Saving Harry

WARNINGS: Religious Fundamentalism, Sensitive Subjects Mentioned, Future Lemon - things of varying sexual nature until that point, homosexual/slash relationships, intense bullying, varying degrees of abuse. If this puts a stick in your ass and offends you, turn back now.

Concept and Story heavily influenced by premise of Steven King's "Carrie". I heat chicken nuggets on review flames

IMPORTANT A/N: I feel like I should clarify and put the good side of religion here. Not all Christians are patently like David and Petunia Dursley. Every kind of group has it's own brand of crazy that will use absolutely ANYTHING to justify their messed up moral compass, it happened that the two child abusers in this story used the Bible. But believe me, when I say they're plenty of good Christians out there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter [Warner Bros. do] nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or the great concept of Carrie by S. King

Chapter Seven

Harry had to come to answer some uncomfortable questions when William finally had to ask about specific bruises that he'd used to come into school with. He adamantly would not talk about the hand bandages that recently came off, or his sensitive slightly lighter skinned hands as a cause of it. Then, there was the actual reality of him being dismissed from the hospital. Personally he was surprised it happened so soon - part of him wondered if it was due to the NHS's bed shortages that they were trying to push him out as soon as possible. He'd only had one doctor ask him questions for all of ten minutes, and one probing nurse -the rest of the interactions he had were with William and outside people like social services and a proposed psychiatric nurse. Due to Harry being under eighteen, it was a service that specialized in a child's mental well-being, but he told William he hadn't decided if he wanted them involved.

Then, on the morning of the day he was supposed to be dismissed, William had gone off again - to get something.

Surprising to Harry, he came back with someone.

Harry felt the muscles in his body tighten automatically when he took in the person's appearance - it was a male, older then William - but kind faced. That was not what made him tense, it was the cross hanging from his neck and the clothing that indicated he was a vicar or something.

"Hello there Harry," he said warmly, with a smile that made Harry want to relax but he disallowed himself.

"Your guardian was just telling me a little bit about you. I was actually here to visit someone else in another ward, but he saw me and I feel we should have a little talk. Don't worry, you're not in any kind of trouble," the vicar approached him and sat on the chair beside the bed while William sat on the end of Harry's bed.

Harry glanced at William and then at the vicar, and forced himself to untense.

"I'm a vicar for the local church, and I feel like nobody - other then your guardian - has sat down and had a proper talk with you," said the vicar calmly.

Harry nodded - this was true, but he didn't trust the vicar an inch.

"My name is Grant Davis, and I've been given a little overview - not too many details, of what's..." he paused "-happened."

"-And your guardian feels like something should be made clear after this horrible ordeal, that there are people you can trust," said the vicar in such a way that Harry wanted to hang off his every word but pride refused it. He wanted to believe the vicar, he really did.

"I've been told the nature of your relatives, I've seen local headlines." the vicar suddenly regretted saying 'headlines' at Harry's expression but ploughed on.

"You're only young, but I feel you should know, that there are many bad people out there, and I assure you, a majority aren't just church goers," he said frankly "-but that said, there are plenty of good people - just as many, if not more. I want you to know that hate, abuse and making you feel any less of a person is not what God, or what the church is about," said the vicar.

"In fact, it's not what any religion is about," said the man, Harry was surprised to hear him talk so...liberally.

"But people have ways of twisting things to suit their needs and sometimes they're bad people who use it to justify their ends," Harry soaked it in slowly and William watched reluctant understanding start to dawn on his ward's face.

"-in many churches, you will find good people, you may find bad people. In any institution or group - it will be this way, I am simply sorry that you had to meet the worst," said the man softly.

"Okay, I understand that...it makes sense. But w-what if I don't know what I believe? Am I bad person then?" asked Harry honestly, inward confusion and turmoil evident.

The vicar was silent, pondering, and then he slowly grinned.

"You know, you have a long way to go yet - you're just a teenager. But no matter what religion, philosophy, beliefs or lack-of, that you choose to run with - you know what matters?" said the vicar. Harry shrugged cluelessly at the rhetorical question.

"-being a good person," there was so much conviction in the statement, that Harry could bring himself to believe it - that and William was nodding too.

"And I know it may not matter to you personally now, but as a man of God, I believe it is Him that judges. Not me, not your relatives, not any person on this Earth. You know what else I believe?" the vicar said bluntly.

"I believe that you have done nothing to deserve this - no child can possibly deserve this, and even worse that they used the bible to justify it. You don't need to be forgiven for anything, you seem like a good kid with a great guardian,"

William flashed the man a grateful grin and nodded at Harry - he would be everything Harry did not have. He swore it.

"I think God is merciful and kind, and will judge on the content of your character above all else. So no matter what you choose to do or believe in as you get old and eventually older then me, just be a good person," the vicar got up and glanced at the ward's wall-clock and began to part ways.

"Good luck, and God bless,"

Strangely, Harry felt a little less guilty and like somebody had lightened a weight on him.

At first he was angry at William for fishing out the vicar who was probably visiting some terminal patient or something and then telling him all that had happened to him, but in the end, he was thankful.

So he turned to his old English teacher with a thankful little smile.

"Thanks, I needed that,"

Every day when he was at William's house, the boys - Ryou, Yugi and Marik would visit as what he guessed was some sort of goodwill gesture and trying to make-do like everything was normal. Harry appreciated them trying, but something felt a little fabricated about the friendship - he guessed it was the awkwardness that did that. Marik seemed to be making genuine progress with Harry though, but Yugi had to work a little harder to fill in the personal gap he had with the raven-haired boy - but he was the lighthearted laugh that he needed.

Finally there was Ryou, and that was where things were getting strained. It was obvious Ryou wanted to say something to him but didn't know how to go about it - as if asking about anything before the hospital stay would suddenly make Harry revert or make him fly into a delicate state.

Ryou was helping Harry keep up with various pieces of work while William was organizing having the rest of the term off - and get the school to employ a long-term substitute under the circumstances, so he could home-school Harry up until exam time. This seemed to suit Harry like a glove so far, but certain personal barriers hadn't been addressed nor had sensitive topics because William was working on approaching the issues as they came up, because he had no depth meter for how much the Dursley's had messed with his growing up.

In the time that the boys were at school, Harry was at home - studying, when they came, it was a mix of homework and games, then a period of pure relaxation, then either going home for dinner - or having it before they went over, or staying at William's at watching the two cook together and Harry work the stove like a demi-God.

"I'm telling you - people love a guy that can cook," laughed Marik.

Harry smiled shyly and served it out, William observed the awkwardness of the dinner table and broke it by dropping his fork.

"You can take your food upstairs, just don't make a mess or mum will skin us," said William. Agne had gone to get some more groceries for the week and played a grandmotherly role as best she could, for that William was thankful.

They all grinned and moved elsewhere, it was curious when they went up to Harry's new room - previously bereft of anything was slowly filling with posters and personal bits and pieces as they saw indications of hobbies, likes, interests and creativity begin to flood it. They all noticed it - since his room was not filled to the brim with crosses as it had been in Privet Drive, they saw a beautiful blossom of personality begin to be evident. Cute cartoons on A4 paper were stuck all over the place - turned out despite Harry couldn't do much art, he was pretty good at cartoons. There were posters that William enjoyed getting for Harry along with magazines and pushed him to ask for more, but Harry was awfully humble. It took him two solid weeks of daily persistence for William to get him over it, when it came to Harry's guilt of being provided for.

He'd also cursed the Dursley's name a million times that week.

Marik noticed something - Harry seemed to be a stronger person, more regular - something a bit more stronger and masculine in the way that he presented and acted instead of a slightly effeminate wall-flower. Of course, those things were still par for the course, but the point was that his personality was forming easier and he seemed a stronger character. They were just scared of getting him to drastically revert if they brought up certain topics. Tiptoeing around eggshells.

"Nice pictures," commented Marik offhandedly, observing Harry turn a vibrant shade of red and suddenly sound self-deprecating.

Ryou gently chided him for it and they continued a game of cards comfortably enough, while Yugi had a rummage around his growing magazine collection until he found a recent copy on gaming. They were rapidly pulling Harry into the world of boys and their games - which William thought was bloody brilliant and pulled out various old consoles from the attic to familiarize Harry with the classics he grew up with on the Nintendo 64. So Ryou was ecstatic when Harry displayed a great knowledge of classics and Yugi was happy to fill him in on Duel Monsters and all manner of modern video games.

They also pulled Harry out the house now and then and often ended up at the McDonald's they'd first hung out at, it was sort of like a ritual spot at this point.

Harry had never known how much he'd missed, was this what being normal was?

He glanced at his reflection in the mirror hanging on the upper wall and noted how less sunken and wirey he was and how healthy his cheeks looked. Pink - not totally lacking of color all over his skin like he used to. Not sickly. Even his hair had gained the healthy glow and Ryou was the first to start noticing it - then Marik, then Yugi.

They all thought Harry was making great progress. Until this.

It was a Sunday now, and Ryou had gone to see Harry by himself to deliver some extra homework he'd forgotten to take on the Saturday. William had let him in without a second thought, grinned and let Ryou wander up the stairs to Harry's room on his own. He felt familiar enough with the boys that he did not mind their presence and neither did Agne, who thought it was great young Harry was making friends his own age and was being...teenage.

Ryou looked through the ajar door and heard the sound of stifled short breaths, like someone was desperately trying to hold in cries, shameful ones. Eyes wide - it felt like a moment he shouldn't have been privy to, but his feet stayed there - rooted. Ryou watched as Harry's clasped hands shook - was he praying? wondered Ryou.

"Harry is everything okay?" he couldn't bare to watch him that upset anymore.

The boy turned around like he could have gained whiplash from it, the only trace of tears was a slim tear-track shine that dimly got attention from uncomplimentary room lighting. Otherwise, Harry might have even passed for fine.

"I'm fine," now his voice betrayed him.

"No you're not," said Ryou pointedly, putting the work onto a desk at the side and walking over to put a comforting hand on his arm -that he jerked away from almost resentfully.

"I got a letter," said Harry "-my relatives are going to be trialed soon,"

Silence.

"Oh,"

Harry wanted to tell them it was in the magical world - he really did. But he didn't want them to think he was insane did he? He didn't want to lose his first and only friends! He felt his stomach twist and neck heat - that wasn't all that bothered him.

"I'm.." Ryou didn't know what to say - one doesn't say 'sorry' in this instance and was at a loss.

"We're all here for you?" he offered weakly.

"-and... I'm .." Harry stuttered then dropped his sentence "-I was sort of praying,"

"Sorry for disturbing you, it's just you seemed so upset," apologized the albino -Harry felt his whole face heat up.

"No! You weren't it's okay! Really!" he said quickly, not wanting Ryou to think he did anything wrong by being concerned.

"Well tell me what's up then," said Ryou with a gentle frown, sitting on Harry's bed - he felt his heart skip a beat at it. The air turned thick, there was a tangible sort of tension that neither of them could quite pinpoint.

"I just..wanted to pray it all out of me, I've spent nights just wanting to scratch it out of me, out of my skin - out of my being, but it just doesn't go!" cried out Harry in frustration. Ryou blinked owlishly - what was Harry on about? Either way it was eating him from the inside out unless...

He felt his hands knot together and fingers twist, palms sweating as he rested them on his lap. He'd contemplated it for a while but didn't want to think on it or act on it further. He wanted to regard Harry as purely platonic.

He wanted.

Maybe Harry was also on about it?

"-because I don't want you to not be my friend anymore or for you to hate me or feel weird because it's not normal," said Harry in a weak 'I-kind-of-want-to-cry' sort of voice.

"It's okay Harry," said Ryou with a weak grin, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and glad when he didn't jerk away.

Little did Ryou know that Harry was also talking about his magic.

"Nothing you could say would make me fall out with you," he said.

Harry tried to say something but his mouth went dry, his heart pounded - and loud. He could no longer bare to look Ryou in his face and stared down at his lap. He wanted to say 'I think I like you the way guys like girls,' he wanted to say 'I'm magic and I don't even know if I'm human,'

But he couldn't drag the courage to say it.

"-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, because you don't have to,"

Pause.

"-Because I know," he said with conviction. Harry felt his body freeze - he looked up at Ryou's calm expression and wondered if he really did. Then his heart began to sink slowly, knowing Ryou probably felt nothing remotely similar.

"-and I think you're a great guy and everything,"

Harry shut his eyes - here it comes, he thought, heart plummeting even more, it served him right for being so fucking bent.

"-but I don't know how I can be...that close to you, and help you after all this. I'm already worried that I'm doing something wrong," admitted Ryou.

"You're not! You've been great! All of you!" protested Harry.

Ryou nodded and sucked in a sharp breathe.

"That said, I saw you for you the day we all bunked off after finding you in the art closet - and I liked seeing you like that. Then I realized I like seeing you," the sentences began to rush together as his nerve began to dwindle at Harry's progressively changing expression.

"Then I realized maybe it's two way, I think I saw signs, I don't know but..." it turned awkward "- what I'm trying to say is,"

"I mean," he furrowed his brow - this was a lot harder out loud then in his head.

"-I realized I like being the one that helped make you so happy, and the more we hang out, the more I like you," God, he hoped this wouldn't blow up in his face.

Harry was grinning stupidly though internally reeling -in a strange shell-shock. Ryou also didn't want Harry to retract or to cross some sort of boundary but at the same time - it's all he wanted to do.

Ryou paused and cleared his throat and blushed awkwardly. One of them had to do this and it certainly wouldn't be the ball of repression known as Harry Potter.

"Harry, I like you more then a friend," he said formally.

"-and I would very much like it if you would let me kiss you,"