Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters.
A/N: I recently read a story which I had read in the past though both the title and the name of the person posting it were different. When I accused the new 'author' of plagiarism they replied that they never claimed to have written the story and the original owner "never said that i couldn't share the story it's self. Beside's they put it out their for people's entertainment if they wanted people to know who wrote it they would tell." They then proceded to tell me off for making a false accusation. Needless to say I then reported them.
So to make it perfectly clear. THIS IS MY STORY AND NOBODY HAS PERMISSION TO POST IT ANY WHERE ELSE OR REPOST IT ON THIS SITE UNDER ANY NAME. And I stand by my words that only a despicable human being would steal another person's work in this way.
A/N2: For anybody who has read or followed my other stories please be aware that I am not updating them just adding the above notification of ownership over the next day or so. I apologise for any disappointment or inconvenience.
Chapter 12
Teddy went down for a nap after lunch and Hadrian prepared to leave. "Thanks for today" he said to Andi. "But you know, you don't have to stay with us the whole time. I'd be fine looking after him if you wanted to get your hair done or visit the dressmakers or something. I can do any day next week except Friday. Let me know what day suits you."
"I'm sure you can look after him as well as I can" Andi agreed. "Shall we aim for Thursday next week. Are you coming here again or would you like him to come to you?"
"I'll come here to visit. I won't subject him to an international portkey until he's old enough to stay a couple of weeks or more" Hadrian said decisively.
Andi smiled. "You know that won't be until he's ten?" She said.
"Any younger and I'd have to come and travel with him anyway so to would mean more portkeying for me, not less" Hadrian replied shuddering at the idea of four portkeys in one day. "The portkey officer did assure me I'd get used to it" he added hopefully.
"They sell a lot of international portkeys?" Andi asked.
"No but their country is so huge that from the east coast England is closer than the west coast of America and they sell a lot of transcontinental portkeys" Hadrian explained. "How is Teddy with being apparated? I might try to find some scarcely populated national park areas to explore with him. Or I could disguise myself and take him to magical areas."
"You know you don't have to take him places all the time. Teddy will be happy just to picnic out here, particularly with the climbing equipment."
"I didn't make it permanent but it should safely last at least two or three days" Hadrian warned her.
"I'll vanish it tomorrow night then" Andi replied, grateful for the warning. "And you can make him a new one next time you come, that way it will always be a novelty."
"I'd like to take him out places too. I want him to have all the experiences I heard about as a kid" Hadrian said.
"He'll enjoy them much more when he's a little older" Andi told him gently.
-o0o-
Hadrian arrived home sick to his stomach from the portkey. He checked the time and quickly turned back a several hours with his time-turner to give himself an hour to rest before going downstairs and cooking breakfast with Tim.
"Hey Hades. You look exhausted. Have you at least got tomorrow off?" Tim asked as he let himself into the flat. They'd exchanged keys when Hadrian moved up into his own apartment and Tim had told him to let himself in whenever he wanted.
"Yeah thank Merlin" Hadrian replied tiredly.
"That's a strange expression. Is it new British slang? I've never heard anyone else say it" Tim commented.
Hadrian froze for a second. "I guess it's a boarding school in joke. The school was in an old medieval castle and things were all done the old fashioned way. The headmaster was old enough to have known Merlin personally and kind of looked like him too." Hadrian lied trying to explain it.
Tim laughed. "I'm sure he seemed that old to a bunch of teenagers" he said.
Hadrian laughed too. "Yeah but he really was old as dirt. Way beyond the normal retiring age but he'd been living and working in the school since his early twenties and he had too much charisma for anyone to kick him out though the deputy did most of the day to day running of the school."
"It sounds like a very strange school. Why would anyone would send their children to a school like that?" Tim asked questioningly.
"About three quarters of the students are legacy students. My father's ancestors have been attending the school for hundreds of years. My Mother was a scholarship student. (Not really but this was the best way to describe muggleborns without mentioning magic.)
"How do the scholarship students fit in?" Tim asked. He could understand the families wanting their children to go to the same school they'd gone to though he would have thought they'd be aware of the educational deficits and want to do something about it but the scholarship students would be smart. Surely they deserved better than a second rate education.
"Not all that well, they are looked down on by nearly half the school for not having the ancestry or for not knowing all the inside information about the way things are done. Hogwarts doesn't react well to new ideas" Hadrian replied pulling a face.
"Would you want to send your children there?" Tim asked.
"I can't imagine being in a position to have children" Hadrian replied. "But no if I do they won't go to Hogwarts. It's complicated. My godson Teddy will though, it's important to his grandmother."
"From some of the things you've said the world you lived in sounds more like a cult than a community" Tim observed.
"Yes a bit. Though it wasn't at all religious" Hadrian admitted. "Most of them are vaguely pagan if anything though that doesn't really go with the Victorian morality thing they've got going on."
"So then these terrorists you've mentioned fighting before you left England were trying to take over leadership of the cult?" Tim asked.
"Yes, but only as a first step towards taking over the world" Hadrian replied. "Less than half their kills were among the community."
Tim remained silent worried that his earlier comments might have seemed dismissive of the seriousness of the terrorist cell Hadrian had taken down. The problem was that those sorts of things were usually at least heard of amongst the international law enforcement community even if the details were classified and there was just nothing about a terrorist war in Britain except for the ongoing struggle with the IRA which didn't seem to have made any progress recently. They spent the rest of the evening in silence though Hades didn't notice Tim's concerns and wasn't uncomfortable.
-o0o-
Tim also kept his promise about teaching Hadrian to drive. He and Hadrian had visited the car yards and Hadrian had bought a beat up but mechanically well maintained small red car which he put specialised cushioning charms all over to reduce the impact if he did have an accident. (He'd also broken the law to place the same charms on Tim's Porsche one night while Tim was asleep and on one of the NCIS vehicles one day when Tim picked him up while driving it). The first couple of driving lessons were frustrating as Hadrian learned how to shift gear and the basic handling, the instincts that made him so good on a broomstick didn't seem to transfer over to driving a car. He improved as he went along but learning to drive turned into a slow process as both Tim and Hadrian became busier at work. They still managed to eat together several nights a week and drive in together most mornings but anything more than that was out of the question most days.
Months passed in their comfortable routine broken up only by cases that came and went on both sides, though Tim had more trips away than Hadrian because Hadrian had the ability to use his time-turner to prevent the hours he worked from stopping him from spending time with Tim and Teddy. Hadrian spent less and less time in his own apartment and more at home with Tim. When Tim suggested he just give it up and move in with him he laughed and told him that there was no room for all his stuff. Often he only went upstairs to practice magic that wasn't easily concealed and to get his potions as he needed them.
The only nights he didn't spend down in Tim's apartment were the night's Tim went out with Tony or Abby or the team to a pub or club so there wouldn't be any awkwardness if Tim brought someone home. Just the thought of it hurt Hadrian's heart a little but he knew that he needed to give Tim the opportunity of finding someone he loved, no matter how much he'd be hurt if it happened, he wanted his friend to be happy. Tim never bought anyone home though as far as he knew, and Hadrian gradually started to hope he never would. Hadrian himself rarely went out without Tim. His classmates at school were all too young to go out and he felt like he was decades older than them, and he'd barely got to know his fellow junior aurors. The American Aurors had trained in peacetime and while Hadrian had some work to do to learn all the paperwork and investigative procedures his skill with both defensive and offensive spells left them for dead. They also seemed to lack the maturity of his fellow aurors in England though most of them were older than Hadrian and his friends back home. Tim though more than ten years older than Hadrian was emotionally and experience wise far more his equal.
Tim of course didn't know much about a lot of Hadrian's experiences since they were not only covered by the statute of secrecy but had classified by MI7 as well. He recognised the thoughts and attitudes of an experienced fellow law enforcement officer and former soldier though and while Hadrian looked a lot younger than the NCIS agent, Tim rarely noticed the age difference unless it was pointed out to him by some bystander. They were both at the same place in their lives ready to settle down to a permanent relationship and start a family, each hoping that they could do that with each other but afraid to bring it up for fear of ruining what they already had.
-o0o-
Ainsley Anderton had been right about the public relations nightmare that selecting Ginny would have been. As time passed without any sign of Harry Potter returning to England. Rumours of the girl accosting him in the Auror headquarters leaked out and she became one of the most hated young women in England, ranked right under Pansy who was known to have encouraged everyone at Hogwarts to hand Harry over to Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts. She found it impossible to even get a tryout with any of the other quidditch teams and wasn't having any luck finding a job anywhere else. She'd planned on becoming the Lady Potter and playing quidditch for a few years so she hadn't put serious effort into her studies and her NEWT results hadn't been good enough for a ministry position or an apprenticeship. Now she needed to find a job to support herself until Harry came back she was regretting that. She applied for several positions in shops on Diagonal Alley. Even the darker shop owners suspected of secretly supporting Voldemort's ideology, who were glad Potter had disappeared, wouldn't employ her. One job she didn't really want but had applied for because she was becoming desperate, was in an apothecary where the owner warned her off. "Frankly Miss you don't want to work here. The last thing you need with your current notoriety is for people to associate you with potions. People will start to believe you potioned the-man-who-conquered" he said bluntly.
"I need somebody with an even temper" another shop owner stated. "Somebody who will be able to stay calm and be polite no matter how rude the customers get towards them and work towards a positive outcome instead of losing their temper."
Even her brothers had to give up giving her work in their shop because having her there was bad for business though they still offered her some small jobs restocking the shelves at night and helping out with producing the items and potions. Molly tried to keep her busy around the house and get her interested in learning a hobby or a skill, but Ginny had no interest in domestic tasks and spent more and more time out with what friends she had left.
-o0o-
"Do you have plans for Thanksgiving?" Tim asked at the start of November.
"What's thanksgiving?" Hadrian asked.
"I forgot you wouldn't have celebrated it. It's an American holiday traditionally when the pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving them from starvation.
Now for most people it's an opportunity to get together with family and eat too much turkey."
"Cynical" Hadrian commented. "Didn't the pilgrims deliberately give the Indians smallpox to kill them off?"
"Yes but most people choose not to remember that" Tim replied.
"History is written by the victors?" Hadrian asked, wondering what the history books would have said about him if Voldemort had won.
"Yeah well, lunch with my family never went well. And not being able to go because I'm working used to annoy them too" Tim said flatly.
"Are you off this Thanksgiving?" Hadrian asked.
"Yeah, we're rostered on for Christmas and New Year instead" Tim said. "What about you?"
"I don't know, I'm happy to work Thanksgiving to give someone who celebrates it off, particularly if you're going home for the long weekend" Hadrian replied.
"I'm not going home. My father and I aren't exactly on civil speaking terms" Tim replied.
"What about the rest of your family?" Hadrian asked.
"I'll go and take my sister out for dinner one day the week after Thanksgiving if we don't get a case. I'd like to see Mom but it would be too awkward" Tim replied.
"What about Christmas?" Hadrian asked.
"Ducky usually hosts some sort of pot luck dinner for those of us who have nowhere else to go. If we're working it will be more like a supper provided we don't have a case" Tim said. "I'd be happy to ask Ducky if you could come if you're here for Christmas."
"I'll find out my schedule but I'd like to spend Christmas with my godson if I can" Hadrian replied smiling at his friend gratefully. "Does Ducky do anything to celebrate Thanksgiving?"
"He probably will but the team all expect me to go home for the holidays if we're off roster" Tim replied.
"So where do you usually go for the holidays?" Hadrian asked.
"Nowhere in particular. Sometimes I go back to Boston and catch up with some old friends from college, but they have their own lives."
"Well we can spend Thanksgiving together, though I may have to work part of it" Hadrian offered.
-o0o-
Hadrian ended up rostered to work the entire Thanksgiving weekend, covering for Aurors who wanted time off to spend with their families. In return he was given Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off to visit his family. He'd talked Tim into admitting to his team that he wasn't going home for the holiday and Ducky had happily included him into his celebration. So Tim went alone to Ducky's Thanksgiving dinner though Hadrian had made the pumpkin pie he took with him. Tim felt slightly guilty about letting Hadrian cook for a party he wasn't attending, but Hadrian told him that he enjoyed making something new and had made one to share with his own work colleagues as well. He also gave Tim a large bottle of spiced pumpkin juice to take and share. Once he got off work he and Tim had their own private celebration both thinking that the biggest thing they had to be thankful for that year was each other and their friendship.
-o0o-
Christmas shopping with Tim was a bit of an adventure. Hadrian was careful not to buy anyone in England anything distinctly American but had fun buying Teddy some semi educational toys and new play clothes. He kept an eye on what Tim was looking at trying to work out which things he might like for himself but soon realised that Tim tried very hard to give each person something they themselves would have chosen which didn't help him at all in finding the perfect gift. In the end they bought each other several small things to use while together.
They went to Carols by Candlelight in their local park, both admitting that while they enjoyed the fancy carol ceremonies on the TV they'd rather this small community celebration.
Tim persuaded Hadrian to celebrate Christmas with him the weekend before so they made the effort to have all their shopping, decorating and baking done by then so they could spend the whole weekend together celebrating. Tim talked about the traditions his family followed and Hadrian confided in Tim about the excitement of his first real Christmas at Hogwarts and the effort his Godfather had made that one Christmas they were able to spend together. Tim wanted to make this Christmas equally memorable for his friend and they decorated the apartment within an inch of its life. Tim offered to help decorate Hades' apartment as well but Hadrian couldn't see the point when he was planning to spend Christmas with Tim and then Teddy.
They opened their gifts with pleasure, both having bought the other several small practical gifts. Tim received a book he'd mentioned wanting to read, a new warmer scarf and mittens, a warming pad for the seat of his car and an extension for his favourite computer game. He gave Hadrian some DVDs for them to watch together, new warmer pyjamas to lounge around in, an American classics cookbook and some small items for the kitchen that he'd been trying to make do without.
Hadrian cooked them a big traditional British Christmas Lamb Roast with Yorkshire Pudding, baked ham and homemade sausage rolls on the side followed by Christmas pudding and brandy custard and they both ate until they felt slightly ill before curling up on the bed to watch Christmas movies. Not being the real Christmas they couldn't go to Christmas services but neither really missed them. It was the perfect Christmas and they almost forgot it was only the 22nd of December.
-o0o-
By comparison Tim's Christmas day was quite dismal. They caught a case on the 24th that they didn't solve until the 26th and then all went their separate ways to collapse with exhaustion. Tim managed to find time to ring his mother, grandmother and sister who all thanked him enthusiastically for their gifts and expressed concern that he was at work and sounding so tired and stressed.
Hadrian had a very energetic Christmas morning. He'd been up late visiting with Andi and helping her decorate the tree and the house after Teddy went to sleep only to be woken before dawn by the excited toddler. Hadrian took lots of pictures laughing ruefully when all the expensive gifts were ignored in favour of the brightly coloured wrapping paper and boxes. Unfortunately, it was a slightly cranky toddler who sat down for lunch having been over excited all morning and in the end Andi put him down for his nap while the two adults ate and warmed up his Christmas dinner for tea that night.
Hadrian arrived back in Silver Springs to find Tim passed out on his bed still fully dressed. He carefully pulled off his shoes and socks and unfastened his tie and his belt not trusting himself to undress the man any further and sat reading in the adjacent room listening to Tim's regular breathing. He didn't know anything about the case they'd been working on and wanted to be there in case Tim had a nightmare.
-o0o-
Hadrian had been writing to Hermione, Neville and Luna through Gringotts and the three of them corresponded sporadically. Hermione had kept her word not to tell the Weasleys she was in contact with him until her wedding invitation arrived with a note from Ron stating that he expected his best mate to be there but was sure Harry would understand that he'd chosen his brothers to be best man and groomsmen seeing as Harry was out of contact. Hadrian sighed he didn't want to miss his best friends' wedding but given he couldn't trust either of the female Weasleys he wasn't too keen on attending any function at the Burrow where they controlled the wards. He wrote back to Hermione promising that he would be at the wedding unless an emergency arose at work but asking that she didn't tell any of the Weasleys, including Ron. Hermione reluctantly agreed and added him to her family list as a plus one, but Hadrian doubted she could withstand the manipulative assault of Molly and Ginny if they had reason to believe she was in contact with Harry.
Hadrian organised an international portkey that would take him to within a 100 metres of the Burrow ward boundary. The American portkeys were slightly different to those made in Britain and Hadrian was curious whether that difference was enough that British portkey wards wouldn't work against it. He hoped he didn't need to find out but borrowed a wardbuster from his handlers at MI7 just in case, though he would be reluctant to blow up the Burrow wards like that if it could be avoided. He used glamours to travel to Diagon Alley to buy dress robes and shoes for the occasion after visiting Teddy one day, not wanting to risk his clothing looking American, since he had heard Lavender and Parvati comment on the national origin of clothes in the past and didn't know enough about fashion to tell the difference. As a wedding gift he planned to give them a two-bedroom flat in one of the small lanes off Diagon Alley.
Hadrian arrived moments before the start of the wedding, his hair glamoured Weasley orange, and looked around impressed. Mrs Weasley had outdone herself even more than she had for Bill's wedding, the garden looked tidy and elegant, nothing like the Weasley yard normally did. He walked calmly to the seat beside Hermione's parents that the Grangers had saved for him before dropping his glamour.
"Hello Harry. It's good to see you made it" Emma Granger said smiling. "I don't believe you've met my Mother. Frances Puckle, Mum this is Hermione's best friend Harry Potter."
"Hello Mrs Granger. Pleased to meet you Mrs Puckle. How's Hermione this morning?" Hadrian asked.
"She was worried you wouldn't be able to come" Emma said. "Other than that she had very few wedding day jitters. She seems happy."
"Yet you don't. If you don't mind me saying so" Hadrian said gently.
"Ron is a very nice young man, but he's so uncomfortable in our world" Emma said slowly, surprised how observant the young man was. "I can't help but think we're going to lose her to this world more and more. Hermione's children, our grandchildren, will grow up in this world and I can't follow them here. It's been my biggest fear since the Christmas she arrived home in her first year."
Hadrian wanted to reassure her but she was right, Ron had made no effort to become more familiar with the muggle world in spite of having two muggle raised best friends, and Hermione with her habit of losing herself in her research could easily lose touch with anyone who didn't go out of their way to force her to take a break and keep in contact, something her parents were unable to do.
"Every magical residence has a muggle address too. Most witches and wizards just don't bother to know them. I'd suggest when you visit Hermione's new place you walk around the neighbourhood until you have enough information to know how to get there the muggle way. Besides I think they'll be living just off Diagon Alley and you know how to get in there. Tom will always be willing to help you" Hadrian reminded Emma.
Emma smiled at him in gratitude but before she could say anything else the wedding march started to play.
Hermione came down the aisle interrupting their conversation and Hadrian grinned at her as she passed. Her eyes lit up even more when she saw he'd made it.
Hadrian found the ceremony vaguely disturbing. Particularly the surge of magic as Hermione vowed to love cherish and obey forsaking all others. Even more disturbing was the fact Ron didn't make the same vows to her.
"What's wrong Harry, you were frowning through half the ceremony?" Hermione's grandmother asked.
"I thought wedding vows were supposed to be the same for the husband and the wife" Hadrian said vaguely.
"Oh no the traditional vows always have the man promising to cherish and the woman to obey" Frances Granger replied. "It is a little old fashioned though. I wouldn't have thought Hermione would go with the old vows."
"What's really wrong?" Daniel Granger asked quietly.
Hadrian debated with himself whether to tell Dan his concerns but realised him not understanding could cause problems between Hermione and her parents in future. "The vows were magical. She vowed on her magic to forsake all others and to obey Ron, and he didn't vow forsaking or obeying" he answered equally quietly.
"What can we do?" Daniel asked.
Hadrian thought quickly. "Nothing. This is the reason there's no divorce in the wizarding world. Just keep in mind when she gives you the excuse that Ron doesn't want her to do something that means she doesn't have a choice and arguing with her is only going to hurt your relationship with her."
Daniel looked grim. "I'll try to remember" he said frowning.
A/N2: Thank you to Firehedgehog, julschristine975, Maben00, Twiki25000, icyquest4, xDarklightx, geetac, writer2000z, Lotty7, DS2010, Rori Potter, acherongoddess, Guest, linthailey, gaul1, buterflypuss, Merlenyn, Guest, Silvermane1, patiana, quatra888, elmms, hiei'smate, schiezca, Miyako Yukimura, Mwhahahaha18, RedGlass, JasminJoJo, Venus914, SilverPantherSM, aminoor, Dragonknight-Flameis, gerhertz, forestreject, jetbstraub, mkx, matechan, Mechrin, MiSs TiNk PiXiE, Carl-the-strange, Seraphinus, CaughtinalandSlide, Skalyann, AnomalyLady, Johannaurora, inconnumasque, Raidermae, lolichka, naokinaozumi1508, Xiaron, demonchild000 and the0truht for your support.
