Nothing Stays the Same

By jessebelle

A/N: Yay, a speedy update. I got a writer's high last night, the juices were flowing, and yet, I had to do homework, so all through school I've been writing in a mini-notebook. I was able to write it up right away though, so, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy,

Huggles and Snuggles,

jessebelle

It was an odd group that arrived at Privet Drive. The group, led by Bella, had flooed to her house on Privet Drive. After admiring her house, they'd left on their way to number 4. By now, Lily and James were a bundle of nerves.

"I can't believe it; we're finally going to see our baby boy." Lily had a death grip on James' hand. Both of them looked much better then they had before. Lily had borrowed a pare of clothes from Bella before they'd left and they'd lost their black robe's so they wouldn't stand out.

"He's not a baby anymore, Lily. Remember that." Remus' voice served as the voice of reason and brought Lily and James to the reality that the little baby they remembered was now a young man. "I'd also recommend not just showing u and asking for him. He doesn't know you're alive and will most likely believe it a trick of Voldemort's."

At the mention of the Dark Lord, James and Lily shared a look. Dumbledore caught this and broke it with his words. "I know you are curious and confused, it's been 14 years after all, but we'll explain it all later. For now, just know Voldemort has returned to power and that your son is in the middle of the war."

Lily gasped and held onto James' arms even harder. "My boy. He's safe though, right?"

Dumbledore nodded. "He receives protection from Voldemort due to the blood protection you activated when you gave your life for Harry's." He looked at Lily. "I suggest that you, James, and Bella remain here, or at the least behind us when we knock .He's morel likely to trust Sirius, Remus, and I." Just then they were in front of number four.

James looked at the house. "Well, it's awfully, uh, nice." The only thing that made number 4 different form the other houses on Privet Drive was its lawn. Due to Harry's hard work each summer, the lawn was impeccable, the grass freshly mowed and the flower beds in bloom. Not that anyone realized it was Harry's hard work. It was a bit darker outside now, the day nearing its end. The light's from the Dursley household were bright and illuminated the streets.

Sirius was eager to see his godson and tell him about his freedom. It was a dream they'd shared, him being declared innocent and Harry coming to live with him and leaving the Dursley's. He stopped abruptly, Remus walking into his back. "What's wrong?"

Sirius shook his head; he didn't want to spread his sadness. "Nothing." He continued up the driveway and stopped at the door, waiting for the rest of the group. But it wasn't nothing; now that James and Lily were back, Harry wouldn't be coming to live wit him, he'd be with his real parents, his real father, James. But where would Sirius fit in? He knew that Harry would be thrilled and that he'd finally have his father back. And Sirius, who had come to see Harry as his own, who'd worried constantly about the boy for years, would drift into the background. He'd be demoted to lovable uncle who occasionally visited. No longer would Harry come to him first if he had problems, no longer would Harry-"

"Sirius?" Remus' voice broke his train of thought. He realized that everyone had been looking at him, waiting.

"Sorry." He pushed his feelings aside for the moment, right now the only thing that mattered was getting Harry and introducing him to his parents. He reached out and knocked on the door.

They heard shuffling form inside, a brief struggle and muffled argument about who would answer the door. Finally it opened and they were face to face with an enormous boy. "Yeah, what do you want?"

"Dudley I presume?" Sirius had heard a lot about the boy and how horrible he was from Harry.

"Yeah, what of it? Who are you anyway?"

Sirius grinned, this would be fun. He stepped into the light. "Sirius Black, I'm Harry's godfather. Is he in?"

The boy's eyes widened in fear. Instantly his hands reached out to cover his bum. Then he screamed. "M-Mum! D-Dad!" He ran from the door and scrambled away, all the while covering his backside protectively. Sirius led the group into the hallway, noting how clean it was, unnaturally clean. He could smell the cleaning products, it was nearly overwhelming. Then he caught sight of the cupboard and a low growl came out of his throat. Remus grabbed his arm in warning.

In the few seconds that Dudley screamed and Sirius made his observances, Petunia and Vernon Dursley came running out of the kitchen, both on high alert. "Dudley!" But the boy as gone

"Hello Petunia." Dumbledore's voice made the woman turn and look at the old wizard. Her eyes widened to a horrible size and she grabbed Vernon's arms. "What did you to do my Duddykins?"

Behind Dumbledore came James' muffled chuckled. Everyone ignored it. "Your son is fine, he ran off though, Can't imagine why. Do you know where Harry is? We're here to pick him up."

Vernon's eyes widened. He remembered the dream he'd had that afternoon. He'd woken up when Petunia and Dudley came home from shopping. She'd freaked out and cleaned the stairs, and then they'd discovered the boy and his abnormal possessions were gone. "He's gone, took off this afternoon. Now get out of my house and leave my family alone!"

"He's gone?" Sirius stepped out from behind Dumbledore.

Petunia took one look at him and screamed. "Murderer!" She hid behind Vernon, who also backed away.

"You're the boy's godfather, the killer. Fitting, considering what he's done. He's gone, leave or I'll cal the police. I hear they're looking for you."

Sirius grinned. "That won't help, I've been freed. Tell me where my godson is or so help me I'll-"

'You'll what? Kill me? That freak got exactly what he deserved, and then he left. Haven't seen hide or hair of him since, good riddance I say!"

This was too much, before anyone could stop her, Lily stepped foreword. "Petunia, I demand you tell me what you've done to my son!"

There was silence before a blond head poked out from behind Vern's beefy back, followed by the rest of her giraffe like body. Petunia stared long and hard at her sister, disbelieving. "But you're dead!"

"I got better. Now where's Harry?" James came up behind her, supportively. The Potters and the Dursleys stood off.

Petunia's voice shook as she spoke. "Vernon's right, the boy's let. I don't know how you came back, but it's obviously made you more of a freak. Leave, Now!"

The sisters stared at each other, both glaring before Vernon's voice broke the standoff. "Now see here, my wife said leave, so start-"

"Stupefy!" "Petrificus Totalus!"" Two shots of light streamed out of Remus' and Sirius' wands respectively. Petunia's body stiffened and fell to the floor, followed by Vernon.

The rest of the group turned to the pair in shock. "What did you do that for?" It was Bella who asked, but the two ignored her, and everyone else's stares

"Do you smell it?" Sirius turned to Remus.

The werewolf nodded. "Yes, I couldn't detect it before due to the overwhelming smell of the cleaning products, but..." He glared down at the man on the floor. "He's lucky I'm so mild tempered. I just want to know why you haven't attacked yet?"

Sirius looked over at his friend. Remus could see the confusion and anger present in his features. The ex-convict took a deep breath. "I was sent to Azkaban before for acting to hasty, first I want to see if my suspicions are true, then I'll kill him."

The rest of the group looked at the men with confusion and shock. "What? Why are you going to kill him?" James looked at the disgusting man on the floor in front of him, his brother-in-law.

Sirius tried to say it, but couldn't, so Remus took the floor. "Both Sirius and I can smell blood, Harry's blood. It's everywhere when you get past the ammonia. I know Harry, and he wouldn't run away unless he had a good reason, not with Voldemort out there."

Lily's eyes widened. "You mean?"

Sirius scowled and looked to Dumbledore. "You said that he had to stay here, that he'd be protected from Voldemort. Well I want to know what was protecting him from these, these monsters." He finally lost his temper and delivered Vernon a swift kick.

Dumbledore's expression had dimmed the twinkle in his eyes not as bright. "I had no reason to believe that Harry would be mistreated here, he's never had any problems before. I also believe we should see if you're not judging on suspicions, like before."

It took both Remus and James to hold Sirius from attacking the headmaster. "NO REASON TO SUSPECT ANYTHING WAS WRONG? HOW BLIND ARE YOU? YEAR AFTER YEAR HARRY COMES BACK TO HOGWARTS DEPRESSED AND TOO THIN. EVERY YEAR HE STAYS AT HOGWARTS BECAUSE HE CAN'T GO HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. HE REFUSES TO TALK ABOUT HIS HOME LIFE, WHICH I KNOW HAS BEEN HORRIBLE, AND UNTIL HE CAME TO HOGWARTS THEY MADE HIM SLEEP IN A BLOODY CUBBOARD. SECOND YEAR HE WAS LOCKED IN HIS ROOM WITH BARS ON HIS WINDOW, THIRD YEAR HE HAD TO RESORT TO RUNNING AWAY! YOU APPARENTLY SEE ALL DUMBLEDORE, THERE'S NO WAY YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANY OF THIS!"

Remus and James didn't bother to stop Sirius' yelling; instead they just held him, preventing him from attacking the headmaster. But when he got to the part about the cupboard, James let go, and like Lily, he turned to it and stared. Slowly Lily walked toward the small door, then reaching out a hand, she opened the tiny door.

It was cramped and small, covered in dust and cobwebs. But it took only one look at the mattress inside for her fear to be recognized. Her little boy, her Harry had lived here. She felt James come up behind her. She slowly crouched down, entering the cupboard. Besides the mattress, the only sign a boy had grown up there was a broken army soldier hidden on the floor, and a peace of paper sticking out from under the mattress. Reaching out she grabbed it, and gasped at the drawing. Harry had made this. It was a child's drawing of himself; a scribble with black hair, green eyes, and a lightning bolt on his forehead. But next to the child, on either side, were a picture of her and James, or so she assumed; the people were drawn in black and white, a man and a woman. The thing that gave it away was the scribbled words under them; Mummy, Daddy, and Me.

She gave into James and he pulled her out of there. She handed him the drawing and heard his gasp. She let him hold her. They stepped out and looked at their assembled group. Dumbledore was staring at the stairs with an intense concentration, Remus was trying to calm down Sirius, and Bella was staring in disgust at her sister and her brother-in-law. She closed the cupboard with a slam.

"Albus, I want my son."

The headmaster nodded. "All right, we'll go to Hogwarts and see if we can find him. I'll contact Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger and see if they've heard from him. He also might've tried to owl Remus or Sirius. We'll know where he is by nightfall."

Lily nodded. "All right, let's go." She walked out of number four Privet Drive with a determined look on her face. She never looked back at her sister or her family, if she had her way, Harry would never have to see them again. James followed her, his thoughts the same as hers, only he was thinking up ways to get revenge on his in-laws. Bella was the third out the door, only leaving after jinxing the Dursley's. She'd never imagined that Harry had had it that bad, but I suppose he'd never really trusted the crazy cat lady. She'd have a lot of making up to do as his godfather. Dumbledore left with a glance to the werewolf and his friend. He quickly undid the spells that had been cast in anger, and then he left. However, if he did find out anything was amiss with Harry, well; they'd learn why he was considered the most powerful wizard since Merlin.

Sirius and Remus stayed, both giving the Dursley's with their fiercest glares. Remus growled, taking pleasure in their flinches. Sirius gave them a look, the walked right up to them and got in Vernon's face. "I know you did something, and I will find out what it is. Right now though, I'm going to worry about my godson. I will be back, and you can guarantee that I'll show you exactly what landed me in Azkaban. I also think that Remus will be joining me. You know Remus, don't you? Did anyone ever mention he was a werewolf?" The wolf in question made sure to growl again and bare his teeth. They both smiled evilly when the Dursley's flinched.

"We'll be back." Then they apparated straight to Hogwart's gates. The rest of the group could meet them there.

A/N: Wow, powerful chapter, or so I think. Um, I'll probably update again soon, but I do want to update my other stories as well. I plan to see GOF again tomorrow with my sister. I can't wait! Oh, and I agree, not enough Tom, but did you see him at the World Cup? Yummy! Not to mention there was Rob as Cedric, Stan as Krum, and Daniel and Rupert have definitely grown up. Moaning Myrtle is one lucky ghost! Anyway, I'll go to work on the next chappie right away, and we'll actually have Harry in it. Yay! Oh, has anyone noticed that the newer versions of Microsoft Word have been Harry Potterized? Names like Hermione and Dumbledore, Hogwarts, and even stupefy aren't put as spelled wrong anymore. It's spreading, the madness is spreading!

Toodles, jessebelle.