Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Harry Potter and the Ashes of Hope ❯ Chapter 12: Found? ( Chapter 12 )

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

I really shouldn't have to tell you, but I don't own Harry Potter and please read the rest of the disclaimer in chapter 1.

Chapter 12

Found?

Harry had been very cautious over the last few days. He knew for certain that Mrs. Figg had recognized him as well. He also knew that she would go straight to Dumbledore.

He wasn't sure what he thought about Dumbledore now. The man had not done anything to help aide Harry. Dumbledore had thought he was guilty. They all did.

Everyone except for Remus....

The old werewolf was the only one who came to visit him. The only one who tried to get him to escape during that year by reminding him of Sirius.... and what his godfather had done to save him.

As he had aged, he had only spared a few thoughts on Dumbledore and the Order. Harry focused more on his magic. If one thing was certain, it was that Harry didn't want Dumbledore to find him.

Everywhere he went, Harry cautiously looked over his shoulder. He expected the Order to swoop down on him any minute. Hearing his stomach rumble, Harry knew he needed to get food today. As he made his way through the local park, he kept his eyes out for any magical auras in the immediate area.

After learning of his ability he had used it every time he ventured out. He knew Voldemort was still out there. The muggle newspapers were full of strange accidents. The paper he had nicked this morning hadn't been any exception. Another building had blown up, presumably from a gas leak.

Harry had been able to steal money out of a woman's purse at the park this morning as she tended to her two small children. He made his way to the local bakery to get something for his breakfast.

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“Where is he Arabella? Where did you see Harry?” Remus asked fervently.

Arabella moved aside to let the man in. She had known Remus Lupin a long time and knew how much the man had cared for Harry. When she thought about it, she really wasn't surprised that Remus had shown up in the dead of night asking about him.

“Sit down and I'll get us some tea.” She said wearily. She was still half asleep mind you.

“I don't care about tea. What was it you were saying about Harry to Dumbledore?”

“Don't you take that tone with me young man. We will have tea and then we will talk about what I saw.” She replied impatiently.

She told Remus all she could remember of her brief encounter of the boy she believed to be Harry. She had forced several cups of tea on the agitated man and watches as he paced around her parlor.

“Are you sure of what you saw Arabella?” It was really Harry wasn't it?”

“Well it could have been a trick of the light or something else.” She immediately fell silent at the look she was getting.

Arabella knew in her heart that they boy she had seen was Harry. She didn't know why she had let Albus Dumbledore of all people talk her out of it. The boy looked exactly like the young boy that she had watched whenever the Dursleyswanted to go out. The only difference was that this boy didn't have the scare or the glasses that she remembered so well.

“You don't believe that do you? That it was another boy?”

“No, I do believe that it as him Remus. I'll show you where I ran into him in the morning.”

“We're going there now Arabella. If that really is Harry, I can't bare the thought of him on the streets. Believing that he has been dead all these years has been killing me inside.”

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For the last couple of days Remus Lupin could be found in muggle London looking around for a small boy with messy black hair. He believed that Harry was indeed alive and would do anything in his power to find him.

He had been so distraught the last seven years over losing Harry that his work for the Order was suffering. Dumbledore was not happy with his lack of progress with the werewolves. He and Tonks were still seeing each other but Remus didn't have to courage to ask her to marry him, after all who would want to marry an out of work werewolf?

She had tried very hard to help him get over the loss of Harry but she just didn't understand. He had lost James, Lily, Sirius and Harry to this stupid war. As each of the people he had cared about had died, it had felt like a part of him had died along with them. He didn't know how much more he could take.

The only thing that had been on his mind since overhearing Arabella in Dumbeldore's office was Harry. He planned on taking the boy in and giving him the home he had never had, the Order be damned. While he sat there lost in old memories of a time when James, Lily and Sirius were alive with baby Harry, he missed the object of his search walking across the busy street and into the bakery.

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After his meager breakfast, Harry set out to find more money. He knew he was eventually going to get caught pick-pocketing but he didn't know what else to do. An officer had stopped him on his way to get his breakfast and asked him where his parents were. The man didn't seem too convinced when Harry told him that they were in the park. He got as far away from the man as he could, he definitely did not want to go back into foster care. He had bigger things that the needed to do.

Harry was now getting ready to cross the road when he noticed an older man with graying hair get up off of a bench and head towards one of the alleys between the shops. The man looked a little like Remus Lupin. Harry took off as fast as his small legs could take him to get a better look at the man. As he looked into the alley he got another glimpse of the man. It definitely was Remus but before he could shout out to the man, he had disapparated.

With a dejected look on his face, Harry walked back to the abandoned warehouse he had been staying in. Sitting on the floor, he wondered why he had wanted to call out to the man. He couldn't be sure if Remus would take him to Dumbledore or not. Yet, he couldn't help but think about all of the conversations he and Remus would have, especially about Sirius and his parents.. Remus had been there for Harry after his third year. Harry lay down on his grimy blankets and fell asleep thinking about the last of the true marauders.

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Albus Dumbledoresat in his office at Hogwarts waiting for Remus Lupin to show up for their meeting. Dumbledore had always prided himself with having all the answers for everyone about everything. He was now at a loss. Harry Potter was dead and Voldemort had marked him as the child of the prophecy. He just didn't know what to do. Dumbledore did not fear many things, but he had to admit that at the moment Voldemort was wreaking havic on the wizarding world. He was at a loss on what to do and was afraid that he would not find a way to stop him.

Remus was supposed to be trying yet again to offer the werewolves help from the light side if they did not want to join Voldemort. Remus had not been the same since Harry had died. The man was not performing as well as he used to for the Order and it had all stared when Harry had been sent to Azkaban. It had only gotten worse when the boy had been executed. There was a knock on the door and Remus walked in after he was granted permission to enter.

“You wished to see me Dumbledore?”

“Yes Remus please have a seat.”

Once the man was settled Dumbledore leaned forward in his seat and gave Remus one of his piercing looks.

“I hope you have not been dwelling on what Arabella said Remus. Harry is dead. I saw his body fall after being Kissed and I have the urn with his ashes.”

“I know Dumbledore, but aren't you just a bit curious as to who the boy was? I had to check it out for myself.”

“And did you find the boy?”

“No Dumbledore I didn't.” Remus said while avoiding looking into Dumbledore's eyes. He had seen the boy, he was sure of it.

“I did not think you would Remus. If that boy had been Harry, which I hightly doubt for Harry would now be 23 and not a child, I believe he would have asked Arabella to contact me.”

“What was it you wanted to see me for?” Remus asked in a calm voice.

“I would like for you to seek out new allies. Voldemort's numbers are growing by the day and ours have not. People are afraid to oppose him.”

“Where would you like for me to go?” Remus asked in a resigned voice.

“You will leave for France in five days. I will have a Portkeyready for you. Fawkes of course will bring it to you when it is time.”

After the meeting both men were lost in their own thoughts. Dumbledore was wondering when Snape would next be reporting to him. Remus, on the other hand, was anxious to get back to London. He was sure that he had seen the boy Arabella had described just before he disapparated.

Without realizing it, something called hope was once again appearing in Remus's brown eyes. Making the old man of 40 plus years seems like the youth he once was come forward once again. The wolf in him howling its hope, that its cub...

Was not gone after all....