Work Text:
Harry Potter was a very determined child from a young age.
It was all thanks to his relatives ingenius methods of child-rearing, of course. Denying him anything he could possibly want or need so he had to learn to become independent and self-sufficient was a masterstroke. It was a shame Uncle Vernon didn't seem proud of his achievement.
Harry had learnt to open his cupboard door with his mind when he was five years old. From there, it only got better. He took all the food he wanted. He created his own clothes from raw material. He teleported around wherever he wanted and used it to break into the teachers' offices to get the tests so he could prepare properly. He never got caught and never felt bad about it. If they didn't want him to get the test beforehand, why leave it where he could enter?
He was still blamed for everything else, of course. Blaming him for things that couldn't have possibly been his fault was part of Uncle Vernon's prodigious strategy, it prepared Harry for the unfairness of the world. Still, he always managed to escape punishment or turn it around for his own benefit.
He had everything he could ever possibly want. Except on thing.
He sometimes saw children with their parents, smiling and touching without violence. It made him feel queasy inside, he didn't know why. He sometimes asked himself why could Uncle Vernon ever smile at him - didn't he achieve everything his Uncle wanted from him?
But, maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was Uncle Vernon ans Aunt Petunia. They didn't smile at Dudley either. Uncle only ever touched Dud to slap him in the back, which was a kind of violence. Aunt Petunia seemed incapable of smiling, no matter how much she tried it alwasy came out crooked.
Maybe he needed different parents. But where to find ones who would accept another one? They all seemed to have the strength for one, max two.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr Hagrid telling him about magic explained a lot. He was a wizard! Uncle Vernon must've known, that's why he put Harry through such demanding training.
Meeting Draco was as much illuminating as it was dissappointing. They had no siblings to speak of, so his parents didn't have room for another. Too bad, because Slytherin sounded cool.
Mr Ollivander didn't tell Harry anything new. Of course he would do great and terrible things! Uncle Vernon made sure of that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Uncle Vernon demanded that Harry get rid of his owl, so the next day Harry went back to Diagon Alley. The magic entrance didn't give him any trouble, tapping the bricks with a finger seemed to work as well as an umbrella. And why wouldn't it?
He wasn't going to get rid of Hedwig, of course. He could take care of her and stop Uncle from noticing at the same time. It was mostly a ploy to make Uncle believe him, as well as save some cash. He wasn't going to use the cage anyway, it was beneath Hedwig's dignity, so why not return it and get his Galleons back?
It was that day in the Alley that he saw the biggest family ever. They had five children with them! Five! And when he followed them, he overheard talk of two more, already grown up! Surely, they had strength for one more and his owl.
That day he decided, he would get adopted by the Weasleys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first stage of his plan was easy. Step closer and introduce himself as Harry, a poor orphan raises by Muggles. He needed showing around, didn't he? It didn't matter that he was already shown the day before.
He visited Grinngotts again and pretended to buy yet another one of everything by owl order. He showed approximately levels of awe and marvel and when the trip came to an end, he made an appointment with the family at King's Cross, to make sure he wouldn't get lost.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Step two was even easier. Show up to the appointed place and time and come onto the train with them. He spun a wild tale about how his Uncle was to busy to see him off and had to constantly work to feed the family.
Having gained sufficient empathy, he got Fred and George to help him get his trunk onto the train. Only then he let slip his famous surname, ensuring that they would seek him out.
It worked without fail. Ron came to his compartment as soon as he could. They spent the entire train ride together. Ron wanted to see his scar and Harry obliged. When asked why he didn't say his surname before, Harrh spun a tale of how his Uncle and Aunt hated the Potters and forbid him from mentioning them.
The seeds were sown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry made sure that Ron would attach himself to him at school. He convinced the Hat not to put him in Slytherin "because Malfoy was there", as though that would've stopped him. He made himself indispensable to Ron's education and social life, eventually saving the girl Ron put in danger, essentially putting Ron in Harry's debt.
Getting the Weasleys jumper on Christmas was the first sign that Harry's plan was working perfectly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hogwarts was great and he was learning a lot. He could tell the school treated itself seriously, they didn't let students teleport into the teachers' offices. It didn't stop Harry fr getting those questions anyway. What was Alohomora for, if not for this?
Besides, he knew at least one adult approved, otherwise he wouldn't be given the Invisibility Cloak.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hedwig got very upset that summer, not being able to deliver any letters. Harry didn't know why that happened, but it worked to his advantage. If he couldn't send anything, that meant Ron was trying and failing as well. Therefore, he wouldn't be too surprised when Harry showed up at his doorstep, and Harry could pin it on his Uncle.
The trip across the country was very entertaining, anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ginny had an obvious crush on Harry, which he had to carefully plan out how to use. If he got involved with her, him being adopted would've become very awkward if not impossible. On the other hand, a son-in-law is also a kind of son, so it should work out anyway?
In the meantime, he would just try to be nice to her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, Ginny getting possessed kinda put a wrench in his plans, but at least she was okay now. And, as a bonus, the entire family owed him a debt now!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He had spent the entire year campaigning for the Weasleys getting magical guardianship of him and now he learns he has a loving godfather?!
Sorry, Sirius, he wouldn't give up now. Two whole parents is better than one insane convict. It's just math, nothing personal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron getting pissed on him was annoying, but at least Ginny agreed he was being a jerk. If all went well, he would have new guardians by Christmas. All he had to do was manipulate one journalist with an overinflated ego and viola! The entire Wizarding World wanted him to be a Weasley.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He was afraid Ginny wouldn't want to go to the Yule Ball with him, that it would be as though going with a brother.
She didn't seem to mind. She looked as if she was having fun. And when Ron tried to spoil Hermione night, they both hexing him for her, and Ginny smiled at Harry.
He found he liked the way she smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voldemort was back, but that wasn't what worried Harry. He would kill the bastard, in time, eventually.
Meeting Uncle Vernon at the station with Da-Arthur at his side, only to tell him he wouldn't live with them anymore, Harry was afraid his Uncle wouldn't understand.
But then, Uncle Vernon smiled. Harry's heart grew. He knew that in his Uncle's eyes, he was an adult, ready to take on the world. By allowing him to move out, he showed Harry he was proud.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As much as Harry was loathe to admit it, seeing his schoolmate murdered in front of him was hard to deal with. Mu- Molly and Arthur helped as much as they could, but it was Ginny who helped the most.
She showed him the shed and the garden and explained that the Ministry Trace couldn't monitor wizarding homes and how to avoid being seem by her parents. She enabled him to train his fighting skills during the summer, which they carried on into the school year, and told him how she fought Tom's possession and that they would kill him together.
And, of course, the kiss she gave him that Christmas helped a lot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He didn't know how he would survive without Ginny.
Whe. Voldemort tried to possess him at the Ministry, he knew he would lose. The power was unstoppable. It was tearing him apart, bit by bit. The only way he knew how to fight back was what Ginny had said, and it wasn't working.
"You have to fight for the people you love."
He didn't love anyone.
He was a selfish jerk. He manipulated everyone to get what he wanted. When had he given from himself, not expecting anything in return?
Not to Ron, the oblivious pawn, who now was dying, smothered by brain-tentacles, having outlived his usefulness.
Not to Hermione, now likely already dead, who he knew felt somehow for him. He had never even visited her home, despite always being able to.
Not to Ginny, who he was selfishly using for his own plans, to creep into the Weasleys family like a parasite...That wasn't right, was it?
His plan was already fulfilled.
He was already a Weasleys in everything but name.
He had loving parents, smiling at him every day and hugged affectionately.
He didn't need Ginny. He wanted her.
Not for her family, not for her name, not for her smile or her body. He wanted her for her. He wanted her because he made her happy and he wanted her to be happy. It was that simple.
And now, he would kick Voldemort's disembodied ass, for Ginny.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He had promised himself that if they survived, he would be a better friend to all of them.
For the past month, he was actually listę to Ron whe. he spoke of his passions.
Last week he had spent with Hermione in the Muggle world (with Ginny's approval), making sure she smiled a lot.
He had, of course, kicked Voldemort's disembodied ass for Ginny, which had to sting old Tommy something bad, knowing that the girl who was supposed to be his rise became his downfall.
Now came the hard part.
"Mum, Dad," he said to the Weasley parents in the kitchens. "I have to admit to something."
They listened. And he told them. He told them about his entire plan, the whole plot, how he worked tirelessly, lied and manipulated people to be part of their family.
"We know, son." they told him. "We've adopted you just as much the day we met and we're grateful to have you. This family, our family, wouldn't have been whole without you."
Then, Harry did something he had never done before. He cried. He did understand it, but it made him happy. Even more than smiling.
~~~~ Fin ~~~~