Chapter Text
The first thing Harry noticed as he pulled into the driveway of his new home was a police cruiser parked in the neighbor's front yard. He openly gaped at the unexpected vehicle and almost crashed into a tree, if not for the frantic yell of "Dad! Tree! Stop!" from the backseat. He quickly turned the wheel and managed to avoid collision, though the car grazed the wood in the process.
He got out of the car and inspected the scratch thoroughly, and after he was satisfied with his findings – he could fix it with magic, yes – he helped Teddy out of his seatbelt and opened the car's trunk to get their suitcases. Most of their stuff (and everything magical) went to the bottomless, shrunken wooden and heavily guarded trunk that was currently in Harry's pocket.
Teddy took the biggest suitcase to the door by himself, insisting that he was a big boy and could carry such a heavy weight. Harry took the remaining three, smaller suitcases and pulled them to the house.
It was a nice house; the walls were a clean, new white and there was a second floor. It was decent in size, for a two-person family. There were many windows, though. Harry definitely had to do some discrete and very careful magic to take care of that. Even though Teddy's hair has more or less calmed down by the time the boy turned eight, and the charmed locket he constantly carried around – it was originally a ring but according to Teddy rings were girly – kept his metamorphosis abilities in check, he didn't want the boy to hide who he was in his own home.
He searched his pockets for the key the real estate agent has given him – quite enthusiastically as he agreed to pay a very good price for the house – finding a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes trick wand, some every-flavor-beans, three Knuts and one Sickle and a whole bunch of crumpled parchment pieces (he really had to look in his pockets before he put cloths in the washer) in the process. A nostalgic memory of Hagrid popped into his mind and he smiled softly. The half-giant's hut had been completely wrecked during the Battle of Hogwarts, which had marked the end of the war. It had been re-built after the war and Hagrid had moved in despite being offered larger chambers inside the castle by McGonagall, who had become the Headmistress of the school. When he finally opened the door, Teddy running into the house and forgetting his suitcase outside (of course), his hands were sticky with some sort of glue that he really hoped was not George's new 'Permanent, Odorless and Invisible Glue!'.
He followed Teddy into the house, carrying the four suitcases and cursing quietly every time one of them collided with the back of his leg (it hurt). He left them in the living room, thanking Merlin (or maybe Hermione) for the removal company's number. Having most of the house already in place was very convenient when the plan included a ten year old.
Speaking of… "Teddy, your room is upstairs, first door on the right. I expect you down here in an hour to help me unpack!" he told the boy, raising his voice as Teddy raced up the stairs and might have not heard him otherwise. Despite his sensitive hearing due to his inheritance, Teddy would hear the things he wasn't supposed to – like confidential phone calls – and wouldn't hear other important things. Sometimes Harry wondered if the boy had ADD.
"Okay!" was the answer he got.
Rolling his eyes with an amused and affectionate smile on his face, Harry started exploring the house. First was the kitchen, of course. Food was high on his priorities when it came to Teddy, who usually wolfed down two servings at a meal.
There was a medium-sized wooden table by the wall to his right, accompanied by three identical chairs made of darker wood, and a kitchen with many cabinets to his left. There was a relatively large refrigerator, a sink and a stove. There were also all the muggle must-haves; a microwave, a toaster, a fire-alarm and power outlets. It was a normal home.
Well, it would have been, but Harry was intent on making it as safe as he could without involving Dark Magic or the Fidelius charm. He resumed to closing all of the window shutters and blinds and after he made sure Teddy was in his room with a mild Point-Me spell, he started adding ward upon ward to create layers of magical protection.
Harry sighed. Moving to Forks was a big move, especially with Teddy going off to Hogwarts in only a little over a year. That had actually been the cause of their moving to a different continent in the first place. With Teddy's upcoming first year at Hogwarts, the media and public attention had gotten worse. It had been tolerable in the years before that. Harry had made it clear that he didn't accept any fan-mail or sudden visits at his rented flat (there was just no way he was living in Grimmauld Place, knowing the dreadful house's past). The stalking had reached a point where Harry had to draw the line two months earlier, in a rather unfortunate incident where he hexed a fourteen year old kid that followed him into a dark alley, thinking her to be an enemy rather than a harmless student on a Christmas break.
The girl had later claimed it was a frightening experience, but an amazing one nonetheless. The media had sucked up her every word and the next day Harry had appeared on the Prophet's front page in his black robes with the hood raised dramatically over his face, and the headline "Mysterious and Dangerous – the Sexy Side of Harry Potter" looming infuriatingly above the picture.
Teddy had started suffering harassment from the ever-present reporters that camped out of their flat and Harry had decided to take matters into his own hands – thus the sudden move to an unknown town in the middle of nowhere in America.
Harry had been very clear about his requests of the realtor. Their preferable destination was an English-speaking country with sordid weather and a friendly environment. The house needed to be a private house, not a flat that is part of a complex, and a yard, too, was very important.
The realtor had settled them in Forks, for whatever reason, claiming it was the perfect place for sweet get-away from anything and everything. The place was so quiet and peaceful, and the crime-rate was practically non-existent. Also, it seemed to satisfy Harry's need for a trouble-free zone. The place truly sounded fit for their two-person family.
Later that evening, after a well-needed, rather long nap (the time difference was taking its toll on both of them, as Harry had expected) there was a knock on the door. Harry made sure he had his wand and sent a look at Teddy. The boy got up and put his necklace on, before returning to their game and picking up his cards.
"I'll be right back," promised Harry and got up to open the door.
He was met with the curious gaze of a scruffy bloke. The very first impression Harry had on the guy was that he must have taken great care of his mustache, for it to look so shiny and precisely cut. Then he remembered it was impolite to stare and greeted the man.
"Hi," he said awkwardly.
The man grinned. He had a nice smile. His features were soft despite the facial hair and his cloths seemed comfortable; simple jeans and a gray T-shirt beneath a checkered, deep red overshirt. "Hello. So you're the new neighbor. I thought you'd be a… well, a family. I wasn't expecting a bachelor. Anyway, welcome to Forks," he said warmly and offered his hand.
Harry took it happily. "Thank you. We are a family of sorts, I guess. Harry Black," he introduced himself, giving the man his alias (which was not outright false because of the rights to the Black name) rather than his real name. Being Harry Potter, anywhere, was like asking for trouble to come your way.
"Charlie Swan. My daughter cooked dinner and again there is too much for just us two. I just wanted to see if you would like to join us. Moving can be hard," the man remarked.
Harry hurried to agree, making the man smile in amusement. "We'll be there," he said. He didn't fancy cooking after the long flight – they had taken muggle transportation to avoid a conflict with the law.
"We?" asked Mr. Swan.
"Yes, Ted and I. Teddy's my son," explained Harry. For their stay in America, Teddy would be Harry's son by 'blood'. It was a difficult decision to make – Harry didn't want to take Remus's place like that. He simply had no choice. He got Teddy when he was still a minor in muggle terms, and by muggle laws he could not have gotten custody of the boy just by being his self-proclaimed godfather. Judging by the police car, Mr. Swan was a police officer, and Harry didn't want to get into trouble with the law so soon into their stay.
Mr. Swan's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "You have a kid? How old are you, man?"
"Twenty seven," and proud of it. Most people would guess not a day over twenty five. Living in a cupboard for eleven years had its drawbacks, though it would come in handy when he got older.
"Wow. How old is he? I'm thirty eight and I can barely manage with my daughter. She's eighteen," the man said ruefully, mouthing the number with clear desperation.
Harry laughed. "He's ten. I had help, of course. I didn't raise him completely by myself."
"Still, it's an achievement. A kid since you were seventeen… that's just crazy. Must've been hard,"
"It was. He's a little brat, like that," Harry then turned his head and called for Teddy, who hurried over and hid behind Harry. "Come on, Ted, be nice. That's Charlie Swan. Say hi," he encouraged.
"Hi," Teddy greeted shyly.
Mr. Swan sent Harry a positively glowing look.
"We're going to eat with Mr. Swan and his daughter tonight, so grab your coat, cub," Harry informed the boy, mentally wincing at calling him 'cub' in front of a stranger. He then reminded himself that this stranger was a muggle, and therefore not associated with the werewolves' society, and breathed out in relief.
"It's Charlie for you two. We're neighbors. Better get to know each other," Charlie offered.
Harry nodded in gratitude and put on his shoes. He waited for Teddy to put his and then turned out the lights, stepping out of the house and locking the door behind him. Teddy was still half-hiding behind him, for some reason wary of Charlie. Harry frowned but let it go. It was probably some scent that Charlie had picked up during the day.
The Swan house was quite cozy, for the lack of a better word. The couches were old and looked comfortable and the light had a yellow tint that gave a warm feeling. The ceiling wasn't high, but wasn't too low, either. There was a staircase leading to a second floor. Everything about the house just screamed 'home'. It reminded him of Ron's room, for some reason. He felt his muscles relax at the sort-of-familiar surrounding and reminded Teddy to take off his shoes.
The kitchen was cleaner than the rest of the house, and that was also where they found Charlie's daughter.
"Bella, set up two more plates, would you?" Charlie asked.
Bella turned around and Harry smiled at the girl. She looked friendly enough.
"Hi," she said, returning a lock of brown hair back behind her ear. "I'm Bella."
"Hello. I'm Harry Black and this is my son, Teddy," Harry answered.
The girl's eyes brightened when Harry said the name 'Black'. "Cool,"
"Your home is really-" warm "-nice," Shit. "I mean, it reminds me of my friend's house. It always felt like a home."
Charlie smiled amusedly at him.
Bella set two more plates at the table and invited them to sit down as she served what turned out to be a rather delicious pasta dish with red sauce. He had to stop Teddy from wolfing it down, secretly wanting to do the same. His cooking was good – he'd be surprised if it wasn’t after cooking for the Dursleys for years – but he usually made rice with whatever meat Teddy felt like eating. The boy was as far from a vegetarian as one could possibly get.
He complemented Bella on the food and she told him she would be delighted to share the recipe. Teddy seemed grateful. Harry found that he agreed with the kid.
"So, Harry, what do you do?" asked Charlie after they had established a first name basis, raising his fork to soft-looking lips in what Harry thought was quite an appealing gesture.
Harry had long ago established that he preferred the company of men rather than women. He had discovered this years past the war, after the excitement with Ginny wore off. It was in Teddy's early years that Harry had his experimenting-phase, and Andromeda had still been alive at that time and available to watch Teddy while he went on daring bloke-hunting expeditions to local pubs.
"I did a lot of jobs over the years," he admitted. He had hoped to avoid talking about his unemployed state for the foreseeable future, and was caught off guard by the question, which was supposed to be a relatively easy one to anyone who wasn't Harry Potter.
"Like what?" asked Bella.
Charlie looked at him curiously, unsatisfied at the uninformative answer and hopeful for more details.
Harry hesitated. The truth was that he had mostly helped Hermione with her research in the past few years and the money his parents and Sirius left him was enough to support him and Teddy for the rest of their days. "I was a teacher for a while, some time ago," if teaching the DA counted, "And I had a research done for a friend. We got some money for that. I worked in a shop…"
After Fred's death, George was in no state to run the shop so the Weasleys and Harry took it upon themselves to take care of the sales until he was ready to take over.
Teddy shot him a bemused look when he didn't mention training to be an Auror or his brief advisor position at the Ministry of Magic. Harry met his eyes with a warning look and thankfully the boy got the hint and returned to his food.
"Teaching, huh? I'm a cop, Chief, actually. If you get any trouble from anyone in this town, just come to me and I'll set you right up," Charlie promised.
"So, Teddy's going to go to a school in Forks?" asked Bella.
"Yes. Already signed him in,"
Teddy scowled. Harry sympathized with the boy; he, too, had hated going to a muggle school.
"I'm sure you're going to make lots of friends, son." Charlie tried to cheer him up, noticing his expression.
"What's the point if they're all going to be mu-nexceptional… ordinary," Teddy grumbled, catching himself in time. Charlie and Bella didn't seem to notice his slip up.
Nice save, Ted, Harry thought with a huge, suppressed sigh of relief.
Charlie raised an eyebrow at Harry, who just shrugged in return.
"I don't know, you might be surprised. There are some people in Forks that are anything but ordinary." Charlie sent a meaningful-looking look at Bella, who blushed a ridiculous red and looked away.
Harry took in the silent conversation with suspicious but amused eyes. "I'm missing something, aren't I?" he asked hesitantly, unsure if it was even his place to remark on that.
Charlie shrugged, and Harry let it go.
"Dad," Teddy nudged his arm.
The boy had been worryingly quiet during the meal, which wasn't at all like him. Harry suspected it was the stranger scents and the new environment. "What is it?" he asked adoringly, barely able to hide his amused smile. He had a good guess as to what Teddy wanted.
"Can I get more pasta?" The big doe eyes opened further to achieve maximum effect. The look was lost as the boy threw a wary glance at Bella, as if she would deny him a second serving.
"Sure, let me get you some more," the girl chirped helpfully.
She looked a bit confused as she set the refilled plate in front of the boy, which Harry guessed was unavoidable as kids of Teddy's age weren't supposed to still be hungry after consuming an adult-sized portion.
The dinner ended without anything significant and soon both Harry and Teddy were curled up in Harry's bed. Teddy had said he didn't want to sleep alone that night and refused to tell Harry what it was all about. Harry suspected it had something to do with whatever freaked him out all evening, because Teddy never acted like this, not even with strangers.
At night Harry dreamt that Teddy ate Bella Swan, and that when Harry tried to find an excuse for what happened that didn't involve magic to tell Charlie, the man only shrugged and told him that "It was bound to happen, sooner or later."
The next morning, Harry tried not to think too much of the man's words from the dream, though he vowed to keep an eye out for whatever trouble Bella Swan might get into.