Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe is not mine.

New Awakening

Chapter 13 - A Brother's Promise

"Pssst, Harry. Wake up." Harry heard someone call his name and gently shake him awake. He opened his eyes quickly and shrank away from the touch. "Shh, Hare. It's okay, it's me." Harry could see his brother's silhouette due to the light of the rising sun that entered through the curtains.

"T-The-Theo?" Harry said standing up, now wide awake. Was his brother mad that Harry was sleeping in his bed? No matter what his parents said, the little boy knew the room was not his. Not really. He was just borrowing it until they kicked him out. That thought made him want to cry.

"Yeah. Come on. I want to show you something. You should put some slippers and a jacket on, we don't want you to get sick." The red-head said excitedly ruffling his little brother's hair and leading him down the stairs by the hand after waiting for Harry to do as told. Harry stole a quick look at the clock by his bed: 6:41 am.

Harry followed his brother - not that he had much of a choice, since the older boy was holding his hand tightly (though not tight enough to hurt) - with his survival instincts beeping. Would the boy kick him out while his parents weren't looking? Would Theo hurt Harry and say what a waste of space he was? Harry gulped, feeling nauseated. The black haired boy wanted to trust his redheaded brother, he did but his experience with other kids made him wary.

Theo made his way to the kitchen, unlocked the backdoor and turned to look at his little brother who was pale and seemed lost in thoughts.

"Harry? Are you alright?" The older boy asked worriedly already regretting his idea. Harry nodded looking dejected. "You sure?" Harry nodded again. "Come on, then. You have to see this."

Theo turned the knob and pushed the door open. They were met with the chilly early-morning air and unconsciously moved closer to each other.

Harry took a look at the garden, blinking twice to confirm what he was seeing.

The green grass and trees were illuminated by an orangey light that came from the rising sun. The lake, which Harry hadn't noticed the day before, showed the reflection of the vegetation and even though it was early autumn, the flowers were still alive and as beautiful as ever. The smell of grass cut through his senses. For sure, it was one of the most beautiful things Harry had ever seen.

"Wow" Harry breathed out unable to control himself.

"I know right?! I saw this through my window when I woke up to go to the er- never mind. I just had to show it to my little brother." Theo grinned and his grin widened when he saw Harry's smile, knowing the emerald-eyed boy didn't mind being woken up for that. At all.

The fact that Theo wanted to share something with him was all Harry could think about and made the green-eyed boy want to squeal with joy for the first time ever.

"Come, let's go to the shore. There are some huge rocks there where we can sit." The redhead said. "The last one to get there will kiss a Grindylow!" The hazel-eyed boy smiled wickedly and ran. Harry had no idea what a Grindylow was, but he for sure didn't want to kiss it.

So the little boy ran, laughing care-freely behind his brother.

Theo reached the lake first with a grin and plopped himself in this big stone. Harry arrived breathless.

"Are you okay? Take deep breaths." Theo asked with a concerned look. Harry nodded and was about to sit on the slightly humid ground beside his brother when the redhead stopped him with a hand. Harry flinched, jumped back and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I-I'm sorry." Harry mumbled.

"No, I'm sorry I startled you, Hare." Theo said slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I was just going to tell you to sit here beside me." Theo said patting the rock. "There's plenty of space for both of us and, well, mum will kill us if we got our pyjamas dirtier than necessary."

"W-Will she be mad? I c-can stand. It's n-no trouble." Harry said tensing up. He didn't want to get his mum mad at him. He didn't want to be punished.

"Nah." Theo shrugged. "I mean, once we give her the look she won't be able to stay mad at us."

"What look?" Harry asked frowning.

"The abandoned puppy look. Wide eyes and slow blink. It always works on her. I will show you sometime. I'm a master at it." The redhead grinned cheekily and Harry gave an hesitant smile, though his body was still tense in anticipation. "Dad will be trickier though, but we can change our clothes and put them on the laundry basket before he sees us."

Harry gulped and his fear must have become apparent. "Don't worry, Harry. The worst he will do is scold us half heartedly. Daddy is a big softie." 'He won't hit you.' was Theo's underlying message. Still it did not ease Harry's worries. "Sit, Harry. You must be tired."

But Harry didn't head inside, like his instincts told him to, instead he sat down and pulled his knees to his chest. Theo seemed so content and so sure of himself, and he brought Harry with him! He wanted to share something this beautiful with Harry and just knowing that was worth any punishment the little boy might get.

They sat there in comfortable silence before Theo gathered courage to ask what was bothering him.

"Harry?" The little boy turned to look at his big brother with huge green eyes. "What was it like? W-Without mum and dad?" Theo seemed sad when he asked that question, his hazel eyes looked insecure and he bit his lip. Harry gulped and looked down. "Sorry, Harry. Please forget that I asked that, I didn't mean to upset you. I-"

"I-It was normal to me. Living with aunt 'Tunia and uncle Vernon. I didn't know any d-different but I still wished to know somehow what it would be like if I had a m-mum and a dad." Harry felt his eyes fill with tears. "I-It wasn't nice, completely different from here. I wasn't happy-" then Harry realised he'd said that out loud and jumped out of his sitting place and backed away from his brother.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Theo said looking alarmed at the boys sudden lurch.

"I'm being u-ungrateful. I'm just an ungrateful brat. M-my relatives took care of me of the goodness of their hearts and now I'm-"

"Harry!" Theo seemed horrified. "How can you say that? They beat you!" Harry flinched at the word.

"I-I deserved what I got. They just wanted to make me n-normal." Harry mumbled tearing up and crossing his arms to ward off the cold.

"No, Harry. You didn't! No one deserves that!" Theo said getting up and putting his hands on his hair.

"I'm sorry, please!" Harry whimpered and raised his arms to protect his face.

"I'm not going to hurt you or leave you hurting, Harry!" Theo said looking at his cowering little brother tearing up. "You're my baby brother and I will protect you from yourself and from others, that is a promise." The boy finished softly. Harry would almost palp the emotions in his brother's tone. The redhead was angry, defeated, sad but most of all determined. Harry unbeknownst to himself lowered his arms. "They were bastards. That was wrong." Theo said looking much older, not bothering that he shouldn't use that language. "I'm so happy you are here now, with us, with your family. And I swear, Harry, that you will be happy here."

Theo finished softly and watched in conflict as the first tear fell from Harry's left eye. Quickly followed by many more. He took a step forward and stopped himself for a second, then enveloped the small boy in a comforting hug. Harry flinched but quickly hugged his brother, relishing the comfort and the feeling of acceptance.

"You are my little brother and I would never let anyone harm you. I'd hex them into oblivion, and I don't give a damn about the underage magic decree." Theo said fiercely and Harry smiled a real smile. After a minute, Theo pulled away and ruffled Harry's hair.

"T-Thank you, Theo."

"No problem, Hare." Theo said waving him off. "So, do you want to learn how to fly? Dad's a brilliant Quidditch player, he was on his house's team. He taught me how to fly in a real broom when I was about ten, I had only flown in a child sized one before that. Though I think you should start with one of those. It's a pretty different experience." He said it all in one breath.

"I-it must be fun." Harry said smiling.

"It is! I hope I can make it to the team in the next few years, I want to be a Chaser just like dad." Theo grinned.

The brothers talked and talked for half an hour. Well, Theo talked and Harry answered when asked something. Then, Theo's stomach growled.

"Shall we go back? I'm getting hungry and you must be too." The boy said sheepishly.

Harry's stomach growled in response and while the little boy blushed, Theo laughed and hopped out of the rock they were sitting on.

"Come on." The red head said putting an arm around Harry's shoulders (ignoring the boy's jump) and leading him back inside.

The door creaked when they entered the kitchen and Theo - after taking off his jacket and helping Harry with his - went directly to the fridge removing a carton of chocolate milk and getting two glasses to pour it in. He handed one of the cups to his little brother. Who looked at him wide eyed but accepted it with a thanks, though he didn't sip it.

"Go ahead. I'm sure you won't regret it!" Theo said grinning and jumping on the counter. Harry hesitantly tried the drink and couldn't help but smile. "I know right?!" Theo said dangling his legs and then laughed when Harry paused his action. "You've got a chocolate milk moustache."

"Oh." Harry blushed and licked his lips. "T-Thanks."

"Nah." Theo waved his little brother off.

"Your mother better not see this, Theo." James said from the door with arms crossed but eyes alive with mirth.

"Shit." The redhead said as he spilled the drink all over his pyjamas and floor.

"Theo..." James said warningly but before the father could finish his sentence Harry slipped on the wet floor and dropped the glass he was holding with an echoing sound, falling over the little pieces. Harry's green eyes widened and fear flooded them. In a blink the little boy was on his knees, picking the glass shards carelessly with shaking hands.

"Harry, stop!" James said running towards his son and trying to pull the boy away from the floor.

"P-Please. Please, I-I'm sorry." The boy in James' arms said with tears falling down his face as he tried to pull away from the touch.

"Harry! Harry James Potter, stop that!" James said firmly and the boy cowered completely still. James picked him up and sat him on the counter besides the sink.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry. P-Please. I can clean it up. I'm sorry." The boy said over and over again his eyes tightly shut.

"Harry. It's okay. Look at me, please." James said softly and the boy hesitantly opened his terrified emerald-eyes. "Do I look like I am mad?" The father asked in the same soothing tone.

Harry slowly shook his head but tears still fell silently on his face.

"I'm s-sorry for always ruining everything!" Harry said looking down ashamed. "I-I understand that I have to be p-punished, sir."

"No, Harry. You didn't ruin anything at all and even if you do I will not lay a finger on you nor let anyone do that." James said patiently.

"But-"

"There is no room for buts, Harry. I mean it." The black-haired man said firmly.

"Daddy! Harry's hands!" Theo shouted his voice betraying how scared he felt.

Fat drops of blood were falling from the small hands, staining the boy's pyjamas and floor. Harry's hands were shaking and tightened in fists though it must make it hurt more.

"Shit-!" James couldn't help but exclaim as the grabbed the boy's wrists with more strength than necessary.

Harry flinched and restarted his begged apologies. The hazel-eyed man loosed his grip.

"Theo? Go get your mum. She's better than I am with those things." James said his voice tense. There was no verbal response, just the sound of hurried footsteps leaving the room. "Harry, open and raise your hands."

"I-I'm sorry." Harry said for the millionth time doing as told. "I p-promise I-I'll clean it up and do extra c-chores and I-I won't waste your f-food e-eating it, sir. A-and I w-won't cry d-during the beating. Just p-please don't h-hate me and s-send me a-away." The green-eyed boy said helplessly between sobs.

It wasn't the pain of the beating Harry was fearing, he had learned to stand physical pain. Harry was afraid of seeing the look of hatred and rejection on James' eyes while he growled and hit him. The pain of rejection was worse than anything. Like giving a plate of food to a starved child only to take it away after the first bite.

"Merlin, Harry! I could never ever hate you and I. Will. Not. Beat. You. Or starve you, or lock you up, or hurt you in any physical or psychological way for breaking a glass. Or for any other reason for the matter, as I've told you before." James said cupping the boy's face and looking into his green eyes.

"B-But I was bad." The little boy sniffled.

"You weren't and even if you had done something really really bad. I scared you. Haven't I showed you that you are stuck with us and that you are a part of this family - an important part of it? In a family we don't hurt each other."

"I-I'm just a burden to your family." The young boy said with conviction.

"No, Harry. Y-"

"What's wrong?" A disheveled Lily entered the room tidying up her robes. In a flash she was standing in James' place. "Let me see your hands, darling." she grabbed his wrists much more gently.

"I-I'm sorry." The bleeding boy said futilely once more.

"Shhhh. It's okay." She said wiping his tears and kissing his forehead. "James, I need you to get an antiseptic cream, essence of dittany as well as a sterile tweezer and a blood replenishing potion." Lily said trying not to let her nervousness show. She was grateful at that moment for being such a meticulous potioneer and having sterile instruments at home, since some rare potions ingredients couldn't be tempered with human touch.

Harry's hands were full of cuts, some of them quite deep - which were the cause of the profuse bleeding. Lily could see the shimmering of glass shards that spiked his skin and settled there. The little boy was shaking and silent tears were falling down his face.

"I-I'm sorry. Please."

"Shhh it's okay, sweetie. I will make it better alright? Shhhh." The redhead said softly, combing her son's messy hair with her fingers.

"Mum?" She turned around to see a pale Theo holding a towel, his hazel eyes wide.

"Thank you, darling." Lily said before mopping the boy's hands carefully not to make the pieces of glass infiltrate further.

"Lily. Here." James said entering the room with the items in a metallic tray. The redhead gave her husband a grateful - though strained - smile.

"Harry? I will heal your hands, alright? But first I will have to cast a spell to get rid of the blood and remove the shards to clean the cuts. I'd put a numbing salve but I'm afraid it can't have contact with your blood flow so I can't use one until the wounds are closed." Lily said apologetic.

"Y-You don't have t-to! I c-can do t-that."

"You're eight!" Lily squeaked horrified

.

"I c-can do it! I've d-done it before. I-I just need s-s-some toilet paper or r-rag, an o-old one. P-Please I don't want to be a b-burden." The little boy said begging for them to understand.

A dozen emotions passed through Lily and James' eyes. Horror, pity, sadness, rage, protection, love, pain just to name a few. But surprisingly it was Theo who spoke up.

"Harry? It's mum and dad. It's their job to take care of you." The redhead said confused.

"Theo is right, son. I want to, please." Lily said recovering herself. The little boy bit his lip and nodded.

"C'mere buddy." James said taking a step towards the little boy. Harry backed away in fear and looked at his red wrists with a hand mark.

James looked down mentally cursing himself to oblivion thrice. His rational side knew he didn't hold Harry's wrists as tight as it seemed but the fragile boy was still scared and bruised.

"Theo, why don't you go change?" Lily said softly.

"No! I wanna stay with Harry, mum! Please." Theo exclaimed.

"Theo, son, I don't think it's a g-"

"I won't leave my little brother when he's hurt, mum!"

"But-

"Lily, leave him." James said with a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Is that okay with you, buddy?"

The little boy nodded still with his eyes on the floor. So Theo hopped besides his brother and put his arms around him, in a miniature version of what James would normally do. The little boy tensed up but didn't pull away.

"May I begin, sweetheart?" Lily asked softly and Harry nodded. "Tergeo" She said and waved her wand, the excess of blood was gone though some of the deeper cuts were still bleeding.

A still crestfallen James handed his wife the tweezer and a smaller tray and the woman started to remove the broken pieces. Lily was halfway done and the boy had only flinched once, when the biggest shard was removed and even then he didn't make a sound. James couldn't take it anymore.

"Harry, buddy?" The unspeakable tried and the little boy opened his pained eyes. "You don't have to hold it all in. It's okay, no one will think different of you. We know it hurts." The little boy shook his head in disagreement to the statement. "Why, Harry? Hm?"

"W-weak and a-annoying." The little boy mumbled through clenched jaw and bit his lip.

"No. Human. No one will think any less of you. I promise buddy." The man said slowly reach out to put a hand on his youngest son's hair.

With that the first tear fell and was soon followed by many others. Theo didn't say a word, just squeezed his brother's shoulder and pulled him close.

"Almost done, darling. Almost done." Lily said moving to the boys left hand and repeating the process. Harry was bleeding, twisting his legs in pain and his body was stiff.

James moved towards his son once more and rubbed the boys legs soothingly. "It's alright, buddy. Almost done."

"Okay. Now I will clean the wounds - which will sting a little I'm afraid - and close them. I'll have to use a potion to do that because some wounds are quite deep and Dittany repairs better the tissues." Lily said putting away the instruments and rotating her shoulders to relax, as if it was possible. "You are doing great, baby. Just a little longer."

The only woman then wet a gauze and patted the cuts which foamed a little and everyone heard Harry cry out from the back of his throat.

"It's okay, Harry. Mum is almost done." Theo said with trembling voice looking at her begging for confirmation.

Lily just nodded and picked up the flask of essence of dittany and let a drop fall on each of the numerous lacerations. This time Harry couldn't help it. It was like his hands were on fire, he could feel his epithelial and conjunctive tissues growing and stitching temselves back together and it felt like many needles were stabbing his mistreated limbs. He let out an anguished cry.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry, please! I'll b-be good, I w-won't break a-anything again!" The emerald-eyed boy said between sobs as he tried to pull his hands away.

"Shhh. It's done, Harry. You're alright, baby boy. Shhhh." Lily said pulling the too small boy into her arms and the boy automatically wrapped his legs around her hip. The auburn-haired woman expertly put a hand supporting the boy's head and the other under his backside and started to rock her youngest son, mumbling nonsense in his ear.

Lily made her way to the drawing room with her son in her arms and Theo was about to follow when James put a hand on the top of the boy's head.

"Teddy, why don't you help me with breakfast?"

Theo looked about to protest but then bit his lip and nodded, leaving his brother and mother alone.

The woman of the house moved swiftly to the sofa, knowing that the only reason she was still able to carry the black haired boy was because he physically looked like a way younger child - and a too light one at that.

Harry didn't even notice he was now sitting on his mother's lap in another room. He knew he had screwed up everything this time. Lily and James had only been nice towards him and Harry was destroying their house room by room, thing by thing. And Theo must hate him now, he was sure of it. Harry acted like a big baby and clung to him over small - at least compared to what happened at the Dursleys - cuts. Over just a little pain. A pain he deserved for messing up the floor and breaking the glass. As well as drinking chocolate milk and going outside not to do chores. He would get it this time. With that the little boy's cries intensified.

Lily knew they couldn't give him anymore calming draughts for a while, since some of the ingredients took about a week to be expelled from the organism and his body was weak, so it could be easily intoxicated. But then the mother remembered that he seemed to calm down with her voice and she started to sing the same lullaby from that day. After a while, sobs turned into hiccups, then tears, then sniffles. Harry put a thumb on his mouth and closed his eyes.

"Harry. Harry son, look at me. Tell me what's wrong so I can help love." Lily begged almost crying. "Please." The boy looked terrified at the prospect. "I won't know what to do otherwise, Harry." The mother said running her fingers through her son's hair so untamed like his father's.

"I'm s-sorry." The little boy whispered around his thumb opening pained green eyes.

"What are you apologising for, love?"

"F-For breaking t-the g-glass, d-drinking c-chocolate m-milk when I-I know better, g-going outside w-without permission and crying a-and b-being a f-freak." Harry said meeting his mother's eyes and removing his thumb from his mouth - it was the only time he was supposed to initiate eye contact: when he was confessing his wrongdoings. Lily could see that the boy really believed he had reasons to apologise.

"Don't say that. First of all you have nothing to apologise for. We don't have a single reason to be mad at you. James scared you and you dropped the glass, it's a normal reaction. It could have happened to anyone. You shouldn't have tried to pick up the pieces because of the chance of you hurting yourself was huge and that ended up happening. But you won't repeat it. We are worried, not mad." The redhead explained patiently, combing Harry's raven hair with her fingers. "There's nothing wrong with going outside, darling, you are not a prisoner. As long as you let us know and has a jacket on there is no problem at all. And you were with your big brother, he will never let anything happen to you." The boy looked down and moved his hand back to his mouth. "Understand?"

Harry nodded even though he didn't.

"Now, what did you mean when you said 'I know better'?" Lily said softly trying to extract as much information as she could.

"I-I know I'm not 'llowed to eat g-good food, especially s-something that is so nice." Harry mumbled, wiping his hands on his pyjamas. "I'm sorry, ma'am, i-it won't happen again and I-I won't make a sound when y-you punish me."

"Harry James, this is your home." Lily lifted his chin. "You are allowed to eat anything you like, you are supposed to eat our food - it's yours as well. Neither me, or James, or anyone will ever lay a hand on you. We love you unconditionally, that's what a family is all about." Lily said emphatically but softly planting a kiss on her boy's forehead. "No matter what you do, darling boy, what happened back there won't repeat itself. It was sick. We love you, you are our child and you will be cherished for the sweet little boy you are, nothing else."

Harry bit back his protest and nodded, fiddling with his bloodstained shirt.

"How is your hand, sweetheart? The truth please, so if it hurts I can make it better."

"Okay. T-thank you."

"Are you sure?" Lily inquired raising her eyebrows.

Harry bit his lip. "I-It stings." The little boy mumbled. "But I-I don't mean t-to sound ungrateful, it's nothing."

"Well, the only way to lessen the stings would be a numbing potion - but then you'd lose senses on your hands for a few hours." At that Harry shook his head wide eyed. "Do you hurt anywhere else?"

Harry was about to shake his head when a timid Theo entered the room shuffling his feet.

"Tell her about the fall, Hare. It was pretty nasty." The red haired boy muttered scratching the back of his neck.

Lily's eyes softened. "Fall?" She whispered looking at the little boy on her lap.

"I-It's n-nothing, mummy. I d-don't want to burden you."

"Well, little brother, it might mean nothing to you but it means to me. I promised, remember? He fell on his tummy, mum."

Theo stated sitting next to his brother and looking at him with determined hazel eyes - the same look James gave Harry when he wanted to make a point. Harry bit his lip and nodded at Lily's questioning look.

"Does it hurt?" The mother inquired as a test.

"A lit-" A look from Theo was all it took for Harry to look down and whisper the truth. "Yes."

Theo James looked at his little brother proudly knowing that this was just the first battle of the war but that he was victorious and in consequence so was Harry. Saving Harry from his demons would be hard, they were infiltrated in his every thought and move - but who said the Potters didn't like challenges?

A/N: Hello my dears. I decided to split this chapter so I can update sooner since the second part is not finished. I hope you like it and that it was worth the wait.

Thank you for your love and support and please follow/favourite/review!

Any questions? Suggestions? Send me a PM! I will be glad to answer and chat!

Love,

Maria

PS: The second One-Shot in A Change of Sceneries was posted a while ago, check it out!

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO CAN'T REVIEW, I'D LOVE TO RECEIVE A PM WITH YOUR THOUGHTS!

- I had posted an A/N and now deleted it but it still counts as the same chapter.