"Is that really you?" Arthur asked, looking joyful and conflicted at the same time. The man stepped forward with a delighted look on his face to take a good look at Harry, but all of a sudden, the man faltered and gave him a solemn look. "For whatever it's worth, I am sorry, young man… I couldn't help anymore. Maybe, I could have done something more. I should have done something" The man breathed out with a shudder.
What the fuck are you talking about?| Harry and Lily both wondered at the same time. "I have no idea why you are apologizing to me in the first place… For Merlin's sake, I don't even know who you are" Harry blurted out, looking confused and somewhat afraid. Jacklyn, who was watching from the side, barely herself back calling out Harry for his acting.
She had to admit, Harry was really good at acting… If she didn't know his real personality, then she would have believed that he was really confused and afraid. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Brittany was looking like she had completely lost the plot… Jacklyn moved her hand to grab her arm and Brittany, who was trying to make any sense of the whole situation, whipped her head toward Jacklyn.
The older girl simply shook her head subtly. Brittany frowned and pursed her lips, but decided to hold her questions until later… She didn't know why Harry was acting like that, but she realized that he must have a very good reason behind his actions… With a frown on her face, she gave Jacklyn a subtle nod before she turned back toward Harry. Sometimes, she couldn't understand either of her best friends.
"Ah… I am sorry. I am Arthur Weasley" The man sighed sheepishly before introducing himself. "I don't know how much Albus or Sirius have told you, but I knew your parents before they…" The man trailed off with a somewhat guilty look on his face for bringing up his parents. "We weren't that close, but we would have loved to take care of you…" The man frantically stumbled with his words.
"It's alright, Mr. Weasley. Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Weasley, and you shouldn't feel bad. Headmaster Dumbledore had explained why it wasn't safe for me to stay in this country" Harry finally lost the look of fear from his face and started to speak somewhat meekly. In the last two days, Harry had learned why everyone was thinking that he was sent to the States by Dumbledore and he didn't have any problems using the same excuse.
"Thank you for understanding, young man" Arthur sighed in relief as the jovial smile returned to his face.
While Arthur was talking with Harry, the other Weasleys were simply watching the interaction in complete silence, except for William Weasley… He couldn't place his finger on it, but something about the whole interaction felt weird. Even though Harry was clearly confused and afraid, something felt amiss as the ones accompanying him didn't look worried. Yes, they were frowning or scowling but they didn't look worried in the slightest.
"That is why I was apologizing… Only if we could have punished the Death Eaters, then you wouldn't have to leave your homeland" Arthur shook his head, looking angry at himself.
"It's alright, Mr. Weasley. I don't blame any of you… I blame the ones who were running the administration" Harry waved off the man's apology while shifting uncomfortably on his feet.
"You are more understanding than my youngest son" Arthur mumbled with a smile. "How about we take this conversation somewhere else?" He suggested, hoping to talk more with Harry, but after hearing his words, Harry frowned.
"I am sorry, Mr. Weasley, but it's about time we should get going… My Godfather is probably getting really worried for me" Harry said, looking almost apologetic.
"I see… Then I won't keep you any longer. Take care, young man" Arthur sighed in disappointment, but he didn't look like he was offended. He happily bid Harry farewell with a smile on his face. "Boys, let's head back… Your mother would be really worried" The man said as he started to head in the opposite direction with his kids.
"I can't wait to tell Ronnikins and ickle Ginny that we met Harry Potter!" One of the twins exclaimed while following Arthur. The other twin nodded his head in understanding as exclaimed in agreement.
"Hmm… Quite an interesting bunch, wouldn't you agree, Tonks?" Harry asked, shrugging off his act.
"Shut the fuck up!" Tonks gasped in shock. "I can't believe you did that! That was hilarious!" Tonks wheezed out barely holding back her laughter. Tonks did have some questions, but she decided that her questions could wait as Jacklyn and Brittany were still here.
"I am glad you appreciate" Harry smiled back at her as the group finally started to move again. "I realized that you were feeling uncomfortable around them and I simply couldn't bring myself to accept the invitation from a complete stranger…" Harry breathed out as he forced himself to shudder.
"Yeah… I can understand where you are coming from. From what my mum has told me, Molly Weasley is an extremely overbearing woman, who would try to mother anyone" Tonks bit out with a sigh… "I am glad that you didn't accept the offer, especially with Sirius not here with us" Tonks added as she nodded her head, trying to sound serious, but she couldn't stop snickers from escaping her lips.
As the group continued to head back toward their tent, Harry continued to monitor the bug following them for quite some time… He started to ponder how to deal with the bug. Should he let it be or should he capture it to extract information… Decisions, decisions! To be honest, he didn't like being watched by anyone else other than his mom, but that was beside the point.
What are you planning to do, Hadrian?| His mom asked him curiously. Moody and Tonks were one thing as Harry was still weak at that time, so couldn't have done anything to them in the first place, but that was no longer the case… Now, he had the power to fight back.
...I think I am going to deal with the annoyance… I don't want an Animagus with unknown objectives trailing me 24/7, especially with the others around me| Harry answered after thinking for a bit. |Having a bug Animagus on the leash would be useful in the future| Harry wondered aloud inside his mind.
Are you sure, Hadrian? Killing them whoever it is would be much easier| Lily pointed out with a scowl, but Harry internally shook his head.
Killing is easy… If I can't salvage anything useful from the bug then I could always go for the kill| Harry explained with a shrug. He might have killed the Dursleys, and he might have also indirectly killed one of his neighbors, but he didn't kill them just for the sake of killing… It felt good, but he didn't like the idea of killing random people, but he wouldn't mind killing them if there was no other choice…
Lily huffed, but didn't argue anymore…
The group finally entered the tent and found Sirius pacing around with a frown while Andi and Ted were sitting around the center table with tired looks on their faces. Sirius noticed their arrival and a look of relief washed over his face… "Where the hell did you guys go?" Sirius exclaimed frantically as he rushed toward Harry with a look of concern on his face.
"No need to get your tights in a wad, Sirius. I was there with him and I did tell you that I am taking him to the fair" Tonks rolled her eyes at him in exasperation. After hearing her words, Sirius froze for a second before nodding his head with an apologetic look on his face.
"Uh… sorry for shouting. I simply got worried" Sirius sighed, looking uncomfortable.
"It's alright, Sirius… I don't mind. It's nice to have someone getting worried for me" Harry smiled at the man, making him flinch. There was a reason why he used that particular sentence as he wanted to put an end to this conversation right here. Just as he expected, silence ensued and everyone looked around uncomfortably before Tonks finally decided to break the silence.
"Guys, I brought food!" Tonks exclaimed cheerfully as she gestured everyone to join her at the center table. "Oh, by the way, we met the Weasleys on the way back" Tonks added. Andi, Ted, and Sirius raised their eyebrows at that… Soon, everyone joined Tonks at the center table before she started to recall everything that happened during their short trip…
It took all of them almost half an hour to finish their food and after that, Harry excused himself saying that he wanted to take a shower. Some of the others also excused themselves following his example… Tonks had to meet Alastor, so she left too, just like Andi decided to make some preparations for the barbeque they were going to have tonight. Jacklyn and Brittany decided to help her while Sirius and Ted decided to simply have a beer and relax…
Meanwhile, Harry arrived inside his room and after entering the bathroom, he locked it from inside before he finally started to open a portal. He had to admit, the bug was quite daring… The bug has dared to not only follow them inside the tent, but the bug has dared to follow him inside his room, but for whatever reason, the bug didn't follow him inside the bathroom…
Well, not that it matters anymore… He was going to capture the bug and then, he was going to make it sing… With that thought inside his mind, he stepped into the portal…
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