Hi! Sorry to keep you all waiting!

Please enjoy!

Walking Free

Back at the Burrow

The week had passed too quickly for Harry's liking and he found himself being coerced into visiting the Weasley's at the Burrow that evening. Since they had received the letter from the wizarding family, Tonks and Remus had spent many an hour trying to convince Harry that he should visit them. On several occasions, the conversation had turned from quiet and civilised to an uproar with Harry and Remus shouting across the room at one another. Tonks had tried her level best to calm the two wizards whilst also keeping an eye on the wailing toddler but at times, she lost the will to live and admitted to herself that Remus had every right to yell at the teen. Harry's darkening mood had brought a dampener on several of their evenings together and Tonks knew that Remus had had enough. The werewolf was sick of Harry's moping around and although he tried to be understanding to Harry's feelings, he was becoming frustrated.

It had been earlier on that day that Harry had finally agreed to see the Weasleys. He had been in his room, lying on his bed when Teddy had come crawling in. The toddler had then stood on wobbly legs and stumbled over to the bed. Teddy then grabbed the duvet and tried his best to pull himself up onto Harry's lap. Harry laughed at the little boy and helped the child up onto the bed. Once there, Teddy unceremoniously dropped himself down onto Harry's crotch. Harry grunted but laughed too as he pulled the boy closer to him. Teddy wrapped his small, chubby arms around Harry's neck and tucked his head in his shoulder. The child's purple hair then turned back to its original golden brown, showing that the boy was content in Harry's arms.

Teddy soon fell asleep, his deep breaths lulling Harry into sleep himself, but he was woken abruptly when he heard someone frantically calling Teddy's name.

'Teddy! Teddy where are you?' Tonks called out, worry in her voice. 'Baby, Mummy wants to see you. Where are you my precious?' Tonks then appeared at Harry's bedroom door and sighed in relief when she spotted her son. 'Thank god for that. I thought that I had lost him again!' she said as she bustled over and knelt down by the bed. She reached her hand up and stroked the toddler's soft hair. 'He looks just like Remus, doesn't he?'

Harry grinned and nodded. 'He's just like him too.' he said quietly.

Tonks smiled at him with warmth in her eyes. 'Harry, sweetie, why won't you come with us to see the Weasleys?' Harry took a deep breath and ran a hand over his weary face. 'I know you don't want to, but I think that it would be good for you to get out of the house. It'll also be good for you to talk to your friends.' The boy rolled his eyes, causing Tonks to sigh. 'It would make Remus happy.' she added quietly.

Harry didn't respond, lying still and quiet. Tonks stood and stretched her back. She bent down and scooped Teddy off of Harry and cradled him in her arms. 'It's time for his nap, that's why he fell asleep on you.' She turned to the door but looked back before she disappeared around the corner. 'Just think about it.'

Later on Harry had trudged down stairs to the living room where Remus and Tonks were sat, entertaining Teddy with his toys. Remus picked up a blue plastic ball and rolled it across the floor, towards the toddler. The child squealed with delight as the ball bounced off his knee and slowly rolled away. He stood up and waddled over to the ball and attempted to pick it up but it slipped from his little fingers. Teddy whined softly in frustration as the ball kept rolling away from him. Remus laughed loudly while Tonks frowned, trying to hide her laughter.

'Remus, don't be so cruel. Go help him.' she cried as she hit her husband on the arm.

Just as Remus reached out for the ball, he noticed Harry at the door and sat back on his heals. Harry ventured further into the room and sat down in one of the armchairs.

'What time are we going then?'

The four had taken the knight bus which took them to the road closest to the Burrow. Tonks had insisted that they not apparate as she was scared that it would harm Teddy. Remus had eventually agreed, also somewhat worried about the safety of his son. From there they had to walk the rest of the way, but it wasn't far. It gave Harry some time to think and the night air helped to calm his nerves.

The wind brushed through the leaves as the four of them made their way to the small family home. Harry stopped and stared up at the rickety old building, a small smile playing on his lips. He truly loved the Burrow and cherished all memories he had of his holidays there. The warm light seeping through the curtains in the upstairs rooms and the chatter of the red head family that could be heard through the open kitchen window spread a warm feeling through the teen. The Weasley's had always done their best to make Harry feel at home here. It felt strange to be returning now that he was living with the Lupins.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Turning his head, Harry noticed both Remus and Tonks were watching him closely.

'You okay?' the werewolf asked with concern, his grip tightening on Harry's shoulder.

'Er…yeah.' Remus removed his hand from the teen's shoulder and took his wife's smaller hand on his other side. Together, they walked towards warm house; Harry following behind.

As Remus knocked on the old wooden door, the chatter inside the cosy house stopped and Harry could clearly make out Mrs Weasley squeak in delight.

'Oh! That's them!'

As the door opened, the four were bathed in light and a strong smell of cooking wafted into the cold night.

Arthur greeted the group with a warm smile; the balding man's wife was visible behind him, jumping with unmistakable excitement.

'Come in, come in!' the eldest Weasley called out to them as he moved to the side to give them room.

They entered the small kitchen, which Harry discovered to his horror, was packed full of people. Remus noticed as Harry tensed and immediately felt guilty. When he had finally convinced to teen to come along with Tonks, Teddy and himself, he had given Harry the impression that only a couple of the Weasley children would be there; however, it seemed that all seven of the offspring had turned up to the meal and those who had partners had also brought them along.

'Just relax Harry!' Remus whispered into his ear as he passed him.

Remus and Harry watched as Tonks made her way into the middle of the room with Teddy attached to her hip.

'Wotcher everyone!' she called out in a cheerful voice. She moved over to Bill who was sat on one of the kitchen chairs and bend down so that she was eye to eye with the man's daughter, who was sitting happily on his lap.

'Heya Dominique! Do you want to play with Teddy?'

Harry was acutely aware of the many pairs of eyes that were watching his every move. He tried his best to ignore the staring and concentrated on the little girl sat upon the lap of the eldest Weasley son instead. Remus and Tonks had given Harry an update about everyone he was close to just after he had moved in with them. They had mentioned how Bill had married Fleur Delacour, who Harry knew from the Triwizard Tournament, after meeting her at Gringotts where she was working to improve her English. Shortly after marrying, Fleur had fallen pregnant with Dominique. The small blonde girl was the spitting image of her mother; her bright blue eyes, heart shaped face and the pale complexion matched her mother's exactly. The only indication that she was the daughter of a Weasley was the splattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose.

Starring at the little girl, Harry did not notice when Molly Weasley practically threw herself on to him in a fierce hug. The plump woman, who stood numerous inches shorter than Harry, had thrown her arms around his thin torso and started weeping into his chest. The grunt Harry had made upon Mrs Weasley's impact with his body alerted the entire room to the woman's actions. Remus, who noted the surprise on the teens face, slapped Harry's arm in the hope that it would encourage him to do something other than stand there with a perplexed expression. Coming out of the shock of the situation, Harry awkwardly yet gently patted Molly on the back.

'Erm…' was all Harry could come out with. He generally wasn't great when it came to consoling wailing women. At school, when Hermione was feeling down, he often left it to others to find out why she was in floods. He felt extremely bad about this and in hindsight, felt that he had not been a great friend to Ron and Hermione, especially in his fifth year. He had been cold and distant to them when they were only trying to help him.

Pulling out of the hug, Mrs Weasley brought her hands up to Harry's face, cupping his cheeks with them.

'Oh Harry! I'm so glad to see you looking so healthy!' removing her hands, Molly took a step back from Harry and studied him closely.

'Look how you've changed! You're so grown up! I remember when you were this high!' she stated sadly, using her hand to gesture his small stature when he had been younger.

Harry felt blood rise into his face as the woman who was once the only mother figure in his life scrutinised him. He knew everyone else was doing the same but he averted his gaze to the floor, not wanting to catch anyone's eye.

'I'm glad to see you're looking much better than you were last week.' Molly continued in a thick voice as if she was going to burst into tears again.

'Yeah, Remus patched him up!' Tonks spoke up as Harry kept his eyes on anything other than the woman in front of him. 'I'm dead awful at healing you see so Remus did all of the work! It's a wonder how I managed to become an auror with my clumsiness and such!' she added, trying to change the topic from the awkward teen in the corner. However, either Molly didn't hear or she just didn't care.

'And I see you got yourself some new glasses!' she continued, pointing at the rectangular frames that sat on Harry's nose. 'Very fetching dear. They suit you!'

If it were possible, Harry felt his face heat up even more. He was sure that he now resembled a beetroot. Molly grabbed the teen once more, squeezing him against her body. Mumbling his thanks, Harry gave Molly a final pat on the back before dropping his hands to his sides.

'You're still too thin though, love! I need to fatten you up some more! Obviously Dora and Remus haven't been feeding you enough!'

At this, the werewolf turned a similar shade of red to Harry. Although he could provide food for his family, Remus was not well off. This sometimes resulted is a small lack of food. He knew Molly didn't mean anything by the comment; she and her husband were also poor and had similar money problems to the werewolf, but he was still embarrassed not to have much money. He always hoped that one day he would earn enough money to buy all the things that his wife and son deserved, but fir the moment, they had to settle for the minimum.

Once Molly was finished blowing her nose all over Harry's sweater, she bustled off to the kitchen to check on the dinner. Harry looked around the room, running his sweaty palms down his jeans.

Harry stopped when he caught sight of the only daughter of Molly and Arthur. Her bright red hair fell down to her slender shoulders and her brown eyes shone in the light of the room. When Ginny looked up and caught Harry looking at her, they both turned their heads, averting their gaze.

'Is diner ready, Mum?' Ron inquired to his mother. In response she playfully slapped him on the arm and told him to be patient.

'I can't do this.' Harry spoke quietly to Remus. He already felt quite uncomfortable standing in the corner.

'Yes you can, Harry. It's fine, okay?'

Harry was about to reply when Mrs Weasley spoke up. 'Everyone, get seated. Diner will be ready in just a second.'

Mass movement followed the short speech as all Weasleys converged on the small table. Remus gave Harry a slight push towards the table and he himself headed towards his wife and son who it would seem, did not want to sit in the high chair Tonks was trying to put him in.

Harry stood, not really sure what to do. The table was packed full of people, leaving very little space for the few who had yet to sit down. To his surprise, Harry noted that Ron had not sat down yet but appeared to be a deep conversation with Hermione. After a minute, the lanky red head made his way awkwardly to Harry.

'Erm…Harry, hey.' He started lamely. His ears had turned maroon as he started to speak with his old best friend. Hermione, who had moved closer to the two, gave Ron a punch in the back. 'Er…yeah, well, you see, what I wanted to say was, that, I'm, well, that I'm sorry for well, you know?'

Harry had absolutely no idea what Ron was talking about so he just looked at the man, confusion etched on his face.

Ron continued when Harry didn't say anything.

'It was that time, in Diagon Alley.' he added hopefully. 'When I sort of punched you.'

Before Harry could react, there was a clatter of kitchen utensils. Both boys looked up to see Mrs Weasley glaring daggers at her youngest son.

'You punched him?' she screeched.

'Well, I, only a small punch!' Harry scoffed at this. As he remembered it, Ron had broken Harry's nose. Not that it had been much of a problem; Harry fixed it simply with his wand when he had escaped from Ron and Diagon Alley.

'Never, in my life, have I been so disappointed with you! Hitting your best friend! What were you thinking?'

Harry gulped at Molly's comment. Did he consider Ron as his best friend? He wasn't really sure. Remus and Tonks were his best friends now he supposed.

'I said I was sorry!' Ron cried as his mother grabbed his ear and pulled him round the table so that he could sit near enough her where she could keep an eye ion him for the rest of the evening.

'Oh Harry! Come round here love and sit next to Fred and George. Oh, on second though, maybe you shouldn't sit next to them.'

'Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Harry, you sit here!' Fred shouted across the table to Harry, gesturing to the vacant seat next to George and himself.

'Teddy, for god sake. Will you just SIT DOWN!' Tonks suddenly yelled at her son who was still fighting against the high chair. When the boy burst into tears Tonks picked him up and hugged him tightly against her chest.

'Oh, I'm sorry baby! Shh!'

The room looked questioningly at the woman as she cuddled her son. Both mother and son's hair circled through bright colours as they tried to calm down.

The evening was one of the most uncomfortable situations Harry had been through in his entire life. He felt that the whole family were treading on glass when they spoke to him; that they were terrified of how he would react to what they were saying. Although the evening became more relaxed as it went on, Harry felt very out of place. He felt that he had missed too much of what had been going on to catch up fully and become part of the family again. It was little things that began to bother him; things that would never normally have caused him any grief started to tear him apart. That fact that he hadn't been there during the potions lesson when Draco Malfoy's potion exploded in his face, covering him from head to toe in bright pink slime or that he had missed out on Gryffindor winning the Quidditch and House cup for example. He was bothered that he had not been present to see Ron bumble his way through a very short lived relationship with their classmate, Lavander Brown, and missing the moment when Hermione and Ron finally became an item.

It was while he was thinking about all he had missed out on, when Harry's attention was drawn to the third oldest Weasley son. His glasses sat perfectly on his nose as he sat up right in his wooden chair.

'Yes, I went last week with the Ministry.' Percy stated to those who would listen.

'Where, Percy?' Bill questioned, having just joined the conversation with his brother and father.

'Oh, Azkaban of course. I went there last Tuesday.'

The table quietened as Percy continued, no aware of the meaningful looks being sent his way. Remus and Tonks watched with horrified faces as the red headed man spoke of the subject that was a complete no go with Harry. They watched as Harry visible tensed at the man's words. All blood left the teen's face and he clenched his hands into fists.

'It was awful, I tell you! I was there for less than an hour and I felt sick and extremely shaky when I left. I don't know how the aurors stay there for any length of time.'

At this point, half of the room were now looking from Harry to Percy, the latter had not realised that he was invoking a reaction from the raven.

'Percy, I think tha…' Mr Weasley attempted to interrupt his son's speech but was cut short.

'No father, its okay! It's best to talk about terrible situations with others. One must talk about these types of experiences. You have no idea what it was like there! The prisoners! Erg…it was, they were, well, I can only describe it as disgusting. They called out to us, whined that they shouldn't be there. Well, at least those who could still speak coherently that is. Many of the prisoners go completely barmy after a few years.'

Harry jumped up, his chair scraping across the floor as he did so. He couldn't listen to anymore; he couldn't cope much longer. They had no idea what it was like. Harry couldn't talk about Azkaban, not even with Remus and Tonks. The thought of the place made him sick to his stomach and brought about the awful memories that he had lived through whilst he was a prisoner there. In all the commotion that followed, none of the occupants in the house noticed the small pop that could be heard from the front garden, signalling that someone had arrived. As Harry yanked open the door, he came face to face with Albus Dumbledore. The second their eyes met, Harry had the peculiar feeling of a snake rising within him. He felt the anger that coursed through his veins bubble with a hatred that was not his own. The smile that graced the old headmaster's lips faltered slightly as he looked into the teen's eyes. His own twinkling blue eyes glazed over with concern as he studied the raven in front of him; however, before he could say anything, Harry had shoved passed him and disappeared into the darkness.

Only the aged headmaster saw the red glint in the normally vivid green eyes. It was then that he had realised how much the connection between Lord Voldemort and Harry had grown. He had hoped that the connection would have diminished after Sirius' death; however, that was an almost childish thought considering that Harry had been to Azkaban. He frowned as he thought of how Harry had had to suffer in the prison. It had probably driven the poor boy insane and Voldemort must have unconsciously picked up on Harry's futile feelings, thereby strengthening the connection.

Dumbledore turned his head to the approaching man who had left the table to follow the boy.

'He has not left the area.' Albus stated simply, sighed wearily as he did so. Noting the disorder in the cramped kitchen, the headmaster spoke again, 'What happened?'

Remus paused to look at the chaos. Several members of the Weasley family had moved from their seats and were now ganging up on Percy.

'Percy decided to recount his tail to Azkaban last week. I believe it made Harry very uncomfortable and well, you can see the rest.' He gestured to the Weasleys who were in a full blown argument. 'I should go find him; make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.' He added as he stepped to the side, leaving the chaos of the Burrow.

'Harry?' Remus called out softly. There was no reply but he could make out a figure standing a hundred metres away. Making his way to the teen, Remus sighed. He had been afraid that something like this would happen. Just he was going to call the man's name again, Harry spoke.

'They don't understand. They will never understand what it was like there. The cold, the screaming. They will never get it!' Remus kept quiet. This was the first time Harry had spoken about his stay in Azkaban and Remus was not going to interrupt him. It was desperately clear that the boy needed to share his feelings with someone. He had been suppressing them so long and Remus knew that the best thing now was for Harry to let them out.

'I never got a break from it. I could always hear it; I could always hear her. Screaming, pleading, crying that he leave me alone.'

It took Remus a moment to understand what Harry was talking about. He closed his eyes and groaned internally when he realised. Harry had been reliving the moments his mother had died, and the memories had really upset and stressed him out.

'I couldn't get away from it. She wouldn't go away. She kept on coming back, again and again.' The boy sounded almost demented as he spoke. 'I couldn't get away!' he screamed, now visibly shaking in the darkness.

'I couldn't stop it. I just wanted to die. I couldn't take it anymore.' Remus rushed forward and took the boy in a fierce hug as he cried. The teen's body wracked from the sobs as he cried on the werewolf's shoulder.

'I'm sorry!' cried Harry as Remus held him in the hug.

'Shh Harry, it's okay! It's over!'

Yay! Anothe chapter. I hope you all liked it.

Please review, it makes me happy.

Caelhir- Oh, i didn't realise i did that. Yes, saying shit is swearing and i spelt effing wrong. I spelt it eefing! Sorry about that! :)

panther73110- Harry already has a lot of money and i don't think that he would be that bother about it. He wouldn't want to have to go to the Ministry to sort it out. He wants to keep quiet and be left alone. If it were me, i would sue them for all they were worth, but Harry can't be bothered. He's too lazy! :) Thank you for reviewing.