Chapter Text
The day started like any other. Aunt Petunia unlocked his cupboard and ordered him to get to work on breakfast. Harry quickly did as told and grabbed the eggs and bacon from the fridge, deciding to make a simpler meal. As the bacon was sizzling, he sat the table. Three plates, three cups, three bundles of silverware.
He’s setting out the bacon just as Dudley walks in. He sits down and his eyes are already glued to the TV. The chubby boy blindly reaches for the food as Harry is filling his plate up with scrambled eggs, almost knocking over his cup of orange juice. Harry absolutely does not scoff, he knows what will happen if he ever shows a negative emotion towards his cousin, especially in the house.
Harry steals a few scraps of bacon and the very little left over of eggs before quickly washing up. Aunt Petunia constantly warns him to look presentable to anyone out of the house, they need to look like a perfectly normal family. He tries his best with the hand me down clothes from Dudley that completely swamps him. He has to use a belt, that he had to poke extra holes in, and rolls up the pant legs.
On the ride to school, he has to let Dudley copy off of his homework. He always forgets to do it the night before. Or not. He’s probably just using Harry’s because he is too lazy. If he ever refuses or hesitates too long, it’s a lesson from Uncle Vernon.
The school day is just like any other. Classes where he is always left out. Dudley and his gang picking on him. Teachers blaming everything on him. All in a normal day at school. That is until recess.
-
Dudley and his gang were chasing him. Harry is speeding past the teachers, while they ignore his distress. Once they catch them, he knows it's going to be a bad beating by the larger kids. He is searching for any and every way out of this, then he sees the dumpsters. Perfect! Dudley would hate to get dirty.
He quickly jumps behind the nearest one and crouches down. He sits there for a few moments, listening for the sound of the gang's footsteps. When they never come he looks up. He sees the sky instead of the dumpster that should be right in front of him. He looks down and sees metal instead of dirt.
He walks over to the edge of the roof to see his bullies looking around in confusion until Dudley glances up. He must have seen Harry’s shadow on the ground. They both stare at each other for a long moment. Harry can see surprise on Dudley's face, but then it morphs into something like fear.
This causes Harry to become confused. His bigger cousin has never shown any emotion other than exhilaration at Harry’s own expense. He takes a step closer to the edge. It had rained the night before, so the roof is a little slick still.
He slips and it’s like the world has gone slow. His arms have gone out, trying to catch himself. He is still looking at Dudley, so he catches the look of panic on his cousin's face. He knows it’s a long fall and he is trying to do anything to stop himself.
When he hits the ground, there is a loud crunch sound. Pain radiates up his right leg. He hears screaming, it could be him, or it could be someone else, he can’t be sure. All he knows is that tis is the worst pain he has ever been in. His vision darts to go black and the last thing he sees is Dudley looking at him, terrified and with tears in his eyes. Harry can’t hear what he is saying, just can see his lips moving.
-
Harry opens his eyes and the pain is completely gone. He doesn’t know where he is, all he knows is that it is warm and the closest thing to home he has ever felt. He is in the middle of a street, in front of him is a house that he swears he knows from somewhere. He approaches and out comes a couple. The man has darker, tanned skin and curly, unruly hair. He wears glasses and smile lines like smiling is all he does. The woman has fiery red hair and kind, emerald green eyes. She has pale skin and a few freckles.
They both immediately notice him and rush towards him. The man kneels down in front of him with wide, worried eyes. His hand reaches up to cup Harry’s cheek. The woman kneels down right next to the man with the same expression.
“Oh, Harry. You’ve grown so big.” the man says.
Harry stares confused at them. They do seem familiar, but he doesn’t know who they are. “Who are you?”
This just makes the couple even more sad. “We’re your parents Harry,” The woman states. “James and Lily.”
“Oh,” Harry says, trying to digest this. All his life he has been told that his parents were mean drunks who hated him. But now they are here, in front of him, and they are acting so nice and worried. “Uh, where am I?”
“You had an accident at school.” the man, James, responds. He is still holding Harry’s face and staring at every detail like he is trying to memorize every feature. From the lightning scar that covers half of his face to his green eyes and his mouth that rarely smiles. “You are here with us for a moment while your body heals”
“I-I can’t stay?”
Lily and James share a look, their faces somehow sadder. Lily looks back and says, “No, my baby boy, you can’t. You have to go back. It is not your time, and you have a long life ahead of you.” She then points to his chest. Harry notices for the first time that a wispy, light blue string is coming out. “You still have someone special to meet. Very few have connections like that anymore.”
As Harry is still staring at the string, his vision starts to go black again. “No! Wait! I want to stay! Please! Don’t leave me!”
“My boy,” James starts “We will always be with you, watching over you. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Both James and Lily pull Harry into a hug. They surround him in a warmth that he has never felt. He grips onto them tighter, not wanting to leave as his vision starts to fade. Just before he leaves he hears James whisper one last thing.
“You are stronger than you know and we’re so proud.”
Both adults plant kisses on his head as he falls back into the blackness.
-
Harry wakes in a white room. There are machines beeping and he can hear a rush of footsteps outside the door. He tries to sit up, but his whole body feels so heavy. He glances down at his body, specifically his legs. He can still remember how much pain his right leg was causing him. He just knows that it was broken.
He stares in horror at the place where his leg should be. As he starts to panic he feels a hand on his arm. He glances up to see Dudley. He looks sad and that snaps him out of his incoming panic attack.
“I…I-I’m sorry. They couldn’t save it… It was bad Harry, really bad.”
He just leans back and closes his eyes, wanting to go back to the place in his dreams.
The next few days are a blur. Many doctors coming in and checking up on him, introduction to his physical therapist, and the Dursley's glare whenever he became too much of a problem. There is talk of a possible prosthetic leg in the future. But, and his doctors stressed this a lot, he has to heal first.
When he gets back to #4 Privet Drive, the Dursley’s give him a small break. He still has to do some chores, but he has to do them while hopping around on crutches. Dudley tries to help him at any opportunity, but Harry is not having it.
Whenever he isn’t completing a chore or at school, he is hiding away in his cupboard. Just laying there, trying to go back to the dream from the day of the accident. That place was warm, happy, and beautiful. This place is cold, sad, and dreadful.
He spends so much time in his cupboard that Dudley has gotten to trying to convince him to come out. Harry has gotten really good at ignoring his bigger cousin. Why is his bully all of a sudden trying to be nice?
Three months later, it’s November, and Harry is back to doing all his chores. Cleaning, cooking and gardening. The Dursleys also treat him worse because he is slower than he was before the accident. Uncle Vernon has very little patience anymore. He’s angry all the time that he had to waste so much money on Harry. He’s also complaining about the coming up costs of the leg and extra therapy.
Six months later, in February now, Harry finally got his prosthetic leg. The expectation is that he can do everything like normal again, which is mostly achievable. He still has a hard time with his balance, especially while setting the table. But he can, sort of, run and do things most kids normally do. That is all he really cared about, being back at one-hundred percent.
It has been a long process, and he is still going to physical therapy every week. Dudley and his gang have backed off of him. He is still confused why Dudley is acting so weird towards him. He has even started to be included at school. The class of eight-year olds were very understanding.
-
It’s a sunny August day two hours away in Wiltshire. There is a little eight-year old blonde boy playing with a potions kit. He wants to be just like his Uncle Sev when he grows up.
He is in the middle of making a cool reaction when he feels a pull in his chest. It physically pulls him forward. It makes him feel weird and he starts to freak out. He runs out of his room, looking for his mother. When he does find her, he launches himself into her arms.
“What’s wrong, my little Dragon?” she asks. Draco tells her what he felt, and for a brief moment, alarm flickers across her features. Narcissa runs her fingers through her son's hair as she starts to tell him about soulmates. “Some wizards have, what is commonly known as, a soulmate. There is a tether between two that connects their souls. It is very rare to have such a connection. What you felt was your soulmate in danger.” At this Draco’s eyes widened, scared. “Oh, don’t worry. Your soulmate is okay, they just needed a little help from you, that's why the tether was pulled. Now, why don’t we play some chess?”
Narcissa tries to distract her son, but all she can think about is how her son has a soulmate. Who could this soulmate possibly be? And what sort of danger could this child be in to have to alert their soulmate? She is going to have to discuss this with Lucius.