The Troubled Wizard (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 17

When Harry first woke up, he felt like he was being strangled. Upon opening his eyes, he saw several bodies lying either on top of or around him. Without his glasses on, he was not able to differentiate between the numerous redheads.

He tried to sit up, but one of them grabbed him tighter in their sleep, making it impossible to move. He sighed but leaned back into the pile with a smile on his face. His friends could be pretty goofy at times.

Harry took this opportunity, to think over everything that had happened to him over the last few days. He had gone from living with people who treated him like absolute garbage, to being surrounded by his friends who would seemingly move heaven and earth for him. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley repeatedly told him that they loved him just as much as any of their other children, but could that really be true? Surely, they didn't actually love him. they were probably just saying that to be nice.

Harry couldn't think of one person in his life who had ever loved him. Sure, Ron and Hermione were his friends, but they probably just hung out with him so they could help him tackle each new crisis that seemed to get thrown his way. They probably only hung out with him out of pity.

Now that he got to thinking about it, that must be what the Weasley's were doing too. They found out that his uncle had been abusing him, so they felt like they had to take him in out of obligation. They didn't actually want him there, they just felt sorry for him.

Harry began to get sad. They'd probably get tired of having him around after one summer, and he'd have to go back to living with the Dursleys. He sighed, well, he could at least enjoy it while it lasted.

"Oh, you're awake." He glanced up and squinted at the figure in the doorway. "Here." After a couple of seconds, he could feel his glasses float onto his face and could see Mr. Weasley smiling down at him. "Good morning."

"Morning." He tried to wiggle out of the mess of limbs, but the combination of arms and legs draped over him was just too heavy for him to move in his weakened state.

"Need a hand?" Mr. Weasley chuckled at Harry's plight. After giving the man a nod, he waved his wand and levitated several of the arms and legs into the air. This gave Harry the opportunity to squeeze through the remaining limbs.

"Thanks." He breathed heavily once he was finally free. "I thought one of them was going to choke me."

"No problem." Arthur gently placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. There was a small flinch, that neither of them drew attention to. He led Harry into the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was making breakfast.

"Oh, Harry good morning!" she greeted him with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

He gave her a nod, then looked over at the numerous pots and pans lining the counter. "Can I help?"

"Oh no no no," she assured. "I've got everything under control, you don't need to worry about a thing."

"Please... can I help...?" when she looked down at him, she saw a look of desperation in his eyes. "I... everything is happening so fast and... cooking is one thing that I'm really good at that's... constant..." he had tears welling up in his eyes.

"Oh, sweetheart..." she leaned down and wrapped him in a hug, "If you would really like to help, I'd love to have a hand. But I don't want you to think that you are obligated to, alright?"

"Ok!" he gave her a quick nod and smiled.

She ruffled his hair and stood back up, "I'll let you take care of frying the bacon then. If you have time after that, you can start making some eggs. I'm working on pancakes and porridge." Harry nodded and immediately got to work on his assigned tasks. "Arthur, can you go set the table?"

"Sure thing," he levitated the silverware and dishes out of the cabinets and sent them into the dining room. Once everything had been put in its proper place, he went back to sit at the small table in the kitchen. However, as he watched his wife and Harry cook, he noticed something that made him sad. As Harry flipped the bacon on the stove, he had to stand on his tiptoes just so that he could see over the lip on the pan. How many times had the boy been burned on the face doing this same kind of action at home?

"Here, let me help you..." Arthur waved his wand and a small stool appeared under Harry's feet.

Harry jumped a bit in surprise but smiled when he saw that he was now able to reach the counter easier. "Thanks, Mr. Weasley, that helps a lot!"

"You're very welcome." He shared a sad look with his wife before she too got back to work.

(A/N - Hey guys! Thanks for reading! :) Also, Happy Frank Sinatra's birthday! Also part 2, happy my birthday! lol. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far!)