Chapter 4

Notes: Sorry for thelate chapter, things have been quite hectic this week. Mondays we have school meetings and I picked up Karate, Tuesdays, and Thursdays I have reports to write, and Wednesdays I have art and Karate once more. I also got informed that I might be taking on chess classes on a Tuesday and Thursday after school so I barely have enough time to complete all the work expected of me. I will, however, try to make time to write on the weekends during my off time . Thank you for the likes and kudos.

"Nick told me that you were looking for Harry, but I didn't expect you to come to find him here at the shop. He's done nothing wrong…" Rosalee's words were cut off as Sean lifted his hand for silence.

It threw Harry for a moment as she immediately obeyed with a look of slight trepidation mixed with determination, but then something clicked into place and he fully turned to Sean, "You're one of the Royals?"

The man nodded, though there seemed to be a lot more to the story than simply being a part of the Royal family. Sean turned to Rosalee, "I'm not here because he's done something wrong, and I'm not here to escort him to the station. There is simply something that I need to discuss with him."

Sean's words seemed to catch her off guard and Harry realized that she'd stormed into the shop, fully intending on protecting him against a Royal, even though it could have gotten her into big trouble. Trouble that should probably be avoided.

Harry grimaced as he stepped forward, "Look, I'm extremely new to the whole Wesen, Royal, and Grimm aspects of the world. If you want me to, I can look at the key again but I can't promise that I will be able to give you the answers you seek. I have no desire to be caught in the middle of whatever is going on, so I would appreciate it if you kept me out of it after that."

Sean nodded, though it didn't seem like he wanted to believe that someone would choose to stay out of a mystery that promised power to the one that solved it. Harry mentally scoffed to himself, if only the man knew the truth, but Harry wasn't stupid enough to reveal his past or the true origins of the keys without knowing why they were after the contents of the vault in the first place.

Even then, it would be better if the objects that Sean described stayed lost. Humans, whether gifted or not, tended to be too fond of doing things 'For the Greater Good', and more often than not it usually meant that the ones with power benefitted while the rest of the population suffered. Memories of the war flashed before his eyes and a pained grimace unknowingly crossed his face as he remembered those that had died.

A hand on his shoulder jerked Harry out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Rosalee worriedly watching him. Sean on the other hand looked quite interested in finding out why he tended to space out so much and he gave the man a slight glare in warning as he simultaneously placed a hand over Rosalee's to reassure her, "I mean it. Whatever is going on, I want no part of it."

Sean nodded before looking at his watch, "Would you be willing to meet somewhere tonight? You can choose the location, or we can meet at Monroe's place?"

The last part was stated more to Rosalee than to him and Harry turned to see Rosalee nodding in earnest even as she squeezed his shoulder lightly to get him to agree, "Monroe wouldn't mind. We've been meaning to ask everyone over for dinner anyway. Say around 7?"

Sean inclined his head, "I will inform Nick," before leaving without another word. Neither of them had even acknowledged that Harry hadn't agreed to anything and a large part of him wanted to stay away just to get them to see that he wouldn't be strongarmed into anything. Unfortunately, that would solve nothing at the moment.

Harry stared at the door for a few moments after it closed before he turned his attention to Rosalee, who was watching him with quite a bit of concern, "When we met you said that you weren't sure if you were moving here or just visiting. How is it possible that you met and drew the attention of Portland's ruling Royal after just arriving?"

Harry grimaced, "Believe it or not, I seem to have both the best and the worst luck, depending on who you ask. It's just my luck that I thought the key that Nick carries with him, looked familiar, and that key just happened to be something important."

Rosalee frowned, "Knowledge like that could put you in danger. If you really do know something about it. Not just from the Royals, but also from the factions that are secretly trying to oppose them."

Harry gave a dry, humorless, laugh, "I can take care of myself. I just don't want to endanger you or Monroe in the process. As it is, I will hand in my resignation in the morning. I doubt it would take long for someone else to start believing that I know something with the Captain suddenly taking such an interest in me and people like that usually stop at nothing to get what they want."

This seemed to be the last thing that Rosalee expected because she stared at him in shock before vehemently shaking her head, "I don't know what kind of life you lived previously, but I refuse to accept your resignation without a valid reason. Besides, Nick isn't just a cop, he is a Grimm, one of the good ones at least, and he'd never allow someone innocent to get hurt if he can help it. If things do go south, wouldn't it be safer to stay with people that can protect your back?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, "Nick's a Grimm?"

Rosalee nodded, but there was a frown on her face, "You didn't know? He's been a Grimm for quite a while now. It runs in his family. That's how he met Monroe. A little girl had been kidnapped and Monroe helped him find her. I met them after my brother was killed and things just took off from there."

The information made Harry think of Nick's eyes when he'd seen him, but he didn't want to reveal anything that might label him as anything other than a normal human at the moment. He still didn't know the extent of the Wesen abilities and until he learned more, he would try to keep his head down, at least as much as possible.

He glanced around the shop, and Rosalee seemed to sense his need to change the subject, "Come on, we might as well lock up and do a few deliveries before we head home. Do you want to stop at your place to grab a shower and a change of clothes?"

Harry nodded and moved to grab the orders that he'd managed to put together before the Captain came in. He usually made an excuse and simply apparated, but when it came to delivering orders, it was best to do it with a car to avoid suspicion. Some of the Wesen tended to be over-friendly once they got to know you and it would only create problems if they believed that Rosalee was making him do deliveries on foot if they insisted on walking him to the car.

They finished the deliveries before stopping at his place so that he could grab a quick shower. As always, Rosalee asked a bit about his family and Harry knew that she was wondering why his apartment held only the necessities rather than any personal memorabilia.

Unfortunately, the only personal possessions he had were all related to magic so he kept them in the small trunk around his neck to ensure that nothing could be accidentally discovered by nosy friends or neighbors, such as the ones he currently had.

The Masons, who lived on his left, were quite friendly but they tended to gossip quite a bit. He usually tried to avoid catching them on his way to or from his house when he was in a hurry. The Johnsons on the other hand were extremely quiet, but he'd already sensed the two teenagers at his wards multiple times and it was only a matter of time before their curiosity got the better of them.

Luckily he was only staying at the apartment until they fixed up one of the Peverell Castles, whose magic had somehow kept the place mostly intact. The spell placed on the castle had been a complicated piece of work, one that had been powered by the energies of the elves that lived there until the last elf died about 200 years ago. The spell and wards managed to hold for another 150 years after that until it finally ran out of its stored magic.

It still took quite a bit of his own magic and a few compulsions on a contractor company to fix the place up, and it was due to be finished within a month at the latest.

Harry finished his shower and quickly dressed. When he didn't see Rosalee in the living room, he smiled slightly and followed his instincts to the study, where he found Rosalee sitting and reading a book on one of the comfy chairs in the room.

It was where she could often be found whenever she came to visit as the books themselves contained little-known facts about things around the world, and it was the perfect cover as to how he'd become involved in the Wesen world without being some kind of Wesen himself.

She looked up as he entered the room and she immediately placed the book down, though he could still plainly see that she was worried. He paused just inside the doorway as she stood, and crossed his arms in a mockingly stern way, "You know, if I didn't know better, I would think that we would be throwing ourselves in front of a firing squad."

Rosalee grimaced, "Is it that obvious?"

Harry nodded and her face fell before she looked up with determination, "I don't exactly know how much you know about Wesen and Royals in general, or even how exactly you found out about us, but there are some dangerous Wesen within the Royal employ and I would hate to see you get hurt. I know you think you can handle them, but one of them could easily attack you without us even knowing about it."

The determined look in her eyes spoke a lot about how far Rosalee would go to protect her friends, but Harry soon felt doubt begin to settle in as he wondered just how far Rosalee would be willing to go if he ever revealed the truth about himself.