Title: Fall- back

Chapter twelve: Brits Overseas

Rating: T

Summary: After the war Harry moves to Lima, Ohio to try and live a normal life as just another invisible teenager. You know what they say about best laid plans, though. KH/HP

Disclaimer: Anything you recognise…. Isn't mine. Though I probably wish it is. Now I'm sad.

AN: Hi all! Can't believe it's been a month…

I hate my busy schedule. I hardly have any time left for writing between college, my internship and work. Also, a string of bad luck that seems to be following me around… I'll try to keep updating on a semi-regular schedule though, even though I'd really like to update my other stories as soon as possible as well.

Of course: Thank you all a bunch for all your reviews, and alerts and favourites. You guys are amazing, even when I suck at updating. Thank you all so much!

Enjoy and don't hesitate to let me know what you thought of it ^^

"This better be incredibly important," Harry grumbled at whoever the person tugging on his foot was. He'd gotten home at five o'clock and had only managed to fall asleep from sheer exhaustion at six. Thankfully Brittanny, in a stroke of genius, had remembered he and Kurt had still been locked in the closet at the end of the party. Many hoots and hollers had followed their getting out of their closet, mostly by Santana.

Whoever was tugging on his foot didn't answer him, instead choosing to tug a little harder. Harry grunted and buried his face in his pillow, really not wanting to get up yet. The person at his feet tugged again. Harry kicked his legs back, pushing his face farther into his pillow childishly. A familiar "Oh, honestly," made him lift his head a bit. He recognised the voice, and knew what the tone meant. Preparing to move away quickly, he was still surprised by the jet of ice cold water that was suddenly soaking him.

He yelped and jumped out of the bed immediately. Next to him stood Hermione Granger, a wand held in her hand and a smug grin on her face. On her hip Teddy was balanced, who had his gaze firmly fixed on Ron Weasley, who was too busy laughing to notice that Teddy's hair had acquired a flaming red colour rather similar to his.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked after the initial shock at having his best friends from home suddenly standing in his bedroom in America.

"We came to see you, mate," Ron answered. "Came all the way out here and you don't even greet us when we get here. For shame, Harry."

Just as Harry was about to answer that (Had he really missed Remus telling him they'd be there? Had he forgotten? Had the owl got lost?), Hermione shot Ron a look and said:

"Oh, relax Harry. He's just messing with you. Kingsley wanted to talk to you and we decided to tag along so we could see you for a bit."

"McGonagall allowed that?", Harry asked disbelievingly. Hermione nodded, but it was Ron who answered.

"Oh, yeah. In a heartbeat. I reckon her soft spot for you has grown in the time you've been away. She even gave us a tin of biscuits to give to you."

He held out a tartan decorated tin. Harry took of the lid and found half a tin full of his favourite biscuits. He raised an eyebrow at Ron, who shrugged.

"Got hungry waiting for you to wake up. Figured you wouldn't mind."

Hermione snorted. Harry felt tempted to do the same but held it in instead. He just nodded and placed the tin on his nightstand.

"Right. Send her my thanks will you? I'm just going to get dressed now."

"Right. Come along, Ron. We'll go tell them Harry's up," Hermione said, hoisting the red- haired Teddy a little higher on her hip. Harry's mind couldn't resist with coming up with the image of a slightly older Hermione, balancing a red- haired toddler of her own on her hip. He was sure that with the Weasley talent of producing red- headed offspring that day wouldn't be all too far off.

"Yeah, sure 'Mione," the youngest Weasley boy answered, looking over at his girlfriend. "Oi, he looks just like-"

"Yes, Ron. Come along."

Neither of them noticed Ron sneaking the tin of biscuits from the nightstands to take downstairs.

Three hours later, Harry was clutching his fourth cup of coffee while trying to make sense of what Kingsley was telling him. Hermione was to his right with Teddy – who had apparently taken a real shine to her- cuddled up in her lap. To his left was Ron, who was glancing at Harry's coffee longingly while morosely sipping his water. Apparently professor McGonagall had forbidden him from drinking any coffee until after graduation. Too many small accidents in Charms because of a hyped- up Ron was something she –and professor Flitwick- weren't very fond of.

"So let me get this straight," Harry said. "Sweden and the Netherlands have agreed to break the Statue of Secrecy as well and the wizarding world will be coming out of the cauldron –so to speak- in exactly two days from now. "

"Exactly," Kingsley Shackebolt answered, nodding his gleaming bald head. "All magical governments will release an internal press statement tomorrow, followed by an external press statement for the muggle world the day after. "

"You see, I've been thinking about this," Harry said with a contemplative look on his face, "and I've noticed that the last war trials haven't even come to pass yet. How are you going to handle those at the same time as going public about magic?"

From beside him, Hermione let out a whispered 'I hadn't thought of that' and Harry spared a brief moment to feel a bit smug at having had one over on his best female friend.

"We will of course have to give a reason as to why we're going public now," Kinglsey answered him, ignoring the fact that Teddy had just copied his hairstyle and skin colour, " so we'll have to tell them about the war. It might even be an idea to broadcast the trials to muggle homes as well, instead of just magical ones, to give them an insight as to how we do things."

Harry resolved to ask Ron about the broadcast- thing later, filing it away to the back of his mind. He hadn't known that trials were broadcasted.

"Are you still going to take the witness stand for the last trials, Harry?" Remus asked from where he was sat next to the current Minister for Magic.

"I was planning to," Harry nodded. Next to him, Ron made a noise of protest.

"You're going to testify in the Malfoy trials?" he sputtered.

"I am," Harry answered calmly, having not told his friend about this before because he knew the temper his best friend possessed when it came to the Malfoys.

"Why?"

Harry turned to face his friend. "Justice, of course."

"I think you have a problem, Harry."

The raven haired wizard looked up from his cup of steaming hot coffee, the Lima Bean emblem painted on the side.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he answered Hermione with a little grin on his face. Ron snorted, a glass of lemonade in his hands. Harry wasn't sure if a lot of sugar was a good idea either, but McGonagall hadn't forbidden lemonade so he wasn't going to say anything.

"That's your fifth cup of coffee, mate. You've been up for four hours."

"Besides," Hermione continued," I thought you didn't drink coffee. Something about it being 'evil and sludge- like', if I recall correctly."

Harry shrugged. "Tea just wasn't cutting it anymore."

Hermione pulled a sympathetic face. "Nightmares?"

"Not so much, anymore," Harry denied. "Teddy's teething and keeping us awake at night. He's quite the screamer."

Ron chuckled and opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a rather loud voice near his ear, causing him to jump up in his chair a bit.

"Harry! I didn't know you like to come here. We could have had our study sessions here!"

"Hi Rachel," Harry waved weakly as she pulled up a chair and sat down. "Join us, why don't you?"

"Thanks!," she beamed, waving Mercedes over from where she was looking around for her friend. "Who are your friends?"

"These are friends of mine from back home. They came over for a weekend visit. Rachel Berry, meet Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley."

"A pleasure," Hermione and Ron chorused, nodding at Mercedes and repeating the introductions as she joined them.

"Aren't you a long way from home?" Mercedes asked the twosome. Ron shrugged.

"Yeah, I s'pose," he answered. "Couldn't go too long without seeing our Harry though."

Rachel looked like she fought the urge to 'aww'. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Actually," the brunette witch said, "we brought your school records with us too, Harry. I kind of forgot with all that was going on at your place. It should make more sense to the board at your new school then the list of exams you gave them when you transferred in. Headmistress McGonagall sends her regrets that she couldn't send them sooner."

"Brilliant," Harry answered. "No regrets needed, though. The biscuits more than make up for that."

Ron had the grace to look slightly sheepish: "Actually, you took so long getting dressed…"

Harry snorted, while Rachel looked a bit affronted. "How many of them are left?"

Ron shrugged. "I didn't count them, mate."

"By the way, why were you still in bed when we got there? It was ten o'clock, you're usually up by then," Hermione asked.

Mercedes and Rachel winced in sympathy.

"Though luck, Harry," Mercedes said, Rachel nodding beside her.

"Puck threw a pre- Halloween party yesterday," Harry answered, "And I didn't get to sleep till about six this morning."

"Oh, sorry about that, then," Hermione said. Ron, who had snorted at the name 'Puck', grinned at him.

"Have fun then, mate?"

"Well, I should hope so," Rachel answered for him, cutting off whatever Harry was about to say, "We all had fun."

"You're forgetting that he spent most of the night in the closet, Rachel," Mercedes cut in. Hermione and Ron eyed Harry with confusion in their eyes.

"Looking for monsters, were you, mate?" Ron joked, though his eyes asked if that had really been the case. Rachel giggled.

"Oh no, of course not. Everyone knows there's no such thing as monsters," Rachel answered. Harry briefly flashed back to his uncle yelling "There's no such thing as magic!" just before his eleventh birthday. He tried not to grin. Boy, would Rachel be in for a shock. Monsters were, of course, very much real.

"Unless you count Kurt as a monster," Mercedes grinned next to her. Harry fought the urge to groan.

Hermione's eyes suddenly seemed to glitter. Ron threw Harry a 'you're screwed, mate' look. Harry lost the battle with his groan, allowing it to escape through his lips. Hermione took no notice:

"Oh really? Do tell."

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Till next time!

-Robin.