Chapter Text
Jack Harkness, or to give him his full name John Harvey Harkness, was dramatically orphaned at the age of 8 when his Father, Lord John William Harkness of Boghaven, was drowned while trying to go over the Niagara Falls in a Barrel. His Mother jumped over the falls after her husband, screaming something about being unable to live without him.
When the news finally arrived in Boghaven, discussions began immediately over what was to be done with Jack, who was now Lord John Harvey Harkness and in possession of a vast fortune as well as 2 country estates. Lord John William had three unmarried sisters and a brother, who all lived together in a large House on the outskirts of Boghaven City, so it was decided that Jack would live with them until he was old enough to go to Boghaven School, which, technically speaking, he now owned.
It was a bright sunny day in early May when Jack arrived at Rough House where his Uncle and Aunts lived. The large Oak door was opened to welcome him by his Aunt Alice, a small blond woman with a very large nose and piercing brown eyes.
"No servants today, dear" she told him, as she ushered him inside "because it's Tuesday."
Jack couldn't see what the day had to do with the lack of servants, but he didn't say anything as he entered the House and found himself inside a huge Hallway decorated in a bright and rather alarming purple. At the end of the Hallway was a flight of stairs, and at the foot of the stairs stood a very tall female wearing a green dress and a red hat covered with Peacock feathers.
"That's your Uncle Bunny" said Aunt Alice "and I'm your Aunt Alice." As she spoke, two other people arrived in the Hall; a slim man in a dress suit and a very tiny woman smoking a pipe. "Ah" said Alice "this is your Aunt Matty and Aunt Henry."
Aunt Henry, not surprisingly, was the one in the suit. Jack was somewhat confused about what sex his relations were but he didn't like to ask, so he just shook hands with them all very politely, noticing as he did so that Uncle Bunny had long red fingernails and Aunt Matty had bad breath.
This was Jack's introduction to his closest relatives. His father had told him once that he had relatives but they were all mad. Coming from a man who collected models of spiders for fun this was actually a compliment. Uncle Bunny was really called Edward, but he had very large ears, which he hid expertly under a mass of hair. The story was that when he was born his Mother took one look at him and said "he looks just like Bunny", which was the name of a pet rabbit she once had. The name stuck. As a small child, Alice, who was closest in age to Bunny, had been terrified that a strong wind would catch his ears and blow him away. Bunny, taking this seriously as only a Harkness can, decided to try to fly and chose the roof of the Coal House as a starting point. He fell down like a stone and broke both legs which left him with a very attractive limp which he told everyone had been caused by being tortured by Pygmies somewhere in Africa.
Aunt Henry had decided very early in life that she was a man who had had the misfortune to be born with the wrong body. As a result of this conviction she became the first, and so far only, girl to ever go to Boghaven School where she was a great success and even became Captain of Bog House. Her Parents had sent here there because they thought it would scare her out of her boyish ways. It was a complete failure and Aunt Henry was the most popular person in the school before she had been there a month. Her ability to spit long distances and her magnificent copying talents, which meant she could copy any signature with ease, coupled with her knowledge of swear words made her everyones friend. She went on to Cambridge at a time when no women were admitted and got two first class degrees. Then she traveled all over the World and had a great time before retiring at the age of 30.
Aunt Matty had run off with the gamekeeper at the age of 14. He was 49 at the time. When he left her in Brighton for another woman she spent some time looking for him and when she found him she shot him in the head. He died two days later and Aunt Matty was arrested but was released when her Father arrived at the Jail shouting "let my daughter go--don't you know who she is?"
Aunt Alice was comparatively normal compared to her siblings but even she had a very irritating habit of almost constantly whistling. Jack soon got used to the habits of Uncle Bunny, who didn't want to be a woman but preferred their clothing, and Aunt Matty being always surrounded by smoke and Aunt Henry's various oddities, but he found the whistling very irritating.
Not long after his arrival at Rough House Aunt Alice found Jack doing what she called "fiddling". She told him quite seriously that if he continued to "fiddle" he would grow hair on the palms of his hands. Jack, being a Harkness through and through, was tremendously exited by the idea of having hairy palms and fiddled more often, studying his palms closely after each fiddle. He was very disappointed to find no hair growing there even if he fiddled with himself 20 times a day. All it did was make his hands ache and his cock turn red, which fact he confessed one day to Mary, one of the Maids, who promptly provided cream for the problem. Jack found the application of the cream a very pleasant experience and made sure that he needed the cream frequently and also made sure that Mary applied it, using the excuse that he couldn't do it as well as she could.
While he was at Rough House Jack was tutored by Aunt Henry. Aunt Henry was a superb teacher and even managed to make learning Latin and Greek exiting. It was expected that Jack would go to Boghaven School when he was 12 and it was made plain to everyone concerned that he would be treated just like all the other boys.
Boghaven was built on the site of a massive bog which had been drained by Jack's Great Grandfather, who had spent long hours helping to dig out the muck of the bog himself because he liked to be covered in mud. Some people thought the name was funny, which the inhabitants of Boghaven found very insulting. Boghaven School took in boys of superior class {their own words} from all over the Country. To get in boys had to be very rich and be able to pass an exam. A great many of them failed the exam which they were then allowed to resit, and as a result some cheating went on. Jack did not need to pass the exam because he owned the whole estate as well as another estate in the North of the Country.
When Jack finally reached the great age of 12, on the 20th August in the year 18--, he was told he would go to Boghaven School in September of that year. Another Chapter of his life was about to begin.