Harry's Ordinary Life
During the time it took to drive from the station yard to the place where Nyssa lived, Harry went through all of the various defensive spells he knew. He also mentally reviewed all of the medical spells as it seemed from Nyssa's brief phone call that she'd be injured in some way. The rain that had started up fell heavier and Harry flicked on the windscreen wipers until he was clear of the little town and had nobody in sight. Concentrating hard, he apparated himself and the car over to the house and slammed the door open.
"How the hell are you?" demanded a teenaged boy.
"One pissed off Lord" Harry replied. "Nyssa called me to say that her own father was attacking her"
"Yeah? Well, why shouldn't we beat the freak up? She's believing in magic and that don't exist" and something that had been buried deep inside Harry snapped and his wand came out of its ever present holster, slid down into his palm and the enraged wizard fired a spell that sent him crashing into the kitchen door. Hearing the sounds of a one sided fight coming from upstairs, he gave the fallen body a foul look before going upstairs at the double. His first impressions of the house were not all that great in that it looked a very nice place, but it seemed too much of a show house. He shook his head in disbelief – even the Dursley home had a sense of being lived in…
"Somebody help me" Nyssa's voice was cut off by the thudding noise of a meaty fist hitting solid flesh or bone. Walking along the landing, he found one door partially closed and he kicked it open and stormed in.
"What the hell is happening here?" he demanded.
"Who the fuck are you? Get out of my house before I call the police" replied a well built man that Harry took to be Nyssa's father. Harry ignored him and looked at the sobbing girl who was bleeding from several cuts, had torn clothes and appeared to be bruising very badly. From the way she was holding her left arm, he surmised that it was broken in at least two places.
"My name is none of your business. What I am here for is because I got a short phone call asking for help from one of my employees… Sounded as if she was in trouble"
"I'm her father"
"What kind of father beats their own children? Hmm…? As it happens, I am a member of the police"
"Show me your card" and Harry fished around in his overalls and pulled out his Auror ID that was charmed to appear like a police warrant card.
"Happy?" and he shoved it back inside the pocket. "Now then… I see assault of a minor, actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm, mental and physical torture – now back away"
"She has been reading banned books – she is in congress with the Devil himself!" Nyssa's dad snarled as the girl tried to struggle up to her bed from where she'd be thrown to the floor and beaten.
"Really?"
"Magic… There is no such thing as magic! And I will have anyone who disagrees with me!" and he gave a roar of anger before charging at Harry. The younger man simply sidestepped out of the way before taking aim and hitting him with a body locking spell and heavily bound.
"Now listen to me you worthless scum – it is real… Nyssa is not just my employee, but she is also my friend" Harry stepped towards him. "I do not allow my friends to be attacked and injured – I went through one war already for that"
"War? What does a skinny bastard like you know about fighting in a war?" it was against every single thing that Harry believed in, every law that governed the use of Mind Arts and every law that protected Muggles… But something in Nyssa's father's tone broke the last straw that was holding his mental state together.
"A lot, actually" and projected the memories of the time he had spent on the run from Voldemort – what the trio had called The Year Of Hell. Leaving the jabbering mess of humanity to himself, Harry turned back to look at Nyssa. "Would you like me to call the police or would you like to come back to my place?" he asked. "I'm not going to ask anything of you except you do what you normally would"
"Yes" she whispered gently. "Yes please" and Harry nodded and cast a pain numbing charm that would last until he got her back home. "How will I get all my stuff out?" the girl asked.
"Well seeing as how all the detectors at the Ministry of Magic will be going haywire by now, I might as well do a spot more" and the pair grinned before Harry gave a few flicks and waves of his wand and all of Nyssa's belongings flew into the air and packed themselves neatly into boxes and cases before popping away. "Need to get that lot sorted out" Harry said and gently gathered the girl into himself. "You'll like this bit" he chuckled.
#
"I didn't like that bit" Nyssa said. Harry smiled gently and cleared the pool of vomit from the floor with a wave of his wand.
"Sorry… I'll get you checked in and we'll see about your injuries" and he placed her on the bed.
"Where are we?" Nyssa asked.
"St Mungos"
"Never heard of that place"
"It's the main hospital for magical people" Harry positioned himself so he had a clear line of sight at the door. "Normally they would not treat you, but as you are carrying a card and with me, they'll do what I tell them" and the door quickly opened and a healer walked in and hurried over to the bed.
"I am Healer Jones and I will be treating you… Mr Potter?"
"Megan" Harry nodded.
"Harry, you know they are all looking for you, right?" and he nodded at Megan Jones's question.
"I found her being attacked by her own father"
"What spells were used?"
"None – she's a muggle" and Megan looked up at Harry sharply.
"You know the rules… Muggles are to be treated here only as a last resort"
"I know that, Megs, but my knowledge of healing spells and charms extends only to battlefield ones – this was my only option" Harry put his wand back into his holster. "Besides, she's card carrying"
"I suppose that helps" and she used her wand to cast several differing spells over Nyssa and was rewarded with a piece of parchment that listed the girl's injuries. "Concussion, some internal bruising, broken arm in three places, broken leg, broken ankle… I hope you left something for the muggle police to identify"
"Maybe… maybe not" and Megan looked at Harry carefully. "I see. You know, for what it is worth, I do not believe any of the rumours about you. Ron Weasley has been making out how he had a seven hour battle with you to stop your dark tendencies. If it is worth anything, most of the Hufflepuffs are with you"
"Thanks" Harry nodded gratefully. "What are you going to give her?" he asked.
"Some pain numbing potions, bone regrowths and something for the internal bruising. She'll need to rest for a day or two, but otherwise should be okay. I'll see what I can do about sending you the books and some spare ingredients if you want"
"Thanks – don't think I'll be back in the magical world for a while"
"Maybe its safer if you don't come back for a while" Megan said, pulling Harry away from where Nyssa was taking the potions.
"Why?"
"Granger has been running as much interference for you as possible. She's told a couple of us that half the Auror force is refusing to take orders that involve going after you – some are even talking about removing the Minister from office for misuse of power"
"Why haven't they come after me?" Harry asked. "I am sure that my magical signature has been clocked here by now"
"Go up against the killer of Voldemort?" Megan snorted. "Are you sure you don't want me to get you a mind healer…?" and she raised a bemused eyebrow. "Look, I know that I was one of those that believed wrong of you in Second Year and then again in Fourth, but I will help you as much as I can. If you need magical healing, you just send me a letter and I'll come as quickly as I can. The reason why nobody has issued another set of arrest orders to you is because Shacklebolt tried to dissolve the Wizengamot last week"
"How?" Harry's eyebrows rose.
"He said it was being corrupted – don't believe it myself"
"I don't" said Harry. "When he tried to marry me off to Ginny or another Pureblood, it was so that he could carry out Dumbledore's plan of keeping me under close arrest until there was another Dark Threat"
"Healer Jones!" a young female trainee burst into the room.
"What is it, Smith?"
"A team of twenty Aurors just turned up to arrest the occupants of this room"
"Shit… Time to get going, Nyssa" Harry scooped her into his arms. "What are you going to say?"
"Forced me to treat her at wand point" Megan said.
"Looked like it to me" shrugged the trainee. At Harry's puzzled look, she added, "I was a First Year at the Battle of Hogwarts, and I doubt you will remember me, but we stood next to each other for a few seconds near the doors to the Great Hall"
"I remember" said Harry. "Wasn't it you that flung mashed potatoes at Voldemort and told him to 'Fuck off'?"
"You do remember"
"Everything about that night, Healer" Harry bowed to her. "Though I sometimes wish I did not. Megan, thanks…" and he popped away.
#
Harry installed Nyssa in a bedroom at the other end of the floor from him and returned downstairs to key a few more wards into use. After that was done, he waved his wand and some soup came out of container and began warming up on the stove. While he waited for the kettle to brew, his mind reviewed the number of things he would have to do now that Nyssa was clearly going to live with him. He picked up the phone and called the yard to let them know he wasn't going to be coming in tomorrow and the day after and gave a version of what had happened. The Chargeman understood completely and told Harry to take as much time as he needed to get things sorted.
"I have a few days off" he explained to Nyssa as he entered her bedroom after knocking on the door first. "I thought you might want somebody to talk to about what happened… And maybe call the police and file charges"
"Against my own dad?" Nyssa gasped as she took hold of the tray he was holding.
"He attacked you for no good reason" Harry shrugged. "I only wish I had done that when I was younger" and the girl sensed there was a tale for another time buried inside him.
"I guess… Where am I going to live?" she asked as she sipped the tea.
"Well here for the time being, but you are more than welcome to stay here until you find some place else" Harry summoned a chair and sat in it. "You can come and go as you please, I'll get you a key for the front door that will get you passage through the defence wards, and you can have as many friends over as you like – just let me know first, okay…?"
"To hide the magic stuff?"
"To hide the magic stuff" Harry confirmed with a grin.
"Do I still have my job?" the girl asked.
"Sure" he knew the question would pop up sooner or later. "We'll have to change your address at school and the Doctor and everything"
"Yeah" Nyssa replied and looked down in sadness. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"Fathers do not normally attack their own daughters for no good reason" Nyssa said.
"I'm not going to have a go at your faith, because I know that is a part of who you are, but I think he took the whole 'Burb The Witches' thing a little too close to actual instructions… Maybe your dad was sick in the mind or something" and Harry shrugged. "At least you have ended up here, with me, alone, just the two of us…" he waggled his eyebrows in an over the top manner which caused the girl to cheer up and start laughing.
"I'll finish this and then get unpacked" and Harry and Nyssa sat and talked a little while before he left her to get out of her tattered uniform and take a shower before sorting her things out.
#
As he waited downstairs, Harry flicked on the wireless and listened to some of the talk shows being broadcast. Some, of course, were about what he was up to, and some were reporting on Quidditch matches. Sighing to himself, he swapped his glasses for his reading glasses, put on his slippers, stuck his feet up on the footrest and settled down to read the local paper. It was not for another hour that Nyssa came down and sat in the chair in front of him.
"I'm starving" Nyssa declared.
"You just had some soup" Harry peered over the top of the paper.
"And now I am hungry!" the girl whined.
"You remind me of Ron" said Harry.
"Ron?"
"The one I thought was a good friend to me" Harry folded the paper and put it down to one side. "So, what do you fancy?"
"Um… Dunno, really – pizza?"
"Sure" Harry shrugged and walked into the kitchen with Nyssa following behind.
"You phone out for a pizza" the girl told him.
"Yes, but I like to make it myself"
"With magic?"
"You can do that" Harry replied as he flicked his wand and all the needed things came out, "However there is no love in doing that. While you need to use magic to shape and change things, certainly, it is just not the same for me. I grew up living as a muggle, Nys, and I have always found that if something is worth doing then you put the effort in. Besides" he added, "The time it takes to make and cook with give you chance to calm down – a lot has happened in the last two hours" and the pair fell into silence as they made their evening meal.
#
As December marched on, snow started to fall so Harry elected to take Nyssa to and from school on his way to work. He'd also given her an emergency Portkey that was designed to take her from her location to the living room of Awdry Manor – but to use it only if she was under attack from Aurors or Hit Wizards.
"And" he had said, "Missing the last bus home does not count as an emergency".
As he worked at Tidmouth station clearing the snow from the station's platforms, he wondered about what to get for Christmas presents this year. In addition to his co-workers, he wanted to get stuff for some of the engines that he was good friends with and also decided what to get Nyssa. Hermione was also a factor to think about as he had gotten a letter only that day from her saying she'd be able to come over for the holidays. This gave rise to a really wicked prank – a prank that would rival anything the Weasley twins would have done…
"Ah, there you are" Mr Jenkins, the new foreman of the yard and of Harry's shift came up to him.
"Something wrong, Sir?" he asked.
"The evening express has got stuck in a snow drift between Vicarstown and Crovan's Gate. Gordon was due to go to the works anyway this afternoon, so he's going to pull the breakdown train as far as there where James is going to take over" Jenkins said. "With the gangs at the works all out on emergency repairs or snow clearing duties, I was wondering if you'd like to go up there"
"Sure" Harry said.
"You're going to make one stop at Wellsworth to pick up Edward, then swap engines at Crovan's Gate before doing the rest of the trip" Jenkins said.
"How long have I got?"
"Well Gordon's coming through the station in a few minutes to pick up the rest of the crew before setting off"
"Ah… Just needed to let the Station Master know where I am going, go to the Gents and ring up Nyssa"
"Nyssa?"
"The girl that's staying with me after she was attacked" and Jenkins simply nodded. He'd found Harry to be very open about what was happening in his life, but any mention of Nyssa put him on the defensive for some reason.
"Well just be on the platform when you finish" and Harry nodded and hurried to put away his tools and sort out a few things as Jenkins went to telephone Control to alert the signallers that a 1Z99 would be running and that it needed as few cautions as possible. After coming out the Gents, Harry flipped up the lid of his phone and called Nyssa at the house.
"Hello, Merlin's Mansion" she spoke with a cheeky tone.
"Nyssa, I'm not going to be getting home until much later" he said.
"Something happened?" she asked.
"The evening express has got itself stuck in a snow drift" he explained as he heard the heavy sounds of puffing drifting faintly into the station's confines. "With everybody working on the clearing of snow and on the emergency repairs at Hackenback, we're the only lot free to do anything"
"Oh… Well dinner was a casserole anyway, so there is no way it is going to go bad. Just be careful out there – I need my wizard back safe and sound!" and after a moment, Gordon backed into the station so he quickly ended the call as the track workers, carriage checkers and other staff boarded one of the coaches. As it happened, they waited an extra minute or so as somebody had wisely thought about making up large flasks of tea, coffee and soup for the passengers stuck in the snow. Whilst the steam heating on the train would still work, it would be cold all the same.
"Any idea who was pulling the express this evening?" asked one of the men.
"I think it was Henry" came the reply. "Gordon failed this afternoon on semi-fast… Luckily it happened at the station anyway – otherwise we'd be buggered for a suitable engine" said another.
"What was wrong with him?" Harry looked over from where he was looking out the coach window.
"Regulator fused open – driver is controlling him using the reverser"
"Haven't done that since Henry's incident" noted the first one. "That was a sight to see as well" he added.
"What happened?" asked Harry.
"Henry was returning to the shed light engine when a diesel failed. He was helping him back when yet another diesel failed, so Henry ended up dragging one train and keeping the brakes free on another! I can tell you, neither was best pleased about it, but we sent Spam Can packing quickly enough"
"Spam Can?"
"D199" said the man. "The other was 7101, but we kept that one as it seemed to be much nicer to steam engines" and the men talked between themselves as they rushed towards the stranded people.
#
Once they arrived at the accident site, they set to work getting the undamaged coaches clear by uncoupling them with Edward dragging them back up the line as far as Hoo River Junction where James would complete the journey to Knapford. Once the points were clear, Edward went back down the line to where Henry was still stuck in snow. Although the snow ploughs had been out, it had gotten heavier and heavier and nobody had realised that it had blocked a small tunnel's entrance – the poor engine had never even stood a chance and was now buried from his front all the way to his cab. The two damaged coaches that had been left behind were damaged because they'd slammed into each other when hitting the back of Henry when the engine had struck the drift. Both of them had come off the rails, so they'd need to crane them back on before being towed away. A couple of people had been injured, three of them reasonably badly, so they decided to wait until Harold the Helicopter came along and could take them away.
"Harry?" a voice called to him from where he was trying to dig the snow away from under Henry's wheels.
"That's what it says on me birth certificate" he replied.
"One of the women up in the first coach says she knows you – fairly insistent you've to talk to her"
"I'll come up as soon as I've dug the drive wheels out" Harry replied.
"Not that Nyssa girl you have hid up in your place, is it?"
"Jim, get fucked" Harry's green eyes flashed with a burning intensity that made the other worker back away quickly. After finishing his work of digging out Henry and helping to check he was okay, even if the engine was muttering under its 'breath', he walked back along the track and hauled himself up into the coach to find this woman. It didn't take him long to find the woman lying on one of the seats. "Are you drunk again, Hermione Granger?" he grinned.
"Funny…" she narrowed her eyes at him. "I was coming to visit you when we got stuck in the snow"
"Whats happened to you" he asked, perching on the arm of a bench seat.
"Not sure if I have broken my leg or just bruised it… Wish I was a witch and could cast a spell to sort it out" she replied. That told him that she had no skelegrow with her, so she'd have to deal with going to the hospital where Harry could slip her a potion and get out.
"Sure you'll be alright"
"Whats happening?" she asked.
"We're going to get you to hospital and then we'll try to get the coaches back on the rails and dragged out to the junction before taking them to the works"
"What about the engine?" Hermione sounded concerned.
"Henry?" Harry shrugged. "He's grumpy as hell and moaning about his paint, but he'll be alright after the fitters come out to check him over"
"Good… Will you come with me to the hospital or do you have to stay here?" she asked.
"Stay here to help up. Edward will take the damaged coaches and drop them off at the works for repair and I'll see if I can come home light engine on Henry – he's got plenty of steam after all and his damage is very minor"
"Define minor"
"Just his front coupling pin is buckled – its an easy enough repair to do back at the shed"
"Sounds like you know quite a lot" Hermione hissed from a sudden twinge of pain.
"I've picked up a hell of a lot working here, Mione, and I'm not entirely sure if I ever want to go back to my old life" Harry replied. "God alone knows I have done more than enough for Queen and country" and his friend nodded.
"We all have" she replied sagely. "What do you plan to do?"
"Not entirely sure" Harry sighed. "Maybe hand in my retirement notice. Even after just ten years, I've already earned it"
"How?"
"Voldemort" said Harry. "Anybody who went up against him was automatically eligible for full twenty year retirement package from the Auror Corps – even if they never joined the force… I'd get that twenty plus the ten I have put in, so there is no need for me to work at all"
"Going to hide away?"
"No… I'll still go to meetings and debates and such" Harry sighed. "I'll just not be an Auror anymore – had my share of fighting, Mione, and now it's my time to actually live. Now, enough of this, lets get you sorted and then you can meet my girlfriend"
"Girlfriend"
"Yeah – she's a little younger than me and works at the local school" and, just then, a Doctor climbed in and put all talk of magic to an end.
#
It was not for another few hours that Harry was able to bring Hermione back to Awdry Manor where Nyssa waited. Hermione had gone on ahead in an ambulance whilst Harry and the work crews cleared up the damage and got the coaches back on again. He had elected to return to the station light engine on Henry. Once there, and alone, he'd apperated to the hospital to pick up Hermione. When they had left the place on the drive back, he'd given her a quick call to let her know what was happened and the girl had got the dinner reheated and elected to dress in the best stuff she had to meet Harry's oldest friend. Hermione looked at the young woman before her in Harry's home and blinked several times – trying to believe what her eyes were telling her. The other woman was wearing a grey blazer with gold and green trim with a crest on the left breast pocket, a black tie with the same crest on it, grey skirt, black stockings and black shoes.
"Um… Would you mind if I had a word with Harry?" she asked.
"Nope" and Harry found himself dragged into the kitchen and facing his utterly confused and angry looking best friend.
"Harry, when you said that your girlfriend was a bit younger than you and worked at the school, I thought you meant she was a teacher – NOT A BLOODY PUPIL!"
A/N:
First of all, all the places mentioned are fully correct and the accident that befalls Henry is entirely possible to have. I suppose it helps if you happen to have a map of the island's railway system to work out everything…The only exception to this is Hoo River Junction as there is a division in the rails which has no name, so I made it up based on normal UK railway practices. Incidentally, the "1Z99" mentioned is a British headcode to be entered into the signalling system and used to denote special trains such as rescue engines or breakdown trains that must not be stopped under any circumstances. The only other code that is above it is "1X01" which denotes the Royal Train. Yes, I could have made it all up, but I'm known for my attention to detail in stories…
The story related to Harry about Henry's fused regulator is from the story "Super Rescue" from the Thomas The Tank Engine book "Enterprising Engines"
Well, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter and I look forward to reading your reviews
Regards
Pixel and Stephanie Forever
