Chapter Text
Leaning against the wall of the school, Harry watched the other children play. It was playtime, and despite everyone else running around, laughing, cheering, and having fun, he couldn't join them, much as he wanted to. He had been looking forward to attending school because it was the first opportunity he had to make friends. Living with the Dursleys didn't offer him that many opportunities to make friends, especially since Dudley liked picking on kids smaller than him.
Which meant every kid on or near Privet Drive knew to stay away from him. They also knew to stay away from Harry, because picking on Harry was Dudley's favourite pastime. A lesson that the rest of their class learned quickly. Despite still being their first year at St. Grogory's Primary School, Dudley had already found a group of students who had a lot in common with him. Namely, they were all mean, they were all ugly, and they were all dumb as rocks. And they all liked picking on Harry with Dudley.
'It's not fair,' Harry thought as he sat there, watching the others play. 'Why won't anyone be my-'
"Hello." Harry was broken out of his thoughts by the sudden arrival of another student. It was the new girl in class. She was wearing a black blouse and skirt, both decorated with red roses, matching the red of the Alice band in her hair, which stood out against her black hair. Finishing the look was a red hood and cloak draped around her shoulders, but the most distinctive thing about her was her silver eyes. To Harry, they were the prettiest thing about her.
"H-Hello," he said, wanting to be polite, but uncertain what else to say.
"I'm Ruby." The now-named Ruby said, smiling nervously as she waved at him. "Ruby Rose."
"I'm Harry. Harry Potter," he replied, in the same nervous tone as her. For a moment, neither said anything, Harry looking up at the girl standing in front of her as she shuffled her feet, before she plucked up her courage again.
"Wanna play on the seesaw?" She motioned towards the unused seesaws before looking back at Harry with an eager, hopeful look on her face.
"OK."
At Harry's agreement, Ruby squeaked with joy. Grabbing Harry by the hand and pulling him to his feet, she excitedly rushed over to the seesaws with him in tow, before anyone else could claim them.
And so began Harry Potter's friendship with the girl with silver eyes.
"Get out of here, you jerks!"
Dudley's friends took off at the blonde girl's rage, leaving Dudley on the ground clutching his stomach as he stumbled to his feet and took off after them. Satisfied the jerks were gone, and nobody needed to be punched anymore, Yang turned around to see her sister helping a boy with black hair to his feet. This boy had stepped between Ruby and the jerks that were trying to push her around, only for him to be knocked down by the fat jerk. When they moved to push Ruby down too, Yang had rushed forward to intervene, delivering a solid punch straight to the fat boy's stomach, sending him to the ground in a mess of spit and gasps for air.
"Are you OK?" Yang asked as the boy brushed the dirt off of him, while Ruby fussed over his glasses. It was a sight that made Yang smile despite still being angry at those jerks. Ruby had been so nervous about starting at their new school, especially since she and Yang wouldn't be able to spend as much time together. But she had made a friend on her first day, so that made Yang smile.
"I'm OK. Thank you, um...?" The boy looked up at Yang as he spoke, allowing her to see his pretty green eyes... and a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead.
'No way. Is this-?' Yang thought to herself before realizing the boy was waiting for her to introduce herself.
"Oh! I'm Yang, Ruby's big sister." She smiled while pointing to herself. "What's your name? And who were those jerks picking on you?"
"My name is Harry. Harry Potter. And those jerks... well, the one you punched is my cousin, Dudley."
Yang blinked at the name. Harry Potter. She'd heard the stories, and so had Ruby, but it looks like Ruby didn't connect the two. Or maybe she just thought they shared the name? Either way, it was pretty cool that she was talking to Harry Potter. But that wasn't what got her attention. It was instead something else that forced a comment from her.
"Your cousin's a jerk."
Harry could only nod his head at the truth in her words before a voice Ruby and Yang recognized called out, "YANG!" Turning to the source of said voice, it was their uncle Qrow walking towards them, a stern, serious look on his face... "UNCLE QROW!" ... that was immediately ruined by the smile that creased his face as Ruby rushed towards her uncle, wrapping her arms around his leg as she looked up at him with a broad smile on her face. "Hi."
Qrow smiled at her as he reached down and patted her on the head. "Hey there, Ruby. Did you have fun at school?"
Ruby nodded her head with the kind of energy only she possessed. "Uh-huh! I even made a friend!" She rushed back to Harry and pulled him towards her uncle, standing next to him with her arms wrapped around his. "This is Harry Potter. I met him at school."
"H-Hello, Sir."
Qrow raised an eyebrow at the name, but took in the kid's appearance. He was small, thin, wearing clothes that were too big for him, broken glasses held together with tape, and to top it all off, he seemed extremely nervous. Not the kind of nervousness that shy kids experience from meeting new people, especially adults, but something else. Like 'I'm standing next to a giant hornet's nest', nervous. Like one wrong move could set off a chain of events that the boy would not find pleasant in the slightest.
So, rather than focus on the fact that he was standing in front of the famous Boy Who Lived, he decided to focus on the fact that Ruby made a friend, and Yang felt the need to punch a fat kid.
"Nice to meet you, Harry. I'm glad to see Ruby's making friends." The boy perked up at that, though whether from the praise or the simple fact that he was being called Ruby's friend, he wasn't sure. But he still had something else to focus on. "Now, Yang, do you want to tell me why you felt the need to sucker punch a kid in the gut?"
Yang's eyes lit up with anger as she stepped forward. "He was picking on Ruby and Harry, and then he pushed Harry down, and you and Dad are always telling us how important it is to help people when we can, so I helped Harry by punching his jerk cousin in the gut and sending them running!"
Qrow raised an eyebrow as Yang finished all of that in a single breath. And to be fair, he and Taiyang did teach them how important it was to help people in need, and being pushed around does count. At least for kids, it does, though at a certain point, kids do need to learn how to stand up for themselves. Then again, it seems like Harry was trying to stand up for himself and Ruby, so it was less a matter of not being willing to stand up for himself and more that he didn't know how to fight back. A situation he could handle later. For now, he'd focus on the more important thing he had learned today.
"Your cousin's a jerk."
"So, this is Harry Potter."
Harry looked up at the tall, blonde man who had been introduced as Taiyang Xiao Long: Yang and Ruby's father. This was the first time he'd ever been invited over to a friend's house, and he wanted to make a good impression. He was wearing the best clothes he could (because they were closest to fitting him properly and had few holes) and had even tried combing his hair (for all the good that did him.)
It wasn't enough to stave off his nervousness, but he stood as straight as he could and tried to sound confident.
"H-Hello, sir."
Taiyang simply laughed before patting Harry on the shoulder. "Oh, none of that 'sir' nonsense. It's good to finally meet you, Harry. Ever since Ruby started her new school, it's impossible to get her to talk about anything but her new friend."
"Daaaaaad!" Ruby pouted as she called out to him, her face turning bright red, a giggling Yang standing next to her.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop embarrassing you. Why don't you take Harry out back and show him the garden? I know you and Yang love playing out there."
Taking the opportunity, Ruby grabbed Harry's hand and led him away with Yang, leaving their father and uncle Qrow to watch them go. Once confident the children weren't going to hear them accidentally, Taiyang turned to Qrow as he pulled out his hip flask.
"Well, I owe you an apology, Qrow. I thought you were exaggerating."
"When have I ever exaggerated about something like this? Never mind the kid not knowing about magic, the kid doesn't even know his parents' names. And talking to that aunt of his made my skin crawl. I feel like I need a bath after that." He paused to take a deep swig of his drink.
Taiyang shook his head at the implications. "Petunia Dursley. I still can't believe it. I thought those two hated each other's guts. And you're certain the wards are her work?"
"Absolutely. I may not be an expert on wards, but I damn well recognize Lily's handiwork. Those blood wards are not only providing heavy-duty defences, but they've been crafted in a way that won't risk interfering with the electronics. Even a team of Gringotts' best cursebreakers would need time to get through that kind of protection."
Letting out a sigh, Taiyang shook his head as he watched the children play. "Which means the biggest danger he faces comes from inside that house."
"Taiyang, I'll ask again, you're absolutely certain Summer and Lily never penned a betrothal contract for Harry and Ruby? Cause if they did..."
"Then we'd have a legal means of getting Harry away from that family, I know. The two of them discussed it after taking down those giants, that much I'm certain of. But when it came down to it, neither Summer nor Lily wanted to force their children into a marriage they might not even want. Especially if it turned out Harry preferred boys, or Ruby preferred girls."
"Fair point," Qrow grunted, unhappy but willing to concede the point as he took another swig. "Well, at least now we can watch out for the boy. But do we tell him everything? About magic? About the House of Potter? About Mouldyshorts?"
"Much as I want to, Petunia hates magic, and I'm quite certain her husband shares that disdain. Telling the boy he's the heir to wizarding nobility would only create more problems for him. But nothing's stopping us from telling the kids stories and fairy tales. And if those stories just so happened to contain a hint of truth to them, we can't be blamed for that, now can we?
Qrow snorted as the two of them watched the children playing as Taiyang thought back to the Blood War. Despite being a Huntress, Summer's duty brought her into contact with Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix on many an occasion, especially as Voldemort began recruiting giants, trolls, werewolves, and a myriad of other creatures to assist in his efforts to dominate the British Isles.
During one of these missions, Summer and Lily met and became close friends. They were both brilliant witches, capable fighters, and were unyielding in their determination to protect the ones they loved. As Summer taught Lily methods of facing the beasts and monsters Voldemort unleashed on his enemies, so too did Lily teach Summer tips and tricks for when she faced the Death Eaters on her missions.
Put the two of them together, and they were a lethal combination.
The death of Lily and the apparent betrayal of Sirius had been a hard blow to Summer. It wasn't helped by the fact that Harry had practically vanished from magical society, and nobody who knew was willing to reveal that knowledge. One of Summer's few regrets before her passing was not being able to see Harry one final time, to make certain Lily's only child was safe and loved.
Still, despite all that, Taiyang felt certain Summer would be happy at the moment. He watched as Ruby tackled Harry into a hug in the garden, with Yang joining in right after. Even with everything that had happened, Harry and Ruby had found each other again.
"Happy Birthday, Harry!"
Walking into the home of Ruby Rose, Harry was thrown for a loop. Ever since becoming friends with Ruby and Yang, he'd visited their house enough times that he felt quite comfortable there. Moreover, it was a place he was familiar with.
A surprise party was not something he was familiar with.
"W-what is this???" Harry asked, bewildered as Qrow followed him into the house.
"It's a party, kid," Qrow remarked, a smirk on his face. "For you."
"For... for me?"
Qrow nodded before ushering him forward, where Ruby and Yang were waiting for him beneath a hand-painted banner saying, in bright colours, 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' It was easier to do that than what he really wanted to do. But beating Vernon and Petunia to within an inch of their lives, while it might have made him feel good inside, wouldn't have helped Harry in the slightest. The horse and the walrus were more likely to treat Harry worse to spite him, regardless of whether or not they feared Qrow making a return.
While there wasn't much he could do for Harry inside his relatives' house, that didn't stop him, Taiyang, and especially Yang and Ruby from making him feel welcome in their company. And watching Harry open his gifts, play games, and enjoy cake and biscuits with the girls gave him a certainty that this act of kindness was doing more for the kid than vengeance would.
By the time night fell, the kids were so tuckered out from playing, not even the sheer quantity of sugar they had consumed in the form of snacks could keep them awake. It was a rather heartwarming sight to see Harry sandwiched between Ruby and Yang, with Ruby nuzzling her face into his chest, while Yang wrapped an arm around his shoulder and dozed off with her head resting on his.
It was a good thing they had planned for this to be a sleepover, because neither Taiyang nor Qrow had it in them to move the kids, choosing instead to place a blanket over them and let them dream the night away.
While Qrow took care of something important.
Stepping out of the house, he took a quick swig from his flask before crossing the street and walking to an inconsequential piece of topiary. He'd gone past this bush a thousand times since moving here, but today, he paused in front of it. His eyes narrowed as he seemed to glare at nothing.
"Are you going to stay there all night, staring at the house like a creep?"
Slowly, from behind the bear-shaped shrubbery, stepped a woman in robes of red and black, the feathers of her namesake falling to the ground as she pulled down the hood, revealing her long black hair and cold red eyes.
"How long have you known?" She asked, more bored than concerned at her cover being blown.
"Since you started following us back at Privet Drive."
A lie on Qrow's part. He'd noticed her sooner, but it was only when she kept following them after he picked up Harry from his relatives that he suspected her motives. To which she responded with little more than a grunt.
"What are you doing here, Raven?"
"So, that's the Boy Who Lived. Hiding in plain sight."
"Raven, whatever you're planning, I'm telling you now: It's a bad idea."
Raven narrowed her eyes at Qrow, to which Qrow simply glared back at her.
"That boy is the sole person to survive the Killing Curse. More than that, he's the heir to a legacy of unmatched power and influence. He should be training for the future."
"He is a child. So is your daughter, and her sister. Both of whom have taken a liking to the boy, while Taiyang looks at him like a son."
Raven raised an eyebrow at Qrow before looking back at the house, her lips quirking into a smirk. "Is that so?"
"Don't. Even. THINK. About it." Qrow emphasized each word as his wand appeared in one hand, and he reached into an expanded pouch with the other, ready to bring forth Harbinger. Statute of Secrecy or not, he wasn't about to let Raven pull something with the kids.
Raven matched him, staring back in defiance, her own hands ready to call forth her weapons and magic, until she sighed in resignation.
"I didn't come here to fight, Qrow. I came to warn you. The Death Eaters who escaped overseas aren't just waiting around. They're starting to gather. Pool their resources, meagre as they are at the moment."
"For what? Their master is gone."
"You don't believe that anymore than I do, Qrow. He's out there somewhere, watching, waiting, preparing to make his return. When he does, we ALL need to be ready, because they won't have been idle all this time." Raven pulled her hood over her head before turning away, fading into the shadows. "Look after them, Qrow. We won't get another chance to win."
When she was gone, Qrow reluctantly sighed as he holstered his wand and released his grip on Harbinger, before grabbing his flask for a much-needed drink. Dealing with his sister tended to do that to him. But as he returned to the house, he thought over her words. If she was right, and the Death Eaters were preparing for their return already... then the next few years would be very interesting.