Chapter 4:
The Love of a Sister, a Shopping Trip and the Master in Red…
Contrary to what the 'Boy-Who-Lived' believed, the two weeks he needed to wait so that he could finally escape his prison finally arrived…
July 30, 1997
It was morning, and Harry Potter had never felt better. He tried to move away from the blonde-haired girl that was currently residing in his bed. Harry had gotten used to the idea of Saber sleeping right next to him, and in his clothes, around the first nine days of the two-week waiting period.
'I still say that it's wrong for a man and a woman to share the same bed when they're not in a relationship.' Harry thought as he gingerly got up from the bed. Harry looked back at the sleeping form of Saber.
'To think, that the girl sleeping in my bed was…well, is a seasoned warrior…and she looks younger than me!" Harry shook his head as he thought those words. He still couldn't believe that in order to survive at least one of the wars he was participating in, he was to rely on the blonde-haired girl lying in front of him.
He gathered his stuff for his morning routine and went on his way. What he didn't notice before he got out of his room however, was Hedwig and a large bird like thing were heading towards his window, Hedwig with a letter attached to one of her legs, and the bird like thing with a package in its talons.
~~~
After Harry finished his morning routine, and he changed into some of his clean clothes, he went on to prepare some breakfast for him and Saber. The Dursleys formed some new habits while Harry and Saber were in the house. It seemed that whenever Saber or Harry entered a room, they would immediately scamper to another one. Even if they were in the middle of a meal, they would gather what ever they could and leave.
The same thing happened that morning. As Harry entered the Dursleys kitchen, all three pairs of eyes were looking straight at him. Vernon immediately gathered what was left of his meal and signalled for this family to follow him. All but one followed him. Petunia Dursley sat there trying to ignore Harry as he made his and Saber's meals.
There was a tense moment of silence when Harry started gathering his ingredients to cook. All the while, he noticed that Petunia was fidgeting in her seat. He also noticed, out of the corner of his eye, Petunia's mouth was opening and closing, as if she wanted to say something... As he finally started making his and Saber's meals, making sure his back was facing Petunia, Harry spoke.
"Aunt Petunia," Harry said, "where'd you put the spare packets of pepper? We're all out."
"Top shelf, near the spare shakers," Petunia replied.
Harry reached for the top shelf and sure enough, a spare pack of pepper was there. Harry breaking the ice seemed to calm down his aunt. Harry started cooking his and Saber's meal when his aunt asked,
"So, you're leaving tomorrow," she said with her head lowered.
Harry raised his eyebrows at the peculiar actions of his aunt. Over the years, Petunia only spoke to Harry if she needed something done, or to shout at him.
"Yeah," Harry answered while tending to the food that he was cooking, "Saber and I will be out of your hair in twenty-four hours."
Harry heard his aunt sigh; the only problem was that he was not sure if it was a sigh of relief or of something else. As he was cooking, his aunt spoke again,
"So, I guess I'll never see you again…" she told him.
Harry was confused. He assumed that the Dursleys would be screaming 'hallelujah' to the heavens by the time he was out of their lives. The tones that his aunt possessed sounded like sadness or regret even, her tone was quite far from the jubilation he was expecting.
So he could not help the confusion in his voice when he replied, "Yeah, that's basically the idea."
It did not occur to Harry that his aunt was far from the hostile Vernon, that she did experience at least some minimum magic from her sister. That she did love her sister, and that no one missed her sister more than her. So when Harry heard a stifled sob, his head whipped back so fast that one would expect that his neck would break.
"You know," Petunia started, "Lily never raised her wand at me, never shouted at me, and never called me names, never…" Petunia never finished what she was saying as the tears she was holding back poured forth. Her sobs were silent; it seemed to Harry that Petunia was trying to make sure that her husband did not hear her cry.
Harry was about to ask what was wrong when his aunt continued, "You know, Harry, we were the best of friends when we were little." Harry moved away from the food he was cooking (not before lowering the heat so it would not burn), and handed his aunt a box of tissues. Petunia wiped away her tears before continuing,
"It all changed when she received that invitation to that magic school of yours." She told him while still trying to wipe tears away. "But even then, she didn't boast about it." She blew her nose first, and then added, "She never flaunted her magic in front of me," Petunia's hand was quivering while she wiped away the tears, all the while she was remembering the time she spent with her sister. "Our parents were so proud every time she got her grades back from your school…" It seemed that Harry's aunt was lost in her memories that even her tears stopped flowing.
Harry was in shock, this was the only time his aunt spoke about his mother. The other times he heard about his parents were from, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, or the other members of the Order. In all actuality, he never did hear his aunt insult his mother, only his father.
"Aunt Petunia," Harry spoke for the first time since his aunt started, "you really loved my mother didn't you?"
At first, his aunt did not speak nor move a muscle, though after a second, his aunt's tears flowed once more, but this time she nodded her head, answering him. Harry let his aunt weep for her lost sister for a while then asked,
"Do you…" Harry paused at first, and then continued, "Do you want to know what really happened to her?"
Petunia's eyes widened as she heard Harry, she was in mid nod when Vernon walked in with his great bulk. At first, he looked at his wife, then at Harry, and quickly jumped to a conclusion.
"BOY!" Vernon shouted, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW?"
Harry's face paled as he realized that he was at a bad spot, in front of a crying Petunia Dursley. Petunia immediately wiped away her tears and, tried to explain to her walrus of a husband that she was okay, but Vernon would not hear any of it. Vernon immediately turned a sickly shade of purple and stomped the few feet that separated him and Harry. Vernon lifted Harry by the collar and cocked his fist, ready to smash Harry's face.
He was in mid-strike when all of a sudden, his arm stopped. Vernon forced his hand forward but to no avail. What Vernon did not notice was Saber holding his arm back. When Saber applied pressure to her grip Vernon cried out in pain. She did not stop applying pressure until Vernon released his grip on Harry.
"Now Master," Saber told Harry, while she was still applying pressure on Vernon's arm "making girls, or for this matter, women, cry is greatly frowned upon in any culture."
"But Saber, I didn't make aunt Petunia cry, she suddenly got emotional, and well yeah." Harry replied, looking at his aunt for some support.
"Harry's right, err, Saber," Petunia told the blonde girl, "Err, now that we've cleared up that misunderstanding, could you please release my husband?"
Saber looked at the man; it was a few more seconds before she released him. Vernon quickly got up and was about to tell her off, when Saber cut him off,
"If you ever lay a hand on my Master again," Saber told Vernon with so much killing intent that Harry was positive that the air around the kitchen got a few degrees cooler, "your arm isn't the only thing that's going to hurt."
Vernon turned ghostly white as he instantaneously got Saber's message and got out of the kitchen. He called out for Petunia to follow, Petunia first looked at Harry, and then at Saber, then she told Vernon that she was coming. As she was about to leave the kitchen, she stopped at its threshold and said,
"Harry," she spoke to him with a soft and gentle voice that he knew she only used when addressing her Dudders, "could you tell me how she died some other time?"
Harry nodded, and for the first time in his nearly seventeen years of staying alive in this world, he saw his aunt smile at him. As she left the kitchen, Harry turned his attention back to the meal he was cooking. He was still in shock, at what happened and what brought his aunt to tears. Saber sensing her Master's distress, asked what was wrong.
"It's just that," Harry paused to plate the dish that he was tending, "never in my whole life did my aunt show me such…well kindness, when she spoke to me."
When he saw Saber's confusion, he then explained what brought on that little incident. After retelling what happened Saber voiced her own thoughts.
"Maybe," Saber told him as she was slicing some bacon, "she thought that she was going to lose her last link to her sister once you left…after all, she may deny it all her life, but the fact is that you are your mother's son." She paused for a bit to place the sliced piece of bacon in her mouth, then after swallowing, continued, "I'm sure that you've got something that you've inherited from your mother, that when your aunt looks at you, she immediately get reminded of her."
Harry never really looked at the situation that way. He always assumed that his aunt was mean to him because that he was not one of them. He never thought of the possibility that she was mean to him because he reminded her of his mother in someway.
"Your owl delivered a letter for you, and something left a package," Saber told him while placing the letter and the package on the table.
That snapped out Harry out of his introspection, he checked the package to see whom it is from, he found out that it was from the goblins. The package contained a letter telling him that along with the letter, there was a, what the goblins referred to as black, muggle money pouch with the safer means for transporting large amounts of muggle money.. Harry, upon closer inspection saw that the 'muggle money pouch' was actually a wallet with four cards in the card slots, which bore the names HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays, and Royal Bank of Scotland.
After opening the first package, and placing his new wallet in his trouser pocket, he examined the letter to see whom it came from. Harry recognised Hermione's clean, cursive writing on the piece of paper. He opened the letter to see what Hermione would write to him about. His eyes widened as he read the letter, and as he finished reading the letter, the doorbell rang. Harry cursed his bad luck when dealing with the opposite sex. Then he remembered that the Dursleys were still in the house. His eyes widened in realization as to what might happen. Harry placed 'Hermione meeting the Dursleys' under 'meeting Voldemort before destroying all the Horcruxes' in his list of 'Making sure these would never happen'.
However, it was all for naught, as soon as he got up, he heard the door opening. He quickly dashed to the front door only to find that his uncle Vernon was the one who opened it. His face paled for the second time as this was one of the worst scenario he could think of in the 'Hermione meeting the Dursleys' possibility. He heard her ask for him and his uncle denying his existence. Luckily or unluckily for Harry, he was taller than his uncle was, so when he got close enough, Hermione spotted him and barged straight in.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed before hugging him, "Are you ready for our little trip with Saber?" she then asked him.
Harry never looked at Hermione once she arrived, no, he preoccupied with Mount Vernon, and because he was sure that, his uncle would erupt, which he did.
"YOU'RE ONE OF THEM?" Vernon cried out.
Hermione raised her eyebrow at what Vernon said, "What does he mean by 'one of them', Harry?"
'Uh oh,' thought Harry, he had a feeling that this could, no, would end really badly. He knew that if he lied, his uncle would out him, that and the fact that he knew that Hermione would know something was going on. With a sigh, he just told the truth.
"He meant that you're a witch, Hermione." Harry said with another sigh.
Vernon's statement seemed to have struck a nerve. Harry immediately sensed, well felt is more like it, Hermione's irritation, as even though she released him from her hug, she had not removed her hand from his arm. Harry was about to warn his uncle that Hermione was already old enough to use her magic outside Hogwarts, but then again, this might be his awaited payback after all the years of abuse, besides Harry didn't like to be at the business end of Hermione's wand when she was irritated, so he wisely clammed up.
"Do you have a problem with me being a witch, Mister Dursley?" Hermione told the obviously bigger than her man in front of her. Harry also noticed that, her left hand was holding his right arm; her right was fingering her wand. Hermione now, was a coiled snake waiting for her prey to make the wrong move. Harry's uncle turned a bright shade of red and was about to tell her off when Saber entered the living room.
"Harry your breakfast is getting cold," Saber told her Master, and then added "Oh yeah Vernon, what I told you applies to Harry's friends as well."
Vernon looked at Saber, then at Harry, and then at Hermione. Knowing that he was out numbered and that he might lose his life, he let out a grunt, went past Harry and Hermione, climbed up the stairs and disappeared in his bedroom. Hermione let out a huge sigh, and chuckled nervously.
"I thought I was about to use magic on a muggle for a second there." Hermione told Harry as he led her to the kitchen. He handed her a glass of water for her to drink and calm herself down.
"I thought so too," replied Harry, "Good thing that Saber came as she did or else I think you could've blasted my uncle to the yard across the street."
Saber nodded her head in response to what Harry said then added, "I only reacted to the flux of magic from where you were, Harry." She said while placing another helping of food on her plate, "Honestly, I thought you, Harry, were getting worked up, seeing as the magic signature that I detected was so akin to what I'm used to at night."
Harry didn't like where this conversation was going and was about to change the subject, but Hermione already inquired as to what Saber meant by 'what I'm used to at night'.
"Oh, Harry and I sleep together." Saber said innocently, not knowing the bomb that she just set off. The air around the kitchen suddenly dropped a few degrees, and Harry was positive that he saw sparks flying out of Hermione's hair.
"Oh," she said at first, "Harry left out that little piece of information the last time we talked, right Harry." Hermione smiled at Harry, but it was not a normal smile. Harry quickly tried to diffuse the situation,
"Hermione," Harry quickly said, "Saber meant it literally, as in sleeping together, not the other thing…" Harry was not sure if Hermione's smile widening was a good or bad thing, but as usual, Saber came to save his ass at the last minute.
"Harry's right, Hermione," Saber told Hermione before drinking some juice she got from the refrigerator, "It was the only thing that I could've thought of so that I could protect my Master from any immediate harm."
It seemed that Saber's explanation of them sleeping together satisfied Hermione, for the mean time. An awkward silence fell on the Dursley kitchen. Harry tried to think of something, anything, to lift it.
"Uh," Harry started, drawing the attention of the two, "so Hermione where do you suppose we go for our little shopping trip?"
This immediately brought out the bossy side of Hermione, "Oh!" as if she suddenly remembered something, "Harry, Saber, get dressed, quick, my mom is waiting outside. She said that she'd help us in picking out Saber's clothes!"
Harry let loose a sigh of relief as Hermione was getting back to her old self. Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione for forgetting the whole point of their shopping trip.
"Hermione," Harry started, "as I recall the whole point of this trip was to get Saber some clothes…"
Hermione looked confused at first, and then realized what Harry was saying. Hermione immediately blushed as she realized her mistake. Harry just chuckled then suggested that Hermione should transfigure Saber's clothes for the mean time. Harry excused himself so that he could change into more decent clothes than what he had.
After changing into clothes more presentable, a button down shirt with some faded blue jeans he spotted the two girls in the Dursley's living room, with Saber wearing some normal muggle clothes, with Hermione sitting right across her.
"You look good, Saber," Harry told his Servant as he descended the staircase. Saber was wearing a white blouse and a blue skirt, with a ribbon tied at the collar. As he descended the staircase, he missed the blush that shortly assaulted Saber's face, and the glare that Hermione gave Harry when he complimented Saber.
"Well, let's go." Harry told the two girls as he headed for the front door, "I'm sure that Hermione's mom is getting tired of waiting for us." He opened the door to let Hermione and Saber pass. He told Saber and Hermione to go on ahead and that he would follow. Outside, he noticed a few, well for lack of a better term, oddly dressed people around his house. He walked to the most normal looking one of them, and said,
"Tonks," Harry told the woman in front of him, "I'm going shopping with Hermione and Saber, wanna come with us?"
The woman first looked around her, and then pouted at Harry. Harry chuckled at her silliness.
"How'd you know it was me?" questioned the Metamorphmagus.
"I asked your mother if you've got a day off today, two weeks ago at dinner," replied Harry.
"Mother," was the only thing that Tonks said before signalling to her companions asking whether the coast was clear. Her companions signalled back that it was. She walked behind a tree and changed to her normal self, albeit with light red hair, wearing black jeans and a shirt that had the caption 'You know you want me'.
Harry noticed that Tonks was not alone and that her partner was hiding behind some trees, and that it was Remus. Harry gave a wave and asked him if he wanted to come, he told him that he would rather follow Harry at a distance. Harry shrugged as he told the werewolf that he would see him at the mall. The former professor nodded and disappeared within the foliage.
"He needs to teach me that trick sometime," Harry commented on his old professor's disappearing act. Tonks just laughed, and told Harry that she was bugging him to teach her that trick and she guessed the reason why he had not budged yet was because, it was a werewolf thing.
Tonks and Harry walked towards the car in which Saber and the Granger mother-daughter duo were waiting. The Grangers recognized Tonks and said 'Hello'. Harry introduced Tonks to Saber, and Saber shook her hand. After the introductions, Hermione's mother asked who wanted to ride in the front seat. Harry immediately volunteered as he realized that if he sat in the back the two girls would flank him, and it would be worse if Tonks were one of the two because he would be excessively teased until they arrived at the shopping center.
With no other objections, save for Tonks', ('Aw, Harry don't be scared I don't bite…much'). They went on their way to the shopping center; unbeknownst to Harry, he would be experiencing one of the banes of male existence, girls shopping for clothes.
~~~
"How about this one," Tonks asked the elder Granger.
"Hmm, I think she'll look better in this blue one," Replied Emma.
"Really," answered Tonks, "I think this one would show off her figure more."
Those were the words of the day in Harry's mind. It was already two in the afternoon. They had left the house at ten in the morning, they arrived at the shopping center thirty minutes after and the whole time afterwards, they spent shopping for both Hermione and Saber. It had been three and a half hours full of that kind of conversation. It was enough to kill Harry, if Voldemort would not get to him first, 'Great, death by waiting for girls to finish their shopping.' Harry thought Voldemort could learn a thing or two in the muggle world, currently he was dying a slow and painful death, a death caused by boredom. He was glad though that Tonks and Hermione's mother were concentrating on Saber and Hermione, respectively.
Being the only man in their group meant that Harry was the one who got to be the untimely 'bag boy' for the females who went on a shopping spree. Harry could still remember the event, which led to Tonks and Emma going nuts over shopping…
~~~
Harry was in the front seat of Mrs. Granger's Range Rover. Harry wasn't knowledgeable about cars, but the moment he got in, he knew, with out a doubt, the Grangers were rich.
"So," Hermione's mom said, "Hermione, this is the Harry Potter." She looked at him appraisingly then nodded, "Well, it's finally nice to meet the face behind the stories."
Harry pinked at first then realized something, "Wait," he said, "what stories?"
"Oh, every time Hermione comes home, there isn't a time that she doesn't stop telling me and my husband about your adventures," answered Mrs. Granger.
"Mother," Hermione cried out.
Mrs. Granger laughed at her daughter's expense, "I'm sorry honey," she told Hermione, while placing the car in gear and driving off, "You've always told us about Harry's adventures and I was curious about what he actually looks like." She then added, "And besides, now that I've seen him, I wouldn't mind having a handsome looking boy for my daughter's boyfriend."
Hermione cried out once more as her mother and this time Tonks, laughed at her expense. All the while, Harry was blushing like mad. Now he was not so sure that he made the right decision in choosing to sit in front.
"Oh," Hermione's mom said as she overtook the car in front of them, "where are my manners, I'm Emma, Hermione's mother, if you haven't figured that out." She winked at Harry, to which Harry blushed again.
After awhile of teasing and blushing, Emma asked an important question. "So," She told no one in particular, "this shopping trip is for that young lady over there right, so who's going to pay for what we're going to buy for her?" Then she quickly added, "Assuming that's why there are four girls and only one guy…"
Harry responded by saying that he would pay for whatever they picked out for Saber.
"Oh really," Emma told Harry, "So how much are you willing to spend on Saber?" It seemed that Emma could not help but have a slight tone of scepticism. Emma was thinking that surely no boy his age could afford anything above a hundred pounds or so.
"Hermione told me that two thousand pounds would suffice…" Harry replied.
Shocked by how much money Harry had on him, Emma almost crashed into another car. It took Hermione and Tonks to tell her that they were still on the road and that she should calm her self down.
"… We could always get more; Gringotts just issued me some cards and a new wallet earlier this morning." Harry then added.
This piqued Hermione's interest, as she never heard Harry mention this. She asked Harry if she could borrow his new wallet. Harry handed his new wallet over to Hermione. The first thing she noticed was the brand of his new wallet.
"Armani," whispered Hermione to no one in particular. As Tonks was between Saber and Hermione, she already noticed the brand when Harry gave Hermione his new wallet and decided to comment about it.
"So our little Harry's moving up in the world, eh?" Tonks told him, "Not even my dad's wallet is made by Armani, and he's quite the businessman."
Emma's ears perked up at the word 'Armani', though she did not react. She did react when Hermione and Tonks suddenly gasped; she then tried not to show that her jaw was slack when Tonks read what made them gasp.
"Harry," Tonks, said, "these…these are the hardest banks to get an account from." Still quite shocked from the sudden revelation that the boy right in front of her might be one of the richest people she had the privilege to meet, "I heard from my dad you must have at least half a million pounds to open an account at this level."
~~~
…and the rest, as they say, is history. Harry stood outside a women's clothing boutique. He saw someone familiar out of the corner of his eye, when that person got closer, he recognised him as his old professor.
"Hey Remus," greeted Harry.
"I see you're on bag duty," teased the middle-aged werewolf.
"Very funny," Harry answered back, "if I recall correctly, I had a conversation earlier with a certain Metamorphmagus in there that's looking for a bag boy of her own and the way things are going, I'd say that bag boy would be at her side shopping for a long time…" Harry did not finish what he was saying as he saw Remus go pale
Remus did not get a chance to reply as Hermione's mother called Harry to the boutique. Harry did not like where she was leading him to as they were getting nearer and nearer to the fitting area. At his arrival Tonks winked at him and said that the girls were almost ready, before she gave the signal to come out Harry said,
"Oh yeah, I met Remus while I was outside," mentioned Harry, "I think he's still there."
Harry mentioning the werewolf made Tonk's hair turn from the current colour, black, to a bright pink as she dashed outside to meet the love of her life. Emma took over Tonks' supposed duty.
"Girls you can come out now," said Emma.
What Hermione and Saber were wearing blew Harry's mind.
Hermione was wearing a Halter-top that was showing a little too much skin leaving her midriff as bare as the time she was born, as for Hermione's lower half, she was wearing a denim mini-skirt, which was also showing a little too much skin, and to top it off she was wearing these black knee high boots. Saber on the other hand, had a white button up blouse with a blue ribbon for a tie, and a blue full-length skirt.
"Tonks, mother," Hermione's voice clearly sounding nervous, "I think this might be a little too revealing~"
Hermione's whining suddenly stopped when she spotted Harry staring at her wide-eyed and clearly in shock. Hermione felt her face turning as red as the Weasley's hair. Hermione was about to run back into the changing stall when she heard Tonks say,
"Looking really hot there Hermione, ain't that right Harry?" said the Metamorphmagus while wagging her eyebrows and dragging a certain werewolf into the boutique.
Harry looked like a 'fish-out-of-water' with his mouth opening and closing. Saber tried to add to the fun of teasing by saying "Harry, don't you think it's quite rude to stare?"
This snapped Harry out of his stunned state and he managed to blurt out, "Oh, uh yeah."
"Well Harry," Tonks told him, "aren't you going to compliment on the new clothes the ladies in front of you are wearing?"
Harry shot Tonks a quick glare, then he tried his hand at complimenting the women in front of him, and he started with Saber. "You look nice, Saber." Saber smiled at his compliment and thanked him. He turned his head to look at Hermione, and again, he was at a loss for words. There were a few moments of Hermione blushing, and fidgeting with her top and skirt trying to elongate them somehow. It took Harry an elbow from Tonks to regain his voice.
"You look…" Harry started.
Hermione tried not to look at Harry while he spoke. She had the words: 'hideous', 'revolting', 'unsightly', rushing through her head. She was about to return to the changing stall when she heard something she never expected come out of Harry's mouth.
"…Amazing" he finished.
Hermione's head snapped up so fast that it almost hurt. She noticed that Harry was slightly blushing and Tonks, her old professor, and her mother were smiling. She tried cleaning her ears at first and then she said, "Uh, Harry do you mind repeating what you said?"
Seeing the blush deepen on Harry's face, Emma took pity and told Hermione that he said that she looked amazing. Hermione shook her head and said, "I want Harry to say it."
Harry's blush further deepened when he heard Hermione say that she wanted to hear what he said moments ago. He looked to the people surrounding the two of them for help, but he found none.
'You're a Gryff, for Merlin's sake!'
Harry steeled his resolve and repeated what he told Hermione a few moments ago.
"You look amazing, Hermione."
Hermione turned around and headed for the changing rooms, leaving four people and a few store clerks that were eavesdropping quite confused. What the people she left behind never knew was that, as she left for the changing rooms, she had a huge smile on her face.
~~~
It was past nine in the evening when Harry and Saber, both of them wearing some of the clothes that they just bought a few hours earlier, returned to the Dursleys. Remus told Harry that Tonks would hold on to Saber's things for the mean time, since Remus was sure that Harry had no place to store everything that Emma and Tonks picked out for him and Saber. Tonks and Emma forced Harry to model some new clothes for them because they reasoned that it was not fair that Saber was the only one who was had a wardrobe change. Harry was about to protest when Remus added that he would see to it that Saber's clothes reach a grim old place and assured Harry that Saber's clothes would be safe there.
"The Fidelius charm is back up at headquarters?" Harry asked.
Remus nodded and told him that he would tell him the details tomorrow morning and that Harry should get some rest tonight. Harry and Saber bid the werewolf goodnight as the werewolf walked away. Saber was the one who knocked on the Dursleys door, luckily, or unluckily, depending who you were. Vernon Dursley was the one who opened the door. As Saber was quite short, five foot one, Vernon missed her completely and immediately noticed Harry.
"BOY," he shouted, his face immediately turning red and him spreading spit in every direction, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?"
Before Harry could have thought of a witty come back, Saber cleared her throat and said, with annoyance clear in her voice "Mister Dursley, I think it is quite rude to shout and spit at someone so close."
Vernon Dursley paled as fast as he coloured, he seemed to shrink down in size noticing Saber's state of annoyance. "Would you please get out of the way, Harry and I would like to retire to his room for the night."
Vernon quickly moved out of the blonde-haired girl's way, leaving Saber's path clear. She took Harry's hand and walked in, as if nothing ever happened. Upon entering, Harry noticed that his aunt was actually looking at him without the usual hatred and annoyance that she usually had for him.
'Maybe she still wants to know how mom died…,' Harry thought for a brief moment.
~~~
It was ten minutes before Harry's birthday, when he finally retired to his bed. He was tired, he was hurting in places that he never even realized he used during their little shopping trip. He was so tired that he thought that he saw a blurry Saber arm herself out of the corner of his glasses. Harry sleepily ignored his silly Servant and let his body relax. What he did not expect was the hairs on the back of his neck standing up and Saber yanking him out of bed, just before the destruction of his bed, his window, and the wall surrounding it, by a rain of blue light.
'What is it this time?' Harry thought angrily as he tried to get up from where Saber threw him. He heard some thundering footsteps and thought of the worst as he saw the aftermath of whom ever attacked them.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU BOY!" Vernon shouted as he barged into Harry's trashed room.
Harry shouted for his uncle to get down but it was too late, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up once more and he saw blue rain come down upon the area where his uncle was. What he did not notice was Saber tackling his uncle and landing outside of his room, clear of the range of their unknown assailant.
"Harry," Saber cried out after removing herself from his walrus of an uncle, "There are only two Servants that could create this barrage; it has to be either Archer or Caster." She duly ignored Vernon's protests as to why she assaulted him and then added, "Either way Harry we're at a clear disadvantage. We need to get out of here if we want to have a fighting chance."
"That's all fine and dandy, but how the -bloody hell- do you expect us to get out of here when whoever's out there has a clear shot at us!" He shouted back. Harry had a feeling that Saber was planning something risky that involved him, and the new hole in his room. He was about to voice out his thoughts but all of a sudden, he felt Saber grab his shirt while sprinting towards the gaping hole, all the while, their assailant shot blue death at the sprinting blonde-haired girl.
"SABER, DON'T YOU~" Harry never finished his protest as Saber jumped from Harry's room and landed on the Dursleys front lawn. Harry never had the chance to rest as Saber dragged him to the side of the Dursley's House so that whoever was shooting at them could not get a clear shot.
"Harry," Saber whispered, "We'll need to find the Master of the Servant who's shooting at us if we want to survive this onslaught."
As soon as Saber finished, blue death rained down on them. Harry and Saber managed to dodge most of the projectiles. Harry was about to move when he noticed blood spreading through Saber's blue skirt and a black arrow like thing sticking out of it.
"Damn it," cursed Harry, he checked his watch and it said it was seven minutes before midnight and it seemed that he wouldn't survive the next few minutes. Harry moved Saber to the backyard of the Dursleys and opened the French doors, which led to the dining room. Harry placed Saber on top of the dining room table, after which he tore a piece of his shirt and told Saber that he was going to remove the arrow. Saber nodded and braced for the pain that was to follow. Harry grabbed the protruding end of the arrow and pulled it out. Saber cried out in pain as Harry wrapped his shirt around her leg. Harry checked the dining room clock only to see that he had five more minutes before he could finally use magic against their current foe.
Harry was about to check if their enemy was still out there, when all of a sudden he heard someone shout,
"Potter," the unknown enemy cried out, "you're cornered and the people who were guarding you are knocked out." Harry was not sure, but the voice, to him, sounded like it belonged to a girl. Then he heard the unknown Master cry out, "Give me Saber and I'll leave you alive."
Harry was shocked, all that destruction and just because she wanted Saber? Harry checked the clock again and saw that he needed two more minutes. He then thought of something to kill the time,
"Why do you want Saber?" He asked his enemy through the house walls, clearly staying away from the windows.
"Why do I want Saber?" She asked him, with a tone that questioned him if he was joking, "She's the most powerful Servant there is. Why wouldn't I want her?"
This made Harry's blood boil, even though he had known Saber just for a few weeks, he felt that it was enough for him to know that Saber would give her life for him, as he would do the same for her. He rechecked the watch and did a little mental jig, it was already midnight and he was prepared to raise hell, but first he needed to close Saber's leg wound.
He tried the healing charm that Tonks used on him to close Saber's wound, which actually worked. He saw the wound close up, although he could still see a red hole, he figured that it would have to do for now. Now he regretted that he had never looked up that healing spell that Dumbledore or even that greasy haired git used. He heard that female voice shout out that if he did not give up Saber, she would order her Servant to pepper his house with arrows. Harry went to the nearest window and peeked outside; making sure that his body was not in clear view.
What he saw was a girl, in a red shirt with a white cross on her chest, and she was wearing a mini skirt. He looked at the rooftops of the neighbouring houses to see if her Servant was near by. He was about to check the houses to his right when he heard Saber trying to get up from where she was lying.
"What are you doing?" Saber questioned Harry, "Get away from there, are you trying to get yourself killed? If that girl's Servant is archer then he'll see you from a mile away."
"Then what do you suppose we do then?" Harry answered her, "We need to take out at least one of them, and the Servant is clearly in hiding and his Master is actually brave enough to make herself bait."
Saber tested to see if she could stand, she told Harry that she guessed that she was good for at least one attack. Harry told her that they would have to gamble on that one attack if they were going to survive this encounter…
~~~
Author's note:
Sorry, for leaving you people with a cliffy but I think there's an appropriate saying for these types of situations I think it goes "leave them wanting for more."
Anyways next up is Harry's confrontation with the girl in red, I'll introduce another Servant and a false priest.