The Love of Good Men, Part 1.1
Fandom: Harry Potter crossover with Tin Man
Warnings: Slash, het, slightly darker version of TinMan. PG-13, but rating may go up.
Pairings: Cain/DG (eventually), Glitch/Harry, mentions of past Harry/Ginny.
Summary: In search of a change, Harry and his godson Teddy travel to Kansas in the hope of a new start. A friendly waitress and a travel storm later and they're in for a lot more than they bargained for. Follows the plot line of Tin Man with a few twists and turns of my own thrown in. HP epilogue compliant.
Chapter One; Over the Rainbow
Harry, Ron, Hermione and most of their school year all went back, after the defeat of Voldemort, for an ‘eighth’ year of study. In fact, the entire school was held back a year. There were so many students whose parents had pulled them from education for the year and the teaching had been such that even those who’d been there hadn’t learnt much. So the ‘second years’ were in the same class as all the new firsties and Harry’s year was stuck with an extra year of school.
Harry didn’t do particularly well after the final battle. Whilst his body and magic had rebounded relatively quickly, emotionally he hadn’t done so well. In his nightmares he saw phantoms of his parents, Sirius and Remus, swooping in on him to kill him, he saw flashes of deadly green, he saw that childish, abused part of Voldemort’s soul that had been at King’s Cross.
When it seemed he was on the brink of a mental break down, Ginny had forced herself back into Harry’s life. And he had leant on her completely. Ron and Hermione each had their own problems to deal with and dealt with them whilst leaning on each other. They couldn’t cope with Harry as well. And so Ginny took the brunt of his every doubt and guilt ridden sob. She became Harry’s everything for his entire eighth year and it was probably mostly thanks to her that he was able, at the end of it, to stand on his own two feet again.
What he was not able to do, however, was face the British Wizarding Community. When Rita Skeeter had appeared to ask a few questions at his graduation, Harry’s infamous temper had flared badly. Not even Pansy Parkinson - one of the only remaining ‘Year Eight’ Slytherins - had the nerve to laugh at Harry for it. In that respect, Harry missed Malfoy, who had never returned to Hogwarts.
When Ginny had faced Harry and asked him what had happened, he had told her quite plainly that he refused to cope with the press and his over enthusiastic fans. He had taken her hands and explained his dream to her. It would be the two of them, and little Teddy, Remus and Tonks’ boy, and they would live in a large house somewhere in the country. They’d have Weasleys and Gryffindors and Luna over every weekend and go on occasional visits in to the closest village. They’d have children - two, three, however many Ginny wanted - and would live in blissful happiness for the rest of their days. Then Harry had pulled out an engagement ring and asked Ginny to marry him.
But Ginny had wept. She had kissed him again, and again, and told him that she loved him so, so much. But not that much. In whispers she had said she couldn’t live that way. She needed action and movement. She needed a puzzle. She had been offered a placement as a reserve seeker on a professional quidditch team when she graduated. Ginny had kissed Harry one last time and said that she would not become her mother. Then she left.
Not long after that Andromeda Tonks had a heart attack. She fell down the stairs and broke her neck. And so, within two months of graduating, Harry found himself with no fiancée - or even girlfriend - and the sole custodian of an eighteen month old baby. For the next half a year Harry lived in Remus and Tonks’ little apartment, searching for a more appropriate home for him and Teddy and for his dream. Hermione and multitudes of Weasleys visited him and comforted him and tried to support him, but it was all too suffocating for Harry.
After their break up the next time Harry properly spoke to Ginny was at Teddy’s second birthday. Neither of them had found anyone else and he told her, simply, that his dream had changed.
“I can’t find that dream without you, Gin. All the houses I’ve looked at - I can’t help but thinking ‘would Ginny like it? Could she live here?’” Harry sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I know it’s stupid and we’re not together anymore and I should get over you, but I don’t know how.”
Ginny had reached across the seemingly endless distance between them and touched his shoulder. Suddenly she was so, so much closer to him. “Harry,” was all she said.
“So… so I’m going to go away,” Harry swallowed and looked away from her beseeching blue eyes. He looked across to where Teddy and his friends were playing with the wrapping paper of his presents. “In the morning Ted and I are going to America. I’ll owl you and Ron and Hermione and the others every now and then to let you know I’m alive, and maybe one day I’ll come back. But until I’ve moved on completely with my life, I can’t stay here. Not without your support. You know this.”
Ginny sighed and patted his shoulder heavily. “I do know, Harry. I know how much you love us - all of us. And I know that without the distraction of Voldemort you need to start out small. I love you, but you know that it won’t be enough for me and my temperament to live in your dream. Within a year, maybe two, I’d hate you and we’d have a marriage and Teddy, as well as another baby probably to worry about. I don’t want to hate you.”
Harry wrapped strong arms around Ginny’s compact, warm body and allowed himself a moment of weakness. Then he let her go, wiped away the tears and smiled weakly at her. “I love you, Gin. You’ll always be my first love.”
“You’re mine too, Harry.”
Then Teddy had toddled over and tugged on Harry’s trouser leg in a silent demanded to be lifted up. Teddy had scrunched up his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again they were Ginny’s blue, his skin covered in freckles and his hair carrot-coloured. He smiled at her and she kissed his nose, causing him to scrunch it up again.
“Bye-bye,” Teddy said. “Bye-bye Auntie Ginny.” Then he wriggled in Harry’s arm and waved at all of the other toddlers and Weasleys. “Bye-bye!” he shouted, getting their attention.
Harry grinned tiredly and Ginny knew, then, that he had never expected her to get together with him again. He explained to everyone the plan as Teddy walked back over to his friends and said goodbye to all of them. Mr and Mrs Thomas, the only muggles there, did not understand properly why Harry was leaving the country, but wished him well and left with their twins. The other parents of Teddy’s friends had known Harry long enough to get the gist of what he was saying and promised not to tell the press. The news would get out eventually, but they wouldn’t spread the word.
But the hardest goodbyes to make were to those Harry loved best. Ron and Hermione were so goddamned understanding that the three of them were in tears by the time they were done. Luna had nodded and smiled in her dreamy way, telling him politely that Kansas was pretty this time of year. The other Weasleys took the news in the same way that war-weary soldiers who’d seen too much death did. They were happy that Harry was moving on, but upset to lose another familiar face. Neville’s new found confidence didn’t leave him as he said farewell.
“It was a goodbye party,” he said as the others left.
“Yeah,” Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ted and I are leaving tomorrow morning. We’ve got a portkey to California at nine. I figured that we’d stay in orange county for a while, but since Luna recommends Kansas…” he trailed off and grinned. “It’s a different sort of adventure.”
Neville clapped him on the back. “Go save yourself, Harry. And don’t forget to stay in touch.”
Just as the door was closing behind him, Harry called out again to his friend, “Hey Neville!”
“Yeah,” the other boy said, poking his head back round the door.
“About Oliver… you should just tell the others. They love you, they’re not going to care that you’re gay.”
Neville blushed a bright red and spluttered, but caught Harry’s eye and saw that the other young man was being perfectly serious. He recovered himself enough to nod once in Harry’s direction and close the door behind him, still bright red in the face, leaving Harry chuckling to himself. Minutes later, Harry’s attention was caught by a shout outside his window. Opening it, he saw Neville on the street below.
“Thank you!” he called up and smiled brightly. Harry laughed out loud and waved, knowing that it would be at least a couple of years before he saw Neville again and probably longer than that. He’d miss him.
“Daddy,” Teddy drew his attention back to the apartment by tugging on his trouser leg. The toddler had called him ‘Daddy’ for as long as he could talk and, while Harry had protested at first, Andromeda had soon made it clear that it was precisely what Remus and Nymphadora would have wanted. Harry soon gave in and, now that Andromeda was gone, he was glad for it. Teddy needed some kind of family, just like Harry needed some kind of family.
“Zoom zoom,” the two year old insisted. “Zooooom!”
Chuckling, Harry placed a hand under each of Teddy’s arms and lifted the two year old, so he was at the same height as Harry. Then he swung his arms around him, ‘zooming’ the toddler around the room, causing the boy to giggle and scream excitedly. It was a game that Harry, as a little boy, had seen parents doing with their children and dearly wishing his Dad could do with him. But he didn’t even consider asking Vernon that. Now, in a way, he could make up for it, by playing with his son.
Teddy was going to be a little spoilt, Harry already knew. He couldn’t withstand Teddy’s puppy-dog eyes and he hated to see the boy cry. All he wanted to do was to give him the perfect childhood. That was part of the reason why they were moving. Harry wanted Teddy to be brought up out of the lime light, without all the hassle of being the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice’s adopted son. So they’d go to America where no one cared who he was, where Voldemort’s reign of terror was just an occasional news story from halfway across the world.
Once Teddy was settled for the night, it didn’t take long for Harry to pack up all of the things that mattered in a wizard-space rucksack and settle onto the sofa, nursing his last British Firewhiskey. Harry didn’t linger late that night, though. He did not want to think too long on the past and the effects it had had on the present. He wanted to think more of the future and the joys it would bring. The brief exchange with Neville got Harry thinking - he needed someone new in his life, why couldn’t that someone be another bloke?
Without prompting his eyes went to the picture of Ginny that sat on his mantelpiece. It was taken the day she went into the twins’ shop for the first time; her face alight with mischief and excitement and joy - for herself and for her brothers. Harry wasn’t in love with her anymore. He hadn’t been since she had first said she couldn’t share his dream. He still loved her - always would - but you couldn’t be in love with someone who wasn’t in your life dream. After six months he was ready - more than ready - to move on.
Rolling the last of the alcohol on his tongue, Harry wondered what his new love might be like. Not blue eyes, not ginger and not really freckled. He didn’t want anyone who reminded him of Ginny. He didn’t need to be thinking about an ex-lover when he was starting off on a new relationship. He liked the idea of warm brown eyes, the colour of hot chocolate and autumn. Someone taller than he was, so he wouldn’t have to feel like the protector. But someone with vulnerabilities as well as strengths so Harry could be the hero sometimes too. An image of Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy danced into Harry’s mind and he laughed at himself for being so sappy.
Still, the idea of looking to men as well as women had been planted in Harry’s mind and that night when he went to bed, it was with the dream of waking up next to a man sometime in the near future that Harry went to sleep to. He found that, away from the prejudice of his Aunt and Uncle, the thought wasn’t half as disturbing as it might have been a year ago.
The next week was a thrilling, hectic one for Harry and Teddy. Getting up and ready to permanently leave the country for nine was much more difficult than the previous, laid-back evening had been and Teddy was being cranky about getting woken up so early as well. But they managed to make it to the ministry in time for their departure and arrived in California in good time, even though the route of six portkeys left Harry feeling more than a little nauseous. To top it off, Teddy was overjoyed by the method of travel. So, with an overexcited toddler in one hand and an oversized bag in the other, Harry booked them into the nearest hotel for the night and left Teddy playing with his new toys whilst he relaxed.
The next four days were a combination of travelling and putting up with Teddy’s whining. The two year old loved Magical transport, but hated any Muggle type. And, after promising three times that, as soon as they were settled and he’d put up the appropriate privacy wards, Harry would take Teddy for a broomstick ride, the promise lost its glamour and Teddy ignored it. And the more Teddy whined, the slower the progress across America got. Eventually, by mid-morning Saturday, Harry and Teddy had made it across the border and into Kansas.
At the end of a long morning’s whining Teddy was sleeping peacefully and Harry pulled up at a Diner in a small town. Hefting Teddy out of the car, carefully so as not to wake him, Harry carried the sleeping boy into the small café. Choosing the quietest corner he could, Harry sat for a long moment in silence, tilting his head back and closing his eyes, enjoying the silence and stillness for just a moment.
Then, as if on a timer - “Daaaddy!”
Harry sat up straight and reached over for Teddy, kissing his head and straightening him in his seat. “OK, little man, we’ve taken a short break from the long road. Do you need the toilet?”
“Want food,” Teddy said, pouting a little and causing Harry to smile.
“I thought you might. How does chicken and butterbean soup sound?”
“No!” Teddy’s predicted cry came, and Harry grinned wider. “Tomayo!”
Harry paused, thinking exaggeratedly. “Tomato? Really? Are you sure, because I’m sure they have some chicken and-”
“Tomayo!” Teddy said again, bouncing in his seat.
“Tell you what,” Harry said conspiratorially, “You can have tomato soup if you say tomato properly.”
“Tomayo,” Teddy insisted.
“Tomato,” Harry said right back, frowning sternly at the two year old.
Teddy frowned too, but it was in deep consideration rather than anger. He mouthed ‘tomato’ a couple of times before looking up. “Tomato,” he said quietly, then beamed with joy when he said it right.
Harry beamed right back and patted Teddy on the shoulder. “Well done, little man! For that I think I’ll let you have a banana afterwards too - if you behave while you’re eating.”
“So that’s one tomato soup for the kid, what about you, sir?” a voice said then, making Harry jump.
He turned to see one of the waitresses waiting, pen in hand. She wore a chequered blue and white apron, had bright blue eyes and dark, curly black hair. What interested Harry with her, though, was the scent of magic that wafted from her. She was practically glowing with it. Normally Harry could just about tell if someone was magical, but this girl - it was obvious! Blinking, he came back to the present and smiled winningly at her. “Just a bacon buttie, thanks. Oh, and a mug of coffee for me and some water for Ted.”
“No!” Ted cried out. “Want juice!”
Harry turned with tired determination. “You can have chicken and butterbean soup and have orange juice, or you can have tomato soup with water. Which do you want?”
“Tomato,” Teddy said, and then, “Juice!”
“You have water and I’ll let you eat your banana yourself,” Harry bargained. Teddy was a terminally messy eater and he adored bananas - the two did not mix. And, unfortunately for Harry, Teddy loved eating on his own, without help.
Teddy considered for a moment, then nodded. Harry reached over, ruffled his hair, then added a banana to his order. The waitress, whose name tag proclaimed her to be ‘Dorothy G’ added it with a swish to the list and shot them another smile before taking their order to the kitchen. Harry chuckled as she was teased for fancying him. She shook her head in exasperation and rolled her eyes - which was a good sign. Harry could tell he was going to like her, but she was too naïve, too innocent for anything more.
She brought their lunches over with another smile, but didn’t hang around long enough for any more conversation to occur. Harry shrugged. He’d catch her after work. The amount of magic she had intrigued him and he wanted to know more about it. Luna had said to go to Kansas, and they had. But what they did now was entirely up to him and Teddy.
Luckily, Teddy was too tired from several days’ travelling to put up too much of a fuss about the food and ate it without spraying too badly. The banana he still managed to get everywhere, but a quick trip to the men’s was enough to sort that problem out, and the one at the other end. Harry wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about child advancement, but Teddy was generally quite good at letting him know when he needed the loo, so Harry didn’t hold the odd accident against him.
As they came out of the loo, Harry caught sight of ‘DG’ hanging up her apron.
“Hey,” he called, “Is there a park or something nearby that I can take Ted? He’s been trapped in a car for days now. I think he could do with some fresh air.”
DG considered for a moment, before saying, “If you promise you’re not a stalker or a psycho-killer-freak or anything, you can follow me back to the farm. It’s probably the safest - and freshest - part of town for him to play. And my mom and pop would love to coddle him for an afternoon. I don’t think they’ll ever forgive me for growing up,” she joked.
“That’s too bad,” Harry teased back. “And I thought having a two year old was the perfect disguise.”
She laughed, and gazed at Teddy who was balanced on Harry’s hip, sucking his thumb and watching the exchange in silence. DG frowned. “I could’ve sworn his eyes were blue earlier…” she murmured to herself, then shook her head. “What’s ‘Ted’ short for?” she asked., and gestured out the back door out the staff exit to the car park.
“Theodore,” Harry said, grinning at her look of disbelief. “Seriously. He’s named after his granddad. You should’ve heard his mum and grandma’s name’s - Andromeda and Nymphadora. Remus was the only one who was allowed to call Nymphadora by anything other than her surname.”
“Remus?” DG asked, pausing by her bike. “No, wait. Tell me the whole story when we get to the farm. Then you won’t have to tell it twice. My parents are just as nosy as I am.”
Harry chuckled good naturedly. “It’s fine. Tonks, Remy and Ted all died over a year ago and Andy passed away six months ago. I know that doesn’t seem like a long time, but when you have a baby to take care of and an education to complete, it’s plenty enough time.”
“Sounds like you have one hell of a story there - what’s your name?”
“Harry - Potter. And this is Teddy Lupin.”
“Well, Harry, I’m DG - uh, short for Dorothy Gale. And my parents are-”
“Mr and Mrs Gale?” Harry said with a grin. “I know the drill. You may not fancy me, but to your parents I’m still some strange boy you’re bringing home.”
“Hardly a boy, but basically, yeah,” DG said with a grin. “And for the record, I don’t. Fancy you. You’re nice enough, but -”
“But it would be too much like dating your brother?” Harry interrupted again.
DG grimaced and nodded apologetically. “I don’t have a brother, but if I did…” she winced again.
Harry just grinned back. “It’s cool. I don’t fancy you either for the same reason. Well, sister rather than brother, but you know what I mean. So is that why you’re already taking me home to meet the parents?” he teased.
“What, because I’m hoping you might be some long-lost relative and this lonely farm girl’s a-reaching out to anyone and anything human in an attempt to connect with society?” DG shot back.
There was a long pause where they gazed solemnly at each other, before DG cracked and started chuckling to herself. “I just get a ‘good guy’ vibe off you,” she said. “Call me crazy.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Harry replied easily. He knew that it sounded teasing, but part of him was serious. No one had the kind of magic she did without having damn good instincts as to who was inclined towards ‘Dark’ and who towards the ‘Light’. “Do you mind if we continue this at your place before Teddy wakes up and gets all hyper?”
“Sure thing,” DG agreed easily, donning her helmet and swinging a leg over her bike.
Twenty minutes later and Harry was pulling a bouncing Teddy from his car seat and following DG up the steps of a classic Kansas-style farm house. “Are you going to be a good boy and behave yourself?” Harry asked Teddy quietly as DG called for her parents.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Teddy said with a mischievous grin.
“Oh, DG, you’re home. Your Pop is out by the wind turbines - a storm’s coming and the engine’s broke again and - oh, hello,” the harried looking woman stopped herself as she spotted Harry. “And who are you?”
“Mom, this is Harry Potter and his kid, Teddy… Lupin?” DG glanced at Harry and he nodded. “They’ve been travelling for a couple of days and-”
“Little Teddy needs somewhere to burn off all his excess energy?” Mrs Gale interrupted.
“Yes, ma’am,” Harry agreed quickly. “We’re sorry to intrude, but DG said this’d be the best place for some fresh air and a place for Teddy to play in safety.” Teddy bounced against Harry’s hip and hit his fist against Harry’s chest.
“Down!” Teddy demanded.
“Hey,” Harry scolded, turning his attention down to the two year old. “I thought you were going to play nice?”
Teddy pouted and bounced a couple of times more. “Down?” he asked, sucking in his top lip.
Mrs Gale frowned at Harry a little longer, then sighed and nodded. “Go on then, sugar. You go play. But stay on the porch - that’s the wooden bit.”
Teddy looked at her with a clear expression of ‘well duh,’ that startled laughter from the woman. Then the two year old wasted no more time in opening his little bag and pulling out his trucks, to run them up and down the ‘wooden bit’.
“Now Deege, you go help your father. Tell him I’ll be making lemonade for all of you. And tell him about our guest.”
“Yes, Mom,” DG said with another roll of her eyes. “Let me just grab my sketch pad - there’s something I want to show him.”
“You be quick now,” Mrs Gale said, and then turned her back on Harry and Teddy and went into the kitchen and turned her attention to the lemonade she was going to make. Harry followed her silently and leant against the doorframe, half watching her and half watching Teddy out of the window. When they heard DG slam the door as she raced out towards the wind turbines, Mrs Gale flung down her tea towel and span to face Harry.
“Now who d’you think you are, young man? It ain’t time yet. We ain’t heard a single word,” she expressed in a harsh whisper.
Taken aback, it was all Harry could do to keep his bearing. “Ma’am, with all due respect, I don’t know what you’re talking about. After the war in England, I completed my education, paid my respects to Teddy’s parents, then escaped.”
“But you know she’s -”
“Magic?” Harry said tentatively, when Mrs Gale didn’t continue. At the sharp nod of acknowledgement, Harry carried on. “Yeah, I know. It made me curious - she has so much power, but she’s never used it - not even a little bit. I’m guessing she doesn’t know?”
Mrs Gale shook her head sharply. “And until we get the word, she ain’t goin’ to know!”
Harry nodded. “Your decision, I guess. But how old is she? Twenty? How long ‘til her magic gets bored and lashes out? How long is she going to stay here?” He stopped, not wanting to anger his hostess. “I’m sorry,” he apologised. “It’s none of my business. I just wanted to check that she was with someone who knew and could take care of the fallout when it happened - and it will happen, soon.”
“I know,” Mrs Gale dropped her head and wrung her wrists. “But we - me and her Pop - we made a promise. And we’ll keep that promise.”
“I’m looking for a place to call home,” Harry added quietly. “If you want I can stick close by and help you with that.”
“Why?” Mrs Gale turned her back on him and continued squeezing lemons. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but why do you care?”
Harry shrugged and grinned a little. “You’ve heard of the war in England? About Voldemort and the guy who defeated him - the Boy-Who-Lived?”
Mrs Gale nodded.
“His real name is Harry Potter. I am he. And after spending seven years running around trying to save the world I’ve gained something of a hero complex. I moved away to escape the expectations at home, but that doesn’t put a damper my natural desire to help people out and to save them,” he continued in good humour.
At the disbelieving look Mrs Gale shot over her shoulder, Harry raised his fringe to reveal the distinctive white lightening bolt scar that had long since faded from the blood red that it had once been. She saw the thin, jagged line and gasped slightly, she took in the rest of his appearance and asked a question that Harry had not at all expected; “How old are you?”
“How old do you think I am? DG said I was - and I quote - ‘hardly a boy’.”
“You look like you’re in your late twenties, possibly? But there’s a boyishness to your features still, so I’m guessing slightly younger.”
“Nineteen,” Harry told her sadly. “But war ages people prematurely.”
“How’d you end up with a two year old, hmm?”
At the reminder of the rambunctious child, Harry smiled again. “Isn’t that the question of the hour?” he asked chuckling slightly. “I’ve yet to explain to DG and I’m sure she wouldn’t forgive me if I told someone else first.”
Mrs Gale raised her eyebrows, but allowed this escape. “Very well then,” she uttered with a sigh. “Now if you and your British, heroic ways aren’t too proud you can come over here and help with the lemonade.”
Harry gave a low, exaggerated bow, sweeping an imaginary hat from his head and proceeded to talk with an affected British accent for the next ten minutes, before his ‘what-ho’s and ‘spiffing old chap’s forced a reluctant laugh from his hostess’s lips and she freed him from the kitchen to wait on the porch for DG and her father. With only a few words of insisting to help, Harry allowed himself to be shooed outdoors and he sank to the floor to play with Teddy, who delighted in the full attention of his godfather for more than a couple of minutes at a time.
DG did not spend too much longer out by the turbine and when she returned her cheeks were ruddy from the wind that was picking up now and the extravagant, energetic conversation with her father. Mr Gale, too, was looking somewhat pink and Harry smiled at this knowledge. DG reminded him a lot of how he’d been when he was younger. Although he had not had loving guardians and the stubborn, almost childish cheerfulness they shared had matured quickly in him into something quieter and more private because of it, the familiarities were startling and he knew that, if he were to become friends with DG, Harry would soon see her as a younger sister - even if she was older than him.
“And now,” DG said, plopping down into one of the seats with gusto, “you, Mr Potter, must tell me about Teddy before I lose my patience and kick you both out!” she was teasing, he knew, but Mrs Gale was quick to scold her daughter for being so rude. Harry only laughed.
“But of course,” he agreed and, upon seeing the strange looks DG and Mr Gale sent, and the glare from Mrs Gale, he dropped the accent with another short burst of laughter. “Teddy’s parents were killed about two years ago now, in an aeroplane crash coming back from a long weekend’s holiday in Paris. His only remaining immediate family member - his grandmother - took care of him while I finished my education but not long after I graduated she too died. As Godfather I felt I must take on Teddy. It has been a chore at times but well worth the effort, I think.”
As though he knew they were talking about him, Teddy stopped in his playing and toddled over to Harry, pulling on his trouser leg as he often did when he wanted attention. “Daddy,” he cried. “Up! New friends!”
Taking this as a wish to be introduced, Harry showed Teddy each of their host family, saying their name, the toddler repeating it as best he could. Mr and Mrs Gale, both as taken by Teddy as DG said they would be, insisted on being called Hank and Em respectfully. Thus christened by their young guest as ‘Dij’, ‘Hak’ and ‘Mm’ and with the wind picking up further, the group retreated indoors, much to Teddy’s disappointment. After so long in a car he wanted to be outside - the wind was a little matter to one so small who was protected from it by his much taller companions and the various seats and tables.
In spite of his teasing reluctance to help making the lemonade, Harry cheerfully offered his services in aid of dinner without any prompting. Em, who had long since despaired of her husband or daughter ever volunteering, eagerly accepted the help. Although she had initially been exceedingly suspicious of him, as DG and Hank were so friendly and welcoming, instantly liking the young stranger, it didn’t take long for her to warm up to him either. Besides, no one who had willingly taken in a two year old could be a bad person. The whole Boy-Who-Lived thing didn’t hurt either.
Dinner was a cosy affair, everyone all talking at once and Ted gladly making as much mess as possible, by the end of which they had exhausted the poor toddler and Harry lay him down on the couch, borrowing a blanket to smooth over him. Once Teddy was comfortably tucked in, he helped carry the dishes back to the kitchen and offered to clean the dishes. With a persuasive word from Em, Hank joined Harry and it didn’t take long for the two men to set about, chuckling at various anecdotes and not settling on one subject for too long.
“You went through my stuff?!” an outraged DG was heard from the other room and both men paused momentarily in surprise. When the argument continued, their conversation turned to loudly discussing the weather and clattering the dishes as much as possible without breaking them, so as not to hear what was going on, despite both of their curiosity.
There was a serious of thumps, indicating DG’s removal upstairs, and then the slamming of what Harry assumed was her bedroom door. Em appeared in the kitchen doorway looking tired and haggard, so Harry slipped back into the living room, leaving the couple to discuss what had happened in private.
Teddy was sitting upright, with the blanket clutched protectively around him when Harry saw him, and he immediately ran to his adoptive father and hugged his legs very tightly. “Is Dij ok?” he murmured in a half-sleepy, half-scared voice that children waking from nightmares often use.
“She’s fine,” Harry promised, picking him up. “But you know how you get angry at me, sometimes, and shout at me?” The child nodded. “Well DG’s a bit angry at her mummy at the moment, so she shouted. They still love each other, they’re just upset.”
“They trav’lin’?” Teddy asked quietly. In the past week it was always when he had spent too long in the car that he got the most upset and something in his infant brain made the link.
“DG wants to, but her mummy doesn’t,” Harry murmured, feeling guilty about repeating the snatches or argument he’d heard.
But Teddy nodded wisely, as though it all made perfect sense to him now - perhaps it did - and then lowered his head to his father’s shoulder, tucked his thumb back into his mouth and returned into slumber. It was at this point, or a few minutes later, that the lights shorted. A call from Em calmed Harry’s fears a little though - it was just the wind. However, he had grown up around Voldemort and ‘no-such-thing-as-a-coincidence’s and he sent a pulse of magic out to scan the area.
What he found was not good. The storm was made of magic. Harry knew only one person who could control any of the elements - and that was Seamus, with his mother’s fire mage abilities, he too had some control over fire. But this - this was incredible. An elemental mage of great power must have had to force this into being.
But then, to Harry’s horror, he understood exactly how it had come about. For once, the storm was a coincidence, though it’s appearance was not. As eight armed men, one with a small amount of magical power, the others bereft, appeared from nowhere, Harry understood. He’d been lectured often enough by Hermione to know that sometimes it paid to listen to her, and he dimly remembered her telling him about travel storms. They were exceedingly rare and no wizard alive could recount the appearance of one (which at the time Harry thought was absurd - of course not, it was a travel storm, it took you somewhere else. Somewhere that you might not return from) and so many dismissed them as myth.
This, however, was not a myth, and seven of the men did not have nearly enough magic between them to apparate. The storm came as a result of someone or something of great magical power propelling one or more beings not only through space, but dimensions and also possibly time. Much like the whirlwind effect of a portkey, but on a much larger scale, because it was a much larger piece of magic.
This just left the question - what were eight armed men being propelled toward them through space, dimension and time coming for?
Then, remembering Em’s comment on keeping someone’s promise and not hearing a word, Harry realised with a jolt that whoever had sent DG had cared very much for her. And someone who cared that much and knew enough about magic to bind their daughter in such a way… they must not have thought it would have lasted so long, this curious exile. He assumed that some kind of betrayal had taken place - a betrayal that DG’s family had thought they would sort out, but that she best be kept out of the way of. Judging by the fire arms and the furious expressions of the descending men, Harry took a wild stab in the dark and guessed that all hadn’t gone as planned.
“Duck!” he shouted, just as the door was blasted open. And then, all hell broke loose.
Harry’s wand was, as ever, tucked into his ankle holster and it would take a few precious moments to bend and retrieve it. Precious moments Harry needed to protect Teddy. He wasn’t so worried about Em and Hank, both of whom were adults and, from Hank’s cry of, “Longcoats!” had faced these men at least once before.
But with shots being fired in every direction and his back mostly turned to the new arrivals, Harry wasn’t entirely sure what happened next. All he knew was that he had got Teddy, who was terrified but alive and unharmed, and his wand was now in his hand. It was the matter of seconds to knock out the remaining conscious seven (Em had managed to hit one over the head with a frying pan). But, even though the human risk was solved, the hurricane was still heading straight towards them.
DG had emerged, dazed and frightened from her attic bedroom and Harry felt a curious desire to protect her come over him. She was still in her day clothes, but she’d probably cried herself to sleep, judging from the redness of her eyes and the messiness of her hair - now that Harry noticed it, there was something very familiar about that messy mop, though he couldn’t place why or who. Either way, she looked very young and vulnerable and it was second nature to walk up to her, Teddy still cradled in his arms, and wrap her up in a hug.
“It’ll be alright,” Harry murmured and felt her stiff posture relax just a tiny bit.
But the next second, Em and Hank were pushing them towards the door and out into the storm.
“It’s not supposed to happen like this,” Em kept muttering, mostly to herself, and shaking her. Then, glancing up under Harry’s piercing, curious gaze, she told him, “This storm is what we were waiting for, but this was not what we’d hoped.”
DG looked from her Mom, to Harry, and back again. “What’s going on?”
“You have to trust us, Deege,” Hank yelled over the howling of the wind through the now-open front door. “Jump!”
Harry grabbed tight hold of DG’s hand, his other arm curled tightly around the terrified Teddy. The two year old was clutching Harry’s neck just as tightly, but his eyes - now wide and swirling black - were watching the whirlwind with fascination. Harry didn’t have time to worry about Teddy revealing his animagus abilities before DG was shoved forward and he, by refusing to let go of her, soon followed.
As he fell and the world as he knew it disintegrated, he saw Hank’s face in the gleaming, swirling darkness. It was begging him not to let go, to protect DG to the best of his ability. Harry didn’t need to be told to do that. And Hank had no idea to the extent Harry could protect his daughter.
v^v^v
Harry was the first to wake of the three of them. He was on his back, staring up into a clear blue sky decorated with not one but two suns. One arm was still curled protectively around Teddy, who was sleeping peacefully on Harry’s chest, one hand still clutching his shirt front tightly. The other of Harry’s hands was holding DG’s smaller, warm one. Neither of his companions were stirring and, in a blinding moment of panic, Harry thought they might be dead.
But then he registered the feel of Teddy’s chest shifting as he breathed, and DG’s hand tightened slightly around his. Her eyelids fluttered and she heaved in a large breath but, like Harry when he woke, did not let out a groan. She stayed staring unthinking at the sky for some time, before the reality of what had just happened hit her and she jolted upright, thrusting Harry’s hand away from her.
“Where are we?” she near yelled, waking Teddy up and causing the two year old to shrink back slightly in fear. “Where have you taken me? Who are you? Where are my parents? Why did you do this? Take me back!”
Harry held up one hand in surrender, keeping the other wrapped around Ted as he sat upright. “I’ve no idea where we are, I had nothing to do with how we got here and I’ve already told you I’m Harry Potter,” he replied, giving up on trying to answer all of her questions individually before he even tried.
DG looked suspiciously at him as though considering whether to believe him, then noticing the small scared form of Teddy clutching Harry’s jacket and hiding his face in his shoulder, she calmed.
“I’m sorry, I-” she stopped and looked to the side, blinking away tears. “The last I saw of my parents I was arguing with them and now they might be dead. I don’t - I wish…”
Harry strode forward and pulled her into a one armed hug. “Hush, it’ll all be ok. Although I’ve not ever seen or travelled by one before, I’ve heard of travel storms. If your parents followed us in and haven’t encountered any more of those men, they are safe.”
“But what if-”
Harry raised a hand, silencing her. “It’s best not to think on ‘what if’s. If I lived in what ifs I’d never have been able to do what I did. And then Teddy and I would never have travelled to America and you’d be here on your own.”
“Sounds like one hell of a story,” she said, smiling weakly and blinking away the first signs of tears that had never spilt over.
“I suppose,” Harry shrugged and grinned. “Of course, I can only tell you if you’re at all inclined to believe in dragons, werewolves, half-giants and magic in general.”
“After my transportation today - travel storm, did you say? - I guess I should be, but this all seems like a very bizarre dream.”
“Would it help if I showed you my wand?”
DG stared at him blankly, wondering if she should be horrified, amused or disbelieving. “Wand.” she repeated. “That better not be a euphemism.”
Harry chuckled and shook his head before he grabbed her hand and started walking through the trees. He summoned his wand to the hand holding Teddy to his hip and waved it a couple of times to emit sparks, for her benefit. Then he proceeded to tell her the story of his life, embellishing some details and skipping over others. Occasionally she would inject a comment or ask a question (“But why should the Basilisk eyes affect a ghost at all?” “He turned Malfoy into what?” “Poor Sirius!” “You died? But, how did you get back?”) but mostly she just listened with rapt attention, occasionally squeezing his hand comfortingly.
About an hour after their arrival in this land and shortly after Harry finished his tale they heard distressed cries coming from the woods off to their left.
“No! If I’m a criminal of Azkadelia’s, am I not on your side? An enemy of my enemy and all that? What are you doing with that? No, no, no! Oooow!” the voice was male and obviously only a breath away from sobbing. “I know nothing! I don’t know anything! Please don’t, please…” then, whomever it was let out a piercing scream and DG and Harry, without needing to turn to each other, both broke out into a run, towards the voice.
Harry let go of DG’s hand as they broke into the clearing and whipped out his wand, immediately placing a protective shield around the three of them, luckily in time to divert the volley of arrows that were shot towards them. He quickly took in all that was happening and, seeing a man of about thirty tied face down across a thick wooden log, the skin on his back broken and bleeding, his anger became palpable.
“What,” he said in a furious, carefully measured tone, “is going on here?”
“We are punishing one of Azkadelia’s spies,” one of the short creatures covered in blue face paint answered. “And who are you - another spy?”
“I come from another world,” Harry told them, gazing imperiously down his nose at them. “How do you know this man is a spy?”
The one who had spoken, a leader of some sort, Harry suspected, gasped. “An other-sider! Sent to help us with his magic!”
“Answer my question, before I knock your lights out!” Harry roared at them, stroking Teddy to calm the terrified toddler as well he could whilst still maintaining his fearsome persona.
“He must be a spy!” Blue-face answered. “And if he is not, he is a criminal.”
“I’m not, I’m not!” the man tied down shouted. “I can’t remember who I am, but I’m certain I’m not a spy or a criminal, certain of it!” Then, a moment later, he said the same thing again.
“You see, other-sider? He’s a half brainer.”
Harry had no idea what that meant. He scowled down at the little people for a moment longer, before releasing his shields. He passed Teddy to DG and told her to stay where she was. Then he crossed the clearing to where the man was tied down. He inspected the damaged back and then waved his wand across it a couple of times, muttering ‘episky’ until the wounds were sealed up. Then he conjured a cloth and wiped away the blood gently, knowing that the new skin would still be very sore.
Once cleaned, he untied the man and instructed him to sit upon the logs he’d been tied to. Then he summoned the man’s t-shirt, button-down, waistcoat and jacket and handed them back to him.
“You’ll need to be careful of your back for a couple of hours or so, and you may end up with some light scarring, but it should be entirely healthy and usable by the end of the day - although I’d recommend staying away from strenuous activity for a couple of days,” Harry advised.
The man, whoever he was, disregarded the shirt and jacket he’d been about to put on and hugged Harry tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he said, tears leaking out of his eyes. “I thought I was going to die!”
Harry stroked the stranger’s curly hair and smiled, trying to ignore the hot wire of attraction that tightened in his belly. “I’m sure they wouldn’t have killed you.” He glared over the man’s head at the midgets, daring them to contradict him.
Suddenly, the man went stiff and sat up, forcing Harry to abruptly let go of him. “Who are you?” he demanded. “Where am I?”
It was then that Harry remembered what blue-face had said about this man being a half-brainer. Looking at the man’s head, he saw with horror the zip that went the length of his skull, starting at his forehead. The fastening was loose and Harry could see that there was, indeed, only half a brain there. “Oh, sweet Merlin,” Harry breathed out. “What did they do to you?”
A sudden fear and apprehension entered the other man’s eyes and he withdrew further. “Do you hate me?” he said in a small voice.
“No,” Harry immediately replied. “No, of course not. I think you’re very brave. Will you put the rest of your clothes on and tell me who you are?”
“I’m Glitch,” the man said quietly, pulling his shirt and jacket on quickly without bothering to do either up. “On account of how my synapses don’t always fire right.”
Harry leant forward and reached tentatively for the zip handle and rolled it backward so the gaping hole was shut. “There, now you’re decent. I’m Harry.” He offered his hand to Glitch, who shook it eagerly.
“I’m Glitch,” he said again. “On account of how my synapses don’t always fire right.”
DG opened her mouth and looked as though she were going to say something about the repetition, but stopped when Harry shook his head.
Once Glitch was on his feet, still clutching the hand Harry had offered him to shake, Harry returned his attention to the small people. “I don’t know who you are, who Azkadelia is, nor why you were treating Glitch that way. But by God if this is how you welcome strangers I’m not going to help you!”
~To Be Continued~
NEXT
Each chapter of this is in two parts because they're too long to fit into one post. Fic will probably come to about 9/10 chapters (18-20 posts) depending on how carried away I get. Which, at the moment, is very. My bad. Please enjoy. Comments are adored (even the flames, they're normally quite funny to read).
Much love,
Yellow
xx
Warnings: Slash, het, slightly darker version of TinMan. PG-13, but rating may go up.
Pairings: Cain/DG (eventually), Glitch/Harry, mentions of past Harry/Ginny.
Summary: In search of a change, Harry and his godson Teddy travel to Kansas in the hope of a new start. A friendly waitress and a travel storm later and they're in for a lot more than they bargained for. Follows the plot line of Tin Man with a few twists and turns of my own thrown in. HP epilogue compliant.
Chapter One; Over the Rainbow
Harry, Ron, Hermione and most of their school year all went back, after the defeat of Voldemort, for an ‘eighth’ year of study. In fact, the entire school was held back a year. There were so many students whose parents had pulled them from education for the year and the teaching had been such that even those who’d been there hadn’t learnt much. So the ‘second years’ were in the same class as all the new firsties and Harry’s year was stuck with an extra year of school.
Harry didn’t do particularly well after the final battle. Whilst his body and magic had rebounded relatively quickly, emotionally he hadn’t done so well. In his nightmares he saw phantoms of his parents, Sirius and Remus, swooping in on him to kill him, he saw flashes of deadly green, he saw that childish, abused part of Voldemort’s soul that had been at King’s Cross.
When it seemed he was on the brink of a mental break down, Ginny had forced herself back into Harry’s life. And he had leant on her completely. Ron and Hermione each had their own problems to deal with and dealt with them whilst leaning on each other. They couldn’t cope with Harry as well. And so Ginny took the brunt of his every doubt and guilt ridden sob. She became Harry’s everything for his entire eighth year and it was probably mostly thanks to her that he was able, at the end of it, to stand on his own two feet again.
What he was not able to do, however, was face the British Wizarding Community. When Rita Skeeter had appeared to ask a few questions at his graduation, Harry’s infamous temper had flared badly. Not even Pansy Parkinson - one of the only remaining ‘Year Eight’ Slytherins - had the nerve to laugh at Harry for it. In that respect, Harry missed Malfoy, who had never returned to Hogwarts.
When Ginny had faced Harry and asked him what had happened, he had told her quite plainly that he refused to cope with the press and his over enthusiastic fans. He had taken her hands and explained his dream to her. It would be the two of them, and little Teddy, Remus and Tonks’ boy, and they would live in a large house somewhere in the country. They’d have Weasleys and Gryffindors and Luna over every weekend and go on occasional visits in to the closest village. They’d have children - two, three, however many Ginny wanted - and would live in blissful happiness for the rest of their days. Then Harry had pulled out an engagement ring and asked Ginny to marry him.
But Ginny had wept. She had kissed him again, and again, and told him that she loved him so, so much. But not that much. In whispers she had said she couldn’t live that way. She needed action and movement. She needed a puzzle. She had been offered a placement as a reserve seeker on a professional quidditch team when she graduated. Ginny had kissed Harry one last time and said that she would not become her mother. Then she left.
Not long after that Andromeda Tonks had a heart attack. She fell down the stairs and broke her neck. And so, within two months of graduating, Harry found himself with no fiancée - or even girlfriend - and the sole custodian of an eighteen month old baby. For the next half a year Harry lived in Remus and Tonks’ little apartment, searching for a more appropriate home for him and Teddy and for his dream. Hermione and multitudes of Weasleys visited him and comforted him and tried to support him, but it was all too suffocating for Harry.
After their break up the next time Harry properly spoke to Ginny was at Teddy’s second birthday. Neither of them had found anyone else and he told her, simply, that his dream had changed.
“I can’t find that dream without you, Gin. All the houses I’ve looked at - I can’t help but thinking ‘would Ginny like it? Could she live here?’” Harry sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I know it’s stupid and we’re not together anymore and I should get over you, but I don’t know how.”
Ginny had reached across the seemingly endless distance between them and touched his shoulder. Suddenly she was so, so much closer to him. “Harry,” was all she said.
“So… so I’m going to go away,” Harry swallowed and looked away from her beseeching blue eyes. He looked across to where Teddy and his friends were playing with the wrapping paper of his presents. “In the morning Ted and I are going to America. I’ll owl you and Ron and Hermione and the others every now and then to let you know I’m alive, and maybe one day I’ll come back. But until I’ve moved on completely with my life, I can’t stay here. Not without your support. You know this.”
Ginny sighed and patted his shoulder heavily. “I do know, Harry. I know how much you love us - all of us. And I know that without the distraction of Voldemort you need to start out small. I love you, but you know that it won’t be enough for me and my temperament to live in your dream. Within a year, maybe two, I’d hate you and we’d have a marriage and Teddy, as well as another baby probably to worry about. I don’t want to hate you.”
Harry wrapped strong arms around Ginny’s compact, warm body and allowed himself a moment of weakness. Then he let her go, wiped away the tears and smiled weakly at her. “I love you, Gin. You’ll always be my first love.”
“You’re mine too, Harry.”
Then Teddy had toddled over and tugged on Harry’s trouser leg in a silent demanded to be lifted up. Teddy had scrunched up his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them again they were Ginny’s blue, his skin covered in freckles and his hair carrot-coloured. He smiled at her and she kissed his nose, causing him to scrunch it up again.
“Bye-bye,” Teddy said. “Bye-bye Auntie Ginny.” Then he wriggled in Harry’s arm and waved at all of the other toddlers and Weasleys. “Bye-bye!” he shouted, getting their attention.
Harry grinned tiredly and Ginny knew, then, that he had never expected her to get together with him again. He explained to everyone the plan as Teddy walked back over to his friends and said goodbye to all of them. Mr and Mrs Thomas, the only muggles there, did not understand properly why Harry was leaving the country, but wished him well and left with their twins. The other parents of Teddy’s friends had known Harry long enough to get the gist of what he was saying and promised not to tell the press. The news would get out eventually, but they wouldn’t spread the word.
But the hardest goodbyes to make were to those Harry loved best. Ron and Hermione were so goddamned understanding that the three of them were in tears by the time they were done. Luna had nodded and smiled in her dreamy way, telling him politely that Kansas was pretty this time of year. The other Weasleys took the news in the same way that war-weary soldiers who’d seen too much death did. They were happy that Harry was moving on, but upset to lose another familiar face. Neville’s new found confidence didn’t leave him as he said farewell.
“It was a goodbye party,” he said as the others left.
“Yeah,” Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ted and I are leaving tomorrow morning. We’ve got a portkey to California at nine. I figured that we’d stay in orange county for a while, but since Luna recommends Kansas…” he trailed off and grinned. “It’s a different sort of adventure.”
Neville clapped him on the back. “Go save yourself, Harry. And don’t forget to stay in touch.”
Just as the door was closing behind him, Harry called out again to his friend, “Hey Neville!”
“Yeah,” the other boy said, poking his head back round the door.
“About Oliver… you should just tell the others. They love you, they’re not going to care that you’re gay.”
Neville blushed a bright red and spluttered, but caught Harry’s eye and saw that the other young man was being perfectly serious. He recovered himself enough to nod once in Harry’s direction and close the door behind him, still bright red in the face, leaving Harry chuckling to himself. Minutes later, Harry’s attention was caught by a shout outside his window. Opening it, he saw Neville on the street below.
“Thank you!” he called up and smiled brightly. Harry laughed out loud and waved, knowing that it would be at least a couple of years before he saw Neville again and probably longer than that. He’d miss him.
“Daddy,” Teddy drew his attention back to the apartment by tugging on his trouser leg. The toddler had called him ‘Daddy’ for as long as he could talk and, while Harry had protested at first, Andromeda had soon made it clear that it was precisely what Remus and Nymphadora would have wanted. Harry soon gave in and, now that Andromeda was gone, he was glad for it. Teddy needed some kind of family, just like Harry needed some kind of family.
“Zoom zoom,” the two year old insisted. “Zooooom!”
Chuckling, Harry placed a hand under each of Teddy’s arms and lifted the two year old, so he was at the same height as Harry. Then he swung his arms around him, ‘zooming’ the toddler around the room, causing the boy to giggle and scream excitedly. It was a game that Harry, as a little boy, had seen parents doing with their children and dearly wishing his Dad could do with him. But he didn’t even consider asking Vernon that. Now, in a way, he could make up for it, by playing with his son.
Teddy was going to be a little spoilt, Harry already knew. He couldn’t withstand Teddy’s puppy-dog eyes and he hated to see the boy cry. All he wanted to do was to give him the perfect childhood. That was part of the reason why they were moving. Harry wanted Teddy to be brought up out of the lime light, without all the hassle of being the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice’s adopted son. So they’d go to America where no one cared who he was, where Voldemort’s reign of terror was just an occasional news story from halfway across the world.
Once Teddy was settled for the night, it didn’t take long for Harry to pack up all of the things that mattered in a wizard-space rucksack and settle onto the sofa, nursing his last British Firewhiskey. Harry didn’t linger late that night, though. He did not want to think too long on the past and the effects it had had on the present. He wanted to think more of the future and the joys it would bring. The brief exchange with Neville got Harry thinking - he needed someone new in his life, why couldn’t that someone be another bloke?
Without prompting his eyes went to the picture of Ginny that sat on his mantelpiece. It was taken the day she went into the twins’ shop for the first time; her face alight with mischief and excitement and joy - for herself and for her brothers. Harry wasn’t in love with her anymore. He hadn’t been since she had first said she couldn’t share his dream. He still loved her - always would - but you couldn’t be in love with someone who wasn’t in your life dream. After six months he was ready - more than ready - to move on.
Rolling the last of the alcohol on his tongue, Harry wondered what his new love might be like. Not blue eyes, not ginger and not really freckled. He didn’t want anyone who reminded him of Ginny. He didn’t need to be thinking about an ex-lover when he was starting off on a new relationship. He liked the idea of warm brown eyes, the colour of hot chocolate and autumn. Someone taller than he was, so he wouldn’t have to feel like the protector. But someone with vulnerabilities as well as strengths so Harry could be the hero sometimes too. An image of Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy danced into Harry’s mind and he laughed at himself for being so sappy.
Still, the idea of looking to men as well as women had been planted in Harry’s mind and that night when he went to bed, it was with the dream of waking up next to a man sometime in the near future that Harry went to sleep to. He found that, away from the prejudice of his Aunt and Uncle, the thought wasn’t half as disturbing as it might have been a year ago.
The next week was a thrilling, hectic one for Harry and Teddy. Getting up and ready to permanently leave the country for nine was much more difficult than the previous, laid-back evening had been and Teddy was being cranky about getting woken up so early as well. But they managed to make it to the ministry in time for their departure and arrived in California in good time, even though the route of six portkeys left Harry feeling more than a little nauseous. To top it off, Teddy was overjoyed by the method of travel. So, with an overexcited toddler in one hand and an oversized bag in the other, Harry booked them into the nearest hotel for the night and left Teddy playing with his new toys whilst he relaxed.
The next four days were a combination of travelling and putting up with Teddy’s whining. The two year old loved Magical transport, but hated any Muggle type. And, after promising three times that, as soon as they were settled and he’d put up the appropriate privacy wards, Harry would take Teddy for a broomstick ride, the promise lost its glamour and Teddy ignored it. And the more Teddy whined, the slower the progress across America got. Eventually, by mid-morning Saturday, Harry and Teddy had made it across the border and into Kansas.
At the end of a long morning’s whining Teddy was sleeping peacefully and Harry pulled up at a Diner in a small town. Hefting Teddy out of the car, carefully so as not to wake him, Harry carried the sleeping boy into the small café. Choosing the quietest corner he could, Harry sat for a long moment in silence, tilting his head back and closing his eyes, enjoying the silence and stillness for just a moment.
Then, as if on a timer - “Daaaddy!”
Harry sat up straight and reached over for Teddy, kissing his head and straightening him in his seat. “OK, little man, we’ve taken a short break from the long road. Do you need the toilet?”
“Want food,” Teddy said, pouting a little and causing Harry to smile.
“I thought you might. How does chicken and butterbean soup sound?”
“No!” Teddy’s predicted cry came, and Harry grinned wider. “Tomayo!”
Harry paused, thinking exaggeratedly. “Tomato? Really? Are you sure, because I’m sure they have some chicken and-”
“Tomayo!” Teddy said again, bouncing in his seat.
“Tell you what,” Harry said conspiratorially, “You can have tomato soup if you say tomato properly.”
“Tomayo,” Teddy insisted.
“Tomato,” Harry said right back, frowning sternly at the two year old.
Teddy frowned too, but it was in deep consideration rather than anger. He mouthed ‘tomato’ a couple of times before looking up. “Tomato,” he said quietly, then beamed with joy when he said it right.
Harry beamed right back and patted Teddy on the shoulder. “Well done, little man! For that I think I’ll let you have a banana afterwards too - if you behave while you’re eating.”
“So that’s one tomato soup for the kid, what about you, sir?” a voice said then, making Harry jump.
He turned to see one of the waitresses waiting, pen in hand. She wore a chequered blue and white apron, had bright blue eyes and dark, curly black hair. What interested Harry with her, though, was the scent of magic that wafted from her. She was practically glowing with it. Normally Harry could just about tell if someone was magical, but this girl - it was obvious! Blinking, he came back to the present and smiled winningly at her. “Just a bacon buttie, thanks. Oh, and a mug of coffee for me and some water for Ted.”
“No!” Ted cried out. “Want juice!”
Harry turned with tired determination. “You can have chicken and butterbean soup and have orange juice, or you can have tomato soup with water. Which do you want?”
“Tomato,” Teddy said, and then, “Juice!”
“You have water and I’ll let you eat your banana yourself,” Harry bargained. Teddy was a terminally messy eater and he adored bananas - the two did not mix. And, unfortunately for Harry, Teddy loved eating on his own, without help.
Teddy considered for a moment, then nodded. Harry reached over, ruffled his hair, then added a banana to his order. The waitress, whose name tag proclaimed her to be ‘Dorothy G’ added it with a swish to the list and shot them another smile before taking their order to the kitchen. Harry chuckled as she was teased for fancying him. She shook her head in exasperation and rolled her eyes - which was a good sign. Harry could tell he was going to like her, but she was too naïve, too innocent for anything more.
She brought their lunches over with another smile, but didn’t hang around long enough for any more conversation to occur. Harry shrugged. He’d catch her after work. The amount of magic she had intrigued him and he wanted to know more about it. Luna had said to go to Kansas, and they had. But what they did now was entirely up to him and Teddy.
Luckily, Teddy was too tired from several days’ travelling to put up too much of a fuss about the food and ate it without spraying too badly. The banana he still managed to get everywhere, but a quick trip to the men’s was enough to sort that problem out, and the one at the other end. Harry wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about child advancement, but Teddy was generally quite good at letting him know when he needed the loo, so Harry didn’t hold the odd accident against him.
As they came out of the loo, Harry caught sight of ‘DG’ hanging up her apron.
“Hey,” he called, “Is there a park or something nearby that I can take Ted? He’s been trapped in a car for days now. I think he could do with some fresh air.”
DG considered for a moment, before saying, “If you promise you’re not a stalker or a psycho-killer-freak or anything, you can follow me back to the farm. It’s probably the safest - and freshest - part of town for him to play. And my mom and pop would love to coddle him for an afternoon. I don’t think they’ll ever forgive me for growing up,” she joked.
“That’s too bad,” Harry teased back. “And I thought having a two year old was the perfect disguise.”
She laughed, and gazed at Teddy who was balanced on Harry’s hip, sucking his thumb and watching the exchange in silence. DG frowned. “I could’ve sworn his eyes were blue earlier…” she murmured to herself, then shook her head. “What’s ‘Ted’ short for?” she asked., and gestured out the back door out the staff exit to the car park.
“Theodore,” Harry said, grinning at her look of disbelief. “Seriously. He’s named after his granddad. You should’ve heard his mum and grandma’s name’s - Andromeda and Nymphadora. Remus was the only one who was allowed to call Nymphadora by anything other than her surname.”
“Remus?” DG asked, pausing by her bike. “No, wait. Tell me the whole story when we get to the farm. Then you won’t have to tell it twice. My parents are just as nosy as I am.”
Harry chuckled good naturedly. “It’s fine. Tonks, Remy and Ted all died over a year ago and Andy passed away six months ago. I know that doesn’t seem like a long time, but when you have a baby to take care of and an education to complete, it’s plenty enough time.”
“Sounds like you have one hell of a story there - what’s your name?”
“Harry - Potter. And this is Teddy Lupin.”
“Well, Harry, I’m DG - uh, short for Dorothy Gale. And my parents are-”
“Mr and Mrs Gale?” Harry said with a grin. “I know the drill. You may not fancy me, but to your parents I’m still some strange boy you’re bringing home.”
“Hardly a boy, but basically, yeah,” DG said with a grin. “And for the record, I don’t. Fancy you. You’re nice enough, but -”
“But it would be too much like dating your brother?” Harry interrupted again.
DG grimaced and nodded apologetically. “I don’t have a brother, but if I did…” she winced again.
Harry just grinned back. “It’s cool. I don’t fancy you either for the same reason. Well, sister rather than brother, but you know what I mean. So is that why you’re already taking me home to meet the parents?” he teased.
“What, because I’m hoping you might be some long-lost relative and this lonely farm girl’s a-reaching out to anyone and anything human in an attempt to connect with society?” DG shot back.
There was a long pause where they gazed solemnly at each other, before DG cracked and started chuckling to herself. “I just get a ‘good guy’ vibe off you,” she said. “Call me crazy.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Harry replied easily. He knew that it sounded teasing, but part of him was serious. No one had the kind of magic she did without having damn good instincts as to who was inclined towards ‘Dark’ and who towards the ‘Light’. “Do you mind if we continue this at your place before Teddy wakes up and gets all hyper?”
“Sure thing,” DG agreed easily, donning her helmet and swinging a leg over her bike.
Twenty minutes later and Harry was pulling a bouncing Teddy from his car seat and following DG up the steps of a classic Kansas-style farm house. “Are you going to be a good boy and behave yourself?” Harry asked Teddy quietly as DG called for her parents.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Teddy said with a mischievous grin.
“Oh, DG, you’re home. Your Pop is out by the wind turbines - a storm’s coming and the engine’s broke again and - oh, hello,” the harried looking woman stopped herself as she spotted Harry. “And who are you?”
“Mom, this is Harry Potter and his kid, Teddy… Lupin?” DG glanced at Harry and he nodded. “They’ve been travelling for a couple of days and-”
“Little Teddy needs somewhere to burn off all his excess energy?” Mrs Gale interrupted.
“Yes, ma’am,” Harry agreed quickly. “We’re sorry to intrude, but DG said this’d be the best place for some fresh air and a place for Teddy to play in safety.” Teddy bounced against Harry’s hip and hit his fist against Harry’s chest.
“Down!” Teddy demanded.
“Hey,” Harry scolded, turning his attention down to the two year old. “I thought you were going to play nice?”
Teddy pouted and bounced a couple of times more. “Down?” he asked, sucking in his top lip.
Mrs Gale frowned at Harry a little longer, then sighed and nodded. “Go on then, sugar. You go play. But stay on the porch - that’s the wooden bit.”
Teddy looked at her with a clear expression of ‘well duh,’ that startled laughter from the woman. Then the two year old wasted no more time in opening his little bag and pulling out his trucks, to run them up and down the ‘wooden bit’.
“Now Deege, you go help your father. Tell him I’ll be making lemonade for all of you. And tell him about our guest.”
“Yes, Mom,” DG said with another roll of her eyes. “Let me just grab my sketch pad - there’s something I want to show him.”
“You be quick now,” Mrs Gale said, and then turned her back on Harry and Teddy and went into the kitchen and turned her attention to the lemonade she was going to make. Harry followed her silently and leant against the doorframe, half watching her and half watching Teddy out of the window. When they heard DG slam the door as she raced out towards the wind turbines, Mrs Gale flung down her tea towel and span to face Harry.
“Now who d’you think you are, young man? It ain’t time yet. We ain’t heard a single word,” she expressed in a harsh whisper.
Taken aback, it was all Harry could do to keep his bearing. “Ma’am, with all due respect, I don’t know what you’re talking about. After the war in England, I completed my education, paid my respects to Teddy’s parents, then escaped.”
“But you know she’s -”
“Magic?” Harry said tentatively, when Mrs Gale didn’t continue. At the sharp nod of acknowledgement, Harry carried on. “Yeah, I know. It made me curious - she has so much power, but she’s never used it - not even a little bit. I’m guessing she doesn’t know?”
Mrs Gale shook her head sharply. “And until we get the word, she ain’t goin’ to know!”
Harry nodded. “Your decision, I guess. But how old is she? Twenty? How long ‘til her magic gets bored and lashes out? How long is she going to stay here?” He stopped, not wanting to anger his hostess. “I’m sorry,” he apologised. “It’s none of my business. I just wanted to check that she was with someone who knew and could take care of the fallout when it happened - and it will happen, soon.”
“I know,” Mrs Gale dropped her head and wrung her wrists. “But we - me and her Pop - we made a promise. And we’ll keep that promise.”
“I’m looking for a place to call home,” Harry added quietly. “If you want I can stick close by and help you with that.”
“Why?” Mrs Gale turned her back on him and continued squeezing lemons. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but why do you care?”
Harry shrugged and grinned a little. “You’ve heard of the war in England? About Voldemort and the guy who defeated him - the Boy-Who-Lived?”
Mrs Gale nodded.
“His real name is Harry Potter. I am he. And after spending seven years running around trying to save the world I’ve gained something of a hero complex. I moved away to escape the expectations at home, but that doesn’t put a damper my natural desire to help people out and to save them,” he continued in good humour.
At the disbelieving look Mrs Gale shot over her shoulder, Harry raised his fringe to reveal the distinctive white lightening bolt scar that had long since faded from the blood red that it had once been. She saw the thin, jagged line and gasped slightly, she took in the rest of his appearance and asked a question that Harry had not at all expected; “How old are you?”
“How old do you think I am? DG said I was - and I quote - ‘hardly a boy’.”
“You look like you’re in your late twenties, possibly? But there’s a boyishness to your features still, so I’m guessing slightly younger.”
“Nineteen,” Harry told her sadly. “But war ages people prematurely.”
“How’d you end up with a two year old, hmm?”
At the reminder of the rambunctious child, Harry smiled again. “Isn’t that the question of the hour?” he asked chuckling slightly. “I’ve yet to explain to DG and I’m sure she wouldn’t forgive me if I told someone else first.”
Mrs Gale raised her eyebrows, but allowed this escape. “Very well then,” she uttered with a sigh. “Now if you and your British, heroic ways aren’t too proud you can come over here and help with the lemonade.”
Harry gave a low, exaggerated bow, sweeping an imaginary hat from his head and proceeded to talk with an affected British accent for the next ten minutes, before his ‘what-ho’s and ‘spiffing old chap’s forced a reluctant laugh from his hostess’s lips and she freed him from the kitchen to wait on the porch for DG and her father. With only a few words of insisting to help, Harry allowed himself to be shooed outdoors and he sank to the floor to play with Teddy, who delighted in the full attention of his godfather for more than a couple of minutes at a time.
DG did not spend too much longer out by the turbine and when she returned her cheeks were ruddy from the wind that was picking up now and the extravagant, energetic conversation with her father. Mr Gale, too, was looking somewhat pink and Harry smiled at this knowledge. DG reminded him a lot of how he’d been when he was younger. Although he had not had loving guardians and the stubborn, almost childish cheerfulness they shared had matured quickly in him into something quieter and more private because of it, the familiarities were startling and he knew that, if he were to become friends with DG, Harry would soon see her as a younger sister - even if she was older than him.
“And now,” DG said, plopping down into one of the seats with gusto, “you, Mr Potter, must tell me about Teddy before I lose my patience and kick you both out!” she was teasing, he knew, but Mrs Gale was quick to scold her daughter for being so rude. Harry only laughed.
“But of course,” he agreed and, upon seeing the strange looks DG and Mr Gale sent, and the glare from Mrs Gale, he dropped the accent with another short burst of laughter. “Teddy’s parents were killed about two years ago now, in an aeroplane crash coming back from a long weekend’s holiday in Paris. His only remaining immediate family member - his grandmother - took care of him while I finished my education but not long after I graduated she too died. As Godfather I felt I must take on Teddy. It has been a chore at times but well worth the effort, I think.”
As though he knew they were talking about him, Teddy stopped in his playing and toddled over to Harry, pulling on his trouser leg as he often did when he wanted attention. “Daddy,” he cried. “Up! New friends!”
Taking this as a wish to be introduced, Harry showed Teddy each of their host family, saying their name, the toddler repeating it as best he could. Mr and Mrs Gale, both as taken by Teddy as DG said they would be, insisted on being called Hank and Em respectfully. Thus christened by their young guest as ‘Dij’, ‘Hak’ and ‘Mm’ and with the wind picking up further, the group retreated indoors, much to Teddy’s disappointment. After so long in a car he wanted to be outside - the wind was a little matter to one so small who was protected from it by his much taller companions and the various seats and tables.
In spite of his teasing reluctance to help making the lemonade, Harry cheerfully offered his services in aid of dinner without any prompting. Em, who had long since despaired of her husband or daughter ever volunteering, eagerly accepted the help. Although she had initially been exceedingly suspicious of him, as DG and Hank were so friendly and welcoming, instantly liking the young stranger, it didn’t take long for her to warm up to him either. Besides, no one who had willingly taken in a two year old could be a bad person. The whole Boy-Who-Lived thing didn’t hurt either.
Dinner was a cosy affair, everyone all talking at once and Ted gladly making as much mess as possible, by the end of which they had exhausted the poor toddler and Harry lay him down on the couch, borrowing a blanket to smooth over him. Once Teddy was comfortably tucked in, he helped carry the dishes back to the kitchen and offered to clean the dishes. With a persuasive word from Em, Hank joined Harry and it didn’t take long for the two men to set about, chuckling at various anecdotes and not settling on one subject for too long.
“You went through my stuff?!” an outraged DG was heard from the other room and both men paused momentarily in surprise. When the argument continued, their conversation turned to loudly discussing the weather and clattering the dishes as much as possible without breaking them, so as not to hear what was going on, despite both of their curiosity.
There was a serious of thumps, indicating DG’s removal upstairs, and then the slamming of what Harry assumed was her bedroom door. Em appeared in the kitchen doorway looking tired and haggard, so Harry slipped back into the living room, leaving the couple to discuss what had happened in private.
Teddy was sitting upright, with the blanket clutched protectively around him when Harry saw him, and he immediately ran to his adoptive father and hugged his legs very tightly. “Is Dij ok?” he murmured in a half-sleepy, half-scared voice that children waking from nightmares often use.
“She’s fine,” Harry promised, picking him up. “But you know how you get angry at me, sometimes, and shout at me?” The child nodded. “Well DG’s a bit angry at her mummy at the moment, so she shouted. They still love each other, they’re just upset.”
“They trav’lin’?” Teddy asked quietly. In the past week it was always when he had spent too long in the car that he got the most upset and something in his infant brain made the link.
“DG wants to, but her mummy doesn’t,” Harry murmured, feeling guilty about repeating the snatches or argument he’d heard.
But Teddy nodded wisely, as though it all made perfect sense to him now - perhaps it did - and then lowered his head to his father’s shoulder, tucked his thumb back into his mouth and returned into slumber. It was at this point, or a few minutes later, that the lights shorted. A call from Em calmed Harry’s fears a little though - it was just the wind. However, he had grown up around Voldemort and ‘no-such-thing-as-a-coincidence’s and he sent a pulse of magic out to scan the area.
What he found was not good. The storm was made of magic. Harry knew only one person who could control any of the elements - and that was Seamus, with his mother’s fire mage abilities, he too had some control over fire. But this - this was incredible. An elemental mage of great power must have had to force this into being.
But then, to Harry’s horror, he understood exactly how it had come about. For once, the storm was a coincidence, though it’s appearance was not. As eight armed men, one with a small amount of magical power, the others bereft, appeared from nowhere, Harry understood. He’d been lectured often enough by Hermione to know that sometimes it paid to listen to her, and he dimly remembered her telling him about travel storms. They were exceedingly rare and no wizard alive could recount the appearance of one (which at the time Harry thought was absurd - of course not, it was a travel storm, it took you somewhere else. Somewhere that you might not return from) and so many dismissed them as myth.
This, however, was not a myth, and seven of the men did not have nearly enough magic between them to apparate. The storm came as a result of someone or something of great magical power propelling one or more beings not only through space, but dimensions and also possibly time. Much like the whirlwind effect of a portkey, but on a much larger scale, because it was a much larger piece of magic.
This just left the question - what were eight armed men being propelled toward them through space, dimension and time coming for?
Then, remembering Em’s comment on keeping someone’s promise and not hearing a word, Harry realised with a jolt that whoever had sent DG had cared very much for her. And someone who cared that much and knew enough about magic to bind their daughter in such a way… they must not have thought it would have lasted so long, this curious exile. He assumed that some kind of betrayal had taken place - a betrayal that DG’s family had thought they would sort out, but that she best be kept out of the way of. Judging by the fire arms and the furious expressions of the descending men, Harry took a wild stab in the dark and guessed that all hadn’t gone as planned.
“Duck!” he shouted, just as the door was blasted open. And then, all hell broke loose.
Harry’s wand was, as ever, tucked into his ankle holster and it would take a few precious moments to bend and retrieve it. Precious moments Harry needed to protect Teddy. He wasn’t so worried about Em and Hank, both of whom were adults and, from Hank’s cry of, “Longcoats!” had faced these men at least once before.
But with shots being fired in every direction and his back mostly turned to the new arrivals, Harry wasn’t entirely sure what happened next. All he knew was that he had got Teddy, who was terrified but alive and unharmed, and his wand was now in his hand. It was the matter of seconds to knock out the remaining conscious seven (Em had managed to hit one over the head with a frying pan). But, even though the human risk was solved, the hurricane was still heading straight towards them.
DG had emerged, dazed and frightened from her attic bedroom and Harry felt a curious desire to protect her come over him. She was still in her day clothes, but she’d probably cried herself to sleep, judging from the redness of her eyes and the messiness of her hair - now that Harry noticed it, there was something very familiar about that messy mop, though he couldn’t place why or who. Either way, she looked very young and vulnerable and it was second nature to walk up to her, Teddy still cradled in his arms, and wrap her up in a hug.
“It’ll be alright,” Harry murmured and felt her stiff posture relax just a tiny bit.
But the next second, Em and Hank were pushing them towards the door and out into the storm.
“It’s not supposed to happen like this,” Em kept muttering, mostly to herself, and shaking her. Then, glancing up under Harry’s piercing, curious gaze, she told him, “This storm is what we were waiting for, but this was not what we’d hoped.”
DG looked from her Mom, to Harry, and back again. “What’s going on?”
“You have to trust us, Deege,” Hank yelled over the howling of the wind through the now-open front door. “Jump!”
Harry grabbed tight hold of DG’s hand, his other arm curled tightly around the terrified Teddy. The two year old was clutching Harry’s neck just as tightly, but his eyes - now wide and swirling black - were watching the whirlwind with fascination. Harry didn’t have time to worry about Teddy revealing his animagus abilities before DG was shoved forward and he, by refusing to let go of her, soon followed.
As he fell and the world as he knew it disintegrated, he saw Hank’s face in the gleaming, swirling darkness. It was begging him not to let go, to protect DG to the best of his ability. Harry didn’t need to be told to do that. And Hank had no idea to the extent Harry could protect his daughter.
v^v^v
Harry was the first to wake of the three of them. He was on his back, staring up into a clear blue sky decorated with not one but two suns. One arm was still curled protectively around Teddy, who was sleeping peacefully on Harry’s chest, one hand still clutching his shirt front tightly. The other of Harry’s hands was holding DG’s smaller, warm one. Neither of his companions were stirring and, in a blinding moment of panic, Harry thought they might be dead.
But then he registered the feel of Teddy’s chest shifting as he breathed, and DG’s hand tightened slightly around his. Her eyelids fluttered and she heaved in a large breath but, like Harry when he woke, did not let out a groan. She stayed staring unthinking at the sky for some time, before the reality of what had just happened hit her and she jolted upright, thrusting Harry’s hand away from her.
“Where are we?” she near yelled, waking Teddy up and causing the two year old to shrink back slightly in fear. “Where have you taken me? Who are you? Where are my parents? Why did you do this? Take me back!”
Harry held up one hand in surrender, keeping the other wrapped around Ted as he sat upright. “I’ve no idea where we are, I had nothing to do with how we got here and I’ve already told you I’m Harry Potter,” he replied, giving up on trying to answer all of her questions individually before he even tried.
DG looked suspiciously at him as though considering whether to believe him, then noticing the small scared form of Teddy clutching Harry’s jacket and hiding his face in his shoulder, she calmed.
“I’m sorry, I-” she stopped and looked to the side, blinking away tears. “The last I saw of my parents I was arguing with them and now they might be dead. I don’t - I wish…”
Harry strode forward and pulled her into a one armed hug. “Hush, it’ll all be ok. Although I’ve not ever seen or travelled by one before, I’ve heard of travel storms. If your parents followed us in and haven’t encountered any more of those men, they are safe.”
“But what if-”
Harry raised a hand, silencing her. “It’s best not to think on ‘what if’s. If I lived in what ifs I’d never have been able to do what I did. And then Teddy and I would never have travelled to America and you’d be here on your own.”
“Sounds like one hell of a story,” she said, smiling weakly and blinking away the first signs of tears that had never spilt over.
“I suppose,” Harry shrugged and grinned. “Of course, I can only tell you if you’re at all inclined to believe in dragons, werewolves, half-giants and magic in general.”
“After my transportation today - travel storm, did you say? - I guess I should be, but this all seems like a very bizarre dream.”
“Would it help if I showed you my wand?”
DG stared at him blankly, wondering if she should be horrified, amused or disbelieving. “Wand.” she repeated. “That better not be a euphemism.”
Harry chuckled and shook his head before he grabbed her hand and started walking through the trees. He summoned his wand to the hand holding Teddy to his hip and waved it a couple of times to emit sparks, for her benefit. Then he proceeded to tell her the story of his life, embellishing some details and skipping over others. Occasionally she would inject a comment or ask a question (“But why should the Basilisk eyes affect a ghost at all?” “He turned Malfoy into what?” “Poor Sirius!” “You died? But, how did you get back?”) but mostly she just listened with rapt attention, occasionally squeezing his hand comfortingly.
About an hour after their arrival in this land and shortly after Harry finished his tale they heard distressed cries coming from the woods off to their left.
“No! If I’m a criminal of Azkadelia’s, am I not on your side? An enemy of my enemy and all that? What are you doing with that? No, no, no! Oooow!” the voice was male and obviously only a breath away from sobbing. “I know nothing! I don’t know anything! Please don’t, please…” then, whomever it was let out a piercing scream and DG and Harry, without needing to turn to each other, both broke out into a run, towards the voice.
Harry let go of DG’s hand as they broke into the clearing and whipped out his wand, immediately placing a protective shield around the three of them, luckily in time to divert the volley of arrows that were shot towards them. He quickly took in all that was happening and, seeing a man of about thirty tied face down across a thick wooden log, the skin on his back broken and bleeding, his anger became palpable.
“What,” he said in a furious, carefully measured tone, “is going on here?”
“We are punishing one of Azkadelia’s spies,” one of the short creatures covered in blue face paint answered. “And who are you - another spy?”
“I come from another world,” Harry told them, gazing imperiously down his nose at them. “How do you know this man is a spy?”
The one who had spoken, a leader of some sort, Harry suspected, gasped. “An other-sider! Sent to help us with his magic!”
“Answer my question, before I knock your lights out!” Harry roared at them, stroking Teddy to calm the terrified toddler as well he could whilst still maintaining his fearsome persona.
“He must be a spy!” Blue-face answered. “And if he is not, he is a criminal.”
“I’m not, I’m not!” the man tied down shouted. “I can’t remember who I am, but I’m certain I’m not a spy or a criminal, certain of it!” Then, a moment later, he said the same thing again.
“You see, other-sider? He’s a half brainer.”
Harry had no idea what that meant. He scowled down at the little people for a moment longer, before releasing his shields. He passed Teddy to DG and told her to stay where she was. Then he crossed the clearing to where the man was tied down. He inspected the damaged back and then waved his wand across it a couple of times, muttering ‘episky’ until the wounds were sealed up. Then he conjured a cloth and wiped away the blood gently, knowing that the new skin would still be very sore.
Once cleaned, he untied the man and instructed him to sit upon the logs he’d been tied to. Then he summoned the man’s t-shirt, button-down, waistcoat and jacket and handed them back to him.
“You’ll need to be careful of your back for a couple of hours or so, and you may end up with some light scarring, but it should be entirely healthy and usable by the end of the day - although I’d recommend staying away from strenuous activity for a couple of days,” Harry advised.
The man, whoever he was, disregarded the shirt and jacket he’d been about to put on and hugged Harry tightly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he said, tears leaking out of his eyes. “I thought I was going to die!”
Harry stroked the stranger’s curly hair and smiled, trying to ignore the hot wire of attraction that tightened in his belly. “I’m sure they wouldn’t have killed you.” He glared over the man’s head at the midgets, daring them to contradict him.
Suddenly, the man went stiff and sat up, forcing Harry to abruptly let go of him. “Who are you?” he demanded. “Where am I?”
It was then that Harry remembered what blue-face had said about this man being a half-brainer. Looking at the man’s head, he saw with horror the zip that went the length of his skull, starting at his forehead. The fastening was loose and Harry could see that there was, indeed, only half a brain there. “Oh, sweet Merlin,” Harry breathed out. “What did they do to you?”
A sudden fear and apprehension entered the other man’s eyes and he withdrew further. “Do you hate me?” he said in a small voice.
“No,” Harry immediately replied. “No, of course not. I think you’re very brave. Will you put the rest of your clothes on and tell me who you are?”
“I’m Glitch,” the man said quietly, pulling his shirt and jacket on quickly without bothering to do either up. “On account of how my synapses don’t always fire right.”
Harry leant forward and reached tentatively for the zip handle and rolled it backward so the gaping hole was shut. “There, now you’re decent. I’m Harry.” He offered his hand to Glitch, who shook it eagerly.
“I’m Glitch,” he said again. “On account of how my synapses don’t always fire right.”
DG opened her mouth and looked as though she were going to say something about the repetition, but stopped when Harry shook his head.
Once Glitch was on his feet, still clutching the hand Harry had offered him to shake, Harry returned his attention to the small people. “I don’t know who you are, who Azkadelia is, nor why you were treating Glitch that way. But by God if this is how you welcome strangers I’m not going to help you!”
~To Be Continued~
NEXT
Each chapter of this is in two parts because they're too long to fit into one post. Fic will probably come to about 9/10 chapters (18-20 posts) depending on how carried away I get. Which, at the moment, is very. My bad. Please enjoy. Comments are adored (even the flames, they're normally quite funny to read).
Much love,
Yellow
xx