A/N: Chapter 2 folks and we finally meet Anna, who is somewhat of a crime boss (mafia) type person, and Bob, her trusty bodyguard. I told Blondie (for all you new readers, Blondie is my husband, his real name is Alexander) about my new fiction and he groaned and rolled over. Of course that groan was probably a "let me sleep," and the rolling over was so I wouldn't continue pestering him about it. Though the groan could probably be because I'm obsessed with Gravitation right now and I've been making him watch it even though he's slightly homophobic…it's fun to watch him squirm Lol…and by writing another fiction he's gonna have to read it sometimes which he'll just love. Anyway, on to the story.
Disclaimer: oh how I wish I owned this, but I don't, I just found out I don't even own my own characters because I sold my soul for a piece of pie on 46th street a few years ago….don't look at me like that, it was good pie….
(where we left off)
"Shoes off young man!" came a feminine voice from the chair. The voice was the kind that you could tell meant business, like a drill sergeant's, so Harry hastened to comply, slipping out of his trainers and looking for a place to put them, "On the mat!" the voice commanded and Harry turned to see a mat behind him with a pair of silver combat boots already on them. He placed his shoes next to them and straightened up again, looking at the back of the chair which was slowly turning to face him.
Sitting in the high-backed chair was Anna, an 18 year old girl with blonde and silver hair that went far past her knees but which was currently tied in an intricate knot with chopsticks sticking out of it, wearing a black and silver Chinese silk dress and staring at Harry with her piercingly silver eyes. She placed her elbows on the desk in front of her and placed her chin on her laced hands, studying the boy with a bit of a frown.
"Come here," she ordered and Harry dutifully walked up to just in front of the desk. "Turn around." She said and Harry did so. "Hmmm….." she looked deep in contemplation for a moment. "Far too skinny…." Harry rolled his eyes at the familiar adage. "Don't you roll your eyes at me young man!" Anna snapped, (Harry noticed a slight Irish accent,) and sat up straight, then slouched in her chair. "Helga wasn't kidding, you are a stick figure." She sat up again and pressed a button on the intercom. "Bob, call the Silver Dragon and order one of everything except the stir fry." She ordered then stood up, coming around to sit on the desk in front of him with her arms and legs crossed. "Do you like Chinese food?"
Harry nodded dumbly and saw her raise her eyebrow menacingly so he said, "yes ma'am." it felt odd calling someone who was only a year older then him "ma'am," but she had that kind of bearing and he got the idea that if he didn't it wouldn't go over very well.
"Good, because with someone as skinny as you on my staff now I'm going to have to order in a lot…" she half-muttered.
"On staff?" Harry asked, and then added, "Ma'am," quickly.
"Yes, mine. Helga says you're hiding out from the media here and that's well and good but you can't get something from nothing so I'll keep you safe here in return for your working for me." Anna said and jumped off the desk, circling him. "But the question is, what to do with you…" she squeezed his upper arm and felt the muscles, "Helga said you were in sports, so I'm assuming you've got some muscle to you, maybe you could be a bodyguard…." She murmured. "Yes, that's it, I'll put you on my security team…how are your hexes? Any good?"
"Yes Ma'am…." Harry said quietly, a bit in shock. Helga had been right, they didn't know him here.
"You're gonna have to learn to speak up Boyle," she said and went back to her chair, lounging across it. "Other then that, I'm sure you'll do just fine. I'll give you a day or two to settle in here, and then the work starts. Bob will show you the ropes, and when Tye gets back from vacation I'll have her get you set up with clothes and such. If you're gonna work for me I can't have you wearing those baggy old hand-me-downs. And that hair, we're gonna have to do something about it." She motioned vaguely to Harry's messy long locks which hung just barley to his shoulders now (Helga had made him grow it out) and his clothes which were travel stained and rumpled. While she talked two bell boys walked in with two boxes from which the loveliest aromas and scents were coming. "About time Bob, I'm starving!" Anna exclaimed to the tall figure that walked in behind the boys.
"You just ate a few hours ago, you aren't starving," the figure said and Harry turned to look at him. He was about 19 and tall, with his brown hair pulled back in a ponytail except for the front which had been left loose and dyed blue. He wore all black, black jeans, black tight shirt and a black leather jacket with black biker boots. He saw Harry eyeing him like the piece of eye candy that he was and winked one of his amazingly blue eyes. "But from the looks of it this kid is," he smirked, "don't they feed anyone over in England?"
Harry saw the tips of two very sharp teeth poking past Bob's lip and gasped, "You're a vampire!" he exclaimed in surprise.
Bob brought his hand to his mouth and touched his teeth, "why, so I am!" he said in fake surprise and laughed, "Don't act as if you've never seen a vampire before." He reprimanded, jumping up to sit on the desk and pulling out a box and chopsticks at random, opening it, looking down with a disgusted sniff and pulling out a different box. Anna was already in the process of scarfing down her own box.
"But I haven't…. at least not this close…" Harry mumbled and looked down at the carpet. He didn't want to add that the last vampire he'd seen he'd had to kill in the battle between Voldemort and himself.
Bob only laughed again and tossed Harry some chopsticks. "Eat up kid, before she eats all of it." He jerked his head at Anna who was poking through the other boxes. Harry pulled out his wand and conjured a chair for himself before taking Bob's advice and eating some of the delicious food. Helga had been the one to teach him how to use chopsticks, and the one to introduce him to the wide, wide world of Asian food.
Harry ate quietly but Anna and Bob played around and joked the whole time. Anna seemed like a completely different person then the drill instructor Harry had first seen her as and he found himself thinking he would be just fine here, even if he WAS going to be someone's bodyguard. California was so different from England, and Americans were weird.
He wasn't paying much attention to the conversation until he heard his name mentioned, "Where should we put Harry?" Anna said, pointing her chopsticks at him.
"Why don't we put him with D and S?" Bob said around a mouthful of egg roll. "They've got that extra room since you put them in the big suite and he's about D's age right?"
"Great idea!" Anna sat up right and clapped happily, reminding Harry of Helga for a brief moment. "Have the guys bring Harry's stuff up to the suite, then show him where it is." She turned to Harry, "you finished eating yet?"
He wasn't sure if he should say yes or not since he had only eaten one thing, and she seemed so intent on making him fill out a bit, but he wasn't hungry anymore so he nodded. "Yes ma'am." he put the chopsticks on top of the empty box. "Thank you," he added, remembering his manners.
"Hmm…." She said, contemplating his meager eating habits. "Well, if you get hungry later you can always ask D to show you where a good restaurant is." She decided. The phone rang suddenly and she went back into business mode, waving Bob and Harry out of the room impatiently while speaking in what sounded to Harry like Japanese.
"Come on kid, this way," Bob whispered as they slipped on their shoes at the door and tip toed out it. "She gets a lot of mood swings and weird ideas, but you'll like working for her," he added once they were in the giant elevator. "And she pays well too, not that you'll ever need any money for anything since she'll pay for anything you ask of her. But she can be a real drill sergeant sometimes too."
"Yes sir." Harry said a bit timidly, peeking at Bob out of the corner of his eye. The guy was hot and he couldn't help looking.
Bob laughed, "none of that sir stuff kid, I'm just Bob." He glanced at Harry glancing at him, "And I'm straight so you can stop drooling at me." He said, but not unkindly.
"But Helga said…." Harry started, and blushed.
"That girl says everyone's queer kid," he growled and cracked his knuckles, "how's the little liar doing anyway?" he asked menacingly.
"Uhm…she's fine…." Harry was now a bit frightened by the taller man. "I take it you two aren't great friends….."
Bob snickered, "I've known her for at least 17 years and she drives me nuts, but Anna usually won't go anywhere without her and I go everywhere she goes so I have to stand her presence as much as possible…" he said as an explanation.
"Why did Helga decide to transfer to Hogwarts if she and Anna are so inseparable?" Harry asked but the doors opened and they were on the ground floor in the lobby again which was even busier then before so Bob didn't answer. Instead he steered Harry through the crowd to the other elevator and shouted some directions to the girls at the front desk who relayed them to a waiting bag-boy.
Bob chatted with a few of the people in the elevator, keeping a hand on Harry's shoulder as if afraid he would try to bolt whenever the doors opened. The crowd thinned out until only Bob, Harry and a bag-boy with a note in his hand remained. Harry and Bob got off a floor later and Harry was again steered in the right direction. They stopped in front of door number 245 and Bob pulled a folded up paper out of his pocket and a pen from another.
"Before you go in, you need to sign this work contract. Rules." He said, handing them to Harry who scanned the paper quickly before signing on the dotted line. It seemed like a bunch of legal jargon so he was sure he didn't have to worry about it. Bob sighed and shook his head sadly but took the paper back and stuffed it in his pocket.
"What?" Harry asked, suddenly suspicious.
"Nothing, just remember from now on to always read the fine print…." He sighed and knocked on the door. "Looking at a younger British version of myself…" he muttered and knocked again.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" a distinctly English and familiar voice called through the wood. Harry's jaw dropped for the second time that day and his eyes went wide. Bob sighed again and his grip on Harry's shoulder tightened as he actually was trying to bolt now. The door opened and standing there wrapped in a towel, dripping from the shower, was Draco Malfoy. "Oh bloody hell…"
A/N: ((is imagining Draco dripping wet and in a towel, Blondie emerges from bathroom in such a demeanor)) oh yummy! No time to blabber! I've got a husband in dire need of….err…drying…..hehe. Reviews please!