Sorry I would have gotten it out fifteen days ago if my computer hadn't broken down and decided it wanted to stop letting me on the internet, which sucked than my E button broke so I then had to write the word without it and do spell check to get the E or I had to copy and paste it from somewhere else that SUCKED. Oh well. Nothing can be done now. On with the story.

Chapter 8: Trouble

Vernon yelled out in frustration as he ran over to the window and stuck his large head out, his eyes hungrily searching the ground for Harry but came up empty-handed. He turned away and stormed out of the room and down the stairs.

He didn't have to go so far though, because Harry had never made it out of the bathroom, he was in far too much pain to hoist himself up on the windowsill so instead he found a cramped little spot among the toilet bowl cleaner under the sink. He had to pull his legs up to his chest and duck his head down just to get the door to shut and in the process he had caused himself so much pain that, with his head resting against the wood and blood seeping from his wounds, he had fainted.

Harry woke up several days later to the sound of the baby crying. "Oh, not again." Harry groaned as he pushed his legs forward in order to kick open the door but only managing to send shooting pains through his stiff legs. 'Jeez, how long have I been out?'Harry wondered as he rubbed the side of his legs, and tried again to kick the door open only this time he was more successful.

Even though Harry had managed to get the door open it didn't make getting out any easier. His stiff and achy muscles screamed at him not to move. Eventually he did it; he had managed to pull himself up into a standing position where he stayed gasping for air and panting.

Once Harry had got his breath he began to hobble towards Elizabeth's room when a thought ran through his mind. "What if their still here?" Harry stopped and listened closely but the only thing h could hear was the loud cries from Elizabeth. "No, if they were here she wouldn't be crying." And with that thought Harry walked over to Elizabeth, got her cleaned up, fed and put to bed.

Harry walked out of the baby's room very quietly and began to descend the stairs grimacing the whole way. Once at the bottom Harry poked his head around the corner so that he could see into the living room and Kitchen to make sure that no one was home and once he had assured himself that Dudley wasn't going to pop out from behind a sofa or anything like that he went over to the window and looked out at the driveway. Once again the car that should have been there wasn't, but this time Dudley wasn't here either which meant he knew he was going to have some time to do what he wanted and probably wouldn't be back until his Aunt and Uncle were to.

Harry didn't know when Dudley or the Dursleys would be back because he still had no idea how long he had been knocked out under that sink, but he did have an idea on how to find out. Petunia kept track of the days on a calendar that hung on the kitchen wall and at the end of each day she would mark it off on the calendar. Harry found out when they had left by looking at the calendar and he found out what day it was then by looking at the display on the microwave; and as it turns out Harry had been out five days and Vernon and Petunia had left yesterday giving Harry six more days with the house all to himself and a baby to take care of.

Once Harry had gotten that useful bit of information he hobbled into the hallway, over to his cupboard and pulled out a very hungry looking Hedwig. Harry had left her some crackers, bread and such but he hadn't been able to replenish her food supply since before he went to the hospital six days ago. "I'm sorry for leaving you in there so long girl I was kinda, well, out of it." Harry apologized to the snowy owl as he walked into the kitchen with her on his arm. "If you'll wait just a moment I'll get you some good food though."Harry told her as he pulled some food from the fridge.

Once Hedwig and he had finished eating Harry went over to the window and opened it up to let an eager Hedwig pass by and fly off into the distance. Now it was time for Harry to take care of himself, he headed back over to his cupboard and reached inside to grab some clothes from the pile he had been using as a pillow and then headed over to the downstairs bathroom.

Harry stood in front of the mirror as he pulled off his clothes so that he could see just how bad the damage really was. His chest looked the worst, Dudley's landing had caused a large bruise to form going from one side over to the other, in some places lumps had formed where ribs had broken and tried to break through the skin. He had to bite his lip to keep from crying out when he tried to poke one of the lumps back into place. His eyes moved away from the lumps and bruises and down to the torn skin on his stomach. 'What was he wearing? Steal toed boots?' Harry asked himself as he finished looking himself over and climbed into the shower.

Harry turned the hot water and stood beneath for a good hour and a half letting the hot water wash over his body and loosen his stiff muscles and carry his worries down the drain.

When Harry finally climbed out of the shower he realized that even though he had been sleeping for five days he was still exhausted. So he slowly climbed the stairs and went over to Elizabeth's room where he curled up under the guest beds covers and fell asleep.

Harry woke up four hours later to a small thumping noise coming from the window. "Oh, what now?" He asked groggily as he rolled out of bed and walked over towards the window he cheered up slightly as he saw an owl with a letter tied around its leg hovering around just outside the window. He opened up the window and let the owl fly inside so he could remove the letter tied around his leg.

Harry was filled with joy when he realized it was from Sirius and began to read it on his way back to the bed.

Dear Harry,

Thought I should check in on you, you haven't had any more problems have you? With those kids, or the muggles? Remember you can tell me, I don't care what Dumbledore says, if they're giving you problems I'll come get you in a heart-beat. Anyway, onto my real news, Dumbledore says I can come get you next weekend for a visit. I'd come get you this weekend but apparently, "The less you get taken away from the blood protection, the better." I don't care if he is the most respected wizard of our time; he sure knows how to get on my nerves. Oh well write me back and tell me if it's okay to come get you.

Love, Sirius

Harry smiled as he looked over the letter. Of course he wanted Sirius to come get him, now if it was okay was a different story. The Dursley's would, of course, refuse but Harry was pretty sure that Sirius didn't care if they wanted him to go or not, only if Harry wanted to go. So Harry placed the letter down on the mattress and got down on the floor. He pulled up the loose floor board and was relieved to find out that the Dursleys hadn't discovered that hiding spot. He pulled out a quill some ink and parchment before settling down to write a reply to Sirius.

Dear Sirius,

You shouldn't worry so much; no one's giving me any problems, not the Dursleys or those kids. I think they're done messing with me; after all you can only put someone in the hospital so many times before you get caught. I can't wait until next weekend, nothing exciting ever happens around here.

Love, Harry.

Harry folded up the letter and went over to the owl that was waiting patiently on the windowsill. He quickly tied the note to the owl's leg and sent him off before closing the window and returning to bed.

The next time Harry woke up it was morning and the sun was shining on his face. Harry groaned and sat up in the bed. He looked around at the fuzzy room for a moment before reaching over and grabbing his glasses off the nightstand. He looked around again, this time noticing two blue eyes looking at him from between the bars on her crib.

"You're up early." Harry told the little girl as he looked out the window to the rising sun. "I can't get used to seeing that window without bars." Harry muttered more to himself as he stood and went over to the baby. Harry looked over the side of the crib to see the little girl smiling up at him.

"The usual huh?" He said as he bent down and hesitantly picked her up. He suppressed a groan as every muscle in his body screamed at him for lifting the small child. He took care of her normal needs before heading down the stairs to place her in the play pen and make breakfast.

Most of the day went by quickly for Harry; Hedwig had popped back in around noon while the baby napped. He had eaten well and not had to do any backbreaking chores. Harry felt that this week was actually going to go well, but eventually all good things must come to an end, and end they did.

Right after the baby had gotten her bottle she had begun to let out these shrill cries. Harry didn't know what to do, her diaper was clean her stomach was full and she just woke up from a nap, so what could be wrong? Harry walked with her, bounced her, rocked her, even sang for her but nothing seemed to be working.

Finally Harry came up with an idea, it wasn't his greatest plan in the world but it would have to work. He placed Elizabeth back in the pen and went back up the stairs. He turned into Elizabeth's room and went over to the lose floorboard reached in and grabbed a stack of letters that he had been collecting over the years. Harry searched through every one until he found the one he was looking for.

Hermione had sent it to him the summer after second year. Ron had told her about the bars on Harry's window and Hermione was worried about him.

At the bottom of the letter Hermione had placed her home telephone number and home address in case he couldn't send an owl, he could call or send a letter the muggle way.

Harry grabbed the letter and went back down the stairs; he headed into the kitchen and grabbed the phone out of its holder. Letting out a deep sigh he unfolded the letter and placed it on the counter.

'What am I worried about?' Harry asked himself as he looked over the number. 'Hermione is the smartest person I know, if she can't help me then no one can.'

Making up his mind Harry dialed the number and placed the phone to his ear, waiting for someone to pick up. Two rings later a familiar voice came in through the phone.

"Hello?" The voice questioned

"Is this Hermione?" Harry questioned the voice back in reply.

"Yes. Harry? Harry is that you?"

"Yes."

"What is it Harry? Did something happen, is something wrong? Why didn't you send Hedwig?" Hermione began questioning Harry too fast for him to answer.

"Slow down Hermione! Nothing's wrong, well not really anyway, I just had a question. I didn't send Hedwig because well, owls simply aren't fast enough."

"Oh, well, what was your question? And who's crying?"

"Well, the crying is actually what my question is about."

"What is it?"

"The crying is coming from a baby, and I can't get her to stop, Can you help me?"

"A baby!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why is there a baby there? And why are you taking care of it?"

"It's the Dursley's baby; she's really nice, for a Dursley. But then again she's still a baby."

"Okay. But why are you taking care of it?"

"My aunt and uncle went on vacation." Harry mumbled in response to her.

"What! They just left you there?! Harry, that's horrible!"

"Well they left Dudley here to; he was supposed to do most of the actual baby work but…. Dudley is off at a friend's for the week."

"Harry, that's not right they shouldn't have left you." Hermione carried on.

"That's not what we're talking about remember, crying baby." Harry redirected his friend.

"Oh yes well, did you check her diaper? Feed her, get her bottle, give her a nap, and burp her?"

"I've tried all of that." Harry sighed in exasperation.

"Is she sick? Does she have a fever; is she tugging on her ears or throwing up?"

"How do you check if a baby has a fever? And don't all babies throw up?"

"Only sick babies throw up regular babies urp."

"Urp? Isn't that the same as throwing up, and you never told me how to take her temperature."

"Urp is when a baby eats too much or is jostled around throwing up is… well more disgusting, you have to take a babies temperature rectally."

"Rectally! That's-that can't be right! How do you do that without…err...hurting them?"

"Well, you….Oh! This is useless; I can't take care of a baby over the phone!" Hermione shouted at no one in particular. "Harry, how long did your Uncle say he was going to be gone?"

"Um, five more days, why?"Harry asked wondering where she was going with this.

"And your sure Dudley won't come back until they do?"

"Yes, why? Hermione, what are you thinking?"

"Hold on Harry." Hermione told him as she placed down the phone.

Harry was pretty sure he knew what she was up to; she wanted to come over and help him. He didn't know if that would be possible, but then again, all but one of his bruises could be covered and he could say he got that from fighting with Dudley which was half true. Harry walked forward a few steps while trying to hide his limp, it was difficult but he did it.

"Harry, you still there?" Hermione's voice rang out over the telephone.

"Yes."

"Good I've got it cleared with my mum and dad and now I just need to make sure you're all right with it. Mum says I can come over later this afternoon and stay a few nights, of course she thinks your Aunt and Uncle will be there."

"Why Hermione, shame shame, asking me to lie for you?"Harry said in a mock surprised tone. "I'm just kidding, course you can come over. Anything to make Elizabeth stop crying."

"Good, I'll be there around 5 is that okay?"

"Yep, see you then, bye Hermione."

"Bye Harry!"

Harry sighed as he placed the phone back in the holder before turning back to the crying baby. "Please stop crying." Harry said as he had resorted to begging her.

For the next two hours Harry pleaded, begged, patted and rubbed until she had finally cried herself to sleep. Harry had just laid the blanket wrapped baby in the play pen when a soft knock came from the front door.

Harry rushed over and opened the door. He was immediately wrapped in a bone crushing hug, it took all Harry had not to scream as she pushed against his broken ribs and gripped his bruised back.

"Oh Harry, it's so good to see you again." Hermione said as she released him from her death grip. "What on earth happened to you face?!"Hermione looked horrified at the large bruise on Harry's cheek.

"Got in a little scuffle with Dudley." Harry said looking away. "I lost."

"Harry, that was totally irresponsible, from what I saw at the train station he's at least three times your size!"Hermione shouted at him.

"Keep your voice down." Harry told her as he listened carefully for the sounds of a waking baby.

"Huh? Oh, she stopped." She said as she cocked her head to the side.

"Well yes and no, she cried right up until she fell asleep." Harry replied as he gestured for Hermione to enter the house.

"Wow…" Hermione said to herself. "It's really clean here."

"Oh yeah, they're um…. A little on the ocd side."Harry told her as he walked stiffly over to the living area.

"I can tell…" Hermione mumbled to herself, as a frown spread over her face as she realized that none of the many pictures on the walls held the small frame of Harry but instead the large whale like form of the Dursley she recognized from the train station. It was Dudley she believed. But instead of asking Harry about it she decided it would be a better idea to just make a mental note for later.

"Oh, um you can sit and wait over here and I'll go make us some dinner, unless you've already eaten, that is." Harry said as he gestured over to the sofa seated in front of the big screen T.V.

"No I haven't, but I mean, you don't have to make me anything I'm not really hungry right now." Hermione said as she sat down on the left side of the couch.

"Oh, okay." Harry came over and sat down on the right side of the couch staring ahead for several minutes before Hermione broke the silence.

"So Harry, have you started on your school work yet? You do remember that we have a five thousand word essay due for potions don't you?" Leave it to Hermione to bring up school.

"Oh, Yeah I remember, but err…I haven't exactly err…started on it per say." Harry said hesitantly as he scratched at the back of his head.

"What does 'per say' mean?" Hermione fixed Harry with a burning stare.

'Bloody hell, if looks could kill…' Harry thought to himself as he looked sheepishly back at his friend. "Well, I mean, I opened the book…"

"Harry! You and Ron are just the same, I swear, the biggest procrastinators I've ever seen." Hermione sighed as she threw her hands up and let them flop back down next to her.

Harry decided not to respond but instead to just smile back which ended up earning him a playful punch on his arm. It wasn't meant to hurt him and Harry knew that but that didn't stop the shooting pains that burned through his entire arm, keeping him from talking for the next two minutes as he chewed on his bottom lip to keep from screaming.

Hermione didn't notice though because she had just launched into her story about how her summer was going. Apparently she had been playing secretary for her parent's dental office, and last Saturday had gone to a two hour seminar about the dangers of tooth decay.

"That must have been fun." Harry said recovering.

"Oh just the best time I have ever had." Hermione told him rolling her eyes. "It didn't help that the man who was speaking talked as slow and monotone as he possibly could, I mean the guy looked as if he were older than Dumbledore!"

Harry laughed deeply but stopped abruptly as pain shot through his chest.

"Harry?"Hermione looked at him quizzically as he bit his lip.

Instead of responding he just closed his eyes and collected himself before facing Hermione fully and giving her a small smile.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a headache is all, the laughing irritated it."Harry lied smoothly before smiling again. "But I'm okay now."

Hermione looked doubtful but she just nodded her head in understanding.

"If you'll excuse me I think I should go make dinner." Harry said standing up and heading for the kitchen.

"Okay." Hermione told him quietly standing up herself but instead of for the kitchen she headed for the play pen and peaked over the side. "Hey she is kinda cute." Hermione said a small smile gracing her lips.

"Harry you are a really good cook!" Hermione complemented as she took another bite of the Bar-B-Q chicken Harry had made for them.

"Really?" Harry knew he wasn't horrible but he had only ever been pointed out the mistakes he made.

"Yeah where did you learn to cook?" Hermione seriously doubted his Aunt petunia actually tried to teach him.

"Oh, um…just practice." Harry mumbled back to her.

"Hmm.." Hermione scowled down at her food thinking about the so called practice.

They finished the rest of their meal in silence as Hermione pondered about what Harry's life was like here, and Harry wondered what he could have said to make her think so hard. He had just told her he had practice cooking, don't most kids? He was sure he had seen give Ginny cooking lessons while he was there last year.

Maybe that was the problem; he wasn't a girl so why was he learning to cook? Harry shrugged it off and went to collect Hermione's now cleaned plate and wash the dishes.

"Thanks Harry." Hermione told him as he cleared the table."I could've done it though."

"You're Welcome. It's no big deal really I'm used to it." Harry then mentally cursed himself for saying something that so resembled the practice comment from earlier.

Hermione just frowned and went back to thinking for moment before questioning Harry further. "So you cook and clean the tables often?"

"Harry ran through his frantic thoughts for a small moment before finding a suitable explanation. "Not really, Dudley and I take turns; it's just the normal chores you know?" Harry told her surprised at how easily the lie had left his mouth.

"Yeah." Hermione nodded then looked out the window at the setting sun. "Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Where will I stay tonight?" Hermione questioned as she turned back to look at Harry.

"Oh, um you could, err…." Harry thought about the possible arrangements, but it was only a three bedroom house, there was Dudley room, Vernon and Petunia's room, and the guest/nursery room. Which is where he was sleeping; that's it. "You can have my bed. I'll sleep on the couch." He told her as he continued washing the dishes.

"I could take the couch Harry, I don't mind."

"No, you take the bed, you're the guest so it's only fair. "

"All right." He watched as another frown crossed her face.

"Honestly Hermione your face is going to end up sticking like that." Harry sighed as he placed the last dish up in the cupboard.

"Hmm…" She looked up at Harry. "Oh, I'm sorry Harry it must seem like I am turning into Snape.

Harry opened his mouth to respond but at that moment an ear piercing shriek swept through the house,

"She's up."Harry groaned and went back into the living room. Hermione walked faster than him and she ended up reaching the playpen before him.

"Well?" Harry asked as he plopped down on the couch.

Hermione looked intently over at the baby for a moment before smiling. "Harry she's just teething!" Hermione said as she watched the baby chew on her hand.

"Teething? Teething?! You're kidding me right? I mean she screamed for hours and she's just teething?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"Well, what do you do about it?"Harry asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Hermione didn't reply instead she just picked the baby up and sat with her on the couch. Hermione placed one finger in her mouth and rubbed her gums, at first Elizabeth screamed louder but after several seconds they slowly began to quite down until they were small whines and then nothing. Hermione removed her finger wiped it on her pants and smiled over to Harry.

Harry just stared dumbfounded and amazed. "How-how did you do that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "When you rub the gums it puts pressure on them, yes it hurts at first but eventually it soothes. It also helps the teeth break through the skin sooner.

"Oh." Harry replied dully.

The rest of the evening went by quickly as the two friends chatted about little things or played with Elizabeth. Eventually the time came when it was Elizabeth's bedtime, so Harry picked up the baby and headed up the stairs thanking God that Hermione was going up behind him as he couldn't stop his face from contorting with pain.

Eventually he made it into Elizabeth's room and sat with her in the rocking chair as Hermione came in and sat down on the small bed.

"This is your room?" Hermione asked looking around the nursery.

"Yes, it got turned into hers while I was gone." Harry nodded down to the bundle in his arms. "Hermione." He sighed as he saw another frown form.

"Hmm…." She seemed lost in thought. "Oh, right." She looked over at him and smiled.

Harry smiled back and they sat in silence until he had put the baby in the crib and walked out the door leaving it open. Hermione and he headed down the stairs and talked some more while also playing some muggle card games and watching T.V.

Finally at around ten Hermione headed up to bed and Harry went to collect some blankets for the couch.

The next day went by fast and simple Hermione ended up taking care of the baby the most while Harry cooked meals and took care of the cleaning. While Elizabeth slept they would talk, play the card games, Watch TV or they would try playing the Video games Dudley owned, due to Harry's inexperience he lost every time.

Around four the trio was playing happily in the living room unaware of the person walking up to the door, leaning over in front of the window to grab the spare key but instead h stopped and looked in at the scene playing out in front of him.

Dudley smiled cruelly as he walked away from the door and towards the payphone down the street.

**

SOOOOO? What did you think? Review please. I hope the length of the chapter sorta makes up for the wait.