I am so sorry for the long wait. Boy this chapter was hard to start writing, but after my initial blocks I ended up with a really long chapter for you! Thank you for all your amazing reviews, favorites and follows. They make my day and inspire me to keep writing!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Carlisle's attention was mostly on the spectacular sight before them as Tom bid them farewell and went back through the archway, but part of his attention was on his wife and Harry.
Esme looked like a kid on Christmas, her eyes open with wonder and sparkling with delight. It made Carlisle extremely happy to see her like this, as the past few years had been difficult on her. She hated seeing her family in turmoil, and seeing her so bright and in her element with Harry made Carlisle feel his decision to adopt Harry was even more justified.
It was also extremely humbling, to know that he had lived for three hundred years and a whole world was living right under his nose. Carlisle was an academic at heart, and while he knew this trip was partly to gather information to help protect his family, part of him was absolutely thrilled to have a completely undiscovered font of knowledge now at his fingertips.
Harry on the other hand looked completely overwhelmed. He probably hasn't been in crowds like this too often. Carlisle mused and made a mental note to take him on more outings so that he could catch up socially with his peers.
"Are you alright Harry?" Carlisle asked gently, drawing his family away from the crowd to a slightly less busy corner.
"Yes sir - uh - Carlisle - er, well…"
"Something bothering you?" Carlisle prodded. Harry looked extremely uncomfortable, and Carlisle was considering cutting the trip short when Harry blurted out, "You called me your son."
Carlisle frowned. "We did talk about having to keep your real surname quiet, Harry." They had had a brief discussion with him before they left about him being known in the Wizarding World, which is why Alice had used makeup to hide his scar.
"Oh, right." Harry scuffed the floor with his shoe, suddenly looking extremely disappointed and like he was trying not to cry. Baffled (he really didn't have a lot of experience with children beyond the conversations in the ER) he turned to Esme for help.
"We might as well get used to it anyway, since you're essentially our son from now on." Esme said easily. This seemed to be the right thing to say, because Harry immediately brightened.
"You mean it?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"Of course I do Harry. I've always wanted a son, and I think you're wonderful." Esme replied. Carlisle noticed the pain that flashed in her eyes, probably thinking of the son she had only known for a few days before he died. Harry didn't notice as he was busily wiping tears from his eyes.
"S-sorry," Harry hiccuped, sniffling. "I...I just...you're so nice." He blubbered. Esme wrapped him in a hug.
"There, there. Why don't we look around for a bit. We're in a magic shopping district you know!" Harry, as a young boy is wont do, was immediately distracted by the word magic. He wiped the last of his tears away, gave a slightly watery smile to Carlisle and Esme, and off they went, this time with Harry holding both of their hands.
After getting a general lay-out and looking around, Carlisle realized they were going to need to convert their money if he wanted to buy anything. The bank was the easiest building in the Alley to find, so he left Esme and Harry by Quality Quidditch Supplies and went to the bank.
It wasn't too busy inside Gringotts and so he was immediately seen by a teller. With years of long practice Carlisle was able to keep the surprise off his face when he was confronted with what he assumed was a magical creature for the first time. It was very short and fair skinned, with long, thin fingers and black eyes. From the inscription outside he surmised they were prideful and didn't take kindly to liars and thieves, and he expected they wouldn't like being gawked at like something in a zoo.
"Hello, my name is Carlisle Cullen. I am new to the Wizarding World as I've just discovered my son is magical. Could you tell me about the exchange rates and bit about how the money works here?" Carlisle asked politely. The teller gave him an unimpressed look, which was a refreshing change from the usual gobsmacked look he got from most humans, and gestured for him to follow. They left the main lobby and went down a few winding hallways. The goblin stopped to talk to another similar looking creature, but though Carlisle could hear their voices clearly he could not understand what they were saying.
They finally stopped in front of a room with a large door with runes inscribed in it. Carlisle was beginning to feel suspicious, as they had come a long way from the lobby just to answer a few questions, but he entered anyway.
Immediately, the door slammed behind him. Inside, there was a simple wooden table and chair.
"If you attempt to escape or make any violent actions, this room will immediately incinerate." A voice echoed around the room. Well, that's not good. Carlisle thought.
"I have not come here with any hostile intentions." Carlisle answered. His mind was whirling as fast as it could go, but he could see no way out of the situations. Jasper would be furious that Carlisle had let himself be caught like this. Carlisle was furious at himself. It had been a long time since he had felt truly powerless, and his instincts howled at him to bare his teeth and attack. He was the predator, and everything else was his prey.
He forced those feelings down and ignored the part of him that was thinking of poor Esme and Harry, left alone in Diagon Alley. The best thing he could do right now was cooperate.
"We'll be the judge of that. Sit." The voice said nastily. Carlisle complied, making sure to keep his hands out and to the side and moving at human speed.
"Why did you come here?" The voice asked.
"I adopted a wizard boy, Harry. His family was abusing him. Through him, I discovered this world of magic. I'm just here to shop and learn about his world." Carlisle said honestly.
"Is there anyone with you?" Carlisle hesitated. He didn't want to put Esme in danger, but the fact that they knew what he was led him to believe they may already know more than he thought, and lying would only hurt in this situation.
"Yes. My wife Esme, and the boy Harry." Silence followed his statement. If Carlisle's heart could still beat it would be going a mile a minute. Had he made the wrong choice?
"Wife?" The voice clarified.
"Yes." Carlisle confirmed.
"You are not in a coven?" So they know exactly what we are. Carlisle thought.
"No. I have a family. I am the head, and I have six children and one grandchild. Two of them chose to join us, while the others I changed when they were on the verge of death. We do not prey on humans - we choose to hunt animals instead." He added. The silence ticked on for a few minutes, and then the wall in front of him opened and one of the creatures stepped out.
"It was wise of you not to lie. These runes would have detected any falsehood and killed you on the spot." It said. Violent creatures, then. But intelligent. Carlisle thought.
"I did not mean any harm or offense by entering your bank. I really did just come into exchange money." Carlisle said, deciding to just ignore that bit of information. The creature waved his hand.
"We know that. We know of your kind, Mr. Cullen. You are not the first to discover us, though you are the only one who has been so….truthful." It gave a nasty grin. "We do not care who we do business with, but we also do not take kindly to threats upon us. You were seen as a threat, and now you are not. What can we do for you?"
They spent the next half hour setting up an account for the Cullens, exchanging some of the money Carlisle had on him, and at Carlisle's prodding also confirmed his idea that goblins (as they were apparently called) were prideful creatures and established how a proper goblin business relationship should work. These questions pleased Bargnok (who would be his account manager from now on) greatly, as wizards apparently rarely asked those sort of questions, and muggles were generally too afraid to ask. Carlisle asked if goblins did anything else, which led to a discussion of their role in wizarding society and eventually the topic of goblin made wards.
"Do they come straight from the bank, or does someone else approve them?" Carlisle asked. Bargnok smirked. "Like to be kept out of the know, eh? We have plenty of clients like that. It'll cost you a bit extra. I have a list of our basic wards right here."
And so the discussion went a bit longer until Carlisle decided to stop for the moment, as Esme would most likely be getting worried.
"Do you have an owl or house-elf to continue to discuss the matter of these wards?" Bargnok asked.
"House-elves?" Bargnok raised his eyebrow. "You really don't know anything, do you?" Carlisle chose not to be offended by that comment and instead said "Well, I did come to get money for books." Bargnok scoffed and gave him a quick rundown of house-elves and what they did.
They sounded extremely useful, especially as they didn't need to be around the house at all times. It would be convenient to have someone who could teleport through most wards, or protect them if this Dumbledore fellow did discover Harry. Carlisle didn't like how they were seemed to be considered as slaves, but he could easily just not do that in his own household. Bargnok told him that there was a small office in Knockturn Alley that people went to when they wanted a house elf. Most elves stayed in families, but if a family dies off, releases their elf, wants to trade one for money, or the elves have too many children that the family doesn't, the extras are given to the office and anyone can buy one.
Carlisle thanked Bargnok for his generosity and knowledge, and was escorted out of the building. He quickly found Esme's scent, standing out brightly in comparison to the magic floating in the air, and found her in the Quidditch store.
"He hasn't wanted to leave." Esme told him quietly, watching Harry as he stared at a set of Quidditch miniatures zooming around a field. She immediately noticed his face and asked, "What happened?"
Carlisle told her as quickly as he could, watching her face transform from concern to horror to resigned exasperation.
"You could have died!" She whispered, aghast. Carlisle nodded, pulling her close. "But I didn't. And we learned a lot." He reminded her.
"You could have died." She repeated, and Carlisle knew there was no winning this one. "I'll be more careful in the future." He promised, kissing her lightly on the forehead.
"Carlisle!" Harry said in delight, finally noticing him. He then clapped his hands over his mouth, embarrassed at calling out.
"I missed you too Harry." Carlisle responded, gently laying his hand on Harry's head. Harry practically glowed at the comment. He's so starving for positive affection and yet so scared he'll do something wrong. Carlisle noted sadly.
"See anything you like?" Carlisle asked.
"It all looks amazing. Even Dudley didn't have toys like this." Harry replied. Carlisle browsed the shop for a moment and grabbed one of the few books in the store titled Quidditch Through the Ages. It seemed to be the only sporting shop in the entire Alley, and if Harry didn't like it, Emmett certainly would. He also saw a night light that, after a brief inspection, seemed to be in the shape of something called a "Snitch", which flew around and was the object of the game. Carlisle also decided to buy that.
They briefly stopped at Madam Malkin's for a robe fitting so they didn't look so out of place next time they shopped there, where a flustered witch showed them what the "average" witch and wizard wore and insisted on measuring them by hand despite the tape measure obviously being capable of doing it by itself much to Carlisle's bemusement and Esme's irritation.
Carlisle briefly stepped into a luggage shop and bought a slightly expensive briefcase that when the correct code is put in, opened up to reveal an extra room. The shopkeeper assured him that everything inside would not be affected by movement in the outside world and that it came with anti-theft and, at Carlisle's request, a Repulsion Charm that would prevent things from being set on top of it and thereby preventing someone from exiting. This would be extremely useful, as their next stop was Flourish and Blotts.
Esme took Harry to the children's section to pick out some easy books for him to read and also to be read to. Carlisle doubted the Dursley's had ever done anything of the sort, and as such Harry would need much guided reading to catch up to his peers. Meanwhile, Carlisle began to browse for key topics. He bought a book of standard spells to give them an idea of what things wizards could do, a book on potions, a book on divination (He thought Alice might get some use out of it), a book on modern history, a book on Hogwarts, and a few other things that stood out to him that may be useful to know. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a small book, tucked in a corner, labeled The Mind Arts. The summary briefly talked about the two branches of the mind arts, legilimency and occlumency, as well as a list of spells that could affect the mind. Carlisle added that to his stack, and went to the front to pay.
He met up with Esme at the front, who had picked out a few children's books at the clerk's recommendation as well a few young child chapter books of varying genres. He purchased them all, pleased that his accumulated wealth could finally be spent on something more personal instead of the charities he regularly donated to anonymously.
He loaded all of his books in his magical trunk (He had a magical trunk. He thought his life was weird when Renesmee was born. Ha.) and turned to Harry with a small smile.
"Harry, you've been very patient and well-behaved all day. Would you like to pick out a few toys from the toy store?"
-ACE-
Harry was, quite honestly, exhausted. He had been given a whole new family and a new room and he had gone to a magic alley with all these wondrous, bright, flying things. He hadn't done too much walking, and yet he felt more tired than after running from Dudley at recess.
But when Carlisle mentioned toys, he perked up." I get to have a toy?" He asked quietly. He was never allowed to have toys like Dudley. He didn't mind too much, because they all seemed to break so easily. But they did look like an awful lot of fun.
"Every child deserves toys. That's plural." Esme said.
"Ploral?" Harry repeated in confusion.
"Plural." Esme repeated slowly. "It means more than one." And that was that. No yelling that he's stupid or a bother for asking questions. Just a simple explanation and a soft smile. Is this what having parents feels like? Harry wondered. He felt a stab of resentment at the Dursley's. Is this what Dudley gets to feel all the time? This...this warm feeling?
He was pulled out of his thoughts when they entered a new store. The ceiling was painted with bright colors, and the walls were painted with animals he had only ever seen on the telly. As he watched, he noticed the clouds painted on the ceiling moving, and the animals started chasing each other along the walls, making playful sounds.
I love magic. He thought as a few toy brooms zoomed above the aisles.
"You don't exactly have a limit Harry, but we won't go overboard okay? And we don't want anything too magical like one of the flying brooms, in case someone sees." Carlisle cautioned him. Harry barely heard him as excitement built in his stomach. I get a toy!
He searched up and down the aisles. At first he felt rushed, not wanting to take up Carlisle's time, but a rye comment of "I actually do have all the time in the world Harry" reminded Harry that Carlisle was a vampire and probably had more patience than any human in the whole world.
He looked carefully, weighing pros and cons in his mind. He had always wanted a stuffed animal, but he didn't want to seem like a baby. He wanted something fun, something Dudley would be extremely jealous of. He hovered by a really cool looking chess set but ignored most of the board games because it required more than one person to play. Carlisle and Esme were the nicest people he had ever met, but he didn't want to get a game and make them feel obligated to play it. Finally, he settled on an archaeology kit.
He would have to scrape away the outside like a real archaeologist, and when he finished he would have a statue of a magical creature. The magical creature could move around and even fly if he got one with wings.
"Is this okay Mr. Cullen?" Harry asked shyly. It wasn't obviously magical, and it seemed like it would last a long time, and he bet Dudley wouldn't be able to scrape open the egg without breaking it.
"It's Carlisle, and that looks great." Carlisle said warmly.
"Oops, sorry Carlisle." Harry said sheepishly.
"What else are you getting Harry?" Esme asked.
"You really meant it? I can get more than one?" Harry asked, his eyes round.
"We wouldn't lie to you, Harry." Carlisle reminded him.
"I know it's just...wow!" Completely overwhelmed for what felt like the hundredth time today, a wide grin split Harry's face. "I...I don't know what to get!"
After picking out his first toy, Carlisle and Esme helped him pick out a few more. He did end up getting a few soft toys, including a lion pillow that roared if it was tickled, and a stuffed bat that had soft, velvety wings and a fluffy coat. It was self cleaning (according to Carlisle, who read the tag out loud to Harry) but other than that it appeared normal.
"Are bats your favorite animal?" Esme asked curiously. Harry blushed bright red and shook his head.
"Why the bat then?" Esme prodded.
"You're vampires." Harry mumbled. He knew it was silly, but he had wanted to get something that reminded him of them. Both Carlisle and Esme burst out laughing.
"I'm honored." Carlisle chuckled, "But I can't turn into a bat." Harry blushed even harder, but before he could put it back in embarrassment Carlisle placed it in the basket he was carrying. They also picked out a few puzzles, and at Carlisle encouragement he picked out a few interesting board games and card games. "Emmett will be thrilled to have someone to play with, and Bella loves that she can tell when he's cheating now." Carlisle assured him.
As they paid and left the shop, Carlisle did add "This won't be how shopping is all the time. This is a special occasion for you coming to live with us, so you shouldn't get too used to all the gifts." Harry nodded seriously. This was actually a good thing for him, because he already wasn't sure he would ever be able to pay the Cullens back for being so nice to him and the more gifts they bought him the harder it would be.
They went back through the Leaky Cauldron, waving back at Tom as they left, and then went home. Harry could barely keep his eyes open, and he was relieved when Esme suggested he take a nap before dinnertime.
"Do I have any chores I need to do first?" Harry asked first.
"You are so sweet. No, Harry. Maybe later when you've settled in we can discuss what you can do to help around the house, but you just focus on you right now, okay?" Esme said, gently rubbing his head.
Esme was always doing things like that, and though at first he had been expected harsh pushes and flicking, he was quickly realizing that he very much enjoyed Esme's touch, and found himself wondering if his mother used to do these things when he was a baby.
"Okay Esme." Harry agreed, heading up the stairs to his bedroom. As he reached the landing, his eyes were suddenly covered with stone. He let out a startled yelp and tried to twist away, only for the hands to leave his face to steady him.
"Alice! You can't scare people like that!" Bella's exasperated voice came from just ahead of him. "Can't you hear his heart beating?"
"I just didn't want him to see anything." Alice said, her voice slightly whining.
"It's just his door, goodness." Rosalie scolded her.
"It's okay. I was just startled." Harry quickly assured them. Alice looked sheepish. "Sorry for scaring you, Harry. But I wanted to surprise you!"
You did, Harry thought, but decided not to say anything. He didn't want to make them mad.
"Do you like your door?" Alice prodded eagerly. Harry looked at the door, and was surprised to see painted in green, block letters HARRY'S ROOM.
Harry's room. His. Not Dudley's. Not charity. Not an assigned seat at school. His room. He felt his eyes water and he forced the tears back.
"Thank you." He whispered, his voice thick.
"Go, on open it! See what your Aunties did for you." Alice insisted, poking him slightly in the back.
"I can't believe you just said aunties," Bella said.
"Well, we are his aunties." Rosalie pointed out, though Harry really couldn't understand why she looked so thrilled at the idea. Why were these people so nice to him? He was just Harry. They were amazing rich vampires who took him in and fed him and didn't treat him like he was worthless.
"Oppppeennnn iiiittt!" Could vampires vibrate with excitement? It definitely looked like Alice - Aunt Alice - was trying. He obeyed, opening the door. He expected to find a few clothes, maybe the walls being painted green. He was completely off.
The first thing he noticed was that the walls had been painted, but not just a solid green. There was a whole rainforest around him, with monkeys swinging from vines and a tiger peering at him from around his dresser. It looked similar to the wall he loved so much at the toy store, (except it wasn't moving of course) though how they could have known he had no idea.
The bed had green sheets and a thick green comforter and the nightstand next to it had a baseball lamp.
"We weren't sure if you liked baseball, but your Uncle Emmett insisted it's something every little boy needs. And your Uncle Jasper painted the walls. They're out right now, but you'll meet them later."
"Oh Emmett." Esme had reached the top of the stairs. "You don't have to like baseball Harry, we can get you another lamp later if you like." Carlisle followed her upstairs and set down his stuffed bat and lion pillow on the bed, and began putting the books he got in the bookshelf.
"We also have toiletries for you in the bathroom. You'll know they're yours because, well, we don't use anyway." Bella added. "All of Alice and Rosalie's hair products are high up in the cupboard so you don't have to worry about them."
"This….this is all for me?" Harry whispered. "You really mean it?"
"Of course!" Alice declared. "Anything and everything for my favorite and only nephew!"
"Not everything Alice - " Esme started, but stopped when Harry suddenly wrapped his arms around Alice's waist. It was like hugging stone at first, because she completely froze.
"Thank you Aunt Alice." He said into her stomach. For a moment she still didn't move, and Harry was beginning to think he had horribly messed up when just as suddenly, she wrapped her arms around him. "Of course Harry. Anything for you." And this time, no one said anything.
Wow! Long chapter to make up for my late update! I'll probably have two more chapters detailing some time with the Cullens. Next chapter Harry will be aged up a year, and then he'll be getting his Hogwarts letter!
I can't believe I made it this far. Your kind support and encouragement have kept me going. I honestly haven't planned Hogwarts much, but that's exciting because you guys can help me write the story! How much will things change? How much do you guys want to see angry mother Esme take on Dumbledore in a boxing match? (Okay maybe not a boxing match but you get my meaning)
Please review and let me know if there is any glaring errors (I'm so excited to finally update I didn't check too hard...whoops) there's a poll on my page about what house Carlisle should be in! Vote now, because when I update the next chapter the poll will change for something for this story.
-Hatakefire