CHAPTER 11:
Carlisle fell onto the ground, bracing himself. If only he was able to, he was sure he would have heaved out his not-so-long-ago hunt on the floor of the wilderness.
"What was that?" he asked between his dry pants, still facing the ground.
"Portkey," Hermione gave him an apologetic smile when he turned to look at her.
"It.. takes some getting used to," Harry added and helped the old vampire to his feet.
Cautiously, the trio made their way to the ground's fencing and then across the street. Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment from the back pocket of her jeans and handed it to Carlisle. "Look inside but never say the words out loud. Then, look between the houses 11 and 13 and think about what you've read," she instructed.
Nodding, Carlisle followed her instructions and then looked between the said houses. Much to his shock, the two brown brick houses seemed to move away from one another to make way for a whole new house!
'12, Grimmauld Place' the plaque on the gate read. What! "H.. How?" he sputtered.
"Magic," Harry grinned and winked, then opening the gates, ushered his guest in. Hermione followed behind, making sure no one was watching them enter. With or without the war, one could never be too careful.
"It's been about a month since I've moved Andromeda in with me to ensure she is cared for and that Teddy is looked after. Mione is living me too. So, when I'm in auror training, Mione keeps an eye out for them." Harry was speaking to Carlisle, giving him a short gist of their lives after the war.
"That's good. Where's your other friend though? Ronald, wasn't it?" Carlisle asked.
"He.. lost a brother in the war, one of the twins. He had started his auror training with me, but then his other brother, the surviving twin needed his help with the shop, so he quit to be with his brother. They run a joke shop in Diagon Alley now. If you'd like to have a look or pop in to say a hi, either Mione or I can take you along. You can even see London's wizarding district that way."
"Wizarding district?" Carlisle asked in surprise.
"Yes. Every major city has one. The one closest to your place is in Seattle where Edward dropped us with the goblin," Harry shrugged then called out for Kreature. Turning, he introduced the two.
"Half breeds in the noble house of Blacks!" Kreature screamed and Harry slammed his hand on his mouth to make him shush.
"Kreature behave yourself. This our guest and you will not disrespect him. Have I made myself clear?" Kreature nodded, muttering to himself something about half-bloods and mudbloods ruining the noble house with their half bred friends.
"Sorry about that," Harry apologized quickly to Carlisle. "He isn't really known for his friendliness. He only tolerates us because he has to. In fact the only person he even remotely likes is Ginny, I never understood why though."
Carlisle was lost. "Ginny is Ron's youngest sister and as of three and a half months back, Harry's girlfriend. He just keeps looking for reasons to bring her up in conversations," Hermione smiled affectionately at Harry.
"Young love," Carlisle chuckled.
"You can have the room on the second floor, third door on the right. I'm in the one next to yours and Mione in the one just below mine. The room below yours is Teddy's and the one beyond his is Andromeda's. If you'd like to, you can freshen up now. Andromeda will wake up in a couple of hours, then you could have a look at her. Meanwhile, feel free to look around. Mione's arranging for some books for you to read. There's a library here of course, but most books are dark and some even hurt and bite, so she's lending you a few safe ones from her private collection. Sorry we don't have a television set or such, the magic interferes with the workings of certain muggle technologies."
Carlisle absorbed all the information in like a sponge, the new world of magic he had stumbled up on engaging his innate curiosity.
Hermione returned a few minutes later with a pile of books in her hands and placed them on the coffee table in the sitting room. "There's a few simple books about things and creatures here and there. On the top though, I've placed the two books that I thought you'd find most interesting. One is about vampires and their different classifications, gifts, history, Volturi, etc., the other is wizards reactions to muggle medicine and technology. It includes all the known and documented reactions, good and bad of muggle marvels to the wizarding kind. I thought it might help you with Andromeda."
Thoroughly intrigued about the existence of such a book, Carlisle picked that one up first and began browsing. Hermione smiled, she could very easily identify with that thirst for knowledge, the painful ache that made one forget all else. She whispered her good night and tugged an amused Harry up the stairs, leaving Carlisle to make himself comfortable on the armchair while leafing through the book at his vampiric speed.