Red

Harry has always felt alone.

Ever since he gained consciousness, even with his aunt's family, he had always felt alone.

And it was true, poor five-year old Harry Potter felt alone under the cupboards. Tomorrow is the first day of school. His aunt begrudgingly agreed to send him off to school, when her husband complained 'I don't want his face! Why should my Dudley be gone from here and that ungrateful boy stay here?' were his exact words.

Dudley was complaining that they had to be in the same house and same class, Aunt Petunia reassured him that none of it was going to happen, that her sweet Dudley boy didn't have to be in Harry's presence and can make new friends. (Only the latter was true, mothers have such a way with words)

Harry supposed he should be excited. He can get out of here, and maybe make a few friends. (None like Dudley's though, they were horrible!) But he wasn't, no one would be after getting hit by a coat hanger in the back for reaching out to get more pasta to eat. He didn't get why he couldn't just have more. How could he? He was only five years old.

Three hours had passed and none of the kids were Harry's friends, some would talk to him, which got Harry excited, then Dudley's friends came over and scared the other kids.

This happened for the whole year.

And the next year, 

And Harry thinks it will again happen this year.

The year 1987 is unreal, and an amazing year for Harry Potter, but not that he knows. He accepts the fact that he will be alone, maybe after he gets out of his aunt's house, he could make friends, far, far, away from Dudley. Though this year, that fact may change.

The bell rings, and he looks around the class he's in. There were some of Dudley's friends. ( Thank God Aunt Petunia didn't put him in the same class as Dudley) but not all, he guessed (hoped) that they would leave him alone and not harass him unprompted. Most were new, some had already built their own group. Some of his old classmates greeted him with a small 'hey', which shocked Harry. But at least it was progress. Some new kid is seated beside him, reading some kind of fantasy book– Year with a Yeti . Is this some kind of series?

"Hello children!" The teacher claps her hand to get all their attention. "I am Ms. Violet, and I am your homeroom teacher! With me you'll learn lots and lots. Okay?"

Some kids answered with a cheerful okay. Harry and his seatmate did not, no point . Both of them thought. 

"Well, I've introduced myself to you. Why don't all of you introduce yourself and tell me something fun about yourselves? Who wants to go first?"

Hands raised, the extroverted kids wanted to go first. Ms. Violet looked around the room, trying to spot the shy kids to let them out of their zone. Harry tried to look as uninterested as he can, he knows that looking shy will just egg teachers to call him.

"How about you, love?" Ms. Violet shows her smile at the kid with a bob cut who was shuffling nervously. She was seated to his left, a chair ahead.

"Why me?" Harry heard her say, though it seemed like he was the only one who heard because he was the only one to stop himself from giggling. "I-I am Scarlett Campbell. I am 7 years old."

"Well done! Do you want to tell us something interesting?" Sacrlett was biting her lips now, God why did she have to go first.

"I love my Non-"

"Why are your eyes so small?" Harry's attention turns to Dudley's friends. "Can you see?"

Scarlett's shock grew pinkish as she looked down. "I can s-see." She stuttered quitely.

Ms. Violet lets her take a seat and scolds them for interrupting and being rude. She asked them to apologise and they did, begrudgingly. Harry stared at Scarlett, she must have felt more nervous now.

Their introduction went on, some kids said their favourite colour, some talked about their pets. And Harry hoped the bell would ring before it got to his turn. Unfortunately for him, those who did not raise their hands were now getting called from left to right, and another unfortunate fact was that his seatmate was the next one introducing himself.

"My name's Theodore Nott. I like reading books." That's what all he said and sat down right after. Harry thought he was very confident and straightforward. 

"... Okay. Er, how about you, love? Share your name with the class." Ms. Violet turned to Harry.

If Harry didn't look like he was nervous before, he certainly was now. All of that uninterested act earlier was just a facade. "My name's Harry Potter. I…" Theodore's head snapped at him. 

Harry didn't know what to say, he didn't have a favourite colour, he certainly didn't have a pet, nor did he have friends to have anything interesting to say.

"I'm a-"

"He's a twat!" The same friend of Dudley who asked Scarlett a question stated.

His classmates laughed, ofcourse, they were kids and Harry just sat down, clenching his fists. No point in doing anything. 

Ms. Violet shushed them and scolded them. He's heard of the scoldings before, but it never stopped Dudley and his friends.

9 more years. Harry said, talking to no one in his head.

Recess is the same for Harry just as it was for the last two years, it's quiet and lonely. He sat alone in the field, fiddling a sandwich he made out of stealing from the kitchen. He wasn't really hungry.

"Harry!" Dudley called out to him. "Mum never gave you that sandwich, you stole that didn't you?"

Harry blinked at the sun as he looked up to see Dudley's silhouette. "I made it." He simply answered. Shorter responses made things with Dudley easier.

"Ha! But you stole the bread!" Dudley accused. "And I don't believe you made that, you can't possibly make anything cause you're a wanker!" His group laughs.

"And you should read a dictionary." He muttered. Harry knows Dudley doesn't know what that word means, he just tosses it around because it sounds funny.

"What did you say?!" Dudley grabs his collar. "You-you twat! What did you say?!"

Harry closes his eyes, awaiting the impact. 

"I'll tell the teacher!" Scarlett screams from behind Harry. "Go away! Or-or I'll kick you, y-you, you!"

Dudley lets go of Harry. "Look who we have here. Can you even see with your eyes? With you cheeks covering them" He mocks. "You're fat and have small eyes! Bet you can't even see where we are right now, bugger off, cunt. " 

Harry does not know what the fuck he just said, but he does now it's bad enough for Scarlett to walk up to him and punch him. She felt a strong urge to just punch him, because he was so annoying! 

"Do not call me that ever again!" Scarlett screams in his face.

Dudley was now on the verge of crying and ran away, presumably to tell a teacher. 

"We'll get you for this." One of his friends threatened her.

After the ordeal was done, Scarlett took a few breaths and sat beside Harry. He stared at her, bewildered. No one has come to his defence, he thinks.

"Are you going to eat that?" She asks Harry, snapping him back to reality. "I'm sorry, it's just that you've been staring at it for a while."

"You can have it." He shrugged, he truly didn't mind. "That's the least I can do… thank you." He whispered the last part softly.

"I wasn't really going to intervene, you looked like you didn't care about what they were doing." She said, taking a bite off of his sandwich. "I just wanted to ask for your sandwich then I saw you close your eyes so you did care."

Harry didn't say anything after that. Even though that wasn't really her intention, he was still grateful that she didn't let him punch her. "May I ask what that word meant?" He asked carefully.

"I don't actually know." She shrugged. "But May told me that's a bad word that people say to girls. I wasn't really offended by being called fat… my May just don’t like anyone calling me meanie names."

"Got it." He nodded. They were seated beside each other peacefully. Are they friends? Harry tensed at the thought. This was his first time having friends. Should he ask about their day? What should he do?

"Do you think that boy likes you?" Scarlett asks again, snapping him out.

"What?" Dudley? Why on earth would she think that Dudley likes him? "My cousin?"

"No, dummy." She rolls her eyes. "Wait, that's your cousin?" She mutters. "That boy that keeps staring at you. You need to look around you more." 

Harry looked around, and for sure, his seatmate was looking at him, quickly turning his attention to his book. "I think he's just curious about what happened. We are seatmates."

"Do you want to ask him why he's staring?" Scarlett suggested, completely ignoring what he said. "Come on! We don't have a lot of friends."

Harry got pulled towards Theodore before he could protestant any longer. Harry knows he's good at appearing indifferent after two years of practice (He just hopes it's good enough) and he hopes he fools Theodore so he doesn't look desperate to have friends.

"Hi!" Scarlett waved. "I am Scarlett and he's Harry."

"I know." Theodore replied coolly, not taking his eyes off his book. "Do you need something?"

"We were just wondering," Harry was not, but Scarlett didn't care. "Why were you staring at Harry?"

"I… was wondering what was happening." Theodore lied smoothly.

Scarlett smiled slyly. "You're lying. Which means you do like Harry!"

"Scarlett." Harry groaned. "Please stop. You don't even know he's lying!"

"But I do know." She said proudly. "You were looking at him before something happened. You see, I was very focused on getting Harry's sandwich so I was looking at him very much, it just so happens that you were also looking at Harry."

Harry stared at her. "That… seems logical."

Theodore shifted uncomfortably at her accusation. "Fine. I was staring. You looked like someone I know."

"Someone you like?" Scarlett pushed. 

"Far from that." Theodore snorted at the thought. "Now, can you let me read in peace?"

"No." Scarlett answered, smiling. "What are you reading?"

"Why are you talking to me?"

"Because I don't know who… Gilderoy Lockwood is." She answered. "Weird name."

Theodore rolled his eyes. "And why are you here?" He asked Harry.

"I'm just tagging along with Scarlett." Harry shrugged, getting more comfortable with her presence. "But the book looks cool though."

Theodore rolled his eyes. "If I tell you, will you two please leave?"

"Yes. Promise and cross my heart." Scarlett grinned, knowing full well she wasn't leaving. 

"It's about this guy Gilderoy, studying and bonding with Yetis. What a bunch of rubbish." Theodore stated.

"Certainly. What are Yetis?" Scarlett asked.

"That's… cocky of him." Harry commented. "He's the writer yet he's also the main person in the book?"

Theodore held back a grin. Harry seemed to think Yetis were fictional, Scarlett didn't even know what Yetis are! Muggles . He thought.

"What?" Scarlett asked. Theodore looked at her in confusion. "You said something, mugging? Or muggle?"

He didn't realise he said that aloud. "Nevermind that. And you're right Harry. He's a blithering idiot anyway." He waved the subject of Gilderoy off. Scarlett frowned her eyebrows at the word 'blithering'. "Yetis are…"

The three of them continued talking about the book in Theodore's hand. With Scarlett continued questioning and Harry and Theodore rolling their eyes or groaning at her statements.

This was definitely one of Harry's best days. Maybe even his first.

The bell rings and everyone gets off of their seats. Scarlett immediately leapt out of her seat to go straight to Harry and Theodore's seat.

"I thought I was going to die everytime I looked at them, Harry." Scarlett complained, referring to Dudley’s friends. Harry snorted. They've done worse than staring back. "What's your telephone number, Theo?" She asked. "It's alright if I call you Theo right?"

"No."

"It's fine." Scarlett dismissed his rejection. "What's your telephone number?"

Theo looked down, contemplating whether to give it to her or not. Considering he has none. "I'll give you the number when I deem you worthy." He smiled smugly.

"Funny." Scarlett looked at him, completely deadpan.

"What about you, Harry?" She asked. "So I could call you when I want to talk."

Harry hesitated in giving it. His aunt and uncle might scold or hit him if they know he used their phone number. It was such a risky move. "I… don't have one."

"What? Are you poor?" Scarlett genuinely asked. "It's okay if you are. What's your address, then?"

Harry definitely won't give that away. "I'll give you my address when I deem you worthy." He grinned slyly.

Theo laughed. "In your face, Scarlett."

Scarlett pouted. "I can't believe my only friends are mean. Very mean."

"Scarlett?" Ms. Violet knocks on the door, seeing only the three of them left. "Come with me, love. Harry, Theodore, you can go home now."

"Someone's in trouble." Theo teased, which made Scarlett hit his arm. "Ow! You don't know your strength, woman."

"Tosser." She muttered before saying goodbye to Harry and going outside with Ms. Violet. "Did I do something wrong, Ms. Vi?"

Ms. Violet's lip twitched at her nickname. "A student from another class told me you punched him. Is that true?"

He's overreacting . It didn't even hurt that bad. Scarlett thought. "He was calling me a word I didn't like. I'm sorry."

Ms. Violet pursed her lips. She did see Dudley with the boys that kept questioning Scarlett about her eyes, being Asian and all. "Is it a really bad word?"

"Yes. My May told me to never let anyone call me that. May said it is not nice to say that to a girl.." Scarlett explained.

Alright love. You can go home now."

Once Scarlett left, she suddenly bumped into Dudley, thankfully without his friends. "You better watch out! I'm telling my mum. She'd be furious at you." He smiled smugly.

"Tell her and I'll tell the whole school you got punched and cried like a girl." Scarlett stuck out her tongue.

Dudley huffed in anger and went away.

Scarlett was content.

Harry expected Dudley to be livid. For what Scarlett did, while he was wiping the tables he could feel Dudley's glare at the back of his head. The only thing he wondered was why didn't Dudley tell his parents what happened. Knowing him, he would immediately tell them.

"Dudley, my boy. Tell me what happened at school today?" Aunt Petunia's smile could practically blind you by how white her teeth were.

Dudley stayed quiet for a moment. He was still glaring at Harry. And Harry was really scared he would tell. "I got…" He started. "We learned adding today."

"Oh that's wonderful, my darling boy!" Aunt Petunia hugged him. "I'm making your favourite tonight."

Harry released the breath he didn't think he was holding. That was scary. 

Later that night, Dudley threatened him not to tell anyone what happened or he'll beat him up. Harry wanted to answer back with 'Why didn't you?' but refrained and instead just nodded and went on his way.

Theo wiped the smile off his face as he entered his house. His thoughts consisted of Scarlett and Harry. He thought Harry was cool, he looked like Jules Potter though, the boy who lived and even had the same last name. But maybe it was just a coincidence, after all, Jules didn't have a brother and Harry didn't seem to have any idea of magic. Surely, if he was Jules’s brother, he would know about magic, and the Potter family is rich! They wouldn’t let him wear those clothes (...). Scarlett, now she was annoying. She was talkative and loud, maybe a bit intrusive but she was a muggle, Harry was too of course, it's just that Scarlett acted more stereotypical.

"Theodore." His father spoke, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Father." He greets.

"How was… muggle school?" His father asked. Lord Nott was disgusted in the thought of muggles and it was evident in his voice.

"It went quite well. The basics are… certainly different from magic." Theo answered. He didn't (or more accurately, couldn't) tell his father about his… companions.

"Very good." Lord Nott stated. "You won't stay long in the presence of those filthy mudbloods. As soon as your mother's… investigation by the muggle aurors has been concluded, we'll leave straight away."

Theo tensed at the mention of his mother. He muttered a quick okay and something along the lines of resting before going upstairs to rest in his room.

Theo thought back to that day. Mugg- Mudbloods were vicious about their weapons. Extremely. If his father just wasn’t like that, if he had been kinder, maybe his mother wouldn’t…

Theo shook his head as he grips his shoulder, his mark was still there. There was no point in dwelling whatever it is that caused his mother to go insane.

The silence in his house was deafening. God, he really wished he had a telephone.

Scarlett came home to her May crying. The nurse beside her was consoling her, hair dishevelled and the nurse genuinely looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion.

"May?" Scarlett shakily said. "Are you okay?"

Her grandmother looked up to the sound of her voice. "Jusko, Neng!" She embraces Scarlett, seemingly not letting her go. "Takas ka ng takas bata ka! Wag na! Sorry na si mama, di na ako galit." Her May cried. [My God, Neng! You keep on running away!  No more! Mama's sorry, I'm not mad anymore.]

Scarlett hugged back her grandma. She mouthed 'go rest, please' at the caretaker. "I'm here na po ako, ma. I'm not going to layas na." She soothed. [I'm here, ma. I'm not going to run away.]

She continued to sooth her grandma for sometime.

Scarlett was not Neng, that she knows. Maybe that was the nickname of her mom. Her grandma always had episodes like this. Of Scarlett's mother running away, and Scarlett guessed she never came back. 

Scarlett's parents were pretty much non-existent in her life, starting from when she was young. Her May is always the one taking care of her. They came home once May was diagnosed with dementia and that was the first time Scarlett ever saw them. 

She kept thinking that they were happy to see her, to see Scarlett but they never stayed, not even until her birthday. Then there were nurses taking care of May and her now. Which she guessed was fine but they kept leaving and leaving.

"Nak, dito lang si baby Scarlett ha? Baduy naman pangalan." Her May commented. Which made Scarlett smile. [Child, (?) baby Scarlett can stay with me, okay? The name's so ugly though.]

"May, what's baduy?" Scarlett asked.

Her grandma looked shocked. "You're here, baby! I was talking to you mama earlier." She smiled sweetly. "Baduy means ugly. May nagsabi ba sayo nun?" [Did someone call you that?]

Scarlett giggled. "May, you called my name baduy."

"Ay no." Her grandmother laughed. "Scarlett is very beautiful, beautiful."

Scarlett laughed again, this day was the best for her.

And for Harry and Theo, it was as well.

Too bad it was only going to last for six months. But the three kids don't know that.

Two weeks have passed and Scarlett has gotten calmer— at least calmer than she was on the first day. Dudley and his goons beat Harry less now. His aunt and his uncle haven't found a reason to scold him– not yet, anyway.

Theo's was also normal, despite Scarlett bugging him to give his non-existent telephone number or asking for his address. Neither he was going to give. His father also hadn't returned for a while now. Which didn't worry him. Also why do wizards insist on wearing robes? This thing was hot. It's not even a really hot day!

Scarlett was having a fantastic week. She can feel Theo and Harry breaking into giving their numbers and addresses (they're not). She gave them hers though, in case they wanted to visit. May had less than 3 episodes in the past two weeks. The world has been great.

She went inside the room, immediately looking over at her friends' seat. Both seats were empty. Harry was sometimes late, but Theo never was. So that was strange.

She walked around the room, now only noticing her other classmates. Dudley's friends were laughing loudly, making fun of anyone who walks past, they were idiots, so Scarlett didn't really care. 

"Hey." Someone called in front of her. "No offence but your shirt looks tight and ugly on you, my friend wanted to say." 

"Oh… um, okay." Scarlett was used to these insults. She was fat, maybe just chubby, but still. No point in denying it.

"You should buy a large shirt. Maybe a boy's shirt would fit you." The groups of girls giggled.

"That's mean." She mumbled. Scarlett took a seat, no point in retaliating.

"I said, no offence though. You shouldn't be offended." One of the girls said. "I'm Alice." Alice stuck her hand out to shake.

Scarlett hesitated. She felt like they were making fun of her. That wasn't friendly. But all her friends were boys. And they were kind of mean too, just didn't make fun of her. "I'm Scarlett." She shook Alice's hand. 

Alice suddenly gripped her arm. Scarlett winced. "You're also very squishy." The other girls laughed. 

Scarlett took her hand away. She chuckled nervously. God where was Harry and Theo?

"If your boyfriends aren't here by lunch, wanna have it with us?" Alice suggested. 

"Oh." Scarlett said. No one asked her to go to lunch before, even way back in preschool. Harry and Theo wouldn't join her if she doesn't ask so it's nice to have someone ask her. Besides, the caretaker who takes care of May says, there was a certain comfort in girlfriends. "Um, sure."

This was okay, right?

Turns out having lunch with Alice, Athena, Althea, and Amelia means answering a thousand questions. (Wow, most of them were A names.)

"My mum says you were born in a different country? What was it like?"

"Can you just see a tiny bit?"

"I love how squishy you are. You are so cute."

Statements and questions like that. None she had ever heard before but the last question shocked her.

"Do you think Theo is cute?" Amelia asked, giggling. "Harry isn't though."

"Oh I do. What does Theo like?" The other girls giggled too.

Scarlett doesn't even care about having the stuff they said, hasn't even thought of it. "I guess Theo likes books."

"We can see that, fatty." Althea rolls her eyes. "Like, what books? I bet he likes the really really classical ones."

Yeah if classical was about magic. She wanted to say. But she wasn't sure if Theo would like her talking about him. "I'm not sure Theo would be okay with us talking about him." Scarlett shifted uncomfortably.  She just wanted to go. 

"But he's not here." Alice stated. But Scarlett wouldn't budge. "You probably like Theo so you won't tell us anything. You're very selfish, Scarlett."

"I don't like Theo!" Scarlett defended. "I… I just don't think it would be good to talk about him."

The other girls ignored her and talked among themselves. She was squished in the middle of Athena and Althea so she couldn't leave even if she wanted to.

Please let this day end. was her only thought throughout the lunch.

Harry arrived at school the next day. He was early since he wanted to see Scarlett and Theo to explain why he wasn't at school. Turns out, Theo also had the same idea, not like he was ever not early. 

So the two of them sat in silence. Harry borrowed one of his books. 'Aurora Boraelis by Ralph Walters' was a simple story about northern lights and how he captured it with magic. Theo really liked magic and he knew a lot of unknown writers.

The silence was awkward between them. They were both half-focused on their books, waiting on Scarlett so they could feel the awkwardness around the two of them. They never really hung out without Scarlett, without her, it was incredibly silent.

"So-"

"I-"

Theo and Harry looked at each other. 

"You go firs-"

"I can say mine la-"

"I'll go first." Harry quickly said. Theo sighed in relief. "I wasn't at school yesterday because my aunt… my aunt wanted to take me shopping." It wasn't really shopping, it was grocery shopping and Harry had to carry most of the bags.

Theo stared at his clothes in suspicion. Shopping? Really? His clothes we– wait he was also missing? "I was missing from class, too. My father asked me to come to… (Diagon Alley to buy new robes) his workplace."

"Scarlett was alone yesterday." Harry stated. "She's fine right? She isn't mad or anything."

"I'm sure she's fine." Theo waved it off. Ignoring the gnawing guilt in his stomach. He had a choice yesterday. "She's a big girl. She can handle herself."

Theo looked at his pocket watch. It was only 15 minutes to class, why was Scarlett not still here?

Harry was looking at his pocket watch for a different reason. Who the hell still uses a pocket watch? Watches were invented. "Maybe she's just late." Harry suggested. 

Theo hummed in agreement. They left their friend who wouldn't leave them alone (and they probably shouldn't leave her alone) since the first day. Scarlett was emotional and impulsive, both of them really think she's being petty and not attending class.

10 more minutes left until class starts when Scarlett came in. She searched for them and immediately went to them without sparing a glance to her other classmates. "Hey! I'm so glad you're both here." She hugged them from across the table, which was a very uncomfortable position for the three of them.

"You aren't mad right, Scar?" Harry asked.

"I'm an angry person but I'm not a jerk, that title belongs to Theo." She smiled at the boy and sat down at her seat. "So explain or I will never, ever, ever, forgive you."

Harry and Theo rolled their eyes at her and started explaining. "How was yesterday, though? You had no one to bug." Theo teased.

Scarlett was about to tell them what happened but she hesitated. The girls were being friendly and even included her. It wasn't worth mentioning. "Actually, it was better because you weren't around to bug me." She stuck her tongue out to them.

The bell rang and the class began.

"Theo, do you believe in magic?" Scarlett asks.

Theo froze. "No, anyone who thinks that is a nimwit. Why would you ask that?"

"You read magic books all the time." Scarlett shrugged. "Don't worry, I believe it too." She whispered.

Theo wanted to laugh in her face. She should believe it because it is real. He just shook his head instead.

"What about you Harry?" Scarlett asked her other best friend as she watched them fix their things into their bags. (She was also doing that but decided it would be faster to just shove everything in her bag.)

"I don't really care." Harry shrugged. Not like magic could help him in any scenario. "I do like your books, though. It's like connecting stories– same spells and stuff."

Maybe Theo shouldn't let them read his books anymore, Harry's too smart. Scarlett's too persistent for her own good. (He will never let them meet his father.

But his mum would've liked them.)

"There are spells in the book?!" Scarlett says. Harry nods and mentions one. "I thought that was just rubbish."

Theo grins. "It's Latin. You don't know it anyway."

"As if you know a lot! What does Mudblood mean then?" Scarlett stares at him, innocently. A look Theo can't reciprocate in this conversation.

"It's not a– Well–" Theo but his lip. How was he supposed to explain it was an insult to them? "It's a bad word. 'M not supposed to say it." Not in front of you at least.

"Your books are really detailed." Harry mumbled. "It's an insult, Scar. Here, Alfred says 'mudblood' to a non-magic person." He points out.

Theo grabs his book from Harry's hands. "It's not real." He mumbles unconvincingly. "Just... just leave it alone, alright?"

Scarlett was going to ask why, but Harry sensing his friend's shift in mood, decided to stop her. "Alright then, mate." He smiles at Theo, hoping that at least comforts him.

Scarlett pouts.

"Let's leave, ya big baby." Theo teases as he grabs his back and walks outside with his friends.

As they were leaving towards the school gates, Alice and her friends intervene.

"Y'know, you didn't have lunch with us today." Alice speaks. "You were with your boyfriends."

Scarlett shifts uncomfortably. "Well, they are my best mates." She mumbles.

Harry wonders if something happened while they were gone. Scarlett was uncomfortable now, and he's felt the same ever since Dudley started talking.

"But they're boys." Athena chirps in. "Maybe you're actually a boy with a girl's name."

"I'm a girl." Scarlett grows more uncomfortable, Theo takes notes. He thinks it's weird that they're interacting with her. They've never had.

"No. You're a boy. Girls can't be fat." Althea nods.

"Hey." Theo said defensively. "Don't say that. That isn't nice."

The four girls shrugged. "It's true." One of them says. A car honks behind them. "See you tomorrow."

As the four girls walked away, Harry felt the same way every time his relatives talked about his mother and father, only he felt it for Scarlett. The three stood there, waiting for someone to pic- wait, what am I saying? They walked home. No one picks them up.

"Are you alright, Scar?" Theo asks hesitantly. 

Scarlett looks down and shrugs. "I'll… see you both tomorrow. Bye Harry. Bye Theo."

The two were left dumbfounded. Both of them sensed something was off, but they didn't know what to do.

"Tomorrow is a great day." Vernon smiles. "I can sense it. The day I will be promo– shine the shoe better, boy!"

Harry flinches at his uncle's words. "Yes, sir."

His aunt and uncle pays him no mind.

"Oh, how wonderful darling!" Aunt Petunia says. She looks over at Dudley's paper. As expected, it was all wrong answers in maths. But of course, she pretended it was all right. "My boy is just like his father. So smart."

Dudley giggled as his mother peppered his face with kisses.

As horrible as his relatives were, Harry can't help but feel jealous at the affections Dudley gets. He shines the shoes. He cooks the meals. He does the dishes. If anyone in this household was deserving of love, it was Harry Potter. His grip tightens on the rag he's holding.

(Though, it was quite nice that Scarlett and Theo gave him the affection he deserved.

His grip loosens.)

Dudley mentions something Harry doesn't care about and Aunt Petunia lets him in his room. 

"You!" His aunt points at him with Dudley's paper. "Do you have the same assignment as he does?”

"Y-yes, Aunt Petunia. " He stammers. Harry thinks he knows where this is going.

"Make this your work, and answer yours and give it to Dudley." She towers over him. "And if my boy gets humiliated by your answers, you won't eat, or go to school for a week ."

Harry's first thought was Scarlett and Theo. He couldn't bear a week without them. 

"Is that clear, boy?" Petunia asks. When Harry mumbles an answer, she grabs a handful of his hair and pulls, resulting in a yelp from him. "Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Harry whimpers out. 

Aunt Petunia replies with a small good and leaves him to be.

Harry continues to shine his uncle's shoes.

Theo is convinced he has the worst luck. 

"How am I supposed to add when my fingers don't have more than 10?" He mutters under his breath. "This is rubbish."

"So you're just going to give up?" A cold voice calls out from behind him. 

"Father." Theo tenses. "I just– I-I didn't understand."

"Hmm." Lord Nott comes over to his son's side. "What are these then?"

Lord Nott pointed out the other writings on the side of the paper. It was the example that Scarlett wrote when she tried to teach him. (Clearly, he did not understand even if he said he did.)

"My fri– My classmate wrote them down to make me understand." He answers, with confidence now.

His father's hand grips his shoulder. Theo bites his lip to hide his wince. 

"A mudblood understood before you." Lord Nott looks down at his son's eyes.

Theo thought his eyes were cold, devoid of love and care. You would expect sadness from a man who just lost his wife. But there was none… Lord Nott's eyes were a void. Theo didn't– he couldn't answer his father's statement. 

Lord Nott grips his shoulders. "You disappoint me, boy. You are pure blood, you are in the Sacred 28 and yet, a mere mudblood bested you in something." His grip tightens. "Do better." He sneers at his son before walking away.

Theo let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. 

Maybe he'd just copy off of Scarlett's paper tomorrow.

Putting aside the horrible interaction with Alice and the others, Scarlett had a great walk home. She saw a yellow flower with the colour of Theo's hair, as well as a hanging flower with the colour of Harry’s eyes.. She grabbed it and shoved it in her bag.

Her house was calm. There was a note in the front door, 'back later groceries'. Scarlett thought nothing of it, as she'd come home to this sight many times ever since her May started having a caretaker.

Scarlett walked towards May's room. It was weird, most of the time her grandma was making a noise. Humming, listening to the radio.

She opened the door carefully,  May was sitting there, facing her vanity mirror, with a curler in her arm. Half of her hair looked recently styled, and half was dry. Scarlett thought she looks pretty today, maybe she’d go out, May does that from time to time.

"May!" Scarlett exclaimed happily. May freezes and turns to her slowly. Her stare "I'm the highest in maths, amd science, and english, and–"

"Diba sabi ko wag kang magpakita sa harap ko?" [Didn't I tell you to not show your face around me?] "Tanginang mga mata 'yan. Kamukha mo lang tatay mo. Umalis ka sa harap ko!" [Your fucking eyes. You look exactly like your father. LEAVE!]

"N-May." Scarlett stutters. 

May suddenly walks towards her and grabs her by the arms. "Wala ka na ngang silbi, parehas pa kayo mata ng tatay mo, Isidra!" [You're already fucking worthless and you have the same eyes as your father, Isidra!]

May grabs her cheeks as Scarlett starts to sob. "I'm sorry, May!" Scarlett wailed. "Please let me go."

"Walang hiya ka. Iiyak iyak ka pa." [You're shameless. You're even crying right now.]

May hits Scarlett right in the cheek.

…

…

May grabs Scarlett by the hair.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. That was the only sentence Scarlett thought of as May hitted her repeatedly, in the face, her arms, her bum, everywhere else.

"Please stop, May!" Scarlett wailed.

"'Wag mo ‘kong tawaging May! Wala akong anak na demonyo." [Don't call me that! I don't have a demon daughter.]

Scarlett's mind didn't think– couldn't think of anything but the pain.

Nona started to look around the room. Her eyes looked at the curler she was using earlier, it was still on. May grabbed Scarlett's arm and dragged her to the vanity mirror. 

"Wh-what's happening , N-Nona?" Scarlett stammered between her sobs.

Nona grabbed the curler and pressed it against Scarlett's arm.

Scarlett let out an excruciatingly ear-piercing scream. "Nona! Please stop it! Stop it, please!"

"Ms. Irene!" A voice calls out. The caretaker grabs Scarlett's other arm and pulls her, inspecting the burn on her left arm. 

Scarlett's ears were ringing. She can't focus on anything but the pain in her arm. Maybe the caretaker was stopping Nona now, or treating her wound, Scarlett really can't say.

Why would May do this? 

Harry and Theo thought it was weird that Scarlett had her head down sleeping in recess. 

"What do you think happened to her arm?" Harry spoke first, he'd taken Scarlett's advice and became more observant, well, as observant as a seven year old can be.

"I'm not sure." Theo comments. He silently grabs her homework from her bag. "She's less energetic than usual."

“Stop stealing my homework.” Scarlett groaned from her sleep. “And I am okay, thank you Harry.”

Harry nods, but he’s not convinced.

“And aren’t you more smart than me?” Scarlett whined. She was more annoyed than usual.

“Yes, I am but…” The real reason was maths commonly is just used in the muggle world. He didn’t care much for it, to be honest. It’s just that Ms. Violet is so nice about it. “I want to see if my answers match yours.”

Scarlett let out a grumble that Theo thought only trolls could make. Harry thought the same. Though Harry worries, Scarlett is grumpy today, less energetic, and has a bandage on her arm. He truly hopes she isn’t experiencing what he does. 

(Although, if she did, Harry thinks he’ll take comfort in the fact he’s not the only one experiencing that.)

Scarlett pulls out her homework and as the paper comes out, a flower, flattened and wilting comes out of the bag. Scarlett’s eyes brighten.

“Oh! I didn’t remember!” She exclaims. “Theo, Harry, this is for you!” 

Scarlett holds out the flowers.

Few of their classmates laugh.

Scarlett grows red out of embarrassment. She considered pulling it back.

Theo grabs it quickly. Thanking her quickly and returning to his seat. Harry thanks her quietly  as he softly grabs the flower. The teacher arrived shortly, putting their previous conversations to halt.

When looking at Theodore Nott, his face showed indifference. Harry Potter’s face too was soft and focused on what the teacher’s saying. But as soon as they glanced at one another, they both couldn't hide the redness in their ears.