Once Upon A Time (Prequel of The Savior Fables)

Chapter Two

Emma comes fully into the picture, Tina is protective, and Harry is just glad he's finally got his Savior.

***

Tina stared at the blonde woman in front of them, Harry peeking out from behind her to stare at her curiously. He had never seen her before, and he wondered how Petunia and Vernon knew her. She looked to be around 23, with an athletic build, long blonde, curled hair, and green eyes similar to his own. Even though he had no idea who this woman was other than her name, Emma, he felt he could trust her, and moved away from Tina timidly.

He walked around Tina's legs and stood in front of her. Those almost mirror green eyes snapped to him, and Harry held out his hand to her. "Vernon Dursley is my uncle. I'm Harry Potter," he said quietly.

Tina looked down at Harry with a look of worry, which slowly changed into a proud one as he spoke to the stranger and introduced himself. A brief look of surprise crossed Emma's face before she gave a smile Tina read as genuine, and she gently took Harry's small hand in hers to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Harry."

"How do you know my uncle?" Harry asked, tugging Emma to sit on the bench with him, breaking one of his cookies in half and handing it to her. Emma took it, mildly surprised, and looked at Tina with a look of confusion. Tina just shrugged at her, likely knowing that Emma wasn't a threat. As Tina examined her, she couldn't sense any magic in Emma. She felt different, but Tina had no idea why. As an Auror, especially the head of the American division, Tina could easily see past Glamour Charms, and she couldn't see a wand anywhere on Emma. Tina decided the woman was not a threat to her or the boy, who was now biting into his cookie.

"I'm what you would call a freelance investigator, a private investigator for some people, or what you would call a bail bondsperson, which all means I help people find bad men and women and call them out for all of their crimes, and your uncle, Harry, has been doing really bad things at work. He's been stealing money and has been very cruel to people at his job," Emma explained gently to the small boy.

Harry watched her, tilting his head slightly. "You don't have to talk like that to me. I'm not a baby," he muttered.

Emma was starting to become aware of that, what with the way Harry talked. "Well, alright then!" she smirked. "How old are you Harry?" Harry held up seven fingers on his hands, his mouth holding his half of the pink niffler cookie. Emma was nibbling on the other half. "Seven?" Harry nodded. "Well, then you most certainly are not a baby! You're growing big!" She messed up Harry's hair, delighting in the way the boy grinned and laughed.

Tina watched the exchange in silence, a smile on her face. She quickly decided she liked this woman, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to be cautious. She somehow just knew Emma wouldn't hurt the boy left in her care today, and though she didn't possess Queenie's ability to read minds, her decades of time as head Auror meant she knew how to read people. She was the wizarding equivalent of a No-Maj profiler, meaning she had the training to watch body language to see what people were lying, using their behavior to catch bad guys and helping interrogate them. She took the behavior of the people she caught and used it against them.

Harry was laughing as Emma tickled him. They seemed so close already, and it made Tina blink as she felt magic swarm from Emma, though the blonde didn't seem to notice. Her magic felt as if Tina had drunk a mug of Queenie's hot cocoa: warm and familial, nowhere close to dark. It felt familial, safe. She shook herself as she felt the magic wash over her, then she looked at Emma. "So, you are a bail bondswoman?" the Auror asked, getting back onto the topic that Emma had brought up in the first place.

Emma nodded, patting Harry's knee. "Yes, I am. I was hired to investigate Vernon Dursley under the charges of money laundering and staff abuse . . . and now, apparently, those charges are going to include child abuse." Harry looked up at her, surprised she knew about it. "I know the signs, kid." Harry nodded slowly, and looked back down at the cookies in the bag, placing the rest of his cookie in it, so he could take them home and eat them later. "I was heading back to my place to put together everything I've gathered so far," Emma continued. "I heard Dursley's name get mentioned, and since that isn't a common name in New York, I took a gamble and guessed you meant Vernon."