A New Beginning
*Disclaimer: I don't own any characters or places except for my own creations*
* Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry it's taken so long. AP exams are coming up, and I just recently got a job, so my time is limited. I'll try to update as regularly as possible, but I have found that I just cannot make any sort of promises. Again, I'm so sorry. But thanks for continuing to follow the story, and continue to review! *
Ch. 7
The next morning came quickly, too quickly for Harry. Yawning, he rose from his bed and checked on Tom. He sighed with relief when he saw Tom's figure curled up under the covers, an arm hung limply off the side of the bed. Harry was careful to be quiet as he stepped out of the room and went down to the fireplace.
"Mrs. Prince, I'm sorry to bother you so early. Can you look after my son Tom today? I can't take any more time off from work, and Ron and Hermione have to work as well?" he asked after he threw some floo powder into the fireplace. He supposed that he should have at least tried to make his unruly hair presentable, but he was too hurried to try and make a better impression on the young mother.
Harry had met Elisabetta Prince on a trip to the market a few days before he had gotten Tom by literally running into her and falling into a shelf of goods. His face red with embarrassment, Harry introduced himself to her after he helped her up. Elisabetta didn't seem to mind too much though. She just shrugged it off and offered to help him re-shelve the goods. Harry learned that she lived pretty close to his property, was married to a wealthy pureblood, and had a three-year-old daughter named Eileen (it was a bit later that he was stricken with the realization that Eileen Prince was, without a doubt, the future mother of Professor Snape…). He told her the same lie about his past that he had told everyone else that he met, and was thankful that she seemed to believe him. He then proceeded to tell her about her about his plans to adopt Tom. Elisabetta was very encouraging and told him to firecall her anytime if he needed her to watch him. He met with her a few other times and found that she was very intelligent and loved to have conversations about just about anything, including politics in the muggle world. Her husband, Georg, was also extremely kind-hearted, but a bit too passionate about his investments.
It took a few minutes before she came into view. Like Harry, her hair was still messy from sleep and she was in her nightclothes.
" No, it' fine. I can look after Tom after seven, but I would have to take him with Eileen when I go to Beth Kirkland's house for a book club meeting. There will be other children there though for him to meet though. Has he met any other kids yet?"
"That's fine, I can't thank you enough. Do you know who else's kids will be there that are around Tom's age? I haven't exactly tried to find ways for Tom to meet other kids yet."
" Cynthia McDermott's son Kevin will be there, he's ten or eleven. Then there's little Bella Donahue, she's around twelve. And there's one more…oh, and Reuben Knott, he's twelve. Usually Elle Malfoy's son Abraxas comes, although he has started staying by himself since he's gotten older. The rest of the children are a bit younger though. I'm sure Tom will be fine."
" Thank you so much. Tom and I will floo in after seven." With that Harry ended the call and went on to make breakfast.
After about twenty minutes of the sound of clattering dishes, Tom came down. Unlike Harry, he was already dressed in a white button down and black pants. His dark hair, darker than usual from the wetness of his shower, was combed neatly. The only indicator that he had been asleep just an hour ago was the small traces of sleep lodged within the corners of his eyes.
" Did you have a good night Tom?" Harry asked as he handed his son a plate.
" Yeah, it was alright. Why can't I stay here by myself?" Tom asked as he prodded at his breakfast with his fork.
Harry sighed. " We've been over this Tom. You're only ten years old and I don't know this town well enough to let you run around without any supervision for a long period of time yet. I'll probably give you more freedom as I get used to this arrangement though. "
" But Harry"
" You'll be fine Tom. You've met Mrs. Prince before, and she's going to take you to her book club to meet other kids."
" Why do I need to meet other kids? I knew other kids at the orphanage and they were all brats."
" Just try to make friends, ok Tom? I've got to go shower and drop you off. I can't be late for work." Harry ate quickly, trying to ignore Tom's grumbles of having to be dropped off. He would try it for the week and see how he felt about letting Tom stay at home alone later. Dobby would have been perfectly happy to watch the boy, but Harry wanted the elf to adjust to a free life. At the time, Dobby was fixated on restoring the mansion.
After a shower and multiple attempts to make his hair look more presentable, Harry knocked on Tom's door.
"Do you have your books and all? We need to leave." The door swung open sharply and Tom came out with a bag full of books.
" I still think I can stay here."
" I'll think about it. Come on, I'm running late." Harry rushed them to the fireplace and they floo'd to the Prince Manor.
Tom landed with a thud. He was still in awe of the Wizarding world, and was enthralled with the manor's elegant decorations that must have been centuries old.
Mrs. Prince came over with a small girl hanging to her skirts.
" Thanks again for watching Tom. Here, take some sickles."
" Don't bother Harry. Hello Tom, how are you?" she asked as she picked her daughter up.
" Alright." He shrugged.
Harry said goodbye to them quickly and floo'd to the Auror Department.
" Sorry I'm late, I had to find someone to look after Tom."
" Don't worry. Here, you're on patrol in Diagon Alley." His supervisor handed him his schedule and sent him out after he clocked in.
The day went by pretty slowly from there on. Harry walked around the alley; the only crime he had to take care of was a teenage wizard tried to pick a pocket of another wizard, oblivious to the fact that most wizards used anti-theft charms. Harry was glad that Grindelwald wasn't appearing to be too active though. The thought of battling another dark wizard was overbearing. He was content to live quietly, something he would have never been able to do in his past life.
He bumped into her after lunch.
" Excuse me, I didn't mean to run into you."
" No, it's fine."
It was when she looked into his eyes that his heart seemed to melt. The feeling he got, it was different from when he fell in love with Ginny. His relationship with her had been built on the need for comfort and security in times of turmoil. After the war, he and Ginny found that they just had irreconcilable differences, and were just not meant to be. However, this girl was different.
She was around twenty, with olive skin, dark brown eyes, and chocolate colored hair that fell in curls around her slender face. She was dressed as if she were wealthy, yet she didn't have the usual air of arrogance that seemed to surround wealthy pureblood families.
" I'm Harry Po…Peverell." He managed to stumble out while he gawked at her.
" It's nice to meet you. My names Adelaide Knott." She said as she shook hands with him. She took in the young auror, trying to figure out how a Peverell has suddenly appeared in London.
" Would you..um..would you want to go for some butterbeer? There's not much going on right now and…"
" I'd love to." She said as she took his hand. " Do you want to go to the Leaky Cauldron?"
Harry thought that he was in heaven as she guided him through the alley into the pub, and couldn't even remember ordering his drink. He vaguely remembered Theodore Nott from his days at Hogwarts and wondered if the Knott and Nott families were related, but he was so mesmerized by the young witch that he could hardly concentrate on anything else. It wasn't even that she was stunningly beautiful; there was something about her that felt magical, like there was a link that connected their souls the moment they looked at each other.
" So where are you from, I thought the Peverells had died out?" she asked as they waited for their drinks.
" I was born in France…" he began as he proceeded to tell her the lie he was now used to telling. However, something in him felt horrible as he continued to lie to her about his childhood in France and his past.
" So, what's your background?" he asked her while he sipped on his drink.
" I'm from the Knott family, a pureblood family closely related to the Notts. There was a misunderstanding a few generations back, and that's when our ancestors split. I grew up outside of London, and I work at St. Mungos after having worked as an intern there for a year after I graduated cum laude from Hogwarts. I have an older sister, Jacqueline, and an older brother named Charles. What do you do?"
" I recently joined the Aurors a few months ago; however, I just took a bit of time off. I just adopted a young boy from a muggle orphanage."
" Is he magical?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the young wizard. Certainly an auror would know not to bring muggles into their world.
" Of course, he's a relative of mine. I found out about him after doing some family research."
" Why did you want to take him in though?" She asked curiously.
" He needed me, and I was getting lonely. My friends moved into one of the cottages on the Peverell grounds, but I wanted a family."
" Oh…that's sweet." She finally said. " Are you married?"
" No, Tom's the only family I have. I'm not dating either. Are you single?" He asked, then mentally cursed himself for seeming so blunt and desperate.
" No, I just broke up with my boyfriend a few months ago. It was…it was pretty ugly."
" I'm sorry I brought it up."
" No, it's alright. It's just a thing of the past now."
Time seemed to fly by as the two talked to one another and learned more about each other. Harry tried to reveal as much about him as he could, but was grateful when the conversation shifted back to her. He learned that Adelaide's favorite class was charms, and that she was extremely enthusiastic about politics. She loved painting and horseback riding, as well as studying muggle history and culture. She was a pureblood, but her side of the Knott-Nott family was extremely accepting of muggles. He noticed that she was very cultured and elegant as well, yet she was fun and had a laugh that could compete with no other.
" I need to get back to work now, but would you want to go out sometime?" Harry asked as he paid for their drinks.
" I'd love to Harry" Adelaide found herself saying. She wasn't sure why she was attracted to the nervous young man in front of her. She'd vowed that she would avoid courting men for a while after her relationship ended, yet Harry intrigued her. He was awfully handsome, and it was obvious that he was educated and wealthy. The fact that he took in an orphaned boy at such a young age astonished her as well, and she loved the mysterious aura that seemed to surround him. She felt a deeper connection with him than she had ever felt with anyone before.
Harry left for home that day with a sense of hope that, for the first time, he could make real progress of having a family for himself. Even though he had just met Adelaide, there was just something about her that he just knew that she was the one. He grinned to himself like twelve-year-old schoolboy in love as he knocked on Mrs. Prince's door, his fingers fiddling with the piece of parchment with Adelaide's address scribbled upon it.
