John felt like he was muddling through this parenting thing fairly well considering he had not had the usual nine months to prepare. In the last few weeks he and Harry had gradually begun to get to know each other. They had developed a routine that worked for them. Harry was also very slowly opening up. He showed more trust and less fear when he met new people, and with John and Mrs. Hudson he was surprisingly affectionate. John had enrolled him in a day school for the times when he needed to go into the clinic. It had taken several days before Harry would speak and interact with the other students and teachers, but soon he was excited to go on the days that John worked. All of the adults had agreed that it would be a good thing for Harry to interact with children his age.
Dumbledore came by occasionally and used the owl he had sent (John still shook his head about the owl that lived in his sitting room.) to keep up with John and Harry. McGonagall came by floo once a week to teach John more about their world. Harry had not yet had any incidents of accidental magic, so John really wasn't surprised when Harry's first meltdown came on the heels of a very long day which had thrown them off schedule.
He had been called into the clinic at the last minute to fill in for a doctor with a family emergency. Harry had felt a little warm and was unusually grumpy when John had dropped him at school. A call from the school four hours later confirmed Johns fears of Harry being ill. After collecting Harry and getting him home, John tried to put him down for a nap. For the first time since coming to Baker Street, Harry fought John on going to sleep, ending with tears, a red face, and all the objects in the flat floating mid air. Once objects started floating, Harry stopped crying mid-tantrum.
"S..s-orry, John, I'm sorry..I didn't mean to." Eyes wide, Harry began to inch away from John. This was the Harry that John first met, a child scared of himself and his own abilities.
"S'okay, Harry. I'm gonna send for Professor McGonagall and we'll see if we can't set it to rights." John scribbled a quick note, attached it to Hedwig, and opened the window so she could be on her way. Moving to Harry, he picked up the boy and held him while quietly humming under his breath until he fell asleep. John settled into the couch with Harry on his lap, half expecting the floating objects to come crashing down, but they continued to float lazily near the ceiling.
John was still holding Harry, lost in his own thoughts when Professor McGonagall stepped out of his fireplace an hour later, she glanced around the room quickly. "Well. Must have been quite a strop."
John smiled and watched as she took out her wand, gave a few flicks of the wrist, and floated all of the flat's objects back into their proper places. "Thanks, Minerva. I think he's got a touch of the bug going around his school. Do you have time for a cuppa?"
"John, there is always time for a cuppa." Eyes twinkling, with a small smirk gracing her mouth, she put her wand away and moved to sit in the red wingback chair. "I'll put him to bed and then get the kettle on."
Ten minutes later, they were settled in with a steaming cup in hand. At first, John hadn't been sure how to interact Professor McGonagall, as she reminded him greatly of his Gran. Strong and stern, she could be quite intimidating when she was of a mind to be. He had slowly begun to notice her other qualities. She had a wicked sense of humor, but didn't suffer fools gladly. Once she had learned of his Scottish ancestry, they found they had more in common than either had thought. They often chatted after her lessons and John found himself looking forward to her visits.
"Harry seems to be doing very well with you, John." The corner of John's mouth quirked in a pleased smile.
"Ta. He seems to be settling in well. He's had a few nightmares and he's still not as confident as I would like for him to be, but most days we don't have too much trouble. This is the first time he's gotten upset like this, and you can't blame him, really."
Minerva gave a small hum of agreement. "How are you, John? You seem to be taking everything rather calmly. Maybe a little too calmly. I have to say, I keep expecting you to react badly, but you continue to surprise me."
John mulled over her words while he sipped his cooling tea. After living with Sherlock's mood swings and body parts in the fridge, dealing with Harry was practically a walk in the park. John had often likened Sherlock to an overgrown toddler. Harry seemed like a very small adult in comparison.
"Sherlock always said I never reacted the way he expected me to. He was not the easiest person to get along with and truthfully we had rows pretty often, usually because of something he did or said. Living with him taught me to expect the unexpected. So, really, there's not much Harry could throw out there that would surprise me." With another sip of tea and a small shrug of his shoulders, John continued.
"I just try to take things as they come, mostly. I can't really get upset about things that Harry can't control. If I did, I wouldn't be any better than my cousin and her husband."
"A wise approach, I think, John. Now tell me, have you thought of any questions since our last lesson?" A bright smile lit John's face and made him look years younger. "Yes. Can you tell me more about Quidditch? It sounds fantastic."
With a cheeky grin, Minerva began to explain the game of Quidditch. The two spent a lovely evening discussing the basics of offensive and defensive plays, positions, and professional teams.
In the weeks that followed, there were no less than three other incidents of Harry's accidental magic. When the first new Doctor Who of the season came on, Harry got so excited, he exploded the light bulbs in all the lamps of the sitting room. When John left for three days to go to a medical conference, he came back to find Harry having a conversation with the skull on the mantle while Mrs. Hudson knitted on the couch. (How a skull could talk without a tongue was anyone's guess and if the voice sounded just like his, John would never admit to being a little creeped out.) There was the time the toaster popped up John's toast for breakfast one morning and continued to produce toast on it's own. To Harry's delight and John's amusement, this resulted in Harry's first trip to feed the ducks. For the most part, it was fairly easy to forget that Harry was a wizard. Most days they muddled through fairly well.
A/N: Hello Lovelies! I hope you enjoyed! I have so appreciated all your ideas and I am working diligently to try to fit everyone's ideas in while still maintaining the story line I set out to write. This is the last chapter I had pre-written before posting the story, so you should see our ideas in he next few chapters. Please keep those headcannons coming!
On the recommendation of both All the Lovely Horses and Bsum1, I am going back and re-formatting previous chapters, so they should be updated in the next few days. Also if anyone knows how to add links to profile pages or other stories, please PM me and let me know!
Until next time, gentle viewers, enjoy!
