Chapter 02
“How did you like the tea that I brought for you?” Harry looked up from his computer and glanced over to Neville, smiling at the other man.
“It’s great, actually. Works a whole lot better than coffee, just as you said. Maybe it will help me to get my ass out of the house one time. This morning it didn’t though,” Harry chuckled and shrugged, watching how Neville was laughing, too. Harry had recently complained that even coffee would not be able to wake him up in the morning, no matter how many cups he would have between waking up and some time around noon. Neville had told him to try it with tea, black and green, and had brought Harry a tea blend with the promise to be the better option. Even though Harry wasn’t sure if it really helped or if it was wishful thinking, he felt like he was capable to producing useful articles before ten so that was a plus.
When their lunchtime rolled around, Harry leaned back in his chair and looked at the book recommendation he had written so far. When he had first started with that, it had been easy because there had been tons and tons of books he could write about, but he eventually discovered that not every book he had loved to read was suitable for his recommendation page. He had limited himself to only three books a week but even this proved to be difficult because he was slowly approaching the end of the list of books he had read already and he couldn’t read as fast as he had to produce the articles. He wondered to himself if he could, and probably should, change something about the number of books he was writing about each week or if he should just stop wasting his time staring at a stranger on the train and instead read a book so he had something to work with. Harry internally groaned, because this man on the train was now also messing with his daily thoughts at work and it really was embarrassing, wasn’t it? After all he didn’t even know him.
“Harry? Are you listening?” Luna waved in front of Harry’s face and gave him a frown, which ripped him out of his thoughts and Harry gave a soft smile.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Harry watched as Luna rolled her eyes at him before her features turned soft and she shook her head. She really never could be angry for long.
“I’m asking you to join us for lunch. I bet you didn’t have anything for breakfast and I’m starving,” Luna explained and only then Harry noticed that she was holding her wallet in her hand and Neville was getting ready to leave to office, too.
“Sure, yes. I’d love to.”
Harry found himself at a small table in the vegan restaurant nearby and studied the menu. Luna had insisted to go there because she usually struggled to find something on the menu at the places that Neville and Harry would suggest. Since the three of them had agreed to take turns in choosing restaurants, the men could not complain and Harry found that maybe the vegan options were not so bad after all. He made a mental note to remember what Luna would eat so he could consider it the next time he would invite his friends for dinner. His experiences with vegan food were slim and he didn’t want her to only have to eat the sides that he served with the main course, even though she had told him that she had been fine so far and that even his side dishes were brilliant. Harry blamed it on Luna being nice and not wanting to make him feel bad about not considering his food choices.
“How’s Hannah doing?” Harry asked as their food was served, smiling at Neville. The other still looked somewhat uncomfortable with the foods on his plate but he tried it anyways, giving a surprised hum,
“This is actually nice. Hannah’s doing fine, it’s a bit stressful for her now that the new school year as started. There is a lot to organize and she has to get used to her new classes and there are already parents complaining about even the smallest issues. Honestly, I can’t believe what some of them even consider an issue. Please remind me to never get that crazy if I happen to ever become a father,” Neville shook his head and Harry laughed, not missing the soft smile as Neville seemed to think about being a father. Harry could picture that; he was convinced the man would make an amazing father.
“I guess that most parents are just concerned for their children. Some more than others though,” Luna shrugged and pointed her fork at Harry before she continued to speak, “aren’t your two best friends parents already?” Harry nodded at that, swallowing the bite from his pasta dish.
“They are but Rose is just a little over a year old yet. Not that this would stop Ron from fussing over her and I think its good that he has Hermione who is keeping a clear head most of the time. I get it, to be protective over children but I can imagine that some take it a bit too far,” Harry explained. They continued their conversation over dinner and returned to their office to get their work done.
Harry was alone on his train ride back. Well, he technically always was alone but, on this day, he had no one to look at while he rode the train back home. It wasn’t a surprise, whenever he did share the train back with the blond, it was later than it was on that day, so Harry guessed the other man was still working. It was good though because it kept Harry’s thoughts from drifting away and he managed to focus somewhat on the notebook in his hands. He had recently finished the first basic draft of the plot of the novel he attempted to write and he now had to bother with a timeline and a more accurate plan of the plot. He had clearly underestimated the work that would go into this before he could start to write the whole story, interwoven in the pieces he had already written when his inspiration had sparked him to a certain scene.
Harry almost missed his stop, again, and jumped up and out of the train. He walked the small path towards his house, leading him on a fifteen-minute long walk through mostly nature and past a few other houses. He barely knew any of his neighbors since he never really got to see anyone. He had moved to the countryside for a reason though and not seeing many people on a daily basis, besides the people he liked, had been one of those reasons.
This evening Harry forced himself to pick up a book he had meant to read for a while already, getting comfortable in front of his fireplace with a cup of tea and some biscuits. He wondered if he should get a pet to not feel too lonely during the evenings. A dog seemed to be too much work, even though Harry thought that owning one would be nice. Still, he could not leave him alone all day long when he was going to work and he was almost a little scared of the responsibility that would come with it. Maybe a cat, Harry thought, smiling to himself. Or two, so they could cuddle each other whenever he would not be home. The thought seemed to form in his head without him actively trying and he could already see himself cuddled up with them during the cold months or watching them play outside during the spring and summer season, maybe taking a nap in the sun. Deciding that this was, in fact, a good idea, Harry focused on the book with the plan in mind to go and visit an animal shelter that weekend to see if he could find himself two little kittens to keep him company. Hermione would probably tell him that he was being too impulsive again but maybe he wouldn’t need to tell his friends about it until he would bring the kittens home. He was sure Ron and Hermione could be easily won over by two adorable fluffballs.