Ame's Insanity (amejisuto) wrote in ames_weirdness, @ 2009-08-23 10:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | harry potter, hp/dm, wip |
Haven HP/DM Rated R 3/?
Title: Haven
Chapter Three
Author: amejisuto
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco, various background pairings but the main one will be Fred/George/Lee.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .
Warnings/Squicks: Manipulative!Dumbles. I wouldn't go so far to say Weasley!bashing but um, I'm close. A few minor character deaths are mentioned, but not any of the main characters. More warnings may be added as I write the story.
Summary: Harry's graduated from Hogwarts, turned eighteen and defeated a Dark Lord. Now what is he going to do with his life?
Find the previous parts here.
Beta'd by the wonderful suki_blue. Thank you dearest!
Notes: First of all, I tend to totally ignore HBP and DH. I tend to think JK lost the plot sometime halfway through OotP, but that's just my opinion. So yeah, this is a total AU after book five. Don't look for quick updates with this story, I'll try to put up a new chapter once a month. Oh, and for any HP readers that haven't read my Spander epics, I tend to suck at writing smut so there will be much on the friendship and THEN the relationship and then a tiny bit of smut. LOL Hope y'all enjoy the show!
Chapter Three
There was something special about waking up early enough to watch the sun rise. Of course, Harry enjoyed it much more now that he wasn't forced to cook for a family of killer whales, or hadn't been awake all night from visions and nightmares.
Oh, he had a few nightmares in his flat in Redhill, but here, on Potter lands and in the shadow of Caer Gwydion, Harry felt safer than he had ever felt before in his entire life. Nightmares just didn't seem to be able to take hold.
Of course part of that was the fact that Harry had been keeping busy from dawn and way past dusk. He was learning so many things, from how to manage his family’s money to warding and melding magic with mundane technology. Not to mention finding his way around the family property.
Caer Gwydion was bigger than Hogwarts, with more rooms and several sub-levels. It had been built to withstand a siege, with the infirmary and potions lab close together in the second dungeon level, and the Great Hall, which had ceilings high enough for him to play Quidditch indoors, was in the center of the castle. Five floors of rooms above it all had balconies, so Harry could step out one of the doors of what was going to be his private set of rooms and look down three stories to the stone floor.
It was a good thing he didn't get vertigo that easily. While there were about five other ways to leave his set of rooms, Harry could see himself getting up for a visit to the loo and going out the wrong door. Of course the Head House Elf, Alfie, had assured him it was safe but Harry figured if anyone could fall out of their door it would be him.
That was another thing. Harry had House Elves. Not just one or two but a whole army of them. Well, maybe not an army, but certainly a whole bunch. When the last Potter had left Caer Gwydion, the House Elves had been left to care for the place. As far as Harry could tell, that had been over 150 years ago and all of the Elves were delirious to have a human, much less a Potter, to take care of.
There were Elves that took care of the castle, Elves that were assigned to the Kitchen or Laundry. Gordie was the Elf in charge of the Library and when Harry had dug out his old school books for the little guy he'd acted much like Scrappy. He'd wiggled in happiness before popping away.
There were also Elves that took care of the greenhouses he'd found behind the castle, and Elves in charge of the odd gray horses in the stables. Apparently there were also Elves in charge of the farm he hadn't found yet, and the gardens and orchards, and Elves who went through the two different forests on his land, looking for potion ingredients.
Penny, Alfie's mate, had decided to coddle Harry. She'd been appalled at his wardrobe and had all but ordered him out to shop the day before yesterday. She was an odd mixture of Molly Weasley and Snape actually. It was very fun to watch her fuss.
That was another thing about his Elves, they weren't quiet as subservient as most House Elves he'd seen. He still couldn't get Dobby to call him Harry, and the other Elves at Hogwarts were just as bad. Yet the Elves he'd met here had already accepted the fact that he was 'Master Harry'. Not a perfect solution but one Harry could live with.
The Elves were also ecstatic about being allowed to wear clothes. To them it didn't mean they were being forced from his service and his homes, instead it was an honor. Penny had immediately dug out an old fashioned pinafore as a dress and a starched white cap, the kind Harry always imagined the housekeepers wore in Charles Dickens books. Alfie had donned little black trousers and what looked like a frock coat. They were very proper and made Harry, in his denims and faded black Henley shirt, feel rather shabby.
There were other things to get used to as well. Finding his way around the castle was one. He'd found several interesting rooms in the few short forays he'd made while trying to keep out of the way of the various warding and construction teams he'd hired. He'd found one room that reminded him of the dojos he'd seen in the few movies he'd got to watch on the telly, and another room with musical instruments. According to Lady Anne, an ancestress who inhabited one of the paintings in the music room, there were many such rooms. Each generation of Potter who had a hobby or a special interest created a new room in the castle, and usually left a painting of themselves so they could teach future generations.
The castle itself, like Hogwarts, was magical. Harry hadn't explored too much yet, but from what he could tell, with a few exceptions, the rooms moved to suit the Master of the Castle's needs. For instance after the first time he'd visited the Great Hall, a second room had appeared to one side with a much smaller dining room setting while the huge oak tables that had filled the Hall had been pushed to the sides of the room, leaving enough room in the middle to play Muggle football if he wanted.
The re-warding and updating of the castle would be done by the middle of next week though, and then Harry could take formal possession of Caer Gwydion and the lands it protected. He still wasn't sure how he could have this much land and Muggles or the Ministry never noticed. In fact it had been the records the Goblins kept of wards that had alerted him to the property. Jim Montgomery, the Squib in charge of rewiring parts of the castle so that Muggle appliances could be powered by magic, had promised to sit down on Monday and explain it to him. Something that Harry was both looking forward and dreading all at once.
Meanwhile it was Saturday, and Harry was free. Well, not totally free. He had an appointment to meet Ron and Hermione in the afternoon. He was taking them to lunch at a Muggle restaurant, something Hermione probably wouldn't be enthused about but Ron would probably love. Then he had plans to do some shopping in the Muggle world. Penny and the Elves under her were taking care of buying new lines for the castle but Harry wanted to buy his own towels.
He'd never had a good towel. The Wizarding world was wonderful but its fashions both in clothes and in housewares were stuck in the 1800's and Harry wanted big, fluffy towels made of materials he couldn't spell and flannel sheets since it would soon be autumn and the nights would be cold. He wanted the chance to pick out his own, choose for himself for once, instead of having what kind of towels he rubbed his arse dry with chosen by his aunt or Mrs Weasley or Hogwarts.
Harry sighed and stood up. He'd been sitting on an old stone bench, one of many, that were spaced every ten meters or so around the lake. He'd taken to coming out here and watching the sun rise, the magnificent colors of the dawn reflected in the water, the only noise to bother him the sound of various birds and the fish in the lake as he threw crusts of bread Brownie, the House Elf in charge of the kitchens, brought him to feed the water fowls. It was peaceful and calm and it left Harry with a feeling of hope.
This was his home.
Harry walked back to the gazebo that was halfway between the lake and the castle. He'd set up his little tent there, since it was pretty much in the middle of the courtyard. The Stooges had decided to make the gazebo their home; once the wards were set up Harry would be able to give keys to the castle to his friends that would allow them to Apparate directly into the foyer of the castle and the gazebo wouldn't be used quite as much. Even Moe, the critical head, approved of the arrangement saying that they'd be able to guard against burglars.
As if anyone would be able to find Caer Gwydion once the wards went up.
When he reached the tent, Harry had to step over Scrappy who was still sleeping in front of the doorway. The puppy was growing rapidly, but was well behaved for the most part. He was a sucker for bits of cheddar and would all but crawl onto Harry's lap and drool all over him if he was munching on cheese and crackers. Harry had taken to buying cream cheese for the puppy's toys to try to calm the dog down. He didn't mind really, except when Scrappy drooled he didn't leave a wet spot he left a flood of slobber and Harry would find himself showering again to make himself clean.
Intellectually he knew that a dog's mouth was cleaner than a human’s, germ wise, but Scrappy licked a lot of weird things during the course of a day and Harry really didn't like to think about it.
On the smallish kitchen table Harry found his breakfast set out: a croissant, a bowl of porridge with strawberry jam, a cup of tea and a glass of orange juice. The orange juice was especially welcome. You could only drink so much pumpkin juice meal after meal, day after day, year after year before you felt like you were going to turn into a pumpkin. Since coming home he'd had a different glass of juice each morning, tomato, apple, grape, grapefruit, pineapple. He wasn't sure where Brownie shopped but it was wonderful to have so many choices.
Harry was going to do something special for that Elf, maybe get him some new recipe books. Alfie and Brownie were two of the few of his Elves that could read. Harry was planning on changing that, hopefully with Gordie's help.
Harry wasn't going to mention the Elves to Hermione though, no way. That would just stir up all sorts of trouble. Besides, he sort of considered them family. After all, they'd been living in Caer Gwydion and taking care of it for generations. If one or more of them wanted to be free to explore the world, Harry would be more than happy to fulfill their wish but just the mention of it had made Alfie and Penny sputter. He didn't want to offend his little friends so he let it drop. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks he'd be able to make time to meet ALL of the House Elves that looked to him as their Master and make sure each one of them had everything they wanted or needed.
Harry remembered all too well how life was at the Dursley's. No one had ever asked to see if he needed anything. Not even the Order really. Oh, Lupin had made a few noises and Mrs. Weasley sent along a few meat pies and cakes but no one had checked to make sure he was full or that he had a good blanket when it was cold or to see if he wanted any little treat. That had felt horrid and there was no way he was going to treat his Elves that way.
Speaking of Elves, he'd forgotten about two. Harry shook his head. He'd lose it if it wasn't attached. Maybe he should get some Muggle notebooks and pens while he was out today so he could make some lists. Just trying to remember all of the Elves names alone was going to drive him barmy.
"Alfie!"
There was a popping noise and then Alfie appeared beside his table and gave an odd sort of half bow. "Yes, sir Master Harry?"
Harry grinned. Alfie was such a proper little Elf, with more dignity that most Wizards Harry knew. He was mostly bald with a fringe of hair around his large head, and a little mustache under his nose gave him the appearance of permanently sniffing a caterpillar. "Good morning, Alfie! Listen, I forgot to thank someone the other day and I was wondering if you could deliver a message for me?"
"If Sir wishes."
Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. Hopefully they'd get to know each other well enough that Alfie would tell him to bugger off if he was too busy but he wasn't going to hold his breath. "If you don't have time, send Penny. Go to Hogwarts and look for a House Elf named Dobby. He should be easy to find, the other Elves there don't like him that much since he's freed and wears clothes. His last Master was a very bad man, and he's been working there at the school. Thank him for helping me the other day, Dobby will know what you mean."
Harry had planned to send a thank you note with Hedwig, thinking that Dobby would love to have a note from 'The Great Harry Potter!', and had been upset to find the Elf probably wouldn't be able to read it. "Now this is important, Alfie, I like Dobby even if he is a bit ... eccentric for a House Elf. If you think we could use him here at Caer Gwydion and that he'd fit in, you can offer him a job here. If he wants to be paid, that's fine, but I think he might want to come just to be near me, we've become friends of a sort. I'll let you guys sort things out." Here Harry paused. "There's also another Elf, Winky. Her last Master was another bad man and he sacked her for something she didn't do. She has a butterbeer problem, but I think if she was bonded to a family she'd be okay."
He looked at Alfie and his Head Elf nodded. "Alfie, I'm leaving the decision up to you or Penny, I trust the two of you. If you don't think they'll fit in, that's okay, I can do something else for Dobby or Winky. I don't want to mess up your household for this, okay?"
"Yes, sir! Master Harry is a wise Master! He be letting us do our jobs!"
Harry laughed. He got the feeling that was a snide comment hidden as a compliment but he didn't mind. In fact, he rather liked the fact that Alfie was being sarcastic. It was a welcome change over House Elves who would do anything for their masters and thank them for a beating.
"Whatever you say, Alfie. You know more about this sort of thing than I do. I've never taking care of a house before, much less a castle and all these lands. I'm going to rely on you to tell me what I need to be doing, okay?"
Alfie tilted his head to one side. "If Alfie may say, Sir, Master Harry should start planning list of people for Housewarming. Once work is done on castle, Sir can invite his friends to stay. The Caer is made to support many families, Sir, is too big for just one young human."
Harry grinned at that. "That's a bloody good idea, Alfie! I've never thrown a party, though, I wouldn't know what to do."
"Young Master just needs to write list of guests and Alfie and Penny can do the rest."
An idea started to form in Harry's mind but he pushed it away for the moment. "Right. I'll get on that tonight, and try to find out what day would be good for most of my friends. School starts Monday for Luna, but maybe she can take a personal day or something."
Seventh Years, well most of them, were allowed to take seven Saturdays a year to leave Hogwarts for personal reasons. Interviewing for future jobs, taking care of any matter of Family Estates if the Seventh Year was the Heir of a Family, attend public Quidditch games, just about anything a young adult wanted or needed to do. They didn't have to ask permission either, just inform their Head of House.
Unless of course, your name was Harry Potter. He hadn't been allowed Hogsmeade visits after Fifth Year, with Sirius being dead and his Muggle family unlikely to sign any forms that would allow him to leave the castle, and by Seventh Year he had been a virtual prisoner inside of Hogwarts.
Harry shook his head and pushed those dark thoughts away. He was safe at home and he was free to go wherever he wanted. Speaking of which ...
"Alfie, I think I'll go flying a bit this morning, get a look at things from the air. If Hedwig comes with me will you still be able to get a message to me if you need to?"
Alfie gave an offended sniff. "Of course, Master Harry! We House Elves have our ways!"
Harry felt a grin spreading across his face. He hadn't flown for pleasure in so long it wasn't even funny. "Great! If you need me give a yell. Oh, and I'll be having lunch out with friends today so tell Brownie he doesn't have to worry about me."
"Yes, Sir, Master Harry. Alfie will also keep an eye out in case you fall off your flying stick." With that, Alfie popped out, leaving Harry laughing. Harry wasn't sure if it was the freedom he had now, or the fact that Voldemort was no longer a mill stone around his neck but he laughed much more now.
Then again it was easy to laugh when you were surrounded by House Elves with a wicked sense of humor.
He got up and cleared away his breakfast dishes to the sink. One of the Elves would be around to take care of them later but there was no reason to let the porridge turn into cement. He then spent a good five minutes looking for his Firebolt. Penny had unpacked his old school trunk and put everything away somewhere safe, which meant that Harry couldn't find it straight away.
Once he finally found it, in a small broom cupboard in the kitchen, he found Edmund and gave him a poke. The snake was still asleep, curled up under one of the pillows in the bedroom.
~"Edmund! Eddie, wake up!"~
The adder woke up and gave him a glare that might have scared Harry if he hadn't been used to Snape. ~"What do you want? I'm digesssting! I found a nice juicssy frog last night."~
~"Urgh. I thought we had a deal, I don't tell you about what vegetablesss I eat and you don't tell me what you caught for dinner. Listen, I'm going for a fly, want to come?"~
The snake closed his eyes. Normally he liked to go flying with Harry, but not while he had a full stomach. ~"No, I don't think so. The frog wiggled asss it went down and it'll be a few hoursss till it ssstopsss lumping in my middle."~
Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust but reached out a finger to rub the snake in between his eyes. ~"That'sss probably bessst. Have a good lie in while you can. We're going to meet up with your two favorite humansss for lunch and you'll need the energy to ssscare Ron."~
~"Joy. Now go fly and let me sssssleep."~
Harry laughed and cast a warming charm on the pillow Edmund was hiding under. From underneath he could hear a serpentine purr as the warmth settled into his friend's scales. Ron hated Edmund with a passion and the snake felt the same way about him. It had gotten to the point where Edmund would make a habit of staring at the ginger haired young man until Ron snapped.
Still Harry didn't even think about leaving Edmund home; he was a better friend than Ron at times, and Harry used him as another set of eyes. The snake could smell people or wizards under invisibility cloaks, and if someone was disillusioned or otherwise hidden he could sense their heat if they got close enough. More than once had the black adder saved his life as he walked the halls of Hogwarts and the thought of going out somewhere without the snake was alien to Harry now.
Harry climbed over Scrappy as he left the tent, feeling bad that there was no way a dog would come flying with him. He had come to love Scrappy, he was fun to play with and was a champion cuddler. Still it wasn't the same as being able to talk to Edmund or one of the other snakes that had come into his care.
Or Hedwig. Harry went to the gazebo to find Hedwig roosting in the rafters. There was an owlery in the top of one of the castle's towers but after seven years of having his owl living that far away from him, Harry was having none of it. She was staying close to him, even thought that meant the construction crew was having to put in several special windows here and there on different floors of the castle so she could come and go as she wanted.
"Hedwig?" The snowy owl looked over at Harry and blinked a greeting. "Want to go for a fly?"
Hedwig hopped on her perch a couple of times in merriment and then took off, swooping around Harry twice before diving and pulling gently with her claws at his hair. The message of Harry being It was received and Harry found himself laughing and he jumped on his broom and took off after his friend into the clear morning sky.
This morning, Harry felt it was good to be alive.
*****