Harry Potter and the Loss of Innocence

Chapter Two: Home Is Where Your Heart Is

Home is where your rump is!

~Pumbaa from The Lion King

Harry woke up with a scream, the image of Voldemort's Dark Mark still burnt into his vision. His scar felt like it was about to split open and he was shaking. He leaned over the side of his bed and lost everything that was in his stomach.

"Harry, you alright there?" Harry jumped at the voice; it didn't belong to any of his relatives. He groped around for his glasses, but whoever had spoken handed them to him. "Here you go, Harry. Is that better?"

"Tonks?" Harry asked, trying to see the person in his dark room.

"Yeah! We're here to get you and take you to the Burrow. How 'bout some light?" She waved her wand and all of Harry's lamps turned on. Harry covered his eyes; the light was way too bright. "Oh, sorry, Harry." She waved her wand once again and the lights dimmed.

"Thanks. Who else is here?"

"Well, Remus and Moody. Shacklebolt, of course. The twins said they needed to come to pay their respects to your cousin. I have no idea why." She paused shaking her head. "Let's see, who else? Dung is around as a lookout. Hestia and Dedalus are here too. Oh, and Minerva. And of course, yours truly."

"Is everyone downstairs?"

"Of course they are. They sent me upstairs to pack you up and take you downstairs. I came in and you were screaming. Bad dream?"

"You could say that. I need to talk to Dumbledore about it," Harry said while looking at his scar in the mirror. He had been sure that it had actually split open, but he had guessed wrong.

"Well, can you wait until tomorrow? He'll be visiting the Burrow then."

"Yeah, I guess so." Now that Harry thought about it, he wasn't sure he wanted to talk to Dumbledore. Not now, not since finding out about that Prophecy.

Tonks waved her wand, said, "Pack!" and all of Harry's stuff packed itself up into his trunk. "There, is that everything?" Harry nodded. "Good, let's head on down."

The memory of what met Harry's eyes when he entered the living room would always bring a smile to his face. Remus was trying to be polite and was talking to a furious Uncle Vernon. The twins were waving and smiling at Dudley like two schoolgirls with a crush on him, but Dudley was hiding behind his father. Moody had his cap off and his magical eye was extremely visible. It was zooming around and around and Uncle Vernon was staring at it. Shacklebolt was also trying to speak to Aunt Petunia, but she was trying to shrink back into her husband. They all turned at Tonks' "Wotcher!" and looked at Harry.

"What was that screaming, Harry? Did Tonks scare you with her puke green hair?" Remus Lupin asked Harry with a smile.

"It is not puke green, Remus!" Harry looked at Tonks' hair for the first time and smiled. It was puke green.

"Tonks," Shacklebolt stated patiently, "Everyone at work got together and voted. It! Is! Puke! Green!"

Tonks went over to the mirror and glanced at it. "Fine I'll change it, but what color should it be?"

"Gryffindor red," Harry suggested.

"Well, because it's you, Harry, I'll wear Gryffindor red. I, myself, was a Ravenclaw, way too brilliant to be in Gryffindor." She screwed up her face in concentration and turned her hair a deep red color. Aunt Petunia let out a slight scream.

"Get out of my house, you freaks!" Uncle Vernon bellowed. Harry was surprised, at first, but then he realized that Vernon felt safe and in charge in his own house. That and Harry could tell that Vernon wasn't thinking properly because of his fear and rage. "I will not let you stay another minute and terrify my wife and son! OUT! OUT! OUT!"

"No, Mr. Dursley," Professor McGonagall said in a patient voice, as if she was speaking to a really slow person, "we are not going anywhere until we are given the signal to leave. You will have to put up with us for a few more minutes."

"You know what, this is way too boring. Let's add something to it." Tonks screwed her face into concentration and royal blue stripes were added. "There, red for Harry and blue for me."

"So, Harry, what was that screaming?" Remus asked again, laughing at Tonks' hair.

"Nothing but a really bad nightmare," Harry shrugged, not really wanting to relive it quite yet.

"Like how bad?" he asked, a look of worry on his face.

"Um." Harry felt everyone's eyes on him. Well, everyone's eyes but his relatives'. "Like last Christmas bad."

"Last Christmas? The snake one?" Remus looked even more worried. Harry nodded. "You need to speak with Professor Dumbledore."

"Yes, he knows that. He already asked to see him. Tomorrow, right?" Tonks said before Harry could.

"Yes," Moody said gruffly.

"What took you guys so long to come and get me?"

"Yes," Vernon said butting in. "What took you so long?"

"Mr. Dursley," Fred said giving up on Dudley. "I wouldn't stick your overly large nose into something that isn't your business."

"Unless..." George added with a sly smile; it was a smile Harry had learnt a long time ago to mistrust. "Unless, you wanted me to enlarge it for you. I have a wonderful product," he took something out of his pocket, "that enlarges noses, eyebrows, and tongues." Dudley paled considerably and Harry had to control his laughter.

"Boys," Remus said tiredly. "We warned you to behave. So, either behave or leave."

"Alright, Remus, we'll behave," Fred said with the same smile his brother was wearing.

"But only if he's behaved this summer. Harry?" George asked turning to him.

"What?" Harry didn't want to answer this question.

"Did he behave himself?" Fred asked, clearly hoping that the answer was no.

"I don't care that the two of you are no longer a member of my house," Professor McGonagall said crossly, "but I will tell your mother if you do anything to these Muggles. Now, behave."

Harry sighed quietly and smiled at the twins. They had gone back to waving to Dudley. He shook his head at them; he would miss them this year. "So, what took you so long?"

"Harry this is neither the time nor the place to be talking about that," Remus answered quietly.

"And there's the signal." Moody's magical eye was pinned on something on the ceiling. Or, Harry thought to himself, pinned on something past the ceiling and in the sky. "Here's the Portkey. Everyone who's supposed to grab it, grab it. That includes you, Harry." Harry grabbed the teacup Moody was holding out. "Good, and Nymphadora, you have his trunk?"

"Yes, and it's Tonks, Mad-Eye."

"If you say so. On three then. One. Two. Three." Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel and then fell on top of Remus. He stood up and looked at the crooked little house that was called the Burrow. He was finally home.

"Harry!" Harry was knocked over once again by a very bushy brown haired girl.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry choked out. She had a very tight squeeze and he could barely breath.

"'Mione, let him go or you'll suffocate him!" Harry looked over at his other best friend, Ron. The bright red hair was sticking up at all angles, as if he'd just gotten up. Ron noticed and his ears turned a little red. "They didn't tell us you were coming here tonight, so we were in bed when they woke us up."

Harry smiled as he gave Ron a quick hug. "Yeah, Tonks woke me up. Wish they would have told me that they were coming to get me."

"Let's get inside," Remus commented, glancing around warily. "It's late and you all should head back to bed."

"Hey, Ginny," Harry said. He had just noticed the quiet girl standing just outside of the circle Hermione, Ron, and he made. "You keeping Ron in line?"

"That's impossible. But Hermione is trying," she said with a mischievous smile on her face.

Harry looked at the blush on Hermione's face and on Ron's ears. What did Ginny mean?

"I thought we were going inside, but I must be wrong," Remus said with a smile just like Ginny's. What did they know that he didn't?

They walked up and entered the front door. He loved this house: there couldn't be a greater contrast to the Dursley's anywhere. Whereas the Dursley's house was immaculately groomed and sterile, this house seemed to be bursting at the seams. Everything was everywhere, but it was perfect in Harry's mind. Harry could smell Mrs. Weasley's cooking and it made his stomach growl.

"Hungry, mate?" Ron asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I forgot to eat supper last night, err, tonight. And I lost my lunch earlier." Hermione glanced at him curiously, but she kept her mouth shut. "It sure smells good."

"I'm glad you think so, Harry." Mrs. Weasley said before she hugged him. "I'm glad you're finally here." She held him out at arms length and looked him up and down critically. "I think you've grown a few inches. But you look too skinny, have you been eating right? Have those Muggles been feeding you at all? And have you been sleeping all right? You look tired. If only they would have allowed me to go and get you three weeks ago..."

"Mum, let Harry be," Ron said exasperated with her.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry assured her with a smile. "It's just nice to be home."

"Oh, Harry," she cried and hugged him again. "Midnight snack is ready for anyone who wants it," she said after letting Harry go. Harry noticed her wipe her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Harry, thanks for saying that," Ron said later after they were in his room and in bed.

"For saying what?" Harry asked confused. He had said quite a bit tonight. His mind wasn't working to quickly either; he was too full for it to work right.

"That this is your home. Mum, well, she loves you like a son, mate. You're stuck with her forever now. Not that that's a bad thing," Ron added, laughing, "but you made her day saying that. She's been so worried for you; we all have been. 'Mione was coming up with all these plans to rescue you. And they were all bad." Ron smiled and chuckled.

"What's up with you two?" he asked innocently. Harry had noticed them exchange several smiles while they were eating the feast Mrs. Weasley had made.

Ron's ears turned bright red. "We, um, we're going out now, I guess."

"You guess?" Hermione's voice said from the doorway.

"No, I know that. 'Mione, let's not fight tonight," Ron pleaded with her.

"Can I call you 'Mione too, Hermione?" Harry teased her. She hated that nickname.

"No, you may not, Mr. Potter. And don't you tease Ron about this." Hermione said in her "Prefect" voice.

"And why not?" Ginny asked innocently. "His ears turn a beautiful color of red." Harry noticed that both girls were ready for bed and were wearing their pajamas. Hermione went over and sat next to Ron, who put his arm around her. Ginny sat on the end of Harry's bed.

"Because teasing your older brother is a bad idea," Ron said menacingly.

"So, why can't I tease you, Ron?" Harry asked just as innocently. It felt so good to tease Ron. To smile and laugh again.

"Because, 'Mione would kill you!"

"Point well taken, she is deadly. You live a very dangerous life dating her, mate. I feel obligated to tell you this: you court death courting her." Hermione got up and hit Harry on the shoulder; Ginny was trying to keep her giggles in check. "Hey, Ron, are you going to let your girlfriend beat up your best mate?"

"N...," he started, but with the look from Hermione he changed it to, "Yes."

There was a small cough from Ginny that sounded a lot like "whipped" and Ron's ears turned a deeper red. Harry hadn't laughed this hard since before Sirius' death. One quick thought about Sirius and Harry stopped laughing and tensed up.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Ginny asked quietly. Ron and Hermione were still teasing each other happily.

"Nothing," he whispered to the girl sitting next to him.

"Then why'd you tense up?"

"I didn't." Ron and Hermione stopped teasing; Harry and Ginny's voices had risen in volume.

"You did too."

"Fine, I was just thinking about Sirius, alright!" Harry shouted at Ginny.

"Yes, that is alright," Ginny answered quietly but firmly. "I was just thinking that he would be teasing Ron and Hermione something awful if he were here right now. He could get Ron's ears the most brilliant shade of red," she said laughing.

Harry smiled sadly, "Yeah, he could. How are those Cannons doing, Ron?" Harry asked trying to change the subject. He wasn't as ready as he thought he was.

"Same as normal. They're rubbish, but they're still the greatest team around. Hear about the Holyhead Harpies?" Harry shook his head. How could he? "Oh, right, the Muggles. Well, they're on fire and making big news."

"I've been a fan for ages. They only hire witches and I want to play on their squad some day," Ginny added wishfully. "They beat the Pride of Portree, Montrose Magpies, Ballycastle Bats, and the Wimbourne Wasps, the best teams in the league."

"Wow." Harry was glad that Ron had helped change the subject. But it didn't stop Hermione from glancing at him with a worried expression on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where'd you go, dear?" Arthur Weasley asked his wife, Molly, when she came back downstairs.

"I just went to check up on them. They sound like they're having a good time. They were laughing so hard and it was so nice to hear Harry laughing again."

"What was that yelling, Molly?" Remus asked her. Arthur glanced at Remus; he hadn't heard any yelling. Remus just shrugged.

"Oh, just a Weasley girl getting under Harry's skin. He stopped laughing and Ginny called him on it. She made him tell her why." Molly stopped and wiped a tear off her face. "He's still missing Sirius." She stopped and blew her nose.

Remus stood as if to go talk with Harry, but Molly caught his arm. "No, don't, Remus. He's not ready yet. He changed the subject and Ron brought up the Harpies. Sometimes I wonder how thick Ron really is." She glanced at the clock across the room. "Remus, it's almost four in the morning, why don't you stay here tonight?"

"Yes, I think I will, if you don't mind."

"If I did mind, Remus, I wouldn't have offered." Arthur took one look at Remus' distressed face and laughed. It was good to have Molly teasing people again. It must be because Harry's here, he thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What have you guys been up to this summer?" Harry asked them once they had exhausted the topic of Quidditch.

"You first, Harry. We've been doing all the talking so far," Hermione countered, wanting to get Harry to talk about Sirius.

"Only if Ron gets his hand out of your shirt," Harry countered just as smoothly. "Ron, seeing that Hermione doesn't have the pleasure of having older brothers like Ginny does, I'm going to take that spot. If you hurt my little sis in any way, shape, or form I will forget that you've been my best mate for five years and pound the living day lights out of you. You hear me?"

Ron faked a gulp, but did remove his hand from under her shirt; he hadn't even noticed it creep up there. Hermione on the other hand was wiping a tear from her cheek.

"What's the matter, Hermione?" Harry asked confused, he had thought that would make her laugh.

"Nothing, Harry, nothing." Harry looked at Ron in confusion, but Ron was just as confused as he was.

"Did I do something wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked even more confused, because Hermione was crying now, leaning into Ron for support.

"Nothing, n-nothing," she sniffed. Harry looked from her to Ron to Ginny. Ginny, though, thought she knew.

"Hermione," she explained softly, "you have no idea how annoying it is to have older brothers. You really don't want Harry for one, either. He's too stupid."

"I'm sitting right here, you know," he said feigning hurt and anger.

"I know, but it's the truth," Ginny answered gently. "But then again, Ron doesn't have a clue either, so it might just be a problem with the whole male species." Hermione smiled at Ginny and stopped crying.

"Thanks Harry, for being my older brother," she managed to say.

"Is that what that was about?" Ron asked surprised. "You were crying 'cause that git just said the obvious? 'Mione, if I wasn't the one dating you, I'd say the same thing to your other boyfriend. Geez, isn't that obvious?"

"Yeah, but he said it," Hermione said as if it was obvious. "He didn't just take it for granted." Ron gave her a blank stare and Harry just smiled kindly. "Never mind. Harry, you were going to tell us about your summer."

"Oh, yeah." Harry combed his hand threw his hair. "It was pretty much the same. A little quieter than I expected, but then again, Moody scared the crap out of my relatives. I did some chores, not that many though. Aunt Petunia and I had this, um, agreement. I did the chores she asked and she didn't ask me to do everything. I started working out, seeing as I had all that extra time on my hands. I even finished my homework."

Harry stopped and looked at them. Ginny saw the look in his eyes and it scared her. There was little emotion, except for pain and loss. Hermione and Ron couldn't see it from across the room, but Ginny saw it clearly and she started to really worry about him.

"Why didn't you guys write?" he pleaded with them softly. "There were times when I thought I had dreamt up the past five years. I couldn't tell if I made it up or not, you know." He shook his head and the look left his eyes.

"Mate," Ron stated, "you have no idea how many Death Eaters were watching your house. So many that even the Ministry noticed." Harry nodded, but Ron wasn't getting out of it that easily.

"So?"

"We weren't allowed to because they were taking all the letters sent your way," Hermione continued for her boyfriend. "They even took those you sent, until the Order started to protect Hedwig. They didn't want anything to slip into Voldemort's hands."

"You couldn't even send a note that just said 'Hi!'?" Harry asked angrily. He could feel his temper rising. He wasn't even mad at them, but he was furious at Dumbledore. "What could Voldemort possible gather from a note that just said 'Hi!'? You didn't even have to sign it 'cause I know your guys' handwriting better than my own! I needed anything to prove that this world still existed!" Harry was shouting again, but he didn't know when he had started. He was taking a deep breath to continue yelling, when a calming hand touched his shoulder. Harry looked over at Ginny and let that breath go.

"I'm sorry. I'm just fed up with being protected and coddled. You know? I'm sorry, Ron, you were only doing what you were told. I'm sorry, Hermione, you're right, we don't need Voldemort learning stuff about us. And I'm sorry, Gin, you didn't deserve that either." Ron gave Harry an odd look, the look of someone trying to figure something out. Harry though decided to ignore it. "I'm just so frustrated."

"About what?" Ginny asked quietly.

Harry decided to ignore that and moved on. "So that's my summer. What about your guys'?" Hermione and Ginny both saw the evasive move and were moments away from calling him on it, when Ron spoke up.

"Well, not much, really. We're staying here the rest of the summer. We've been in and out of Grimmauld Place, trying to keep it clean, but in my personal and professional opinion, that's impossible. Dad's been working overtime at the Ministry. It seems that attacks on Muggles using Muggle things have increased. Well, attacks on Muggles have increased, period."

"'Cause we're here, though, it means we don't even know when there's an Order meeting, let alone what they talk about," Ginny continued. It seemed she was willing to let his comment go, but Hermione still looked worried. "Fred and George will let little things slip, but any big secrets, well, not even they will let those slip."

"You'd think they'd let us know Harry was coming," Ron said angrily. "Seeing as he's our best mate."

Harry smiled weakly, "No, I'm too big of a secret to let slip."

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny gave him a surprised look, but he wouldn't elaborate and they went on talking. Ginny and Hermione were concerned, though and kept shooting him anxious looks. Ron, well, he was concerned too, but he had learnt a long time ago that anxious glances and quiet whispers only delayed Harry's eventual talk, so he went on as if nothing had happened, bring up Fred and George's new shop in Diagon Alley.