There was that refreshing autumn breeze to wake him up, as he walked along the road to get onto the high street. He nodded to the man who was setting up the butcher's, which was their usual greeting. With a slight spring in his step, he found himself grinning more than usual when he reached his new purchase.
The building that had been behind his best friend's shop for years now. He had always imagined doing something with it; before, it had been a nail salon that had slowly ran out of customers. Now, though… The old, stone building was his to do with as he pleased.
There were already piles of boxes as he entered the building; he'd got someone to help him with moving them from his cottage to here. Now he had the simple, but very long task of organising everything and decorating things the way that he had always envisioned.
A voice made him jump slightly.
"Hey, neighbour, how excited are you on a scale of one to ten?"
He relaxed as he realised it was just Mary, his best friend of several years. His face warmed as she opened her arms wide, and he automatically hugged her tightly in return, breathing in his favourite perfume that she wore - lavender and vanilla.
It was like home.
"Eleven!" he replied, with a stupid grin that just wouldn't leave his face.
"What's the name going to be, have you decided? I'll come to get you at lunch so we can head to the beach because otherwise, you won't leave this place all day and we can't be having that, Jacob" she stated all in one breath.
There was no arguing with her, but he didn't need to. He nodded, and rolled his eyes fondly.
"I would–"
The look she gave him spoke louder than words.
"Alright, fine, it's a date."
"Good," Mary replied after a breath, her hand lingering in his for a second more than it should. But it was clear she didn't care about that, as she ran her thumb over his knuckles. "See you in a bit, Jake."
He let out a breath he didn't even realise he had been holding, watching as she walked away through the door that was going to be a secret passage to the pub, which was called "Stag and Bone", in honour of his brother and his brother's best friend.
But that was a story for another time… he thought as he looked around the place that was finally his, standing with his hands on his hips with a proud expression, eyes lit up as he imagined exactly where everything would go.
OoO
Jacob walked along the beach, his hair blowing all over the place as he put his hands in his vintage jacket pockets. He texted Mary to say he was on the way, slight change of plan from this morning.
He was pleased with how his life had turned out. The horrors were truly in the past. His aunt had died a few years ago, leaving him a medium-sized sum of money, not enough to be rich, but enough for him to have plenty and be able to buy that building.
He had removed himself from the wizarding world fully when he was twenty-one, the day James and his sister-in-law died and he couldn't even attend their funeral. He removed himself because of the grief that had consumed him, and he didn't want to return once it was clear Voldemort was back. Dumbledore would have gotten him involved and that was the opposite of what his mother had wanted.
There was no point going down the what-ifs route.
He knew about the war ending through Mary, she still had some connection to the Wizarding world, but she wasn't going to come out from hiding. She was one of the many presumed dead. But that meant he had her all to himself, and he was sure James and Lily were kicking around in the afterlife, urging him to get a move on in dating her.
He wasn't sure if Mary knew what she was letting herself in for, but if this morning was anything to go by, she didn't want to waste any more time.
Which…
He also didn't know how to feel about it.
He wasn't willing to lose something as precious as their friendship for something that could happen to ruin everything.
No.
Until something came along to convince him otherwise, he was happy like this.
He sat down on the wall, joining her with a small grin. The smell of fish and chips, along with the fresh air coming from the sea, relaxed him from his worries.
"Did you get a lot done?" Mary asked as she placed the bag of food on the wall between them, so they could share.
"Yes, I sorted the books and put some wall decorations up. Tidied up a bit more too. Was it busy in the pub?"
"Surprisingly, it was, Tuesdays aren't usually this busy. And you'll be interested to know, someone used the Floo entrance in the pub this morning and asked to stay for a month. I'll give you two guesses as to who it could be," she said with one of those knowing looks, that meant he would never be able to guess.
Which meant… his eyes widened, shock written all over his face.
"My nephew? I- I have to go. He can't see me."
He moved to stand up, but he didn't get very far. Mary's hand pulled him back down and he looked at her with a frown, but when he saw her expression, he sighed and waited to hear her opinion on the matter.
"Maybe this is exactly what you two need. He's never had a family, Jake. He doesn't know what it's like to live with that family bond that no one else can shake. I'd kill to have my family back again. At least think about it before running off… Your aunt would have wanted you to meet him. Your Mum would have, too," she said quietly and softly.
It was scary how well she knew him and his family. Everything she said was true. It was just that he was thinking of Harry. Imagine seeing a ghost of a man he'd never met. Basically his father, who he thought was dead all these years with no knowledge of him ever having a brother. If Doppelgangers were true, that was what he was. It would be a nasty shock. Or a welcome one, but he didn't really want to find out the answer.
Sounded like an episode of Modern Family.
Or The Vampire Diaries.
He didn't want his nephew to go through that.
"I'll think about it, Mary," he replied, finally, after a long moment of silence that had lapsed between them. He ran a thumb over hers, absentmindedly, while reaching to grab a chip and munch on it, looking towards the sea.
"Did I tell you about this one customer, asking for mustard in our Irish Stew?"
He blinked at the change of conversation, relaxing into it, turning to her with a fond and curious glance. From the sound of Mary's voice, he knew she was about to tell him about the crime of the day.
He loved these conversations the most.
"I feel like there's nothing wrong with that?" he questioned, bravely, with a teasing smirk.
She gasped dramatically and threw a chip at his face. "I'll tell you for why there's something wrong with it, you idjit. The girl asked for English mustard…"
He burst into laughter, holding his chest from laughing so much, as Mary tried to shove him off the wall.
OoO
He returned to his store and sat down at the desk at the front, by the window, opening up his planning book. He felt very accomplished as he ticked off all of the things he had gotten done this morning. There were only a few things he needed to do this afternoon, the rest was just decorating and stocking the shelves.
With any luck, he'd be open by tomorrow.
If he saw his nephew… he didn't know what would happen and he hated not knowing… but he would just have to deal with it.
This opportunity was something he'd worked so hard for and he wasn't going to run away from this. This had been his goal for as long as he could remember and he wanted to have something that was his.
Everything was falling into place.
OoO
And it is, everything is in place, he thought, as he opened the store door. His eyes widened at the beautiful arrangement of flowers on the welcome mat and his heart was giddy as he picked them up, along with the letter, recognising the writing. He went to the back and leaned on his desk as he opened it.
Dear Jacob,
Your dream has finally come true and I'm so pleased for you. Your bookstore is going to be a hit and I couldn't have asked for a better business partner, and friend, to share this excitement with.
Will you go on a date with me, at 8 pm tonight at Stag and Bone? It feels like something that we should have done a long time ago.
Lovingly yours,
Mary MacDonald
His cheeks blushed deeply and his heart skipped with joy as he read the letter over and over again. With a stupid smile on his face, he did a little dance, not caring if he was acting like a love-sick teenager. This meant the world to him and his thoughts from yesterday were immediately forgotten.
"Excuse me, is this place open?"
"Yes," he said as he placed the flowers on his desk and turned around to greet his first customer of the day. "Please do come on… in…"
"I told my best friend Hermione that I'd visit a bookstore at least once… so, is there anything…" The voice sounded a little sad, but he stopped talking, silent for a moment. "What? D- Dad?"
Jacob turned around, gulping. Harry Potter stood before him. Seeing his nephew for the first time, he didn't know what to say, and neither did Harry, who took a step back from shock.
He took a breath and shook his head, speaking softly. "No, not your Dad. I'm Jacob Henry Potter. His twin. I was two minutes older…"
"How is this possible?" Harry asked with a shaky breath.
Jacob smiled, partly amused, but partly serious. "Have you not had the talk—"
"No, no. Not that. I mean, you're identical. Like Fred and George, only I can't tell the difference. It's like you are him."
"I have a mole just here…" He pointed to his left cheek, trying to be helpful, but it probably wasn't working. "While James didn't."
He watched as Harry moved to sit down on one of the bean bags he had put there, just yesterday, so those who were dragged in by the bookworms would have somewhere to relax.
Silence lapsed over them for a few moments.
He couldn't imagine what was going through the young man's brain, so, he headed through to the back for a moment, leaving him to process it, and moved one of the books on the shelf to open the secret door. Despite the situation he felt giddy, he'd always wanted to try something like this.
He walked into the pub and went straight to Mary, who was wiping down the countertop.
"Hey, sweetheart. Could I have a bottle of whiskey to share?"
"It's way too early in the day to be—"
"Harry just walked in."
"On it!"
When he came back in, with two glasses and a bottle, Harry was still where he had been sitting when he had left him, only he looked a little less pale.
Jacob bit his bottom lip as he decided to join his nephew on the other bean bag and poured out a glass, handing it to him.
"What's on your mind?"
"So many questions. Why doesn't anyone know about you? Why didn't you come back and meet me? Did Dad know you were here this whole time? Why'd you… open a bookstore? And how'd you get this?"
"And take a deep breath, Harry. Here, read this. My mum wrote it and sent it to her sister when I was four," Jacob said calmly, with a small, nervous smile as he reached into his jacket pocket to find the letter he'd kept on him ever since.
OoO
Dearest Cassie,
Jacob did it again, powerful accidental magic that nearly set the Manor on fire. James has a scar from it, and Monty is worried about what Dumbledore will do when he finds out. Use our dear boy for the war, or something worse. So, I beg of you, we made it so it seemed as if Jacob perished in the fire, just so he could get away.
Tell no one of this, Cassiopeia. This is so hard for us, it's not fair. What if I never get to see his cheeky smile again? I'll never see him go to Hogwarts, or be best friends with James.
Oh, Cassie. This war… All of this needs to be stopped. It's tearing families apart.
So. please make sure he's separated from magic. Make sure he's happy. Protect him as you would your own. Tell him just how much we love him.
Tell him that if he looks up at the stars at night, we'll be looking too.
Love,
'Mia.
OoO
"Aunt Cassie died a couple of years ago, Death Eaters raided the village. She protected me to the end." His voice was quiet, and a little croaky, as he wiped away a tear.
"I'm sorry," Harry replied, his voice breaking. "This is all my fault."
"No, it's not, Harry. None of this is on you, you're just a kid," Jacob stated, looking at him with a proud smile. "One heck of a kid that saved everyone. So don't you dare say that this is your fault."
"But–"
"Promise?" Jacob interrupted, giving Harry a stern look.
There was a beat, and then…
"Promise."
"Good. So, would you like a tour of Deer Reader?"
He grinned at the way Harry's eyes lit up upon hearing the name. Trust him not to have read it on the way in. Definitely his brother's son, not that he ever had any doubt, like, seriously, they looked so similar, but with Lily's smile.
"As in…"
"As in Lily's Patronus."
"That's pretty amazing," Harry spoke as he got up from the bean bag, finished the glass of whiskey, and gave it back to Jacob.
Jacob rolled his eyes fondly and ran a hand through his hair, making it neater as he did so. While James's and, it seemed, Harry's hair were both naturally messy, his was always manageable.
They chatted a bit more, talking about all sorts of things, like the Muggle world, Hogwarts, friends and family, when Harry mentioned it was his birthday not too long ago.
"Eighteen, eh? What'd you do for your birthday?" he then added, in a business-like voice. "This is where the fiction books are, you'll find a lot down here and it's in alphabetical order. If you're looking for something for your friend, one that she hasn't already got, there should be some rarer ones at the back."
He was nervous about this, even if he didn't really show it. He heard the bell go and his heart skipped with joy, that was a second customer, and it was the man from the butcher's giving him a nod as he started to look around.
So far this was going really well.
If all days were like this, well, he was going to be very, very happy.
"I spent it with Ron and Hermione, in a bar. Can I use your secret door? Where does it go?"
He smirked. "Perhaps… only if you guess this correctly. What is upstairs, if I've got a secret door here?"
He chuckled as Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he thought, eyes widening with excitement.
"A wardrobe that leads to Narnia?!"
Jacob raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything.
"Another dimension? A whole different store named after Remus?"
"Is that your final guess?" he asked Harry, with a smug expression on his face.
"Yes, it is."
"Follow me, then."
OoO
Harry didn't know how to feel about how this trip had turned out. It was meant to be an escape, a place where he could hide after what had happened with Ginny. They hadn't really dated before the war and when they tried it afterwards… they weren't in sync, like they had been before. They wanted different things and he didn't feel ready. And, apparently, she couldn't wait, so they ended things. It was mutual, but really hard. Hermione had recommended the break, to get away from the press. She had read it in a tourist book about Ireland.
He had no idea he'd find his father's twin.
That he'd feel so much at home here, than he ever did anywhere else, even Hogwarts.
As he followed Jacob up the stairs, he made a decision.
He'd stay.
"So, here's your answer."
Jacob's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he blinked as he looked around, he couldn't help but groan dramatically.
"More books?"
"Well, I don't know what you'd expect, this is a bookstore."
He burst out into laughter.
AN: Written for Hogwarts Challengs and Assignments, Careers Advice - Task 4. I might make this into a multichapter story! I want to write more of Jacob, he's grown on me! Hope you enjoyed reading.
Thanks for Sara and Anna for betaing.