Year old, don't you think?
Disclaimer: I own nothing unfortunately.
Chapter 5
Meeting New People & Old
The Park . . .
Few days later, Sirius, Remus, and Harry were in the park. Harry had wanted to see the new water fountain the city was building. So Sirius and Remus brought Harry to the park. Albus Dumbledor had warned Remus and Sirius about Death Eaters looking for them and Harry, so both Marauders left to a small Island called AINO (Its not real obviously) (Means "the only one" in Finnish. In the Finnish epic the 'Kalevala' this is the name of a girl who drowns herself when she finds out she must marry the old man Väinämöinen.)
Harry was to not only to play, but also to get some fresh air and to interact with other children his age. Harry had, at first, been ecstatic about going. That was…before he actually arrived there. He was now very nervous, mind filled with the thoughts that the kids wouldn't like him, or would be big and mean like Dudley.
Remus was now looking at the Harry playing with the other kids in the park. So Sirius cleared his throat to get his attention. Remus turned to him as expected.
"What's the problem Padfoot?" Remus asked him as he noticed the frown on Sirius's face.
"I don't think having Harry out here is a good idea." Sirius said.
"Padfoot . . . Harry needs to get out and meet other kids of his age, don't you want him to be happy?" Remus asked him already knowing the answer.
"You know I do Moony, I just want to make sure Harry is safe." Sirius replied.
"I know Padfoot, Harry will be safe as long as he's with us." Remus exclaimed.
"Fine, but I don't trust that geeky looking kid he's talking to." Sirius replied.
"Sirius! Leave him alone! Harry knows whom he wants to trust." Remus exclaimed as Sirius shrugged his shoulders in reply.
Swings . . .
Harry was sitting on a swing swinging back and forth. Another boy about Harry's age went and got on a swing next to him and smiled at Harry.
"Hi." The boy said to Harry.
"Hi." Harry said shyly to him.
"My name is Benny Jenkins, am your next door neighbor!" Benny said excitedly.
Harry just smiled at him. "Am Harry Potter, nice to meet you."
"Are those two your parents?" Benny asked him pointing at Sirius and Remus.
"Sort of, that's my Uncle and Godfather. My Mom and Dad died along time ago."
"Oh, am sowe. My Mom and Dad died along time ago to. I got adopted though when I was three, then my adopted father died when I was four; he drowned in an ocean on a boat trip that crashed." Benny said sadly.
"Am sowe." Harry said meaning it.
"That's okay though, I still got my mother, my aunts, and my sissy. I don't have any brothers, so am stuck with a bunch of girls at home." Benny said smiling again along with Harry.
Harry liked the park; he loved the swings, slides, and the laughter all around. He liked best, though, playing in the plastic tunnels that you crawl through (like at McDonald's). While Benny went to find a bathroom Harry went and started crawling through one of these said tunnels when he heard a terrified scream that reverberated off the plastic walls, quickly followed by sobbing.
Harry thinking it might be his new friend Benny crawled through the tunnels in the direction of the sobbing until he came to a circular cushioned play chamber that contained a red-haired boy, arms holding his knees, crying into them. Harry carefully stood up, walked over to the boy, and sat down next to him, feeling the boy's unexplained fear.
"What's wong?" He asked, in the same soothing manner Sirius and Remus would speak to him when he cried. The boy looked up surprised, tears in his eyes.
"I-it's a-a s-spider." The boy sobbed, trying and failing to calm down with the 'perpetrator' hanging on a thread from the ceiling in the middle of the circular room.
"Oh!" Harry said, now understanding. "You scared of them?" The boy nodded, trying again to calm himself, it worked slightly, but not much.
"Don't cry; I'll take it out." Harry reassured the boy. He got up, captured the spider in his palm and closed his hand around it, feeling it tickle him.
"There!" He smiled. The red-haired boy smiled back, wiping his tears.
"You're...not scared?" The boy asked, astounded.
"They were always in the cupboard." Harry explained.
"Wow, you must weally be bwave, then!" The boy supposed.
"I don't think so, just used to them. I'll be wight back." Harry went, put the spider outside, and then returned as fast as he could.
"Is it...gone?" The boy inquired, fear evident in his childish voice.
"All gone."
"Wow, you swaved my wife! You're..." The boy thought for a moment, searching for the proper term. "My hero! Wanna be fwends?" He asked. Harry grinned. A friend! He had never really had one of those, now he had two!
"Yea!"
"Oh and…thank you." The boy said gratefully.
"What for?"
"Swaving me!"
"Oh! Well...what are fwends for?" Harry replied smiling, having never thought of being able to say that in his life.
"I'm Ron, Ron Weasley." The 7-year-old introduced, no more tears on his face, grinning as he extended his hand.
"I'm Harry Potter." Harry introduced himself, as well, as he shook his new friend's hand.
"Cool! Oh, I've gotta tell Mum! I've never had a best fwend before." Ron grinned excitedly. "And…you should meet her, come on!" The happy boy exclaimed grabbing Harry's hand and leading him to the other side of the park.
His mum? Is she nice? Is she mean? Is she like Padfoot and Moony? …Will she like me? Harry nervously looked back in the direction where Sirius and Remus should have been, only to find the playground in the way. That caused him to feel more anxious than he had been, though he tried his best to calm down. After all, Ron was the nicest boy Harry had ever met, not to mention they were now friends, so more than likely Ron's mum was just as nice, Harry assured himself.
They arrived at a picnic table where six red-headed children sat talking and eating, one coloring. None of them looked up, they didn't seem to care who passed by. The twins, looked annoyed about something and were whispering to each other. A red-haired woman, who was obviously their mother, sat on a bench close-by sowing and muttering exasperatedly.
"Mum, Mum! This is Harry, my new bestest fwend! He swaved me from this huge spider, with onwy his hands! He wasn't scared or nofing!" Ron enthusiastically declared. Harry felt the beginnings of embarrassment and wanted nothing more than to shift his gaze to the ground, but resisted the urge.
It wasn't 'that' big of a spider…
"Wait one moment Ronald Weasley…Harry? ...As in...Harry Potter?" She asked sternly. Ron grinned widely and nodded. Mrs. Weasley looked over at Harry critically, taking in his features, looking him over him head to toe. Her eyes showed realization as she gazed at his scar, and then into his emerald orbs. Harry's first intention was to look away (what did staring at someone prove? It was very…unnerving…) but for some reason didn't, this woman had soft, caring eyes.
"You are…Harry Potter." She breathed, amazed, her mind buzzing with thoughts.
"…Y-yes, ma'am." Harry answered politely. Mrs. Weasley bit her lip as her eyes began to shimmer with tears. Ron looked confused, and Harry immediately felt terrible, this woman already didn't like him! She was showing an emotion Harry didn't recognize, but, for some reason, it made him feel sad. He was about to apologize for what ever it was that he had done (the last thing he wanted was to be on the wrong foot with her…this was the mother of his first real friend!) , when, out of nowhere, he was enveloped by her warm embrace.
"Oh, you poor dear!" She said motherly. Harry certainly hadn't been expecting this. He had immediately tensed at her touch, but soon felt himself able to relax into her hug. He had been embraced only by two people before, from what he could remember, and that had been Sirius and Remus, but this one seemed different to him.
Is this what its like to be hugged by...a mum? He thought to himself. All too soon, for Harry anyway, Mrs. Weasley released him.
"Look at me, all worked up." She chuckled wiping away stray tears and smiling warmly at him.
"Harry, it is very, very nice to meet you. You are ever so polite."
"I just can't believe…you….of all places." She murmured to herself, still finding that meeting the boy to be almost unreal. She felt sorry for him, for having no parents, for being marked by Voldemort, the list went on and on.
Ron was thoughtful after the initial enthusiastic introduction of his friend to his mother.
"Now, then, where would your guardians-" She began, wanting to get to know them better, in order to allow Ron and Harry play days, now that the two boys were friends, but she was cut off.
"Harry, where've you…Molly?" Came the voice of Sirius, Remus at his heels as they arrived from the other side of the playground, having not seen Harry when they had looked up from their bench.
"Sirius." Molly replied coldly as she stood. She had had doubts about her cousin (by marriage) long after the deaths of the Potters. Veritaserum could be overcome after all.
"Padfoot!" Harry greeted happily.
"Hey, kiddo." Sirius grinned, as he lifted his Godson up from the ground and positioned him in his arms so they both could see Mrs. Weasley.
"This is Ron, my newest fwend." Harry introduced, motioning towards the red-head. Ron beamed.
"What!" Mrs. Weasley blurted furiously, unable to restrain herself. Everyone was surprised by her out-burst, especially Harry and Ron. Noticing the brief fear in Harry's eyes, she quickly changed her tone.
"I-I mean…Ron, why don't you take Harry over to the table to eat and meet your brothers and sister?" She asked kindly. Ron nodded, fully confused by the situation. Sirius and Remus shared a knowing look.
"Come on, Harry." Ron said. With a resigned sigh, Sirius let Harry down. Upon regaining his footing, Harry gave a last glance to his Godfather and Moony, and proceeded to follow Ron to the table.
"You wanted to talk, Molly?" Sirius remarked sarcastically. Remus felt an altercation coming on, like a bomb waiting to go off. Sirius and Molly were not the best at getting along, and never had been. Molly didn't like the 'Blacks', they were a bad bunch, and, no matter what other people said, Sirius had to be the same, in her opinion.
She glared at him. "Am I to understand that Harry, Harry Potter, is living with you?" She inquired heatedly. Remus felt like interrupting and adding, "And me." But knew better than to get involved.
"As a matter of fact, yes." Sirius crossed.
"Do you have any idea how negative an effect that could cause? Two men? Preposterous!" She said fervently.
"Who are you to say what's good for him and what's not?" Sirius questioned angrily.
"I'm a mother of seven! Of course I know what is good for him!" She answered fiercely.
"James entrusted me with Harry and his well being, Molly. If you think for one moment that I would do anything to harm him, then you know nothing about me. I would never do that to my best friend's son." Sirius countered, livid. Molly opened her mouth, and then closed it, looking at him pensively. Sirius was breathing deeply, but was mentally trying to calm himself, for he did not want Harry to hear them arguing.
"Ohm . . .excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt anything." A feminine voice said from behind the group.
The woman was fairly beautiful. She had braided brown hair in the front and curly hair in the back; she had honey brown eyes; wearing a blue hooded jacket, long blue denim jeans and white sneakers. She was holding a little boy's hand whom was wearing the same identical clothes as the woman was wearing. His hair though was wild; his eyes were a mixture between brown and gray. He was the same boy that was talking to Harry.
"Benny!" Harry shouted waving for him to go join him with the other six redheads.
Benny let go of his mothers' hand and ran to Harry and the others at the picnic table.
'These people can't be normal' thought the woman.
"Hi I'm Zahia Jenkins. My son Benny would like to invite Harry to his birthday party this weekend on the twenty fiftieth of June if that's alright with you?"
Harry's P.O.V.
"Hi…" Harry shyly addressed the six. A girl slightly younger than Harry smiled timidly then returned to the drawing that she had presently been doing.
"You weren't kidding!" A boy older than Harry said, walking up to Harry and looking at his forehead.
"I'm Charlie by the way." He introduced himself grinning as he grabbed Harry's hand and shook it. Another boy, who looked younger than Charlie, came up and quickly pushed his brother out of the way.
"I am Percy Weasley, Mr. Potter, and it is an honor." He stated, shaking Harry's hand with both of his, an air of pompousness about him. The last and eldest looking boy rolled his eyes at his brother then came over as well, easily pushing an indignant (for being pushed) Percy out of the way.
"Hiya, Harry, you can call me Bill. Percy, here, doesn't seem to know the difference between a famous person and the Minister of Magic. Hehe, sorry 'bout him." He explained with a chuckle. "Come and get something to eat. Sad to say…they're corned beef sandwiches…" He sighed resignedly.
'Padfoot and Moony told me about me being famous . . . I hope they don't treat me differently'
"Hey, who's that?" Percy asked the group as a woman and a boy came up to Sirius, Remus, and Molly.
"Benny!" Harry exclaimed shouting his name and waving for him to come over to him and the Weasley's.
"Hi Harry!" Benny said to him then looked at the others.
"This is Ron, Percy, Charlie, Bill, Fred, George, and Ginny." Harry stated as Benny smiled at them saying hi to them all in confidence.
"Harry, my birthday is this weekend, do you want to come?" Benny asked him.
"Sure, that is if Ron and the others can come." Harry asked.
"Course, my mom is asking your uncle and godfather now if it's okay." Benny exclaimed as Ron and Harry looked excited.
"Am going to ask my mom to see if it's okay." Ron exclaimed as he, Harry, and Benny went over to the adults.