Fugitive Prince

Fugitive Prince

By March Madness

"I'm off to a bad start, Mr. Ricks," he opined.

"You only asked for a start," Cappy piped back at him. "I didn't guarantee you a

good start, and I wouldn't because I can't."

The Go-Getter

, Peter B. Kyne

Chapter VII

The next morning, Mrs. Weasley walked around the house and tension simply followed her. It was the same with Mr. Weasley, but because he left so early only his office was around to see how agitated the man was.

Back at the Burrow, Harry woke up and immediately regretted his breakdown. He'd cried in the arms of a woman--and in the presence of a man--who thought his parents were traitors.

When he went downstairs, he found Leo sleeping in the kitchen on the small bed, magically floating so that Mrs. Weasley could watch him but without stopping her furious breakfast making. When she saw him, she smiled. "Good morning, love. You're sure up early." Harry looked away and she went back to cooking.

He walked up to his brother and started to lift him, unconsciously checking to make sure that the sleeper was all right.

"You're the only one up so far," Molly informed as she stirred a skillet of scrambled eggs with one hand, flipped cooking bacon strips on another skittle with the other.

"D-did Leo cry?" Harry ventured a question.

Molly paused and gave Harry a strict look. "Yes, actually. He seemed to have some trouble sleeping. Bad dreams." She stared at him for a few more moments and looked about to ask him a question when the toast caught her attention.

Bill came down, dressed in dragon-leather pants, and pecked his mum on the cheek. "Morning, mum."

"Morning Bill," she answered absently. "Sleep well?"

"Good 'nuff." Bill turned to Harry and smiled tightly. "Morning, Harry. I heard you had some trouble sleeping."

"W-what?" Harry's eyes shot up from his brother to the older man.

"You said your name was Potter?" Bill narrowed his eyes and Harry paled but anything else the older Weasley was about to say was interrupted when the twins came down.

"Morning mum," they chorused, each giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. She muttered the usual 'Morning' and 'Sleep well?' while never fully taking her attention away from the meal. Ron and Ginny soon followed, going through the exact same routine and getting the exact same results and in the end, everyone save Charlie and Percy were sitting around the wooden kitchen table, waiting for breakfast.

Molly noticed her two sons' absences while she was beginning to serve breakfast. "Hmph. Where's the other two?" she hufed, spooning out bacon, eggs, pancakes, and toast while a pitcher of orange juice flew across the kitchen, pouring itself into the family's empty glasses. Harry took an awkward seat between the boy Ron--who Harry had slightly warmed up to--and Ginny--who hadn't seemed to have gotten over the fact that she'd run him over the day before.

Percy was down after a moment, brushing off his robes and absently giving his mother a kiss before sitting down at the table. "Don't bother waiting for Charlie," he commented airily, ignoring the fact that everyone had already started eating. "He's writing an owl to his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Molly stopped cooking for a moment, looking up. Her utensils, however, kept on working without her help or attention, flipping the pancakes and pouring more batter into the pan.

"Not girlfriend, Perce," Bill admonished. Her wiped his mouth with a napkin before continuing. "Charlie's been thinking about going into the dragon field full time, instead of just helping out locally."

"Full-time?" Molly gasped, a hand going to her mouth. "It's too dangerous."

"Oh yes, mum, very dangerous." But Bill didn't look at all concerned. "But how much more dangerous is working with dragons compared to working as a, say, Ministry official, in these times?" His mum shook her head, unable to come up with a comeback.

Molly finished the last of the pancakes with a worried expression on her face, sitting down to eat some breakfast as Bill rose to put his dishes into the sink. He gave a another kiss, saying, "Thanks for breakfast," before heading towards the door.

"And where are you going?" Molly asked.

"I must have forgotten," Bill stepped back with a great smile on his face. "I've got a new job."

"I hope it's not like the last one," George deadpanned as Fred snickered. "Remember, where you had to go around and ask people what color robes they liked best?"

"Yea, I especially remember you walking around in those bright pink ones," Fred picked up. "Just because that one old lady couldn't picture pink robes, and you couldn't change your robes back after making them pink."

"Did she like the color, in the end?" George asked with a fake sincerity.

Bill rolled his eyes but didn't get angry. "No, I'm working at Gringotts. Remember, I went down there yesterday and they hired me."

"Looks like all those O.W.L.s paid off," Molly said, nodding her head approvingly. She sent Percy and the twins a look. "I hope your brothers will be able to do as well as you did, Bill." Percy straightened his back with a smug smile while the twins rolled their eyes. "However," she added distastefully, eyes taking in Bill's outfit, "I think you would do well to buy better clothes-"

Bill laughed, cutting her off, and left.

Harry had kept his head down, eyes on his food during the entire conversation, feeling like an outsider. Leo woke up and Molly hurriedly fixed a bottle of warm milk for him, getting up to coddle him some more. Harry finished soon after, excusing himself from the room and sneaking out to the front when no one was watching.

There was a huge clearing all around the Burrow, with a forest just at the edge of their property and trails leading to and from the place. Harry let out a huge sigh and mentally counted back the time: three days ago, he was living in a cozy if crowded apartment, with two parents who loved him. One day ago, he's awakened with both those things taken away from him and with the horrible realization that he really was alone. Now, today, he was full and warm--but he had no idea where to go.

Molly's voice oozed out the doors, cooing Leo with Leo's laughs joining her. What did Leo need? What if Harry couldn't get it? He had no right to think Leo could survive with just him.

Maybe he should just leave, right now, leave Leo here. Mrs. Weasley would take care of him, perhaps much better than Harry could. Then, with Leo gone, Harry could...

Could what? Harry shook his head. 'Scratch that. I need Leo, even if he doesn't need me.' His parents, with their secret jobs that they'd often left him alone to do, had left him with an enormous fortune, so he could simply get up and buy a place, buy somewhere and raise Leo himself.

'I'm just a kid,' his brain objected, frightened. 'I can't take care of Leo forever.'

The door opened and a shadow fell on Harry, gone again as Ron sat down heavily, wiping at the taste of syrup still on his lips. "Hey. What'cha doing out here?" He squinted against the sun. "Waiting for your parents? They coming to pick you up?"

'I wish.' Harry shrugged. "I don't know. You're dad's supposed to find them." 'I wish he could.'

"Are you just going to stay here?" Ron asked. "Cause if you are-"

"Naw," Harry interrupted. "I, uh, know someone who lives nearby. If my parents don't come, I'll just go and stay at his house."

"Really?" Ron's attention was perked. "Who?"

"Remus," Harry answered thoughtlessly, but then realized that it was a great idea! He smiled slightly, eyes lighting up for the first time. 'I'll go live with Remus!' He quickly counted the days, surprised to find that the other night had been the full moon. 'He'll know what to do.'

"Remus?" Ron's face screwed up in thought. "Don't think I know him."

"He's a friend of my parents," Harry quickly explained, standing up. "I think I better go tell your mum. That way we can go right away and stop being in the way."

"But-" the door shut and Ron shook his head, rolling his eyes. "You're not a bother, Harry," he finished to himself, getting into the house. "Wonder what mum's going to say when she hears him say that."

"Bother?" Mrs. Weasley had just heard Harry and her head was shaking furiously, mimicking Ron's expression. "Goodness, what gave you that idea?" Harry was about to say something but she came to her own conclusion and her face darkened. "Fred! George!" she hollered, yelling up the stairs. "Get down here this instant!"

"No, Mrs. Weasley, it wasn't them," Harry quickly answered. "You're family's been nothing but nice to me."

Fred and George tromped down the stairs, looking surprised. "We didn't do anything, mum-"

"Then why would you get such an idea?" Molly was asking Harry, completely ignoring her boys.

Harry squirmed, scratching his arm. "Nothing. I just really don't want to get in the way and I really want to see if Remus... if Remus knows where my parents are. He, he might."

"Remus?" She looked surprised. "Remus Lupin?" Harry nodded. "But, how would Remus know where James and Lily are? How would he know if no one else can figure it out?"

"Remus always knows where we are," Harry explained. "He sometimes takes care of me and Leo, when my parents aren't there."

"What do you mean?" Molly asked again. Fred and George, seeing that they weren't needed, sneaked some food into their pockets and headed back upstairs.

"My parents sometimes get called and have to go somewhere," Harry answered, not really knowing why. "It happens a lot, and sometimes they don't come back for awhile and when they do they're really tired, sometimes hurt." He squirmed a bit more under her gaze. "So Remus sometimes comes over and takes care of Leo."

"By Merlin," she breathed, forgetting about Harry. "Have they been working for the Order this whole time?"

"So, I really want to go to his house."

"How far away is that?" she asked absently, still half-lost in thought.

"Not far," Harry promised. "It won't take long at all."

By this time, everyone still at home had gathered back downstairs, usually just pausing to see the scene. Molly swallowed and looked around. "I can take you-"

"I'll be fine," Harry cut in.

"Well, I can't let you walk the entire way," Molly declared, putting her hands on her hips. "Fred, go get him a broom." Fred jumped in the process of stealing more food and gladly escaped punishment. "You do know how to fly, right?"

Harry nodded, picking up his bag of things that he'd brought downstairs that morning. "I left mine in the apartment, he added absently before freezing, some blood leaving his face. Molly stopped as well, giving him a strange look as she thought about that particular phrase, tried to think about why those words were trying to spark her memory. They had all migrated outside as Fred came with the broom and Molly, against her better judgement, picked Leo up and handed him to Harry. "Do be careful," she urged, the strange look still on her face.

He turned to go, turned to leave this family that had been so nice to him. But he could almost hear his mother, 'tsk'ing her tongue at him from wherever she now stood: Harry James Potter! For shame! Are you going to just leave without saying a word, a real word?

"I paid them back for their kindness," Harry replied, thinking of the Galleons left beneath his pillow, left in a place he was sure Mrs. Weasley would find, but he could imagine his mother shaking her head.

Is this what I've brought you up to be?

She put her hands on her hip and faced him down with a hard look. Is this what you'll be whenever I'm not around? What will your father think when he hears of it? Imagine: my oldest son, thinking that simple money will buy his way out of everything. You only left that money because you didn't want them following you. You knew that once they found those gold pennies, they'd forget all about you.

"What do you expect me to do?"

he asked, exasperated but she only continued to look at him, telling him with her eyes that he knew exactly what to do. And so, he turned around, holding his year-old brother to his side and keeping his head down to avoid the watching Weasleys.

"Um," he cleared his throat. "I'd, I'd like to pay you back, but not with money," he added quickly, seeing the look on Mrs. Weasley's face.

He started again, trying to be more formal, older, trying to look like an adult in their eyes. "Please don't ask me how I know, or to prove it, because I can't. Voldemort has fallen--" They blinked and paled. "--and now lies dead, or at least as close to death as a monster can be. He has been gone for the past two days, which is why so many Death Eaters are now coming in for confessions. They probably aren't very powerful without Him backing them up. I wouldn't trust them," he shivered, thinking of how much he had trusted them.

"Is that enough?"

he asked his mother, standing just beyond the edge of his vision. She smiled heavenly and he knew it was. Not wanting to spend anymore time in their presence, not wanting to give them anymore time to figure out exactly what he was trying to keep hidden, Harry grabbed the broom and took off.

*

Molly sighed, thinking about the strange visitor and the things he'd said. She wasn't about to lie to herself, wasn't going to say she wasn't the least bit confused by what she'd found out, but she didn't want to think about it right then. "Ron," she called upstairs. "Is your room clean?"

"Yea," came the reply.

"Are you sure? I'm coming up to check-"

"Um, wait a minute."

Molly shook her head and headed upstairs anyway. "I swear, I gave you all morning and-" She reached his bedroom to find him trying to hide all evidence that he'd been sleeping instead of cleaning as he was supposed to. "Ronald Weasley! Get up and clean up this filth!"

Ron groaned but went about cleaning up as he was supposed to, starting with the floor.

Molly snorted and started to straighten up the room as well, throwing his clothing into a basket. "Sleeping, were you? And what have you done today that's so exhausting that you need to go back to sleep?" Ron didn't answer, knowing better than to answer such questions.

She reached his bed and started straightening the pillows when she noticed that the bed Harry had slept in the night before was already made--except for the pillows. The pillows looked like he'd simply tossed them on, lying with none of the order that the rest of the bed had been made with. She went towards them and picked one up, gasping with what she found under it.

Ron's face was red with anger and he viciously tossed his things to their places, standing tall when he saw that the room was clean. "Mum, can I go out and play?" She was standing over the guest bed but didn't answer. He tried again. "Mum, can I go-"

"Ron, go call your father," she cut in breathlessly.

Curious, Ron looked over her shoulder and his eyes nearly popped out.

Giant piles of Galleons shined brightly, smiling at him from beneath the pillow. His mum took a ragged breath and raked through them and Ron swore he counted over a dozen. With a shaky hand, she lifted the other pillow and even more lay there. Molly gave out another gasp and both of them looked at the third pillow, still lying down on the bed, innocently hiding what Ron suspected was another fortune.

"Ron...go... go get your father, Ron..."

He ran downstairs like he never had before.

*

"Are you trying to tell me that there've been no major attacks in the last two days?" The head Auror narrowed his eyes dangerously. "And you expect me to believe this?"

"We are having trouble believing it ourselves," the Ministry replied roughly. "But it is true."

"No major attacks, and two minor attacks, add to that the hundreds of Death Eaters and Dark Sympathizers that have turned themselves in... and you'll have our current situation."

Arthur shifted uncomfortably from his seat along the table as the head of the Muggle Relationship Department, toying with a quill. The Minister and head Auror began to bicker, as they frequently did, and in the end the two were furiously yelling from across the table.

"My Aurors need more power!"

"You already have enough power! Anymore, and we might as well abolish the Ministry and the wizarding democracy of Great Britain!"

"Mr. Weasley, sir?" An aide stuck her head in, efficiently silencing the argument as everyone, every head of every department, looked over to the coloring redhead. "Your son's calling for you. He says it's a emergency."

"Alright, I'll be right out." He stood and nodded in acknowledgement to the different heads. "If you'll excuse me..." Outside, he was directed to his office and the personal fireplace there. "Hello?"

Ron's head, excited and distraught, appeared. "Dad! You need to come home right now!"

"Wh- Ron, what's going on?" But Ron had already gone. Arthur put his tongue in his cheek, millions of possibiliteis--and few of them good--floating in his head and quickly stood up. "I need to get home," he told his secretary, nearly ripping his jacket as he threw his arm into the sleeve. "Tell the Minister I'm sorry I can't rejoin the meeting, and ask him if I can get a briefing later." She nodded, not even looking up from filing her nails, and he left.

At the house, everything was deadly quiet and Arthur nearly ripped off the door. "Molly!" he screamed, dropping his jacket and rushing into the empty kitchen. "Ron? George? Fred!"

"We're up here, dad," Ginny called down, popping downstairs. Her face was flushed. "Come on!" she urged, grabbing his arm and pulling him up.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Is anybody hurt?" She didn't answer, pulling him harder.

"Dad!" Ron rushed up and stopped. "You won't believe-"

"It's insane," Fred was arguing with George in the corner. "No one would leave all that."

"He's a Potter," George answered thoughtfully, "and everyone thinks the Potters are pretty out of it, you know."

"-mum hasn't moved since we found it," Ron was saying and Arthur moved through the crowded room to get to his wife.

"Molly?" he whispered. She was sitting on the bed, staring at something beneath the pillow that he couldn't see. "Molly?" He moved closer.

"Arthur, there's more money here than I've seen in a long time," she murmured, hands raking the bed.

Arthur looked down in confusion and froze.

So much money.

*

"What are we going to do?" Molly asked awhile later, down in the kitchen. "We can't keep it."

Arthur shook his head. "Don't ask me," he replied tiredly. "Did he say anything before he left?"

She stopped. "A-Arthur! He said that You-Know-Who was..." When he finally coaxed it from her, Arthur nearly fainted from shock, not only from the news but also from everything that had happened. In the end, the two made their decision and went to the fire, tossing some Floo into the flames.

"The Ministry."

*

"Mr. Weasley, you're back." His secretary looked over to the person beside him. "And Mrs. Weasley. Such a surprise-"

"Is the Minister still here?" he asked. Wordlessly, she nodding, pointing down the hall towards the conference room.

"They're still here?" Molly shook her head. "But it's been over an hour since you left-"

"They like to argue."

The walls around the conference room had been protected with a soundproofing barrier so it was a surprise when Arthur opened the door to get nearly knocked over from the noise.

"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME!!" the Minister shouted, pointing a finger at the red-faced Auror. The other heads looked dead on their feet--not mentioning nearly deaf. Everyone looked at the entering Arthur in shock. "Arthur, I thought you had an emergency."

"Gentlemen, yesterday in Diagon Alley, my family and I met and brought home with us young Harry and Leonard Potter," Arthur broke out. "He was alone and we were shocked to even see him and his brother. Everyone knows that the Potters have been in hiding for almost all of the past decade. I was concerned, at first, that we should first contact the Ministry because of the Potters' questionable reputation, but my wife convinced me that such action wasn't needed."

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Then, this morning, Harry told my wife some startling news that I felt deserved your attention."

The Minister looked suitably confused and motioned for Molly to continue. "He--Harry, I mean--told me that You-Know-Who was gone."

Instantly, the semi-calm interrupted.

"What?" the Auror sneered. "Gone? How is that possible?"

"There hasn't been any recent attacks on the Dark Forces," the Head of Defense shouted out.

"My Aurors haven't said anything that would indicate that-"

"Absolutely ridiculous-"

"How would a boy know this-"

The Minister hit the table and, as the dead of the government, the room went quiet. True, the heads grumbled but they shut up. "Now, exactly what did Mr. Potter say?" the Minister asked.

"He said... I think his exact words were 'You-Know-Who has been dead or as close to it for the past two days. The Death Eaters are turning themselves in because He isn't there to back them up.'" She licked her lips and nodded. "Yes, that was it."

The heads started again but the Minister glared them down. He rubbed his chin and murmured, "It does fit."

"Sir?"

"In the past few days, the Death Eaters have been coming in, haven't they?" he asked and everyone nodded. "Now, never before has the Dark Lord allowed traitors to live. Before, if someone came in, there was always something that happened that killed them. Plus, there haven't been any attacks." He rubbed his chin again. "I think I'll believe this Potter."

"There was two minor attacks," the head Auror reminded thoughtfully. His eyes were getting wider. "And there were remains--there were identifiable remains!" He jumped up. "I've go to check this out."

"Let's all come," the Minister said (ordered) and everyone followed the Auror down to the labs.

"In the second of the twin attacks," the Auror was explaining, "there was some remains left--burned, yes, but not burned so completely that we can't identify them." He stopped before a giant glass window, magically clean, and everyone there could see the Lab Wizards working with their samples. "It's surprising, because as you all know, the Dark Lord's followers always use the stronger fire spells to completely burn away any bodies. We should be able to find--there!"

On the other side of the window, a witch in white robes who looked like she'd been meditating sat up with a shock. On the table before her were two dark piles, dark piles that haunted every witch and wizard's minds. She picked up her wand and waved it, whispering some spell invented to counter the burning of bodies.

The ash lifted and began to twirl in the air like a black cloud. Bits and pieces began to settle down and soon every ash particle settled to the floor before melting upwards, meshing together to form two separate and recognizable bodies.

"Oh no..." Molly breathed, eyes beginning to water. "That's James and Lily."

The witch waved her wand again at the ashy bodies and they colored, forming exact replicas of their dead persons. Another wave and a single spark came from each body. The ashes fell back to the ground with the power of the spark but the witch seemed to be able to understand whatever it was the spark meant and wrote something on a piece of paper, signing it with her name.

The head Auror raised his own wand. "Accio report!" he ordered and the paper came flying through the glass. He skimmed the words and nodded slowly. "James and Lily Potter," he read and Molly gave a cry, raising her hand to her mouth. "Died... June 20, 1989. Age..."

Molly tuned the drone of facts out as she thought of Harry, all the subtle hints in his manner. "We need to find Harry," she declared firmly. The heads looked up at her in surprise and Arthur took her to the side.

"Molly, how?"

"The broom! We always put a locating charm on them, in case one of the children got lost."

"I still don't believe that this means the Dark Lord's been vanquished," one head sniffed.

The Auror turned on him. "If young Potter was with his parents at the time of the attack..." he murmured quietly. "Yet is here to tell the tale..."

"For once, you and I are in complete agreement," the Minister said with a nod. "There is only one explanation; the Dark Lord has met his match in either the dead Potters or the live ones, or some other explanation--but the end result is the same." He cracked a smile. "Tell the world to celebrate..."

"Not until we get some good, solid evidence!" someone exclaimed but the head Auror had turned away. He ignored the Minister's plans and looked to the distraught Weasleys. "We have to find those Potters."

*

Harry, in his animagus form, moved his back slightly, giving Leo a more comfy position. The year-old squealed and tugged at Harry's forming antlers. Harry winced and bit tighter on the bag he carried in his mouth.

The broom was several miles away, abandoned. He pushed the thought out of his mind, trying his tiring muscles again as he pushed on. It was late evening now, and he was hundred of miles away from the Burrow yet still nearly a hundred more miles away from Remus's house.

Leo let out a cry that Harry recognized as his 'hungry' cry and stopped, slowly kneeling down so that Leo rolled off his back without hurting himself. They'd done it all day and now Leo was enjoying the ride. Harry sighed and melted back into his human form, wincing as his bruises showed themselves.

"Hawy, hun, hun," Leo made a move for the bottle but it was empty. His face wrinkled and he began to sniffle.

"No, no, shh." Harry rummaged through the miniaturized contents in his bag and pulled out some soft food. Leo didn't trust it at first but Harry urged the baby food and finally Leo took a bite.

They lay in a small field surrounded by flower. Cotton puffs floated in the air, catching the sun so that it looked like many small fairies, winking in and out of existence. After he was full, Leo stood--much better at the whole balance thing--and started to chase after them with his awkward baby steps, laughing and giggling in happiness.

Harry grabbed some flower petals and threw them at his brother. Leo fell over, not expecting the small petals to hit him, and looked over with an angry look. Harry could only laugh, and it hurt to laugh or smile after so long. He let out a breath and found that Leo had started pulling up weeds, chucking them at him.

"Leo!"

"Hawy!"

"Hey," more weeds and chunks of grass hit Harry and he spat them out, much to Leo's amusement as they year-old doubled over in laughter.

"Think that's funny?" Harry grabbed more flowers and chucked them right back at his brother. Leo tried to duck but ended up falling right over again.

"No!" Leo protested, pointing a finger at Harry. "No!"

"No? Why can't I do that if you can?"

"No!" Leo repeated and stumbled over to Harry, stuffing grass in his mouth. "No! Bad!"

"Leo? Ahh!"

Hours later, when night had fallen again and Leo walked tiredly beside him, Harry walked up the steps to the small house in the middle of nowhere. He paused, a hand raised to knock, and looked down at Leo, suddenly unsure. But Leo yawned and slumped forward, leaning against the door in exhaustion.

He knocked. When Remus opened the door he nearly had to catch Leo and Harry wasn't too far from collapsing as well.

"Harry?"

Harry blinked at the person in front of him, gave a small, "Hello," and fell over.