Secrets, Lies and the Daily Prophet (Alt. Fifth Year Fic)

Chapter Eight: Harry's Summer Surprise

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Harry Potter was looking forward to a dreadful summer. He arrived home to Number 4 Privet Drive to absolute silence from his aunt, uncle and cousin. It was as if they thought if they remained silent that he would simply disappear and no longer be a burden to them. He was hoping that Dumbledore would allow him to stay with the Weasleys, but was discouraged by what Ron had said before they left Hogwarts. Dumbledore was against it for his own reasons. Harry knew that meant for his own safety he needed to be with his blood relations even though they treated him like common pond scum. He also knew that he should be using his summer holiday as a time to prepare for his upcoming Ordinary Wizarding Level exams (O.W.L.s), but he just couldn't get himself motivated to concentrate on his studies.

The first full day he was home the Dursleys did talk. Just not to him. They talked with Dudley incessantly about how he was doing at Smeltings Academy. It seems this past year Duddikins grew one inch taller and actually lost ten pounds due to the strict diet that the school nurse had him on. She thought he should have lost more weight, but somehow or another he seemed to acquire food that was not part of the regimen. Harry figured that Dudley bullied other kids to give him their food. Since Dudley was still on a restricted diet, Petunia was once again forcing the entire family to share his pain. The evening meal consisted of one large spoonful of white rice, five green beans and two strawberries. Harry went to bed with his stomach still growling from hunger and realizing that his aunt, uncle and cousin would probably do everything they could to ignore him for two solid months.

Harry wondered if the Dursleys' current maltreatment of him had anything to do with the last time he had seen them. Right before he left last summer, his cousin Dudley had a tongue that was a foot-long. This was thanks to some magical toffee made by Fred and George Weasley. Harry had never asked Mr. Weasley about whether or not he had performed a memory charm on the Dursleys after he had restored Dudley's tongue to its normal state. He didn't dare bring up the subject with the Dursleys nor anything else that mattered to him, because it all dealt with the magical world. And the Dursleys hated everything that had to do with magic.

Harry found himself pacing his bedroom floor that night. He was worried about what was happening with Lord Voldemort and his forces. He had been having trouble sleeping ever since the third task of the Triwizard Tournament because inevitably Harry would relive one of the most painful nights in his life. As soon as he would fall asleep he'd once again be magically transported to a graveyard and watch helplessly as the evil wizard was restored to a human-like body. He kept reliving the pain of seeing Cedric Diggory being murdered as well as being forced to duel with Voldemort. The cold, murderous laugh of that evil wizard sent shivers down his spine even in his sleep. He always awoke from this dream with his bed soaked with sweat and his pillow drenched with tears.

Harry was anxious to know what was happening in the Wizarding World. Dumbledore had given orders to Snape, Hagrid, Sirius and Bill and Molly Weasley in order to marshal forces against Voldemort and his followers. Harry wondered what those orders entailed and knew that he probably wouldn't hear anything for a while from anyone. He knew that Dumbledore had tried to manage the information regarding dangers to Harry's safety like everything else: on a need to know basis.

Harry had found out certain things like the fact that Sirius Black was his godfather by accidentally overhearing conversations. Sometimes eavesdropping seemed to be the only way that Harry found things out - things that he wound up needing to know in order to stay alive. He desperately wanted to hear from Sirius, but he thought that it was probably too dangerous for Sirius to detail anything to Harry in a letter lest Voldemort's minions intercept it. He also remembered Sirius warning him not to use Hedwig to contact him. Harry's white snowy owl was beautiful, but she also stood out and could call too much attention, which might jeopardize everything. When he was at school he could use some of the other owls at the owlery. At home he only had Hedwig and Harry couldn't risk endangering Sirius by writing to him, there was far too much at stake. No, Harry would just have to be patient and wait to hear from Sirius even if it meant burning a hole in the floor from pacing himself to sleep. He was beginning to feel drowsy and crawled into bed willing himself to have a dreamless sleep.