Harry Potter / xxxHOLIC Crossover

Little Harry Potter has a knack for ending up in the oddest of places... times... dimensions.

Home For Now

Harry ran. Ran past startled pedestrians, pivoting to avoid buggies and (smaller) children. Ran through the park that he'd never been allowed to play in. Ran down the pristine suburban streets with his trainer soles threatening to burn away as they slapped against the pavement. Ran though a small gap between a lamppost and a fence to avoid the Jones' who tutted at his simply awful behaviour as he passed. Run. Run. Run. Don't look back or they'll catch you.

He had been running for what felt like hours, though it had to have been infinitely less, and his breath caught in his small chest and stung from the cold. It was already late and Aunt Petunia would be, well, not worried but she would be angry that Harry wasn't home by now. The six year old whimpered at the thought of missing dinner for being naughty and late (again), he hadn't had anything to eat since his meagre lunch and his stomach ached with hunger, almost as much as his chest and the stitches in his sides hurt.

The black haired boy doubled over, his hands on his knees to catch his breath, all the while listening behind him for the stomping mass of his cousin and his more fleet footed friends who would hold him down while Dudley hit him, again. It seemed safe enough, but Harry knew that appearances weren't everything and that sometimes Dudley managed to catch up to him just when he thought it was safe. Like the Tortoise and the Hare, only I have to be as fast as the Hare and as steady as the Tortoise... Harry stared at the pavement as he breathed out frosty gusts of air, wait, it was actually less frigid than before. Harry's lungs were very appreciative of the warmer air.

Maybe Aunt Petunia will let me have dinner if I get back now... the boy looked up at the sky, getting darker with the encroaching twilight and bit his lip. I'm supposed to be back before it gets late but it gets dark faster in winter doesn't it...? Harry scrunched his nose up cutely, deep in thought and tried to remember everything his teacher had told him about seasons and daylight saving times. Maybe if he told Aunt Petunia about that she wouldn't punish him? Maybe she wouldn't put him in the cupboard without anything to eat and make him do chores all day tomorrow, which was a Saturday unfortunately.

He wrapped his thin arms around himself to ward off the chill- Dudley had ripped one of his jacket sleeves and Aunt Petunia didn't want to waste any more money on him this year as the season was 'practically over' so there was a gaping hole in the lining. The fact that the jacket had been Dudley's first and had only been ripped because said cousin was trying to beat Harry into the pavement but wasn't fast enough was not something that was discussed.

There were a lot of things in the Dursley household that were not discussed. Though somehow those things are always my fault anyway. Harry thought morosely.

I guess I'd better head back now, Dudley will have gone home by now... I wish Aunt Petunia had picked him up today, Mrs Polkins lets them all run off by themselves and then they chase me. Harry sighed, such was his lot in life, nothing he could do about it. He looked around for a familiar street name to make his way home and froze.

I- I don't know this place... No, that was impossible, Harry knew the streets of Little Whinging really well, he had to in order to get away from Dudley and his gang as often as he did. But the houses are all different and there are funny signs on the roads. The 'funny signs' were everywhere, some in columns of looping white paint on the tarmac, others were sombre monochrome plaques on the walls around the gardens and houses. These ones were even more complicated, more like pictures than writing.

The last, horrific discovery was warranted by the sky itself. Whereas it had been a winter afternoon, bordering on evening in Little Whinging, this place's sun was still rising, bathing the foreign suburbs in a soft pink glow that faded to gold.

Harry's eyes stung, threatening tears. "Where am I...?" He spun around, willing himself to see familiar streets with the park in the distance and an army of pebble dash detached buildings on all sides. Instead he saw a monster hovering in front of him, it's single gigantic eye blinking at him, reptilian and frightening against it's ink blot body of writhing black.

Harry screamed.

Watanuki Kimihiro was up early that morning, even earlier than usual that is and had already enjoyed the chance to splurge in the kitchen (Himiwari-chan would love the takoyaki he'd made and the over grown jerk could starve for all he cared). Eventually his chores took him outside, which was his original reason for being up at dawn: he'd promised his landlady he'd rake the leaves but wouldn't have time later due to working in the shop.

Unlike with Yuuko, Watanuki didn't begrudge doing chores for his landlady who was the sweetest lady in existence and getting on in her years. "Completely the opposite of Yuuko-san." The high school student muttered to himself with a resolute nod as he shoved the last of the leaves in a black bag. He was just about to take it to the compost heap round the back of the building when he heard a scream from down the street. A child's scream.

Watanuki dropped the bag and sprinted towards the sound.

Green eyes started to tear up as Harry saw the floating black mass come closer with every hyperventilating breath he took. His chest still hurt, he couldn't run any more, there was no where to run. Harry felt himself getting dizzy and closed his eyes as noodle like appendages separated from the main body and reached out to touch him. "No, go away!" Harry screamed, throwing his arms out in front of himself to ward it off as black encroached on the corners of his vision. "Just leave me alone, please..." He curled in on himself into the smallest ball he could and whimpered into his knees. "Please go away..."

"Leave him alone!" Someone shouted, though Harry couldn't understand a word they were saying. The boy peeked over his knees to see a teenager with black hair and oval glasses wearing a high collared suit waving his hands at the monster animatedly, trying to scare it off. It didn't seem to be working.

Harry buried his tear streaked face in his knees again. Great, now I'm going to get someone else eaten too, I really am worthless... I'm too scared to even tell him to leave. The boy sobbed, waiting to feel sharp teeth and claws in his flesh. I don't want to die. Was his last thought before he was startled enough by a sound to look up again.

"Hey, I told you to leave him alone!" The teen exclaimed angrily and threw some white stuff from his pockets at the monster. It flinched away as the grains hit it in the face before hissing and... going away? Harry could hardly believe his eyes but it was really happening, the scary blot monster with the creepy slit pupil eye was leaving!

The teen crouched beside Harry, who flinched, having almost forgotten the stranger was there in the wake of the monster skulking off. The teenager smiled reassuringly, his blue eyes softening behind his glasses in a manner that made Harry relax immediately. "Hey, you okay?"

Harry blinked in confusion. "Huh?" Apparently that was the last straw for Harry's befuddled brain, his eyes rolled back sockets and he fell sideways to the pavement in a dead faint, leaving the teen to panic over him.

AN:

Shameless fainting plot device is shameless. It's been... Jan 2009 since I wrote this, almost as long since I did an edit and although there are snippets of later on this is probably the best of the lot.

Have a good idea of where I want to go with this though it would have drabbleish length chapters and be heavy on the woobie. There may also be a sequel involving some of the later manga chapters and a time skip. Mostly this story was a blatant excuse for Harry to be adorable and call Watanuki 'Anuki' soon becomes/is misheard as 'aniki'. And play with the slippery wish plot device.

I really just need to write it, therein lies the problem.