Christmas in Knockturn Alley
* H *
Harry couldn’t truly believe his luck. Okay, maybe in normal circumstances it wasn’t luck, but in his it definitely was.
After accidentally breaking one of Aunt Petunias China, by stumbling over his still sprained ankle (the one uncle Vernon stumped on, when Dudley got a fail in his exam for copying) and letting the bowl with carrots fall on the floor, Uncle Vernon had decided to throw him out.
He had still waited by the window to be let back in, but once they pulled the curtain close and started a Christmas movie, Harry had decided to wait in the shed instead.
He saw the lights go out from there and on a wimp managed to apparate to Knockturn.
Ares had lent him as much of her magic as possible. She was with some new guardian, who let her go to bed early after they realised, she wasn’t really into Christmas.
Harry knew she was still awake and worried about him, but he had cut her off as much as possible, once his hands started to tingle. He knew from experience, that they would hurt every time he moved them.
He also didn’t want to ask her for help. She had already done so much for him. And he knew how to get money, he even still had some as he hadn’t had to pay for the potions last time because of the nice wizard paying.
So here he was, completely alone, half frozen, with a hidden purse filled with wixen currency, in Knockturn Alley.
Knockturn Alley wasn’t a good place for a child, especially during the night. Harry kept himself small and had his penknife ready in case he needed it.
He wasn’t completely sure, why he wanted to come here.
Maybe it was because Ares had received her first true hug here. Not here as in the place, but here as in the person.
Maybe it was because it’s Christmas and he just wanted to feel closer to family. He only had Ares, and he was scared she wouldn’t like him anymore, once she met him and found out how much of a freak he was. He knew she feared something along those lines as well, only in the other direction. Which was stupid. He would never stop loving her. She was his sister, and she was amazing. But if he told her, he would have to face his own struggles, and he just wasn’t ready for that yet.
Maybe he was a coward. It would explain why he had yet to knock on the door of what he knew was the shop. He was such a coward.
Maybe he should just go back to the shed. He still had access to Ares magic, as she had ensured he would have. He could light a candle or so. He only had to get a candle… Yeah, he should go –
Klack, Schschsch.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” A man in his thirties had opened the door he was standing before. His head was partly hidden by the cap of the black cloak he wore. The cloak had red accents and looked both warm and formal.
“Ma..kus?” He got out, through his clattering teeth. He was so cold, and it was warm inside.
“What is your name?” Markus asked again, his voice softer than before.
“’ardy” He stuttered. He went to breath, so he could focus on the word and wouldn’t completely mispronounce it. Gosh, he was such a freak. He couldn’t even say his name.
Hand reached out and pulled him inside. He flinched, but even his flinch was slow, half frozen.
The door closed behind him, and he took some steps away from the Vampire. He was so cold.
The next few moments were a blur. He heard several voices talking over his head. Some face showed up in front of him and were talking to him. But no matter how slow they talked he couldn’t understand anything over the ringing in his ears.
At some point someone guided him to a couch and put a blanket around him.
He didn’t know how much time had passed by the time the ringing in his ears had calmed and he felt his hands again.
He pulled the blankets closer around himself. It was quiet around him. He felt tears in his eyes and let them spill. He was tired and just wanted to go home, he didn’t know where that was anymore though. He didn’t have a home anymore.
There was movement in front of his eyes. He focused on the hand and flinched violently. His frozen body still not used to rapid movements.
“Easy there, easy. You’re safe here. You’re at the Reding. A clothing store in Knockturn Alley. My name is Markus, but I guess you already know that.” A calm tenor said, the voice belongs to a face which Harry recognised from the times Ares had switched to his sight.
“It’s Christmas.” Harry said. He wasn’t stuttering anymore, but his voice was no more than a whisper. He wasn’t sure, why that was what he said. Fresh tears fell from his eyes without him being able to stop them. They were hot and warmed his cold face. Maybe if he hadn’t cried in the first place it wouldn’t have cooled down.
Markus raised his hand again, slowly. It held a handkerchief. Carefully he petted Harry’s face collecting all the tears and cleaning the stains.
Once the soft touch stopped Harry opened his eyes again. He hadn’t even realised he had closed them.
“I have some tea for you. It’s only lukewarm, not hot, so you should be able to drink it without troubles.” He said in his still calm voice, reaching for a cup. Harry felt the need to cry again, but concentrated on his breathing instead, trying to hold it in. He had already cried enough for a lifetime. Tears never solved anything.
He cradled the cup in his hands and took a sip. It tasted weird, but not awful. Maybe he just wasn’t used to tea. Another sip, it tasted sweeter than he usually had. Maybe it was a sweeter blend. It smelled a bit like herbs from the garden. Maybe it wasn’t normal tea, but a special mix for health. sage, it smelled a bit like sage.
“Would you like some more?”
He shook his head, he had already drunk to much. He was such a burden.
“Alright. If you would like some more later, tell me.” Markus spoke softly. The firelight of the candles around the room made everything look warm and welcoming. It hadn’t looked like that through the window. That’s when he realised, he wasn’t in the entrance room anymore. He must be in one of the back rooms. Ares had never switched sight with him there. He had only seen all the colours Ares usually saw. They were quite confusing. Like if someone had put several images over each other on the same page. Each image seemed to have emotions connected to them, though Harry never truly saw them. Maybe because he wasn’t there himself and as such only saw an image of what Ares saw.
Either way, he didn’t recognise this room. It looked … homey?
His gaze fell back on Markus who seemed to have observed him. He pulled the blanket a bit tighter. A part of him was hoping to disappear, hiding away in his cupboard. Another felt oddly seen, he wanted to be seen, by those unnatural eyes whose have seen so much, but yet still looked kind.
“Ares has sent a letter. She wanted to ensure we knew who was visiting.”
Oh… Ares knew. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He never thought about how their connection worked. Or more like what Ares saw from her side. She saw different, maybe she saw different through their connection as well. Actually, he had never thought about if their connection was private. He just mentally shut a door each time he knew he would be in pain and hoped Ares wouldn’t feel any of it. See any of it…
Ares had a door on her side as well. He had never tried to open it when it was close. The door was in between what Ares called her present self and her past self. Her past self was a library full of books, that were filled with all kinds of story books. Some the ones that had text in them where muggle books Ares had read. Other’s the ones who opened to a person sitting at a desk writing, where wixen books Ares had read. Those were the more interesting ones, because they would read the story allowed while adding short movie scenes to aid the storyteller. And then there were Ares own books. Harry never touched those. Ares had showed him around the whole library and had explained that she began sorting her memories when she was little, to help her memorise. Harry had copied her idea and had begun sorting through his memorise as well. He hadn’t put it up in books like Ares had and he hadn’t truly sorted through his memories. But he had made small sculptures for people in his live, which held characteristics he had observed. Ares had orbs filled with different substances for the ones in her life.
He had chosen a butterfly for her. It was bigger than the butterflies that would fly around come spring. It was also more colourful. There was a black lining to it, but because of the variety of clear deep colours it still looked like a sunny day after it rained all night, maybe with a rainbow on the horizon-
Still, he should have asked, if the door worked. He never wanted her to know what a freak he was. It was worse enough, that she had witnessed one of his depression spirals. (Well, more than one, but he shouldn’t think about that now.)
There was a touched on his cheek. It was nice. He leant into it a bit. He blinked, realising he must have closed his eyes. The world came into focus and he immediately jerked back.
Markus was right in front of him. He must have moved. His hand was apparently what had touched him.
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention to startle you.”
“What?”
“I apologise for scaring you. I was worried you would fall asleep. While that in itself is not a problem at the moment as you are clearly warmed up again. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble should you not be home in time.” Here Markus talk a slow breath before continuing in the same slow, calm voice “Also, now that you are warmed up, we could take your measurements and get you some cloths. You’re in desperate need for winter wear. January tends to be much colder than December and it’s already freezing out there.”
“I don’t… I… I don’t want to be a burden.” By the end his voice was no more than a whisper. Markus most likely would’ve been able to hear it on the other side of the room, considering his improved hearing.
“You’re no burden Hades. We’re all happy to have you. Next time you should wear weather appropriate clothing though. I’m sure the Grandma’s have already started on some of those. I remember Ms Trudy taking your foot rough foot size, and Ms Hattie had mentioned your hight, while she fretted over you with the blankets.”
Harry felt a bubbling warm inside his belly. A small voice in his mind, that never seemed to shut up, still told him that he was a burden, that he shouldn’t take up Markus time, because he surly had better things to do than talk to a freak like him, that he didn’t deserve any cloths or the tea or anything else they offered. The bubbling warm was louder though. Not in sound, he was sure the warm wasn’t making any noise at all, it was like honey, sticking to the voice, the words, the letters and making them all stick together so that you couldn’t truly decipher what was said. Not that Harry tried to decipher it. He quite liked the bubbling warm, that smelled like honey.
Markus smiled. A kind smile which lit up his pale face. And Harry realised, he was smiling too.