Chapter Text
*The freaks*
The first rays of sunlight softly illuminated the small, messy room; stacks of newspapers were scattered on the floor, some of the pages marked, some torn from sorting in a messy pile stuck to the sides of the old wooden bed, old unruly sheets and thin padding fell to the wooden floor joining empty snack packs, rotting eaten apples, scattered white feathers and various spell books, letters of different colors carefully closed between the pages used as bookmarks.
A rebellious black-haired boy sat in front of the window staring at the sunrise, his jewel-green eyes remaining lusterless. He woke up from a screaming nightmare, the memory of his godfather falling through the gate and disappearing forever playing over and over in his mind.
Shivering, the boy leaned against the open window glass, soothed by its coolness on his sweaty skin, staring at the missing pieces of plaster, the area where bars had been torn out that had locked him in the room he had been imprisoned in and escaped from with the help of the Weasley twins and his best friend almost three years ago.
The boy ran his trembling fingers over the marks, comforted by the proof embedded in the bare concrete that his friends loved him and would not leave him alone.
But he was alone.
Despite everything, he always returned to a home where he was not welcome, his dream of living with Sirius as a family, of seeing the day Sirius would be acquitted, shattered, torn apart by the cruel reality.
Sirius died while protecting his godson, the godson who had brought him into danger in the first place.
If it weren't for his stupidity and innocence, he wouldn't have lost the only adult who wanted to give him a home. But he fell into the trap that Voldemort had set for him and put his friends in danger, whom he could have easily lost if it weren't for the Order that appeared to save them. Friends who had gone with him against all the rules and broken into the Ministry - who had fought for him - friends who now barely communicated with him.
In their letters, they wrote to him to be strong and that they couldn't write to him freely because of the situation, they sent him their love and wrote him cryptic things in case his letters were read by the Death Eaters and there would be nothing to find.
The magic coin that connected all his friends remained without messages, like the two-way mirror given to him by Sirius, who had been left an orphan.
Harry was alone again waiting for his companion Hedwig to return from her night flight, but the white owl was nowhere to be seen in the dull neighborhood.
"There are feathers in your hair." His aunt's quiet, sad voice snapped Harry out of his thoughts, frowning. He didn't bother to remove the feathers that were tangled in his hair.
Confused, Harry was left staring at the view, his aunt didn't enter his room, she avoided the room like the plague, he didn't understand what made her open the door and start a conversation with him of her own accord.
"You haven't unpacked your suitcase, it's been a week and a half." This time Harry glanced at his suitcase that lay next to his bed, closed like the day he brought it.
He didn't bother to explain himself, time didn't really have any meaning for him after Sirius' death, almost nothing had any meaning.
His hollow gaze met his aunt's, she looked pale in the early morning light, flinching at his gaze. She wrinkled her nose, her eyes falling on the mess of his room.
"You need to tidy up your room, you still live under our roof and there can't be a messy room in this house."
Harry bit his tongue and avoided making a snide remark about Dudley's room and how he was the one who took care of tidying up most of the house.
When he saw that he wasn't going to respond to her words, her face took on a sullen expression. "Since you're already awake, you'll go do your chores, tidying up this room is included." She told him while wrinkled her nose, "And go take a shower and wash your face." Leaving him no room for argument, she disappeared, closing the locked door and opening the cat food quietly, leaving him alone.
Harry sighed and went to do as she said, as he washed his face he could see that his eyes were red and swollen from crying, he didn't even notice that he was crying, when he went to the clock he could see the time, five in the morning, it was unusual for his aunt to be awake at this hour, maybe he woke her up with his screams.
Shaking his head, Harry went back to his daily routine; surprisingly his never-ending to-do list had become easy to do, the rooms were tidied up, meals were prepared, dishes were washed, the laundry was washed and folded, the well-kept garden was tended to.
At noon, Harry planned to disappear to his room and give his aunt the relief of pretending he didn't exist, he succeeded in doing so every step of the way; his uncle didn't respond well to the threats the members of the order threatened him and was just looking for a way to take out his anger on him, his aunt was brief in her interactions with him and his cousin surprisingly didn't tease him at all.
His situation was almost the best it had been in years in terms of the Dursleys' behavior, but Harry couldn't find the strength to find joy in the whole situation.
Before he could go up to his room and shut himself in as he always did, his aunt stood in front of him, blocking his way. "Have you finished your chores?"
Harry nodded, but a frown appeared on his aunt's face in displeasure. "It's only three in the afternoon. You couldn't have finished everything..without.." Her lips twitched. Harry knew she meant to talk about his magic. "I didn't, you know I'm not allowed to use magic while I'm a minor."
His aunt's displeasure grew, perhaps due to the mention of his magic and the forbidden word in the house.
"Don't be rude, you're clearly not finished."
This time Harry rolled his eyes. "All the rooms are tidied up, all the pictures and dishes are polished, the garden is tended to...I've done everything except wash the walls.."
"Well, you didn't plant roses in the yard, of course!" His aunt interrupted him in displeasure, Harry blinked. There were clearly no roses to plant, in fact any flower that wasn't in delicate light colors that suited the pastoral perfection of the courtyard was never planted, and roses, though beautiful, had thorns that hurt their imperfection.
Harry couldn't imagine a situation where his aunt would want flowers with thorns.
"There are no roses to plant outside." Harry finally found himself muttering.
"Because you haven't been to the nursery to get them yet." His aunt said, placing her hands on her hips, as if stating the obvious.
His aunt took out a wallet and handed him money. "Go to the nursery to buy roses." Stunned, Harry didn't even have time to protest before he found himself outside the house, missing the worried look in his aunt's eyes. Shaking his head, Harry walked to the nearest bus stop.
He could hear Moody Mad-Eye muttering in his head to keep himself constantly alert, the Order wanted Harry to stay as close to home as possible, Harry shook his head in dismay.
Last year, Dementors had attacked him and his cousin through the Ministry, what was to stop Death Eaters from getting to him if they wanted to?
In fact, the only reason Voldemort hadn't shown up to kill him yet was probably because he was busy fighting in front of the office, now that the wizarding world knew he was back from the dead.
For a moment Harry imagined Death Eaters storming the nursery, throwing flowerpots, petals, and soil everywhere, it made a stifled laugh escape his lips.
Amused and still suspicious, Harry boarded the bus that took him to the nearest nursery.
Finding himself standing among all the shades of flowers and roses, Harry discovered that he was lost, his aunt had not told him what kind of roses she wanted, or what color.
"Don't know what to choose?" Harry almost jumped up at the sound of a cheerful voice, his hand holding his wand hidden in his baggy trousers tightened, turning around he found in front of him a smiling Gal girl with fluorescent yellow hair that would have given his aunt a heart attack.
"Oh..you could say." His voice came out weak, but the girl did not flinch, she stood beside him with cheerful skips "Well, I personally like the yellow roses..but as you can see my opinion is quite biased, after all yellow is my favorite color." The girl pointed to her dyed hair as proof that it was indeed her favorite color.
"If you're buying the roses for yourself I'd go for black or green roses they would suit you perfectly." She said as she gestured towards the roses in the colors she was talking about, her arm tattooed with yellow sunflowers and a dragon blending in perfectly between them was on full display and Harry let out a shocked breath.
It wasn't that he didn't know that there were teenagers who got tattoos or dyed their hair bright colors. His aunt and uncle had expressed their displeasure with such 'delinquent' teenagers. It was just that beyond Death Eaters tattooed with a cursed Dark Mark and Tonks who had the ability to change her appearance at will and usually had bright pink hair. He had never met anyone his age with such a fierce appearance.
The girl was a smiling, freckled picture with honey green eyes, stylish bright yellow hair, various tattoos and piercings in her ears and eyebrow, which would have made his aunt turn pale. She was dressed in yellow clothes and looked a lot like the Hufflepuff house flag if she had been a student at Hogwarts.
"Pinks are for my aunt's yard." The girl tilted her head in thought. "Is this a gift? How wonderful of you? Do you know what colors she likes?" Harry could see the earring on her tongue and knew that if his aunt saw the girl she would definitely throw a fit, amused that a girl like her was willing to help him choose flowers for a woman who liked boring and normal things the most. A smile spread across his lips. "Actually, my aunt threw me to buy her roses as a chore. I think she would be happy with classic roses like I know her, and in pastel colors."
The girl made a "How boring" face. Then a smile spread across her lips. "Since she didn't tell you what colors to choose, why don't you choose colors you like?"
Harry stared at her in shock, but there was a point to her statement. If he chose roses in colors his aunt didn't like, she probably wouldn't send him to buy things for her anymore and he would be able to have more time to himself.
"I've always liked the red and gold." He shared a radiant smile with the girl, the girl smiled at him playfully and showed him roses in a perfect shade of red, pointing to yellow roses that were the closest color to gold in addition.
"They're perfect." He told her with a smile and she nodded then burst out laughing "It's funny that I'm helping you choose roses when my name is Rose." Harry laughed at the situation. "Nice to meet you by the way." She told him while choosing yellow roses that matched his. She took sunflowers. In addition, sunflowers were also hated by his aunt, another reason why the girl had become likable in his eyes.
The girl held out her hand to him and after a moment Harry took it with a smile, there couldn't be a Death Eater who was so interested in roses or alternatively one who would agree to take a Transfiguration Potion to disguise himself as a teenage girl, right?
"Harry." He said his name lightly, her eyes widened "Harry..you're Harry Potter right?" Harry flinched from her but the girl wasn't surprised at all, her gaze never left his eyes for a moment never wandering towards the famous lightning scar that rested on his forehead.
"I knew that black hair was familiar! And your eyes! I should have recognized you right away. You barely changed." The girl told him cheerfully. "I'm Rose, Rose Gerbera. I was in the same class as you in elementary school. Do you remember me? Of course not. I've changed a lot since then." She told him kindly. "You protected me from your horrible cousin and his horrible friends. Kids can be pretty mean." She told him as she walked toward the checkout with him. "I was pretty sick. Cancer is a terrible disease and kids don't understand what it feels like to have your own body attacking you." She told him lightly as she walked quickly toward the salesperson, signaling him to do their math.
"You were my bright spot back then. You didn't know it, but how you managed to get to the chimney on the school roof when you ran away from the bullies. And how you managed to pull the prank on our teacher! How the blue color matched her hair made my week and actually still makes me happy every time I remember her terrified expression." She laughed heartily and Harry suddenly remembered a sickly shy little girl with honey green eyes and honey brown hair.
Rose Gerbera was with him in kindergarten and primary school until he was eleven when he left for Hogwarts and the wizarding world. She was a sickly child and was left behind because of it. Her parents left Privet Drive about a year later due to her health. Harry could remember his aunt shaking her head sadly when she heard the sad news from Dudley about the sick little girl.
And there was the quiet little girl standing in front of him, smiling and healthier than ever, like a miracle.
"We went back to Privet Drive this week. My mother missed the boring suburbs and she would rather I be somewhere with more fresh air than staying in London." Rose told him, rolling her eyes. "Of course I kept in touch with whoever I could but I still have friends from the city that I will miss... at least I can reconnect with you." Harry still shocked followed her after paying together they left the nursery "Of course I tried to keep in touch earlier but your lame excuse family always gave lame excuses for your absence..and of course all the rumors I heard about you being 'disturbed' come on..how ridiculous." Rose stopped waving her free hand at him "I mean look at you if you were disturbed you would look like a criminal not a homeless person - and sorry I didn't mean to offend but you really need to change your wardrobe."
Harry wasn't hurt at all, in fact he was still shocked that she cared. This mulgog girl - and that's exactly what she was - considering she had taken care to delicately place the flowers in a yellow Beetle and no wizard he knew apart from Mr. Weasley, Sirius and Hagrid knew how to operate mulgogs - the very thought of a pureblood like Malfoy trying to knock over a car almost made Harry burst out laughing.
"Would you like to come with me? I'll drive you to the house. We live quite close, don't we? I live at eleven Privet Drive now and if I remember correctly you live at four."
"Do you have a license?" He asked her stupidly while Rose burst out laughing, ruffling his hair. "You have a feather in your hair..and of course I do. I'm seventeen after all..I'd rather ride my motorbike but today I went out to run errands, there's no way I'm going to stay living in a boring, colorless house like all the other houses on Privet Drive. Mom agreed with me and today I planned to paint my room yellow, later my other friends are coming so we can tidy up the garden..and Mom said the paints will arrive during the week. We'll paint the house pink or light green..we haven't decided yet." Rose continued to chatter as she helped him arrange the roses he bought among all the other things in the car, there were more brightly colored flowers along with various closed boxes, definitely a look of a car that indicates a move.
"..that's a really pretty feather! Do you mind if I keep it? I think I'd like to make an earring out of it." Harry nodded wordlessly, throwing his caution to hell as he got into the car with Rose "Where did that feather even come from? It's so special!" Her hands ran over the white feather with an appreciation that only warmed his heart as she carefully put the feather into her purse.
"It's my owl's." Harry forgot that he was actually talking to a Mulgagian and that it was not normal to raise owls
"Your owl? I have a snake, my partner raises parrots and a friend of mine raises a falcon...but I've never heard of raising owls!...oh Kate is going to be so excited and jealous."
"Hedwig is actually a white swan." Harry breathed a sigh of relief, it was clear that Rose was not normal - in the best sense of the word, the fact that she raised a snake...and knew other people who raised exotic animals testified to this and was already in his good books...and the fact that they painted a house in the neighborhood of Privet Drive a colorful color! His aunt was definitely going to be shocked.
A huge smile spread across his lips, Rose put on contemporary rock music while she spoke and shared it as if they had always been friends and Harry was drawn to the conversation like a magnet.
Rose was a ray of light, in her appearance and behavior.
She was empathetic, caring, and if very blunt and sharp about many issues that bothered her, such as inequality in society, labels given to people for bullying, and child neglect. Despite her age, she seemed to be full of insights into life, and perhaps her struggle and victory over cancer is part of that.
After a whole week and a half of not meeting people he liked, the desire to indulge in friendly conversation was overwhelming, and Rose was simply a natural in her kindness and openness.
And instead of going straight back to his family's house, Harry found himself willingly accepting her invitation and at Rose's house, they made their way through the crates together and opened the yellow paint to begin painting her room together.
He insisted that it was fine and that he was happy to help.
On their way, they came across her snake, which was as yellow and friendly as she was, and when she offered to pick up her snake or 'Corn' as she affectionately called it, Harry found himself facing a cheerful snake that knew immediately that it was a speaker and was expressing how happy it was that Rose had found a 'proper' friend like him.
Harry wasn't sure how to feel about Corn's statement, which he had given himself the freedom to crawl around his neck as freely as a scarf.
"So Harry...what's your story? On the trip I told you mine...so what secrets do you have? It must be quite a story with all the rumors that all those nosy neighbors are spreading about you."
Harry let out a surprised laugh and shook his head. "Aren't you snooping now?"
"I'm asking you directly instead of relying on half-baked and false rumors." She told him with a crooked, mischievous smile.
Harry opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. Of course, he could tell the version his uncle and aunt always told, about him being a freak studying at an institution for criminals.
But somehow he knew that Rose wouldn't find this version credible, and on the other hand the truth was crazy.
"..You won't believe me." He finally said, wincing, yellow color falling on the tip of his nose.
"Try me..you won't know if you don't try..and besides, the whole neighborhood thinks you're crazy anyway, which is clearly not logical."
"The truth could be crazier."
'You can trust her, Speaker, she'll understand. Rose always understands..and there's a side to her that belongs to magic too.' The yellow snake spoke as it rose in front of him with the most serious look Harry had ever seen on a snake.
Harry felt his mood drop in an instant, he thought he had found a new friend who didn't care who he was, and now...Rose belonged in the magical world.
Mixed emotions mixed in him, joy and anger and frustration.
Why couldn't he have a normal life? With people who would want to be his friend just because he was Harry?
"Harry, are you okay? What happened? Wow..I've never seen Corn with that expression." Rose quickly approached him and handed him a cloth to wipe his paint-stained nose.
Harry didn't take the cloth from her, he just felt an irrational anger inside him, anger that made him ignore the oath of secrecy completely.
"Rose..are you part of the magical world?" The coldness in his voice made Rose stare at him, "A magical world? Ah! This world. No, not really. My father is a werewolf and I'm mixed. I'm mostly human and my wolf part helped me heal or it made the cancer worse - I'm not sure, honestly. I don't really know my father - he divorced my mother when I was young and our meetings are once a year. If claws hadn't appeared on me on a full moon night at the age of thirteen, I probably wouldn't have known anything about the magical world, in fact I still don't really know much." Rose's openness stunned him.
"I just know that it's not easy to be a werewolf in the magical world, that's why my father prefers to be among humans, are you also a werewolf? Mixed? Like me?" The excitement and fear in her voice were real.
"No, I'm not a werewolf. I'm also a half-blood like you. And I'm a wizard." The words escaped his lips before he could stop them and so he found himself telling Rose his life story.
From the moment he started telling, he couldn't stop, he found himself sharing with her things that no one else had shared in his life and Rose listened and didn't judge.
When he finally finished, the color on his face dried, night fell and tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Can I hug you?" Her question sounded gentle, Harry awkwardly wrinkled his nose from the dried color. He froze at her request, he had never been one to like physical contact, maybe because he was never used to receiving affection through touch..maybe because he was used to violent touch.
But the prolonged speech left him with a hollow feeling, Harry found himself nodding, accepting her hug tenderly as Corn moved from Harry to her and back to him, rubbing his cheeks softly as comfort.
Rose smelled like yellow roses, she had a softness similar to Hermione's hug.
It made him cry even harder, surprised that there were any more tears left in him at all. Harry pulled away from the hug in embarrassment. "Sorry." He muttered, "You have nothing to apologize for." Rose said softly, pulling away from him and leaving enough space between them to keep him comfortable.
"Harry.. what you've been through.. what you're going through is.. it's a lot." She began hesitantly as Corn moved into her lap.
"I can't come close to understanding your pain and sorrow, and being at home with your family.. that's probably not a healthy situation."
Harry opened his mouth to protest but couldn't, she was right to stay with family members who didn't want him and cared for him only because of threats. It wasn't a healthy situation at all.
"I'm not even talking about the mental and physical abuse you've been through..and your shock at being so significant in a magical world..when you lived a lie for eleven years and then spent every year surviving..it's funny that the wizarding world calls you 'the boy who lived' when the truth is you never lived."
Harry opened his mouth to argue but couldn't find the strength, wasn't that the truth?
All his life Harry had just insisted on surviving.
"I don't know what made you open up to me like that but I'm glad you did and I'm glad you shared it with me. You must have been carrying all this pain in your heart for a long time." Rose was quiet as she gently took his hand, "And I... I can't even start without cursing every adult who was involved in your life. Even as a child I could see the neglect you were subjected to and I know for a fact that Mom complained... I never understood why a week later she didn't even remember what it was about. Now I know, now I understand why welfare couldn't reach you... Someone from your world took care of that... And I know I have no right to say that because I didn't live your life, but from what it sounds like - it seems like you were raised in conditions suitable for manipulation and living the life of a soldier in a game of... forgive me - but two crazy people."
Her rage was clear in the empty room, overwhelming in its intensity.
"This Dumbledore, if you will allow me to say Dumbledore - says he cares so much about you that he always keeps an eye on you - and you said he's very old, which is even more disturbing - always makes sure he knows what's going on in your life and never interferes except when it suits him." Rose's rage echoed in the partially painted empty room and for a moment Harry saw a flash of gold in her eyes.
"W..w..the murderer no one dares to call his name used you whenever he could to get what he wanted, whether it was the immortality stone..whether it was trying to murder you, using your blood to bring you back to life, or manipulating you to doubt reality and lose the only person who cared about you..who unfortunately sounds like he needed help and care for himself..help he never got."
Harry closed his eyes in pain remembering how Sirius had called him James before he was hurt, Sirius who he loved so much..saw him in that moment and perhaps more than that moment as a replacement for his dead friend.
"The thing is Harry..that the way I see things, Dumbledore is using you and the most powerful dark wizard not only uses you but owes you a life debt - for getting a body back to walk in..and the fact that the two wizards who are supposed to be the greatest in Britain are playing with a boy barely sixteen..it boils my blood! ..it seems Harry that you are the winning card in a war that no one even asked you if you wanted to fight in, a war that children should not be in..a war that whichever side you choose can lead to victory and all because of a prophecy."
It pained Harry to admit it but now as he sat with Rose on the cold wooden floor, the truth about his life seemed clearer and clearer.
"Prophecy... a dubious prophecy at best, I was raised as a human but there's a reason we don't believe in fate and such nonsense.. I believe that we determine what will happen and no one else and in general our every choice changes the future.. Have you heard of the butterfly effect? It's enough for there to be a small change during the day that can create a paradox.. In general time changes from moment to moment and every choice we make, even the smallest, can be significant.. For example, if I had chosen to ride a motorcycle today like I usually do, we probably wouldn't have met today." Rose spoke while picking up the corn and stroking it gently.
".. And if you even want to share the prophecy with me.. If you believe in it so much - not that I'm disparaging what you were made to believe - I just think differently - I'd be happy to help you think your way out of a situation where you're killed or killed.. No one should find themselves in a situation like that, especially not minors.. Not that the wizarding world seems to care about such things at all." She sighed at the end of her words, stood up to turn on the light, Rose closed the paint cans "I think we've painted enough today, are you hungry? I'll heat up some pizza for us." She turned to look at the watch on her hand, letting out a gasp "My friends are coming in half an hour. You're welcome to join us or call your aunt to say you're okay. The time went by quickly."
Shocked by the change in conversation so quickly, Harry nodded, stood up, wiping his face. They went down to the kitchen as Rose heated up a whole tray of ready-made pizza for them and put two more trays in the oven for her friends.
"How come you believed me?" Harry finally asked when his tears stopped after he managed to wash his face and remove the paint.
"Because..you're like me, not normal or whatever that means at all..and because no one even a crazy person with such a developed imagination could make up everything you said and also because..well I could smell the truth and emotions from you, it's a gift and a curse I got from my father." Rose said in a matching silence, handing him a pizza that smelled wonderful "We're friends now, and we'll find a way to turn the rules of this unfair game..and along the way I want to show you how beautiful life can be - you're half-blood as you say but you haven't really lived in both worlds and while I..barely know about the magical world I definitely know the human world and I'll show you the beautiful things in it and who knows..maybe you'll learn to live a little?"
Harry found himself smiling at her a genuine smile wishing that she would succeed.
After eating together they went out into the yard, a large black jeep was parked in the driveway, music was blaring from it, two guys and a girl with short purple and pink hair got out of the car, the girl rushed to run into Rose's open arms, they hugged laughing before kissing.
The guy driving was wearing sunglasses at night - honestly who wears sunglasses when it's dark - waved goodbye with a laugh while another young man with brown hair with green tones came out awkwardly after him.
"Harry, meet my partner Kate and Nicholas and Christian here." Rose said with a smile "Friends meet Harry Potter the only boy who stood by me in elementary school and my new boyfriend." Rose introduced him to her friends with a radiant smile.
Like Rose each of them was unusual, they were the kind of morons who would give people like his uncle and aunt a heart attack, they were called 'freaks' and criminals by his family.
Kate - The girl with short purple pink hair had many piercings on her face, nose, lips, eyebrows and ears, she wore fluorescent colored clothes and matching fluorescent sneakers "It's a pleasure to meet you!" She told him with a wide smile, extending her hand for a shake that quickly turned into a hug before he could blink.
Kate left him almost immediately letting the rest of her friends greet him "Hi I'm Christopher but you're welcome to call me Chris." The boy with fluorescent green and brown hair said happily, he wore vintage clothes and they seemed to suit him, along with jewelry, he also had piercings in his ears and an earring in his back, his bright smile and his slightly awkward movements were charming. "Hi Chris I'm Harry." Harry grabbed his hand with a smile he could make out a green snake tattoo on his hand.
"Harry..like Harry Potter?" The last of the group walked towards him slowly, studying him through his black sunglasses and Harry flinched for a moment as the guy turned off the black jeep, put the key in his pocket, picked up his ridiculous sunglasses, Harry didn't understand why he was wearing them until he came across a pair of beautiful shining silver eyes, his silver eyes seemed almost sparkling in the darkness, they couldn't be natural, like his light blond hair that looked white in the light shining from the street lamps.
His hair was shiny, his body was built with aristocratic features, he had a single silver earring hanging in his ear, his clothes were black as night with a matching black jacket and his height, he looked inhuman, regal like a fairy tale character, almost like a villa.
"Yes..that's my name..that's how Rose introduced me." Harry felt his mouth go dry and his movements become awkward just by the presence of this handsome guy, he knew he was going crazy when the too-handsome-to-be-real and ridiculously tall guy sent him a crooked smile.
"I'm Nicholas. You're welcome to call me Nick Harry. It's a pleasure to meet you." Nicholas gently grabbed Harry's waving hand and bowed, giving Harry a kiss on the back of his hand.
Speechless, Harry stared, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks as he couldn't find the words.
"Give the poor guy a break Nick..come on." Nicholas was pushed aggressively by Kate. His reaction to this was an exaggerated eye roll and a pointed wink at Harry. Kate, for her part, sent him an apologetic smile. "Sorry Harry Nick is a lot to take in..when I first met him I almost went overboard! And I'm a lesbian..can you imagine?" She burst out laughing, shaking her head as if she still couldn't believe it.
"Or you're just bisexual, that makes more sense." Christopher said in justification, "Although there's not much logic to the heads Nick's got going on here." He shrugged.
The rest of the meeting passed in relative silence, as quiet as active teenagers can be, full of talk and jokes and loud songs, full of snacks and pizzas.
Rose's friends accepted him right into their group without asking many questions, they spent the rest of the evening laughing and eating, talking about their work - it turns out that everyone except Rose worked at work and Rose didn't work because she studied for an early university entrance exam in the summer.
Rose, it turns out, was gifted on top of everything.
They painted Rose's room yellow, filling it with patterns of flowers and delicate additions of imaginary creatures that Christopher had drawn.
Then they finished planting the flowers in the garden, which became colorful and suited the general atmosphere of joy.
Which reminded Harry that it was late and he hadn't returned to his uncle's house yet.
Apologizing, he was about to walk home alone when Rose grabbed his arm "Let me drive you, there's no way you're walking alone with the flowers at night." Before Harry could protest, Nicholas stood next to him "Great idea, I can drive you guys, it'll save you the driving, Rose, you've been driving a lot today, you must be tired." Rose seemed to want to argue, but in the end she nodded, "Sounds great, go ahead, Harry."
And so Harry found himself in front of his house, accompanied by his two new friends who clearly didn't belong in the vicinity of house number four.
"Thanks, for everything." Harry said before saying goodbye to them, he was still a little embarrassed by the flowers that would probably leave dirt in the new black jeep that was clearly terribly expensive, but it didn't seem to bother Nicholas at all.
Rose gave him a warm hug, as Nicholas held the roses for him without asking, taking care to place them on the sides of the garden.
"We can help you plant them." He told him "It's just the least we can do after you've helped us so much today."
Harry shook his head, already seeing his aunt's head from the kitchen area. It was probably only a matter of minutes before she noticed him.
"That's okay really, I'll plant them tomorrow." Harry shook his head, shifting on his feet uncertainly.
"We'll arrive tomorrow afternoon, we'll be happy to help you, and if not tomorrow, we'll sit at our favorite bar in two days' evening. You're welcome to join us." Nicholas invited him with a smile as if they had always been friends and Rose nodded.
Before Harry could say anything else, the door to the house opened. His aunt was standing in the doorway, her eyes staring at him madly. She looked angry, then her eyes moved to his friend, to Rose's yellow hair, which in the night almost glowed like neon. She opened her mouth in shock, her hands went to her heart as if she was afraid of having a heart attack at that moment.
"Hi Petunia, I'm Rose Gerbera. I studied with Harry and Dudley at primary school before we left for London. You must remember my mother? You used to sit over a cup of tea every Saturday." Rose said with a friendly smile and an informality that didn't contribute to his aunt's anxiety.
"Gerbera." His aunt croaked weakly.
"Yes, Harry and I made up today I hope you don't mind? We're back in the neighborhood this week and I'm glad we're reunited. Do you mind if I write down your phone number? I'd love to talk to Harry without having to walk a lot. I pretty much hate walking, you know?"
His aunt didn't seem to understand a word of what Rose said, Rose didn't care. She turned to look at Nicholas who just took a small notebook and pen out of his jacket and took care to write down the numbers and gave it to Harry. "These are our numbers. Call." He told him with a wide smile. He turned to look at Harry's aunt. "It was nice talking to you, ma'am." He told his aunt in a tone that made it clear that the entire meeting between them had been anything but pleasant.
Rose pulled Harry into a final hug before being pulled away by Nicholas. "See you around, Harry." Nicholas told him with a hint of a sly grin, and his aunt seemed to have snapped out of her trance because she was now staring at Nicholas and to Harry's dismay she seemed to be blushing.
Nicholas really had a disturbing effect on people.
"Yeah..see you." She whispered through her lips, she barely let Harry slip into the house quickly closing the door behind him, she turned to look at him catching him before he could escape.
"Wh..what did you do with..those freaks?" she asked him weakly, clearly shocked that she had touched him because she immediately threw her hand away from him as if she had been burned.
"They're just normal teenagers." Harry said quietly, putting the numbers in his trouser pocket before they were snatched away from him. "Nothing was normal about these two." His aunt paused and then closed her eyes. "I don't want to know, just go take a shower."
And just like that, Harry escaped to his room, finding more letters on his bed. Excitedly, he quickly opened them but found that they were just as empty as the other letters. With a sigh, he threw the letters into the collected pile of useless letters.
He smiled at Hedwig who affectionately bit his ear and brought her a piece of the pepperoni left over from the pizza he had saved for her. She accepted the food with appreciation and a full chirp of joy.
Harry fell onto his tidy bed, not caring about the dirt accumulated from the potting soil and the yellow paint that covered most of his clothes and body. For the first time in his life, he had friends on Privet Drive.
This summer seemed to have become somewhat bearable, and the pain that had blinded him without him noticing his injured hands bruised from too much work had almost happily disappeared.
For the first time since Sirius's death, Harry fell asleep with a smile on his face.