Chapter 2
A month later he finally made it to his destination, having stopped quite a few times to gather information on the new world he found himself in.
His magic led him to a bustling city called Portland, and for a moment he waited for any sign of magical life to jump out at him, but nothing happened so he followed the rest of the trail as the tug grew ever stronger until he found himself inside a police station.
He was about two meters away from an office that seemed to hold the origin of the pull when a guy in a uniform waylaid him and he was slightly startled when he turned to the man and found two bottomless pools of darkness where his eyes were supposed to be. He blinked and they seemed to return to normal, making him believe for a mere moment that he was seeing things. But nothing was ever that easy.
The man looked at him with a frown before he led him to the side, well out of ear-shot of any of the other people inside the station, "I eh, I'm sorry if this sounds strange but you just got a very familiar look on your face, but you didn't voge…are you Wesen?"
Harry felt his eyes widen at the semi-familiar term, but he shook his head and the man frowned, "Sorry, I…", but Harry stopped him, "I am not a Wesen, but I am kinda familiar with the term…"
The other man frowned, "Are you a Grimm then?"
Harry almost wanted to laugh at the term, with him being the Master of Death that is, but he shook his head, "I'm not a Grimm either, that I know of at least. I'm just…very far from home."
The other man's expression changed and it took a moment for Harry to realize that it wasn't just sympathy in the other man's gaze, but a sort of understanding as he stuck out his hand in greeting, "I am Nick Burkhardt, you may call me Nick."
Harry shook his hand, "Harry Potter…Harry", he waited for the usual reaction and was pleasantly surprised when the man gave no reaction to his name until he remembered that a lot of time had passed and a lot of things had changed.
Nick glanced back towards the office before returning his attention to Harry, "Do you have something you need to talk to the Captain about?" His gaze seemed slightly wary and Harry wondered whether people or rather Wesen, came looking for this Captain often.
How to explain it though?
"I-eh, well, yes and no, I mean, I don't know…?" Harry wanted to kick himself, the time in the vault must have robbed him of his brain cells, but he saw the wariness in the other man's stance fade away and it was replaced with a more relaxed stance as he seemed to dismiss him as a threat.
The man did still frown in worry though, "Is everything ok, did something happen?" The man leaned forward slightly and Harry caught a glimpse of something familiar, and without thinking about it, he reached for the object that hung on a necklace around the other man's neck.
It was one of the keys to the vault he'd been in…
Nick pulled away from him sharply and Harry was surprised when he saw that the other man had his hand on his gun, though he didn't remove it from its holster quite yet.
A deep voice interrupted them, "Burkhardt, please escort our guest into my office."
Harry noted quite a few complicated emotions passing over Nick's face before he nodded and motioned for Harry to follow him. It was almost as if he wasn't sure whether to count the Captain as a friend or a threat and yet he'd waylaid Harry the moment he'd noted that he was heading for the Captain's office.
He felt like a bug under a microscope as he entered the office and heard the door close behind him. Nick had stationed himself near the door and was watching him warily for any sign of a threat while the Captain, a tall man with dark hair, regarded him with curiosity.
No one spoke for a few moments and Harry almost wanted to squirm uncomfortably, but he forced himself to stand still. What did I get myself into now?
"What do you know about the key around Nick's neck?" The Captain's question caught Harry off-guard and he looked at the man in surprise. That's what all this is about? The key?
He shrugged, "Keys open locks, right? It just looked very familiar to the keys my people used to…"
He didn't get further as the Captain stepped forward in interest, "Your people? Where are you from? Are the keys only used at a specific location?"
Harry frowned in suspicion before he pulled up his Auror mask and crossed his arms defensively, "I'm sorry, but I don't even know who you are…" The pull he felt was connected to the Captain. It unnerved him and it didn't sit well with him that they would question him so much about the key unless they knew it had some kind of connection to the Wizarding World.
He was almost to the door when Nick stepped in front of it, leaving Harry to stop in front of him. The man looked hesitant, and Harry glanced back at the Captain as the man sighed, "Sorry, Sean Renard at your service. Any information you might have could be important for us."
Harry narrowed his eyes at the man, "Should have started with that before you started questioning a random stranger as if he's some kind of criminal...", with that, he turned back to Nick and raised a brow in question. The man glanced over his shoulder for a moment before nodding and stepping away from the door.
Neither of the two men followed him out and Harry almost gave in to the urge to childishly lock them in the office to stop them from immediately following him.
A block or two away from the station, Harry started to wander around aimlessly as he tried to figure out what to do next. Would any of his properties still be standing after all these years? He doubted it. The wards would have failed a long time ago already.
So first he had to purchase a house but to do that he probably needed a new identity document. Luckily a few compulsions ensured that the entire process was completed quickly, and he even got to keep his own name without someone going ballistic about it.
He wondered for a second whether he should have changed it, seeing as the Captain and the guy named Nick knew it, but they were a part of the police so it would simply have raised a lot of uncomfortable questions.
He was sure that they would end up running into each other again anyway. He sighed, maybe he'd overreacted a little about the whole key thing, but they had been a little too earnest in questioning him about the key and it set him on edge.
An hour later the scent of herbs suddenly hit his nose and he froze in his tracks and leaned heavily on the glass panel next to him as memories assaulted his senses. Severus…
He'd felt almost sick as he watched the Potion's Master's shop go up in flames the day he'd died. He'd died of old age and had requested in his will that all he'd owned be burnt with him to keep the 'dunderheads' from blowing themselves up with the ingredients from his shop, but he'd also been one of the last remaining people that Harry had known, and stubborn to the very end.
He knew why the man had done it…Severus had constantly lectured him about holding onto things because of sentimental reasons, and in the end, he'd forced him to let go.
Not that it had the desired effect.
Instead of living as Severus had requested, Harry had traveled a bit before simply making the Draught and drinking it, hoping that he would be reunited with everyone. Not that THAT had happened either it seems.
He sighed and closed his eyes, but was forced to open them again when a door opened next to him and he found a concerned-looking brunette at the door. He glanced up and saw that he'd been leaning on the window of a spice shop. Maybe the young woman thought he was going to break it?
"Sorry, I…", he broke off as she shook her head and lightly grabbed him by the sleeve before leading him into the shop.
She motioned for him to sit down before putting on a kettle to boil. At first, he thought she was mute, but then she gave him a sheepish smile as she noted his expression, "The window wasn't going to break, you just looked like you really needed to sit down for a moment."
He gave her a grateful smile and nodded, "Thank you, I did. A close friend of mine owned a similar shop once…" He didn't say more and was glad when she didn't ask him to elaborate as many others would. Instead, she gave him a cup of tea before settling down with her own, and Harry glanced around the shop in interest now that he had his thoughts and emotions under control once more.
Something caught his eye though and he set his cup down before getting up and glancing at the shelf in interest, only for his eyes to widen as he pulled a bottle of gillyweed from the shelf. It's not as if he would ever forget what it looked like (or tasted like) after his fourth year.
He looked at her in surprise, "Where did you find these?"
He watched as her eyes widened in confusion before belatedly realizing that he hadn't even introduced himself yet. "Sorry, I'm Harry by the way. I just didn't expect to see this here."
She nodded and smiled, but seemed a bit more guarded than before, "I don't know. My brother had been the one that owned this shop before me, but I haven't been able to find a reference on the use of it so it's mostly been gathering dust in the shop. My name is Rosalee."
Harry held out his hand in greeting, and they briefly shook hands. As they allowed their hands to fall back to their sides, Harry noticed that Rosalee looked slightly indecisive as she constantly shifted her weight to a different foot and glanced around the shop.
He then noticed that they were completely alone. Maybe he'd made her uncomfortable? He gave her an apologetic smile before walking over to finish his tea, even though it was still hot, and then heading towards the door, he paused with his hand on the handle and turned back, it would be bad manners to just leave, "Thanks for the tea, it was really delicious. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, it was just strange seeing a few familiar herbs here." Which wasn't a lie, but so far Gillyweed was the only herb he'd noticed in the shop that worked without mixing it with the other ingredients before it would work as intended.
He'd barely opened the door before a rushed, "WAIT!", had him turning around once more. The woman was practically a bundle of nerves as she wrung her hands before her so why would she call him back?
She looked around indecisively once more before visibly steeling herself and looking him right in the eye, "Would you be interested in working here?"
Harry couldn't deny that he stared at her for several moments as her words sunk in and he slowly closed the door. "Why would you want me to work here if I make you nervous?" She blinked at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter and he was relieved to see that she'd completely relaxed.
She shook her head, "You don't make me nervous, I just didn't want you to think I was crazy for offering you a job when you are clearly well-off, but I really need some help in the shop and you seem to have some experience in it."
Harry had to stop himself from visibly gaping at her, "But you just met me! What if I am some kind of stalker or killer with a hidden motive? Or some kind of competitor hoping to open a shop close by? Just because I recognized one ingredient doesn't mean that I know my way around the rest of it." This was true enough, seeing as the herbs were quite different from the herbs from the Wizarding World.
Rosalee snorted at that and shook her head, "I truly doubt that, I haven't seen you around before today and your accent tells me you're from Britain. Are you visiting or did you just move here? And you seem to know enough to allow me to easily teach you the rest."
Harry almost felt the need to facepalm. He already knew that he was going to give in one way or another, he couldn't let a woman as trusting as this work alone in a shop where she could clearly be taken advantage of.
Besides, it would give him something to do while he figured everything out. "I wasn't sure whether I was moving here or just visiting, so I'm not sure yet. I don't mind helping out but I need to find a place to stay first."
Rosalee looked thoughtful, "I could give you an advance..", but Harry shook his head immediately. Apparently, he was going to have his work cut out for him.
He looked at her sternly, "I don't mind helping out, but you don't have to pay me. I might have to leave the shop now and again though…"
Rosalee nodded earnestly and for a moment a furry image seemed to overlap with her face, but it was gone before he could recognize it so he let it go. Maybe he needed to rest for a bit? The day had certainly been more eventful than the past month put together and he could feel his body tiring.
He glanced towards the back of the shop before returning his attention to Rosalee, "So, is there something I need to sign? I need to find a place before it gets too late."
Rosalee shook her head before pausing and glancing at him uncertainly, "Maybe I should just take your details? Just in case?"
Harry nodded and wrote down his basic details on a piece of paper on the table before handing it over to her, "Do you know any hotels or inns nearby? I'll look for a place to stay this weekend." She nodded and wrote down a few places as well as the directions to them.
Harry was just about to leave when the door opened and a shady-looking character walked into the shop. The man paused the moment he saw him though before hurriedly seeming to browse the shelves and leaving the shop once more without taking or buying anything.
Harry turned to Rosalee with a raised brow before shaking his head and moving to familiarize himself with the shop instead. A few moments later he glanced up to find Rosalee looking between him and the door in confusion. He shrugged, "If you think I'm leaving you alone in the shop after seeing that…well, it's not going to happen."
He missed the sadly-relieved smile that crossed her face before she moved to sort out more of the inventory.