Harry wanted suddenly, very much, to go out with them again and hoped that he wouldn't disappoint them- Thomas especially.
"Well, have you ever been to the London Eye?" Thomas asked.
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By early morning on Saturday, L was pacing restlessly from his bedroom to the sitting room and back again, glancing every now and then to check if Harry had woken. Last night had gone fairly well. Harry had believed their excuse for seeing him, had allowed them to stay for dinner (there was a brief moment where he decided whether to trust them or not and L felt particularly proud they had passed that judgement), and had been rightfully chastised for disappearing over the past week. L got the feeling that Harry was going to make a point of being around entirely for their benefit, which really, suited him perfectly. Now he just had to wait for Harry to wake up so he could 'be around' them some more. L was looking forward to the day specifically for that reason.
L stopped his pacing behind the couch and stood with his hands dangling limply at his sides as he watched Harry's still form on the screen, sleeping under a pile of blankets in his empty bedroom. L had enjoyed dinner last night and he felt it wasn't simply due to relief that Harry had returned in one piece. He'd been greatly annoyed at the start, of course, at the mention of socks, and Wammy and Harry both laughing at him. Really, he wouldn't even have considered forgiving Harry had he not gotten such a sad look when he mentioned the two sock-lovers he had known. L could tell that the people with such bad taste mentioned must be dead and even he wouldn't throw a fit when someone was so obviously grieving. L thought he had been quite magnanimous actually, but then Harry had to argue with him and try to take away his cake!
He couldn't believe anyone would be so rude as to deny a guest their cake, and after he'd forgiven Harry for laughing at him too! L had been terribly annoyed (at Wammy as well, who'd not done anything to help him and who'd thought the whole thing terribly amusing), but when dinner started, L found most of his annoyance slip away. While Harry gave himself and Wammy ample helpings of chicken, potatoes, and carrots, he had also cut out a very large slice of cake for L. L had stared at the huge piece, suspicious, but Harry had only smiled slightly and said that he really was sorry, even if 'William' wasn't. L had almost felt bad for faking his apology. He'd suspected momentarily that Harry was trying to manipulate him in some way, but he had evidence of Harry being similarly manipulated and knew that Harry simply didn't have the skills to use such devious emotional blackmail on anyone.
So L had watched Harry eating his chicken and talking with Wammy and had finally taken a bite of his cake and then... L had to interrupt Harry and Wammy's conversation- he absolutely had to find out where Harry had gotten such a delicious chocolate cake. Harry had stared at him and told him simply that he got it from the kitchens where he was learning to cook. L had demanded to know if Harry would be learning to make such a cake anytime soon and Harry had grinned and said he would be learning to make it next week. L had then started up a surprisingly pleasant conversation with Harry about the virtues of various cakes and which Harry should focus on. Chocolate, of course, was easiest, but if Harry really wanted to master cakes he should look into tiramisu, a cake that had mild flavors balanced carefully with much stronger ones and which had to be soaked in either coffee or rum while still retaining its shape. If Harry could make a perfect tiramisu, L had told him, then making any other cake would be easy in comparison.
When dinner had finally finished, L had still been discussing desserts of all kinds (they had moved onto puddings and cookies) and was quite sorry to have to leave. Harry had been an attentive listener and had asked very well thought-out questions and L had found himself incredibly pleased to explain the flavors, techniques, and history of all the desserts they covered. As soon as L and Wammy had returned to their hotel, L had quickly reviewed the footage recorded on his computer so he could catch up to what Harry was currently doing. Harry had cleaned up the kitchen, put all the leftovers away (L had watched as the last of the cake was placed in the refrigerator and wondered what would happen to it) and then Harry had wandered upstairs to shower and go to bed.
L had been disappointed to realize that the only camera in the bathroom faced the door and sink. When Harry hadn't been in the house, L hadn't concerned himself with any cameras that didn't show an entrance to the house and the second floor bathroom had no windows. Wammy had told L frankly that he didn't think Harry's bathing habits would factor greatly into their investigation and L had sulked until Harry emerged. Then, of course, L felt he had to mention that Harry's apparent habit of dressing in the bathroom might be a problem in the future. Wammy had actually sounded amused at that and asked how on earth such a thing could matter and L had primly told him that they would not be able to check if Harry had anymore injuries in addition to the scars on his hand. Any evidence of mistreatment could be used against the perpetrators when they were finally caught, but if they couldn't see any and Harry never told them, they would never have that evidence, would they? Wammy had sighed and told L he wasn't sure if he was being serious or a pervert and that they could ask Harry about such things when it came to it and not before. L had continued sulking as he watched Harry get into bed and fall asleep.
Then they passed the night going over what they would do in regards to the other leads they had and glancing up as Harry turned over every now and then. L decided to call in another agent as 'L' to begin investigating the Dursleys; he thought it would be best to set up cameras in their home as well. Once those were in place, he would set up another confrontation with the family about Harry and watch their reactions when they thought they were unobserved. He was certain that, at least, would pay off immediately as the Dursleys didn't seem the types to stay tightlipped about their secrets in the privacy of their own home. Later in the week, he would figure out a way to surreptitiously bring up Harry's relatives in conversation and see what his thoughts on them were. Wammy went to bed soon after that and L was left alone to watch Harry and wait for morning.
Which was taking forever, L decided. He had noticed a lot about Harry's house, during those boring hours of the darkness, which he'd not bothered to care about previously. Harry only had the barest minimum of furniture- table and chairs in the kitchen, desk and chair in a study, bed and dresser in the bedroom. All the other rooms were bare, with not even rugs decorating them. Harry only had a minimal amount of clothes and toiletries and the most annoying thing- he didn't have an alarm clock. L had noticed that around 4 in the morning and had begun to worry that Harry would sleep in till noon and L really didn't want to wait that long. He had actually tried to comfort himself with the idea that he could simply call Harry if he didn't wake at a suitable hour, which made L realize that Harry didn't have a phone either. Looking through his records revealed that Harry had never had a phone. How had Harry survived this long?
The uncertainty of whether Harry would wake up when L wanted him to and being unable to reach him without going and knocking on his door drove L to restless pacing, wanting desperately to do something, but not having anything to do. L huffed and turned away from the couch and the screens (where Harry was still sleeping peacefully) and wandered back to the bedroom. He looked out the window and could see a long line of light over the horizon- surely Harry would wake up with the sunrise. He walked quickly back to the sitting room to check. Harry was still asleep... L slumped and fell onto the couch face first to sprawl across it. Harry should wake up now, L was bored just waiting for him to do so- he needed a phone so L could call him and wake him up. He lifted his head, that was true- Harry needed a phone.
L jumped up to open his laptop so he could order one. He was sure suddenly that Harry didn't have a phone so that the organization couldn't track him through it, but if L gave him a phone under the name "William Tale" (he would have to say it was on loan or something, or else Harry would never take it), then he could call Harry from his other (untraceable) phone and not worry about losing contact with him again. The global positioning device he would have Wammy install would be an extra bonus. L grinned to himself as he selected the various options for the phone and had an express rush put on it. He and Wammy should be able to pick it up before they saw Harry, the store he was ordering from was based right here in London.
When Quillish emerged from his bedroom, it was to see L avidly watching the screen on which Harry was apparently making breakfast for himself. A laptop was open on a nearby chair, papers were strewn across the floor and the shirt L had been wearing the day before was trailing through the doorway of L's bedroom. Quillish sighed, he wished sometimes that L didn't need to be on an almost permanent sugar-high in order to function. Quite aside from the fact that it was horribly unhealthy, L got exceedingly bored in the early morning hours and had the habit of simply dropping things wherever he was at the time when he moved to do something else.
"L, seeing as how we cannot allow the cleaning service into the rooms, I would appreciate it if you at least tried not to make such a mess," Quillish said tiredly as he plucked L's shirt off the ground and tossed it further in the bedroom to land on a small pile of similar shirts.
"Ah, there you are Wammy," L said distractedly, keeping his eyes on Harry who flipped an omelet expertly in a pan. "We need to pick something up before we meet with Harry."
"What exactly?" Quillish said as he closed the laptop and took its place on the armchair to watch the screens with L.
"A cell phone. I ordered one for Harry's use," L said.
Quillish stared at him. "You ordered Harry a phone?"
"Yes, he doesn't have one and we need a way to contact him if he leaves the house without us."
"What if he decides not to take the phone with him? Or if he chooses not to accept it at all?" Quillish asked in bemusement.
"I will make it clear that he is to keep it with him so he does not 'worry' us again and I will assure him that I have multiple phones and do not use that one often enough to warrant keeping it," L said as he watched Harry take his finished omelet to the table to begin eating. "I am certain I can convince him to agree with this plan- he worries very much about upsetting other people."
"And I assume you want me to, ah, improve certain tracking features on this phone before we 'loan' it to Harry?" Quillish asked suspiciously.
"Of course," L said shortly, as if there had never been any doubt he would ask Wammy to do such a thing.
Quillish sighed. "Very well. I do agree that it would be nice to keep better track of Harry, losing him last week was quite terrifying. But aren't you worried he will be suspicious about being offered a free phone merely so you can maintain contact with him?"
L thought quietly with his arms around his knees and watched as Harry ate. "Perhaps, but... Harry is not the type to be suspicious of people he likes and after last night, I am certain his regard of me has improved considerably. He will trust my intentions because he will not want to think ill of me."
"Yes, that makes getting close to Harry fairly easy, but..." Quillish trailed off. "It will make it difficult to hold his trust when we try to keep him from rejoining this organization that's after him."
"We will simply have to make him like us more than them," L said determinedly. He stood as Harry took his dishes to the sink to wash. "We should go, our stop for the phone will put us behind schedule if we do not leave now."
Quillish got up to follow L, taking one last look at Harry on the video feed before asking L if he would like to stop for breakfast on the way as well.
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After breakfast, Harry went briefly over to Grimmuald Place. He needed to check on Rowag and pick up a few things. Most of his things were still in the house as, when he moved to number nine, he hadn't bothered to bring more with him than he absolutely needed. Now that he needed to keep up appearances with Thomas and William, it would be more convenient to have some things over at the muggle house. He'd been thinking before of working out some sort of schedule to stay at the houses at different times and maybe enjoy a little more solitude at number nine before he finally gave it up (having two houses so close to each other was pretty silly, Harry thought and he wondered how he ever decided it was a good idea), but having Thomas and William show up at his front door looking for him made him rethink that plan.
He would probably have to stay at number nine for now and only visit Grimmuald Place as the need arose. He could always place an alarm on the floo and the knocker so he'd know if any of his wizarding friends showed up, but all the alarm charms he knew were muggle sensitive and wouldn't activate if Thomas or William knocked on his door. Harry would have to actually be in the house and hear them knocking in order to answer any of their calls. Besides, Thomas and WIlliam were his only home visitors the past week- everyone he knew in the wizarding world had figured out they could find him at Hogwarts and went out of their way to see him there. Also, now that he had an owl of his own, it was much easier to just mail his friends to stay in contact.
When he entered Grimmuald, Harry heard a shrill shriek from the kitchen and ran to see what was going on. Rowag was hunched over a chair with her wings out and making horrible hissing sounds as another owl- one of the school owls he thought- looked on regally from the table. "Oh, knock it off Rowag!" Harry said as he hurried forward to take a letter from the other owl.
Rowag hissed some more and hopped onto Harry's shoulder so she could look down on the other owl. Harry rolled his eyes. He'd found out from Hagrid that not only was Rowag a girl (not that he could change the name now, Rowag was terribly proud of her name and refused to respond to anything else), but was only two years old and was, unfortunately, not fully trained. Harry was depending on advice from Hagrid about how to train Rowag and deal with her adolescent tantrums when they came up without alienating her. Mostly, he said, Harry should just stay calm and let Rowag figure things out on her own. When she delivered mail properly she could be praised and rewarded and when she lost letters or went to the wrong place (or when she threw a fit about another post owl) then Harry should just ignore her and try to get her to do the proper task again.
So far, Harry thought it was working out well, but Rowag really hated when other owls visited. Hagrid told him that was just a territorial thing and Rowag was only worried Harry would get another owl and she'd be pushed out. To deal with this, Harry just let Rowag ride his shoulder and read the other owls' letters as calmly as possible until it was time for them to leave. It helped a lot that the owls that had visited so far were all fully trained post owls and didn't twitch so much as a feather at Rowag's fits.
Harry read through the current letter (from Hermione) and felt Rowag calming somewhat. He patted her absently as he got a scrap of parchment from the sideboard and jotted out a quick reply. Hermione was wondering if Harry would like to have lunch with her next week (school had started the spring term, so Hermione would be in the castle for the rest of the season) and discuss a new project she was starting. Harry was relieved that Hermione had let off him. She and Ron had come to terms with Harry taking cooking lessons and had apparently decided to be supportive by simply asking him about it from time to time and telling him what they were doing. In short, they were just being his friends and Harry was very much enjoying not having to worry about running into an interrogation or lecture anymore. He sent the owl off with his reply (Yes please, does Monday work or do you want to wait a few days?) and felt Rowag ruffle her feathers in relief. He scratched her chest as he walked upstairs to figure out what he should move to the muggle house.
He should probably take more clothes and a few odds and ends- he'd only noticed after he had visitors, but number nine was really quite empty. He looked about his room, wondering where he should start. The clothes probably, they would be the easiest to move as he could just toss them into his school trunk and carry that over. He opened his closet, drug his trunk out from the back and started doing just that. He made sure to separate the wizard's robes from the clothes that could pass for muggle. Most of Harry's clothes now had come from Madam Malikin's but Harry was still so used to muggle clothing that nearly all the outfits he had were close mimics of muggle pants and shirts. He only had a couple formal wizard outfits (he'd needed them for the formal celebration, Ministry re-instatement, and funerals) and six robes, three black work robes and three dress robes of different colors, all dark. He hardly ever worn them and now that he was working in a kitchen and spending his free time in the muggle world, Harry wondered if he ever would again.
After Harry had placed most of his closet's contents in the trunk he looked about wondering what else he should take. He shouldn't bring anything obviously magical into the house, but maybe some less flashy books to read when he had free time would be okay. He thought hard, most of the books he had here were magic books and most of them either focused on defense against the dark arts or were supplements from his auror training. Actually, one aspect of auror training that Harry (and Ron with him) hadn't spent much time on, was magical races' languages, which really, had been more optional than anything else and required a lot of self-study. Harry had half-heartedly started learning Gobble-de-gook and Mermish, but had left off when other work required more attention- or when he went off to visit his friends.
At the time, Harry had thought it was strange that aurors had to learn the languages of other magical races, but Hermione had told him (and Ron, who'd complained and tried to skive it off entirely) that aurors dealt with magical races all the time- hags, house-elves, goblins, veela, centaurs, merfolk, werewolves, vampires! The magical world, she said, has had a lot of wars in the past due to misunderstandings between races- some of them thanks to the language barrier- didn't Harry remember anything from his history lessons? Harry (who remembered falling asleep in his history lessons) had relented then and chosen to learn Mermish because he'd always been sort of impressed that Dumbledore spoke it and then, grudgingly, he added Gobble-de-gook as well.
Harry was still vaguely resentful of Griphook's mistrust and betrayal at Gringotts, but he'd somewhat gotten over it since he'd been planning something of a double cross as well. After the celebration at Hogwarts (which lasted almost a whole day and night) Harry had returned from a wonderful nap and had taken the sword of Gryffindor from where it had been placed at the teacher's table so everyone could admire it and given it directly to Griphook and the other goblins (who had been glaring at it for a while). The goblins had been shocked and Griphook had demanded to know why Harry was returning it after he stole it. Neville had piped up hotly that Harry had been dead when the sword fell on his head from the Sorting Hat and Harry had interrupted before everyone could go off on the topic he'd been hoping the whole night no one would comment on, and said that he'd only wanted the sword to destroy the horcuxes. With all of them gone, Harry had meant his promise to give the sword to Griphook and was fine with the goblins having it. He also warned them that there was some spell on the hat so that any Griffindor who really needed it would be able to summon the sword, so if the goblins ever lost it again, they should ask the Headmaster-or-mistress to please return it.
When Harry had woken from his nap, thinking heavily on his conversation with Dumbledore in the empty King's Cross, he had only meant to tie up any loose ends he could find (his next stop was to make sure the Malfoys weren't going to be punished, he felt bad enough for them already and they had sort of helped him), but the goblins had taken his actions to mean much more. They felt Harry was the first truly honest wizard they had ever dealt with and went out of their way to make his accounts (his parents' and Sirius' vaults) as profitable as possible. In fact, when Harry had gone to them about buying a house to move into immediately, they had set everything up so he could move into a property almost next to Grimmuald Place (they thought he wanted to expand his magical property and were actually looking to buy out the whole block before Harry stopped them) the same day and they had made sure the exchange rate from galleons to pounds favored him so much, he hardly noticed the dip in his vault. Harry wasn't sure he liked the goblins doing so much for him- he kept thinking that he might owe them later- but if the least he could do was to learn their language, then he might as well.
Harry sighed and dragged his trunk down to the library to collect his Gobble-de-gook texts. He'd managed to get a working knowledge of Mermish (speaking it made his throat horribly sore), but trying to learn the goblin's language had given him a splitting headache and was part of what made him give up. Somehow he didn't think learning it now would be any different, but he was so grateful for the house and the new life it had helped him to make, he felt he would just have to try his best. He pulled the five books he had and dumped them unceremoniously into his trunk, closed it up and carried it to the front door. Once there, Harry tried to shoo Rowag back into the house.
"Go on to your perch and go to sleep," he said. "The other owl's gone so you don't have to cling anymore."
But Rowag had started getting a bad feeling while watching Harry pack up a trunk with clothes and books and now that he was taking it out of the house, she was certain something was up. Rowag hooted at him and gripped her claws into his shoulder.
"Ow! Rowag, that hurts!" Harry said and he tried to brush her off him. This was exactly as effective as it had been when he first met Rowag in Eeylops, which is to say, it wasn't at all.
Harry glared at Rowag and she glared right back and hooted shrilly again. Harry sighed. "Fine! You can come with me," he said as he wandered back to grab Rowag's perch and treats. Rowag hooted happily and flew ahead of him to land on the perch and wait for him to pick it up.
When Harry got to the door again and put her things in the trunk as well, Rowag was hooting excitedly and Harry knew that as soon as the door opened, she would be off flitting about above him.
"Don't fly off Rowag," Harry said sternly. "We aren't going far and if you get off my shoulder, I'll leave you behind!"
Rowag stopped hooting immediately and clutched his shoulder as if afraid he would disappear.
"You're okay, just don't fly off, alright?" Harry told her. Rowag chirped happily and loosened her hold some, still eager to be off. Harry opened the door and picked the trunk up to walk it over to number nine.
As he walked up to the blue door he heard someone call his name and looked to the street. There, in a rather nice black car with a long, gently rounded hood, was William, leaning out the back-seat window and waving at him. Harry put the trunk on the step of number nine and walked over to the car.
"I'm sorry," Harry said. "I didn't realize I was late."
"Not a problem, we just arrived." William was alternating his stare between the trunk behind Harry and the owl sitting on his shoulder. "What have you been doing?"
"Oh, uh..." Harry glanced back at the trunk. He'd been hoping to get it inside before Thomas and William arrived. "I just got some stuff out of, er, storage... I don't really have much at the house and I just thought it would be easier if I brought some over."
"I thought you had lived here for a while Harry?" William's head was tilted to the side and he had a portrayed expression of confusion on his face. Harry wondered if part of not interacting with others meant that William didn't know how to make proper expressions or if maybe William was deliberately making fun of him.
"Not that long," Harry said evasively. Somehow he didn't think that explaining he had another house on the same block would make much sense. "I didn't really need much anyway."
"And now you do?" William had turned his gaze to Harry and he was startled by how focused it was.
"Er, yeah, I guess so," Harry said awkwardly. William nodded and got out of the car. "Did you need any help?" William was looking at Harry again and he was confused to see his eyes focused more to the side of his head. Was William trying not to stare at him?
"No, it's not really heavy. If you like you can come in or wait out here, I won't be long."
"Certainly, I would be delighted," William said almost grandly. "To come in with you," he finished flatly. Harry rolled his eyes. William was definitely making fun of him.
"Whatever," Harry said and he walked up to unlock the door and pick the trunk up. Behind him he heard William telling someone that he "would be a moment inside" and Harry turned around. Thomas was sitting in the driver's seat of the black car and Harry hadn't noticed. He waved quickly, hoping Thomas wasn't put off from being ignored and got a jovial wave and smile back. Harry grinned and turned back to the door to lug his trunk inside. William caught up with him quickly and closed the door behind him, then grabbed an end of the trunk and asked Harry where he wanted it.
Harry sighed. "I really can carry it myself you know."
"Yes, it is light." William lifted and lowered his end of the trunk making Harry almost drop his. "You did not bring very much, did you?"
"Well, I don't really need much," Harry said frankly as he tried to walk backward with the trunk.
"You did say that before. I think I will believe you," William said blankly with his head tilted to the side, staring over Harry's shoulder. Harry was getting annoyed and wondered if maybe there was something wrong with him. He got upset whenever William stared at him and now that he wasn't (sort of), Harry was even more annoyed.
They managed to get the trunk up the stairs to Harry's bedroom and dropped it on the floor. As Harry opened it to get out Rowag's perch and treats to place them in the corner by the dresser, he felt William staring at the side of his face. When Harry pulled out the little bowl attached to the perch and took it to the bathroom to fill it from the tap, William came with him, still staring over his shoulder.
"Okay, why are you staring like that?" Harry finally asked as he put the bowl back on the perch and encouraged Rowag (who'd begun to nod off) to move to it. Harry glanced at William as he wandered over to the windows to pull the blinds shut.
"Harry," William said matter-of-factly. "You have an owl." Harry stopped and looked back at Rowag, while William looked between them. "Why would I not stare?"
Harry blinked. He honestly hadn't even thought it was strange to have Rowag with him- true he'd been planning to leave her in Grimmuald Place and visit her when he used the floo, but bringing her here and setting up her perch hadn't seemed odd at all. He really was losing touch with the muggle world if he thought having an owl wasn't in any way unusual. Now how did he explain this to William?
"Yeah, I do," Harry said blankly as he stared at Rowag. He couldn't think of anything. "Her name's Rowag." Well, no one said he had to explain anything, right? Rowag was pretty much a pet in muggle eyes, so she wasn't that strange, right?
William came and looked closer at the sleeping owl on the perch and then turned to Harry.
"Shall we go?" he said. Harry sighed in relief.
Apparently he didn't need an explanation. Well, of course he didn't. Having a pet was perfectly normal. Harry was really starting to get paranoid around William, probably because he was trying to plan out how to keep his magic hidden from him. Harry could tell already that if he had to keep this up for long, he would need to work out what things he could and could not do in the muggle house. There were just too many aspects of everyday life he took for granted that might stand out to someone like William.
"Yeah, I'll just grab my coat," Harry said while they walked back downstairs.
William waited for Harry to put his coat on and lock the door and then led Harry to the black car on the curb where Thomas had been waiting for them. As Harry waved again to Thomas, William opened the back door and crawled in. Harry watched as William assumed his typical position on the far end of the car seat and climbed in after him, closing the door and turning to Thomas in the front.
"So where are we headed?" Harry asked.
"Ah, well, we have tickets for the London Eye this evening, before then we will be taking lunch at The Dorchester, so we might walk about Hyde Park, if that's alright?" Thomas said pleasantly. Harry nodded with a grin. He had never been to The Dorchester or Hyde Park and was pleased at the idea of spending the day visiting these new places with Thomas (and William).
As the car set off, Harry glanced about and felt his eyes widen. This... was a really nice car. The bench-seat he and William were sitting on was upholstered in pale leather and the flooring and interior of the car were colored to match. The front seat had a window that could be raised up to separate the driver from the passengers and also seemed to have a tiny fridge installed in the middle and trays that folded down from the sides. Harry also thought there might be a TV screen that lowered from the ceiling, but as he'd never seen one before, he couldn't be sure.
Harry had gotten the feeling when he first had lunch with Thomas and William that they were well off. Now he was starting to wonder exactly how wealthy they were because, Harry thought, if the Malfoys were muggles, this would be the sort of car they would be chauffeured in.
But Thomas was driving the car and William- Harry glanced over at William, crouched on the bench-seat and playing with his toes- was the one being chauffeured. Harry wasn't sure if this made sense or not, but the car did have one of those divider windows, so surely that meant this car was a limousine.
Before, Harry had thought that Thomas was the wealthy one and William was something like a son, following Thomas around. However, seeing the way the car was set up didn't support that idea at all. In fact, Harry was beginning to get the impression that the wealth being flaunted was William's and that Thomas, whether related to William or not, was just accompanying him. What in the world did William do to be so well off while not showing any signs of affluence on his person? His clothes were cheap and unkempt, his hair was a bird's nest, his manners were brusque, his behavior was weird and uncouth... There didn't seem to be any aspect of William's appearance or personality that would fit in with any job Harry could think of.
Oh. Harry blinked. William must have inherited or something. That was actually why Harry had any wealth to speak of, so it made sense that William might have a similar situation. It might also explain why their vacation was so long- Harry was sure this was at least their second week off and they hadn't mentioned any plans of ending it soon. Of course, in order to inherit, someone had to have died, which meant that William was probably an orphan. Harry felt vaguely sorry for William then. Maybe that was why William had such a hard time interacting with other people. William really was a lot like Luna, Harry thought, it was sort of scary.
Harry tried to settle in and looked out the window, doing his best not to think of whatever circumstances led to William and Thomas' situation. It wasn't any of his business after all, and he certainly hadn't told them anything about his own past, so asking about theirs would be terribly rude. In his effort to ignore the strangeness of his companions, Harry missed William glancing at him throughout the car trip, looking vaguely disappointed.
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After a frustratingly quiet drive with Harry, he and L were dropped off at Hyde Park Corner while Wammy went to park the car at The Dorchester. L had hoped that the car ride would prompt Harry to begin questioning 'William's' place in the world due to how opulent riding around in a tripped out 1960's Rolls Royce was, but Harry (after looking around and noticing the obvious wealth and even sending a curious glance in L's direction) had chosen not to remark on it. L wondered whether this was due to Harry not wanting to ask questions about him because he might have to answer questions in return, or if maybe Harry was just polite enough to leave other people's business alone. He needed to get Harry comfortable enough to ask about him though, or Harry would not learn the things L wanted him to.
For now however, L was left alone with Harry as they waited and decided to use the opportunity to question Harry subtly about his whereabouts this morning. L was certain that Harry had a second hideaway close by to number nine Argyle Square (something he approved of) because he and Wammy had watched him have breakfast at the house before they left and little more than forty minutes later, had arrived to see him walking up to the house with a large trunk.
L had gotten out to 'help' Harry more out of a desire to see what was in the trunk. Hearing Harry's explanation about needing more things at number nine rather pleased L, because it meant that Harry really would be making an effort to be available to himself and Wammy, and having Harry in view was far preferable to not having any clue where he was. However, the idea of Harry having a second, more secret hideout, nearby also disturbed L, because he didn't know where it was.
The organization had found Harry already and were probably watching him, just as L and Wammy were, but L was afraid to think the organization might know where both Harry's hideouts were, whereas L only knew about one of them. If something ever happened to Harry while he was at this second hideout, L might never know. Clearly he would have to either prevent Harry from utilizing the second hideout (already in progress if Harry was moving clothes and such to number nine) or follow Harry more closely to discover the second hideout's location.
L knew which tactic he preferred but unfortunately, the choice was largely dependent on Harry's movement over the next few days. L hoped, however, that he might become enough of an influence on Harry to nudge him in the direction of his own preference. Unfortunately, L was disappointed to find that Harry didn't trust him enough to be comfortable discussing where he had fetched his trunk from, because the moment L mentioned (fairly innocently he felt) helping Harry to move anything else he wanted into nine Argyle Square, Harry switched topics to the nearby rose garden and went on about how it was a shame they weren't visiting when it was in bloom.
L was terribly annoyed by this, but, he supposed, it was a step up from Harry's previous habit of simply not talking to him. L smirked a bit, Harry really was warming up to him, so perhaps he could breach the topic again after putting Harry more at ease.
"Is there anywhere you want to go?" L asked Harry (who'd been disturbed by 'William's' suddenly evil looking smile). Harry shook his head and stayed silent. L frowned, he thought Harry was comfortable enough with him to talk. What happened?
"Well, then do you mind if I pick a place?" L asked slowly, trying to speak kindly as Wammy often did. Harry stared at him a bit oddly and said he didn't mind at all. "Good. There is actually something I want to show you," L said proudly.
L hoped that the walk in the park would help cement his place in Harry's good view and give him a chance to loan the boy the phone he had bought this morning. If Harry went back to ignoring him, then all of L's plans for the day would be ruined.
"Do you like roses?" L asked, trying to keep up a pleasant discussion now that Harry had spoken to him.
"Er, not really," Harry said sheepishly. "I just thought it sounded nice. You know... sort of, in general..." Harry trailed off and was looking embarrassed by that point.
"Hmm, that's fine," L said reassuringly. "What other sorts of things do you like 'in general'?"
Harry blinked at him, clearly trying to think of something. L wondered briefly if Harry would just say the first thing that came to mind, or try to create a false topic to lead L away from personal questions. Harry seemed the type to like most everything "in general", or rather, he was the type who didn't seem to have any great dislike for anything. Hmm, perhaps asking after what Harry disliked would be more productive?
"Er, gardening in general?" Harry finally said hesitantly, as though waiting to be marked on his answer and told it was wrong. Apparently he chose the first thing that came to mind, probably got gardening straight from the mention of roses.
"...You in general, like gardening in general?" L asked blankly. Harry stared at L with a slowly reddening face and looked down quickly, mumbling "Not really..." Harry really did get flustered easily. At least it made conversations easy to lead (provided, of course, that the person you were talking to was willing to speak). "Then what do you not like?" L asked nonchalantly.
Harry blinked again and looked around as though he hoped 'Thomas' would walk up to them and he wouldn't have to answer. L looked at Harry more carefully and then, just as carefully, turned to the side to appear as though he wasn't watching Harry's every move. If Harry was trying to avoid lying to L, then it would be better not to make him uncomfortable- he might actually answer!
"Well," Harry said exasperatedly, clearly knowing that he was giving in. L did his best not to grin at the garden wall he was staring at. "I don't much like rats." Harry thought some more. "Or people who are rude. Or thieves. Or liars." Harry listed those off slowly and L had the feeling that Harry was envisioning specific people with each term.
"Rude, thieves and liars?" L said speculatively. Harry didn't seem to associate with the best sort. L was fairly sure the Dursleys were the 'rude' people- Wammy would likely attest to that as well, but he wondered who the 'thieves' and 'liars' were. "And rats as well?" L ended the query on the more innocent note so Harry would believe he wasn't interested in further explanation.
"Yeah... A friend of mine had a pet rat and, well, I ended up not liking him much," Harry was staring off toward the street. L was starting to wonder if the rat was a person as well. Surely no one would normally get such a bitter look over a pet rat? So, Harry was speaking in code again... But, thought L, that was very good! Harry was, in his own way, offering information about himself, meaning that he did trust L somewhat.
L was considering turning the conversation towards one of the other 'things' Harry didn't like, seeing as the 'rat' was apparently a more volatile subject than L had thought, when Wammy walked up to them, breaking the mood that had built up.
"There you are!" Wammy said. "I hope you didn't mind the wait?" Wammy smiled, mostly at Harry, when he said this.
"No, we didn't mind," Harry said happily, all thought of 'rats' and 'liars' and 'rude people' forgotten. L almost forgot about them as well when he realized that Harry was including him in his answer. Almost.
Wammy looked between them speculatively. "Well then, I'm pleased the two of you are getting on so well!" Harry blinked at this. Wammy grinned. "Shall we be off?"
L turned without a word, toward a path that opened out on the Serpentine Road and Harry and Wammy followed behind him, already starting up some pointless conversation about lakes and swimming. L found himself annoyed that Wammy had accidentally interrupted his interrogation. Harry had been opening up to L, offering more information than he'd actually asked for, and then Wammy had to come and steal him away! L listened to Harry speaking behind him, he sounded much happier talking to 'Thomas' than he did when talking to 'William.' L frowned. He would have changed the topic if Harry had been truly against it. L had proved last night that he could easily carry on a pleasant conversation with Harry.
L continued sulking and thinking dark thoughts about what he might have learned by now if he were talking to Harry instead of Wammy and so, didn't hear Harry calling him until he tapped his shoulder, making him spin around. Harry was staring at him with wide eyes and Wammy was looking at him with a great deal of amusement. "Did you want something, Harry?" L said blankly.
"Er, I was trying to ask you where we were headed?" Harry said awkwardly. "You don't seem interested in looking about and you did say you wanted to go somewhere..."
"Did you not want to walk around the park first?" L said flatly. "We have plenty of time Harry, no need to be anxious."
Harry glared slightly. "i just thought that since it is your vacation, you should do what you want. Besides," Harry added as he looked away, upset and trying to hide it. "You seem like you're in a bad mood and you were fine earlier... I thought maybe you were bored or something," Harry mumbled.
L thought about that and looked up at the sky. On one hand, he was pleased that Harry was paying attention to him as it meant that Harry did have a higher opinion of him now (Harry seemed to prefer to ignore anything he didn't like). On the other hand, he was upset because Harry was paying attention to him and L hated it when people watched him and decided how he felt. Not that Harry was too far off, and he was trying to make L feel better by letting L do whatever he felt like. L liked it when people let him choose what to do and didn't interfere. L looked back down at Harry, who was now watching him warily, and decided that he would accept Harry's concession to his apparent mood.
"Then we shall take the direct route!" L declared and he led Harry and Wammy back a short way to Rotten Row to continue along the south side of the Serpentine Lake. He was eager now to get Harry to the place he'd picked out. Since Harry was going along so nicely with L's plan to get close to him, L was looking forward to the next stage and hoping Harry would go along with that just as well as everything else.
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Harry enjoyed the walk down Rotten Row. He'd heard about it before and hadn't thought it sounded all that interesting, but it was really a nice place with its line of trees and the occasional rider on horseback. He thought he might come here later, with his friends or by himself. He could walk along it much more leisurely then, as opposed to now when William was rushing them along and hardly letting Harry or Thomas catch a breath.
Harry glanced then, at William, who was striding forward impatiently, and tried not to laugh. When he'd started talking with Thomas earlier, he'd gotten the feeling that William was put out for being ignored. Deciding to try and get William more involved by letting him dictate their path so he might feel better (Harry didn't actually want to start up another conversation, William was too difficult to talk to), had really been a good idea. Thomas had whispered a congratulations to Harry for snapping William out of his sour mood- normally William would only be brought out of those when he decided he would.
The walk along Rotten Row passed very quickly and they approached an area surrounded by bare shrubberies. Harry could see a number of tennis courts, a bowling field and paths winding between all the dead looking shrubs. William led them on a path around to a small building and waited outside with Harry while Thomas (who'd been looking more and more amused as the morning wore on) went inside. Harry shifted awkwardly on his feet as he waited beside William and looked around.
"Er, what was it you wanted to show me?" He asked uncertainly.
William grinned widely at him. "Do you play any sports Harry?"
Well, that was difficult to answer; Harry couldn't tell William he'd been on his house's quidditch team for six years or so. "What sort of sports?" Harry asked instead. Harry hadn't really participated much in any outside activities when he was in primary school- thanks to Dudley and his gang, no one ever wanted to play with him- but he had watched others play. Hopefully, whatever sport William was interested in would be something that Harry at least knew the rules for.
"Tennis," William said shortly, watching Harry with that odd smile.
Harry shook his head. He knew the general theory behind tennis- hit a ball over a net- but he'd never watched anyone play it and he had certainly never played it himself.
William pouted and then grinned at Harry. "Too bad, but I suppose this means I will have to teach you."
Harry stared at William. "What?"
William watched Harry's face and brought a finger up to pull slightly on his lip. "I like tennis and you did say that I should do what I want on my vacation."
Well, Harry did say that, but if he'd known that it would bring him to learning how to chase a little ball around in front of a net from William, he might not have said anything at all and let William carry on with his sulking. Thomas stepped back out of the building at this point and handed a racket and ball to William and held another racket uncertainly as he looked at Harry.
Harry sighed. "Oh, alright..." he muttered. "I'll play with you, but I'm warning you- I don't know how to play this at all, so if you don't have any fun, it's your own fault!"
William, who had already let himself onto the empty tennis courts, smirked over his shoulder at Harry. "Of course Harry. But I think I will have a great deal of fun with you."
Harry just sighed resignedly and followed after him while Thomas walked over to a bench at the back of the court to sit down and watch them. At least there weren't many people around, Harry thought. No one normally played tennis in an outdoor court in winter. Actually, Harry was surprised the courts were even open at this time of year.
Harry stood next to William, wondering what he would have to do, while William started bouncing the tennis ball and catching it one handed.
"Watch carefully, Harry," he said as he looked at Harry over his shoulder. "This is how you serve." With that, William tossed the ball high in the air, drew the racket back and then struck the ball suddenly as it fell back down. Harry watched the ball speed over the net, hit the court and then bounce into the fence and roll back. He was rather impressed despite himself, the ball had gone quite fast.
William went to fetch the ball and handed it solemnly to Harry. "Now you," he said confidently. "Just hit it as hard as you can, don't worry about aim."
Harry took the ball apprehensively. It would be so embarrassing if he missed or if the ball didn't even make it over the net. He bounced the ball a few times the way William had and then tossed it up and waited for it to fall so he could hit it. When he reached back to strike the ball, he did just as William told him and hit it with all his might, only hoping it would at least get to the other side of the court. The only ball Harry had ever hit before this had been a bludger, and that was the only reason Harry could think of that might explain why he mucked things up so badly.
Harry and William watched as the tennis ball flew over the fence on the opposite side of the court, over the shrubbery, across the path, and into the dirt road of Rotten Row. "I'll, er, I'll go get it," Harry said glumly as he trotted off out of the court.
When Harry came back, his face was burning and he stared at the ground. He'd been worried, when he wandered off to fetch the ball, that he would look up and see William and Thomas in the court, laughing at him, and now that he had forced himself to come back, he found he still didn't want to look up.
William took the ball from him and casually commented that maybe they should work on aim after all and that Harry would be very scary if he hit the ball that hard all the time. Harry risked a glance up and saw William's face as blank as it always was and that he was, in fact, regarding the tennis ball rather than Harry. Harry felt a lot of the tension flow out of him and decided he was really worrying too much. Tennis was a game people played for fun, right? So he would just do his best and try to have fun.
The next hour or so was spent with William teaching Harry how to hit the ball so it would go where he wanted and Harry learning that it didn't take as much force as he had thought to get the ball over the net. William even told him that some games were won by getting the ball to hit the net and fall gently over it. He'd only told Harry to hit the ball so hard because most people underestimate how to hit the ball and become discouraged when the ball doesn't make it across the court. Harry, he said, didn't seem to have that problem.
When Harry was able to at least get the ball to hit close to wherever William told him to aim for, William decided it was time to actually play. Harry found he was somewhat looking forward to it.
The first ball William served over the net, Harry was barely able to tap. The second ball, Harry was able to catch on his racket and roll back towards the net. By the third ball, Harry felt more confident about judging the speed and direction of the small ball (it was like chasing a snitch sized bludger) and was able to hit it back to William, who then hit it back to Harry, who hit it sideways off the court.
Harry frowned after the ball. He forgot he had to keep chasing the bloody thing even after he hit it. William called out that Harry should get the ball instead of waiting for it to come back to him. Harry decided he would take his frustrations with this stupid game out on William. Even if Harry couldn't play as well as William, he would at least do his best to make winning difficult for him.
When William served the fourth ball, Harry was ready for it and when William hit it casually back at him, Harry managed to keep the ball in play. They whacked the ball back and forth, Harry running around and thinking that this game would be better if it had brooms, and William rushing about in his baggy clothes, as if he did this every day. Finally, Harry misjudged the direction the ball was spinning and lobbed it over into the court next to them.
"Out," William called flatly. "I have the advantage, Harry." Harry glared at him as he went to pick up the ball. Stupid ball. Stupid game. Stupid William.
As Harry handed the ball to him, William tilted his head to regard Harry. "Do you really not play any sports Harry?"
"What makes you say that?" Harry asked in annoyance.
William shrugged. "You are doing surprisingly well, but have yet to mention any sports you know. If you want, we could play what you like instead."
Harry huffed, he didn't need pity or anything. "Sorry, but the sport I play is a team one, so we couldn't-"
"What sport exactly?" William looked at him. "We could easily adjust the rules for two people."
Harry glared at him. Quidditch couldn't really be played by two people- well, they could play as Keeper and Chaser, but Harry felt that tennis was already enough like it that he didn't want to do that with William. What he really wanted to do was play Seeker against him. William was so much better at tennis, but Harry was sure he could win at Seeker...
"Actually it's a game that was only played at my school," Harry said suddenly. What was he doing? "So you wouldn't know how to play anyway."
William's eyes narrowed and he let the tennis ball fall to the ground and roll away. "I'm certain I could figure it out, Harry."
Harry smirked. "It's called quidditch." Well, as long as he didn't mention broomsticks, he could probably explain it to William. They wouldn't be able to play, of course, but just knowing how to do something that William didn't seemed much more important at the moment. "There's seven players to a team. Three Chasers, Two Beaters, a Keeper and a Seeker. The Chasers try to get a football past one of three goals guarded by the Keeper. The Beaters try to hit opposing players with two other balls that have lead centers to knock them off course. Then the Seekers both compete with each other to try and find a fourth, hidden ball to end the game."
William stared at him and had his finger pressing against his mouth. "That sounds unnecessarily complicated."
"Well," Harry shrugged. "I suppose it is more complicated than batting a ball back and forth over a net for hours, but it is a lot of fun." Harry grinned as he turned to walk back to his side of the court. He could feel William glaring at him the whole way.
"What player were you?" William called out.
Harry turned to look back at him. "I played Seeker. Why?"
William was watching Harry avidly now. "All the Seeker does is find something hidden?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. A ball smaller than a golfball."
William grinned that horribly creepy, evil smirk he'd made earlier. "Very well. Let us play Seeker against each other."
Harry stared at William. He wanted very much to play this game- it wouldn't really be like chasing after a snitch, but he felt he could compete with William more evenly than he could with tennis. "What exactly would we be seeking then?"
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A/N: Hello! Thank you again for reading and reviewing!
Well, how does everyone like this chapter? L's being a creepy stalker, Wammy's enabling him and Harry remains oblivious to it all! But Harry seems to have decided that he likes Thomas and William despite the fact that he keeps telling himself he doesn't like William at all- why else would he move his closet and owl to number nine? Perhaps he's protesting too much? ^^ Oh, you should all look up video of barn owls screeching- they sound like little demonic banshees and it's sort of terrifying that such small creatures can make such horrid sounds...
Also, Harry and L have started their first date! Woohoo~ With chaperone Wammy... ^^;;; They are so very English, aren't they? L is trying to show off as much as he can, and he has a reason for this- but was the tennis really necessary? Harry meanwhile, is trying to get on with 'William' more, and it doesn't seem to be purely for Thomas' favor. Could it be that he's actually starting to have fun with 'William'?
Next chapter will have the second half of the "date"~ Oh, the London Eye is such a spectacular location. ^^ Also-- No, Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park will not be mentioned...