Fic: a Different Kind of Friendship (HP/CSI:NY, gen)
Title: A Different Kind of Friendship
Author: loonie_lupin (ff. net)/nilitara (livejournal)
Fandom: HP, CSI :NY
Characters/pairing : Harry Potter, Adam Ross (friendship only)
Rating: PG
Summary: They should form a club for people with fucked up childhood.
For: crossovers100
Prompt: 049. Club.
Disclaimer: The characters are the property of their respective creator. I own nothing.
Prompt table
A Different Kind of Friendship - main entry
049. Club.
Harry had always realized there was something in his past that still haunted Adam. He had been patient about it, though, he hadn’t wanted to press Adam into revealing anything he was ready to talk about to him. He knew the time would come when Adam may choose to confide in him and, apparently, his patient was going to be rewarded because that night, as they were trying to find a movie to watch together and relax after a long day, Adam awkwardly told Harry there was something he wanted to talk to him about.
Harry stopped rummaging through the piles of DVD lined up on the shelves and turned to look very carefully at him. One glance and he could see that his friend was dead serious, if appearing a little bit hesitant. Harry knew immediately that it was going to be a difficult conversation, at least on Adam’s part. Harry himself wasn’t sure whether he was going to like what he would hear but he decided to keep an open mind.
“Okay.”
“I know you saw the scars,” Adam began and Harry’s mind went automatically back to the time Adam was referring to.
Harry had bust into the bathroom, he quite frankly didn’t remember the reason why. It must not have been very important, at least not as important as what he saw there. Adam had still been half naked at the time, he had just gotten out of the shower. His back had been turned towards Harry and it had taken him a second to react and turn around so his back would be hidden. It had already been too late though. Harry had good observation skills; it was what had kept him alive until then. He had been, therefore, unable to miss the scars that adorned his friend’s back. He hadn’t commented on it, though, and had acted as if he hadn’t seen them.
From then on, the question of Adam’s haunted soul had been partially answered. Someone had hurt him, in his past. Harry could take a guess and say it had been his father, but he preferred not to make an assumption like this; it would be pretty embarrassing for everyone if he was wrong. He had tried not to think too much about it; it was better this way and he would wait until Adam was ready to let him know.
“I suppose you wonder where they come from. I know I would. I know I do. I mean you explained some of the one you have to me but there are others I don’t know about and I’m not telling you to tell me and I wouldn’t want you to feel like you have to tell be just because I’m telling you about mine. I mean, I’m telling you because I want to knot because I want to know about you…”
“Adam!” Harry cut him; he usually let Adam babble all he wanted to but the other man seemed to get really too worked up this time around. “I know you’re not trying to get me to talk. I’m sure you will end up knowing about all my scars one day, anyway, but for now, why don’t you tell me what you wanted to before?”
Adam smiled sheepishly. Okay, he really needed to stop babbling when he was trying to say something important. He knew it sometimes annoyed people at work and, while Harry tended to be more lenient towards him, he was certain he was getting tired of it too even if he didn’t want to tell him.
“I never talk about my family and there’s a very good reason I guess. I just don’t know how to talk about them without lying. I got so used to lie all the time when I was a kid, you know, pretending nothing is wrong, that there’s no problem at home, that I’m very clumsy. Everyone always believed me. They didn’t know my father was violent. He was very good at pretending to be a nice guy when we were in public.”
“He was abusive,” Harry summarized because Adam was getting lost in his explanation and sending him a pleading look, begging him to help him out.
Adam nodded.
“He was abusive.”
Adam had stated this for the very first time ever. He had never told anyone about the abuse and he would never have thought about saying it so very succinctly. It was strange, it was a load he had had to bear for so many years he didn’t even really realize it anymore but, telling Harry, it made him seem lighter, as if something had been lifted off him. Of course, the scars would always be there, and not only those you could see on his body, but it would probably be better in the long run. Maybe he should have told someone years ago but he had never thought he would find someone who understood, not the way Harry did.
There was a blank in the conversation but, strangely, the silence didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, not even after Adam’s revelation. One would have thought it would have made the atmosphere quite a bit tenser but no. Then, Harry snorted.
“We really should form a club for people with fucked up childhood,” he stated.
Adam chuckled. Yes, that was a given but then, he frowned because he had thought for a second that Harry was talking about his past with Voldemort but he had never called that his childhood. His adolescence, yes, but never his childhood.
“You mean…”
He didn’t know how to continue but Harry understood what Adam was asking. Seeing the way the conversation had gone up to now, it wasn’t a very hard guess to make. Harry knew exactly what he had revealed and, even if it had slipped out, he wasn’t mad at himself for it.
“Yeah. Not the same extend than you, though. The physical stuff was mostly my cousin and his friends, even if my uncle tended to encourage it rather than stop it. It was mostly neglect, verbal abuse, but no beating. And at least, I had the consolation that they weren’t my parent, you know. I mean, they never wanted to take me in and didn’t make it a secret but I could always imagine that my parents would have wanted me so it made things a bit easier…. Then I discovered the magical world and everything changed.”
Harry had told him more than he ever needed to know and Adam was glad for it. He didn’t like that his friend had to go through the same things as him and was kind of happy he didn’t have an experience as bad as him when it came to family stuff. Harry had had enough other problems as it was.
“Maybe we should really form that club after all,” Adam agreed with a smile so very out of place for the conversation they were having; it did show how messed up they really were that they could smile when discussing the subject. “We could ask Danny to join.”
Harry raised one eyebrow, but he had been told about Danny being part of a gang when he was younger and what had happened with his brother. It was different than for them but Harry knew the other scientist must also have sequel from that time. Yes, they really should think about forming that club.