Proper Life

"It's not fair!" Harry shouted, stamping his foot as he glared up at him. "All of my friends are going, I'm sick of being singled out like this!"

"Harry I really am sorry-" James almost stammered, clearly floored at Harry's reaction, he began running his hand through his hair in agitation, which Harry took no notice of as he shouted back.

"No you're not! All you ever bloody care about is my safety, when no one's ever actually hurt me! You're just a coward because of what happened to my mum all those years ago! That's why you two kept us locked away when we were little, weren't allowed at Muggle school! I had to wait to go where Uncle Remus could keep an eye on me at Hogwarts! You never let me go anywhere on my own!"

"Harry," James tried, going a little pale in shock, maybe shame, but his son wasn't done yet.

"I'm sick of being the Boy Who Lived! I am sick of everyone trying to treat me like this, and I am sick of being your son!" Harry whirled on the spot and tore up the stairs without a backward glance, and James got to hear the echo of his door slamming shut with an accompanying wince.

3

Wincing at the sound of his front door knocking in a harassed manner Remus reacted with caution to the noise as he peaked out a window, then dashed for the knob. It was only the protective enchantments bordering the frame that allowed them still standing.

"James, what-"

"Harry's missing," he half stammered, already holding tight to Remus' sleeve and trying to drag him back to the apparition point. "We, had a fight, he went to his room, hadn't realized he, must have left hours ago, and with him on the loose- we've got to-"

"Prongs!" Remus insisted as he caught the panickers elbow even while he kept being dragged forward another few feet, "Harry's here."

"He, what?"

Before Remus could even begin to repeat himself, James bolted inside and found Harry sitting with his arms crossed and not looking at anyone, but perfectly alive on the couch.

"You are so beyond grounded, you're never leaving that room again!" His hysterical father screeched even as he ran forward and pulled Harry into such a tight hug he had no choice but to release his crossed arms even if the petulant expression stayed in place.

James seemed unlikely to move for ages, so Remus intervened by stating, "I'd introduce you, but he seems busy at the moment. How about I show you to the kitchen and make you a cup while we finish up?"

Despite his hold lot loosening one tiny little bit, James did look around to find his son wasn't the only unexpected guest in here, a girl with bright pink hair was sitting in Remus' favorite recliner and grinning adoringly at the moment.

"I suppose if I must," she responded, turning her attention back to Remus even as her eyes kept flickering to the pair of them, "but can't I at least get a camera to record the show?"

"I thought you aced all of your Auror training Miss Tonks," Remus scolded with a smirk, "you should know better than to go around trying to record those who haven't given permission."

She scowled and would have said something not very nice to him had she not been cut off.

James was honestly confused for a moment at the tone Moony was using, it brought him quite a flashback to years ago and his indulgence of any insane plan the Marauders had come up with, back before-

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" He demanded, perhaps a bit too harshly. Hopefully the stranger would put it down to his still raw emotions, though Remus' suddenly uneasy face wasn't helping his cover much.

"Two reasons," she grinned while flashing up both fingers and wiggling them, "one of which I'm afraid I can't share, but the main one was to return this wayward youth I happened across in the Leaky Cauldron. Spotted him a mile off and tried to return him home, though he refused to tell me where he lived, so I went with a close friend of the family's who I should have known better wouldn't have been any help."

She finished with a suffering look at Remus, who quickly gave an apologetic look at James and stated, "had I known he'd run away, I would have told you the moment she came over with him, but I swear James he hasn't said a word since he was here and I was only just getting to asking Nymphadora what was going on when you appeared." His words didn't entirely hide the relief he was still feeling that James was clearly alright and Harry hadn't been brought here for some far worse reason than teenage troubles.

"Don't call me by my first name," she scolded at once, again demanding all attention.

"Well you already told me not to call you Miss Tonks," Remus rolled his eyes at her. "What exactly am I supposed to call you?"

"Can it not just be Tonks?" She pouted at him. "Just because you were once my teacher doesn't mean you have to forever be cordial with me."

James was stunned for a moment to realize there was something in those dark purple eyes of hers as she looked up at his friend, but he was convinced Moony hadn't seen it as he just rolled his. He'd probably just been imagining things, there was no need for some odd settling feeling to float down on his brain.

Still he shook his head and forced himself to stay on track. "Well, honestly I don't really care what the second reason is. Thank you, so much for getting Harry home." She smiled and nodded politely to his sincere warmth, as the father turned stern eyes back on his son. "For now though, I think we need to go home."

He was up and looking pointedly at his little spitting image still pouting on the couch, but Harry finally realized he couldn't sit there forever and so begrudgingly went with his father back into the emerald flames.

3

Flames came to life so often in The Leaky Cauldron that no one flinched as it happened several times in quick succession. Leo came out last, shaking the ashes from his dark hair to the already bustling day.

The Weasley's were here as promised, the assortment of redheads clustered about the place. Harry was eyeing his friend with longing but stayed at his dad's side, clearly knowing he'd only get in more trouble the second he stepped away. Then he spotted Ginny, alone at the end of a long table, smiling still a rare sight on her face as she watched her family.

Leo hesitated a moment before going over to Harry. "You haven't been over to the Weasley's this summer yet, have you?"

"No," he snapped, "you know I haven't."

Leo fidgeted with his hair a bit and glanced back over towards Ginny guiltily, Harry catching on and his expression softening. "I'm sure she's doing alright, I asked about her a few times. Amazingly, dad still lets me send letters," he finished a touch sourly with a glance up at him, but he was still chatting with their uncles and neither party was paying mind to the others conversation. "What's the matter, why don't you just go ask her yourself?"

"I was, kind of a jerk to her last year," Leo whispered softly. "My friend Poppy said we should try to hang out with her more, but I didn't want to because I thought Ginny didn't want to be friends with us. Now, I, I realize I didn't even, well that I didn't realize-"

"Hey," Harry wrapped his arm around his cousins' shoulder and gave a tight squeeze. "Nobody did, it's not your fault! She's in my house and I didn't, she's Ron's sister and none of her brothers noticed either. It's no one's fault but Voldemort's, right?"

"Right, yeah," he breathed in relief.

"I'm sure she'd love some company today, instead of just going about with her mum," Harry hinted as Leo still looked a tad uneasy.

"Yeah?" He asked for a moment, before brightening at the idea and going over to her. He turned to eye his dad for a moment, but he'd been so distracted all summer, he still didn't notice as he took off across the room.

"Hello Ginny," he said with such enthusiasm, Ginny startled in her seat a bit. "How was Egypt?"

"Oh, erm, really great," she smiled tentatively at the other. "Bill was a lot of fun to be around, and the twins were a riot. Be in the same room with them for five seconds and they'll give you details of how to shut our brother Percy into a crypt."

Leo laughed in appreciation, glanced over at Harry again, but tried to keep his voice light and open as he asked, "ah, would you mind terribly if, well my dad and Uncles are going around with Harry and his friends today to get his stuff, but I don't want to hang around a bunch of teenagers," he wrinkled his nose exaggeratedly at the idea, causing Ginny to giggle. "Mind if I, go get my stuff with you today? We need the same things anyway, right?"

"Oh, yes," Ginny said at once, "I wouldn't mind at all." She leaped from her seat to ask her Mum, while Leo could have kicked himself as he realized he hadn't actually asked his own dad. To his surprise though, Mrs. Weasley smiled at her and nodded, and then went up to him to ask herself.

His dad only hesitated a moment, then he gestured to Arthur, before clearly nodding his agreement.

"I've already got money out at the beginning of summer," Leo promised as he followed the smaller group of redheads out into the cobblestone street, waving vaguely at his family as they departed towards the other end of Diagon Alley.

"That's good dear," Molly smiled, "we need to make a stop at Flourish and Blotts first before we head out."

"Lockhart's publishing company's giving out refunds for all those books we had to buy last year being such a sham," Arthur told the two with a hard expression as he checked his bag again to make sure the five sets were all still there.

Leo had no idea what they were talking about, but then, he'd barely opened them himself. Ginny seemed to realize this as a good thing though, and it was amazing to see just how much she was smiling today compared to all of last year.

3

"-years this way! First years follow me!"

The majority of them flocked to Hagrid's side for instinctive safety, but a few stragglers hesitated at seeing something else new. Would he cause the same feelings those horrors on the train just had?

"It's alright," Neville nudged a little blond towards him. "Hagrid's going to take you the rest of the way, you'll be safe."

The boy finally began taking hesitant steps to follow the others to the boats, while Harry let Hermione and Neville take the lead in going to horseless carriages, still chewing slowly on his chocolate.

They waited until they were inside the warm, hay smelling seats and it had taken off before Hermione asked again, "are you sure you're alright Harry?" Her voice was muffled by Crookshanks still unpleasantly puffed up from their ordeal, but then, he'd been like that since he demanded their attention in the shop they'd found him in.

"Yeah," he lied automatically, the scream still echoing in his head.

"And to think, you were mad your Uncle insisted on taking the train with us this year," Neville said around an awkward laugh, Trevor croaking loudly in that moment as if to enunciate this.

"He still didn't have to sit in the compartment across from us," Ron rolled his eyes in Harry's defense. "I mean, yeah, came in handy didn't he scaring that thing off, but I don't blame Harry being so mad at them all. They're treating him like a baby."

"I think something's going on, and they're not telling me," Harry continued the cut off conversation earlier from their compartment. "My dad, he's been acting odd all summer, but he won't tell me why. He's always been, I don't know, a little anxious I guess about letting me be alone, but now he keeps looking over his shoulder like a murderer's going to appear there any second."

"Well, we're at Hogwarts now," Neville reminded with forced chipper. "Nothing's going to happen to us here!"

"Right," he tried to agree as he finished off his chocolate, just as they passed the dementors at the gate and they entered their home through another wave of chills and despair.

3

"Despair not!" Dumbledore's warm voice flooded the hall, finally chasing away the last of the train rides events for the night. "The dementors are merely a precaution in these trying times, but a dementor shall never cross these school boundaries, and our time here shall continue as pleasantly as ever. To help us along is our new, well new to you younglings as I've managed to convince him to come out of retirement, Potions teacher, Professor Slughorn!"

There was polite applause among the tables, while the four friends huddled together to whisper in confusion, "that's the bloke who sent us invitations on the train," Neville needlessly put together.

"Good thing we didn't accept them," Harry muttered as he watched his Uncle, surely the only one who noticed his smile looked a touch strained. "He doesn't look nearly as capable as Professor Lupin handling dementors."

Ron smothered a snort while Hermione rolled her eyes at the lot of them.

Once that had simmered down, Dumbledore also announced Hagrid as the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, this getting just a touch more enthusiastic applause, especially from Harry and his friends, before dinner was served. Dessert followed soon after, a much wider variety of chocolate selections than normal appearing, before they were all dismissed for bed.

Harry lingered behind the others so he could finally catch up to Leo, whom he hadn't a chance to check on the whole train ride.

He looked paler than most under his dark hair, but he was smiling in a knot of students that he vaguely recognized seeing around last year, including Ginny now. When he caught sight of him he broke off to give him a massive hug.

"I was worried about you," he clung to his chest painfully tight. "When I heard you collapsed! Then I saw McGonagall and Uncle Remus taking you aside afterward! I wanted to go check on you when you showed up after the sorting, but I knew the teachers would just yell at me across the whole hall to sit back down-"

"I'm fine, really, better than fine actually," he admitted, the weight of the experience feeling like a bad dream now as he had an answer in sight he happily shared. "The two decided, since I had such a bad reaction, that Professor Lupin could give me special lessons over dementors this year, I'll be starting next month."

"That's brilliant," he smiled up at him with clear relief. "Think I could join?"

"Why, did you collapse to?" He asked in his own flair of panic.

"No," he said quickly, before he hesitated and murmured for a moment, "though, I'll admit, I, I don't know what that thing made me here..." he trailed off and swallowed confusion before finally releasing him to theatrically scoff. "I'm just jealous you're getting to do special lessons."

"Don't be," his tone went a bit sour when it was put like that. "I'm right tired of being singled out all the time-"

"What are the lot of you doing about," McGonagall had come out of the hall and was now shooing away all the lingering wayward students to bed. "Off with you, you'll barely make it back to your dorms in time now for curfew."

"Try to stay out of trouble," he laughed as his cousin gave the teacher an aggrieved look.

"I will when you do," Leo shot back, waving energetically to his departing friends and heading off towards the dungeons.

Harry's friends were waiting for him on the stairs, hovering only a few moments longer for Ginny to join them so they could all go off to Gryffindor tower.

3

Towering behind them was an old wardrobe that would only normally house teachers cloaks in the staff-room, but was now shaking slightly. Not one of them was paying it a bit of attention, as the group of third years stood huddled and whispering to each other about what just happened.

"Never knew an Auror to turn up here before-"

"All these extra security measures must have something to do with You-Know-Who-"

"I think the Ministry's keeping something big hushed up!"

Harry stood on the fringe, not taking in a word from his classmates as he kept his eyes on the door. It could not be a coincidence that the same pink-haired girl who'd delivered him to his Uncle's over the summer popped back up now for a clearly urgent word with him. It was clear Professor Lupin hadn't meant for the whole class to hear such news, but now there was no stopping the whispered fears spreading.

His three friends stood around him in a huddle, but weren't taking part in the speculation, remaining quiet and close to Harry instead as he gathered his thoughts and tried to put it together.

"Harry, maybe you should just ask Professor Lupin, or write to your dad," Hermione tried to urge him for the third time this week.

"If they hadn't told me over the summer, why would they spontaneously do it now!" Harry fired back.

"Something new clearly happened," Neville reminded eyeing the door, "maybe now they will."

Before Harry could respond, Professor Lupin entered and the noise instantly cut off. To an outsider, he looked completely relaxed, but Harry knew better. Whatever news he'd received had troubled him. He didn't let it show as he walked around to the wardrobe and made all attention change to it for the lesson.

"Mr. Longbottom, would you come forward and join me?" He asked with the exact same polite authority he had with all prior lessons. Nothing should feel out of place.

Neville did so, looking puzzled but determined, his wand already held ready at his side as the wardrobe gave a particularly nasty wobble.

"Now then, who here can tell me what a boggart is?" He called openly. Harry watched a few hands shoot into the air, Hermione's as usual the fastest, but Harry didn't volunteer he knew the information himself. He had a slight leg up on her even, his Uncle Remus having an aptitude for magical creatures and sharing them in his youth meant Harry knew loads of facts even Hermione hadn't in the past. Those little tidbits weren't going to be useful right now filling in a gap where his family was hiding something, he was sure of it, and it had to do with the whole of Hogwarts being looked after this year.

He hardly paid attention to the instructions and only vaguely looked up as the door began to creak open, but frowned in confusion at who stepped out towards Neville.

The girl had the same round face and blond hair as him, but it was a nightmarish figure with distorted limbs and blood pouring from all orifices that ruined any semblance of humanity. Several people screamed, Neville even took a few horrified steps away, before he steeled his resolve and firmly said, "Riddikulus!"

The girl laughed like she was being tickled, her hands went up to smear away the blood like it was paint instead, and then Professor Lupin was calling Parvati forward and the class continued with others worst fears and no one thought twice considering their own problems until they were being dismissed.

"I can't wait to start my dementor lessons," Harry seethed as he finished off the last of his chocolate. "I was just as useless against it this time, even knowing what to expect!" He paused to swipe a few more droplets of sweat from going into his eyes, and shake away the last of the screams. He knew, without ever having been told, whose voice was haunting him around those beasts...and speaking of haunting.

"Hey Neville, who was that girl?"

His friend seemed reluctant to answer, fiddling with a loose string on his bag as they made their way down to lunch. Then he tried to play it off with a nervous laugh and answered quietly, "same as you lot, my worst nightmare," before loudly changing the subject.

3

"Subject, Detention Slip: Name; Black, Leo," Filch scowled at the paper as he continued scribbling across its surface and muttering. "Crime; Smuggling contraband-"

"It was a drink my friend gave me!" Leo protested, again. "You're acting like it was a ruddy bomb!"

"A drink you shouldn't have!" Filch bellowed back. "Unless you want to tell me how you snuck into Hogsmeade to get a bottle of Butterbeer onto school grounds."

He didn't respond, and Filch proceeded to give two consecutive detentions dusting unused classrooms as punishment.

His friends were waiting at the end of the corridor where Filch's office was.

"I'm so sorry!" Ginny said at once, pure guilt radiating from her it was a wonder Filch wasn't back already to find their next crime.

"Don't sweat it," Leo sighed. "I should have chucked the empty bottle at Peeves when I had the chance rather than hanging onto it out in the open. It's my own fault for getting caught." He paused with a curious expression in place. "You can make it up to me by showing me how to get more."

"I don't know how," Ginny answered honestly. "I told you, the twins gave me some. Still, I'm really, really sorry you got into trouble."

Mikey snorted painfully around his laughter. "That's nothing! Don't you remember Poppy's birthday last year, when Leo was caught trying to smuggle a unicorn foal down to Poppy's room for a treat?"

"Um, no," Ginny said blankly.

"Ginny, you were there," Poppy frowned in confusion. "Flitwick caught him, Leo was lucky all he had to do was let it go. You were right beside me in the crowd when he was caught in the Entrance Hall."

Ginny's expression turned painfully confused, Leo was quick to jump in and change the subject. "Well, Ginny's entire focus not being on me aside- oh, hey Harry," he called, not even realizing their wandering the corridors had led them up to Professor Lupin's office, and especially not expecting to see his cousin walking out.

He didn't even seem to hear, he looked furious as he stormed in their direction and nearly slammed right into the four.

"Oh, hey," he muttered in recognition, before his expression changed slightly and he grabbed Leo, beginning to tow him away with a muttered, "one second, yeah?"

His friends didn't protest, but he looked over his shoulder to see Uncle Remus looked tired, slumped against the door-frame and rubbing at his lined face for a few moments before going back into his office.

Leo bit at his lip as he knew a full moon was only two days away and couldn't imagine what the two had been arguing about now.

Harry enlightened him, unpleasantly so. "Do you know what they've been hiding all summer?"

"No," he said honestly at once. "Why were you asking about that today?" He added quietly.

"He wouldn't give me a dementor lesson today, and all my friends are in Hogsmeade!" Harry half shouted, making his friends at the end of the corridor look back at them wearily. "I figured you might know something they're not telling me, they don't baby you."

Leo ruffled at that, his tone turning scathing. "Well you certainly seem to always know more than me. I know Uncle James gave you your Invisibility cloak during first year, and don't deny it, Ginny heard you and Ron talking about it at the Leaky Cauldron! But you only decided to show it to me over the summer because you asked me to help you sneak out! Then last year, you went and snuck into my dorm, without asking me for help at all, while you were trying to find out what was going on, and nobody ever bothered to wonder what I think! Being in the bloody house that was framed! Ginny filled me in on that tidbit as well, telling me what all you did last year that saved her life! Why don't you just bloody ask Ginny, she seems to know more about you than I do lately!"

Harry watched him storm off just a touch guilty, he meant to go after him and promise Ginny wasn't replacing his favorite and only cousin, a ridiculous idea he had no idea how he'd come up with, but was distracted by seeing a girl with bright pink hair heading towards Professor Lupin's office.

He was quick to sneak behind the corner and peak out, watching her curiously as his Uncle greeted her. He took in all he could of the moment, his Uncle's genuine surprise quickly over taken by worry at her presence, the way she held herself all business as opposed to the flippant chatting he'd observed of them over the summer. Then she was inside, the door closed, and he was on the same side feeling as frustrated as ever.

There was only a second's hesitation before he crept forward and pressed his ear to the door, but no matter how hard he listened, there wasn't a whisper to be heard. Gritting his teeth in frustration but not wishing to be caught, he went back to his common room with no choice but to wait for his three friends to return.

3

"Return here? Why?" James demanded in a hoarse scream.

"You know the answer to that as well as I do Prongs," Remus sighed, slumped against the wall of the Shrieking Shack and eyeing the fading light with distaste.

"We don't know for sure though, we're just guessing," Sirius tried to say with determination as he paced back and forth in the tiny room.

James stayed slumped on the bed as he watched them both, skin crawling all over being back in here after so many years.

Moony still frequented the place once a month. Even with the Wolfsbane potion keeping him in a controlled state and no longer needing his animagus friends for company, he chose to isolate himself as far away from students as he could and sleep out the night in here. The place still had a haunted feel to it, the lack of dust from his constant visits somehow giving the place an even more eerie feel, unlike their youth, where this had practically been four best friends hang out. They'd trained in here, slept in here with him, this place had been like their second home when not in their dorm. None of that explained the collective, gut wrenching feeling they all had it would be violated by the escaped prisoner, very soon.

James regretted agreeing with Dumbledore about the suggestion to put dementors around the property, especially once he heard of Harry's adverse reaction to them. He'd done it against his better judgement, and was torn once more about following some instinct he had no name for in believing Remus, or trying to pretend they were being paranoid like Sirius. "What's the Ministry have to say? Anything new?"

"Just a few more sightings, Tonks has been keeping me updated whenever she can," Remus sighed. "It's slow going, I still think keeping the public out of it was a bad idea. Nobody but staff even knows how close his sightings have been to here."

"What good would they really do? All the tips have come from high-end Ministry employees who are looking for dark signs, and even then none of them have panned out," Sirius paused for a moment to bang his fist against a wall on his next pass through before continuing. "He turns into a rat half the time to get around anyway! Telling anyone who doesn't need to know won't help a damned thing!"

"I think I should tell Harry," James said so quietly, the wind howling around them nearly tore his words away before they heard.

Silence hung in the old creaking building for what could have been the past twelve years, before Remus quietly asked, "do you want me to go get him, bring him here?"

"No," James stood like an old man, but his back still straight. "No, let's go up to your office, I'll tell him what needs to be told, but not here."

They left with a heavy, doomed sort of air. James didn't think twice about flicking his wand as they exited to freeze the willow, he'd long since trained himself to forget who used to do that for him.

He went back up to the castle trying not to argue with himself, that this was the right thing to do. It was the Christmas holidays and his son had refused to come home, he'd hardly spoken to him at all last summer or any of the previous times they'd spent together since the end of his first year. James had spent the time trying to convince himself it was just his son growing up and being a teenager, but this was dragging on too long. Harry was smart, he knew there was a part of the story James had left out on his eleventh birthday and it had been driving a wedge between them ever since. He had a terrible pain deep inside him, one he wished he'd listened to long before now. If he didn't tell Harry the truth, something awful was going to happen.

Remus tried to depart once they went inside the castle to go to the Gryffindor dorms, but James caught him and pulled him along until they were all in his office, he wanted to get this clear with them first.

"Listen, I haven't thanked you two enough for, well, backing me on this. I know it's been just as hard on you two-"

"Enough Prongs," Sirius waved off.

"I've always backed you two on how you raise your kids," Remus said with dignity.

James nodded and thanked them firmly nevertheless before continuing, "look, I'm not going to tell him, everything. He's thirteen for Merlin's sake, I won't scare him with suspicions Dumbledore's not even sure about, but- "

They were cut off at a torrent of banging that had them all reaching for their wands in the same second, followed by a familiar voice screeching, "Uncle Remus! You'd better be in there! I don't want to wait for a bloody owl explanation, you're going to let me floo home right now-"

"Leo!" Sirius reacted the fastest, the door open in the same heartbeat to see the little boy before them, red faced and shaking on the spot. His movements were practically a blur he pulled his son into a hug so fast, anger, fear, and protection rolling off of him in waves as he demand, "what's the matter, who hurt you? I'll-"

He managed to pull away from him just as fast, pushing at his hands that tried to keep him in place as more tears came free, and his scowl increased. That's when they realized he wasn't upset, he was furious.

"You did! This is the last straw! I told you I wanted to try out for the Quidditch team last summer and you didn't even hear me! You didn't even ask if I made the team, which I didn't! Then you, you go and send Harry a Firebolt! If you love him so much more than me-"

"I didn't send him that."

It took a few moments for the horror in his dad's face to sink into his mind, the words slowly sliding into place had him wiping his face in confusion as he blinked sluggishly at their dawning expressions. His brows ruffled in confusion, because Harry had showed him the note as he went into his dorm to show off, looking all smug and proud, asking if he wanted a go, even though he probably even wouldn't let him, he and his friends would be too busy-

"Leo, look at me." His dad shook him slightly, but it was nothing compared to his voice. "Where's Harry?"

"He was heading to the pitch-" He'd hardly began to answer when his Uncles were flying past him, he shivered as they vanished around the corner. The breath was knocked out of him as his dad picked him up and darted after them, a pain building slowly inside of him as he realized the same as them, they weren't going to make it in time.

3

Time itself seemed to freeze over, stopping him from doing anything more coherent than screaming as the broom took control beneath him. Harry tried to let go and jump free, but his hands remained stuck in place. He tried with all his strength to steer it back towards the quickly shrinking castle, but it was as if the broom had a mind of its own.

He could hear his friends shouting behind him, saw the tiniest little speck of red as Ron made a run towards the broom-shed to go after him, but Harry knew in his heart even if he happened upon another Firebolt right this second, he still couldn't keep up, they were already out of sight.

High above the treetops and heading for the Hogsmeade mountains, Harry tried more desperately every second to unclench his hands, do anything to stop what was happening, and then suddenly he was clinging to it for life. The broom made such a sharp turn he would have been flung free if he had any will of his own, and now they were diving right towards the mountains many facets, a steeper move than Harry would ever dare in his life make. His screams went unheard in the sharp wind, his last thought as he went sailing down was an apology to his family for never getting to see them again, and then- he didn't crash?

He was still hovering in place, shivering non stop in the near darkness, but he definitely wasn't moving anymore. His fingers were unfurling of their own accord, and as soon as Harry realized that he did crash to the ground in a topple of limbs in his anxiousness to be free of the ride. He drew his wand, paralyzed for a few moments what was coming next, before summoning his courage and shouting, "Lumos!"

There was a slim entrance he must have went through to get in here, the light from his wand offering a path he was sure he could use to get back out of here. He squared his shoulders and was prepared to march out there and find out what was going on, until he realized his mistake. He was facing the entrance to the cave, and he wasn't alone.

"You look just like James."

Harry turned so fast his surroundings were all but a mist around him, his glasses nearly went sailing away. By the time the light steadied again, he was facing someone he'd never guess.

A squat man, Harry was already almost his height, with nearly decayed looking flabby skin, and what little hair was left clinging to his head was a sparse brown.

"I'm unarmed," he promised, his voice sounded wheezy from disuse. He held up one hand in clear surrender, the other was absent, a stump up to his elbow needlessly proving his point. He was wearing tattered robes that could have been any color they were so old and faded, with rather large front teeth, his head looked oddly distorted in the poor light, larger and lumpier than it should, there was a hungry look in his watery brown eyes.

"Why did you kidnap me?" He tried to demand in a voice just like his dads, strong and confident without a care for the answer.

"Harry, if I wanted to hurt you, I could have killed you long before now," he actually sounded sincere, his voice meaning to assure.

"Who are you?" Harry demanded. His feet were already trying to urge him back towards the entrance without caring for an answer.

"You really don't know who I am?" He sounded genuinely surprised, a smile even flickered across his thin lips. The more Harry looked the more horrifying he seemed, he reeked of garbage, and Harry would swear there was blood smudged on the corner of his mouth.

"N-No!" He hoped if he shouted loud enough, someone would hear. "Why would I!" He should just run, this man was making no move to stop him, but what would happen when he turned his back?

"I suppose James never mentioned the name Wormtail then?" The flaky voice was a touch amused now, tinged with something else Harry couldn't identify, his hungry eyes still locked on his face.

"My dad's going to kick your arse when he, when he finds me!" Harry swore, taking several more steps back.

"He can't do any worse to me," he laughed without humor. "Dying would be a relief. I'd do it myself, but I'm still a coward."

Harry didn't know what to say to that, but intrigue finally froze him in place as he heard it much planer this time behind the false conversation. Guilt. "Wh-What did my dad, do to you?" The question burst from him before he thought better, eyes lingering on the missing limb.

The dead face twisted up, he spoke in a flat, detached voice. "Nothing I didn't deserve." His hungry expression still stared deep into Harry's face, drinking in everything, and unable to look him in the eyes. Then he nodded abruptly, as if he'd come to a decision, and Harry braced himself once more for a fight. "I've had twelve long years to think about this moment Harry, and I'm sorry it had to happen like this," he sighed, tones of regret now plain as the guilt. He started shuffling back, even farther away into the shadows of the cave.

A tingling feeling began tracing up Harry's spine, he looked around wildly for some new threat to present itself. "I, I don't understand," his voice broke, he despised how much he sounded like a terrified child. He should run, he should have run the moment he landed, and now it would be too late.

"You will," Wormtail promised. "We'll meet again Harry. Tell James for me, would you?"

A shot of hope almost sunk him to his knees, he dared to believe what he was hearing, that he'd be able to tell his dad anything ever again. "Tell him what?"

Another voice answered, one of pure ice, that promised death the moment it stopped speaking. "That you were spared, for now."

3

Now they tried to tell him, now that it was too late.

He and Leo were sat down, and he listened in stony silence as the men in their life tried to explain to the two a broken friendship and a betrayal. He listened attentively to every word, his mother's screams in the back of his mind seeming to play over his history, punctuating every word.

He noticed his dad leave a few things out, things Harry hadn't explicitly asked about because now he was waiting for more lies and half truths. None of them mentioned how this Peter had his arm half chopped off, not one of them gave the details of how Pettigrew had gotten his mum killed. All they really said was what Harry had put together form his long walk from Hogsmeade village back to the castle and his very panicky family.

Peter Pettigrew had told Voldemort where to find his family in hiding, and his mum had been the one to suffer the consequences.

Harry could feel the gap between him and his family growing, the urge to shout and rage he should have been told this long before some madman broke out of Azkaban and threatened his life! He tried to fight it down, but it felt impossible when he kept asking himself, what other secrets were hiding inside his dad?

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Probably the largest deviation from the story that'll ever happen, it all ends before the school year does! Gasp!