Harry Potter and the Heart of Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter world or any of the characters living in it.

HARRY POTTER

AND THE HEART OF DARKNESS

CHAPTER 1

A Short Summer at Privet Drive

It was a strange summer in Privet Drive. The wind was loud. The temperature rose and lowered dramatically at random times. It was horribly chilly though not freezing and anyone outside with anything short of a sweater shivered. The weather man had no explanation for the erratic weather. Most of the inhabitants of the area stayed indoors, wanting to stay away from the chill.

However, there was one boy outside, a skinny and tall boy with messy dark hair. He looked slightly underweight for someone his size but had toned muscles on his visible forearms, due to extensive weed pulling. He was also dressed strangely; his clothes though very baggy were much too short; his shirt cuff was a few inches below his wrist; his legs much too long for his pants. Having received a long awaited growth spurt and reaching 6 ft even, the clothes were now too small in length, though plenty wide. To an onlooker, the boy might have looked as if he was homeless and had stolen the clothes from someone shorter then him.

The truth was that the boy was not homeless at all. He was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and a wizard. Because he was a wizard his guardians, the Dursleys, treated him horribly and didn't give him good food or clothes. In fact, the last time Harry remembered getting new clothes from the Dursleys was 3 years ago. This was because the Dursleys hated any abnormalities in their perfect life and Harry was a huge abnormality to them.

This summer had been most difficult and painful for Harry. Not because of the Dursleys' hard chores or because he was underfed, but because of the pain in his heart. For two weeks since leaving Hogwarts, Harry had been grieving over the death of his godfather, the only true living connection to his father that he might be able to live with and have a friend in other then Remus Lupin.

During the day, while Harry did his chores and tried not to think about Sirius, a pain filled his chest. Pain like he had never felt before. It was a strange pain... one that didn't cause him to flinch or cry out. But it engulfed him so completely that he felt as if he was being Kissed by a Dementor, his soul being sucked right from him.

During the night, Harry always dreamed of that fateful day in the Department of Mysteries, the same scene playing out night after night... an ancient and crumbling archway... a tattered black veil... and Sirius Black dueling with Bellatrix Lestrange; Sirius being hit with a spell and falling back into the veil. Sirius' face was a clear photo in Harry's mind, the last time he ever saw his godfather. A face of fear and surprise... and then he was gone. Harry always woke up after that, drenched in sweat. And then the pain engulfed his chest again. Harry had always then rushed to his books to try and get his mind off of Sirius.

The only other emotion Harry had felt during this summer was a thirst for revenge. It was almost as overwhelming as the pain. After mentally reeling from the pain, Harry's mind always raced to Bellatrix and Voldemort. The ones responsible for the death of the only parent Harry ever knew. In those moments, Harry was filled with such cold anger and rage that he was afraid of what he might do if Vernon or Dudley just happened to show up then.

It was this revenge and pain that kept Harry from smiling, from laughing, ever since he got off King's Cross. Revenge that fueled him to reading his spell and potion books for anything that might be used as a weapon against Voldemort or his Death Eaters, revenge that dimmed his once bright green eyes into a dull olive. It was what Harry was living for... now knowing that he had the power to kill Voldemort somehow. He didn't know how or when yet, but he couldn't wait for the next time he faced Voldemort. Just the thought of destroying the one who destroyed his parents and Sirius filled Harry with glee... even though he felt that it shouldn't. And even if he didn't defeat him, he would most likely be dead, rejoined with his true family. At times he felt sickened by his thoughts while at others he embraced them without any moral flinch. Regardless, Harry knew that next time, he would be prepared, no matter what.

Harry was now walking along the street, facing the harsh wind with only his thin and small shirt, his cold eyes looking around his surroundings as he walked. If someone watched him from within a house, he glared at them, causing a curtain to be pulled over a window. Having finished his chores for his Aunt, Harry had nothing better to do. He was tired of reading his schoolbooks and felt that he had memorized their contents from so much thorough reading late at night. He wasn't in the mood to practice Occlumency by himself as he had been doing ever since the end of the school year. His usual letter to Ron and Hermione had been sent already. Harry was following Moody's instructions and writing either Ron or Hermione every third day as instructed by Moody, though he had only written to Ron for the past week. However, the letters contained little more then "I'm fine" or "The summer is good". He had also finished his homework within the week of his return from Hogwarts (which was a record for him) due to constantly waking up in the middle of the night and having nothing to do but schoolwork.

Continuing his walk, Harry arrived at the park that he had gone to last summer before Dudley and he were attacked by Dementors. Sitting down on a swing, Harry slowly swung himself, trying to keep his mind blank... but Sirius came up eventually. The pain engulfed Harry once more. Then the feeling of revenge came soon after. Harry was in between crying and shouting out in anger though no emotion was shown on his face. His fist clenched the chain link holding the swing up until his feelings subsided.

When they finally did, Harry got up and started walking back, feeling exhausted... his hands cold from what he thought was the wind. Staying here was not doing any good for him. He didn't notice that the chain link he had been gripping was completely frozen.

~~~

After a night of very little sleep, Harry's morning was essentially dull. After making the Dursleys breakfast, he took the sheet of daily chores he was supposed to do wordlessly from his aunt and began them. After taking care of the garden, cleaning the garage, and doing the laundry, the sun set and Harry returned to his room, planning to ignore the Dursleys for the rest of the day. He had taken out his Standard Book of Spells Grade 5 and started to reread it again when he heard a tap on his window. Looking up, expecting Hedwig, Harry was surprised to see that it was a large brown owl, though he couldn't specifically tell what species. Opening the window, Harry let the owl in. He took the letter attached to it's held out talon and gave it some of Hedwig's food and drink. While the owl fed its self, Harry tore open the letter.

Dear Harry,

Sorry I haven't written to you in a while but Hedwig hasn't been here in a week not to mention the fact that she rarely ever stays for a reply anymore! You should tell her to wait at least 5 minutes.

Harry ignored this as the reason Hedwig wasn't staying for a reply was because he had told her not to. He wasn't in the mood to talk with his friends just yet... Sirius and the prophecy were still fresh in his mind and he had no intention of talking about Sirius or accidentally spilling the truth about the prophecy that was in the Department of Mysteries.

Anyway, the summer has been pretty productive. I've gotten plenty of standard 6^th year books but I don't know if they're the ones for this year. It doesn't really matter though as it'll still be a good experience reading them. How is your homework going? I hope you're not going to start them late like you and Ron always do. Ron hasn't even started his. I've finished the Potions essay though. Get the worst out of the way don't you think? Now, the main reason I sent this letter is because Dumbledore sent *me* one. You see, he said that he had heard that the Dursleys would be leaving for a vacation to the States in a week and wanted to know if our family could take you in 6 days from now for the rest of the holiday.

Shocked, Harry read this over again. The Dursleys never mentioned anything about a vacation. Looking at the date on his calendar, Harry saw why. In a week it would be Dudley's birthday. They would probably surprise him with it and leave Harry at Mrs. Figg's on short notice, though Harry wouldn't have minded now that he knew Figg was a squib.

Honestly Harry, how come you've never mentioned this vacation in any of your letters? Either way, I asked my mum and dad and they both accepted, meaning that you'll be spending the rest of your summer here! We'll have a good time, I'm sure. By the way, the brown owl is mine. His name's Horice, after Mengellion Horice, the one who gave owls that extra boost of rights because of their importance in communication. My parents finally got one for me, because of my O.W.L. results, they're all Outstanding! Ron said he'd show me his results face to face instead of writing it down. I suppose you will too seeing as how you're arriving in a six days.

Harry was now confused... how come he didn't get his O.W.L. results yet when Ron and Hermione both have? 'Maybe I should write to Dumbledore about it...' Thinking over this, Harry quickly shook his head. With Voldemort back, Dumbledore would be very busy and he didn't need a small thorn on his side like Harry's late O.W.L. results. He'd ask in the beginning of the school year if he didn't get them by then.

Well, make sure you're all packed and ready. We'll be arriving by car at around noon; Dumbledore gave us you're address. See you then.

Love,

Hermione

Harry reread the letter a few times, absorbing all the information. A little war was waging inside Harry. He didn't want to be with his friends as Sirius might come up or he might talk of the prophecy. This made him want to decline the invitation. However, staying with Mrs. Figg wouldn't be very productive as he wouldn't have all of Hermione's books to look through and find something to help him against Voldemort. This made him want to accept.

Harry looked up from his thoughts to see Horice staring at him expectantly. It must've wanted a reply. Harry quickly ripped off a piece of parchment. Thinking, Harry concluded that going would be better then staying and a small part of him *did* want to see Hermione again. He quickly jotted down a letter.

Hermione,

See you in a week.

Harry

Harry attached it to Horice and watched the owl fly away. Now he had to tell his uncle of his plans. Harry quickly went downstairs to the living room where he saw that Dudley was watching the telly and Vernon was reading the newspaper. Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen as Harry heard the faucet running.

"Uncle Vernon?"

His uncle quickly put the paper down and sharply turned his head to the direction of the voice.

"What do you want boy?"

"I need to talk to you..." said Harry, "in private."

"Hmph, whatever you can say in front of me you can say in front of Dudley."

Dudley looked up from the telly and was now listening attentively. Harry heard the kitchen faucet turn off and thought that his aunt was now listening in as well. Frowning, Harry thought of something he hoped his uncle would understand. "Well, I wouldn't want to spoil Dudley's big birthday present now would I?"

Those were the magic words so to speak for after a few seconds, realization came to Vernon's eyes and he quickly got up. He started going for the stairs and when Dudley followed, he barked at his son to stay where he was, contrasting his earlier statement.

"But I want to hear what he says too!"

Vernon apparently wasn't in the mood at that moment for he yelled, "If you don't stay where you are Dudders, you're grounded for two days!"

A dish could be heard being dropped in the kitchen and Dudley's mouth was wide open. Two days wasn't much but the fact that Vernon had actually threatened his son with a punishment was still a shock to the entire Dursley household, including Harry who didn't show it. Vernon grabbed Harry's shirt and dragged him upstairs. In a hushed voice he said, "How the bloody hell do you know about that boy?"

"It doesn't matter, listen. A day before Dudley's birthday one of my friends are coming to pick me up. I'll be gone for the rest of the summer."

"Eh? You'll be gone you say? How's this freak friend of yours coming?"

Harry was annoyed at this and Vernon shivered. The temperature seemed to have dropped several degrees but Harry didn't notice. "She's coming by car... her parent are Mug--normal people, like you and Aunt Petunia. They'll be here at Noon."

"What makes you think I'm going to let you go with them boy?"

Coldness entered Harry at that statement. His eyes became steely and the feeling of revenge and pain came into him. Glaring at Vernon, he said with anger, "Truth be told *Uncle*, I don't give a damn as to what you let or don't let me do. I'm going anyway, just thought you should know."

Vernon turned red with rage at having been spoken to like that and was about to reply but closed his mouth when he saw Harry's eyes. Something strange was happening to them. There was a cold calculating look that seemed to almost dare Vernon to say something else. But that wasn't the strange thing... the normally bright green eyes were changing color... turning red almost. Fear struck Vernon, though he couldn't tell why.

"F-fine boy, you can go." And with that, Vernon quickly retreated down the stairs. Harry returned to his room, the pain and the urge to destroy something quickly left him.

~~~

The six days passed quickly. Surprisingly, the pain or thirst for revenge hadn't reappeared in Harry for mornings and afternoons and only came up after being awoken from a nightmare about Sirius. The Boy Who Lived thought it might be because he was looking forward to going to Hermione's. He spent time doing more work for his aunt or uncle and reading more and more. He wondered why his O.W.L. results still hadn't come but kept it at the back of his mind.

When the day to leave arrived, Harry had packed all of his belongings into his trunk and was ready by 8 A.M. He had told Hedwig to go and wait at Hermione's. At 11:30, the entire household was waiting in the living room, dressed their best like they had when Arthur Weasley had come to pick Harry up. Harry's best however looked pretty horrible, even Harry admitted this to himself.

At 11:45, everyone heard a car pull up. The doorbell rang half a minute later. Harry grabbed his trunk and sprinted to the door and opened it. As soon as he did, he found himself covered with brown hair and enveloped in a rib breaking hug.

"Oh Harry, it's so good to see you!" Hermione broke the hug and looked at Harry appraisingly. Harry saw her smiling face for the first time and saw that much hadn't changed in her facial features, though her bushy hair seemed to have been tamed compared to its state two weeks ago. "You're so much taller now though. My dad's waiting outside. He'd re--what in the world are you wearing?" Hermione had said all this very quickly.

Harry looked down at himself and frowned, feeling embarrassed. "Er, well... I got taller like you said and... my old clothes don't really fit anymore."

"Well why didn't you get new ones then?"

At this Harry looked even more embarrassed. In a low voice he muttered, "I don't really know where to..."

Hermione quickly interrupted, knowing what Harry was going to say. "Well, Mum will get that all fixed for you. She knows the be--" It was now Hermione who was interrupted by Vernon clearing his throat.

Harry turned around quickly and saw that the Dursleys were behind him, waiting. Hermione incorrectly assumed that they were waiting to be introduced (they were really waiting for them to leave). She had heard that Harry's relatives were horrible but still decided to be polite. "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger, a friend of Harry's."

Vernon grunted a hello while Petunia looked away. Dudley was cowering behind his uncle yet staring at Hermione with hungry eyes. Dudley quickly turned his head when he saw Harry giving him a vicious scowl.

Harry glared for a short moment at his so called family and said, "Well, I'll be going now. See you next summer."

With that, Harry grabbed his trunk and empty owl cage and stepped out, pulling Hermione gently and quickly shutting the door behind him. Harry followed her to the car. The trunk was open and Harry stuffed his things inside. The two went into the backseat, slightly surprising Harry as he expected Hermione to be in the front passenger seat.

The man in the driver seat with straight brown hair turned to look at Harry and said, "Hello Harry, I'm Hermione's father, Dr. Granger."