Blacks and Green

August 10 1993 12:13 am

“Come on, we can walk at least a few hours and then find a place to rest” Harry had said, and then he barely got to walk half an hour and was panting and sweating, barely seeing anything, grabbing his left side.

He was feeling fine all this time but now he was thinking how stupid he was, that was too good to be true. He was already feeling the burning through his veins, the blood running loudly in his ears. Great, half blind and deaf. Fucking Vernon, couldn’t wait to take off my glasses before hitting the shit out of me?

The only explanation Harry could think of for Vernon to do what he did was that the man had finally lost his mind. Well, understandably I guess… With all his family in the hospital… What am I doing? He wasn't lying when he told the dog of the scientific method.

The accident was Miss Figgs, and really, it was an accident! Then Marge because the woman was a bitch, saying all that bullshit about his parents. Petunia and Dudley were next and now he definitely knew he wasn't thinking. It should have been Vernon first you idiot!Then all this shit wouldn't have happened!

But really, he was supposed to know that Vernon would leave in the middle of the dinner that he had prepared? Just my typical bad luck I guess. If he wanted to be honest with himself, he would admit that he felt bad about the results of his experiment. 

Yes, he did what he did consciously and he didn’t regret it but he didn't expect to be that bad, that was like two weeks ago and the four people that he sent to the hospital hadn't regained consciousness yet. That was serious shit. Better not think about that. They deserved it anyway. But Miss Figgs- She was an accident!

And really, she was an accident. She, for some reason Harry didn’t know, had invited him to her house one of the very few days that he went to go shower at the Dursleys (The only reason he went to that house at that time). She had insisted to him to drink tea with her. He accepted and at her house, she asked him to pass her a piece of cloth that she was weaving. And well, he pricked himself on his index finger. And then the weirdest thing he had seen Miss Figgs do happened.

The woman seemed excited for some reason. That was enough to freak him out, but then she went all weird purposely touching his blood, even trying to pour more of Harry’s finger. By that point Harry was nearly running for the door. Last thing he saw was Miss Figgs putting a finger in her mouth. Later he found out that Miss Figgs was in the hospital. So, maybe the woman was nuts, but he didn't mean to hurt her.

Harry swayed dangerously and almost fell but he stopped himself leaning on a wall. Shit. The fever was getting to him. He needed to rest. He walked leaning on the wall, he needed to find a place to hide, well, with his invisibility cloak that was easy, he just needed a place where the trunk didn't bother anyone and he could sleep on it, hiding under the cloak. Yep, that's a plan.

He wanted to take one more step and the next thing he knew was that the dog was face to face with him, whimpering and pushing him with its head on his chest. He felt Hedwig flapping her wings near his face and he smiled at them. They were worried about him. He hugged the dog "I'm fine, I'm fine". He tried to stand up but winced when he pressed on his burned hand. 

The pain was like a bucket of cold water. "Yeah, I'm fine" he was more awake now. He kneeled and stood up swaying, but he knew he was fucked, he couldn't see a shit. Then Harry felt stupid again, he had two very intelligent friends with him, he just needed to ask for help.

"So, doggy and Hedwig, I can't see very well and I need to find a place where the three of us can rest, where the trunk can’t be found by anyone and where we could hide with the cloak. Don't worry about the day, I'm gonna be up before dawn".

He had wanted to put some distance between Privet Drive and him before going to sleep but he knew he couldn't take much more than a few more steps. Maybe a couple of meters. The good thing was that the trunk was still floating. It seemed that if he used parseltongue the spell lasted longer. Or maybe it wasn't that and there was another reason. He needed to test some more.

The ritual circle was a success after all, and oh Merlin that was a feeling!. The feeling of searching for something, making a hypothesis, trying it and proving it right. That was awesome. But why was he feeling this way then? The ritual circle was supposed to lessen the burden in his magic and body, and yes, it had. Finished the ritual he was fine, like nothing. But then, this again.  

A low bark made him pay attention to the current thing. He grabbed the trunk with his left hand and put his right on the dog’s back and followed it. They walked for some minutes and then the dog stopped “Here?” Harry asked, the dog barked affirmatively. “Thank you doggy” Harry pulled out the cloak, went up the trunk and wrapped himself with it. “Can you make sure that it’s all covered please?” Again, the dog barked and Harry went to sleep with a smile.

***

Sirius was beginning to panic. He wanted to take this child, his child and take care of him. He wished he could take him to a place where Harry could rest. The kid was obviously sick, how he could not be. A fucking basilisk bit him. Sirius knew now that that was true. It wasn't that he didn't believe him. But now he had seen proof.

And now he knew that the venom was hurting Harry too. That or maybe it was magic exertion?. How in the name of Merlin could things have turned out this way? Why was Harry living with that man in the first place? Why hadn’t he been living with a wizarding family? Where were the Longbottoms? Andromeda? McGonagall? Moony? Dumbledore? ANYONE?! Wait, wait, wait, WAIT! Dumbledore?

Sirius’s mind was a scarred mind, twelve years in Azkaban could do more than that in someone’s psyche. He knew that, logically, he knew he was pretty bad. All the good’s feelings of his good memories were gone. Some of the info was there obviously, just so, so twisted. And the feelings? The emotions? Gone. All he had left was the bad feelings of the bad memories. And one of them was the memory of October 31th 1981. 

That night he had lost everything. His best friends, his godson, his son. His life. And where was Dumbledore? He knew the plan. He was there when they made the Fidelius charm. Dumbledore Knew. Sirius went to Godric’s Hollow that night. He went to get Harry but then Hagrid said “Dumbledore’s orders” And stupid Sirius trusted him. Then Peter and in a blink he was in Azkaban. No trial, no nothing. Nobody give a fuck for him. In twelve years no one cared for him.

And who was him to complain really? He deserved it, didn't he? If he hadn't given the brilliant idea of changing the keeper nothing of this would have happened. It was his fault, he deserved the punishment. He was a good for nothing, useless piece of garbage- No. Thinking like that had him abandoning Harry. He was awful for that. 

He let himself be swallowed for his grieving and that had made Harry living with that man. But why in Merlin balls did Dumbledore let that happen? Why let him rot in Azkaban? Why? Why let Harry live there? Why did nobody care for them? Until this day they were alone… Well no anymore.

He was glad for Hedwig but now everything was going to be more difficult for him. The owl was smart, and he knew that if she saw him transforming into a man the owl would somehow alert Harry about him. Maybe. He wouldn't risk it.  

He had escaped, alone, thank you very much. And yes, he escaped for vengeance but now all that mattered was Harry. He should have been from the beginning. And self-loathing wouldn't help anyone. Sirius went to sleep that night beside the trunk, hearing the shallow breaths of Harry, thinking about how much he loved the kid and how much he hated everyone else, including himself.

***

It was 4 am when Harry woke up. And again, he had nightmares. Fever's dreams were weird, jumping from weird things to more weird things, it was kind of funny sometimes. But then the bad memories ruined everything. Well, as if it were new. 

He remembered dreaming that a handsome youngman, powerful and good, had gone mad. He had blue eyes in the beginning but then something happened (It was blurry, so Harry didn’t remember) and then the man’s eyes were red and some things like red crystals ruined his face.

The man, previously a hero, went crazy and began to… Eat the people's heads. It was weird, so much for the fact that meanwhile the man ate the heads in just one big bite, a happy song was playing in the background. Then that dream (And Harry knew it was a dream because, what the hell) gave way to a nightmare memory and then he woke up.

Except the pain in his face, his hands and the piercing pain on his left side, he was feeling fine. So that was great! If things keep that way he was sure he was doing better and better each day. When he was recently bitten he was sure he was going to die. So this? This was great!

He stretched and left the shelter of the cloak. Harry pushed some magic into his eyes to be able to see. The first thing he saw was the dog looking at him. This dog was a mystery. Welp, who cares? Harry smiled at the dog. “You’re one of my best friends now doggy” the dog barked moving his tail making Harry chuckle “Yeah, you are”

Harry sighed and stood up “Well, we can't get unwanted attention, or any type of attention anyway” Harry looked around. They were on the side of a house with a big yard hidden behind a huge bush. Harry saw a hose and grinned “Lucky” he wrapped himself in the cloak and followed the hose until he reached the faucet and opened it and went to the hideout again.

“Time for a shower?” Harry asked the dog, they were dirty and that would surely attract attention. He showered the dog. Harry laughed when the dog shook himself dry. Then he undressed himself and showered. The good thing was that it wasn’t cold. He drunk water from the hose and gave water to the dog too. Then Harry went to the trunk and opened it. 

All his things were disordered. The ink was spilled in all his things. It was a disaster. He sighed, pulled out a clothing set and waved his hand and said Scourgify in parsel. Maybe Vernon lashed out with the trunk too when he ran away. He put his big clothes on. He didn't want to use his magic just in case the fever hit him again but he couldn't use the dirty cloth. 

Harry opened his backpack and changed the bandages of his hands. In his left hand was the Ka, the two arms symbol and the Anj above it. And was almost healed. Cool. But what he saw on his right hand made him shudder. He expected a burn, not that. There was the Wedjat eye. He quickly covered both hands with the bandages. What the fuck.

The dog barked and Harry worried about others things, it was going to dawn soon. He gathered his things, again he covered the trunk and the things above it with the cloak, he put on his cap again and began to walk with the trunk following him. “Hedwig?” The snowy owl flew to him and landed on his shoulder. “We going to walk all we can until dawn, then depending on the sun, the amount of people, the place we were that time and that, well… we’ll see what to do then”

And they walked four hours until Harry needed to stop a while to rest. He went to a park with just a few people running and elderly people walking. He put the trunk behind a bench in front of a tree and sat on the bench. Hedwig flew to a branch of the tree and the dog laid down on the grass at his feet.

He was tired but it wasn’t that bad. He could keep walking all day if necessary. The problem was the trunk. What if someone tripped with it? Nope thank you. Maybe if he floated the trunk high enough to not bother the pedestrians… He could put a charm to stick the cloak to the trunk to prevent it from falling.

A black Ural owl landed on the arm bench. It had a letter on his claw. Harry panicked a bit. It's fine, It’s fine. With trembling hands he went to pick the letter and opened it meanwhile Hedwig and the Ural owl were greeting each other.

Mr. Potter

I have not received any letter or other missive telling me which electives you have chosen.

Only because of the events that occurred at the end of last term am I going to let this matter pass. Even so, I await your response before the end of this week telling me your decision.

Except for this letter, do not expect any other favoritism from me, so I recommend that you comply with the agreed date.

Slytherin Head of House

Severus Snape 

Harry cackled. He had expected to be caught or something like that. Not this. He sober up suddenly. Does he really want to go back to Hogwarts? He sighed, Life is such a bitch. He remembered the feeling the first time he knew about Hogwarts. Hogwarts was his Chocolate Factory, his Crunchem, his Giant Peach. Quite literally, because of the dangerous situations but they were also better than his previous life.

Hogwarts was the best thing that could have happened to him… Until last term. Still it was better than the Dursleys. But now he was a Slytherin. Ron was mad at him because he hadn’t been quick enough and, last thing he knew, Ginny was still in a coma. Or maybe not. Anyway, he didn’t know because he hadn’t received any letters and he was afraid to ask. 

But on the other hand… He loved Hogwarts, he loved magic. And definitely he didn’t give a fuck about anything else. No right now. He was buried in so much shit right now, if he wanted to keep sane and functional, he needed to focus on the present, and only on the present. 

And the present was that, one: he didn’t have parchment, and two: he didn’t have a pen or quill either. Harry sighed “Girl” Harry addressed the ural owl “Can you wait please? It won’t take long, but Hedwig can’t leave my side right now” The black owl hooted in annoyance but nodded. 

Harry spotted a cafe across the street. He went running and he saw a waitress cleaning a table. She was young, maybe seventeen or eighteen. The cafe was nearly empty, Harry crossed his fingers “Excuse me, good morning” the girl gave him an encouraging smile “Can you let me have a pen for a moment? It won’t take long” The girl saw him for a few seconds that felt like minutes and then she took a pen from her bun.

“Of course” she gave him the pen “I’ll be right back in a moment” Then she went inside and Harry rapidly wrote his answer on the back of the letter.  

Professor Snape

Arithmancy, Care of magical creatures and Ancient runes. 

For a moment he thought of delivering the letter just like that, but that could put him on the very bad, bad side of Snape, right now Harry believed he was only on the bad side. Maybe. 

I apologize for writing on the same letter but I don’t have parchment and Hedwig is sick. I hope this is not a big disrespect to you, it is not my intention.

Thank you for your patience.

Harry

Harry made a face at the words he had written. Be civil Harry. He was going to be civil just because Snape hadn’t snapped at him after the fiasco of the Chamber. In fact Snape had tried to… help him? But well… he wasn’t in his best or sane state of mind at that moment. 

The waitress came back with a smile and a coffee in her right hand and a bag in her left hand. “Here, this is for you” she said. Putting the coffee on the table and offering Harry the bag. He was speechless. “Don’t worry, is on the house”

“I can’t accept this” he said worriedly. 

“Oh common, of course you can” Her smile never wavering “And the right thing to say is ‘Thank you’” Harry immediately felt guilty.

“Thank you” he said, taking the bag “And thank you for letting me get your pen” he said while returning her pen but she waved the action.

“You can keep it” she saw his horrified face “It’s fine kid, I have plenty” she shrugged.

“But-” She raised an eyebrow “...Thank you” she gave him a nod. “Really, thank you very much… But, why?” 

“First, you're welcome. And second, because you seem to need help and I can help you, so that’s why” She gave Harry a very big and kind smile “Now, I think you were in a rush?” Harry went rigid and nodded.

“Yes, thank you again” he said, taking the coffee and going to the park again. The owls were glaring at each other until the ural directed her glare to Harry “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, here it is” He wrapped the letter and the owl went flying immediately. “Nice to meet you too” he said to the air. 

“Now what?” Harry asked to his friends at the same time he opened the bag, it was filled with three muffins and a couple of pastries “She’s awesome” The dog barked and waved his tail “Yeah, she gave me food” Harry chuckled “I have eaten more in these two days than I have eaten in the last few weeks” He began to eat one of the muffins while thinking of how true that was.

Harry had gone to live in the library nearly an entire month, just leaving to take a shower when the Dursleys weren’t in the house. Not that anyone knew of course, he had the cloak. During that time the only food that Harry had was from the trash bins, charity or the one he stole from the Dursleys. And of course any food that Hermione or the twins gave him a couple of times.

The dog whined and Harry gave him the rest of the muffin smiling at him. “You need a name, doggy” The dog wagged his tail while eating the rest of the muffin. Harry took a sip from the coffee and Oh Merlin! . His eyes, (well, his eye) went wide open. That was the best thing he had drunk in his entire life! It was sweet and a bit bitter, it was the best drink in the world, he was sure. “I think I’m in love, doggy” Then Harry began to think while drinking the coffee.

First, he was near the Kings Cross station, and Tea had said that his place was like half an hour in the opposite direction they had walked when they met. So, maybe one hour more and that's it. Maybe he could cast a sticking charm under the trunk and stick the cloak, then he could levitate the trunk over his head and this way no one would trip with it. “I think is a good idea” 

He finished drinking the coffee and then levitated his trunk over his head, casted a sticking charm under the trunk and carefully, trying not to attract attention, wrapped the rest of the cloak, the trunk went completely invisible. “Great” Harry grinned. “Come on, we’re close”

They continued walking towards their destination, Hedwig flying above their heads, and the dog behind Harry. They passed by the train station and continued walking, they walked down the road until they reached an abandoned building. 

The building wasn’t like an apartment or something like that, it was like a factory or like a storage building, old, abandoned and huge. Harry lowered the trunk and hid it behind a bush. Recovering his cape he wrapped himself and went to check the place. He saw Tea smoking at the open doors. Harry smiled and went to his trunk again.

He shook the cloak and it went small again, then Harry wrapped the piece of cloth on his lower leg, and dragged the trunk behind him to the front doors. Harry stopped when Tea saw him. His mouth opened in surprise and the cigar fell to the ground. 

“Motherfucker” The man looked at Harry with an expression full of surprise.  “You’re alive” the youngman deadpanned.