(DISC) Harry Potter and the Protector

Un-Happy Holidays

It was now late into the month of November. Gryffindor House still shunned Harrison for losing them 50 points at the start of the month, but at this point he was used to others treating him poorly. A highlight of the last three weeks was that the team still stood by him and always included him, even Percey Weasley had started to speak with him more which he found odd considering the youngest Weasley not exactly being chummy with him. Harrison tried his hardest to earn back the points he lost his house but it often ended up in a cauldron explosion or a stern reprimanding from his spellwork professors.

On the first day of December, the rest of the team were talking about their plans for Christmas. The twins were staying at the castle, Angelina and Katie were going home to their respective families and Oliver and Alicia were going to be visiting each other as their families are close friends. That left him, Harrison Potter, with nowhere to go, no one to see, nobody to want him to come to their home.

"Harry? Are you ok?" A voice to his left asked him, concern etched into every letter. He looked up and saw the entire team had stopped talking and were looking at him worriedly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for-" Harrison said looking at the ground redfaced but was cutoff by a light swat on his arm from Alicia. "Don't you dare apologise," she said crossly before she softened,"you know you can tell us anything right?" she said, a melancholic smile adorning her face. Harrison nodded slightly, not lifting his gaze from the corner of the table. "Do you trust us?" Harrison hesitated, he didn't know what it was like to trust someone, everyone he had met before the team ridiculed or abused him so he was unsure.

He shrugged his shoulders lightly causing the group of six in front of him to exchange somber looks. "Do you know what you're doing for Christmas?" Katie asked, trying to move the conversation along. Harrison shrugged again "I'll probably just stay at the castle seeing as I've got no family to return home to," he said morosely. "What about that French guy? What was his name again?" Angelina said, looking around at the group. "Mr Delacour has already done a lot, I don't want to intrude on his family's celebration," Harrison replied with a weak smile.

"How about you come with me to my home?" Katie said,"my parents said I can bring two or three friends over for the holidays so that I don't get bored while stuck at the house." Not a single one of the group missed the brief flash of longing appearing on Harrison's face before being replaced by sadness and then a shocked expression. "You consider me a friend?" He breathed, his hopeful tone broke the hearts of the three chasers. "Of course we do, you silly thing," Alicia replied with a smile.

"I've never had friends before," Harrison muttered wistfuly. Katie put an arm around his shoulders as Alicia placed her hand on the back of his, he didn't flinch at their contact, brightening the two chasers' expressions slightly. "We've been your friend since you first came into our compartment on the train," Angelina said with a smile before her face darkened again,"don't think that we're only friends with you because you're the seeker because that isn't true. We're friends with you because you're kind, smart and brave." she finished with a huff and the rest of them nodded and hummed in agreement.

Harrison smiled sheepishly and leaned into Katie's side. "Thank you," he whispered before he put his left arm around her and closed his eyes. The team continued to talk about their holiday plans before moving on to discussing classes. Eventually, Percy came to join them and entered into discussions with them, sitting on Oliver's right. The topic of O.W.Ls came up and Percy along with Alicia kept berating Oliver to hurry up and start studying properly for his upcoming exams. Not a single one of them noticed that Harrison had fallen asleep still snuggled into Katie's side with a smile on his face.

Harrison opened his eyes and he was back in the meadow, lying on the grass with his head rested on a bundle of clothes. He sat up and took in his surroundings. The landscape was the same, large rolling fields filled with flowers swaying in the breeze but the other person present was an anomoly. "Hello, Harrison Potter," a woman's voice rang out to him. He looked at her in confusion, stepping closer to her tentatively. She turned and faced him, her wavy black hair swishing slightly from the movement. He peered up into her calculating gaze, her dark brown eyes inspecting every inch of him critically.