Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Ellery very reluctantly agreed to take a couple of hours off work during the day to help his mother with the lunch with his cousin Petunia and her husband and children. It was the weekend so he technically shouldn’t have had to work at all but that was fairly irrelevant, he worked at least part of most weekends and he had some very exciting and important projects he wanted to finish. It wasn’t that he didn’t adore his mother and want to give her all the help she should need in every circumstance, and he secretly enjoyed staying in to help out with the tea when her friends came to visit, but this afternoon was going to be an exercise in managing to hold onto his temper and his manners just to avoid upsetting his mother more than his absence would have.

He and his cousin Petunia had never gotten along. Petunia was several years older than Ellery and Ellery had always gotten the feeling that she was looking down on him disapprovingly and that had only gotten worse when she married what was in Ellery’s opinion the most intolerant and intolerable man she could find, and he was saddened that yet again that his cousin Lily, Petunia’s sister, wouldn’t be coming. Lily seemed to have dropped out of mainstream life altogether and he and his mother hadn’t heard from her in years which was very out of character, even when she’d been away at boarding school and as a new mother, she’d been a regular correspondent. Petunia refused to speak of her sister, so he wasn’t sure whether they were still in touch or not. He’d been tempted to use the resources of MI6 to try to find her, but he liked his job too much to risk it and he was too low in the chain of command to get away with breaking protocol like that.

He was just finished making the sandwiches and heating the soup for lunch and preparing the tea trolley when his relatives arrived and was glad to be able to loiter in the kitchen while the kettle boiled and his mother greeted them and got everyone settled before coming in with the tea trolley and sandwiches. Their flat wasn’t big enough for a separate dining area and they wouldn’t all fit around the small table in the kitchen. In fact, their apartment wasn’t really big enough for the affectation of a tea trolley but it helped his mother move around and carry things on her bad days without looking like a geriatric walker, so his mother liked it.

He greeted Petunia and her husband Vernon and their four-year-old Dudley and then looked curiously at the small child sitting on the floor in the corner. He was about half the size of Dudley but there was something in his face that looked a lot older than his cousin’s first born. Ellery hadn’t heard that Petunia had had a second child, though he supposed he might not have listened if he was told while he was in the middle of a complex and urgent problem to solve for work. “Hello,” Ellery said smiling at him. “Would you like a sandwich?”

“No,” Dudley yelled.

Ellery turned to Dudley, “You don’t have to eat sandwiches if you don’t want to, there’s some salad and soup. But I was asking your brother. He might like a sandwich.”

“He’s not my son,” Vernon snapped.

“Oh?” Dahlia Burton said curiously.

“He’s my nephew,” Petunia admitted unwillingly.

“Lily’s boy?” Dahlia asked eagerly. “How long are you babysitting him for?”

“He was dumped on our doorstep nearly three years ago,” Petunia said tersely.

“What happened to Lily?” Ellery asked. Every time he’d asked about the cousin who’d been his favourite growing up, Petunia had declared that her sister was too busy to bother keeping up with their family. He hadn’t seen Lily since her wedding, and barely remembered hearing that she also had a son.

“She and her wastrel husband were killed in a car accident, drunk driving, leaving their boy to be a burden on respectable folk like us,” Vernon said derisively.

Ellery frowned, he wondered why Petunia had been lying to him but looking at the expression on her face he didn’t think she’d give him an honest answer if he asked and it would only upset Mummy if he started a row during tea.

“What is the child’s name?” Dahlia asked.

“Harry, dirty common name,” Petunia replied.

“A name he shares with a royal prince,” Ellery retorted before turning to the child in question. “Would you like a sandwich, Harry? There are some nice chicken salad sandwiches and some salmon that’s quite tasty. I’m not much of a cook but I make excellent sandwiches, even if I do say so myself.”

“Freaks don’t eat with their betters,” Dudley said confused, repeating what he’d always been told without truly understanding how hurtful it was.

Harry who had been watching Ellery hopefully, looked down and curled his hands around his knees a little tighter.

“Well, these are my sandwiches and I’d like Harry to eat some of them,” Ellery replied filling two plates and going to sit next to Harry. “Here you go Harry. Please eat.”
“My sandwiches,” Dudley demanded reaching for them.

“No Dudley, you said you didn’t want a sandwich when I was passing them out, so you need to wait until somebody is finished eating to get you one now, I gave this sandwich to Harry and Harry’s going to be a good boy and eat it,” Ellery said, smiling as Harry took the sandwich and started to eat it ravenously.

Petunia immediately got up and gave her son two sandwiches which he took a single bite of before spitting it out and whining for chips or sweets. Petunia gave him a large piece of cake which unfortunately only quietened him for long enough for him to cram it into his mouth without any sign of manners. Ellery was relieved he hadn’t choked himself.

Ellery heard his mother trying to make polite small talk with Petunia and her husband as he encouraged Harry to eat and tried in vain to keep Dudley from punching and kicking either of them or his mother’s furniture. He was glad that Harry was better behaved but concerned when Harry barely even whimpered when Dudley’s shoes barked his shins and neither of Dudley’s parents made any attempt to intervene.

-o0o-

“Would you like us to look after the boys for the afternoon,” Dahlia asked reluctantly after a significant number of hints had been dropped by her cousin and her husband about the difficulty of shopping with two small children.

Ellery looked at his mother in horror. Dudley was bad enough with his parents there, let alone on his own and he was sure Vernon and Petunia would go through the roof if they came back and found he’d attempted to discipline their ‘perfect little darling’.

“I need to take Duddy to buy him some new clothes, he’s growing so quickly, and it’s so difficult to get quality clothing near Little Whinging,” Petunia said making the inference that the reason Harry wasn’t getting new clothes was because he hadn’t grown. Ellery had worn his share of hand me downs and second hand clothing when money was tight while he was growing up and understood that there wasn’t always money for new things, though his mother had always done her best to make sure Ellery’s clothing was tidy and presentable and taken in to fit him properly, but the clothes Harry was wearing were stained, threadbare at the knees and miles too big for him. The others were all quite dressed up for their visit, and Ellery wondered if these were the best clothes the little boy had or if they’d deliberately tried to make Harry look dirty and less attractive so Dahlia would pay more attention to their own son. Harry was a pretty child in spite of his half-starved street urchin appearance, much more attractive than the sulky looking overweight Dudley.

“He’s growing into a fine boy,” Vernon added proudly.

Dahlia secretly thought that the problem wasn’t the quality of the clothing but finding the right size for their very overweight son without having to have things altered beyond recognition. In fact, she was surprised that they didn’t have to have most of his clothes tailored. Dudley looked considerably wider around the girth than Ellery and her Ellery was six foot one Dudley was barely three and a half foot tall.

“We could keep Harry for the afternoon, though he looks like he could use some new clothes too,” Ellery offered, glad that the spoiled older boy wasn’t the one being left with them.

“We have plenty of things Dudders has grown out of for him,” Petunia said sniffing disdainfully at her nephew.

“They’re hardly likely to fit him, they’re not at all a similar shape,” Ellery protested, but it fell on deaf ears and was ignored.

“You behave for your Aunt Dahlia. No funny stuff! Do you hear me? If I hear stories…” Vernon threatened Harry.

“Yes Uncle Vernon?” Harry whispered.

“I’m sure that threats are unnecessary, Harry has been perfectly well behaved all day,” Ellery said. It was Dudley that had thrown a tantrum and jumped all over the furniture and not a word had been said to stop him, in spite of Dahlia’s look of distress at the dirty shoes on her couch.

Once Petunia and her husband and son had gone, Ellery began to gather up the tea things. “Can you give me a hand, Harry?” he asked hoping to be able to entice the little boy to eat some of the leftovers as they packed up.

Harry got up without saying anything and efficiently helped carry everything into the kitchen before dragging a chair over to the sink and beginning to wash the dishes with a clearly well-practiced if still clumsy routine.

“Hey hold on Harry. I didn’t mean for you to do all the work! I wanted your help to finish eating the sandwiches,” Ellery said scooping up Harry and sitting him on the table next to the sandwich platter and handing him a sandwich. There was no cake left, Vernon and Dudley had scoffed the lot, even Ellery hadn’t got a piece let alone Harry, but the sandwiches were probably better for the little boy anyway. He noted that Harry ate willingly when he put the sandwiches in his hand but still wouldn’t help himself off the plate.

“Eat up Harry, they’re all for you,” Ellery said gently.

Harry’s eyes grew wide in shock and Ellery wondered how long it had been since the little boy had been allowed to eat until he was full. “Take your time, there’s no need to rush. Nobody is going to take the sandwiches away from you. Mummy and I have had plenty to eat, and we don’t want them. If you feel full then we can put them in the fridge for you to eat later, don’t make yourself sick.”

Harry looked wary but ate his sandwich more slowly and hesitantly helped himself to another one as Ellery efficiently finished the dishes and cleaning up.

Ellery smiled. "Good boy Harry. I’m glad you’re enjoying the sandwiches I made.”

Harry anxiously smiled for just a second.

Dahlia looked in from the doorway and smiled at them both. "It’s good to see you getting along. Do you perhaps want to take a walk to the park while I have a little rest,” she said.

“Would you like to go to the park Harry? Is there anything I can do for you before I go, Mum?” Ellery asked.

“No, I’ve tidied the lounge the best I can. It’s going to need a thorough cleaning, but I wouldn’t bother until after Petunia has picked up Harry, otherwise that horrible child of hers will likely jump all over the furniture and dirty it up again,” Dahlia said sighing.

"I didn’t jump on the furniture,” Harry said to himself almost silently.

Ellery barely heard him, but he saw the sadness on the little boy’s face. “No Harry, Mum isn’t calling you a horrible child. You’ve been a very good boy. It’s a great pity your cousin isn’t as well behaved,” he said gently.

"It’s not my fault?” Harry asked tremulously.

“No Harry it wasn’t your fault that Dudley was naughty,” Ellery said firmly. “You’re not responsible for the behaviour of other people.”

“It’s always my fault,” Harry said in a small voice.

“No, it’s not sweetie, whoever is telling you that Dudley’s behaviour is your responsibility is wrong. Dudley chooses to misbehave, and his parents choose to let him get away with it. It is never your fault how anyone behaves. You’re only responsible for your own behaviour no matter what anyone tries to tell you, and you were a very good boy today,” Dahlia said re-entering the room and moving to hug the very confused little boy.

“Dudley wouldn’t have listened to you if you asked him not to jump on the furniture and kick any more than he listened to mummy and me. There’s nothing you could have done to stop him being naughty,” Ellery added.

-o0o-

They didn’t stay at the park very long because Harry had insisted on walking himself the entire way instead of accepting Ellery’s offer of being carried or piggybacked. He’d been distressed enough at Ellery holding his hand to keep him safe near the road, and Ellery wanted to make sure he had enough energy to get home again to avoid a meltdown if he had to be picked up. Ellery noticed that he kept away from the other children in the park, especially those bigger than he was. Still Harry had seemed to have fun on the small slide there and held loved the swing once he got over the shock of being allowed to use it and Ellery taking the effort to push him.

-o0o-

“I think that we should offer to have Harry come and live with us. Petunia and Vernon clearly don’t want him,” Ellery said after the little boy had insisted that he had to help clean up the lounge room and helped prepare dinner before falling asleep. If it had just been the two of them they would’ve made do with the leftover soup and sandwiches but Ellery and Dahlia both wanted the little boy to have the chance to eat a proper hot meal, even if he couldn’t eat very much.

“I couldn’t look after him properly, and you’re at work all the time, Ellery,” Dahlia said regretfully. She could see that the little boy wasn’t treated well by her cousin and cousin-in-law but with her arthritis it was all she could manage most days to look after herself. Even then she felt guilty how much help Ellery had to give her with the cooking and housework. She worried that he had next to no social life because he felt he had to rush home from work to make sure she had a hot dinner whether she was capable of cooking or not. Having Harry there to care for as well would only increase his burden.

“I don’t think he gets any looking after at all with Petunia and Vernon. He could be some help to you while I am at work. He washed dishes and peeled potatoes almost as well as I can, but I had to show him how to play at the park like he’d never been on play equipment before,” Ellery said. It was an exaggeration Harry’s small hands prevented him from manipulating the potato peeler efficiently but it was clear the young boy was far too accustomed to doing the work for a child that age. “At least with us he will be allowed to sit at the table and share the food he’s helped prepare without it being stollen off his plate or out of his hands, and we’ll be thankful for his assistance and you know that I won’t hit him. He’s a quiet child, he’d probably be thrilled to help you with small tasks and sit and be read to.”

“He’s quiet and eager to please now because he’s desperate for some positive attention but that won't last, once he learns that he won't be punished for speaking or playing,” Dahlia said.

“Don’t you think that he deserves to have the chance to get used to being allowed to be a normal child?” Ellery asked.

Dahlia looked torn, Ellery was correct that Harry deserved the chance to be a child, the problem was she didn’t think she would be able to manage him once he did.

“How about we ask him to stay for a week or two, then if he likes it here with us and we can manage his care we can make arrangements to have Petunia bring the rest of his clothes and things,” Ellery suggested. “There’s a day care at work he could go to if you’re not well enough to have him at home during the day.”

“But we don’t have room for him. Where is he going to sleep. I don’t want you having to make up a bed on the couch every day it isn’t comfortable enough to sleep on, and how old is he? Is he toilet trained? A child that age is going to need help bathing and dressing, it’s going to be a lot of extra work for you,” Dahlia protested.

“He’s toilet trained and he’s older than he looks, I think he’s the same age as Dudley, so he’ll be off to school next year or the year after, he must be seriously underfed since he arrived at Petunia’s to be so much smaller, but I can easily help him with bathing and dressing if he needs it. He can sleep on the trundle bed in my room,” Ellery said grateful that he hadn’t got around to buying himself a bigger bed, not that he felt comfortable bringing overnight guests home with his mother there and often needing his help to get in and out of bed on bad days but he’d been wanting something longer since his last growth spurt and until today had thought that would be his first major purchase as soon as he had money to spare.

"Are you sure about this? You’d have to share a room, it’s a lot to ask of you to give up your privacy like that, I could have him in with me,” Dahlia asked concerned.

"There’s no room for the trundle in your room without risking you falling over it during the night and if he slept in your bed he’d wake you up moving in his sleep. You need all the sleep you can get,” Ellery said gently. His mother didn’t sleep well, often kept awake by pain.

"It won't be easy sharing a room with such a small child. His schedule will be very different than yours, and what about Tyrion?” Dahlia worried.

“I know it will be a sacrifice Mum, but he’s Lily’s little boy and they’re abusing him. We can’t leave him there and it won’t be forever. My bosses are impressed with me it won’t be long until I get a promotion and we can afford a bigger flat, I can bring my computer out into the corner of the lounge until then so I can use it while Harry is in bed,” Ellery replied, blushing as he realised what else his mother was referring to and rushed to change the subject. “I’m sure Tyrion will be fine once he gets used to having Harry around. Harry doesn’t strike me as the sort of child to be cruel or rough with a pet.”

“You can’t guarantee that Ell, it might take longer than you think to be offered a promotion that pays enough, especially with the extra expenses of a child as well,” Dahlia warned.

“My real concern is that child services will think that it’s inappropriate for Harry and I to share a room and will take him away from us,” Ellery said.

“I don’t think they have ever visited Petunia so there’s no reason for them to visit us unless something happens with Harry that draws attention to a lack of appropriate care,” Dahlia said.

“Even then I think he might be better going into foster care than going back to Petunia and her husband, but he’s family he deserves a home with us if we can give it. You always said when bringing up a child that love and attention are more important than things,” Ellery said.

“Yes, that’s true! Well, if you’re sure this is what you want to do, we can give it a try, if nothing else at least we can give him a bit of a holiday and feeding up before he goes back,” Dahlia agreed.

-o0o-

"I was wondering if Harry would like to stay with us for a week or two, as a trial? Then if things work out well, if Mummy can manage having a child in the house and Harry wants to stay, perhaps he could live with us, since you’re so busy with your own son and the boys don’t get along,” Ellery said.

“You could have said something earlier, saved us driving all this way out to pick him up,” Vernon said grumpily.

Ellery frowned, he knew that they weren’t far out of their way and traffic was light in their area on the weekends and wondered what motivated the complaint. Clearly, he wasn’t arguing against their keeping Harry for a while. He’d actually smirked in satisfaction at the idea of them keeping him permanently if things worked out.

Petunia on the other hand seemed reluctant, heaven only knew why, she hadn’t shown an ounce of fondness for her nephew all day and had nodded unconsciously when Ellery’s mum had made it seem that she found having Dudley and Harry was a bit too much for her to cope with.

“Let him stay Petunia, your aunt clearly needs Harry’s help around the place more than we do. He could make himself useful here instead of freeloading off decent folk,” Vernon said encouragingly before turning to Harry. “You mind your manners, boy, and do what you’re told. Your Aunt Dahlia isn’t up to running around after misbehaving boys, so you help her with the cooking and housework as much as you can. And no Funny Business while you’re here or they’ll send you back to us and if you come back early because you couldn’t behave then I will make sure you learn.”

Ellery frowned at the way Harry cowered at the threat and had to bite his tongue to stop himself from retorting angrily, and insulting Petunia and Vernon enough to risk them changing their minds about leaving Harry with Dahlia and Ellery. Considering the skills Harry showed in the kitchen and in cleaning he’d definitely not been freeloading. In fact, Ellery thought Petunia’s reluctance might have been from the idea of having to do all the chores Harry normally did herself if he wasn’t there to be used as slave labour.

Harry shrank back away from his Uncle. "I stay here with you?” he said looking beseechingly at Dahlia and Ellery. “I’ll be good. I can help.”

“Yes Harry, if it’s all right with your Aunt and Uncle, we would like you to stay here with us for a couple of weeks,” Ellery said.

“The letter said…” Petunia began.

"I don’t care what some letter from that crackpot who left the boy with us without so much as a by-you-leave said. We agreed not to send the boy to an orphanage but he’ll be with family here. Family that wants him,” Vernon stated firmly.

“Very well Vernon, he can stay. You be on your best behaviour here, boy. I will not have you embarrassing me with your abnormal behaviour,” Petunia lectured the child, making Ellery wonder what abnormal behaviour Petunia and Vernon were talking about since Dudley’s tantrums greediness and refusal to share had been calmly and cheerfully ignored. Surely the boy wasn’t old enough to get into serious mischief, and nothing in his behaviour had indicated an underlying streak of cruelty or psychopathy. He seemed like a nice shy kid, a lot like Ellery had been at his age.

“What are you talking about? Harry’s a good kid,” Ellery asked. “He hasn’t even thought about being any trouble this afternoon, he helped me clean up after lunch and prepped the vegetables for dinner without being asked and other than that he sat quietly on the couch talking to Mummy and helping her untangle her knitting wool.”

“The boy’s not normal,” Petunia stated.

“You know my father always said that I wasn’t normal. That’s why he thought it was okay to beat me. That’s why Mum left him. Is that why you let Vernon hurt Harry? He’s a small child! How abnormal can he be?” Ellery asked angrily.

You have magic?” Petunia whispered fearfully, she and Vernon both stepped back away from him.

“What? There’s no such thing as magic. It’s just science and technology that’s beyond your current comprehension,” Ellery replied confused.

“No,” Petunia said sighing. If they didn’t know about the wizarding world, then she couldn’t foist Lily’s brat off on innocent relatives.

“I have an IQ of 192 that was unusual enough for my father to think that I was too intelligent to be a normal child, because I was different to him and learned things too easily,” Ellery said quietly.

“He was wrong! There’s no excuse for beating a child,” Dahlia declared angrily.

“No excuse at all,” Ellery agreed coldly staring at Petunia. “Never mind the two weeks trial. Harry’s welcome here. If you take him home with you then I’m going to be visiting my cousin regularly and if I find that he’s being hurt I will call the authorities. If they get involved, they might find you unfit to care for either of the boys, or alternatively you could leave him here with us now where he will be safe and properly looked after and I’ll trust that you will treat your own son properly.”

“Take Dudley down to the car, I don’t want him hearing this,” Petunia said to her husband.

Vernon left and Petunia sat back down. “If you’re going to keep him you need to know, magic is real, and I don’t mean advanced technology or magicians or party tricks. His mother Lily was a witch and Harry has shown signs that he will be just as abnormal. They’ll come for him when he turns eleven and take him to their freaky school like they did Lily. He doesn’t belong in our world and if you let yourself care for him then you’ll get your heart broken like my parents did,” Petunia said bitterly.

“What do you mean a witch, do you mean a pagan worshipper?” Dahlia asked.

“No, I mean a wand waving, turn the cat into a toad, blow up the house, able to make you forget things you knew and saw, witch,” Petunia said bitterly.

“Who will come for him?” Ellery asked curiously.

“That bloody school of witchcraft and wizardry. Lily was so excited and our parents were so proud and she disappeared for months at a time. They didn’t see that every time she came home she belonged in our world less than the time before and then they had their bloody war and she got herself blown up,” Petunia ranted.

“So, you decided not to let yourself become attached to little Harry and made sure Dudley didn’t either, to protect yourself and Dudley from being hurt when he left?” Dahlia asked.

“Surely you can see that letting Vernon mistreat Harry the way he does, is harming both boys?” Ellery demanded.

“Vernon would never lay a hand on Dudley!” Petunia insisted in horror.

“And you expected a three-year-old to understand that?” Ellery asked. “All Dudley understands is that he needs to keep his father happy or next time he loses his temper he might be the one hit. He’s not old enough to understand that Harry is being punished for who he is rather than things he’s done.”

“Dudley knows we would never punish him,” Petunia insisted.

“That’s even worse if it’s true. You realise that you’re saying that you’re bringing up Dudley to know that he can behave as badly as he likes, and he will be rewarded with sweets and praise while Harry tries hard to be good and will always be the one punished for it. Or perhaps he doesn’t understand that it’s Harry himself your husband is taking out his anger on and thinks that Harry’s been punished for being quiet and polite, and trying to help around the house. No wonder Dudley is an uncontrollable hooligan even at this age, he has no reason to try to behave while you’re encouraging his bad behaviour! How is your son expected to learn empathy or to take responsibility for his actions in a home like that?” Dahlia said appalled.

Petunia looked shocked at the condemnation.