Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Harry Potter and the Ashes of Hope ❯ Chapter 9: Playground ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I do not own Harry Potter as well as what's said in Chapter 1

Chapter 9

Playground

Needless to say, Jackson Tulane was stunned. The tall, lean man in his early thirties had made a habit out of jogging every morning. He enjoyed trying different routes but more often than not he did a moderately-paced five kilometers in the nearby park.

But today he had witnessed something strange. Sure, he'd seen some miscellaneous things while running. Once, he witnessed a hold-up in a local convenience store and later had to testify in court. Another time, he stumbled across two less than friendly adolescents engaged in a relatively vicious fistfight. However, out of everything he had ever witnessed during his runs, none was as strange as this instance.

At 7:30 AM on July 31, 1997, Jackson Tulane found a baby. No, not a toddler that had strayed too far from his mother ora child in a temporarily abandoned stroller… Jackson Tulane had found an infant.

First he had heard some wailing a distance from his path. Not one to find something in distress, human or creature, and leave it be, he following the desperate cries. He wandered off the sidewalk, around a playground with some old rusty swings, and to some hedges nearby.

It was there that upon some scorched grass Jackson found a tiny infant. Although he was no expert in children, he was able to surmise that the child must have recently been born and needed immediate attention. Awkwardly, Jackson began shushing the baby and tentatively reached out to pick it up. However, when his hands closed around the tiny head and torso of the newborn baby, the wailing child immediately ceased its cries. Jackson was again surprised when tiny alert green eyes met his own instead of the confused and pained ones he had been expecting. Jackson instinctively drew the child to his chest and stood there cluelessfor several moments wondering what to do.

Hefinally settled on using his cell phone to call the authorities and notify them about this abandoned child. The officer on the other end of the line told him to wait where he found the child in case its parents turned up nearby. Then, after the call ended, Jackson found himself in an awkward situation: he had to wait ten or fifteen minutes for the police to arrive, and, until then, he had to watch over a young abandoned infant.

Naturally, Jackson began pondering the obvious questions. Who abandoned the baby? Why did they just leave an infant unattended in a relatively empty park? Where were its parents? Was it a boy or a girl? A quick glance down confirmed that it was a boy. In that case, how old was he? How long had he been laying there, naked and wailing? Furthermore, why was the ground around him scorched? Then a horrible idea suddenly struck Jackson: maybe this was all part of some sick satanic ritual… he had read things about cruel teenagers performing “magical” rituals, worshipping the devil, and mercilessly slaughtering animals for these purposes. In fact, some recent fires and acts of violence and destruction had recently been attributed to a rise of teenagers involved in the occult. If not for some sadistic ritual, then why else would an infant be abandoned on a small circle of burnt grass?

Jackson also began observing the child as well. For some reason or another, the child seemed to be content. He was no longer wailing and appeared to be taking in his surroundings. However, the child was far too young to display that level of comprehension… right? Nevertheless, the baby remained eerily silent.

About twenty minutes after the call had been made, two cars with sirens sounding and lights flashing approached the playground where Jackson was uncomfortably waiting.

Surprisingly, the noise and lights did not seem to bother the infant at all.

Moments later, a police officer approached Jackson and began interrogating him. A second officer parted from the police vehicle and neared his coworker. All in all, it was decided that the infant should probably get immediate medical attention and then be sent to the city's childcare authorities. Jackson agreed to answer more questions while at the police station and graciously followed the officers to their cars. However, before handing the child to the authorities, Jackson petted the baby's messy, jet black hair one last time, brushing the tresses to the side just enough to reveal an unmarred forehead.

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Not far away, in fact just on the other side of the park Jackson was in walkeda somber man whose face was stricken with lines of age and despair. The man had graying brown hair and peculiar amber eyes filled with hopelessness and emotional agony. His name was Remus Lupin and he was grieving.

Remus had not known where to go after leaving GrimmauldPlace. He had considered apparating to England's southern border and taking a muggle airline to France or Spain. Maybe Italy. All Remus knew was that he neededto get as far away from his past as possible.

However, before leaving, there was one thing that Remus knew he must do. With all of his recent memories of Harry full of tragedy, he needed to visit the sites of Harry's childhood. He needed proof that his best friend's only son had indeed been an innocent child at one point, oblivious to the cruelties of the world he had yet to enter.

Oblivious of Voldemort.

Oblivious of betrayal.

He needed to remember that a young Harry had once had no serious worries… only petty problems that occasionally afflict the average eight-year-old.

And so, with this desperate need, Remus found himself in Little Whinging, Surrey. He found himself patrolling the streets of Magnolia Crescent and Privet Drive. He knew how oddly out of place he must have appeared: his ragged appearance and old, weathered clothes contrasted against the neatly trimmed lawns of these identically proper houses.

Remus found himself before the well-kept abode of number four Privet Drive. His acute werewolf sense of hearing could detect the sound of the Dursleys going about their daily lives in the kitchen of their home. Harry had once lived there. Sure, he had been miserable... but he had been safe. He had not yet known betrayal. He had at least been alive. Nevertheless, since then, Harry had been convicted and sent to prison.

The Dursleys had taken the news very well. Vernon had insisted that the boy had always had a mean streak in him and that this act of violence had been long coming. Dudley did not seem to grasp the impact of the entire circumstance and was simply happy to have Harry gone. Petunia, on the other hand, had gone silent and pale upon hearing the news.

Other than that, the Dursley lives were unchanged. And with this Remus was upset… Harry's own family did not miss him. And now, on the morning of Harry's demise, they were completely ignorant.

Unable to bear these horrible truths, Remus continued walking. He walked and walked until he found himself in a nearby park. Harry had been here too. Harry had once told him about the times Dudley had played “Harry Hunting” with his unruly gang. Sure, the game was not fun for Harry but at least it never killed him.

As Remus approached the playground at which Harry had also probably played, he noticed some muggle authorities congregated beyond the swings. There were two officers and a man holding something. These men, like the Dursleys, were also oblivious to the tragic events of the morning. They also did not realize how much Remus had lost in that one morning alone. Again unable to endure his despair, Remus fled the scene of muggles and left them to their own affairs. He walked a little ways away and apparated as far away as possible.

Never knowing that if he had stopped to look for but a moment....

He might have had something to live for.

Hope...