AMSL Ch: 11

“No!”

“That’s horrible!”

“What a bunch of butt-heads!”

Luke momentarily lost his cool and smiled. It was uncalled for in their situation, but he couldn't help it. Hailee's last exclamation was just too cute. Luke’s little sister only used the term butt-head when she was describing somebody she absolutely couldn’t get along with, and it was the closest thing she knew to swearing.

"How could they do that?" Hailee asked, misty-eyed, as Harry finished explaining his complicated relationship with his family and how they treated him regularly. Harry only told them a fraction of what they'd done, and even that painted a horrible picture.

Luke and Harry had already told her about their day from their unique perspectives, and now that she had further clarification, Hailee was moments away from crying while shaking in righteous fury, much like Luke had been earlier in the day.

“That’s horrible,” Hailee repeated while hiccupping.

Harry wasn’t looking much better. He'd never been able to air all his grievances at once before and was moments from tearing up, too.

The only one who wasn't about to cry was Luke, but that was because he'd already gotten to know Harry at lunch and was already aware of his situation before he got into the specifics. That said, behind his faint smile was a boiling cauldron of rage.

Luke had to remind himself multiple times that he couldn't do anything drastic to the Dursleys or risk undue attention on him and his family. However, that didn't stop his mind from picturing them strung up in Azkaban being tormented by dementors.

Again, he didn’t want them killed, only that they pay for what they’d done to Harry.

“That’s so mean! Luke, we have to help him!" Hailee pleaded while doing her best not to cry.

"Already ahead of you, Darth Adorable." Luke leaned over and gave his sister a comforting hug.

"You'll help me just like that?" Harry stared wishfully at the Walker siblings.

"What, did you think we would kick you out after hearing all that?" Luke gave Harry a look that said, 'Come on.'

“It’s just…. It’s not your problem,” he hesitantly replied.

"Stupid," Hailee broke off from her brother and gently karate-chopped Harry on the head. "People don't need a reason to help each other. Besides, you're one of us,” she proudly declared.

Harry stared blankly at Hailee while rubbing his messy black hair before lowering his head and mumbling a quiet thank you under his breath.

"Now!" Hailee clapped her hands to grab everyone's attention before turning back to face her brother. "How do we help him?" She shamelessly pushed all responsibility for coming up with a plan onto Luke.

“All that, and you don’t have your own ideas?’ Luke playfully smirked at his sister.

Hailee’s cheeks puffed up defensively. "I have a bunch of ideas. Lots," she shot back. "I just…. figured I'd ask you for yours first," she adorably looked away, refusing to make eye contact.

"Sure." Luke reached over and ruffled his sister's hair before she could react. "But you're right; I do have a few ideas."

Luke had been thinking about things since lunchtime, so as he uncrossed his legs and made himself more comfortable, he laid out the foundations of a very straightforward plan to his sister and Harry. "First off, we need to get you as much time away from your family as possible," he pointed at the boy sitting across from him.

"We avoid your cousin at school, and if that isn't possible, we do our best to stay near the teachers. After school, you come over to our house. Your aunt already gave you blanket permission to stay as long as you want, so we use that until they say otherwise," Luke explained.

“But will your parents be okay with that?” Harry tentatively asked.

“It should be fine,” Luke waved off Harry’s concern.

"Yeah," Hailee chimed in. "You're Luke's best and only friend— other than me, of course," she proudly proclaimed. “I’m sure you can come over whenever.”

“Thanks.” Harry faintly blushed behind his broken glasses.

“That’s only step one,” Luke continued with an air of confidence. “While you’re at our house, we’ll teach you to control your powers to the best of our abilities. It won't be easy, and you aren't likely to see any real progress until next summer break, but we should at least get to the point where you aren't turning anybody’s wigs blue,” he joked.

Hailee giggled while a faint smile appeared on Harry’s face.

“At least, unless you want to,” Luke playfully nudged Harry.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Harry began to smile more naturally.

"Just knowing your powers are real helps a lot," Luke encouraged Harry. "As soon as I told Hailee about her gifts, the accidents around her almost stopped completely. And if you're spending less time with your family, the incidents should stop almost altogether."

“We aren’t just going to be training, are we?” Hailee lightly frowned.

Luke snorted and shook his head. “Are you telling me you already forgot how I taught you?” He lightly admonished his sister.

“Hey, it’s been years,” Hailee tried to defend herself.

“It was last year.” Luke playfully shook his head as if exasperated while Hailee giggled innocently.

Turning his attention back to Harry, who was sitting there confused, Luke explained. “No, we’re not only going to be training. Not only would that be seriously boring, but it would be emotionally draining for all of us. We'll do what I did with Hailee. We'll practice for a bit, then find something fun to do to clear our heads and relax. We'll keep doing that until you can faintly sense the energy inside you."

"And what is that supposed to feel like?" Harry leaned forward as if doing so would help him remember things better.

"For me, it's a warm, bubbly sensation," Hailee said, placing her hands on her stomach with a smile. "I can't sense it all the time like my brother can, but I can still call on it even if I can't always feel it."

Luke nodded proudly at his little sister for explaining it so perfectly. "For me," he added. "It's a fire burning inside me. I do things by controlling and directing the heat it gives off."

“Wicked,” Harry’s green eyes sparkled.

“You only have us to compare yourself with, but I'm sure you'll recognize it when you feel it," Luke guaranteed Harry.

“And then I’ll be able to do stuff like you can?” Harry asked excitingly.

“Eventually,” Luke gently telekinetically tossed his pillow at his sister, who did the same to catch it. Hailee passed it along to Harry, who had to use his hands. He stared at the pillow like he was imagining it floating, but nothing happened.

“So, when do we start?” Harry handed Luke his pillow back.

"Well," Luke scratched the side of his face with his finger. "I was planning on starting tomorrow, considering how long we spent talking, but I suppose we can do something simple now."

“What is it?” Harry leaned forward until he almost lost his balance.

Luke smirked, knowing how Harry was about to react to his suggestion. “First, I want you to close your eyes,” he instructed.

Harry gave Luke a confused look but followed his instructions.

“Alright, now I want you to take deep breaths while you empty your mind.”

"What?" Harry's eyes shot back open to Luke and Hailee's amusement. "This will help me?" Harry asked, confused.

“More than you know,” Luke informed him. “You can’t sense your energy, but I can,” he pointed at Harry’s stomach. “Your energy is churning wildly, almost as bad as it was at lunchtime. You’re understandably worked up. If we were trying to make your abilities go haywire, I’d show you an exercise to try and move something, but a minute ago, you told me you didn't want that to happen." Luke smirked.

Harry's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he brought his right hand up to his abdomen. "My energy is…." He trailed off.

"Yep, remember what I told you at lunch? Our powers are affected by emotion."

“But I’m not scared or angry?” Harry pointed out.

"Happiness is an emotion, too," Luke grinned knowingly. He knew Harry wasn't used to feeling happy, which was why his magic was churning so violently.

“I’m—Happy?” Harry almost sounded like he was in disbelief.

“Sure are.” Hailee reached out and grasped Harry’s hands. “Doesn’t it feel great? Like everything in the world is amazing?”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded along happily before a stray thought popped into his head. He thought about the Dursleys and how they would react if they knew he was happy. Harry didn't show it on his face, but he was worried.

“Hey, stop that!” Hailee let go of Harry with her tiny hands and used them to smush his face. “No sad thoughts,” she told him, her cheeks inflating like a chipmunk again.

"Hod dis you?" Harry spoke in garbled English, looking thoroughly confused.

“What, didn’t brother tell you?” For a moment, Hailee had the same look as Harry, though her face wasn’t being squished like he was. Keeping her hands where they were, Hailee turned to her brother. "You didn't tell him about my ability?"

Luke chuckled good-naturally at the comical position his sister and friend were in. "Why would I?" He lazily told her. “It wasn’t my secret to tell…. How long are you going to do that to his face?”

“Oh!” Hailee finally dropped her hands. Harry’s cheeks now sported two red spots, giving him the impression that he was permanently blushing. Only if you looked closely could you see the outline of Hailie’s individual fingers. “Sorry,” she apologized.

“It’s alright." Harry smiled assuringly as he massaged his cheeks, making them even redder.

“I’m really, really, sorry,” Hailee kept apologizing.

“It’s fine,” the rest of Harry’s face turned as red as his cheeks. “I’ve never had this much fun before,” he shyly admitted. "Also, you don't have to tell me your special ability if you don't want to; I understand."

Haille’s happiness was multiplied by Harry's, making her feel like she was floating on a cloud. "No, it's okay," Hailee beamed. "I'm sure you already have an idea anyway.”

“Not really,” Harry awkwardly confessed.

“Really!?” Hailee’s excitement was through the roof. She'd always wanted to tell someone other than her brother about her abilities, and for the first time in her life, she could. “Then let me tell you. You know how Brother can sense people's energy?"

Harry nodded along, entranced.

"Well, I can do something similar," Hailee said proudly, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her small chest. I can sense people’s emotions," she proudly declared.

“Really, that’s amazing!” Hailee sensed every bit of Harry's surprise and excitement.

“I know, right?” She preened like a peacock before suddenly being reminded of something. “What’s your ability?” Hailee suddenly flipped the question back on Harry.

“I’m….” Harry hesitated.

“He doesn’t know yet,” Luke answered, feeling it was time to join their conversation. "It's something we'll have to keep an eye out for.”

"Maybe he can control electricity," Hailee excitedly bounced on Luke's bed.

“Maybe, but I don’t think so,” Luke snorted. “Anyway, we're getting distracted; we're supposed to be meditating and helping Harry control his emotions,” he reminded his sister.

“But this is more fun,” Hailee pouted. “Oh, we should show him Star Wars!”

“And how would we do that?” Luke rolled his eyes.

“What do you—” Hailee went rigged as she suddenly realized what her brother was implying. “Oh, no! We left our VHS tapes in storage! It's not funny," Hailee snapped when her brother started laughing.

“It wouldn’t have worked anyway,” Luke told her. “Just like they have different plugs here, VHS tapes only work in the region they were made for.”

“No!” Hailee moaned.

"Cheer up," Luke patted his sister on the back while she sulked. "I'm sure our parents will need to buy a VCR at some point. We can rent the movies and show them to Harry when they do. I'm sure he'll love them as much as we do.”

"We can have a sleepover!" Hailee was too happy to feel sad for long, making it easy for her to focus on something more exciting rather than feeling bad.

"I've never been to a sleepover before," Harry told them.

"We'll have to change that," Luke nodded. "Maybe we can have our first one this weekend?"

"That soon?" Harry was caught off guard by the suggestion.

“That’s a great idea,” Hailee agreed with her brother.

“I don’t know if my aunt and uncle will allow me to," Harry worryingly slunk in on himself.

“Don’t worry about it,” Luke assured him. “I’ll think of something by Friday. In the meantime, let’s get back to our meditation session.”

“Sounds like a plan," Hailee said as she moved to get off her brother's bed. "You guys have fun with that. I'm going to go play with my toys," she said as she tried to make a break for the door.

“Not so fast,” Luke's arm shot out like a snake striking and latched onto his sister's wrist before she could escape. “This training won’t be good for just Harry. You could use a refresher course, too.”

“But that’s boring,” Hailee threw her head back and moaned loudly.

“No excuses,” Luke dragged his sister back up onto his bed, forcing her to sit right next to him so she couldn’t escape.

Hailee put up a token fuss, but she settled down soon after.

After that, Luke led them through a simple meditation exercise, calmly reminding them all to breathe evenly and acknowledge any thoughts that came to mind before letting them go.

“The goal is to not get caught up on anything, to be utterly and totally relaxed. In this state, the energy inside you should be a tranquil river flowing throughout your body. It's a part of you, always has been. We aren’t trying to force it to do anything.” Luke smiled with his eyes closed as he sensed Harry’s magic slowly settle.

They sat there for about twenty minutes before Luke opened his eyes. "Alright, that's enough for now," he told Harry, who was deep in a meditative state.

Harry’s eyes fluttered open. He smiled tranquilly, as if all his worries were a million miles away. His eyes drifted to Luke's side, and his calm smile vanished, only for him to start chuckling wildly.

Luke was confused and followed Harry's gaze. Curled up next to him like a cat, Hailee was fast asleep. He was so focused on Harry that Luke hadn't noted her dozing off midway through their session. Even while sleeping, she had a goofy smile, making it impossible for Luke to be mad at her.

“I guess her boundless energy finally ran out,” Luke shot Harry a playful smile. “So, how was your first meditation session?”

"Great," Harry answered without thinking. "Like really great. I don't think I've ever felt like this," Harry opened and closed his hands slowly. "Why do I feel so good?" He asked, confused.

“My first guess?” Luke leaned back lazily, careful not to disturb his sister. “I think this is the first time in a long time that your energy is calm.”

“It is?”

"Yep," Luke told him. “This is what it’s like when you aren’t bottling up your emotions or under stress.”

"I quite like it," Harry beamed.

"Then let's work on helping you feel like this all the time.”

“That would be amazing, but I don't think it will be that easy around my family." Harry forcefully smiled, and Hailee started to twitch in her sleep.

“Hey, calm,” Luke reminded him, motioning to his sister.

“Sorry,” Harry quickly apologized, realizing that his emotions were affecting Hailee while she slept.

“It’s cool, no reason to get worked up,” Luke told Harry. “Emotions are a part of life; the goal isn't to stop feeling them, but to gain mastery over them. We all slip up from time to time, even me. The trick is not letting your emotions run wild. You can feel sad about how your aunt, uncle, and cousin treat you; be mad even, but if you let those emotions control you, you’ll stay miserable, and your powers will keep lashing out.”

“Put your energy into more productive tasks,” Luke suggested.

“Like what?” Harry didn't understand.

“Like….” Luke trailed off as he thought. “Think about what makes you miserable, and think of ways to fix it.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Harry went back to looking like a kicked puppy.

“Hey, you only truly lose when you stop playing," Luke tried to sound mystical before getting serious. "I mean it," He stressed when he saw Harry looking unconvinced. "Start small. What's something your cousin does that makes you angry?”

“Besides beating me up whenever he feels like it?” Harry said sourly.

“We’ll work on that, but think smaller." Luke shifted the conversation. “I was thinking something more off the top of your head, something that bugs you more than anything else?”

Harry sunk deep into thought while Luke waited for his friend to find an answer. Eventually, Harry's expression shifted into something more positive as he found his answer to Luke's question.

“I hate it when he steals my homework and rips it up," Harry confided in Luke.

“Excellent,” Luke smiled, only to pause when he saw the look Harry was giving him. "Sorry, not excellent—I mean, that’s something we can work with. So, Dudley steals your homework frequently?” Luke asked sheepishly.

“Almost every other day,” Harry explained. “Sometimes he just copies my work; other times he destroys it for the fun of it, so I don't have anything to turn in the next day.”

"Alright," Luke nodded encouragingly. "That would make anyone mad; channel that feeling and devise a solution."

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It can be if you’re flexible with your thinking," Luke grinned knowingly. "Come on, Mr. Harris said you were smart. Come up with a way we can keep Dudley from stealing your homework. Don’t worry about how crazy it sounds; there are no bad ideas."

“That’s what teachers say before somebody has a bad idea,” Harry deadpanned before sighing. “But alright, I’ll give it a try.”

Harry closed his eyes again and thought deeply about Luke’s question. How did he keep his cousin from stealing his work? The first thing that sprang to mind was simply not doing it, but Harry figured that wasn't the kind of solution Luke was talking about. The same was true if he purposely answered the questions wrong.

Harry's next thought was to hide his homework, but where could he keep it where Dudley couldn’t get his sausage fingers on it? His cupboard was out. Dudley loved going through his things when he thought Harry was keeping something from him. Nowhere in the Dursleys' house was out of Harry’s cousin’s reach.

“Hold on a minute." Harry's eyes shot open and focused on his new friend.

“Finally figured it out, huh?” Luke nodded approvingly. “If you want Dudley to stop stealing your homework, then just leave it with me. If you’re already coming over after school every day, it's no big deal. I can just give it back to you before class starts, and no one will be the wiser. He can't take what you don't have.”

Harry looked like he wanted to ask if that was okay for a split second but stopped himself when he saw Luke's smile. "Thanks," he said instead.

“You’re learning,” Luke gave Harry a thumbs-up. “Friends help friends, or so I’m told. You don’t need to hesitate to ask me for help. We'll solve your problems together, one step at a time."

“You sound like you have something in mind?” Hailee’s squeaky voice caused the two boys to jump. "Ha-ha, I got both of you," she giggled before letting out a huge yawn.

“And how long have you been awake?” Luke gave his sister the stink eye.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Hailee blew a raspberry back at her brother. “And answer my question, how else are we going to help Harry?”

Luke could only sigh and roll his eyes. “Well, step one is keeping him away from his family as much as possible. Step two is more complicated and will take more time.”

“Stop trying to be mys—Misty—Meticulous?” Hailee cut him off but stumbled to find the right word.

“Mysterious,” Luke corrected his sister with a smile. “And fine; step two is changing Harry’s reputation at school.

“Is that possible?” Harry didn’t look convinced.

“Maybe, won’t know until we try,” Luke was honest with Harry. “It’ll need to be a two-pronged assault. We can’t just change our classmates’ minds; we’ll have to change our teacher’s too.”

"But Professor Harris hates me; you said so yourself."

“He doesn’t hate you,” Luke corrected his friend. “He just thinks you’re a delinquent. If we keep your powers from going out of control and you keep your head down and stay out of trouble, he’ll have no choice but to acknowledge your cousin is the problem.”

“And our classmates?”

“Their opinions don’t matter as much, but we can slowly win them over if we try. What we need to do is change how the rest of the school sees you. The good news is, we have the perfect person for the job.” Luke affectionately patted his sister on the head. “Give Hailee a few months, and she’ll have the entire student body eating out of her hands.”

“That sounds mean,” Hailee frowned at her brother. “I don’t make friends to control people.”

"And that is why you are so good at it," Luke nodded sagely. “Then we get to the third and final step.”

“And that is?” Harry asked.

“Have fun, of course,” Luke grinned. “If you’re away from your family and the school stops having a reason to hate you, then we can have fun.” And maybe get a bit of revenge while they were at it, Luke added in his head. He didn’t want to go all Slytherin on them, but Luke could think of a few people who needed a reality check, even if it wasn’t as harsh as they may deserve.

“You think we can do all that?” Harry’s eyes were wide with excitement while his glasses were hanging off his nose.

“We can try.” Luke was happy with his plan. It wasn't the most detailed, but what it lacked in specifics, it made up for with versatility.

“Sounds fun,” Hailee bounced on Luke’s bed merrily. “Now, can we play—”

Hailee was interrupted by a car door closing outside Luke's window.

“Dad’s home!” Hailee rocketed off Luke’s bed and rushed out of the room without a second thought.

Luke just chuckled and lazily swung his legs over the side of his bed. “Want to meet my dad?” He asked Harry.

Harry looked a little nervous, but he nodded in response. Together, they made their way out of Luke's room and down the stairs, where they found Luke's father lifting Hailee up and swinging her around wildly in the entryway.

“Throw me higher,” Hailee shouted, but Raymond was already out of breath.

“I want to, Sweety, but I can't risk getting hurt after just starting my new job," He chuckled mirthfully as he carefully set Hailee back down. "And who is this?" Raymond asked, spotting Harry walking down the stairs next to Luke.

“That’s Harry,” Hailee answered for the boys before ranting about how he was Luke’s friend from school.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” Raymond was left gobsmacked by the end of Hailee’s explanation. “Put her there, young man,” Raymond offered Harry a handshake.

Harry was just as nervous meeting Luke's father as he was meeting the rest of Luke’s family, but just like he did with Hailee and Luke's mother, he quickly warmed up to him.

“Welcome home, Honey,” Shannon stepped out of the kitchen and gave her husband a quick peck on the lips. “How was your day?”

“Not bad,” Raymond answered happily, kicking off his work shoes. “I got to say, they have their shit together here in London.”

“Language," Shannon's eyes narrowed as she warned him.

"Sorry, still talking like I'm still at the docks,” Luke’s father sheepishly rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “I’m still getting used to the systems they use, but everyone says I’m a fast learner." He did his best to move the conversation along.

Lucky for him, Luke’s mother was in a forgiving mood. “Sounds like you had a busy day. How about we order pizza to celebrate the kid's first day of school?"

“Can we? Can we? Can we?” Hailee bounced on the balls of her feet.

“Can Harry join us?” Luke added after his sister ran out of breath.

“That’s okay,” Harry waved his hands. “I don’t want to impose.”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Luke’s father gave his consent without a second thought.

Shannon on the other hand, was the responsible one. “It’s okay with me, but will your aunt and uncle be okay with it? Do you need to call them again?”

Harry briefly frowned before something truly magical happened. Instead of feeling sad or angry at the mention of his aunt and uncle, he smiled. It wasn't a huge smile; in fact, it was nothing more than the slight upturn of his lips.

“I think they won’t mind,” Harry calmly and assuredly replied. Luke’s earlier words were ringing in his ears. He couldn’t escape the dark emotions he felt when he thought about his family, but Harry didn't need to waste energy dwelling on them.

Harry would much rather spend the remainder of his time with the Walkers enjoying himself. His aunt and uncle could yell and scream at him all they wanted when he got home, but none of that mattered to him at the moment.

Harry was so calm and sure of himself that Luke's mother was convinced to believe him. “Alright then,” she happily spun around and pulled a flyer out of the kitchen drawer closest to the telephone.

Over the last month, the Walkers have amassed a small stack of leaflets belonging to various delivery places, the topmost of which was the local pizza place.

“Do you have any preferences, Harry?” Shannon asked as her fingers expertly dialed the phone number. “Are there any allergies we should be aware of?"

“Not that I know, and I'll eat anything," He hastily replied.

“All right then, I’ll get our usual,” Shannon said to herself as the pizza palace picked up on the other end. "Yes, hello. Yes, it’s us again." She smiled into the phone. "Same as last time, delivery for #8 Wisteria Walk. One large cheese, one large pepperoni, one meat-lovers, and one Hawaiian," She rattled off in quick succession.

“Yes, we’ll be paying cash. Thank you,” Shannon added at the end before hanging up the phone again.

“How long?” Raymond asked his wife.

“Twenty-five minutes. Sounds like we aren’t the only ones who had the idea to order pizza today.” Shannon slid into Raymond’s arms and delivered him another kiss.

"We should order piazza more often," He joked as he gazed lovingly into his wife’s eyes.

"Gross," Hailee made a fake barfing noise before focusing on more important things like Harry and an age-old question. "So— What do you think about pineapple on pizza? Gross, right?”

“Not this again,” Luke groaned. “Hawaiian pizza is delicious.”

“It is not,” Hailee argued back.

“Now, Hailee,” Shannon stepped in. “Even if you’re wrong, it’s not polite to criticize other people’s tastes.”

“Dad and Hailee don’t like pineapple on their pizza,” Luke leaned in and whispered to Harry. "But what about you? What do you think?"

"Yes, we finally have a tiebreaker!" Hailee exclaimed. "Go on, Harry, give us your opinion, tell us how horrible it is," She pressured him.

“Sorry,” Harry blushingly apologized. “But I’ve never had pineapple on pizza.”

“Well, you’re going to love it," Shannon said as she broke away from her husband and led Harry to the kitchen table, where she made him sit.

Their discussion on acceptable pizza toppings lasted until the doorbell rang. From there, the Walkers and Harry sat at the kitchen table and enjoyed the greasy pizza together.

You wouldn't believe it by his size, but Harry ate three-quarters of a pizza by himself. He didn't know how he felt about the Hawaiian ones, but that didn't stop him from having two slices.

By the time they were done eating, only a few slices were left, and it had gotten dark outside.

"I think it's time Harry heads home," Shannon commented from in front of the sink. "Raymond, can you drive him?"

“Sure," Luke's father agreed to do so while patting his full stomach happily.

"That's quite all right," Harry tried to tell them. "I live only a few streets over; I can walk."

“No, no, it’s dark out,” Raymond wasn’t having any of it. “Tell you what, sit up front with me and direct me where you live.”

"He lives on Privet Drive, Dad," Luke added helpfully as he patted his friend on the shoulder encouragingly.

“Thank you, Mr. Walker.” Harry stopped resisting.

“Oh, but before he goes,” Luke suddenly remembered. “Mom, Dad, can Harry and I have a sleepover this weekend?"

Shannon gasped loudly and brought her hands to her mouth, looking like she was moments away from crying. "I thought I'd never see the day," she mimed, wiping a tear away.

“It’s fine on our end,” Luke’s father smiled happily, both for the play his wife was putting on and because he was just as happy knowing his loner son had made a friend that wasn't his little sister.

“Geez, you guys are embarrassing me,” Luke grumbled, suddenly finding a lot of interest in the kitchen floor.

“He’s embarrassed,” Hailee didn't hesitate to rat him out.

“Alright, I think it’s time I got you home,” Raymond told Harry as he tried not to laugh.

“Okay," Harry nodded. "Thanks for having me over, Mrs. Walker," He waved happily.

“Come over any time,” Shannon told him as she moved in to give him a quick hug. “I mean it," She added as they parted.

“I think Harry will have to hold you to that,” Luke said from his friend’s side. “He already has plans to visit tomorrow, too."

“If that’s okay?” Harry hastily added.

“Then we’ll see you tomorrow,” Shannon nodded approvingly.

Harry grabbed his book bag, which was sitting next to Hailee's and Luke's, against the kitchen wall where they had left their school things. He reached inside and passed his homework packet to Luke, said his goodbyes to Luke and his sister, and then followed Raymond out of the Walker residence and into their car.

Luke stood on the porch waving at the car as it disappeared down the street, even though it was dark out and he couldn't see his friend.

When he went back inside, he noticed that Hailee had disappeared back upstairs into her room, probably to play with her dolls. Luke was about to go upstairs, too, when he remembered he was still holding Harry's homework.

Walking back into the kitchen, he slipped the bundle of paper into his bag next to his own packet. He moved to leave the kitchen afterward but stopped when his mother called out to him.

“What a sweet kid,” Shannon told her son as she dried the plates in the dish drainer.

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool,” Luke agreed. He moved to leave again, but his mother wasn’t finished quite yet.

“Is everything okay with him?” Shannon set the plate in her hands down and turned around to face her son. Her friendly smile was gone, and she looked concerned. “I couldn’t help but notice his clothes and how skinny he is.”

Luke winced, but he wasn’t surprised. To him, it made sense that his mother would ask; he was just surprised she was the first one to do so. Loads of people had to have seen Harry around the neighborhood; one of them should’ve at least made the appearance of being concerned.

Luke knew he had to be careful about how he answered his mom. Outright denying that anything was wrong would be a bold-faced lie, but if he repeated even a fraction of the stuff Harry told him up in his room, his mother would likely call the authorities. And as much as he would love to see that, he knew what kind of problem that would create.

“Harry’s family doesn’t care about him much,” Luke tentatively explained to his mom. “From what I was told, they mostly ignore him." He felt bad about lying but continued, "I thought he deserved a friend."

“Luke, you sweet child, you,” Shannon cooed as she moved to hug him.

Luke had no words for the warmth he felt from hugging his mother. After the day he had, he didn’t want to let her go, but he knew that they couldn’t stand there in the kitchen forever.

“Does he not have anybody else? Any other family?” Shannon asked hopefully.

“None,” Luke loathed to admit. "I hope you and Dad don't mind, but I've already offered for him to walk home with us every day this week.”

“As long as he doesn’t get in trouble, that’s fine.” Luke’s mother was very understanding.

"Thanks, Mom." Luke gave his mother another quick hug before heading upstairs. As he passed his sister's room, he heard her giggling to herself but didn't interrupt her. Instead, he quietly made his way to his bedroom, shutting his door behind him, and promptly flung himself onto his bed, where he lay lifelessly.

A part of him already missed having Harry around, but another part was happy that he was alone to think in peace. He went over his day multiple times, looking at things from as many angles as possible, and still, he couldn't figure out how everything happened as it did.

He wasn’t mad about his decision to help Harry or even second-guessing himself. No, Luke was thinking about the future and what lay ahead. It was a moot point whether he ever got a Hogwarts letter. Even if he didn't, things would still go sideways in what— Six years' time? Maybe seven?

Things were going to happen, with or without his input, so what did he do?

Sitting up, Luke jumped off his bed and grabbed a blank notebook out of his desk. He didn't use names or dates and was intentionally vague in case Hailee or his parents found it, but Luke started to write down quick notes of what he could remember from the movies.

As he wrote, Luke quickly became aware that he remembered a lot more from the first four movies than the last four, probably because they came out when he was younger and had a bigger impact on him at the time. Heck, he remembered more about the unfinished Fantastic Beast movies than he did about the fifth and sixth movies, and they were way more prevalent in his situation.

Luke didn't think overly about the information he was writing down; he was trying to organize his thoughts in hopes that it would help him make sense of things—and it did.

Unfortunately, he realized he was missing a lot of vital information. Off the top of his head, Luke could name the items that were turned into Horcruxes, but he didn't know anything about the specifics of the items. There was the diary, a ring, a locket, a cup, a tiara, a huge snake, and Harry himself.

Luke knew where five of the seven items were located, the exceptions being the ring and snake, but other than some miscellaneous details, like the snake actually being a cursed woman from the Fantastic Beasts movies, he had very little to go on.

He knew almost nothing about the locket and cup other than where they were. Luke knew slightly more about the tiara and how it had something to do with one of the ghosts in Hogwarts, but again, that was it. The diary would show up two years from now, but that was the extent of his knowledge.

Luke was rightfully concerned about all the details blurring together, but he kept writing, even if the information was seemingly worthless. He already planned to go over all of it multiple times until this school year ended, upon which, he would destroy it before any witches or wizards would show up.

Luke continued to scribble in his notebook until his mother came up and told him it was time for bed. Once his mother left him alone, he returned the notebook to his desk next to the other blank notebooks. Luke didn't bother hiding it, as that would draw more attention. Besides, to anyone else, he just wrote a bunch of nonsense.

After that, Luke proceeded with his nighttime routine. He brushed his teeth with his sister, gave her a hug goodnight, and crawled into bed. But he didn’t sleep, Luke’s mind refused to shut down even though he was tired.

He briefly considered resuming his late-night training sessions but eventually concluded that would be a bad idea. There would be ample time to train with Harry coming around every day, and doing more than that would just leave him feeling drained.

So, Luke took his own advice and started doing breathing exercises like he showed Harry, doing his best to decompress. The entire time, he told himself that this was just the end of day 1 and that he had 364 more to go.

He’d take things one step at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day—On second thought, it might have been in this universe with magic and all.

Eventually, Luke fell asleep, imagining people in togas levitating columns in place.

A few streets over, Harry had also successfully fallen asleep in his broom closet under the stairs. He didn’t care that his uncle Vernan had laid into him for staying out late or how Dudley threw everything out of his backpack, looking for his homework.

Because for the first time in his life, Harry Potter had a friend who understood him and wanted to help. Suddenly, dealing with his aunt, uncle, and cousin wasn’t as hard as it used to breath. For the first time, Harry couldn’t wait to wake up and go to school.

And with that, a busy day ended for the folks of Little Winging. Friends and enemies were made, a lonely boy found hope, and planes were made—Broken—And made again.

The future of Wizarding Great Britain was in flux, and nobody knew what might happen.

Things were starting to get interesting.

-X-X-X-

Author’s Comments:

From here on out, there will be a few time skips. There’s still more story to tell with Harry and Luke experiencing primary school together, but my goal is always to get to the magic stuff.

Please tell me what you think below, and as always, thanks for reading.

P.S. Just to cause some chaos in the chat: Yah or nay to pineapple on pizza? At the risk of being hated, I like it as long as it's only on Hawaiian pizza.