Hey! Sorry about my lapse in updates. School is starting to get hectic because of finals, and I'm not sure how regularly I'll be able to update. (There's that, and the fact that I can no longer go on fanfiction at school, which is when I'd usually post.) Still, I promise to do the best that I can. In the last chapter, I showed a more violent side to Harry, the one that most people see. In this chapter and the next one, however, I want to explore a different side of Harry, the rarer softer side that only exists with a few people. I'll try to do this in a way that won't make you guys complain I'm turning Harry soft, but no guarantees! Hope you enjoy! Disclaimer (that according to the guest speakers (law students studying Social Media law) in my Journalism class is actually useless because fanfiction is NOT a copyright infringement): I do not own Harry Potter. *fake shocked expression* Gee, really? Who would've guessed?
After his fight with Crabbe and Goyle and Malfoy's hospitalization, most students began to avoid Harry, recognizing him as someone not to mess with. This suited the private boy just fine, and he continued on as if nothing had changed. Albus Dumbledore, however, watched the behavior of his newest pupil carefully. Harry was the first student in a long time that he couldn't predict or manipulate, and this worried the aging Headmaster to no end. The boy was truly an enigma, much like Tom Riddle had first been at Hogwarts. Like with Tom, the majority of the teachers liked Harry, often praising his spellwork. Even Snape would grudgingly admit that Potter had some potions talent. Only Umbridge could say anything negative about the boy, and that didn't worry him much.
No, what was truly strange about Harry Potter was the people he associated with. Harry didn't seem to care much for the House system, and you could see him sitting with practically any house. At Ravenclaw, he sat with Luna Lovegood, a good sort of girl if not a bit strange. They were often joined by Tess, Delia, Sean, and Theodore Nott. It was these kinds of associations that worried Dumbledore. Though Severus assured him Theodore was a good student if not a bit quiet, he knew that the boy's father was a Death Eater. Another association that worried him was the Greengrass sisters, Daphne and Astoria, whose family practiced some of the old pureblood traditions but was usually neutral. There were some Gryffindors in Harry's circle, much to Dumbledore's relief. Ginny and Ron Weasley could often be seen with Harry's group, and sometimes Neville Longbotton tagged along as well.
Still, there was something about the boy he didn't like, something too rebellious. Harry was a warrior, that much he knew, but he wasn't the kind of warrior Dumbledore could control. He wasn't the kind of fighter Dumbledore liked because he didn't know just what the boy was fighting for. (Really, it just wasn't for the Greater Good, which bothered the man because Harry was supposed to fight for the Greater Good, a valiant Gryffindor in gold and scarlet. There was far too much green and silver in the boy.)
Dumbledore sat and watched the feast with his signature grandfather smile, manipulations spinning around in his head. He never noticed Harry rolling his eyes at him from the Hufflepuff table, where he was sitting with Tess, Delia, Sean, Susan Bones, and Justin Finch-Fletchly.
"Manipulative old coot," Harry muttered to himself. You could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He took a bite of his potatoes and listened to Tess and Justin explain the basics of Muggle martial arts to Hannah and Susan. Susan Bone was definitely not your stereotypical Hufflepuff, headstrong and tough with no apologies, much like her aunt. Exactly the kind of girl he could befriend. Hannah Abbott, in contrast, was sweet and gentle. Despite her gentle personality, however, Harry had no doubt she could pack a punch when she wanted to. Justin, on the other hand, could've been in Ravenclaw for his keen intelligence.
Harry was snapped out of his musings about his Hufflepuff friends when a Patronus appeared in front of him. It was a tiny songbird. "Harry... need...help..." the bird chirped softly, only almost too soft for him to hear.
"Shit," he cursed, catching the attention of his friends at the table. Tess, who had been scooping some treacle tart onto her plate, looked up worriedly.
"What's wrong?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Harry didn't reply. He picked at his dessert and glanced over at the professors. Before Tess could ask anything, Dumbledore stood up and dismissed the students.
Instead of heading to the Gryffindor dorms, Harry went towards the castle's entrance. Tess didn't say anything, knowing it would blow his cover, but she looked worried nonetheless. Sean took her hand and squeezed it gently. "Don't worry," he said. "Harry's a big boy. He can take care of himself." Despite herself, Tess laughed and followed him up to the dorms. Harry could take care of himself, she reminded herself. It was just hard for her to remember sometimes.
Tess, Delia, and Sean were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, oblivious to the chatter going on around them. No one had seen Harry since dinner, and there was once again more gossip about the rebellious Boy-Who-Lived. If Tess hadn't been anxiously watching the door, she would've laughed at the ridiculous rumors floating around. They ranged from Harry training to defeat Voldemort to him being involved in a high stakes underground drug deal.
Finally, after an hour of them waiting, Harry crept into the common room. In his arms was a girl, probably around fourteen years old, who had obviously been beaten. The side of her face was covered with a nasty purple bruise, and Tess would bet that similar bruises covered the rest of the poor girl's body. She didn't recognize her face and assumed it was one of Harry's street friends. Despite having lived there a short while, Tess had never concerned herself a street kid and never pretended to be. Harry and Bea both had, and they made it a point to keep up with their old friends. Tess knew a few of their faces, but Harry mostly visited them on his own.
Harry looked over at Tess, worry in his eyes. "I have some pain potions and bruise salve in my trunk." Tess nodded and ran up the stairs, her eyes briefly flashing to the girl in his arms. He only had to glance at the third year Gryffindors on the couch to get them to move. He carefully set her down.
The girl started muttering something, stormy blue eyes half-open. "Not his fault..." she croaked. "Made him angry..."
Hermione, who had just been studying at one of the table, almost went to get Professor McGonagall right then and there, but stopped at seeing the dangerous glint in Harry's eye.
He smirked to himself before turning to the whimpering girl. "Shh..." he comforted in voice softer than any thought possible for him. "I'm going to patch you up, Shadow, and everything's going to be okay. We'll discuss your friend's punishment later." Tess showed back up with the potion and the salve, and Harry nodded at her gratefully. He turned to the girl. "You need to take this potion. It will help the pain." She nodded reluctantly, and he brought the vial to her lips, tilting it upwards slowly.
She swallowed, and the effect was almost instantaneous. The girl sat up slowly, wincing at the painful bruises on her ribs. Harry immediately went to work with the salve, applying it to the bruises meticulously, as if he had experience doing it. All of his friend knew he did.
"Shadow" looked around and whistled. "Nice digs, Potter," she teased weakly, a ghost of a smile on her face.
Harry, who was applying the salve to her collarbone, smirked. "Well, it's no tent, but..."
"Shadow" rolled her eyes. "You and that goddamn tent. What's so great about a tent anyway?"
Harry shrugged, but it seemed like a guarded shrug to those observing. "Nothing really. I guess being able to stretch out your arms in your sleep will always seem like a luxury to a boy who grew up in a cupboard."
There was a shocked silence, and even Harry's closest friends didn't know what to say. Tess had never heard Harry talk about his childhood so candidly before. As far as Bea and Harry were considered, their lives hadn't started until they were six and living with the Street Rats. Rarely, she'd hear things like "Number 4 Privet Drive" or "uncle" or "Emily", but no pieces had ever fit. Harry didn't like to talk about it, and she never asked. "Shadow" remained quiet. Harry seemed oblivious to the silence, only interested applying the salve. Soon, most of the Gryffindors started heading to bed. Only Harry, Delia, Tess, and Sean stayed down, the later three interested in the mystery girl and Harry needing to heal her. Tess knew Harry had other friends, but it never occurred to her he loved other people this much, enough to save them from abusive boyfriends. Maybe she'd learn something knew about Harry...
*Hey! Sorry this is kind of a crappy ending. The chapter would be too long, and I desperately wanted to give you guys something tonight. I'll try to have the next part of this encounter for you soon!