Midnight Duel, Midday Love
Hide and Seek
By Draco664
Hide and Seek
Pen scratched over foolscap paper and an assignment on economics took shape, though almost painfully slowly. A pool of light from a single desk light illuminated the workspace of a large young man.
Dudley Dursley lifted his head and stared into space, absently gnawing on the end of his pen. The effect was ruined by the fact that the pen had started leaking half an hour ago.
A slight fluttering attracted his attention, and Dudley fell off his chair with a girlish shriek of surprise at the appearance of a blood-red bird sitting on his windowsill. Dudley grabbed his chest with his right hand and tried to desperately get his breathing under control.
"Bloody hell. You little bastard. You scared the shit out of me." he said. Dudley struggled to his feet. "Go on, piss off." he said making shooing motions.
With a faint pop, the bird disappeared and the last person he ever thought to see sat on the window sill.
"Is that the best welcome you can give an old friend?" Harry asked sardonically.
Dudley sat back down on the floor in shock. After a few moments of trying to form a coherent sentence, Harry's cousin finally managed, "H-how?"
With a theatrical leap, Harry gracefully landed at Dudley's feet. "Magic." he said simply, offering a hand to his cousin.
Dudley blinked at the offered hand as if trying to work out what it was. Finally he recovered enough presence of mind to take it and climbed back to his feet.
"T-thanks." he said dully.
Harry gave him a smile. "My pleasure."
Dudley shook his head and stepped forward into the light of the desk lamp.
Harry's eyes widened as he took in his cousin's appearance, the first time the pair had met in over eighteen months. "My God, Dudley! Look at you!"
Dudley had the good grace to blush. "I've, er, been working out."
"I can tell. Jeez, you are huge. What happened to all the flab?"
"I always thought you swung that way."
Harry snorted. "You just can't help but try to put me down can you?"
Dudley righted his desk chair and sat down. With a shy smile he said, "I needed to get rid of it. There's this girl..."
Harry tilted his head to one side. "A girl? How long have you known her?
"About 2 years. Yeah, about two years now. Xavier, one of my friends, his dad works for the government. He had a big dinner at his mansion at Christmas two years ago and invited a lot of important people in the government. Xavier invited me along. I met her there, her father works in one of the ministries. She didn't seem to like me, and told me that, well, that I was an absolute prick."
Harry blinked in shock. "Is that why you were nicer to me that summer? You wanted to impress her?"
Dudley shook his head. "Sort of. I realised how others saw me, and I didn't like it, so I decided to change. I asked her if I could write to her, but she wouldn't give me her address. I asked my friend's dad if he would mind forwarding on any mail to her via her father. He looked a little cautious, but said he would. We've been writing to each other for nearly two years now. I'm honest enough with myself to know that she probably started replying just to be polite, but now she has sent me letters out of the blue."
"Wow. I-" Harry was interrupted by a knocking at Dudley's door.
"Dursley? Are you alright?" came a gruff voice.
"Shit." Dudley said under his breath. He turned to the door and said aloud, "I'm fine, Master Jennings."
Without preamble, the school master named Jennings opened the door and entered. "I heard voices, Dursley. To whom were you speaking?"
Frowning, Dudley turned back to Harry, only to find a spectacular bird sitting on the window sill. Thinking quickly, he said, "I wasn't talking to anyone in particular, Master Jennings."
The stern-looking teacher frowned at Dudley and stalked around the small room, looking into the corners. After completely missing the phoenix's presense, the school master finally turned a faintly disappointed expression on Dudley.
"What are you doing, Dursley?"
"My economics assignment, sir."
"I see you are yet to be cured of your propensity to attempt to consume your writing utensils."
Dudley frowned and looked to his desk where his pen lay. A small ink stain was spreading from the teeth-marked end. His hand flew to his mouth and came away blue.
Jennings smirked at Dudley. "Clean yourself up, you stupid boy." The teacher turned and opened the door. "Watch yourself, Dursley." he said over his shoulder before closing the door.
Dudley counted to twenty under his breath before turning back to Harry, who was back in his human form. "I can't believe he didn't see you."
Harry shrugged. "I can't believe you could."
Dudley frowned. "What do you mean, you daft git? You're a bloody great big bird!"
The door suddenly burst open, and Jennings stood in the door frame, a wild grin on his face. It reminded Harry of Snape when he had discovered something he could blame on Harry.
"Aha! You have got someone in here! After curfew as well. Well Dursley, it's detention for you and... Who the devil are you?" Jennings demanded.
Harry smiled. "Harry Potter, Dudley's cousin."
"How did you get in here?"
Harry shrugged, enjoying this. "Through the window, of course."
Jennings snarled at him. "We are on the third floor. You would have had to have flown."
Harry turned to a suddenly coughing Dudley. "And you said he was slow."
Harry couldn't decide which was funnier, Dudley's expression of terror or Jennings' bulging eyes.
"Now look here!" the furious teacher yelled. "I will not allow-"
"Obliviate!"
Jennings' rage-induced colouring slowly faded as he stared blankly at Harry.
"Master Jennings, you thought you heard voices or something coming from this room, but you are obviously mistaken. There is no one here except Dudley Dursley, and he is busy doing his assignment. Doing it very well in fact. There is no need to stay, you really should go back down to the staff room."
Jennings nodded. "Yes, the staff room, yes." He turned to leave. "Keep up the good work Dursley." The teacher left and closed the door behind him.
Dudley's face swiveled between looking at Harry in shock, and staring at the door. Finally, a wide grin split his features, and he spun back to Harry.
"That was wicked!"
Harry smiled. "You see, magic does have its uses."
Dudley's smile vanished, but he took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Harry walked over and sat on the bed. "That teacher give you much grief?"
Dudley nodded forlornly. "I just can't do anything right. No matter what I do, it isn't good enough. It's like, I don't know, like-" Dudley shifted uncomfortably and sat down on the chair. "Like my father was, you know, to you." he finally whispered.
Harry regarded his cousin thoughtfully. "You've really thought about this, haven't you?"
"What do you care?" Dudley demanded.
Harry shrugged theatrically. "Fine. I'll just go and look out the door and find the throngs of people desperate to listen to you bare your soul, shall I?"
Dudley sighed but nodded, not looking at Harry. "Lisa really opened my eyes, got me to see exactly how I was. I-I didn't like it much."
"And now?"
Dudley frowned and looked up at Harry. "Now what?"
"You said you didn't like how you were. Do you like how you are now?"
Dudley bit his lip, and shook his head. "I'm getting better, but people are still scared of me. I used to think that was cool, but Lisa told me that fear is a poor substitute for respect."
Harry grinned. "I'd like to meet this girl, she's having a good influence on you."
Dudley grinned back. "I'm seeing her after Christmas, that's why I'm staying at Smeltings this year. Xavier and I are going back to his dad's mansion for a couple of days, and Lisa is going to be there with her dad."
"So, what does she look like?"
Dudley's face betrayed his feelings. He was obviously besotted. "She is quite small, next to me she looks tiny, and she has long wavy black hair. She has pale blue eyes and wears glasses. Mr. Turpin calls her his Little Raven."
Harry's eyes widened. "Lisa T-Turpin?" he stammered. "Her name is Lisa Turpin?"
Dudley nodded confused at Harry's reaction.
Harry covered his face with his hands. "She has a mole on her left cheek doesn't she?" came Harry's muffled voice.
"How did you know that?"
"You won't believe me." Harry warned.
"Never mind that, tell me! How do you know?"
"Because Dud, she's a witch. I go to school with her."
"What? No way!"
Harry looked up at his cousin. "Yes way. Her dad is the head of the Department of Muggle Relations. It's his job to be the governmental link between the magic world and the muggle world."
Dudley frowned. "No, he said that he, um, helped different government departments... understand... each other."
Harry nodded. "She was sorted into Ravenclaw, that's where her father's nickname comes from."
"Ravenclaw?"
"A school house. There are four of them. Ravenclaw is where the bright, clever students are housed."
"What house are you in?"
"Gryffindor."
"What type of student goes in there? Short, ugly ones?" Dudley asked with a smirk.
Harry laughed out loud. "No, just the brave but foolish ones."
Dudley laughed along. "What are the other two?"
Harry looked surprised. "I didn't think that you would be interested."
Dudley looked uncomfortable. "Well, if Lisa and I get serious, it will be easier on her if I already know this."
"Even though you know she is a witch, you still want to know her better?"
Dudley nodded and gave Harry a smirk. "Not all freaks can be as bad as you."
Harry rolled his eyes, but Dudley continued.
"I don't know how well you know her, but she is really smart. I know I'm not, and she knows I'm not, but she still answers my letters anyway. I bet it is hard for your kind to tell us about magic, so if I already know, it will be better for both of us.
Harry smiled. "True. The other two houses are Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Hufflepuff get loyal, hard workers and Slytherin get ambitious, determined people."
"Where did those stupid names come from?"
"The four wizards that founded the school gave their names to the houses."
"Their parents must have hated them. Heh, almost as much as my parents hate you. So, can Lisa turn into a bird too?"
Harry shook his head. "Animagi, that is wizards who can turn into animals, are rare. Only seven or eight people have registered with the ability in the last hundred years."
"How do you register?"
Harry smirked at him. "No idea."
Dudley's expression was a mixture of respect and a look of surprise. "You haven't, have you?"
Harry shook his head, the smirk still there. "Neither did my dad and godfather."
"Your dad could turn into a bird too?"
"Nope, a stag."
Dudley nodded absorbing this information before unexpectedly bursting into laughter.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Imagine the face of a hunter who just shot a stag, and finding that he just hurt and pissed off a wizard."
Harry chuckled along at that image. "Yeah, I bet a change of trousers would be in order."
After a while, the pair stopped laughing. Dudley rose from his chair and lay down on his bed with his hands behind his head. "What can you tell me about her? Do you know her well?"
Harry shook his head. "Before the start of this school year, I've probably only spoken to her a couple of times. But my girlfriend is in Ravenclaw too, so I've got to know the people in that house a little better. But Lisa is still shy around me, so I don't really know much about her."
Dudley frowned. "Why is she shy around you?"
Harry looked blankly at Dudley for a couple of seconds before letting out a short sharp laugh. "I forgot you don't know. I'm famous in the wizarding world, Dud. I suppose you'd call me a celebrity."
Dudley gave him a doubtful expression. "You? Famous? That's a laugh!"
Harry sighed and started explaining about Voldemort's attack on his parents. He finished explaining the aftermath of the third task when Dudley finally interrupted, a look of mixed pity and sympathy.
"Jeez, no wonder you were having nightmares that summer."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, they were pretty bad, but after a couple of weeks, I started writing to a girl called Cho. Cho was a good friend of Cedric's, I suppose you could call her his girlfriend. She and I managed to keep each other out of a depression, and we grew closer."
"So, this Cho girl, you've been going out with her since then?"
Dudley looked shocked at Harry's suddenly dark expression.
"No. She and I have only got back together recently."
"What happened?" Dudley asked.
Harry closed his eyes, clearly thinking deeply. "It's a pretty bad story. Are you sure you want to know?"
Dudley nodded, though looked apprehensive. "Yeah, well, if you want to tell me."
Harry took a deep breath. "Did you ever wonder why I wasn't at the train station last summer?"
"Yeah. Dad was pretty cranky that you weren't there, he called you all sorts of names for wasting his time."
Harry nodded. "I was in prison."
A long pause. "You're taking the piss."
Harry shook his head.
"Prison? Really? What for?"
Harry looked directly into Dudley's eyes. "Murder, Dud."
Dudley paled. "Y-you, you killed someone?"
Harry slowly shook his head. "I was framed, but they convicted me and sent me to Azkaban."
"Bloody hell. Did you find out who framed you?"
"Yep, it was a plan of Voldemort's. He thought that I'd either be insane or bitter enough to join him."
"Why would you be insane?"
Harry took a deep breath, and started to tell Dudley what a dementor was, and what effect they had on people. Harry's cousin looked faintly nauseous.
"You stayed there for almost a year?"
"Yes, and the only way I was able to escape was because..."
"Wait." Dudley interrupted. "You escaped?"
Harry nodded. "Yep. Only the second person to do so."
Dudley looked impressed. "Who was the first?"
"Do you remember the fellow called Sirius Black who was on the news a few years ago? Long dirty hair, the police said he had killed thirteen people."
Dudley slowly shook his head before his eyes widened. "Yes! Wasn't he your godfather?"
Harry nodded. "He was innocent too. That was what kept both of us sane, the knowledge we were innocent. It wasn't a good thought, so the dementors couldn't take it from us."
Dudley shook his head in amazement. "So, let me guess, you flew out of there?" After Harry nodded he continued. "Why did it take you a year?"
"Because I didn't know how to transform to start with. My Dad wrote me a letter on a piece of parchment when I was a baby that magically held instructions on how to become an animagus. Took me ten months of study to finally manage it."
Dudley chuckled. "You scared the shit out of me when I saw you in the window, you know."
Harry nodded, then frowned in thought. "Yeah, I'm surprised you could see me."
"What do you mean? You took up the whole damn window!"
Harry shook his head. "That idiot Jennings didn't see me, and I was in the room. My other form is a phoenix, Dud."
"A phoenix? Are they real?"
Harry nodded. "The headmaster of Hogwarts has a phoenix familiar called Fawkes. That bird is... a very good friend."
"Why couldn't Jennings see you?"
"Because he is a muggle."
"Muggle?"
Harry looked at his cousin, a small smile on his face. "Sorry, a non-magical person. I keep forgetting you don't know this stuff."
"But I can see you." Dudley frowned.
Harry looked at him intently. "Yes, you can. Now that I think about it, I'm willing to bet Aunt Petunia can too."
"But not Dad?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't think you are a muggle, Dud. I think you are a squib."
Dudley rolled his eyes. "You just made that word up. You don't have to make fun of me you know."
Harry laughed along with Dudley. "No, a squib is someone born to a magical family, but with no powers of their own."
"But Mum and Dad aren't magical."
"I know, but my mother was. Either Grandma or Granddad Evans were probably squibs too. Mum got some magical talent, but your mum didn't."
"So what does all that mean?"
Harry shrugged. "Probably nothing important, Dud. But if you are a squib, you can probably see all sorts of magical animals and objects too."
Dudley was silent for several minutes as he thought about what Harry had said. Finally he looked back up at his cousin.
"Harry, why are you here?"
Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "I've just run away from school, Dud. I needed to go somewhere where I would probably be welcomed, but nowhere they would think of finding me."
"Um, why? Why did you run away, I mean."
"Long story." Harry said shortly.
Dudley raised an eyebrow. "Longer than the one you already told me?"
Harry shook his head. "No, but it is still painful to talk about. I did come here to ask if I could stay here for a day or so. I won't take up much room, I'll just roost on the back of your chair."
Dudley burst into laughter, holding his stomach and rolling from side to side on the bed. Harry looked down at him, a wide smile forming on his own face.
After the blond boy managed to get his laughter under control, he said, "Sorry Harry. That was just the funniest thing I had ever heard. Of course you can stay here. But it is Christmas eve. Are you sure you don't want to be with your friends?"
Harry sighed. "I'm not sure my friends will want to be with me, Dud. Not after what I did."
Dudley frowned, but didn't push. "Well, OK. Do you need some clothes?"
Harry sighed and shook his head. "I can transfigure what I'm wearing tomorrow, and then buy some more the next day. I am going to set some wards up so we'll get warning if anyone else comes by."
Dudley nodded and watched in fascination as Harry turned into a magnificent phoenix. The red-feathered bird hopped up onto the window sill and looked out into the night. Suddenly, Harry was back, and he leapt away from the window with a startled curse.
"What? What's wrong?"
Harry looked fearfully at Dudley. "Dud, we have to go, now!"
"What is it?"
"Pritchart is out there! In the grounds!"
Dudley's eyes widened. "That teacher who helped frame you? The Death-whatsit?"
Harry nodded. "Eater. She was an auror, a magical policeman, for thirty years." He looked around the room. "Wait. Maybe it would be better if... yes..."
Dudley swallowed. "What?"
Harry turned to his cousin, and Dudley was shocked at the intense fire in Harry's emerald eyes. With a start, Dudley realised that Harry wasn't afraid, he was excited at the prospect of battle.
"How do you feel like being a hero, Dud?"
Dumbledore and Moody quietly left Madam Pomfrey to tend to her two new charges and quietly made their way back to Dumbledore's office. The only sound made was the distinctive clump of Moody's wooden leg on the stone floors.
More than a few students were in the halls, all trying to find out if anyone else knew what happened that evening. Moody shook his head.
"The only thing that moves faster than light is a rumour." he grumbled.
"Mmmmm," Dumbledore agreed. "Pity we can't combine it with useful information."
"Ha! Who is interested enough in the truth?"
"Indeed." Dumbledore gave a pair of excited witches gossip in hushed whispers a long emotionless stare. "Come, Alastor. There are some people we need to speak to."
The pair ascended the staircase to the headmaster's office. Moody sat on one of the many armchairs, while Dumbledore took a deep breath to steel himself. "Alastor, could I trouble you to organise the search for Harry? Put someone at Privet Drive, Black's Pad and The Burrow as well. Someone at the Leaky Cauldron too would be a good idea. Anywhere else you can think of?"
Moody scratched his cheek, deep in thought. "Maybe the person at Privet Drive could check Arabella's place too. Also, I'd get someone to check on Cedric Diggory's grave."
"You think Harry would go there?"
"It's possible. Talking to a dead comrade can help settle your emotions."
Dumbledore sighed. "It pains me to know that a student here thinks of another as a comrade in arms. I wish with all my being it was not neccessary for any student here."
Moody nodded in understanding and stood to leave. "I'll go and organise this goose chase."
"You don't think Harry will be at any of those locations?"
Moody shook his head. "Nope. Not a chance. He'll be found by us when he wants to be found. Not before."
Dumbledore nodded. "I fear you are correct, Alastor. I just wish you weren't."
As he watched the ancient auror leave, Dumbledore shook his head. His unfortunate duty was now to call the Minister, and tell him that his daughter had been attacked and hospitalised.
Victoria Prichart was a bitter woman. A year and a half ago, when she started teaching at Hogwarts, her stern face still held much evidence of the incredible beauty she had in her youth. Even at fifty, she still had suitors, a fact which she took great pride in. Now, she looked haggard, her once firm, unblemished skin wrinkled, and hanging in folds around her neck.
In her mind, there was only one person to blame. Since Potter's escape from Azkaban, he had been a constant pain in her side.
After she and Malfoy had put him in Azkaban initially, Malfoy had claimed credit for himself, while she was stuck teaching at Hogwarts, unable to claim credit for her contribution with her master.
Then, before they were able to break into Azkaban to offer him a place at Voldemort's side, the little bastard escaped. Charged with tracking him down by both Voldemort and Dumbledore, she had miscalculated, and Harry had leapt off a cliff rather than be captured.
At the time she thought that he had committed suicide, and realised that both sides would be after her. Taking only an invisibility cloak, she had disappeared.
After Potter killed all of Voldemort's forces bar Wormtail and the Master himself, she had returned, betting that Voldemort's need for followers would outweigh his desire for revenge.
It had been a painful reunion, and one where she often doubted the decision to return. The thought of getting revenge on Potter was now all that drove her. She had been aware of his leaving Hogwarts the minute he left the protective wards. With Draco's gift, she was able to track Potter's location.
With a short wave to catch one of her subordinate's attention, Pritchart sent her towards one of the exits to the building. She would stop anyone from exiting through that door.
As the younger witch made her way to the doorway Pritchart turned to face the other two.
"You two, stay where you are, out of sight. Come out and attack after Potter makes an appearance. Understand?"
The pair nodded, but shifted nervously. Potter's reputation had spread throughout the wizarding world. Wizards from all over the world knew his name and recent accomplishments. Decimating seventy-two Death Eaters in one battle was a record no one was likely to break anytime soon.
Now, these two wizards were new recruits. Fully qualified wizards, given extra training by herself, they were petrified at the thought of taking on a student who had been held back a year and hadn't finished school.
"Cowards." she muttered under her breath.
Allison Sanderson wrapped her robes around her more closely in a vague attempt to stay warm in the cold December air. The uninspiring, square, red-brick building in front of her had only a few lit windows, indicating there were only a handful of alert people within.
She sighed quietly to herself. Being a double agent was an emotionally draining occupation. The threat of accidentally revealing your true loyalties while under the influence of curses such as the Cruciatius was very real. Voldemort was hurting, but he didn't want to give away anything to the new recruits.
The Death Eater in charge gave a small wave, attracting her attention. Allison nodded, and moved into her indicated position.
Allison swallowed nervously. She had not had a chance to inform her ministry contact about tonight's plans. Not that she had been aware of them beforehand. Pritchart had collected her and a pair of other recruits less than ten minutes before and immediately commanded them to follow to ambush someone.
She drew her wand and patiently waited for Pritchart's command to attack.
Dudley ran along the long dormitory corridor mentally noting which rooms held occupants. He looked down at his watch and noted he had less than ten seconds left.
Dudley reached the end of the corridor and turned, staring down the length of the ugly-carpeted hall. He drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
Even though he knew it was coming, the explosion in the science lab on the ground floor still took him by surprise. The entire wing shook, and even through the small window at the end of the corridor he could make out the bright red-tinge light of the fireball.
Dudley shook his head in appreciation. Blowing up the building was a topic all the students at Smeltings talked about, but now Dudley was a part of it. With a grin, he realised he wouldn't be able to listen to the vapid claims of the other students without laughing.
He started walking back down the hall, bashing on the doors that still housed the few remaining students.
"Fire!" he yelled. "Get up! Move quickly to the south evacuation point but don't panic!"
A few shocked faces emerged. Dudley reached into one of the rooms and physically dragged a student out into the corridor.
"Move!" he roared into the older, but smaller student's face. "South evacuation point! Now!"
Slowly, but obviously more terrified of Dudley than the fire below, the Smeltings students made their way to the south fire exits. Dudley double checked that there were no stragglers before moving to the next floor below and repeating the procedure.
A secondary explosion rocked the building. Dudley smiled to himself. "Gas main." he mumbled under his breath. "Damn, Harry. You are having all the fun."
Allison had taken up her appointed guard position near one of the building's exits when a noise too loud for her to hear surrounded her. Blinded and deafened, she found herself flying backwards, only to land in an undignified heap several meters away.
Blackness started gathering at the edges of her vision, and it took all her determination to stay awake.
Stepping through the flames of the first explosion, Harry fought off the distraction of the tickling he felt with the flame freezing charm in force. Through one of the now shattered windows he could make out the crumpled heap of a Death Eater who had been stationed at the door before the explosion tore through the building.
Harry smiled to himself and allowed himself a small chuckle. Pritchart was slowly standing up after being knocked over by the blast. Not that that was surprising, since the explosion had shattered every window on the first floor of the building.
Since Harry was all but invisible against the bright red flames, he transformed and scanned the grounds outside the building with his enhanced avian eyes.
Besides Pritchart, there were three other Death Eaters. The one that had been thrown to the ground from near the exit, the other two were further away, and both shaking their heads in awe.
Harry flickered back to human form and waved his wand, causing several gas taps in the science lab to turn on, slowly filling the already burning room with methane. With one final satisfied smile, Harry again flickered into his phoenix form and sped through the window as a blur.
Pritchart shook her head in a vain attempt to clear it. The bright flash of the explosion had temporarily blinded her, and the ringing in her ears made it difficult to hear anything. Her own voice sounded hollow and distant to her as she cast a quick healing charm.
Snarling to herself the former auror ran towards the building. Potter had to be behind the explosion, it would cause the muggle emergency services to arrived soon. Too soon for her to capture the little brat, but perhaps not too soon for her to kill him.
A second explosion stopped her advance and hurled her backwards. Gasping, vainly trying to draw a breath into her abused lungs, Pritchart began to think that capturing Potter was no longer a priority.
Only his death would do.
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