Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Harry Potter and it's purely for fanfic.

Summary - An accident caused Harry to meet something ancient and powerful sealed inside him. There were 3 souls sharing his body. His. Riddle's. And a Dragon's. Harry gets much needed guidance and companionship enough to change the world to its core.

~o~

Cataclysm of my Heart

~o~

Sitting on a swing, located in a park not far from #4 Privet Drive, was a kid of 10 years old with unkempt black hair wearing round glasses. He was only allowed outside for a few times of the week. The reason for that would be because there'd be no more chores to be done inside the foster home. This was one such time, and he always fully took advantage of it. He finished up on all his supposed responsibilities just after lunch, and the moment his Aunt didn't need him for anything more, he just took off from the house. Planning to get back in a couple of hours just before dinner. This was his routine. And to him it was norm.

The swing was situated in a clearing. It would be an impossible task for someone to approach the kid without giving him enough time to flee. If needed. Just the perfect location, since the child was consistently the target of attention from his cousin Dudley's pranks and jeers. He didn't want or need any of that. And given that he could run faster than any of the gang members could, he'd be gone faster than they could approach him on the swing. Given that he sees them of course.

None of it really mattered, if they just approached and sneaked at him from the back. However, those buffoons wouldn't realize that anytime sooner than they figured out how to tie their laces without asking for their mothers.

Harry chuckled at the thought, he looked down on his shoes. Or rather, a pathetic excuse for one. It was just another hand-me-down from his blown up cousin from years ago. The nylon and suede, worn and peeling. The white laces already grayish yellow with age and the front part of his right shoe was starting to flap open albeit slightly.

The young man didn't have much time to ponder about his dilapidated belongings any longer, he could go on and on for everything he owned. He saw the group he was keeping an eye out on, crossing the street. Just two blocks away. Dudley's gang.

He got up from the swing and marched without a second thought. Started walking towards the other known park in Little Whinging not that far from where he was. Just a couple of minutes walk. He's gotten used to avoiding Dudley, gotten good at it too. They were too linear. Too predictable. Too dumb. Too -

The sound of screeching of brakes, a slam then a dull thud. It happened in the span of seconds. Harry's world went dark.

~o~

"A sweh.. God. He came outta nowheh! 'Ere A wus, mindin me own bisnis. Dravin da rood lak ah loo abaidin ceetzen -" yammered on the very drunk and very Irish driver, recounting his version of what happened to the Police Constable that was first to respond to the scene. An ambulance was called minutes earlier and the first responders hurriedly took away the non-responding child for better medical attention at the nearest hospital.

The Police Constable noted the skid marks marking the road, noted down a few things more, specifically about the length of it. He had to have slammed on the breaks a little more than 15 meters from the point of impact.

Indication he was going way faster than a law abiding citizen should be. He stopped listening to the drunken fool as he incriminated himself more than enough already without even taking a blood alcohol test. A few more police officers were on the way and his partner already closed off the road and called in a tow truck to get the totalled car that swerved, went on top off the curb and stopped by a pine tree at the other side of the road.

This was a close and shut case of reckless driving, driving under the influence and on top of others. Providing the child victim survived. The constable sighed and proceeded to detain the drunk driver going through the motions and processing the criminal situation.

~o~

"Get up."

Harry opened his eyes. Scanned his surroundings and found the color white everywhere he looked. He was still wearing the same baggy clothes he always wore but a lot of things felt off. A lot of things were really off.

There was absolutely nothing in his surrounding. White was all he could see and it was unending. Harry sat up, scrambled to stand and began looking around. Just then a voice spoke up. A rather young and feminine one.

"You're not supposed to be here." The unembodied voice stated.

Harry tried looking around again still finding nothing. Then he asked to noone in particular. "Am I.. Am I dead?"

"No.. If you are, That would mean I would be as well." Surprising Harry as the voice replied.

"Then.. err?" Harry looked confused and continued. "Where am I?"

There was a pause. The voice replied. "We are in your mind."

"We? So then.. Who are you?"

"My name. I.." A momentary pause. "..I don't have one."

"Oh.." Harry didn't know what to do. He was in a white void with only an ownerless voice for company. "Well err.. can you help me get out?"

"No, I can't..." Another pause. "If you woke up.. Maybe.. You'll be able to get out of here."

"So.. this is a dream?"

"Sort of.." before Harry could ask another question. The voice turned the tables and asked him instead.

"Who are you?"

"I'm… My name is Harry. Harry Potter." He replied.

Harry got tired of standing, so he proceeded to sit down and crossed his legs for the moment.

"Harry.. This is your mind.. If you will it, you can sit down on a chair." The voice pointed out.

"I can?"

"I'm sure."

"How?"

"...I'm not sure. Try… Try thinking of a chair. Imagine it in front of you?"

Harry's right eyebrow raised in question but he proceeded to focus and thought of a certain red recliner his uncle Vernon used to watch television with in the living room.

The same exact replica materialized slowly in front of him. He stood up.

"Woah, that's.. Amazing."

"It's your mind, if you can think of it. You can make it."

He stepped forward to touch the arm of the seat and found that it felt precisely as he remembered it.

"That's a chair?" The disembodied voice asked.

Harry plopped down on the recliner and pulled the lever on the side extending the leg rest as he sat comfortably. Before he could reply however the voice continued.

"I must've been here longer than I thought."

"You've been here before?" Harry asked.

"I've always been here..." The voice corrected." That chair, I've never seen a chair like that before."

"A recliner? Ahh yeah.. Err.. Where were you before coming here?"

"I didn't come here-." Harry felt the voice hesitate for a moment.

"I'm a prisoner. Long before your time.. Judging from that chair." The feminine voice continued. "There was a war... You can say I'm like a war prisoner."

"Between, humans, like you Harry.. And dragons."

"A war? Wait.. You said humans like me? And dragons?!"

"I'm a dragon Harry.. Well. Was.. Now, I'm just a prisoner. A voice in your mind."

"Don't interrupt, and I will tell you a story." She commanded.

Harry nodded. He had a ton of questions now. Dragons? Dragons are just video game and fantasy creatures weren't they? And a prisoner in his mind? From an old war? And that voice... A female dragon? On top of that conversing with him in perfect English as well.

Before Harry could think more on these thoughts the voice continued.

"I don't know how long it's been.. Might be a couple hundred years, could be more. It's the first I've seen a reliner."

Recliner. Harry wanted to correct the voice but held it back willingly.

"In my time, a war between your kind and mine was being waged. It wasn't much of a war really. You humans always lost." The voice stated smugly.

He still wasn't fully believing the predicament he was in. What was the last thing he ate? Could Dudley have spiked his breakfast with some sort of drug? Maybe a mushroom? Could be the milk he drank earlier was expired.. That's probably why it tasted weird.

The voice seemed to notice he wasn't giving his undiluted attention as he got reprimanded.

"I have no reason to lie. Harry. So wipe that strange look you have on your face."

"No no.. It's just that.. Wow.. Wait! I know what dragons are!" Harry was basing his knowledge on some movies and books, mostly on comic books and children's fairy tale stories. "They're like, err.. these big lizards who have wings. And breathe fire. And eat sheep and peo-"

"Big lizards? With wings? Yes, that's kind of accurate, I guess."

"Wait.. If this isn't a dream. And you're a prisoner. Why can't I see you?" Harry tried looking around still having the exact same results as earlier.

"...I don't know." Harry picked up on the sadness in the little pause it took for her to reply.

"It's just a little weird, talking to nothing and well, you're talking to me too."

Silence was the only reply from the voice.

"If you're a dragon..." Harry pictured the comic book cover he saw in the children's section of the library from school and with surprise, it appeared slowly in front of his lap.

Taking it in his hands, a figure of a dragon, about 30 feet tall, was printed on the front page, being held back by a knight with silver armor, who was only as large as the dragon's front leg. They seemed to be in combat. The dragon's jaws were agape. Displaying wicked rows of fangs and there was an evil look in its eyes, maybe the dragon's breakfast was spiked too. Harry thought.

Opening the comic to a random page, he found it had no content. He flipped to the next few pages and found just blank page after blank page. Like a newly bought sketchbook. It didn't matter to Harry.

Closing it shut, he stared at the cover art of the book instead. There was no title. No author's name. And no words discernible. Only blurred out parts on where he thought the title and other words would be.

"Do you look like this?" He asked to no one in particular.

"No.. That's an ugly dragon. The color is all wrong. And the wings are too small.. Tail should be longer, and that face is ugly. Too spiky.."

An idea formed for Harry. He closed his eyes and imagined the dragon on the front page cover as best as he could, to appear in front of him.

As he opened his eyes. He was not as surprised at the dragon looking down on him exactly as he imagined it. It didn't move however, it just stood there menacingly. He was more surprised at the fact that he was able to accomplish it.

The voice remained silent. Harry kept his eyes on the dragon in front of him. He released the lever from his recliner and set aside the comic book on the chair. He stood up admiring his creation. It was as still as a statue and there was no life to it. Nevertheless, the ways it could easily dispatch and kill a 10 year old with extreme ease gave Harry a significant amount of discomfort.

The front claws were as long as Harry's forearm. It could probably shred steel like sword through cardboard. On top of being able to breathe fire, the white fangs of the dragon's mouth peered out of its closed jaws were numerous but varying in length and size. The tail, given the opportunity, could easily swipe the area in front of Harry and decimate even sturdy tree trunks. The wings were tucked in but Harry was sure it would approximately be as long as the wingspan of small modern passenger airplanes.

"Change it to red.." The voice finally spoke again while Harry continued to admire the construct.

Only after a moment, the entire dragon was as red as Harry wanted it to be.

"That's.. Too dark for my red. A little lighter."

Understanding the voice's desire, since Harry can control the appearance of, well, everything. Harry obediently followed the feminine voice as he was instructed to change the way the statue-esque dragon looks.

"My eyes weren't yellow.. It was gold. Yes. Just like that."

"The wings, make them larger and longer, no that's too much. A little bit more.. Stop. Yes, that's it."

"Make the body slimmer. Ohhhh.. Much better."

"My claws were.. Make it white not black... That's too white. More like bone white." Harry looked confused and he swore he could feel a shrug come from somewhere.

"Leave it, that's okay too."

This continued on and on, and Harry was having fun following the voice's instructions.

~o~

Until they both came to the smaller details like her head and her wings. Harry tried his best, but it just wasn't satisfying the owner of the voice.

"It's not close, but it's not bad. If I was looking at myself from a lake, I think it's acceptable."

"I tried."

Harry had another idea come to mind. It was more from the fact that he was getting frustrated from the feeling of speaking to no one but a disembodied voice. He wasn't sure if it would work. He wanted to try at least.

And so he willed it. Nothing happened visually.

"You did try, it looks like someone who loo-" She was cut off as she realized she was speaking from the dragon she just help make. Her maw moving in tandem with her speech.

The dragon moved naturally now. It reared its head backwards to look at its wings which she then spread and extended to its maximum wingspan. She reared and let loose a deafening roar. Which Harry was sure he'd be if they weren't in his mindscape and would surely shake a neighborhood if the dragon was ever in one.

The dragon crouched and like a spring being compressed before release, she launched from the white floor of Harry's mind. Harry watched in silence and awe as the dragon gained height with each beat of its wings, then began circling, gliding and spinning in the space above him.

Harry couldn't help but smile at the sight. He couldn't have known, but there was something in the way the dragon's flight that reflected glee.

She opened her jaws, and with a great display of power, let loose an infernal red fire that covered a wide air space overhead of Harry's location.

The firestorm lingered and she entered through it with wings tucked to her sides, and came out of the other side with contrails of smoke and fire trailing behind her. Before fully releasing her wings again, in all its glory.

She stopped midair with a few flaps of her wings to counter the momentum from the charge, and she started to dive headfirst with wings tucked in again. She began spinning clockwise. Slowly at first, then it became faster than Harry could see, and right before she hit the non existent ground of his mindscape, released her wings and soared as close to the ground as she could feel.

Using all the forward momentum to glide, in one swift motion, tucked her wings to the side, spun counterclockwise once, and as soon as she was upright, flapped her wings once as hard as she could and gained altitude once more.

She went back to the area right above Harry and she started to circle it before stopping midair and slowly come downwards with each stroke of her wings, she controlled her altitude as easily as a bird would have. If the bird was a hundred times larger and more deadly.

The air pressure from her wings was enough for Harry to shield his eyes. Harry hoped he wouldn't get blown away as she got closer.

The dragon noticed this so instead of landing carefully, she just dropped the remaining height. Landing gracefully, as graceful as a dragon could. Which was with a small earthquake, she started to walk towards Harry.

Harry didn't know what to say or do for that matter. He was in the presence of a superior creature. The short display of flight awestruck him from the ease it was held by such a massive being. The dragon stopped as it reached and looked down at Harry.

Looking at her in the eyes felt wrong to him. He averted his gaze lower. He saw this in the news sometimes but mostly in movies. A way to show respect to power.

He bowed his head, then kneeled on the spot.

A strange sound came from the dragon, Harry realized that she was giggling. This did not make sense to Harry at all. The idea of a dragon giggling was a tad bit crazy.

"Stand Harry!" The dragon roared.

Complying, Harry stood up and took in the view in front of him. The dragon lowered her head and sat down before resting her head on her legs. Similarly as to how a dog was like if it was crouching in that manner.

If grinning was possible for a dragon, it probably was exactly what it's doing right now. As Harry noted the parting of her lips baring her fangs.

Harry extended his hand in front of her snout, but didn't reach for her. The dragon's eyes narrowed at this. However, she didn't move. He slowly closed the distance and right before he made contact with her snout. She closed her eyes. Harry didn't know, but for a dragon, that was language for recognition, for lack of a better term.

Might not have known, but Harry still felt the intent communicated. As he touched and stroked the hard snout of the dragon sitting in front of him. He released a breath he didn't know he was holding as his shoulder relaxed.

The dragon pulled back and reared its head.

"I have not flown, ever since… Being here.. Being imprisoned..."

The sadness was obvious from her tone.

She looked at Harry as he stared at her.

"Would you like to be my friend?" Harry blurted it out before he could fully realize what he just said at the insanity of the current event. But before he could apologize for it. The dragon spoke.

"We're already friends, I let you touch me. Well.. A construct you made of me."

The dragon continued, "But why would you want to be friends with a dragon Harry? We eat humans. Not often for me but still.."

"I.. Err… I don't have any friends.." His voice was as small as he was to the dragon. He averted her gaze as he looked down to his side while stating so.

"Now... You have one."

Despite everything that has happened being considered. Happiness flooded Harry. He smiled as toothily as a 10 year old boy could at the dragon. "You said you didn't have a name?"

"No.."

"What should I call you then?"

"Anything's fine.. Whatever you want."

That made Harry pause for the moment in contemplation, he started thinking about any name that came to mind. Nothing was fitting. But the creativity level of a kid shone through. And it wasn't very shiny.

"Dee. I'll call you Dee. It's err.. Short for dragon."

"..That's alright with me."

"What do err.. What do we do now?"

"What do friends do, Harry?"

"Well, friends play together.. Oh, but you know, since we just met. I could tell you about myself? And then you could try and do the same too.." Harry suggested.

Her interest piqued, Dee set her head down to Harry's level as she sat, she placed her head on top of her front legs which were crossed together. It looked like a massive puppy observing a small human.

"My name is Harry. Harry James Potter. I'm 10 years old. And I'm studying at Little Whinging Elementary School. I'm in 4th grade and will be 5th grade this school year. Err. A school is like.. Where parents send their kids for them to learn stuff. Like math, science, arts and gym stuff."

"It's hard to explain." He continued. "Maybe I can show you?"

Harry willed the educational institution as best as he can from memory. The effect was instant, and the white void was filled with the school buildings and grounds as Harry remembered it.

It ended somewhere across the street on one side and cut a building in half on another. The white emptiness surrounded the school grounds, ending only where Harry thought it was necessary, it looked just as normal as Harry's elementary school was, just with no people, and only occupied by Dee sitting on the grass of the school yard. Harry walked around adding details as he went. He vanished the red recliner with the comic book from earlier as he saw it didn't fit the scene.

Dee was looking around curiously. Harry added people, although with no faces. Similar to a hazy dream sequence. He enacted a back to school day with parents, teachers, kids, all with blank facial features.

"You go to this school?" The dragon asked.

"Yeah, and that's where I learn stuff. That's where I got the one I showed you earlier. I remember reading that when I was in 2nd grade. But I don't know what the story was anymore."

"I see."

"What about you.. err.. Dee?" Harry was trying to get used to referring to the dragon with that name.

"My name is Dee. Because you call me Dee. I… I was a dragon. I still am. I'm not sure how old I am."

She stopped talking for a little while. Harry patiently waited.

"I used to.. Fly.. Everyday. Over mountains, hills, rivers, valleys, seas, deserts. I flew all over the world. I… I was free."

The pangs of longing from reminiscing showed on her eyes. Bright slitted golden orbs emitting sorrow.

"The wind rushing beneath my wings, I miss it.. I've already given up.. I don't know how long it has been.. I wish, every moment, for the day I'm free again."

"Me too." Harry spoke before he can stop himself.

Dee looked at him curiously but said nothing.

"I live with my cousins.. I don't have… My parents are gone. They adopted me.. And.. I'm grateful.. Well.. But unlike Dudley. My cousin. I don't get to go outside my bedroom much.. But when I do.. I.. Get as far away as I can.. It's the only time I feel free. Sorry.. It's nothing compared to what you've been through but…" Harry related to her. It was difficult for him talking about it. But she had it worse.

"No, I understa-." Harry didn't like it but he cut her off from finishing accidentally.

"How do we get you out of here?"

"What? Harry.. Humans are the ones responsible for sealing me here.. I don't know how.. Or why.. If there was a way, I'd take it in an instant.. But.. Why would you want to help me?"

"I don't like.. I don't want. My only friend.." Harry felt a tinge of anger gripping his heart. "I don't like you being sealed here.. I'll find a way.. Maybe it'll be hard to. But that's what I want to do. It's what a friend would do."

Dee didn't react to this.

"Don't make a promise you can't keep, Harry." She said after a bit.

"Ahh yeah.. Hang on.. I saw girls in my class do this." Harry extended his left hand to her, his fingers were all closed besides the thumb and his pinky extended.

"It's what friends do when they make a promise. To make sure they don't break it. I guess."

He even recreated the way he saw it from two faceless figures demonstrating linking their pinkies together.

Dee looked at the example. Stared at Harry. And said nothing.

She reared her head back up. And extended her left front leg. She extended her left most claw as she tried her best to imitate the action. Harry closed the distance and curled his pinky in the point of her claw. Enough to curl his pinky around it.

"There. That's official, a pinky promise, I'll do my best to get you out of here Dee. I promise."

"That's adorable, Harry." Dee beamed baring her fangs appropriately.

Harry blushed but didn't say any word after as he cleared his mindscape leaving both of them alone again in the white void.

~o~

"Hey Dee?"

"Hmm?"

"What's it like to fly?"

"There's no other feeling like it. I feel free. It's hard to describe. It's like being untouchable." Dee reflected on her next word deeply. "Invincible."

"But then again. I'm a dragon. It's our nature. The same with walking and running for you. It feels natural.."

"Do you love flying?"

"I do. The rush of air underneath my wings. The view and scenery I see at the sky. Touching the clouds with my wings. Soaking in the rays of the sun at dawn. Chasing down the sunset. The feeling of it.. I've learned to appreciate it much more ever since I've been.. Here.."

Harry wore a curious look on his face. And Dee pointed it out.

"Do you want to know how it feels like? To fly?"

Harry nodded eagerly. "Are you going to make me ride you?" He asked innocently.

Dee sputtered. "W-what? No. You're moving too fast Harry." Harry would've noticed a blush on her if she was a warm blooded human. But being a cold blooded reptile, nothing showed on her cheeks. Or her scales.

"Why not? You could show me how it feels like to fly?"

"Listen Harry. I like you more than any other human I've met. So far. But allowing you to ride on top of me, I'd be very uncomfortable. Dragons are as prideful as humans are creative. And just the image of any human riding me, it feels like an insult."

"You wouldn't want to offend your only friend now would you?" Dee added as she took notice of Harry's disappointment.

"No.. No, I wouldn't do that to you Dee." Harry slowly accepted the rejection.

"I could carry you in my claws." Dee suggested.

Contemplating slowly on that thought. "Err.. Yeah.. No. That sounds dangerous." Harry eyed the claws that could cut steel like scissors would be to paper.

"Dangerous? You just asked to let you ride me." Dee emphasized the word 'me' to point out a human asking to ride a dragon that'd just met was sinking in slowly to Harry.

"It just sounded better than being in your.. Err.. Hand? When flying.."

"It's not much difference. You'd get the same experience. Oh let's do it." Dee rose on all fours.

"Wait. Wait! WAIT!" Harry's protests fell to deaf ears.

She clutched Harry between her claws as he turned around before he could run away. Harry was ensnared fully and snugly. He didn't even have an inch to struggle with but that didn't deter the boy from trying to get loose.

"Settle down. Don't move too much. You're tickling my paw. I might drop you." Dee teased.

The poor child's face flushed white as he realized this. And whether Dee noticed or not, she laughed heartily at the sudden immobility of her prey.

"Hang on tight Harry. Here we go."

Unfurling her prodigious wings she stood on her rear legs and with a single beat of her wings they rose high on the white vacant space of Harry's mind.

~o~

Harry's screams were like music to Dee. She rose higher and higher with each wave of her wings. The poor kid had no idea where the ground was but it didn't matter, having no landmarks whatsoever, it all looked like Dee was just flying in space. Space colored in white.

Once Dee stopped her ascension and hovered on a spot. The sounds of her wings beating on the nonexistent air of the white world and Harry's heavy breathing was all she could hear.

"Hmmm. Looks pretty blank." Dee pondered. "Harry, why don't you make a mountain there." She gestured with her unoccupied paw.

"...okay." Harry's voice was miniscule after he gulped and relented to the request. He was still trying to catch his breath and was succeeding steadily.

A snow capped mountain encircled by trees small enough from Harry and Dee's height to be distinguishable only by the green of the leaves of the tree-tops appeared just as Harry willed it to.

Where the base of the mountain ended. The white of the void claimed the area around it. Dee was unsatisfied and added in more requests.

"Make a river. Snake it through a forest surrounding the mountain you just made."

"Now, make smaller mountains wherever you want. Hills too, just put them randomly."

"How could I forget. Make the sky. As blue as.. Yes. That's it. Add clouds.. Oh.. Harry.. They all look exactly the same."

"Hey, I've seen that happen before." Harry shrugged in her paw.

"Yeah. Oh well. Oh. Oh. Add the sun. NO! Not in front of us!" Dee complained as she closed her eyes and turned her head away from the ball of light.

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Harry apologized insincerely. He made it right in front of them by accident. However, hearing Dee complain about it made him feel like he just got her back for earlier.

He moved the fake sun way over to the right shoulder of the mountain. It shone and gave almost a natural lighting to the environment they were creating. Almost beautifully so.

"The sun is not inside the earth Harry. Did you not learn this in school?" She chastised.

"They also didn't teach about whiny dragons at school."

"You do realize, I can drop you and you'd die from this height."

Harry paled. But then he rebutted.

"It's my mind. I don't think I can die here."

"You want to test that out?" Dee challenged.

"Err. Not right now, thanks." As he gripped her claws better not trusting the carrier responsible for his life anymore.

"Now I'm curious to see what happens."

"Oh God. Please don't."

"Well, since you said please.."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Right as Dee released him from her grip.

~o~

Harry held his breath as he couldn't inhale from the violent rush of air around him. He was flailing all over the place. Cutting through the air as he reached maximum velocity.

The ground covered in trees was rapidly coming into distance. And Harry was soon to learn the full effects of Newton's law of Universal Gravitation when he heard the loud whooshing of wings before he got snatched midair by the perpetrator to his predicament.

Harry's heart was thumping hard and to him it was as if the beating was in his throat. He was still breathless when he heard laughter as he was brought upon a dragon's grinning face.

"Turns out, humans can't fly that well can they?"

No reply. Yet.

"Now what have we learned today, about teasing the one holding your life?" She asked mockingly.

Harry mumbled incoherently.

"Hmm? What's that?"

"You almost killed me!"

"Oh pish-posh, you wouldn't have died or got hurt for that matter. You're right after all, this is just your mind. Although I didn't want to risk you not waking up again. That'd be bad since you're my friend."

"Friends don't try to kill each other!" Harry countered.

"Oh yes. But best friends do."

"What sort of best friend-. Oh wait, we're best friends?"

"I don't have any other friends, I guess that makes you the best friend doesn't it?"

"And you're the worst friend for trying to kill me." Harry moved on from the realization that he just made a best friend out of a dragon.

"You flatter me Harry." The dragon mocked.

And with that Harry countered with the most intelligent rebuttal known to 10 year olds.

"YoU fLaTtEr Me HaRrY." Harry parodized as he narrowed his eyes while shaking his head.

Dee huffed at him. "Stop that."

"StOp ThAt." He mimicked in a higher pitch.

The dragon narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"I'm warning you, Ha-" Harry cut her off.

"i'M wArN- WAAAIT!" Harry yelled as he started plummeting again.

~o~

Jerking up from a hospital bed, Harry awoke with a large intake of air. It was like waking up from a falling dream. He looked around and saw he was in an unfamiliar room. He looked at his hands then his arms and proceeded to check the rest of his body.

'No broken bones, no dislocated joints, huh. So if I die in my mind I wake up in the real world.' He discovered.

'That's gotta be the weirdest dream I've ever had.'

A nurse he didn't notice at his first scan of the room came up to him. And with a tired and gruff voice she spoke.

"Hey you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross that border right? Walked right into that imperial ambush. Same as us and that thief over there." He gestured with her head to nowhere in particular. "Damn you stormcloaks, Skyrim was fine until you came along-" The nurse continued ranting.

"Damn it Todd Howard, you've done it again." Harry cursed.

~o~

Jerking up from the hospital bed, Harry awoke with another intake of air. Same as before, although no falling feeling this time around. He looked around and saw the nurse he missed the first time.

With true fear in Harry's heart, the nurse approached Harry. He must've looked terrified as the nurse assured him, "Everything's alright young man, no one's going to hurt you."

She proceeded to explain. "You got hit by a car when you were crossing the road. You were knocked unconscious and brought here for medical attention."

"We've done tests and all that. CT scan and an MRI too, aside from a mild concussion, you'll be alright."

Harry released the breath he didn't know was stuck in his chest.

"In fact, just as soon as we know who you are and where your parents are, we can get you out of here sooner than later. Sound good?"

Harry nodded. "Right, also don't be alarmed young man, but two gentlemen are going to ask you some questions about what happened. They're police officers who just want to help you out, okay?"

"Good." The nurse gestured at a pile of clothes on a corner of the room. "Your clothes are right there if you wanted to get dressed before they come."

"We knew you were going to be up soon so we let them know." She added as she saw Harry's bewildered look to her.

"Thanks err.. Miss.."

"Heather.. just Heather.."

"Thanks nurse Heather."

"You're quite welcome young man."

She picked up a clipboard on a table by his side and proceeded to write down stuff Harry was not inclined to know. She placed it at the bedside table ordering out more instructions.

"Fill this up whenever you got time, alright sweety?" She didn't wait for a reply before motioning to a button to the side of the bed.

"And if you need anything, press that button right there and I'll come by as soon as I'm able to alright? Perfect."

"I'll be back for your dinner, which will be around 6:30.. You should be done talking by then. Oh and if you need to relieve yourself that door right there is the bathroom. Do you have any questions?"

"...How long was I out?"

"46 minutes."

"Wow. And you did all the tests in that time?"

"You were brought in from emergency unconscious. So you had priority." She replied with a noncommittal shrug.

"Well err. Thanks again nurse Heather." He said sincerely.

"Just Heather is fine." She smiled as she exited the room and left Harry alone.

~o~

Filling up the form left by Ms. Heather was easy enough. It was mostly just checkboxes on allergies and medical history. And since he had no communicable diseases he knew of, he just skipped mostly all of them, he had to squint a couple of times however since not wearing his glasses impaired him significantly although it wasn't too bad.

As he skipped the part that asked him if he had history for AIDS he heard three knocks on his door before a man promptly entered.

"..Hi there, I'm Police Officer Richard Turner and this is my partner, Officer Rick Sanchez." He gestured to the blue haired officer who entered right after him.

"Ms. Heather spoke to us earlier, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, thanks for asking." Harry replied respectfully.

"Glad to hear that. We just had some questions about what happened, and we wanted to ask your help about answering them." His smile was either genuine or he was really good at acting Harry thought.

"Okay."

"Great. What's your name?"

"Harry. Harry James Potter."

"Right, Can I call you Harry?" Harry nodded. "Wonderful."

"Can you tell us what happened Harry?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I was on a park, when I went to leave to errr… To go to another park." Harry saw the officer's single eyebrow raised at this in question but said nothing so he continued.

"I was crossing the street, I heard a car, and that's all I can remember."

"Your parents never taught you to check before crossing?"

The blue haired officer spoke for the first time and Harry now knew why Richard was in charge of introductions.

Instead of standing down meekly Harry replied displeased "My parents are dead. Car accident."

"Figures." Rick replied.

"Rick. Please. That's enough."

"Are we done here? This is a waste of time. The idiot dug himself deeper than a guy asked by the mafia to dig his own grave. I don't see the point in asking the kid's testimony."

"It's required Rick."

"If you want this to not be a waste of time. Ask him again why he was going from one park to another one. What? The park didn't have the best slide for you to slide on? Ask him what he was doing all alone at a park. No friends around him, no other witnesses and you weren't walking around with a dog with you to that park were you?"

"No sir." Harry didn't look down at Rick, but he was getting flustered by the line of questioning Rick was going down to.

Richard sighed defeatedly, he'd done this so many times with Rick it wasn't surprising him anymore. Had to give it to him though, he was smart. Just stopped giving a fuck a long time ago.

"He didn't avoid his eyes. He wasn't selling coke. Or doing anything illegal. So what, why were you all alone at the park Mr. Potter."

Harry didn't want to reply yet. Thankfully Richard stepped in.

"Can't someone enjoy time on their own Rick? You of all people."

"Fuck you."

Richard shrugged. "Humor the old goat, why were you alone in the park Harry?"

"I'm always alone, sir. I like being alone. I.." He truly didn't want to share it with them. "When I finish my chores at home, I go to that park. Sometimes I just sit on the swing. For as long as I can before I go home."

He hoped that that would've satisfied Rick as it did Richard but he was dreadfully wrong.

Richard spoke again. "But you didn't go home. You wanted to go to another park, remember? Why Harry?"

"I was avoiding my cousin. Dudley. They don't like me. His friends and him. I didn't want anything to do with them."

"So you saw them and didn't want confrontation? Wanted to avoid them so you got up and headed to the other park?"

"Yes sir."

"There, are you satisfied?" Richard turned to Rick.

"You live in the same house as that Dudley?" Rick ignored Richard.

Harry nodded.

"Speak when you're being talked to brat."

"Y-yes sir."

"You live with this Dudley's family since you're parents are dead right?" He was blunt as a jackhammer and Harry submitted.

"Yes sir."

"That family. They make you do chores, give you clothes that Dudley shitted on, and they feed you in a cage."

"N-no sir." It was the truth but not quite.

"They don't feed you in a cage? About time I was wrong." Rick was truly surprised at himself.

Richard was depressed by the results of Rick's usual antics. He wasn't smiling any more and he put on his years of façade for his profession.

"Do they abuse you Harry?" Richard asked.

"N-no sir."

"Bullshit. If that's not abuse. Then I'll call the queen, I'll tell her I'm coming over to fuck her in the as-"

"RICK!"

"Asshole." Rick continued unconcerned.

Richard sighed and closed his eyes.

"Do they abuse you Harry?" To Harry's surprise Rick repeated the question.

"They do sir." Harry was too scared of Rick already. He was aware of the good-cop-bad-cop approach but being the one in question put it to a whole new perspective. He was more scared of what Rick will do to him if he lied compared to his foster parents wraths combined.

"I saw your file kid." Rick admitted. "Multiple blunt force cranial trauma, some old some new. The new one from the crash earlier. Contusions varying in size and age, all over your body. Concentration mostly on upper torso and upper back."

Rick slowly recounted all he'd seen on his file. Harry's tears formed quickly, clouded his eyesight and his throat was in pain as if it was snagged in the middle of swallowing.

"Serious signs of malnutrition and sleep deprivation. I've seen holocaust victims look better than you."

Richard sent a sharp glare to Rick but said nothing. He took out a handkerchief which he handed to Harry who was now sobbing.

"Look kid, I exaggerated on that holocaust part. That shit isn't a joke. And so is what they did to you."

He didn't expect any reply. Richard spoke up instead.

"We can help you. You just have to sign this paper and testify when called for if a case against them calls for you."

He reached for a blue clipboard that Rick was holding the entire time.

"This will essentially relinquish.. err.. Sorry, release you as their ward and put you under the state's protection until a suitable candidate for adoption is matched for you."

"Well, there's more to it than that but that's basically it." Rick agreed.

"Can you help us with that Harry. Help us protect you from those monsters?" Richard tried a weak smile.

'I've seen this one too many times. If Rick wasn't here, kid would still be protecting that family. He wouldn't know any better.'

Harry signed the paper where Richard indicated so.

"Thanks Harry. It's over now. It's almost dinner time for you too. We'll be out of your hair before you know it." Richard handed the clipboard back to Rick.

"Wait. What if. What if no-no one wants me sir?"

Surprisingly Rick was the one to answer. "Someone will. It's a God forsaken world we live in. But there's still good people out there."

"Speaking of good people, I believe that's Ms. Heather at the door already." Richard said effectively ending the conversation.

~o~

December 22, 2019 - Edited for line breaks, still trying to learn FF writing

December 30, 2019 - Minor sentence changes for better grammar and story flow

January 16, 2020 - I am always better than my past. Miniscule changes and corrections as I see fit.