Sometimes wishes can come true
The loud whirring of the helicopter was the only sound Harry heard throughout their short trip to Balmoral.
Charteris sat to the side, his face fixed in anger and a permanent scowl, with his left hand softly nursing his bruised knuckles and wincing ever so slightly as the royal medic cleaned the wound with rubbing alcohol and bandaged it securely.
His uncle's enraged face.
The look of heavy fear on his aunt's face.
The numerous body guards bursting through.
The large meaty fist that blocked his view line and left his head ringing with pain and his vision blurring.
A figure leaping up suddenly overtaken with range and the sickening crunch that followed.
No. No. No.
Harry shook his head frantically and fixed his eyes upon the Scottish countryside underneath them passing by hastily. The familiar gnawing fear had returned once more as they came closer and closer to their final destination and he once again found himself foolishly trying to convince himself of an unknown reason as the answer.
He was scared. Of course he was.
Those cold nights wishing upon a star hadn't seem to go in vain yet here he was ready to run away.
He was a coward. There was no doubt in that. The thought of simply having a family, no matter how much he wished for one, made his skin crawl...and no matter how hard he tried to convince himself against it he knew it was true.
It was laughable and he was sure the Hogwarts gossip mill wouldn't stop to get their hands on it within seconds.
Harry Potter. The boy who lived. A coward.
The thought of Hogwarts sent a painful jolt through him. Hermione would know what to do. Hermione would have had this sorted under a minute and he would have been on his way home albeit with a longing heart and hopeless demeanor but home nonetheless.
"Sir?" A kindly voice spoke. Their tone hushed and oddly sympathetic. The royal medic slowly pulled out a large icepack and held it in front of Harry. "I will apply this to your cheek. Hopefully this will bring down the swelling and help with the bruise." Harry nodded gently and winced when the icepack was placed on his face trying not to grimace when Charteris's eyes flashed with rage and his fist clenched tightly on the icepack making sharp indents, the bag diminished in size and water poured out from the ragged nail marks like a fountain of icy melted sludge.
"Shi-"
"Mr Charteris!" The medic cried indignantly jumping up to her feet in rage.
"-rley Temple!" He finished looking around nervously before slowly throwing his ice pack in the nearest bin and placing the other handed to him carefully on his bruised hand making sure not to invoke the medic's temper.
"We'll be reaching in T-minus 15 minutes sirs." The crackling voice of the pilot broke through and Harry's fear only increased tenfold. Gulping softly, he turned his head to the window once more trying not to panic as more and more of the deserted picturesque country passed by and the large pillars of the ancient castle seemed ominously approaching.
"Sir! I must insist you calm down at once!"
"I'll calm down when we get those monsters in jail! Those stupid sons of-"
"Sir!"
And it all faded out till all he heard were repressed murmurs.
Chaos seemed to be omnipresent in his life. Like a strangling force unable to let go. And for once, oddly, he preferred it. It seemed like the one familiar face in a sea of aliens. He felt sick. Hot and clammy. As if he was a deer caught in headlights, for what he didn't know.
A sudden change in altitude was observed and the padded wall he'd created around him crumbled to dust. The incessant arguing of Charteris and the medic filled his ears once more and the ear shattering sound of the helicopters whirring only became more pronounced as they descended.
They were here.