[START]
Define 'Normal'…
Chapter 14: Campfire Stories
Coughs and sneezes were quick to follow the group's entry and arrival, the colours of the outside giving way to a paler interior of the large, three story holiday home of the Najimi household.
"Whoo! The beach!" A whoop and laugh as a girl blurred through the entryway to the glass doors at the back of the house, leading to a patio and a stairway down to the cove proper.
"Sayori, don't just leave your suitcase lying there!" exasperated and hurried, the boy rushed after his friend to ensure she didn't hurt herself.
"I can get started on cleaning, where are the supplies?" Green eyes looking about at the dusty floor and surfaces and resisting the urge to just swat it away with a wave.
"They should be in the cupboard under the sink, I'll give you a hand. But we should first get our cases into our rooms." The orange haired lady of the house answered and began to direct those still in the house to a large staircase leading from the ground floor to the second and third.
"I'm gonna keep an eye on Sayori and Hiro." A headband wearing boy gleefully called from the rear and he made his own hurried way to the now open backdoor after the duo,
"You'd better call them back up here to help out!" Najimi-san called to Budo's retreating form and the interplay was met with some laughs and head shakes as they made their way upstairs.
The trio wouldn't be inside for another half hour, the three grinning (Hiro having thankfully come out of his shell a little on the beach) and were immediately scolded by Najimi and Hanako for traipsing sand and sea water into the kitchen that Harry and Yuri had just scrubbed and mopped.
They spent the better part of their first day scouring away dirt and dust from the neglect of the place and, by virtue of having gone to explore the beach without them, the trio were left with the lovely task of dealing with the perishable food they had found in the cupboards and fridge from Najimi and Yamada's families trip there the previous year… The cruel price for fun, there was much laughter at Hiro's drawing of the short straw and having to interact with it…
By the time futons were rolled out in the two bedrooms they would be occupying, the TV and the little tech in the house was set up and the house met Najimi's (the gruelling task master she was) own personal standard for cleanliness, then were they allowed outside to bask in the pleasantly warm summer night as crickets chirped and Budo and Taro began to set up a barbecue whilst Harry and Yuri began to dice the ingredients they had snagged on the way to the house to make into kebabs.
"Nice knife skills there." Harry smirked as he saw the girl make short work of a chicken breast, dicing it into cubes and deftly sliding the meat aside to do it again. She flushed and smiled just a little at the praise but was otherwise VERY focused on what she was doing,
"I should say the same, I wouldn't have imagined you were so gifted." Yuri spoke in her usual, gentle tone, "Do you enjoy cooking? You seem fairly comfortable with it, I'm surprised you didn't join the cooking club."
"I have a bit of a… mixed bag of feelings towards cooking. I don't mind doing it but don't exactly enjoy it enough to go to a club for it."
"That's a shame." Sayori piped up from behind them, having been salivating at the food from the sidelines before being dragged off by Hiro when she made a dive for some of the peppers Harry had been slicing up a few minutes prior, "You could have hung out with Natsuki."
"Ah… yeah, she used to be in that club, right?" Harry's hand stilled as he remembered how he got that info on the… confrontational girl, "Hey, Sayori?"
"Hmm?"
"What's Natsuki like?"
"Ehehe, you should get to know her to find that out, Harry."
"I'd love to, but I don't think she likes me very much. She kind of had some… words for me when we first met."
"You seem rather invested." Yuri entered the conversation with a thoughtful sidelong glance as she ran out of chicken to cut, "Do you… like her or something?"
Harry didn't quite know what the element was in her voice as she asked that question, but he could guess from the almost worried look in Yuri's eyes. He didn't really know what to make of Yuri, she seemed to have some sort of crush on him (he was neither dumb nor dense enough to not see it) but didn't quite know what to do about it.
She was obviously gorgeous, he felt like a perv whenever he let his mind drift here, but she had likely the most womanly figure of ANY student at the school (and anyone his age he had ever met). Tall, long legs and a large chest, glorious long hair and beautiful eyes. As well as being absolutely adorable (even if the timidity and easily flustered personality she exhibited was also saddening at the display of her own lack of self-esteem) as well as showcasing moments of great wisdom, intelligence and elegance.
You really could not do much better than Kuroyanagi Yuri.
But, it seemed that his silence and distracted introspection had set up something that Harry had endeavoured to avoid for his entire life…
Shenanigans…
"What's this? Our Assistant Rep is having MORE lady troubles?" Budo turned from the heating and successfully assembled barbecue and followed Taro over to the rest of the group, the latter settling in next to his beaming sister (sipping from a glass of juice mixed with lemonade and marvelling at the awakening fireflies) before saying his piece,
"This is about Gushiken-san, correct? From your class, Sayori-chan?" A nod from Sayori answering him before continuing, "You went and stopped the Ganguro's from bullying her, did you do that because you wanted to date her?"
Scandalised, Harry's response was vehement and incredulous,
"Of course not! I heard they were planning something nasty for another student and decided to stop them. Anyone else would have done the same." He scowled and folded his arms, only to realise he was still holding the knife and had almost stabbed himself. He quickly set it down and the realisation acted like a bucket of ice cold water over the flames of his embarrassment, "She's the one who came to me afterwards, I didn't even know who she was. I just want to…"
"Know what her issue is?" Najimi supplied from off to the side, snagging a similar drink to Hanako's and sliding in to sit on the girl's other side on the small bench on the house's patio. A quick look over her shoulder in the twilight gave her a fond smile, bleached white wooden steps lead down a sandy shrub infested hill to a beach with pretty white sand surrounded on both sides by towering rocks. The mini-cliff faces that stopped people from simply looking in on the closed of space formed a horse shoe shape that curled out into the water and left only the narrowest of entry's/exits to the rest of the ocean. She looked forward to spending the next week or two just lounging down there but decided to get back to the topic at hand, which had moved on a little in her distraction.
"So… the reason you kept leaving change under the machine was because you knew she would find it and use it?" Taro inquired with a slightly unreadable expression, his dark eyes on Harry's slightly guiltily hooded green,
"I KNEW it wasn't some British custom." Budo exclaimed before deflating a little at Najimi's sidelong glare,
"So, Natsuki's upset cause she thinks you're treating her like a charity case?" Hiro's first foray into the dialogue, the boy a little flustered when eyes snapped to him, "I mean, she does seem pretty proud. She probably took a bit of a hit to her ego after finding out."
His words were met with a few resolute nods,
"I saw a girl and decided to offer a bit of help." Harry muttered a bit weakly,
"You didn't push the issue, did you? You didn't make her feel guilty or obligated to do something in return?" Hanako, also her first entry into the larger conversation that interrogated the green eyed boy. The boy in question once again looked horrified and scandalised at the insinuation, especially when Taro nodded just a little in approval to his sisters side (as she voiced the questions he hadn't yet vocalised), but she held up her hand as his expression acted as enough of an answer, "Don't worry, I'm taking that face of yours as a big NO."
Hanako smiled sweetly as she took Harry in and spoke again,
"I think that's really sweet, helping her twice just for the sake of helping someone. It says a lot about your character. Big brother made a good choice in friends with you."
"Ehehe, that's our Harry alright. A little superhero!" Sayori's declaration was delivered with a smile and a thumbs up, Budo copied the gesture and Yuri's was left feeling a little dizzy with how hard she nodded her head in agreement.
Then there was a minute shift in atmosphere, and Harry did not like the look Budo and Sayori shared one bit. A silent conversation taking place and concluding with two downright EVIL smirks on their faces,
"You go get his I'll get mine." Sayori declared,
"On it!" Budo's agreement made as the two sprinted off into the house,
"I… do not have a good feeling about this…" Harry murmured as he heard them stomp upstairs. He turned to Hiro and the boy seemed surprised, "Please tell me, has she always been like this?"
He froze at being addressed and recovered slowly,
"Sayori kind of just does what she wants, I never know what's going through her head. I just hope it doesn't become too troublesome." He sighed out and folded his arms, looking up towards the girl's rooms window (the light suddenly flicking on) with what looked to be a tired and almost a little resentful glare,
"You've been Sayori's best friend for a while, right?" He probed,
"Huh, erm… yeah. Since the minute I moved onto the street actually."
"You're her neighbour too, right? Why don't you two walk to school or anything? I remember hearing that you aren't in a club or have any responsibilities before or after school."
Hiro seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden line of questioning.
"Well… Sayori doesn't really make it much of an option. She likes to sleep in until the last possible moment and I'm not just going to stand around waiting for her to drag herself out of bed." Hiro huffed a bit and thus missed the dark little look he received from Harry before the boy schooled his expression, "She's way too airheaded and whimsical, she's a bit too hard to deal with. Especially that early in the morning."
"That's not a very nice thing to say." Hanako snapped before Harry himself could speak, eyes flitting to her but her heated gaze was burned into Hiro, "Especially about your supposed best friend. You should be going in and getting her up on time, helping her out in the morning, being supportive."
"Erm, Hanako…" Her brother tried to sooth his suddenly very aggravated baby sister, he was promptly ignored,
"You're not a good friend if you're just going to leave her hanging the minute she becomes a little too inconvenient to you." She continued and struck a chord with all present, leading to a five on one stare down that Hiro had no real chance of contesting.
Sayori and Budo rushed back outside at that point, stopping dead at the far tenser atmosphere than they had left. Sayori worriedly looked between her friends with worried eyes before asking in a small voice,
"W-what's going on?"
"Nothing." Hiro spat, he turned a harsh, hurt gaze to the others and Harry lied with a soft,
"Yeah, it's nothing. Honestly." He turned his eyes from the boy and he daren't look at the others for their reactions. Instead he decided to bring back the previously fun atmosphere with the question, "Why do you have my phone?"
And, though the two returning to the fray still seemed a bit… uneasy, their smirks returned to their faces.
…
Music, Natsuki drowned out the sound of music downstairs (blaring through the sound system her dad had hooked up to the TV with the bass reverberating through the house) with music in her pink and white earphones. She still heard the thump of the beat and the occasional loud voice, but for the most part it did its job. She was able to pretend that her life didn't suck ass for a few minutes.
A rattle and a thump at the door caught the girls attention, sat on her bed in summer pyjamas with her knees hugged to her chest. Reflexively, her nails dug into the pale skin of her calves at the attempted intrusion even though she had little to worry about.
Despite her size (her diminutive stature one of many sore points that came from this household) she was fairly strong. So not only had she locked the door, but she had moved her desk to block the door from even opening. Whoever it was that wanted entry wasn't getting in.
Once upon a time, she would have been scared to do even that much. Memories of Papa slamming fat hands on the door and ordering it to be opened before he tore her to shreds, but she was a big girl now and knew better. He'd drink himself to oblivion and wake up barely remembering his own name, not a threat as long as she kept out of his sights.
And at the end of the day, Papa would only knock her around a bit if he got in here anyway. It was the guests he called over that she knew couldn't be let in here.
A familiar tone and vibration drew Natsuki's attention back to reality. She unlocked her phone to see who had texted her,
[UNKNOWN] Hi Natsuki, I hope you're having a good night.
Her eyebrows narrowed together and she glared down at the message,
"What the hell?" She muttered aloud and was five seconds away from just ignoring the random message and moving on with her life.
But curiosity and all that,
[Natsuki] Who's this?
[UNKNOWN] This is Potter Harry, you kind of shouted at me in the nurses office a few weeks ago.
'Oh…' Natsuki scowled as her eyes looked back and forth over the words and she wondered if she should have just not responded in the first place. Though it did not stop her from clicking away at the phone with her next message.
[Natsuki] How did you get this number?
[Harry] Sayori gave it to me, we ended up talking about you and I kind of wanted to bury the hatchet.
Natsuki had no idea what that last bit meant, she assumed it was some kind of idiom from England (that was where he was from, right?) and its meaning did not come across in translation.
As the music thumped under her she pondered. She had spared very little thought over the boy, only ever having seen him when he was hovering about Sayori and the two had not spoken after their meeting. Her fault of course, she did tell him to leave her alone.
However, she was still annoyed at him and his actions. She didn't need some random poking his nose in her life and trying to 'make it better' on some wild whim and she was tempted to make him aware of that far less politely than she had thought it but a niggling bit of guilt stayed her hand.
She really could count on one hand all the people who were nice to her just for the sake of being nice, and (potentially) this Potter guy could be one of them. Which is why instead of closing the messaging app and going back to her music, she scooted back so she was upright and leaning back on her headboard and typed out an appropriate response.
…
[Natsuki] Why the hell are you texting me?
"Ouch! You sure you didn't do anything to her?"
"Shut up, Budo-san." Harry's snippy retort and turned to Najimi, "Now what?"
"Remind me again why you're asking me?"
Budo shrugged but Sayori cheerfully piped up,
"You're the resident tsundere. If anyone can help us break through to the sweet heart I know Natsuki has, it's you."
Najimi was not impressed, and her irritation only grew at the snickers from the others. She didn't give any advice and Budo and Hanako's orders for him to express his true deep feelings for the girl were just as unhelpful. Yuri, however, interpreted their words a little differently,
"Just be honest, Harry." Her voice was gentle but Harry noted what might have been bitterness in her eyes, "If she does not accept your truth then you have done all you can."
Motivated, Harry texted back,
[Harry] I just wanted to talk really.
[Natsuki] I haven't got anything to say to you.
It was here that the group formed ranks around Harry, peeking over his shoulder and around him to get a good glimpse of the screen of his phone. It seemed that although he had turned down Budo and Sayori's offers to talk to their pink haired year-mate on his behalf, they still were heavily invested in what he was actually saying to her.
[Harry] I just don't understand, please can you tell me why you won't talk to me.
Harry briefly wondered if the girl had put down her phone and walked away, because it was a full minute before she deigned to give him a response,
[Natsuki] I'm not going to talk to some douchy guy who looks down on me.
[Harry] I've never looked down on you!
[Natsuki] Yes you have! Literally since the first time you saw me apparently!
Harry shook his head and was quick to fire back,
[Harry] If I was looking down on you, I would have said something.
There was a collective wince from behind him and he turned his head to see Budo and Taro shaking their head and Najimi now refusing to look at the phone screen. Harry didn't want to think about how Natsuki may have taken that reply (as honest as it was) so quickly floundered to salvage the conversation,
[Harry] Look, Sayori says you're pretty cool, she's constantly saying that you're a really nice person and I just want to make more friends to be honest.
[Harry] I'm sorry if I've creeped you out or made you feel like I think less of you because of whatever circumstances you are in, I didn't mean to. What do I need to do to make it up to you?
Another fearful sixty seconds, leaving Harry to contemplate why he was so scared in the first place. Yes, she was Sayori's friend and yes he did just want to be friends and get to know her, but he'd had exactly one (very poor) conversation with the girl. So why did he care about her opinion so much right now?
Her response was simple and gave Harry and the others pause.
[Natsuki] Stop leaving change under the machine.
There was a long moment for Harry as he stared down at her short and blunt demand. Even when she'd ripped him a new one in the nurses office he hadn't stopped, and he'd still seen her take it at times (with a loathful look on her face at the smattering of coins). She was clearly not doing well for money, and Harry couldn't just stand by and watch her struggle like that, but he still looked at her request and shortly responded with,
[Harry] Are you sure?
[Natsuki] I WOULDN'T ASK IF I WASN'T!
[Harry] Okay! I promise!
It was fine, he'd find another way to help out. Obviously being just a little subtler than he had been before.
[Natsuki] Good. If you stop treating me like some kind of charity case, THEN I'll consider talking to you.
[Harry] Thanks for giving me a chance, Natsuki.
There was a long pause before the next text popped in,
[Natsuki] Don't say weird stuff like that! I'm still not convinced your not some kind of perv.
[Harry] You'll let me convince you otherwise though, right?
Subconsciously, the group crowding around Harry's phone held their breath as the application indicated that she was typing a response,
[Natsuki] Whatever.
"That's close enough!" Budo decreed and the group erupted in obnoxious cheers at their perceived victory. Harry and Natsuki were on speaking terms. The night went on with a cheery air over it all, the teens not falling into Morpheus's hold until just prior to sunrise.
…
Not many people envisioned moving rocks on their holidays, but that was their little troupes third evening. A day on the soft sandy beach having come to a lazy end as the group decided they were going to make a campfire down on the beach, thus they were gathering rocks, sticks and larger bits of wood to make a fire pit.
"You got the paper?" Najimi asked Yuri, who had returned from the house alongside Hiro. Laden with marshmallows and chocolate and other stuff to roast, as well as things to burn, newspapers mostly and one old exercise book with some of Hanako's old doodles in it. The girl in question actually took to Hiro quite angrily for even suggesting they set it ablaze, a small argument starting as the rest of them ignored it to finish their tasks. Well, except Taro of course, who moved to back up his sister and left Harry and Sayori to pick up the slack.
Side by side, Harry was quick to notice the odd expression on Sayori's face. She clearly had something to say, but Harry was a little lost in thought at the minute. His mind still in Belgium trying to piece together why on Earth Albus Dumbledore would so flagrantly attack him. Sure… he'd not been a model student, and had had some rather unflattering things to say about the old man the few times they were together. But still…
"Hey, Harry. Can I ask you something?" Harry turned from setting up the wood to look over at the quietly concerned Sayori,
"Erm, yeah, what's up?"
"You've… did something happen whilst you were away?"
His eyebrows furrowed together, a stock response quick to make it to his lips but her eyes were just too wide and her frown too deep,
"I…" then he laughed. A small chuckle which had Sayori looking even more worried as well as confused, "I really do underestimate you sometimes. I thought I was hiding it a bit better."
"Eh? Wait, so something DID happen? Are you okay?" She rushed forth and Harry winced a little when her raised volume drew their friend's attention to him,
"What's going on, are you alright Harry?" Yuri's gentle inquiry and he looked to both with a smile before carefully taking the newspaper from her hands and setting it up to be burnt.
"I'm… fine. Just didn't really enjoy going back to Europe and seeing my family."
There were some shared looks that Harry missed, focused on his task and fairly certain that that would be the end of it. However,
"I've…" Najimi drew his attention from the other side of the makeshift fire pit and locked eyes with him. The others were coming in around them, drawing in logs and chairs even as they looked to Harry in simultaneous worry. Harry didn't quite know what to make of it, but he did make an effort to quell his knee jerk reaction to tell them all to piss off and drop the subject,
"I've been wondering about that too, the lot of us have really." Budo crouched and busied his hands by swiping some newspaper and sticks to help Harry with setting up the pit, "You never really talk about your family, and when you do it isn't much…"
"I don't get along with my family. It's why I came to Japan and they didn't." Again, spoken with a
"Did something happen?" Najimi's straightforward question was missing her usually abrasiveness. Harry assumed this was the closest the girl got to tactful. Harry almost didn't laugh again, but her question just left him feeling so… foul. So foul that he just had to force a laugh to stop his chest from constricting any further.
He looked at each face in turn, even at Hanako and Hiro who did not share his other friends concern but were clearly (on some level) empathetic to him. An echo of Monika rippled through his mind, ordering him to open up and trust his friends quite unlike their conversation at the end of term. But it did enough to push him over the edge.
"Technically… I ran away from home…" Harry gently hissed out, not looking up to see their faces but FEELING their wide eyed, aghast looks, "My parents and brother don't know where I am. They know I'm in Asia, I told them when I ran into them in Belgium. But I don't think THEY'LL come looking for me."
No, the old man and his Birds would, however.
Whatever reason he had for attacking me, he doubted that he would simply stop because he was in a nation that wasn't under the ICW's jurisdiction. He felt confident enough to attack him in the open of a foreign Ministry after all…
"Y-You… what is your relationship with your parents?" Yuri's enquiry, she flinched when Harry turned his eyes to look at her. No malice or irritation, just looking, "If… if you don't mind…"
"I don't know if you guys wanna hear it, it's not very nice and we've had a nice day-"
"Only tell us if you're comfortable doing so, Harry-kun." Taro insisted hurriedly, shaking his head and his hands before he continued, "We're your friends after all, and if you want to get it off your chest then we'll listen and not judge you. And if you don't, we won't pry."
Harry once again looked on each of their faces, only seeing resolute agreement with Taro's words.
He felt pathetic for his next words, particularly the small voice he spoke them in,
"You… you'd listen?"
Sayori's arms were around him quicker than a flash, squeezing him to her and nearly causing him to fall over. He almost felt a little teary (especially seeing Yuri off to his other side, hovering like she'd like to do the same).
"Heh, I've never actually talked to anyone who wanted to listen." Harry muttered, to himself rather than the others, "Most people just knew and didn't care. It was pretty much common knowledge."
Harry sighed and turned his eyes to Yuri to answer her question from prior,
"There is no relationship with my parents. They kicked me out when I was six…"
…
July thirty first 1986 was the day something clicked in little Harry James Potter's head regarding his family. It was the day he truly realised that the way his Mommy and Daddy treated him wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination.
He'd awoken barely an hour before, sleeping past midday in his cosy little room in the back corner of the ground floor of their cottage (turned townhouse) in the magical village of Godric's Hollow.
"M'ning Paddy." He'd slurred out his greeting to the rather haggard looking stuffed dog that had fallen from his arms and bed in his sleep. The very old plush that Harry could not remember having lived a single day without having in his arms.
"You member what day it is?" He pouted playfully at the dog, who's grip on it shifted a little leaving the head to sag somewhat in what could have been mistaken as a tiny nod. Harry grinned impishly at the development and trilled, "And what do you say?"
The dog didn't say anything of course, but Harry grinned regardless. Settling his favourite (and frankly, only) toy on the floor again as he swiftly made his bed, humming the happy birthday tune as he moved.
"Don't be a tramp." Mummy had said once, when she'd come in and scowled at the state of his room. Glaring with disappointment at him from his place on the floor, surrounded by books that he had dropped when he'd tripped on the carpet. So, although he'd never really left his room messy before or afterwards, he did make a concentrated effort to keep his bedroom neat and tidy so that when she next came in she'd be impressed.
Whenever that would be.
He slipped from his room and his stomach grumbled. He frowned, hoping Mummy and Daddy had left out something to eat. He didn't know what time it was but was well used to them not coming to wake him up anymore, and he could barely reach most of the food in the kitchen and couldn't work any of the appliances present due to lack of size and knowledge. He looked out of the window and noticed how high the sun was in the sky, knowing he'd been left to sleep very late. He hoped there was something leftover that he could snag, that was really all of how he was eating these days.
There was noise in the house, which gave Harry hope. This wasn't one of those times where Mummy and Daddy and Charlie had been gone, leaving him to fend for himself for who knows how long. Charlie liked to eat ALL THE TIME, so there was bound to be SOMETHING lying around.
How right he was.
The smell of meats and sweets met Harry's somewhat sensitive nose, drawing him to the living room at the front of the house where (incidentally) the noise was coming from.
Had there not been a sea of people he did not recognise chatting, drinking and dancing away to a band in a room FAR larger than it had been the night before, Harry would have most certainly made a beeline for the buffet table that his Mummy was hovering over.
Daddy was talking to Uncle Padfoot and Moony next to a big pile of colourfully presents and Harry smiled. He clutched Paddy close to him and kissed the top of the doggy's head. Slipping quietly in and towards the three men without a whisper or word.
None noticed the little James Potter lookalike, as was common for some reason that Harry neither knew nor questioned. Thus he quietly and curiously moved to assess the pile. His eyes scanned from the big to the small, gently moving forth to check the few with little cards attached. He frowned, his reading was good, better than anyone in his class actually, so he was fairly certain that none of them were for him.
He sighed and squeezed Paddy again on reflex as he straightened to standing. His eyes returning to the buffet as his stomach growled again, determined to get some food before he went and got either Mummy or Daddy's attention to understand what was going on.
He looked about a bit as he crossed the room. He noted Charlie was talking that that shy boy from their school, Neville. He was sniffling about something and Charlie was stood over him with pouty lips and crossed arms, Harry was certain his brother had made him upset again and sighed. Charlie did notice him however and waved with that cheerful, bright grin that had Mummy and Daddy melting.
Harry taking his eyes from where he was going for a second too long to gently greet his brother was his downfall. He bumped into the table, his destination, VERY hard.
It was almost comical, and likely would have been if the events that succeeded it had not occurred.
Harry, a tiny little lad he was, fell onto his back with an 'oomph' and dropped Paddy. He rubbed his forehead, what had collided with the hard-wooden table hardest and looked up in angry confusion to what would be his ruin.
It was two stories of white and red icing, a birthday cake that (in Harry's limited opinion) would dwarf all others. And it had been perched rather precariously near the tables edge and was wobbling rather dangerously at the sudden impact.
Harry was blessed with a moment to plead with the universe to show him mercy. He was laughed at and ignored.
It fell and collided with the downed boy, falling apart on impact and causing Harry to cry out at the spongy impact as he tried to leap away. He was left swathed in it despite his very best efforts and desire otherwise.
His heart stopped, then hammered a panicked rhythm…
"MY CAKE!" A mortified shout, Charlie. His shout preceded a period of silence before the tears came, a wail like a siren ripping through the prior silent room as the birthday boy lamented the loss.
Then another sound ripped over the noise, Harry suddenly VERY aware that he was no longer the invisible boy he had once been as James Potter's shout ripped across the room,
"YOU!"
It was his only warning, he looked over in distress as he dragged himself to his feet, slathered in icing and cake. All in time to see his father descending on him with a thunderous expression.
The slap he connected on the child's face sent him back to the ground with a cry.
"You little leech, how dare you!"
"It… it was an accident!"
James's hand lashed out again. The boy sent straight to the ground again with a wail, hot tears streaming freely down the burning cheek as his Daddy towered over him quivering in fury,
"James!" Lily shouted,
"That cake cost-"
"I'm aware James."
"It was Char's fav-"
"I KNOW. But punishing the boy here and now is NOT appropriate James, look around."
He did, she did too, Harry whimpered and cried as the guests looked on in mute horror, this was his indication. Daddy and Mummy had hit him like this when he was 'bad' before and pointedly ignored him when he was a good boy. Harry didn't really see how other parents acted with their children, but the Neville boy did mention his Uncle Algie had hung him from a window, so it had never seemed to out of place.
But Harry was a bright boy, and now he knew otherwise…
"I thought he was going to sleep through the day?" when James spoke again it was in a low voice that did nothing to disguise his anger,
"The potion should have lasted till nightfall." Lily hissed, "I… I don't know what happened."
"You should have given him more!"
"I gave him more than enough, you saw. Anymore would have killed him." She spat at her husband's vitriol, turning to look down at her quivering son and noted something that made her, and then her husbands, nose wrinkle in disgust.
"Oh, you have got to be… go to your room you disgusting boy!" James roared loud enough to make some of the guest's yelp, Harry was quick to scurry off in utter mortification. His bladder having given way in fright at his parent's hateful looks and strike.
He changed out of his clothes and returned to bed in tears, not knowing how long he lay sobbing but that when he awoke it was dark and his door was locked.
It remained so for the next few days, Harry left to claw at his stomach in hunger and bless the fact that he had a bathroom in his room too, so he could drink from the sink.
He didn't really know how long he stayed in there, alone with Paddy and oh so scared. But he did know it was in that time that he truly came to terms with the fact that he was entirely unloved.
When they came for him, the door flew open and Lily dragged him out by the forearm without a word. Her grip and eyes hard and she pretended she did not hear him when he asked where he was going, ignoring him further when he showed distress at the feeling of his first Side-Along Apparition. Just marching him up to a very neat and bland looking house where an odd looking and infinitely furious looking couple were glaring his way.
The woman was reed thin, her expression pinched and horse-like. Her husband her polar opposite, short and bulbous, his quivering moustache (alongside his size) making him look reminiscent to a walrus. He was the one to take his arm and held it in a grip that caused the boy incredible distress, the man accepting a thick wad of small papers wrapped in a band with a nod before dragging Harry Potter indoors.
His parents said nothing, even as Harry squeaked in pain and begged them to help. They just turned on their heels and disappeared from his life…
…
Speechless and seething. His tale had been somewhat stilted, as even in his increasingly emotional state he did not wish to so flagrantly breach the Statute of Secrecy. But the all got the gist of the story in the end, his parents (neglectful and hating of him) had drugged him to try and keep him from getting involved with his brother's birthday party and when he had arrived and broke the boys cake his parents had come to the conclusion, they were done with him. Dropping him in Surrey with his Aunt and Uncle for the worst years of his childhood.
"I didn't see any of them again until I turned eleven and went to high school." Harry concluded his tale with a scowl, "My mum taught at the school and she didn't speak to me or acknowledge my existence. She even turned a blind eye whenever the other kids decided to bully me, just like everyone else."
The last words were so low that even Sayori couldn't hear them, from her position with her head on his chest. Having only pulled him closer and closer as his body shook with unshed tears.
"Well you know what, Harry-kun?" Budo reached over, grasping his friend's shoulder in a firm hand with a very hard look and low tone, "Forget them."
"Yeah." Najimi growled, grinding her teeth together behind her pursed lips. Having been vibrating in rage similarly to Budo as Harry had spoken, "They aren't parents. They're scum."
He… thanked them. Grinning a little weakly and carefully extracting himself from Sayori's grip. She looked up at him with such a mournful expression, but Harry shook his head, it hurt but he was moving away from it after all. He took her hand and gently pressed his lips to it as a thanks for her comfort, and then turned to a similarly distraught Yuri and gathered her into a short hug. The taller girl hugging him hard and the others took the moment to scurry over and get their arms around the Brit also.
The fire was started sometime after and at Harry's insistence the atmosphere was a little lighter and they got back to the plan or smores, games and FAR lighter stories. The admission not forgotten, but the lot of them a little more comfortable and open with one another because of (or perhaps in spite) of the grim tale.
The night was long and laughter, off key singing and the like echoed through off of the stone of the cove. A typical warm and innocent summer evening that would remain part of their memory for years to come afterwards…
[TO BE CONTINUED]
You took my whole life away…
Yo, did you guys know that 'womanliest' is a word? It was given to me as an alternative to womanly earlier in the chapter, lol! Also, I do not apologise for Hanako's choice of words when confronting Hiro…
Ruberforumfree: Hello again, Harry's going to have to come to that realisation. (not to be a prick) but the synopsis of the fic is where I tried to throw out the theme. Harry may want a normal life, free of all the struggles that come with being a wizard AND Harry Potter (including being hunted, by Dumbledore's and Death Eater's alike) but that will NEVER happen.
To my 'Pro Reader': Sorry if me calling you that was offensive dude, I just had (and again have) two Guest reviewers and would like to be clear who I'm talking to. I'm glad you're enjoying the story and my approach. I look forward to hearing from you again and hope you liked this chapter.
P.S: I was talking about the Sharingan fic, I've not read The Fallen Renegade, but since you're giving it such a glowing recommendation I'll give it a go (after I wake up…). Thank you again for the review x
To the Guest reviewer: Glad I was able to clear up any confusion you had and that you're enjoying the story. Thank you for reading x
Spoiler, back to Akademi after this! Sorry if the bit about Harry's childhood felt a little rushed or ham-fisted. I couldn't think of a way to put it together better and also knew I couldn't really justify another chapter of the trip with what I want to do next chapter for the first day back. Hope you enjoyed the little bit of Hiro and Hanako we got, and some little Doki moments with our boy H.
See you in Chapter 15 x