AN: Sorry about the wait. Finals came up and took over my life. I promise to get the next chapter out faster. Sorry if this chapter is rough around the edges, its been written piecemeal over the past month. I promise more action in the next few chapters. This is the last chapter of summer build up before they go back to Hogwarts.

Note: I don't own Harry Potter or the Avengers. Those belong to J.K Rowling and Disney respectively.

Chapter 7:

For a minute, Hermione just stared at him. Why was he…? How was he…? Her brain refused to work, couldn't figure out what she was seeing.

The silence on the porch stretched on. Harry began to fidget and refused to meet her eyes. A blush started to creep up his neck.

He had clearly made a mistake. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come…" he turned to leave when his right foot got caught on the jump rope. He stumbled and almost fell backwards down the steps.

This sudden motion jolted Hermione awake. "Harry! Come in, come in." She helped him up and practically shoved him inside the house. She attempted to shut the door only to be met with the growl of an angry black dog. It had a rough look about it as if it had been a stray for a long time. The dog had clearly come with Harry and was not going to be separated from him.

Not really seeing any choice, Hermione let the dog in and then shut the door. She turned and saw Harry looking around her living room with interest. She made her way towards him, determined to get some answers when she was stopped short by the smell.

Harry reeked like he had been forced to crawl though a flaming landfill. She gripped his shoulder and spun him towards the stairs.

"Hermione wha…" She couldn't respond because she was holding her breath.

She frog marched him up the stairs and into the guest bathroom with strict instructions not to come out until he smelled less like a sewer. She left a bundle of her father's clothes outside the door for him and headed back downstairs to wait.

The sound of the shower echoing down the stairs caused Hermione to let out a deep breath. She slumped further in her chair at the kitchen table and buried her head in her hands, letting out a quiet scream.

Having friends wasn't supposed to be THIS stressful. It had been much easier when it had just been her and her books…

Hermione was, for the first time in years, unsure of what to do next. She had been Harry's friend for almost two years and had been on many adventures with him. She knew him and knew how private and proud he was. He would never have just shown up at her door without telling her unless something was seriously wrong. That was way she was so shocked to see him at the door.

She knew he and his relatives had never had the best relationship, but this was something else. She needed to find out what had happened so she could help him.

"One thing is certain", Hermione thought with sudden clarity, "I'm not going to let him go anywhere. No matter what he did. No matter what he says."

She owed at least that much to her first ever friend.

The sound of the shower turning off shook her out of her thoughts.

Harry's soft footsteps on the stairs caused her to sit a little straighter in her chair. He rounded the corner of the stairs and padded into the kitchen, a small smile on his face. She rose slightly out of her chair to greet him.

Then all hell broke loose.

Harry had spent his all too brief time in the shower formulating a plan on how best to escape Hermione's house. He had clearly made a mistake by coming here, judging by how Hermione had reacted to him at the door. He could not intrude upon her anymore than necessary, especially if she was going to get caught in the trouble he was in with the ministry.

Once he got downstairs, he planned to gather his things as quickly as humanly possible while avoiding Hermione. He knew her well enough to know that he would not get away with no questions being lobbed at him, but he hoped to be able deflect her long enough to make it out the door.

As to where he would go after that… he didn't know. Maybe Diagon Alley so he could blend in with the crowds. The Ministry would be searching everywhere for him so they could snap his wand and expel him. He couldn't let that happen; no matter what happened next with the Stones, he needed his wand to live.

With a plan half formed in his mind, Harry dressed and gathered his things. Despite everything that was going on, he found himself wearing a grin. He was really happy to see Hermione, if only for a little while.

That happiness did not last long. As he entered the kitchen, Hermione stifled a scream. She shot to her feet so fast that her chair tumbled to the ground, a horrified expression on her face.

"What?!" He yelped "What happened?" She raised a shaking finger and pointed it at his face.

Harry ran over to the microwave and looked at his reflection. Where Marge had kicked his head, he now had a mass of multicolored bruises stretching across the entire side of his face down to his jaw. It looked like his head had been kicked by an angry horse. He hadn't seen it before because his face had been so caked with dirt and grime that it had covered it up.

He tried to turn back to Hermione, scrambling for an explanation, when a force hit him in the lower legs. Snuffles, having been attracted by Hermione's scream, was looking at him with an expression almost like fury. A growl was emanating from the back of his throat and his haunches were rising. Harry would have been worried he was going to be attacked if Snuffles hadn't been trying to cuddle as close to him as possible. With a start Harry realized that Snuffles wasn't mad at him but what had happened to his eye.

He finally managed to disentangle himself from Snuffles only to see Hermione staring at him. Only she no longer looked scared. She looked angry. Angrier than Harry had ever seen her, even worse than the time Ron had spilled gravy in her bag at dinner.

"What happened?" she whispered with a quiet fury. "What did they do to you?"

Harry didn't have a good answer for that, so he automatically fell back on instincts honed from years of living with his Uncle.

"I…uh… tripped while I was out for a walk."

Hermione snorted, but there was no humor in it. "Tripped into what? Hagrid wearing a steel toed boot?"

"I was trying to get home…"

"Let me cut you off right there. Despite what you may think Harry Potter, I'm not an idiot. I know you didn't do this to yourself. What happened?"

"I can't tell you."

"You can't tell… why not?"

"I just can't"

"Harry I can help you. You can't honestly be protecting them after they did this to you?"

Harry glared at her in frustration. Didn't she know anything? He couldn't just tell her. Ever since he had been a baby the Dursleys had drilled two lessons into his head: You take care of yourself because nobody is coming to help and that what happens in the house stays in the house.

"Nothing happened Hermione. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

This clearly was not an answer she was going to accept.

"Harry James Potter. I know things that can help you! I will not stand by and let my best friend be tossed around like a punching bag while I can help. Please LET ME HELP YOU." At some point she had started shouting.

Harry was about to retort when he felt something wet splash his face. As he raised a hand to his good eye, he realized, to his horror, that he had started crying at some point.

Hermione stopped mid rant when she heard him sniffle. Without warning, he started to buckle. She rushed forward to catch him only to find that he had thrown his arms around her neck. Great sobs racked his body.

With a start, Hermione realized that she had never seen him cry before. Suddenly he looked much less like someone who had killed a giant Basilisk and more like the very scared 13-year-old he was.

"It's OK. I am sorry I pushed you. You don't have to tell me." She soothed.

"Thank you, I just…"

"It's ok Harry. Tell me when you're ready. Can you tell me how you got here?"

After he had calmed down a bit, Harry told her the whole story starting from leaving his relatives house after doing magic, going to the playground, hiding under the train and then making his way to her front door.

After he was finished Hermione did not say anything. Harry could see she was bursting to ask questions but was holding herself back. She was choosing her next words carefully.

Finally she spoke. "Harry, I know you're not going to like this, but you need to contact Professor Dumbledore to let him know where you are."

His eyed widened in confusion. "You want me to be expelled?"

She shook her head. "I don't think they are going to expel you. Look at this." She picked up a copy of the Dailey Prophet that was sitting in the middle of the table. "This came while you were in the shower"

The front page of the paper was dominated by a picture of the destroyed Number 4. The headline screamed:

Black Attacks!

By Brian Wolfcastle

Late last night, a muggle house in Surrey was brutally attacked in daring fashion by Sirius Black. The house, which contained a wizard as well as four muggles, was partially destroyed in the fight.

It is assumed that Black took the currently unknown wizard hostage and is on the run.

An unnamed Ministry insider is calling this the most brazen attack on muggles on British soil since the fall of He Who Must Not Be Named a decade ago.

A reward is being offered to anyone with information on this case. More information on page 3.

Harry finished reading. "They think I'm being held hostage by this..." he checked the paper again "Sirius Black?" Unknown to either of them this statement caused Snuffles to stiffen and let out a low whine. Harry absently scratched him under the chin.

"They don't mention you or the Dursleys by name but yes it seems so. Harry you have to owl someone and let them know your safe. I do not think they will expel you. Your too well known and popular. And the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery includes a clause for self-defense, and you were certainly defending yourself."

Harry felt the fight go out of him. He didn't want to argue. He just wanted to sleep. "Do you have a quill and some parchment?"

He jotted a short note explaining that he had not been abducted and was safe at Hermione's parents' house. He addressed it to the Ministry of Magic. He then realized that Hedwig had not returned to him and he had no way to send the letter.

As if on cue, Hedwig chose that moment to swoop through the still open window and land on his shoulder. She gave his ear an affectionate nip before allowing him to tie the letter to her waiting leg. She took off back out the window.

He turned back to Hermione. "How long do you think before Dumbledore tries to break down your front door to get to me?"

She chuckled "Maybe an hour?"

He started to get up when he found himself smothered in a hug from Hermione.

"Thank you." She breathed

Harry stiffened. He couldn't remember ever being hugged before. He awkwardly patted her back until she let go

"Come on. You can wait with me in the library while I finish my book."

45 minutes later, a booming knock on the front door shook Harry from his nap. Hermione carefully marked her page and then went to answer it. Harry fingered his wand in his hand. He hoped they wouldn't try to take it from him but was prepared to fight to the best of his abilities if they did.

The headmaster's voice rang out. "Ms. Granger, delightful to see you. We believe that Harry is here."

"Yes professor, he's in the library. Follow me."

Professor Dumbledore entered the small room. He was wearing robes the color of pea soup, embroidered with stars on the hem. His eyes zeroed in on Harry. Harry shifted his body to hide his eye from them.

"Ah Harry my boy!" He clapped his hands in joy. "It is wonderful to see you whole and in one piece! We saw what became of your relatives house and feared the worst when you didn't turn up. Seeing you safe is a great burden off my shoulders. However, seeing you now we have to wonder…"

"What happened Mr. Potter" A voice spoke from behind Dumbledore. Harry had been so distracted by the headmaster that he had complete failed to see the two people standing behind Dumbledore.

One was a short, squat man with an overcoat and a lime green bowler hat on. He looked nervous to be there as he kept fidgeting and twitching. The other person was a no-nonsense looking woman with a monocle wearing dark red robes. She was the one who had spoken.

Seeing Harry's confusion at their presence, Dumbledore performed introductions. "Harry you haven't met these people yet. This is Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Cornelius Fudge, the Minster of Magic."

Madam Bones cleared her throat. "Mr. Potter may I be the first to say it is wonderful to see that you are safe and unharmed. We have had almost the entire Ministry looking for you for the entire night. However, a very significant and dangerous piece of magic was performed at your house last night in front of and did damage to several muggles. We thought an adult wizard did it, but it appears you were the lone wizard in the house. Would you please explain how that happened?"

In lieu of an answer, Harry turned to fully face the trio. His mangled face elicited gasps from all of them.

"Mr. Potter did someone… do this to you?" Madam Bones asked. Harry wasn't going to answer when he felt a hand squeeze his arm. He saw Hermione standing behind him, trying to silently lend him her support.

Harry took a deep breath and nodded, not trusting himself to speak

Madam Bones looked disgusted. "And was this the reason you left your house?" Harry nodded again.

"Does this kind of treatment happen often Harry?"

"Not as often as it used to but yeah it happens." He replied quietly

"I see" Madam Bones said. "I have a niece your age and if someone did something like this to her…" She took a shaky breath. "This would appear to fall under the self-defense exception of the law so no charges will be pressed against you Mr. Potter. I hope you will accept our apologies that something like this happened on our watch."

She rounded on Dumbledore, with fury in her eyes. He had not said a word or moved since Harry had shown his bruise. "Dumbledore" she spat "assured us that your safety would be guaranteed where he put you. He swore it. We will have to do a thorough review of those defenses before we consider letting you set foot in that house again though."

Dumbledore went pale at this. He had used some very powerful, and very illegal, tracking spells on Privet Drive to keep tabs on Harry over the years. Spells that would not look good for his reputation if their use came to light.

She grabbed Dumbledore by the upper arm and practically dragged him to the door. "Ms. Granger, as we don't have alternate accommodations for Mr. Potter at the moment, would it be possible for him to stay here until school starts again?" Hermione frantically nodded.

"Good then it is decided. I will leave him in your capable hands then." She opened the door and guided Dumbledore and Fudge onto the porch. "We need to have a discussion headmaster" she hissed as they all disappeared with a pop.

Harry shut the door and turned to Hermione. "That could have gone worse" she said brightly "Do you want to keep reading or do you want lunch first?"

"Hermione I…"

"No!" she said firmly "I know what you're going to say and you're not leaving Harry Potter. You're not a burden. You're going to stay here for the rest of the summer."

"But won't your parents have a problem with me staying here?"

"My parents having a problem with me having a friend over for the summer? They will be overjoyed I am not spending all my time by myself reading. Let me handle it."

Dan Granger was not a big fan of surprises. He preferred to live his life knowing all the facts so he could make plans. Act instead of react, that was his motto. That why the last thing he was expecting after a long day of work was to see a stranger sitting in kitchen chatting with daughter. The fact that it was a boy only made his suspicion grow.

He cleared his throat to get the attention of the teens. "Ahem, what's going on here Hermione?"

"Daddy! I was just telling Harry all about you guys."

"Harry? Your friend Harry from school? Doesn't he live in Surrey?"

"Yes, but I gave him our address in case he ever needed it. His only relatives haven't been treating him correctly so I told him he could come stay here with us until school starts. Can he Dad? Please?"

Dan did not like the look of the boy. He seemed like a troublemaker with beat up trainers and hair that went in every direction. His clothes seemed a few sizes too big for him. With a start, Dan realized they were his clothes from his drawer upstairs. His first instinct was to get this boy as far from his daughter as possible by throwing the boy onto the street.

"I don't know princess, let me talk to your mum."

"Talk to your mum about what?" Emma Granger said as she walked into the kitchen from getting the mail. "Who is this?" "Mum this is my best friend in the world Harry Potter. He needs a place to stay."

Hermione's mother raised an eyebrow. "The same Harry Potter from all your letters? All-you-ever-talk-about Harry Potter? The one who was missing at the end of last year?"

Hermione blushed. "Yeah that one." She said quickly. "He had an incident at home and needs a place to stay until school starts again. I told him he and his dog could stay in the guest bedroom until then. Please?"

Dan saw the large bruise on the side of the boys face and the look in his wife's eyes and knew that they would be having a house guest for the next several weeks.

"Alright Hermione, he can stay. But try not to spend all your time in the library huh?" Emma teased

The look in Hermione's eyes made Harry audibly gulp.