A/N: This chapter will be the accommodation between Sirius and Dumbledore and then Harry's childhood in two worlds.

By the way, the name Bradley Manning I used here had no relation at all with that American soldier who leaks military secrets which then changed his gender and is now Chelsea Manning.

...

Sirius and Gideon went on for another meeting with Dumbledore a month after Sirius' own recovery with the Greengrasses in Joseph Chang's Blue Dragon restaurant, in one of its private quarters, about the living arrangement of Harry Potter.

"Alright, Albus, care to explain how do you believe that he should be in close proximity with his aunt? Yes, my action maybe was rash back then thanks to my own perception, and to make all things clear, I'll listen to your explanations." 

"Gideon is right, and I think we will have an accommodation with each other. Frank and Alice had entrusted me with this undertaking, and they will agree with every deal that resulted from this. For sake of Harry."

"Does Severus know about this, Albus?"

"He knows this, but due to his other responsibilities, he won't be able to be with us today... Well, let's get to what I have seen that you two might not be months prior to the attack in Godric's Hollow. This book that I brought here, Ancient Familial Protection Spells, explained what I am trying to explain to you, Sirius, back then. I am bringing this here as our families are all old ones, I believe this could make you understand my point better. Besides, you had told me that people can change including the Dursleys, isn't it?"

Sirius nodded, then the three wizards opened the book to a chapter with title Sibling Blood Protection Spell.

"As you see, this spell was so ancient and I believe this will render Harry almost immune from the threat of Dark Wizards that are still on the loose. Also, sorry to tell you this, I postulated that the recent Death Eater attempt against the Longbottoms has, in some degree, along with his possible candidate of the child in the prophecy, a relation of they being Harry's adoptive parents now. Their wards are good, strong, and ancient, and I believe they will rear him well, but this spell is significantly stronger with Hogwarts' wards system is it's only known peer in terms of strength. Love indeed matters."

Sirius and Gideon nodded and being from ancient families, began to understand more.

"I think we are closer to a deal here, gentlemen. Sirius, in return of your willingness to talk to me, you will have unlimited access to Harry, as well as Remus, as he grows aware of magic with the Longbottoms, but still mostly living in the Muggle world."

"Speaking of his need to be closer to his aunt, I have from my contacts that in Privet Drive, there's a house here" Gideon pointed a map he obtained from the said contact in the Muggle world "which is sold by its owner awaiting buyers, and we need to move fast, as the said Muggle buyer is bankrupt and in need of some quick cash. Don't worry about the money, though, as back during my times in hiding. I have exchanged some of my galleons to Muggle money."

"Excellent, Gideon. Let's get this house, Professor, for Harry." 

"Agreed, we had reached our accommodation, and it's time to pay for Mr. Chang's hospitality here.." said Dumbledore.

...

In short, after several rounds of meetings with their friends, along with Dumbledore, and orientations about living in the Muggle world by Gideon, Sirius, and Arthur, one year later, the Longbottoms moved into the said house, with the number 17, in 4 Privet Drive, Surrey, situated almost exactly across the Dursley's house. From the outside, the house looks similar to other houses in the typical middle-class neighbourhood, but it has wards in order for muggles to be not aware of any magical related signs from inside and other enhancements, including a magically hidden greenhouse with muggle and magical plants alike thanks to Neville's strong interest in Herbology.

Meanwhile, Joseph Chang and his family also moved to nearby London, where the Blue Dragon had its branch in Diagon Alley.

While his adopted parents, Sirius, Gideon, and also Snape often told him about the reason he has to be in the muggle world. 

Harry soon found out that he had an easier time in the magical environment compared to the neighboring muggle kids, playing together, and be closer with Neville and his sister, Marianne Diana Longbottom, born in January 1983, and other magical kids that often visited him and vice versa such as the Weasleys' children; Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Percy, Bill, and Charlie. Then Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius' niece; Susan Bones and her brother, David Edwin Bones, born in May 1982; Alexander Fabian Prewett, born in August 1983 and the son of Gideon Prewett and his wife Edith; 

Cho Chang; Luna Lovegood, whose parents are good friends with Gideon; Neville's cousins Daphne and Astoria Greengrass and their close friends, Tracey Davis and her younger brother Edmund; 

It's greatly annoyed him

Part of their blending with the muggle world including attending a local muggle school, while Remus, living with the Changs, remained Harry, Neville, and Marianne's after-school paid tutor which visited them every Tuesday, focusing with magical related lessons and some muggle ones too, such as Math and Science.

Somehow, Cho, Ron, and Ginny showed interest to attend muggle school as well. After a week and several discussions, it was decided by the adults to enroll Harry, Susan, David, Neville, Ron, Ginny, Marianne (in her insistence to be with her brother), and Cho in the local primary school. With a few tricks, the adults created the story (which was true) was that the children had been homeschooled, but because they were going to attend boarding school one day and eventually comprehensive school to prepare them for university education in the long run, it was decided to get them used to a school setting.

So when term started in September, Harry, Susan, Neville, Cho, and Ron are in a third-grade class under Ms. Hemsley, Marianne in the first grade under Ms. Croft, while Ginny and David are in a second grade under Mrs. Rigg.

As they were new to the school, their fellow classmates gave them curious looks when their teachers had them introduce themselves. Some soon showed their less welcoming gaze when, in Harry's class, she did a review on what the class had learned in the previous grade and it became clear that the five, due to being homeschooled, were a bit advanced. In fact, only one other student, a girl with bushy brown hair, could keep up with those five, and she got even more dirty looks from their classmates.

However, as Harry and his friend didn't actively show off their knowledge the way the said brunette, named Hermione Granger, did, which also agreed with the second and first graders in the group, the unwelcoming looks abated. In fact, by recess, the third and second grade class which contained the newcomers mostly warmed up to them, especially as Ron and Harry, along with second-grader Ginny, despite her own embarrassment if Harry was in close proximity to her, and David proved to be good at kicking a football around, while Neville and Cho were a good runner and for Cho, also a good tennis player. Susan, along with the first-grader Marianne, chose to sit with Hermione and talk with her.

After ten minutes, one of the other girls saw the three and asked, "Hey, why are you with the bookworm and teacher's pet, Susan, and what's your name? You shouldn't be with her. Come join us."

"Marianne, Marianne Longbottom," she said, as she could feel about the group's intention to her newly found friend, while Susan looked coolly at the girl and her group of friends, then said, "No thank you. Hermione is very nice and I like her. Also, I don't make friends with people without manners like you lot."

Hermione, who had turned red, muttered, "It's all right. You're better off being friends with Mikaela and her group, Susan. I said earlier that most of the other students don't like me."

"But you're a nice girl, Hermione," Susan reassured her. "So what if you like to read? I do too, and all of my friends also don't mind a good book. And my mum and dad taught me to be polite to others, and so did my friends' parents."

"Me too, Hermione" added Marianne.

A few of the boys drifted over. "Susie Goosey," one of them taunted, causing the others to laugh and congratulate him for coming up with the nickname. "That's what you are if you're going to be friends with the Nerdy Hermy. Maybe you could start your own bookworm club for losers!"

Harry, Neville, Ron, Cho, David, and Ginny came over. "Hey, don't call Susan names!" Ron snapped.

"Who in the world are you so you can treat my little sister like that?" Neville added. 

"Yeah, you are hurting my big sister!" David pointed out.

"Where are your manners?" Ginny looked at them with a sharp gaze of her own.

"And don't tease Hermione either!" Harry retorted. After hearing from Severus Snape, that he called Uncle, about how he had been teased back in school and only Lily had stood up for him, Harry and his friend are strongly against any bullies.

"Hey, Scarhead, you're siding with them?" asked one of the boys, the chubby one. It's Harry's own cousin, Dudley, incredulously. "I thought you were cool." All of the boy's eyes are with Harry now.

"Dudley, you again," said Harry, while Cho can only sigh, knowing what could happen.

Harry's relation with Dudley was rough, as Vernon had fallen to hard times with his job and fell to alcoholism as the result. Furthermore, he also somehow figured out that Harry and the Longbottoms are magical and thanks to him did not have such ability, he became hostile to it. Petunia had considered divorcing him several times, but somehow she stays put with her marriage. 

Thankfully, she found her new neighbour, Frank and Alice, to be a good friend and was slowly and surely accepting Harry of who he is.

"Yes, Susan is our friend," he said firmly. "So, Dudley, back off. The same goes for the rest of you." All of Harry's friends nodded in agreement.

"Why should I?" one of Dudley's friends, named Bradley Manning, snapped. "Nerdy Hermy's a teacher's pet, and weird. You're all a bunch of losers for siding with her, and I mean it." Bradley pointed at Harry. "Including you, Susie Goosey"

"Don't ever call Susan that!" Hermione snapped, glaring at Bradley. He opened his mouth to retort, but before he could, he ended up falling backward onto the ground, as if he had been shoved.

"Who pushed me? I will beat whoever do this!" Bradley demanded as he got to his feet, but his friends all agreed that no one had touched him, or seen anyone that had. Harry and his friends exchanged looks because they knew that Bradley's fall was due to accidental magic, but for obvious reasons, they won't tell the entire school.

"Lads, Ms. Hemsley is coming at us!"

Mikaela pointed out that the said teacher, young and kind but also the sternest one in the school, was looking in their direction, so the group decided to save their own skin by leaving the newcomers and Hermione alone, for now.

The boys sat down with Susan, Cho, Ginny, Marianne, and Hermione. "I hate bullies," Harry said. "One of my uncles, Uncle Sev, told me that he used to be teased at school, and only my mum, who was his friend, would stand up for him. So, Hermione, want to join our group of friends? You seem nice, and Susan likes you, Marianne, too."

"We could use another girl in our group," Cho added. "The only girls I'm friends with alongside Susan, Marianne, and Ginny, are Ginny's friend, Luna, along with Daphne and Tracey, but they're not as close."

"Really, you all want me being your friend?" asked Hermione, as she started to fidget. "The other kids won't like it, and will tease you a lot as they do with me just for being friends with me."

"Shhh, don't cry. Listen, We don't care," said Ron, patting Hermione's head. "Our parents and other adults in our lives taught us to be polite and not make fun of other people. And we think you're are just like us."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione. "I'm just really smart and like to read a lot even things beyond my age." 

"Umm, has anything odd happened whenever you got mad or very happy, or something?" David asked. "Like when Bradley fell a few minutes ago, but nobody shoved him or anything."

Hermione nodded. "Lots of times. I also once made a magazine float towards me from a table in my house, without my parents, both dentists, knowing it. I think maybe I am a special one, like Matilda which can move things around just with her own mind."

As the group all know and read that said book by Roald Dahl, in which prior to his literary career, was an intelligence officer and ace fighter pilot in World War II, they understood what Hermione was referring to. However, before they can explain it further the bell rings, ending the break period. After the classes for the day ended, the group and Hermione went into a relatively secluded part of the school to tell her the truth.

"Back to your question, Hermione, its not mind powers," whispered Harry. "Because you want to know the truth, let me tell you, It's magic."

"I and all of my friends here can do magic too, but not as good as the grown-up witches and wizards. We'll go to school to learn magic, but not until we're eleven."

Susan picked up a small rock nearby and after a minute of concentration, made it float above her palm for a few seconds. Neville, after some concentration, turned the rock green, and Ron was able to make it float for a few seconds as well. Harry turned it back to its original gray-white color.

Cho also demonstrated her own, with her floating a fallen leaf nearby; Marianne slightly floated it higher and moved it to her, while Ginny turned it blue, and David turned it yellow before Harry turned it back.

"That's what we can do on our own. And this is who we are" said Neville. "If we get happy or mad or something, we can do stronger magic accidentally. But you can't tell anyone else about this. Well, except your parents. We, witches and wizards, are supposed to live separately with others, or even to tell Muggles about magic, except when they're related to one."

"So what I can do here and in the future, is basically like what I read in The Witches?" asked Hermione, clearly still comprehending the truth. 

"Yes, but we, and our family and other adults we know are not like those witches in that book which hated children." Harry once again reassured her, know that there will be a better time for him and his group to tell her the truth about bad wizards and witches that are not much different from magicals that were told in the other Dahl's book he also read with others. Hermione regained her composure and asked again.

"Back to Muggles, so it is your term for people that have no magic?" 

Ron nodded. "Correct, that's what witches and wizards call them. So, would you like to meet Harry's parents?"

"Of course!" 

The group brought Hermione over to Harry's house, where Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius, along with Alice, had decided to be a full-time homemaker, explained more about the wizarding world, and demonstrated a couple of spells. That evening, she and Frank then went over to explain the wizarding world to Hermione's parents (who were dentists and ran the local dental clinic) and help them get used to everything magical.

The Grangers were very surprised after Frank and Alice told them all about magic, but it did explain the odd occurrences that had happened around their daughter. They gave their permission for Hermione to join the magic lessons and accepted an offer to learn more about the existence of the wizarding world.

"I wish Dudley will understand about this because somehow I feel he's also part of us," said Harry to Neville before they go to sleep that day.

"Definitely, brother... Magic will have its way," he replied.

By the end of the week, Hermione was a firm addition to the group of friends, and the rest liked her immensely, including when she was introduced to other girls visiting Harry's house by Floo Powder; Alexander, Luna, Daphne, Tracey, and Cho's cousin Sue Li.

Having friends helped her loosen up a bit and be more active physically, and while she still enjoyed reading, she didn't do it as much since she now could do other activities with them. Some of their classmates tried to bully them including Dudley, but as they were quite capable of standing up for themselves, their classmates eventually just ignored the group to their own devices.

Hermione admitted that she hadn't always been without a friend. Back in kindergarten, she had made two friends and had been on good terms with the other students in her class just like a normal girl her age when she started elementary. However, at some point during her first grade, her budding love of reading and intelligence caused students to be annoyed, which then eventually led to teasing. That, in turn, led to accidental magic, causing her classmates to think she was weird in addition to being a teacher's pet and bookworm. 

As for her two friends, one of them, named Julie Parker, joined Mikaela's group while the other one, Edith Richards, ended up moving away to Cyprus to be with her father which served in the Royal Air Force and was deployed to the Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, situated in the island, halfway through second grade.

"Julie wasn't much of a friend if she'd leave you like that and join her," Cho said sourly.

"A fair-weather friend, indeed" David Bones added.

Hermione shrugged. "Well, I've got friends now, and that's all that matters to me. What's Quidditch, anyway?"

The others exchanged looks at the change of subject but didn't comment and soon Cho, Harry, Ginny, and Ron happily explained about the said wizarding sport. From there, the conversation moved on to Diagon Alley, the magical shopping district, and what they knew about Hogwarts. Ron, along with Ginny, were able to tell more about the school compared to the others, as he and Ginny had three older brothers attending there, and the same was true about Diagon Alley, thanks to he and Ginny had been there on their brother's school shopping trips. Harry had only been there once, last year, and he had been under a Glamour Charm to avoid being recognized. The same was true of Neville, Cho, David, Susan, and Marianne, except for the Glamour Charm, since they didn't have to worry about being recognized.

In return for new knowledge about the wizarding world, Hermione also shared about her reading lists, which, to the group's surprise, including stuff like Muggle law and politics, as she had shared her dream to become a lawyer to them. 

They finally had to stop their conversation when it came time for them to go to their respective homes for dinner and rest. The group bid each other good-bye, and then went straight to their homes, with their parents picking them up in case of Susan, Alex, Cho, Sue, Ron, Ginny, along with Daphne and Tracey.

......

A/N: So what do you think about his childhood with Frank and Alice here?