Fic: a Different Kind of Friendship (HP/CSI:NY, gen)
Title: A Different Kind of Friendship
Author: loonie_lupin (ff. net)/nilitara (livejournal)
Fandom: HP, CSI :NY
Characters/pairing : Harry Potter, Adam Ross (friendship only)
Rating: PG
Summary: Harry is looking for an apartment, Adam has problems with his landlord ; two problems, one solution.
For: crossovers100
Prompt: 009. Months.
Disclaimer: The characters are the property of their respective creator. I own nothing.
009. Months
Harry’s life had changed quite a bit in the last few months. When he had arrived in New York, he hadn’t been certain he was going to stay there; after all, he had no special reason to. The only motivation he had had to come there was that it was a place he had always wanted to visit but it didn’t mean he would like to stay indefinitely. He had been hesitation, trying to decide one way or another, until the night he had met Adam.
He had taken a chance - good thing he had always been impulsive - when he had decided to befriend the kindly man he had met in a bar. He hadn’t known him at all but had seen the possibility to talk to someone without having to edit his life to avoid revealing the existence of magic. Once he had asked Adam to forget about the ‘hero’ image, he had become less nervous. He still was a bit, yes, but Harry had quickly come to realize it was his default mode. It made him quite endearing and showed that he had an innocence left in him, quite visible, even with all he saw in his job. Harry wasn’t sure how he had managed to retain it but he envied him in a way. It would have been nice to still possess some kind of innocence after all he had been through but, in the end, it had been impossible; maybe he had never really been an innocent child, the Dursleys had made sure of that.
Anyway, his meeting with Adam had been the catalyst to his decision to stay in New York and their friendship had grown since then. He wasn’t as close to him as he had been to Ron and Hermione and Harry wasn’t certain he would ever grow as close to anyone as he had been to them because, after all they had been through together, they could say their friendship had been forged in fire and cemented into something very special, very unique.
Still, he was becoming quite fond of Adam and they saw each other quite a lot. He was Harry’s only friend in the States and Harry had the impression that, except from the people he worked with at the lab, Adam didn’t really have any other friends either. It was a shame for such a good person; people didn’t know what they were missing.
One thing he still hadn’t decided, though, was where he would live. He knew he had to change apartment. Not only did he want to buy one, but it had to be in a good place, one where he could see himself live years from now. While he did like the place he was renting, it was way too small if he ever wanted to receive visitors and he knew that, at some point or another, Hermione would insist on coming and where Hermione went, Ron would follow.
He was skimming through the newspaper, a daily habit now, trying to see if there was an ad that could correspond to his need and want, when his front door opened and closed in quick succession. There was only one person who would come in uninvited and it was Adam.
His hypothesis was confirmed when the scientist let himself fall on the sofa, besides him. Harry looked at him, amused. Adam had his eyes closed and looked absolutely exhausted. He was also almost pouting, which made him look about twelve. Not for the first time, Harry wondered how much he had to do at the office to make him so tired at the end of the day; he knew however that most of Adam’s work was confidential so he didn’t usually ask many questions.
“Hard day at work?” Harry inquired; just because he didn’t ask many questions, didn’t mean he asked none at all.
Adam opened an eye, looking at his friend, and sighed, closing it again.
“No, it was alright. Lots of test but fun ones mostly. Not that the case was fun, it wasn’t, but some of the things I had to do were enjoyable. I think Mac think I’m enjoying it a bit too much actually, the way he looks at me sometimes. Anyway, it’s mostly problems with my landlord.”
Harry blinked. He had become quite used, in all the months they had spent together, to the torrent of words that frequently poured from Adam’s lips in a rush. The man could talk and talk and talk. However, after a while, he tended to tell you the information you were waiting for. You just had to learn to filter what you were hearing.
“Your landlord?”
Harry frowned. It was hardly the first time he had heart Adam complain about some problems with the man who owned the apartment he lived in but it was the first time he seemed so defeated. He hated seeing his friend down like that and was thinking more and more seriously about the solution he had imagined a few weeks ago already. He just wasn’t sure Adam would accept.
“I swear, that man has it in for me. There are always problems with my place that the other people living there don’t seem to have. It’s just me. I’m not sure what he has against me but, right now, he says it’s going to take a while to get the heating back on in my flat. I mean, it’s almost winter, there should be heating.”
Harry frowned. The situation was really getting too serious to just let it go anymore. It was impossible that no one would be able to repair the heating before that long, especially in winter. The only reason would be the landlord himself doesn’t want to get it repaired for the moment and, quite frankly, Harry had half a mind to go talk to the man and tell him exactly what he thought of his attitude. Of course, he knew that it would hardly help Adam out in the end, so he squished the urge and, instead, asked the question he should have a while ago now.
“Look. I’m looking for a new apartment myself. Why don’t we look together and you can stay with me. It would be nice not to come home to an empty place and, since I’m buying and not renting, I’m fairly sure you won’t have a problem with the landlord. Except if you do something to piss me off…,” he added the last part jokingly.
Harry really hoped that Adam would accept his proposal, not only because Harry would be less worried about that landlord problem, but because he wasn’t lying when he said it would be nice not to be alone at home. While he was perfectly able to take care of himself and living on his own, he was used to Hogwarts and all his dorm mates, the year he had spent with Ron and Hermione on the run, the Burrow where he had stayed with Ron and his family. The only place he had been really alone was Privet Drive and, quite frankly, it wasn’t among his best memories so he would rather have someone to share his apartment with.
Adam jolted awake, looking at him with big eyes. It was apparently not something he had expected but Harry could guess he wasn’t against the idea.
“Are you sure?” he asked, amazed.
Harry just had to smile at his enthusiasm. He deduced that the answer was yes before Adam even had to say it. Yes, it was going to be a very nice cohabitation.
Prompt table
A Different Kind of Friendship - main entry