Chapter 7: Of Chores and House Rules
Harry's eyes shot open the moment the alarm clock gave its first ring. He turned it off and looked at Pa-Foo. He was still asleep. Harry put on his fuzzy slippers and went to the loo. He marveled at the fact that he could use the toilet and wash his hands and face whenever he wanted. He dried his hands on the hand towel as Emma had told him to. Then, he meticulously cleaned any water that had splattered the sink and mirror. The boy grabbed his stepping stool from the bathroom and went left. He hadn't seen one in the kitchen. How odd… How am I supposed to cook if I can't reach the stove? He thought. Harry went down very quietly. Since he knew one stair creaked, he avoided the steps by going down the rail base. He walked briskly but carefully. He didn't know the house that well, and he really did not want to break anything.
He started opening all the cabinets. For a second, he thought the fridge wouldn't open when he pulled the door, but it did. He took out bacon, butter, and milk. The eggs, oranges, and bread were in the pantry. Soon enough, he had a toaster, a coffee maker, a juicer, spatulas, a bowl, a pan, oil, salt, and all the ingredients laid on the counter. It took him a while to understand how the stove worked. This one was fancier than the Dursley's, and it didn't have an open flame. Harry liked that. He had gotten burned many times before. He even found an apron small enough for him to wear. It had pretty flowers. It was probably Hermione's. Harry hoped she wouldn't mind.
Twenty minutes later, the house smelled of a wonderful home-cooked meal. There were fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, buttered toast, coffee, tea, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Harry decided to make three drinks because he didn't know what the Grangers liked.
Upstairs, a cozy married couple woke up in each other's arms at the sound of their alarm. They put on their fuzzy slippers, brushed their teeth, washed their faces, put on their house robes, and opened the door to get breakfast started. Except, it smelled like breakfast was ready. They looked at each other in confusion. Father Martin was always welcome, but he didn't have keys. Hermione didn't have a clue as to how to turn on a stove, let alone cook. Harry! They rushed downstairs. Both were scared the boy had burned or cut himself. So many things could go wrong in the kitchen. It was not safe for a child.
Harry was putting the last plate, coffee cup, juice glass, and cutlery set in the kitchen table. He had even put on placemats and napkins. The Grangers were in the kitchen looking at Harry in absolute shock. How could such a small child do all of this on his own? They felt horrible that he had gone through the trouble. He was in their care. He was a child. Before the Grangers could say anything, a black blur dashed past them and jumped towards Harry, licking his face all over.
Pa-Foo had a scary awakening. When the smell of bacon woke him up, he had looked at his godson's bed and panicked. Where was Harry? How did he miss him getting out of bed? Focusing his canine instinct that wanted to find the bacon, he smelled the air for Harry and rushed downstairs. He had to veer to avoid crashing into the Grangers. Sirius realized something was happening. Harry was stiff and didn't hug him back. He was frozen in place looking at the Grangers as if expecting they would blow up in anger. Sirius looked at the shocked adults, and then at the scared boy and his head tilted in confusion.
"Good morning, Harry…" Emma said in a neutral tone.
"What is all this, Harry?" Daniel asked, pointing at the table.
"B-B-Breakfast?" Harry offered with a wince still expecting to be treated roughly.
"Yes, dear. But why did you make this?" Emma asked, coming forward to sit at the table and hold the boy's hands.
"Rather, how do you know how to make this?" Dan asked, ruffling Harry's messy hair.
"I a-a-always c-cook b-breakfast," Harry said shrugging and looking down.
The husband and wife looked at one another in shock.
"When did you first start making breakfast, honey?" Emma said, squeezing Harry's hands.
"When I could stand properly," he replied, avoiding eye contact.
"And how old were you?" Daniel asked, trying to conceal the fury in his voice.
The boy held up three tiny fingers. Emma gasped. Dan got up, excused himself, and left abruptly. Harry thought they hated the breakfast he made. Tears came out of his eyes before he could stop them. Emma pulled him up to her lap.
"It's okay, honey. You are not in trouble. We love that you thought about us, but we don't ever want you to do dangerous things like cooking," Emma said, soothing the boy. He looked crestfallen. "You could get cut or burned."
"B-But I l-like c-c-cooking," Harry whispered.
"And I think that is wonderful, dear. I just want you to know that you don't ever have to cook. It is not an obligation. If you like cooking, then you need to have an adult there to do dangerous things for you and prevent accidents. Do you understand, Harry? We just don't want you to get hurt," Emma said, hugging the boy.
"But d-d-do you think my f-food is okay?" Harry asked, timidly.
"Let me see," Emma said, grabbing a fork. Holy Mother of God! These scrambled eggs were the best she ever had. "It's delicious, honey."
Harry was happy to hear this, but Mr. Granger had seemed so angry that Harry doubted his standing. The doctor had never been violent towards him, not even mean. But today, he looked like he wanted to break something. "Mrs. Granger? Is Mr. Granger mad at me?"
"No, Harry. He's mad at the people who hurt you and made you cook for them. He left because he needed time to calm down. Dan is a wonderful man, but injustice makes him lose his temper. Don't fear him, he would never lay a hand on you any more than he would on Hermione or me." Harry nodded. Mr. Granger was very loving to his wife and daughter, even towards him.
Harry knew that there is no such thing as a perfect person. Father Martin was very formal and rarely smiled. However, he was kind and knowledgeable. Mr. Granger would isolate himself when angry. And his anger was the ugly kind. Mrs. Granger's attentions overwhelmed Harry. Going from neglected to pampered was not an easy transition. Harry had no idea that the Grangers had lost a son, and that was why she acted that way. Hermione was a wonderful, loving, friendly girl, but she could be very bossy and downright mean when she was correcting or debating someone. She always wanted to be right, and when she was proved wrong, she would be moody for hours. She had her own self-worth issues. The Grangers had moved to this area a bit less than a year ago. In that time, Hermione hadn't been able to make one friend until Harry. She was constantly bullied and belittled by the mean kids in her classroom because of her need to be the smartest and get things right all the time.
Harry was very insecure. He was scared of things that would be considered absurd. He always felt like what he did was wrong. Until he met the Grangers, no one had ever said anything nice, loving, or encouraging to him. The boy felt the need to prove that he was grateful, that he wasn't a waste of time and money, that they wouldn't regret giving him a chance. The impact abuse has in the earliest years of a persons life is deep and difficult to understand for those who have not been abused.
The hospital's psychologist had been really clear to the Grangers. The physical issues would resolve in time, but the psychological and mental effects would last for years. She told them they could expect things such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, disassociation, difficulty with making and keeping relationships, withdrawing, experiencing flashbacks, being hypervigilant, and persisting fears. He would need therapy long-term. The Grangers agreed. They knew the benefits of therapy.
While some people would think the doctors were a perfect couple, they were not. There is no such thing. At the beginning of their marriage, they had decided to put a hold on having children. They were in the middle of their residency. Eventually, once they became attending physicians, they decided it was time to get pregnant. Their fertility road was long and challenging. There were several early miscarriages. There were many fights for their share of guilt. There was even frustrated screaming. Their bodies seemed to be incompatible with each other to generate and then sustain a viable pregnancy.
All the injectable hormones, the prenatal vitamins, the attempts to lower stress and work hours left Emma Granger extremely prone to blowing up in her husband's face about inane things which were never a problem before. When they finally conceived, Emma had a very difficult pregnancy. There were so many issues for the couple. They started rethinking even their decision to have children. Daniel and Emma married absolutely in love with each other, and they really thought their goals and objectives were well aligned. It was their local pries back then who suggested couple's therapy. They went in with significant hesitation but agreed to give it a real chance. They put in the work, went to the sessions, did the assignments, and slowly but surely, communication improved and they started to remember the reasons they fell in love with each other and decided to marry and eventually have children.
Daniel had been really scared that in one hormonally fueled discussion during the pregnancy, Emma would ask him to move out or, heaven forbid, a divorce. Seeing all the efforts she was making with the injectables, the testing, the vitamins, the yoga, the working fewer hours, made him realize that he was a very lucky man to have a fighter in his partner in life. He was still frustrated that there wasn't much he could do to make things easier for her. During the sixth month of the pregnancy, his wife had started bleeding and their Ob-Gyn prescribed bed rest for the rest of the gestation. He decided to cut some of his billable hours to be with her more. They had been able to save sufficiently in the previous years. He would make sure he could be with her at least half the morning or half the afternoon. He got her all the strange foods she wanted and tried to do things the way she wanted him to. He wanted to hover over her and avoid the minimum amounts of physical effort on her part.
Emma struggled to accept her husband's hovering. She had been raised to be an independent woman. This was the main reason that being married was difficult for her. She was used to making decisions on her own, fixing things her way, buying things according to her taste, and not once consider others, particularly in her medical decisions. When she was studying to become a doctor, she had seriously considered never having children. When she met Dan, everything she had thought about relationships became irrelevant. He was brilliant and serious but funny. He was a perfect gentleman, but he was a bit shy. It had taken two years for him to actually ask her out on a date. Yet, from that first date on, they had been almost inseparable. With her difficulty getting pregnant, the following disappointments, and at last a very trying pregnancy, Emma knew their relationship was in jeopardy. They were at each other's throats often and were growing distant.
She had never been a fan of the concept of therapy. But she had to admit that writing things down instead of talking or arguing about them was helping. Each of them would have to take a while, sit down, read what the other wrote, and then, they would talk about it calmly once they had a chance to process it. This lessened their petty fights. Emma knew from his letters to her that her husband was trying hard to please her, to be a comfort for her, to support her the way she wanted to, and this made her change the way she viewed him.
By the time her delivery date came up, the Grangers were a more mature couple. They were still in love, but the way they saw each other changed for the better. For some couples, once the rose-colored glasses fall or break, the relationship is over. For the Grangers, seeing the flaws in each other and working towards change where they could and acceptance of their partner where they couldn't was a turning point. They still had arguments every once in a while, but they were able to diffuse most situations. Both had agreed to keep a worries and successes journal to exchange at night before bed. This would keep them up to date with each other's day, and they would always have topics of conversation. It was a bit tiring to write those things down, but they had discovered that writing and reading was a lot better for them than arguing orally, where you listen to reply and not to understand.
Additionally, they discovered things to help them deal with stress and anger. Both grew up practicing martial arts but had stopped at the university. They had decided to practice again as soon as Emma felt better from her confinement. Daniel had grown up in a rural area and learned to hunt as a teenager with his father. He had always liked guns, rifles, and knives. He had kept the hobby and would regularly visit a shooting range. It helped keep him calm.
The birthing process was quicker than expected. Hermione was born a healthy and strong baby with powerful lungs. She had her mother's eyes and her father's smile. She would have them wrapped around her pinky finger in no time. As Hermione grew, she quickly started showing signs of being a prodigy at almost everything she did. Her parents were proud, but they worried that she often forgot how to be a kid, let loose, and have fun. It was really sad for them when they started taking her on playdates, and no friendships were formed. In fact, she would often come home with red-rimmed eyes. After a few tries, playdates stopped. Hermione wanted to learn ballet. She still didn't make any real friends her age there, but she was part of a group and loved her teacher.
It was after one frustrating practice at home that Hermione had her first bout of accidental magic, significant enough to be noticed, occurred. She was trying to land a jump and couldn't get it right. Eventually, her magic had helped her float for a few seconds so she could land properly. As the years passed, the Grangers saw many different manifestations that could not be explained, and they went to many "experts" who only wanted to turn Hermione into a test subject and line their pockets. Eventually, they had found an open-minded priest who told them to see this phenomenon as a gift from God. They had chosen to agree. Dwelling on things that cannot be fixed or understood was a recipe for madness.
While Harry, Hermione, and Pa-Foo were having breakfast, Emma went to her husband's garage basement. Only the two of them had access to the door. Inside was Mr. Granger's fortress of calming down. He had his guns, rifles, knives and other hunting equipment down there. He also had a large punching back which he was trying to tear apart at the moment. Emma winced when she noticed that he wasn't wearing boxing gloves as he usually would.
"Daniel?" she asked stepping into the room slowly.
"What (panting) is (panting) it?" he said as he continued to hit the bag.
"Harry was scared of you earlier…" she said, hoping to get his attention. She did. He immediately stopped and grabbed the bad to stop its swinging.
"What?! Why?!"
"Dan, love… Harry comes from a horrible environment. To him, you storming off is scary. I think you are the first good male adult role model in his life," Emma said softly grabbing a first aid kit and cleaning her husband's knuckles. Daniel looked like he was about to defend himself, so she went on, "I know you were trying to avoid blowing up and scaring him more but remember what the psychologist said. Harry needs evident and constant reassurance that he is not doing the wrong thing. He is in constant fear that we will start hurting him or kick him out… He cooked breakfast for us because he thought he was supposed to, as he was when he lived with those people."
"I know, love… I just… It angers me so much to see what they have done to him. But I see what you mean. He was just doing what he thought would keep him in our good graces. Poor boy… How was breakfast by the way?"
"Dan, that boy is gifted in the kitchen! That was the best breakfast I have had in… ever! The eggs were so fluffy, the bacon was just crisp enough without burned bits, the toast was great, even the coffee and the orange juice, which he made from scratch I might add were absolutely delicious!"
"Did Pa-Foo eat my share?" he asked with a pout. She shook her head, smiling. Harry made more than enough. "I am going to talk to him and explain. Also, I will apologize. He needs to know that we do not expect perfection or -heaven forbid- submission. I want him to know that all we want is for him to be happy here. I don't like the idea of him feeling like he needs to walk on eggshells around me."
"I am sure he will feel much better once you talk… And Dan, listen to his voice but also his body language, okay?" she said, closing the first aid kit and kissing her husband lightly. "He starts making himself smaller and tensing up. He will look down if he feels like he did something wrong."
When they got to the kitchen, Harry and Hermione were doing the dishes. Pa-Foo was in the backyard.
"Harry? Emma says your breakfast is delicious. I'm sorry I missed it!" Dan said with a smile.
"Your p-plate is in the m-microwave, s-sir," Harry replied without looking at him. Dan cleared his throat, Hermione looked at him and knew she should go. Emma took over dish duty while Dan talked to Harry.
"Harry, I owe you an apology," Dan said while the food was heating up.
"N-No, sir," Harry said looking down.
"Listen, I have not been mad at you once since we met," Daniel said, gently pulling Harry towards the kitchen table to sit across from him.
"I t-thought y-you were m-mad that I d-didn't make the right kind of b-breakfast…" Harry trailed off, making himself even smaller on his chair.
"Heavens, no. I was angry, but not at you. It is not normal for children to be forced to cook. I was angry that since they made you cook you obviously thought we would too." Daniel was ashamed.
"Oh!... It's o-okay. B-But Mr.G-Granger… Then what s-should I d-do?" Harry asked, looking up again.
"What do you mean?" Daniel frowned in confusion. Emma brought him the warmed plate.
"A-Around the h-house…"
"Chores?" offered Emma. "You want to know what your chores are?"
The boy nodded rapidly. Dan looked at Emma. He was lost. Hermione would just pick up after herself, but it wasn't technically a chore. She learned to be organized because they were. Emma smiled. She knew just what to tell the boy. Dan started eating the mouthwatering meal.
"Well, we would like you to do what Hermione does. Is that alright?"
"Yes. W-What do I have to d-do?" asked Harry. He looked ready to start.
"First of all, you need to make your bed every day. Then, you need to put any of your dirty clothes in the hamper you have in the bathroom. Also, you should always pick up your toys. You can help set the table and do the dishes every once in a while. Oh! And you and Hermione need to care for Pa-Foo. Play with him, brush him, feed him, and bathe him… That's it"
"Only t-that?" Harry asked with wide eyes. That's nothing! He thought.
"That is more than enough," said Dan between bites. "This meal absolutely wonderful, Harry! Thank you!"
"You are w-welcome… Mr. and Mrs. Granger… W-Will you get m-mad at me if I c-cook?"
"Honey, no, we wouldn't, but the kitchen is dangerous…" Emma began. Harry's crestfallen look made her maneuver. "How about this? You can help Dan and I cook. Would you like that?"
"Yes!" Harry nodded happily. "Do you h-have any h-house rules?"
Both adults thought for a moment.
"Well… We want everyone to treat each other with respect. That means no hurting people's feelings OR bodies. Also, no yelling and no name-calling. If you want to use something that belongs to someone else, ask them first."
"When a door is closed, knock before you come in. Like Emma said before, pick up after yourself. Oh, and you should apologize and make amends when you do something wrong."
"L-like you d-did?" Harry asked. He liked that did things the way he wanted you to. Vernon would want you to do as he said, even when he did the opposite.
"Yes, champ. Like I did," replied Mr. Granger with a smile.
"Honey, something else that is very important to us is that you be honest. Tell the truth, always," she said, holding one of his hands in hers.
"E-Even if you w-won't like it?" Harry asked, looking down.
"Yes, baby. Even if we won't like it. Okay?"
"Okay"
"And last, but definitely not least, we like hygiene," before Harry could ask, Daniel continued "that means you need to wash your hands before you eat, after you use the loo, and after you play with Pa-Foo. You need to brush your teeth after every meal and to shower or take a bath every day."
"What do you think, honey? Can you do that?"
"Yes, Mrs. Granger. Mr. Granger, can I read like Hermione?"
"Of course, Harry"
"We can teach you how to read and write."
"Really?" Harry asked with hopeful eyes.
"Yes, Harry. We will start this weekend. Now go outside and play"
"But the dishes?"
"I can finish them. But put on a coat, it's cold outside, and we don't want you to get sick."
Harry nodded. Their concern for him touched him deeply. He did as they said. Pa-Foo and Hermione were making a snowman.
And so, for the next month, the Grangers took baby steps every day to help Harry integrate into their family. Both the boy and Pa-Foo were doing much better. They had gained weight, their bones weren't sticking out anymore. They seemed calmer and happier. Both were inseparable among themselves and Hermione. Pa-Foo was getting strong enough to morph without a wand. He was just trying to find the right way to do so without ending with a bullet or a knife going through him. Sirius knew that Dan Granger was not a violent man. However, he also knew that -if necessary- the doctor would skin him alive to protect his family. Emma was a sweet woman, but Sirius had seen her training in the backyard. She was a black belt. Sirius remembered Lily saying that out of the colors in karate, that one meant they could kill you. He had some thinking to do.
