Chapter Text
He can't exactly understand the dread he was feeling. He woke up feeling like something terrible was going to happen. Sometimes, this related to the fact that he was the sole and rightful owner of all three deathly hollows and all that entails-even though he tried to get rid of two of the three items- to no effect. For all intents and purposes, he was The Master of Death. This meant that he didn't exactly age, other than the white streak of hair on his temple that appeared overnight soon after the final battle. He healed quickly whenever he got hurt, but the scarring always remained. He also suddenly started growing as if his body was compensating for all the years of undernourishment he suffered growing up. The fact remained that his current feeling of dread that morning had nothing to do with massacres or anything related to being the Master of Death. Still, he tried to go about his day as normally as he can. He still had work to do and a house to take care of. Being Harry Potter didn't mean that he can skip caring for the gardens of 12 Grimmauld Place and that he wasn’t running out of time before he had to take his godson to The Burrow for the day.
Teddy Lupin currently resides with him because of the untimely death of Andromeda -Please, call me Andy- Tonks and Molly Weasley agreed to host him whenever Harry felt like something would happen. It was sort of their preemptive plan. Harry learned the hard way to never ignore his ill-boding feelings after he ignored his instincts one too many times.
He went about his day ignoring the rising dread he was feeling. He stuck to the instructions left to him by Neville Longbottom on how to treat his dying plants- they were always dying on him. Every time he planted something, it starts to grow and flourish and he'd have high hopes for them before suddenly dying and wilting in a short amount of time. Still, he tried to do everything in the instructions. Later, he dropped his godson at the burrow and stayed for a cup of tea and some catching up and then went on his way to Grimmauld place once more. Something told him that whatever was about to happen will happen there.
He went to his office and tried to work on some of the overgrowing pile always waiting for him there but he couldn't really focus on what he was reading. Working as a consultant for the Auror department meant that there is always a briefing to be had or a case file to be read somewhere. Still, he liked that more than working as a Auror. He still got to go on cases and raids and the like, but he always had terrible dreams and he'd be on edge for the following couple of days. After a year of work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he decided that a consultant was the better alternative for him. Also, being Lord Potter and the Lord of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black meant that didn't really have to work that hard. Even though it also came with two seats in the Wizengamot and all the headache that entailed.
He took off his eyeglasses and tried to stretch his back and neck. The satisfying pops he heard told him that maybe he should leave the case files for now and go somewhere else. Before he got to stand up, there was an owl by his window tapping furiously. He recognized that owl. He'd know that strange assortment of feathers anywhere. This grey owl with patches of green belonged to his best friend Hermione Granger. He granted the small owl entry and gave it some of the treats he always had before taking the parcel it was holding. And yes, it was not a letter but a parcel. The binding told him that the parcel didn’t come from his friend Hermione, but rather the famed solicitor Hermione Granger who worked mostly for those affected by the war and those who suffered from the consequences of said war. Many families on both sides lost their homes and titles to this war. Some deserved it and some happened to be ignorant to the actions of their kin. Still, there was a lot of injustice and suffering that resulted from this war.
He didn't understand why Hermione’s office will send him any legal documents given that he made it very clear that his part in the war ended a long time ago. And the documents had all the signs to give him alarm. Notwithstanding how thick the parcel was, it had a big red CONFIDENTIAL stamp on it along with a list of dates that go back to the first wave of trials after the war. He also knew it was related to the trials because of all the codes on the parcel, he even glimpsed a code that looked like it may pertain to the Malfoy case. Also, he was almost sure from the sounds it made when jostled that there was a separate box in there that had something in it. It made a small thudding noise whenever he moved the parcel.
He knew from experience that this was related to something important and he won't be of any use to Hermione looking through it in the state he was. So, opting for something to help him before he could be able to help her, he decided to go outside and maybe stretch his legs.
He only got as close as the coat rack by the front door when he felt his wards being breached. He knew for a fact that this was not someone who was invited by him. And he also knew that it wasn't an enemy as well. The wards were of his design and he was keyed to all the things that disturbed them. When they opened or were barricaded had nothing to do with the intruder’s intent. It was solely based on the level of mutual trust between inhabitant and intruder. Plus whoever had a standing invitation like his godson and The Weasleys and a handful other individuals. So, he knew that the current intruder was not someone invited, but was someone he trusted a great deal, even though those can be counted by one hand.
The moment he felt the interruption, he knew why he was certain that the dread he felt was not related to his status as the Master of Death. It was the House itself and it was trying to warn him about this intruder. Which baffled him, because the wards let them in. There was no reason for him to feel this way if it was someone he trusted. Still, he made his way to the kitchen where he felt the disturbance coming from. And he made sure he was ready for whatever he may find. He really did. That doesn't mean he wasn’t very surprised by who he found there or why they suddenly dropped to their knees when he came into their view.
He was very surprised, but he also owed it to the not so much of an intruder to see what brought this unexpected reappearance in his life. He tried to not make his surprise show on his face and entered the kitchen with footsteps that grew heavier the nearer he got to her.