Fix You

The next month passed by in a complete blur. His uncle continued to beat him every chance he got and his aunt had grown so used to his behavior that she didn't even bother to scream at him anymore. Even stranger than that, Dudley and him had come to a sort of truce over the past few weeks.

Harry had been standing behind the Dursley's tool shed smoking a joint when Dudley had stumbled upon him. He had been prepared to pull out his wand and threaten the life out of him until he had noticed the lit cigarette in the other boy's hand.

They would now stand behind the shed and smoke together during the day. They never really discussed the magical world or what went on inside their home. Don't ask questions. It was a sort of unspoken rule in the household. That's why Harry had been surprised one day when Dudley had begun questioning him.

"So why haven't the frea-your people come to get you yet?" He'd asked uncomfortably. He raised an eyebrow at his cousin's question. He had caught onto the fact that Dudley had almost called them freaks, but he had also caught onto the fact that he had stopped himself from doing so.

"Because I told them I wanted to stay here." He shrugged, sucking on the end of the blunt they had rolled together.

Harry passed the blunt over to Dudley. "Why the hell would you do that?" He looked at him as if he had two heads. Smoke escaped his lips as he began to talk again. "I mean damn. I would want to get as far away from here as possible if I were you. They've always treated you like shit and I admit that I was a part of that, but it's different now. You really aren't that bad, you know?"

He just shrugged, completely uncomfortable with the conversation by now. He had never talked about the abuse with anyone. He wasn't about to start now. It just brought back painful memories. Dudley must have sensed this because he quickly changed the subject. "Sooo…is that guy who drives that shitty red car your boyfriend?"

Harry had chosen that moment to take a huge hit. His eyes widened and he promptly began coughing all over the place. What did he know? Who had told him, if anyone? He had no idea how the other boy could have even found out that he was gay. Also, when had he seen Andy drop him off?

"I-what- how do you know-that's-what the fuck-I mean-" He sputtered, unable to lace together a coherent sentence.

To his irritation, Dudley just began laughing. "It was just a guess. And an accurate one at that." He said.

Harry lit a cigarette before beginning to speak again "He's not my boyfriend, but I am gay." He said. He took a drag from his cigarette, averting his eyes from his cousin. This was the first person aside from his new friends that he had told he was gay. It probably wasn't going to end well.

"Well no shit."

He was taken aback at his cousin's answer. Not only did he seem okay with the idea, he seemed to have already known somehow. "How did you...?"

"It's really obvious, just look at yourself."

He had demanded to know how he looked gay, but Dudley had refused to say anymore. He hated to admit it, but he might just miss his cousin a little bit when he left. He was skeptical to go back to the Wizarding World anyways. He had a feeling he had pissed everybody off by staying here for the summer. He hadn't received a single letter in three weeks.

Ron hadn't been stupid enough to believe his lame excuse about focusing on his studies for a second. He had told him he was a liar and that he hardly knew him anymore. He had also accused him of "having a girl". Harry had laughed his ass off at that one. Some of it had to do with the pot he had smoked earlier that day, but it was the irony of the statement that had killed him.

He had received one letter from Hermione since it had been announced that he wasn't going to the Burrow for the summer. It was a howler, actually. She had shrieked at him that there was no way he was focusing on his studies because he was Harry Potter and had demanded to know whatever the hell he was doing at the Dursley's. He hadn't heard from her or anyone else since.

He was still partying nearly every night and sleeping all day. When he wasn't sleeping or partying, he spent the majority of his time in a drugged out daze. The rare occasions when the group went to the cinema or to a concert were the only exceptions of this.

He was becoming more sexually confident as time passed by and he'd had oral sex with three other guys since the night with that Evan guy. One of them had wanted more, but he wasn't ready to go there. He still had his sense of morals and he wanted his first time to be something special, not a drunken fuck in a public bathroom.

Before he knew it, it was July 30th, the day before his sixteenth birthday. The whole group was throwing a huge party that night, followed by a night out at the club on his actual birthday. He had already packed his overnight bag and he didn't give a damn about the punishment he would receive when he returned home. It would be totally worth it.

Not only was this a birthday party, it was also his going away party. Dumbledore had sent him a letter last week to tell him that Sirius wanted him to spend the first two weeks of August with him before he had to go stay with Snape. He was reluctant to leave his friends, but he hadn't seen Sirius since January and he missed his Godfather dearly. Somebody would be by to collect him on the first of August. He had been partying his ass off ever since the news had been delivered.

At half past seven that night, he headed down the stairs with his bag slung over his shoulder. He wondered what his aunt and uncle were going to say. Over the past month, he had not bothered to come home many times, but he had never actually informed them that he was going to spend the night somewhere.

He walked into the kitchen to find his aunt cooking as usual. "I'm leaving. I'll be back the day after tomorrow. That's when someone is coming to get me." His aunt didn't even acknowledge that she'd heard him as she stirred the chili cooking on the stove.

"Going there to celebrate your birthday, I assume."

He dropped his jaw a little at her words. He hadn't even known that she knew when his birthday was. They never acknowledged his birthday and he had known completely used to this fact. "You know when my birthday is?" He asked.

She turned away from the stove to stare down at him, a strange expression on her face. "Yes. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you hate me." He blurted out. It had just slipped out of his mouth without thinking, but he didn't regret it. She had hated him for fifteen years. They all had. If it were up to them, he wouldn't even be alive right now. He wasn't stupid.

He suddenly found himself slammed against the counter and pinned down. "Is that what you think?" She hissed. "That's why I took you in, gave you clothes to wear, and fed you. That's why I tried to keep you away from that nonsense for ten years. So you didn't end up like your parents. I hated my sister. I hated her for what she was. I hated her for marrying that awful boy. I hated her for these things, but most of all I hated her for leaving and going to that school. I loved your mother you insolent boy. We grew up together, the best of friends. I feel the same about you as I did her. I hate the lifestyle you both chose, but family is family. You will learn that one day."

With that, she turned and stormed out of the room without another word. Harry stood very still, processing everything she had just said to him. She loved him, but she still treated him like this. She still allowed her husband to beat him every chance he got. She had starved him and locked him in his room for years. He wished she hated him.

He grabbed his bag and bolted out the front door, ignoring his uncles yelling. He ran until he was out of sight from the house. He stopped and pulled the tiny bit of cocaine he had left out of his pocket, snorting it all in his open palm. He tossed the empty bag to the ground and lit a cigarette.

Walking the thirteen blocks to Andy's house, he was able to calm down completely by the time he arrived. He actually had a pretty good high going and it wasn't even party time yet.

When he walked in, he only spotted Andy standing in the living room. He was glad for this as he couldn't stand to be around anybody else just yet. "Hey" He said lamely, flopping down on the couch. Andy frowned and came over to sit next to him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

He sighed deeply, not really sure if he wanted to talk about it. "My family." He mumbled before launching into the story about what had happened. He left out some of the details, as Andy didn't know he was a Wizard. It made the story pretty hard to follow when he did so. He was considering just telling his best friend who he was and where he came from.

"I don't really understand-" Andy began, but he cut him off by holding up his hand.

"There is...there's something I need to tell you. When I do...you can't freak out...you can't tell anybody...and you can't accuse me of lying." He said. Andy was looking at him curiously, but nodded his head in response. "I'm not going back to boarding school early. Actually, I'm not going back to boarding school at all. I'm going back to Hogwarts which is...a school of magic. You see, I'm a wizard." He finished and looked up.

As expected, Andy was staring at him as if he were crazy. "Prove it." He challenged. Harry sighed and stood up. He knew that the other man was going to ask that and he was going to seem like a liar if he couldn't do so.

"I can't." He said. Andy raised an eyebrow and smirked, thinking the whole thing was a joke. "I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school until I turn seventeen. Only in the case of an emergency is it permitted. I have something that might prove it, though." He dug around in his pockets and pulled out his invisibility cloak.

Andy looked as if he might laugh at him any moment. He pulled it over his entire body, leaving only his head visible. He laughed out loud as Andy's expression turned into shock and he dropped the cigarette he had been holding onto the couch cushions. He had a lot of explaining to do.

An hour later, he had finished telling Andy all about the magical world and people were staring to arrive for the party. Most of them brought gifts with them, even though he had told them not to. Despite this fact, he was itching to open them and he did so as soon as the last people arrived.

Matt had gotten him a huge bag of weed along with an unbreakable glass bong of his own.

Hanna got him two pairs of tight, ripped up, skinny jeans and a Jersey Shore shirt,

Amber got him a few pairs of underwear with dirty sayings on them, a stack of gay porn magazines, and a purple V-neck shirt that said "Nice Guys Finish First".

Megan got him a huge framed picture of the entire group, a pair of leather boots, and a lip ring as they were planning on piercing his lip that night.

Chad had presented him with a duffel bag full of his favorite kinds of alcohol. He had spotted Nikolai, Uv Blue, and Bacardi 151 just on the top layer.

Britney gave him a carton of cigarettes and a really cool lighter.

Faith got him Buddhist prayer beads and an oil burner with different scents of oil.

James got him a shot glass and a cup that said "I'm so gay I can't even drink straight" and a zebra print V-neck.

Heather got him a Bob Marley poster that had a huge pot leaf on it

Brian got him a huge bag of cocaine, which he slipped to him in secret.

All that was left was Andy's present, which he promised would come later. He grumbled in response to this. Harry then went around and thanked everybody for their gifts. He packed them into a huge bag and set the bag in Andy's room, out of the way of the party.

It was fifteen minutes to midnight and the party was in full swing. Harry had been drunk for hours at this point and was currently locked in the bathroom with Megan, Hanna, and Faith.

They were seconds away from piercing his lip, which probably wasn't a good idea considering how trashed they all were. "Okay, ready?" Faith asked. She was a professional piercer and had volunteered to do it. He nodded and she began counting. "One, two, three." On three, she shoved the needle through the inside of his lip. He winced in pain as he felt it come out through the other side. She took the needle out and quickly slipped the hoop into his lip. He felt her twisting the ends on and wiping the blood from his face.

Scared of what he would see, he didn't bother to look in the mirror as they returned to the party. He headed over to the beer pong table where Andy currently was. "Look at my lip." He slurred as Andy turned to look at it. He examined it for a moment before smirking.

"Don't go having oral for a while unless you want that thing to fall off." He said.

Harry smiled and made a waving gesture with his hand. He was about to join the game of beer pong when everybody began counting down. "10, 9, 8," He realized that they were counting down until his birthday. "7, 6" Everybody began to gather around him. "5, 4, 3." A shot glass was shoved in his hand. "2, 1" He downed the shot as everybody began to drunkenly sing happy birthday to him.

When it was over, Andy grabbed his hand and led him into his bedroom. He saw two wrapped presents sitting on the bed and wondered if they were for him. Andy shut the door behind them and gestured at him to open his presents.

The first one he picked up was extremely heavy and he almost dropped it in his drunken state. It took a minute, but he finally unwrapped it, gasping at what was inside. It was a silver laptop, a really expensive looking one at that. He looked back up at the other man. "So we can still talk while you're off in your own little world." He said. Harry smiled broadly and began thanking him repeatedly.

Andy dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Open your other one now." He said. Harry excitedly ripped the paper off of the second tiny package. Something fell out and hit the floor with a clank. He looked down and was surprised to find that it was a medium sized gold key. It was attached to a key chain with a peace sign on it.

"What's this for?" He asked. He picked the key up and began examining it closely. Nobody had ever given him a key to anything before.

"Megan, Chad, and I felt as if you should have it. It's a key to the house. We want you to know that you're always welcome here, no matter what happens in your life." Andy said.

Harry felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes as he continued to stare at the little key. It meant more to him than words could say. Nobody had ever given him a key to their home before. Nobody had ever accepted him into their life like this. Nobody had ever cared enough. These people had become his family over the past few months. They were there for him when no one else was. They accepted him for who he was. They had never judged him, nor attempted to change him. He couldn't go to anybody else for his problems and nobody else understood him.

He suddenly hated being a Wizard. He had always been different and for the first time in his entire life he was normal. That was all about to go away in less than forty eight hours. In less than forty eight hours he would be back in the Wizarding World. Where he was a hero and everybody knew everything about him. Where people felt sorry for him because of his parents and everybody expected him to save the world. This was the one place where he got away from that and it was about to be taken away from him.

He pulled Andy into a huge hug, promising himself he would not cry. Andy hugged him back with much force. "We'll always be best friends, promise." He said in an attempt to comfort him. He pulled away and got control of himself. "Come on." He said, pulling Andy up from the bed. "Let's go party."