Harry's Situation

Albus looked at him in confusion at first and then thought he understood "Ah, yes. They do have a tendency to be angry with what they don't understand, so they don't take well to strangers. I imagine you ran into some trouble there." Quinn shook his head. "No, I had no problem getting what I wanted out of his Aunt. It's Harry that's the problem. Have you ever actually seen how they treat him? Didn't you notice something was wrong when he came to Hogwarts without a single trace of fat or muscle on him?"

Albus blinked in confusion "Well his father always was a lanky gentleman, I imagined his son inherited that." This infuriated Quinn. "For Merlin's sake Dumbledore! He's not getting fed by his relatives. He gets locked into his room with padlocks on the door and bars on his window." Dumbledore's eyes widened. He clearly had no idea. "And these are the things that were clear to see. She went up to remove the padlocks within earshot of me, barely trying to hide it. You should have heard her tone when she spoke of him. Imagine how Malfoy would speak of an elf who disregarded his order. That's her tone of speech."

Albus sighed and found the nearest bench. "If what you say is true then I'm afraid I might have failed the boy once again. I assumed Petunia would embrace the last bit left of her sister. Family is everything, right? And I know she claims to hate Magic but she personally applied to go to Hogwarts. Sent me an Owl directly! What kind of a mother would treat their nephew like that…?"

Quinn nodded. "Those were tough times and many mistakes were made. You just happened to be in a position of power at the time. Don't blame yourself too hard, make it right instead! If Sirius gets out he'll want custody of the boy and judging from Harry's expression when he heard he had a godfather...He'd rather live with an ex-con stranger than the Dursleys. Does Black have any close family left to take care of him while he recovers?"

Now a plan was formed in Albus's head. "That's perfect! Most of the Blacks sadly joined the wrong side and turned to powers most should avoid, but Sirius isn't the only black sheep. He has a cousin called Andromeda Tonks." Quirrell recognized the name from one of his favourite students. "Nymphadora's mother?" Albus nodded "The very same. If we can convince her and her husband to move to one of the Black family estates for a while, they could care for Sirius and Harry in a perfectly safe environment! Andromeda did a wonderful job with Nymphadora and I think she's missed her favourite cousin this last decade."

Quinn smiled. "Sounds like an excellent plan. The Dursleys wouldn't make a fuss about signing him over. They seem to want to get rid of him anyway. Nymphadora works on this floor doesn't she? Why not give her a message to give to her mother about the situation. Sirius might like another visitor as well. Especially from family."

Plans were made and Albus left to talk to Nymphadora. As Sirius was still a secret, the Tonks had no idea he was even getting a trial. Quinn wondered what the conversation would be like at that dinner table tonight. He took out a book from an extended bag and started reading. Harry and Sirius wouldn't be done for quite some time he reckoned, so he would probably have the time to pick up a bit of arithmancy. He was almost caught up by now in his classes, but August had already started, so next week would be a week of cramming for his NEWTs and OWLs.

A bit later Albus quietly joined him on the bench and it took another hour for Harry to open the door with a wide smile. "He's getting tired so his healer forced him back to bed." Harry looked at the two and bowed down low "Thank you, both of you, for this! He just instinctively feels like an uncle. I'd love to go to his trial if I'm allowed." Quinn stood up but then Harry's smile finally faltered.

"Am I going back to Privet Drive now?" Quinn looked towards Albus with pleading eyes and he sighed in response. "Go with Quinn to Hogwarts. I believe I will have a word with your relatives. You can stay at Hogwarts until the trial, then we will find an alternative." Harry's smile appeared again as if it was never gone. Quinn wondered if he manipulated the scene like that or if that was just a youthful innocence.

Quinn put a hand on the boy's shoulder and started leading him to the elevators. That's when a thought struck him "Harry..have you been able to send any letters at all so far this summer?" Harry looked questioningly at him and shook his head. "Well you might want to tell your friends you're alright then. Don't mention the trial but you can say that you're spending a week at Hogwarts. Wait, your friend is Ronald Weasley right?"

Once again Harry looked confused as to where he was going with it but nodded. "You could tell his father directly." Quinn stopped them. "His office is right over there. I'm sure he'd be delighted to get a break from his job. Mainly paperwork after all and few ever enter his office."

Harry gulped but nodded. Quinn didn't know that Harry had barely met the Weasley patriarch, so this encounter might get a bit stale. But nevertheless, Harry walked in the direction of the office with Quinn at his back for support. When he knocked on the door that said "Arthur Weasley Head of MoMA" a nice calming voice sounded out. "Come in, a visitor is always welcome!"

When Arthur looked up from his papers to see it was Harry he stood up and beamed at the boy "Harry! How lovely to see you fine and well! The family has been worried sick about you, I do hope everything is alright!" He wrapped Harry in a hug and Harry seemed to release a breath he was holding. "I'm fine now Mr. Weasley, there was some trouble with a house elf so I didn't get any mail until today!"

Arthur let go of the hug and put his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Fascinating creatures, they are. I never understood them, but then again I've never had one. And who's this with you?"

Quinn stepped forward and reached out his hand to shake. "My apologies sir. Quinn Quirrell is the name. I picked up Harry for a bit of shopping earlier today and am now going through the ministry with him, a bit of private business." Arthur understood of course.

"Alright then. How about you two come with me to dinner at our place? I can leave now, and Molly would love to cook for a few extra." Harry quickly interrupted "I don't want to cause any extra work…" Arthur laughed at that and looked the boy in the eyes. "Trust me. Molly would be thrilled to have you, as would I of course! And you Mr. Quirrell look like an upstanding man. Do you know any of my sons?"

Quinn shook his head. "No sir, not personally. I'm transferring to the school in September. Starting my fifth year." Arthur showed a beaming smile and packed up his stuff "Well this is a perfect opportunity for you then! What do you say?" He held his briefcase and looked between the two boys who shared a glance before nodding. "Excellent! Follow me!"

Soon they were apparated to the front door and this house was truly a spectacle. It didn't look like it should remain standing but magic can do incredible things! Room after room had been added onto the original house making it taller and taller and without real structure. It was still beautiful in a way. Arthur led them into the house and yelled out "Molly, Ron! Look what I found!"

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Girthy A/N: As you can see, I won't be doing any bashing in this fic. I'm going with an actual grandfatherly Dumbledore who simply believes too much in people. He truly believed that Petunia would put their differences aside and raise Lily's son like her own. Now when he realized that wasn't the case, he will try to make it up to the boy. He was of course also very distracted, and still is, due to having three full time jobs to uphold and also trying to find a way to kill Riddle. That's why he didn't pay Harry's lanky form more thought than "Oh yeah, his father was also very skinny.".

Call me naive but I don't believe these characters are actually evil. I won't be bashing the Weasleys either, I find the arguments there to be rather stupid. Like the whole thing about "OH yeah? Well then why is she asking her daughter what platform they're going to?" Bruh, every parent does this. They do it for several reasons. Mainly to keep their small children focused and to make sure they remember the place since they will be going there themselves one day. Have your parents never asked you a question when you were small which they clearly knew the answer to just to see if you knew? It's so dumb. Then then whole thing about him falling for Ginny. Well we don't know what happened behind the scenes, and sometimes love doesn't make sense. WHAT?! Love doesn't follow logic? No. It doesn't. (It was also a case of bad character development on Rowling's part..but oh well)

Sorry for the rant, I'll be on my way. Hope you like the story so far! :)