Familial Love

A Game of Chess

Harry sat slumped and cross legged on Ron's bed losing badly at a game of chess. It was strangely quiet in the room, broken only by the occasional hiccup from Harry that Ron was politely ignoring. Dumbledore had arrived nearly an hour ago and they were confined to upstairs whilst the adults spoke. For a while there had been a lot of raised voices coming from the kitchen - Mr and Mrs Weasley arguing furiously about something they couldn't quite make out. Fred and George had come up to inform them that there was definitely a muffling charm being used as, despite how much they pressed their ears to the door, what was being yelled about never became clearer. They had started brainstorming a plan about climbing out the first floor window and listening at the backdoor when they caught a sight of Ron's warning expression and Harry's red eyes. Silently the twins had retreated to their rooms, mumbling something about inventing a device to listen at doors conveniently.

Harry stared down at his complaining chess pieces, not even trying to guess at what they were talking about downstairs. He felt defeated. Almost as if someone had let all the air out of him like balloon and suddenly left deflated. Unthinking, he pushed a bishop across the board only for it to be instantly decapitated by one of Ron's knights. Something about the realisation of the magnitude of his mistreatment at the Dursleys' had hit him hard. He felt stupid. Harry knew that it wasn't normal for children at his school to go home and slave away at chores, be forced to stay out in the scorching heat to weed the garden. He was pretty sure most of the kids at his schools had never even missed a meal. But he'd never put all the pieces together that he was actually...abused. Another tear escaped down his face but he brushed it away quickly with his sleeve. Ron noticed and for a moment he looked like he was going to say something comforting, but instead pushed his Queen forward on the board.

"Checkmate." He said after a pause. Harry with hardly enough energy to respond, simply slumped back onto Ron's pillow and stared up at the Chudley Canons poster zooming above him. "Do...do you think you'll come live with us now?" Ron managed. Despite the grim mood, Harry was happy to detect a little hope in his voice.

"Mmm...I don't know." The truth was Harry didn't dare believe that he could move in with the Weasleys'. The prospect was just too happy for him to consider. He knew that if he started hoping that, if it didn't come true he'd feel crushed all over again. And something about Dumbledore's face when he had stepped into the Weasleys' kitchen early told Harry that there already wasn't a chance of him leaving the Dursleys'. As he'd been x-rayed by his headmaster's twinkling blue eyes something in them told him that the answer was no.

"That would be great if you could." Said Ron enthusiastically. "We could try to fit your bed in here." Ron had stood up and started pacing the room, working out the best position to fit another bed. There was nowhere obvious to put it. "Or maybe we could have a bunk-bed. Oh no, I guess the ceilings too low. Or if I put my chest of draws in the hallway then your bed could go here." Ron lay down on the floor of the room, trying to demonstrate how comfortably Harry's new bed would fit. Harry could help but let out a small laugh at his obvious eagerness. It was good to spend time with Ron again. Harry had forgotten how easily they got on, and what it was like to have someone that was always on his team. Harry's smile faded a little. Ron noticed. "Look Harry, even if you do go back to the Dursleys, you can visit here whenever you like. Plus I'll ask Dad to get someone at the ministry to look into that house-elf for you. Dodgy or whatever his name was. That way we'll still be able to write, and you can tell us if you need...yunno...someone to come get you." He trailed off. Obviously thinking about what Harry would have to go through for him to have to ask for help.

"It's just so unfair." Said Harry, sitting up from where he was on Ron's pillows. "I already, well you know, I already lost my parents." He gulped down the lump in his throat again. "Why did I get stuck with the worst Aunt and Uncle ever? Nevermind my cousin beats me up all the time too."