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Chapter Text

Weasley’s Visit the Weasley’s

Bill had known it was going to be a long day when his dad said they would be visiting his grandparents. The occupants of the Burrow had been on edge for the few days since summer began.

One of the first things that had happened was their mum announcing they would be moving into the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for safety. It had caused some confusion since there was no evidence the family was in any danger. Yes, Harry had been kidnapped and almost killed, but that didn’t mean anything for their family other than the fear for someone they cared about and the stress for Charlie about Harry’s safety. And with them planning to move suddenly everyone was in a tizzy about what they were going to take with them since they planned to be wherever it was for the entire summer.

Then the move had been postponed since apparently Sirius Black hadn’t exactly given permission for them to move in, his mum and the headmaster had just decided it would happen. Eventually they bullied Sirius into allowing them to move in, but Bill knew Sirius had laid down the law about his property. With Harry bringing back Peter Pettigrew the Ministry had been forced into finally giving him a trial that was scheduled for a few weeks later, not that it was really necessary since Pettigrew had confessed to everything during his own trial that had been held on the last day of school, so Sirius would no longer be a wanted wizard so Dumbledore had nothing to intimidate him with.

But the biggest tension was between Percy, the twins, and their mum. When their mum had announced they would be moving somewhere else Percy had decided to move in with their grandparents instead. He had said he would visit the headquarters, but he wanted to be with his grandad since he could help him with his position as the twins proxy. Percy, like usual, had studied everything he could get his hands on when he first agreed to take the position, and technically their grandad was on the Wizengamot and not the Council of Magic like Percy was, but he wanted their granddad to help him. 

Their mum wanted Percy to stay with them but he absolutely refused. He said he would visit, but he wouldn’t be moving with them. Bill understood, Percy wasn't a little kid anymore and needed to stretch his wings, something his grandparents would allow but their mum certainly wouldn’t. He was honestly surprised Percy had lived at home for the entire first year after his graduation, he and Charlie had both been out within 6 months.

And then there was the twins. Neither of them were acting any worse than normal, if anything they were calmer, but that was because they were starting to lay the groundwork to start their prank business, something everyone knew their mum would never approve of. Bill only knew because he had caught the two designing their order forms so they could start an owl order service before they graduated. But their calmness had their mum suspicious. Everyone in the house knew that their mum was planning to search the twins room and things before they left and had been running interference as best they could, none of them wanted to deal with that headache.

The decision to visit their grandparents was their dads latest distraction to keep their mum out of the twins room.

“So what are you two planning to do after you graduate?” Septimus asked the twins as they sat out on the back porch.

“We’re going to open a joke shop.” Fred announced proudly for himself and his twin. Both didn’t care what anyone said, owning a joke shop was the perfect job for them.

“Stop being so ridiculous.” Molly huffed from where she sat nearby in clear disgust. “No sons of mine would do anything so worthless, they are both going to be going to work in the Ministry with their father and Percy.”

Cedrella narrowed her eyes in outrage as she saw the twins didn’t even flinch at what their mother said, clearly they were used to such abhorrent treatment. “I think we could use a few snacks. Molly, would you assist me?”

“Of course.” Molly happily agreed and quickly bustled inside.

Arthur and Septimus exchanged weary looks. They fully recognized the tone Cedrella had used, it was the ‘you’re in major trouble’ tone. As much as neither wanted to get in-between a cat fight between their wives they knew they had too. They were fairly evenly matched in temper which meant neither would back down. Both got up and followed the two women inside and weren’t surprised to find a furious Cedrella and Molly growing angry and defensive.

“What in Morgana’s name was that?” Cedrella demanded of her daughter-in-law, completely ignoring her husband and son entering the room.

“What was what?” Molly huffed in irritation. She had never liked how meddling her mother-in-law was. The woman had always acted like she should have a say in how she raised her children.

“‘Ridiculous’. ‘No sons of yours’. ‘Worthless’.” Cedrella hissed. “It is your childrens dream.”

Molly harrumphed in irritation, of course her mother-in-law would support such foolishness. “It’s a foolish idea. They need to get respectable jobs. No one will ever take them serious with that… that stupidity. Opening a business would be just too much for those two.”

“So that’s your lesson for your children?” Cedrella questioned venomously. “Don’t bother to have dreams. Don’t bother to follow your heart. Best to give up because you just aren’t capable of anything.”

“Of course not.” Molly said horrified. Where would the woman ever come up with something so horrible. “The twins just…”

“Want to open a joke shop. It’s their dream.” Cedrella finished before the woman could get anything else out.

“It’s ridiculous.” Molly snapped in exasperation. Why wasn't Cedrella understanding the simple truth. “And just what do you think everyone else will say?”

“It’s their dream, not yours.” Cedrella said in the exact same tone. “And so what about what other people say. Their opinions should never mean more to a parent than the needs of their children.

I can’t speak for the twins, but I can tell you what I just heard out there. I heard a mother tell her children their dreams didn’t matter. I heard her say they needed to just give up because they weren’t capable of hard work. What in Merlin and Morgana’s name made you think treating your children like that was acceptable. I know for a fact your parents would never have told you your dreams didn’t matter. If your mother, magic rest her soul, ever heard you speak like that to her grandchildren she would have had you over her knee in a heartbeat regardless of your age, an impulse I’m struggling with myself.”

“That isn’t what I meant.” Molly said in sheer horror. How could anyone interpret her wanting the best for her children in such a horrible way?

“It may not be how you intend it to come off, but it is what you said.” Septimus said in a measured tone. He fully supported his wife, he too had been outraged at the words coming from Molly’s mouth, but he didn’t want it to devolve to a screaming match between the two high-strung women. “A child deserves to know they have the love and support of their parents in all things.”

“Like how you loved and supported Arthur growing up when you were constantly running off to the Ministry to play politics to get a seat on the Wizengamot” Molly all but sneered.

“I did what I had to do.” Septimus defended himself before letting out a dejected sigh. “I can admit I made mistakes. Parenting is not exact. No one is a perfect parent, it is a learning process and no matter what you do mistakes will be made. But I did what I thought was best at the time.

When Arthur was 14 he announced he wanted to work at the Ministry. I, as his father, didn’t think it was right to tell him it was a ridiculous dream. I couldn’t bare telling him that his dream was impossible, so I set out to ensure he had, at the very least, a chance. I worked my way into a position of trust at the ministry. I curried favour. I did whatever I had to to gain prestige for the Weasley family.

And it worked. When Arthur graduated he applied for, and got, a job at the ministry. The first Weasley in 300 years to do so. Do I regret I couldn’t always be there in the moment, yes, do I regret that my son got the job he wanted, no.”

Molly harrumphed once again. “Like anyone would have denied Arthur his job at the Ministry.”

“Yes, they would have.” Septimus countered. It was time his daughter-in-law learned the truth as she was secretly admonished for her actions in regards to the marriage contract stupidity. “The Weasley’s failed to fulfill a marriage contract. The punishment for that is most severe. It’s why no Weasley has been so dimwitted as to sign one since. Failure to fulfill all aspects of a marriage contract takes a horrible toll on a family. After the initial failed contract it took two generations before a Weasley was welcomed back at Hogwarts and seven until I managed to regain our seat on the Wizengamot, I’m still working on the Council of Magic. And, as I previously said, Arthur was the first to be able to get a job at the Ministry. Only a reckless fool signs a contract they don’t fully understand, doing so shows a true disregard for the future of their family. I made a great many mistakes over the years, but I have always done what I thought was the best for the survival of this family.”

Arthur was slightly flabbergasted. He had known he been the first Weasley to work at the Ministry for a very long time, but he hadn’t known it was because of the failed contract, he just thought none of the others had wanted too. In truth his anger towards his parents for their devotion to politics had faded greatly since he was a teen, even more so since his parents had started to get more involved in his families life since the previous year, but he had still held a bit of a grudge. But they had done it for him. 

He also agreed with what his parents were saying in regards to the twins. Molly had always had strong opinions about their childrens futures, but she had crossed the line from wanting the best for her children into needlessly insulting when it came to the twins. He knew she loved them, just like she loved all their children, with an obsessive devotion, but she was just going about it in the wrong way.

Molly was flustered by the talk of marriage contracts. There was no way anyone could know that she signed one for Ginny and Harry, could they? No, no one but her and Albus knew the contract even existed. She was still uncomfortable with it, even more so now hearing what the consequences could be if it wasn't fulfilled but she was sure it would be ok, Ginny loved Harry, and Harry would love Ginny. 

“I, personally, would rather have grandsons that tried and failed rather than grandsons that just gave up.” Cedrella said sagely. “Besides, you have no way to tell if they are going to fail. From everything I’ve seen they are incredibly inventive and dedicated. And they have the backing of the Prewett estate to fall back on, it’s been doing better since they got it out of the control of Muriel. Plus Septimus and I would be willing to pitch in in the case of an unforeseen emergency. Because we believe in them.”

“I believe in them just fine.” Molly defended herself, she didn’t like being spoken too like she was. She was the mother, she told others off. “I am their mother, I want what’s best for them.”

“But not enough to believe in their dreams.” Cedrella muttered. “I think you need to sit and think about your behaviour for a little while young lady. When you feel ready to be kind to your children you may join us out on the porch.”

Septimus had to force himself not to laugh as his wife treated their daughter-in-law the same way she treated so many, like a child. He glanced to his son to see what he wanted him to do. Arthur nodded towards the door so Septimus followed his wife back outside.

Arthur watched silently as his wife paced and muttered to herself. He knew there were two outcomes if she was left to her own devices. First, and most likely, was she was going to get furious and lash out. Molly always thought of herself as the ideal mother, and there was no denying she was a great mother, she had raised 7 children and each were good people, she just couldn’t stand anyone saying anything negative about her parenting style. The second option was that she was going to meltdown into tears. He needed to draw her attention to him to keep her calm.

“Mollywobbles?” Arthur said cautiously.

“I’m a good mother.” Molly said in anger, she was well on her way to the fury Arthur was worried about. “I want what’s best for all of my children, nothing more, nothing less.”

“I know.” Arthur said soothingly. “I know you want what’s best for them Molly, and they know it too. But your idea of what’s best and theirs don’t always match up. And as much as we might wish we can safely guide the children into the perfect lives we can’t.

Fred and George are legally of age. They could move out tomorrow and there’s nothing we could do to stop them. Pushing them away is the last thing we need to do right now. We’re better off guiding and assisting them rather than trying to force them in certain directions. We can’t make them work at the Ministry.”

“But they need to.” Molly argued almost petulantly. She wanted her children to have stable respectable jobs. “They need that stability. If they just give it a try and settle down they will see. Fabian and Gideon were just the same, and they enjoyed working at the Ministry.”

Arthur understood to a point why Molly always connected Fred and George to Fabian and Gideon, and it wasn’t just because they were twins and their names didn't just start with the same first letters but their twins had their uncles names for middle names. For Molly he knew it went back to what her brothers had meant to her.

Molly’s father had passed away when she had been in her second year. Her mother had then been killed in one of the very first attacks of the previous war. Molly had been 15 at the time. With both of their parents gone Fabian and Gideon, who had been 19 at the time took custody of their younger sister. To Molly, they were her heroes, especially since if they hadn’t she would have ended up with her aunt Muriel, and everyone knew the two of them were just too similar to live together, having that much temper and attitude in one house would have resulted in daily explosions.

Growing up Fabian and Gideon had had plans to join the dueling circuit and had already won a few minor competitions at that point. They had wanted to travel and learn in other countries. But after taking custody of Molly the twins had gone to work as aurors since they had wanted to be able to give their sister a stable home life while she was with them. The way Molly saw it they had grown up and seen the light about their foolish ideas.

But Arthur knew better. Fabian and Gideon had gone to work for the ministry for one reason and one reason only, their sister, and while they were proud of the work they did they didn't love it. They didn't want Molly to feel like they had had to give up their dreams for her so they pretended when their sister was around. Arthur knew that Fabian and Gideon stayed as aurors after Molly came of age because of the war and nothing else, they had often talked with him about how once the war was over they were going to finally be able to quit and go live their real dreams of becoming dueling champions, they had even secretly trained with Professor Flitwick more than a few times just to be ready. But, like them, Arthur had never had the heart to tell his wife her brothers were all but counting down the days to when they could start living their own lives the way they wanted again, Molly was far more happy in her view that they had loved their jobs and stopped all the foolish plans of leaving since she didn't so much as see it as them wanting to leave Britain as them wanting to leave her.

He knew when Bill and Charlie had left she had seen it like they were leaving her and not just advancing their careers, and it had taken her months to accept it, even if she still badgered them to come back to her every chance she got. But it was different with their twins and he knew it. Fred and George were the most Prewett like of their children in appearance, and looked very much like their uncles, which made Molly see her brothers in them even more. Prewett’s were known for having a stalkier build, red hair, round face, and brown eyes, in comparison the the Weasley’s tall slim build, orange hair, oval face, and blue eyes. Bill was all Weasley, Charlie had the stalky build and redder hair, Percy had the brown eyes, Ron had the round face, and Ginny had the round face and brown eyes, but the only part of the Weasley looks the twins had gotten was the tall slim build, other than that they were all Prewett.

Arthur believed it was why Molly kept falling back into trying to get Fred and George to act like Fabian and Gideon despite them having had talks about it being unfair more than once over the years. After one of their talks Molly would try and separate her sons and brothers for a few months, but it always seemed that as soon as they got back from school she would back into her old habits and forget all about their previous conversation. Arthur felt like Molly had never truly dealt with the loss of her parents or brothers and that was why she was so controlling with their kids.

“Molly, Fred and George aren’t Fabian and Gideon.” Arthur pointed out softly. He knew just how risky it was to discuss her late brothers with her, Molly would never get over their deaths, not that he thought she needed to do anything like forget them. “Yes, Fabian and Gideon enjoyed being aurors. But the twins wouldn't.

Fred and George thrive in chaos. Percy enjoys the Ministry for its structure and rules, but those very factors would drive the twins crazy. Maybe, if you browbeat them long enough you could force them to work at the ministry, but it would come at a horrible cost. They would hate every minute of it, I have no doubt. And they would blame us for their misery. I think, in the long run, it’s better for us to guide and support them on whatever path they choose rather than force them down a path they don’t want and lose them completely as a result.”

Molly didn’t want to admit it, but she was pouting. She hated it when Arthur got all calm and rational. She could argue with him, but she knew even if he gave in she would still be in the wrong. 

In a rare event, Molly just quietly agreed to not say anything more about Fred and George working at the Ministry and not argue with them about it anymore, at least for that moment.

Outside Fred and George had been astounded. As soon as their parents and grandparents had gone in they had of course pulled out their new creations, extendible ears, and listened in. Having not only their grandparents, but their father, speaking up for them was surprising. They were so used to their mum just bullying her way through everything and arguing until everyone just gave up and gave her what she wanted.

They knew their mother loved them and she was just doing what she thought would give them the best future, but it wasn't the future they wanted.

Beginning of Harry's Summer

Like the year previous Harry had to return to Privet Drive for a week. And like the previous year arrangements had already been made for him to go on a muggle camping trip for a week following that before going to join Charlie.

But there was a slight problem. Only the day before he left school for the summer he had gotten messages from Bill, Remus, and Sirius. According to them Dumbledore had recalled a group he had had during the previous war claiming that the attack on him after the final task was an attempt by Voldemort to return so they needed to get ready for war. 

Harry didn’t necessarily disagree, he had recognized the voice in the cemetery, and he also knew from what he had been told of his injuries when he woke up that the man that had been identified as Barty Crouch Jr., a convicted death eater, had taken some of his blood for some reason. The aurors had taken his memories of what had happened since he and Cedric had taken the cup so they had seen the mans face after the polyjuice potion had worn off and someone had recognized him. He knew more than likely his blood was going to be used to bring the monster back. But that didn’t mean he was suddenly going to attack him, Voldemort like to build up tension and seemed to wait an inordinate amount of time before doing anything, like waiting until the end of the school year to try to steal the stone and kidnap him when he literally could have done it almost any other time.

The letters all warned him that Dumbledore was arranging for him and the Dursley’s to be ‘guarded’. From what they said the guards were going to be under strict orders not to even let him know they were there and only do anything if there was imminent danger. He apparently wasn't supposed to ever know anyone was even there.

But that meant he was going to need to figure out some way to leave without them noticing. He had no intention of allowing himself to be held captive at the Dursley’s all summer. From what Sirius in particular had said Dumbledore wasn't willing to give them a time he would be able to join them and just said the wards needed to be recharged so Harry knew he wasn't planning on telling anyone how long it took for the wards to charge and was just going to leave him there for as long as possible for some reason.

Harry brainstormed through letters with Bill and Charlie and they thought they had a plan. Bill had bought him a couple doses of polyjuice and slipped it to him while he was on guard duty. Polyjuice didn’t work when it came to muggles, but since Dudley was a squib it would work with him so Harry could just slip away looking like Dudley. Dudley added to the plan by offering to take the potion for a day to make himself look like Harry so none of his watchers would become suspicious until he was out of the country.

Dealing with the Dursley’s was just as unpleasant as usual. It didn’t help that Dudley was making his dislike of his parents behaviour obvious that year. Petunia and Vernon were acting like he had done something to Dudley to turn him against them when it was simply their own behaviour that did it. But at least it was only for a week.

Like it was the previous year, slipping away was rather easy. 

Bill had given him a schedule of who was watching and when. Harry decided to sneak away while Sturgis Podmore was supposed to be watching the Dursley’s in the very early morning. From what Bill had said Podmore was a decent enough man but rather dim and uncreative. He wouldn’t bother looking to deeply into anything without a very good reason, something Harry wasn't going to give him.

Dudley called for a cab to pick him up at 6 am, long before anyone else in the house would be up. Harry and Dudley would take the potion just before the cab arrived. Harry, disguised as Dudley, would get in the car and drive away while Dudley, disguised as Harry, would wave him off before going back inside. Dudley would keep taking the potion for the day and make sure he made himself visible by being out in the garden from time to time.

And it worked just as they planned. Harry was on a flight to Spain within a few hours of leaving the Dursley’s without anyone the wiser.

Back in Romania

Like the year before Harry enjoyed his time in Romania.

But not everything was perfect. He had been struggling with nightmares and panic attacks since the attack. Charlie spent at least half an hour every day just talking to him about how he was feeling and helping him figure out how to cope with surviving yet another murder attempt, something no one had ever done for him before. He felt guilty about all the time Charlie was wasting on him, but Charlie always told him off for it, he said being there to support him wasn't a waste of time.

Other than the therapy sessions they did the same as they had done the previous summer, they hung out. Since Harry was going to be doing his OWLs at the end of the next school year Charlie helped him do some basic prep for it and helped him with his extracurricular projects. Along with his school studies Harry had taken up working on occlumency and the theoretical side of spell crafting, he also was self studying magical history since Binns was absolutely useless.

Despite all the work he gave himself Harry still spent most of his days either relaxing or helping out around the reserve like the previous year.

A major disappointment for Harry was the letters he was receiving from his friends. Ron and Hermione were saying practically nothing. 

He knew from what they said they were together, but that was it. They just kept going on about how he needed to stay hidden and not draw attention to himself and they would talk when he got wherever they were. 

They went on and on about that, where they were. It was obvious to Harry, who had known them for so long, they were hinting that they knew things he didn’t but Dumbledore had told them not to tell him. And he was furious. He thought they had understood what it meant to be friends after the previous year, but now they were putting Dumbledore ahead of him. He had some sympathy for them since he knew Mrs. Weasley was probably nagging them to keep quiet, but that wasn't enough.

Eventually he just wrote back to them and told them to stop. That they had made themselves perfectly clear about the value of their friendship and he didn’t want to hear it. If they had anything worth saying they could write, but until then to just stop.

It hadn’t worked. Instead he had gotten a letter from Ron telling him not to be like that and then going on about the same old useless crap. They didn’t even tell him anything about how their own summers were or ask about his, it was just all pointless nonsense. His response to that had been rather childish he could admit. He had sent back a rather decent, in his opinion, drawing of a pile of hippogriff dung.

From Hermione he got 3 feet about how he was being childish and petulant and she forgave him. She said she understood he was upset they couldn’t tell him everything but that it just wasn't safe.

To go along with another picture of hippogriff dung he also got a dictionary and wrote out a few definitions for her, including friend, loyalty, honesty, and a very detailed description of what lying by omission was.

Not that it got through to either of them. Instead both just wrote to him about not being like that and carried on as they had before. Harry was rather annoyed, normally they wrote a few times during the summer, but this year they sent letters every other day like clockwork and they all said nothing. Eventually he settled on just sending their own letters back with pointless or worthless written in red permanent marker.

But it wasn't like Harry wasn't getting any information. Sirius, Remus, and Bill were giving him the information they felt he needed. Although Sirius and Remus sent two letters, one that was obviously the Dumbledore approved version and the second one was the real letter. 

At the beginning of the summer Sirius had finally gotten his trial arranged. It would be held in the final week of July and they were all sure he would be found innocent. Naturally, one of the men he had been accused of murdering had been alive and had confessed to the other murders. Harry had been forbidden from attending by Dumbledore, but it hadn’t been to bad since by that point he was already out of the country. Harry was just glad Sirius would no longer be killed on sight by the Ministry.

And Fred and George were writing too. They didn’t bother with any of the worthless babble. Instead they told him what they were doing, and it was highly entertaining since they were apparently testing a few prank products out on those around them. They included a detailed description of the sweet that had left Ron looking like a bald canary for almost an hour and how they had accidentally made it so Hermione couldn’t understand the written word for 3 hours, something they had no idea how they had done but had resulted in the girl having a full meltdown.

Harry was trying not to be too angry, he knew Ron and Hermione were getting a lot of pressure from others, but it still hurt. But at the same time he hadn’t told them what he was doing, instead just casually mentioning that he had gone camping, not mentioning that it was in another country.

Charlie just encouraged him to feel however he felt.

Dudley Demented

As the first week of august came to an end Dudley went out for his evening run. He ran a few kilometres every evening to keep in shape. He didn’t have the potions anymore so it was up to him to maintain his weight, something that was difficult during the summer since his parents were still trying to force him to eat nothing but junk.

The streetlights were just coming on as he was passing the park when it suddenly got cold. Something was wrong and he knew it so he put on some speed to get home.

But before he could make it two big black cloaked things descended from the sky towards him. Dudley knew it was magic and immediately called for help, he knew from what Harry had said there were wizards watching the house.

Kingsley Shacklebolt let out a yawn as he sat under Mad-Eye’s invisibility cloak and watched the home of the Dursley family. Originally Mundungus was supposed to be on guard duty but it had been switched to him after it was brought up by Sirius in a previous meeting that Dung and skived off twice already so he was taken off guard duty.

He had just worked an 8 hour shift. Now he had to sit and watch a house for 6 more hours before going home, sleeping for a few hours, and going back to work another 8 hour shift. But he wasn't going to complain, war was coming, they all needed to make sacrifices.

Kings didn’t really see the point in not informing the boy he was being protected. Surely after the murder attempt knowing someone was there keeping him safe would bring the boy comfort more than anything. He'd been beyond relieved when Sirius finally got his trial. He had been the head of the search for the man and had been misleading his own bosses about the mans whereabouts at the request of Albus for far too long, he had done so because the man was actually innocent, but if anyone had found out he still would have lost his job.  He just wanted to be able to do his job normally.

Then he heard the shout for help. He knew it wasn't Harry since he hadn’t left the house since he had been on guard duty, but he was still an auror and couldn’t refuse to help someone in need. He took off after the voice and was horrified to see Harry’s cousin trying to get away from where he was cornered by two dementors.

Whipping out his wand he sent his lynx patronus after the creatures. He was just relieved he hadn’t hesitated as they had been preparing to kiss the boy when he got there, even 30 seconds later and it may have been too late.

As he had known would happen the dementors fled and he quickly got the boy moving. He knew he couldn’t take him directly home, he wasn't supposed to enter the Dursley house, so instead he took him to Figg’s. 

Once at Figg’s he sent off  an emergency patronus message to Amelia Bones demanding she floo there. Dementors, who were under the control of the Ministry of Magic had just attacked the cousin of Harry Potter less than two blocks from where the boy lived. He was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but he was an auror first, and this was a major crime.

As Kings was getting Amelia there and Dudley sat vacant eyed on the couch Arabella was making up a flagon of hot chocolate and grabbing a few bars just in case as she fussed in panic. Dementors in Little Whinging, what was the world coming too.

“Kingsley?” Amelia snapped as soon as she stepped through the floo. She was beyond irritated, she was the head of her department, she was not at the beck and call of her subordinates. “What in Merlins name are you doing demanding I come here? Where even is here? And aren’t you off duty?”

“Amelia, we have a serious problem.” Kings announced gravely as he moved the two of them into the hall where they could still see Arabella fussing over Dudley but could speak quietly.

“Well, what is it that makes you think you need to interrupt my evening and demand me here?” Amelia glared down her auror.

“Amelia I just had to stop 2 dementors from administering the kiss to that boy.” Kings told his boss’s boss.

“What?” Amelia paled instantly, that was not something to joke about. “Why would they be here? Dementors are confined to Azkaban Island. And why were you here?”

Kings knew he couldn’t tell her Albus had had him and others watching Harry Potter so they all knew the cover story. “I’ve been thinking about getting a kneazle, Arabella breeds them so I came to see her to chat.”

“A kneazle?” Amelia said with an arched eyebrow, if not for magic her monocle would have been on the floor. She wasn't an idiot, it was clearly a cover story, but what it was covering she didn’t know, yet. “Well, carry on.”

“I heard a cry for help and responded, as any auror would.” Kings said, keeping it simple.

“And just why do you think that boy is special enough to be targeted by dementors?” Amelia didn’t understand that. Dementors didn’t just leave Azkaban and go all the way to a muggle village and attack muggle boys.

“Amelia, that is Dudley Dursley.” Kings wasn't surprised when the woman didn’t respond to the name in the slightest, the number of people who even knew that Harry Potter lived with muggles was small, let alone the number that knew the name of the muggle family. “He’s the cousin of Harry Potter.”

“Harry Potter?” Amelia was stunned as she glanced towards the boy. This really was serious. A dementor attack on the cousin of the Boy-Who-Lived just after the near murder of the boy during the school year, this could be a disaster if it got out. “Do we know where Mr. Potter is?”

“I think he’s at home.” Kings told her, but it was worrying. Could the attack on Dudley have been a distraction to get to the boy? “We need to handle this carefully.”

“Agreed.” Amelia swiftly walked back into the room. “Mr. Dursley, my name is Madam Amelia Bones. I’m the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. I am truly sorry for the shock you’ve experienced tonight but I need you to answer a few questions for me, can you do that?”

Dudley looked up at the intimidating woman vacant eyed and nodded.

“What happened when you were attacked?” Amelia questioned.

“I went out for my evening run.” Dudley said slowly. Thinking was taking a bit of time. “I… I felt it get really cold when I was passing the park. I knew it wasn't normal. My cousin had told me something about sudden changes in temperature being connected to something dangerous so I knew I needed to get home. But those things came down before I could get there so I just tried calling for help. Then the man came and sent a bright light at them. I like that light, it was nice.”

“Those things?” Kings questioned suddenly. “Muggles can’t see dementors.”

It was silent for nearly a minute but eventually Arabella found her voice as she put two and two together. “Muggles can’t, but squibs can.”

“Squib.” Dudley latched onto the word. “Harry said I was a squib. He took me shopping in the cool alley. Got me potions to help me lose weight. It was awesome.”

Arabella smiled. She had seen the two cousins finally bonding and she was happy for it. Harry needed someone decent in that house. It also explained the boys sudden change in body shape, there was no non-magical way to lose weight like that. It would seem Dudley Dursley was finally growing up, it looked good on him.

“And where is your cousin Dudley?” Amelia asked. “Is he still back at your home.”

“At home?” Dudley repeated in a questioning voice as the hot chocolate he was sipping started to break through his freezing haze. “No.”

“Where is he?” Kings asked in worry. That wasn't possible. He knew Harry hadn’t left while he’d been on guard duty. And Dudley wouldn’t have known he left if he did so after he had already left on his run.

“He went camping.” Dudley said slowly. “Sweden. Maybe Switzerland. I know wherever it was it started with an S… Or maybe it was the town he was in… Or maybe the group he was with.”

Kings just blinked a few times. That wasn't possible, was it? They had been watching the house, there was no way Harry could have left the country and they not know. But he could admit he hadn’t seen the boy even once in weeks. “When did he leave?”

“A few weeks ago.” Dudley shrugged as he started to focus more. “I think I’m supposed to be home by now, it’s getting late.”

“Ok Mr. Dursley, just a few more moments and Auror Shacklebolt will escort you home.” Amelia said. “I’m going to be stopping by to see you tomorrow afternoon if that works for you. I’m going to need your formal statement about tonights events so I can open a case.”

“Ok.” Dudley just agreed. He wanted his bed.

“King’s, take him home.” Amelia instructed. “Make sure to set up wards and alerts around the house and in the area. You can carry on watching over the residence if you like, but I will be sending two aurors to patrol the neighbourhood just to be safe.”

Kings flushed at the tone Amelia used to let him know she knew the story about the kneazles was a lie and he’d actually been watching the house. But he was relieved to know other aurors would be in the area, he needed to quickly go and report to Albus and the rest of the Order. He couldn’t believe they had missed the kid leaving the country weeks before.

“Mrs. Figg, I hope it won’t be too much to ask for you to allow a team of aurors through your floo to keep an eye on things?” Amelia turned to the woman in her pink dressing gown and fluffy slippers.

“Oh no problem at all.” Mrs. Figg smiled blandly.

At that everyone dispersed to do what needed to be done to deal with the mess.

At the Order Meeting

“Kingsley, what in Merlins name are you doing here?” Sirius demanded as they started to gather in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place for the emergency meeting the man had called. “Your supposed to be on guard duty tonight.”

Sirius knew that Harry knew about the guards unlike most believed but he still wanted his godson protected. Nothing meant more to him than Harry’s safety. He had been furious when Albus had told him and Remus they weren’t to tell Harry anything and that the weren’t going to be allowed near him. He had made it a stipulation for allowing the Order to use his parents home as headquarters that Harry be allowed to come and stay with him. But so far nothing. Albus said the wards needed to recharge, but that Harry could come after that, he just hoped it hurried up. He didn't know how long it took for protective blood wards to charge.

He was getting sick of dealing with the others in the house without having Harry around. Molly was overbearing and constantly sticking her nose in things, going on about how she loved Harry like a son and looking down her nose at him because he had missed so much time with him while in Azkaban. Sirius knew Remus had had Arthur talk to the woman more than once about antagonizing him about Harry. Arthur was a good man, but he just couldn’t temper his wife all the time. Molly felt she had the right to mother everyone, even if they were already adults.

Before anyone could say anything Kingsley opened the door and called for the kids to everyone’s surprise. Molly was outraged at the idea of bringing her children into a meting, they were to young.

“Kingsley, they can’t be here, they aren’t in The Order.” Molly glared at the auror for giving her children instructions.

“They need to be here.” Kings said, completely ignoring Molly’s anger.

“Kingsley, my boy, why have you called an emergency meeting? And why are you involving children, they have no place in this.” Albus said in a benign voice, but it was obvious he was irritated. He didn’t do well when he didn’t have control, and he certainly wasn't in control of what was happening at the moment.

“As I said, we need them right now.” Kingsley told the group. “Can any of you tell me anything about what Harry said he was doing this summer?”

“He said he wanted to go camping and sleep under the stars.” Hermione informed the auror primly. She would never deny answering such a simple question. “I told him about the few times my parent set up a tent in our backyard when I was a kid and pretended we were camping. I hated it, but Harry seems to like it.”

Kingsley looked closely at each of those he knew had been writing to the boy to see if any of them had known what he had done but all seemed to look innocent and didn’t understand what he meant.

“What is going on with my godson Kingsley?” Sirius questioned in a warning tone. Something was wrong and he knew it.

“Earlier this evening two dementors arrived in Little Whinging.” Kingsley said solemnly.

That caught everyones attention. Everyone was shouting out questions about what happened and questioning if Harry was hurt. A few moved to go towards the floo like they intended to go look and see for themselves but Kingsley had the floo blocked quickly. The last thing they needed was for order members to go streaming into the area that was now being patrolled by aurors.

“It’s fine, no one was hurt, too badly. Dudley Dursley was a little shaken up, but he’s going to be just fine.” Kingsley said to quickly calm the agitated group. “I got rid of the dementors easily enough and called for Amelia Bones.”

“WHAT?” A few demanded.

“Really my boy, we have to keep Harry’s location a secret.” Albus chastised. He had spent over a decade making sure no one knew where the boy was and now it had just been thrown away. “You should have contacted us. We could have handled it.”

“No, we couldn’t.” Kingsley said like he thought the old man was being an idiot. “This isn’t something I could cover up. Dementors were in the same town where Harry Potter lives. Dementors, which are supposed to be under the complete control of the ministry. Of course I had to contact Amelia, sending dementors after someone can be classed as assault at the very least. If anyone had been hurt or killed it could become murder or attempted murder. This needs to be investigated properly.”

“But what about Harry?” Sirius questioned in a slight panic. He didn’t like all this chatter about inconsequential information, all that mattered was Harry.

“When was the last time any of those on guard duty actually saw the boy?” Kings questioned the room. He believed the others were like him, just assuming the boy had been in an out while the others were watching.

It was discussed for a few minutes as everyone tried to think when they last saw him. It was then they realized they hadn’t seen him in weeks.

“WHERE IS HARRY!” Sirius panicked. 

“Calm down Sirius, we know he’s ok, he’s been writing to us.” Remus soothed, but he too was worried.

“He’s camping.” Kings told them. “But it isn’t in the back yard. He apparently joined a muggle camping group and is in Switzerland, or possibly Sweden. Mr. Dursley couldn’t quite remember given he had just been attacked by Dementors, but he’s sure it’s somewhere that started with an S.”

Sirius started to laugh. His godson had outsmarted them. He was a little sad that he wasn't there with him, but he above all understood the desire to be free.

“He’s where?” Hermione demanded, outraged. Harry knew just how dangerous it was for him. Not only that, but he had been so petulant about them not being able to tell him anything when he hadn’t bothered to tell them anything about where he was.

“It isn’t safe.” Molly worried. 

She seemed to be in a constant state of terror ever since Harry was kidnapped weeks ago. Ever since the argument at her parents-in-law’s place she had been working on being more supportive, she really hadn’t realized just how negative she had grown in regards to the twins dreams, but she was still a very over protective mother, and that was never going to change.

Although it wasn’t the first time she had been forced to admit she had made mistakes while raising her children. The first time had been two years previous when Bill and Charlie had confronted her and Arthur about what Ginny had done. But Molly was an exceptionally strong willed woman and had a tendency to fall back into her old patterns within a few weeks. Her children had no doubt she would be right back to shrieking at them anytime they did anything she didn't like by the next summer at the latest, but most likely before the new Hogwarts year had even begun.

“To be fair, I think he’s safer where he is now, than where he has been at Hogwarts.” Remus pointed out. “No one even knew he was out of the country so there’s no way they could attack him. He was quite literally kidnapped from Hogwarts itself before nearly being murdered by someone that had managed to impersonate a professor for an entire school year. I actually think he’s probably the safest he’s been in a long time.”

Albus tried to hold back the flinch at that comment. Of course he’d known something had been going on the previous year, but he honestly had never considered it would get so out of hand. He truly regretted the pain Harry had been forced to endure. He appeased his guilt with the knowledge that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of a single child.

“We will need to see if we can locate him.” Doge put in. He knew how hard Albus had worked to make sure the boy grew up right, and he didn't like that the boy was disrespecting his oldest friend by not following instructions. “Albus has worked too long and hard to let the protective wards fall.”

“Quite right Elphius.” Albus nodded at his old friend. He was pleased the man was focusing on what mattered. “We need to find Harry and get him to safety.”

Harry is Blamed

Harry and Charlie sat down in their tent living room to talk.

Harry had just gotten off his mirror phone with Sirius and Remus. They had told him about the dementor attack, assuring him that Dudley was fine. They also warned him that everyone now knew Harry was out of the country and they were suddenly desperate to find him. They made sure to warn him about many of the letters, and owls, would most likely be layered in tracking charms. Harry wasn’t concerned about the spells. The system that was in place to bypass the mailward around him included disabling any trackers. And, since the letters were removed from the owls and then sent through his post box, while he was out of the country, none of the trackers on the birds would work either. Although he did think the post office was going to be getting a large number of visitors, he was just glad they were under privacy contract so they couldn’t say anything.

Sirius was thrilled and highly entertained with what Harry had done, although he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to go with him. Remus was likewise happy for him, but he was also really worried that he wouldn’t be safe enough. 

Whenever Harry had spoken with them over the mirror before he had always made sure there was nothing that would give any clue to where he was. Usually he just sat in front of a blank canvas wall Charlie would spell to look like a plaster wall so it wasn’t obvious he was in a tent. As much as he trusted them he couldn’t take any risks, Sirius admittedly lacked a filter when he was irritated, and he knew from the way Sirius had been talking he was getting more than a little irritated with the Order members.

“So what do we do?” Harry questioned. As grown up as he felt, and liked to act,  Harry knew he didn't know everything. And one thing he had learned from the reading into mind healing he had done was that he needed to allow others to help him.

“We need to stick to the story.” Charlie pushed Harry’s plate of food closer to him, he knew Harry put off eating if he was stressed and wanted to encourage him to eat but knew not to try and force him. “As far as they know you are with a muggle camping group. They need to continue believing that, especially if we need to do this again next year.”

Harry nodded his agreement as he picked up a piece of toast and nibbled on it slightly. 

“You know I’ve been receiving letters requesting I return to Britain to help the Order.” Which was a nice way of Charlie saying he had been getting letters practically every day that were growing less and less gentle in their encouragement to return. “I can go back first from here, and you can come back through muggle methods a few days later. Putting a few days separation between our arrival should keep the others from connecting us.”

Harry nodded again and took a drink. “The camp was in Spain this year. I’ll have to portkey there and then fly back to Britain.”

“If you want I can go with you to Spain. After you leave I can come back here and get a portkey back in a week or so.” Charlie offered so Harry wouldn’t have to travel alone.

Harry thought about it for a few minutes, he was slowly learning to think before he acted, sometimes. “No. That just means more portkey’s, and that means more records in the magical world. I doubt they would bother to look, or even have the ability to access the records, but we shouldn’t take to many risks.”

Charlie snorted and smirked at the younger boy. “I don’t think you are the one that should be talking about not taking risks.”

Harry rolled his eyes but he smiled slightly. “Ha ha. I’m getting better at thinking before I act. If you go back first then you can warn me what things are like there now that they know I’ve been keeping this from them.”

“Ahh, you want me to check that the coast is clear and try and defuse anything before you set foot back in the country.” Charlie smirked, not that he blamed him, especially after everything the previous year. Charlie still had nightmares about what had happened to Harry

“Of course.” Harry smiled.

A few hours later mail started arriving for Harry. 

Nearly all of the letters were demanding to know where he was and scolding him for ‘endangering’ himself by ‘running away’ and not telling anyone. The standout was the letter sent by Fred and George, the two, like Sirius and Remus, were thrilled with what he had done and gave him very flowery congratulations. Some of the letters even came from people he had never met but Charlie told him were members of the Order like that meant they had a say in his life.

Near the bottom of the pile was where he found it. A letter from the Ministry.

“Charlie?” 

Charlie looked up from the letter from an Order member named Hestia Jones when he heard the worry in Harry’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been expelled.”

“WHAT?” Charlie was on his feet instantly and moved over to Harry’s side and gently took the letter from his trembling hands.

Charlie read the letter quickly. Then he stopped, took a breath, and reread it slowly. 

The letter was pure stupidity. They already knew that it had been Kingsley that had cast the patronus, and so did Madame Bones. This more than anything convinced Charlie that the dementors presence had been a set up, if not an attempted murder, because most would never believe that a teenager could properly cast a patronus since most adults couldn’t. He knew from previous letters The Daily Prophet, most likely under Ministry direction, had been targeting and insulting Harry because of Dumbledore’s announcement that Voldemort was back. 

Sure, the magic sensors couldn’t tell who cast the magic in a certain area, but it was known an adult had been there and had been the one to cast the magic. Charlie was more than a little suspicious that whoever had sent the dementors had tipped off someone in the Improper Use of Magic Office that something was going to happen.

“We’re going to have to move up our timetable.” Charlie said. They had agreed they would return to Britain at the end of August since Charlie knew that once the Order had Harry they were most likely going to lock him in headquarters. “We need to get back to deal with this as soon as possible. You write to Sirius and the others to explain what is is happening and I will handle getting us both back in the country.

Back to Britain

Harry wasn’t exactly thrilled as the plane landed at Heathrow Airport.

Charlie had portkeyed from Romania back to London 4 days earlier and had sent a letter warning him that the Order was really annoying. His letter was nearly half complaining about how they were all acting like they cared so much about Harry, yet they hadn’t even noticed he had been gone.

He knew from the letters that when he had written he would be returning by plane everyone had been volunteering to help collect him. It had only been the intervention by Remus and Bill, who had been the voices of reason, that he wasn’t going to find 20 or more people waiting for him. Instead he was only expecting 5 people waiting, although Harry knew, better than most, that Dumbledore couldn’t help but meddle so there could easily be more. Ultimately it was decided that, Remus, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, along with Bill and Arthur would be collecting him since they were the ones most capable of blending in with the muggles. 

Charlie had wanted to be there too, but felt it would be best to keep a little distance between them around the others just to be safe. Once Harry was at headquarters they could be friendly, but they didn't want to seem suspicious to anyone. 

Harry’s return to the country was pretty much what he expected it to be.

Remus was all over him as soon as they saw him, making sure he was ok. The others stood guard while pretending they weren’t. Although, Bill kept shooting him entertained grins, while Arthur was quietly whispering questions about the different muggle things he was seeing but didn't understand. 

Remus had mentioned that Dumbledore had tried to do as Harry had expected and send others with them, but they had avoided that. Harry thought it would have been quite funny to see the faces of the 7 others Dumbledore had hand picked to meet him when the others had ditched them. It had been decided they needed to go to the airport by muggle means so Remus had gotten bus tickets to the airport. His group got the tickets to Heathrow Airport, the others went to Luton Airport on the outskirts of London. Although, Remus was nice enough to pass over a time delayed letter telling them they were at the wrong place, as a decoy of course, and to meet them back at Headquarters.

Much to Harry’s joy he was able to convince the others to stop and grab pizza with his remaining muggle money. It was a bit of a lie since he had intentionally gotten money out of the Spanish branch of Gringotts for the purpose of getting pizza. But what did it matter if he stretched the truth a little, there was pizza, and anything that resulted in pizza was a good thing. Harry also collected a few different types of pop. It was a little mean, but he thought it would be fun to introduce Fred and George to pop since the only other caffeine they had had was a small cup of tea or coffee with breakfast. Although he was a little worried if the house would be left standing, but it would be fun to watch.

Harry was less than impressed when he saw where they were staying. The building was old and grungy despite its opulence. Sirius had told him during one of their mirror conversations that it had belonged to his family for a few decades but hadn’t been looked after properly since the death of his mother years before. 

Sirius had been staying there while he waited for his trial since his father had warded the property to Hades and back. Now that Sirius was free he had told Harry he planned to find a comfortable property, with a room just for him, so he could visit whenever he wanted. The original plan Sirius had had was to have Harry move in with him immediately. And as much as Harry would love too, which he had made sure Sirius knew, they all knew that he still needed to spend a bit of time with the Dursley’s, and the rest of the time outside of school in a secure place with the return of Voldemort.

But for now Harry would need to make the best of it.

“HARRY!” Sirius shouted in excitement as he threw himself at Harry the moment he came through the door.

Not that he was the only one shouting. The entry way was filled with people. And as soon as they shouted the portrait of Sirius’s mother that he had warned him about started screaming about blood traitors and the like. Charlie moved to force the curtains closed since it was obvious Sirius had no intention of letting Harry go.

“Padfoot, you need to let him breathe.” Remus chuckled after it became obvious that Sirius had no intention of letting Harry go any time soon.

“What’s that?” Sirius questioned as he glanced up from where he had buried his head in Harry’s hair once the scent of cheese and pepperoni met his sensitive nose. Then he watched as Bill and Arthur each carried in a stack of boxes he recognized from when Lily had pregnancy cravings and demanded all different kinds of pizza. “PIZZA!”

“Harry wanted to get rid of the last of his muggle money and decided to buy pizza for lunch.” Bill explained to the others. He was just relieved the tops were closed on the pizzas so that none of the confetti the twins had released when they had come in the house had gotten on them.

“Oh there was no need for that Harry dear.” Molly bustled forward and tried to give Harry a hug but Sirius refused to move out of her way, much to her irritation.

Harry just shrugged and let Sirius guide him towards the kitchen. He knew from previous conversations with Sirius that Mrs. Weasley had been less than subtly competing with him about who was more of a parental figure for him and he had no intention of feeding into her belief that it was her. Given her involvement in the marriage contract he had no intention of playing her games. He and Charlie may have made their peace, and had actually become friends, but that didn't mean that either of them were ok with it.

“Harry, are you even going to say hello?” Hermione demanded. 

She had been beyond frustrated with how Harry had been treating them in their letters and that he hadn’t told them what he was doing but was cautious because both she and Ron had been told off a few times during the summer when they complained about how Harry was reacting in his letters. She knew from listening to the others that Harry did technically have a reason to be upset with them, they had been keeping things from him, but she was still irritated, and she knew Ron was too. And Harry had also been keeping things from them obviously, so he shouldn’t be mad at them.

“I said hi to everyone already.” Harry said blandly, barely glancing at his female best friend, before turning to chat with Sirius.

Harry enjoyed lunch. He had often seen pizza since the Dursley’s were always getting it, but had never been allowed to have any. When he had mentioned it to Charlie he had gone out and got them a few different types. This had started Harry’s exploration of different types of food.

Like Harry, the twins, and Ron of course, greatly enjoyed the pizza. The twins in particular were fascinated and thrilled with the different types of pop he had gotten. Like Harry had expected the two were nearly levitating from their seats from the levels of sugar and caffeine. 

A few people kept trying to talk to, or more likely scold, Harry, but Sirius and Remus, and a few others like Bill, kept interrupting. It was really funny to see how frustrated the others were getting.

“Ah, it is good to see you safely back home Harry.” Dumbledore said as soon as he arrived in the kitchen when the meal was being finished up. “I apologize for being late, I had wished to be here when you returned to us but unfortunately was held up with meetings.”

“It’s expected by now Albus.” Sirius said in a sarcastic tone. And he meant it. He knew his former headmaster was chronically late for everything and always used the same excuses.

Albus was slightly annoyed at Sirius. The mans trial had been the week before and he had been found innocent, given that Pettigrew was in custody it wasn’t like anyone could argue Sirius had killed him. Albus was pleased for Sirius that he finally had his well deserved freedom, but he couldn’t deny that it caused some issues for him. Sirius had been more and more difficult since Harry had first captured Pettigrew, the man was determined to take control of everything. Albus had plans for the Black properties but the man had actually argued that he was not in control and that it was his place. And he was constantly arguing with Albus’s plans about protecting Harry, Sirius just didn't understand that the world had changed while he was in Azkaban and that he knew best, he had been protecting the boy for over a decade successfully after all.

Albus chose to ignore Sirius’s tone, he could tell from the looks Molly and a few other of his most loyal Order members were giving the man he would have his attitude corrected, and turned his attention to the wayward teenager. “While we are all pleased you made it home safe my boy, you really shouldn’t have left the safety of your Aunt and Uncles place. Really my boy, it just is not safe.”

“I was perfectly safe.” Harry barely resisted rolling his eyes at the disappointed looks he was being given from some others. He was still uneasy around Dumbledore for his previous actions, but he was no longer afraid of him, he had real things to fear. “No one knew where I was so I was perfectly safe. Staying here would have been the dangerous thing. After all, I wasn’t attacked by dementor’s, but my cousin who stayed there was. Speaking of which, is there any information on my supposed expulsion.”

“The expulsion has been overturned, mostly because the Ministry can’t expel a student from Hogwarts.” Kingsley spoke up. “Instead a hearing in Madame Bones’s office for underage magic has been arranged.”

“Don’t worry, you didn't do anything wrong so the law is on your side.” Remus assured, understanding Harry was trying to cut of what was undoubtably going to be a major guilt trip by Albus. 

“It is well known to Madame Bones that I was the one to cast the patronus.” Kingsley told the boy, not wanting him to worry that he was going to get in trouble. “I have also submitted a formal statement about what happened, and so did the others who monitored the area that night. Madame Bones has also opened an investigation into why dementors were there.”

“Although, I wouldn’t put it past that fool Fudge to try something tricky.” Sirius grumbled.

“As I was saying,” Albus shot an irritated look at the others although he was obviously trying for disappointed. “You really should have told us.”

“Quite right.” Molly gave a sharp nod in agreement at finally being given a chance to properly address the child disappearing like that. He was just a boy, he had no right to run away without permission. “Just what were you thinking young man?”

Harry raised an eye brow at the looks Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley, and a few others he didn't recognize, were giving him, his to illicit guilt and theirs an attempt to cow him, none worked. “I actually wanted to enjoy my summer is what I was thinking. So, I told the Dursley’s, they gave permission, I left. That’s all there is to it. The only person in this room that could have any say is Sirius, and since he hadn’t had his trial at the time I left he wasn’t in a position to interfere.”

“I don’t have a problem with Harry having a good summer.” Sirius quickly cut in before sending his godson a conspiratorial look. “Although I wish he would have taken me with him.”

“You would.” Molly scoffed in irritation. She liked the idea of keeping her family safe during the war, but she did not like exposing her children to an influence as bad as the likes of Sirius Black. Yes, Sirius hadn’t been guilty of the murders or anything, but she had overheard him far too often giving her children all kinds of foolish ideas, especially the twins. Just because she wasn’t stopping them from opening up their shop did not mean she approved of it.

“Really my boy, you should have spoken with myself and the rest of the Order.” Albus admonished the willful child.

“I don’t even know what this supposed Order is.” Yes, he was lying since he had those like Sirius, Remus, and Bill giving him information on the Order, but he didn't care. He had been lied to often enough by the Headmaster that it was only fair. “Besides, it isn’t like anyone has ever cared what I do during my summer before. For Merlins sake, Ron, Fred, and George all had to break me out the summer before our second year because the Dursley’s had locked me up and were only giving me a bowl of cold soup every few days, if they remembered, and no one batted an eye. Not to mention the summer of ’93 where I spent the final few weeks in Diagon Alley and I didn't hear a word from any of these so called Order members that apparently think they have a say in my summer.”

“What do you mean ‘locked up’?” Remus snarled.

“And the whole feeding you cold soup every few days?” Sirius questioned in the same tone.

“I mean exactly what I said.” Harry winced slightly. While he had mentioned  the mutual dislike between himself and the Dursley’s before he had never gone into specifics.

“I’m sure it is just a slight misunderstanding.” Albus quickly said, he could see the anger in the eyes of the two marauders and knew to be cautious. He was sure Harry was just exaggerating, family loved each other and wouldn’t hurt one another.

“He’s telling…”

“The truth.” The twins said.

“Why didn't you tell anyone what you saw?” Remus questioned the twins. He knew they cared about Harry so it didn't make sense to him that they wouldn’t have tried to help him.

“We did.” The twins said together in exasperation.

“We were told not to…”

“Exaggerate…”

“But we…”

“Weren’t.” 

“Oh hush you two.” Molly glared at her twins. She did not like them speaking about muggles as horribly as they had about Harry’s family. “What the Headmaster is trying to say Harry is that you are too young to just go running off.”

“Quite right my dear boy.” Albus swiftly agreed, pleased Molly had gotten them off the topic of Harry’s less than desirable home life, although he was sure much of it was an exaggeration since no family would ever be truly horrible to one another. “Not only is it dangerous but you need to stay with your family to maintain the wards. It would be such a shame if the wards your mother granted you with her sacrifice were to fall because you wanted to go galavanting around.”

“I asked the Dursley’s and they were more than happy for me to leave. So I did have permission from my adult guardians. No one here, except Sirius now, has any right or ability to interfere with that. Not unless they are trying to claim they are some how a part of my life and have a say despite this being the first time I have met most of you here. That would be like saying Sirius has more authority over the Weasley children then their own parents.” Harry reiterated. He knew Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley were repeating themselves because it hadn't gone their way the first time and were hoping saying it again would get a different response.

Molly was highly offended by that analogy. Sirius Black most certainly didn't have any say in her babies lives.

“I do agree.” Remus said in the calmest voice he could manage. His wolf was still enraged at the idea that someone would hurt their cub.

“And as for the wards, they are as fine as they’re ever going to be given they are supposedly based on love despite the fact Petunia and Vernon hate me so they aren’t exactly providing any support themselves.” Harry rolled his eyes. “Besides, I talked with Bill about the wards the summer I stayed in Diagon because I was worried then and he told me the wards that I was describing would need me to live there for a week to be maintained. I stayed a week, then I escaped to actually enjoy my summer.”

“A WEEK!?” Sirius demanded in outrage as he glanced at Bill who gave him a confirming nod before he turned his fury on Dumbledore. “You told me a minimum of a month.”

“It’s all just a misunderstanding I’m sure my boy.” Albus assured Sirius. 

Although, he wasn’t exactly an expert on wards, but he knew Harry only benefited from staying with his relatives. Sirius would just encourage the dear boy to rebel, and he didn't need him doing that even more, the boy was already becoming too oppositional. “I’m sure the wards would take longer to reach full strength.”

“That is true, if the wards were still properly functioning.” Bill cut in. He was an expert in warding thanks to his job as a curse breaker so was going to make sure the truth was known and not just others assumptions. “Unfortunately, because the Dursley couple never fully accepted Harry the wards never fully formed.”

“They took him in.” Albus argued, he was sure his plan had worked, the wards were still there and Harry had never been attacked by Death Eaters so he must be safe.

“It isn’t enough for them to just take him in. For the wards to fully form and work properly they would have had to take him in willingly, not just because they were forced to. And they would have had to love him as they did their own child, not just tolerate his presence and use him for slave labour.” Bill told them bluntly. “If the wards were fully formed it would take about a month for them to be at full strength, but because they only partially formed due to the disgusting behaviour of Vernon and Petunia Dursley they only take a week to reach the strongest they can be.”

Sirius snorted bitterly. “At least there is one benefit of you throwing Harry away to the hateful shrew that is Petunia. It limits the time he has to stay with them. Although I would prefer if he never got within a thousand yards of the filth again but we all know you would never allow that. The great Albus Dumbledore just loves making children stay in crappy homes.”

Albus barely managed to withhold his flinch. He would always regret that Harry hadn’t been able to have a happy childhood, but sacrifices were needed for the greater good.

“So…” Harry turned his attention to Sirius. “Clearly this little meeting isn’t going anywhere. How bout you show me to my room?”

“Ron can show you Harry dear.” Molly quickly assured, although she was still planning on having a long talk with that boy about his behaviour and that he shouldn’t try and be like Sirius. “The two of you will be sharing.”

“No, they won’t. As I have told you multiple times Molly.” Sirius rolled his eyes as he stood up and moved over to Harry, not that he needed to rush because Ron was still relaxing in his post meal haze.

“All the other children are sharing rooms, it’s only fair Ron and Harry do as well.” Molly huffed. “Besides, we need those rooms free for other Order members.”

“The other children are sharing rooms because they are guests, and because you ordered your children to do so. This is my home, Harry is my godson, and that means this is his home too. Harry is staying in his room, not one of the rooms that have been commandeered as guest rooms for Order members who have their own homes.” Sirius laid out bluntly before turning to guide Harry out of the room.

Harry loved his room. Not because it was anything spectacular, the room was a bit run down like the rest of the house due to lack of proper upkeep, but it was obvious Sirius and Remus had worked hard to fix it up.

No, what he loved was that it was his. This was evidence that Sirius acknowledged him as family. He knew Sirius loved him, how could he not with how many times he told him so, but this was physical evidence that there was room for him in Sirius’s life. Harry felt the same way about his room in the tent he and Charlie shared during the summers.

But he eventually had to leave. He knew he was going to have to talk with Ron and Hermione. He was surprised they hadn’t spoken up during lunch, or the conversation after, but figured it was because of Hermione’s devotion to adults and Ron’s fear of his mum telling him off.

After getting directions from Fred and George Harry found his way to Ron’s room where they warned him that the two were waiting for him. The twins also warned him that the two were angry but they knew he could handle them. And if not all he needed to do was bang on the door twice and they would be more than happy to create a distraction for him.

“Where have you been?” Hermione demanded as soon as he stepped in the room.

“I was putting things away in my room.” Harry said calmly. He honestly wasn’t sure if she meant just a few moments before or earlier in the summer.

“Mrs. Weasley said you were staying here with Ron.” Hermione waved her hand to the bed that clearly hadn’t been slept in that she was sitting on. “Yet your things aren’t here.”

“I’m staying in the room Sirius set up for me.” Harry looked at Hermione like she was losing it.

“But Mrs. Weasley said you were staying with Ron.” Hermione said again. 

“Yeah mate. We always room together.” Ron nodded along with Hermione.

“Not usually during the summer. In the summer we share a room when we are at The Burrow, we aren’t at The Burrow.” Harry pointed out. “Sirius and Remus set up a room for me.”

“You’re really going to listen to Sirius over Mrs. Weasley?” Hermione questioned in obvious derision. “Oh Harry. You need to think clearly right now, war is coming. We know Sirius means a lot to you, but he isn’t a good role model. Mrs. Weasley is the more responsible adult.”

“I don’t care who you think is more ‘responsible’ Hermione, Sirius is my family.” Harry said coldly, disappointed Hermione was still clearly unable to truly think for herself and chose to rely on those she saw as authority figures. “But more importantly, this is Sirius’s house.”

“You’ve never disobeyed mum like that.” Ron pointed out in a slightly worried voice. He knew how his mum was. She had been acting weird for the past few weeks in his opinion, but Ron knew she would be back to her regular behaviour soon.

Ron wasn’t a fool. He knew his mum was over protective and acted differently than most parents, he had talked to his dad over the years and knew what had happened to his mum and her brothers after their parents died. He knew his parent were just doing their best for them, and he did his best to help them and take some of the stress off them, when he remembered. With Percy leaving, and the twins being the twins, he knew his mum was stressed and didn't want to add to it. She did not handle disobedience well, which was why he tried to hide it when he did things he knew she wouldn’t like.

“I followed your mums orders because we were in her home. As I told Hermione, this is Sirius’s home.” Harry reminded his friend.

“This is the Order headquarters.” Hermione huffed. “Besides, Sirius isn’t always right about things.”

“Sirius may be allowing the Order to meet here, but this is still his home. Come on Ron, be honest. If anyone came to The Burrow and treated your family and the house the way everyone has been treating Sirius and his home they would have been kicked out within the hour and told to never come back.”

Ron’s eyes grew huge as he thought about that. If anyone had berated his mum the way his mum had berated Sirius it would be a disaster. And it wasn’t just his mum that would lose it. His dad rarely got truly angry, but Ron knew he would if someone was mistreating his mum, and his dads anger was far more intimidating than his mums. Ron actually had the urge to hide at just the thought.

“And Hermione, do you think your parents would let anyone stay in your home if they had behaved this way?” Harry turned to his female friend when he saw the clear fear in Rons eyes at his thoughts.

“That’s different.” Hermione said defensively, but she knew the answer. Her parents would never tolerate anyone bossing them around in their home. Her grandmother, her mums mum, even stayed in a hotel when she came to visit because she and her mum would just argue about how to run a household if they stayed together. They loved one another, they were just too strong willed to live together peacefully, and her mum had already said she believed she would do the same once Hermione had her own home.

“No, it really isn’t. But, I must say, I am impressed Hermione.” Harry's voice had become slightly sarcastic.

“About what?” Hermione was confused by that, completely forgetting the previous conversation in interest of some new information Harry obviously had.

“You have finally started to grow up and understand that not all adults are perfect and need to be treated like their instructions are gospel.” Harry was glad to see she was questioning the actions of at least one adult, but he really didn't like how dismissively she and Ron were treating a man that had suffered in ways they could never imagine. “Although it is only slightly since it is just one adult.”

“You’re being ridiculous Harry.” Hermione sighed in annoyance that Harry wasn’t listening.

“No Hermione, what is ridiculous is thinking that the Headmaster of my school, and one of my friends parents, have any right to make decisions about where I stay and what I do during the summer.” Harry said calmly, he was getting very good at staying calm and knew if he got too emotional Hermione would use it against him. “You are going to have to grow up one day Hermione. There is a difference between treating someone with respect and acting like every word out of their mouth must be treated like it is from the gods themselves. Adults are humans, and humans are not perfect. They are just as capable of lying or being wrong as anyone else. You obviously have no problem questioning Sirius, now you just need to start thinking critically about what other adults say. Same goes for books since they are written by people.”

Hermione ground her teeth. This wasn’t the first time Harry had said things like that and she didn't like it. Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were great and accomplished people, of course she did what they wanted.

“Mum watched us too closely mate. If we had tried to tell you anything about the Order we wouldn’t have been able to write to you at all.” Ron assured Harry.

“Ron, I got letters from multiple people here, not just the two of you. The reason I am disappointed and annoyed with the two of you and not them is because they didn't spend the previous weeks taunting me with the fact they were here while I wasn’t.” Harry told them.

“We weren’t taunting you!” Hermione quickly assured.

“Yes, you were, you just didn't mean too. The letters the twins sent was about things like what they were doing and what they were thinking and asking me the same. The letters from the two of you were just vague hints about what was going on here while going on and on about all the things you couldn’t tell me.” Harry told them.

“We didn't mean it like that mate.” Ron quickly assured. They weren’t trying to taunt him.

“That’s how it came across, as I wrote to you. I told you to stop mentioning what you couldn’t say and focus on other things, you chose not to.” Harry reminded them.

“It isn’t like you told us everything yourself.” Hermione argued.

“I told you I was going camping, and that’s what I did.” Harry said with a slight smirk as he thought about how Dumbledore still had no idea of just how much he knew. “It isn’t my fault that you weren’t interested enough to ask more about it.”

Hermione huffed in irritation and crossed her arms. She knew that Harry had known exactly what he was doing with being so vague about his summer plans. But she also knew Harry was right, they hadn’t asked where he was camping, just assuming it was in the backyard like her parents had done with her when she was little.

“So you aren’t going to stay in here with me?” Ron questioned. He was hopeful the argument between Harry and Hermione was over and wanted to get past it. Despite his own short temper he really didn't know how to deal with conflict so he just chose to ignore it and move on like it never happened.

“No.” Harry said in a serious voice. “I will be staying in my room.”

“Awesome.” Ron said with a huge grin. Then he quickly decided to clarify when he saw the slightly insulted look of Harry and the irritated look of Hermione. “I just mean… It means I can spread my stuff out a bit more. Mum’s been on me nonstop to keep everything clean and tidy for when you move in with me, but if you are in your room than I can enjoy this big room all for myself.”

Harry smiled at the clear joy in Ron’s voice. He was glad Ron was choosing to look on the bright side of things. He just hoped Hermione would accept it as well.

Trial For Nothing

Harry was escorted into courtroom 10 by a very furious Martin Fawley, the law-wizard who had been hired by his grandfather before he had been born, and Sirius. Barrister Fawley had been the one who had represented him and tried to get him out of the triwizard tournament. Sirius had also hired him to get him free of his charges and now he was working on the lawsuit he was filing against the Ministry for his wrongful imprisonment. Sirius had reached out to him as soon as he had learned Harry was being charged for underage magic despite the fact he wasn’t even in the country.

There had been plenty of discussions about how Harry was going to get to his meeting with Madame Bones, it seemed everyone thought their opinion mattered. In the end Sirius had put his foot down, he would be escorting Harry along with the Potter’s barrister. And they would be going by apparition rather than trying to navigate muggle London to get there since Sirius was making him dress up like a proper wizard since he said he needed to make a good impression.

They had been lucky they had arrived early to go over what they were planning to say in the food court that morning. Mr. Weasley had gone with them and then went to his office but came rushing back only moments later with a note he had been passed that the time and location of Harry’s hearing had been changed.

Rather than the hearing they had been informed of Harry was now facing a trial, in front of select Wizengamot members, in a courtroom that hadn’t been used since the Death Eater trials, and it was starting in less than 10 minutes.

When they stepped into the room it was obvious Fudge was unhappy. He had been chatting happily with a few others, but when he saw him his smile fell away and he glared at him. With a huff the man started the trial by listing off the charges against Harry and introducing himself and the others involved in the official roles.

Before Fudge could ask a single question Fawley cut him off. “I demand a full explanation for this illegal farce.”

“Hem hem. This is no farce. This is a trial to punish a lying boy for his flagrant disregard of the international statute of secrecy.” The woman who had been identified as Deloris Umbridge said in a simpering voice.

“This is a farce, and an illegal one at that.” Barrister Fawley did not back down for a moment. He knew what kind of woman he was dealing with having had run ins with her in the past because she was always sticking her nose in things, she had done so with the tournament the year previous so he knew she already didn't like Harry. “We were informed this would be a simple hearing in Madame Bones’s office. And I was only informed, by word of mouth, that the hearing had been changed to a full trial, been move to a courtroom that hasn’t been used since the Death Eater trials, and the time had been changed. It is quite disturbing that the Ministry is so flagrantly violating so many laws.”

“Hogwash.” Fudge blustered in irritation, he hated being questioned by anyone. “Letters were sent out this morning. If you didn't get them that is your problem, not ours. This trial will move forward now. You should have prepared to defend your client better if you are this worried.”

“We have no problems with this trial moving forward. I just wanted to ensure you were fully aware of how illegal the actions of all involved in this farce are so that you will not be surprised when your crimes are investigated and you are held accountable. And it will be investigated as I will be filing criminal complaints.” At that he gave a hard look at Madame Bones, he knew the woman was known for being fair, and she was well aware his client was innocent, but she also went along with Fudge’s actions just to maintain her job far more than he was comfortable with. “After all, any change of trial time or severity requires both barrister and defendant be informed a minimum of 48 hours in advance. And as the Minister himself just confessed these supposed letters with said information were only sent out this morning.”

“Hem hem.” The pink clad Umbridge simpered. “The Ministry is perfectly within it’s rights to hold lying law breakers accountable.”

“So long as they do so legally.” Barrister Fawley reiterated.

“Can we get this done.” One of the elderly men sitting a few rows behind the Minister and his lackeys grumbled. “We do not have all day.”

“Quite right.” Fudge straightened his tie as he tried to regain control of the situation. It was not going the way he had planned, the boy shouldn’t have even been there, let alone have a barrister with him. “Are you Harry Potter of 4 Privet Dr. Little Whinging, Surrey?”

“Yes.” Harry confirmed when he got a nod from his barrister.

“And did you cast the patronus charm the evening of August 2, 1995?” Fudge demanded as he grew more confident.

“No.”

“Knowing full well… What?” Fudge was confused. He and Deloris had gone over what he would say multiple times the afternoon before and didn't understand why the boy wasn’t following their script.

“My client said no, he did not cast the spell.” Barrister Fawley.

“Then who cast the spell?” Fudge questioned.

“You were involved in the investigation Madame Bones, so would you like to answer that question since we seem to be ignoring all basic formalities with this so called trial.” Barrister Fawley glanced at the woman.

“The patronus in question was cast by Auror Shacklebolt to stop two dementors from desouling Heir Potter’s cousin.” Madame Bones said.

“Surely you aren’t implying anything so nefarious as a dementor being in a muggle town? Dementors are under ministry control.” Madame Umbridge simpered. “Though it is questionable as to why someone as respected as an auror was in a muggle town.”

Amelia knew just from the look on Barrister Fawley’s face nothing was going to stop him from forcing a full investigation. He had been allies with her father so she knew the man was ruthless when he was on a case. Add to that he was personally annoyed with the actions of Fudge and Umbridge, not that she could blame him. Neither of those two were going to allow her to do her job in peace. She knew she was going to need to mitigate as much of Umbridge’s anger since she was the real problem, Fudge was a power mad corrupt man, but he was a fool, Umbridge was power mad and corrupt too, but she had at least enough intelligence to cause problems. Luckily Amelia had one thing she knew would make Umbridge more merciful, or as much as she could be, towards Kingsley.

“Auror Shacklebolt had gone to see a squib kneazle breeder that lives in the area.” Amelia withheld a sigh when she saw the slight light in Umbridge’s eyes, the woman really did love felines.

“Potter had to be there. He lives there.” Fudge complained.

“Heir Potter was not even in the country at the time the incident occurred.” Barrister Fawley told them. He was pleased Black was keeping quiet, he knew from his own trial the man had a temper but he had made sure he understood not to say more than needed to be said.

“We have no record of that.” Umbridge said as she refocused on the annoying brat that was causing them all kinds of trouble.

“As the Minister stated, Heir Potter lives in the muggle world during the summer. His family sent him to a muggle summer camp in Spain this summer.” Barrister Fawley magicked copies of Harry’s muggle plane tickets to the present Wizengamot. “Heir Potter only returned to this country a few days ago after receiving the letter from this Ministry both charging him with the use of underage magic, as well as expelling him from Hogwarts, despite, as the ministry was later reminded, not having the authority to expel a student from school.”

At that point everything was stopped when Dumbledore threw open the doors and strolled in grandly with Mrs. Figg shuffling behind him in her house slippers. Harry was still annoyed to learn the woman who had babysat him while he was growing up was connected to the magical world and had never told him. Bill had written to him when he had learned about it earlier in the summer.

Thankfully, in Harry’s opinion, Barrister Fawley managed to keep things from falling into an ego battle between Dumbledore and Fudge. And when the vote was held Harry’s obvious innocence was affirmed, although it was clear there were a few, like Fudge and Umbridge, that were only going along with it so as to not make their bias against him public.

Prefects

When the Hogwarts letters arrived Harry was in no way surprised that Hermione and Ron were given the prefects badges. He figured they were a reward for the two doing as they were told to earlier in the summer.

Was he being a little petty, yes, yes he was.

Mrs. Weasley had arranged a party to celebrate and thats where everyone was at that moment. Harry really was happy for Ron and Hermione, even if he was still annoyed with them for their previous behaviour. They had spent a bit of time together since he arrived but Harry made it clear that spending time with his godfather was going to be his priority, they may have already been around him for weeks since they had been allowed to move into his home but Harry hadn’t and wanted the chance to get to be with him.

“Surprised it ain't you?” Mad-Eye grumbled, as quietly as he ever said anything, as he sat down with Harry.

Harry couldn’t help it, he snorted. “Thought you were smarter than that.” He said in a teasing voice, he had found he liked the blustery old man since arriving even if it was still a little creepy to be so close to him after someone wearing his face had tried to kill him only a couple months previous.

“What’s that supposed to mean lad?” Mad-Eye questioned as both his eyes locked on the child in front of him. He had only met him a few weeks before, but he found he liked the boys blunt attitude. He was also impressed that the boy had managed to not just get past them, but got out of the country. And not only did he get out of the country, but he managed to keep his methods secret even from him and that was something that he could respect, in his own way.

“I think it’s been made pretty clear this summer that I am not blindly obedient to what Dumbledore wants. I dared to both question and defy his demands. No way he, or McGonagall, would give me any form of authority after that. Those two are of the opinion that they are always right and never truly consider anyone else’s perspective or that they could possibly make a mistake.” Harry huffed with a slight eye roll. “Ron and Hermione proved they would obey regardless of whether or not they fully agreed. So they were rewarded for that.”

“Albus is a good leader.” Mad-Eye quickly defended the man that had led them through the previous war. He did agree that that was most likely the reason the boy didn't get the prefects badge, but that didn't mean Albus was necessarily wrong. “What do you think he’s doing wrong anyway?”

“Well… from what little I’ve heard you guys are guarding something, but I think we know how that went with the lot of you watching me.” Harry smirked at the scowl he got from the man that was still not over a teenager getting past him. “You guys don’t share information. Without having information on what happened while the others are watching all you can do is make assumptions. You also have no way to tell if anything has happened to a watcher. What if they get cursed, or hurt? And do any of you have alibis set up for if you are suspected of being somewhere where you weren't meant to be? Or are you all just going to rely on that 'looking for a kneazle' story again?"”

“What are you guys…”

“Talking about?” Fred and George questioned as they sat down with Harry and Mad-Eye. 

The twins were still ignoring their mum after what she had said about all of her children being prefects when they hadn’t, not that she had noticed. Both she and their dad were doting on Ron. They weren’t really bothered by Ron getting the badge, they knew Ron had his own issues and were hopeful this would encourage him, but they couldn’t deny they resented their parents behaviour.

“We were just talking about how the Order doesn’t have any protections for their guards, and actually good alibis.” Harry told the twins. He knew they were upset so thought giving them a task might get their minds off the dismissiveness of their parents. “What do you two think? What would you do to make sure the guards can get help if it is needed?”

That resulted in a planning session that was soon joined by a few others about different protections that could be put in place to ensure Order members weren’t attacked without being able to call for backup like had happened during the previous war. Mad-Eye had pulled out an old photo of the previous Order and they talked about what they could have done different to learn from their mistake so that when this newest war ended they wouldn’t have a photo with so many members that had been killed.