FicWad

Authors Notes:

The following story is based on situations and characters owned by J.K. Rowling and/or her publishers/WB.

If I owned the characters and situation I'd be filthy rich and the ending would be completely different. :p

Spoilers for all seven books including the vile OBWF and crapilogue. :(

Warnings: Character deaths and scenes of suicide.

Thanks to my Proof reader: Tumshie and Muggledad

Thanks to IronChefOR for the use of Hermione's address in this story, it comes from his wonderful story Their Way found on Portkey and FF.n

He says that he has not abandoned it, " The last year and a half have been difficult for me, to say the least, so while I have not been able to provide any updates, I have promised myself at least that I will not give up on it."





Chapter Two





Monday, Third of November, Nineteen Eighty Six.



Rose shivered awake, the room was just beginning to brighten with pre-dawn light. She hoped that it had been all a very bad dream. She hoped that her mother and father were alive and well. That her favourite uncle, Harry, was well. That it had all been a nightmare. Goosebumps spread across her skin from the cold air of the room. Rose frowned, normally she wore a cotton nightie to bed and slept under her duvet. She shivered again from the cold as she surveyed the room, from her position on top of the bed she could see that all the furniture in the room was covered by dustsheets. The white lace over the window was a dull grey colour from the dust. Her skin itched from lying upon a coarse dustsheet under her body. Rose sat up in shock, this was not her bedroom.



She appeared to be all alone in the room. There were no clothes strung about the place. Her hand went to her neck by force of habit and found the pendant her mother gave her when she was six years old. It slowly dawned on her she was naked save for the pendant in a strange bedroom. She was forced to forget her situation temporarily as her body decided that her bladder needed to be emptied immediately. Rose bolted from the bed towards the only door in the room.



The bedroom door opened out on to a short dark corridor. The air was stale and dusty. Rose tried three doors before finding the bathroom. After taking care of business she decided to tackle her problem. Rose frowned as she went to wash her hands, no water came from the taps, that was strange as the toilet flushed, but now that she listened the toilet cistern was silent. The tank was not filling again after the flush. Rose tried the handle again and heard the mechanism but no sound of rushing water.



She left the bathroom and tried the light switch out in the corridor and found that the light bulb stayed dark. Rose realised that she was in a vacant house with no water and no electricity. she must be in a muggle neighbourhood due to the services evident by their state of being switched off. Rose wondered where the house was, what county or country?



Rose went back to the bedroom she awoke in, to see if she could find out how or why she was in a deserted house, naked. The bedroom was as she left it, dusty and quiet. She guessed from the light coming in the window that it was early morning.



The room had a queen sized bed with two bedside lockers at the head of the bed. There was a free standing wardrobe covered by a dustsheet. A chest of drawers, small armchair and a coat rack completed the suite of furniture. Rose reached up and pulled the dustsheet off of the wardrobe. A coughing fit ensued from the bellow of the dust cloud emitted by the dustsheet. The wardrobe appeared to be made from mahogany. When she checked the wardrobe's interior she found it empty bar for a couple of empty wire coat hangers.



Next she tried the chest of drawers, another cloud of dust issued from the cloth covering the chest of drawers. The chest of drawers matched the wardrobe in colour and design, obviously part of a set. Rose groaned in dismay when each drawer was found to be empty, she turned to the bed and found a brown cardboard box sitting beside where she had fallen asleep.



Rose climbed up onto the bed, sat on her ankles and reached out to open the box On top of a pile of documents she found three wands. Rose sighed in relief as she picked up her own wand from the box. With a sigh of relief, Rose swished it through the air and emitted red sparks. She quickly cast spells to make the air in the room fresh and banished the now clean dustsheets from the furniture. The dustsheets neatly folded themselves and lay on the floor. The bed under her was just the mattress and the mahogany bed frame.



Rose identified one of the other wands as her mother's. The wand looked old and well used. The last one was difficult to identify at first, but it slowly dawned on her that she knew who the owner was. It was her Uncle Harry's wand. Rose shivered again from the cold as her breath came out in clouds. Rose decided that she need to conjure or transfigure some clothes. She set about transfiguring one of the dustsheets into a more skin friendly cloth such as cotton or silk.



Once that was done she transfigured the cloth into a comfortable witch's robe. She felt much more comfortable now that she was no longer naked. Rose returned to the cardboard box and removed the first document. It was her new identification, she was registered as Rose Jane Grey. Her new date of birth was listed as sixth of July, nineteen sixty one. It hit her she had not awoken from a nightmare, it was all real. Her mother was dead, her father was dead, they were all dead. She would never see her brother again. As these realizations came home, Rose broke down and wept.



After a while Rose was finished crying. She wiped her bloodshot eyes and put down the folder containing her new identity as Rose Grey. She went back to the box and removed the next document, it was her school records re-dated to show that she had had achieved her N.E.W.T's in seventy nine. Rose frowned that according to the documentation she was home schooled. The results were identical to her real results from twenty, twenty two. She was relieved that the documents showed the results that she had earned. She put the exam results aside and gasped when she spotted some muggle A Level results. The A levels were in English, Maths and Physics. All were A's she knew from her mother that those were the equivalent of Outstanding in magical education.



The third document was adoption papers for one Harry James Potter. Rose set it aside to study later. The last item in the box was a letter addressed to her.



Hello Rose,



The house you find yourself in is yours for the duration of the mission. The address of your new abode is number twenty three, Merton Road, Wandsworth, London. The deeds and other legal documents are downstairs on the kitchen table. The house has some wards provided by Fate. They are stronger than Lily's blood wards upon number four Privet Drive. Instructions are also provided if you wish to transfer those wards to this residence. Please note that you will need Harry's consent to achieve this. If you decide to omit Lily's blood ward transference you will have early annoyance with the manipulative old bastard. Your goal should be to avoid undue attention from Hogwarts or the Ministry until the summer of 1991. Fate will help in this regard by disguising Harry's change of address until the Hogwarts letters are sent out, by then it will be too late.



Sorry dear that you found yourself naked in the house the magics involved would only allow living tissue to travel in time. The box was delivered seconds before you arrived. Your mother was a brilliant witch, and gifted you with a pendant that protected your thoughts from all sorts of mind magic. At the time she suspected some of your teachers of possibly using mind magic on you, so crafted that little pendant around your neck. As you have worn it for almost nineteen years, the pendant's magic became entwined with your magical core. It is the sole reason that it was the only object to survive the ravages of time travel. It would be an excellent idea if you gifted Harry and this time frame's Hermione with similar pendants. You mother's notes are provided so that you can craft them. Please give them to the children before the end of the year. Your mother lives with her parents at number eight Broomhill Road, it is the street running parallel to number twenty three.



You will find that the house has some of the best wards over the house and back garden, use it to train Harry and Hermione. You will find enrolment papers to the local school that Hermione is enrolled into, it would be best that Harry attend the same school. Please have a word with his teachers, he needs help as in his current school he is hiding his talents as he does not want to appear better than his oafish cousin. It is two weeks after both children became aware of accidental magic. Harry has turned a teachers hair colour to blue. Hermione magically restored one of her books to normal after one of the other children scribbled all over the pages in crayon.



Remember that you cannot inform anyone that you are from the future. Also do not rely on knowledge of how things are supposed to happen. The very nature of enrolling Harry in a new school and informing the teachers of Harry's problems means that come the time he attends Hogwarts he will be much more confident and not as likely to be controlled by the old coot of a Headmaster.



Be aware that Harry so far has lived as a house-elf for his relatives. Give him a childhood but do not hide his heritage from him or the destiny that is hanging over him.



For your information the date you arrived at your new abode is the third of November 1986.



Best of luck,



I will be in touch,



Bob,



Fate's Messenger.



PS, you will find a small stipend on the kitchen table to get started.



Rose sighed after she finished reading the letter from Bob. She now knew where her mother lived as a child, she had been told the story that her grandparents had moved to Australia shortly after Hermione had finished Hogwarts. Rose loved travelling out to Australia to visit them. Her Grandfather had died when she was thirteen and her Grandmother had died four years later. Rose came out of her funk and replaced the papers back into the box along with her mother and Harry's wands. Once that was done she carefully replaced the lid and placed the box at the foot of the bed. Rose waved her wand as she cast a detection spell to see if she could determine the wards placed upon the house. She gasped in shock at the strength and subtlety of the wards that was revealed by the spell.



The first ward was upon the fabric of the building protecting the interior from any and all attacks. A second ward was layered that prevented all forms of magical transport except for the Floo connection downstairs and a person keyed into the wards. Rose discovered that at present she was the only person keyed to the wards. A third ward further out shielded the street from the Ministry's magic detectors, effectively converting the street into a pure-blood estate in the eyes of the Ministry. Any witch or wizard of any age could perform magic and the Ministry would never know. Rose realised why that ward was there she could teach her mother outside of the house along with Harry.



The fourth ward made sure that the muggles were oblivious of the magic occurring in front of their noses. Rose had never seen such wards before. She managed to identify six more wards but could not determine what they were for or what they did.



Rose sagged on to the bed drained from casting her ward revealing spell. After sitting down for five minutes Rose decided to explore the house, her house.



In her earlier haste she gave the rooms quick glances she was more worried at the time of finding a loo. She discovered that the room she was in had no en-suite. The door led to a corridor with six doors off of it and the top of a stair. Rose discovered that there were four bedrooms including the one she arrived in. The bathroom and the sixth door led to a staircase that led to a large single room in the eaves of the roof. Rose retraced her steps and went downstairs, she found a large kitchen, dining room and sitting room. However her eyes lit up when she found a library come study.



She was stunned to find that the library was stocked with books both magical and mundane. The magical books covered a wide array of topics. Rose smiled in relief when she spotted the Hogwarts reading list in the shelves of books. The library was protected by a battery of wards, preserving the precious books. She was pulled from the room by her body's grumbling stomach. She entered the kitchen and found the sack of gold mentioned in Bob's letter.



Ignoring the sack of money for now she searched the cupboards for some food but she found that they were bare. Their wasn't even any delph or utensils, the presses were completely empty. All that was in the kitchen was the sink and the presses. Rose groaned as she realised that she would need to buy some kitchen appliances such as a cooker and fridge. Rose returned to the sack on the table and loosened the drawstring. She opened the neck of the bag and discovered that the bag was magical and bottomless. She reached in and withdrew a fist full of Galleons.



Her stomach grumbled again, she felt weak with hunger. The empty kitchen made her mind up, she would have to eat out. Rose left the kitchen to leave the house through the front door. The view through the frosted glass of the front door indicated that the weather was atrocious, The sky was slate grey in colour and the heavens opened up and a deluge of water was failing. Rose let out a sigh as she saw the wind whip the rain at the windows, she did not fancy leaving the dry house. It struck her, the ward revealing spell indicated a Floo connection, so Rose checked the sitting room and found a magnificent fireplace covered by a dustsheet.



The sitting room was like all the other rooms in the house, the furniture was covered by dustsheets. Rose waved her wand and the dustsheet covering the fireplace folded itself and lay gently on the wooden floor that was warm underfoot. Rose found a sheet of parchment on top of a pot of Floo Powder beside the hearth. The parchment said.



Grey Residence

Password: Books and cleverness.



Rose smiled when she read the password it was like something her mother would have picked as a Floo password. She decided to leave it alone for now. With a flick of her wrist a fire roared to life on the grate. With sack of gold and wand in hand, Rose picked up a pinch of Floo Powder and said Leaky Caldron as she stepped into the green flames.



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Rose stumbled as she left the Floo and stubbed her toe on the flagstone floor of the Leaky Caldron. She hobbled towards the bar and ordered a bowl of soup and some bread. As she ate the meal the other patrons stared quizzically at her from her state of dress. She was wearing a strangely cut robe made of silk to which was periwinkle blue in colour. Her feet were bare and her stubbed toe was throbbing. Her hair was wild and windblown, it needed attention from a brush.



She used the facilities before she left the pub for Diagon Alley. Her first port of call was Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions for some clothes. She did not want to go to Twilfit & Tatting's as it was very conservative in the fashion that the shop stocked. Rose made a beeline for the counter when she entered the shop. She was relieved to see that it was empty of customers, Madam Malkin looked up as Rose approached the counter.



'Hello dear can I help.' enquired Madam Malkin.



Rose nodded and then spun a hopefully convincing story. 'Hello, I need a complete wardrobe as a fire destroyed the house while I was in the potions lab. I got out of the house and had to strip out of all of my clothes because the potion I was working on was corrosive and it was eating through my work wear. I managed to transfigure some clothes from some knick knacks, as you can see I did a poor job of it. I have just come from my vault with a sack of gold, so I can pay.'



'Oh, you poor dear!' exclaimed Madam Malkin.



'Can we please keep this between us women, I am very embarrassed.' said a rosy cheeked Rose.



'Of course, dear, just sit down there, have a cuppa and we will get started.' said Madam Malkin as she waved her wand and a selection of clothes floated towards Rose for her inspection.



Two hours later Rose left feeling much more comfortable and warm now that she had some basic underwear on and she was shielded from the cold. Madam Malkin had kindly given Rose a ten percent discount as she felt sorry for her. Rose decided that after she was finished in Diagon Alley she would pad out her wardrobe with some muggle clothes.


After she left Madam Malkin's, Rose worked through her shopping list of magical items, Potions ingredients, Floo Powder, An Owl for magical post and also as a new familiar. When she thought of getting a new familiar she felt a pang of loss for Sebastian, her half Kneazle familiar. She hoped that someone would care for him. None of the Kneazles of half breed appealed to her in Magical Menagerie so she went to Eeylops Owl Emporium for an Owl. The Owl was brown with some blonde highlights, Rose named him Bruno. She did not need to get books as the library was stocked with some very rare tomes.



Once she finished her shopping she returned to the pub and asked Tom the barman to use his Floo. After Tom agreed she left her shopping home and swiftly returned to the pub. Bruno was disgruntled at being left behind at the house in a cage, Rose apologised and promised to let him out later. From there she entered muggle London and went shopping for clothes and appliances for the house. Buying the clothes was easy and fun.



Rose felt liberated, she could try on clothes she would never have considered before. In the past she had emulated her mother's sense of fashion and was loath to experiment. She was more worried about good grades in school than the latest fashion, and work wear was very regimented. But she had seen many girls and young women wearing strange and exciting fashion on the streets of London, so had decided to join in and experiment. Her peers would have been surprised at her adventurous side, besides no one knew her here.



That thought sat ill with her. She loved the fact that she had just bought a bag like the one her mother used in the war with her Uncle Harry. It meant that she could bring a lot of shopping bags with her. The muggle appliances would be delivered to her house tomorrow. She decided to explore the neighbourhood around the house when she finished her shopping in London.



Rose returned to the house late that Monday evening, she sighed when she realised that she had forgotten to stock her kitchen presses with food. She looked at the clock in the hall, it read quarter past six. It was too late to go back out. The house was dark as the power was still switched off. Rose lit her wand and started to pack away her new clothes in the bedroom she awoke in. She decided to review the adoption papers and reviewed Bob's plan for getting Harry away from the Dursleys. She decided that she would rescue Harry tomorrow. Today's shopping trip had been a good distraction from the reality of her situation.



As Rose decided to go to sleep she groaned, she had forgotten to buy some bed linen. Rose gathered up some of the folded dust sheets and transfigured some bed sheets and some warm blankets to ward off the cold November air. It took Rose half an hour to complete that feat; she collapsed into the bed exhausted.



Even though she was exhausted from all she had done today sleep did not come easily. The gravity of her situation came crashing down on her. Everything today had gone wrong, she had forgotten important items on her shopping expedition. Her mother had helped her move into her flat when she had left the nest. She felt depressed and alone here in the past. Her parents and Uncle Harry were dead. She was now stuck forty four years in the past all alone. Tomorrow she would become a parent to a six year old boy with the weight of a prophecy on his young shoulders. She did not know how she was going to cope, her usual source of comfort and support was her mother who in this time was only a seven year old girl. Rose wept at her situation she eventually drifted off to a troubled sleep.



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Rose awoke to the sunlight filtering in through the lace drapes covering the window. A tempus charm revealed that it was half nine in the morning. Rose got up and got dressed, the room was the same one she woke up in yesterday which meant that yesterday was not a dream. Rose checked her kitchen cupboards once again, empty. She decided to explore Wandsworth and see if she could find the nearest Supermarket. With a grumbling stomach, Rose happily stumbled onto a little corner café serving breakfast.



Once her belly was full, Rose could now concentrate on her morning chores of finding food and squaring the house before Harry came to live with her. Rose found a Sainsbury's and bought all the essentials for the house as well as food. She hailed a taxi back to the house as she had too many bags of groceries to carry. She decided against using magic outside of the house until she knew the lay of the land. In her experience taxi drivers were a source of information. Rose grilled her taxi driver on a good plumber that could come and check the house's pipe work.



By early afternoon Rose had the electricity and water turned back on. She was expecting a delivery of kitchen appliances to arrive soon. In the meantime she refined her plans on how to rescue Harry. Once the deliveries were made, Rose tidied the house from top to bottom. The house was now spotless. The last thing Rose done before leavening for Privet Drive was to prepare Harry's bedroom, She hoped he liked it.



Harry would move into a largish bedroom with a single bed and locker in one corner of the room. On the opposite wall was a small table for homework and as a play space. Beside the table was a large shelving unit for toys and books. Beside the bedroom door was a wardrobe.



Rose went for a walk, she was looking for a place to hail the Knight Bus. She had decided to use the bus to make the journey from Wandsworth to Surrey.



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Vernon Dursley parked his burgundy Austin Montego on his drive. He wanted the boss's black Rover 3500 SE but sales of drilling equipment were not picking up as expected. The Germans were making better drills, the sales reps were losing sales to Hilti and Bosch on the construction sites. The rumours from management were that if sales did not pick up as expected, there would be a few redundancies made. Vernon was concerned he may be one of them but he would not tell Petunia of his fears.



The sound of the rain pelting on the roof of the car was deafening. Vernon got soaked from waddling the short distance from the driveway to the front door. He wondered why he did not buy number twenty three down the street with the attached garage. Right now with this downpour, if he owned twenty three he wouldn't be wet, as he could have parked the car inside the garage and not got wet.



The boy was in the kitchen standing in front of the cooker. The smell of fried sausages and rashers were mouth watering. Petunia arrived from the living room giving out that Vernon was dripping on to her clean floors. Vernon ignored her, the boy would clean the floors anyway. Vernon waddled up the stairs to change out of his wet clothes. Vernon passed Dudley's room on his way to change, little Duddykins was playing with his toys. After a stressful day at the office Vernon's stresses were slowly ebbing away.



Downstairs a small underfed boy was frying up his relative's meal. The meal consisted of fried sausages, black and white pudding, rashers and some fried mushrooms. The little boy had to stand on his tippy toes to be able to control the food in the frying pan. Grease splattered his circular spectacles. He removed them and tried to wipe off the grease but the lenses only smeared up worse. He had a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead that never seemed to heal. It occasionally felt wet as if it was bleeding. This evening it was itchy as the boy had his hands full. In his left hand he held the lid of the frying pan trying to keep the cooker top clean and in his right hand he held a fork for turning the sausages so they would brown evenly. Warming in the oven were three plates.



The boy's name was Harry Potter, he had learned his name when he started school last year, his classmates had found it funny that the boy in the scruffy clothes didn’t what his name was. His relatives only called him Boy or Freak. He had been told that his parents were drunken layabouts that died in a car crash and that he was dumped on them. Harry wished for a loving family but was wise enough to realise that was unlikely to happen. Harry's thoughts drifted back to the task at hand, preparing his relative's meal, Harry's belly grumbled in protest as he prepared the tea. The meal was almost ready so Harry carefully dived out the food on to three plates. Vernon bellowed at Harry to hurry up with the tea as he was hungry. Vernon had just come thundering down the stairs demanding to know where his supper was. Harry carefully took a plate from the counter and brought it to his uncle. Vernon went to clip Harry across the ears for not having it on the table before he had finished changing out of his wet clothes but Harry ducked at the last second almost dropping the plate of food. As it was the plate hit the salt shaker and sent the contents across the table.



"Boy, go to your room. You can't do something simple can you?" bellowed Vernon.



Harry turned to bring out the other two plates but Vernon's next below stopped him in his tracks.



"Boy, your room now." Vernon roared as he pointed at the door under the stairs.



Harry's shoulders drooped as he changed direction and he moved towards the stairs. He opened the door on the cupboard under the stairs and crawled inside and pulled the door after himself. As he settled in for the night he thought that this would be the third night in a row that he hadn't eaten. Harry cried himself to sleep wondering what it would have been like if his mother and father were alive.



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Vernon settled into the settee to watch the television. Petunia came in from the kitchen with a pot of tea and two cups on a tray, her woman's magazine was rolled up and held by an elastic band. Petunia poured two cups and settled down to read. Dudley was upstairs playing in his play room, the freak was in his press under the stairs. Vernon sipped his tea as he flicked through the TV channels, he found a Chuck Norris film on ITV and settled in to watch it. The film was "An Eye for an Eye" it was the British television premiere.



Vernon was just settled in for the night when there came a knock from the front door. Vernon grumbled about who could that be this evening, he was looking forward to watching Chuck Norris killing a lot of bad guys in the picture. He glanced at the clock, it read half past nine, bloody nosy busybodies he ranted. Petunia sighed and put down her magazine and went to see who it could be. Vernon's attention returned to Chuck Norris killing a mook on the screen.



"Vernon, we have a visitor, dear." spoke Petunia quietly as she returned from the front door with a woman in tow.



Vernon groaned, he would miss the film and it looked to be a good one. Vernon turned to look at who the visitor was. A woman with auburn hair and brown eyes stood there, Vernon lustily looked her over. Vernon thought that she was a beautiful looking bird. She reminded him of one of his secretaries at work. She had a very fine figure and a lovely face. Vernon guessed she was in her early twenties. He began to wonder why she had called at the house.



"Mr. Dursley, my name is Rose Grey. It has been decided that this is not the best environment for young Harry to grow up in. I have been given the responsibility of raising him. I have some paperwork for you and your wife to sign, if you please. It will only take a moment of your time, then you may return to your film." explained Rose as she handed Vernon the paperwork.



Vernon's eyes narrowed at the woman that knew his name, he stared at the paperwork stupidly before glaring at Rose and demanded, "What is this?"



"Mr. Dursley, that is the paperwork that transfers guardianship of Harry James Potter from you and your good wife to myself." answered Rose.



Petunia frowned, she was trying to remember something that she had read about the boy, but it was remaining elusive. Meanwhile Vernon realised that this was exactly what he was looking for, some fool to take stewardship of the freak. Vernon gave the document a cursory perusal. It looked to be a fairly thorough adoption, meaning that the freak would be Mrs. Grey's problem.



Vernon asked, "Where do I sign?"



Rose pointed out the places that needed his signature. He duly signed and passed the document to Petunia. Petunia looked at the document and took the pen off of Vernon but was reluctant to put pen to paper.



"What's wrong, pet? Just sign the paper and we will be rid of the brat." said Vernon.



Rose's eyes narrowed at Vernon's comment but she held her tongue.



"It feels. I don't know, wrong somehow." offered Petunia in explanation.



"But he was dumped on our doorstep with a flimsy letter. If now they have decided that he is to stay with Mrs. Grey. I say let her have him." said Vernon, more interested in watching the film. He considered the matter closed.



Petunia nodded reluctantly as she signed the paper and returned the document to Rose.



Rose separated the document into three sections. She hand over one section and said, "Your copy."



Rose the put the other two copies into a pocket of her coat. "Sorry for the late hour but can you get Harry and I will take him home with me."



Petunia looked concernedly at the cupboard under the stairs. She did not want the woman, Rose to know that Harry's current bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. She looked imploringly at Vernon as her mind could not come up with a suitable excuse for why the boy was locked into the cupboard.





Rose began to tap her foot impatiently, wondering why Petunia did not go upstairs and get Harry from his bedroom. She felt sorry for arriving late at number four but she had been nervous about meeting her Uncle as a youngster.



She knew from her mother and uncle that Harry's life at home before Hogwarts was difficult. He had said very little about his past and her mother had not broken any of his confidences. All Rose knew was that Harry was happy to leave Privet Drive behind. Her mother and father never spoke of her uncle's home life. She only knew about his adventures when he attended Hogwarts.



Petunia sighed when she realised that there was no way around the problem, Rose would find out how they treated the boy. She slumped her shoulders in shame as she went and opened the door to the press under the stairs. Harry had his back to the door and was curled into a ball. He was snoring lightly, the only other noise he made was the odd cough. Petunia grasped him on the shoulder, Harry awoke instantly and tried to move away from the touch.



"Come out, Harry" instructed Petunia.



Rose's mouth went slack as she realised the Harry was sleeping in the small space. Harry crawled out and timidly stood. He scrubbed his eyes with his fists before he put on his sellotape repaired glasses and blearily looked at the stranger.



Rose suddenly knew why she had been sent back in time. She suddenly understood her Uncle Harry a little better. Little things he did when she was young seemed overly kind, but now she knew that after his own childhood he did not want others to suffer as he had. Rose had instantly spotted young Harry's callused hands. The hands looked like they belonged to an adult labourer on a building site and not a young boy. It indicated that Harry was worked hard.



Rose did not like what she saw, Harry's clothes looked to be hanging off of him about three sizes too big for him. He looked malnourished. Rose was glad that she was taking him away from this place.



Rose ignored the Dursleys, and moved forward and knelt in front of Harry. Harry looked warily at Rose, Rose felt uncomfortable at being weighed up by a child.



After a short pause Harry said, "Hello."



Rose smiled and replied, "Hello, Harry, I am Rose Grey. I am your new guardian. If you want you will make your home with me."



Harry thought for a bit and asked timidly, "Will I get a bedroom like Dudley?"



Rose kept the smile on her face, keeping her anger at the Dursleys from her face, "No, your room will be better, would you like that?"



Harry nodded.



"Good, Harry, will you say something for me, please?" asked Rose.



Harry thought for a moment but felt deep down that he could trust the lady with the smiling face. Trusting that feeling he nodded, Rose smiled.



"Repeat after me, I, Harry James Potter want to make my home with Rose Jane Grey in number twenty three, Merton Road, Wandsworth, London." directed Rose.



Harry repeated the phrase and stumbled slightly over Merton. Rose felt the wards on number four change as Harry uttered the oath. Rose smiled at Harry and asked him to collect his belongings and wait at the front door. Rose debated in her mind what she should do about the Dursleys, what they had done through slavery and neglect amounted to child abuse. Rose knew that she should report them to the authorities, but if she did that Professor Dumbledore may find out that Harry no longer stayed with them. Rose steeled herself she knew what she must do, let the Dursleys escape punishment for now, when Harry was older she would come back and bring them to justice. Rose brandished her wand and wiped the last five minutes from Petunia and Vernon's mind.



The Dursleys knew that Harry had been transferred into Rose's care, but they would not remember the address that Harry was moving to.



Rose found Harry waiting at the front door with a few odds and ends wrapped up in an old tea towel. Rose took out her wand and shrunk it before putting the bundle into her pocket. Harry looked wide eyed at Rose.



"Harry, don't be afraid I promise to never hurt you. That was a little magic spell, I can do magic , which means I am a witch. You, Harry, are a wizard and you can also do magic. I will teach you some spells before you go to Hogwarts. That is a school where you will learn magic, but that is in a few years time. You will be old enough to attend when you are eleven years old. We will walk to the end of the street and call a magical bus to take us back to your new home. Okay?"



Harry nodded to show he understood. Rose smiled and grasped his hand and the pair walked away from Number Four, forever.



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The Headmaster's office at Hogwarts was quiet, Professor Dumbledore was currently assisting Professor McGonagall in reversing a student's mishap in Transfiguration earlier that day. An animated four legged table with the temperament of a Lion and was stalking the fourth floor of the castle.



The portraits were asleep as the office had been silent since the evening meal. Fawkes was asleep on his perch, he had a burning day on the weekend and was just a chick. Four of Dumbledore's devices tied into the blood wards on Privet Drive chirped and flashed before settling back to their normal output.



When Dumbledore returned to the office he did not notice that the devices were now tied into a different set of wards and that the blood wards surrounding Harry Potter had just gotten a massive influx of power and were now showing that the blood wards were very strong. The area around Wandsworth was now one of the safest locations in the British Isles.



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Harry greatly enjoyed the journey aboard the magical bus. After leaving Privet Drive, Rose hailed the bus and Harry was instructed to sit down on one of the beds and hold Rose tight. The motion of the bus cased the beds to slide all over the place and to bump the other beds. After a short amount of time and a few stops later Rose instructed Harry to get up, it was their stop.



Harry looked around him at his new neighbourhood. Rose took Harry into the house and Harry's belly rumbled.



"Are you hungry, Harry?" asked Rose to which Harry nodded.



"Well, sit down at the table and I will make you a snack and then straight to bed, we have a big day tomorrow." directed Rose.



Harry watched silently while Rose fried up some sausages and cooked some baked beans. Harry already liked it here in his new home. He had a feeling that he would never feel hungry again. When Harry finished his meal Rose took him to his new bedroom.



Harry looked around the room wide eyed, it was twice the size of Dudley's room. Rose apologised to Harry that there were no toys but promised him that tomorrow that problem would be solved. Harry drifted off to sleep for the first time with hope in his heart.



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Harry slowly awoke in his bedroom, his new bedroom in Wandsworth. He got up and looked around his empty room. His bed had simple blue duvet and sheets. Rose had apologised last night about the state of the house as she had only moved in two days ago. Harry had been told last night that Rose would explain what was happening this morning. Harry went searching for the bathroom, he was too tired last night to remember where it was.



Once done with what was necessary, Harry went downstairs to the kitchen. Rose was sitting at the table reading a book. A place was set beside her at the table. Rose looked up and asked Harry if he wanted breakfast. Harry nodded, Rose smiled and asked what he would like. Harry settled on cornflakes with milk and sugar.



When Harry was finished he started to get up and do the dishes, but Rose stopped him and asked him to sit down.



Rose began to explain what was going to happen for the next few weeks.



"Harry, you don't have to do all the chores, I would be grateful for the help though. On to other matters, today we are going shopping and this afternoon I will see the Principle of the school you will be going to, okay." said Rose.



Harry nodded to show he understood and resumed tidying the breakfast dishes away.



"Harry, I thought I said you didn't have to do all the dishes?" asked Rose quietly.



"Yeah, but I want to help, Aunt Petunia always said all I was good for was housework." whispered Harry.



"Oh, but that is not the way I want things done. I think your Aunt is so very wrong, I want you to do your homework from school apply yourself and do the best that you can do, play and have fun." said Rose.



Harry looked a bit surprised at the passion in Rose's voice.



"Do you understand, Harry, I want you to grow up happy and loved, part of being a loving family is we help each other, so if you help me with chores, I will help you with difficult homework and maybe, you will earn some pocket money to buy sweets or toys."



Harry looked wide eyed at that but a smile slowly blossomed on his face. Rose felt deep affection for Harry at that.



In short order the two of them had the kitchen tidy. Rose took Harry into the study and sat him down on a settee.



"Harry, last night I told you that you are a wizard and that I would teach you how to do magic, well that starts now, okay?" explained Rose.



Harry sat up and leaned closer to follow what Rose was saying.



"There are two worlds, the magical and the muggle. You grew up with your relatives in the muggle world. Muggle is a magical term for a person without magic. I think it is not a very nice word but I have not found a better one. The magical world hides from those without magic.



The magical world is similar to the muggle world, there is wizard money called Galleons, magical policemen called Aurors, there is a magical government." explained Rose.



Harry sat forward and listened attentively.



"To do magic, a Witch or a Wizard uses a wand, like this." said Rose as she brandished her wand and levitated a book from the table.



Harry's eyes lit up with wonder at the small feat of magic.



Rose smiled at Harry's reaction, she got up and retrieved a shoebox from the bookshelf. She had placed the shoebox there yesterday when she was preparing the house for Harry. She returned to the couch where Harry was watching her every move. Rose placed the shoebox on the coffee table and removed the lid. Inside was two old worn wands, her mother and Uncle Harry's wands, she had transferred the two wands into the shoebox while tidying her bedroom. All the paperwork that Bob had supplied was safely stored upstairs in the bedroom. Rose carefully removed her Uncle's wand and placed it on the coffee table and replaced the lid on the shoebox.



"This is my Uncle's wand, he died recently, please treat it with care, it is the only thing that reminds me of him. Normally a witch or wizard gets their wand at the age of eleven, just before they attend Hogwarts. I think my Uncle's wand will work for you until we get your new one in a few years time." said Rose as she held the wand out to Harry.



Harry tentatively reached out and grasped the wand by the offered handle. Harry's eyes widened as he felt pins and needles flow through his arm into his hand and the wand. The wand tip glowed bright red. "Wow!, thank you." gasped Harry.



"There are a few rules, Harry, the wand never leaves the house, you can tell no one about magic as it is a big secret. If knowledge gets out the magical policemen will come and punish you, okay?" stated Rose.



Harry nodded to show he understood.



"If you can follow the rules, I will teach you how to use the wand, and do magic." instructed Rose.



Harry looked eager to learn magic so Rose decided to show him first year spells to start with. Rose removed a fake rose from the flower vase on the table beside the settee and placed in front of Harry on the coffee table.



"Now, Harry the first spell I will teach you is Wingardium Leviosa the levitation charm," explained Rose as she demonstrated the spell on the fake plastic flower.



Harry held his wand in a similar grip to Rose and tried the spell. His first attempt failed.



"The spell is pronounced win-gar-dee-um lev-ee-oh-sa, concentrate on making the flower float in the air." instructed Rose.



Harry tried again and the flower slowly lifted about two inches from the surface of the table.



"Very good, Harry" said Rose as she hugged Harry for managing that small feat of magic.



Harry stiffened at the unexpected contact. Rose frowned but smiled as Harry slowly relaxed. Rose was beginning to get a picture of Harry's life at the Dursleys, she was sorry that she had left them alone last night. After dinner she would take Harry shopping for clothes and toys. Tomorrow she would take him to the local school. Rose promised herself that Harry would never suffer a bad home life ever again. Rose introduced a game of levitating a small red ball she had conjured. It warmed her heart to see young Harry smile.



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A/N:Please Review.

Sainsbury's are a chain of supermarkets.

Sellotape is not a typo but the brand name of a British and Irish sticky tape.