Bokuboy

Wow, Chapter 50 already. Who would have thought that something I started because I had a fun idea would have lasted for nearly two months? LOL No, don't answer that. It was rhetorical. (smiles) I wrote a little more this time, too.

“What do you mean I can't help you clean on the weekends?” Harry asked, completely confused. “I thought I had detention?”

“You still do, lad.” Filch said and tried to let the boy down easily. “Weekends are off times for both students and teachers. They can only assign punishments for during the week.”

“Me-oow.” Missus Norris said, also a little upset.

“Can I help anyway?” Harry asked. “I don't have any homework to do.”

“Meow! Meow!” Missus Norris heartily agreed that was a good idea.

Filch looked like he was going to give in and agree as well, when Minerva McGonagall strode down the hallway.

“There you are, Mister Potter.” Minerva said. “Why weren't you at breakfast?”

“I came here for detention.” Harry said, hoping that she would agree and let him stay.

“Detention?” Minerva looked at Filch with a stern glare. “Only the evenings during weekdays can be enforced as detention.”

“That's what I was telling him just before you walked up, Professor.”

“Meow!” Missus Norris said.

Minerva nodded. “Good, because someone is coming here to see you, Mister Potter.”

“Me? Who would come and see me?” Harry asked, surprised. “Oh! Is it Bertha? I sent her a letter this morning.”

“No, it's not Miss Jorkins.” Minerva said and managed to squash her curiosity over how that relationship started, considering she was a couple years older than Harry's dead parents. “She's someone that's quite an influence at the Ministry.” She waggled her hand at him. “Come along now.”

Harry resisted for a moment. He seriously thought about asking if he could help clean on his own and not as part of detention, then realized if he did that, the professor would know he enjoyed it and it wasn't a punishment at all. He nodded and Minerva smiled and started to walk away.

“I'll come back later.” Harry whispered to Mister Filch and Missus Norris.

Filch gave him a rare smile and Missus Norris twitched her whiskers at him.

Harry followed the stern professor back up to the first floor and into the Entrance Hall. He thought about who wanted to see him and could only think of two women, Madam Malkin and Madam Primpernelle. He didn't know why they would come and visit, though. They had answered his letters and didn't say anything about coming. Madam Malkin loved his portrait and it was a huge draw for her shop and Madam Primpernelle had told him not to worry about his eyesight until it started to change.

The large oak doors of the castle opened up just then and another stern looking woman stood there. She wore Auror's robes and had a kind of square jaw. She was a good looking woman, had Harry been old enough to care about it, and he saw that she was quite a bit younger looking than Bertha. If anything, she could have been just about the right age to have a child Harry's age.

“Harry!” Amelia exclaimed when her eyes saw the boy next to McGonagall and her heart was filled with emotions. To her own surprise, she felt like she had to do what Bertha had told her to do. She strode into the Entrance Hall and walked right over to him with a huge smile on her face, then she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

Harry was too surprised by the unexpected hug to react and his face was pushed right between the woman's breasts as her combat robes allowed the close and intimate contact. They were designed to harden with impact and not for gentle hugs, so his face felt like it was being cushioned on both sides. Minerva McGonagall's mouth was slightly open in surprise as she watched the unexpected display of affection.

“Oh, Harry.” Amelia whispered and pet his hair. “I'm so sorry for all the things you've had to go through this week.” She said and eased her hold on him, just so she wasn't smothering the boy. “I commend you on handling it to the best of your ability.”

“Th-thanks.” Harry said, his face a little red. “Um... who are you?”

Amelia laughed and let go of him entirely. “I see the teachers are still filled with secrets and don't inform the students of essential information.” She said and saw the agreement on Harry's face. She thought about kneeling to put her head near the same height and then discarded that idea. “My name is Amelia Bones and I am very good friends with Bertha Jorkins.”

“Oh!” Harry said and then smiled. “It's nice to meet you.” He held a hand out for her to shake.

Amelia chuckled and took the hand to shake it. “I'd rather a hug as a proper greeting, if that's all right.” She said and let his hand go. “Please, walk with me. We have some things to discuss.”

Harry didn't even turn his head to look at Professor McGonagall for permission and Amelia completely understood what Bertha had meant. She put a hand on Harry's shoulder and they started walking back out through the large open doors.

“It's all right if you're a bit uncomfortable.” Amelia said. “Even if I am the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, we only just met and...”

“If Bertha sent you, there was a reason.” Harry said. “She doesn't do anything for no reason.”

“That is so true.” Amelia chuckled. “She's actually quite the nosy woman.”

Harry looked up at her face to see the emotions there and felt relief, because she was smiling and not scowling, which meant she thought it was a good thing and not bad.

“She's very easy to talk to and can make someone spill all of their secrets with a laugh and a pat on the arm.” Amelia said. “I think she's either an accomplished Legilimens or she's just so nice that you can't help but trust her and tell her everything.”

“Legilimens?” Harry asked. “That can be done to people, too?”

Amelia nodded. “If one is clear of mind and powerful enough, they can silently cast the spell and get a peek into your mind.”

Harry thought about the several times the headmaster and Professor Snape gave him pointed stares and automatically made the association that that was what they were doing to him.

“How do I stop it from happening?” Harry asked.

Amelia was surprised that he hadn't asked who could be powerful enough in the school to do it and instead asked how to stop it. “You know the headmaster does it.” She concluded correctly.

“Professor Snape, too.” Harry said. “I've only noticed it being done to me, though.”

Amelia nodded. “That's because they are trying to determine who you are inside.”

“What does that mean?” Harry asked as they reached the gates of the school.

Amelia touched the gates with her wand and they swung open. “Are you good? Bad? Angry? Sad? Vengeful? Remorseful?”

“We're leaving the school?” Harry asked, not really concerned.

“Yes, is that all right?” Amelia asked and Harry shrugged. “That requires a yes or no answer, young man.”

Harry straightened his back. “Yes.”

Amelia smiled and stopped him just outside the gates as they closed. “We're apparating to my home for tea and crumpets.” She said and Harry knew just what to do. He moved close and put an arm around her waist under her robes and held on. “Very good, Harry.” She said, impressed that he knew the best side-along position, then she caught her breath when he 'shared' his magic with her to help as a side-along apparator.

It was the easiest apparating Amelia had ever done to get to her living room. It was like space itself accepted them and let them step through, rather than suck them in and spit them out like it usually did. She hadn't felt it like that and before she could recover from the sensation, she caught her breath again when Harry stopped helping and let her waist go.

That was interesting. Amelia thought and then smiled. “I hope you didn't have too much for breakfast.” She said and motioned to the table that was covered in several different kinds of desserts, pastries, and teas.

“I haven't eaten yet.” Harry said, to her delight.

“Then please, have a seat. We have a lot to talk about.” Amelia said and they sat down together on the couch, side by side, and they both picked up several different kinds of desserts to add to a small plate, then chose cups of tea. “Before you ask, I do not own a house elf. Made everything myself, including the teas.”

Harry looked at her in surprise and then he frowned a little. “I've seen them trying to make my bed at Hogwarts.”

“What?” Amelia asked, surprised. That was against Hogwarts rules for house elves. They were to cook in the kitchens and clean the dormitories, because Filch wasn't allowed into the sleeping areas of the students to do it himself. People could easily accept a house elf cleaning a child's room. If they thought the cranky old man was the one doing it, there would be an uproar, especially from the parents of the female students.

“I put my immovable trunk on my nest of blankets and they couldn't move it.” Harry said, then he smiled as he remembered them tumbling over it and onto the floor. “When I had to take my trunk to Potions class, I left them a note and asked them to not touch my bed because I like it that way.”

Amelia steeled her face and did her best to hide her consternation that Harry still needed to sleep in the same nest as he did at home. “What happened after potions class?” She asked instead of asking why he wouldn't sleep in the normal bed.

“There was a pile of mints left in the middle of the nest for all the days that they couldn't make the bed and leave one on the pillow.” Harry said with a smile and took out the note. “I could barely read this.”

Amelia took the note and almost laughed. It was a poorly written thank you note for letting them complete their jobs and for not getting them in trouble for seeing them.

“It seems you've made a few more friends without realizing it.” Amelia said and he nodded. “Good for you.” She took a sip of tea.

“Are you going to cast preservation spells on all of this?” Harry asked.

“I already have, as each batch was made. I knew they would need to last for a long time.” Amelia chuckled. “I don't get a lot of free time to bake, so I never throw away anything when I do.”

Harry nodded agreement, because he did the same thing with all the food he had received from the owl post deliveries. In fact, he had been slipping dishes away from each meal he attended at the castle and cast preservation spells on them to rebuild his stock of food that had been stolen. He knew he wasn't going to have much to eat during the summer and wanted to make sure that he had enough food to last him for two months.

Amelia took a bite of a crumpet and sighed. She loved her dear sister's recipe and made it whenever she could. “Now on to serious matters.” She said, then she almost laughed at her unintended pun. “It concerns the rat Missus Norris discovered at Hogwarts.”

“Peter Pettegrew.” Harry said and thought about not revealing what he knew, then looked at the woman and remembered she was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. “This is all I know.” He said and took out the sheets of parchment that Hermione had given him. Amelia put her tea down and took the sheets. Her eyes widened at the information, especially the student list and marking the appropriate names. “You've done some great research here.”

“It was my friend Hermione, actually.” Harry said. “I was in detention.”

“Filch?” Amelia asked and Harry nodded. “You've been scrubbing the floors all week?”

“We're up to the fifth floor.” Harry said. “I thought we were going to finish it today, actually.”

Amelia chuckled. “They didn't tell you it takes a special order to give detention on the weekend or you have to have done something particularly nasty?”

“The Weasley twins have had weekend detentions a lot and I thought I did, too.” Harry said.

“They must have pissed Filch off early on to gain his ire and get detentions on the weekends.” Amelia said. “I bet they're pranksters and cause lots of messes?”

Harry nodded and she nodded in return.

“If there's one thing he hates, it's causing messes inside the castle.” Amelia said. “He works very hard to keep it clean with all those people inside.” She reached over and touched his shoulder, then gave it a squeeze. “You would know all about that, wouldn't you?”

Harry nodded again, because he cleaned the Dursley's house for years and it was always messy.

“With this information, I see the holes I need to fill in to give you the whole picture.” Amelia said and spread the papers out. “These comments that Peter was a great student are rubbish. He barely got 'Acceptable' in most of his courses.”

Harry's eyes widened and Amelia knew she had chosen the right track to follow.

“Next, he wasn't quite friends with your father.”

“He wasn't?” Harry asked, a bit surprised.

“He kind of latched onto the popular boys, James and Sirius.” Amelia tapped their names. “Remus was a hanger on as well, barely spoke, and went along with everything the two troublemakers did.”

Harry blinked his eyes as she moved her finger over the list of names and stopped to tap on another one. It was her own. “You were there!” He exclaimed.

Amelia nodded and sat back as she picked up her tea and took a sip. She let him stew with that for a moment, then she wasn't surprised when he mirrored her and picked up his own tea as he sat back and inched closer to her.

“Will you tell me about it?” Harry asked and took a sip.

“That's why I brought you here to my home, Harry.” Amelia smiled as he turned his head to look at her with rapt attention and then she started to talk.