Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm super stoked that I managed to complete this chapter today before I go for work tomorrow ;; These few days I've been writing more instead of drawing, which I would never have thought would happen haha. Please continue keeping an eye out for the next interlude coming up, though after that things may go back to the long long breaks in between. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
By the way, in case you haven't cottoned on, x means a change of perspective while - means another scene from the same perspective.
Softly blowing on the steaming bite, his mouth closing around the spoon. Splitting in his mouth was the sweet aroma and taste of homeliness and love. Shivers ran up his spine, the mouthful a spike to his energy. Soft and mellow; comfort was the only thing brought to him by the delight.
Quietly humming in satisfaction, Harry smiled at Nana when she looked up from her own lunch. She returned the smile with an even brighter one, though she quickly turned to chide Lambo into eating his food and not stuffing his bazooka canon with it. He did concede, albeit while pouting, with I-Pin nagging him and Fuuta giggling behind his bowl of miso soup.
As a hint of a smile lingered on his lips, his green eyes turned to look at the others at the extended table. With it being the weekend, everyone came around in the morning for their weekly gatherings, making for a rambunctious bunch that filled the house with noise.
Gokudera was again plating up Sawada's food while glaring at Yamamoto who was laughing at Sasagawa with his full mouth open. Sawada just laughed helplessly, while trying to "wrestle" back his plate from his right-hand man (though it was truly more of a pleading swiping of the hands than anything truly aggressive). The younger Sasagawa, Kurokawa and Miura were chatting with the quieter Dokuro, while Rokudo listened in with a sneering smile, as was his default expression. Hibari merely ate quietly and efficiently, though his sharp glare at the whole table betrayed his inner rage at the "crowding herbivores that threatened the (his) quiet".
Harry laughed inwardly and resumed his lunching.
Brown eyes looked at him and the gleam in his eyes and the light dancing across his face, and they softened into melted chocolate.
x
It had been a week since Harry joined them.
A long, hard week of accommodating each other and their habits and sharing space. It was tough, but somehow, there was progress.
Though he was no where near being comfortable enough with them that he would laugh or talk more than necessary, it was obvious that Harry was relaxing bit by bit. His violent flinches whenever there were raised voices and unannounced appearances in the room had lessened to where he would only stop his actions momentarily before resuming. The gradual relaxation in his body made the others less tense as well; after all, it made them anxious to have to reel their natural selves in and step lightly around a new member too.
Interestingly, Tsuna could see how everyone was interacting with Harry now that the tension levels had somewhat levelled, analysing the patterns.
The whole day, he observed.
With the morning starting off quiet, the house was mostly filled by the sound of crockery and chopping, the boiling of the water, the whistling of the kettle, and soft humming. Flooding the building with fragrance of warmth, the two cooks were busying themselves preparing breakfast.
Tsuna watched them in their silent synchronised dance from the door. He couldn't help but smile sometimes, when he saw the natural bond that had sprouted between the two.
Of course, Nana had the best relationship with Harry. An aura of warmth always saturated the two in their bubble, and she was still the only one he would really smile at – sometimes, seeing that made his own heart twinge a bit.
He still remembered the days when Nana too called him "No-Good Tsuna".
After Nana, it was Ryohei next who surprisingly had the best relationship with their new family member: he always treated Harry warmly and gently, in a manner almost opposite of his usual loud self. His brass manners seemed to just vanish whenever Harry was around, and his aggressiveness transformed into something soft and malleable, changing into whatever that would be better appreciated and needed.
As they all worked on clearing their schoolwork in the morning, Tsuna saw from the periphery of his eyes Ryohei teaching Harry in a normal, indoors voice. Even then, as his gaze lingered on them, the over-the-top boxer made sure to make no abrupt movement and keep his hands within view, always giving the British teenager enough time to adjust himself if uncomfortable. Green eyes tracked the hand on the pen, darting with it as it whizzed around on the paper.
Hibari was there as well, though he was again resting against the wall with Hibird nesting on his head. The Disciplinary Committee President was above doing work like the rest of them plebeians – he merely observed them and took his self-proclaimed job as "peace-keeper" very seriously. The glint of light bouncing off his tonfas never failed to prevent the noise level from rising and conflicts from bursting out.
While the rest of the Vongola Famiglia of Namimori sat around the table together, it was Chrome and Mukuro in particular who peaked Tsuna's interest. The two didn't attend school, but the young girl completed the work Kyoko, Hana and Haru compiled for her, upon her own request to have a "proper" education. Mukuro on the other hand only looked on lazily, chin on his hand, leaning against Chrome, watching over her shoulder.
They sat at the opposite end of the table where Harry and himself were sitting. Chrome for one, Tsuna noticed, avoided Harry, as though he were a plague that brought death with him. Even though she was sitting at the farthest edge away from him, it was abnormal how she made sure to never look at Harry, or even in his general direction. If she needed to ask anyone on his side anything, she resolutely did not raise her head or make any eye contact at all. That was her general behaviour throughout Harry's stay: distant and aloof.
Mukuro too only bore an almost ephemeral curiosity about Harry – there was nothing lasting, only brief glances that seemed to bounce off the subject in question. There was nothing piercing, nothing deeper than the superficial. It seemed almost unlike him, the maniac who wanted to know absolutely everything, to ignore a source of mystery and unknown Flames. But that was what he did; ignoring Harry.
However, while both Mist Flame users ignored the newest presence, it was seemingly borne out of different reasons. Chrome's was almost out of fear with her twitches when she catches sight of him, while Mukuro's was simply out of… boredom?
Shaking his head and trying to focus on Hayato's teachings, Tsuna tried to ease himself: their life together had only just started, of course they weren't going to be chummy with each other now. Bonds take time, they couldn't be rushed. As he watched his family around the table light up when Nana brought them snacks, a smile came to his face. Everything's going to be alright.
"Hey, Lambo! Get your own snacks, don't steal from our table!"
Immediately, there was the sound of metal hitting the table lightly and threateningly, with throats gulping after.
Chuckling, Tsuna went back to his work.
This was his new Famiglia.
Perhaps his wish was not meant to be.
Laying on his back on his bed, he glanced at the door, before diverting his gaze back to the ceiling.
It was happening again; the brunette could hear the muffled shouts from down the hallway, the bond of white and orange pulsing in his blood, forcing him to listen and listen and listen.
Tsuna shut his eyes so tightly he saw white spots dancing behind his eyelids.
His heart raced. His fists clenched tighter. He bit down hard on the inside of his bottom lip. Metal.
What could he do to help?
He didn't even know what to say or do, let alone how.
No one ever really helped him before. What could he base his own actions on then?
What could he do?
All he could do was to listen to the sobs and screams and listen. To the heart ache, to the sorrow, to the abyss of Harry's mind.
Hand reaching out, mouth dry –
He turned away from the door.
x
Ever since that night, Dokuro hardly left Harry alone. They didn't talk much, considering the shy and reserved nature of them both. However, it was as though the weeks of shaking silence never happened. In fact, the very next morning, she took his hand and brought him to Nana. Even as Harry's breathing quickened and shortened, she grasped his hand, her hold tightening.
She became his anchor.
Slowly, steadily, his breathing normalised, and he could look at Nana in the eyes. Shaking he may be, but there was someone beside him. There was a warmth; it was different from the kind he felt from Nana and Tsuna from the future. From them, it was a warmth of their encompassing shadow and love.
From her was a warmth of a body standing next to him, of a hand in his.
She was standing with him.
Breath leaving his body in a shudder, he spoke with a wavering voice, determined but afraid.
"Nana… I'm sorry but, do you… do you mind giving me less food?" Seeing the confusion in her face, he hurried to explain. "I love your cooking, but after… after my circumstances, I... I'm afraid I can't eat it all…"
"Oh," Nana's eyebrows furrowed. "Of course I don't mind. But… you've been eating everything so well I thought…"
Pause. Eyes tracked down his body that was just as skinny as before, landing on the sharp jut of his wrist.
Softly she spoke again with her breath trickling out unsteadily, "Oh Harry…" Like water, there was a ripple spreading across her face as the stone hit the surface. Her lips trembled slightly before she let out a deep gust of air and smiled. "No worries, it's already done." Like water, her face returned to her calm mask, even though there was so much drowning underneath.
With a wavering smile of his own, Harry returned the kind gesture. Shoulders lightened and the pit in his stomach filled, he glanced back at her face next to his. She noticed and smiled awkwardly, the corner of her eyes crinkling like the streaks of light left by shooting stars across the night sky.
The grasp on his hand tightened, and he squeezed back.
Bright lights threatened to blind him, even as he watched through squinted eyes.
As though at a rave, rainbows covered the porch with Flames lighting up and shooting across the grounds. Currently, most of the Guardians were trying to expand their arsenal on melee fighting and shooting skills, as well as their "Flame Stamina". After their fights in the future, it was excruciating to see themselves like little chicks still wobbling in the mafia world, to see how they couldn't fight with their Flames for longer than a few minutes, to see how they could hardly fight at all without their Flames. Like children playing pirates, their bodies couldn't keep up with the farce – it was depressing to say the least. So, they had to push themselves and train their ability to generate Flames, and their fighting skills to compensate for their shortcomings in the other aspect.
It was always interesting, and slightly terrifying, to see the huge flames appearing and seemingly spurting into disappearance as the users panted. In the midst of it all, Harry just sat at his edge of the platformed floor of the living room, watching from the opened glass doors. Breath escaping his lungs, he simply felt. Even though the flames were so big, and he should be scared of being burnt alive, the temperature was soothingly warm. The blasts of warm air were surprisingly lovely to feel, and his hair ruffled from the gusts of wind.
Stranger still was the warmth he felt from inside. In rhythm with the momentum of flames bursting, pulses of warmth drummed inside. It was as though he could see white sparks exploding behind his eyelids, and also coursing through his body whenever the others drew out their flames. White intertwining with red orange yellow green blue purple indigo…
Resonance.
Harry opened his eyes again. Flinching slightly after seeing everyone crowding him in, he looked around curiously. The sun had already gone down, dying them in a soft orange hue.
"Harry-san, are you alright?" asked Sawada, his brows furrowed and his clear forehead lined.
Before he could reply, Chrome interjected by placing her forehead against Harry's, staring with great focus at him in the eye. "No fever, pupils are of a normal size…" she muttered softly, retreating from a blushing Brit. "Portion was good, didn't go to the toilet… What's wrong? You've been sitting there for a while."
Taking time to calm his heart, Harry let go of the tension that knotted his stomach once he saw no escape routes, and relaxed. Voice steady, he replied, "I'm not sure. I just… saw white? Not like a whiteout," he reassured Chrome. "More like… small white, embers? Yes, embers sparking whenever you were practising your use of Flames."
Everyone seemed to still when he mentioned the colour. At that moment, he saw another vision of them, all just collapsing and disappearing in front of his eyes like ashes blown away by the wind…
Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Reborn who broke the silence with a nod of his fedora. "It's not unheard of for users to see signs of their Flames before they 'activate' it. Perhaps it is time that you try to use your own Flames as well." Nodding towards Kurokawa Hana, Sasagawa Kyoko and Miura Haru, he continued. "Those three have been doing well with their training, you'll do fine as well.
"Now," Reborn leapt down from his position at Yamamoto's shoulder to the ground in front of Harry. A gleam shone in his black eyes as the sunlight hit against his face, colouring him a deep red. "It's your choice, Harry Potter: will you learn or continue being a sitting duck?"
There was never really a choice.
"Are you ready?"
He closed his eyes while slowly breathing in and out deeply –
"Yes."
He searched, he searched for that thread deep inside him – the line of connection between himself and the rest, the pulses that made him more alive than he had ever felt – he reached and reached but there was only a deep emptiness set inside his bones it rang soundly in his ears and eyes.
As he was met with nothing, tears came to his eyes which flew open in his despair that came so suddenly he tasted iron and salt. Breath escaping him in shudders and tearing apart in shrapnel, green eyes stared accusingly at shaking hands.
A gentle hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up to see a purple orb softly twinkle at him, and a worried crinkled face orbiting above him with deep brown eyes.
With a voice so soft it felt like a feather against his skin, Tsuna became his float. "Hey, it's okay. You yourself saw the sparks earlier, now you just need to let it come to you. Don't force it; it's a part of you. It's okay.
"It's okay."
Warm hands taking his, he concentrated on that heat, that body temperature seeping to his own body…
Bright lights red
Cloud red smo ke
"Do n' t g o –" r e d "I h ave to," shouts
B lo od "please"
"Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived… come to die."
a smirk
no
"—Harry!"
His breathing irregular, his heart pitter-pattering, his head lit with a glowing white flame; he did it. His flame was burning vividly atop his sweaty head, and its fieriness was making it bend and melt into different extreme shapes
Yet, against the dark expanse of sky behind him, he was a ghost; white surrounding him and washing him a pale shade that only highlighted the sharpness of his jutting cheekbones and his sunken cheeks and bitten lips. Eyes glassy and blank, tears marked its tracks down his face.
Flame making one last leap before dying, Harry's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and his body collapsed to the ground.
No, please.
Don't let it happen again.
Somewhere inside him, another hummingbird died.
