A loud thud jolted Harry from where he was concentrating on his potions homework, a particularly nasty essay from Snape.

"Hey Harry. I found this in Dumbledore's library and thought it might help. You'd be amazed at some of the books in there. There are loads that are really rare. There's more than this one but I thought this would be most helpful at the moment. And Professor Lupin was right."

Harry just blinked at Hermione's mile-a-minute rambling.

"What's it about?" he asked, nodding to indicate the book.

"Wandless magic. Specifically theories about how to do wandless magic. There isn't a single book about it that doesn't include the word theory."

Harry immediately closed his textbook deciding that the potions could wait and reached for the heavy tome.

"Thanks Hermione."

"No problem. I'm just as curious to see if you can do this or not. I'll be outside to make sure that you get some sort of warning before anyone comes in, though that shouldn't be for a while. Professor Lupin is still trying to talk some sense into Sirius, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill and Charlie have gone down to the beach and the twins have enlisted Ginny's help with some new invention."

"It'll be ok. They'll test whatever it is on Ron!" Harry grinned.

Hermione gave him a calculating look before saying, "Yes. I suppose as their benefactor you wouldn't get pranked."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Harry. It's not that difficult to figure out that you gave the twins the money you got from the Tournament. Although I don't think anyone else has figured it out yet."

"That's a relief. I don't want to be anywhere near Mrs Weasley when she finds out!"

Hermione just looked smug, knowing that she'd be out of the line of fire.

"Anyway, I'll leave you alone for now. We can talk about this later."

"Cheers," Harry muttered as he cracked open the dusty volume and started reading.

He had first wondered about wandless magic when he had been in a summer physics class at the orphanage. The teacher hadn't liked him from the start as he'd asked far too many questions. As though it was Harry's fault that magic encouraged people to expect the unexpected. Mr Pearce had threatened to throw him out of the class, which Harry didn't want because not only was the subject interesting, but it helped him with his astronomy at Hogwarts, explaining why the planets moved as they did and why different stars were different intensities. After the warning Harry had dropped his pen, which had promptly rolled under the empty desk in front of him. He couldn't get to it without disturbing everyone, but he couldn't take notes without it. As a wizard he used quills, and only had a couple of pens, one of which he'd lent to Jason, who was notorious for forgetting things, including his own sister! He remembered sitting in the science lab wishing that he could just accio the damn thing when the pen had started twitching and jerking. It had taken several minutes until it had moved far enough towards him that Jason was able to reach it when Harry nudged him. It had got Harry wondering if he had consciously been using wandless magic, if it was even possible. He had written to Ron and Hermione, telling them what had happened and asking for any information they had on the topic. Both had been intrigued by the events but hadn't known anything about wandless magic. However, they had been willing to help him find out about it. The result of which was lots of heavy books from Hermione and lots of questions to various wizards from Ron.

After a couple of hours skimming through various theories contained in the book and reading some of the more prominent ones in detail, Harry felt that he was ready to give wandless magic a try. He placed his quill on the table in front of him, choosing to use something light to levitate, the same way they were first taught at Hogwarts. He started by concentrating on the mental image of the feather hovering a few inches off the desk, before adding in his will and determination to make the feather levitate. He remembered the feeling of desperation and determination he had felt in the physics lab and added it as well. Harry concentrated until the only thing he was aware of was the feather and making it levitate.

It was then that he felt it. The sensation was almost like water, fluid, but almost static at the same time. It was a peculiar feeling, fizzing away inside him and flowing through his outstretched hand. Opening his eyes, Harry saw the feather hovering unsteadily above the surface of the table as the flow of magic fluctuated.

He gently lowered the quill until it once again rested on the table before dropping his hand and slumping back into his seat. It had only been a first year task that he had performed but he was exhausted. Thrilled that he had accomplished wandless magic, of course, but tired. He knew that much more practice was needed before he could use it effectively.

Realising that he was too tired for another try right after the first, Harry pulled his potions homework towards him, carefully stacking the books on wandless magic so that the titles aren't visible from the doorway. He had finally reached the halfway point of his essay when he heard Hermione's voice in the corridor. He paused, listening to her conversation.

"…always expecting me to help with homework. Well not anymore. He'll stay in there until Professor Snape's essay is complete without any help!"

"Now that's just cruel Hermione!" Harry could hear Sirius's grin and silently applauded his friend's acting.

"Maybe, but it'll work. At least on Harry, Ron on the other hand…"

"You know Hermione, if you want to read there are more comfortable places available that the hallway."

"If I leave then so will Harry and he'll convince me to help if he leaves it 'til the last minute!" she protested, grinning slightly, knowing that Harry would be eavesdropping by now.

"I need to talk to him anyway so I can keep an eye on him. Or I could get you a chair if you insist on sitting in the hall."

"If you stay you're not allowed to help him," the young witch insisted.

"Potions was never my strong suit. And I really don't want to try learning again. Besides, if I tried to help he'd do even worse. Now shoo, I want to talk to my godson!"

Harry heard Sirius helping Hermione to her feet before she opened the door and stuck her head into the room.

"You heard?"

"You're going to leave Sirius to keep an eye on me so I don't cheat on my homework," Harry replied, grinning.

His friend nodded once before leaving and allowing Sirius to enter.

"How's the essay coming?" he asked cheekily, perching on the table next to Harry.

"I'm about half-way and I've still got a few books to look through, so it's not going too badly. But you didn't find me to discuss potions," Harry replied confidently, pushing his essay out of the way and turning to face Sirius.

"No. Actually I wanted to talk to you about the Dursleys."

At this point Sirius pulled out a chair and sat, facing his godson anxiously.

"What about them?"

"How they treated you, what your life with them was like, why you were so quick to accept my offer of living together, even though we'd only just met."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to know all that? It's not like its important or anything," Harry said evasively.

"I want to get to know you. Why you act like you do, what you like, what you don't. You're my godson and I hardly know you!"

Hearing his godfather sounding so dejected made Harry feel guilty, so he decided to try to explain why he didn't open up to people.

"The Dursleys are a complicated topic. You may not know about much of my life but you understand me better than everyone else. You see me as Harry, not the Boy-who-lived or a burden, and that's something that no-one's really done before. I don't talk about the Dursleys because it doesn't matter to me anymore."

"Damn it Harry! You can't just lock all of this away in some cupboard like it doesn't matter!" Sirius yelled.

"Why not? They did!"

"Harry, just because you Aunt and Uncle hid how they felt…" Sirius didn't get a chance to finish as his best friend's son interrupted once again.

"They never hid how they felt! They saw me as a freak and a burden and weren't afraid to let me know it!"

"But you just said that they locked their problems away."

"Yeah. Me! In the cupboard under the stairs. They moved me to Dudley's second bedroom after my school letters started arriving," Harry explained wearily, fed up with the subject. It was then that he noticed that his quill was levitating about a foot off the table behind the Marauder's back. He quickly looked at the floor, thinking finite incantatum and praying that it would work.

Sirius had been silent the whole time, shocked at the revelation. His godson had grown up in a cupboard! Why had nothing been done? He looked at Harry only to find him staring at the floor, whether embarrassed or thoughtful he couldn't tell.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Sirius almost pleaded.

Harry winced at the anguished tone, thinking the question over. "Before I started at Hogwarts there was no one I could tell, even if I'd wanted to. The Dursleys kept me away from everyone; I had no friends because Dudley and his gang would beat them up; I didn't know that I was treated any differently to every other child. The only comparison I had was Dudley and even I knew that most children didn't get anything they wanted. Besides which, he was their son, I was only a nephew, for all I knew it was expected behaviour. And by the time there was someone I could tell I was out of the cupboard and it wouldn't have made a difference," Harry shrugged, trying to dismiss the topic.

"Merlin Harry! Someone would have moved you if they'd known."

"Dumbledore wouldn't have let them because of the blood protection. Not that it's in any way effective now. All anyone could have done was threatening the Dursleys and that would just have made them madder." Staring across the room Harry saw that the quill was gently lowering itself to the table's surface as he calmed down.

Sirius just stood there, once again stunned by his godson's attitude. He was brushing off 14 years of neglect as if it was nothing.

"How can you be so calm? What they did was neglect and abuse! It's illegal Harry! Don't you care?" Sirius all but yelled.

"Of course I care! They destroyed any chance at a childhood I had. They used me as a slave; I've been cooking their breakfast since I was eight! But, they made me who I am, and I'd rather have had the life I've had than to end up like Dudley. I've got Hogwarts, friends, you and Moony. I can't change what happened so why should I let control me?"

"Their attitude honestly doesn't hurt?"

"It used to. When I was little I used to do everything I could to make them proud of me. All I wanted was some small sign that they cared. By the time I was old enough to understand their attitudes I realized that it was never going to happen so why should I keep trying. It hurt, yes but it hurt less as I got older. When I left for Hogwarts I realized that I wasn't upset and I didn't miss them, but at the same time I didn't hate them because they had prepared me for everything that's happened. I can take care of myself and it's because of them. The Dursleys are my family only by blood. I don't care about them and they don't care about me. The past isn't an issue with them anymore."

"I don't know how you can just leave it all behind you like that. I ran away from home in my sixth year and I'm still angry with my parents, even though they're both dead now."

"Why did you leave?"

"Both my parents were dark. The whole family was with a few exceptions, like my cousin Andi and I. Anyway, they both thought that what Voldemort was doing was right. They were never Death Eaters, though my brother was, but they thought that he had the right idea about purity of blood. I didn't agree and I was sick of being belittled and put down for disagreeing, so I ran away, went to stay with your dad. Your grandparents were very good about it all, but I still hated my parents for everything, even after they died."

Sirius lapsed into silence, reflecting on his past. He'd been the traditional first-born son until he'd been sorted into Gryffindor. After that he was effectively disowned, with all of the first-born honours being showered upon Regulus until he had been killed by Death Eaters for running.

"What were their names? My grandparents I mean." Harry asked softly, breaking the silence.

"Melinda and Adam. She was a well liked Healer at St Mungos while Adam was an Unspeakable."

"What's an Unspeakable?"

"They work in the Department of Mysteries. Kind of like muggle secret service. No-one really knows what they do, all top secret research. During wars they also act like the military? I think that's the muggle equivalent. They're the elite Aurors," Sirius explained.

"What… what did my parents do? No-one's ever told me." Harry's voice was low as he asked his question.

"Your mum wrote children's stories, both muggle and wizarding, though she used a different pen name in each world. She didn't want public recognition every time she left her house. James worked in the Ministry. The Department of Magical Games and Sports. He worked with Ludo Bagman; thought that he was an idiot. I have to say that I agree with that statement."

"That I'll agree with. He kept offering to help me with the Tournament. Turns out that he'd bet with the Goblins that I'd win and then had to do a runner when I drew with … Cedric."

Both were silent for a moment, remembering Cedric Diggory and paying him the respect he deserved.

"So," Harry broke the silence. "How did you get on alerting the old crowd? Or am I not allowed to know?" he asked, forcing a grin.

"I'm amazed you remember the reason I left. I thought you'd just remember that I'd gone and not why."

"At that point I was concentrating on anything and everything that had nothing to do with the Tournament or Cedric."

"How are you coping with all that now? And don't tell me you're fine! No-one would be after seeing a friend killed and Voldemort reborn!"

"It's getting easier. I still have nightmares but they're not as bad. I know what happened to … Cedric wasn't my fault. There was nothing I could have done. It still hurts, but I'm coping. My elbow still twinges sometimes, but it's nothing much. It's still difficult to talk about it, but I can think about the rest of the Tournament without getting the urge to throw up now, so that's progress. Anyway, back to the topic of the old crowd."

"Harry…." Sirius started, not sure what to say.

"If you can't tell me just say. I won't be mad or anything," Harry reassured his Godfather.

"It's not that. The old crowd are all former members of the Order of the Phoenix. It was a group put together by Dumbledore during the last war to fight against Voldemort."

"Do you know what he's planning? I mean besides trying to kill me in some painful way?" Harry asked, trying to lighten the decidedly sombre mood.

"At the moment his biggest priority is recruiting new Death Eaters, though who would be stupid enough to join I don't know. Fudge is doing absolutely nothing to warn the public, just burying his head in the sand like the idiotic coward he is."

"Why? I mean, surely the best thing would be to warn everyone. Wouldn't be easier to fight if we started now instead of when he starts attacking muggles?"

"You're right kiddo, but that would cause widespread panic and lots of mistrust. Fudge is worried that it could damage his chances of being re-elected."

"Wouldn't more people support him if he did what was best in the long term?"

"Unfortunately most people only bother with the short term. Everyone would be too scared of a repeat of last time to be willing to believe that Voldemort's back without proof," Sirius explained.

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

"We're doing what we can, but I can't tell you any more than that. Now, what's your essay about?"

"Antidotes. It's actually quite interesting."

Sirius just made a disgusted face, obviously not sharing the sentiment.

"If it's so interesting then you won't mind if I leave you to finish!"

"Not really. You'd be more of a distraction than a help!"

"Oi. Just for that I'm going to lock you in so you have no choice but to work on this gorgeous sunny day."

"I'm sure Hermione will appreciate it," Harry said wryly.

Sirius just grinned in reply as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him and leaving his godson to finish his homework.