Are You Coming?

Chapter 7

"Harry, duck!" the figure cried at him.

Harry just looked at the figure blankly as he raced towards him. From the bushes he had been about to investigate came two other figures with pitch black robes and silver masks. The mouths of the masks leered at him and he stood there frozen with fear.

"Harry, move now!" the man behind him cried out.

Harry tried to move his feet but the muscles didn't seem to be able to cooperate with his brain. The masked figures moved towards him, wands pointed at him. He was too frightened to even scream. He was going to die. He'd never see his mother again or sort things out with his dad. His mum would be left alone with Scott forever. He tried to turn and look at the man behind him but his eyes were transfixed on the much more threatening figures opposite him.

Whoever it was he had his back to was obviously fed up with the unresponsive reactions of his body for he gave Harry a not so gentle shove in the back and then caught him with one hand before he could fall forward. Harry looked up at the man and saw a pair of anxious hazel eyes and round wire-framed glasses.

"RUN!" his father shouted and pushed him in the direction of the park gates.

Harry did as his father said, trying not to let his terrified shaking prevent him from escaping. Tears of fear ran down his cheeks, now grubby from salt water. His could hear his father shouting curses and hoped that James would be okay. He continued to run in the direction of home, the only place that he knew he'd be safe.

He ran into the garden and hid in one of the bushes, shivering due to both the cold and terror. Hidden in the shrubbery and behind the stone wall, Harry could no longer hear the sounds of the fight. He wondered what was happening as he pulled the leaves off the bush for something to do. He knew his mum wouldn't be happy that her plant was destroyed but at this moment he was too scared to care.

"Mum, I miss you," he said under his breath as fat tears continued to gush. He wrapped his arms around his knees and rocked slowly backwards and forward, listening for any sounds around him. There was nothing but a faint breeze and Harry wished he could be snuggled up in Lily's arms more than ever.

Eventually Harry heard footsteps and he held his breath incase one of the dangerous figures had got past his dad.

"Harry?" he heard his father's voice, he sounded tense. "Where are you, Harry?"

Harry crawled out from his hiding spot and peeked warily around the wall at James. His father reached out to grab him and bent down to his level.

"What were you thinking running off on your own? You should have stayed near the school!" James ran a hand through his hair and looked up to the sky. "You could have been hurt, I could have lost-" he cut himself off. "When I tell you to do something, you do it! If I tell you to duck, you duck. If I tell you to move, you move!"

Harry nodded, his mouth parched.

"Let's go home."

James took Harry's hand and the next thing Harry knew it felt like he was being compressed on from all sides, squeezed through elastic bands. And then it was over. James led him up towards the house. When Harry threw a look back over his shoulder, there was a stag and a fawn standing on the edge of the property, where the garden met the forest. They were standing together contently, the stag watching as the fawn grazed.

When James entered the house, he ordered Eve to run Harry a warm bath and give him some hot food. Harry allowed himself to be bathed and ate all the food, hungrily. But his mind was plagued with many questions, questions than he wanted, no, needed to ask James.

Just after he finished his food, Sirius and Remus arrived back from their mission. Harry cuddled up on the sofa, peeking through sleepy eyes at Sirius and Remus as James recounted their afternoon adventure. When James finished speaking, Remus looked solemn.

"What would Death Eaters want with a five year old child?" he asked.

James frowned. "I don't know," he admitted.

"I doubt it was a specific attack though, Prongs, Death Eaters are always pulling scare attacks on random victims," Sirius pointed out. "There's no pattern."

"But what harm was Harry to do them?" James asked.

Remus shrugged. "All we know is that they're attacking children unprovoked now. We need to tell Moody."

"No," James shook his head. "The aurors aren't managing to do anything about the Death Eaters- no offense, guys, we need to tell Dumbledore."

"But half the ministry don't trust Dumbledore anymore," Sirius objected.

"No, Padfoot, Prongs is right; Dumbledore is the only person who can help now. But first you'll need to explain exactly who Harry is to him," Remus told him.

James nodded slowly just as Harry yawned. "You should go to bed," James instructed.

Harry sighed; he didn't really want to leave the conversation now. He sat up and watched as Remus and Sirius went to collect their cloaks. James then showed them to the door, arranging to go and talk to Dumbledore the following morning. Finally James returned to the lounge and lifted and eyebrow when he saw that Harry was still sitting in the same place on the sofa.

"I meant it when I said it was your bedtime," James repeated.

"Dad, who were they?" Harry asked. "The people with masks?"

"Nothing for you to worry about," James replied. "Now, bed." He gestured to the door and Harry reluctantly rose and padded out.

"Goodnight, dad," he said. He quietly closed the door when James didn't answer him.

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James took Harry to school the next day, reminding him to be careful and not to go off on his own. Harry watched him leave the school and compared their farewell to the farewells of his classmates and their fathers.

Ron was talking about a new toy his dad had got him throughout the first hour of school. He said that he wanted Harry to come over so they could play with it and he would invite Hermione but he didn't think she'd like the toy because it was a boy's toy. Hermione was quiet as usual because she always liked to pay attention to lessons. Between Ron's talking and thinking about the events of the previous evening, Harry didn't understand a word the teacher was saying. When he was asked a question, he didn't know the answer and was told off for not paying attention. He knew that his friends realised that something was wrong from the way they were looking at him.

At play time, Harry, Ron and Hermione went to sit on a bench in the playground. Normally they'd run around and play games but Harry didn't feel like running around for the moment. Hermione, who was always perceptive, asked him what was the matter.

Harry explained about his problems with his dad and how he didn't seem to care for him at all and how everything he did seemed to be wrong. He told them about his attempt to make cake and then about his picture and how it had been ripped. Then he described the fun he'd had with Remus and Sirius but that they weren't his dad and wondered why they liked him more than James did. Then he told them about the masked men that had tried to attack them the previous evening.

Before either Ron or Hermione could answer, the cruellest boy in their year came up after obviously listening to their conversation. His blonde hair was brushed back against his head and his eyes sparkled callously.

"It's not really a surprise, is it, Potter?" the boy asked, "I mean he left you alone before you were born. Why would he want you now?"

"Shut up, Draco," Harry said, "you don't know anything about my dad."

Draco just laughed, "no, but I'm sure he doesn't like having a coward for a son. I mean you just stood there! No wonder he hates you! I'd hate to have a coward for a son. But I suppose if there weren't cowards no one could tell who was brave-"

"Go away!" Hermione told him, coldly.

Draco just glared at her but wandered off.

"Don't listen to him," Hermione told Harry.

"No, perhaps he's right, perhaps dad does think I'm a coward," Harry considered. "I need to prove him wrong!" Harry sat up quickly and if he'd been in a cartoon he would have had a light bulb sketched above his head.

"How will you do that?" Hermione asked, her forehead creased in confusion.

Ron gave Harry a wide smile. "By being brave, of course," he provided.

"Just like that," Harry replied, his answering smile just as bright.

Hi guys, sorry this took a bit longer than I intended to get out... I suddenly realised I had to study for my driving theory test but I passed it :) So I gave myself some time to myself today... Well done to anyone who guessed correctly who the figure was... Reviews would be lovely as always... I hope to get a chapter out in the next week but the next 3 weeks will be really hectic as I'm organising a concert, have 1 choir and 4 college auditions.

The "Harry, duck" is making me laugh because everytime I look at the top of the page I think it says "Hey duck" and I start wondering why I started the chapter like that... hmmm. It was a vair early start this morning and I didn't get much sleep last night.

With love JLF xoxo