"Boy!" Vernon bellowed. Harry jerked off his bed and quickly made his out of his room.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked.
"Is your room clean?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. The other freak will be here soon and I expect you to take her upstairs and explain the rules to her. Understand?"
"Yes, sir." Just at that moment the doorbell rang.
"Get it boy." The grossly overweight man snarled, but Harry was already shuffling towards the door.
Harry opened it and saw a petite girl standing there. "Hi! I'm Jamilene, but if you call me that you'll be waking up in the hospital a month later, so I'd suggest calling me Jami. Are you Harry or Dudley?"
"Harry," the dark haired boy mumbled. "And I'd suggest following me and keeping absolutely silent." Jami looked at the boy who was supposedly her charge and began to take mental notes.
Well, he's definitely too skinny and he looks exhausted. Probably from those nightmares. He's walking a tad bit funny. I'll try and weasel that out of him once we get upstairs.
Harry silently led her to his door and opened the door. Jami managed to let a puzzled look across her face to hide the anger. Well, and she had to act like she had gone through the same thing, which she did, in a way. Mainly because of being Harry's guardian angel. "Do they lock you up too?" Jami asked sympathetically.
"What?" Harry startled, seemingly forgetting she was with him.
"You're also locked up. Wow, this place is huge. Well, compared to my cupboard anyways. Is this your owl? She's a beauty. What are the courses at Hogwarts? Are there really strict rules? What are the teacher's like? What house are you in? Have you finished your summer assignments? I just got mine yesterday. What d'you do around here? Do you have any chores? Do we get food? Are we beaten if we don't do things right? Is that why you're walking funny?" Jami stopped and gulped in air. Harry stared at her for a moment before shaking his head.
"And you managed to say all that in one breath how?" He muttered.
"When you talk to yourself, it's a sign that you're lonely. Or insane." Jami grinned when Harry glanced up at her, his eyes sparkling in anger.
"Do you ever shut up?" He snapped.
"Only if you 'Silencio' me!" Jami chirped in reply.
"I can't. One, its summer-"
"Duh!" She interrupted. Harry glared. "What? You're the one making a comment so obvious it made you out to be an idiot!"
"We don't use magic over the summer! Well, under aged witches and wizards at least. Two, Uncle Vernon took my wand away!" Harry replied. Jami pretended to gape.
"Really? Wow, it really is different over here. In America, we don't use wands and students are always allowed to use magic. How else do you improve? And how would you protect yourself?"
"Whatever. Anyways, Uncle Vernon told me to tell you the rules, which I'm not going to bother doing." Jami took on an affronted look.
"Okay, so I get that we may not have gotten off on the right foot, but that's no reason to throw me to the sharks!"
"I didn't mean it like that!" Harry replied in exasperation. "What I meant was, the rules change every day. The only set ones are no magic. You do it, you get beaten. Second, no questions. You do it, you don't eat for however many weeks or days they want. Third, do everything the Dursleys say unless you want to get beaten within an inch of your life. Fourth, run for this room if anyone shows up at the door, even if it's a witch or wizard. No use taking chances. You get seen, you'll be lucky to make it to Hogwarts without fainting or having people flip out because some blood has shown through. If you follow those basic guidelines, you'll make it to Hogwarts just skinny and sore. If you don't, good luck trying to stay away from some of the Slytherins. Many of them are bullies that go for the weakest person they can find."
Jami watched Harry throughout the entire monologue. She probably learned more from just listening and watching him than his best friends had in all the years they had known each other. For one, Harry's always been abused. Jami was holding onto her anger when she realized that and realized that Dumbledore and the rest of the Hogwarts staff just ignored the very obvious signs, such as emaciation and stiffness in the movements. Second, Harry didn't know the difference between abuse and discipline. Oh, he knew abuse was wrong, but he didn't know where one started and the other left off. Thirdly, Harry didn't trust anyone with the secrets about his relatives. Oh, maybe they knew parts, but not the whole story. He was too used to having to run, hide, slink…He didn't know how to react to anything different. If he'd been kicked out, he'd have survived years on the streets.
"Harry, how did you get hurt?" Jami asked softly. Harry flinched just a tad, but didn't say anything. "Harry, please. Not telling someone won't benefit you at all. I know you find it hard to trust someone, but, please, tell me. I swear on my honor that I would never betray your trust, not even under Veritaserum or the Imperious or under any sort of torture. Please tell me. We're in the same boat now, might as well have someone who can help you without making you totally uncomfortable with the situation. Please!" Jami implored.
Harry sighed and leaned against the headboard of his bed. He winced when he hit some bruises or lashes, but seemed to ignore the pain. Jami's heart ached for her young charge. Harry patted the area of mattress in front of him and Jami obliged him by sitting down. "I don't know if I can tell you. I don't know how." He whispered.
"Try?" Jami inquired a pleading look on her face. "I know it's hard, Harry. I really do, but it's not healthy to keep it all bottled up. I'll help you as best as I am able, if only you'd tell me."
"I really don't think I can." He said, a slightly panicked look coming onto his green eyes. Jami sighed and nodded.
"Fine." Harry let out his breath and smiled shakily. "Oh, don't think I'm letting you get out of it. But we'll do it this way. Anytime I tell you something about myself, you have to tell me. And it doesn't have to be something deep at first. But I do want to try to get to it, at least by Christmas. Okay?" Harry nodded uncertainly. "Okay. Well, one of my weaknesses is a good puppy-dog-pout. Mind you, a good one. The one that makes old ladies cry. Otherwise, they just annoy me." Harry smiled a bit.
"Cool. My weakness is chocolate. I don't know why, but it is. Maybe because I've never had it before. Either way, it's a weakness. I can't stand other sweets though." Jami fought not to smile, but couldn't help it. "What are you smiling at?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about how easily I can bribe you. My father is like some kind of part owner for a fudge company. If I ever need to get something from you, all I need to do is get him to send some fudge!" She laughed and Harry mock-glared.
"That's not funny, Jami! I lost a lot of my quills and parchment to Ron, just because his mum makes the best fudge I have ever had. Then again, I've never had any besides hers. And why are you here if you can live with your father?" Jami looked uncomfortable. She couldn't answer that without saying that she was his guardian angel.
"I can't answer that at the moment, sorry. It's kind of a sore subject." Jami answered quietly. Harry nodded. "Are you ticklish?" Jami changed the subject. Harry kind of froze and a look of terror seized his face. "Harry, relax. I was just asking! I'm not going to do anything, I swear! I just wanted to get off the subject of my Da. Seriously, 'Ry!"
Harry snapped out of it at the nickname. "Don't call me that!" He said. Jami giggled. "What?"
"You don't want me to call you that? Why?" Harry shrugged and Jami laughed a little harder. "Sorry. I find it funny that you've got all these nicknames in the W.W. but you hate a shortened version of Harry!" She kept laughing and after a minute of glaring, Harry's resolve broke and he began to laugh a bit too.
After a few minutes of laughing, the two calmed down. Then, Harry said, "Thanks." Jami looked at him in surprise.
"For what?"
"For…Well…You know…" Harry gestured wildly and searched for words before settling down and saying, "For making me laugh."
"Don't you laugh with your friends and at Hogwarts?"
"Well, yeah, but not in the same way. I mean, kind of…maybe? Oh, I don't know!" Harry huffed in frustration. "All I know is that laughing like this wasn't the same! I just don't think I've laughed, really laughed, over something that I found amusing in years. Kind of like…"
"Laughing with them but not about the actual thing they found funny?" Jami supplied. Harry nodded.
"I guess what I'm saying is…Thank you for letting me be myself." Harry finally concluded. Jami frowned.
"Then you should always be yourself around me. I don't care about the Boy-Who-Lived or your fame and fortune. I want to know Harry. Just Harry, not his many masks used to please people."
"Yeah, but..."
"Harry, please. Don't argue with me on this. Even if you need time to figure who Harry is, just Harry, fine. But don't argue about this. Everyone needs a break." Harry sighed and nodded. The two sat in a companionable silence for a while.
Suddenly, pounding on the door startled them so much, each jumped about a foot in the air. "Boy! Girl! Get your butts downstairs and fix dinner, or you'll get a beating and go without food for a week!" Petunia shrieked. Both teens grimaced and stood as one to do as she ordered.
(A/N: I was going to end it here, but mermaid-girl34 would have been mad at me, since I showed her the rough draft. So, here's the rest!)
The days passed quickly for Harry and Jami, and both became extremely close. They often called each other names just to annoy each other. Harry'd gotten more used to nicknames, especially since most were affectionately given. Jami told Harry something about herself every day, meaning Harry had to tell her something in return. Many people who didn't even know the two could tell they were close because of the fact that they moved in synch with each other. If Harry did the dishes, Jami dried and put them away, and neither was behind or ahead. Indeed, many a passerby wondered if they weren't, in fact, twins.
The only problem they'd run in to was Harry's nightmares. He often woke up screaming, and Jami would have to muffle his screams, lest Vernon come and beat them. Jami often ended up sleeping in his bed to comfort her young charge.
When September 1st came around, the two knew just about everything about each other. The only thing Jami hadn't told him was her status as a guardian angel and the fact that Severus Snape was Harry's father. However, that was about to change. "'Ry?" Jami asked quietly as she gathered her uniform and schoolbooks and carefully packed them into her trunk.
"What's up, Jami?" Harry asked, closing his fully packed trunk.
"Besides the sky and ceiling you mean?" The two cracked a smile at the joke. "I have a secret I absolutely have to tell you before we get to Hogwarts." Harry sat on his bed, back against the headboard while Jami took her customary spot at the end of the bed with her back against the wall.
"Why?"
"Because we're most probably going to be in separate houses. Actually, I think I'll be in Slytherin." Well, not true. Jami knew she'd be in Slytherin because that was where Harry got threatened the most. Jami frowned as Harry's face darkened. "Don't be dense enough to get a black eye before we get out of this hell hole, Harry. House discrimination is just stupid and wrong. Think about Pettigrew! He was a Gryffindor, and he went over to Voldemort!"
Harry sighed, nodded and gave her a sly grin. "Well, Jami, if you got into the house of the slimy snakes, I'd have to forfeit hanging out with you for the better, loyal lions." He teased. Jami grinned. This was the Harry she knew was real. Not the savior, not the student, not the slave. Just Harry.
"Loyal? Try laggard!" Jami shot back, smiling as well. Then she grew serious. "I'm serious, Harry, and don't go for that pun. I mean it." Harry glanced at her curiously but nodded.
"So what do you so desperately need to tell me?"
Jami hesitated. "Do you- Do you believe in angels?" She asked unsurely. Harry stared at her in confusion for a minute but nodded. Jami relaxed a bit. "Oh. Well, that's good." Another pause as Jami tried to figure out how to say this. "There's no way to put it subtly, so I guess I'll just come out and say it. I'm an angel. A guardian angel, to be more specific." She bit her lip and watched Harry's reaction.
Harry nodded slowly, pondering a few things. "That would explain a few things, like how you knew things I was feeling and your wandless magic. Aren't all guardian angel's able to do wandless magic?"
"All angel's can, actually. But, Harry, I'm not just any guardian angel; I'm yours."
---^----
Hi! So, yeah. I tried to make this moderately long. Reviews, as always, are welcome. Even flames! I'll use them to start a fire!
……Wait, that came out wrong. I meant start a fire in my fire pit. God, now I sound like some sort of pyromaniac! Anyways, next chappie will be up soon! And I'll hopefully be able to update my other stories.
My thanks to mermaid-girl34 for her marvelous help in ideas and quotes and absolutely random nicknames!
pixi-styx1221