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Chapter Text

“Teddy, hands off the glass - you’ll leave smudges.” A man’s voice cut through the quiet murmur of voices and the cheery, lovey-dovey song that played on the store’s speakers. The voice was deep, and surprisingly, British. Sally startled and looked up from where she was cleaning the stainless steel countertops where the confectionary chefs worked earlier in the day. True to his words, there was a young boy with his face and hands pressed against the glass display of a black cat made of bits of candy - a decoration for Halloween, but the man was out of sight.

“But dad,” The boy whined but stepped back letting Sally get a look at him. He was dressed in an oversized hoodie and jeans, with his hair covered in a black beanie. The boy turned to look at his father, away from Sally. “It looks so-o good! Can I please have it?”

“No, Teddy. You already picked out everything you wanted, and we have no need for a cat made of candy. You can get a few more pieces of candy, though.” Sally could hear the exasperated smile in the man’s voice, and she sympathized. Percy was just as demanding.

The man walked towards his son and into Sally’s line of view, and Sally was shocked by how handsome he was. It was almost like- No , Sally reminded herself. Even from a distance, his eyes were startling green, and his hair artfully disheveled. Sally caught herself staring with her mouth open, and returned to cleaning the countertop with a blush on her cheeks. She felt a bit ridiculous in her uniform. She could hear their conversation continuing, but decided to ignore it while trying to scratch off an especially stubborn piece of hard candy.

A Ding! cut through her thoughts, and she set her cleaning supplies down. She turned and walked to the cash register, a warm smile already on her face. “Did you find everything alright? Anything I can help you with?” Now that the man was closer, his face was truly beautiful. Sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw covered in black stubble. The boy by his side had the same amazingly green eyes and a cherubic face that Sally just wanted to squeeze a cheek and coo.

“It’s awesome here!” The boy exclaimed cheerfully, his grin splitting his face in half. If Sally had to guess, he was approximately six or seven years old, with his father about twenty-five.

“It really is, some of the displays are works of art. If Teddy had his way, he’d never leave this place.” The father said with a smile and put a hand on his son’s covered head, who ducked out of his reach with a rosy blush covering his cheeks. A whined “Dad!” escaped him. A deep chuckle rose from the man. 

Sally rang up their order and bagged the candy with a smile on her face that wasn’t fake. “The total comes to $13.88.”

The man put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, and pushed him slightly forward towards the register that he barely saw above. The boy’s face blanched but he visibly steeled his courage and reached into his sweater pocket and pulled out an electric blue wallet with fumbling hands. He pulled out one $10 and four $1 bills, and nervously slid them onto the counter. The boy, Teddy, looked up to his father who gave him a nod and a warm smile, which was quickly returned by him.

It was a heartwarming interaction, but at the same time, her heart ached. This is what Percy is missing out on, she thought, but cursed herself as soon as she did.

“Are you alright?” The man asked, his face concerned. The expression was amusingly identical on his son and she realized she had tears welling in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away.

“Y-yes, I’m alright. Thank you, just a long shift…” She hoped her boss didn’t hear her say that - she’d recently begged for more hours, but it was the first excuse that came to mind. “$0.12 is your change.” She mustered up a smile but it must have still been visibly sad and her eyes teary, as the man frowned. His eyes roamed her body in a worried way and she knew he must’ve seen her concealer covering her large dark-circles - the cheap brands never had the best coverage, and how her outfit was slightly more rumpled than acceptable despite her best efforts at the run-down laundromat.

Humiliatingly, the tears didn’t seem to want to stop, so to distract herself she held out the change with a shaking hand. The man, rather than his son, accepted the change back, but he reached into his wallet and pulled out a crisp fifty dollar bill, and put it inside the tip jar. She began to protest, but his response was swift.

“Don’t worry about it. I have more than I know what to do with, and the least I could do is help brighten someone’s day. Do you have someone I could call for you?” The expression on her face must’ve been enough of an answer. She was truly alone in New York. Teddy watched the interaction with an open mouth and wide eyes, trying to understand what was going on. “When do you get off?” The man asked, and both of them glanced at the cheerful candy themed clock on the wall. 6:55 PM.

“In five minutes,” she answered nervously, caution heightened despite how kind this man had been - you don’t last as a mother to a demigod, let alone one of the Big Three, very long when careless. “Why?”

“Would you like to have dinner with Teddy and I? We were planning on trying out American McDonald’s tonight - we’ve heard great things.” The man wasn’t quite innocent, but he seemed to enjoy the little things in life, however she didn’t miss the dark shadows in his bright eyes, or how they constantly scanned the room and checked on his son.

“Thank you, truly, but I have to pick up my son from my babysitter’s before she gets angry.” She thought of the mean old Italian woman across the hall who had surprisingly offered to watch Percy while she was working.

Teddy moved closer to his father, and grabbed his hand which was quickly wrapped in the man’s strong hand. He was obviously nervous in the situation, his eyes wide. Another example of what Percy was missing out on.

“Do you need a ride anywhere?” She laughed despite herself. He definitely wasn’t a native to New York. Public transport was faster than the congested roads, but the offer was sweet.

“No, thank you.” she gave him a teary smile. “I’m fine taking the subway, it will be quicker anyways.”

“Well, here is my number. Call me if you ever need any help with anything. Anything at all. Have a good night.” He stuffed a candy in his mouth and wrote his number down on the waxed paper wrapper. His kind smile returned, and the father and son duo turned away, the father’s arm wrapped around the son’s shoulders, holding him close.

“Thanks, you too!” She called after them. She watched them exit the door, which chimed with a cheery jingle. Her eyes traveled to the bill in the tip jar, already thinking of how much she could buy with it. They were supposed to divvy up the tips at the end of the shift, but the man left it with her, she reasoned. Looking around quickly, she pocketed it and glanced towards the clock. 7:00 PM. Time to go home, and see Percy. Despite the long day, a smile broke onto her face, as she took of her apron and headed into the backrooms of the store. The candy wrapper a comforting weight in her pocket.

Chapter Text

Today was a spur of the moment decision, but Harry had decided to take Teddy to see some of the monuments of New York. Teddy had heard all about New York from his new classmates at his muggle school, and decided he wanted to explore a bit, which Harry was all too happy to comply with. They had started with Times Square, which had been much too busy for Harry’s taste. Now, however, they were headed on a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.

Sat on one of the benches of the ship, Harry pulled Teddy close to him and put an arm around him. Teddy was bundled up - a puffy coat, a hat, and a scarf. The autumn wind off the ocean was chilly, but a warming charm took the brunt of it. Harry’s own hair was ruffled by the wind, but he loved the feel of the wind on his skin. It reminded him of Quidditch.

“Look Daddy! A helichopper!” Teddy exclaimed loudly while pointing at the sky. Following his finger, Harry saw that there was indeed a helicopter. 

Smiling due to the sheer innocence, Harry responded, “It’s a heli copter , Teddy. Maybe we can take a tour on one sometime.” Teddy beamed at him, his cheeks rosy from the chilly weather outside. Harry himself was curious as to how flying in one would be different to a broom.

The tour guide's voice came over the intercom, directing them to look towards the Statue. Even from a distance, it was quite impressive, especially without the help of magic in constructing it. 

The guide’s voice droned on, and Harry felt bittersweet suddenly. He was happy that he was with Teddy, but occasionally, he found himself reflecting on his own childhood with the Dursleys. He still wondered how they could have treated a child like that. He looked over to Teddy, whose wide eyes were focused on the Statue as the guide explained the history of it. 

I love you , he thought.

-

Their final stop for the day was the Empire State Building. They had luckily managed to get some of the last spots in a tour of the building, and an eventual destination of the observation deck that boasted up to 80 miles of visibility in every direction. 

Harry kept a tight hold on Teddy’s hand as he had been getting antsy about listening to the guide talk for so long. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t interesting to a child to learn about how a building was built, but they were almost done. Following the guide to the elevator, the group clambered in.

Harry looked down at Teddy, but he felt like something was off. The doors of the elevator closed, and Harry stretched out his senses, trying to figure out what it was. His eyes locked on the buttons, noticing that something seemed off, but the more he tried to think of what it could be, the more his mind was getting distracted.

Blinking, Harry emptied his mind of everything, and suddenly, another button appeared on the panel. 600 . In his surprise, he briefly let go of his focus and the button disappeared again and he struggled to remember what he just saw. 

Occluding again, he handled his wand discretely as he silently cast a detection spell on the button, but the results were inconclusive. It seemed to be an unknown spell hiding the button. Perhaps a variant of the Notice-Me-Not spell, but it was quite powerful… No redirection, just the absence of existence… I’ll have to ask Hermione about it.

He was on edge for the rest of the tour, just briefly marveling at the view with Teddy, but his heart wasn’t into it despite his best efforts to maintain interest for Teddy’s sake. His mind kept returning to the mystery of the button.

As he drove their way home, he came to the realization that there was no reason he should care about the button. It was a public space - plenty of other wizards must have visited and detected the button, it wouldn’t have remained there if it was a hazard. Besides, he had only briefly and distantly interacted with it.

With these thoughts, he put it from his mind.

-

With a sleeping Teddy wrapped around him like a koala bear, Harry carried him to their apartment from the car. As soon as he stepped in the front door, he felt the welcoming presence of the numerous wards surrounding them.

With one hand, he carefully maneuvered his wand, Teddy’s boots untying themselves and quietly hopping onto the shoe rack, with his following shortly after. The scarf and hat came next, hanging themselves up on the wall. Leaving their coats on,  he carried Teddy to his room, and laid him down on the bed.

Removing Teddy’s coat without waking him was difficult, but he was sleeping heavily. Tucking Teddy in, he ran a hand through the child’s hair and removed the charm locking in his appearance - the colour immediately cycling through all the colours of the rainbow. Placing a kiss upon his brow, Harry began to leave the room, flicking his wand and turning off the lights.

However, his foot stepped on something with a soft crinkling noise. Bending down to pick it up, he noticed a wrapper from the candy store they had found a few days ago, and he was reminded of meeting the tired but beautiful woman working there.

Maybe if Teddy was good this week, they could go again.

Chapter Text

Comfortable that Teddy was now snuggled cutely in his bed,

Harry walked into the master bedroom and picked out some fluffy pajamas with snitches and brooms travelling across the fabric. They were a gag gift from Luna, but they were extremely comfortable.

In the en suite, he divested himself of his worn clothes and tossed them in the laundry hamper. Inspecting himself in the mirror, he noticed he needed to trim his beard soon.

He turned on the shower, and stepped under the cold water before it even had a chance to warm up. His upbringing at the Dursley’s had instilled him with habits like this he just couldn’t seem to break. He easily imagined Uncle Vernon’s angry voice whenever he thought Harry had too long of a shower, and thus wasting his precious money on the water bill.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Harry set to work getting clean.

-

Walking around the apartment, he casually flicked his wand and non-verbally tidied up the place, Teddy’s toys flying into his toy box and another spell swept up and vanished the crumbs from the floor he had scolded Teddy about earlier that day. Sometimes it was easier to clean up after Teddy, rather than force the kid to his high standards of cleanliness enforced on him at an even younger age than Teddy was now. The kid really did try to clean up after himself, but Harry thought it was a losing battle.

Travelling to his study, he inspected the darkly-stained bookshelves along the walls, filled with a wide variety of books.. While his collection couldn’t be considered extensive, especially compared to Hermione’s, Harry sometimes thought he had more books than he knew what to do with. He had reorganized them after moving to New York, and he still had to get used to it. After a few minutes of searching the shelves, Harry found what he was looking for: Concealment and Confoundment. 

The book was probably a century old, a battered grey cover depicting a wizard waving his wand, with what were presumably muggles following the movement with rapt attention. Undoubtedly pretentious, with it being from the Black library - but not being dangerous to be removed with Mrs. Weasley’s purge. 

Sitting down in a plush armchair, Harry began reading.

-

Snapping the covers shut, Harry put the book on the chair-side table, and stood up. The book had been interesting, and while some of the charms and enchantments had been similar to what he had observed in the elevator, none had been identical. As he reflected on what he read, he walked to his bedroom and laid down under the covers.

Despite it being over a decade, Harry couldn’t help but be reminded of his first year at Hogwarts as he researched Flamel. That whole situation left a sour taste in his mouth, especially when he imagined a slightly older Teddy going through the same events.

Still thinking about this, Harry drifted off into sleep.

-

Getting Teddy ready for school was a comforting return to normalcy. Harry cut up an apple and made a peanut-buttered toast for Teddy, cutting off the crusts just as he liked. The kid was yawning cutely as he prepared him breakfast, but he knew that eventually Teddy would be bouncing off the walls in excitement to see his friends at school.

Teddy’s lunch was packed as well, as he had seen the food they served at the school and hadn’t been impressed with the quality. Strawberries, cheese and crackers, a biscuit, and a fully loaded turkey sandwich. His child would not be going to school starving like he did, watching all the other kids eat while he sat quietly or read. He packed a few extra snacks, in case Teddy wanted to share with anyone.

True to his prediction, after he had eaten his breakfast, Teddy had jumped off the chair and ran to the living room, jumping on the sofa in his pajamas. Chasing after him, Harry picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, walking to Teddy’s bedroom to get him dressed with Teddy’s giggles filling his ears.

The process wasn’t quick or quiet, especially when the tickle monster came out to play.

-

Dropping off Teddy at school was always stressful. There were children and parents everywhere, running in every direction. His eyes always followed their movements, and Teddy’s hand never left his until they were at the doors to the school. Despite how his willful ignorance appeared, he noticed how the single (and even married) mothers giggled and gossiped about him. After Ginny had run off with a semi-professional quidditch player, he hadn’t had much interest in dating. Besides, meeting people at Teddy’s school seemed a bit odd, and it definitely had potential to make things awkward.

Teddy’s appearance had been locked with a charm Andromeda taught him that she had used when Tonks had been attending school, but he couldn’t help but worry that maybe he had forgotten to cast it, or maybe it would wear off. Reassuring himself that he wouldn’t forget something like that, Harry started his trek back home.

-

The week was uneventful, with Harry’s days consisting of running errands and taking care of Teddy. Teddy had impressed Harry with a beautiful drawing of him and Teddy holding hands, with a bright yellow circle in the top corner and blue along the top of the page. It even got the honour of being stuck to the fridge.

After buckling Teddy into his seat on Friday afternoon, Harry then sat behind the steering wheel, and turned to look over his shoulder. “What do you think about going to get some candy?” Teddy’s eyes immediately flew to his, his whole cherubic face lighting up with joy.

“Yes! Let's go!” Teddy said loudly, but when he caught Harry’s slightly warning look, he made an admirable attempt to calm himself and said in a mildly quieter voice, “Yes please! Can we please go get candy, Daddy?”

-

Sweet on America was much busier on a Friday afternoon right after school let out compared to near closing time on a weekend, but Harry and Teddy made do.

After convincing Teddy that he didn’t need a rock-hard candy sphere the size of his fist, they began filling their basket with sugary goodness. As they approached the register, Harry’s hopes about Sally being there came true. She was currently checking out another family, a wide smile on her face. Harry’s breath caught in his throat at her radiance that had nothing to do with the bright fall sun shining through the window behind her.

Unseen by him, Teddy noticed this and his wide eyes flicked between Sally and Harry’s dopey face, and a plan began brewing in his innocent little mind as his smile grew. Pulling Harry’s hand as the line of shoppers moved forwards, Teddy shifted impatiently but his determination did not falter, but something caught his eye through the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the busy street, and his eyes widened even further and he began tugging on Harry’s hand.

“Dad! Dad, look! Da- ad ! There’s a horsey! Can we go pet him?” Teddy’s insistent voice and hand pulling pulled Harry out of his trance, and he noticed that there was indeed a horse, although it was ridden by a police officer.

“If the horse is still out there when we’re done paying, we can ask the officer if we can pet his horse!” Harry bargained, but he felt slightly uneasy, like he was being watched. The hairs on his nape were standing on end and he held Teddy’s hand firmer. Trying to determine what was causing the feeling, he glanced around surreptitiously but did not notice anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. He was about to dismiss the feeling when he noticed the horse was staring at him, as the officer seemed to be stopped giving directions to a group of tourists with ‘I <3 NYC’ shirts.

While he didn’t have experience with muggle horses, he didn’t think it was normal for a horse to be so interested in a person, especially when there were hordes of other people around. The horse was almost completely still, not moving its head or legs whatsoever. Was it an Animagus? Doubtful, as the magic was extremely rare… Maybe it was enchanted or had some abraxan blood, although he didn’t know if that was even possible. Harry was considering if it was possible to read the mind of the horse, but he didn’t want to risk it in such a crowded space, and he didn’t want to find out if there were consequences for practicing mind magic on an animal. The effects of cat hair on polyjuice stood starkly in his mind.  

Almost as immediately as it started, the feeling of uneasiness disappeared and the horse looked away, its legs shuffling and it tossed its head slightly.

Harry looked over at Sally and saw that her eyes were also on the horse, following it as the officer directed it out of view. He didn’t think he was imagining the look of both longing and anger on her face, even though he couldn’t imagine the context behind them.

Soon Harry was in front of Sally, gently grabbing the bags of candy from Teddy’s hands and placing them on the counter. He smiled at Sally, “Hey Sally, how are you today?”

Sally smiled at him, with no traces of tears in her eyes this time. “Great, thank you! Yourself?” 

They exchanged pleasantries while the candy was checked out, and to his surprise, Teddy’s nervous voice spoke from beside him. “Y-you have a son right? Do you think he’d want to come and play with me?” 

Sally’s face melted and she smiled sweetly at Teddy, “Oh, I’m sorry honey! Percy isn’t even two years old yet! I don’t know if he’d be much fun for you  to play with…” 

Despite himself and his better judgement, Harry was surprised when his mouth opened, “Teddy has lots of younger cousins, he’s great with them! Would you like to join us for lunch this weekend? My treat!” He didn’t think he had felt this nervous since asking Cho to the Yule Ball all those years ago.

Harry watched as Sally visibly debated on it, and waited with trepidation as she began speaking, “Oh… I think Percy and I would like that! How about I give you a call after my shift?” 

Relieved, Harry agreed, and grabbed the plastic bag filled with candy handed to him by Sally. Taking Teddy’s small hand in his, they began walking out of the store. Already, ideas of where to go and what to do began filling his head.

Maybe a picnic would be a good idea, but he’d have to check the weather. The idea grew on him the more he thought of it. He could prepare a whole spread of food for them, make everything perfect…

He caught his train of thought and scolded himself, he was getting ahead of himself. What if she thought better of it and said no? What if it was raining? There was no use planning everything out before it was even agreed to. He’d have to wait for Sally’s call to come later.

Chapter Text

Sally stepped out of the subway doors swiftly, and artfully dodged the grouchy old man shoving through the doorway into the subway car. Checking her battered second, or likely even third-hand, watch and cursing at the time. 7:40 pm. She was late picking up Percy from Mrs. Rossi for the second time that week, and she couldn’t afford for her to decide it wasn’t worth the hassle of looking after Percy.

Picking up her pace as she climbed up the stairs from the subway platform and crossing the street quickly. 

Soon, she had entered the front door of the apartment building, ensuring the door closed completely behind her after she had unlocked it.

Thankfully, the elevator had been repaired last week, but she’d see how long it would last this time. Pressing the ‘Up’ button, she shifted foot from foot and suddenly realized how sore her feet were from standing the entire day. The doors opened with a frankly worrying shudder and she pressed Mrs. Rossi’s floor, leaning against the wall of the elevator and trying to put the stress of her life out of her mind before she met with Mrs. Rossi.

The doors opened again and she quickly walked to Mrs. Rossi’s apartment, and knocked hard. She’d learnt from experience that Mrs. Rossi was hard-of-hearing.

The door swung open with a slight creak and the slouched over form of Mrs. Rossi was revealed. “Sally… Hmph. 15 minutes late again… Come in, now.” The older woman rasped out. Shuffling out of the way and into the apartment, Mrs. Rossi called over her shoulder, “And close that door behind you, you’re letting all the heat out!!”

“Mrs. Rossi, I’m so sorry! I-” Sally began, the words spilling out of her.

“I don’t want your excuses, girl. What I want is to watch my Jeopardy with a cup of tea and have a nice long sleep.” With an audible groan, she lowered herself into her recliner in front of the television, and pushed her thick lensed glasses up with a spotted hand.

“How was Percy today, Mrs. Rossi? Is he asleep?” Sally asked.

“He was sweet today, no complaints. He’s in the bedroom having a nap. Tuckered himself out when we went to the park today to feed the pigeons.” The older woman said, turning to face Sally.

“How much do I owe you for today, Mrs. Rossi?” Sally asked nervously, dreading the answer. Mrs. Rossi was quite the grouch, but the only one willing to watch Percy for what she could pay.

“$20 is fine for the day. It's a shame that the boy’s deadbeat of a father isn’t around to help you. Even as useless as he was, my Angelo always put food on the table.” The older woman grouched out, “You really should bring him to court, you know… Nowadays, a single mother has all sorts of options. Much better than back in my day. Boy, if I was able to, I would’ve left that man not even a decade after I had married him. Men are only good for scratching the occasional ‘itch’, not worth the trouble of keeping them around.”

“Mrs. Rossi! That’s- I told you, he’s lost a-” Sally interjected.

“At sea? Bah, I never believed that drivel you spout. He probably has a family in every port city of the Atlantic, all of them giving the same excuses as you. ‘Oh, he was such a nice man! The sea is just his true calling!’ Was he nice when he left you alone with a newborn? Not even a dime sent? No, I think not…” The older woman gestured with her hands as she spoke and  leaned back in her recliner, “ If you’re scared of him, I can have my sons find him with just a name and give him a good bashing, you know? It sounds like he's in desperate need of one, leaving a good young girl like you like he did” Despite the very harsh words against her former lover, she honestly felt flattered that Mrs. Rossi cared that much. She had seen Mrs. Rossi’s sons visit sometimes; big, burly men with sleeves of tattoos and mean faces, but always held the door open for their mother. She sometimes suspected they were on the wrong side of the law.

“I can’t, Mrs. Rossi. Lost at sea is all he will ever be to me. He used a fake name… He is already married, too! Not that I knew that, though…” The gods didn’t seem to understand the concept of informed consent, Sally reflected. As much as she loved Percy, she didn’t think she would’ve ‘dated’ Poseidon had she known who he was, or the life Percy would have to lead to survive.

“Do you got any pictures of him?”

-

Carrying the sleeping Percy in her arms, she opened the door to her dingy apartment, locking the door behind her immediately and putting the dead bolt in. Walking to the bedroom, she placed Percy in his crib and covered him with a blanket. She placed the baby monitor next to him and grabbed the other of the pair, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead, she headed to the bathroom.

Turning the shower on and hearing the pipes sputter for a moment, she started to undress herself and then stepped into the freezing water with a full-body shiver. She couldn’t afford to wait for the water to heat up. Quickly cleaning herself, she stood under the now comfortable water for a few seconds, savoring the feeling before shutting off the water. She dried off and walked to her closet in her worn towel, picking out some comfortable clothes. She dug through her uniform’s pockets and emptied them, placing everything on her dresser.

She noticed a candy wrapper and remembered that she was supposed to call Harry. She’d been debating about whether she wanted to even go through with it, but it had been over two years since she had been with anyone. Reflecting on Mrs. Rossi’s rude but surprisingly accurate words, she realized she had no reason to be ‘loyal’ to Poseidon, when he wasn’t even loyal to his own wife. She decided to call Harry after dinner, and walked out of the bedroom, hearing Percy lightly snoring as she walked by his crib.

Quietly closing the door behind her, she went to the kitchen and tried to decide what to make for dinner that night. Inevitably, it ended up being canned beans and rice, with some frozen vegetables thrown in the mix.

Suddenly despondent as she ate her dinner by herself, the loneliness sinking in, she decided she would call Harry and set up a get together. 

-

Harry heard his phone begin to ring and cursed, jumping up off the couch and tossing his book onto the coffee table in a manner that would’ve likely made Madam Pince give him a detention at Hogwarts. Teddy had had trouble sleeping the last few nights due to nightmares, and he’d gone to sleep early tonight.

Picking up the phone, he spoke into it, “Hello?”

“Hi, this is Sally Jackson, is this Harry?” A warm, female voice answered him.

“Yes! Hi Sally, how was the rest of your shift today?” Harry was honestly kind of surprised she had called him, he had beat himself up for being over presumptuous since he had left the candy store.

“It was good, thank you! I was wondering if you’d want to get together and have a picnic at the park on Sunday morning? I know it's still a bit cold out, but-” Sally suggested nervously.

“That sounds great! We’ll just be sure to bring some extra jumpers! Would it be at Central Park?”

“That will be very busy with tourists on the weekend, how about we go to the Bronx Park? It has some nice views!” 

“What time would you want to meet?” Harry asked.

“How about 11 o’clock? We can both bring some stuff for the kids, there is quite the playset there for Teddy and Percy there, too.”

“Sounds great to me! Do you want me to pick you up or meet there?” Harry asked, not wanting to pressure her either way, but wanting to be polite.

“How about I meet you at the front gate?”

“Alright! I look forward to it. Have a good night Sally!” Harry said with a smile on his face.

“You too, Harry!”

Hanging up the phone, Harry noticed his heart was pounding. He hadn’t felt this way since he first started dating Ginny. Shoving that thought aside, he walked to the kitchen and opened the cupboards, pulling out his recipe book. He began flipping through the dog-eared pages, searching for just the right thing to bring to a picnic.

-

Sunday morning came around quickly, and the weather was looking like it would be quite beautiful. The sun was shining and there was only the barest hint of a breeze off of the ocean. 

Getting Teddy into the car had been the opposite of a hassle with how excited Teddy was to see Sally and meet her son, he had practically jumped into the car seat, and they had made what was likely record time to the park, being over ten minutes early.

Harry once again double checked that he had everything in his basket, before he exited the car. He opened the door for Teddy, the boy long knowing the rule of not getting out of the car before Harry did.

Teddy bounced out of the car and skipped to the sidewalk, impatiently waiting for Harry to catch up. “Do you think they’re here yet? Do you think she brought any candy?” Teddy said energetically.

“Teddy, you better not ask her right when you see her if she has any candy. That’s rude. If they aren’t here yet, they’ll be here very soon. We’re early, remember?” Harry said “Come over here and hold my hand, at least until we get into the park proper. I don’t want you running off.”

With an audible sigh that would’ve earned Harry a smack as a child, Teddy obediently did so. And with that, they began walking into the park, taking in the beginnings of the leaves changing colour on the many trees.

Near the entrance to the park, there were several benches. Searching through their occupiers, Harry recognized Sally sitting on one, with a small, dark-haired boy sitting on her lap. Their eyes met and Harry felt a smile take over his face as they began walking towards her.

“Hey Sally! Good to see you! And this must be Percy!” The little boy waved his hand at Harry, a wide smile on his face.

“Hi Harry, hi Teddy. Glad you could make it. Percy, say ‘Hi Harry. Hi Teddy’” Sally said to her son.

“Hi Hawwy! Hi ‘Eddy” Harry felt his heart melt, he always enjoyed being around children. He sometimes missed when Teddy was that age.

“Hi Sally, hi Percy! Daddy spent so long making food for the picnic! We went grocery shopping twice!” Teddy exclaimed excitedly.

“It wasn’t that long, Teddy.” Harry felt silly defending himself, especially when Percy let out a charming little giggle, and Sally’s bright blue eyes lit up with mirth. Attempting to change the subject, he said, “Where would you want to sit? Here? On the grass? I’m sure there's some picnic tables somewhere around here.”

“How about on the grass? I know a good spot.” Sally decided, getting up and lifting Percy into her arms.

“Lead the way!”

-

As they walked through the park, they made small talk about how their weeks had gone, and eventually came upon an elderly man sitting on a bench feeding a group of pigeons.

With affronted squawks, chirps, and the flapping of wings, a larger pigeon viciously shoved, pecked, and clawed the smaller pigeons out of the way of its apparently ravenous appetite. Harry did not think he had ever seen a pigeon that large, but what did he know about the wildlife of New York? The older man was futilely trying to bat the large pigeon away with his cane, the bird deftly dodging the slow movements.

Harry turned to say something to Sally, but when he saw her pale face and her tightened hold on Percy, he knew something was wrong. Maybe she was afraid of birds, he thought. As he was thinking this over, he heard the squawks and fluttering come to a halt, and he turned back to the birds, his hand hovering over his holstered wand.

Harry didn’t think it was his imagination that the bird was looking directly at Sally, or rather, at the boy held in her arms with its head cocked to the side, its previous bounty of seeds forgotten to its lessers. The sunlight reflected oddly off of its beak. Harry wondered if someone had enchanted a pigeon for some nefarious purpose, he’d heard of and experienced odder things in his lifetime. Harry was getting suspicious of all of the odd animals he had met during his time in New York.

Harry stepped between the bird and Sally, drawing its attention to him. Their eyes met and the bird’s eyes widened, letting out an alarmed squawk before quickly flapping its wings, gaining height as it flew towards the trees in the distance.

With wide eyes, Harry again turned to Sally and came to see that she was studying him intently, her eyes roaming his face and body. 

“What was that about? I’ve never seen a bird do that before.” Harry attempted.

“Neither have I… How about we go sit down over there?” Sally changed the subject, pointing to a rather scenic spot below two large trees.

Chapter Text

Harry nodded, still perplexed by the odd behavior of the oversized pigeon. He followed Sally and Percy to the spot she had indicated beneath the trees, the dappled sunlight casting shifting patterns on the ground. They settled down on a patch of grass scattered with a few vibrant autumn leaves, the cool shade providing a welcome relief from the warmth of the autumn sun.

Sally laid out a blue plaid blanket and began unpacking her picnic basket while Percy played with a small toy car she easily handed to him, his laughter filling the air. Harry set down his basket, laying out the food he had brought and he helped Teddy settle down, handing him a sandwich and some juice before turning his attention back to Sally.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked quietly, taking a seat beside her on the blanket. "That was... strange, to say the least."

Sally sighed, her expression troubled. "I don't know, Harry. It just felt... off. Like that bird was staring at Percy with intent. And when you stepped in front of us, it seemed startled, almost as if it recognized you." Her eyes were slightly suspicious as they roamed Harry’s face, as if trying to find something.

Harry furrowed his brow, mulling over Sally's words. "It did seem to react to me, didn't it? But that's impossible. I've never encountered anything like that before."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Sally suggested, though her tone lacked conviction, as though she was trying to convince herself as well as him.

Harry glanced around the park, a sense of unease settling in the pit of his stomach. "Maybe. But I can't shake the feeling that there's something more going on here. I think we should be cautious, what if there are more of those pigeons? We can reschedule for another day, I suppose."

Sally nodded, her gaze flickering towards Percy, who was now engrossed in a game of chase with Teddy, who was being a good sport about his lunch being interrupted and was slowing down enough that Percy had a chance to catch him. “We'll keep an eye out."

They fell into a surprisingly comfortable conversation, the sounds of the park mingling with the rustling of leaves overhead. Harry couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, a sensation that prickled at the back of his neck.

As they finished their picnic, Harry made a mental note to research any recent magical disturbances in the area, as well as try to find what kind of animal that ‘pigeon’ was. He didn’t think it was normal for a pigeon to have a bronze beak and talons. Something told him that their encounter with that strange pigeon was just the beginning of a much larger mystery.

But for now, he pushed aside his worries, focusing instead on the warm feeling of the sun on his skin and the laughter of his son as he played with his newfound friend. Whatever lay ahead, he would take care of it.

-

Sally watched Harry as he meticulously packed up the remnants of their picnic, his brow furrowed in thought. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to him than met the eye. He seemed so ordinary, yet there was an air of mystery about him, not all due to his attractive British accent.

She sighed, feeling a pang of guilt for doubting him. After all, they had only just met, and here she was, already questioning his every move. But there was something about the way he had reacted to the strange pigeon that piqued her curiosity. It was almost as if he knew more than he was letting on.

As Harry finished packing, he turned to her with a small smile. "Ready to head out?"

Sally nodded, gathering a tired Percy into her arms and picking up her basket. She couldn't help but steal a glance at Harry as they walked back through the park, his expression unreadable as he scanned their surroundings. One of his hands held Teddy’s in a tight grip, as if scared he would be taken from him.

"So, Harry," she began, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them. "What do you do for a living?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, as if debating how much to reveal. "I work in law enforcement," he finally replied. "I'm a detective, although I’m not on any cases at the moment."

Sally's eyes widened in surprise. "A detective? That sounds exciting."

Harry chuckled softly. "It has its moments. But it can also be... challenging."

Sally nodded, sensing that there was more to the story than he was letting on. She decided to change the subject, not wanting to pry too much on their first date.

As they reached the edge of the park, Sally turned to Harry with a smile. "Thank you for today, Harry. Despite the... unexpected encounter, I had a wonderful time."

Harry returned her smile, his eyes warm. "I'm glad to hear that, Sally. I had a great time too."

They stood there for a moment, the air tingling with unspoken words and unexplored possibilities. With a blush, Sally stood on the tips of her toes and pressed a soft kiss to Harry’s stubbled cheek, and leant back to see a wide smile bloom on his face. “We should do this again sometime,” she said. 

“Definitely!” Harry said enthusiastically. There was an excited sounding Whoop let out by Teddy, who drew a mock glare from Harry.

-

Harry watched as Sally and Percy walked away, his heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time. He glanced down at Teddy, who was grinning from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Well, what do you think, Teddy?" Harry asked, tousling his son's hair affectionately.

Teddy's gap-toothed grin widened even further. "I like her, Daddy! She's really nice, and Percy is fun to play with, too!"

Harry chuckled, feeling a swell of happiness in his chest. "I'm glad you like them, buddy. I think they like us too."

As they made their way back to the car, Harry's mind was already racing with thoughts of the strange pigeon and the mysteries that lay ahead. But for now, he pushed them aside, content to bask in the warmth of the day and the promise of new friendships.

As they drove home, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that their encounter with the bronze-beaked bird was just the beginning of something much bigger. And he was determined to get to the bottom of it. But for now, he was content to enjoy the simple pleasures of a beautiful day spent with good company.

And as the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the city skyline, Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of hope for the future. Whatever challenges lay ahead, he knew that as long as he had Teddy by his side, he could handle anything that came their way, but he could only do that as long as he was informed. 

He resolved to check his personal library for any information on the birds, and if it came down to it, to visit the not as expansive as Hogwarts’ library, but the still famous magical section of the New York Public Library. 

-

Relatively alone in the quiet confines of the magical library under a minor glamor to disguise his appearance, Harry felt a sense of urgency weighing heavily on his shoulders. He navigated through the labyrinth of shelves with a furrowed brow. 

Harry finally arrived at the section dedicated to magical creatures. The shelves towered above him, filled with dusty tomes and ancient scrolls containing knowledge that spanned centuries.

Drawing a deep breath, Harry began to pull out books at what felt like random, flipping through indexes and pages in search of any mention of a creature resembling the bronze-beaked bird they had encountered. Hours passed in a blur as he poured over text after text, his determination unyielding in the face of uncertainty.

Finally, just as frustration threatened to consume him, Harry's hand brushed against a weathered tome hidden among the stacks. The cover was adorned with faded Greek lettering, and as Harry opened it, he felt a surge of hope course through him. He cast a quick translation spell.

The book contained detailed descriptions of a variety of magical creatures, from the majestic to the monstrous. Skimming through the pages, Harry's eyes widened as he came across a passage describing a creature known as the Stymphalian Bird.

According to the text, unlike regular pigeons, the Stymphalian Bird was carnivorous and a fearsome predator that hunted its prey in flocks up to a hundred strong, with ruthless efficiency and determination. Possessing sharp talons and a beak forged of solid bronze, it was said to be a powerful foe, with its talons possessing the capability to tear through a large majority of magical shields due to some yet-unknown properties of the metal.

Harry's heart sank as he read on, realizing the gravity of the situation. If the bird they had encountered was indeed a Stymphalian Bird, then they were extremely lucky that they had only seen one. 

However, at the end of the passage, the text went on to say that the species hadn’t been spotted in close to a thousand years, and was presumed extinct. Maybe he should owl Luna and ask her opinion on this, he was sure she would love the opportunity to research a long thought extinct species, although she might develop some interesting theories, he thought fondly.

Closing the book with a heavy sigh, Harry knew that he had to act quickly and decisively if they encountered those birds again. With his newfound knowledge, he set out to devise a plan to defend himself and Teddy should the need arise.

As he left the library and stepped out into the bustling streets of New York City, Harry's mind raced with thoughts of danger and determination. Whatever lay ahead, he was ready to face it head-on, but he wouldn’t go looking for trouble like his younger self did. The city had millions of people, there was only a slim chance they would see those birds again.