First Place - Angst

"Potter sleeps in a cupboard!" Raucous laughter spread throughout the other seven year olds. Children really were cruel.

Harry sniffed and wondered what was so funny. It was his bedroom, that's all.

"Do they lock you away because you're bad?" one particularly vicious child sneered.

"It's my room," Harry defended weakly. For some reason he couldn't admit that they did lock him away because he was bad, a freak, unnatural.

Dudley shoved Harry to the ground in the middle of the ring of children, "I have two bedrooms, one for me, and one for all the toys I don't use much."

The laughter continued and a sneaking thought entered Harry's brain. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be sleeping in a cupboard. Maybe all other children, not just good boys like Dudley, who wasn't really very good, had real bedrooms, with real beds and windows.

Harry inhaled deeply and opened his eyes, "Mm, coffee."

The dream was unsettling, but not nearly as much of a nightmare as the majority of his dreams were. It was rather tame in comparison to what he usually saw when he went without the Good Dreams potion.

"Morning sleepy," Charlie's voice teased. "What was the dream?"

"Primary school, when everyone found out I slept in a cupboard. They all laughed." Harry stretched and twisted just a little, giving the wizard who was watching him a bit of a show. He sat up slowly and reached for the coffee mug but Charlie held it out of reach.

The redhead raised his eyebrows at the casual way Harry spoke about the dream and Harry scowled. The dream really wasn't that bad, he explained to Charlie as he reached for the mug again, which was again held out of reach.

"Charlie," Harry complained.

The coffee mug moved backwards and Harry reached for it. Charlie didn't move, and their faces were soon close enough that Charlie only had to turn his slightly to kiss Harry.

"Merry Christmas," Charlie gave him another quick peck before handing over the coffee.

"Merry Christmas," Harry replied with a small smile after he had taken his first sip. "What time is it?"

"Early," Charlie replied. He then gave Harry a mischievous grin, "I thought you might like to be up before Ron."

Harry felt his eyes light up, "Ron's not up yet?"

Charlie shook his head, still grinning, and Harry echoed the grin, "We can go wake him if you like."

"Yes, payback," Harry drank what he thought would be the rest of his coffee but it kept flowing into his mouth. He tilted it down once he drank about two and a half cups worth and peered inside. The mug was about three-quarters full.

"Just tap the handle and say 'done' when you don't want it to fill anymore," Charlie supplied with a fond smile. He ran his fingers down Harry's arm. "It's a bottomless coffee mug. I thought you might like that present early."

"Excellent. You are the best. I don't think any other gift will beat this one," Harry drank from the cup again. "Now, how do we wake up Ron?"

Minutes later Harry and Charlie were tearing out of Ron's room, where they had woken Ron and Hermione. Ron was yelling at them as he chased them back to their room. Hermione was probably scrambling back to her own bed before Ron woke the whole house and the room swapping was discovered.

Charlie slammed the door shut and Harry instantly had a strong locking charm in place. They both started laughing, ignoring Ron's pounding on the door and jiggling the doorknob. Charlie's face was flushed slightly from running up the stairs and Harry smiled. That look on Charlie was certainly attractive. He stepped forward and kissed Charlie deeply.

"Harry, tell me how to reverse this!" Ron yelled.

Charlie kept his hands splayed on Harry's back as he stepped back and yelled, "Go away Ron!"

"Silencing charm," Harry reminded him. "He can't hear."

Harry then began writing in the air with his finger, though no words appeared. He went back to kissing Charlie despite the odd chocking, strangling noises coming from the other side of the door. Without letting up on the kiss Harry waved his hand and the glowing words he had sent to Ron disappeared.

"As much as I'm enjoying this," Charlie kneaded the muscles of Harry's lower back, "we should head downstairs. Mum will already have breakfast started and she definitely knows we're up."

"Yeah," Harry said in disappointment. After a last lingering kiss they both rooted through their belongings for their jumpers from the previous year.

Mrs. Weasley had to know what they got up to in their room, but Harry guessed she was doing her best to pretend it wasn't happening in the interests of Harry sleeping well. It had meant a lightening up on the whole regarding room arrangements. Fleur and Bill officially shared a room, and Fred and Angelina often took a room together like they had the previous night after returning from a Christmas Eve dinner with Angelina's parents and nephew. Hermione was still officially in with Ginny though, which Harry found beyond amusing as Hermione and Ron were probably the only pair among them that were not having sex.

The skillfully aborted conversation with Hermione had plagued Harry's mind ever since that day, interrupting his sleep, his meals, his class work. He knew it was only a matter of time, and probably not much, before he had to confront the issue between him and Charlie. He just continued to wish that it stayed in the background until he could defeat Voldemort. Then, if he somehow managed to miraculously survive, he could figure out how he felt. Then it would be safe.

Ron refused to look their way during breakfast. He turned bright red when they walked in and only mumbled his 'Merry Christmas' with the rest of the family and other inhabitants of the house for the holiday.

"What's with him?" Charlie asked. Harry just smirked, "What did you do?"

Harry leaned over to Charlie and whispered what he had written in the air. Charlie burst out laughing.

"What?" Fred and George eagerly asked simultaneously. Angelina just smiled and shook her head.

"Harry was messing with Ron's head this morning," Charlie explained. "I can assure you Ron, I have no birthmark, quaffle shaped or otherwise, on my right hip and I have been wearing these pajama pants since I put them on last night."

Rather late last night, Harry added mentally. Ron's shade of red just changed slightly and Hermione whispered something to him and patted his arm. His face went back to normal as the table was piled with food, the solve-all for Ron Weasley.

Remus was looking worn still from the full moon four nights before. Harry had surprised him by joining him for the night in his phoenix form. He had healed the wolf after the transformation and sang to him, settling him to sleep. Harry spent the night there, and sang through the transformation in the morning, healing Remus again once he was in human form.

Remus had both scolded him for risking himself and thanked him with tears in his eyes. Sirius had been the last one to share his transformations, except for the few nights Snape was there for research purposes.

Once Mrs. Weasley sat down Fred stood, "I have an announcement for everyone." He was grinning widely, as were Angelina and George. "Last week I proposed to Angelina. We're getting married this summer."

Angelina took a glamour off her hand and a diamond ring sparkled on her finger. Mrs. Weasley immediately hugged both Angelina and Fred and wiped her eyes with a napkin. For the first time Harry knew of the entire Weasley clan ignored a table piled high with hot food. Once all the Weasleys had a chance, the non-Weasleys present, Harry, his father, Remus, and Hermione, all gave the couple their congratulations.

Before the fervor quieted down Harry's attention was drawn to George, and he knew Charlie was examining his younger brother as well. While he was smiling and celebrating with everyone else, George was also emanating a profound sense of loss and sadness, and just a little jealousy, in contrast to the happiness he felt for his twin.

"They haven't been apart for more than a day or two since they were born," Charlie whispered.

"I can't imagine," Harry replied in a hushed tone. "All I ever wanted was to get away from my relatives."

His portioning off of his Dursley memories had worked in the sense that he didn't really think about them except in his dreams, and when he did it was never as 'the Dursleys' but always as 'my relatives'. Harry theorized that Ron would be able to dull the memories of the brains, but not eliminate them altogether.

No one was surprised when Dumbledore came through the fireplace, but they were all interested that he pulled Mr. and Mrs. Weasley aside. The jovial atmosphere continued as the food was finally remembered. Mrs. Weasley came back in and caught Harry's attention across the room. She motioned to him and Charlie and beckoned, and then caught hold of Bill's arm.

"What's the flap Mum?" Bill asked as they went upstairs with her.

She was noticeably tense, "You'll hear soon enough."

They joined Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore in the room that was still warded from the previous winter.

"The wards at the Burrow were tripped," Dumbledore explained. "You four will be going there to assess the situation and take care of it if practical. If you need assistance one of you can come back here and we'll send in help."

They nodded and Harry waved his hand, concentrating hard. He, Charlie, and Bill were soon fully dressed and there were four full length black hooded cloaks for the investigating party. The put on the cloaks and pulled the hoods up carefully to hide their faces, but more importantly the three heads of bright red Weasley hair.

"Everyone take hold of me," Harry said calmly, registering the surprise from Bill and Mr. Weasley but ignoring it. "Where should we arrive?"

"The kitchen I think," Mr. Weasley replied. "Albus..."

"Harry is quite capable Arthur," Dumbledore looked over his spectacles with his steady gaze and Mr. Weasley just nodded.

"Wands out," Harry swallowed back his unease with be in close contact with so many people at once, and the memory those words brought back. The graveyard... Cedric... wands out, you reckon? He forced it out of his mind.

In a heartbeat they were in the kitchen of the Burrow, and the room, the whole house, felt barren. There were strong emotions coming from the living room and both Harry and Charlie instantly turned that way. Quietly, Harry hurried ahead and peeked his head around, getting a shock from what he saw.

He turned back and whispered, "Stay quiet. There shouldn't be any danger and, um... get ready for a bit of a shock."

Harry left his hood up and walked into the living room, and the figure there spun around and pointed a wand at him. He felt tremendous shock from the three eldest Weasley men behind him, despite his warning, and did his best to keep it from paralyzing him as well.

"What have you done with my family?" Percy Weasley demanded.

Harry knew his voice was deeper than the last time Percy heard it, "I've done many things with your family. I am surprised, however to hear you call them your family."

"Where are they?" Percy's voice shook. Harry felt fear, immense fear, and sadness, pain, yearning, desperation, terrible regret. Percy was a mess, and not just emotionally. His eyes were red-rimmed and there were dark circles under them. He looked too thin, and Harry wondered how often people had seen him like that.

"Safe," Harry replied.

Anger, "This is their home! They wouldn't just abandon it!"

Harry flipped back his hood and Percy staggered back, "Death Eaters aren't the only ones that wear black cloaks Percy."

"Harry? Harry Potter? You... You've... you've grown," Percy was staring in astonishment.

Harry laughed a little, "That tends to happen, but if you think I've grown you should see Ron."

"Who...?" Percy looked to the other figures.

Harry turned, to the still stunned Weasleys. He walked up to Charlie and projected calm and warmth. Charlie snapped out of his daze with a muttered 'thank you' to Harry and reached up to push back his own hood, Bill and Mr. Weasley following suit. Percy gave off a wave of surprise, probably because Harry was there and Ron was not among the group. The prodigal son had missed quite a bit.

"Dad?" Percy said hopefully, his eyes clearly tearing.

Mr. Weasley stepped forward and embraced his son, "Perce?"

"I'm so sorry," Percy was sobbing the instant his father's arms wrapped around him, repeating his apology over and over. Though he was taller than his father, Percy seemed a small child, grasping his father as tightly as he could and crying in his arms.

Bill was still a bit stunned and a little angry, but Charlie could not help but be affected by the waves of pure emotion rolling off Percy. Harry took his hand and tried to help both Charlie and himself stay anchored, though he could see the tears in Charlie's eyes that he felt in his own.

"He means it Bill," Charlie said quietly.

Bill wavered, but Harry knew he would believe Charlie, possibly trusted Charlie more than any other Weasley. The two of them were close, so Bill had probably heard more about the empathy than anyone else and knew that Charlie would know if Percy was acting out his emotions or if he truly felt them. When father and son separated there wasn't a dry eye in the empty feeling house.

"We can't stay," Mr. Weasley said firmly while Bill and Charlie both hugged their little brother tightly. "It's not safe."

Harry nodded, "I'll take Percy. We can arrive upstairs. I guess that's why I'm here. You three can go on your own and warn everyone."

Mr. Weasley looked confused for a moment, "But the charm..."

"Anya was able to Portkey in," Charlie interrupted. "Harry can apparate him inside, and Percy won't know where he is."

"Aren't there...?" Bill began to ask but Charlie clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Yes," Charlie answered with a hard look, "but it won't be a problem."

Both Bill and Mr. Weasley gave Harry appraising looks and Harry detected their surprise and also their trust in him. Percy just watched them all in amazement. When Harry saw no more arguments he stepped over to Percy and took his arm, "See you all there."

They arrived in the bedroom Harry and Charlie shared. Harry wasn't sure if everyone was still in the kitchen or not, and he wanted to give them some time to adjust to the news before surprising them all with Percy, so he took off his cloak and shoes to stall a bit. He opened the door and heard the front door closing, thankful that Mrs. Black was long gone.

"Harry, I'm..."

"Don't Percy," Harry interrupted quietly. "You did what you thought was right. You just didn't know that you were misguided. Mind, I'm not thrilled with that letter you sent to Ron, but I think he just burned it anyway, so no harm done. How about we just forget about it?"

Percy nodded gratefully, "Where are we?"

"Can't tell you," Harry stooped the next protest before it began, "and I mean that literally. I'm not the secret keeper for this building. This is the room I stay in though, when I'm here."

"You...," Percy was looking around the room, and he had never been slow. He must have seen items which obviously belonged to his brother, and there was only one bed. His eyes widened, "You and Charlie?"

"And the award for slowest Weasley still goes to Ron," Harry sighed. He sensed an uproar of sorts from downstairs. "We should wait another moment or so." Percy was still looking at him expectantly. Harry brushed a hand through his hair, "It's complicated Percy. Just... don't ask and don't say anything to anyone outside the people downstairs."

Percy nodded. He didn't really have the right to pry and Harry saw that Percy accepted that, though with a bit of difficulty. It was still a big step for the former Head Boy who always wanted to know everything. Harry began to lead him downstairs and Percy took in the details of his surroundings. Harry knew what he was thinking without any magic senses or spells. Percy's family was living in rich surroundings and protected by a secret keeper, and that meant they were in danger and had some powerful and loyal friends.

They didn't get even halfway down the stairs before Mrs. Weasley intercepted them, crushing her lost son in a rib cracking hug and both praising and berating him with the same breath.

Harry looked on the scene almost wistfully. If he acted like a total prat for two years, completely rejecting everyone who cared about him, would they welcome him back with open arms once he realized the errors of his ways?

Harry stayed a step behind as Mrs. Weasley pulled Percy into the parlor, where everyone was gathered around the tree and looked at the door expectantly. Harry slipped over to his father, Dumbledore, and Remus and let the Weasleys have their family moment. No matter how much they welcomed him, Harry was not a member of their family.

Hermione was standing with Angelina, watching the Weasleys with smiles. He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was his father without looking. He leaned back into the touch and an arm wrapped around him.

"No matter what you do Harry," Snape leaned down and whispered, "you will always be my son."

Harry didn't even try to stop the tears he felt come to his eyes.

Finding the Key - Chapter 34

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