Chapter Text
There was an ache in his chest, an emptiness that nothing could ever manage to fill. At least not since Harry left London and every memory of someone who was no longer alive, lingering amongst the sea of people littering the sidewalks that he tried to get lost in. Harry tried to stay, if not for himself, but for the others that still needed him: Teddy, Andromeda, and Mrs. Weasley. There weren't many people left that needed him but he stayed for them. At least until Andromeda passed away, leaving Teddy with no one but Harry. Before Harry left he grasped Molly tight and promised to write, leaving each and every one of his ghosts behind in London.
South Dakota wasn't anything special but it was the perfect place for Harry and Teddy to start over at. There wouldn't be any Death Eaters chasing after him for revenge and Lord Voldemort was long gone. Nothing was going to get them here. Not with Teddy enrolled in a Muggle grammar school. Second grade was only made possible with the glamour Harry applied every morning as part of their daily routine to mask Teddy's abilities.
Wake up, make breakfast, apply Teddy's glamour, and bring Teddy to school. After dropping Teddy off Harry would head into the garage that doubled as Singer Auto Salvage Yard. It was enough to keep him busy and enough to keep his mind away from the memories and nightmares. Around four-thirty Harry would pick Teddy up from after school care and head home to start on homework, dinner and bickering with Teddy on the merits of hygiene before tucking Teddy into bed. Rinse and repeat.
But this morning the routine was sent off kilter. Teddy woke up in the middle of the night screaming from nightmares and with a fever. Hoping that simple children's ibuprofen would calm the fever and send Teddy back to sleep, Harry woke to find Teddy had either one hell of a cold or the flu. So instead of frozen waffles or Fruity Pebbles, Harry cooked oatmeal and only managed to get a few bites into Teddy before officially giving up on breakfast and grimaced at the task of packing him into the truck.
"Alright, Ted. Let me just put your glamour on you and we'll get some cold medicine on the way to work."
"No school?"
"No school." Harry nodded. "Hopefully Bobby will have a couch I can bundle you up on for the day." Harry moved to gather blankets and a couple of things to keep Teddy occupied if he didn't stay asleep most of the day.
"I want to stay here."
"I know you do, believe me I would rather us both be at home, but I have to finish up a car today and you can't stay by yourself."
"I don't want to go."
"It's either the garage or the school."
"Fine. I'll go with you."
When Harry pulled the Ford through the leaning tower of junk cars, Teddy's face was glued to the window in awe. It made Harry smile at the wonder painted across Teddy's face. His eyes were starting to droop from the effects of the cold medicine that Harry dosed him with as soon as he purchased it from the convenience store on the way in. Pulling up outside of the garage Bobby had added on to his lot, Harry frowned at the Impala parked near it.
"Come on, Teddy. Let's see if Bobby wouldn't mind keeping an eye on you while I finish up today."
"Tired." The response was muffled into Harry's shoulder as Harry lifted him from the seat and climbed the stairs of the porch and knocked lightly on the door waiting for Bobby.
"What is it?"
"Hey, Bobby." Harry shifted his weight nervously. "We promised we'd have that Volkswagen done today and Teddy is sick. He's out of it right now and I just need a place for him to rest and I'll be back and forth checking on him. I just didn't have anyone to watch after him."
Bobby stood dumbstruck and starring at the bundle of Teddy before he looked back up at Harry. "I thought you were joking when you said you had a kid."
"I wasn't. So either let him sleep on your couch or we call Volkswagen guy back and lose some money." Harry shifted Teddy's weight on his hip. The seven year old was heavier than he looked.
"I got a couple of boys your age staying here. That going to be a problem?"
"Not a problem. Just if he wakes up before I check up on him call the shop?" Harry moved passed Bobby and settled Teddy on the couch before jogging back out to the truck to get the blankets and Teddy's books. "I'm sorry about all this, Bobby." Harry softly apologized as he headed back outside.
"We'll have some stuff to talk about later on. This isn't any trouble, Harry. We all have things we don't advertise."
"Thanks again, Bobby."
"Go to work, kid. I'll give you a ring if the monster wakes up."
The Volkswagen was easy to get lost in. It was only a year or two younger than Harry was. All he had left to finish with was a few smaller components on the engine to clean up or replace. After finishing up he'd give the owner a heads-up that the car was ready and head over to Bobby's to check up on Teddy.
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Dean was up before Sam and as much as he wanted to stay in the actual bed that Bobby had gotten, the odd mixture of new attachments that Bobby had built around the salvage yard and the voices had him padding down the hallway to see who Bobby had been talking with at seven in the morning.
Seeing a kid bundled up on the couch was not what Dean was expecting, at all. Dean turned around and headed back to the room he and Sam were sharing and patted Sam on the chest to wake him up.
"Sam, you have to see this."
"See, what? I think I realize that Bobby has changed the place up a bit since the last time we were here." Sam rolled away from Dean and growled when Dean yanked the covers away.
"Wake up, Sasquatch. There is a kid sleeping on Bobby's couch."
"What?" Sam sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Stop it, Dean. I'm trying to sleep."
"Yeah well I'm not messing around here, Sam. And if there isn't a kid in there then I need you to check me for whatever spell we missed."
"Fine." Sam stood up and followed Dean back down the hallway and stopped to rub his eyes. "There is a child sleeping on Bobby's couch."
"And if you two idjits stand there staring he is bound to wake up and I'll have one frazzled Dad hovering around here. Get in the kitchen."
Once they were each settled around the kitchen table Dean broke the silence that blanketed the room. "So what's with the kid?"
"His name is Teddy. He's the son of the guy who runs my garage, Harry Potter."
"So why is Teddy here?" Sam asked softly.
"Teddy was sick and Harry doesn't have anyone to look after him while he's working."
"Why not just close up the garage?" Sam asked.
"Harry promised a customer that he would have their car ready this afternoon and that boy does not go back on his word. On anything." Bobby explained with a shrug of his shoulders.
"How often do you look after his kid?" Dean ground out from between his teeth.
"This is the first time Harry has ever asked. Harry is pretty good about keeping to himself. I thought he was joking when he said he had a kid. Harry's only twenty-seven and that kid has books that I'd expect a maybe a twelve year old to be reading, but I haven't been around kids in a long time. I don't know."
"Maybe he knocked a girl up." Dean suggested before frowning. "Who knows? Do you trust the guy?"
"Harry? Yeah, I'd trust him with my life. That kid has some scars on him. He keeps to himself. It's like if he gets too close, someone's going to get hurt. He kind of reminds me of you Winchesters."
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Harry had gotten lost in the Volkswagen and let time slip through his fingers. It was almost eleven-thirty before he finished up and he realized that he hadn't checked on Teddy since dropping him off. Harry scrubbed the grease and grime from his hands then beneath his nails before leaving a quick message with the owner of the Volkswagen and running over to Bobby's.
Harry opened the door without knocking and froze at the sight of Teddy reading on the couch to two men seated on the floor. The lighter haired man was slipping in and out of a doze and the shaggy haired man let out a booming laugh at the way Teddy voiced a character in the story and the other man jerked awake.
"Harry?" Teddy always seemed to know when Harry was around. Both heads swung around quickly and Harry finally entered the room fully taking note of the nasally tone of Teddy's voice.
"Hey, Squirt." Harry squatted next to the couch ignoring the observers in the room. "I see you need some more medicine." Harry commented to himself before continuing, "How are you feeling?"
"Alright. Sam was letting me read to him." Harry gave Teddy a small smile before ruffling his hair.
"I saw that. Are you hungry?"
"We made soup around eleven." Sam interrupted softly. "Well Dean made it."
"It was chicken noodle from the can. It wasn't as good as yours though."
"Did you say thanks?" Harry asked, wondering where all the manners he had been teaching Teddy had disappeared.
"Yeah I did."
"Let me go get the medicine from the truck." Harry sighed at the sour face Teddy made. "I know it's nasty but you have to take it so you can get better. Maybe I'll make one of your favorites for dinner?" Harry smiled at how wide Teddy's eyes got in anticipation. "Be right back, Squirt."
Harry headed out to the truck to pick up the bottle of liquid medicine before another par of shoes joined him.
"I'm Dean Winchester and that giant in there is my brother, Sam. Sorry if that freaked you out. The whole walking in and seeing your kid in a room with people you've never met."
"Bobby told me that he had two guests. It was only surprising because he never talks to strangers, much less asks to read to them."
"Quiet kid, huh?" Dean cocked a brow as he looked towards the house.
"A bit of an understatement, but he's had it rough. We both have." Harry shrugged and locked the truck up. "Thanks for feeding him."
"Even if it was Campbell's from a can?" Harry started laughing.
"He's spoiled when it comes to food, I like cooking." Harry shrugged. "But yes, thanks for taking care of him."
"No big deal."
Both Winchester's moved to the kitchen to give Harry a moment with Teddy and they watched as he sat on the couch running his fingers through Teddy's hair, soothing him into sleep.
"Harry?" The small voice was riddled with sleep.
"What is it, Teddy?"
"Sam and Dean. They are good. Just like you are."
"That's why you were talking to them?"
"Yeah, cause I could feel it." Teddy nodded. "I love you, Harry."
"Love you too, Teddy. Get some rest."
Harry looked up to see two pairs of eyes trained on him as if they were attempting to figure out what Teddy meant by what he had said. The Winchesters were trying to figure out who Harry and Teddy really were. Harry hesitantly nodded good-bye as he left Bobby's and headed back for the garage. His nerves couldn't take leaving Teddy alone with the calculating looks and sick so as soon as the owner of the Volkswagen picked up her car and left, he locked up and planned on taking Teddy home.
Bobby gestured Harry into the kitchen, putting a halt to his plans. "So I couldn't help but notice that Teddy's doesn't even have the same eye color as you do. Not anywhere near your weird green eyes with his amber eyes. Then he calls you Harry. I just need to know one thing."
"Alright."
"Should I be worried about cops showing up here one day hauling your ass out of my garage in handcuffs or asking questions?"
"No! Not at all, Bobby." Harry rubbed his face. "He's mine, but not biologically."
"You adopted the kid?" Bobby asked.
"No. Well, yes." Harry laid his head down on the table in frustration as he tried to figure out the easiest way to explain this without telling all.
"How about you start from the beginning?" Sam suggested from the doorway where he and Dean stood listening in.
"His parents were killed and his grandparents also. I am his Godfather, all he had left, you know? So I became his official guardian when his grandmother passed away so I could move us over here."
"That's all I needed to know, Harry." Bobby patted Harry's shoulder. "You're a good man. Nothing to worry about from my end."
"I closed up early so I could take Teddy home."
"That's fine by me. Dean, Sam, help Harry get everything packed in his truck."
"I can get it." Harry protested but both Winchesters had already started moving and grabbed the odds and ends leaving Harry to fold the blankets and to wake Teddy to get him into the truck.
Once they had packed everything into Harry's truck and he pulled out of the gravel drive and onto pavement Dean and Sam headed back in and sat heavily on the couch.
"Something is different about him." Dean commented.
"Did you see his arms?" Sam asked.
"Looked like he had been burned." Dean nodded and added, "But he looked like he was ready to bolt or have a panic attack when Bobby started asking questions about Teddy."
"I'd be a little freaked out too, Dean. If he's as private as Bobby is making him out to be, even that much is like letting everything sit out on the table. Then Teddy's parents were killed, even his grandparents."
"Like I said, something is different about him."
"He looks haunted." Sam rubbed his chin before looking up at the stains on the ceiling.
"He reminds me of Dean." Bobby said as he walked into the room, carrying a few books. "Just by some of the things he does." Bobby tossed the heavier book to Sam and the smaller one on Dean's lap. "He's got the instincts of a hunter. It makes you wonder what he's been through."
"What's with the books, Bobby?" Dean asked as he flipped his over in his hands.
"You two need to figure out what you did wrong and how not to let it happen again. The only way I see that working out is by both of you researching."
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The next morning Teddy was still sick. He was temperamental and running a slight fever, so Harry dosed him with the medicine and stuffed him back into the truck. Teddy had curled up in his blanket cocoon and fallen asleep by the time Harry had parked outside of Bobby's.
Sam was sitting on the porch in a light sweatshirt and headed over to help Harry with the items littered around the truck.
"Still sick?" Sam asked softly so not to wake Teddy up.
"Yeah, but he'll probably be better tomorrow and throw a tantrum about going back to school." Harry grabbed Teddy and started walking towards the house. "You okay?"
"Couldn't really sleep. Crazy dreams." Sam shrugged and nudged the door open allowing Harry to go through first.
"Hopefully you'll manage to sleep better tonight." Harry gave a slight smile. "Sometimes dreams come in cycles, yeah? Anyways, do you think Bobby will mind?"
"No, I think he liked looking after Teddy yesterday morning when Dean and I were still sleeping."
"Thanks for helping. I really appreciate ya'll watching out for Teddy."
"I know." Bobby answered as he watched Harry settle Teddy on the couch. "Work half a day and close up."
"Thanks, Bobby."
"It just two tune-ups that are waiting for you today." Harry brushed a hand through Teddy's chestnut hair before nodding in thanks and heading over to the garage.
A familiar pair of boots entered Harry's view as he worked on the car. Dean looked uncomfortable as he waited for Harry to acknowledge his presence.
"What's up, Dean?"
"Bobby sent me out here to help you out."
"Why?" Harry wiped his hands on the rag he had hanging is his back pocket.
"So you can finish up earlier and take care of Teddy."
"Right." Harry nodded at the logic before continuing. "This is the last car and I'm just about finished."
"I can finish it up if you want to go ahead and head over." Dean offered.
"That's okay, I've got it."
"Okay." Dean rocked on his feet as Harry kept working. "So do you have any family?"
"It's just Teddy and myself." Harry answered.
"Mind me asking how it dwindled to you two?"
"It's just you and Sam, right?" Harry asked, ignoring Dean's question.
"Right." Dean answered.
"Mind me asking how it got down to you two?"
"Mom and Dad are dead. Mom was murdered and Dad died in a hunting accident."
"Right. Try and sound a little more convincing when you lie." Harry commented under his breath. "What about your grandparents?"
"Hunting accidents."
"Mafia?" Harry asked. "Cause that's a lot of hunting accidents in one family."
"Shit happens." Dean snapped out.
"It sure does." Harry agreed.
"So why'd you move here? Don't your friends miss you back from wherever you used to live?"
"They're dead."
"Dead?"
"Bad things happen to good people." Harry shrugged. "Teddy's grandmother was the only thing keeping us there. Once she passed away there wasn't any reason to stay."
"Sam's good at talking if you ever need to."
Harry snorted in amusement. "Wasn't that what we were just doing, Dean? Thanks, but we all have our burdens to bare." Harry wiped his hands off. "Are you done with your fishing expedition? Cause I'm finished with this car."
"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to figure you out."
"It's fine. You're just looking out for Bobby and your brother. I'm going to wash up and I'll head over in a few."
When Harry made it over to Bobby's, both Bobby and Dean were sitting at the table while Teddy was on the countertop chattering away while Sam cooked something on the stove.
"Feeling better?" Harry questioned Teddy, gathering the attention of the rest of the kitchen.
"Yep. Sam is cooking spaghetti."
"Smells great." Harry commented and Sam sent a smile over his shoulder towards Harry.
"We can stay and eat it, right?"
"Were we invited to do so, Teddy?" Harry asked as he moved to pick Teddy up off the counter and set him in a chair at the table.
"Stay and eat." Bobby turned to look at Teddy. "It'll be nice having someone worth talking to here. Right, Ted?"
The laughter that spilled from Teddy's lips warmed Harry. Teddy never smiled or laughed when he was sick. But here, he was in heaven and enjoying every moment he spent sick it seemed.
"So, are you two staying?" Dean asked as he moved to grab plates.
"Sure." Harry finally decided. Anything that made Teddy smile and laugh the way he had been would be worth getting to know a little better.
Everyone was quiet as they started eating and Teddy squirmed and shifted in his seat from the silence.
"So how old are you, Teddy?" Sam asked as he spun the pasta around his fork.
Teddy looked over at Harry before answering. "Seven, almost eight."
"Really? You're pretty smart for a seven year old." Dean commented.
"That's what Harry tells me." Teddy sounded like he had heard the same statement numerous times before.
"So how long are you two here for?" Harry asked.
"For awhile." Dean answered.
"As long as Bobby will put up with us." Sam amended. "We needed a little break and Bobby's family so we headed here."
"A break from what?" Teddy asked, spaghetti sauce all over his face. Harry passed him a napkin.
"Wipe your mouth, squirt. You're making a mess over here." Harry chuckled as Teddy snatched up the napkin and made a quick swipe at his lips missing everything on his face. The action caused enough of a distraction for the question to remain unanswered. The rest of the meal was accompanied by Teddy's chatter about school or different stories he had read and wanted to read.
"That was great, Sam." Harry wiped his hands clean and pointed to the barely used napkin for Teddy to do the same as Dean and Bobby chorused their thanks. "Do you need help cleaning up? Teddy looks well enough to pack his stuff up while I help you out in here."
"I got it." Bobby waved Harry away from the sink and into the living room. "If Teddy is sick tomorrow you can bring him here or just stay home. It's not a problem either way."
"Bobby." Harry started to protest but Bobby cut him off.
"Harry, I don't mind looking after him and if you need to stay home Dean can handle the garage. He's been keeping up with cars since he was a teenager so he's capable." Bobby pulled his hat off and fixed it back on his head.
"Whenever you do that, messing with your hat, you usually tell me something I won't like hearing."
"Dean needs something to do while he's here, something to keep his mind occupied. I want him working in the garage."
"It's your garage, Bobby."
"It's your territory, Harry."
"It's your garage, I just work there." Harry repeated.
"You run the place kid." Bobby was trying to get Harry's okay rather than just hoisting someone over there with him.
"It's fine with me. Send him over as soon as he wakes up. I could probably use the help. Dean manages the Impala out there?" Bobby nodded and was about to start speaking when he heard Teddy asking the Winchesters about their job.
"We, uh," Dean stumbled over his words and Harry moved to apologize and say it wasn't their business but Bobby shook his head, 'no'. "We chase bad guys." Dean finally figured out how to answer Teddy's question.
"Really?" Teddy sounded excited and ready to unload a truck full of questions.
"To make sure people like you are safe." Sam reached out and ruffled Teddy's hair.
"Harry used to chase bad guys back home." Teddy stated, matter of fact.
"Did he?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. Granny used to tell me how brave he was."
"Alright, time to go." Harry put a stop to the chatterbox before the story could go any further. "Thanks again for the food, Sam."
"No problem."
"And thanks, everyone, for watching out for Teddy."
"Again, no problem." Bobby supplied as they walked Harry and Teddy to the porch and watched as they tail lights of the Ford faded into the evening.
"What do you know about Harry, Bobby?" Sam asked as they headed towards the kitchen to start cleaning up the dishes.
"What every employer knows about their employees." Bobby shrugged. "The basics but not much else."
"Says the man who has phones labeled FBI and US Marshals." Dean rolled his eyes. "What did you find out about him?"
"That's not any of your business now is it?" Bobby growled. "He's a good man. Just like the two of you."
"Well you heard Teddy. Harry used to chase 'the bad guys'. Should we be worried?" Dean argued as he tried to pull more information from Bobby.
"There isn't any reason you boys should be worried. At least get some rest while you are here. Maybe do some research on what got you in this situation."
"We just need time to heal up all the way." Sam finally moved over to the sink and started washing the plates and silverware.
"How long did you pea-brains wait before showing up here? Cause healed bones take more than a little time and you're both still stiff as boards."
"We made a damn mistake, Bobby. It won't happen again."
"It better not." Bobby left Sam and Dean standing in the kitchen.
"Well that went well." Sam wiped his hands dry on the edge of his shirt before pulling out one of the chairs to sit in.
"How'd he know what happened?" Dean asked.
"He's Bobby." Sam suggested.
"And Bobby knows everything, Sam?"
"Pretty much." Sam smirked at the aggravation painted across Dean's face and they sat in silence for a few moments before Dean spoke up.
"That kid though. He is something else. He kind of reminds me of you, Sam."
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"Alright, Squirt." Harry shuffled Teddy through the door. "Go take a bath real quick and we'll watch that movie that's been sitting in it's wrapper since last week after I give you your medicine."
"Why do you make me take Muggle medicine? Wouldn't a potion work faster?"
"Potions don't work for you, Teddy. You know that."
"But why?"
"Because you're special."
"You always say I'm special." The statement was completed with an eye roll.
"Well it's the truth. Sometimes, people like you, get sick from certain potion ingredients and you're lucky Muggle medicines work for you because that's the only medicine we can give you."
"What if there weren't any Muggle medicines?"
"Well," Harry nudged Teddy towards the bathroom and started the bath water while he thought up an answer. "I'd do my best. For one, I'd give you soup."
"With noodles?"
"Chicken and noodles. Your favorite." Harry nodded in agreement. "Then I'd make sure you stayed comfy and I would look out for you."
"I'd look out for you too, Harry."
"Alright. Just yell if you need anything." Harry left the door open a crack and checked to make sure all the doors were locked. Harry placed the folded blankets on the edge of the couch and hoped he wouldn't need them tomorrow and moved on to place the books on the bookshelf that housed all of Teddy's favorites before sitting down on the couch.
"Harry?" The small voice caught his attention.
"What is it, Teddy?"
"Why don't you like Sam and Dean?" Harry was taken aback by the question. So he moved to unwrap the DVD and placed it in the DVD player to buy himself some time. It wasn't that he didn't like Sam and Dean. It was the fact that he could trust them so quickly without knowing a damn thing about them that unsettled him and made him cautious around them.
"I like them just fine, Teddy." Harry sat back on the couch and Teddy scooted closer as the previews started playing and Harry picked up the remote to skip straight to the menu. "It's just that I don't know them."
"But I didn't know anyone at school and you said all I had to do was talk to them and I'd make friends. Why don't you do that with Sam and Dean? Sam is funny and always lets me read to him. Dean is funny too, but he likes to make sure I'm not hungry and always fixes my blankets."
"Teddy, it's only been two days that we've known them."
"They're good though."
"I know, Teddy. I understand that they are good but it's hard okay?"
"What's hard?"
"Making friends." Harry could have smacked himself over the head with that one.
"Just talk to them, that's what you told me to do."
"I have you, and you're all I need right now. The movie is starting." Harry shushed the questions and Teddy started to watch the movie quickly losing interest in what they were arguing about.
What's hard? Harry answered the question in his head. Everything was, starting over and having nothing, having no one to rely on when you needed someone to talk to. What the worst part of it was that every ghost he had been running from had just reappeared with Teddy's insatiable curiosity. Harry couldn't take losing another person. It would probably rip his soul to shreds and there was no way he was going through that agony again. Finding that you loved someone so much and then having them ripped from your hands.
But Teddy was right whether or not he stated it out loud, Harry needed a friend and the Winchesters were starting to become people he could rely on. Even Bobby who he thought was just an employer was beginning to shift from an acquaintance to a friend. Perhaps he should take a lesson from Teddy and embrace the newness of the situation and make a few friends.