These darkened alleyways, where my dreams lay: Chapter 2, harry potter - j. k. rowling fanfic

Of_death_and_war

Characters

Harry Potter

Tags

Alternate Universe - Punk Partially Blind Harry Potter Blind Harry Potter Punk Harry Potter do you know how much research I did to get into the punk scene circa 1980's not enough Half blind Harry Potter

Summary

It had started back when Harry was 8, and his aunt, tired of the school calling in and asking about Harry's over-large, ripped shirts and pants, had thrown a sewing kit at his chest and told him to to fix his clothing himself.Then he finds a magazine titled "Punks Not Dead" on the street. Entranced and intrigued by it, he hides it in his backpack to read during breaktime, when he can be in the school's library without Dudley haunting him. Inspired by the pages within, Harry finds himself in alleyways and close to bars, picking up loose soda tabs and forgotten scraps of fabric and safety pins.By the time he's 10, he spends more time outside and in school than anywhere close to the Dursely's home. It is then he finds a community of his own; a rag-tag group of teenagers living in a nearby LGTBQ+ shelter who are all too happy to take their youngest, and newest member under their collective wing.The wizarding world is unprepared for the ball of raging anger and soda tab chains that is 11-year-old Harry Potter. Cynical, unafraid to get into fights, and smarter than people take him for, he's not the boy the wizarding world wants him to be.Told from the perspective of one of the teenagers.

Chapter 2

April 20, 2025 at 07:15 AM

The bar that they spent the most time at was also the only bar that was all-ages past 9pm, which reduced the need for Leaf to dress Harry up to pass the kid off as 16 (it was a hard task- the kid was short and the security knew it). The rules were tighter then other places- no gobbing, for one, which Michael supposed was to prevent getting all the kids drenched in spit, and alcoholic drinks had a strict cut-off at 10pm.

But the bar made up for this by having a kid's corner during the day, one of the many spots where Michael could bring Harry to on a bad day to calm him down. It was partitioned off with a spare curtain between 8am and 9pm and offered a bookshelf full of books and toys, several piles of pillows, and a round table with plastic stools set up around it. When the group wasn't hanging around in the alley in the shelter, they were here (or trying to sneak into a different bar. But a bar regardless), either so Harry could find a quiet place to read, or so Harry could find a place to sleep for a while (Michael had seen the dark circles under his eyes- evidently the aunt and uncle didn't let him sleep much. Either that or the kid's circadian cycle was fucked up).

Unfortunately, the downside of the bar was that they didn't give free food or drink, no matter how many times Michael made use of Harry's puppy's eyes. Which was why they were currently heading back to the shelter instead of heading to the bar. Harry only had a few hours left before he had to go back to the disgustingly perfect neighborhood, and in the meanwhile Michael would make sure that they used the shelter's open meal times to their advantage. Harry had skipped breakfast during the morning to avoid his uncle and aunt- an increasingly common occurrence, as it seemed that the whale and giraffe were on a short fuse these days. He had had lunch- the shelter's Brown Bagging program came into play here- but Michael knew that wasn't enough. And knowing the kid's luck (or rather, lack of luck), his relatives wouldn't let him eat a full dinner today either.

So, open meal times it was.