Disclaimer – I solemnly swear that JKR owns everything Harry Potter. Whether or not I am up to no good with her characters is for you to decide.

-oOoOo-

Potter Haven

Chapter 10

It'd taken Harry a couple of days, but finally he was happy with the timetable that he'd put together. Dropping his quill beside the parchment, two objects that he planned to replace with normal pens and paper the next time that he went into the village, he surveyed his work.

Things back in the magical world seemed to be getting crazier and at the moment there was a glimmer of hope that one day, definitely not any time soon, he might actually be able to return.

Sirius' last letter had told him that he'd hired one of the best lawyers in Britain to help him beat the charges that Harry was charged with, although he did caution that, due to the seriousness of performing accidental magic in front of so many muggles, that it was going to be an uphill slog. Hopefully, the fact that Madam Bones had charged Professor Dumbledore and, as she'd put it in her letter, 'his recklessness was hopefully going to come back to bite him firmly in the ass' would help Harry's case later.

The latest couple of editions of The Daily Prophet had also flummoxed him. Gone were the constant disparaging articles written by Rita Skeeter calling for his head for putting their world in such danger. Instead, articles written by a Marcus Waynesbury, reminded the wizarding world of his past 'heroic deeds'. It wasn't until he'd received a letter from Daphne explaining that her father now owned controlling interest in the newspaper that he understood why the change had occurred.

But even if the adults back in the wizarding world were attempting to fix things for him, Harry was very aware of the seriousness of the charges that had been laid on him, including the refusal to comply with a direct order by the DMLE to surrender himself. Almost daily letters and pleas to come home or at least to tell them where he was by Sirius, Remus, Minerva, not to mention his friends, were soundly ignored. There was no way that Harry was going to trust that his luck would change. Especially not after ten years with the Dursleys and the latest year where the vast majority of Hogwarts were so aggressive towards him.

No, it was clear to Harry that his safety came first. And that meant keeping his whereabouts a strict secret known only to himself and to Dobby. It also meant that if he wanted to continue learning magic, then it was up to him to teach himself. Thus the timetable that he'd just finished putting together.

Harry let his eyes rove over his work. In a tribute to Hermione, every subject was colour-coded for ease of understanding. He'd tried to keep his days balanced, delegating Transfiguaration, Charms and Defence Against The Dark Arts to different days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday, respectively), as well as spreading out those new subject that he thought sounded a bit gruelling – Ancient runes, Arithmancy and Enchanting.

From flicking through the book on the Mind Arts and the section on animagi in the Marauder's journal that he'd been given for Christmas, he saw that both disciplines were long term and potentially very draining, so they were spread far apart as well – one on Monday, the other on Friday.

When it came to deciding his timetable, Harry'd taken a long time to eventually decide that three subjects a day, Monday to Friday, for two hours each (except for Muggle Studies which only needed an hour at most to read the next chapter in the textbook) should be more than enough. That meant that he could easily fit in fifteen subjects a week. With his normal seven Hogwarts subjects plus the four electives, that meant that he could choose an additional four areas from the many extra subject on his shelves that Hogwarts no longer offered. That, too, took a long time to decide; there were simply so many great options.

In the end, he'd filled his timetable with:

Monday – Transfiguration, Mind Arts, Ancient Runes

Tuesday – History of Magic, Herbology, Potions

Wednesday – Charms, Arithmancy, Astronomy (at night)

Thursday – Muggle Studies (one hour to allow a bit of a sleep in after the late night before), Care of Magical Creatures, Beginning Healing (Harry thought this was a particularly good one to study without Madam Pomfrey around in case of accidents)

Friday – Defence Against the Dark Arts, Animagi study, Enchanting

Saturdays, Harry decided to take off. That was Dobby's day off, so he thought that it made sense to join him in lazing about. The last subject that had caught Harry's eye that he really didn't want to leave for another year as he was going to do with some of the other subjects that he'd come across, was Fencing and Sword Fighting, so he'd added it to his timetable as a single subject for Sunday mornings.

That was also when he'd decided to do some concentrated work with the rowan staff that he'd found in the Chamber of Secrets. The few times that he'd attempted to use it, he'd found it too big and bulky to wield like his wand. He wasn't able to make 11the wand movements that he'd normally do with a spell and until he worked it out, he was loathe to use it for his everyday spell work.

After duplicating the timetable twice, Harry hung one in the library before heading off to add one to the kitchen where he'd see it during breakfast each day and then upstairs to the main classroom that he'd decided to use to hang the last.

-oOoOo-

The fourth Saturday in July, which also happened to be the third Saturday since Dobby had joined him, started out just like any other day with Dobby popping in beside his bed moments after he'd woken up.

"Good morning, Master Harry Sir," the little house elf chirped.

"Morning Dobby," Harry yawned.

Rolling his head to look at his friend, Harry winced and slammed his eyes closed. Dobby's outfit was far too wild for that time of the morning.

"Would Master Harry Sir like Dobby to do some chores around the house today?" Dobby asked, a wisp of hopefulness in his voice.

"Dobby, it's Saturday, you know that that means I'm not going to tell you what to do today," he explained as patiently as he could, just as he had the Saturday before. "It's your day off. Go, do whatever it is that elves do for fun."

Opening his eyes a crack, Harry caught the end of a fleeting look of sadness.

"Dobby, you do so much for me. I honestly think that I would have gone crazy already without you here with me," Harry told him. "But I don't want you to think that all you have to do is look after me. I'm quite capable of feeding myself for one day of the week."

"Yes, Master Harry Potter Sir," Dobby nodded slowly before popping away with a snap of his fingers.

Harry sighed in relief. Dobby was brilliant to have around but sometimes he could be a bit too smothering. Rolling over, he contemplated his day. The idea of simply lying in bed all day sounded appealing but after being constantly cooped up in the manor for so many weeks, he felt like getting out and about a bit today.

Oh, sure, the couple of times that he and Dobby had been out hunting animals and plants for the enclosure and the greenhouses had varied the days a bit, but those days were too fast paced and chaotic to be even considered relaxing. And while the sound of exploring the valley sounded fun, it was people that he actually craved.

As he got up and crossed to his wardrobe, Harry planned his day. Breakfast in the village at the Plough and Shear for a bit of variety and with a good chance to see and talk to other people this morning. Perhaps a wander around the village after that. Then, this afternoon, he'd take to the air and explore the valley from his nimbus. It'd been far too long since he'd taken the time to fly.

-oOoOo-

Harry slowly rolled up to the two storied, red stone building, dismounted and lent his bike against the wall a dozen or so metres down from the door. Today the old oak door was wide open allowing him to simply stroll in. He'd barely taken half a dozen steps into the old pub when he was hailed.

"Hadrian, right? It's good to see you again!"

Harry lifted one hand in a wave as his mouth split into a lop-sided grin.

"Hi, Angus," he returned to the old man behind the bar wiping a glass on a towel.

Looking around the large open-plan room, Harry realised that, once again, he was the only customer. He supposed that he simply came earlier than anyone else.

"What can I be getting' ya?" Angus asked as he placed the now dry glass under the bar.

As he'd done the last time that he was in, Harry scanned the large chalkboard affixed to the back wall. After a minute, he lowered his eyes to the nearly bald barkeep in front of him.

"I think I'll go for the 'big breakfast' again," he said.

"Good choice. I'll let the wife know," Angus said before disappearing momentarily into the kitchen.

"It'll be ten minutes," he said as he returned. Leaning on the bar, he eyed Harry up and down. "You look to be doing well. Settling in alright?"

"Yeah, I am," Harry replied. "I grew up in the city, but I must admit that I'm really liking being out in the country."

"Ain't nothing like it," Angus grinned, "especially this countryside. You seen much of the town yet?"

Harry shook his head, "no, not yet. I was thinking of exploring it after breakfast."

"Make sure you stop by the old town hall," Angus said, "there's a lot of good heritage to see there."

"I'll do that," Harry replied, but before he could say anything else, he was distracted by the sight of Jillian arriving with a large plate in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other.

"There you go, love," she smiled, laying the items on the counter in front of him.

Talk then tended to remain on the opposite side of the bar from Harry then as he dug into the plate full of bacon, eggs, tomato and toast. As Harry listened, occasionally adding in a comment here or there, he heard more about the town. In return, he explained that he'd mostly been confined to home since moving in as he and his 'family' were getting the new house set up.

A loud grating sound outside on the gravel sounded as Harry was mopping up the last of his egg yolk with his toast. In front of him, Angus and Jillian's heads shot up, their eyes widening at the sound. He was just in the process of spinning around to find out what had caught their attention when it was made plainly obvious to him. A veritable babble of voices, accompanied by the sounds of dozens of feet trooping on the gravel and then the doorstep announced a hoard of people entering the Plough and Shear.

"Get the stove fired up, love, looks like we've got another of them tour buses," Angus stated.

Immediately, Jillian could be heard scurrying away behind him. Harry watched as the gaggle of people surveyed the room before veering towards the tables to his right. They were mostly late middle aged or older couples, with a few younger families mixed in.

As Angus came out from behind the bar, a pad and pencil in his hand, he stopped, looked back at Harry, then at the crowd once more before coming to a decision and leaning across to the boy still sitting at the bar.

"Hadrian. How'd you like a couple of hours of work?" he asked.

Harry stared. "What would I have to do?"

"You any good in a kitchen?" Angus asked.

"I've been cooking for my family since I could reach the stove," he replied.

"In that case, head on back and tell Jill that I sent you in to help," Angus instructed.

Picking up his dirty plate and glass, Harry rounded the bar and pushed open the door to the kitchen with shoulder. Inside he found a large room that was a mix of old and new. Jillian was in front of the near wall where a pair of large six burner stoves and ovens stood. Beside it was a bench that was currently piled high with cartons of eggs, packs of bacon and a huge stainless steel bowl full of onions.

"Angus sent me back to give you a hand," Harry said as her eyes looked up quizzically at him.

She nodded and let out a breath of air signifying her relief. "Thanks, love. Pop those in the sink over there."

Harry rounded the large centre bench to the twin sinks and deposited his dirty dishes inside. Then, seeing as he was going to be working with food, gave his hands a thorough wash.

"We don't usually get tour buses stopping here, but when we do, Angus and I are often run off our feet. How are you at chopping, Hadrian?" Jillian asked.

Harry's mind flittered back to Privet Drive and then across to a dark dingy potions lab. "Pretty good."

"In that case, how about you start chopping up a bowl full of mushrooms. There's a sack in the pantry," Jillian instructed.

The whoosh of the fire of the stove igniting sounded behind him as he entered the large walk-in room. Inside were shelves and bins full of all kinds of food. A second door inside indicated where the cold room could be found. A small sack sat on the floor near his feet, its mouth opened partway showing mushrooms. Picking it up, Harry went straight to the centre bench, found a cutting board on the lower shelf, grabbed up a knife out of the block and set to work.

Angus had appeared before the bowl was even a quarter full with the first half-dozen pages full of orders. After that, the kitchen became a blur of chopping and filleting, frying and toasting, sautéing and roasting. Harry and Jillian moved around each other in a cooking dance that saw them become infinitely familiar with both of their abilities in the kitchen.

Harry, for his part, stuck to the more basic parts of the meals – cooking the toast, chopping tomatoes and potatoes and more mushrooms and onions. Jillian was responsible for the stove work and plating up the orders that Angus gave them. Once they were far enough along, Jillian thrust a pair of loaded plates into his hands directed his gaze towards the floor plan on the back of the door to the kitchen, told him the table number and sent him out to begin delivering the meals.

Later, once all of the meals had been delivered and the kitchen was back in some semblance of order, he'd been sent back out to the dining room to collect the empty plates and drink ware. From there, his arms were plunged into soapy water as he became the dishwasher to Jillian's drier.

Some three hours later, Harry found himself once more sitting at the counter in the pub, a tall glass of iced soft drink in front of him.

"You've got no idea how much your help meant to Jillian and me today, Hadrian," Angus said as he relaxed on the stool beside him.

"Jillian said that you don't get many tour buses through here," Harry commented.

"Nah, we don't," Angus confirmed, "but when we do, it's more than just the two of us can usually handle."

Reaching across the bar, he picked up a small pile of notes and slapped them down on the bar in front of Harry.

"Here you go. Twenty pounds and you earned every penny of it. Your breakfast and drinks are on the house, of course," Angus said.

The determined look on the old barkeep's face froze Harry's protest in his chest.

"Now, young Hadrian, me and the Misses had a quick talk before and we've got a proposition for you," Angus said.

"Oh?" Harry questioned.

"Yeah. Yeah. Last time you were in, I think I was tellin' ya Hadrian, that running this place can get a bit much for just the two of us old folk?"

Harry's nod of remembrance was enough for Angus to continue.

"And after the bang up job you did for us this mornin', we'd like to offer you a job with us," he smiled. "It'd only be part-time, of course. Saturdays and Sunday afternoons if you can swing it."

Harry nodded slowly. His immediate thought was to jump at the chance. A part-time job that'd get him out of Potter Haven and around some people each week sounded the perfect thing to starve away the cabin fever that was sure to build if he confined himself to the valley. And those times fitted in perfectly with his study timetable.

"What would I be doing?" he asked slowly.

"Much like this morning," Angus explained. "Helping out in the kitchen with the cooking and cleaning; some tidying up; maybe some extra odd jobs here and there."

Harry flicked his gaze around the large room, taking it all in.

"It's not always like this morning," Angus half smiled.

"Angus, I think that I'd like to take you up on your offer," he said.

"Great. That's really great," Angus beamed, holding out his hand.

And on their handshake, the deal was done.

-oOoOo-

A/N – Merry Christmas to all!

After six and a half months of writing over 190,000 words (more than I've ever done before) including posting a new chapter every 2 days for the past 2 months, the holiday season has hit curtailing my writing somewhat. Reluctantly, I'm being forced to slow my writing back to posting twice a week. I promise to continue my writing – I've got the majority of Potter Haven all mapped out, as well as bits and pieces for the next two years as well (including a pivotal scene from year 4 already written). Hopefully in a month or so I'll be able to resume posting every 2 days.

I also have a small HP fanfic side project in the works (but that only gets worked on during the lulls when my brain needs some time to plot my main stories on the backburner) which I hope to post sometime in the New Year.