The Fight
Unknown to the people down below, a small figure sat on the top of the stairs and listened to the yelling, holding onto a stuffed lion in one hand and the railing in the other. Their bright green eyes were shining with tears as he listened to what was being said and watched as the man speaking stormed around.
“How can that…how can..how can he be my child? It doesn’t make any sense to me!” The man's deep voice is filled with disgust.
“It doesn’t need to make sense, James. Harry is your son. Even if he is not a wizard, it doesn’t mean he is not your child,” A calm, feminine voice says low enough where the small figure has to strain his ears to hear what she just said. He watches as the female comes into view. She looks disappointed with James.
“My son? Merlin, Lily, that worthless squib is not my son!” James sounds even more disgusted.
The slap Lily deals to James startles the child and causes him to gasp as more tears fall from his eyes. James looks just as shocked as the small figure.
“Don’t you ever, ever call my baby worthless again, James Potter!” Lily snaps, moving away from her husband by the stairs towards the living room causing her to leave the small figures line of sight. “Harry is a bright young boy, a CHILD, and he is very special. Just because he doesn’t have magic doesn’t mean he isn’t those things. You, as his FATHER, should know this!”
“Lily, I didn-'' James is cut off harshly.
“No, enough! We will no longer speak of this...ever again. Do I make myself clear?” Lily asks her husband in a slightly calmer voice than it had just been seconds ago.
“Yes dear,” James says quietly to his wife, almost too quiet for the small figure to hear. James moves from the stairs to walk over to his wife but is stopped by her voice.
“Just leave me be James,” She whispers and the small figure can tell she is crying now as small gasps reach his ears. James winces but nods his head anyways as he swallows thickly.
“I will be up in the guest room closest to our room if you need me,” He whispers to her before turning and walking towards the stairs.
****
Harry James Potter, the very same child who had been the focus of the argument between the two adults, quickly scrambles to his feet and runs down the hallways towards his room. He opens the door and closes it quietly behind him, hoping his daddy had not seen him. The small child sighs as he leaned back against the cherry wood door of his room. He starts looking over his room with eyes too wise for a child of eight years old. In the dark it looked a little scary but he didn't dare turn the light on, less he wanted to alert his father who he could hear walking up the stairs to the fact that he was awake, that is if the man hadn't already seen him.
Suddenly he starts shaking as the things that he had just heard run through his mind. He bites his lip to keep himself from making noise as he sobs. The things his daddy said hurt. His daddy didn’t want him. Not because he was ugly or stupid. No he didn’t want him because he couldn’t do magic.
Harry has always known his parents were magical and that had always excited him but until recently he never understood why everyone, including his parents, wouldn’t allow him to touch and would rarely let him see magic. It was because he was a squib. Sometimes Harry wondered what it would be like if he had been born to Muggles. Never knowing magic was real, never feeling like an outsider in his own family. He sighed again as he walks over to his bed and crawled under the silk blanket laying on the bed. All of this was making him tired. He closed his eyes and laid his head on his soft pillow. As he fell asleep he made a wish. Please help me make my daddy love me, please give me magic.
----1 Year Later----
Harry took a sip of water from his glass of lemonade as he looked over the back yard. It wasn’t as nice as his own home’s backyard, but it was still pretty. From the table he was sitting at on the patio it did help give him a good view of the whole back yard, so yes he could say it was pretty. From what he could remember the garden in the left of the yard contained flowers and the one on the right contained some plants used in potion making.
“And then she gave me a cookie! Isn’t that exciting? Hello? Harry, are you even listening to me?” Harry looks over at his best mate, Neville Longbottom, with a sheepish look on his face.
“I am sorry Nev, I just got lost in thought again,” He says with a small sigh. Neville shakes his face and makes a small sound of disapproval.
“Harry really? You need to start paying more attention to your surroundings,” They look at each other for a few seconds, both quiet, and then they start laughing loudly. After a while they turn into just quiet giggles.
“Merlin, Nev! Way to start to sound like Mad Eye Moody!” Harry says between giggles as he shakes his head, some wind rushing past causing his hair to move around. He runs his hand over his hair trying to tame it, even though he knows it’s a lost cause.
“Sorry! I can’t-“ Neville breaks off and starts laughing all over again, which makes Harry start laughing again as well.
“My, oh my, what has gotten you two to laugh like this?” They both stop laughing quickly and turn and faced the voice. It was Neville’s grandmother, Augusta Longbottom.
“Nothing Grams!” Neville says quickly, maybe a little too quickly but his grandmother doesn''t seem to notice. She just shakes her head as she looks at Harry with a small frown.
“Harry, what time did your parents say they would be here to pick you up? It seems I have forgotten,” She says as she starts gathering the plates and glasses on the table. She was like Harry's mommy and didn’t like relying on her House Elves even though she was a Pure-Blood. Though on like Mrs. Longbottom, Harry's family doesn’t even employ a House Elf at their home in Godric's Hallow. Harry doesn't know if they have some at Potter Manor though as he had never been allowed to go to his ancestral home.
“They said they would be picking me up around one,” I tell Mrs. Longbottom quietly. She makes a tsk sound and nods her head.
“Oh yes, that is right. Well boys go get cleaned up and Neville help Harry find all his things so he is ready to go when his parents get here.”
After saying all that she walks away, not even looking back to make sure they would go do as she said. As if they wouldn’t though. Harry shudders as Neville and he walk towards the door leading into the house. The last time they had not listened to Neville’s grandmother had ended up with both of them getting a spanking with one of her late husband's canes.
“I don’t want you to go, Harry,” Neville says with a pout as he walks through the doorway leading into the house. Harry looks out at the back yard and sighs as he turns back towards Neville quickly.
“I don’t want to go either,” He tells Neville and it was true. He didn’t want to go home. Ever since that night he had heard his mommy and father fighting things had been really tense at home. Father barely looked at him and when he did it was only because mommy was by them. It hurt him a lot, but he was trying not to let his father see that. If he was going to hurt Harry, he didn’t need to know he was doing so.
His mommy realized this and has tried to get them to become close like they were before the fight, of course she didn't know Harry had heard that, but every time she tries it just seems to make things worse. Father and she end up fighting and father leaves for the night to go stay with Harry's uncle Sirius. When that happens Harry always makes his mommy's favorite tea and brings it to her room for her to drink. Just her room though as his father and her haven’t shared one since the fight that one night. She hugs Harry when he brings her tea and tells him how much she loves him.. She says his father loves him but that it is just hard for him to accept that I won’t be able to do what he and she both love so much. Harry always nods and pretends to understand but the truth is he never understands and he probably never will.
“Harry!” Harry opens his eyes just in time to stop himself from running into a wall. When had he closed his eyes? He looks over at Neville, biting his lip as he does. Neville has his arms crossed and an exasperated look on his face.
“Seriously lost in thought again? Really, Harry, you do need to pay more attention,” He tells Harry before rolling his eyes and continuing walking down the hallway. Harry frowns as he looks around and noticed they were in a hallway all the way in the front of the house. He hadn’t been paying attention to their walk here at all. With a shake of his head he hurries to catch up with Neville.
“Sorry mate, I just got a lot on my mind,” Harry explains to him when he catches up to him. Neville looks over at him with a raised eyebrow. Sometimes his status as a Pure-Blood really shows through when he did that, and this was one of those times.
“Your father again?” Harry had told Neville everything that had happened after he had heard that first fight between his parents and since then Neville has been a big help to him. Harry nods his head.
“Yeah, my father again." The boys stop walking by a large door and look at each other as Harry says this. Neville shakes his head and opens the door.
“Well what has he done now?” Neville asks as he turns away from Harry and walks over the beautiful black marble tile flooring towards the pristine white sink on the other side of the large bathroom.
“He keeps ignoring me,” Harry says as he follows Neville. Neville makes a small noise, which Harry knows is his way of telling him to continue, as he turns the water on in the sink and begins to wash his hands.
“My mommy keeps trying to make us spend time together. Just the other week she forced me to go on a picnic with him! After we got home, not even an hour after we had left, he stormed off and flooed over to uncle Sirius house. Mommy was so angry that she had uncle Remus come watch me so she could go over and yell at father,” Harry confides in Neville. Neville dries his hands and looks at him with wide eyes but Harry ignores him as he starts washing his own hands.
“What happened after that?” He asks.
“Mommy came home and her eyes were red and puffy but father wasn’t with her. She sent uncle Remus home before he could ask and made me go to sleep. The next day when I woke up father was down at the table eating breakfast. Both of them acted as if none of what happened the day before had actually even happened!” Harry says slightly angry as he finishes washing his hands and shuts the water off. He quickly dries his hands and turns to face Neville all the way.
“Blimey, Harry, I am not sure what to say,” Neville has a look of pity in his eyes and Harry has to fight with himself to keep himself from rolling his eyes in annoyance.
“It’s okay. I don’t expect you to say anything,” He says to Neville. “I just needed somebody to talk to.” And Neville was the ideal person. Besides being Harry’s best mate he also had a rough childhood like Harry. Though unlike Harry his friend did not have parents. Growing up without parents had made the young boy grow up faster than most children their age.
“Alright,” Neville says quietly, suddenly seeming to get what Harry wanted. “How about we go get your things ready for when your parents get here? We both may not want you to go but we also know that no matter what, it will happen.”
“Okay let’s go do that,” Harry agrees. Neville was right after all. Even if Harry didn’t want to leave, he would have to go with his parents. It was the way things were.
“Do you think before you go that my grandmother will let us have some cookies?” Neville asks as they walk out of the bathroom door, closing it behind them.
“I don’t know Neville,” Harry says as he looks over at his friend. His friend was always wanting to eat sweets. Neville wasn’t fat but he should stop eating so many cookies before he became fat.
“Oh, okay.” It’s quiet for a few seconds and before suddenly Neville grins. Harry looks at his friend worriedly. Oh no what did he have planned now? Before Harry could warn him against whatever he was going to do he suddenly reaches forwards and taps Harry on the shoulder.
“You’re it!” He yells at Harry before laughing. He quickly turns away from him and takes off running down the hallway.
Harry stands there for a few seconds blinking before he grins. “Oh I am going to get you for that!” Harry yells as he takes off after him, laughing as he does