978AN: I must say I was astounded at the amount of response the first chapter for this story got, I was truly blown away. So here it is, chapter two of 'A chance encounter'.
A chance encounter
Chapter 2
-Appoline Delacour-
Stumbling backwards she looked in horror at the flesh of the boy in front of her. It was burnt pitch black, tendrils of the dark color climbing up his pack like lighting, the dark color blending in perfectly with what was left of the boy's shirt making her think it actually had just been a part of his clothing.
"H-how is that possible?" she asked in horror at the destroyed skin "How could you have survived that curse?! Or even still remain standing with your back burnt like that?!".
-Harry-
"Well I survived it as a baby so why not again now?" he asked with a shrug at the first question, his inhibitions still lowered due to the truth serum "And as for how I'm still standing…I'm no stranger to pain.".
"Explain." Martin Delacour demanded, the French Minister having snapped out of his daze.
Before he could stop himself the serum forced him to answer "The day after my parents were murdered Albus Dumbledore took me and left me on the front steps of my Mother's magic hating muggle sister and her magic hating husband. The best description for how they view our world would be that they see it the same way those death eaters see them. From the moment I was brought inside I became as a slave to them, for ten years until I got my Hogwarts letter.".
"W-what did they do to you?" the girl he had rescued, Fleur, asked in horror causing him to respond.
"My bedroom for those ten years was the cupboard under the stairs. The moment I was able to walk and understand what I was told I was put to work, cleaning the house, cutting the grass, doing the cooking, serving them food. If they wanted something done I was made to do it. If I didn't meet their expectations I was beaten and lost privileges for food, if I was too slow I was beaten and lost privileges for food, if I complained I was beaten and lost privileges for food, if I asked a question, if I did any accidental magic, if I did better than my cousin in school, if I made too much noise, if they were bored. My life growing up was beating, after beating, after beating. School was no better as they convinced the teachers that I was a delinquent and the child of a couple of unemployed drug users. My teachers treated me like scum and I wasn't able to make in friends among my classmates because my cousin led the school's group of bullies and beat up not only me but anyone who looked like they were going to befriend me. I didn't know what my name was until I was allowed to go to school and heard it called on the role, always believing it to have been 'boy' or 'freak' as that was all I had been called before then. I was only given a bedroom the summer before my first year at Hogwarts because they thought they were being watched. The summer before my second year they but several bolted locks on my door, only putting in food through a cat flap and only letting me out to do work and go to the bathroom while bars blocked my window as they had forbidden my owl from leaving. Last summer my Uncle's sister came and brought one of her dogs that had in the past chased me up a tree and which she would often send to attack me.".
Finally he stopped, too winded to continue as tears flowed from the eyes of Fleur, Appoline, and Gabrielle while Martin and Pierre looked thunderous. Stomping over to a desk Martin Delacour wrote out several letters and papers before turning to Pierre "Pierre," the furious French Minister ordered "you are to go to England and get Harry's family to sign this, it will remove him from their guardianship and make him a ward of our family. The second one is to be sent to 'Sirius Black' to tell him he is being given sanctuary here in France.".
"Um…who are Harry's family and where are they?" Pierre asked hesitantly.
"Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley at Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whining, Surrey." He answered instantly, mentally cursing the truth serum and how little control he had under it.
The moment he answered Pierre rushed away to follow the French Minister's instructions while Appoline took him by the arm and led him to a side room "You are going to be staying here and you aren't going to move until I can get a healer in here to look at you and that curse mark!" the woman insisted, pushing him facedown onto what looked like a massage table so he could easily lay on his stomach and avoid irritating the burn on his back.
"But I have to…" he began before she hit him with a sticking charm, preventing him from getting off the table as she growled.
"You won't move!" she insisted once again before she turned towards her daughters "Fleur, I want you and Gabrielle to watch Harry and make sure that he doesn't further upset that wound while I go get a healer.".
"But what about the people I went to the cup with!" he insisted desperately, feeling the truth serum beginning to wear off.
"Who are they?" the woman asked "I'll inform them that you helped save the life of a foreign dignitary's daughter and are being given medical care as a thank you.".
"The Weasley family," he answered "they live at the Burrow…damn it how long will this truth serum last?!".
"I'm going to let your choice of language go this one time as you've saved my daughter and are injured," at this point she winced "and are probably upset about your drink being spiked but I do not tolerate that kind of language around my children.".
"Please Harry," a tear stricken Fleur pleaded, the beautiful girl holding her younger sister close to her "let us help you.".
Sighing he closed his eyes and slumped in defeat, having always had a weakness for upset and crying girls "Fine," he said softly "I'll stay.", before letting his tiredness consume him as he closed his eyes and embraced the darkness of sleep.
-Dumbledore-
Panicking Albus Dumbledore paced back and forth in his office, he had just learned from Arthur Weasley how Harry had gone missing during the Death Eater attack. To make matters worse the device he had tracing the last Potter had shattered at some point during the evening and he had no way of finding the boy as Fawkes couldn't seem to find him.
Suddenly his fireplace roared to life as the head of his most loyal follower, Molly Weasley, appeared in the emerald flames "Headmaster," she said urgently "we've just received a letter. It says that Harry saved the life of a foreign Dignitary's daughter and they are giving him some medical treatment as a thank you for it.".
"What?!" he demanded "Who?!".
"I don't know!" she exclaimed desperately "It only said they would tell us when he was healthy enough to come back.".
Cursing he dismissed the Weasley Matriarch as her head vanished from the flames. This was not good as he had spent years obliviating Poppy from what she learned doing Harry's checkups and did his utmost to ensure that Harry never went to St. Mungos. He needed Harry to be weak, malleable, and loyal, a pawn more than willing to become a martyr at his word and an abused Harry was more likely to listen to him than one that was healthy and strong. He needed to find out who it was Harry saved and where they were keeping the boy to either get Harry back before they can do any tests or to recover his pawn and obliviate the ones who tested him.
-Pierre-
Walking out of the Muggle residence the French Auror had a look of utmost disgust on his face at the inhuman beings he had just met. At first they had insisted on being paid for 'their slave' as they referred to Harry but after he had pulled out his wand they had quickly shut up and signed the paperwork relinquishing all rights to Harry Potter as his guardians.