The next thing that Harry knew, he was hot, really hot. His eyes shot open and he rolled out of his previous position, immediately on guard. He quickly realised that he was alone, but when he looked around, he didn't recognize where he was. He was in a bedroom, he knew that much. Behind him was the bed that he'd just jumped out of, it being draped with a quilt as well as a multitude of pillows. Harry's nose scrunched up and the red and orange colour scheme of the room. There was a desk, but Harry noticed it was completely empty, assuming the drawers would be empty as well. Then there was a wardrobe on the other wall as well as a window. Though, upon further inspection, Harry noticed the faint shimmer of magic. There was a giant barrier down the middle of the room.
Curious, Harry walked up to it, reaching out and touching it with the end of his finger. So it didn't hurt to the touch... He looked around the room, his eyes falling on one of the pillows on the bed. Harry went back over to the bed, picking up one of the throw pillows. He tossed it up in the air a few times before chucking it, full force, at the barrier. Harry watched as it hit the barrier and simply fell to the floor, as if it was just hitting a wall. Harry looked down at his hand, then up at the barrier. He held his hand out, casting a simple disarming charm. Only, nothing happened. Harry blinked.
"Expelliarmus!" He tried again.
Nothing happened. Why- Harry looked back at the barrier and cursed under his breath. Magic dampeners. He thought for a moment, what was the simplest charm he knew? The boy tried a few others and was starting to lose hope when he finally felt the rush of magic as a tickling hex flew at the barrier. Harry had expected it to act the same as any spell would just hitting a wall, but his eyes widened and he dropped to the ground as the spell ricocheted back at him, hitting the wall behind him. So it reacted to magic.
Just as Harry was getting up, brushing his sleeves off even though there was no dust on them, the door flew open to reveal Lily and James standing there. He gave them a burning glare while they both just stared at him.
"You can stop that." Harry told them sourly, fixing his cuffs, "It's not like I'm some bloody Zoo exhibit."
Both adults quickly stopped. James closed the door and they both took seats on the opposite side of the barrier.
"Harry-" James began.
"It's Riddle to you." Harry snapped.
James's jaw clenched, "I know this isn't exactly ideal-"
Harry actually had a laugh at that one, "Not exactly ideal?"
"Would you let us talk?" Lily snapped, "We're not going to get anywhere without some communication."
"What makes you think I want to get anywhere with either of you?" Harry shot back.
"You're our son-" James reasoned but Harry scoffed and sat down on the edge of the bed, crossing his arms and legs.
"You lost your right to call me your son the moment you abandoned me."
"We didn't abandon you!" Lily exclaimed, "We were coming back for you- It wasn't safe for you here-"
"As if I feel safe here now." Harry rolled his eyes.
"We're not going to hurt you." James told him.
"Says the man who just attacked my own home only to kidnap me and trap me in what is no more than a refurbished cell." Harry said venomously.
Lily sighed, exasperatedly, "Harry, you obviously need some time to cool down-"
"I told you, it's Riddle." Harry hissed.
Harry saw James's grip visibly tighten, Lily laid a hand over her husband's, calming him down.
"We just want to have a conversation with you." Lily told him, "Have a chance to clear the air."
"Well maybe I would be more reciprocative if I wasn't literally trapped."
"It's not permanent-"
"Yeah, I bet you said that about giving me away too-"
"We thought you were dead!" James exclaimed, "You know that we did!"
"Yeah!" Harry yelled back in the same tone, "I knew! I liked it that way!"
James and Lily both recoiled, a look of hurt on their faces.
"You can't be telling us that you'd rather be back with that monster-"
"Don't you dare talk of my father like that when you have absolutely no right to say anything considering your actions." Harry told James, having stood up and walked right up to the barrier, looking him dead in the eyes as he spoke, his voice so eerily calm yet obviously dangerous.
James swallowed thickly.
"If you would just let us explain-" Lily tried to reason but Harry interrupted her.
"I think I already know enough, Lily." He told her, "You got cold footed about me so you decided to send me away so you wouldn't get attacked, only for me to get thrown into a household where I was, let's see: Abused, belittled, shunned, starved, forced to do all the chose I possibly could since the age of three, where I was told that my parents had died and was made to feel like a useless waste of space, and, on top of it all, I was shunned for my magic. So yes, please, try to make the argument that you were 'protecting' me by sending me to my own personal hell."
Lily's jaw dropped and she brought up a hand to cover her mouth, Petunia and Vernon had done those things?
"Harry- We didn't know-" James tried to say.
"Sure." Harry scoffed, "It's not like you were in constant communication with them. I still remember the letter."
Lily blinked, "The letter... You knew we were coming back for you?!"
Harry rolled his eyes, "I'm not stupid. I may have been four, but even I could read your chicken scrawl."
"Then- You know that Voldemort took you-" James reasoned.
Harry laughed a laugh like Bellatrix's, "I asked him to."
Lily got up and left the room, James following her out shortly after. Harry smirked. As long as they planned to keep him here, he would put up a fight, and he'd won the first battle.
——
Harry spent his days either sleeping or lounging around lazily. It had been a week so far. He'd scoured the entire room, looking for any cracks in their stupid barrier, but he couldn't find one. He'd looked through everything for anything he could possibly use as a weapon, and his regular magic was dampened so much that he couldn't even fully summon a pillow from the bed. Aside from that, he was brought three meals a day, James and Lily having given up trying to get through to him after the third day of trying. Harry supposed they were "giving him his space". Every time they would come in, Harry would just sit there and glare at them until they left. He'd never answer any questions, and he just toned them out if they tried to just talk. He'd cover his ears with pillows and turn his back to them, or he'd just start saying "la la la la" at the top of his lungs. The first few times he did this, James had called him childish, but Harry had simply replied that he was still technically a kid and had continued.
Harry didn't want to hear their excuses, but once June rolled around, he started to doubt that he would get out with the way things were currently going. He came to realise that if he even wanted a chance to escape, he'd have to change his gameplan. It wouldn't be the first time he'd manipulate someone, but he knew that the Potters would be expecting it. He was the son of Voldemort after all. He had to make it even more believable than before. So, he dragged it out. Over the course of the next two weeks, Harry kept up with his usual spats between him and the Potter's, but as the days progressed, he made it seem as though he was losing his fire. It was about mid June when he finally caved over something. He'd been allowed to shower and stuff like that, but he'd refused to change his clothes, not wanting to have to dress in the muggle clothes that filled the wardrobe. Though, unfortunately, his clothes began to smell, and soon they just became too bad for Harry to wear them. Instead, he found a blue sweater and black trousers in the wardrobe, putting the clothes on very reluctantly. This seemed to boost the Potter's spirits, something Harry hadn't expected at all.
Harry had been laying on his bed, absently throwing a pillow he'd managed to shrink over the course of the month he'd been there, so it was about the size of a small ball. He heard the door open and looked over to see James walking in. There was a table that the barrier went across, James sat a plate of food on it and slid it through to the other side. Internally, Harry laughed. This really was a prison.
"It's funny." He said just as James was turning away, returning to throwing up his pillow.
"Huh?" James turned around, having expected Harry to remain silent.
"That you think I'm ever going to be happy here," Harry said, looking over at him with a dry smile, "When you treat me as if I'm some filthy criminal."
James sighed, "It's not as if you've given us any other choice. We don't like this any more than you do."
"I doubt it." Harry muttered.
"If you gave us a reason to believe that you wouldn't kill us the second you had the chance, maybe we wouldn't have to take such precautions."
Harry laughed humorlessly, "Please, at this point I'd just go home."
"You are home."
"Am I?" Harry asked him, "Isn't a home a place where you're supposed to feel safe? A place you're able to relax? Unwind after a long day? It's somewhere you should enjoy being, somewhere where you should feel loved. Do you really think I feel any of that here?"
James fell silent and Harry just scoffed.
"I thought so."
"Harry," James tried, "Me and Lily, we do love you. We wouldn't be trying so hard to get our son back if we didn't."
"What son?" Harry asked, "As far as I'm concerned, the only son you have is the one you tried to replace me with."
James's eyes widened, "How did you-"
"Know?" Harry finished for him, "You do realise that word gets around, right?"
James once again, didn't respond.
"We both have lives separate from each other, James." Harry reasoned, "You're happy with your wife and kid, I was happy back with my father. It's been like this for fourteen years, why does it have to change now? I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone."
James shook his head, "We're not leaving your side this time. I'm not giving up on you, Harry."
The teen just hummed, "Good luck then."
James raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"
Harry shrugged, "Whatever you want it to."
James had more questions, but he could tell the teen was done talking so he let it go and left the room. Once the door closed Harry sighed and sat up, looking over at the food. He really had to get out of here soon.
Later that day, the door opened again and Lily walked in, what appeared to be thick binder in her hands. She looked over at where Harry was still aimlessly tossing his tiny pillow up and down, sighing.
"I want to show you something." She told him.
"Do I want to see it?" Harry asked.
"I think so."
Harry caught his pillow and looked over at her, raising one, unamused eyebrow. The woman sighed and sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of the barrier. She flipped to the back of the binder and pulled out a picture frame, showing it to Harry. The boy's eyes widened as he realised what the picture was. It was the same one he kept on his nightstand for the past few months.
"Why do you have that?" He asked, a sense of urgency in his voice.
"I brought it with us." Lily confessed, looking down at it, "This is Lucius Malfoy's boy, correct?"
Harry didn't reply.
"You two look cute together." Lily said.
"What are you trying to gain?" Harry asked her.
Lily looked up, Harry noticing the tears brimming her eyes.
"I'm so sorry." She told him, "We never should've sent you to my sister's house. After hearing the prophecy, we knew that Voldemort would come after you, we thought he'd try to kill you. Our house wasn't safe enough for you, we thought that if we sent you into hiding, then you would be safe until you were old enough to go to Hogwarts. It killed us to do it, I missed you every day, but at the time... we thought it was the only way to protect you."
Harry looked away, crossing his arms.
"You still did it." He said, "No apology will fix that."
Lily nodded, "I know, I was hoping..." She shook her head, "I had no idea my sister would treat you the way she did. She was so nice when we were kids... We had a falling out when I got my magic, but I thought she'd still have the same heart as before... You never should've had to deal with any of that, and I really am sorry."
Harry looked over at the woman, "How do I even know that you're telling the truth?"
Lily paused, "I suppose you don't... though, maybe this will show you that we really did care about you. We still do."
Lily set the binder as well as the framed picture on the table, sliding it through a barrier. She left the room and Harry tried his best to ignore the presence of the binder. Though, curiosity got the better of him and he found himself opening it to the first page. It was a picture of Lily and James, though Lily was pregnant. He turned the page to see a picture of Lily holding him in a hospital bed, James, and three other wizards surrounding the bed. He flipped through the book, seeing an array of photos. One of him zooming around on a toy broom, multiple of him with Lily and James with a mixture of the other wizards, one of him with two other boys that appeared to be his age. One with a pair of wizards he recognized as the Longbottoms, one of him in Dumbledore's arms, one of him curled up in a Gryffindor scarf-
Harry shut the book closed. He'd seen enough.
——
The following day, when Lily brought Harry some breakfast, she noticed that the book had in fact been moved from its original position just a bit. She smiled to herself, perhaps there was hope after all. She looked over at where Harry was still fast asleep, his mouth open just a bit, creating a small circle of drool on his pillow. Her smile turned sad. She wished she could've been there for his childhood. She wished she could've heard his first word, seen his first steps, his first spell, been there with him when he got his wand. She sighed, sliding the plate through the barrier and heading back downstairs. It had been a month since they brought him home and it seemed as though they were finally managing to get through to him. Perhaps now they could start to have an actual conversation with him. Maybe they could find out how he ended up with Voldemort. He'd said he'd chosen to do so, but Lily felt as though there was some heavy manipulation involved.
"Is he up?" James asked once she walked into the kitchen.
Lily shook her head, "Fast asleep."
James took a sip of coffee, "He's usually up bright and early."
Lily poured herself her own cup, "I have a feeling something kept him up."
James raised an eyebrow in question, Lily just smiled.
"I gave him the binder." She told her husband, "I wanted him to know that we did care about him, so I told him he could give it a look through."
"How do you know he even looked at it?" James asked.
"It was in a different place just now when I went up to give him breakfast." Lily said.
James grinned.
"Mum?"
Lily turned around to see Alan peeking his head around the doorframe of the kitchen. He'd gotten Lily's red hair, though it was significantly darker and was more wild. He looked over at them with big hazel eyes.
"Are you talking about Harry?" He asked.
Lily nodded, "Yes."
Alan walked into the room, sitting down at the counter and putting his head on his arms, "When am I going to be able to see him?"
"Hopefully soon." James told his son, "He's already having difficulty adjusting to being around me and Lily. We don't want to overwhelm him."
Alan nodded.
"Is he still causing trouble?"
Lily shook her head, "He's calmed down now. Though, we don't want to scare him again, so we're trying our best to be as calm as possible."
"And that means holding off on introducing him to you and Cassy." James said.
Alan looked down at the counter.
"Hey," Lily said, sitting down next to him and putting an arm around her son, "Don't worry. Everything will be alright. We all just need a bit of time."
"We should introduce him to Sirius and Remus." James said.
Lily shot him a look.
"What?" He said in defence, "It might help him feel more relaxed if he knew his godparents were gay as well."
Alan looked up, "Harry's gay?"
Lily sighed frustratedly, "Seriously, James?"
"Was I not supposed to know?" Alan asked.
"No- That's not-" Lily took a deep breath, "Alan, remember when we found out about your first detention last year?"
The boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Erm- yeah?"
"Wouldn't you have felt more comfortable if you knew you could've told us about it yourself?" She asked him.
"I would be now." Alan answered, "Knowing dad had a bunch when he was in school."
"Exactly." Lily said, wrapping her arms around her son, "That's what we're trying to give Harry. We want him to know that he can tell us anything, and coming out as gay... well it's one of those big things."
"So... it would make him more comfortable if I didn't know?" Alan asked.
James chuckled, "What you mum means is that we shouldn't have been the ones to tell you. It should've been Harry, when he was ready to share."
Alan's eyes widened, "Oh."
James sighed and kissed Lily on the forehead, "I'll go wake up Cassey."
Lily smiled and the man left the room.
——
When Harry eventually woke up, he could vaguely smell bacon. He rubbed his eyes before looking around the room, noticing a plate of food sitting on his side of the table. His stomach growled but he tore his eyes away and looked out the window. The sun had already risen, what time was it? He wished he could cast a tempus charm, but whatever was suppressing his magic wouldn't allow him to. He looked up at the ceiling. Was his father looking for him? Harry assumed he knew what had happened, there must've been an Order meeting by now. No doubt he would've been brought up and Snape would've been able to inform his father about what had happened. His father would no doubt be mad. Harry regretted not staying at the Leaky Cauldron like he'd been told to. He missed his family. He missed Bellatrix, Snape, Rabastan and Rodolphus. He missed Pansy and Blaise. He missed Narcissa and how she had always treated him like he was her own son, he missed Lucius and how he always seemed both annoyed and afraid of Harry. He missed his nights with Draco and how the blonde, while incredibly bad at it, would always try to cheer him up. He missed being able to talk with him and laugh about the stupidest things. More than all of it, he missed his father.
Harry buried his head in his arms. He wanted to go home. Screw the Potters, screw Dumbledore and his Order, screw all of it. He wanted to be back in his room, back in his bed, back with the people he cared about. He hated it here. He hated it, he hated it, he hated-
"Harry?"
The boy's head shot up and he stared, wide eyed at Lily. The woman's heart sank seeing the tear streaks on his face. Before she could stop herself, she pulled out her wand and let herself through the border, rushing to Harry's side. Harry didn't even process it when she pulled him into her arms.
"Please-" She told him, "Don't cry- It's okay- You're safe here. You're home-"
Harry snapped to his senses and shoved her away with as much force as he could muster. He shot up out of his bed and glared at her.
"Don't. Ever. Touch. Me. Again." He hissed venomously.
Lily's eyes widened and Harry momentarily froze. Had he just- The boy slapped a hand over his mouth. He'd- He'd spoken Parseltongue! Without having to look at a snake! His father had always had to conjure one for Harry to be able to speak it. The boy grinned to himself, probably confusing Lily even more. He must've made a thud throwing her off of him though because James came bursting through the door.
"Lily!" He exclaimed, "What are you doin-"
"It's okay." Lily told him, standing up, "I'm good."
James stared at her while Lily looked over at Harry who was now glaring at James. He glanced over at her. He wanted to strangle her right then and there, but he knew that the moment he made a move, James would come through just like she had and stop him. So, he simply let out a breath and walked past her, climbing back into his bed and turning his back to them. Lily wanted nothing more than to try to comfort her son, but she knew he would just push her away again. So, she sighed and walked back through the barrier, getting pulled into a hug by James. Once they were out of the room, he pulled her aside.
"What were you thinking?" James asked her, "I'm usually the one to do stupid shit- Did he hurt you?"
Lily smiled slightly, "No."
"Did he try?"
She looked up at James, tears brimming in her eyes, "No."
James blinked, "Then why were you-"
Lily shook her head, her smile fading.
"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" She asked her husband.
"What do you mean?"
Lily sighed, "Keeping Harry here... It just doesn't feel right. Look at things from his perspective."
James raised an eyebrow, Lily continued.
"He thinks that we abandoned him because we didn't want him around. With what he said Petunia did to him... It explains why when Voldemort offered to take him, Harry agreed. Now, he's lived his entire life as a Riddle, not a Potter. We've taken that away from him."
"Lily, you know that he couldn't have possibly been happy with Voldemort."
"What if he was?" Lily asked, her voice starting to tremble, "You saw the pictures, he has friends, he has a boyfriend. We've taken all of that away from him. He was crying, James. We caused it."
James stared at her in disbelief, "He was crying?"
Lily nodded, "I- I couldn't stop myself. I crossed the barrier to try to comfort him, but he just pushed me away. The way he looked at me- his eyes were so full of hatred. It's been a month. I don't think we're making any progress."
"He's not being as negative as he usually is. James told her, grabbing her hands, "Today was a huge step, Lily. A month ago, he was ready to kill us. You heard him that night, he was about to cast the killing curse. If he still wanted us dead, he would've done something-"
"He has no wand, James." Lily told him, "And Dumbledore made sure that the barrier would prevent him from casting any magic. If you were in his position, would you be reckless enough to still attack, knowing you were outnumbered and would easily be overpowered with magic?"
James fell silent.
Lily blinked back her tears, "I think... I think we have to love him enough to let him go."
"No." James stated, determination clear in his voice, "Harry is our son- we can't stop trying-"
"James, this will never feel like his home-"
"Lily." James said, grabbing her shoulders, "He may have been content living with Voldemort, but how do we know that it's not all one big lie?" He asked, "How do we know that Voldemort cares for him and isn't manipulating him? Are we supposed to think that Voldemort told him the truth? Every moment Harry spends with him, we lose him even more and the more in danger he is. The only reason he's still alive is because Voldemort managed to make it so the one person who had the power to defeat him, didn't. Remember, this war ends with Harry. If we want Voldemort gone, we have to get our son back-"
"I don't care about that!" Lily exclaimed, "When has this ever been about getting rid of Voldemort? I want my son to be happy, James. Don't you?"
"Of course-"
"He won't be happy here." Lily said, wrapping her arms around herself, "This won't ever feel like his home... Let's face it. We've lost our son for real this time."
James frowned and wrapped his arms around his wife.
"It's okay." He told her, "We're gonna figure this out."
Inside his room, Harry stood up from where he'd been listening through the wall. They were right about one thing, this place would never be his home.