Chapter Two

Harry forced his glasses onto his nose and took several deep breaths. His scar was killing him and, although it had just been a dream, a lot of things were clicking into place in his head. The dream, was however quickly fading.

He threw the blankets off him and sat up to turn the light on, in order to find a bit of paper and write down what he could remember.

His bedroom door flew open and Severus was standing there, wand out and ready.

"Harry are you OK? We heard you scream." He asked and switched on the light, dazzling Harry's eyes for a moment.

"Yeah I'm, I'm fine. I just had a bad dream..." Most of the dream had slipped away now but his scar was still throbbing.

Severus nodded and put his wand down, "It's OK Lily." he called up the stairs before moving to sit next to Harry, "What can you remember?"

Harry shook his head, "Not much. I was going to write it down, I don't even remember screaming."

He racked his brain to remember the details.

"There was a snake. Voldemort, he was… not really human. Like a really ugly toddler." Harry said.

"Harry?" Lily came to the door and moved over to sit on the other side of Harry on the bed.

"I'm OK Mum." Harry smiled, focusing on remembering the dream, "Bellatrix. She was with Voldemort."

"Harry are you sure?" Severus asked.

Harry nodded, "She said she was the one who lured me away from everyone at the end of last year, at school. Do you think the prophecy was about her?"

Lily looked at Severus for a second before shrugging, "I don't know. She's not really been trapped though, or wearing a mask if you think about it."

Harry nodded, that was true.

"There was another girl as well, her name was… Lacy or Lu...Lucy, I think. They killed someone." Harry said slowly.

Lily pulled him into a hug. He leaned against her chest, he could hear her heart still racing but slowly slowing down, calming his own with it.

"I think it might have just been a dream sweetie. Your brain just trying to put the bits together." Lily said softly, "But we're not going to ignore it. OK?"

Harry nodded, "Ok. Sorry I woke you."

"Don't be. That's what we're here for." Severus told him with a smile, "Try and get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Harry nodded and let his parents tuck him back into bed. They placed loving kisses on his forehead and left him to sleep. Harry didn't sleep though, his scar was hurting too much; it felt like someone had placed a red hot wire on his head.

Instead, after a while, he quietly climbed back out of bed and moved to his mirror and desk. It had once been Sirius's Grandmother's but he had found it brilliant for drawing, with lots of little draws to keep his supplies in.

He looked at himself in the mirror, the slim fourteen year old staring back at him. His scar didn't look any different but still felt like it was burning.

He pulled out a bit of paper and began to draw out what he could remember from the dream. Lucy, Bellatrix, the snake. The half-formed creature that Voldemort now was. It felt like no time at all before the day broke and he could hear his mother call him down for breakfast.

He quickly got dressed and headed downstairs. Kreacher greeted him happily, he was dusting the stairs, and politely requested that Harry make sure his hands were clean from sugar before coming back upstairs this time.

Harry grinned at him and promised he would give them a wash rather than undoing all Kreacher's hard work.

In the dinning room, Harry took his seat at the table and pulled two large waffles onto his plate. Danica was sitting across from him looking rather tired.

"You OK?" Harry asked her, when she only put a small about of maple syrup on her food.

Danica nodded, "Just sleepy. Mummy woke me up in the middle of the night."

Harry smiled, "Sorry, I think that was my fault; I had a bad dream."

Danica nodded, "It's OK. I get bad dreams sometimes as well."

Harry wasn't too worried, he was sure she'd perk up after some sugar. He ate his breakfast slowly, talking to his family. The topic quickly turned to the quickly approaching Quidditch World Cup.

"I was thinking that I would stay with Nikka if that's OK?" Sirius said, "You're not going to need me there as well."

Lily sighed, "Well Severus has been called into work as well, at least for the first day, something went wrong with the potion ingredient delivery."

"I can come if you want." Sirius told her.

Lily forced herself to brighten up, "Of course not. Sorry. I'll be fine with Harry and Danica by myself, it's not like they're badly behaved."

"Muhahaha!" Danica laughed.

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked, "Nikka's just so upset she's being made to work. It's once in a life time having the Quidditch World Cup here after all."

"I'm sure." Lily smiled, "You go keep her company and we'll tell you all about it."

"I should be hearing from Ron any day now." Harry told them, "I said it would be nice for me and Hermione and you guys to come with us. Everyone else is going with the tickets Draco's Dad got."

As if on cue an owl fluttered in. It was a large, proud looking eagle owl. It's post office tag had been hidden behind a bit of ribbon but it must have slipped slightly as the bird was flying. Lily didn't say anything, simply unhooked the letter and offered the owl some food. It refused, taking a small drink of water before flying off, back out the window.

She passed the letter to Harry who tore it open eagerly. He read over it and his face fell slightly.

"His Dad was only able to get two spare tickets to the Ministers box and two for the side box seats. He suggests me and Hermione go with him and his Dad and whoever else is coming go in the other seats." Harry flopped his head into his hand and sighed.

Lily reached out an arm and gave his shoulder a rub, "Don't worry Harry. I think it's a brilliant idea still."

Harry sat up suddenly and looked at her, "Really? I thought you would..." he didn't really want to say that he thought she'd refuse to let him go if she wasn't there to look after him.

"Well, I'd rather be there with you but really I don't mind. Danica and I can sit nearby and you'll have Narcissa and Lucius to watch over you still." Lily smiled, trying to convince herself that it really wouldn't be so bad.

Harry perked up a bit and smiled, "Ok. I'll write back now shall I?"

Lily nodded and pulled Danica onto her lap, "We'll have a great time wont we?"

Danica nodded and licked the sugar off her hands.

Harry was just about to run up the stairs to grab his writing stuff when he remembered that Kreacher had just cleaned the banister. He looked down at his hands, they were clean enough after he'd given them a good wipe on his trousers.

He raced up the stairs and quickly responded to Ron;

Hi Ron,

Mum says that's great! I'm so looking forward to see the match with you! Ireland Vs Bulgaria. We're going to be so close to Krum in the box! Thanks so much for getting the tickets for us, I'm really grateful.

How are you getting to the match? Mum can Apparate us and our stuff if you want to meet there but we need to get Hermione to the camp grounds as well. Let me know!

See you soon,

Harry

Harry read over the note and sealed it up. Hedwig was dozing happily on the window still. Harry woke her with a gentle stroke and offered her a treat before giving her the letter and telling her to take it to Ron.

He watched Hedwig fly gracefully down from his window and off into the morning sky. He was about to get his homework out and finish going over the last few bits he had to do when there was a knock at the door.

They weren't expecting anyone but Harry assumed it would be Nikka. He was so glad she'd been coming round more and Sirius was so much happier as well.

He heard Kreacher walking down the hall and the front door opening before Kreacher let out a squeak of surprise.

Harry got up quickly and went to the landing. Lily was already moving towards the door as well,

"Stay Harry." she called up the stairs. Harry could see her fingers tighten around her wand in her pocket.

"Petunia!" Lily said in surprise, her fingers let go of the wand, "What are you doing here?"

"Do you think I could come in?" Petunia asked.

Lily nodded and moved aside. Harry wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen his aunt step through that door with his own eyes.

"Kreacher could you make us some tea?" Lily asked.

Kreacher nodded and glared at Petunia before walking away to the kitchen. Severus had come out of the sitting room, Danica clinging to his legs.

"Hello Petunia, I think I'll ask Sirius to take Danica to the park." Severus said, with a tight smile.

He called into the library and Sirius came out. He helped Danica into her coat before turning on the spot and leaving the house with a pop.

"Harry go back upstairs." Severus said.

Harry nodded and waited for his father to have go into the sitting room with Lily and Petunia before creeping down the stairs and pressing his ear to the door.

"How can we help?" Lily asked, sitting down and patting the sofa next to her. Petunia looked at it and sat as far away as she could from her sister.

"Yes. What do you want." Severus said bluntly, choosing to stand.

Petunia looked awkwardly at her hands, "I wouldn't have come if I wasn't desperate."

"We know." Severus hissed, "I think you've only come to this house once before, when Lily, your sister, had just come out of hospital. You brought some flowers with the one pound fifty price tag still on."

Petunia looked bristled but took a calming breath, every tendon in her thin neck standing out.

"I came, because I am very worried about my son. Dudley." Petunia said.

"Master Harry?" Kreacher said, carrying a tray of tea.

Harry looked behind him and pressed his finger to his lips and looked pleadingly. Kreacher grinned and flapped his ears, nodding before composing his face to a blank slate again and delivering the tea.

"What's wrong with Dudley? Is he sick?" Lily asked, with genuine concern.

Petunia shook her head and burst into tears, "It's...it's...it's his school...re...report." She sobbed.

She handed over a bit of folded card to Lily. It was a very fancy looking report card, with embossed edges and the Smelting's crest stamped boldly on the front.

Lily took it and read over the contents. Dudley was failing all his classes, many of the exams he hadn't even bothered turning up to and every teachers note was the same; that he was lazy and a disruptive influence to the class.

There was also a few worrying reports of bullying. Lily patted her sister's hand, Petunia flinched at Lily's touch, earning her another glare from Severus.

"Well I can see your concern. I would be very disappointed if Harry had failed all his classes this badly." Lily said, "Maybe I could help with some extra tutoring?"

Petunia shook her head, "No. It's not that! He's just miss understood is all. The teachers don't know how to challenge him enough, he's just bored."

Lily gave a small smile, "Well, yes. I'm sure that's can't be helping."

"And he isn't a bully either. Have you ever read anything so stupid? He's just a bit of a boisterous boy. We haven't raised a wuss." Petunia shook her head, she had dried her eyes but she was starting to cry again, "It's this!"

Lily took the report card once more and read over the bit where Petunia was pointing. It was a note from the school nurse.

"Dudley must loose some weight! He is morbidly obese and his health is in danger." Lily read.

Petunia gave a loud cry and nodded, "Yes. You see how terrible this is! I rang up, tried to explain he was just a growing boy and needed feeding up but the shop that makes the uniforms doesn't make them big enough for him any more. The… the sc..c..chool nurse said he was the s...s...ize of a whale!"

Severus turned around to stop himself from smirking.

"Oh that's horrible! She shouldn't have said that." Lily said, "I'm not sure what you want me to do though."

Petunia let out a loud huff, "It's it obvious? Dudley needs something to make him loose weight!"

"Well I could help look for some diets with you." Lily suggested.

Petunia shook her head, "I've been trying that all summer so far! But it's been four weeks and he's only lost twelve pounds. I thought that if we were all on a diet it would help him but both he and Vernon are always so angry at the moment. My poor Diddums is always hungry and he cries I can't keep being so cruel to him."

Lily gave her sister a sympathetic smile, "Well twelve pounds is a lot really; it's nearly a stone."

Petunia shook her head, "It's not quick enough. I need you to make a spell or a potion or something to make him loose the weight, instantly."

Lily blinked, trying to process what she'd heard, "Petunia, I'm very glad that you came here to me, to talk about this, but no such potion or spell even exist and even if it did we wouldn't be allowed to help Dudley with it."

Petunia looked angrily at her sister, "You're lying!"

Severus glared at her, "No. We are not lying. As Lily said we can't help you with magic."

"What is the point of having you, a FREAK, as a sister if you wont help?!" Petunia shrieked.

Harry knew it was time to move and went quickly up the stairs.

"I think it is time for you to leave now." Severus hissed at Petunia taking her cup from her.

Petunia stood and crossed her arms angrily over her hips, "Like I would want to spend a minute more in this wretched house! I hate you!" she screamed, banging out the room. She spotted Harry on the landing and pointed a bony finger at him, "You! You think you are so much better than my boy, you and your horrid brat of a mother." she shrieked.

Harry moved back against the wall, he could feel his blood boil and didn't want to say something he would later regret.

"Get out." Lily said, in a dangerously calm voice, "And thank you for reminding us that we need to update the charms around this house that stop muggles from finding it."

Petunia let out a huff of insult and stormed out the house.