New Start, New Life
Harry was waiting, sitting on a chair with his bags at his feet, for Ron to finish the paperwork.
He had been physically ready to leave this place months ago, he hadn’t suffered any injuries that would have forced him to stay at St Mungo’s for more than a few weeks.
But his magical core had been weakened by the destruction of the horcrux, he had lost a part of him -one he hated- but it had been in him for most of his life and to be honest he had felt quite empty without it at first. So the medico-mages had decided to make him stay in the mind department for some time.
It couldn’t do him any harm, he had just survived a war.
A war he had won at seventeen -and had fought in since he was eleven years old- it was bound to leave some mental scars.
Until Harry understood that, for the first time in his life, he could do what he wanted and not what people were expecting of him, he hadn’t seen any purpose in living, he had played his role, he had saved the world -and, unfortunately, a new nickname had seen light: “The Savior”- and, with the exception of his friends, no one was waiting for him to come home. Merlin, he didn’t even have a home.
Still doesn’t have one yet, but he has been working on it… As soon as Ron opposes the last signature, they will both apparate in front of Grimmauld Place and start the renovation. He wanted to make the sinister house into a comforting and loving home, for him, his friends and the rest of his family, if he could convince them.
Harry will also have to go get a new wand, the old one wasn’t responding to his magic really well since the loss of a part of his soul.
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The sun was just starting to show, when Harry heard the door opening, he was standing in the middle of the living room, a fuming cup full of tea between his hands.
"Harry, mate... don't tell me you spent the entire night cleaning the house! " Ron's strong voice only got a wobbly smile for an answer, but it was more than enough. "By Merlin’s beard, man, have a little pity for me, yeah? Mum is already mad enough that I didn't force you to come live at the Burrow! "
"I’m fine Ron, one sleepless night won't be the end of me." The second part was left unanswered, as if it was not heard at all. It wasn't that Harry didn't like the Burrow, no, he loved it. But he wanted his own house, with his own family. "Anyway, let me just take a quick shower before going to Ollivander, okay?"
"Yeah, fine by me. Be fast, Hermione meets us there at eight and I don't want another scolding."
The smaller boy was already by the stairs when he turned back to blow a raspberry at his friend, a small smile on his lips at the mention of his friend. After the war, his two best friends started dating, although it did not last for long, and for two months after the break-up, it had been quite awkward between them. He was happy that they had managed through it.
But his redheaded best friend was right, Hermione would not appreciate waiting on them...
He needed to be fast, after Ollivander he still had a whole lot of things to take care of, starting with visiting his godson, Teddy. He hadn't really seen him that much, both him and Andromeda had agreed that St Mungo's mind department was not the best place for a newborn. The witch had sent him a lot of pictures and letters to let him know how the adorable baby was doing.
Teddy did not seem to show any sign of lycanthropy, but they would not know for sure until after his sixth birthday.It was usually by that time that born werewolves would experience their first transformation. He was a good kid, would always finish his bottles, take his naps, and most of the time he would sleep through the entire night. His grandmother was in love with him, just as much as Harry was.
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Harry was surprised, he knew his wand would not be the same but he had not expected it to have differed from his original wand this much. The new one was made of acacia, hard to use and difficult on the choice of the wizard. Instead of the feather of a phoenix as the wand’s core, this one held a horsehair of a Thestral, a core considered worthy of only wizards who had defeated death. It was also shorter: 25.5 centimeters, when his old one was 27.5.
He had bought an ecrin in which he would conserve the old one, it was important for him to remember and keep it. It had saved his life too many times to just throw it away. Most wizards only had one wand, the object being able to tell the potential of the wizard when he was still just a child, but wands could not predict their possessor losing a part of their soul, it was not something that anyone or anything could predict. It was not even supposed to be possible without entailing the death of the person!
He was testing the weight and the feeling of it in his hand when the sweet voice of Hermione pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Harry? Do you have time to go window shopping for your house or do you want to go see Teddy now? I saw some interesting shops on the way here, we could go and see if there is anything you like?" Of course Hermione would be the one to think of looking at the shops on the alley, already planning the next step.
"We can go look for your rooms if you'd like? I still have time, Andromeda invited me over for lunch. I don't want to touch anything in the other rooms, I want them to be free to do anything with their own rooms, it will be their safe place, where they can do what they want and be who they are."
"It is really thoughtful of you, Harry... but are you sure that you want to leave everything as they are ? From what we learned from Sirius, it could bring back some bad memories."
"'Mione is right, mate. Maybe we could go inside and at least do a deep cleaning? See if there is anything that we know for sure is a bad idea to keep?"
"Yeah, didn't think of it like that. Might be a good idea, in fact. I will talk about it with Andromeda during lunch and we will do with what she will say. Sounds good?"
"Yes, you should do that. I will come tonight, and help you plan things a little more precisely." Here she was planning things, Harry really did not know how she managed to think of all those things ahead.
"Thanks 'Mione... you too Ron."
While talking, they had taken the direction of the stores Hermione had talked about. The first and larger one was painted an old, dirty gray and the black sign board address in gold writing the name of "Minute Manor", the window was full of furniture under a shrinking spell and samples of wallpapers. Harry had learned that in the Wizarding world, wizards and witches would buy shrunken furniture and grow them to the size they wanted, they could also charm it to change color and pattern, as long as it was in the pack they had chosen. For wallpaper, they would simply buy a sample and apply it to the wall they wanted it to be, and the sample would expand to the desired size.
It was truly magical and so much easier. Everything could be bought at the same time and you could just use a charm if you wanted to change anything.
The doorbell rang as they opened the door and they did not even have time to fully pass the doorway when a seller came to them.
"Welcome to Minute Manor, where everything for your manor is waiting for you! My name is Robert Fineland, what can I do for you today?"