[AN:] So I painted a digital picture of Harry based on how I picture him - you can see it as my profile pic, or find the link on my ao3 profile (since ffn doesn't allow links).

Also I made some minor changes to chapters 1 & 2, added a one or two lines to each chapter. They're not especially important, just mentions of Harry being decent at occlumency. Started titling the chapters too, but I didn't give it that much thought so don't read too deeply into them.

"Hey May, I'm home!" Peter Parker called out as he walked into the apartment, backpack slung over his shoulder. He'd just returned from another day patrolling as Spider-Man. It wasn't particularly eventful. He'd mainly done small time jobs, stopping street crimes like muggings and thefts, though he did manage to stop a minor drug deal from taking place. All the criminals were left webbed up, with the police on their way thanks to Karen.

He wished he could have kept going, but part of his promise to May when she found out about his secret identity was that he'd be home around seven every night. She didn't want him to spend all of his free time being a superhero; it was important to her that he be home for family dinners, so they could talk and have that normalcy they once did. She also wanted to make sure he was on top of his schoolwork. Thankfully, she did let him head out to continue his patrol after all that was done, so he was usually able to head out between nine and ten and keep patrolling till midnight.

"Peter!" May greeted enthusiastically, her voice coming from the kitchen area. "Get over here!"

He wasn't sure what she was cooking, but it sure smelled nice. He hoped it tasted as good as it smelled. May was a great cook, but she loved to experiment, and that sometimes ended in disaster. Peter still felt sick at times when he thought back to her Arabian themed enchiladas.

"What's up?" the sixteen year old hero inquired as he strolled into the kitchen. He then came to an instant stop, eyes widening at the mess before him. "Whoa, what's all this stuff?"

May was standing over the stove, large cooking spoon in hand. She half turned to look at her nephew as he came closer. "What stuff?"

"Oh you know, just every pot and pan we own," he responded with incredulity. He was barely even exaggerating, there were two pots and three pans on all five stove burners - granted, not all of them were turned on, but still. Also, while the oven light was broken, he was pretty sure she was baking something too. And then there was all the damn stuff scattered haphazardly on the counters. It looked like his aunt had emptied their pantry and spice cabinet.

"Who's coming over for dinner, The President?" he teased. He wondered if someone important actually was coming to dinner? It couldn't be Mr. Stark. May couldn't stand the man, and even if he was invited she sure as hell wouldn't go to this much effort over him.

May grabbed a nearby utensil and swatted him on the arm.

"Hey!"

"Don't be snarky." She told him with her own teasing grin. "And it's no President, it's just this kid that moved in next door. I invited him over for dinner."

Peter raised his eyebrows, surprised that someone already moved into the empty apartment across from theirs. The previous guy hadn't moved out that long ago, so he figured it'd take a while for someone else to move in. There hadn't even been any signs of someone moving into the building. He was pretty sure he would have noticed the moving trucks...

"Oh. That's nice of you…" Peter trailed off.

Inwardly, Peter was dreading an evening of polite small talk with a stranger. However, he was a little curious as to why May decided to invite the new guy though. After all, she didn't usually pay much attention to people moving into the building.

"Well, I can tell you're excited," May said sarcastically. "Relax. The guy's around your age."

That did not help Peter relax at all. Talking to adults sucked, but he could get by. But given his lack of friends at school it was clear that he was even worse with people his age.

"I guess I felt sorry for him," May continued. She was frowning, unconsciously tightening her grip on the large utensil she was holding. "It's just, the guy's only seventeen, but he's emancipated and living here alone… and I think we both know what that means."

Peter was taken aback. Her invitation definitely made more sense now. Sure, it wasn't a lot to go on, but there weren't a lot of reasons for a seventeen year old to be a legal adult and living alone. Basically, his family was either really shit, or they were dead. Either way it meant the guy was someone who managed to escape the foster care system, for better or worse. So it was completely natural for May to want to welcome the new neighbour, as kind and as compassionate as she was.

"Oh. Right… I get it," he told his aunt. "Well, I'm sure he, uh, appreciates the gesture. Now, ummm, are you gonna get back to that?" He pointed at the stove where two pots were starting to bubble. "Or are we gonna have to get takeout instead?"

May froze up for a second, "Shit." His aunt quickly turned her attention back to the food, turning down the heat on one of the burners and stirring one of the pots.

Peter took that as his cue to retreat to his room.

"Harry's going to be here in an hour," May called out as he left. "Don't forget to shower!"

Peter grunted in acknowledgement, walking into his room and closing the door. He figured he could knock out some homework before getting ready. Sighing and tossing his backpack onto the floor, Peter moved to his bed and flopped onto it. He ran his hands through his hair then folded his arms behind his head, shutting his eyes and trying to let go of the day's stresses.

A little while later Peter sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He stood, making his way to his desk and starting up his computer. It wasn't long before Peter was hacking away at his homework, making short work of the physics problems the teacher had emailed the class.

Roughly half an hour later, he dropped his pen, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms above his head. 'Well, that's physics done. Guess I should work on the algebra stuff next'.

He was just about to grab his backpack and get his textbook when he noticed the time in the bottom right corner of his monitor.

It was 7.43pm. Well shit.

In what could only be described as a whirlwind of movement, Peter got up, snatched his towel, got a clean pair of boxers from his dresser, and sprinted to the bathroom.

'17 minutes. That's okay, I've gotten ready and made it to school in less time than that.'

Admittedly, as anxious as he was, Peter was almost eager to see this new neighbour - Harry, if he wasn't mistaken. Potential sad story aside, it wasn't every day he got someone around his age living across the hall. Most of the building was people in their late twenties rooming together - a few couples with young kids too, but no one his age. He wasn't expecting anything, but he really hoped the guy wasn't a jerk, it would suck so bad to live next to a dick like Flash.

Harry had a few hours to kill until dinner, so he decided to settle into his new flat. It had the basic essentials, like a kitted out kitchen, a bedroom with a mattress on the floor, and a bathroom with all the needed fixtures. The living room was completely empty though. He didn't have any plans for the second bedroom yet - it was just there to serve as free space he could magically expand as needed without alerting any muggles.

'Hmmm.' Harry stood in his bedroom, empty except for the mattress left in the corner of the room. He had the elder wand in his hand, twirling it idly as he tried to picture what he wanted the room to look like. 'I guess this is where it pays off to be a wizard.'

When he found this apartment and started the renting procedure, he realised he would need to furnish it. Transfiguration immediately came to mind but he needed base materials to work with. Now he could have done this the proper way and bought materials from some sort of hardware store. Instead, Harry stumbled past a junkyard and decided to discretely help himself to some of the scrap metal & half rotting wood.

He pulled out one of the shrunken sacs in his pocket and dropped it on the floor in the center of the room. He then enlarged it and its contents, vanishing the sac to leave a pile of junk in the middle of his bedroom.

Lifting his wand, Harry grinned and got to casting. He was no Professor McGonagall but he was still decent at transfiguration. It was hard work, and there were more than a few transfigurations gone awry, but he got it done in the end. The result was a furnished room, with a simple, sturdy bed frame, a dresser, bedside tables, and a desk with a wooden stool. It was all fairly simple looking furniture but given his rather messy education, Harry thought he did quite well.

He then levitated the spare mattress the landlord left onto the bed and gave it a precautionary clean with a scourgify.

There was still something though.

Harry looked over to where the pile had been. He was relieved to see there were a few planks of wood left over and transfigured those into plain white sheets, pillows, and a thick blanket that he then levitated into place.

With the bedroom done, the satisfied wizard moved onto the living room and repeated the process, using up the rest of the scrap materials. He managed to furnish the room with a couch, several armchairs, a coffee table, a bookcase - which he intended to fill out, if only for appearances' sake - and a small dining table with chairs. The place wasn't particularly big, but he liked it. It was turning out to be quite cosy.

Feeling reasonably satisfied with the furniture selection, Harry dropped into an armchair and put his feet up on the coffee table. He could have done more, he supposed, but he was no decorator and he had no idea what to add to the room to make it look nice & lived in. So he left it for the time being, with a vague plan to go shopping the muggle way at some point.

The last thing he had to do was set up protections. Now this was where he excelled. Armed with his knowledge and skill, it didn't take long to have what was essentially a ward surrounding his apartment - a set of charms that would act to repel those that sought to do him harm.

With all that done, Harry wondered about the time, so he cast a tempus and learned it was just past 6pm. Wand then safely tucked away, he pulled out his new smartphone and decided he could kill some time figuring out some of this muggle stuff. With some help from his bemused real estate agent, he had created an email already, and had figured out texting, voice calling, and video calling - which was by far better than any wizarding method of communication.

He'd also figured out how to use some applications on his own. The map application had him astounded - to think that muggles could navigate the world in such detail and with such ease. The camera app also never failed to impress. Over the last few days Harry had taken well over a hundred pictures and many videos in his exploration of the city.

More and more, over the past week, Harry had begun to see how primitive the wizarding world truly was. If muggles could achieve all this and more over the course of a few decades, what did it say about wizards - that their way of life hadn't changed in hundreds of years?

Shaking the thought of his old home away, Harry decided to continue reading up on this world's history. He had started the day before, by reading articles about major events and changes in the 80s and 90s. At present, he was reading about major events in the 2000s, and that was turning out to be quite an eye opener.

"No way!" Harry blurted out later that evening as he read about a series of events in 2009 involving a- a superhero? Some marvel of metal and engineering called Ironman. Harry was astounded that someone could invent a machine that capable. He let the video on the article play, and was gobsmacked as he watched Ironman, or rather this Tony Stark person, fly more freely than any wizard on a broom and reign down destruction on his enemies that death eaters could only dream of.

'What in the gallopin' gorgons is this world?'

Noticing some recommended articles mention what appeared to be 'more superheroes!?' Harry started reading through them. By the time it was close to 8pm, Harry was almost in a daze.

A super soldier frozen in ice for decades. A scientist that could turn into a giant green troll. Real Asgardian gods. A spider mutant hero. All those marvels and more.

And all of these people were known to have been in New York.

Oh, and there was an alien invasion!

"Seriously, what in Godric's arsecrack is this world?" he swore, audibly this time.

Harry almost couldn't tear himself away from his phone, but he knew he had to. It was only a few minutes till he was due at the Parkers', so he decided to forgo a shower & simply cast a cleaning charm on himself. He then transfigured his clothes into something a little nicer to wear. He ended up looking at outfits online and picking out one he liked. It wasn't anything like what he usually wore, but then again anything nice looking would be a big change. He transfigured his clothes into a button down dark red shirt and a slim pair of white pants. He then summoned a comb and tried to tame his hair into something presentable.

Conjuring a mirror, Harry judged himself to be adequately put together, and made his way to the Parker's door.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Peter! Can you get that?" May called out from her bedroom, where she was changing out of the stained, oniony clothes she wore when cooking.

"Got it!"

Peter ran to the door, nearly tripping up - thank god for spider enhanced reflexes to keep him from embarrassing himself.

His hair was still a little wet, and there were wet spots all over his gray sweater, so he was a little self-conscious. But he tried to shake it off and put on a smile as he opened the door to let their-

'Oh wow.'

Standing in front of him was a fairly attractive guy around his height with a slim figure. He had the most striking green eyes. His black hair was wild and untamed, accentuating his face. He had prominent, sloping cheekbones, and pretty pink lips that accompanied a sharp, angular jaw. Peter also noticed a thin wiry scar above his right brow, just peeking out under his fringe.

"Hi, you must be Peter," the new neighbour - 'what was his name again? Oh right, Harry' - greeted Peter and stuck out his hand. "I'm Harry Potter. Umm, your aunt invited me to dinner?"

'That's a really nice voice.'

Tongue tied for a moment, Peter didn't immediately respond, making Harry falter and look uncertain.

'Peter you idiot. Words. Say words!'

"Hi," he let out, weakly.

*Cough*. Peter cleared his throat and tried again, reaching out to shake the other boy's hand. "Hi. Yeah I'm Peter Parker. It's nice to meet you Harry. Come in!"

Stepping back, Peter held the door open to let Harry slip inside, closing it behind him.

"It's nice to meet you too," Harry replied.

As they stepped into the living room Peter saw Harry look around, taking stock of the apartment. He felt a little self-conscious for some reason. He knew there wasn't really anything to be embarrassed by, but he still felt like they were being judged. He tried to shake it off and play a decent host. May would kill him otherwise.

"Here, take a seat," Peter ushered the guest to the sofa. He waited for Harry to sit down, and then plopped down on the opposite sofa.

"So…"

"So…" Harry echoed back.

"Uh, that's a cool accent. Where are you from?"

"I-"

"No wait, the accent thing is obvious. Uhhh, how old are you? No, um, are you really living alone? Is it because you don't have a family? Oh shit- fuck. I didn't mean to ask that," Peter's motormouth got away from him again. He honestly just wanted to ask a simple question as an icebreaker, but he was nervous, and well… good old Peter foot-in-mouth Parker did it again.

The poor guy sitting across just stared at him blankly. Peter didn't blame him. After a what seemed like an eternity, but was probably just a few seconds, he saw Harry open his mouth to speak - probably to yell at Peter for being a dick.

Thankfully his aunt saved him.

"Evening, Harry, welcome to our place," May greeted as she walked out of her room and stepped into view. "I hope Peter behaved himself."

Peter felt heat rush to his face and knew if he looked in a mirror he would be blushing.

"Hello Ms. Parker. Thank you for having me over," Harry greeted his aunt with a friendly smile. Then he looked back at Peter and his reddening cheeks and gave him a cheeky grin, "Don't worry, your nephew has been absolutely charming."

May snorted. "I'm sure he has. He's a regular smooth talker that one."

One had to be deaf not to hear the sarcasm in May's voice. His embarrassment washed away by indignation, Peter had to react.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" he cried out. May burst out laughing in response, while Harry was more subdued, chuckling quietly.

"Well, as much fun as it is picking on Peter, I didn't cook all this food for nothing. Let's eat," May announced walking over to the kitchen and clapping her hands. "Peter, help me serve the food."

"Sure May."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Harry asked May.

"Nah, don't worry about it. You're our guest! Please, sit down, we'll take care of everything," she insisted, and had Peter usher him to a seat at the dining table.

The food was promptly served. It was a wonderful meal, starting with a garlic bread and bruschetta appetizer. The main course was a twist on spaghetti with meatballs, using basil spaghetti and chicken meatballs. And finally a lovely key lime pie for dessert. Harry made sure to complement May repeatedly for the wonderful food, to which she quipped that if Peter didn't start being so polite she might try to exchange the two.

Over the course of the meal the three engaged in small talk. The pair found out that Harry was 17, and when asked about school he told them he was still considering his options. Harry found out that May worked as an HR coordinator - something he'd have to look up later - in some technology company. In a sobering moment he also found out that her husband - Peter's uncle - had died three years ago, leaving her a single parent. He gave his condolences, telling them that he'd also recently lost family - his aunt and uncle. When Peter asked about his parents he was able to tell them the truth - they were murdered when he was a year old. That was another moment that put a dent in the light-hearted atmosphere of the dinner. Things got back on track when Harry started inquiring about Peter's life.

"So, Peter, you're in high school, right?" Peter nodded. "What year?"

"Yeah, I'm a sophomore at Midtown School of Science and Technology."

Harry had no clue what a sophomore was, but he knew Peter was sixteen, so that was good enough. "That sounds impressive. I'm guessing you're interested in those things then?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty good at physics, chemistry, and I'm pretty good at tech stuff too - you know, building hardware and coding."

"That sounds pretty cool. I'm only just getting the hang of technology myself. Can't get over these smartphone things, I got one last week, and just the other day I- what? Do I have something on my face?"

May and Peter were staring at Harry like he was an alien. He didn't understand why, all he said was that he- 'Oh. Good thing I've been preparing for this.'

"Are you saying that you never used a smartphone until just last week!?" Peter exclaimed, looking at Harry like he had personally offended him.

"What do you mean getting used to tech?" May followed up. "That sounds like a lot more than just phones."

Harry sighed, and began telling them the story he had pieced together, "Well, to be honest my aunt and uncle weren't exactly normal people. When I was a child, they moved us from England to a reclusive community in Massachusetts, near Salem. I suppose they shared similarities with Amish folk, but not nearly as extreme. They were just very conservative with what was permissible and what wasn't permissible. For example, a fridge was fine but god help you if you got a mobile phone or a printer."

Harry paused to take a sip of his drink.

"The head of the congregation was always preaching about how new technology was evil and corrupting the soul of America. It was quite a strange place, like society had stopped progressing in the early 90s."

His two hosts were definitely taken aback by the story - which was true, as far as Harry could tell. He still wasn't sure if the identity he assumed was created by magic or if the other Harry Potter was real. But from all the information he had, and some knowledge that just came to him as though by instinct, he had managed to piece together the background of his supposed life. It made sense in a way, the identity seemed perfectly crafted to explain away his deficiencies.

"Oh wow, that sounds like it was a- different… lifestyle," May commented diplomatically.

Harry gave a small snort and chuckle. "No need to sugar coat it, the place was awful." He paused, then admitted, "I tried to run away twice."

That was actually true. Harry had tried twice to escape the Dursley's. Once as a child, and once during the summer after his first year. It was a… difficult time.

He continued, "but that was in the past…. and I've been loving New York since I got here last week."

The Parkers seemed lost for words. Harry didn't blame them though. While much of his false background was true in its own way, he had deliberately crafted it to discourage anyone from prying further. Even if they were curious, he figured most people would avoid asking for more details, fearing that they would upset him.

In the end, May did exactly what Harry thought she'd do and moved past the topic - uncomfortable with delving further into such matters with a stranger.

"I'm glad you like it. It's not all freedom and roses though," she told him gently, pausing to take a sip of her water. "New York is pretty great, but it has more than its fair share of problems."

"Oh I'll say. I read earlier there was a bloody alien attack here?"

May and Peter went still.

"I honestly thought it was a joke - it and the whole superhero thing - but Merlin's balls," Harry exclaimed, "between the many articles and the videos, I basically had to believe it!"

Peter burst out laughing.

"Dude, did you say 'Merlin's balls'?" he asked before Harry could keep going.

Harry blushed a little, caught off guard by someone calling out his wizarding profanity. It was a pretty regular part of his vocabulary, so it was bound to happen, but he wasn't sure how to explain it away.

"Uh, sorry. We… we had to be creative with the swearing back there?" he tried, hoping the hasty excuse would explain his strange language.

"Oh, right. So- sorry," Peter apologised. "I, uh, shouldn't have laughed. It must be hard to adjust and stuff.."

Although Harry had no real reason to, he couldn't help but feel bad at the sight of Peter's contrite expression. He waved the apology away, telling the other teen that he wasn't offended at all and he understood it must have sounded funny to others.

By this point they were done with their meals, and May went to get the pie while Peter cleared the dishes. Again, Harry offered to help but Peter insisted that he not. A little later, while they were enjoying their desserts, May gave into her apparent curiosity and asked Harry how he could afford the apartment as a jobless 17 year old.

"Oh, I inherited some money from my parents, but I'm on a trust fund until I turn 18," he explained, scratching the back of his neck as he tried not to feel too awkward about money. He knew it was a sensitive topic for some people.

Luckily, May and Peter were unaffected by the news that their 17 year old neighbour was actually a trust fund baby. Harry was glad for that, though he didn't take them for the type of people to judge him anyway.

After dessert was over Harry wondered if it was time to leave. He was just about to say goodbye when May spoke up.

"Hey, Peter, are you going to work on your internship stuff tonight?"

"Uh," Peter darted a quick glance at Harry. "Yeah why?"

"Oh I just thought you two could hang out a little," she shrugged. "Maybe get to know each other without your boring old aunt getting in the way."

"I mean," Peter seemed to think it over.

Harry was a little nervous at the idea himself, but Peter seemed nice enough. He wouldn't mind spending some more time with the other teen.

"I don't have to work on it until ten-ish…" Peter finally said, addressing Harry. "We could hang out until then?"

Harry nodded in agreement, glad to have a chance to enjoy company his own age - or close enough to it at least.

"Great! If you need me, I'll be reading a book in my room."

Then she was gone.

"So…"

"So…" Harry echoed back.

[AN:] Hope you enjoyed the chapter, it was a stubborn one. I meant to post it on Thursday but I kept finding things I wanted to change. Hopefully it was worth the wait ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thank you all for your favourites & reviews! As always, I welcome feedback and constructive criticism, so feel free to review and tell me whether or not you liked it and why.

Thank you for reading! Cheers!