Disclaimer: I don't own any of the known characters in this story. They all belong to JK Rowling. Poppy's husband and brother-in-law are my own creation. Please ask before using those two.
Beta: Thanks to Angel of Death for beta'ing the prologue and the first two chapters. Everything else isn't beta ready yet.

Summer From Hell

Prologue - The Escape

You could title Harry's stay at the Dursleys' this year as 'The Summer from Hell'. Compared to a normal summer he literally did go through hell. Granted, his normal summers were not nice and usually included little food, a seemingly endless list of chores and the occasional punishments for unfinished chores, punishments which included beatings and time completely without food. He also received injuries from his run-ins with Dudley.

Usually he managed to avoid them but from time to time his cousin got lucky. It helped that his cousin seemed to become more and more afraid of him. It meant that he only had to avoid him when his friends were around. He had to smile at that. His cousin had to go by the law all bullies bowed down to: 'Only feel strong in a group'.

But the previous summers, even with all their cruelty, were heaven compared to this one. At the end of the last school year, Harry had made the worst mistake of his life - something he would forever regret doing - which ultimately lead to his current situation. Because of this mistake, his uncle found out what was previously his best kept secret, something he had only shared with very few people, and which made him even more abnormal in the eyes of his relatives than being a wizard already did. And it was exactly what his uncle had waited for since he had gotten his first Hogwarts letter and started attending the wizarding school six years ago.

The fear of his magical talent and wizarding friends was forgotten. Why should they care when they seemed to be of the same opinion as the Dursleys? At least his former best friends were of this opinion he thought sadly to himself, and not only that. They had made sure that everybody was aware of it. Maybe he should have listened to the sorting hat all those years ago... but then he wouldn't have met Oliver Wood and the Weasley Twins.

Now his life at the Dursleys had returned to the way it was before he went off to his first year, all those years ago. This included regular beatings, even less food than before, and being placed back in his old room, the cupboard under the stairs. Needless to say that Dudley was delighted by this. He even thanked Harry for it, for being gay. After all it meant that he got his second bedroom back. It most probably was already a complete mess again.

Lying in his tiny cupboard, Harry knew that he would not survive much longer in his current situation. While his injuries were not fatal, they were grave enough to turn deadly with further beatings, and his relatives could not care less about this. Therefore, that situation would most likely be reached sooner rather than later. He simply could not stay any longer than necessary at 4 Privet Drive if he wanted to survive.

~***~

A few days later, Harry's much hoped for chance finally came. The Dursley's were going out in order to celebrate Dudley's 17th birthday at some restaurant and luck was on his side: His uncle had forgotten to lock his cupboard after his latest beating. It had been a birthday surprise for his cousin: a free beating of the freak for as long as he liked and with no rules. Not that there ever were rules. Harry assumed that he had at least a few broken ribs, a terrible headache and most probably a broken arm as well. Not to mention that he hurt all over.

He waited for nearly half an hour after he had heard the Dursleys driving away, before he dared to carefully crawl out of the small cupboard, trying not to worsen any of his injuries.

Once he was standing in the corridor, trying to keep his arm as still as possible, he thought about his next move. He had heard the front door being locked, and as there was no spare key, there was no way he would be leaving through there. The only other door he could think of was the kitchen door. He hoped fervently that this one was open, as he did not want to climb through a window with his already hurting body. Silently, he walked through the door leading to the kitchen and headed to the back door. He pressed lightly on the door handle and, to his delight, the door opened.

Leaving the house for the first time since he reached 4 Privet Drive at the beginning of the summer holidays, a little less than a month before, was relieving. He took a deep breath of the fresh night air, wincing as he felt his broken ribs, before going around the house to the front yard and from there on to the street. Standing on the pavement, he thought about where to go next.

He immediately ruled Dumbledore out, seeing as the old man would most likely send him back, saying that he was safest there. He could not help himself but laugh at the thought. He might be safe from Voldemort but not from his relatives. With Dumbledore gone, Hogwarts was also out, since the old wizard lived there all year around.

His friends - his former friends he corrected himself sadly - were out was well. Aside from the fact that they had ended their friendship with him, he neither knew Hermion's address nor did he think that the Weasley's would keep his new location a secret from Dumbledore.

He could go to Oliver or the Weasley Twins, who lived above their shop, but he was not sure whether they were at home aside from the fact that he would have to use the Knight Bus. Something that was impossible since he did not have any money on himself.

St. Mungos wouldn't work either. The moment he was admitted, the news would be out faster than he could say 'Quidditch', and that was something he wanted to avoid as best as he could.

So what options remained? Suddenly he remembered the hospital near his old school. The bus that had taken them to school each morning had to pass it. He worried a bit about them realising that he was a wizard - or at least different than the other patients - but soon discarded this thought. He needed all the help he could get after all, and the top priority of the doctors and nurses would be his health. That was one point in which the muggle and the wizarding world did not differ much. With that thought in mind, he went down the street on his long way to the Surrey Hospital, Little Whinging.

Chapter 1 - The Hospital

Oliver was startled out of his thoughts, which had once again strolled to his lover of three years, by a tapping noise on the nearby window. Turning around, he saw a brown owl outside. He stood up and went over to the window to let the owl in. After relieving it of the letter it carried, he offered the owl a little bit of his breakfast and some water. While the owl rested a bit after the flight and strengthened itself with the offered refreshments, Oliver sat back down in his chair, opened the letter, and read it.

Dear Mr. Wood
I ask you to come immediately to the Surrey Hospital in Little Whinging. Mr. Harry Potter is currently on the intensive care unit of the wizarding part of said hospital. I am informing you since I am aware of the fact that the two of you are in a relationship and therefore your presence might help Mr. Potter recover.
Poppy Pomfrey

The moment he was finished with reading the letter, he jumped up and ran around gathering everything necessary he would need once he arrived at the hospital. He somehow knew that it had something to do with Harry's relatives, but he hoped that it wouldn't, even if the only other alternative were Death Eaters.

Once he had everything he apparated away with a 'crack'.

~***~

A few minutes later, a person walked hurriedly into the Surrey Hospital. He looked around searching for any signs showing the way to where he was headed. He had once been to the only other shared hospital and knew that the signs were very well hidden because of ministry regulations. That was also the reason why there were only two such hospitals in existence. The amount of magic placed around the wizarding part was very high and it was very tricky to get it right. Too little could mean that a muggle found his or her way to the magical ward, while too much could influence the muggle technology needed in the hospital. The only reason he knew about all this was because of his father. He had spent a lot of time researching the necessary spells and charms and was even present for the one in London. It had brought his family quiet a sum of money and long lost prestige.

Before he could search further for the wizarding part of the hospital, a woman he recognised from his school days walked up to him.

"Mr. Wood, there you are. I knew that you would be here as soon as you finished reading my letter," said the medi-witch known as Poppy Pomfrey with a small smile, which immediately disappeared when she continued, "I am only glad that I joined the offered training in muggle medicine, or else I wouldn't have been here when Harry arrived yesterday evening. He was very badly injured when he stumbled in..."

Flashback

The day before, evening

A young man with dark, messy hair slowly staggered into the emergency room. He caught the eye of a few nurses on his way to the reception, but despite all his struggles, he didn't manage to reach it and lost his battle with unconsciousness, fainting in the middle of the room. Within seconds, nurses where by his side, checking him over and putting him on a stretcher. It was lucky that Poppy Pomfrey arrived at exactly the same time to start her work at the hospital for the day. She had recognised his face moments before he hit the ground. She immediately joined the group and directed the stretcher to the wizarding part, where they started to heal his injuries.

End Flashback.

"My sister works here too, and I asked her to make sure that only the people who absolutely had to know his name did, and that those who know won't say anything to the press. We worked nearly the whole night on him, it was pretty close. Had he come a little later, he would not be as well off, and his chances would be near zero. As it is, they are normal. Naturally, I wrote you as soon as I had enough time to write a letter," finished the witch.

All the while, they kept walking through the hallways. By the time the last of her explanation was told, they had arrived in front of a typical hospital door, leading to one of the many bedrooms. On the door was a painted '158'.

"This is the room Harry is staying in. Before you go in, I want to warn you. Although he is as well as can be expected, he does not look very nice, but the majority are scars we were unable to heal since we already used all the magic we could to heal his other injuries," With these words, the witch turned around and went the other way to do whatever she did there.

He slowly opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible, and entered the room. Despite his prior knowledge about Harry's relationship with the Dursleys and the warning of Hogwarts' medi-witch, he was shocked. Every visible part of his love's body was covered with scars, and he could determine that Harry had difficulties breathing by the sounds he emitted. He wondered what changed the behaviour of the young man's relatives so much that they would injure him this gravely, because he was never hurt as much before. At least not to Oliver's knowledge which only covered the time since Harry had first started at Hogwarts. He vaguely remembered a conversation with the hero of many, where he was told that it started getting better ever since he got his first Hogwarts letter and went to the wizarding boarding school. So what happened to change the way he lived?

He looked around the room and seeing a chair in one corner, he went over and fetched it. He placed the chair next to the bed and sat down. He carefully took Harry's hand in his and started stroking the back with this thumb.

In a quiet voice he started speaking to him, wondering whether his words would be heard or not, "Oh, Harry why do the bad things always happen to you? You should get a break. I wonder how you can stand it and still be so nice. I've seen people get mean because of such things. You don't deserve to lie in a hospital, fighting for your life. You should be out there, playing Quidditch with your friends, not lying here in bed. I hope you get better soon, 'cause I'd have no clue what to do without you. Get better."

Chapter 2 - Waking Up

Every free moment he had since he got the letter a few weeks ago was spent at the hospital speaking to Harry, hoping that he would wake up. He was desperate for him to wake, for every minute he spent in the coma meant that the chances of him ever waking up again were sinking. But this waiting was nothing against the depression that was starting to replace the hope he tried to hold onto.

As always he was sitting on his usual chair next to Harry's bed, holding his lover's hand and begging him to wake up, trying to get a response by telling him stories of what happened lately. He was so caught up in his little speech that he didn't feel the twitch of the hand he was holding. Nor did he notice the emerald-green eyes slowly opening and closing, before opening for good.

~***~

The first thing Harry was aware of was a soft voice speaking. He wasn't able to understand what it said, but the sound alone was already comforting enough. It lulled him into feeling completely safe, therefore it could not be any of his relatives, but he was sure that he knew the voice from somewhere. It reminded him of nights spent in warmth and comfort. Having listened to the voice for some time he became curious and wanted to know who was speaking to him, for he did not know many people that woke feelings like this in him.

He fought hard to open his eyes, but once they were open, they closed again within seconds. While the light was not overly bright it was still too much for his eyes, which were used to being closed. He once again worked hard to open his eyes, and this time they did not react as violently to the light as they did the first time. Being able to look around, as far as his bad eyesight allowed he took in his surroundings.

The first things he saw were the white walls, which reminded him of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. He wondered how he had gotten to the school, when he suddenly remembered his trek to the Surrey Hospital, and came to the conclusion that he must be in one of the rooms for the patients who had to stay for longer. The next thing he focused on was a blurry blot which he was able to identify as a human being. Unfortunately, his eyesight didn't allow him a more specific identification beyond this. He wondered who would speak to him in the muggle world, since he doubted that the nurses would have the time to sit with every patient. Thinking that the best way to find out who sat next to his bed was by asking the person, he tried to speak. What he did not consider, however, was his dry throat, which wouldn't allow him to make a single sound. Not wanting to give up, but realising that trying to speak would be futile, he thought about other ways to get the attention of his mysterious visitor.

While letting himself be calmed by the hand holding his own, inspiration suddenly struck. He had the perfect way to make himself known by squeezing the hand of his guest! Within seconds he tried to put his plan into action while berating himself for not thinking about this earlier.

To his own surprise, he managed to squeeze the hand holding his on his first try, which was a wonder in itself since he was still exhausted from opening his eyes. Nonetheless, it had the required effect, as the head turned in his direction and he heard his name being said in surprise. He did not need his glasses to recognise the person sitting next to him the voice was already enough, now that his visitor had spoken louder than before. He would recognise the voice everywhere and it meant that the man waiting for him to wake up was none other than his boyfriend, Oliver Wood. He was glad that he was here, but could not help himself wondering how he knew about him being here.

Before he could further contemplate this a sudden need overrode his thoughts. He wanted to be in the arms of the man he fell in love with all those years ago, wanted to be comforted after what happened in the last months, starting with the loss of his friends and ending with his escape from the Dursleys.

~***~

Oliver was telling Harry some anecdotes about his last Quidditch training session, when he suddenly felt his hand being squeezed lightly. Surprised, he turned around and said, "Harry?!"

He was so ecstatic about this turn of events that he didn't know what to do or say in the first minutes. Seeing Harry move, or at least try to, brought him back to reality. Immediately he stood up and used the call button next to the bed to call attention to the room, which would alert Poppy. Once he had pressed the little button, he picked up Harry's glasses, which where placed on the bedside drawer, and placed them in front of his lover's eyes so that he could see the things around him more clearly. Instead of sitting back down in the chair where he sat numerous hours in the last weeks, he opted to sit closer to the man that meant so much to him, choosing the bed as his new 'chair'. Not wanting to hurt Harry more than he already was, Oliver carefully stroked his cheek instead of taking him in his arms as he longed to do.

It did not take long for Poppy to appear in the room, having been in the nurse room, where she immediately saw that she was being called. She was glad to finally see Harry awake again. While she had tried to show Oliver Wood how optimistic she was about her patient's recovery, she had feared the worst.

"It's good that you're finally awake, Mr. Potter. I was worried that you might not wake up." was the first thing she said, getting Harry's attention, "Mr. Wood, if you could fetch a glass of water? I am sure Harry here is parched after being in a coma for so long."

Within a minute, Harry was slowly sipping water from the glass Oliver was holding carefully to his lips, trying not to have him drink so much that it wouldn't fit in his mouth. When Harry had had enough to drink, which he signalled to Oliver, he was about to ask where he was and how they managed to find him, when Poppy prevented it by asking a question of her own, "How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere? And most importantly: Where did these injuries come from?"

Harry knew from his previous stays under the witch's watchful eye that it was better to be honest, so he answered truthfully, "Everything kind of hurts, but I am feeling better than before. And to answer your last question... I..."

Harry paused. He did not want to reveal what his uncle did to anyone. If he said what happened, more questions would be asked. Questions he most definitely would prefer not to answer. He already had trouble telling Oliver, whom he loved and who was close to his age, which made it possible for him to trust, something he had learned early on not to do when faced with grown-ups.

Oliver, knowing what Harry thought, tried to encourage him by giving a reason to trust the witch, "It would be better to tell her than face her anger... and I believe you know ways to make sure only people you tell will know. Besides, she found you walking into the muggle part of the hospital and once she recognised you, she made sure that the other witches and wizards here either don't know about who you are or are not going to tell anybody else..."

Although it didn't change the fact that Harry did not want to tell anyone, it gave him reason to at least try and trust her enough. He wasn't sure whether he would be able to talk about it. It carried far too many memories, memories he wanted to forget. He looked up once again, searching for support from Oliver, which he got in the form of a short hug. He also could feel his hand being squeezed for further encouragement.

"Well... You see... my uncle got kinda mad this summer..." started Harry started to say.

While he was stuttering his story together Poppy looked at Oliver, who was still holding the young man, and saw him a raise a brow, as if he knew something that she didn't. She wondered about it for a second, but shoved it away in favour of listening to what Harry had to say.

Wetting his lips Harry continued, "Well... he found out about me being gay... because of a big mistake I made at the end of school... probably the worst I ever made..." the last thing was spoken more to himself, but Poppy could still hear it. She wondered what the mistake was, but thought that she could ask later.

"As I said, he found out and... and... he decided that..."

Before Poppy could ask him to continue, he told Oliver that he could not think about it and that he could not continue. Wanting to voice her opinion that she was in need to know to prevent a possible repeat, Poppy was startled out of her thoughts when she heard the former Quidditch Captain ask whether he was allowed to tell her, with the promise that Harry wouldn't have to listen. For some time there was no response, then Harry started to nod slowly but more and more certain with time.

"Make sure that..." Harry started to say, only to be interrupted by Oliver saying, "Don't worry, I will."

She was curious about what Oliver should make sure, but shoved the thought away thinking that she would find out soon.

Chapter 3 - The Story

Oliver promised Harry to be back soon and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, before he turned around. Facing the medi-witch he said, "Could we go to a room were no one can overhear us? I will tell you everything I know there."

"The break room should do. It is only used at night when a nurse wants to sleep during a quiet phase. We also can place additional non-eavesdropping charms," answered the witch.

With this settled the two left the Harry's room and went to the break room.

The walk to the break room was spent in silence, each contemplating what the following conversation would reveal. While Oliver thought about what he wanted to say how, Poppy thought about what she could be possibly told, but nothing would prepare her for the knowledge she would soon gain.

When they arrived at their destination Oliver placed the strongest privacy charms he knew around them, before facing the medi-witch and saying, "Whatever I tell you can't be told anyone. Harry does not want anyone to know. It was already difficult enough for him to tell me six years ago and I had to swear never to tell anybody and before you ask why I never told anyone else despite me swearing. He made me swear on my blood honour!"

Upon hearing this Poppy couldn't keep a gasp in. To swear upon blood honour meant to swear on the honour of your family. It was impossible to break. Not even when a break would lead to a better situation for the one the oath was done to. The fact alone that Oliver suggested that she would ask why he didn't tell anyone despite swearing... It could only mean that it would be something the man in front of her would have liked to change. But this oath made sure that someone bound by it is not able to speak about it with keeper of the oath knowing about it and allowing it. Suddenly she realised that Harry must have meant that she would have to swear as well.

Letting this piece of information and its implications sink in, Oliver waited a few minutes before continuing, "He first spoke to me about his home life after the first match the year he started at Hogwarts. And even than it took me weeks for him to truly open up, until he told me one night, but it all started the night of the day after said first Quidditch game. I was just released from the hospital wing and could not sleep. I decided to go to the Common Room, where I found Harry sitting in front of the fireplace staring into the fire... After that we met nearly every night until the final night when he finally opened up. I was prepared to hear something terrible, but I still wasn't prepared for what I heard. Nobody can be for that..."

Flashback

"The day I first flew was the first time in my whole life that I felt truly normal. I might have felt normal when my parents were still alive, but I don't remember that time so it does not count. My relatives think me a freak that is responsible for everything bad that happens. I am even blamed when I wasn't even anywhere near what happened. And here I am famous for something I do not remember... The only place I can be me is up in the air... I wish that I would never have to stop flying. I always feel free..." said Harry leaning into the embrace of Oliver Wood. It had taken quiet a few nights before he would do so, but he seemed to take the strength he needed out of this embrace. It still amazed Oliver how Harry could think about it as something sacred. From what he had heard before he knew that Harry's relatives did not like him much, but the little boy always held something back. As if it was something he would like to forget. He couldn't help but wonder about this and whether he would ever find out what it was.

After a little break Harry continued in his monologue, "Sometimes I wonder what the punishment for a mistake will be here. Everyone always looks at me as if they are waiting for me to do something wrong. The Dursley's taught me that attention isn't a good thing. They always find something to punish me for. Sometimes it is only between three days to a week in my Cupboard without food, but on other times..."

Oliver was shocked. He knew that Harry called a Cupboard his room, which was something he couldn't believe in itself, but starvation? It was down right cruel! He somehow didn't want to know what could be worse.

He felt how Harry turned and looked at him. He shuddered at the serious look in Harry's eyes and was even more surprised at what Harry said next, for he had it himself just this week in History of Magic and he would have never thought that his little friend would already know about it.

"You have to swear to never tell anybody of what I tell you next. And I mean never. You have to swear on your Blood Honour."

He was speechless. He wanted to know. He wanted to help Harry deal with it. He wanted to help him so that he would never have to go through it again. With the Blood Honour Oath he would never be able to tell anyone.

Suddenly a small voice in the back of his mind said, 'But you could help him in other ways. And if it is in sending food or other things he might need.'

Oliver took a deep breath before reciting the words he was told only a few days ago, "I swear on the name of my family, on the Honour of my ancestors that I shall never tell anybody what you are about to tell me."

The moment the last word left his lips he felt the magic of the oath take its course. The room seemed to glow for a moment and he felt a tingling sensation all over his body.

What followed was silence. After some time Harry turned around and, moving out of the embrace, sat up.

"Sometimes they would beat me. There were enough times when I would miss school for at least a week due to my injuries and when a teacher asked what happened they said that I got into a fight. And when it got really bad they would also... they would..." here Harry broke of. It was clearly difficult for him to continue.

Oliver stood up and kneeled in front of Harry. He was about to say something, when he saw a tear shining in the emerald eyes, but they refused to fall. Harry continued before Oliver could utter a single sound, "Sometimes he would also use a knife or whatever else would be close by. He also loved to use his belt as a whip. Once he even used the hot poker from the fireplace..."

Oliver felt a shiver run down his spin upon hearing the emotionless voice of Harry telling him what his relatives used to punish him. But somehow he doubted that this was the worst. His fears were proven right when Harry continued, "...and than he would... he sometimes..."

And here the tears in Harry's eyes finally fell and his voice broke, when he continued, "He would rape me... He always says that I would be a good boy when he..."

Oliver couldn't hear more. His own tears were running over his cheeks and his mind was totally numb. How could anyone do that to an eleven year old boy? Or an even younger one? From what Harry told him he was punished this way as long as he could remember. So when did the man first rape his precious Harry?

He placed a finger on Harry's lips and stopped his rambling by making shooing noises and taking him in his arms. He would have never thought that Harry would react by starting to sob into his shoulders.

He was always so strong during the day and in all their previous conversations at night he never cried a single tear. The only thing he could do was to let him cry out all the tears and whisper some comforting things in Harry's ear.

End Flashback

To say that Poppy was shocked would have been an understatement. While many different injuries had been found on Harry and even traces of rape... None would have thought that it was done by his own family and even less would believe that it started even before he went to Hogwarts. Now she understood what Oliver meant with her asking why he never told anyone despite swearing.

Oliver watched her with sad eyes and said, "You know that you will have to swear on you Blood Honour as well? Or else I will have to oblivate you. Or who knows. Maybe the Oath bond will already do that.

Poppy nodded and swallowed the knot in her throat before saying the words that would most probably hunt her for the rest of her life, "I swear on the name of my family, on the Honour of my ancestors that I shall never tell anyone the content of what you just told me."

And like six years before the room started to glow and both Poppy Pomfrey and Oliver Wood felt their whole body tingling.

They were forever bound to tell no one about what happened to Harry Potter. The only chance they had at ever being allowed to speak about it would be if the Oath Keeper should decide on revealing the secret.

"I will look whether there are ways to prosecute someone without the public ever gaining knowledge. Maybe Harry will than think about it. I doubt that he would accept an open trial. Even a closed one will never be secure. Hopefully there is a way to bind a whole room into an oath not to speak about the trial. The room would have to be sealed completely from the outside. They have to pay for what they did. Especially since Harry most probably will have to return next year until he is 18. And I fear that while he is than allowed to do magic that he simply will forget about it when he is faced with his relatives again."

Oliver nodded. He always wanted to see Harry's relatives punished for what they did, but he simply did not have the recourses to find a way. Hopefully that would change with the medi-witch's help.

Chapter 4 - Getting Help

Oliver and Poppy were close to Harry's room when they were stopped by a young nurse. It seemed that the witch's expertise was needed on a patient whose situation had suddenly gone from bad to worse. Thus they said goodbye for now, promising to meet later to discuss how they would convince Harry to sue his relatives.

~***~

Meanwhile Harry looked once more around the room, relishing in he calming effect of his surroundings. After being so often in the hospital wing at Hogwarts it made him feel safe. He hated to stay in the hospital wing on normal occasions, but after every 'meeting' with Voldemort it evokes this feeling. It gave him a break of his 'normal' life. Nobody was able to stare at him all the time and he was free of all expectations. He also felt safe, because he knew that Poppy Pomfrey would not let anything happen to him and she could scare anyone out of the room.

Another reason was that he could be himself. Nobody was able to see his true self then. He did not want to think about the reaction of other people to the real Harry Potter. Not even Ron and Hermione did know him. They sometimes were able to see little pieces of him, but Oliver was the only one that truly knew him. The most knowledgeable after Oliver were Fred and George and all they knew was that he had terrible nightmares and the more harmless things. Only then came Ron and Hermione. Harry thought that it might be their childishness that kept him from opening up to them. It was either that or the fact that they were his age and could not relate. What did eleven year olds knew about things like that after all?

He briefly wondered how long Oliver would take to tell the witch about his secret, but quickly shoved this thought away again. Thinking about this would only lead to memories he had buried long ago to resurface, something that he most surely did not want.

It was bad enough that he knew that he would have to tell Oliver about his summer. Another bad thought. Now the memories of his time with the Dursleys this year came back. Something he had wanted to avoid.

With the memories came a cold feeling that started in his heart. He was scared to death. His mind suddenly supplied him with images of his uncle coming into the room telling him how he would be punished for running away.

He shivered and shook his head to get the image out of his head. Harry wished that Oliver would already be back so that he could protect him by taking him in his arms the way he used to when they went to school together. Too exhausted to stay awake any longer he fell asleep.

It did not take long for the first nightmare to appear though and he started to toss and turn. With every passing minute it got worse.

~***~

When Oliver finally arrived back at Harry's room he found the object of his 'discussion' with Poppy fast asleep. Unfortunately it was not as peaceful a slumber as he would have wished, for Harry was trashing around. Not much yet, but Oliver knew from experience that it would get worse fast.

Taking action to hopefully prevent it he went over and joined Harry in bed, carefully taking him in his arms and speaking nonsense into his ear.

Oliver hoped that Harry hadn't further injured himself and that his nightmares wouldn't come back full force. He remembered only to well how Harry had nearly nightly crawled into his bed, after he had managed to convince him that it was ok. That alone had taken over two months and it had taken until the end of Harry's second year before the nightmares had lessened to appearing once in a while and when Harry had one than you could be sure that the following night would be filled with nightmares again.

He had to smile when he remembered the discussion he had with Poppy in his last year. Harry was in the hospital after he fell of his broom during their first match of the season and Oliver knew that his lover had a nightmare the night before, therefore would have one this night as well. In the end he was allowed to stay and had crawled into bed with Harry. Poppy had found them cute enough to take a picture.

For a moment he wondered how Poppy would have reacted would she have known that they already had slept with each other the night before. Not that Oliver did remember much, he was after all having an erotic dream staring Harry and had only found out what happened when he woke the next morning and found himself still inside Harry. He could still remember how afraid he was that he had done to the person he loved what he wanted to protect him from. It had taken Harry at least half an hour to convince him that he had wanted it.

~***~

At the same time at the other end of the hospital Poppy firecalled her brother in law.

"Poppy, what can I do for you?" asked Theodore Pomfrey cheerful.

He and his brother, her husband Paul, were the pranksters of her time at Hogwarts and they had managed to keep their cheerfulness over the decades and most importantly through the last war.

This was the reason she did not want to swipe that smile out of his face, but she had to in order to find out whether a trial with special conditions was possible or not. Poppy hoped with all her might that there was some kind of trial that would get Harry to sue his relatives.

To show her brother law that this was a serious topic she did not reciprocate the cheerfulness of the greeting and said in a monotone voice, "I am afraid to tell you that this is a business call... I have a patient here who was severely abused, but does not want anybody to know of it. The less people know the better. He even went as far as invoking the blood honour oath. I hoped to maybe convince him to prosecute his abusers, but I fear that it will only be possible if as little people as possible get involved. Do you know of a trial of this kind? He is well known in the wizarding world and I fear that the press would do anything to find out what the trial is about."

Upon hearing the explanation the lawyer was shocked. Abuse did not occur very often in the wizarding world, but when it happened then it was very sever. Sadly he could not help with a definite answer. "I will have to look into my books whether there is a trial form that would include this kind of privacy you are speaking about. I will inform you immediately should I find something useful."

With this the fire turned back to its normal colour and Poppy Pomfrey returned to her tasks, she still had to do a few things.

~***~

When Harry woke up he could not move. Someone had wrapped his arms around him, but instead of panicking like he normally would have done he felt secure. Why did he feel so content? Was he in heaven?

He did not have to wonder much longer however for his memory returned shortly and the only logical conclusion was that Oliver was holding him. A quick look behind him proved his theory and he snuggled closer to the body behind him. Everything would be alright now that Oliver was back again. He had already made him feel better all those years ago, when they had started sharing a bed and although he was not aware of it at the beginning he soon had realised that he could not live without his Oliver.

That was what had made him stay in bed with him in his third year, when he had felt the hard on his friend had back than. Previously this was the time he would go to one of the Weasley Twins, but that night he had decided to stay. That night was the point were he learned to get over the rapes he had to endure as a child. All that it took was creating some associations with the sexual aspect of life that were good instead of the painful ones he had before. He never once looked back and wished he hadn't done it. Although he doubted that anyone else would have approved. Despite the two other times they got this close said school year they only truly started on this form of love after his fourth year.

~***~

At the same time halfway across Britain found one Theodore Pomfrey looking through his book collection, hoping to find a trial that would fulfil the requests of his sister in law. Normally people could be talked into speaking about what happened and to sue the aggressors and despite the fact that abuse was so rare in the wizarding world the press did not write about it much. Thinking about it he wondered whether the whole topic was taboo in the society.

It also made him wonder who the person was his sister in law was speaking about. It had to be one of her students, one that lived in Surrey and most importantly someone who attracted the attention of the press. He did not know anyone that lived in Surrey, but quiet a few who attract the attention of the press.

He was close to giving up, when someone opened the door to his office loudly. Startled he let go of the book he was currently looking through and jumped up.

"Paul! Did you have to scare me to death? Couldn't you have knocked like every other sensible person on earth?" asked the lawyer once he realised that his brother stood in the now open door.

Smiling coyly the person in question answered, "I tried knocking already, but you apparently did not hear me. What is so interesting that you shut your hearing of? Not to mention forget about the time? You still remember that we wanted to meet an hour ago for our annual evening out?"

"Don't tell me that so much time went by?" asked Theodore shocked.

Getting interested in what his brother was looking for Paul asked, "What are you looking for anyway? Maybe I can help you."

"Your dear wife asked me to find a trial with certain conditions. She has a patient that was abused, but does not want anyone to know. She herself had to swear on her Blood Honour not to tell," was Theodore's answer.

Paul did not have to think for long before answering, "I'll help you. We can't let abusers go around without getting punished for their crimes. And Poppy is sure that he or she can't be talked into a trial otherwise?"

"I'd say so. Take this one and look," responded Theodore and took his own book up again. Luck was on his side for when he went to straighten out the pages in the book that got knittered when it fell down he suddenly found what he was looking for, a trial that would give total privacy.

Chapter 5 - Convincing Harry Part 1

Poppy was more than happy when she was told about the trial. Now all they needed to do was convince Harry to sue the Dursleys. She immediately called Oliver too tell him about the trial form and to plan how they wanted to get Harry to end his torment forever.

The next morning they put the plan 'Get Harry to sue Dursleys' into action. Oliver started it by waiting for Harry to wake up. He still did not know what happened between Harry's ride on the Hogwarts Express at the end of the school year and his arrival in the hospital. Lying behind Harry he slowly stroke his lovers hand.

He was close to falling asleep himself when he felt Harry stir. Oliver was fully awake within seconds and wrapped his arms around his lover a bit more. Neither of them would like the next topic much, but both knew that they had to speak about it some time soon.

A few minutes later Harry was completely awake as well and Oliver asked his questions, "What happened? Why did they suddenly change? Didn't you say that they were afraid?"

Harry shook a bit. He did not want to think about it, but knew that he would have to speak about it sooner or later. He only wished that it would have been later rather than sooner. But that could not be changed now. Oliver wanted answers now and Harry knew from experience that he would ask him until he got his answers.

"I told Ron and Hermione about... about me being gay. You remember how I told you about how I thought they would react?" here Harry stopped for a positive sign from Oliver which he immediately received. Oliver remembered only too well. He had predicted that his friend Hermione would be shocked and might want to quit their friendship. Harry knew how homosexuals were viewed by muggles and Hermione was muggleborn. That did not stop him from hoping that she would be ok with it. They both thought that Ron would be cool about it from the start. After all Fred and George as well as Charlie were gay and Bill was bi. What problem would come from that background?

"Well Ron took it bad, very bad. He is the reason that Uncle Vernon found out... He... he called me a fag at Kings Cross after we left the train and my uncle overheard him... Hermione reacted as I thought she might, but..."

Oliver was shocked to say at least. Ron Weasley being homophobic with one of the most tolerant families? He immediately went about calming Harry. It would not do well to have him all hysteric about it. Oliver tried to get his lover to stop talking, but all Harry had to add for Oliver to know what happened next was, "It was like before I got my Hogwarts letter again. Only this time I knew that I had something to lose."

He could not believe his ears. Back to the treatment of before Harry's first year? All he wanted to do at that moment was to jump up and send a letter to Voldemort telling him were the Dursleys lived. Taking things in his own hand and inflict the damage to the Dursleys himself also appealed, but he knew that Harry needed him here at the Hospital and not torturing his relatives. He calmed down when he remembered that he had to get Harry to sue the Dursleys. Oliver wet his lips before he started to explain his lover about the kind of trial they had found.

"Harry, Poppy found a trial that would make it possible for only the people attending to know about what happened and none of them would be able to speak about with anyone outside of the room the trial was taking place. There is no doubt that they would be found guilty and you would never see them again after that. If you want I can ask her for the book the trial is explained in so that you can find out anything you want to know about it. But please think about it. I don't want to see you having to go back to them. If not for you than please do it at least for me. I can't bear to lose you Harry. I was so scared these last few weeks." Oliver hoped that he would get Harry to think about it at the very least. Out of experience he knew that his lover would think about things he could not possibly remember. Therefore he had offered to ask for the book so he could read it through while Oliver wasn't there. He had to go to training after all.

"And when all goes well you might even be able to watch me in my next game. I know how bored you get in the hospital wing, but it must be more so here, without your friends," said Oliver; hoping to distract Harry from the content of their previous topic.

Harry caught the drift and smiled a bit. "That would be nice. I haven't seen you playing in so long. And... I think that it might not hurt to at least look at the book, but I am not sure about doing it..."

"I somehow have the feeling that you are reading more books than Hermione. What she would say to that?" Oliver realised too late that he had spoken about Harry's ex-friends. He hoped that he would not feel bad about it. Luckily for him Harry saw the funny side of it as well, "She would be shocked and than she would try to out do me. I have no doubt that she would also ask me why I am not better at school."

Oliver was glad that Harry could still smile. He hoped that his friends would come to their senses and apologies to Harry. It would be difficult for Harry in the beginning especially after the reaction of Ron, but Oliver had no doubt that Harry would accept Hermione's quickly. He had thought about this possibility after all.

They talked a bit more before Poppy Pomfrey entered the room. She immediately sent Oliver out of the bed and onto the chair next to it.

Poppy hesitated once she was finished with her check on Harry. She wanted to ask whether Oliver could convince Harry or not, but was not sure how to ask.

Oliver saw her hesitation and motioned to one corner of the room. Poppy never got the chance to ask her question once they arrived there as Oliver said, "Harry will have question that neither of us can answer... He can think of questions none of us would even think about. I told him that I would ask for the book it stands in. That will answer more of his questions. And maybe a lawyer to explain any other questions."

"I will ask my brother in law. I'll bring the book as soon as I get it," answered Poppy.

She could see that Oliver wanted to ask something else, but was uncertain whether he should or not. "Mr. Wood. If you have a question than please ask."

"Well... When do you think Harry could leave the hospital? I think it might do him some good if he came out more. I could take him to one of my training sessions," asked Oliver finally.

"I will have to think about it. Harry might seem pretty well already, but he still has some injuries that could get worse again and we both know his attraction to danger. I do not want to risk anything just yet. That goes for today at least, but I will watch his progress over the next few days. Aside from this... I think you are right about it doing Harry good. It will distract him from what happened."

The conversation being finished both went their way, Oliver back to the bed and Poppy to her next patient.

When Poppy came back a few hours later, Oliver Wood lay once again in bed with Harry, but this time both were asleep. She silently went to the drawer on Harry's side of the bed and placed the book there as well as a note saying that if he wanted more information he should ask for it and Poppy would send her brother in law over.

Although she had already had a night to let everything settle down, she still felt quite shocked about it. Compared to Death Eaters Vernon Dursley was the worse evil. No matter how cruel Death Eaters were they would never harm a family member in their care.

When Harry woke up next it was a bit darker on the room and a quick look at the window proofed his thought that it was late evening already and the sun would probably be gone within the hour. His attention was suddenly caught by a book lying on the drawer. He pulled one of his arms out of Oliver's embrace and took the book. The title read 'Seldom used trial forms by Matthew Hunter'. Harry wondered why such a book would lay around in his room, but then he remembered that Oliver had told him about a trial and that he would ask for a book about it. A quick check revealed that the book contained a bookmark. Opening the book he started to read.

Arcanum Iudicum*

Arcanum Iudicum is a trial where only those have knowledge over the case in question who were told about it. A vast amount of security spells makes sure that anyone who has knowledge about this trial won't be able to speak about anything that was either said, done or shown during the time of a session. Even truth serums will be overridden as long as the spells are in tact, which can only be broken by the plaintiff. Further charms disable any eavesdropping charms. Once every person that will attend the trial is present the room will be warded against anyone else entering, even animals as small as flies won't be able to pass these wards. These spells are only known to specially trained judges to prevent anyone researching possible counter spells.

As a last security every person attending the trial will be swearing the Blood Honour Oath to keep the content of the trial secret additionally the final decision of the judges and defendant(s) will be kept secret. If not otherwise known already the identity of the plaintiff will be kept secret as well.

Currently only Judge Jimmy O'Sullivan has the needed knowledge to prepare the Arcanum Iudicum.

Harry was surprised that such a trial truly existed. He knew that Oliver wanted him to sue the Dursleys ever since he first told him about the way they treated him and it was only logical that Poppy Pomfrey would want it as well, but Harry had never wanted the public to know. He still did not want anyone to know. The less people knew the better. Oliver knew that very well already. But this trial, the Arcanum Iudicum seemed to be the solution to all of his problems. But he would need more knowledge! Who choose those that would be present during the trial? How did they keep it secret who the defendants were? How many additional people would have to be told?

Harry could tell from the description that it must be seldom used. The Book Title and the fact that only one of - he was not sure how many wizard judges there were, but he thought that there might be a similar amount as in the muggle World - many judges knew about the procedure behind the trial. It would be very difficult to keep it secret that someone wanted this trial and with his luck the whole wizarding world would know in an instant that he was the one. Nonetheless he felt that with this trial he could be able to get over everything and face the Dursleys again in order to get them punished for what they did to him.

Chapter 6 - Convincing Harry Part 2

Now all he had to decide on was how to ask for more information without Oliver getting his hopes up. He still hadn't made his decision final, having too little information on what this meant, but he also didn't know whom to ask.

He was called back into reality when Oliver wrapped his arms closer around him, a sure sign that the older wizard was about to wake up. Laying the book back where he found it he turned around, so that he was facing Oliver, getting the best view of him waking up. As long as Oliver and he shared a bed, he had always loved watching the older boy wake up. It was every time the same; Oliver would wrap his arms closer around him, then he would move his eyes around behind his closed lids before opening them finally and looking at him with still half-asleep eyes. Once he saw no signs of distress on his face, Oliver would ask, "Sleep well?"

And as Harry predicted Oliver once again woke up exactly this way. Sometimes Harry wondered how Oliver woke up when he was alone, but dismissed it immediately in order to answer the question, "Just fine. You managed to keep all nightmares at bay."

"That's good... Wouldn't want you to have a nightmare, would we?" answered Oliver.

Harry could see that he wanted to ask a question, most surely about the book he had found, without revealing that Poppy and him wanted to convince him to do the trial. He had known that Poppy spoke with someone about what happened to him, he also knew that his identity wasn't revealed. None of the two could speak about this while revealing who he was at the same time, not even with hints, no matter how direct they may be. The Oath they took affected the person they spoke to so that they wouldn't be able to put all clues together and connect them with him.

Deciding to relieve Oliver out of his dilemma, Harry said, "By the way, the book you mentioned arrived. There were some interesting things in there. Maybe I'll become a judge or lawyer. It certainly seems interesting enough, maybe if I'd be able to speak with someone I could find out whether it's something for me or not."

Harry saw Oliver relax, upon having is unasked question answered with Harry's obvious interest. Still, Harry was aware that Oliver knew that he was only covering his interest in one specific trial; this wasn't the first time that he did this after all. But they both would play their roles in this. Harry knew exactly what this signified for them. On his part it meant that he wasn't sure about it and didn't want to give his boyfriend hope, for Oliver it meant that Harry was at least considering it, but was still uncomfortable speaking about it. He had started this when Oliver first spoke about suing the Dursleys and it didn't take long for them to fall into this habit. It had been pretty rough back them with Harry feeling pressured into a decision and Oliver wanting the best for him. In the end they got to this talk. Oliver would suggest something specific and Harry would show interest in the overall topic excluding this while secretly finding out more about the specific topic until he had made a decision.

Harry thought that it must be kind of funny to watch this, but he doubted that Oliver thought of it as funny.

"I'll ask Poppy to invite the lawyer, I think it was her brother in law, over. How'd you like that?" interrupted Oliver his musings.

Harry only nodded before lying back down and starring at the ceiling. Now that this was done with he felt bored once again. There was nothing to be done while being confined to a bed.

A second later Oliver once again broke through his thoughts, "That reminds me. I ask Poppy earlier today when you could leave for at least a short time, so I could take you to a training session, so you get a bit colour on your face. Although she said not today and most probably not tomorrow she'll watch your progress over the next few days and tell me when I can take you. She thinks a chance in scenery will do you some good."

"That's great, I haven't seen you playing in a while and the summaries in the Daily Prophet just aren't enough," answered Harry ecstatic.

They continued talking about Quidditch until Poppy entered with several potions in her arms. Not much later dinner came as well and Oliver said good bye for the night since he had Quidditch training early the next morning.

After having spent the rest of the evening until well into the night reading the book, Harry was awoken the next morning when Poppy Pomfrey brought him breakfast and a nervous looking man. Harry could see his eyes popping out when he was recognised and the surprised, "Poppy... is this... in all my life."

Harry first thought was that this must be the lawyer Oliver had been talking about. Ignoring him for the time being, Harry picked a bit on his breakfast until Poppy had left the room. He looked up and checked whether the door was really closed or not before looking at the wizard still standing in the room.

"So you're the lawyer who owns this nice book here?" asked Harry, while holding the book up. He was not worried about the man talking with anybody else about it, feeling the magic of the Oath floating around the man. He'd already wondered after Oliver had sworn to him, but he hadn't found an explanation for it yet. Whether it was the Oath or the occasional magic he felt.

He could see the wizard relax a bit at his question and not much later he got the answer, "Yes that would be me. My name is Theodore Pomfrey by the way."

"Harry Potter, but I think you already knew that. Haven't met a wizard yet who didn't," responded Harry with a sad tone at the end.

Here Theodore smiled and understood why it was so difficult to convince the young man of a trial. Nobody wanted to be seen as weak and many abused thought that they either deserved it or were too weak, on occasion even both and if people expected of you to be strong, to defeat a dark Lord? Poppy had told him, that there would be questions about the book in total, while a closer conversation with Oliver Wood had revealed that it might Harry's way of not raising any hopes of a positive decision.

"I'd imagine not. The majority of the wizarding world is content to live with their immediate life the way it is, but for everything that is outside their little world they tend to look for guidance. They believe what they read and mostly fear of making the wrong decisions. This was visible at the last vote for Minister of Magic, when only Cornelius Fudge and a very old man, who had a stroke before the voting process was completed, were willing to do the job. There used to be a time, when our society was at its best, those in the Ministry wanted the best for our world and didn't fear to make a decision. Today only those desperate for the power want to become it and many that want power use their money to influence people, but I'm not here to debate our political situation," said Theodore, hoping that he calmed the young man in front of him.

Harry looked away before speaking, "No, that's not why you're here. Before we start I want to ask you. How... How much do you know?"

"When Poppy asked me whether there was a trial to keep the content a secret she told me that there was severe abuse, the need for as little as possible people to know and that you are well known in the wizarding world, as well as the part of the Blood Honour. I knew that no matter how much I added the facts up I'd never knew who she was speaking about, although I now realise that only one person would fit all the facts. She didn't mention what kind of abuse went on however or who the abusers are," answered the older lawyer truthfully, now believing Oliver Woods intuition.

Harry still didn't look up when he asked his next question, "The text says that only the people involved know about what happened and are even immune to truth serums about everything concerning the case. How is that possible and does that mean all truth serums?"

"As far as I know all involved will be bound by the Blood Honour Oath with which you are obviously already familiar. And the Blood Honour Oaths overrides even Veritaserum, the strongest known truth serum," Theodore became more and more confident that this might just work.

"How about anyone entering the room and remaining in their animagus form unnoticed. They won't be swearing along with the others present."

"I don't know the incantations of the spells involved, but while I had this trial during my studies we talked about what the spells used did. There was one that kept all people inside the room in and all people on the outside out once cast, until the Judge cancels them. Also all people who enter are checked for an animagus form and any animagi entering are immediately transformed back into their human form, making sure that no one present can evade the Oath. Then there is an unbreakable sound proofing charm that interferes with all spells, charms and devices to listen in on what is said inside the room. At the end of the trial all are forced to swear the Oath or get obliviated if they refuse," Theodore knew that this was more than Harry had asked for, but he doubted that the questions wouldn't have been asked at a later time.

Harry smiled at the answer. While he might not be any closer to wanting to tell anybody, he still could control if anybody talked about it and if the wizarding world truly found out that it was him who was the plaintiff nobody would be able to speak about the content like Poppy had done when she told her brother-in-law, because not both could be talked about. There was only one question left for now, "How many people would be involved in the trial and therefore knew about the content?"

"The Judge of course, two lawyers - yours and whomever you are suing - and the one that writes everything said down, which will only be readable for the people present since special parchment and ink, charmed I'd say, will be used. And at least two Aurors that will make sure that accused stay calm and the decision is carried out. The plaintiff, you, the accused and anybody else already under the Oath," answered Theodore, "If there were people already under a Blood Honour Oath they usually were there for the trial as well as support."

Theodore watched the young wizard in front of him and although he didn't know him well enough to interpret his body language he was fairly sure that this just might end with the decision everybody was hoping for. A good thing was already that it had taken six years for a second person to find out his secret, but within a few days another one had been let in on this. He hoped that this meant that deep down Harry Potter was more willing to finally go against his relatives.

Before he could continue this line of thoughts however his hopes were squashed when Harry asked, "What's it like being a lawyer? Is it interesting? It seems an interesting enough field and I'd like to know more about it."

After he had been told by Oliver Wood that Harry might start with other trials to pretend a general interest and Harry's focused interest on only this interest seemed like he was very willing to go through with this, but maybe he just pretended an interest. Or he wants more time thinking about the trial and is truly finding the work as a lawyer interesting with his current information and only wants to know more now that he has finished with asking his other questions, reminded a small voice in Theodore's head the older wizard not to jump to conclusions.

The questioning continued for a few more hours with the two discussing the wizarding law system, when they were interrupted by Oliver entering the room.

The Keeper looked at both their faces to gawk a possible decision made, but all he could see and hear was a discussion about general facts. Before he could say anything more than a general greeting, Theodore Pomfrey stood up and excused himself, saying that his brother and sister-in-law expected him for lunch.

Once the door was closed Oliver went to Harry and looked at him questioningly, asking with all his might how the younger wizard had decided. All he got in response was a sigh. Going over to Harry and taking him in his arms, Oliver wondered what it needed to convince Harry too finally sue the Dursleys.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Harry spoke, "You know it sounds too good to be true. This is more than I ever thought possible, but I don't know whether I'm ready to face the Dursleys this way. I don't know whether I can live with more people knowing. It already seems as if the whole world would be knowing while it's only three single wizards, or witch in Poppy's case, that do. I'm scared Oliver."

The last bit was only a whisper, but Oliver still heard it and finally he understood why Harry was so reluctant. He always cared about what others thought about him and to him it was more than just a weakness to be so defenceless.

"Harry, they'll never be able to hurt you again when you do this and I doubt that any wizard or witch present at the trial will judge you because of this. You were so young when this all started, that for a long time you didn't know better. Your brain just remains with your thoughts from a time when you couldn't defend yourself. You grew up 'knowing' that you couldn't go against your relatives and be the victor so your brain tells you not to try. Every wizard growing up in the wizarding world learns this about Voldemort. No one faced him and survived and so on. You never learned this, so you never learned to be afraid of him. And as far as I know all that work for the law, meaning lawyers, judges and aurors, have to take courses on Psychology according to my mother's uncle, therefore they know this too," tried Oliver to ease him into a positive answer, "And once the Dursley's aren't your guardians anymore you can stay with me. I'm old enough already after all and only have your best interest in mind."

"Maybe," nodded Harry and this was all Oliver needed to know that his lover was willing to do a trial. Things could only go upwards now.

Seeing that Harry had fallen asleep Oliver quickly went in search of Poppy, whom he knew wouldn't leave for dinner for at least another quarter hour, to tell her of Harry's decision before going back as quick as possible, to be there for Harry when he woke up again.

Chapter 7 - The Dursleys

Once the Dursleys returned to their home after Dudleys birthday dinner they decided to let the evening end with a little bit of beer for both Vernon and Dudley, after all he had turned 17 already meaning he was old enough to drink a beer now and again. Petunia, who had decided to drink a glass of wine ventured into the kitchen to fetch the needed glasses.

She was startled to realise that the backdoor was slightly ajar, but a once over revealed nothing missing and Petunia decided that they must have forgotten to close it. She closed and locked the door without another thought and went into the living-room with her wineglass in one hand and two bottles of beer in the other.

~***~

The next day went by relative unspectacular until later in the evening. It found a bored Vernon Dursley who had already browsed the TV programme finding nothing interesting and most importantly normal. After some time he decided to play a bit with his freak nephew. After all the last punishment he had received was yesterday afternoon. He went over to the cupboard while fishing in his pockets after the keys. Once he had them he made to open the lock. However when he wanted to put the key into the hole he realised that the lock was already open. Cursing to himself he forcefully pulled the door open only to find it empty. This made him curse even louder, loud enough for his wife Petunia and his son Dudley to come downstairs to find out what had happened.

"Vernon, Darling, what is wrong?" asked Petunia in a caring manner.

Vernon cursed a bit more before answering, "That Freak ran away. He must have used his freakishness to open the lock. How dare he..."

It did not take long for Petunia and Dudley to curse over one Harry Potter as well.

A month had gone by in the meantime and life at the Dursleys had calmed down. Although both Vernon and Dudley were still upset about loosing their toy the whole family was glad that the freak was gone and didn't darken their house anymore with his freakishness.

They were currently sitting around the table eating breakfast when suddenly an owl flew through the open window, carrying a letter. It flew over the table and let the letter fall onto Vernon Dursleys breakfast, beacon and toast, before leaving the house again through the way it came in.

All three Dursleys looked at each other and then at the letter. Why would these freaks write to them? Carefully Vernon Dursley took the letter with his fingertips and turned it around. What he read there let his stomach fall into a pit. It was addressed to him. He looked at Petunia once more, his face showing the terror he was feeling.

Using once again only his fingertips he broke the seal and started reading the letter.

Dear Mr. Dursley,

You, along with your wife Petunia Dursley, born Evans, and son Dudley Dursley are summoned to appear in front of Judge O'Sullivan on Friday, July 25th 1997 in courtroom 815.
An Auror will come to bring you there safely.

Plaintiff: Harry Potter

In the left corner of the parchment was an official looking seal with a signature.

Vernon Dursley paled at reading this. Not only would a freak step into their house but his nephew had the balls to sue them! The moment he had that little good for nothing freak in his hands again he would wish that he would have died with his parents. How dare he do something like this after all they had done for him.

The more he thought about it the angrier he became. He was so lost in his mental tirade that he did not notice Petunia taking the letter out of his hand and reading it herself. Once she was finished her face paled until it was chalk white. Her sister Lily had told her once about the wizarding prison and that it was guarded by Dementors. She also remembered the way Dudley looked last year after he had an encounter with one of them. Petunia was scared to death. Who knew what the wizarding world would do with them once the truth came out? Her sister had told her about a potion - Petunia was not sure anymore what it was called, but what it did mattered - that made the person who drank it tell the truth.

~***~

Dudley who had watched both of his parents read the later and instantly pale was waiting for them to tell him what those freaks wanted from them. He did not want to know because he was curious, but rather because he did not like anyone knowing something he did not. That was as long as it did not have anything to do with learning and other school-related topics.

Realising that they weren't going to tell him anything anytime soon, he stood up in order to be able to reach over the table and snatched the letter out of his father's hands.

He read the letter, but he did not understand what it meant, aside from the fact that it had something to do with his cousin, and why it scared his parents. It wasn't as if his cousin could do anything, could he? As far as he knew he was only a freak and deserved everything he got. That was after all what his father said and he had never lied to him.

~***~

Friday, July 25th dawned bright and early, with the Dursleys anxiously sitting around their kitchen table, hoping against hope that the letter had only been a sick joke of their nephew (while fantasizing about possible punishments) or the wizarding world would at least forget about them. Dudley, for all he cared about what happened around him, was watching morning cartoons, while stuffing his mouth with his breakfast.

The tense silence was broken when the doorbell rang, announcing visitors. With trembling hands Petunia went to the front door and opened it, all the while trying to look as if she had nothing to hide.

When she saw who was standing at the other side, two men in what looked like the robes her sister used to wear only in red and a little bit different, she knew that this wasn't just a joke and the wizarding world wouldn't forget about them. Fighting the urge to scream and order the aurors to leave before banging the door, Petunia stepped aside and went back to kitchen all the while regretting that she never thought about just giving him up for adoption or back to the wizarding world. She was sure that she could have claimed various reasons for not being able to take care of her much hated nephew.

Once she entered the kitchen and throwing her husband a nervous look, she looked worried at her son, fearing what they might be doing to him.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Vernon forcefully asked, "How are we going to wherever this rubbish will be held?"

"By portkey," answered one of the men.

Neither Petunia nor Vernon attempted to say or ask anything else, afraid of what this meant. The only other difficulties they had were to get Dudley away from the television, complaining about his cousin always ruining his fun.

Petunia could only hope that for some reason they wouldn't find out everything.

Chapter 8 - The Trial

A while later the Dursleys appeared in a strange building before being led through a labyrinth of halls. When they finally entered a small room they could see only a few people, among them Harry sitting between a young man who seemed to only a few years older than him and an older looking woman. Next to the woman was a man of similar age who had a stack of papers in front of him. On the opposite site sat a man with three empty chairs next to him. At the front of the room was a middle aged man on a slightly raised floor and an elderly looking woman in front of parchment and feather that seemed to be raised on his own.

On of the aurors led them to the man with the three empty chairs, apparently their lawyer or whatever the wizards had in its place.

Both aurors remained at the door, seemingly guarding it. Not a second later their attention was on the man in the front who had raised his wand and was casting some spells. They couldn't understand what he was saying as he whispered the incantations to himself. A short look at the other table in their room where their nephew said revealed that he couldn't understand much as well, not that he was paying much attention. They could see with some satisfaction that he was slightly trembling and to their disgust, the man next to him hugged him while whispering something to him.

Dudley in the meantime was looking around himself fearfully and at the same time with interest. This looked like something out of a movie he once watched and yet all here were freaks like his cousin. Right now he didn't care whether he could watch his cartoon or not, but he was still hungry. He wondered if he could ask his parents to demand some food for him, when he saw that they were busy looking at his cousin in disgust.

Petunia didn't pay much attention to what went on, but when the judge, the man already sitting at the table had identified himself as their lawyer as well as the man casting the spells as the judge, finished with his preparations and sat himself behind the table, facing the room, and started the trial, she looked once again around the room. The group around her nephew seemed to look more serious than before and the man previously hugging Harry looked nervous but somehow glad.

Having missed what the judge said she was startled when said man suddenly stood up and went to a chair on the right side of the room. It was placed so he could see all people in attendance. He was given something to drink and shortly after his expression changed to emotionless and Petunia opted to pay more attention to what was said as her and her families future depended on what was said.

"Please state your name and current occupation," asked the woman in front of the feather that was writing on its own by now. At least Petunia thought that it was writing everything down.

"Oliver Charles Wood. First Reserve Keeper for Puddlemore United," was the emotionless answer.

"How do you know Harry Potter?" continued the judge with the questions.

"He started Hogwarts when I entered my fifth year and was sorted into my house."

"What is your current relationship with Harry Potter?"

"We are dating."

"When were you first told of the abuse done to Harry Potter?"

"During my fifth year at Hogwarts."

"Why didn't you say anything previously?"

"I swore upon m Blood Honour that I wouldn't reveal anything Harry told me."

"What were you told?"

"Harry told me that he was called a freak and that he used to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. He also told me that he was punished for things he couldn't have done. These punishments would range from times without food to beatings and attacks with different utensils to rape."

Petunia was in a way surprised that none of the people present gasped at this the way she often saw in shows, but gathered that all present must already knew what the accusations were. And through what she had already heard she had to be glad that things hadn't come out sooner.

"Did he directly say who was responsible?"

"He started actively speaking about his relatives until the beatings anything worse than that he would only say he, implying a single person."

"What did you do after he told you?"

"I helped him as best as I could be sending him food and healing potions and being there for him during the school year when he needed someone to comfort him, especially after his nightmares."

"How often did he have nightmares?"

"In the beginning every night, but when I left Hogwarts he only had them on occasions but if he had one he would have at least one the following two nights."

"Did you notice any lasting effects of said abuse?"

"In the beginning he wouldn't let anyone touch him even now he only allows a select few to touch him and he is uncomfortable if there more than a few people, although he got used to the noisiness of the Common Room at Hogwarts."

"Thank you. You may go back to your seat. The next to be questioned is Poppy Pomfrey."

Once again the witch behind the quill asked after the name and occupation.

"Poppy Pomfrey, Hogwarts Mediwitch."

"When did you find out about the abuse and how?" continued once again the judge.

"I found out when he stumbled into the Surrey Hospital where I was for a course on Muggle ways of healing around a month ago."

"Why didn't you notice anything previously?"

"Although Mr. Potter is a frequent visitor in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts he usually is there due to accidents during Quidditch or some of his other adventures. I put all of his injuries down to these events."

"What kind of injuries had Mr. Potter when he arrived at Surrey Hospital?"

"He was severely malnourished and had 3 broken rips, a punctured lung as well as a broken arm and leg. If he had arrived a few minutes later he most probably wouldn't have survived. Additionally his whole body was covered in scars of different age that were only discovered when his glamour charms failed shortly after he was taken to the wizarding part of the hospital. There were also traces of recent rapes."

Once again the witch was thanked and asked to return to her seat. Petunia knew that their chances were bad. She had heard the term Mediwitch before and knew that they were the doctors of the wizarding world. This was worse than she had thought.

She was startled out of her thoughts when Vernon was called to the witness stand. Apparently no one else was going to speak for Harry, who was once again trembling and hugged by his boyfriend. Petunia had to admit that they seemed to love each other by the way acted.

Forcing herself to leave these thoughts alone Petunia focused on the questioning of her husband.

"Please state your name and current occupation."

"Vernon Dursley, deputy chief of Grunnings."

"When and how did you first meet Harry Potter?"

"On November 2nd, 1981. He was placed on our front step with a letter explaining that his parents were dead and we his only remaining relatives."

"What is your opinion of Harry Potter?"

"He is a worthless freak who isn't worth the money we spent on him."

"You heard the accusations made. Did you do any of them in any form?"

"Yes, the freak needs to be punished and I swore myself that we'd beat the freakishness out of him."

"How did you go about this?"

This time Petunia could hear the disgust in the voice of the judge and knew for sure that her family would be taken apart. She could only hope that her precious Dudley wouldn't be hurt.

She was so deep in thought that she missed Vernons answer and the rest of the interrogation. In fact their lawyer had to fetch her out of her thoughts since she had missed being called.

Once she was sitting in the chair she was given a tasteless, but thick fluid to drink and shortly after she had gotten it down she felt herself disconnected from everything around her as if it wouldn't matter anymore. Nothing from her freak sister to her freakish son or the impediment doom that would rip her family apart mattered to her.

She could here the questions asked and answered without a second thought.

"Please state your name and current occupation."

"Petunia Dursley, Housewife."

"Which of the accusations done by your nephew have you done?"

"I placed him in the cupboard under the stairs when he would burn something or destroy something valuable or when he made Dudley do it with his freakishness or when he stole some of my Dudleys food. Also when he wouldn't do his chores and laze around. As punishment he wouldn't get any food."

"Burn something? What did he burn?"

"Our meals."

"Since when did he cook for you and how many chores did he have?"

"He cooked since he was old enough to be able to hold the pans and his chores included cleaning, cooking and gardening. Occasionally he had to paint things or wash the car."

"How many chores had your son Dudley?"

"He had more important things to do than do chores."

"Like what?"

"He had to play with his friends and his favourite series to watch and eat. He is a growing boy after all."

"And your nephew? Is he not a growing boy as well?"

"He is nothing but a freak! Just like my sister."

"If you felt like this about your nephew from the start then why did you not put him in an orphanage or tried to contact the person placing him with you?"

"They surely would have punished us for it."

"Did you ever regret what you did to him?"

"When he protected Dudley against the Dementors two years ago, I felt a bit guilty."

"Why didn't you change anything then?"

"Because he would have corrupted my son Dudley."

"Thank you. You may go back to your seat."

She still did not feel any emotions and went back to her seat, watching her son being called to the witness stand. She did not pay any attention to the interrogation of her son, not caring about it. After a few minutes she felt as if she was pushed forward and with her return to reality came her emotions and she started paying attention to her son, hoping that they wouldn't do anything to him.

"And your parents never did anything to correct your behaviour?" asked the judge.

"He is only a freak and I can do with him what I want."

"Why do you treat him that way?"

"Because my parents do that as well"

"Did you never question whether this was right or not?"

"My parents would never lie to me."

"Thank you. You can return to your seat."

When Dudley had taken his seat again the judge called for Mr. Pomfrey and Mr. White. Wondering for a moment why he suddenly called for two persons she realised that this must be the names of the lawyers as theirs stood up and the man next to Mediwitch that was questioned earlier. Apparently they were going to decide their future now. She could only hope that this wouldn't be too bad.

They seemed to talk forever with one of them nodding or shaking the head from time to time. Suddenly one of the aurors moved from his position next to the door and joined the group. After being told something he nodded and turned to them. A few steps later he was standing in front of Petunia.

"I was asked to check something and in order to do so I will need to cast a spell on you and your son. Don't worry it won't leave any after effects and won't hurt in any way," said the auror by way of explanation before saying something in what Petunia presumed to be Latin.

A red glow surrounded her before disappearing again and a few seconds later the same happened to her son, although the glow seemed to remain longer and was a slightly different red.

Once he was finished he returned to the group and they started their discussion once again.

A few minutes later everybody returned to their seats and in the case of the auror to his position next to the door. Judge O'Sullivan stood up and began, "After the questionings under Veritaserum Vernon Dursley and Petunia Dursley have been found guilty of child abuse and Dudley Dursley of serious bodily injury. After discussing the severity and awareness of this the sentences will be as following. Vernon Dursley will be getting the Dementor's kiss while Petunia Dursley looses all inheritance to Harry Potter, two month in Azkaban. She also will be declared unfit to raise any child, this also includes Dudley Dursley. We will watch you to make sure that no child will get in your care again. You will also pay Harry Potter in retrospect for all his chores done. Due to the fact that Petunia Dursley has magical abilities with which she managed to bind the magical talents of Dudley Dursley she will serve social hours at St. Mungos."

At hearing her sentence Petunia started to sob. Her precious son was not only taken away, but he was magical as well and even worse, she herself had some freakishness too and she now had to work to get through. And who knew what they'd do with her Dudley.

"The suppressed magic in Dudley Dursley will be released and he shall be educated by a specialised wizard. He will also send to a camp where his behaviour will be schooled to fit that of a socialised person. His final sentence shall be evaluated on the grounds of the effect this has. Furthermore will he be watched for any fall back in behaviour and a criminal file will be started for him. If he should father any children they will be closely watched to stop any mistreatment before it happens. Dudley Dursley and Petunia Dursley are also forbidden to get closer to Harry Potter than one mile without permission. Harry Potter will stay with Oliver Wood from this moment on."

Upon hearing Dudley's sentence Petunia was relieved and for the first time able to admit to herself that she had spoiled her own son too much and with her blindness encouraged him to hurt others. She had failed as a mother.

She missed the closing of the trial and the swearing of the Blood Honour Oath, in fact she wasn't aware of anything going around her until the aurors came to lead her and Vernon out of the courtroom, while their lawyer, who hadn't said much at all, took care of Dudley who was sitting there, confused on what went on. In this moment Petunia realised that her son at 17 years old was in no way prepared for the world outside their house in the way he should have been prepared. If this hadn't happened he might have ended up in a real prison real fast without either of them being able to do much.

A short look at her nephew showed his relief at never having to stay with them and this hurt her. She never would have thought it possible, but it hurt to know that her nephew, her sister's son didn't want anything to do with them. In this moment she fully realised what she had done and that she in fact deserved a much worse punishment.

Epilogue - Birthdays

A few days after the trial Harry was released from the hospital, with the sentiment to rest a lot and that Poppy would come and check whether he did or not.

He had written letters to Mrs. Weasley, Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore about his change in living arrangements and to question Poppy Pomfrey about anything else and now they were celebrating his birthday at the first party he ever had.

In attendance where Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Poppy Pomfrey and her husband as well as her brother in law, the Weasleys with the exception of Percy, who was currently working, and Ron, who had shocked and angered his whole family at his explanation of why he wouldn't come.

He was nestled in the arms of his lover, while he was given one present after the other. So far he had received a pensive from Albus Dumbledore with a lengthy apology about not checking up on him and allowing this to happen. A photo book and several diaries of his mother from along with a compiled book of pranks done by the Marauders from Remus Lupin and lots f sweets and a cake from the Weasleys together as well as a card announcing him a honour member of the family and several other things from the individual Weasleys. From Poppy and Paul Pomfrey he had gotten a book on healing and its forms while he got a book on law from Theodore.

When Oliver questioned Harry whether he had still some space in his book collection he blushed when all looked at him surprised. After explaining his trained adaptation to first Dudley's intelligence level and later Rons while hiding not only his intelligence but his thirst for more knowledge, every one laughed. They ignored why he learned to hide his knowledge, but laughed because he had been able to hide it for so long and no one ever noticed. Shortly later the twins suddenly started worshipping Harry and Remus, when they realised that they had a Marauder and a second generation Marauder in front of them, asking Harry to borrow the prank compilation.

They had fun until late in the evening when Harry started yawning and Poppy started once again about Harry needing his rest.

Once everyone was gone again and Oliver had Harry safely in his bed, making sure that no nightmares would dare come over night, he allowed himself to think about the last month and a half. It was actually a wonder that no one at the hospital had talked about Harry Potter being there and how fast Harry had healed. He thought that Harry's magic was used to healing him, after all that must have happened before he started Hogwarts and his strong will to live and now he actually knew the support he had available, knew how much he was loved no matter what had happened in his live until now. Maybe he would start to show his true self that only he had seen. Oliver knew that the twins had seen a few glimpses, but by far not everything.

Hogwarts was in for a surprise if Harry decided to show his real self, a Harry that knew what he was doing and represented, a Harry Potter that no one ever thought existed. And if Oliver was honest he wouldn't be surprised too much if Harry showed Severus Snape that also he claimed not to treat him in any way special he did just that only in a different way than the rest of the teachers. But for now the future could only look brighter with the Dursleys out of the way.

The End

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