PEBBLE : Chapter Three
Pebble
Harry Potter, it's characters and universe, belong to it's author, J.K. Rowlings. I claim no legal right to Harry Potter or any of it's trademarks. This story is made purely for entertainment and I make no profits off it. I do however own Kaya, a character from an original story “Genesis” which is hosted on Mediaminer.
The smallest stone can leave the widest ripples. On the evening of his parents death, Harry Potter finds help in a person who is just as out of place as him. A/U retelling of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Chapter Three
“Mum, did we get a reply?” Harry asked as he walked into the house. He dropped his backpack by the door and went into the living room, following the sound of the television. He and his Auntie Ellie had enjoyed watching programs on the television together but his mother was more likely just to put it on to have background noise while he was away at school and she read.
His mother glanced up at him, she had a pair of reading glasses on her nose, and she took them off as she spoke to him and set her book to the side. “No, there were no more owls in my kitchen.”
Harry’s shoulders slumped, “Oh.”
She sighed and shrugged, “Harry, we both knew that it could have been a joke.”
“I know, Mum,” he said, and tried not to look a sad as he felt. He didn’t miss a beat when she opened up her arms and he settled in for a hug. His friends at school always got embarrassed when their mother’s hugged them or kissed their cheeks, but he couldn’t for the life of him understand it. It was nice being protected and it wasn’t like she would ever do this in public. “I wanted it to be real.”
“I know, sweetheart,” Kaya said, resting her cheek the top of his head. She sighed and pushed him back so she could catch his eyes with her own, “How about we go into town and we’ll get an ice-cream?”
Harry glanced away and shrugged. While ice-cream did sound good, he wasn’t sure that it would fix the small hole left in his heart. He had put a lot of hope in that letter being real. Kaya frowned a little and wondered how she could fix this. “We can get fudge sundaes?”
Harry shrugged again, and didn’t look at his mother. Her frown deepened before she scooted him off her lap and pushed him gently towards the door; “Go get your shoes on Harry, we’re going to go see a movie and get some ice-cream.”
“You don’t like movies,” he sullenly insisted, and didn’t move. He looked up at his mother, his dark hair falling between his glasses and his eyes. “You hate movies, Mum.”
Kaya stood up and stretched before she started to push him towards the mudroom, “Yes, but I like the popcorn and the company.”
Harry cracked a slight grin, and bit his bottom lip, “Can we get ice-cream too?”
She made a show of thinking about before she nodded with a smile, “Sure.”
Harry didn’t have to be told twice and the young boy rushed off towards the mudroom. She listened to him stumble and rush about and shook her head. She followed at a more sedate pace, and grabbed her wallet along the way. She had a part time job while Harry was a school, and it paid for most of the things they needed. They didn’t live an extravagant life, but it was a pleasant existence and it allowed for little outings like the one they were going to take.
She heard the door opening, and she shouted down the hall, “Harry, wait for me.”
Kaya came up behind Harry and froze, her attention on the odd man standing on the stoop. She resisted the urge to tilt her head to the side in confusion, but grabbed Harry by his shoulder and dragged him behind her. She glanced off to the side slightly to let her eyes rest from the bright colors of his robes, and tried not wince at the swirling of stars and moons embroidered on the maroon fabric. She wasn’t going to comment on his beard, which she guessed would trip him up if he didn’t tuck it into his belt, and finally drew her eyes to his face. The man had a friendly face, the grandfatherly type she often saw on the television, and his bright blue eyes were eclipsed by half-moon glasses.
She eyed him for a moment before she finally spoke, her tone regulated to show nothing, “May we help you?”
The man smiled slightly, and glanced between her and Harry before he pulled a letter from the waistband of his belt and held it up. It had been opened, and she could tell from a glance that it was the letter Harry had sent a few days earlier. “I admit I was surprised to get a letter asking about Hogwarts from Harry Potter.”
He looked at Harry, who peeked around his mother, and continued, “You gave us quite the surprise, Mr. Potter. We thought you were dead.”
Kaya’s eyes narrowed, “Who are you?”
The old man waved his free hand in a placating motion, “Oh, don’t be alarmed. I’m Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You wrote that you wanted to know more about the school, and I thought it would be best to come myself.”
Harry tugged on the back of Kaya’s shirt and she tilted her head slightly so she could look at him out of the corner of her eyes. He wasn’t looking at her but at Dumbledore, and she could see the interest in his face as well as the mild discomfort. He was a perceptive child, and more in tune with her moods that she thought was good for him and her wariness was setting him on edge. She took a breath, held it for a moment and let it out slowly, “Would you like to come in?”
He gave a faint smile, “Yes, please. Would either of you like a lemon sherbet?”
Kaya shook her head but frowned a little when Harry nodded, and reached out a hand, “Yes, please.”
A single piece of candy was passed to Harry and Kaya urged him back towards the kitchen after he had popped the piece into his mouth, “If you’ll follow us then.”
The walk was hard for her. She didn’t like having an unknown person at her back, especially when she was at a disadvantage but at the same time she didn’t want to cause Harry any alarm. She sighed under her breath before she turned around to look at the old man again. His nose was long and crooked, and she guessed it had been broken a few times. That was one of the few things she hadn’t broken in the past and knowing the pain of a facial injury, she felt a stab of sympathy.
Harry was a better host than his mother, and he offered the older man a seat, “Here you go, Mr. Dumbledore.”
“Professor Dumbledore,” Albus corrected gently, as he eased himself into the wicker chair. He looked between the blonde woman and the boy everyone had thought had died ten years previous. He was curious as to why and how the woman had gotten Harry, but he wasn’t here answers just yet. “Your letter said you had some questions for me, young man.”
Harry nodded energetically, and he spoke around the piece of candy in his mouth, “Magic is real?”
“Very real,” Professor Dumbledore said, smiling at the way the young man’s face brightened and he glanced at blonde woman, who looked mildly bemused but all together happy as Harry turned to her and spoke rapidly. She nodded with a relaxed patience and a half smile, before she motioned for Harry to pay attention to him again. “And Hogwarts is real as well; one of the safest places in the entire Wizarding world, my boy.”
Harry nodded, “And I get to go?”
“You’ve been on the admission lists since you were born,” he said. “Though we had little hope that you would join us…” He trailed over, and watched the reactions; the woman’s eyes narrowed, and Harry looked confused.
“Why not?” Harry asked, and started to speak again, “This is so cool, why wouldn’t I want to go?”
Dumbledore stared into Harry’s eyes for a moment before he looked over his head towards the woman he felt was to blame for the confusion of the situation, “Well, my boy, we thought you died with your parents.”
Harry frowned at him and shook his head, “Well, I didn’t. Mum found me.”
Dumbledore was faintly curious at the conviction in Harry’s young voice, and the way the woman seemed to relax when Harry didn’t seem unduly bothered by his revelation. Kaya sighed and spoke up, “I’ve never lied to Harry. When I thought he was old enough, I told him he was adopted. He remembered his birth mother, and I didn’t want to dishonor her memory. She died protecting him.”
She sounded proud of a woman she had never knew, but Kaya was proud of the woman and thankful for her sacrifice. She had promised the ghost of Harry’s father that she would protect Harry and she had. She had made a home for them, and raised him. She reached out with a hand and rested her fingers lightly on his shoulder.
When she spoke again, her tone was milder, “You knew his parents?”
Dumbledore nodded, “Yes, yes. Lily and James Potter. Good children-bright students and good people. It was a great loss when they were killed…” He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head, “Though Voldemort was killed, there were no celebrations that night…but with the news that Harry is alive and well, the Wizarding world will rejoice.”
Harry looked up at his mother, and then to Dumbledore, “Why?”
“Well, Harry, because we will finally know what happened that night.”
Kaya raised a critical eyebrow at him. Her voice took on a demanding tone, “Explain.”
It wasn’t a question, or a request. It was an order, and that was something Dumbledore wasn’t used to hearing from someone who was at least a century his junior. He took off his glasses and wiped them clean on his sleeve, and thought on how to explain the situation to the woman who had kidnapped Harry Potter. He looked to the woman again, “We were at war ten years ago, the night Lily and James died, Voldemort, a dark wizard, appeared to as well. However, we don’t know what happened that night. He could be alive however…”
He pointed with a slightly gnarled finger towards Harry’s head, pointing towards the lightning bolt shaped scar on his head, “However, I believe the answer is right there.”
Harry’s hand went over his scar and looked uncomfortable as he leaned against his mother for support, “What do you mean?”
“That isn’t an ordinary scar,” Dumbledore said, “It is-“
“Cursed?” Kaya asked, her voice pleasantly deceptive even as her eyes hardened. She had her suspicions about the scar for years. Something was off about the wound that never faded, and seemed to pulse to a rhythm of its own beat. “That is what you were going to say, wasn’t it?”
Almost startled, Dumbledore nodded and watched as the woman sighed, and murmured, “That does explain a few things.” She looked at him and asked him, “Is the man dead?”
“He hasn’t been heard from since that night,” Dumbledore said diplomatically.
“So you don’t know…” She glanced over his head and seemed to think for a moment before she looked at him again, a look of concern and determination in her eyes, “There is a chance that this Voldemort is alive? Will your school teach Harry how to use magic to protect himself?”
“Yes, among other things,” Dumbledore said, watching as the woman nodded.
She shrugged and said, “Well, I suppose that means Harry will be going to your school.”
Harry brightened and he tilted his head back to look up at his mother, “Really Mum? I can really go?”
Kaya nodded and pushed him lightly through the door, “Go read while Professor Dumbledore and I talk, hm, Harry?”
“But Mum…” he started to protest but stopped at the look Kaya gave him. His words died on his tongue before he nodded, “Kay…”
She smiled at him and ruffled his hair as he walked out. She waited until he was out of earshot before she sat down across from Dumbledore. “You’re not going to take him away from me.”
“He does have family,” Dumbledore said, leaning forward to speak with her seriously. “And if Voldemort is alive, only blood magic will protect him. It is familiar magic-he should be with his Aunt.”
She shook her head, “Family isn’t always blood, Dumbledore. It’s deeper than that and you won’t take him away from me.”
“You did kidnap him, Mrs…” He trailed off; he hadn’t gotten her name and he wondered what side of the lines she was on. She knew about magic, so he assumed she was a squib or at least had a family member in their world. If he could place a surname to her, he would know if she was harboring Harry, biding her time until Voldemort returned. He did believe that it would happen eventually.
“Kaya,” she said shortly, “And I’ve never married.”
“No surname?”
“None that has mattered in a long time,” she admitted softly before she looked at him, “If you try and take him away, I’ll run with him. And you’ll never find us.”
“Kaya,” Dumbledore said soothingly, trying to calm the young woman who was so tense she seemed ready to spring out of the chair if a pin dropped. “Harry seems happy, and you seem like a good mother but you did kidnap him. He has family, who would be happy to take him in. You want him safe, don’t you?”
“He is safe here,” she insisted before she rested her chin in the palm of her hand, “And I’ll do anything in my power to keep it that way.”
“Anything?” Dumbledore asked, his eyes growing bright.
She gave a short nod.
“Well then, my child,” he said, leaning back and smiling, “This may work out well.”