Chapter Seventeen

Meeting Someone Similar

"John! John! Come on! We have to try and find him again!" One Sherlock Holmes exclaimed in childish excitement. His grey eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree while his face glowed at the prospect of another challenging puzzle.

John on the other hand felt chills running up and down his spine. Something about that other man they had met had put him on edge and his soldier instincts had flared up so much that he had placed himself between the man and Sherlock in an instant. Not that his friend seemed to care about how edgy John had been and how he had tried to stop Sherlock from talking with him but had failed miserably.

It didn't help when the man had admitted something to his energetic and excitable friend.

Something that was now leading the high functioning Sociopath into a fit of urgency that he hadn't seen since Moriarty had appeared.

The soldier sighed as he ran a hand over his face as he remembered how this had all started that morning at a crime scene that Lestrade had called them on to.

AFHFS

"Ugh, Anderson has managed to bumble another crime scene with Donovan." Sherlock Holmes groaned in disgust. "The scene is completely clean."

"That's the thing. It was like this when we first showed up." Lestrade said with a head shake. "As if there was no one here. If it wasn't for the obvious…"

"Yes, the knife in the middle of the chest and no other blood splatter patterns. There was obviously no force entry and the victim show signs of absolute fear in his face. There are several footprint indentions around the body and from the size of the most people who have come in, it appears that one of them must be the killers." Sherlock stated calmly as he continued to walk around.

John could only stand off to the side watching his friend. He had already looked over the body and given his own opinion on the body- dead for at least eight hours- and had given his own observance- all wrong as normal- and had stood off to the side since. "Well, I think it must be a male who attacked then. The footprint is too large to be female." John said with a raised brow at his flat mate.

"You would be right for once in your deduction. It is male but it seems that he up and left from this spot. Almost as if he was lifted out." Sherlock thought as he looked at the ground.

"Something like that." A voice said from the entrance of the door, startling everyone into whipping around and staring at the new person. Even Sherlock was staring in surprise at male that now leaned against the doorframe.

"And who might you be?" Lestrade questioned as he walked over to the man. "Why are you on a crime scene?"

The man pulled out a badge and showed it to the DI with a smirk. "I've already caught the culprit. You won't have to worry about it." He explained as Lestrade's face paled for a second before sighing and rubbing at his face.

"It seems I'm stuck with all the…ugh. I've heard of you Potter." Lestrade said as he glared at the man. "Man, to the queen, closely so, and one hell of a detective in your own right. How did you get wind of this?"

"I was walking by last night. Saw him leave and found it suspicious. Came in here and then ran after him before he got too far. He's in the custody of the Queen's guard." He explained as Sherlock got to observing the man.

Short, almost as short as John but was just three inches taller. Messy black hair that brushed his ears and tickled at the man's emerald eyes. Skin a healthy gold that spoke of being outside. He wore a black jacket with a blue shirt underneath and blue jeans, combat boots lay upon his feet. His hands were hidden in his pockets and there was no apparent dirt on the other man's shoes or pants. He was perfectly spotless.

"So, you took care of this then without letting anyone else know." Lestrade growled out as he approached the man until he was right in his face. The Detective Inspector had to bend down quite a bit but he was still able to look the man in the eye. "Do you know how much trouble you have caused us? The resources we put into this case and the manpower we didn't even need in the end?" He questioned angrily.

"I wanted to meet him." The man admitted with a smirk as he nodded directly at the consulting detective. "He's after all just as insane as I am. Though I think his babysitter is much more tolerant than mine."

Lestrade stared in disbelief before turning to a clearly intrigued Sherlock and suspicious Johan. "Well…it's not the first time I've ever had to deal with someone like this." He muttered before he grumbled before sighing. "Whatever. Let's get this person into the morgue and to Molly so that he can be cleaned up for his family." With that he left the apartment with the rest of his team cleaning up and following.

"I'm Harry Potter. Man, of the Queen." Harry said as he stepped up to the two flat mates. "Good to finally meet Sherlock Holmes and his friend John Watson."

"Good to meet you as well Mr. Potter." John said as he held out a hand to shake.

"Just Harry." The man said as he ignored the hand and instead tilted his head at Sherlock. "I hear you're like me."

Sherlock could only raise a brow at the other man in curiosity. "Oh, how so?"

"A high functioning Sociopath that can actually interact with human beings that are on a lower level of intelligence." John scowled as Harry nodded his head at him. "Though I might be able to tell why John Watson is special."

"Why does everyone think that?" John muttered as he stomped away from the two of them.

"John is very special." Sherlock agreed with a nod as he looked the man over again. "Though I am sure you have your own special people. The babysitter you mentioned earlier in fact."

"Yes." Harry agreed with a nod. "She's very special, so is her husband and his family. They are different to me than they would be to others."

"Yes. Exactly! They are ordinary in the most spectacular way." Sherlock exclaimed as he glanced over his shoulder to a muttering John, who was looking over the text messages from the babysitter. Rosamund Mary Watson was only three years old but already the little girl was part of the center that made up John's world. His little Rosebud. Sherlock could only smile in fondness at the worried and then relieved look on the man's face.

"As my own people are out at this moment, I am able to move freely for a time. I was wondering if you would like to play a game of sorts." Harry offered as he smirked at the consulting detective. "One that will show how brilliant you really are to me."

"A game?" Sherlock hesitated at the mention of a game. The last one he had played had almost cost John his life and Sherlock his friend and safety line.

Harry could read the look on the other's face. IT was a look of worry for another, not one's self. He had worn it constantly while in school with his friends and now he was aware what his friends meant when he was selfless. "Do not worry. It is truly only a game. Riddles and codes for you to solve around London. But then again. Maybe you don't hold the knowledge to solve them." He challenges smugly, eyes glinting in excitement.

Sherlock glared at the man before a smirk flit over his face as well. "Only puzzles and codes you say? Will John be able to come?"

"But of course. Sherlock Holmes is nothing without John Watson. He holds knowledge you have deemed unimportant and useless." Harry turned and began to walk away. "I'll leave you the first clue tomorrow. Until then, I hope you have a good day." With that he disappeared.

"So, what did he want?" John questioned as he returned to Sherlock's side, phone in pocket.

"To play a game." Sherlock stated.

Johan's head whipped to stare at him in horror, wondering if this was the start of another nightmare. "What….what are we…going to do?"

"I don't think he means harm." Sherlock admitted reluctantly. "He understood something that only I did and then he also sounds rather sincere in it being only that, a game."

"So, we play?"

"So, we play."

SH

And that was how they were here now.

Sherlock walking back and forth with a piece of paper in his hand with a riddle written upon it. John watching from the side with Rose in hand with a frown on his face. "I know you want to go and find him, but we can't just leave Rosmund behind without a sitter. Mrs. Hudson is out for the time and Mrs. Turner isn't someone I would let watch a child." John stated with a frown.

Sherlock froze for a second before he turned to stare at the child of the man, he called friend and the woman who had shot him. The child was only three, not old enough to go on a journey such as this could turn into. But there didn't seem to be a choice.

"We'll take her with us. You will just have to stay out of any area that isn't safe with her." Sherlock stated with an uncertain frown on his face.

John frowned as well. "That's a horrible idea Sherlock! There's no way that it'll happen at all." He looked down at the blonde little girl in his arms. "She could be placed into danger! We know nothing about this guy besides that he apparently caught a killer before we ever got there!"

"I know John." Sherlock said as he walked to stand in front of his friend…his family. "But…there is something…just something that reminds me of someone." He admitted slowly, trying to connect the dots in his mind and understand what it was telling him. Something that he couldn't figure out on his own and something he knew that John would get. "He…he's like me. There's something else though…like there was something that…it was in his eyes John! In his eyes! There's something I don't understand that you will!" He exclaimed frustrated.

Johan watched as the man paced back and forth, looking towards him as if he would have all the answers. He himself wasn't sure what this man was going on about. He didn't have the observational skills that Sherlock had. All of his own deductions that he had made were almost always wrong. So, he wasn't sure what Sherlock was wanting from him here.

"Think John! What's the one thing I can't do! No matter how I plaster on a smile and put on my charm! What can't I really do!" he shouted at the man, toning down his voice as Rose's face began to tear up at the sudden volume increase. "John, you know better than anyone that I am a Sociopath. I do not understand emotions."

John's eyes widened as he stared at his friend as he realized what Sherlock was talking about. "You saw an emotion that he was feeling." John whispered as he tried to comprehend what Sherlock was saying. "But…he said he's a Sociopath like you. How could he…"

"That's it! I don't know!" Sherlock exclaimed in frustration.

John frowned in confusion before sighing and shaking his head. "Whatever. So, what does the clue say?" he questioned as he turned to Sherlock in acquiesce, knowing he wouldn't be able to find someone to babysit Rosie in time. He'd take her with them and trust Sherlock's deduction.

Sherlock smiled in excitement as he looked down at the letter in consideration. It had arrived on their table out of nowhere, just before they woke up that morning. John had found it and had gotten Sherlock in an instant. Both were worried about the fact that they hadn't heard anyone come into their apartment last night.

"I move forwards, but I don't move backwards. I am underappreciated and only loved when I've gone. Within London I am seen daily but when abroad you never see me. Come find me Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. See you soon. HP." Sherlock read aloud as he tried to figure out what this riddle meant.

"Rather simple isn't it?" John said with a roll of his eyes. "That's a riddle we had in middle school. It's time and Big Ben is the largest clock we've got here in London."

Sherlock looked over at John with wide eyes and raised brows, trying to figure out how the other man had gotten that answer.

"Oh, come on Sherlock! Time can move forwards but can't go backwards. There's no such thing as time travel. We also underestimate how much time we have with someone until they're gone." John paused at that with a sad look on his face before shaking his head and continuing. "Then Big Ben is the largest clock London's got and can only be seen here and not in other countries." He finished off as he began to pack a diaper bag for Rose, getting her all sorts of food just in case they'd be gone all day.

Just as he had finished packing the bag, Sherlock swept forward and smooshed John's face together. "You are a brilliant man John Watson! Don't let anyone else ever tell you otherwise!" Sherlock exclaimed as he moved away and grabbed his jacket and little Rosie's. HE helped John get her into her jacket before taking off down the stairs and beginning to walk. They weren't too far from where Big Ben was and so they could walk easily.

"You know, I think this is the most excited I've seen you since Moriarty." John commented as he walked along Sherlock, Rosie settled against his hip.

"Yes, but this time we're not in danger." The Consulting Detective was rather ecstatic about that detail, which was unusual. Normally he was happy to be in danger and cause danger for him and John, but this time he didn't really mind that there wasn't any.

John on the other hand…one could visibly see his shoulders slump in disappointment at that with a sigh. He looked at his little girl, who was staring at everything around them, before he realized that this was indeed a good thing. He couldn't lose his little rosebud like he had Mary.

"Come John, let us be off!" With that Sherlock took off running, waving a handout to catch a cab.

That was about the same time that John was grabbed by the arm and dragged into Angelo's.

"Hello again!" Harry Potter said to a sputtering and flustered John Watson. "Sorry about that, but I'm doing an experiment and I needed you in here with me to complete it."

"What!?" John exclaimed as he settled into his seat across from the mysterious man, Rosie having been taken from his arms and settled into a booster seat right next to her father. There was already a plate of fish and chips cut into tiny pieces for her to enjoy and a plate of fried chicken with mash potatoes and peas sat in front of John while Harry had a simple chocolate shake.

"Yes well, you see, for all of his intelligence, there's one thing that Sherlock Holmes must have at his side to be able to figure out anything anymore." Harry explained before taking a long drawn out slurp from his milkshake.

Johan blinked before shaking his head. "So are there really other riddles or is Sherlock going to be running around on a goose chase?" He questioned as he began to cut up the chicken and kept an eye on his little girl.

"No, he'll get to Big Ben before he realizes what's missing." The raven replied casually as he made a face at Rose, who giggled at the funny man.

"Oh, and what would that be?" John questioned as he dug into his food carefully, sniffing for all the poisons that Sherlock had made him memorize. HE couldn't smell anything, so he took a bite and waited a couple of minutes to make sure. "Good thing we didn't leave until lunch, otherwise this would be a horrible choice for breakfast."

"Yep." Harry agreed before answering John's question. "He'll notice you aren't with him. He'll be back here where he got into the cab in the first place and start looking for you, I'm sure."

"You'd be surprised. I've left the flat for hours before and he'll still be talking to me as if I'm still there." John grinned as he remembered Sherlock asking him when he had left and then got back. The man hardly noticed anything when he was involved in a case or thinking deeply.

Harry smiled at that before turning to look at Rosie again with a reminiscent smile on his face. "She's a real cutie you know. I could just eat her up." He giggled as he bopped the little girl on the nose gently, sending her into a giggling fit and getting sauce all over her face from her waving chips.

John watched the two before smiling as well. "Got some of your own?" He questioned. The man looked to be around the right age to have kids, but John was horrible with deductions unlike Sherlock, so most of his guesses were really just that. Guesses.

"Yep, three in fact. Two are in school and the third will be following in a couple of years." He explained next before turning to tilt his head at the older man and smiled. "But I do have a question dear Watson, that if you can answer, might sate my curiosity about you."

"I bet all three are beautiful." John replied as he reached over and wiped some of the sauce off of his daughter. "And I'll answer it if I'm able to."

"Why haven't you told Sherlock Holmes that you are a wizard?"

John startled so violently that he knocked over the iced tea that had been set next to his dish. He cursed as he reached for a napkin but then watched with a wide eye as the liquid retreated back into the glass and then sat back up, as if nothing had happened. He looked at the other man, looking for a wand, but couldn't find one. "God damn it, when you said Harry Potter, I didn't think you actually meant THE Harry Potter." He grumbled as he sat back in his seat and glared at the hero.

"Yes, well, many don't expect me to be in Muggle London. Not especially one that participated among the Aurors to capture the last of the Death Eaters." That smile was starting to get creepy and John just wanted to bash his head into the table. "Though to find out that after that you went off to war and stayed there until you were shot and sent back home was a bit of a laugh. You could have had that fixed by now if you had gone to St. Mungo's."

"Yes, well, I'd decided I needed to leave the Magical World for a while. I just never bothered going back." John sipped at his tea and then looked over at Rosie, taking in the fact that she had almost finished her fish and chips. That was a first. She was a notoriously picky eater and hardly ate more than to feed a bird. "That and I found something much more interesting than magic to keep my attention."

"Ah yes, Sherlock Holmes. A brilliant man, if a little dense." Harry agreed as he finished off his milkshake and then looked over John's shoulder to the outside world. "He should be arriving soon I should think."

"You said he'd be until Big Ben, that's a long drive." John finished off his own meal before sipping at his tea some more. It was rather good. He'd forgotten how well Angelo's food was since he made sure Sherlock mostly ate healthy home cooked meals at the moment.

"Yes, but that brother of his is sure to have interfered by now. Always ruining my fun and reporting me to Shacklebolt and Hermione." The pout on the man's face rivaled Sherlock's when the man was bored. "Mycroft Holmes is a right pain in the ass, especially when it comes to you two."

"Been trying to get a hold of us then?" A raised brow always made Sherlock explain further, maybe it would work on this man as well.

"Yes, but Mycroft has been barring me and conspiring with Hermione to keep me away. They think I'll cause some sort of chaos if I got together with Sherlock."

"To be fair, they probably aren't that far off." John laughed at the pout directed at him. "You were always causing Chaos at Hogwarts. You even screwed up my Owls that first year you were there. And then again my sixth year when the Chamber was opened."

"Not my fault." Harry flapped his hand lazily before his eyes sharpened and a grin formed on his face again. "So why haven't you told Sherlock about Magic yet? It is quite a big part of your life after all." He tilted his head towards the little girl now gulping down some water from a sippy cup. "It'll be a big part of her life here soon as well."

"Damn it." John muttered as he rubbed at his forehead. He had hoped that this wouldn't have happened, but he didn't seem to have a choice. Damn it all. "Hogwarts then. I'll have to have her homeschooled during the summer, so she doesn't fall behind in the muggle world either."

"Hey, look on the bright side." Harry said as he waved his arms out around him. "There's no more Dark Lords for you to worry about at the moment." He left one hand in the air but lowered his thumb, leaving four fingers.

"Yeah, but I'll have to deal with a sociopathic consulting detective and sociopathic world saving wizard." He sighed as he shook his head and then held it in his hands. He didn't notice another finger go down. "Just what I need to keep my life interesting."

"Yes, well, having a simple life wasn't something that suited you anyways." Harry lowered another finger, leaving just two. "You were always an adrenaline junkie so I can't imagine you ever staying in a calm environment, no matter it be he muggle or wizard world."

"Yes, well, it didn't help that most of the purebloods made my life hell as well. I'd just rather deal with normal assholes here than the shit that purebloods can deal out." He snorted as Harry lowered that second to last finger. "What in the Bloody merlin are you doing?"

"Ah well, you see, I was counting down to Sherlock's appearance." He lowers his last finger just as the restaurant's door flings wide open next to the two wizards, with Sherlock breathing heavily and looking at them with triumphant eyes. "Now all you have to do is explain magic to the man and we can start causing the really chaos in London."

John just stares at the younger wizard with wide eyes while Sherlock stands there in confusion. "Did he just say magic is real? John, that's impossible! Magic doesn't exist! John, what is he talking about?" The man demands as his eyes narrows and he looks at his friend, who is groaning and holding his head in his hands.

"Ah, well, see that's where you two need to have a talk before Miss Rosie here get's that letter." Harry says with a smirk on his face. Then he pulled the straw out of his glass and then gulped down the rest of his milkshake. "I hope you two have a great day now." He says as he stands up and gives the horrified John a wink. "Also, I put that privacy spell up so no one but us heard that conversation."

With that, Harry Potter twists and disappeared right in front of the two. "Merlin's bloody balls." John groaned out as Sherlock stalked to the spot instantly, waving his hands around as if he would hit a mirror or something. "He's as dramatic as he always was."

221BakerSt

A.N. HAha, it's been a while since I last posted to this! I hope you haven't lost hope on this at all! I just haven't had too many ideas for a oneshot recently and so I thought you might have fun with this one! I always thought Harry would be fun to turn into a Sociopath! Put him up against Sherlock would be just entertaining since I think Harry would be more Basic knowledge and Sherlock's all about higher knowledge. Well either way! Let me know what you think! I can't wait to hear about it!