THE VANISHING GLASS (scully, you're not going to believe this)
" you built this cage
lost colour in my face
you're fearing I'm insane
hallucinations, shame
guilt, pain, more pain "
Harry braces himself, taking a slow, deep breath, making eye contact with Thea. She holds his gaze, a silent reminder that she's here, they're all here, they'll break him out of this room and find somewhere safe away from these Targaryens if they fucking have to. Ron nods at him in confirmation as gasps fill the room.
Harry is now 10 years old, still sleeping. Then, the light turns on outside his bedroom cupboard under the stairs.
"What?" Rhaenyra demands. "What is that?"
"My bedroom," Harry says, blasé. "It's a little cramped, but-"
"That is for storage!" His sister-in-another-life yells. Alicent is spluttering, mouth open and closing in horror as she gawps at the scene of a child living under the stairs like a servant. He was once a prince. Despite her dislike for his nature, she can concede to how awful that must have been.
"No," Jacaerys whispers, his hands clenching on Joffrey's shoulder. Lucerys had gone stock still, knuckles white from horror or rage. "No, no, no."
Daeron's head whips towards Thea. "Did you know this?" He hisses. His Uncle has pressed his face to Daeron's shoulder, as if picturing him in Harry's place, and feared it may be true. Thea presses her lips together. "Did you-"
"We all did," she snaps, and Charlie presses a hand to her knee. "He told us eventually."
"You knew and yet you-"
"I didn't know about his existence until he was damn near fourteen, and on there he's ten," she says hotly. "Nobody in this room had met him."
Neville pitches in. "And since that's not a spoiler-"
Thea gives him a truly scathing look. Neville laughs.
Rhaena makes a quiet noise in the back of her throat, like she's about to retch. "Oh, my," she whispers, eyes fixed on the door in horror.
Daemon shakes his head slowly. "We're they punished?"
The group lock eyes. Ron and Hermione look to each other. Harry and Thea make eye contact and quickly whip their heads away from each other, making faces - eyes slightly widened, raised eyebrows, pursed lips. Harry then looks to Neville and Ron with a shrug. "Well," Charlie says diplomatically. "...going back to the idea of spoilers-"
Harry nods eagerly. "Yes, yes," his voice is hasty, and slightly strained for containing his laughter. If they're freaking out over this, they're going to lose their ever loving minds over some of the other things he's been through. It's slightly wild to him, that they care so much. They've never even met him. "Spoilers. Big...big deal, the spoilers are. Um-"
Ron snorts, quietly, and then Neville lets out a quietly choked, wheezing noise, and Thea buries her face in her hands, shoulders shaking.
"-very important not to, ah, tell you anything-" he bites his lip. Don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh-
PETUNIA, sharply: Up! Get up! [She knocks on his closet door repeatedly] Now! [Smacks door of closet and walks into the living room]
"Horrid woman," Daemon snaps. Charlie coughs again. All six are avoiding eye contact, having shifted to vaguely face each other, whispering among themselves.
Hermione whispers to Ron, "do not laugh-"
"Such a diva," Harry whispers back, and Thea's shoulders start shaking again.
Rhaenyra looks, clueless, at them. "Perhaps we should get down to business," she begins cautiously, and Charlie glances over at her, leans forward to engage in a conversation with her, but Harry, Hermione and Thea - all muggle raised - are distracted immediately.
"To defeat the huns," Hermione sings softly.
Harry and Thea join in. "Did they send me daughters -"
The Targaryens stare at them. They're whisper-yelling lyrics at each other, not paying any attention.
"When I asked for sons?"
Harry wakes up, turns on his bedroom light and puts on his glasses with tape on the bridge, indicating that it was partly damaged. A large boy suddenly comes running down the stairs above the closet. He stops half-way down and goes back, jumping on the staircase.
"He kinda looks like a beach ball," Thea observes. Jacaerys looks mildly horrified as he stares at the screen. Aemond and Aegon look completely disgusted.
"I'll tell him you said that, then."
"No, it's fine, I've already told him that his baby photos look like that, too."
"You know that odious boy?" Aemond asks, horrified enough to not be bothered about interacting with a 'common born peasant', as he hand murmured to his brother.
Thea wrinkles her nose, not looking at him, making direct eye contact with Harry. Charlie has stiffened slightly beside her.
Aemond huffs at the lack of answers, and opens his mouth to demand again, but Helaena catches his eye and quietly shakes her head, and so he quiets back down, grumbling.
DUDLEY: Wake up, cousin! We're going to the zoo!
"Cousin?" Alicent asks, horrified.
"What's a zoo?" Joffrey asks interestedly.
"Like a menagerie," Thea says, and, when met with blank looks, "animals kept at a centre in order to be cared for or for people to visit and see."
Aegon wrinkles his nose. "Sounds barbaric," he mutters, which causes Hermione to jump in.
"Not all of them are bad. Some help care for animals, and especially endangered species or those who can't live in a wild-"
"Mostly because they've been hunted by humans," Neville says helpfully.
"And there are animal rights and welfare checks-"
"Not everyone uses those," Harrys adds.
"And most people treat the animals with respect and kindness."
"Key word is 'most'," Charlie mutters.
Hermione shoots them a baleful look - one that has Ron snickering - as the Targaryens grow more and more horrified.
Harry looks up to small amounts of dust falling. Dudley comes down the stairs, and Harry tries to come out of the closet but is pushed back in by him. Petunia is in the kitchen, where Dudley has gone.
Rhaenyra clenches her hands into fists. Across the room, Ron mutters something that sounds like sonofabitch. She agrees with the sentiment as her chest tightens slightly. If Baelon had lived here, with her, she would have made sure that he had never been disrespected and abused in such a way.
"A noble should not be treated that way, let alone a royal," Aemond tells Harry primly. Something in his stomach is twisting slightly. The way this Dudley is treating Baelon-Potter reminds him all too much of his own upbringing.
"You know, I forgot he used to look like a pig in a wig," Thea whispers to Charlie.
"You've met the fucker?" The red head hisses back.
"Dude-"
PETUNIA: Oh, here he comes, the birthday boy!
VERNON: Happy birthday, son.
"Oh, Gods," Daemon says in disgust. Thea, not to pleased to be agreeing with him, sends him a mildly disgruntled side eye, which Daemon doesn't notice, but Rhaena does. The teen narrows her eyes at the pretty girl. Thea doesn't notice her (or, at least, pretends not to notice), and Rhaena presses her lips together tightly, shakes her head in mild disappointment, and turns back to Luke and Jace.
Harry says, offhandedly, "well, it makes sense how he turned out, given how he was raised."
Thea focuses pointedly on her fingernails. Ron doesn't look at him. Hermione presses her lips together and turns to Neville.
"What?" Harry protests.
"Well, it's definitely not his fault for how he was raised," Hermione says awkwardly, "but..."
"He should have outgrown petty grievances that his parents enforced?" Charlie offers.
"Should have been better than vitriol and hatred?" Neville adds.
Thea says, flatly, "he should have known since kindergarten that 'gentle hands' should be enforced, not bullying. We learnt well enough."
"What's kindergarten?" Gwayne asks interestedly.
"Um..."
"Small children go there as a sort of preparation for school," Thea intervenes.
"What's school?"
She mutters under her breath. "Oh, dear lord."
Harry comes into the kitchen, dressed in outgrown clothes.
Alicent wrinkles her nose. "Is that a...fashion statement?"
Aegon raises an eyebrow at his cup. "Mother, he's poor," he says under his breath.
PETUNIA (to Harry) [unpleasantly]: Why don't you just cook the breakfast, and try not to burn anything.
"You are not a slave," Rhaenyra says hotly. "How long have you been cooking for?"
"Um," Harry says anxiously, "since I could reach the stove?"
"I learnt how to bake at like eight," Thea offers. "It's not uncommon for kids to help out."
Hermione raises an eyebrow. "Conventional households, unlike yours and Harry's, does not include children and teens cooking for themselves," she says mildly.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they don't learn."
"I didn't."
"You can't cook."
Jacaerys frowns at the girl with the waterfall eyes. She seems incredibly aware, but all she appears to be doing with this knowledge is keeping the attention away from Harry.
HARRY Yes, Aunt Petunia.
Harry then gets to work on cooking the bacon.
"It's weird, seeing you this young," Charlie says to Harry. "It's trippy."
Ron snorts. "Oh, just you wait."
Alicent picks at her nails. The red head is right; the child on the screen is only ten. If she has to watch him be hurt and afraid, she's going to feel that sickening lump in her throat, the one that burns as bad as when her father left her in Court with Viserys.
PETUNIA: I want everything to be perfect for my Dudley's special day.
VERNON, to Harry, who is taking his time placing the bacon on the plates: Hurry up! Bring my coffee, boy!
HARRY: Yes, Uncle Vernon.
Daemon clenches his hands into fists. "You are not a slave," he says through his teeth. "You are a wizard, why did you not hit back?"
"I didn't know I was a wizard," Harry says, offended, "and hitting him would mean-"
Ron is giving the adults a hard stare. Go on, then, he dares them. Comment on what you will never be able to change. Weak ass motherf-
"I always hated being called boy," Harry adds offhandedly.
PETUNIA: Aren't they wonderful, darling?
DUDLEY: How many are there?
VERNON: Thirty six. Counted them myself.
DUDLEY: Thirty six? But last year, last year I had thirty seven!
Baela stares, baffled. "What a spoiled cunt," she says, and then bodily turns to stare at Aegon, who takes a moment to notice her, looks away, and then realises what she's implying, whipping his head around to stare at her, completely offended. Lucerys giggles into his palm.
"He truly was the most obnoxious asshole," Thea says, almost wonderously, to herself.
"You really are the most devious bastard in New York City," Hermione quips, the sound invading her mind immediately. Thea tosses her head back on a bark of laughter, Harry joining in.
Jacaerys has gone very, very stiff.
VERNON: Er, yes, well, some of them are quite a bit bigger than last year.
DUDLEY: I don't care how big they are!
PETUNIA, trying to calm him down: Oh, now, now, now. This is what we're going to do, is that when we go out, we're going to buy you two new presents! How's that, pumpkin?
"Pumpkin," Aemond echoes in distate. He's not quite sure what a pumpkin is, but the idea of being called one feels revolting.
"I cannot believe you associate with him," Harry tells Thea, who throws her hands up, beginning to say, we have talked a whopping three times, exchanging emails about you, but Rhaenyra has sat completely upright and is fixing her with a furious look, so instead, she plays into it, a quiet tease on her lips. The two - and Charlie - fall into an easy joke, not paying attention to the movie or anyone else.
Harry goes to go in the car, but Vernon stops him, pointing his keys at him.
VERNON: I'm warning you now, boy! Any funny business, any at all, and you are not going to have any meals for a week! Get in!
"No meals for a week-" Rhaenyra begins, hands clenching into fists.
"I snuck out to get food when they did that." Harry waves a hand dismissively. Even Helaena fixes her gaze disapprovingly on him. "What? I waited until night, and I-"
"Harry, I think the point is that you had to sneak out to get food rather than your guardians just, you know, feeding you," Hermione says.
"Well, as you said, conventional households-"
Neville mutters "can we please not start the conventional household argument again?" at the same time Jacaerys adds, flabbergasted, "are you truly trying to defend those awful - mongrels right now?"
"Mongrels, I like that word now," Thea says to Charlie.
Harry opens his mouth, only to take a gentle elbow to the side and a quiet, "let's just move on, mate."
They go to a boa constrictor in a glass cage. Dudley taps on it multiple times.
DUDLEY: Make it move.
"That seems inhumane," Helaena frowns.
"Most people don't act like that in zoos," Hermione reassures her.
"Yeah, but zoos aren't exactly grand," Charlie points out. "Wildlife conservation? Sure. A bunch of animals held captive to be stared at? Eh, not great."
Helaena lifts her head and fixes her gaze on Charlie, who shrugs at her and turns back to the conversation he is having with Neville.
VERNON: Move. Move!
HARRY: He's asleep.
"Good on you, mate," Ron says.
DUDLEY: He's boring.
"And you are an insignificant and yet completely irritating whelp," Aemond mutters viciously under his breath. His sister does not like the animals being treated that way, and so it's another reason to dislike the impudent boy on the projection.
Halfway across the room, Thea and Daeron snort in sync.
HARRY: Sorry about him. He doesn't understand what it's like, lying there day after day, having people press their ugly faces in on you. (The snake looks up and blinks.) Can you hear me? (The snake nods) It's just, I've never talked to a snake before. Do you, I mean. do you talk to people often? (The snake shakes its head) You're from Burma, aren't you? Was it nice there? Do you miss your family? (The snake turns its head in the direction of a sign which says, Bred in Captivity) I see. That's me as well. I never knew my parents, either.
"You're mental, you are," Ron whistles. The rest of the room are fixed in shock. "Relating to a snake, are you mad?"
"How the fuck did you not know you were not completely normal when a snake was communicating to you?" Thea asks, baffled. "I know you know that I know you're a Wix and that you and snakes are-" wheeze "-okay, spoiler, but that thing, how was that not a raging fucking sign for you?"
Alicent says, wapishly and without thinking, mindful of the children in the room, "language," and the younger girl looks mildly contrite.
"Snakes," Rhaena says. "...you talk to snakes?"
"Huh, you put that together fast," Harry says mildly.
Joffrey sits up like a bolt, coming to some sort of conclusion. "Can you talk to dragons?"
"...ah, well, I wish I knew-"
DUDLEY: Mummy, dad, come here! You won't believe what this snake is doing!
Dudley puts his hands on the glass wall. With his back turned, Harry glares at him. The glass disappears, causing Dudley to wretch forward, losing his balance.
DUDLEY: Whoa! Ahh! Ahh!
[Dudley falls into the snake enclosure, sputtering in a pool of water. Harry snickers at what he saw. The snake gets out of the exhibit, stopping in front of Harry.
"That was you?" Ron asks. "Merlin, I remember dad complaining about that case. He couldn't figure out why someone would just vanish the glass like that."
"Oh my gods, you really are magic," Baela whispers, more to herself than anything else. She hadn't truly believed, at first; she knew there was something a little weird, a little different about Baelon-Harry, but she didn't truly grasp the 'wix' idea. It just seemed too far fetched. But here he is, communicating with a snake and vanishing objects.
SNAKE: Thanks.
HARRY: Anytime.
Alicent feels faint, her fingers rubbing over the circle of her star. "Oh my," she murmurs. He is a heretic, a danger-
He is just a boy. A child. She feels almost nauseous, looking between Small Potter and Now Potter. A child, hurt, alone...a child, magical, terrible.
"'I had no signs', he said, 'how could I have known', he said," Thea grumbles.
Dudley gets up to get out, but the glass is now back over the enclosure. Seeing that he is now trapped in the snake exhibit, he pounds the glass in panic.
DUDLEY: Mum, mummy!
Petunia notices him in the exhibit and screams.
DUDLEY: Mum, help! Help me!
PETUNIA: My darling boy! How did you get in there? How did you get in there? Is there a snake?
Harry grins and snickers.
The rooms laughs along with him, other than Thea (who shakes her head with a rueful grin), Aemond (because this feels all too familiar to him), Helaena (more worried about the snake loose) and Alicent (still torn up by her own thoughts).
"Had it coming, you rat," Daemon says viciously, quietly, so only Rhaenyra, who chuckles quietly, can hear.
Vernon notices Harry, and his smile vanishes.
"Back in trouble," Harry says, wistfully. "It was nice while it lasted."
Hermione points out, "you can never get in trouble with them again."
"Are they dead?" Baela asks, a little too eagerly, if Jacaerys' side eye is anything to go by.
"No, I moved out. I think...I think that might be the end of the scene. Ready to go on?"