Chapter 4
Who Are You?
The worker for the library gasped as she saw Harry sitting against the door, slack-jawed. Harry still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Those were his eyes. He had seen them in the mirror countless times. The confusion was starting to wear off, and he had to think quickly or he'd be sent back to the Dursleys; to certain death.
"Please don't make me go back there!" He basically yelled at the worker. She shook her head and immediately went to placate him. "I won't take you anywhere, but why are you out here in the cold?" She reached a hand to help him up. Harry just stared at her hand, hesitant to trust that she would actually keep to her word. She looked at him in pity. Obviously, this kid had been abused or had some trauma in the past. He was much too young to be on the streets, and wouldn't take her offer for help. She got an idea and reached into her pocket.
"Here's a candy bar, if you come inside with me, you can have it." She held it out to him. Harry continued staring. He couldn't actually imagine someone trying to help him, but this girl with eyes that were very similar to his was willing to give him candy, and take him out of the cold. He hesitantly reached his non-hurt arm out, and she smiled. She pulled him up, put an arm around his shoulder, and led him inside.
"So what is a child as young as you doing out in the cold?" She asked him. He didn't know how to answer. He knew if he told her the truth she would either take him to the police which would only go bad, or she would just take him straight back there, to the Dursleys. Shudder. So instead of speaking, he shrugged and looked down. As she turned on the lights to the library she continued to look at him wondering just who he is. Once again she tried to start a conversation.
"What's your name?" Harry finally looked up at her and got a good look at her. She's probably in her mid-20s, the average height for women, and she once again has eyes that look exactly like his. The same sparkling green eyes, the same as that green light from his dreams. Harry realized that he'd been staring and looked away. "I- I'm Harry," he reluctantly told her. She nodded at him, and says, "Well Harry, I hope you enjoy your candy, do you want some water with that?" Harry nodded quickly and looks back down at his hands. He'd already eaten all the candy, the first food he'd gotten in days. The girl didn't miss how fast he devoured it. This kid really needs help.
She gave him the water and began unpacking her belongings to begin her day at work. She glanced up at Harry to see him still staring at her. "Well I mean if you want to just stay here you can, but I can't speak for the workers after me. They might not want a kid running around while they try to work." Harry stared at her with happiness in his eyes, but also a little bit of fear. "I can stay? With you?" She gave him a small laugh. "Yes you can stay here, but I'm going to be working the checkout. If you want to stay you'll have to be reading books, or just being quiet in general."
Harry nodded quickly, "But after...?"
She stopped what she was doing. "Well I go home around 5, and after a new woman comes in to close." She saw the uncertain look in his eyes. "I'm sure we can figure something out, now come on let's get you some books." She leads him over to the children's section. He sees books that he's read a million times. "I don't mean to be rude ma'am, but I've already read most of these books." He cringed back and hoped that wasn't too brash. She gave him a surprised look.
"For a child on the streets, you have read quite a few books." He didn't know how to respond to this without giving his situation away, so he just nodded. "Well in that case maybe you would like some of these books." She leads Harry over to the fantasy section. She handed him a book about magic and dragons. "This is one of my favorite series, maybe you'd like it too." He looked at the cover. A teenager holding a sword with dragons behind him was the cover. It was bright, beautiful, and amazing to Harry's eyes.
"Wow," was all Harry could say. Most books he read were down to Earth or basic children's novels. This was a whole new world. Something fantastical, something that could help him leave his reality for a while. He looked up at her and smiled, "Thanks so much. Where can I read?" The library was large, but there wasn't a lot of sitting room you might normally see in one. She gestured to the few seats around, "Well you could sit in those seats, or you could stay in the back and read and I could check on you every once in a while." He nodded to the second one and followed her to the back of the library.
"Well here you go, the library opens in a couple of minutes, I'll come back here when things are slow. Don't touch anything that looks breakable." With that, she headed out to the front, and Harry sat in the beanbag chair. He cracked open the first book which leads him to another world.
It seemed like a couple of hours had passed when Harry finally looked up from the book. He had been sitting in the same position in the bean bag chair for the whole time and was starting to get sore along with his arm still dully throbbing. The book he was reading was just amazing though. He had never read anything close to it. It had action, a boy much like him, dragons, and so much amazing stuff. He was starting to love this fantasy world, and never wanted to leave. He had to get up and stretch though, and so he stood and looked around the back room he'd been reading in.
The room was nothing special, so he went over to the door that leads to the front desk of the library. He peaked out the door to see a bustling library with his mysterious friend checking out a long line of people's books. Was she really his friend? Did she really want to help him? It didn't really matter to him for now. He was safe. He watched her work with precision and ease in awe. He wonders if by using his superpowers, he could do things faster.
He decided to go back into the back room and practice. First, he once again tried to lift the bean bag chair. It once again did not budge. He then went for a smaller item. He found a quarter that was laying on a table in the room. He pointed his finger at it and thought, lift. Nothing happened. He tried to wave his finger up and down to make it move with his finger, but still nothing. He thought back to his last time lifting the chess piece, but it only made him shudder and remember the pain that had happened afterward. He did remember that he had to use all his might to lift it. Still, nothing. His superpower for lifting seemed to have vanished.
He thought about his ball of light that helped him read. Maybe he could once again generate light. He went to the light switch and turned off the light. He was completely submerged in darkness. Once again he willed for light to pop up. Nothing happened. Was it all a dream? Could he ever really use his light to read? He got nervous but undeterred, he picked up his book from the bean bag chair and began to try to make out words. Of course, he couldn't see anything, but he for the final time willed for light to show up so he could read. Finally, the ball of light once again appeared.
And so did his new friend.
He must have the worst timing possible.
A/N
Another chapter done this is my longest one yet. Will his new friend understand his freakishness, or will she get scared and cast him away? I don't know, but we'll find out next time. Thanks for reading. Please review if anything doesn't make sense or for any errors. Or in general, I love reviews they make me happy. Sorry, there wasn't a lot of magic in this chapter and things moved slowly. Things will start picking up soon I promise. Thanks for reading everyone!
