Harry smiled down at his little sister, and she smiled back up at him. She had just recently learnt how to walk, and she had quickly learnt how to walk fast. He was proud of her.
Right now, they needed to be quick. They had work to do. Using his powers, his magic, Harry called wallets and purses to him, and he silently pocketed them.
Nobody noticed.
Thanks to his magic, Harry and Holly went unnoticed. But when he pushed the last purse into his pocket, it suddenly flew out of his pocket and went into his little sister's hands. Holly grinned and laughed triumphantly, making Harry look down at her with mock exasperation.
"Cheeky monkey," he whispered, making her laugh.
Harry laughed along with her; Holly's sweet laughter was contagious. He had been looking after her, raising her, for the last two years. Caring for a baby on the streets when you were just a child was hard, of course; when he had gotten out of Privet Drive, he had broken into the Little Whinging library, stealing books on childcare. Armed with that, Harry had taken Holly into London, found a place to live, and he'd taken care of her.
It had taken him a while to learn the nuances of childcare, and while some of it was irritating he had never complained, especially when he had seen and listened to Holly's smile or laughter.
Nor had he complained when was forced to go out, cradling her in a papoose wrapped around his chest, stealing from the crowd. Sure, some people offered him free donations but he liked taking more. He had even learnt how to use his magic to summon money out of a cash machine, without even touching it.
But, for the first time in his life, Harry felt free.
On the streets, he had only himself and Holly.
On the streets, he served nobody but Holly.
On the streets, Harry and Holly were free.
But it wasn't to last; Harry had known from the moment he left Privet Drive, that he and his little sister could not just live and exist on the streets forever. He was smarter than that. He wanted himself and his sister to have an education, maybe grow up, and have a family…but only when they went to the magical world. He had no idea when they would be going but it was likely going to happen in a few years, and Harry, wanting to be ready, had wanted to be anywhere than an abandoned building somewhere in the city, or in London's West End.
Still, there were advantages to that. It would make the Potters look bad, and he wanted to get back at them for all the misery they'd caused. Harry had gone to the police six months after leaving the Dursleys. He had told them that he and his sister had been living on the streets, refusing to tell them anything else, but begging to be be given a home. Social services quickly took Harry and Holly in. They were still there, and soon Holly would be starting out at nursery school.
But Harry wanted to spend time with his sister. He'd brought her to London Zoo, and at the same time, he summoned wallets and purses to his hands so he could steal the cash. Holly would pick up these skills when she was old enough since he wanted her to know how to survive. Meanwhile, Holly loved looking at the animals. She didn't like the lions, and she whimpered a little bit when she saw them, prompting her big brother to take her away.
"It's okay, sweetie," Harry whispered to the girl, already deciding to enjoy the park and not bother with any more thefts.
"Pwomise?" Holly sniffled.
"Definitely," Harry smiled at her.
Holly smiled back, and she took his hand and they began running through the park, laughing at the animals. A few people watched them and smiled at the adorable little girl and the equally adorable boy. But only a few of them wondered where the children's parents were.
As they went through the zoo, the Potters were so taken in by the exhibits and the animals in the tanks they didn't notice a couple spot them and usher a boy harshly over to them. Both Harry and Holly were surprised when a boy handed them some sweets while his parents looked on.
"Do you want any?" The woman asked.
"Mark is giving you some," the man said with a smile, as he patted the boy on the shoulder. Any other kid would have dismissed it, but Harry saw the vacant, fearful way the boy looked at the man. But he played along for now.
"Thanks," Harry replied, pushing Holly gently behind him a little. Holly looked at him in concern for a moment, but she realised he was tense and he'd seen something troubling. She knew better than to ignore him.
"My name is Patrick, and this is Karin, my wife," Patrick said, introducing his family.
"Harry, and this is Holly."
"Where are your parents?"
"Nowhere."
"What does that mean?" Patrick asked quizzically.
"They're dead," Harry said to close the subject. He was getting seriously worried now, and he wondered why these people were there. Only his hand on Holly's wrist stopped her from doing something extremely stupid.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Karin said with a look on her face that was almost sympathetic, but Harry quickly spotted a light in her eyes.
"Are you both living on the streets?" Patrick asked.
Harry turned to him. "What's it to you?"
"Look, if you like you can come with us. We can give you food and you can go to school, with Mark. He can be your brother?" Karin smiled enticingly at her.
While she had been speaking, Harry had been probing her mind. When Holly had come to the Dursleys, he had gone further to understand his magical powers. Inspired by telepaths, mind readers and hypnotists, Harry had discovered it was possible to look into people's minds. He'd practiced it a few times on some people, and he had read so many of their innermost thoughts, although he had noticed their immediate problems and knowledge was at the forefront of their minds.
Karin's mind was as open as a book to Harry. And he was sickened, she and her husband were murderers. They went around and made friends with families, unsuspecting families and they became friends. Their usual MO was to lure them to a home of theirs and make life unpleasant before they killed them, took their child, and cut their tongue out. The child was then used as bait before they were killed.
That was why they were here, in London Zoo.
They were looking for their latest targets when they saw Harry and Holly, and they quickly worked out and realised they had no parents and they would make excellent bait after they were broken in. Harry knew he couldn't let this go, if they left then these two would just follow them. They had marked them as targets and they would simply follow them closely and see where they went, and they would then knock them out and cut out their tongues anyway.
"Okay," Harry said, surprising the couple and Holly quickly. Mark on the other hand was looking at him with open fear, but Harry ignored him.
"Hwarry, you okay?" Holly asked.
Harry smiled at her. "I am, sweetie."
"Great! Come on, then, let's go!" Patrick said, but Karin was looking at Harry in surprise. She was stunned by the ease with which they'd gotten the two kids. Indeed as they were leaving, Karin made sure Harry and Holly stayed with Mark, while they spoke a few feet away. Harry watched them out of the corner of his eye, while Holly was babbling and asking questions while Mark was staring at him and her with horror.
Playing along with his plan, Harry smiled at him, "Don't worry, we're gonna be family soon," he said although he had no intention of it.
When they got into the car, Harry ignored their questions even if Patrick and Karin seemed colder, and their frustration at his lack of response. Holly had gotten the vibe something was wrong, now she was burrowing into his chest.
Finally, they arrived at Patrick and Karin's house. Mark was somewhat reluctant to get out of the car, but eventually, Patrick and Karin roughly pulled Harry, Holly, and Mark into the house. Harry held onto his little sister and yanked her out of Patrick's grasp, smirking at him. "You don't want to do that," he said, taking her into the house.
When they got in, Karin called, "Grab the girl, Muhajd!"
A dark-skinned blur snatched Holly out of Harry's arms, and the little girl screamed. Karin slapped her in the face, but she screamed herself when she was thrown into a wall, followed by Muhajid. Karin stared at Harry, stunned while Holly rushed to him. "Don't touch my sister, you disgusting bitch!" Harry said I'm sorry, sis. But these three are killers. I looked into your mind, you filthy disgusting bastards," Harry's eyes were glowing with emerald fire and the air was crackling menacingly with electricity, his jaw twisting with feral cruelty. He used his power to heal Holly's cheek and to make her fall asleep. He knew she would not be happy with him later, but he had to keep her safe.
He held out his palm, and a ball of fire appeared in it. Patrick and Karin gaped, while Muhajid tried to race to the front door, but he was suddenly lifted off of his feet, screaming incoherently with shock and fear and then there was a hideous bone-snapping sound, as his neck was broken.
"I knew you two would come after us if we refused, so I laid a trap for you. It was pathetically easy to set. You two are disgusting. You kill families and make children orphans, and you cut their tongues out. But you have failed with us," Harry said, lifting both of them up with one hand.
The two murderers were gasping, choking with desperation to escape. But they couldn't, they were hopeless in the angry young wizard's grasp. They had killed dozens of people and now they were hopeless. Some of their victims had fought back, but against Muhajid and Patrick, they'd killed them all. But now they'd lost.
With a flick of the wrist, Harry snapped their necks. He turned to Mark, who looked at them hopelessly and hopefully at the same time.
"I'm sorry, Mark, but you can't be with us," Harry apologised.
The boy shook his head, crying. He rushed to a dresser, grabbed a pen and some paper, and quickly wrote a message.
'Kill me. I don't have any parents, and I can't speak. I don't want to live like this, unable to speak.'
Harry looked at him and nodded. He raised a hand, and Mark barely had time to flinch before his neck snapped and everything went black…
Xxxxx
Holly woke up and she looked at her big brother. "Why did you take me to those scary people?"
"I found out they were scary and if they came after us, they might have won," Harry said to her. "I told you that I would keep you safe, but sometimes I have to take action. When I looked into Karin's mind, I knew they would never have given up. Forgive me?" He asked.
Holly folded her arms, and Harry sighed and hugged her before he tickled her. She laughed and Harry kissed her on the cheek. "I won't do it again. Promise, Holly," he said.