Good Morning/Afternoon/Night everyone out there in FanFiction land! Lets get down to business, this is my longest chapter yet! I'm very EXCITED about the next few chapters they really helps to explain what happened during the time that Harry was in Hogwarts. A big WARNING goes out on SWEARING, there's quite a lot of it in this chapter. Also non-descriptive ABUSE, don't worry it's only mentions in conversation. So I've don't have much to say today, ENJOY the chaper!
Chris POV
Who did he think he was just turning up at our house like nothing had changed. Ok I was being petty, yeah I know I was being a complete ass but I could seem to care too much. I don't think he understood how much he effected my family after he left. Weeks after his disappearance mom and dad still spent hours scrying for him, hoping that they could at least find the country that he was living. It came to a point where both my aunts had to drag them out of the attic and make them continue living like regular humans.
I admit I wasn't any better, for the first 3 month I would rush home after school just to check the letter box. I don't know what I was thinking at the time, maybe I just stupidly thought that my best friend since as long as I could remember might at least send me a letter at the very least.
It wasn't until a year later that I began to lose hope maybe, just maybe Harry didn't want to be my friend anymore. He probably had hundreds of friends wherever he had gone. It wouldn't be that shocking, he never had troubles making friends at school. He was loud, over excitable, everybody loved him.
As I watched him standing in front of my family I could feel my rage surge up from over the years .I chose to overlook the fact he was incredibly short or that he was so skinny that I could probably count all of his ribs given the opportunity. He was just standing there quietly with a nervous look in his stunningly emerald eyes, occasionally shifting from foot to foot. Before I even knew what I was doing I had lunged forward and given him my best right hook.
He stumbled back clutching his nose as Wyatt and aunt Paige pulled me back away from him.
"Christopher Halliwell! What the heck has gotten into you!" Mom shouted at me, over the top of everyone else who seemed to be making one hell of a commotion. I couldn't seem to find a good reason in my mind to why I just did that. I bit my tongue there was nothing I could say without further making myself look like even more of a jackass.
I stood ignoring everything that my family had to throw at me, clenching and unclenching my fists. That was until someone actually threw something at me. I glanced down at the pen that had hit me then up at whomever the perpetrator was.
Harry stood a good few meters away me, his face and hands covered in blood from his still bleeding nose. He was holding a hand written sign which was also slightly splattered with blood, the words "WHAT THE HELL?" Written in barely legible writing. Something inside of me snapped slightly, taking a step forwards I could see it was putting Harry off. He wanted to take another step back I knew it but he still held his ground. After that I just let lose.
The words where half truths and lies bit he didn't know that and that's why I said most of them, to hurt him like he hurt me..us...my family. As I continued to shout I could see everything I said to him was like a hard punch to the gut. He grew more pale with every word, tears began to spill down his face but I couldn't stop now. Years of frustration and hurt came tumbling out of my mouth and it was hurting him.
"...wants you! Because I sure as hell don't!" With that I spun on my heels and stormed from the room.
For some reason that was beyond me, I ended up in my brothers bedroom looking out the window that looked out onto the street below. I watched Harry run from the house not stopping until he was on the corner of the property. He span around to look at the house his shoulders where slumped in defeat. I felt my stomach tighten in knots with guilt.
He looked up and I could tell he was staring at me, I stared back at him but refused to make eye contact. He looked so small just standing there just like when we were kids and I got grounded for using my magic for personal gain. Harry didn't seem to like the idea of my being grounded so instead of finding something else to do for the day he stood outside my house on the front steps all morning. By lunch time mom had taken mercy on me for Harry's sake and ungrounded me.
I looked back at Harry again it wasn't until he was about to turn away and leave that I wanted to take back everything I had just said. He mouthed the words 'Sorry' at me, I could almost hear him in my mind.
When I looked back he was gone, leaving an empty street behind him. Tears ran down my face, god I felt awful. Why could everything just be simple like a TV show.
Harry POV
As he looked away I made sure the coast was clear before I apperated away, landing in the alleyway behind my apartment. Upon landing I promptly emptied my stomach behind a trashcan, it had been a while since apperating had had that effect on me. I quickly made my way to my apartment trying to avoid anyone, thanks to the blood I had splattered all over myself I looked slightly worrying. I finally entered my apartment, dragging myself to the bathroom I set to work turning on the shower on full heat. Not bothering to get rid of my clothing I stepped under the scalding spray. I stood with my head completely under the water unmoving until all the hot water had ran out, then began to shed my drenched clothing. I dried off completely and started at my reflection in the mirror. My left shoulder was swollen and bruised, my nose while clearly not broken was a beautiful array of colours but now lucky had stopped bleeding.
I didn't know what I was going to do now, I didn't want to go to work that was one thing I knew too well. Wrapping a towel around my waist I rummaged around my house until I found my mobile. A quick text to my boss explaining my situation in less detail than he would have liked, and I was dragging myself to my bed and collapsing upon it into a fitful sleep
It wasn't until a week later that I finally dubbed myself healthy enough to leave my bed and go back to work. As much as I tried I couldn't seem to get as enthusiastic about going to work as I normally did. Everything was looking more gloomy and dull than normal. My mood had been downright depressing, it wasn't helping my ability to sleep at all. It bought me to covering the midnight shift at work for the fifth night in a row. I didn't mind taking the shift to be honest, going to sleep meant having night terrors and they where something I could live without.
I was cleaning the coffee machine for the third time this shift when I heard a couple of people enter the shop. They spoke in quiet voices to each other, silent enough that I couldn't hear everything that was said. Not that I was trying to listen of cause. I turned around and walked over to the register looking up at the last minute to come face to face with Wyatt and Chris Halliwell. I felt my heart break slightly, why where they here? Did they come to shout at me again? To shove it in my face that nobody wanted me.
"Shit Harry, you look like hell." Wyatt announced loudly. I just rolled my eyes, what did he expect me to look like a model?
"Gods I'm sorry Harry." Chris whispered to me. I wasn't going to listen to him, he made his feelings clear before and I didn't have time to listen to whatever bullshit he came up with now. I turned away and went back to my coffee machine
"Please listen to me Har.' I flinched at that, nobody had called me that since I was eight. I turned back to them arms crosses over my chest defensively. Both boys had frowns marred on their faces looking at me with concern. I just wasn't to plead at them to leave, was it to hard for them to leave me to live out the rest of my life by myself in peace.
Chris POV
He wanted us to leave, it was easy enough to tell, but I didn't completely understand why.
"Why won't you speak to me?" Wyatt and mom had both told me about him using paper and pens to communicate but I knew that he had talked to me before, I just knew I did. Sure I didn't actually hear him speak but I knew he couldn't truly be silent as he made out to be. The Harry Potter I knew would never be silent that long, it was almost impossible to keep my Harry silent.
By the look on his face, he was having a battle inside his mind trying to decided what to do. He reached over for a pad of paper but I stopped him
"I don't want to read any lies. If you're going to tell me I want it out loud. Where were you? What happened? Why didn't you try and contact us?" I was getting louder with each question. He was looking at the ground face covered my his hair, shoulders shaking. I wondered why he was crying until his flew back and full blown laughter filled the room. It wasn't a happy laugh either, it was dark full out hatred and pain.
"You..." He rasped quietly, his voice was scratchy from what I assumed was lack of use.
"You don't think I tried!" His voice kept breaking with his efforts to speak.
"I tired...Gods I tried!" He cried out.
"You want to know what happened it that god dammed letter! They burnt it! Right in front of me!" His eyes where glazed over slightly, I could tell he was in deep thought.
"So after one letter you just gave up?" Wyatt questioned. Harry just chuckled darkly
"Let's just say child protective services aren't as top notch in the UK as they should be." He was clutching his right hand in his left, as I looked closer I could see fail burn scars covering the entire hand.
"Harry..." I asked curiously.
"Did they hurt you?" His face became impassive.
"What's done is done." He whispered. The room was silent, nobody wanted to ask the next question. Harry began to move around the counter sitting down in the corner of the shop in the collection of couches. His knees where immediately pulled up to his chest, thin arms wrapped themselves around his legs. Wyatt sat sown on a couch next to across from him, I slowly shuffled over as well picking the other half of the couch Harry was occupying. The tension in the room was awfully, everyone just waiting for some else to break the ice.
"Who did you go to live with?" I whispered finally. I watched Harry take a deep breath, wetting his lips repetitively.
"My...my cousin, aunt and...and uncle. They live in Surrey, England. Petunia, my aunt was my mother's older sister." The words where choked out, he cringed at their names like the very thought of them was painful. Wyatt continued on with the questions.
"So you've been in Surrey all these years?" Harry shook his head slowly
"After I turned eleven I began to go to the boarding school my parents went to. I only stayed at their house during school holidays." He was telling the truth I could tell but he wasn't being completely honest either, it was obvious to myself and probably even Wyatt that he was leaving out huge details.
"Did you want to come over after work? To our house I mean." My brother asked out of the blue.
Harry POV
"Did you want to come over after work? To our house I mean" Wyatt asked me, I frowned slightly. I still had 3 hours of my shift to go, by the time I finished it would only just be getting light much too early for people to be coming over. I bit my lip in concentration, if I went over it would be harder to leave if the conversation started to turn sour. They were getting suspicious, I was pretty sure they already guessed about the Dursley's neglectful nature. That could lead to more question, some I wasn't too willing to answer.
"Please Harry, just for a couple of hours. Mum and dad are dying to catch up with you again." I nodded slowly agreeing.
"I finish work at six. Are you sure you don't want to sleep and I can come in after lunch or even..." Chris raised a hand to stop me.
"Your coming after work, no one will care about getting up a couple of hours early." I stared at him intensely making sure he wasn't lying.
"Ok then." I whispered, god my throat was starting to hurt maybe I should have taken it easier with the talking for a while.
"Great! We'll see you at breakfast then." Giving them a nod and a smile they left me to finish the rest of my shift in silence.
At twenty past six I apperated into the same side street as before and wandered down the road to the Halliwells house. I made extra special care to make sure that no cars were driving on the street while crossing the road before making my way to the front pouch. I paused, maybe they didn't actually mean their invitation. I scoffed at my own thoughts, if they didn't mean it they why did they invite me over? Raising my hand I knocked on the front door and waited. I had to wait a grand total of half a second before the door flew open. Piper stood in front of me, wide smile on her face.
"Harry!" she squealed wrapping me into a warm hug.
"Oh Harry I was so worried Chris had scared you off for good." I chuckled as she pulled away
"Hello to you Piper." I whispered. She grinned even wider if that was possible.
"Oh you must be starving, come in I'm just starting breakfast now." She dragged me into the house to where Wyatt and Chris were nursing coffees in their hands. Both looked up and smile with relief upon seeing me, maybe I wasn't the only one worried if I would turn up or not. I sat down on one of the counter chairs and started to watch as Piper began to make breakfast. I watched her move around the kitchen trying to organise everything at the same kitchen for a few minutes before I spoke up.
"Did...would you like...can I help you?" I asked. Pipers head snapped up
"You can cook?" She asked sounding absolutely shocked.
"Yeah I used to cook most the meal at the Dursley's." I knew how to cook, really well. It was survival at the Dursley's, Petunia hated cooking. Someone had to cook for the fat obnoxious pig that was her husband and that someone was me.
"Why was that?" I looked over at Wyatt confused.
"Why was what?" I must have missed some of the conversation.
"Why did you cook most of the meals? Why didn't the adults do it?" The way he asked was so innocent, no one back in England had ever questioned why I had cooked all the meals at home.
"I guess no else wanted to cook, so I had to." I shrugged, Piper was look furious.
"It shouldn't matter if they wanted to cook or not! It wasn't... no, it shouldn't have been your responsibility!" She ranted. I sighed, she didn't understand.
"Yes it was." I whispered. Piper dropped the spatula she was holding.
"What!" She shout, making me instinctively cringe back. This wasn't turning out to well so far.
"It was my responsibility to cook meals..." I could hear someone grinding their teeth in anger but I continued on.
"...just like it was my responsibility to keep the house cleaned or making sure the garden where perfect."
"Harry, you do know that is morally wrong in many ways. That's border line child abuse." I flinched, I absolutely hated that word, it made me feel sick.
"I'm sure there where far worse off cases out there. It's nothing, really." I insisted, this conversation was quite similar to one I had with a teacher at school when I was nine. The night before my uncle had been in a particularly bad mood and I had rocked up to school with a black eye and split lip. Well it was obvious when the substitute teacher notice and confronted me about it, that she suspected I was being hurt at home. She had reported it to the police. A week later when I was fully healed and the child services rocked up at the house and asked my Uncle about it. The practically dropped the case straight away after talking to him, didn't even bother asking me about it. A week later when I was finally healthy enough to go to school again, the substitute teacher had moved on to another teaching job and didn't come back again. I learnt not to draw attention to myself after that, I guess that was where my hatred for people in authority positions started. They just kept screwing me over again and again.
"Harry please don't ignore us, I'm sorry. We just want to help you." My head snapped up.
"Wait sorry, what was the question?" I really needed to stop zoning out like that.
"Did they ever hurt you?" I guess there was no denying that they did but I didn't live with them anymore so I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell them the truth. Hopefully.
Chris POV
He sat across from my mom, her worried gaze raking over him. He was in deep though, eyes glazed over slightly completely unfocused.
"Yeah, I guess they did." He answered not sounding completely aware on what he was saying. I had suspected that they weren't exactly the greatest guardians in the world considering the state of him but it didn't make it any less shocking hearing it out loud.
"How so hun?" Mum asked. I guess she was the only one who was able to make a coherent sentence without completely loosing it.
"You know the usual..." He shrugged like it was an everyday thing, it probably was for him.
"...no food, getting slapped around a bit...the usual." I was fighting back my anger fiercely, I could see Wyatt struggling to refrain from hitting something. Mum still looked oddly calm still, it was a bit unnerving really.
"I know you're not enjoying these questions Harry but could we ask just a few more?" Harry nodded, his eyes where getting more focused not.
"What's the longest they made you go without food?' He was completely back with us now, his face pale and he was wringing his hands together with worry.
"I don't know, two weeks maybe. I don't remember it too much." He whispered. He continued to watch us, his fingers entwining themselves together in his lap.
"Not that I didn't deserve it, I shouldn't have...it was my fault...really." Moms face was set in a deep frown.
"Nobody deserves that, you do understand that right Harry?" He shook his head.
"You don't understand, it was my fault!" He was getting louder now, I could see he was getting frustrated now.
"I really find it hard to believe that a child, any child would deserve to be starved for any amount of time. Yet all for two weeks!" She raved at Harry, trying to make him understand.
"Why don't you understand me! If I wasn't such a freak then they wouldn't have to punish me!" He was border line shouting now, trying to prove to us that it was alright.
"Oh really, please tell how in the world are you a big enough of a freak to justify being starved and abused." His fists were shaking in anger.
"I managed to set the dining table on fire fine from another room during dinner! But I couldn't help it! I was just so hungry and I wasn't allowed dinner! I just can't control my powers when I'm angry!" He ranted, it took a few seconds for what he said to sink in. I guess he just realised what he had at the same time as everyone else because he clamped his hands over his mouth, eyes going wide. I finally spoke up.
"What powers Harry?"