Food for your soul Ch13
Disclaimer JKR owns the rights to Harry Potter and I'm not her.
After drinking quite a lot of water and a second trip to the coffee shop, Harry was almost feeling human again. Angela was still asleep as it approached noon, so Harry made a third trip from the house. This time to find some food and a payphone to call his girls back home. He'd only been away ten days and really missed sitting in the nursery watching his baby girl sleep. He loved when she smiled as he sang to her, but watching her sleeping fascinated him for some unknown reason. This was something you can only do with babies. Watching adults sleep is creepy, something Meghan did to him and he often wondered if she was making plans to smother him.
He found a small grocery store with a payphone out front. Success! Harry dug through his wallet for his phone card and shoved it into the phones credit card slot before dialing Grimauld Place.
"Hello Potter residence." Came Dorry's squeaky voice.
"Hi Dorry, it's Harry. How are things at home?"
"Very good, Master Harry. Mistress Meghan, is feeding little mistress. Miss Andy just left. There are many many letters arriving for you. I have been sorting them by sender, would you like me to forward them to you?"
"No, just the letters from my friends. Take them to Gringotts and have them forwarded to Gringotts Grand Cayman, I can pick them up in a week. Take the galleons from the bag in the top left drawer of the desk in my study. How are your English lessons coming along? I hear you're not speaking in the third person anymore."
"I am nearly done intermediate English. I need more practice reading. May I read the books in your study?"
"That's what they are there for. Is Meghan available yet?"
"I'll pop to the nursery and ask." Harry heard Dorry put the phone down followed by a soft pop.
A few moments later he heard the voice he had been missing.
"Hello? Harry?"
"Hey love, how are you? How's our girl?"
"I'm good, Mena is okay. Dorry is great and Andy comes over quite often. Speaking of Andy you wizards are disgusting people!"
"I'm not disagreeing but why do you think so?" He asked cautiously.
"You were starting to get a reputation as a cad or man whore or something because they thought you got me pregnant then refused to marry me. So Andy hinted that a wizard took advantage of me and wiped my memory to a newspaper reporter in Diagon Alley. She said that if Mena was magical you could find out who the father was through the Goblins. She said you would call them out so they better turn themselves into the police or you'd hunt them down." She explained.
"If that had happened to you, I absolutely would have. You didn't have any of the signs of a memory charm though. You said it was just drunk bathroom sex. Do you think someone hurt you and changed your memories?" Harry said starting to get angry.
"No. But sixty one wizards have turned themselves in so far."
"Ah, yeah Magicals using magic on muggles for nefarious purposes is a big problem. It's next to impossible to track. In the case of memory modification it is completely impossible because if anyone does magic and a non-magical sees it, legally we are required to make them forget."
"Wizards are disgusting!"
"Hate to break it to you love but witches are no better. The conviction rate is actually higher for witches because there is usually solid proof."
"What do you mean?"
"It happens less amongst the purebloods but many muggleborn and half-bloods return or mostly live in the non-magical world. There is more opertunity, less nepotism and predudice and far less expectation of falling into traditional gender rolls. Very few witches have careers, unless they have never been married or in some cases widows. So now these witches find themselves in the non-magical world. They have a primary school education and very little or no experience. They are often socially retarded because they have been around magicals that follow different rules, have seen few movies, listened to very little music and have no idea what has been happening in the non-magical world for the last seven years. They use compulsion charms to get jobs and or promotions. Love or lust potions to start relationships. Lust potions and compulsion charms to have wealthy men impregnate them. Then compulsion charms to either marry or not fight paying child support. Even if the men figure out what is going on, who can they tell? Magic is a secret so unless they talk with a police officer in the know, most of whom work sex crimes, the witches get away with it. When I was an auror we dealt with the Met quite often, trying to put a stop to it but give unscrupulous people a little power and they will use it. Can you think of anyone you know that if given magical powers wouldn't use I in bad ways some times?"
"Jeez. Have you used any of that on me?"
"Yes, when you were unable to look after Mena. I cast compulsion charms on you to make you feed her. Other than that never." He said without apology.
"Thank you. In this case I don't mind, but if you ever need with my memories we are through." She said adamantly.
"If I have to mess with your memories there would have to be something seriously wrong with our relationship to start with anyway." He said.
"Harry, did you know before hand that giving Mena your name was the wizard equivalent to adoption?"
"No, but I'm not unhappy about it. My godfather oath already makes me responsible for her wellbeing in the event you are unable to look after her. I love her, I couldn't care any less that she isn't biologically mine. We might not be destined to marry but I love you too Meghan, I want to make you happy. Your daughter having a Dad is something you really wanted for her. I happily volunteer."
"You're a sweet man sometimes. Change of subject, Your friend Luna needs to talk to you. Your books are selling better than anyone could have predicted."
"Have Dorry pick up a letter from her, he's going to have the bank forward a package to me. Some pictures of Mena and you would be nice too."
"I'll see what I can do. So, have you learned anything about European women?"
"Not yet, met a nice American girl though. She gave me a place to stay until my ship comes in… literally."
"That's nice. Well I have to go. I love you." She said before hanging up.
000
Harry bought the ingredients for the traditional English fry up plus juice, coffee and a few other staples before heading back to Angela's house. She finally got up shortly after he had started cooking the bacon. She sat down at the island and gave him a scowling smile. He poured her a coffee and a glass of water and set them both infront of her.
"Good morning." He said cheerily.
"Ung." She said before gulping down the water. "When did you get up? And where did this food come from?"
"I've been up for hours and I got hungry so I did a bit of shopping." He said as he reached into the fridge and pulled out a Gatorade. "This'll help the hangover more than the coffee." He said placing it infront of her. "Breakfast will be twenty minutes."
"Thanks." She said fighting with the cap. Harry leaned over and twisted it off.
"Are you meeting up with your cousin tonight?"
"That's the plan, She'll call me after work, probably around eight. Any place you suggest we eat?"
"No, but I'd stay away from the Denny's after barfing all over the counter last night."
"Did I do that?"
"We both did." She said sheepishly. "I need to call my friends and get a ride into Tampa to pick up my car from the bar."
000
A/N: This was not one of those chapters that write themselves. Next chapter will hopefully be out tonight.