Chapter I
"Harry! Harry! Harry Potter!!" the angry voice was followed by the sound of a deadbolt being opened.
With a groan, Harry managed to roll himself out of bed and put his glasses on just as his Aunt Petunia flung the door open, looking at him with a furious expression. "Yes?" he managed in a coherent voice.
"You slept in, you lazy boy! Dudley is downstairs and hungry. Now go and make breakfast or else you get no dinner! Now!" Aunt Petunia shrieked in a high pitched voice.
Harry hurried out of the room, heading for the kitchen. Everyday it was the same – Aunt Petunia screeching and badmouthing him, Uncle Vernon giving him nasty looks, and Dudley aggravating him, despite Harry's best efforts to not provoke any one of them in general. He hurried into the kitchen, mumbling an excuse to Uncle Vernon as he took out the pans and breakfast things, Dudley complaining all the while that he was starving to death while Aunt Petunia tried to get him to eat a piece of toast., loaded with butter and strawberry jam. As if Dudley needed that stuff anymore.
"You know what your problem is boy?" Vernon said as he glared at Harry over the newspaper. "We're too good to you."
Harry didn't say anything as the pan heated up and he threw the bacon on watching it sizzle. He ignored the rest of Uncle Vernon's lecture, nodding at the appropriate times to make Vernon not yell at him any more than he had to. All he had to do was survive through the last two weeks of summer break and then, he would be back at Hogwarts with his friends for seventh year. He took out the plate to put the bacon on, when an unusually loud pop came from the pan. He turned around quickly to see what it was but froze when the sound of china crashing on the floor echoed out around the kitchen.
"See? Nothing more than an ungrateful brat who breaks our things!" Vernon said as he started towards Harry. "You'll have to do double the usual chores to pay us back for that boy."
“Bite me.” Harry spat before he could stop himself. He immediately regretted vocalizing the words, but he didn’t regret thinking it in the slightest.
Uncle Vernon looked ready to unleash a tirade at Harry when the doorbell rang. Aunt Petunia rose quickly and went to the door. Uncle Vernon glanced at her before he rose and walked over to Harry, grasping Harry’s shirt in his meaty hand. Harry’s eyes darted to his closed fist that hung by his side and gritted his teeth. Maybe if he managed to shut up this time, he wouldn’t get beaten too severely later on.
Vernon glared down at Harry with little piggy eyes. "One more stunt like that from you and I'll kick you out myself. Family or not; I've had enough of you. Understand?" Vernon’s hand rose in a flash catching Harry by surprise, when Harry remained stonily silent, and connected to Harry’s face with a hard slap before he was shaken hard. Harry felt his head ringing and he barely heard what Uncle Vernon said. “Am I understood freak?”
Harry looked at him, trying to hide the loathing in his expression; showing it would only make things worse. He swallowed hard before he nodded and went to clean up the broken shards of the plate as Uncle Vernon released him. He glanced up when Uncle Vernon walked out of the kitchen, followed by Dudley. He walked over to the dustbin and dumped the pieces in before he went back to the stove and finished up cooking. His cheek was throbbing, swelling. It would definitely bruise later. But it would be nothing compared to the bruises he would get later.
When he set the full plates on the table, he looked up at the doorway, feeling a bit puzzled. None of Uncle Vernon's clients ever came by in the morning; plus Dudley wasn't here shovelling his face full of food with Aunt Petunia doting on him. But all he heard from the living room was complete silence. Something was definitely off. He walked to the edge of the doorway, peering around the corner.
Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley sat with their backs towards him, all facing the lone girl, who had seated herself rather elegantly on the couch. She was about his age and had a rather exotic look about her that was beguiling. He arched an eyebrow slightly, noting that all she wore was black; black boots, black jeans, black tank top and a pair of black sunglasses that rested on top of her long black hair. He shuddered for a moment, closing his eyes; if she were from the Wizarding world and Hogwarts, she'd probably be a Slytherin. He opened his eyes once more, finding her brilliant green eyes looking at his with mirth and pity.
"Merlin." he breathed as he ducked back around the corner, not wanting to be caught by Uncle Vernon. "Just who is she?"
"Now," Uncle Vernon started in an uncomfortable voice. "Why exactly are you here?"
"You know," she tucked an errant hair behind her ear as if she had all the time in the world. "It's people like you that are a disgrace to humans in general. If it weren't for the Ministry and certain people, I would have done this long ago."
"T-The Ministry?" Aunt Petunia stuttered out.
"Why yes, the Ministry. You do know about the Ministry…don't you?"
Harry watched as the girl's eyes gleamed dangerously, like they were stalking prey. Part of him wanted to stop what was going on, but another part of him shivered; the part that could relish in doing this to them himself.
"What Ministry are you talking about?" Vernon blustered, trying to maintain his composure; the red flush on his neck betrayed him. "I'll have no talk of nonsense in my house."
"Why, the Ministry of Magic, of course. Surely you…Muggles, have heard of it? Your nephew is a Wizard after all. Quite surprising for your narrow-minded brains, is it not?"
"You have no idea." Harry muttered to himself as the trio on the couch started to fuss up.
"Ah, just the person I was looking for."
Harry stood there in surprise as she looked around the corner and smiled when her eyes rested on him. Hopefully she wouldn’t say anything about the mark on his face. Besides, there was no way she could even see the others.
"You were looking for me?"
"Yes, you Harry. Quite some Muggles there; too bad you couldn't simply use your wand." she said with a shrug. "You would have been gone long ago, I'd imagine. Would have been harder to find you though."
"I guess. Is there…something you want from me?" he asked in a rather unsure voice.
"No. But I would imagine that you want to leave this wretched place?" she looked at him with a small quirk in her lips.
"Now, wait just a moment!" Uncle Vernon said, rising hastily. "That boy is going nowhere with the likes of-"
Harry watched as the girl drew out her wand and aimed it at Vernon, uttering "Silencio" rather lazily. The loud tirade that Uncle Vernon was saying vanished away, leaving on whimpers of fear from Dudley who clung to Aunt Petunia.
"Oh be quiet, you little brat." the girl said. "I could give you a pig tail, if you want…porker. Merlin knows you certainly are…plump enough. Tell me, do I terrify you? A squeal is all I need to hear." She leaned in and flashed both Dudley and Aunt Petunia a vicious, sadistic grin.
Dudley squealed shrilly, holding his arse as he took off from the living room with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon in immediate tow. Harry looked back at the girl, trying to make sense of this. She stood up straight and sighed, running her fingers through her hair. The expression on her face had vanished away as if it had never been there.
"Are you from The Daily Prophet? Did Rita send you?"
"That trashy tabloid reporter? Please, I like to think I have more taste that that. I read The Oracle; it's not well liked, but it's much more thought-provoking."
"Then why are you here. Though I can't say that I am not glad to see someone from our world."
"You want to know why I am here?" she walked back to the table and handed him a thick roll of papers. "Why don't you eat while you read them over? You must be starving. I heard what went on before they came to the door."
Harry nodded slowly before he took the papers and headed back to the kitchen. The girl had to be from some sort of aristocratic family, like the Malfoys; her fingers were long, soft, somewhat pale and well manicured, as if she had never done strenuous work in her life. He gave her a wary look as he sat down and took off the wax seal on the paper and unrolled it, the Ministry of Magic's insignia gleaming as he started reading.
His eyes widened as he read, the contents sinking in. There had to be some other reasoning for this. There was no way that his father could have…but Sirius would have told him, as would have Lupin. Why hadn't he known about this sooner? He could have been long gone from the Dursleys. He wouldn't have even known that they existed. But as he looked up to see the girl calmly eating some of the bacon and eggs, his mind refused to believe what had been in the papers.
"Done, I see." she said quietly as she dabbed her mouth with a paper towel to get rid of some bits of egg. "Everything's in order?"
"No." he placed the papers down. "You expect me to believe this? You just show up with papers that are unsigned and that could be fake…" he trailed off as a new though entered his mind, making him wish he had his wand on him.
The girl laughed quietly to herself as she leaned forward and rested her wand on the table. "That's my wand. Ollivander had a field day when I came in; there was no wand in the shop for me. Mine is custom made. Thirteen inches, mahogany wood with a combined core of dragon heartstring and mermaid hairs. I don't know how they did it." she looked at the length of wood rather pensively.
"Good for you," Harry looked at the reddish wood warily. "You must be special."
The girl gave him a peculiar smile. "I know what it is. Why you don't believe any of this."
"And why's that?" Harry asked with a bit of sarcasm; this girl was starting to give him the creeps.
"Because you think that this is some trick; that I bear the Dark Mark; that Voldemort is my master and I've come to deliver you to him." she gave him a piercing look. "That the insane, half-Muggle wizard who wants nothing more than to be a pure-blood, is my Lord and Master, God even."
"I didn't say-"
"You didn't have to. I saw it in your expression when you looked around the corner and saw me, when I put my wand on the table. Your face was an open book." she leaned forward and took her wand back.
Harry sat there, his face flushing red before he looked at her. "You said Voldemort."
"And I should go around cawing "You-Know-Who"? Utter stupidity if you ask me," she said waving a hand dismissively in the air. "Look Harry-"
"Don't call me Harry." he said.
"Mr. Potter, it is only now that the Ministry has let these request forms through. We filed them long ago, as soon as we heard the news of what Voldemort did to your parents. We thought it would be good for you to live with people who could understand you better than our Muggle relations. But Dumbledore felt it would be best for you here and that held up the paper work for sixteen years. My mother would tear her hair out if she knew the fortune we spent to do this."
"We? Fortune?" Harry looked at her.
"Me, my father and my brothers. My mother was the only one opposed to this." she paused for a moment. "Perhaps a small talk with Fudge would convince you? He's the fool who didn't have the time to sign the papers."
Harry watched as she rose and made her way back into the living room. He followed her, his curiosity piqued. If this was the truth, then he could finally escape the nightmare of living with the Dursleys.
"Incendio." she pointed her wand tip at the empty fireplace. "You should know, Mother won't be pleased to see you there. Don't expect anything from her." she said in an offhand manner as a fire roared to life.
Harry glanced at the girl; that was a rather strange mixture in her voice; it wasn't quite loathing but it wasn't exactly pure hate. And just where was 'there'? He looked back at the fire, which was now green and had Cornelius Fudge's irate face.
"You! What is it now? Can't I ever be free of you de Vyns?!"
"If you had signed the papers like I had asked, you wouldn't have this problem." the girl stepped aside, motioning to Harry. "You have to explain this to Mr. Potter. He has the intellect to not believe an unsigned form, even if it does bear the Ministry's insignia."
"All right, all right!" Fudge rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Look Harry, I'd imagine you've read the documents all ready?"
"Yes." he paused. "Is it really-"
"It is; all taken care of with Dumbledore's approval. You can move out immediately and live with the de Vyns. They're your new guardians now."
"If you don't mind me asking, Sir, why now?"
"Why now what?" Fudge asked in an exasperated voice.
"Why let them come and get me now? Why not before?" he asked, feeling anger stir inside him at Fudge’s irritatingly dismissive attitude.
"You know how these things are. Takes a long time to get the paperwork done and such. Look, you'll have to excuse me, I'm very busy now."
Harry turned to look at the girl as the greenness in the fire disappeared. "So it is for real."
She nodded. "Shall we go get your things? We'll have to travel by Floo Powder since I can't Apparate yet. I have my test in a few days time."
"You can use magic outside of school?" he asked, folding the papers up and placing them in his pocket.
"I haven't been to a school in my life. Privately tutored, yes. My lifestyle of late has required a tutor and I have a special license to use magic." she paused and looked at him. "Oh yes, Hogwarts does have that rule. Oh well, we can discuss that all later and see if we can waive that. Shall we go and get your stuff?"
Harry nodded as he started up the stairs, leading the way. This seemed too good to be true. Permanently escaping the Dursleys and only two weeks of summer vacation left…at least he could catch up on the homework that he couldn't do with the Dursleys around.
"This is my room. It's…not much." he said as he opened the door. He had to admit, this was certainly better than telling her he’d been in the cupboard for most of the summer.
"Merlin…this is it? Those people ought to be ashamed of themselves! This is how they provided for you? Where's your cauldron? Why is your owl's cage padlocked? And where is your wand, for Merlin's sake?! How are you supposed to protect yourself from who knows what,” The girl paused at that. “Or Voldemort.” She added a bit darkly.
"It was worse before. Uncle Vernon locked my supplies in the closet." he said pointing. The girl quickly unlocked it. "I'll pack what things I have."
The first thing Harry did was grasp his wand and shove it into his pocket, glad to feel the length of holly against his thigh. He quickly went to work, stuffing the threadbare clothes he had into an old bag. When he turned around, Hedwig was sitting on the headboard, hooting happily, while the girl had his trunk out and in a hand, Hedwig's cage. Harry smiled as Hedwig fluttered over, resting on his shoulders. He stroked her on the head before he heard the door creak open.
"Wait for me by the fireplace. I'd imagine that lumbering oaf wants the ability to talk again. Not that he used it well."
Harry nodded as he made his way down the stairs, ignoring the noise that exploded from a bedroom upstairs where the Dursleys must have been hiding. A few minutes later the girl came back down, a thoroughly cross look on her face as the trunk floated after her.
"That woman has to be the vilest person I have ever met! How did you tolerate her?! I felt like cursing her with something particularly nasty. Like Densaugeo, she really does remind me of a rat, or a nice Conjunctivitis."
Harry smiled at that, chuckling to himself. "Are we going to go now?"
"Yes. And we'll see about getting you some decent robes."
"Some jeans will do fine. Besides, you're wearing them."
"True, but jeans hold up better for my line of work." the girl arched an eyebrow at Harry's surprised look. "I do work; very hard work. I just take excellent care of my hands and skin." she reached into her pocket and handed him a handful of grey powder. "Here's your Floo Powder. Make sure you say "Whytemoor Manor" very clearly. If you muck it up, you can end up in fifteen other places that sound similar and none of them are pleasant. This comes from experience."
"All right," Harry said as she flourished her wand and the fire went green again. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your name?"
"Hm, I did forget to mention it, didn't I. Those Muggle relatives gave me a headache and I forgot. My name is Sora. Sora de Vyns."
"That's not an English name, is it?"
"No. Now hurry. Everyone else is probably waiting and we're already a bit behind." Sora nudged him towards the fireplace. "You do know how to travel by Floo Powder?"
"Yes." Harry stepped into the fire. "What should I do when I get there?"
"Just wait for me. My brothers are older but they can be quite a bit."
Harry nodded, his hand ready to go through the motion before he paused. "What really made you come, Sora?"
"I came because you're family, Harry.” Sora’s eyes flickered to Harry’s cheek. “Consider the show back there with that porker and that bitch free of charge. Another one will cost you something,” she flashed him a grin. “Now hurry up. I don't want to spend another minute in this miserable place."
Harry chuckled before he flung down the Flood Powder and called out "Whytemoor Manor". No more Uncle Vernon yelling at him, hitting him, no more abuse, no more need to watch his words. No more torment from Dudley, and no more of Aunt Petunia’s virulent, loathing stares and mutters. Things were finally going to get better for him.
Note
Densaugeo: A spell that causes teeth to grow very long and very quickly.
Conjunctivitis: This curse causes eyes to become blinded, burning and red. Not to be confused with the Muggle conjunctivitis; which is also known as pinkeye, the bacterial infection that leaves eyes red, irritated and with that weird gross crusty stuff.