Tears of Erised
Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.
Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.
Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)
Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.
(A/N: IMPORTANT! To anyone who read this story before I posted this chapter, just know that I've gone back and made changes. I'm so sorry for taking over a year to get back to it!)
It wasn't until that Wednesday that Harry finally remembered the offer Dumbledore made to him for Quidditch, and it wasn't until that same day that James' 'attack' was mentioned again.
Having already finished his homework, Harry just sat with his head set on an open book, looking asleep while Lily and Jessica both worked on their school work.
"I don't understand," Jesse started to say, "How did you finish your homework before the Ultimate Schoolgirl Lily over here?"
Harry just grunted in response, keeping his head down on the open book.
"Alright, alright, but if you plan on taking a nap, you might want to go to the common room before Madam Pince finds you."
It was a moment later that Lily threw down her quill and she let out a frustrated noise, making Jesse lean back in her chair, but Harry stayed where he was.
"I can't think!" She exclaimed while shutting her book, "Three days, Harry! Three days since what happened and you haven't done anything! Haven't even talked about it!"
She was given some glares from near-by tables because of her loud voice, but thankfully Madam Pince was at the other side of the library and Jesse just gave a short glare back. Lily leaned in closer to the table and poked Harry on the shoulder, finally making him lift his head from the make-shift pillow.
"Listen," She said in a half-whisper, "You need to do something to him. That was way low of Potter and I'm not letting this one slide."
Harry just rubbed at his eyes through the cloth covering them and sat up straighter, "I don't feel like telling Dumbledore, and playing a joke on them would only make them play it back." He slumped down a little in his chair, waiting for her response, but Jessica answered instead.
She simply stated: "Have James catch you snogging Lily."
The idea had an effect on the both of them, making Lily blush scarlet and Harry sitting up straight in his chair, coughing somewhat loudly, "Wha-what?" He sputtered out.
"You heard me," She said calmly, as if not noticing her two friends turning uncomfortable, "Get into a hallway, wait till James starts to walk down it, then snog like hell! That'll give the right effect, anger him as well as pain him. Didn't he anger and hurt you, Harry?"
He didn't answer, but instead just shook his head, "No. I don't like Lily that way, and I wouldn't use her like that!"
"Oh, c'mon! It's a good idea, isn't it? It's not like he can get you back by snogging anyone else."
"Yes, but he'll get the wrong impression."
"Exactly! Then maybe he'll start to leave Lily alone."
Lily finally found her voice: "Oh, right, Jesse. Like the past six and a half years of going after me will suddenly seem useless. Please, he'll turn all his pranking from Snape to Harry!"
"That might not be too bad," He replied, "I can take care of myself, Snape seems to have a problem with that."
"You're blind!" Lily said loudly, earning more glares and a slight cringe from Harry, "Sorry… but it's the truth; you wouldn't be able to see any spells or fireworks that were sent your way."
"Am I a wizard or not? I have ways to help me see and tell when things are coming."
"Such as…?" she inquired.
He hesitated only a second before he reached under his seat and picked up his walking stick, holding it up, "My staff, okay? It helps."
"Harry, that's not the same, it only helps you not run into things."
"Not true, it – "
"Enough you two!" Jessica exclaimed loudly. A near by student turned their head and shushed at the group to be quiet. "Have you noticed we got just a little off topic?" She said in a quieter voice.
"It doesn't matter," Harry shot back, "Because I'm not doing it. That idea is low, and I don't like it."
"Isn't going after you while you're sleeping low too?"
"Exactly, we'll be sinking to his level, and I don't want to." He sighed, placing a few books into his bag, "Listen, I need to go speak to Milton about an assignment. You two have fun with your homework."
Lily just went back to her homework as Jessica watched Harry leave with a frown.
Harry was not in fact heading towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, but instead to Dumbledore's office, one idea in mind.
Saying the password to the statue as soon as he stepped up to it, he quickly walked up the stairs, stumbling once from walking too fast. Out of instinct, he just opened the door without knocking to find Dumbledore standing in front of his cupboard off to the side of his large desk.
"Ah Mr. Winters, a pleasure to see you, as always."
"Sorry about not knocking, Professor." Harry said sheepishly as he shut the door behind him.
"No worries, my boy. You're in a hurry I see, so what exactly do you need?"
"I wanted to take you up on that offer of Quidditch if I still could, sir."
"Of course; I had assumed you'd want to, so I took the liberty to make it already."
"Make what…?"
Without answering, Dumbledore walked behind his large desk and reached into a drawer, pulling something out.
"Here we are. Made this small creation myself, but it does have it's own flaws. Such as, the spell wears off rather soon, so you'll have to learn the enchantment yourself if there is going to be a long game."
The old Professor walked forward and placed something into Harry's hand.
"Those look like simple Quidditch goggles, but the lenses are considerably tinted so no sunlight will get in to hurt your eyes. Go ahead, Mr. Winters, try them on."
Harry glanced uneasily up at the Headmaster, but slipped the goggles on easily over his black cloth covering his eyes. Reaching back, he untied the cloth and pulled on it until it came out from under the goggles. At feeling no pain, he looked up at Dumbledore with a confused look.
"Sure, it doesn't let light in but how is this going to help me find the snitch?"
Again without answering, the elder wizard pulled out his wand, reaching forward to lightly tap the goggles on Harry's eyes, "Vibrieren."
The effect was immediate: a strong wave of magic enveloped his entire head, seeping through to his skull, and giving a sudden pain to both of his ears, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.
Jumping back from the surprise and pain, he felt Dumbledore grab his left arm in a gentle grip.
"Calm down, Harry. Close your eyes and just focus on hearing."
Taking in a deep breath, he slowly shut his eyes and focused only on listening. Slowly, dark shadows formed before him as if he was actually looking out of the goggles. There were no colors, except for what he saw with his walking stick. With an idea, he dropped the walking stick quickly, losing all colors but he still held the image of a shadowy, barely seen Dumbledore. He suddenly laughed for the first time in a while and brought his hand up to the goggles, passing his hand over the lenses, losing the image of the Headmaster temporarily until he moved his hand away.
"This is amazing, Professor…how… well, it doesn't matter. Thanks."
"It's not a problem, Harry. The spell is rather difficult and I'll give you the page to learn it, but for now keep them off and come to me if the spell doesn't work."
He nodded while glancing around the room.
"But, Professor, how come I can't see anything else in the room."
"Well, because nothing else in the room is moving. You'd be able to see Fawkes, but he's out somewhere in the forest now."
"So the spell really plays off sound?"
"Off of the vibration in sound, Mr. Winters. Goggles like these have been used on blind wizards before, but usually on glasses, not Quidditch goggles. You'll be able to see the snitch with these if you concentrate hard enough, and don't worry, this isn't cheating. You have the disadvantage because of all the sounds in a match, it'll be just as difficult to find."
Nodding again, Harry moved his hand in front of his face, seeing the blurred image off it moving across.
Without warning, the Headmaster raised his wand again to the goggles, "Halten."
The image of his hand and Dumbledore disappeared, leaving only blackness around Harry.
"Best not waste the charm for now. To activate it again, just say Anfangen while tapping the goggles and it should work."
Harry grinned from ear to ear, something that felt foreign and actually stretched and pained his long scar on the right side of his face, but he didn't care. As he wrapped his black cloth around his head again and slipped the goggles up and off his head, he continued to smile from the image of flying again. He would have an easy time with the Patronus Charm right then.
