FicWad

A/n: Ok, I know that this SO WAY AMAZINGLY overdue, but life got in the way and when my muse finally started kicking my ass, it had been at least a few weeks. Anyway, its here now, and I hope all of you are still interested in this! Well, enough of this! Here it is!

Disclaimer: Not mine, only things that you don't recognize from any publicised works belong to me.

Chapter 7: Answers...

The sky above Covent Garden was thick and grey with cloud, beginning to look quite ominous and starting to send the patrons of the square dashing to their cars before it began to pour. Most of that mornings crowd had dispersed by the time that 4 o'clock rolled around, but some still remained to watch the stubborn street performers that remained in the square. It was odd, then, to see that a large group of newcomers was approaching the square, when every other patron was leaving. They carried an air of nervousness around them, looking around the square fretfully now and again and speaking in hushed tones.

"Do you see them?" one asked, a girl with thick brown hair.

"Not yet, Mione. Keep looking." the redheaded boy beside her encouraged.

The Order of the Phoenix were there in full force, all members in attendance plus all of the Weasley children and Hermione Granger. They were all dressed in surprisingly well chosen muggle clothing, and all searching diligently for the street performers that a certain missing boy named Harry Potter had informed them of.

They had received Harry's reply the day that it had been sent, Fawkes returning to the Headmaster in a burst of flame. Many had been angry and confused as to why Harry had not just given them an address and why he had made them wait. The letter had been cryptic and confusing to all of them, but Albus had convinced them to abide my Harry's instructions.

Remus's head suddenly snapped to the left. "There!" he said, "I can hear a man's voice, a singer. It must be them!"

Albus Dumbledore nodded and, taking their queues from him, the Order all proceeded down the street, trying their best to seem calm. True to Remus's exclamation, they found a young man singing there as he stood on what looked to be a beat up stereo. His partner, a young woman, was just finishing up her dance for that song. The boy finished singing and they both smiled at the crowd, taking a bow.

"Thank you! We'll be back for another set in a few minutes! Don't go away!" The girl called out, flashing a flattering smile. With that said, the boy hopped down off of the stereo and he and the girl fished through separate large backpacks resting off to the side and retrieved water bottles.

Taking whatever opportunities they could, the Order studied the two performers. The girl was quite a bit smaller than her partner, with a dancers build. She was clearly Hispanic and had her long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of cut off jeans that reached her knees. Her t-shirt, they discovered when she turned to them, had a giant silver griffin emblazoned on the front. Her shoes were clean and white.

Her partner, however, was what began to cause quite a few frowns of thought. He seemed so... familiar. He was tall, well muscled, with scruffy black hair. His clothing consisted of a white oxford with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of slightly baggy black jeans with a golden dragon embroidered up the left side. The Order took a collective gasp of air when the boy turned his face to look at them. His eyes were a piercing green, and his fringe parted in such a way that it was impossible not to notice the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

"Merlin!" Molly Weasley breathed, her eyes wide as she clutched to her husbands arm.

"It's Harry?" Remus questioned, sounding astounded.

"Potter? Impossible..." Severus muttered, staring at the young man sternly. "Potter looks nothing like that!"

All other speculation was ended, however, as the boy jumped back onto the stereo and smiled at the crowd, making eye contact with the Order and faltering for the briefest of moments before his face wiped itself clean and he began to sing.

The boy's, Harry's if their eyes were to be believed, voice was quite good. It was still unclear if it really was Harry. His voice was smooth and clear, obviously untrained. At first, he sang quietly, almost hesitantly and kept on throwing discreet glances at the Order through the crowd. However, after a few looks he seemed to gain confidence and let himself sing out, obviously enjoying himself more and more. He would be gaining no recording contracts, but he was quite entertaining.

"It doesn't sound like Harry...." Ginny said to Fred and George.

Charlie, who was standing nearest to them, frowned. "Well we cant be sure Gin, have you ever actually heard Harry sing?"

Ginny and the twins all shook their heads, turning their attention back to the young man. It was true, none of them had heard Harry sing, ever, and from the looks that Ron and Hermione were giving him, neither had they.

The Harry look alike continued to sing, and his partner took the floor with an astounding acrobatic flip. From there her dancing maintained a high level of energy that drew the crowd further in. Her movements were clean and fluid, going from one to the next without any apparent difficulty. The spell that these two were weaving was broken, however, when the sky above London opened up and the rain came pouring down.

It was a cool, crisp rain. Slightly out of place in the mid June air, but this was London, foggy on the best of days. The cool drops of water fell down in a straight sheet, undisturbed by any breeze. The rain created a silvery blue curtain around each person, making it difficult to see even a few feet ahead and so the crowd dispersed almost immediately, leaving the boy and girl to stop their performance and go scrambling to gather their things.

A few of the members of the Order all took steps forward, moving closer to the boy and girl, but Albus held a commanding hand up to make it known to the Order that no one was to move. They obeyed, albeit tensely, and it was only Albus who approached the performers. No one seemed to notice that they were getting soaked in the downpour.

"Harry?" he questioned once he reached the two. The boy tensed, though Albus was prevented from seeing his face, as his back was turned to him. The girl seemed to flash a quick supportive smile to the boy before he finally turned to face the headmaster.

The young man that they were presented with was not a face that they were familiar with. He was tall, well muscled, tanned and looked far more mature than the Harry Potter they knew. However, there was absolutely no doubt in their minds that this young man looked far too much like Harry to be anyone else. Moody had not announced that he saw any disguising charms with his magical eye, adding just another reason to the belief that they had finally found him however, it raised the question that if it was Harry, why did he look so different?

The young man silently observed the Order through the sheet of rain, his vivid green eyes almost shining in the grey of the afternoon. The girl at his side moved closer toward him, looking oddly at the Order as well.

"Hello Professor." The boy said. His voice was not one that the Order could identify with Harry, it was deeper, more mature. However, it was undoubtedly him and the feeling of the group immediately became that of intense relief. It may have been unwise to be so accepting of things without tangible proof, but they had been through so many days full of worry and hopelessness that the Order of the Phoenix could care less. They had found him, and they sure as hell weren't going to let him go now.

In what seemed to be an instant Harry was swept up into numerous embraces, everyone speaking to him at once. Mrs Weasley broke down into tears of relief, Ginny following her example not too long after. Harry just went along with all of the attention, not really saying much other than the brief assurances that it really was him and that he was "ok". His face was serious and his eyes dim, garnering quite a few concerned and curious looks from the people around
him.

The rain continued, soaking the group completely, and it was only when the girl Harry had been performing with let out a rather loud sneeze that Harry brought himself out of the Orders protective circle and moved to her side.

Dumbledore cleared his throat "I believe it is time to move things indoors. We've prepared portkeys to take us to Hogwarts, if that is acceptable Harry." he said, looking at the young man in front of them all.

Harry nodded, beads of water flying from his fringe. "That's fine professor." he said, picking up his sopping backpack and shouldering it.

"Very well then Harry," Dumbledore said, frowning slightly. He was puzzled, why was Harry not as excited to be back with his friends and away from the Dursley's as they were? Was he not happy? It was a question that would have to wait for a later moment though, when they all were warm and dry at Hogwarts. "If you will follow us, there is an alleyway to our left that should be acceptable."

Again, Harry nodded with a somewhat distanced expression and the group moved together through the deserted square and the sheets of rain. The alley was small and dark, shadowed by the surrounding buildings and the clouds overhead. The rain was forming puddles below the feet of the group that they all tried their best to avoid stepping in as they gathered. There were three separate portkeys to take them all, Dumbledore, Moody and Snape all producing the bespelled umbrella's from their cloaks. The group split themselves apart, with the surprising conclusion that Harry and his friend moved to travel using Snape's portkey.

Ron, and everyone else who knew of the rift between Harry and Severus were openly shocked. Albus's eyes momentarily lost some of the gleam that they had regained upon learning that Harry was alive and safe as the boy, no, young man turned and went to his most hated teacher rather than him. He had wronged Harry, though, so such behaviour was more than understandable.

"The portkey will activate with their code words." he said with a brief look between the members of the Order. "I shall see you all in my office."

Three separate voices called out "Phoenix Rising" and within the space of a breath, all of the Order was well on their way to Hogwarts. The colours swirled by as they were swept along by what felt to be invisible hooks, their bodies jostling against one another in the mad ride.

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

Nerves were eating away at the pit of Harry's stomach, making it feel to him as if a fire had been lit beneath it. Of course he had realized that it would be difficult coming clean to his friends in the Wizarding world, but he hadn't predicted just how right he was. His throat seemed to have closed over, preventing him from saying more than a few expressionless words. If he said any more than that he wasn't sure that he would be able to keep himself composed just yet.

Going to Hogwarts by portkey wasn't helping all that much, either. There were certain painful memories that Harry couldn't shake that involved portkeys so when Dumbledore had first told him, Harry had wanted to protest, but knowing the shocking news he was about to deliver he chose to remain silent and just do as he was told. When he had taken hold of Snape's portkey, he hadn't missed the incredulous looks he had gotten, nor had he missed seeing Dumbledore's slightly hurt expression. He hadn't meant to hurt the headmaster, it was just that Harry supposed that if he was going to be showing his true colours, he had to start somewhere.

"Phoenix Rising."

Snape's low voice spoke the words with the echo of Moody and Dumbledore behind it, his dark eyes catching Harry's in a glare for a moment before the portkey activated and the customary yet uncomfortable feeling of being lifted and tossed about by a hook stationed behind his navel swept over him. Harry closed his eyes, blocking out the swirling colours and shapes that he knew would be all around him. It took only 2 or 3 seconds for the portkey to reach its intended destination, Harry landing and trying his best to remain standing but failing. He fell to the floor of the familiar headmasters office, immediately pulling himself up and setting his expression to mask his embarrassment. Snape smirked icily at him and Harry fought the urge to blush.

Nothing like a first impression, was there? Too bad the "real" Harry wasn't as suave as he wanted to be... not all of his behaviours at Hogwarts were forced. He was actually that clumsy when it came to any other mode of magical transportation other than broomstick.

The two other portkeys arrived with their passengers, allowing Harry the opportunity to give the office he had trashed not that long ago a good look.

The Headmaster had changed a few things in anticipation for their arrival, it appeared. Instead of just the large oak desk that Dumbledore used for his work, in its place stood many comfortable chairs and couches to accommodate everyone present. They didn't appear to be set up in any particular pattern, but from a quick glance, Harry could see that there was one couch and one chair that were positioned in such a way that whoever was sitting there would be able to see and be seen by all the others around them. Most of the silver objects that had once adorned the office were gone, apparently still destroyed from his fit of anger on the day of Sirius's death. He would have to apologize for that once this was all done, that is, if the headmaster was even still willing to speak with him.

Harry stiffened immediately as the feeling of a drying charm washed through the room, immediately drying everyone's hair and clothes. Damn it, he was edgy. Normally the feeling of magic wouldn't have made him react at all, but with all of this coming together...

"Please, everyone take a seat." Dumbledore said, waving a hand toward the seats in the room. He cast a weighty glance at Harry "I hope I am correct in saying that there is much that Harry has to inform us of."

Harry's heart contracted almost painfully at that statement. They were never going to forgive him... He forced himself to nod, his eyes locked on a point on the wall that he was facing, and immediately moved to take a seat on the couch that he had noticed. Maria sat next to him, and Dumbledore took up the place in the chair.

Harry could feel the silence in the room settle around him like a heavy wool cloak, scratchy and uncomfortable. His eyes remained fixed on the point on the wall, and he opened and closed his mouth quite a few times before he finally cleared his throat and shifted his gaze down to the floor. "I'm not really sure how to begin." he admitted, clasping his hands together and resting his forearms on his knees. "You've figured the basics of it all out though, so that might make it quicker to explain..." he trailed off, not really knowing where to go from there. He had gone over this situation in his head so many times before, but it usually just ended in disaster.

When no voice emerged from the group to help him out, Harry sighed again and tried his best to find a way to do this. "Let's start with what you know." he began, still not looking up from the floor. "You know that the Dursley's were abusive, at least physically, and that Vernon was the one who tried to kill me. All of that is true..."

"But?" To Harry's surprise, it was Charlie who spoke. He had never had much occasion to really get to know either of the two eldest Weasley boys, but when he raised his eyes to look at Charlie, the amount of concern in the hazel eyes floored him.

"I lived in the cupboard under the stairs at Privet Drive until I was 11." Harry said bluntly, trying his best to block out the gasps he heard in response to that statement. "They hated me from the moment they saw me, maybe even before. They hated my parents, and they hated me. They took every opportunity they could to break me down, insulting me and my parents at every turn. The Dursley's called them drunks, said that they died in a car crash. They never told me what I was, maybe in an attempt to help beat the magic out of me."

"To what, Potter?" Again, Harry was shocked when he heard the speaker. It was Snape. Snape looked outraged and the rest of the Order were just silent, most likely caught up in their own thoughts.

Harry smiled wryly, it wasn't meant to be cruel, but it was far better in his opinion to smile about this sort of thing then to break down about it. "Beat the magic out of me, professor." he said "And they did try. Repeatedly. Who knows how they got that notion into their heads, but it's still there." Harry shook his head a bit, trying to clear his thoughts of any of his more painful memories. Now was not the time, and with at least two fairly accomplished Legillimens in the room, it was probably not a good idea to dwell on those things. "They decided early on that I was to earn my keep for them, and began to hand out chores as soon as I could understand what they wanted me to do. I was cleaning the house by 6, cooking by 7 and gardening by 8 which is when I finally grew enough to be able to push the lawnmower."

"You couldn't have been able to finish all of those chores..." It was Hermione this time, her big brown eyes shining with sadness and confusion. "It would have been impossible..."

Harry fixed her with what he knew would be a piercing look. "Do you think that mattered?" he questioned. In a matter of speaking, he wanted to scare them, wanted a bit of satisfaction that they were finally aware of just what he had gone through. "If my chores weren't done to their satisfaction, I'd be punished. That could mean anything from a cuff to the head, being locked in my cupboard, no food for a week or maybe some "quality time" with dear uncle's belt, fist, or foot. They'd scream at me for hours, letting me know just what a freak I was. That's what they called me, just to let you know. Freak, Thing, Boy, It... I didn't even know that my name was Harry until I was finally allowed to go to school."

There was a visible wince from many of the people before him, and immediately Harry regretted his choice of words. Damn it, this wasn't how he had wanted to do this!

"I'm sorry..." he muttered, wiping his hand over his face "I shouldn't have said that. It was stupid of me... you didn't deserve that."

There was another pause, and Harry took advantage of the silence to move on before the Order brought themselves together enough to say something.

"I was a pretty smart kid though," Harry continued with a small smile, "I learned quickly and remembered everything I was told. Call it a survival skill. I stayed in the library when it was time to go out for recess, I had to hide out unless I wanted Dudley and his gang to beat on me. I figured that I got enough of that at Privet Drive. I was the best in my classes up until my third year when the teachers started going on about me being "gifted" to the Dursley's. They didn't want me being smarter than Dudley...so... Well, I learned to hide it. You know, make mistakes on tests and hand in bad papers. I still learned it, though, I just didn't let anybody else know."

Harry took a deep breath, here came the truly tricky bit.

"I never really had any friends, rumours spread by my relatives and Dudley's bullying made sure of that. However, the year I turned 10, that changed. Actually, my entire life changed." He paused and looked up "I'm going to have to ask you all to try and listen to everything I have to say before you comment. There's a lot that you won't believe, but its all true."

"Very well, Harry." said Dumbledore, his eyes sad and curious.

"When I was about 8 or so, I began to realize that the strange things that went on around me... well, I found that I could control them." said Harry quickly "I began to practice, in secret of course because if my relatives ever found out they wouldn't have hesitated to kill me, and soon I could do some amazing things with that power. Well, one day my Aunt had kicked me out of the house and I went to an old abandoned park to spend the night. When I got there, though, I wasn't alone. There was a girl there, and she was doing things that normal people couldn't do. She was doing things I could do, she had the same powers as me, I could tell." With a significant look over his shoulder to meet Maria's nervous eyes, Harry smiled. "Her name was Maria."

Harry leaned back and took her hand for a brief moment, squeezing it tightly before letting go and continuing. "I was painfully shy, but my curiosity about these powers was too great and so I asked her a few questions. She knew so much more about magic, which is what she told me it was, and she told me a lot. When I asked her why she was telling me, she said that she could see that I was being beaten wherever I lived. It turns out that I hadn't covered some of the bruises that Vernon had made during my last punishment. I was incredibly embarrassed, but after she admitted to understanding what I was going through... I began to trust her. She became my first real friend, and I spent all the time I could with her learning all I could about magic. She was the one to explain to me just who I was in the Wizarding world and what I had done as a baby. She and I brewed whatever healing potions we could to heal me when I came to her after being punished. I studied hard, very hard, and by the time my birthday was coming close Maria and I had about a fifth year education."

"Impossible!" McGonagall cried out, her stern grey eyes wide with shock. "A child's magic only develops at a certain pace! That is why the years are divided as they are in Hogwarts, to teach them anymore in one year would stretch them beyond their limit! It is physically and magically impossible!"

Harry laughed dryly, almost bitterly at the Gryffindor matriarch. "I am the Boy Who Lived, Professor." he said "Rarely is anything impossible for me. I'm not trying to be arrogant, believe me, only realistic. The Headmaster has told me time and again that my mother's sacrifice was the thing that rebounded the killing curse off of me, but how factual could that be? I'm sure that other mothers have sacrificed themselves for their children, so why was I the one to survive? I'll admit that her love and sacrifice was most likely a key role in things, but sheer magical power is a more likely reason, don't you agree?" he asked, looking calmly at the puzzled looks of the Order.

"What about you?" Moody growled at Maria and Harry felt the urge to growl back. He would have to remain calm if this was to work. Maria blinked, startled for a moment. "What's your story? Why don't you go to Hogwarts?"

"My name is Maria." she replied, do just what she and Harry had practiced "I grew up in a very similar situation to Harry's, but I ran away when I was 9. I found a home and then I found Harry. I'm a year younger than him, and I didn't go to Hogwarts because I never got a letter." She kept her head held high and Harry watched as she avoided making eye contact with Snape and Dumbledore.

Dumbledore frowned "Never received a letter? Obviously there has been some sort of mistake, then, if what you say about your control of wandless magic is to be believed." He looked between Harry and Maria with a curious expression on his face "Quite a feat, Harry, to gain even partial control of your magic without proper instruction."

"There was no mistake." Maria mumbled, a blush colouring her cheeks.

"Pardon me?" Snape asked bluntly, frowning intently at Maria. Harry did his best not to glare.

Maria took a deep breath "I said that there was no mistake. I didn't receive a letter because... because I'm not exactly a witch." She said it all fairly quickly and Harry could almost feel her nervous tension.

"Not a witch?" Tonks asked with a frown "Then how can you do magic?"

Harry cut in, seeing this as a good a time as any "I need to ask you all something, you will see my reasoning in a moment. I have to ask you all to give me your wands."

"What?" Snape spat out "That is ridiculous!"

"Potter! Are you daft?" Moody growled

The twins frowned "Why on earth are you asking that?" asked George

"Enough!" Dumbledore called out, stilling the crowd. The Headmaster frowned slightly, looking at Harry curiously. "Is this absolutely necessary, Harry?"

Harry nodded. He could think of no other way to make sure that Maria was safe then to take the Order's wands away from them. If need be, Maria could always just apparate out with a strong pulse of her power to override the castles wards, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Dumbledore seemed to consider the terms for a long while before finally nodding and drawing out his and from within one of his sleeves. "Very well, I'll agree."

Harry took the older wizards wand into his hands carefully, showing his respect for the amount of trust that Dumbledore had to be willing to give him to allow him to take his wand. It seemed to take a few moments pause before the rest of the Order, too, were handing their wands to Harry. Even Snape and Moody, with a few choice glances from the Headmaster, gave their wands. Soon all of them were situated on Harry's lap, and Harry gave Maria a look to continue with her explanation.

Maria had her eyes closed, breathing deeply for a moment before she continued. Harry said a silent prayer that everything would be alright, that the Order would be able to see past the myths and to get to know Maria for who she really was.

"I am a witch, in a manner of speaking." She said quietly "I can do magic, just as any other witch, but the type of magic that I can do... and, the amount of power that I have... well..." She fiddled with the hem of her shirt nervously "You will all have heard or read stories or myths about people like me, that's why Harry took your wands. Not for your protection, but mine. You will probably react badly when I tell you who I am."

"And that would be?" Kingsley pushed on curiously.

Maria looked to Harry with anxiety clearly written in her eyes. He nodded to her, hoping that that would be enough encouragement. Thankfully, it was, and Maria turned back to the Order. "I am the Indigo." She said.

Mrs Weasley shrieked, Ginny and Ron leapt back in their chairs and almost all of the Order reached for their wands reflexively. Even Dumbledore, so called beacon of acceptance of all magical creatures, reached into his sleeve, only to join the group in the realization that their wands were not there.

"Harry, move away from her and give us our wands back." Kingsley said in a low, forcibly calm voice.

Harry sighed loudly. "Damn it!" he said loudly, "Will you all just relax? Everything's fine."

"But she's-" Mr Weasley began but Harry cut him off with a glare, visibly startling everyone who saw it.

"Yes, she's the Indigo, so what? Merlin," he practically spat out "I thought all of you would be better than this!" He was incredibly disappointed with the Order. Weren't they supposed to be fighting for equality in the Wizarding world? "Everything wizards know about the Indigo, every book and fairytale... they're all wrong! It's like lumping all werewolves or giants or muggles into the same group and telling each other that they're all alike!" He could feel his temper rising and fought to keep it in control, he could get angry later.

The Order seemed to relax a bit, white knuckles relaxed their grip, frowns faded away to make way for more willing looks. The tension lessened just enough to make Harry comfortable in leaving them to ask their own questions instead of pushing the idea onto them.

Maria had done wonderfully well in Harry's mind. She had kept quiet, not getting angry or depressed by the less than wonderful welcome even though Harry knew that it had probably torn her to bits inside. She had always been so scared of rejection and letting so many people know such an important secret was an amazing sacrifice for her to make for him.

Dumbledore, predictably, was one of the first to recover completely. "I apologize for our behaviour," he said, nodding to Maria who nodded back, her dark eyes locked on the floor. "However, less than pleasant stories of the Indigo have been told, and the only books available on them painted them in a fairly grisly light. I am sorry Miss...?"

"It's just Maria." Harry heard her say coldly "No Miss, no surname, just Maria."

Dumbledore blinked "Very well then, Maria." he said slowly, calmly, and Harry realized with some amusement that the Headmaster seemed to be trying to placate Maria, perhaps out of nerves that she would explode into a destructive wrath just as the books had said.

"Why didn't Harry ever tell us about you?" Ron asked, his Gryffindor courage shining through.

Maria smirked, though it was hidden from most from the way she was
staring at the floor. She seemed just as nervous as she had that first time that Harry had met her in the park. "The same reason that he never told anyone about his relatives. We didn't want to end up dead."

"Harry? What?" Remus asked. Harry's heart contracted a bit as he looked carefully at the werewolf. Here was the last true marauder. How could Remus even look at him? Sirius had died because of him... but no, he couldn't think of that right now.

"If Maria ever went public about being the Indigo, in either the muggle or Wizarding worlds, she would either be taken by the government to be used as a weapon for war or killed by an angry and fearful mob." Harry responded quickly, quelling his other train of thought. "If I ever told anyone in either world about my relatives, there would have to be some sort of investigation to prove that I wasn't lying. I would have to go back to my relatives while the prosecutors gained evidence and during that time my relatives would find a way to kill me and make it look like an "accident", or bribe their way out of jail." It was a truly dismal truth.

"So you were just going to hide this, Potter?" Snape said with a sneer "Using that idiotic Gryffindor nobility to just take care of yourself?" Snape fixed him with a level and questioning look. Harry had never seen such confusion in the man before, and was a bit shaken by it. "We could have helped you Potter, that is what we are here for. Then again, you are notorious for always doing things without proper guidance."

Harry shook his head vehemently "Hide it? I gave so many hints about what was going on that for a while I just thought you already knew and couldn't be bothered! I always asked to stay here during the summer, always! I wrote letters asking for food! I even changed my looks to make it even more obvious!"

"You couldn't have!" Moody barked out, his electric blue eye swivelling and swirling in its socket in agitation "You haven't been talking polyjuice and all the spells used to Glamour someone I can see!" he pointed to the magical eye. "You would have had to reapply it anyway! Glamour's don't last for a whole school year, Potter!"

Harry sighed, rubbing his temples and wishing that he hadn't included that last bit. "Before I went to Hogwarts Maria and I made a plan. I would hide my looks, how much magic I learned and parts of my personality to help hide her." he sighed and continued, leaning back into the couch to help his aching back. "I had looked up my parents in a few books, and knew that the public would find more sympathy with me if I looked like my dad. We created a Glamour that would change me and a set of subjects that I would be allowed to excel in at school. It wouldn't do well for the Boy Who Lived to excel in such a dark subject as Potions, now would it?" He gave a small smirk to the incredulous looking potions master before continuing. "We knew that public opinion would matter quite a bit in my life, so we decided that I should give them what they wanted. I was to try my best to get into Gryffindor, do well in Defence against the Dark Arts and play Quidditch. I couldn't let anyone know that I have anything less than the perfect life while I'm away from Hogwarts, not even any of you."

"So you've been lying to us?" Ginny whispered "All of this has been just some sort of... public act?"

Harry's heart began to pound "No!" he cried out immediately "No, nothing like that! Please, all of the friends that I've made weren't influenced by anything other than if I liked them or not. I've never lied to any of you about anything, only just didn't say a few things." he cast multiple pleading looks around the room, clenching and unclenching his fist. "Please, I'm sorry. I just couldn't let you know... I'll understand though," he said quietly "If you want to stop associating with me. Any of you. I've deceived all of you, my friends and the Order included, and I can understand if you want me to leave..."

Ron was as serious as Harry had ever seen him, and Ginny had tears in her
eyes. Mr and Mrs Weasley seemed not to be able to decide what their joint oppinion should be and Remus, his dark amber eyes were clouded, his brow furrowed with a frown. Merlin, please let someone say something! He didn't want to leave, didn't want to say goodbye to some of the best things in his life...

"I've got a place that I can stay," he continued "If that's the case. I just felt that you deserved an explanation as to everything that's been going on and- Umph!"

A mass of curly brown hair had seemingly launched itself at him, cutting off his speech. Harry blinked down at Hermione in confusion, patting her back uneasily as she hugged him tightly.

"Shut up Harry!" came the muffled cry from his chest "You idiot! You
dolt! Don't ever do that again! I was worried sick! I thought you were dead! I thought-"

"Umm, Hermione?" Harry questioned.

Hermione looked up, standing and wiping at her eyes as she glared down at him. "You're so bloody stubborn! Do you realize that your Uncle tried to kill you?" Harry looked up at her and tried desperately not to laugh. Did he realize? Umm, yes he did. "Harry, we love you! We've been so worried about you! Don't you dare apologize to me for trying to stay alive, I should be apologizing for not realizing that you were being-"

"Please," he said, cutting off the dreaded A-word. He hated using it, it just brought back memories of things he would rather forget. He rarely used it. "Don't. It wasn't your job to analyze my life."

Hermione made to say something else, but was interrupted by a look from Dumbledore. She blushed and scuttled back to her seat next to Ron, Harry realized with an inner smile that they were sitting rather close together on the couch. Had they finally gotten together?

"Harry," the Headmaster said, his expressive eyes clouded and
grave. "There are many things to be done, many apologies to be said..."

Harry shook his head, refusing to listen to any of this. Why on earth were they doing this? He didn't want their apologies, he just wanted things to go back to normal! All this confession was meant to do was introduce them to who he really was, not make them bombard him with pity!

"Professor," he said tightly, "It's been a long day. Would it be possible to just adjourn this meeting? No offence, but I think I've had enough of this." It was blunt, almost rude, but Harry was willing to do almost anything to avoid this subject.

There was a silence in which Harry could feel the eyes of the Order on him, studying him. "Very well," Dumbledore said at last "As you wish, Harry, we will move on. There is no doubt that you will not be returning to your relatives, which creates some problems in terms of your safety from Voldemort, but I believe that it would be acceptable for you to remain at Hogwarts for the remainder of the summer, or at least until we can reformat the wards around another location."

"Hogwarts?" Harry smiled a bit at Maria's excited gasp. Looking over at her, he noted her blush from losing control of her emotions. He had no doubt that she was extremely excited, she had always said that it was a dream of hers to see the castle. Unfortunately it had been a dream that they couldn't find a way to come true until now.

Harry watched as Dumbledore smiled fully for the first time that day. "Yes, here, that is if you have made the proper arrangements with your family, Maria." he said. Harry flinched inwardly, pitying Dumbledore for his poor choice of words.

Maria's eyes darkened and her excitement all but evaporated instantly "I have no family." she said "All I have is Harry. Where he goes, I go."

"Then it is settled!" Said Dumbledore, not seeming phased by her dark tone. He turned to face everyone in the Order "I believe that this meeting is adjourned for now. You may all go back to your homes. Harry and Maria will be the only ones staying here for now, accompanied by the professors that make their homes here during the break, but others may join them later, I think." Harry nodded gratefully to Dumbledore and mouthed 'I'll write' to Ron and Hermione. They didn't seem to want to go, but with a firm look from Mrs Weasley as the rest of the Order left, got up and exited with the Weasley's. "Harry, feel free to show Maria around the castle, but please stay inside. The Gryffindor tower will be open for you two to use tonight."

"Thank you Headmaster." Harry said with a controlled nod. He rose from the couch and shouldered his backpack, watching as Maria did the same.

"Yes, thank you." Maria said politely, still avoiding eye contact with almost everyone around her.

Dumbledore gave a small frown, but it disappeared almost instantly "Not a problem at all. Oh!" he said, "Minerva, Severus, Remus and Hagrid, would you kindly stay back for a moment?"

The adults all nodded their consent and moved back to the vacated seats. Harry paid them no mind, opting to just do as he was told and lead Maria out of the room and down the spiralling staircase and out into the hallway. They had a lot to discuss once they got to the Gryffindor dorms...


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"He's changed so much..." Minerva said quietly once the door had shut behind Harry. She stared blankly at the place where the young man had once sat and took her own seat back almost robotically.

Severus frowned, sitting back down in the armchair that he had resided in during Potter's confession. He had done his best to keep silent throughout, but some of the comments that Potter had made elicited unbidden reactions from him. As the boy had spoken, Severus had come to some conclusions. Potter was not who Severus had once labelled him as and Severus hated being wrong. He was deeply irked by the boy at the moment, but grudgingly could admit that he was able to see why Potter had done the things he had.

It was all eerily Slytherin of the boy, A designation that Severus gave more easily to the boy with his newfound appearance. It was at least a treat to not have to stare at Potter Sr.'s face whenever he looked at the son.

Lupin sighed, sinking back into his own chair and rubbing his temples "More like he's changed back." he said sadly "I don't think we've ever really known him. Merlin, he created a life for himself to make us happy! All to protect himself and Maria from threats that they shouldn't even had been able to think of at that age..."

Ah, there was the other thing irritating Severus. The girl. Maria. There was something about her that was tugging at a corner of his mind. He had no idea why the girl was making him so curious, at least not yet. It didn't seem too pressing at the moment, and no matter what she was, Indigo or not, he would find out just exactly who she was. She had been entirely too vague when giving up details about herself.

"Exactly," Albus said gravely, stroking his beard thoughtfully "He was, and still is, incredibly smart for his age. He was correct in saying that there may be fault to my theory as to how he survived, but up until now I had never seen any displays of extraordinary magical power from him and had discounted it." the headmaster sighed heavily "As it stands, there is only one student in all of Hogwarts' history that comes to mind that attained even a fraction of the progress in his magic that Harry has. Tom Riddle."

"What are you saying, Headmaster?" Severus asked immediately, frowning deeply at the insinuations. "That you think Potter might hold parallels with the Dark Lord?"

"'Arry'd never go dark!" Hagrid bellowed "'E's the best kid I'd ever seen, Headmaster! Always real good to me 'n Fang!"

Dumbledore raised a hand to calm the anxious half-giant. "I am not saying that Harry would ever turn to Dark Magic's for his own gain, in fact I am saying quite the opposite." Dumbledore stood and moved to stand beside the fireplace, gazing into the flames. "Harry and Tom have had terribly similar childhoods, however I doubt that Tom ever experienced such blatant abuse at the orphanage in which he resided. They both grew up without the love that all children need from the adults around them, however this is where their stories differ. Harry found someone to care for and be cared about in return. Tom did not, and was left to stew in his own hate. By finding Maria, Harry found the opportunity to learn to love, and this is what separates him from Voldemort most of all."

"He's still not telling us everything though," Severus felt the need to point out "He and the girl would hardly meet anyone's eyes, one of the few things I was able to teach him about Occlumency. They're hiding something, surely."

Dumbledore smiled grimly "Oh I have no doubt of that, Severus. However, we shall keep a close eye on them both and try and see if we cannot begin to win their trust. There is much that we shall have to be wary of, Maria's status as the Indigo included."

"The Indigo," Remus breathed "Its hard to believe. I've read so much about them, and none of it's good, but I cant help believing Harry. Maria doesn't seem at all the type that the texts have labelled the Indigo."

Hagrid nodded "Yeh can't think tha tha wee girl has tha kinda power in 'er, if yeh want my opinion o' things."

"And yet she does." Dumbledore said, moving back to his seat "It cannot be said that Harry does not have a good taste in allies. The problem does occur that she most certainly does not wish to be used in this war as a weapon, but I personally do not have any attention of locking her up and pulling her out whenever we might have use of her powers. If we have the opportunity, I will approach her about becoming a member of the Order, and Harry as well."

Minerva looked appalled, and Severus couldn't say that he felt any better about the idea. Members of the Order? Merlin, they were teenagers! They shouldn't have to deal with the war in anything near that sort of intensity!

However, a small twinge at the back of his mind brought such thoughts to a halt. Those two teenagers, no matter if Potter was the one involved, had lived through hell and had come out sane. If they could do that, then there was more than a chance that they could deal with the war.

The meeting with the Headmaster lasted only a few minutes longer to determine just what was going to happen over the next few days. They were to try and make Harry and Maria as comfortable as possible in the hopes that at least Harry would be a little more willing to talk about his life with the Dursley's.

Even with the revelation of Harry Potter's new character, Severus had a feeling that there was a snowflakes chance in hell of that happening by the boys free will.