Chapter 1

The train ride with the Hogwarts express had never felt so awful before. Harry felt like every tremor resonated in his entire body. He felt sick and exhausted, and the only comfort he had was the cold of the window he was leaning his face against. He ignored his friends, who were all looking worriedly at him, and instead focused on the fog his breath made on the glass as he breathed. It was quite fascinating how the fog reappeared again and again, hiding the moving scenery from view. It was a nice distraction. It almost made him forget about things.

He tried not to think about Sirius as the fog shrouded the passing trees, or the fact that he almost killed his friends too.

The trees were there again and they were slowly blending into hills as the train moved.

He tried not to think about anything at all really. His stomach twisted unpleasantly again and he closed his eyes.

He felt so weak and helpless. The Order told him he had to go back to the Dursleys again and he was not looking forward to it at all. With his godfather dead his protection against them was gone and he was very afraid of how they will treat him now. He would not have told them that Sirius passed away, but the Headmaster sent a letter to them, informing them of the man's death and a request to leave Harry to his grieving. Like they would. They will probably use him as a House elf again like they had done all his life before the end of his third year.

Sirius. He had warned them to leave Harry alone. He had made quite an impression on his relatives that day. His aunt was fumbling around and nervously wringing her hands for weeks after that, while his uncle fumed and glared at Harry whenever he entered the room. Harry had quite enjoyed that summer.

Somewhere during his thinking the train had stopped and Hermione was shaking his shoulder lightly, her brow furrowed in worry. Harry nodded at her and took his time in gathering his trunk and other things from the compartment. Anything to slow down the inevitable, but alas, he had nothing else left to do. He once again ignored the looks from both Hermione and Ron, and with a resigned look he slowly left the train and made his way to the barrier that will take him to Kings Cross.

Mrs. Weasley saw him before he could make his leave, and she embraced him in a motherly hug, telling him to make sure he writes at least once a week and to tell them if the muggles were any trouble. Harry managed a yes through her talking, and she released him, only for him to be tackled by the others with the same demands as Mrs. Weasley. When everyone had finally finished saying their goodbyes, Harry felt suffocated. Kingsley and Tonks escorted him to the barrier and he went through it without a backwards glance. He needed to get away from them all.

They were there, his relatives. He saw his uncle get red in the face as he spotted him and he hastily made his way toward them to lessen their anger as much as possible. He vaguely felt the stares of his guards on his back as he was dragged to the car and almost tossed into it. He could not bring himself to care.

The car ride felt like an eternity, and he felt his stomach lurch again. He watched, with lidded eyes, as the other vehicles passed his car window and felt a sense of dread overcome him. He was trapped for the summer. His forehead was pressed against the glass again and his breathing labored. Dudley was trying to rouse his attention with every insult he could think of, and when that did not work he decided to violently poke his side with his meaty fingers. Harry was sure that the poking would leave bruises.

Finally they turned into a familiar street, and the car came to a stop. Petunia made a hasty retreat into the house and Dudley waddled after her, yelling something about being hungry as he made his way inside. Harry stepped out of the car and struggled with his trunk for a bit. When he could not successfully take the thing out of the car, a red faced Vernon furiously grabbed for it and dragged it into the house. Harry followed him in only to see his trunk get thrown into his old cupboard and the small space get locked.

"There will be no magic business going on in this house, do you understand me boy?!" bellowed Vernon as he turned to the sickly looking boy standing next to the stairs. He made Harry go upstairs where he proceeded to lock him into Dudley's second bedroom. The heavy thumps of the man's steps were heard through the house as he walked down the stairs.

Harry fell heavily onto his bed and passed out, knowing full well no one will bother with him for the rest of the day.


It was night when he next awoke. He fumbled with his glasses, that he barely remembered to remove before he fell into his sleep, and put them on, looking around the room slowly. Something had woken him up. A quiet giggle was heard in his ear and he whipped his head around to look for the source, only to find nothing.

His misery forgotten, for now, he grabbed for his wand only to realize that he had left it in his trunk. Feeling very vulnerable, he pressed his back against the wall on the side of the bed, observing the whole room with growing fear. Another giggle was heard in his other ear and he felt a small tickling sensation on his earlobe. He swatted at it hysterically and hit something. A small, faintly glowing orb fell onto his bed with an almost unheard thump. His panic momentarily forgotten, he slowly leaned forward to look closely at the small object, only to see it was not an object at all. A small ruffled fairy was rubbing her head slowly as she sat up, her wings luckily undamaged. She looked up at him and waved her fist at him in anger.

Harry felt stunned. He had never seen a fairy before, but he heard about them in his classes. They never show themselves to muggles, and very rarely do they visit wizards. If they do they much prefer young children over adults. So why was this little fairy here? This was a muggle area and he is no child. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't see what the little thing was up to till he felt something light tapping on his arm. He looked down and saw the beautiful creature sit down, tilting her head as she observed him. Without a thought, he lifted his other arm and slowly poked the fairy, just to make sure she was really there. A quiet squeak was heard from her as she toppled over because of him, again.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize I did it that hard…" whispered Harry, helping her up carefully with his fingers. She frowned at him, then sighed and got to her feet with the help of her wings. Suddenly, she turned around and jumped onto his bed, proceeding to dance around and sing in a high-pitched voice that Harry had a hard time understanding. When she noticed that he did not join her in whatever she was doing, she stopped and turned around, looking at him expectantly. When she saw his confused expression, she grasped her chin and seemed to think for a bit. When an obvious idea sparked in her face, she flew to his broken desk and started jumping around an empty piece of paper that was lying there.

Confused, Harry slowly left the bed and made his way over to the strange female, only to see that she had begun writing something with the help of magic. Intrigued, he carefully sat on the squeaky chair to prevent it from making too much noise, and waited as she wrote the whole sentence down. Finally, she stopped and turned to him with hands on her hips.

Summer solstice ritual?

He looked at her, baffled, and muttered a "What is that?" while leaning forward, as if that will help make sense of what she's asking. The fairy looked flustered all of a sudden and started writing anew.

Celebrate summer! Magic ritual! You do not know the old ways?

Harry placed his elbows onto the table and rested his hand between his palms. "Old ways? You're not making any sense…"

The fairy looked disappointed then. She sat down on the paper and wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her chin on them as she looked at him. They sat like that for a while, exchanging looks, when she perked up again, as if she came up with an idea. Once again she wrote something on the paper, and this time she gave him a look as if to say she won't take no for an answer.

Want me to teach you the ritual?

Harry, feeling curious about what she was going on about, consented. The fairy released a happy shout and flew towards him. She grabbed his hand and seemed to try and tug him towards the door. With some amusement he carefully stood up, mindful of the terribly noisy chair, and followed her persistent tugs. However, when they reached the door he realized that she wanted him to go outside his room. He could not. Not without his uncle becoming very angry if he found out. Besides that, there is also the fact that the door was locked. He told the fairy this and she seemed to think for a bit, when she released his hand and flew to the door, unlocking it after a few attempts. Harry just hoped that the bit of magic she obviously used will not be registered as his own. He will be in a lot of trouble if it was.

He opened the door and the fairy proceeded to fly down the hallway, stopping by the stairs, waiting impatiently for him. He tried to calm his breathing, his heart thumping in his ribcage and the blood rushing into his ears, and with a determined nod, he followed her. The quiet of the house disturbed him a little. He could only hear the faint snoring coming from the bedrooms of his relatives. He was not used to this peaceful atmosphere outside of his room. He wished he could feel like this more often, but the mutual hatred he felt for his family made it impossible.

They moved downstairs and she led him towards the door that led to the back yard. She once again used magic to unlock it, and he looked around the dark house, terrified that someone might hear the lock click. When no one came, he closed his eyes and opened the door. The cold air hit his face and made him shiver a bit. A soft light barely made its presence known from the other side of the house where the street lights illuminated the deserted streets. Aside from that, it was quite dark, and only the stars were seen in his vision. He once again felt a tiny pull on his hand and let the little fairy guide him into the middle of the back yard.

With a childish giggle, the small female started flying around the air. Harry started to wonder if she was insane when he noticed that she seemed to be making a shape in the air.

"What are you trying to do?" he asked in a small voice, still afraid his relatives would wake up. She stopped flying about and pointed at him, the ground, and once again began flying in the shape of an odd circle. Harry slowly realized what the fairy was trying to tell him and he felt even colder.

"I can't draw that into the ground, aunt Petunia will kill me!" he yelped out desperately, suddenly feeling like agreeing to anything the fairy asked was a bad idea. She looked at him again and repeated the motion.

"I cannot!" he said again, this time quite louder. The glowing girl once again made to repeat the motion, when a light illuminated the space where Harry stood. He suddenly felt like he was going to get into deep trouble and he panicked. He ran for the door and managed to bump into something on the way, which fell to the ground with a loud crash. He felt petrified for a second, and made a dash for the door again, leaving the mess behind, not even noticing the startled fairy trailing behind him. He heard uncle Vernon's booming voice ask "What in the world is all the racket?!" and tried to close the back door as quietly as possible. A series of thumps was heard from upstairs and Harry desperately looked for a place to hide, but his searching was futile and his uncle was already in the kitchen. As soon as Mr. Dursley saw the soft glow of the fairy he exploded with anger.

"Boy! I told you that there was to be no magic in this house!" he practically spit out while turning on the light. By then, Harry's new friend had hidden herself somewhere, so his uncle was unaware that Harry hadn't actually done anything. Not that he wouldn't blame her presence on Harry anyway.

"That's it! I've had it! You're leaving! I don't want to see you anywhere near this house again, is that understood boy?!" his uncle continued, his face turning a very unattractive red, his eyes wild from his fury. At that moment Harry felt like time had stopped. Leaving? What about the wards? What about Voldemort? He cannot really expect Harry to just leave can he? He would die! 'But', he thought to himself bitterly then, 'he hates you, he doesn't care if you die.'

Uncle Vernon moved away from the kitchen then, and Harry snapped back to reality. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he followed him only to see his uncle furiously unlocking the cupboard door, cursing all the while because the only light that illuminated the lock came from the kitchen.

"Uncle Vernon, please…" Harry tried to say only to be stopped by a dangerous glint in the man's eyes, just daring him to say anything. The teenager was about to ignore the warning but something stopped him. The fairy was back and it was tugging him up the flight of stairs. Harry understood. With a resigned look toward his uncle he quickly made his way to his "room" and grabbed the few possessions he had left there, donned on his jacket and made his way to the first space he ever inhabited. By the time he got there, Mr. Dursley had already managed to open the lock, and was waiting for him with his trunk, a hard look on his face that once again made no room for argument.

Petunia was observing from the stairs now, her nightgown wrapped tightly around her thin form, her face twisted into an expression Harry had a hard time understanding. He felt betrayed by his aunt just then, because she was supposed to be his blood relative. Didn't someone once say that 'blood is thicker than water'?

He had no time to reflect on it any longer, though, because his trunk was pushed into his hands and he was all but thrown out of the house. Fortunately for the Dursleys, the unholy time of night prevented nosy neighbors to witness this event, for it was immensely large gossip material.

"Stay away from us, you hear me?" was the last thing Vernon said to him, and without so much as a goodbye, turned around and ushered his wife back inside.

With a thump, the trunk in his hands landed on the ground, but Harry paid it no heed. He stared at the closed door of his childhood home in shock, not quite believing that this actually happened. After all this time they finally made good on their threat. A cold breeze blew past him and he shivered. That's when the reality set in.

There he was, outside of number 4, Privet Drive, the street lights offering the only illumination, and even those were flickering every so often. The night time animals made sounds once in a while, leaves on the trees rustled with every soft burst of wind and the occasional vehicle was heard in the distance. He felt vulnerable. He lost a roof over his head, and the wards protecting him will fall as soon as he leaves, which he has no choice but to. He wondered for a moment if he should owl the Order, but then remembered that he released Hedwig on the train so she could go hunting. Then again, he didn't particularly want them to know how bad his life here is. And he didn't want to see them. He needed space.

As he stood there, shivering from the nighttime chill, he registered a faint glow next to his shoulder. The fairy was looking at him in concern, her little hands folded into fists in front of her mouth. Smiling weakly at her, he said softly, "I don't blame you. It was bound to happen one day. Really. They've hated my existence since I was first left on their doorstep."

Figuring he looked quite silly standing outside the house like this, he grabbed his luggage and started walking down the street. He eventually got to the playground and sat down on the sidewalk, feeling a sense of Déjà vu overcome him as he observed the bushes. The fairy sat on his shoulder and folded into herself. He stayed there for quite a while, looking around him occasionally as he pondered. Weren't there supposed to be a guard appointed at his home from the Order? Why wasn't someone here to make him go back, or take him to the headquarters?

"What am I going to do now?" he asked himself with a groan, and burrowed his head into his hands. The fairy cocked her head at the action, then she was flying towards Harry's face, nudging him in the hand. He met her gaze, confused and wary of what she wanted now, but she just smiled at him and proceeded to fly to the pavement, where she wrote a simple question with her magic.

Want to come to my home? I promise you will come to no harm there.

Harry bit his lip as he thought about it. It was probably a very bad idea. He should be contacting the Order about being thrown out, not thinking about leaving with a creature he only just met about an hour or so ago. But the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. He didn't want to face his friends and teachers so soon, and he knew without a doubt that Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape would be there, as would the Weasley family. He just wasn't ready. Seeing Dumbledore would make him think about the prophecy and he did not want to think about that either. He managed not to so far, and he had no intention to start now. It was all too much.

Besides, he was really curious about that ritual the fairy was talking about. He had never heard of anything like it before, and it sounded fascinating, so why not? He looked around the street, seeing all the identical houses, void of any individuality. He really had nothing left here now. If he wanted to leave with the tiny female, he had to do it as soon as possible. The wards will fall any second.

He looked at her again and observed how she impatiently flew in small circles right in front of his face, and felt amusement well up in him again. She really was interesting.

"All right, I want to come with you," He said softly, and stood up, pulling his jacket tighter around him to ward off the chill. She released a high pitched sound and flew around him a few times, before gesturing to the trunk and his other personal possessions he had brought with him. It took him but a moment to understand what she wanted to say, and grabbed hold of the trunk's handle along with his other belongings. As soon as he had everything, the fairy touched his forehead, and with a flash they both disappeared, leaving behind only her magically written words that faded away a moment later.