Chapter Text
The bell jingled as he entered the apothecary.
And there she was at long last. Wearing white muggle running shoes, so out of place that they practically glowed and brewing robes that were well made but cut for a completely different person. Her hair had grown but unevenly and it was as unruly as a bird's nest.
But none of that changed the fact that she was obviously a pretty teenaged girl.
“If it isn’t little Miss Homeless,” he said. Because well, she did in fact look slightly homeless and if the Daily Prophet and his mother’s screaming was to be believed she had been homeless for four years.
Harry looked up at him and he was shocked by how brilliant her green eyes now looked. They almost detracted from those slightly less atrocious bushy eyebrows. He hoped her new found feminine features hadn’t given her a swollen head.
“Somehow you’re even uglier than you were before, halfblood” he sneered at her.
“Lestrange,” she said flatly “how did you even recognize me?”
Caelum stared at her. Had there ever been another teenaged girl at Mulpeppers? And one who looked like they dressed in cast offs from a bargain bin at that.
“Who else could you be?”
“What does that mean?”
She looked completely confused. It wasn’t a look he was used to seeing on her face. She was holding a package, clearly on her way out the door and he desperately wanted to know what was in it. He needed to get her to stay a bit longer until he got a bit of information out of her.
“I’ve heard you haven’t been in America all these years. They’re saying you slept on the streets of London to let your pureblood cousin lark it up across the pond in your place.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Harry said growling at him. He was a bit surprised, usually this sort of banter wouldn’t get a rise out of her.
Caelum smiled sarcastically at her. “You know you could have crashed with me if you were so desperate.”
She stared at him. Now she was the one with the look of surprise. “You moved out of Dartmoor?”
It was more that he had intended to tell her. “Well, what with my apprenticeship it was more practical for me to live closer to the Guild. I’m sure you’ll understand someday. Maybe you could even apprentice with me, I’ll need someone to clean cauldrons for me.”
She eyed him calculatingly. It wasn’t a look Caelum was used to seeing on her face when she looked at him. It reminded him of the face she would make when trying to figure out how to substitute an ingredient or whether or not the price on jarred newt eyes was better than buying whole newts on sale. He didn’t like it.
“Homeless girl, clearly no one ever told you this when you were slumming it up in the alleys but it’s rude to stare.”
“How about a deal?”
Caelum eyed her with great suspicion. “Half-blood, if you have some sort of wild idea you should have shared it with me in a letter ages ago.”
“No, no it’s a new idea and I only have twenty minutes before I have to be home.”
“And what idea is that?” Mocking her pathetic curfew could wait until later.
“I get an undisclosed favour that I can redeem at any time of my choosing. And you can buy any ingredients and equipment you want in the next ten minutes and charge to my school account. I’ll even help you carry it all out”.
His brain started to whirl.
Finding accommodation he was fit to be seen in as well as making appearances at all the regular clubs, restaurants and parties had taken a toll on his trust. Until the next stipend for his apprenticeship came through he wouldn’t be able to outfit a home lab. And he missed being able to brew in private.
“Nineteen minutes.”
Caelum eyes her package suspiciously. “And what crazy half-blood idea are you working on now?”
“Partial modified long-lasting polyjuice potion. 18 minutes”.
He stared at her. And he knew he wanted in. The brat had him.
“15 minutes worth of purchases and I work with you on the new version of Polyjuice. For one favour. And you don’t ever tell Lord Potter about any of this, if he asks all the ingredients are for you.”
“Done.”
He walked up the the front counter, hastily summoning Mr. Tate and selecting the most expensive package for industrial potion equipment and ordering the supply lists from the Hogwarts school lists years 5, 6 and 7 without reviewing them.
With a pointed look at Harry to stay put he headed into the back of the store with Mr. Tate, returning in a few minutes with two large crates.
Harry ran up to rattle off payment instructions.
Caelum snapped his fingers. A house-elf dressed in a Lestrange pillowcase appeared.
“Yes, young sir?”
Caelum nodded to the cauldrons, stirring rods, school list ingredients and rest of the lab kit that Mr. Tate had just finished wrapping up. “Take all of that to the apartment”.
The house-elf and gear flickered out of view.
Caelum eyed Harry appraisingly, she looked tall and surprisingly sturdy for a teenaged girl. He placed one of the crates beside her and she placed her bag inside it and picked it up.
“I’m not trusting these with a house-elf. We are going to walk these over to my apartment, it’s not far.”
Harry nodded her agreement.
Caelum noticed that she hadn’t said a thing about his use of a house-elf that some would call against the spirit of their arrangement and that some would call outright cheating.
They walked in silence to what appeared to be a modern looking apartment building.
Caelum reached into his pocket pulling out a key. “You won’t have seen anything like this before Half-blood, it’s spelled to open to the keyholder directly to their apartment. The most expensive apartments in Diagon Alley.”
She nodded still quiet and followed him through.
It occurred to Caelum that this was the first time he had ever invited anyone, let alone a girl into his apartment. The Lestrange house elves came and went occasionally but he had been the only one here these last few months.
Harry was looking wide eyed around her surroundings.
Caelum puffed up with pride. “Amazing isn’t it? Especially to someone like you whose been living in a hovel somewhere. You really should have said something and I might have been convinced to let you stay.”
Harry gestured to the spot near the entrance that clearly used to have a fireplace. “What happened here?”
Caelum laughed. “Well I didn’t want just anyone showing up whenever they liked. I had the fireplace removed and the apartment warded by my cousin. Unless you have a key it’s practically impossible to find this apartment let alone get in.”
Harry put the crate down on the floor and kicked of her hideous sneakers.
“What are you doing half-blood, you said you had to head home in twenty minutes and it’s almost time...”
She smiled at him. She looked beautiful when she smiled.
He immediately felt very concerned.
“I’m calling in my favour Caelum. This is now my home too.”