Ron woke up to the sounds of his best friend thrashing and moaning, in the bed next to his. Sunlight was falling on his face already, but his mother had not yet come to wake him and Harry. He got up and moved to Harry’s bed, unsure of what exactly to do.
Harry’s small body was twisted and tangled in a mess of sheets, half of his blankets were piled on the floor. Those still on Harry had actually knotted around his limbs. Ron put his hand on Harry’s shoulder, but this only made him struggle more, rather than comfort him. Ron tried to wake him by shaking his shoulder and calling his name. Harry did not wake but did settle in his sleep.
Ron began the difficult task of pulling Harry from the tangles and had finished by the time his mother entered the room. He quickly explained what had happened to her. “Alright, I’ll see to Harry. Get dressed and go down to breakfast.”
Mrs. Weasley gently roused Harry, who blinked happily up at her. She helped him dress for the day and upon his insistence, carried him down to the kitchen. Harry blissfully ate in silence while the others conversed on various subjects. Ginny’s new kitten was drinking milk from a saucer next to her, on the table.
After breakfast, Harry was wired with energy and already running circles around the table. With constant nagging, he persuaded the others to play Hide-and-Seek with him. They were in his and Ron’s room and after Harry announced he was not seeking, he ran off to hide.
“You know,” Ron began. “Harry’s a lot smaller than us. He can hide in places that we can’t get too.”
“It is a big house,” Ginny added.
“Right. So, why don’t all of us just look for him. It’ll take us forever to find him.” Hermione and Ginny agreed with Ron and after waiting five minutes, went to search the house.
Harry had run to the top floor and the master bedroom. He quickly spotted the closet and once inside, saw an old box full of clothing. The box was more than big enough to hide two of him, so after closing the closet door, Harry climbed into the box and wriggled to the bottom. He managed to cover himself completely in the various garments and stretched out across the bottom of the box. He bunched up one robe and put it under his head, like a pillow.
Harry had remained quite comfortable for the half hour before he heard somebody searching for him in the room. The adrenaline at the thought of being caught had kept him from being bored. He could hear the person rummaging through the room and felt really excited. He did get nervous when he heard the closet door open.
Ginny had already searched four rooms with no trace of Harry. She immediately noticed the large box of clothes when she opened the closet. Not wanting to have to stuff all the clothes back into the box, if she pulled them out, she merely reached inside and began to feel around.
Harry’s body became rigid as a hand reached the bottom of the box and began to grope, centimeters from his head. He dared not move as the person felt around in the box. The hand came close enough to touch his shorts, but as they were loose-fitting, it did not touch him. The hand withdrew and Harry heard the closet door close.
Ginny stomped from the room, hoping Hermione or Ron had had better luck. She had figured Harry to not be in the box, having expected him to jump, move or make some noise if she had come so close to finding him. That had always happened with her and her brothers. If anyone had come close to finding her, she would get jittery and either squeal or make a sudden movement. Furthermore, she figured to have felt enough of the box to have found Harry, were he there.
As the minutes ticked away, Harry became increasingly bored. The thrill of Ginny nearly finding him had worn off. Still, he managed to stay in his hiding spot for a very long time. Boredom was quickly becoming the least of his concerns though. Just as he figured he should sneak to a bathroom, he heard somebody else come in the room.
Again they looked through places in the room, finally coming to the closet. Again a hand delved into the box of close, coming so close to grasping Harry’s own hand. But again, the hand withdrew and its owner stomped from the room. Unknown to Harry, he had stayed hidden for over an hour and a half, and his friends were becoming frustrated. They were so bored that they decided to stop looking. They knew Harry would eventually become so bored, he would come looking for them. When he inevitably did, they would pretend they were looking for him in the room he found them in. Ron and Hermione took the chance to seclude themselves, leaving Ginny to read or play with her new cat.
Mrs. Weasley was furious with the three when she learned they had left Harry hidden. It was lunchtime, but she said none of them would eat until they found Harry. Reluctantly, they went through the rooms, calling for him.
Now extremely bored and desperately needing to relieve himself, Harry foolishly remained in the box. It had been so long since he heard somebody come in the room, but then he heard all three of his friends enter.
“Harry, are you in here,” Hermione called.
“It’s time for lunch, so come out,” Ron announced.
“Harry, mum wants you downstairs right now,” Ginny added.
Harry remained hidden. He was not going to fall for their tricks. They had to look for him, those were the rules. Even after they left, he foolishly decided to remain hidden, ignoring the need to go to the bathroom.
Harry was very surprised to hear somebody come back a few minutes later. “Harry,” Mrs. Weasley called. “If you are in here, you had better come out this instant!” Upset that his friends had cheated, Harry came out of the box and the closet.
Mrs. Weasley had her hands on her hips. “Go wash your hands and come down to lunch.” Harry walked out of the room, but as Mrs. Weasley began to follow him, he stopped in the hallway, when he felt the front of his pants getting warm and wet. “Oh Harry, not again.” Mrs. Weasley took his hand and led him back to his room, moving so quickly he had to jog in order to keep up.
Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry’s wet clothes off and grabbed one of the Pull-Ups. Harry did not mind as he had worn them during the day before and as far as he was concerned they were just underwear. He actually liked the designs on them better than those on his regular underwear.
“Where was he,” Ron asked as he, Ginny and Hermione entered the room.
“He was hiding in the closet in the master bedroom.”
“We looked there,” Ginny said. “What happened,” she added, looking at Harry for the first time.
“Harry had another accident. So he gets to wear these training pants, just in case. Alright, let’s go eat lunch.” The others quickly left the room, but Harry remained where he was. “What’s wrong Harry?”
“I need pants,” Harry replied simply.
“Oh, of course. What do you want to wear?” Harry hopped off the bed and started looking through his clothes, enjoying that he could pick. He grabbed a pair of pajama pants from a set of pajamas that Mrs. Granger had bought for him when he first went to stay with Hermione’s family.
He held them up to Mrs. Weasley. “These are pajamas Harry.” But he continued to hold them in front of her. She took them and held them for Harry to step into, then pulled his shirt off, and grabbed the matching pajama top. She slipped this over Harry’s head and guided his arms into the sleeves. The pajamas were designed to look like a sailor suit and had snaps where the shirt and pants met at his waist, which Mrs. Weasley snapped together and then carried Harry to lunch.
Harry was still eating when the others went upstairs. Technically, he was only picking at what was left of his food, having eaten his fill “If you’re done eating, you can go,” Mrs. Weasley finally said after a few minutes. Harry quickly got up and raced up the staircase.
His friends were all sitting in his room talking. Harry did not really pay attention to them until he had grabbed his favorite toys, then asked them to play. To be nice, Hermione and Ginny played with the toys, but continued to talk with Ron.
Ginny continued to play with Harry for the remainder of the evening, but Hermione and Ron decided they wanted a quieter place to keep talking. Harry had managed to get Ginny so involved in his intricate, imaginative, fantasy story that she did not notice the others leave. But, Harry had always needed a good imagination to keep from being bored at the Dursleys’. It was this imagination that often get him in trouble with his no-nonsense aunt and uncle.
Harry was hungry at dinner, but becoming noticeably cranky as he had not taken a nap that afternoon. He spent half the meal rubbing his itchy eyes and whining about them.
After dinner, Harry played on the floor of his room by himself. Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were quietly playing cards on Ron’s bed. Harry was making an array of noises and talking to himself. His youthful innocence was amusing and refreshing to the other four. No matter how many times he “killed” one of his action figures, it always got back into the fight. It was very different from the brooding teenager he had been over the past year.
Despite his energy while playing, Harry fell asleep, sprawled on the floor. A single toy figure was loosely gripped in his fingers. Not wanting to possibly deal with a cranky tantrum, Mrs. Weasley simply moved him to bed and moved the card game to a different room. Harry slept quietly, but not peacefully through the night.
Harry was mildly surprised to find himself in bed when Mrs. Weasley woke him the following morning. He ate breakfast and would have gone to his room, but Ginny took his hand and led him to hers.
“What are you doing,” Harry asked curiously.
“Do you want to play Go Fish?” Ginny wanted to play something where they could talk. She had grown concerned about how Harry was acting and wanted to try to help him. Harry agreed and Ginny grabbed the deck of cards.
She began to ask him questions about school and Quidditch, trying to find an interest from his older self. What he did know about did not interest Harry. He did not answer many of the questions, but did say he thought Quidditch was boring, but liked flying. Ginny found this surprising, but then remembered how boring a match could be to a child who did not understand the rules. The child would only be interested in the flying.
Harry quickly became bored with the game and wanted to get his toys. Ginny still wanted to talk and convinced him to draw instead. Harry did not want to talk while drawing however and all Ginny could do was get him to draw what he wanted to be when older.
Harry drew himself holding some kind of sword, facing a group of monsters, including dragons, trolls and what he said were vampires.
“I thought you wanted to be an Auror,” Ginny said slyly, trying to reach the Harry she knew.
“What’s that,” Harry asked before turning back to his drawings, not even listening for a response. He drew for another hour and Ginny began to read, giving up for the time being. Like before, Harry became bored and Ginny did not even notice him leave.
Harry walked back to his room and opened the door. He was halfway across the floor before he noticed anyone was there. Ron and Hermione had been in the room, sitting on Ron’s bed, but Ron had jumped to his feet when he heard Harry enter. Harry paid no attention and started rummaging through the toys.
“Harry, get out!”
“Why,” Harry asked curiously. Ron had sounded really angry and Harry did not know why.
“Just get out! We want to be alone.”
“I want to play,” Harry said defiantly.
“Fine!” Ron grabbed the bag of toys and started to carry it from the room.
“Ron, don’t …”
“I want to play in here!” Harry’s whining had been getting to Ron over the past few days. A mix of emotions came over him and he said the first thing he thought of. Even later he would not understand why.
“Stop whining, you little, pants-wetting, crybaby and get out!” Hermione gasped and Ron immediately wished he had not said those words.
Harry’s first reaction was to start crying. He wanted to run and find Mrs. Weasley; to tell on Ron. But a powerful anger was building inside of him. It came from so deep inside that it did not seem to be his own. Harry grabbed the biggest toy in the bag and heaved it at Ron. Though he was only a few feet away, Ron managed to dodge Harry’s wild throw. The toy tumbled through the air and into, then through a window. The crash sounded throughout the entire house.
The three froze for a moment, but then Harry began to cry, knowing he would be in trouble for breaking the window. Mrs. Weasley rushed into the room and surveyed what had happened. “What happened in here?”
“Harry threw a toy at me, but it hit the window instead,” Ron replied quickly.
“H-he called me a b-baby and y-yelled at me,” Harry said sniffling.
“Hermione, take Harry somewhere and play. I need to talk to Ron first.” Hermione took Harry from the room, closing the door behind her. “Why do you keep teasing and provoking him?” Ron merely shrugged his shoulders. “You know he’s not himself and having a tough time!”
“Oh yeah, he’s having a really hard time.” Normally, Mrs. Weasley did not tolerate her children speaking to her sarcastically, but she let it pass this time because they had all been under stress lately. “The little brat gets whatever he wants! All he has to do is start crying and everyone does what he asks.”
Mrs. Weasley stared questionably at her son. “You’re jealous of him.”
“No,” Ron shouted defensively. “Why would I be jealous of a punishment that turns you into a child?”
“I can’t believe you are jealous of Harry. The poor boy’s been neglected and deprived his whole life. All I am trying to do is give him what he’s never had; the attention and love he craves and possibly needs to get through this. You’ve had that all your life.” Ron was looking glumly at the floor. “You can stay in here and think for a while. Honestly, right now, he really is just a child.”
Mrs. Weasley left Ron sitting on his bed and went to find Harry and Hermione. She climbed the staircase to the next floor and heard loud laughing and giggling coming from the girls’ bedroom. Through the open door, she saw Ginny and Hermione maliciously tickling Harry. They were all laughing, but none more than Harry, who was clearly enjoying the attention.
Harry saw Mrs. Weasley and squirmed free of Hermione and Ginny and rushed to her. She picked him up and walked over to sit beside the girls. Harry remained on Mrs. Weasley’s lap as Ginny continued to show Hermione, and now her mother, the drawings that Harry had made earlier. They were complimenting and praising him for each one.
He managed to fall asleep while being held and did not wake until dinner. Even then, he had to be woken by Ginny. Still groggy, he made her carry him downstairs, nearly falling asleep again.
Dinner was a noisy affair and even Ron was nicer to Harry. This might have had something to do with the threat his mother made when she told him dinner was ready. “If you’re not going to be nice, you can just stay in here and skip dinner tonight!”
The conversation shifted to the new school year after a while. The big question was who their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would be. Ginny, still attempting to change Harry back, asked him who he thought it would be. Harry only gave a confused shrug and went back to eating.
After playing for a few more hours, Harry was called to take his bath, as usual. Full of energy, he tried to prolong the little time he had before being put to bed. Mrs. Weasley had to struggle the whole time getting Harry to the bathroom and while undressing him.. She made the mistake of letting him go when she turned to adjust the water and Harry took the chance. He ran from the bathroom, completely naked.
“Harry! Oh, get back here,” Mrs. Weasley called after him. She sighed, grabbed his bath towel and began a familiar chase. She planned to let him have some fun before catching him, knowing he would be more docile when she finally got him in the bathtub if he was tired.
Harry ran into the hallway, where his friends happened to be, giggling. Hermione jumped against the wall, slightly shocked and called after him, but she could not help laughing. Ron hurriedly looked away, turning red, slightly embarrassed for his friend. Ginny, though starting to laugh, made a grab for Harry as he streaked past, but missed, stumbled forward and fell flat on her face. Mrs. Weasley had to jump over Ginny as she chased Harry, who was already scrambling up the staircase.
Harry darted into a bedroom and was at the opposite wall before realizing he was trapped. Mrs. Weasley rushed into the room and closed the door. She moved across the room slowly, ready for Harry to try and get past her. She was halfway across the room before he sprang forward. She lunged, but missed, nearly falling as he skirted past. Harry reached the door and grabbed the handle, but Mrs. Weasley grabbed him before he could even turn the doorknob.
“Alright, you had your fun,” she said laughingly. “But now it’s time for your bath.” She quickly wrapped the towel around him and picked him up. She could not help but remember the last time one of her own children had tried to do the same thing. She was amazed that Harry had caught her by surprise so easily, when by the time Ron had tried, she was so practiced that he never made it out of the bathroom. Indeed the twins had given her a lot of practice at chasing children; ever since the day they learned to walk, but now, she had to admit, she was out of practice, it had just been too long.
His bath finally over, the floor and Mrs. Weasley splattered with soapy water, Harry was dressed and laid in bed. Harry remained in bed as Mrs. Weasley left to clean the bathroom and herself. But Harry could not close his eyes, though he did try to be good and go to sleep.
Over half an hour later he was still awake, unable to sleep for an unknown reason. He got out of bed and left the dark room. Not knowing where anyone was, he decided to go to Mrs. Weasley’s room. She was there and reading a book, but looked up when Harry entered. “What’s the matter Harry?”
“I can’t sleep.”
Mrs. Weasley got up from her chair. “You’re not tired?” Harry nodded. “Well, Tonks said you like being read to. Do you want a bedtime story?” Harry nodded again. “Alright, go back to bed and I’ll be in shortly.”
Harry was back in bed when Mrs. Weasley came into his room. She was holding a storybook she had found on a bookshelf and carrying a glass of milk. “Here Harry, drink this and I’ll read to you.” She sat next to Harry as he greedily drank the warm milk, dribbling some down his chin, which unknown to him, had a drop or two of a mild sleeping potion.
Mrs. Weasley sat the empty glass aside and began to read. Harry snuggled close to her, listening to her soothing voice. It was not long before he rolled to his side, his eyes closed. Mrs. Weasley read a few minutes longer and quietly left the room. Harry’s dreams were peaceful for the first night in months.