Starting Out
"You already know how to slip into magesight. That is one of the harder parts to master, though, I often push for my apprentices to do so as soon as they can. I made sure that you received a rather extensive record of runes. Have you been looking through them?" Ragnok asked. "You will need them to anchor the weave."
Harry nodded. "I've looked through the books. Do you have any tip on what I should do? I can't just drag the whole library around."
"I suggest you create a lexicon of your own that works for you," Ragnok said. "Each warder has their own method. I can teach you the basics and help you explore. I can teach you the things you need to know, and I can show several ways of warding, but you need to create your own method."
Harry liked the sound of that. Now that he had a better idea of how his magic worked, he wanted to see just what he could do. He had a feeling too many rules would just feel restrictive to him. "I will start on that then," he said.
"Good now, if you would slip in to magesight and have a look at the wards here," Ragnok said. "If you check the edges of the room, you can see the runes anchoring the weave."
Harry rose from his seat and wandered around the room. He reached out and touched the wall. The weave moved under his fingers.
"You need a place to practice on," Ragnok said.
"I have property," Harry said. "Would that work?"
Ragnok nodded slowly. "Yes," he said. "Are there wards already?" he asked.
"I would assume so. It was the home of the Black family," Harry said. He doubted they didn't have wards.
"Even better," Ragnok said. "That way you can mess with the existing wards before making your own. We should go tomorrow." He knew that Harry was the kind of person who needed visuals. That was why wards they could mess with was a good thing for him. He watched him move around and look at the wards he had laid. With most of his apprentices, he started by having to teach them magesight along with their other studies. That wasn't the case with Harry. With him, they needed to go over basic runes and how to use them in warding. That was different.
Ragnok left Harry to explore the wards and build on his own lexicon. He was quite excited to see where this would be going. All his apprentices had managed to surprise him, but there was something about Harry that had him hoping he would create something else. Something new.
Hopefully this house would be worth their time.
…
"Master Harry is back?"
Harry looked down at the raggedy looking elf who belonged to the Black family. "That I am," he said. "Kreacher this is my Master Ragnok. I decided to take responsibility for my actions during the war." He explained to Kreacher what was going on in his life as he looked around the house. "We need to fix this place up. I need somewhere to live once I have gained my Mastery. I will be experimenting with the wards here to strengthen them and make them mine," he said after a while. "Is there anything else I need to do, Kreacher."
"Master be needing to aid the house and make repairs. Kreacher can clean and fix little things, but Master's magic is needed to make real repairs," Kreacher said.
"Then I will make sure to learn what I need to do so," Harry said. "Please do what you can for now."
"Kreacher will." He disappeared with a pop.
"What do you think, Master?" Harry asked as he looked around. The wards were… dusty. Was dusty a good word? It looked like no one had cared for them in a really long time.
"I think you can play with these, and it wouldn't matter if they fell," Ragnok said. "I would like for you to create a full matrix, and I am going to show you how to. We will head into the drawing room and start there. I will show you how to make a matrix and then I will head home. If you get stuck, leave it, and we will come back tomorrow. Don't overwork yourself."
Harry headed with him. "Of course, Master," he said.
"Now, to make a matrix, you need to find the centre runes. Those will be more noticeable than the rest in every weave," Ragnok said.
"So these ones then?" Harry said as he pointed at a cluster of runes. He touched the weave. "They connect to the left ones first." He raised his board and started noting things down.
Ragnok could have pulled him back to how things should be done, but he wasn't entirely sure what his apprentice was looking at, so he would leave it be. They could go through how a matrix was supposed to be done later. He did note the room down, though, just so they could compare notes later.
Harry moved through the house slowly as he noted down the runes and the lay of the weave. He wasn't sure how to do this really, but he guessed he could do the same thing with Ragnok's wards and maybe his Master would understand what was going on.
"Master Harry should head home," Kreacher said. "It is late."
Harry blinked. "Oh, I…" He checked the time. "I guess you are right," he said. "Thank you for reminding me, Kreacher. Master and I will be back tomorrow."
"Should Kreacher make food?" Kreacher asked.
"If you can get the kitchen clean. Then that would be really nice," Harry said. "Do you need money for food?"
"Kreacher can handle food. Master doesn't need to help."
Harry bowed his head. "Of course," he said. "I shall see you tomorrow." He apparated back to Diagon Alley, and looked around slowly. He could see the stars. The air was cold. He loved this. He was outside again. He spun around slowly, taking it all in.
"Harry?!"
Green eyes closed. Harry knew the rules. He wasn't allowed to talk to him.
"Harry!"
Harry turned towards the voice. He didn't want Ron to think he was ignoring him. He smiled sadly at him. He couldn't do anything. He bumped Ron's shoulder gently with his fist before turning around so he could head for the bank.
Ron stared after him. Why hadn't Harry spoken to him? At least he had seemed reluctant, but what was going on? He knew he should tell Hermione, but maybe he should check in with Bill first. Telling Hermione would just set her off on another tirade. He wanted information first. He wanted to know why Harry hadn't spoken to him. He had smiled, and he had seemed reluctant. Ron had learnt the hard way to wait with reacting because he would set Hermione off otherwise.
Hopefully, Bill could bring some clarity to the situation before he upset Hermione. He continued home and sent a message off to Bill to see if he could come over the following day. He didn't receive a return message until the next morning, which wasn't a problem. He was welcome. "I'll be heading over to Shell Cottages this evening. Don't expect me to be home until evening. You don't need to make me food."
Hermione nodded. "Okay," she said. She didn't find it strange. Ron usually headed over to one of his brothers every other week or so. It was her turn to cook, so it didn't really matter to her.
Ron headed over to work, and smiled at George as they got ready for the day. His heart wasn't quite in it, but he did his best to keep his wits about him. Towards the end of the work day, he saw Harry popping in again. He waved and after a bit of a pause, Harry waved back. He waited until Harry disappeared into the bank before he headed off to Shell Cottage to see his oldest brother.
Bill watched Ron as they settled down after dinner. "You seem bothered by something," he said. "I assume it is something you wish to speak to me about."
Ron sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he watched the fire burning merrily in the fireplace. His thoughts were in turmoil, figuring out just how to word things wasn't the easiest. It often took him a bit of time, something that frustrated him with Hermione, since she was so much quicker than him. "I saw Harry yesterday and again today. He was walking down the ally towards the bank."
Bill looked at his brother. "Okay, how is he doing?" he asked.
"I don't know," Ron said. "He kind of waves to me, but he doesn't talk."
Bill leaned back in his armchair and considered what Ron said. "It could be that they have sworn him to silence," he said. He tapped his chin. If he added the information about the books he had acquired a couple of months ago, he did have another idea. "He could be the apprentice of a traditional Master as well. In that case, he isn't allowed to speak to humans."
"I guess I should tell Hermione," Ron said. "She is going to get angry again. The goblins already hate her. They will barely speak to her."
"You know why," Bill said. "I'm very grateful to Harry for what he did. Hermione is a fighter. She wants to help him, but there is nothing she can do. If he is an apprentice now, he has agreed to what is happening. He belongs to his Master until he has finished. There is nothing that can be done about that. If that is the case, and I know which Master it is, then he is in good hands. He will be taken care of. He will end up with a career that will be sought after."
Ron nodded slowly. "So I just keep waving whenever I see him?" he asked.
Bill nodded. "That should be fine," he said. "Don't force anything. Don't send him anything. He isn't allowed to respond. He will not speak around humans."
"That is only if you are correct, though," Ron said.
"I'll check, but the Master in question has asked me to step back already," Bill said.
"I would appreciate any information you can get me," Ron said. He rubbed his face. "I guess I should head home and speak to Hermione."
"You shouldn't lie to your partner," Fleur said calmly. "Even if it means she might get angry, you shouldn't hide this. Now, if you aren't happy with how things work between you, you might have to consider leaving. That is up to you, though. If you love her, then work through this. If you are having doubts, you need to figure things out. You don't have to stay with her just because she was your Hogwarts sweetheart, you know."
Ron nodded slowly. "I'll think about it," he said as he smiled at her. "Thank you." He headed home and smiled at Hermione as he walked into the living room and settled down.
"How was your day?" Hermione asked as she joined him.
"It was good. George has some new, amazing ideas that are bound to do well," Ron said. He paused for a moment. "And I saw Harry. He was heading down the alley towards the bank. He looked to be doing well, but he wouldn't speak to me. I mentioned it to Bill, and he said Harry might be an apprentice. They, apparently, aren't allowed to speak to humans. Bill was going to check things out. Can you at least wait for him to have a look before you do anything?"
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?" she asked dangerously.
Ron sighed. He had hoped to avoid this, but it would seem like he hadn't been tactful enough. "Just that the goblins already don't like you. Please don't make them hate you. You know this is Harry's sacrifice to keep us safe. You are dishonouring his sacrifice by poking at this," he said.
"I never asked him to sacrifice anything for me," Hermione said angrily. "What the goblins are doing to him is inhumane. What is the issue with him speaking to a friend? I want my friend back. You sound like you have already given up."
Ron sighed in frustration as he rose from the sofa. "I care. That's why I asked Bill for advice. I want to know what happened to my best friend," he said. He felt angry. It was as if the missteps he had made in the past somehow meant he didn't care as much as she did. It wasn't as if she was infallible. He sighed. "I'll let you know what Bill says," he said.
It took about a week before Bill sent Ron a message. It was only a few days left before Christmas and they met up for some shopping advice. "You're really breaking up with Hermione?" Bill asked.
Ron nodded slowly. "Yeah. I can't... She came home complaining about the goblins again. I just can't take this any more. They are starting to look at me like they don't want me around because of her, and we can't afford that," he said. He didn't want WWW to end up in trouble because of Hermione.
Bill sighed heavily. It was an awful time of year to break up, but he couldn't fault Ron for his decision. This had been brewing for a long time. "Well, I can't find anything out, but I have seen Harry with the Master I mentioned last time, so I will assume I was correct."
Ron nodded. That was all he needed. Harry was fine. That was great. Some day he would find out what was really going on. He could wait. Until then, he was happy to just wave whenever they met.
…
Harry was humming softly as he added notes to his lexicon. His Master had shown him parts of what he had created over the years, and it was impressive. He could see how those notes resulted in the wards surrounding him. It wasn't how he had written it down, though. His diagrams and sketches were very different from what his Master made. Ragnok had yet to comment on it, but he was sure he had some kind of opinion.
He tapped a rune and tilted his head. So far he felt like all runes could be used, but sometimes runes wasn't the way to go either. That's why the lexicon was a book he could both remove and add pages to. He didn't quite know what he would need yet, so he didn't want a hardback.
The door to his quarters opened in a fluent motion, signifying the arrival of Glint. Ragnok had a much more vigorous demeanour and moved much faster than his wife. Harry could usually tell by sound alone who was entering. He put his quills and ink away before heading out of his study.
"Andromeda." Her name left his lips before he froze, unsure what to do. It had been almost two weeks since the last time they met. He had still been in the cell back then. He didn't know how to act now. Did he…
Arms enveloped him. Andromeda smelled nice, comforting. He reached up and wrapped his arms around her so he could return the hug. It felt surreal. There wasn't a wall between them any more. He chuckled as tiny arms wrapped around his leg. Andromeda stepped away from him, and he reached down to pick Teddy up.
"Aya no wall," Teddy said happily.
Harry nodded. "That is right. There is no wall," he said. He felt like both laughing and crying, and he didn't quite know what to do about it. He was holding Teddy. His godson was in his arms. This was what he had been working for.
"Aya ouer," Teddy said.
"What do you mean, Teddy?" Harry asked as he moved down so he was sitting on the floor.
"He wants you to build a tower with him," Andromeda said. "We didn't bring the blocks, Teddy."
"Aya ouer," Teddy said. "Aya do ikik."
Harry held his hands out in front of him and conjured building blocks. "Is that right?" he asked.
"Ouer," Teddy said.
Harry just shook his head and laughed at the boy's determination. It was cute. They built a tower slowly. It wobbled and fell, and Teddy laughed while clapping his hands. Harry moved and conjured more blocks before he started over. "You have been gone for a while," he said. "Did something happen?"
"Teddy got sick and then I have been ill. Today was the first day I felt at least somewhat back to normal," Andromeda said. "They mentioned some kind of incident when they led us down here."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, some nationalists decided they didn't like the idea of me being let out, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. They were planing on turning me into a sentinel. Thankfully, the device they were trying to use on me was created for a magical core and not a mage, so it didn't work great on me," he said. He looked up at her. "Master and Glint were furious with them. I don't know what happened to them after, but Glint got me healed up." He moved as he placed the last block.
Teddy giggled as he tore the tower down again. Harry sighed and leaned back as he started over. Warm hands landed on his shoulders and he froze at the contact before slowly relaxing. He didn't want to feel uncomfortable around Andromeda, and he knew that meant relaxing when she did things like touch him.
"I'm glad you are out," Andromeda said. "You could really use a haircut."
Harry laughed. "I'll ask Glint," he said.
"Or I can do it for you when Teddy naps," Andromeda said. She ran her fingers through his hair. It was really thick. "What else have you been up to? Just leaning about wards?"
"I went to Grimmauld Place," Harry said. "We will use the wards there for me to practice on. Kreacher did ask me to learn how to restore the house, though."
"That I can teach you," Andromeda said. "Housekeeping and repair spells I know quite well."
"I wouldn't want to bring Teddy there, though. At least not right now," Harry said.
"Sirius named you his heir, didn't he?" Andromeda asked.
Harry nodded. "He did. Does that matter?" he asked.
"Well, it does mean you are the Heir Apparent right now, and you should probably claim the Lordship. Though you should wait until you have gained your mastery for that," Andromeda said. "In the meantime, I could teach you what you need to know."
"You do realise I will name Teddy my heir, right?" Harry said.
Andromeda smiled softly. "That is up to you, dear," she said. Her heart did swell at the admission, though. She had missed the family she had been cast from.
"He is a Black by blood, though. I'm not," Harry said. "I'm going to have to do something about that ghastly reputation the family has"
"We will have to do something about it," Andromeda said steadfastly. "And we don't have to do more than we want to. Are you planing on going into politics?"
Harry snorted. "No, I have no interest in anything like that," he said. Why would he? He wasn't interested in licking people's boots.
"Then we repair a bit, and we establish you once you have your Mastery," Andromeda said. "We make sure people know what your stance is and that you are focused on your work and your family, not the political game. Some people will hate it, but that is their problem as long as you are clear."
Harry nodded. He laughed as Teddy tore the tower down again. "I guess we can be doing this forever," he said.
"As long as you are willing to keep going," Andromeda said.
Harry split the blocks up into colours and conjured more of them. He grabbed a blue block and held it out to Teddy. "Blue," he said.
"Lue," Teddy said. He reached out and grabbed another block. "Ellow," he said.
"That is right. That one is Yellow," Harry said.
Andromeda leaned back in the couch and watched Harry play with Teddy until her grandson growled in frustration. "Sounds like someone needs something to eat and a nap," she said. She grabbed her bag and brought out some banana porridge as Harry dispelled the blocks and picked Teddy up. He held him as Andromeda fed him. "This is a lot easier with another set of hands," she said.
"Nummie," Teddy said as he looked up at Harry. "Aya no go way," he said tiredly.
"I will be here when you wake up, buddy," Harry said. "Don't worry. Grandma Andy?... is going to cut my hair while you take a nap." He glanced over at Andromeda, and she smiled at him, not the least bit bothered by the nickname.
Teddy nodded against Harry's shirt and buried closer to him while sticking his thumb in his mouth.
"We can wait a little, then you should be able to place him down," Andromeda said.
Harry smiled. "You know, this is kind of surreal," he said. "I don't think I've quite caught up with the fact that we're next to each other instead of…"
"Separated by an invisible wall," Andromeda said as she moved closer to him. "How do you feel now? Are you happy? It sounded like you wanted to become a warder last time we spoke."
"I do, and I enjoy what I have seen so far," Harry said. "I guess I need to ask Master if I'm allowed to celebrate Christmas with you guys, though. I don't know how he feels about that."
"How about we cut your hair, and then you go ask him?" Andromeda said. "The worst he can do is say no, and then we will just have to work around that as best as we can." She looked around. "Do you have a blanket?" she asked. "The safest place we can put him is on the floor. That way he can't fall down."
"I do it is laying on the foot of the bed," Harry said as he stood up.
Andromeda moved ahead of him, though. She found the bedroom tidy and the bed made. She wondered if Harry was always this neat. He hadn't known they were coming, so he couldn't have cleaned up beforehand. Still, barely a thing was out of place. It was obviously a case of him not owning that much, but that couldn't be all there was. She remembered Nymphadora's little flat at the same age. Now, her daughter had not kept a dirty home, but it had been messy.
She brought the blanket out and placed it on the floor, and she felt the cushioning charm weave into it as Harry leaned down to place Teddy on top of it. "Does he have a blankie or a plushie of some kind that he likes?" he asked.
"Nothing he is overly attached to," Andromeda answered.
Harry nodded as he stroked Teddy's hair out of his face before getting up. "You have a pair of scissors? Do you need a pair of scissors?" he asked.
"I can use you my wand," Andromeda said. "Shirt off. Do you have a stool?"
Harry disappeared for a moment before returning with a stool. He placed it away from furniture before taking his shirt off and folding it and placing it on the couch. He sat down and closed his eyes. He trusted Andromeda to do this, so wasn't sure why he was so nervous about it. He could feel Andromeda's fingers move through his hair before she cast several spells at him. His hair turned wet, and she began working through it. Locks of hair fell on the floor.
Harry opened his eyes and smiled at the black pile between his feet.
"Would you like to learn the spells for trimming beards, or would you like to know how to get rid of it?" Andromeda asked.
"I would like to get rid of it," Harry said. He looked up at Andromeda so she could teach him the spell. "Mirror?" he asked.
"Yes, that is probably a good idea. You need to direct the spell," Andromeda said.
Harry headed over to the bathroom and vanished the stray hair stuck to him before he focused his magic on his face and activated the spell. A dusting of black hairs left him, and he vanished them before running his hands through his hair. He would figure out how he wanted that at some point. It looked good to him, though. "That went well, I think," he said.
Andromeda smiled at him. "Looking good," she said. "Are you happy with it?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, thank you," he said. He pulled his shirt back on and headed for the door. "I'll go see what Ragnok has to say about me disappearing for Christmas. Be back in a bit." He headed out of his quarters and walked down the corridor to Ragnok's study. He knew his Master might say no, but he couldn't possibly get any answer unless he asked. He knocked on the door.
"Enter."
Harry walked in and waited until Ragnok had finished what he was doing before asking, "Would it be possible for me to spend Christmas with Andromeda and Teddy?"
Ragnok looked at Harry for a while. He wasn't against the idea. It was good for Harry to have a solid relationship with his family. It was very soon after they had started on his lessons properly, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "Be back on the second and don't forget to keep studying," he said.
Harry blinked in surprise. Then he smiled. "Thank you, Master," he said as he bowed.
"Remember to keep up with your studies, and study the wards," Ragnok said.
Harry nodded. "I promise, sir," he said.
"Have a nice time," Ragnok said. He shook his head as Harry left. Contrary to certain beliefs, goblins did not treat their human apprentices badly. They didn't take humans unless they showed exceptional skill. When a human was that skilled, they wanted to keep them healthy and happy. Allowing something as simple as spending the holidays with their family was just good for the morale.
Harry headed back to his quarters and walked over to his bedroom. "I can go," he said. "I…" He paused. What if Andromeda didn't want him to stay for more than a day? "They don't expect me back until the second," he said, instead of what he had initially been saying. He would just have to hope she would tell him what she thought about that.
Andromeda sighed softly before she walked over to Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder. She hoped he would grow more comfortable around her in time, since she wanted him to feel welcome with her and Teddy. "Then I guess we need to go grocery shopping," she said. "You will not be allowed to speak?" she asked.
Harry shook his head. "Not around other people," he said.
Andromeda nodded slowly. "We will need to figure something out," she said. "Until then you'll just have to stay close."
Harry smiled as he packed his bag. "Thank you," he said. He placed the bag by the door once he was done and walked over to Teddy so he could lay down next to him. "Are you sure it's okay?" he asked. "I don't want to be a bother."
Andromeda sighed. "Harry. I lost my husband. My daughter died, leaving her baby behind for me to raise. I love Teddy, but you might have noticed that he isn't the most thrilling conversationalist. I would love to have you over. I need someone to talk to," she said.
Harry smiled at her. "Any time," he said. Looking at Teddy, he wondered if he had been like this before his parents died. "What was Nymphadora like at this age?" he asked.
"Very similar to Teddy in a lot of ways," Andromeda said. "She was wilder. She would run around and tear everything out of drawers and then move on. Ted was so good with her. He was probably the only one who could get her to sit still for a prolonged period of time. Teddy isn't quite as much of a whirlwind."
"He looks so serene like this," Harry said. "I take it he gets wilder."
"It isn't so much that," Andromeda said. "But you were playing with him earlier. I can't play with him and make him food at the same time, so while I am focused elsewhere, he does things like digging out the flowerpots and pour lotion all over the living room table. I try to keep him away from things that could hurt him, but I can't remove everything in the house."
"So we work together," Harry said. "We strategise against him. We should be able to keep track of one toddler if we work together."
"We'll strap him to you when we leave," Andromeda said. "Since you aren't supposed to talk to people anyway."
"What do we tell people?" Harry asked.
Andromeda leaned back and watched Harry and Teddy on the floor. "As little as possible," she said. "They will draw their own conclusions from the things I do say. It won't be anything bad, but it will be the best we can do for Teddy."
Harry nodded. "Okay," he said.
Teddy woke up again about fifteen minutes later, and he was very happy to see his godfather lying next to him and his Grandmother sitting on the couch. He was up and climbing on Harry in seconds.
Harry just braced and let him. He could feel sharp little knees digging into him and hands grabbing at his shirt. "Ouch, Teddy, that hurts," he said as the little boy grabbed onto his hair and tugged.
Andromeda leaned forward and freed his hair. "I think we'll do a diaper change and get going," she said as she placed Teddy down next to Harry before grabbing the changing bag.
Harry moved to the side so he could see how it was done. He took Teddy when she was done so he wouldn't run away. "You wanted to strap him to me?" he said.
Andromeda chuckled. She hadn't necessarily been serious, but it would be easier that way. She brought a wrap and walked up to Harry and Teddy. "Up," she said. She directed Harry as she strapped Teddy to him before tying the ends.
"You know what, Teddy?" Harry said. "I think she did this so neither of us get lost because I don't think I can get out of this either." He winked at her.
Andromeda laughed. She looked at them and sighed. Harry looked like a natural. With the way Teddy gravitated to looking like him; they looked like father and son. She placed a cuff around Teddy's leg, so his appearance wouldn't change while they were out. "There we go. Let's get out of here," she said.
Harry followed her. He said goodbye to Glint before they left. They headed up through the bank slowly and stepped into a lift.
"Mrs Tonks, I hope things are going well."
"Better now," Andromeda told the man. He didn't seem to have noticed Harry, and she wished to keep it that way for the young man's sake. They reached the surface and Andromeda made sure she had what she needed before they headed out.
A pale hand landed on Harry's arm as they tried to make it through the crowd of people rushing to get the last of the shopping done before Christmas. Soft silver grey eyes looked up at Harry. He smiled at her as he recognised who was holding him.
"It's good to see you, Harry," Luna said. "Don't worry. I know you can't answer me. I just wanted to tell you that I miss you, but I think you made the right choice." She pushed something onto his wrist. "We'll see each other again. Take care."
Harry looked after her and shook his head. Luna had always been different… in a good way. She saw the world differently, and he liked that. He looked down at his hand and saw a band of colourful beads resting against his wrist. He caught up with Andromeda, and grabbed her hand, just so he wouldn't lose her again in the thickening mass of people.
Thankfully, the grocery shop was fairly empty, all things considered. They moved around and Andromeda grabbed things for them to eat. "You have been eating spices lately, right?" she asked, knowing that his stomach might not like a lot of spice after his time in the cell.
Harry nodded. He had been slowly introducing spices back into his diet and should be fine as long as they didn't go crazy.
"Why hello Andromeda. Out and about finally. Why I always said you cannot lock yourself up for too long. It just isn't healthy for you."
Andromeda stiffened, and Harry really wanted to tell this woman to mind her own business. "Haven't picked up tact yet, I see, Janice," Andromeda said. "Just because your husband was an arse doesn't mean the rest of us feel the same relief at losing the one we chose to spend the rest of our lives with." Never mind the loss of her child, but Janice wouldn't understand that either. Thankfully, she had never brought any children into the world.
Janice looked affronted. At least she realised that Andromeda had insulted her. She looked over at the young man next to her. "But you have picked up a boy toy, I see," she said. "So it can't be that bad now, can it," she said triumphantly.
Andromeda shook her head. Janice had always been like this, so she wasn't surprised. "Your world view is a strange one," she said. "Now we would like to get back home, so we can make dinner." She turned to Harry and saw the irritation in his eyes. 'Not worth it,' she mouthed to him, and he nodded slowly. "I hoped you have a nice Christmas," she told Janice as she gently led Harry away from there. She was glad Janice didn't seem to have noticed who she was with, just that he was younger. The Prophet might catch on eventually, but she was hoping to have a bit more time before that happened.
Harry tapped Teddy's nose and smiled as he laughed while they were waiting for Andromeda to pay for the food. The cashier smiled at them. "Family Christmas?" she asked.
"The first one we have since Harry has been unable to attend before now," Andromeda said. Right now, the fact that he still hadn't quite recovered from his isolation was playing in her favour. At least some people would assume he had been ill.
"Oh, I hope you have a nice Christmas then," the cashier said with a friendly smile.
"Thank you and the same to you," Andromeda said. She headed out with Harry and Teddy. The crowd was just as bad as before, and she sighed as she walked through it quickly. Harry had pulled the hood of his coat up to avoid the rain as he wrapped Teddy in a protective blanket of magic.
They walked through the Leaky Cauldron without incident and headed over to a parking house, where Andromeda helped Harry out of the wrap so they could place Teddy in his seat instead. "Well, that could have gone better," she said. "It could have gone worse, too. I fear we will be approached by journalists eventually no matter what we do," she said.
Harry sat down in the car and pulled the belt down. "We will have to handle that somehow," he said. "I don't know what we can say. I will have to ask Ragnok. As to why I'm with you, we might as well just tell the truth there. You two are the only family I have. Sure, people can make a mess out of that too and say Nymphadora cheated on Remus with me or some other nonsense. I doubt that will matter as long as we are clear with Teddy what is going on," he said.
Andromeda nodded. "I will have to handle the questions," she said.
"I guess Master might be okay with giving a statement," Harry said. "He won't speak with them, though. Goblins are not over happy with human journalism. It often paints them in a bad light."
The engine of the car rumbled as Andromeda drove them out. She knew that Harry would draw press, at least for a few years to come. If they handled it, right, hopefully it wouldn't be that bad. She looked back at Teddy. The most important thing was that her grandson was safe.
The ride back to their home was quiet. Harry was looking outside at the houses, trees and open fields while Andromeda was considering just how they would handle things. She wanted to be a bit prepared for what might come, at least. She hadn't been a Slytherin for nothing.
"Do you have your apparation licence?" Andromeda asked as she pulled in on the driveway.
"No, but I can bring that up with Master, and we should be able to fix it," Harry said. "There are a lot of things like that we have to consider. I don't need human grades to be his apprentice, so that is unimportant. My behaviour during my working time paired with my willingness to do the right thing as well as my aptitude in the subject are all much more important to them than grades are. I know that might be problematic around other humans in my position, but I earned my place or Master wouldn't have branded me."
"Are you allowed to speak to humans who are part of the Nation?" Andromeda asked.
"That is another excellent question," Harry said. "I don't know. I would assume I can, but I will ask Master." He stepped out of the car and walked around to the boot so he could grab the bags while Andromeda took Teddy. He followed them inside and took his shoes off before walking into the kitchen.
Andromeda placed Teddy in his high chair before she started taking things out of the bags. As she worked, she realized just how much she had missed just another set of hands. She knew that their dynamic was strange. She didn't want to treat him like he was her child. She wanted him to be an independent young man, yet she didn't want to be distant. It would be an interesting line to walk, but she was sure they could figure it out. She looked over at Teddy as she finished. He was playing with a conjured car. She chuckled. So either Harry had wanted to give him something to do, or she hadn't even noticed that he was getting fuzzy before Harry had fixed the problem. "Will you help me with dinner, Harry?" she asked.
Harry looked away from Teddy and smiled at her. "Sure, I would love to," he said.
"I don't think we will do much decorating this year. Teddy won't really care, and it is a lot of work to take it all down again," Andromeda said.
"We could do a little," Harry said. "At least if you have things already."
Andromeda smiled at him. "There is a box in the attic," she said. She handed him a cutting board and put him to work. "Have you run into anyone who knows you?" she asked. "And I don't mean people who just recognise you."
"Luna gave me this earlier today," Harry said as he held the hand with the bead bracelet on. Stones of amethyst and lapis lazuli as well as amazonite, rose quarts and peridot ran along the bracelet. "She knows what is going on, so there were no issues." He shrugged. "That is just the way she is, so I'm not surprised."
"Luna is that Xenophilius' daughter?" Andromeda asked.
Harry nodded. "Lovegood," he said. "She has always seen the world a bit differently. I'm not surprised she knows things other people don't. She just wanted to let me know that she is still my friend, and she agrees with my decision."
"That must be nice to hear," Andromeda said, and Harry nodded. "Anyone else. I know some of your peers work in the alley."
"I have waved to Ron, but he doesn't approach me. I'm thinking Bill might be telling him not to," Harry said. "With some luck, Bill can at least guess what is going on. I'm a little surprised Ron hasn't done anything, but I guess we are all growing up."
"Do you have any idea how you want to handle any of that once you have your Mastery?" Andromeda asked.
"I will contact the ones I was closest to and talk to them. Hopefully they will be okay with seeing me again, but I'm not going to worry about that right now. Luna is supportive. She will be there for me. Ron might still be my friend. I would love that, but I also won't hate him if he doesn't want to be my friend," Harry said. "Tatiana and I have started talking about my time at Hogwarts, and she is seeing a pattern of me not making friends in a way that is normal for boys, and she is wondering why. I'm thinking Ron and Hermione sort of blocked me off from other people in a way. I don't think they did it on purpose, but it still happened. I don't want it to be that way in the future."
Andromeda smiled at him. "You need to figure out who you are and what you want," she said.
"The only things I know for certain right now is that I want to be there for Teddy," Harry said. "I want to earn my Master. I want to work with warding. I don't really know what I want apart from that."
"That's fine," Andromeda said. "You will figure it out. Don't be afraid of discussing these things with me. I want you to be happy, and we will do our best to make sure all of us have stable lives."
Harry chuckled as he looked over at Teddy. It was nice to have a person to talk to who wasn't hired to do it. He liked Tatiana, but she had a job and a goal. Andromeda was different. His connection to her was little Teddy and his happiness. He wanted Andromeda to be happy, too, though. That got him thinking. Tatiana was a human who was part of the Nation, so he was allowed to speak to her. He would have to ask his Master about that. It would be nice to have some friends who were like him.
They sat down to eat a short while later, and Teddy almost immediately managed to tip his plate over so everything in it ended up on the floor.
Harry sighed softly and cleaned the mess-up with a wave of his hand before picking the bowl up so he could rinse it off while Andromeda grabbed a cloth and cleaned Teddy. "Messy Teddy," she said fondly.
Harry brought new food and placed the bowl down, fixing it to the table this time. "There now you can't move the bowl," he said.
Teddy pushed his spoon in and flung food halfway across the room.
"Is he always like this?" Harry asked. He pushed his plate aside and moved closer to Teddy so he could help him. He cleaned up the mess again as he guided Teddy's hand. The little boy grabbed onto his fingers with his free hand.
Andromeda watched them as she slowed herself down. She didn't need to breathe her food in. Harry would take care of Teddy until she was done. They would have to switch off, though, because Harry could not afford to miss meals. He needed to eat.
"Someone needs a bath," Harry said as Teddy finished eating.
"I'll take care of that so you can finish your food," Andromeda said.
Harry nodded. "Of course," he said. He watched them leave as he warmed his own food back up. Once he was done eating, he moved around the kitchen putting leftovers away and cleaning up after them. He felt tired. Was it really this exhausting to have children? He walked over to the living room and sat down. He wasn't sure what to do with himself. A sigh left his lips as he walked out to grab his bag. He had free time. He might as well look through his books and make more notes. There wouldn't be any official tests to what he was learning now. The test would be the wards he needed to raise eventually. If they stood, it was all good. If they fell, he would have to start all over again. He knew it would take time and many corrections from Ragnok, but he would figure it out eventually.
"Harry!" Andromeda called after a little while, and Harry put his things away before walking in on the wet mess Teddy had managed to make out of the bathroom. "Please take him," she said as she handed a very wet Teddy over to him.
Harry laughed. "Do we have a towel?" he asked.
"Out in the hallway, the third one on the left," Andromeda said as she looked at the mess.
Harry carried little Teddy with him out there and found a towel to wrap him in. He found the bag Andromeda had brought to see him and got the diaper bag out of it so he could put on a new diaper. He was pretty sure he had done it right when he was done. "Do you wear pyjamas?" he asked as he picked Teddy up and cleared the table off.
It wasn't hard to find Teddy's room, and Harry walked in and found a onesie with bright green dogs on it. He shook his head and chuckled as he helped Teddy into it.
"Weed," Teddy said.
"Read what?" Harry asked. He walked up to the bookshelf and looked through the books.
"Bear," Teddy said.
"Paddington?" Harry asked as he brought a book out. He sat down with Teddy in the armchair and opened the book up.
Andromeda walked into Teddy's room half an hour later and smiled as she saw them. Teddy lay curled against Harry's chest with his thumb in his mouth, and Harry looked like he had dozed off mid-page. She took the book from him and placed a hand on his shoulder. His eyes opened, and he pulled Teddy closer to him instinctively. He looked confused for a moment. "You should put Teddy in bed and go lie down in your own bedroom," she said softly. "It isn't good for your back to sleep like that."
Harry nodded slowly. He let Andromeda take Teddy from him before pulling himself up. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he said. He stepped into the room she had led him to and leaned against the door behind him. She was right, he should get some sleep. He picked his things up and went searching for his toothbrush. He cleaned it off once he was done, put it back in his bag. His clothes ended up in a neat pile before he collapsed into bed. His eyes closed and he breathed in deeply. Hopefully, he wouldn't have any nightmares.
…
It was quiet the following morning. Too quiet.
Andromeda got out of bed and put a robe on before leaving her room. Her eyes widened as she saw the decorations in the living room. Harry had decorated for them using the box in the attic. He was sitting on the couch with Teddy in his lap reading again. It sounded like Winnie the Pooh.
It was at that point that it finally hit home. Andromeda wasn't alone in caring for Teddy. Harry was there too, and he would help to the best of his ability.