The next morning was an early one for Harry, his kitchen was soon a production line. Vegetables went in and baked goods came out.
He baked, braised and basted, turning out dishes in a quantity he hadn't attempted since he'd left the Dursley's.
He'd found over the last 30 years that what he thought was a dislike for cooking had mostly been fuelled by his dislike of who had been eating his food. When he was cooking for people he actually liked he found any remaining distaste disappeared rapidly.
By the time 11 o'clock rolled around he had filled the massive dining table he'd set up outside to the brim with a feast even Molly Weasley would be proud of.
He stepped back to take in the area he'd set out for them all.
He'd conjured a large, round wooden table to sit in the central patio area he had created that morning. He had realised late last night that hosting this many people inside, when half the people invited turned into massive wolves if they got angry, was probably a terrible idea.
He'd had to bake some scones after all to bribe the pixies into not causing any mischief. They had agreed though Harry only trusted them to stick to the agreement for as long as the scones lasted. If the meeting over ran his guests were likely to bear the brunt of some mischief.
Buckbeak was striding majestically around the forest and occasionally snapping at any pixies that got too close so his guests would at least have some protection until Buckbeak got bored or distracted. Hippogriffs made the worst guards.
Jasper was the first to arrive and if Harry hadn't had the wards to warn him the revenant might have managed to take him completely by surprise. As it was Jasper's sudden enthusiastic entrance sent Buckbeak careening back into the woods in the opposite direction and Jasper wrapped his arms around Harry before he could even turn.
"Jasper!" Harry laughed when the vampire immediately buried his nose into Harry's hair, Jasper's arms a tight but comfortable weight around him. "You sneak!"
Jasper muttered his denial of such a baseless accusation into Harry's collar.
Harry just laughed, feeling weightless under the pressure of Jasper's overwhelming affection. Jasper drew back to press a kiss against his temple and Harry turned and wrapped his arms in turn around the revenant.
Harry sighed, a deep breath of relief surrounded by the scent that could only be Jasper.
After a couple more moments they parted and Harry grinned happily up at Jasper, gesturing at the table behind him. "What do you reckon? Did I cook enough?"
Jasper looked at the table with one eyebrow raised, "Enough to make the table collapse? I'd say just about."
Another ping from the wards and Harry could feel the wolves coming up the driveway, the weren't the quietest group at the best of times and Quil seemed to be on a one man mission to wake the dead.
Harry snorted when he heard Embry attempt to quiet Quil who was singing the marching song from Snow White at the top of his lungs. "It's Harry cabin Em, there's no one for miles, he's hardly gonna get a noise complaint from the birds."
When the wolves got close enough to smell the food Harry heard a collective sniff followed by appreciative groans, Quil was suddenly silent and focused on making his way to the food as quickly as possible.
He was lucky the straightest line between the young teen and the table didn't take him through any of Harry's more delicate plants. Or any of the carnivorous ones.
"I figure if I feed the wolves enough they'll forget to hate you." Harry whispered loudly to Jasper.
Jasper just raised the other eyebrow in response and Harry heard a snort from behind him where his cousin had just come round the house wheeling Billy in front of him.
"There is no amount of food in the world that could make me forget that!" Jake's tone was teasing but it didn't stop him glaring at where Jasper's arms were still around Harry's waist.
Billy just smacked him, taking back control of his wheelchair he rolled himself up to the table. "Howah Harry, you don't go by halves."
Harry was embarrassed that it had taken this long for him to invite Billy up to the cabin and resolved that he'd host the next family dinner.
He'd installed an access ramp on the front steps the week he'd met Billy months ago, there was no good reason for him to be this late returning the hospitality.
"When you're guilted into hosting treaty negotiations you might as well go all out." Harry offered, his smile undercutting any hint of actual resentment.
"If any of this tastes half as good as it smells then you'll be hosting family dinners from now on!" Billy grabbed a plate and started pulling a bit off each plate within reach, gesturing to Jake to do the honours on the plates closer to the middle of the table.
"And deprive me of your famous fish fry? How cruel!" Harry raised the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically, partially collapsing into a bemused Jasper's arms as he fell into a swoon.
Billy just threw a sausage roll at him. The rest of wolves wound their way around the house before digging into the spread with gusto. Very little could unnerve Harry when it came to chewing after sitting opposite Ron for 3 meals a day at Hogwarts, but he believed some chewing, at least, was necessary.
He stared with a sort of horrified fascination as a wolf that had been introduced to him as Paul seemed to almost unhinge his jaw in order to fit more of a chicken leg into his mouth.
A heavy sigh came from behind him, and he watched as Sam, the pack leader he'd been introduced to the night before, came into view. He was looking at his pack with exasperation as he guided a pretty woman towards the table with a hand light on the small of her back.
Ah. This must be Emily.
Harry glanced carefully over the gathered wolves, keeping his attention light and unfocused.
The pain in Leah's face was breathtaking. Harry swallowed, focusing back on the approaching couple. The situation was cruel, and Harry couldn't think of anything he could do to make the situation any better.
Harry had gotten a better hold on his saving people thing over the years but sometimes his heart just ached for people. He accepted he couldn't run around saving everyone and in fact a lot of people really didn't want help. He could respect that.
He could respect that.
So he would just have to help where he could. He smiled at Emily as she approached the group, she looked nervous and unsure. Self-conscious in a way that Harry recognised.
His scar may not be as prominent as hers but in the wizarding world it was still the first and sometimes only thing that people saw of him.
The scars ran in stark lines down her entire face, pulling the corner of her mouth down into a grimace.
Emily had to greet any new person scars first and the tension in her shoulders showed how much she hated it.
"Hello! I'm Harry." Harry smiled at her gently, extending his hand as she approached. "Welcome to my home."
Emily smiled back hesitantly. Sam was almost entirely focused on her, smiling softly when Emily firmly shook Harry's proffered hand. "Thank you for inviting me."
Harry could hear the question in Emily's voice.
"Thank you for coming." Harry grinned brightly at her. "As what we're discussing today will, by necessity, not leave this group of people I didn't want to leave Sam with any secrets he would have to keep from his partner."
Emily's eyes brightened as she looked over at Sam who nodded gratefully at Harry. "I appreciate that, Harry." Sam grumbled lowly, his voice was gravelly but friendly and Harry was happy to see that very little of Sam's initial suspicion of Harry seemed to remain. Harry could already see that Sam was much more relaxed with Emily close by, especially compared to last night at the Swan's.
Harry released Emily's hand to shake Sam's, Jasper merely nodded and made no move to get closer. Probably for the best. Harry had communicated his guarantee of safety for anyone attending the negotiations and Billy had added his seal of approval but there was a reason that Billy was the only representative from the tribal council. The wolves really didn't trust the Cullens.
Sam had apparently seen something yesterday that made him feel safe enough to bring Emily and Harry was determined that he wouldn't regret it.
They settled into an easy conversation about the local area whilst Sam gathered a plate for Emily, she bit into one of his cookies and her eyes widened. "These are delicious!"
Harry grinned back, "Thanks! The recipe was my mum's, I dug it out of one her old journals. She didn't- well. She wasn't-" Harry tried to keep the smile on his face. "It's become a real favourite." He finished unconvincingly.
Emily didn't comment on Harry's floundering, Harry felt like he'd accidentally stumbled onto uneven ground, but Emily just smiled at him gently, it smoothed away the remaining awkwardness immediately. "I still use my mother's muffin recipe, never managed to find any that taste better."
"Her muffins are the best on the rez." Sam bragged, his voice matter of fact.
"Clearly I need to try these muffins." Harry smiled at Emily who was looking at Sam fondly.
The sound of easy conversation stopped.
Several of the wolves paused in their chewing to look towards the forest in unison. Jasper nudged Harry but the synchronised staring was enough of a giveaway that the rest of the Cullens were approaching.
He felt them cross the wards, Jasper had warned them to approach from the front because, apparently, he didn't want Harry to have any fun today. He would have dropped the muggle repelling wards covering the rest of his land eventually.
He would have gotten slightly too much joy out of watching Edward trying to work out why he suddenly felt like he was late for Pilates.
When the Cullens drifted around the cabin they looked actively unnerved. And not by the wolves. Harry frowned at them slightly, what had spooked them so much? He glanced at Jasper to see if he could shed any light on things only to catch the revenant grinning like Christmas had come early.
Harry looked back at the Cullens just in time to watch Emmett give a full body shiver and relax so thoroughly that he seemed almost boneless for a moment.
As if that set of a chain reaction the rest of the revenants were suddenly looking relaxed to the point of bliss.
Harry looked back at Jasper one eyebrow raised, Jasper just smiled back at him. "I told you, your cabin is very calming."
Heavy footsteps approach and Emmett was suddenly swaying to lean very close. "Buddy, I feel like I've just had a good night's sleep and I haven't slept in 70 years." Emmett's hand came down on Harry's shoulder so heavily he almost stumbled, Jasper was quick to place himself between Harry and his overly enthusiastic brother.
"Don't be like that Jas." Emmett poked at Jasper. "You've got to learn to share the wizard."
"No I don't." stated Jasper petulantly. Harry laughed out loud at Jasper's pout which made the pout turn into a smile.
"Welcome Cullens!" Harry greeted, giving a slight wave to Bella who was in her now traditional place next to Alice. Harry waved at the table behind him, "Help yourself to food, Bella." He was happy to see her nod and make a cautious approach toward Billy and Jake. Edward twitched and glared at Jake which just made the shapeshifter grin.
Jake gave Bella a warmer greeting than either of them had been expecting and handed her plate. Billy patted her firmly on the shoulder and like that the other wolves started eating again. The wolves hadn't necessarily stopped eating when the Cullens arrived, but they had certainly slowed down. Jared was managing to combine chewing with glaring. Only Seth looked completely relaxed, still munching happily through a plate of hash browns.
Harry decided that ignoring awkwardness was his only way forward. "I've got some blood for you guys inside if you're thirsty." Jake made a noise of protest but the sound of Billy smacking the back of his head quickly followed.
The other wolves only glanced at Billy before keeping whatever they were about to say in protest to themselves.
Harry was almost disappointed, he had been so ready to point out that if he fed the wolves it was only fair he offered the same to the vamps.
Damned Billy ruining his fun with diplomacy and politeness.
Carlisle was clearly amused, "We are fine for now thank you."
Emmett grinning cheekily at the wolves, "We ate before we came."
Harry just sighed as all the wolves bristled, Jasper sent his brother an exasperated look.
Rosalie just flicked Emmett which seemed to work because Emmett was now distracted by staring at Rosalie adoringly.
Harry got it, he really did. Rosalie was extraordinarily beautiful, even by revenant standards. But Merlin, get a room.
Edward snorted, breaking the silence and glaring at Jake. "We're not going to eat you." Edward muttered.
That certainly sounded like a response to something Jake hadn't said out loud.
"Yes, thank you for that reassurance, Edward." Harry glared at Edward, how the vampire had escaped being punch all these years was beyond him. The idiot couldn't stop responding to people's thoughts out loud. Like a moron.
The wolves were now all glaring suspiciously at the knobhead.
Harry clapped his hands in an effort to draw attention back to neutral ground, neutral ground being just him for the moment.
"Sam and Billy, I sent you the secrecy contract ahead of time so you could have a think about it. Are you willing to sign?" Sam looked uneasy but Billy nodded.
Sam hummed slightly under his breath. "Is it absolutely necessary?"
Harry understood his reticence but there really was a limit to what he could reasonably share with anyone before he was blatantly disregarding the statute of secrecy.
"Unfortunately, my hands are tied on this, I think Billy told you a bit about my community and how seriously they take privacy. Without signing the contracts, I can't share any more with you, I am skirting the law as is by telling you as much as I have and I am only able to do that because we are related, however distantly."
Harry had been surprised to realise that he was in fact related to all the wolves. All of them had Black blood in them in some way. Marius Black had been prolific, and his children had all married. Marius Black was the great-great-grandfather of almost everyone here. Harry claimed Jake as a cousin, but he was apparently just as related to Seth, Quil and Embry.
Going from having one cousin to potentially several hundred was a bit overwhelming but he could at least start with the 10 wolves. And Billy. And Emily who he guesses was an in-law.
He smiled winningly at Sam who sighed and held his hand out for a pen.
The wolves signed the contracts with even less fuss than the revenants, even if Harry had to roll his eyes at Quil and Embry who didn't even pretend to read it.
"Right, with that out of the way we have two treaties to discuss today. We'll start with the wolves and me as we've done enough preliminary work that we can pretty much sign once we've confirmed some details."
Harry glanced around and was happy to see everyone was listening. He cleared his throat and put on what Ron had always called his McGonagall voice. The Head of Gryffindor had managed to scare some manners into him as a teenager. Not many.
"Summary of the current proposed treaty between Harry J Potter and the Quileute Tribe, territory is null and there are no restrictions on freedom of movement to either party. Mutual aid when threatened is promised but there are no explicit requirements on what form that aid takes. We mutually promise secrecy, any revelation of each other's communities to another party outside of this treaty will be treated as a breach and will require a meeting to discuss actions and any reparations."
Harry glanced around again; the younger wolves all looked glazed. Brady and Collin who were new additions according to Jake looked completely confused. But Sam was nodding and so was Billy which was all he needed.
"We will meet annually to ratify any necessary amendments, and any changes to the situation of either party that require changes to the treaty will be considered on an ad hoc basis. All that is required to put through a temporary change is the agreement of at least two members of leadership for the Quileute Tribe and Harry J Potter."
Billy and Harry had sat down after dinner last Friday to hash out the basic details and Sam had made some additions over the weekend, so the signing was more of a formality than an actual negotiation.
They each signed, Harry had provided a Steadi-Quill to ensure their signatures looked dramatic without also looking blotchy.
Harry signed with an easy flourish and tapped the treaty with his wand to make four identical copies. He passed one to Sam and one to Billy, "I'll file one of these with my bank, sealed of course, so there will always be a copy on record with my people if we have any issues down the line." If he'd learnt one thing over the last 40 years, it was to keep a copy of everything with the goblins. They got tetchy otherwise.
He shook hands with Sam and immediately regretted it, Merlin his kind-of-cousin had a firm grip. Billy just slapped him happily on the arm before turning back to his plate of nibbles.
Harry tried to massage feeling back into his hand.
When he looked back up from his still aching hand he'd apparently paused for long enough that the wolves had gone back to their food and the Cullens were looking awkward.
Carlisle cleared his throat. "Do you wish to discuss our approach to the nomad vampire incident yesterday?"
"Sure." Billy nodded. "But first let's discuss our treaty."
The Cullens just stared blankly at Billy, even Jasper looked a bit confused.
Harry just sighed.
"Have we done something to upset you?" Carlisle asked, his brow furrowed delicately. He looked mildly concerned so Harry was pretty sure this was the closest he was ever going to get to seeing Carlisle having a heart attack.
"Nope." Jake popped the p obnoxiously before digging back into the sandwich he'd constructed out of most of a joint of roast beef. "Not beyond the obvious."
Harry did not appreciate being in the spray zone for that one.
He smacked Jake and turned back to the Cullens. "The pack want to revisit the treaty." Carlisle looked like he was going to protest but Harry decided to just keep speaking. "A lot has changed in the last 90 years and it would make sense to update the treaty to reflect that."
Jasper nodded and took the seat next to Harry, wincing when Jake took another reality-defying bite of his sandwich.
Carlisle didn't seem so convinced but gracefully slipped into a seat next to Billy, Esme perching easily next to him. The rest of the Cullens took the hint and dispersed across the table taking any spare seat amongst the wolves, leaving a very uncomfortable looking Edward poised between a glaring Leah and a smiling Seth.
He knew the wolves needed an insane calorie intake in order to stay healthy so had heavy loaded the menu towards hearty options, only replacing the unhealthy options with transfigured vegetables.
Still, he never wanted to see his cousin come that close to unhinging his own jaw ever again.
Maybe he could go sit by Edward and make him even more uncomfortable.
Carlisle levelled a serious look at Billy, "What would you like to change?"
Billy wiped his fingers off on a napkin and sat back to look at Carlisle. "When you made that treaty with my grandfather it was a very different time for our people. We had only just been given any of our rights back by the American Government, the only thing that was important to my Grandfather was that you respected our land by keeping off it, respected our people by not taking any life and respected our way of life by not revealing our nature."
Carlisle nodded.
Billy shrugged, "Times have changed. Your presence here had made changes." Billy glanced at Harry. "Harry's presence here has changed things."
He just nodded. Not sure what to do with that information. He hadn't intended to disrupt the local supernatural political landscape. Neville had described him as a political wrecking ball once and Harry wished it would stop proving to be such an accurate description.
Billy pushed forward a piece of paper. On it was a list of proposed adjustments. Harry was aware that this was a list that the council and Sam had been trying to get the Cullens to discuss for over 2 years now, but Carlisle still somehow seemed surprised.
Carlisle glanced down the list. Then back up at Billy. Then back down at the list.
"Ah yes. I can see how these adjustments would make sense."
Harry could hear Sam sigh with relief, which meant everyone at the table could hear Sam sigh with relief. Including some very embarrassed looking revenants.
Carlisle looked uncomfortable; Harry could almost see the cogs whirring as the revenant remembered every attempt the Quileute had made to discuss the treaty with him. He was wearing a face that was very similar to Jasper's blushing face.
"Do you want me to sign this as an initial indication of agreement and then we can draw up the official document?" Carlisle asked, already scooping up the quill from the previous signing.
Billy just nodded.
Carlisle signed and that was that.
Free movement on the reservation if invited by a member of the tribe, this included an exception if in pursuit of something or someone who could be considered dangerous to the Cullens or the Tribe. An open line to request aid on either side.
An agreement to forewarn the pack of any new additions to the Cullen coven.
An agreement to consider moving their house further away from the reservation border if further additions to the coven prompted pack growth.
The final addition was one Harry had argued for. Apparently the tribe considered the Cullens dead and therefore if they changed anyone, no matter if they had permission, that was considered murder and a breach of the treaty.
But the Cullens weren't dead. They may set off alarm bells to every wolfy sense but that didn't mean they were dead. They were just frozen.
Something he and Billy had argued about at length. There had been reference books involved and lots of aggressive pointing.
The outcome had been the treaty being amended to allow voluntary changes.
Edward was staring at the list with his mouth open.
Harry had learned to enjoy the little things; a well brewed cup of tea, a sausage roll with lots of English mustard and the shocked faces of annoying revenants.
Jasper had already decided that Harry was the best thing that had ever happened to him, he was starting to think that he might also be the best thing that had ever happened to his family.
Harry had in one afternoon managed to fix most of the problems his family had faced in the last two years just by forcing them to talk to the Quileute.
From the waves of embarrassment pouring off Carlisle he was pretty sure his family were aware of how many of those problems had been self-inflicted.
Or least eminently fixable.
Sam and Emmett had already worked out a patrol schedule and a watch schedule for the Swan house until Harry managed to do whatever it was that he was planning.
Harry was using the lull in the discussion to fill a plate, he nibbled a sandwich as he settled into the chair next to Jasper. His knee pressed lightly against the middle of Jasper's thigh, a happy point of warmth that sent a spark of delight trailing up Jasper's spine.
Jasper watched Harry systematically demolish a plate of food, wiping his mouth on his sleeve when he finished. Harry winked at Jasper before he summoned a cookie directly from Jake's hand, completely ignoring the full plate at Jasper's elbow.
No one seemed to notice the theft except Jake and Jasper, everyone else was too focused on the ongoing discussion of schedules. Jake just pouted which Harry happily ignored whilst he munched his ill-gotten goods.
Jasper nudged the full plate closer to Jake and for a moment he thought the wolf was going to thank him. In the ned Jake just awkwardly nodded with his new cookie.
Jasper was so busy watching Harry's delight with his stolen baked goods that it took him a long moment to realise the table had fallen silent.
Glancing around quickly he could see his family and the wolves were staring at something behind him with opened mouth awe. He glanced back.
It was the fucking horse chicken again.
Harry quickly bounced out of his seat nest to Jasper, shoving the rest of his cookie into his mouth as he went. His call of "Buckbeak!" was slightly muffled by crumbs but it didn't disguise any of his enthusiasm.
Harry ran up to the feathery creature and immediately buried his face into the creature's neck, scratching confidently at the side of its neck and he muttered quiet endearments into bird bit of the hippowhatsit.
Everyone else remained still and nervous, it didn't take a genius to work out that you should be wary of anything with talons that big. An instinct that Harry appeared to be ignoring.
"Hey Jasper, come meet Buckbeak!" Jasper was determined to stay exactly where he was. A decision he held on to for all of 2 seconds when Harry turned around a smiled at him.
He found himself walking forward before he'd really registered his decision to move. Edward was looking at him dubiously and even Alice looked concerned.
Harry gestured for Jasper to stop when he got within 5 feet of the equine monstrosity. "Right, all you need to do if maintain eye contact and then bow otherwise he'll treat you as a threat."
Jasper didn't really know what to say to that.
Harry just laughed and waved off his silence, "Don't look at me like that! I've known Buckbeak since I was 13, it's just part of introducing yourself to a Hippogriff."
Jasper was trying not to look sceptical.
He bowed.
Exposing his neck like this was causing every nerve and instinct in him to flare with warning. The Hippogriff snorted and looked down at him, towering above him even after Jasper stood upright again.
Buckbeak seemed to consider him for a long moment but made no attempt to respond to Jasper's bow.
He chittered lightly at Harry who just stroked down the beast's neck again.
Harry didn't chitter back but some kind of communication happened because of a couple of moments later the whole group gasped when the giant bird decided to bow to him after all.
On one hand he was very glad to not be mauled in front of his entire family on the other hand he was a bit stumped about what was expected now he'd made the Buckbeak's acquaintance.
Harry seemed willing to help on that front and gestured Jasper forwards, efficiently showing Jasper the best place to scratch.
After a couple of minutes of lightly scratching and petting the creature he could admit the slight cooing noises it made were pretty adorable. And it didn't smell bad like Jasper had expected. There was the slight scent of ozone that sometimes came off Harry when he got too angry or upset but mostly Buckbeak just smelt like a horse.
"Right, up you get." Harry was pushing him away from Buckbeak's head, towards his back.
"What?" Jasper felt his feet start to lift off the ground. "Harry!"
He caught a glimpse of Harry who was grinning at him cheerfully, directing Jasper's now hovering body over the Hippogriff. "Just make sure you don't pull out any of his feathers."
"Harry." Jasper spat out before he reflexively gripped the shoulders of the creature under him, luckily remembering his own strength enough to avoid hurting the giant-horse-bird that his mate had just levitated him onto.
"Don't worry, Buckbeak loves flying with people." Harry informed him, tapping him lightly with his wand which left him with the sensation of an egg cracking on his head and slowly dribbling down the back of his neck.
Whatever that was he hated.
"Flying!?" Jasper looked at the completely illogically shaped creature between his legs and suddenly had zero-faith that the thing was capable of remaining airborne.
"Yep! It's tradition." Harry smiled at him again and Jasper was too busy gaping at him to do anything to remove himself from this situation. He got a glimpse of several horrified faces, and Jake laughing at him, before he was suddenly airborne.
He could feel the shoulder muscles of Buckbeak tensing and bunching under him as his massive wings propelled him and his unwilling passenger into the sky.
"Harry!" Jasper yelled.
"Jasper!" Harry yelled back.
He didn't have a chance to respond to that bit of sass before he was holding on for dear life as Buckbeak rose steadily into the sky. Objectively he knew he wouldn't die from the fall, or even be particularly hurt but what was left of his human instincts was yelling very loudly that that was how he was going to die.
Suddenly the flight evened out and he is gliding.
He'd run faster.
He'd been up higher.
But there was something very different about experiencing this kind of flight.
He was reminded of one of the few memories he had of his childhood that wasn't helplessly blurred and indistinct.
It had been early dawn and the light that bathed the valley where his family lived had been full of oranges and deep yellows, casting deep shadows in the trees around his family's home. His mother was puttering around in the kitchen preparing dinner for his father before he left to head for an early meeting in town.
His siblings were still sleeping, the quiet of the early morning wasn't yet broken by his brothers' endless need to argue with each other and everyone else around them. He could just sit in peace, away from the demands of his family and watch the sun rise.
The silence was broken by a high keen, a lonely kite flying high above the valley in graceful circles. It's pearly grey feather turned dark, silhouetted in the lightening sky.
As his brother's woke and he was pulled in to mediate the first argument of the day Jasper could help but think of that lonely kite. Wheeling gentle circles infinitely into the sky.
As Jasper felt the breeze rush past his face he could almost taste the smell of his childhood home. Wild onion weed, honeysuckle and his mother's cornbread filled his nostrils and when he opened his eyes to watch the deep, dark northern forest rush past below him he felt bereft. It seemed so deeply pointless to feel so violently homesick for somewhere that didn't exist anymore.
His family had been dead for a long time.
And this forest was nothing like the forest of home. There were no fields and prairies here, no familiar places to get lost in.
Buckbeak let out a fierce screech, and Jasper cried out as the beast took them both into a terrifying dive.
They were hurtling toward the tops of the trees and when Buckbeak pulled out of the dive to dash between the taller tree peaking over the treeline Jasper cackled, exhilaration filling him as any lingering feeling of sadness was chased away.
He whooped when Buckbeak dropped into his next dive, Buckbeak joining in to scream as they dodged rapidly between the trees.
By the time they were circling back to Harry's cabin Jasper was feeling calm and settled, better for the memories. He could miss his first home and still love the home he was building here.
When Buckbeak landed it was barely noticed, only Harry was waiting for him, everyone else was gathered around the table entirely focused on some piece of paper.
It was good to know that a piece of paper could be distracting enough to cause a group of supernatural beings with super hearing to ignore a giant screeching bird carrying a vampire.
Jasper rolled his eyes at Harry when he winked at him. "Never do that to me again."
Harry offered his hand to help Jasper down which Jasper laughed at, he had spent a decade of his human life riding daily, some things you never forgot. He took Harry's hand anyway, he was never going to turn away contact.
Jasper ran his hand over Buckbeak's neck, nodding politely to the magical creature. "Thank you Buckbeak."
Buckbeak snorted and trilled but nodded back before trotting away to investigate the part of the table people weren't gathered around.
Jasper watched amused as Quil wordlessly offered the bird his sandwich when Buckbeak nudged him with his beak. Buckbeak quickly absconded with the sandwich as well as the rest of Quil's plate when the wolf didn't to register the giant horse bird that was robbing him.
Jasper tugged Harry to settle closer to him, pulling him until he was tucked snugly under Jasper's arm.
Jasper smiled down at Harry who looked back at him brightly, barely muffling his laughter when Quil absentmindedly took a bite out of a sandwich that was no longer there.
"So what did you do to blow their minds this time?"
"Hmm?" Harry looked up at him, eyes so wide and blameless that Jasper shuddered. "Hah. Yes. Well. I decided to write a list of all the aid I am willing to provide you all with."
"Aid?" Harry was chewing on his bottom lip, but he seemed to just be thinking rather than it being a sign of worry.
"Yeah."
Jasper figured Harry would expand on that at some point but when the silence stretched, he lightly tapped Harry's cheek with his fingers.
"Hmm?"
"You said something about aid?"
Harry focused on him properly again. "Oh yeah. Well before bed last night I did a bit of a brainstorm on all things I might be able to help with and then I wrote the ones that made the most sense into a list." Harry shrugged. "Figured you guys would know which ones might be helpful."
Jasper nodded absently. He reached out tentatively with his gift and the only emotion he was getting from the group was shock with some growing excitement.
He had a feeling that Harry had just dropped another bomb on his family and left them floundering.
"How long have they been reading it?"
"It's been about ten minutes."
Jasper hummed.
"Do you have a copy of the list I could look at?"
Harry wordlessly proffered a piece of paper and then went back to thinking and worrying his lip.
Jasper scanned the list completely.
And then read it again.
His jaw dropped.
"Harry?" His voice came out a lot higher than he was expecting.
"Yes?" Harry was fully focused on him now, his previous distraction banished when he heard the distress in Jasper's voice. If Jasper hadn't been panicking, he might have appreciated how instantly Harry reacted to try and comfort him. Even if the awkward patting wasn't particularly comforting.
"Harry." Jasper grasped Harry's hands in his. "You think you can cure us?"
Harry looked concerned and his answer was cautious. "I don't know for certain but you were made by a wizard who was experimenting with soul magic." Harry reddened and looked down. "I have some experience in that area and I figure if I'm sticking around I might be able to crack it eventually."
"Harry." Jasper's voice was definitely cracking now.
Harry looked very concerned now, his eyebrows folding into a frown. "Not that there's anything wrong with you, and I won't look into it at all if that's not something you're interested in." Harry rushed on. "I didn't put it on there as a threat or anything but if you want the option I figure I'll need something to keep me busy after school's all finished and-"
Harry cut off when a hesitant hand touched his shoulder. Jasper held his breath as Harry turned to look at Rosalie whose face was a stony mask.
Her voice was low and urgent. "You think you can make us human again?"
Harry stared at her for a moment.
"I can try."
Rosalie's face seemed to start cracking, her usual scowl turning into something softer. "Do you promise to try?"
Harry looked at Jasper's sister with all of the sincerity in the world. Harry glanced back at him and Jasper could feel a burst of his anxiety and uncertainty.
Harry looked back at Rosalie's desperately hopeful face. Jasper could almost feel Harry's resolve hardening and when Harry answered it felt like a vow.
"I will try."
Rosalie let out a low cry, her face crumpling. She pulled Harry into her arms and whispered desperate gratitude into Harry's neck.
Harry, out of his depth as always with physical contact he wasn't expecting, patted Rosalie on the back and begged Jasper with his eyes to intercede.
But Jasper couldn't move, he had never felt this amount of joy and desperate hope rolling off his sister.
Jasper mourned that even with his gifts Rosalie had managed to hide how much she was hurting. Emmett's face was heartbreakingly adoring, Jasper's largest and youngest brother shuffled over to run a soothing hand down Rosalie's spine.
The vampire turned with a wail and buried herself in Emmett's arms, the two mates muttering gentle comfort to each other.
Harry stepped back carefully, like if he made noise and brought attention to himself he would be pulled into another hug. Jasper pulled him into a hug instead which Harry seemed much more relaxed about.
The wolves were pretending that nothing weird was happening in their corner of the garden, they had gone back to picking at the remains of Harry's feast.
The rest of the Cullens were still staring at Rosalie in open shock.
Or Harry, Edward seemed to be focusing on being shocked at Harry.
Jasper was going to have to forgive him this time because Jasper was only just stopping himself from being shocked at Harry.
Jasper had a feeling that this feeling of being overwhelmed and thankful at the same time was going to become very familiar.
Harry eventually managed to make his way back to the table, grabbing the last serving of beef stew and a freshly baked roll and settling himself next to Sam and Billy who were still staring a little dazed at his list.
Harry happily consumed his stew, it was one of his favourites. The house elves at Hogwarts had been happy to share the recipe when he left the school and whilst it he'd had to dramatically scale down the proportions it was something he enjoyed cooking regularly now.
He was sopping up the remaining juices with the last of his bread when Billy and Sam seemed to realise he was there.
"Harry James Potter." Harry looked up sharply and stared wide eyed at Billy who was shaking his finger at him. "What on earth is the Marius Black fund?"
Harry gulped and glanced at Sam who was also staring at him intensely. "Well Marius Black was disowned for being non-magical."
"I know." Billy rolled his eyes at him which Harry thought was uncalled for.
"Well, he shouldn't have been, he was the second son so he wouldn't have inherited the title but before he was disowned, he would have been entitled to a share of the Black family wealth." Billy was frowning at him so Harry continued quickly before he could interrupt. "And I'm the sole legitimate heir to that now so I figured I could try and fix that."
Sam was staring at him too now, "What do you mean fix it?"
"Well, a load of you guys are descended from him, and the Quileute tribe was family to him when he was kicked out of his birth family. So, I figured it was only fair that the inheritance that should have been his was given to you guys and the tribe."
Harry was familiar at this point with how unwilling people were to take money off him, even though he had more money than he could even hope to spend even in his extraordinarily extended lifetime.
Even George refused to let him write off his one-off investment in Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes as a gift and kept sending him 'dividends' from his investment. Eventually Harry had managed to convince George that he was giving his 'stake' in the business to Angelica as a wedding gift.
And put all the dividends he'd collected over the years into a trust for little Fred the Second. It was hard to refuse a trust. Particularly when Harry didn't tell them about it and left Gringotts to notify them when Fred came of age, Harry had been travelling at the time so George hadn't been able to yell at him for months.
They'd all given up on the trusts he'd set up for all their children at least. Fred was the first, but he'd stopped bothering making up excuses by the time he worked his way through the whole Weasley clan. When Luna's twins were born he told her that he'd started the trust on the instructions of the nargles and she had just raised an eyebrow at him.
He'd had to make up another lottery win for the Weasley's when they needed roof repairs to the Burrow and refused to take his money.
He's made up an entire person in order to be able to become Luna's mysterious expedition backer. Lord Englebert Kavalier John the III was very reclusive but just as interested as Luna was in finding a crumple-horned snorkack.
Over the years he had become a lot craftier about how he got people to take his money without feeling like they were taking advantage of him.
And no one could refuse an inheritance, especially when it wasn't just going to help them but a lot of their friends and family too.
Add a historic injustice and Harry reckoned he was going to get away with giving them quite a lot.
"So, I spoke the Black family goblin, Sharptooth, and he dug out records of what Marius' inheritance would have been. And then we adjusted that to reflect the amount of money that would have become if it had been invested properly, adjusted for inflation that kind of thing."
Billy and Sam appeared to have got stuck on the word Goblin so Harry powered on. The quicker he got through this bit the less likely they were to question it. Whilst what he was saying was completely true, they didn't need to know that he'd topped it up a bit as well.
"I've split it into a trust account for the whole tribe, a sort of thank you on behalf of the Black family, a separate trust specifically to support the shapeshifter population and a series of trusts for everyone descended from Marius Black directly."
He pushed a list across the table. "I'll need you to double check these, according to Gringotts this is everyone descended from Marius in the tribe." Sharptooth had checked it twice but magic missed non-blood relatives, so he wanted to make sure he didn't miss any adoptions.
Billy glanced down the list and his eyes widened. "I didn't realise some of these families were related to the Blacks." His eyes widened. "In fact, I am quite sure some of these are not officially related."
Harry coughed. "Well." He hummed slightly. "It includes any blood relation." Harry glanced at Sam who was holding back a laugh. "Legitimate or not."
"Ah." Billy nodded. "It seems complete, but I can check with the tribal records."
Sam was looking at Harry suspiciously, "How much is this fund?"
Harry looked over to Jasper where he was still quietly discussing things with his family, Buckbeak was grooming him which mostly meant the Jasper's hair was being systematically mussed up by a large beak. His hair was sticking up dramatically and Harry snorted when Jasper sent him a beseeching look.
"Harry." Billy was staring at him suspiciously. "How much is in this fund?"
Harry hummed. "I had Sharptooth write down all the details." He slipped another piece of paper across the table. "Let me know if you have any questions. I've just got to go save my boyfriend from an overly enthusiastic chicken."
Buckbeak squawked at the insult didn't stop carefully playing with Jasper's hair.
"Harry." Billy was glaring at him but Sam was staring open mouthed at the piece of paper.
It was an important step in his plan to not be around for people to object to him giving them money.
"Harry." Billy was now also staring wide-eyed down at the paper.
Harry started walking toward Jasper.
"Harry James Potter."
Harry ran.
