Notes: As I said in my profile, I've never lived in the UK, so I have no idea how long it might take to get from King's Cross to Privet Drive. My best guess using an online route planner is about an hour...ish.
As for the cost of their stay at the Leaky... I picked a random bed and breakfast in London and found out the cost of a month's stay there (about £4000 for one adult) and ran it through an online currency converter. Let me know if you think it sounds ludicrous...?
Yoruko Rhapsodos asked about pairings. I haven't decided yet, but probably not slash: I really don't think I could write it convincingly.
Chapter 2
Dark had been in the presence of Vernon Dursley for all of five minutes and was distinctly unimpressed. The man had started ranting about "Harry's lot" and "those freaks" as soon as they had sat down in the car, without so much as a "How was school?", and had yet to stop or find another topic. Feeling Harry's resignation Dark started plotting his evening's activities, carefully keeping his thoughts to himself.
Finally, after an hour of sitting there listening to Vernon rant (he eventually switched to complaining about other drivers) they arrived at Number Four, Privet Drive. Harry wordlessly retrieved his school things, made his way to the front door and rang the bell. You don't have a key? Dark asked, surprised.
Of course not, Harry answered bitterly, why waste a perfectly good key on a 'worthless freeloader' like me? They hate magic, and they hate me. Harry sounded tired, and clearly had no interest in talking about it. Instead, he sent Dark the memory of his pre-Hogwarts years.
After a moment a very sour-looking Aunt Petunia answered the door. Dark thought she looked like a very unpleasant person, in stark contrast to Emiko Niwa or even Molly Weasley. Harry just stared at her wordlessly for a moment, then stepped past her and into the house, making his way upstairs. He entered one of the bedrooms with - Dark felt like doing a double-take - a cat-flap on the door? And was that evidence of bars on the window? Harry set the trunk and Hedwig's cage down, opened the cage door and flopped down on the bed. Hedwig hooted and flew up to perch on the back of his desk chair.
After a few minutes of silent, inconclusive wondering, Dark couldn't keep quiet anymore. Why do you live with them if they hate you? Why not stay with the Weasleys?
I asked Dumbledore once, Harry answered. He said something about blood protection: I have to stay with Aunt Petunia because she's my mum's sister. How that works when she barely tolerates me I don't know.
Blood protection? Would that even work anymore? Dark asked. They used your blood in that ritual; they might be able to find you now. I don't know much about that kind of ritual, he admitted, The Niwas did all the research and then told me what to go steal.
...I think we'd better play it safe and leave, Harry admitted after a short pause. I'll ask Hermione about it in September. Where do you think we should go? Everybody's going to recognise me.
Not if we go as me, Dark countered. You wizards are pretty backwards. Nobody will have heard of the Great Dark Mousy (the heathens!) so nobody'll notice anything. And if we stay at a magical inn we can keep an eye out for Voldie.
On hearing Dark's nickname for Voldemort, Harry burst into quiet, breathless giggles. Later he would insist it was laughter, not giggles. Teenage boys don't giggle. No, they don't. Really!
It took a while for him to get himself under control, but when he did he told Dark, I don't want to use the Knight Bus, so I think we'll have to wait until morning. I'll leave Hedwig's cage here and we'll take public transport. No, wait, I don't have any Muggle money! he realised.
Leave that to me, Dark reassured him. Petunia won't notice a few pounds going missing for a little while, so we'll have time to get away before she does.
Just then Aunt Petunia chose that moment to bang Harry's door open. "Boy! What are your freakish things doing up here? You know they belong in the cupboard downstairs!"
Harry stood up and stared coldly at her. "My stuff stays here. I'm leaving tomorrow, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Aunt Petunia opened her mouth to say something so he added, "I'll hex you if I have to." It was an empty threat, but Petunia didn't need to know that. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, not saying a word. Finally she left the room, closing the door behind her.
That night, just as Dark was planning to sneak downstairs using a sleeping Harry's body and appearance, the door opened and Petunia swept in silently. While Dark played dead she quietly set down a sealed envelope on the desk, lingered a moment looking at whom she thought to be her nephew, then swept out again, closing the door. Dark waited a moment before almost-silently opening the envelope. He twitched involuntarily at the contents, put it back in, and stuffed the envelope under his pillow.
Harry woke bright and early – his alarm clock told him it was only six o'clock – to Uncle Vernon's loud snores and froze when he felt something papery and smooth under his right hand, which was under the pillow. He pulled it out, inspected the contents, and froze. The envelope contained three five-pound notes and about half a dozen ten-pound notes, and a sheet of plain white printer paper. He unfolded the sheet and took a look at it. It read:
Harry,
Here. Use this as you see fit.
Aunt Petunia
Harry was speechless. Finally, after several minutes, he managed a murmured "Wow. That's a lot of money." His only answer was a snore from Dark. Harry snorted at the response (or lack thereof), stuffed the five-pound notes in his pocket, got up, stuck the envelope and remaining money in his trunk and opened the window. "You'd better go, Hedwig. Come and find me later on."
Hedwig hooted in understanding and flew out of the window.
Harry grabbed his trunk and left the room. He tried to be as quiet as possible in dragging it downstairs, and was relieved when Uncle Vernon's snoring continued undisturbed. He wordlessly made his way to the nearest bus stop and got on the next bus.
When the bus finally came to a halt near the Leaky Cauldron Harry dragged his trunk into a nearby alley and started trying to wake his hitchhiker up. Dark. Oi, Dark! Time to wake up: we're almost at the inn.
I'm up already. Just warning you, this is going to hurt. And Dark took over. The transformation seemed to take forever and Harry felt like yelling his head off at the pain, but kept stubbornly silent even in his own head. Finally it was complete and Dark made a show of nonchalantly picking up Harry's trunk and making his way to the Leaky Cauldron.
When he entered he was greeted by Tom the barman. "What would you like?"
"How much for a month's stay for one person?" Dark asked.
"That would be two-hundred galleons a week," came the answer.
"All right, I'll have to go to the bank," Dark told him and made his way to the back of the pub and the entrance to Diagon Alley. Harry, how do I get through here?
You need something like a wand – it's kind of a test for magic, Harry replied.
Will a feather do? Dark asked. Harry had no answer, so Dark pulled out one of his feathers and tapped it on the appropriate brick. After a moment the entrance opened up, and Dark went on through.
I think we need a weightless bag for all that money: I don't know about you, but the idea of carrying two-hundred galleons doesn't sound like fun. The Triwizard coin bag must've been charmed – it didn't weight much at all and wouldn't gold normally weight a lot more? Harry commented.
Dark wordlessly projected agreement as he made his way to one of the shops in the alley. A few minutes later he had purchased a new mostly-weightless money pouch and started looking around.
You're not going to start picking pockets, are you? Harry asked warily.
You got a better idea? This way we don't have to empty your account and draw attention from anyone watching you, Dark pointed out.
You're right, Harry admitted reluctantly.
Half an hour later Dark had successfully picked the pockets of several Death Eaters and other shady characters, and had more than enough to cover the next week's stay. Dark, with Harry watching from the back of his mind, went into Flourish and Blotts and started perusing the Defence section. Harry snorted quietly over the idea of Lucius Malfoy's money being used to buy Defence books and Dark grinned. After picking up several titles he wandered into the Charms and Transfiguration sections and chose quite a few more books. Finally he trotted over to the counter and paid for the books, using up the remainder of Malfoy's money.
Eventually they returned to the Leaky Cauldron and caught Tom's attention. "Whose name should I book the room under?" Tom asked.
"My name is Dark Mousy," Dark answered with just a hint of his ego showing through. Tom, however, missed or deliberately ignored it as he wrote something down in his book.
"You're in room nine," he announced and offered Dark help in carrying the trunk and shopping bags upstairs.
"No thanks, I've got it," Dark waved him off and easily moved the luggage up the stairs.
Harry was only slightly surprised to see Hedwig already waiting in their room when they got up there: he was more surprised by the white, furry creature perched on the desk.
"Wiz!" Dark exclaimed.
Huh? Harry asked, confused. How'd he get here? You're from something like eight years in the future, right? Isn't he supposed to be in Japan with the Niwas, waiting for Daisuke?
I don't know, but he's pretty smart and he's magical. I'm not going to question it, Dark said and shrugged.
This means we're going to steal something, doesn't it? Harry realised. Something big.
Probably, Dark answered, so you need to start practicing. We'll go to the park tomorrow.
For some reason the idea made the fine hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand on end.
I wrote most of this while drinking homemade mead, left over from May Day. Hauskaa (myöhästä) vappua ja kevättä kaikille FF-net:in suomalaisille!