Harry awoke early the next morning unaware of The Daily Prophet's rumors of his Dark Arts endeavors. As he went down the stairs they creaked slightly under his weight. He was much bigger than he used to be. The frail raven haired boy was no more. His late growth spurt would not go unnoticed in the months to come.
He smelt the aroma of coffee fill his nostrils as he entered the kitchen to see a very disheveled Remus Lupin.
"Morning, Harry. Coffee?" he asked
"Uhm, I've never had it. How should I have it?" Harry asked
"Uhm… for you, I think black would do you some justice."
Lupin reached for the muggle contraption he'd had to use at home being underage; poured Harry a cup and passed it to him.
Harry took a sip, and grimaced. Being brave he quickly took another, and another. After finally putting the cup down he let out another grimace and noticed Lupin was chuckling.
"I forgot to mention it's an acquired taste."
"Yes well, you'd do better to remember that next time." Harry growled
After several long moments Harry reached for the Daily Prophet only for it to be snatched from his clutches. Cocking an eyebrow at Lupin, he noticed he was angry.
"Did I do something?" Harry asked
"No Harry. I did. I know you would never use the Dark Arts to achieve your ends. I want to apologize for the way Tonks and I acted."
Harry waved off the apology.
"Thank you, Professor. But, why can't I read the bloody paper?" Harry asked again
"Call me Remus, Harry. As for the paper, well there's a story that might, well - annoy you a little bit."
Lupin then held up the paper, so Harry could read the front page headline of `Harry Potter - Into the Dark Arts?' After seeing the headline Harry sighed remembering his fight with Hermione last night. He wondered if she was starting to believe the Prophet.
He didn't know why he did it. It was definitely a salt in the wound type message. He took the front page and without waking her and pasted it on the inside of her door to see when she woke up. As soon as he left he regretted it. But she of all people should believe he would never in a million years lower himself to that of Voldemort… purposely.
After returning downstairs for some actual food, and no more coffee, he went for a walk outside Grimmauld Place.
Outside was a bit musky. There was a low fog along the road, but the morning air made him feel nice. The humidity did wonders to his throat, and helped him relax. He felt his guilt for leaving the front page of the paper at Hermione's door ebb away with every breath; only for the guilt to return to him shortly thereafter. He enjoyed his walk and as soon as he found a park, he sat on the middle swing of the swing set. It reminded him very much of the park at the corner of Privet Drive and Wisteria Walk. However this park wasn't in as good as shape. The park in Little Whinging was kept in tip top shape, whereas this one, there was chipped paint, rotting wood, and a few questionable items scattered in the park. He noticed once again his faithful owl Hedwig perched on a branch not too far from him. He held up his hand and she gracefully glided on to his hands. Sucking back the grimace from her talons, he gently pet her. Only after several seconds did he realize that the letter he tried to burn the day before was attached to her ankle. He untied the letter once again. He'd seen that hand-writing before. The hand-writing he saw when he was copying notes from Hermione. "I don't remember Hedwig ever going to Hermione's." He pocketed it as Hedwig returned to her tree, when he heard foot steps behind him. Not feeling much of an imminent threat he slowly turned around to see a young boy staring at him.
The boy feeling very brave decided to sit on the swing adjacent to him. Something about being in juxtaposition to Harry Potter was exciting. He was after all named after him, why shouldn't he marvel at him?
Harry continually stole looks at the boy, he didn't seem as uncomfortable as he was. The boy must've been about eight or nine years old, nevertheless beating him in a game of nerves. Harry watched as the boy opened his mouth several times, then clamping it shut. He wondered if the boy was a wizard or not. So he gently called Hedwig back from her branch to see his reaction. Stealing a glance once again, he noticed the boy was not surprised and decided that he was indeed a wizard, or at least part of a wizarding family. Finally Harry decided he should be the brave one and try to start a conversation.
"Uhm… hello, my name is Harry."
The brown haired boy looked at him with his blue eyes. His eyes drifted upward to his scar and back down to his face again.
"My name is Harry too." He finally said
The raven haired boy smiled at him. He put out his hand for a hand shake. The boy cautiously held out his hand and they finally shook hands.
"So, do you live around here Harry?" The black haired, Harry asked
"Yes, I do. I live at the orphanage down the street. I'm not usually allowed to leave alone, but a strange man visited me last night and seemed to convince Mrs. Rawley that I could take care of myself."
"Strange man? What did he look like?"
"Oh! He was strange really, very big man. Had to be at least twelve feet tall; and his arms! Wow! His arms were huge. Very nice bloke once you talk to him."
The first though that came to Harry's mind after twelve feet was Hagrid. He smiled.
"So you've learned you're a wizard have you?"
The boy looked taken aback then smiled a grin that reached his eyes.
"I already knew I was a wizard. Well I hoped I was. My father was a muggle you see."
Even though they had just met, he decided to row over to emotional waters.
"What happened to your parents?" Harry asked softly
The boy's smile eased a little before it turned into a frown. But just before Harry apologized he spoke up.
"Death… people or something came to our house one night. After I figured out I was going to be a brother too. They killed my parents and left me for dead."
"Death Eaters?" Harry asked
The younger boy nodded.
"I was young when my-"
"I know who you are, and I know what happened somewhat. When you were young, You-Know-Who, tried to do you in, but you killed him somehow."
Harry realized many things about the boy. His high level of maturity, how many things they had in common, and after concluding this he immediately became bonded to the boy. He changed the subject, and they shared a few laughs, and he allowed him to pet Hedwig a few times. Hedwig loved the attention however, being a nocturnal animal she easily became tired and set out back to Grimmauld Place for some well needed rest.
Harry walked the younger boy back to the orphanage, gave him a piece of paper that held the secret whereabouts of his house and asked him to come by for lunch if he could. The boy readily agreed and set off for the front door.
As Harry walked back to Grimmauld he had a kick to his step. He mentally promised himself if he could help the boy in anyway, he would.
Harry opened the door to Grimmauld Place to see Remus getting ready to leave. Remus looked up and smiled.
"Hello, Harry. I'm just going to -" Remus paused. "out, I'm just going out to do some errands."
Harry felt slightly annoyed. Every time the Dursleys had told Dudley they were going out it annoyed him to no end, that they went out of their way to tell him they were going out, meanwhile knowingly disturb him from whatever the great lump did. What really annoyed Harry was the fact that Remus told him he was going out, and was sure he was holding back exactly where he was going. Harry mentally sighed and got hold of himself.
"Alright, you'll be back by lunch I hope. I have someone I want you to meet."
Remus cocked an eyebrow, nodded, patted Harry on the shoulder and walked out the door.
Harry walked through the entrance hall into the kitchen to see Hermione eating breakfast. He knew he had some apologizing to do for his, rather forward approaches of making her feel guilty.
"Hey, Hermione, sleep well?" Harry asked
Hermione glared at him, then her gaze softened as she noticed he wasn't trying to be a smart ass.
"Not really, you made me feel kind of guilty last night. Not to mention the nice little gift you left on my door this morning." She said cooly
Harry hadn't really expected her to just come out and say what was on her mind. After a few moments of an uncomfortable silence he apologized. She smiled at him and waved it off. He felt like he was getting off a little too easy but didn't press the point. He decided to let her know of his surprise guest at lunch.
"I have a friend coming to eat lunch with us. I'm fairly sure you'll like them."
Hermione panicked a little. What if it was another girl?
"What's their name?" she asked as neutral as she good
Harry smiled.
"You'll know soon enough. I don't want to ruin the surprise."
Hermione desperately wanted it to not be a girl. She didn't think she could handle it. But wasn't he still dating Ginny? "This doesn't make any sense!" she thought
"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry asked
"I'm fine, sorry. Anyways, what are we going to have for lunch then?"
Harry smiled again. She wasn't going to like this, but he did like having a house elf. It made worrisome things a lot easier to deal with. He just hoped she wouldn't hate him for it.
"Dobby?" A pop. "Would you mind making lunch? You can start at about 11:30, I don't know when exactly our guest is going to arrive."
Dobby's eyes got wide, he clapped, squealed and disappeared.
"Must be nice having a house elf."
Harry groaned, the last thing he wanted was a fight about house elf rights.
"Hermione, we've already discussed this. They were actually using Dobby to check up on me. It was getting rather annoying. He wanted to be bonded to me; I didn't want him giving them information as to how I was doing. It was a win-win situation for both of us. He just decided to pull another fast one on me, saying if he couldn't call me master, I can't pay him; and I'm not about to force him to take money."
Hermione realized she probably shouldn't lecture him about it. She kissed him on the cheek and walked up the stairs. Harry's cheeks flushed as she walked past. "What was that for?" After about a minute, he snapped out of his stupor, shrugged it off and followed her up the stairs.
He found her in the library, "Where else would he find her?" knocked on the door trim and walked inside, sitting himself across the table from her. She looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back, looking into her brown eyes. "I could get lost in those." He thought.
Hermione put the book down and opened her mouth to speak, but no sounds came out. Harry frowned at her, and then made a hand gesture for her to speak.
"Spit it out." Harry chuckled
"I'm… I'm sorry for not believing you on not practicing the Dark Arts, Harry."
Hermione felt like the weight on her shoulders had been lifted, took a deep breath waiting for his reaction. Harry sighed and looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling was fairly dirty, the white color it had been intended to be was a tinge of yellow. The bookcases all seemed to mirror the same sort of muskiness that the rest of the room held.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have put that article on your door. It's just that, you were the last person I expected to believe I was actually studying the dark arts. Sure Ron would've said he didn't believe it to my face, but he would still believe I was trying to learn. But you, I really expected you to believe me."
"Harry, I do believe you! I don't know what came over me last night, or last year for that matter. I should've believed you when you said Malfoy was up to something, I shouldn't have scolded you when you sent Kreacher and Dobby after Malfoy and I really shouldn't have thought you were immersing yourself in the dark arts to actually learn them!"
"I won't lie Hermione. The temptation is definitely there. I did learn Legilimency out of that Dark Arts book, though I never practiced the darker points of learning it. I know how to cause pain, but I've never practiced it. The temptation is definitely there. But, it's not like they're my thoughts. Its likes a battle with my conscience; on the devil's side I have some unknown force trying to get me to study the darker parts. But then on the angel side, I have you, and the Weasleys, and Remus, Tonks, and others. It's just scary sometimes that the devil almost comes close to over coming all those people."
Hermione found what he said about `not his own thoughts'. She wondered if the battle between his soul and Voldemort's was being won in favor of Voldemort's. But before she could voice her opinion Harry gently grabbed her hand that was on the table. She had tears in her eyes. He carefully walked around the edge of the table, still hand in hand, and brushed her tears away. He cupped her face with his left and she leaned into it. He kissed her hand that was in his and gestured her to stand up.
"Come on let's get a cup of tea." Harry said gently
Meanwhile, the younger Harry was at the orphanage arguing with the lady there.
"Why not!?" He yelled
"I don't even know this boy! He could be a psychopath, or a convicted felon!"
"He's not! I spent the whole morning with him at the park!" he retorted
He stormed out of the room and went to his shared bedroom slamming the door on his way in. He sat on his ragged bed. The orphanage wasn't a very desirable place, to stay, but it wasn't a filthy hovel either. The beds were not in the best of shape, but the frames were sturdy enough, only being a few years old. The floor creaked like some haunted house and it drove him insane. He had only had one friend, if you could call him that. He was older than the others. Mature enough to see what name calling did to him. The other boys were too arrogant to see what it did to him.
He decided he'd sneak out if he had to. Mrs. Rawley wasn't going to stop him. It was a getting warmer outside, so he looked for his best shorts and t-shirt. His t-shirt was black and his shorts were beige khakis. He was just finished getting dressed when some of the other boys came in.
"Hey look who it is boys!" the taller one called
He was obviously some sort of leader figure to them. He was tall for his age, with brown hair, and brown eyes.
"Where do you think you're goin' freak?" he called as he tried to get past.
He pushed him down. This was going to be one of those days.
"Harry?" Hermione said
"Mmm?" Harry replied while sipping his tea
"Have you talked to Ginny lately?" Hermione bit her lip, hoping he didn't mind asking
Harry looked at her and noticed her discomfort.
"It's ok, Hermione. No, I haven't talked to her. She's been sending me letters all summer. Probably trying to get me to date her again, saying she doesn't care about the risks."
"Again?"
"I broke it off, at Dumbledore's funeral."
Hermione smiled mentally, but put on a concerned face for Harry. Hermione was about to say something when Harry unknowingly cut her off.
"I'm fine Hermione. Really, I don't think it was ever meant to be. I was just waiting for a good excuse to break it off. I feel dirty because of it, but if that was the only way I had the gal to do it, then that's what had to be done."
Hermione stared at him and nodded. It was now or never. But before she could get her first thought out there was a knock at the door. Harry looked at his watch; it was nearly noon. He smiled, leapt from his chair and walked hastily to the door.
"Hey! Come on in, Harry."
Harry led the younger boy to meet Hermione. Hermione found it a bit odd, that he was wearing a long sleeve shirt, and trousers. She thought it was supposed to be a very warm day today.
Harry led the boy to the kitchen where Dobby was readily walking between the counter and the kitchen table. Carrying utensils in one hand, and using his other to levitate food to the table.
"Wow, Dobby. You really outdid yourself."
Dobby smiled, that reached from ear to ear. His golf ball like eyes misty from the compliment, he set the rest of the table hastily.
"Thank you Harry Potter, sir." Dobby squeaked
Before Dobby could disappear, Harry pulled up a chair for him to sit, and motioned for Dobby to eat at the table. Dobby nearly broke down right there.
The table was lined with the silver utensils with the Black family crest at the top of the handles. The plates also had the same crest in the middle.
There was roast beef, gravy, and many vegetables. The smell was amazing. Meanwhile the young boy stood wide-eyed at the little creature called Dobby.
"You're a house elf?"
Dobby nodded.
"I've never seen one before! My parents used to talk about how helpful they were to have in the
family."
Dobby smiled at the compliment. Harry gestured for the boy to sit down, and Hermione took up a spot beside him and Harry sat on the other side of the table. After about five minutes into the meal, Lupin finally arrived.
"I'm home." He called
He walked into the kitchen and took the seat beside Harry.
"Remus, this is Harry. Harry this is Remus."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Harry." Remus said brightly
"You too sir." The boy replied
"Call me Remus, or Lupin. Sir is too… formal."
The boy feeling rather shy just nodded and continued to eat.
After lunch, they went to the study, where Hermione took the chance to open her favorite book Hogwarts: A History, the seventh and latest edition, of course, while, Harry and… Harry played a game of wizard's chess.
"Awesome! They even talk!" he gasped
The older Harry smiled.
"Yes, and sometimes they try to give you advice. I'm not very good at wizard's chess, so most of the time they tend to ignore what I ask them to do. But my friend Ron, absolutely runs me over in chess."
"Harry?" someone called
"Hermione, could you play with him for a bit, I'm going to go see who that is."
"Sure, Harry."
Hermione got up from the table and sat at the table. She huffed, Harry left her in a losing position. He was so hopeless when it came to chess.
"I think he was letting me win." The younger boy said voicing nearly the exact thoughts she was thinking
"I'm not so sure. He's a terrible chess player." Trying to strike up more of a conversation she tried to talk about family, "So what do your parents do?"
"They both died when I was five. Death Eaters attacked our house. So I've been living at the orphanage ever since." The boy said solemnly
"I'm sorry, Harry's had to live through something similar." She said quietly
"Yes, I know. I was named after him; so I know quite a bit about him." He said
Harry went down the stairs, and noticed Remus talking to an elderly woman. He had a feeling who the old woman was, he decided to go into the lounge, and noticed the elderly woman's eyes follow him. He waited for a few seconds before coming back out into the kitchen.
"Hello, Tonks."
"Cor! How'd you know it was me!?"
"Tonks, this is the headquarters for the order, and you're the only witch who likes to watch my bum, in the order."
Remus sniggered at Tonks.
"Hush Wolfie, or I'll bruise more than your ego."
Remus stopped sniggering at once.
"Yes, well, you called?" Harry asked
"Yes, Remus said you have a guest." Tonks replied, glaring at Remus before turning to Harry
"Yeah, come on up to the study you can meet him."
Tonks and Remus followed Harry up to the study.
"Harry, this is Nymphadora."
Tonks sent daggers at Harry.
"Call me Tonks, Harry."
"Tonks is a metamorphmagus. She can change her appearance at will."
Tonks took it upon herself to change her hair color to a purple, and changed the color of her eyes to pink. The boy stood awestruck.
"Showoff." Mumbled Remus
"Harry?"
Both Harrys answered.
"This is going to get confusing. Do you mind if I call you Jr.?" she asked the younger one
He nodded still awestruck at her purple hair.
After everyone was comfortable in the study, Junior told them about the orphanage and some of the other boys and girls who lived there. He didn't have a high opinion on most of them. Harry and Hermione told their stories of Hogwarts with Ron, and Junior seemed most impressed of some of the things they did. Hermione offered Junior to borrow Hogwarts: A History and he gladly accepted.
After several hours, Remus suggested that Harry take Junior back to the orphanage so no one would get worried. Everyone bid the boy farewell, and Harry escorted him back to the orphanage.
Once they reached the orphanage a woman came running out.
"Harry! Where have you been!?" the woman shrieked
"I told you I was going to lunch." Junior replied
"And I told you not to go!"
Harry looked at Junior a little taken aback.
"You're not the boss of me!" Junior yelled and ran inside
The woman sighed and finally took notice of the young man, Junior was accompanied by.
"Hello, my name is Mrs. Rawley."
"Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am."
"I suppose you're going to tell me, he didn't say anything about not being allowed to go?" she asked
"No, he didn't. But with all due respect, he's back and safe in one piece."
"Be that as it may, I expect you to talk to me first before you invite him somewhere. He's a very special boy."
"Of course, I'm sorry for any problems I've caused. Well, I best be going. Tell Harry I said bye."
With that he set off back to Grimmauld Place.
A/N: Hey everyone, I'm happy with the response I got with the first chapter. It was significantly better than I was expecting. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and don't forget to review for this chapter. It makes my day.
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