Ororo," Professor Xavier said as he spotted her walking down the hallway. "may I ask how Harry, Jean and Laura are doing?" He asked.
"Not good," She said, emphasizing both words using her voice and combining it with a glare that made Professor Xavier feel like he was less than dirt. "do you know that Harry did not go to sleep after our last conversation?"
"What do you mean?" Professor Xavier asked with a frown.
"Well, according to the girls when Logan and I talked with them at breakfast, Harry did not sleep because what he decided to do was place Laura in her bed, then put Jean in his own bed and then sit on the floor and look at the door all night like a watch dog." Ororo said, Professor Xavier was quite lucky that Ororo lacked the ability to kill people with a single look, if she had that ability then right now she would likely be planning for his funeral.
"What?" Professor Xavier gaped at her.
"You heard me right," She said in a cold voice. "he is a child under our protection but right now we are the ones he is worried about. He wouldn't even talk to me and Logan at breakfast, and right now Logan is worried about being hated by the only two he can call family. You've made mistakes in the past, Charles, but this is a whole new level." She said before she looked away from him and continued walking, leaving behind a very thoughtful Professor.
Professor Xavier wheeled away, heading back to his office. He knew that he could have handled things better, but surely he hadn't worried Harry that much, had he? Doubt began to appear inside of the Professor, something that he hadn't experienced in a long time. But then again he had never had a student be scared of him, well...it could be argued that a few students were originally scared of him when they first met him for various reasons, usually the fact that he was a telepath, but not once they got used to him, after that they ceased being scared of him.
Now Harry was scared of him. No...actually he was scared for his sister's safety, that was arguably worse. It was human nature to be scared of potential threats, it was natural, the Professor trusted Logan with his life but would always have at least a little bit of worry creep into his chest whenever Logan brought his claws out while being in slashing distance, that was his body and mind fearing the possibility of Logan losing control and slashing at him.
But if Harry was actually worried that he would intentionally harm Jean, Laura or any other students then that told the Professor that whatever trust Harry had for him had been shattered.
"You should go to sleep, Harry." Jean said, she was currently sat in Harry and Laura's room on Laura's bed, Harry and Laura were each sitting on their own beds. Laura and Jean were sharing a book while Harry alternated between reading his own book and looking at the door.
"I am fine." Harry said dismissively, though in truth he was actually finding it harder than normal to keep his eyes open.
"No, you're not, Harry." Laura sighed. "Please go and sleep for a little bit."
"But I..." Harry was about to protest but was cut off by Jean.
"Harry, you can't look after us if you're tired." She pointed out, crossing her arms as she looked at him.
"Jean's right." Laura quickly agreed before Harry could argue. "Harry, I promise that we will wake you up if something happens, just go to sleep."
"Fine." Harry said through gritted teeth. He put his book away and climbed into bed, "you two had better wake me up if something happens." Harry said with narrowed eyes, he sighed and turned so he was facing away from them and didn't go to sleep, he was in fact resting, yes that was what he was doing. He was definitely not going to sleep.
A short while after Harry had gone to sleep Laura was sitting in front of a mirror and looking at her hair and seemed to be glaring at the hair brush in her hands, as if willing it to explode.
"Are you okay?" Jean asked.
"I've never brushed my hair before." Laura frowned.
"What? Really?" Jean looked at her with disbelief. "How have you never done your own hair before?"
"I tried it a few times," Laura replied. "I wasn't able to do it properly. I kept making it more messy and it hurt when it pulled on my hair."
"How do you brush your hair then?" Jean asked.
"Normally Ororo or Harry does it for me." Laura admitted.
"Ororo?" Jean asked.
"Oh!" Laura closed her eyes and groaned. "I mean Miss Munroe, don't tell her I told you her first name, I wasn't supposed to do that."
"I won't, promise." Jean as she got up and took the brush from Laura's hand. "Stay still, I'll brush your hair." Jean said.
"Oh...thank you." Laura smiled.
"You're welcome," Jean smiled back as she began brushing her hair. "so Harry would brush your hair?"
"Before we came here," Laura responded. "we used to live with my aunt and uncle, they didn't want to help me so Harry learned how to do it."
"That's nice." Jean smiled as she looked at the sleeping form of Harry.
Harry's granddad and Miss Munroe, or Ororo as she was apparently called, had explained the situation to Jean as best as they could. They told her how Professor Xavier thought he was just helping her but didn't really think it through, they explained how Professor Xavier wasn't trying to be bad and simply didn't realize that he was making a mistake. Jean supposed she could understand that but she wasn't really sure if she could trust him as much as she did before.
As she brushed Laura's hair her thoughts went to Harry, he wasn't like all the other boys Jean had met before. They liked to be loud, Harry liked to be quiet. Plus he was so nice in the way that he was looking after his sister. Also most of the boys she knew didn't really like to be friends with girls, but Harry didn't seem to mind. In fact Jean would like to say that Harry was her second ever friend! And she liked to think that Laura was her third! And Miss Munroe said that she could make more friends while she was here.
Plus Harry's grandfather, Miss Munroe and Harry would help keep her safe. So despite what happened with Professor Xavier, she was rather glad to be here.
"Hmm, that feels nice." Laura said as Jean brushed her hair.
"That's good," Jean smiled before she looked at Harry's hair. "hmm, Harry's hair is a bit long." She noted.
"I told him it was long as well." Laura replied.
"Hmm, maybe we should ask Ororo to help get it cut." Jean suggested.
"Call her 'Miss Munroe'," Laura reminded Jean. "I don't want to get in trouble."
"Okay, okay," Jean rolled her eyes. "we'll ask 'Miss Munroe' about it."
"Did you sleep good?" Laura asked when Harry woke up a few hours later.
"Hmm? 'M fine." Harry mumbled as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes. "You two stay here, I'm going to the toilet." He stretched and yawned before he left to go to the toilet. When Harry finished and walked back to his room he saw Logan stop just outside of his room.
"Hey kid," Logan said when he saw Harry. "are you and the girls busy?" He asked.
"No," Harry shook his head. "why?"
"Good," Logan nodded. "I want you and the girls to get ready then come and meet me in the back garden in five minutes."
"Why?" Harry frowned.
"You want to protect the girls?" Logan asked, he didn't really need to ask or even hear a response as he already knew the answer but paused long enough for Harry to give him a small nod and verbally confirm that that was indeed what he wanted. "In that case the three of you will meet me outside, I'm going to start you three on martial arts training."
"You mean like learning how to fight?" Harry asked, unable to fully hide the interest in his voice.
"Exactly." Logan replied, hoping that Harry would accept.
Logan had multiple reasons for hoping that Harry and the girls would accept his offer. The first being that it would actually be quite beneficial for all three of them, it would help keep them fit and healthy and give them a positive outlet for their emotions along with helping them be better able to defend themselves and learn self control. It would also perhaps help Logan show Harry that not all of the adults are his enemies, and that some actually wanted to help him.
Harry paused, his face turned thoughtful and he looked at Logan for several long and drawn out moments before he nodded his consent.
"One sec." Harry said before he opened the door, Jean and Laura - who were both leaning against the door to hear the conversation - fell at the sudden loss of support and fell on top of each other. "Logan wants to teach us how to fight," Harry said in a dry voice, sounding, as if seeing the girls fall on each other was an everyday thing, "do you guys want to learn it?" Harry asked as they stood up.
"Yes!" Laura chirped, looking quite excited.
"I'd like to," Jean smiled before her face shifted into one of disappointment. "but I don't think my parents would like it." She frowned.
"Why not?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Mummy said that 'fighting is not something that 'good girls' should do'." Jean recited.
"Yeah?" Logan snorted in amusement. "Well 'Mummy' is not here. I am not teaching you how to fight kid, I am going to teach you how to win one if you ever get forced to fight, understand?" Jean looked she was struggling a little with understanding what Logan was saying but she did eventually nod. "So, do you want to attend classes with me and the other two?"
"Um...yes, yes please." Jean said as politely as she could.
"Good, get ready then meet me outside in five minutes." Logan replied.
The next day Ororo Munroe was currently in her room, enjoying a nice tea as she read from the latest in a series of books that she enjoyed reading. However her alone time was soon interrupted by a knock on her door. Ororo frowned slightly before she placed her tea and book down.
"Come in." She called. A few seconds later her door opened and Laura peaked her head in. "Laura," Ororo smiled. "how may I help you, dear?" She asked just before Jean leaned her head over Laura's shoulder.
"Can you help us with Harry's hair?" Laura asked. Ororo paused and gave both girls a questioning look.
"Do I have to?" Harry sighed as he found himself in a seat with Ororo standing behind him, next to her was a table that was holding a tray full of hair cutting equipment. Jean and Laura were sat nearby, content to just watch.
"Harry," Ororo said in an patient voice. "there is nothing wrong with trying out new things, providing of course that they aren't harmful or bad. All I am going to do is give you a simple haircut." She said before she lightly ran a hand through Harry's hair. "Hmm, or perhaps we could try something new if you're interested." She offered.
"New?" Harry asked.
"Oh!" Jean suddenly exclaimed. "I've seen some boys near my house that have spiky hair." She said, happy to provide such important knowledge.
"Oh, maybe we should have Harry have spiky hair." Laura suggested.
"Hmm," Ororo hummed as she looked at him. "I think he can pull it off." She said as she ran her hands through his hair.
A short while later Ororo had finally finished, she held up a mirror in front of Harry so he could look at his hair.
Harry hummed slightly as he looked at himself, before his hair was messy and wild and shoulder length. Now it was short on the sides and spiky on top, and if Harry had to be honest then he kind of liked it.
"Does that look alright?" Harry asked.
"I like it." Laura smiled as she looked at his hair.
"That looks nice." Jean added as she tapped the top of his hair with her hand.
"Oi, get off." Harry said as he lightly slapped her hand away, causing her to giggle.
Time Jump - One year
Seven year old Harry Potter was walking down the hallways of the mansion along with Jean and Laura, the three of them calmly discussing their last lesson with Ororo.
Life had been slightly different in the X-mansion, for one thing it was discovered that Harry had another power, this one being related to his hair. His hair had stayed the same ever since the day Ororo had made it short and spiky, of course sometimes it would no longer be spiky on top but it would always come back to the same style. After some experimentation it was revealed that Harry could change the length of his hair as well. Laura had tried it and she seemed to have the same hair powers as he did, though she for the most part kept her hair shoulder length and straight.
There was also the fact that Jean was now a member of Laura and Harry's group and was without doubt the duo's best friend. She and Laura got along greatly, Harry liked to think that Laura was glad just to have a friend. Harry and Laura had admittedly never had a friend before, it was a nice feeling. Harry and Jean also got along greatly, and the two would experiment with her powers whenever they could. There was admittedly still the problem of there being something inside of Jean's head but it wasn't causing problems so far and the adults were trying to think up a way to deal with it.
Speaking of the adults, Harry's relationship with Logan and Ororo had pretty much gone back to the way it was before. Harry, even at his paranoid best/worst, could see that the two truly didn't want to harm Laura or Jean. Professor Xavier on the other hand...well that was a bit more complicated.
The man did indeed apologize to Harry and Jean, while Harry and Jean accepted the apology, Harry wasn't yet willing to fully trust the man. And he had the feeling that Jean didn't fully trust him either.
"I still don't know how Miss Munroe speaks so many languages." Jean said to Laura as they walked. "Or how your grandad knows so many."
"I know," Laura replied. "I think my brain would burst if I learnt that many languages."
"You might want to wait for it to get bigger then." Harry advised as he ruffled her hair, only stopping when she slapped his hand away. "What lesson do we have now?" Harry asked.
"Give me a second," Jean said as the three stopped, Jean pulled out her planner. "um...we have history now."
"History." Harry sighed.
"Yeah, I..." Jean was interrupted as someone bumped into her back, her books fell out of her hands but she quickly caught them with her telepathic powers. The trio looked at the person who walked into Jean's back, he was around their age with brown hair and had a white bandage that was covering his eyes, clearly preventing him from seeing.
"Watch it." The boy said in an irritated voice.
"Sorry," Another voice called before Jean or the others could reply. A man with blonde hair and sunglasses quickly ran up and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "I let him get away from me." The man said apologetically. "I'm Alexander Summers, this is my little brother Scott. We're looking for the Professor, he's not in his office, do any of you guys know where he is?" He asked.
"Give me a sec." Harry said before he began sniffing the air.
"Is...is he sniffing?" The boy, Scott, was whispering to his older brother.
"Looks like it." Alex whispered back.
"Don't bother whispering, my hearing's as good as my smell." Harry said as he looked at Alex. "He's in the kitchen, do you know how to get there or do you want me to take you there?"
"We can manage, thank you." Alex nodded before he guided Scott away.
"You think he's going to live here?" Laura asked once they were both gone.
"Looks like it." Harry shrugged. "Anyway, come on, we got to go to class."