Every Now and Then… Dreams Come True?
June, Summer after 4th year
Harry is having the worst summer of his short, and not entirely enjoyable, life. To start, he had the vast misfortune of participating in the Tri-Wizard tournament during the last school year, resulting in another year filled with near death experiences. Which, unfortunately, was not the worst thing to happen at school. This year Harry’s near-death experience involved the very real death of a fellow student, something Harry couldn’t have possibly prevented. Then to make matters even worse, Harry is forced to come ‘home’ to Privet Drive and spend the summer with his lovely Aunt and Uncle. Who, for some reason, are even more bitter than when he had left the summer before. Although, come to think of it, that might have something to do with the toffees Dudley consumed courtesy of the Weasley twins the previous summer. Not that the Dursley’s need a reason to treat Harry with disdain. Well, regardless, this summer was shaping up to be absolutely miserable. Aunt Petunia has a permanently sour, well, sourer, look on her face, which is inevitably going to be made worse by the nightmares Harry had recently begun having.
While Harry had been competing in the final task of the tournament, Petunia Dursley received a letter in the mail from one Dick Grayson. A former circus freak, probably friends with that other freak Lily had been friends with way back when… He claims to have been adopted by the Grayson family the week after he was born and according to Dick, he has reason to believe that his biological parents were James and Lily. He wanted to know if he could meet his older brother and the rest of his living family.
To say that Petunia is displeased with this turn of events is putting it quite mildly. In fact, the only reason Petunia has not flat out refused Dick’s request (And honestly, what kind of name is Dick?) is because the former circus freak had been taken in by an incredibly wealthy businessman upon the deaths of Dick’s adopted parents. Well, Petunia thinks, serves them right, what do those freaks expect when they joined the circus? The particular businessman who had taken Dick in seems to have a reputation for adopting teenage boys from abnormal backgrounds. Why, just a few months earlier the news had been all over about a street rat adopted by billionaire Bruce Wayne. That man had been a source of gossip around Privet Drive for months, with far too many neighbors making comparisons between Bruce Wayne and his adopted children and the Dursley’s and their willingness to care for their nephew. Petunia honestly could not wait until the neighbors moved onto something else.
But perhaps Petunia might just be able to spin this whole dastardly situation into something a bit more mutually beneficial. Allow Bruce and Dick to visit Privet Drive for a week, give the boys some much needed time to get to know each other, then casually suggest that if the boys would like to spend more time together over the summer, Harry would just need to be home a few weeks before he leaves for school since the Dursley residence doesn’t have the space to put up three teenage boys for the summer. Yes, that might work.
Which is how, a mere week into summer vacation, Petunia is preparing the house for the week-long visit from Mr. Wayne. And if any of the neighbors ask, it’s a business meeting, no need to let another of her sister’s dirty little secrets tarnish her sparkling reputation.
Personally, Harry isn’t looking forward to this business meeting any better than the last one, which ended in disaster. Unfortunately, this time he must attend and participate… something about Bruce Wayne being the adopted parent to two teenagers. The Dursleys even bought him a new set of good clothes for this, certainly a first. The Dursleys had made it perfectly clear that no one was to so much as hint at St. Brutus. If anyone asked, Harry attends a very small and old private boarding school on scholarship.
Overall, warning bells are going off in Harry’s mind, not that he is paying them any attention. He doesn’t have the energy to care, and if anything bad does come of it, Harry believes he deserves it and every other misfortune that might come his way because he let Cedric die and he let Voldemort come back to start again his reign of terror.
Every member of the family is dreading the impending visit, and the closer they got to the visit, the less they could hide their distaste. Finally, on the morning of the day the Wayne family arrives in England, Dudley cannot handle it anymore and throws a tantrum during breakfast, demanding to know why the freak is being treated so well, especially after what had happened last summer. Vernon, just as displeased as Dudley about the whole situation, turns a vivid shade of puce and erupts in anger. Vernon starts shouting about how Harry just has to be related to the older freak that the smarmy billionaire had adopted, and maybe, if they play their cards right, they might just have to deal with all the freaks around for a week or two of the year.
Vernon’s admission startles Harry, causing him to send his plate to the floor and interrupting Vernon, turning Vernon’s attention and rage directly at Harry. But before Vernon can continue in his tirade, Petunia clears her throat and glares at Vernon. She states in contempt, “Vernon dear, we don’t want any reason for those people to want full custody of Harry. The freaks will make our lives very miserable if Harry ceases to view this as his home.”
Petunia flinches as soon as she realizes what she said and that both Harry and Dudley are still in the room. Recovering her wits about her, Petunia sends both boys to their rooms to prepare for the guests who will be arriving shortly before lunch telling them that if either of them so much as thinks of leaving their room before she calls for them… leaving the threat unfinished.
Dudley, who has never been treated this way by his beloved parents, begins to protest, only to stop when Petunia sends him a nasty glare that is generally reserved for the freak. Harry, on the other hand, promptly and numbly clears his dishes and goes to his room, not fully realizing he had even started moving until he is sitting on his bed, Hedwig hooting at him in concern. Harry quickly reassures Hedwig, not wanting to make things even worse at Privet Drive. When Hedwig still doesn’t seem convinced, Harry tells her about the revelations of the morning before slowly getting ready.
The rest of the morning passes in a remarkably quiet fashion with Harry spending it sitting on his bed staring into nothingness. Dudley tries only once to ‘sneak’ out to hang out with his so-called friends, before going back to his room when Vernon almost goes off at Dudley, yet another first, leaving Dudley incredibly confused, a feeling he most assuredly does not want to experience again.
At precisely a quarter until noon, a sleek, but surprisingly unassuming, black car pulls up outside number 4. Harry is staring off into space, that he Harry is so lost in thought that he misses the sound of car doors opening and closing, Petunia greeting the guests at the door, and Petunia calling up for the boys to come greet their guests. In fact, Harry doesn’t even notice Petunia knocking on his door, only looking up when she opens the door, allows another teenage boy into the room, and clears her throat, causing Harry to startle. Petunia introduces the boy as Dick Grayson, looking between the boys she grows paler than she had been that morning and quickly excuses herself to give the boys the chance to become acquainted while she finishes lunch.
Dick quickly thanks Aunt Petunia for her wonderful hospitality and closes the door behind her, while watching Harry who has barely moved besides startling to awareness. Dick studies Harry, who appears to have zoned out while staring in Dick’s general direction, causing immediate concern. Finally, Dick clears his throat and walks to where Harry is sitting on the bed. Standing in front of Harry, Dick kneels and gently taps on Harry’s knee, again causing Harry to startle. Dick smiles warmly, and introduces himself, explaining how he had come across a letter from his adopted mother, which explains who his biological family is. He starts trailing off when it becomes clear Harry is having trouble focusing on Dick’s words.
Dick suddenly cuts himself off, grabs Harry’s hand and stands, pulling Harry with him. After waiting until Harry is somewhat aware of his surroundings Dick looks to Harry and asks “um, are you okay, you look a bit… peaky?”
Harry shrugs, then decides this is the wrong answer because he forces a smile. “I’m fine, just a bit tired. It’s been a long week.” Harry answers unconvincingly, then shrugs again.
Harry collapses back onto the bed and stares at the ceiling, wishing that the day could just be over already. Dick, unsure what he should do to help Harry, texts Alfred to assist and fill Bruce in on the situation. Less than a minute passes before Alfred knocks on the door and lets himself into the room.
“What seems to be the problem Master Dick?”
“Harry says he’s just tired, but he keeps zoning out and he’s barely moved since I got here. I don’t think he’s fine, but I also don’t think he is going to admit that, not even to himself. How am I supposed to help him when I barely know each other and he doesn’t want help?” Dick looks imploringly at Alfred, clearly wanting to comfort Harry, but not sure if it would be welcome or appropriate.
Alfred reassures Dick that staying and offering comfort is a wonderful idea so long as he respects Harry’s wishes. He then informs Dick that he will bring lunch up to the boys as soon as it is ready, and he expects that they will eat everything he brings up for them. With this, Alfred excuses himself. Meanwhile, Dick settles himself next to Harry and starts telling stories from his time in the circus, idle chatter to pass the time and maybe even allow the atmosphere in the room to lighten up and Harry a chance to relax.
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However, downstairs the tension is skyrocketing in the dining room. Vernon and Bruce are sitting at the table idly discussing business and family while Petunia putters around the kitchen finishing lunch. When Alfred enters the room, he quickly and quietly explains the situation to Bruce. As Alfred finishes explaining and steps into the background, Bruce fixes Vernon with a glare. Bruce breaks the silence with a gruff, “Exactly how long has Harry known he has a younger brother?”
Vernon shifts uncomfortably for a few moments before finally responding, “He’s only been back from school for a week, it must not have settled in entirely…” Vernon trails off with a nervous chuckle.
Bruce narrows his eyes at that comment, “That doesn’t answer my question. When did you tell Harry that he has a younger brother?”
Vernon grows pale as he realizes he is being called out for his non-answer. Petunia finally answers, unable to handle the rising tension, “This morning at breakfast.”
Bruce raises an eyebrow and dangerously calm voice starts talking, “You’ve known for over a month that we were coming out to England and even longer that Harry has a brother. Harry’s been home from school for a week and yet, prior to this morning, he had no knowledge that he has more surviving family members. Why?”
Vernon rises in his chair, clearly taking offense to his parenting skills, and snaps, “What does it matter to you? The boy knew before you arrived, isn’t that good enough?”
Bruce doesn’t flinch at Vernon’s outburst and responds as if they were still just talking about something common and normal and boring, like the weather, “It matters to me because Harry is upstairs and as Alfred explained it to me, appears to be either in shock, suffering from depression, or both. You, as his caregivers, have shown no concern for his well-being, nor did you reschedule this lunch to not overwhelm him anymore than he already is. I would have had no issue rescheduling.”
Bruce is interrupted by a livid, puce-faced Vernon Dursley, who is standing up and leaning heavily on the table. “He is a good-for nothing boy, an attention seeker and he gets it from his mother. And you, Mr. High and Mighty Billionaire, think you can just come into my house and accuse my family of being terrible guardians to a boy you haven’t even met!”
Petunia cuts Vernon off and scolds him for losing his temper at their guest and failing to hold his tongue like he ought to. As soon as Petunia finishes, she turns to Bruce, ducks her head, and apologizes for her husband’s horrendous outburst, it’s been a stressful week at work and Vernon isn’t normally like this.
Bruce calmly waits for Petunia to finish groveling, noticing that not once did she reprimand her husband for the comments he made about Harry, before he continues speaking as if he had never been interrupted, “Mental illness is not something people generally fake for attention, although it is frequently hereditary. Do either of you know if Lily was diagnosed with depression when she was a teenager?” He pauses, waiting for a response that clearly isn’t coming, “Either way, we should probably get to the important matters. As you are hopefully aware, I have not officially adopted Dick, and now that you, his biological family, has come to light, I can’t adopt until you sign away all legal rights to his guardianship. When I came in here today I was only going to ask you to sign over rights to Dick, as I have spent the last few years trying to give Dick a stable and content home. However, after watching and listening to how you feel about Harry, I cannot in good conscience leave him in your care. You are clearly not equipped to care for Harry if your comments surrounding his mental health are any indication, nor have you given me any reason to believe you genuinely care about him.”
Bruce gives Vernon and Petunia incredibly pointed looks as he says, “As such, I would like to take custody of Harry, at least for the duration of this week, so he and Dick can spend the time getting to know each other. What happens after that will be determined at a later point in time, preferably once Harry can decide how he would like us to handle the situation.”
As Bruce finishes talking, he opens his briefcase and pulls out a stack of papers for Petunia to sign. Petunia just stares at the papers for a few minutes, looking to Vernon for advice. Vernon either doesn’t notice or ignores Petunia’s glance. Petunia looks searchingly at Bruce before sighing and stating, “I will not sign over my legal rights to the custody of either boy until you know the full story. However, the story is quite long, and it would be best if we eat first.”
Alfred takes that as an indication to start serving the food, while giving Petunia a look that says “You start talking. Now.”
Petunia sighs and starts telling her story. “When Lily was 11 she received a letter inviting her to attend a special boarding school, the same school Harry attends.” Petunia pauses, trying and failing to hide the disgust she had for late sister. “That school was where she met her husband. If she could have just gone to a normal school, then we wouldn’t be in this mess. She would never have met that boy, and she never would have gotten herself killed, and we never would have had to worry about that maniac coming after my own family. My precious baby boy.”
Bruce scoffs at this point, already putting the pieces together, ignoring Petunia’s further prattling.
If Lily hadn’t “gotten herself killed”, then Petunia and her precious son would never have been put in danger by taking in Harry. And now, the only reason the Dursley’s continue to care for Harry is because it is the only way to keep Dudley safe. Harry is in danger because he survived when he was a year old, and the only way for the Dursley’s to have any extra security was if they took in Harry, but even if they didn’t take in Harry they still would have been endangered because they are related to him. So, what else were they supposed to do? And she isn’t going to give up custody of Harry that easily, not if it puts Dudley in danger.
Bruce is caught between standing up and yelling at these despicable people and collapsing from the sheer exhaustion he is already starting to feel, already aware that he is going to have one terrible headache from this mess.
Petunia stares Bruce down and says, “You can’t force me to sign anything. Harry must spend at least a month at Privet Drive each summer and he must continue to see Privet Drive as his home, but beyond that, well, good riddance.”
By this point, Bruce has long since finished his meal and is using all his self-control to not go full Batman on these despicable people. Bruce very slowly starts talking, “Harry is spending this week with us. No exceptions. If, when this week is over, he decides that he wants to continue living here, then so be it. But if he decides that he no longer wishes to live with you, then you will sign away custody. If you wanted him to consider this his home, then maybe you should have considered treating him like family and not like some toy you can’t get rid of. If I must take you to court over this I can, and I will. I assure you, I will win. Do you both understand me?”
Both Dursleys nod jerkily, noticeably unsettled. With that, Bruce stands, asks Alfred to let Jason know they are leaving, tells the Dursleys to collect anything that belongs to Harry that isn’t in Harry’s room and pack it, and turns to go upstairs to collect the boys.
When Bruce is upstairs he doesn’t need to pause to figure out which room is Harry’s. Between Dick’s voice and the cat door in a house with no cats, the answer is obvious. Bruce quietly cracks the door open and observes the boys. Dick notices almost immediately but doesn’t pause in the story he is telling about his favorite animal from the circus. Bruce listens, pleased with how Dick is handling the situation. He waits for a good stopping point in the story before stepping all the way into the room and stating, “Why don’t you two pack up everything important. Harry is spending at least the next week with us, maybe even all summer. It seems we have overstayed our welcome here.”
Harry scoffs at that and robotically stands and starts packing the few things that had been unpacked a week prior, which mostly just consists of hand-me-downs from Dudley and fishing out everything that had been hidden under the floorboard. Once Harry is done packing the few things in the room he cares about, he makes sure that Hedwig is ready to go. Bruce and Dick take the cue and grab Harry’s trunk, leaving Harry to carry Hedwig’s cage. They all head downstairs to help Alfred finish loading up the car. Jason is already sitting in the back of the car, his arms folded, appearing to have been in an altercation if the bruises on his hands are any indication. Based on how Petunia is glaring at the back of the car, the fight Jason had almost certainly was with Dudley. Bruce sighs, not looking forward to how that might complicate things further but ignores the impending headache to make sure the boys are all ready to leave.
“Dick, Harry, one of you is going to need to have need to have Hedwig on your lap, I don’t want to put her in the trunk. Sorry about the lack of space but we weren’t planning on you coming with us today, Harry, or we would have gotten a larger vehicle.” As soon as the Alfred and the boys are settled in the back of the car, Bruce turns to Petunia and reminds her, “If you want to keep custody of Harry, then you need to have something better to say next week.” Once Bruce is in the car, Alfred pulls away from Privet Drive. No one says anything, but the silence is surprisingly comfortable.