What If… Harry Potter

Harry had just taken a punch from his Uncle Vernon for exposing his Dudders to Harry's freakishness. That last hit had really brought everything to a head. He had just survived an encounter with vile creatures that sucked out people's souls!

His ignorant and intolerant uncle... his stupid muggle uncle (and Harry thought of the word 'muggle' in the same manner of slur that pureblood wizards did)... had dared to yell at him for saving Dudley! Well, he knew when he wasn't wanted. Eventually. He had ignored it all these years, because he had nowhere else to go. The difference this time was that he figured anywhere else was better than there.

The owl that arrived and delivered his expulsion notice and that someone would show up to break his wand, sealed the deal for Harry. He had to leave. He had no choice. As he headed for the cupboard under the stairs to pack up his things, another owl arrived and it was from Arthur Weasley. It told him to remain in the house and that Albus Dumbledore was at the ministry to deal with this. He was also to not do any more magic or hand his wand over to anyone.

Harry chuckled at that obvious statement, since he would never to do that anyway. The problem was, how was he supposed to leave, like he knew had to do, and still stay there in the house and not leave? Could he... should he... defy the only male authorities he knew in his short life?

It took a couple of minutes for Harry to think over that thought. The male authorities he knew were his horrible uncle that treated him like trash, Mister Weasley that he only saw for a couple weeks the previous summers combined, and Albus Dumbledore. The last... he wasn't much of anything to him. Not really.

What had the headmaster ever done for Harry? Practically nothing. What use were house points after Harry had saved the school? Dumbledore never helped with anything, except that one time in third year where he suggested that Hermione alter time to save more than one life.

But, after experiencing it and talking to Hermione about cause and effect, their adventure had already happened, so them going back had to happen. That meant the headmaster didn't actually do anything but ensured the time loop was closed and no one found out. That was it. He didn't even help with the triwizard tournament and forced Harry to compete, only for Voldemort to regain a body.

Because of him. It was because of him. It was always because of him.

That thought reinforced Harry's decision to leave. He went over to the cupboard under the stairs and grabbed his trunk. He ignored the shouts from his uncle about leaving the house, since he was doing that anyway, and dragged the heavy trunk up the stairs and into the room his relatives were so graciously letting him use instead of his actual room in the cupboard under the stairs.

Another owl showed up and it was from the Ministry of Magic. Thankfully, it was a slight retraction from the earlier letter. Instead of being expelled immediately, he would be suspended until a hearing about his breaking of the Statute of Secrecy could be held.

Almost right after that, another owl showed up and it was a very short note from Sirius. All it said was to not leave the house. There was no praise about saving a life. There was no relief that he had survived. There wasn't even any concern whatsoever about him being hurt. There was nothing at all.

Harry felt anger bubbling up inside and he spent several minutes with the letters crumpled in his hands as he tried to calm down. He couldn't let his anger control what he did. He couldn't be stupid about what he did next, since he was pretty much trapped and not allowed to do anything.

When he calmed down, he spent the next half an hour going through his things. He removed all of the broken and useless things, like empty ink bottles and broken quills that had gathered at the bottom of the trunk, and completely cleaned it out. It was the first time that had ever been done and Harry stared at the piles and piles of things he hadn't realized he still had.

All four years of school books, including the fraud Lockhart's books, were piled at the head of the bed. All of his notes and reports were there, too. They weren't much use, considering his hen-scratch writing that even he had trouble reading. Four years of school uniforms that most of which were too small for him to wear were piled off to the side with last year's robes on top.

The essential school equipment was put in the middle of the bed. His cauldron, telescope, measuring scales, vials for potions, and the remains of the ingredients he had. His wand, cloak, broom, and map had a place of honor on his thin pillow.

Lastly, were his overlarge muggle clothes that were hand-me-downs from Dudley and were put at the end of the bed. Harry never had anything new of his own, not even trainers, or as the yanks called them, sneakers. The school robes didn't count because he couldn't wear them out in the muggle world. It would make him stand out and look foolish, especially during the hot summers.

Harry looked at his life gathered in front of his eyes, all of his worldly possessions, and he could honestly say that it was pathetic. His entire life amounted to little more than several piles of garbage with a few gems like the Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak. That was it.

It made Harry sigh that he had nothing to show for everything he had gone through, and he had gone through a lot. It was so much that he honestly wasn't sure how he had made it through it all. How had he done it? Perseverance? Determination? No. He thought of Minerva McGonagall's words after the troll in first year had been defeated, and it summed things up perfectly.

“Five points will be awarded, to each of you, for sheer dumb luck.” Harry repeated. “That's how I got through everything. Dumb luck.” He said and picked up the crumpled letters. “And now there's this.”

Harry stood there for a good fifteen minutes before he decided what to do. He put the letters aside and dug through his rags and chose the best pants, the least stained t-shirt, clean underwear and socks, and went to the bathroom. He hopped in the shower and took his time for the first time in his life. Because of the noise of the water, he didn't hear the howler that Petunia had received downstairs.

Harry eventually finished cleaning himself and dried off, put on his clothes, and went back to the room. The next hour was spent packing the trunk properly with what he would need. He took all of his school books, except the Lockhart ones, since they were useless and not entertaining reading.

Only the school robes he could fit into were packed as well as all of the accessories. He tossed the rest into a pile on the floor, since he had no idea what to do with them. Could they be sold, even though they were well used and so old? He had no idea if the wizarding world had donation boxes for the poor and unfortunate.

Harry debated packing the school specific things, then sighed about leaving behind such obviously magical things. He packed as much as he could and closed the trunk before he sat on it. He would have locked it, except he had misplaced the key years ago and decided to not cast the locking spell. He was in enough trouble already and didn't need to make things worse.

Now Harry just had to decide how he was going to get out of the house without setting off his uncle or whatever might be put in place to keep him there. Maybe he should wait for the Dursleys to fall asleep before he tried anything, assuming they could fall asleep after what happened to their precious Duddikins.

Harry sat there and waited, and waited some more, and then he heard movement outside his room. The clicks of every single lock on his door put an end to his plans of escape and he barely stopped himself from growling in frustration. He thought about writing to Sirius, to his so-called friends, to see what the hell was going on, and chose not to.

If they had answered his letters with more than platitudes and telling him to be patient and they would see him a few weeks before school started, he might have tried to keep pestering them to talk to him. But, now with the suspension, the upcoming hearing in the middle of August and just before he would have gone to The Burrow anyway, he knew they wouldn't respond.

He sat there and stewed in his anger, despite trying to remain calm. No one told him anything. No one treated him like he mattered. No one cared about him.

It was these thoughts that brought Harry through the night and into the morning. He wasn't surprised when his door was not unlocked and a cold bowl of uncooked soup from a can was slid into the room through the cat flap in his door.

Instead of kicking it and smashing the thing back out through the flap like he wanted to, he drank it without chewing and left the empty bowl on the floor. There was no spoon.

*

Three days. It had been three entire days of being locked in his room with only one can of soup a day for sustenance and there had been no word. Not one. Harry laid on his bed without moving and his resolve had cemented over that length of time and stewed in his anger and resentment. As soon as his door was unlocked, he was leaving.

To his surprise, the various locks on his door slowly unlocked, one by one. Then the door opened and a smug Vernon stood there wearing his best suit. Harry refrained from commenting that a fat walrus wearing a suit was still a fat walrus. He sure as hell thought it, though.

“We're going out.” Vernon said.

Harry blinked his eyes at him. Surely, he can't mean him as well. “What?”

“We, as in your aunt, Dudley and I, are going out.” Vernon corrected. “You are not to leave your bedroom while we are away.”

Harry didn't say anything and just stared at him.

“You are not to touch the television, the stereo, or any of our possessions.” Vernon said and Harry didn't respond. “You are not to steal food from the fridge.”

Harry barely managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the stupid orders.

Vernon must have seen something, because he frowned. “I am going to lock your door.”

“Like always.” Harry muttered.

Vernon glared at the boy for not reacting at being restricted with them not at home. Instead of saying anything else or trying to provoke him, the rotund man stomped out and slammed the door, then set the various locks again. His steps went down the stairs and then the front door slammed. The noise of the car leaving was next and then silence. Blessed silence.

At least, it was like that for about an hour, then a loud crash came from the kitchen. Harry hopped to his feet, still wearing the same clothes he put on three days ago. He was pretty rank with the sweat and not showering for so long. At least he had been allowed to have brief bathroom breaks.

When he heard voices, Harry thought it was burglars, then dismissed the idea. No burglar worth his salt would make so much noise while robbing a place, unless it was a smash and grab. If it was, then they would have grabbed what they wanted and already left.

Harry picked up his wand from the bedside table and crept over to the door and heard the various locks click open. As the unlocked door swung open, Harry darted over to behind the door and out of sight of anyone standing there. There was no sound and no one came into the room.

“Someone should go up and see if he's still asleep.” A female voice suggested.

“Out of all of us, it's only Remus that he's personally met.” A gruff and familiar voice said.

Professor Moody! Harry thought in surprise and wanted to go out and confront them, only to remember that he wanted nothing to do with them anymore. They let him rot and suffer here for most of the summer and didn't care that he was starved, hurting, and had to deal with the death of a fellow student all on his own.

Harry felt his resolve fill him and he stayed right where he was as the footsteps came up the stairs. A dishevelled figure entered his room and looked surprised that it was empty, except for the trunk.

“He's not here.” Remus said and started to turn around, only to stop when he saw the wand pointed right at his face. “Harry, what are you doing?”

“I should be asking you that, Professor Lupin.” Harry responded.

“We're here to take you to away.” Remus said, his hands slightly raised.

“Why?” Harry asked, suspiciously.

Remus was surprised by the question. “What do you mean why?”

“Why now? Why didn't you rescue me from my relatives before?” Harry asked, his anger rising.

Remus was shocked by that and didn't know what to say.

“Get down here, boy. You're wasting time.” Moody said.

“Piss off!” Harry shouted back, hating that the man called him boy. He hated being called that.

There were several mutters and a few disparaging comments about ungrateful brats.

“I didn't bloody ask you to come here and break into this house!” Harry shouted and that shut them all up.

“Harry...” Remus started to say.

“Out.” Harry said and motioned with his wand.

Remus thought about refusing, then sighed and walked around the door and left the room to stand in the hallway.

“How did you open the locks? Vernon has the keys.” Harry asked as he walked over to his trunk. He picked up the side of his trunk with the handle and dragged it across the room to Hedwig's cage.

“The simple unlocking charm Alohamora can handle all kinds of locks, Harry.” Remus said in a teaching tone of voice.

Harry's blood went cold and then boiled. “Are you bloody daft?!? They'll blame me again for magic being cast here, you pillock!”

Remus took several steps back at the anger on Harry's face. “Relax, it's...”

“Thanks a lot for making everything worse, professor.” Harry spat with venom in his voice and opened Hedwig's cage to let her out.

“If you would let me explain...” Remus tried again.

“I don't bloody care what you have to say.” Harry said and motioned to the stairs. “Hedwig, go have fun and find me later.”

“Hoot.” Hedwig said and flew out the open window. Harry didn't bother closing it.

Remus gave the window an odd look and walked down the stairs into the darkness. Harry dragged his trunk over to the top of the stairs and stopped when he saw the silhouettes of eight or nine people that stood in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs.

“Why are we all standing in the dark?” A female voice said and raised her hand. “Lumos!”

Harry felt even more anger at the blatant magic use. “Who the hell are all you people and why are you still casting illegal magic around me?”

That made the pink-haired woman blush and the tall bald black man frown.

“It's not illegal if they don't know about it.” Moody gruffly said.

“Really.” Harry said and moved his wand to point it at Moody's face.

“Put that wand down before you poke someone's eye out with it.” Moody ordered.

Harry scowled at the man. “I can do a lot more than poke you with it.”

“That's enough, Harry.” Remus said, harshly.

“No, it bloody well isn't!” Harry exclaimed and didn't move his wand. “Why aren't there owls flooding the place expelling me after all the spells you morons cast here?”

“We already told you...” Remus started to say.

“You aren't telling me how or why.” Harry interrupted him and didn't stop staring at Moody. “How do I know this isn't another imposter? How do I tell if any of you are imposters?”

“Now you're starting to ask the right questions.” Moody said with a look of approval.

“Why aren't the death eaters doing whatever you're doing, too? I'd be easy pickings if it was so bloody easy to come here and frame me.” Harry said and Moody's approving look disappeared.

“He might look like James; but, he's not acting like him.” A woman's husky voice said in disapproval.

“How the bloody hell would I know how he acted? I didn't even know his name until I went to Hogwarts!” Harry nearly shouted at her and she looked embarrassed.

“There's no need to be so harsh, boy.” Moody said.

“Stop! Calling! Me! BOY!” Harry yelled as red sparks shot out of his wand and everyone flinched, even Moody. “Are you going to hit me like Uncle Vernon? Lock me back in my room? Keep starving me? Refuse to let me wash? Are you? ARE YOU?”

Complete silence met Harry's angry rant and they all looked embarrassed, mostly because they had shown up to get a look at the Boy-Who-Lived and this was not what they expected.

“This meet and greet isn't working out like we thought it would.” The tall black man said and motioned to the front door. “The ruse we used isn't going to last for much longer. We need to go.”

Harry's mental alarm bells rang at his words. “What do you mean about a ruse?”

“It was my idea to send the Dursleys to a fake award ceremony for the best lawn in the subdivision.” The woman with the lit wand said. “It's in London, so we'd have plenty of time to get you out of here.”

Harry stared at her with his face set in a scowl. “Are you telling me that you tricked my magic-hating relatives with a fake award? That after Uncle Vernon specifically told me to not leave my room, you're going to kidnap me and take me wherever, and I have to deal with the fallout if I ever come back to this hellhole where I'm hated?”

The woman's face and hair turned red as she blushed and most of the people filed out of the house to get away from the angry teen. “It worked, didn't it? You don't have to see them again until next summer.”

Harry dropped the scowl and shook his head. He was tempted to tell them that if he had his say, he would never come back here. This wasn't his home and it never was. Vernon himself said so after the Dementors attacked.

“Whatever. Let's go.” Harry said and walked down the stairs, his trunk thumping on each step.

“Let me get that for you, Harry.” Remus said and swished his wand to cast the Locomotor spell at the trunk.

Harry's hand moved like a snake's and smacked the wand. The spell hit the wall and nothing happened. “Stop casting magic around me!”

Remus gave him a pointed look and then sighed. “I can't tell you what we did to...”

“I don't care.” Harry said and dragged his trunk down the rest of the stairs and out of the house. Most of the people were gone and he was glad. “How are we getting to wherever we're going?”

“Brooms. It's the only way.” Remus said and the tall black man nodded. “You're too young to Apparate, they'll be watching the floo network, and it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorized portkey.”

“Why? You're casting spells in a muggle neighborhood where you know I'll be blamed.” Harry said and that shut Remus up.

“You're a right brat, you know that?” The woman with pink hair asked as she approached him. It was only her, the black man, Remus, and Moody left of the nine people that had shown up.

Harry put his trunk down and glared at her. “I'm not the one that tricked muggles into wasting the entire evening going into London and embarrassing them, just so you can sneak me off somewhere without bloody asking me.”

The woman glared right back. “You're ungrateful, too.”

“I'm ungrateful?” Harry asked with a deadly voice. “You would have left me here to suffer if the Dementors didn't almost kill me! Why should I be grateful for that?”

The woman opened her mouth and shut it. She tried again and closed it.

“That's what I thought.” Harry said and moved his wand to his other hand to unhook his Firebolt from the top of his trunk.

There was a loud bang and the Knight Bus drove down the street and came to a screeching halt in front of Number Four, Privet Drive.

“Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard.” Stan Shunpike said as he read it off a small card. It had been years and he still hadn't learned the whole speech.

“Bloody hell.” Moody cursed and hefted his staff to do something.

“Wotcha need a ride fer this time, Neville?” Stan asked when he saw Harry.

Harry saw the perfect opportunity to screw his minders over. “Oh, I'm being kidnapped and messed up their plans.”

Stan laughed. “Yer a funny one, Neville. Hop on and we'll getcha to where ya need to go.”

“Thanks, Stan.” Harry said and quickly climbed on with his trunk.

“Hey, you can't...” Remus started to say.

“Don't mind them.” Harry said and handed 11 sickles to the conductor.

“Righto, Neville.” Stan said and stepped back. “Let's go, Ern!”

“Dammit! Get on it!” Moody said and waved for Remus and the two others to hop on.

“We need a ride, too!” The woman called out and the bus stayed still until Moody clumped his wooden foot onto the bus.

The money for four passengers was handed over by the black man and a street name was whispered as an extra galleon was handed over. Stan nodded and went to the driver to tell him where to go first.

So close. Harry thought and sat down with his trunk hugged to his side. He knew what was coming and braced for it.

The Knight Bus took off before Remus and Moody could take a seat and Harry muffled his laugh at seeing the supposedly dignified men tumble around the inside of the Knight Bus like clothes in a washing machine.

Serves them right for not coming for me a month ago. Harry thought and enjoyed the ride more than he ever had before. He ignored the stern look on the black man and the annoyed look on the pink-haired woman as she tried, quite fruitlessly, to catch Remus as he rolled by where she sat.

The Knight Bus came to a stop at a street at the end of a higher-end subdivision of row houses. Harry thanked Stan again for the best ride, which made Stan preen and he wished Neville a great night. Harry and his kidnappers stepped off the Knight Bus and it zoomed off and disappeared with a bang.

“Right. This way.” Moody said gruffly and walked off in a huff.

Harry barely held in his laugh as he watched the pink-haired woman fuss over a very shaken and stirred Remus Lupin. She did her best to clean and straighten his worn clothes, as if they were made from the most expensive silk on the market. She admitted that she wasn't the best at household charms and flubbed most of the spells she tried, making Remus look worse when she was done.

I didn't think that was possible. Harry thought when Moody came to a stop.

The scarred man took out an oversized lighter and flicked it a few times, only for all the streetlights on the street to be sucked into it.

“That should take care of any muggles looking out their windows.” Moody said and grabbed Harry's arm roughly.

Harry hissed at that and yanked his arm out of the man's grip. “Don't bloody touch me!”

“Listen here, boy...” Moody started to say and Harry couldn't stop himself as he punched out at the gnarled face.

Remus and his witch gasped as the black man sighed.

Moody grunted and rubbed his jaw. “You need to lean more forward and keep your balance when you throw a punch... lad.”

Harry couldn't stop his small smile as he took several breaths to calm down.

“We need to cross the small square there and you need to memorize this.” Moody said and handed him a piece of paper.

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve Grimmauld Place, London. Harry read in his head. When he looked up, instead of only seeing a short row of houses, it had expanded to reveal a dark and almost evil-feeling house. “Wicked.”

Moody nodded and walked across the square and up to the revealed house. Harry followed with Remus and the other two. He saw they had their wands out, as if to attack anything that came close to them, and he wondered why.

The door to the house was opened and Moody ushered them all inside before he used the lighter thing to release the light to all the streetlights. He shut the door and nodded at entering without being attacked... by enemies anyway... and he stepped to the wall.

“Stay still everyone while I add some light to the place.” Moody ordered and a minute later, the hiss of gas was heard and old-fashioned lamps all along the hallway slowly lit up and brought the eternal gloom of the place up from deathly to only horror-filled.

Harry saw the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long and barely revealed hallway. A cobweb-covered chandelier glimmered slightly from the ceiling and age-blackened portraits hung crookedly on the walls. He heard something scuttling behind the baseboards, too. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents, which did not bode well for Harry's stay there.

The sound of scuffling feet came closer and Harry saw the door at the end of the hallway open up. Mrs. Weasley was there and she beamed a smile at him as she quietly strode forward with her arms starting to spread.

“Oh, Harry! It's lovely to see you.” Mrs. Weasley whispered as she closed in for a hug.

Harry immediately felt anger fill him and stepped back with his wand raised. “Don't you dare try to hug me!”

Mrs. Weasley almost skidded to a stop with a shocked look on her face. “What... what...”

“Harry's not in a welcoming mood.” Moody said, which was the biggest understatement of the night.

“Why?” Mrs. Weasley asked, completely confused.

“If any of you people actually cared about me, you wouldn't have left me with the Dursleys.” Harry almost spat at her. He didn't just mean this summer, either. They knew how he had been rescued by Fred and George in his second year, because he had been kept prisoner and starved by his relatives. They still had the window bars in Mr. Weasley's shed, for Merlin's sake!

“We do care.” The pink-haired woman offered.

“Really?” Harry asked and turned to look at her. “Where were you when I was beaten? Where were you when I was starved and only served a single bowl of uncooked soup every day? Where were you when...”

“Now's not the time and this is definitely not the place.” Moody interrupted him and his magical eye swirled around and looked down slightly. “Albus is already here, so the meeting's about to start.”

“Right. See you later, Harry.” Remus said and took off at a fast walk. He didn't want to be around Harry for another rant.

Harry couldn't really call him a coward, since the black man and pink-haired witch followed him.

“Ron and Hermione are upstairs. You can wait with them until the meeting's over.” Mrs. Weasley said cast the Locomotor Trunk spell and ushered Harry up the stairs to the second landing. “You're the door on the right. I'll call for you all when dinner's ready.”

Harry stood there and watched Mrs. Weasley set the trunk down and she rushed back down the stairs and out of sight. He shook his head at being abandoned again, with no one explaining anything, and reached for the door handle that looked like the head of a snake. A slight turn had the door open and he heard a familiar shriek of surprise.

Since he didn't want to deal with that, Harry quickly shut the door and then heard a loud thump and a softer one. He chuckled slightly at Hermione complaining about the door somehow swinging shut again. Harry thought about holding the handle to stop it from opening, then sighed when his choice was removed and the door swung open and Ron and Hermione were there.

“HARRY! We didn’t hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless.” Hermione said in a single breath, then continued. “But, we couldn’t tell you anything. Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn’t. Oh, we’ve got so much to tell you and you’ve got to tell us...”

Harry stared at her blankly. Dumbledore made them swear to not write to him?

“The Dementors! When we heard... and that Ministry hearing... it’s just outrageous! I’ve looked it all up and they can’t expel you. They just can’t! There are provisions in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations...” Hermione rambled.

“You're rambling again, Hermione.” Ron said.

Harry noticed the redhead had grown several inches and almost towered over him. He felt envy for a moment, then realized he wasn't supposed to care anymore. He let his face go blank and didn't say anything.

“If you're that concerned abut what's going on, why didn't you tell me anything?” Harry said, his voice empty.

“We really wanted to tell you what's been going on, mate.” Ron said. “Dumbledore made us swear...”

“...to keep me in the dark. Yeah, I heard.” Harry said.

“The headmaster said that owls aren't safe and might be tracked.” Hermione said.

Harry looked at Hermione. “Didn't think to write by muggle post, eh? No death eater could follow that.”

Hermione blushed. “I would have, except I've been here for most of the summer and can't send anything that way.”

Harry's stomach plummeted and it must have shown on his face.

“The headmaster said it was to keep me safe. I couldn't go on holiday with my parents and...”

“You've been here since the beginning of summer?” Harry asked in a whisper.

“It's not like that, Harry. I've been here, too. Fred and George as well.” Ron added. “Dumbledore probably thought keeping you with the muggles was safer for you...”

Harry didn't even try to stop himself as he took Moody's advice and laid his fist into Ron's face and leaned into it, kept his balance, and followed through with as much strength as his thin frame could apply.

“RON!” Hermione shrieked as the gangly redhead was tossed backwards, hit one of the beds, and flipped over it and landed on the floor with a loud groan.

“How bloody safe was it when Dementors almost sucked my soul out?” Harry said in a deadly voice.

“Harry... the Order... they've been following you and kept watch.” Hermione tried to explain.

“That sure helped when it mattered, didn't it?” Harry asked and shook his hand. He had really laid into Ron and he didn't regret it. Nothing was broken, just sore.

Hermione went to Ron's side, tears brimming in her eyes. “Harry, why did you do that?”

“It felt right.” Harry said and she looked surprised. “Come on, Hermione. He's as big of a pillock as Malfoy, and you punched him.”

Hermione wanted to defend their friend. “Ron's not! He's...”

“...a bigot and hate-filled against anything Slytherin, just like Malfoy is against Griffindor.” Harry interrupted her and Hermione closed her mouth. “I chose not to say anything, because he was my very first friend.”

Hermione caught that qualification. “What do you mean was?”

“He dropped me as a friend the second he thought I didn't tell him something last year, despite being my best mate for three years. He never apologized, even after everything he said to everyone behind my back in Griffindor.”

Hermione blushed in embarrassment, which meant she knew about it.

“I didn't know that for sure and now I do.” Harry said and that made her look even more embarrassed. “I don't suppose you tried to mitigate anything, considering you were just as ostracized as I was?”

Hermione shook her head. “No one would listen to the only friend the blatant cheater had.”

Harry shook his own head. “They still believe I cheated, even after Crouch was revealed?”

Hermione looked away from him. “No one knows about that. The Ministry covered it up.”

“Dumbledore...” Harry started to say.

“His name has been dragged through the mud as much as yours.” Hermione said with a sigh.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked.

Hermione looked back at him. “Haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?”

“Yeah, but I've only been checking the front page for signs of Voldemort.” Harry admitted.

Hermione sighed and then told him all about what the newspaper had been doing. They had made the name Harry Potter into a joke. His fainting spells, scar pains, and every other thing he had suffered, had become their standard 'he's a nutter' comment whenever anyone did something stupid.

Harry's anger simmered as he listened and he knew that his decision to leave was the smartest thing he could do. If they thought he was a crazy attention-seeking glory hound, then they deserved whatever Voldemort was going to do to them.

“I need parchment and writing things.” Harry said and Hermione pointed at the other bed where she had her things spread out, probably doing homework. “Thanks.”

Hermione tended to Ron and hushed him when Ron tried to say something and restrained him when he tried to go after Harry. Ron's angry face stayed on his face as Harry wrote out whatever he was writing and he waited for Harry to finish before he spoke.

“I guess some of the articles were right. You're bloody crazy!” Ran spat.

Harry ignored him and rolled the parchment up, tied it with a string, and tucked it into his pocket. He stood up and looked at the beds, looked at Ron, and shook his head as he left the room.

“Hiya, Harry. It's really nice to see you.” Ginny said in the hallway. She had just come out of the room she shared with Hermione and was happy to see the boy she loved.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind, and walked by her and went down the stairs without saying anything.

Ginny was surprised by the cold treatment and went into Ron's room. “What happened?”

Harry stopped listening and went to the first landing, then realized he had no idea how to send a letter from wherever he was. He knew Hedwig would eventually find him, so he just had to wait for her. Then again, if Dumbledore was right, then someone could notice his bright white snowy owl and track her. He sighed and went to the front door, only for it to shock him when he touched the door handle.

Before Harry could do more than curse under his breath at the surprise, there was stomping feet from down the hallway and the door at the end opened up. It revealed a large group of people that were leaving.

“You won't be getting out until Albus says the coast is clear, lad.” Moody said and clomped down the hallway with his one wooden leg and his staff balancing him.

Harry barely refrained from cursing out loud. “What gave him the right to do that?”

“You don't need to know that.” The tall black man said.

“He only has your best interests at heart, Harry.” Mrs. Weasley said from behind them.

“That's the biggest lie I've ever heard.” Harry heard himself say and the group of people behind Moody let out gasps and other surprised sounds.

“How dare you...” One of the women he didn't know started to say.

“Where was he when I was saving the Philosopher's Stone from Quirrell first year? When I saved Ginny from a 60 foot basilisk and killed it second year? When I fought off a hundred Dementors and saved my godfather third year? When I fought against everyone in the school and won the Triwizard Tournament last year? Where was his heart full of my best interests then?”

Complete and utter silence filled the hallway and everyone looked shocked.

“I believe that's enough, Harry.” Albus Dumbledore's voice admonished from the back of the group.

“Yes, it is.” Harry said with satisfaction. “I've had enough, headmaster. I'm done.”

“We can talk about this after everyone has left, my boy.” Albus said in a placating voice.

Harry felt that righteous anger filling him again. “STOP CALLING ME BOY, YOU BARMY OLD MAN!”

The loud noise activated the covered portrait on the wall. The curtains flung open and the nasty woman painted there started cursing and calling them all blood traitors and mudbloods. To everyone's surprise, Harry calmed down and smiled as he leaned against the wall to listen to her calling them all down. It took a few minutes before anyone moved or spoke.

“Sirius, if you would.” Albus said and a scruffy and unkempt man with long black hair moved through the group and started yelling at the painting. “Everyone else, I'll see you all at the next meeting.”

Words of goodbye and goodnight came from them all and they walked by Harry to get to the front door. Most of them glared at him for daring to yell at the great Albus Dumbledore and Harry kept the smile on his face, which irritated them all the more.

“Potter, you ungrateful...” Snape started to rant.

“Severus.” Albus said sternly and Snape's mouth snapped shut. “Have a good evening.”

Snape nodded to the man and glared at Harry as he walked by.

“I believe the drawing room will be a good place to talk.” Albus suggested and waved at one of the doors in the hallway.

“No, thank you.” Harry said.

Albus sighed. “Harry, my boy...”

“SHUT YOUR GOB!” Harry yelled as that anger rushed back. He wasn't sure where it was coming from and he didn't really care. “You know how I'm treated by my relatives and what they call me! I beg you every summer to get me out of there and you never do anything!”

Sirius finally shut the portrait up and spelled the curtains closed. “What's he talking about, Albus?”

“Now isn't the time for that discussion.” Albus deflected and looked at Harry with disapproval. “We need to talk about your disrespect and...”

“Why should I respect any of you?” Harry asked and cut the man off.

“We are your elders and...”

“...have never done anything to help me.” Harry finished for him.

“That's not true, my boy.” Albus said.

Harry glared at the old man. “You know what? I'd rather be electrocuted than listen to your lies.” He said and turned to the front door and grabbed onto the door handle.

“NO!” Sirius and Albus yelled and both lunged for him.

Harry didn't scream as the shocks went through his body. It was kind of pleasant, actually. Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse was a hundred times more painful. He felt four wizened hands pull him away from the door and Sirius fussed over him to make sure he was all right.

“Why do you care now?” Harry asked and Sirius looked shocked. “I mean, you've been free for almost two years and this is the first time I've seen you since last year in the fireplace.”

“Harry, I... you... you have to understand that...” Sirius stammered.

It took Harry only a minute to come up with solutions. “Polyjuice, transfiguration, hair color charms... you could even get a haircut. No one would recognize you.”

Albus and Sirius stared at him like he had two heads and they didn't know which one to talk to.

“Dinner's ready!” Mrs. Weasley's voice came out through the open door at the end of the hallway. Thankfully, it didn't set the portrait off again.

“I could eat.” Harry said and walked by his godfather and past the headmaster. Neither man tried to stop him. He went into the kitchen and sat as far away from Mrs. Weasley as he could. He did notice that she was a little thinner than the last time he saw her and decided to ignore that when a plate of food was placed in front of him.

Harry was halfway through the meal when the rest of the Weasleys, Hermione, and Sirius entered the kitchen. He ignored them all and was quite pleased at the growing black eye that Ron was sporting.

“What happened to you?!?” Mrs. Weasley shrieked and rushed over to baby her youngest son.

“Harry went crazy and punched me!” Ron exclaimed.

“Harry!” Mrs. Weasley shouted and her wand swished at Harry's plate to vanish his food. “How dare you hit my son!”

Harry looked down at the empty plate with a scowl on his face and looked back at her. Without saying a word and with the scowl still on his face, he slowly stood up and then walked over to her. The Weasleys gathered around her, as if to defend her from him, and Harry's scowl changed to a knowing smile. He stayed silent and walked around them as he left the kitchen.

“What's going on?” Sirius asked.

“Harry really is a nutter.” Ron muttered.

“Shut up, Ron!” Hermione said, angrily.

“Don't talk to my son like that.” Mrs. Weasley said with squinted eyes.

“Someone has to. He keeps saying things that make people angry.” Hermione said and looked at the plate in front of her. “Are you going to starve me, too?”

Mrs. Weasley caught her breath at the accusation. “I would never...”

“You just did it to Harry! Someone you know hasn't been fed all summer!” Hermione said and pointed to Harry's empty plate. “Go ahead and tell me you didn't just vanish the only food he's had today! Go ahead! I'm waiting!”

Mrs. Weasley blushed from embarrassment. “I'll make up a bit extra and will send it up later.” She said and went back to the stove to start serving up the rest of the food she had already prepared.

Hermione wasn't surprised she only received half of the serving that Ron had on his plate. She waited for everyone to be served and compared their plates, blatantly pointed at her smaller portion, then she intentionally ate it as messily and noisily as Ron usually did. Everyone stared at her and she knew she had proven her point.

“Maybe you'll give me more food next time if I keep acting like him.” Hermione said and stood up, glared at the still embarrassed Mrs. Weasley, and walked out of the kitchen with her head held high.

Sirius stayed sitting at the head of the table and knew he had failed his godson. He had been so wrapped up in following Dumbledore's orders that he hadn't even considered what those orders were doing to the people around him, especially Harry. The problem he had was that he had no idea how to fix things.

*

The next day, Harry refused to help Mrs. Weasley clean by hand. He loudly said he had fifteen years of doing that for people that were horrible to him and he wasn't going to do it anymore. The woman's normal tactic of denying food until he complied, forced Harry to say she was just as horrible as his muggle relatives and he was sorry he ever met someone else that was as bad as them.

Making Mrs. Weasley cry had set the tone in the house and all of the Weasleys took Molly's side. It didn't matter if she was wrong to starve Harry, because he was being unnecessarily cruel to her and they took offence to that. Harry didn't care, told them so, and said he would be leaving as soon as he could get away.

They thought he was joking until Hedwig finally showed up. Harry gave her the thing he had written a few days ago and sent her off with it. The next edition of the Daily Prophet caused a bit of a ruckus when his letter of intent was printed, word for word and unedited.

-

Harry Potter Is Leaving The Wizarding World, No Matter The Decision Of His Hearing!
By Barnabus Cuffe, Managing Editor

That's right, folks. We received the letter only yesterday and confirmed it really was from the Boy-Who-Lived. This is that letter and it's been printed verbatim, except for a certain name we all know and changed for the faint of heart.

To the Easily Led Sheep of Britain,
My name is Harry Potter. Savior of the wizarding world and confirmed nutter. I have done everything I could to save the people of Britain and the students of Hogwarts, only for you all to turn on me and vilify me for telling the truth. Every bloody year. So, I have only one thing to say.
You can all sod off!
I will no longer be cursed in the back in the hallways of Hogwarts and I will no longer stand by and let people talk behind my back and whisper lies about me. I'm done and I'm out.
As soon as my hearing is over, condemning me for magic that saved my cousin and myself, I'm leaving. I hear Australia is a good place and doesn't care that an underage wizard has the ability to save himself when he's in danger from soul-sucking Dementors.
I hope you all have the best time trying to survive whatever He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has in store for you. I won't applaud him as he takes over and kills you all; but, I won't be staying here to watch, either.
Good luck and goodbye.
Never yours,
Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Left

-

Harry easily ignored all the shouting and stayed in the drawing room that had become his bedroom. He had snuck out several times over the last few days and made his own food as he gathered some to save. He only had another day to wait for the hearing and he was eager to get out of the house.

“Harry.” Sirius said from the other side of the barred door. The high backed chair was just the right height to jam against the door and under the handle to keep it closed. “You don't really mean it, do you?”

Harry sighed and leaned against the door. “I said I'm done, Sirius. As soon as the hearing ends, I'm gone.”

“Harry, you... you can't leave. The death eaters will hunt you down and...”

“No, they won't.” Harry said and Sirius went quiet. “My letter said I'm leaving Voldemort alone. I don't want to get involved with anything and you all deserve whatever he has planned.”

“Harry, you... you can't mean that. You're not that kind of person.” Sirius said.

“How would you know that?” Harry asked and there was no answer. “How do any of you know that? The only person who ever talked to me was Hermione and she never listens to me. She's got her head so far up Dumbledore's arse that I'm surprised she can still breathe without his permission.”

There was a soft sob from the other side of the door and Harry sighed.

“No one cares about what happened to me.” Harry said.

“Yes, we do!” Two female voices exclaimed.

“No, actually. You think you do and never do or say anything about it. It's all, the professors know what's best, Dumbledore can do no wrong, you need to listen and obey, its for you own good, you'll be safe if you stay quiet and never question anything.” Harry said.

Only silence came from the other side of the door.

“I had really hoped that McGonagall was wrong when she said the houses we're sorted into were like our families. It didn't take me long before I realized that I was the one that was wrong. Griffindors are just as two-faced and mean as the Dursleys, only with magic.”

The silence was broken by another sobbing cry.

“You know, I've suffered more in Griffindor House because they pretended to be nice and then turned on me, once in second year and again in fourth.” Harry said and chuckled. “At least the Dursleys were honest with me right from the start and hated me the whole time. Isn't that funny?”

“No.” A soft female voice said. “It's not funny at all.”

“Don't worry, Hermione. Without me there taunting everyone by being alive, they should leave you alone. If not, you can go to the teachers and let them deal with the bullies. Oh, wait. No, you can't.” Harry said and another sob sounded out. “There's still time to withdraw and change schools, Hermione. I'm sure that Beauxbatons would take you in a second. You won't have any luck in Durmstrang, though. Dark wizards, the lot of them.”

“V-Victor... was nice.” Hermione said.

Harry chuckled again. “He was easily put under the Imperius Curse and used the Cruciatus on Fleur. He couldn't do that without knowing the spell and how it worked. I doubt you can just point your wand and have it work. Moody showed us that.”

“He was the one that did it.” Hermione pointed out.

“Yeah.” Harry said. “Isn't it funny that a disguised death eater was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had?”

There was no answer and Harry sighed.

“Anyway, it's all over tomorrow. Good or bad, it's the end.” Harry said.

“You... you can't... don't give up, Harry! You're the Boy-Who-Lived! You're better than that!” Ginny almost shouted.

“No, I'm not. I never was.” Harry said and heard another sob. “I'm the Boy-Who-Left now. I wonder what the wizarding world will do with that.”

*

The next day, Harry found out. He had a full guard of twenty people to take him to the Ministry and some of them he had seen when they kidnapped him. When he mentioned that, none of them said anything. When he asked them why they were bothering to protect him when he was leaving, they stayed quiet and didn't rise to the bait.

Surprisingly, they all rode the train to get to the main station in London and then they stopped at someone's house and used the fireplace to shuffle through into the Ministry. They went in pairs and Harry and Moody were last. Apparently, none of the others wanted to pair with Harry and he was fine with that.

“You're late.” The tall black bald man said as soon as Harry stepped out of the fireplace. He had watched and copied what Moody did and he hadn't been thrown out of the floo like usual.

“We were held up going in pairs, Kingsley.” Moody said and pushed on Harry's back to make him move. “Go with the Senior Auror, Potter. Madam Bones is waiting for you in her office.”

The group spread out and they crossed the Atrium to reach the elevators. Half the team went into the left one and the rest, along with Harry and Kingsley went in the right one. It was silent in the elevator car as they dropped down.

“Aren't you going to ask about what's going to happen?” Kingsley asked.

“No.” Harry said without looking at him.

“Tonks was right?” One of the men asked. “You really are a brat?”

“I objected to being kidnapped from one prison where I was starved and then kept prisoner in another with no say in whatever happened to me. They didn't listen and did it to me anyway.” Harry said without looking at the man. He didn't see the shock on the man's face or on the others.

“Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Department of Regulation and Control of Dangerous creatures, Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts.” A female voice said from the ceiling when the elevator stopped.

Harry was ushered out and the guards met up and they put Harry in the center as they moved across the small lobby and into a hallway that went to the Auror Bullpen with cubicles and desks, many other Aurors, and a lone desk beside the only other door in the room. The secretary behind the desk frowned at Harry and he grinned at her, which made the woman frown even more.

“If you keep making faces like that, your face could stay that way.” Harry joked.

Someone behind him chuckled and coughed to cover it up.

“Harry Potter, here for his disciplinary hearing.” Kingsley said.

The secretary checked the schedule and nodded. “She's expecting you.”

“Thank you.” Kingsley said and went to the door and opened it, then motioned Harry inside.

Harry didn't ask why none of them were going in with him. When he entered the office and saw the stern face of the woman behind the large desk, he found the reason. None of them wanted to be in her presence if it wasn't required. The plaque on her desk said she was Amelia Bones, Department Head.

“Have a seat, Mister Potter.” Amelia said.

Harry did so and waited. He knew to not speak before spoken to, especially in a place like this.

“Before we get into the hearing about what happened, I would like to reassure you that your letter to the press will have no bearing on my decision.” Amelia said and she saw Harry's wide eyes. Her slight smile escaped before she could school her face. “I talked to my niece after I saw the newspaper article and I want to apologize and express how ashamed I am of her and her behavior.”

Harry was stunned. He never thought... an actual adult had said they were sorry... and meant it. He mentally shook his head at the revelation. “Madam Bones, you don't know how much that means to me.”

Amelia was stunned by his sincerity. She had heard from several of her Aurors about the young man's behavior the few times they had interacted with him. It was not flattering in the least. Then again, she always took rumors and conjecture with a grain of salt and preferred to form her own opinions after meeting someone.

“Would you like to share some of your thoughts about that?” Amelia asked and saw Harry's face go blank. “I'm not trying to interrogate you, young man. Not yet, anyway.” She said, a little cheekily, and was pleased when Harry's blank face changed to show a small smile. “I would like to confirm some of the things I've heard from second and third hand accounts, if you could indulge me.”

Harry thought about it and his eyes seemed to lock onto the older woman's. He could feel that she was genuinely interested in what he had to say and he had a very important decision to make. He knew that if he told her some things that it would affect his defense of his actions, so he chose to do the right thing and not the easy thing. He chose to tell her everything.

Six hours later, after viewing most of Harry's submitted memories, a very subdued Amelia Bones finally got around to conducting his underage magic trial about breaching the Statute of Secrecy. Ten minutes and another memory later, the case was dismissed and his record of previous breaches was expunged.

“Th-thank you.” Harry said, his emotions getting away from him. He might have made the decision to leave and had that reinforced several times by the actions of several people; but, that didn't mean he wanted his wand snapped and his memories of magic removed.

“No, Mister Potter...” Amelia started and then smiled. “...Harry, I need to thank you. What you've shared with me today is going to cause a lot of things to happen while you're gone.”

Harry blinked his eyes at her. “You... you're not going to stop me?”

“Stop you?” Amelia asked with a knowing smile. “I'm going to help you escape your horrible life.”

Harry was shocked to the point that his mouth opened and could have caught a swarm of flies before he realized what he was doing in front of the most important woman in the Ministry of Magic. He snapped his mouth shut with a clack and his face flushed red from embarrassment.

Amelia softly laughed and looked amused, which made Harry's heart flutter at how nice it sounded. It was surprisingly rare for him to hear anyone laughing like that and he had to admit that he liked hearing it.

“If you'll wait here, I'll get a few things in order and then I'll come back here for you.” Amelia said and stood. “Since it's now late afternoon, we'll have a bit of a late lunch before anything else and then we'll get started on getting you to safety. How does that sound?”

Harry could do nothing but nod in agreement. Amelia walked around her desk to put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her face and felt reassured by the expression on her face and smiled. With her own nod to him, Amelia left Harry there alone in the office and went to the Auror Bullpen to put some plans in place and to arrange a meal for two.

*

Everyone at Grimmauld Place were shocked that night when Harry showed up with an Auror escort to collect his things. Since he hadn't unpacked anything, it took no time at all to get his trunk from the den. Harry had given them a brief goodbye and a wave of his hand, then he was whisked away by a portkey.

The goblins tried to charge Harry Potter 5% of his total account's value for moving it to another branch of their bank located in another country. Thankfully, Amelia Bones was there to oversee things and she didn't argue. She boldly told them that if they blatantly robbed the savior of the wizarding world like that, she would go right to the Daily Prophet and tell everyone in Britain to withdraw their money.

After ten minutes of posturing by the branch manager, whom threatened to increase the cost if she didn't relent, Amelia refused to budge. She also said she was withdrawing all her own family's funds as soon as the meeting was over, no matter what the goblins decided. Withdrawals had no fees and they couldn't stop her.

Harry had wisely stayed quiet instead of saying he wanted to withdraw it all instead. He would find out later that transferring things was better than trying to open a new account in another bank as a new client. There was more prestige for the new bank to accept an old account from a prominent client, even if Harry didn't like acknowledging the fact he was famous.

In the end, the British branch of Gringotts Bank lost two very prominent clients in one day. Unfortunately, they were not happy about it and word had reached the press from all of their complaining. It wasn't as bad as Amelia telling people why she had closed her account; but, it was still bad and a lot of people lost trust in the goblins. It also let everyone in the wizarding world know that Harry Potter actually intended to leave.

Albus Dumbledore couldn't have that. The prophecy needed to be fulfilled and he had to stop the boy from escaping... that is, running away from his complete control... he meant his grandfatherly oversight that ensured the boy's safety. In any case, he had to stop Harry. It was just too bad that he was much too late to do anything about it.

Harry Potter was gone.

*

Less than a month later, when the new school year was supposed to start, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid, Poppy Pomfrey, Pomona Sprout, and Argus Filch were fired for endangering students and not reporting the various crimes and incidents that happened to the students under their care.

A large portion of the student body were also suspended for a month for their previous bullying. Several of the bullied students silently thanked Harry Potter for saving them again, when he didn't have to.

With Severus Snape in custody and not able to claim the Imperius Curse defense, thanks to Albus Dumbledore's interference and vouching for him, he was given veritaserum and sang like a canary. It brought out everything, including the death eaters, Voldemort's hiding place, and everything Albus Dumbledore had been planning for Harry Potter.

All of the death eaters were sent to prison, Malfoy Manor was destroyed when the Aurors assaulted it looking for Voldemort, whom escaped, and they captured the massive snake named Nagini. The Unspeakables harvested her venom, examined her, and found out what was wrong with the crazy thing. It was tossed through the Veil Of Death and the search began for the other horcruxes.

A month later, all of them were thrown through the Veil of Death and a severely weakened Voldemort was killed by Peter Pettigrew in a fit of anger at being crucio'd for the three hundred and twentieth time. The silver hand Voldemort gave him faded away and the rat bled out on the floor next to the dark lord's rapidly decaying corpse.

*

Three months later, Harry was woken up with a shake of his shoulder after he had dozed off.

“You need to apply sunscreen again and roll over, Harry. You're done cooking on that side.” An amused Amelia said from beside him on a reclining beach chair.

Harry barked a laugh and opened his eyes to look over at her. He couldn't stop his blush at seeing the stern woman wearing a sunhat and a yellow bikini that hugged her curves perfectly. He also couldn't help but think that she was very well proportioned and looked fantastic.

“I can give you a hand if you want.” Amelia said, fully aware that the young man's eyes were pretty much undressing her. She also saw the quite prominent tent pole in his shorts and felt flattered that he found her attractive, despite her age.

“O-o-okay.” Harry squeaked, his voice cracking. He tried to stop being embarrassed as he sat up.

“I can help, too!” Susan said and she ran over to them, still wet from the pool. She wore a matching bikini and sunhat and looked almost as good as her aunt.

“Thanks, Suzie.” Amelia said and handed her the sunscreen after taking some to cover her own hands. “You do the front and I'll do the back.”

“Okay!” Susan said with a grin and knelt beside Harry.

Harry couldn't stop himself as he stared at Susan's jiggling breasts that were right there in front of him. He did manage to not reach out to touch them, though. Barely. They looked so soft and inviting that it was a constant fight to not bury his head between them and enjoy their warmth.

Susan gave her aunt a smug smile and started to apply sunscreen to Harry's slightly muscular chest. Amelia held in her laugh at her niece's smile and gave her a subtle nod. She wouldn't object to the very nice and responsible boy dating her, now that they were all out of danger.

“Go ahead, Harry. I know you want to.” Susan said.

Harry sputtered and looked beet red as he looked at Amelia, whom nodded again. “Th-thank you.”

That made Amelia and Susan laugh and Susan leaned in and hugged the shy boy. Who would have thought that after everything he had been through, being around a girl was what made the young man nervous?

Susan hummed a little moan when Harry built up the courage to actually touch her breasts over the bikini. He was surprisingly gentle and seemed completely fascinated with them.

“Are.. hmmm... all boys... like this?” Susan asked her aunt in a whisper.

“No, I think you have a special one there.” Amelia whispered back. “I think he's someone that's going to appreciate you a lot more than either of us think he should.”

Susan looked immensely pleased at hearing that and she turned her head to look at Harry's concentrated gaze on her breasts. “Harry, you can kiss me now.”

“Okay.” Harry said distractedly and moved his head up slightly and leaned in to kiss her slowly and tenderly.

Amelia's eyes widened as her niece pretty much melted into Harry's lap and the two of them laid down and shared one of the longest snogging sessions they would ever have. Maybe I shouldn't have given my permission yet? She asked herself and kept watching them to make sure they didn't go too far.

Susan moaned a little indecently and Amelia blushed at being turned on by that and what Harry was doing with his hands. He was being both tender and firm with his movements and that seemed to make Susan quite happy, considering the soft pleased sounds she was making.

All right, I think that's enough. Amelia thought and leaned over to push her niece's head away from Harry's. The smack of the suction breaking between their lips almost made her laugh, then she saw Harry's amorous gaze shift and lock onto her.

“Thank you for saving me, Amelia.” Harry said and one of his tender and firm hands caught the back of her head and he pulled her in to give her one of the best kisses she had ever had.

Amelia thought she heard someone making soft passionate noises and she wondered if Susan was doing something else, then she felt Harry's hand on her breast. She loudly moaned and realized it had been her making those sounds, which shocked her into immobility and her eyes opened. She didn't remember closing them, either.

“I told you that she likes you, too.” Susan said and moved Amelia's head aside and gave Harry another passionate kiss. “She's too busy to date or anything, so when you pretty much dropped into her lap out of nowhere, it made the both of us really happy.”

Harry nodded and looked at Amelia, whom was still quite shocked by what just happened. “Susan came to me after we left Britain and she apologized for everything. She explained that she had to go along with her housemates or she would be ostracized. I should have guessed it was like that and told her you already apologized for her. I forgave her after that and we started talking...”

Amelia reached up and placed a hand over her mouth. “H-Harry, you... we can't...”

Harry couldn't stop the smile on his face. “I once overheard Oliver Wood asking Katie Bell out on a date. The first words out of his mouth were that the age difference between them might matter right now; but, no one at all is going to care in a few years.”

Amelia's mouth dropped open and Susan giggled like a little girl.

“You were the only one to ever listen to me and actually do something about it, Amelia. I... I'm... I've never known what... what love is... but... but, the last three months have been what I always hoped they would be like with people who cared about me and not about the Boy-Who-Lived.”

“You're welcome.” Susan said and gave him a quick kiss. “We have so much more to teach you.”

Harry beamed a smile at her. “I can't wait.”

“Good.” Susan said and sat up on his waist as she handed him the bottle of sunscreen. “My back needs a bit more of this.”

Harry started to nod, then froze when Susan untied her bikini top and the yellow cloth dropped away from her skin and she flicked it away to land on the patio deck. The bottle of sunscreen dropped next as Harry's hands lost all motor function and his brain short-circuited.

“I love that look on your face.” Susan said and laid down on top of him again and resumed their snogging session.

Amelia needed a few minutes to review what just happened and resolved to admonish her niece for what she just did. They were only fifteen and... damn, her thoughts went back to Harry kissing her like that and she couldn't begrudge Susan rewarding him for it. She would have to supervise them a lot more than she assumed if this was what they did with her right there.

Leaving Britain and moving permanently to a mansion in the Caribbean with Harry Potter had been the best decision of their lives.