Written for The Quidditch League: Round 2: Once Upon a Song
Team: Holyhead Harpies
Position: Seeker
Prompt: Hakuna Matata - Lion King
Summary: After running away from the Dursleys, Harry learns a life philosophy that might help him.
Word Count: 2012
When Harry decided to run away when he was seven, he was entirely unprepared for what to do. It was a decision made rashly, out of anger and tiredness.
He was done with the cupboard, he was done with his cousin Dudley and his aunt and uncle treating him like he was a freak. He needed to get out before they did something – like take him out of school or throw him in an orphanage.
Harry had heard horror stories about orphanages, how they starved the children and beat them when they did something wrong. Harry could feel his family – if he could call them that – was reaching their breaking point, and he knew he would be on the receiving end of whatever happened.
Reaffirming his decision in his mind, he waited until they were asleep to execute his hastily made plan. He gathered the little clothes he had, snagged food from the kitchen and some water, and quietly snuck out.
The Dursleys always kept the door unlocked, trusting that the neighborhood was safe enough. The door didn't creak, something Harry was grateful for as he opened it. Glancing back one last time to make sure nobody noticed, he left.
He didn't know where he would go. All he wanted to do was get away, so he walked. He didn't stop walking till morning – wanting to get some distance before the Dursleys reported him to the police, if they even did. Harry knew they would be all too happy if he died, so maybe they wouldn't say anything.
Eventually, he ended up in a park. He didn't recognize the name, which was good since it meant he was somewhere the Dursleys hardly went. He sat down on one of the benches and tried to get some sleep.
He must've been more tired than he thought because, when he woke up, it was night once again. However, Harry was more focused on the two faces in front of him than his surroundings. They were extremely close to his face, making him want to back away, which was impossible as he was lying on a bench.
One face, which Harry could see belonged to a girl, blushed and backed away, pulling the person next to her – a red-headed boy – away. They looked to be about the same age as him. He wondered what they were doing, hoping they couldn't tell he'd ran away. The last thing he needed was for them to tell their parents.
"Sorry," the girl said, looking extremely nervous. "We-we were just curious."
The redhead nodded but didn't speak. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the girl shot him a warning look.
"I'm Hermione and this is Ron. You are…?" she introduced, clearly asking for his name in return.
"Harry," he answered, wondering why they were talking to him.
Hermione nodded, going silent which made Harry wonder what she was doing. Ron rolled his eyes at her, before gesturing if he could sit. Harry sat up, making room for the red-haired boy.
"Sorry 'bout her. She's always lost in thought," he said in exasperation, but also with fondness.
"I-I get it. So, what are you guys doing here?" Harry asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"We're running away," Ron replied bluntly, which seemed to snap Hermione out of her thoughts.
"Ronald!" she scolded, her face turning red in either embarrassment or anger.
Ron grinned unrepentantly. Harry could tell they had known each other for a while, which made him even more curious. Plus, Ron had said they ran away.
'Are they like me?' he wondered.
Harry got his answer when Hermione spoke, "Sorry to bother you but we thought you were like us and I know we're kind of assuming and we should probably go away and…"
"It's fine," Harry said, cutting off her ramble. "But you're right. I'm a runaway too."
Hermione smiled shyly at him before turning to Ron, who looked a bit bored.
"See, Ronald, I was right for once," she said, a bit smugly.
"Yeah, yeah," Ron grumbled jokingly.
"So, why'd you guys run away?" Harry asked, wanting to make sure they answered his questions before they started anything.
The two turned silent. Harry couldn't fault them. After all, he didn't exactly talk about why he was running away either.
Before he could speak up and apologize, Ron spoke up, "It doesn't matter. The past is in the past."
His tone was harsh, and he mumbled a quick apology, but Harry didn't mind. Maybe they would tell him someday, if they met again. Speaking of which, he needed to get going in case the Dursleys actually called the police.
"Anyway," he said, standing up. "It was nice meeting you but I have to go..."
"Wait!" Hermione shouted, stopping him in his tracks.
"What is it?" he questioned, noticing that Ron was now standing next to Hermione.
"Would… would you l-like to…" Hermione stuttered.
"She means would you like to join us," Ron cut in, looking more confident than Hermione but still nervous.
This caught Harry off guard. They wanted him to join them?
"But why?" he asked aloud.
Hermione blushed but answered, "Because you look like you need some help."
"And you looked like you needed a friend," Ron replied, looking away.
He understood then. They were like him. They wanted to be friends, someone they could rely on. Knowing that made the decision easier.
"Okay," he accepted, "Is there anything I should know?"
Ron and Hermione looked excited, Ron especially.
"There's only one thing," he declared.
"It's a bit… stupid," Hermione looked like she hated to say it. "But we made it when we first met."
"And what is it?" Harry wondered.
"No problems, no worries," they chorused.
"What?"
"No problems, no worries," Ron repeated slowly.
"Basically," Hermione cut in. "We live life how we want to. No one can tell us what to do and there are no expectations about what we should do."
Harry nodded slowly. He liked that. Living with the Durleys, he was always told what to do and what not to do and was scolded when he did something they perceived was wrong.
'No problems, no worries, huh?' he repeated in his mind.
He grinned. He could get used to that.
"Sounds good to me. What do we do now?" Harry questioned.
"Simple," Ron announced, matching his grin.
Hermione looked equally happy as she said, "Whatever the hell we want too!"
Ron looked at her in surprise, probably not used to her saying swear words. Harry had to agree. She didn't seem like the type. That didn't really matter though. It was the point of their saying, after all. No one could tell them how they should act anymore.
Looking at his new friends, Harry felt everything was right. He had made the right decision and now, it was time to live how he wanted to live. And with Hermione and Ron by his side, he felt like there was nothing he couldn't do.
For a while, everything was fine. Harry learned to steal food in order to feed the trio, and Hermione made sure they kept up with their education. Ron made sure they had fun, something Harry and Hermione forgot to do once in a while.
Then, when they were nine, something happened. What exactly it was, Harry was still unsure. Ron and Hermione were arguing, something they often did, when one of the few glass cups they had exploded into tiny pieces.
For a minute, all of them just stared. Then Hermione started blabbering apologies and Ron grinned. Harry continued to look on in confusion.
"You're like me!" Ron declared, making Hermione stop her babbling.
"What?" Hermione and Harry chorused.
What Ron explained sounded too good to be true, but Harry knew, he just knew that it was true. He had magic. All of them had magic. There was no other explanation for the strange things that happened, like when he had turned his teacher's hair blue.
When he told this to Ron, he seemed to agree. Then he hesitated and asked a question Harry wasn't expecting.
"What's your last name?"
"Potter. Why do you ask?" he answered.
"And do you have a scar? On your forehead?" Ron questioned further.
And that led to the discovery that he was famous. Apparently, he defeated a dark wizard whose name Ron refused to say and who killed his parents.
Harry didn't know how to react to that. He always thought his parents had died in a car crash while they were drunk. Knowing they were murdered filled Harry with a sadness he never felt before. Ron and Hermione tried to comfort him but he didn't want them to.
He was fine. He hardly knew them after all. It was hard to mourn people he never knew.
Learning about magic seemed to open the dam as the next day, Hermione told them why she ran away.
"My parents were going through a divorce when I left. My mom was cheating on my dad. They fought almost every day for a year before deciding. They sat down to explain it to me but I was done. So I ran."
Harry didn't know how to react to that. He didn't know what it was like for adults to fight like Hermione was explaining it. His aunt and uncle rarely fought. Ron seemed to have the same problem as him.
"What would they fight about?" Ron asked, breaking the silence that enveloped the room.
"Everything. Nothing. They just needed a reason to fight," Hermione replied, shrugging.
The conversation died out. Harry wasn't quite ready to talk about his past and Ron didn't either. Things were normal for a while. They got some books on magic, not wanting to rely on the little Ron knew.
Then, almost a month after magic was revealed, Ron spoke up.
"My reason is a bit selfish but I just wanted to get away from my family. I have five older brothers and a younger sister and that means I have a lot to live up to. I just wanted to be me. I guess I also felt neglected? I dunno but everyone seemed against me so I ran," Ron explained as they were trying to fall asleep.
There was silence and for a moment, Harry thought tre other two went to sleep. Then, Hermione spoke up.
"What are your siblings like?"
Ron's family was great, from what Harry could tell. But he understood where Ron was coming from. They wanted him to be a certain way, which he was not. The Dursleys were similar but expressed it in a different way.
Ron seemed fine the next morning and they didn't bring it up again. Harry still wasn't ready to tell them until one day, he saw Dudley for the first time in two years. Harry was ten now, having just had his birthday.
He froze up when he saw them. Ron and Hermione were wondering why he stopped until they looked at the direction he was looking. Then, they pulled him to their hideout in an alley.
"Why'd you freeze?" Ron asked.
"Th-that was my cousin," Harry replied, running a hand through his hair.
"Cousin? Who were you placed with when your parents died?" Hermione questioned
"My aunt. She was my mother's sister. They weren't… the kindest people in the world. They used to lock me in the cupboard under the stairs without food for days and Dudley, my cousin by the way, would beat me at school and no one did anything," Harry rushed out.
Their response was to hug him. He hugged them back, desperate for comfort. He felt better now that he told them and he had a feeling that things would be different from now on.
For the first time in a long time, Harry felt like he was home. And he found that there was no better home than being with Hermione and Ron and nothing would change that. Not now, not ever.