Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Independence of the Dark	By : Callisto Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 17491 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
LeaniaSTL- Thank you for your review. Yes, Severus will be on Harry and Draco's side in this story; Indeed, I too have somewhat of a very soft spot for Sev. I have no problems in sending you a mail with updates, but, if you want, you can add this story to your alert list in fanfiction.net. I've got an account under the same author name. Oh, and I'll be updating chapters atleast once every week :)
littlepanther and M- Thank you for your reviews.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed and rated. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
A large thank you to my beta lovingsiri for beta reading this chapter for me.

Chapter 2
Harry dropped down from the tree he had been napping on for the past hour and sauntered into the Great Hall for breakfast. He noticed that only a few early-risers occupied the tables, as the others were probably enjoying the post-exam bliss in their beds. Lucky bastards. Glancing around, he found Ginny, Luna and Neville sitting at the Gryffindor table, deep in some discussion. On seeing him, they waved him over. Harry nodded and neatly slid into the indicated seat.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Ginny asked with a worried expression on her face. She knew that losing Sirius would have hit Harry hard. After all, Sirius had been the father figure in Harry's life and in turn, Sirius cared for Harry as if he were his own son.
"I'm fine, Gin. How are you guys? I'm sorry you had to get involved in that with me. It's all my fault. I was so stupid to fall into that trap", Harry told them, his voice filled with regret. Actually, Harry didn't mean those last two sentences, he was only testing the waters, trying to figure out where their loyalties lay.
"Don't be stupid Harry. How could you have known that it was a trap? You even checked with Kreacher", Ginny admonished him.
"Yes, Harry. It was not your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself", Neville stated with a stern look in his eyes and Luna was nodding her head, obviously agreeing with what he was saying.
Harry felt a huge rush of relief mingled along with some gratitude. He wouldn't be losing them after all. Harry smiled at them warmly, his green eyes sparkling.
"Did you visit Hermione and Ron?" asked Neville, looking at him intently.
Harry's expression darkened at the mention of them, which did not go unnoticed by the others. "Aye. Visited them first thing this morning", Harry spit out.
"What did they do this time?" Ginny asked, with a hint of exasperation lacing her voice as she wondered at what her brother had done.
"They betrayed me. That's what they did. They've been spying on me for Dumbledore all this time and were also getting paid to be my 'friends'", Harry said in a low angry tone.
"WHAT?" Ginny shrieked.
"Whoa. Calm down, Ginny. I can understand if you don't believe me, but-", Ginny cut him off before he could finish that sentence.
"No, I completely believe you, Harry. How could I not?", Ginny assured him and continued," I know Ron better than anyone else and I can assure you that the prick is entirely capable of betrayal. But how dare he betray you! And that bloody Hermione, what has gotten into her? I thought she was alright. Stupid ambitious bint" Ginny ranted.
"Gin. Ginny. Sit down. I don't want everyone to know about this. I also want you to act as if you hadn't heard about this. I'm biding my time, okay?"Harry told her. He also did not want her to know about her mother's betrayal of him. He would disclose that little fact, sometime in the future, to ensure that she completely turned away from her family. Or at least her parents.
"I get it, Harry. But that doesn't mean I should like it. Merlin, how ever did that piece of shit known as Ron Weasley end up being my brother?" No one answered her.
"Harry, did Dumbledore actually do that? And how did you know?"Neville asked with an angry expression on his face.
"Yes, Neville. I performed accidental legilemency on both of them this morning. Don't ask me how. It just happened"
Neville nodded, deep in thought.
"Harry, always remember that our loyalty belongs to you first; not Dumbledore, but with you" Luna told him looking deep into his eyes. Ginny and Neville nodded solemnly at her words.
Harry nodded." Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me" And truly it did.

After that rather draining conversation, Harry climbed through the portrait hole. Thankfully, the Gryffindor tower was virtually empty. Harry entered his dorm and plopped down on his four-poster bed and closed his eyes; After a few moments of thinking, Harry got up to quickly grab a piece of parchment and quill from his bedside table and started outlining his plan for the rest of the week.
1. Research on Hogwarts Sorting ceremony and customs.
2. Take a look through the Restricted Section.
3. Find out if there are any wizarding shopping areas other than Diagon and Knocturn Alley.
4. Contact Gringotts.
5. Clean the trunk.
6. Avoid Dumbles, Ron and Hermione.
7. Go to the Chamber and see if any of the Basilisk's parts could be salvaged.
He had decided that the Basilisk's parts were too valuable to waste and had resolved to collect it the second an opportunity presented itself. In addition to that, he needed to find a place to stay this summer, as he would be escaping from Privet Drive, right under the old man's nose; Diagon Alley was too obvious, he would easily be found out. Really, there must be other places in the Wizarding Britain, other than the Leaky Cauldron.
Harry left for the library, knowing he had a lot of work to do.

Harry had had a busy week. He'd 'borrowed' a few books from the library; mainly on Hogwarts sorting and houses; a hazy plan had been forming in his head for some time and it would need further research. While looking through the library, he'd been horrified when he noticed just how lax he'd been in his studies; and had vowed that he would catch up as soon as possible.
He had yet to receive a reply from Gringotts . Yesterday, he had sent a missive to the wizarding bank, enquiring whether he would be able to withdraw money from his vault, via his owl. Since it would be rather unsafe for him to personally visit Gringotts after escaping Privet Drive, he decided that using his owl would be the best way to get his money. He was sure that someone would report him to Dumbledore if they saw him loitering in Diagon Alley.
All in all, it had been a constructive week; the only thing that had marred it was the appearance of Hermione and Ron yesterday.
They had made to sit beside him at the Gryffindor table during lunch; pretending that any falling out had not happened between them. Only Harry was not in the mood to indulge them, so he had stood up just as they had taken their seat on either side of him. It had been very gratifying to watch their faces heat up from the blatant slur against them.
Another thing that had been eventful was the article published in the Daily Prophet. It seemed that the ministry was in a confusion on which side to take. Apparently, Fudge was reluctant to accept the truth and still claimed that the ministry had been hoodwinked; other people who were more level-headed sided with the truth.
Harry guessed that within a few months' time, the truth would be out, whether Fudge wanted it or not; because old Voldie would not remain in hiding much longer. Anyhow, all this uncertainity, along with him yelling "Voldemort is back !" during the last year, had obviously caused the majority of the Hogwarts population to side with him.
Harry was actually glad that the ministry had not confirmed that Lord Voldemort was back because this would buy him some much needed time to train and he would be ready to fight with a solid force behind him, once the war was declared publicly.
Harry slowly made his way to the Great Hall for the Leaving Feast; they would be leaving the castle tomorrow morning. He slid into the empty seat beside Neville and began piling large amounts of food onto his plate. He had been feeling unusually hungry lately and his appetite rivalled even that of Ron's. After polishing off half of his plate, he turned to Neville, "Where's Luna?"
"She said something about going to investigate a nest of wrackspurts", Neville muttered with a small smile.
"And you didn't go with her becauuuse?" Harry teased, noting the longing expression on Neville's face.
Neville blushed," Shush, Harry"
"Really mate, you better ask her soon. She is beautiful and some other bloke might just take her away from you. Besides, I'm pretty sure she fancies you."
Neville remained silent for a few minutes before he nodded, a determined look entering his eyes. Harry turned away, knowing that Neville would follow through with his decision.
Harry discreetly scanned the Slytherin table and nearly choked on his laughter. The reason for his amusement was one Draco Malfoy who was presently sulking and glaring at him; but the entire effect was ruined by the pout the blond was sporting. On seeing him laugh, the blond huffed and turned to glare at Neville.
Harry simply shook his head and turned his attention on his nearly empty plate. During one of his ruminations, Harry had decided that he would not blame Draco and the other Death Eater children just because of who their parents were; he would give them a fair chance to prove themselves to him.
Just thinking about the Death Eaters made his blood pressure soar. The shoe-licking arses. And along with his anger, the slight itching on his back increased; like it had been happening on and off during the entire week. He must be developing a rash or something, Harry decided.
After finishing off his third helping of treacle tart, Harry stood up and left for his dorm after wishing Neville good night. The brunette was apparently going to wait up for Luna and Harry knew, they would be together by tomorrow.
Smirking, Harry returned to the dorm to collect his invisibility cloak and Marauders Map. He still had one more thing to do. He had not yet visited the Chamber. Leisurely, he began making his way, under the invisibility cloak, to the second floor girls bathroom or better yet known as Moaning Myrtle's hideout. He quickly slid down the pipe after hissing the password. He had been expecting to get hit by the stench of rotting flesh, but surprisingly, none had come. Grimacing, Harry hastily cast a cleaning charm on himself to get rid of the muck and slime from his robes.
He began walking down the tunnel until he reached where the tunnel had collapsed back in his second year. Deciding not to risk using magic and causing the tunnel to collapse further, he just shifted the rocks a little more and made the hole in the rocks just a little bit larger. After squeezing through the rocks, he continued walking down the hall way until he reached the chamber hall doors. Hissing another password, he opened the doors. After he entered, he saw to his surprise that the Basilisk's corpse was as intact as it was after he killed it his second year. There must have been preservation and freshening charms cast on the entire chamber, Harry surmised. Harry truly marvelled at the power the founder must have had in order for his charms to last nearly a thousand years.
After some heavy pieces of spell-work, he had finally collected all the useful parts from the Basilisk along with its hide and placed it in two separate trunks before minimizing them and slipping it into his robe pocket.
Stretching his sore muscles, Harry looked around and shrugged. Figuring that since he was already down here, he could spend some time exploring the chamber. He, then, turned to face the large stone statue of Salazar Slytherin. On an impulse, he repeated what the Tom Riddle from the diary had uttered in Parseltongue.
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four"
Indeed the mouth of the statue opened wide and he was secretly relieved that no giant snake had come rushing out. He turned his wand on his own person and began levitating himself until he was safely standing inside the mouth of the statue. The inside of the mouth was actually a very large room which had formerly been the lair of the late Basilisk. The room was filled with bones and a few empty book cases.
And again acting instinctively, he moved forward and touched the wall where the Basilisk had gouged gashes probably by lashing its tail against it. As he was running his fingers over the wall, he felt a sudden prick on his finger. Quickly withdrawing his finger, he noticed a few drops of his blood smeared on the wall. Before he could speculate anything, a silver handle appeared on the wall. Yanking it open, he strode in, his wand at the ready; only to have his jaw drop at the magnificent room he now stood in.
It was filled with piles and piles of gold and silver coins; emeralds, rubies, sapphires and numerous other priceless gems to which he did not the names of, lay in heaps. But what caught his attention was the hundreds of books occupying the silver shelves. Not even the books per se, but the language in which it was written in. Parseltongue. His breath caught at the darkness coming from some of those books.
Before he could reach out for those books, a spectre of the founder appeared in front of him. Before a blink of the eye, Harry had his wand pointed at the spectre. The founder appeared to be in his late forties, dressed in immaculate robes.
"Calm down, heir of mine. I cannot hurt you. I am just a mere spectre. I have some things to say to you."
"What? I'm not your heir. Tom Riddle is" ,Harry informed him.
"Yes, he is descended from me but that doesn't mean he is my heir. He does not possess the qualities I search for. You do. In fact, you are my descendent as well, albeit in a round-about way, which is the reason why you have the ability to speak Parseltongue. These are the reasons why I have deemed to accept you as my heir. Riddle is far too power hungry to do any good in this world and all he will lead to is destruction. And don't look so surprised, yes, even I want something good to happen to this world. Only I prefer to do it by using force and dark magic, which is why I have been labelled as evil"
Harry looked gobsmacked at what the founder was saying. He was related to Salazar Slytherin?
"Alright, young man. Listen up. All of the items in this room belong to you now. You are free to take anything you want from here. If you want to relocate all this into your vault, you can certainly do so"
Harry nodded and moved towards the fireplace, noticing a wooden crate placed on the carpet next to it. Harry looked into the box to find three exotic coloured eggs occupying it.
"What type of eggs are these? ",Harry asked.
"Ah. They are the three mythical serpents of the serpent lore. Actually, they aren't mythical, only very rare. I came across them quite accidently, to say the truth. The main catch is that they are very magical and won't hatch like normal eggs. Just like with the wands, they choose the wizard they find worthy and only then would they hatch. Curious, I communicated with the serpents inside the eggs and was informed by them that they were the last of their species. When, they didn't hatch for me, I safeguarded them by placing them here, hoping that maybe my heir could be chosen by them."
"And how do you know if the egg has chosen you or not?"
"You have to place your hand on them to know that"
Harry placed his palm on the sapphire blue coloured egg and it glowed red. Harry arched an eyebrow at the founder in question.
The man's face quickly broke into a large grin and said, "Yes, it has indeed chosen you. It has now started the hatching process and it will probably be over within the week or so."
Harry mirrored the look on the man's face. On instinct he placed both his palms on the remaining two eggs, a shiny black one and a jade green one, and again, they glowed red. Harry turned just in time to see Slytherin's jaw drop.
"Does that mean in a weeks' time, I am going to have three snakes slithering behind me wherever I go?" Harry asked.
"Aye lad. I am so proud of you. I couldn't have found a better heir it seems. Now , I want you to wear the Lordship ring of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin. The ring rests on the pillow floating in the middle of the room"
Harry found the indicated pillow and resting on it was a beautiful silver ring; a pair of entwined snakes constituted the band, their heads coiled around a sparkling emerald stone. Harry slowly slid the ring onto the middle finger of his right hand.
"It is beautiful, isn't it? Anyways, I have to get going now, now that I have accomplished my task. And, by the way, my heir, the bookcases outside had about a hundred books which Tom Riddle took with him when he left Hogwarts. But, not to worry. All those books have a copy of them in here. Goodbye, young Harry. Until next time, then"
"Wait. What if I have to speak with you again?" Harry asked.
"There is a portrait of me in the dungeons, hidden by a concealing charm cast on it by Dumbledore. You could find me there"
Harry nodded."Very well then. Farewell, Salazar", Harry watched as the spectre flashed out of existence.
Harry quickly emptied the bookshelves into a large trunk before he minimized it. He cast a warming charm on the serpent eggs before minimizing the crate. Just as he was about to leave the room, a goblet filled to the brim with pretty coloured gems caught his eye. He decided to pick three colours from it- green, blue and black-which perfectly matched his three little snake eggs. Slipping them into his pocket, he quickly left the chamber by once again levitating himself out of the pipe.

Harry walked down the steps and out of Hogwarts' main doors, dragging his trunk behind him. He still couldn't believe that all those things had happened last night. Only seeing Slytherin's ring on his finger assured him that it had indeed happened and that he was the proud owner of nearly a thousand books, three yet-to-be-hatched mythical serpents and a vast fortune. Harry had charmed the ring using a parsel spell from the book, so that it was only visible to his eyes. Not even Moody could look through the glamour surrounding the ring.
Just then, Harry spotted the carriage and hauled his trunk into it. He was quickly followed by his fellow Hufflepuffs, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott.
"Hey there, Harry", Ernie patted his shoulder.
Harry smiled. "Hi Ernie. Alright there?"
"Eh...yes" They made some small talk until they reached the Hogwarts Express but it was clear that there was something weighing on their minds. Harry decided not to push them, they would tell him if they wanted to.
However, before he could get down from the carriage, they stopped him. Harry arched a questioning eyebrow, Ernie took a deep breath and started, "Harry, we know that you faced Him at the Department of Mysteries and that the Ministry is trying to hush it up. Also talks of a prophecy regarding you and Yo-Vo-Voldemort are going around, I think we can guess at what it might say. But what I wanted to really say is that, I want you to please remember that you can count on us in anything you might want to do; we will stand by you, no matter what. I know that you have distanced yourself from Ron and Hermione, because of something they must have done to you; but you must remember that they aren't your only friends. I admit we have had our differences in the past, but I want to assure you that it won't be happening again in the future. We will remain loyal to you; come hell or high water. I swear that on Hufflepuff's badger of loyalty."
Harry felt an onslaught of emotions as he heard those words; swearing on their House's loyalty was one of the highest form of loyalty a Hogwartian could give. He could think upon various scenarios that it could be put to good use. Harry grinned at them and nodded. " I will make sure to remember that. And I think I might just take you up on your offer sooner than you might think."
After waving them good-bye, Harry boarded the train and found himself an empty compartment. Using a nifty spell he'd learnt, he locked the door charmed only to open for Neville, Ginny and Luna.
After half-an-hour, the trio entered the compartment, completely out of breath. Harry nodded at them and went back to the book he was reading. It was a useful book on pureblood customs, practices and etiquette. He'd always been fascinated with the purebloods' ways; especially the Slytherins'. They just seemed to know so much about their history. When he had tried to talk to Ron about it, the redhead always brushed him off saying that it was all bollocks. But, now, Harry wondered if the weasel had just wanted him to remain in the dark; feeling secretly pleased that he had known something that Harry didn't. Anyhow, since Harry had decided to be independent, he saw no reason to deny himself his interests.
Neville and Ginny immediately began playing a game of Exploding Snap with Luna cheering for Neville; it was clear that Neville had indeed asked Luna out, if the small smiles that were exchanged was any indication.
Nearly, an hour later, someone started banging on their compartment door; it was Granger and Weasley. Harry sneered. Won't they ever give up?
Hermione smugly pulled out her wand and tried to open the door; feeling superior in the knowledge that she would be able to break any spell he had cast on the door; only to find that the door wouldn't budge. The look on her face was priceless. After waving her wand for some odd minutes, she left, dragging Ron by the sleeve of his shirt , her face flushed red.
Shortly afterwards, Ginny left to meet with Dean. Apparently, she had promised to spend some time with him in his compartment. Luna immediately engaged Neville in a game of Horn's Trumpet. According to her explanation, he gathered that the opponents must make loud trumpeting noises after swallowing a grey looking mushy substance, which apparently made the person to have a trunk of some magical creature, instead of a nose. The person who trumpeted the loudest was the winner.
Hearing this, Harry sighed. It seemed people were determined on not letting him read in silence. He discreetly pulled out his wand and pointed at the pair of them and murmured a charm that made a sound bubble appear around the duo. There. That would do the trick. Now, they could make all the noises they wanted, he would remain blissfully unaware.
Neville, noticing this, sent a sheepish smile in his direction and mouthed 'sorry'. Harry simply smirked at him and went back to his reading.
Just as he was about to finish the book, Harry was interrupted by a pecking sound on the glass window. Harry peered at the window and noticed a great horned owl on the other side of it. He immediately stood up and opened the latch that had the window tightly shut. The owl quickly swooped into the compartment and perched on the rack. He knew the owl belonged to Gringotts from the seal on the letter attached to its leg.
Harry approached the owl and untied the letter from its leg. Hastily breaking open the seal, Harry started reading,
Dear Mr. Potter,
We here at Gringotts send our deepest condolences for your loss. In response to the question you posed, we would like to inform you that the option you asked for is available, among others. However, we also wanted to notify you that you have been requested to attend a meeting at Gringotts, in matters regarding your familial heritage. We would like to advise you that it would be in your best interests if you were to make this a high priority event, as it deals with certain urgent and delicate matters.
Please apprise us the date and time of your visit with the Gringotts owl.
Regards, Silvertongue, Gringotts account manager #1
Looking up, Harry noticed that the owl was indeed waiting for his reply. He opened his trunk and offered the bird some of Hedwig's owl treats and water.
Harry began pondering on the issue at hand, slightly worried at the urgency he could practically feel in the letter. And what was this about his familial heritage? He didn't have any heritage, did he. Other than being the Lord of Slytherin, which was only because Salazar had wanted him to be so. He had always assumed that, even though his father had been a pureblood, they were only moderately well-off. After all, from what he had heard, they had been living in a cottage at Godric's Hollow.
Curiosity prickled under his skin. He wanted to find out what all of this was about; at the same time, he also did not want to be found out by the Order. He could always use the invisibility cloak, he reasoned.
Making up his mind, he hastily scribbled out his reply,
Gornun Silvertongue,
I will arrive at Gringotts by 3 p.m. this evening. Since I do not want to be noticed by anyone, I will be under my invisibility cloak, waiting for you near the 'Thief's Downfall' saying. From there, you could lead me to the meeting place.
Regards,
Harry James Potter
After sending his letter, Harry settled himself in his seat and proceeded to finish the book he had been reading.

From the outside scenery, Harry could tell that they would be reaching Kings Cross Station very soon. He placed the book back in his trunk and glanced towards the cuddling pair sitting opposite of him. It had been hilarious to watch the both of them panic when their trunks refused to rephase to their original form; well, at least Neville had panicked, while Luna had just started petting on her nose-sorry-trunk and saying how pretty she looked with it. Thankfully, the trunks had faded back after some cajoling from Luna.
Finally, as the Hogwarts Express coasted to a stop, Harry stood up and stretched.
"Hey, you two. Break up. I'm sure you'll have all the time in the world to snog during your summer. Because we have to leave now."
Neville just laughed, while Luna looked up at him dreamily and said, "Jealous ,Harry? Don't worry. You'll find someone to snog and fornicate too. Sometime in the near future I’d say."
Harry refused to blush at that comment and stuttered out a ' Thanks, Luna' with a 'Have a great summer, you guys' and quickly escaped from the compartment dragging his trunk behind him.
Really, someone needed to control that mouth of hers. Grinning, Harry stepped out onto the platform and instantly noticed a small herd of redheads milling about some ways away. He swiftly blended in with the crowd and made his way towards the barrier, tactfully avoiding them.
Harry mentally patted himself on having escaped the Weasel Mother Hen. He would have liked to meet the twins to gauge their alliances, but, unfortunately, that had to wait. Since, he would have no doubt cursed the Weasley matriarch if she had spoken to him. Perhaps, hers was the most stinging betrayal of all, since he had truly come to look up to her as a surrogate mother. Shaking his head free from all of those painful thoughts, he swiftly crossed the barrier.
The first thing Harry noticed when he emerged out of the barrier separating Platform Nine and Three Quarters was his beloved uncle who was rather inconspicuous with his walrus sized body; and attached to his arm was his dear aunt Petunia, and hiding behind her and failing miserably at that was none other his favourite cousin, Big D; all of whom were looking suspiciously at something towards his right side.
With a dawning understanding, Harry agilely spun on his heel toward his right and saw the small group that had been standing to the side of the barrier, comprised of Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley, Tonks and Mr. Weasley.
Harry managed to hide his grimace just in time. Instead, he sent a small smile toward them and waved.
"Wotcher, Harry" greeted Tonks.
"What are you people doing here?" quizzed Harry. He was, in fact, very curious about what they were doing here. He wondered why Remus wasn't with them. Harry had a passing thought that maybe Remus placed the blame on him, just like the others. As quickly as that thought had come, he just as quickly banished it. He would not worry unnecessarily until he knew the truth.
"We just came to send you off Harry. And also to speak to those relatives of yours" replied Mr Weasley.
"Indeed. That'll be them, then?", Moody asked pointed towards the Dursleys.
"Yes. But I don't think it’s such a good idea", Harry told him.
However, they proceeded to ignore him and made their way to the huddling Dursleys. Harry was furious, to say the least. There they go again, Harry mused. They never listened to what he had to say. As far as they were concerned, he was just an over-emotional teenager.
He didn't want them to threaten the Dursleys. It would not sit well with his plans at all. Since all this would do was make the Dursleys that much harder to convince later, damn it !
Once the Order had finished their threatening, they asked him to promise that he would write a letter at least once every three days. Thinking fast, Harry informed them that perhaps he would write them a letter once a week. Unless, it was Mad-Eye guarding the house, he would have at least one week before the Order noticed him missing.
Waving them good-bye, Harry followed the Dursleys out of the railway station.

Harry watched in fascination as his uncle's flabby face in the rear-view mirror changed colours at a rather alarming rate; a large, ugly, purple vein throbbing on his forehead. Harry wondered if all this would cause the man to have a stroke or something. Harry sure hoped so.
True, he had been furious when the Order members had threatened the Dursleys without consulting him first; but, Harry had to admit that he was certainly enjoying the outcome of it.
Harry observed his uncle as the man's beady little eyes frequently darted to look at him in the rear-view mirror. He was obviously concocting some plan to torment him during the summer or perhaps, he was just plain scared that he would transfigure Dudley into his natural form of a pig.
At least Dudley seemed to be following that train of thought, for he still had his pudgy hands firmly gripping his bottom, looking at him from the corner of his eyes and trying to sit as far from him as possible, which wasn't saying much seeing as he nearly occupied three-quarters of the back seat. Ever so slowly, Harry pulled out his wand from his pocket and casually started twirling it in between his fingers, looking at Dudley sideways.
Dudley immediately paled and squeaked. "Mu-Mum!" Petunia slowly twisted her giraffe look-alike neck in his direction to glare at him. Harry arched an eyebrow at her and dismissed them both. He opted to look out the window rather than watch the three peculiar beings occupying the car with him.
After more than half an hour of blaring horns and traffic, Harry was grateful when Vernon stopped his car in front of the house. Harry had been positively itching to curse some of the muggle pedestrians who appeared right in front of the car, seemingly out of thin air, causing Vernon to abruptly slam the brakes, which in turn made the fat lump that was Dudley land on him. Harry had a feeling that he was doing it rather intentionally. After the third time Dudley had tried to squish him, Harry had pointed his wand right in between Dudley's eyes; after which the lard had stuck to his own side of the seat rather than on his lap. Another thing was that, as if on par with his anger, the constant itch on his back had been fluctuating from hot to cold and vice-versa. Perhaps, he should take a look at his back when he came in contact with a mirror next time. He had never heard of rashes developing temperatures.
Harry got out of the car and immediately noticed Tonks, who was hiding behind the 6-feet tall oakleaf hydrangea bush, with her hair colour charmed to be a green that matched the bush she was hiding behind.
Tonks was a great auror, true; but she was completely lacking in the Stealth and Tracking department as Harry knew from previous experience. She was quite young and naive. Maybe he could try to steal her from the bumbling fool's clutches. She could be a spy within the Order. Harry made a mental note to himself to consider the idea at a later date.
Well, for now, it would be a piece of cake to escape under her nose. Thank Merlin that it had not been Moody who was the watchdog.
Harry quickly followed the Dursleys into the house, knowing that they would lock him out just to spite him. Not that it would stop him. It was just that Harry was simply not going to waste his time fighting with them; especially when he would be leaving in a few short hours.
Harry swiftly dragged his trunk upstairs and sneered at the cat-flap and locks adorning his door. Pushing it open, he placed Hedwig's cage on the table near the window and quickly emptied the contents of the trunk onto the bed; thankfully, he'd cleaned his trunk at Hogwarts. Otherwise, it would have taken hours together to get rid of all the debris that had accumulated in his trunk all these years.
Now, all Harry had to do was separate the items into two piles; one, he would be taking with him while the other would be put back into the trunk. Harry pulled out a rucksack and placed the books he had nicked from the library inside the bag, which was then followed by his invisibility cloak, photo album and the knife which Sirius had given him; he caressed it affectionately before placing it gently inside wrapped in a soft velvet cloth.
The knife had melted when he had tried to open a room at the DoM, but after a few days, when Harry had been packing his trunk, he had found that the melted knife had regained its original shape. Harry could only guess that it was some sort of inherent magic that the blade of the knife must have been imbued with, making it virtually impossible to destruct.
Subsequently, he filled the rucksack with the miniaturized boxes of Basilisk potion ingredients, Basilisk hide, Parsel books, and the serpent eggs along with the small pouch containing the three gems he had taken from the chamber. Then, he drew the drawstrings firmly shut.
After having changed into a set of fresh clothes, Harry put the pile on the bed back inside the trunk, figuring that the Order would make sure that the trunk would be returned to him. Grabbing some muggle money along with his Gringotts key, Harry flung the rucksack onto his shoulders and made his way to open the door; only to be stopped by an indignant hoot coming from the other side of the room.
"Shite! ", Harry cussed. He had completely forgotten Hedwig. Slowly, he turned to face her with a sheepish smile and was graced with an annoyed look.
Harry approached the table and crouched low to meet her at eye-level. "Sorry girl. I was in a bit of a hurry. Forgive me?" Harry asked with an innocent look in his eyes.
Hedwig hooted imperiously. "Promise not to bite me?" Hedwig huffed and hid her face under her wing. Harry had enough scars on him to make him remember that Hedwig was a vicious biter. Not so surprisingly, Hedwig was refusing.
Harry smirked. "Fine. Be like that. But I'm not letting you out until you promise not to bite me. I've got time" Harry stood up and made a show of settling himself comfortably in his chair.
After about five minutes of being on the receiving end of Hedwig's death glares, Harry thought that if looks could kill, he would have been five times under by now. Then finally, Hedwig hooted in acceptance. At Last.
With a smug look, Harry opened her cage, and she immediately took flight to land on his shoulder; her claws digging into his skin. Petting her head fondly, Harry instructed her," I want you to return to me in two days' time. Make sure that no one are following you when you find me. Be discreet and fly safe. I won't lose you too, Hed".
Hedwig hooted in understanding. She knew that her master had suffered a lot in his life and she would not make him suffer by getting herself killed. Not that anyone could kill her, of course. After all, she was the Queen of the skies, the fair and beautiful Hedwig. And she would peck all those who dared harm her human to death.
Hedwig nuzzled her master's cheek affectionately and nipped his ear, maybe a bit too hard, but it wasn't a bite . She had not broken her promise. She had not drawn blood, had she?
With a joyous hoot, she flew out through the window and took off into the sky.
Harry marvelled at his familiar's beauty as her feathers shone a brilliant silvery white under the sun. Once she was out of sight, Harry sighed and made his way down the stairs.
First thing, he noticed on entering the living room was that Vernon and Petunia were engaged in a furious spat, while Dudley remained oblivious to his surroundings, watching the television slack-jawed with a bit of drool escaping from the corner of his mouth. Harry shuddered in disgust. Filthy pig.
Turning his focus onto the still verbally sparring duo, Harry gleefully thought, "Trouble in paradise?" Not wanting to interrupt, or Merlin forbid, stop their altercation, Harry settled down without making a sound.
After about ten minutes of delightful entertainment for Harry, Vernon took a deep breath and casually glanced around; not having expected him to see him there, he did a sudden double-take and started sputtering, "You-you-" Petunia turned to the source, wondering what could have caused her husband to have such a violent reaction; only to see her nephew lounging lazily on the sofa, watching them with a gleeful expression and an unholy gleam in his eyes. Petunia started reddening; making her look like some weird plucked chicken, in Harry's opinion; in embarrassment at the thought that the boy had seen her fighting and had obviously taken some perverse enjoyment in watching them argue. She shuddered.
Vernon, meanwhile, had regained his breath and yelled out, "Boy! How dare you show your face down here? "
" We need to talk ", Harry stated, wiping his face clear of any expression.
"Not bloody likely. This is my house and WILL not be taking orders from the likes of you, boy" Vernon growled out.
"I said we need to talk. So sit.", Harry repeated more forcefully. If he said 'boy' one more time...
"NO boy !"
"SIT" Harry yelled, his magic moving like a whiplash, pushing Vernon into his armchair. "And if you call me 'boy' one more time, I will personally make sure that it will be the last word you will ever speak. Understood?"
Vernon nodded dumbly.
"Good. Now, I'll be leaving this house but I don't want the Order to know that I have left. I want you to fool the Order as long as you can manage into making them believe that I've been skulking inside my room or with some such excuses"
"And why should we do that for you? And why are you running away?" Petunia asked.
Harry sneered. "If you don't, then they'll find me and bring me back here. You don't want me here, do you? If I could buy myself some time however, I'll be long gone and they won't be able to find me until the 1st of September. As for my running away, it is none of your business. But since, you asked so pleasantly, I'll answer you. It is me stating my independence from them. I will not allow those sodding idiots to dictate my life"
"Fine. We will do it. You better be grateful for all the sacrifices we make for you" , declared an obviously recovered Vernon, very glad that this would be the last they would be seeing of the boy.
Harry snorted derisively. Riiight.
"What should we say when they eventually find out that you were not here all along? What if they try to harm us?"
"Just tell them that I wanted to be on my own and that I had asked them not to look for me; that I will meet them at King's Cross on September 1st. Oh, tell them to collect my trunk which is in the bedroom. And don't worry, they won't harm you or anything. They're way too pathetic and cowardly to harm a muggle"
"And will this be the last time we will be seeing you, bo-potter?"
Not bloody likely. They will be seeing him one more time in the future, if he had his way. "Maybe. Maybe not. You never know. So better be prepared" Harry warned them cryptically.
Picking up his rucksack, Harry flung the invisibility cloak around him and coolly walked out through the front door. Harry felt a small amount of sympathy for Tonks; a very miniscule small amount, mind you; who would be feeling some heat from the Order members, for having allowed him to escape under her watch. Harry shrugged his shoulders. Whatever.
Harry reached the front gate and turned around to consider the square house he had spent the better half of his life in. Harry suddenly smirked darkly. Oh yes, he would be returning one last time. No doubts there, Harry decided.
After all, he hadn't thanked them properly for the generous and affectionate upbringing they had given him. Surely, it would be blasphemous if he didn't repay them in kind, would it not?
On that positive note, Harry started walking towards the nearest bus stand with a decidedly malicious look in his eyes.

A/N: Please leave a review ! Pretty please?
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Independence of the Dark