kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Another Ravenclaw grinned and stepped closer. Harry edged away. This was beginning to remind him of Harry-hunting. "Yeah, you were right, Jeffreys, though you can't blame the rest of us for doubting you. Potter here always has an entourage with him. Who would have expected him to be here, all by himself?"

"I don't have an entourage," Harry objected. "I just have friends."

"Of course you have friends," the first purred, draping a friendly arm around the younger boy's shoulders. "But it made it hard for us to talk with you, in private."

Harry looked at the other boys. They were all tall and athletic, and they now ranged about him in a semi-circle, effectively trapping him. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked, his nervousness increasing. What could a bunch of upper years from a different House want with him?

TBC...

*Chapter 16*: Chapter 16

Harry looked at the other boys. They were all tall and athletic, and they now ranged about him in a semi-circle, effectively trapping him. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked, his nervousness increasing. What could a bunch of upper years from a different House want with him?

Jeffreys smiled wider and gave his shoulders a little squeeze. "What do you know about your father, Potter?"

"My dad?" Harry echoed blankly, wondering if they were talking about James Potter or Professor Snape. "Why?"

"Because I'm curious as to whether you know what an utter wanker he was!" Jeffreys snarled, dropping the friendly mask and shoving Harry hard enough to knock him into one of the other boys.

"He was not!" Harry protested automatically, even as he fought to pull free of the older student. The Ravenclaw held him easily, his hands tightening painfully around Harry's biceps. "Leggo!"

"Not just yet, Potter," Jeffreys smirked. "You got him, Smythe?"

"He's not going anywhere," the boy holding Harry assured him.

"Leggo!" Harry said again, his voice getting louder. "Gerroff me!"

"Silencio!" One of the other two boys waved his wand at Harry and though Harry tried his hardest, no sound came from his throat.

"Thanks, O'Leary. We can't have someone overhearing and crashing our party," Jeffreys said, pretending to pat Harry's head, then giving his hair a nasty yank.

Harry's yelp was тАУ of course тАУ silenced, as was the imprecation he snarled at the other boy.

Jeffers was apparently skilled enough to read lips тАУ at least for that word тАУ and he slapped Harry across the face, hard enough to send his glasses flying.

"Hey, now wait!" the last Ravenclaw burst out, sounding alarmed. "I didn't think you were going to really hurt him!"

"Shut up, Peterson," Jeffreys snapped. "This little toerag's old man sent my father to Azkaban, and I intend to make him pay. Besides, we have him personally to thank for the Dark Lord's defeat, and without that, your uncle and Smythe's parents wouldn't have been chased out of the country by Aurors or killed like O'Leary's mum."

Harry wasn't quite sure what Jeffreys was talking about. He was slowly learning about Voldemort and Death Eaters and what exactly had happened a decade ago when his parents were killed. He understood that Jeffreys held him responsible for something his father had done, and that the other boys' relatives appeared to have been Voldemort supporters who regretted the way the war had turned out. Why exactly that translated into a desire to beat the snot out of him, he didn't understand, but at this point he was past caring about their motivation.

Professor Snape's words about defending himself came back to him, and he grabbed his wand. He couldn't do much with it yet, and Smythe still held him by the arms, but he felt better with it in his hand. "Get OFF!" he yelled again тАУ silently тАУ and threw himself to the side, hoping to wrench himself free.

He got one arm тАУ his wand arm - free and began to flail and kick. Jeffreys cursed and reached for him, getting an elbow in the nose for his pains. Smythe hung onto his one arm like grim death, and O'Leary stepped forward, raising his wand again.

"Accio wand!" shouted Harry, unsure whether he had learned the new spell well enough for it to work, let alone whether it would be effective when he was under a Silencing spell, but to his intense gratification O'Leary's wand jerked uncontrollably and the hex he had been aiming at Harry hit Peterson instead. Peterson went down with a yelp of surprise, both legs locked together, and banged his chin on the floor.

Harry spun around and kicked Smythe hard in the shins, hoping to force him to turn loose, but the older boy punched him in the stomach, and Harry dropped to his knees, gasping for air. He barely managed to keep hold of his wand.

"Good work," Jeffreys panted, wiping the blood off his face and staring at Harry with a murderous expression. "Let's get him up and move someplace nice and quiet."

"Wait," Peterson bleated from the floor where O'Leary was trying to reverse his hex. "What's the point of dragging him away? What do you think will happen to us when he gets back and tells one of the professors what we did to him?"

"He's not going to get back," Jeffreys retorted with such chilling certainty in his tone that Harry knew exactly what he meant, and despite the pain in his stomach, he fought like a wild thing when Jeffreys grabbed his collar.

"Stop that!" A new voice rang out in the corridor, and for an instant, everyone froze. "Fighting in the corridors is prohibited! Hogwarts: A History clearly says so!"

For the first time ever, Harry was delighted to see Hermione Granger, officious know-it-all though she might be. He struggled and waved his arms frantically even as he yelled - inaudibly - at her to run for help.

"Harry? Is that you? What are you doing? You're going to lose us House points if a professor sees you fighting."

Jeffreys stared at the bushy haired girl with disgust. "Get rid of her," he snapped at Smythe, tightening his grip on Harry.

"My pleasure," the other replied with a roll of his eyes. "Move it, ugly," he ordered, looming over the first year.

Hermione stiffened, and she couldn't completely hide the hurt in her tone as she replied stoutly, "I'm not going anywhere without Harry. What are you doing to him? Leave him alone!"

Smythe snarled an extremely rude word and, placing his hand over Hermione's face, shoved with all his strength. She tumbled backwards and yelped as her backside connected painfully with the stone floor. Smythe stood over her and let out an amused chuckle at the tears in her eyes. "Not such a bossy little cow now, are you?" he taunted. Seeing the girl hurt made Harry fight even more strongly, mouthing curses at their attackers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of blond hair, but the small form тАУ was that Malfoy? тАУ wasted no time in quitting the vicinity.

Harry more than half-expected Hermione to flee before the older boy followed up his initial assault, but Hermione was made of sterner stuff than that. She rolled over onto her side, as if she were about to scramble away, but instead she abruptly shot out her foot and kicked Smythe squarely on the side of his kneecap. The large boy let out a howl of agony as his leg flew out from under him тАУ the joint forced in a highly unnatural direction тАУ and he collapsed to the ground. Unfortunately, he fell directly on top of Hermione, who was knocked flat with a squeak of distress.

Jeffreys grabbed Harry by the front of his robes and all but threw him into the wall. The back of Harry's skull cracked against the stone, and the world disappeared for a moment in a blaze of white hot agony. By the time he struggled back to awareness, O'Leary had gotten Peterson back on his feet, and Jeffreys was struggling to pick Harry up bodily. "Get his legs!" he ordered Peterson. "Let's get out of here!"