RP : Coming to visit.
Date : October 22nd 2002
Characters : Harry & Lily Potter.
Location : Lily's and James' house on Arch Way.
Status : Private.
Summary : Harry owes his mother a visit... and a pack of fresh eggs.
Complete : Complete.
Harry walked through High Steet, away from Annwn’s market place where he had just gone to pick up the fresh pack of eggs he still owed his mother. His mother had dropped all of her groceries when she had recognised him, a quite normal reaction, Harry supposed. But unfortunately, the eggs had been smashed in the process. He shook his head with a grin at the scene while he turned left onto Arch Way.
He had promised her that he’d come to visit again and that was exactly what he was going to do today. After finding his house, he had remembered he had made her that promise and he supposed this was a good time to do it. So Harry had gone to the market to pick up a pack of eggs and went on his way. Spotting his parents’ house, he sped up a little, careful not to juggle the pack of eggs too much. Stepping up to the door, he rang the bell.
Lily had been upstairs, throwing dirty clothes into the hamper and wrinkling her nose at the state of some of the particular items, when the doorbell rang. She put the last piece of clothing in with the others and brushed nonexistent dust off her hands on her thighs. Then she walked down the stairs in a swift pace and reached the front door, opening it. A smile broke out across her face when she saw who was standing on the other side.
“Harry!” Lily greeted and stepped aside to wave him in. There was no way he would get a chance to just say hi and leave after a few seconds. It was then she saw the pack in his hands, arching an eyebrow in question and grinned. “For me?”
“Hi, mum.” Harry grinned and stepped inside, turning around to look at her once he was inside. “Well, I told you I’d bring eggs next time.” He held out the pack for her.
Accepting the pack of egg with one hand, she reached out with the other and embraced him in a hug and held the eggs slightly away from his body as she wrapped that arm around him as well. She squeezed him as tightly as she could without dropping the pack. “You did, sweetheart. I had nearly begun to think that you forgotten about your poor, old mum.”
“I haven’t.” Harry quietly said as he returned the embrace. “I never have.” He paused as he slowly pulled away, allowing himself to smile, not wanting to go into the topic of their loss so early into his life. “I’ve been around, exploring.” He shrugged, making a vague gesture with his hand.
He curiously looked around the room. “Dad not home?” He tried not to let the disappointment slip into his voice, but he didn’t quite succeed.
“Good.” Lily nodded and took his hand in her own, dragging him further into the house, into the living room. “Exploring?” She quirked an eyebrow, she could very well imagine him wandering around the town and taking in the sights. It was something James had done several times over the years; she just hoped he hadn’t been making any mischief.
“No, I think he’s off with Sirius at the moment. But if he’d known you would come today, he would have been here.” She smiled softly and reached up to squeeze his shoulder comfortingly as she caught the sad tone in his voice.
Harry nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been looking around town. Saw Sirius, too. He thought I was dad, too.” He gave his mother a sheepish grin. He let himself be dragged further into the room. “I should have known he’d be with Sirius. Ah well, I’ll run into him sometime, I guess.” He gave a light shrug.
He didn’t mind at all that his dad was probably sneaking around town with Sirius, planning mischief. Maybe he should introduce them to the twins, they could probably use two experienced mischief-makers. Harry grinned to hjmself. Fred and George might even be impressed meeting the creators of the Marauders’ Map. Yeah, he should probably do that.
He looked at his mother again. “I found a house.” It was short, it was simple, but the underlying message was clear enough. Harry Potter was in Annwn to stay.
Looking at Harry, Lily cocked her head. “Really? He didn’t mention that when he came around.” She would have to have some words with Sirius about that later. Honestly, not sharing the fact that he met his own godson, who he had been talking about to great lengths over the last couple years.
Lily smiled at the memory; it had been nice to know something about her son, even if she knew that Sirius had edited out certain things he apparently found less than appropriate. “I’m sure you’ll see him soon enough and trust me, then you’d wished you had waited a bit longer.” She laughed.
“A house?” Lily asked hopefully. If he had found a house here, it would mean that he had come to stay. Something she didn’t mind at all. In fact, the sooner he moved here, the better, she thought. “Where is it?”
“He probably forgot.” Harry shrugged again. “I told him I’d already ran into you, so he probably didn’t think it was necessary to tell you or something. It’s alright, mum.”
He watched her face light up and he grinned. He should have known she would be happy to hear something like that. “At the end of Whiting Road. I only found it this morning. It still needs some cleaning up, but it’ll be liveable soon enough. At least it doesn’t look so bad as Grimmauld Place did.” He let out a laugh, then grimaced at the memory of Grimmauld Place when he had first seen it.
“Still, remind me to smack him on the shoulder some time.” She relented and gave a shrug of her own, shaking her head in abandon. “It seems to be the only thing which works with that man.”
Lily started walking toward the kitchen. “I better put these away.” She gestured at the eggs, holding the pack up. “Would you like some tea?” She inquired, wanting to keep him around longer this time as opposed to their last meeting, even if it had been on a whim. She began making tea anyway, not waiting for his answer.
“Not as bad as Grimmauld Place? That says a lot on its own.” Lily grimaced, then grinned at him. “Do you need any help cleaning your house?”
“Yeah, tea would lovely.” Harry followed her towards the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. He watched her. It was strange to be watching her like this, doing something so simple, so common. Harry had never imagined he would have been able to see his mother like this. It made him smile.
“Nah, it’s alright, mum.” He replied to her question about cleaning his new house. “I’ll manage on my own. I thinks it’s something I’d like to do on my own. You know what I mean, don’t you?”
Putting the pot of tea on a tray together with two cups and a platter of biscuits and fresh fruit, Lily arranged the items to fit. She saw him smile out of the corner of her eyes and turned her head around to look at him, smiling back. Then she picked up the tray and walked past him into the living room again. It struck her then that this was the first almost meal she had prepared for her son in years and felt like she should have made something else, but it would have to do for now. A proper dinner would be on her agenda next time.
When he refused her offer politely, Lily nodded slowly. “I think I get the idea. I felt the same when we first came here… this house was just as dusty and grime filled as I can imagine yours is.” She paused for a moment, setting the two cups on the small coffee table. Sitting down, she patted the seat next to her on the sofa. “Though… I wouldn’t have minded if your father had done a bit more than just helping with the paintjob and bringing in the new furniture.” She rolled her eyes with a soft snort.
Harry sat down next to her, picking up a cup of tea, starting to stir a sugar cube into it. “From the stories I’ve heard, dad isn’t really the type to stay home, is he?” He gave a small grin. “I think he’d rather run off with Sirius than do something about the house.” He glanced at her. “I think it looks just fine, mum.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” She said, smiling at his courteous words about the house. “And no, he isn’t. He likes being outside too much either with flying or finding some way of causing mischief.” Lily shrugged and raised her cup of tea to her lips, blowing on the hot liquid before sipping. She felt at ease sitting like this with Harry, even if it was the first she had ever done it, at least without him being two feet tall and sitting in her lap. “By the way, did you find your way alright last time?”
Harry sipped his own tea. “Yeah, I managed just fine. George Street wasn’t too hard to find after all.” He smiled. “The town’s easy to get around, if you’ve been wandering around for a while.”
That much was true. During the short time he had been in Annwn, he had found out that he could easily find his way around the streets. He had to admit that he enjoyed wandering around the grassy meadows better than crossing busy streets. Ever since the war had ended, Harry enjoyed some quiet time every once in a while. And his new house at Whiting Road would fulfil that need perfectly.
“Good.” She nodded and took another sip of her tea. “I don’t mean to pry… well, maybe I am.” Lily grinned cheekily and put her cup down, to reach for a biscuit. “Did you find who you were looking for as well?” Biting into the biscuit, she watched him for a moment, once again soaking in the fact that she had her son with her again and he was going to live in Annwn as well. She felt giddy with the thought.
“You’re nosy, mum.” Harry grinned. “Not that I should say much, I seem to have inherited that from you.” He paused, nodding. “Yeah, I did. I found who I was looking for.” He didn’t want to continue on that topic for now. He wasn’t quite sure how he should explain that to her, neither did he feel very comfortable discussing it with his mother.
He had never needed to explain much about Ginny to anyone. They had their ups and downs, but they took things as they came. Not everyone seemed to be able to understand that, but Harry didn’t care. But he felt like he would care about his parents’ opinion, his mother’s in particular.
Giggling, Lily rolled her eyes. “Have you now?” She asked, waiting to see if he would divulge anything about his own experiences with said nosiness. She wanted to know everything, anything he would tell her. While Sirius had told her several of Harry’s adventures, she could tell that things were missing and now she wanted to hear the tales from Harry himself. “You have of course only used your nosiness in the cause of good.” She smirked.
Harry gave her a sharp look. He looked back at his tea cup and sighed. “I wouldn’t exactly say that.” He softly said. He couldn’t help but think about the mistakes he made, about the things that just those experiences had taught him. In particular, he couldn’t help but be reminded of Snape’s memory about his father. He had never mentioned that to anyone, not even to Ron and Hermione, not even to Ginny. “I don’t want to talk about it, mum.” He said in the same soft tone, before lifting the cup to his lips and taking another sip of his tea.
Lily froze at his sharp look and glanced at him with a worried expression.. Frowning, she nodded slowly, knowing that a story was behind this, perhaps several and it had not been particularly good experiences. “Okay, Harry. But you do realize you can tell me anything you want to? I’m your mother. I won’t judge you.” She smiled gently at her son and picked up an apple slice, popping it into her mouth and crunching it between her teeth. “What about your plans in Annwn? Will you tell me those?” She inquired with a tilt of her head.
“I know, but there are things I don’t want to talk about.” He didn’t look at her, staring into his half-empty cup instead. “You can understand that, can’t you?” He paused, considering her next question. He hadn’t really thought about actually plans for coming to live in Annwn. “I don’t know yet, to be honest. Maybe settle in, find a job… I’m not sure what to expect.”
“I understand. I will not pry.” Lily agreed. Then she reached over and poked his shoulder to get him to stop looking at his cup instead of her. She knew when to stop prodding before the other person would snap at her. Her experience with dealing with Severus on a daily basis in the past had taught her that. “A job would be good. It can get boring just lounging around the house all day.” She shrugged with a small grin. "Any ideas on that?"
Harry looked at her, then shrugged. “Not yet, I guess. I’m not sure what this town has to offer yet, but I’ll manage.” He didn’t really feel like telling her what had happened with his previous job. He’d tell her sooner or later, but at this moment, it still felt weird sharing this moment with his mother. He had missed her for more than twenty years and it was that little fact that still kept poking at the back of his mind. He shrugged again. “We’ll see.”
“Hmm.” Lily pondered, lightly tapping her cheek with a finger. “Well, you’ll have to go exploring some more then. Annwn has many things to offer, if you know where to look.” She grinned and picked up her cup of tea again, taking a sip from the now lukewarm liquid before setting it down on the table.
She studied Harry for a moment, then impulsively leaned towards him and engulfed him in a hug and breathed in his scent, just to make sure she had caught the right scent the last time. “My little boy.” She whispered and drew back, smiling tremulously. “You’ve grown so much, you’re taller than me now.” Shaking her head, Lily sighed and brushed a couple of his bangs away from his forehead as she laughed softly. “Just ignore my babbling, Harry. I must be getting sentimental in my old age.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Old age? Mum, you look my age.” He let her do as she pleased, not having the heart to pull away from her. He leaned into the touch, closing his eyes with a soft sigh. How often hadn’t he thought about this? Having his mother near? Too often, he realised. But at that time, he hadn’t ever imagined that it would happen.
“I should be going soon, mum.” He whispered. “I still have a few errands to run.” The words pained him and it showed, but he still had a few things to take care of before he could actually move into his house.
“Ah, I see you’ve inherited something else from your father than that crow’s nest.” She ruffled his hair fondly and kissed the top of his head. “Charmer.” Lily teased with a grin and pulled him close again for a last hug. When she released him this time, she nodded. “Of course, but don’t hesitate to come around at any time. Or if you decide you want help with something. Alright?” Lily looked at him with a serious expression, still feeling like she couldn’t really just let him go.
“I’ll let you know, mum, promise.” Harry nodded and finished his tea. He kissed her on the cheek, before getting up. “Feel free to come by in a few days, I should have settled in then.”
Smiling, Lily got up as well and walked him to the door. “You can count on that, young man.” She opened the front door, letting the calm, but cool autumn air breeze by them. “I wouldn't pass the opportunity up for anything, Harry.”
“I didn’t think you would.” Harry gave a smile, stepping outside. “Thanks for the tea, mum.” After that, he forced himself to turn around and to walk away. Letting go and walking away was always the hardest part, but there would be more opportunities to catch up soon.
Characters : Harry & Lily Potter.
Location : Lily's and James' house on Arch Way.
Status : Private.
Summary : Harry owes his mother a visit... and a pack of fresh eggs.
Complete : Complete.
Harry walked through High Steet, away from Annwn’s market place where he had just gone to pick up the fresh pack of eggs he still owed his mother. His mother had dropped all of her groceries when she had recognised him, a quite normal reaction, Harry supposed. But unfortunately, the eggs had been smashed in the process. He shook his head with a grin at the scene while he turned left onto Arch Way.
He had promised her that he’d come to visit again and that was exactly what he was going to do today. After finding his house, he had remembered he had made her that promise and he supposed this was a good time to do it. So Harry had gone to the market to pick up a pack of eggs and went on his way. Spotting his parents’ house, he sped up a little, careful not to juggle the pack of eggs too much. Stepping up to the door, he rang the bell.
Lily had been upstairs, throwing dirty clothes into the hamper and wrinkling her nose at the state of some of the particular items, when the doorbell rang. She put the last piece of clothing in with the others and brushed nonexistent dust off her hands on her thighs. Then she walked down the stairs in a swift pace and reached the front door, opening it. A smile broke out across her face when she saw who was standing on the other side.
“Harry!” Lily greeted and stepped aside to wave him in. There was no way he would get a chance to just say hi and leave after a few seconds. It was then she saw the pack in his hands, arching an eyebrow in question and grinned. “For me?”
“Hi, mum.” Harry grinned and stepped inside, turning around to look at her once he was inside. “Well, I told you I’d bring eggs next time.” He held out the pack for her.
Accepting the pack of egg with one hand, she reached out with the other and embraced him in a hug and held the eggs slightly away from his body as she wrapped that arm around him as well. She squeezed him as tightly as she could without dropping the pack. “You did, sweetheart. I had nearly begun to think that you forgotten about your poor, old mum.”
“I haven’t.” Harry quietly said as he returned the embrace. “I never have.” He paused as he slowly pulled away, allowing himself to smile, not wanting to go into the topic of their loss so early into his life. “I’ve been around, exploring.” He shrugged, making a vague gesture with his hand.
He curiously looked around the room. “Dad not home?” He tried not to let the disappointment slip into his voice, but he didn’t quite succeed.
“Good.” Lily nodded and took his hand in her own, dragging him further into the house, into the living room. “Exploring?” She quirked an eyebrow, she could very well imagine him wandering around the town and taking in the sights. It was something James had done several times over the years; she just hoped he hadn’t been making any mischief.
“No, I think he’s off with Sirius at the moment. But if he’d known you would come today, he would have been here.” She smiled softly and reached up to squeeze his shoulder comfortingly as she caught the sad tone in his voice.
Harry nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been looking around town. Saw Sirius, too. He thought I was dad, too.” He gave his mother a sheepish grin. He let himself be dragged further into the room. “I should have known he’d be with Sirius. Ah well, I’ll run into him sometime, I guess.” He gave a light shrug.
He didn’t mind at all that his dad was probably sneaking around town with Sirius, planning mischief. Maybe he should introduce them to the twins, they could probably use two experienced mischief-makers. Harry grinned to hjmself. Fred and George might even be impressed meeting the creators of the Marauders’ Map. Yeah, he should probably do that.
He looked at his mother again. “I found a house.” It was short, it was simple, but the underlying message was clear enough. Harry Potter was in Annwn to stay.
Looking at Harry, Lily cocked her head. “Really? He didn’t mention that when he came around.” She would have to have some words with Sirius about that later. Honestly, not sharing the fact that he met his own godson, who he had been talking about to great lengths over the last couple years.
Lily smiled at the memory; it had been nice to know something about her son, even if she knew that Sirius had edited out certain things he apparently found less than appropriate. “I’m sure you’ll see him soon enough and trust me, then you’d wished you had waited a bit longer.” She laughed.
“A house?” Lily asked hopefully. If he had found a house here, it would mean that he had come to stay. Something she didn’t mind at all. In fact, the sooner he moved here, the better, she thought. “Where is it?”
“He probably forgot.” Harry shrugged again. “I told him I’d already ran into you, so he probably didn’t think it was necessary to tell you or something. It’s alright, mum.”
He watched her face light up and he grinned. He should have known she would be happy to hear something like that. “At the end of Whiting Road. I only found it this morning. It still needs some cleaning up, but it’ll be liveable soon enough. At least it doesn’t look so bad as Grimmauld Place did.” He let out a laugh, then grimaced at the memory of Grimmauld Place when he had first seen it.
“Still, remind me to smack him on the shoulder some time.” She relented and gave a shrug of her own, shaking her head in abandon. “It seems to be the only thing which works with that man.”
Lily started walking toward the kitchen. “I better put these away.” She gestured at the eggs, holding the pack up. “Would you like some tea?” She inquired, wanting to keep him around longer this time as opposed to their last meeting, even if it had been on a whim. She began making tea anyway, not waiting for his answer.
“Not as bad as Grimmauld Place? That says a lot on its own.” Lily grimaced, then grinned at him. “Do you need any help cleaning your house?”
“Yeah, tea would lovely.” Harry followed her towards the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. He watched her. It was strange to be watching her like this, doing something so simple, so common. Harry had never imagined he would have been able to see his mother like this. It made him smile.
“Nah, it’s alright, mum.” He replied to her question about cleaning his new house. “I’ll manage on my own. I thinks it’s something I’d like to do on my own. You know what I mean, don’t you?”
Putting the pot of tea on a tray together with two cups and a platter of biscuits and fresh fruit, Lily arranged the items to fit. She saw him smile out of the corner of her eyes and turned her head around to look at him, smiling back. Then she picked up the tray and walked past him into the living room again. It struck her then that this was the first almost meal she had prepared for her son in years and felt like she should have made something else, but it would have to do for now. A proper dinner would be on her agenda next time.
When he refused her offer politely, Lily nodded slowly. “I think I get the idea. I felt the same when we first came here… this house was just as dusty and grime filled as I can imagine yours is.” She paused for a moment, setting the two cups on the small coffee table. Sitting down, she patted the seat next to her on the sofa. “Though… I wouldn’t have minded if your father had done a bit more than just helping with the paintjob and bringing in the new furniture.” She rolled her eyes with a soft snort.
Harry sat down next to her, picking up a cup of tea, starting to stir a sugar cube into it. “From the stories I’ve heard, dad isn’t really the type to stay home, is he?” He gave a small grin. “I think he’d rather run off with Sirius than do something about the house.” He glanced at her. “I think it looks just fine, mum.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” She said, smiling at his courteous words about the house. “And no, he isn’t. He likes being outside too much either with flying or finding some way of causing mischief.” Lily shrugged and raised her cup of tea to her lips, blowing on the hot liquid before sipping. She felt at ease sitting like this with Harry, even if it was the first she had ever done it, at least without him being two feet tall and sitting in her lap. “By the way, did you find your way alright last time?”
Harry sipped his own tea. “Yeah, I managed just fine. George Street wasn’t too hard to find after all.” He smiled. “The town’s easy to get around, if you’ve been wandering around for a while.”
That much was true. During the short time he had been in Annwn, he had found out that he could easily find his way around the streets. He had to admit that he enjoyed wandering around the grassy meadows better than crossing busy streets. Ever since the war had ended, Harry enjoyed some quiet time every once in a while. And his new house at Whiting Road would fulfil that need perfectly.
“Good.” She nodded and took another sip of her tea. “I don’t mean to pry… well, maybe I am.” Lily grinned cheekily and put her cup down, to reach for a biscuit. “Did you find who you were looking for as well?” Biting into the biscuit, she watched him for a moment, once again soaking in the fact that she had her son with her again and he was going to live in Annwn as well. She felt giddy with the thought.
“You’re nosy, mum.” Harry grinned. “Not that I should say much, I seem to have inherited that from you.” He paused, nodding. “Yeah, I did. I found who I was looking for.” He didn’t want to continue on that topic for now. He wasn’t quite sure how he should explain that to her, neither did he feel very comfortable discussing it with his mother.
He had never needed to explain much about Ginny to anyone. They had their ups and downs, but they took things as they came. Not everyone seemed to be able to understand that, but Harry didn’t care. But he felt like he would care about his parents’ opinion, his mother’s in particular.
Giggling, Lily rolled her eyes. “Have you now?” She asked, waiting to see if he would divulge anything about his own experiences with said nosiness. She wanted to know everything, anything he would tell her. While Sirius had told her several of Harry’s adventures, she could tell that things were missing and now she wanted to hear the tales from Harry himself. “You have of course only used your nosiness in the cause of good.” She smirked.
Harry gave her a sharp look. He looked back at his tea cup and sighed. “I wouldn’t exactly say that.” He softly said. He couldn’t help but think about the mistakes he made, about the things that just those experiences had taught him. In particular, he couldn’t help but be reminded of Snape’s memory about his father. He had never mentioned that to anyone, not even to Ron and Hermione, not even to Ginny. “I don’t want to talk about it, mum.” He said in the same soft tone, before lifting the cup to his lips and taking another sip of his tea.
Lily froze at his sharp look and glanced at him with a worried expression.. Frowning, she nodded slowly, knowing that a story was behind this, perhaps several and it had not been particularly good experiences. “Okay, Harry. But you do realize you can tell me anything you want to? I’m your mother. I won’t judge you.” She smiled gently at her son and picked up an apple slice, popping it into her mouth and crunching it between her teeth. “What about your plans in Annwn? Will you tell me those?” She inquired with a tilt of her head.
“I know, but there are things I don’t want to talk about.” He didn’t look at her, staring into his half-empty cup instead. “You can understand that, can’t you?” He paused, considering her next question. He hadn’t really thought about actually plans for coming to live in Annwn. “I don’t know yet, to be honest. Maybe settle in, find a job… I’m not sure what to expect.”
“I understand. I will not pry.” Lily agreed. Then she reached over and poked his shoulder to get him to stop looking at his cup instead of her. She knew when to stop prodding before the other person would snap at her. Her experience with dealing with Severus on a daily basis in the past had taught her that. “A job would be good. It can get boring just lounging around the house all day.” She shrugged with a small grin. "Any ideas on that?"
Harry looked at her, then shrugged. “Not yet, I guess. I’m not sure what this town has to offer yet, but I’ll manage.” He didn’t really feel like telling her what had happened with his previous job. He’d tell her sooner or later, but at this moment, it still felt weird sharing this moment with his mother. He had missed her for more than twenty years and it was that little fact that still kept poking at the back of his mind. He shrugged again. “We’ll see.”
“Hmm.” Lily pondered, lightly tapping her cheek with a finger. “Well, you’ll have to go exploring some more then. Annwn has many things to offer, if you know where to look.” She grinned and picked up her cup of tea again, taking a sip from the now lukewarm liquid before setting it down on the table.
She studied Harry for a moment, then impulsively leaned towards him and engulfed him in a hug and breathed in his scent, just to make sure she had caught the right scent the last time. “My little boy.” She whispered and drew back, smiling tremulously. “You’ve grown so much, you’re taller than me now.” Shaking her head, Lily sighed and brushed a couple of his bangs away from his forehead as she laughed softly. “Just ignore my babbling, Harry. I must be getting sentimental in my old age.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Old age? Mum, you look my age.” He let her do as she pleased, not having the heart to pull away from her. He leaned into the touch, closing his eyes with a soft sigh. How often hadn’t he thought about this? Having his mother near? Too often, he realised. But at that time, he hadn’t ever imagined that it would happen.
“I should be going soon, mum.” He whispered. “I still have a few errands to run.” The words pained him and it showed, but he still had a few things to take care of before he could actually move into his house.
“Ah, I see you’ve inherited something else from your father than that crow’s nest.” She ruffled his hair fondly and kissed the top of his head. “Charmer.” Lily teased with a grin and pulled him close again for a last hug. When she released him this time, she nodded. “Of course, but don’t hesitate to come around at any time. Or if you decide you want help with something. Alright?” Lily looked at him with a serious expression, still feeling like she couldn’t really just let him go.
“I’ll let you know, mum, promise.” Harry nodded and finished his tea. He kissed her on the cheek, before getting up. “Feel free to come by in a few days, I should have settled in then.”
Smiling, Lily got up as well and walked him to the door. “You can count on that, young man.” She opened the front door, letting the calm, but cool autumn air breeze by them. “I wouldn't pass the opportunity up for anything, Harry.”
“I didn’t think you would.” Harry gave a smile, stepping outside. “Thanks for the tea, mum.” After that, he forced himself to turn around and to walk away. Letting go and walking away was always the hardest part, but there would be more opportunities to catch up soon.