

"Don't worry little brother, I will protect you." Tonks smiled towards Harry as she stood up and walked to the door. Slowly she opened it up with her wand drawn and leveled right at the girl, "Name?"

If Hermione had expected anything this morning, it was not to be held at wand point by a young woman with neon pink hair and wearing a 1980s leotard. She stuttered softly, "Hermione Jean Granger Miss."

The wand of Tonks swirled around slowly in a circle glowing on the tip, "and why are you looking for Heir Potter Ms. Granger?"

A thin bead of sweat formed on the forehead of Hermione as she spoke, "I wanted to see my friend and I was told by the Headmaster that he was here in London. He didn't bother to visit or write back to me all summer and I wanted to know why."

"A friend comes up screaming out the name of a boy and pounding on the door to wake the neighborhood? Did you know he is in hiding and under Auror protection?" The brow of the older teenager rose as it turned fiery red along with the red of her hair. "How do I know that you are Hermione Granger and not someone out to harm Harry Potter?"

The girl slowly pulled out her wand and raised it up into the air. She was very aware of the wand pointed directly at her face by Tonks. "I swear on my magic that I am Hermione Jean Granger and I am not under the Imperius spell. So mote it be." She finished then flicked her wand to cast a luminous.

The red hair flipped back to pink as Tonks studied the girl, "I couldn't help but notice that you didn't promise not harm him."

The busy haired girl smiled at the Auror, "I owe him for not writing to me. Now let me see him."

Tonks stepped to the side as Hermione swept into the room and ran straight at Harry wrapping him into one of her bone crushing hugs. She was surprised when he returned the hug; normally Harry was adverse to all physical contact. She leaned back and smacked him across the cheek before she whispered softly, "You are alright. I never heard back from any of the letters that I sent to you. I even went to look at your House in Privet Drive but it was gone. Someone turned it into a parking lot! I was sure something bad had happened to you!"

The hug felt good to Harry, he didn't realize till now how much he had missed his friend. He closed his eyes to enjoy the warm embrace, which led directly to him being surprised when he felt the smack across the left cheek. The smack he had honestly deserved. Even though the Ministry reviewing all letters and packages to him, the expected delay was three months till they were cleaned. He should hopefully get his birthday gifts by Christmas. Harry reached up to rub his cheek with a smile, "I deserved that for not writing. I was supposed to be hiding till the trial and then afterwards I was force to keep hidden after the escape of my godfather. I am sorry Hermione."

He felt another crushing embrace as she tried to squeeze the life out of him. The pair separated as they heard the clearing of a throat then Tonk's voice, "I think I will get some food for lunch together for us all Harry, why don't you catch up with your friend."

For some reason he felt in the back of his mind that Tonks was angry or perhaps jealous? He watched her stalk away into the kitchen and he couldn't determine why. After all this was Hermione, she was his sister in all but blood. Harry shook off the thoughts then dragged the girl over to the couch to sit and talk. "Well this summer has been a long story Hermione. If I tell you everything I am sure you can keep a secret though."

The girl sat down next to him and smiled, "I won't tell a soul Harry, you can trust me. If it is a long story then let's start the beginning."

"Alright, I will." He smiled then started to tell Hermione of all that had happened to him lately. He explained to her what took place at Hogwarts after the end of the term. They spoke about the attempted murder of Lord Malfoy, the vision and destruction of his scar. He talked to her about the trip to Gringotts, the Greengrass family, and his godfather. He went into particular details about Dumbledore's plans, the Dursley family and his life prior to Hogwarts. He was very careful to illustrate exactly what Dumbledore was responsible for and had admitted to him. He knew her penchant for following authority figures and seeing them do no wrong. So he needed her to understand everything. Even a bit about the prophecy was shared with her.

Tonks came back into the apartment with some take out Chinese food and placed it down before but didn't interrupt the tale. She simply sat down at his other side and listened to him spill his guts about his life to Hermione.

Hermione had suspicions about Harry's home life and questions over why he was not more like the Potters in the books in the library but never had asked. Harry was a closed individual. He was one that would save a life before he would share about himself. Still, she knew him better then anyone in the world as he always shared more with her. Now though he was pouring it all out.

Harry finally was starting to let go. E was letting out all of the anger, rage, and pain of his young life so far. He was actually opening up to the two girls that were with him in the room. In a way each of them were special and unique to him. It was a strange feeling for the-boy-who-lived to feel loved and feel safe.

When he finished he looked up and smiled to the two girls as he felt each of them uncertain for the response. He didn't have to wait long as they each latched onto him and squeezed him into a hug. A bushy haired mess of hair on his right side and a pink haired vixen on his left, both were squeezing his bones till they creaked. Harry was amazed at these two and did the only thing he could think of to express his wonder. He hugged them back.

Author Note: I hope you liked this chapter. I brought out a few of Dumbledore's thoughts on why Harry couldn't become the Heir of Slytherin. I will let you all decide yourself the reason and see what happens in the future of the story. I didn't want to make a bashing Dumbledore in this story. Instead I think I made a manipulative old man that wants to be good and thinks he good. Hopefully he comes off as politically cunning enough that his schemes will adapt along with his goals. As interesting for the future as this chapter was (besides the fluff), next chapter will be far more long term effecting. As always let me know your thoughts and thank you for reading.