I want to be free
Harry Potter/Glee X-over
HP/ Glee Female Character TBD

XXIII: Loser Like Me

Harry had an icepack across his eyes, his back supported by the wall with a cold bottle of beer in his hand. His guitar lay on Rachel's bed and he was slumped on the wall.

"Harry, we've been at this for nearly three hours…You've got yourself a migraine…You sure you're okay?" Rachel asked cocking her head curiously.

Harry nodded "Just…bad connotations with the colour pink. Plus; I'd rather your fathers not get an even worse impression of me then I've possibly given them."

"Harry, relax…I know I'm not perfect. I realise how I can come across…"

'Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be right now.' Harry was playing out of Harry's phone and through Rachel's speakers "Hang on, Rachel…You familiar with Harry?"

"One or two songs, this one for one. Why?"

"Let's sing, fuck it let's get the camera up and record it."

Rachel looked at Harry "We've not actually sang before and I'm overeager and you just want to get home when Glee's on…Furthermore, Hamilton helps me think."

Rachel grinned

That Would Be Enough (Hamilton)

[RACHEL]
Look around, look around at how lucky we are
To be alive right now
Look around, look around…

[HARRY]
How long have you known?

[RACHEL]
A month or so

[HARRY]
Rachel, you should have told me

[RACHEL]
I wrote to the General a month ago

[HARRY]
No

[RACHEL]
I begged him to send you home

[HARRY]
You should have told me

[RACHEL]
I'm not sorry

[RACHEL & HARRY]
I knew you'd fight
Until the war was won
The war's not done
But you deserve the chance to meet your son
Look around, look around at how lucky we are
To be alive right now

[HARRY]
Will you relish being a poor man's wife
Unable to provide for your life?

[RACHEL]
I relish being your wife
Look around, look around…

Look at where you are
Look at where you started
The fact that you're alive is a miracle
Just stay alive, that would be enough

And if this child
Shares a fraction of your smile
Or a fragment of your mind, look out world!
That would be enough

I don't pretend to know
The challenges you're facing
The worlds you keep erasing and creating in your mind

But I'm not afraid
I know who I married
So long as you come home at the end of the day
That would be enough

We don't need a legacy
We don't need money
If I could grant you peace of mind
If you could let me inside your heart…

Oh, let me be a part of the narrative
In the story they will write someday
Let this moment be the first chapter:
Where you decide to stay
And I could be enough
And we could be enough
That would be enough

As the finished, both were grinning "Rachel, I might have something."

Rachel looked at Harry so quickly she felt her neck crack as the cartilage shifted sharply "You do?"

Harry grabbed the guitar and began to strum it was a small meticulous, but Rachel found something to it "Harry, keep this going I'm going to have to look through some of the lyrics we've thrown down."

As Rachel rummaged through the notes she heard Harry croak 'With all the shit you're throwing my way, not hard to take. Cause one day you'll be cursing my name as I walk away, that's right.'

"Harry…Idea 'With all the dirt you've been throwin' my way, it's not so hard to take, that's right…Because I know one day you'll be screamin' my name. And I'll just look away, that's right.' Nothing wrong with what you have but…" She trailed off, she never knew how to say this delicately "…it's rather on the nose and in your face."

Harry nodded in these past few hours, he had truly begun to finally accept Rachel Berry "Rachel…It's taken me a while to get used to you, but I can't believe I didn't see it before."

Rachel looked at Harry; she couldn't see where he was coming from. From everything she'd seen and heard, she couldn't see what Harry was getting at "What? I mean thank you…for what I think is a backhanded compliment."

"Not everything I say is barbed…Okay, Rachel, this may come across as rather blunt, politically incorrect and incorrect, my apologies if what comes next triggers you in anyway shape or form but results of my upbringing have given a broken sense of what is fair to say…You've been picked on for reasons beyond your understanding at the time say same-sex parents, isolated due to being rather intelligent or more intelligent than at least your class-colleagues which resulted in something akin to a holier-than-thou relationship with rules and authority garnering you with 'Teacher's pet' status and further ostracisation from peers which has resulted in somewhat stunted social interactions…As a result you come across as egostistical…which is possibly the worst thing about you; then there is the other fact you also come across as overbearing, hyperactive, self-involved and shrewish as well."

Rachel stopped, and outside the room as did Hiram and LeRoy…So far there had been no explosions from their daughters' room. They weren't oblivious to their daughters' traits, they had met Harry briefly and they hadn't exactly taken to the haunted, haggard and exceptionally blunt teen…But it appeared in the Glee Club, he appeared to be the one to…resolve issues within the group.

"That is true…" Rachel wanted to say something, long-winded in retaliation but there was a sudden pressure in the room. One that didn't seem to shift.

"You're far too much like Hermione, for my lot to deal with…Hermione Granger, easily the best of us, was just like you. Aside from a rather normal upbringing, which is subjective in so many ways, also suffered from some of the same problems you had…" With that Harry went onto explain some of things that Hermione had done not to change who she is but rather not to make her feel intense every second of the day.

Harry took a swig from the bottle, made a face and vanished it "It was warm…The only bad thing moving to America, bad booze." Just then the door opened.

"Is everything okay? Did we come in at a bad time?"

Rachel snorted as did Harry, she had come to the same conclusion as he had "You were listening at the wall?"

"We were. I have to say Mr. Potter, you certainly possess an inner strength to criticise someone in their own home…"

"I wish, Mr. Berry. I really wish it was an 'inner strength' as you call it. Hermione, my best friend, put's it as something like 'a slightly suicidal tendency', all I will say in my defence is I call things as I see them and hopefully those in question have the ability to step back and re-evaluate themselves."

"You make it sound like you've not had that done to you." LeRoy commented.

Harry snorted bitterly "I can list entire alphabet of problems about me, believe me when I say I know 20% of my problems and it's probably going to take me the rest of my life to cope with them."

"Okay…Why do you look so haggard?"

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder coupled with Survivors Guilt and Insomnia…Due to shall we say some unpleasant events at school. Then there was the inheritance problem."

"Inheritance problem?"

"In essence I got a tonne of titles and money, with them came responsibilities and considering the never ending shit show that is where I live shall we say can't decide if I'm an adult or if I need a fucking guardian. Those events that have happened since I've moved here, they're shall we say some of the retrieval team coming to get me."

"And you don't?"

"Yup, here I have something I don't back home. The ability to choose, here I choose to be a grouchy and ill-tempered prick with a tendency to test my bullies kneecaps or use the several languages I do know to curse you under the sun."

Rachel's dads nodded "Well, hopefully everything will calm down for you…We were planning on takeout; do you two want anything?"

"What is it?"

"Chinese."

"I'll have a Chicken Chow Mein, Chicken Satay please." Rachel said.

"Prawn and Noodles with some Spring Rolls and Chicken Satay…We at home we end up paying close to $150 for Chinese. We order a lot."

"How many of you are there?"

"Myself, Hermione, The Irishman, Dean, Neville and Will."

"Will?"

"Schuester, he lived with us for an extended period of time and now on a Friday, let's himself in and hangs out with us…Something about not having fun drinking alone and the only thing better than drinking alone is drinking with others…We're emancipated or at least those that are emancipated outnumber those who don't and Will well he fulfils the 'Guardian' roll as in he comes around to make sure we're not dead."

The adults were at a loss for words "We'll leave you two to it."

It was a little after eleven at night when Harry finally left the Berry Household. It didn't take him that long to meander home. When he got home, he found Hermione waiting for him.

"How'd it go with whoever it was you were meeting with?"

"Satisfactory…Progress has been made, no-one killed each other or verbally broke one another."

Hermione chuckled at that "So you like her then?"

Harry froze "Her?"

"Harry, you're my best friend and the little brother I never had, I know you…So who was it you were seeing?"

"Berry."

Hermione's eyes widened "Okay, accio beer duos!" Two bottles of beer appeared in her hands, her eyes glowing and grin on her lips as there was much teasing to be done. "So, how was the date?"

"Not a date. It was meant to be a proverbial meetup to get an idea down for an original song, it went on longer. Conversations were had and much explaining was done and I got dinner there…So, productive and I reached an understanding with Ra…Berry."

"You've mellowed, Harry…If you can't be honest with me, who can you?"

"Rachel's alright…Too much like you when we first met, then again we got off on the wrong foor."

Hermione groaned "I thought you'd never bring it up again."

"Never said I wouldn't. I wasn't sure if you were coming here after we went to Australia, met Rachel and immediately I was regretting it…Anyway let's finish these and go to bed."

(Next day, last Glee Club before holidays)

"Hey guys, how's it going with the paired assignment?" Will asked.

Harry cracked his neck "Which part? The Original Song part or the Set List?"

"Either or."

There were murmurings, Rachel caught Harry's eye and they both nodded. This went unnoticed by most aside from Finn, Mercedes and Tina "Harry and Rachel seem to have something."

"I'm surprised they haven't killed each other…" Sam murmured.
"Maybe it's because Harry's in love." Mercedes chimed in.

"It's because I've only recently started to make an effort to put my brain in working order…Rachel and I have reached an understanding and found common a common interest. In musicals, anywhore…Regionals, an orginal number or two depending on how many we have along with, or Valerie and an original and Santana sings Valerie."

"Anything else?"

"As long as we don't throw away…" Harry began only to be silenced by Hermione and Neville.

"We don't need him singing or quoting Hamilton. Give him an inch and he'll get a line in…Anyway, Rachel…"

Rachel sighed "Unfortunately, I'm going to need his voice for this…"

"You don't need my voice for this. All I did was give you the chorus…I don't even know the song."

"Harry, you've said to us you pull miracles out of your ass that have unexpected side-effects. You've managed to work with me…"

"Fine."

Loser Like Me