“Ready to go Harry?” Cathy asked Harry one day. She had just gotten off work and arrived at her parent’s house to take Harry home for the evening. Several weeks had passed since he had started school. Everything was going well as could be. Harry hadn’t made any good friends but he was at least talking to some of the kids. He was finally opening up somewhat and that was slow but good progress.

“I just need to grab my homework from the table and we can go.” Harry got up from the couch and grabbed his stuff from the table. Catherine said goodbye to her parents and the two left.

Her parents had been lifesavers these last weeks. Since neither worked anymore, they were almost always home and available to care for Harry after school while she worked. Her father was a great influence in the eight-year-olds life. Harry just adored the man and loved hearing stories and learning things from him. Nick was definitely a positive influence for Harry because it showed him that not every intimidating man in his life will treat him as horribly as Vernon.

During their evenings, Cathy and Harry would sit together and talk. Harry never said much more on the topic of those people he had lived with. But she figured there wasn’t much else to say about them since she already knew that he was forced to cook, clean and cater to their every demand.

“So how was school today?” Catherine asked, coming back to the present.

“Good,” the dark-haired child replied. “I got my spelling test back.”

“Oh? And how did you do?”

“I only missed one,” he admitted.

Cathy smiled proudly. “That’s great! You did wonderfully!”

Harry blushed at the praise. He still hadn’t gotten used to receiving praise from someone.

“You want to hang it on the refrigerator?” she asked as she pulled into their driveway.

“Really?” Harry’s eyes lit up. He’d never been able to hang his stuff on the fridge. That was always reserved for Dudley in the past.

“Sure! My mum used to put all kinds of my assignments and art projects on it. I think it’s about time we added something of yours.” Cathy unlocked the front door and they entered the house. A few minutes later, Harry’s spelling paper along with a small well done sticker was hanging on the fridge much to joy of Harry.

The rest of September flew by and October arrived. With it came chilly windy days filled with falling leaves. One day after school, Harry was walking when someone shoved him from behind. He lost his balance and fell, but managed to use his hands to slow the impact. He looked behind him and saw one of the bigger kids from his class.

“Stupid teachers pet,” the boy, Steven, snarled before stalking off. Did others really think he was a teacher’s pet just because he worked hard? He made sure to study and work hard since Cathy was always proud after he received tests back with good scores. Oh well, he was used to not having friends so not a major loss here. At least he was able to talk with others since Dudley wasn’t around to scare them off.

Harry slowly got to his feet and looked at his hands. He had scraped them when he fell and they were now aching and bleeding slightly. He ignored it though, since it was nothing compared to what he used to feel. A few minutes later, he arrived and entered the house. He took off his shoes and went into the kitchen, where Nicholas and Eleanor were sitting.

“Would you like a snack Harry?” Ellie asked as she sipped her beverage.

“Yes please,” he replied as he sat down at the dining table. She returned with some crackers and some juice. Harry reached for a cracker and paused when Eleanor gasped.

“What happened to your hands?” she asked worriedly while inspecting them.

“Um, well some kid pushed me on my way here,” he murmured, embarrassed. “It’s fine though,” he stated adamantly, pulling his hand back. To him, it didn’t matter since he was used to being bullied by others. Dudley and his friends always tormented him and no one cared so why should they now? It was just scraped hands anyways.

“Let me clean it up or it could get infected,” Ellie insisted and Harry grudgingly allowed her to clean it up. Since it mattered to Eleanor, he decided to just go ahead and let her do as she pleased.

After Harry finished his homework that evening, he joined Nick on the couch to watch TV. He noticed Nick’s pensive mood and decided to ask what was wrong.

“Did something happen?” Harry asked concerned for the man that he had begun to care for and trust.

Nick turned his attention to the young lad sitting next to him. “Harry, my daughter has informed me that you were abused,” the boy noticeably flinched, “in the past. I know this was just some school boy incident earlier today but I want you to stand up for yourself. If this kid comes after you again tomorrow, I don’t want you to let him bully you around. Now, I am not condoning fighting but I just want you to stand up for yourself and don’t let him walk all over you. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“Yes sir,” Harry replied. He did get it but he wasn’t allowed to defend himself from his cousin in the past unless he wanted to face his uncle. Then again, this wasn’t life with the Dursleys, so maybe he should try standing up for himself?

“Having said that, would you like me to show you something you can do next time this kid -or any others for that matter- come after you?” Harry nodded eagerly. “Come on then.”

Nicholas led them both to the garage, where some exercise equipment was along with some soft mats that he placed on the floor. “We’re going to practice on these in case you fall. First thing, you should learn is to move out of the way of incoming blows. So just duck, step aside or whatever suits you to avoid me. Ready?”

Harry nodded nervously. He was pretty sure he could do this. But when Nick’s fist came slowly towards him, he froze. His eyes widened briefly before shutting closed as he prepared himself for the hit. It never came.

He slowly opened his eyes and met the sad gaze of the man he had begun to think of as his grandfather. Harry’s face burned with shame. Nick was here just trying to help him defend himself but instead of ducking, he just froze.

“Harry,” Nick began. “I won’t ever raise my hand against you as punishment or when I’m angry. I am just trying to help you defend yourself. Can you see the difference between the two?”

Harry nodded. “I’m sorry. I’d like to try again, if you still want to help me.” His gaze turned to his shoes. A hand gently pushed up his chin and he stared into the same blue eyes that Catherine had.

“I will always be here to help you. All you need to do is ask,” he assured the boy. “This time, I will move slower so you’ll have plenty of time to move. Do not be afraid, you can do this.”

This time when Nick’s arm moved towards him slowly, Harry stepped to the side to avoid the blow.

“Good!” Nicholas praised. Harry practiced this several times, with Nick moving his hand a little quicker each time. Harry continued to step out of the way of each incoming fist. Once he got the hang of that, Nick moved on and demonstrated how he could easily trip someone. It was fairly easy to do and Harry was able to get the hang of it quickly.

“I don’t want you to go starting any fights or purposely tripping anyone when you feel like it. If someone starts a fight with you, you should either get help from an adult or run away, especially if it is an older student who is larger than you. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir,” Harry replied surely. He’d never be like his cousin who purposely pushed, tripped and beat up other kids.

“Okay then.” Nick smiled.

It was a chilly November morning when Harry woke up, feeling a bit unwell. His throat was scratchy, his nose stuffy, and he felt too hot under his bed covers. He slowly got out of bed and went through his usual routine of getting ready before school. He peeked outside and saw it was raining lightly. He smiled, despite feeling unwell, because he simply loved the rainy weather. When he arrived at the table for breakfast, his stomach churned at the sight of food.

Cathy had just poured herself a glass of milk when she noticed Harry. His face looked slightly green as he stared at all the food on the table.

“Are you feeling alright Harry? You look a little green in the face,” she paused and looked a little closer. “Huh. Your hair almost looks green too.” She rubbed her eyes for a moment and refocused her gaze on Harry. His face still had a greenish tint to it but his hair looked black as ever.

“That’s weird. I could have sworn your hair looked greenish for a moment. Must have been the lights,” she muttered.

Harry gave a quiet sigh of relief. He hadn’t meant for his hair to do that but the sight of food sickened him and it just happened.

“Are you feeling alright?” Catherine placed her hand on his forehead. “You’re burning up.”

“I didn’t feel very good when I woke up but I’m fine. I’ll be okay,” he assured her, but it didn’t help much.

“You should have told me that you’re not feeling well. I’m not going to force you to attend school if you are feeling this way. Go back upstairs and change into your pajamas and cover up in bed.” The strawberry-haired woman instructed.

After Harry went back upstairs, she made a quick call to her parents. Her mother was already on her way to visit a good friend so only her father was home. He agreed to come over and take care of Harry while she had to work. She desperately wanted to stay here herself but it wasn’t possible since she was incredibly busy today.

She went back upstairs to check on Harry and found him reading a book while sitting in his bed. He was back in his pajamas but the covers were not tucked around him. She pulled the blanket up to cover him but he kicked the blankets away.

“It’s too hot,” Harry grumbled.

“You probably have a fever so you need to stay warm. I have to work today so my father will come over to take care of you. I’ll be right back with the thermometer to take your temperature.”

After the thermometer beeped, she removed it from his mouth and checked the reading. “You do have a fever so you’d better stay covered up, young man,” she said firmly to the young green-eyed boy who gave her an innocent smile. Those vibrant eyes caused her stern resolve to break as she smiled at him. “I am serious though Harry. You need to stay covered up in order to help get better.” A callout from below alerted the two that Nicholas had arrived. Cathy shouted for her dad to come upstairs and after a moment, the man arrived upstairs.

“Hey Harry,” Nick greeted. “I hear you are not feeling too well.” Harry nodded. “I brought over a couple of movies and some books for you to read. You need to take it easy today so you can get better.”

“Yes sir,” Harry replied, staring down at his hands. Being sick was not fun if he was forced to stay in bed all day, but at least Nick was here. And he brought books and movies! Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all?

“I’m already running a bit late. Listen to my father and behave yourself,” Catherine instructed before she left to work.

“Do I have to stay in bed? I’m not tired,” Harry insisted.

The older man pondered it for a moment. The boy didn’t look too sleepily but chances were that if they put a movie on, he’d be out like a light in a heartbeat. “Alright then,” he acquiesced. “Bring your blanket and curl up on the couch while I grab the movies.”

Harry smiled happily and did as he was told. Nick showed Harry the movies and together they chose one to pop in the VCR.

“Do you need anything? Water?” the older man asked as the watched the beginning previews.

“Water please,” Harry requested. He was a bit parched.

Sure enough, Harry managed to fall asleep in the middle of the movie. Nick turned it off and made sure the young boy was properly covered up. He then took out his book and began reading.

Some time later, Harry woke. Nicholas was reading his book and looked up when he saw movement from Harry. He bookmarked his page and set the book down.

“How are you feeling?” the retired military man asked.

“Okay,” Harry croaked out through his dry throat. He gratefully accepted the glass of water that Nicholas handed him. “Thanks,” he said after sipping the cool water.

Harry was still feeling a little groggy so he relaxed back on the sofa and stayed there quietly. Several minutes later, he asked the question that he’d wanted to ask for some time now.

“When I first met you,” Harry began cautiously. “You said I could call you Nick or g-grandfather,” he stumbled. He bit his lip nervously and carried on when Nick nodded encouragingly. “Did you really mean it? Can I call you that?” he whispered, fearful of rejection.

“I would be honored if you would call me that,” Nicholas said sincerely. Harry smiled brightly, feeling extremely relieved that he hadn’t been rejected.

“May I ask why you have not called Catherine by such a title?” the older man asked carefully. The boy had been in this family now for several months and had yet to call any of them by something other than their first names. They didn’t want to push him though.

Harry looked away from his grandfather’s gaze. “I wasn’t sure I was ready,” Harry admitted. “Would my real mum want me to call someone else my mother?” Harry turned his conflicting gaze to the caring one of Nick.

“I am certain that your mother would want her child to be cared for and loved by good people. She wouldn’t mind if you called someone else mum,” he stated with conviction.

Harry gave him a tentative nod. He’d been here for a while now and felt comfortable enough around these three people. They didn’t seem to have any intentions of sending him away, which was still one of his major worries. He figured that it was about time that he called them by something other than their first names.

Nicholas smiled when his grandson nodded. If he knew his daughter right, she would probably get all teary eyed after the first time he called her mum. The young boy sitting before him opened his mouth to say something but instead sneezed. The sound of something breaking came from his left and he jumped up. The water glass on the table had shattered. Nicholas looked around, trying to see if anything was out of the ordinary. Glasses didn’t just shatter on their own. Finding nothing, he handed Harry some tissues and then picked up the broken pieces. If he wasn’t so puzzled over this latest mystery, he might have noticed the frown marring his grandson’s face.

After blowing his nose, Harry stared intently at the glass that his grandfather was picking up. It broke after he sneezed. Perhaps it was one of those freakish things he did? He’d better be careful or else his new family would find out. Surely they’d send him away after finding this horrible secret and he just couldn’t let that happen so he’d have to be especially careful.

Catherine came home tired that evening. When she entered the kitchen, she could see her father cooking some soup up for dinner.

“Hey dad,” she greeted as she shrugged off her coat. “How is Harry doing?”

“He is doing better. I believe his fever has broken but he is still congested. He ate a little earlier but hasn’t felt like eating much else. I made enough soup for us all to have tonight.”

“That’s good. Did he behave for you?”

“He did. Everything went well today,” Nicholas said before pausing. “There was something strange though. Several odd incidents happened. We were out in the living room earlier this afternoon and one of your glasses that was on the table broke.”

“How is that odd?” Catherine asked, feeling confused.

“Because it just shattered. We were talking and it just broke. Just like that.”

“That’s certainly strange. Anything else happen?”

“A picture fell, although it might not have been hung up properly, and I could have sworn the lights flickered several times.”

“Hmm, that is strange. That reminds me. Just this morning, I could have sworn Harry’s hair was a dark shade of green but at the time, I thought I was seeing things. Maybe these events are connected?” Catherine surmised.

“Perhaps,” her father concluded.

After a few Harry felt well enough to go back to school. He tried to be as careful as possible not to cause any more odd incidents but he was pretty sure that his grandfather noticed something was up. How else could you explain glasses breaking, pictures falling and lights flickering every time the sick boy sneezed?

It was only a couple days after he was well again when he called Catherine mum. It had just slipped out when he had thanked her for something and both of them stood there shocked. Harry, thinking the worst over the silence, was about to turn away when she wrapped him a tight hug. It wasn’t long before Cathy had gotten all teary eyed.

After seeing the happiness on her face, he made a point to call her mum as much as possible. Harry lived to please her so he often tried to do everything possible to keep her happy.

It wasn’t long before the month of November flew by and Christmas approached. Harry was a little apprehensive about the holiday since he didn’t know what to expect. He used the money that Cathy gave him as allowance to buy her something sweet for Christmas. His grandfather had offered to take him shopping and while they were out and about, Harry found a beautiful golden necklace with a heart shaped pendant on it. On the cover of the ornament, it had a beautiful tiny lily flower engraved on it. For a reason that Harry couldn’t explain, he felt drawn to the item and had to get it for his new mum. It cost more than he had but Nick had no problem pitching in.

Since Harry used his allowance money on Cathy’s present, he didn’t have any left to buy anything for his grandparents. He ended up painting each of them a special picture on the nice canvases that Cathy had given him a while ago. For his grandmother, he painted a beautiful garden scene with the flowers in full bloom. She loved taking care of her garden and often Harry would assist her after school.

For Nick, he decided to paint a military picture. Using a book he borrowed from Nick, he painted a copy of the US Marine Core eagle, globe and anchor logo. In the background, he added the American Flag, since it was the American military after all.

When Christmas day arrived, both his grandparents had adored the paintings. He spent a long time on each of them and was pleased when they enjoyed his eight-year-old artistic creations. Harry was a little nervous about giving Cathy her gift because he wasn’t so sure she really liked jewelry. He hadn’t seen her wearing much more than earrings, a ring or two and once and a while a necklace. When she opened the gift, she just loved it and gave him a big hug before putting the necklace on.

Harry felt incredibly spoiled when he saw the mountain of presents, all with his name on them. The three older McKinney’s had spoiled him rotten by buying all these things. He received more paints, a couple of board games, and many different toys that he would surely enjoy playing with.

After gifts were exchanged, the family of four had a big feast that night together. The two women spent the morning cooking up quite the feast and after they finished eating, they sat together on the couch to watch television. It didn’t take long before the youngest McKinney had fallen fast asleep next to the people he now called family.

After Christmas, the days were filled with fun for little Harry. With no school, he was able to play with all his new toys and board games. It turned out that Cathy was quite the competitive player when they pulled out the games. On New Years Eve, the four go together and stayed up until Midnight playing board games and snacking on food. Finally, the clock struck twelve. Harry smiled as he sat contently with his family and hoped that this was the start to a great year.