AN: Hmmm.I suppose at some point, I should mention I'm a big fan of
cliffhangers?
*Evil grin*
Harry walked in the door just as a group of people left. 'Good that will make this easier,' he thought. He walked up to the middle aged man standing at the edge of the room, "Excuse me."
The man turned to Harry and smiled, "Yes? Is there something I can help you with?"
Harry nodded, "Do you have any openings for new students?"
The man nodded, "You wish to join our class?" After a quick nod from Harry, he continued, "We have plenty of room. How many classes were you thinking of taking each week? One?"
Harry thought a moment, "I'm not quite sure, but I think, perhaps, I'd like to take a few more than that. It rather depends on my schedule." After thinking for a quick moment, he looked up at the man and asked, "D'you think I could just come whenever I could? And pay as I go?"
"I suppose that could be easily arranged," Harry gave the man a small smile, "I suppose then I should welcome you to our dojo." He held out a hand to Harry and said with a bit of a grin, "You may call me Sensei." He quirked an eyebrow at Harry.
"Oh! Sorry, Harry Potter. Pleased to meet you," Harry said as he shook hands looking a bit sheepish. 'Right Harry, not /everyone/ knows who you are.'
(AN: There, happy? Now you know. Or most of you at least should know what is in the silly building.)
"Just come over here by the front desk. Here, fill out this from for me. And then this one here," he handed over the forms and then looked speculatively over at Harry.
Harry looked over the forms. 'Well, I don't think the Dursley's would sue him if I got hurt, no problem there.' The sensei interrupted his thoughts, "Harry, how old are you?"
Harry looked up at him, thoroughly startled, "What?"
The sensei calmly repeated his question. "I'm almost 15." came the answer. The sensei watched a variety of emotions flit over Harry's face in the seconds before he regained control of his expression, finally settled on a 'Why do you ask, does it matter' kind of look. He just nodded his head at the forms without giving anything away.
'Why did he ask that? Oh, I hope he doesn't need a guardian's signature,' Harry thought. He glanced over the rest of the form to the bottom signature part, and breathed a sigh of relief. There was nothing down there about guardians. 'Although I could always ask Sirius.but I'd rather not tell anyone about this. That way, if I ever need it, it will be a surprise. And I'd sure love to use it on Malfoy sometime!'
Recalling his attention to the task at hand, Harry looked down at the second form he had been given. "What should I put for classes per week?"
"Just leave it blank, I'll take care of it."
Harry nodded, and moved on, looking at the next section, 'In what school of martial arts do you wish to receive training?' Harry looked at the paper blankly for a moment, and then looked up at the sensei. "I'm not really sure which kind I'd like to learn."
"Pick one, if you don't like it, you can try another."
Harry nodded again, and then looked back up after reviewing the choices. "Can I pick more than one at a time?"
The sensei hid a smile at his eagerness and replied, "Certainly, you may. You can switch off classes every other week or come more often if you like."
Harry looked down at the form yet again, but this time moved the pen and swiftly checked the box next to something that was described as fighting with katanas and then a little more hesitantly checked the first box of the unarmed styles. At least that way he could keep track of which ones he had already tried. The rest of the form was quickly filled out with little difficulties.
"Hmm.Very good choice. Those are two of my favorite styles," The sensei walked over to the front desk and filed Harry's forms and took out two more from the drawer above it. "These are schedules for the classes. You can just join in whenever you wish."
Harry took the sheets and looked them over quickly before putting them in the folder with the information about being a manager. "Thanks," he said. Harry smiled and turned to leave saying, "I guess I'll see you then."
"Oh! You need 30 pounds for beginning equipment. Practice clothes and such. I'll get them and you can pay for them when you come for your first class."
Harry nodded and left to go home with more of a spring in his step than there had been since before the third task last year.
The Sensei watched Harry go, with a strange expression on his face. 'He looks so young, and yet his eyes look to belong to an old man who has seen too much war in his life.' He reminded him very much of himself after his father died. Full of guilt and anger at watching someone he loved die, and not being able to do a single thing about it.
* * * * * * * * * *
Harry walked into the house and put his folder on his bed for later and went back down stairs. He ate his small dinner and when he had finished, Aunt Petunia silently handed him a list of chores before going into the living room to fawn over her 'Duddykins'. Harry rolled his eyes as he heard her and started on the dishes.
A few hours later Harry checked off the last thing on his list. It wasn't hard; they were just his usual chores, and all inside jobs. He hated having to weed the garden in the dark. It was hard to tell what was a weed and what was a flower and if he pulled the wrong one and Aunt Petunia noticed, he was in big trouble.
Harry crumpled up his list of chores, threw it in the trash, and crept quietly to his cupboard. As he eased open the door, he noticed the folder he had thrown on his bed earlier. Harry sighed and picked it up. The first thing he saw was the schedule for his martial arts classes. He put them aside to look at after he settled his new work schedule.
He pulled out the next few sheets, an overview of his new duties as a manager. Mostly it was opening or closing at the beginnings and closings of the day, making out the workers' schedules sometimes, making sure the other workers actually worked, and dealing with irate customers. Harry read the sheets and set them aside. The next few sheets were the contract. Harry muddled through all the legal terms and once again set it aside, seeing nothing he hadn't already agreed to. The last sheet in the folder had a note attached.
Harry, Go ahead and fill this out. We'll go over it tomorrow and make sure we've got all the days covered. ~Mr. Downey
Harry glanced at the sheet and pulled over the martial arts schedules. He was glad now that he would get first pick of the days he wanted to work. Harry smiled as he finished. He could easily get to almost all of the classes and get all of his hours in. Stuffing all the sheets back in the folder he threw it under his bed and went to sleep.
* * * * * * * *
A man walked into the dark room. A voice broke the silence. "Is it ready?" He was met with nothing from the shadows that was the second man, except a few faint whimpers. "Is it ready?" the first man asked a little more forcefully with an edge of anger. "N-no.I'm sorry.we- " came the voice. The man sneered at the stammering man and cut through his pitiful excuses, "Crucio."
* * * * * * * *
When Harry got to work the next morning, he went straight to Mr. Downey's office, ignoring the other workers' stares. Mr. Downey ushered him into the office and sat him in the chair in front of his desk again. "Well? Have you got that schedule all worked out?"
"Yes. I can change it a little if you need to, but I've got it all filled out," he said, handing the schedule to him.
"Good, good," he said, glancing at the schedule. "Hmm.I would have thought you'd rather have your evenings free," looking up and fixing him with a piercing look.
"No sir, I have something I'd rather do in the afternoons and mornings." Harry looked down a little uncertain, and then looked back up once again sure of himself, "Could you tell my uncle you asked me to work extra late hours?"
Mr. Downey stared at him for a few minutes as if trying to decipher his reasons. Just as Harry was beginning to wish he hadn't asked, Mr. Downey nodded. "I can." Glancing down at the schedule in his hand, he said to Harry, "I believe you are supposed to be working right now?"
Harry started then gave the man a small smile and got up to leave. "Thank you," he said faintly as he shut the door behind him.
Mr. Downey sat there staring at the door for a few minutes before shaking himself into action again, muttering about how kids just kept getting stranger and stranger these days.
Wanted: constructive criticism and reviews. No need to apply. Walk ins welcome.
AN: Yes, I know, it's been what? Four months? *Ducks* Well, I do apologize for the extreme lateness, but my life was turned pretty much upside down for a while, and for the sake of my sanity I needed to sort that mess out first. (Well, that and my disk apparently disappeared for a time) I'm hoping I'll be able to work on this a bit more now, but I really can't promise anything regular at this point. The story will be finished eventually though, although it could take me a bit. Anyways, as a sort of apology, there's no cliffhanger this time. Although it is a bit short, sorry, but I figured you'd rather have something. Not a whole lot is happening right now, I know, but I hope you still like it. Any sort of input would be good!! Review!
Indiana Jones~ I don't know about driving, I don't think they'd trust him with their car, and one of them would have to teach him, but you never know. And yes, I went to NY, and I saw the towers, and it is very sad. There are flowers and memorials and signatures all over the fences surrounding the site. There were just people all around it.
Mcnugget~ Yes, I know, it's incredibly late, but I explained that, sort of. Anyway, you didn't get to see the employee's reactions, and I'm not entirely certain if you will, because I was going to try to move the story along a touch after the next chapter or two. *Shrugs* We'll see.
Everyone else~ See? I still exist! And although there is a difference of opinion about the existence of a plot, eventually there will be one. Originally all of this was in the first two chapters, but I needed some input and encouragement and above all time to write. So, hopefully we'll get there eventually. Thank you all for reviewing! MUCH appreciated!
Harry walked in the door just as a group of people left. 'Good that will make this easier,' he thought. He walked up to the middle aged man standing at the edge of the room, "Excuse me."
The man turned to Harry and smiled, "Yes? Is there something I can help you with?"
Harry nodded, "Do you have any openings for new students?"
The man nodded, "You wish to join our class?" After a quick nod from Harry, he continued, "We have plenty of room. How many classes were you thinking of taking each week? One?"
Harry thought a moment, "I'm not quite sure, but I think, perhaps, I'd like to take a few more than that. It rather depends on my schedule." After thinking for a quick moment, he looked up at the man and asked, "D'you think I could just come whenever I could? And pay as I go?"
"I suppose that could be easily arranged," Harry gave the man a small smile, "I suppose then I should welcome you to our dojo." He held out a hand to Harry and said with a bit of a grin, "You may call me Sensei." He quirked an eyebrow at Harry.
"Oh! Sorry, Harry Potter. Pleased to meet you," Harry said as he shook hands looking a bit sheepish. 'Right Harry, not /everyone/ knows who you are.'
(AN: There, happy? Now you know. Or most of you at least should know what is in the silly building.)
"Just come over here by the front desk. Here, fill out this from for me. And then this one here," he handed over the forms and then looked speculatively over at Harry.
Harry looked over the forms. 'Well, I don't think the Dursley's would sue him if I got hurt, no problem there.' The sensei interrupted his thoughts, "Harry, how old are you?"
Harry looked up at him, thoroughly startled, "What?"
The sensei calmly repeated his question. "I'm almost 15." came the answer. The sensei watched a variety of emotions flit over Harry's face in the seconds before he regained control of his expression, finally settled on a 'Why do you ask, does it matter' kind of look. He just nodded his head at the forms without giving anything away.
'Why did he ask that? Oh, I hope he doesn't need a guardian's signature,' Harry thought. He glanced over the rest of the form to the bottom signature part, and breathed a sigh of relief. There was nothing down there about guardians. 'Although I could always ask Sirius.but I'd rather not tell anyone about this. That way, if I ever need it, it will be a surprise. And I'd sure love to use it on Malfoy sometime!'
Recalling his attention to the task at hand, Harry looked down at the second form he had been given. "What should I put for classes per week?"
"Just leave it blank, I'll take care of it."
Harry nodded, and moved on, looking at the next section, 'In what school of martial arts do you wish to receive training?' Harry looked at the paper blankly for a moment, and then looked up at the sensei. "I'm not really sure which kind I'd like to learn."
"Pick one, if you don't like it, you can try another."
Harry nodded again, and then looked back up after reviewing the choices. "Can I pick more than one at a time?"
The sensei hid a smile at his eagerness and replied, "Certainly, you may. You can switch off classes every other week or come more often if you like."
Harry looked down at the form yet again, but this time moved the pen and swiftly checked the box next to something that was described as fighting with katanas and then a little more hesitantly checked the first box of the unarmed styles. At least that way he could keep track of which ones he had already tried. The rest of the form was quickly filled out with little difficulties.
"Hmm.Very good choice. Those are two of my favorite styles," The sensei walked over to the front desk and filed Harry's forms and took out two more from the drawer above it. "These are schedules for the classes. You can just join in whenever you wish."
Harry took the sheets and looked them over quickly before putting them in the folder with the information about being a manager. "Thanks," he said. Harry smiled and turned to leave saying, "I guess I'll see you then."
"Oh! You need 30 pounds for beginning equipment. Practice clothes and such. I'll get them and you can pay for them when you come for your first class."
Harry nodded and left to go home with more of a spring in his step than there had been since before the third task last year.
The Sensei watched Harry go, with a strange expression on his face. 'He looks so young, and yet his eyes look to belong to an old man who has seen too much war in his life.' He reminded him very much of himself after his father died. Full of guilt and anger at watching someone he loved die, and not being able to do a single thing about it.
* * * * * * * * * *
Harry walked into the house and put his folder on his bed for later and went back down stairs. He ate his small dinner and when he had finished, Aunt Petunia silently handed him a list of chores before going into the living room to fawn over her 'Duddykins'. Harry rolled his eyes as he heard her and started on the dishes.
A few hours later Harry checked off the last thing on his list. It wasn't hard; they were just his usual chores, and all inside jobs. He hated having to weed the garden in the dark. It was hard to tell what was a weed and what was a flower and if he pulled the wrong one and Aunt Petunia noticed, he was in big trouble.
Harry crumpled up his list of chores, threw it in the trash, and crept quietly to his cupboard. As he eased open the door, he noticed the folder he had thrown on his bed earlier. Harry sighed and picked it up. The first thing he saw was the schedule for his martial arts classes. He put them aside to look at after he settled his new work schedule.
He pulled out the next few sheets, an overview of his new duties as a manager. Mostly it was opening or closing at the beginnings and closings of the day, making out the workers' schedules sometimes, making sure the other workers actually worked, and dealing with irate customers. Harry read the sheets and set them aside. The next few sheets were the contract. Harry muddled through all the legal terms and once again set it aside, seeing nothing he hadn't already agreed to. The last sheet in the folder had a note attached.
Harry, Go ahead and fill this out. We'll go over it tomorrow and make sure we've got all the days covered. ~Mr. Downey
Harry glanced at the sheet and pulled over the martial arts schedules. He was glad now that he would get first pick of the days he wanted to work. Harry smiled as he finished. He could easily get to almost all of the classes and get all of his hours in. Stuffing all the sheets back in the folder he threw it under his bed and went to sleep.
* * * * * * * *
A man walked into the dark room. A voice broke the silence. "Is it ready?" He was met with nothing from the shadows that was the second man, except a few faint whimpers. "Is it ready?" the first man asked a little more forcefully with an edge of anger. "N-no.I'm sorry.we- " came the voice. The man sneered at the stammering man and cut through his pitiful excuses, "Crucio."
* * * * * * * *
When Harry got to work the next morning, he went straight to Mr. Downey's office, ignoring the other workers' stares. Mr. Downey ushered him into the office and sat him in the chair in front of his desk again. "Well? Have you got that schedule all worked out?"
"Yes. I can change it a little if you need to, but I've got it all filled out," he said, handing the schedule to him.
"Good, good," he said, glancing at the schedule. "Hmm.I would have thought you'd rather have your evenings free," looking up and fixing him with a piercing look.
"No sir, I have something I'd rather do in the afternoons and mornings." Harry looked down a little uncertain, and then looked back up once again sure of himself, "Could you tell my uncle you asked me to work extra late hours?"
Mr. Downey stared at him for a few minutes as if trying to decipher his reasons. Just as Harry was beginning to wish he hadn't asked, Mr. Downey nodded. "I can." Glancing down at the schedule in his hand, he said to Harry, "I believe you are supposed to be working right now?"
Harry started then gave the man a small smile and got up to leave. "Thank you," he said faintly as he shut the door behind him.
Mr. Downey sat there staring at the door for a few minutes before shaking himself into action again, muttering about how kids just kept getting stranger and stranger these days.
Wanted: constructive criticism and reviews. No need to apply. Walk ins welcome.
AN: Yes, I know, it's been what? Four months? *Ducks* Well, I do apologize for the extreme lateness, but my life was turned pretty much upside down for a while, and for the sake of my sanity I needed to sort that mess out first. (Well, that and my disk apparently disappeared for a time) I'm hoping I'll be able to work on this a bit more now, but I really can't promise anything regular at this point. The story will be finished eventually though, although it could take me a bit. Anyways, as a sort of apology, there's no cliffhanger this time. Although it is a bit short, sorry, but I figured you'd rather have something. Not a whole lot is happening right now, I know, but I hope you still like it. Any sort of input would be good!! Review!
Indiana Jones~ I don't know about driving, I don't think they'd trust him with their car, and one of them would have to teach him, but you never know. And yes, I went to NY, and I saw the towers, and it is very sad. There are flowers and memorials and signatures all over the fences surrounding the site. There were just people all around it.
Mcnugget~ Yes, I know, it's incredibly late, but I explained that, sort of. Anyway, you didn't get to see the employee's reactions, and I'm not entirely certain if you will, because I was going to try to move the story along a touch after the next chapter or two. *Shrugs* We'll see.
Everyone else~ See? I still exist! And although there is a difference of opinion about the existence of a plot, eventually there will be one. Originally all of this was in the first two chapters, but I needed some input and encouragement and above all time to write. So, hopefully we'll get there eventually. Thank you all for reviewing! MUCH appreciated!