XxX
Harry got little sleep that night.
Most of it was because he was awake after having slept for the last seventeen years. The rest of it was that it was just too surreal, to be sleeping but not dreaming. By the time he finally did get some sleep, it was just after the sun began to rise, and then he was woken up only a few hours later.
He didn't feel all that tired when Dumbledore came to get him, but when he saw the woman beside him, he suddenly felt as if he'd aged quite a bit.
Dumbledore introduced her as Mrs. Weasley- something Harry had already known but couldn't say- and explained that she and her children would be taking care of him from now on. As they were also magical, like him in that respect, he supposed that made sense, and greeted her the best he could.
Hello Mrs. Weasley.
She looked rather surprised by his telepathy, though not as much as he imagined she would, and made an effort to hide it.
"H-Hello Harry," she said, warm and motherly, "I'm here to take you home. Would you like that?"
He wasn't sure what she meant. Home? He didn't have one that he could recall. Unless she was referring to her own home- and she probably was, in which case, Harry found it odd. After all, she didn't really know him. He nodded anyway, and Molly smiled at him.
"We're going to apparate. Do you know what that is?"
Harry knew- he'd seen it in dreams. He nodded. Molly's smile remained where it was as she went to grab his shoulder- slowly, as if he were a wounded animal. Harry let her.
"This is called side-along apparation. Are you ready? You'll want to brace yourself- it'll be a little wobbly at the end."
Harry nodded again and steeled himself.
The room abruptly spun out of focus, and he felt a little queasy, but just as soon as it started, it ended, and he was in a different place. He regained his balance and turned to see Molly smiling at him empathetically.
"You alright, Harry dear?"
He nodded again.
"wonderful! Now, I'll go and get the boys, and you can make yourself cozy wherever you like."
She left and Harry took a seat on the couch. He didn't care that he was sitting on a bunch of blankets- they were comfortable.
He was somehow still holding the diary, and maybe if he'd been someone else, he would've questioned it. But he was Harry- Harry Potter, Harry the horcrux, what have you- and thus didn't put much thought into it, chalking it up to a result of Tom's desire to keep him safe.
Before, when he was asleep, the diary was usually just nearby. But when it was in his hands, it didn't seem like Tom was able to hold a physical form. How odd…
Harry was pulled from his musings by the sounds of footsteps- a couple pairs of them, in fact. Molly entered his line of sight, bringing three boys with her. They looked to be about Harry's age.
"Harry…" began Mrs. Weasley, trailing off as she chose her words, "This is your home. So, these are a few of your new siblings. Fred, George, Ron." She gave them all a pointed look- not that they needed it.
"Blimey! Are you really Harry Potter?" asked Ron excitedly. He was the smallest boy.
Harry nodded and stiffened as two pairs of hands clamped around his arms.
"He's so quiet, Fred!"
"Quite right, George! I say, perhaps we should-"
"help him loosen up!" they finished in unison. They were twins.
"there are three more for you to meet, and a sister. You'll meet Percy and my husband Arthur tonight, and Ginny tomorrow. You can't see Bill and Charlie till the holidays- they're out of the country," said Molly, glad that her sons seemed to take to Harry's presence well.
"Now then…Fred, George- I'll have no pranks done on Harry till he's properly settled- in every sense! And Ron, make sure your brothers stay out of trouble."
The twins nodded reluctantly, and Ron nodded with a bit more vigor before looking at Harry again. "In every sense"? What did that even mean?
He snapped to attention as his mother began speaking again.
"Now, I'm going to go and fetch some reading and writing textbooks for Harry. You boys behave while I'm out- and talk plenty to Harry so he can learn to speak."
Molly went and tossed some sort of powder into the fireplace before stepping into it, and then disappearing in a burst of green flame. Harry watched, confused. Tom- from the diary- had taught him telepathy- sort of, though it was only a single conversation when he was eleven (to explain that he wouldn't be getting a Hogwarts letter, and then an ensuing explanation on why any other child would be disappointed)- but he'd never taught him about…traveling by fireplace. He hadn't even seen that in his dreams.
Ron continued to stare while the twins just shrugged. Honestly- it's not like Harry was a baby, right? But Ron had the feeling that she wasn't exaggerating about this- she never intentionally did anyways, and she seemed serious about getting those books. But why would Harry need those at all?
They were confused.
The diary in Harry's lap began leaking an inky black substance. Tom wasn't pleased with these unfamiliar faces. Though none of the Weasleys with him seemed to notice. Harry placed a firm hand on the cover of the diary, and Tom calmed down some.
George looked down at the book.
"Say, what kind of book is that?"
"Must be something magical. Or for kids," said Fred, "Mum kinda said you can't read or write, so it'd be hard if that were an actual book, right?"
Harry nodded. It was a magical book, but unordinary even by magic standards.
That's right. This book…he talks to me.
George looked around a second, trying to figure out where that faint voice was coming from.
"Hear that, Fred?"
"Why, I certainly do, George. What d'you suppose it is?"
Harry chuckled, and it sounded somewhat childlike despite his adult tone quality.
It's me, Harry. Sorry to surprise you. But I can't speak right yet. My mind knows, but my body doesn't. So until it does, I'll have to communicate like this.
Fred and George grinned and looked at Ron. He didn't hear any of it, and looked back at them, confused.
"Merlin's beard, Fred! It looks like-"
"Ikkle Harrykins can-"
"use telepathy!"
Harry smiled and also looked at Ron.
Ron looked at him with wide eyes.
"Really now? Is it true? Show me!" he demanded.
Alright, Ron. Can you hear me? I'm speaking to you through my miiinnnddd!
Ron laughed a little and Harry chuckled before regaining his serious expression.
Good. Now, George, was it? I believe you wanted to know about my book, correct?
George nodded.
"That's right. What secrets are you hiding from us, Harrykins?"
Well, like I said, this book- this diary- talks to me. Sometimes, anyway. Once through telepathy, and a couple times in my dreams.
Ron was beginning to think Harry was barmey. Whoever heard of that?
His name is Tom. He and I are sort of like brothers, in that we both contain fragments of Voldemort's soul. However, Tom became more a…guardian, I guess, and while he can't take on a physical form after I hold him, he can still give anyone he deems a threat some trouble.
"Amazing…" breathed Fred.
"Can we see him?" asked Ron. "Will he become physical if you let go of him?"
Yes. But I'd advise having your wands ready. He can get rather…protective.
Ron nodded and quickly ran upstairs to grab his wand, while Fred and George pulled theirs from their robes.
Only once Ron was downstairs again, with his wand, did Harry set the diary down beside him. Far enough away for Tom to become corporeal and close enough for Harry to possibly forcehim back in should anything happen.
Ron, Fred, and George kept their eyes on the diary as it began to leak a black, inky substance. The liquid trailed onto the floor before it began to form a shape resembling a human. The diary itself stopped leaking, while the black substance continued reforming itself. It should be noted that this strange solution didn't stain the couch- or anything at all, for that matter.
The blackened silhouette took on some color and gradually grew more solid, until a fully formed and solid Tom Riddle was standing defensively between Harry and the Weasleys.
For a moment, there was silence. Tom getting his bearings and the other three boys staring at him in awe as Harry grabbed the book again. Now that Tom had a physical form, he wouldn't go back in unless forced.
And then…
"Expelliarmus."
Tom's voice was emotionless. Blank. And yet, it also possessed a tone quality that was noteably pleasing to the ears.
Not expecting it entirely, Ron lost his wand while Fred and George were just barely able to hold on to theirs. Tom caught Ron's wand and was about to use an offensive spell when Harry stopped him.
Accio Tom Marvolo Riddle!
Tom's body began dissolving into shadowy wisps which quickly flew back into the book. Ron's wand dropped to the floor with a very dull clatter, and the redhead was quick to retrieve it.
Harry had no idea what came over him. The words just sprang into his mind, and he spoke them telepathically- and it actually worked!- as soon as he saw Tom getting ready to attack.
"Well….that was…interesting…" remarked Ron after a moment.
"It was indeed…" agreed Fred.
"Certainly. He was rather quick, " commented George.
Harry nodded.
He's supposed to keep away anyone who wasn't given permission by him or Voldemort to come near me. He's mostly a way to keep me from getting kidnapped, from what I gather.
"But then," began Ron, "how'd you get here?"
Harry frowned. He wasn't entirely sure how he got there.
I don't know. When I woke up, I saw Severus there. Perhaps he played a part in it?
"Oh…" Ron muttered, still not getting it. Fred and George nodded complacently. They only busted the wards outside Riddle Manor and then left, so they had no idea of what really happened after that. Though their dad told them he, Remus, and Severus were sent to check for survivors. So if Severus was there, then he probably had a part in Harry's "rescue". Everyone in the Order knew the man was a spy, and had earned Voldemort's favor.
But of course, neither of them mentioned this to Ron.
Fred decided to change the subject, and asked Ron what he expected this next year at Hogwarts to be like. It would be his last year, after all. And that was how Harry finally learned- albeit verbally- about what kind of a place Hogwarts was.