Not Another Pawn

♙ Chapter Two

The car was stuffy even though all windows were down. Humid air suffocated the interior, the fancy leather seats stuck to their backs and peeled whenever someone moved in an attempt to feel more comfortable. Vernon sat in the driver's seat cursing out every tourist going to King's Cross after a late holiday. Due to this traffic, when his carers dropped Harry off they couldn't stay long or they'd be late for their appointment.

"Have fun at school!" Petunia shrieked out the window as they drove away, with Harry holding his trunk on a trolley and Regulus at his side.

"Come on, little one. Lemme show you the way."

Harry followed a wispy Regulus into the station and through crowds upon crowds of families until the two arrived at a wall between Platform 9 and Platform 10 and whispered into Harry's ear that he would have to run into the wall. For the first time ever, Harry actually wondered whether he really was hallucinating Regulus because he couldn't be serious about running into a brick wall. He walked to the side of the pillar and waited to see if anyone else would try to walk through the wall.

After a few minutes, a large family passed (all with fiery red hair) and they were speaking about Hogwarts and the train quite loudly. Harry listened to them, especially as the mum's voice carried well in the station.

"Fred! George! Go through to the platform then Percy if you then Ron then Ginny and I will go. Does that sound good with everyone?"

The group of kids, all of different ages but all lanky nodded their heads and then two of them started to run at the wall, trolley first. They were going to hit it, Harry was sure. They vanished. His jaw fell as he watched the two identical boys run through a solid wall and go through it with no resistance. This family must also be magic, he must speak to them for direction immediately.

He stepped out of his watching spot and pushed his trolley toward the family as the next brother went through the barrier effortlessly.

"Hello?"

"Yes?" The woman turned around to look at Harry and must've connected his trunks to his location and age very quickly, "Are you going to Hogwarts, darling?"

Harry nodded vigorously and listened as she explained that all he had to do was walk through the wall but 'it's best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous'.

She made her youngest son, Ron, run through the wall then told Harry to follow after. Harry inhaled deeply and started to walk toward the wall. His nerves tingled as he sped up toward the red bricks and slammed into them, eyes squeezed closed.

Except he didn't stop and when he opened his eyes, and had to skid to a halt next to a gleaming, scarlet steam train with hundreds of families milling on the platform. Harry saw an entrance to the train and decided to make his escape from the rowdy crowd. He struggled to put his trunk on the rack and tried to stride down the corridor to find an empty booth, which he slipped into.

He exhaled with relief when Regulus appeared opposite him. His form, whilst still silver, was more opaque than it had ever been around Harry and so the boy finally got to see the how young Regulus really was. The deep eye bags may have tripped up some but Regulus' ache and sharp contours made Harry start.

"Regulus..." The ghost's head tilted, "How old are- were you?"

Regulus closed his eyes and sighed, "Harry, do you really want to have this conversation now or can we have it later? You're tired and this train ride will be long and someone's coming down the corridor, give me a second." He faded out of sight.

It was Ron.

"Hey, is anyone sat here?" He gestured to the seats.

"No, come in."

Ron sat at a diagonal to Harry and held out his hand for a clumsy shake, "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley. What's your name, mate?"

"Harry Potter,"

Ron's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, "Really?! You're Harry Potter?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"Well, you're famous, mate. You're the kid who defeated He Who Must Not Be Named when you were like a baby,"

Regulus had told Harry all of this but the doctors he had seen always told him these were just delusions and so he'd never truly believed Reggie. Now he saw that Regulus was forever to be trusted and that the rest of the wizarding world knew about him. Internally he started to panic: he wasn't a celebrity, he was a kid who saw ghosts and didn't do too well in school. He didn't know how to cope with being perceived as famous, most kids would've killed for popularity or fame but Harry knew it would just make living life - especially with all his setbacks - all the more difficult. He didn't want people to know him. He didn't want to be seen performing every single action.

Ron cleared his throat, "You alright, mate? You did know you were famous, right?"

Harry nodded and at that moment the train started with a jolt and exited the station with a loud hiss of steam. Ron shuffled in his seat and seemed to make himself comfy.

"So what house do you reckon you'll be sorted into? All my family's been in Gryffindor so I reckon I'll be in there but what do you think?"

"Houses? Oh I don't know, I was raised by my aunt and uncle but my parents were in Gryffindor. Not that I know what any of it means,"

"As long as you're not in Slytherin..." Ron said darkly.

Harry's spine straightened, his love for Regulus became a weapon that he would not put down; he knew the rumours about Slytherin and he knew Regulus was a lovely, brave man. He snapped with a silver tongue at Ron,

"There is nothing wrong with Slytherins, they are intelligent and brave and have empathy just like the rest of us. How stupid is it to judge someone based on how they thought at eleven years old," his words twisted and changed until he was speaking the words Regulus was thinking, "There are some beautiful Slytherins, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors just as there are cruel Slytherins, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. How misguided and bigoted do you have to be to base your opinion of someone on the colour of the tie they wore at school!"

Harry's face streamed with sweat as Regulus' broke their strange connection with a harsh jolt that sent Harry's back into the seat. His hand frantically passed through the boy's burning head and unfocused eyes as he panicked,

"Harry! Harry! Harry, come back to me please, don't let me lose you..."

Ron screamed for a second before biting his hand and almost shouting, "What the hell are you?!"

Regulus turned away from Harry and looked at the other child with pleading eyes, "Please help me wake him up, I'll explain after, please,"

So Ron reached over and shook Harry's shoulders before holding him still. After a couple of minutes, his eyes focused and he slumped in his seat.

"Water, please. In my bag."

Ron hurried to pass him a bottle of water and Harry chugged half of it before breathing properly.

Regulus apologised profusely and Harry waved each apology away, "It doesn't matter, I know, I know."

Then Ron interrupted, "Can I have my explanation now please?"

Regulus paused for a split second before pulling the curtain over the door and sighing, then he began to recount the years. Of course, for Harry's sake, he left the embarrassing details and did not explain Dumbledore's overall plan. He just outlined the basics.