CHAPTER 7

In the morning Harry received another Owl at breakfast. This time the grey nondescript owl didn't make a fuss. It simply dropped its package and flew off. Harry looked nervously at the head table. Charlie and been kind this morning checking over the scar expertly and applying a slave to calm it down. He'd asked a few questions about Harry's brand of occlumency and the visions and been very calm about the whole thing. Then he'd offered a space to crash at if he needed it away from everyone with a shoulder too if that's what he needed.

He slowly opened the package and went ghostly white before flipping it shut before anyone else could see inside and giving Charlie a glance as he left even dismissing Hermione and Ron. Charlie frowned worriedly and stood giving Severus and Lucius a look. They too got up and followed him swiftly. Harry was leaning against his portrait box hovering at eye level so he could glare at it.

"Harry?" Charlie asked

Harry gave him a sharp look when he noticed his companions but shrugged it off thumbing the door. Charlie obliged and they all trooped inside.

"It's well it's I don't really know actually" Harry frowned letting the box fall onto the coffee table gently and flopping onto the sofa scrubbing his face.

Charlie peered in the box and frowned in confusion. He picked up a ratty old blanket that looked like it could do with being set on fire let alone binned. Then there was a plush little teddy that was frayed and much abused with a few dots of blood on it. Then a ratty looking baby drawing that looked like it had been fished out of the bin and lastly a selection of pictures of what looked like a cleaning supply cupboard.

"What...? " he muttered wrinkling his nose.

"My baby blanket, the one I was wrapped in to go to the Dursley's, it was the only thing I had to sleep with until I was eleven and they moved me to Dudley's second room, the pictures are of my first bedroom" he added lowly "The teddy it the only comfort I ever had, I slept with it every night since I was born, the only thing I had of my parents until I came here, and the drawing is the only one I was ever stupid enough to bring home from school I got stuck in the cupboard, or should I say my room for two days without food for showing Dudley up because it was better than his and I took more care making it for my aunt for mother's day. I was so proud" He laughed bitterly

"She shrieked at me for over an hour and screwed it up right in front of me and threw it in the bin while she gave Dudley a big piece of cake and kissed his hair for making mummy a beautiful drawing and pinned it on the fridge" he had his eyes closed by then so he didn't see their reactions.

"I got it out though before the bin men came because even if she didn't like it I was bloody four years old and I was pretty damn pleased with it, it was one of the first times I managed to write so legibly" he grinned not opening his eyes.

"Oh Harry" Charlie sighed sinking down on the sofa next to him.

Harry's eyes snapped open and he glared pretty fiercely

"Don't go feeling sorry for me Charlie or I won't come here again, I don't need pity and I don't need understanding for things that happened years ago, I got over it and I learned my lesson" he snapped

"And what lesson would that be hm?" Charlie murmured carding his hands through Harry's hair making his eyes drop closed again and he sighed.

"Never do better than Dudley, never think they'll love you and never be proud of yourself for doing well, it's your freakishness that makes you so good and it's cheating" he intoned like a mantra.

Charlie sighed

"You don't still believe that though hmm?"

"Of course not! I grew up, I'm not four years old with no one on my side anymore. Besides Dudley's not here so I can hardly compare to him now can I so what are they going to do punish me for imaginary grades he'd get hmm. Plus if you think about it literally every student has 'freaky' advantages so I can hardly cheat against them now can I?" he asked blithely

"Harry" Charlie growled

"Oh what? Like I said I'm sixteen not four I understand their a bunch of hypocritical, close minded arse holes who couldn't point out America on the world globe let alone do the sort of stuff I can do, so they don't bother me I happen to be smarter than them and they can't handle it, well tough" He harrumphed

"Well that's one way to put it" Lucius drawled

"Urgh" Harry moaned

"Why are those two here?" He asked Charlie opening one eye

"Are you having some sort of love triangle going on so you have to be with each other or you feel lonely?" He grinned cheekily.

Charlie swatted him on the rump and laughed

"Nope, I'm having low down dirty monkey sex with them both every night" he teased.

Harry made a gagging sound and glared at him

"Are you trying to scar me for life?" he demanded

"Ron would throw up if I told him that" He added thoughtfully than he smiled mischievously

"Ooh I'm gonna tell him just as he stirs his potion so he blows up the labs, or in DADA when he has to shield so he gets hit by something" He added an evil grin on his face.

Charlie smacked him again

"Don't , please for the love of Merlin don't do that. He'll say something to mum, or worse the twins and Bill and then home will be hell" Charlie pleaded attempting a pout.

"You know that only works if your cute and small, your all big and muscled you just look constipated" Harry commented idly.

"Ok then I'll use my muscles to crush you into a Harry pretzel if you do?" Charlie teased

"Nice, teacher abuse" Harry mocked

"Holidays little boy holidays" he grinned

"Hey I am not a little boy!" Harry whined

"Beside do you think I want Ron moaning and groaning at me every time he sees Snape, it'll be a nightmare" Harry laughed

"Like no offense or anything but you're not exactly a prize catch" he added with an innocent smile.

"Harry" Charlie laughed

"But yes back to my original question seriously" He arched a brow

"They're good friends of mine, I used to get tutored privately when I was at school by Sev and Lucius is a spy for the Order so we've met occasionally over the holidays and they are both real close friends like you and Ron since school" Charlie explained

"You can trust them they want to help"

"Yeah yeah whatever they can help by keeping out of it unless it's something Dumbledore tells them to do" Harry gritted flipping up onto his feet.

"Pass that on to old Dumbles for me won't you explain if he needs it, but seeing as I was wrapped in the blanket holding the teddy when he dumped me on the doorstep in the middle of the night and he knows my former residence I doubt you'll have to" He smiled blandly and walked out before they could react.

"Doesn't do things by half that kid huh?" Charlie grinned

"Nope" Lucius sighed

"I'd say he rather goes at things full throttle without stopping to give anyone else a say" Severus murmured.

"Well think about it, he's had to work by himself at everything since he was a kid, I expect it's hard to let other people help" Charlie offered staring at the door thoughtfully.

Harry spent the day thinking furiously. Voldemort wanted something and he was up to something with him, he was playing games and trying to prove something and his thoughts just kept swirling around madly. He didn't know what was going on but he did know he had to step up once again and give up being a kid again to face it. He couldn't leave it to the adults like they'd agreed this summer because Voldemort was dragging him in no matter what he tried. He had to up his training again, go at it full force and stop wasting time, because the sooner he figured this all out and get it done so he could move on and actually be young again and live. Obviously that wasn't possible for long with that evil git around. So he didn't even turn up for lunch he secluded himself in the library in a corner where the shadows made it an unlikely place to look. Even if Hermione came looking she would walk passed probably he surmised. He went to Potions after lunch his nose still buried in an advanced wandless battle magic book that he'd bought in the summer for later perusal. Now he thought perhaps he needed the heavy duty things it held. Hermione frowned at him and Ron cocked a brow but they both said nothing. They didn't get a chance as the class door opened perfectly in time with his arrival. He sat at a bench on the Slytherin side of the class blindly, but as it was Newt and a mixed class there weren't enough Slytherins to take the space anyway but Draco and Blaise who were the Slytherins in the room shot him a startled look before realising he was paying absolutely no attention to his surroundings. He put up his potions book and his cauldron and ingredients pouches without even taking his eyes from the book.

"Welcome to Newts Potions, some of you got in because the headmaster insisted I lower the grade expectation to EE instead of my normal O. I am sure otherwise this small class would be halved" He began sourly.

Harry actually looked up at that and frowned looking a little thoughtful and his gaze slid over the isle to Ron who had indeed just scraped EE. He'd managed to get a good solid O though so it wasn't a dig at him like it usually would have been. He listened to the lecture taking notes carefully which Hermione shot him an approving smile for. He brewed his potion strictly and precisely ignoring all the odd noises coming from other people, especially an unfortunate Hufflepuff in front of him who managed purple smoke somehow. Harry just blindly brewed his mind far away busily working on what he'd been reading. He was furiously thinking about all the things that had happened in the past few days and trying to figure out what Voldemort was up to. Why was he being so weird about figuring out about his abuse, why was he trying to make it out to be something they could sympathise over? It just didn't make sense. Why couldn't he be left alone to just be a kid for once, that's what he wanted he was fed up of all these stupid adventures that risked everything he loved and cared about. But well if he wanted to make it personal Harry was going to learn, get strong and get right up in his face and smack him with it with all his might.

He brewed the perfect potion and packed up still lost in his thoughts. He didn't even hear Ron and Hermione call him as he walked away nose back in his book.

He didn't show up for dinner after either. Hermione and Ron were seen frowning and muttering together. Harry however was curled up in the library until Madam Pince threw him out. She was a little kinder about it than usual as he'd been so good and respectful though. He snuck to the kitchens and Dobby was only too happy to give him a roll. He ate it on his way back to bed where he fell in and was asleep before Ron even realised he was back. The next morning was even worse in everyone's opinion. The papers were full of the story. Apparently Voldemort had gotten fed up of waiting for Harry to react and decided to make it public, see if he couldn't pressurise him into it or spark a reaction he supposed, upping the ante as it were. Harry just stared at the front page blankly as people stared and whispered the headline and accompanying pictures said it all didn't they really. But how the hell had Voldemort gotten those pictures, and how the bloody hell did he get the paper to publish them.

"Potter's family dead, boy wonder abused and broken in their home" The red print was like a hard slap to the face. But the picture of him scrubbing the windows, weeding the garden and pruning the roses all in boiling mid day sun heat and looking thin and tired were horrible yes but the central picture was of him cradling a broken wrist to his chest, tears in his eyes as his fat uncle threw him out the door and pointed to the dirty car and shoving a wash bucket into his chest over and over again. He clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes.

"Goddamn fucking buggery bollocks!" He ground out ripping his paper into shreds.

"Why" Rip "Can't" tear "They" shred "Keep" toss "their damn noses out of my business!" and he set the fragments he'd thrown into the air on fire.

"Harry" Hermione began softly looking like she was about to burst into tears.

"At least they didn't get the worst Harry" Ron cut in with steel in his voice.

Harry arched a sarcastic brow.

"Oh I suppose that's bloody just great then, they can fucking ruin my life as long as they don't see the fucking...fuck!" He growled and got up and stormed off

Ron blinked and turned to Hermione

"Did he just..did he...I don't think I've ever heard him curse that much before" He mused and then snorted

"I would not want to be Rita Skeeter when he finds her" He chuckled darkly

"He didn't even bloody swear that much when he found out last year was a trick" he giggled a little hysterically

"Shouldn't we go find him?" Hermione asked uncertainly

"You want to get blown up?" Ron asked dryly

"I thought not" He added when Hermione bit her lip.

"Let him cool down, think, breath, let off some steam and then Hermione we'll go after him" Ron said sagely

"I like my head exactly where it is thank you very much" He added biting into a sausage.

"Ok" Hermione replied

Up at the staff table Charlie was laughing madly into his plate.

"That was brilliant" He chortled

"I've never seen that boy lose his temper" he snickered calming down a bit.

"What in the blazes was that all about?" Lucius asked coming in and sitting down.

"I just passed Potter and he was muttering to himself and waving his arms about like a loon" He grumbled.

"This" Severus sighed and slapped the paper down

"Oh well that's interesting" Lucius sighed

"Hmm well he was marching onto the grounds looking a bit angry"

"Wouldn't you be a bit pissy if the world found out in spectacular fashion that you were abused at home and treated like a house elf and somehow for some strange reason that said family is now dead?" Severus drawled lazily

Harry had stormed down to the lake edge and proceeded to strip hardly paying any attention to his surroundings he got to his boxers and dove into the icy water. He began swimming hard and fast to burn off the energy thrumming though him like a volcano wanting to erupt. Exercise, he may not have a treadmill or a weight bench but he could bloody well swim in the bloody cold lake and make sure it cooled him down too! He spent a good hour swimming furiously before stomping his way back onto shore and yanking on his uniform casting drying spells haphazardly and then he took off running the trail following the circumference of the lake pounding out the area while his mind buzzed. So they were dead, and now the whole world knew he was a poor stupid orphan who got treated like a house elf! Well bugger it all to hell! He sped up until he was running so fast his feet were skimming the ground. By the time he came up along the castle again his breathing was coming in short pants and he was feeling utterly calm. He stormed into the castle and made his way up to Charlie's room.

Charlie blinked he had a free period and he was marking essays when the knock came on his portrait. When he opened it to Harry who looked suitably rosy cheeked and breathless the mad thought that he looked well laid flickered in his mind and he stomped on it firmly.

"Hey you ok?" He managed letting the boy passed.

"Now yeah" harry nodded shortly

"Just hoped I could hide out here until later, I can't stand how people are going to react, whispering and gossiping right now" He muttered flopping familiarly onto the couch.

Charlie nodded silently and did his best to ignore the temptation to eye up Harry.

"He's you brother, youngest brother" He whispered to himself going over to his cooler for bottles of pumpkin juice. His eyes decided they didn't care though. Harry was splayed out on his couch like some obscene invitation. His hair thrown all over the cushion in disarray, his cheeks rosy and his breathing short and gasping like he'd just done something rather hot and steamy. His shirt was unbuttoned half way down his lean golden chest revealing one pale pink nipple perfectly and the edge had flipped up his stomach showing of the dark happy trail moving into the band of the elastic waistband of his boxers visible over the low riding hips of his trousers. He gulped quickly at his drink offering the other to Harry snatching his eyes away purposefully as those verdant eyes glimmered up at him finally with a soft sleepy smile. Man he was losing it, the kid was six years younger than him and the same age as his youngest brother for Merlin's sake!

He dragged himself back over to his marking when Harry's breathing softened out and he was asleep peacefully. He could stay the night again he supposed.

When Severus and Lucius showed up later in the evening Lucius smirked knowingly at Harry whose top had practically fallen off one shoulder and his trousers had ridden even lower as he got comfortably spread out on the extended couch throwing of the soft fleece blanket Charlie had tried to cover him with.

"Don't you two ever go anywhere alone?" Charlie sighed narrowing his eyes when Lucius grinned a little suggestively between him and Harry.

"Nope" Lucius grinned even more broadly before Severus could reply.

"He's my lover toy boy, of course I keep him close by" He teased

"He is four years my junior you know" He added silkily once again flicking a glance over Harry.

Charlie grunted and shook his head

"Did you want something?" He asked going back to marking.

"Yes, Harry is now officially an orphan the last remaining relative he had is dead" Severus butted in when Lucius looked to be forming another cheeky reply.

"And?"

"The ministry want to 'take custody' of him for his own good" Lucius said going completely serious.

"Sirius is his Godfather" Charlie shrugged.

"Who is questionably capable after twelve years in Azkaban and currently shacked up with a werewolf" Severus sighed

"Fuck" Charlie groaned

"Yes, you see in 'abuse' cases like these the ministry has to be especially careful where they place the child again. It would be bad if he came to even more harm wouldn't it?"

"Fuck" Charlie repeated

"My sentiments exactly" Harry chuckled darkly eyeing them all blearily.

"I'm bloody sixteen tell him to go fuck himself" He moaned rolling into a sitting position and straightening himself out a bit.

"As entertaining as that would be, until you are eighteen he can place you with a guardian, at least for your summers"

"But wizards are of age at seventeen!" Harry went wide eyed

"Which will be me, next summer so I only have about four weeks out of school term before I'm considered of age!" he whined

"Ah but you will still be a school 'child' until you finish your Hogwarts education just before your eighteenth birthday will you not?" Lucius murmured silkily.

Harry scrunched up his nose.

"As such you will not have a job and stability and a home of your own until that time so legally until you finish Hogwarts and have a chance to get a house and job, I.e you should by eighteen if law has a thing to say about it, the ministry can allocate you a guardian"

"Fine, I'll go live at Grimmauld with Siri and Remy, even if their sex man deviancy drives me barmy" He groused

"Urgh I don't want to know" Charlie grinned

"Trust me, you really don't" Harry wrinkled his nose and shuddered.

"Well I am afraid it's not an option anyway as I said Werewolf and Azkaban destabilisation" Lucius sighed.

"Umm...Ron will ask can I stay with him?" Harry tried shooting Charlie an uncertain look.

"Of course mum would let you" Charlie laughed

"She practically adopted you as it is" He grinned

"hmm, but the Weasleys have little to no social standing, no offence Charlie, and are quite poor, you are the Boy-who-lived. Your name gives you quite the standing and you are wealthy beyond comparison, it would be said you should e placed with an upstanding wealthy Pureblood family to aide in teaching you of wizarding standards now you no longer have ties to the muggles" Lucius butted in smoothly.

"Aw but the Weasley's are my family and they are Purebloods and I'll give them a bloody vault if that helps" Harry pouted

"Not acceptable, they'd be taking payment to keep you"

"Arh! How about don't piss off the kid you expect to save your ass you pompous windbag or I'll let you die!" Harry cried leaping to his feet and prowling in a tight circle.

"Um" Charlie snickered "I somehow highly doubt that would work" he snorted

"Why not?" He stuck his nose in the air pompously

"I am the Golden Boy, the Chosen One do as I say I am your saviour" He posed and then ruined it by snickering

Charlie was laughing his head off and thumping the sofa.

"Oh oh that's brilliant really" He snickered

"You have to show that to the twins" He huffed

"Well I do try" Harry bowed mockingly

"Seriously though what are we going to do?" He added frowning

"Well Fudge arrives tomorrow at breakfast to 'speak' with you" Severus drawled

"Great bloody marvellous, terrific just what I always wanted" Harry moaned letting himself flop face first onto the sofa.

"Why is my life always so fucked up?" He asked muffled by the cushions.

"No idea love but I'd say it's the whole hero thing, gotta have some snags right?" Charlie asked lightly

Harry growled and lifted himself enough to say

"You be the bloody hero then not like I asked for it, I'll happily sit back and watch someone else risk their life and fight the dark arse" and then he let himself fall back down into the sofa and screamed kicking his feet and pounding his arms.

"I think he's having a nervous breakdown" Charlie mused

"Hmm really ya think?" Harry asked sarcastically popping back up and blowing out a big breath.

"I mean maybe if all this worry gives me a nervous breakdown they'll leave me alone, wouldn't want to damage the weapon before he finishes his job right?" He moaned.

"Harry Potter! You are not a weapon!" Charlie growled tugging him up and holding him by the shoulders to make him meet his eyes.

"You are important to us and we care and want you to be safe and happy. Got it" He asked staring straight into those verdant eyes

A moment passed in complete silence Harry just staring mutely back, it seemed to get charged with something unnameable the longer they stared and Charlie felt the insane urge to lean in and kiss the boy on the ever so soft full pink lips.

"Ok Charlie, thanks, I know I mean a lot to Ron and 'Mione too I guess, I was just being stupid" Harry sighed breaking the tension easily by slumping like he had no idea what had just been going on in Charlie's head and hadn't noticed anything particularly different in that silence.

"Good" Charlie coughed eyes flicking up to Lucius who'd arched a finely shaped brow and Severus who was watching Harry with a contemplative scowl.

"I'm going to go, spend some time with them both if their around, I've...well I've been not around as it were the past day or so got lost in the fight again like I normally do and ignored them. Think I need my friend's right about now to stop me going crazy" He offered a sweet smile and hugged Charlie tight

"Thanks Charlie, it's like having another Ron around" He smiled getting to his feet.

"That's great Harry, glad I can help" He sighed watching him go.

As soon as the portrait closed behind him Lucius began to laugh softly and Severus finally snapped out of his thoughts to arch his own brow.

"That kid is clueless, well that's what you get for trying to get close to someone younger" Lucius snickered

"Shut it I am not" Charlie growled

"Sure you're not Charlie, sure you're not" Lucius snickered dropping down easily to fill a tumbler with whiskey.