Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition; MC4A
Position: Seeker
Prompt: I'll Be There For You - The Rembrandts
Fill: 5
Representations: Harry Potter; Luna Lovegood; Immortality; Knitting
Bonus Challenges: Machismo; Second Verse (Misshapen Pods; Rock of Ages)
Stacked with: Shadows of Consequence; Not Commonwealth; Paranormal Phantasm; Gryffindor MC 2; Ravenclaw MC 2; In a Flash
Word count: 1,050
The family was rushing along the station towards the platform where a scarlet train would be waiting. There were a myriad of traits present in the family; from jet black hair to the brightest of reds, sparkling green eyes and warm brown ones. The traits had been diluted throughout the years as more people joined the family and added their own traits.
A man watched them from afar with a small smile on his face. He shared some of the traits present in the family. If one was to see him alongside members of the large family, they would assume the man was a part of said family. In truth, he was and he wasn't. He had been, once, but that time was long gone and he was now merely a shadow watching over them.
The mother of twins was his daughter and her two brothers were walking alongside her with their own children in tow along with their partners. Lily's twins were in their fifth year of Hogwarts and been taking lessons from their Uncle George on how to properly confuse and exasperate their mother.
As the man watched, Lily looked up from her children and saw him. She froze for just a second before smiling and waving. One of the twins—Jasmine—followed her mother's line of sight and evidently asked who she had been waving to. Even though he couldn't hear her, Harry Potter knew what Lily would be saying.
"Just a friend, Jas, no one important."
That's all he was now; a friend. A family friend, maybe, but only a friend. Never a father or a grandfather. Not anymore. Not since it had become obvious that everyone around him was aging and he wasn't. Not since he had faked his own death and vanished from the sight of the wizarding world to keep himself and his family safe.
He smiled at Jasmine, returning her wave before the family vanished through the brick wall to Platform 9 and ¾ and out of his sight. This was the only time he could really see them safely. Visiting them had the potential for the secret of who he was to come out. The more people that knew, the more the risk was for a slip of the tongue.
He'd be there for the big events. He'd give all his family a way to contact him if they needed him. But he couldn't be there all the time. If he was there all the time, there was a fair chance he would no longer be able to be there for the big things after the Ministry smuggled him into the Department of Mysteries so they could test the seemingly immortal Boy-Who-Lived.
Harry shook himself to rid his mind of the depressing thoughts and started walking out of Kings Cross Station. As he weaved his way around the many people waiting for trains, he lifted the hood of his cloak and let the power of the Deathly Hallows activate—rendering himself invisible.
Unseen, he slipped onto a nearly empty bus and settled in a seat. The bus would take him into the centre of London where he now lived. The city was full of people and no one was looking for a young Harry Potter in the middle of London. Well, apart from his roommate.
"Okay?" she asked when he entered and collapsed against the now-closed front door.
"No, but fine."
Luna nodded in acknowledgment and dropped a teabag into the rubbish bin. "Tea's ready."
"If I was older. Luna," he said, letting the sentence trail off into a mere suggestion.
"You'd be with your family for all the little things as well as the big things," Luna finished as she carried her own cup of tea over to the couch and sat down.
"True." Harry hummed in agreement.
"And you are older, Harry. You just have very youthful skin."
Harry barked out a laugh as he hung the Invisibility Cloak on the designated hook and went to fetch the tea Luna had made. He then joined her on the couch and they sat in peaceful silence as they sipped the warm drink.
When their cups were half-full, Luna waved her wand and summoned over the bag of wool and needles from across the room. She grinned as she handed over Harry's current project to him. Harry took it with a quiet thank you; organising the already knitted wool over his lap, the active ball at his side, and positioning the needles correctly in his hands.
The blue shawl was for Luna, infused with warming charms to help keep her aging body warm in the cold. Harry and Luna had had a great day picking the perfect colour of wool, Harry had held up each prospective colour to Luna's silver hair with great theatre to show how it would match. Of course, the shawl was for Luna and though she had aged, she hadn't lost her love for colour. Harry had accordingly planned to add a rainbow tassel fringe when the shawl had been completed.
Luna was working on the purple squares of a white, black, grey, and purple checkered blanket. It was for Jasmine, as a present for when she finished her OWLs. Tyler's pink, yellow, and blue one was next on her list.
When he had been younger, he would never have thought that he would be sitting on a couch with a friend he loved calmly knitting a project. Knitting was something that no 'proper man' would be caught dead doing as his Uncle Vernon had drilled into him when Mrs. Figg had first introduced him to the art.
Now here he was, confidently knitting with various stitches making items for a family he never thought he'd have. Luna started humming lightly as she worked and Harry felt the remaining tension from seeing those he couldn't be with leave him. When he finished Luna's shawl, he decided, he'd make something for James, followed by the rest of his children and grandchildren.
Something that let them know he was there for them, no matter what. He may only be known as a family friend to the younger generation, but that didn't mean that they couldn't call on him for help. He was their grandfather, after all, even if they didn't know it.