!DISCONTINUED! Guardian of Death [A Harry Potter Fanfiction]

3. A Peek Into Happiness

 There are a few things you need to know before you read this. 1, Harry had never played the role of a parent before, thus was completely clueless on most child-related things. 2, Hannah was an energetic child with an ungodly amount of curiosity. And 3, wizards were the most stupid beings on earth, and he was a wizard.

  In the first month since Harry had adopted Hannah, they had moved into the Peverell Manor in Ipswich that was thankfully in very good shape due to the house-elves, who were rejoiced to have a family to serve once again, and welcomed them very warmly.

  It was three in the morning when Hannah let out a shriek that sounded throughout the manor. Harry jumped out of his bed as if it had caught on fire and dashed down the hall to where the scream had come from, ready to blast someone into oblivion. The more rational side of him argued that no one could have come in without triggering the many sensitive ancient and complicated wards and that it would take a full team of people at least two days to undo the ancient magic, but the more emotional side of him was currently at the weel, thus such thoughts were swiftly ignored.

   "Hannah are you alright?", he screamed swinging the door open so hard it hit the wall and came back, hitting him square in the face. A pained groan escaped his lips, but a wave of relief soon washed over him as he heard her giggling loudly. Once again, this time calmer, the wizard opened the door coming face to face with his levitating daugh-, ward!

"I woke up flying.", she tried excusing herself sheepishly, but Harry only gave her a gentle smile. He relaxed his posture and walked forward, picking her in his arms with a proud glint in his eyes. She looked up at him with her big green eyes and gave him a sweet smile before a yawn left her lips.

   "Will you please stay with me until I fall asleep?"

   He hummed in response, placing the girl on her bed and tucking her in. It was endearing to see how much the two had come to care for each other in such a short period. She trusted Harry enough to ask him to watch over her as she slept, which was a great improvement from the first few days when the girl would flinch when he made sudden gestures and appeared as if she was waiting for him to take her new room form her and make her sleep somewhere like the closet under the stairs she had been held in at the Dursleys. He grimaced at the thought of them, it had been only a few weeks since he had obliviated them and set their house on fire, to appear Hannah had been lost in a tragic accident(to those bastards who knew she was living there), but the punishment seemed to light for what they had done to her, regardless of the influence of the Horcrux within the girl. Besides, even following Dumb-as-a-door's reasoning there was still no reason to put her there, he scoffed to himself. Those 'oh-so-great wards of his were supposed to be powered by both blood and love, so they were practically nothing more than paper napkins if someone was to try to attack the house.

"Don't worry little fawn, I'm not going anywhere. Sleep.", he whispered, moving a strand of raven hair out of her face.

  Softly humming a random tune he thought sounded soothing he watched over the child as she slowly fell asleep, cuddling a black dog plushie Harry had brought her. Even after she drifted into the land of dreams Harry didn't leave her side, staring holes into the plushie. It had only been the previous morning he had written a letter to his solicitor and the Ministry to get Sirius a trial, and hopefully, his freedom back, but he couldn't help but feel jittery. There was no way to tell how Sirius would react to being out of Azkaban legally, but the wizard was much too unstable to meet Hannah until he got a Mind Healer, or whatever wizards used instead of therapy. He was sure that the man would be very suspicious if he ever found out about him, but there was no way Harry would let him near the little Potter if he was still loyal to Dumbles, not in a million years.

  The first rays of sun found him still on a chair beside her bed, gazing at the little star stickers he had charmed to light her room lost in thought with his chin rested in his palm. There were so many things to do in these first few weeks he barely had any time to think, let alone spend time with his ward and that wasn't sitting well with him. Yes, there were many things to do now that he was lord of two houses and had to fix the future, but this didn't mean he had the right to ignore the little girl that would be in so desperate need of a parent now that she had been taken from the custody of her aunt and uncle.

"Mopsy", he called out to the house-elf, who appeared almost instantly with a small 'pop'. "Please clear my schedule for today, I wish to spend some time with Hannah. Also, we will be going shopping, so we shall not be in the manor and may return late."

"Yes master, I understand master. If I may, it is wonderful that you wish to spend time with the little miss, she has been spending all of her time in the library since she has gotten her.", the elf seemed almost happier than Harry himself and the man appreciated how much the elves had come to care for their 'little miss'. Upon confirming there was nothing more he desired of her Mopsy bowed and disappeared from the room with a pop.

  A yawn left the wizard's lips as he stretched his arms and brushed his finger through his hair, noting it had gotten long enough to be tied back now. He cast a quick Tempus, relishing in the comfort of once again having a wand, although he hadn't bought it from Ollivander, rather a small wand shop by the name of Jimmy Kiddell's Wonderful Wands. The wand itself was just as good, if not better than his previous one, black walnut wood,11 inches and a half, with horned serpent horn core, thus making it much more inclined to respond to Parselmagic than most other wands. In his ever-growing paranoia Harry had refused to leave for home with just one wand, thus had gotten a spare one for dire cases, one that usually stood hidden in a special holster that made it invisible both to the naked eye and magical scans. His spare wand was made from vine, with white river monster spine core, 12" long and quite stiff.

  "Half-past six", the wizards mumbled out loud, walking out of the pastel green room of the little girl and towards his own. He needed to take a shower and change his clothes so that he may later have breakfast with Hannah and proceed with his plans. This day would also be used to analyze just how much the girl had learned about the magical world so far and what types of tutors he should hire for her. A thought flew through his head that perhaps traveling the world a bit would aid in her understanding of both culture and magic. Besides, Britain was quite strict on banning old rituals and spells it considered dark, so it would benefit both of them to learn a bit more about the Olde Ways from people who didn't consider such things evil and illegal. He needed Hannah to know and understand that magic was a gift and that what she did with said gift determined its standing on the scale of good and evil. Magic was neither good nor bad, it was just magic.