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Harry Potter, the recently-turned-twelve Boy-Who-Lived, savior of the wizarding world for something he didn’t remember, was absolutely bored out of his mind. It had only been a week since he had been locked in his room for Dobby’s sabotage/intervention, but Harry was so done. He could only mentally review what little he retained from studying for his exams so many times. He sighed and rolled over to look at Hedwig. She gave him a pitiful look, she was probably hungrier than he was, more restless too; at least Harry could pace around his room.
And pace he did, endlessly it seemed. He walked the border of his room, he paced 85 circuits clockwise, and 93 circuits anti-clockwise. Hedwig hooted at him, somewhat pleadingly, so Harry picked up her cage and paced with her too. She seemed to enjoy the change of perspective, and Harry took direction from her as to which way he would pace. Her head would turn left, he would go three paces, her head flipped around, he walked five paces, and on they would go. Harry recognized a star-and-pentagon in what she was leading him around into tracing, and at her ‘skrill!’, he sat down in the center.
Harry wasn’t certain why Hedwig wanted him to do that, but she seemed much calmer now with her head tucked under her wing. Harry shifted, and she glared at him for disturbing her, so he didn’t move again. He resigned himself to having his leg fall asleep, and curled over the top of her cage. Harry closed his eyes and tucked his face into his crossed arms.
Harry did not notice the pattern he’d paced out start glowing on the floor, but Hedwig did. She gave a contented sigh. There was a bright flash; the owl and her boy were gone, swirling dust the only indication of movement once there.
Harriet Potter, the recently-turned-twelve Girl-Who-Brewed, savior of Hogwarts’ youngest population for something she couldn’t admit to doing, was absolutely baffled out of her mind. It had only been a week or so since she’d been grounded to Potter Place for outrageously breaking her curfew, but she thought that had given her enough time to research the spell to combine her and Archie’s hairs.
But it obviously hadn’t worked in the way she had intended. Instead of the complicated array turning one of Harriet’s and one of her cousin Archie’s hairs into one singular hair that blended their looks and would produce a boy-version of their combined genetics, a piece in their massively complicated plot to uphold their ruse for an education unlike any other!… ahem. Instead of one hair left in the center of the array, there was a boy. An actual living and breathing boy who was curled around an owl cage, of which the occupant was a gorgeous snowy owl, and she was nipping at the boy’s fingers. The boy looked up. All three children were equally confused at what exactly had just happened, but the owl loudly demanded their attention. Archie, wonderful boy that he was, broke the silence first.
“May I let your owl out of her cage? She looks cramped.”
The boy snapped his attention to Archie; his eyes wide behind his broken spectacles. He looked down at a protesting Hedwig. “Err, sure, but how? She’s locked in and I don’t have the key.”
Archie gave him a searching look, “Do you know Alohomora?”
The boy blinked. “Well, yes, but it’s summer and I don’t have my wand, so even if I wanted to cast that, I couldn’t,”
At this, Archie grinned. “I won’t tell if you won’t,” At the boy’s nod, Archie cast the charm at the lock; the boy quickly opened the cage and pulled the owl out. She took off from his arms immediately and flew around the room.
“Thank you,” the boy said, “Hedwig hasn’t been let out to fly in weeks, we were both going stir-crazy.”
“Hedwig is a lovely name for a lovely bird,” Archie said with a Winning Black™ smile. “I’m Arcturus Black, but you can call me Archie. And this,” Archie gestured to Harriet, who seemed to still be somewhat frozen in surprise (though likely running through a million different scenarios as to what caused the spell to malfunction), “is my cousin Harry Potter.”
“W-what?” The boy, who was in the middle of getting up from the floor, seemed even more off-kilter. “But I’m Harry Potter,” At this, the two Harrys sized each other up: two pairs of bespectacled eyes that had seen far too much for their age narrowing in suspicion. Girl-Harry observed some concerning things about Boy-Harry. He was far too skinny, had signs of bruising just under his (thread-bare, four sizes too large, slightly dirty) shirt collar, his eyes were sunken in, and he had the most peculiar scar on his forehead. Boy-Harry noticed some strange things about Girl-Harry. For starters, she was a girl. She wore round glasses just like his, (though they looked well cared-for and as if they had never been broken) her eyes were green like his, (though they looked like they were glowing?) and she was holding a very familiar looking wand.
“Hey, is that my wand?”
Girl-Harry looked down at her wand. “No? This is my wand.”
Boy-Harry gave her a speculative look. “No, that’s definitely mine. Eleven inches, holly, phoenix feather core, I got it from Ollivander’s a year ago in Diagon Alley.”
“No? That’s correct, but I got this from Ollivander’s last September in Diagon Alley.”
“Well I got mine on my birthday last year, so I got it first.”
“When’s your birthday, July 31st? I doubt it.” Girl-Harry scoffed, but Archie noticed the calculating gleam she held.
“Yes, yes it is, Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley to get school supplies on my birthday last year.”
“Rubeus Hagrid? Groundskeeper at Hogwarts?”
“Yeah, who else would Hagrid be? I go to Hogwarts,” Boy-Harry was standing now, and they were in each other’s face.
“Impossible, unless you’re a pureblood. What’s house are you in?”
“I’m in Gryffindor, which is the best house if you must know,” Girl-Harry scoffed at that. “And I think I’m a pureblood, because both of my parents went to Hogwarts too.”
Archie and Girl-Harry exchanged a look over Boy-Harry’s shoulder.
“While normally I would agree with that sort of logic,” Archie started, “that’s not a proper definition.” He sat on Harriet’s bed. “What are your parent’s names? Do you have muggle relatives?”
“James and Lily, and my Aunt Petunia is a muggle. She’s my mom’s sister.”
“So you’re a halfblood, because your mother in a muggleborn.” Archie said. “Just like Harriet here.”
Boy-Harry looked confused by that. “Why would that make me a halfblood? Both of my parents were magic, so that means I’m a pureblood, right? Why does this even matter?”
Archie sprang up, “I don’t know, but I do know that this is unusual, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to have a quick chat with Harriet in the bathroom, please don’t go anywhere, and we’ll be right back.” He said while grabbing Harriet bodily by the arm, and dragged her out of the bedroom.
Harry was lost as to what had just happened, but figured that this wasn’t the strangest thing he’d seen since learning of magic. Hedwig landed on his shoulder and started grooming his hair. She always preened him when she was worried for him, so he appreciated the gesture.
Harry took the time to get a good look around the room. He assumed it was either Archie’s or Girl-Harry’s, but wasn’t sure whose specifically. The door was barricaded by a dresser; he wasn’t sure what to make of that. The walls were practically lined with bookshelves, full of magazines labelled Potions Quarterly and The Potions Guild Annual and the like, many of which looked quite old. Indeed, upon closer inspection, some were dated well over fifteen years old, assuming his interpretation of this year (1992? hopefully…) was correct.
There were books in the room as well, most in haphazard stacks nearly as tall as Harry. The walls had moving wizard photographs; Girl-Harry and Archie, and adults (were those older versions of his parents?), a headline clipping about the Hollyhead Harpies winning the British playoffs in 1988; all of which seemed to Harry to be normal and expected of wizarding children to have in their bedroom save one detail: concerningly, there were several news articles about one Severus Snape.
Archie and Harriet emerged from the other room. Harriet started digging through the dresser blocking the door and pulled out a piece of cloth Harry was intimately familiar with.
“My dad’s invisibility cloak!” Harriet gave him a look and Archie just tried (and failed) to stifle a laugh.
“Yes,” Harriet said while closing a drawer. She bundled the cloak in her arms and walked over to Harry. She gave him another appraising look and took a deep breath. “Look, Harry, I’ll let you wear it, but only if you stay quiet and follow me and Archie. I’m going to take you to a, a friend, and she’s going to make sure you’re real and not a fever dream of mine or something. We’ll try to answer your questions, but only if you stay quiet until we’re out of the house, please?”
Harry met her gaze, and finding no true deception, nodded. He slipped on the cloak, and Harriet grabbed his hand through the material. She and Archie unbarricaded the door and left the room. They were unimpeded through the hallway and down the stairs, but as they passed the kitchen, a woman appeared from the doorway.
“Ah, Harry! Archie! What mischief are you two up to today?” The redhaired woman looked down at the two (three) kids who were doing their best to not look guilty, with marginal success. Harriet’s grip went tighter at Harry’s gasp.
“Well Mum, I was just going to visit Mr. Tate, y’know, I figured he might have missed me after not seeing me for a week, and Archie is going to be my muscle when I inevitably get more ingredients than is necessary.”
“Yeah,” Archie gave her a playful nudge. “but that’s only after she lets me browse around the beater’s gear for as long as I want, like she promised.”
Lily rolled her eyes at their predictable antics, “Alright, but would you two mind stopping by Fortescue’s and getting–“
“More Ice Mice?” Archie and Harriet said in tandem, sharing a grin, “Yeah, of course,” they finished together.
“You two know me so well. Have fun, but be back for dinner!” Lily turned away with a wave.
All three let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding.
Harry stayed quiet as they Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron (they traveled through fire! And it turned green!) and stumbled in tandem with Harriet as they emerged at the pub. Archie was right there to catch his cousin and her invisible shadow. At this point, Harriet traded hand-holding duty with Archie to take the lead, moving quickly through the crowds, while still keeping the boys in sight (well, just one).
Harry figured that now they were out of the house, he could ask at least one burning question. Archie seemed easy-going enough to allow one, at the very least. “What’s the Floo?” Harry whispered into his ear.
Archie, to his credit, didn’t flinch at the sudden presence. “It’s a form of magical travel, and there’s a whole network. Most houses or places of business have a Floo that’s connected to the network, so all anyone needs to do is be specific in where they want to go. It’s possible to end up somewhere else, but that doesn’t usually happen as long as you’re careful.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, if you go to Hogwarts, why don’t you know about the Floo?”
Harry wasn’t sure how to answer that, but he decided to stick with honesty. “I grew up with my muggle relatives and only learned about magic and being a wizard last year, so it’s all rather new to me.”
“But what about your parents? James and Lily?” Archie steered them around a gaggle of middle-aged witches outside Flourish and Blotts. The whole store was ready to burst at the seams (Archie assumed some minor celebrity or sale was within).
“They died when I was a baby.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. My mom died a few years ago.”
They stayed quiet at that, though both burned with questions unsaid. Harriet led them through a dingy Knockturn Alley, deeper and deeper, until they came across a statue some twenty minutes later, only having gotten turned around a few times. Archie let Harriet know of her navigational failings, to which she retorted “You try finding your way around when you’ve only been here once, in the dark,” Harry was strongly reminded of Ron and Hermione’s familiar bickering.
There was a clinic just across the court, and Harriet led them straight through the front doors. Harry wasn’t particularly comfortable with the idea of visiting a doctor, but kept his misgivings to himself.
The woman at the front desk looked up at their arrival. “Oh, hello again, young man, did you want to see Eleni?” Her eyes flicked over Harriet and Archie, looking for injury. (Harry wondered why she referred to Harriet as a ‘young man’. She didn’t look that much like a boy)
“Yes please, tell her it’s Harry and it’s urgent but not life threatening.”
“A non-emergency emergency, you could say – ouch!”
The woman nodded and walked down the hall, leaving the two (three?) cousins in the waiting room.
Archie looked around in awe, and harshly whispered “Why didn’t you tell me there was a hospital in the alleys?! I know you mentioned knowing a Healer who could help, but this is an outrageous act of betrayal.”
Harriet just shrugged without responding, as the woman from the front desk came back with another woman behind her.
“So nice to see you again, Harry. Let’s talk in my office, would you and your friend like some tea?” The tall woman gestured back down the hall she just came from. Harriet and Archie, and therefore Harry, followed.
As the door clicked shut, Harriet started talking. “How far does your Healer-Patient confidence go, Healer Hurst?”
Archie elbowed her. “You didn’t tell me she was Leo’s mum! What else are you hiding from me?”
She elbowed him back, but didn’t respond. Mrs. Hurst looked amused.
“I need you to agree to complete secrecy of what we’re about to show you.”
“Now, dear, is this about you and your cousin?” Mrs. Hurst asked, she started to set out tea, and Harry noticed she set out four cups.
“Umm, sort of,” Harriet’s eyes narrowed in on the teacups as well. She sighed and gestured towards Archie, “Harry, you can come out now.”
Harry tugged off the cloak, Archie tucked it into his pocket, and Mrs. Hurst didn’t bother to look very surprised at his sudden appearance. She did look increasingly worried as she looked him up and down though, and said, “Harry, was it?” At his nod she continued, “Would you please sit on the examination table? I just want to run a basic check-up on you.”
Harry, climbed on the table, trying not to shrink away from the three sets of eyes on him. Mrs. Hurst had her wand out, but made sure to catch Harry’s eyes. “Now, dear, I’m going to cast a basic diagnostic charm. It will tell me things about your age, sex, and general health.” At Harry’s nod, she continued. “It will barely feel like a tickle. Harriet, would you pour some tea?” Harriet did, then joined Archie in the extra chair, where she sat on the boy to keep him from bursting with excitement.
“I am Eleni Hurst, I’m the Head Healer at this clinic, and you may ask all the questions you like.” She added at Harry’s look (though Harry noticed she was barely hiding a smile at Archie’s excited squeal).
“Is a healer like a doctor?”
Mrs. Hurst nodded and dispelled the charm’s report with a wave of her wand. “Will you remove your shirt for me please? I’d like a closer look at your back. I can draw the curtain if you’d rather these two didn’t see?”
Harry looked at Archie and Harriet, they were both wearing identical concern, but he didn’t feel like he was the subject of pity from them.
“No, it’s okay if they’re here.” He gingerly lifted his shirt over his head; he felt he did an admirable job at not wincing when his arms were above his head. But that didn’t stop his audience from gasping. Well, at least Mrs. Hurst wasn’t, but Archie and Harriet both moved on from Concern to something Harry couldn’t quite place (possibly between Murderous Intent and Ron-levels-of-protectiveness).
Archie mumbled “It’s worse than I thought” and Harriet mumbled her agreement right back. Speaking up, Archie addressed Mrs. Hurst. “Will you heal his ribs or the bruising first, Healer?”
“The ribs.” She said, walking around the table to inspect Harry’s back. “It’s important to fix a deeper wound, in this case, broken ribs, than it is to work on a surface injury, such as bruising. Harry, I’m going to heal the fractures in your ribs now, and I want you to tell me if it hurts, all right?” Harry nodded again, feeling a prickling sensation over his back; it wasn’t pleasant. It felt like a scratchy woolen blanket being dragged over his back, but under his skin. It took just a moment, but he could immediately feel the difference; he could breathe deeply without pain for the first time in weeks.
Mrs. Hurst worked on the bruising next, which she explained to them was a combination of different spells working together: increasing blood flow to the injured area, knitting injured tissue back together, and speeding along the body’s natural healing to the area.
She, with Harry’s reluctant permission, ran several more scans on him over the course of the next hour. The kids all enjoyed the tea and biscuits Mrs. Hurst gave them, (Harry ignored their looks when he kept going back for another cookie) and Harriet and Archie explained how Harry appeared. A magical accident, which was true, from a spell that was meant to show them what the cousins would look like as the same person, (“everyone always says we look so similar, we were curious how that would look in a practical application”) (conveniently leaving out any real applications they were hoping for), and their exact line of reasoning to lead them here to the clinic rather than to their parents.
Harry didn’t bother to add that Hedwig was probably involved with it on his end.
Mrs. Hurst, again to her credit, didn’t admonish them on their use of underage magic. She was rather occupied on trying to fix all the small hurts of the small boy’s, (this child had been beaten and starved for years!! What monsters would let grease burns fester or have a six year old lifting things twice his weight?! Not to mention his scar, it was cursed; her magic screamed and cried at her when she tried to pry deeper at it) and occasionally quizzing Archie on his basic Healing knowledge.
She gave Harry a nutrient potion, which Harriet happily explained its uses and applications, as well as a brief history on that particular brew’s history as being administered to children in areas of famine.
All in all, Harry felt their afternoon spent at the clinic was a great time. No one called him Boy or Freak or worthless, he was allowed, nay, encouraged to eat as many biscuits as he wanted, and never did he feel that his companions were judgmental towards his sorry state. Harry spoke little of the Dursleys, but he asked many questions, which, amazingly, they answered! Mrs. Hurst was happy to give Harry a brief overview of Magical Britain’s history of the last century, and assured him there hadn’t been another dark wizard attempt to come to power in Europe since Gellert Grindelwald in 1946. Archie and Harriet did their best to describe Society, at least the upper-class portion, Harriet clarified, and how their Hogwarts differed from his Hogwarts. Not much, apparently, excepting the blood status laws.
Healed and satisfied, they gave a fond farewell to Mrs. Hurst when the hour chimed five o’clock. The three kids Flooed back to Potter Place directly from Mrs. Hurst’s office, prepared for a chewing out of massive proportions.
Lily was just putting the final touches on dinner, her boys around the table; James about to call for the kids, when Harriet’s head poked around the doorway.
“Mum, could you come here for a moment, please?”
Lily obliged, Sirius taking over the last of dinner prep. She stepped out into the hall and stopped at the sight of her daughter and nephew hiding someone behind them.
“If you two wanted to invite a friend over, let me know ahead of time, please?” Lily said with a tone of exasperation. “Honestly, there’s no need to act so secretive over it. Who’s your friend?”
Harriet looked down, “That’s the problem, Mum,” and she tugged Harry forward. Lily gaped at the near identical boy standing next to her daughter. “He’s probably your son?”
Lily couldn’t stop staring at the boy, but he didn’t shy away either. He was tearing up, she noticed.
“I may have, um, been, ah, messing around with old magic arrays andopenedaportaltoanotherdimensionandpulledanalternatemeintoourdimensionsoI’msorrybutcanhestaywithusuntilwefigurethingsout??” To Harriet’s credit, she looked appropriately abashed. Archie was just grimacing.
Lily sighed. “Let’s just eat dinner first, shall we?”
She led the children to the table. “James, Sirius, I fully blame you two for being so lax about the Reasonable Restriction for Use of Underage Magic, and you two will fix this issue.” The two men looked at her in question, until they caught sight of the third child entering the room. Lily simply set out another plate. “Harriet, as you claim some responsibility, would you lead us through introductions?”
Harriet nodded, and after getting Harry to sit down between she and Archie, began. “Family, this is Harry Potter from an alternate reality. Harry, this is my mum, Lily, my dad, James, Archie’s dad, Sirius, and our Uncle Remus.”
Harry waved shyly to them all, but his eyes kept coming back to Lily and James. They looked older than his photos of them at their wedding, which he supposed made sense, as they would be older than they had been thirteen years ago. The whole room was quiet, and Harry wasn’t welcome to the stares. Fortunately, Archie came to his rescue.
“At least we don’t have to wonder what Harriet would look like as a boy, now! Think of all the pranks we could pull off!”
Lily was serving him a plate, “Are you a vegetarian as well, Harry?” Harry still couldn’t get over the fact that this was his mum (or some version of her) serving him dinner. How many times had he wanted something as normal as a family dinner before?
“Uh, no ma’am. I’m not, though Aunt Petunia sometimes is, but only when guests are over.”
Lily blinked. Then continued as if having your child from an alternate reality over for dinner was a regular occurrence. “And how is Tuney? Do you visit her often?” She handed over his plate, it was rather full. Harry’s eyes grew at the sight. He wasn’t sure he could finish the whole plate, but he’d do his best to not be rude.
“Uh, not exactly. I live with her. And with Uncle Vernon and my cousin Dudley.” Harry ducked his head down, and followed Harriet’s lead at pacing his dinner. He pointedly ignored the three men who were still in states of shock. (Though the shabby one, Remus? looked to be almost ready to accept the surprise and move on to eating)
“Oh?” Lily wasn’t sure how to take that. So she just kicked James from under the table. That seemed to knock him out of his stupor. And then felt the need to face palm when the first question James asked was “Do you play Quidditch?”
Harry was delighted to talk Quidditch! “Yes! I play seeker for Gryffindor, and I’m supposedly the youngest seeker in a century, though Hermione says that’s just if you’re only counting Hogwarts.”
“Hermione? Hermione Granger?” Archie looked at him, and Harry nodded.
“She and Ron Weasley are my best friends.” Harry felt the kick Archie aimed at Harriet.
“Say, Harriet, isn’t Hermione Granger your best friend too?”
“Oh, yeah, she is. She’s super smart, and… has really wild and curly hair?” Archie kicked her again.
The shabby man, Remus, spoke up. “You go to Hogwarts?”
“Yeah, but I heard from Harriet and Archie that there are restrictions here?”
Remus nodded. “That’s right. What year are you going into?”
“I’ll be a second year, and uh, Harriet and I are the same age, roughly? I think today was August 8th in my world, but it’s hard to tell sometimes. It’s been a week since I got… grounded, and that was on my birthday.”
“Wait, you didn’t tell me you got grounded too! Harriet just got out of being grounded. What’d you do?”
“Oh, um, a house elf dumped a pudding on one of Uncle Vernon’s dinner guests, and then the Ministry sent an owl saying I wasn’t supposed to use magic during the summer. So I got in trouble for that.”
Talk moved to Harry asking the family questions about what they did for a living. James mentioned being an Auror, which Harry supposed was a wizard police equivalent from the sounds of it. Lily worked with experimental charms.
“Is it very dangerous?”
“No, not really, we have built-in safeguards and proper testing areas, so we are much safer than whatever these buffoons have cooking in James’ office.” She replied with a lazy wave of her hand towards said buffoons.
“Hey!” Sirius protested. “We Marauders are not buffoons! We are distinguished gentlemen who bring joy to the – hey! Stop laughing, Lil! Remus? Et tu, Moon-ay?”
After supper dishes were cleared from the table, (James—Dad? Could Harry call him that? Or should he stick with Mr. Potter? –and Mr. Uncle Remus were doing the dishes! They turned down his offer to help, too!) Harry brought up the inevitable.
“What are we going to do with me? I don’t know how to get back; may I stay here with you until then?”
“Of course, son,” Mr. Potter said. “Sirius and I will figure out how to send you back, but it might take a while to figure it out. I suspect you’ll be stuck with us for the rest of the summer at least.”
Harry wasn’t sure if Mr. Potter meant to call him ‘son’, but he warmed at the term regardless.
“Will Harry be staying in my room with me?” Harriet asked. “Or can we kick Sirius out to make room?”
Harry noticed Lily-Mum-Mrs. Potter was staring at him. She was Contemplating His Existence, he supposed, (Aunt Petunia had that look sometimes, though hers was more pinched and less friendly) then her look turned to something more Considering The Circumstances.
“We can set you up in the guest room for the night, if you’re amenable, Harry, and then renovate it tomorrow to fit your style better.”
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Harry started. “I don’t need a whole new room or anything.”
“Nonsense!” claimed Mr. Uncle Sirius, who had a glimmer in his eye that strongly reminded Harry of George Weasley preparing to jibe at Percy. “Harry, you’re not a bother, trust me. In fact, I think I can do you one better than a new room,” he leaned forward in his seat conspiratorially. “A new wardrobe! I’d like to take you clothes shopping tomorrow, if you’re up for it. I’ve been spoiling these two chuckleheads,” he gestured to Harriet and Archie. “for far too long, and to be frank—”
“I thought you were Sirius?”
“—Shut up, Moony—their styles have become so predictable as to be boring. Seriously, Archie, you’re clearly trying to imitate the true icon of fashion—that’s me, Lily, and I don’t appreciate the insinuation—that I fear you’ll be a third-rate model at the pace you’re going.”
“Oh, please, Dad,” Archie rolled his eyes. “if it weren’t for me, you’d still think bellbottoms were in style.”
“They are always in style if you’re not a coward, you Slytherin child.”
“Harry,” Harriet nudged him, clearly ignoring that Mr. Uncle Sirius was clearly winning with that argument, clearly. “Did you want to at least spend tonight in my room? I can’t promise Archie or Sirius won’t bite, but I can guarantee that I—I mean, Mum—knows a spell to keep them out of your room. Also, I won’t bite you.”
“Can I spend the night, Dad? It’s not every day I get another cousin,” Archie was quick to butt in.
“Well, he has to have the grand tour first! Harry Potter, welcome to Potter Place! We’ll cover Grimmauld in the morning though, you have to meet the snakes!”
“Excuse you, Harry is my son, and I will do the honours of introducing him to his ancestral home.” Mr. Potter-Dad said, flicking soap at Mr. Uncle Sirius.
Mrs. Mum-Potter merely rolled her eyes and slid Harry a slice of treacle, (she ignored the two squabbling children in the corner and even slapped their hands away from the pan. Archie was sure to be smug that he was allowed seconds, which he rubbed in his father’s face, literally)
Harry, with his newly dubbed cousins beside him(though really, it was a tangle of limbs, who could really tell any of them apart?), in a magically expanded bed (courtesy of Archie, as he claimed it was Cousin Cuddle Clump Night to welcome Harry to the family. Their sleeping bags lay abandoned, as were several broken pillows, which Harriet wanted to fix, but Archie said to let them rot for failing him in their ‘truel’), wasn’t worried about the Dursleys finding him gone, or how he would get back to his dimension, or even that Hedwig hadn’t come to say goodnight for a second time. He felt content with the weight on his chest, finally made not of anxiety or hunger, but of love and biscuits. The steady breathing of Archie in his ear, Harriet’s elbows made softer with sleep, the warm pyjamas he’d borrowed that actually fit, it was all grounding in a way he’d never felt before.
Was this what being in a loving family felt like? He wondered, relishing in the feelings of belonging and loved and accepted. This was better than anything he’d ever dreamt up in his cupboard, and that was what really convinced him he wasn’t dreaming in some starving fever. The warm feeling that was flowing through his heart was too powerful to be something he could imagine. Harry welcomed sleep with open arms and closed eyes.