Harry didn't think he'd had a hug before, not one he remembered, he thought once his chest didn't seem as tight and he didn't feel like his hiccups would make him choke. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon always avoided touching him, unless he did something wrong, and he thought he'd remember feeling so warm and safe. If this was what hugs always felt like, it was no wonder Dudley always glued himself to Aunt Petunia after the smallest upset. He really didn't want to move, but then he remembered he'd just yelled at Mr Wright, a bunch of times! Oh, he was in so much trouble.

"Sorry" he mumbled, scrambling back and ending up with his bum on the floor, looking up at Mr Wright.

"Don't be, it's alright," Mr Wright said instead of being mad, and it was so weird, but not bad. Harry didn't mind the kind of weird that didn't end with a belt on his bum "What did you mean, though? You said they took your name?"

Harry sniffed and looked down at his hands on his lap, feeling more sad than mad like he'd been when he ran off. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't call him Harry when he was small, just 'boy' or 'freak', then he was five and had to go to school and when the teachers called his name, he didn't know it. He told them, but when Aunt Petunia came to the school she told the teachers he was playing and being silly, but he really didn't know! He had a name all that time, and they took it away, and no one did anything, and it wasn't fair! Of all the things they did that broke the rules from the book Mr Wright showed him, he hated them most for this one. His mum and dad gave him his name, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon shouldn't have taken it away. He doesn't look up while he tells this to Mr Wright, not sure he'll even believe him, but his superpower has to tell him Harry's telling the truth, right? Maybe he'll be the one that believes him.

"I don't know what to say except that I'm sorry you ever had to live with those people" is what Mr Wright says when he's done talking, and Harry looks back up to see him looking angry.

He doesn't like angry adults, at least not when they're mad at him, but Mr Wright wasn't even looking at him so maybe it wasn't about him? Maybe Mr Wright was mad at Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon too? but Harry didn't know why he'd be mad, it was so long ago and it wasn't about Mr Wright's name anyway, but for whatever reason it was, it made Harry feel a little better, thinking someone else was angry too. But he had his name for three years now, that was a lot of time too. Maybe he was being silly.

"It's not silly," Mr Wright said, and Harry's eyes widened as he realized he'd been mumbling out loud "it was your name, you can be as upset as you want. But you're never going back, so don't let them make you so upset you can't enjoy that."

"I won't," he said, not wanting to let his Aunt and Uncle have anything else of his. They'd taken enough already.

"Good" Mr Wright smiled, and Harry thought he looked like when Dudley told Aunt Petunia he'd read a whole book on his own, but why would Mr Wright look proud of him or all things Harry wasn't sure "now, I know today's been full of a lot of changes, so if you want to stay in and rest, we can always go shopping tomorrow"

"'s okay" Harry shook his head, he didn't go shopping before unless it was for groceries with Aunt Petunia, and maybe if he left it for tomorrow Mr Wright would change his mind like Uncle Vernon did sometimes, so they should go now "can we go today?"

"Of course we can," Mr Wright said, standing up. Then his hand was reaching for Harry and he flinched away before realizing Mr Wright wanted to help him get off the floor and was now looking more upset.

"Sorry" he mumbled, taking the hand to help him up.

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong" Mr Wright assured him "now let me show you to the bathroom so you can take a shower before we leave."

July 26th, 1988

Harry never understood why Dudley liked the days Uncle Vernon took him to work with him until he was being walked around a huge office by Mr Wright, holding on to his hand and trying not to hide behind him too much when Mr Wright kept introducing him to more people than he'd ever met in his life.

Mr Jacob was the first person Harry met, he worked in front of the building and only let people who worked there walk into the elevators. Mr Wright told Mr Jacob to keep an eye out for Harry if he wandered out of the building, but he was quick to tell them he really wouldn't, he promised. Mr Jacob smiled and let them go up, with Mr Wright pressing the button for the 7th floor on the elevator.

"And who's this little guy?" A pretty woman with red hair was looking at him when they stopped in front of one of the large offices and Harry froze, looking up at Mr Wright.

He never had to introduce himself to adults before, most of the ones he met had already heard all about him from Aunt Petunia.

"This is Harry, he's my ward," Mr Wright said, and Harry wasn't sure what that meant but it made the woman's eyes widen and narrow up at Mr Wright "Harry, this is Sarah, she pretty much runs my work life."

"Not enough of it, you found time to get a child," She poked Mr Wright in the chest but it didn't look like it hurt, since he chuckled. She then looked right back at him "It's very nice to meet you, Harry" she held out a hand.

It took him a moment to realize she expected him to shake it, and he did his best to copy what Uncle Vernon did in his important meetings.

"Nice to meet you too, ma'am" He answered, and it was probably right since she smiled, but then she moved her hand at his face and he couldn't help but flinch, missing the look exchanged between her and Mr Wright.

"Sorry" He mumbled, but she probably heard it since she smiled again, saying it was fine. She had a pretty smile, much prettier than Aunt Petunia's, not that he'd ever had those directed at him.

"You can ask her for anything you need if I'm busy, she usually sits right there" he pointed at a little cube-like office in front of the glass wall "If she's not there, just wait on her chair, got it?" Mr Wright asked and Harry nodded "come along, let me show you my office."

They walked past Sarah's cubicle and into the office behind the glass walls, it was bigger than he remembered Uncle Vernon's being from the photo in their living room, with beige walls and dark furniture, including a very comfy-looking couch Harry got led to. There were pictures on the walls, with people on them, but he couldn't see them all and probably didn't know the people anyway, and that thought was pushed out when Harry realized the couch was as soft as it looked.

"You can tell me if you'd like to leave any time, alright?" Harry's eyes widened, they'd just got there! Mr Wright chuckled and continued "I don't mean right away, since you didn't want to stay home, but I'm not sure here will be any fun either. So if you get too bored, just let me or Sarah know and we'll walk you outside for some air and a snack or something. If you still want to come back tomorrow, we'll get you something to pass the time."

He wasn't sure what the right answer was, but… He didn't want to be all alone with Marie at Mr Wright's house, even if that might be silly of him, so he nodded. Mr Wright had taken him away from his Aunt and Uncle and he was nice and believed Harry when he said things, so he wanted to be around Mr Wright whenever he could.

"Great!" Mr Wright smiled, and Harry was starting to find it easier to smile back.

What followed was a tour, with Mr Wright showing him to the books and magazines around the office and where some snacks were stored so he didn't have to go to the break room. Mr Wright had a record player near the shelf, and he told Harry he could pick what music to listen to if he wanted, so long as it wasn't very loud. In the end, he sat down by the centre table with some printed-out activities, a lot like the school ones he remembered, and a few papers to draw on if he wanted to, though Mr Wright didn't have coloured crayons yet.

Harry tried to only pay attention to his things, he really did, but sometimes Mr Wright would talk on his phone and he couldn't help listening in. Mr Wright got lots of calls, Harry realized, and he seemed to help a lot of people with a lot of things. He also seemed really busy, so Harry tried his best not to bother him. He was good at that, being quiet. He did look at Mr Wright when he went to grab a snack, but he didn't seem to mind it so Harry went back to his work while munching on custard cream biscuits.

Sarah tried to take him to see the rest of the office, but Harry liked it better in Mr Wright's office and didn't really want to leave. He did finish the printed activities after a while and didn't want to draw more, so Mr Wright let him pull up a chair by his desk and watch him work. Harry didn't understand a lot of it, but Mr Wright explained things well and told him how he was helping a woman get money for losing her job in a way that wasn't fair, just because her boss didn't like women working on big jobs as other people's boss. Harry thought it was a really silly thing to not like, and Mr Wright agreed. When they left the office that night, Harry knew he wanted to come back the next day. It had been fun to see how Mr Wright would help people like he helped Harry.

July 29th, 1988

"Your four o'clock is here" Sarah's voice made Michael pause his explanation on medical malpractice to the boy sitting on his lap.

"Have them come up, please. It should be quick" he told her, before turning his attention back to the explanation.

Harry had been coming with him to the office since Monday, and besides a brief and strained conversation with his boss, nothing much had come of it. He would leave him with Sarah to go to meetings and when in the office, humour Harry's growing amount of questions as he realized he would not be punished by voicing them. Harry seemed genuinely interested in his explanations of his work, and whether it was because Michael was the first adult to treat him decently or an actual growing interest in law, he wasn't about to complain, especially since brainstorming his cases out loud sometimes helped him think through them better. All in all, things seemed to be going well, though he would soon need to introduce Harry to other children so he could have friends to enjoy his summer break with instead of staying with Michael at the office all the time.

"They're here" Sarah announced a moment later, and Michael looked up with a smile at the couple walking into the room. He noticed Harry tensing in his lap, but not sliding off of it.

While most clients were met in one of the available meeting rooms, this couple, in particular, were his friends as well as clients. He'd met them when working a pro-bono for wrongful dismissal and working closely with the wife to prove one of her coworkers had been wrongfully dismissed. When the case was won, she ended up in a higher post and they kept in contact. Since then, they've grown a lot and keep him on retainer for any legal work necessary for their clinic.

"Oh, Michael, who's this little darling" The woman walks into the room in a beeline for Harry. Michael locks eyes with her husband as they chuckle.

"Jean, meet Harry, my ward" He introduces with a small push to Harry's back which finally has him sliding off Michael's lap and to the floor in time to shake the woman's hand "Harry, these are Hugo and Jean Granger" He adds as he stands up himself, walking around the desk to be greeted by a hug from Jean before turning to shake Hugo's hand, only to see someone else hiding behind his legs "hi there, Hermione" he adds with a smile.

"She refused to stay home when we mentioned stopping by," Hugo explained with a smile.

"I just wanted to say hello" The small, bushy-haired nine-year-old explained in an annoyed tone, stepping away from her father's legs "hello Mr Wright!"

"Hello" He repeated with a chuckle "you wanted to look at some books, didn't you?"

"Pretty please?" She asked with a sheepish grin, made more adorable by the empty space between her teeth where her canine was supposed to be.

"Let me introduce you to someone first, maybe you can look at books together" He answers, waving Harry over "Harry, this is Hermione, why don't you show her to the bookcase?"

He watched as Harry and Hemione shily interact on their way to the bookcase for a moment longer before turning back to Mr and Mrs Granger.

"I'm glad you brought her, I've been meaning to introduce Harry to more children, and this way he'll already know someone in his new school" Michael confided.

"You're enrolling him in Blossom then?" Hugo questioned as the couple sat on the chairs facing his desk while he took back his seat behind it.

"Most likely, yes" Michael answered, leaning back on the chair "Kensington isn't too far off my way, and I know most of the staff. He'll probably be glad not to go back to St. Grogory's, since I couldn't drive to Surrey every day."

"I'm interested in hearing about how you came to have a ward in the first place," Jean pointed out with narrowed eyes.

"That's… a bit of a long story" He admitted, and proceeded to explain the situation.

July 30th, 1988

Harry was still getting used to the big room he now slept in. In fact, he was still getting used to a lot of things. Regular meals and physical contact that didn't hurt being a few of them. He could even ask for things now, when he wanted them, and Mr Wright didn't even mind all the questions while he was working. He'd even made a friend! Well, at least he thought Hermione was his friend, he wasn't sure since he'd never had one before. But she was nice and liked reading even more than he did. All of the changes in the last few days sometimes kept him awake at night, worrying it was all a dream or just being so, so glad for them, which is why he was still awake near midnight to hear a tapping against his window.

Harry sat up on his bed, looking around for the source of the sound, but it was too dark. He got up and walked a practised path to the door until his hand hit the light switch, brightening all of the room.

Tap tap tap

It seemed to come from the window on the left side of the bed, and Harry tip-toed towards it, not sure what could be causing the noise. He pulled the curtains slightly to the side to peek out-

And immediately fell on his bum with a yelp.

Standing again, he got the curtains out of the way to reveal a big brown owl standing on the flower box outside the window.

"Shoo," he said, with the accompanying hand motion. It didn't move "What are you doing there?" he whispered, unlocking and opening the window. It took him a moment to realize there was something by the owl, a letter sitting on top of the flowers "...did you bring that?"

He blinked, then picked it up, looking at the back to see if the owl had maybe made a mistake. 'Harry Potter' was written on the back of it in shiny red ink, but nothing else, not even an address. He shrugged and moved back to the bed, glancing at the owl still standing by the window before ripping it open.

Dear Harry,

Mum said the letter will get there after midnight, I wanted to say happy birthday before everyone! I know you're busy with lots of adventures with dragons and mermaids, but I hope you read this, even if you never answer.

Happy birthday!

Ginny Weasley.

Harry frowned and put down the letter, not sure about what he'd read. It was almost his birthday, he knew that from the clock on the wall pointing to eleven forty-five, but he didn't know any Ginny Weasley and definitely wasn't having adventures with dragons and mermaids.

The owl was still there, he realized after a moment before walking back to the window.

"Why won't you go away?" He asked it as if it would actually answer.

Surprisingly, the owl did fly off the window, and Harry followed with his eyes as it took to the sky. Only when he looked back down did he realize it hadn't been the only one.

The tree next to his window was filled with owls.