Chapter 36
Harry woke up early - and freezing. The fire had died away and with rattling hands he stuffed his feet into his socks and boots. He pulled his hat down and hunted around the house for radiators. They were all on but none were fully warm all the way across. Harry remembered a drawer in the kitchen full of odds and ends, maybe there would be a radiator key in there.
Thankfully Harry found the tiny bobble of a key and set to work letting the air out. Afterwards he went to let the sheep out, hopefully the house would warm up while he was gone. The barn door was open a crack and Odette bounded in cheerfully.
“Well hello love.” A warm voice said from within. Carefully Harry peaked around the barn door and saw a woman kneeling next to a sheep with a bucket.
“Can I help you?” Harry said, sliding through the partially open door.
“Geez!” The woman jumped and grabbed her chest.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!” Harry said nervously.
“Who the hell are you!” She exclaimed.
“I bought the house.”
“Oh, sorry… I guess you’re wondering who the hell I am then.” She laughed and shook her head. Her gray hair shook around her face when she did.
“I mean, yeah.” Harry laughed too.
“The name’s Loraine. Tom used to let me milk the sheep to make cheese for my farm stand, in return I brought him a crate of vegetables each week.” She stood and offered her hand.
“Harry,” He said, shaking her hand. “You’re more than welcome to keep at it. I wouldn’t know how anyways.”
“I’ve got a box of produce in my trunk.” She promised.
“It’s no worry.”
“Oh no, a deal is a deal. I had one with Tom, I’ll make the same one with you.” She smiled and knelt back down to keep milking.
“Did you know him well?” Harry asked as he watched her.
“As well as anyone could. He was a really private man, hell I didn’t even know he was getting the damn surgery until he didn’t come home from the hospital.” She shook her head and stood with her pail. She opened the door the rest of the way and made a clicking sound. Nanny pushed the sheep out into the cot.
They walked back towards the house and Harry noticed her little truck in the drive. Loraine promised to stay out of Harry’s way but he told her not to be a stranger.
“Odie, come here.” Harry patted his leg but she didn’t stop jumping around the driveway.
“Oh is that her name? I’ve only ever heard the dogs called by whistle.” Loraine said, climbing into the truck. Harry whistled and called her again. This time she bounded over and sat at his feet. He waved goodbye and grabbed the box of vegetables from the ground.
Inside the house was starting to get warmer. Odette ate some of her food then stretched out on the kitchen floor in what Harry was realizing must be her spot. Harry looked through the open door to the dining room, he would have to find a use for that space.
He went upstairs and decided to fix the bedroom situation first. Harry found that the single room was being used as a cramped office. The double next to it was obviously the main bedroom, but the other double next to the bathroom had never been used as far as Harry could tell. The mattress was still sealed inside the store room plastic and only a blanket was laid over the top. He touched the cold curved bed frame. It was sturdy solid black iron with dimpled spindles on the head and footboard. There was a glossy wooden wardrobe on the wall by the door and a cedar chest at the foot of the bed. Harry felt sad that such a beautiful room probably had never had a visitor.
He opened the cedar chest and found a neatly folded uniform next to a clear plastic box of medals. The silver pin on the breast of the uniform read Bennington. The woman must not have known her uncle's treasures were up here. He shut the cedar chest lid and turned to the wardrobe. It was only bed linens. Harry found sheets and tore the plastic from the bed. With it now made up, maybe Draco would spend the night.
He went back to the office room. On the desk was a calendar with scribbled notes in scattered days. Harry saw the surgery date and touched it with one finger. The next week there was a date circled twice with a simple message: vaccination day. That was last week and Harry doubted that the man’s niece had kept up with it, there wasn’t even water in the dog dishes. Harry flipped through an old time Rolodex next to the calendar, he found a business card for an emergency vet.
He explained his situation to the receptionist who said the vet could come at the end of the week. Harry hung up the phone and turned to the bookcase. It was full of thick binders and manuals. He opened a binder and read the handwritten pages. It was a ledger of the farm and sheep. It seemed that there had once been as many as forty sheep but over the years the number had dwindled, probably as the man grew older. Harry closed the book. He couldn’t imagine doing work in this tiny windowless room. He took a pile of the binders in his hands and headed downstairs.
It took until lunch to move the rest of the office including the furniture downstairs to the dining room. This room would be a much better office and he had plenty of space for his chairs from back home and even a drafting table. The kitchen door opened and Harry set down the papers in his hands to see who it was.
“Oh my god, he wasn’t lying.” Hermione surveyed the kitchen.
“Who wasn’t?” Harry laughed.
“Malfoy of course!” She slammed the door. “Harry, have you lost your mind?!”
“I bought a house, why does everyone think I’ve gone mad? Ron said you want to buy a new house, does that make you crazy too?” Harry scoffed.
“Still, you don’t just buy a house on a whim.”
“You do if it’s the right one.” Harry sat down at the table and Hermione joined him.
“This has been a crazy year for you Harry, you understand if the people that love you get worried when you make a bunch of radical life choices all at once… right?”
“I thought you were the one who told me to do what I wanted and not worry about the right thing anymore?”
“I guess I didn’t know how much change you needed to do that…” Hermione paused and took his hand. “You must’ve been more unhappy than anyone thought.”
“I was more unhappy than you can imagine and I didn’t even know it until you forced me out of my rut and back into the world.” Harry gave her hand a squeeze. “I should probably thank you for that.”
“I’m kind of mad that you found the perfect place so easily.” She smiled.
“Well I’ve been dreaming of a place like this since I moved to the city. Just somewhere quiet where I can be myself. This farm, this house, it’s a chance at really building something for the future, something I care about. Is that such a crazy idea?”
“I suppose a farm is a good place to let the children come spend summers with you… they can learn the value of hard labor.” Hermione laughed.
“I’m sorry, did you say the summer? Like the whole summer?” Harry teased her.
“Freda has been asking for you and Uncle Draco nonstop.” She laughed. “It’s your fault for showing them such a good time.”
“I suppose you’re right.” They sat quietly for a minute and then Hermione checked her watch.
“I should get back, sorry for intruding. I just wanted to see if you were okay. Ron said you were and I hate it when he’s right.” She rolled her eyes.
“Stay for lunch.” Harry offered.
“Some other time, I’m due in court in twenty minutes.” She smiled and kissed his cheek before heading back out the door. Hopefully she would quell anymore speculation about his mental status. Honestly, it wasn’t so crazy to buy a farmhouse with a working sheep field and move spontaneously to the country with no warning… was it? Harry shook his head and laughed. Maybe he did deserve all the speculation after all.
The rest of the afternoon Harry spent moving the furniture from the main bedroom out to the garage. He knocked on the wall between the now empty primary and the tiny single beside it. A hollow sound echoed back to him. If the wall wasn’t original then surely it wouldn’t be such a sin to take it down. Back in the kitchen he found a pocket knife in the junk drawer. He carefully cut a section of the wall open and found it was only a temporary structure thrown up with cheap board and scrap lumber.
It came down with an unsettling quickness. Harry wondered how a strong wind hadn’t pushed it over already. The pitched roof was now perfectly even on each side and the room's proportions were absolutely beautiful. Harry decided to build the furniture himself. It had been fun to create the miniature scale pieces for Kreacher’s room. He would need to create a workshop out here somewhere to do that.
Back downstairs he pulled back on his jacket and boots. Odette jumped up at the doorknob’s click, wagging her tail excitedly. They walked to the outbuildings to investigate. The first one was small and held farm equipment in a neatly parked row. Harry made a note to find out what he could possibly need machinery for. The next building was slightly larger and held the workshop he wanted to create. There was a wide selection of tools and giant work tables.
Harry flipped on a light switch and walked toward a lumber pile in the back. Most of it consisted of neatly piled construction timber but leaning against the wall were several wide planks of poplar with a soft varying grain. It would make the perfect bed frame. Harry turned off the light and shut the door. His projects would have to wait till tomorrow. Right now he needed to go to town and find a store.
Odette laid down at the end of the driveway and whined as Harry disappeared down the road. In the village he found a small community shop with the essentials. He picked up some pasta, tea, milk, and eggs. At the bakery he grabbed a loaf of brown bread and some tarts. They weren’t pumpkin but hopefully they would still satisfy Draco’s sweet tooth.
The dog was waiting when Harry made it back home. She jumped up and waggled her way to the door with him. He found a leek in the box of produce and set to making dinner. He sat the table for two but ate alone. When at last he could wait no longer he climbed the stairs and went to bed. From his pillow he could see the stars glimmer in the sky. One fell slowly and he made a wish:
Don’t let me wake up alone.