Finding Harry
Chapter 2- Finding Harry
If there was one thing that Maya regretted from her abrupt departure all those years ago, it was that she never got to figure out what exactly became of her nephew. Hearing that he was okay was enough for her at the time. As long as he was alive and safe that meant that she could leave to lick her wounds and fight her demons in peace. He had been with Dumbledore and what was left of the order while Voldemort was gone by her nephew’s own doing. He was supposed to have been safe.
Maya groaned, realizing that she was just making excuses for her poor choices in the past. That child might have needed her and she was not there for him. She glanced down at Mattie who shimmied about on his back nestled between two pillows on her bed. The only thing that was reassuring at the moment was that she was in a better place, not necessarily great but far better.
“Where are you trying to go little man?” Maya questioned the baby, still moving about a little on her bed. She couldn’t stop the peaceful smile that drew across her face at his vision. It’d been three days since she had asked the fateful question of Winnie about the location of Harry Potter, ever since then they had been tirelessly working to find his location, without reaching out for Dumbledore’s help.
Winnie believed that Maya was being too stubborn in not just asking her old headmaster and order leader for the information, but something inside Maya resisted the idea. He visited her recently; he probably would not tell her what she needed to know. She was too much of a new and unknown variable. If there was one thing the old man hated it was uncontrollable variables in his schemes.
Maya remembered tense and quiet moments years ago after order meetings watching Dumbledore and some of the older members of the order play chess. That man had always been at least twelve steps ahead of his opponent. No, that wizard will be hesitant about what he was willing to trust her with until he thought that he had discerned Maya’s intentions.
She scrubbed a hand over her forehead feeling the beginnings of a headache come on. She really needed to get someone else to talk to besides Winnie and Mattie. Suddenly, there was a sharp rap on her bedroom door. Maya called out for Winnie to enter and the little elf did so with a big smile on her face and bounced around excitedly in a small circle. Maya merely raised an eyebrow her way and that was all it took for the elf to burst.
“I have found him mistress! I located Master Harry Potter. It was hard, but with the information Mistress had on Master Harry’s mother, Winnie was able to find him!” A smile bloomed across Maya’s face. She would finally be able to see Harry again. Nervousness erupted in her stomach and brought all happy thought screeching to a halt.
He was going to have so many questions. Why did she abandon him? Why did she not keep in touch? Did she not care about him? Merlin, when Maya thought about it that way, was he even going to want to see her? Maya glanced down at her son again, and strengthened her resolve. She was an adult; she could give Harry the choice of knowing her or not. No matter how much the latter would crush the last mangled pieces of her heart.
She turned her gaze to Winnie and saw that the elf was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing Harry as well.
“Tell me where exactly he is.”
Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, was exactly what one would think of when hearing the words “muggle suburb”. The house was white and bland with the exact look of all the others surrounding it. Maya could now see why wizards and witches found it so distasteful to live amongst the muggles in these surroundings, for there was no way to express your individuality. In fact, it looked like creativity was squashed and outlawed here.
Maya took it upon herself to walk around the neighborhood pushing Mattie in a muggle pram. He enjoyed the walk if his little coos and gurgles were anything to go by. She guessed that she came by too early in the day for any of the muggles to be home. So, to occupy the time she managed to find a pond where she and Mattie fed the ducks some scraps of bread from her lunch. Mattie was not in the sharing mood with his bottle.
By the time they walk back to the house there had indeed been some movement. A muggle automobile was in the driveway and there was a small boy tending to a flower bed in front of the house. She didn’t need another glance to know that this is indeed her nephew. That head of unruly black hair and round glasses perched on his nose was confirmation enough for her.
Merlin, did the boy look too much like James. Maya’s heart clenched painfully. Harry must be nine-year-old now. How does one excuse such a long absence from the life of a child? She was about to step forward with Mattie when the front door burst open and a small walrus of a boy scurried out of the door. The small patch of blond hair on his head already shone with perspiration.
He made a beeline for Harry, trampling over some of the flowers in the process. The lac of respect from the child for living creatures told her everything she needed to know about him. By the look of dread on her nephew’s face she knew that this was not going to be anything good.
“Oi, Harry.” Just those two words and Maya already didn’t like how he was speaking to her nephew. “Mummy says to get in the house and start making dinner, and none of her flowers better be hurt because of your clumsiness, if you know what’s good for you!”
With that, a devilish gleam entered the round boy’s squinty eyes and he trampled over some more of the flowers dangerously close to Harry’s hands before cackling gleefully. The repugnant boy hurried back into the house and Maya could see the angry and tearful look on Harry’s face. A sinking sensation entered her gut. Maya did not like how that interaction went at all.
And why would a boy of nine be the one making dinner? Shouldn’t there by an adult assisting him and doing the majority of the work? If it was something that Harry truly enjoyed doing, wouldn’t he look a little happier to get to cook, despite his thuggish presumed cousin’s actions?
Something just did not feel right to her. She was torn out of her inner turmoil by Mattie’s squeals. Maya glanced down to find is gaze surprisingly and unerringly focused on Harry. Harry seemed just as shocked as her, since his gaze was resting on the baby. Well, she guessed that Mattie would work on no one’s timetable but his own. Maya pushed the pram closer, and Harry stood up from his stoop in the grass. She noted with distaste and mounting fury that the clothes he was wearing are around four sizes too big for him and were littered with holes.
That was not how a well-cared for boy should look.
“Hello there.” His voice was quiet and his eyes flicked between Maya and the now happily gurgling baby. Maya gave him a soft smile.
“Hello lad. My son Mattie here has taken a liking to you it seems.” Maya said fondly. This is not how she ever pictured her life, but it is definitely a right sight better than how she had pictured it in the last few years. Harry smiled down at Mattie and her heart swelled.
“I like babies as well. I don’t get to be near many, but they are always sweet and fun.” Harry said crouching down and waving at Mattie. That caused more gurgling and squeals to come from the small boy.
“Well, I can see that you are a natural charmer with them young lad. My name is Maya and it is a pleasure to meet you…” She trailed off hoping to hear the confirmation from the boy himself of his identity.
“Oh! Um, Harry… Harry Potter.” He offered shyly. Everything about the boy screamed shyness and moral character. He was so unlike both of his parents in the demeanor department; for if there was one thing James and Lily Potter were known for it was not shyness. Over a dozen screaming matches over meals in the great hall were rousing evidence of that.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Harry Potter. It’s not every day that I meet young boys of measure.” Maya was about to say more but suddenly the door of the house flung open and standing there was none other than an aged Petunia Dursley herself. The last time Maya had seen her was when she went with Lily on a failed effort to get that horse faced woman to come to her own sister’s wedding.
“Get in here right now boy! You know you’re not supposed to be talking to people when you have work to do.” Her voice is tight and harsh, and the kernel of anger that had been building up in Maya’s gut grows with fire. Harry blushed and shot her a quick regretful look before scurrying away to Petunia.
The woman narrowed her eyes at Maya, and she could tell that Petunia couldn’t recognize her. With a frown Maya’s way, she slammed the door shut on number four Privet Drive.
Winnie didn’t approach Maya when she returned home. The elf could tell by the look on her face that the trip did not go well. There was no way that a child should be treated like that. No earthly way that her nephew was going to be subjected to that kind of treatment a second longer. After laying Mattie down for a nap in his bassinet, Maya turned her attention to her father’s study.
Even though this was a vacation home, he made sure to have at least a small workspace that would allow him some privacy and peace. She walked inside and battled away the waves of nostalgia that hit her, from the smell of the old books, to the still lingering scent of spice cologne.
It was like her father were still walking around the room, busy, but with a smile on his face. Henry Sutcliffe always made sure that he made the time for any of his children if they needed him, even when at work. Maya made her way over to his desk and muttered a spell that revealed a hidden safe in the bookcase behind his desk. She dialed in the combination her father told her when she graduated from Hogwarts.
All important papers that pertain to the Sutcliffe family and its members were housed there. Quickly, Maya started pulling out files and rifling through them looking for ones with her name on them. She sat there for what must have been hours poring over the papers. Winnie had come in and told her that she was taking care of Mattie, then once more when she brought her some porridge for supper.
By the time that Maya is satisfied with everything that she had found it was past midnight. She slowly rose from her father’s leather chair to stretch her stiff back and injured knee. She made her way up the stairs and peeked in on Mattie. He was sound asleep in his crib, clutching a plush badger to his little chest. Maya was pleased that Mattie could now make use of her brother’s room. It was good to have more Sutcliffes there in the home.
Maya moved to the room across the hall from Mattie’s and stared into the past. Her room had remained the same as it always had, light green paint and a fourposter bed. The light-colored dresser and desk were still in their same old spots. Maya was not using this room anymore. She had officially moved into the ill-used bedroom that her parents would stay in when there. Her mum was much more of a city girl so she rarely chose to come out to the country with her husband and children.
“What is Mistress Maya thinking about at this late hour?” Winnie squeaked from behind her. Maya didn’t turn her gaze away from the room.
“I’m thinking that it may be time for some more life to come to this house.” She bid Winnie a good night and retired to her room feeling a little lighter now with her decision made firmly in her head.
The next morning, Maya was tired and began to feel the start of nervous energy building deep in her stomach. The documents that she needed for the day were in the portfolio on the kitchen table at her side. Currently, she cradled Mattie over her shoulder and patted his back lightly. Mattie would stay with Winnie today for Maya would be unable to take him with her.
It was one of the first real times that she had been apart from him after finding him abandoned in an alleyway on the coast of Spain. Maternal feelings that she had never felt before pushed forward and that was how she came to have a son. Maya just hoped that James would forgive her for showing up late in protecting his son.
Once the clock struck ten, she knew that it was now a respectable enough hour for her to go and impose on the Dursleys. Maya kissed Mattie on his forehead before she shared a determined look with Winnie. Not allowing a second thought, she marched out the front door and vanished on the spot. Maya barely noticed the tugging and twirling sensation as she appeared in Little Whinging.
The front of number 4 looked just as quaint and quiet as the rest of the houses on the block, but there was still the sour feeling in her stomach which alerted her that there was something not right in this situation. Her nerves were beginning to build up as well. Was she ready to be in Harry’s presence? Was she prepared for the reminder that she will be given of all that she had lost?
The flash of James’ face in her mind was enough to make the decision for her. Maya took a long shaky breath; and started up the walkway and rapped her knuckles against the door before she could change her mind. From the muffled noises inside, she could tell that the family must be up. Maya could hear a muted deep voice approaching the door.
She almost didn’t step back in time when the door swung open to show a small whale of a man. His bushy mustache and slicked back hair did not complement his beady little eyes at all. It had been near a decade since she’d last seen this odious man and it was not long enough in her opinion. It was also a good reminder of where his son got his attitude and shape.
Vernon Dursley did not look pleased at all to see Maya on his door step if the sneer on his face was anything to go by. “What do you want? Do you have any idea what ruddy time it is?”
She didn’t let his rancid breath or irritable words affect her.
“Good morning, Vernon. I’m here for Harry.” Maya said and lithely side stepped around him. No small feat she could assure you, since there was little space left in the doorway.
“Wha… oi!” She ignored Vernon’s irate confusion and made her way down the hallway and further into the home. When she came to the kitchen, Maya took in a scene that shouldn’t have surprised her but still did. Petunia, and her son, a smaller blond version of his father sat at the kitchen table in their pajamas, eyes wide staring at her. The smell of sausage was strong in the room and she flicked her gaze over to the stove to see Harry standing in front of it with a spatula in his hand. Maya also noted what may have been a grease burn along his one wrist.
His pajamas were even larger on him than his regular clothes and they are full of so many holes, it looked like someone may have used it as a rag at some point. Harry looks just as shocked as the rest of the people in the house to see Maya. “Hello Harry. It’s good to see you again.” Maya said unable to help the small grin that came to her face at the sight of her nephew.
“Y-you were here yesterday… with your baby…” Harry stuttered, surprise and shock still strong on his features.
“Indeed, I was. We didn’t have the pleasure of getting better acquainted…” Maya started but was cut off.
“I recognize you now. He doesn’t need any of your lot! We promised to stamp out all traces of that vile substance when he came to live with us!” Petunia’s shrill voice was enough to hurt her ears and those of dogs. Maya was forced to turn her attention from her nephew to the trio of blustering, but scared muggles across from her. Maya did not like where this conversation was going.
“Substance? Am I presuming that you mean magic? Why should Harry need to stamp out the very thing running through our blood?” She questioned, horror beginning to grow even stronger in her gut.
“M-magic? There’s no such thing as magic… only in story books.” That heartbreaking statement came from the little clone of James with Lily’s vibrant green eyes. Maya bit back the sudden sob in her throat and faced her nephew again.
“Of course, there is magic. Your family didn’t tell you anything then?” her fears were confirmed when Harry merely shook his head no. Quicker than the blink of an eye her wand dropped into her hand and she flicked her wrist at the now burning sausages. Harry’s eyes are almost as wide as Quaffles as he watched the pan float to the table and dump out the food before floating over to the sink. There was a moment of stunned silence from the boy.
“And you think that I have magic too?” Harry’s voice was so soft, but Maya could see by the excited glint in his eyes that she had managed to spark something inside of him.
“Naturally, your parents had magic and so do you. Of course, you’ll have to go to school to learn how to use it and all.” she said getting ahead of herself.
“But… if my parents had magic, then why couldn’t they have stopped their car crash?” Harry asked, a sadness taking over him. Maya felt as if she had been physically slapped. That did it. That’s the straw that broke Maya’s tenuous hold on her anger.
“Car crash?” she hissed spinning around to pin the elder Dursleys with a scathing look. “James and Lily Potter did not die in a car crash! How dare you ruin my brother’s memory that way.”
Dudley was hiding behind his mother at this point, and Petunia’s face had gone completely white. Vernon’s skin reached a rosy red in his complexion.
“We were not going to have any of that unnatural stuff in our house. Harry was going to be raised proper without any of that witchcraft that took his foolish parents away. Now you will get out of our house before we call someone to get you out!” Vernon barked slowly gaining steam as he stood. Maya raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him.
“Certainly, believe me I do not want to spend another moment in your presence as it is, but I will be taking Harry with me.” she could hear a shocked gasp coming from the boy in question. “That is, if he wants to.” She added hesitantly. Harry looked so confused, hurt, and hopeful all at once.
“I don’t even know your name.” He said meeting her gaze. He looked so earnest, like a young James when he would make a promise, he intended on keeping.
“My name is Maya, Maya Sutcliffe. Your father James was my brother. I have only just returned to England and it took a bit to find you. I knew that I needed to see you. If you want, I would love for you to come live with me, and my son Mattie.” Maya said shifting her weight nervously. “If you need proof of who I am, I have the paperwork with me. It shows how your dad and I are related…” she rambled.
How could it be that a mere boy could make her so nervous of his judgment of her? It seemed like time had stopped in that moment. She wouldn’t ever blame the child if he wanted nothing to do with her after all this time.
“I wouldn’t have to come back?” Those words from Harry make her release the breath of air that she had been holding.
“Unless you honestly wanted to.” Maya replied glancing over her shoulder at the Dursleys. They look dumbfounded and unsure of what to do. The way Petunia and Vernon kept glancing at her wand, reassured her that they would have made a move by now if they weren’t afraid of the power that her wand symbolized.
“When can we go?” Harry asked, shocking Maya with his determination.
“Well… now if you’d like.” she responded. A brilliant smile lit up Harry’s face.
“Let me go pack!” And like that Harry had disappeared back down the front hall and oddly enough, into the cupboard under the stairs. Pressing matters needed to be handled though. She focused her attention back on Vernon and Petunia.
“I assume that there will be no complaints with you on Harry’s new living arrangements?” Maya said in an attempt to gauge whether or not there will be an actual fight put up for the boy. Based on the rather ugly purple hue Vernon had turned he had finally gathered up his vitriol to throw at her.
“You had your chance years ago to come and take the-the boy. After all the money and suffering we’ve put into making him normal, what gives you the right to just take him away? We promised to stamp that nonsense out of him!” Vernon spat. Maya lazily ran her gaze from the walrus to Lily’s sister, if you could call her that. Maya was more of a sister to Lily Potter than she ever was. Even if she had let her down in the end when it mattered.
“Don’t have anything to say for your sister’s child? No word in your defense at least?” Maya grit out. She knew that this posturing was only that. They’d give up Harry just to go back to the easy little life that they had. Harry just deserved so much more. He deserved family that actually cared for him.
Unfortunately, it looked like she was going to have even more to atone for seeing as Harry has had to live with this for the beginning of his life. “Don’t worry Dursleys I will take care of what you were supposed to be getting for Harry for the last month. After that, you’re all on your own, and hopefully you’ll be able to live with yourselves for the rest of your lives.” She said and turned on her heel to the hall closet.
Maya made sure to keep her wits about her and her wand tightly secured in her hand. Old battle instincts easily remembered at hand. She did not want the whale or his wife to get any ideas of trying to attack her. She could hear muttered words from the tiny closet in front of her, and from what she could see there was a cot shoved in the cramped little space.
Her hand gripped tighter to her wand. The feelings of rage and injustice were building higher and higher every second that she’s still standing in that house. As if reading her mind, the small lad looked back at her, pushing his broken glasses back up his nose.
“Almost done. Not much left.” Harry assured her. Maya gave him a soft smile, masking her dismay at how much he could possibly actually have in such a small cupboard. Indeed, it only took a few seconds more before a mop of unruly black hair popped from the tiny space, a large smile, and small rucksack draped over a skinny shoulder.
She spared a glance back at the Dursleys and merely saw loathing and more than little frightened muggles. Some people were never meant to know of the existence of magic, some just feed their hatred of all things different. Now Harry would never have to deal with that kind of environment again.
Maya placed a hand on his shoulder and quickly led him from the house. It says volumes that Harry didn’t even ask to say goodbye. It’s not until they are off the street, that Harry turns his large green eyes at her in question. “Is this really happening?” He sounded so bewildered, that it made Maya’s heart hurt that this even had to be a question for him to ever ask.
“Yes Harry. I promise you this is really happening. You’ll never have to go back. Not as long as I’m breathing. Merlin, I have so much to tell you.” she stopped realizing the enormity of the task that she had suddenly taken on. Harry on the other hand didn’t seem to care at all. In fact, the bright smile that was growing on his face was positively huge.
“I’ve never been a wizard before. How does that even work?”
Goodness, Maya was going to have to figure out all this muggleborn wizarding education stuff pretty quickly if she was to even somewhat satisfy this boy’s curiosity.