I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
The Family that Chooses You
Chapter 13 – Consequences
Harry woke a little after an hour. A quick check by Pomfrey showed that his knee was completely healed and his swelling subsided. He did feel better, much better than any other time he had been injured. In the past he had to rely on his body's natural healing to recover. Not for the first time, and he knew it would not be the last, he was so happy to have magic in his life.
He still felt unsettled. He had not realized how much better he felt since coming to Hogwarts. Not seeing the Dursleys, not hearing their verbal abuse, avoiding their actions, he had no idea how much safer he had felt since coming to school.
Being called 'freak' stripped that feeling of safety away. Getting hurt reminded him of the last years of life with the Dursleys in a very intense way. He had taken the relative quiet and peace at Hogwarts for granted.
He hated being reminded of what he went through in the past.
He could feel himself changing back again. His shoulders hunched and he tried to look small. The panic was returning. The feeling that any moment something terrible would happen. That he would lose something he had grown attached to.
The only thing that kept him from breaking down utterly, from becoming what he was again, was knowing he had friends now. Friends that looked out for him, that cared about him.
A part of him still could not believe that he had friends. Some inner hateful voice, that sounded like any one of the three Dursleys, whispered to him. Telling him his friendships were false. They called him dreadful things, saying no one would ever be friends with him. It was a thought that never fully left his mind.
The voices were especially loud as he walked back to Gryffindor tower. They overwhelmed him and he sniffled.
"Harry."
He stopped and turned towards Angelina but he kept his eyes on the ground. He did not want her to see him crying.
She knelt before him, her eyes roughly at the same height with his. "Harry, Katie told me what happened."
He stood there.
"You know you did nothing wrong, right? Grimshaw is a horrid git and you were bullied for no reason."
He nodded, unconvinced.
"You are not a freak."
He flinched at the word.
"Harry, look at me. Look at us."
He looked up, tears pooling in his eyes. He saw Katie's and Angelina's eyes also threatened with tears. He felt even more terrible, making them cry because of him.
It's all your fault, the hateful voices whispered. You make your so-called friends cry.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"For what Harry?" Katie asked.
He gestured lamely. "For making you cry. For upsetting you."
"You're not upsetting us," Katie insisted. "We're upset for you. There's a difference."
"I got you in trouble," he replied. "I made you lose points."
"I did what I did because I wanted to. It's not your fault in the slightest."
He shifted from foot to foot. "Others will get mad for the House losing points."
"Let them. I don't regret it. I'd do it again. Our friendship is worth it."
You're not worth it.
"I'm not worth it," he repeated.
"Bollocks to that!"
Harry looked up, shocked by Angelina's outburst.
"You listen to me Harry. You are worth it. Not because you're the bloody Boy-Who-Lived. You're worth it because you're Harry Potter. You're our friend and we care about you. The sooner you realize that the better. We do this because we want to. No other reason."
They're lying.
"You're not lying, are you?" he could not help to ask.
"Who's telling you this? I'll pound them flat," Angelina said angrily.
Harry did not say anything.
"Harry, has someone before been telling you awful things?" Katie asked, afraid of the answer.
He did not say anything.
"Are they here at Hogwarts?" she persisted.
He shook his head.
"Someone…back home?"
He gave the slightest of nods.
"Have they done other things Harry?"
He bit his lip.
Katie knelt too. She looked him directly in the eye. "Harry, I know it's hard, but ignore what they say. You didn't, don't, deserve any of that. Anyone can tell you're a good kid."
He looked away. He did not know how to react to such sincerity, to such comfort. It hurt him as much as it soothed him.
"Harry, do you trust us?"
He looked back. He nodded hesitantly. At least I want to, he thought.
You shouldn't, the Dursley voice hissed.
"Anytime you want to ask us something, anytime you have any questions or doubts, ask us. Don't think what we will say, hear it from us. You can trust us. Trust the team. We care about Harry Potter the Seeker, but also we care about Harry Potter the person. Okay?"
"Okay," he barely whispered.
The trio made their way to the tower, entering the relative safety of the common room. Harry immediately was drawn aside by Ron and Hermione. He gave her the book and quill he had held onto for so long. When they questioned him about where he had been he spoke evasively, finally managing to derail their questioning by a combination of offering to play chess with Ron and asking Hermione a question about homework.
Alicia waved at the girls as they entered. She was already sitting in a corner, isolated from the rest of the room. Carefully moving chairs and couches away meant no one sat close to them, less of a chance of anyone eavesdropping.
"What happened?" she immediately asked when Angelina and Katie sat down. "There's rumors of some kind of fight?"
Katie told the entire story, including her conversation with Pomfrey.
Angelina buried her face into her hands. "That pretty much confirms that Harry's been abused," she muttered.
"Unfortunately not," Katie said dispiritedly. "My mum has told me stuff like this before. It takes a lot to make it 'official'," she spat the word. "Proof and all that nonsense. It's sickening what some people get away with."
Alicia looked over at Harry. On the surface he seemed like any other boy, playing a game with a friend. "I don't think Harry would like it if it did come out. He's already horribly shy and self-conscious. I wouldn't want to think what he'd be like if everyone knew…whatever's going on."
The other two girls nodded sadly.
"At least Madame Pomfrey is aware and if we ever need her help, she would," Alicia said, trying to remain positive. "Plus we already promised to help Harry however we can."
"It doesn't feel enough," Angelina mumbled.
"It's what we can do now," Alicia replied. "And, I hate to say it, it's more help than he's ever had."
"I hate that you're right," Katie grumbled.
The three girls looked at the boy. As if he felt their gaze, he looked back at them. His face went red but he waved shyly and the girls returned the gesture.
Fred and George came through the portrait hole, followed closely by Oliver. They were talking about something but then stopped, seeing the three Chasers sitting together with somber expressions. The twins tilted their heads in the same direction and Wood raised an eyebrow, all three asking a silent question.
"We better tell them," Angelina said as she waved them over. When the boys came close Angelina told them the story, sparing Katie from repeating the sad tale yet again.
The twins looked livid.
"Which one is Grimshaw again? The pasty bloke with the large nose?" Fred asked.
"Excellent, perfect nose for smelling all sorts of awful things," George said when Katie nodded.
"Dungbombs everywhere he goes then?"
"Not to mention his things. I'm sure we can saturate his things with-"
"Don't tell us," Alicia interrupted. "The less we know, the less likely we can grass you up with incriminating information when you're caught."
"We only get caught if we want to be caught," Fred said primly.
"The last thing we need is a Quidditch fight to happen," Angelina said.
"He's not on the Slytherin team first of all," George argued. "Second of all, this is about being a decent person. And it just so happens that Fred and I can teach him how to be decent. Or else."
Oliver sighed deeply, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "This is why Harry panicked isn't it?"
The others looked up at him questioningly.
"The other day when I said the team was a family. He looked very…startled. Uncomfortable even."
"He did?" the twins asked in unison. Then they looked at each other in genuine surprise.
Katie nodded sadly. "He did. He looked like he didn't know how to react to that. I think he has some rather negative associations with the idea of family."
Alicia patted Oliver's arm. "You couldn't have known. Family isn't supposed to be a bad thing usually."
"You can't pick the family you're born to," George said philosophically.
"At least that's what our Great Aunt Muriel says," Fred said dolefully.
"Often when it comes to Fred and me."
"Usually in increasingly dejected tones."
They quieted down at Angelina's glare. "Well, we can try to be a better family to Harry. I agree with Wood, we can be the family Harry depends on." Angelina's look of resolve was taken up by the others.
"Does that make Wood the Aunt?" George asked.
"Why did you say that? Angelina said that too. Did you tell everyone you said that?" Oliver tried not to sound too petulant and was failing miserably.
"You thought that too? Brilliant!" George held up his hand and Angelina high fived it enthusiastically.
"Don't worry Wood," Fred said in a false soothing way. "You're a greater aunt than Muriel could ever aspire to."
"Don't you say it-" Oliver began.
"Greater Aunt Woodie!" the twins chorused.
"You two are lucky you're needed on the team," Oliver said while the girls giggled. "I'd sack you both for that if I had anyone to replace you."
"We have reserve beaters," Alicia said mildly.
"Anyone good enough to replace the both of you," Oliver amended.
"It feels good to be wanted," George said.
"Or at least it feels good to be too competent to be replaced," Fred corrected.
The team lapsed into silence, all of them lost in their own thoughts for a moment. Then everyone turned to look at Alicia who had chuckled.
"Share with the class?" Oliver asked.
"I was just thinking that we're really tight as a team this year, surprisingly. We lost the seventh years of course coming into this year, and the twins are old hats on the team with Oliver but I only ever hovered between reserve and starter. Angelina was the same. Katie was our new starter this year and we had no prospects for Seeker. I thought we'd be kind of awkward as a team until much later into the year."
"We did rally together earlier than expected," Oliver admitted. "I was a bit worried, being the new Captain. Having Harry on the team really helped us come together."
"Too bad it's over something a bit more serious than Quidditch," Katie said softly.
"Nothing's more serious than Qudditch," the twins said together in a shockingly good impression of Oliver, aping his facial expression perfectly. It was so good even Oliver laughed.
Angelina waggled a finger at them. "Some things are you pair of twits."
"Calm down, Dad," Fred muttered.
"Ha! Thank you!" It was Oliver's turn to hold his hand up and Fred to give a resounding high five.
Alicia snickered as the twins and Oliver and Angelina began to argue. She turned to Katie. "Are you going to be okay? McGonagall's writing your parents you said."
Katie shrugged. "Mum cares a lot about behaving properly. I've never had a teacher write to my parents before so I honestly don't know."
The next morning, Katie knew.
At breakfast the flock of owls that delivered the mail flew about the Great Hall. Katie looked up and blanched at a familiar tawny owl flying towards her. It carried two envelopes in its mouth: a plain one and one bright red.
"Oh boy, that's a Howler." Fred looked sympathetic. "Sorry pal."
Katie was glad that Harry had already left breakfast with the other first years. She did not want to embarrass him with this, especially since he was somewhat involved. By now most of the other students in the hall had noticed the bright red envelope.
"Thank you, Clapper," Katie said shakily to the family owl, taking the envelopes from him.
Clapper hooted softly. Strangely he fluttered to her shoulder, nuzzling against her cheek. He blinked slowly at the red envelope as if utterly unconcerned.
Grimshaw, Yorely, and the other Slytherins snickered and pointed at her, eager to see be embarrassed in front of the school.
Katie looked straight at Grimshaw and opened the red envelope defiantly with one swift motion.
It flew up in front of her. The voice magically held within was amplified into a roar.
WELL DONE.
Her mother's voice filled the hall. The two words reverberated off the walls. The volume shook the plates and cups on the tables. There was no mistaking the pride in the words, the love.
Clapper had remained unmoving during the Howler's opening. In the sudden silence he hooted in a very smug way. He nibbled Katie's ear affectionately before stealing the bacon from her plate, flying off.
Katie's cheeks were red but she was happy. The team at the table cheered and clapped their hands while the majority of the other students looked confused.
Grimshaw and his friends looked down at their plates before leaving the Slytherin table as one.
Katie tucked the now empty red envelope and the other one into her bag. As she rose she looked up at the teachers table.
McGonagall waggled her finger at Katie, the stern gesture marred by the slight smile on her face. Pomfrey looked as proud as Katie's mother sounded.
The girl felt much better as she walked to her first class. She suspected she had done the right thing before. Now she knew she did.