CHAPTER FOUR: Abuse (Clumsy Chic and Neph Champion and Dream of Stories)

Duo slipped out of the room he shared with Harry once he was sure the boy was asleep. As soon as Duo had climbed down from Heero's Gundam, Harry had been at his side in an instant. He hadn't let the older boy out of his sight for most of the day, following him around like a puppy dog. Duo had been fine with it- until he had to work.

Howie realized the predicament and dragged Harry away, telling him that he could help out in the kitchen. Harry had brightened up instantly and dashed down the hall, leaving a laughing Howie in his wake.

Now though the kid was asleep, worn out after a long day, and Duo decided that it would be as good time as any to have that chat with Howie. He wandered through the halls looking for the older man as he whistled a little tune he had picked up from somewhere. He found him in the kitchen, staring down at a cup of coffee.

"Hey Howie!" Duo said, plopping down into the seat across from the man. Howie started and looked up at Duo, not having heard him come in. "What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Howie sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "It's about the kid," he said, leaning back in his chair. Duo instantly sobered and leaned forward, propping his arms on the table.

"What about Harry?"

"I think he had it worse at that place than you thought, Duo. We had pancakes for breakfast the morning after you left- the kid couldn't even finish one of them! Not to mention that he was the one who actually cooked 'em. He was up before any of us and he made enough food to feed all of us and then some, even set out all the plates and stuff. One for each person, except himself. When we all sat down to eat, he disappeared into the kitchen again. One of the guys followed him to see why he wasn't eating and found him sitting in a corner eating a slice of bread. He just smiled and asked if the food was okay, Duo! We had to drag him into the room and sit him down to get him to eat what he had made. He kept refusing, saying 'Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon said freaks don't deserve good food like that.'"

Duo growled, his eyes flashing with barely restrained anger. That fat tub of lard was so lucky that he was on Earth and not on L2. Or else his wife would have been joining him wherever he was now.

"That's not all, Duo," Howie spoke up quietly.

"There's more?" Duo asked, his anger continuing to grow.

Howie nodded. "The guys aren't the ones who cleaned the ship, Kid. It was Harry. He must have been up hours before us because most of the ship was cleaned before we even finished breakfast. I don't think he even slept. And when I asked him about his room he said it was so much better than his cupboard."

Duo got up, slamming his hands down on the table. "Damn it! What the hell did they do to the kid? He acts like a servant as if that's the only thing he knows! Why was he even with those people? What the hell happened to his parents?"

Howie could only shrug and sigh. "I don't know, Duo. The only thing we can do now is make things better for him."

Duo stalked out of the room, murderous thoughts playing through his head. He slipped back into the room just as quietly as he had left and looked at the sleeping Harry with soft eyes.

"Your life will be so much better now, Kid, I promise," he murmured softly as he ran his hand through the messy black hair.

After a short while, Duo couldn't stay still. He needed to do something, hurt someone, for what Harry had been through. Growling quietly under his breath, Duo left Harry alone. He couldn't go after Harry's relatives – his aunt was probably on Earth somewhere by now, and his uncle was hopefully dead – but he needed to release the churning emotions threatening to erupt within him.

Making his way to the hanger, thinking to tire himself out working on his Gundam, Duo saw Heero still fixing his own suit. Remembering the way Heero had hurt Harry, Duo saw red.

"Hey," Duo shouted as he climbed up onto the suit. "What do you think you were doing when you scared the kid earlier?"

Heero blinked at him, completely emotionless. "He might have been OZ-"

"No!" Duo shouted, though his rage was quick to fade. Heero hadn't done it out of malice, he just didn't understand. So Duo explained, "Harry was treated as a servant in his relatives' house, if not worse." Duo pulled the other teen away from the suit so that they could talk better. "If you're going to be around at all, you need to watch how you treat Harry. He was in a bad place before and we don't need you making it harder for him to recover by treating him the same way."

"Oh." Heero felt something strange, was it regret?

"If you treat him badly again…" Duo let it hang, his eyes glinting with anticipation. "Capiche?"

"I apologize." Heero said quietly. He showed no emotion, but inside his stomach churned as he fully realized what he had done. To an innocent, little kid, nonetheless. His hand moved to brush his leg - an innocent child who had somehow healed him, despite what he had done.

Duo grinned. "Make sure to tell the kid too before you leave, ok?" he said, waving over his shoulder as he left the hanger. Just sharing what he had learned got it off his chest, making it easier to think. It didn't matter that Harry's past had been horrible, only that his future would be better.

"Of course…" Heero looked thoughtful, wondering what to do when he next saw the child. Would the boy even allow him close enough to apologize?

xx

In a castle in northern Scotland, Albus Dumbledore was going over some school paperwork at his desk when Mrs. Figg flooed him. She did this to give regular reports on their Savior, so at first he didn't pay much attention.

His office was rather large and circular. Against one wall, there was a cabinet where he kept his Pensive. Next to that and on the opposite wall there were bookshelves crammed with books, most of which looked very old. Immediately to his right, there was a large lit fireplace, out of which his informant's head was sticking out. By the window was a perch that belonged to his phoenix familiar.

His phoenix at the moment was resting with its head under its wing. Before him, though he wasn't looking, there was a door leading to the rest of the Castle and behind him there were several different yet very strange silver devices'. All of them were whirring and several were emitting a white smoke.

"Albus! Petunia and Dudley have arrived home but her husband and Harry are unaccounted for!"

Albus glanced up and blinked at the worried Mrs. Figg. A quick glance to the devices behind him confirmed that Harry was still alive and relatively healthy… so nothing too bad had happened to the boy. "Arabella… are you sure you're not just overreacting? Perhaps his Uncle decided to take a few extra days holiday with Harry and will arrive later?"

Mrs. Figg gaped at him for a moment before glaring at him. "Albus, I don't…"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at her as he waved aside her concerns. "Arabella, I can honestly tell you that Harry is fine. You know I would know if any serious harm had come to him. And besides, did you even ask about what happened with the missing pair? I'm sure everything is fine."

The woman in the fire shot an annoyed look at him. "No, but I know…"

"Well then, you shouldn't jump to conclusions! I'm sure everything is fine. Now… I really need to look over these accounts. You will let me know if this issue doesn't sort itself out soon won't you?" He turned back to his work in a clear dismissal, leaning back over the papers on his desk.

Behind him, Arabella Figg gritted her teeth. She didn't know why he bothered to have her watch the Dursley family when he never listened to her concerns anyway. If not for poor Harry, she'd have left this nosy neighborhood a long time ago. Still, he did pay very well. "Very well Albus, I wish you well with your paperwork."

Then she was gone with a faint pop as she pulled her head out of the flames. Albus spared a glance at the now orange flames and picked up a lemon drop to suck on slowly. Perhaps he should have Arabella moved away from Privet Drive, she was getting far too fond of the boy. Didn't she understand that in order for young Harry to grow up to be a useful member of society he had to endure some adversity? Regular chores were good for young children! They gave them some responsibility in life. And as for those claims of bruises and other injuries… well children enjoyed rough play all the time, particularly young boys. Just look at the House Quidditch teams! No, Harry was fine. His instruments would tell him if Harry's health was damaged too badly.

Although… He probably should check up on that particular family soon. It had been a while since he'd last looked in on them. It wouldn't do for Petunia and Vernon to forget any of his careful instructions… His plans were far too important. Harry Potter could not be allowed to grow up like his parents had. Lily's temper combined with James' confidence and that much raw power? It was a recipe for disaster! No, it was best for all concerned if he learned some humility early on in life. That would make things far better in the long run. It was, after all, for the Greater Good.

xx

Harry woke up, feeling better than he had in a long time. Blinking owlishy, he stiffened as he heard a faint snicker and twisted around to stare at where Duo was watching him from a tall stool. Pouting, he tried to untangle himself from the bed sheet. Normally, he didn't have this problem. The Dursley's had never given him anything more than his baby blanket – and that had been far too small to get tangled up in.

"Need some help there, little man?"

Harry shook his head, biting his lip as he slowly eased himself out of the sheet cocoon. He didn't want his rescuer to think he couldn't look after himself. Duo might think him too much trouble and give him away!

He didn't need to worry though, the older boy just chuckled and walked over, lifting him up easily and dumping the sheet back onto the bed. Harry made a mental note to come back and make the bed properly later. "Thank you, Duo."

Duo gave a one-armed shrug as he set Harry down gently on the floor and pulled a bag out from under the bunk bed. Harry looked at it curiously. It was colorful and had pretty swirly shapes on it.

"Here you go Harry. One of the guys picked these up for you yesterday after you went to bed. Now let's see..."

Harry watched confused as Duo emptied the bag out onto the lower bunk and couldn't suppress a soft gasp. There was a surprisingly large amount of clothes in there and even more importantly… they still had the labels on! They must all be brand new. Why would someone go through all the trouble of buying him brand new stuff? The things he had worn yesterday were fine… and much better than what he usually had…

"What's the matter?"

Harry blinked and looked up at Duo who was watching him with a slight frown on his face. Harry bit his lip. He didn't really want to make Duo angry or sad. The older boy had been so nice to him, but he had got angry when he'd told him that his name was Freak… just like the others had got mad when Harry had mentioned his cupboard. Would Duo get mad about this too? If he made Duo mad the other boy might decide he was a bad boy and send him away! He didn't want to get sent away from Duo!

"Harry?"

Duo reached out slowly to him, and carefully pulled him into a hug. Harry clung to the older boy like he was a lifeline. Everything was so confusing here! He didn't know what he was supposed to do! Sniffling, he tried to fight back the tears that were desperate to fall. He knew it wasn't working though. Duo would be so disappointed in him… Boys weren't supposed to cry.

"Oh Harry…"

Duo pulled the kid closer and carefully rubbed soothing circles on his back. He had a faint memory of Sister Helen doing it for him once, when he'd come back from school after a fight with one of the older kids. It had made him feel better then, and he hoped that it made Harry feel better now. Part of him wondered if it was just everything catching up on the younger boy, or if it was something else. He'd seen the look Harry had given the clothes… something was up there.

"M' sorry."

Duo blinked and looked down to see that angelic little face gazing up to him with sad green eyes. "Not your fault little man. Sometimes it's good to have a little cry. Y' know, get it all out."

Harry blinked at him, before peering at the bed where the pile of clothes could just be seen. "I can't have all that."

Duo raised an eyebrow. Why would Harry say that? Duo had checked out his bag before while the kid was asleep. He had barely anything with him, and the clothes he was wearing before had been subtly disposed of by Howard. Apparently they'd been too worn to be worth the effort of cleaning. Harry had almost nothing else to wear other than the secondhand outfit one of the Sweepers had found for him yesterday.

"I mean, they're all new. I don't deserve new things. I'm a bad boy."

Duo struggled not to gape at the kid, taking a moment to regain his composure. When he did, the first thing he felt was a hot wave of anger. Harry did not just say that… This needed to be fixed. Harry should not be saying that in such a matter of fact tone of voice, like… like… it was a fact! Duo had never met a kid who was so good at staying quiet and staying out of the way. Harry was one of the best behaved kids he'd ever met!

"Harry, you're not a bad kid." He caught the resigned expression on the boy's face, like he'd heard it before but knew that it wasn't true and fought to suppress a snarl. "I mean it, Harry. You're the best behaved little…" He stopped as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Hey, how old are you anyway?"

"Five."

Duo blinked in shock, staring down at the kid. "Five?"

"Uh huh."

Harry was staring up at him with his big green eyes, not understanding what was so terrible about what Duo had just learnt. Duo didn't think that he could just tell him that he'd thought Harry was a rather small four year old at worst. He was way too small to be five… the amount of food he'd had to have been living off… even he hadn't been that tiny…

…found him sitting in a corner eating a slice of bread…

Duo closed his eyes and forced down the anger, pulling the young boy into another hug. Harry snuggled into him happily, ignoring Duo's faint trembling. The pair held it for a minute before they were interrupted by the sound of the door creaking open. Glancing up at it, Duo growled at the interruption. Harry just clutched him tighter.

After a second, a young sweeper stuck his head round the door and grinned sheepishly. "Um Duo? Howard wants to talk to you. It's about the Gun… uh… your suit."

TBC...