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Chapter 6

The next week flew by quickly as Ben, Kaede, Andy and Jamie had pushed Harry to his limits. Along with Ben and Kaede's insistence of skateboarding and biking practice came Uncle Matt's promise of training, and guitar lessons from the 'band'.

The day after Harry and the girls met Jamie, the blond teen played a track and passed him the lyrics. Harry had blown they al away with his wide range and his ability to almost rough cut his voice to make it raspy. He could also scream/sing perfectly, which Andy informed him was talent.

Ben had been next and had their jaws on the floor with her stunning raw talent and insanely huge vocal range. Jamie had put his new sound board to use by coming up with some music to Harry's song, which he'd named "What's Left of Me."

"We so have to start a band." Kaede said, "Harry can sing lead and play guitar, Ben can play bass and the rest of us can do what we do best."

Andy and Jamie looked at each other and then back and Kaede, speaking in unison, "This will be so cool." Harry laughed and agreed while Ben sat down with a sheet of paper and began to write some lyrics. After about a half-hour of complete silence, Harry spoke up.

"Hey, Jamie?" Harry asked, "What's your story?"

Jamie sighed and put down his pencil. "You mean, where is my father?"

Harry's lips quirked, "Yeah, that too."

Jamie smiled, but it seemed a little strained. "Well, you know my mum doesn't have the best self-esteem."

"Doesn't mean we don't love her." Ben put in.

Jamie grinned, "Yeah, well Andy probably told you about my mum's night job. Mr. Malfoy decided he wanted to have a fourteen-year-old stripper at his stag party and here I am." He said bitterly.

"Sorry," Harry said, looking to the floor. "I didn't mean to bring up anything bad."

Jamie shrugged and pulled out a back of cigarettes. "You do know that's bad for you." Kaede said sternly. Jamie only shrugged and went back to his music, blocking out anything else with his new sound-proof headphones.

Another ten minutes later, Harry threw down his pencil and cried "Done!" into the silence. Ben giggled and Kaede quickly followed, only to be laughed at by the boys.

"Let's hear it, then." Andy said, leaning back in his chair. He slapped Jamie upside the head, making the blond boy put the headphones around his neck and look up.

Harry picked up his guitar that was already hooked up. "I want a tune like this," Harry played out a rough tune with a few odd high notes, but it was a great melody all-in-all. "I'm naming it "Had Enough", I think." Harry pulled his page of lyrics towards him and began to sing the chorus:

You had to have it all.

Well, have you had enough?

You greedy little bastard, you will get what you deserve

When all is said and done, I will be the one

To leave you in your misery to hate what you've become.

"Wow," Ben said after a moment. "What spurred those thoughts?"

"Yeah, if your looks alone don't scream 'I hate the world'." Jamie said, but a grin that resembled a smirk showed he wasn't serious.

Harry shrugged. "The song is sort of dedicated to Voldemort."

Ben threw back her head and laughed. Harry gave her an odd look that only made her laugh harder. When she finally gained the ability to speak, she choked, "Harry, I think you're the only person to ever dedicate a song to a Dark Lord."

"Well," Harry shrugged, "I figure that people write songs about people they hate and he's my enemy . . ." Harry trailed off and shrugged. Everyone shook their heads helplessly and went back to work, while Jamie put in a new disk to put the foundations down to Harry's song.

Harry looked around at his newfound friends and smiled to himself. Words began to flow through his head and Harry began to write . . .

Cause I have found a click to call my own.

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Harry fell to the mat for what seemed to be the millionth time the past hour. "Get up!" Matt shouted, "Do you think Death Eaters will wait for you to catch your breath? I can see it now 'Excuse me, Mr. Voldy, think you could hold that AK for one minute while I take a breather?'" Sometime during the past few weeks 'Uncle Matt' had changed to plain old 'Matt.' The instructor had also felt that Harry needed extra lessons that involved magic as well as fists. Harry's rules were that he could use his magic – if he could do it wandlessly. Meanwhile, Matt used a combination of karate, street fighting, and magical duelling. Harry felt like he was being run to the ground and Matt's justification? Harry worked well under pressure.

Gritting his teeth, Harry pushed himself up and fell into a now natural fighting position. He ducked from a stunner and steadily moved, through ducks and kicks, closer to his opponent. When he got close enough, Matt holstered his wand and began to deal out a few blows.

Harry subconsciously believed that he was getting better – at least he wasn't getting at many bruises. That, in itself, was a huge accomplishment. In a sudden epiphany, Harry faked a right and dropped into a swipe at the heals. Matt fell to the ground as Harry did a back flip to stand over his waist. Harry fell back a bit so his knees trapped Matt's thighs to the ground and his fist stopped an inch from Matt's jaw.

Both sat perfectly still, chests heaving, until Matt chuckled. "Good job, kid." Matt said, as Harry stood up. Harry pulled Matt to his feet and grinned up at his mentor. Matt gave a small smile and Harry felt a burst of pride and a huge grin spread across his face.

One sentence fell out of Matt's mouth that made Harry's smile fall faster than a dive on his Firebolt: "Now do it again."

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"Well you look like shit." Ben said as soon as Harry stepped into the pain training room. The girls were tying their shoes and hefting their bags over their shoulders. "Andy got a call on his cell from Mum Lena who said someone wanted to talk to him. They went ahead. Jamie said they'd meet us by the skate park."

Harry groaned, "Honestly? If you think I can take one more fall, then you've lost your bloody mind."

Ben giggled, "You Brits have really funny cuss words, you know that?"

Harry scowled playfully, "You Yanks have really funny accents, you know that?"

Ben laughed and shoved him in the shoulder, causing him to stumble, which only made the girls laugh harder. "Hey, guys?" Kaede said, gaining the other two's attention, "I forgot something back home, so you two run ahead."

Harry shrugged, "Sure, why not?" Ben glared at Kaede while the blonde girl only wiggled her eyebrows with a grin and backed out the door. Harry glanced at Ben and fought down a blush, finally realizing what Kaede was doing. She was leaving them together so they could 'talk'. He didn't want to make anything awkward, so he grinned and said, "Let's go, then. We could probably grab a quick lunch on the way."

Ben nodded, relaxing significantly, and led them out of the training centre.

"What was your orphanage like?" Harry asked quietly, grasping at straws to get her attention away from her embarrassment.

It worked. "No good," Ben replied gloomily. "Everyone hated Kaede, and when I came in they automatically hated me for being her friend. Mum was the best, though. She taught me a few languages, you know." Harry looked interested, so she smiled and continued. "I know French, German, Italian, and Spanish." Harry gaped and she laughed.

"Can you teach me?" Harry asked eagerly.

Ben nodded and smiled. "I'll start with French."

They continued down the block, Ben chatting in French as she said the best way for him to learn was complete submission. Harry didn't think it would work, but was trying his best to understand what she was saying. She would translate once in a while if she had said something important. A shadow suddenly passed over them and Harry looked up to see his snowy owl.

"Hedwig?" The owl swooped down and landed on his shoulder. "There you are. I assume you went to Ron or Hermione's first?" The owl nipped his ear as if she were annoyed. "Sorry. Moving to London was almost a spur-of-the-moment thing. You know where I am now, though." Hedwig bobbed her head in a nod and put out her foot, on which a letter was tied.

Harry pulled the letter off and Hedwig hopped to Ben's shoulder. "Oh, Hedwig, this is Ben. Ben, this is my stunning owl I've told you about." Hedwig puffed up with praise and Ben laughed. Harry chuckled as he looked down at the letter. He expected a letter from Ron or Hermione about how he shouldn't grieve for Sirius and that they couldn't tell him anything. What he wasn't expecting was a letter from Dumbledore. He frowned as he read aloud:

Dear Harry,

You have caused quite a stir in the Order. There must be a charm that you unintentionally placed to keep magical people you know avoid you.

When you didn't send a letter, some of us travelled to your home to see what was wrong. Rest assured, you won't be going back.

Please tell us where you are or at least take off the charm.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

How dare he? Harry was fuming. For the past week or so Voldemort had been trying to find where the Boy-Who-Lived was, and Harry had been putting up a good fight. The meditation Matt taught him helped the headaches drastically. And though Harry was getting stronger, he wouldn't be able to fight ol' Snake Face face-to-face, or rather eye-to-eye. Now, the Dark Tosser was resorting to some old-fashioned tricks.

Ben put a hand on his tense forearm, calming him instantly. "Rhett – Harry, what's wrong?"

Harry teeth grinded as he growled, "Voldemort's being a right bloody bastard, that's what's wrong." Ben pulled Harry to a bench and laid him down so his head was in her lap. "He sent a letter that's charmed to look like Dumbledore's handwriting," Harry closed his eyes as Ben ran her fingers through his hair soothingly, "the bastard."

"How do you know it wasn't Dumbledore?" Ben asked logically. "It could just be a letter with no strings attached."

"No," Harry sighed, his anger drained. "Dumbledore doesn't know anything about the Dursleys. He wouldn't send people to look for me, either. He doesn't know much about my home life. He could; I mean he's Albus Dumbledore! He can know almost anything he wants to, but he just chose not to know about this." Harry shrugged and took on a lighter tone when Ben's fingers tightened in anger in his hair. "Really, it's nothing."

Ben growled, "No it's not. If I ever meet Albus Dumbledore, I think I'll kill him."

Harry snorted, "Stand in line. I think Moldy Shorts has first dibs."

Ben chuckled softly. "He probably does."

Harry opened his eyes and finally realized exactly where his head was. A blush rushed to his face and he quickly sat up, only to bump heads with Ben. They both cussed rather vibrantly and gave each other shocked looks before bursting into laughter. Standing up, they walked down the sidewalk to the nearest place to eat.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Ben nervously reach out her right hand for his left, but she quickly lost her nerve. Gathering up his so called 'Gryffindor Courage', Harry pulled her hand into his and wound their fingers together. Ben looked up to him, as he was only a bit taller, and smiled brightly. Harry's heart beat fiercely in his chest and he smiled back.

They made it to the same pizza place they ate at before and Harry let go of her hand to pull open the door. Ben gave him another smile that was as bright as the sun

He followed her into the shop and a potential song began to flow through his head . . .

Tell me what we got; tell me it's a lot,

Tell me it's the real thing

Tell me not to change and always be the same; tell me it's a good thing,

It's a good thing