AN: I was supposed to post something on the first week of June but due to a writer's block I still haven't finished what I was originally going to post. Then I came up with this, and with this being more than 6,400 words( not counting my AN's), I hope this makes up for my inactivity. Plus I made a new cover again. Also regarding the fact that sequels of Thor, The Amazing Spider-man, Captain America, are out and soon even the Avengers 2... I might go ahead and re-categorize this, on the count of while I like said movies, I don't always have time to watch (plus I really prefer reading, I just can't sit still for more than an hour just to watch, to read sure I can handle but not so much on watching something), and because I just might disregard some of the happenings in said sequels because I started writing this before all those sequels came out. That or I'd be too lazy to watch the movies. So yeah, sorry.
AN2: Also this is only a part 1 wait a while before I get the next part up but I'm writing it. I'm going back and forth between this and what I originally wanted to post. It was directly connected to two of the past chapters.
AN3: Also this is un-Beta'd so please feel free to point out any mistakes I've made.
AN4: Please keep in mind that compared to chapter 1 this is set in a far, far, future, since most of the chapters, compared to chapter 1 happened before it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, no one but, perhaps, the circumstances that happens in this chapter.
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It had started innocently enough.
Harry Potter was out with his family in Diagon Alley, wading through the crowd of shoppers and well-wishers and the like for Harry. Like most shoppers that day, the Potter family were out, enjoying the day with family and buying what the children needed for Hogwarts that year. It wasn't easy being famous, not that Harry wanted to be famous in the first place, but it had it perks. Sometimes.
His children and the children of his friends who fought and survived the Wizarding War, grew up knowing that war had happened and their parents were part of it, and when a child reached a certain age and level of maturity (but really, it was usually done before the child went to Hogwarts so they were generally either ten or eleven years old when told) they sat them down and explained, to the best of their abilities and patience, what happened, what it was like and some of the things that were now glossed over in their history books. They told the children that 'Yes that happened, it may just be nothing more than words to you but we were there and it was not...good. At all.' along with 'We might be famous now because of what we did during the war but we never truly won. We still lost. A lot of our loved ones, some of our family died then. So it was never the grand victory against the Dark side as portrayed by some books.' They set the record straight, so to speak.
And for most part the children had an idea on what had happened but it'll take years for them to fully understand the horror they were blessed enough to not live in( there were still debates among those who survived the war on how they'd want a book on what it was really like during the war be written, some of them weren't really keen on living the nightmares again so it might actually take years, maybe even a decade, for something substantial published).
But back to shopping in Diagon Alley, Harry was reasoning with his eldest while they were at the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
"James," stern faced, Harry Potter began reasoning with his eldest, "just because you can buy half of the prank products does not mean you should."
It was amusing to his friends that he became the more sensible, responsible and strict parent, while Ginny became the more lenient one( however no, she was not irresponsible, she was just a lot more lenient, not neglectful). Harry's the one that worries about the children falling and spraining something when they've decided to climb the tall trees in their backyard. Still, they turned out alright, mostly. Harry still feels as though he's lost a couple of years and that his hair might prematurely grey from his children's antics. He loves them a lot though.
"But Dad," the seventeen year-old whined, putting up an exaggerated show of begging and whining, "it's my last year at Hogwarts! I can't leave without a bang. You've got to let me get the fireworks."
"James," while Harry does understand his son's sentiment, he'd rather not face Minerva's wrath in the aftermath that was sure to follow. He's trying his best to calmly explain to his son why he shouldn't bring, or buy for that matter, the fireworks, "Fireworks? Not all that original to be honest, son."
"Yea, but—"HARRY!"
Harry was saved from James going in circles with the sudden shout from somewhere over the sea of people in that crowded store, both of them looked at the general direction the shout came from. The store was packed due to the rush hour. So it took a minute or two before whoever called Harry to reach father and son.
Eventually, one harried looking Ronald Weasley reached them, still out of breath, his hands were on his knees as Ron stopped next to Potter patriarch and son. Before either of the Potters could comment on Ron's state, Ron held a finger up as he tried to control his breathing. Once he did look up and face Harry, Ron still looked a bit frazzled.
"You alright, Uncle Ron? Yes? No? Looks like you've got something important to, uh, discuss with Dad. Well, if that's the case don't let me be a bother! I'm gonna go ahead and pay for my stuff now. Nice talking to you, Uncle Ron, tell Aunt 'Mione I said hi and see you this weekend!" James was sincere when he asked Ron, he was worried, slightly since, well if it was something bad Ron would've probably looked worse than he did now; so, surreptitiously moving away from both adults and he made his way to the counter, to give his father and uncle some semblance of privacy before, well, dashing away and buying what he wanted to bring with him to Hogwarts as Harry was busy chatting up with Ron, all but whooping for joy at the opportunity that presented itself. It left both men blinking from his sudden retreat, Harry being used to his son's antics just shook his head in fond exasperation.
"That boy's going to be the death of me. Anyway, what do you need? Is it urgent?"
"Wha—"
Harry wasted no time getting to the point, it was his day off and the only time anyone would bother him during his days off was if there was something big happened. And Ron knew this but since it so happens that it was his day off as well...
"Ah, right," Ron sighed, scanning the people filling the shop to see if there was anyone eavesdropping on them, specially one that works for the Prophet, "We need you at Hogwarts. I'll explain when we get there. Uhm, might wanna bring the kids with you..."
There was a resounding crash somewhere to their left and soon enough the familiar sound of Harry's eldest cackling and the outraged scream from his daughter were heard throughout the shop and had Harry finishing Ron's sentence.
"...before they burn down the shop?"
"Or something."
"You go ahead. I'll be there in... maybe fifteen minutes. Damage control and all that."
The sibling rivalry between the Potter sibling were legendary to their schoolmates once all three of them were in Hogwarts. One was brilliant, a genius in a way, that had earned the notoriety of being his year's master trickster, another appeared shy, mild-mannered, insecure even, but in them lies one of the best schemers of their year that despite all odds, is known as being the best behaved of the three, hardly ever breaking any rules or so it appeared, and the last one, the last one was had was headstrong, nearly as unstoppable force as their father when they stand for something they believe in, often rushing from one troublesome adventure to another.
One was a Slytherin, another was Gryffindor, and the last ended in Ravenclaw.
Their home would've been a mess of colours from the hodgepodge of decorations the children insisted they get, and what with the children's spats about which house was the best; their home was not safe from those argument, it didn't help that Harry's godson would join in these spats as well (being a proud Hufflepuff and all, that he was the oldest of the four of them apparently means he's got an edge none of them can have, among other things Harry does not even want to remember right now); as their parents( mostly Harry though) they flat out told their children that despite being former Gryffindors they refuse to get into their petty fights, they do want a peaceful home life despite the summer spats.
But really it was mostly banter.
It was far more frightening when they worked together, than when they're at each other's throat.
And Ron seeing Harry's expression of resignation bid his goodbye and went ahead.
"Ha...Right, see ya there."
"Sure."
.
.
It had started innocently enough.
He was out, with his father and younger brother, of course, shopping.
Well browsing really since they hadn't bought anything. Unless, one counted the small bag of assorted treats his father bought from a street vendor. Eventually they ended up in Diagon Alley. He wasn't completely sure what his father was thinking when he said they were off to an adventure but he tries to not question the way his father does certain things, if only for the preservation of his relative sanity( though honestly that declaration of 'adventure' as he says can only be an influence of grandmother, really. She and father were akin to two teenage girls gushing whatever it is teenage girls would gush about when they were together).
But as said, it started innocently enough, his father after talking to a shopkeeper of some store his brother became ill-tempered because of a full nappy and father must have sense his mood because he gave him permission, so long as he does not cause a scene or anything and not remove the charmed necklace he's had since he was a baby, to look around the Alley on his own for three hours. Father trusted him and he was old enough for these sort of trips anyway, so there was nothing really wrong with him being on his own.
He doesn't mind that he'll be on his own, he and his father had already set a meeting place, and before they entered Diagon Alley his father had cast mild charm on their person that alters a person's perception of how they see the three of them( father wouldn't tell him why, he cast the charm but he had his reasons. And father must have noticed his unvoiced question, that or because father knows him so well, and that he just said it was for precaution while smiling that sly smile of his).
His younger brother had been fussy lately, so some peace and quiet is nice. He loves his baby brother, really, he does. But he can be a real brat every now and then, so yeah, he's going on his own for a bit. Though he is slightly worried about his father but he'd most likely just laugh it off and smile that infuriatingly secretive smile.
So he was going to relax and unwind a bit.
Well, that was the plan.
But all of a sudden while he was browsing through a second hand bookshop (never know what one can find there) when someone just manhandled him away from the book that caught his fancy (really it was a treasure, it showed so much promise; it was a very well written piece of literature as far as he's observed. And one of the things father loves, and that he subsequently picked up, are well written pieces of literature, so it was tragic that he was ripped away from it, hadn't even had the chance to pay for it and he was just about to do that!) and well, hmm, he was knocked out somehow, if he were to hazard a guess on why in one moment he was in second hand bookshop somewhere in Diagon Alley and in another he woke up to find himself on what appeared to be a hospital bed.
He was certainly in trouble with father now.
Or not.
It was hard to tell with that man, and he was kidnapped.
But still, the book.
.
.
It had started innocently enough.
Then Neville, of all people, ended kidnapping a kid in Diagon Alley.
In broad daylight.
"Huh. So you just saw him, he wasn't doing anything wrong, and basically kidnapped him since he looks like Voldemort when he was a kid?" Once the situation was fully explained to everyone not just Harry (and by everyone it was mostly the people in the know of Voldemort's origin; so: Luna, Neville, Malfoy, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, McGonagall, Flitwick, Madam Poppy, Dumbledore and Snape. Though the last two were nothing more than magical portraits), he was a not really impressed with what they had done. Harry gave them all a very flat look from where he leant against the window of McGonagall's office, particularly Neville since he was the one that panicked and took(kidnapped)the boy.
So the kid looked like Tom Riddle, and Tom Riddle become Voldemort then Voldemort, for a lack of better elaboration, gave them hell for years.
That was still no excuse to kidnap a perfectly innocent child in broad daylight.
"Mister Potter," The old headmistress began, looking prim and proper, sterner than ever, "you have to understand that we simply cannot take the risk. Our world finally has some semblance of peace after the fear and devastation that You-Kn—that V-voldemort caused."
"Professor," this time it was Hermione who sighing-ly spoke, and moved away from the wall she and Ron were leaning on to move closer to her old Head of House and cupped the old woman's hand between hers, comforting her, "it's been years, a name shouldn't scare you anymore. About the boy... I read something in one of the muggle journals I'm a fan of, that it's quite common for someone to have a double somewhere. They do not necessarily look exactly alike but there are enough physical similarities that it would seem like they were siblings, even though they have no immediate relations to each other. For all we know it's just complete coincidence that the looks like a lot like Voldemort's younger self. In fact, sometimes a person might have more than one double." She finished, giving McGonagall's hand a final squeeze before gently letting go and turning to Neville with a disappointed look on her face, who shrank back as she started to lecture him. "And you, Neville Longbottom! You were one of the more sensible boys of our year! I can only be thankful that you had the presence of mind to be discreet. Not that I approve of what you did. And the Ministry. If the Ministry knew about this, they might have just gone ahead and killed the boy; no questions asked. You were lucky that no one from the Prophet was there wa—"
Harry coughed loudly to cut in Hermione's rant, making her flush, catching herself getting too caught up in scolding Neville to actually move on with the impromptu meeting. Seeing that he now had everyone attention once more, Harry continued.
"I'd like to remind everybody that, with the help of Malfoy and his mother, we know for a fact that Voldemort has no living family left and it's very clear that he neither had the time nor did he actually care to have spawned anything with someone. And on the off chance the boy is related to old Snake-face it might most likely be through his father's side, if we're going by the boy's appearance."
A silence fell in Dumbledore's old office. Some of his trinkets still found home in the office even though McGonagall was now headmistress, though now it was more organised and less... cluttered looking. There was a cough, again though somehow sounding more refined than when Harry did it, that had all heads turning to the source, it came from Dumbledore's portrait.
"Yes, Albus is there anything you would like to add?" From her sighing tone McGonagall was obviously stressed.
"My dearest Minerva," the portrait began smiling so serenely, "have you no faith in the effort Harry and his friends put in after the war? When people still worried about that rumour of Tom having a son?" Albus nodded to their former students that stood before them as he spoke, reminding that there was indeed that fear that ate at the back of people's mind shortly after the war came to a close. And that they were only able to calm the public with the help of what was left of the Malfoy family, acquitting them of the heavier charges placed upon their family in the process, though people were still wary at present it was better than rotting in Azkaban, or be summarily executed.
"Professor Dumbledore has a point, madam. That man feared dying. Having child might remind him of his mortality. And you know how he was like, madam, a child would hardly fit in his plans. He has no use for one, lest it would be for a very dark rite needing a sacrifice. Plus he wouldn't risk the chance of being eventually over thrown or usurped by his 'heir'."
"I agree with Draco a child would be nothing more than a liability to the Dark Lord. And say that he did have one it would be nothing more than a tool to use. To further elevate his status, to rise his men's morale. The child would be nothing but a tool. A weakness the man does not want. I seriously doubt he would have patience to raise a baby." It was one of the rare times Hermione and Draco would openly agree on something, outside of work. Though they still sent annoyed glares every time they met, both learned to tolerate each others presence, if only because they made a formidable, if highly dysfunctional, team whenever they collaborated and they've learnt to accept that the other was one of the few that can keep up with their furious pace when working. Actually, they have enough camaraderie that their families often have meals together, their children practically grew up together.
"Minerva," Hermione broke through the quiet lull that seeped into the office, everyone lost in their thoughts or were quietly conversing with someone else, "the boy, where is he? Perhaps," she continued, pensively looking at her hands smoothing the lines off her dark blue pencil skirt, "perhaps we could talk to him? If it help ease your mind that the boy is harmless? We would need to do it anyway, to reassure the boy that we mean him no harm. Otherwise..."
"...it'd be hard to coax some answers out of the boy." Ron finished for his wife, "best case scenario, he's harmless, as much as kid can be, but scared out of his wits because some stranger kidnapped him but will cooperate with us. Worst case scenario... Huhm. He could be related to that old snake-faced bastard and we might need to... sedate among other things if he's volatile. Or he isn't related to Him but somehow the Prophet or Ministry hears of this, causing widespread panic throughout Wizarding England and the public might actually demand the kid to be beheaded, among other things and—"
"RONALD" "RON" "MISTER WEASLEY"
"Ron stop scaring everyone with different possible outcomes. We all need to focus," Harry turned to ask the headmistress, "Minerva, we really need to talk to the boy."
"...Very well, Mister Potter. The boy's at the Hospital Wing." McGonagall got up to lead them all there but Harry stopped her.
"Minerva. Perhaps it's best to let only two of us to speak with the boy. We wouldn't want to overwhelm the boy. Afterwards, we'll bring him here."
"What? Here, why?"
"So that if there's any doubt in my decision that he's harmless, Professor Dumbledore, here, can help clear things up"
(In the background as Malfoy was speaking earlier, Dumbledore pleaded they just call him Albus, now that they've all finished Hogwarts it was no disrespect for him to be called as such, but with the matter at hand, his pleading was ignored; leaving Snape, and the other surrounding portraits that cared to watch, as the only one who could deal with the old headmaster. "Will you stop whining you, old codger." "But Severus, I've been trying to get them to call me Albus. For years now, but I've no luck. It seems that I'll be forever known as Professor Dumbledore to them. Why even their children! They won't call me by my given name either. Is there something so horrid with my name for them to not say it, Severus? I mean they call Minerva by her first name. Why can't they give me the same treatment?" "Oh for the love of—has it crossed your senile mind that perhaps they respect you too much to even think of just calling you 'Albus'." "You think so?" "There's also the matter of Potter's middle brat being named after the two of us and calling you Albus might confuse people..." "I knew you were a kind man, Severus. Always willing to help. Especially frail, elderly former-headmasters like myself." "Hardly. The things I've done, were done solely for my benefit." "Ah? So helping me was benefited you. My dear boy, I never knew that you would consider making an old man, like myself, smile a benefit or reward. You only need to say so and I'd be more than happy to always smile for you, m'boy." "What? Stop deluding yourself, you old fool! I only did that so I wouldn't listen to your melodramatic whining! I demand to be moved! Draco! Get me away from this fool. Don't you dare ignore me you brat." "Now Severus..." No one really had the heart to stop their bickering, that and they didn't really want to, it was always so amusing to watch the two former headmaster bicker. Someone also cursed their portraits and the only way to move one portrait was if they moved the other to the same spot as well, simultaneously. They were having bets on how Snape would react when he finds out it was Draco who cursed their portraits, though to be fair he was drunk when he cursed the portraits and it was their own fault for not noticing, really.)
.
.
It had started as innocently as things can be when he was involved.
The current earth they've arrived in reminds Harry so much of his original home. Actually, it was a lot like home. It had the same damning paper that had an inclination to calling people absurd and, well, ludicrous names. The same madness was present in this earth. Or at least it appeared as though it had. It's been aeons since he first became the Master of Death, which means he's been through the different worlds, dimensions, time-lines, whatever it's actually called and thus, it has been an exceedingly long time since he was in his home world (there's also the fact that his home universe/world has long since pass, he was there, the Hallows took him from where he currently was just for him to watch it's end; allegedly, him watching it was supposed to be symbolic but it just gets him extremely melancholic every now and then) for him to be completely sure. To be clear though, Harry prefers riding the bus when travelling, even though it's, mildly, alarming whenever he gets on that one particular bus.
Yes, well, in nostalgia and perhaps in a little indulgence on his part (it has been a long, long while since the last time he was near a magical community/communities structured like the one in this world. So do pardon his... giddiness) Harry decided that perhaps a trip to Diagon Alley was in order.
Of course, before actually going to the alley he made sure they had some place to stay in London, so they went flat hunting first. Took longer than he expected, but in the end he shrugged it off. So it took a day and a half to find somewhere to live and settle down, nothing wrong there (a day and a half since they arrived at night).
Money wasn't a real issue when it comes to Harry. But appearances did, usually. Mostly.
Sometimes.
If there were an organisation like S.H.I.E.L.D. present in the worlds they end in then he'd try harder to blend in; but as it stands there was no such organisation in this world, that can match their level of... service present. Which was the reason why Harry had no qualms renting a cosy flat for him and his little family.
When they were settled in the flat, or as settled they can be; Harry finally deemed them ready to go head on out. Admittedly before heading to Diagon, Harry stopped them all to have breakfast in a nearby diner. But eventually they'll make their way to the Alley. It would be nice and amusing to be back and see a part of his life that he... misses.
He really did miss this part of his life. It surprised him, yes, when it occurred; but he rarely tries to ponder about his past, otherwise, it makes him overly melancholic. Now though, well, a twinge, really tiny, almost non-existent, was all he felt when he thinks of the past. Perhaps his memories of his, well, first life (the life before things went pear-shaped and whatever shaped that followed) were becoming too faded. Perhaps, when he has time, he'll go through those memories again (he's been making 'copies', for a lack of a better term, of his memories, not unlike what Dumbledore has done, he's been doing it since, well, shortly after he became "Master of Death", if asked why he does it Harry always answers with "The Hallows pushed me to." and a shrug), though he'll have to think of something to keep the boys occupied when he does his reminiscing. Then again, Tom is old enough to take care of himself and his younger brother.
Smiling down at his older 'son' who just gave him a just stared back at him, curious. Tom may look as though he couldn't be older than eleven at most, the truth, however, was he was older, far older than he appeared. Though to be fair, Harry's looks like he's always a day away from turning eighteen when he could be considered ancient. Harry's not sure what his exact age is, he can check, but prefers to not look. Tom's only a little over twelve hundred. Little Hadrian, who looks remarkably like Harry (though that could be chalked up to coincidence, or perhaps they could have been related, but, well they were born from literally different but similar worlds and little Hadrian was born around the fifteen hundreds of said world), appeared to be no more than two years old was a little over two hundred. It was the same when he took Tom in, he aged normally until he was a little over a year old when began he aged slower, for every century it seemed as though Tom only aged a year, physically at least, by the time the boy looked like he was three, or maybe four, he had a good grasp on why he looked so young (initially he brought Tom to a doctor friend of his, and he said he was mostly normal, aside from the, ah, the longer time the boy needed to grow up, but he was fine as normal as can be if he attracted Harry's attention and affection, and exceptionally bright, if a little stubborn in his choice of not really speaking) and well, never doubt a child's intelligence or perception. They had a rather meaningful talk when Tom asked about it.
But now though...
Tom may not be as chatty as he had hoped he would be, but with little Hadrian in their lives, it was hardly noticeable since the baby refused to be ignored by his older brother, going as far as babbling for hours just so Tom would to talk back to him.
And Tom truly adores his younger brother, and spent many a day trying to teach him new words or just read to the baby to pass time.
"Is there something on my face, papa?" Curious navy blue eyes looked back at him. Tom, having finished his meal, folded his hands on top of the table to face his father, who was feeding little Hadrian.
"Hmm? Oh." Chuckling, Harry fed the last bit of mashed fruit his youngest before replying. "Nothing, just. Remembering what you were like you when were Ria's age." Hadrian or Ria as the baby responds to both ('Ria' was actually Hadrian's own butchering of his name, even now when his speech has improved he prefers introducing himself as 'Ria'), clapped when he heard Harry say his name.
"I was quiet when I was his age, dad."
"Quiet? Tom, you refused to speak because you found it tedious. I gave the excuse of you 'busy gathering words and waiting for the right moment to speak' to people who got too curious, instead of saying it was because you were lazy."
"Daaaaaad."
Snickering at the whine his older son let out, out of embarrassment at his teasing, Harry stopped( although it was true that Tom refused to speak when he was younger for the sole reason that it was tedious. He still thinks it a tedious thing, speaking/talking, but with Ria demanding attention he began speaking more on his own violation) and changed the subject.
"Okay, okay. I'll stop. You excited about our little trip?"
"I guess." Was the sullen reply he received from Tom.
"Now, now enough pouting. It'll be fun. I promise. An adventure, even!"
"Dad. It's just a shopping trip, how can that be an adventure? And I'm not pouting."
Harry loved teasing his older son( eldest being inappropriate seeing as Tom is not his eldest child ever, but he is older than little Hadrian), and he actually snorted when Tom said he was a quiet kid, he was down right stubborn, resolute even, in keeping his silence when Tom was Hadrian's age. Harry often had to resort to bribery to get Tom to speak on certain occasions. There were time when not even that would work.
"You never know, son. Here, hold Ria for a bit." Harry handed little Hadrian to Tom, who cooed happily at his older bother when he was handed over, as soon as Harry finished talking. Keeping his younger brother momentarily occupied by tickling him a bit, Tom made sure he still had a firm hold on his brother, before asking his father in a mildly dull tone.
"Are we leaving now?"
Harry smiled faintly before nodding, he grabbed the worn satchel that had the stuff he deemed important to bring along, began sneakily cleaning most of his youngest's mess and then paid for their meal. He held his hand out for Tom to take.
"Come on, let's go."
.
.
When Harry showed Diagon Alley's entrance to the boys only little Hadrian was amazed at the display; Tom gave it nothing more than a curious glance, having seen far more entrancing things in life. Harry was hit again with a bout of nostalgia before completely shaking the feeling off to continue with their trip.
Together, they explored the alley, not buying anything yet, just looking. There were many people in the alley that day so Harry eventually took back little Hadrian from Tom and kept a firm hold on the older boy.
They looked nothing more than a family enjoying at the last minute sale before Hogwarts starts that year ("Tom—"I refuse to go to a boarding school." "Aww, but it could be fun." "I'm too old for school." "You don't look it. Besides, look at me, I'm ancient and I still go to school every now and then." "You indulge in school, dad, you don't go there to learn, you go there to mess with people's heads!" "Pot, kettle, black." "Urgh, dad."), after the trio had left the diner, Harry cast a spell to mildly cause a person's perception of them to be hazy. People would remember how tall they were, what the plain robes he and Tom wore to they more practical toddler-ware Ria wore, the colour of their hair and possibly the eyes but beyond that, details would become more vague should they recall a memory and they so happen to in said person's vicinity. It was a mild spell, not like a disillusionment charm that hides a person completely, this was more subtle, if it had a name only Harry knows, if not then he never bothered naming it.
Eventually though after a couple of hours looking through the various shops, little Hadrian got fussy while they were in one of the stationary shop open in Diagon.
"Aww, what's wrong Ria? Oh."
"Yuck." Little Ria smelled, bad. Harry was trying to calm down the moody toddler, patting his back to help soothe him, when Tom pulled his nappy a bit to check if that's why he's irritable. And it was, he had a full nappy. Very full and it smelled, badly. Tom's face grimaced when he saw and let go as quickly as he could without hurting his brother. Harry looked on vaguely amused before sighing.
"That's your breakfast isn't it Ria?" With a couple of subtle twitches from his fingers of hi free hand, Harry made the smell less noticeable. "Tom?"
"Yes, dad?"
"You go on ahead and explore. Oh don't look at me like that. I know what you're like, my lazy kitten. You want to look at every nook and cranny possible. So you go explore and I'll take of Ria. We'll catch up later. Just, don't take off the necklace, okay? Have fun."
"O-okay. Thanks, papa." Tom hesitantly accepted Harry's reason before fully beaming at him and hugged the two of them briefly, Tom avoiding contact as much with Hadrian's nappy as much as possible. Before Harry let Tom scurry away, however, he took out the pouch of money from the satchel, conjured a much smaller pouch and put a fair amount of galleons, sickles and knuts into it and warned him not to venture anywhere near Knockturn Alley ("We'll go there together, after we've catch up." "If there we have time." "Well, if we don't we can go on another trip in a few days, kay?" "Mm'kay") before finally letting go with a final pat on the head. Harry waved goodbye and tried to calm a very upset Hadrian when he saw that Tom was leaving and they weren't going after him. "Shh-shhh, hush now little Ria. We need to get you cleaned up. We'll see your big brother later. I promise."
No matter how many times the boy would deny it, Tom was disappointed that their trip was interrupted by Ria needing his nappy changed frequently. Harry raised him, so while he knew that the magic of the Alley didn't amaze him in the same level as Hadrian, he was curious of the place and just like their new flat he'd want to go exploring all of Diagon Alley that was possible today. However, as much as Tom wants to do just that, he knows that him suddenly leaving to go exploring on his own will upset his younger brother even more. But Harry's hardly minds spending a few hours with an upset toddler. So he let Tom have his enjoyment this time, allowing him on his won, hopefully however, he won't buy too much baubles or what ever catches his fancy. But Harry, despite his indulgences, lived frugally as possible and raised Tom to be frugal just as well, so perhaps that particular worry is unnecessary.
As soon as he saw Tom enter the shop across the street, Harry went to see if one of cafés would let him use their washroom to properly change Hadrian's nappy (and as convenient as magic was, caring and looking after the needs of a baby is best hands-on, sure using magic on a baby to clean it's nappy is faster but most parents still prefer manually changing it, like Harry).
.
.
Luckily one of the café owner did allow him to change Hadrian's nappy, the owner was an old witch who was fond of little ones were familiar with the fact that babies poop frequently and in gross amounts. After thanking the one and buying a bag of cookies the shop happened to sell to snack on, they continued visiting the various shops, though little Ria was still sulking because Tom was nowhere in sight, so to cheer him up, Harry brought him to a toy store to find a toy that would entertain the toddler until they caught up with Tom later.
But when Harry went up to the meeting place they've picked, The Leaky Cauldron for convenience's sake, Tom wasn't there yet. No problem, perhaps he just got carried away in his exploring.
Thirty minutes passed and Tom still hasn't come and Harry let's another ten minutes pass before looking for the boy.
Carefully withdrawing his wand from one of the inner pockets of the satchel, began his search.
"Alright. Ria."
"Da."
"Behave for me. Daddy needs to concentrate."
"Tom?"
"Yes, I'm looking for him, so be quiet for a bit and hold on tightly to daddy, okay?."
"Kay."
A quick point me made Harry's wand, spin aimlessly before stopping north, he followed the direction the spell kept pointing to( as it seems that every few steps the spell gets confused and would spin aimlessly once more before stopping), all the while managing to avoid running into people, but once he reached the northern most edge of Diagon Alley the spell kept pointing forward and the only thing in front of him was a wall. Sighing, Harry cancelled the spell, it was no use Tom wasn't there any more.
"Daddy? Wer Tom?"
"Shh. He's not here. We're going back to the flat now. Then we'll look for Tom."
Harry knew it upset little Hadrian, that they couldn't find Tom. But their search would be harder if they caused a scene in the middle of the alley. Once they're back at their flat, Harry'll use the more heavy duty tracking spell he has or scry to find where Tom is and one he's found where he is he'll get him back.
For now though, he's calming his youngest again.
Most parents would be panicking, scared out of their wits because of a missing child; Harry was not like most parents(magical and muggle alike), while he is worried about Tom, he knows that he's safe. Call trusting a gut feeling foolish and irresponsible, but this was the same gut feeling that let him find Tom when he was still a baby, the same feeling that told him to take little Hadrian as his own, so when it says he's safe than he's safe. Harry just needs to find him.