Chapter 6

As soon as Hermione arrived at her home with her parents, she quickly helped unload her school supplies and hurried up to her room. Her mum called up to her that supper would be ready at around 7 and that she would call her then.

Hermione quickly emptied her trunk of it's contents, and then closed it and pushed it into her closet. She sat down on her bed with one of her DADA books and began to revise what she had learned during the past year, but she couldn't concentrate. A certain dark haired young man kept entering her thoughts, especially how sad he looked when it was time to get off the train. She and her parents had noticed the purple faced Uncle Vernon, and how Harry seemed to plead for help with his eyes from anyone who was looking at him. Then her parents had ushered her to their own car, and that was the last she had seen of Harry Potter.

She closed her eyes and thought of how much she liked Harry, and how clueless the boy was. She pondered whether all guys were as clueless, but then decided that she rather liked her Harry that way. It sort of made him more endearing to her. Hermione sighed, and snuggled down into her fluffy comforter and promptly fell asleep. She hadn't been asleep more than an hour when she suddenly awoken, her heart beating fiercely in her chest, but unable to remember what it was that had frightened her. It was almost like she had heard a voice in her room, pleading for help, a voice like...Harry! It was Harry's voice she had heard, but how could it have been? He was at home with his aunt and uncle in Surrey, wasn't he? And here she was at home with her parents, miles away from him...so what had just happened?

Hermione was jostled from her musings as her mum called her down to supper, so she reluctantly hopped off of her bed and went downstairs to eat, promising herself she would write to Harry after supper. She'd just ask him how he was, and make sure he knew he could call her, write her, or whatever he needed, if he wanted to. Yes, that would sound ok, she thought to herself, and she sat down with her parents to eat, all the while displaying a soft smile on her face, which both of her parents noticed. The Grangers looked at each other and smiled, knowing that they would have to have a chat with their daughter later this summer and find out just who this boy was that had their Hermione smiling like an angel.

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Dumbledore arrived back in his office, anger and frustration flowing off of him in waves. His perfect plan to keep the Potter boy in the house, away from his friends, and locked up and miserable, was now all ruined. How did Sirius Black and Severus Snape find out that the boy was in trouble and needed help? And what had happened that the two men were now working together as friends, or so it seemed, and how had his mind altering spell been broken? Dumbledore sat down at his cluttered desk, and leaned forward to rest his head in his hands. This is how Minerva found him an hour later.

Minerva McGonagall was a practical woman, she led an organized, practical life, practiced organized, practical hobbies, and, putting black-haired, bespectacled first years on the Quidditch team aside, was not inclined to bend rules of any sort. "It's quite early into the summer for this amount of clutter, Headmaster. Both on the desk and in your head," she commented, fully prepared for the obligatory offer of a laced lemon drop and cup of tea, which she declined.

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It had been three days since Severus and Sirius had found the almost lifeless Harry in the cupboard under the stairs, and yet the boy was still sleeping. It had been two days since Remus had gone looking for his friend and had found him at number twelve Grimmauld Place. Now the three men were taking turns sitting with the still healing child, each tending to him in their own unique ways.

It was now Sirius's turn to sit with Harry, and it was also time for another round of potions, one being a restorative potion, and the other a general healing potion, to help heal the internal damage done to the boy by his hideous uncle. It was at that moment when Sirius was pouring the second potion into Harry's mouth, he decided to regain consciousness.

Sirius was ecstatic. "Harry, Harry, wake up! It's ok now, you're safe. Come on Pronglett, open those big green eyes. That's it..."

Harry slowly opened his eyes. His body was stiff and sore, and his throat hurt. He tried to speak but found that he couldn't get his vocal cords to work. But just as quick, he found a cup of water being held to his lips and he drank greedily. He drained the cup in two gulps, thanking God for the taste of good, cool, sweet water. Someone placed a pair of glasses on his face, and the room swam into focus to reveal his godfather, Sirius, sitting on the bed next to him.

"Hi Sirius. Um...what am I doing here? What day is it? Where am I?" Harry began wondering as he took in the old room and it's dusty furnishings. Sirius was just about to answer when the door burst open and Severus Snape walked into the room.

Harry jerked suddenly as the door crashed open, the sudden rush of memories coming back to him, of how his uncle had beat him, how he had awoken in the cupboard, hanging by his hands, and how his uncle had tried to strangle him. Tears began to flow down the boy's cheeks as those horrid memories returned to him. He began to shake uncontrollably, and he curled up into a ball to try and comfort himself, something that he'd learned years ago as a child, seeing as how he never received comfort then, either. This action certainly didn't go unnoticed by Severus or Sirius.

Severus quickly drew out a calming drought and expertly poured it down Harry's throat while Sirius held his quaking godson in his lap, whispering calm, soothing words to him. After few minutes, the potion took effect, and Harry slowly opened his eyes again, this time to see his professor sitting in a chair next to his bed, and his godfather sitting on the bed behind him, holding him.

So this is what it's like to have a father, Harry thought to himself. He liked that warm, safe feeling that filled his very soul at that moment. He sighed contentedly and nestled back into Sirius' arms, eliciting a deep chuckle from the man. Harry had to smile, he could hear that deep laugh reverberate inside of his godfather's chest. He breathed deeply of that outdoor, woodsy smell that seemed to be a part of the man, making him feel even more relaxed.

Harry had almost dozed back off, when Sirius decided to speak.

"So Harry, how are you feeling? Are you hurting anywhere?" Sirius asked, watching his godson intently.

"Um, well, I guess I feel ok, my throat is sore, and my head hurts a bit. My hands feel a bit sore, maybe a bit numb, but other than that, I guess I feel all right. Where are we? How did I get here?"

"Well, Harry," Sirius began to explain, "I was at the train station when the Express got there, and I watched you as your uncle knocked you into the back seat of that car of his. I also saw you let Hedwig go, which, by the way, was a smart move on your part." Sirius noticed the way Harry began to sit up and wrap his arms around his legs, as if he was cold.

Then Harry asked, "How did you know that I was in trouble? Since I did let Hedwig go at King's Cross, there wasn't anyone or anything to let you know that I needed help."

It was at that moment that Severus spoke up, startling Harry immensely.

"You see Harry, Sirius came up to me at Hogwarts, and told me about what he saw at the train station, so I came with him to get you. However, we had no idea that that muggle was trying to hang you. You are a very lucky young man. Another minute, and you wouldn't be sitting here right now."

The normally angry and sour potion's master was sitting there regarding his patient with a worried frown on his face, and not one that was filled with hatred or malice. Harry was confused. Was this Severus Snape, Potion's Master of Hogwarts, sitting in the same room with himself, and his godfather, and no one was angry, fighting, or shooting hexes? And why was Snape calling him Harry? What happened to Mr. Potter? What was going on here?

Severus and Sirius both could see the tremendous confusion written all over the boy's face, and with a quick look and nod, they mutually decided to tell the boy what had happened.

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Just as they had finished telling Harry about Dumbledore's mind altering spell, and how Fawkes had somehow lifted the spell from their minds, Fawkes decided to make an appearance in the room. He appeared in a blaze of glory, and flew over and landed on Harry's lap. He immediately put his arms around the massive bird, hugging him gently and caressing his beautiful plumage. Then Fawkes began to sing, a most beauteous melody that suddenly lifted the confusion from Harry's mind, and made him feel better than he had in weeks. Fawkes also leaned his head close to Harry's face, and cried two tears, that splashed down onto the boy's lips. Harry licked them off quickly, remembering that phoenix tears could heal, and the effect was instantaneous. His wrists no longer hurt, and he could bend them easily. His throat felt normal, and all of the severe bruising from those wires that Vernon had wrapped around and around his nephew's neck disappeared entirely.

Sirius and Severus watched with open mouths as this was happening, and how quickly Harry responded to Fawkes' ministrations.

Sirius looked at Severus and exclaimed, "He looks great! Did you see that? That phoenix is amazing. Thanks, Fawkes! We really appreciate what you did for Harry."

The animagus quickly stroked the bird's feathers and stood back. Harry let go of Fawkes and looked at him, the phoenix locking eyes with the young boy. They stared at each other for only a few seconds, but it seemed much longer, then Fawkes trilled again and took off for the open window. At that moment, as Fawkes left, a beautiful white snowy owl flew in and landed on the bed next to a surprised Harry.

"Hey girl! Are you all right? You didn't go back to Privet Drive, did you? Don't ever go there again, Uncle Vernon would kill you." At that moment, a dark shadow crossed Harry's face.

"Um, Sirius, Professor, will I have to go back to the Dursleys? I really don't want to go back there. Please don't send me back there. I'll work hard here at your house, Sirius, or I'll stay with you Professor, in the dungeons, and clean cauldrons all day. Just please don't make me go back..." Harry dissolved into sobs that shook the boy's frail body. Sirius quickly took him into his arms again and held his godson tightly.

"You're never going back there again, Pronglett. I promise you, you will never have to go back to the Dursleys. Me or Severus will be here to make sure you have a place to live and be safe and happy. You should never have been placed there to begin with."

Sirius was relieved to see his friend nod his consent with his own promise to make sure Harry would never have to go back to that horrid house again.

"Harry, I know I've treated you horribly for the past four years, and even though we now know what was behind most of it, I would still like to apologize to you. You never deserved for me to treat you so abysmally, and I promise to never treat you in that fashion again. Sirius and I were cheated out of our friendship since graduation, and we've been living our lives as enemies since, all because of Albus Dumbledore. Why, remains to be seen, although I do believe we'll be finding out sooner rather than later. Be that as it may, please forgive me."

Severus looked at Harry, watching the emotions that washed across the boy's face, anger, frustration, acceptance, and finally, something else.

Harry regarded his professor of four years. Sure, it wasn't his fault that he'd been treating him like that all this time, it was the headmaster's fault. He finally broke out into a soft smile and offered his hand to his professor. Severus took it, and shook hands with the boy-who-lived, mending a broken fence that never should have been broken in the first place. Somewhere, a phoenix trilled a loud happy note of triumph.

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Hermione Granger sat at a large table in her local library, feverishly going over Math, English, Drama, Chemistry, and Psychology, a few of the subjects she would've been covering had Hogwarts not come into her life. She was not an idiot by any means; she was Muggleborn, and would likely live in between both worlds. Hermione had no intention of being anything less than prepared. 'Semper Paratus' was a motto she'd lived by all her young life.

Unfortunately, nothing had prepared Hermione for discovering that magic was real or that she was able to preform magic. Nothing had prepared her for Harry Potter either.

Hermione stared down at the Psychology book with a frown, faintly wishing for a quill, or perhaps a Sugar Quill, she wasn't picky, but she'd gotten a habit of nibbling the end of a quill when frustrated. Harry hadn't sent a single owl yet. Granted, it was only the third day into the holiday, but Hermione had pleaded for him to promise to write regularly. Ron had already written, bravely declaring his affections for her.

Thoroughly disgusted at her inability to concentrate on the text in front of her, she tossed her pencil down and scowled at the book, as if it was responsible for all her troubles.

"Boy trouble?" a voiced broke through her thoughts. "Because you are Hermione Granger, I know you aren't having study difficulties. Boy trouble is the only thing left."

Hermione smiled despite herself. "Good morning, Emily."

"Don't change the subject, Hermione. So, who's tall, dark, and hansome?" Emily, a girl who was Hermione's childhood friend, demanded.

Smiling, Hermione corrected her friend. "Short, pale and cute, and if you'd seen his relatives, you'd be concerned as well." She frowned. "They're horrible."

"And.." Emily pressed.

"I've told you about Ron and Harry, Emily." Hermione sighed, and gathered up her things. "Ron wrote to me, telling me he cared about me, and would like to date me."

Emily was about to loudly congratulate her somewhat socially inept friend, when she saw the frown. "But.."

Turning to put the books in the return cart, she mumbled "But I like Harry."

"Oh..ouch, and they're best friends, Harry and Ron?" Emily asked.

"Yes."

"Ouch again. So, I'm guessing that Ron likes you, but you like Harry, and Harry doesn't realize it, right?"

Hermione laughed and nodded her head. "Yep, that's right. Now, I've got to figure out how to let Ron off without hurting him, and let Harry know that I want to be with him, without scaring him off...I just haven't figured out how to do that yet."

Emily giggled and helped her friend gather her belongings so they could go grab a bite of lunch together. "You know Hermione, why don't you just use the direct approach with Harry, and just tell him how you feel? If it's meant to be, he'll thank you for it, and you'll get what you want, Harry Potter. As for Ron, just tell him thanks, but no thanks. He'll get over it eventually."

Hermione sighed as she thought about what her friend was saying. Yes, she could send an owl to Harry and tell him how she felt, and hope for the best, but as for Ron, well, that was another crisis just waiting to happen. Maybe she could write Ginny and ask for some advice on how to break the news to Ron, after she was sure that Harry was going to return her affections. No sense in ruining all of their friendships for nothing. Satisfied with her decision, she happily skipped off to McDonald's for lunch with Emily.

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Hello everyone! Nita here! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out to you. Please forgive me! I wanted to thank all of you who have reviewed! I really do appreciate it so much! I can't believe how well this story is going! You guys are all so amazing! Please read and review this new chapter, and feel free to email me with any questions or ideas or comments! Take care everyone and I'll see you next chapter!

NitaPotter