The Letter

Chapter 18

Word count:1176

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~Harry P.O.V.~

As the three of us sit there, Remus starts to pet me. I meow, unsure of wether I want him to stop or if I want him to keep petting me. If I try and get him to stop, what's going to happen? I doubt he's going to get mad at me, as I've realized that he may actually like me. I know that Sirius likes me, if he didn't he wouldn't have helped me with my Animagus problem. I meow again, still sitting there. Remus puts me on the floor, and I turn back to normal. I hug my knees and rest my back against one of the legs of his chair. After a few minutes of silence, Remus opens his mouth to speak.

"Harry James Potter, if you ever do something stupid like this again, I will start going everywhere with you. I mean it," he said sternly. "I will give you one chance to prove that you don't need to be under supervision every hour of every day. Now, just because I'm giving you another chance, it does not mean that we won't be carefully watching you from now on."

I look over at Sirius, who has his head down, looking at his tightly clasped hands, which he has resorted to placing in his lap. He looks up at me, and I pretend to be very interested in a random spot on the floor.

"Why didn't you tell us, pup? You scared us to death!" Sirius says, breaking into tears.

I hug my knees tighter, trying to make myself as small as possible, starting  to cry too.

"I-I di-didn't w-want you t-to b-bother you..."

"You wouldn't have been bothering us, we want to help you. If you had told us, we could have avoided what happened tonight. We want you to feel safe here Harry, we really do," Remus says.

I look over to the window, only to find the sun rising. Realizing what Remus just said, I stop crying and look at him, surprised.

"Wait, really? You don't hate me?!"

"We have no reason to hate you, cub."

"Uncle Vernon seemed to think that being born was enough of a reason to hate me..."

"You're never going back there, don't worry."

"But what about Dudley and Aunt Petunia? I'll miss them!"

"We'll find a way for you to visit them, you'll see them again," he says, a mix between a frown and a smile on his face.

"That's possible?"

"Yeah, of course," he says, standing up.

"It's almost time for class, I need to start getting ready."

 "You're staying here until at least lunchtime, you've had a long night and you won't be able to function very well without any sleep."

"What?! I have to go to class though!" I say, standing up.

"No, you're going to sleep," he says, walking over to me. "That's final."

He's so tall, it's kind of scary. Draco's tall too. I wonder if I'll get to see him today.

"Fine, I'll stay here, but I am not going to sleep."

"Harry, you need to sleep."

"No!"

I cover my mouth with my hands. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you!"

"Cub, it's okay. You still need to sleep, though."

"I don't need sleep-"

"Yes, you do. Now listen to Moony and get in bed," Sirius says, who I didn't even notice was standing next to Remus.

All of a sudden, I hear my stomach rumble.

"Get in bed and I'll bring you something to eat."

Without another word, I walk over and climb into my bed, hiding under the covers. I fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.

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~Dudley P.O.V.~

I pace around my room, like I've been doing for hours on end now. Harry wasn't here when we got back, and my dad flipped out when he realized he would have to do his own chores. Serves him right though, making my poor cousin do them all since he was six. Maybe he'll lose a few pounds while having to clean his car and make his bed all by himself. I laugh at the thought. My mum seems rather sad that he's left, because she's loved Harry from the start. She would cry at night because of how poorly my dad treated him. It's gotten so bad that my mum has started thinking about divorce. As I pace around, I hear a tapping at my window. I look up to see a snowy white owl sitting on my windowsill. I move closer and realize something.

"Wait, Hedwig? Is Harry okay?!" I ask her as she flys into my room landing on my bed. 

I see the letter tied to her leg and take it, seeing that it's for me and my mum. My face lights up as I recognize Harry's neat handwriting. I almost run downstairs, knocking down my cup of water on my desk, but I don't care. 

"Mum, MUM! Come here, I got a letter!" I say, entering the kitchen to see her wiping down the counter.

I'm so glad dad went to work. I see her put down the rag and walk over to me.

"Who's it from, Duddykins?"

"It's from Harry!"

"Is he okay?!" she asks, a small smile on her pale face.

"I don't know, I was going to read it with you."

"Well then let's read it, I sure hope he's okay..."

We both sit down at the table and I open the letter. It reads:

Dear Aunt Petunia and Dudley,

I wanted to write to you to let you know that I'm okay, I made it to Hogwarts safely. I'm sorry that I didn't write earlier, but I was a little, uh- a little busy...

I'm currently staying with my Godfather and Remus in a little hut outside of the castle. Remus says that he'll find a way for me to visit you, I really hope that I can meet with you soon. I've learned how to be an Animagus, a wizard who can shape-shift into an animal. I can turn into a cat now! I'm being treated very well, and they haven't made me do anything like clean the windows or cook for them. I feel safe here. I really miss you guys. If you want you can send Hedwig back with a reply, she'll know where to go.

-Harry

A smile spreads across my face, and my mum starts to cry tears of joy.

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A/N

Sorry I haven't posted in about 4 days, I lacked motivation and I was sick, so that sucked. 

What I can't believe is how popular this got already! Like, 2 weeks ago, I was at about 112  and now we're at 690, well on our way to 700! Jeez guys, you really like this fic, don't you?

If we get to 1,000 before October- 

I really can't believe people like my writing this much! I expected this to get no more than 50 reads when I first started...

Thank you guys for all the support, and I really love reading your comments!

Currently crying tears of joy,

B00KADD1C7

Question of the day: Have you read any of the Harry Potter books? If so, how many?

I'm on the 7th book right now, but I don't intend on stopping writing this for you guys anytime soon!