Escaping
The train ride to King's Cross was unusually quiet. Ron and Hermione kept throwing worried glances his way which annoyed him endlessly. He was no damsel in distress! He didn't need bloody saving from his relatives! He just hated to go back there. He would be fine. He was always fine.
After Voldemort had killed his parents his whole life revolved around surviving. No matter if it was his relatives' tender care or the obstacles at Hogwarts. Harry was sure he would live, even if he had to adapt his behaviour for that to happen.
Neville, sitting next to Harry and across his friends, was frowning at them. The teenager wasn't sure if it was from frustration or confusion, though. Luna was staring dreamily out of the window and he hadn't seen Ginny since their interaction in the Great Hall shortly before the term's end. Which was a good thing. He didn't want to talk to her. Not after what she tried to do.
Through the silence and the movement of the train, Harry must have fallen asleep.
Confused he took in his surroundings. Instead of the train compartment he found himself in a living room. It was furnished in an old fashioned way even if it looked expensive. The room itself was held in soft beige colours while the furniture was a deep forest green.
Tom Riddle was sitting in an armchair, reading quietly. Just as Harry thought that this was a strange dream, Riddle locked eyes with him.
"Ah, darling. That won't do. We will see each other soon enough.", Riddle murmured, amusement colouring his voice.
The man waved his wand in an elegant flourish and with a startled gasp the teenager woke up. He looked around.
Harry was back in the compartment. Ron and Hermione were bickering, their relationship not changing the fact that sometimes they didn't see eye-to-eye. Neville was whispering soft words to Trevor and Luna was still staring out of the window.
What kind of dream was that? And what had Riddle called him? Darling? Was that his wishful thinking?
Shaking his head Harry turned back to the window and watched the scenery.
The train station was its usual chaos. Family members were scattered around the station waiting for their children while said children tried to find them in the onslaught of masses. Most of them were not paying attention to their surroundings.
That changed as soon as Harry stepped out of the train.
People turned, stared and whispered. Few of those whispers were positive. Harry tried to ignore the churning in his stomach and walked through the sea of people. Some jumped out of his way with clear contempt in their eyes. Others just stared at him, glaring, as if their stare could change his mind about the upcoming wedding. As if he was responsible for their hatred.
A lot of them whispered quiet enough for him not to hear the hurtful words but some of them obviously couldn't help themselves.
"Traitor!"
"Naive!"
"Saviour? More like saving himself!"
Those were the nicer ones.
Harry ignored them and the nauseating feeling he got around those people and stoically walked towards the barrier, Ron and Hermione half a step behind him. Sheltering him. He was grateful for their grounding presence.
Once he got past the barrier and was looking at the muggle side of King's Cross he could breathe a bit easier. That was until he caught sight of his relatives.
Unfortunately for Harry they were already waiting for him. Their looks would have killed him if it was possible.
Bidding a goodbye to Hermione and Ron the teenager quickly walked over, ducking his head as Uncle Vernon's glare pierced through him.
"C'mon boy! We don't want you wasting our time!", Vernon yelled loudly.
Harry sighed deeply and marched forwards in as fast a pace as he could manage.
It was a good thing he was only staying for about a month with them. He was sure that he wouldn't have been welcomed after his birthday anyway and where would that have left him?
The ride to Privet Drive was silent and awkward. As usual. But there was a tension in both his uncle's and his aunt's shoulders that told him something was wrong.
Just after entering the house, Petunia said: "Wait in the kitchen. Don't touch anything."
Harry furrowed his brows. What was going on? Usually his relatives would send him to his room and lock him in. Panic overflowed him. Had someone made a comment? Did Dumbledore tell them whom he would marry? And if he did, did the headmaster want him dead?
He quickly obeyed his aunt, knowing better than to sit down at the table. Standing in front of the sink with crossed arms Harry waited for his relatives.
He was tense.
It took a few minutes for Vernon and Petunia to enter the kitchen and taking their seats at the table. Harry remained standing, inching slowly to the doorway to escape as fast as he could when things turned bad. He refrained from offering them tea.
"Dumbledore told us why you would be staying only for a month.", Petunia started quietly.
Harry froze. His relatives hated anything abnormal. Harry was a wizard. That was enough to get their hatred turned on him. He was already different. He was a freak in their eyes. What would happen to Harry if they knew that he was marrying a man? Harry didn't want to think about that.
Harry wanted to say something but decided to stay quiet. He could see that that was a mistake when he looked at his uncle. Vernon's face was almost purple with rage.
"Don't want to say anything, huh? So, you're not only a freak but also a faggot? A disgrace if I ever saw one.", Vernon yelled.
"No! I'm not marrying him because I'm... I'm that!", Harry denied quickly.
If he couldn't convince his relatives that he was normal regarding his sexuality then he was sure he would suffer severely, if not die.
No matter what he had discovered shortly before leaving Hogwarts, his relatives can't know. Not if Harry wanted to stay alive.
"Sure, as if you would marry a man if you weren't a fairy. I knew something was wrong with you from the first time I ever saw you! You're a disgusting poof! A sissy! We should've drowned you the moment we saw you on our doorstep!", Vernon yelled at him.
"I am no homosexual. I didn't have a choice in the wedding. It was arranged. I wouldn't haven chosen him if I had been asked.", Harry tried desperately. At least the last two sentences were true. He somehow has to convince Vernon he was as against the wedding as he could be.
The teenager was unwilling to take Vernon's punishment for being gay. Harry somehow had to get Ron and Hermione to understand that no matter what, his relatives shouldn't find out about his sexual orientation. But he didn't have Hedwig with him. Maybe they would be writing him and he could send a reply with the owl that delivered his letter? He was panicking internally.
During his panic, his uncle seemed to have believed his excuses.
"Good. You deserve nothing less, filthy, ungrateful brat that you are. God beware you if you're lying to me!", Vernon raged.
Harry winced but nodded quickly and was promptly sent to his room. He had learned early enough to just take the insults instead of arguing. This time he was even able to keep his trunk and magical things. Either his relatives had forgotten about them or he was lucky and they decided to just let him keep them as he wasn't staying long.
Harry laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling. For the moment he was alone and would also be left alone.
Whatever happened, he needed to make sure to get out of their way. This time, Harry thought, he wouldn't survive one of his uncle's punishment.
It was on the same evening that Harry found himself still left alone.
The teenager hadn't had time to even consider his revelation about his sexuality he'd had in the dorm. With Ron's help of course.
How come even Ron - whose emotional range could actually fit on a teaspoon - managed to see that there was no interest in women there?
Harry sighed. What to do about that? Should he even delve into these thoughts here?
He was nothing if not a Gryffindor so he started to imagine.
His first thoughts went to Ginny and immediately Harry cringed away from that particular image. As he'd already told her, she was just a sister.
Harry's next thought went to Hermione and - after a certain amount of guilty apologies to Ron - he even thought there was some feeling there. Hermione was beautiful and smart. Surely that was attraction he felt towards her? But the thought of kissing her made him screw his face up in disgust.
That didn't work either.
Maybe Lavender? The Patil sisters?
But even though he tried to picture Fleur - whose beauty was uncompared - Harry didn't get a reaction other than disgust at the image of them kissing.
Okay, women won't work. Ron was right.
Harry imagined Ron kissing him and cringed again. Ew, just like Ginny was a sister, Ron was a brother to him.
He thought about Dean and Seamus and even if that wasn't an outright no, it wasn't an enthiusiastic yes either.
Harry's mind drifted to Cedric. And while he thought him good looking and wouldn't mind kissing him, there was no romantic fluttery feeling or excitement at the thought.
Involuntarily his thoughts drifted to Draco Malfoy and that got him a reaction he hadn't anticipated. Kissing Malfoy made Harry squirm on his bed. Imagining to touch the Slytherin made him gasp. Harry stopped that process short.
Great, Malfoy worked. Cool. What in the ever-loving fuck?
A little breathless he shifted until he was comfortable again.
Malfoy worked almost too well but Riddle was older than him. He had looked to be in his thirties.
The next person fitting that age was Remus and Harry cringed away from that thought. Remus was family and the thought about something intimate happening with the werewolf made Harry feel sick.
The Weasley-Twins were certainly older than him but that didn't work. Okay, the Weasleys were family. Even though he thought Bill and Charlie to be very fit.
On a whim he thought of Snape and to his surprise his body reacted. The thought of Snape kissing him, exploring his body, touching him made Harry feel hot under his skin.
Harry stopped again any further thoughts about the man. He would have to be able to look Snape into the eye during class again. There was no need to make that awkward for both of them.
An older partner seemed to be okay.
With trepidation and a heavy heart, Harry began the same process while imagining Riddle.
The teenager thought about running his hands through the curls at the back of Riddle's neck while kissing him. He thought about letting the older man explore Harry's body.
A shudder went through the teenager and a trembling breath escaped him.
Harry stopped again.
Well, he thought, the wedding night won't be a problem.
With that Harry listened to the sounds of his relatives and fell asleep to the thought of being free from them. Maybe, just maybe, this summer won't be too bad.
Shortly before his birthday - almost four weeks into the holidays - Harry and his relatives were interrupted during dinner by a Jack Russel patronus. Harry immediately knew something bad was about to happen.
The dog stopped in front of Harry and opened its snout.
"Harry, unfortunately we will have to get you on the wedding day. Riddle got wind of Ginny's approach with the Love Potion and demanded answers as well as some retribution. We will be there on the 2nd of August to pick you up. Try to keep your daydreaming of Riddle to a minimum, will ya! I know he looks better now but try and keep your gayness in check."
Ron's voice faded and for a horrifying moment the whole room was silent. And then descended into madness. Petunia was screeching while Vernon was shouting insults and threats. The teenager wanted to leave the room quickly but a fat hand wrapped around his upper arm painfully.
"You are not only living off of our heads but you are also a disgusting, lying abomination.", Vernon hissed.
Harry flinched. This was bad. This was very bad. This was worse than any other time Vernon was angry.
"To your room, I will be there in a minute. I have to calm my wife down first."
Before his uncle let him go, the man slapped him hard.
Harry's knees almost buckled under the force of that slap and he could already feel the ache spread across his jaw.
"Just a reminder, boy. You will be held responsible.", Vernon growled.
With that the painful grip on his arm loosened and the teenager hurried upstairs. His head was throbbing and his vision was impaired. Harry guessed he had a concussion.
Whatever would happen to him, Harry hoped Vernon wouldn't kill him. The peace of the world was at stake.
His ascend to his room was slow going as he had to stop constantly due to his dizziness.
Just after he had arrived at Dudley's second bedroom, Harry heard the heavy steps of his uncle walk up the stairs.
With dread growing in the pitch of his stomach, making him feel nauseous, he waited for his uncle.
Harry was left in the bedroom, blood dripping from his mouth. Maybe he would die here. Lying broken and bloody on the floor in this decrepit bedroom.
A thought drifted through his head. If you do not feel safe or need to escape simply say Home in parseltongue and the ring will take you to me.
Time to see if the Dark Lord will be true to his words.
Crawling slowly across the room, he gathered his trunk and broom. Harry was suddenly very happy that he hadn't bothered to unpack his things.
Looking at the ring and gathering an image of a coiling snake in his mind he whispered: "Home."
A hook reached under his navel and a breath later he was spinning away.