Edit: So it would seem like I for some reason uploaded the wrong file so I'm reuploading this chapter, sorry.

Steamy: Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...

I apologize for being gone for so long, but just know that I have been busy with REAL LIFE and so wasn't able to focus on this, or any, of my stories so yeah, sorry about that.

Also, WARNING, IMPORTNT AUTHORS NOTE! There will be young boy/older man pairings in this story, though nothing consensually sexual will be taking place until Harry's fifth year as that is the age that I have decided is the age of consent in the Magical world. Harry will be having interesting interactions with some older males in this story that might appear sexual but aren't, as Harry follows his feelings in a different way than in canon so his interactions will also be different. Just, if any of the interactions make you uncomfortable, I'm just letting you know that nothing sexual will be happening for now so don't worry, I'm not going to be having an eleven year old willingly having sex with people.

Well, now with that out of the way, time to get to-

Review responses:

Guest 1: oh don't worry, something will happen, it's going to happen in this chapter so you can look forward to that.

Guest 2: of course Harry doesn't know who he is, in canon he didn't know who he was until he was told by Hagrid and since Hagrid didn't know it was Harry he was talking to Harry hasn't found out about his fame quite yet.

Sheba Winchester Potter: thank you for the comment!

xXxblacklilyxXx: Don't worry about the thieving aspect, I wouldn't have made Harry a thief if we didn't get to see him do some thieving; there is at least one section in this chapter with a heist so you have that to look forward to, but most of the thieving will be happening over the course of this story so you also have that to look forward to. Also, luckily for you I've already re-uploaded chapter two with a, at least what I hope is, a better explained wand scene so there you go; if you haven't read that by now, well it's still there so go read it for a better understanding.

Corri-writer: thank you, I'm glad that you like it.

Codename-SN: I already responded to you in a PM so I won't be responding to you here; but I will say thank you again for the review and the criticism, that will be something I will need over the course of any of my stories as I do want to get better at writing plots and allow my audience to understand what I am writing, so thank you again.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter cast or books/movies and anything that might belong to other people

Knockturn Dealings

[July 30th 1991]

At 9:30 AM, Sunday July 30th, the soft sound of humming filled the house of Ms. Figg.

Harry Potter was sitting on the small bed that sat within his temporary room, softly rocking forwards and backwards while reading one of his new books of Magic, keeping his mind off of the fact that he would be returning to the Dursley household later on.

Lifting a hand he started to run it through the soft feathers of his snowy owl, who hooted softly back at him in response, a soft clicking noise also escaping her to show her pleasure, causing for the boy to smile and lay a gentle kiss on her head before pulling back and continuing his reading.

By his feet sat a bag that held his undesirable clothes that he had brought with him to Ms. Figg's house. Everything he had gotten from Diagon Alley-and several of the other Alleys of Magical London-was stored within a Magical necklace pouch that was much like the bottomless bag he had received from the Goblins, only this one being smaller with a Notice-Me-Not charm on it, along with a Muggle concealment charm so that no one without Magic would be able to spot it.

Harry had purchased this little gem from the not so safe or lawful Knockturn Alley in one of the nondescript buildings, this one actually not being one for the Dark Arts but instead held odd bobbles and trinkets that were quite useful, especially for someone like Harry, so the boy could take a guess as to who the target customers were; but he didn't care, as long as he didn't get in trouble and as long as he could buy what he wanted he didn't really care who shopped there.

He was merely thankful that people like him-thieves-were who was shopping there, otherwise he would have to stalk the store and take out anyone he felt were even bigger bastards than he is.

Shaking his head Harry let out a sigh as he forced himself to refocus on his reading, wanting to get as much done as possible before he had to deal with both his relatives and their reactions to finding out that he was a Wizard and that he would be going to Hogwarts whether they liked it or not!

He shook his head again before, with a sigh, he shut the book, putting it in his necklace, knowing that he wouldn't be able to focus any more now so he decided to revert all of his energy on thinking about other things in peace and quiet.

Different thoughts and emotions swirled around his mind; some were of relevance like planning heists for the many different Magical shops in the Alleys and other such places, some were more abstract, thoughts of what it would like to float on a cloud and wondering if, with Magic, he would be able to sate that strong thought he has had for as long as he could remember.

Then, another thought popped into his mind.

It was about the strange pulling he always felt for the Dursley house, a pulling that would get stronger the farther away and longer time he spent away from it, a pulling that became painful if he ignored it for too long-it felt like something was digging into his very soul and pulling him back to the Dursley's-it felt like he had to be there, as if he couldn't survive without them, that if he left that house he wouldn't be able to survive.

Harry was just pondering whether that strange and painful pulling was Magical in origin or not when he was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of the front door opening, the chatter that started up telling him that his relatives were finally back.

"Well Hedwig," he started as he reached over to stroke her soft feathers," I guess it's time for you to go to Privet Drive now, don't worry, I left the attic window open and it doesn't face the street so unless the Dursley's are looking for you they probably won't see you," he leaned over and placed a kiss on her beak then smiled at her," alright girl, see you later."

He stood up and opened the window in his room and his owl flew out after nibbling at his ear affectionately.

Harry allowed for a grin to upturn his lips for a peaceful moment before wiping it off his face as he turned towards the door of the small room. With a sigh Harry reached down and picked up his bag, took a breath, and went down the stairs and to the living room.

He stood within the threshold of the living room for a moment, not bringing attention to himself as he simply listened to the adults in the room talk about him and how much of a bother he was (or wasn't, according to Ms. Figg) for a time. After a couple minutes Harry saw Uncle Vernon turn, knowing that he was going to yell for him and took great pleasure as he startled his Uncle when he spotted him simply standing there, waiting to be called upon.

He demurely smiled up at the man, barely keeping his cheekiness and laughter in check at the surprised look on the fat mans' face before he ducked his head as it was harder to contain his mirth at the petulant grumbles of the man as he turned away from him, grumbling that he needed to follow him so that they could get back to the house, his wife and son following.

Harry nodded as he spoke a quiet," yes Uncle Vernon," and made his way out of the house, smiling up at Ms. Figg as he passed her and thanking her for allowing him to stay in her home for the past couple days, to which she smiled both warmly and absently, waving a hand mildly,

"Oh, you needn't worry about that dear, it was my pleasure! Actually if anything this experience was more pleasurable for me than you; those early morning breakfasts were simply divine! I hope I can taste some more of your cooking some other time dear!"

Quietly giggling Harry nodded to that," yeah, maybe some other time," then he bowed his head and rushed after his relatives, climbing into the back of the car with Dudley-their house may be close but they already had the car so they couldn't justify not taking him, especially not where everyone would see such treatment-and remained silent for the short drive to 4 Privet Drive.

In no time at all they were back and Harry hopped out of the car and went around to the back and grabbed several suitcases and brought them up to the house, fumbling with the knob before he was able to open it and take the suitcases to the rooms that the case belonged to, and when he was finished with that he bounded back down the stairs and went into the kitchen, knowing that the rest of the luggage would have been gotten and that when the family of three were finished either putting their suitcases in their rooms or unpacking they would be back down and want a snack, so he whipped something up for them while also cleaning the kitchen, dining and living rooms as they had all gained a fine, barely there layer of dust that Harry knew Aunt Petunia would make a fuss over, probably saying something about how her precious "Dudders" would inhale the stuff and die from allergies or something.

It didn't take Harry that long to both make a refreshing snack and clean up the rooms, finishing everything with a grace of someone who had done such before. Letting out a quiet sigh Harry settled the food and drinks on the dining room table and then went and stood by the cupboard door as he waited for his Uncle to come back, knowing that if he went off to clean up the rest of the house or do anything more than he'd already done his Uncle would punish him, as the Dursley's all liked to bother Harry between jobs and got angry if they didn't get to have that pleasure so it was less trouble to just waste a couple minutes than to waste both time and the ability to sit and move comfortably.

So with a bit of time to spare Harry allowed for his mind to go back to prodding the thought about whether or not the pulling of the Dursley home was because of Magic or not and something in him said it was. The pulling was on what felt like his soul, and Harry had just learned not that long ago that he had Magic, and when he had used his Magic to find The Leaky Cauldron and in conjunction Diagon Alley and the Wizarding world the feeling had been similar to the pulling this has had on him and Harry just knew, especially now that he was back in the house, that the pulling was Magical in origin, even if he wasn't entirely sure where it was coming from exactly-he'd have to find some time to investigate, his next chore was probably going to be the garden so he would start there.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a rough hand cuffing him over the head. He lurched forward but remained standing, glancing up at his Uncle the man had a nasty sneer on his face as he handed Harry another list of chores-when had made this one?-before shooing him off," get to work, boy, the garden needs tending to, you can do the other chores later!" he cuffed him over the head again as he passed him into the dining room, his wife and son following shortly thereafter.

Heaving a sigh, one loud enough for his relatives to hear as they liked to hear his discomfort from time to time, Harry made his way into the yard, silently thanking his Uncle for allowing him to start his search where he wanted to first.

After walking through the back door Harry stood still a moment, drawing in his Magic and letting it find any other sources of its' kind in the backyard. After only a second he felt his Magic trying to connect to something else in the yard so Harry slowly walked forwards, following the feeling and letting it guide him around the garden.

It first guided him to the front so he started to surreptitiously look around while also tending to the flowers and other such plants in the front garden, leaving both when the feeling started to pull him away and when he was finished.

Next he came to the side garden and he tended to the plants residing there, again leaving when he was both finished and was pulled away again. After that the feeling pulled him completely passed the back garden and to the other side of the house which caused for a sinking suspicion to enter Harry; the Magic couldn't be around the entire house, could it?

Shaking his head Harry focused on the Magic, telling himself that he would find out soon and so allowed for his Magic to lead him all around the house once again before settling in the backyard.

Harry tilted his head to the side a moment, trying to feel through all the Magic in the back, it being far stronger here than anywhere else which told him that the source had to be there. He slowly went around tending to all of the flowers while occasionally closing his eyes, feeling out where the source was exactly, and by the time he was finished, he found it.

In the very back of the garden, flush against the back fence separating the Dursley house from their neighbors, was a smooth, gray, stone that was about as large as Harry's hand.

Carefully Harry inched closer to the stone, looking it over while also reaching out with his Magic, not wanting to touch it in case the Magic around it would react badly to such a thing. With great care his own Magic wrapped around it and pushed into the center of the stone which felt hot to his core in a scorching and violating way; and once he got to the very center of it a strange feeling overcame him, one that Harry swiftly realized was like the one he had gotten back at Ollivander's wand shop when he had first took hold of his second wand; it was as if all he had to do was focus in on the feeling and he would know of everything that had ever happened in the house.

Harry took a deep breath, preparing himself to dive into the Magic of the stone so that he would be able to know exactly what the stone knew-

"BOY!? What the bloody hell are you doing?!" Harry was snapped out of his focus by the loud bellowing of his Uncle causing for him to jerk back. Looking about him wildly he reached out and took hold of a weed near the fence and pulled on it, taking it with him as he backed out of the bushes at the back of the yard, stood up and turned to face his Uncle.

Gulping he raised a shaky hand, putting on a show for his Uncle to make the man think he was frightened (and maybe he was just a little) as he showed off the nasty weed," j-just trying to take c-care of this weed Un-Uncle Vernon," he stuttered, not entirely sure himself if it was fake or not, as he awaited the walrus of a man's reply.

The man looked him up and down a moment, a strange look in his eye, almost as if he was concerned-no, wait, he wasn't concerned, he was frightened! Frightened that Harry might find something or see something that he wasn't supposed to; did his Uncle know about that rock? Harry had a feeling that he did, otherwise why would he look so frightened over him finding something that was where the rock was?

Harry tensed, forcing his face to not show his emotions as his Uncle was still looking right at him and he didn't want the man to know that he was aware that anything was even a little bit out of the ordinary.

So he waited with bated breath as his Uncle continued to stare at him for an uncomfortable amount of time before the man shook his head and then glared at the boy," alright, well you've gotten it so I see no reason for you to stay out there! Throw that weed away and come back inside!" and he turned around and stomped back into the house, his departure allowing for Harry to breathe again. Taking in a breath Harry shook his head as he threw the weed away and then went back inside, carefully making sure that he didn't track any mud or dirt into the house, knowing that he would be punished for that even though he was the one that would be doing the cleaning anyway.

With another shake of his head Harry walked through the house and made his way to his cupboard and gathered the cleaning supplies within it and started on the rest of his chores.

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.

.

.

Harry fidgeted in his spot in the corner as he watched the family of three enjoy the dinner that he had prepared for them-a nice big welcome back feast that would not in a million years be shared with him-and waited for them to call on him for one thing or another.

After some more time they were finished and Harry went to the table and started clearing it, but he was worried that he wouldn't be able to finish his chores again as his Uncle would probably want another appointment that night, as far as he knew Aunt Petunia couldn't really do it for him anymore-no doubt because he had someone far younger and tighter than her to go to now-which is another reason his Aunt hates him and his Uncle goes to him even though he has her.

Mentally shaking his head Harry finished cleaning up and went over to the sink and washed the dishes, the fine tremor he had gained slowly disappearing as time passed, his mind hoping and praying that since his Uncle hadn't interrupted his chore time that meant that he wasn't going to bother him that night, though he knew that he wouldn't be so lucky tomorrow as that was his birthday and the Dursley's loved to treat him especially horribly on that day.

Harry let out a silent sigh of relief as he finished drying the last plate and put it away. He planted his feet on the floor firmly again, a happy feeling filling him as he turned around to head to his cupboard-

He bumped into a large body, one that was much larger than his own and he knew that his luck had run out (of course this would happen he berated himself, this always happened) before his Uncle took hold of his upper arm and tugged him forward, a horrible smile on his lips," get ready boy, you have a long night ahead of you." He sneered as he dragged Harry from the kitchen to the stairs. Harry cast his eyes to the living room and was confused that Aunt Petunia wasn't there, instead only Dudley was in there, sitting in front of the telly with a blank expression on his face and as he was dragged up the stairs a feeling of dread like no other he had felt filled him and he knew that his Uncle wasn't lying.

The second bedroom was thrown open and he was literally kicked inside, landing on his hands and knees he snapped his gaze up, feeling his heart sink as he spotted his Aunt standing there, an even uglier sneer on her face as she looked upon him, but what worried him was the strange fire in her eyes as they tracked his movements as her husband reached down and pulled him into the middle of the room; he heard the door close and the lock slide into place, his fate for the night doing the same as his Aunt finally moved from her place and came towards him.

She reached down and took his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her but he wasn't able to do so for long as she slapped him, hard, the metal ring on her finger digging into his cheek and cutting him, the feeling of warm blood ran down Harry's cheek and he resigned himself to his fate allowing for the woman before him to start ripping his clothes off of him in disgust, horrible words of his worthlessness and how she hated him filling Harry's ears, but all Harry could think about was that he was grateful that he hadn't put his thieving gear on that day.

Soon his Uncle was joining her and the two of them ganged up on the boy, hitting, kicking and at one point whipping him, his Uncle having taken off his belt at some point and whipping his bare back as his wife forced Harry's face into the floor with a heeled shoe, the pointy heel digging into his head and no doubt cutting into him as he was whipped mercilessly.

But as Harry was being whipped the boy heard the telltale sound of clothes being removed, his thoughts being proven correct as he saw his Aunt's shirt and soon her skirt end up on the floor in front of him.

Once those garments were removed from her body she removed her foot from Harry's head, snapped it up and forced something down his throat and, from the tingling that engulfed his body, Harry knew exactly what it was.

He tried with everything in him to stop the effects of the pills force fed to him but knew that it was futile, even with the help of his Magic he was only able to mildly lessen the effects, which he was grateful for as he was turned onto his back, the splintered wood cutting into and aggravating his fresh wounds; Harry watched as his Aunt removed the last of her underclothes and made her way to him.

He wasn't able to watch her finish as his neck was taken hold of and forced back, his mouth forced to face his Uncle who was also descending upon him.

Harry closed his eyes and forced his body to stop feeling as they took him.

He didn't know how long they went at it, all he knew was that he was moved into several different positions and was taken; everything hurt and Harry couldn't move, but finally, after what felt like an eternity they were finished with him.

Panting the two adults took a moment to catch their breath while kissing each other, their love and lust rekindling through this shared experience, and then, they both gathered their clothing and got dressed, his Aunt kicking him in the side and telling him to get up so that he could go back to his cupboard as she didn't want to dirty her hands by doing so.

He got another kick in the side when it took him one second too long to pull himself to his hands and knees and then forced himself to stand on his numb legs, wobbling as he moved out of the room and into the cupboard under the stairs, gingerly walking in and laying down on the ratty cot that lay inside.

Once he was down the door was slammed shut and locked, which allowed for Harry to breathe out a breath of relief as he let his body sink into the cot, finding comfort in the small, but special, blanket that he knew he had come to the Durley's in, forcing his arms to move to grab the blanket and wrap it around his body as best he could as he let out a sigh and made himself rest, waiting for the three other occupants of the house to go to bed before he did anything else.

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Just as Harry heard the first snore from his Uncle permeate the house he was jolted out of his restful half sleep by a soft noise.

Compelling his body to move, Harry turned over and saw the black silhouette of a cat in the darkness.

Harry smiled as he pulled his body into a sitting position," Blackie," he called softly, reaching a hand out and feeling the cat rub into it, a soft mewling coming from the cat-he almost sounded sad-as he came to rest at Harry's side, purring as he leaned into him.

Harry let out a soft laugh as he continued to pet the cat, remaining silent for a few minutes as he tried to gather himself again.

Blackie shifted to look at the boy as he moved to grab something, reaching into one of his trousers and pulling out one of his wands.

"Lumos," he whispered and a soft light appeared at the tip of the wand allowing for Harry, and Blackie, to see everything.

The cat let out a strange noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob as he moved around Harry, taking in both the marks adorning his body along with the red blood and white and clear substance that clung to his genitals and backside.

Taking this all in a growl erupted from Blackie as he leaned into Harry, lightly licking at his wounds to help clean him up and all Harry could do was sit there and stare at the cat as he tended to him; when suddenly a quiet gasp left him as he leaned over and brought Blackie into his arms, soft gasps leaving him as he forced himself not to cry but not knowing if he would be able to accomplish such a thing.

Luckily for him he didn't have to make a choice as his feline friend pressed into him and purred louder than he ever had before, the soothing vibration helping Harry to calm down. Squeezing the small body to his Harry let out a breath," thank you, Blackie," he whispered, running his fingers through the soft fur of his feline friend whose response was only to purr louder and harder.

They remained like that for a time before, finally, Harry pulled away and rubbed a hand over his eyes, letting out a self-deprecating laugh as he murmured," yeah, Uncle and Aunty did quite a number on me this time, heh, I wonder what they'll do tomorrow? I was planning on telling them that I'm going to Hogwarts tomorrow since they are going to beat me then too, might as well be beaten badly once than for who knows how long if I waited to tell them right?" he asked his friend.

Blackie let out a mew and rubbed his face against the scars lining Harry's chest, spelling out the word Freak. Letting out a hum Harry scratched behind Blackie's ears for a time before he set his wand down and used the light to get dressed in his thieving gear, attaching his wand holsters to his body and putting his wands in them.

He crawled out of the cupboard and made his way to the bathroom and cleaned himself up, using a potion that he had bought on one of his trips to the Alleys on his wounds, dabbing the substance on to some bandages that he then wrapped around his torso.

Once he was finished he reached over and pat Blackie's head," let's go get Hedwig, yeah?" he murmured as he made his way to the attic, climbing in through a door in Dudley's second bedroom, grabbing hold of Blackie and placing him on his shoulder as he pulled himself up into the attic.

A soft hoot greeted him and Harry couldn't help smiling in reply, moving over to his owl and hugging lightly," hello beautiful girl," he whispered as he hugged her before pulling away, smile still on his face," let's get out of here, yeah?" and he pushed open the attic window and slipped out of the house and silently landing on the ground, his snowy owl and feline friend following him.

Harry let out a quiet breath before he began sneaking around the house to the back, making his way to the stone he had discovered before.

When he got to it again he heard a rumbling growl come from Blackie, whose gleaming silvery blue eyes were locked on the stone Harry had found earlier, baring his sharp teeth at it. Harry tilted his head to the side out that but shook his head," Blackie, do you not like that stone?" he asked. The cat let out a strange huffing sound before pressing his body to Harry's.

"So, you really don't like it?" a meow," well, I need to check it out and see what it is, don't worry, I'm not going to touch it, so just sit still and let me work, okay?" he asked. He waited a moment as the cat glared at the stone for a moment before he rubbed his head into Harry's neck.

Harry let out a giggle and reached up to pat his head, murmuring a quiet thank you and then turning his attention on the smooth stone, reaching out with his Magic and pushed it into it, finding the core and bringing to himself, focusing on the Magic within the stone and then, everything went black.

His eyes snapped open and he looked around him in a panic before he realized that his consciousness must have entered the Magic of the stone as he was surrounded by red grid-like lines that outlined what he recognized as the Dursley's house and property, vague lines outlining the rest of the neighborhood, from what Harry could tell but he made himself focus on the Dursley household and, with a breath, brought in all the information that the stone held.

He accidently went over that day first and was able to see himself being beaten and raped by his Aunt and Uncle as Dudley was seated in front of the telly and simply watched it.

Shaking his head Harry tore his gaze from the sight and focused on what else he could see, shortly realizing that he would be able to see everything that has ever happened in the house and once he realized this he started rolling back time, passing by vague images that he knew were of his past abuse but not stopping on any of it.

Then finally, he was back to the time the stone was first placed within the garden.

There was what seemed to be an old man wearing strange clothing-Harry recognized it as being Wizarding robes-that was waving around a wand over the smooth stone then, after a flick of his wrist, he placed the stone within the bushes. After doing so he turned to Harry's relatives who were standing within the threshold of the house and seemed to speak to them before tipping his head and disappearing, leaving nothing but the stone behind.

Harry thought over the strange man and figured he must be a Wizard that knew him and for some reason decided to place this monitoring stone on his relatives property, no doubt to keep an eye on him, but it looked like his relatives were aware of this fact, so had they been lying when they told him Magic didn't exist?

Probably, Harry had no doubt that they were, they had lied to him about so much that it wouldn't be much of a stretch for them to lie about something like this, especially since they were so obsessed with being normal and all that.

After think about it for a bit longer Harry started to look through the timeline, watching everything in fast motion and only slowing it if he saw something that caught his attention, like when he saw that the stone had recorded his leaving the house and other such suspicious activities.

Gulping Harry had a feeling that something bad would happen if someone saw his activities so moved to change it, using his Magic to go through every instance he had crawled through the vents and moved around the house when he wasn't supposed to, changing it to him just sleeping in his cupboard; he didn't really care that the stone also kept track of every time his Uncle violated him and simply ignored such things-if someone wanted to use this stone to try and prove something then Harry wouldn't stop them, all they would get is that Harry was abused and whoever put the stone there in the first place hadn't done anything about even though he obviously had this monitoring stone on the property.

Once he finished with all that Harry checked every inch of the stones' Magic that he could, searching it for the pulling that was connected to his own Magic, and once finding it he carefully untangled it from his Magic, the feeling of being free and not bound to the Dursley's any long filling him, proving that he was correct in assumption that the stone was the reason he always returned to the horrible house no matter how much he wished not to.

Shaking his head Harry instead focused on finding anything else that might be attached to him and his Magic, and finding that there wasn't pulled out of it and back into the real world.

Taking in a gasping breath, Harry opened his eyes and stared at the stone, taking note that it was glowing a soft red before being consumed by a golden glow that had green mixed in with it. After completely consuming the red the gold and green flashed briefly before disappearing, leaving no evidence that it had even been there in the first place.

Harry stared at the stone for a bit longer, taking an educated guess that that had been his Magic before he started backing out of the bushes, Blackie in tow.

"Well," he started as he pat Blackie's head," that was interesting. Whoever the hell put that there is aware that I was being abused but didn't do anything about it. What an arse," he muttered as he stood up and stretched, then he turned to Blackie with a smile and reached down to pet him," ah well, at least that's done and over with. Let's get going yeah?" and with that Harry headed off to the library, thankful that he had all of his books with him in the necklace pouch around his neck, thoughts of how wonderful it was to no longer feel bound to the dreadful house filling him for the rest of the night.

[July 31st 1991]

*Thunk, thunk, thunk*

Harry's eyes slowly opened as he pulled himself out of his slumber, pushing himself into a sitting position, raising a hand to rub his eye as his other started to pet a furry black head.

His hand stopped a moment before he sighed softly and continued to pet his friend. He had forgotten that he had fallen asleep with Blackie, now he just hoped his Aunt and Uncle didn't see him.

He let out another quiet sigh as his Aunt banged on his door and yelled at him to get up and make breakfast, Harry calling out a quiet reply as he pulled on his oversized hand me downs, gave one last pat to Blackie's head and then crawled out of his room.

He made his way into the kitchen and started on breakfast, absently keeping track of the sounds of his Uncle and Cousin moving around upstairs, knowing that he only had a couple minutes to finish breakfast if he didn't want to get in even more trouble.

Luckily for Harry he was able to finish breakfast and plate it just as Dudley and his Uncle came into the dining room. A frown was on the larger mans' face, obviously disappointed that he hadn't been able to get into the dining room before his nephew finished but Harry knew that he would no doubt come up with a way to make up for this before breakfast was even done, especially since Harry planned on breaking the news to them during their breakfast-a little birthday present for himself, ruining their meal would bring him great pleasure-but for now he needed to keep his head down so he merely nodded to his Uncle before retreating to his corner, waiting to be called upon by one of his relatives.

It didn't take long for one of them to do just that.

Dudley pushed himself up in his seat, trying to sneer at Harry but not quite succeeding as he demanded the other boy get him some orange juice as he didn't want just the milk he had been given for his meal.

With a nod of his head Harry went about getting his Cousin his new cup of juice and delivered it to him, setting it on the table, he was just about to move away when he stopped, thinking that now would be as good a time as any-

"What are you doing, boy? Get back into your corner!" his Uncle grunted at him causing for Harry's focus to snap to him, and then, he shook his head and gained a determined look on his face. He took a careful step back so that he wouldn't be in immediate reach of Dudley or Aunt Petunia as he squared his shoulders and began.

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia I have something to tell you."

The two adults froze at his words, giving Harry the chance to continue without interruption.

"Five days ago when I got the post for you Uncle I found a letter in the pile addressed to me. I took it and read it and it was from a school called Hogwarts; after reading it I've decided to go to this school-nowhere in the letter did it say that you had to pay anything so I'm guessing that that is already taken care of so you don't have to-"

"How DARE YOU!?" Harry was suddenly cut off, his Uncle seeming to have regained his wits as he stood from the table, towering over him, but Harry stood his ground, knowing that this would happen.

He didn't quite expect what happened next though.

"After everything we've done for you! After taking you in out of the goodness of our hearts you still went on and became a freaky Wizard!? How DARE YOU, YOU LITTLE FREAK! We have given up so much for you just to raise you and this is how you repay us?!"

Petunia screamed, her eyes wild as she too stood from the table, slamming her hands on the tabletop.

Harry stood there a moment, stunned, but then her words finally registered and he felt anger-no, rage-fill him as he shouted-

"Wait, you knew? You knew that I was a Wizard, that I have Magic?! If you bloody knew that I was a Wizard why didn't you tell me?! Why did you try so bloody hard to convince me that there wasn't such thing as Magic?!"

"You weren't supposed to ever find out! If you had just cooperated, then you would've been a normal boy!? But NO, you just had to grow up to be a bloody freak-just like your worthless parents!?"

"My parents? You told me my parents were drunks that got into a car crash! I knew you were lying about that!" he couldn't help but yell back, and he couldn't bring himself to care when he saw the rage fill Vernon's eyes, then, he was advancing on him, grabbing his arm he started dragging him to the hall.

But, for the first time in years, Harry was struggling against his hold, digging his nails into his arms and scratching him as he tried pulling from his grip-but he wasn't fast enough as Vernon got to the door to the cupboard and opened it.

But he wasn't able to throw Harry in.

Rrraow!

"Arrgh!" Vernon exclaimed as Blackie jumped from his hiding place within the cupboard and attacked his face, slashing and clawing at the large man.

Vernon was forced to let go of Harry who dashed into the cupboard and grabbed what wasn't already in his necklace pouch, then he was out again within seconds to see Blackie still attached to Vernon's face; he was biting his nose and there was blood all over the overweight mans' face and arms.

But any pleasure that Harry might have felt at the sight was dashed when Vernon was finally able to grab hold of Blackie and throw him at the ground, a sickening thud following the motion.

"Blackie!?" Harry screamed as he tried to get to his friend but was grabbed by Vernon and thrown away, slamming into the door of the cupboard he felt a bit dazed as the large man panted over him, a look of malicious glee upon his bloodied features.

"Now where do you think you're going, boy?" he asked in a deadly voice, wiping the blood from his face, wincing as he did so.

Harry's green eyes watched him, eyes wide that of prey, cautiously watching the much larger man as he moved closer.

Looking smug Vernon started up again," you still have your appointment on Wednesday boy, and since you've been behaving so badly, you'll also have to work on Saturday and Sunday as well, there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it, boy."

Vernon sneered with glee once again, but his joy was short lived.

A scream tore from Harry's throat, a name left his lips, dashing forwards again and smashing a fist in Vernon's stomach while pushing him away with all his strength, crouched down and gathered the hurt feline in his arms, and then he was dashing away as Vernon tried to grab hold of him again, but he was too late as the front door was flung open and a blur of white came at the larger man, talons digging into the flesh of his face and arms and tearing it away, before attacking the thin faced woman who was coming after her husband, a scream leaving her lips as she fell back; but by the time any of their neighbors made it to them Harry was long gone along with Hedwig, the only evidence of their existence being the cupboard under the stairs and the slashes embedded in the adult Dursley's flesh.

.

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.

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In a dark, quiet deserted ally, far from 4 Privet Drive sat Harry Potter, soft gasps leaving him as he leaned against the wall, holding the small body in his arms closer to himself, a choked sob leaving his throat through clenched teeth.

He was wearing his thieving gear along with his black hoodie; not only that but he had cast a Notice-Me-Not charm on himself so that no one would pay him any mind as he moved about in the streets, but that wasn't what mattered at the moment, Harry was in pain, and not physical pain, but emotional.

He felt a sense of worthlessness clog his throat as he brought his friend's body closer, another choked sob escaping him. His heart was still beating, but it felt like it was barely there, and Blackie hadn't moved since he was slammed against the floor by Vernon-Harry refused to call him Uncle anymore-and he was worried that he was dying.

One more choked sob left him and he nuzzled his face into Blackie's fur, he also felt a beak pecking at his ear but he didn't pay it any mind as he knew it was just Hedwig's way of showing affection.

He was just about to lift his face from the fur when he felt it.

The body in his arms moved and a scratchy tongue ran over his cheek in comfort.

He let out a cry of happiness as he once again hugged Blackie before pulling back, tears in his eyes as he looked upon his feline friend whose piercing eyes were alight with life. Blackie leaned forward and again licked him on the cheek.

Harry let out a giggle and nuzzled his face in the soft black fur of his friend, resting there for a moment before pulling back, gentle smile on his face and asked," are you alright?"

Blackie flicked an ear as a purr vibrated from his body causing Harry to giggle again before he carefully set his friend down, reached into his pouch and, after a bit of searching, pulled out some tape bandages and the special healing potion he had purchased from Diagon Alley.

"Hold still a moment," he muttered as he set to work applying the potion and then wrapping Blackie's torso in bandages and after a moment of nuzzling his torso again Harry stood up with his friend in his arms, a smile on his face before he sighed softly, looking off to the side as he murmured," I need to get all my things from my hideout," and then he was off, Hedwig following from above.

.

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.

Harry carefully made his way to his hideout which was located in a field, near a small wooded area and was underground, and crawled inside once he made certain that no one was looking.

Once inside Harry let out a sigh of relief as he glanced around the cave like room.

It was mostly dirt with only a couple things inside it, like a chest and a vault that Harry kept his most prized possessions inside of, but other than that it was just a dug out hole in the ground.

Putting Blackie down Harry scooted over to the vault and pulled out all of the money inside. He had decided the moment his Uncle-no, Vernon-had started yelling that he would leave that toxic house and never return, now, he simply had even more reason to never return.

There was no reason for him to ever return so he never planned on doing such a thing.

When he was finished gathering all of his money that he had made over the past three and a half years he then moved on to the chest where he started to pull out several things that held significance to him, like a collection of beautiful bracelets that he had found while snooping around some ancient ruins or a black teddy bear that had been given to him by a stranger when he was eight in America.

He was just about finished with his packing up when he felt a sudden presence at his back.

But before he was able to react properly a pair of long, strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him in close and, Harry realized with a start, with barely veiled desperation. Whoever was holding him was hugging him and Harry had a hard time believing such a thing.

His thoughts were cut off by a voice,

"I'm sorry," it whispered in a low baritone and Harry's eyes widened, realizing it was a man that was now holding him, and somehow fitting inside his little hideout-but... Something felt familiar about this man, his voice, the feeling he gave off...

"I'm so, so sorry, Harry," he cut off his thoughts once again, and Harry quieted his thoughts as he listened to the man speak on," if I had known, I swear I would have taken you from that house, that horrible, horrible house-! If I had known what your Aunt and Uncle were doing to you, then I would have broken you out of there, damn any consequences! No, I should have broken you out of that house long ago, way before I found about them raping you but I had hesitated and you suffered for it! I'm so sorry Harry..." and then he finished speaking, simply bringing Harry closer to himself and said boy couldn't believe what he was hearing.

His eyes widened as he reached a hand up, laying it softly over the clothed arms that were holding him,

"Blackie...?"

He whispered.

Harry felt the arms around him tighten in response and a head leaned onto his shoulder as the man heaved a sigh, and then, he nodded.

Taking in a breath Harry reached around and took hold of some hair, tugging back lightly he guided the man to move around as he turned on the spot. The man had to shift his position some which resulted in Harry sitting in his lap, his legs wrapped loosely around his back as he wrapped his arms around the mans' neck.

Taking in a breath Harry lifted his gaze and looked into the face of this man who had pretended to be a cat.

Sucking in a surprised breath, Harry took in the pale skin and well sculpted face, strong nose, thin lips, thin eyebrows and almond shaped eyes with full lashes framing the beautiful silvery blue eyes that were piercing into his very soul. Harry allowed for his eyes to roam around that face and took note of the short wavy hair that was cut short in the back with some bangs falling over part of his face; Harry reached a hand up and brushed it out of his eyes so that he could have full view of them.

After staring into those striking blue eyes for a couple more seconds Harry tore his own away to look at the rest of the man.

He had a pale neck that was slender but not thin, a defined chest and a trimmer waist; it was hard to tell since he was sitting on them but Harry was able to make out that he also had long legs with well defined thighs that were able to hold him up with no trouble. He was wearing a bottle green tunic with black ties in the front, though, his torso was wrapped up in bandages and black trousers-it was hard for Harry to tell but he was certain that he was wearing some boots as well-the sleeves of his tunic hung loosely over his forearms, a leather cuff was wrapped around his wrist with strange designs impressed upon it but besides that he wasn't wearing any extra ornaments.

Finally finished with his perusal Harry brought his gaze back up and locked his emerald green with the silvery blue of his companion who had remained quiet during his perusal.

Harry tilted his head to the side as he looked at the man for a time, before," were you really injured that day I found you?" he asked with a bit of suspicion leaking into his voice.

The man nodded with a smile," yes, you really did save my life that day, Harry. If you hadn't been there then I surely would have died for I am human but I am a cat when in that form and getting attacked by other, larger animals than myself could have ended me if it weren't for you finding me and tending to my wounds."

Harry nodded his head even though it was still tilted to the side, his eyes trailing over his face a moment before he began to speak again," okay, why have you been a cat for all this time? Were you only a cat around me? You're a Wizard too so can you tell me how to turn into a cat too?" he asked in quick succession.

The blue-eyed man let out a chuckle as he tightened his grip on Harry's waist, bringing the boy closer as he lifted his face a bit, making it easier for him to look at the green-eyed boy.

"I've spent most of the time I've known you as a cat; I'm an Animangus which means that I can turn into an animal, but not just any animal-an Animangus doesn't have control over what type of animal they can turn into so if I were to teach you how to shift your animal might be completely different from mine. I've been a cat for nearly twelve years now…"

He trailed off, seeming to be lost in thought, but Harry brought him back with his next question,

"Why?"

Snapping to attention, he looked at Harry a moment before letting out a resigned sigh," why? That's because… I was supposed to be dead. I was supposed to have died but when I didn't and I woke up I knew that it would be too dangerous for me to try and return to the Wizarding world. I had been one of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters and my death was supposed to be caused by my betrayal of that horrid man, but, I didn't die, but I couldn't return to the Wizarding world, so I took the last option. I hid. Hid in plain sight by becoming a cat and no one was ever aware of this fact, no one knew that I was alive and I was fine with it staying that way-being a cat wasn't so bad so I decided to remain one; that is, until now,"

Lifting his gaze he looked into Harry's eyes, smile relighting his face as he rubbed his nose against Harry's in a cat-like fashion," you're the first person I've shown this side to; no one besides you knows that I'm an Animangus since it's technically illegal to be one without informing the Ministry about it; though, I think it'll be better that you know that I'm an Animangus, who knows, it might help you somehow someday." He stated simply before letting his head fall onto Harry shoulder, a purr like rumbling coming from his chest as he nuzzled against Harry's neck who let out a giggle at the sensation-it being similar yet very different to when the man did it as a cat-and lifted his arms to wrap around his head, letting out a hum as the comforting grip on him tightened as well.

They remained like that for a time, the two simply breathing and showing their affection and emotions through their actions whether it be hugging or nuzzling they simply continued on, uncaring of the passage of time as they were very comfortable in each others' arms; but that peace was cut into when Harry suddenly remembered something.

He very reluctantly pulled away from the arms holding him in order to look into the mans' face. Searching his eyes for a moment Harry finally asked," what's your name?"

The man looked surprised for a moment but then he started to chuckle as he bumped his head against Harry's affectionately," ah, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" he asked rhetorically before he continued.

Leaning back so that he was able to place a hand on his chest the man introduced himself with a kind and caring smile," I am Regulus Arcturus Black, reformed Death Eater and part-time feline, at your service, Harry," he grinned cheekily which widened as Harry giggled at his introduction. With a snicker Harry leaned into the man-Regulus, he reminded himself-and tried to rub his nose against Regulus', who leaned down so that the smaller of the two could accomplish his desire.

After they were finished with that Harry pulled back with a sigh before looking up at Regulus with a content smile," I need to finish packing up, then you'll need to turn back into a cat so that I can sneak into Diagon Alley, okay?"

Regulus nodded," yeah; I might be older but it's possible that other people would be able to recognize me; alright, get up and I'll turn back into Blackie," he helped Harry climb off of his lap and then took in a deep breath and let it out, a bright light engulfing him as he did so and then, in the place of the man was now a cat.

Harry grinned at his friend and ran gentle a hand over his head before turning back around and finishing up his packing, and then when he finished he took out his wand and swished it, murmuring a spell that caused the vault and chest to turn to dust. Once that was done with Harry started to back out of the hole, pulling on ropes that were attached to poles that were holding the ceiling of the cave up, causing it all to cave in , everything closing up as if it never existed in the first place.

At the mouth of the cave Harry flattened it and made certain that it looked like the rest of the scenery so that it would never be discovered. Once he was finished with that he turned back to his feline friend and his owl with a smile," well," he started," it's time to go now," and with that they all headed off, Harry directing Hedwig to meet them at the Leaky Cauldron and, after Harry gave her a kiss on her feathered head, she flew off.

Harry and Regulus-now Blackie again-made their way to a bus station and took the first bus to London, and once they got there they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, though Harry made a couple stops at several jewelry stores for obvious reasons.

When the two made it to the Magical pub Harry pulled on a cloak with a hood, pulling the hood over his face he made his way through the pub without drawing any attention to himself and made it into Diagon Alley with no problem.

On the other side of the brick wall Hedwig joined them, landing on Harry's shoulder as he and his feline companion made their way through the throngs of people and to Knockturn Alley, somewhere Harry had spent a good portion of his time in, navigating around the shady characters and trailing fingers that were trying to pry away anything they could from Harry's pockets; but, with the grace of someone who had dealt with such things before, Harry avoided such people and their grabby hands and confidently made his way to a pub within Knockturn, the White Wyvern.

Harry stepped inside, Hedwig flying off to land in an area for owls in the establishment while the human and cat went to the bar counter and sat off to the side and waited for the bartender to come and get his order.

It didn't take long for just that to happen and a man with blood red eyes, pale skin and long black hair came over to him with a raised eyebrow, taking in the small figure and his companion for a moment before he sniffed the air, his eyebrow going further up his face as he opened his mouth to speak, elongated canines flashing dangerously,

"You, Young Blood, what are you doing in a place like this?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Harry didn't answer at first, seeming to think over his answer before meeting the blood red gaze with his own emerald green," just want something to drink sir."

The man snorted as he leaned back, his eyes narrowing even further," don't you have a perfect little Wizarding family to go to? Why on earth would you decide to spend your time here, this place ain't safe for humans, Young Blood, you best get out of here before someone decides that you're too irresistible a target to refuse." Harry was surprised that the man-well Creature-had a note of concern in his voice.

Harry raised his gaze again and looked into the eyes of the bartender and found that he did indeed look a little worried for his well-being. Tilting his head to the side Harry allowed for a smile to grace his features, a smile of bemusement but at the same time it was kind," well," he began," if you have to know; I don't have a Wizarding family, I was raised by Muggles and only just recently found out about my Magic, and my relatives were not happy with that so a little-altercation-occured which has led me here. I quite frankly don't care about what anyone thinks they could do to me, actually I'd like to see them try their hand at roughing me up, I highly doubt they'd be able to." He lifted his head to look into his eyes better and let a grin replace his smile.

"Thanks for the concern though, it's quite some time since a complete stranger has done so."

The man stared at the eleven year old for a moment before shaking his head, a chuckle rumbling from his chest as he took in the boy," I can't say I've met a Young Blood with as much spunk as you, human or otherwise. I'm Ezekiel Devonshire of the Devonshire Clan, which is a Clan of Vampires here in England, and you are Young Blood?" he asked while reaching a hand out.

Harry looked at it a moment before taking it into his hand, smiling back at the Vampire," I'm Harry, a Muggleborn who is done dealing with idiots who hate me for something I have no control over, nice to meet you Ezekiel." and they shook hands.

Ezekiel pulled back his hand and smiled at the boy while he placed a hand on his hip," so, what can I get for you, Young Blood?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Harry raised a brow before tilting his head to the side with a grin of his own," how about some pumpkin juice with a shot of whiskey, yeah?" he asked. Ezekiel merely laughed as he nodded his head, saying that he would be right on it as he went to fill Harry's order, sliding it over to the boy once he was finished.

Harry caught the glass and tilted his head in thanks before downing the contents of the glass, a content hum coming from him as the cool yet burning liquid slid down his throat; he slammed his cup on the table," another," he stated clearly and Ezekiel got him another one, this one Harry sipped on instead as he ordered some food to eat as well, realizing that he hadn't yet eaten that day, and the Vampire served him-he didn't have that many other customers because it was daytime.

Harry spent several more hours in the pub, conversing with Ezekiel and a couple other patrons within the place, discovering that most of them were Creatures and not humans, something that greatly interested Harry, especially after he found out that some of the Creatures were technically illegal because they were "Dark" Creatures; something that they seemed to be disgruntled over but only to a certain extent,

"After all, many of these Creatures took You-Know-Who's side during the war ten years ago," one of the patrons, a seventeen year old Werewolf by the name of Klyn told Harry when he asked why the Dark Creatures were illegal.

Harry nodded his head in thought," hmm, that makes sense….." he muttered as Klyn smiled at him and then they fell into more conversation, talking about things like Klyn having just recently graduating Hogwarts that year (his birthday was in a couple days) and that he wasn't a born Werewolf, being bitten during the summer of his third year by a Feral Werewolf whose Pack had nearly killed him but they had killed his family-he was lucky that he didn't have any scars on his face that would cause questions and that the local Pack that lived near Knockturn Alley had taken him in,

"And I've lived with them ever since and will continue to do so until I find my mate; that's how a proper Pack works!"

He explained to Harry before moving onto other topics.

It was early evening when Harry finally got up to leave, but he was stopped by Ezekiel," where are you going Young Blood?" he asked.

Harry shrugged a single shoulder as he glanced away,

"Hmm, that's the million Galleon question….." he muttered, trying to think of a place that he would be able to crash at for the night; he had just run away after all and not only that but he was a kid so it wasn't like he would be able to get a hotel room without raising suspicion and he really didn't want to stay at the Leaky Cauldron because, while Tom seemed like a nice enough man, he just really didn't want to have to deal with the questions that would follow. He had been able to avoid suspicion so far because he hadn't brought attention to the fact that he was alone and he had acted as if he wasn't alone when he had entered the Alley for the first time so no one had asked why he was alone or where his parents (or Guardians) were but if he tried to stay somewhere everyone would bother him over it.

Harry let out a disgruntled sigh at the thought, he really didn't want to have to put up with that bullshit if he could help it….

"I recall you saying something about an altercation taking place at home which is why you're here," Ezekiel's voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts and the boy saw the Vampire place a finger on his chin, as if in thought but Harry realized he wasn't really," hmm, and if you can't go back home where will you go?" he raised his gaze and locked it with Harry and stared at him a moment before a grin overtook his features.

"Am I correct so far Young Blood?" he asked teasingly. Harry let out a huff while rolling his eyes,

"Yeah, you're right. But come off it, if you don't have anything to add and you just want to make fun of me you can shove it." He declared while glaring at the Vampire, who merely let out a chuckle as he took his hand from his chin and placed it on his hip, cocking it to the side as he replied,

"Now now, there's no need for any of that, Young Blood, I was just thinking that you could stay here; we do, after all, have a couple available rooms on the second floor, you could stay there for as long as you wish, hell, I think I would be able to convince my employer to let you stay until September and to even leave it alone in case you want to come back after the school year….." he trailed off meaningfully and watched Harry for his reaction.

And what was Harry's reaction?

Harry stood there, gobsmacked and staring at Ezekiel as he spoke-he couldn't believe what he was hearing-and when he finished he simply continued his staring before he suddenly shook his head and seemed to think the offer over a moment before turning his gaze to Ezekiel's, a hesitant smile on his face.

"I think, that I might just like that."

"Good," Ezekiel grinned gleefully as he turned to to the other bartender at the counter," hey Greg, look after the front for me would you? I'm going to show Harry to his new room." He stated simply before walking away, uncaring of the heated glare that was directed at him by the gray haired man behind him as he instead focused on leading Harry to the stairs and up them, guiding him to a room close to the back of a hall.

Turning he gestured to the door," there aren't any specific times for meals, you just have to come downstairs if you want something," he pushed the door open and walked in with Harry, Blackie and Hedwig following behind, taking in the well furnished yet simple room that seemed to consist of a kitchenette, dining table and small living room, there was a single couch and chair in it with a wooden coffee table by them with an owl perch by a window that had a curtain pulled over it.

"This is the main living area, over there is the bathroom and beside that is the bedroom, pretty basic actually," Ezekiel explained as he turned to Harry," you're in charge of keeping this place clean, we don't have housekeeping here so if this place ends up like a pigsty then that will be your problem and you will be the one to clean it up before you leave-also, on a personal note I will be keeping a watch on you, nothing serious or intrusive but I will make sure that you're eating at least one meal a day, alright?" Harry nodded his understanding and Ezekiel leaned back with a satisfied smile,

"Good. If you need me I usually work the night shift, I was only working the noon shift because someone couldn't make it. If I'm not here then you can probably find me at The Crystal Cave right next door; that's where me and my Clan lives, come by anytime after twelve as I'm usually sleeping earlier in the day, you got all that?"

"Yeah, thanks Ezekiel, how much for the room?" Harry asked in curiosity and was suspicious of the smile the Vampire threw his way,

"Well for tonight, nothing, the first night is always free, but after tonight, well, that depends on you. If you keep this place tidy enough and have a good attitude while staying here then your total sum won't be that much, but if you let this place get ruined and have a bad attitude then you'll have to pay a hefty sum." He grinned at Harry," we don't usually tell anyone that, so keep it to yourself okay?" he asked as he lifted finger to his lips.

Harry let out a giggle as he nodded," yeah, I think I can do that, unless, of course, you mistreat me or make me spend an abhorrent amount by the end of the month….." he trailed off meaningfully, but all Ezekiel did was laugh,

"Of course, Young Blood, well, I need to be getting back, Greg is pissed enough as it is, any longer and he'll tell boss and I'll be in a world of trouble." he started walking away, waving at Harry," see you later Young Blood,"

"See ya Ezekiel!" and with that he was out the door.

Harry stood in the middle of the room for a moment before Blackie meowed at him and rubbed against his leg. He looked down and smiled at him, scratching behind his ears as he whispered," let's go check out that room, hmm?" and made his way to the bedroom.

Once inside he noticed that it was a pretty basic room. It had a queen sized bed with a nightstand with a lamp on it to one side and a drawer.

It was basic.

It was more than Harry had ever had.

With a laugh Harry jumped onto the bed, finding it to be both bouncy and soft; he let out a sigh of content and simply lay there for a moment, but then he made himself get out as he started setting up the room.

He placed Hedwig's perch near the window of the room and opened it afterwhich he cast a couple spells on the window so that nobody would be able to look in and no unwanted visitors would be able to get in, then he cast a spell on Hedwig that allowed for her to come and go as she pleased, something she nuzzled him happily over.

Once that was done with he fed her then started taking out papers that were full of plans for his heists and started pinning them to the walls and the table that he brought from the living room. After all that he went to the bathroom and took a long, soothing shower, washing himself of the grim from the day and letting his anger and frustrations be washed away with it.

After that he went back to the pub with Blackie and got food for the both of them, staying as he talked with a couple of the partons and Ezekiel for some time.

By the time it was 11 PM Harry decided it was time to head to his room and excused himself, wishing Ezekiel a fun rest of his night and laughed as the Vampire groaned loudly.

Once he and his little companion got back to the room Harry returned to the bedroom and changed into a large long-sleeved black shirt that actually didn't belong to Dudley; he had gotten it from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions specifically for sleeping in.

But he didn't intend on going to bed quite yet and instead made his way to the plans laid out over the table and walls and sat down to look them over-

"Oi! Put me down!" he shouted as arms suddenly wrapped around him and he found himself thrown over a shoulder," I said put me down you bloody-eep!" he let out a squeak as he was unceremoniously thrown onto the bed and bounced there for a second, but he didn't get a chance at getting up or even shifting in place as a much larger body fell over him, keeping him from moving.

But that didn't stop him from trying!

Harry tried to wriggle out from under the heavy body on top of him but couldn't as arms wrapped around him and held him in place; Harry struggled a bit longer before going limp, an annoyed grunt coming from him as the weight pressed into him more.

"Get off of me you bloody wanker," he muttered with a pout, lifting his hips to try and alleviate the heavy body weighing down on him.

A chuckle was his reply," will you stay still?" he asked. Harry's pout deepened but he nodded his head, and then the boy was free of the heavier body.

Letting out a sigh of relief Harry sat up but didn't move to do anything else, before turning and glaring at the blue-eyed man sitting next to him, causing him to laugh.

"Now now Harry, no need for any of that," but the pout persisted, so Regulus let out a sigh," you've had a long day Harry, you need to go to bed so that you can wake up refreshed tomorrow, okay?"

Harry pouted up at the man for a moment more before he let out a petulant sigh, tilting his head away from the man as he mumbled," okay, fine," and then crawled over the bed in order to get comfortable, but stopped when he felt the body next to him move.

Turning his head to the side Harry watched as Regulus stood from the bed and started taking off his clothes, leaving on only his tunic. After he was done undressing he turned to Harry and smiled," I hope you have a restful sleep, goodnight Harry," and made his way to the door, but was stopped as a small body jumped onto his back.

Twisting his head around the best he could, all Regulus could see was the messy black hair on Harry's head as he asked," what is it? Is something wrong?" a shake of the head was his answer.

Lifting his arms Regulus let one support Harry's weight while the other reached around to pat Harry on the head," are you sure?" fell from his lips. Another nod and a lift of a head brought Harry's beautiful green eyes look into Regulus' own blue eyes,

"Stay."

Harry stated simply.

Regulus remained still for a moment, then he pat Harry's head again," do you want me to sleep in here?" he asked softly. Harry nodded again. A sigh and a chuckle," okay, I'll stay."

Harry nodded his head once more and climbed down from Regulus' back, landing on the floor he reached out and took hold of his hand and started pulling him to the bed, urging the man to climb into it too as he pulled himself into the bed, waiting for Regulus to make himself comfortable.

Said man looked at Harry a moment longer before he pulled the covers back, grabbed Harry and situated them both in the middle of the bed while bringing the comforter over the both of them.

Harry wriggled around a little bit before he stopped half on top of Regulus, a content hum vibrating from his throat.

Regulus let out his own hum in return as he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Harry's crown," goodnight Harry," he murmured into his hair.

The boy nuzzled his face into Regulus' shoulder, laying a tentative kiss there," goodnight….. Regulus," and with that the two settled in for the night.

[August 1st 1991]

Harry was stirred from his sleep by a small, strange, noise.

His eyes fluttering he started to move in order to see what it was but was stopped by the arms wrapped tightly around him.

Looking up Harry caught the eyes of Regulus who lifted a hand and placed a finger over his lips, Harry nodded his understanding as the man pulled his body up and over Harry, crawling out of the bed and shifting into a cat as he did so, and once he was finished, and with the help of Harry's Magic, opened the door to the living room and went out.

Harry lay in his bed for a time, his eyelids started to feel heavier the longer he waited, but just before they fell all the way-

Rraow!

The boy bolted out of his bed and ran for the door, throwing it open and rushing into the other room, only to find Blackie attacking a strange man.

He had almost white skin and was bald with long ears protruding from his head, he was short and was wearing a black robe.

"Blackie!" Harry called sternly, the feline running to his side as he did so, leaving the scratched up creature on the floor who was panting; then, he raised his face , allowing Harry to see the small, beady black eyes and long crooked nose and sharp teeth, making the boy realize that this wasn't a man-it was a Goblin.

Narrowing his eyes just a little Harry pointed the wand he had in his hand at the face of the Goblin," who are you, and why are you here?" he asked evenly. The creature shook in place, while Harry was doing everything in his power to remain calm as he waited for a reply.

The goblin trembled in place, not moving a muscle which caused for Harry to start losing his patience and narrow his eyes even more, and for him to angle his wand at the creatures crotch, which made it tremble even more as it started whimpering,

"N-n-no! P-please don't!" he screeched while throwing his hands in front of his crotch, sweat pouring off of him as his breathing got heavier. Harry merely raised a brow at the trembling goblin, completely unimpressed by the sight.

"Then answer me. Who are you and why are you here?" he stated firmly, to which the creature nodded his head vigorously in response. He sat up in a kneeling position and then bowed his head,

"I am Crookedfang of Knockturn Alley and I am here to ask you something!" he basically pleaded. Harry stared at the pale creature for a time, purposefully aggravating the nerves of Crookedfang to make sure that he wasn't lying before finally answering.

"What did you want to ask me and why did you have to break into my room to do it?" he asked slowly, letting his displeasure color his words. Crookedfang trembled some more before lifting his head, an unsure fanged smile lighting his face.

"Ah! Um, about that…. I-I wanted to make certain that I could catch you! Afterall what I am going to ask you is very private business and I wouldn't want just anyone to overhear me!"

Harry caught on to the little creatures words immediately and, crouching down in front of him, asked," you want to hire me for something illegal, huh?"

The pale goblin looked very surprised at his blunt statement before he started to nod his head again vigorously," y-y-yes! That is exactly why I am here! You see, I run a little business here in Knockturn; if someone has something they went to get off their hands I take it. Anything that I can sell I will take, anything of value I will take! But, recently, it's been harder to get my hands on such things! Not only that but all of my workers are leaving and going elsewhere for work! Not because I can't pay them but because they think that I need to pay them more than I already am! So I need new workers now; I've seen you about the Alley for the past couple days and yesterday I saw you in the bar and I noticed that you may just have some potential, so I've come to ask if you would like to, let's call it a try-out, in order to work me for. Whadaya say?"

Crookedfang finished with a crooked smile.

Harry looked back at him for a time, thinking over what it was he was asked, making certain that he understood what was being asked of him," so, what you're saying is that you own a business where you buy and sell items that aren't legal and that you have been losing business and workers, am I correct?" Crookedfang nodded his head unsurely while Harry nodded to himself in satisfaction, placing a finger on his chin he looked up in thought before turning his head down to the pale Goblin with a wicked smile.

"Well, Crookedfang, I think I might just take you up on your offer, but," he cut in before the goblin was able to say anything," if I get hired, I have a couple requirements. First; just to get this out of the way, I am a thief. I like stealing and challenging myself with harder and harder steals, but, while I wouldn't say I'm a good person per-say, I would like to think I'm decent, so if you want me to steal from innocent people or people who are down and under I will have to decline. Second; I don't know much about the Magical world yet as I only just recently found out about it, so if I get the job you will answer any questions that I have. Third; I am not below being petty so if you slight me I will get back at you but worse-unfortunately for you I am incredible at gathering information, which includes blackmail material; so, if you don't want to get on my radar you better not piss me off. "

"Luckily for you," Harry continued with a disarming smile," I like to think of myself as an easygoing kid so it's pretty hard to piss me off enough to retaliate. Now, this fourth one isn't really a requirement, I just want you to know; I like taking people out-and I don't mean killing them, I just like taking their things. Now, let's say that one of the shop owners of Diagon was overpricing their goods and or stealing things from their customers. Well, I would then expose them for the cheats that they are! I don't like people like them, people who steal like that are just annoying little buggers that were never able to learn how to better use their talents or are jealous of another persons' happiness, so, I expose them, I do this to rich people who are right gits to others for no reason, so if you want to steal from a high ranking family then I will be very willing to do just that. Now, is that all acceptable?"

Crookedfang stared at Harry for a while in awe and mild confusion before he shook his head and grinned up at the eleven year old.

"Yes, yes that will do just fine! Now, would you like to do this now or…"

"Later if you wouldn't mind, I still need to get dressed and I'm hungry, so how about in an hour we leave, yeah?" a nod later and Harry was holding out his hand in order to finalize the deal," alright then Mr. Crookedfang, I'm Harry and I look forward to working with you!" they shook hands before Harry reached back and bopped him on the head, still smiling," and if I catch you sneaking into my rooms again I'll hex you. Well, see you later!" looking at the boy in fear Crookedfang nodded his head afterwhich he backed out f the room, turning around and swiftly left.

Harry stood in front of the door for a couple extra seconds, seemingly lost in thought which he was broken out of by the sudden presence of Regulus. Looking up at the man he tilted his head to the side, to which Regulus' response was to raise an eyebrow.

They stood there staring at each other for a couple minutes before Regulus gave in and started talking," so, why did you agree to work for him?"

Harry stared at the man a little longer before he let out another wicked grin," well," he began, a strangely innocent lilt to his voice," I'm bored. My plans for the rest of this year have been dashed because of this whole Magical business, so when he offered me a job I thought 'why not?' it's not like I have anything fun to do before the school year starts anyway! That and doing this will probably also be very beneficial; I'll be getting up close and personal with some of the Wizarding culture, something I thought would be very useful." he gave a shrug as he turned around and headed for the bedroom, Regulus close behind,

"You could always ask me about the Magical world, it's not like I spent most of my life here or anything…." the man grumbled, feeling a little useless to the boy, but those thoughts were cut off by the laugh coming from said boy.

Harry glanced over his shoulder at him, a smile on his lips," you haven't been in the Magical world for, what did you say? Twelve years? If I have something I want to know that I think you might know I'll ask you, but for now, I think it'll be best if I play it stupid-and the best way to play it stupid is by being stupid, but after I ask my questions I'll talk to you, alright?"

Regulus stared at the boy with a bemused expression as he nodded his head, causing for Harry to let out another laugh.

"Oh, stop being such a sourpuss," he remarked as he started pulling off his sleeping shirt, showing off the bandages wrapped around his torso.

Harry reached a hand up and pet the bandages in thought," I need to change these," he muttered as he started carefully unwrapping them.

Regulus watched Harry for a moment before he let out a sigh and moved around him in order to pick up and put on his own clothes; after he was finished he turned to the boy next to him and saw that he was trying to rewrap his wounds but was having a bit of a hard time doing it, so, he moved over and helped dab the bandages in potion before wrapping it on, carefully putting it on and making certain that it was tight enough to stay on but not too tight.

As he did this Harry remained still, allowing for the man to finish his task without fighting against it as a pleasant warmth filled him from the action; it was a strange experience as Harry was very used to doing things on his own and not getting any sort of help from others, so having someone there, being caring and kind made him feel warm in happiness.

It didn't take long for Regulus to finish his self-assigned task and once he was done he remained still for a moment, his hands resting on Harry's shoulders and he stared at the back of his neck for some time, seeming to be lost in thought but was snapped out of it as Harry shifted in place.

Shaking his head Regulus pulled his hands away and stood up, moving to stand in front of the green-eyed boy," do you want me to wait outside?" he asked with a soft smile.

Glancing up at the man through his lashes Harry returned the smile, tilting his head to the side while also shaking it," no, its fine," and then moved to get dressed in his thieving gear, pulling on his black cloak. After that he moved over to Hedwig, petting her feathers and filling her feeder and refilling her waterer.

"There you go girl, we'll be back later." He smiled and pressed a kiss to her head, letting out a giggle as the snowy owl nibbled at his cheek before letting out a soft hoot and making herself comfortable on the owl perch.

After that Harry walked back over to Regulus," let's go," he murmured. He nodded before shifting into a cat afterwhich the two of them made thier way to the pub and sat at the counter.

Harry ordered something for him and Blackie and they quickly ate it before moving over to the entrance where they found Crookedfang leaning against the building with his arms crossed and his back hunched over.

In Harry's opinion he overall looked pathetically creepy.

Raising a brow at the sight Harry silently walked up to the goblin and tapped him on the shoulder, startling the creature into nearly screeching while whirling around to look at the perpetrator, only to come face to face with the glowing green eyes of Harry Potter.

Panting for a moment the goblin took in a deep breath before letting it out, glaring at the eleven year old which only caused for him to grin back at him. He wasn't able to hold up the glare for long and so his facial expression went back to the look of crooked nervousness, his eyes shifting all over the place until they settled on Harry.

"Follow me," he whispered as he made his way away from the White Wyvern, moving through the throng of people with Harry following closely behind the little creature, weaving in and out of the bodies and thieving hands attempting to take what he has from him.

It didn't take long for the three to get to a rundown little building that was blackened near the bottom and top of it, random planes over it seeming to be peeling and falling apart.

Raising a brow up at the building as he followed Crookedfang, his eyes roving over everything and taking in the interior. He was mildly surprised to find that the place was at least twice the size larger on the inside than the outside would make it appear; the walls had been painted in a beige color that was now peeling in places, once plush carpet and three doors leading to who knows where, all of which were on the ground floor.

There was a staircase leading up to a platform with a polished railing that had large wooden double doors leading somewhere (probably an office, Harry thought) which he soon found was true as Crookedfang led him right to it and had him sit down in one of the once plush chairs.

"As you can obviously see, my business has indeed been going down," the goblin commented as he sat down in his own chair, a weary crooked smile on his face," I only have one other employee now and they are out working, so you won't be meeting them for now. Though for right now we will be focusing on you and your, shall we call it, introduction to my business….. I have a job for you, just a little something, nothing too hard…."

Looking at him in anticipation Harry merely nodded his head.

"There is a shop here in Knockturn that likes to sell…. interesting artefacts called Borgin and Burkes. I want you to take something from there, I don't really care what as long as it can be sold, if you accept this position then you have two hours to complete this task. Now, do you have any questions?" he asked with a sly grin.

Looking up in thought for only a moment Harry swiftly turned to the creature with a simple question," do you have the blueprints to the building? If not I'm sure I can manage without, but it'll be easier if you do." He finished with his own grin.

Crookedfang looked surprised, until he shook his head and grinned even wider at the boy before him," why, of course I do, I have the blueprints of every building in this Alley, now let me find them first…" he trailed off, pulling open the draws in his desk and ruffling through them, grumbling nonsensically as it was made obvious he couldn't find what he was looking for, his grumbling getting louder and louder the longer it took him to find the blueprints before, finally, he gave a shout of triumph and dragged out a tube with a strap on it.

"Here it is!" He exclaimed after he opened the tube up and took a peek inside; he then closed it and handed it over to Harry with a crooked grin," I do believe all of the plans are in there, if not, well too bad, your two hours have just begun; now, shoo, get planning and get to Borgin and Burkes," and at the sight of long, clawed fingers shooing him away, Harry got up, made a hasty and short farewell by inclining his head and then turned around and left the office.

After exiting the building Harry made a beeline for the White Wyvern, but instead of walking in through the door, he scaled the wall and climbed through his bedroom window; setting his newly acquired plans on the coffee table and pouring over them, not paying the softly purring feline at his side any mind, his entire focus on the blueprints.

He looked over them for nearly half an hour before he picked them back up, rolled them up and put them away, quiet muttering flowing from his mouth as he walked around the room a second, verbally thinking over what he had just learned while also checking his gear, silently cursing his luck that hadn't allowed for him to finish making the basics of the Magical adjustments he had started to make on them-something that would be very helpful in his thieving in the Magical world-but he shook his head," I'll just have to finish it later," he spoke resolutely and finished adjusting his gloves, turned towards the window and made his way over, reaching down and patting Blackie as he did so, muttering," I'll be back later, best if you stay here for this," leaned down and placed a kiss on the felines ear and then he was jumping out of the window.

Once he was on the ground he pulled the hood of his cloak up and blended in with the crowd-which was much harder to do as there weren't that many people walking about Knockturn Alley while the sun was out, but he made do with what he had and stealthily made his way all the way to Borgin and Burkes.

It didn't take him too long to get to the building that housed the shop and, after looking over it a couple times, Harry stealthed over to a back alley and scaled the wall, making his way to the roof of the structure and bending on all fours, crawling across the building so that he wouldn't be caught.

But then, all of a sudden a strange noise pierced the air, forcing Harry halt in place; he didn't know if that noise was caused by him or something else so he remained completely still for a whole minute.

After his heart calmed Harry allowed for his body to move. He slowly pushed himself up and looked into the window of the shop which was empty so he looked over to the street and spotted a dark skinned being with yellow streaked black hair that was braided who had a strange looking creature sitting on their shoulder. It looked a bit like a bird but at the same time also a dog or cat. Harry's observation was cut short as the creature straightened itself and let out the same piercing noise which cased for the being that it was sitting upon to reach a hand up and pat its' head, calming it.

Knowing where the noise had come from and that he was not in danger of being discovered he started to move again, carefully crawling across the roof, inching his way to the edge he pulled himself up to it and looked over the roof which allowed for him to once again look into the shop. There was a door and the windows he had spotted just a moment ago, and now that he wasn't distracted Harry was able to look into the building and actually make out what was within the building, which were several odd instruments and strange looking….. things which filled up the shop.

Tilting his head to the side the boy was a bit confused over what this place could possibly be selling but he shook the thought from his head-this was Knockturn Alley, after all, it was bound to be something Dark or Dangerous.

With another shake of his head Harry started crawling again, stealthily making his way to a small, inconsequential window in the side of the building and carefully, without Magic, picked it open, pulling himself through the little opening while also bringing out a rope with a hook at the end and attaching it to the ledge of the window, silently allowing for him to ease his way down to the floor, not making a sound as he did.

At this point Harry had already taken off his cloak and pulled the mask on his shirt up and pulled the hood attached to it over his head-he didn't want anyone seeing his face-and he looked around, taking in the small room he had climbed into and deducing that it was some sort of small storage closet. After making that observation Harry walked away from the rope, leaving it there for when he made his exit and carefully opened the down.

Peeking out of the room he looked up and down the hallway, making certain that there wasn't anyone around before stepping out.

Moving over to the opposite wall Harry shook out his hands a second, then reached up to the wall while sending a pulse of his Magic into his hands and feet-or more specifically, his gloves and boots-afterwhich he placed them on the wall, climbing up it and then attaching himself to the ceiling.

He remained still for a moment, testing if the Magic that he had spelled into his gloves and boots would hold him to the ceiling, and was glad when the Magic didn't let up and allowed for him to stick to the ceiling with little problems.

Silent as a mouse, Harry crawled across the ceiling of the building, keeping the blueprints in mind as he navigated his way through the many rooms, taking in all the strange looking artefacts that were being kept in the place before making a stop in the main room.

Looking around, Harry didn't see much that caught his eye, that is, until he spotted the withered hand sitting upon a old-but plush-pillow that was sitting on a shelf.

Tilting his head to the side, Harry took in the odd sight as he made his way over to it, carefully standing up on the ceiling while taking it in for a couple seconds before, with careful hands, he took the hand and placed it within a bottomless bag he had grabbed from his rooms.

Now that he was done with that, Harry looked around the room for more artefacts and by the end of his excursion he found and took five other items.

The first was a gnarled tree that was about as big as Hedwig's wing that had burnt orange leaves and nearly black bark; the second was an opal necklace that gave Harry a bad feeling so he wrapped it up in some cloth before placing it in his bag; the third was a pair of bracelets that, when Harry put one on, caused for him to teleport to the other one which was disorienting for a moment; the fourth was a locket that had beautiful gems embedded in it that Harry felt was very important to his Magic for some reason, and the fifth was a pair of black gloves with one large red ruby embedded in the backs of each.

After placing all of these things into the bottomless bag, and after making certain that no one had seen him taking anything, Harry started making his way back to the storage closet-

"Who's there!?"

A voice suddenly yelled, nearly causing for Harry to lose his grip on the ceiling. He started falling but he caught himself on one of the beams on the ceiling, holding on as he tried to redirect his Magic to his gloves and boots.

Staying perfectly still, the boy concentrated on his new task as a man that appeared to be in his thirties walked around under him, looking back and forth with a stern frown. He rummaged through the shelves and behind the counter, obviously looking for Harry, but said boy used this to make a hasty escape, not making a sound except for the scraping of his boot against one of the boards on the ceiling,

"Where are you?!" the voice shouted again, but Harry paid it no heed as he swiftly made his way to the rope hanging from the window, climbing up it faster than he had ever climbed before, and just like that he was out and locking the window once again.

But he didn't relax yet as he crawled as fast as he could across the rooftop and over to the back alley, from there he made his way to the building Crookedfang had taken him to, knowing he was almost out of time, flying through the door and up the stairs, stopping at the chair sitting in the office just as Crookedfang turned around his chair with a pocket watch hanging from his hand, crooked grin in place as he called out,

"Time. That was very close boy, best be careful next time-if there is a next time. Now, what did you, ah, procure from Borgin and Burkes?" the goblin asked, his grin stretching even wider, steepling his hands in front of his chin he tilted his head," well? What are you waiting for? A written invitation?" he asked, annoyance filling his voice.

Instead of feeling cowed by the annoyed goblin, Harry couldn't help but grin as he walked right in front of the desk as he held up the bottomless bag he had used to store the items.

After setting the bag on the desk, Harry reached in and carefully felt around, grabbing hold of something he pulled it out and set it on the desk, then he did it again, and again, and again, before finally all five pieces were out and spread over the wooden desk.

"Hmm, what have we here?" Crookedfang muttered as he leaned forwards, looking over the bracelets and necklaces; he eyed the tree with a strange expression and looked over the gloves, hums of interest rumbling strangely from his throat, peculiar sounds also started to fall from his lips, startling Harry as it sounded almost like he was both speaking and scratching the back of his throat along with another, indecipherable component that Harry wasn't able to put his finger on.

He then realized with a start that the goblin was speaking-was this native Goblin tongue? If so, Harry was keen on learning such a fascinating sounding language-but for now he needed to get back to business.

Clearing his throat Harry rapped his knuckles on the desk, drawing Crookedfang's attention back to him which caused for him to stop speaking that bizarre sounding language. He cleared his throat, sitting up straighter while a nervous smile crawled across his face," ahem, I apologize for getting lost in thought there, hem, well, are there any questions you have for me?" he asked awkwardly, his posture stiffening the more he spoke.

Tilting his head to the side as he stared at him, Harry thought for only a moment of any questions he might have and then, with a grin stretching across his face, he started," well, what is all this worth? You asked me to steal something and I know I stole some good pieces, but what are they actually worth?"

Crookedfang remained silent for a time, his eyes dancing over the objects in front of him as he contemplated Harry's question. And then, with a shake of his head, he started pointing to the different pieces," well," he began," this opal necklace will no doubt be worth a hefty amount, there are many Purebloods who would pay a pretty Galleon for something like it-I can sense a sort of Dark Magic from it so best if you don't touch it with your bare hands; now the gloves are a pair of gloves that allow for the user to be able to see the true value in any artefact, especially Magical ones and will no doubt be worth several hundred Galleons. The bracelets allow for one to teleport to the other wherever it may be-I believe not even an Anti-Apparating charm will be able to stop it. I don't know if it will be worth much as Purebloods wouldn't be all that interested in such a thing, hmm, perhaps a Half-blood or a Muggleborn would, ah, appreciate it more. I don't know how much I'll be able to sell them for though, but I know I'll be able to sell it for quite a lot. The locket is interesting, but it has a spell on it as well and will only open with a Wizard's Magic, so you will need to do that before bringing it back for me to asses. Then there is that tree you grabbed…" he trailed off for a moment as his eyes traveled over the gnarled tree once again, before, with a dismissive shake of his head he turned away from it,

"Hmph, it's worthless to me; I don't sell plants and I don't plan on starting anytime soon; you can have it for all I care, it's of no value to me."

Tilting his head to the side, Harry gave the goblin a long look as his hands pulled the tree and locket to his chest, holding them protectively until he brought out his bottomless bag and carefully placed the tree and locket in it.

"Hmm, you can leave now; you passed the test and I will contact you later when I have work for you to do." Crookedfang spoke with a dismissive air, waving a hand at Harry as he turned away in his chair, the bracelets in his hands as focused his attention on them, judging them even more than he had already.

Harry stared at the creature for a moment longer before, with a shake of his head, he knocked on the desk while muttering a quiet goodbye and a," I'll see you later then," turned and left the building, making his way back to the White Wyvern.

Walking through the pub Harry spotted Ezekiel. The Vampire was serving a customer so Harry merely lifted his hand with a little wave before heading up to his room.

Walking into his bedroom Harry spotted Blackie lounging on the bed, his silvery blue eyes half-lidded, his tail gently swaying over the edge of the bed. Smiling, Harry moved over to the bed, taking off his cloak along the way.

He climbed into the bed and curled around the feline who started to purr loudly in response. Harry let out a giggle as he felt the talons of his owl enclose around his side in a gentle grip.

Reaching a hand up, Harry ran his fingers through the soft downy feathers on Hedwig's chest.

The three of them remained that way for some time, enjoying the peaceful silence surrounding them.

But, all good things must come to an end-in this instance it ended when the door to the bedroom opened.

"Young Blood? Have you eaten lunch today?" Ezekiel asked as he pushed the door open. Lifting his head, Harry looked at the Vampire with tired eyes, raising his brow at the Creature in mild annoyance.

Ezekiel merely placed his hands on his hips firmly, raising his own eyebrow," well? I asked you a question. Have you eaten lunch today?"

Harry glared at the Vampire for a moment longer before letting out a sigh, pushing his body up, which caused for Hedwig to flap her wings and fly to the bed, messing up Harry's hair in the process.

"Fine! No, I haven't eaten lunch yet… I was busy okay? It's not like I need to eat much anyway…" the boy trailed off, a pout downturning his lips. A strange look overcame Ezekiel's face; staring at Harry for a long moment, until, he appeared right in front of Harry, picked him up, and then disappeared from the room.

"OI!?" Harry yelped a second later, only to realize that he was no longer in his room and instead in the pub. Looking around in bewilderment Harry wondered how he ended up downstairs while Ezekiel placed him on a stool, walked around the counter and stopped in front of him.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts Harry looked up at the Vampire who grinned back at him as he leaned over the counter.

"So? What would you like to eat?" he asked, his grin widening as Harry's pout deepened. Letting out a huff, Harry crossed his arms in petulance, glaring at the shelves and bottles of alcohol instead of the one in front of him.

"... What I had yesterday….. please." He muttered as a blush crept onto his cheeks, he still wasn't used to others caring about his wellbeing.

And because of the fact that he was looking away from him, Harry completely missed the warm smile Ezekiel sent his way as he made his way to the back to start making his food.

It didn't take long for Ezekiel to return with his food, or for Blackie to come bounding down the stairs and jump onto the counter next to Harry. he feline leaned into Harry and started to purr as Harry ate his food, a smile upturning his lips as he softly conversed with the Vampire in front of him as other patrons of the pub started to arrive and take seats around the place, the noise level steadily rising with quiet whispers and jovial exclamations.

It was loud and cramped and Harry had never been in such a situation voluntarily.

It was the warmest and happiest he had ever been.

Harry stayed up for a long time, long into the night as he talked with Ezekiel and some of the other patrons, and while he was being careful and a bit closed off, he was having a grand old time with these other beings.

It wouldn't be until early morning that Harry would head back up to his rooms and go to sleep, a peaceful smile on his lips.

[August 2nd 1991]

Being woken by an owl pecking at his window Harry got up and checked what the avian wanted with him, swiftly discovering that it was a notice from Crookedfang who wanted him to be at HQ within a certain amount of time. So, he got dressed, bantering with Regulus as he did so who remained seated on the bed, laughing and feeling for the first time in his life truly carefree.

After he was finished he went down to the bar with Blackie and got something to eat afterwhich they headed out and made for the building Crookedfang was set up in.

That was when the eleven year old met his co-worker, who was a twenty year old man by the name of Cecil that had yellow streaked black hair and dark skin.

Crookedfang then directed the two of them to move some merchandise from the basement to another location, where they were told that some customers would be looking at it. They were also told to leave immediately after delivering the merchandise-which Harry merely scoffed at, he was going to stay behind because of course he was.

After Harry and Cecil moved the merchandise, and after Harry was finished spying on Crookedfang, Harry spent the rest of his day going to different stores and buying things, along with stealing some more blueprints from multiple places.

He even spent some time in Gringotts, mostly talking to the goblins that worked there, but he was also mapping the place, finding places that he would be able to break in-he wanted to find the blueprints of the place so that he could study them, he is a thief afterall.

On his way back to the White Wyvern Harry spotted a shop that looked a lot like a tattoo parlor. Stopping in his tracks Harry jumped over to the window, mouth open in awe as he took in what was happening inside.

There was a large, burly man with firetruck red hair that was brushed away from his face wearing gloves and a wand in his hand. He was holding it to a woman's shoulder and carefully moving it down as his lips moved, a trail of what looked to be ink following the path the wand was making.

Harry practically had stars in his eyes as he took in what the man was doing, before his eyes were stolen away from that and to another person, a woman with bright yellow hair who was giving someone a piercing. She too was using her wand and Harry saw her lips moving as she gave them a piercing as well.

Harry felt excitement fill him as he bounced away from the window and rushed off to the White Wyvern, burst into his room and picked up Blackie and then ran back out, heading back to the tattoo parlor and entering the establishment.

The first response to him entering wasn't the nicest, but Harry was eventually able to get them to explain what it was that they did-they did Magical tattoos that have enchantments woven into them for just about anything and they also did the same with earrings.

After a bit of deliberation Harry decided on some earrings that would allow for him to hear gossip and secrets, which would help Harry gather information; he also asked them to input a charm that would let him understand other languages, mainly Magical ones as he already understood and was learning human languages because of his traveling around the world for his thieving.

Sadly they weren't able to do much with that as in order to make such a charm, one needed to first know the language that they were inputting and there weren't many humans that knew languages of Creatures.

Disappointed but not discouraged, Harry still got the earrings, which were some stud earrings made from ebony that had small streaks of white running through them. After getting his own earring he also had Blackie get an earring on his left ear that was made from a green emerald that was attached to a silver hook.

After that was all over and done with, and after he had paid the workers, Harry headed on back to the White Wyvern, spending the rest of his day lounging about with Regulus and Hedwig.

After Regulus questioned Harry on why he had made him get an ear pierced, and after Harry explained that he had done it in order for Regulus to be able to gather information while Harry was busy doing other things the boy gave the man a book about Magical Healing that he had gotten before finding the tattoo parlor, causing the man to no longer be angry at him for making him get his ear pierced and let out a noise of interest hug him tightly, saying thank you over and over again.

Harry merely laughed at his friend's reaction before urging him on to read it as he made his way over to Hedwig, allowing for Regulus to start reading without a distraction, but he was also merely spending some quality time with his familiar.

[August 31st 1991]

Harry let out a sigh of relief as he finished putting the last of his school clothes and supplies into his school trunk, which he had bought for the sole purpose of keeping others from knowing about his bottomless bag necklace; he didn't want to be caught with anything that he shouldn't have, nor did he want anyone to be suspect of him if they were to spot his bag necklace.

Picking up the trunk, Harry placed it by the bedroom door, afterwhich he headed over to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

Once he was finished with that he got dressed and headed to bed, crawling over Regulus who was sitting up and reading the leather bound book Harry had bought for him on the second of August.

Letting out a hum of content, Harry leaned into Regulus' side, his eyes roaming the page the man was currently reading, murmuring," like it?"

Letting out a grunt the man moved his arm so that he could wrap it around Harry, letting a smile settle on his lips as he responded," hm, yes, it's quite an interesting read, thank you for getting it for me," thanking the boy he leaned down and lay a kiss on his head. Harry let out a happy hum as he cuddled closer to the welcome embrace of his friend, the feeling of contentment filling his entire being as he felt his eyelids droop, knowing that sleep was pulling on him to the land of dreams, and, for the first time in a long time, Harry didn't fight the hold, knowing that, while the journey from tomorrow on would be difficult, that it wouldn't be all bad.

And with that final thought, Harry let out a yawn, and was lost to the land of the living, his body preparing for the new experiences heading his way.

Steamy: And there you go. This chapter is over and done with and I don't have anything to say, just that if you have any questions then send me a review or PM.