Chapter 20
It took them three days to get the cottage on the Isle of Skye to a state where they could comfortably stay there for a longer period of time. Tom installed a luxurious bathroom with walk-in shower, a ridiculously large tub and even a small sauna that could comfortably seat two people. Harry created a small but functional kitchen with a large farmhouse sink and a cooking island.
To some it might seem like a strange way to spend your honeymoon, but both Tom and Harry genuinely loved creating things, especially a new home. Sirius had certainly been right when he'd mentioned just that when gifting them the cottage.
They'd dubbed their new vacation home Brittle Cottage, since it stood right on Loch Brittle, which was an inlet that opened up to the Atlantic ocean. Harry couldn't help but deeply inhale the salty air every time he stepped foot outside.
They created most of their own furniture from scrap wood they bought from a lumber yard. They both had Transfiguration masteries so turning planks and logs into chairs and tables wasn't a problem at all. For their interior decoration they apparated around Scotland and visited many second-hand stores.
Both of them loved to hunt for second-hand treasures, and in more than one life they'd made their living that way, by reselling whatever valuable items they found in second-hand shops and flea markets.
Harry loved collecting second-hand porcelain with over-the-top floral patterns. It didn't have to match, it just had to be in the same farmhouse chic style. Tom on the other hand had an obsession with kitchen gadgets and bought every hand-cranked mixer and potato ricer he could find. Before long they had their cottage decorated in a way that made them both instantly feel at home.
The only new thing they bought was a mattress to go on their transfigured cherry bedframe. They had learned long ago never to buy a second-hand mattrass unless you were willing to go through the enormous shitshow that was trying to get rid of a bedbug infestation.
Bedbugs were tiny little demons that sucked human blood. Once you got them, it was incredibly difficult to get rid of them, taking huge amounts of time and even bigger amounts of money. Just the mention of the word bedbug usually sent shivers of revulsion through both Harry and Tom. They despised the little demons to such an extent that during one life, when Harry had a degree in chemistry, they'd developed a pheromone trap to catch the notoriously hard to trap bedbugs. It had made them a generous fortune that life since the traps sold well all over the world.
"I've been thinking," Harry said as they lay in their brand-new bed the first night they slept at Brittle Cottage.
"Hm?" Tom was burrowed under the new comforter, eyes closed.
"We should sell our bedbug pheromone trap to Mahatma Khan."
Tom blinked his eyes open and then frowned. "I think it's still a bit too early for that."
Harry gave Tom a questioning look. "What do you mean?"
"DDT almost wiped bedbugs out, as you know," Tom explained and Harry made an agreeable sound. "Their numbers are still very low as of yet. Their comeback won't be until the turn of the century."
"Yeah, all right," Harry said slowly. "But I suggest we market our traps just before then. That way we might even prevent their comeback entirely, if people and businesses have an easy, affordable way to get rid of the little demons."
"That is an excellent idea." Tom leaned over and pressed a kiss to Harry's lips. "Now stop talking about bedbugs or I'll have nightmares."
Snickering, Harry pulled the comforter a little higher over his shoulder. "Don't worry, babe. We've cleaned everything we brought in here thoroughly. We should be fine."
Tom shuddered in response and muttered a few choice curse words. Harry sympathized.
The rest of their honeymoon was spent exploring the countryside around Brittle Cottage and endless walks along the shore with Izzy.
"It'll be nice to come here," Tom said as they stood on the stony beach, the water licking at their shoes. "During our holidays away from Hogwarts."
"Yep," Harry agreed and threw a ball as far into the waves as he could. Izzy launched herself straight into the water, not at all perturbed by the cold temperatures of late March. "This will be a great place to recharge our batteries in between herding magical children all year long."
Thursday, just a few days after they returned home, Remus ended up on their doorstep unannounced.
"Remus," Harry said, staring at the man with wide eyes as he opened the front door. "Come on in."
Tom, who was sitting at the dining table writing a few letters to Theodorus Nott and the Malfoys to set up some appointments, also looked up in surprise. They never got unexpected visitors and that was just the way Tom liked it. Harry knew from personal experience that autistic people usually did not do well with unexpected visitors. Case in point: Tom rudely cleared his throat and went back to writing, his shoulders a little stiffer than usual.
"Sorry to just stop by," Remus said, smart enough to pick up that something was amiss, though perhaps not exactly what.
"It's fine," Harry quickly said. "What can we do for you?"
"I've registered for my History Mastery," Remus said as Harry gestured for him to sit down on the couch while Harry occupied the armchair. Harry did not offer any refreshments since he could see from the corner of his eye that Tom was really not happy with the intrusion.
"That's awesome," Harry said with an encouraging smile.
"I've been reading through the current textbooks that are used in Hogwarts and they're horrendously out of date. Not to mention just plain boring." Remus gave Harry an uncertain look. "So I've decided to write my own."
"Great idea." Harry leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hoping Remus would get to the point soon. The scritches of Tom's quill on his stationary were getting louder and louder.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but could I use your holiday cottage for a week or so, to really get started on writing?" Remus chuckled, his expression fond. "Sirius keeps distracting me back at Grimmauld Place."
"Of course!" Harry said at once. "Stay for two weeks, it's no problem." Harry genuinely didn't mind sharing Brittle Cottage with his friends, especially since it would ultimately benefit their Hogwarts Mutiny.
"Thanks," Remus said with a few nods, still seeming terribly unsure.
"If you introduce bedbugs into our second home I will gut you with a blunt knife!" Tom called across the room.
"Honestly," Harry said with a sigh while Remus looked between them with wide eyes. "Don't mind him, he's having a bad day." That was all Harry was willing to say because the rest of the story was not his to tell. "Stop thinking like a Muggle, babe. Wizards have magic to deal with those little demons."
Tom muttered a few curse words in response.
"We can apparate there now and I'll add you to the wards." Harry quickly got up and gestured at Remus to do the same.
It took Harry only fifteen minutes to adjust the wards and to give Remus a quick tour of the place. Remus was in awe of how much work they'd managed to do in such little time but Harry waved away his compliments.
"Sorry," Tom said the second Harry stepped through the door again.
"Don't even think of apologizing." Harry wanted to approach Tom and give him a big, long hug, but he could tell by Tom's squinting eyes that he was already rather overstimulated and didn't need more sensory overload just then. Instead Harry walked into the kitchen to make a fresh pot of tea. "I remember how much I despised people just stopping by without an appointment the last time I was autistic, babe. You do not have to say a thing."
"I know," Tom whispered and then released a strangled sigh. "It's just so fucking frustrating that small things like that cause me so much problems."
"That's the autism paradox, as I like to call it," Harry said with a warm chuckle while he placed a fresh cup of tea in front of Tom. "Your mind is capable of great things through its ability to focus like no one else's. But if an unexpected visitor shows up the world might just as well be ending."
Shaking his head, Tom managed a short laugh. "I remember our first life, as Voldemort, how much I despised Death Eaters just dropping by. There was a reason I was so generous with the Cruciatus Curse."
"That still cracks me up," Harry admitted with a few guilty snickers. "Voldemort dealing with sensory overload by way of the Unforgivables."
Tom sipped his tea and gave Harry a grateful smile. "Thanks, darling."
"You're welcome." Harry gestured to the stairs. "Since you've got your little Death Eater socialization program going, I thought I'd take a crack at an ADHD potion. Alone," Harry added quickly when Tom perked up. Thus far all they'd done when trying to create such a potion together was bicker and argue but they'd not gotten anywhere.
After giving Harry a few scrutinous looks, Tom relented and offered Harry a resigned nod. "Fine. Go make me a potion that will tame my mind. After I finish these letters I'm going to start on introducing The Magical Spark abroad. Get that setup before we're expected at Hogwarts. Ireland first, then France, Germany, probably all Scandinavian countries."
"Excellent idea. Have fun." And with that Harry went upstairs to start his own project. He got out a new notebook and sat down at his potions station while he gave the creation of such a potion some dedicated thought. Quickly Harry realized that they'd gone about creating this potion the completely wrong way. Why on earth would they want to create it from scratch when Harry could simply modify an existing potion to work for ADHD induced inattentiveness.
What Tom needed most of all, Harry knew from bitter experience, was a way to keep his mind focussed instead of his thoughts resembling something of a mental pinball machine.
And there were plenty of potions out there that could serve as a basis on which Harry could build.
Over the next few weeks Harry started brewing every potion he knew that had something to do with concentration, focus and memory retention. He carefully wrote out the recipes, compared them and then started experimenting with adding new ingredients.
In the end Harry combined Baruffio's Brain Elixir with a Memory Potion and added a touch of Draught of Peace. What resulted was a stable potion that didn't contain any known toxins so it was safe to consume on a daily basis or as needed. Harry dubbed it his Concentration Concoction.
"Lunch with Theodorus was wonderful," Tom said as he arrived home later that afternoon. The Malfoys had declined to meet with Tom, apparently having no desire to socialize with an old classmate of Lucius' father. But Theodorus Nott had answered Tom's letter with a suggestion to meet for lunch somewhere. "He was curious how I looked so young, of course," Tom continued while Harry put the kettle on, Izzy dancing around Tom's feet in joy. "But he seemed satisfied with my answer that I'd experimented with a whole array of charms that gave me a permanent youthful appearance." That was the story Tom had come up with to explain his looks, since on paper he was a 65-year-old man. He just didn't look it, even taking into account that wizard usually aged slower than muggles. Tom looked not a day older than 30 at the most, and even that was pushing it.
"I'm glad it went well," Harry said, pouring them both a cup of tea before joining Tom at the dining table.
"I told him we'd be starting as Hogwarts professors soon and that we planned to change a few things." Tom sipped his tea and released a satisfied sigh. "Theodorus was most interested to hear that, especially when I mentioned a potential Hogwarts fund that's independent from the Ministry."
"I bet Nott and others are as frustrated with Hogwarts' dwindling budget year after year as we are."
"Exactly. Theodorus is well aware why the budget keeps shrinking and the whole Board of Governors is angry that Dumbledore won't just compromise with the Wizengamot on at least some issues." Tom sipped his cup again while Harry felt a huge wave of satisfaction washing over himself. That meant that they had a good chance to get the Board of Governors on their side when it came to their plans for Hogwarts. "How was your afternoon?" Tom asked with a curious look.
By way of answering, Harry reached inside his jeans pocket, pulled out the vial and placed it in front of Tom. "I present to you my Concentration Concoction."
"You finished it!" Tom gave Harry an admiring look and a bright smile before he picked up the vial, studying the potion within from all angles. "What did you use?"
"Not telling," Harry said in a singsong voice. "I want you to be completely unaware of any ingredients because I need you to be able to tell me honestly how the potions works and what any potential side-effects are."
"Yes, fine," Tom sighed, thankfully understanding that if he knew the ingredients his observations of the potion's functionality would be biased. "Should I take it now?"
"I suggest tomorrow morning," Harry said and he got up to start cooking dinner.
The next morning, after they finished their breakfast of a simple bowl of oatmeal with baked apples and cinnamon, Tom opened the vial, gave Harry a cheeky wink, and downed the potion. He sat for a while, clearly trying to see if he felt any side-effects.
Harry quietly watched him while he finished his cup of tea. Eventually, after almost half an hour, Harry asked, "How do you feel?"
Tom's eyes widened while his pupils dilated just a bit. "Like I have a lot of energy to burn. A lot."
Harry sighed. That might be a good thing or a bad thing, but it was too early to tell. "We were planning to renovate the rest of Riddle Mansion, weren't we? Might as well start right now."
"Let's," Tom said with a slightly manic laugh.
They decided to walk to the mansion to give Izzy a chance to stretch her legs, and all the while Tom seemed ready to burst out of his skin with energy. "We need to update all the bathrooms, I'll take care of that, and polish all the wooden floors upstairs, I can do that, too, and renewing wallpaper, we'll have to buy that first."
"Let's start with the bathrooms, babe," Harry said in a feeble attempt to reign Tom in a little. He shouldn't even have bothered because for the rest of the day Tom was an absolute whirlwind of fixing and decorating his ancestral home. He accomplished at least thrice as much as Harry and by the time they got home he was clearly exhausted.
Harry pulled some homemade Bolognese sauce from the freezer and boiled some spaghetti for a quick but delicious meal. Tom ate it without saying a word, his shoulders sagging.
"Go to bed, babe," Harry suggested after they finished a Greek yoghurt parfait with strawberries.
"Might as well," Tom muttered, slowly pushing his chair back. "I'm exhausted."
Harry waved him towards their bedroom and got started on the dishes. Afterwards he made himself a cup of coffee and turned on the telly to see if something good was on. Just as Izzy curled up half on top of him in the Lazy Boy, Tom called from the bedroom.
"Harry! I can't fucking sleep!"
Harry found Tom lying on his back in bed, eyes wide open as he stared at the ceiling.
"What the fuck is in that potion, Harry?" Tom said with a frustrated whine. "My body is exhausted but my mind won't shut down. I need sleep but my mind is wide awake."
"All right, I'll make some adjustments." Harry aimed his wand up the stairs and summoned a Sleeping Draught. "Here, drink this. I'll have a new version for you tomorrow." Thankfully the potion worked and Tom was asleep in minutes. Sighing, Harry slumped up the stairs to put together a new version of his Concentration Concoction.
Tom was well rested the next morning and took Harry's latest version without complaint. They went back to Riddle Mansion to continue their remodelling, but this time Tom only did twice as much as Harry, so that already was an improvement. He also wasn't quite as exhausted during dinner that night and enjoyed the creamy potato and leek soup with freshly baked rolls that Harry had pulled from the freezer. Tom even managed to fall asleep at the same time as Harry did.
Harry woke up to the sound of pots clanging. He blinked bleary eyes as he looked around the room until he saw light streaming in from the living room. He glanced at his alarm clock on his nightstand. It was five o'clock.
What the fuck?
"Tom?" Harry called in a raspy voice. "What the fuck, Tom?"
Tom appeared in the doorway, giving Harry an apologetic smile. "I woke up at three, couldn't go back to sleep, and I spent two hours tossing in bed before I decided to just get up. Your potion needs more adjustments."
"Duly noted. I'll add some valerian." Harry fell back against his pillow. "Now could you please use a fucking silencing charm? Some of us have no trouble sleeping."
"You were never a morning person," Tom said as though he had just delivered a grave insult. Harry didn't care. He just wanted more sleep.
The first thing Harry did when he got up was go upstairs to his potions lab and brew yet another version of his Concentration Concoction, now with added valerian.
Tom drank it, still did twice as much as Harry during their renovations of Riddle Mansion, and then fell asleep while they were having afternoon tea in the reception room.
"Okay, so maybe that was a bit too much valerian," Harry said with a chuckle as he shook Tom awake.
Harry adjusted the potion again, and when Tom took it next, there was no more insomnia or falling asleep in strange places.
"This stuff is great!" Tom said before giving Harry a sound kiss. They were almost done with Riddle Mansion, much to both their pride and joy. "You should market this. It would benefit anyone with concentration problems."
"I'll send it to the Potions Gild." And pretty much as soon as Harry had said those words a letter from the Potions Gild appeared in their mailbox, informing Harry that his improved Wolfsbane potion had been officially approved by the Gild and was ready for market, and that they had decided to award Harry his mastery in Potions.
"Congratulations, darling," Tom whispered before giving Harry a strong hug. "I'm proud of you."
"It's not like I haven't had a Potions mastery before," Harry mumbled against Tom's shoulder.
"Doesn't matter," Tom insisted quickly. "You still put in the work, and you created a potion that was able to focus even my mind."
The ceremony was held at the Gild building in Fantastic Alley. It housed many of the biggest Gilds that awarded masteries for subjects such as Charms, Transfiguration and of course, Potions. Tom, Sirius, Remus, Regulus and Severus attended. Severus was officially Harry's Master, so naturally he'd be there. Severus also sported a smug little smile throughout the short ceremony, because Harry's improved Wolfsbane was ready for market and that meant Severus would get a nice cut of the profits, as agreed months before. Harry truly didn't mind since he and Tom weren't exactly lacking in gold.
The Gild official held a little speech and presented Harry with his Master's certificate, which Harry gratefully accepted. They celebrated Harry's Mastery with lunch at the Golden Goose, where they enjoyed a huge platter of different samosas and pakoras, together with some pints of ale.
Since they were now well into April, Harry got started on planting their vegetable garden. They would have the whole summer to grow and harvest fresh veg before they needed to go to Hogwarts come September. Any veg left in the garden beyond that point Sirius and Remus could harvest for themselves, since Tom and Harry would obviously be eating very well at Hogwarts, courtesy of the house-elves there. Tom helped him with digging over the beds, adding manure where needed, and planting all the tiny seeds that could go into the ground in April.
Any other, more temperature sensitive seeds they got started in flats in the greenhouse. Harry truly enjoyed puttering around in the garden, especially with Tom by his side. And since the Concentration Concoction was working wonders on Tom he also didn't mind doing some menial labour in the garden for a few hours every day.
April turned to May and Tom got busy with expanding The Magical Spark. He hired people in Ireland and Harry helped to train them. After that they found a few muggleborns in France and trained those as well. May became June once they expanded to the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and in July they tackled the whole of Scandinavia. Regulus was promoted to the Senior Manager of The Magical Spark, and he'd be able to keep the expansion going once Tom and Harry moved to Hogwarts.
"We need a break," Harry said because they'd been training people non-stop over the past few months, or so it felt.
"Let's spend a week at Brittle Cottage," Tom easily agreed, which they did.
The first evening they were there, Tom gave Harry a wrapped package.
Harry accepted it with a frown and an uncertain smile. "It's not my birthday for another couple of weeks, babe. You're a bit early."
"It's not your birthday present," Tom replied with a chuckle. "Just a little something to show you my appreciation for your help in expanding The Magical Spark across mainland Europe."
Ripping the paper away, Harry's mouth dropped open for a moment before he gave Tom a wicked grin. "Please tell me you'll be using this on me."
"That was the plan, yes," Tom said with a sly little smile.
Tom had given Harry a nice, thick dildo, and Harry all but flew into the bedroom where he found a full bottle of lube already sitting on his bedside table.
"I love you, I love you, I love you," Harry kept chanting while Tom sucked his cock and fucked him with that dildo. Harry came harder than he had yet to in their current life. "Please tell me you'll do that again," Harry panted as they lay together afterwards.
"Gladly," Tom whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of Harry's head. "I'm not much interested in sex myself, but seeing you consumed by pleasure like that is just fucking beautiful."
"I love you," Harry felt compelled to point out again. He then patted the bed beside him and Izzy, who'd been sitting in a corner giving them worried looks, happily jumped up on the bed to go to sleep.
A week before Harry's birthday, after they'd just gotten back from their holiday at Brittle Cottage, Sirius showed up on their doorstep without warning.
"They're together," Sirius said with a huge scowl on his face as Harry opened the door. "They're fucking together."
Behind them, Tom released a frustrated sigh at having to deal with an unexpected visitor again. The previous one was only 4 months ago, after all, Harry thought with a private laugh.
"Who are you talking about?" Harry asked.
Sirius made a wild gesture in obvious frustration. "Reggie and Snape! They're fucking, Harry!"
"All right, let's go get a pint," Harry said, pulling the door shut behind him and waving at Sirius to follow him. He grabbed his godfather's wrist and apparated them to a dark corner near Little Hangleton's pub, which was called the Hare & Hounds.
"Two pints of Guinness," Harry ordered from the bar while Sirius found a seat at a table in the corner.
"Okay, so Reggie and Severus are fucking," Harry said once he was seated. He sipped his Guinness while Sirius did the same.
"It's not right," Sirius grumbled, grey eyes blazing with anger. "Reggie's young and handsome and rich. He could get anyone. Why the fuck is his hooking up with Snivellus?"
"Don't call him that," Harry said automatically because he had no patience for vile nicknames, not from anyone. "And my guess is shared experiences."
"What?" Sirius took a long gulp of his pint. "This stuff is great."
"Reggie and Severus were both Death Eaters. They've got shared experiences that they can't get anywhere else." Harry shrugged and then gave Sirius a pointed look. "Frankly, Sirius, it's none of your business who Regulus hooks up with. How serious is their relationship?"
It was a testament to Sirius' honest anger that the didn't make a joke about his own name. "Looks to be pretty serious. They've been spending more and more time together ever since Reggie got back, really."
"So why are you really upset?" Harry quirked an eyebrow at his godfather. "You're not in Hogwarts anymore and Severus is not the enemy."
"I know, I know." Sirius' shoulders slumped while he released a long, tired sigh. "It's just… it feels like I only just got Reggie back and now he's running off with Snape of all people."
Harry chuckled at Sirius' affronted look. Sirius just couldn't imagine anyone wanting to fuck Severus, least of all his very own brother. It was probably best that Harry never reveal that one of the favourite slash pairings he enjoyed writing whenever he wrote Harry Potter fanfiction in previous lives was Sirius/Severus. So much sarcasm and so much bickering, Harry just loved it. To be fair, Harry had an enormous weakness for the enemies to lovers trope, for obvious reasons.
"Reggie's not going anywhere, mate," Harry pointed out. "He'll always be your little brother, no matter how often he fucks Severus."
Sirius made a face as if his Guinness suddenly smelled like rotten eggs. "Can you imagine? Fucking Severus? Ugh."
"Not really no," Harry lied through his teeth. He'd written about if often enough, after all. "But Regulus is pretty hot, to be honest. I wouldn't kick him out of bed." This was said with an enormous grin.
Sirius barked a laugh before reaching over the table and giving Harry a playful slap on the side of his head. "Harry, for fuck's sake. I don't need that information!"
They finished three more pints of Guinness while they talked about everything and anything, and Harry had to admit that this was really nice, just spending an afternoon in the pub with his godfather and friend. "They serve an all day breakfast here," Harry said when by the end of the afternoon both their stomachs were growling. "A full English. It's so good."
"We need that," Sirius agreed at once and after their meals were served he genuinely looked like he might burst into tears. "You weren't lying, Harry. This is a magnificent plate of food."
By the time Harry got back home he was mildly drunk and pleasantly stuffed. "Hi, babe!"
Tom gave him an amused look. "Have fun with the mutt?"
"You should like Severus," Harry said with a bit of a slur before giving Tom a kiss.
"And you smell like a pub," Tom pointed out, though he couldn't hold back a smile.
"Bingo!" Harry said with a laugh. "I had fun, though. Was good to spend some time with Sirius."
"That's all that matters," Tom agreed before giving Harry a more intent look. "After your birthday, we should probably start on writing up some lesson plans."
"Crap," Harry said, almost tripping as he tried to sit down at the dining table. "That's right. If we're teachers we'll need to teach!"
Shaking his head, Tom went to make Harry a strong cup of coffee.
For Harry's birthday they went wild camping in the Scottish Highlands for a midweek. Izzy loved running up and down the hills through the heather. They really lucked out with the weather and it remained sunny and warm as they walked across the rugged landscape.
Right after that, Harry and Tom got started on their lesson plans. They'd both taught before so they had a good idea how to structure their classes and how much they could expect their student to learn in any given hour, so it wasn't too difficult a task but it still took time. They ate very well from their garden and shared their bounty of fresh vegetables with Sirius, Remus and Regulus. Cindy and most of the folks of the choir had their own vegetable gardens. It was a popular thing to do in Little Hangleton, to grow your own veg, and there even was a annual competition to see who'd grown the biggest potato and the longest pole bean and more. Harry was tempted to enter some of their own vegetables, but they hadn't really been trying to grow anything for competition so they didn't bother in the end. They did go to the competition itself, which was held in the community centre, and they cheered on Cindy as she won a prize for her colourful gerberas.
When Harry attended his last evening with the Little Hangleton Mixed Choir as their pianist before he was off to Hogwarts, he got a bit of a surprise. Everyone was gathered around a table, including Tom, that traitor. On the table stood a large cake with Thanks, Jack written in icing, with many candles burning around the words.
"You shouldn't have," Harry mumbled, feeling strangely emotional to be saying goodbye to the Choir. He wasn't going to miss Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest hits, but he would definitely miss the people he'd come to call friends during the past year.
"It's been more than a year," Harry said as he and Tom walked home after their impromptu celebration with the choir. "I only just now realized, but it's been more than a year since I woke up in this life." He glanced up at Tom and bumped their arms together. "It's been good, hasn't it?"
"The best," Tom said and he truly sounded like he meant that.
"I'm not riding on the Hogwarts Express," Tom said in the third week of August. "I've thought about it, but I don't think it's a good idea to overstimulate myself like that on our very first day."
"You know, I can look into a potion for sensory overload," Harry offered at once. He was disappointed Tom wouldn't be riding the train with him, because a part of Harry wanted to share that wonderful feeling of nostalgia with him, but he understood why Tom declined.
"Your Concentration Concoction works wonders, so please do," Tom said with a pleased smile.
They had one staff meeting at Hogwarts where they were introduced to all the returning staff by Dumbledore, who didn't display any open hostility to Tom but treated him just like Harry.
"Congratulations on your marriage this spring. I assumed you'll be sharing quarters," McGonagall said with a tight little smile. "You'll be sleeping in the quarters adjacent to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, since Severus asked for his rooms not to be disturbed. He's expected to come back next year."
"That works for us," Harry assured her with a smile.
The rest of the meeting was not very interesting. Harry and Tom had been teachers so often at so many different schools, magical and muggle, that they knew the kind of practical information that was exchanged during such meetings pretty much by heart.
The last week of August they spent getting their affairs in order. Regulus received Tom's last minute instructions for The Magical Spark, though that was hardly necessary because Regulus understood all aspects of the business perfectly at that point.
They gave their chickens, coop and all, to Cindy, who loved the idea of having a few little chooks of her own.
"I'm going to miss you two," Cindy said, giving them both firm hugs before looking at them with a tremulous smile. "You'd best come visit me during your holidays, you hear me?"
"It's a promise," Harry said, sad to say goodbye to his first friend in this version of their original world. "We'll come see you around Christmas." They had told her and everyone else in Little Hangleton they'd gotten jobs at a prestigious boarding school, which everyone accepted without question.
Right before they were ready to leave Harry got a letter from the Potions Gild informing him that his Concentration Concoction had been approved and was ready for market. Harry immediately wrote a few letters to various potions producers to license the recipe to them, which would earn them a nice little bit of gold in the wizarding world and which would establish Harry's name, or rather Jack Bird's name, as a talented potioneer.
"See you at dinner tonight," Tom said early in the morning on September first.
Harry's stomach was full of nervous jitters. He was going to Hogwarts! Of course, he'd attended Hogwarts many times in the past as different people, but now he was going to see his old loved ones again. He honestly couldn't wait to see Ron and Hermione and Neville and Ginny and Hagrid and… well, everyone, really.
"See you tonight." Harry kissed Tom, long and hard, and then picked up his bag which held a few books, a thermos of tea and a packed lunch. "Be a good girl, I'll see you later, too," Harry muttered while pressing a kiss to Izzy's fuzzy head. And then he was ready. With a spring in his step, Harry left he cottage and apparated to King's Cross, platform nine and ¾.
The Hogwarts Express looked as beautiful as Harry remembered it from each of his lives he'd been a British Wizard. Steam billowed while all around him parents said goodbye to their anxious and excited children. Harry couldn't hold back a huge grin as he weaved through the people and hopped on board of the train. He slowly walked down the corridor, peeking inside the compartments and seeing so many familiar faces.
Lavender Brown, Terry Boot, Blaise Zabini, Seamus Finnegan, Cedric Diggory… That last one made Harry swallow, but just for a moment. There was no Voldemort this life so Cedric would live a long and happy life this time, Harry was sure of it. Eventually Harry saw Neville Longbottom sitting in a compartment with a girl Harry didn't recognize.
The compartment door was open so Harry stepped inside the compartment and addressed Neville. "Hello, might I join you? The train is filling up fast."
"Are you a professor? What do you teach?" the girl asked eagerly and at once Harry recognized that demanding tone.
That girl was Hermione. And when Harry gave her a good look, he did recognize her, though she looked quite different from the Hermione Granger he'd known in his first life.
Because this Hermione was black.