Harry quickly realizes that Uncle Vernon was wrong. Sometimes he'd get back from work still complaining about hooligans on motorbikes, though he'd quickly start complaining about Harry.
Riding with Logan on his motorbike is the greatest thing in the world. Even with the roaring engine, Harry can't get enough of the wind in his face and hair. He feels safe, leaning back against Logan's chest as they go so fast, it feels like they're flying.
Logan even got him headphones so he doesn't need to cover his ears, Harry flaps his arms. He wonders if they'll really fly like in his dreams.
Instead, they pass a car wreck.
Harry shouts, trying to twist around to see as Logan speeds the motorbike past the crash, leaning to see around Logan's bulk. He would fall to the ground if Logan wasn't still holding onto him.
"Don't squirm," Logan shouts over the wind and the engine, but Harry can't help it. The motorbike veers left until they're off the road, and Logan's kicking the kickstand down.
"What's wrong?" Logan demands roughly. "You trying to smear your brains on the road or somethin'?!"
It's the closest Logan's gotten to yelling at Harry. What if he decides Harry's a useless burden too and leaves him here on the side of the road?
Logan's next words are still gruff, but quieter. "If you gotta pee, do it in the trees."
Harry arches his back and twists to see the wreckage, groaning.
"Don't worry, I ain't gonna crash." Logan promises.
A woman climbs out of the car, and Harry hears a baby crying, even higher than his screams. The mum gets the baby out of the seat in the back, and the dad hugs them both.
Harry's chest gets a bit looser. At least another baby won't lose its parents and be sent to live with the Dursleys.
If the mum and dad in the car were dead, Harry would have tried to make Logan save the baby too. Except Harry thinks that Logan probably isn't a baby person. He never talks in that high pitched coo Aunt Petunia still uses with Dudley, and he seems glad Harry's accident in the cupboard was because he was locked in, and not because he doesn't know how to use the loo.
Harry watches the family hugging, and his heart still aches. He tries to set it right by leaning against Logan. Logan's heartbeat is a steady, strong ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum , and Harry hits his own chest in a similar rhythm, trying to fix his heart.
Logan doesn't cuddle Harry like the mum hugs her baby, but he doesn't push Harry away like Aunt Petunia had.
He wishes his mum hadn't died, so she could cuddle him. He wishes his dad weren't a useless drunkard who got in a crash and saddled the Dursleys with a worthless freak like him.
Harry thinks back to last night. Logan had smelled of alcohol, like when Aunt Marge has too much brandy. But Logan never once got mean. He told Harry the burning green light was just a bad dream. Even waking up surrounded by green walls hadn't been scary with Logan there.
Maybe Logan's a drunkard too, but he's not a lazy layabout like Uncle Vernon said Harry's dad was. Dudley lazed around more than Logan has.
Slowly, Harry's heartbeat matches Logan's.
"I sure as hell ain't going to be yer mother." Logan tells Harry. Harry keeps staring at the family.
Harry can't imagine Logan acting like a mummy, though he likes calling Harry bub like Aunt Petunia called Dudley all sorts of names.
"You ain't gonna get bedtime stories or kisses on skinned knees, stayin' with me." Logan says, but Harry never had those anyway. He reaches to toy with the chain around Logan's neck. There's a tag on it like Ripper had.
Harry keeps watching the mum, and Logan says "I'll find a mother or someone fer ya."
Harry blinks in surprise. Logan just said he wouldn't have things a mum would give, so how could he have a mum? Besides, Logan doesn't seem to like being around anybody, though he puts up with Harry better than the Dursleys had.
Harry's not sure where they'd find a freak mum anyway. This mum clearly isn't a freak. She's looking back at him now, with the same disgusted look Aunt Petunia uses.
The mum hands the baby to the dad and storms over. "What if you crash?!" she demands. "Your son doesn't even have a helmet!"
"I won't crash." Logan grunts.
"He still needs a helmet!" she says. "Richard's an excellent driver, and look what happened!"
Harry shakes his head back and forth, thinking of how Dudley yelled and refused to wear a helmet when he got his shiny new red bicycle. Then he starts laughing, because Logan's motorbike is so much cooler than Dudley's red bicycle.
Still laughing, Harry grabs the handlebars, almost bouncing in his seat.
"Look, lady, I'll get him a helmet when I find a place."
"Get one for yourself, too." she says. Logan just snorts. He grabs the handlebars too, and they soar off down the road.
Harry would happily ride with Logan all day and night, but he's glad when they stop for food. For some reason, Logan always buys Harry food whenever he gets food for himself, and he didn't even get mad when mayo almost fell on the motorbike.
This time, they eat in the cafe. A little girl and her mum sit at a nearby table. They both have brown skin and poofy hair that Aunt Petunia would hate. She'd probably say they're freaks like Harry and Logan.
Harry wonders if maybe this mum will be his new mum.
He sways his head and flicks his fingers, and the little girl gawks at him.
"Don't stare, sweetie." the mum says. Logan doesn't seem to care if people stare. He sits there and lets Harry rock and hum. Harry's trying to make his humming sound like the engine of Logan's bike, because the sound doesn't hurt if he's making it.
The girl keeps coloring, but she still glances at Harry. "Mummy, what's wrong with him?"
"Nothing's wrong with him," Logan grunts. He never minds Harry's rocking or flapping, except when he almost fell off the bike.
"Sorry," the mum says. Logan grunts. The waitress brings their food. Logan had ordered a steak for both himself and Harry. Harry can't finish it all, it's more than he's ever gotten, but Logan doesn't get mad, not even when Harry sneaks some into his pockets to save for later.
Harry wouldn't mind riding through the night, but they stop at another hotel. Harry had never been to a hotel before meeting Logan. It feels a little strange, staying in a new room each night, but they're all pretty alike. Logan always gets two beds, and even though they have different colored duvets, the furniture in the rooms is almost always set up the same.
Logan even lets him watch the telly. He was never allowed to watch at the Dursleys' house.
The next day, they stop at a shop with motorbikes outside, and Logan buys Harry a helmet. Harry scowls, because he can't wear the helmet and his headphones at the same time, and he won't feel the wind in his hair with the helmet on.
There's a rack of toy motorbikes, and Logan lets Harry pick one out. Harry chooses a toy that looks just like Logan's real motorbike and holds it in front of his face like it's flying. It's Harry's first toy, ever, and Dudley's not here to break it like he broke all his own toys.
Their hotel room tonight has something new- a glittery gold ball under the bed. Logan says some kid must have left it, and it's Harry's now.
Harry's new ball bounces when he throws it, and soon he's bouncing it all over the room. One time, it flies instead of falling, and Harry chuckles as he chases it.
He wants to throw his motorbike and see if it will fly too, but he doesn't want it to break if it doesn't. So he keeps playing with the ball.
"Neat trick," Logan drawls from where he's smoking on the balcony. Harry thought he wasn't watching, but Logan never minds freak powers. Harry can't always tell tones and faces, but he figures Logan isn't angry when he asks "How many powers do ya got?"
Harry doesn't know, but he knows now he won't get in trouble as he finds out. He wonders if he really had set the hoover on fire, and if he could light up Logan's cigars for him. That would be good, right?
When Logan goes out to smoke again later that evening, Harry follows him out. He grunts when Logan pulls out his lighter, and Logan pauses.
Harry takes a deep, brave breath. He's pretty sure he won't get punished like he had with the hoover.
Harry wiggles his fingers like flames, staring intently at the unlit cigar, but it doesn't catch fire. Logan pulls the lighter out of his pocket, lights it up, and shoos Harry back in the hotel room to play with his new toys.