Summary: Just because it's summer, y'think Harry's gonna get a break? HA! No way...

CHAPTER 2:

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A man tapped the tips of his fingers on the arm of his seat. Head bowed low and eyes closed, he almost seemed to be praying to whatever dark god. His breathing was steady and controlled.
His back was supported by a tall back-rest, lined with red velvet. In the dim lighting, it looked like it was stained with dry blood.

The room itself was foreboding, constricting, despite the grand size and sparse furnishing. But most of all, it was cold. The type of cold that no fire could warm. The type that ate at your skin and penetrated bone. The hooded figure that had entered the room shivered noticably.

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"Well?" the man questioned calmly.

"It is done, master," the smaller figure squeaked as he kneeled, less than gracefully, at the man's feet. His silver hand clattered softly against the floor as he trembled with fear, contrast to the steady tapping of his master's long nails against dark wood. "The boy is on his own."

The snake hissed in annoyance at the pathetic figure whose rattling was getting on its nerves, tighting her coils around her master.

Click-

The silence was deafening.

Click--

Reaching a pale palm to stroke his pet, the man opened his eyes and regarded his servent stonily. He smiled. Pettigrew had to choke down every instinct that told him to run fast and hard for what was left of his life. That smile looked twisted on that face which was already shocking in its lack of colour... but for the eyes... those-

"Good, good... alone he will be vulnerable. As it is, his magic will have no effect," the man's smile turned into a satisfied smirk.

Hooded in shadows, red eyes glinted dangerously from within.
Pettigrew shrank back.

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"Well, now, Harry Potter... who will protect you from me now..."

Kyram was enjoying a nice quiet day.

Sunny, warm, no one badgering him with nonsense, no idiot trying to kill him... no bloody-

Growling deep in his throat, he glared at birds. Baring his teeth in a grin, he gave them a patented stop-singing-and-making-that-infernal-noise-right-bloody-now-or-I-will-eat-you-up-for-apetizer look.

Surprisingly, the birds seemed to notice. Squawking indignatly they frantically flew up, soon to be hidden from view as they blended into the light that filtered through the green canopy and beyond.

Kyram smirked.

Birds...

Actually, he'd just eaten and he was surprisingly full. A rare feat, since he ate a lot. But hey, he was big for his age. He needed to eat a lot.

He smiled and relaxed.
Yep. Nice day. Sunny, warm-

Kyram should've know better...

Maybe it was the abnormally bright, green light, or the odd tearing sound which caused him to lose his focus but soon, Kyram was up close and personal with the hard, cold ground.

"What the-?!" Kyram shifted and something fell beside him with a dull thud.

Some of the birds that had been brave enough to come back let out oddly smug sounding chirps.

"Aw, bloody....! Shut up!!" Kyram let loose a string of not-so-pretty words as his eyes flashed with fury. Somehow, it didn't quite look as intimidating when one's face was covered in mud. He rubbed his head.
"WHO DID THAT?!?!" he bellowed as he wiped the dirt off his face as best he could, not really expecting an answer.

He nearly fell over in surprise when someone groaned softly in response.

The birds squawked mockingly.

"Aw, I said shut up already!"

Looking down, he finally noticed the reason for his little trip and blinked. Repeatedly.

Staring back up to greet him was the unconcious face of a young boy of 14 or 15. His black hair was now matted with mud and the round spectacles that framed his closed eyes were cracked.

"Well?" asked a little voice in the back of Kyram's mind, "Are you just gonna stand there gawking the bleeding day away?"

Shut up, I'm trying to think.

Kyram frowned. The boy looked worse for wear.

"No kidding, he just fell from the sky."

Oh shut up, Kyram thought.

"You really do need a larger vocabulary."

Oh shu- Oh be quiet! Kyram grumbled as he picked the boy up with a resigned sigh, slightly surprised at how light he seemed.

What am I getting myself into?

Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, puffed slowly on his pipe. His brows were furrowed in thought as he stood by the rows of paintings in his office.

"Dumbledore," a resigned voice spoke.

"Lupin," acknowledged the headmaster, not looking up.

Fawkes, the phoenix, watched them both solemnly from its perch.

Removing the pipe from his mouth, Dumbledore turned around.

"You've heard?"

"Yes. Sirius contacted me."

"How is he?"

The former Defence Against Dark Arts teacher paused.
"He is... driven. He doesn't sleep."

"Neither do you," Dumbledore pointed out in a slightly disapproving tone.

Lupin sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. Indeed, he looked more worn than usual, and that was quite a feat. Ignoring his sense of propriety, he flopped limply into the guest chair at Dumbledore's desk.

"We owe it to James to find him. We have to find him!" Lupin hissed with a touch of despiration.

"Harry is a very capable boy," The elder man soothed, placing an aged hand on Lupin's sagging shoulders. "We will find him."

"But when?" the werewolf questioned, looking up, "In time?"

His faith had suffered a considerable blow. He had not been able to help then and there seemed to be so little he could do now. Harry had somehow always seemed, despite his age, to be invincible, untouchable..

Fool...! Lupin berated himself. Fool....

"We will find him in time!" growled a new voice. Two heads turned.

Sirius Black stepped out of the fireplace.
"We will find him because we must."

Black wore his usual gray cloak, looking haggard and worn as usual, but his eyes burned. "The Ministry won't be any help in this. I let James down, but I will not fail his son."
He blinked. "My godson."

"Now Black-"

The paintings watched the drama with interest, but they too had worried expressions carved on their faces.

"Dumbledore, I respect you. I always have. But you should know by now that the Ministry is run by a fool who has no idea what he's up against. He won't act, and he doesn't realize the consequences he'll have to face."
He growled low, in an oddly dog-like fashion.
"So help me, if you get in my way..."

Lupin, sat silently, eyes closed as he simply listened. Harry was important to all of them. Not as the boy who "killed" Voldemort, nor as the boy who had somehow unwillingly brought the dark wizard back, but as himself. Harry Potter: the son of their long time friend, or in Dumbledore's case, former student.
In some way or another, he supposed, Harry had saved both himself and Black from the demons that haunted them...

The crackling of the fire seemed loud in their ears.

Regarding the two younger men, Dumbledore, puffed on his pipe contemplatively.

"Gentlemen," he announced, eyes hard yet distant, "We have much work to do."

Kyram sat patiently and watched the young boy with an odd look in his eyes. Carefully he brushed a stray lock of wild, jet black hair away from the youth's face, revealing a thin scar shaped like a lightning bolt.

Could it possibly be?

His eyes fell to the "stick" that the boy held in his hand. He had not been able to remove it from the youth's death grip. Well, at least, he couldn't without hurting the boy.

Frowning, he shrugged his massive shoulders.

Too late now anyway. I'm already involved.

His lips twitched.

Not that I want another run in with the Ministry. He grumbled, shifting his weight from foot to foot. People are so annoying.

Outside, a steady stream of warm summer rain continued to fall, lulling the ears of those who were willing to listen. Thunder and the steady beat of raindrops formed a comforting orchestra of sounds.

Oh yes, he remembered his last run in with the Ministry of Magic. Stirred up quite the comotion at the time. They'd been on his case for weeks.

He chuckled, the deep rumbling of his voice blending with the rain. Not that they'd gotten anywhere. They'd been running in circles for-

Someone groaned.

Kyram snapped out of his reverie and turned his head as his guest started to stir. Patiently, he sat and watched the boy, frowning slightly.

That when when a thought hit him.

Uh oh...

Harry Potter opened his eyes to be greeted by two very large, blurry golden orbs.

The second thing he noticed was that he was comforable and warm and that his scars weren't hurting.

The third thing he noticed was exactly what those orbs were:
Eyes. Two very, very big slitted eyes.

Subconciously, he gripped his wand harder.

As the twin orbs moved back, revealing a face and a body, Harry's own emerald eyes widened into an abnormally large size.

The youth swallowed hard.

The dragon bared its teeth.

"Are you sure about this, Ron?" Hermione hissed worriedly.

"Yes. If anyone can find Harry, it's Hedwig."

"But..."

"C'mon, Hermione, show a little optimism," Ron hissed back. "Haven't you ever wondered how owls always manage to deliver mail, no matter where the person happens to be?"

Needless to say, the two had been worried when Hedwig arrived at Ron's house, looking rumpled and exhausted, without a letter of any sort but for a slightly torn invisibility cloak. Harry's invisibility cloak. Their fears had only been confirmed when Ron overheard his father talking to his mother in soft tones, trying to confort her as she attempted to stiffle her distress.

Harry was missing.

Sometimes it did pay to have a father working for the Ministry.

"Wherever he is, I bet Harry's giving 'em, hell," pipped in Fred, a co-conspirator.

The twins, Fred and George had also been eavesdropping on their parents conversation.

George tapped his foot impatiently.

"Are we going or aren't we?"

Ron frowned. "We are, you're not."

The twins crossed their arms simultaneously.

"Really?" challenged George.

"Yeah, someone's gotta cover for us with mom," defended Ron.

Fred rolled his eyes, "Ron, there's no way we could cover for you for that long. You might as well agree with us. You'll probably need help."

Ron glared at his older brothers.

"I wanna go too," pipped in a high voice.

The Weasley boys froze.

"Ginny?" George called incredulously.

Hermione shook her head and eyed the door from which Ginny had just stepped in. This was turning out to be quite the Weasley family reuion. Anytime now, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would just stroll on in...

"If we're going, we'd better go now," Herminone stated flatly.

The boys all turned to her.

"I thought you didn't like the plan?" asked Ron, puzzled.

"No," Hermione huffed, brushing her frizzy hair back from her face, "I dislike our lack of a plan."

Fred rolled his eyes. "Lets go."

"No, you won't," Ron argued, jabbing a finger at his brother.

"Yes, we will," countered George in defence of his twin.

"No, you won't."

"Yes, we will."

Hermione sighed as the brothers' arguement dissolved into a staring contest. Ron was a great friend. Fiercely loyal. Funny. Caring. Supportive. But sometimes...

Even Hedwig seemed slightly annoyed and hooted impatiently.

Slipping Harry's cloak around her shoulders, she turned.

"Let's go, before your parents figure out that we're not in bed," Hermione ordered as she carefully opened the large window.

"Hey...!"

"Wa-"

"Fred, George," Ron them cut off in a semi-exhasperated tone, "I may not be the oldest, but for one in my life, just do what I say."

Giving his brothers one last glare, Ron hopped onto his broom.

Hooting, Hedwig took off out the window in a flurry of wings, Hermione following unseen and Ron, soon to be a dark shadow against the night sky.

Arms crossed, George watched them go with a frown, gripping Ginny's shoulder gently as she made a move to follow.
He shook his head and sighed resignedly. Just this once, Ron... he half-promised reculantly. Just don't play the hero....

Fred nudged his twin with a half smile as he nodded towards their dissapearing friends.
"'In bed', she says."

George smirked.

"What?" asked Ginny absently.

"Nothin'" answered the boys in sync.

Thier young sister eyed them suspiciously.

Looking solemn once more, the twins turned to leave.

"C'mon, Ginny," George called, one hand still on her shoulder.

Turning her head back towards the gapping window as she walked, Ginny felt her eyes burning.

"Please, come back."

Harry stumbled back, raising to his feet, and loosing his balance. He stiffled a cry as the dragon reached down to grab him.

"Easy... what's wrong?"

Harry stopped wriggling in the dragon's grip and stared.

"Ex-Excuse me?"

"What?" came the annoyed reply.

"You talk?" Harry blinked. Much staring and blinking going around.

"'You talk', he says," the dragon grumbled as it whipped its spiked tail from side to side. Harry made out the words "human", "stupid" and something about "birds".

Golden eyes regarded him cooly and the dragon let go.

Suprised at the sudden release, Harry locked his knees to keep from falling. He straightened his glasses reflectively, before taking them off when he realized they were indeed broken.

"Oh," Harry replied intelligently, trying to make out the blurry shape of his... savior?

"What? You look like I'm going to eat you in one gulp or something."

"You're not?" Harry's mouth moved on automatic.

"Nah, humans taste bad," said Kyram happily and almost cursed when the boy's face turned paler than his previous white.
Bringing his massive head down, the boy stepped back a step. Kyram could see him clenching his wand.
Surprised it didn't break yet, he thought.

"Just jokin', kid," the deep voice soothed, "Humans have no sense of humor."

I'm going to be eaten by a clown, thought Harry dully. A very big clown with sharp teeth.

Kyram lifted his head and sighed. This is gonna take a lot of work, isn't it? he asked the sky.

"Look, kid, really. If I'd wanted to eat you, you wouldn't be conversing with me."

"Oh wow! You used a long word!" sqeaked the little voice mockingly.

Not now! Kyram thought in annoyance, growling. He stopped when the noticed the kid grimacing.

Wonderful. I'm going insane and I'm scaring the kid at the same time. Wow Ky! Record low for you.

Harry watched the dragon nervously, even as it backed off. The dull thumping of it's footsteps echoed in the cave.

"Look, kid, I don't like this anymore than you do, okay? Ministry's probably gonna have a hissy fit."

"......"

"And I think you should apologise for falling on me too."

"........."

"Alright then," Kyram switched tracks, tail still twitching in annoyance, "what's your name?"

The boy stared at him quizically, his deep green eyes half hooded.

"...Harry."

The dragon nodded and tapped its claws on the stone floor, satisfied that he'd managed to get a straight answer. Harry could've sworn it smiled at him.

"So, we meet, Harry Potter."

Author's note:

What did you think, huh huh huh?
I'm trying to make the chapters longer but I hope it wasn't boring...
Comments and critisism welcome at Lizeth_Hal@hotmail.com .