"Honestly, I don't see why you had to come to my place just to go to the zoo." Arthur huffed as he followed the loud American around, a nervous Canaidian carrying a small polar bear in his arms followed behind them, him and the bear going unnoticed by the humans. "You have plenty of your own, like that one in Central Park, America."
"Aw, come on, Iggy! It's nice being able to see what other types of zoos are out there." America laughed. "Besides, this one has such a cool name! It deserves to be visited by a totally awesome hero like myself! Chess-Whatever-It's-Called World of Adventures!"
The Englishman fumed, "It's called Chessington, and stop calling me that! Just because you find the way Japan says my name funny does not mean you get to use that ridiculous nickname you came up with! Second, Surrey could do well without your visits!"
"Wow, England, your face is getting as red as Romano's!"
"Uh, guys? Maybe you should just stick to your human names? People are staring…"
"Who are you?" The bear, Mr. Kumajiro, looked up at the sheepish man holding him.
"I'm Canada… your owner." Canada sighed, used to being forgotten even by his oldest companion.
Arthur looked over, "Huh? Mathew, when did you get here?"
"I've been here, remember? I came with Alfred on the same plane because he dragged me out of bed screaming about going here."
"Oh, right…" Arthur said, trying to remember. He sighed, "Anyway, you're right, we'll use our human names-"
"Or nicknames!" Alfred interjected.
"No!"
"Hey guys, come on! Let's check out the reptiles!" Alfred said, paying no mind to the angry blond, "I'll bet they have huge snakes!"
Arthur prayed to whatever god was paying attention that he survived this visit from his former colony.
The three men walked into the exhibit and began to look at the various reptiles in their enclosures. Arthur couldn't stop himself from cracking a smile as he watched Kumajiro lightly paw toward the animals he wanted to get a closer look at, causing the nervous Mathew to cautiously approach.
"Make it move," a boy whined, catching Arthur's attention. He turned his head and saw a chubby boy looking into the enclosure for the boa constrictor with an older man and a boy whose clothes looked to be a couple sizes too big for him. The man tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't so much as flinch. "Do it again." The boy ordered, rather rudely in Arthur's opinion. The man did, but just as before, they received no response.
"This is boring." The boy moaned, stalking away to a different enclosure. The man followed, but Arthur noticed that the smaller boy seemed to linger, gazing at the giant snake as if empathizing with it.
"Hey!" Arthur's attention was brought back to the larger boy who had apparently decided it was a good time to go to the enclosure for turtles – while also shoving Alfred aside.
The man said nothing, only glancing at Alfred before bringing his attention back to his son.
Alfred looked like he was about to say something when he caught Arthur's eye. The shorter man gave him a look that dared him to make a scene. Deciding to let it go for the most part, Alfred joined Mathew a few feet away. Not wanting to leave it be, he did say "rude" loud enough for the other group to hear. The boy glared at his back while the man rolled his eyes, muttering something about tourists.
Arthur shook his head, thankful he didn't have to jump in.
Suddenly, a third boy who seemed to know the first boy and the man shouted for them. The larger boy ran from the turtles back to the boa constrictor, shoving the smaller boy aside as he and his friend shouted about how the snake was moving. The smaller boy fell onto the floor and glared up at them as they pressed their hands and faces to the glass, only to jump back in horror as the one thing separating them from the deadly snake vanished into thin air.
As the snake uncoiled itself and slithered out of the enclosure, Arthur rushed to the smaller boy and grabbed him by the arm, heaving him up and away from the escaping boa. He acted on instinct as he tried to formulate a plan of action, his first thought was to get the child away from danger, but anything after that was immediately halted as he recognized the snake thanking the boy and then hissed something about Brazil. He had almost forgotten he could speak and understand parseltongue, not really having a need for it in at least the last century. And then there was the boy the snake thanked.
"Um, thank you mister, you can let me go now." He said, shaken but still somehow steady.
"Oh, yes, of course." Arthur let go. The boy had round glasses that seemed to have been broken then messily taped back together, but what drew Arthur's attention was the familiar lightning bolt scar on his forehead, poking out from under his bangs. It was Harry Potter.
He didn't get a chance to say anything else as the boy was dragged away by the man who Arthur could only assume was his uncle as a woman fretted over the other two children, going on about how her "little boy" and his friend would surely be traumatized.
He walked out of the building with Canada and America, the latter of whom was excitedly talking about what had just happened. Around them, the zoo was being simultaneously searched and evacuated. Arthur paid no mind to either as he walked, his mind still on the child from before. It had been roughly a decade since that night he had met with Dumbledore and his companions, a decade since the wizarding war ended and they left Harry Potter on the doorstep of his maternal aunt's, a decade since he put the wizarding world as far behind him as his job and sense of duty would allow him.
Harry had magical talent, being able to cause the glass to vanish was proof of that. Control over it, however, was another story. Harry looked more surprised than anything when the boa constrictor was set free, so he most likely didn't even know he had done it.
Arthur wouldn't think of or see the Boy Who Lived after that until toward the end of the summer.
Swamped with paperwork from both the muggle and wizarding sides, the personification of England was at his wit's end, and it didn't help that his other brothers that represented the UK had slacked off somewhere and left their portions to him. He gazed down at his list of things to do, deciding to do one more thing before he took a break.
'Perfect,' he thought, going through the list and checking his wristwatch, 'I can send these documents to Fudge through the owl post and then grab a drink.' He put the stack of papers into an envelope before placing it into his briefcase.
Arthur then walked to his fireplace and lit a fire in it before reaching into a jar he kept on the shelf above it. Stepping into the mouth of the fireplace, he raised his hand, "The Leakey Cauldron!" he shouted before dropping the powder-like substance into the fire below his feet. In a flash of green flames, he was no longer in his house, but in that of a pub.
The people inside didn't look at him, though some said small words of greeting as he walked past. He didn't mind; it allowed him to be able to maneuver his way through the room and into the back area where there was nothing but a brick wall. Taking out his wand, his tapped the bricks in order based on memory, and soon they parted to reveal Diagon Alley, the busiest shopping district in the country. Arthur placed his wand into his case before anyone could see it. It wasn't that he didn't want people to see it, but the fact his had a giant star ornament on the end usually attracted unwanted attention as it was a style that went in and out of fashion as quick as a cheetah hundreds of years ago, and he didn't want to have to explain it to people when he was in a hurry to have his break.
After he sent the documents off with the most reliable owl the post office had and paid the witch manning the front desk, he made his way back toward the pub that connected the district to the muggle world.
Taking a seat, he decided to order something light. Though he hated to admit it, he had to agree with his friends, family, and coworkers; he couldn't hold his alcohol to save his life, immortal or not. Although, for a moment, he did wonder if he should order something stronger due to a headache that started to form as he walked in, but decided against it. He was half way through his drink when a large hand tapped his shoulder, and when he turned around he was a familiar man with a curly beard and a height beyond that of an average human's.
"I thought it was you, Arthur, how've you been?"
"Hagrid," Arthur said, recognizing him, "It's been a long time, I'm doing well. How are you?" He stood up and shook his hand.
"Fine, fine." He smiled, "I was just bringing young Harry here to pick up his school supplies. We just ran into one of his professors actually." Hagrid stepped aside, allowing the boy to come into view. "Harry, this is Arthur, he's actually friends with Headmaster Dumbledore. Actually," he turned back to Arthur, "I never did catch your last name when we met all those years ago."
"It's all right, we were occupied with other things at the time." He nodded, then turned to Harry, "My name's Arthur Kirkland, and I believe we've met before."
"Yes, at the zoo in Surrey." Harry nodded, shaking his hand, "I, uh, recognized you from your eyebrows." He said sheepishly, noting Arthur grimacing at the comment, though neither made mention of it after. Arthur drowned the rest of his glass before gathering his belongings and leaving money on the table for the staff.
"Well, Mr. Potter, Mr. Hagrid, I best be off now. I wish you luck with your schooling."
A/N: Hey everyone, thanks again for reading!
I know how I can get, especially with all the stories I abandoned in the past when I was younger, but I'm definitely going to try to stick with this one until it's completed, even if life decides it wants to get in the way and make it so I have no motivation or time to write like it did this past week.
A few things to note is that I will probably be following the books more than the movie, hence why the zoo is in Surrey rather than London. Another thing is that I wrote that the zoo is the Chessington World of Adventure Resort because that's what a lot of people in the fandom guessed it was, including a friend of mine who spent a semester abroad there and confirmed a lot of the similarities between it and the zoo described in the book. I also wrote that England is a parseltongue because why not? I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who head canons that. Finally, while yes, England has mostly left the wizarding world, he still checks in from time to time and does paperwork connected to it due to the fact that it's his job and he can't avoid it. At the most, he just stays out of conflicts and only really visits places like Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic one or twice a year.