Title: Torn Decisions
Story Rating: T
Chapter Rating: T (to be safe)
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Chapter Two
There was only a mass of dazed confusion and chaos swimming about the child's mind as he stared uncomprehendingly at his surroundings. There had been horror and panic and then overwhelming fear before there was a sensation of being squeezed, his chest aching from lack of air. All in all as soon as it stopped and he fell to the ground, he retched horribly, body heaving. His mind was awash in confusing images, sounds, and colors that were hard to grasp, his breathing went erratic and his chest began to hurt again, eyes widening as he began to panic. Was he dying? Was this what death felt like? Why did he feel so heavy? So wrapped up in trying to figure out what was going on especially trying to reacquaint himself with breathing, he didn't notice that he wasn't alone nor exactly where he was other than a vague sense it wasn't where he'd been before. Something was also very, very wrong. It was too silent and it something felt wrong. Why was he alone? He was never alone. Blinking his eyes he could blearily make out a form as if glimpsed through a heat haze but solidifying the more he looked at it.
A rock clipped him in the ear which stung and caused him not only to be distracted but to cry out, hand automatically going up to touch the injury. Pulling his hand away he saw blood on his fingers unable to understand what had just happened. Something in his mind pulled from dark mire came up with a strange word but his concentration failed as yet another rock hit him in the back causing the boy to lurch forward slightly. The sound of laughter brought him back to attention from the malicious sound. Looking up, as he rightened himself he saw a few older boys that had rocks in their hands, grinning cruelly at him. There had been shock at first when they saw that he already had sustained a head injury and was bleeding freely before they had thrown the first rock. It didn't deter the leader who after a quick glance around to be sure no adults were about wanted to know, "How'd you do that?"
"D-do, what?" Honestly confused and having no idea what was going on, tried to keep everything in his head from overwhelming him, focusing on the threat in front of him and excluding all else.
"How'd you just show up like that?" The little group of delinquents in the making had been hanging around the park not wanting to go home quite yet when they'd heard a car backfire. Or so they had thought, but then saw the twerp being sick on the grass. Not only was he ralphing but he was doing it in their spot! That was what made the leader throw the first rock. The second was because it seemed like the kid wasn't going to acknowledge them. His buddy suggested that maybe the kid wasn't 'all there'. It certainly looked that way. And now the kid was playing dumb.
"I-I, don't…"
Getting upset, the leader threw another rock, this time not so gently, putting actual force behind it. The boy raised his arms up to block his face and felt the impact on his forearm making him grunt. He flinched expecting another but looked up in surprise when it seemed to stop on its own accord before making contact. What had happened was that the shimmering form that had slowly been solidifying stood in front of him and caught the thrown rock. He wasn't sure if the boy in front of him was Harry, or Brother, or if he was Harry or Brother, yet neither name seemed to fit while they both did. The only thing that was clear was that the group of ruffians weren't able to see him and thought that their victim had stopped the rock all by himself. There was anger etched on the invisible boy's face and the only one who could see him could feel something welling up inside of him as well. Both wanted to hurt the one who had hurt him. Make them feel what they felt, the sting of the rocks hitting exposed flesh. Next thing the boy knew was the very same rocks they had thrown at him earlier had flown out and hit the leader of the pack of boys causing him to drop to the ground curled up in a ball moaning while his 'friends' ran.
Exhausted, the boy dropped onto his butt feeling drained. Head aching head throbbed and at some point he realized he'd shut one of his eyes to keep blood out. "You're still bleeding," the invisible boy stated worrying his lip, eyes full of concern and fear. Using a sleeve to wipe at the cut on his forehead, he blinked then jumped nearly dislocating his neck to face the new threat when a voice stated, "That was impressive."
Both boys' eyes darted around trying to locate the owner of the voice knowing it didn't come from the down older boy who at the sound of the voice quickly got to his feet and hobbled away as quick as he could away from the bizarre happenings. Apparently the man, the boys were sure the voice belonged to a man, laughed; either at the whimpering boy who left the park or from the fact that the boys couldn't see him and found it amusing at their trying to locate him. "Sorry for startling you. Are you alright?"
"Um…" The child blinked looking this way and that not liking that he couldn't locate who was speaking. Was he losing his mind? That was the only explanation for why he could hear a voice that didn't belong to a body. Then again he saw a boy no one else could. As if he knew what was going around in his head the man stated, "You're not crazy. Nor am I reading your thoughts. It's rather obvious what you are thinking."
"A-a-are you a ghost?" he stuttered. He'd only really heard about ghosts once and that was from the telly before Uncle Vernon had changed the channel disgusted. But you were supposed to be able to sort of see them weren't you?
"No, I assure you that I am very much alive."
"How'er you invisible?" Despite being afraid, he was also curious. Both the boys were. It was one of their shared traits. When the man had replied with a simple one word answer, the child scoffed. He repeated the word a bit skeptically, "Magic?"
"Oh, yes." There was a pause before it continued. "Do you really not know?" There was a pleased tone for some reason which raised both boys' hackles. The man quickly apologized even though it didn't seem as if he was sorry at all, barely able to conceal his excitement. "Sorry, but it is so rare to run into someone so naïve to their abilities yet can work it with instinct as you did. You, like me are a wizard. You either have a magical parents or had a magical ancestor somewhere in your line to be able to do what you do."
The boy's eyes flashed, jaw clenching as he glared at the ground. So, his parents had been wizards too. But, if they'd been wizards how could they be killed by a stinking car crash? There was no way his parents would have died that way if they were magical. So maybe it wasn't his parents, but maybe his grandparents. A car crash couldn't hurt wizards, yet Dudley had been magic…and he was gone. Taken in a crash like his parents. But he was a kid and his parents weren't. It made his head hurt and he pressed his sodden sleeve against the wound on his head.
Once again the man didn't sound as if he was apologetic at all, but was curious when he asked, "Have I said something to offend you?"
The boy shook his head then felt like he would be sick as the world tilted and spun. Shaking his head had been a mistake, one he wouldn't repeat. Thinking about what the man said, he resoled to not let something as pitiful as a car crash kill him. He would do what his parents hadn't and become strong enough to be able to stop a wreck from happening. His voice came out softly but even he could he hear the accusatory tone when he stated, "My mum and dad are dead."
There was no sympathy, no 'I'm sorry' or anything else one usually got when uttering that statement. There was a bit of silent then when he heard the man speak again his voice was eager now. "Do you want to learn? I can teach you if you want."
Looking at each other they threw the question silently to each other debating the merits of what was said being the truth. Hazy thoughts and memories surfaced that caused pain to well up in his chest and stomach. Magic, that was what they could do? And the man was willing to teach them?
There was some impatience in the tone now. "My offer is only good for three minutes and you must come with me if you want to learn."
The boy bit his lip and looked to the invisible boy whose expression had a bit of misgiving on it as well as yearning. If they went with this man, they wouldn't be helpless anymore. And they didn't have anywhere to go. The Dursleys had been his only family and if they hadn't taken him in out of the goodness of their hearts, he would have been dumped in an orphanage and who knows where he would have been! There could be no stalling to think, they had to decide now whether to go with him or not. What they didn't know was the reason the man had given the short time limit was twofold. One would be to push the boy so he wouldn't have much time to think about it but also more importantly because that was how long it would take for the Ministry of Magic to locate his magical signature. And since magic had been performed in this area it would register as underage magic. While the child didn't have a wand and underage magic wasn't really followed up on, to suss out the reason for the magical occurrence. A lapse that the man wanted to take advantage of. The overlapping magic in the vicinity might confuse his trackers.
"Okay," the boy finally stated causing the man to smile victoriously under his invisibility cloak. Reaching out and ignoring the boy's wide eyes at the hand suddenly appearing, he grabbed the child's shoulder and Disapperated. When they Apparated a safe distance away, he shoved the hood of the cloak down ignoring the boy's pasty face and sick expression. Removing the cloak completely, the man quickly took out his wand and cast a few charms and spells so they would attract less attention. The boy's gasp of amazement was ignored when he healed the gash on his head and cleaned him of blood in a few swipes of his wand. Stowing his wand away, he grabbed the boy's hand and had the walk quickly out of the side street to the main road. While the boy had to practically run to keep up before the man stopped and grabbed him up and carried him awkwardly.
"Excuse me." He was hesitant to speak up since he wasn't supposed to ask questions, but this one was bugging him and he wanted to know. "Why me?"
"Why not?" the man returned as he continued down the street and hailed a taxi. He motioned for the boy to be quiet which he did since he didn't feel like talking at the moment anyway. They switched taxi's a few times, walked some, and the man had him drink something that tasted awful but put him to sleep.
When he awoke it was somewhere again, he'd never been nor seen before. Blinking, he pushed at the covers marveling at their texture. Looking around he saw that the other boy was also awake and staring about in awe. The room wasn't anything fancy, but it was bigger and nicer than his cupboard room. Listening he got up and went to the window and stared with wide eyes. What he saw outside was a site he'd only glimpsed in the morning paper and on the telly. There was a beach with crowds of people all talking and laughing and going about their daily life. The door opened him causing him to jump and the man to give him an assessing look.
"What's your name, child?" Something in the way the man looked at him and in his tone gave voice that he knew what it was, but was curious as to how the boy would reply.
"I-" he paused. Who was he? Was he Harry, Brother, or there was another name that was out of reach that he couldn't get to and made his head throb. While his mind was a bit clearer than earlier, it was still a bit woolly. Conflicted and unsure, he didn't see the man's predatory smirk and how his eyes lit up at being unable to successfully say who he was. He might not have, but the invisible boy did and his own eyes narrowed at the look. To the only one who could see him, he stated, "Tell him our name is Hal."
"Hal?" The boy more asked than replied with confusion. The man took it in stride and told him that his name was Markale. The man wanted to know about Hal's family and so the boy hesitantly told him and how old he was. Markale seemed to think this over before propositioning about the child becoming his heir. That led to the man having to explain what an heir was and telling the boy that he thought that Hal would do as his heir. That meant that the man would oversee the boy's magical training, and he would not want for food, clothing, or shelter. He was cautioned to think it over carefully because once you gave your word you could not undo it. In the mean time while he thought about it, the boy was given a crash course on how to 'blend in' without using magic and taken down to the pier.
For whatever reasons, the man had brought them to Blackpool and allowed the boy to wonder about and take in the wonders of the entertainment. There were more questions from both sides, mostly from the man quizzing Hal about what he could already do, or what he thought he had done with his magical abilities. In turn he was told about the man's family and that both of his parents had been magical. The reason for his roaming about when he'd found the boy in the park was because he was in search of a new place to live. They talked of magic and about why some people don't want to see or know about magic and yet how others seem to see it without comprehending exactly what it was they were seeing. By the time the boy had tried to sleep his head was full of information that he hadn't known before. It was a lost to take in and he had a fitful rest waking from a nightmare of what he was sure was the car crash but it had faded almost as soon as he woke up. Markale asked if he wanted him to help him forget. That he could help suppress the memories. The boy had nodded and gratefully took the offered help.
There was a bottle in the man's hand that he said was a potion that he wanted Hal to drink. Licking his lips, the boy looked at the liquid inside and then at the other boy before quaffing it down. His eyes glazed over not seeing the man pull his wand, aim it between the boy's eyes and mutter, "Obliviate." Reholstering his wand he stated, "From this day forward you are my heir."
A.N. I will be honest to say I waffled back and forth unsure what to put next, either this chapter which I had placed in Torn Decicions much later as a flash back of sorts in chapter 20, or the one I had used previously just altered and fixed up which is now going to be chapter 3. I kinda went with this to not confuse people as much? Hmmm.
And before anyone tries to condemn me for the bit with the rocks and such, kids can be that cruel. I was a stupid lil twerp in elementary school. I know I had to be either in kindergarten, 1st or 3rd grade when I lobbed a rock at a 5th grader. I don't recall why or what made me do it. Also I know from personal experience that head wounds bleed profusely even if it's not serious.