Shattered Childhood

Disclaimer; I own neither Harry Potter nor Jumper and any plot or character that you recognise I do not take credit for.

Warnings; This story contains SLASH. Scenes of a graphic nature will be marked as such for those who wish to skip them.

A/N; This is a story that has been bugging at me for a very long time and I finally started writing it while on my trip. I have another chapter ready which will go up soon but then other chapters will be delayed until the end of my next trip. Please enjoy.

Chapter 1; The Breaking

1983

Harry remembered staring out of the spare bedroom window in the early afternoon as he watched the family move in next door. He had been three and a half and still he had to pretend to be cleaning the window sill as he watched the two adults and the little boy his own age joking and laughing together with strong Irish accents. He remembered it so well because he realised right then how a real family treated each other. It had taken him only two days to find an excuse to be out in the back garden at the same time the boy had been out playing. He'd slipped into the hedge and that was the first time he had spoken to him, the first time of many.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

1985

Harry and Griffin tumbled through the front door of number six Privet Drive and instantly began stamping snow from themselves. It was late January and they'd both woken up to find Surrey blanketed in snow. Harry had gone about his chores waiting and wishing that Griffin would hurry up and come to his rescue and finally the knock had sounded on the front door and Harry's aunt had opened it to find the round form of a heavily clad Griffin. She'd been unable to think of an excuse to deny Griffin's request for Harry to join him.

"Harry Potter!" The heavily accented voice of Griffin's mother made Harry wince. "What on earth were you thinking going out in the snow dressed like that? Damn that useless excuse for an Aunt. Griffin!"

True to form, Griffin hid from his mother's wrath by hiding directly behind Harry who looked down at his feet. "It's not Griff's fault, mama Katie." Harry piped up in his best friend's defence.

"Griffin, you should have brought him straight here!" Katie Doyle told her five year old son. "Now he's soaked through and shivering. Both of you get upstairs, I'll run you a bath and I'm sure your Aunt will let you stay for dinner."

"But..." Harry looked up worriedly. His aunt had told him he was to be back before his Uncle.

"I don't care what that woman told you to do, Harry." Mama Katie told him soothingly. "I'll ask nicely." There was a dangerous tone to her voice that made Harry drop it. Ever since he'd become friends with Griffin his Aunt had tried to stop it without success, Griffin was simply too stubborn to give up. When his Aunt had started having to make excuses for his injuries and sickness, Mama Katie had started becoming suspicious and her husband had agreed with her and even though Harry refused to confirm anything, everybody knew the truth.

Harry was dragged upstairs by Griffin and into the bathroom. Mama Katie arrived a short few minutes later and began running the bath with practiced ease. Harry copied his best friend with slightly less enthusiasm and was soon sliding down into the water opposite Griffin. He noticed Mama Katie's stern look when she spotted the most recent array of bruises but they weren't even as bad as normal and he refused to complain about any of it.

"Your Aunt permitted you to stay for the night, Harry." Mama Katie told him quietly. Griffin smiled happily as he always did when he got what he wanted and Harry knew that Griffin had planned this. "I've got a guest arriving in the morning but it's nothing to be worried about, Harry."

Harry nodded obediently but even as a five year old he was quick off the mark, she was hiding something from him about this guest. She'd had guests before with him around and never commented on it. Why this time? They finished their bath and Harry dressed in a pair of Griffin's pyjamas and was led to his best friend's room.

"Now remember, Griffin." Mama said quietly before leaving them to their own devices. "No funny business."

Harry turned to look at her in surprise. She'd never said something like that before. Even if he hadn't come to stay in the last couple of months he'd never expect her to say something like that to her son. Griffin had been acting strange recently, well stranger than normal, and he'd had a few arguments with his parents even with Harry around. Harry had managed to gleam that Griffin wanted to tell Harry something but his parents had told him not to. Harry had come to the only logical explanation. They were moving and they were going to leave Harry alone.

He was wrong.

He was laying looking at the dark ceiling several hours before dawn with Griffin at his side. Neither were sleeping since Griffin was restless about something. This went on for a while before Harry got annoyed, turned onto his side and slapped his friend on the chest. "Would you quit it?"

"Sorry." Griffin muttered meekly.

Harry sat up and looked down at his friend in surprise. "Now I know something's up. Spill."

"Nothing's up." Griffin countered as he too sat up. Harry turned to look at him and crossed his legs.

"You're lying to me." Harry looked down, suddenly feeling rather meek. It wasn't his business if Griffin was lying to him. Harry was just Harry, why should he be important enough to be told the truth to?

"Don't do that, Harry." Griffin sighed and moved closer. "Don't go into one of those moods where you think you're less than everybody else."

Harry didn't speak until he felt arms around him. They'd always been close and since Harry always flinched away from Mama's hugs, Griffin had always been quick to embrace him. "Who is this guest, Griff?"

"It was Mama." Griffin told him. "She's had enough of what your Aunt and Uncle do to you. She's got a whole bunch of evidence and it's taken her so long which is why she never went to the police before. So she's invited this woman over tomorrow to talk to you and find out the truth and try to get you taken away from them."

Griffin was rambling which he did do rather a lot. Harry stared at him for a while before he started to cry. "They'll find out and they'll..."

"No, Harry." Griffin shook his head desperately and pulled Harry into another hug. "They won't be able to hurt you again."

"They'll find me and they'll kill me." Harry started backing up into the wall but Griffin followed him and pulled him away from the wall and cradled him. Griffin had always been on the short side for his age but never to Harry's extent and Harry fit against him nicely.

"I won't let that happen." Griffin swore. "In the morning this woman will come and everything will turn out brilliantly. You can move in with us and be happy for a change. You can be my brother. We can play every day and Mama will be your real mum."

Harry fell asleep like that regardless of how scared he felt.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The next morning

It was still early when Harry woke up to find Griffin gone. Griffin had always been an early riser, getting up before Harry whenever they stayed together. Harry quickly changed into a set of Griffin's clothes that had been left on the bed for him, probably by Mama. He walked down the stairs just as somebody knocked on the door.

"That'll be my guest, Harry." Mama's voice pulled his attention away from the door and to where Mama was walking out of the living room. "Why don't you go join Griffin and Malcolm in the kitchen for breakfast?"

Harry nodded meekly and turned to the kitchen door just as Mama opened the front door. She greeted the person at the door with surprise that made Harry turn around at the last minute. She shouldn't have been surprised about whoever it was if she'd been expecting them. There in the doorway was a dark-skinned man with shockingly white, close-cropped hair. Two other men stood at his back. Harry had just been about to turn back to walk into the kitchen when the front man pulled out a gun and fired it.

Harry knew he didn't scream but he heard a small cry of pain come from his mouth as Mama's body crumpled to the ground. He turned and barrelled through the kitchen door and the edge of the door shattered as a bullet struck where he'd just been standing. Things were beyond chaotic for a few moments as he struck the table and pulled at Griffin even as Papa Malcolm tried to sort things out. Harry finally managed to pull Griffin down behind the counter just as the three men kicked through the door and an instant later Malcolm's angry shout was cut off and his body hit the ground.

Griffin choked at the sight of his father's body on the kitchen floor and he tried to stand to charge the three men but Harry clung to him to keep him down. "Griffin!" Harry grabbed his face. "Get out of here."

"Find them!" The man snapped. "Before he Jumps!"

Harry frowned at the words but pushed Griffin towards the back door, staying out of sight. "No, Harry!" Griffin snapped. "I'm not leaving."

"I'll just distract them so you can get outside." Harry was already standing. Griffin was the better of the two of them, he had to survive. Every part of Harry's mind screamed exactly that. Harry was out from behind the counter and he dived at the man that he'd seen kill Mama. The two tumbled backwards onto the floor and Harry felt a sharp impact on the side of his head just as he turned to where Griffin was standing up from behind the counter.

"It's that one!" The man on the ground with Harry shouted. The other men aimed their guns at Griffin and Harry heard himself scream desperately. The guns went off but at the same time a low throbbing boom smashed through the room, shattering the counter and the floor and sending ceramic dust into the air. When the dust settled, Griffin had gone. Harry collapsed back onto the floor as he fell unconscious.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The Paladin sneered down at the boy with contempt. If the brat hadn't jumped at him so unexpectedly he would've been too small to knock him over and he'd have been able to get that single shot off himself. Now the idiots they'd assigned to assist him in this new case hadn't even been able to do the job and the Jumper they'd been watching for months had escaped.

But he'd seen the surprise in this boy's face when his friend had Jumped so he'd obviously not known the truth about the abomination that was his friend. He found himself pausing for thought, just for a moment, and then he made his decision.

"What do we do with the kid?" Mackinson asked him, nudging the boy with his foot.

"He's young enough and with the right training..." He paused in his thoughts as the two others stared at him in shock. They knew what type of training he was thinking about. Re-indoctrination. "He'll be a Paladin."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

2002 – Africa

Harry narrowed his eyes at the ground below the helicopter two dozen feet below him before standing up on the edge of the open bay door. The others in the Paladin strike force were strapping themselves into the lines ready to rappel down but Harry had another idea for himself. His combat trousers caught the downwash from the propellers and with only a moments concentration Harry exploded out of existence, swallowed completed by a spatial rift between himself and the ground below the helicopter. He dragged a sizeable amount of air along with him and he could hear the twin thuds from his entry and exit from the rift as he reappeared on the ground.

He'd first Jumped when he was eight, three years after the Paladins had rescued him from him relatives when his Uncle had tried to kill him. He had blanked everything before that but he had seen pictures of the extent of his injuries, he'd barely been alive when the Paladins had found him. They'd raised him and looked after him and even though he became a Jumper they saw the potential that having a Jumper on their side brought with it, even if they hated anything to do with Jumpers. Harry had accepted a long time ago that he'd always be hated for being a Jumper but as he saw it Jumpers weren't so bad. If he could be a Jumper and be good then it wasn't predisposed that Jumpers were murderers like the Paladins claimed.

The strike force landed around him moments later and like always Harry saw the disgusted looks on their faces. Harry turned around from within the circle around him, taking in the scenery. He was the only one among the eight person team that was armed only with a knife in his boot and another at his waist. He had other weapons at his disposal.

Harry shuttered his eyes and the nagging sensation was there instantly. It was very feint and days old but Harry tracked the Jump from the theft to here even if the rift had fully closed. It was an ability that tied between what the Wizards did and what the Jumpers did. A sixth sense that allowed him to track Jumpers. "He went east." Harry told them quietly, barely above a whisper.

"Let's move then." The team leader ordered and the group split in front and behind Harry before trekking through the dense forest towards a set of mountains in the near distance.

Almost an hour after they arrived Harry heard a snapping branch and he, along with the others crouched down. Harry didn't draw his knife but his hands came up. Before orders could be given a bolt of green magic shot from the foliage and slammed into the man on Harry's right sending him down onto the ground as though he were a puppet with its string cut.

Harry rolled to the side as another bolt of magic shot from the trees before he threw up his hands. He'd known from the age of nine that he was a Wizard but the Paladins refused to allow him to use a wand. They hated the Wizards just as they hated Jumpers and they didn't want Harry to be traced through a wand. Without being able to use magic through a wand Harry's magic had found another route and so, when he turned fifteen, it had escaped and he'd created an ability.

A massive gust of heated air swept over them as a magically fuelled rift exploded through the trees where their Wizarding attackers hid, the trees splintered apart and the ground exploded. Harry and the team of Paladins flattened themselves to the ground as the force of the explosion rippled over their heads. When they raised themselves there was no sign of their attackers.

"You could have killed us all!" The team leader snapped.

"You didn't seem to have everything under control." Harry pointed out without emotion as his hard emerald eyes turned on the man. Two of the Paladins were dead on the path through the forest. "Let's just get this done with."

"Pull a stunt like that again and I'll put a bullet in your head, Jumper!" He spat on the ground at Harry's feet.

"And then you can explain to Niles why." Harry shrugged and turned away from the man, lingering just on the edge of Jumping in case the man got any ideas. It would be the sixth time it happened if it did.

Harry felt it as a Jumper appeared just in front of the team and before he could move two of the men fell with knives in their chests. A second thud announced the Jumper's departure and Harry barely paused before leaping forwards though the Jump scar after the other, leaving the team behind. This guy was good.

Harry reappeared just as the Jumper was pulling a gun. He knew this tactic, the Jumper would Jump back and put a bullet in somebody before leaving, harrying the team over the course of hours. The Jumper spun in shock that somebody had followed him and the gun followed to aim at Harry. Harry Jumped across the room but instead of turning to face him the Jumper, quite rightly, Jumped out of the area.

Harry paused this time, tracking the Jumper with the rift still opening, waiting for the Jumper to give up waiting for Harry to follow and Jump again. It was barely two minutes later when he Jumped again and Harry Jumped himself through the two rifts appearing just behind the lax Jumper. They were in a bustling street in New York and their arrival had gone unnoticed amongst the early morning commuters.

The Jumper Jumped again and Harry sighed and followed. As soon as he saw they were alone he sent out a blast of his magic, tearing the ground up under the Jumper and taking out his concentration. The Jumper tumbled across the floor and Harry knelt on his chest, taking in his features. He paused as a nagging feeling spread through him and it was all the time that the other Jumper needed as Harry felt his leg kick up at Harry's stomach. Harry went with the kick and rolled to the side pulling his knife at the same time with his left hand and holding out his right.

The other Jumper stood up with an angry glare but didn't speak before Jumping. Harry sighed and was about to Jump through the same rift when another opened to the right and a truck appeared mere metres from his right, barrelling towards him. Harry Jumped out of the way and swore angrily only to have to duck and roll as a knife was sent flying at him. Harry sent a random explosion to his left and the force of it buffeted him even as he Jumped again. He stopped and took a look around. The other Jumper was standing about fifty metres away from him down what was obviously a disused railway line. He was simply standing under a tree watching Harry.

"I can go all night, mate!" The guy yelled at him.

Harry frowned at the strong Irish accent as if he should be able to recall it but nothing came to him and he was sure he'd never been sent after this Jumper before. Harry swung up his arms and a rift exploded through the air around the other Jumper but just as it hit Harry saw him Jump away. Harry swore under his breath again. His own explosions ripped apart the Jump rifts so he wouldn't be able to trace him. He sighed, sheathed the knife and Jumped back to the Paladin that had helped raise him. Mary Niles.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harry walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and turned down the corridor of the Niles home where he'd lived since he was six. For about sixteen years. He turned towards his own room and found Sophie watching him. "I heard what happened."

"You wouldn't be reading mission reports again would you, Sophie?" Harry lifted an eyebrow at her. Sophie was the closest thing to a little sister he had. She was eighteen and had been here when Mary Niles had taken him in. As far as he knew she'd been born just after Mary Niles had moved to Canada so Harry had to assume that her father had lived back in America. What had happened to him was still a mystery. She and Harry got along well and apart from Mary Niles she was the only one of the Paladins that didn't care that Harry was a Jumper. Harry was also extremely protective of her and had a reputation for being brutal to people that tried to hurt her.

"There are advantages to working in tracking." Sophie shrugged.

"Were you looking for me?" Harry prompted when he realised she was leaning against the wall and probably had been waiting for him.

"I thought you should be warned that Roland Cox is downstairs talking to mum." Sophie told him. Harry frowned but shrugged nonchalantly. Sophie snorted and slapped him on the shoulder. "He's being really serious, Harry."

"I know, I know." Harry chuckled. "I'll be careful."

"They're not liking the fact that you abandoned your team to chase the Jumper and then failed." Sophie frowned worriedly.

"If I'd been successful that wouldn't be an issue." Harry shook his head.

"But you weren't." Sophie pointed out.

"He was really good, Sophie." Harry countered, "And he threw a truck at me!"

"Harry!" Mary's voice reached down the hall from the floor below.

"Yes, mum?" Harry yelled. He'd always called her that.

"You have a visitor!"

"I'll be down in a moment!" Harry yelled back before turning to shrug at his sister. "The Devil calls."

"Try not to say that in front of him." Sophie tapped him on the arm before walking passed him giving him a kiss on the cheek as she went. There were only two people in the world that Harry would put his life on the line for. His mother and his sister. Michael Niles was a stuck up bastard that hated Harry and was just like the other Paladins.

Harry changed quickly and with only a step he Jumped downstairs into the kitchen right on the other side of the table to his mother and Roland Cox, one of the best of the Paladins but in Harry's opinion he was a monster. He hunted them down as if they were all evil and Harry knew that wasn't true and he also never made it pleasant. Harry had seen some of the pictures of what remained of the Jumpers the man went after.

"I want you ready to go to America tomorrow morning." Roland told him bluntly but Harry had seen the twitch of his hand towards his belt where Harry knew his knife was secured. Harry completed his motion and lifted a glass of orange juice from the counter and took a drink.

"For any particular reason?" Harry asked rebelliously.

"To track down a particularly slippery Jumper involved in a bank robbery." Roland told him sternly. Harry shrugged. "Just be ready to go."

"Do we know his name?" Harry asked.

"David Rice." Roland told him. "It shouldn't be all that difficult, we have a name and a residence."

Harry studied them both for a moment. Roland just looked eager to get after a Jumper but Mary was acting strange. It would take either Sophie or himself to notice but she was scared of something and it had something to do with this David Rice. "I'll be ready." Harry told him bluntly when he realised that his mother was getting nervous with Roland there. Harry became defensive and cold in an instant and Mary glanced at him in surprise. It wasn't long after that when Roland saw himself out. Harry walked to the door holding it open so he could make sure Roland got into his car.

"Next time, Jumper." Roland spat as he paused and turned to look back at him in the doorway. "Don't let Griffin get away."

Harry frowned and barely saw Roland continue to the car. That name was familiar to him but he didn't know where from. Perhaps a record he'd read before. He rubbed at his left temple as a headache rattled his nerves and turned when he felt a hand on his back. "Headache again?" His mother's voice was soft and concerned, so like Sophie's and so different from all the other Paladins.

Harry turned and shut the front door. "It's nothing, mum." Harry told her simply but he didn't miss the concerned look on her face that had nothing to do with his pain. "Are you going to tell me what's got you so riled up about this mission?"

"I don't know what you mean." She tried.

"I saw the way you closed up when he mentioned who he was hunting." Harry countered. "What's so special about him?"

"He's just a Jumper." She argued.

"Just a Jumper." Harry sighed and turned away from her. He had a foot on the stairs before he felt her grab her hand.

"I didn't mean it like that, Harry. You're proof that not all Jumpers go bad." She assured him.

"And what about this David Rice?" Harry asked without turning to look at her. "What did he do to deserve what Roland Cox plans to do with him?"

"Nothing." The words from her mouth were so quiet that Harry almost didn't hear them but they had him turning in an instant. Words like that could get you a very unpleasant interrogation.

"Who the hell is he?" Harry Jumped and was an inch from her in a second. "I know you and you're scared about something."

She opened and shut her mouth a few times obviously trying to come up with something to say but in the end it was as if the energy simply went out of her. Harry steadied her gently and she looked up into his emerald eyes with her own light brown ones, just like Sophie's. "David Rice..." She whispered. "Is my son."

Harry let go of her in shock and she was forced to steady herself. "Sophie's brother?" Harry whispered. He had known Niles wasn't Sophie's father, even if it wasn't possible in the timings she also held no resemblance. It was a logical conclusion. "Does she know she has a Jumper for a brother?"

Mary shook her head. "She already has a Jumper for a brother. You."

"You know what I mean." Harry countered angrily. "What happened?"

"He was four when he first Jumped and I panicked. I couldn't hand him over to the Paladins so I disappeared. I was pregnant at the time and Sophie was born shortly afterwards and David was raised by his father. I keep tabs on him in case he gets in trouble." Mary sighed. "Seven years ago he reportedly drowned after he fell through weak ice and I lost track of him. I think he must have discovered his Jumping ability."

"And he robbed a bank?" Harry mused. "Still, seven years without getting on our radar is pretty good going." Mary was leaning against the banister and Harry moved down the steps so they were eye to eye before he continued. "What do you want me to do?"

"What do you mean?" She frowned.

"Roland is going to confront him tomorrow and he'll expect me to track him if he gets away." Harry pointed out.

"If he gets away." Mary sighed.

"I can make sure he does." Harry deadpanned. "But it's hard for a Jumper to run from me."

"He's a good boy, Harry." She whispered. "I don't want to see him get hurt. Just give him a chance."

Harry snorted and turned for the stairs again. "Sometimes I wonder what else you're hiding from me." Harry didn't miss the violent flinch from her but pretended he hadn't. He'd always known she hid something from him but evidently it wasn't about David. "I have a brother who is a Jumper." Harry mused to himself before grinning. If Mary was right and David was a good guy then he'd do what he could to protect him, even if that meant going renegade.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter