A/N: I hope that you all have enjoyed my story…jeez; I sound like this is the last chapter

A/N: I hope that you all have enjoyed my story…jeez; I sound like this is the last chapter! It's not, I promise! Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JK Rowling can stop rubbing it in my face now.

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"Talking"

'Parseltongue'

Thinking

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Harry's POV

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I woke up early the next morning to an owl tapping at my window. I put my glasses on and saw that it was Aeryn with a reply from Draco. I let her in and she landed on my shoulder, nipping at my ear.

"I'm sorry girl, I don't have and food for you. Why don't you go take an owl treat from the owlery?" She hooted loudly and flew back out the open window.

For a while I just stared at the folded piece of parchment that Draco had sent me. With a deep breath I opened it and started to read. 'GF- I'm not sure who you are but I wouldn't mind keeping in touch with you and learning more about you. Maybe then I will be able to figure out who you are. –Draco'

I bit back the grin that threatened to break onto my face and almost danced over to my desk to get a piece of parchment. I wrote my reply and practically skipped to the owlery.

After sending that off with a new owl I went downstairs for breakfast. Hermione was already there, reading a large tome as she took a bite of her bacon. "Good morning." I greeted as I took an empty seat beside her.

"You seem in a good mood this morning." She stated.

"Yes, we're going back to Hogwarts today." I said by means of explanation, even though it was only a small part in why I was so happy.

A small smile danced across her lips. "Yes, I'm quite glad about that as well." She closed her book and looked at me. "There's another reason you're happy though."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're too smart for your own good?" I asked, piling my plate high with food.

"Quite a few times, now spill."

I sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just excited to see Ron again." It was a lie and I hoped that she didn't figure it out.

"Yeah right Harry. It doesn't take top marks to notice that you've taken to despising Ron since the middle of sixth year." She stole a pancake from my plate.

I was about to retort when my father came in the room. "Good morning Harry, Hermione." He greeted the two of us then sat down at the head of the table to eat his breakfast.

Hermione picked up her book and stood up. "I'll be in the library when you're finished eating, Harry." As she left I sighed and ripped a large bite out of the lone pancake on my plate.

The rest of breakfast passed in silence and when I finished I stood to leave. "Harry," My father's voice stopped me. "I was hoping we'd get a chance to talk before you left." I froze and looked at him expectantly. "It's about going back to Hogwarts." I sat back down. "Are you sure that you really want to go? Lucius could tutor you if that's all you're going back for."

"It's not just that." I tried to explain. "I just really miss being around people my own age. I'm sure after graduation it will be better because Pansy will be here with Hermione and I." I fidgeted in my seat while debating whether or not I should ask him what had been bothering me ever since last night.

"Is something wrong Harry?" He asked.

"Well, I was just wondering. You told me that my sister had been taken to a Light family. Are you sure that Pansy is my twin? I could be wrong, it could be someone different. I mean, aren't the Parkinsons Death Eaters?"

"They weren't at the time that Salina was taken there. They were neutral. Only very recently they felt as if they were threatened because of that fact and came to me for protection. Looks like I'm going to have to tell them what's really going on if I'm going to take their daughter." He looked at me, confusion swirling in his red eyes. "Won't the Dursley's wonder as to where you've gone?"

I sighed and my eyes fell to where my hands rested in my lap. "It's kind of a long story."

"Then why don't we go somewhere more comfortable?" He rose and motioned for me to follow him. We went down the hallway to the left of the Dining Hall and through the double doors at the end. Inside there was an empty fireplace and many armchairs. Against the wall there were two cradles, one green and the other silver. There were several bookcases with colorful books lining the shelves and toys littering the floor.

Overall the room looked dusty and unused. It seemed as though it had been forgotten for years and never cleaned. "This is where we were when you were taken." My father explained. "We came here often. I would rock the two of you as your mother read to you. As you got older you'd sit on my lap and play with my wand." His eyes, which had brightened considerably, suddenly darkened. "Then one night Dumbledore came with a few Order members.

"After he killed your mother he turned to you. You had wobbled your way across the floor to see what had happened to her. He raised his wand and fired off another Killing Curse but it didn't do anything except give you that scar." He motioned towards my forehead. "Realizing that it wouldn't work on you he ordered the others to take the two of you away from me. When you were both gone he turned on me and shot a Killing Curse at me.

"Luckily I had thought ahead and made Horcruxes so I only lost my body but with it I lost the three people I loved the most." He looked at me and shook his head. "But we're not here to hear that sordid tale. Tell me about the Dursleys."

I plopped myself down on a large purple armchair and immediately started coughing as it produced a large cloud of dust. Once I cleared my lungs I took a deep breath and started my story.

"Ever since before I can remember the Dursleys didn't like me. When I was young they'd make me do chores like cooking and cleaning for them. I wasn't let out of the house because I was a 'freak' and a disgrace to the family. They wouldn't let me have my own bedroom but locked me in the cupboard under the stairs instead. I only got scraps at mealtimes. When they finally moved me up to a normal bedroom it was only because they were afraid of whoever was sending letters addressed to my cupboard.

"The summers after school at Hogwarts were better. I still had to cook and clean for them along with summer chores such as weeding the garden, but at least they let me outside. I was allowed time to myself after I had finished my daily chores. Usually I would read from the wizarding books I had stashed under one of my loose floorboards and get some of my summer homework done but other times I'd write letters to my friends.

"It got harder when my un- Mr. Dursley started locking away my owl. Letters from Ron became less and less. Hermione kept in contact but at first her owl wouldn't wait for me to respond before flying out the window. The only time I was able to get a letter from her was when I shut my window as soon as it was in my room. After that Hermione made sure to tell her owl to wait for a reply.

"The summer after fifth year was when I realized that I was just being used by Dumbledore. Somehow I had intercepted an owl from Mr. Weasley to Dumbledore about Order business that mentioned that I wasn't suspicious about anything. After that I paid more attention to the people around me and noticed that most of my friends were only so because I was the supposed 'Boy-Who-Lived' or because Dumbledore told them to be.

I sighed. "It was then that I decided to revolt against my family. I thought that if I stood up to Mr. Dursley then maybe he'd leave me alone, back off a little, you know?" I sunk deeper into the armchair. "It didn't work. He burned most of my possessions and locked me in my room without food for a week. After that I decided it was just better to stay out of the way and lock myself in the room whenever I could."

When I finished I waited for a reaction but my father's face was void of any emotion. Eventually rage started to burn in his eyes and his hands curled into fists. "I can't believe that a man would treat a child like that. I'm so sorry I didn't find you sooner."

I shrugged. "It's fine. It's not like I was abused or anything." I stood to leave. "I think I'm going to go join Hermione in the library before lunch. I'll see you later."

Before I made it to the door I found myself enveloped in a hug. It came as a surprise and I found myself returning the gesture. Soon my cheeks were wet as I let myself cry over what had happened to me, something I had never let myself do before.

"What they did was just as bad as physical abuse, Harry." He whispered in my ear after a few moments of just standing in each other's embrace, father and son.

"Griffith." I said, wanting to shed away everything from my old life. "My name's Griffith."

"Welcome home Griffith." My father planted a kiss on the top of my head and loosened his grip. "Are you okay now?"

"I'm fine." I said, a little disappointed that the hug had ended so soon. "I think I'm just going to go take a long shower. I'll be down for lunch." I started to leave then turned around. "If you happen to see Hermione, could you tell her to come find me?" He nodded and I thanked him.

When I got to my room I went straight to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My eyes were red and puffy from crying and my hair was messier than usual. I ran the shower until the water was hot, almost to the point where it hurt, and stepped into the spray.

As I washed my body I felt like I was washing away years of misuse and malnourishment. It felt as if I was shedding the skin that I had lived in for almost seventeen years and becoming a completely new person.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. Just as I finished dressing in dark blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt there was a knock on my door. "Harry, are you in there?"

"Yeah, come in." I answered and Hermione stepped through the doorway. "Are you okay? Your dad said that you were upset."

I held back a laugh. "No. I'm not upset. I'm relieved. I can't even begin to describe what it feels like. It's almost as if I'm a new person." I fell back on my bed. "It's like I'm not Harry anymore, I'm Griffith."

I felt weight added onto the bed as Hermione climbed on beside me. "I'm glad for you Griffith. I really am." I turned my head to look at her and she laughed. "You don't know how nice it is to finally see you happy again. I was so worried about you after Siri-"

"Don't mention his name." I almost growled. "He was in on it. He was with Dumbledore. How can someone do that to a small child? I grew up without knowing my real family, Hermione. I don't know how the old man lives with himself."

"Oh dear," she sighed, "I've gone and made that smile go away." There was a suspicious undertone in her voice that I didn't like. "I guess I'll just have to make it come back." Suddenly she was on top of me with her hands ticking at my sides.

It was inevitable, I started to laugh. "Hermione-I can't-breath." I said in between laughing fits. She stopped tickling me and I flipped us over so that she was pinned to the bed before reaching in and tickling her. She burst out laughing and bopped me on the head with a pillow.

Soon that innocent act led to a full on pillow war. By the time it was over more than one of the pillows had burst and the two of us were covered in feathers.

We checked the clock and quickly brushed ourselves off before running down to the Dining Hall for lunch. The both of us threw open the doors and raced to get the same chair. Of course, I won but I couldn't stop in time and ended up running into the chair, causing it to fall over.

Hermione helped me up and we laughed as we took our seats. My father was looking at the two of us with his eyes wide for a while but finally smiled. "I'm glad to see that you are ha-" He froze and reached out towards my hair. When he pulled his hand back he was holding a single white feather between two fingers. "May I ask why there was a feather in your hair?"

The question sent me and Hermione into fresh peals of laughter and I clutched my sides, trying to ease the pain. "I think I'm missing something." Father muttered as he set the feather down on the tabletop.

"So-sorry." I laughed. "Hermione and I were having a pillow fight and a few of the pillows couldn't take the beating."

Father just nodded before continuing to eat his lunch. Hermione and I followed his example and the three of us were soon full. "I suppose now's the best time to get started on getting the two of you ready to go back to Hogwarts."

"We won't forget why we were actually here, will we?" I asked fearfully. I didn't want to forget these past few days. So much had happened and I finally felt like I was where I was supposed to be, surrounded by people who loved and cared for me.

"It might take you a few minutes to remember but, if everything goes right, no, you won't forget." He led the two of us down an unfamiliar hallway to a dark room. There was a loud snap and the lights came on, illuminating a single figure that stood in the middle of the room.

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A/n: Okay, so a little bit of a cliffie. Next chapter should be up soon!! Thanx for reading!