Playing Dress-up ~Tomarry~

Chapter 31 ✅

A quiet knock came from the other side of his door, it seemed timid and frightened, Harry only just barely heard it. "Come in."

A small face popped her head around the door, "Mary said to tell me to tell you that dinner was ready."

Harry smiled at the girl and her eyes lit up. "I'll come down now." He pushed his herbology book down under his pillow, stood up with the help of his crutches and following the child through the corridors and down the stairs towards the kitchen.

He wanted to appear timid. He was new here and he wanted to get the special treatment for as long as possible. That would hopefully allow him extra time to 'settle in' that way he wouldn't be forced to join in with anything too social.

The girl in front of him looked to be around 7 years old, he knew rightly that sweet as she is, no one would ever adopt her because of her age. It was too common that most people wanted younger children that they could raise as their own. The older they got the less desire adults had to adopt them.

The coppery taste on his tongue was new as he walked into the dining room. There was at least twenty maybe thirty other children sitting around a couple of long tables. Nerves racked his head, wondering where he should sit. He knew it shouldn't matter considering he really didn't think he'd be here long, all he needed was a way out so he could get to a floo station somewhere in diagon alley.

Before he could choose a seat in the dining room he saw the woman, Mary, walking towards him. The last thing he wanted was to be introduced to all of the children and teenagers in this place and looking timid was not good for somewhere like here.

Besides his survival skills telling him not to look as scared and he wanted to act, he didn't listen. He would show those pathetic excuses for bullies who really ruled there, even if he had to fight tooth and nail to succeed.

The kind lady, who had a bright smile on her tan face put her arm around his shoulder in an awkward hug. She loudly cleared her throat, causing Harry to almost loose his hearing.

"Everyone. This is Harry Potter, he is going to be staying with us for a while so I want you to all make him feel very welcome."

Many of the children either looked really excited or scared to have a new person in the house. The teenagers... just looked as threatening as they most likely were to be. Not threatening at all. Mary seemed to ignore all of those faces and directed him towards one of the tables with older boys sitting at it. The people who sat beside him moved closer in the other direction as if trying to stay clear from some nasty disease. Others looked at him with threatening faces, not that he would have a problem with them.

Harry didn't talk to any of them as he picked at the food that had been out on their trays. He didn't find it at all appetising, he would rather regurgitate at eat his own puke.

After half an hour of staring aimlessly at the slop, he finally snapped at the boys who were glaring daggers at him. "Would you stop. You're interrupting my thinking."

Some of the boys looked taken aback the others just mimicked what he said, one impartial. "Or what are you gonna do about it? Tout on me? Cause that won't work."

"I know at least thirty different ways to torture you. Make you wish that every living second you have makes you want to die." The quiet cruelness of his voice shocked himself and most definitely sent shivers down the necks of the group of teens.

Everyone else turned back to their food and Harry gave a quick nod of approval before turning back to his food.

——

He wasn't asked to stay to help do dishes, though that was probably because he was crippled. Instead Mary sent him up to his room for the night, he took it as the perfect time to look around.

The dark wood that lined almost all of the hallway, made them seem every darker than it was. Even though it was only seven O'clock, the darker nights were starting to set in even with it only being the start of October. His steps were noisy with the sounds of the crutches hitting the floor as he walked. There were a couple of nicknacks and cubbyholes around the hallways, he couldn't help but feel like it was more of a school than a children's home.

Harry walked around aimlessly. He had found his way through the corridor and back to his room, the highlight of his hop around the house? A library.

He had managed to find a library and had a quick browse of the tall shelves. He had managed to find quite a few books of interest. None that he would be able to take with him on his walk back to his room, it was already troubling enough that he had to use the muggle crutches.

Even though all of the muggle books that were of interest to him held no special meaning or morals to them they all sounded really interesting. Six of Crows was one of them. (A/n - I know SoC wasn't out then but I couldn't think of anything else).

Most of the books there looked aged, but he couldn't help but feel how much this library would have an effect on the Ravenclaw house. Even if they weren't magical books they wouldn't care, they were still books that could be read and appreciated.

He looked around his knee room once again. It was bare of any personal belongings apart from the bin bag of clothes that lay beside his dresser. The white walls, if you stared at them for too long you started to think you were crazy. Maybe he was. Considering he joined the dark lord, hell, they were even together.

And now he was stuck in a shitty room, with a shitty bed and a shitty broken leg that was taking far too long to heal.

~1060
——
A/n - I know it's short but I just came back from a week on holiday. And I'm rewatching Black Butler: The Book of Atlantic for the fourth time this year... so far.

Thank you everyone for your amazing comments in the last chapter they all mean the world to me!

...

I'm going back to watching Black Butler now. Bai!!

~SandefurdaSlytherin