Chapter 6
Harry did his chores as usual making sure he did them properly not wanting to make his aunt and uncle angry. Today he had a different chore, he was to paint the garage door. Someone down the street had painted theirs the same colour as number 4 had, so Petunia wanted it a different colour. Their house had to be unique. Uncle Vernon did not care much one way or the other, but, his wife did.
"Boy, make lunch! You can have a sandwich, then I want the garage done before it's time for you to make dinner!" Petunia shouted, as she loaded the washing machine. She would never let him touch the laundry with his dirty hands.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry said not showing his thankfulness at getting something to eat.
"Wash your hands first!" she snapped looking disgusted.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry said, washing his hands with the hose outside, knowing that his aunt would not let him in otherwise.
He made a huge selection of different kinds of sandwiches, because he knew Dudley was coming home for lunch, and he would want them all. Petunia only took one sandwich and started on something else. Harry ate his sandwich, then when Petunia looked away, he managed to steal a second one and ate it outside.
He took a while painting the garage, but with his sore body he knew he had to get it done, otherwise his aunt would complain about him. That would give his uncle what he wanted, an excuse to beat him.
He just hoped his uncle's business was going good, because he would be happy. Then he would not be beaten.
When Harry finished, he put the paint in the garage beside the other stuff, making sure he had done it properly, of course. Petunia had her nose at the window inspecting it as he washed his hands again. Finally, she nodded not seeing anything she could complain about.
As he finishing cleaning his hands, he thought 'I'm glad I finished', as his Uncle Vernon had just arrived. He walked into the house keeping out of sight in the sitting, but listening to how his uncle was.
"Ah, Pet, we are going out for dinner! Let's get your coat and where is my Duddikins?" Uncle Vernon called loudly.
Harry was startled when he realised his uncle was earlier than he had ever been, and was obviously in a great mood.
"He is up the stairs, getting changed. He just ate his lunch, dear," Petunia replied, smiling at Vernon.
"Dudley, come on son. We are going out, so wear the best clothes you have son," Vernon yelled to his son.
"Ok, Dad, just give me a minute!" Dudley yelled, back.
There was a huge thumping on the first floor, as Dudley moved around. Harry nearly cringed; if Dudley got any fatter, he would fall through the ceilings.
"Uncle Vernon, is there anything you want me to do?" Harry asked submissively. Harry knew his uncle loved it when he acted downtrodden and submissive, as he got less beatings that way.
"Just clean the crumbs and dirt off the couch, and make sure my seat is clean. After that, get in your room and stay there. We are going to Marge's for the night and we will be back sometime tomorrow night. Cut the grass as well, boy, otherwise we will know about it," Vernon warned.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry agreed keeping his shock inside. He could hardly believe his luck; perhaps he could even chance getting a shower.
He would meet Severus again tonight, however he intended on going earlier to just sit and think by himself. Not that he did not want Severus to come and talk or anything but, he wanted some time alone.
For someone who was a neat freak, Aunt Petunia was not as good as she thought. She did not even realise that Harry had been doing his chores in his bare feet. He would have his shoes back tonight, hopefully. His feet were sore, blistered, cut, and hurt as his feet were not the part of his body that usually got hurt.
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"How is the search going?" Severus asked, spotting Draco.
When Harry had left he had gone back to his ship, as they still lived on it, but kept it out of sight. He had told Draco to head to the library and find some clippings of the Daily Prophet.
"It's going great, but it's not the best paper to read through, as all it gives out is what the Ministry says it can. Speaking of the Ministry, they only found out about us when we turned eleven," Draco drawled amusedly.
"What?" Severus was shocked, eleven years for them to find out? Something was wrong there.
"Well, the Death Eaters made golems of us, but when the Hogwarts letters came the real names of the children came up. Hardly anyone believed it, they thought it was a hoax. It obviously was not, so there is some kids out there pretending to be us or thinks they are us." Draco meant himself, Vinnie, Greg and the others.
"Golems? This is going to make everything a little easier, as they will not know which one of you is the real one," Severus said smirking slightly.
"They will. I saw myself," grimaced Draco.
"And?" Severus asked sitting forward.
"I'm white as snow, and my hair...yuck he uses a whole tub of gel to hold it back. He looks every bit a pureblood Slytherin. Its sickening; I'm glad I did not grow up like that." Draco was looking sick.
He had his hair tied up, it was not that white the Malfoy's seemed to have; it was more of a light blond colour, probably from all the sun. He dressed nothing like his twin or more like his Golem at all. He had a pair of jeans, and small vest on. He was not a sickly boy either, he had muscle on him. It was from all the carrying and having to pull in the sails all the time.
"I don't think I want to know what I look like," Vinnie whined playfully, while looking sick.
"Yes, well you should see your Golem selves," Draco said laughing lightly.
"What is wrong with us?" Vinnie and Greg asked at the same time.
"You are fat and stupid," Draco told them remembering how they acted as he was coming out of the library. Thankfully, they did not take any notice of him at all; otherwise, he did not know what would have happened.
That caused both boys to gulp, as they were like Draco; long hair and tied back. They were not fat as they both had built muscle doing the same work that Draco and the others had done. Also, they were very smart. Severus and his brother had seen to that.
"Actually, that is, in all probability what you would have looked like if I had not rescued you," Severus explained. "It may work out to or advantage."
"So, what are we going to do?" Draco asked, looking at Severus.
"Well, I prefer you stay on board until you are seventeen, then all I would need to do is convince my mate to join us. After that, we can think about leaving again. I will not make it out of this country alive if Voldemort realises that I am here," Severus told them.
He thought getting Harry to come with him should not be too hard, as his young mate seemed to want out as well.
"I will stay with you until I'm seventeen," Draco said, the others nodding in agreement.
"Very well. Now, did you find out anything on the boy who lived?" Severus asked, that being one thing that had him curious.
"I read something, but I just shrugged it off, because it claimed the boy was doing well at his Aunt's. I'm not sure about that, as it was a Ministry document that a journalist had found," Draco replied.
"I see," Severus said as his eyes darkened remembering what his mate had told him about the boy who lived.
"Why?" Draco asked curiously.
"I'm was just wondering as my mate was not very forthcoming," Severus told him as he checked his watch. He would be leaving to meet his mate very soon, and he found himself looking forward to seeing him once more.
"Well, I'm going back tomorrow, as I've decided to copy the important information, so you can read it all for yourself." Draco did not want to have to sit down and explain everything he found, as it would just be easier to copy all the information.
They had learned magic, from both Sev and Seb, as well Sam, a nickname they had given her so that the kids could call them the three SSS. It would sound like snakes running loose, in honor of Sev, Sam and Seb's house at Hogwarts. Draco came up with the prank, along with Serena, when they were seven.
The biggest surprise came at the same time, when they learned that Serena may have been a squib in the magical world, but she had a more special gift than they would have ever imagined. She could move things with her mind and teleport. She did not use a wand, as she was not witch, as she just waved her hand.
Her powers had come to the fore, after Draco and her's prank, when she had saved their lives, actually teleporting the boat and them to another location, when they ran into a hurricane. After the rescue, they realised she had these incredible powers, so one of them always took turns teaching her to control and work them. It had been a great learning experience for her, and she had come out of her shyness, and gained so much confidence that they were amazed.
When she had gained her full control, she would prank them, by teleporting them into the water and other silly things. They had all had a great time, especially the other children. Samantha could not have been more proud of her daughter than she was, and it was then that she was even happier to be away from her husband. She was the surrogate mother of all the wonderful boys and mother to her daughter. She taught them everything they needed to know about keeping a house and cooking, and she could not be more proud. She was especially happy that the boys did not think that it was beneath them to learn such things. That was something her ex-husband would never have approved of, and she felt that she was obviously worth more to these people than her husband had said she was to him.
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Harry mowed the lawn, cleaned the dishes and all the chairs, including his uncle's, plus he made sure he had hoovered the rug and the crumbs he had let fall. He would have nothing to do tomorrow, but he knew his uncle would have a huge list for him when he got back. He was never allowed to relax, as his uncle had always been a sadistic bastard, and he did not want his freak nephew to learn any more about magic then he already had.
Locking the doors, he made sure that the Dursleys were truly gone before he tested the bath. When he realise that the water heater was still on, he excitedly ran the bath making sure it was as hot he could stand it, before sinking into the tub. He made certain that he did not hurt his new bruises and cuts as he carefully washed himself.
The cloth was as disgusting as the water when he was done. He thought perhaps it would have been better to have had a shower first to get all of the dirt off, but shrugging he let the water out. It seemed to take ages for the water to disappear before he ran the water again, filling it once more.
He sat there for a while, the door slightly ajar, just in case the Dursleys came home early for whatever reason. He did not use their toiletries but his own, as they would realise, if he had. Sighing in pleasure, he enjoyed his bath while he could.
He was wondering how he had become so attached to Severus after just one night. He felt safe and secure with the man and he felt like he had known him for years. Deciding to think more on it later, he got out, dried himself off, making sure he did not open any wounds, then he put the towel in the washing machine.
He went into the fridge, and took some of everything as they would not notice the small bits missing. Their fridge was always full, including a few leftovers, very few considering Vernon and Dudley's appetites. Not taking any chances, he did not eat anymore then that. He was still very hungry, but at least his stomach did not feel as though it's throat had been cut any more.
It was not long before he headed out, not looking up all the way there. He did not want to see if his neighbors had disgusted looks on their faces because he had nothing on his feet. He had never worn a pair of socks in his life, except at school where he had to, because the ones he had refused to wear, came from his uncle or cousin. Those were all tatty and full of holes.
When Harry sat down in the place from yesterday, the sun had not yet set. It would be gone soon, so would the heat, and he saw that his trainers were not there. That meant that they were either in the bucket or Severus had them. He hoped it was the latter.
"Hey, I did not expect you to be here for another half an hour," Severus greeted him as he came up looking surprised.