Author note:

A bit of clearing up on the Potter Family:

So I had a reviewer who asked me a question about James' Parents. Many think that Dorea and Charles Potter were his parents and to be honest, I had the same thoughts until I looked things up.

So according to JK Rowling, James Potter's parents were not Dorea and Charles Potter, but Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, I can only suspect that Charles and Dorea were distantly related to Fleamont in some sort of way. Not certain how but in some way, especially if one looks at the Black Family Tree (made by JK Rowling) one can see that even the Black Family has branched out greatly.

Anyway, for this story, in particular, I chose to stick with JK Rowling's thoughts about James Potter's parents, it doesn't mean I'll always do that for my stories especially considering I've been working on one that doesn't follow it at all.

For those who want more information on the subject, you can check out Pottermore or even Harry Potter Wiki (one of their sources is Pottermore).

On another note. To those who are a bit confused by the hopping from he/she styles for Harry, well it's going to be a normal thing for right now. Harry still thinks of himself as a boy or at least feels more comfortable thinking of himself as one while others, like Amelia, are trying to see him as Kinsley, a girl. It will take time for Harry to adjust, wouldn't you.

Chapter VI

Is it really kidnapping or just boring?

A brand new day shined brightly as Amelia arrived at the Hospital. After numerous tests, the doctors, both muggle and magical had finally agreed that her daughter could leave the hospital. Only if Harry agreed to rest. They didn't want her daughter's wounds to open or to be aggravated.

The pre-teen had hurriedly agreed, making the adults smile. Of course, not everything was completely normal during the last week. Changes had happened to Harry. One morning she had arrived to find her daughter in a frenzy.

Overnight feathers had appeared, sprouting from her hair in various places. The feathers were not the usual plumage of a bird, but long and thin, in her hair, they were golds, oranges, and reds.

The additions had been a shock to everybody, but truly nothing to worry overly much about as it did not look terrible. Still, it did not stop the panic that had set into the young soon to be thirteen years old. They had found Kinsley off the bed, curled into a corner - completely ignoring the fact that she must have been in terrible pain. Her panic had set the moment she had noticed the feathers in her hair.

If Amelia had not seen the end results of the physical abuse and attempted murder, her anger would have been untameable and she would have left to kill the Dursley's herself. Yet it had been clear that her daughter needed her at that moment. Her anger had been at boiling point, yes but she had remained and slowly coaxed the young thirteen-year-old back into bed, gently wrapping her in a warm blanket from home after the teen had flinched at the contact.

The effects of the Dursley had been hard to miss that day and she wanted nothing more than to seek them out and destroy them for what they had done to her daughter.

Chalisse strongly suspected that they would need to address this issue in the coming future, perhaps sessions with a mind healer sworn to confidentiality would have to be put into play. Amelia couldn't fault those thoughts, her daughter truly believed that if anything abnormal; happened to her then she would be thrown away or hated because of it.

Thankfully, that had been the worse event to happen since Kinsley woke up and Amelia was grateful that her daughter was able to rest because of it. Every day she came to the hospital, knowing Susan was with Hannah. She stayed with Kinsley talking to her. They talked about little things and big things. The questions had been curious little things at first, but grew into bigger ones. From what was her actual birthday to curious questions about her job.

Amelia asked questions of her own as well, she wanted to know her daughter. Learning her favourite dessert food was treacle tart had made her smile. How the young teen absolutely hated apples which surprised her. She learned about her classes, what she knew about some subjects of the magical world.

The subject of her daughter's gender was still quite a sore spot, which was understandable. She was still coming to terms with the changes to her body and Amelia always had to remind herself to call her Harry and not Kinsley for the time being. During her entire life, her daughter had believed she was a boy, not the girl she had been born as. She could only imagine what would have happened if those charms had been lifted when the girl was older.

Shaking her head, Amelia turned her thoughts to other things. The House Elves had been able to finish her daughter's room the night before and it looked wonderful, Susan had come home as well, and Amelia had explained things to her. Still, she had noticed how nervous Susan seemed to be.

"Probably nervous about meeting Harry as a girl," she mumbled to herself.

Arrived in her daughter's hall, she gently knocked at the door. Hearing the soft come in had her pushing the door open slightly and peeking in.

There sitting on her bed, without a single IV in her and dressed in the clothes she had bought her the day before was her daughter. She looked much better now that she was out of her hospital gown, something Amelia greatly appreciated.

As for attire well Amelia had forgone the idea of getting her daughter pinks or purples for now or anything too girly for that matter and simply got her a pair of jeans - thankfully they fit her nicely - and a wicked sisters t-shirt. For shoes, she went with a simple pair of runners knowing she wouldn't be comfortable with anything else at the moment.

"You ready to go?" She asked hopefully catching her daughters attention and as she looked up, her eyes seemed to shine brighter even if she only gave a small timid smile.

"As ready as I can be," the young teen answered, making Amelia smile, before opening the door fully.

Slowly Harry got off the bed before fingering the hem of the t-shirt. As the young teen walked out of the room, her eyes looked around. It took her a moment to relax a bit more.

Choosing not to mention the action, for now, Amelia gingerly led her towards the exit. It had been decided that the safest mode of travel would be side along apparition. The only trouble was that Harry had never done it before.

"So we will be apparating to the house, there is a section just outside the hospital that is designed for it." She explained earning a soft nod from her daughter. "Are you nervous?"

The shocked look she got made her smile yet as the teen looked away she frowned in worry.

"I guess - a little," he admitted softly.

Harry didn't want to admit it, but he was not overly nervous about entering a new house, more along the lines of nervous about seeing Susan Bones.

Susan had been one of the students who had believed him to be the Heir of Slytherin last year and hadn't apologised for it. Many students hadn't to be honest. Now he would be sharing a house with her and had to worry about the girl still thinking him the heir or even thinking he was taking her aunt away from her.

To his knowledge, Susan had always lived with her aunt. The Hufflepuff never spoke about her parents, so Harry assumed they had been killed during the war just like his - adoptive - parents.

"You have nothing to worry about Harry, you'll see everything will go smoothly," Amelia assured him before gently wrapping her arms around him.

Tensing at the action, he tried his best to relax, but it took some time. Finally, though he was able to slide his own arms around the older woman, trying his best not to shake.

He wasn't very good at physical intimacy, like hugs. The only reason he accepted Hermione's was because he knew she wouldn't hurt him. She was his friend, and she always hugged him, at least once a day.

"Right, you should close your eyes and take a deep breath, you'll feel like you're going through a very tight tube but it's alright," Amelia assured him and with a nod, the woman turned on her heel and they vanished.

With a pop, they reappeared and Harry hurriedly disentangled himself from his birth mother's arms and stumbled backwards.

Whatever that was, he never wanted to do it again, it had been - horrible and made him feel claustrophobic. The cupboard, he had been forced to use as a bedroom had been the same after a while. He hated the damn thing because the more he grew the less space he had.

"Are you okay, Harry," Amelia hurried to ask, worried about her daughter. The young girl was shaking all over, a sigh that something wasn't right yet Amelia didn't know what to do.

When no answer came she moved to put her hand on Harry's shoulder, but a hurried shake of the head had the teen's body back to normal, all shaking absent.

"I - I am never apparating again," she grunted causing Amelia to smile weakly.

"Side-along is much worse than a single person, you'll get used to it in the end, but there are many who still refuse to apparate. For now, don't worry about it too much, you're still too young to even learn how to do it or attempt to do it." Amelia assured her daughter earning a weak smile from the teen. "We'll make you a cup of tea when we get in, this way your stomach can settle,"

Giving a small nod, Harry looked towards the house that was to be his home. When he did, he couldn't help but feel amazed.

The neighbourhood they stood in was nothing like Privet Drive. While Privet Drive was the same house repeated over and over again this area was vastly different. The side they were facing there were rows of tall attached homes, all looking to be four to five stories high. They were all done in brick and well looked after. The front had large windows, and a staircase leading up to the main floor and one to the underground level of the home.

On the other side were rows of different looking homes, smaller but no less beautiful.

"We're the one with the yellow door," Amelia remarked while motioning to the one house they stood in front of.

Following the woman up the steps, the door was slowly opened. Looking towards her birth mother, she received a small encouraging smile and slowly stepped into the house.

The moment she did, he froze in surprise. The house was large, on his right was a large whining staircase that made it up to the second floor. Hardwood covered the floors the walls were painted a warm tan colour. Everything looked warm and welcoming, with pictures lining the wall.

"This is my home, I chose to live here with Susan because Bones Manor is too big. Even this house is quite large, so you'll have plenty of places to explore I'm sure. I'll give you the ground rules, though okay. The basement holds the potion room, it's off limits unless you have my permission or you're being supervised. My office is on the second floor and will always be locked, knock if you want to go in and only enter if permitted."

"Sounds, normal," Harry whispered unsure if it was or wasn't considering all he really knew where the Dursley's home rules.

"Why don't I show you your room, this way you can unpack some things. I had Tonks bring your trunk to my office instead of your vault and it was brought her last night so you have some familiar things in there. Feel free to unpack it okay," Amelia assured her making Harry smile and nod.

With that Amelia led the teen up to the second floor before continuing up to the third and fourth.

"Susan is on the floor below you, I wanted you both to have the same room in size so you'll be above one another since floor three and four are the same floor plans," Amelia told her before walking over to the first door. "This is your room,"

The invitation was there and yet Harry felt his nervousness grow. Yes, he had his own room at the Dursley's but really it was nothing that nice. The room had been Dudley's second bedroom and if he could be honest with himself, he had always associated it as such. The room had never been personalised bar a single Gryffindor poster on the wall that had swiftly been taken down. This, this was going to be his room, a room decorated for him in mind.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and opened the door. Slowly he walked into the room, eyes moving around, taking everything in.

The room was large, bigger than the one at Privet Drive. The walls were painted a soft, warm-toned grey while the ceiling had been painted a dark royal blue that looked almost velvety. In the middle of the back wall facing a set of windows was a large double if not queen size bed. The bed itself looked like the most comfortable thing he had ever seen even if it was a bit more feminine than he was comfortable with. There were plenty of pillows on the bed and the bedding itself was made up of whites, greys and blues with a splash of blueish purple. There was also a single stuffed animal on the bed, a golden snitch that had a smile tugging at his lips.

The rest of the room was simply decorated, a thick white rug covered the floor with a sitting area consisting of a long sofa and a chair near the windows that were draped with thick blue draperies that blocked the light.

"This is your room," Amelia repeated from the doorway. "You can do with it what you want, it's your zone nobody else's. If you don't like the paint we can change it,"

"No - its - its perfect," he murmured softly before turning away and smiling at the older woman. "Thank you,"

"You're oh so very welcome," Amelia laughed although her voice did hitch slightly. "Your trunk is at the bottom of your bed, Susan is here, but she wanted to give you room to get used to things."

Turning, Harry instantly spotted his trunk and then the sound of pecking at the window had him turning to find an all too familiar owl perched on the windowsill.

"Hedwig!" She exclaimed before hurrying over and opening it.

With a flutter of wings, the owl flew in before settling on her shoulder.

"I look different Hedwig, but you always seem to know that it's me," he mumbled earning a soft bark from the owl. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but I'm really happy you weren't at Privet Drive when it all happened. Oh! Right, Hedwig, I'd like you to meet my - mother, Amelia Bones. I can explain everything to you later," Harry laughed and although Amelia thought her daughter was a bit - different for speaking to the owl as though it understood the moment she was present the owl turned its head to stare at her, its golden eyes blazing into her own.

For a moment the owl didn't look away until finally it seemed satisfied and it gave a soft bark of greeting to Amelia.

Strange, she thought as the owl turned back to her daughter, nibbling at her ear with an affection which only made her smile and laugh softly.

"Harry - we have a few things we need to talk about after you pack okay, so, for now, why don't you let Hedwig rest, unpack a bit and then we'll talk." Amelia offered, earning a nod of agreement from her daughter.

Giving her a smile she left the room.

Alone, Harry slowly looked around before allowing Hedwig to fly over to the windowsill that was still open. Walking over to the bed, he bent low and opened the trunk.

The moment he did, he had to sit down as emotions crashed into him like waves. Clothes were scattered around the trunk, her cousin's old clothes that were three times too big for him not to mention would like horrible on a - girl.

"I'm a girl," he whispered, eyes filling with moisture. "I'm a bloody girl, I don't know how to act like a girl Hedwig, I don't even know how girls really act. Hermione - she's a girl, but - but she's not like other girls I know, not like Parvati or Lavender."

His voice had turned sad by the end of his thoughts and hearing his master sad, Hedwig flew back to land on his shoulders and gave a soft bark.

"I guess there are different types of girls, all with different personalities like boys but - girls are so complicated. No offence to you Hedwig, you're the less complicated girl I know. At least with you, I know what to do and what you like." he remarked while running a finger over the owl's plumage.

"Hell I'm still thinking of myself as a boy, Hedwig, how can I be a girl if I can't even call myself - in my mind - a girl? I'm not even Harry Potter anymore. Harry Potter was the BOY-who-lived - merlin I hate that title, but still,"

Drawing a sigh he looked back at the trunk before gingerly picking up a Weasley jumper, it had been the last one she had received from Mrs Weasley, it still fit and probably would for a little while. Running a hand over it, he let a sigh leave his lips before setting it aside and moving to other possessions.

His school robes were all removed and after a small bit of hesitation, thought that instead of throwing it all out he could probably donate them to a second-hand store. They were well taken care of, there were no rips, no tears, no stains.

Once all the clothes were taken out he was left with school books, parchment rolls, old or new quills and ink wells. There were various potion ingredients at the bottom of the trunk and other ins and outs of it all.

He didn't have much in terms of personal properties, just the photo album Hagrid had given him - her - no, for now, he would be a him until he got used to looking into a mirror and seeing - seeing a girl staring back.

Shakily grabbing her photo album he brought it to one of the bedside tables and gently put it on top of it. Then he went back and grabbed the two last pieces of personal properties that were important to him, his cloak of invincibility and his broom. He set the broom against the sitting on the bed and looking at the cloak.

"Maybe - I should start carrying it with me, it's valuable, but also damn useful." He mumbled while running his hand over its soft fabric. "How, though, I mean people are bound to notice a bleeding invisibility cloak attached to me when I walk around."

Letting the fabric fall between his fingers, he was about to put it away when he noticed something. A stone, it had always been there, it was what you latched the front with but now upon closer inspection, she also noticed something else. If one wasn't looking for it or didn't have an overly sharp eye for detail they wouldn't have noticed it but he had. The stone was more of a branch and carved into it, or perhaps inside it was a triangle.

"Uh, never noticed it before," he remarked before rubbing his thumb over it yet as he did so something very surprising happened, the cloak shrank until with a gasp only a small band of plaited fabric was left behind, the stone smaller than before was looped around with a thinner piece of fabric. "Okay that can't be normal,"

Shakily picking it up, he looked it over before running his finger over the stone. He frowned when nothing happened but tried again, this time with his numb. Before his very eye's it turned back into its cloak form and Harry was left with a very curious puzzle.

Turning it back to its shrunken form he wrapped it around his wrist, rather surprised it fit snug enough for it not to fall off. His cloak would need investigating into, he had read a bit about them already and knew that it wasn't normal for an invisibility cloak to take on another shape or form, of course, it was also well-known that they didn't keep their potency for a very long time either.

"But it doesn't explain how this has been passed down from generation to generation in the Potter family without its spells being realised or even a new one being bought."

Still, he would have time to deliver the meaning of it all in due time, for now, his mother wanted to speak to him and he wasn't very sure what he had done if he had even done anything wrong, to begin with.

Rising to his feet, he looked around the room one last time before leaving it. Walking down their stairs to the main level, he looked around before slowly walked until finally, he found the kitchen while his mother was sitting looking over various documents.

"You unpacked already?" the intimidating woman asked making Harry smile.

"Yes, I don't have much, but I do have stuff that can be donated, my school robes - I won't be able to wear them because of well" he slowly trailed off at this point earning an understanding expression from his mother.

"No worries, we'll be going shopping tomorrow for clothes for you and others things but before we do that we need to discuss certain items. Come and sit and I want to assure you that you are in no trouble at all." Amelia hurried to assure her daughter.

Slowly Harry sat, a bit hesitant about what was about to be discussed, perhaps it was to do with his - gender change, hopefully not, though.

"I want to talk to a bit before Susan comes down. There are certain things you girls need to be aware of and cautious about. Firstly, Harry, I'm sorry, but for now, I think it would be best to keep your - changes - silent. Kingsley is still pursuing an investigation into the subject and I don't want anybody getting wind of certain things until we are fully ready, this also falls into a possible scenario we might need to face in the coming future." Amelia began sounding very cautious.

"I think you may need to tell me more than that, not that I don't trust you - ma'am - I just don't really know what to expect, or how to handle things right now. I'm really sorry and I know I'm probably going to do things that you're going to be offended by or not like, but I'm just so used to doing things on my own I don't really know how to trust an adult." Harry explained or at least tried to.

All his explanation seemed to do was make the older woman frown. She seemed hesitant to accept it, but finally gave a small nod.

"You're a thirteen-year-old teenager, but - I can see your point of the matter, you are directly linked with this entire situation and you should be aware of certain aspects but please allow me to continue the explanation. To explain better you need to know a bit of history."

Here she pulled an old file from the folder and placed it before him making him.

Looking down, he was surprised to find his parents' wedding photo, at least his adopted parents wedding photo.

"We all went to Hogwarts at the same time." She began slowly. "You recognise you're adopted parents, James and Lily, well this here is Remus Lupin, that is Peter Pettigrew and this is Sirius Black. I was here and this is Alice Longbottom and that's Frank Longbottom."

As she said the names, Amelia pointed to various individuals in the photograph, people that to Harry had previously been unknown. Now she had names to put to the faces, and he felt a bit of happiness fill him at the thought.

"Sirius, James, Lily, Remus, Peter and Frank were all in Gryffindor. Frank was a year older. Alice and I were in Hufflepuff. We all knew each other, but it was only when Alice and Frank began dating that we started to really know each other. During my last year, James and Lily were not the only ones to get together." Amelia revealed making Harry's eyes widen and turn up to look at her. "You're - father," Amelia sighed sadly. "Sirius Black, he and I began to date. We then entered the Auror program together. Sirius, James, Alice, Frank and I became aurors, but then I learned I was pregnant with you. I had to take some time off during the pregnancy and I was put on desk duty. When you were born, your father - he was the happiest man alive and then you disappeared, you were taken. He searched with all sorts of other people."

Here a new picture was placed on the pile, but this wasn't wasn't a happy one, it looked like a mug shot, of a prisoner.

"Sirius - he can't be trusted," Amelia whispered confusing Harry. "He fooled us all Harry, he made us see what he wanted us to see. I was tricked just like everybody else. We all thought that Black fought against the Death Eaters with us, but he wasn't."

Here Amelia looked at her daughter, her eyes betraying her, showing her anger and sadness.

"He turned out to be a Death Eater, we only learned the truth when - you and the Potters were attacked on Halloween. Black was their Secret Keeper, the only person who knew where they were and he told You-Know-who. He betrayed them and then he killed thirteen muggles and a wizard the following day."

Eyes closing, Harry looked away from the picture. His own - father had been a - had been one of Voldemort's supporters. His own father had killed people.

"Why, why did he have me then?" he whispered, eyes opening to stare at his mother, confused and wanting answers.

"I don't know Harry, but I don't want you to think that you are unloved, you are loved." Amelia hurried to assure Harry, raising her hand to gently caress the smooth cheek even with the flinch from her daughter. "But I can tell you one possible theory that Kingsley is working on. We suspect that Sirius is the one who kidnapped you and placed all those charms and spells upon you. We think he might have abandoned you where James and Lily would have found you, hoped they would have taken you in. James and Sirius - they looked to be like brothers. Nobody was stupid enough to think that if James had a child that Sirius would be the godparent and he was. Sirius Black is not only your father, but also your godfather thanks to all this. We suspect that - after the Potters died and he gained custody of you that he would have fled the country to raise you as a future follower of You-Know-Who."

The silence after the theory was deafening and Harry looked back down at the picture. The man in it had a gaunt, sunken face, waxy skin, yellowed teeth and long matted hair with a beard to go with it. He had several tattoos on his skin and to be honest, he looked like a corpse. Still, in it, he saw something, slowly picking it up, he walked over to a mirror, he saw on the wall and looked at his appearance.

It wasn't often he did so, trying to take it slow, but as he looked between the female features looking back at him and the photo he could see the similarities. They had the same high cheekbones, their eyes were similar as well. There were other similarities, but he could not deny his relation to the man.

"Why," he whispered before turning from the mirror to look at his mother. "Why are you telling me this now?"

His mother lets a sign leave her lips before she pulled a newspaper from the folder and placed it on the table.

"He escaped Azkaban, and we believe he is after you, Harry Potter."

(I know it says that Sirius Black escaped on August 1st but for the purpose of this story and the fact that it doesn't really change anything just consider the man escaping a little earlier than planned.