Chapter 07

She did, about five minutes into her rant on how amazing her story was, Lisa noticed that Harry was not paying attention to her. She scowled for a moment, but seemed to decide not to try and claim his attention by doing something drastic, not only because it would get them kicked out but also because it was unlikely to work. Instead she huffed, and opened her book once more to begin reading.

Time wore on and Harry immersed himself within the history of the Roman Empire and it's tragic fall. Contrary to what Lisa may think, the book in his hand was not a history book, but a romanticized tale that nonetheless gave an accurate description on the fall of Rome. It was a rather intriguing story, combining accurate historical knowledge with vivid details and epic battles. Whoever wrote the book had obviously done their homework.

It was only after an hour or so had past that Harry was drawn away from his book by the feel of a weight settling on his left shoulder. He turned his head to see that Lisa had fallen asleep, her book having fallen from her hands into her lap, her head resting against his shoulder as she leaned into him.

Unbidden a very small smile, very tender smile came to his face. He would not tell anyone this, especially Lisa, but the girl truly was the only and best friend he'd ever had.

A part of this, he knew, was due to his feelings on the matter of friendship. By the time school started after the coming summer, it was very unlikely that he would see any of those people again. What was the point in befriending someone when you had no intention of keeping in touch? Another reason was simply because none of his acquaintances had anything to offer, Harry saw no benefit in befriending them, and thus, decided it would be best to keep them at arms length.

Of course, it wasn't like befriending Lisa carried any great benefits either. However, the girl had managed to worm her way into his heart by stint of sheer stubbornness. She had simply refused to let him continue on alone, and somehow, someway, had managed to endear herself to him.

Not that she would ever know that. Harry was sure that if Lisa found out about his thoughts, she would never let him live it down.

It was cold and dark. For as long as I had been living with these new people who called themselves the Dursleys, the place that I called home became cold and dark, small and cramped; a tiny broom cupboard underneath the stairs. In the four years that I had lived with them, they rarely ever let me leave this cold, dark and small place; only to eat, work and use the bathroom.

Darkness had become my companion and my nightmares of the night my parents left me forever haunts my sleep.

As I lay there, curled up into a tiny ball on a set of ratty old blankets, I wondered what I had done wrong. Why was I living like this? Here? In this dark place, with no light and no warmth? What happened to my parents? My mum? Was she alright? What did that man do to her?

The woman, Petunia she called herself, said that my parents were drunkards who'd died in a car crash, but I know she's wrong. I don't remember any car crash. But that still didn't explain what happened. My mum, why had she stopped moving? Where was my dad? Did he leave? Did he not love me anymore? Did they both leave?

And just as importantly, what happened to that man? The one with the white skin and dark eyes? The one who had hurt my mum? Was he still out there? What if he had my mum and she was waiting for me to rescue her?

I wished there was something, anything that I could do. I wish I could leave this place and go to my parents. I wished I had the power to leave this place. If only I had power.

If only…

XoX

It was about an hour after Lisa had fallen asleep on his shoulder that Harry decided it was time to wake the girl from her comfortable slumber.

He slowly closed the book, it was already half way finished. One of the benefits about having eidetic memory was that he only had to skim over the page and he would still remember everything in it with more clarity than someone who had read the same book twelve times. Placing the book off to the side, he shifted a bit so he could place a hand on Lisa's shoulders and gently shake her awake.

"Lisa," he called out softly, not only because they were in a library and the librarian would not appreciate loud noises, but also out of reflex. The human mind was a strange and wondrous thing, and one of the things he had discovered about it was the instinctive reactions people did when placed in certain scenarios. The perfect example being how someone would speak softly to a person they were trying to wake, despite it being a very contradictory action. "Lisa, time to wake up."

"Mmm…" Lisa mumbled and turned her head to bury her face further into Harry's shoulder. "Five more minutes, mum…"

Harry sighed; this girl really was quite difficult.

"First off," he started, his voice now a bit louder. "I am not your mum. Second, it's starting to get late, and I doubt your real mum would approve of you being out when it gets dark."

His words seemed to have an effect on the girl as she began to slowly stir. Lisa took her head off his shoulders and blinked tiredly at him. "Harry?" she asked, moving her hands up to rub her eyes. After a moment, she brought them back down and looked at him a bit more clearly, then she took a look around the library and blinked.

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