Chapter 3: New Neighbors
Harry walked in the front door of the two story house with a weary sigh; feeling the day catching up to him as he shrugged off his coat and hung it on the nearby coat rack next to the door.
He took a deep breath and called out.
" Teddy! I'm home!" He shouted, stretching his back to pop his shoulders and get out the kinks of tensing up all day.
Harry smiled at the sound of running feet coming towards him and opened his arms as his Godson came barreling towards the older man.
" DAD!" Teddy shouted, a wide grin on his face that painfully reminded him of Nymphadora.
Harry caught his flying Godson and twirled around, hugging the young boy with a grin on his face.
" Good to see you, ya little tyke!" He said as he stopped whirling in place and set the boy down with warm emerald eyes, " Blimey, feels like ages since I last saw you."
" Dad!" Teddy whined, but was still smiling; mischief lighting up his eyes. " It's only been a few hours!"
Harry chuckled, setting a hand on the kid's head and mussed up his blue hair.
" I know, Ted. I'm just joshing you." He said with a cheeky smile.
Teddy halfheartedly pouted up at the man, causing him to chuckle again before he picked the child up into his arms and set him on his shoulders.
The boy gleefully cheered out " Whee!" as Harry walked through the entrance hall to the sitting room.
The room was very modest, what with only a couple sofa chairs; one for him and Teddy, and a newly invented plasma television that was about 25'.
Harry smiled at the real estate agent's face that she expressed at his wishes to buy this specific house.
It was of Victorian-Era and had an old magical feel to the air that Harry detected as soon as he stepped inside the threshold; indicating permanent wards that were placed and a Heartstone to keep them in check.
The man sat down in the nearest chair and Teddy climbed up onto his lap, snuggling him with a possessiveness that reminded Harry of Remus; Teddy's father.
Harry always worried that Teddy inherited his biological father's lycanthropy, but besides an urge of craving meat that was satiated by eating a couple breasts of cooked chicken that were set aside his main meal; that was it.
The older Brit was relieved about that…
Harry was about to doze off, when suddenly the doorbell rang, causing the wizard to snap his head up and tense at the loud and sudden noise.
After a couple of seconds, he urged Teddy off of his lap so that he could get up and see who it was.
Harry walked into the main entrance and looked through the small window on the front door to see who was on the other side.
The man furrowed his brows at the sight of a thirty year old woman that had dark brown hair that was tied back in a pony tail and was appearing to be wearing a nurse's scrubs.
What in the ruddy hell? He thought to himself, pulling out the Elder Wand and hiding it behind the door with his left hand, just in case.
After taking a deep breath, he relaxed and opened the door a crack; causing the woman to startle slightly at the sudden movement.
Her blue eyes bore into his emerald green for a moment before he spoke with a questioning gaze.
" Hullo? Can I help you miss?"
The woman stared for a second at how young the man on the other side of the door was, taken aback at the vigilant gaze he set upon her, before shaking it off.
" Hello. I noticed as I pulled in the driveway that the house across from us has been bought; so I headed over here to introduce myself." She said, smiling at him.
Harry shifted his wand so that it was pointed down towards the floor, but was ready to be aimed back through the wood of the door in case the mysterious woman turned out to be a threat.
" Is that so?" He said with a small smile, his fiery gaze dimming down a little bit.
The woman nodded, smiling wider before raising a hand towards him.
" I'm June. June Darby." She introduced herself, an aura of motherly warmth wrapping around him that almost made him reminisce of Mrs. Weasley.
The British man holstered the Elder Wand back into his arm and opened the door slightly wider; reaching out with his other hand and grasping the newly dubbed, Mrs. Darby's hand and giving it a gentle shake.
" Harry, Mrs. Darby. Harry Peverell." He introduced himself, leaving out his other namesake.
" Nice to meet you Harry." She said, grinning as she let go of his hand and placed hers back to her side.
Harry fully relaxed as his Intent-Based charms set for harmful or deceitful didn't go off, indicating that June was no threat to him or Teddy.
After a small second of thought, he opened the door fully, moving to the side and gesturing with his arm to the inside of the house.
" Would you like to come inside? Get to know one another?" He asked, a rogue grin on his face as June's eyes widened slightly at the offer.
" Usually you would have to buy me dinner before that step." She shot out jokingly, feeling her cheeks warm up.
Harry smirked back at the jest, replying with one of his own.
" What can I say? I like moving fast whenever a beautiful woman's involved."
June coughed with flaring red cheeks; caught off guard by that statement.
" An-anyways, I would like to talk some more, but I gotta get home. My son's on his way from work, so I have to make sure he hasn't gotten into any trouble on the way here, Ya know." She said, smiling while wringing her hands behind her back.
There was something interesting about the young man that called out to June, something that her soul was calling out to; and it resulted in this mysterious stranger before her that tilted his head back to look deeper into the house, smiling softly.
" Don't I know it." He uttered wistfully as he stared at the sleeping form of Teddy that curled up on the sofa; snoring away.
June blinked at the sight of the blue-haired young boy before pushing the questions that were urging to blurt out of her throat to the back of her mind for later.
" Well, anyways. Gotta go!" She said, before turning to leave and walk back to her house across the street.
But then she stopped, turned around and called.
" If you need anything or just want to talk, let me know! I'm always happy to help out a neighbor!" She said, before whirling around again and continuing on till she was back to her side, where she met a woman that looked familiar to him.
Harry kept his eyes on her the whole time, a light frown on his lips as he tilted his head to the side at the retreating back of June Darby.
Well… That was interesting. He thought to himself as he shut the door and walked back to the sitting room.
He was definitely gonna like this town…
*Arcee's POV*
My thought processes were looping on what the human I bumped into earlier said; wondering what kind of pain this-Harry- had to go through to talk about Death as if it was an old friend.
Throughout most of my function cycle of being on the razor edge between Life and Death, I understood that there were times where you slip into old habits; like watching for potential threats.
My vehicle mode pulled into the driveway of my charge's home; slightly surprised that June was home early from the hospital.
I kept the questions that sprouted out of my databanks at the sight of the middle aged woman talking to a familiar dark-haired man across the street.
I enhanced my mirrors of my vehicle form to get a closer look at who the man was… Then my Energon froze…
It was Harry Peverell! The man she bumped into at the park earlier that day.
What the Frag is he doing here? I thought with a sense of paranoia, suspicious of the man that keeps appearing at the strangest of times; including the time that Jack told me that he caught sight of Harry in the school and had a stare-down of sorts.
He even told me that he saw something in the British man's eyes that caused a shiver to run down both our spines.
It was Death…
I saw it as well when we were talking in the café.
Shaking myself out of the memories, I heard Harry's door close and June walk back across the street .
I activated my Holoform and met met at the sidewalk.
June was slightly surprised at the new upgrade, but gave me a warm smile.
" Hey, 'Cee." She greeted me.
I let out a small smile that I rarely use.
" Hey… Who was that?" I asked, jerking my head to the house across from June's; where Harry was talking to her.
June shifted for a second, before answering.
" Our new neighbor, Harry." The woman simply said, her eyes going hazy at the memory of the man's eyes; surrounded by death.
I crossed my arms and gave her ' The Look', snapping her out of the memory.
" What?" June asks, her eyes narrowed at the look she was receiving from me.
" I wanted to tell you that I met the man in the park earlier today." I admitted, feeling a hint of embarrassment.
The woman's eyes widened slightly before crossing her arms as well; her posture full of curiosity.
" So…?" She implored, a teasing lilt in her voice.
I simply huffed, before looking at the house that Harry was living in.
I felt myself relax slightly at the thought of meeting the enigma of a man again.,,
" He's a… 'One of a kind', I suppose you could say." I answered back.
I whipped my head around at the sound of June giggling, my eyes narrowed confusion and irritation as she hid the smile that was growing behind her hand.
" What?" I shot out defensively.
The woman grinned, showing her teeth as she replied.
" Nothing! Nothing at all, 'cee." She said, a hint of amusement in her tone.
My eyes glared at the human woman in frustration, not at all amused at getting a cryptic answer.
June shook her head and hooked her left arm to my right elbow, before she began to drag me inside.
I felt eyes on the back of my head, and I turned to look at who was staring at me…
And wouldn't Primus know it… There stood Harry at his front window, staring at me with those emerald eyes of his that are full of regret, sorrow, and loneliness.
It was a different kind of loneliness, not the one that you get where you miss your friends and family when moving out.
It was one I was familiar with… The one you get when you lose people close to you and you felt that it was your own fault that you couldn't save them...
Who are you really, Harry Peverell? I thought to myself as June's front door closed.
