Death By A Thousand Cuts [Zianourry]

Chapter 2

Harry pulled into the driveway and he saw his mum's car in the driveway and the living room light on. Harry swore softly under his breath as he saw his mum's figure peeking through the window. He spared a glimpse to his phone and saw it was nearly midnight and he had 10 missed calls from his mum. He turned off the car before he turned to face the small boy in his back seat, who was staring at him with big, terrified eyes.

"I'll be back soon to get you. Just stay wrapped up in the blanket and I'll be back." Harry said, his voice quiet and hands up as if he was talking to a wounded animal. The boy nodded and tightly wrapped the blanket around his still shivering frame, the blanket swallowing him up.

Harry offered a small smile before he climbed out of the car, his phone and keys in hand as he made the trek up to the house. As he arrived at the front door his mum opened the door from inside and she pulled him in for a hug. Harry knew his mum was a worrier, he inherited it from her so whenever he didn't call her back she would get anxious.

"I'm alright, mum. I just needed to clear my head." Harry said into her shoulder. Anne pulled away and patted his back with a forced smile.

"I'm just glad you're safe. I wanted to let you know, I have an emergency 3-day meeting tomorrow so I won't be home till Monday." Anne said, biting her lip. Harry sighed, understanding and slightly relieved. Anne must've taken the sigh the wrong way as her face fell. "I'm really sorry, sweetie. I-"

"It's alright, mum." Harry cut her off with a gentle tone and he squeezed her hands reassuringly. She gave him an unconvinced smile but took a deep breath.

"I'm going to get to bed. Don't stay up too late and I'll see you in the morning, love." Anne said before she planted a light kiss on Harry's forehead before she ascended the stairs.

Harry waited to move until he heard her bedroom door shut before he quickly and quietly crept out of the house and went back into the darkness. He walked to his car before pulling the door open. A light turned on and he saw the young boy curled in a small ball, breathing heavily, tears streaking down his dirty face. His dark eyes flicked to Harry, who had clambered into the driver's seat with no intention of driving.

"Hey," Harry said softly to the kid. "You're alright, I'm sorry I left. How about we go inside and you can get some sleep in a proper bed, yeah?" The boy nodded at that.

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They got inside as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake Anne. The young boy allowed Harry to guide him through the house and into Harry's room. Harry quickly closed the door behind them before moving towards his closet and grabbing some black sweat pants and a maroon sweater and a pair of socks. As he turned around, he saw the young boy standing in the middle of the room but he was staring at a framed photo that was sitting on Harry's dresser.

"I've got some clothes for you to change into." The older lad said to the younger. The boy pulled his attention back to Harry as he reached forward gingerly and took the pieces of clothing from him before just staring at him. "I'm going to go get you some water well you changed, alright?"

The kid nodded so Harry slipped from the room and into the bathroom, where he retrieved a cup of water for the kid before slowly making his way back to his room. He gingerly pushed the door open and found the boy standing in the center of the room, but this time he was wearing the sweatpants that swallowed his stick-like legs and the maroon sweater that practically reached his knees. The kid had one of the pantlegs shoved messily into one of the white socks well the other pant leg was free to sit on the floor. The boy's hair was a raging mess of dark locks, his gaunt face held a focused expression as he slowly wiped the blood from around his face.

The dirtied and bloodied hospital gown was placed on the floor, beside the boy's legs. Harry knocked lightly to alert the boy he was coming in before he placed the cup on Harry's desk before going to pick up the hospital gown. The boy instinctually moved away from Harry before he continued to wipe his nose and around his face, with a tissue he must've found from the tissue box that sat on Harry's desk.

Harry tossed the hospital gown in his little trash can before he began preparing his bed for the boy to sleep on. He tried to make it as comfortable as he could for the boy, once he was satisfied he turned around and gestured to the bed.

Once the boy was settled, Harry curled up on the floor next to the bed and only got caught in a spiral of thought about the strange boy he had stumbled across and what the hell he was going to do next.