Chapter Text
After the war, and after the resulting funerals, all the Wizarding world wanted to do was celebrate. There were innumerable parties, speeches, and press conferences held. In the weeks afterwards, Harry had received from his admirers: an Order of Merlin, First Class; a formal apology regarding the entire "Undesirable No. 1" incident; a godson; the small amount of gold held in the Lupin vault; and an offer from George to be a full partner at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Some of these things flattered Harry, and others just embarrassed him.
George's gift was easy to handle as he much more enjoyed his status as a silent partner in the twins' joke shop. Thankfully, this was both accepted and expected by George. He, like many others, thought Harry would enter Auror training quite soon. Teddy was lovingly taken in by his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks, though not without the promise of weekly visits from Harry. He also sent Mrs. Tonks the gold from her daughter and son-in-law, after all, Harry had no need of it. The Order of Merlin was placed on a dusty old shelf in Grimmauld place, and the apology was disposed of with a quick incendio. The Ministry was in much better hands with Kingsley Shacklebolt, but Harry could never really forgive what had happened to him and the Muggleborns this past year due to the Ministry.
Some of the more embarrassing things were sent by crazed admirers, who sometimes resorted to stalking Harry in an effort to get him to notice them. Harry tried to avoid them by apparating everywhere, but that tore holes in his household wards every time he tried. Harry stayed indoors most of the time, and when he needed to go somewhere, he flooed directly into his friends' homes. He spent about two afternoons a week with Teddy, he visited the Weasleys, and found muggle coffee shops to spend time with Hermione. He lived this way for several months, sending Kreacher for groceries, and only leaving for his visits, and never going outside of Number 12 in broad daylight. He missed flying and the outdoors immensely, but there was nowhere to go without being overwhelmed by obsessed fans. He took his frustrations out on old Mrs. Black's sense of decorating, he destroyed every ugly and depraved thing left in that dingy old house, and it soon looked welcoming and new. He knew that Sirius would have been delighted to be rid of all those horrid old things. Thinking of Sirius often led to thinking of Remus, and he fell even deeper into his depression.
With the public and the press clamoring to hear from him, Harry had no respite. It seemed that everyone wanted a piece of The Boy Who Lived and gave no thought to the facts that he was no longer a boy, and that he wanted none of the attention given. Some wondered why the hero of the age hid away from all the riches begin offered. His true friends had seen him struggle with his fame throughout his childhood, and understood that now Harry just wanted to be left alone. With the support of the ones closest to him, Harry's life went on. Ron joined the Auror training program, Hermione went into the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry, Ginny tried out for and joined the Hollyhead Harpies. While he did love Ginny, his feelings weren't romantic any longer. She was Ron's sister, and as an honorary Weasley according to Molly, she was also Harry's sister, which suited them both. George mourned his twin and experimented with new jokes. Neville, Luna, and all his other school friends continued with their lives, but Harry was stuck.
For years, it had been Harry's ambition to join the Aurors and hunt down dark wizards. But after defeating the darkest wizard of them all, Harry couldn't see the point of pursuing the smaller evils. He also found that after the events of the past year, Harry had no stomach for violence. Sure, he could protect himself and others, send out curses when needed, but after all the pain and suffering he had endured he couldn't bear to train for more pain and suffering. It wasn't as if he needed a career, Harry had plenty of money from both his parents and his inheritance from the Black fortunes. It was just as well, Harry had neither the training nor the inclination to pursue any employment.
Without any freedoms or goals, Harry coasted through the days, his only joys were watching Teddy grow and learn. The boy had taken to his metamorphmagus abilities quickly and he imitated everyone he saw. For several days he had short, perpetually untidy hair and startling green eyes. The next week, Teddy moved on to the long, thick tresses of his Grandmother, although mixed with the bubblegum pink color he had seen from pictures of his mother. On the morning of July 31st, 2004, Teddy had chosen bright red hair. This was unsurprising as he was visiting the Burrow with its abundance of gingers. There was a party for Harry's 18th birthday, and Molly had taken the planning in stride. This year was enormously different from that last, but somethings were the same. There were still nine Weasleys at the large table in the garden, Fred might have been gone, but Percy had come home. Ron had still been tasked with clearing the area from gnomes, this time with Hermione's well-researched help (and this time he had not been bitten). Harry's cake was a quaffle, instead of a snitch, but some variety is good. The Minister for Magic was an invited guest who brought hilarious tales from the new administration instead of strange items with layered and complicated meanings.
Harry knew that he should be happier than he was currently feeling. Everyone here cared about him, they were boisterous and loving, everything that Harry had always wanted in a family, but still, he could not feel satisfied. In fact, he had not felt so in quite some time. Being the observant and caring people that they were, his family and friends had noticed his melancholy and sought out to help. So it was that Harry Potter received for his birthday the deed to a small flat in Muggle London, a birthday gift from the Weasley's, Hermione, and Andromeda. It wasn't much, but Harry had never been one for luxury. After expressing his profound gratitude, Harry set out to his new home later that week, and quickly moved in, happy to be settled away from the throngs of fans and harpies of the press. Ten weeks after Voldemort was defeated, Harry finally had his chance to relax.