Author's Note:I want to thank everyone for the positive reviews and the interest shown in the continuation of this story!
Disclaimer:I own nothing.
Warnings: Timeline has been skewed to fit the story. You will see how. SLASH (homosexual relationship) though not full out for a while. Language. Abuse (emotional and some physical). Fictional medical and psychological diagnoses. Mentions of suicide and suicidal thoughts. Bullying.
Rating: T, PG-13
Summary: Harry is taken to a party with his relatives. There he meets the Hummel family, and is claimed as a friend by Kurt Hummel.
Chapter: Two: In Which Harry Cries
Elizabeth Hummel watched as her son dragged the smaller boy toward the group of playing children. Harry seemed a little shy, but eager to gave a new friend. She had seen the way his eyes brightened with joy when she told him to get to along with Kurt.
Elizabeth hoped Kurt would help Harry out of the timid shell he had built around himself. Hopefully once he was brought out of that shell, the green-eyed boy could move o n from the tragedy of his parent's deaths and stop being such a problem for his relatives.
"Daddy!" The high squeal of a voice came from the large boy who was pulling on Vernon's pants. "Daddy! Why did we have to bring the freak along? He's going to scare away all my friends!" At this point Dudley stomped his pudgy foot.
Startled, and a little amused that Dudley sounded so much like the piglet he resembled, Elizabeth glanced over at Burt. The man looked back at her with a shrug, but his eyes darted to Kurt and Harry. They were just arriving at the group of children. Satisfied that they were behaving, he just shrugged his shoulders again.
Vernon Dursley landed a hefty hand on his son's shoulders. "Don't worry son," he said, " the other kids know who the right sort are."
Petunia must have seen the incredulous expression on Elizabeth's face because she giggled awkwardly. 'More like whinnied.' Elizabeth thought unkindly as she studied the woman across from her. Mrs. Dursley had a long neck, nearly twice as long as a normal neck, with a long face and large front teeth, which only served to further Elizabeth's association with a horse.
" The right sort?" Elizabeth parroted teasingly. "Does that mean you consider Harry, your nephew, to be the wrong sort?"
Vernon's chins wobbled as he stuttered an intelligible retort. Burt subtly nudged his wife, recognizing her teasing had a hint of an accusation in it.
Petunia smiled, showing entirely too many teeth to be really sincere, and said, "Of course not. What my husband is trying to say is the children are wary of the poor boy. One never knows when he'll have on of his episodes."
"Well, a child that has gone through such a traumatic experience like loosing his parents can't get better without a little patience and help." Elizabeth snapped unable to force any false pleasantry into her tone.
"I think what Elizabeth is trying to say," Burt interjected, "is maybe you should consider getting Harry some professional help. Especially is he gets as bad as you say."
Vernon snorted. "Can't send the boy to the loony bin, and we won't pay for some money grubbing, psycho babbling shrink to tell us what we already know about the boy."
"And what is that Mr. Dursley?" Elizabeth's fiery tone burned.
Burt looked at Petunia, pleading with his eyes for her to calm her husband before they created a scene. He already knew his own wife was impossible to deal with once she committed to her crusade.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you were, a commotion from where the children where playing drew the attention on the four adults.
"Listen up!" They heard a lout and high-pitched voice shout. Burt and Petunia watched with wide eyes as Kurt wrapped himself around Harry's body and declared the smaller how as his. Vernon's face went from white to red to a violent and unnatural shade of purple.
'I didn't know humans could change colors that fast.' Elizabeth mused with a slight smile. 'Or pigs for that matter.'
A decisive and resolute, "He's mine" signaled Kurt's dismissal and parting from the group, and the boy dragged a stunned Harry back into the house. The other adults at the party did nothing for a few minutes but stare silently and wonder what had just happened. Dudley broke the silence by waddling to the other children and demanded loudly to know what had gone on.
Elizabeth surveyed the other shocked adults surrounding her with a satisfied smile hidden behind her drink. 'That's my boy.'
The young woman was glad her son had liked Harry enough to stick up for the quiet boy. 'Maybe now Kurt won't be so lonely with a friend close to his own age.' Elizabeth turned her blue eyes toward the house. 'And maybe, Harry can heal.'
"That!" Vernon squealed, pulling Elizabeth from her thoughts, " That right there! That's exactly what we were saying! That boy is always the cause of trouble! It's in his blood."
"That boy," Elizabeth spat out the word, "as you so lovingly call your nephew, didn't look like he was causing trouble! In fact, if anything, it was my son who was 'causing trouble' as you call it. So tell me, Mr. Dursley, do you think my son has bad blood?"
Burt placed calming hands on his wife's shoulders. "Sweetheart," he said gently, "let's not pick a fight with our neighbors." He bent his head and whispered in her ear, "I know you want to help Harry, but you can't help him if you alienate his family."
Elizabeth paused from her simmering anger. Burt was right, she knew that in her head, but there was something about the Dursleys that didn't settle well with her. 'And it's not their remarkable resemblance to farm animals.'
Nonetheless, Elizabeth swallowed the rest of her anger and frustration. Her lips pulled into her most charming smile, the one that made Burt fall in love with her only ten years ago, and she apologized, "I'm sorry Vernon. I'm a child psychologist and I can sometimes be consumed by the need to protect them." She paused, and then added with no small amount of sarcasm, "even if they don't need it."
Burt nudged her side, and she just knew he was giving her his famous I-know-what-you're-doing-and-it's-not-funny look. Vernon either didn't notice the sarcasm or let it slide as he accepted her apology and returned to a more humane skin tone.
"In fact," she continued, cutting off Petunia's attempt to change the conversation to the Dursley's award winning home garden, "I believe it would be a great idea for Harry to come over at least three times a week. This way we can work on his behavior problems. Of course, this will be free of all charge."
"Now see here!" Vernon sounded offended. "We won't be some charity-"
"Of course not." Elizabeth smile indulgently, "There will be no charity, as a matter of fact you'd be doing us a favor. You see Kurt is still too young to go to school and we were worried about him making friends while we're staying here, but with Harry here that shouldn't be a problem."
Taken back by the beautiful woman's charming smile, Vernon turned toward his wife. Petunia, not able to come up with a reasonable excuse to say no, shrugged her shoulders and nodded. Vernon mimicked his wife and accompanied it with an "Alright."
"Great! Why don't Petunia and I set the plans, while Burt and Vernon talk about 'men's stuff'." Elizabeth didn't bother waiting for a response before looping her arm around Petunia's and led her toward the kitchen for a refill on their drinks.
Burt and Vernon exchanged looks. With neither one quite knowing what to say, an awkward silence ensued. Burt mentally cursed his wife for leaving him with the pig like man with no bacon wraps to offer.
Harry was so shocked by Kurt's outburst he was sure he wouldn't have noticed his surroundings even if he had perfect vision. He was glad to have Kurt guiding him through the house; otherwise he would have run into several people and furniture.
When they finally stopped, Harry realized they were at a door. Kurt was mumbling behind him, only removing one of his hands long enough to push open the door.
The door opened to reveal blurs of pale blues and greens. The blurs told Harry this was a boy's room, most likely Kurt's bedroom. It was much neater than Dudley's room and huge when compared to Harry's cupboard.
"Stupid… puke face…." Kurt mumbled angrily as he pushed Harry toward his bed. He motioned for Harry to sit on it before going to retrieve some toys from his toy box. "Saying my friend-my friend- isn't good enough…meanie face butt heads…"
Harry was hesitant to sit on the bed. The one time he had been on Dudley's bed, while trying to make it, he had been shoved off by his cousin. The resulting fall caused him to hit the night table next to the bed creating a lump on the back of head the size of his fist.
A particularly loud insult from Kurt snapped Harry's attention from the bed to the other boy. At first the green eyed boy thought Kurt was mad at him, but after a moment of listening Harry realized the boy was angry at the other kids for not wanting to play with Harry.
In his heart, Harry felt something warm build. The feeling got bigger and bigger as Kurt became more creative with his insults. The taller boy gathered some toys in his arms and marched back to Harry.
With one last frustration groan, Kurt dropped the toys at Harry's feet. They landed with a loud cluttering thunk. The noise apparently startled Harry and he jumped.
Kurt, seeing he had scared his friend, bent to the ground and picked up a toy train. "Sorry. " He apologized. Kurt held out the train as a peace offering.
Harry stared at the toy, not quite sure what he was suppose to do. When he glanced up questioningly at Kurt, the taller boy nearly dropped the train again.
"Wow," Kurt said with awe, "your eyes are really green. Like really, really green!"
Face flushed, Harry turned his eyes back to the ground.
"Hey," Kurt tried to catch his eyes again, "I didn't mean that they were ugly. I think they're pretty. Really, really pretty! They look like the rock on mommy's wedding ring."
When Harry refused to meet his eyes again, Kurt released a frustrated sigh. Getting an idea he allowed the toy to drop, more gently this time, to the floor. Using his hands to frame Harry's face, Kurt pulled it to face his.
"I'm not going to let go until you look at me." Kurt stated. " I really won't. I once help my breath for almost ten whole minutes because daddy changed the song on the radio."
Green eyes widened and stared amazed into Kurt's blue-grey eyes. "Okay," Kurt admitted after another stunned moment. "It wasn't really ten minutes, but it was close!"
Harry raised one eyebrow.
Un phased, Kurt used his thumbs to pull at the corner of Harry's lips into a parody of a smile. It showed most of Harry's teeth in an unnatural way and Kurt couldn't help but laugh.
"You look like a monkey with all those teeth!"
Harry rolled his eyes unconsciously. When he realized what he had done he looked fearfully at Kurt. The last time he had rolled his eyes at Dudley, Uncle Vernon had threatened to pull out his eyes. Would Kurt tell?
Kurt just laughed louder. His hands let go of Harry's face and brought them to his own face. "I can look like a fish." He proclaimed and then pushed his cheeks together so his lips were puckered. "Blub, blub." He said, trying to imitate a fish.
A smile tugged at the edges of Harry's mouth. Kurt began to prance around the room, pretending to be a fish in the ocean. He continued to make the 'fish' sound in an almost musical tone.
The smile on Harry's lips grew.
Kurt jumped on the bed. With his hands thrust in the air the boy began to sing. Harry recognized the tine from a movie that had played on the telly about a girl who was half fish. He remembered the song because Aunt Petunia had scolded him right after the song had finished for exposing her Dudders to his freakish habits and shows. Harry had gone to bed hungry that night.
"Under the sea!" Kurt's energetic voice chased away Harry's thoughts. "Under the sea! No body beat us, fry us and eat us!"
A chuckle escaped Harry as he watched the blur that was Kurt dance wildly on the bed. He could almost hear the instrumental melody playing with Kurt's voice.
" Under the sea!" Kurt finished the song by jumping off the bed and swinging Harry around the room.
Harry didn't know what to do at first, but he quickly followed Kurt's lead. At the end of the twirling Kurt tried to gallantly dip Harry, but his arms were too weak to hold him up and they fell into a pile on the floor.
Beneath Kurt's boisterous laughter, a softer one could be heard. Kurt was excited that his new friend was laughing. For a moment the boy had been concerned Harry didn't like him, especially after all of the commotion Kurt had caused when he tried to get the other kids to play with them.
Kurt wrapped his arms around Harry and squeezed tightly. "I'm happy." He admitted. "I'm happy that mommy gave you to me."
Harry's laughter had died down.
The small boy basked in the warmth Kurt emitted before hesitantly wrapping his arms around the other boy, imitating what Kurt was doing. 'Is this what a hug feels like?' Harry quickly pushed down the bubbling feeling. As soon as Kurt realized Harry was a bad boy, he knew the taller boy would not do this again.
"Don't listen to those jerks." Kurt's words were spoken directly into his ear. "Mommy gave you to me, so that means you can't be bad." The words burned in Harry's ears and heart.
Tears flooded Harry's eyes. He blinked rapidly to keep them from falling. "How?" he choked, "How do you know I'm not bad?"
"Because silly mommies don't ever do anything bad to their kids, so my mommy wouldn't give me anything bad either." Kurt squeezed his friends tighten.
"Then why did your mommy give me to you?" Harry whispered.
Kurt smiled against Harry's ear. "She told me that we were having this party so I could have a friend. Mommy always gets the best of anything, so when she gave me you I knew you were going to be my bestest friend ever."
'B-but what if I-I am b-bad?" Harry stuttered. A tear escaped his eye.
"You aren't bad." Kurt said solidly. "And if you ever are bad you just tell me and we'll make it good."
A sob burst through Harry's lips. He buried his face into Kurt's chest as he cried.
Kurt wasn't sure why his friend was crying. He didn't completely understand how, but he knew Harry needed this cry. Almost like how he knew what Harry was saying when the smaller boy hadn't made a sound.
Heavy sobs erupted from Harry's small body. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried like this. In most cases crying at the Dursley home only resulted in the usual sore bottom and empty stomach.
As Harry cried, he felt something leaving his body. With every choking sob, his body felt lighter. Every tear that fell was a healing balm on his bruised heart. Every mouthful of air was like a fresh glass of cold water that soothed his aching head.
Harry could hear Kurt humming in his ear. It was a nameless but soulful tune that Harry had thought he'd heard before. It was a faint memory of a flash of red and green followed by the same tune and a press of warm lips against his forehead.
Eventually Harry's sobs subsided and his breathing evened out. Kurt continued to hum even as green eyes became hidden by drooping eyelids. Without stopping the tune or moving the smaller boy around too much, Kurt reached over to the bed and pulled a pillow and a blanket to the ground.
Gently, Kurt moved Harry's head onto the pillow before wrapping the blanket around the both of them. Kurt then rewrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him close.
'It's close to nap time anyway.' Kurt thought. His eyes began to droop as well and his humming was broken with a yawn. 'Harry makes a great teddy bear.'
With a happy smile on his lips, Kurt fell asleep.
The answering smile on Harry's slumbering face was missed.