Dinner at the Potter that night was… tense.
James was mad at Matt for even suggesting that he give up Midori. Matt was mad at James for not even considering it and blowing him off. Lily was mad at James for not making more of an effort to talk to Midori and Midori was mad at Lily and James for, well, everything.
Like I said, tense.
"Harry how's your dinner?" asked Lily gladly.
Midori looked up at her glaring. What sort of stupid question was that? She made it and she was eating it, it was the exact same dinner so she should know how it was. Besides he wasn't going to answer if she wouldn't call him by his name.
He looked back down at his plate and returned to poking the food, trying to decide whether they'd put any potion in it.
"Harry answer your mother," snapped James. Midori ignored him and, having decided there was nothing added to his food, ate a fork full of mashed potato.
Matt sighed, "Midori do you like the food?"
Finally.
Midori looked up and smiled at Matt. "Yes it is very nice."
James turned red, "Why are you ignoring us?"
"I am not ignoring you Professor Potter," said Midori calmly, still not looking up, "You weren't speaking to me, so I didn't answer."
"Not speaking to you?" yelled James, "I was definitely speaking to you!"
Midori finally looked up and stared coldly at James. "No, you were speaking to someone called Harry. Although I can't see anyone else here, do you need your head checked out?"
James growled and was about to retort when Lily kicked him under the table. "Behave both of you," she snapped.
He was about to argue when the fire flared up in green flames. A man's head appeared in the flames.
"James?"
"Kingsley!" said James happily, all previous anger gone.
"Who's that?" Midori whispered at Matt.
"Kingsley Shacklebolt," he whispered back. "He's the Head of the Auror Department at the Ministry. Dad use to work for him before he went to Hogwarts to teach."
James and Kingsley were whispering urgently and the boys were unable to hear anything. After a while James stood up and Kingsley Shacklebolt's head disappeared.
James looked at his family, misery plastered on his face. "Albus Dumbledore was taken in for questioning under Veritaserum last night. This morning he was formally charged with the kidnapping of Harry Potter."
-
Dumbledore sat in his cell in Azkaban cursing the day he ever announced Matthias Potter as the Chosen One.
A Dementor swept passed his door and he took a shuddering gasp.
"Albus stop with this! You have to look after Ariana!"
"Buzz off Abe, Al and I are going to do great things for wizards! Soon Muggles will be the ones hiding not us!"
"Ally? Would you read me a story?"
"Go back inside Ari!"
"But I WANT a story!"
"Ari go away."
"Don't talk to her like that. Flagrate!"
The Dementor passed and so did Dumbledore's painful memory. He was getting out of here if it was the last thing he did! He just had to figure out how.
-
"I can't believe this," said Lily again.
She and James sat at the table. They had sent the boys to bed, much to Midori's irritation. "I know," whispered James. "How could he? We trusted him, why didn't we see it?"
Lily reached over and took her husband's hand. "We can't blame ourselves."
"Why not? Harry does, he blames us."
Lily had no answer to that, she just let go of James and sobbed into her hands.
Sometimes the damage is done and there's nothing anyone can do to fix it.
-
Shimo was livid, Kashi had locked him in his room after he had tried to floo to England to rescue Midori.
He didn't give a shit that the Potters were innocent after all, Midori hated them and he was sure that it was causing him a great amount of pain to be around them. They wouldn't understand how to look after him either.
They couldn't know that they had to avoid saying things like freak, or calling him boy. They had no way of knowing Midori's fear of whips and fire pokers. Or that the sight of anyone getting burnt sent him into a panic attack.
The Potters knew nothing about Midori, they only knew Harry Potter, they needed to know that Harry Potter died the night he began his new life.
His eyes flicked to the corner where a pensive stood. Midori always left it with Shimo. He said that if it was in his room he might look at the memories.
Shimo picked up his staff and tapped the pensive once, immediately it shrunk until it fit into his palm.
After quickly scrawling a note he whistled softly and Seppen appeared at his side. He knelt down and tied both note and the tiny pensive to her collar. "Take these to Lily and James Potter okay?"
She licked his face in response and ran out the room. Shimo fell back on his bottom and wondered was he doing the right thing?
-
The sobbing had gone on long enough, James decided. He needed to say something to comfort her.
He opened his mouth, "Lil- ARGHH!" something furry knocked against his leg and he jumped up. He looked down and saw a grey wolf look up his him, her head cocked to the side. He recognised her as the Slytherin kid's wolf, Sadie or something like that.
She brushed his leg with her collar and James noticed that something was tied to it. He leant down and untied it.
Sadie licked his hands and ran off, disappearing when she hit the wall.
It was a letter marked Mr and Mrs Potter and a… toy pensive?
Mr and Mrs Potter,
Tap the pensive once with your wand to make it grow to normal size. It contains Midori's memories of the Dursleys. Watch them so you can understand him better.
Shimo.
PS I you can don't tell Midori I gave you this.
"What is it?" Lily's voice cracked.
"A letter from Harry's Slytherin friend," he held up the mini pensive, "This has all of Harry's memories in it… of his life with the Dursleys."
A stricken look crossed Lily's face, "Do we…" she gulped, "Do we look at them?"
"I don't know," he sighed, "It's an invasion of Harry's privacy but it might let us understand him better." He placed the pensive on the floor and tapped it with his wand. It enlarged to the proper size.
They stared at it in silence and then suddenly Lily moved forwards, "I have to know," she said before she dunked her head into the swirling memories. James sighed and dipped his hand into the pensive and felt himself being pulled inside.
He looked around. He was in the cleanest house he had ever seen, it was worst than Sirius' parents.
"Where am I?" he wondered aloud.
"My sister's old house." He turned and found Lily standing next to him her eyes transfixed on the scene before them.
A two year old Harry lay in front of them, his clothes were way too big for him and the glass in his round glasses were broken. And he was bleeding.
Vernon Dursley stood above him, kicking at his stomach. Harry groaned and vomited all of Vernon's shoes, which enraged him even more. He lifted the boy up and threw him against the wall.
"Get back into the shed, Freak!" he screamed, "And never fuck up my dinner again!"
He stormed off and Harry picked himself up and walked out the door to the shed.
The scene changed.
Three-year-old Harry stood on a chair, next to the stove. He was making eggs. The Dursleys sat at the table. Vernon was reading the paper and Petunia was fussing over a fat boy.
"My Dudders is such a handsome boy," she cooed. She snapped up and glared at Harry. 'If you so much as burn an inch of those Boy, you'll be on the streets. I want everything to be perfect for Dudley's first day of school."
Harry nodded and shovelled the eggs onto a plate. He hopped off the chair and placed the plate in front of Dudley.
"Aunt Petunia?" he asked in a tiny voice. "Am I going to school today?"
Petunia looked down at the little boy with disgust on her face. "Unfortunately," she said disdainfully, "You have to or the neighbours will talk. Now listen up Boy, while you are outside this house you will not talk of what you do here. You won't speak of Vernon's cures. They won't understand. At that school your name is Eugene Evans but that is not your name you here me?" she slapped him in the face, "You aren't worthy of a name. You remember that!"
James stared in shock at his sister-in-law. He'd known she hated magic but this was… And he couldn't do anything about it. Every fibre in his body was yelling at him to hit her, to yell and scream, to make her suffer like she was making Harry suffer. But he couldn't, it had already happened.
Lily wasn't that rational. "YOU BITCH!" she screamed, "HOW COULD YOU!" she punched at Petunia and her fist went straight through. Again and again she tried to hit Petunia and failed until James wrapped his arms around her.
"You can't do anything Lily," he whispered, "It a memory. It's already happened."
She fell to the floor and James sunk down with her.
They sat on the floor and watched memory after memory, injury after injury, insult after insult, until the final and worst of Harry's memories of the Dursleys.
"Boy!
Boy! Get inside now!" screamed Petunia from inside the house. Harry
was outside weeding.
He quickly scrabbled up and ran as fast as he
could to answer his aunt's call. He stopped right in front of her
and was given a slap around the face for his troubles. Lily gasped at
the sound.
"You're too slow," she snapped. "Your uncle wants to see you in his office. Go! Now!" He quickly turned around to run to his uncle's office when something hard collided with his head.
His aunt had hit him with the frying pan.
Tears fell down James' face and he held onto Lily hand tightly.
"It's ok," he whispered.
Harry turned around and asked, "Forgive me Aunt. What is wrong?"
She glared at him down her horse like face. "You didn't dismiss yourself!" she yelled.
Harry fell to his knees and rested his on the floor in a grovelling position. James' growled at the sight of his son grovelling to anyone.
"Forgive me kind Aunt. I will now, with your permission, leave to attend to Uncle," he said.
"You may go," she said stiffly.
"Thank you very much," said Harry as he got up off the floor and sprinted to his Uncle's office. James and Lily quickly got up off the floor and ran after him.
He knocked timidly on the door. "Uncle Vernon? It's Boy. May I please enter?"
"GET INSIDE YOU FREAK!" roared Vernon Dursley from inside.
Harry opened the door and stepped inside. James and Lily scuttled into the corner and trembled in fear, wondering what Vernon had in store today as one of his 'cures'.
"Kneel Boy," commanded Vernon.
Harry did as he was asked.
Vernon held up a long black rope. "Do you know what this is Boy?" he spat.
Lily grabbed James hand. "Oh Merlin is that-?"
James gulped and nodded.
Harry shook his head, "No sir."
Vernon grinned evilly, "This is a whip. They promised me it would beat the freakiness out of you."
Harry nodded excitedly. "Oh Uncle Vernon! Please! Use it on me! I don't want to be a freak!"
James couldn't handle this, he couldn't. He turned and faced the wall. He wouldn't look, he wouldn't
"Lay down," Vernon barked. "And take off your shirt."
Harry did as he was asked. James heard Lily gasp and looked briefly out of the corner of his eye. At first glance it would seem that Harry's entire back was purple but really it was just many individual bruises locked together and there was the odd cut that was still bleeding.
The first lash came before James could look away again. Harry gasped.
"Quiet Boy!" roared Vernon.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
Blood was dripping down Harry's back and his face was contorted in pain. It seemed like an age before the whippings stopped.
Vernon grunted irritated. "It hasn't worked," he grumbled, very sure of his words. James gritted his teeth. Of course it hadn't worked. There was nothing to fix!
Vernon glanced around the room looking for another method and his eyes settled on the fire. He pulled the red-hot poker out and stepped towards Harry.
Harry was still lying on the ground, unaware of his uncles knew plan. James stepped forward. "No!" he screamed.
Then without any warning Vernon placed the poker down onto Harry's back.
He screamed in agony but stopped soon after.
James flung himself onto Vernon's back, trying to pull him off his son. But he just fell straight through, uselessly.
Vernon threw the poker aside his eyes furious.
He brought his fists down on Harry, madness glinting in his eyes. He kicked and slammed, pushed and pulled. And at the same time James threw himself at the man, trying to stop him, trying to save Harry even though he knew he couldn't.
Vernon slammed Harry's head against the brick walls and all the while Harry made no sound.
"Stop him Harry!" James cried, "Stand up for yourself! STOP HIM!"
There was a pop and brought his fists down on nothing
Vernon roared in fury and James and Lily laughed.
Harry had stood up for himself. He'd escaped.
The last memory wasn't Harry's. It was colder and it seemed to be many years into the future.
Vernon was fatter, James noted with glee, and he was alone. The fat-man shivered.
"Vernon Dursley," a chilly voice whispered through the house causing James and Lily to jump. "Vernon, Vernon. Little murderer, killed little Harry Potter didn't you?"
"Who's there?" roared Vernon.
"Ever heard of karma Verny? You beat a little boy you bastard. You killed him! MURDERER!"
The house rocked with the voice of the voice. The power force was amazing, the voice clearly belong to a powerful witch or wizard. James looked around to find the source of the voice but he couldn't see anyone.
"Go away!" spluttered Vernon, "Outta my house! Before I come after you!"
"Tut tut Vern. Did you make those threats to the Potter boy? What gave you the right to beat him? What gave you the right to take his life?"
"His whore of a mother sold him to us! My ex-wife's freak sister!" screamed Vernon. Lily gasped and James grasped her hand as they listened to the bastard. "Paid us every month to keep the little shit!" he fumbled to open a drawer. He ripped it open and pulled out an envelope. He threw it into thin air where it promptly disappeared. "Take it! Proof! THAT SLUT SOLD THE BASTARD CHILD TO US! Said his brother was the important one! SHE DIDN'T GIVE A SHIT!"
A huge burst of wind blasted its way at Vernon Dursley knocking him against the wall. He cracked his head and fell to the ground blood pooling under him.
Good, James thought coldly. He'd seen death before, he'd even killed, being an Auror for nine years forced him to, but he'd never enjoyed it. But watching Vernon Dursley die was an amazing release, knowing that the man who'd hurt his son was dead.
The air rushed around Lily and James and they felt as if they were spinning upwards. Up and out of the pensive.
They collapsed together on the floor and cried and they finally understood why their son hated them so much.
A/N: Wow, I've been overwhelmed by all the reviews. Thankyou all so much.
Tintenkatze: Yes it'll be super easy for Midori and he doesn't need to take his OWLs but he wants to hang around for his brother. Whether he does actually keep his promise only time will tell.
Adenoide: I won't put Midori with a Japanese girl because the only Japanese girls I've established are Kashi and Mangetsu who are more like his sisters and Headmistress Imamura and Arina who are too old. And I wouldn't be able to introduce a new OC this far in without having her really under developed.
Shadowcub: Sorry but I'm a 14 year old girl who goes to an all girls school, it's impossible for me to write a story without some romance. But I hope you don't abandon the story just because of that.
Midori could just run off back to Japan but it would get Manebe and his friends in a lot of trouble and they could possibly end up in Azkaban so he won't risk it.
Cldiva, Jente Bidernais, PheonixBlaze18 and ReadTilUDie: Sorry guys but Kashi is a big sister to Midori and I'd see it as incest to put them together.
Shinigami: Noooo!! Midori is not going to go insane Tommy style and murder his parents. Don't worry he'll catch on to the truth soon enough.
Pinkyroo: No he won't use his old name again. He doesn't relate to it and therefore refuses to answer to it.
Ok! Now for the pairings, drum roll please!
Midori/Luna (I hope this pleases all the Ginny haters, a few of whom said they would leave if I put Midori with Ginny. However they did argue a very good case so I have to listen to them.)
Matt/Kashi
Remus/Tonks
And although it wasn't on the list: Neville/Hermione! (although it was beaten by heaps by Neville/Luna but that was beaten by Midori/Luna so I couldn't do it.)
And due to popular demand Shimo will have no romantic relationship! Poor boy, but I think he prefers it that way.