Chapter 3
"Boy!" Vernon yelled from the hallway. Harry sighed, resigned to his fate, and left the bleak safety of his cupboard.
"Yes, uncle?" The polite tone tasted like poison coming from his mouth, and his words felt like barbs as they slid across his tongue. His uncle turned towards him, an accomplished smile on his walrus-like face.
"You will be staying in the Ugliano household for the next few weeks." Harry stared at his uncle, waiting for some sort of explanation.
He didn’t get one.
"Don't look at your uncle like that, boy," his Aunt pipped up from the living room couch. "Go pack your stuff."
Harry turned tail at his aunt's dismissal, his gaze avoiding his own feathers that adorned the walls in the form of knick-knacks and dream catchers. All he would get from mourning the loss of feathers was a whole lot of nothing.
He didn't have much. A few meager sets of clothes were shoved into a too-small moth bitten pack that he normally used for chores. All of his legitimate belongings were shoved in his dorm at Yancy Acadamy, which included clothing and any other things he could use to stay entertained.
"Car!" Vernon's voice echoed throughout the house, and Harry quickly threw his bag over his shoulder before he practically teleported to the car. His wing stumps, bound and restrained under a thick binder and layers upon layers of tape, fluttered as much as they could in an effort to help him gain any speed. The car was already moving by the time he managed to jump in.
"What is going on?" Harry finally asked, his gaze flickering over the passing cars and pedestrians.
"Your uncle has gotten us a Christmas Vacation!" His aunt squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. "You, of course, are not invited. Gabriel has generously offered to watch you for free for the duration of Christmas break."
Harry really didn't want to be anywhere near Gabe, but with Gabe also came Sally and Percy. He could suffer through his stay with that pig if it meant spending more time with Percy.
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"Behave, boy, " Vernon glared at him before ringing the doorbell.
"Coming!" A voice came from the other side of the door, followed by the tell-tale click of a lock opening. Sally's beautiful smile came into view, and even with Vernon's meaty hand digging into the tender, new flesh of his shoulder, he managed to smile back. "Harry!"
"I'm dropping him off," Vernon grunted, shoving Harry forward. Harry let out an inaudible grunt, his hands immediately reaching out in an effort to stop himself against the doorframe.
"Of course, Mr. Dursley. Enjoy your trip!" She gave his uncle a (fake) smile before gently grabbing Harry's thin wrist and pulling him inside. She quickly shut the door behind him before turning to face Harry. "Are you ready to go?"
"Go?" Harry watched the smiling woman in confusion. "I thought I was staying here with Gabe."
"No, " Sally said calmly, walking further into the apartment. A faint jingle sounded from her hand as something shiny flashed in her palm. "I got the keys, an anonymous donor, and two boys to take on a Christmas vacation."
"What kind of Donor?"
"A money donor. Magically, a hefty amount of money somehow made its way into my bank account over the last three months. I figured I would take my boys somewhere for a bit of fun, yeah?"
"A ‘hefty amount’? Is it even trustworthy? Who would give you enough money that you won’t even say how much?" Sally sighed, shooting him an amused smile.
"An anonymous donor, hun. Percy, let's go!"
Harry, in all his excitement about not having to spend any time around the Ugliano man, didn't even register the clear use of the words my boys as both him and Percy excitedly climbed into the nice rental car at Sally's insistence.
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"Really cheap tickets to Paris, Harry." Percy laughed, excitement echoing in every step he made.
"I still can't believe this," Harry breathed, his eyes following Sally as she walked through the gift shop with a critiquing eye. "She bought three round trip tickets for what? They couldn’t have been cheep.”
"That's the thing, Harry. She didn't buy the tickets. They were sitting on the counter this morning after Gabe left, including a hotel certificate with an already paid-for room. It's got a month booked."
"She still has her ‘hefty amount’?" Percy nodded.
"Why do you think she is so happy?" He pointed at his mom, who was trying on what Harry could see was a sapphire necklace. "She has never been able to do this. All of her money has gone to Gabe's gambling obsession."
"Alright boys, let's get going." Sally smiled, waving Harry and Percy over after ten minutes of deliberation. A small sapphire necklace adorned her neck, and Harry guessed that the thing didn't even dent the money she still had.
"It's so beautiful, " Percy gasped, stepping out onto the street. Harry grinned at his friend's face. There was a sparkle in those green eyes that Harry didn't see very often.
"I bet you will enjoy the hotel even more, " Sally said simply. Harry took pity of the two and stepped out to the side of the road.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm hailing a cab, " Harry punctuated his statement with a sharp whistle. Not even thirty seconds later, Harry and Percy were packing in the bags, Sally standing off to the side with her hands on her hips.
"I could have helped."
"We know," Harry and Percy said simultaneously, grinning towards the older woman. "But we got this."
"Brats."
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"All expenses paid, Miss." The receptionist smiled pleasantly at Sally first before her gaze moved over Percy and Harry.
For a split second, Harry could have sworn that the receptionist's green eyes turned a slitted pink, but as quick as it had happened, it was gone.
"All? Room services and vehicular transportation?"
"It seems Mrs. Ugliano," Harry watched Sally's face contort at the name. "That you have someone within the hotel looking out for you." The lady smiled again before Harry heard the sound of nails on a keyboard. Almost two minutes later, three different keycards were handed out, one to Sally, one to Percy, and then the last to Harry.
There it was again. The pink shade took over the lady's dark green, and a slit pupil, not unlike a cat's, took over her circular pupil.
Again, it was gone before he could say anything.
"Enjoy your vacation, and do not forget to occasionally talk to the workers! They are all very interested in meeting you in particular, Mr. Black."
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The room they were given had two different parts. Other than the bathroom, which was rather large as well with its double shower and its jacuzzi-like tub, there was another entire room with a single bed and lamp side table.
Harry couldn't help but be suspicious. What were the chances that they would be gifted a room with two different parts? Obviously, the single bed was for him. Someone knew about his.....aversion to sharing a room.
That was unsettling.
"This is such a large room, " Harry heard Sally say in the other room. "I hope whoever is paying for it isn't paying too much."
Harry sat down his bag near the side table before he plopped down on the bed. It was one of the softest things he had ever felt, but that had been expected. The quality of this room seemed too high for it to have lumpy or uncomfortable beds.
"Looks like you got to this one?" Harry could practically hear the smirk in Percy's voice, but he didn't bother to lift his face from the duvet to answer.
"Alright boys, it's getting late. I'm going to head off to bed." Sally poked her head into the room and smiled sleepily.
"Yeah, I think I will too." Percy yawned, covering his gaping mouth with his hand.
"I'm just gonna take a bath first," Harry murmured, lifting his head just enough to where the other two could hear him. Sally hummed in acknowledgment.
"Good night, Harry."
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It was well into the night before Harry finally got up enough energy to get into the bath.
Slight snores echoed throughout the other part of the room, and Harry could only hope that Sally and Percy were well and truly dead to the world.
He shed his clothes carefully, mindful of the layers of tape and fabric squeezing his ribs that constricted the protruding appendages attached to his back. His wings had grown back almost fully on the flight, and Harry could only wince in pain when the pressure was finally gone. His right-wing reached out first, stretching out day-old kinks from the plane flight over to the continuous car rides across Paris. His left-wing soon followed, and Harry was mindful of the different toiletries and framed works around him. It wouldn't do well for him to break anything with his very unexplainable body parts.
Baths were a luxury to Harry. If his uncle got his way, Harry is sure that the man would rather hose him down in the backyard rather than let Harry 'waste' any of his hot water. Consequently, Harry was only allotted five-minute lukewarm showers, but only after his uncle savagely ripped his wings off every other day. Petunia would have an absolute conniption if even the smallest drop of blood found its way into the fibers of her white carpets.
So, taking his time, Harry gingerly eased into a reclined position, his wings relaxed and hanging off the sides of the bathtub while Harry just took a breath of the vanilla-scented oils that were sitting on the rim of the tub. The tensed joints that connected his wings to his back eased more and more the longer Harry lounged in the scalding water, and Harry knew that if he wasn't careful, he would end up falling asleep.
He made a mental note to call the lady at the desk in the morning to let her know that he wanted to pass on a message of thanks to whoever could have possibly paid for this trip.
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"So, what do you boys think we should do today?" Sally asked after Harry and Percy finished their authentic french breakfast. Harry lazily combed his fingers through his hair as he contemplated her question.
"How long did the woman say we had this room?" Sally frowned for a moment, putting down her fork.
"A month?" The woman said, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember their interaction with the hotel receptionist. "Yeah, I am pretty sure she said we have a month. Along with free vehicular transport."
"Well, obviously we have to go to the Eiffel Tower." Percy rolled his eyes after Harry didn't answer for a minute. "It's like, a staple of Paris. We have to go see it otherwise, why are we even here?"
"Don't worry, Percy," Sally laughed into her napkin. "We will totally go and see the Eiffel Tower. Anything else?"
"The Musée Du Louvre," Harry said finally, his legs curling underneath him as he buried himself deeper into the plush chair.
"The what?" Percy asked, an eyebrow raised at Harry, who only laughed.
"It's one of the most famous museums in the world. I have wanted to see works like Diana of Versailles and Venus of Arles since I knew what they were."
"That sounds great Harry," Sally smiled, taking a sip of her coffee as the boys went back to what was left of their meals. "I have heard that the entire museum is massive, but I wouldn't mind traversing it for a couple of hours today. I have always wanted to see the Mona Lisa in person, and I absolutely adore the style of statues that Harry was talking about. There are of course many more that he didn't mention." Sally hummed before looking at her son. "Percy?"
Percy took a few minutes to think, looking back and forth between Harry and his mom the entire time. "Sure," he said finally, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't really know what it is, but that doesn't mean I won't enjoy it."
"Great," Sally exclaimed, standing up from their table. "In that case, I will call the front desk and arrange for our transportation. Both of you, be ready in twenty minutes." After that, the woman disappeared into the bathroom to presumably take a shower.
"Well," Harry laughed, his head falling back so he was looking up at the ceiling. Percy soon joined in. "That's that I guess."
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It was while they were waiting for their car that Harry finally remembered to talk to the lady at the desk. Luckily, it was the same woman.
"Hello," Harry smiled politely at the woman, and just like the day before, her eyes flashed pink as she gave him a smile of her own. "I just wanted to ask you to pass on a message."
"Of course, Mr. Black," the woman's eyes were green again, but after seeing the pink three times, Harry knew that something was off.
He would ignore it. Ignorance is bliss, after all.
"Can you tell our benefactor thank you? It's only been one night and already it is something that we all will be immensely thankful for. We really don't have anything to repay them with, so I hope that a 'thank you' will suffice." The woman's eyes softened after his ramble, and she quickly smiled and gave him a nod.
"I will make sure that your message makes it to him, Mr. Black." The woman tapped out something on her keyboard before turning her attention back to Harry. "Have a fun day at the Musée Du Louvre."