Chapter 2
A while after the incident at the zoo Harry got mail sent to him. Which has never happened unless it was from school. Walking into the kitchen and passing the rest of the mail to Vernon, Harry is so focused on the envelope he barely registers it being ripped from his hand by Dudley. Harry turned around fast, immediately glaring at his cousin and uncle.
"Daddy, Harry's got mail! Someone sent him a letter!" Dudley hurried away from Harry and to his father, giving Vernon the envelope. The boys shouting gaining the house holds attention.
"Who'd be writing to you?" Vernon sneered looking down at the parchment. Solis, Dudley, and Petunia reading over his shoulder. Solis' eyes widened in recognition and surprise at the wax emblem; the uncle and aunt's faces gained a look of horror as they too recognized the sender.
'Hogwarts. Wait, Harry's like me.'
As soon as the shock makes its course Vernon rips the envelope up and throws it away before demanding it to be forgotten and for lunch to continue. The Dursleys continue through the day like nothing happened, but all Solis and Harry can think about is the letter. Solis because, 'OMG! Harry is a wizard like me!' and Harry because he wants to know who would write to him, what the letter said, and 'Why did Solis look like he knew who it was from?'
The next morning a stack of letters sat in front of the door waiting for Harry, Vernon took the liberty to burn them before the brunette could even touch them and nailed the mail slot shut. The morning after that another stack of letters sat on the porch as owls covered the yard, the car, mail-boxes, and lamp-posts. Vernon banned Harry and Solis from going outside that day. The next day to come is Sunday, and many emotions fill the house.
"What a wonderful day it is. Do you know why today is wonderful, Dudley?" Vernon is, of course, relieved and stressed, and a bit paranoid.
Dudley shrugged to the question. He is oblivious to the tension in the house.
"No? What about you, boy?"
Harry is upset, curious, and the tiniest bit hopeful. "Because it's Sunday?"
"Yes! And why is Sunday a wonderful day?"
"There is no mail on Sundays." The brunette is curious about the letter. About how Solis recognized it. And why Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia are insistent on not letting him anywhere near the letters.
"Yes again! Ah, a wonderful day indeed." Petunia is tense and fearful, but trying to seem calm.
Solis though... Solis is bored and curious. Curious about Vernon and Petunia's reactions to the letters. Harry getting mail is weird by itself, but them trashing the envelope before seeing its contents is even weirder. It's like they knew immediately what was in it, and that makes Solis' curiosity grow. The black-haired boy can tell the adults are on edge and after Vernon's jab at him that morning of being Dudley's "placeholder for college scholarships", Solis wants to poke the bear. And what better time to disclose that he too got a letter?
"Why can't Harry go to Hogwarts?" The question made everyone freeze and look at him as he sat as calm as can be eating his bacon. "Or is it that you just don't want us to know about magic? I have a feeling it's the second one seeing as how you two," Solis points to Harry's aunt and uncle. "recognized the seal on the letters and seem to be afraid of them."
Solis pauses to take a bite of bacon and fake a look of understanding. "I guess I would be scared too if thirty owls surrounded my house."
Solis sent Harry a smirk watching as Vernon and Petunia turn red in the face with fury. Harry stares at the three in confusion, his mind trying to make sense of what Solis said. Saliva specks fly from Vernon's lips as he speaks, his words flowing with anger and his fists knuckle-white as he clenches his silverware. "There is no such thing as magic! Where did you hear such things?!"
The raven-haired boy glances to the side at the brunette watching him with a befuddled gaze. 'They're never going to let him read one. He deserves it more than me, Harry should know. Hm, I've already dug my grave; let's make it a bit deeper.'
He sighs, folding his hands in front of him and tapping his fingers on his knuckles. "'We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.' I also did a little thinking and they wouldn't need to send rejection letters, so they only send acceptance ones. What is the point of finding out about a magic school if you can't go."
As soon as the last word leaves Solis' lips Vernon is standing and stomping his way to the boy. Gripping black locks, the man yanks Solis out of his seat and drags him out of the room, up the stairs to the boy's room; shoving him in and locking the door.
"There is no such thing as magic!" Vernon shouts again as he goes back down stairs.
Solis has never been in trouble this serious before; though he was close to it the time he tricked Dudley into eating a live fish, so he was caught off guard by the man's reaction. He wanted a reaction so he could confirm or deny if the letters are real or a prank, and what he saw wasn't what he expected.
He stood stock still looking at the door with wide eyes. In disbelief Solis whispers to no one but himself, "They're real."
Harry stands in front of the sink, sleeves rolled up as he washes the dishes he cleared from the table. Vernon and Petunia left with Dudley to get the mention of magic out of their heads. Harry gets lost in thought as he moves on to clean the next plate.
'Solis recognized the letter when it first came, like he knew what it said without having to open it. And what he said, reciting what he's already read! If Solis didn't have that mind thing and his tell, I'd think he was messing with them but... he was reciting it!'
Harry's head shot up in realization. 'Solis got a letter too!'
Setting the last dish in the drying rack, he wipes off his hands and checks the time. 'Dudley mentioned going to the museum before they left, so they won't be back for a while.' Harry walks down the hall and heads up the stairs; hesitating before knocking on the door to Solis' bedroom. He hears a muffled, "Come in." before unlocking the door and entering the room.
Solis is laying on his bed with a closed book on his chest; the book looks well used and damaged but taken care of. Solis stares at Harry with an emotionless face as the brunette shuffles his feet and wrings his hands. He is nervous, but his eyes show determination.
"What do you want, Harry?"
"Um, the letter. What you said. You got one too, didn't you?"
Solis sits up slowly and peers at the boy in front of him, silver eyes gazing blankly into blue. Harry's determination is obvious; he won't stop asking or looking till he gets what he is searching for. But Solis isn't going to make it easy, no matter how much he wants Harry to leave this place. They both want to leave and not look back but, there is always a price for freedom.
"Possibly. Why?"
"Can I see it?"
Faking a look of contemplation, Solis sets his book aside and crosses his legs, leaning back on his hands. "No."
Harry stops his nervous hand wringing and furrows his brows dumbfounded. "W-what, why? I just want to read it, I'll give it back."
Solis' forms a small grin as he sarcastically retorts, "You can read? I thought the glasses were just for show."
The brunette sighs. "Solis."
The silver eyed boy turns to look out the window, his hands messing with a broken thread of his blanket. He glances at the book next to him that contains his letter and only photo. Soli had thought about showing Harry his letter. He had even dreamed of them running away in the middle of the night to become wizards. The more he thinks about it, the crazier it sounds.
"Because, Harry. They've sent you letter after letter, owls have covered our lawn. They are trying to reach you, to get you out of here, and when you don't read the letters they'll probably, eventually, send someone to hand deliver one and make sure you read it."
Solis sighs and looks at the other boy, a smile and rheumy eyes grace his face.
"Hogwarts seems to want you there, Harry. You don't need to worry."
Solis turns back to stare out the window at a squirrel. Taking the dismissal, Harry quietly leaves the room, shutting the door behind him and goes back downstairs to finish cleaning the kitchen.
'Solis had tears in his eyes. I've never seen him like that before.'
Up in his room, back to laying on the bed, Solis stares at the picture held out in front of him; him and his father. His eyes glisten with unshed tears. 'You didn't want me, the Dursleys don't want me, Harry barely likes me. Even through a picture I can see the sadness in your eyes, Dad.'
Looking at the picture Solis thinks he takes after his mother rather than his father when it comes to looks. His thick black shoulder-length hair that has a small amount of wave to it. His olive skin that looks pale and tan at the same time. The only thing Solis and his father seem to share are their eyes, but even that is just barely. In the picture his father's iris' are a 'moon dust' gray, and Solis' are a 'steel silver'; the same but different. But he doesn't know what his mother looks like, so he can only guess with the differences between him and his father.
Some nights Solis dreams of being with his mother and father; of them living together and being happy to have one another in an arms reach. But... then Solis wakes up, the dream of his happy family ends. And reality begins.
The next day Vernon snaps. Everyone was sitting around the livingroom having just finished a late breakfast. Harry is walking around, passing around a plate of fresh baked cookies. Solis is sitting next to Dudley watching Mary Poppins and sneaking peeks at Vernon. Vernon's hair is a mess and he's sitting with a cookie in hand, he is tense and muttering 'No mail' every now and then. His eyes keep darting to the windows and doors as he nibbles the cookie. It was quiet and peaceful... then a letter came. It falls out of the chimney, sliding across the floor stopping when it hits Vernon's feet. He stares at it wide eyed. The writing on the envelope taunting him.
Again, he quickly picks it up and rips it.
But then more come falling out of the chimney, flying through the mail slot and open windows, letters fly through the air and cover the ground. Petunia and Dudley huddle together in a corner frightened; Solis doesn't glance up from the TV as chaos flows around him. Harry jumps around, a smile on his face, trying to grab a letter and when he finally does he runs out of the room with Vernon chasing after him yelling. Vernon grabs Harry in the hallway and rips the letter from his hand, gripping his arms and wrists preventing him from escaping or reaching for more. Unopened letters continue to fly into the house, covering everything and everyone in it.
"That's it! We are moving far away! Were they'll never find us!" Vernon's spit flies as he shouts.
"Daddy's gone mad hasn't he?!"
Solis chuckles from his seat, a satisfied grin on his face and a cookie in his mouth.
That evening they all packed up their clothes and things of importance and drove to the docks where a small boat was waiting for them; they took it to a run down, shabby cabin that sits on top of an island of rocks. By the time they arrived and got their bags inside, nightfall had come and was nearing midnight. The cabin has no private rooms, including a bathroom, so Petunia and Vernon took over the small loft for them to sleep in while their son slept on the couch in the 'living room' and Harry and Solis lay on the floor in front of the bare fireplace.
Solis sits up against a stone fireplace and watches as Harry draws a birthday cake in the sand and ash on the floor; the storm outside keeps them both awake. Harry finishes the drawing just as Dudley's watch beeps for the new hour, signaling 12 A.M. Solis gives Harry a small smile. "Happy Birthday, Harry. Make a wish, I doubt it could get worse than this."
Thunder booms outside as the front door falls down waking the sleeping family up and startling the two already awake. The storm is easily louder and sounds ominous with the door gone and a giant man in its place.
"Sorry 'bout that."