Harry bolted awake, scrambling and sluggishly struggling to stay upright on his bed. He failed as the mattress teetered once again, and with a warbling yelp he slipped out from under the covers onto the floor.
He heard snickering as he gingerly rubbed the spot on his skull which had collided with the ground. Uprighting and repositioning his lopsided sleeping apparel, he spotted impish hazel eyes and dark brown hair peering at him from over the blankets.
"Gotcha, didn't I?" Skylar snickered, straightening his back to peer down at still tired twin.
"Why-" Harry started, giving a small cough to clear his throat, "Why would you do that?" He winced, and cracked his back loudly.
Skylar didn't seem fazed by the loud popping, instead he shifted so both feet would dangle over the edge, socks swinging nearly close enough to hit Harry's face.
"Mum and Dad wanted us downstairs," Skylar shrugged, "They told me to get you."
"And you couldn't have just knocked?" Harry muttered under his breath, getting to his feet.
Skylar grinned and gave a wink before hopping off the bed and nearly skipping to the door, "See ya downstairs!" Skylar's face lit up, "Mum made pancakes! Our favourite!"
"Your favourite," Harry corrected, already grabbing a new shirt to change into.
Skylar shrugged in the doorframe, "Same thing."
Harry rolled his eyes and found a pair of pants. Glancing at the door, Skylar had already left, and without the decency of actually closing the door.
Harry changed quickly, sparing one look in a nearby mirror (there was no hope for trying to flatten the chaos of his scalp), before slipping into the hallway towards the stairs.
The sudden daylight and brightness of the estate made him almost forget entirely the night before. It felt like a dream, too implausible to be reality yet there was some sort of tint to it which caused him to doubt if he had only imagined it.
Each step caused some sort of tickling uncertainty to rear once more.
Had he actually imagined it?
(Had that man been right?)
"Harry!" Lily blinked, peeking through the archway and looking back at the table, "There's pancakes if you would-"
"I'm okay." Harry mumbled, walking into the kitchen and sliding into the one seat that was available.
There was a chalice missing on the table.
"Is there something important?" Harry asked quietly, swinging his feet under his chair. Skylar looked up from where he sat across from Harry, blinking with doe eyes and syrup running down his chin.
"Yeah!" Skylar blurted, swallowing a large clump of dough with a small cringe, "I got this!" Skylar gushed, reaching down into a pocket before pulling out a figurine.
The small fist sized griffin gave a miniature roar, flapping its small wings to create tiny gusts strong enough to knock over a blueberry. It paced on the tabletop, totally enrapturing Skylar's attention.
"Where did you get that?" Harry asked quietly. It gave a little snap with its beak and pounced on a chunk of pancake Skylar offered it.
"Dumbledore!" Skylar chirped, eyes lighting up quickly, "You should have seen him- he's the headmaster at that one school!"
"Hogwarts, sweetie," Lily scoffed playfully, "You'll go there too one day, Sky."
Harry shifted uncomfortably as Skylar beamed and giggled a small amount when Lily poked his exposed cheek.
"Why was Dumbledore here?" Harry interrupted, bringing the two back on topic.
Lily's expression faltered, shifting to something unsure. She wrung her hands and looked at the table with a very hesitant expression, "Well, we have to talk to you about that."
Harry felt his jaw waver and tried his best to hold it still.
"Hey!" James poked his head in, blinking a few times. His glasses were slightly askew, he seemed startled to see Harry in the room.
(Given, Harry normally didn't attend breakfast.)
"James! Good!" Lily sighed in relief, queuing for the man to come into the kitchen. At once, James seemed alarmed and tried to skitter out of the kitchen. "James."
He groaned in protest yet slid into the kitchen and plopped on the chair at the head of the table.
Lily walked over, somehow having a mug in her hands as she twirled one strand of hair behind her ear nervously.
"So," James started, awkwardly rapping his fingers on the table, "Well, uh. You see-"
Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Honestly James, alright." She started, looking very seriously at the two children, "Do you remember that there are unfriendly people who are very upset with us?"
Skylar nodded eagerly, looking curiously at the parents.
"Well, we've learned that those people are trying harder to find us." James clarified, looking worriedly between both children, "So we have to leave."
"Leave?" Skylar gasped, mouth opening in surprise. There was a chunk of food between his teeth, "And go where?"
"That's the thing," Lily sighed, sliding downwards into the chair next to James and Skylar, "Albus- Dumbledore," She clarified, "Says that he'll be able to find us a safe place, but he wants to begin your training as soon as possible."
"To defeat the death-munchers!" Skylar chirped, looking at James who seemed sheepish at the name.
Lily raised one eyebrow at James but nodded to Skylar, "Yes. They don't like you- They don't like Skylar, Harry dear." She directed this time at Harry, "And they'll hurt some of us to get to Skylar."
Skylar looked worried this time, "What- no!" He cried, "No! Mum that's not-"
"It's okay, your father and I know how to protect ourselves." Lily smiled, holding out her wand for Skylar to see.
"Your mother is right, we'll be fine." James wiggled his eyebrows in a reassuring way which seemed to dispel some of the nervous tension in the room.
It clicked in Harry's head.
"I can't defend myself." Harry mentioned quietly, drawing all eyes on him, "I'm a risk?"
Lily reached over to take one of Harry's hands, "We've thought of all the possibilities, and we thought that you could maybe spend time with Remus or maybe Sirius." She offered.
"Or you could come with us," James mentioned, he looked a little restrained with the idea, "It would… it's feasible."
Harry looked down at his hands.
"We think that Remus and Sirius may be targeted as well," Lily mentioned quietly, "We aren't quite sure what extend we all are going into hiding."
Harry pulled his hand back from under his mother's, and fiddled with a fork. "Where else?" He asked, looking up into Lily and James' guilt filled eyes, "Have you thought of another place?"
Lily looked at James and paused for a moment, "My sister, Petunia." Lily started, "She's a muggle. She has a nice muggle family," Lily smiled slightly and brushed back her hair, "Nobody would ever look in a muggle family, especially from a wizarding family."
"Of course it's your choice." James interjected. "You can come with us, or Padfoot or Moony, or with Lily's family."
"But everyone is going into hiding?" Harry asked quietly. 'Everyone can protect themselves. Except me.'
"Everyone is. It's not safe anymore." Lily agree'd.
"We'll have to be leaving pretty soon," James explained, "A friend of ours is going to watch the house for a bit so nobody thinks we've left."
Harry nodded and chewed his lip.
'I could come. But I'll just get in the way. Skylar needs to be safe and I'm going to make it worse.' Harry thought.
There was a part inside of him, that was screaming to say that he wanted to go with. That he wanted to stay.
"It's safer if I go?" Harry asked, voice rising at the end.
"Much safer," James agreed, "Nobody would look for a wizard in a house of muggles. It'll be safer for you and It'll be safer for-"
Lily swiftly shoved her elbow into her husband's side, causing him to jolt but silence himself immediately.
'It would be safer for Skylar.'
Harry bowed his head, and wrung his hands quietly.
"You don't have to make a decision, we just thought we should bring it up and-"
"I'll go." Harry accepted quietly, "If it's better for Skylar, I'll go."
Harry noticed how James and Lily both had an expression of utter relief on their faces.
"Thanks Harry," Lily smiled, rising from her chair and giving Skylar one last pat on his shoulder.
"I don't mind." He murmured quietly. Because in the end, Skylar was the boy to be protected and Harry was the boy who never was.
Skylar had a conflicted and strange expression. He looked down at the miniature Griffin and poked it half heartedly.
"Alright," James firmed, rising and scratching his chair legs along the flooring, "Best to get ready then."
"We're leaving today?" Skylar guffawed, "But, but what about all our things!"
"You can take them with you," Lily somberly smiled, "Those enchanted trunks we had picked out last summer- do you know where yours is?" Lily soothed.
Skylar nodded quickly but still looked rather put out by the recent information.
"Harry," James started, looking serious once more, "Your aunt's family are muggles, that means that most magical objects have to be hidden out of eyesight of any visitors or not exposed muggles,"
"Can I hide it in my trunk?" He asked quietly, James gave a firm nod. Harry rose quietly, sliding off the chair and walking across the floor out of the room. He knew James and Lily were startled but unsure what else to say.
"We won't be able to meet up often, just in case somebody is following us." James explained tersely, "It-"
"Take everything you want to." Lily sweetly yet abruptly added, "Is there anything we can get you? Before you leave?"
Harry swallowed.
They wouldn't have otherwise offered, realistically they were supposed to have all focus aimed at Skylar, who was in the most immediate danger. There wasn't time nor was it worth the hassle to consciously worry about his welfare. Harry would be fine, he had long since learned that it was better to be independent and quiet than to seek attention when there was none to receive.
"No," he shook his head, leaving from where he had paused in the entryway. The stairs were creaky and seemed much more ominous than he had ever felt in the house. Suddenly, it felt far more imposing against his small body. The portraits seemed foreign and although they moved loudly in the frames, he heard nothing besides the pulsating rush in his ears. It pounded rhythmically and seemed to lull his state of mind into something soothing.
'This isn't real.' His mind assured him. He felt like he was watching the world through the eyes of an imposter, watching as his body moved without his conscious control, 'This is all fake.'
He found some sort of perverse comfort in the knowledge that it was all most likely an illusion afterall.
(It likely didn't ever matter.)
His trunk had had been enchanted and decorated with gaudy silver fasteners over the rich wood. It was larger on the inside, yet Harry didn't have any difficulty in sliding his multitude of personal belongings inside the confines and clicking the small clasp shut. The trunk was still large, as high as his torso and as long as his arm span. Sliding it out of his closet, he felt that his room had become alien to him. The few figurines or drawings he had taken from various newspapers were removed from the shelves and folded or stacked away safely. His walls were now bare and his bookshelf was lonely.
He paused at the doorway unsure. If they were to be leaving the house and traveling somewhere new, would anyone actually notice if he had snuck a few tomes from the many shelves of his mother's library? The collection wasn't as elaborate as the family libraries or studies of Skylar's friend's families, yet it did contain a fair number of books and novels.
The study was on the second floor on the other side of the house. It was furthest from the bedrooms, yet still a fairly well versed path. Harry looked up and down the hallway before trotting off quickly along the hallway. He wasn't particularly sure if he was allowed to take any of the books.
'If I ask, they may say no.' He thought to himself, pressing against the grandiose doors, 'So why ask at all?'
Obviously his thinking was morally ambiguous, given any other situation or scenario he would most likely think or decide against. Considering with the ease both his mother and father expressed with his volunteering to be sent to live with family he had never met before; he felt the slow burning fire of irritation. He felt smug that the least he could do for himself, was to snatch a few books to entertain himself with wherever he ended up.
Harry didn't drag the heavy trunk through the hallways with him, so he was limited with the amount of books he could carry back to his room without being obvious with what exactly he had done. He was confident that he would have enough time to browse through the collection, since both parents were assisting Skylar at the moment.
So he was left with the suddenly overwhelming question of which books to take.
The more elaborate and complex books on runes or other mathematics had been sorted and placed on the bookshelves above his natural height. Just as well, he didn't think that reading about maths would at all be satisfying. Nor would History, or potions in his opinion.
His small fingers trailed along the thick covers of the many books on the magically enhanced bookshelves. He spotted volumes with strange titles or words he couldn't pronounce, let alone understand the meaning of.
There was a collection of spell books all published by a woman, Miranda Goshawk. Harry didn't know who the woman was, but if his parents had a complete collection of her works she must be impressive.
He tugged out one of the books which didn't seem to be a part of the main volume. Goshawks Assortment of Spells and Charms, a decently thick book with a leather cover and black ink. It seemed fancy enough, yet didn't have the sparkling font or the mass production feel that the other books had. He set it aside in the pile.
Magical Theory and Phenomena, written by Hasfalda Brickens, and Scalding Scales written by Silvanus Kettleburn, joined his pile and formed a rather thick stack.
Harry wished he could take more. He knew he could carry more books and run back to his room, but the portraits would likely tell his parents. In the off chance that the books he was taking weren't allowed to be removed-
'This will be okay,' Harry agreed, eying the actual thickness of the books. They would certainly offer him plenty of reading material.
He didn't need anything else. This would be fine.
(He wanted more, he easily squashed the desire and let it shrivel into something ugly.)
He gathered the three books in his arms and clutched the stack to his chest. He rushed out through the hallway and over the stairs back towards his room.
The trunk had plenty of room, the three books were set with loving gentleness amidst the rest of his knicknacks. His clothing provided a soft cushion for the rest of his objects.
He closed the trunk and locked it with the fluttering guilt of having stolen something.
He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the wood. The biting cold of the clasps brought some form of clarity to the foggy haze of his mind.
He was being sent away.
(Because he wasn't as important as Skylar.)
His jaw clenched and fingers spasmed around the wood. Why was it fair that he had to go?
Why was it that Skylar was the one who was allowed so many privileges and royalties?
What had Skylar ever done, that Harry hadn't?
"I'll be better." Harry muttered under his breath, eyes prickling and stinging as he fluttered them wildly. "I'll be better." He hissed under his breath.
What right did they have to throw him away?
Why was it, that Skylar got preferential treatment over something he did as a baby?
Harry had not ever asked for better treatment, or complained about favouritism. He accepted the unfairness and he said nothing.
And now they were going to just...get rid of him?
He scoffed quietly, he didn't want to stay with them if that was what they wanted.
Harry would learn and be a better wizard than Skylar ever would be.
(He would show them wrong.)