Disclaimer: Neither Harry Potter nor CSI:NY belong to me.

Just a reminder, I did warn that updates will be slow. Oh, *grimaces* the grammar is pretty shaky as well, but I edited it as best as I could given I'm terrible at editting, especially my own stories. Well enjoy!

Chapter 2

Harry got up. He can't sleep; he didn't want to relive what had happened to him just months ago. He had been drugged until he couldn't even tell if he was standing or lying down, but surprisingly that didn't matter to his dreams. He didn't turn to sleeping aids as they are too close to reminding him of the different drugs that Riddle fed him to keep him pliant.

He walked into his bathroom not bothering with the light as he turned on the sink taps and leaned down to splash his face. He didn't straighten right away after shutting the water off. He leaned there and just let the water dry a bit on his face and hands. He just concentrated on the way the excess slowly dribbled down the plains of his face.

He didn't have to work tomorrow. It's also been a few days since he had to admit to Felicia that she had won their long standing deal. He isn't looking forward to the blind date. The key word being 'blind' causing him to recall all of the dates that his aunt had set up for him years ago. He just hated surprises too.

He pushed off his forearms and reached for a towel hanging on the wall next to the sink. He dried his face quickly and dropped it haphazardly onto the counter. He bypassed his room in favour of going out to the living room where he grabbed up the remote for his stereo and turned it on. He hit the button for one of the preset stations before dropping the item back down on to the end table it had laid on before.

He slipped around his couch and headed for the window. He looked out at the lit shadow of buildings. He raised a hand up to his forehead and flinched when he felt the edges of his scar. Honestly, sometimes he forgot it is there. His hair is long enough to cover it up. Hardly anyone even gave it any attention.

He remembered the endless questions about it. Since there is a permanent stain to the scar it makes it even more of a curiosity to people. His aunt had offered to see if they could get it cosmetically taken care of after reading how cosmetic surgery was quickly advancing especially in dealing with scars and the like. He had declined it then and again when Hermione had shown him some stats when they were nearly out of Hogwarts.

It is a painful reminder of one of the few clear memories he retained of his parents and the man that caused all of the pain, but the scar...it is a part of him. It served him as a reminder of the direction he always planned to take with his life. It is a promise of sorts to himself and his parents' memory. He tried explaining that but isn't sure if anyone understood.

When he heard his cell go off he knew he is being called for work. It's not unexpected; they are more or less available at anytime regardless of being on or 'off' their shift. Vacation is generally the only time that being called in is not likely to occur. At that moment he felt some relief at not needing to try and stay awake and away from his dreams, so he turned away from his window to go and get ready. Absently on the way back to his room he turned off his stereo.

~ PS ~

Don came in at the beginning of his shift and is surprised to see Harry slouching over his desk working half asleep. He looks questioningly at a fellow detective wanting to know what is up.

The guy shrugged, "He got called to a scene a couple of hours ago. Don't think he got a lot of sleep but wouldn't admit to it. You know how Harry can be."

Yeah, he did know. They all knew how the Brit can be when it came to work. There is a bet on the books that Harry will burn out. He cared a lot and those that do tend to close off or burn out, but they did make the best cops.

Don dropped his jacket on the back of his chair and he headed across the room to the small break room. He grimaced at the pot but still poured two cups, dumping a spoonful of whitener into one of the cups and snatched up a few sugar packets. He moved around the small knots of people that had formed in the short time he had been gone to get the coffee.

"Here, I know it's not the tea you prefer but it's better than you falling asleep at your desk." Don said as he placed the creamed coffee and sugar onto Harry's desk.

Harry glanced over and then up to look at him blinking glazed over eyes. He frowned at the coffee and then glanced at the clock at the bottom of a picture frame an old boyfriend had given to him. The picture isn't of the ex and had never held a picture of any of the three or is it four boyfriends. The picture was of the CSI crew and them. His American family as he had said fondly. Don remembered vaguely the un-amused expression when Harry had slipped that picture into the frame almost immediately after getting it.

The relationship hadn't lasted much longer after that.

"Huh," Harry mumbled as he ripped open all of the packets and dumped them into the beverage. He stirred it quickly and tapped the excess off of the stir stick before dropping it onto the empty packets.

Don turned away at the grimace on the bespectacled man's face. It could be because it is coffee and not the precious tea that he appreciated or well it could be the drink itself. Even done up precinct coffee tasted god-awful but it did have a kick that can keep you awake for a long time. None really thought about the way it got made up, but more often than not it was probably just fresh grounds dumped into the filter and added water. It is only the more conscious that took the time to make a real fresh pot and sometimes even that didn't help the taste of the stuff.

Back at his own desk he began to go through his files and prioritizing what cases he has been working on in the past few days. Most are a matter of follow up. As he shuffled through them he spotted the flyer that got mixed up with everything else. He leaned back in his chair as he looked it over wondering where it came from.

"Oh, you got it. I was looking for that." Harry's accented voice said.

Don looked up and saw Harry with a jacket in his hands. "You put this on my desk?"

Harry shook his head, "No someone came in with it and the guy at the desk said he'd get someone to put it on my desk or on the board. I didn't see, so I thought maybe they'd forgotten about it."

Don looked at the flyer again. "I didn't know you had anything to do with this sorta thing."

Harry shrugged, "I figure that if I don't want more Tom Riddles popping up the least I could do is to spend time at different orphanages. Positive influences through good role models and activities that get the kids involved in the community."

Don didn't ask about the slight twitch at the mention of the man that did so much to ruin his friend's life. He had to repress his immediate reaction. Some nights he still woke up in a cold sweat from a dream of Harry in the hospital or worse lying dead on a morgue table. He still felt rage at a dead man that he couldn't do anything against for what he had done to his friend.

He's pretty certain that it has a lot to do with the fact that all he could do was look at everything that the English authorities had already gathered. Mac and the rest of them had done their best to help out. Don had gotten to know Harry's best friends over the phone. He had even gotten to speak with Petunia Evans over the course of Harry's disappearance. Over the course of that he had learned a lot more about Tom Riddle's background; Hermione had been quite helpful in that.

He didn't think – well it might have had an influence but as far as he was concerned Tom Riddle's bad childhood in the orphanage was an excuse. The man had still attended a boarding school where the environment hadn't been abusive. He had had the chance to make something of his life but instead he had found pleasure in torture and killing people and manipulating or encouraging others in doing the same thing. A sociopath is what many had called the man.

"So does this mean the kids put on this tournament or do they participate?"

"Both, we got it started a year ago so this will be the second time it's held. The kids are all excited because there are at least two more teams over what had been at the tourney last year. They've been busy getting everything together for it."

"The date's pretty close to your aunt's wedding." He commented casually. His mind skirted the question that had been raised to him only days ago. He's been avoiding thinking about it. With that a flash back to just the other night came to mind of Felicia and her plans for setting Harry up with someone. He pushed that thought away as well.

"I know but barring something coming up here there should be no problems either with partaking in the tournament or my aunt's wedding. Even so I've requested a day to make sure that I will be able to go to Aunt Petunia's wedding." Harry smiled, a slight softening and quirk of his lips. "This is all kind of surprising really."

"How's that?" Don tilted his head, eyes intent on the other brunet.

"Well the last time my aunt dated was while I was going to university. I set her up on a date with a professor. It was kind of retaliation for all of the dates that she was setting me up on with nice girls. I came out to her and Dudley in my senior year of Hogwarts and with Dudley being shortly diagnosed with an acute form of cancer it kind of got shuffled off to the side, but when I was in university it came up again when I actually introduced her to a guy I was starting to date seriously." Green eyes lightened with humour, "Well after that date she no longer set me up on blind dates. It was a bit uncomfortable but at least she didn't kick me out of her life or anything."

Don sensed that there was more to the story but was content to accept the tidbit that Harry had shared. The Brit was rather private about himself but that could be laid down at the feet of the media that felt it necessary to write everything about him as he grew up. There was a book somewhere that dealt with Tom Riddle and the Potters and quite strongly of Harry.

Harry glanced at his watch, "I better get going I have someone I need to meet soon. Do me a favour Don and pin that to one of the boards. Talk to you later," and he was gone.

Don looked at the notice and thought about it. It wasn't like the guys didn't take part in things like this; it was just that somehow with the god-awful schedule they had Harry took part in all sorts of events like this. There is a joking title for Harry among some of the guys, especially those that didn't like the Brit either because they didn't know him or the fact he is gay, and it is, 'St. Potter.'

None of the characters wanted to co-operate and Felicia didn't want to appear and set her strategy for pairing Harry up with someone in motion.