Taking care of myself

Chapter 2: Getting to know Myself

The next morning, used to doing chores for his fat, lazy relatives, Harry woke shortly before dawn. He smiled happily as he lay in his warm, cozy bed. Three times waking up! Maybe this really isn't a dream. It still hadn't quite hit the boy that everything was real and not just a product of a hopeful and overactive imagination. Yawning and stretching, he climbed out of bed and hurried to the bathroom then back to his room to get dressed. Still scrubbing the sleep out of his eyes, little Harry tiptoed past Uncle James' room and downstairs. After a minor amount of puttering around the kitchen, the little boy had found a stool and was dutifully fixing breakfast, equal portions though, for the two of them and humming quietly to himself as he did so. He had almost finished cooking when James found him.

It was the smell that woke him up. For a moment James thought he was back at the Weasley's before he opened his eyes and noticed a distinct lack of orange. Then he groaned and rolled out of bed.

"I was hoping he wouldn't do this."

James stumbled downstairs and spotted the small boy leaning over the stove preparing a full English breakfast.

"You know, normally it's the grown-up that cooks for the child."

Harry jumped a little and turned around on his stool to look at his uncle.

"I'm sorry. Was I s'posed to wake you up before I started cooking?"

"It's not that, Harry. You're a little young yet to be cooking by yourself. I'm afraid you might burn yourself. I don't mind if you help me with the cooking but I only want you around the stove when I am in the room. You're not in trouble. You were only doing what you are used to; I can tell. Things are gonna be a bit different with me. We will do our own cleaning except when the mess is big enough for magic, but we will do it together. I was thinking about planting a garden for vegetables, we can get plenty of fruit from the forest, and if you wish, you can help me with that or perhaps have a little plot of your own to grow whatever you want."

James walked over and turned off the stovetop and gently let young Harry down from his stool.

"As your uncle, it's my job to take care of you properly. I won't weigh you down with chores or ask you to do anything you are too young to do. You're a kid. You're supposed to be having fun most of the time. Understand?"

The little boy nodded then laughed.

"I like your orders a lot better than Aunt Petunia's!"

"Me too!" Giving the boy a hair ruffle then sending him off to set the table, James quickly finished making breakfast then summoned the place settings and spooned out their portions.

After walking over to the table and setting down the platters, Harry asked the little boy what he would like to do for the day.

"I wanna play in the ocean peez! And maybe you could teach me how to swim?"

James nodded. "It's please, Harry, and I think a swimming lesson is a wonderful idea!"

It was a mutually excited pair that happily gulped down their food. Little Harry still couldn't eat quite as much as a normal little boy but he was getting closer. James had decided when he first saw the lad's eating habits that he was always have little snacks in his pockets. He had managed to get the child to nibble on extra things several times yesterday. James figured it would take him about a week before little Harry could manage full child-sized servings. James had also finished brewing a batch of nourishing potion last night and instead of orange juice, orange-flavored potion filled little Harry's cup.

As Harry Potter, James had not only been malnourished to the point where it took some unlocking rituals to grow to his full intended height and strength, but his magic had been stunted also and it had taken what he considered a 'gray' ritual to gain access to the full well of power that it had taken to defeat Voldemort. Yes, Dumbledore had very good intentions when he was placed with his un-family, as he liked to call them, but, debatably, Albus may have done more harm than good by placing him there. True, he had been protected but James wasn't sure the pros canceled out the cons. Little Harry, he was sure, would have a perfect balance between protection, care, love, and a good bit of hard training to give his younger self an edge over all that he might face. James also planned to make sure the little boy had a fine support base.