Chapter Text
Most children experienced their 7th birthday dressed as their favourite fairy-tale or movie character, playing around with friends, drinking carbonated drinks and eating chocolate cakes that their mother had made with love.
Harry Potter was not like most children.
He learned that today was his 7th birthday two weeks ago when his 1st-grade teacher listed all the names of the students whom birthdays would happen during Summer Holidays. He was surprised to see his name and the date next to it on the blackboard.
Harry Potter – Friday 31st of July (7)
However, there had been no cake, extravagant amount of presents or happy song waiting for him this morning. His aunt woke him up at 6, as usual. He had five minutes to use the bathroom and take a cold shower. Then he helped out making breakfast for his uncle and cousin. His aunt gave him a half-burned toast and a glass of water before telling him to gather all the dirty laundry in the house.
At 8:30, after his uncle went to work and while Dudley was finishing eating his scrambled eggs and bacon in front of the TV, he did try to be brave and dare to ask for a glass of orange juice. Maybe his aunt had just forgotten, maybe she did not know, she was not at school after all…
The horse-faced woman looked at him and sneered: “And why would I give you that?”
“Because it’s my birthday?” he announced hesitantly. “I’m 7 now and I thought… maybe I could try it?”
His left cheek was still red from the slap he got for his ‘insolence’. Then he had to drink a full glass of vinegar since he said he wanted to try something new on his birthday. “Orange juice is not to be wasted on freaks like you!” his aunt had declared before ordering him to go outside and water the garden. He would have tried to rinse his mouth with the garden hose but he was too afraid that his aunt might spot him and made him drink another glass of disgusting liquid… So the aftertaste followed him all morning long.
Lunch passed without the woman calling him inside to eat. No food today then… He guessed he might have deserved it. Harry hoped she would not tell her husband but that was very unlikely. He did not really want to go back inside. He would probably see nothing else than the selling of his cupboard for few days starting that night…
“Hey, guys! You know what? The freak said it’s his birthday today! Why don’t we play with him as a gift? Ready for an epic Harry Hunting game?”
He heard his cousin before he saw him with his friends. They were finishing ice creams by the house which made him remember how hot, thirsty and hungry he was… but he did not have time for that. He needed to run and hide now!
His flight drove him to a bushy garden one block down the road. His shadowy shelters made him feel kind of safe. He saw his cousin and his friends passed by the house without stopping and let out a sigh of relief. If days with no meals were to come, he had no energy to waste with an endless run.
Now, he only had to wait for them to get bored and go do something else. It should not take more than an hour… He still had chores to do before his uncle’s return.
He watched the house whose garden he was hidden into. It was smaller than the Dursley’s. One story. Probably only one or two bedrooms. It should be quicker to clean it… The garden really needed to be tended to though… He could not stop himself from thinking about stuff like that and realized it was probably strange for a kid his age.
There was a teenage girl smoking by the back door. She had not seen him. He tensed when he heard a car stopping in front of the house. The teenager said something, threw away her cigarette and went back inside. A woman with strict grey clothes got out of the car and opened the rear door. First, no one got out but the woman kneeled near the car and small shoes appeared in Harry’s field of view.
A small girl finally got out the car. Harry estimated that she was around his age but shorter than him and he was already the smallest kid in his class so maybe she was a little bit younger. She had shoulder length light brown hair and the sun gave it a dark blond shade. She was stretching the long sleeves of her grey hoodie with her hands, she seemed nervous.
The woman shook hands with the man and woman who just got out the house and smiled at the teenager who stayed by the front door. She introduced the girl but the kid’s shoulders tensed when she touched her. The girl stubbornly kept her stare low and the adults laughed amused. Harry thought it was probably how he looked like when someone came visiting Aunt Petunia.
Stay silent, do not talk or stare back, you are nothing, you are not here and if you believe it strong enough, they might forget you even exist and won’t hurt you.
“You’re sure he went this way?” The sudden and loud voice of his cousin startled Harry and some dead leaves crunched under his feet.
“Yeah! I saw him, I told you!” The small group of boys was back at the house level. “Can we help you kids?” The owner of the house asked with a strong hearty voice.
“We are looking for my cousin!” Dudley answered with his fake sweetest tone. “We were playing but we lost him. Name’s Harry. This small, black hair and with glasses. Have you see him?”
Harry tried to make himself as little as possible. However, when he looked up to see if he was screwed, his heart skipped.
Silver eyes dived into his emerald ones. The same kind of fear and passive resignation. An understanding.
He felt goosebumps forming on his forearms. His feet positioned themselves, ready to run again if he had to but he could not stop looking at her. She did not blink either. He needed to go, he could not stay here! Contradictory feelings were crushing his heart.
“What is it June? Have you seen something?”
The adult voice seemed to finally break the spell and the girl looked away shaking her head silently.
“Sorry boys! We have not seen him.” Harry watched Dudley’s gang leave from the corner of his eyes. “Let’s show you your room and finish our talk inside, okay?” The girl followed the adults toward the door but just before she entered, she turned one last time in his direction.
“Thank you.” Harry mouthed silently. A ghost of a smile answered him before the door closed.
The rain seemed to never come to an end in Surrey that August. It did not prevent Harry from doing his outside chores and it did not prevent his relatives from forgetting about him and locking him up outside either.
After one hour of shivering under the small back door eaves, Harry decided to go to the local park to find a better shelter into the big pipe in the playground. He was surprised to discover he was not the only child outside despite the weather.
“Hi.” He announced himself softly. He immediately recognized the silver eyes that turned toward him. “Do you mind if I stay with you?”
The girl shook her head and moved a little to give him more dry space. Harry sat down on the opposite side of her. An awkward silence settled in between them. She eventually turned her face and looked silently at the rain still pouring outside the pipe.
The girl was drenched and shivering but Harry guessed he was probably in a similar state. She had fair skin, paler than his. He thought she kind of looked like a doll even if she was not wearing a dress but the same hoodie as the last time he saw her…
“Did you get locked up outside too? My relatives went to the cinema and forgot I was in the garden…” Harry was not usually the talkative type but the girl’s presence made him somehow uncomfortable. It felt weird to just stare at her saying nothing like that.
She faced him and shook her head again. “I run away.” She murmured just when Harry was starting to wonder if she was mute.
“Why? Your family is not nice to you?” Harry felt stupid. This was none of his business, why was he so eager to know if she had a better or worse life than he had?!
“There are not my family… it’s a foster home. I… They… I just needed to go out.” She explained looking away.
“Oh.” Was the only intelligible answer he managed to breathe out. Did something happen to her parents? He could not ask. He certainly would not want to tell a stranger his parents were drunkards and were dead from drinking and driving with him inside the car and that was why he lived with his hateful relatives… “My name is Harry Potter, by the way.” He said evenly.
Her silver eyes looked at him once more before slipping away. “I… They call me June Islington.”
“It’s not your real name?” Harry guessed.
She shook her head and her arms tensed around her knees, “I don’t know my real name…” she whispered so low he barely heard.
Harry just stared for a second. He could not bring himself to pity her though, her words echoed too close to home for him to feel sorry. “Don’t worry! I didn’t know my real name either until I started school last September.” He said maybe a little too happily bringing her gaze back to him. “They’d always called me ‘Boy’ or… ‘Freak’ so I thought I didn’t have a name or that my name was ‘Freak Boy’.” He let out a small bitter laugh. “But during my first day at primary school, the teacher called me ‘Harry Potter’ and that how I knew my real name.”
“So I will know my real name when I will start school?” June asked eagerly. It’s was the first real emotion he saw her. Her eyes were shining and really looked like liquid silver at this moment. “They told me I will go to St Gregory’s Primary School in September.”
“That’s where I go!” Harry smiled. “Which grade?”
“First.”
“I’ll be in Second grade. But you can still come to me anytime if you have questions!”
She gave him a real smile this time and Harry could only grin back.
Soon they started talking about school. About the teachers, the cafeteria, the playground. They did not even realize the rain had stopped until hours later.
Harry was overexcited when the 1st of September finally came. School meant fewer chores, fewer beatings from his relatives and fewer chances they decided to lock him up in his cupboard for more than a weekend!
School was Harry’s safe haven. Even if Dudley and his gang were there too, this year he would not be in the same class as his cousin! Plus, June would be there.
He had met with the girl a few other times during summer. They never stayed together for long because Harry was too busy with avoiding his cousin and doing his endless list of chores but it was still enough time to say ‘Hello’ and talk a little bit.
He knew she was stressed out about today, but all 1st grades were. He tried to reassure her as he could. However, he could not admit to her he was a little anxious too because he was afraid she would leave him once she met new friends…
It was too late or too soon to worry about that anyway! Harry tried to stay attentive during his first class, to listen to his new teacher, and to remember the name of his new classmates… He knew none of them would want to be his friend. Dudley made sure of it last year… What if Dudley went after June for staying with him?
10 AM break came. But he did not find the young girl in the playground. It was not really a surprise, 1st grade often stayed in class to learn more about each other during the first day of school. Yet, he felt disappointed when the ring told him to go back to class.
Harry did not try to find June during lunchtime. It was too dangerous to stay in the cafeteria. Dudley would be there and other kids would make fun of his lunch. Aunt Petunia only gave him the crust of Dudley’s sandwiches but since she made four of them, he thought it was kind of a good meal compared to what he had sometimes. His classmates would never think the same way though – he bitterly learned that fact the previous year.
He had settled against a secluded tree, as far as possible from the cafeteria. Nobody came there during lunchtime. That was why he tensed when he saw a shadow approaching his hiding spot. He relaxed quickly, however, as soon as he realized the shape did not match his cousin’s.
“Hi,” June said with a low voice.
She was wearing a pink dress which did not fit well with her Converse shoes. “My foster mom made me wear it.” She explained when she noticed his look. “I hate it.” She sat next to him and took out her lunch. She had two big sandwiches with salad, a yoghurt, apple juice and a banana. “Do you want some? She put too much, I cannot eat it all and she gets mad at me when I don’t finish.”
He nodded and she gave him one sandwich and the apple juice. She did not comment on his lunch. They ate in silence. Harry felt like this was the best meal he had in a long time. He still tried to refuse when she gave him the banana. “Won’t you get hungry later?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No way, I’ve already eaten yesterday night and this morning too… it’s a lot.” He silently agreed to that. He had never understood how his cousin could eat this much… He felt pretty full already from the sandwich but he was not sure he would eat that night… He could keep the crunches for breakfast the next morning or late night snack if he was hungry! “Thanks.”
When he finished, June took out a card game from her pocket. “Do you want to play?” she offered.
“I’ve never…”
“It’s easy. Kate said that you just have to pull a card and if the number is higher than the other you win. And King is better than Queen who is better than Jack. And One is called ‘Ace’ and it’s stronger than everything else! The player who wins more battles wins the game.” She explained, repeating what her foster big sister told her.
Harry nodded and they started playing. However, the young boy quickly understood his new friend was avoiding a subject. “How did it go?”
June paused and answered without looking at him. “You were wrong. The teacher called me ‘June Islington’ too and when I told her that was not my real name but I did not know what my name was, the other kids made fun of me… They said it was strange and asked where my parents were…”
“Oh… I’m sorry” Harry said honestly feeling his words. He did not want for June to be rejected by her classmates like he was. “I don’t have parents either.” He offered.
She finally met his gaze. “I know. They told.” The ghost smile was back but he understood her feeling. He felt relieved too when he had realized he was not the only one. “I hate this name,” she added nonetheless.
“Why? I think it’s cute.”
“It’s just that they found me in June in the Borough of Islington last year…” she muttered. “I hate it”.
Oh… now he got it. This name was awful and just a way to remind her that she was not like other kids. “I would have hated to be called ‘November Surrey’.” He confessed to her with a small smile. “What if I found you a new name?”
“You can’t change it, the teacher said it was the name on the paper.” She frowned.
“But I don’t have to follow the paper, I’m not a teacher. I can give you a nickname so your friends don’t call you something you hate.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know…” Harry looked around him before staring down at the card he had in the hand. “Ace?”
“Ace?” she repeated doubtfully.
“Yeah. Do you like it?”
“Isn’t it weird?”
“No, I think it’s cool! Like a superhero name. I mean… it’s stronger than everything else! And you are still here even if you don’t have parents, you survived! My cousin Dudley is not even able to lace his shoes without his mom… You are definitely better than them! Superheroes never have parents anyway!”
She laughed. She actually laughed at what he said and it made him smile. “So… can I call you Ace?”
She nodded. “I like it.” She grinned back at him. “Do you like ‘Harry’?”
He laughed but confirmed. They resumed playing until the rings called the end of the break. It was definitely the best lunch break he had ever had.
“Tell me. Is it true that the teacher’s hair turned blue last year?” Ace asked a few days later during their lunch break.
They shared her lunch every day since the first and Harry did not know if his friend knew how much it meant to him. They did not talk about it a lot but he was feeling that she understood.
“Yeah… He was pestering me because I haven’t done my homework – even if I did but Dudley had taken it so I couldn’t handle it in class, and suddenly his wig turned blue! Oh, it’s a wig by the way, not his real hair.” Ace laughed at this precision. “I got grounded for a whole week after that, my aunt thought it was my fault…” he muttered under his breath.
“Well did…” she was cut short by the large shadow of a group of kids stopping in front of them.
“Hey you, first grade! You should not talk to a freak like him, he is no good.” Dudley exclaimed haughtily.
Harry froze. He forgot to warn Ace that this could happen and that she should not talk back. Dudley was probably three or four time her size… She stood no chance and he did not want for her to get hurt because of him.
“Are you Dudley Dursley?” Ace breathed lowly with a timid tone Harry did not know her.
“Uh.. yeah.”
“It’s really a beautiful name…” she said with a soft smile. “Harry told me you are the strongest kid in the whole school, is it true?”
Dudley actually blushed. Harry did his best not to burst out laughing. “Uh…yeah… Thanks… What’s your name?”
“Oh… It’s June Islington. I moved in this summer. You can call me June.”
“June…” the bigger boy repeated dumbly.
“Yes. Nice to meet you. Do you want something else?” she wondered with another smile and fluttering her eyelashes.
“Uh… no… sorry…” Dudley stammered even redder than before. “You, stay away from her and don’t tell lies about me!” he warned Harry before running away. His gang followed quickly.
As soon as Harry was sure his cousin would not be back, he burst out laughing. “What was that???”
“Oh… that? Kate told me to act like this if a stupid boy bothered me.” She explained with a mischievous grin. “I didn’t expect it to work this good, though.”
Harry laughed again and she followed him. “So… did you?” she asked after some time.
“What?” Harry dried the tears that had formed in his eyes.
“Turned his wig blue.” Ace reminded him.
“Oh… I don’t know. How could I? I mean, yes, he was pissing me off and I wanted something to happen but… I didn’t do anything! It’s like when my hair grew back overnight after Aunt Petunia shaved my head… It just happened.” He looked at her a little worried. “Don’t you think it’s weird? That I might be a freak since strange things tend to happen around me?”
She shook her head. “No. I think it’s awesome.” She smiled and laughed and all the tension in Harry’s shoulders disappeared.
A few weeks into October, Harry came back to the Dursley’s and found the woman that brought Ace this summer waiting in the living room with a clearly annoyed Aunt Petunia.
“Hi, Harry. My name is Mrs Travers, I work for social services. Do you mind if we talk a little bit together?” the woman said inviting him to sit on the couch.
Harry eyed his aunt who sneered at that gesture but did not say anything against it. “I will be in the kitchen. Come My Little Popkin, I made your favourite chocolate cake.” She said taking Dudley with her.
“Harry.” Mrs Travers called him softly. “I’m here because it was brought to my attention that you became quite close with June Islington. Do you mind if we talk a little bit about her?”
“Has something happened? Is she in trouble?” He asked anxiously. They had eaten together today but Ace had not said anything…
“No. No. Don’t worry. She is not in trouble, I promise.” The woman reassured him. “I don’t know how much she told you about her past but she hadn’t had an easy life and I want you to know that you can call me if she does or says anything that bothered you, ok?”
Harry did not know what to respond. He did not understand what was expected of him. He did not want to put Ace in trouble. “Did she tell you about her past?” The woman tried again.
“She… She said she was found in June last year in the Borough of Islington. Are you the one who gave her that name?”
“No… It was not me.” She sighed. “Harry, you have to understand, when we found June, she was very very sick. She was hospitalized for a long time last year and she was not able to talk, that’s why we started to call her June because it was easy… Then she told us she didn’t know her real name and it just… stuck, I guess. Anyway, that sickness can come back any time. If you see her trembling a lot, you have to run get an adult. Ok?”
“Why?”
“It’s what we called a seizure. Only an adult could help her, it is very dangerous Harry. If it happens, you absolutely need to find an adult immediately and to tell them that your friend is having a seizure. Can you do that for me?”
He nodded anxiously. Was Ace in danger? Could he lose her from that ‘seizure’?
“Thank you, Harry. That’s very brave of you. Now, did she tell you anything about from before we found her? Or perhaps do you know if she likes her new family?”
She did. He knew she used to live with an ‘evil and crazy old witch’ – that was what she called her – who hurt her like his relatives were hurting him. But she also said it was a secret because she was afraid people would force her to go back if they knew. And she quite liked her foster home even if her foster parents were a little overprotective and it pissed her out sometimes – that was why she ran away that rainy day. But she really liked her new sister Kate.
But that was something told only to him, not something he would repeat to that woman simply because she asked! He summoned all his courage and did something the Dursleys had always forbidden, he talked back. “Why don’t you ask her directly? She is my friend. I won’t call on her.”
Harry closed his eyes, waiting for the hit to come but he only felt a soft hand landing on his shoulder. “I understand. You’re a good friend Harry.” Mrs Travers told him with a soft smile. “I’m relieved now that I know that June had such a brave boy to look after her. I’m sure your relatives would be very proud.”
She was not mad. He did not expect that. Adults always got mad when children talked back…
“I’m glad she found such a good friend in you. I still left my number to your aunt. You can call me anytime ok?”
Harry nodded without realizing it. Should he tell Ace about this encounter?