Chapter 2- Escape

Harry awoke the next morning, wondering if last night had only been a dream. but all it took was a quick glance over his shoulder to see his shapely ass and feel the lack of glasses on his face to know it wasn't.

Getting out of bed Harry remembered what his "mate" had told him the night before, how he should leave and come and live with him. The idea really appealed to him now to do so. It felt right to him that he should live in his mate's house where he could protect him.

He did not know where those feelings and thoughts were coming from, he normally would argue against anyone protecting him but him mate doing so just felt right like that is how it should be.

Harry pulled himself from him thoughts as he looked around and knew he'd need to pack, if he was going to make a quick getaway, he didn't want to waste time later. And so with that in mind Harry began to pack everything that he considered to be important into his trunk, thankful that the Dursley's had actually let him keep it this year instead of locking it up like they had after his first year.

It wasn't long after he was done that, he heard movement about the rest of the house, the Dursley's were waking up. 'Okay, I'll bide my time until Vernon is gone, with him gone at least there will be no car here for them to come after me with, that's if they even would, but I wouldn't put it past Vernon to try to run me over if I left before him and we accidentally crossed paths' Harry planned inside him head.

It wasn't long after that until he heard the locks of his door being undone and Petunia pushed the door open glaring in at him, "Boy, you have five minutes and then I expect you down stairs making breakfast" she said as she glared at him for a moment longer.

If she noticed the change in his appearance, she didn't show it and after just a moment more walked away to get himself ready for the day.

Once she was gone Harry moved quickly as he went to the bathroom and washed up after taking care of him morning business before going downstairs to make a start on breakfast.

Meal times in the Dursley's always meant large portions for everyone but him, scrambled eggs, beans, toast, bacon, sausages all in large amounts stacked on plates and out on the table in less than twenty minutes when Dudley and Vernon finally came down the stairs to eat.

While they got huge portions all he managed to scrounge together for himself was a single sausage, a spoon full of beans and scrambled egg, all put together on a single bit of cold unbuttered toast. But it was delicious.

While the others eat Harry made himself scarce in the kitchen by washing up the pots and pans being quick about it before excusing himself to start to tend to the garden. They were all too busy eating to pay him much attention.

Harry spent the next half an hour tending to the garden and enjoying the work finding it relaxing but at the same time a little sad, he knew that with any luck this would be the last time he would tend to this garden and he knew that it would only go to ruin with Petunia seeing to it. The woman was completely useless in the garden as well as in the kitchen, the only reason the garden looked as well as it did was from his hard work.

However Harry found himself smiling as a thought came to his mind, 'Maybe Dudley and Vernon might actually start to lose weight when all they have to eat is her cooking' he could just picture the looks on both their faces when they realised that was a consequence of him leaving.

Petunia had to cook one day in the past when he was too sick to do so and she didn't want him infecting them by handling their food. It had been a complete disaster, not one bit of food hadn't been burned or dried out. He suspected that she could be the only person alive who could actually burn water.

Those thoughts kept Harry smiling as he worked until he heard the familiar sound of Vernon's car starting and driving off.

Once he heard it, he casually glanced back to the house to see Petunia glaring at him out the kitchen window. So, he continued to work, taking sparing glances back at the house until she went off to do something else. The second he noticed her not there he dropped whatever he was doing and sprinted back inside not caring about his dirty shoes and snuck back up to his room to grab his things, it was time to leave.

Getting up to his room he went to the window and opened it before opening Hedwig's cage, "go on girl, go fly, come and find me later" he told her as she gave him a small hoot before taking off into the air and flying away.

With that done Harry shoved her cage into his trunk and forced the lid closed before he began to pull it out of him room and towards the stairs, he knew he couldn't quietly take it down so just made a break for it not caring now, he was going to leave and they couldn't stop him.

He met Petunia at the bottom of the stairs with a hard look on him face, "And just what do you think you're doing" she said before eyeing him trunk on the stairs behind him.

His response was to push past her towards the front door, "Leaving this hell hole" he said as he passed her and pulled the front door open before marching out with him trunk trailing behind as he walked out the drive and onto the street before picking a direction and kept going.

As he was walking his heart was hammering in him ears, he had done it, he had left the Dursleys. He felt elated to finally be out of that house and away from those people but knew that he was not free just yet. Dumbledore would be disappointed in him for leaving like this, and he could already hear Hermione getting ready to scold him for being so reckless.

And as much as he cared about both of their opinions, they did not have to live there with those people. He knew Hermione would be upset with him but would eventually understand why he did what he was doing, she was like a sister to him. Dumbledore would understand as well, while he had never told him the worse things that had happened at the Dursleys he knew the man he looked up to like a Grandfather understood that he didn't like it there and wanted to leave, he would just have to understand.

Harry kept walking down the street until him feet began to get sore and he found himself getting tired and decided to take a break putting him trunk down and using it for a seat as he thought on just what to do next. Maybe he should contact his mate. It sounded strange thinking that in him head but at the same time it felt right, yes, his mate would know what to do.

But the thing he realised just then, he didn't know how to do that, and for the next ten minutes tried various things, trying to call out in him mind, talking to himself, feeling various emotions to try and get his attention through their bond that he claimed they possessed, and nothing happened

He was beginning to get really frustrated and upset, was his mate ignoring him, had he done something wrong to make him not want to talk to him, had he found someone else. These thoughts only made him more upset and he wanted to curl up and cry at the thought, but suddenly felt the same sensation as the night before as Orion's voice sounded in him mind.

'What troubles you little one,' Orion asked with concern in his voice.

Hearing his voice Harry let out a sigh of relief, 'I was trying to contact you, but I didn't know how' he explained.

'I'm sorry little one, I should have walked you through that last night before I sent you to get some sleep' Orion apologised, 'Close your eyes and I'll do so now'

Harry nodded and did so waiting patiently for Orion's instruction.

'First look within yourself, feel out for where my voice is coming from' Orion instructed, 'feel for my presence inside you'.

Harry nodded and began to do so it took him a few minutes, but he found it, a small feeling in the back of him mind. he could feel it was warm, protective, wild and strong, feeling it's presence made Harry begin to purr subconsciously.

Orion chuckled, 'yes that is me little one, it is our bond that makes us destined for one another' he explained.

Harry nodded as he began to feel around the presence in the back of his mind and paused as he felt other similar presences in the back of him mind, 'Orion, I can feel others there is more than one bond'

Orion was silent for a moment before sighing, 'yes little one, I suspected as much, they are your other mates'.

'Other mates!' Harry thought in shock as he began to process that and explored the other presences in the back of his mind, 'one... two… there are four, four others aside from you, but they feel weaker'

Orion sighed in his mind again, 'five then, you will have five mates in all'.

'Five!' Harry thought not sure how to feel about this, having five mates, he had only just started talking with Orion and now he was meant to have four others, 'but, but why?!'

'It is likely due to how powerful you are or will become' Orion explained, 'I'm sorry little one, I suspected this was the case last night when you told me you had four tails. Each tail a kitsune is said to have represents how powerful they will become, and the more powerful the submissive the more dominants they need to both ensure their sanity and to ensure they can conceive when the time comes'

Harry blushed at the idea of him becoming pregnant, he had learned about the possibility for wizards to become pregnant like women during his last year, but pushed past that idea to ask, 'what do you mean my sanity'.

'You are powerful James, and you will become more so in the future, what you went through last night when you gained your creature inheritance was what was called your first majority. It is when a witch or a wizard reaches a certain age and their magical core suddenly increases drastically in strength, it was that increase that awoke your creature blood' Orion lectured, 'typically a witch or wizard will go through two or three majorities in their lives, more depending on how long they live. For submissive creatures, their magic is unstable in a way, it is bound to their creature nature, your animal instincts. When you grow older and reach the age where your body and magic are ready to bare children your instincts will push you in that way. And because your magic is so powerful you will need multiple dominants to ensure you become pregnant, the longer you go without the more agitated your inner creature will become and the more wild your magic will react. Eventually you will lash out and attempt to kill what mates you have, your creature seeing them as the reason for you not being with child, and it will only get worse from there'.

Harry remained silent as he listened, he was shocked hearing that he would kill anyone, but thought back to the strange feelings he had been having about having a mate and having children and realised that had been what Orion was describing as him creature instincts.

'But… why five, if I only have four tails' Harry asked after listening.

'Because of how powerful you are or will become, Kitsune do not typically grow more tails later in life so I believed that there would only be three others, I suspect the fourth will be your grounding mate, it will only take four of us to ensure that when the time comes you can conceive but the fifth will be there to ensure that the last of your wild magic is kept in check, they will be just as important as the rest of us' Orion calmly explained.

Harry sighed, 'things always have to be so complicated for me,' he said feeling like fate was picking on him again.

Orion smiled through their bond, 'it's just something that most teenage witches and wizards have to go through, I received my creature inheritance last year when I was fourteen, it will become more natural as time goes by' he told him.

Harry blushed hearing that, 'Um that means that you are older than me, I only just turned thirteen'.

Orion seemed to hum at that fact, 'You are starting your third year then, interesting, I am about to begin my fifth' he stated.

Harry nodded to himself, 'Do you go to Hogwarts?' he asked remembering how he did not seem confused about him thoughts the night before about the sorting hat.

'I do,' Orion replied, 'I am in Ravenclaw house'.

'Oh, then we likely wouldn't have met before, I'm in Gryffindor' he said resulting in a chuckle in the back of him mind.

'I see, so you are going to prove to be a little handful, are you?' Orion chuckled.

Harry blushed again hearing that, 'Um what do you mean by that?'

Orion chuckled, 'you're a Gryffindor Kitsune, Gryffindor alone are known to be boisterous and troublemakers, and Kitsune are also known to be mischievous and pranksters even before the undergo their inheritance, are you not the same?' he said, sounding amused.

Harry felt his blush reach new heights as he remembered that he was exactly that, how he had been roped in by the Weasley twins a few times in the past on their pranks over the years.

Orion chuckled again at his lack of response, 'your silence is telling little one, but between the five of us dominants we should be able to keep you safe and still let you have your fun' he teased.

Harry blushed and mentally nodded as he started to calm down, 'um you feel awfully calm about this, knowing that there will be four others with me besides yourself.'

Orion sighed in him mind, 'I, myself, personally do not mind it. I understand the reason behind it and know it could be worse. It is my creature side that has a slight irritation on the matter, as I said it is rather possessive and wants you for itself, it will calm down in time'.

Harry frowned at that but nodded, 'um how could it be worse?' he asked, not understanding.

Orion shrugged in his mind, 'you could need more, I believe the recorded highest number of mates that a Kitsune Submissive needed still stands at nine. So counting myself as one of five instead makes me feel a bit better, you are well above average little one, kitsune's are a rare species and the average tail count and subsequent strength is only two or three tails, knowing that I am destined to be with a submissive as strong as you makes my creature very pleased'

Harry blanked most of what he said out after hearing about the most number of dominants had by one of him kind, he couldn't even fathom that, 'how is that even possible, having nine others?'

Orion chuckled, 'while it is true that only the submissive or females can get pregnant little one, you can only take so much, at times like that us dominants help each other out by bottoming or topping for the others, usually it's decided who does what by our hierarchy that is decided in order to keep our inner creatures in check'

Harry nodded as he realized that it wouldn't only be him on the receiving end all the time, as he knew he'd likely be pretty sore if that was the case, 'um you keep mentioning out inner creatures, what exactly do you mean by that.'

'Exactly that, everyone who comes into a creature inheritance has an inner creature, but it's less of another being and more like instincts that you inherited along with your creature traits to help you survive and to continue the species,' Orion explained, 'they will become more prominent when you get older, always trust your instincts little one, they will help to guide you in times of need.'

'I think I understand,' Harry said after a moment, 'I think this is actually why I'm taking this all so calmly, when I should be freaking out, all this talk about mates and creatures just seems right to me'

Orion smiled through their link, 'that is natural for a submissive, that's your creature instincts urging you to find your mates for your own protection, as well as to have children. Even though you aren't ready to have them just yet.'

'How does that even work,' Harry asked then blushed when he realised how that sounded, 'I mean I know how it works I'm just...' Harry began to worry about the idea of him giving birth, and how exactly he would do so, only for the warm feeling to wash over him again from Orion to calm him down.

'Relax little one, you will know when the time comes, your instincts will help and your magic will do the rest, but that is in the far future, you aren't ready to have children yet nor go into heat' Orion explained to him.

'Heat?' Harry asked hearing the term he knew what it was supposed to mean for animals but hoped it didn't mean the same for him.

Orion chuckled hearing his tone, 'it's as it sounds little one, when your core reaches your second majority between the ages of sixteen and eighteen they will start, it's different for every submissive, your body will become extremely fertile for a period of time when your instincts drive you to mate in order to conceive, durations of heat periods and the time between them vary between species and individuals but there are always warning signs of when a heat will be coming on, I have a number of books on the subject and your species. I will have them ready for you if you want to learn more by yourself'.

'Thank you,' Harry said, hearing that his mind was still spinning but he knew he would have to figure this stuff out, it was his life now. 'I guess this is what it's like having a Ravenclaw mate'.

Orion gave a bark of laughter over their link, 'cheeky little thing aren't you' he teased before commenting, 'so what was it that you wished to contact me about originally?'

Hearing the question jogged Harry's memory and made him want to slap himself for getting distracted, 'right sorry, I got distracted' he apologised, 'I've left my relatives but right now I have no idea where to go, I've gotten a fair distance away but I have no idea where to go or how to get there I was hoping you would have a suggestion'

Hearing his situation Orion chuckled, 'I see, that's good, do you have any money on you, magical not muggle'.

'I do,' Harry replied standing up from his trunk only to open it and fish out the couple of galleons he had left over from what he had taken from his vault the year before, 'two gallons'

'Good,' Orion said, 'that will be more than enough for a trip on the Knight bus, not the most comfortable travel option but as you don't have access to a floo nor a portkey and we're both too young to apparate then this is the only option'

'Knight bus?' Harry thought back, confused about just what it was, he didn't think the magical world had buses like the muggle world, he was also confused about just what the other methods of magical travel were that Orion mentioned.

'Oh, right, sorry,' Orion apologised remembering that his mate was a muggle raised, 'you probably have never used any of those before'.

'Only floo travel, I stayed the last week or so at a magical friend's house last summer and we used the floo network to get to Diagon alley' Harry thought sheepishly, 'I may or may not have had a slight problem with a pronunciation and ended up down Knockturn alley instead'

Orion chuckled, 'well that's certainly a story for you to tell me all about some other time' he mused, 'but let's focus on hand at the moment, the knight bus is an emergency transport for stranded witches or wizards in Britain, it can take you anywhere you need to go in magical Britain' he explained.

'Even Hogwarts?' Harry asked curious at the concept of the knight bus.

'Hmmm, I'm not sure if it can, but I think it would at least take you to Hogsmeade, the village just outside Hogwarts boundaries. But that would be a rather costly trip, and a very rough and long one at that' Orion mused, 'it would just be simpler and quicker to take the public floo in the leaky cauldron to the one in the three broomsticks pub or the hogs head in Hogsmeade, cheaper as well'

Hearing that Harry frowned and had a sudden urge to slap Ron the next time he saw him, given how there was every chance that he had known all about the knight bus and yet still insisted they take that bloody insane flying car. While yes it had been exhilarating, the fact he had nearly fallen out of the thing when they were almost crushed by the express had been less than fun.

'Anyway, in order to call for the Knight bus you need to hold your wand out and up into the air and push your magic into it' Orion instructed, 'once you do make sure to step back as the bus moves rather fast and will arrive just as fast. Best to do it somewhere isolated so that no muggles happen to see you.'

Harry sighed as he got up off his trunk, 'Okay, thanks, I'll need to walk a bit further then, I'm still in view of some of the houses around here'

'It's not a problem little one, I'm here to help,' Orion told him before thinking for a moment, 'Fair warning though, the Knight bus can be a very rough ride, I would advise you taking a seat as soon as you are on board and holding on as tight as you can.'

Harry paused as he lifted his trunk when he heard the warning and frowned, 'thanks for the warning I guess, but it's not that I have much choice in the matter, the only other option would be for me to take my broom, but I don't think that I'd be able to find my way to the leaky cauldron on my own, even with my invisibility cloak keeping the muggles from seeing me'

Harry felt the sudden shock over their link moments after he thought that as Orion spoke next, 'You have an invisibility cloak? How… why… you know what… we're definitely going to have a long chat when we final meet face to face, I haven't even seen you yet and you're already proving to be very interesting~'

Harry felt his cheeks heat up at his comment but pushed his embarrassment back down as he started walking, 'S-Speaking of which,' he thought back desperate to change the topic, 'when will that be, will you be meeting me at the Leaky cauldron?'

Orion sighed, 'Sadly not little one, at least not right away, I have matters to attend to for the rest of this evening, but I will be coming to get you first thing tomorrow morning and we can talk more then, in the meantime you should have enough money to see to getting yourself a room for the night as well as a your meals until then, tomorrow I will treat you to brunch out'

Harry smiled hearing that, 'that sounds great' he said back as his steps quickened slightly looking forward to meeting him all the more now.

Orion chuckled, 'I'm glad you like the idea, we can spent the time getting to know one another before we start looking for your other mates, we don't have to find them right away, but the sooner we do the better'

'Alright,' Harry replied as he reached the outskirts of Little Whinging and looked around to make sure that no one was around before taking his wand out and raising it into the air, 'See you soon then'

'See you soon little one, be safe' Orion's voice sounded before falling silent as the tip of Harry's wand lit up.