Disclaimer: The characters all belong to J.K. Rowling and all that stuff. Moving on...enjoy.
It filled him and flowed through him. Rage so hot, so red, that Harry lost what little control he already had. His hands closed into fists and his knuckles turned white at the force of it.
'How dare he?' The words raged repeatedly in his mind. He knew he had to calm himself. He had to stop the red heat that was threatening to envelope him. If he didn't do something now, he would implode. He knew the danger of having his magic thrown out from him in anger.
The veil of red that had clouded his eyes before started to clear. Thinking that he was tempering his anger, Harry made the mistake of looking back at Hedwig. She had quieted down but there was still an air of despair around her. Feeling as if it was going to suffocate him, Harry felt the need to run before he hurt her in his rage.
Harry felt his mind slipping as he ran out of his room, down the stairs, and out into the backyard. Once there, he fell as he felt the ground pulled out beneath him. In an instant his magic coiled tightly inside him. He felt the heat and the burning pain before his magic released and shot out of him. So much magic was thrown out towards the world. Harry lost his senses and all went black for a brief moment.
When the initial wave of magic was thrown out of him, he felt smaller and less intense waves follow suit. Resting on his knees, Harry struggled to keep from passing out. Soon his magic settled, though some was still seeping through his fingers.
"The bastard…the conniving manipulating…why? Why does everyone always do this to me? Is it so bloody easy to use me," Harry bit out harshly. His magic may have settled but his anger had not and with every thought about why he had been so angry, Harry didn't think it would anytime soon.
He couldn't stop thinking about Hedwig's confession that she could have saved Sirius. He could have lived. He could have been here, with him. 'With me..,' Harry thought bitterly.
Looking down, Harry's hands fisted and pulled at the grass. Soon enough, he felt his magic begin to coil inside him again. He could think of nothing else. He didn't want to stop it. He couldn't seem to remember why he needed to.
Vaguely he heard, 'Stop Harry…please.'
"Why," Harry shouted. "Why should I do that? I don't want to," he yelled angrily.
At first he heard nothing. And then softly the voice said, 'You'll hurt yourself if you continue. I understand your anger, but doing this solves nothing. Does nothing but harm you.'
"Don't tell me what to do. What does it matter if it hurts me? No one else has ever bothered to stop hurting me, so why must I?" Harry replied miserably, the words laced with anger.
Harry felt the magic coiling tightly and he let it. Letting his emotions run through him, he fed the growing ball of magic causing it to get so much bigger.
'Please don't do this,' the voice pleaded with him.
Harry wasn't listening anymore. He knew he should stop himself but he couldn't bring himself to stop. His magic was filling him now. It was so close to surging like it had before.
'STOP THIS NONSENSE,' a different voice yelled in his head.
Harry, startled, let the magic uncoil instantly. This new voice was different than the one from before. The other one had been soft and pleading. This one was loud and deeper.
"Who are you? You are not the one from before," Harry asked warily.
'Why,' it asked, 'Are you ready to listen now or are you continue your temper tantrum?'
Harry was stunned. This voice seemed to be angry with him. "It was not a tantrum," he growled out.
'The first one was accidental and completely out of your control. However,' it continued, 'the second surge was going to be your doing and as such was totally a tantrum.'
Harry looked down at his knees. The voice was right. He had been about to have a huge temper tantrum. He had just been so angry and when the other voice had asked him not to do it, he had snapped. He hated when others told him what to do. Especially after all he learned today. He heaved a sigh and said quietly, "Could you really blame me?"
He then heard two completely different voices in his head. The voice he had heard first in his head said quietly, 'No, I wouldn't.' The second and louder voice practically yelled, 'Yes, you idiot!'
Harry, speechless, merely sat there and waited. He didn't know what was going on anymore. Apparently, there were now two voices in his mind and had very different opinions on his actions. Harry closed his eyes, realizing he felt tired.
'How could you blame him for it? He was angry and after everything he had every right to be,' Voice A, as Harry had dubbed it, said angrily to Voice B.
'Because he was being foolish. I am not stating he had no right to be angry. He did. Rather, I am simply stating that what he was about to do was stupid,' Voice B calmly replied.
'So you've never had a stupid tantrum before?' Voice A countered.
'You know I have. But it is not the tantrum I had a problem with. If he had raged and yelled and huffed until he was blue in the face I would have been all too happy to have joined him with a few choice words to call that old goat,' said Voice B.
Harry couldn't help but smile at that. 'Old goat, huh? Well he does have the beard,' Harry thought, recalling an image of Dumbledore with a long white beard.
'My problem was that he was going to make his magic surge knowing full well he could have hurt himself,' Voice B continued, "He wasn't listening to you at all and acted like a total idiot attempting to harm himself!"
Harry flushed at that. It was true, not point in denying it. He knew that making his magic surge like that was reckless and he could have placed himself in danger. Now that he was feeling much more calm, he recognized just how much of an idiot he had been.
'Aw. I knew you cared about him,' said Voice A with amusement, 'and you told me you didn't. Tsk tsk. What a liar.'
'Don't make me bite you,' Voice B said back with no malice.
Harry was about to laugh, when he realized with a start that the voices were talking as if they were real people. He thought back to when Voice A had accused Voice B of having tantrum as well. And just now Voice B had told Voice A not to make him bite. 'Bite,' he thought, 'as in reality and not in my mind.' The voices that were currently having an "I will/ You won't" argument were real. Real people. Not his imagination or subconscious. Real…
Harry let out a laugh. He was not bonkers! "Hedwig was right," he said out loud. Thank God for small miracles.
The voices went silent at his exclamation. Harry suddenly felt quite lonely without their talking. He asked softly, "Who are you both? Obviously you are not figments of my mind."
'Does it matter,' Voice B asked him.
Harry thought about it. He found he didn't really care that there were real people attached to the voices he was hearing. "No," he said sincerely, "Just the same, though, I would like to know more about both of you."
There was no reply for a few minutes, until Voice B said, 'What do you want to know?'
Harry had so many questions for them. Like how they were talking to him and more importantly why. But he didn't want to dive right in and interrogate them just yet. "Well," he started hesitantly, "for starters how about your names? That is, unless you like being called Voice A and Voice B."
'Well that depends,' Voice A said.
"On," Harry asked, dreading that maybe they had changed their mind on telling him who they were.
'Who is A and who is B,' Voice A continued, "I quite like the idea of being before B over here."
Harry laughed, relieved they hadn't changed their minds after all.
'No. Absolutely not. You can't be A,' Voice B said in a rush.
'Why not,' Voice A demanded, 'Or if you prefer you could always be Thing 2?' Voice A then laughed. It was high and melodious. Harry liked it. It was sweet and contagious.
'Nope. Don't fancy being called Thing 2 either,' Voice B said.
Voice A gasped then. Harry thought maybe there was something wrong until he heard, 'Don't tell me you want to be called Chocolate Thunda then?'
For a moment Harry was confused. Then he remembered the muggle film "Cat in the Hat" and the way the Cat had introduced Thing 1 and Thing 2. 'So they are into muggle films,' he thought temporarily. Harry burst out laughing then. Soon Voice A joined him. Voice B huffed and then joined them after a while.
Harry was about to ask them again for their names, when Voice B said, 'Not now, Harry. First, you must disperse your magic.'
Harry looked around. He could see the destruction his magic surge had done. He could also tell that his magic had settled comfortably around him, though that wouldn't last if he were to get up and move around. Magic tended to do things to its surroundings if lefts unattended. And with the amount of magic he had released, Harry couldn't risk leaving it around.
"I don't really know how to change it though," he told the voices. Scowling, Harry struggled to recall how to disperse his magic. Every time he used his magic to cast spells he called on his magic but other than the amount needed for his spell, the rest stayed inside. He didn't know how to turn lingering magic into energy and then dispersing it.
'You are going to have to try, Harry,' said Voice A, 'If you don't, Hedwig will have to do it. Remember the spell requires her to keep the magic rather than return it to you. Magic is not infinite. Your core is strong and will regenerate the magic you lose, but not all. It is why some children get familiars. I will tell you more later. Right now, you must do this.'
"How," he asked.
'Close your eyes. You will have to gather your magic together before you can change it,' Voice A told him.
"Right. Okay…well how do you propose I gather my magic when I can't even see it," he asked them glumly.
'Hmm…the way we gather our magic is rather different than how your kind does it. Uh…,' Voice A started. Voice B snorted. 'Well do you have any ideas, Chocolate Thunda,' Voice A asked, annoyed.
'Okay let's try this. Harry imagine you have a vacuum. You do know what a vacuum is right?' Voice B said. Harry silently nodded.
Harry waited for Voice B to continue but he said nothing. It occurred to him that Voice B couldn't see him and therefore didn't know Harry had nodded. "Yes, I do," he answered.
'Okay. Imagine you have one and turn it on," Voice B said immediately.
"Uh..," Harry said, confused. It was Voice A who snorted this time.
'What Thing 2 means, Harry, is that like a vacuum sucks up the dirt, you need to do the same. So call the magic to you. Since the magic is yours, when it reaches you it will automatically go to your core. As this occurs, release the energy that is created by the change," Voice A said.
That made more sense to Harry. Closing his eyes, Harry concentrated on calling the magic that had settled around him. It took a while before he sensed the magic shift. As it reached him, he felt it enter him and fill him. So focused was he on calling all the magic he forgot to release the energy he was creating.
As soon as the magic was gone, Harry got to his feet. He felt so energized and felt the need to burn it off. A lap around the block…or more could help right at this minute. He felt so restless, he didn't notice as he began to pace around the yard.
'Well done,' Voice A chirped, 'You did that right…well sort of. You need to remember to release the energy. For a first time, though, that was splendid.'
Harry smiled. He stopped pacing and lifted his face. The sun warmed his skin and he loved the way that for this brief moment he was content. Unable to help himself, he lifted his arms and reached upwards to the sky.
'What I would give to go flying,' he thought,' Feeling the way I do now, I could probably fly for hours before feeling exhausted.'
Harry enjoyed the sun's warmth for a few more minutes before bringing his arms to his side. He felt a lot better now than he had earlier. Recalling all that happened, Harry knew his feeling of content would not last long.
"So," Harry said out loud, "what are your names?"
'What? Didn't like Chocolate Thunda?' teased Voice B.
"I meant your real names," he told them. Harry laughed.
"Who are you talking to, boy?"
Harry froze at the sound of that voice. He knew who this voice belonged to. Spinning around, Harry saw the entire Dursley family in front of him. Harry just stared as the trio looked around the yard. He heard his aunt go, "Look what he has done to my flowers!"
Vernon Dursley turned to face Harry. He proceeded to turn a deep shade of red…or was that purple. Harry couldn't quite decide.
"Now listen here, boy. How dare you destroy the yard and make a mess of things. Did you think it was not enough that we were forced to house, clothe, and feed you over the years that now you have to go and create this mess," Vernon bellowed.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon. It was an accident I swear," Harry let out meekly.
"You expect me to believe that is all it was? I am not dumb, boy. Now you will clean this yard until I say you can come back in. And no supper for you tonight," Vernon screamed.
'Oi, what is his problem," Voice B said loudly. Harry winced.
"What is wrong with you?" Vernon asked, noticing the wince.
"Nothing, sir." Harry looked down at his shoes.
'I don't like him. How dare he? I ought a…oh he is so lucky I not there,' Voice A said, 'He looks like a grape. That's how purple he looks. Harry squeeze him. Start with his head.'
Harry was glad he was looking down. Or else his uncle would have noticed the smile that formed on his face.
'No you are wrong,' interrupted Voice B. Harry thought, thankfully, that there this voice was more mature than the other, until he heard, 'Start with the stomach. Clearly that is the roundest part of him.'
Harry could no longer help himself and he let out a laugh. Vernon, thinking that the boy was laughing at him, began to shout, "Oh you think it's funny, do you? Well then you can sleep out here all night long. How do you like that? Now get to cleaning."
Knowing his uncle was very angry with him, Harry didn't want to antagonize him anymore. He looked up at his uncle and was about to agree.
'No, Harry. Don't agree. This is why they treat you like this,' Voice A said firmly, 'They know you won't say anything and will take anything they do and tell you. Don't. Stand up for yourself.'
Harry was about to reply out loud when he realized that his uncle would get even more angry if he did. 'Can you hear me if I talk to you like this?' Harry mentally asked.
'Yes,' came the reply from both voices.
'Okay. Look, you don't understand. If I stand up for myself, they will kick me out and I need to say here. I am safe from Voldermort here due to a blessing sealed by blood…my mother's and now my aunt's,' Harry told them quietly, 'Any form of mutiny will not be tolerated and I would be kicked out. Besides, I am not of age yet. If I try anything I will get into trouble like before. They know that.'
'Not if you don't use your wand,' Voice B answered.
Harry thought about it for a while. It was tempting. To give as good as he got, and with magic no less, was a very tempting idea. In the end, however, Harry said, 'I can't. That would be an abuse of power. They wouldn't be able to defend themselves.'
'We aren't saying to abuse your power, Harry, just use it,' Voice A said softly, 'The way they treat you is wrong. Besides, that whole blood thing is rather useless isn't it? Think about it. Voldermort still got your blood and possessed you. What good is it if it can't protect you?'
Harry took some time to process that. It was true. For all the power the blood blessing had, Voldemort had still managed to hurt him and more. If it was about staying in a location that Voldemort couldn't access, why couldn't he stay at Hogwarts? The longer Harry thought about it, it made sense less and less. Then Harry had one thought that destroyed his belief in the blood blessing. 'Dumbledore told me about it.'
Harry had just discovered that the old man had some very very bad secrets, and he wasn't stupid as to believe that there would not be more.
Vernon continued to watch Harry waiting for an answer. He had seen several emotions flicker through the boy's face and was startled to see one emotion at the end of it, determination. "Well what do you have to say," he yelled, uncertain of what was going on with the boy.
"I agree that I have made a mess, Uncle Vernon. The which I will clean up. However, if you think I will sleep out here all night you are sadly mistaken," Harry replied calmly. Harry had made his choice. He would no longer take this kind of abuse if it there was no reason to do so.
Momentarily caught unaware, Vernon was speechless. Petunia, upon hearing what Harry had said, strode up to her husband's side and cast a glare towards Harry. "How dare you talk back to him," she asked coldly.
"I apologized for the mess and I even said I would clean it up. However, I clearly said that it was an accident and I don't think I should be punished so severely for it," Harry replied to his aunt.
"And what are you going to do about it, you little freak," said Vernon, who had gotten over his shock. "We know that you can't use magic until you are of age and you're friends are not here to say anything on your behalf," he sneered.
Harry was very tempted to use magic to shut him up, but that would do little good for him in the long run. If only there was a way for him to understand why they hated him so much, to make them understand him. Another impossible if only.
'Make them understand. Allow them to see as you have seen,' Voice A said quietly.
'How,' Harry asked. He truly wanted them to understand him. He knew maybe that they would never love or accept him, but at least he wanted them to understand.
'Close your eyes. In your head, say INTELLEGERE. Then allow the spell to take its course.'
Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to go as far as to use magic. 'It won't harm them, right? It won't change who they are or make them act a certain way,' he asked finally.
'No, Harry. The spell will only allow the others to see as the castor has seen. It gives them the ability to see the intentions, emotions, and thoughts that are normally kept from others. It is a hard spell to cast as it requires the castor to share some of the more personal memories. Sometimes it does not work, but we will help you. Guide you,' said Voice A, 'Will you let us?'
'Yes,' Harry said. Harry took a deep sigh and closed his eyes. Calling his magic from inside himself, he concentrated on the words. 'Intellegere,' he said mentally.
Harry heard the gasps from the Dursleys, before he felt the spell touch his mind. He recalled his most earliest memory, the one of his mother. Like always, Harry tried to shut it out of his mind to refrain from hearing his mother screaming.
'Don't fight it. I know it hurts but hold on...' one of the voices whispered to him.
Harry, deciding to trust them, let the memory play. He heard a whimper from his Aunt Petunia. He knew she recognized her sister's voice. Opening his eyes, Harry saw tears falling from her eyes. He knew then that his aunt had never hated his mother. She had loved her little sister.
The next memory was pulled into focus for Harry. He had almost forgotten it. It was a memory of when he was 5. He had gone with his aunt to the store. There his aunt had met one of her friends. Harry had heard when the lady told her that she was looking a "little old" and should try out some new makeup. Harry, indignant, had nearly kicked the woman. Petunia had said her goodbyes and had continued walking. As she walked by the cosmetic section, Harry saw her look at her reflection. Harry had been sad and wanted to tell her she always looked pretty to him but didn't want her to get mad at him again. The memory began to fade.
Harry looked at his aunt then. She had a big smile. It was true. Whenever she smiled like that, he thought she was pretty. As he had gotten older and older, she had smiled less and less at him until not at all.
Another memory began to surface. It was of when Dudley and his gang of friends had begun to beat him up in school. Later that same day, Uncle Vernon had hurt his leg going down a flight of stairs. He had been in a very bad mood. Bruised and hurting, Harry had still decided to adjust the couch for him and had made several of his uncle's favorite snacks. He had set everything up so that when his uncle got home from the clinic, he could sit down and enjoy some television. When his uncle did get home he was quite happy to see the snacks and all but had attributed it all to the doings of Dudley. He had praised Dudley and had yelled at Harry for being so lazy. Dudley took the credit and Harry didn't say anything. His uncle was happy, so why ruin it.
Harry turned to look at his uncle. He had a nice shade of red tinting his cheeks. Vernon scowled back at him. Harry shrugged. He had doubted that his uncle would ever get over his dislike of him.
The next memory was of him during first year. He was looking at the mirror, wanting nothing more than to have his parents by his side. In the next moment, the memory shifted of him learning how his parents had died and that the true murderer was still alive. For a brief instant, Harry focused on when he took Buckbeak and had talked to Sirius before he had to escape.
Harry bit back a sob at remembering he had finally thought that he was going to have a godfather again and they could start rebuilding the broken pieces together.
More memories came to the front. Harry was not surprised when the memory of Voldemort killing Cedric showed. Then having to duel the maniac and watching as the souls of those he had killed came out of the wand. The memories began to fade, and Harry thought that maybe the spell was coming to an end. He was wrong.
He felt the memory before he saw it. It was when the dementors had come for him last summer. The Dursleys gasped. Dudley went pale.
He remembered thinking that maybe they would follow him if he ran and leave Dudley alone, but he saw that they were closing in on him. Harry had pulled out his wand and used his patronus to drive them away. He knew he would get into trouble. He knew that there would be consequences, but he hasn't cared. Dudley was his cousin and he would be damned if anyone tried to harm him. It didn't matter if they barely even liked each other. That was another story altogether.
Harry looked at Dudley, and was surprised. Dudley was crying but he was smiling right back at Harry. He heard his uncle coughed and was shocked once again when he saw his uncle looking at him with smile.
'You sure that's a smile,' said one of the voices. 'Don't know,' said the other, 'looked more like he's constipated.'
Harry knew it looked odd but that was a smile forming on his uncle's face. He began to smile, but it faltered when a new memory came into view. It was of Sirius. Harry held his breath as the memory played out. He watched as Bellatrix sent Sirius through the veil. Harry broke then. He couldn't take anymore. He began to sob. Sirius had died. So lost in his thoughts, Harry didn't even feel the spell slip away from his mind.
Through his tears, he saw his aunt run towards him. Harry was unprepared for when she reached him. She threw her arms around him saying something that sounded like sorry. Dudley didn't run, but he too came towards him and stood to his right. Harry held his aunt back and cried. He didn't hear his uncle move, but he felt him lay a hand on his left shoulder.
After some time, Harry calmed down. Uncle Vernon coughed and walked back into the house. His aunt pulled back to wipe the tears away from Harry's face and then from her own.
"I think we all need to have a nice long talk," she said, "Anybody up for some cookies?"
'Us,' said the voices. Harry smiled. "I am," he said. Dudley nodded at his mom. Petunia then said, "I have to go to the store then. Boys come with me."
"Actually, Aunt Petunia, I want to clean up here," Harry said to her. His aunt nodded and smiled. She motioned for Dudley to follow her and walked away towards the house. Dudley was about to walk away but he turned to face Harry abruptly sticking out his hand. Harry looked at it and then back at his cousin's face. Gladly, Harry shook it. Dudley then ran towards the house.
"What just happened," he asked breathlessly.
'They understood. Gah people really need to learn how to communicate with each other,' Voice B said exasperated.
'It's called talking honestly with each other,' Voice A said, 'Humans rarely do it.'
"Wow," Harry whispered. He knew he would have to ask them later what was meant by "human," but right now he was just overwhelmed. "Tell me," he said at last, "What are your names?"
'My name is Kyi," Voice A said, "And Chocolate Thunda over here is Kai."
"Kyi and Kai, huh," Harry said. "Nice to meet you."
Harry made quick work out of fixing up the yard. Turns out the damage had been mostly superficial. In the end, he had replanted the flowers, fixed up the chairs, and swept the leaves and dirt away from the door.
After he was done, Harry headed into house and washed up. He walked up the stairs and into his room. Hedwig looked at him, indicating that she had been waiting for him to return. Harry moved towards his bed and sat down. He looked down at his hands not knowing where to start.
"Hedwig…I'm sorry. For a lot of things," Harry said. Looking up at her, he continued, "It was never your fault, girl. Because of that bind, you couldn't have done anything even if you wanted. The one to blame is not yourself. Rather, I am to blame for some of it."
When it looked like Hedwig was going to interrupt, Harry quickly said, "I should have known and done something for you. And for that I am sorry. I am also sorry for walking out on you earlier."
Hedwig said nothing and continued to watch him.
"I know that who holds most of the blame for what was done to you was Dumbledore, but I was foolish enough to go into the Ministry without calling Sirius first so understand that I am partly to blame," Harry finished.
Hedwig flew towards Harry and perched on his lap. She trilled softly and moved into Harry's hand when he reached out to pet her.
Thinking that maybe the spell to understand her had stopped working, Harry was about to cast it again. Before he could, she trilled again. This time he heard her say, "You took too long to get back."
Laughing, Harry continued to pet her. After a while he frowned. "Hedwig, about the bind. I will try to find a way to undo it. Soon. I promise," Harry told her gently. Hedwig looked up at him and hooted, "I know. Thank you, neno."
Harry and Hedwig stayed like that for a while. It was only when Harry heard his aunt return that he moved. Hedwig returned to her perch on the desk and Harry made his way to the kitchen.
Harry walked into the kitchen and saw that his aunt was getting everything ready to make cookies. He hesitated before asking shyly, "May I help with anything?"
His aunt turned towards him and nodded. Smiling, Harry moved to help her. Dudley came in with the rest of the grocery bags. Soon, he too was helping. His uncle Vernon came into the kitchen saying that he wanted something to drink. As his aunt, Dudley, and he continued to work on the cookies, Harry stole a glance at his uncle. It looked like he was pouting. Harry smiled.
"Uncle Vernon, do you want to help me," Harry asked quietly.
His uncle coughed, but moved to help Harry. All of them then worked as a comfortable silence settled around them. 'This is not strange at all,' Harry thought to himself with amusement.
Pretty soon they were finished and were waiting for the cookies to bake. Rather than go to the living room, Dudley and his uncle had decided to stay in the kitchen with Petunia and Harry. Sitting around the table, Dudley began talking about how he wanted to join some boxing gym to get into shape and what not. The conversation started off rocky but after a few minutes, they had all joined in.
Harry was laughing and enjoying himself, when Kyi interrupted the conversation sounding alarmed.
'Harry,' she said quickly, 'They are coming.'
Harry bristled instantly. 'Who is coming,' Harry asked.
'Four wizards and one witch,' Kai said softly, 'They are coming to check on you. It's safe to say the old goat knows about your magical surge.'
Harry sighed. This was going to present a problem. He and the Dursleys were barely building a civil and friendly relationship. More wizards could jeopardize that. Bracing himself for the anger he was sure was coming Harry said, "People are coming."
The Dursleys turned to look at him.
"They are wizards. What happened earlier was an accident and they are probably coming to check on me to see if I am ok," Harry continued. Harry turned to look at his uncle. Rather than turning red, however, his uncle looked perplexed.
"Are you," he asked.
Harry, confused, replied, "Am I what?"
"Are you ok?" his uncle asked again. Looking around at their faces, Harry noticed they were concerned about him. Genuinely concerned.
"I'm fine," he replied, "Everything is going to be ok. I won't let them do anything to you all, I promise."
The Dursleys relaxed substantially after he said that. They all turned to smile at him. Harry was filled with so much emotion. Unable to help himself, Harry smiled right back. "Thank you," Harry told them suddenly.
They looked at him in confusion. Harry continued, "You might not realize it but the wizard community believes me to be some kind of hero, an idol of sorts. I always hated it. Although you all didn't always treat me well I can honestly say I am grateful you because you all taught me how to be stronger. You allowed me a reprieve from their expectations. Thank you," he told them quietly.
The Dursleys looked down for a little while remembering their treatment towards Harry. When they finally looked up at him, Dudley said to his parents, "We can do better right, mum and dad." Petunia and Vernon looked at their son and nodded. Turning to Harry, Petunia grabbed his hand. She said, "We'll all do better."
Harry, knowing they were being sincere, laughed in delight. The Dursley's joined him. They were still laughing when five people apparated into the kitchen. Turning, Harry recognized them. Tonks was on the far left. Next to her was Remus. To his right was Moody. And on the far right was none other than Snape. In front of them was old goat, Dumbledore.
They all stared at him and the Durleys. 'What a picture we must all make,' ' Harry thought to himself. Not bothering to get off the chair, Harry addressed them with a simple "Hello."
Dumbledore took a step towards him. "Harry, my boy, how are you?"
Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm fine, headmaster," he murmured.
Dumbledore took in the way Harry looked at him. Making a motion with his hand Dumbledore said, "We came here to discuss something with you."
Harry knew that wasn't true. He knew Dumbledore had came to check on why there had been a big magical surge. He also knew Dumbledore could not admit this without also admitting how he had known about it. In order to prevent himself from snorting at the old goat, Harry got up from his chair.
"What is it?" he asked.
Snape, who had been quiet the whole time, made a face. "You would show some respect, Potter." he said with disgust.
Vernon got out of his chair suddenly and walked up to Snape. "You would watch how you talk to my nephew, you bat," he spat out at Snape.
"Please let's calm down," Dumbledore began, "Let's not fight." Turning to face Vernon he said, "We are here to take young Harry with us for the remainder of the summer."
"Why?" Harry asked sadly. Things were starting to go well here. Why did they want to take him now?
Dumbledore looked momentarily unprepared for the sadness that Harry was expressing. Remus, who had watched the entire scene with fascination and confusion, stepped up to Harry. "Don't you want to go away from here, Harry?"
Harry knew that he was acting out of character and that they didn't know what had happened earlier. "I don't want to go," he told the werewolf.
"Harry," Dumbledore said, as if he were talking to a child, "Please go pack your bags. We must go soon."
Harry turned to face the Dursleys. They looked at him with a sad smile. He didn't want to go. "But we made cookies," Harry said suddenly, stalling for time.
Snape let out an exasperated sigh. "Potter, go and get your belonging so we can go," he said.
Harry looked back at the wizards and witch. He knew he would have to go with them, but he would drag it out as long as he could. Putting on his best puppy dog eyes and pout he asked, "So…no cookies?"
A/N: So I realize this chapter is longer than the first two but I couldn't stop writing. I was so encouraged by my first review that I had to continue. Many thanks to Elektra107! Now I'm going to bed.