OBSESSION, MADNESS and LOVE

(A/N: First, let me say this my first story that I'm posting so please be kind, patient, and above all honest if you review. We learn more from honesty than from platitudes. Second you must understand I have a BA degree in Creative Writing, NOT in GRAMMAR. No doubt some of you have noticed this. For some reason, people think that BA in Creative Writing means that you have to know grammar, uh, no. I talked to my instructors on this and they said that's what editors are for. Go figure. Well, guess what? does not come with editors. So do like I do, just dig the story, and forgive the grammar. Third, Male pregnancy… hated it. Sorry, but I don't like the idea of women being so disposable, and being creative, I did away with it. And lastly, about updates, I will TRY to update every Sunday, unless I have final exams or midterms or some project due, I'm going after my second BA degree in Art, and maybe down the line a MFA. Wish me luck. Enjoy the story, it's HARRY TIME. Next chapter is back on Draco. Oh, one final thing, Chapter one happened June 30th as well. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2… SAME DAY! I forgot to include that in the story when I posted it and I couldn't fix it after it posted. Disclaimer on Chapter 1.)

Chapter 2: Say WHAT?

June 30th.

A month of the summer holidays had past, Harry Potter sat alone in his room. He seemed hurt beyond all reason this summer, emotionally. His last term at Hogwarts saw the apparent death of the one person in his life that was like a parent, his godfather Sirius Black, this coupled with the unmistakable feel that it was mostly his fault was proving practically unbearable. He was no longer the inwardly defiant boy, who put up with his family's need to make him feel low. No, he was already as low as he could go, and so he became docile.

The Dursleys came to like this new Harry. He was quiet and obedient. He did nothing to upset them in anyway, he kept his eyes down at all times and he just agreed with every negative thing they said about him. If Dudley or Uncle Vernon decided to hit him for any reason, he simply took it and waited to be dismissed. Harry took this treatment as a kind of punishment for getting his godfather killed, and so he never complained. Even when the Order members came to check on him, he pretended to be fine. He didn't think he deserved to be treated like a normal person and inside he thought he should be in Azkaban for his actions last term and over the whole year.

Today was June 30th, not special at all to him really, but the Dursley's were planning to go on a family picnic so, of course, this didn't include Harry. For the first time, the Dursley's decided it was okay to leave him alone in the house. Normally they would have Mrs. Figg, a half-mad neighbor woman, watch Harry while they are away for any length of time, but Harry had been so obedient and docile this summer and coupled with the fact that he was now nearly 16 years old, they decided that they could leave him alone. They made up a huge list of chores for him to do.

"Now look here, boy. You are to have every one of the things on that list completed by the time we get back in about four hours or there will be hell to pay. Do you understand me?" Said Uncle Vernon.

"Yes, sir." Said Harry with his eyes down.

"Petunia! Dudley! Let's get going, now I know a lovely little place along the beach." Said Uncle Vernon

Petunia came out of the house with not one but two huge picnic baskets, one for her and Vernon and one for Dudley all to himself.

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It became a habit to pack a complete separate basket for Dudley after he turned 8 years old. On that particular occasion they were going on a picnic with Aunt Marge, they had packed a huge amount of food, and were driving for sometime before they got to Marge's to pick her up. Well, Vernon and Petunia should have suspected that something was wrong by the fact that their son who usually complained and bitched about something at all times had been quiet for nearly the entire trip. When they got to Marge's and went to add her contribution to the basket, they saw that their basket was completely empty. Dudley sat in his seat covered in crumbs and food caked around his mouth, and said,

"It was Harry, he did it."

"Dudders, Harry's not here, and you are covered in the evidence." Vernon said as he pointed to the crumbs covering his obese son.

"Daddy, I'm sorry I just got a little hungry." He said, with a little pout that he knew his father would melt too.

Vernon looked at his son, and smiled.

"He's a growing boy, he needs his food. We'll stop at a deli along the way and stock up." Ever since then, Petunia made it a habit to pack two baskets.

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Today, Harry was alone in the house and he looked at his list. All three Dursleys had put something on the list. Petunia had him weeding the garden, mopping the floors, taking some chicken out for dinner that night, and generally cleaning the house. Vernon had him cleaning and organizing the garage, as well, as organizing his closet. Dudley had him to clean all of his shoes, clean and dust his room, alphabetize his rather extensive video game collection, and not play them while he was gone. The kitchen was a total mess, as Aunt Petunia didn't bother to clean behind herself as she made the picnic lunches. She wouldn't let Harry clean up after breakfast either; he supposed it was to make the mess even bigger. Harry looked around the room and just sighed. He didn't care how much work it was, as long as he was busy he wasn't thinking. He hated to think, to remember, to play the "what if" game.

Harry began cleaning, he took all the dishes out of the sink, placed them on the counter, and ran clean soapy water, after the sink was set he went through he house looking for more dishes, they were everywhere of course, Dudley's wasn't 'the big man on campus' because of popularity, anyone who saw him, knew that. And Vernon Dursley was no lightweight in his own right, the two of them together have been know to put an all you can eat buffet out of business in a single day.

Over the course of the summer Harry had gotten various owls from his friends, Ron and Hermione, but he never really answered them back with anything more than a, "I'm fine, but I really can't talk now." reply. He would have talked to them in person if he could but the Dursleys never let his friends come over to visit, and barely tolerated the Order members when they would stop by to check on him. He was essentially cut off from the magical world and he wasn't sure that was a bad thing. Since joining the magical world so many bad things had happened, so many people had died, or something nearly as bad. Harry felt that it was entirely his fault, that somehow he was a jinx and he felt the prophecy proved it, in a single line. "Neither can live while the other survives." To Harry this meant that there would be no peace or happiness for him or Voldemort while the other of them lived. He felt that he would bring misery and destruction to everyone around him until Voldemort was… destroyed. It meant he would have to be a killer. Harry never wanted to kill anyone not even Voldemort, but he knew there was now no other way, and his list of possible targets had increased by one, Bellatrix LeStrange. She had made it a point to torture him and she had been the direct cause of Sirius, her own cousin, falling through the veil. Plus she would have to pay for her crimes against the Longbottoms. She will have to pay for her crimes the same as Voldemort, Harry resolved.

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It was two and half hours since the Dursleys left, and Harry had completed most of the things on his list all that was really left to do was organize Uncle Vernon closet and to alphabetize Dudley's video game collection. Harry was working as hard and as fast as he could because it would not have surprised him if the Dursleys cut the trip short by half an hour just so that they could come back and accuse him of slacking off and punish him. Harry was in Vernon and Petunia's bedroom just getting started in Uncle Vernon's closet when he heard a car drive up. 'It's only been two and a half hours, what could have brought them back so soon?' he wondered to himself. He went to the window to see if it was them, and saw the tail end of the of Uncle Vernon's latest new car pull into the garage. He turned to head out of the room to greet them when he spotted Uncle Vernon's wallet on the dresser. Still, he couldn't see why Uncle Vernon would need his wallet he filled the car with petrol just yesterday, and they packed for a picnic so they didn't need food. Harry headed down the stairs with a sour look on his face, his list wasn't finished and he knew he was in for it. As he walked down stairs, he looked around him. Everything was extremely clean and orderly; he had even organized the magazines on the table in the living room. He dusted, swept, mopped, and cleaned every room in the house but his. In fact, he thought it looked almost like he had used magic instead of just good old hard work. He could remember the last time the house looked this clean and good.

"I can't believe you ate BOTH picnic baskets of food, Dudley." Said an angry Uncle Vernon.

"I'm sorry Daddy, I was just so hungry, and I didn't get thirds at breakfast this morning because Harry wouldn't make me any more bacon and eggs." said Dudley in a whiny voice.

Uncle Vernon turned around and saw Harry standing in the doorstop.

"Boy, why didn't you make Dudley's third helping!" he yelled at Harry.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon, but Aunt Petunia wanted me out of the way while she finished making the picnic lunches." Harry said with his eyes down.

"Don't blame me boy," said Petunia "if you had made enough breakfast in the first place you wouldn't have had to cook again."

Harry stood there silent. He had made a huge breakfast of bacon and eggs, porridge, toast, coffee and juice, he thought he had made enough, but Uncle Vernon had had fourths on breakfast instead of his usual seconds, so when Dudley wanted his third helping it was gone. Harry, himself, had not even eaten since Uncle Vernon finished the last of the breakfast, and he didn't feel he had to time to cook anything for himself and finish the list. Harry tried to make some more breakfast, but Petunia shooed him out of the kitchen, because she wanted to make this picnic lunch all by herself for some reason instead of having Harry help her or having him to do it all.

"I'm sorry Uncle Vernon, I'll do better next time." Said Harry quietly.

"Dudders, it's okay, Daddy's not mad at you, it's Potter's fault, and he will be PUNISHED. Now, go and check and see if the boy here has finished those little chores you put on his list. Petunia, check and see if the boy finished the chores you put on his list as well, I'm going to check the garage and my closet. Harry go to your room and wait for me in there." said Uncle Vernon.

Harry went upstairs and to his room. He closed the door and listened as they check everything in the house. Harry knew he was in trouble for not getting to Uncle Vernon's closet and Dudley's videogame collection. Though Harry really couldn't figure out why Dudley needed his video games alphabetized, Harry felt reasonably sure the boy didn't know the entire alphabet anyway. With Uncle Vernon already pissed off about Dudley ruining the picnic, he knew not finishing his chores would mean big trouble. He saw Hedwig in her cage and she looked at him with her big amber eyes.

"Hedwig, it's going to be pretty loud in here soon. I know I'll get in trouble for letting you fly about in the daytime like this, but I also know you don't like to see me get punished, so I'm going to let you go hunt for awhile, comeback later tonight, I get the feeling I won't be able to sleep anyway." Said Harry as he opened her cage. Hedwig flew on landed on his shoulder and gave him one of her patented friendly little nips on the ear, and even threw in a gentle squeeze on his shoulder with her claws, as if saying 'It's okay.' Harry walked over to the window, looked out to make sure no one was watching and let Hedwig fly. Soon Harry heard heavy food steps coming up the stairs. He sat on his bed with his hands in his lap, his eyes down and his head bowed.

Uncle Vernon burst through he door.

"Damn you boy, we give you a few simple fucking things to do and you can't even do them, you ungrateful, useless, brat!" He screamed. "And where's that bloody bird? Did you send her off to your demented, murderous, godfather?" He spat at Harry.

Harry had not told the Dursley's of Sirius' passing beyond the veil, he felt that if they knew it would make it all to real for him. "No, I didn't. I let her go hunt because she gets so upset when you come in here and yell at me. I checked to see if anyone was on the street before I let her fly so I know no one saw her."

"You did, didn't you, boy? You wrote that murderous bastard and told him lies about us."

Harry was starting to get angry. This was not good. Since the end of last term, when he got so angry with Dumbledore that his magic went wild and trashed his office, the power never really went it away. It was more like a big protective dog on a leash. He could feel it pressing to get lose and protect him, feel it wanting to burst free, and make Uncle Vernon shut up. But he told it to stay, to heel, to stay with him, in him.

"You're lying boy, you did send her to that twisted, murderous, fuck of a godfather, Black."

Said Vernon, who then jumped on Harry, knocking him back on the bed. Uncle Vernon then straddled Harry's torso, and had his hands around his throat.

Harry had his hands around the Uncle Vernon's wrist trying to pry him off. He was so angry now, but still trying to hold the magic in. Sudden, Harry just… inflated. Not in the same way that Aunt Marge did a few summers back, but more like a body builder. Suddenly his thin, half starved frame developed serious bulk. He looked and felt like he could be in the Mr. Universe Contest and win. His hands could suddenly very easily remove Uncle Vernon's hands from his throat, which was now too thick for Uncle Vernon to grasp properly. Harry leaned up, easily pushing Vernon off of him, while still holding his wrists, he pushed Uncle Vernon against the door held his hands over his head with one hand and said in a most dangerous voice.

"I did not send Hedwig to Sirius." Water began to accumulate in his eyes. "Sirius died two weeks before the end of term, he died protecting me, just like my parents."

"He's dead then," said Uncle Vernon. "Good the world is better off with his type around." Harry slammed Uncle Vernon against the wall next to the door, Uncle Vernon's feet a few inches off the ground. Harry's eyes glowed even more brightly.

"No, the world is not better off without him, he was good man framed for a crime he didn't commit by a man he called friend. His death has diminished the world." Harry felt his throat tighten, and the tears start down his cheeks. "I feel responsible for his death, so I will take whatever you and the rest of the family want to do to me and I will not complain to you or the Order about it, call me what you will, I will only agree, talk about my friends, my school, and I

will say nothing; HOWEVER, speak ill of any of the people who have died because or for me, and I will not be held responsible for my actions. This means you will not talk about my parents, Sirius, or Cedric in my presence. And if you are thinking that rule about underage wizardry will protect you, guess what? Do see an owl from the Ministry about this? No. Underage magic that affects the world, yes that they can detect, this magic is just affecting ME. Therefore I won't get in trouble for this, PLUS next month on my birthday, I WON'T BE UNDERAGE ANY MORE! However, I will still not use magic except in this room, and never on you and the family unless you talk about my parents, Sirius and Cedric. If you or the rest of the family want to beat me, fine, I won't do anything to protect myself, but again speak ill of the dead and I will not be responsible. Basically, I don't care what you say to me or do to me, just don't speak ill of the dead." With that Harry let go of his Uncle, who then slid down the wall.

"I should throw you out for this!" Uncle Vernon said his face beet red with anger.

"You could, but you put yourself in a lot of danger to do it." Said Harry as he sat back down on his bed.

"What you talking about boy."

Harry bowed his head and looked down at the floor.

"The protection I get when I stay here affects you and your family as well. No (Harry wanted to say Dark Wizards but thought why piss his Uncle off more.) bad people can come here and kill you all while I'm away at school because of the protection. Think about it, if I got protection from staying here, why wouldn't someone who was after me, just come here during the school year and kill you all, then when summer came my protection would be gone and they could kill me then too. They don't because the protection protects you as well, it works for both of us." Harry said without looking at his Uncle.

Uncle Vernon thought on this for a moment, his color returning to normal. "Fine, you can stay. However, NO meals for you for three days, and get rid of that ridiculous muscle."

"It'll be gone in a few minutes, now that things have calmed down." Harry knew accidental magic never really lasts.

"Good I don't want to see you or hear from you for the rest of the night boy." Said Uncle Vernon. He had a lot to think on with all that Harry had told him. "Good night." He left the room.

Harry could feel his new muscles begin to return to normal. He laid down on his bed and thought about the way the magic is always there now, just sitting waiting for him to use it. After his birthday, he figured, he will work to control it better use it as wand-less magic. Harry turned over on the bed, decided to take a nap until Hedwig returned.

----end of chapter 2---