Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 3

Jupiter sighed and leant back, flushing the toilet. She got her things and went to help her Mom with the kitchen. She actually didn't mind cleaning the Potter house, there was never a lot of work to do and the house was full of interesting knickknacks. They looked up as the door opened and Mr Potter walked in.

"Sorry, just forgot something, don't mind me," Harry called, walking into his office to grab the file of paperwork. He shoved it into his messenger bag and then went to the kitchen.

"Mr Potter," Aleska greeted and he smiled.

"Hi. Is everything okay? You don't need anything?" he asked as he grabbed an apple.

"We are fine Mr Potter, you keep a good house."

"Thanks. Might get messier soon, I hear students are messy," he grinned.

"You're starting class?" Jupiter asked in surprise and Harry nodded, patting his bag.

"Yep, enrolling today at the University of Illinois for Electrical and Computer Engineering."

"Congratulations, this is good news, yes?" Aleska asked and Harry nodded.

"Yeah, it'll be different. I went straight into the Air Force after high school, get the feeling essays will be very different to flying."

"Definitely," Jupiter agreed, feeling a little jealous.

Harry shrugged and pulled out his wallet, pulling out some bills. "This weeks cleaning plus a little extra. Go have some fun." He handed it over and left before Aleska could protest.

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University was interesting and hard. He'd never done high school after all, everything he knew he had learnt in a hands-on environment in the wars, not from books or lectures. But he wanted to learn the technology of this world and then find a way to bring in some of what his world had, make things easier for people.

He'd done a lot of digging since arriving in this world, there was no hint of magic or anything 'supernatural' but when he looked at the history of the world something didn't add up. Something or someone was definitely interfering in events, he just didn't know who or what. The interesting thing was that there were a lot more alien stories around, blurry pictures… it wasn't like aliens existed… did they? It made a crazy kind of sense but was it even possible? If it was true, Earth was at a massive disadvantage if they were unfriendly. And he was probably jumping at shadows. But it was another reason to bring in the hybrid tech from his own world.

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Jupiter skimmed over the book spines as she cleaned, Harry had an incredible library covering an amazing array of subjects. It was sad, but she didn't read much anymore, not since she'd left high school. She missed it, missed the thrill of learning something new. She'd harboured dreams of university once, until she learnt how much it cost, even with a scholarship, and she couldn't take that kind of scrutiny anyway, not with the paid for documents Uncle Vassily had procured so she could at least attend school.

Her Grandfather had been a British diplomat, she didn't understand why her Mother hadn't tried to contact that side of the family for help rather than come to America. Something must have happened, maybe they'd opposed the marriage? After all her parents hadn't been living in luxury when most diplomats appeared very well off. If she had any idea how to find them she'd considered trying to contact them herself, if her grandparents were even still alive.

"You can borrow one if you want," Harry offered, and she jumped, not having noticed his entrance. "Sorry."

"You mean it?" She asked, and he nodded, waving at the shelves.

"Go ahead, I am a firm believer in everyone having the chance to further their education." He dropped into the chair behind the desk and turned on his computer. "Three weeks in and already I have a massive paper due, almost makes me reconsider university."

"I miss school," she admitted as she carefully removed a book on astronomy.

"Didn't get into university?"

"Ah..."

"Illegal?" he asked, and she squirmed. "I'm not going to tell. You're accents pure American though."

Jupiter hesitated and then shrugged. "I was born in international waters to a Russian Mathematician and a British Astronomer."

"Complicated," he agreed. "Surely one of the embassies could have done something?"

"Not when my Mother's here illegally too." She finished the light dusting in the library/office.

"Good point, not fair on you though."

"Life isn't fair," she smiled sadly and picked up the book. "Thanks."

"No problem," he watched her go, feeling sad for her. He got to work on his paper while setting his implant to do a search on the immigration and citizenship laws of the three countries involved.

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Harry walked into the British Embassy after showing his passport, going up to the desk and then taking a seat in the waiting area. After a few minutes his name was called, and he was led through embassy and into the office of the Ambassador himself. They shook hands and then sat. "How can I help you Mr Potter?"

"Hypothetically, what could be done to help the child of a British Citizen, in fact the granddaughter of a diplomat, who was born after her Father's death in international waters to a Russian Mother?" he asked, and the Ambassador blinked, thinking that over.

"Ah, that would be rather complicated," he admitted, looking to his computer. "I don't suppose the British Father has a name?"

"Maximillian Jones," Harry answered, and the Ambassador typed the name in.

"Alright, here we are, killed in Russia twenty years ago. Married to Aleska Bolotnikov, teacher of Applied Mathematics at the university in St Petersburg. Are you saying they had a child?"

"Hypothetically."

"Sir Martin Jones and his wife Martha died eighteen years ago, Maximillian was their only child. It was a non-hereditary Knighthood. There are some distant cousins left, all working for the government. And… a trust fund from Sir Martin that is locked. It will take a lawyer to unlock that or see who the beneficiary is. It's possible that this hypothetical child is the beneficiary. I am assuming this child is in something of a black hole when it comes to citizenship with those hypothetical events." He looked to his guest who nodded. "I would need to look into things properly, obviously the various laws and precedents will need to be looked at."

"Understandable." Harry handed over a card.

"I will call you once I know," he agreed, and they shook before Harry left.

Money talked, and Harry had a lot of it, in fact it was ever growing thanks to various investments. That was how he had gotten in to see the Ambassador himself and so quickly. If it came down to it, he was very willing to give a 'donation' to help get Jupiter papers. She was a good kid and deserved a shot at the 'American dream', she was wasted on cleaning people's houses. He knew the cities were full of illegals and he couldn't help most of them, but he could help her.

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Harry closed his laptop and relaxed, done! He was definitely looking forward to the break. The classes were very interesting and often challenging and he enjoyed them. It was just that sometimes he hated papers. It had been three weeks since his meeting with the Ambassador, but he knew such things could take time. He hadn't said anything to her, he didn't want to get her hopes up. If this failed he could just create papers for her like he had done for himself when he had arrived, he was just trying to do things legally this time.

TBC…