As you may notice in the summary, this will be officially Drarry. Hope you don't mind!
Morning had came in a heartbeat and by coincidence, Harry's teacher had entered the storehouse to retrieve a few items, but stopped in her movements once she noticed that Harry was inside. She was astonished to see the child's small form - situated parallel to the metal doors - squeezing himself tight while trembles were racking his entire body. He appeared to be much more fragile and smaller than he normally was.
Moreover, the child's pale complexion was obviously a bad sign coupled with his quivering lips breathing out short, ragged breaths. What the teacher fail to see though was Giotto's black cloak enveloping around Harry's body, emitting light warm orange flames to warm the child up; if not for Giotto, Harry would've been in a far worse condition. But regretfully, this was the most Giotto could do for Harry. Snapping out of her trance-like state, the teacher hurriedly scooped Harry up, and called for her student; after several tries with no reply, she instantly dialed his guardians.
What she didn't expect was the fact that Harry's guardian - a male with an abrasive voice - doesn't sound pleased of the news. At first, she concluded that it was because of Harry's condition, so he must be worried sick as any parent should, but as the conversation goes on, she had finally understand just what ruffled his feathers.
He was mad that she had found Harry. The teacher could swore that she heard him grumbling about Harry being a leech and he just can't shake off said leech. It was unsettling to hear such words coming from a parent, but she willed herself to control her anger and asked pleasantly for Vernon to pick Harry up.
And once again, another surprise dropped upon her once Vernon arrived, deliberately moving slower than his normal pace.
"Mr. Potter-" The teacher started, but Vernon interjected her.
"Who?" He barked gruffly.
She blinked, "A-Aren't you the child's father?"
"Me? You must be joking," Vernon rolled his eyes, disgusted that he was mistaken as Harry's father; it was already bad enough that he was Harry's uncle. "I suspect you're new here? No wonder you don't know that this boy's parents are dead," he finished with a scoff.
She gasped and her eyes filled with sympathy as she glanced at Harry who was sleeping on the couch with a blanket draped over him. "Poor child..."
Vernon shake his head; it was always the same pathetic words as soon as people caught words of Harry's past. "Give him here," he demanded roughly, holding out a hand.
Skeptically, she carried Harry to his uncle who immediately curved his arm around Harry's belly, carrying Harry as if he was some luggage. The child moaned in discomfort at his new position and weakly struggled against Vernon's grasp; and now, his pounding headache were more severe than before and Harry felt bile swooshing inside of him, threatening to rise up his esophagus. Tears were pricking his eyelids and he silently pleaded his uncle to put him down.
"Stay still!" Vernon commanded, spitting his saliva out. Harry can only whimper and oblige, ceasing all struggle; he brought a hand over his mouth just in case, but the pressure on his stomach were increasing the chances of him vomiting.
"How can you treat him like that?" The teacher shouted. "Can't you tell that you're making him feel worse when he's already sick?!" She stepped in to take Harry away, but Vernon pushed her with considerable force.
"Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?" His pupils narrowed into slits, but once his eyes traveled downwards, Vernon raised his eyebrows as if he just made a new discovery and a strange emotion danced in his eyes; he began to scrutinize her, capturing her every curves, especially surrounding her upper body.
She caught his stares and swiftly moved her arms around her chest; she glared daggers back but held back the words threatening to spill at the tip of her tongue. But that however didn't stop her from throttling Vernon in her imagination; it doesn't take an idiot to tell that Vernon was bad news and definitely wasn't fit to be Harry's guardian.
"Aren't you too skinny to be working as a teacher?" He mocked and practically ogled at her body. "How can you handle these rambunctious tykes?"
"Whether or not I'm suitable for my job is none of your concern." Her cold words hardly fazed Vernon.
"Oh really? But if I so happen to file a complaint to your boss, what would happen?" He threatened and without warning, dropped Harry like a bag of sack. The child landed on the floor with a solid thud; his stomach protested vehemently and it felt like someone was hammering his head - the headache was intolerable. But this time, Harry was unable to make the bile stay within his body and he unwillingly threw up all over Vernon's shoes.
Vernon screeched, and trod back, staring at his dirty shoes disgustedly.
Meanwhile, tears welled in Harry's eyes as he gagged; after he finished, he panted and coughed, wiping his mouth with his hand. He slowly inhaled, filling his lungs with fresh oxygen, and rubbed his stomach gently.
However, Vernon wasn't about to let Harry go unpunished and without delay, his foot stomped Harry's small shoulder. His heels dug into the child's flesh and Harry howled in pain. Weakly, he tried to crawl away, but the blond placed a foot firmly on Harry's back, rendering him immobile.
"That hurt, didn't it, boy?" Vernon cackled. "How dare you ruin my brand new shoes?" Before he can deal another blow, his head snapped sideways, and blood rushed to his head. He glared at the teacher who still have her hand in the air and he touched his stinging red cheek. The two glared at each other abhorrently, but unbeknownst to the two, Giotto was staring at the teacher with confusion; this was actually the first time someone stood up for Harry and Giotto couldn't believe his eyes. He was ruptured out of his thoughts when Harry groaned, nursing his belly with his legs drawn up to hopefully ease the pain. Speedily, Giotto promptly flew to Harry's side and whispered comforting words. (He definitely hate how useless he is).
Vernon broke the silence at last, "The nerve of-" His words trailed away once the blond realized that the ruckus they caused attracted quite a lot of attention and he composed himself. He still have a reputation to maintain after all and he would be damned if he'd let a chick ruin it all. Turning to the teacher, he spatted out whilst pointing his finger, "Don't think this is over."
He hoisted Harry up and left, leaving the teacher alone. She swallowed the lump inside her throat, trying to steady her rapidly beating heart.
She didn't regret what she had done; even if this may very well cost her her job, she believe that she did the right thing.
"Yes," she clenched her fists, "that bastard deserves it."
On the other hand, Vernon brought Harry home and his face kept twitching with disdain, muttering under his breath with words like "what a nuisance." He practically tossed Harry into the cupboard without giving the child a second glance. And with that, Vernon slammed the door, obviously not worrying if Harry's condition will develop into something far more dire when left unattended, and head off to down some whiskey to alleviate his rage.
As soon as Harry's head hit the pillow, it felt like he was sinking into a dark abyss - a place of absolutely no return. He pressed his fingers on his temples, hoping that it would soothe the pain, but to no avail. Groaning, he turned to his side and released a sigh of relief that his new position was allowing him to rest properly.
Meanwhile, Giotto felt livid by Vernon's behavior; although this was a daily occurrence - that is, Vernon's mistreatment toward Harry - the guardian angel had hoped that Vernon at least have the basic decency to care for his sick nephew, but unfortunately, he still repudiate Harry by all means. But really, it was foolish to begin with to think that Vernon has a shred of kindness within him.
Releasing an exasperated breath, Giotto flew back to Harry's side and was glad that before the blackhead doze off, he flopped the blanket over himself - with only tufts of hair peaking out - transforming it into a cocoon in which he gladly snuggled into.
Although the situation was worrying, Giotto cracked a small smile at the sight. And with that, he wrapped his cloak around Harry once again, never leaving Harry's side.
"Harry?" Giotto called out several hours later - late in the afternoon - observing Harry's reaction; the child didn't respond, still unconscious due to his fever. There was definitely progress being made since Harry was sweating, but he needs medicine in his system in order to ameliorate his sickness.
With only one choice left, the guardian angel called Harry's name again in a louder voice this time and at last, green eyes fluttered up, blinking few times to get rid of his drowsy state. Giotto encouraged, "Come on, my child; let's get up and find some medicine for you."
Harry's face morphed into a disgusted one and he fervently - as best as he can - shake his head.
"Harry, I know it's yucky, but you need it or else how can you get better?" Giotto inquired with a rhetorical question.
"But I don't wanna," Harry complained, puckering his pink-tinted cheeks.
"Well," Giotto put on an act and sniffed with a lachrymose expression. "If Harry don't listen to me, then I'll be very sad and won't play with you anymore. Do you want that?"
"No! No! No!" Harry yelped, feeling despondent at the prospect of his one and only friend, father and protector leaving him.
"Don't worry, I was only joking," Giotto reassured. "Come," he motioned his head.
At the moment, the Dursleys had left the house and so Harry can wander around freely without being reprimanded - though he had never attempted to do so either; he was content staying in his small sanctuary that was the cupboard. In there, no one would hurt him, judge him, and spat venom words at him; he felt very secure and safe in that tight space.
With the blanket draped around his body, the child trailed behind Giotto who was peeking into the cabinets by having his head pass through - using his flames to illuminate the area - in search of remedies.
Harry let out a laugh at the sight of Giotto's "headless" body visibly hanging out from his perspective. And though Giotto was clueless as to what brought upon this laughing fit, the guardian angel decided to indulge his child without a comment.
"Aha, found it," Giotto exclaimed and swiveled his head toward Harry. "Drag the chair over, Harry," he instructed and Harry obliged, treading carefully. He scaled up the furniture - "Careful, Harry," Giotto reminded - and opened the cabinet as Giotto told him to.
Inside, there were a variety of medicine bottles in various colors and Giotto pointed toward the bottle that was labeled "fever-inducing for children age under 5."
"Now pour it in this small plastic cup, up to the number 5." Harry did so and afterwards, with an encouraging nod from Giotto, he gulped it down with his eyes squeezed shut.
"That wasn't so bad, right?"
"Taste like… grape," Harry replied and shake his head. "Yucky." The child swallowed few gulps of saliva and inhaled, making sure that he wouldn't vomit. Giotto laughed at Harry's unpleasant countenance, but the laughter died down as soon as he saw just who was walking down the block through the window: the Dursleys.
"Hurry Harry, put the cap back on the bottle and put it back to its rightful place," Giotto urged and peered through the window, calculating how much time they have left before the Dursleys arrive home.
Harry closed the cabinet with a squeak, climbed off the chair, pushed it back to the table and fled the kitchen languidly.
Giotto spared a cursory glance around the kitchen and returned to Harry's place, not knowing that that some residue of the medicine was left splattered on the counter.
The family of three entered their home and Petunia bent down to Dudley, "Dinky Duddydums, want to eat your favorite dessert?"
"Yes, mommy!" He nodded ecstatically.
"Alright, go play in your room, sweetums, and I'll bring it up to you soon." Dudley immediately zoomed past his mother, practically flying up the stairs in his excitement.
"That little tyke," Vernon commented fondly, shaking his head and slumped against the couch with a puff.
Meanwhile, Petunia opened the refrigerator, taking out the stored dessert. She tossed the plastic wrapping in the trashcan and set it onto the counter. Her eyes widened as she spotted the blob of purple-ish liquid; dipping a finger into the liquid, she brought it close to her nose and sniffed.
"This is… Vernon! We have a thief in our house!" Petunia alerted her husband. "The counter was spotless by the time we left and now, look, this medicine magically appeared."
Vernon instantly caught on to what his wife was thinking and he snarled, glaring at the cupboard. He stomped toward it and at this moment, Harry snapped his eyes open; these thunderous footsteps… his uncle was coming.
Harry barely suppressed a flinch once Vernon flung his door open and dragged Harry out.
The child winced as his body crashed onto the floor and Vernon's face flared up with rage, "You thief! How dare you steal our things when we have fed and kept you! You ungrateful bastard!" As the onslaught of words filled with recrimination attacked Harry, the child kept silent and take it all in, holding in his tears, knowing that it would only aggravate Vernon even more if he dare to cry.
Having spilled out all of his words, Vernon resorted to violence and raised a hand to slap the child to teach Harry a lesson.
But he failed to do so once Giotto grasped his wrist, transmitting his caustic flames onto Vernon's skin.
Vernon yelped in pain as Petunia also screamed, retreating his hand, and blew onto his now red skin. "What in the world…" he voiced in confusion, unwilling to believe his eyes; was he hallucinating or something?
'Giotto Vongola,' a voice suddenly boomed in Giotto's mind. 'I have not allowed you to keep your flames in order to hurt humans.'
'But God, you have seen what this man was capable of! If I haven't intervene, who knows how much my Harry will be tortured.' Giotto gritted his teeth, his glare still figuratively boring a hole through Vernon, who was swishing his head around in fear.
'Very well, but let this be a warning: if you ever hurt any human once more, you'll be stripped off your position as Harry Potter's guardian angel. Remember: you're no longer the renown Vongola Primo nor a human. You're a guardian angel who should be fulfilling your duties and not get sidetracked by unnecessary emotions.' God's merciless words warned and Giotto can only accept; this was his fate after all. Although he had never signed up for this role, it is what it is and no matter what, he can never escape this life.
God's words faded away and Giotto returned to Harry's side who had been apologizing incessantly.
"You're safe, Harry. You're safe," Giotto breathed and his words pacified Harry's agitation.
The child nodded and eventually calmed down, believing in his guardian angel's every words.
We'll have a special guest next chapter, which would, hopefully, spice things up. Wanna guess? ;) (Hint: it's a certain blackhead~)
Please review!