Hello! Okay so a belated Merry Christmas and a happy new year (very belated). However I broke my laptop and have only just been able to buy a new one (laptops are expensive man!) so not only did I have to wait but i lost all my progress on my stories. Anyway I'm back!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter Twenty-Eight
By Rosa241

Abby POV:

Coming back to this street is the absolute last thing I want to do right now. What I want to be doing is finding Harry Potter and insisting that he tell me every single thing about his nightmare of a so called family. Of course the world doesn't work that way and we've had who knows how many kids who're so scared that they try to protect the ones doing them the most harm. It's strange but some of them even have some twisted sense of loyalty.

Shaking my head I took the final turn into the street grateful to see it empty. Bumping into either one of the Dursleys would be counter productive since the last thing I wanted was them seeing me talking to Mrs Figg.

It took less than a minute after knocking on the door before an elderly woman answered. The tiny woman peered up at me for a moment before she spoke.

"Can I help you?" This is going to be painful.

"My name is Abigail Montgomary. A few days ago you sent me a letter." Thankfully the elderly woman's eyes lit up at the realisation of who she was talking to.

"Ah yes. Oh I am so very glad to see you, I have been hoping that you would take me seriously. Do come in, come in!" I wasn't so much as ushered inside as much as forced through the door.

Walking through the house I couldn't help but cringe at the distinct smell of cat. Of course given the number of cats currently crawling through the living room it was inevitable I guess. The house looked run down, almost like the owner had trouble keeping it these days. Looking at the woman I couldn't say I was surprised. She was elderly, very elderly and judging by the speed at which she moved I doubt she found keeping this place an easy task.

"Mrs Figg I was hoping you could shed some light over the letter you sent me yesterday." She quickly seats herself down next to me on her well used sofa and nods her head.

"I was out on my daily walk you see when I happened to be passing number four. Veron and Petunia you know. I saw you talking to her and I heard who you were." Near enough word for word what she sent in her letter. "Well I waited so that could talk to you afterwards but then Cecil got himself stuck and by the time I'd rescued him you'd gone."

She gestures to the fireplace where an overly large ginger tabby cat is currently licking himself. He stops momentarily, almost as if feeling the glare that she sends his way, before bending his head and getting back to the task at hand.

"Why would you need to talk to me about young Harry?" Her eyes narrow at that and a look of fury crosses her face briefly.

"That poor boy. I baby sit him you know? Quite a lot. In fact I've spent a lot of time babysitting that young boy so I feel that I know him quite well." This is going to be a long day. "Yes I've spent a lot of time babysitting him. Over the years I've seen a lot."

"What do you mean by a lot Mrs Figg?" The way she speaks, it's almost as if…

"Please call me Arabella. Well you see they rely on me a lot to take care of young Harry whenever they go out. You know two years ago they took that son of theirs to the circus for his birthday and then out for a nice birthday tea. Harry spent the day with me. When they went on holiday three summers ago, somewhere in Cornwall if I remember rightly, Harry spent the week with me. When Harry was off school sick he spent the day with me. If it was the weekend and Petunia needed to go out she took her son with her and left Harry with me. I see a lot of young Harry." For a moment I say nothing and let the words sink in.

They leave him behind. They take their son out to have fun and leave their nephew behind with a neighbour.

"They went on holiday and just left Harry here?" She nods her head and I can see now the weight of all this on top of her.

"Yes. They do it all the time. Spoil that son of theirs rotten and leave poor Harry trailing behind. You know I don't think I've ever seen him in new clothes, only those old hand me downs from that cousin of his." Shaking my head I quickly make note of all the things she's telling me no matter how much it pains me to listen. Clearing my throat I speak again.

"You said in your letter that you weren't able to write everything that you wanted to. What do you mean by that?" She nods her head and bends down to lift up the snow white cat rubbing against her leg.

"When Harry was seven he spent the day with me in the summer when his aunt and uncle took their son out for the day. He came over with a broken wrist. Petunia told me that he'd fallen in the garden but I saw." Saw what? "I saw that brutish cousin of his the day before, he was basically sitting on the poor dear. I know what happened to his wrist and I know that it was no accident."

Abuse?

Imagine that. Being not only neglected in your own home but bullied by your own cousin as well. What must life have been like for him?

"It was after that I started keeping my diaries." Her words bring me out of my head and back to the present.

"I'm sorry what diaries?" Her eyes light up at that and she's on her feet quick as a flash.

"Wait right here my dear. I'll be right back." As she walks out of the room a sense of foreboding settles over me. What else can there be?

Percy POV:

Walking into the Ministry is something I've done plenty of times before but it still has this way of unsettling me. Remembering everything that went on his the last time is enough to make me want to run. I can't of course. I need to do this. It's the only way to get Harry out of that house.

"Shouldn't be long now." Dad's nervous I can tell. His leg keeps jittering and he's checked his watch at least three times in the last ten minutes. He always checks his watch when he's nervous, it's a tick. I say nothing as he checks his watch for a fourth time and instead my mind drifts to Neville.

I wonder how Olivers getting on.

Oliver had sent me a letter a few days back letting me know that he'd sent Neville a letter. He was determined to keep Neville safe and had officially taken him under his wing. It was for the best really. He needed someone watching out for him and my best friend was the perfect person for the job.

"Ah here she is." Dad's voice breaks me out of my thoughts and I look up in time to see a rather tall woman walking towards us. Truth be told she sort of reminds me of Professor McGonagall. If she's anything like McGonagall then she'll stop at nothing until she gets to the truth.

"Arthur lovely to see you thank you for coming in on your day off." Dad shakes her hand before she turns her attention to me. "You must be Percy. I'm Jennett Preistley"

After a sharp handshake we follow her into the office and take a seat at her desk. I've never been in here before. I never had much reason to come down to the Child Protection Department when I worked here last time.

"Now there's no need to worry I just need to ask you a few questions." Her face is kind enough but there's a solid determination behind those eyes which gives me the feeling that I would not want to cross this woman. Just like McGonagall indeed. Immediately she's speaking and gets straight to the point. "The letter that you sent mentioned some difficulties in Harry's home life. Can you explain what you mean by these?"

"Well…it's like I said to Professor McGonagall I really don't know too much. But there are some things that I have noticed. Things that worry me." She leans forward slightly but says nothing. A silent urge to continue. "He never talks about his aunt and uncle. Usually first years get home sick and spend time talking about their families but he's never really mentioned them. From what he has said I don't think he gets on very well with his cousin. From what I've gathered it almost sounds like he bullies Harry."

"In what way?" She prods as she makes a few notes on the parchment in front of her.

"I don't really know any specifics but when he speaks about him, the few times that he has at least, it seems like he's kind of scared of him. Then there's the letters." How I never really noticed that last time is beyond me.

"Letters? You're talking about letters that they've sent him." I wish.

"Actually that's just it, from what I've seen I don't actually think they've sent him any letters. I mean at all." That causes her eyebrows to raise in a way I've only ever seen on mum before as dad mumbles something angry beside me. Again she makes a few notes on her parchment before raising her head to me.

"You mentioned to Professor McGonagall about the boy sleeping in a cupboard." Dad's shocked gasp makes me wince and it occurs to me that he probably never found this out at any point.

"What? A cupboard!?" He turns to me with fury and worry etched onto his face.

"That's what made me send the letter." Turning to Miss Priestley I take a breath before explaining. "We were supposed to stay at school over Christmas this year. Mum and Dad were going to visit Charlie in Norway then of course Charlie decided he was coming home and that plan got scrapped. Ron got worried that with us going home Harry might decide to as well that's when he spoke to me. He was worried and he said…he said that they'd make him go back to that cupboard. I asked him what he meant and he just went all quiet. Wouldn't say anything else about it, I don't really think he meant to say anything at all."

For a few minutes she says nothing at all as she scribbles more down on the parchment. I can feel the fury echoing off dad as he sits fuming beside me. Ill treatment has always gotten to dad, not giving people the treatment they deserve or treating them differently makes him angrier than anything. It takes a while before she speaks again but when she does her voice is the epitome of calm. Her eyes however tell a different story.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" I'd thought long and hard about this last night, planning through what I could tell without suspicion falling onto me. It's a risk but…

"There is one thing." She says nothing as she waits for me to speak. "Harry found out recently that he had a God Father. Sirius Black. When he found out Harry sent him a letter and Sirius responded. They've been exchanging letters for a few weeks now. Seems to make Harry smile."

After that she asks a few more questions but I give nothing away, I can't. I'd love to tell them all that I know but I can't. As soon as I do I'll have to tell them how I know. What could I say to that? Nothing that they'd believe. Mentioning Sirius is a risk but it's one worth taking. Giving them the chance to see the positive about their relationship is the most important thing.

As we walk back I can see the anger radiating off of dad in waves. Shaking my head I want to say something to help but I know that nothing I say will make a difference. It doesn't matter how many times we go over it the facts will be the same. Harry is living with people who don't treat him right.

But not for much longer.

Harry POV:

Lying in bed I can't force myself to sleep. It's happened before. Many, many times when I was at the Dursley's I'd lie awake at night wondering how different my life could be if my parents were alive. There were other nights when I'd go to bed hungry and the echoing of my stomach would keep me awake for hours. Some nights were through complete fear of what would happen the next morning. When I got to Hogwarts I'd had sleepless nights for other reasons. Sheer excitement of what my time there would bring, relief at not being with the Dursleys and, more recently, wondering over Nicolas Flamel and Snape. But tonight…

Tonight I'm awake for another reason. Something that I've only really begun to experience in recent months.

Happiness.

I was spending what was turning out to be an amazing Christmas with some great people who were actually happy to have me there. I wasn't going to have to see my aunt and uncle again until the summer (thank you Ron for pointing that out) and more importantly Sirius wanted to see me. Thinking back over his letter I can't help but smile.

Dear Harry,

I'm glad you let me know where you were staying, I remember Arthur and Molly well they're good people. I know that you'll enjoy your Christmas there. Of course I'd be delighted to see you as soon as I can. I'll try and make the arrangements but I can't promise that it will be easy or that it will be soon but I will do my best to make it happen as soon as possible.

The rest of the letter falls away but I keep going over that part in my head. He wants to see me. He wants to see me. This man knew my parents, he was friends with them. He can tell me about them. Rolling over I know that I won't get much sleep tonight but I don't care. The happiness running round my brain is better than sleep.

And that's where we'll end it.

Yay Harry's happy and Sirius wants to see him. How long will I keep you waiting?

What secrets will Mrs Figg's diaries unleash?

What's going to happen?

Keep watch and I'll let you know.

Until then,

Bye x