Familar faces, diffrent people
Arriving at Grimmauld Place, Harry and Molly walked through the door. Hermione and Ron were already awaiting their arrival.
The house wasn’t in too bad of a shape, considering that this house had been the headquarters of the Order and they had all lived here together for a while. This was evident in the condition of the house. The fact that Kreacher had also started taking care of the place and cleaning it ever since Harry had given him the Slytherin's Locket along with the letter from Regulus Arcturus Black helped as well.
Ron and Hermione greeted the two in the entrance hall. "Harry!" Hermione said, tugging the raven-haired boy into a hug. Shortly after, Ron followed, "Hey, mate! Finally, you're here!" The taller ginger boy gave Harry a slight tug on his shoulder.
"Shush, shush, you all, let us get in first," Molly said, trying to get through the trio that had formed up. "We gotta get this house tidied up! But I have to say, Harry’s house-elf definitely takes good care of this place!" Molly walked into the dining room on the ground floor, put down a small bag, which she enchanted with an Extension Charm, and started taking out the things Harry and she had brought earlier that day.
The golden trio quickly followed her. In the dining room, Hermione and Ron both watched her unpack the things with wide eyes. "Bloody hell—do you really need all of that for a baby?" Ron asked.
"Ron, dear—of course! These are just the most important things that needed to be covered, and a few things that Harry and I thought would be good for the new family member!" Molly’s face formed a big smile, and Ron knew that this woman would soon have another favorite child.
"Hello, Master," a raspy, deep voice said behind Harry. The so-called master turned around and looked down at the old house-elf.
"Good afternoon, Kreacher," he said, while avoiding the piercing look Hermione was giving him. Harry knew that she didn’t like the thought of any of her friends owning a house-elf, but it wasn’t as if Harry had chosen to have one. Even if Harry were to let Kreacher free, he knew he couldn’t throw the old house-elf out of this house. It was Kreacher's home too, and he was very fond of this place.
"So, Kreacher, would you mind if we helped you clean the house today?" Harry asked awkwardly, as if the house-elf didn’t have to obey his master.
"Why so? Is my work not enough for the young master?" the elf asked, a bit annoyed.
"Oh no—you’re actually doing a wonderful job!" Harry responded. "It’s just that, um, I’ll be moving in tomorrow, and not alone. I’ll be taking my godson in and raising him here."
Kreacher was shocked by the news, which he didn’t hide. He didn’t seem too happy about it, knowing that Harry’s godson was the grandson of Andromeda Black, who had also betrayed his beloved family. But Kreacher wouldn’t say anything because he knew it would probably get him in trouble with his master.
Kreacher nodded after a few moments of silence. "We won’t touch the fourth floor. The fourth floor is all yours. For now, we don’t need to do too much, as Teddy won’t be needing too much space just yet, and I’m used to living in small spaces. So don’t worry!" Harry added. He truly had no intentions of going through the old stuff that Sirius had once owned, especially not snooping through his younger brother’s things, particularly knowing that Kreacher had protected the privacy of the boy who was long gone more than anything in the house.
"Thank you," Kreacher said shortly, but Harry knew it was just for show. "I will make some dinner for you and your guests, Master." And with that, Kreacher was on his way to the basement, where the kitchen of the house was, to make some soup for dinner and Harry's favorite treacle tart. This had somehow become Kreacher’s way of showing Harry that he was thankful.
While Kreacher was making dinner, the group of four got right to work on the house. They cleaned the ground floor, the first floor, and the second floor. On the second floor, they arranged the room that would soon be Teddy’s room, and Harry’s bedroom would be on the same floor for now, so that he would be close by if anything happened.
The next day, Harry woke up really late. He got out of bed in his new home, all alone. His best friends and Molly had already left the night before so Harry would have some time alone to get around the house a bit more before Teddy would arrive.
Still in his pajamas, Harry went into the small bathroom that was on the same floor as his bedroom and soon-to-be Teddy's room. He looked in the mirror—God, he looked awful. His hair looked like an exploded bird's nest, but he had to admit he couldn't remember the last time he slept so deeply and so well. Which reminded him—how long had he actually slept last night? Eh, probably just the usual amount. Harry didn’t think too deeply about it and just brushed his teeth and used a simple cleaning charm on himself to make him look a bit cleaner for the day. After that, he went to put on some fresh clothes.
Stretching, he came downstairs, still half asleep, and looked at the clock. "Oh well, almost two o'clock—seems like I slept a bit longer than expected," he said, yet not quite processing what he just found out. "WAIT—SHIT," he now realized. Without wasting another second, Harry grabbed his things and used the floonetwork to get to the address given in the letter he received yesterday.
Arriving at the right department of the Ministry, Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, where a young, kind-hearted woman was already waiting for him.
"So, you must be Mr. Potter. It's my pleasure to meet you. Freya Ruud, my name is." She held out her hand to Harry, who took it and gave her a small handshake.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Ruud. And yep, it's me—Harry Potter." He smiled awkwardly, knowing that he looked like he’d fallen straight out of bed, which was 100% true.
But to Harry's luck, the woman in front of him chose to ignore the state he arrived in. "All right then, please follow me, Mr. Potter. There’s someone waiting for you." She said this as she guided Harry to a room.
As she opened the door, and Harry could see the two people inside, he almost lost everything he believed in. Terror was written all over his face. Out of reflex, he reached for his wand—but it wasn’t there.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," Harry thought. He had left his wand at home.
Thousands of thoughts were racing through his mind. He looked at the woman who had brought him here. He wanted to burst out in anger, but he felt frozen to the ground.
Freya, confused by the sudden change in Harry’s behavior, asked him carefully, "Are you alright, Mr. Potter? Did something happen?"
Harry tried to scream, but he couldn’t get a single word out of his mouth.
"I’m sorry, dear Mrs. Ruud. It’s probably my fault," a woman said. Not just any woman—no, the woman who caused Harry’s panic. And that woman held Harry’s godson in her arms.
"I look pretty similar to my sister, Bellatrix Lestrange," the woman said in a kindhearted voice. "People often mistake me for her since I’ve been a small child. Knowing all the horrible things she did, I can understand this reaction."
Harry’s mind was chaos. Bellatrix? Sister? Look alike? Harry tried to breathe slower and managed to calm down a bit. As he did, he slowly started to understand what was going on.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Harry. My daughter and her husband told me much about you. My name is Andromeda Tonks." The woman, who really did look bloody similar to her sister Bellatrix, smiled at Harry.