Harry Potter and the Mark of Love

Harry Potter and The Mark of Love

By

Kevin J. Reynolds

Chapter 1: The Mark of Hate

Harry Potter lay awake in his bed in the house marked number 4 on the street named Privet Drive. Harry's scar had been filled with a barely noticeable burning pain ever since the end of last term at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry when after attempting to tie with Cedric Diggory for the Triwizard Cup. Harry and Cedric were transported to a graveyard where Cedric was killed and Lord Voldemort, the wizard who killed Harry's parents , and also attempted to kill Harry, was reborn. It was a cool night on Privet Drive, yet Harry's room was surprisingly warm so he went to crack open a window and let the air in. The next thing Harry saw was a jet of green light shoot into the sky and form a skull with stars for eyes and serpent extending from the mouth. Harry recognized it instantly as the sign of Voldemort and his apprentices, known as the Death Eaters. Harry was blown back onto the floor as pain surged through the scar on his forehead. Harry's scar was unusual itself as it was cut in the shape of a lightning bolt. The scar was given to him by Voldemort when he attempted to kill Harry. The self-sacrifice of Harry's mother's death to save him imbued Harry with a magical protection and the killing curse that would have destroyed Harry rebounded on Voldemort and very nearly destroyed him. Harry lay on the floor curled up into a tight ball moaning in pain with tears running down.

"BAM!" Harry awoke with a start as his Aunt Petunia banged on the door.

"Get up you accursed boy! Time to make breakfast!" Harry looked at his watch which registered 7:15 am. Harry moaned and got off the floor, never bothering to get back into bed after last night. He then went to shower and dress and came down a half hour later. Uncle Vernon sat at the table with a cup of coffee and the morning paper and remarked about how much he hated Harry while Harry went to get the morning mail. Harry never paid much attention to his family's complaints anymore because frankly, Harry despised them just as much as they did him. Harry had been dropped off at the Dursley's after his parents died because his Aunt Petunia was his mother's sister. It wasn't until Harry turned eleven that he learned about his parents and their lives and that same year Harry entered Hogwarts and began his wizard training. Harry pulled out several bills and mailers and handed them to his Uncle Vernon. Harry threw some religious leaflets in the trash, sparing himself a classic Vernon Dursley tirade about beatniks and fanatics. Harry made himself breakfast and hurried off to catch the bus to his new job at a contractor's office. Harry enjoyed his job because he got away from the Dursleys for about eight hours, got a good workout, and made himself a sizable amount of money in the process. By the time he got home, had some dinner, and got upstairs to his room he found his snowy white owl Hedwig waiting for him. Hedwig gave him his three letters and received an owl treat from Harry before swooping out into the night to hunt. The first one he opened was from Hogwarts detailing his new books and supplies list. The next letter was from Ron, Ron and Harry had been great friends since their first year and as Harry knew it would be another invitation to spend the last few weeks of the summer at his house which is what Harry was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

"Dear Harry,

Dad has to go to some international wizarding conference to discuss the situation with You-Know-Who. Mundungus Fletcher was killed last night by the Death Eaters, they sent the Mark into the sky before Disapparating. He wants us with him so unfortunately you can't come over this year. Fudge is getting ready to make a public announcement about You-Know-Who's reemergence. The Ministry is getting really spooked and I won't lie, so am I. I gotta run, see you at school! Bye, Ron"

Harry's heart sank that he wasn't going to Ron's, yet he was also scared of Voldemort as much as he hated him.. He remembered the name Mundungus Fletcher as one of "the old crowd" Dumbledore had mentioned at the end of last term along with Arabella Figg, Remus Lupin, and Harry's godfather, Sirius Black. His thoughts traveled to Sirius and where he might be right now. Probably following up on Fletcher's death. He opened the last letter which turned out to be from Hermione! Harry's heart leapt for some strange reason even he couldn't identify. His hands flew as they tore open the letter and shook as he read it.

"Dear Harry,

I got a letter from Ron about the conference and I begged my parents and they agreed to let you stay for the next two weeks! My parents will pick you up tomorrow in a Muggle car and take you to my house and then we can go to Diagon Alley to pick up our things. Can't wait! Love, Hermione" Harry thought he could die of happiness right then and there. Hedwig returned a short time later and Harry wrote to Sirius telling him where he'd be in case he needed to contact him.

"Dear Sirius,

I'm sure you know all about Mundungus Fletcher and Arthur Weasley's conference. In case you need to contact me, you can reach me at Hermione's. Love, Harry" Harry tied it to Hedwig's leg and she promptly took flight after Harry told her where to return. "Now," Harry thought, "comes the hard part.". Harry bounded downstairs with much less feeling that he had when he opened Hermione's letter. "Um? Uncle Vernon?" Uncle Vernon was nearly asleep in front of the t.v. and started awake.

"What boy?" Uncle Vernon looked even angrier than usual at this interruption of his sleep.

"I was just wondering if one of my friends could come pick me up tomorrow." Harry waited while Uncle Vernon considered him.

"And why should I let you?" Vernon eyed Harry surreptitiously.

"Because neither of us want me here," said Harry icily.

"Well that's the damn truth. Are they those damn Weasleys?" Vernon asked angrily.

"No". Said Harry plainly. "It's a friend of mine, Her parents are dentists."

"Her? What makes you think I'm going to let you loose with a girl for three whole weeks? So you can have more freaks like yourself?" Uncle Vernon was angry and so was Harry.

"They're coming tomorrow, it's already arranged with her parents," said Harry. A loud slap echoed across the room as Vernon Dursley raised his hand against Harry for the first and last time making Harry's lip bleed and swell.

"Fine, boy. But mark my words, this is the last night you will ever spend under the Dursley roof." Uncle Vernon said these words with a coldness matched only by Voldemort. Harry stood there with a bloody lip as his uncle stomped off to bed. Soon after, Harry did the same.

Harry awoke very early the next morning and rummaged around for a few cardboard boxes into which he packed all his meager belongings along with his spellbooks, wand, cloaks, robes, parchment, and quills that he packed into his school trunk. As happy as Harry was to finally be leaving the Dursleys, he was also sad for another reason he couldn't define. Maybe because they were his only living blood relatives and as much as he hated them, namely Uncle Vernon, he would probably miss them. A horn honked long and loud and Harry went out to meet Hermione and her parents, both Muggles and both dentists. Harry shut Hedwig into her cage and came downstairs with her and his trunk. He left the boxes upstairs and told Uncle Vernon he would be back after the end of term to retrieve them. He went outside and greeted Hermione warmly.

"Hi Hermione!" Harry ran up to her and hugged her. Hugging Hermione gave Harry a warm feeling he couldn't explain, nor did he want it explained, he was just happy to hold her. Hermione kissed him on the cheek.

"Hi Harry, what happened to your lip?" said Hermione, noticing the swelling on his lower lip. Harry touched it, turned back for a last look at the Dursley house, and turned away.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter anymore." Harry's face suddenly turned grave, and he bit down hard on his lip, wishing it hadn't ended like this. He inwardly wished he was staying at the Dursleys because that was the only thing in his life that was stable. Hermione caressed his cheek softly until a loud clearing of the throat behind them shocked them back into reality. Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder to her parents Michael and Alison Granger. Harry quickly noticed how strikingly similar Hermione was to her mother except for her nervous attitude which, Harry observed, obviously descended from her father. Her parents we quite pleased to meet him, and her mother was quite obviously interested in him, for Hermione, that is. She kept winking at Hermione to make some kind of move towards Harry. He noticed this and it kept him off balance throughout the entire meeting. On the drive to Hermione's house, which Harry noticed happily, wasn't too far away from the Dursleys, he kept being pelted by comments from the elder Grangers.

"Hermione's told us so much about you and the red-haired boy, what was his name dear?" Mr. Granger, while extremely smart, had about as much memory as Neville Longbottom.

"Ron, dad, Ron Weasley." Said Hermione in an exasperated voice. She looked at Harry and rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, here we are." Harry and Hermione got out of the car and headed into her house, which was strongly reminiscent of the Dursleys. Harry was led up to the guest room, which he noticed was across the hall from Hermione. After unpacking, Harry sat down to a wonderful dinner with Hermione and her family where he was asked the inevitable by Hermione's mother...

"So Harry, how'd you get that scar?" Harry nearly toppled his drink and looked at Hermione as if to say You never told them?! Harry simply said that he received it during childhood. Excusing himself from the table, Harry went upstairs to his room where he found Hermione's giant ginger cat Crookshanks on the bed and Hedwig at the window with a letter from Sirius. Harry opened the window and let Hedwig in after he chased Crookshanks off the bed. Harry took the letter and gave Hedwig an owl treat before she flew back into the cage and fell asleep.

"Dear Harry,

Yes I've heard about Mundungus Fletcher's death and Arthur Weasley's conference. I also know about you and Vernon Dursley. That's right, you're being watched by a friend of ours. I won't say who, but it is surprising. I know where you are, you should be fine there. Write me constantly. Remember to call me Snuffles around your friends.

Always around, Sirius" Harry closed the letter and made mental notes to burn it later. Harry had taken to burning Sirius' letters recently in case the Ministry came too close. There were three knocks on the door and Harry quickly stashed the letter.

"Hello?"

"Harry, it's me."

"Come on in." Hermione poked her head in and sat next to Harry with her hand on his shoulder. Harry let out a deep sigh and ran his hands through his untidy jet-black hair. He let fly with the story about Uncle Vernon and him and ended in tears. Hermione held him tight and kissed his cheek. Harry turned to look at her and slowly moved in to kiss her when her parents knocked on their door and they reluctantly had to break apart. Hermione left Harry with a kiss on the cheek and went to her room and got dressed for bed while Harry did the same. When they both went to bed, little did they know that both of them were having the exact same dream...about each other.

Harry awoke at around 6:30 a.m. and got dressed to find the Grangers already awake at the table. Michael came up behind him and clapped him so hard on the back that he nearly tumbled over.

"Morning Harry!" said Michael in a tremendously exuberant voice vaguely reminiscent of Ludo Bagman. "You ready to go pick up your things today at the Alley?" Harry nodded as Hermione came downstairs for a cup of coffee. Her father shook his head disapprovingly, "I tell her all the time she should stay away from coffee, 'It'll stain your teeth' I say, but does she listen, no. She says, 'Dad, all I need to do is say Dentalus Polishus, and the stains will disappear.' I tell her I don't approve of using magic on teeth. I know she used it last year because when she came back from school her teeth were a quarter inch shorter than the start of term and there's no way she could have had any work done during school." Harry stayed silent, knowing that she did indeed have her teeth magically reduced after Draco Malfoy had hit her with a curse that had enlarged her front teeth. Her teeth had been reduced by the Hogwarts nurse Madam Pomfrey, instead of letting her teeth return to normal size, she let Madam Pomfrey reduce just a bit more which some said enhanced her attractiveness.

After breakfast, they all packed into the car and trailed off to The Leaky Cauldron in London. The small, dingy looking pub was actually a historical magical site and was run by a nearly toothless man named Tom. As they entered, Tom greeted Harry with his usual energy, shaking hands with Harry, Hermione, and her parents. They left out the back door and Harry opened the magical gateway to Diagon Alley. The first stop for the group was Gringotts Bank, the only wizarding bank in the world. Ron's older brother Bill worked as a curse-breaker for the bank and was currently on assignment in Egypt. One of Harry's best kept secrets was the amount of money he held in the bank. Upon his parent's death, Harry inherited a medium-size fortune from his parents. But because of the Dursleys desire to keep every secret they possibly could about Harry's parent's lives away from him, he never found out about it until his eleventh birthday. All of the Gringotts vaults are underground, each with a powerful spell or curse to deter thieves, with some of the higher security vaults guarded by dragons. Harry quite enjoyed the breakneck ride to his vault in the Gringotts mine cart. When he got there, he scooped a comfortable amount into his money pouch and rode back up. He arrived to find that Hermione and her family had already made their withdrawals and came back up in another cart. The group of them walked outside and into the light. Hermione's parents declared they were going to The Leaky Cauldron to alleviate their queasiness after the cart ride and to come and get them after their shopping was completed. First, they traveled to Flourish and Blotts to pick up their texts for the next term, then they were off to the Apothecary for potions refills, then Harry and Hermione went to Quality Quidditch Supplies so Harry could restock on polish for his Firebolt. He turned around and saw something that made him laugh, Hermione was trying on a Quidditch gauntlet. Gauntlets cover the entire lower arm except for the fingertips and are usually made of leather. Harry shook his head and walked over to her, he helped her tie the laces properly. Harry smiled at her and said.

"Since Oliver graduated, we're gonna need a new Keeper." Harry looked in her eyes and slid his hands up and down her arms and shoulders slowly. "You're light, fast, you're just perfect." Hermione shivered and held her breath as Harry kissed her softly on the lips then the neck.

"Awwwww, isn't that sweet? The pothead and the Mudblood. The perfect couple". Draco Malfoy sniggered and slinked away casting a backward glance.

They left and ended their shopping at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Since Harry had grown a few inches he needed some new robes and while Harry was in the dressing room, Hermione was also getting new robes of her own. Through a knothole in the wall, Hermione observed Harry changing. Her excitement grew as she watched Harry remove his shirt, revealing his tanned, tight muscles, then his jeans came off and she felt the temperature raise over one hundred degrees. She got dressed quickly and strode into Harry's dressing room. She kissed him and he took her into his arms passionately. They kept themselves quiet and as they made love and Harry reflected on how accurate Draco had been, they were perfect for each other. Harry also realized that Hermione had now given him a mark, a mark exactly opposite Voldemort's. This one was The Mark of Love.