The Truth
Raven was sitting alone in the carriage on the plush read seat that he didn't think he'd ever sat on a seat so comfortable before. He was watching as the main metropolis of London city gave way to suburbs and fields dotted with villages. He'd never seen outside of London. He knew he had lived somewhere else but he was only allowed out in the dead of night when it was time for his "wash". And when he had been dumped in London he'd been driven in the boot of a car; not exactly ideal for observing things. It was very different to the world Raven knew. Then he heard the door open. Raven turned around sharply jumping up preparing to pull out a knife to threaten if they were unfriendly. Then he relaxed seeing it was the twins and their dreadlocked friend. The twins were grinning as always in their very Jay like way. Raven turned his attention to their friend who had his dark eyes on Raven's forehead obviously trying to see through his dark matted hair to the scar that lay beneath. Raven shot an icy glare at the red twins; typical they would tell their friend about him being a marred freak. It just proved it you couldn't trust anybody! He wasn't going to become a freak show at this school.
'Are you really Harry Potter?' the boy burst out suddenly.
Raven was thrown by the black kid's question this wasn't what he was expecting from the teenager. He frowned there it was again that look of adoration. But he didn't understand it, he couldn't understand it. Up to the age of four, almost five, he'd been treated worse than an animal hidden in a cupboard as a dirty secret of his aunt and uncle's. Let out to pee and wash in the dead of night. He was barely fed. Forced to work from dawn to dusk like a slave. Any food he had got was because he had stolen it. Then he'd been dumped on the streets. And he had found that most people looked down on the homeless in disgust like it was their fault they'd ended up on the street never understanding that nobody chose to be homeless. Or they just tried to avoid looking at them as though homelessness was catching. Or worse they were looked down with pity. Or they looked at them in fear. Although in Raven's case that was understandable he was pretty handy with a knife and to afford food and clothing he was pretty much a common criminal whether pickpocketing, thievery, ferrying illegal packages but at least he was no mugger. It reminded him too much of what had happened to him at the Dursleys.
'We told you Lee,' began Fred.
'He prefers Raven,' George added.
'T'anks guys,' Raven shook his head.
'No probs,' grinned George.
'Dae yeh tae ever nae grin like dat?' asked Raven.
'Nope,' laughed Lee. 'The name's Lee,' he held out a dark hand.
'Raven,' Raven shook the dark boy's hand, 'bit I guess t'anks tae these tae yeh already nae t'is,' he said.
'Your accent,' Lee shook his head.
'I cud sae da same,' retorted Raven.
'You certainly don't take no nonsense,' smirked Fred.
'Ne'er,' agreed Raven.
'So you're really Harry Potter?' he repeated.
'Wit's it tae yeh,' growled Raven.
'Well you're the Boy Who Lived,' Lee said excitedly.
'Well obviously I'm fucking alive,' Raven said nonplussed, 'so are yeh,' he pointed out.
'But your survived You Know Who,' Lee said.
'I don' noe who,' frowned Raven.
'Lord… Lord… Voldemort,' he shuddered the name.
'Didn't you Muggle family tell you about your parents' deaths?' asked George with a frown.
Raven was shocked at this titbit of information that George had given out freely. He wanted more; he wanted the truth. Raven had always been far too curious for his own good nothing that life on the streets or the Dursleys could beat out of him. He hadn't even known that his parents were in fact dead. All he'd ever been told was that they'd left and weren't coming back, ever. Why wasn't he surprised that the Dursleys had lied to him about that! Never mind that his mother and father's deaths were significant enough in the Wizarding world to know about the son. And what was this to do with his scar? His aunt and uncle had always hated it. Maybe they hadn't abandoned him at the Dursleys after all; maybe they had loved him. Maybe that meant he could possibly be loved by other people like others were. Maybe that meant it was okay for him to have friends like any other child. But he shook that thought out of his head not ready to deal with it. He wasn't going to trust even if his parents had loved him people still abandoned him. People still hurt each other and him. He realised the other three older boys were looking at him shocked that he didn't know whatever had happened to him as a baby. So he looked at the floor making him look younger than usual and wrapped his arms around his stomach.
'Aun' Petuna and Uncle Vernon don' li'e talkin' abou' me mam an' da an' I didn' wan upse' t'em,' he lied easily.
'Sorry,' the three boys chorused.
'Sae wha' happened?' he asked urgently.
'Well you see Lord well You Know Who,' Lee said.
'He was going around trying to kill all Muggles,' explained George with a grimace.
'Muggles?' asked Raven.
'Non magic folk,' explained Lee.
'So Voldemor',' Raven ignored their winces, 'wis goin' around killin' Muggles bu' he can' still be doin' sae,' frowned Raven surely he'd have heard about the deaths on the street unless it was limited to home dwellers.
'No well he was getting stronger by the day,' Fred explained.
'Anyone who fought against him ended up dead,' George added.
'Like our Uncles,' Fred and George shared a sad look.
'Anyway one day he turned up at your house and killed your mother, your father and then he tried to kill you but failed,' Lee took over his eyes going to his forehead.
'Dae scar,' Raven understood.
The four boys in the cabin were silent for a long moment. Raven was slightly in shock at what he had learnt about his past and his parents. So his parents weren't that bad after all if they were trying to save lives that gave Raven a heady feeling in his gut. And a guilt that he'd hated and blamed them for so many years. He had absolutely no idea what to say now that his whole ideology concerning parents had been shattered. The three other, older boys were obviously giving him space when the door to their cabin suddenly opened again. In entered a girl who was about Raven's size who looked familiar to him in a half forgotten kind of way. She had lots of bushy brown hair and large brown eyes which were definitely the nicest feature on her. That was when Raven realised who see was the girl from the park after the fire; when Raven had lost Goldie. She had the look of someone intelligent and carried a large book close to her chest. Raven was suddenly nervous. Would she remember him? Would she know he was homeless? Would she report him? What would happen to him then? Would he go back to the Dursleys? Or some orphanage? Or someone else who would hurt him? He forced himself to calm down and see what happened before making any plan on what to do next. And Fred and George's little brother was back. And another boy who was round faced and tearful he looked like he was about to burst out crying. Raven rolled his eyes at the sobbing boy. What did he have to cry about?
'Hey Ronnikins,' grinned Fred.
'Are you really Harry Potter?' shot out Ron ignoring his older brothers.
'Raven,' Raven narrowed his eyes.
'You don't look like much,' Ron said.
Harry snorted, 'ne'er dae yeh.'
The boy turned red, 'you sound like all my brothers that I've got to live up to I mean look at me we're poor as...'
'Oh quit wining,' Raven said angrily, 'ders people ou' der worse off dan yeh. Yeh noe where yer nex' meals comin' from a' leas',' Raven glared at the red head with such ferocity.
'Fine,' Ron stormed off.
'Ignore our git of a brother,' Fred shook his head.
'Sorry but have you see a toad at all he keeps getting away from me,' the teary boy explained.
'No,' the three boys shook their heads.
'Oh cum on boy he'll turn up. He's an animal he cam luk af'er himsel',' Raven shrugged.
'Well if you see him tell me. I'm going to continue searching, Hermione,' Neville left.
'That was mean,' the girl called Hermione spoke in a high pitched voice.
Raven just shrugged, 't'was true.'
'I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you,' Hermione spoke quickly.
'Lee Jordan,' Lee greeted.
'Fred,' Fred said.
'George,' greeted George.
'Raven,' shrugged Raven.
'Righ',' said Raven.
'You've got a very Cockney brawl,' Hermione said.
'I live in London,' retorted Raven.
'So do I,' Hermione said.
'No in da same part's,' Raven shrugged.
'Well I better help Neville with his toad,' shrugged Hermione.
'Honesly maybe he doesnae wanna be foun',' Raven sneered.
'Your very rude,' Hermione stalked off.
When the lunch trolley came around Fred and George pulled out a sandwich bag and began eating their corn beef sandwiches their mother had made them laughing when they told them that Ron had corn beef as well and hated corn beef. Raven would be happy to eat almost anything so rolled his eyes. Lee bought a pile of sweets, cakes and pies that he shared with the other three especially Raven when he realised that he hadn't any food. Raven ate hungrily and very impolitely food coming out of his mouth. Raven having lived his whole life on the streets or in a cupboard had never been taught manners so didn't know how to eat in a polite situation. The other three were staring at him appalled at the Boy Who Lived's eating stile. Raven ignored this too busy gulping down another pumpkin pasty. They were eating happily away when the door opened to reveal three boys. One who was at the front of the boys and the obvious leader had white blonde and ferret like dressed in expensive clothing with a sneer on his face. Raven knew he was going to be a rich stuck up snob. The other two looked stupider than the other and obviously were using the blonde as there brains. The blonde obviously used them as the muscle he'd seen gangs like this on the streets so it didn't faze him in the slightest. He knew he could kill them in a second so didn't look up from the pasty he was still eating.
'Is it true?' asked the blonde. 'They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?' he demanded.
''Es,' Raven said through a mouthful of food.
The blonde wrinkled his nose, 'you're quite disgusting,' he grimaced.
'An' yeh have tae hide behin' yer goons,' Raven snorted.
'I could take you any day of the week,' the blonde retorted.
'I'd li' tae sae yeh try,' Raven figured his knife in his trouser pocket.
'I don't need Crabbe and Goyle,' the blonde retorted. 'The name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. You'll soon find out some Wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there,' he said looking at the twins and holding out a hand.
'Fuck off,' Raven looked at the boy who had gone pink.
'With manners like that you'll not last long in Hogwarts,' warned the blonde.
'Dae I luk scared tae yeh?' demanded the street child.
'I'd be careful if I were you, Potter,' warned Malfoy. 'Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you.'
Crabbe and Goyle walked towards him cracking there knuckles and flexing there muscles. Then Raven leapt up at that point reacting instinctively as he'd learned to on the streets of London. He fought the three boys without even needing to draw his knife. He punched Crabbe in the soft tissue above his nose. He went down with a thud. Then kicked Goyle in the stomach and he went down too. He then snarled at Malfoy who screamed and ran off in the other direction. Raven shook his head; what a cowardly ponce. He then sat down picking up a packet of colourful sweets and resumed eating as if nothing had happened. And indeed to him nothing had; he'd been fighting for so long that fights like this were second nature and never alarmed him. So he learned to fight harsh and well and when others got hurt it never bothered him. The other three boys were staring at him in alarm. Raven understood that the more animalistic side of a street rat had come out just then. And these civilised, well brought up homed wizard boys were unused to seeing a punch up like that. He wasn't going to apologize for that. He knew how to fight and if people decided to fight him he'd fight them right back.
'Where did you learn to do that?' asked Lee weakly.
'Around,' Raven replied vaguely.
'Remind me never to get into a fight with you,' muttered Lee.
Raven grinned at this.
