Where Home Is

by antea-aevum

What will happen if Harry had not been rescued by any of the wizards? What if he was adopted by another family which does not treat him well? Remus comes to take six year old Harry away but he must earn the boy's trust before he does.

2. Behold my Eyes

WHERE HOME IS
Chapter Two: Behold my Eyes

Disclaimer:
Disclaimed.

Dedication:
To athenakitty who was always the first to review any of my stories in almost every chapter. I can always count on receiving your review almost minutes after it is posted :o)

Me-Love-You Owls with Cinammon fried Nuts and Chocolate Ice-cream to:
StarWest45 and MPL!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He was terhe aigan.

Sotemimes Hrray wndeored wehther he was a firend or foe. Monoy was at the opopstie fram, tlaking to Mrs. Adernson who was etxedning a lrgae boltte of fesrh mlik to him wilhe he piad the mnoey to her yonug daugther who hppaily acepcted the 'pepars'.

Jsut yteresday, he had been at the ohter farm, byunig Mrs. Lalgley's hoemmdae frseh wehat braed, wilhe the day bfoere yteresday, he had sat udner a lrage oak tere not dar form the Craltnos and raed the neswppaers for the wolhe atferonon.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Okay, okay, kidding! I was trying out this experiment where it is said that the brain can read words even if it's jumbled out (giving that the first and last letter must be the same) because it does not only read the words as whole but everything as well. Did it work? LOL. Now on with the next chapter!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He was there again.

Sometimes Harry wondered whether he was a friend or foe. Moony was at the opposite farm, talking to Mrs. Anderson who was extending a large bottle of fresh milk to him while he paid the money to her young daughter who happily accepted the 'papers'.

Just yesterday, he had been at the other farm, buying Mrs. Langley's homemade fresh wheat bread, while the day before yesterday, he had sat under a large oak tree not far from the Carltons and read the newspapers for the whole afternoon.

Now, what kind of person read those stupid papers for over four hours? Was the news that interesting? Well, if it was just that, Harry would have dubbed him weird but the fact that Moony kept a tight watch on his activities, made him creepy.

Harry shuddered and returned to his job at hand. Being late yesterday resulted in a lecture and no dinner (but Peggy had sneaked a piece of bread in for him) and he certainly didn't want to get on the bad side of Mrs. Carlton today.

Shane was plucking at the weeds halfheartedly. They were assigned to weeding the vast flowerbed today, and since the flowers were also a source of income to the Carltons (they sold it to factories that compressed and marketed it as dried flowers) this job was immensely important. Not to mention backbreaking.

Somehow the person (probably Dicky, he had brains the size of peas) that planted the seeds had stupidly left no space for anyone to walk between the rows and rows of brightly colored flowers. Weeds grew between the buds and one had to kneel down at the edge, put a palm out as far as they could reach, gingerly so that they did not flatten any potential flower princesses and then stick out the other hand to pluck the weeds.

Harry's back ached and his head throbbed painfully as the sun continued to shine its scorching heat on both boys. Shane finally sat back on his heels, his hands dirty with soil, wiping his forehead with the back of a hand.

"You okay?" asked Harry as he yanked at a weed and then collapsed in a tired heap beside Shane.

"Yeah," Shane answered and wiped his palms on his shirt. "It's really hot."

Harry nodded. He glanced up at the sky but quickly averted his gaze back down. The shining brightness hurt his already aching eyes. He reached a fist to his back and gave it a few thumps, ignoring the slight pain that crept up from his old bruises.

Somewhere in the farm, something slammed and at once, both boys scrambled up and started to tug at the weeds again.

"Ian! Hurry up!" Christine Carlton appeared at the doorway and moved out, stepping into sandals. She carried a huge basket and she beckoned to someone whom the boys could not see, inside the house.

"Coming, coming," Harry could hear the grumpy voice of Ian.

A loud rumbling sound alerted them to the arrival of Mr. Carlton's truck which they took to the market with them. Of course, it was the Market Day. Harry's heart leaped. He had totally forgotten about it. How could he? Must be the over brooding of the Moony Mystery.

Market Day to them was a day when they could go slower on their tasks and not have someone breathing down their necks and scolding them at every movement they made. Market Day also meant that Ian, Dicky and John had to follow their parents to the market because the Carltons wanted their kids to learn the trade and carry on the heritage of the family and farm.

"Peggy, please milk that stupid cow for God's sake," Michael Carlton's voice cut through the haze. He was leaning out of the window, a hat sitting on his head as his other hand lay on the wheel. "She gets restless and it's annoying the way she stamps her feet every now and then."

"Ian, I'm warning you..." Mrs. Carlton started.

"I'm coming!" Ian dragged a large basket of vegetables out and painstakingly loaded it onto the truck.

"We are going out." Christine turned to Shane and Harry. Her eyes narrowed. "Aren't you awfully slow today. Move it, you are not to have lunch until you finish. By the way, keep an eye on the house."

Shane and Harry nodded; her speech was the same on every Market Day.

"Keep your pants on, boys, we'll be back soon," Mr. Carlton said, sneeringly as he made way for his wife and John who squeezed in beside him. He poked his head out of the window, and making sure Dicky and Ian was sitting safely beside the large baskets of fruits and vegetables on the truck, he nodded a curt goodbye to anyone who could see him and backed the vehicle, rumbling the truck down the road towards the market.

Shane watched the truck until it disappeared from view, leaving a large cloud of dust and sand swirling in their wake.

"Harry..."

"Yeah."

"Have you ever thought of running away?"

Moony was now poking the tree with a slender stick. What the...

"Harry?"

Harry snapped his attention back to Shane. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Have you ever thought of running away?" Shane repeated patiently. His fingers prodded at the loose earth on the flowerbeds.

"Running away?" Harry asked blankly. "To where?"

"Somewhere. Somewhere other than here," Shane sat down, cross legged.

"Why should we?" Harry cocked his head on one side.

"Don't you ever feel frustrated about how we are treated here?" Shane's voice rose an octave. "All five of us sleep in one miserable room. Three of us on the floor, two of us on a cot while Dicky, Ian and John gets a room each. We are not allowed to use anything they own. We don't even have toothpaste!"

"I've never really thought of that," Harry admitted.

"Shane..."

They both looked up to see Josephine who was carrying a rake in her hands. "Don't think about it."

"Why?" Shane said defensively.

"They'll beat you up," she said.

"And how would you know that?" Shane shot back.

Josephine sniffed. "I'm eight."

"Big deal," Shane said. "You are only a year older than I am."

"I was here before you were, that's the point," said Josephine. "There was a boy before they adopted you. I guess Harry was too young to remember. Jacob. He was ten. He tried to run away one night, they caught him and gave him a big trashing."

"Where is he now?" Harry asked, interested.

Josephine sniffed again. "I don't know. No one does. All I know is that he was sent away immediately when morning dawned."

"I wouldn't get caught," said Shane.

"Don't jinx yourself," Harry told him.

"Well, whatever you do, Shane," said Josephine turning away. "Don't attempt it. Not when we still have dogs here. I don't want to witness another clobbering again."

As she walked towards the fields, Harry suddenly realized she was much more mature than she looked. "She's right, you know. Tony and Tiger are pretty good watchdogs."

"I've made up my mind," said Shane stubbornly. "I'm just inviting right now. Do you want to come?"

Now Moony was eating a large apple. There wasn't a problem with that. Except that it was bright yellow in color...

"Harry!"

"Yeah, sure," said Harry distractedly.

"Good," said Shane and returned to the weeding.

Harry blinked. What was the question? He shook his head. Whatever. Getting on all fours, he bent and began to pull out weeds.

*

Shane woke Harry up two hours past midnight. "Harry!"

Harry stirred sleepily. "-at?"

"They are all asleep," Shane slowly got up, careful not to jar Serena who was sleeping beside him, curled up on her right side. Harry propped himself up with an elbow.

"So?"

"We are running away, have you forgotten?" Shane snapped. He was rooting in the dusty cupboard, and came out with a small bag. "I've taken all that is ours - not that there is much to - we just have to leave this room, go down the stairs really quietly, then open the door, pass the gate, and run for your life."

"But I don't want to..." began Harry.

"Leaving, you stubborn mule of a donkey?" a soft voice interrupted Harry's denial. Josephine sat up slowly on the cot. Peggy turned and sat up beside her. Serena opened her eyes but didn't say anything, choosing to watch her adopted brothers.

"I can't stay here, can't you understand?" Shane's voice was an angry whisper. "I don't want to live a life like this! I want to do something else, I want to live a better life."

"It's already three years, Shane." Serena said softly. "You have lived here this long, why not..."

"Well, it is not what I want!" Shane replied heatedly. "And I know neither of you do either. I want someone to love me, I want someone to hug me every morning like everyone else does to their kids around here. Teach me, guide me. I don't want to stay here."

"Don't we all?" Peggy asked silently.

Shane glared at them, his flushed face slightly illuminated by the feeble starlight shining through the window. "If you don't want to go, don't. But don't stop me."

"Can we even do that?" Serena was now on her feet. Peggy and Josephine slid down from the cot.

"We don't want to join you, but if you really want to leave, we'll help you," said Peggy. "We'll help our brother, won't we?"

A long pause was initiated before Shane spoke.

"Thank you," Shane pulled Serena, who was the nearest, into a hug. "I won't forget all of you."

"Love you," Serena whispered as he stepped out of her embrace and turned to Josephine.

"Get real parents," Josephine gave him a peck on his cheek.

Peggy just smiled and hugged him briefly.

"Thank you for taking care of me for the past three years," Harry said as Shane hugged him.

"Are you following me?" Shane extended his last invitation.

Harry shook his head quietly.

"Okay," Shane said in defeat. He glanced around. "I'll come back when I have someone to help you all out of here."

*

The door creaked gently as they pushed it open by a crack. Poking her head out Peggy, who was the oldest at twelve, surveyed the dark corridor before she nodded and stepped outside silently. Her younger siblings slipped out soundlessly and Josephine closed the door behind her.

Holding a finger to her lips, Peggy motioned for them to head for the stairs. Their bare feet made no sound as they padded towards the wooden stairs, of which the door to freedom awaited just at the bottom. Serena, the youngest along with Harry at age six, bounded silently down the stairs missing step number seven that emitted strange squeaking sounds.

The others followed and Serena, who reached the bottom first, put a hand on the cold doorknob. "Ready?" she mouthed.

Shane took a huge breath and nodded. He stood behind Serena while the others crowded behind him.

"Good luck," said Josephine. Her voice cracked.

Serena twisted the doorknob just as the lights flickered on. Everyone froze.

"And where do you think you are going?" Mr. Carlton's dangerous tone filtered through the air.

"You are not thinking of running are you?" Mrs. Carlton was sitting on a chair, directly opposite the door. In the darkness, they had missed her.

"Right they were," Dicky was now peering down from upstairs, leaning against the railing. "You were unlucky to have me using the bathroom just as you people were saying your hic! goodbye," he mimicked tears.

"Shut up," Peggy hissed.

"Where," said Christine Carlton angrily.

"To the bathroom," Harry said quickly.

"All of you," Michael Carlton asked.

"Yeah," said Josephine.

"All at the same time," said Christine.

"All at the same time," agreed Serena.

Mrs. Carlton rose from her chair, a cane in her right hand. "Maybe a little whack would help you adjust your timing."

The last precious moment was on pure instinct as Serena wrenched open the door and shoved Shane out of it. Slamming the door with a loud bang, all four of the remaining children flung themselves at the closed door and leaned against it.

"Run! Shane, run!" Josephine shouted.

Shane had started pounding on the door. "Jo! Serena!"

"GO!" Peggy screamed.

"Move!" Mr. Carlton closed a hand over Josephine's shirt and tried to yank her away.

"Go away!" Serena yelled.

The pounding stopped and there was a hesitant footstep. "Thank you."

Mrs. Carlton cuffed Serena on her ears and dragged her slight body away from the door. Twisting and kicking Serena sunk her teeth into the woman's ankle and scrambled back to the door were Mr. Carlton was trying to open.

"Get away!" Mr. Carlton pulled Peggy away by the ear and threw her down on the floor. Picking Harry up, he attempted to yank him away but Harry closed his hands on the chain on the door and held on, kicking.

The cane swished down to hit Josephine who was trying to rescue Harry and she yelled in pain. Mrs. Carlton started to rain lashes onto Harry's hands trying to get him to let go of the chain but he held on stubbornly although he cringed in pain.

Dicky, Ian and John tumbled down the stairs, almost tripping over one another in their frenzy to help beat up the stubborn kids blocking the doorway, and each flung a hand onto any kid they could grab and jerked them from the door.

"Wait, we have a back door," said Mrs. Carlton angrily who grabbed Harry's raw fingers and wrenched them from the chain.

Mr. Carlton scowled and ran to the back door. Peggy threw herself at him, catching him by his ankles while Ian tried to pull her away, his grip hard on her knees. "No! Leave him alone!"

The sound of loud barking and the gate slamming into place jolted the Carltons into reality as they realized Shane had managed to evade Tony and Tiger. Slamming a hard foot into Peggy's face to get rid of her grasp, Mr. Carlton strode over to the front door, passing a sobbing Serena on the floor then picking up the small form of a shuddering Harry who huddled near the closed door and throwing him in a corner as if he was just a bag of flour.

He opened the door and ran out. The gate creaked as it swung a bit in the breeze, Tony and Tiger barking furiously, clawing at the bars. Clothing from a ragged bag were strewn all over the ground and blood dotted some of them. The boy must have been bitten before he had managed to get away with only himself.

Angry, Mr. Carlton walked briskly back to the house and slammed into the living room where his whole family was, his eyes hard and flashing with anger.

"Escapades has a price. You chose to let Shane walk away, then pay for it."

*

Harry trembled slightly as he brought up a hand to touch his neck. It hurt the most and he tried to check whether his voice box had been damaged in the beating they received but he couldn't bring himself to try to talk. The door opened with a loud bang and a figure was dumped on the floor near him.

The door slammed again and the sound of locks snapping made him cringe.

"J-Jo..." He could hear Peggy's voice. "-right?"

"Li-living."

Harry curled into a tighter ball and buried his face in his hands. Beside him, Serena tried stifle sobs as she rubbed furiously at her wet cheeks. For almost an hour, they lay in silence, each crying in their own abyss of pain and misery until Josephine shakily sat up.

"We did it."

Then she started to break into heavy sobs. Serena, following Josephine's example, stopped her soft cries and burst into tears, pulling Josephine into a hug. Peggy who didn't cry or even spilled a tear during the whole incident sat up unsteadily and brushed Harry's hair from his bloodstained face.

Harry opened tired emerald eyes and blinked up at his older sister.

"It's okay," Peggy whispered. "Come on, all of you. Come here."

Harry slid up gingerly and let Peggy pull him close. With his other hand, he embraced Josephine while Serena found comfort in Peggy.

"Everything's going to be alright," Peggy whispered, her voice a soothing calm even though Harry could feel the warm stickiness of blood soaking through her shirt, mixing with his and Serena's. "It's okay. There is a God."

And they stayed that way until morning pulled in.

*

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Miss-Cho-Potter -- Nope, no offending :) Thank you!*hugs*
RubberDuckie713 -- *gasp* It's you! *starts worshipping at your feet* When are you going to update 'Suffering'? *wail* I've been waiting for like, eternity! Oh no, no, it's not frustrating at all, as an author, I particularly love to hear the 'update' word...haha!
Tati1, StarWest45 -- But...but...rats, you found me out. Now I can't kill them off...*glares* lol.
Me -- Make it real long? Phew...now that's a challenge. Let me work on that!
Krysalys73 -- Mennonites? Oh, no no, they are just...evil.
SailorBaby16 -- How did they prove Sirius innocent? Er...let's not touch on that. *scuttles off*
Hp-Azn -- Really? Oops, but I can't promise I didn't watch that for sure!
Centaur219 -- *gasp* Number one fan? *faints*
Alexis-Lee -- Haha, kinda figured that out, but I wrote this for fun I didn't even plan to put it online. But, sigh, the itch for reviews sort of turned me the other way round. Oh, neither do I like slash stories! :)
RJluver400 -- Uh-oh. Feel like a little kid? Oh dear, is that bad? *starts giving you adult books*
Restless-soul -- Haha, don't worry, I won't!
Japonica -- Oops, my bad...not even summer? LOL :o)
Kate -- *gulp* I guess I just had to turn every single potential Harry parent into evil people...sigh. Seems like Harry wouldn't get any good family other than the Hogwarts groups! *beam*
Yana5 -- Hmm, probably not, maybe at the end. I wanted Sirius, but then so many people liked Remus in my other story that I felt bad...so I had Remus instead :)
athenakitty -- Papa Dursley died, Mama and Baby Dursley are...somewhere around. lol.
Lissy -- LOL! Now you do!