Title: Mirror, Mirror

Chapter Warnings: Some light cursing.

Rating: T

A/N: Time Jump! Out of order events! Confusing! Cockney accents! Be warned!

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø

Chapter 2: ((Enter Renee – London Street Rat Extrordinaire))

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø

Blinking against the blinding light of early morning, Harry drank in his surroundings; a rusted street lamp on a cracked sidewalk, a road lined with towering buildings, townhouses, and all matter of trash. He couldn’t help but wonder, in horrified awe, how he had ended up in such a place. He tried to search his memories, but a throbbing ache started in his temples, and he abandoned the attempt. He sat down on the gray concrete of the curb, shying away from the briskly walking commuters and their swinging briefcases. Leaning against the harsh metal of the streetlamp, a wave exhaustion overtook him. Ignoring the English cold seeping through this thin shirt, he drifted off into an uneasy slumber.

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø

“’Ey! Wot chu doin’ there, boy-o? Doan chu know tha’ lil kiddies shouldn’ be wanderin’ all about on they lonesome? Where’re youse mum an’ da?”

His head shot up, looking up, way up, to the source of the heavily accented voice. A tall, rattily clothed teen looked down at him through dark, almost black eyes that reminded him of charred coal, which were covered with what looked like pilot’s goggles. The leather was brown and worn, but the lenses were clear and obviously well taken care of. The person wore a ragged cap on their head, pulled down low to conceal the top half of their face from any possible surrounding people, and hiding all but the tufts of brown hair at the nape of their neck. Dirt stained and patched denim overalls went over a thick, blue woolen turtle neck, pulled up as far as it would go, almost to her lower lip. The entire outfit seemed a couple sizes too big, and the overalls draped over battered trainers, almost overtaking them completely. The clothes concealed their gender completely – he wouldn’t be able to guess if he tried. They looked an imposing figure in the yellow light spilling out from the now-lit street lamp.

The teen stared at him expectantly, and he gulped before answering in a small voice, “Um… I-I’m not doing anything, I don’t have anyone to be with me, and my Mom and Dad are dead.”

What little he could see of the person’s face flashed with what he thought looked like sympathy, before the stranger yanked their cap lower still as a shield. The teen let out a sigh.

“Well… yah be’er come wit me then, boy-o. Can’t ‘ave youse wanderin’ the ain’t it a treat, causin’ all manner of mischief. Nuff said, yeah?”

The Londoner snatched his smaller hand in their own, and pulled him down the cracked city streets into a narrow alley, saying,

“Awright boy-o! What'Debby Laboos yaaahr name?”

“H-Harry, sir…”

“Lawd above! Ain’t you eva’ seen a twist befawer?”

“…what?”

“I’m a girl, yah nitwit! The william’s Renee.”

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to be – “

“Sorted, mate! Now here’s da jellied eel, ‘Arry. I bet yer wonderin’ what the Henry Neville is going on, but me an’ my mates, we’re gonna take youse in, mm’kay? You’d nevah survive out here in da field of wheat all on ya self, what wit’choo bein’ puny an’ all – “

He let out a small sound of protest, partly at the insult, (he was not puny!), and partly because he could’t understand a word this strange girl was saying.

“Wot? Of ‘course youse puny! You’re drowning in your strides an’ dicky dirt, you are! Now, quit bein’ difficult an’ rattle an’ hum wiv me, teapot lid! I ain’t got all the bloody day’s dawning, eh?”

And he was pulled through a hole in the side a decrepit old brick building by a girl who was most likely the most insane person he had ever met. Strangely, he felt better than he had last night, alone

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø

The abandoned townhouse looked to be crumbing apart on the outside, but the inside was considerable better. Nowhere near the ordered cleanliness of the Dursley’s household (an how odd that he hadn’t thought of them until now, but it hurt his head, so he stopped), but tidy. Like Renee’s goggles, it had the air of something well-cared-for and valued. Worn furniture was scattered sparsely around the room, old, solid oak and rich auburn rugs padded beneath their feet. There was no TV, no radio, and no fireplace. A pile of neatly folded blankets were secreted away into a corner, and a whole nother corner was devoted to laundry and a single dresser with chipping red paint. The faint sounds of a guitar being played and the joyful laughing of children drifted from the lone door on the far side of the room.

Renee strode quickly over too the door, muttering, “I swear ter da good ol’ lord above, if those fools invited that Jimmy-boy ‘round here again, I’ll throttle ‘em dead!”

Slightly wary of the abnormally tally girl spouting threats to her housemates, he never the less followed her through the door. She banged it open, announcing her arrival with a thunderous, “What th’ crispy duck is all this ruckus abou’!”

The occupants of what appeared to be a kitchen, were clearly unfazed. There were three boys and two girls; one young blond girl sitting on an older boy’s lap, one girl lounging on the tile floor, two boy’s sitting on rickity wooden chairs at the kitchen table, and a boy wielding a scratched up acoustic guitar perched on the counter. Said boy grinned at Renee through a fringe of crimson red hair, teeth crooked and hazel eyes bright.

“Now, now, luv, no need to get inna tizzy! Mayhaps you’d like a bevvy? Youse look right cream crackered, you do. Fancy a bit of Acker in yer rosy lee?” he teased, rambunctiously jumping too his feet and making a show of guideing the shabbily dressed girl to an empty seat and putting the kettle on for her. She snorted derisively.

“The las’ thing ah need is you druggin’ me up an’ runnin’ rampant through this house. Wha’choo doin ‘ere. Jimmy?”

“Can’t a bloke drop by ev’ry once inna while ta greet s’me ol’ friends ‘o him?” the boy sweeped his gaze around the grinning group of kids, finally taking notice of Harry as his gaze landed on his small figure hanging in the backround. “Wot’s this, then?” he directed the question to Renee, still glancing curiously at Harry.

“New kid. Names’ ‘Arry.”

“A new kiddie to play wit, Rennie? Doan’choo ‘ave nuff?” He huffed imperiously. “Ah swear, woman, there’re be’er, an’ less cos’ly thin’s ta collect, yanno? ‘Ow ‘re ya plannin’ at feed this un? Another job?”

“That’ll be mah decision, an there’ll be no rhubarb ‘bout i’. Now, introduce yer selves, yah bums! An girl, you best get off dat boy’s lap b’fore that piece o’ crap breaks.”

The blonde girl stood up, rolling her eyes at the older girl’s scolding tone. “Yes’m!”

She turned to Harry. “Wotcher, ‘Arry! Ahm Lola. Nice ter meetcha.”

The teen boy she had been resting on turned to him, dark brown hair cropped short to his scalp and blue eyes intent on him. He looked to be in his late teens.

“Yo.” He said simply, “Name’s Jared.”

The other boy at the table, who looked much younger than the rest, only eight or nine at most, waved cheerfully from his seat. He was eating some type of sugary cereal.

“Hello, Harry! My name is Sean. What’s goin’ on?” he greeted, no trace of the group’s cockney accent in sight. Harry nearly sighed in relief. These people were going to drive him crazy. He waved back, hesitantly, and was rewarded wit a blinding smile.

He turned to the girl lounging on the counter top. She smiled absently at him, chewing pensively on a chunk of her long, light brown hair. She was the only one in the group that kept it long.

“Hiya. I’m Cathy.”

The boy who had been taunting Renee before turned importantly towards Harry, obviously impatient to be put off this long. “And ahm Jimmy. Welcome ter th’ family, ‘Arry! You are now… the Weakest Link!” He grinned wildly as he shouted, pointing a theatrical finger at the smaller boy, who backed away, alarmed.

“Oh, shut yer trap, yeh crazy Irish bastard.” Renee chided tiredly, getting up to answer the kettles whistle. Across the room, the group obviously decided she couldn’t hear what they were saying, and started talking immediately.

“Poor chit, she’s exhausted. Tha’ job ain’t no good for ‘er.” Lola shook her head sadly.

“I doan see wah she can’t get another one – a dif’rent one.” Jared chimed in, annoyed.

“’EY!” Jimmy hissed in a furious whisper, “Whateva’ she’s doin’, she doin’ for youse, so doan you eva be ungrateful, yah hear? She’s tryin’ ta keep youse out ‘o da Boom an’ Mizzen, off da streets, an’ she’s doing a damn good job ‘o it, too.”

The two teen’s looked chastised. “Yeah.”

Jimmy looked satisfied with their answer, and turned his attention to the (somewhat happily) neglected person in the room.

“What’choo doin’, kid? C’mon, ‘ave a seat, make yourself a’ home!”

He pulled over a chair from against the wall, sitting it next to Renee’s empty one, as if sensing she was the only one he remotely trusted.

“So, wot’s yer poison, guv?”

“Sorry… what?” he asked softly, still not understanding their slang.

“Yer poison!”

He still didn’t understand, clearly. Cindy laughed incredulously. “You ain’t seriously asking this lil tot if ‘e wants alcohol, are ye?”

“’O ‘course ah ahm! Thur’s no need to deprive ‘im, eh?”

“You’ll ‘ave ter excuse ‘im ‘Arry. ‘E’s gone a bit david over the years, ahm afraid.” Renee smirked as she appeared. She frowned as she examined him closely.

“Youse need a trip ter the barber’s ter get sumthin’ done ‘bout tha’ Alf Garnet, mate. Ah’ll ‘ave ter do i’ meself, o’course… do ya mind?”

Taking a moment to decipher what she was saying, he nodded in acceptance. Aunt Petunia had always insisted his hair be cut regularly.

“Jollies, then.” And, peeling off her hat and goggles and running a hand through her short brown locks, she bustled off to hunt down some scissors.

A soon as she was out of earshot, Jimmy sighed smittenly. “Wot a John Duet, tha’ twirl is…”

Harry could only stare at him. Renee was kind, in an extremely gruff way, but she could have been, and easily was, mistaken for a boy. Though, her face was feminine, he supposed… He shrugged – he wouldn’t try to understand something as weird as boy’s liking girls just yet.

The rest of the group just chuckled subtly at their love-stricken friend.

Renee returned, wielding a dangerous looking pair of scissors in one hand and threadbare towel in the other. “Ah, gotta get i’ wet first, yanno. Come wet yer hair in th’ sink.”

Through the whole process, the group continued their conversation around him.

“Imma nip down the J. Arther to get a monkey after this. I woan ‘ave youse lot leavin ‘im on da todd, ya hear? Stay wit ‘im. Jimmy, since youse decided to ‘nip ‘round for a hallo’, you’re in charge of th’ grand tour.”

She finished up, forcefully rubbing his hair dry with the towel, and he ran his hand through it. It felt shorter than before, but not drastically so like Jared’s. Renee placed her cap back on her head, and her goggles in place.

“Doan burn th’ house down when ahm gone, mm’kay? I’ma bring home dinner.”

The whirlwind of motion made her way quickly out the door, shutting it with a ‘click!’.

Leaving him alone with a manic boy and four other teens he didn’t know.

Wonderful.

º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸ °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø

“We ain’t got no goggle box ‘r fancy do-dads, but th’ one thing we got is space. This place used ta be some bloke’s home – ‘e was a real shady fella. When ‘e died, couple year’s ago, he left i’ ta Renee. No one really know’s why, but ah think they were friend’s, er sumthin’. Anyway, wot those guy’s dunno is tha’ Renee is only sixteen!”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Ah know, righ’? She’s so mature…” Jimmy swooned smittenly. “Anyways, tha’ means she can’t ‘ave a really job fer a while yet – but she’s real smart!” he enthused, “She’s da smartest one outta all ‘o us! She teaches us stuff, ‘cause we can’t really go to school…”

“Why not?” Harry attempted to contribute to the conversation.

“We’d end up in foster care! We doan have guardians, or records, nuthin! But it doan matter, we learn plenty. Yanno, ah bet she’ll teach you too!”

“I hope so.” He agreed, relaxing a bit in Jimmy’s carefree presence. “ I didn’t really like school, but that’s more because my cou-” he head throbbed, low and warningly, “…this kid named Dudley always bullied me. But I love to learn things.”

The marched up a rickety, narrow set of stairs, through long hallways lined with austire, stern-looking portraits and half-melted candlesticks in brass holders. Jimmy saw him grimace at the threatening figures.

“Ah know, they’re quite th’ bit’s ‘o work, ain’t they? I’ve been tryin’ ta rip em down fer a long time, but they’re glued ter th’ wall ‘r sumthin’. ‘Aven’t got a Digeridoo wot they were thinkin’ in th’ firs’ place…”

They came to a stop at the third door on the left. “Ah! ‘Ere we are. Yer room. Ah’ve got a room saved for me to th’ righ’ of youse, in case ah wanna stay th’ nigh’. The girl’s room’s ‘r on the right – the first in Cindy’s and Lola’s and the second is Renee’s. The first one on the right is Jared’s and Sean’s in right next to ‘im. Now, ahm gonna leave youse ta get settled in.”

“Thanks.” He tried to show his gratitude through a sincere smile. Jimmy just waved him off, walking down the stairs. “No prob’.”

He opened the door, which squeaked slightly, and strode into his new, and first ever, room. It was much the same as the rest of the house, except there was a small, one-person bed nestled in the corner, a small dresser complete with a mirror sitting on top, and a window that let in the quiet buzz of city noises into the room. Walking steadily towards the dresser, he braced himself and looked in the mirror.

For a moment, there was only the usual image of tousled black hair and emerald green eyes. Then, those eyes flashed a lurid, bone-chilling crimson. Just a flicker, a split second. It could easily have been a trick of the light.

But Harry knew… that this was only the beginning of the truth.

TrAnSlAtIoNs:

Ain’t it a treat - street

Twist - girl

William - name

Jellied Eel - deal

Henry Neville - devil

Field of Wheat - street (also)

Strides and Dicky Dirt - pants and shirt

Rattle and Hum - come

Teapot-lid - kid

Crispy Duck - F#k

Cream Crackered - knackered (tired)

Rosy Lee - tea

Boom and Mizzen – prison

David – insane

Alf Garnet – haircut

John Duet – beauty

J. Arthur – bank

Monkey – money

Todd – alone

Digeridoo – clue

A/N: Thank for reading the second installment! Please review.

-SS