FLUCTUS

Chapter 3 : Objectum

Summary: When the students of St. Grogory's Primary School, Surrey witness a tragic accident, the school officials decide to implement a mandatory counselling session for each individual student. And suddenly Harry has a new lease on life.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its character. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not own anything except this plot.

A/N: This fan fiction has not been edited. Please let me know of all errors of which there might be many.

The next day was no different for Harry. He woke up to the harsh sound of Aunt Petunia screeching at him to make breakfast, rushed to change his clothes and snag a toast before running out to school. Only this time he was careful not to think back to the bits of the dream that he could remember from last night. The green light and Pier's bloody face.

The rest of the day went as usual. Dirty looks from the teachers for his clothes, the constant droning of classes and, of course, the ever present Harry Hunting. As the day wound to an end and everyone was packing away their bags, the teacher passed out some circulars asking them to show it to their parents.

Harry read through it. It mentioned something about seeing a counselor (Harry imagines it means doctor. But the yearly check-up was already done, so he thinks it might be something else.)

He slipped it into his pocket before taking his books and walking out to the gates. There's a new guard there and new signs to safeguard the students. (Harry thought back to the red red red of Pier's face.)

He walked slowly back home, the roads he used to run through presenting a new threat, which he knew but never thought deeply into. Aunt Petunia came today to pick up Dudley but Harry knew that he wouldn't be riding with them.

Harry had a few rules that he had to follow to ensure he had a trouble free life. The first was to never say no to the Dursley's. That was just asking for trouble. The second was to make sure he was never better than Dudley at anything. And the third, and the most important, was to ensure that all his thoughts, all those rebellious thoughts of hatred and disdain that he nursed from years of living with the Dursley's. The thought that he would have to live with them till he was 18 (11 more years, oh my god) and the thought that he would have to forever be pushed down by them…..

The fact that these rules ensured he had enough to eat and was left alone with more verbal abuses was a cold comfort, but for a child who had only a small cupboard below the stairs to call his home….it was enough.

The next day saw Harry in better spirits as he was not assuaged again by the bad dreams. He also managed to snag some bacon before anyone saw. Not even Uncle Vernon's threats about talking about his cupboard or his chores brought him down. He skipped to school with his books in hand and managed to make it to school before Dudley and his group reached.

Today all the parents were to be with their children as they were to have a session with the counselor on how to deal with children and ensure that it wouldn't affect them.

Aunt Petunia showed up with Dudley a few minutes before the bell and went straight towards a group of gossiping woman who grouped up at the back. Harry could hear them giggling about something before he had to rescue his books from falling off the desk when Dudley nudged his desk while he passed him.

"Alright Class." Mr Wint called out. "Today we have a very special guest with us. Please welcome Mr. Jones." Harry looked up at the man who entered the room. He was a very tall man and he seemed to loom over everyone. He also had a very pleasant smile on his face and Harry immediately felt serene just looking at him.

"Now, I will call each person according to your roll calls and you will come into the classroom. Will everyone except Roll number 1, Ms. Angela Sim, Please leave the room?" Mr. Jones said, and started to get settled in.

"Mr. Jones?" Malcolm called. "Is this a test or something? Are we being punished?"

"Oh dear, no." Mr. Jones smiled. "All of you will simply be having a small chat with me. Everyone else can go to the playground and your teacher will call you when it's your time."

Everyone cheered and started to run to the playgrounds with the parents lagging behind them. Harry hid behind one of the wider parents before running to a tree in the playground and scrambling up to the topmost branch. He was having a good day. He did not need Harry Hunting to destroy it for him.

Harry spend the time before he was called in, watching the parents and snarking at them in his mind. He spend some time needling Mrs. Moss who kept talking about how her daughter Sally got a scholar-ship in London and how accomplished she was going to be. (He knew Sally actually went to her Aunt's because she was having a baby but wasn't married.) The rest of the time he spend daydreaming about Uncle Vernon breaking his arm or leg and then spend the time realizing how much he will be made to work with Uncle Vernon at home.

"Harry Potter!" Mr Wint called before going in once more. Harry climbed down and ran in, not waiting for Dudley to realize he was on the ground once more. He ignored Mr. Wint's sneer and walked in the classroom.

"Ah, Mr. Potter." Mr. Jones looked up before smiling warmly. (Harry's heart clenched. When was the last time someone looked at him like that?)

"Mr. Jones." Harry fidgeted a bit before realizing the man was waiting for him to say something. "Um... May I?" He pointed to the seat opposite the teacher's seat,

"Oh, yes, please do." Mr. Jones took some papers, sorted them and then set them aside before looking up at Harry. He then inspected Harry before smiling once more, this time a little softer.

Harry fidgeted once more and then stared at his sneakers. He could feel his face burn because his clothes seemed even shabbier in comparison to the smartly dressed gentleman sitting across him.

"Mr. Potter, May I call you Harry?"

Harry jerked up before nodding furiously. "Yes, Mr. Jones."

"Oh, call me Mark. So Harry, how are you today?"

"I'm fine, Mr. Jon-Mark. How are you?" Harry asked politely.

"I'm great. So do you know why your teachers are making every one of you talk to me today?"

Harry peered up at the man and scrutinized him. He was looking at Harry and smiling softly but his eyes were piercing at him. Harry knew that this man would know if he lied.

"Because…uh…we saw what happened to Polkiss?" Harry softly asked.

"Yes." The man smiled. "You are rather clever Harry. Yes, we are here to talk about what you saw that day. You can say whatever you want to me and it won't leave this room, alright?"

Harry nodded. There was an awkward silence.

"Why don't we simply talk for a while so that you feel comfortable, hmm? So, Harry, what do you like to do for fun?" Mr Jones looked at him.

Harry dithered for a while, at a loss on how to answer that question. He thought back to Uncle Vernon's threats. "I like to…um… cook?"

"Oh, you cook? That's very interesting Harry. What do you like to cook?"

"Um, bacon?

"And?"

"Eggs and toast? Oh, and sometimes Aunt Petunia lets me make the custard."

"Oh?" Mr. Jones lost his smile and leaned in, pinning Harry with his eyes. "And do you get to eat this bacon, eggs, toast and custard?"

Harry froze.

"Harry? Do you get to eat all that you cook?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Ah? Alright then." Mr Jones shuffled through a few pages before taking one out. "So Harry, I have a little doubt about something."

"Yes, Mr. Jo-Mark?"

"You see, your teacher gave me all your mark sheets along with all your other documents. Just to give me some information about all the other students, you see. And I can't help but noticing that you used to receive full marks at the beginning of the term before you started to…almost fail. Do you find it hard to study or understand things?"

"Um, no Mr. Jones. It just decreases." Harry clenched his fists in his shirt and looked away.

"Hmm…"

There was a short silence.

"Harry…I was just like you, you know?"

Harry clenched his fists harder. "I don't know what you mean Mr. Jones."

"Oh, you know exactly what meant, Harry. You see, my parents died when I was 3, and I was send to live with my relatives too. And…they never once saw me as family."

Harry looked up the man. "I don't know why you are saying these things to me, Mark. My family is nice." Harry could feel his heart thudding.

"Harry, there was a time when I had to stitch myself up because they refused to take me to the hospital. They used to tear up my book and used to destroy my homework. Harry, I've been where you are.

Something in Harry un-clenched. He looked up at the man wearing the stylish suit, and the expensive looking watch. "So how did you…um…" Harry indicated to the man's clothes.

"Oh? Well, one day, I was waiting at the bus stop, you see? And these two men, both of them very well dressed, were standing there and talking." Mark leaned back and smiled. "The first man was trying to convince his friend to withdraw his resignation letter from the company these two worked at."

"Resignation?" Harry asked.

"He wanted to leave the company to work somewhere else. So the first man said 'Roger, are you mad? You are due for a promotion already and there is no way you will find a job with higher salary."

Mark leaned closer and Harry, caught up in the mood, leaned in too.

"Then the friend replied, 'Simon, if I stay where I am right now, yes I will earn a lot of money, and I will get a senior position. But if I make that my end game, I will hate myself in a few years. So now I will work hard and earn almost nothing so that later I will win. Harry, do you know what I thought then?"

"What?"

"There I was, this 17 year old boy with a family that hates me, unable to study or keep any money I earn and there he was a man who, seemingly, had it all, and was throwing it all away so that he could be happy."

Harry nodded. He kind of hated that man too.

"But then, a few days late, I realized that my end game was to reach 18 and leave the house. But what about after? My scores were too low to get me into college in a scholarship (Which was the only way I would be able to go to college), and I had absolutely no money in hand.

I catered to my disgusting relative's day in and day out and there was no way that I would be able to leave the house without something lined up. And it was not like their treatment of me was going to change whether I do well in life or not. Anyway they would find reasons to abuse me."

Harry, for once in his life, felt excited. His heart was thudding so loud, he almost thought that it would burst out like those cartoons that Dudley watches.

"Now, Harry, why I am telling you this is so that you make good decisions in life. I had to work a lot after that and suffer a lot so that I could go to college because I decided to stand for myself a few years too late. But you? You can change now, Harry. The both of us know that even if I go to the authorities on your home life, there is no guarantee of anything changing. And even if it changes, the both us know that the other options remaining for children like you and I used to be is not the best.

Pier Polkiss died, Harry, and he never managed to do anything with his life. But you, you Harry can do something with your life. Don't look at me like you don't understand Harry. You are a very smart boy. Now, I have said everything I wanted to say. Harry, do you have something to say to me?"

Harry shook his head and stood up from his chair. "Alright then," Mark said, looking faintly displeased. "Here is my card. Call me in case need someone to talk to. Thank you for your time Harry."

"Thank you Mark." Harry mumbled before rushing out the class.

A/N: So I read a lot about child protective services in England during the 1980's… And guys it sucked. In fact thousands of children from various orphanages were shipped away from England to countries like Australia and other countries to populate the place with English people.

Sexual abuse was not spoken about and social workers were never well trained and were therefore usually ill-equipped to deal with abused children. Shocking, huh? Oh, and guys I have no idea how a proper counselling session goes. I hope this is alright.

I also imagine Harry to be a very private 'I can deal with my own issues without any outside help' kind of kid. This is why I imagine he won't be very responsive to such an open counselling session. And guy this will be the last time you guys see Mr Mark Jones.

Oh and thank you to the Anonymous person who send me my first review! I keep adding the summary as I am also keeping people who use the fan fiction app in mind.

Please let me know what you think.