I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
The Family that Chooses You
Chapter 129 – Full Circle
Harry stopped and listened. He was on patrol, taking over for a prefect who fell ill. Their partner had been reassigned to help someone else so he was on patrol alone. He was not worried about being alone. He was far different from the first year ambushed by much older students. He held his wand lightly in hand, his other resting on his Medic pouch, finger tips nestled against the spray of bellflowers. So far he had caught two older years investigating a cupboard and he sent them on their way with minimal awkwardness and helped a second year trying to carry too many books back to their common room. All in all, a quiet patrol.
Until he heard the sound.
It was muffled but it was familiar to him and he followed it, walking softly but surely. He walked closer to it, hearing it grow louder. His steps must have given him away because the sound was cut off and he could not hear it anymore.
"Hello?" he called into the seemingly empty corridor. "Is someone there? Do you need help?"
Silence.
"I'm the Head Boy and I can help you."
Nothing.
He saw a tapestry move ever so slightly. He walked a little closer but did not lift it. "I'd rather you come out then me pull it open, if you can come out. I can help."
Finally, the fabric was pushed aside and a small boy came out of the alcove. He looked up at Harry, eyes wet and closed off.
Harry was unused to towering over anyone, but he certainly did over this boy. He was obviously a first year, a Slytherin from this school robes. "Are you okay?" Harry asked as kindly as he could.
The boy shrugged.
"Are you locked out of your common room?"
He shook his head.
Something about the boy felt familiar to Harry and he could not figure out what. He had never met him before, was unsure if he had even seen the boy within the first week of school. But something was there. Something that gnawed at him. "Are you hurt?"
The boy stared at him.
Harry sighed, slightly unsure of what to do or say. Something about the boy's eyes was incredibly familiar, but not in a good way. He almost could not meet them for some reason. "I can help you if you tell me what's going on. I totally get being overwhelmed by everything."
The boy's face twisted at Harry's offer. "No you can't," he said angrily. He turned to leave, pulling his robes up.
"Hold on, wait," Harry reached out.
The boy saw the coming hand and fell, rolling into a ball. He cried out but not from the fall.
Harry froze. The response was one that he was terribly familiar with. It was one that he had made too many times to count. One that he had cultivated for years and it had taken him years to break. He knew why the boy felt familiar to him. Color the blonde hair black, turn the blue eyes green, and the boy was Harry just a few years prior. The boy did not look as sickly as Harry did, not as malnourished. But the response was the same.
The boy trembled and blanched at the terrible rictus on Harry's face. The boy tried to crawl away.
"W-wait!" Harry did not try to grab the boy, he was rooted to the spot. "Wait! I know what it's like!"
The boy laughed hollowly. "You don't know me! You don't know anything!" He got to his feet and started to run.
Harry's chest started to heave, his breath shallow and hard. He felt faint and sick, old wounds reopening for him. He saw himself as a child running away. His brain felt like it was falling uncontrollably through molasses, unable to stop, somehow too fast and too slow at the same time. He thought desperately to do something, anything.
He knew if he let the boy run, he'd never forgive himself.
"You'll never learn!" he yelled desperately.
The boy stopped but did not turn.
"They always say it's to teach you a lesson, that you have to learn. But they never teach you. They never tell you what the lesson is. Asking what it is makes it worse, makes it harder, makes it hurt more. They keep saying it's for you to learn but you'll never learn what. They keep saying it to make you repeat what you've done, so they can keep punishing you. The lesson always changes, but the punishment is always the same, only it gets worse."
The boy turned to look at Harry. His eyes glinted in the torchlight.
"After a while, you don't even care what the lesson is anymore." Harry's voice became a whisper. "You don't want to learn anymore. You just want it to stop. You want to know how to never repeat whatever you did but you never will. The reason always changes. After a while it isn't what anymore, it's why. Why are they doing this to me? Why won't they help me?" His voice was barely audible and his tears fell. "Why won't anyone help me?"
The silence was heavy and suffocating.
"You do know what it's like," the boy said.
Harry swallowed thickly. "I do," he said in an incredibly weary voice. "I do."
The boy looked down at the stones.
"I'm going to ask you to do something very difficult," Harry said softly. "I'm not saying to trust me, because I know how hard it is to trust. I'm asking you to listen to me. I'm going to tell you to do some things and at any point, if you want to stop, I won't make you. But I was where you are now and I listened to some people and I made it to now. It's…it's going to help you. I swear."
The boy looked up at Harry, his expression indescribable.
"Please," Harry begged.
The boy stared for a moment longer before he walked closer to Harry but did not come close. "What…what do you want me to do?"
"I'm going to take you to the Infirmary to be checked by the Healers. Then they can figure out the best way to take care of you."
The boy looked panicked. "But then people will know!"
"People will always find out," Harry said. "You can't keep it a secret. Somehow, some way, people will find out. The question is when and how. It's better on your terms, and the sooner the better." He rubbed his eyes. "The Healers here won't hurt you. The healing will hurt but they won't hurt you. They want to care for you."
The boy looked uncertain.
"You're not alone. You might feel it. But you're not."
The boy looked away but nodded once.
Harry started walking to the Infirmary and the boy followed, always keeping out of arm's reach and keeping Harry in front of him, within his line of sight.
It was just as well as he did for Harry could not stop crying.
Madame Pomfrey and Healer Verity looked up when Harry walked in.
"Mister Potter? What's the matter?" Pomfrey asked before she saw the boy following Harry in.
Harry scrubbed his face with his hand. "Hi. Mister…"
"Nicholas Morris," the boy said finally.
"Mister Morris needs a check-up," Harry said. He looked at Pomfrey with eyes full of pain, past and present, hoping she knew what he meant.
She did. She looked at the other Healer. "A full check-up then. Would you be so kind Viola?"
Verity nodded, her normally merry face solemn. "Of course." She knelt to look Nicholas in the eye. "Hello, I'm Healer Verity. I'll be doing your full exam. Would you follow me please?" She waited for him to look at him without prompting him, giving him all the time he needed. He eventually did, and after looking at Harry who nodded, he followed her to the corner of the Infirmary. Verity moved a curtain to block out the rest of the room, giving them privacy.
"The curtains are warded for silence and secrecy," Pomfrey said. "No sound will get in or out. What happened?" She looked at Harry and her eyes widened at the sight of him.
He was breathing hard once more, his hands trembling. "He was like me. I reached out and he curled up and screamed, just like I did. I've never met him before and he reacted that way to me. He was just like me. He was just like me."
"It's okay Mister Potter," Pomfrey said as soothingly as she could. "Calm down, you brought him here. You did the right thing-"
"He's been hurt. I'm sure of it. He looks just like I did." Harry was babbling. "He needs help, he needs someone to help him."
"Mister Potter-"
"We have to help him. He doesn't have Katie or Angelina or Alicia. He doesn't have the Captain or the twins. He's-"
"Harry." Pomfrey took his hands in hers. "Harry, you helped him. He's here because of you." She waited for his wild eyes to focus on her. "Harry, when…when we realized the enormity of how we failed you in the past, we made changes. And with Verity here now, we have been able to make these changes a reality. We have been doing full health checks on all incoming students, we just haven't gotten to Mister Morris yet. Anything suspect is carefully documented and we have a childcare specialist come to consult or we send them to St Mungo's. The head of House is informed and we follow through."
She squeezed his hands. "We will not fail you again, Harry. We will not allow anyone else to fall through the cracks as best as we can. We learned our lesson with you and with your generosity and your heart, we will take better care of our students. All thanks to you."
Harry began to breathe more evenly. "Has...has it helped?"
She nodded, saddened but proud. "We have found a few injuries that needed better care and some situations that can be investigated. Again, all thanks to you."
He nodded slowly, his breathing slowing. "Th-thank you."
"No. Thank you. All of this right now is possible because of you." She looked at him with concern. "Would you like a Calming Draught?"
He shook his head. "No, I'll be okay. I'll be okay." He let go of her hands and reached into his pouch and withdrew a slip of parchment. He borrowed a quill from Pomfrey's desk and scribbled a note on it before folding it into an airplane shape. When he threw it, it flew swiftly, wriggling through the crack in the Infirmary door. "It's the spell they use at the Ministry," he said to an interested Pomfrey. "I learned it from Percy. We're trying it out as a way to send messages to people."
"Would you teach me later?" she asked. "That sounds quite useful." She smiled at his nod and she patted his shoulder, standing beside him in silence.
Eventually the doors opened and Daphne and Blaise walked in. Blaise's tie was loose and his sleeves undone while Daphne looked as sharp as she normally did. "What's going on?" Blaise yawned. He took one look at Harry and felt the atmosphere, standing straighter and tightening his tie and buttoning his sleeves. "I mean, you called Head Boy?"
"I brought one of your first years," Harry said. "I'm going to ask you two to keep an eye on him."
"Did something happen?" Daphne asked with a puzzled expression.
"Nothing that can be said right now," Harry said and the two Slytherins looked at each other. "Just, I'd appreciate it if you could keep an eye on him from now on. I'd owe you two one." They looked at each other again.
The curtain slid back and Verity walked over with an exhausted looking Morris. He looked at the other two students and blanched, glaring at Harry.
"Morris, I'm sure you already know these two since they are the senior Prefects of your House, but I wanted to tell you that you can ask them for help. If you need me or anything, they will help you. They are my friends." Blaise looked at Harry with surprise while Daphne smiled. "They know nothing more than me asking them to help you."
Morris looked away. "Okay," he said finally. He gave Harry a complicated look before he followed Blaise out of the Infirmary. Daphne gave Harry a strange look of her own before she left too.
Verity smiled weakly. "I'm afraid I can't share too much, Mister Potter."
Harry shook his head. "I don't need to know. I just…did it help?" He sighed sadly at her tiny nod. "Okay. Well. Thank you. I appreciate it." He walked away, stopping at the door when Pomfrey called after him.
"We appreciate you, Mister Potter, and everything you do."
He looked back and nodded awkwardly before leaving.
-0-
He slept poorly that night. He tossed and turned. Every time he fell asleep, he woke up from a nightmare. Words he had not thought about for years ran rampant through his mind. He saw his past, oddly from the outside and the inside, and he kept waking with skin slicked with sweat and his heart pounding.
A faint glow drew his eye and he looked at the candle. The tip was lit and he picked it up bringing it to him. He squinted and barely saw the words that appeared on the side. He breathed softly, feeling more at peace at seeing the tiny message. He kissed her words and put the candle back and finally fell asleep.
-0-
"Harry, you look dreadful. Did something happen?" Hermione asked worriedly.
Harry smiled tiredly. "Didn't get a lot of sleep." He looked at the schedule that he and Hermione pinned to the wall inside their dorm. "I want to call a general meeting today. Is that okay?"
"Sure." She rested a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to talk to me about it before?"
"No thank you. I'll explain more after the meeting."
-0-
Harry stood at the Head Boy's desk, waiting for all the prefects to enter and assemble. He nodded cordially to everyone that greeted him, but said nothing.
Daphne slid up to Hermione. "Do you know what this is about?"
Hermione shook her head. "No. Did something happen yesterday?"
"I think so, but I do not know exactly everything…" Daphne muttered.
Harry cleared his throat and everyone fell silent. "Hello everyone," he said. His voice was somber, serious, and it made everyone pay that much closer attention. "I wanted to ask all of you for something." He fell silent and looked down for a long moment.
"Remember on the train when I asked you all to be the good Prefect for your House? One that can be relied on, especially to the younger students? I just wanted to reemphasize that. I wanted to really ask you all to take an active step into the well-being of the students. Check on them, make sure they're doing well. Make sure they can come to you for help. If something seems wrong, try to figure out what it is."
The prefects murmured to one another, unsure of where Harry was coming from. Hermione narrowed her eyes and Daphne paid close attention to her expression.
"Excuse me," a sixth year Ravenclaw said, "may I ask what brought this about? Did something happen?"
"I don't want to speak out of turn," Harry said. "However, I will say, that sometimes there are things going on that aren't obvious. Especially to the first years, they don't know what is right and what isn't sometimes. Us being older, with more experience than them, it's up to us to help them learn what's right and what's wrong."
Hermione gasped softly and Daphne whipped her head around to stare at her. "You know what this is about." Daphne hissed.
"I might," Hermione said softly, sadly.
So did the sixth year. "Pardon me for saying this…" He looked uncomfortable. "Are you insinuating that we should be helping other students with their private lives? Their home lives?"
"If need be," Harry said.
The prefects looked at each other and the murmurs grew louder. "Surely, we don't have a right to interfere with private lives," another prefect said.
"Wait, what exactly are you referring to?" another asked.
"I'm not saying we should interfere," Harry said firmly. "But people may need help and we should provide it, if we can."
"Doesn't that go beyond our responsibilities?" the Ravenclaw asked. "We aren't…qualified to help with certain things. What if we do something wrong? We would get blamed, get in trouble."
"I can barely handle my own problems. You want me to help others with theirs? In other Houses too?" a third prefect said, incredulous.
The prefects began to argue about their duties and what they should or should not do. The Houses began to divide themselves, standing apart while their voices were raised, hands gestured.
Harry stood and watched for a while, marshalling his thoughts. "Does anyone know where the title Prefect came from? Besides Hermione of course," he said with a weak smile.
The prefects looked at each other, unsure of this new direction.
"Gloria legionum." Heads turned and looked at Blaise with surprise. "Glory to the Legions," he translated. He shrugged. "What, I'm Italian."
Harry smiled again. "Blaise is right. Prefects or praefectus were officers or officials. Civil officials were a kind of prefect and most of the officer ranks in the legions were called prefects. One of the highest ranks you could attain were called Camp Prefects. They would be third in command of legions. Imagine that, one person in charge of tens of thousands of soldiers. One person responsible for their comfort, their equipment, their lives."
He looked at everyone following his words. "By comparison, we have it lucky. Six Prefects per House, and two Heads. Not even a hundred students per House on average. We also don't have to worry about everything about them. Just to enforce the rules really." He looked at them, at their confusion. He pointed at Susan. "Humor me for a moment, who are you?"
Susan looked flabbergasted. "Uh…Susan Bones? Seventh year, Hufflepuff?"
Crowley straightened when Harry pointed at her. "Elizabeth Crowley, fifth year, Slytherin."
"Elias Knight, sixth year, Ravenclaw," the sixth year prefect said.
"Demelza Robins, sixth year, Gryffindor," his teammate said.
"I see you all as fellow students. Yes, we are put in Houses, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends. I know in the past there was a lot of rivalry between Houses, especially between Gryffindors and Slytherins. Yet I have friends in all the Houses. I count a Slytherin as one of my closest." Harry nodded at Daphne who blushed slightly. "And how did that happen? By a single small gesture.
"That's all it takes. One small gesture. A kind word. A moment to notice something. To see something that doesn't seem right. To hear something that doesn't feel correct. One action can make a change in someone's whole world."
He let that sink in for a moment. "I'll be honest, in all my years here, I remember exactly one Gryffindor Prefect. And yes, he was a relative of a friend, but he was also kind to me. He cared. I can't think of any of the others. I'm sure I'm not the only one that's like that. Or worse, remember a Prefect because they weren't a good one, ones that didn't help.
"Being a Prefect isn't just the title, the shiny badge." His smile turned wry. "Not just being resented for enforcing the rules. Not having as much time to study or sleeping in. Though I'll admit the bathroom is pretty nice." They chuckled at that. "Being Prefect is a responsibility to help others. We have a chance to be the Prefect we want to be, to be ones we wished others were. We have the ability to make a difference to the people in our Houses, to all the Houses."
He looked kindly at Elias. "You don't have to be qualified to care. You don't have to be qualified to help. And if you can't help on your own, you can find someone that can provide the help that's needed." His voice faded a little and the prefects strained to listen. "You don't have to be qualified to save a life."
He took a deep breath. "I know I'm asking a lot, that I'm asking you all to do more than you already are. I appreciate all you do and I think everyone is doing a great job as it is. All I'm asking is to try and make those small gestures, to try your best. You have no idea what kind of impact you have on people. Don't just do it for your House, do it for each other.
"Do it for yourselves."
He breathed out, tired and feeling awkward. "Thanks for listening," he said lamely.
Elias stood straight. "We'll do our duty, Sir."
"You can count on us," Elizabeth said.
"I know, and I do," Harry replied seriously.
The prefects left in small groups. They all met Harry's eyes when they did, all nodded or waved as they left the office. Some looked thoughtful, others looked determined. All walked a little more purposefully, with surety.
Daphne was the last to leave. She stopped a few times, looking at Harry each time. She opened her mouth and closed it several times, her face twisting, before she left.
Hermione looked sadly at Harry. He shook his head, "Let's go back to our dorm first," he said wearily. He was grateful that she nodded, not prying.
When they got back to their shared dorm, she pushed him gently onto the big couch and sat beside him. "Did you find someone that was…" she asked, unwillingly to finish the sentence.
He nodded, looking down. "Yesterday. A Slytherin firstie reacted like I did when I was a firstie. Just like me. Did I ever tell you the first real interaction I had with Angelina? She came up behind me at my first Quidditch practice and clapped me on the back. I screamed at her, screamed and cowered." His face turned red from shame and he missed the growing tears in Hermione's eyes.
"I thought she was going to hurt me. Imagine that. I didn't even know her, barely remembered her name. And I thought she was going to punish me for something. Instinct from living with the Dursleys. I was conditioned to expect pain from any kind of physical contact." He rubbed at his eyes to wipe away his growing tears. "Nicholas Morris, that's his name, he was walking away from me after I caught him crying. I reached my hand out, wasn't even close to him, and he fell over and curled up in a ball. It was like seeing myself."
Hermione wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. "Oh Harry."
He hugged her back, welcoming her touch. "It had been forever since I've felt that way. Yet, seeing him like that, all of a sudden I felt like I was back there, at Number 4. It took everything for me to try and remain calm."
"Is he okay?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I took him to the Infirmary and Madam Pomfrey and Healer Verity were there. They couldn't tell me anything but…I don't know. Apparently they've been doing full checks on all the incoming students, something they're doing because of me. And now that there's a second medi-magical, it's possible to do and stay on top of things."
"That's wonderful. All because of you, I mean, in getting the second Healer for the school. You should be proud, Harry. Everyone owes you a big debt."
"I don't want them to owe me anything. I just wish…I wish it wasn't necessary." He sniffled a little. "I'm just…I don't know."
"I think it's incredible that you had the meeting today. Really. You really inspired everyone without saying too much about your past and about Nicholas. You could have easily ignored it, or paid lip service to it. But it was clear you cared and I think everyone really took your words to heart." Hermione's eyes shone from tears and pride.
"Thanks. I hope so." He sighed wearily. "Not everyone will be as lucky as me. They won't have a team to look out for them, for good friends like you."
Hermione's face colored. "Not so good. I used to be really…resentful of the team, well the Chasers. I always wondered why you seem to confide in them more. I thought it was because they were older and prettier."
Harry scoffed and pulled Hermione to him. "I hope you know that's silly right? They noticed what was going on with me before you did. You've been a good friend, always have."
She sighed as she rested her head on his chest. "I know, Alicia told me during our talks eventually. I should have realized something was wrong sooner."
"You couldn't have. They barely did and they were older. No one should ever expect to see…abuse."
"Still, I wish…" she said sadly.
"Me too."
She looked up at his soft chuckle. "What's so funny?"
"I just thought about the time you filed a complaint with Oliver." He hugged her tighter as she groaned and tried to get up. "I really admired you for that, you know. A first year standing up to a fifth year like that."
"Ugh, please don't remind me," she begged. "I'll never get over the shame of it. I'm surprised he still treated me so well. Angelina carried a grudge for a long time over that dinner incident."
"She knows you meant well."
"No she didn't."
"I mean now, that you meant well."
She slapped his stomach when he laughed. She hugged him tighter. "I'm glad Katie noticed and I eventually pulled my head out of my arse over it," she said into him.
"Me too. And you've always been you Hermione, and I wouldn't trade any of it."
She hugged him even tighter and was glad when he did the same to her.
-0-
That night they stayed in the dorm room to have dinner together. Harry made a chicken soup and Inky and Fanny brought some bread and salad, gleeful for their own pot of soup to take away. Harry and Hermione ate in companionable silence, just enjoying the moment.
The painting on the wall moved and a lioness appeared in it. "Pardon for the intrusion," she said, "there are two outside your room, one of them is asking to be let in."
"Is it an emergency?" Hermione asked worriedly as she and Harry rose.
"No, though one seems to be in a state of distress and the other in annoyance," the lion said. "They have been guests of yours before. One is the blonde Slytherin Prefect and the other is her brown-haired companion."
"Daphne and Tracy?" Harry walked to the portrait door and it opened. "Are you guys okay?" He ran out into the corridor to help Tracy support Daphne. "What happened?!"
"Oh thank goodness you're here," Tracy said. "Grab her legs. I'm surprised I didn't get caught on the way here."
"Wha-what's wrong?" Hermione asked as Harry and Tracy carried Daphne inside. "Shouldn't we go to the Infirmary?"
"Oh no, it's not that serious," Tracy said, grunting from effort. "She's just really drunk."
"She's drunk?" Harry said as they carried Daphne to the couch. On closer inspection she was clearly very inebriated. Her hair was mussed up, her eyes glazed and unfocused. She kept mumbling and smelled very strongly of alcohol. "Why is she drunk?"
"I have no idea. I came back to our room and she was sloshed. Kept saying how embarrassed she was and your name and how she should have known and how she's doing this in penance." Tracy saw the look Harry and Hermione exchanged. "What's going on?"
Hermione sighed. "She must have figured it out."
"Figured what out?" Tracy asked.
"I had hoped she wouldn't," Harry groaned.
"Someone explain something!" Tracy said, growing even more annoyed.
"How did she get this drunk?" Hermione asked, looking down at the girl.
"She drank most of a bottle of something she confiscated from a fifth year who brought something from home." Tracy held up the bottle in question, it was mostly empty. "This was mostly full when she showed me it earlier this week."
"She's supposed to dispose of it," Hermione snarled.
"I did," Daphne said drunkenly. "I checked the book. I am allowed to dispose of confiscated alcohol in any manner of ways and me drinking it counts."
Hermione summoned her copy of the manual and looked through it. "How did we not catch that?" Hermione asked, insulted.
"Because you do not have a devious bone in your body. You are a Gryffindor," Daphne said with drunken pride.
"How can she speak so coherently?" Hermione asked.
"It's a Pure-Blood socialite thing. The more drunk they get, the posher they sound," Tracy said.
Harry snorted and walked to a table, summoning his cauldron, his Medic's pouch, and his potion making kit. He started mixing ingredients in the cauldron.
"You have the stuff to make a Sobriety Potion?" Tracy asked, impressed.
"Yeah, last week I broke up a drinking session on the Astronomy tower and I swore to never not patrol without a Sobriety Potion again. You do not want to deal with a couple of drunk idiots in that tower."
Tracy and Hermione winced. "That sounds potentially horrifying," Tracy shuddered.
After a few moments the potion was done. Harry walked back over with it and handed it to Tracy.
"Oh no, you're going to have to pour it down her throat," Tracy said.
"What? Why me?"
"Do you want to hold her down so I can pour it down her throat? Let me warn you, she gets really handsy when she's drunk. I'm used to her groping me but if you want to let her get in your business then-"
"No no, I'll do it," Harry said hurriedly.
"Grab her arms, Hermione. Daphne, I swear, do not bite me or puke on me or else I will cut you off for a few weeks."
"You will not," Daphne slurred. "You're the sex-crazed one of the two of us-" She turned her head away from the potion. "No! I can smell the potion! I'm not drinking that! I worked too hard to get this drunk! This is punishment!"
Tracy grunted, trying to keep Daphne from kicking, wrapping her arms and legs around her girlfriend from behind. "Daphne! Drink the damn potion!"
"Give me that," Hermione said, taking the potion. She grabbed the bottle and was about to pour out the contents.
"Wait! That stuff is expensive!" Tracy shouted.
Hermione hissed and poured it into a cup before pouring the potion into the bottle. She thrust the bottle into Harry's hands before she knelt back down to grab Daphne's hands. "Daphne, we're just trying to help you-HEY! Don't touch me there!"
Harry managed to pour the majority of the potion into Daphne's mouth and the girl went limp as the potion took effect.
"Is this the kind of Sobriety Potion that makes you vomit?" Tracy asked hurriedly as she wriggled out from beneath Daphne.
"No, but it'll give you a wicked headache and dehydrates you like crazy." Harry summoned another vial to his hand. "That's what this pain relief potion will be for."
"I wouldn't give her that," Tracy muttered.
"You're awfully cruel to your girlfriend," Hermione sniffed.
"You didn't just carry her up here from the dungeons," Tracy retorted. "Dodging patrols and ghosts."
After a few minutes Daphne groaned. "Dear Merlin, why does my head feel like a troll sat on it?"
"You got blitzed and we shoved a Sobriety Potion down your throat," Tracy said.
"Oh dear heaven someone put me out of my misery," the blonde moaned. She took the vial from Harry and drank it greedily, and the goblet of water Hermione handed her. She sighed with relief as the other potion took effect. "I feel positively ill."
"Good," Tracy said shortly. "Now will you explain why you got smashed tonight? I thought we were going to drink that firewhiskey together."
"I can take points away you know," Hermione whispered.
"Because I realized something incredibly terrible and I needed to cope and-HARRY!" Daphne flung herself at Harry and wrapped her arms around him. She started to cry, hugging him like she never had before.
Harry sat back, taking her with him and gently rubbed her back. "It's okay Daphne," he said softly.
"It is not okay!" she sobbed. "How could I not have known? I'm so sorry!"
"Someone explain something!" Tracy nearly screamed. Her nerves were already on edge after finding Daphne drunk for unknown reasons. Now seeing Daphne act like this was pushing her nerves to the limit.
Harry looked up at her. "I…uh…I had a bad childhood," Harry finally confessed.
"When you say bad," Tracy said, looking queasy.
"Yeah, bad," Harry said. "And yesterday there was someone who kinda maybe is like me, like how I was."
"That's why you had a meeting with Professor Snape today," Tracy said to Daphne.
Daphne nodded and continued to cry. "And it made me think about all the strange things you said Harry, how I never understood them and then I thought about them with the proper context and…and…" She sobbed harder. "Your Boggart from last year, the little boy…that was you…"
"I didn't really want to tell many people," Harry said.
Tracy slumped to her rear; her face contorted with dawning realization. "When you said you met your first real family with your broom…when you said you were raised by your Muggle relations but not your family." She looked at Harry with horror. "When you said food was too important to mess with. That's why you know how to cook? Why you never got complimented?"
Harry nodded, red-faced. "I'm surprised you remember me saying those things."
"Daphne and I talked about it before, we never understood why you said them. Bloody hell." She lurched forward, slamming into Daphne and Harry and knocking them over, joining her girlfriend in hugging Harry and crying.
Harry looked up at Hermione from his prone position. "Help?"
Hermione dabbed her eyes. "I want to join them honestly," she said. Instead she sat down beside them and put her hand on Harry's shoulder that was not covered by the two Slytherins.
Eventually they calmed down and let Harry up. "Why didn't you tell us?" Tracy asked.
"I wasn't telling anyone really. I mean, I sort of didn't admit to it for a really long time. It had to be dragged out of me."
"Katie." Daphne looked at Harry directly. "That's who you were referring to. The person that made the gesture. The one who noticed."
He nodded.
"She saved your life?"
He smiled. "Yeah, she did. If she didn't notice, who knows what I would be like right now. She rallied the team and, well, yeah. And even between her and Angelina, and eventually the rest of the team and Hermione, it took a long time for me to admit to anything." He noticed the way the two Slytherins looked at each other. "And no, it had nothing to do with you two being Slytherins and me not trusting you. I didn't want to say it out loud to anyone. I felt like if I did, it would make it more real somehow. That everyone would know how…disgusting I was."
The relief on Daphne's face on knowing that she wasn't told not because of her being a Slytherin evaporated. "Nothing about you is disgusting!"
"Those Muggles are disgusting!" Tracy said at the same time.
"Tell me they're dead and died horribly!" Daphne snarled.
"Unfortunately not," Hermione growled.
"Please don't think about killing my relations," Harry pleaded. "I don't want my friends to think that way."
"Fine, I won't tell you that I'm thinking of it," Tracy said with the other two witches nodding along.
Harry snorted. "But, see this is why I didn't want to tell you two. I didn't want to upset or hurt you. I've hurt enough people with it already." He pushed Hermione's hand away, seeing her looking irritated and poking him.
Daphne sniffed. "Fine. I accept that you have your secrets and your reasons for hiding this, but, I'm still upset for you. Not at you."
"I can handle that," Harry said gratefully.
"Promise us you'll talk to us if you need help," Tracy pleaded. "We're really friends, right?"
Harry hugged them both. "Yeah, we are. Thank you."
Daphne sighed. "I need to send Katie a letter soon." Suddenly her stomach gurgled loudly making her face turn bright red.
"Oh right, the potion makes you super hungry." Harry looked at Hermione. "Mind if they join us for dinner?"
"I suppose that will be okay," she replied smiling. "You two owe us though."
"Here." Tracy handed her the cup full of firewhiskey.
"Wait no, I still want that," Daphne argued.
"I'm disposing of this properly," Hermione said angrily.
Harry shook his head fondly, filling two more bowls with soup as they bickered. Knowing how Daphne and Tracy cared made him feel better. Even less alone than he used to be. And maybe Nicholas would have someone kind watching out for him, someone who cared.
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diffident-serpiente - Sadly all good things come to an end but I will have more to occasionally post in the extended story, Random Reddit Ramblings, and I've already started on my next much smaller story. I may finish it before I finish posting this one even.
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Hey good guess. Maybe she isn't plotting anything and just wants the reflected glory and the opportunity to mess with Hermione.
alix33 - Luna's art should be on display.
slytherinsal - One bright spot all things considered.