Birthday Surprises Chapter Nineteen
Usual disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue. Please. Wish it were mine though. Ah, if only….. Lolly, xxx.
The next morning, Molly pulled Harry aside after breakfast and asked him about the pensieve.
"No." Harry said resolutely.
"But Harry….."
"No. There's no need." Harry said. Molly looked taken aback by his flat refusal.
"Well…..if you're sure." Molly said uncertainly - she wanted to see just how badly Harry had been treated. She began to wonder if he would know if she went into the pensieve anyway.
"Arthur, come with me." Molly said quietly, later that day.
"Where are we going?" Arthur said, following her.
"To Harry's room." Molly said, feeling a twinge of guilt.
"Molly, the boy has a right to his privacy." Arthur said.
"I know he does, but he's wrong. Besides, he won't find out, will he?"
"Not from me." Arthur sighed. They opened the door to Harry's room to find Ginny, Hermione and Ron standing over the pensieve already.
"What do you three think you are doing?" Molly asked.
"The same as you mum." Ginny said.
"Absolutely not. I forbid it." Molly said.
"Mum, we're going to go whether we go now or later - you can't forbid us." Ron said.
"Arthur….."
"No, Molly. The children are right. They will go with us, or they will go later. We might as well all go together."
"Fine." Molly sighed. She didn't want her children to see their friend being abused, but they did have a point - she wasn't supposed to be here either.
The five of them saw everything, from when Harry was three, to the incident with the knife. Ginny had wanted to reach out to the tiny Harry and tell him that everything was going to be ok. But it wasn't. None of them had had any idea what his life had been like before Hogwarts. None of them had imagined that any Muggle could be so cruel to a three year old. Molly had wept on Arthur's shoulder, while holding Ginny close. Ron had his arm around Hermione, who was crying too. The memories seemed to last forever, and by the time they found themselves back in Harry's room, all of them wished they hadn't gone in the first place.
Harry sat on his bed, watching the pensieve. He had seen the others slip up and into his room, and had watched them all disappear. Now, he was waiting for them to return. He couldn't remember feeling more betrayed - he had specifically asked Molly not to go into the pensieve, and she had gone anyway. He was still staring at the pensieve when all five of them returned. He cleared his throat loudly, and they all turned around, looking guilty through their tears and horror. Molly rushed forward to envelope him in a hug, but he stepped away from her.
"I asked you not to go in there." He said quietly. Molly was shocked at the look of betrayal in his eyes - she hadn't thought about the reasons behind his wanting her to stay out of the pensieve. Harry stared at her as if she was a stranger, and she suddenly felt incredibly guilty.
"I'd like to be left alone." He said, his voice quiet and trembling. "Harry….." Hermione began. One of the triplets began to cry, and Hermione went to see what was wrong. Harry was behind her when she picked up Andrew. The baby kept crying.
"Give him to me." Harry said. Hermione handed the baby over, watching as he calmed down almost immediately. Harry held him close, ignoring the others for a moment. After a few minutes, Arthur guided Molly from the room. Ginny and Hermione followed. Ron stayed.
"Mate, look….."
"I'd like to be left alone." Harry repeated.
"Well I don't want to leave." Ron replied stubbornly.
"Leave me alone, Ron."
"No - you need to talk about this."
"I need to talk about this?" Harry repeated. "And since when have you been an expert? Have you ever been beaten? Kicked until you were unconscious? Lashed with a belt until you bled? I don't think so." Harry said coldly. Andrew was whimpering, and Harry's voice dropped down a few notches.
"What gives you the right to tell me what I need to talk about and what I don't? You don't know what it's like, and I hope to god you never do, because I wouldn't wish it on Malfoy." Harry said furiously. "Now leave me alone." Ron left as Harry began soothing Andrew again. Ron went to find his mother, feeling in need of reassurance.
"Mum?" Ron said, seeing his mother in the kitchen. Molly turned and walked over to him, hugging him tightly. She held him while he cried for Harry and everything he had been through, and while he cried in relief that he had his family, and that they loved him.
"What happened?"
"I told Harry that he should talk about it - he said that I had no right to say that, and that I didn't know what it was like. That he hoped I never would."
"Well, honey, he is right - you don't know what he feels like, and you never will because we love you so much, you know that, don't you? Still..…he'll come around when he's ready. It can't have been easy for him..…after all these years."
"No. I wish I hadn't seen it. Harry was right - we shouldn't have gone."
"No, we shouldn't have. But we wanted to know. There wasn't much chance that he was going to tell us. He'll come around. Next time though, we have to consider why he didn't want us to do something in the first place."
From outside the kitchen door, tears slipped down Harry's face as he held Andrew close to him. The baby gazed up at him, and Harry gazed back. They were so perfect - so uncorrupted by the world. So innocent. They deserved the best, and if their parents weren't going to give them it, then he would do his very best to. He crept back to his room, and cried. For every time he had been beaten, he cried. For every time he had been made to feel useless and insignificant, he cried. For every time he had not valued his friends, he cried. For his Aunt, who was still living with that brute, he cried. Then he dried his eyes, putting the past behind him. He had a future - he was going to be head boy. He was going to do his very best in every single subject - even potions, and he was going to prove his Uncle wrong - Harry Potter wasn't useless and insignificant. He swore it to himself over and over again, until he finally fell asleep.
